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.

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.

3,129 Relatives Later…I’m Still Just Getting Started

I took a moment this weekend to reflect on my tree as it currently stands. I pondered the growth of a genealogical tree compared to real life trees. Plantd has a wonderful (quick to read and easy to understand) post on the life-cycle of real trees (not to say our genealogical trees aren't real - they very much are!) We all start our tree as a seedling. It sprouts and then goes through a period of rapid growth. Our trees may quickly develop into a sapling (young adult trees). They grow taller and stronger, supporting a growing canopy of branches and leaves. The roots grow deeper to support the tree as it inevitably grows in size. 

Over decades, our trees continue to grow stronger and larger. Eventually, they become mature trees. At this point, with a solid trunk, many branches and good set of roots - vertical growth may slow and branches and leaves tend to fill out in areas where they already exist. There is still growth, it just seems to happen more slowly. At this stage the tree becomes an integral part of the ecosystem (in our case, perhaps the basis to help other researchers). Luckily, unlike many real trees, our trees don't have to fall or decay to become the basis for new growth. We can continue to grow our trees for....well...forever if we choose! 

Indeed, even in nature, there are trees living incredible life spans. The giant redwoods (sequoias) are thought to be able to live an astonishing 3.500 years! And while written texts go back as far as 5,500 years, none of us are likely to find written traces of our ancestors anywhere near so old. The oldest traceable family tree is of the Lurie family, dating back to 1037 BC (a stunning 3,063 years!) In more recent discoveries, DNA has unlocked more information on human history. Human DNA 45,000 years old has been found in Germany. And, DNA from Neanderthals has been dated to over 430,000 years ago! Thus far, my family seems very ordinary. As we stretch back in time, ordinary becomes less and less documented, and harder and harder to find. The oldest person in my tree is my 6th great-grandfather, John Martinus Homsher (1689-1747). 337 ago years seems like forever, but it's just s drop in the bucket.

I've intentionally grown my tree slowly. Despite being in my second decade of research, my tree is still young. This is in large part because, like many new family historians, I made mistakes...and LOTS of them! I started and scrapped multiple trees before I found my footing and felt confident in my research. My most recent tree (the one I swore to myself I would "do the right way this time" and never have to start over) was created in early 2021. So it's really only 5 years old. As of this post, I have 3129 people in my tree. Of those, only 38 need some form of documentation. Because I don't place a huge emphases on DNA matches, I've only placed 53 of them thus far (combined from both my and my ex-husband's plethora of DNA matches). I tend to prefer to find where they fit organically (when possible), rather than spending hours trying to dissect and document just to add one DNA match. Eventually, if I keep at it, many will find their way to their proper leaf.

Since my original purpose was to leave a more solid family history for my son than I had, I occasionally look at my tree from the perspective of him as the home person. I've located all his direct ancestors up to and including all of his 3rd great grandparents (both maternal and paternal.) And, out of 64 of his 4th great grandparents, I'm only missing 17. I must admit, he's not nearly as interested in genealogy as I am. He does occasionally enjoy hearing an interesting tidbit or two, but he doesn't share my passion for research. No matter, because I'll continue my search for decades to come! I don't think I'll ever tire of finding new discoveries...or having 20 browser tabs open in the relentless pursuit of one ancestor...or the satisfied feeling of finding where one more DNA relative fits in my tree. 

Image by Dee Guss from Pixabay

Snowed In? Perfect Weather for Digging Up Ancestors

A major winter storm will impact more than half of the United States this weekend. My home state of Maryland is no exception, with 12-14" of snow forecast for my city. And, to make it even better (said facetiously), it appears it'll be served up with a generous side of ice and extreme cold for at least the next 10 days.

Being a mid-Atlantic state, we simply aren't used to significant snowfall, and clean up will almost certainly take several days, if not longer. So, this is a perfect weekend to hunker down, dig into the records and focus on finding some new ancestors!

