As shown by Y-DNA results, this Parrott family is completely distinct from all tested contemporary Parrott families in Maryland and Virginia. Furthermore, this family is not related in any historical time frame to any other contemporary Parrott family that has been Y-DNA-tested.

However, a Jeremiah Frazier appears in Bertie precinct (Bertie was split off Chowan in 1722) in 1742. Fast forward to the present, and the Fraziers (various spellings) and Parrotts have the same DNA. At this point, it is not possible to tell if the Fraziers have Parrott DNA, or if the Parrotts are really Fraziers. They do not match any other Frazier or Parrott families. The possibilities are that John Benjamin was the right age to have been fathered by Jeremiah, but Jeremiah was the right age to have been fathered by Jacob Parrott.

The parents of Francis Perrott remain unknown, and most possibilities now have been ruled out based on the lack of Y-DNA matches (the caveat is that since there is a possibility that this Parrott family started out as Frazier -- in which case the current DNA is not that of Francis Perrott --- there is still a possibility that Francis belonged to one of the other early American Parrott families). The most widely reported of these possibilities is that Francis was the son or grandson of yet another Francis. There are records showing a Francis Parrott in Calvert Co., Maryland in 1655 and 1658 (originally and erroneously reported as 1648 by Links). A Francis Perrott also transported himself to Maryland in 1662. It is not clear if these are the same or different persons. Francis of Calvert died ca 1670, leaving an unborn child, and it is commonly claimed this child was the Francis Parrott who appeared in the Chowan precinct of Albemarle Co. in 1691. Assuming the child was a male and he survived, it is much more likely that this unborn child was the Francis who died ca 1710 in Queen Anne's county Maryland, and not the one who appeared in North Carolina. In turn there is evidence that the Francis of Calvert Co. and William Parrott of Talbot Co. were related to each other. Francis Parrott of Calvert married Sarah Abraham, and William's second marriage was to her sister, Ann. Their brother, Isaac Abraham provided a huge bond so Sarah could be the administratrix for her late husband's estate. However, the report in Links that Bind that land belonging to Francis eventually came to belong to William's descendants is not correct. So, other than a coincidence of names, there is nothing to validate claims that Francis Perrott of Chowan, North Carolina, was related to the Francis Parrott who had appeared earlier in Maryland.

In another scenario, Francis is related to one of the best documented early Perrotts, Richard of Middlesex Co., Virginia, who was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and a large landowner in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. To make the time line fit, it has been speculated that Francis was his son from Elizabeth, first wife of Richard, prior to his marriage to Sarah Dale. However, there is no evidence to support the marriage of Richard to an Elizabeth. In addition, a reading of Richard Sr.'s wills reveals he followed the principle of primogeniture. Had Francis been an older son of Richard's, he would have inherited Richard's estate, rather than the son of Sarah Dale.

There also are unsubstantiated reports that a Lawrence Perrott arrived in Maryland ca 1662 onboard the good ship, David, along with Francis Parrott, leading to the inference that Francis and Lawrence were related. The Y-DNA of Lawrence's descendants does not match that of Francis's descendants.

Finally, there has been some speculation that Francis descended from a John Parrott, one of the earliest Parrotts in North America, having arrived onboard the Providence in 1623. He had obtained land along the Nansemond River in Virginia by 1635 and called it 'Parraketo Point'. There is a lot of speculation that surrounds the origins John of Nansemond county, none of which can be corroborated or ruled out at this time.

As is evident from the above discussion, practically all the speculation on the origins of Francis and his relationships to other Parrott families has centered on finding connections to the Maryland and Virginia Parrotts. No attention has been paid to the other Parrott families living near Francis and his descendants. These other families are extremely poorly documented, and none have had their Y-DNA tested. The possibility that these families are related to Francis needs to be further explored. The caveat is that proximity is not necessarily an indication of kinship, as shown by Richard Perrott of Middlesex county and Lawrence Perrott of the adjacent Gloucester county, scarcely 30 miles apart, who represent two completely unrelated families.

The North Carolina Parrotts settled on what was then the western frontier of the Colony, and moved west as the frontier expanded. It is not known when Francis got his land, but he was in the area by 1691. His land was on Salmon Creek, on the west side of the Chowan River. A contemporary, John Perritt, bought 640 acres in 1710 on the north side of Bridger's Creek near the Roanoke River, some 80 miles to the west of Francis. George Pollock, son of Col. Thomas Pollock, Sr. had land adjacent to both of them. Thus, Pollock would represent a connection between John and Francis. Alternatively, it could simply be a coincidence.

By 1755, there is a Thomas Parrett, in Edgecomb Co., on the south side of the Roanoke river, who was a probable son of John. He crossed paths with the Razors -- Francis's widow married a Razor, again suggesting that John, Thomas, and Francis were part of the same social group. There are no Parrotts alive today who have a paper trail back to John. However, other Parrotts show up in nearby counties, and they may well be John's descendants. Records for the time and the area are incomplete. Joseph Parrott buys land in 1773 in what is to become Nash county. A William Parrott is in Granville county ca. 1800. More Parrotts appear in Pitt county by the mid 1850s, beginning with Benjamin. From where they expanded into Beaufort county. Such migrations are well within the distance and range of those by different generations of the Richard and the Lawrence Perrott families.

The maps below show the locations of the various Parrott families mentioned here.

Note: Another Parrott family appears in what is now Rockingham county, North Carolina, in 1778. However, this family has been Y-DNA tested, and is a spin-off of the Lawrence Perrott family.

j

h