We’re just six weeks into the year, and 2024 is already shaping up to be big for Wathen genealogical research. I’d like to highlight a few developments so far, then share some big news about a new book that I’ve begun working on.
First, here are two big updates that I’ve already shared here on the website:
- Two new Y-DNA test-takers have already submitted samples to Family Tree DNA for the “Warthen/Worthen/Wathen Group Project.” One is a male descendant of Barton Wathen of Charles County, who died in Washington County, Kentucky, in 1819, and the other is a male descendant of Leonard Warthen, who died in Montgomery County, Maryland, in 1850. I hopeful that these new tests from carefully chosen branches will help solve some mysteries on the Wathen family tree. I briefly mentioned these Y-DNA tests in the article “The Frederick County Warthens.”
- All pre-1900 documents from The Maryland Province Archives at Georgetown University have now been scanned and placed online. These records of the Jesuits of Southern Maryland contain much valuable family history, and I have been slowly working through them to see what new information they may contain. I mentioned these records and a new discovery that I’ve already made in the article “Wathen Whiskey Began in Maryland.”
Here's a new update that I’m very excited to share: Carolyn Huebner Collins, who spent decades of her life researching the Wathen family tree and wrote the important book Wathen Anthology, has asked me to take all of her Wathen research files in order to continue her research. Carol just celebrated her 95th birthday (see the article “Happy 95th Birthday to Carol Collins”) and has been looking for someone to carry the torch of tracing the Wathen name. I’m overwhelmingly honored that she has asked me to do so. God willing, I hope to travel to Carol’s residence in Indiana in the coming months to retrieve the many files of research that she has compiled over the years. I have no doubt that her notes will fill in many holes in my own research.
Finally, here’s the very big news that you came here for: I’ve begun working on a new volume of Wathen genealogy and history called Wathen’s Adventure: The Genealogy and History of John Wathen of Southern Maryland!
Those of you who read my first genealogy book, The Wathens of Southern Maryland: Their Genealogy & History may have noticed a couple of things: First, the book is very long and, therefore, somewhat daunting. Second, the book focuses almost exclusively on Southern Maryland, leaving out many Wathens born in places like Kentucky and Indiana. While Chapter 1 of my book – “John Wathen & His Descendants” – includes Wathens who moved to Kentucky, I generally did not include anyone who was born outside of Southern Maryland. This meant that my first book has much more appeal to the branches of Wathens who remained in Southern Maryland than to those whose ancestors traveled westward in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
In Wathen’s Adventure: The Genealogy and History of John Wathen of Southern Maryland, I hope to expand and improve the material that was in Chapter 1 of my first book by including known descendants of John Wathen who were born outside of Southern Maryland. I’ve been working diligently in recent months to more fully outline the first five generations of our Wathen family, including dozens of Wathens who were born in Kentucky. I plan to incorporate new records – including new information from Carol Collins – in order to make the details in this book even more thorough and accurate. Because Wathen’s Adventure will not retrace the information contained in Chapter 2 through 4 of The Wathens of Southern Maryland, this new book will be both shorter and more affordable than my first book, while appealing to a wider audience.
Wathen’s Adventure: The Genealogy and History of John Wathen of Southern Maryland will also include insights from new Y-DNA testing, continuing the groundbreaking genetic research that began in The Wathens of Southern Maryland. There may be some big discoveries on the horizon!
In order to make this ongoing project possible, I’d like to ask for your support. I invite you to consider ordering a Memorial Page listing in the opening pages of Wathen’s Adventure: The Genealogy and History of John Wathen of Southern Maryland! Each Memorial Page listing not only provides the opportunity to memorialize a living or deceased loved one, but also helps to fund the considerable expenses associated with this research (e.g., travel, online genealogical research, Y-DNA testing, etc.).
Memorial Page listings can be purchased with or without a pre-ordered copy of Wathen’s Adventure: The Genealogy and History of John Wathen of Southern Maryland. Although the publication timeline depends upon several factors, I expect the book to be completed by the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. Thank you in advance for your support!