This past week, I added a new set of 3rd great grandparents to the maternal side of the family tree. By looking at Ancestry's ThruLines®, backed up by the 1850 census and a North Carolina marriage record, I was finally confident enough to add David Oakes (or Oaks) and Polly Lovell to my tree. Both were born about 1797-1800. I'm anxious to start expanding this line forward towards some of the 203 DNA matches I have from this ancestral couple. I'm particularly tickled to work on their daughter. I can't help but giggle when I see her name - Gooley Oakes. 

I've tried to find information on where the name Gooley comes from, and it appears to be more of an Irish surname. I can't help but wonder if this is a quiet pointer to my 8% Irish origins, shown as coming solely from my maternal side. Thus far, I've yet to push my maternal line outside of the United States. Perhaps it's an homage to another direct ancestor I've yet to discover. If so, I'll be pushing solidly back into the 1700's, a time where handwritten records become much harder for me to decipher. Thankfully, AI is reasonably good at this task. When the algorithms stop serving up as many hints, I'll head over to FamilySearch for some full-text searches. 

If you're up for an interesting read, check out "20 Ways Your Ancestors Survived Snowstorms That Would Seem Insane Today" by Marc McDermott at Genealogy Explained. I found it really interesting. And if you're in the path of this winter storm - please stay safe!

Image by Couleur from Pixabay

An Unexpected Bud on My Family Tree

The other day, I was checking  Ancestry's ThruLines® for my 3rd great-grandfather, Jacob Shelly (1772-1853). I randomly decided to check the DNA matches listed for his daughter, Ester Shelly (1800-1888). Although I don't have many records for her, I've long known she was married to David Alleman (1796-1864). So imagine my surprise when I also saw 3 potential children with the surname Call.

I poked around on Ancestry, doing several different searches, but wasn't coming up with anything helpful in terms of a marriage or births of children. I also did a quick survey backwards from the DNA matches, but ran into roadblocks when it came to actually matching the children to Ester. We're talking 1818-1822 and birth records are hit or miss at best. Trees mentioning Call didn't provide any useful documentation to prove the relationship either.

I was perplexed. But, the next day, I decided to do a full-text search at FamilySearch. I used the name of Ester Call (instead of her maiden name Ester Shelly) and then included the keyword Shelly in my search. I also limited the search to Pennsylvania where Ester was born, even though she ultimately ended up in Ohio. All the known documentation I've seen for her is focused in Ohio, but since the supposed children had birth dates prior to those she had with David Alleman, I figured it would be a likely bet, any previous marriage might have been before she moved. And I struck paydirt!

In the Cumberland. Appearance Dockets 1826–1828, I found where she had appeared before the court, seeking to disentangle herself from her husband Nicholas Call. In part the record reads:

"November 15th 1826 came into Court Ester Call by her father...Jacob Shelly and prefered [sic] a petition therein stating, that in the month of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, this libellent [sic] was intermarried with Nicholas Call with whom she resided and cohabited until the month of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty three..."

Long story short, it appeared Ester married at just 16. By the time she was 23, she had at least 3 children with Nicholas. He abandoned his family, and she appears to have waited 3 years before filing to divorce him. This was about the same time as her father was in the process of relocating to Wayne County, Ohio. Several of his children made the trip with him to establish new roots there. I suspect Ester wanted to do the same (although I haven't come across any concrete records showing her in Ohio until the 1850 census.) 

By June 1850, she was married to David Alleman and had 2 grown sons with him, as well as one child who passed away. They did have some younger children enumerated in their household in 1850, but I've yet to determine just where they may fit in my tree. At the time of this Census, David Alleman was shown as having property valued at $5000 in Clinton, Wayne, Ohio. 

Then, I found another interesting twist (thank you again full-text search!) In the Wayne. Deed Books 1850–1852, by 1851 Nicholas Call had passed away, leaving 160 acres of land to his son Michael Call. Not terribly unusual for a father to leave property to the eldest son, except the land was in....wait for it!...Clinton, Wayne, Ohio. And to make it a little more strange, his will further specified:

"...the above conveyance is made on the express condition that Hester Alamon [sic] wife of the late Nicholas Call and the Mother of the said Michael Call shall have the use and occupation of said land during her natural life..."

