Henry Magoon

John William Davis (1819-1912) and Abiah Magoon (1830-1917) lived and died in southern Quebec near our great-great-grandparents Andrew and Margaret McFall.

John and Abiah had fifteen children – eight sons and seven daughters. Twelve survived childhood, married, and had children. I have multiple DNA matches with descendants of nine of their children - two of which are expected since they married siblings of our great-grandmother Matilda McFall. This means they are probably our great-great-grandparents.

Henry is Abiah Magoon's 4th-great-grandfather. He is our 6th or 7th great-grandfather.

He was captured by the English on September 3, 1650 at the Battle of Dunbar. 150 of the prisoners were sent to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as indentured servants. His indenture was purchased by Nicholas Lissen and Henry eventually married Lissen's second daughter Elizabeth.

Dunbar Prisoners in New Hampshire
The Battle of Dunbar

My father's father

Genealogy has been my hobby for over 30 years. In the early 1990s, son Jeff was doing family history research and came to me with a shocking question, "Did you know your father was illegitimate?" I didn't, but he was able to prove it. My dad died in 1991. So I could not ask him about it. My mother claimed ignorance as did dad's brother Gene and my cousin Judy.
 

Dad was born on  September 11, 1906 in Toronto, Canada. His mother, Ellen Wilson, did not return to her parents home in Manistee, Michigan until 1908. In the Wilson Family Bible, my dad is listed as Bertie McCall. The 1910 census lists Ellen Wilson and Bert McCall living with Ellen's parents. Ellen married Arthur Grenier in 1913. The 1920 census lists my dad as Herbert Grenier son of Arthur and Ellen Grenier.

 

 

 

It is still possible that Arthur Grenier is my grandfather since in 1942 my father's mother swore an affidavit that he was.

 

DNA testing

y-DNA is passed from father to son from generation to generation. I convinced my cousin Sonny Grenier to take a y-DNA test to prove or disprove Arthur is my grandfather. We did not match. Grandma lied.

A Helen Wilson gave birth to a Herbert Wilson on September 11, 1906, in a home for unwed mothers in Toronto, Canada. 

 

The McFall and Davis families

In the late 19^th century, the McFall and Davis families were living and farming, just a couple miles apart, near the Ottawa River, in southern Quebec. The river marks the border with Ontario.  The Davis family had fifteen children and the McFall family nine. For this story, we are interested in six of the children: Matilda, William, and Jennie McFall; Roxie, Wilder, and Melissa Davis.

Matilda is my great-grandmother. She immigrated to Michigan and married William Wilson in Oscoda, in eastern Michigan, where my grandmother Ellen was born. Later (sometime between 1886 and 1891) the family moved to Eastlake near Manistee.

 William McFall married Roxie Davis. For a while, they lived in Free Soil, Michigan which is near Manistee. Their daughter Rachel was born there in 1878. They moved back to Canada. Jennie McFall married Wilder Davis. The point is the McFall and Davis families knew each other very well.

Melissa Davis married her first cousin Alfred Conant Dow. They moved from Canada to near Manistee before 1880. They had nine children. Four of the six boys did not survive childhood. The two who did were Fred and Leonard.

Alfred’s mother was Mary Ann Davis. The Ancestry.com DNA test identified her as a common ancestor of me and Joy VanderVen as second cousins. That means we have the same great-grandparents. That would be Alfred Conant Dow and Melissa Davis. It could be one of Alfred’s and Melissa’s sons. Joy’s grandfather was Leonard Dow.

Leonard was married and living in Victory near Manistee in 1905. Ellen became pregnant in late 1905 or early 1906 since my father was born on September 11. Leonard was 32 and Ellen was 21. The families knew each other. If the DNA test is accurate, Leonard could be my grandfather.

However, Leonard's father Alfred,  brother Fred, and brother-in-law Peter Collier were also living in the area. 

 

To confirm the hypothesis that my paternal grandfather was Leonard Dow, I needed to have a male Dow take a y-DNA test. In 2018, I found and contacted a Robert Dow who is descended from Leonard's brother Fred. He agreed to take a y-DNA test. If we matched, it would confirm that my father was descended from a male Dow. We did not match. To be certain that I am not descended from a male Dow, I should try to find another Dow to test. I should also find a male descendant of Peter Collier.

