Jesse Lindsey-Bush (1822-1864)(“Jess-1822”)

Lindsey Group-11 Autosomal DNA Project

By Karen Caton
kccaton@att.net

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 I. What is Known About Jesse Lindsey-Bush.

Sarah “Caroline” Thornton (1828-1892) married Jesse

Lindsey-Bush (1822-1864) (“Jess-1822”), 17 Jul 1845 in
Jefferson Co., TN. The family history of Caroline is well
settled. She was born to Barnabas Thornton (1793-
1866) and Sarah Hill Davis Thornton (1785-1870).
Census records reflect that Barnabas was born in
Canada or Nova Scotia. Sarah was born in Virginia.

Barnabas was the second husband of Sarah Hill, who

first married Thomas Davis in 1801, when she was just
16 years old.
She was a widow with five children when she wed
Barnabas, but they shared a long life, adding five more
children to the family. The obituary for their daughter
Eliza states that Barnabas came to Jefferson County
around 1812. No marriage record has been located for
this second union, but based on the ages of the
children, they likely married between 1813 and 1816,
thus sharing about fifty years in Jefferson Co., before
Barnabas died. His probate file was opened in 1866.
• In 1870, Sarah, 88, was a widow living with her son
Daniel Thornton in Jefferson Co., Dist. 3, in Dwelling
142, after the death of Barnabas. That was her last
census year.

• In 1860, Sarah, 73, and Barnabas, 66, were at

Dwelling 2297 in Jefferson Co., with daughter Thursa,
33, and grandson I. B. Slover, 20 (son of their daughter
Eliza, living nearby with her second husband, George Elliott in Dwelling 83).
Next door to the Thorntons was son Daniel Thornton in Dwelling 2298. Son
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 Jesse Thornton was in Dwelling 2307. Caroline and Jess-1822 were in
Dwelling 2306. Jane Davis Taff was next to them in Dwelling 2305. Hannah
Davis McAndrew was in Dwelling 2308. James Davis had moved to
Cherokee Co., AL, and son Thomas Davis was likely in Kansas or Missouri.
Elizabeth Davis Henderson was in Arkansas. The family group for Jesse’s
wife is well documented.

That 1860 census record for Caroline and Jess-1822 showed everyone in the family
born in Tennessee and it listed their immediate family members as follows:

Jesse Bush, 37; S.C., 35 [Caroline]; S.E., 13

[Sarah Elizabeth]; T. M., 11 [Thursa or
“Thursy”, named after her aunt] (all of
whom should be found on an earlier 1850
census); and also included in 1860 were
four younger children: D.T., 9 [Daniel
Thornton, named for his uncle]; E.J., 7 [Eliza
Jane, named for her aunt]; M.E., 5
[Margaret Melzena Elliot, perhaps named
for an older cousin]; and M.E., 1 [Mary
Ellen]. Samuel Fain Bush, the last child, was not born until 1861.

A search for them on the 1850 census, however, shows this young Bush family listed
under the surname Linzy. On that 1850 census, Sarah, 65, and husband B[arnabas]
Thornton, 57, were listed in Jefferson Co., Dist. 13 in Dwelling 982 with their adult
children Thursy, 22, and Daniel, 21, still at home, along with grandson Isaac B. Slover
(Eliza’s son), then 10, and Sarah A. Ivy, 7 (as yet unidentified). Next door to them in
1850, in Dwelling 983, was the
family of their daughter,
Caroline, with husband Jesse
and their first two children,
[Sarah] Elizabeth and Thursey
M. -- but they are all listed
with the surname “Linzy” (rather than Bush). This might be attributed to a mere
census error, but for the fact that in their 1845 Jefferson Co. marriage record, Jesse
Lindsey married Sarah C. Thornton.

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This is clearly the same couple. Jess-1822 and Caroline started their marriage using
the Lindsey surname, but sometime between 1850 and 1860 started using the
surname Bush. Thus, Jess-1822 has long been listed in family trees as Jesse Lindsey-
Bush – not because this was a middle name, but because it was earlier used as a
surname.
Allen and Ann Bush (Allen is a descendant of Jesse Bush) found the Jefferson County
1855 court record in which Jesse Bush formally petitioned the court for a name
change from Lindsey to Bush, and the court granted his petition.1

Accordingly, although they began using Lindsey, Jess-1822, Caroline, and their
family took the name Bush. Future census records all listed them as Bush. Death
certificates for their children name them as Jesse Bush and Caroline Thornton, and

1
Record of orders entered, County Court of Jefferson County, TN for Monday, 1 Oct 1855 Session,
Minute Book, 1855-1859. Petitioner claims that he was “sometimes called by the name of Jesse Linsey
and sometimes by the name of Jesse Bush, and as his proper name is Jesse Bush” he asked the court to
formally establish his surname as Bush.

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show them both born in Tennessee. See, e.g., the death certificate of Sarah
Elizabeth Bush, who died in 1923:

So who was Jess-1822 -- this “Jesse Lindsey-Bush” who was called Jesse Lindsey prior
to 1855, and then Jesse Bush? He claimed that his ‘proper’ name was Jesse Bush,
although he was clearly using the name Lindsey as his surname as a young adult.
Was his proper name Bush because his father was a Bush, or presumed to be one?
And if so, was he using the name Lindsey because he was being raised by a Lindsey
family --perhaps the family of his deceased mother? That is the theory that best fits
the facts as given.