There has always been some confusion if her given name was Ester, Esther, or Hester. I've seen records for all 3 different given names. And the misspelling of Alleman, as Alamon, doesn't give me any pause at all. I'm very confident we're talking about the same person.

Ester filed her initial petition to the courts in late 1826, Her children with David Alleman were born in 1827 and 1828. It's pretty clear she moved on quickly. But given Ester and David Alleman presumably already had property in 1850, it seems very unusual Nicholas specified she should have use of his land. Is it possible the property detailed for David was actually the land owned by Nicholas? I suppose it could be. Census enumerators asked questions and recorded responses. It wasn't their job to make sure the information provided was correct. Or did Nicholas also move, purchasing a separate property to be closer to his children? Equally as possible. For now, it's a mystery.

Ester probably struggled with social stigma in her home state of Pennsylvania. Even though Nicholas left them, being essentially a single mother of 3 young children wasn't the ideal situation for her. Moving to Ohio may have been the fresh start she needed. It's nice to know she found stability with David. I hope in the future, I can tease out more details of her story. In any case, I'm excited to work towards placing the Call DNA descendants in my tree. 

Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay

Welcome to 2026!

 

May 2026 bring you a plethora of new hints, supporting full-text search results, new ancestors and lots of new DNA cousins! I hope it's a prosperous genealogy year for all!

Image by ArtistyDesign from Pixabay

Brick or "Stucko"?

Brick walls. If you haven't encountered one yet in your genealogy journey, you undoubtedly will at some point. It's a given! Sooner or later, the records simply aren't available, or the pieces just won't fall into place. Whether records never existed, have been lost to time, or simply aren't available in a format we can access yet, sooner or later you'll hit the proverbial "brick wall". The term is well known, but is it always accurate?

I have a several brick walls in my research right now. Indeed they seem absolutely impenetrable! The other day, I was diligently trying to chip away at the bricks once again, hoping to find a loose piece to help me demolish the blockage. I started thinking....(Yes, yes, I know....thinking can be dangerous!) Brick... After the Great Fire of London in 1666, buildings had to be rebuilt of brick or stone (to prevent such a devastating fire in the future). The walls of the buildings were being rebuilt to last. Brick is a durable building material. No wonder we call our challenges this, and have such a hard time breaking through them in genealogy! While I'm sure there are exceptions (people do nefarious things from time to time to avoid detection), most of our genealogical brick walls probably weren't created by design. They were simply created by time. And more time may be needed to find the best method to break them down. Some may stand the test of time, impervious to ever being removed.

But are all of our brick walls really brick? I have several..."loose ends". They're not really brick walls. There are a plethora of records, but the problem is names - in general. The further back I go in England (I'm only in the late 1700's and early 1800's) I find walls not made of brick, but of stucco. Or as I like to call it "stucko". Names become repetitive and locations unfamiliar. Even couples may be name twins, making it doubly difficult to figure out. It becomes harder to tell whether locations are accurate. We like to think, as we go back in time, communities were smaller, and people didn't move around as much. And in some cases this is true. But the population in England swelled from the 5 millions to 9 million between 1700-1800. It was s no small village! So even though records exist, and the names I'm looking for can be found, just how do I tell if the record is for the right person in the right place at the right time? These are my "stucko" walls. 

While durable, "stucko"...er...stucco, is more prone to cracking. Once a crack appears, we can likely work our way to removing the hindrance. They are walls with loose ends, threads waiting to be pulled. Tugging on one may unravel the rest. These walls may topple with a bit of work (and a lot of open browser windows). These challenges aren't necessarily built of brick. They may simply need extra patience and a bit of luck to fell them.

Somehow, reframing how I think about walls (in general) helps me find patience. Patience to search the records again. Patience to make the tenuous connections. Patience to do one more full-text search. Sometimes patience pays off and the "stucko" crumbles. Other times, no matter how hard I try, I realize under the stucco covering lies a wall made of brick after all.

