Is anyone doing any research on the TINKER family of The Bahamas in the 1700- 1800s? In particular, John TINKER, Governor of the Bahamas who died in 1754, who left a will freeing the female slave ABANABA, and left the remainder of his estate to his children William and Catherine MELLISH, who were apparently illegitimate. The MELLISH family were also the owners of a large plantation in the Bahamas with many slaves. My COPELAND family DNA results have shown that our ancestors who go back to Cato COPELAND (1758-1827) Halifax Co.,North Carolina were matches with the TINKER family of Yorkshire, England, which is where Gov. TINKER was from, and further results have shown a relationship to a family in the Bahamas whose known descendants are Black Seminoles from Florida, who are a mixture of Seminole Indians, Black Seminoles and slaves. That family, however, have no known ancestors that connect to the TINKERs, although it is possible that one of the slaves who intermarried with them was from the TINKER family, possibly fathered by the Governor. One of the theories is that ABANABA was a mistress of the Governor and that she may have been the mother of Cato COPELAND, perhaps being pregnant at the time of her emancipation, but no proof has shown up so far.
Would be interested if anyone has any info that might shed any further light on these connections.

Deloris