Hi Robin. Sorry, you're right: there were a lot of William Fraziers. The one I was referring to was the one in the message I replied to: born about 1730, son of Daniel, father of Malachi. My colleague is a descendant of Sowell Frazier, Malachi's brother. My wife is a descendant of Ephraim Frazier, who was either Jeremiah's brother or his son. I think he was probably his son, but there's no proof that I know of either way. We've proved, by DNA testing of my father-in-law, two known descendants of Jeremiah and my colleague (who is descended from William) that Jeremiah and William were not related. Strictly speaking, we need the results of another test, on a different son of William (which is in progress) to be sure, but it seems fairly certain. So it seems the executors of Malachi's will were not his brothers, which is why I'd like to find out what their relationship was. They obviously must have been well known by Malachi in order to be named his executors.

William's father was almost certainly Daniel. William inherited the land that Daniel owned in Granville County (though not through a will that still exists). Daniel Frazier and Margaret Dawson were married in Scotland, so if Margaret Dawson (sometimes given as "Dason") was William's mother, Daniel could not have been the son of John B Frazier. On the other hand, if Daniel was the son of John B Frazier, Margaret Dawson could not have been his wife. The basis for Daniel being the son of John B Frazier is that John's will mentions a son Daniel, but John's son Daniel seems to have been too young to be William's father. It isn't impossible, but it seems unlikely.

Phil