Who Was the Father of Laura Stephens Moon?

Welcome to the Laura Stephens Moon DNA project by Family Locket Genealogists! We are working with Laura’s great-granddaughter, Rosalind, in an ongoing project to document her biological connection to Joseph Humphries and Robert Chandler, two Revolutionary War patriots.¹ Rosalind would like to apply to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) based on this kinship.

Rosalind’s great-grandmother, Laura, was reportedly born about 1850 in Georgia and married Crawford Moon, about 1873 in or near Jackson County, Georgia.² Both multiracial, Laura and Crawford were almost certainly born into slavery. Though no documents or oral history recorded the name of her parents, extensive DNA analysis indicates that Laura was the daughter of Cicero Holt Chandler and that she descended through a double relationship with the Humphries family: from Cicero and also from his grandfather, George Washington Humphries who was the son of patriot Joseph Humphries. Cicero was the son of George’s daughter Nancy Humphries and her husband, Solomon Chandler, who himself was the grandson of patriot Robert Chandler (see chart 1 below). Indirect documentary evidence supports Laura’s connection to Cicero after emancipation and her possible association with Charlotte, a woman enslaved by Solomon and Nancy before the Civil War.³

White Descendants of the Humphries and/or Chandler Families

We reached out to you because we have identified you as a white descendant of the Humphries and/or Chandler families who shares DNA with Rosalind. Because historical documents rarely named the white parents of former slaves, we need your participation as a co-applicant in Rosalind’s application to the DAR. This involves gathering vital records (birth, marriage, and death) and other genealogical documents that prove your descent from the patriot ancestors and submitting those to the DAR in conjunction with Rosalind’s paperwork. Evidence of your DNA relationship will also be submitted. DAR registrars will help you with this process. To support Rosalind and join her application, please email Melanie Whitt at mbwgenealogy@gmail.com or Diana Elder at diana@familylocket.com. You may also help us refine the genetic analysis by submitting your DNA results to the MyHeritage database as described below.

Multiracial Descendants of Laura Stephens and Crawford Moon

We reached out to you because we have identified you as a multiracial descendant of Laura and her husband, Crawford Moon (see chart 4). We request your participation to refine our analysis. We invite you to read more about the DNA project below and help make it a success by sharing your DNA results with us in the MyHeritage database.

Rest assured that if you participate, we will not publish your name anywhere without your consent. We would also love to receive any information you may have through sources or family stories regarding the Humphries, Chandler, Stephens, or Moon families.

Note: Historical documents variously recorded the surname as Humphries, Humphreys, Humphrey, etc.

DNA Evidence

DNA analysis provides irrefutable evidence of Rosalind’s descent from Joseph Humphries and Robert Chandler. Rosalind is “Laura 1” in the following charts.

Genetic Networks

The vast number and quality of Rosalind’s matches with descendants of George Washington Humphries’ line, as well as 17 identified matches to descendants of George’s wife Abigail McDonald’s siblings, show Rosalind descends from one of their children. Laura’s 1850 birth and subsequent residence in Georgia precludes her descent from any of their children’s lines except for their oldest daughter, Nancy Humphries Chandler. Nancy Humphries married Solomon Chandler about 1815 in Jackson County, Georgia, and remained there the rest of her life. Meanwhile, George and the rest of the family migrated west in the 1820s and then settled in Mississippi by 1840.

Nancy herself would not have been Laura’s mother, and Rosalind inherited too much Humphries DNA to have descended only from one of Nancy’s sons alone, according to statistical analyses with DNA Painter’s What Are the Odds (WATO) and BanyanDNA. Based on the strength and quantity of matches, BanyanDNA determined it is most statistically likely that Laura descended from a double relationship with the Humphries-Chandler family (see chart 1). DNA matches through independent Chandler lineages (i.e., through Solomon’s siblings and extended family) support this double descent. Chart 2 summarizes the substantial genetic evidence for Rosalind’s descent from the Humphries, McDonald, and Chandler families.

Chart 1. Laura’s predicted double relationship with the Humphries-Chandler family, and Rosalind’s (Laura 1) descent from Laura:

Chart 2. Pedigree chart summarizing the quantities and lineages of Humphries and Chandler matches who share DNA with Rosalind (Laura 1):

Segment Triangulation

Segment analysis of 15 Humphries descendants at MyHeritage identified over 70 triangulated segments of DNA where Rosalind shares the exact same segment of the exact same chromosome with at least two other Humphries descendants. In two instances on two different chromosomes, Rosalind triangulates on the exact same segment with 6 other Humphries descendants from independent lines of descent. These triangulations confirm Rosalind’s descent from Joseph Humphries (see chart 3).