 

If I am not descended from Melissa Davis and Alfred Dow, I am descended from one of her siblings. Based on DNA matches found so far, the strongest possibilities would be John or George Davis since I have DNA matches with several of their descendants.

I have very strong matches with descendants of John Davis and Mary McNeill. The possibilities based on age would be (Gilbert (1881-1957), Christopher (1882-), Robert (1885-1963), and Hiram (1887-1922).

 

 

DNA autosomal investigation

I had my Ancestry autosomal DNA test in early 2014. Later, I transferred the data to Family Tree DNA, My Heritage DNA, and GEDMATCH.com. I also tested at 23andMe and Living DNA.

The following are confirmed DNA matches on Ancestry.com (A), Family Tree DNA (F), GEDCOM Match (G), MyHeritage (M) and/or 23andMe (2).  The second column contains an abbreviation for the relationship to me. For example, Gail Anne Harlow is my second cousin and John Kreilick is my second cousin once removed. The third column contains the amount of DNA shared measured in centimorgans.

Grenier (father’s father)
A		Son		3,443	Jeff Grenier
Wilson-McFall (father’s mother)
M	2C		185.7		Gail Anne Harlow	Matilda McFall - George Wilson (Frank)
A	2C		163		Ronald Kinney	Matilda McFall - George Wilson (Maude)
A	2C1R		199		John Kreilick	Matilda McFall - George Wilson (Maude)
A	3C		63		Michael DeRaedt	Mary Jane McFall –George Julien
A	3C		477		Jdavis47-1	Jennie McFall – Wilder Davis
A	3C		124		Ellwood Mac Quarrie	William McFall – Roxie Davis
A	3C		33		Sandra Gail McGlashan	Elizabeth McFall – George Sheffield
A	3C1R		28.7		Andrew Chernysh	Elizabeth McFall – George Sheffield
AFG	3C1R		28.4		Michael Seguin	Elizabeth McFall – George Sheffield
A	4C		197		Laurie McFall	William McFall – Roxie Davis
Kobusch – Hallenberg – Hoelzel - Hemme (mother’s father)
A	1C1R		413		Jessica Kobusch	Herman Kobusch – Emma Junius
A	1C1R		272		Leslie Perkins	Herman Kobusch – Emma Junius
2	2C		262		Jolie Collins nee Landers	FW Kobusch – Magdalena Hallenberg
2	2C		249		Carrie Bartholomew nee Landers	FW Kobusch – Magdalena Hallenberg
M	2C1R		183.3		Barbara Hillquist nee Anderson	Clara Hallenberg – Adam Bortner
A	2C1R		128		Melissa Wait	FW Kobusch III – Vernie Berger
2	2C1R		91		Britini Collins (Jolie’s daughter)	FW Kobusch – Magdalena Hallenberg
A	2C2R		55		Taylor Corbin	Harry Kobusch – Imalea Lightfoot Harry is my grandfather’s brother.
A	2C2R		36		Drulg (Ancestry ID)	Heinrich Hemme – Dorothea Brackmann
2	3C		72		Scott Bortner	Clara Hallenberg – Adam Bortner
2	3C		50		Mark Bortner	Clara Hallenberg – Adam Bortner
2	3C		35		Susana Allen (AKA Hemingway)	Emma Hallenberg – George Schaefering
2	3C1R		72		Andria Moffat nee Bortner	Clara Hallenberg – Adam Bortner
A	4C		38		Deborah Dietrich Territo She is descended from Maria’s sister Auguste Wilhelmine Hoelzel who married Carl Gusoskey.	August Hoelzel - Christiane Eckhardt 3rd great-grandparents. Daughter Maria married Henry Hallenberg 2nd great-grandparents
A	4C1R		21.2		Chris Territo (Deborah’s son)
A	5C		37		Mara Hornby nee Hemme	Jurgen Hemme - Anna Riekenberg
AG	5C		25.6		Deborah Giddings nee Kammeyer	Jurgen Hemme - Anna Riekenberg
A	5C		21.9		Susan Glidewell	Jurgen Hemme - Anna Riekenberg
Junius, Wagner (mother’s mother)
A	3C		100		Sharon Junius Grcevic	John Junius (great-grandfather’s brother)
F	3C		26		Jean Marie Dransoff Budwig	John Junius
F	3C		62		Rita Dransoff	John Junius
AF	3C		55		Thomas Dransoff	John Junius
A	3C		55		Meredith Elin Bulger Gray	John Junius
A	3C		44		Mark Turnes	Marie Junius (great-grandfather’s sister)
A	3C1R		44		Amanda Badgely Jensik	John Junius
A	3C1R		30		Jack Enter (AKA Kenter on Ancestry)	John Junius
G, 2	3C1R		21.8		Christopher Junius (son of Tom)	John Junius
2	3C1R		29		McKenna Loraine Junius	John Junius
A	4C		28.1		Mary Catherine Lynch	Henri Wagner & Anne-Marie Weber

