I have recently noticed several descendants of Cornelius show up as fairly close matches in my brother's YDNA FamilyTreeDNA. My YDNA line traces back to Robert Withrow, b. 1692 in N. Ireland and very probably to the Wodrow family of Scotland. My 5-great grandfather, James Withrow (1746-1836), was married to Sydney Brandon in Rowan County, NC. They moved to what became Rutherford County, but separated sometime in the 1780s. The family lore has it that they separated because James, a Whig, fought on the American side against the Crown, while some of Sidney's family were Tories and fought for the British. This may well have been true, but I am beginning to wonder if perhaps there were other reasons....If anyone here who is a Cornelius Brandon descendant has their actual DNA files and would like to share/compare data, please get in touch. Or if any of you who have had your DNA tested have turned up Withrows as near matches, I'd also be very interested in hearing from you.
Robin Withrow
rwmercer@yahoo.com