Comments on: Ask Ron

By: Jean Rowland

Jean Rowland — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 23:47:40 +0000

I was looking through WikiTree and decided to look up Clyde Rowland’s two GGG uncles who had become orphans like Clyde’s GGGrandfather. The two uncles changed their last name to Roland and Clyde’s GGGrandfather changed his to Rowland. There was a Y active after the two uncles names and clicking on it said something about testing them to confirm a family relationship. I find on Ancestry that the two uncles are given parents with the Roland name and maybe this will help if I can use Clyde’s DNA to make a connection. I hope this makes sense.

By: RowlandGenealogy

RowlandGenealogy — Mon, 20 May 2024 13:51:31 +0000

In reply to Anonymous.

Hello Anonymous,
I have her as Jane Rowland (1764-1819), daughter of William Rowland and Sarah Latham, the originators or Rowlandsville, Cecil County, Maryland. Here is her WikiTree profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rowland-2497

Yes, there is a discrepancy in the spelling of her marriage to Andrew Carson/Casten, although there is no image with that source for us to verify the transcription. Like you, I am of the belief it is a spelling error in the transcription.

The marriage of an Andrew Carson to Jane Hall, that numerous trees “claim” to be his wife, took place in 1768, when Jane was just 4, so this is obviously not the Jane in question.

BTW, I am related to this Rowland line, and if your are also, then we are about 7th cousins. That is too far removed for an autosomal DNA match. However, Jane’s WikiTree profile lists some other people that you could possibly be an autosomal DNA with.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 18 May 2024 13:59:34 +0000

I am trying to confirm that my 5G is Jane Rowland 1764-1819. I have her marrying my 5G Andrew Alexander Carsen 1749 -1816. This is her gravestone inscription: Inscription: In memory of JANE CARSON, a native of Cecil County MD. relict of the late ANDREW CARSON, who departed this life September 7th, 1819. Aged about 55 years, 8 months. I also I have a marriage in Cecil of Jane Rowland to William Casten 1789, but I think it is misspelled. Some have her as Jane Hall, but her info puts her in Philadelphia and dates don’t match. Soon after their marriage they moved to Baltimore and had their first child William probably named after her father. I have looked over your site and do not see anyone going down this path, although I do see William 1730-1784 has a daughter Jane.

By: Ron Rowland

Ron Rowland — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 12:59:08 +0000

In reply to James T. Rowland.

Hello Jim,

Unfortunately, having haplogroup R-M269 does not tell you very much. More than half of the Rowland Y-DNA test-takers are in R-M269 or one of its sub-branches. Halpogroup R-M269 represents a person that lived on earth in about the year 4350 BC. That was more than 6,300 years ago and about 5,500 years before anyone had a surname.

The Rowland Haplotree V 1.0 illustrates this with R-M269 visible in the light blue shaded box near the upper left-hand corner.

The percentage of Rowland males in various haplogroups is discussed further in our 2022 Statistics report.

Your should note that the Rowland-Pemberton line you asked about is believed to be Rowland DNA Group J, which is not a subgroup of R-M269. In fact, it is the furthest removed DNA group with the earliest known common ancestor living about 45,000 BC (47,000 years ago).

Additionally, Y-DNA is only passed down through the males, so none of the Rowland-Pemberton descendants have Pemberton Y-DNA.

For more information about R-M269, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_R-M269

By: James T. Rowland

James T. Rowland — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 03:54:26 +0000

Ron,
I was recently exploring a branch of my family tree on my father’s side, which involved the Pembertons. John Rowland married a Scollis Pemberton in 1615, and their son, also named John, came to Jamestown around 1635. Interestingly, the Pembertons have their own DNA website, and I noticed the tests were mostly haplogroup R-M269. I see that there are quite a few tests on the Rowland DNA website that also have haplogroup R-M269. Any idea where the connection might be?
Jim Rowland

By: Ron Rowland

Ron Rowland — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 10:38:31 +0000

In reply to Nancy Douglas.

Hi Nancy,

I believe this is the David Roland you are referring to: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Roland-1737
He and his descendants are covered in: https://rowlandgenealogy.com/roland-family-hatters-of-reading-pennsylvania/

This is the first I have ever heard of families purposely removing the “w” from the Rowland name. Roland is the predominante spelling throughout Germany (and central Europe), so Germans coming to North America generally have no “w” to remove. Ruhland and similar variants are/were also common in Germany.

