My Louisiana Roots of Kentucky

A paternal fourth cousin and me have been coyly corresponding via email. We first met on a DNA site called 23 and me in which a participant submits a test tube of their saliva and the company electronically sends the autosomal results of the individual's ancestral origins. An autosomal test will show both maternal and paternal relatives in a persons ancestry. Fortunately, I was able to talk my dad into performing a test, my mom having been deceased years ago. This fourth cousin matches me on my paternal side at 36 cM over 1 segment, segment 18. He matches my dad at 48% over the same segment.

   I contacted him through email correspondence on 23 and me. He was surprised to learn that we were related since I am African American and his ancestry painting identifies him as 100% European with no Asian or African admixture. 

   He was somewhat reluctant at first and asked, "Where do we go from here? I dont know how it is figured that an "H1" (A maternal Haplogroup which describes descendants of Western European origin) could be related to an L (A maternal haplogroup which describes descendants of a West African origin)." After I explained to him the differences between test and that autosomal testing gives a person cousin matches across bilateral lines, and all lines inbetween, and Y-DNA or MtDNA only traces the direct maternal/paternal line he was excited and willing to proceed.

    We are predicted fourth cousins which means we share great, great, great grandparents. In the 1870 census, my most distant ancestors on my paternal side all lived as far as I knew in Louisiana, Arkansas or Texas. His most distant relatives lived in Kentucky and Georgia. His surnames are WHEAT (paternal) and CAGLE (maternal) This stumped us both. He denied having any relatives from either of the States I mentioned and I couldn't honestly admit having any from Kentucky either.

    Then I remembered that my great, great, great grandfather Alfred Bass reported in 1880 that his mother was from GEORGIA the same place Wheat tells me his mother is from, after reviewing my tree I also found that my great grandmother Phillis HENRY'S mother Lucy BELL-HENRY'S father, William BELL born abt 1854 Monroe Ouachita, Louisiana was living next door to a female head of house in the 1870 census that I can only presume is his mother born in KENTUCKY! Her name was Clara BELL born abt 1795 in KENTUCKY she was 75 in 1870.  

     So, I presented this information to Wheat, who reluctantly concurred still claiming that he didn't think he had relatives living in LOUISIANA or any who owned slaves. Again, I went to the drawing board, ancestry.com I performed a general search of LOUISIANA near MONROE and found no CAGLES but I found many WHEAT surnames I also found out that I have a cousin match with another person on Family Tree DNA with the CAGLE surname. I searched the slaves schedules of 1850 and 1860 and sure enough the WHEAT surnamed families owned slaves

   Anyway! I did what I always do when I can't figure out how events occur, I bought a book! The book entitled "History of MONROE" mentions one Elias Wheat born 1785 who married Nancy James. Elias was the son of Jacob Wheat who lived in KENTUCKY!

Elias was also born in KENTUCKY but a search of the slave schedules turned up he didn't own slaves. However, Elias's father Jacob Wheat born about 1760 living in BOURBON, KENTUCKY did he own one female slave age between 36-54 in 1830. His son Jacob J Wheat who married Permelia Wheatt also owned one female slave in 1860 HEMPSTEAD ARKANSAS where Elias and family moved prior to 1859