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"Big John" Spurling and the Spurlin DNA Project

John Spurlin (or Spurling) Sr., known to researchers as "Big John", lived in Orange, Chatham, Richmond and Lincoln counties, North Carolina, and left a will in 1822 naming 23 children. Y-DNA testing places a descendant in the same paternal line as the Jeremiah Spurling family of Virginia, but no document yet found names his parents.

Sourcing: mixed 2 book · 8 genealogy · 1 news · 4 reference

Life

The main published account of John Spurlin Sr. that can be read online is a family article by Norman Kent Spurling in The Heritage of Cleveland County (1982). It says he was born by 1735, "probably in Virginia"[1]. He married his first wife, Myally (Miley), by about 1758 and lived in Orange and Chatham counties, North Carolina, from at least 1770 to 1782[1]. During the Revolution he supplied goods and cash to the North Carolina militia and was repaid in 1782 and 1783 in the Hillsborough District[1]. FamilySearch's shared tree lists a "North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779–1782" record among his sources[2].

He married a second wife, Elizabeth, before 1785 and was in Richmond County by 1786[1]. His WikiTree profile cites a John Spurling in Richmond County in the 1790 census and a John Spurlin in Lincoln County in the censuses of 1800 to 1820[3]. According to the 1982 article, he held 610 acres by the 1790s. By 8 July 1800 he had bought a similar amount of land on the east side of Buffalo Creek, in what was then Lincoln County[1]. WikiTree dates his will to 17 April 1822 and his death to June 1822 in Lincoln County[3].

Twenty-three children

The 1982 article says his family at the time of his 1822 will included his wife and "twenty-three children"[1]. A 2016 genealogy column in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Kenneth H. Thomas Jr. likewise describes a will probated in Lincoln County in 1822 that named 23 children[4]. FamilyTreeDNA's surname project says researchers call him "Big John" because he had "23 named descendants"[5], and WikiTree records "Big John" as an alias[3].

The article traces many of the children[1]:

  • Sarah "Sally" (born about 1759) married James Altum, a Revolutionary War veteran, in Guilford County in 1779. They later moved to Greenville County, South Carolina.
  • Jeremiah (1760–1820) married Drucilla Baldwin. The article says they settled in Mississippi. FamilySearch says he died at Warrenton, Warren County, Georgia[6].
  • William (1769–1835) moved to Pike County, Georgia, and is buried at Old Hebron Cemetery.
  • James (born 1770) married Frances "Frankie" Hicks and died after 1850 in Morgan County, Tennessee.
  • Elijah (1771–1845) farmed on Beason's Creek in Lincoln County, in the part that later became Cleveland County.
  • Isaac (1772–1854) moved to Hickory Creek in Rutherford County about 1812. His family became "the main line" of Cleveland County Spurlings.
  • Jesse (1776–1838) was in Rutherford County by 1830. Eli (born about 1775) was in Smith County, Tennessee, in 1820.
  • Hugh and Andrew had moved to Habersham County, Georgia, by 1830. Levi married in Warren County, Georgia, in 1815.

The other children the article names are Nancy, John Jr., Mary (Ross), Rachel (Long), Anna, Aaron, Elizabeth, Esther (Martin), Stephen, Delilah, Lavina and Martin[1]. Thomas's 2016 column says the will names a daughter Nancy Pickard, whom he identified as "fairly clearly" his own ancestor. She lived in Warren County, Georgia, where she and her husband sold their land to a neighbor named Jeremiah Spurlin around 1807. Thomas added that John himself never went to Georgia[4]. The 1982 article instead says Nancy married a man named Rickhardt[1]. For the families that stayed in North Carolina, see Spurlins of Cleveland and Rutherford Counties. For the wider spread, see Spurlin family lines by state.