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A first step in testing this theory is to search for Bush and Lindsey households in and
around the area between 1820 and 1840, the time frame during which Jess-1822
would have been conceived and living as a youngster. There is some discrepancy on
the year of birth for Jess-1822. His headstone says that he was born in December of
1821, thus most online trees show 1821 as his year of birth. In 1850, however, Jesse
stated that he was 27, and in 1860 he stated that he was 37. Given this consistency,
his birth is inferred to have been in December 1822. His headstone has his date of
death on 29 Apr 1864.

II. Searching for a Bush Connection

The 1820 Census for Eastern TN was lost, so the first census snapshot for the area is
1830. There were no Bush (or Lindsey) families in Jefferson Co., Tennesse in 1830.
The online tree service at familysearch.com includes a tree with this note: 2
Jesse came to the Chestnut Hill area about 1844/1845 and married Sarah Caroline Thornton in Jefferson
County on July 17, 1845. Jesse was a scout for the union army during the civil war. Due to the effects of
exposure to the weather, he died April 29, 1864. Buried Taff Cemetery, Jefferson County, Tennessee.

Jess-1822 gave his place of birth as Tennessee in the 1850 and 1860 census, and his
children would later confirm his birth in the Volunteer State on the 1880 census.
That is not inconsistent with the Simms history that Jesse appeared in Chestnut Hill
around 1844. He could have been raised in a neighboring Tennessee county.
Bush families in the area in 1830, when Jesse was 7, included the following:
Calvin Bush, Cocke Co. (30 to 40)
Andrew Bush, Sevier Co. (in his 40s)
George Bush, Sevier Co. (in his 60s)
George Bush, McMinn Co. (in his 30s)

McMinn Co. is the most removed – both Cocke

and Sevier Cos. are adjacent to Jefferson Co.,
where Jess-1822 settled. Only Calvin had a
male of Jesse’s age in the household in 1830.

2
There is no source given for the statement that Jesse had migrated to the Chestnut Hill area, although a general
reference is given to "Johnny Simms research 1968 - 2017" file (2:2:2:MMD1-YDC), submitted 9 March 2017 by
jsimms3826934 [identity withheld for privacy].

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 A. Calvin Bush

Calvin Bush appears on the Cocke Co. census in 1830, 1840 and 1850. A clip of the
1850 census in included below and shows his son George, 19, still at home. This
George Bush (1830-1916) died in Boone Co., IN and his death certificate named
Calvin Bush and wife Rebecca [Mantooth] as his parents. Calvin Bush was born in

Massachusetts, but his wife Rebecca was b. in TN. This is consistent with their
statements on the 1850 census. Their son George, who would move to Indiana, was
born in 1830, so the wife in the home in 1850 was Rebecca Mantooth Bush.

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Although shown as between 30 and 40 on the 1830 census, Calvin was shown as
between 50 and 59 in 1840, and gave his age as 62 in 1850. That would put his year
of birth at 1788. Rebecca Mantooth was 18 years younger than Calvin Bush, in her
20s in 1830, listed as 44 in 1850, so born around 1806. Most online trees have their
marriage as ‘around’ 1824. It is possible that Rebecca was a second wife for Calvin.
In 1830 Calvin did have in his home a male 5-9 (Jess-1822 would have been 7), and
2 females under age 5. In 1840 Calvin had 4 sons under 10 and 1 who was 10-14. His
son George would have been 10—likely born just after the census date in 1830. The
older male was gone from the home, and he does not appear independently in the
area on the census. Calvin also had 3 females under age 15, and a wife in her 30s.
At first blush an inference could be made that the male, age 5-9, living in the home
in the Calvin Bush in 1830 in Cocke Co. at about age 7, might be Jess-1822, as the
son of Calvin. If Jesse’s mother (a first wife) had died soon after his birth, that would
explain why Calvin remarried around 1824. If Jesse’s mother was a Lindsey, it would
make sense that he might have been taken in by the Lindseys.
But it would appear that Jess-1822 was NOT the first-born male of Calvin Bush.
Further research shows that George was not the only son who went to Indiana. An
older son, William Bush, born 1824, migrated to Indiana first, and was likely the
male, age 5-9, in the Calvin Bush home in 1830.
The following evidence shows that William Bush of Boone Co., Indiana was the son
of Calvin Bush and Rebecca Mantooth, and thus the male age 5-9 living with them
in 1830.
1. William was born in Tennessee. Death certificates of sons Monroe Bush and
Luther Bush both state this.

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 2. On the 1860 census, William Bush is listed in Boone Co., IN with his wife and
first two children at age 35. He stated that he was born in Tennessee, and also
in his household was his younger brother Aaron Bush, 17, born in Tennessee.

Aaron was with his parents in Cocke Co., TN in 1850 at age 7 (see above).

3. On the 1880 census, William again confirmed that he was born in TN, and he
listed the place of birth of his father as Massachusetts. In 1850, Calvin Bush
had stated that he was born in Massachusetts.

