Welcome to the Slaven Genealogy Exchange.

Welcome to the Slaven Genealogy Exchange! Our purpose is to be a central location to collect and exchange information for Slaven, Slevin, Slavin, Slavey, and other surname variations. The scope of this exchange is world wide. We hope there's something here for the beginning genealogist, the old hand, and the merely curious!

What's New?

Mother's Day DNA Sales.

Ancestry has their AncestryDNA autosomal test on sale for $39, a great price. Sale runs through 10 a.m. ET May 12.

FamilyTreeDNA has their autosomal FamilyFinder test on sale for Mother's Day at $59. They also have their mitochodrial DNA tests on sale (appropriately, as mtDNA is passed from mother to child). Sale runs through May 12.

Sacred Ground.

The Independent Herald of Oneida, Tennessee, has another article n their "Sacred Ground" series that will be of interest to descendants of Richard Harve Slaven/Slavey. The whole series (more information can be found below) is likely of interest, considering how long the Slaven family has been in the Big South Fork country and the many family lines they connect with.

23andMe Bankruptcy.

23andMe, one of the pioneering companies in genetic genealogy, has filed for bankruptcy and the announcement has generated a lot of news stories. Here's a sampling from several news organizations:
23andMe's own press release.
PBS
Axios.
Science News.

For 23andMe customers, the big question is, "Should I delete my data from 23andMe? It's up to the individual, but as a customer myself, I'm not deleting my data, at least not yet. A new owner will be constrained by the same privacy laws as 23andMe. For example, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) bars employers and health insurance companies from using genetic data. Even considering the current anti-regulation fervor in Washington, D.C., I don't believe employers and insurance companies will go to genetic genealogy companies for data if it's legalized-- just like for drug tests, if they're ever allowed to use your genetic data, they'll come get it from you directly. Just because a test at a genetic genealogy company has a person's name on it, it doesn't mean the DNA came from that person. For example, in our Slaven Y-DNA project, there are several women who submitted their husband's, father's brother's, etc. DNA.

That said, I did delete my brother's DNA from 23andMe. We had his data from Ancestry ported over in the brief period years ago when 23andMe offered the service, in case he might match with someone I didn't, and that match would solve the mystery of our then-unknown great-grandfather. That mystery has been solved, there's only a small number of unique matches, and the majority of those matches don't post any genealogical information or respond to messages.

If I do delete my data from 23andMe, it will be bacause of that lack of genealogical focus. I'm on all the majors-- AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, and 23andMe-- and 23andMe's customer base seems to be the least interested in genealogy. While I did find at 23andMe a Sutter second cousin who had a brother who could take the Y-DNA test at FamilyTreeDNA to confirm our families shared the same great-grandfather, sooner or later a similar cousin may have turned up at Ancestry. I was an early customer at 23andMe and was tested on the first generation sequencing chip, so my results aren't as comprehensive as those of later customers. If so many people bail from 23andMe that it has no value for genealogy, then I might delete my data... although I still may stay, so I can more easily answer people's questions about their service.

Older News.

We have a new participant in "Cousins DNA Registry," a person who descends from an early 19th century couple from County Laois (aka Queens County), Ireland, who with their children emigrated to Waterbury, Connecticut, in the 1850's. Are you a DNA match?

New email address.

After many years of paying EarthLink to keep my old email address active, I'm phasing it out. The new address is slavens.net@gmail.com If you added me to your address book under the EarthLink address, please update it as it will be discontinued sometime in July.

Another descendant of John and Elizabeth (Stuart) Slaven, through their daughter Elizabeth, has been added to the "Cousins DNA Registry." They're working on joining the Sons of the American Revolution and are looking for DNA connections back to patriot John Slaven.

We have a new addition to the "Cousins DNA Registry," a person who descends from John and Elizabeth (Stuart) Slaven two ways, thanks to second cousins who married in 1852. Look for matches on Ancestry or GEDmatch.

The Independent Herald of Oneida, Tennessee, has continued to add stories to its Sacred Ground series on cemeteries in Scott County. (See older news below for more information on the series.) Be sure to press the "Load More" button at the bottom of the index page as there are a lot of them, and practically all of them have Slaven burials. You can also enter

"Sacred Ground" Slaven

in the search bar to only see the cemetery pages where the Slaven name appears. The latest (as of this writing May 1) is on the Davey Boyatt Cemetery.

