On 27 July 2022 I posted on the two Jernigan Facebook pages, “Jernigan Genealogy Family History Page” and “The Jernigan Family Surname” a discussion of the results of two identified sons of Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan. Both Y-DNA testers descended from John Wiley Jernigan and James Marion Jernigan, respectfully, were negative to the SNP R-BY27673. All Y-DNA Jernigan participants are positive to SNP R-BY27673. At that time, I wasn’t certain if Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan descended from a male Jernigan and on my research charts, I marked him as doubtful since he was The Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) of these two testers.
A recent query on Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan prompted me to go back and look at my Jernigan research tree and further develop Jesse’s line.
What do we know about Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan (1808 – 1891)? The first records I have for Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan and his wife Anna are the 1850 U.S. Census for Bradyville, Cannon Co., TN. Listed in his household are Anna his spouse, and children John W., James M. (I believe the transcribed M is a W), Andrew L., Lewis W., and Martha A.
The 1860 U.S. Census for Yansie, Rutherford Co., TN list Jesse, his spouse A.E. (Anna), L.W. (Lewis W.), M.A. (Martha A.) and I.S. (the census appears to be J.S. for Jackson Spencer versus Ancestry’s transcription).
On 10 Dec 1864, Coffee Co., TN marries Matilda Walker. On the 1870 and 1880 Census’ Matilda is referred as Atilda and Atilla respectfully.
Many Family Trees on Ancestry merge Anna and Matilda as one person. However, based on the marriage record and the birth of the children, I believe they are two separate wives. As I further developed the lines of Rev. Jesse Burton’s children, I discovered a new piece of evidence that I believe sheds some insight into my hypothesis.
In Andrew Jesse Jernigan’s obituary, Andrew is listed as “the eldest son of a pioneer Baptist preacher, Rev. Jesse Jernigan”. This would make sense if the two oldest children listed in the 1860 census were from a possible previous Anna E. marriage.
In Andrew Jesse Jernigan’s obituary, Andrew is listed as “the eldest son of a pioneer Baptist preacher, Rev. Jesse Jernigan”. This would make sense if the two oldest children listed in the 1860 census were from a possible previous Anna E. marriage.
Our new hypothesis is, John Wiley Jernigan and James Marion Jernigan are stepsons of Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan and sons of Anna E. Unknown from a previous marriage.
We can use Y-DNA analysis to confirm whether Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan is the son of Lewis Jernigan (1778 – c1860) and Francis Douglas (1778 – 1852). We would test a male Jernigan descendant of Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan other three sons, i.e., Andrew Jesse, Louis Willis and Jackson Spencer Jernigan.
If a male descendant of Andrew Jesse, Louis Willis or Jackson Spencer Jernigan is positive to SNP R-BY27673, then we can conclude Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan is a male Jernigan descendant. This would also support our hypothesis that John Wiley Jernigan and James Marion Jernigan are stepsons of Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan.
In addition to Y-DNA testing, additional research into Rev. Jesse Burton Jernigan is needed. Some additional areas for research are:
- County Records
- Local Histories
- Confirm that he was a minister at Hopewell Baptist Church, Bradyville, TN and examine any Church records during his ministry.
Genetic Genealogy GuidePost 