• John did not have the middle initial "E" as far as anyone knows
• This is not the John Self who was in Madison County by 1800 and Clark County by 1810.
• John Self remained in Chester Co., SC through at least 1806.
• He was in Hardin County, KYshortly thereafter and on the Census in Hardin in 1810.
• It is unlikely that he had a son named James

Please change your own records, as we will change ours.

Some cousins have written to say that they haven't yet seen their line presented on this page. The answer is that despite all their excellent research, we are still unable to connect them to Robert Selfe--even by a preponderance of "best evidence." Right now, we are listing Self families that we believe to have a connection back to our earliest known progenitor--and this may not be true, either, so please feel free to voice your opinions about the families we present. Some of the major lines are still missing a link somewhere, and will be presented later on with the hope that someone will be able to tie them in with the others. A few are being selected for publication in our quarterly Newsletter, available to Self Seekers members. You can also visit our Loose Ends section of our SelfSite at RootsWeb where unconnected Selfs are listed by state and county.

In answer to several questions we've received regarding "The Self Family of the Week," some of our information has come from a set of charts that was sent to us a few years ago. Several of them are handwritten, several typewritten, and at least one is a mixture of the two. Whoever created them must have spent a lot of time on researching and piecing together the various early Self families in Virginia. They represent many hours of thought and logical deduction. Most unfortunately, they are unsigned and contain no sources.

If you are the author of these charts, if you know who compiled them, or if you have a copy in your possession and know exactly where they came from, please contact Webmaster.

The early Selfs named most of their children the common (and confusing) names popular in their day, many of them of Biblical origin. However, there were also some very unique first names that were passed on through several generations. When a name found consistently in one branch of the family suddenly appears in a seemingly unrelated line, it may serve as a clue to a link that was previously unnoticed. Most especially in cases where proper and indisputable documentation may never be unearthed, it may be possible to conduct other types of research (visits to cemeteries, interviews with family members, etc.) based on these given names. Comparing the first names in a list of children born to two identically-named fathers can sometimes pinpoint which family belongs to your specific line. One word of caution: the Selfs quite often used their middle names instead of their first names, and nineteenth-century Census takers were known to record middle names and even nicknames instead of the given names of family members.

Please contact Webmaster to discuss your theories or offer proof relating to this Self Family of the Week.

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