4. In an Application related to rights as an Eastern Cherokee

descendant, Georgia Foster, daughter of Elizabeth Bush
Ellis (second daughter of Calvin Bush and Rebecca
Mantooth) outlined her claim, laying out the marriage of
her grandparents,
Calvin and Rebecca
Bush, and listing
those of their
children that she
recalled, including
the oldest son,
William.

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 5. The Find-a-Grave editor for the William Bush entry included a transcript of his
obituary. Although Cocke Co. is misspelled, the obituary clearly supports this
placement as the son of Calvin.3

The following is William Bush's obituary for March 23, 1888 (appeared in the Daily Reporter for
Lebanon):

"DIED SUDDENLY - William Bush, a well-known retired farmer died … suddenly this
morning at 6 o'clock at his home on Park Street. He had been indisposed for several days
but was apparently better this morning. His wife called his attention to the water
standing in the street nearby and he had turned over on his side to look out the window.
She had left him for a moment and when she returned to inform him that breakfeast was
ready she found that he was dead. Heart disease was the cause of his death.

Mr. Bush was born in Cook [sic: Cocke] County, Tennessee, October 5, 1824. He moved
to this county at an early day and was married here to Mildred A. Underwood on Dec. 7,
1854. To this union were born nine children, Luther and Finley Bush, residing on the farm
near Ratsburg; Mrs. Mahala Dunlap, living in Kansas; Monroe and Josiah Bush, living in
Salt Lake City, Utah; Mrs. Harriet Bart, living on the Hogshire Farm near here, and Clara
Bush living at home. Two children died in infancy.

Mr. Bush was a well to do retired farmer. He owned 300 acres of land near Ratsburg. Four
years ago he moved to Lebanon and retired from the active duties of a farmer's life.
He was well known over the entire county and universally respected for his modest
disposition and industrious habits. He was good-natured and peaceful, honest and
upright in his dealings and faithful to all obligations and to all friends. He was a member
of the Ratsburg church and his wife was an exemplary one.

The relatives at a distance have been notified of Mr. Bush's death and no time will be set
for the funeral until they are heard from."

The evidence is compelling that the one male who was age 5-9 and living within a
Bush household in the Sevier-Jefferson-Cocke Co. area in 1830 was probably this
William Bush, b. 1824, son of Calvin Bush, and not Jess-1822. It is also of note that
no DNA ties have been found to descendants of Calvin Bush, despite the fact that
he had many descendants.

3
William Bush (1824-1898) - Find A Grave Memorial

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 B. Andrew Bush
Andrew Bush appeared on the 1830 and 1840 census records for Sevier Co., TN.
Jess-1822 would have been around age 7 and 17 in these census year, but he was
not in this household, although there are some children the same age and older.

Andrew appeared on tax lists during that era, then he migrated to Phillips Co.,
Arkansas by 1850. He had married Nancy Agnew. The only other Bush in Sevier Co.
in 1830 was George Bush, then in his 60s, so born around 1765. He was likely the
father of Andrew, for on the 1830 census he was listed next to Samuel Agnew.

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No young children were in George’s home in 1830. Andrew died in 1862, but his
family, listed here in the 1850 census, continued to live in Phillips Co., Arkansas and
raise their families there.

Jess-1822 did not appear to live with this family – at least in census years – as a child,
so it does not appear that he was raised by this Bush family.

Moreover, the descendants of Jess-1822 who have contributed DNA kits to the
project show no significant DNA ties to this Bush family – the only other Bush family
in the Sevier/Cocke/Jefferson Co. area.

C. Extending the Search for a Bush Connection with DNA

Although the Bush DNA review is limited at this point, after working directly with
eight autosomal kits contributed by descendants of Jess-1822, 4 and indirectly with
several others that are on Gedmatch.com, each kit fails to show more than nominal
matches with any upline Bush family as a possible point of connection for Jesse.
Several of these kits were uploaded to multiple sites to maximize the potential for
matching, but while they all match appropriately with one another, they show only
incidental random matches to other kits with upline Bush ancestors.5

4
Initially only three descendants of Jess-1822 were fully involved in the DNA review—all descendants of AJ
Bush. This report was later updated after eight kits had been worked – including descendants of other
children of Jess-1822.
5
A “match” to another kit with an upline Bush ancestor is not necessarily a ‘Bush’ match. One kit may
match another on an upline Inman connection. By chance that match may have an unrelated upline Bush
ancestor from Minnesota (just as both may have an unrelated Smith, Jones, or Johnson line). The mere
presence of a surname in two family trees does not guarantee that the two kits share a common line on
that surname. Any two kits (even unrelated people) may have a few very small matching segments, just by
happenstance.

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Jesse thought his ‘proper name’ was Jesse Bush. That suggests that he thought his
biological father had the surname Bush. But if the only Bush family in the area has
no clear genetic ties to Jesse, what does that mean? There are several possibilities.
• Jesse was related to a local Bush Family. Autosomal DNA test comparisons to
date fail to confirm such a connection. Calvin (and George/Andrew) appear not
to be the father of Jesse, based on census records. Several kits for descendants
of Calvin Bush have been identified, but NONE show ties to Jesse’s descendants.
At this generational distance, those ties should be apparent, thus it seems
unlikely, although not impossible, that a close relative of Calvin (or
George/Andrew) was the father of Jesse.

