Dear cousins and other researchers,
About eight years ago, my wife, Gloria, (then girlfriend) helped me research my surname, EVERIDGE, at the local LDS library here in Louisville, Kentucky. We, as most of you, already knew about Abner and his first being heard of in North Carolina. Then we encountered the same “brick wall” many of you did. We ordered a lot of microfilm and microfiche and painstakingly went through it all. Gloria did most of the work. Her final conclusion to it all was that she suspected Abner EVERIDGE was supposed to be Abner ETHERIDGE.
We know how easily names can be misspelled, etc. And when someone cannot read nor write their own name, which Abner could not, they obviously would not know to correct it.
A few years later, I got my first computer and got online and immediately became immersed in researching ancestry. My suspicions that we descended from ETHERIDGE grew and grew. I discovered http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com. and learned I could order an in-home DNA test. I knew I would have to have a known ETHERIDGE to compare DNA with. I know Dr. Etheridge in Louisiana. I asked him if he would submit a test with me. He agreed to. Tonight, December 27, 2000, I had a call from Bennett Greenspan, President, FamilyTreeDNA, informing me that DR. ETHERIDGE and I were a PERFECT DNA MATCH.
This is how I believe the story unfolds: Abner EVERAGE/EVERIDGE was born 1745-49, prob. Currituck, NC. He was the son of Abner ETHERIDGE, b. 1721; the son of SOLOMON ETHERIDGE, b. Abt. 1695 (in Virginia, I think). SOLOMON was the son of MARMADUKE, b. Prob. 1670Â’s; son of MARMADUKE, b. Abt 1647; the son of THOMAS , b. ?; the son of THOMAS THE IMMIGRANT, b. Abt. 1605 in England. Died Nov or Dec, 1671, in Norfolk County, Va.

1. Abner ETHERIDGE - International Genealogical Index/NA
Gender: M Will: 7 Nov 1749 Currituck, North Carolina*

2. Abner ETHERIDGE - Ancestral File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: 1721, Currituck, North Carolina
(I believe 1 2 is Abner Sr., Mentioned in SolomonÂ’s will)


*This WILL was that of SOLOMON ETHERIDGE, b. Abt. 1695. It appears he died shortly after the will was written.

Solomon had sons, Abner, Solomon, and Absalom. Daughters, Sarah, Letitia, Barbara, Rhoda.



This is from the ETHERIDGE message board:
Isaac Ethridge from the North Carolina
Genealogical Society Journal No. 6, 1980

ETHRIDGE, ISAAC also called EVERIDGE. William Reed of Perquimans Co. shows
ISSAC Ethridge served in the Continental line, obtained a certificate for
73.7.2 lira which Reed purchased. Auditors discovered no Ethridge on the
payrolls but EVERIDGE and rejected the certificate. Captain William
Etheridge, 18 Sept. 1792, in Currituck Co., swore his family is called by
persons in general EVERIDGE but that they spell their name ETHERIDGE. In
Senate and House 30 Nov. ; 1 Dec. Referred to Committee (LP 116). A John
Etheridge was in the N.C. Assembly 1729.

There are many “kinks” in all this that I hope some of you will help me iron out.


Respectfully,

Ben A. Everidge, son of Ishmael, son of William, son of Francis Marion, son of Benjamine, son of joseph, son of Abner

Remove the first Marmaduke:
SOLOMON was the son of MARMADUKE, b. Prob. 1670’s; son of MARMADUKE, b. Abt 1647; the son of THOMAS the immigrant b.abt 1695 England. d. bet. 11-9-1671 12-16-1671 Norfolk, Va.

Thomas, the immigrant, birth should be abt. 1605; not 1695

Searching the web for a relative, I came across your post. I am a direct descendent of Marmaduke Ethridge as well as Solomon Ethridge

I have a book which I have to dig out of storage entitled "The Ethridge Family & Allied Kin" which my grandfather researched and wrote over 30 years. As best I remember, my line goes back to Virginian & NC. (See some of my posts on http://genforum.genealogy.com/etheridge and /ethridge--you can search the site by my name--"William Nathaniel Ethridge IV". Some of the posts shed some light on the family name.) Having received permission from my uncle, Thomas Ramage Ethridge (Oxford, MS), I intend to put all the info in the book online. Once done, I'll post the link on the Eth(e)ridge forums.

