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LINDA LOVETT YOUNG,
A FAMILY HISTORY

Linda Lovett Young, A Family History

Our families have exhibited a common denominator which has been revealed since DNA testing: we sprang from the Norse lands of Europe, from the areas which were inhabited by the Vikings (now ya'll see why I like to travel!). Both the Y-DNA and the mt-DNA have revealed this similarity in our genes (haplogroup I1 with the Ultra Norse Y-DNA gene I1-uN-13-15 ), found in our Lovett male line initially, then due to a non-paternity event, we have discovered that, lo and behold, we really have Webb genes in our blood! We match scores of Webb males tested to some degree, but our one step mutation out of 67 markers is a Webb family from Virginia, and we are closely related to several others from Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. We have about 30 Webb males and 1 Lovett(us) who are very closely related, and we are diligently working together to discover our common links. I have definitely identified the break in the DNA.

Our mt-DNA surnames researched to date are McKee (Mackay) of Georgia and Alabama, Horn and Thomas in Alabama, Pickett (Piggot) from Virginia to Alabama, and Kirkland from Virginia to Alabama. Kirkland has been thus far a dead end with my mt-DNA line. The Byrd family has deadlocked for the dozens of descendants researching it, with the Revolutionary War veteran William Byrd, and wife Frances, who appeared in Darlington County, SC, in 1782, and not a trace of his ancestors can be found in either South Carolina, or North Carolina. They apparently resided in Virginia, but I have been unable to link him to any of the families there as of this date. Any contributions will be much appreciated.

And for the others, we have Bruce (Brousse) back to the Orkney Islands, part of a Viking band, then our namesake sailed to France with his brother Rollo, or Roland, and accepted land from the King of France in lieu of Danegeld (ransom); settling there to become landowners and ending their life of seafaring and raiding. Our ancestor, Regenwald de Brusee, Earl of Ladoga, married Felicia, the daughter of the peer Robert of Normandy, and built Brusee Castle, which would be inherited by the first-born son through many generations. Less fortunate younger sons went to England with William the Conqueror to seek their fortune, and one of these descendants was Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland. Our family later became Protestants (Protesters), or French Huguenots, in the 16th century, and our immigrant ancestor, Jacques de la Brousse, arrived in Virginia in 1700, with his young son Pierre, and they became residents of Manakintown, until Peter migrated south to Halifax County, North Carolina.

Our ancestor Jean de la Fontaine was in the service of the King of France. About 1534 he had embraced Protestanism with his father. He, his wife and eldest son were murdered in 1563 by soldiers of Charles IX. The remaining sons escaped to England and Ireland, and our ancestor, Jean de la Fontaine, arrived in America in 1635. However, it was his grandson, Jean Fountaine, for whom I have the 1692 Virginia naturalization records, and the judge formally changed his name to John Fountaine. This family immigrated to North Carolina, where John Fountain married Ann Bruce (the granddaughter of Jacques Brousse), then their grandson, William Fountain, went to Darlington, South Carolina.

Other Huguenot families were Cornu, Garnier, and Piggot (Pickett).

Other families of note are the solidly English Thorntons from Gernford, Cheshire, and Middlesex; the Gary family and the Lees who were well-known Virginians; the Scots highlanders McKees; the McBrides, perhaps my only Irish family; and then there was Nance, Rutherford, Dozier, Mitchell, Dales, Butts.......

All our New World families came between 1635 and 1700, and immigrated on ships from England (even the French Huguenots were in England first) to Virginia, then moving south to North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and/or Alabama. They moved south on the migration routes first used by the Indians, followed the land auctions, and they were farmers. They were religious, church-going people who worked hard to raise their families. Click on the links above to find the details of the ones I have researched most diligently.

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