Thursday, August 6, 2020

Corbins of Virginia

Sorry if it seems like I have been spending so much time on this family blog disproving so many lineages, but since I have spent the time doing the research, I don't want my genealogy cousins going down some of the endless rabbit holes that I have uncovered.

This missive involves my maternal Corbin line of Virginia (Henrico/Richmond VA). I have attached a screengrab from my Ancestry Genetic Genealogy tree below.



There are a "big bunch" of trees on Ancestry that have tried to connect our Henrico Corbin line to the gateway Corbin family from England - Henry Corbin-Alice Eltonhead. Sorry to inform any of my cousins who have that line in their tree but there is no DNA support (autosomal or Y-DNA) to support that connection. In fact, DNA both Y-DNA and atDNA have conclusively proved that our Corbins are not the ones that descend from one of the Magna Charta signers.

But don't take my word for it, Below is from one of the leading Virginia Corbin researchers, Here is her post on the subject from the Corbin surname group in 2014:


Re: HENRY CORBIN (husband of ALICE ELTONHEAD) connection with JOHN CORBIN, of the Culpeper Co., VA Family

  • Replies: 0
  • Posted: 19 Jun 2014 8:16 AM
  • Classification: Query
  • Surnames: Corbin

The reason you find so many secondary sources connecting American CORBINs to Henry CORBIN, 1654 immigrant to Virginia from Hall End, Warwickshire, and his wife, Alice ELTONHEAD, is that both are "gateway" ancestors, that is, they have fabulous ancestral connections. See this web page: http://www.magnacharta.com/bomc/bomc-gateway-ancestors/ The problem is, most of these alleged connections are not valid. They always were dubious on paper, and now Y-DNA testing has debunked them genetically. Numerous descendants of John CORBIN of Richmond Co., VA, have been Y-DNA tested; and while this testing has pulled together several lines southern CORBINs (scroll to far right to see lineages): http://dgmweb.net/DNA/Corbin/CorbinDNA-results-HgI1.html#AS2 they are not a match with the tested descendant of Henry CORBIN: http://dgmweb.net/DNA/Corbin/CorbinDNA-results-HgR1b.html#HallEnd If you're a male CORBIN and you want to prove descent from Henry (or an earlier common patrilineal CORBIN ancestor), you can now do it with a Y-DNA test.

Finally, from Diana's website at http://dgmweb.net/FGS/Corb/CorbinHenry-AliceEltonhead.html

Henry CORBIN
Alice ELTONHEAD
Our subjects are "gateway ancestors," whose pedigrees include Magna Carta suretiesCrusaders, and Charlemagne, so it's an understatement to say that American CORBIN genealogists have sought a connection to them for the better part of two centuries.  In fact, only a few CORBINs are known to have a solid paper connection, all through Henry's son, Col. Gawin CORBIN.  One of Gawin's patrilineal descendants has now been tested for the CORBIN Y-DNA Surname Project.  Results indicate that he is, so far, not a match with anyone, and that includes all the other CORBIN lines tested at this time.  This may very well have been the most widely anticipated — and most widely disappointing — test result, ever, in my projects!  The possibility remains that this one tested individual may have an NPE in his patrilineal line, so additional descendants are sought for testing, but as it stands, none of the many CORBIN claims of a connection appear valid, except for this descendant of Col. Gawin.

Based on Y-DNA test results, the following families have been excluded as biological relatives of Henry:  the Northern Neck CORBINs (desc/o John CORBIN of Richmond Co., VA), the Baltimore CORBINs (desc/o Nicholas CORBIN, 1671 immigrant to Maryland), the Muddy River CORBINs (desc/o Clement CORBIN of Woodstock, CT), the Delmarva CORBINs (desc/o George CORBIN of Northampton Co., VA), the Pickens CORBINs (desc/o Peter CORBIN of Pickens Co., SC), the Lexington CORBINS (desc/o Peter CORBIN of Lexington Co., SC), and so on... Please see this page to compare tested CORBIN lines.  

Bottom line: The Corbins from Richmond/Henrico Co VA are NOT related to Henry Corbin and Alice Eltonhead.

If you have connected John I have noted in my tree above to the gateway couple mentioned above, sorry but you have been lead down a rabbit hole.