Several of the specific names and locations on your site look familiar to me, but it's been a while since I've looked at the book.

I write in case any of the info in the book might be of help. It has a fair amount of info.

By the way, once, when walking down the hall in an office building in Carlsbad, CA (north San Diego County), a woman whom I had never seen previously asked me, out of the blue, if I were an Ethridge. When I said "Yes," she took a minute or two to recover from her amazement. As she explained, she was from Nags Head, NC, and said that I looked so much like the Ethridges she knew there, that she just had to ask me!

I was born in Oxford, MS, and grew up in Jackson, MS. Most of my close relatives have professionally, been in the legal field (lawyers, judges, law school professors, etc.) My father, for example, was Chief Justice of the Mississippi State Supreme Court for most of the 1950s and 1960s. It would surprise me if the Tennessee and Mississippi Ethridges/Etheridges had nothing in common.

The story my grandfather told is that (no firm historical evidence--just "legend") during the revolutionary war, the Eth(e)ridges that supported the revolutionaries dropped the middle "e", and the ones loyal to the British crown kept it. Or vice-versa! (Since my line of the family has no middle "e", my grandfather, with a smile on his face, of course claimed that our side was the one siding with the revolutionaries!) However purely anecdotal, his account of the family name makes for an interesting story, does it not?

Best regards,
Bill Ethridge a.k.a.
William Nathaniel Ethridge IV (I normally don't use the "IV")
ethridge@onebox.com OR
willeth@earthlink.net
Encinitas, CA

Hi William,
My name is Amanda Cole and my great, great grandfather was William A. Ethridge born in 1830 was married to Lucy Ann Chalkborn in 1835 and had a daughter named Emily Elizabeth Ethridge1857, I have resently been told that William might of married again after Lucy died in 1879 to a Vicy in 1880. still checking in on that. I was wondering in that book you talked about if maybe anything is meantion about him, also his father was named Allen Ethridge and mother Mary???? I sure would appriciate any and all info you can give me. Thanks and god bless, Amanda

I am a direct descendent of Marmaduke. My line of the Ethridges came from the North Carolina-Virginia area, down and across Georgia, Alabama, to Mississippi, where they have been since the late 1700s. (I was born in Oxford and grew up in Jackson, MS.) You'll find various posts of mine on different "Ethridge" and "Etheridge" forums at, e.g., geneaology.com. I have a fair amount of material I simply haven't had the time to go through. It is quite interesting the permutations that occur on names throughout our overlapping family histories, is it not? I am planning on writing a book on my father who was Chief Justice of the Mississippi State Supreme Court in the 1960s, through mid-1971 (his death)--interesting times in the deep South. So I am just gearing up to gather info on family connections. I will share info as I go through the info I have (including the books, "The Ethridge Family & Allied Kin"--put together by my grandfather, Wm. N. Ethridge II--and "Ten Generations of Etheridges [and Variations]". Any helpful input which can be shared is welcome. I will reciprocate whenever possible. (I will be unavailable for all of January, 2003, I should note.)

HEllo!
I too am a descendant of Abner. I have just started researching my mother's family. Her mother, Delia, was an Everage. Delia married a Thacker, and then my grandfather James Mills Riddle. I would love to see more information on the Everage Line. And you say you have a book on them? How could i get a copy?

I would love to swap information with you as I am a descendent of marmaduke etheridge who was the son of Thomas Etheridge and Christian (Marrington or Yates). Looking forward to hearing from you!

I to am a descendant of Marmaduke Etheridge/Ethridge??? Marmaduke had a daughter named Sarah (Sally) who married Thomas Dough. I too am trying to document for both DAR and Mayflower membership. My family name is Dowe which was changed from Dough with my grandfather Chester Jennings Dough II. Are you familar with the Dough Family? I have a family tree on Ancestry.com called Dowe Family Tree. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Patty

Bill -

My name is Steve Ethridge (originally from Vicksburg). I knew Tom Ethridge when I was at Ole Miss and I have a copy of your Father's family history. Do you have a clear family lineage beyond Marmaduke's father William?

I now live in northern California, but I am back at Ole Miss at least twice a year for a board meeting. I would love to meet and say hello at some point.

Best,
Steve (steve@stewartandpatten.com)