What the DNA project reports

FamilyTreeDNA's volunteer-run "Sperling Spurling" surname project had 43 members when checked in September 2026. Its overview page says current tests "confirm a Proto-Germanic origin" for Big John[5]. The project's public Y-DNA results page lists a tester whose earliest known paternal ancestor is "John Spurlin, died. Lincoln Co., NC 1822". The project places him in its Lineage 1, "Descendants of Jeremiah Spurling b. 1667 – d. 1725 (Virginia)"[7]. His Big Y-700 test puts him in haplogroup R-BY141437. That is the same terminal branch as a Lineage 1 tester who names Jeremiah Spurling (1667–1725) as his ancestor. The two men's published marker values are identical over the first 67 markers and differ by one step at one marker of the 111[7]. Another Lineage 1 tester traces his line to Zachariah Spurlin (born 1747, died in Ashe County, North Carolina, in 1836)[7].

FamilyTreeDNA's Discover tool estimates that the most recent common ancestor of the three R-BY141437 testers was born around 1700 CE, with a 95 percent range of 1448 to 1831[8]. It places the branch under R-U106, by way of R-Z381, R-Z301 and R-FGC13959[9]. R-U106 is one of the main west European branches of haplogroup R1b. It is most frequent in Friesland, where it accounts for 44 percent of men, and is found in the largest numbers in central Europe[10]. A branch this deep says little about where a family lived in recent centuries. The Big John tester gives England as his earliest known paternal origin[7][8]. The Dictionary of American Family Names, as quoted by Ancestry.com, treats Spurlin as an English variant of Spurling[11].

Was Big John a son of Jeremiah Spurling?

What the online trees say. WikiTree, FamilySearch and a Find a Grave memorial all make John a son of Jeremiah Spurling Jr. (c. 1704 – c. 1770) and his wife Hannah, of Truro Parish, Fairfax County, Virginia[3][2][12]. See Jeremiah Spurling of Colonial Virginia.

What the documents show. Neither the WikiTree biographies nor the Find a Grave memorial cites a record that names John as Jeremiah's son, and the sources shown on John's public FamilySearch page are census and pay-voucher records[2]:

  • The WikiTree biography of Jeremiah Jr. says he and Hannah had a daughter, Keziah, and four sons, John, Jeremiah, Zachariah and William. It cites no record for this, and its earlier statement that they raised "at least one daughter and four sons" is marked "citation needed". The same biography says John, Zachariah and William moved to North Carolina between 1770 and the end of the Revolution[13].
  • The biography also describes store ledgers kept by Glassford & Company at Falls Church and Alexandria between 1756 and 1766. They record purchases by Jeremiah, Keziah, and sons Jeremiah, William and Zachariah. John is not among them[13].
  • The trees disagree with each other. WikiTree gives John's birthplace as Truro Parish[3]. FamilySearch gives Amherst, Virginia, and says his mother was 16 when he was born in 1740[2]. FamilySearch also has him marrying in Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina, in 1758[2], well before the move to North Carolina that the Jeremiah Jr. biography dates to after 1770[13]. The Find a Grave memorial for Jeremiah Jr. lists two different sons named John[12].
  • Norman Kent Spurling later compiled the two-volume Spurling family history in Virginia & North Carolina (1998). In his 1982 article he wrote only that John was born "probably in Virginia" and named no parents[1]. WikiTree cites chapter 10 of the 1998 history for John's family[3]. That book could not be consulted for this entry.
  • Spurlings also stayed in Westmoreland County, where the family started. A 1782 list of Westmoreland County slave owners includes a Jeremiah Spurling[14]. WikiTree gives Jeremiah Sr. a second son, Thomas, born about 1712[15]. A John born in Virginia about 1735 could therefore belong to more than one branch.

