#12 (Vol 4, No 1) – May 2023

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Rowland Genealogy Newsletter Issue #12 (Vol 4, No 1) — May 2023

Hello Rowland Genealogists,

In this issue, we take a look into the thousands of people named Rowland (and variants) who do not know which DNA group they belong to. The Rowland Project at FamilyTreeDNA currently has just 102 Y-DNA test kits that are “Grouped” into one of the 15 defined Y-DNA groups. There are nearly 60 additional test kits labeled “Ungrouped” as they have no matches within the Rowland Project. This implies there are at least a few dozen more groups to be defined. However, today I want to focus on the thousands (more like tens of thousands) of Rowland males that are “Untested.”

Y-DNA genealogy analysis is still in the very early stages of its growth and understanding. It is considered the leading edge of genetic genealogy and is on the cusp of entering its explosive growth stage. With the advent of Big Y-700 testing and the introduction of its associated tools, it is easy to grasp the potential for exponential growth. The major missing ingredient is the lack of Y-DNA samples.

For the Rowland surname and its variants, the shortage of samples is readily apparent. As mentioned above, there are about 60 samples without any matches to other members of the Rowland Project. The following 17 geographic designations are known to be areas where many Rowland ancestral lines have hit their genealogical brick walls. Each Untested Group has at least one “strawman patriarch,” the term often used to indicate the earliest known male ancestor (there is always a previous one). In many cases, there are multiple patriarchs for a given geographical area. Until the various lines are Y-DNA tested, we do not know if they are in fact related or just coincidentally from the same area.

Untested Groups

There are more than 12,00 profiles contained within the 28 unique descendant trees of the following 17 Untested Groups. None of the trees are comprehensive, although each one contains enough sourced profiles to identify the grouping. Y-DNA test samples are needed for each of these 28 trees. Until they have a descendant with a Y-DNA test kit, it is not known if they are:

  • another line from one of the currently defined Rowland DNA Groups A through O
  • a match with one of the 60 Ungrouped kits, which will then form another defined DNA group
  • or a truly new and unique line

If you believe you descend from one of these lines and already have a Y-DNA test kit, then please contact us so we can update this information. Until then, these lines are all considered to be Untested Groups. Additional information and updates can be found on the Untested Groups page.

(untested groups sorted by quantity of documented descendants)

La Tremblade, France to Suffolk, New York
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Pierre Rolland (1650-1741) was born in La Tremblade, France, and he died there also. Many subsequent generations lived in Schoharie and Suffolk counties of New York.
  • 7,864 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant Locations (Rolland, Ruland, and Rowland spellings): France; Colorado (Gunnison); Illinois (Richland); Louisiana (Beauregard); New York (Albany, Schoharie, Suffolk); Pennsylvania (Warren); and Wisconsin (La Crosse).
New London County, Connecticut
  • Earliest Known Ancestor #1: Hugh Rowland (1648-1702) was born in Lyme, New London, Connecticut and presumed to have died there also.
    • 1,813 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
    • Descendant Locations: Connecticut (New London); Vermont (Orange); Indiana (Grant, Hancock); and Minnesota (Rock).
  • Earliest Known Ancestor #2: Benjamin Rowland (1753-1831) was born in New London County, Connecticut, and died in Chenango County, New York. His connection to Hugh Rowland (1648-1702) is unknown at this time.
    • 19 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
    • Descendant Locations: Missouri (Adair), New York (Chenango), and Wisconsin (Trempealeau).
  • Earliest Known Ancestor #3: Nathaniel Rowland (1760-1818) was born in New London, Connecticut.
    • 11 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
    • Descendant locations: Ohio (Erie).
Orkney Islands, Scotland to Canada
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Robert Rowland (1705- ) was born in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. There are no longer any Rowlands currently living in the Orkney Islands. However, many descendants emigrated to Canada.
  • 502 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant Locations: Sandwick, Orkney, Scotland; Rupert’s Land, British North America; and Edmonton, NW Territories, Canada
Hanover County, Virginia (from Glamorgan, Wales)
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Thomas Edward Rowland (1690-1744), was born in Llandurry, Glamorgan, Wales, and passed away in Hanover County, Colony of Virginia. He came to the New World at an early age, and his wife, Grace Marion Hammand, was born in Virginia.
  • 399 descendants in WikiTree (as of 28 Apr 2023).
  • Descendant Locations: Indiana (Clark); Kentucky (Clark, Jessamine, Nelson, Pike, Woodford); and Virginia (Hanover).
Berks County, Pennsylvania
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: David Roland (-1820) passed away in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1820. His birthplace is unknown. Many subsequent generations lived and worked in the town of Reading and were hatters (Reading, Pennsylvania is famous for its hats).
  • 358 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant Locations: Pennsylvania (Berks); Illinois (Ogle, Whiteside); Iowa (Greene, Polk, Poweshiek); and Colorado.
  • Articles: Roland Family Hatters of Reading, Pennsylvania
New South Wales, Australia (from Middlesex, England)
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: William Rowland (1807-1850) was born in Middlesex, England, and died in London. He married Esther Ann Garrett in 1830, and after his death, his widow and children emigrated to New South Wales, Australia.
  • 294 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant locations: New South Wales.
Frederick County, Virginia
  • Earliest Known Ancestors: There are currently five unconnected descendant trees believed to be related in this region that includes Frederick and Clarke counties of Virginia, along with Berkeley and Jefferson counties of West Virginia. They are Mathew Martin Rowland (1780-1835), Samuel Rowland (abt.1783-1870), John Rowland (1807-1882), Ray Moncrief Rowland (1870-1948), and David Morgan Rowland (1894-1961).
  • 190 descendants (across these five trees) in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022)
Cornwall to Victoria, Australia
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: William Rowland (1807-1855) was born in Cornwall, England. He married Frances Budge in 1835 and five years later they emigrated to South Australia, finally settling in Victoria. He is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery of Avoca, Victoria, Australia.
  • 168 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant locations include: Victoria, Australia.
Yancey County, North Carolina
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Henry “Halle” Roland (1777-1876) was born in North Carolina (county uncertain) and died in Yancey County, North Carolina. He married Sarah Robertson and is buried in the cemetery named after him in Riverside, Yancey County.
  • 166 descendants in WikiTree as of 31 Dec 2022.
  • Descendant locations include: North Carolina (Buncombe, Burke, Forysth, McDowell, Yancey); and Tennessee (Greene and Washington).
Shovel Works, Rowlandville, Pennsylvania from Rhosybayvil, Pembrokeshire, Wales
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: William Rowland (1650-1714) was from Rhosybayvil, Parish of Bayvil, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Some of his descendants emigrated to West Whitefield Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. They then moved into Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and became the proprietors of numerous factories, known as the Shovel Works in an area that came to be known as Rowlandville.
  • 164 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant Locations: Pennsylvania (Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia); and Ohio (Franklin).
Delmarva Peninsula, USA

