The mother of my fifth great-grandfather Abner Rea (1776-1825) is believed to have been Joannah (or Hannah) Kasoinah, wife of James Rea. She was possibly born in present-day Henry Co., VA. Some researchers believe she was Indian with fewer still claiming more particularly that the Kasoinah surname is somehow Cherokee. (Cherokee is almost a default setting for Southerners in reference to their putative Indian ancestries.) Other researchers point out that there is no real evidence for Joannah/Hannah's Indian origins.
Kasoinah is, as best I can tell, a name unique to Joannah/Hannah. Google shows no other person with that name. But could Kasoinah somehow be connected to the French surname Gascoigne? The "-nah" syllable in Kasoinah is not too dissimilar to the "-gne" part of Gascoigne, if pronounced Gallically. If you say these names aloud, and even in different ways, they do share some characteristics. But Kasoinah is just too unlikely a surname if it belongs to only one person, which appears to be the case. It is some sort of flawed transliteration or misremembering, but I can't tell.
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I think Kasoniah came from Barbados with her husband "Collings," Kasoinah Rea's parents. I think her parents arrived and settled in Virginia. After her father died, her mother moved to Pennsylvania. Interracial marriages were not illegal in Virginia until 1753, twelve years prior to Collings's death. I am pursing theory that Kasoniah's father was English and mother was either Black or Indian. For reasons unclear to me, it was common for children for mixed race to claim Native American heritage.
Let's keep digging. DNA testing may be required to solve this mystery.
That's very interesting. Please write again when you make a new breakthrough.
DNA is suggesting that Kasoniah's father may have been a Spaniard but very slim evidence at this point. Still believe Kasoniah was at least part African since she does not have a last name and the uniqueness. Collins may be descendent of Arthur Collins who arrived as political prisoner in Cromwell's expulsion of Irish in 1655. This would make Kasoniah's husband about a 3rd generation Irishman in Barbados. Still digging....
My mother was a Palatine German / Ashkenazi Jew. I was interested to see your family name Rea. My mother came from three families in a small Pennsylvania Dutch community. The Jewish family had the name Reh, changed to Wray when James Reh (born 1774) came to the United States.
If you would like access to my private blog, I can leave you contact information in a not-to-be-published comment.
This person is a 6 the ggmom to me. I did 2 dna DNA test as did my mother. Asian Sri Lanka specific,German-French,Italian-Greek, Irish Scot. Middle Eastern ,small amount of Portuguese with the test results combined no native American showed up. I don't think ancestry has any Eastern N.A. samples to judge from though. Just the NW and SW. So idk how they would even know..?..if someone was or wasn't Eastern NA.
Ancestry as Stubblefield-Little tree I made the above post
Just finding this on our search for my husband's line of Ray out of Franklin Co., Ill and Tennessee. He did his DNA with ancestry and no Native American DNA cited; his improved one with Ancestry has indicated some Balkan somewhere in the mix. He is, however, very strongly Scots, Irish and English with some Dutch and Scandinavian thrown in. I am intrigued by the tendency to want to find Native Americans in the tree.
Johanna Kasoinah is my 4th GGM. I also have had DNA testing and show zero native american.
I looked up Kasoinah on Wikipedia because I was curious to see if there was an article about her. The top result was an article about the Huni Kuin people of Peru & Brazil. They’re also known as: Kaxinawá, Cashinahua, Kaschinawa, Kashinawa, or Caxinauás. I believe Kasoinah is not a surname, but rather a variation of the name of her tribal nation. I’m not sure how she ended up in Virginia. But it seems likely that Kasoinah refers to her people. I’ve seen other Native American ancestors who have their tribal nation in the surname field. Also, my step-grandmother had a DNA test done & in the past it has shown that she’s 1% Andean Indigenous. And the Andes are in Peru. Unfortunately, the latest update to AncestryDNA shows her Andean ancestry as Cameroon/Bantu now. But I believe the previous admixture estimate was more accurate.