What the DNA shows. The close Y-DNA match shows that Big John's line and a line that claims descent from Jeremiah Spurling share a paternal ancestor, estimated to have been born around 1700[7][8]. The Zachariah line also falls in Lineage 1[7]. This fits the idea that Big John belonged to the Westmoreland and Fairfax family. It cannot show whether he was Jeremiah Jr.'s son, a nephew or a more distant cousin. The results page also does not say through which son the "Jeremiah" tester descends. If that tester also descends from Big John, the match says nothing about the Virginia link. Another tester who lists Jeremiah Spurling (1704–1770) as his ancestor does not match Lineage 1 at all. His published 37-marker results differ from those of each Lineage 1 tester at 12 to 14 markers, and the project lists him separately under "Unknown Spurling"[7].

Summary. As of September 2026, the evidence supports a shared paternal origin for Big John and the Jeremiah Spurling family of Virginia. It does not document a father–son link. The question will stay open until a deed, will, court order or tax record ties John to a named Virginia father.

See also

  • Jeremiah Spurling of Colonial Virginia · Genealogy weak
    Three generations of men named Jeremiah Spurling lived in colonial Virginia: a Westmoreland County shoemaker and planter who died in 1725 or 1726, his son (c. 1704–c. 1770), a tenant tobacco planter in Truro Parish, Fairfax County, and a grandson (c. 1745 – c. 1810) of Fairfax County. Many southern Spurlin and Spurling lines trace their descent to this family.
  • Sperling/Spurling DNA surname project · Genealogy mixed
    FamilyTreeDNA hosts a volunteer-run Y-DNA surname project, 'Sperling Spurling', for Spurlin, Spurling, Sparlin, Sparling, Sperlin, Sperling, Spirlin and Spirling lines. Its largest group links descendants of Jeremiah Spurling of Virginia with descendants of 'Big John' Spurlin of Lincoln County, North Carolina.
  • Spurlins of Cleveland and Rutherford Counties, North Carolina · Genealogy mixed
    The Spurlin line of Cleveland and Rutherford counties, North Carolina, descends from Isaac Spurlin Sr. (c. 1770–c. 1854), son of John ("Big John") and Myally Spurlin. It is traced through deeds, censuses, an 1826 North Carolina Supreme Court case, Confederate rosters and family graves around Shelby and Ellenboro.
  • Spurlins of Old Hebron Cemetery, Pike County, Georgia · Genealogy weak
    Old Hebron Cemetery near Concord, Pike County, Georgia, holds the family of William Spurlin or Spurling (1769–1835), whom genealogists describe as a son of "Big" John Spurling of North Carolina, together with his son James Spurlin (1802–1887) and later descendants.
  • Spurlin Family History in America · History mixed
    An overview of Spurlin and Spurling families in America, from colonial Virginia and New England through southern and western migration, Civil War service, and published genealogies.
  • Etymology of the Spurlin surname · The Surname strong
    Scholarly surname dictionaries derive Spurlin, through Spurling and Sparling, from either an Old English personal name (Spyrling) or a Middle English word for a small fish such as the smelt; the popular 'sparrow' explanation belongs to German Sperling.
  • Early Spurlin and Spurling families in America · Genealogy mixed
    Spurlin and Spurling families appear in colonial Virginia and North Carolina in the 18th century and moved west and south into Indiana, Alabama and Texas during the 19th century. Their European origins are still debated.
  • James M. Spurlin (Georgia Baptist preacher) · History mixed
    Rev. James M. Spurlin (1802–1887) was a Baptist preacher, ordained in Chambers County, Alabama, who served churches in Randolph County, Alabama, and Troup and Fayette counties, Georgia. He is buried at Antioch Baptist Church in Fayette County, Georgia.
  • John E. Spurlin (Confederate soldier) · History strong
    John E. Spurlin (1841–1861) was a Rutherford County, North Carolina, farmer. He enlisted in the 16th North Carolina Infantry in 1861 and, according to the regimental roster, died of typhoid fever at Warrenton, Virginia, that December; a 1937 county history gives a different date and place.
  • Published Spurlin and Spurling family histories · Genealogy mixed
    The main published genealogies are Quincy Haggard Spurlin's 'SPURLIN: A Spurlin Family in America' (1987) and Norman Kent Spurling's two-volume 'Spurling family history in Virginia & North Carolina' (1998). Shorter family articles appear in county heritage books, and the largest online trees are on WikiTree and FamilySearch.
  • Spurlin family lines by state · Genealogy weak
    A state-by-state guide to the main Spurlin and Spurling family lines in the United States, from colonial Virginia and North Carolina to Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas and Indiana, with the sources behind each link.
  • Spurlin on Reddit and online forums · Culture weak
    Where the Spurlin name comes up in online discussion: Reddit threads about Spurlin athletes, a band director and a dog breeder, long-running genealogy message boards, and a few other platforms that were checked.
  • Spurlin research resources · Genealogy mixed
    A roundup of free online tools for researching Spurlin families: collaborative trees, the Spurlin Y-DNA project, surname forums, digitized county histories and newspapers, federal land patents, cemetery and historical-marker databases, and military and African American records.
  • Spurlins of Ashe and Alleghany Counties, North Carolina · Genealogy weak
    Spurlins from Fairfax County, Virginia, settled in the Blue Ridge counties of Ashe and Alleghany, North Carolina, in the late 18th century. Descendants served in the 22nd North Carolina Infantry, were merchants and farmers around Sparta and Ennice in the 20th century, and gave their name to three family burial grounds.
  • Spurlins of early Georgia · Genealogy mixed
    Spurlins were in Georgia from the late 18th century, around Warrenton, Greene County and Macon, and several were children or grandchildren of "Big John" Spurlin of North Carolina. From there branches moved into Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and Texas.