The Delmarva Peninsula is on the east coast of the United States, bordered by the Chesapeake Bay on the west along with the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay on the east. The earliest known non-indigenous visitors arrived in 1566, an expedition led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés of Spanish Florida. The area was under Dutch control from about 1631 to 1664, when it came under British control. Today, it consists of the state of Delaware and the eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia.

  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Samuel Rowland (1676-1727) was born on the Delmarva Peninsula in British Colonial America and died in Sussex County, Delaware.
  • 152 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant Locations: Delaware (Sussex).
Washington County, Pennsylvania
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Henry Rowland (1748-1821) was possibly born in Wales and fought in the American Revolution for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. After the war, he settled in Washington County and died in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
  • 140 descendants in WikiTree (as of 29 Apr 2023).
  • Descendant Locations: Indiana (Kosciusko); Iowa (Clarke); Ohio (Carroll, Holmes, Mahoning); and Pennsylvania (Beaver, Lawrence, Washington).
Warren County, North Carolina
  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Burch Rowland (c1765-c1835) was born in Warren County, North Carolina, and passed away in Montgomery County, Tennessee.
  • 117 descendants in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
  • Descendant Locations: Arkansas (Lee. St. Francis); and Tennessee (Montgomery).
Hawkins County, Tennessee
Emanuel County, Georgia

Includes early settlers of Emanuel, Johnson, Montgomery, and Wheeler counties of Georgia.

  • Earliest Known Ancestors: There are currently four unconnected descendant trees believed to be related in this region that includes the counties of Emanuel, Johnson, Montgomery, and Wheeler. They are Nathan Rowland (1783-1861), Williamson Rowland (1800- ), Joseph T. R. Rowland (1859-1930), and Nathan Rowland (1870-1940).
  • 95 descendants (across these four trees) in WikiTree (as of 31 Dec 2022).
Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

A Rohland family settled in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania by 1830. Many descendants remained in that area while a large contingent moved further west to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania about 1840. The Rohland spelling is consistent, and this line is believed to be of Germanic origin.

  • Earliest Known Ancestor: Johan Jacob Rohland (1759-1841) was born in Pennsylvania and died in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
  • 52 descendants in WikiTree (as of 17 Jan 2023)
Lenawee County, Michigan

Two Rowland families migrated from New York (unknown county) to Lenawee County, Michigan. They are probably related, although the connection has not yet been found.

Y-DNA Testing

Now is the perfect time to consider getting a Y-DNA test. FamilyTreeDNA typically has its largest discounts of the year as part of its Father’s Day promotions. If you don’t know what to get your dad for Father’s Day, then get him a Y-DNA test. If your kids ask you what you want, tell them you want a Y-DNA test kit.

Facts about Y-DNA Testing:

  1. Without it, you can only speculate (instead of know) which Rowland DNA Group you belong to.
  2. Y-DNA goes back tens of thousands of years, not just a couple hundred years like autosomal DNA.
  3. Y-DNA can help identify branch points in your paternal family tree.
  4. Y-DNA can place you on the Block Tree of humankind.
  5. Y-DNA cannot uniquely identify you, which should alleviate most privacy concerns.