A couple more Civil War pension files have been added to the NARA files page. If you have a relative on this list of pension files, you've had a stroke of luck-- a full pension file available for free online! The files are also available for download as pdfs.

We have a new entry in the "Cousins DNA Registry," a descendant of a Slevin family in County Longford, Ireland. He has matches with several of Slaven/Slavin/Slevin families on FamilyTreeDNA, including another member of the Slaven DNA Project. Joesph is also on GEDmatch. Are you a match?

Changes are in the offing at the major genealogy/DNA sites. FamilyTreeDNA is to start adding a Y-DNA haplogroup to male FamilyFinder (autosomal) DNA results. This will not be as specific a haplogroup as one would get with the more sophisticated (and much more expensive) Big Y-700 test, but it could have some value if a non-paternity event is suspected in a male tester's paternal line. No word on when this will be rolled out, other than "soon," and it will be rolled out in waves-- basically, the longer you've had your FamilyFinder results, the longer it will be before they get to your results. If you transferred your results from another company (such as AncestryDNA) to FTDNA and paid for the "unlock," they'll also give a Y-DNA haplogroup if the tester was male. Also, there are rumblings that AncestryDNA is going to cut back on what it offers for folks who don't have an Ancestry subscription, but there's been no official announcement as of October 12.

A descendant of John and Elizabeth (Stuart) Slaven, through their daughter Elizabeth (married Abraham Ingram) has been added to the Slaven Cousins DNA Registry, a table of people who have had DNA testing done and are looking for connections. Also, Bev Jenkins, with Slavin ancestry in (Northern) Ireland and Scotland, and a few hits on descendants of John Slaven of County Tyrone/Highland County, Virigina, was added a few weeks ago. Check out the registry!

Seeking descendants.

Alexander Slaven. Looking for direct male line descendants of Alexander Slaven (born ca. 1794 in Rowan County, NC, died 1847 in Williamson County, TN) for DNA testing to help confirm the family lines descending from William and Isabel (Luckey) Slaven/Esleven/etc. of North Carolina. This would be a male Slaven/Slavin who can go through his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. to Alexander via his sons James B., Franklin, Newton, or George. In the 19th and early 20th century descendants were mostly in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. If this describes you or a family member-- or are unsure-- contact me at slavens.net@gmail.com. Funding is available to cover most or all of the testing cost.

(This Alexander Slaven should not to be confused with the Alexander Slaven b. 1815 Campbell County, TN, died 1897 Wayne County, KY, a son of Richard Harve Slaven. And for the hundreds of Ancestry trees that have this Alexander as a son of John and Elizabeth (Stuart) Slaven— no, just no. A woman born ca. 1726 is NOT having a baby in 1795.)

Elizabeth "Betsy" Slavon/Slavey.
Update: One of Betsy's descendants has graciously allowed me to look at her AncestryDNA matches, and they're what would be expected if Betsy was a daughter of William (the saddler) Slaven: a couple dozen matches with descendants of Richard Harve Slaven, a few matches with descendants of Robert Slaven and of John Slavin. Would still like to hear from other descendants to check that the results are similar.

Looking for any descendants of Betsy Slavon of North Carolina, b. abt. 1787, who married Abraham Sharp and lived in Logan County, Kentucky-- especially descendants who have tested with AncestryDNA and can search for Slaven/Slavin matches (or will give me temporary access to their results so I may search). Betsy had at least three children who had children: Anthony (married Lourany Lyons), Elizabeth (married Abraham Lyons), and Nancy (married George Tinsley). From matches with a couple of Richard Harve Slaven's descendants I believe Betsy is a daughter of William (the saddler) and Jane Bailey Slaven... or possibly of Robert Slaven. Looking at Slaven matches from the account of one of Betsy's descendants could be enlightening. (Or, if you're a descendant of Richard Harve Slaven, John of Garrard, or Robert of Georgia/Indiana, I can give you instructions on how to look for Betsy's descendants. Or I can look myself with temporary guest access to your results.)

