A one-on-one with Regina Lynch-Hudson, a publicist turned family history reviver
Regina Lynch-Hudson, a tester with FamilyTreeDNA, has become the first woman of color to join the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), with DNA lineage tracing to Colonel John Carson (1752-1841) of Historic Carson House.
In a Q&A interview with FamilyTreeDNA, she elaborates on the impact of belonging to five FamilyTreeDNA Group Projects, two of which she started, and how joining these Group Projects led to her membership in the prestigious lineage society DAR.
You’ll also discover how testing with FamilyTreeDNA played a crucial role in her journey to uncover and connect with her ancestral roots.
What is your name, and what do you do?
My name is Regina Lynch-Hudson. I am a semi-retired publicist of The Write Publicist & Co., an occasional travel writer, a family history reviver, a visual narrative curator, and a creator of photo-ethnographic essays. Decades of promoting people, places, products, and performances, combined with a passion for showcasing deserving ancestors, have paved the way for my passion-work in storytelling and exhibit curation.
What FamilyTreeDNA tests have you taken, and how did those specific tests help you?
I have taken the Family Finder test and mtDNA test, and I have also arranged for Y-DNA tests for male family members. These tests have provided a basis for validating oral histories, disproving some family myths, and fostering meaningful global connections with individuals who happen to be kin.
What led you to test with FamilyTreeDNA? Did you have a specific goal in mind when you tested with us?
The ancestral makeup of my forebears from Western North Carolina is a rich tapestry of European, African, and Native American roots. This tri-racial heritage has always fascinated me, and delving into my DNA was a natural extension of my curiosity about my family’s history. I wanted to uncover the connections that bind these diverse threads together.
My introductory voyage into DNA exploration was over 20 years ago. I proposed to a DNA company to sponsor tests for seven family members. DNA tests can be used to confirm oral narratives about lineage and ethnic breakdown and can also dispel distortions.
DNA analysis reaches back further than oral history, uncovering hidden connections and verifying familial ties that spoken narratives alone may miss. It aids in reconstructing a more comprehensive and accurate family history.
As the first family member to recruit testers for FamilyTreeDNA groups and utilize DNA as a scientific tool, our collective efforts have contributed to resolving many mysteries through test results.
Which FamilyTreeDNA Group Projects are you part of?
I started and currently serve as co-administrator of two FamilyTreeDNA Group Projects: the Cragmont Community Project and the Payne Family of Western North Carolina Project, which includes tested participants such as my cousins, songbird Freda Payne and former member of the legendary Supremes, Scherrie Payne.
Our Payne Family of Western North Carolina Project clarified kinships and relationships that were previously debated. Elders had rumored that two sets of Paynes in Shiloh, North Carolina, were unrelated. FamilyTreeDNA test analysis confirmed that the two sets of Paynes were indeed part of the same family.
The Cragmont Community Project involves national outreach to test descendants of the tiny community in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where I grew up as a child.
I am also part of the NSDAR Daughters of the American Revolution Group Project at FamilyTreeDNA, which is an informative pool of DAR members and prospective members, as well as the John Carson of Western North Carolina (WNC) Group Project and the Carson Plantations Project.
How did joining FamilyTreeDNA Group Projects John Carson of Western North Carolina (WNC) and Carson Plantations, lead to membership in the prestigious lineage society, DAR?
As a young adult, I knew that we descended from the Carson line. Colonel John Carson’s designation as my paternal fifth-great-grandfather was a part of our oral history. However, the depriving legacy of slavery and lack of historical records make it challenging for most to trace a direct lineage to their patriot ancestors. Records were often not kept or were destroyed or altered.
Extensive analysis confirmed that I share genetic ancestry with several white descendants of Colonel John Carson, including three Carson cousins who share significant overlapping DNA segments on the same chromosome, an occurrence that points to a common shared ancestor.
I am currently engaged in tracing additional Revolutionary War patriots, but a distinct allure of my debut patriot, John Carson, lies in our ability to actually depict him. Many descendants cannot picture a patriot because the majority of Revolutionary War figures exist only as names on documents or vague descriptions in history books. Only patriots who commissioned portraits ensured their enduring physical presence in historical memory.
Unlike those patriots who are abstract figures, Carson emerges from the annals of history with a face, a story, an intact residence that’s now a house museum and verifiable DNA links—concrete representations that make history come alive.
DNA evidence provides a profound connection that paper trails cannot guarantee.
Over decades of involvement with DNA research, I have seen instances where genealogical records suggest a family connection, only for DNA tests to reveal no biological ties. This tangible, genetic DNA connection to John Carson transforms a historical narrative into a living heritage.
Soon after being inducted into the DAR, I joined FamilyTreeDNA’s private DAR group.
What has this discovery meant for you on a personal level?
The discovery has been empowering. Knowing that my lineage includes figures such as John Carson, whose legacy endures through historical records and a physical landmark, and descendants like Kadella, the plantation’s matriarchal mistress whose quilt is a treasured museum artifact, as well as my great-grandmother Maggie Carson Whittington, whose antique wash pot I own, fills me with a renewed commitment to uncover the untold stories of John Carson’s descendants of color and to curate exhibitions that honor their contributions.