Image by Takeshi Hirano from Pixabay

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all! 

Image by Alberto Antonio Peguero De Leon from Pixabay

Genealogy Tasks for When You’re Not at 100%

The past week has been challenging. I've had a nasty winter cold, and my brain has felt as fuzzy as an unsheared sheep. It's been hard to focus on even the most basic of hints. Taking a trip into the genealogical void, where time ceases to exist and hours pass in the blink of an eye hasn't been a viable option. Nonetheless, I still tried to be at least a little bit productive. I've seen a few forum posts recently where people ask how to stay motivated, looking for ideas on what others do to get past the dry spell when research seems to be too much.

Here are some of the things I did manage to do this week, even though I was operating at less than 100%:

• Read more blog posts than I usually do. 
• Interacted on forums, answering questions for users and offering suggestions as appropriate.
• Updated my Feedly. I was at the 100 follow limit for free accounts, so I removed inactive or unreachable feeds, making way for a few new additions.
• Updated my Blogs to Follow page with some new sites (including podcast sites, even though I don't personally care for podcasts.). Even when older sites become inactive, I like to keep the links. Genealogy is "evergreen". It stays relevant, even over time. History doesn't change. Time tested methods still work. Great ideas are still great ideas! Sure, there may be specific articles and posts no longer up to date (especially with regard to software and technology, since they change at warp speed), but many posts stand the test of time. The list is simply alphabetical, new additions aren't identified. It's merely a reference list for those who may be looking for additional blogs to follow. (If you ever encounter a broken link on this page, please let me know!)
• Rummaged through the bins of treasures from cleaning out my parents house. I had an unusual photo I distinctly remembered bringing home, but for some reason, I hadn't saved it in the same bin as many of the photo albums. Truth be told, my mom had photos tucked all over the house, and I now have loose photos and albums scattered across many bins (not including my own personal hoard). I did ultimately find the item I was after. And, it lead me to post on Threads for opinions on vintage photography techniques. I'll save the story for a post in the near future. Suffice it to say, I not only learned something new, but now I'm on a hunt for more information about the subjects of the photo. 
• Spent far too much time trying to figure out why my default Blogger share buttons (shown at the bottom of each of my posts) only showed in grey unless you hovered over them. I considered other types of sharing buttons, but after much Googling (and even attempting to have AI assist me), I finally found an old post on Blogger Tips Pro with exactly the instructions I needed. (See! Evergreen!) It actually turned out to be very straightforward and extremely simple, written for the exact issue I was having.
• Removed broken image link in my blog sidebar. 
• Spent time on Ancestry, under Memories and "Organize your people", tagging subjects in saved photos. While this certainly isn't something I feel compelled to do on any kind of regular basis, it was still useful. In theory, this should help Ancestry's AI become better at recognizing faces. I haven't yet tried the "Search by face" feature, but if I do in the future, having people tagged will likely improve accuracy of those results.
• Registered for an AI beta (Prompt Cowboy.ai) designed to help write better prompts.
• Took time to review my Ancestry year in review. I always enjoy this! I viewed over 12,000 hints and added over 330 people to my tree. Clues from my tree supposedly helped over 160 other people this year. I also maintained a tree rating of 9.9. As an aside, I've now surpassed 3000 people in my tree (only 35 still need some kind of documentation). I intentionally build slowly. While I know 3000 is but a drop in the bucket compared to some trees - I'm still thrilled!
• Took time to reflect on the little wins, and wrote this post.

So there you have it. Though I barely made any progress at all when it comes to attaching hints and growing my tree, I was still able to feel a tiny bit productive. With my cold starting to ease, I'm hoping to get back to my regular routine in the next few days. The good part? The Ancestry algorithms are still churning away in the background and I'll have more new hints waiting to be evaluated!