• Jesse was the son of a DIFFERENT Bush. Perhaps another Bush (unrelated to the
local lines) was Jesse’s father. He may have been in the area before 1830, but
died or left the area without being noted in surviving records. Sevier Co. has no
1820 census, and no surviving early marriage records. Mr. Bush could have come
to town, married, lost his wife in childbirth, and left an infant son with his wife’s
family and moved on. Jesse could have been born elsewhere, moved with his
family to eastern Tennessee then been orphaned as a youngster—before the
1830 census. If this Bush family was not prolific, it may be that there was no one
for Jesse’s descendants to ‘match’ to.6 Perhaps, as more of Jesse’s descendants
join the project, there may later be a better chance of finding an upline
connection to a Bush family, if there is one.

• Jesse was misinformed, and his father was NOT a Bush. It could be that what
Jesse was told was simply wrong, and that genetics will offer guidance on his
paternity.
Whatever scenario proves true, DNA comparisons will hopefully help sort it out.
1. Y-Tests. Y-haplogroup studies can help distinguish surname lines on a
straight male paternal line only. IF any straight male line descendants (sons of sons
of sons) of Jess-1822 survive –– Bush men who descend from Daniel Thornton Bush
or Samuel Fain Bush—they can use a Y-Test to help identify the Y-haplogroup of
Jess-1822. Any such Bush men who have done a Y-Test or who are interested in
doing one should contact the author.

6
If the “Bush” father was a recent immigrant and had no brothers in the country with him, there would
be no cousins who left descendants to match with. If he was the only son of an only son, of an only son…
the added genetic distance to a common ancestor would make it more challenging to find matches.

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 2. Autosomal Tests. In the meantime, autosomal studies can help
distinguish lines. If Jess-1822 had an upline Bush ancestor, a cluster of other Bush
kits (other than Jesse’s descendants) with common ancestors should emerge in
comparisons done by his descendants. We are not seeing that. Thus, ongoing study
is needed to collect data on clusters that are seen – for they may point to Jesse’s
paternal line. 7

Keep in mind that Jesse’s line is actually more than one group. Jesse had a maternal
line and a paternal line, and he had four grandparents. Looking just two generations
up, the objective is to identify each of those four groups – family lines - upline from
Jesse.

Working with kits for Jess-1822 descendants, we have found a Lindsey group, which
is discussed below, and which is likely to account for two of those up lines (the two
parents of Jess-1822’s mother—one of which was a Lindsey). But we have not yet
found the ‘other’ half of Jesse’s ancestry – the presumed Bush half. There are four
possibilities: 1) it is there to be found, but we are not seeing it; 2) we can’t find it
because there were few if any siblings or cousins to generate descendants to match
with; 3) the other parent was a cousin or other-wise closely related to one of the
other genetic groups, thus the groups are comingled, making it more challenging to
identify, or 4) there are descendants, but they simply have not tested yet.

Millions of Americans have done DNA kits now, but families that were less prolific,
or who have done less testing, will not show as many matches. So we can’t yet say
with complete certainty that there was not a ‘Bush’ father for Jess-1822. All we can
say is that so far there is no evidence that his father was from either of the Bush
families living in the area, and we are not seeing any other likely Bush upline. But
we also have not seen a clear sign of an alternate family connected to Jess-1822.

As more of Jesse’s descendants join the Project, and allow review of their matches,
the missing paternal line will hopefully be revealed.

7
The objective is to review the family tree of Lindsey shared ‘matches’ to find recurring upline ancestors.
Another approach is to sort known matches for each kit into known family groups, then review matches
of 30+ cM that are not clearly associated with a known family group. These ‘leftover’ quality matches can
be sorted based on what inferences can be made from shared matches. Those with shared matches from
different children of Jesse may point to an upline common ancestor. Collecting data on those kits, and
looking for common surnames that may cluster can be a powerful tool in identifying an unknown upline.

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 III. Examining the Lindsey Connection
Although no DNA ties have been found to an upline Bush line (nor another likely
paternal line), Jess-1822 descendants have strong autosomal DNA ties to a cluster
of Lindsey descendants with consistent matches to descendants of (1) Jesse Lindsey
of Sevier Co., b. 1787 (“Jess3-1787”), who married Salina Ivy, and (2) the siblings of
Jess3-1787. These DNA matches – and the use of the Lindsey name earlier in life –
strongly suggest that Jess-1822 shared common ancestry with this Lindsey group,
and that he was a descendant of the parents of Jess3-1787.

