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Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 16 Dec 2012 1:59AM GMT
Classification: Query
Have any other descendants of Alabama RIALS/RYALS/etc. taken an autosomal DNA test? Yesterday I got a DNA match here at Ancestry that *may* point to a connection between the Pike and Coffee County branches in Alabama.

I descend from Edmund Rials of Pike County. He was probably a grandson of Nancy Rials of 1830 Dallas Co. The Pike Co. Rials seem to have come from Richland Co, SC.

The match I got yesterday was to a descendant of Archibald Rials of Coffee County. I don't know anything about this family (other than they always come up in my Alabama-based Rials searches). I see that in one census Archibald Jr. said he was born in South Carolina, but information from pages such as http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/bladen/bios/familyhi190bs.t... seems to point to North Carolina origins for these Rials.

Of course, the connection could easily be further back - up to five or so generations before Archibald's and Nancy's husband's time. No one seems to have the tree back that far for either branch.

Unfortunately, Ancestry's hasn't yet made raw data available, so I can't look at the shared segment between me and my match and begin to try to narrow down my DNA connection to this other Rials descendant. It could be on the Rials line, or it could be somewhere else entirely.

So, unless others have found something in their own tests (please tell!), any connection between these two Alabama Rials families is apparently unknown.

If you're a Rials descendant and you've taken the Ancestry test, could you please keep an eye out for my name in your matches? Not everyone bothers to look at distant matches, which is where you'd probably find me. (Hopefully we'll get a search engine soon.)

Also, if any (not just Alabama!) Rials descendants have taken tests elsewhere and want to compare genomes, I'm under this name on 23andMe, my kit number is M201056 on GEDMatch, and my FTDNA transfer should be done next month (where I'll be under this name as well).

I've only been doing genetic genealogy for about five months now, but I've been pretty amazed by the possibilities. Here's hoping we can get some of our Rials connections sorted out! :)

Re: Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 2:10AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Rials
I have only checked my DNA matches to 4th cousins and not any Rials yet. I am decended from Jacob Rials who is my g-g grandfather. John H. Rials my g-gf, Josiah Rials my gf, and Frank Davis Rials my father. They were in Pike and Montgomery counties and from Marlboro County SC.

Re: Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 7:18AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi Richard, hopefully Ancestry will implement a search engine soon so we can look for more distant connections. :)

At least now I know one person to bug when we get raw data, haha. Even if you and I don't share enough DNA to match each other, we may have some matches in common that lead to answers. I'd love to finally know my Edmund's connection to Jacob since they traveled to Louisiana together. (Uncle/nephew, I suspect, but who knows?)

*Fingers crossed*!

Re: Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 25 Dec 2012 1:51PM GMT
Classification: Query
Shari, I believe one of my Jacob's sons was named Edmund. Henry and Edmund are two of the given names that seemed to crop up in many of the Rials/Ryals families. I will pull my records and verify that soon. Hope you are having a
Merry Christmas !! Dick Rials

Re: Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 26 Dec 2012 7:50AM GMT
Classification: Query
Yep! Jacob possibly had a son born c1840 named Edmund. (There's a person of this age in Jacob's household for the 1850 and 1860 censuses.) I'll get to why I say "possibly" in a moment.

My Edmund was about a decade older and enumerated in or near Jacob's household in 1850 and relatively nearby in Louisiana in 1860. He then died during the Civil War. His widow lived very close to Jacob in Louisiana in 1870 and 1880, but that may be because her brother John Grantham married Jacob's daughter Sarah (and Jacob lived with that couple in 1880).

It seems that something happened to at least two Rials patriarchs of Pike County between 1840-1850, judging by the female heads of household (except Jacob) in the 1850 census. This has led to speculation about who really belongs to whom. Some of the "children" in each 1850 household could easily be nephews/nieces from now-missing households. I have no doubt they are all related, though, based on proximity and naming patterns. (You're so right about recurring names!)

For example, your John Henry has often been regarded as a "problem" (for lack of a better word) because there is already a Henry in Jacob's 1850 household. However, that Henry could be a nephew, cousin, etc. A Henry Rials of about that age did come with Jacob and my Edmund to Louisiana and lived adjacent to Edmund in 1860.

Some people theorize that Jacob's son John in the 1850 census is actually my Edmund, since Edmund's first initial was "J" and family lore is that his first name was "John." (He also named his first son John.) In that case, the younger Edmund in Jacob's household could be a nephew, and so on.

However, I've assumed that my Edmund probably isn't the son of Jacob called John in the 1850 census if only because the John Henry researchers have always been very adamant about that being John Henry. :) Maybe if the family was clearly Germanic and was using John as a grace name for several sons, then we could *all* claim Jacob, but this doesn't seem to have been the case. (Plus it would make the Henry/John Henry problem so much worse! *grin*)

Unfortunately, I've never seen anyone cite a source for John Henry's link to Jacob other than the 1850 census (or trees that, for all we know, are theorizing the relationship based on the 1850 census). And since the 1850 census probably reflects some mixed households, I've held off on attaching either your John Henry of Alabama or Henry of Louisiana to Jacob.

But now that we're on the subject... I assume there's a death record or Bible record or something similar floating around? I would be very grateful if you could clue me in to the source for John Henry being Jacob's son. I've had researchers tell me "oh, the family was apparently just weird and repeated the names of their kids," but I find that highly unlikely. Even if the source is just hearsay, it's important to know exactly what we know (and don't know).

To make things even stickier, the 1840 census has three Rials households in Pike County: Jacob, John, and Edmond (fave names again). John has only daughters (at least according to the census taker), so that leaves Jacob and Edmond. Jacob's older sons are aged 5-9 and 10-14. Edmond has a son 10-14. "Perfect," one might say. "Now we just arrange Henry, J. Edmund, and John Henry into the right slots!" That looks good for about five seconds (if no evidence contradicts putting John Henry in as Edmond's son, otherwise the naming issues remain), but then what about the 20-year-old Henry Rials living with Margaret in 1850 and 17-year-old Jacob Rials living with Sarah, all right by our Jacob of interest? Where were those alleged Alabama natives in 1840? In another county? State? Misenumerated in 1840 John and Edmond's household? And so on...

So, for every possible scenario, there's a contradiction. That's why I *really* hope you have a source for John Henry being Jacob's son - being able to definitively pin down one relationship for one of these boys would be a start!

ANYway, here's hoping we get more Rials DNA matches in the new year. Who knows what mysteries may be finally solved? :)

Re: Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 4 Jun 2013 10:40AM GMT
Classification: Query
I just wanted to update this thread to say that my Dad's test results are now on Ancestry as "C.B.S. (administered by Shari S.)".

His GEDmatch number is A862784. (You can also find him on 23andMe as "Chuck S".)

My great-aunt is re-testing here, so if all goes well, the world will have another DNA sample of an "Alabama Rials" descendant for comparison.

If you're a Rials (whether descended from the Alabama bunch or not), please share your GEDmatch number!

Re: Rials families of Alabama (both Pike and Coffee counties) - DNA connection?

Posted: 19 Dec 2013 12:54AM GMT
Classification: Query
I haven't followed the Archibald Rials line out to current day. I can tell you what I do know.

Archibald Rials is first found as enlisting in the Mississippi Volunteers War of 1812. He is on tax list and census 1815-1820. He married Mrs. Elizabeth Green in Baldwin County in 1815 also. (all this is in Alabama, Baldwin County).

His father was Arthur Ryals You find him in documents on Spanish Mississippi Territory, Tensaw district. He first appears in 1787 on a petition and in a Spanish Census. Archibald shows up on the 1809 tax list in Baldwin County as a first entry.


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