Taking Stock

I've written previously about the mysterious Abijah LeRoy, my 2nd great-grandfather, who started my genealogy journey and remains a very stubborn brick wall. 

I decided it was time to take stock of the facts I do know (spoiler alert, it's not very much!):

• My grandfather was Jesse Ben LeRoy (1907-1971) Born in Georgia
• My great-grandfather was John Robert LeRoy (1847-1927) Born in Georgia
• My great-great grandfather is the mysterious Abijah/Abijob (or whatever his given name turns out to be) probably born around 1819 (possibly earlier) since all of his children were born between 1839-1847 in Georgia. He's not listed in any census from 1850 forward with his known family. Based on 1880 and 1900 census of his son, he may have been born in Georgia or South Carolina. No birth, death or marriage records and no obituary has been located. No burial had been discovered. The only mention of him is on one of  his son's death certificate. I can find no mention of him in any records for his other children.

Many trees show Abijah as John, with his mother potentially being Dorcas Shoeboots/Boots, a Cherokee Indian. I'm 40% on board with Dorcas as the name of his mother, because of an 1860 census hint from her later years, showing her surname as Lukeray, with her occupation as domestic help in the household of two of her believed grandchildren. But I'm not at all convinced she was Cherokee. And I have no clue as to her maiden name. I've found no other records for her as of yet. She may not even be the right mother. I simply don't have enough information yet. 

Thanks to Thru Lines, I think I know 2 of her other children though. The most important clue so far is both of them using the surname LeCroy (not LeRoy). It's not much, but it's something. I had long wondered if the surname morphed along the way. Certainly LeCroy to LeRoy isn't a big stretch. But searching for Abijah with any of the dozen or so spellings I've seen returns absolutely zilch! 

Then there's the matter of the little fact I totally forgot. John Robert LeRoy, on the 1910 census, shows as having served in the Confederate Army. I'd previously mined unproven details from his widow's unsuccessful bid for his pension. He was apparently not shown on the records she indicated he should be. And so, I dropped looking for him as a veteran, figuring she was just trying to get the money. Recently, I happened to get some hints for Civil War veterans for John Robert LeRoy. They were actually for John LeCroy! I'm not entirely sure they're for my John, but it did give me pause to rethink the surname again.

At this point, it seems viable Abijah was a nickname of some sort. The other 2 siblings I think I've identified are Thomas and Amanda. On the surface, John is a more likely given name. And, if some trees are to be believed, it's possible his father's name was also John...or Thomas...or Luke. I have found some full-text search results on FamilySearch, where Chief Shoeboots did actually transfer land to a John LeCroy, and John was an early settler on Indian lands. There's also a newspaper mention of Shoeboots giving him 4 slaves in 1830....but it's nowhere near enough information for me to confidently say he's Abijah's father, or Dorcas's husband. 

Another interesting tidbit is Abijah's wife Nancy Williams is shown in 1850 (as Nancy LeRoy) living next door to an Abijah Williams. He would be the right age to be her brother. Is it possible her brother's name was somehow provided instead of her spouse's on the death certificate? Or perhaps it was a name she also affectionately called her husband? Or maybe Abijah Williams isn't even her brother...

I've contemplated Abijah may have been away from the family. The Mexican-American war did occur in the proper time frame, as did the Cayuse War. But I somehow doubt he was involved in either. The list of killer diseases at the time is long. He could have died from any number of illnesses or farming accidents. He could have left his family, changed his name, and started over somewhere else too! So far, all I have is a lot of maybes...and lots more DNA cousins to fit into my tree. Maybe one of them will eventually turn into a lead.

Surname brick walls aren't terribly uncommon. There were numerous reasons names might have been recorded incorrectly. But have you ever had a given name you thought might be totally incorrect? If so, can you share how you attacked the problem?

Image by Jupi Lu from Pixabay