The logical inference is that Jess-1822 used Lindsey as a surname because he was
raised by Lindsey relatives, and/or because his mother was a Lindsey.8 The
recitations in his 1855 name change petition suggest that Jess-1822 thought his
father was a Bush, so in all likelihood the ties to the Lindsey family were maternal.
In 1830, the Lindsey families living in the Jefferson/Cocke/Sevier County area were:
Name Residence in 1830 Family
Group 4 James Linsey Jefferson, Tennessee M30s , F20s , 3M 5-9, 1M <5
Group 4 Chas Lindsey Jefferson, Tennessee Coupl e i n 30s , 1F < 5
Group 4 John Linsey Jefferson, Tennessee M60s , F50s , 2F 10-14
Group 4 Wm Lindsey Jefferson, Tennessee M20s , F30s , F 5-9, 2F <5
Group 4 John Lindoy Sevier, Tennessee M30s , F20s , 2M 10-14, 1M <5, 2F 5-9, 2F<5
Group 11 Jessie Lindsy Sevier, Tennessee M40s , F30s , M15-19, M10-14, M<5, F15-19, F10-14, F5-9, F<5

The “Group” assignment was given by the Lindsey Y-DNA study.9 These distinct
Groups do not share the same Male-line ancestry, although they share a surname.
Two presumably unrelated Lindsey families were present in Eastern Tennessee in
1830. Most were part of Group 4, but one, Jess3-1787, was from Group 11.
• Group 4 – The “Sevier Co. Lindsey Group.” John Lindsey, the patriarch, was born
@ 1764, had four sons and several daughters. Some of the sons moved into
Jefferson Co. Only ONE descendant line, through James Lindsey, matched up well
with Bush descendants, and they matched ONLY descendants of Oscar Bush, who
had married a Pate descendant. James Lindsey had married Nancy Pate. These

8
An alternative explanation would be that he was raised thinking his father was a Lindsey (correctly), but
later in life believed (incorrectly) that his father was a Bush. This explanation is less likely because it would
be unusual to have a child born out of wedlock take the surname of the putative father. Typically he would
retain his mother’s last name.
9
Y-DNA passes from father to son, generation after generation without change or reorganization (barring
nominal mutations over time), Y-DNA offers a long-term stable fingerprint to identify a straight male-line
of descent.

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 autosomal DNA matches between Oscar’s descendants and those of James were
Pate matches.10

The Lindsay International Surname DNA Project sponsors the Lindsey One-Name
Study, focused on Y-DNA assignment for all Lindsey/Lindsay surnames. 11 As a
part of that effort, they created the following chart of Group 4 kits:

10
E.g., Natalie Winstanley descends from Oscar Bush Sr. and Dicie May Hill, whose grandmother was
Sarah Pate, b. 1830, whose paternal aunt Nancy Pate b. 1800 m. James Lindsey of Group 4. The shared
matches to this Lindsey all relate back to other Pate matches, and descendants of Oscar and Dicie May.
11
https://lindsay.one-name.net/dna/dna-participants/
Click on the GROUPS header to sort the participant kits by group on the website.

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 • Group 8 – This group was not present in the Sevier Co. area in 1830, but online
trees confuse Group 8 and Group 4, so a mention is warranted. The father of
the sons in Group 4 was John b. @ 1764 (in his 60s), who married Ann Wicker.
He and his sons were from Virginia. Another John, from Group 8, is often
mixed up with the John who migrated to Sevier Co. The Group 8 John is
sometimes known as John “Carlton” Lindsey. His father was Caleb Lindsey b.
1720 of VA. Caleb and Carlton are prominent given names for multiple
generations and help mark the Group 8 descendants. 12 The Jess-1822
descendants do not match Caleb’s descendants.

• Group 11 – “The Anson County, NC Lindseys” – Jess3-1787 was the only male
head of household from Group 11 in the Sevier Co. area in 1830. His parents
were William Lindsey (b. @ 1747) (“Wm2”) and his wife Rachel (probably
Tallant) of Anson Co., NC, where Jess3-1787 was born. Wm2, his brothers
George and Edward, and his sister Sarah were all in Anson Co., NC by 1790.
Their father was Patrick Lindsey, of Queen Anne’s Co., MD.
The fact that Jesse Lindsey-Bush indicated in his name-change case that he was
raised as a Lindsey but was ‘really’ a Bush suggests he thought his biological father
was a Bush. Typically, that would mean that either (2) his mother was a Lindsey, (2)
his step-father was a Lindsey, or (3) he was raised by a Lindsey family – relatives or
not. The DNA ties speak against a non-biological Lindsey connection.
• If Jess-1822 descendants had no strong autosomal DNA matches to any Lindsey
groups, this might indicate no relationship and suggest that the Lindsey name
had been lent to him by a step-father, or an adopted father.
• Because his descendants do show strong autosomal DNA ties to a Lindsey group,
that suggests that his mother was a Lindsey.

A. Group 4
Charles Lindsey was born around 1791 and died before 1850. He was a son of the
John Lindsey (born around 1764, died 1825) whose descendants have been assigned
to Group 4 (the Sevier Co. Lindseys) in the Lindsey Y-Haplogroup study. Charles was
married to Ruth Shahan. She was his only wife, and she survived him, or died around

12
One Caleb Lindsey (1868-1908) was listed in Group 3, otherwise Calebs and Carltons are all assigned to Group 8.

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the same time. Charles lived in neighboring
Jefferson Co. in 1830, without a child Jess-
1822’s age; then in 1840 he had a male 15-
19 in his household. This has been offered
as a theory on where Jess-1822 was living
in 1840. Since he did not remarry, Charles
was not a new step-father. While it is
possible that he adopted Jess-1822, there
is no evidence that the Bush descendants
have genetic ties to the descendants of
Charles Lindsey – or any other Group 4
Lindseys, based on autosomal DNA
comparisons.
Charles and his wife both appear to have
died between 1840 and 1850. Their
younger children were living with an older
child, Anna, who had married Henry Gann.

