Margaret Boren, my 4th great grandmother, was 90 years old when she appeared in the 1870 census in Itawamba County, Mississippi. A widow, she and husband, John Boren, had raised at least seven sons who were born in Madison County, Alabama. There is evidence, which I have yet to see personally, that John was Margaret’s second husband. Her maiden name appears to have been “Greenwood” while “Richmond” was the surname of her first husband. (Greenwood DNA matches? Yes!)
Research indicates that Margaret, or Peggy, was most likely the daughter of Joseph Greenwood, who fought in the Revolutionary War. Joseph is listed as the head of the household in records from Lincoln County, Kentucky between 1799 and 1803. It is here that Margaret and John were married in 1802. Strangely, two marriage entries appear in Lincoln County, Kentucky Marriages 1780-1851 by Lucy Kate McGee.
1. John “Bowen” and Margaret “Green” were married in March of 1802 but NO WITNESS was listed.
2. John Boren and “Margot” Greenwood were married again in April of 1814 with John Chism as witness.
The spelling inconsistencies aside, the absence of a witness in 1802 and the second entry makes me believe John and Margaret may have had to return to Lincoln County to fix the clerical error made 12 years earlier. It may have been necessary to correct this since John, a veteran of the War of 1812, would likely have had a pension coming with Margaret the beneficiary. A son, Joseph, was born around 1802 according to later census records – this supports the 1802 entry as the original.
From what I’ve read, the John and Margaret Boren family settled in Mississippi on the Natchez Trace near Twenty Mile Creek, which was in dire need of a bridge. Having seven capable sons, Margaret, who is presumably the “Granny” or “Auntie” Boren of local legend, made nice-nice with the local Indians and oversaw the first bridge’s construction. It’s no longer standing, but decades later a few of her descendants placed a monument nearby honoring her memory. (Many thanks to Catherine, 1st cousin, 2x removed, for the photo.)
Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 4th great grandmother
Common ancestors: Margaret’s father was presumably Joseph Greenwood, my 5th great grandfather (methinks)
References:
McGee, L. K., (publication date unknown). Lincoln County, Kentucky Marriages 1780-1851. Publisher unknown: Washington, D.C.
Sheffield, R. B. (1984). Echoes of the Past. Itawamba Settlers, Number 1.
Sutherland, J. F. (1986). Early Kentucky Householders, 1781-1811. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company.
I live near the monument and carried several people over the years to see the marker. My relatives were also early settlers in this area.I have heard many stories about the Boren family and I knew Dr. Henry Outlaw a decendant of Mrs. Boren and carried him to see this monument. The first marker was stolen in the 60’s and this is a replacement marker. Mr. F.W.Roper who owned the land where the marker is located carried the marker up there and placed it for the family. Can you tell me where Auntie Boren is buried? Local legend is they are buried here on this level place on the steep bluff overlooking twenty-mile.
Hello, Joe
Thanks for the information. Dr. Henry Outlaw is my 2nd cousin, 1x removed. We never had the opportunity to meet but I communicate regularly with his aunt (a Boren) who is still living and is as sharp as a tack. She gave me a copy of the photo that is posted. So far I have not been able to locate the final resting place of John and Margaret Boren. It would make sense for them to have been buried on this site. Someday I hope to visit.
I am familiar with the Blassingame family name. I am working my way through old newspapers on microfilm from Prentiss County and have come across the name a few times. And as an insufferable genealogist, I will add that William L. Blassingame, presumably a relative of yours, married a 4th cousin of mine, Vera Butler, who was also a descendant of John and Margaret Boren.
Thanks for visiting my blog and apologies for the delayed response.