Chart 3. Pedigree chart showing Humphries match network with over 70 triangulated segments at MyHeritage. The chart indicates the amount of DNA shared and the predicted relationship with the client. Different colored outlines indicate independent lines of Humphries descent:

Chart 4. Pedigree chart showing some of the client’s key multiracial cousins independently descended from Laura, along with DNA match details for those who have tested:

Participate in the DNA Project

If you descend from George Washington Humphries, Robert Chandler, or Laura Stephens Moon, we would love to analyze your DNA segments in relation to other participants in the database at MyHeritage, a secure genealogy website with special DNA segment tools. Here are a few ways you can participate:

Upload to MyHeritage from AncestryDNA

If you have already tested with AncestryDNA, you can participate in the segment analysis at MyHeritage by downloading your raw DNA data and then uploading it for free to MyHeritage. You can follow step-by-step instructions from genetic genealogist and scientist Leah Larkin here:

Leah Larkin, “More Bang for Your Buck: From AncestryDNA to MyHeritage,” blog post, 25 September 2022, The DNA Geek (https://thednageek.com/more-bang-for-your-buck-from-ancestrydna-to-myheritage/ : accessed 18 Oct 2022).

Test with Ancestry DNA and then upload to MyHeritage

If you have not had your DNA tested but would like to, you can purchase an AncestryDNA kit here to be included in the largest consumer DNA database. Once you have tested, we ask that you download your raw DNA data from AncestryDNA and then upload it for free to MyHeritage, following the instructions previously mentioned:

Test Directly with MyHeritage

Alternatively, you can test directly at MyHeritage by purchasing a kit here. You will be automatically included in that database for genetic comparison with other descendants.

Share Genealogical Information

If you’re not interested in joining Rosalind’s application or in sharing DNA with us but have genealogical information about the Humphries, Chandler, Stephens, or Moon families that you’d like to contribute, please email Melanie Whitt at mbwgenealogy@gmail.com or Diana Elder at diana@familylocket.com.

Research Reports

So far, four phases of Humphries research have been completed. To review what we know, in terms of both documentary and genetic genealogy, you can read the completed reports here:

Moon/Lyle/Humphries February 2023 — Privatized Report

Humphries July 2023 — Privatized Report

Humphries December 2023 — Privatized Report

Humphries April 2024 —Privatized Report

For any questions on the project, you can email Melanie Whitt at mbwgenealogy@gmail.com or Diana Elder at diana@familylocket.com.

Sources

National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Joseph Humphrey, ancestor A059898; database, “Ancestor Search,” Daughters of the American Revolution (https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A059898 : accessed 20 April 2023). See also National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Robert Chandler, ancestor A201278; database, “Ancestor Search,” Daughters of the American Revolution (https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A201278 : accessed 6 May 2025).
1880 U.S. Census, Jackson County, Georgia, population schedule, Randolph’s District 248, enumeration district (ED) 56, sheet 562C (stamped), p. 23 (penned), dwelling 208, family 211, Crawford Moon; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4240146-00329 : accessed 12 August 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 153. See also 1900 U.S. Census, Jackson County, Georgia, population schedule, Chandler, enumeration district (ED) 85, sheet 13A (penned), p. 79 (stamped), dwelling 240, family 243, Crofferd W Moon; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4120069_00492?pId=9110258 : accessed 20 July 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 206.
Freedmen Property Tax Digest, Jackson County, Georgia, 1874, entry for Crof Moon, Newtown District 253; database with images, “Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1729/images/40881_1220705227_0780-00285?pId=6508797 : accessed 1 May 2022), image 286 of 1002. See also Freedmen Property Tax Digest, Jackson County, Georgia, 1875, entry for Crawford Moon, Newtown District 253; database with images, “Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1729/images/40881_1220705227_0780-00446?pId=6511439 : accessed 1 May 2022), image 447 of 1002. See also Freedmen Property Tax Digest, Jackson County, Georgia, 1874, entry for employer C H Chandler, Newtown District 253; database with images, “Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1729/images/40881_1220705227_0780-00285 : accessed 1 May 2022), image 286 of 1002. See also 1870 U.S. Census, Clarke County, Georgia, population schedule, Athens, p. 79 (penned), p. 376A (stamped), dwelling 470, family 483, Alfred Kenny; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4263439_00425?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=2898834 : accessed 25 September 2023); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 143. See also Jackson County, Georgia, Court of Ordinary, “Wills, Vol. A-C, 1796-1814, 1860-1919,” entry for Solomon Chandler, will date 29 April 1854, probate date 9 January 1865, Book B, pp. 98-99; digital images, “Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005765010_00185?pId=490738 : accessed 19 September 2023); citing Jackson County Court of Ordinary records. See also Jackson County, Georgia, Court of Ordinary, inventory and appraisement of Solomon Chandler estate, 17 January 1865, pp.795-796; database with images, “Georgia, Probate Records, 1742-1990,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L93R-X66F : accessed 23 January 2024), Jackson > Returns 1860-1868 vol D > image 150 of 425, FamilySearch DGS 5765025; citing various Georgia county, district, and probate courts.