B. Group 11
Although Group 4 of the Lindsey Y-DNA study is labeled as the Sevier Co. Lindseys,
it is important to note that one branch of Group 11 also made its way to Sevier Co.
The Group 11 patriarch was Patrick Lindsey of Maryland (Pat1), who was born
around 1700. This group is known as the “Anson Co. Lindseys” because four of his
children migrated to Anson Co., NC --

1. Edward Lindsey, born around 1736, married Rachel Sowards and was the last
of the children to arrive in Anson Co.;
2. George Lindsey, born around 1738, m. Margaret Bennett (Geo2);
3. Sarah Lindsey, born around 1733, m. Aaron Jefferson Tallent (Sar2);
4. William Lindsey, born around 1747, m. Rachel (presumed Tallant)(Wm2).

Jess3-1787 was the youngest son of Wm2 and he migrated to Sevier Co., TN by 1810,
along with his mother and likely his younger sisters. The Y-study makes it clear that

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the Group-4 and Group-11 Lindseys were two distinct Lindsey lines.13 It is important
to realize that there were two different Lindsey lines present in Sevier Co. around
this time, for only the Group 11 descendants show autosomal DNA connection to
the Jess-1822 descendants.

Initially three Bush descendants, all descendants of Sarah Elizabeth Bush, were
noted to have these ties to Jess3-1787. Her mother was a Thornton. The father of
her children was a Duggan. The match results are not shared by relatives from either
of her lines. Shared matches indicate that these matches flow from DNA contributed
by Jess-1822. Some of the first matches recorded were the following:

13
All of Patrick’s male line descendants fall into group 11 in the Lindsey Y-Study. All of the descendants of
Charles and his siblings fall into Group 4. The Study results are compiled here: https://lindsay.one-
name.net/dna/dna-participants/

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The matches were not ONLY with descendants of Jess3-1787. If they were, we might
be looking at an Ivey14 line that was the source of the matches, but clearly, there are
segments shared with descendants of the siblings of Jess3-1787 as well.

14
Independent filters for Ivey matches were conducted on all three of the Bush test kits. No Ivey matches
of any significance were identified, other than those who were also Lindsey descendants.

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 Ruth 1780 m. Briley
Andrew J Briley 1814
Wm Andrew Briley 1853 Isaac Shelby Briley 1842
Anthony Briley 1886 Lucy Ellen Briley 1879 m. Ettleman Manford B Briley
Donald A Briley 1931 Fred Ettleman 1925 ____Ettleman Patricia Ettleman 1921 Bessie Marie Ettleman Jennie E Briley
John A Briley 1966 Dad Lily Sophia Ross Fred Thompson Alice Marie Hodge I.T., T.T., F.T, June Thompson June Y Bayer
Chad Briley Shawn Ettleman Fred Wm Pickens dmtr25 Holly_Hoerler_Reinert
Fred Wm Pickens Jr

13 47 75 85

26 21 21 35 21

These first three Bush kits also showed ties to Sally3, the sister of Wm-1747.
Sally Lindsey 1740 m. Aaron Jeff Tallent
Jonathan m. Fanny Soward Richard 1768 James L 1780 m. Henderson
Sarah 1799 m. Moats Thos 1793 Aaron Tallent 1807
Malinda Moats 1824 Wm e 1814 Eliza m. Cummings Jas Harv. Tallent
John Wm Stowers 1849 Permelia m. Aarons Britte Anna m. Hall John Green Tallent
Ethel Stowers Wm Thos Aaron Stella m. Stair Wm Harv Tallent
Albert Ramsey Mary B Aaron Edith m. Bentley 1_jnickel34
Ruby Ramsey Dallas Zane Henderson Roy Lee Bently
Mom McClain Pamela Miller cjaneb71348
Eddie Ramirez

21 23 26

In 1850 Jess3-1787 appeared on the Sevier Co. census with Salina (“Liney”) and
reported being born in NC around 1787. On this 1850 census, he was 63, with four
of his youngest children still living at home. His sons John and William lived in
neighboring households.

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Jess3-1787 was also on the census for Sevier co. in 1840 and 1830.

On the 1840 census the household was comprised of Jesse in his 50s and Salina in
her 40s, along with one male under age 5 (Eli), two 5-9 (Joel, Sherrod), one 10-14
(John was 13), one female 5-9 (Martha), one 10-14 (Elizabeth was 12 – she had
married Richard Evans by 1850), two 15-19 (Rachel was 16, she later married a
Tyson, and Sarah Jane “Jennie” was 18, she later married Samuel McGaha), and one
20-29 (Lydia, 23, who would marry Isaac Huskey in 1846).

On the 1830 census Jesse was in his 40s and Salina in her 30s. In the home were
males: one under 5 (John), one 10-14 (his son Jesse, b. 1816), one 15-19 (William b.
1813); females: one under 5 (Elizabeth), two 5-9 (Rachel and Jennie), one 10-14
(Lydia). Eldest daughter Hannah (b. @ 1815) married Fredrick J. Shults in 1832.

