Charles T. Ross (bef1791-aft1835)
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Charles T. Ross | |
|---|---|
| Born | bef. 1791 |
| Residence | • Stewart County, Tennessee • Izard County, Arkansas |
| Children | |
| Family | Rosses of Rocky River |
| Mother | Elizabeth Unknown |
| Father | William Ross Sr. of Rocky River |
Charles T. Ross was a son of William Ross Sr. of Montgomery and Stewart County, Tennessee, and Elizabeth, documented there and later in Izard County, Arkansas, between 1812 and 1835. He is the subject of a working identification, currently under research, as the father of Eli Ross.
DNA evidence
Y-DNA
A documented direct male-line descendant of Eli Ross has been Y-DNA tested, returning haplogroup R-FT424248. This is a match to the largest group in the the Ross Surname Project, Y-DNA R Haplogroup - Family 01.
Several participants have been found to carry this R-FT424248 haplogroup. They descend from James Ross of Monroe County. Y-DNA is telling us that Eli and these James Ross descendants share a common ancestor who lived circa 1790 CE [1650-1890 CE].
It is not yet clear how Eli might be related to James of Monroe County, but several researchers have determined that Eli is most likely descended from William Ross Sr. through Charles T. Ross.[1]
Eli is often to connected in trees to Nathan Ross Sr. of Stewart County, mostly likely due to their geographical proximity. Nathan was the grandson of William Ross Sr. of Martin County. We do not yet have Y-DNA results from this line for comparison.
R Haplogroup - Family 01 is a large group that shares a common ancestor who lived circa 1100 CE. It breaks into three main branches, two of which contain Ross kits and the other containing a combination of Ross and Rose kits. Kits descended from Hugh Rose, 8th of Kilravock, fall into the Ross and Rose branch. It is currently assumed that this branch represents the descendants of Hugh Rose, 1st of Kilravock, who appeared in the Highlands in the 13th century. It was thought by historians several centuries ago that his ancestors came from Rots in Normandy during the Conquests with William's brother Odo who was bishop of Bayeux.[2][3]
The Ross branches are still unknown. There is legend that Kilravock descends from, or is kin to, Ross of Halkhead, Lords of Parliament. It is entirely possible that one or both of the Ross branches descend from Ross of Halkhead, but there is not yet Y-DNA evidence to confirm this. They could also potentially represent descendants of another family that came from Normandy during the Conquest. There were several that settled in England including Ros of Kent and Roos of Helmsley.[2]
Eli's results fall into the larger of the two Ross branches.
This Kilravock group is descended from R1b-L21, known as the Atlantic Celtic branch. These peoples had reached what is now Germany by 2500 BCE and had crossed over to Britain by about by 2100 BCE.[4] This is not to say that the Kilravock line made its way to Britain 4,000 years ago and remained there. It's entirely possible that there were additional migrations that placed them back in the area of Normandy at the time of the Conquest as is postulated by later historians. While Y-DNA testing has not yet refuted this theory, it also has not confirmed it. More testing is needed.
Autosomal DNA
Biography
Early life
No birth record has been located for Charles T. Ross. His birth is estimated as before 1791, on the assumption that he was of adult age when appointed overseer of a Stewart County road in August 1812 (see below).[5] He is named as a son of William Ross Sr. and Elizabeth in a 10 January 1835 deed in which he conveyed his share of his late father's land (see below).[6] No independent primary source (a census entry or similar) has yet been located for this article documenting Charles T. Ross's own birth or early life.
