Elemuel B. Cliburn

As of 4 Aug 2023 there has been a major breakthrough in the research for this line in our efforts to uncover the Genetic Ancestor of Elemuel B. Cliburn of Giles County, VA. The data presented herein is still a work in progress and every effort will be made to clearly identify what information is fact, and what information may be speculation.

Background

In 2005, Dr. Alex Waldrop III approached Johnathan Clayborn via email about participating in the Y-DNA Surname Study to attempt to answer, once and for all, the question of whether or not all Clayborns, regardless of spelling were related. Johnathan agreed and the sample was sent in. The results revealed that Johnathan was an anomaly. Not only did he not match anyone else in the group, the differences in the DNA sequence put his most recent common ancestor (MRCA) back several thousand years, thus precluding him as a Clayborn by genetics.

There is no doubt of Johnathan's descent from his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, or 2nd great-grandfather as there is a very strong family resemblance. We meticulously checked and rechecked the records, and eventually uncovered our error in Elemuel, Johnathan's 5th Great-Grandfather. Elemuel served in the Civil War and his death records and tombstone list him as Elemuel B. Cliburn, so we had the assumption that he was always a Cliburn. However, on the 1850 US Census Elemuel is clearly listed as a Croy.

The above image is the excerpt from the 1850 Giles County, VA Census. "W. Clyburn" is listed on the first line, age 57. Underneath him is "Christian Croy", aged 50. This is Christina Croy. Directly under her is listed "Samuel B.", aged 16, working as a Farmer on William's farm. Now, we were working backwards and later in life Elemuel's last name is Clyburn, just like William. However, on the census records it is understood that any children listed without a surname have the same surname as the preceding adult. Hence, it really says "Samuel B. Croy". Likewise, his sister, Sarah, is also a Croy.

Johnathan checked his Y-DNA results against Croy, and they were also not a match. Since 2005 we have been stuck there, knowing that genetically, our ancestor was not originally a Clayborn, but not knowing which family held the answers. It is useful to uncover the identity of the Genetic Ancestor because that information can help their descendants know if they are potentially at risk for rare health conditions that may be passed on genetically.

Initially I had thought that Christina was a widow, but I cannot find any marriages in any of the surrounding area that fit this idea. Furthermore, I compared the Y-DNA sample against known Croy samples and they do not match either. This effectively eliminates any possibility that Lemuel was the son of an unknowm Croy.

I have also not been able to locate any birth records for Elemuel or his sister Sarah, so there's no birth certificate to reference with the father's name on it.

Hypothesis 1 & 2

Johnathan has since taken over the Y-DNA Surname Study and we know two things from the complete data-set. The descendants of the Uncles of William Clyburn all have DNA that is congruent to each other and to the old Westmorland Modal sample. This means that those people are all definitely descended from each other and share a common ancestor that originated in Westmorland.

There are two possibilities:
1. William Clyburn is not the genetic father of Elemuel Croy and adopted this young man as his own.
2. William Clyburn is the genetic father of Elemuel and is not the son of Thomas & Louisa.

The only definitive way to tell for certain which of these two hypothesis is correct is to do more Y-DNA Testing. William Clyburn was previously married and had a son named Addison Clyburn. William and his wife divorced in the 1840s and the mother took Addison across the state to live with her family. Later descendants of Addison moved down to Missouri, where they live today. In theory, if a male descendant of Addison has Y-DNA that matches the rest of the Westmorland group, this would confirm that William is the son of Thomas & Louisa. Unfortunately, Addison's male line is now extinct; no living male descendants of Addison exist. There are still living descendants of Addison, but they had a lot of women who cannot take the Y-DNA test.

With no way to prove the ancestry definitively, we are left to make the best educated guess possible determining all of the relevant facts and information. Based on all of these facts, which I will lay out in the subsequent sections, my professional opinion is that Hypothesis 1 is the most statistically likely; William is the son of Thomas & Louisa, but not the genetic ancestor of Elemuel.

Family

1. Christina G. Croy (1804-1875)

   She did eventually marry William Clyborn, but he is not known if he is the father.

   1. Elemuel B. Clyborn (1834-1902) m. Eliza Taylor
      1. James William Clayborn (1854-1924) m. A. J. Mollie Pruitt.
         1. William Franklin Clayborn (1878-1954) m. Mary Ollie Cordell
         2. John Harvey Clayborn (1880-1962) m. Lealer Mae Cordell - DNA sample obtained from descendant of this line.
         3. Henry Clayborn (1886- )
         4. Lou Clayborn (1888- )
         5. Gratton Clayborn (1890-1959)
         6. Sarah Clayborn (1893- )
         7. Lois Clayborn (1893- )
         8. Abbigail "Abbie" Clayborn (1896-1995) m. Looney
         9. Marion Clayborn (1898-)
         10. Viney Clayborn (1899- )
      2. Elizabeth Clayborn (1859-)
      3. Eva Clayborn (1860-)
      4. Addison L. Clayborn (1856-) m Dixie
      5. Jospeh Clayborn (1862-)
      6. Henley C. Clayborn (1867-) m. Nancy
      7. Jonas Clayborn (1871-) m. Elizabeth
   2. Sarah E. J. Croy-Clyborn m. James Taylor