Re: Edward Dorsey Sr.
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In reply to:
Re: Edward Dorsey Sr.
Tameria Arredondo 6/29/09
Hi Tameria
There were indeed several early day genealogists (as early as the 1700's for one) who seemed to invest a large amount of pride in connecting themselves to Norman D'Arcei, who is said to have come to England with William the Conqueror.His descendants were a titled family who had visible lines in both England and Ireland. Several books/articles in the 1900's put forth arguments to connect Edwardy Darcy/Dorsey to that line.Many of these speculations were published with such fervor and repetition that they were eventualy accepted as fact. However, close examination shows that none of them presents sound proof.
For example, one researcher endeavored to resurrect a child who died in Yorkshire in the 1620's to be Edward.There were claims that the parish register had been altered (no reason for that given, but it was necessary for the theory). However, the North Yorkshire County Council confirms that the register is intact and that there is no evidence to suggest that the register has been tampered with or pages abastacted since the time of binding.
Another cited a brief entry in Fothergile's Exchequer records that said, "Edward D'Arcie, lycensed April 13, 1632, aged 13, to go with his master Richard Gips/Gibbs to Berghen."This researcher goes on to suggest--with no proof offered--that this Gibbs was "probably" of the family known to have been Copyholder tenant of Peet Hall of West Mersea, on the island between Colme and Blackwater Rivers.Peet Hall stood on the mainland connected by a Stroude (causeway) with the island and opposite was St. Osythe of the Essex Darcies.
Based on this speculation, she suggests that Edward Darcy was a member of this line of Darcies. She produced some records of various D'Arcys named Edward who were living at that time and claims that this son of Lord Darcie was the only one who could have been the American immigrant Edward Darcy. She did not consider that there were likely other Edward Darcys in this time frame whose lives were unrecorded or for whom records had not yet been found. I do not recall that she even considered that Edward Darcy might have been of Irish origin.
In the Dorsey DNA Project, we have two very well documented descendants of the Anglo/Norman D'Arcys with registered pedigrees--one holding a herditary title of the line.They are separated by 14 generations themselves but their DNA matches. The descendants of Edward Dorsey do not match this line.
While there are mistakes in details of some later descendant's lines, Maxwell J Dorsey, Jean Muir Dorsey, and Nannie Ball Nimmo, "The Dorsey family : descendants of Edward Darcy-Dorsey of Virginia and Maryland for five generations and allied families"(Urbana, Ill.?: unknown, c1947) has a careful review of documents concerning Edward Darcy/Dorsey in early America. The first four pages of their book include a summary of court and other documents that trace the early appearance of Edward Dorsey/Darcy in Virginia and Maryland.These pages are available online at http://books.google.com/books?id=oZkEsRCLbygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dorsey+nimmo+ball#PPA8,M1http://books.google.com/books?id=oZkEsRCLbygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dorsey+nimmo+ball#PPA8,M1.
They are very careful about speculating about these English origins or any origins, in fact.
The DNA of the descendants of Edward Dorsey (seven well proven)is almost surely of Irish origin.I have written about that at the URL
http://www.contexo.info/DorseyDNA/PDF%20Files/IrishOrigins.pdfhttp://www.contexo.info/DorseyDNA/PDF%20Files/IrishOrigins.pdf.
I thought I had written a survey of all the ideas about the origins of Edward Dorsey but can only find the bibliography on my hard drive.I am not at home now so it may be on a backup drive at home.I will check for it when I return.
I have also seen reports claiming that Edward Dorsey was of the line of the Irish Darcys of Kiltullagh.We currently have one member who has a documented line of descent from that line and his DNA matches no one in the Dorsey project. We would very much like to have one or two others from that line to confirm that DNA result.
I'm sorry this reply is surely disorganized and hit or miss.I have a lot of other demands on my time right now and have been working on the reply in spare moments for a couple of days.When I get home and can concentrate and have access to my other files I will try to do a follow-up if I find anything else of interest.
In the interim, I would recommend you study Dorsey, Dorsey, Nimmo book and others to find out what sources are available.
If you are just starting out in genealogy, I also highly recommend Elizabeth Shown Mills, "Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace"Ms Mills devotes the first section of this book to a discussion of evaluating evidence for genealogical purposes.It is available from Amazon.
Nancy
More Replies:
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Re: Edward Dorsey Sr.
Tameria Arredondo 7/01/09