Colvin data by Rootsweb poster found flawed.

Note: readers of this post may wish to refer to my post of 1/22/08 Charles Colvin, Jr. hypothosis challenged.

A rebuttal:

Charles Colvin of Stafford County vs. Charles Colvin of Pendleton County, Kentucky.[1]

In serious genealogy, methodology includes not merely a cursory review of available data, but the ongoing critical analysis of primary sources and an equally-significant investigation of all known documents before conclusions are drawn. In such cases, it is standard procedure to perform “due diligence,” and to engage in an exhaustive search for available primary source evidence in order to compile an accurate lineage; just as important is the proper citation of those sources used so a colleague or other researcher can corroborate or dispute the findings or, if he is so inclined, continue the same line of inquiry for his own research purposes.

This is not the case with Ms. Mary Ann Dobson, whose large compilation of Duncan and Colvin-related data sits publicly on a Rootsweb-hosted personal website yet, was not given the seriousness it deserved and her conclusions, ergo – most implied rather than directly stated -- are clearly erroneous with regard to Charles Colvin, Sr. of Fauquier County who migrated to Stafford County ca. 1803.

The problem lay not in her reliance upon secondary sources, (in fairness, the reader should note that Ms. Dobson’s citations make clear her frequent use of Salt Lake City’s Family History Library’s microfilm collection, but there is, too, a conspicuous use of abstracts where primary sources should have been consulted prior to publishing so many claims -- of which there appear hundreds.) but that she allowed herself to publish so much data without reading the documents critically, or realizing enough about the line she was tracing to consider alternatives to her conclusions. The use of secondary source material are excellent and useful when searching for clues; they are extremely unreliable as primary support evidence.

Rather obvious about her presentation is that it is the product of genealogy-software: a report electronically generated, which tends to mark it as rather hastily compiled. To organize her data online, Dobson provides a tally-like format of documents she reviewed then, lumping them under headings as Census Records, Land Records, Estate Records, and so forth, as they concerned the surnames of her inquiry: Duncan and Colvin. Curiously absent from these headings are tax records of any sort, -- in particular, personal property tax records -- which are extremely useful when tracing family groups (males in particular) and ultimately, lineages. Curious because microfilms of the original tax lists are available from FHL (her repository of choice for films and documents,) for Campbell County from 1795- 1875 and for Pendleton County for the years 1799-1875.

Had Ms. Dobson performed her due diligence, she might have noted that the daughter, Elizabeth was from Fauquier which ought to have lead her to review the available personal property tax records for Fauquier County of Virginia, (also available via FHL) thereby comparing the Charles Colvins who appear in those rolls to her Charles Colvin. whereupon she would have seen clearly they were not the same individual as her evidence conversely implies.

Seeing this, she might have taken the next step, and reviewed the abstracts of Culpeper County, Virginia, land records[2] and found – aha! -- her Charles Colvin of Pendleton was actually formerly of that County, not, as she hastily concluded, from Fauquier, and therefore certainly not the father of the same Elizabeth Colvin who married Elias Duncan. She might have also noted that the Charles Colvin who migrated from Culpeper to Campbell had a wife named “Susannah, earlier identified as “Hanna” in the Culpeper deed abstracts already noted, and that the wife Charles Colvin, Sr. of Fauquier has not yet been identified, while the wife of his son, Charles Colvin, Jr. of Fauquier and later, Stafford County, Virginia, was named “Nancy” in the Colvin/Peters deed of 1802. [3]

For reasons that remain mysterious, Ms. Duncan, took as a foregone conclusion that, because a daughter named “Elizabeth Duncan” appeared as a beneficiary in her abstract of Charles Colvin’s Will of 1810[4] and that Elias Duncan appeared also in the same Will, these two were obviously the same couple as the daughter of Charles Colvin of Fauquier who wed Elias Duncan in Fauquier in 1792.[5] But they were not.

The Duncans she confused them with was the pair who remained under the roof of Charles Colvin of Fauquier, Elizabeth’s father, an arrangement clearly evidenced by the fact that Elias remained Charles’ tithable for the next 2 years. [6], [7] and they do not appear in the Pendleton County tax rolls until 1800. [8] Further, the same Charles Colvin remained in Fauquier through 1794 where he disappears, then re-emerges in 1803 [9] in the Stafford County tax rolls, along with his son, Charles Colvin, Jr. The elder Charles remains on the Stafford County tax rolls until 1809 where he is believed to have died, while his son, remains on the same rolls through 1810; in addition, Charles Colvin, Jr. is found in the 1810 U.S. Federal Census for Stafford County, rather alive and presumably well, unlike the Charles Colvin of Pendleton, who rather obviously expired in 1810. Most significant, however, there is no evidence to suggest that either of these Charles Colvins were ever near Culpeper, as the Charles Colvin of Pendleton obviously was.

Thus, what Ms. Dobson failed to consider is that her Charles Colvin (of Culpeper) quite apparently had a daughter named Elizabeth who obviously married a Duncan male, (Elias had several brothers, or even perhaps one of Elias’ sons.) Moreover, if the Elias named in the Will of Charles Colvin of Pendleton, been the husband of the named Elizabeth, the testator would have very likely referred to him as “my son,” in the Will, which was typical of the language of the day, used in place of son-in-law. Elias, however, is not so identified, but is mentioned rather later in the will, as merely a debtor, from who was owed ₤25. This shows that the two men were likely neighbors; not that one was related by marriage to the other.

