Dead Ends
Everyone doing genealogical research eventually runs into a few dead ends. We know that people don’t just appear out of nowhere, or drop off the earth never to be seen again, but many times that’s what it seems like. This page lists some of the genealogical mysteries and dead ends my relatives and I have run into.
Who was the Father of James Samuel Grigsby?
What we know:
James Samuel Grigsby (1800-1875) was the grandfather of Betty Bell Grigsby (Dishman). The records indicate that he was born about 1800 in King George County, Virginia, and that his mother’s name was Mary. He had a sister named Elizabeth that was born between 1800 and 1804. Nothing has been found that indicates his father’s name or Mary’s maiden name.
Potts Connection
Mary, James, and Elizabeth are all named in the 1829 will of William Potts Sr. of King George County. Mary and Elizabeth are given the right to live on William Potts’ land, and James is given $30. Nothing is known of the relationship between William Potts and the Grigsby’s.
John Grigsby and Mary Grant
King George County Marriage Bond Book 1 records one marriage between John Grigsby and Mary Grant on Sep 17, 1801 and another on May 7, 1810. It is not known if these are the same people that were married twice for some reason. Some people speculate that the John and Mary of first marriage are the parents of James and Elizabeth based upon the names and the closeness of the marriage date to the birth dates of James and Elizabeth.
Questions:
- Who was James Samuel Grigsby’s father?
- What was Mary Grigsby’s maiden name?
- What was the relationship between William Potts Sr and the Grigsby family?
What Happened to John Asbury Dishman? Solved!
What we know:
John Asbury Dishman (b. 1876) was the older brother of James Samuel Dishman. He married Lena Redding in 1901, had one daughter named Gladys in 1902, and then divorced sometime prior to 1904. After 1904 he was living in Richmond, Virginia, and working for various furniture companies as a collector or as a director. In 1907 he married Melvin Virginia Mann of Rodolfil, Amelia County, Virginia. The 1917 Richmond City Directory shows him living in Atlee, Virginia (just outside Richmond in Hanover County) and working as a collector for the Rountree-Cherry Corporation. This is the last known record of him. The 1918 Richmond City Directory shows Miss Melvin V. Dishman living in Richmond. No records have been found for him after 1918. Neither John Dishman or his daughter Gladys are listed as heirs to the estate of his mother, Anna E. Dishman, who died in 1929. Melvin V. Mann is listed as a widow in the 1920 census in Richmond. She remarried in 1938 and died in 1944.
Family legend says that John Dishman got into some sort of financial difficulty about 1916, possibly involving embezzlement of funds from his employer. The family in King George had to raise several hundred dollars, a considerable amount for a farming family at that time, and John’s brother James Samuel Dishman went to Richmond by train from Fredericksburg, VA to settle the affair. In later years, none of the older members of the family would talk about John Dishman. His mother was often heard praying at night about “poor John”.
Question:
- What became of John Asbury Dishman after 1917?
The Answer:
Autosomal DNA testing turned up two matches to me that were consistent with a second cousin relationship. A review of the family trees of these matches showed that they were 1st cousins to each other and the grandchildren of a man named James William McDaniel. I was unable to locate any records of James William McDaniel dated prior to 1918 when he registered for the draft in Charleston WV. He married a young widow with three children and had four children with her.
The birth date of James W. McDaniel was identical to John A. Dishman, and his name was a combination of John Dishman’s father’s name (James William) and his grandmother’s last name (Mary Harlowe McDaniel). I began to suspect that James William McDaniel was the long lost John A. Dishman.
I contacted his grandchildren that I had the DNA match with and they responded with some interesting information. They had been unable to find out anything about their grandfather before 1918 and they said that one of James McDaniel’s sons told them that his father James McDaniel had a brother named Sam that used to send him newspapers from Warsaw, VA (Warsaw is in Richmond county next to King George).
They provided a few photos of their grandfather and the resemblance to John A. Dishman is clear.
After getting into some sort of trouble in Richmond, John A. Dishman left his wife and relocated to Charleston, West Virginia, where he changed his name and started a new family. He married for the third time, raised 4 children, and died in 1936. He is buried in Glendale Cemetery in South Charleston. My grandfather knew that he had moved to West Virginia because he remained in contact and sent him newspapers. What else he knew is not known because he never spoke of his brother.
Hello, Lena Redding was my Great-Grandmother. Her daughter, Gladys Dishman-Perkins-Doherty was my grandmother. Gladys had two children, Elizabeth Mae Perkins-Parkinson and William Anthony Perkins. William is my father. He was born in 1932. He recalls visiting John Asbury Dishman as a young child with his mother. He believed the man was his grandfather. He was told that Mr. Dishman died in a fire in Alexandria, VA. He never saw him again. William married Jean Elizabeth Head 1935-2020, in November, 1952. They had four children, Robert Edward (1954), Tamra Ann Perkins-Zalewski (1958), Sandra Lee Perkins- Mullett (1961), and Karen Jean (1967).