William Sullivan, Son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle
by Shawn Henry Potter and Lois Carol Potter
renatuspress@gmail.com
Introduction
This discussion corrects a long-standing error in online genealogies regarding the identity of William Sullivan, the son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. By examining contemporary records, analyzing autosomal DNA segments, and comparing Y-DNA haplotypes, we conclude that William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, was not a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. Instead, William, the son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle, was William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier.
The Family of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle
Daniel Sullivan married Jane Settle in King George County, Virginia, on 3 Aug 1787, moved to Green County, Kentucky, after 19 Sep 1801 and before 13 Aug 1803, and signed his will in Hardin County, Kentucky, on 8 Jun 1845, naming his eight children: Henry, Price, John, Daniel Jr., Enoch, Sarah, William, and Benjamin.[1] He further willed that his son Price should “take charge of myself my wife and my property during our natural lives,” and directed that, following his death, his property should be “divided among my children with the exception of my son Henry Sullivan in as much as I think he has got his share.” With these records in mind, we ask who was William Sullivan, son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle?
Jane Settle was the Mother of William Sullivan
Although Daniel Sullivan provided for his wife in his will, he did not name her. Nevertheless, multiple contemporary records confirm that Jane outlived her husband. The 1850 Federal Census for Hardin County shows “Jane Sullivan,” age 80, living with her son Price Sullivan in accordance with Daniel Sullivan’s wishes.[2] The 5 Oct 1855 death record of Jane Settle identifies her as “Jane Sullivan” of Hardin County, born in Virginia, daughter of Abraham Settle.[3] William P. Sullivan testified on 19 Jan 1856 that his father, Price Sullivan, had “maintained and supported … and clothed” his grandmother, called “Jane Sullivan” in the record, until her death.[4] And the 8 Sep 1857 death record of Price Sullivan identifies his parents as “Dan and Jane Sullivan.”[5] Every contemporary record identifies the wife of Daniel and mother of his children as “Jane,” and no contemporary record calls her anything else.
Wrong Mother and Missing Father
What do contemporary records reveal about the parents of William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert? On 23 Dec 1807, Mary Sullivan of Green County gave her consent for her son William Sullivan to marry.[6] On that same day, William Sullivan signed a bond to marry Barbary Owley (sic.), and the marriage between William Sullivan and Barbary Wert was recorded as having occurred on 21 Dec 1807.[7] The inconsistent dates and surnames in these records are puzzling; but these records appear to refer to the same event; and these records identify the mother of William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, as a woman named Mary. Certain Internet webpages try to resolve this conflict by referring to the mother of William Sullivan as “Mary Jane.” Yet no contemporary record, either in Virginia or Kentucky, refers to her by that name.
Furthermore, if William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, were a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle, one wonders why Daniel did not give his permission for William to marry? Daniel was alive at the time, and surely would have done so, if he were the father of William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert. These contemporary records demonstrate that the parents of William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, were not Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle.
Wrong Age
Chronological analysis further demonstrates that William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, was not the son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. Daniel Sullivan appears to have named his children in his will in birth order. The 1850 US Federal Census records the approximate years of birth of four surviving sons of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. According to this census: Henry Sullivan was born about 1788, Price Sullivan was born in about 1790, Enoch Sullivan was born about 1800, and Benjamin Sullivan was born about 1812.[8] Furthermore, Find a Grave records state that Price Sullivan was born on 8 May 1790, and Benjamin Sullivan was born on 10 Jul 1810.[9] The ages of these four sons are consistent with Daniel Sullivan having listed his children in his will in birth order. He named first Henry who was born about 1788; he named second Price who was born about 1790; he named third John who was born about 1793; he named fourth Daniel Jr. who was born about 1795; he named fifth Enoch who was born about 1800; he named sixth Sarah who was born about 1803; he named seventh William who was born about 1805; and he named eighth Benjamin who was born about 1810. We can also deduce from Daniel Sullivan’s will that one more son was born perhaps after Daniel Jr. and before Enoch, for this unnamed son must have been the deceased father of Daniel Sullivan’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Sullivan, who Daniel also named in his will.
From this chronological analysis of the approximate years of birth of the children of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle, we conclude that William Sullivan, son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle, was born about 1805. This year of birth was about seventeen years after the year of birth of William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert. So, William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, could not have been a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle for chronological reasons.
No Autosomal DNA Kinship
Autosomal DNA analysis provides further insight into whether it is possible that William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, was a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. Comparisons between autosomal DNA samples from four descendants of William Sullivan and Barbary Wert and autosomal DNA samples from two descendants of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle demonstrate that these four descendants of William Sullivan and Barbary Wert inherited no matching autosomal DNA segments from Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle.
Note: The above chart lists descendants of William Sullivan and Barbary Wert along the top and from descendants of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle on the left side by GEDmatch kit number. The right column and bottom row summarize percentages of matching segments.
