I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I love keeping in touch with my former classmates, family and friends. I hate the politically-motivated false news that pops up too often these days from both sides. That said, I never imagined that Facebook would or could help me with my genealogical research. But it has. A few months ago, Facebook present me with a group I might like: Descendants of Alexander and Thomas Joyce. I remember thinking: WAIT! I am a descendant of Alexander Joyce. Could this be MY Alexander Joyce? Indeed, it was and I LIKED IT A LOT.

I have now connected with folks who are my 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th cousins. Many of the Joyce descendants stayed in North Carolina or Virginia not far from where brothers Alexander and Thomas Joyce once lived. My Joyce ancestor, Martin James Joyce, grandson of Alexander, left North Carolina and headed west to Missouri sometime after 1839 when he married his first cousin, Sarah Roberts, my 4th great grandmother. (Yikes.)

Since joining the Joyce Facebook group, I have learned that our Joyce ancestors were once our Joss ancestors of SCOTLAND, not Ireland as I erroneously believed! (Y-DNA tests confirmed the male Joyces of America and the male Josses of the UK came from the same male descendant way back when. You gotta love DNA.) The Joss revelation enabled my Joyce detective cousins to identify not only the parents of Alexander and Thomas Joss, but their grandparents as well. All I did was ask to join the group and viola, instant ancestors!

This September I am traveling to Cub Creek, Virginia to attend my very first Joyce Family Reunion. I can’t wait. We’re going to tour our Joyce ancestral homelands in Virginia. I might just wear a kilt – I can do that now! The Joss Family has an officially-registered tartan design in Scotland and I am a member of the Joss Clan and can wear it! Be very afraid.

Kenfolk: Utlaut
Relationship: 4th great grandfather
Common ancestors: Martin James Joyce was the son of James Joyce and grandson of Alexander Joyce (and great nephew of Thomas Joyce)