Skaggs Genealogy

Solomon Skaggs  (c. 1767 – c. 1828) Solomon Skaggs was the full brother of Peter Skaggs (c.1765–1841) and one of only two men in their generation who carried the rare Y-chromosome haplogroup R-BY99605, a private mutation that arose in their unnamed father on the New River frontier of Virginia. Modern Big-Y testers descending from Solomon’s son Miles and from Peter’s many sons all share this identical marker, proving the brothers’ common paternity beyond any doubt.

The Skaggs family, part of the R-BY99605 Y-DNA line (a parallel branch to the famous Long Hunter Skaggs), was a foundational and enduring presence in Big Blaine United Baptist Church (Lawrence County, KY) from its early years around 1819 through at least 1860. Centered on "Old" Peter Skaggs Sr. (b. ~1765, d. 1841) and wife Martha "Patsy" Cothron (b. ~1768, d. 1865), along with Peter's brother Solomon Sr. (b. ~1766, d. ~1827–1829) and descendants, they appear in ~30 mentions across the church's fragile record book (transcribed by Lucy G. White in Tree Shaker Vol. 2 No. 2 and No. 3, 1978). Not listed in the 1831 charter membership, they feature prominently in minutes from 1821–1847 (discipline, baptisms, restorations, appointments) and the 1860 roll. Activities reflect Primitive Baptist practices: citations for non-attendance/transgressions, recantations, and community roles. Post-1841 references to "Peter Skaggs" are to his son Peter Jr. (b. ~1798...

Biography of Peter Skaggs (c. 1765 – 1841) Peter Skaggs was born about 1765 in the New River frontier of southwestern Virginia (then Fincastle, later Montgomery County). He belonged to the extended Skaggs clan that produced the famous Long Hunters , but Y-DNA testing has proven he was not a biological son of any of the Long Hunters. Instead, he and his brother Solomon descended from a parallel cousin branch (R-BY99605) that split from the main Long Hunter line (R-BY44771) around 1700–1750. His exact father remains unidentified — most likely an unrecorded brother or close cousin of James Skaggs, father of the Long Hunter brothers.

Alfred Sullivan  (9 September 1811 – 21 June 1899) Alfred Sullivan was a 19th-century frontier farmer whose long life was marked by repeated migration across the Upper Mississippi Valley and by a surprising genetic link to one of early Kentucky’s most famous pioneering families.

James Skaggs Sr. (d. c. 1780) and Rachel (d. c. 1783) were Manx-descended frontierspeople whose 11 children, all born in Virginia , were instrumental in early Kentucky settlement. The family is documented through Augusta County court orders, deeds, surveys, and wills, Botetourt/Fincastle/Montgomery tax and militia records, Revolutionary War service, and the 1836 Green County, KY chancery suit (Case #3871) over son Moses’s intestate estate, which explicitly names all siblings, confirms prior death and verifies no children for Moses.  Y-DNA testing has been conducted on descendants of all sons of James and Rachel, except Moses.

Jacob Skaggs: The Silent Migrant of the Western Frontier (c. 1763 – 1830) Jacob Skaggs, the youngest son of the Long Hunter family, lived a life of quiet persistence on the shifting edge of settlement—from Virginia’s Clinch River to Kentucky’s Green County , and finally to the Chickasaw lands of West Tennessee . Never a soldier, never a land baron, Jacob left no will, no pension, no grave marker—only the footprints of his sons in tax books, censuses, court orders, marriage bonds, and a widow’s pension declaration. His story, reconstructed from primary sources, reveals a man who married twice, fathered four documented sons, and died in the same year his wife later swore he did—1830—after the census taker had passed through Weakley County.

John "Gourdhead" Skaggs: The King's Mountain Veteran (b. c. 1757 d. c. 1809) John "Gourdhead" Skaggs, a steadfast frontiersman and Revolutionary War veteran, embodied the rugged endurance of Virginia's southwestern frontier, blending militia service, land acquisition, and family leadership amid the perils of Indian warfare and colonial expansion. Born in the mid-18th century in the backcountry of Augusta County, Virginia , to parents James and Rachel Skaggs, John matured in the New River and Clinch River valleys, where his family established early settlements. His life, documented through tithable lists, militia payrolls, oaths of allegiance, pension records, land grants, court orders, marriage bonds, chancery suits, and census enumerations, reveals a resilient soldier and patriarch who survived a crippling wound at King's Mountain, secured a lifelong pension, and migrated to Kentucky in later life. John's narrative centers on his military valor, ...