About us
Welcome to the BlocKer / BlocHer / PlocHer DNA GROUP.
The main goal of this project was to prove or disprove that the BlocKer family of America descends from the BlocHer / PlocHer family in Germany, and use the test results of the various descendants for future genealogical study.
We had been at a brick-wall for probably a hundred years on this issue, trying to find the illusive immigrant, or merely determine which country, and particularly, which family, the BlocKers here originated from.
We could not find immigrant information prior to the appearance of Michael Blocker, who received land grants from King George in Bladen County, North Carolina in 1735.
Due to the insight of a genealogist cousin in Salt Lake City, we began working under the presumption that this first Michael Blocker was deliberately mis-listed as "Michael Blesser" who came over on the Ship Alexander and Anne, William Clymer, Master. September 5, 1730, into the port of Philadelphia.
There are numerous arguments that led to this theory, and with the encouragement of my cousin, we presumed this "Michael Blesser" to really be Michael BlocHer, son of Georg Blocher and Maria Kapler, or at least to be from their basic Blocher / Plocher family, descending from Georg's ancestors or close relatives somewhere. You can check out the notes compiled here:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bevangenealogy&id=I81501
We now are CERTAIN of at least one thing: that the first Michael Blocker in America in Bladen County, North Carolina is a BlocHer / PlocHer, from the basic family of Jakob Blocher / Plocher and Anna Zetzel, found in late 16th century Germany. The first round of DNA is back, and mine was a PERFECT MATCH with a BlocHer who traces his ancestry to this family in Germany from a much later immigrant to America.
All males are welcome to join who believe they descend from any variation of this surname. Females are also welcome, but you must understand first the fact that mitochondrial dna (female comparison) does not work the same as “ Y “ dna (male) for proving direct descent. Please read the tutorial on the main website here:
http://www.familytreedna.com/
Those who have already joined may feel free to refer others to this site.
If there be any secondary goal, that is already reached as well. I had been surnamed “Brown” all of my life, due to actions of my 2nd great grandmother, Iris Jerome Brown. She had married Augustus Thomas Blocker in 1878, Dunklin County, Missouri. He was the 4th great grandson of the first Michael Blocker in America.
Iris and Thomas parted ways in 1886, and in 2007 I finally found a record of their March 7, 1888 divorce decree.
Iris Brown went to great lengths to conceal some things. One example was her filing for divorce against Thomas Blocker in a different Missouri county than where they lived. We had always presumed that there were “four Blocker children," based on family knowledge of each child born during the marriage, and the obituary of Iris in 1938.
But the divorce decree makes it clear that there were only "three children born to the marriage," one of whom is my great grandfather, named in the record, "James H. Blocker, aged four years." Several years later, he was about 9 years old when Iris began arbitrarily calling him by her maiden name. There is no legal name change of record by a court of law. And the fourth child born while they were still married - is not mentioned in the decree - and would have been 20 months of age by that date. Iris refused to allow Thomas to ever see that child.
Thanks to the DNA contributions of my presumed Blocker cousins from Maury County, Tennessee, I have now confirmed my proper descent, tying my family back into that place, and Edgefield County, South Carolina. This proves the worth of the great genealogical tool of DNA comparison.
In case anyone considering “doing the swab” is concerned, Family Tree DNA has a strict privacy policy:
http://www.familytreedna.com/privacy-policy.aspx
You may feel free to contact me with questions regarding this group effort.
Jonathan Blocker Brown
The main goal of this project was to prove or disprove that the BlocKer family of America descends from the BlocHer / PlocHer family in Germany, and use the test results of the various descendants for future genealogical study.
We had been at a brick-wall for probably a hundred years on this issue, trying to find the illusive immigrant, or merely determine which country, and particularly, which family, the BlocKers here originated from.
We could not find immigrant information prior to the appearance of Michael Blocker, who received land grants from King George in Bladen County, North Carolina in 1735.
Due to the insight of a genealogist cousin in Salt Lake City, we began working under the presumption that this first Michael Blocker was deliberately mis-listed as "Michael Blesser" who came over on the Ship Alexander and Anne, William Clymer, Master. September 5, 1730, into the port of Philadelphia.
There are numerous arguments that led to this theory, and with the encouragement of my cousin, we presumed this "Michael Blesser" to really be Michael BlocHer, son of Georg Blocher and Maria Kapler, or at least to be from their basic Blocher / Plocher family, descending from Georg's ancestors or close relatives somewhere. You can check out the notes compiled here:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bevangenealogy&id=I81501
We now are CERTAIN of at least one thing: that the first Michael Blocker in America in Bladen County, North Carolina is a BlocHer / PlocHer, from the basic family of Jakob Blocher / Plocher and Anna Zetzel, found in late 16th century Germany. The first round of DNA is back, and mine was a PERFECT MATCH with a BlocHer who traces his ancestry to this family in Germany from a much later immigrant to America.
All males are welcome to join who believe they descend from any variation of this surname. Females are also welcome, but you must understand first the fact that mitochondrial dna (female comparison) does not work the same as “ Y “ dna (male) for proving direct descent. Please read the tutorial on the main website here:
http://www.familytreedna.com/
Those who have already joined may feel free to refer others to this site.
If there be any secondary goal, that is already reached as well. I had been surnamed “Brown” all of my life, due to actions of my 2nd great grandmother, Iris Jerome Brown. She had married Augustus Thomas Blocker in 1878, Dunklin County, Missouri. He was the 4th great grandson of the first Michael Blocker in America.
Iris and Thomas parted ways in 1886, and in 2007 I finally found a record of their March 7, 1888 divorce decree.
Iris Brown went to great lengths to conceal some things. One example was her filing for divorce against Thomas Blocker in a different Missouri county than where they lived. We had always presumed that there were “four Blocker children," based on family knowledge of each child born during the marriage, and the obituary of Iris in 1938.
But the divorce decree makes it clear that there were only "three children born to the marriage," one of whom is my great grandfather, named in the record, "James H. Blocker, aged four years." Several years later, he was about 9 years old when Iris began arbitrarily calling him by her maiden name. There is no legal name change of record by a court of law. And the fourth child born while they were still married - is not mentioned in the decree - and would have been 20 months of age by that date. Iris refused to allow Thomas to ever see that child.
Thanks to the DNA contributions of my presumed Blocker cousins from Maury County, Tennessee, I have now confirmed my proper descent, tying my family back into that place, and Edgefield County, South Carolina. This proves the worth of the great genealogical tool of DNA comparison.
In case anyone considering “doing the swab” is concerned, Family Tree DNA has a strict privacy policy:
http://www.familytreedna.com/privacy-policy.aspx
You may feel free to contact me with questions regarding this group effort.
Jonathan Blocker Brown