Tell us about the missions of your FamilyTreeDNA Group Projects and the mysteries solved through these projects.
The Cragmont Community Project involves national outreach to test descendants of the tiny community in Western North Carolina where I grew up as a child.
Through the Cragmont Community Group Project, two women in search of their fathers were able to locate their fathers’ families. One daughter was born in the Philippines, and her father, my great-uncle, had searched for her throughout his lifetime. Thanks to DNA results, she was able to unite with his family and visit his gravesite.
We also located a large family living in Italy as a result of the Cragmont Community Group Project. The family patriarch’s early ancestors lived in the Cragmont Community. Our mixed-race Italian descendants eagerly participated in the project, reconnecting familial bonds.
Another significant achievement was recently locating a 91-year-old descendant of my maternal great-great-grandmother, Mary Louisa Stepp Burnette Hayden (1858-1956), a prolific healer and midwife. We tested Mary Louisa’s great-granddaughter, a retired teacher and award-winning bridge player, who now resides in a nursing home.
We have tested a number of elders in nursing homes, as well as seniors, just months before they passed away. Though they are no longer with us, their DNA lives on through FamilyTreeDNA’s labs, preserving a legacy that will aid future generations in their research.
How do you plan to incorporate FamilyTreeDNA testing into your annual trips abroad and public engagements as you continue to explore your ancestral roots?
DAR patriot Colonel John Carson hails from Ireland, and my Lynch lineage, as revealed by a Y-DNA test of my maternal uncle, Wallace Lynch, shows matches primarily in England and other parts of Europe. Other ancestral lines point to African haplogroups.
My plan is to gift DNA tests to senior descendants we encounter through research and travels both nationally and abroad. This global initiative will further validate our genealogical connections and enrich our understanding of our heritage.
I strive to highlight the interconnectedness of cultures and histories in my writing and public engagements, whether through travel narratives, conference presentations, or capturing accurate biographical lineages in museum exhibitions, public space signage and my series of ancestral videos.
What’s your next step in this journey? What brick wall are you trying to knock down next? Is there anything else that you’re trying to uncover further?
Dozens of people have copied each other’s public family trees on Ancestry® with Revolutionary War patriot Joshua Payne, born in 1762, topping their tree, yet no one has attached actual proof or source documents connecting the Revolutionary War patriot to their family. Copying of public family trees with no source documentation is a common occurrence.
Securing source files for patriots of color can be particularly daunting, if not impossible, especially when records beyond oral history that connect a patriot of color to a family may not exist.
However, my entry into DAR—a prestige that opens doors to some of the top Revolutionary War era scholars in the nation—and the more in-depth tools at FamilyTreeDNA are pivotal in the current endeavor of securing source documents for patriot Joshua Payne.
I am collaborating with some of the country’s most renowned lineage researchers to aid in our paper trail search and combining this effort with the study of FamilyTreeDNA’s Payne Family of Western North Carolina group testers.
Fortunately, I inherited a depository of handwritten Payne family documents and vintage Bible pages, providing us with a valuable foundation. This repository, coupled with expert assistance and advanced DNA analysis, significantly enhances our chances of establishing the elusive connection to Joshua Payne. Through meticulous research and collaboration, we aim to uncover the definitive links that have so far remained out of reach.
Joshua’s great-grandson, George Washington Richard Henry Lee Payne, is on permanent exhibit at the Biltmore Estate.
I co-curated my great-great-grandfather George’s exhibit and supplied his photograph from my collection of hundreds of restored vintage images.
In time, I know that I will have a substantiated package to present Joshua Payne to the DAR and museums.
What advice would you give to other African Americans who are hitting roadblocks in their research?
Most African Americans have a mixed-race heritage. I suggest setting up family surname projects through FamilyTreeDNA—and be prepared to develop a global marketing campaign in order to recruit testers. Embrace and connect with all your matches, as your European relatives can provide crucial information you might lack.
Also, document everything. I have every file, email or letter ever sent to me with folks’ theories, notions and stories. One party sent me a tape of an elder’s recollections, recorded in the 1970s, on a Radio Shack tape recorder. When I dropped the tape off to have it converted to modern digital files, I jokingly warned the transcription service providers, “Be prepared for whatever you might hear—such as the fairytale of an ancestor being ambushed by Indians.”
Disregard those who persist in holding onto debunked folklore. When the search feels impossible, surround yourself with a team of experts. Throughout my research, I’ve encountered many detractors. One source provided us with substantial myth-based misconceptions, later disproven by DNA tests and census records.
Another trusted source claimed that an ancestor was the first person of color statewide in a particular industry, but documents proved this long-held story to be untrue. Additionally, a genealogist abandoned the search for Joshua Payne’s source documents, but another researcher confirmed that the Joshua Payne of color born in Virginia in 1762 is most likely “our patriot Joshua,” based on compelling circumstantial evidence.
In the field of genealogy, relying on the perspective of just one individual can be both misleading and detrimental.
My ancestral team includes renowned genealogists, museum-quality photo restorers, membership in the prestigious lineage organization DAR, a network of museum colleagues, and administrator status with FamilyTreeDNA’s Group Projects.