DNA Test Results Revealed Our Grandmothers Were Sisters

DNA Test Connected Cousins

A couple days ago a lady named Georgia Marie Strickland message me about a DNA result. She said that our grandmothers' were sisters. I know my maternal grandmother's sisters. So I immediately thought that this had to a connection on my father 's side of the family. I didn't know anything about my paternal grandparents or great-grandparents. Only what I found on the United States Census. I started researching my maternal grandmother Mary McKay Boykins and found a lot about her family. She was from Pike County, Mississippi. He parents were Charlie and Florence Williams McKay.

My great-grandmother Florence parents were; Alex and Rebecca Williams. Her sibling were; Jerry, Ada, Amanda, and Rosa L. Williams. Georgia Marie Strickland is the granddaughter of Rosa. Rosa was the youngest of Alex and Rebecca children. She was born in 1898 in Amite County, Mississippi and died in McComb, Mississippi in 1986. 

Florence was born in 1884 and died in 1966. I was very happy to see that we connected through DNA.

Four Enslaved People on John Burton and Rebecca Womack Burton Place

Jacob "Jake" Boykins and his wife
Martha Burton Boykins

I spent the day researching my paternal ancestors in St. Helena Parish Courthouse. My paternal great grandmother Martha Burton Boykins. I researched the files of John Burton and Rebecca Womack Burton.  John married Rebecca in 1821 and she died in 1834, leaving community property, 5 negroes, tracts of land with mills, stock of horses, cattle, household, etc.

December 3, 1833 Oath of Abner Womack under-tutor to the minor heirs of Rebecca Womack, decd wife of John Burton, viz, Celia, Nancy Lucy, Jane, Abner and Rebecca Ann Burton.

December 3, 1835-Property appraised at $2000.00

December 3, 1835-Family meeting composed of friends and relatives of John Burton and his dead wife, wiz: Abraham Womack, Robert Burton, Daniel Addison, Cade D. Strickland, and Simpson Hutchinson.

Probate sale to be held Jan. 11, 1836, 160 acres bounded W by Tickfaw River, saw mill, house, slaves, cattles, etc. Estate purchase by John Burton for $2000. 

My heart ached when I read some of the document that said who was going to be sold on the St. Helena Courthouse steps that morning. I look at each of  their names listed on the inventory document and thought long and hard about how hard this was for each of them. My father passed away February 2019 and, "I know if he was alive he would be so happy to know that I'm finding his family history,"