My Genetic History

I asked my mother about her maternal history.  Below is what she wrote.

These words are from my mother ...


I heard my grandfather, Noah Alexander Stokoe, was born in England, came to Canada and was brought to the States, maybe to West Virginia or Kentucky, when he was 4 years old. That fits your genetic information.

He married Beulah Martin who gave birth in 1895, maybe when she was young because it was out of wedlock, to Blanche, my adoptive mother. My birth mother, Dorothy Mae Stokoe, was Blanche's half sister, born to the same mother. Dorothy was born in Williamson WV April 25, 1912.

My adoptive mother, Blanche, was proud of being a Martin through her mother Beulah Martin.  There were only photos of Hatfields, none of Mc Coy's, in Blanche's album. Blanche told me I was born in Bloody Mingo County, called that because of the feuds. I checked feuds on line and found the Martins had a bloodier feud with another family than the one between the Hatfields an McCoys that had more press coverage nationally.

Beulah and Blanche may have been from Louisa, KY, where there seemed to be a lot of relatives. I knew them in Williamson WV where they were when I was born. We had relatives in Pikeville, KY, Jim Justice & family and his sister Sammie Justice who married late in life.

Dorothy told me she had learned from her Aunt Hester's death certificate that Beulah and Hester's mother was Lacy Jordan,  a Cherokee Indian. Hester's married name was Waddell.

Blanche told me about remembering how she had combed her grandmother's long black hair. When we moved to Japan, I saw that Blanche had looked very much like our Japanese landlady. I wondered if there had been some connection between the American Indians and Japanese in the ancient past. I didn't have to wait to study anthropology to have that question answered. I had already read about archaeological finds and speculations.

I'll stop here because you only asked about my maternal history. Feel free to share it with as a copy of this e-mail if you want.

Love,   Mom