There is no one unaccounted for in the household of Jess3-1787 in 1830, 1840 or

1850 that could have been Jess-1822. Jess3-1787 had a son that he named Jesse, so
clearly Jess-1822 was not a child of Salina. Jess3-1787 was the only Group 11 male
Lindsey a generation older than Jess-1822 in the area, yet there is no evidence that
Jess-1822 was raised in Jess3-1787’s home as a step-son or other relative. None of
his sons were old enough to have been Jess-1822’s father. The best theory is that a
younger sister of Jess3-1787 was the biological mother of Jess-1822. If she died
young, he could have been raised in the home of one of his aunts.

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If multiple Y-line descendants of Jess-1822 can provide Y-Hap submissions, the
presence or absence of a Y-hap match to Group-11 Lindsey men resolve the
question of whether Jess-1822 had a Lindsey father or a Lindsey mother. Until then,
the most likely scenario is that one of the younger, unaccounted for, sisters of Jess3-
1787 was the mother of Jess-1822.

Reconstructing the family group of Wm2 was helpful in this process. Jess3-1787 was
the only son of Wm2 with descendants. His older brother Isaac died without issue.
The Group 11 Lindsey siblings settled in Anson Co., North Carolina. A land claim deed
was issued in Sevier County, Tennessee in the name of his widowed mother, Rachel
Lindsey, in 1810 - after the death of Wm2 in 1801. The autosomal DNA ties to this
family have not been studied in detail, although some anecdotal confirmation has
been seen. Three
documents clarify
the family group of
Wm2 and Rachel
Lindsey: The “Isaac”
Will Contest, the
Lindsey Bible, and
William’s Will.
Jess3-1787 filed a
Will contest in
Robertson Co., NC in
1830 related to the
estate of his brother
of Isaac Lindsey,
several years after
Isaac’s death. He
alleged that Isaac’s
Will should be set
aside. That filing
made it clear that
Jess3 was Isaac’s only
surviving brother as
of 1830, that Isaac
left no children, and
that all of the other heirs of Isaac were Lindsey sisters.

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The petition confirms that this family is the same Lindsey family that came from
Anson Co., NC, for Martha Lindsey Sego remained in Anson Co. although others had
moved to KY or TN around 1810, which followed the death of Jesse’s father in 1807.
The statements in this court record are consistent with the information from the old
“Lindsey Family Bible” transcribed by Beulah D. Linn, Sevier County Historian, and
further reported in the Cocke Co. Heritage Book, 1992, p. 164 as follows:

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Page | 25
A thorough review of these records confirms that Jess3-1787’s father Wm2, of
Anson Co., NC, who left a Will probated in 1801 as follows:

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William Sr. on the 1790 Anson Co., NC census was Wm2.15 The two males over age
16 were Wm2 and Isaac, the one under 16 was Jess3-1787, and the five females
were wife Rachel and the first four daughters, Sarah, Ruth, Martha, and Nancy.

15
Wm2 had no son named William. Any Wm Jr. on the census was a nephew, called ‘junior’ to distinguish
him from the elder Wm2.

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Wm2’s 1800 census entry may be interpreted as follows:

1800 US Census
1 male 10-15: Jesse (13)
1 male 16-25: Isaac (likely almost 26)
1 male 45 and over: Wm2
4 females under 10:
Polly, Elizabeth, Lydia, Rachel
2 females 10-15: Nancy, Martha (11,15)
1 female 16-25: Ruth (20)
1 female 45 and over: Rachel his wife
(Sarah was married to Joshua Tallent and out of the house).

The probate for Wm2 was filed in the first half of 1801, so it is safe to say that his
death occurred in late 1800 or early 1801. The Will, the Bible entry, and the
statements in Isaac’s probate case all show only sons Jesse and Isaac.
On 23 Apr 1807 an initial land grant was issued to Rachel Lindsey for land in Sevier
Co.16 If he had filed earlier, Wm2’s widow received the grant in his place. Perhaps a
widow could file on her own account – no research has been done on that issue.
Some have suggested that this may have been related to his Rev. War service, but
no evidence of that has been found.

16
TN State Library and Archives; Nashville, TN; Early Tennessee/NC Land Records; Roll: 59; Book: 1-2

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On 12 May 1810, land grant No. 1018 was issued to Rachel Lindsey in Sevier Co.
covering the same property.