Stewart County, Tennessee, road overseer appointment, 1812
At the Stewart County, Tennessee Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions held at Dover on 3 August 1812, Charles Ross was appointed overseer of the road from the state line to the old hay stacks, with Stephen Howell, Charles Howell, Daniel Bain, William Whitefield, Matthew Free, James English, Joshua Ross, and John Ross ordered to work under him.[5]
Montgomery County, Tennessee, deed witness record, 1816
At the Montgomery County Court session of 24 October 1816, a deed of conveyance from William Ross Jr. to Daniel Henderson for 60 acres was proven on the oath of a witness, John Henderson, who also testified that the deed's other witness, Charles Ross, was by then living outside the state.[7]
Izard County, Arkansas, records, 1833–1835
By 4 December 1833, Charles T. Ross was serving as a Justice of the Peace for Izard County, Arkansas, per a notice in that day's issue of The Arkansas Advocate.[8]
On 10 January 1835, Charles T. Ross, of Izard County, Arkansas, by his attorney Joshua Ross, conveyed his share of the 140-acre Green Tree Grove tract of his late father, William Ross, deceased, to James Walker of Christian County, Kentucky — the same tract in which William Ross Jr. had sold his own heir's share to the same buyer several years earlier.[6]
Ancestors
| William Ross Sr. of Rocky River | |||||||||
| Charles T. Ross (bef1791-aft1835) | |||||||||
| Elizabeth Unknown | |||||||||
- Charles T. Ross
Charles T. Ross was a son of William Ross Sr. and Elizabeth.
Marriage and children
No spouse is documented for Charles T. Ross. His children, per a working identification currently under research:
- Eli Ross
- Elizabeth Ross, m. Unknown Hancock — reported to have later moved through Illinois, Arkansas, and Texas.[1]
Occupation
Charles T. Ross served as a Justice of the Peace for Izard County, Arkansas, by December 1833.[8]
Military
Death & burial
No death or burial record has been found for Charles T. Ross. He is last documented alive on 10 January 1835, in Izard County, Arkansas.[6]
Timeline
Research notes
Charles T. Ross's identification as the father of Eli Ross is a working theory developed by fellow researchers Jana Killebrew and Jim Long, based on land-record research and preliminary DNA analysis, and communicated by correspondence.[1] No primary source directly naming Eli Ross's father has been located for this article. See Eli Ross for the fuller discussion, including the previously-suspected but now-doubted identification of Eli as a son of Nathan Ross of the "Rosses of Martin County" family.
Possible 1840 Lawrence County, Arkansas census entry
A Charles T. Ross appears on the 1840 U.S. Census for Black River Township, Lawrence County, Arkansas, in a household of one male aged 5–10, one male aged 40–50, one female under 5, one female aged 10–15, one female aged 20–30, and no enslaved persons.[9] Lawrence County is adjacent to Izard County, and the household's male aged 40–50 is consistent with a man born before 1791, but no document directly ties this census entry to the Charles T. Ross of this article, and the identification is treated here as unconfirmed.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Jana Killebrew, "Re: Ross Surname Project Y-DNA results," email to Kelly Moores and others, July 8, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Douglas 1764, p. 580.
- ↑ "Rose". Clan Central. Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia.
- ↑ "Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)". Eupedia. May 9, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stewart County, Tennessee Court Minutes, April 1808 – November 1812, p. 155 (3 August 1812); image, WikiTree (https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Howell-2858-11).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Stewart County, Tennessee Deed Book I, pp. 23–24 (10 January 1835).
- ↑ Montgomery County, Tennessee County Court Minutes, Volume 6, p. 116 (24 October 1816); Transcriptions of the County Archives of Tennessee No. 63, Montgomery County (Clarksville), County Court Minutes Volume 7, 1816–1817 (Tennessee Historical Records Survey, Works Progress Administration, 1940), p. 62.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Arkansas Advocate (Little Rock, Arkansas), 4 December 1833, p. 2.
- ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBX-XV4), entry for Charles T Ross, Lawrence, Arkansas.
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
Disclaimer
It is admittedly impossible that we have been able to evaluate every piece of evidence available for every person included on this site. What you often find on the internet, though, are trees with no sources attached at all. Many of these trees were created pre-internet & have been passed down, uploaded & copied to multiple sites without details of the original sources they were based on. Now, with the advent of DNA testing, we're finding that they don't always match up with what the DNA is telling us. In order to reevaluate these trees in conjunction with the DNA evidence, we need to have available the sources that they might've originally been based on. This site, then, is intended as a repository for these sources and an opportunity to share what the DNA is telling us so that we can work collectively to correct these trees. Over time, more of the old records will be able to be combed through, and the sources cited here will grow.