I've written an analysis of the first Big Y-700 test results in the Slaven DNA project. These detsiled tests show that the Robert Slaven of Georgia/Indiana line, John Slavin of Kentucky line, and the Richard Harve Slaven line have a common ancestor born ca. 1708— pretty much dead-on for it being William Slaven/Esleven/etc. of Rowan County, North Carolina. The John Slaven of Virgina line does not connect to this line until you go back approximately 1,900 years, well before surnames were used in Ireland. Looks like I'll have to update the 20-year old web pages here that thought the connection was closer!

I stumbled across a couple YouTube videos that descendants of Richard Harve Slaven could be interested in. "Big South Fork- No Business, Looking for the remains of Richard Harve Slaven’s Homesite, or a hike looking for the homesteads of Charlie, Nimrod, and Dewey Slaven. "Papaw in the Woods" has posted a ton of videos of hikes in the Big South Fork area; this should pull up the full list.

Last fall, I started working with a Richard Harve Slaven descendant to take a new look like at his life. New records have become available, older records become more accessable (like FamilySearch "filmstrips" now available online), DNA testing has becoming more popular, etc., so maybe we could get a more definitive answer on his parentage and other questions. A major discovery has been made. But first, let's cast a critical eye at Richard's "accepted" date of birth and supposed parents. Another post will follow around June 10. I've also updated the the other posts on that North Carolina Kin for clarity.

The Big Y-700 test results are in now for a descendant of John Slavin of Garrard County, KY, Richard Harve Slavey/Slaven, Robert Slaven of Georgia/Indiana, and John Slaven of Highland County, VA. It shows the first three are all closely related (as expected as descendants of William and Isabel (Luckey) Slaven of Pennsylvania/Rowan County, NC), and that the John Slaven of Virgina line split off at minimum 1,800 years ago, well before surnames were used in Ireland. So no, William of NC and John of VA are not brothers, father/son, cousins, or anything of the sort. I'll have more details later.

We've added another person to the"Cousins DNA Registry," the father of a person already in the registry. Since Dad has twice as much Slaven DNA as his son, go check your results against Thomas Sexton and see if you're a match!

Descendants of John Slavin of Garrard County, KY, of Richard Harve Slaven/Slavey, or of Robert Slaven of Georgia/Indiana who have been tested by AncestryDNA: would you please search your matches' trees for the Strange surname and let me know if you have any, especially if the match's Strange ancestor is in the 1700's or 1800's? Email me at slavens.net@gmail.com

I've added a new subsection to the site for the research that's been done the past few months on the North Carolina Slaven/Sleven/Slavin/Eslevin/etc. families. So far there's a short post explaining a naming convention to hopefully help people keep track of which person is being referred to, since there are so many instances of fathers, sons, cousin, etc. with the same name. And there's also an essay on when records confuse rather than clarify a person's life. Coming will be essays on the parentage of Richard Harve Slaven/Slavey, on the Gates County line, on what advanced DNA testing is telling us, perhaps more.

I have added a nice batch of early deeds, wills, and court minutes records for North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, the fruits of a search to learn more about the William Slaven/Esleven/etc. family of Rowan County, North Carolina, and if/how the Richard Harve Slaven/Slavey, John Slavin of Garrard County, Kentucky, and Robert Slaven of Georgia/Indiana families connect. Work is continuing. Find links to the new and updated record pages on the Courthouse page. Update: I've also added a few deeds to the Arkansas page; I suspect these gentlemen are the Rowan County, North Carolina to Georgia to Indiana line. I've also added some Kentucky marriages.

A little update...

...to the missive below: Upgrades to the "Big Y-700" test have been ordered for a descendant of Richard Harve Slaven, John Slavin of Garrard County, Robert Slaven of Georgia/Indiana, and John Slaven of County Tyrone. Results for the descendants of the two Johns are in, and the Richard descendant's results should be here any day. I'll keep giving progress reports! Further update: Through analysis of will, deed, court, and other records, I had created a working theory as to the parents of Richard Harve Slaven and of other connections in the Rowan/Iredell County family. I have found a tree on Ancestry that has those same connections; I've exchanged emails with the tree owner and confirmed that the birth/marriage/death information come from a family Bible.

