Project Highlights

James M. Pugh and Joan Price who were of the Quaker faith and were married at Radnor in 1692. James came to America in 1682. His father, Evan Pugh, did not come to America until 1698. This line of Pughs is very well documented and has branches that spread all across America. We currently have three participants from three different branches of this line, all of whom can trace their ancestry back to James and Joan’s son, Thomas Pugh, Sr.  We would like to have representatives of some of the other branches of this line.

David Pugh and Catherine Price who were also of the Quaker faith and married in Radnor in 1698.  We have two known participants from this line.  Both descend from their son, Joseph Pugh, Esquire (b. abt 1706; d. abt 1778 in VA) and through his son Captain Jonathan Pugh (b. abt 1751; d. abt 1788 in TN).  Our two participant’s DNA results vary substantially from the three James M. Pugh participants.   It would be very helpful to have DNA participants from one of the other sons of David and Catherine Price Pugh, i.e,  John Pugh (Yeoman) d. bef Apr. 1754; Samuel Pugh d. 01 Mar 1750 or David Pugh b. 06 July 1699.

Robert Pugh (or ap Hugh) and Sarah Evans who were married in Wales and arrived in America in 1698. While I have not come across primary source information, I have read that the couple practiced the Quaker faith in Wales but converted to the Church of England upon arrival in America. This line is most notably represented by the Hampshire County, Virginia Pughs. Maud Pugh and others have done a wonderful job of documenting this line. We have only one participant from this line but, from his results, we have learned that the Hampshire County Pughs are related to the Hancock County Pughs. We need additional participants to help us better define the relationship between these two lines.

Ellis Pugh and Sinah ?? left Wales in 1686 to come to America. Ellis was a Quaker preacher who was orphaned as a young boy in Wales. There is much written on him and his genealogy has been very well documented. However, a significant number of branches remain to be developed. This line is one of the most prominent in America but we do not yet have a single known participant in the Project. It has been suggested by many that Ellis and Robert were related. Branches of both lines seemed to migrate together. Needless to say, we need some participants from this line.

Hugh Pugh I and Helena Brink are first found in the Dutch Reformed Church records from the Minisink area of New York. They were married there in about 1785. While the couple had five sons, only the genealogy of Hugh Pugh II has been well documented. Hugh Pugh II and Elizabeth Davis arrived in Hancock (then Brooke) County, West Virginia in about 1800. Their son, David, laid out what became Pughtown (now New Manchester). We have one participant from this line and his DNA closely matches that of our Robert Pugh representative. This is another prominent line of Pughs that is in drastic need of additional participants.

Lewis Pugh and Ann ?? were married in Richmond County, Virginia in about 1703. Lewis came from Wales to the Colony of Virginia in 1695. The couple had eight children and descendants of his line have spread all across America. This is our biggest success story. Nearly half of our participants are representatives of this line. Due to the size of this group, we have been able to break the data down into subgroups to better define genetic markers that may indicate the individual sons or grandsons of this couple. What we are currently doing with this group serves as a model for what we hope to do with the other groups represented in our Project. Due to the advanced nature of the research being completed on this group, we need many, many more participants to join us.

Francis Pugh III and Pheribee Savage were both from the Northampton Area of Virginia. Francis was born there in about 1692. This Francis was the grandson of Francis Pugh I who came from Wales to Jamestown, Virginia in 1666 with brothers Daniel & Thomas. This line may include many of the Pughs found in early census data in Virginia and North Carolina. We currently have only one known participant of this line and are evaluating close DNA matches from two of our participants that have hit a brick wall. Without additional participants known to be of this line, we cannot yet come to a conclusion. As with the other lines, we need more participants.

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the Pugh Surname DNA Project

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