John Warburton Womack Ancestry - Fraud

• Lempriere's Universal Biography

• Letter from John Warburton Womack, 1850

• Biography, published 1889

• Womack Family of Georgia and Alabama, published 1904

Since at least 1889, Womack "researchers" have claimed a connection between the Womacks of Colonial Virginia and the Womack family of clergymen from England, which included Bishop Lawrence Womack. In 1889, the biography of John Warburton Womack was published in the book series American Ancestry, with fraudulent claims that he was descended from two bishops of the Church of England, William Warburton and Lawrence Womack. Several other Womack historians latched onto this information, and never bothered to verify it, so the claim was repeated.

Even after this claim was thoroughly debunked in the early 1900s, several hobbyist researchers claim to this day, without any proof, that the Womacks of Colonial Virginia were somehow related to Bishop Lawrence Womack through a brother or cousin in various versions of the fantasy.

Fraudulent John Warburton Womack lineage from 1889 biograpy with notes

Wikipedia Claim

Wikipedia article on Laurence Womock - as of 30 Jan 2019, this Wikipedia article contains elements of this fraudulent genealogy, which proves nothing, since literally anyone can edit most Wikipedia articles, which is pretty much the point of Wikipedia. The "documentation" for the fraudulent elements is a link to a personal blog, which does not explain the source of the fraudulent elements:

History of the John Warburton Womack Lineage Fraud

The story of this claim is tied up with the quest to understand Womack ancestry, a quest which has been ongoing for at least 170 years, as evidenced by John Warburton Womack's letter of 1850.

John Warburton Womack was a great-grandson of Richard Womack |||. He was born in 1807 in GA, but moved with his father to Alabama; by 1850 he was living in Greene Co, AL. He had married the widow Ann Beville Hays. Although John came from a fairly well-to-do Womack family, he definitely married up. The 1850 Census shows John with zero real estate value, but his wife Ann with $15,000 of real estate, a large amount for the time. John was a lawyer and a state legislator. He had the time and resources to engage in family research.

By the mid-1800s, the 17th century origins of the Womacks in Virginia, particularly Henrico County, were lost to the "mists of time". Notions of Womack family "traditions" going back to the 1600s are nonsense. Even family historians such as Captain James J Womack knew nothing of the true Womack origins; he claimed that "Womack is a Scotch name, and Abraham Womack, Isaac Womack and Jacob Womack, three brothers, emigrated from Wales, in 1615, and settled in Virginia; and from these brothers have descended all the Womack families now in the United States."

Most non-genealogists know very little of their ancestors beyond their own grandparents. From the number of death certificates in the early 1900s for which a child was the informant, but did not know his or her grandparents' names, even knowledge beyond parents was often in short supply.

John Warburton Womack knew about his great-grandfather, Richard Womack (whom genealogists call Richard Womack III), but no further, which was was common back then. John Warburton Womack knew his great-grandfather was from Virginia and was an early settler of Georgia, but everything beyond that was a complete fabrication.

It appears that John Warburton Womack's inspiration was a 2-volume book called Lempriere's Universal Biography, which John referenced in his 1850 letter, though he called it "Lempriere's Biographical Dictionary". John probably saw the 1825 edition. Notably it contains entries on just one Warburton and just one Womack, both of whom were Bishops in the Church of England: William Warburton, and Lawrence Womack. John Warburton Womack had "found" the ancestors that explained his middle name and his surname, and both were claimed as his ancestors in the 1889 biography. John just invented imaginary ancestors to fill in the gaps. His mention of distant relative "Joseph L Womack" in Prince Edward Co, VA in the 1850 letter is telling, because there was no Joseph Womack in Prince Edward Co in 1850; "Joseph L Womack" was also imaginary. John probably ascertained that the biggest concentration of wealthy Womacks in Virginia was in Prince Edward Co. The 1850 Census of Slaves shows there were far more slaves owned by Womacks in Prince Edward Co, VA than in any other county in the US; in fact, there were more Womack slaves in Prince Edward than in any entire state outside Virginia.

John Warburton Womack's motive was the likely the same motive of most people who create fake genealogies - people don't like dead-ends or boring forebears. John was an eminent man who required illustrious ancestors. Never mind that the first Womacks in America were likely simple yeoman farmers looking to make their fortune growing tobacco. Many people want famous or royal ancestors, not "poor dirt farmers". Many Womack family researchers wanted to believe the link to Bishop Lawrence Womack, so they blindly accepted it.

Most early Womack historians repeated the claims in the 1889 John Warburton Womack biography, that the Womacks came to America in 1716.

Jean Stephenson, who later earned a doctorate and became an acclaimed genealogist, also was taken by the 1889 biography, and published a fairly crazy Record of the Womack family in 1913, when she was just 21. She was quite a prodigy to have gathered so much family information and published it at such a young age. Her 1913 work has much good info, but was also rife with serious errors, beyond the inclusion of the 1889 bio info. Unfortunately, many of those errors still appear in genealogies today. Jean's father moved around the country for his business, and by 1920, Jean was living in Washington, DC, where she would remain the rest of her life. Former Confederate General Marcus Joseph Wright, and his wife Pauline Womack, the daughter of John Warburton Womack and a distant cousin of Jean, were also living in Washington, DC at the same time. There is no doubt Jean visited with them to gain family information, and she corresponded with them before her move to DC, since her 1913 manuscript states that some of her information came from the Bible of John Warburton Womack.

