Since the time I began my research on the Dutton family about twenty-five years ago, there have been multiple Dutton families here in the southern U.S. and even in my region of North Alabama that contradicted my notion that “with a name like Dutton, they all must be related.” Two families in particular have been here in the midst of my Zachariah Dutton family all this time, yet by all appearances were not related: the family of Henry G. Dutton (born about 1829 in Georgia, died 1911 in Morgan County, Alabama), and the family of Samuel Dutton (born perhaps about 1780 in Pennsylvania, died 1822 in Lawrence County, Alabama) and his brother Aaron Dutton (born about 1785 in Pennsylvania, died after 1850 in Jefferson County, Alabama). Who they did relate to has largely been a mystery, until last year when I was able to conduct Y-DNA tests on both of them. The fascinating answers I discovered renewed my original assertion, that maybe with a name like Dutton, they are all related.
Continue reading “Two Southern U.S. Dutton Families Find Their Y-DNA Roots, Part 1: Samuel Dutton of Lawrence County, Alabama, and the Duttons of Blount County, Alabama”