Ken
I am a 5th ggrandson. My name is Ronald Wayne Boren. I went by the site were the marker is today. (/13/2017) Have been to it a couple times as several of our family members have. It is family lore that she was buried there but not the sons. They scattered everywhere looking to make their own way. I am a descendant of Charles Millican Boren. He is one of the seven boys. I think there were girls also among the clan. It has always been told that we had Native American in our blood line somewhere. I did have some dna,but my mother was part Cherokee. Likely from that and not the Borens. Some Borens are white as a fishes belly,and some are like me,very dark. A friend I grew up with and same age as me was named John Boren.I don’t know exactly how we are related but everyone in high school thought we had to be brothers. Not quite twins,but favored a lot.I wouls suppose that would make us related somehow also. This research can be overwhelming!
Hello, Ronald!
Thanks for visiting my blog. First, you are absolutely correct that John and Margaret Boren didn’t just have sons. They had at least one daughter that I know of. Elizabeth Boren was born about 1818 in Tennessee. She married James Davis in Lawrence County, Tennessee in 1837. (Lawrence County is also where my ancestor, Absalom Boren, married Harriet Pearce in 1833. Eventually they all moved across the state line into Mississippi.) One of James and Elizabeth’s descendants is a DNA match to me and my father on Ancestry.com. We’ve connected and I’ve learned that she is a fantastic genealogist. We’ve become modern-day pen pals over email, sharing resources and helping one another. Frankly, she’s made me a better researcher.
As a 4th great grandson, I am of the fish belly variety of Boren descendants. DNA is tricky. The elder members of my Trantham Tribe were raised believing we are descendants of Pocahontas. If we are, I didn’t inherit one drop of Great Granny Pokey’s DNA according to Ancestry.com’s results. Neither did my father, his sister and a few cousins who’ve also been tested. BUT, I took another DNA test from a competing provider which revealed a trace of Native American DNA. So who knows!?! Frankly, we know more about our male Boren ancestors than we do their female counterparts. That’s because men owned land and paid taxes and many of those records survived. My point – we really don’t know much about our Boren great grandmothers. That’s part of the mystery of this frustrating thing called genealogy which I agree can be overwhelming. If you need or want help trying to figure out how you and John are related, don’t hesitate to ask. You’ve got TWO Boren cousins who know a thing or two about genealogy.
Cheers!
Ken
Ken,Thanks for the reply. One thing I have noticed after taking the Ancestry DNA test is I have some Bowen,Boring,Born,and Bourne relatives. I have looked up the name Boren and they all vary as to where the name came from! Some also say Boeing is a variation. I always thought Ireland. Some say Germany so I was curious as to what your research leads you to believe. I doubt that DNA is 100% accurate,but most all of my matches have proven to be true in all my families and can be proven.At least through 4th cousins,and some farther away than that.All my close Boren relatives that I have meet,and some from pics,where dark.This could have been introduced by one or more of the Females in my family that we don’t know much more about than their name.I get that. I wish I had payed more attention to my elders when they were talking about other past ancestors when I was a young boy. Just wasn’t a priority back then. Again thanks,and i will check in to see if you know anything about our origins and other’s comments!
Hello, Ronald.
Boren, Boran, Bowen, Borin, Boring and Boreing are all variations of Boren that I have seen in my research. According to our distant cousin and author, the late Helen Meeks, who wrote one of three histories on the Boren family that I have encountered, the Borens were Scotch-Irish. The source escapes me but I have seen reference to the original name having been “O’Boran”. Kerry Ross Boren, another family historian and cousin, agrees with Helen’s conclusion. His book is entitled: The Boren Family: An Irish Legacy. It is out of print but Helen’s is still available on CD. One family tale tells of three Boren brothers who came to the New World on the same boat but headed off in three different directions after they arrived. Legend says they never saw one another again. I don’t know if that’s true but early Borens pop up in Maryland, Tennessee and North Carolina. One of the Borens owned land where now sits Baltimore! As you are a male Boren descendant I would highly recommend that you have your Y-DNA tested. You inherited your father’s Y chromosome, he inherited his father’s and so on and so forth. Only males carry the Y chromosome and it is passed down unchanged from father to son. Thus, your Y-DNA profile will tell a story of where our male Boren ancestors came from. FamilyTreeDNA offers a Y-DNA test. I had mine tested and it revealed that my Trantham forefathers were indeed from England but originally came from Northern France and Scandinavia thousands of years ago. They were likely invading conquerors. I hope this answered your questions. I look forward to hearing from you again!
