Jackson Wanlass Sr is NOT his ancestor

We had a Y-DNA test done on a direct male-to-male descendant of Jackson Wanlass Sr (Bert Ray Wanlass) in 2007. The results showed no relationship to a Y-DNA test done on a direct male-to-male descendant of James Wanlass Sr (Irvin Doyle Wanlass) in 2007. Thus Jackson Wanless Sr can NOT be an ancestor of James Wanlass Sr.

We did, however, find a strong Y-DNA connection between Irvin Doyle Wanlass and Robert Woodburn Wanless, a descendant of John Wanless (a baker), discussed below.

New Photo of James Wanlass 1825-1895

 This original photograph of James Wanlass (1825-1895) was contributed to FamilySearch by "PlummerSandraJean1" in 2014. It seems to be the original from which other thumbnail photos of him were taken, although those thumbnails appear to be mirror images (flipped horizontally) and out of focus.

Story of Burned Letter

Does anyone have documentation or knowledge of a story that after James Wanlass (1825 – 1895), emigrated from Scotland to America and became established in Utah, he received a letter from relatives back in Scotland? He allegedly was so angry that he tossed the letter into the fireplace, exclaiming that “They didn’t need me then, so they don’t need me now!” 

 I first heard this story from distant relatives. Then last year, my aunt (Audrey Bush), mentioned the story before she died. I wonder who else knows the story and what it may mean. James knew he had been abandoned by his family. He didn't know who his parents were, but there have been rumors that he had a sister. Did he know about any siblings? Was he resentful that they might be contacting him after all those years of abandonment? Does anyone have information about siblings for James Wanlass?

October 12, 2025: I discovered a new statement about the burned letter from FamilySearch - Memories in a history about his youngest son, Joseph Wanlass:

If Joseph Wanlass was 11 or 12 when his father James Wanlass (Sr) received the letter, that would suggest it arrived about 1877 or 1878 when James (Sr) was about 52 or 53 years old. If the letter was a legal query from a lawyer in London, England regarding his ancestry, maybe there is still a record of the query at the law office in London.  Was a law office in London handling the estate of a Wanlass family at that time? Hmmm.... How would we go about researching that possibility? 

James Wanless Grave Marker

My ancestor, James Wanlass, is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, in Utah, USA. His wife Margaret Neilson is buried next to him. Although we have DNA evidence tying him to an existing Wanlass family in Edinburgh, Scotland, we still haven't identified his parents or other ancestors. It must be time for more research to solve the mystery of his birth!

Donar of Wanlass DNA Dies

Irvin Doyle Wanlass, a direct male-to-male descendant of James Wanlass (1825 - 1895), died July 22, 2010 at age 79. He was intensely interested in solving the James Wanlass mystery. He donated the DNA which proved a genetic link to a group of Wanlesses in Scotland. He used to make phone calls about every month to check on research progress. We miss getting those phone calls. jws

William Wanless (1792-1862) NOT James's Father

In new Family Search, William Wanless (1792 – 1862) is shown as the father of our James Wanlass (1825-1995). We know that relationship is false and it has been appropriately disputed by “Sharon Wilbur1” who is a descendant of William Wanless. It’s true that Murrell H. Cornish (now deceased) submitted a record to the Pedigree Resource File, showing that our James Wanlass (1825) was the son of William Wanless and “Hannah Wanless.” Elsewhere in the Pedigree Resource File that “Hannah Wanless” is shown to be “Hannah Tattersall.” From research described on the WanlessWeb site, the name “Tattersall” should have been “Hattersley.”
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I191&tree=3
It appears that “Hanna Tattersall’s” maiden name was Ann Henson (1780-1825) who married William Hattersley in 1808. Her husband died in 1816. Her second marriage was to William Wanless in 1817. They indeed had a son James Wanless in 1824, but it was not our James Wanlass born 1825. The 1851 census shows William and Ann’s unmarried son James Wanless living with his father William and his step sister Mary Ann in Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire, England.
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I190&tree=3
Proof comes from the 1851 census, which shows our James Wanlass was living in Newbattle, Edinburgh, Scotland with his wife Margaret Neilson and their three children. So we can be sure that William Wanless and “Hannah Tattersall Wanless” were not the parents of our James Wanlass, despite the listing in new Family Search.

New DNA Lab Report!

On November 10, 2008 we received a report of an expanded DNA test. Whereas the original test was on only 25 Y-chromosome markers, this new test was done on 37 markers. Only one of the 37 markers did not match perfectly between a male descendant of the miner James Wanlass (1825-1895) and a male descendant of the baker James Wanless (1827-1877).

