Overview:

The purpose of the Golson Gholson Gholston Surname Project is to link present-day descendants in the United States and elsewhere to ancestors in Europe via the applicable line. Many of these lines are currently genealogically disconnected or possibly incorrectly linked. This project will endeavor to establish DNA reference lines and draw appropriate genealogical inferences.

One immediate goal is to determine whether US Golson and Gholson lines are related. For more details, please refer to the Background.

To join this project, testing at the Y-12 level is acceptable; however, Y-37 and above are strongly preferred for more effective research.

Background:

Golson Gholson Gholston surnames are thought to be predominantly English in origin. According to Discovering surnames by J. W. Freeman, these surnames were first recorded in England in the 12th century and referred to persons from the villages of Goldstone in Kent and in Staffordshire. Variants in England include Goldston, Goldstone, Gouldstone, Golston, Goulstone, Goulston, Goldson, Golson, Gulston, and Gulson. Although less common, Golson has also been found in Germany from the 1600s and earlier along with forms such as Golzen, Golsen, Gölzen, Goldson, Golltstein, and Guelzaun. Only a very small scattering of early occurrences are noted elsewhere in Europe.

In the United States, the most recent major work on these surnames is Families and descendants in America of Golsan, Golson, Gholson, Gholston, also Goldston, Golston, etc. with pedigrees of families in Great Britain and genealogies of allied families in America by James Mallory Black (1959). Drawing on a previous work that covered the descendants of Anthony Gholson of Spotsylvania Co., VA, namely, Gholson and allied families by Virginia Baker Mitchell (1950), Black additionally incorporated information about the descendants of Maj. Lewis Golson of Orangeburg District, SC, and John Goldston of Chatham Co., NC.

As outlined by Black, three major lineages of this surname are common in the United States:

(1) Descendants of Anthony Gholson of VA, chiefly using the Gholson/Gholston spelling and concentrated in the upper South and Midwest;
(2) Descendants of Maj. Lewis Golson of Orangeburg District, SC, who generally use the Golson/Golsan spelling and are rooted in the deep South; and
(3) Descendants of John Goldston of Chatham Co., NC, carrying the forms Goldston and Golston.

The origins and relationships of these lineages are unknown. One hypothesis, first mentioned by Mitchell and more strongly promulgated by Black, was that Maj. Lewis Golson was the eldest son of William Gholson—a son of Anthony Gholson. However, Mitchell stated that this idea was vehemently disputed by some descendants. In addition, Alexander Samuel Salley, in The history of Orangeburg County, South Carolina (1871), included Lewis Golson among families in that county with names of obvious German origin.

In regard to the other two lines, Black felt that Anthony Gholson was of English origin and suggested an association with Dr. Theodore Goulston of Leicestershire, England, who owned shares in the Virginia Company. Black also proposed that John Goldston of Chatham Co., NC, was the John Gholson who was the son of William Gholson of VA.

(Note added April 2016: yDNA testing has ruled out the hypothesized relationship between Anthony Gholson and Lewis Golson. See "News" for more information.)

In addition to known or presumed descendants of the above three progenitors, many African-Americans bearing the surnames of Golson, Goldson, and similar are found in the deep South in the United States; many of these may be genealogically connected to Maj. Lewis Golson.

Finally, persons bearing these surnames and variants such as Goulston, Gulson, and Gouldstone but with no historical link to the colonial South are found in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Some of these lines are English in origin, while others represent surnames that were anglicized upon immigration.

To help persons researching these families break through brick walls, the Golson Gholson Gholston DNA Project was launched in November 2015. The goal of this project is the acquisition of multiple Y-DNA samples representing various reference lineages to augment genealogical research. A companion tool to traditional genealogy research, DNA testing can prove or disprove hypotheses, determine relationships, and provide clues for further research. Y-DNA analysis can be used to trace the male descendants of a progenitor, all sharing a common surname, through many generations.