I once came across an article that discussed the adding of a “w” to the Rowland name in England and Scotland as a means of distinguishing/separating themselves from people on the continent. However, I have not been able to locate that article again or any sources that allude to this subject.

I am of the belief that nearly all spelling changes (variants) of surnames were the result of illiteracy, but there are bound to be exceptions.

BTW, do you have a brother, father, or other living Roland male in your family that would be willing to take a Y-DNA test so that we can place the Berks County Pennsylvania line in its appropriate DNA Group? It is currently in the Untested group: https://rowlandgenealogy.com/dna-group-untested/#berks-county-pennsylvania

By: Ron Rowland

Ron Rowland — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 10:03:55 +0000

In reply to Russell David Rowland Jr..

Hi Russell,

I reviewed your Y-DNA match list, and you are clearly part of Rowland Y-DNA Group J (https://rowlandgenealogy.com/dna-group-j/). Given that you have 15+ “Rowland” matches and 1 “Morgan” match, I think it is safe to say you descend from many generations of Rowlands, and the Morgan match is the result of an NPE (Non-Paternal Event) such as adoption, birth out of wedlock, etc.

This is a case where autosomal DNA testing would be very helpful. I recommend the AncestryDNA test for the reasons stated in this article: https://rowlandgenealogy.com/dna-testing-case-study/

If you and Mr Morgan were to both take an autosomal test, then link your results to your trees on Ancestry, the “Shared Matches” feature on Ancestry should help you find your common ancestor. It will tell you how many centiMorgans (cM) of DNA you share, which can then tell you if he is a 3rd, 4th, or 5th cousin. Then see where the other shared matches fit in each other’s trees to help you narrow in on your common ancestor. I can help you review your results when you get to that point.

By: Nancy Douglas

Nancy Douglas — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 21:53:32 +0000

Ron,
Thank you so much for making this website available. It is awesome. David R. Roland (born 1742-1820) is my 4x Great grandfather. I was looking for his father. I thought it might have been Frederic Roland but I have not sources to back that up. My family has had stories that have been “passed down” through generations about the Rowland/Roland family name. I am not sure if these are true or not. I am hoping you or anyone who might know more details can help me. This is the “story” . I was told by my father and my father’s cousin (another family source) that when the Roland’s (Rowland’s) came to the U.S. That they changed their name form Rowland to Roland. The Legend is that The Roland/Rowland (male) that came to America had been a priest at one time and wanted to get married. He had left the Catholic church because they did not permit him to marry. He decided to immigrate to America (not sure if he got married in Germany area here in US) He moved to the Reading PA area and had changed his name from Rowland to Roland. Can you help me with this? Was wondering if anyone has heard about this or might know anything about this “story” that has been passed down.
Nancy Roland Douglas

By: Russell David Rowland Jr.

Russell David Rowland Jr. — Sun, 20 Mar 2022 19:05:42 +0000

Recently I received a query from a Morgan fammily member in Arkansas, his Y DNA and My Y DNA matched perfectly, but we could find any logical match in either line to indicate why the match was perfect. He knew his grandfather’s birth was in Question and it was thought that a female had married two different Rowlands — William Granville and Samuel S and had daughters with both. However neither of these Rowland DNA lines show up anywhere in my searches. The story was the grandfather’s birth was an out of wed lock birth and the older of the two Rowland sisters had actually been the birth mother but gave the baby to the younger sister, each sister had a different Rowland father. Genealogy has traced the grandfather down as a member of the Morgan family, because the younger sister married a Morgan around this time in the 1880’s. However today I found a member of my DNA line that had moved to the same area about the time the baby was born was about the correct age and could have very well been the father of the baby. He was either married or soon to be married to another woman and had children with her. We have never before found any other connection between the two Rowland DNA lines so this is an exciting possibility, however I am not very knowledgeable about DNA etc so looking for guidance. Haploroup was G-M201. Please contact me if you can assist me.

By: Ron Rowland

Ron Rowland — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 21:28:34 +0000

In reply to James Taylor.

Here is her WikiTree profile. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rowland-5617
She was married to Rev Kirby. It appears they were only married two months when she died.