Image by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

My First Full Text Search Success

Part 1: The Background

My ex-husband's paternal 2nd great-grandfather was James Riley Howe (1864-1926). His identity has not been a mystery. I've had him in my tree for some time now. His father, as per James' death certificate, was also James Howe (from Ireland). His mother, unknown. I've found no solid records for his father yet. It's not exactly an uncommon name in Missouri at the time. I wanted to be sure when I found something, it was the correct James Howe. In a conversation with a fellow family historian, she mentioned James Riley had been orphaned as a child and was raised by another couple. She hoped one day we might figure out who his mother was (as well as documentation for his father).

Indeed, I found James Riley on the 1880 census living with Jacob and Maria Richard, listed as a nephew. At first, I wasn't sure if he was a nephew of Jacob, or of Maria. Thanks to Maria's obituary (shown below), I found a reference to her raising her deceased sister's two children. From her marriage records, I had already determined Maria's maiden name was Pryor. And now, I knew James Riley's mother should have the surname Pryor as well.  Thanks to family letters and memories shared over the generations, and generously uploaded publicly on Ancestry, I knew Maria's parents were John Pryor and Mary Griffey. 

Wilson County Citizen, Fredonia, Kansas, Tue, Feb 21, 1922, Page 1

Part 2: The Initial Search

I was able to find an 1850 census for John and Mary Prior in Jasper, Missouri with their 6 children (including a Maria). They had 2 other daughters - Louisa and Julia Ann. There were a handful of records for Julia, but nothing for Louisa. I wasn't 100% convinced I was looking at the correct Pryor family. Maria is a common name, and her obit didn't list her parents or siblings. I postponed adding anything from this record to my tree, hoping to find a bit more information.

In the back of my mind, one thing bothered me just a little. I had a Louisa Malinda Pryor in my tree already. But she was born in 1870, so could not have been the mother of the children. She married into the Short branch of the family. In fact, she married 2 Short brothers! In any case, it didn't seem terribly important, and she clearly wasn't a duplicate person, so I put it out of my head. 

Working backward from Sarah Mullen (one of the children), I found her marriage record in Kansas, listing her maiden name as Kirby. Some records also claimed it was Kelly. And the obituary of her husband, Thomas, said it was Kerley. No matter, it was clear James and Sarah were step-siblings. There were going to be more names in this search! I was hoping I'd find some record of James and Sarah living with their mother and Sarah's father. Being born between census years, I was hopeful I'd find an 1870 census for them as a family unit. But tis was not meant to be. Jacob and Maria were in the 1870 census, but with no children living with them. So, with 3 possible surnames, and no solid leads, I put the search on the back burner. Until now...

Part 3: Full Text Search 

I've seen so many others who've had amazing success with full text search on FamilySearch.org. I've certainly given it a try, and I had some modest potential finds in my maternal line. But the aha! moments others have shared simply weren't happening for me. Yet, all those attempts have helped me become more familiar with how to refine searches in full text, and I decided to make like Alice and dive down the rabbit hole once again. Boy am I glad I did!

First, I searched for Jacob Richard as a guardian of the children. Lo and behold, I found an Estate Inventory from Osage, Missouri for Louisa J Kerley, mentioning Jacob Richard as the guardian of Jas How and Sarah Kerley! There was another minor child, Irwin Kerley mentioned as well. This was new, but I just held onto the name in my head. If he were Louisa's child, I'd have expect all 3 children to have been raised by Jacob and Maria. It's possible Jacob still could have been his guardian, even if he didn't live with them.

Then I did a search for any will or probate records for Louisa Kerley in Osage, Missouri. Guess what?! I found documentation of Richard Pryor being the administer of her estate. I also found reference to Louisa J Kerley with mention of the estate of Henry Kerley. A quick search o Henry showed he had a son Irwin. I was beyond excited. The pieces were falling into place. I was now convinced Louisa Pryor was the mother of both James and Sarah. And Sarah's father was likely Henry Kerley. Thank you full text search!