If William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, were a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle, these four descendants of William Sullivan and Barbary Wert would be sixth or seventh cousins of these two descendants of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. Recent research reveals that seventh cousins are expected to share autosomal DNA segments about 6cM or more in length.[10]
The discovery that none of these four descendants of William Sullivan and Barbary Wert inherited any matching segments of autosomal DNA with these two descendants of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle strongly suggests that William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, was not a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. Conclusions from these results would be even more compelling with the inclusion of more samples.[11]
William Sullivan, Son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle
When we consider these insights from contemporary records together with this autosomal DNA evidence, we conclude that William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, was not a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. This leads to the question, “Who was the son named William in Daniel Sullivan’s will?” Some descendants say Daniel’s son was William Sullivan (c. 1805-1870), who married Corrella Spurrier. The age of this William fits our chronological analysis. But do autosomal DNA comparisons reveal kinship between William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, and Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle? Yes, they do.
Note: The above chart lists descendants of William Sullivan and Corrella Spurrier along the top and from descendants of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle on the left side by GEDmatch kit number. The right column and bottom row summarize percentages of matching segments.
Comparisons between autosomal DNA samples from two descendants of William Sullivan and Corrella Spurrier and autosomal DNA samples from the same two descendants of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle demonstrate that these two descendants of William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, inherited large matching autosomal DNA segments from Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. These autosomal DNA comparisons conclusively demonstrate that William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, was a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle.
Further Y-DNA Evidence
Further evidence in support of this relationship is found in Y-DNA analysis. Comparisons between the Y-DNA haplotype of a direct male-line descendant of Price Sullivan and the Y-DNA haplotype of a direct male-line descendant of William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, reveals matching results, with differences in the values of only two out of 37 Short Tandem Repeat (STR) markers.[12] Further examinations of the Y-DNA haplotypes of closely related cousins reveals that the value of one marker changed in the lineage of the descendant of Price Sullivan and the value of one marker changed in the lineage of the descendant of William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, resulting in the total difference in values of two markers.
These results align perfectly with the conclusion that William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, was a brother of Price Sullivan, and that both men were sons of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. Here is the explanation.
The average mutation rate among the first 37 STR markers is 0.12 mutations per generation. These two Y-DNA samples come from two men who are five and six generations removed from their common ancestor, Daniel Sullivan. This relationship equates to 11 transmission events. So, we should expect about 1.32 mutations (changes) among these two sets of 37 STR values (i.e., 11 x 0.12). Discovering two changes, one occurring in each lineage, is well within the normal range of probability. In fact, finding two mutations when 1.32 are expected is a very high-probability match. In other words, this Y-DNA evidence further supports the conclusion that William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, was a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle.
Conclusion
This evidence, consisting of the examination of contemporary records, autosomal DNA analysis, and Y-DNA analysis, conclusively demonstrates that William Sullivan, who married Barbary Wert, was not a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle. It also proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, was a son of Daniel Sullivan and Jane Settle.
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[1] Virginia, King George County, Marriages, Film #007578994, page 18, image 49. See also Virginia, King George County, Personal Property Tax List for 1801, Film #008151975, image 215. See also Kentucky, Green County, Personal Property Tax List for 1803, Film #007834444, image 229. See also Kentucky Wills, Hardin County, Will Book E, page 121.
[2] 1850 US Federal Census, Kentucky, Hardin County, image 54.
[3] Note: The scribe wrote “James,” which was corrected to “Jane” by what appears to be a contemporary hand.
[4] 1856 Deposition of William P. Sullivan.
[5] Kentucky, Hardin County, Death Records, Film #994037, image 295.
[6] Kentucky, Green County, Marriage Bonds and Records, image 222.
[7] Kentucky, Green County, Marriage Bonds and Records, image 224 and image 63.
[8] 1850 US Federal Census, Kentucky, Hardin County, images 3 (Henry) and 54 (Price); and Green County, images 63 (Benjamin) and 68 (Enoch).
[9] Find a Grave for Price Sullivan, born 8 Mar 1790, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83459910. See also Find a Grave for Benjamin Sullivan, born 10 Jul 1810, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118950436.
[10] Amy L. Williams, “The Rate of Identical-by-Descent Segment Sharing between Close and Distant Relatives,” in PubMed Central, 30 Jun 2025, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12324479/ “The average amount of DNA 10th degree relatives are expected to share is 210 of their genomes, or about 6.5 cM in the genetic maps we used (sex averaged autosomal length 3,346 cM; total diploid length 6,693 cM). This expectation includes relatives that share zero IBD and matches our observations (mean 6.5 cM shared considering all 4C1R). Yet conditional on sharing at least one segment, on average 4C1R share 12.7 cM of DNA, meaning that these 10th degree relatives have sharing closer to the expectation for 9th degree relatives. An even more extreme case is the 15th degree 7C who, conditional on carrying IBD, share an average of 6.34 cM, which is roughly in line with 10th degree relative sharing. This shift in IBD amounts for relatives that share at least one IBD segment can lead to substantial bias in relatedness estimates, as Jewett recently pointed out and developed models to correct for.” Note: Using this terminology, 8th cousins would be 16th degree relatives.
[11] These comparisons were made with the tool on GEDmatch (https://www.gedmatch.com) called “One-to-One Autosomal DNA Comparison.” The number of comparisons made were limited by the number of kits on GEDmatch belonging to descendants with attached and reliable-looking GEDCOMs.
[12] The descendant of Price Sullivan (FamilyTreeDNA Kit 129772) inherited values of 13 at DYS393 and 16 at DYS576, whereas the descendant of William Sullivan, who married Corrella Spurrier, (FamilyTreeDNA Kit 646815) inherited values of 14 and 17 at these markers.