William John Davis – Abiah Magoon (suspected ancestors)
AFG		152	Joy VanderVen	Melissa Davis (daughter) – Alfred Dow
AM		103	Judy Christou (Teresa’s sister)	George Edgar Davis (son) - Sarah McNeil He is a brother of Melissa Davis Dow
AM		73	Teresa (Gillen) Bedel, Edmonton (Ancestry.com name ahclead)	Judy’s sister
A		42	Lynn Haugen	Lydia Roana Davis (daughter)
A		21.6	Greta Keverline	Maria Davis (daughter)– John Henry Hughes
Leonard Conant Dow – Mary Ann Davis (sister of William John Davis)
AFG		152	Joy VanderVen	Alfred Conant Dow (son) – Melissa Davis
A		94	Rene’ Davenport Hawarny (Ancestry.com name mijeka)	Worthford Leonard Dow (son)
A		48	Katelyn Hawarny (Rene’s daughter)	Worthford Leonard Dow (son)
A		24.4	Michael Hawarny (Rene’s son)	Worthford Leonard Dow (son)
A		64	Anne Davenport Clahassey (Rene’s sister)	Worthford Leonard Dow (son)

Considering fourth cousins or closer, I have 432 DNA matches on Ancestry.com, 229 fifth cousins or closer on Family Tree DNA and 104 on My Heritage DNA. It is difficult to confirm most of the matches because the person does not share surnames or a family tree.

It is interesting that there are thirty-three matches to confirmed family cousins but none (at least not yet) to a Grenier. But there are nine suspected ancestors.

Matilda McFall Wilson Anderson is my paternal great-grandmother. Elizabeth, Jennie, and Mary Jane are her sisters. Jennie and her descendants are connected to the William Davis – Abiah Magoon family because she married their son Wilder Davis. My great-grandmother’s brother, William Alexander McFall, was married to Wilder’s sister Roxie.

I am convinced that my father is descended from the Dow-Davis family. I have confirmed matches with twenty persons (not all are listed above). A likely candidate is Joy VanderVen’s late grandfather Leonard Dow. However, I am still investigating other Dow-Davis descendants. This has proved to be false.

I am also pursuing Y-DNA testing with my cousin Sonny Grenier. On January 23, 2018, Sonny agreed to have his DNA tested.  He submitted the test during the last week of February. On May 24, Living DNA informed him that his sample was insufficient and would send another kit. In early September 2018, he received his result. Our haplogroups did not match confirming that his father and mine did not have the same father.

On the same day in January, I contacted Bill Dow a great-grandson of Leonard. He is the only living Y-DNA descendant. Or so I thought! I was disappointed when he told me he was adopted and not a Dow descendant. The next step will involve finding living Y-DNA descendants of Leonard’s brother Fred.

I found and contacted Robert Dow Jr. I ordered 23andMe test on Amazon Prime Day. He submitted the test on July 24, 2018.  He received his results on September 12, 2018. His haplogroup Q-L804 does not match mine G2a- CTS9737. This means my paternal grandfather was not a male Dow and invalidates a hypothesis I have been trying to prove for since April 2016.

I did not learn that my paternal grandfather was really my father’s stepfather until after my father had passed. My father never mentioned this and my mother said she did not know this. I have evidence from a family bible, the 1910 census, and Ontario birth records that he was probably illegitimate. My grandmother married A. J. Grenier when my father was almost 7 years old. All that does not eliminate the possibility that A. J. was the father.

Two years ago, I contacted by woman, JMV, claiming to be a second cousin. We matched on Ancestry at 152 cM. The woman, MDD, she claimed to be our common ancestor was in my database as a collateral person. Since, that time, I have identified more than 20 matches with that family and none for any Greniers.