Then, I took another look at the 1850 census. Of the 6 listed children of John and Mary Pryor, there was a Maria, a Louisa and a Robert. This pulled it all together for me.  I've now added these family members to my tree.

Part 4: The Conclusions

I excitedly called the other family historian to share my findings! She was thrilled. She'd struggled with the various different names, Kelly...Kerley...Kirby, as well. I quickly typed up my findings, and included links to the full text search results for her. I asked her to take a look and see if she agreed with my conclusions. (She does.) 

Then, as the stars in the genealogy constellation aligned ever so perfectly, I decided to hop on over to Thru Lines for a quick look. Thru Lines can be a great help, or a wild good chase. Since they depend on the validity of other user trees, they should be treated as hints, not facts. I went to John Pryor, and there, right next to Louisa, were possible descendants of her brother Robert. And behold, one of Robert's daughters was...you guessed it!...Louisa Malinda Pryor. Yup! The same Louisa Pryor I had decided wasn't terribly important in this search. Further, it showed her children with both of the Short brothers. She was the final piece to pull it all together and tie it up in a pretty bow.

Part 5: Into the Future

Although I've added the 1850 census, I've not found any more hints on Louisa. I still haven't found anything concrete for James Howe, from Ireland. Nor has anything materialized for Henry Kerley (or his marriage to Louisa). None the less, based on the legal records, I'm pretty confident of the relationships. I'll continue to look for additional corroborating documentation.

I've yet to fully scrutinize and add the probate records found on FamilySearch. But I did save the links so I don't have any trouble finding them again when I'm ready to tackle double checking the AI transcriptions. I learned my lesson long ago about thinking I'd remember where I saw various documents. Now, I save any important link I might ever potentially want to revisit. 

One of the best parts for me was sharing with a family member. Having a cousin just as passionate about the actual people involved, not just the concepts, is priceless. Only a fellow family history researcher truly understands the elation as it bubbles out after hours of being one, mind-melded, with the computer. It wasn't quite as simple and smooth as it sounds. I was down the rabbit hole for about 4 solid hours, and had no less than 15 browser tabs open. But ultimately, full text search was a tremendous resource. You can bet I'll be using it more in the future! 

Giving Thanks for Memories Shared With Me

About this time last year, I received the most wonderful unexpected gift in my mailbox! It was a brooch belonging to my paternal great-grandmother (Rachel Derr, 1866-1953). My 2nd cousin generously and graciously gifted it to me! 

While my father knew his grandmother, I was born 15 years after her death. I never heard anything about her until I started my genealogy journey. Thankfully, my cousin (via conversations with her mother and family photos) has shared precious memories of Rachel with me. In turn, I wrote them down and, with permission, shared them in my tree. It's my hope they'll help others gain just a wee bit of insight into Rachel, and will help keep her memory alive. After all, were it not for her - I wouldn't be here!

Although I never knew her, I like to believe tiny specks of her DNA still survive on the brooch. I like to think when I hold it, I'm somehow connecting directly with her energy. As I look at it, I'm seeing the same beauty she saw. I can't say for sure how old the piece is. She could have had it for decades, or merely for a few months. There's no way for me to know. But clearly, if she still had it at the time she passed, she must have had some attachment to it. I personally will treasure it forever, and will pass it on to my son one day. 

As Thanksgiving nears, I'm reminded how grateful I am for each and every one my ancestors and extended family. I'm just now beginning to trace back far enough to uncover my roots across the ocean. There are undoubtedly many stories, family members and connections yet to be discovered. Some of my ancestors left their homelands and travelled to a new country and a new life. No matter where they lived or settled, they faced challenges and worked incredibly hard. Many bravely fought for freedom, here and abroad. Others found a measure of success in life. They raised families, lost loved ones, but still pursued their dreams. Some, have sadly been lost to time and may or may not be revealed as I pull at the threads of time, hint by hint, record by record. 

Our ancestors remain in each and every one of us. We may not have known them. We may not notice the influence they have on us. But deep inside our DNA, we carry them with us through each step of our lives. And we in turn can pass them on to future generations. 

