He was the son of Jeremiah and Anna (Green) Featherston, natives of Charlotte Co., Virginia. His middle name may have been Green. His parents moved to Lexington, Kentucky shortly after he was born and he grew up there. About 1828 the family migrated to the Southport area of Marion County, Indiana. His father was a Baptist preacher and had an orchard in Southport. Charles may have helped establish the orchard. I have visited this land and most of it is now part of a housing subdivision.

Charles was the father of a total of 15 children. Charles married first to Louisa Acres on June 6, 1836 in Marion Co. They had one child: John W. 1837. Louisa died in Dec. 1837. Charles married second to Narcissa W. Eudaly on Aug. 21, 1838 in Marion Co. Charles and Narcissa had 14 children: Eliza Jane Green Penrose 1839; Nancy Ellen Bradfield 1839; Jeremiah 1841; Charles 1842; Narcissa Syvila Johnson 1843; Margaret F. Campbell 1844; Maria Bradfield 1845; Elizabeth Atkins 1850; Andrew Jackson 1853; Franklin Pierce 1853; Lucinda Gresh 1856; Melissa E. Mark 1856; Mary A. Day 1861; James William 1862. Of these 14, there were three sets of twins: Eliza Jane and Nancy Ellen, Andrew and Franklin, Lucinda and Melissa.

By trade, Charles was a farmer and laborer. He worked on the state capitol building when it was being built. The family lived in Hamilton Co. in the 1850s. Later they returned to Marion Co. where they resided at Old Augusta.

A Marion County Circuit Court case from Nov. 3, 1865 shows that Charles was the second party or defendant in a civil case with Marshall D. Williamson. The details of the case aren't given in the file which only contains two pages.

After Narcissa's death, Charles married third to Eliza Jane Parker on Nov. 10, 1870. After Charles's death, Eliza remarried to William C. Rodocker on Jan. 22, 1884, Marion Co. William was a Civil War veteran and he died July 28, 1886. Eliza Jane died Dec. 15, 1910, Broad Ripple; Marion Co. Deaths, Book H-14, Page 33.

I am still searching for burial locations for five children: Jeremiah, Narcissa, Margaret, Maria and Franklin. Any information on these is greatly appreciated.

Great Uncle: Jeremiah Featherston

Sister: Sarah Jane Featherston Kuser Osterbrink

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The Featherston family belongs to Y haplogroup J2a. Per YSearch.org results the closest surname matches all have a genetic distance of 11 or more, meaning the most recent common ancestor lived centuries ago. Surnames: Mais (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany), Keinat/Kenard (Undingen, Baden-Württenberg, Germany), Springhart/Springhardt, Waters, Tiberia (Italy), Sivera (Chieri, Italy), Kobin (Orehovo-Zuevo, Russia), Rhodes, Liparteliani (country of Georgia), Gesner, Cohn (Kiev, Ukraine). There are even more distant matches in Armenia, Belarus, Finland, Greece, Poland, Romania, UAE. Haplogroup J2a is uncommon in England and only accounts for 1-5% of the male population there. It is somewhat surprising to see this result for an English family that traces back to Warwickshire.

However, given what is available so far, it appears that the more remote Featherston ancestors lived in the Rhineland area of Germany and possibly in northern France prior to settling in Warwickshire, England. An page on Medieval Warwick: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol8/pp480-489. Before this, earlier ancestors likely resided in the Mediterranean and the Near East. It is likely that some of the above families are part of the Jewish diaspora. Many first names in the Featherston family are Hebrew in origin: Amos, Carolus (Ancient Germanic/Latinized - perhaps a name used in the Rhineland; it is also used in Italy), Caturah/Keturah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Jesse.

Other possibilities as to how the J-M172 subclade came to be in Warwickshire include: Neolithic farmers who came to Britain from SE Europe; Roman troops stationed in Britain came from various places in the Roman Empire including the Near East. Jewish traders, merchants and tax collectors came from France during the Norman period. For further research see: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Egallgaedhil/haplo_j_j2.htm and https://www.familytreedna.com/public/featherstone?iframe=yresults

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Charles's grave is currently unmarked. It may have been marked at one point in time.