References

  1. ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ "The John Spurlin Family" (article 1011, by Norman Kent Spurling), in The Heritage of Cleveland County (1982) — Internet Archive — Family article citing census analysis, personal papers and family records Book
  2. ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ John Spurling Sr. (1740–1822), MM5Y-6T3 — FamilySearch Family Tree — User-contributed tree; lists 8 attached sources, including the 1790 and 1820 censuses Genealogy
  3. ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ John Spurling (1740–1822) (Spurling-231) — WikiTree — Cites the 1790–1820 censuses on FamilySearch, Lincoln County wills and N. K. Spurling's 1998 history, ch. 10 Genealogy
  4. ↑ ↑ "Ancestors await our discovery," by Kenneth H. Thomas Jr. — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 16 January 2016 — Genealogy column News
  5. ↑ ↑ Sperling Spurling — Overview — FamilyTreeDNA group project Genealogy
  6. ↑ Jeremiah Spurling (1760–1820), LH1S-J8Z — FamilySearch Family Tree Genealogy
  7. ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Spurlin Spurling Sparlin Sparling — Y-DNA Results Overview — FamilyTreeDNA — Public STR table with kit groupings, stated ancestors and haplogroups; marker comparisons are from the published values Genealogy
  8. ↑ ↑ ↑ Haplogroup R-BY141437 — Haplogroup Story — FamilyTreeDNA Discover — Age estimates and testers' self-reported origins Reference
  9. ↑ Haplogroup R-BY141437 — Ancestral Path — FamilyTreeDNA Discover Reference
  10. ↑ Haplogroup R-M269 — Wikipedia — Section on R-U106 Reference
  11. ↑ Spurlin Surname Meaning & Spurlin Family History — Ancestry.com Reference
  12. ↑ ↑ Jeremiah Spurling Jr. (1704–1770), Memorial 174776382 — Find a Grave — Memorial without a known grave Genealogy
  13. ↑ ↑ ↑ Jeremiah Spurling (1704–1770) (Spurling-226) — WikiTree Genealogy
  14. ↑ "Slave Owners, Westmoreland County, Va., 1782," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 10 (1902–03), p. 234 — Internet Archive — Transcript of a state account book Book
  15. ↑ Thomas Spurling (1712–1800) (Spurling-236) — WikiTree Genealogy

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Last reviewed 2026-09-24.