About

In preparation of the United States upcoming Bi-Centennial celebration, my uncle Billy Ralls (deceased) started looking into our Ralls family genealogy.  His research resulted in the publication, “A Man Called Ralls” in 1976 and identified our earliest known ancestor, Willis Ralls (1776 – 1848).  In 1977, “Roots” captivated American’s and it was during this time that I began my genealogy journey. 

I spent the next several years working to determine Willis Ralls’ father, but to no avail.  On 29 Sep 2006 myself and three of my fellow Ralls/Rawls researchers decided to take the Y-37 test with Family Tree DNA.  When the results came back, I was surprised to find that I did not match the tow Ralls/Rawls who I thought our Willis descended from.  However, I did match a descendant of Silas Rawls, Sr. (1751 – 1821).  As we continued recruiting Ralls/Rawls participants, we did not match any of these Ralls/Rawls who descended from William “the Immigrant” Rolles of Nansemond County, Colony of Virginia. 

My interest in the Jernigan Y-DNA Project is that descendants of my Willis Ralls (1776 – 1848) match Jernigan descendants as do descendants of Silas Rawls (1751 – 1821).  The first Jernigan in America was Thomas “the Immigrant” Jernigan.  Thomas’ adjacent neighbor was William “the Immigrant” Rolles (Ralls) in Nansemond County, VA.  Both arrived in Nansemond Co., VA around the 1630’s.  The Jernigan and Ralls/Rawls families resided close to each other in Nansemond Co, VA and Bertie County, NC for the next two hundred years. I believe our Non-Paternal Event (NPE) occurred between 1650 and 1750 (most likely closer to 1750).