Recent Articles

We improved the formatting of the Articles page on the website to make it easier to see a snapshot of all the posts. Recent articles written and posted since the last issue of the newsletter include:

Ancestry ThruLines Is Not Proof (published 14 Apr 2023). AncestryDNA Thrulines is a great tool for finding “potential” common ancestors, but it is NOT PROOF. In Ancestry’s own words: ThruLines® shows you how you may be related to your DNA matches. ThruLines are based on information from family trees; they don’t change the information in trees. If there’s inaccurate information in your tree, you may receive inaccurate ThruLines.

Canadian Rowland Genealogy Added to Library (published 11 Apr 2023). The first document featuring a Canadian Rowland family was added to our “free downloads” library. We owe a special thanks to Darrell Grant, author of “Tracing Our Rowland Ancestors, A Search Into Their Past: Canada–Wales–England.” Darrell currently lives in Okotoks, Foothills County, Alberta, Canada. It’s just a few miles south of Calgary and has been home to his Rowland family for the past 140 years. It is also the home of Oktokos Erratic (aka “Big Rock”) shown in the image.

Rowland Kindness by guest author Matthew G Rowland (published 08 Mar 2023). Guest author Matthew G Rowland shares the story of how a McNamara family became a Rowland family. Growing up, I took my Rowland surname and what it represented for granted. That changed when my father, on his deathbed, disclosed that our original last name was not Rowland at all. He regretted not knowing more as to why the name was changed and asked me—his dying wish—to investigate the story.

Legacy of the Rowlands (AI Poetry) by guest author A. I. “Artie” Rowland (published 24 Feb 2923). Editor’s note: This was my first experiment with using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to assist with content creation. Additional details about this experiment can be found at the end of this poem. Please note that I categorized this as a “Guest Article” and attributed the authorship to A. I. “Artie” Rowland.

Origin of the Rowland Surname (published 17 Feb 2023). I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but all people with the Rowland surname are not related to each other. Additionally, there is no common point of our surname origin. This may seem like a bold statement, but I’m going to back it up with solid DNA evidence and a little common sense. As usual, I’m not talking about just the Rowland spelling. This also applies to Roland, Rowlands, Ruland, Rohland, Rolland, and about a dozen other variants.

Rowland’s Story – A Sad Case (published 20 Jan 2023). Editor’s Note: The first part of this article is a verbatim transcription (keeping the language and spelling of the time) of a story published September 8, 1901, in the “Sunday Washington Globe”, Washington, D.C. The story the newspaper printed was John C. Rowland’s letter to the editor, with the newspaper adding its own headlines. The second part of this article (postscript) provides a glimpse of what happened subsequently and the genealogy of John Cameron Rowland (1844-1921).

Don’t Play the Name Game by guest author Nick Rowland (published 07 Jan 2023). Editor’s Note: Guest author Nick Rowland implores you not to play the genealogy name game. Instead, base your family tree on solid research, confirmed with DNA testing. This leads me to the purpose of this article which is to implore people to research their genealogy based on solid documentary sources and then think carefully about whether documents fit where people lived and check if the dates are genuinely logical. 

2022 Statistics for Rowland Genealogy (published 01 Jan 2023). Another year has come and gone, which means it’s time to review the 2022 statistics. We made great progress in 2022 and have every intention of riding that momentum into 2023. As a reminder, Rowland Genealogy consists of many moving parts, including but not limited to: Rowland Project at FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA); Rowland Name Study at WikiTree; Rowland Surname Study at the Guild of One-Name Studies; Rowland Genealogy Website; and you — all the Rowland Genealogists!

Free WikiTree Help

I am convinced that WikiTree’s vast richness of tools, its policy of a single profile per ancestor, and its pledge to remain free, make it the best choice for documented tree building.  I’m also aware that WikiTree can be somewhat daunting to newcomers, especially those without prior experience with document markup language techniques. 

Therefore, I will help you get started by connecting you (or your recent Rowland/Roland ancestors) to the global tree.  Please note that I will not add living people to the tree.  That is something you will need to do so that you can control the privacy level.  If this is of interest to you, then please email rowlandgenealogy@gmail.com with your ancestral information. Note: if you already have a public tree documented on another site, then I can work with that.

Share and Share a “Like”

Improving the awareness of our existence is one of our key goals.  You can help by forwarding this newsletter to family and friends that may find it of interest.  If you received this newsletter from someone else, then you can sign up to get future issues directly at Rowland Genealogy Newsletter.

It is also possible to subscribe to new posts, which will enable you to receive an email notification each time we publish a new article.  If this is of interest to you, then go to the Rowland Genealogy website.  In the right-hand sidebar area, just below the “Subscribe to Rowland Genealogy Newsletter” widget is the “Subscribe to website” widget.

Following us on Facebook is another way to keep abreast of new articles and activities between issues of the newsletter.  To do so, simply “like” the Rowland Genealogy Facebook page.

Past Newsletters: Remember, you can access all of our past issues in the Rowland Genealogy Newsletter Archives.

____________________________

Ron Rowland
Editor & Publisher

PS – I welcome your suggestions for improvements, features, topics, and website restructuring. Please let me know of any errors, inconsistencies, or additional Rowland/Roland lines.

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