Finding My Stringfellow Surname

Back in April 2023, when 23andMe WAS still dope, I stumbled upon my “White” cousins. 23andMe once upon showed common DNA matches, with that information, I was able to tell if a person was related to me on my mother’s side or father’s side based on who we shared in common. I came to the conclusion that the “Stringfellow”s are related to me on my Paternal, Maternal, Paternal side. So, my dad’s mother’s father’s side.

Like some, I’ve always wanted to know WHO my “White” cousins were. The way we are related is evident.

I browsed the list and I found a group of cousins that had all done the DNA. On 23andMe, it clearly stated, Mary is your cousin. When you compare Mary to yourself and click on the “common DNA matches that you and Mary share.” It would say that Abby is Mary’s daughter or Sarah is Mary’s first cousin. With that kind of information, it made my research a slam dunk. I’m thinking that’s probably WHY they took that kind of information off of their site.

I reluctantly reached out to a few of my “white” cousins and I was actually super nervous because I wasn’t sure of their stance. I wasn’t sure if they would accept me as family or not. They were VERY supportive and accepting of the fact that it says that we are blood-related cousins.

Surprisingly BEFORE I had pulled up our family’s Last Will and Testament, One of my cousins had sent me a list of ALL the slaves that our Ancestor had owned.

The problem with those, is they don’t have birthdates and I never know WHICH one belonged to me. The Stringfellows were a big name in the Slave Trade Business, with that being said, I’m not sure Which Stringfellow was my 3x Great-grandfather.

If my “white” line is very well documented, and 23andMe gives an estimate, I should be able to use the process of elimination to at least narrow down my search. I see that according to estimates, we share the same 3rd Great Grandparents.

Back to the STORY……..

I dove in and cross-checked the name “Stringfellow” on Ancestry, I did see that a couple of the same cousins did the DNA on Ancestry also. When I tell you I was geeked, I was GEEKED!!!! On Ancestry, I found some African Americans related to Stringfellows also, however, theirs came from Mississippi, and Mine from Alabama. However, looking back over the messages from my cousin on 23andMe, she states that her dad was born in Mississippi. So, I’m pretty sure I’m on the right track.

Whenever I get into unfamiliar territories, I call on my Cousin Sherry in California. She’s a genealogy expert!! During Covid, we became REALLY close and THAT’S when I learned that she was Magic!!! She was the first to hear of my Blog idea and encouraged me to do it. Granted it took me 3 years, but I finally did! I called on Cousin Sherry to help me connect the dots with the Stringfellows. In typical matters, I build the DNA match’s tree up as far as I can and on my side, I’ve done the research on my family so far up and out that typically, it takes me about 20 minutes to connect the dots. However, when it comes to slaves and slave owners, I get a bit intimidated.

I feel like slavery research is out of my current scope. This is what Cousin Sherry helped me with. Of course, To Be continued…….. Research is never done. I learned a few things along the way. P.S., we ALWAYS have “side notes” because I ALWAYS have questions that she doesn’t mind answering.