A caveat is unavoidable here: erroneous conclusions ought not be drawn from the fact that Charles Colvin of Fauquier is absent from the Fauquier and Stafford County tax rolls from 1795-1803 -- the period during which the Charles Colvin of Pendleton County can be clearly accounted for in that area; these two men ought not be confused for one in the same, nor should a convenient migration pattern from Virginia to Kentucky be imagined. These two individuals were of different geographic histories. Charles Colvin of Pendleton was in Culpeper [10] apparently while Charles Colvin -- who presumably died in Stafford County -- was clearly established in Fauquier County where he can easily be traced through the tax rolls, marriage bonds, and other document from the time he was 16 onward.

That Charles Colvin of Pendleton was formerly a Culpepper resident, (and a likely member of the line of Colvins whom I have come to regard as the Culpeper Colvins,) is easily corroborated directly by a simple review of available abstracts of land records, as already noted. This Charles can also be placed in Culpeper, however, by less direct evidence, such as the 1999 post of Claudia Minor [11] who, researching her own ancestry, found that an ancestor, Waller Minor, [12] was the brother-in-law of Lewis Colvin and Charles Colvin, all of whom were residents of Campbell County, Kentucky by 1799, the years Pendleton County was created from Campbell. County (If Charles and Lewis Colvin were the brothers-in-law of Waller Minor wouldn’t logic dictate their spouses’ maiden names were Minor?)

Claudia Minor’s findings are verified easily enough with a review of the microfilmed personal property tax records where we find Charles Colvin in Campbell in 1797 [13] and ‘98[14] and in Pendleton in the tax rolls in 1799. [15]

While admittedly, Ms. Dobson’s data was presented in such a way that it seemed so initially plausible that it compelled this researcher to review her findings, their flaws notwithstanding, it was only by being careful with the available data and being willing to critically analyze and cross-reference it with other known facts and easily available primary sources, that the correct conclusion can be drawn: that Charles Colvin of Pendleton is from Culpeper County, -- and likely related to the Culpeper Colvins -- and not of the Fauquier/Stafford line.

Sources:

[1] Dobson, Mary Ann (the Genealogy Bug) site, Duncans in Pendleton Co., KY http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dobson/ky/kypendle.htm. [last revised 18 August 2007] June 14, 2008. [Ms. Dobson has concluded that her Charles Colvin of Pendleton County, KY and Charles Colvin, Sr. of Fauquier County, Virginia are one and the same.]

[2] Charles Colvin of Culpeper can be easily found in Culpeper deed book abstracts, selling land as early as 1783. In the volume, Deed Abstracts of Culpeper County 1793-1794, for example, he is listed on page 113 with his wife “Hanna” (actually Suzanna,) and again in DB M 1783-1785, compiled by Sam and Ruth Sparacio (Antient Press, 1990) with “Suzanna, his wife” with whom he sold 167 acres in a deed recorded 20 October 1783.

[3] Clerk’s recording of original B & S deed Charles Colvin, et all to John Peters, executed 18 December 1802, proved 28 February 1803, Fauquier Co., VA deed Bk 15 1801-1804 [reel 8, pp 267-277] ILL from VSL to author, Houston, TX.

[4] Dobson, Mary Ann (the Genealogy Bug) site, Duncans in Pendleton Co., KY http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dobson/ky/kypendle.htm. [last revised 18 August 2007] June 14, 2008.

[5] MF of clerk’s transcript of original marriage bond, Elizabeth Colvin to Elias Duncan, 21 December 1792, Fauquier Co., VA. Marriage Bonds & Returns Volume 1, 1759-1800, [Reel 66, pp 376] CLCGR, Houston, TX.

[6] Charles Colvin entry, 7 May 1793, Fauquier County Personal Property tax lists, [Reel 123, Book "C"] CLCGR, Houston, TX

[7] Charles Colvin entry, 17 June 1794, Fauquier County Personal Property tax lists, [Reel 123, Book "C"] CLCGR, Houston, TX.

[8] Elias Duncan entry, 4 April 1800, Pendleton County, KY tax lists, KY. Hist. Soc. 1799-1842, [Reel 322,] CLCGR, Houston, TX

[9] Charles Colvin “Senr.” entry, 13 March 1803, Stafford Co., VA personal property tax lists, 1782-1803, [Reel 327, BK 1, npg] ILL from VSL to author, Houston, TX. [because the clerk used the terms “Senr.” and Jun.” to delineate father from son among these Charles Colvins, I have used quotation marks to so indicate the clerk’s intent.]

[10] Charles Colvin entry, Deed Abstracts of Culpeper County 1793-1794, pp 113, See also: Charles Colvin entry, in abstract of deed recorded 20 October 1783, deed book M, 1783-1785, (Sam and Ruth Sparacio, Antient Press, 1990) CLCGR, Houston, TX.

[11] Minor, Claudia, post to Ancestry.com Message Board, Campbell County, Kentucky, “Minor’s in Kentucky” posting, 1 June 1999 <>June 14, 2008.

[12] It is worth noting that Wallace Minor was, like his Colvin in-laws, a former Culpeper resident; this data is likewise borne out in the same Culpeper deed abstracts where we find Charles Colvin.

[13] Charles Colvin entry, Pendleton County, KY, Personal Property tax list, 1799-1842, KY Historical Society, [Reel 322, Bk. 1 pp 2] CLCGR, Houston, TX.

[14] Colvin entry, Pendleton County, KY, Personal Property tax list, 1799-1842, KY Historical Society, [Reel 322, Bk. 1 pp 2] CLCGR, Houston, TX.

[15] Charles Colvin entry, 15 October 1799, Pendleton County, KY, Personal Property tax list, 1799-1842, KY Historical Society, [Reel 322, Bk. 1 pp 2] Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, Houston, TX.