I'm equally as thankful for YOU! The encouragement and comments from my readers are an important part of my genealogy journey. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!!

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

The Why

We all begin our genealogy adventure for different reasons. Perhaps a family member gave you the gift of a DNA kit, and now you're inspired to learn more. Or maybe you heard all the family stories as you grew, and wanted to uncover secrets from long ago. For some, there were no stories, only questions, and a deep sense of needing to find where they come from and where they belong. Each adventurer's quest into the past is different and has unique meaning to the individual. In short, we all have a different "why".

Research can be tedious and time consuming. And yet, when you find the one elusive record you've been after...somehow time melts away and it was all worthwhile. Thoughts of genealogy and ancestors may fill you mind...as you go about your day...or maddeningly, as you try to fall asleep. You may find yourself in front of the computer in the middle of the night searching for clues. How many times have you thought "just one more search" or "I'll stop after one more record"? The search for your ancestors (and their many descendants) has become a part of you. Over time, our individual "why" may change and grow into something much deeper, more personal and harder to quantify,

The following two blog posts resonated with me this week. Resonated isn't really an adequate word....they spoke to me would be more accurate. They capture "the why". Summarizing them would be an injustice. If you have a few minutes to spare, they're both well worth the read (or at least a bookmark for a later time).

The Ghost in Your DNA: Why You Feel Connected to Ancestors You’ve Never Met 
From GenealogyExplained, by Marc McDermott 

Walk with Your Ancestors: Peace, Light and Healing in an Abandoned Medieval Village
From DNAeXplained by Roberta Estes 

For those of us who discover we have a true passion for family history, the journey may take on a much deeper meaning. The past intricately intertwines and becomes a part of our present. Our ancestors whisper in our minds. We talk to them, and in turn, they walk with us, and in us, as we eagerly accept the responsibility of bringing them back to life, and ensuring they are not forgotten.

Image by akbaranifsolo from Pixabay

Facts Don't Always Fit

I've was recently researching a relative (by marriage) who passed away in just the last few years. He had a rather uncommon surname. Since he still has living children, for the sake of anonymity, I'm going to call him Jon Luke Long (not an uncommon name I know, but you get the idea). A quick Google search showed me in 2010, there were only an estimated 2,307 people with his actual surname in the entire United States...less than one in 100,000 people. One would think this would make working on hints easier....how likely would it be to have 2 people with the same name n the same area? Sure, there could be a father and son living in close proximity, but birth dates should help identify the proper person to attach hints to right? 

It's not a problem of having enough hints either. I had several, from various collections. The problem was them fitting into the narrative of known facts. My Jon Long was from northeastern Ohio. Initially, I found several hints appearing to be for a Jon Thomas Long (when I compared them with other records for the person). Clearly, with a middle name so distinctly different, I could easily ignore these hints as being the wrong name. 

But then there were the school yearbook hints. Sometimes, those are the only way to find a picture of someone in my tree, especially for more recent relatives. But they can also be hard to verify as being the right person. I know many people skip these records entirely, but I choose to use them where I can. I ignore those I'm confident are wrong, and I "maybe" any I'm not sure of. I had 7 different yearbook hints, from 2 different schools. And to make it harder, the schools were located several hours apart, and neither was in an already known location for this person. It's not unusual to have someone live in a different city than they attended school. As I've shared in the past, this applied to me personally 

With only a name of Jon Long shown in the yearbook hints, I had to figure out if they were my Jon Long, or not. In this case, the person in question had a more recent obituary. Thankfully, the family included some important genealogical information, including the high school he graduated from. Should make the search easier right? Not in this case. None of the hints were from the school listed in the obituary, and none were for a person who was graduating. The school mentioned in the obit was located in northeastern Ohio (fitting with other known facts). The hints I had were from central and western Ohio. But people move, and just because they didn't fit my currently known facts, didn't necessarily make them wrong. The challenge is not having much information on where this person lived during his earlier years. I know where he was born, died, and in this case graduated high school. But I don't have information for locations between birth and high school.