Ken
Thanks for responding! I was considering further dna tests.Was thinking Family Tree because they have better testing for Native American. Ancestry found none even though my 2x great grandmother is on the Cherokee Rolls. Makes me wonder about their testing. Not sure if Family Tree offers Y testing or not. If they do I may splurge for both.Family rumor around here says the Carolina’s is as far back as anyone knows.Or thinks they know. I showed some Irish and British dna,which with Ancestry,includes Scotland.Scandinavia and some others mixed in.Seems I am a Mutt!
Yes, Family Tree DNA does offer the Y-DNA test. When thinking about DNA in general, keep in mind that with each generation it gets cut in half. You have 50% of your parent’s, 25% of your grandparent’s, 12.5% of your great grandparent’s, and so on. Thus, I agree that you should have some indication of Native American ancestry from your 2nd great grandmother. All the more reason to get a 2nd opinion so to speak. In truth, we are all mutts. Me? I am German, Scandinavian, Iberian (Spanish), Irish and bit North African. If you decided to take either test, drop me a line! I’d love to hear what you’ve learned about your/our Boren ancestors! Good luck!
Ken
This is all so very interesting and I want to thank you all for generously sharing you information. I am a great-granddaughter of Joseph L and Ditha Ann Boren McElyea. For many years I believed Ditha was “Ditha Bowen”. After all that is what is on my grandfather’s death certificate and what my grandmother told me. A marriage record listed “D A Boren” so I just assumed the Boren was a typo and the last name was Bowen like I had been told. Finally, I gave into to the Boren surname and that made all the difference to my research. Joseph and Ditha both died in 1904 and 1905 leaving my grandfather, their youngest son, an orphan at age 11. He lived with his older sisters and made his way in life but I never heard much about his childhood. In looking at the family tree, there are several deaths within 1904: mother, Elizabeth and sisters Ditha and Josephine. This makes me wonder if there was an epidemic or some sort of accident which occurred during that time. I have searched without results and thought I would pose the question here. I look forward to finding out more about the Borens. Colleen
Hello, Colleen
Thanks for reaching out to me. So sorry it’s taken me a while to respond. I just moved into a new house and it took six weeks to get internet and cable restored. Interesting thought about the epidemic. It would not surprise me. In my research of newspapers pre-dating 1900 I found mentions of yellow fever breakouts in the local Prentiss County, MS newspapers. The editors would even warn folks to stay away from certain towns. So it’s entirely possible that illness took it’s toll. My great grandmother’s mother Emma (Goodger) Boren died when she was but 4, her father passing away less than a year later. Such difficult times were those. Next time I am looking at records in Mississippi I’ll see what I can find.
Cheers!
Ken
looking on Ancestry I noticed someone posted a picture of John S.Boren. Funny thing is that I favor him some. At least that is what my wife said when she looked at the pic! Face,eyes,and hair. Hard to tell much from old pictures really. I think Louis Boren was a great uncle of mine. Neat to have a picture that old! Ronnie
Hi, Ronnie
If this is the picture of John and his wife, you’re likely looking at me tree on Ancestry. You must look very distinguished! Cheers!
Hi!! My name is Christina hamilton..my grandmother was nancy Carolyn boren..I have been looking into our family history, particularly about the native american heritage, and called my uncle wayne boren who is 86..he told me about this bridge and monument and I’m very interested in coming to c it..could u please tell me where this is..all this information is wonderful!!
Hello, Cousin. I’ll email you separately with the information I have.
K
At your convenience, I would like to discuss the connection between the Boreing/Boren/Bowen families.
I am a descendant of the Boreing family of Baltimore County, MD and Washington County, TN.
My name is Sean Boren and My Father is Richard Boren and my Grandfather was John Boren and I’ve always been interested in my Family heritage so this has been very interesting to read about all of you and your relations and history and the possible relations we may all have, thank you!!!