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Page | 30
Many online trees list Rachel Seward/Soward as the wife of William Lindsey, mother
of Jess3-1787. However, this has been confirmed to be incorrect by documentary
evidence. Rachel Seward born around 1738 in Maryland, daughter of Thomas
Seward and Elizabeth Johnson, married Wm2’s brother, Edward Lindsey (1736-
1792). Wm2’s wife was also named Rachel, but her surname has not been
established. DNA ties suggest that she may have been a Tallent.
Wm2 was an adult by 1771, when he entered a claim in Anson Co. for 200 acres. He
and Rachel were still having children as late as 1794. His family group would be:

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It is not clear what happened to each of these younger sisters, but the Richmond
Co., NC petition confirms that Isaac’s heirs were Jess3, Ruth Briley, and seven other
sisters or their heirs still living, thus nine shares. All are accounted for in the above
family group.
Jess3-1787 was the ancestor whose descendants showed excellent DNA ties to the
descendants of Jess-1822. But he is not a good candidate to have been his father.
Still, it would appear that the Lindseys took on primary responsibility for raising
Jesse Lindsey-Bush – something often left to the maternal family. The younger Jesse
wasn’t in the home of his uncle, so he may well have been raised by a mother, who
remarried, or who died – likely after 1830 – leaving him to be raised by an aunt.
Because the genetic ties start with Jess3, however, this review will first look at him.
Jess3 filed his first land entry in Sevier Co., which was surveyed in 1825. 17 Typically
land was identified, and
an entry was recorded.
Later a formal survey
was made, and upon
fulfilment of conditions
for settlement or
purchase (depending on
the terms under which
the land was offered) a
grant or deed followed.
The summary to the
right references the
steps and the grant that
follows confirms the
land to unto Jesse
Lindsey.

17
Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records;
Roll: 69; Book: 12

Page | 32
Page | 33
Jess3 would later obtain another 1000 acres, which may have been related to War
of 1812 service.18

18
Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Early Tennessee/North Carolina Land Records;
Roll: 82; Book: 25

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Jess3 appears to have lived out his adult life in Sevier Co. His eldest son William
(named for Wm2) was born in Tennessee and was in his 20s on the 1840 Sevier Co.
census, and still here in 1850. Neither Jess3, nor son William (too young to have
been the father) had Jess-1822 in his home in 1830 or 1840.

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Page | 36
The wife and known children of Jess3-1787 are set
out to the right. William was born in 1813 – he
certainly was not the father of Jess-1822, and since
he was the oldest child, none of his siblings will claim
that honor. The connection is likely through a child
of Wm2 and Rachel.
• Jess-1822, has strong autosomal DNA matches to
Jess3-1787 and his known siblings.
• Jess-1822 was not the child of Jesse Lindsey b.
1787 and wife Salina Ivey. They had a houseful of
children, including their own Jesse, b. 1816. No
significant DNA matches to Ivey/Ivy descendants
have been found, other than Jess3’s
descendants.
• It is unlikely (but not impossible) that Jess-1822
would have used the surname of a purported
father (in this case Jess3) if he were born out of
wedlock—and then later surrendered his
purported father’s surname. It is more likely that
he was raised as a Lindsey because his mother
was a Lindsey.
• No significant DNA ties to any Bush group has
been found.
• No Y-testing has been confirmed for Jess-1822
male line descendants.
• The most likely scenario is that Jess-1822 was
born to one of Jess3’s sisters – perhaps without
benefit of marriage. Sarah Lindsey married a
Tallent. Ruth married a Briley. Martha married a
Seago. There are five who are unaccounted for,
but who were living in 1830, at the time of the
Will contest on Isaac’s estate. These five lived in
Tennessee or in Kentucky: Nancy, Rachael, Polly,
Elizabeth and Lydia.

Page | 37
We have Wm2’s Family Group may be described as follows:

Three of Wm2’s daughters can be documented.

Page | 38
 1. In 1790, Joshua Tallent was a single man on page 198 of the Anson Co. census,
near the Lindsey and Seago families. Joshua would soon marry Sarah Lindsey,
the oldest daughter of Wm2, and they would settle in what was ultimately
Clinton Co., Kentucky. The Will of Wm2 references her as Sarah Tallent, and
the Lindsey Bible mentions this marriage and her child Mary born in 1801. In
1830 Jess3’s pleadings in Isaac’s Will contest suggest that all eight of his
sisters were still living. In 1841, Sarah and Joshua Tallent signed affidavits in
support of Nancy Liles’ application for a pension. Nancy was related by
marriage to the Sowards and to the Tallents. (She was not the Nancy who was
the younger sister of Sarah). Joshua Tallent and his wife Sarah Lindsey Tallent
were still living in 1840, and were on the Clinton Co., KY census, as follows:

2. The Will contest pleadings stated that Ruth Lindsey had married William
Briley, and that they too were living in Kentucky. They were in Cumberland
County, KY in 1820 and 1830. William died in 1838, but Ruth is found in
Clinton County, in 1840. She was likely near Joshua and Sarah Tallent, and
appears on the same page as their son Aaron Tallent and her own son, Jesse
Briley.

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Ruth was still living in 1850, when she appeared living next door to her son Andrew.

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 3. In the Will contest pleadings noted that Martha Lindsey had married Joseph
Seago, and remained in Anson Co., NC. In 1850, Martha Seago was listed, age
62, as a widow living with her daughter Mary who had married James Eason.

Rachel Lindsey, widow of Wm2, received a land grant in Sevier County and by 1810
the family was making its way to Tennessee. Martha Lindsey Seago remained in
Anson Co. The two oldest daughters migrated to Kentucky. There is no record of
what happened to the youngest five daughters, but finding who they married, and
doing autosomal DNA comparisons with their descendants, if kits can be located,
may be the key to determining whether one of those five daughters was the mother
of Jesse Lindsey-Bush.

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