It was not until the publication of the Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers in 1927 that the earliest known Womack records were found and widely known, placing the Womacks in Henrico Co, VA since at least the early 1670s. The publication of Rev F C Symonds Womack Records in 1935 filled in more gaps.

Serious family researchers realized the claims in the 1889 biography were incorrect, and soon began working out the true ancestry of Richard Womack III. There were some mistakes at first. Margaret Miriam Strong had followed the 1889 bio in her family history published in 1928; slightly after Valentine, but she must have been unaware when Valentine was published. Twelve years later, in 1940, Strong's daughter, Nettie Rand Hale, published an updated family history, which correctly placed Richard Womack III as born in Henrico Co, VA, but incorrectly placed him as a son of Abraham Womack Sr. Furthermore, Nettie asserted that since Richard had a daughter named Sarah Womack (who married James Cody), that Richard Womack's mother was named Sarah; thus was born the nonsense that Abraham Womack's wife was named Sarah (extant records do not reveal the name of his wife or wives). Additionally, Nettie was confused by the 1759 probate records of Richard Womack IV in Lunenburg Co, VA, and asserted they were for Richard Womack III.

A few years later, Dempsey Monroe Kemp and a few others worked out the true ancestry of Richard Womack |||, placing him as the son of the Richard Womack who died in Henrico Co, VA in 1723; who in turn was the son of the Richard Womack probated in Henrico Co, VA in 1684.

Amazingly, some Womack "Internet researchers" still want to believe the Bishop Lawrence Womack connection, though they (without a shred of proof) have made William Womack, the so-called "Immigrant", some sort of close cousin to Bishop Lawrence Womack.

Books with the Richard > Ashby/Abraham > Edward > Lawrence claim:

• • American Ancestry: Giving the Name and Descent, in the Male Line, of Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence, A.D. 1776, Volume IV, John Munsell's Sons, Publisher, 1889, Albany, NY. Vol IV, p.71, sketch of John Warburton Womack and son-in-law General Marcus Joseph Wright. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044098876014;view=1up;seq=83

  • The Gulf States Historical Magazine, by Joel C DuBose editor, Vol 4, No 2, Jan 1904, p.288, “The Womack Family of Georgia and Alabama” by Mrs Jennie S Perkins, of Washington DC. Family histories of John Warburton Womack and John Howard Dillard Womack. This one states that Bishop Lawrence Womack “was second son of Charles Augustus Womack, who was half brother to the Duke of Albemarle”. https://books.google.com/books?id=ziYUAAAAYAAJ&dq=The%20Gulf%20States%20Historical%20Magazine%20v4&pg=PA288#v=onepage&q&f=false [Note that Jennie S Perkins was a friend of General Marcus Joseph Wright, the son-in-law of John Warburton Womack; she contributed to his book on McNairy County, TN]

  • Biographical History of North Carolina, From Colonial Times to the Present, 1906, edited by Samuel A Ashe, Vol IV, p.481, biographical sketch of Thomas Brown Womack (son of John Archibald Womack > Green > John > Richard). https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433067286702;view=1up;seq=727

  • “Bulletin of the Virginia State Library”, Edited by H R McIlwaine, State Librarian, Volume XV, Sep 1925, Nos 2-4, titled “Notes on Southside Virginia” by Walter A Watson, p.199, “Womack Family (Direct Line of Descent)”, compiled by Jean Stephenson, 1913. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015005744373;view=1up;seq=809 (Republished in the book “Notes on Southside Virginia”, reprinted in 1977, by Walter Allen Watson, p.199 (The cover page says it was originally published as “Bulletin of the Virginia State Library, Vol XV, Nos 2-4, Sep 1925).)

  • History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, 1921, by Thomas McAdory Owen, Vol IV, p.1795, biographical sketch of John Warburton Womack, mentions he was the grandnephew of Jacob Womack of Watauga. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015019066151;view=1up;seq=803

  • Genealogy of the Ragland Family, 1928, by Margaret Miriam Strong (Mrs Philp H Hale), p.49. Line of descent of Margaret Miriam Strong Hale > J M Strong & Mary Ann Lumpkin > John Lumpkin > John Lumpkin > George Lumpkin & Mary Cody > James Cody & Sarah Womack > Richard Womack. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89080570682;view=1up;seq=63

  • Dawn of Tennessee Valley and Tennessee History, by Samuel Cole Williams, 1937, p.436, has some info on Jacob Womack of Watauga, “said to have descended from Charles Augustus Womack, half-brother of the Duke of Albemarle, and fom Lawrence Womack, bishop of St. David’s.” https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000007751508;view=1up;seq=476