DNA Chart For P*rdue Families From The Lower Appomattox River

DNA Chart For P*rdue Families From The Lower Appomattox River

The above chart shows the matches establishing the genetic profiles for John Pardue who died in Bute County, North Carolina in 1769, and for a William Perdue through his son, Francis, as shown on the patriarchial page of the Perdue/Pardue DNA Project,  and his presumed descendant, Meshack Perdue, who died in Franklin County, Virginia - both John and William early living in the colonial period in the watersheds of the Appomattox and James Rivers. 

The John, shown in the chart, born circa 1711, is the same John shown born circa 1705 and who died in 1769 in Bute County, North Carolina.  His son, John The Younger, born circa 1729/30, as determined by tithables' records, indicates that, while not improbable, it is unlikely, that the elder John was born as late as 1711. Descendants of the elder John's sons: Joseph, Bevel, Richard, and Lilliston were the participants who determined the elder John's DNA profile.  At the present time, while, it is definitively documented that Francis was a son of William Perdue, it has not effectively documented that Meshack Perdue was a descendant of William Perdue, though, their descendants share the same DNA profile. Remember, that DNA use for genealogy purposes can only establish genetic kinship, not the degree of kinship, at this point in scientific research projects.

The above chart shows a Joseph Pardue who died in 1845 in Chester County, South Carolina.  While some of Joseph's descendants claim descent from John Pardue who died in 1769 through John's son, Joseph Pardue, who died in 1790, at the time of this writing, there has been no documentation that can confirm descent from any of John's 11 sons.  And, though descent from John Pardue who died in 1769 and shown above as John Pardue born circa 1711, is a strong possibility, descent through Joseph, the third son of John, cannot be one of them, as shown by the following facts.

Joseph Pardue who died in 1790 did have a son named Joseph, but, as was stated in Joseph's will written in 1789, his son, Joseph was not yet 19 years old, putting his birth no earlier than 1770. The Joseph Pardue who died in 1845 was born in 1761 according to his tombstone records, further confirmed by 1780s Warren County, North Carolina tax records where he was shown as a single man, when he would have been at least 21 years old.

If the Joseph Pardue who died in 1845 was a grandson of John Pardue who died in 1769, the strongest probability of which of John's sons was his father lies with John's second, son, William Pardue, born circa 1731 and who died in 1813 in Warren County, North Carolina, where the younger Joseph lived in close proximity to William, from his marriage in the 1782 until his move to South Carolina between 1800 and 1810.  Unfortunately, William did not, from all the available records, appear to have named all his children in his will. A father often did not name the children to which he had previously presented to those children some form of his estate that he intended for them.

From research by descendants of the families who remained in the Virginia area, it is conjectured that Meshack was a descendant of the William shown in the chart.  But, at the time of this posting, the documentation necessary to confirm their relationship has not been established.  As previously noted in the earliest posting this webiste on the Perdue/Pardue yDNA Project, without documentation, dna testing, at the present time, cannot determine the degree of relationship each has to the other; only that within a parameter of generations they shared a recent common ancestor.  

As more participants of the Appomattox River P*rdue families join the dna project, updates of the information will be posted.  Any male with the P*rdue surname, or any variant, is encouraged to join the project.  As more participate in the project, at some future date dna might well be able, in some situations, to determine closer relationships.  Informaton can be obtained from the following website.  http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/perdue  

Also on the website project are links to explain how to read the test results, as well as other information that further explains questions wanting answers.

Called the Perdue Project, it was originated by descendants of the Perdue families from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, which until the advent of yDNA testing, researchers had never been sure that there was not an extant document somewhere that would establish a connection to the Virginia variant of the name. Now, it is known there is no common ancestral connection between the Maryland and Virginia variants of the P*rdue surname within the past one thousand years.

The Maryland Perdues more consistently spell their name Perdue, as do descendants of the Chesterfield County, Virginia Appomattox River families whose DNA matches the descendants of John Pardue of Bute County, whose descendants spell their names variously as Pardue, Perdue, and Purdue, as well as Pardew, Pardieu, and other variations, though Pardue is the more common form. As can be seen, yDNA is very helpful in sorting out whose lines belong to whom, and why males with any variation of surname spelling are encouraged to join this project!

Genealogy is never done; it is always a work in progress!