Upcoming:

An update about using advanced DNA testing to more conclusively show that Richard Harve Slaven/Slavey, Robert Slaven, and John Slavin of Garrard County, KY are closely related (through William and Isabell Luckie Slaven of North Carolina?), and show that John Slaven of Highland County, VA is not closely related. There's been an explosion of family trees on Ancestry purporting that William of NC and John of VA are brothers, sons of a "Patrick and Ann Rogers Slaven." (Can someone show a source for Patrick being the father of either one that isn't just someone else's tree?)
Probably more newspaper clippings. I've got quite a backlog.

Attention descendants of John Slavin of Rowin Co., NC/Garrard Co., KY, and of Robert Slaven of Georgia/Gibson Co., IN, and Richard Harve Slaven of Tennessee.

Y-DNA testing indicates that these families are connected, possibly through William and Isabell (Luckey) Slaven of Rowin Co., NC. Let's look hard for autosomal DNA connections between the families with the Ancestry DNA test. The connection between families would be far enough back that many descendants of these family lines won't show a connection simply because so little Slaven DNA has been passed down that it can't be differentiated from random matching segments. But if enough descendants have tested (and the families truly are related) we may find matches. For example, I have many matches with descendants of Isaiah Slavens's brothers and sisters; our common ancestors (John and Elizabeth (Stuart) Slaven) would be contemporaneous with the common ancestor of the Richard/John/Robert families.

If you are a descendant of one of these family lines and have done the AncestryDNA test:

Set up a family tree at Ancestry and attach it to the DNA results. (You do not have to have an Ancestry subscription to post a tree.) It doesn't have to be a detailed tree or trace back all your family lines; getting it back to your Slaven/Slavin/Slavey ancestors is sufficient.

Make the tree public, or searchable if private, so that we can find you as we search for DNA matches.

While not necessary, dropping me a line with your Ancestry ID will also help in identifying matches. PLEASE send me this info if you don't have the time to make a tree, or have one that is private and unsearchable, but still want to help.

If you're a descendant of one of these families and haven't yet been tested, or have tested elsewhere, consider testing at Ancestry. The more descendants that have tested, the more likely we are of finding DNA matches if the families are connected.

If you have questions or suggestions, email me!

Here's a nice blog with instructions on how to download your autosomal DNA data from each of the major companies and upload it elsewhere, such as to GEDmatch.

Descendants of Richard Harve Slaven/Slavey might be interested in this newspaper story about hiking in the No Business area.

Attention Richard Harve Slaven descendants.
The Oneida (Tennessee) Independent Herald had a nice story on the (former) No Business community, and Richard Harve Slaven and a few of his descendants. It's probably not news to family who still live in the Big South Fork area, but it appears to be a good overview for the general public. You can find it here. A quick scan of used book sites don't come up with any copies of Dusty Bits of the Forgotten Past, which is mentioned in the story.

About this site

This is a private, noncommercial educational site for the free exchange of information. It is not associated with Ancestry, Rootsweb, MyFamily, or any commercial site. (That means no banner ads, no pop-up or pop-under windows, no unsolicited email!)

All content on this site is believed to be compliant with U.S. copyright law and Fair Use provisions.

Because the site is an outgrowth of my personal research, it's tilted towards the Slavens surname. But that's easily fixed-- contribute your Slavin, Slevin, etc. data for the site! Here are some of the types of information that you can share:

Census transcriptions Census returns can be a gold mine of information for both the beginning and the experienced researcher, but many people don't have easy access to films. Finding your family in a transcription here makes requesting a film or a lookup much more worthwhile, so won't you share? We need people who have access to their state's Soundex indexes and are willing to transcribe the Slaven(s), Slavin, Slevin, etc. entries! It's S415 and you'll see about 20 Sullivans for each Slaven.

Biographies and reminiscences Share the bios from county history books, reminiscences from ancestors, old family letters, your own memories, the family history that was written for a reunion decades ago...

Obituaries Transcriptions of obituaries and death notices.

Photographs Share family photos, or photos of grave sites. Photos continue to be the most popular items on the site.

Links Do you have or know of a family-related site? Does a GenWeb county site offer information on a branch of the family? Share it here!

Other help! Other information that doesn't fit the categories above is also welcome.

All corrections, suggestions, criticisms, etc. are welcome too! Be sure to put Slaven, Slavin, and something meaningful in the subject line-- I get tons of spam so an email with no subject or "Hi!" will probably be deleted unread!

Larry Slavens
7018 Airline Ave.
Des Moines, IA 50322

slavens.net@gmail.com