Paisley Family Association

My first PFA experience was, I think, in 2011.  I got a letter from Diane inviting me to a meeting at the Tomahawk Ruritan Building in Midlothian, Virginia.  My brother, Tom, lived in Richmond just across the James River, and I lived in Williamsburg.  So, it was a very convenient location for us, and we decided to attend.  We knew no one there, but after a delicious lunch (Brunswick stew and a buffet of other goodies) and a brief business meeting led by Harvey, Dr. Mark Carey of West Virginia gave a presentation about his family’s history.  Which included the detail that they had migrated west from Grayson County in Virginia to Illinois in the 1800s.  Since my family was from Grayson County, I got very interested.  Mark also mentioned the controversy about the linkage between his family (which had been traced to John Peasley) and the North Carolina branch (William Paisley).  Soon after Diane talked about the Paisley DNA Project, and I volunteered my brother Tom to participate.  Tom’s DNA proved the link between John and William and the theory that they were brothers who immigrated from Ireland in 1736.  And that was my first experience with PFA.