Modern conveniences aren’t always convenient. I just bought my first house here on the East Coast. I’ve been here for 10 years so I figured it was time to put down some roots. Everything was running smoothly until it was time to get my cable and internet installed. I never imagined it would take SIX WEEKS. I’ll spare everyone the mind-numbing details but long story short, Comcast had to get a permit from the county to run the line to the end of the street where my newly-constructed house sits. Bruh-uh-thur..

Be that as it may, I have a lot of catching up to do. Last weekend I hung out with 45 descendants of Alexander Joyce and his brother, Thomas. I am an “OA” which means I am a descendant of Old Alexander.  An “OT” descends from Old Thomas and “OATS” descend from both Old Alexander and Old Thomas. The Joyces intermarried a lot which is why “OATs” are not hard to find. My third great grandfather, Martin James Joyce, took as his second wife, Sarah Anne Roberts, whose grandmother was Sarah (Joyce) Roberts, his great aunt. That makes me a double “OA”. But I digress.

The Joyce Family Reunion was more of a genealogical retreat and I loved every minute of it. (Thank you Jim Joyce, David Joyce and Tom Joyce for your outstanding research!) The best part for me was being introduced to the Austin family who are presumably my ancestors. Maybe. Old Alexander’s first wife was Sarah Austin, the daughter of Richard Austin III. Yes, that’s right; he’s the third Richard Austin in Colonial Virginia. The Austin men and their offspring were considered a bit salacious for their time because they took Indian women for brides. This isn’t conjecture. There are court documents supporting it. Sarah Austin’s mother may have been a Saponi Indian. If that’s true, I have finally found my Native American roots.

But there’s a problem. There always is. It’s a simple math problem. The reason folks believe that Sarah Austin was Old Alexander’s first wife is she appears in her father’s will as “Sarah Joice” and the Austins and the Joyces were neighbors. The will was written and recorded in 1759. I’ve alluded to the fact that Old Alexander had multiple wives. He married his second wife, Jane Hamilton, in 1758.

1758 comes before 1759, which means Old Alexander had remarried before Richard Austin wrote his will in 1759. Since divorce was rare in those days, it’s unlikely that Sarah and Alex were splitsville. So the question becomes: was Sarah Joice named in the will the wife of Old Alexander or not. Had she died before Alexander and Jane were married, why would her father Richard have named her in his will? Usually, if a child had died before their parent, the child’s heirs would have been named instead of the deceased. But that is not the case with Sarah Joice. She, not her heirs, were named in the will.

When I pointed out this flaw to my newly-found distant cousins, they were not amused. I really know how to bring down a reunion.

Kenfolk: Utlaut
Relationship: 6th great grandmother (maybe)
Common ancestors: Sarah Austin was the child of Richard Austin III and Elizabeth Rice, who was reportedly a Saponi Indian