DNA samples came from Irvin who is a 4th generation descendant of the miner and Robert who is a 5th generation descendant of the baker. If the miner and the baker (who both lived in the Edinburgh area of Scotland) were cousins, their common grandfather would have been in the 6th or 7th generation, from our DNA donors. The DNA evidence suggests that there is about an 80% chance that the unknown grandfather of the miner and the unknown grandfather of the baker are the same person. See the DNA report at:
http://www.southwickresearch.com/Genealogy/AncestorsOnly/WanlassHistory/WanlassHistories.htm

Coloring Book History for James Wanlass (1825)

A coloring story book for the descendant children of James Wanlass (1825-1895) is now available online (see link below). It was created for the 2008 J. Wanless Southwick family reunion.

The last page is a table showing James Wanlass's family, including which of his children stayed in Scotland, which died in infancy, and which emigrated from Scotland to America with him and his wife, Margaret Neilson. James Wanlass had about 77 grandchildren born in the 19th Century, so he must have many thousands of descendants now. We hope this coloring book will help them get to know him. We also need them to do research to help solve the mystery of James Wanlass’s ancestry. Please share your ideas and comments through this blog.

The 16 page coloring book is a PDF document (0.69 MB) available at
http://www.southwickresearch.com/Genealogy/Genealogy.htm

New Photo of James Wanlass (1925-1895)

One of James Wanlass's great-granddaughters brought me a photo of James Wanlass that I'd never seen before. In this photo, he seems to have his eyes open. Thank you Bonnie Wanlass Ellis!

This new photo and the only other one that we have of him may have been taken the same day. The clothing seems to be the same, but one of the two photos may be reversed, because his hair seems to be combed in opposite directions in each photo.

...Does anyone know where the original (or the negative) of this photo may be?

Comparing Male Descendant Photos

Margaret Wanless in Scotland sent a photo of her husband's grandfather, James Wanless (1879-1968), wearing a hat and glasses. He was the son of William Ramsay Wanless, who was the son of "Cousin" James Wanlass (1827-1877, the baker).

We know that these men shared the same Y-Chromosomal DNA with our James Wanlass (1825-1895, the miner) and all of his direct male descendants. When we compared the photo that Margaret sent with photos of our James Wanlass's son, James Wanlass (1846-1921), we think we see a familial resemblance.

I'll post two photo so you can make a judgement. What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Wanless Southwick

1st Missing Clue

Who was "cousin" James Wanless's mother? We have no birth certificate yet.

We know from "cousin" James's death certificate that his father was John Wanless, who (like "cousin" James) was a baker, but the mother's name was not listed.
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I13&tree=28

Can we find proof that "cousin" James's father, John Wanless, was the John Wanless who married Margaret Ramsay?
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I41&tree=28

Where can we look for evidence that Margaret Ramsay was "cousin" James's mother?

Linking "cousin" James Wanless to the Ramsay family strengthens the link to our James Wanlass (the miner), because our James said he was raised by a Ramsay family when he was a boy. It makes sense that he might have been raised by relatives.

Discovery of his "Cousin" by DNA research

When one of our James Wanlass's direct male-to-male descendants had a Y-chromosome DNA test performed, we found an exact DNA match with another man in the "Wanless Web DNA Project."
http://www.wanlessweb.org/DNAProject.php

The match was with a James Wanless (1827-1877), who was about 2 years younger than our James, lived in the Edinburgh, Scotland area also, was a baker by trade, married Christiana Parkinson in 1847 in Edinburgh, and had several children.
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/covers/28.php

The father of this "cousin" James Wanless was named John, who was also a baker. The documentation has not yet been found, but his father may have been John Wanless (a baker) who married Margaret Ramsay.
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I87&tree=27.1

The Ramsay name is important, because our James Wanlass thought a Ramsay family had helped raise him when he was a boy. It is possible that Margaret Ramsay's parents, Thomas Ramsay and Jean Smith, could have helped raise our James Wanlass. They were alive in 1841 and lived near several Wanless families in Dundee, Scotland at that time.
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I410&tree=27.1

The Ramsay name also shows up among "cousin" James Wanless's (the baker) children, for he named a son "William Ramsay Wanless."
http://www.wanlessweb.org/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I21&tree=28

Thus in this "cousin" we have the convergence of DNA evidence and the "Ramsay" name. We must be on to something here!

Background Essentials

Our ancestor, James Wanlass (1825 - 1895) didn't know who his parents were. He wasn't sure where he was born. He thought a family named Ramsay helped raise him. He became a miner in Scotland, around the Edinburgh area. He married Margaret Neilson in 1847. They had a large family. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850. He emigrated to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1874.

The pedigree chart on my website shows my relationship to him:
http://www.southwickresearch.com/Genealogy/AncestorsOnly/p5.htm