Searching for Abijah LeCroy: A New Lead Through Nancy Williams

Typically, I don't add people in my tree unless I'm pretty darn sure they're correct. But being stuck on Abijah LeCroy/LeRoy, or any other name he may have gone by, has been frustrating me for over a decade. Yesterday, I decided to see if adding any potential relatives of Nancy Williams (his wife) would magically make anything appear. I currently have no records of Nancy prior to the 1850 census showing her as married, with her children—but her presumed husband Abijah is nowhere in sight.

I recalled seeing a person I believe may have been Nancy's brother in the 1850 census, living next door to her. His name was....wait for it!...Abijah! Abijah Williams. Since the 1850 census doesn't indicate relationships, I made the assumption he's shown with his wife Malissa and their children. I've seen references to Malissa's maiden name being Meeks, and indeed, just a few houses away were several Meeks. Does any of this mean I'm right? Not necessarily! But I'm willing to take the chance for now (and I know who I added so I could easily delete them again should I decide I'm wrong.) I also added Nancy's father as "_____ Williams", using 5 underscores so I don't mess up any hints the algorithms might decide to serve up. I didn't get any immediate new hints for Nancy (disappointing) but I still have hope! It's not a total guess. Unless she was adopted, it's fairly safe to assume her father's surname was Williams.

Recently, Ancestry suggested Nancy's father may have been Edward. I added his name and searched, but didn't find any supporting records. Another person's tree shows his name as Alexander. Again I searched, but I've not found anything to support this either. This doesn't mean either is wrong, I just can't prove either is correct. So for now, the elder Williams will remain with an unknown given name. But as I was searching for Abijah Williams I found a marriage record. It's for Abijah Williams in Habersham, Georgia (correct location) and Malissa Meeks! I'm one record closer to....a discovery?....something?....anything?!

After adding this record, I now have 13 hints for Abijah Williams and 11 for Malissa Meeks. One interesting twist I'll have to figure out is the 1860 census showing them as surname Harper. It appears the enumerator just used a ditto mark for the family prior to them. Was this an oversight? Did they actually claim to be related? Did they intentionally use another surname for some reason? I'm not sure, but I do know there are Meeks family members shown just a few houses away—and Abijah and Malissa aren't exactly common names. So I'm pretty sure the record is correct, but the surname shown may not be.

Also in my new hints is a legal record where Nancy LeCroy filed against Thomas LeCroy for the value of some fabric. Also mentioned is Abijah Williams. This is a good omen. I'm feeling pretty confident this is Nancy's brother! Who was Thomas LeCroy? I'm not sure yet. There's also a Revolutionary War Pension record for Abijah, so I now have even more threads to follow. Perhaps I'll find some military records, or maybe a DAR application with even more information? Don't burst my bubble! I have hope I might actually be on to something.

 

Of course, this all hinges on the name Nancy Williams being correct. She's shown as the mother on the same death certificate indicating Abijah LeRoy was the father. Everything hinges on a single death certificate. And while we'd all like to believe legal documents are correct, during a time of loss and grief, people do make mistakes. Still, I feel somewhat energized from the finds. Maybe I won't find Abijah LeRoy, but maybe I'll push a bit further back on the Williams line.

Image by marcelkessler from Pixabay

Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to assist with a title and search description. All content is my own.

Ancestry Hints Update: My Notes Are Back!

I posted an update on the original post as well, but thanks to a commenter here at A Tree With No Name, I was made aware sometime between yesterday mid-afternoon (the last time I worked with hints) and now, the checkboxes and comments for accepted/rejected/undecided hints are BACK!!! I am so thankful to the Ancestry development team for fixing this (and I know a lot of others are as well).

As for the rest of the Hints changes, I will adapt. I still wish clicking the person hyperlink on the All Hints page took us directly to the profile but it's not the end of the world. I do understand change is sometimes necessary. 

I've also seen a potentially positive change in how hints are updating. Yesterday, I corrected a birth date on a child who died in infancy. Immediately, hints for people who lived into teenage years and adulthood were removed. I haven't seen this happen widely on other people yet, but potentially the algorithms are being tweaked to provide better overall results. I'll give Ancestry a slight win on this while we wait to see if it's a true change or just a coincidence.

Credit where credit is due—thank you to the Ancestry development team for restoring the user-entered notes so quickly. Let me know how you're finding the changes overall. Are you settling in or are you struggling a little?

Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to assist with a title and search description. Post content is my own.

Three Years, 201 Posts and Counting

Three years ago today, I started my blog (and it just so happens I restarted my tree on July 14th, 2023). My blog and my tree are "almost" twins! As an amateur genealogist, my goal is to document and share my journey, and all the things I've learned (and am still learning) along the way. I enjoy writing, and blogging is good for my soul. If I can help motivate other family historians by sharing my progress, it's all worthwhile.

So here I am, 201 blog posts later, with a growing tree comprised of over 3200 people, spanning 10 generations (going back to 1689) and 950+ different surnames. I'm just as excited about doing genealogy today as I was when I first started — though I still try hard to gather every detail from each record so I won't ever feel the need to start my tree all over again. And because a tree is never truly "done", I'll constantly be learning and discovering for....well, forever!

Over the past 3 years, my site has had over 116,000 pageviews. I'd like to offer my heartfelt thanks to each and every visitor to my site (even the bots and crawlers). I very much appreciate all the comments and shares. With your help, I'm able to reach a wider audience. 

It's hard to see, but in the graphic, the notebook says "Passion, Purpose, Community". I am definitely passionate about genealogy. Anyone who's ever listened to me prattle on as their eyes glaze over will attest to it! And both my blog and my tree have a definite purpose. Community is the big one! I've found the genealogy community is filled with wonderful people. Sure, there are some who protect and guard their trees fiercely, but there are many more who freely share their trees, expertise and knowledge. I'm truly blessed to have made many new friends, and virtually "met" some amazing cousins. 

The genealogy community is welcoming and warm. I feel truly blessed to be a member of such an amazing group of people, and to share my journey with you. I look forward to many more years of blogging ahead.

Disclosure: I used ChatGPT to create the graphic, assist in a title and search description. All other content is my own.