Ka-so-EE-nah, was my 7th great grandmother, m. to Isaac Labon, a Scotsman, from Rothiemay, Banffshire, Scotland. She was b. abt. 1705 Cullman, AL, and d. 1763 (abt. a year after Isaac), also in Cullman, AL (both d. there). Collaborative Labon ancestry/history states he mostly called her 'Chickasaw Woman' or Hannah, and rarely by her given name of Kasoinah...though some resources indicate she was half Chickasaw and half Choctaw. I have searched and searched any and all available Native American resources, to authenticate her name, but only find speculation and distortions. (As we know, N.A. didn't write their history...it was passed by word through the generations). Isaac and Kasoinah had two children: Malea and Isaac, Jr. Some have linked her to Chief Black Hawk, but that is false dreaming.
MALEA LABON:
Ethnicity must have been Choctaw or part Choctaw as their children were considered Choctaw.
Fact: Malea is Hebrew for "full, ripe, complete" and a common Choctaw girl's name; Lebon is also Hebrew and means "white". This does NOT indicate they were of Hebrew/Jewish descent. That is a misconception as to the history of names.
Attn: ANONYMOUS....My DNA shows 1% Native American, and since there are no others found in my linage in any line, (of which I've been researching since 1965), Kasoinah must be that link. Likewise, though they don't count to anyone but me, I grew up with stories about her, and some legends DO lend credence.
THE DNA “pool” of True AMERICAN “Blooded NATIVES” is very limited - most are mixed.
So, with all other NATIONALITIES represented in America’s HERITAGE, they get overwhelmed.
My DNA doesn’t show all of my Mother’s Nationalities - either I have more of my FATHER’s or it’s so WATERED down.
The 1st ANCESTRY DNA - SHOWED less than 1% NATIVE AMERICAN- now, that has gone with their NEW SAMPLING & more from African Continent added into their STUDIES.
So- if TRUE NATIVE AMERICAN- it’s going to be very WATERED down to get to us.
Plus BLACKS & Native Americans intermarriages occurred fairly often, so She could be MIXED. - could be some of both.
ANCESTRY DNA says, my MOTHER does show NOW- 1% Nigerian and her Father is a Wray definitely descended from “Abner Wray”.
After that - it is a little messy in confirmation of heritage w/Wrays (so many spellings & Wives).
SUSSANAH STONE definitely great-Grandmothers with “EUSIBIUS” being a STRONG “FAMILY” name back to the Eusebius O’Brissel (born 1589) passed to the STONE FAMILY ( Eusibius STONE passed down through “Mary O’Brissel & John Stone” - starting in Caroline County to Henry County, COLONIAL VIRGINIA.
My 1st ANCESTRY DNA - showed less than 1% Native American.
But, since then….it has said I was 1% MALI, Then 1% KENYAN, then 1 % Nigerian with “NO NATIVE AMERICAN”.
Now - I have less than 1% Nigerian & Mom - 1% Nigerian, and WRAY is Maiden Name.
Since we did the TESTS over 8 years ago- ANCESTRY DNA TESTING have REDONE our AFRICAN / Native American heritage % many times.
Totally “Dropping NATIVE AMERICAN” from our ORIGINAL DNA RESULTS, since that POOL of TRUE “PURE CANDIDATES” is SO LOW “now” & they ADDED In so MANY African TRUE heritage DNA’s from AFRICA which is still fairly PURE - unlike AMERICANS
WE are so MIXED.
AGREED - the POOL of TRUE NATIVE AMERICANS is so low, it’s OVERSHADOWED by AFRICANS they have TESTED “in more RECENT” yrs in Africa.
Mom & I were BOTH were less than 1% NATIVE AMERICAN for first testing- then, we got changed to 3 different African Nationalities- last (Nigerian at 1% her & less than 1% me)
So - I think it was a MARRIAGE of BLACK & NATIVE AMERICAN (just the NATIVE AMERICAN TOO WEAK & less SAMPLING) to show now.
Thank you - but if DNA with Ancestry - check to see if STILL “Native American” -
If so “PRINT it OR do snapshot” -
ANCESTRY has changed ours 4 TIMES- so, it will probably change or you may have ANOTHER “Native American” in your LINE to keep it at 1%.
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