Y-DNA AND JOHN OWSLEY (c1732-1764)

As noted in previous OFHS Newsletter articles, DNA testing in 2006 revealed that John Owsley (born about 1732 in Virginia) was not the biological son of Thomas Owsley II (son of Thomas, the immigrant, and grandson of Reverend John Owsley and his wife Dorothea Poyntz). John Owsley was the founder of the largest branch of the Owsley, Ousley, Housley family--known as the Tennessee branch because John's son, John who served in the Revolution, moved with his mother and stepfather from Virginia to North Carolina (where he married Charity Barton) and then on to Tennessee.  

Extensive Big Y-700 DNA testing revealed Participant's #26340, #227450, #467977, and #MK86470, are positive for the SNP R-A14796. The SNP R-A14796 is located downstream of SNP R-M222 and is one of a block of eleven (11) SNP's. Participants #467977 and #MK86470 also tested positive for the two SNP's R-A22304, while participant's #26340 and #227450 did not. This is the reason their Y-DNA Haplogroups are different. 

According to Family Tree DNA, the man who is the most recent common ancestor of this line is estimated to have been born around 1796 CE. For more information on Y-DNA Haplogroup R-A14796, visit the following website:

https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-A14796/story

Group #2 Partial SNP Lineage:

R-M269 > L23 > L51 > P310 > L151 > P312 > Z290 > L21 > S552 > DF13 > Z39589 > DF49 > Z2980 > Z2976 > DF23 > Z2961 > Z2956 > Z2965 > M222 > Z2959 > S658 > DF104 > DF105 > ZZ87 > S588 > S7814 > BY202 > BY205 > BY4142 > BY4140 > A14796 > A22304

According to Family Tree DNA, this line may have been descended from Eógan mac Néill, son of the Irish King - Niall of the Nine Hostages. For more information concerning the connection of John Owsley to the Irish, please see the Owsley Family Historical Society Newsletter April 2022 edition, pages 15 through 17.  

As of this date, our quest to identify the true biological father of John Owsley or his family has been unsuccessful. The search still continues.

Partial lineages of the members of this group who have completed Big Y-700 testing:

#26340 – Descendant of George Washington Owsley (1860-1924), son of John Housley (abt.1839-1868), son of Robert Housley (1818-1886), son of Joseph Owsley "Ousley, Housley" (abt.1790-1870/80), son of John Owsley II (1757-1845). (Completed Big Y-700 test. Y-DNA Haplogroup: R-A14796)

#227450 – Descendant of George Washington Owsley (1892-1938), son of Robert Rainey Owsley (1849-1920), son of Emmanuel M. Owsley (1826-1892), son of Robert Owsley (abt.1802-abt.1858), son of John Owsley II (1757-1845).  (Completed Big Y-700 test. Y-DNA Haplogroup: R-A14796)

#467977 and #MK86470 – Descendants of John Hunter Owsley (1894-1972), son of Malkijah V. Owsley (1853-1902), son of David Owsley (1823-1864), son of William Owsley(1796-1875), son of John Owsley II (1757-1845). (Completed Big Y-700 test. Y-DNA Haplogroup: R-A22304) 

On February 4, 2026, the four direct male descendants of John Owsley (c1732-1764), who have completed the Big Y-700 DNA test, received a “new” very close match. The new match is with a gentleman whose surname is Conner. Mr. Conner’s Y-DNA Haplogroup is R-A14796.

A member of Mr. Conner’s family has completed family research, and traced their lineage back to Thomas Conner, who was born about 1750. Thomas Conner lived in York County, Pennsylvania, Washington County, Maryland, and Allegany County, Maryland. Over the years, ancestors of Mr. Conner migrated from Maryland to Ohio, to Iowa, and then to Kansas, where Mr. Conner and his family now reside.

I have read that the Conner/Conner families were once the O’Connor family, which originated in Ireland. Sometime over the generations, the “O” was dropped from their name. 

Mr. Conner and the four Owsley testers also have close matches with three males bearing the Connor surname. These three Connor’s have only completed the 37-markers Y-DNA test. One is a close match with Mr. Connor with a genetic distance of only one (1). This confirms Mr. Conner’s lineage is pretty solid going back to Thomas Conner (born c1750). 

According to Family Tree DNA, Mr. Conner and the four Owsley testers share a common direct male ancestor who was born about 1774, and that there’s a 68% chance this ancestor was born sometime between 1709 and 1829. 

https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-A14796/story

Although Mr. Conner and the four Owsley testers were all positive for SNP R-A14796, the STR results indicate the four Owsley tester are most likely more closely related to each other than they are with Mr. Conner. For example: Owsley #227450 contains the perfect DNA Haplotype for the John Owsley group in the Owsley Surname DNA Project. He matches Owsley 467977, with a genetic distance of one (1) at 111 markers, and with Owsley #26340 and Owsley #MK86470, with a genetic distance on two (2) at 111 markers. He matches with Mr. Conner, with a genetic distance of six (6) at 111 markers. 

The four Owsley testers are all descended from John Owsley (1757-1845), son of John Owsley (c1732-1764). Two are from William Owsley, while one is from Joseph Owsley, and the other is from Robert Owsley. In my opinion, the four Owsley testers and Mr. Conner share a common direct male ancestor a few generations back from John Owsley (c1732-1764). This would indicate the true biological father of John Owsley (c1732-1764) was a male bearing the Conner surname.

Since learning about Mr. Conner, I have conducted some research on the web. There was a Samuel Conner who was born in 1706 and died in 1768. Samuel Conner lived in Prince William, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties in northern Virginia. He actually owned land on Goose Creek just like the Owsley’s. There was also a man named Thomas Conner who purchased land in 1690 in King George County, Virginia.   

More research is needed to identify which Conner (or Connor) was the true biological father of John Owsley (c1732-1764)………………