The photos of the persons from the 2 schools were also very different. It was clear, if (and it was a big if) either of the locations was correct, it was going to be one school or the other. In a few hints the name was simply shown as J Long. Jon? James? Jerry? Initials weren't going to help me. I started by looking at the locations for Jon Thomas Long, the person I knew was not my Jon Luke Long. I started checking the distances between cities this person lived in. Finally, I was able to identify one of the schools was only 40 minutes away from a known location for the "wrong" Jon. While not proof positive, it was enough for me to mark those yearbook hints as not likely being my Jon Long. The school in the remaining hint was more of a challenge, but ultimately, based on the photo of Jon in his obituary and comparison to the photo in the yearbook, I determined it was also unlikely to be my Jon Long. While I never found any yearbook photos from the known school listed in the obituary, I'm glad I could fairly reliably rule out the incorrect hints. 

Not every hint fits known facts and narratives. Sometimes, we can fairly easily rule hints out. Other times, we can't. But my personal feeling is it's better to leave something as an undecided "maybe" than trying to force it to fit. Eventually, another hint may come along to prove or disprove a previously undecided hint. And when I've nothing at all to compare a hint to? I do my best to skim all the available hints looking for any patterns. If I just don't have anything tangible, I'll usually skip working on the hint entirely until I find some new information. Just like a jigsaw puzzle, putting the wrong piece in a place it doesn't belong can make it harder to figure out the puzzle.

Image free for use under the Pixabay Content License. https://pixabay.com/photos/puzzle-last-particle-piece-654956/

Stuck in a Loop

When you hit a roadblock, sometimes the best thing is to set the person aside and come back (days, weeks, or even years later) to take a fresh look. Perhaps working on collateral lines will shed new light. Or, in the future, there may be new records to peruse. All of this is sensible and genealogists do this all the time. You can't force the records, they either exist or they don't, and you'll either find them, or you won't. Sometimes, the wheels are spinning but it's not getting us anywhere. 

So why am I finding it so hard to set aside the 25 people in my tree Ancestry's ProTools says I need some form of documentation for? They account for only 0.8% of my tree, so this isn't a big out of control issue. 15 of them I know only a surname or given name (but not both, making them harder to find). But 10 of them, I believe I have the given name and surname (and sometimes middle name or initial as well). Some are from far in the past, and some are quite recent. Recent is usually somewhat easier for me to locate (but not in this case). Why can't I let them go? 

I'm stuck in a loop. Just about every day, when I finish my "regular" research, I pop over and try to find something...anything for these people. Is ProTools Tree Checker a good motivator? Sure, it seems to be for me. It's now my personal mission to get to 0 people with no documentation. But is it a valuable use of my time? Probably not so much when I'm not making progress. Were perseverance alone enough, I'd be golden. But it's all about finding the records. And those records are eluding me. I'm spinning my wheels on the same searches, when my time would likely be better spent on researching other parts of my tree.

Is it possible I have incorrect names? It's totally possible! These are names mined from obituaries, death certificates, Social Security  and other records where there could certainly be spelling errors or where information was provided by an outside source who may have gotten it wrong. I can't be sure until I find a matching record, preferably more than one. If I'm spinning my wheels on bad data, I'll keep returning no results. I need to find a way to either set this personal goal aside (for now) or come up with a new (and more inventive way) of searching. It might be time to reassess my research goals, and set some new (perhaps smaller, more achievable) goals to help me break free of the loop. It doesn't mean I'll stop looking, but maybe not so frequently.

Letting go isn't easy! What do you do when you find yourself stuck in a genealogy loop? 

Image by Thorsten Dahl from Pixabay

Questions I Forgot to Ask

There are questions I forgot to ask while I still had the chance. This morning, I can't stop thinking about how my ancestors might have celebrated Easter, Christmas and other holidays. I have precious few relatives who might have heard the stories, and even fewer who might have participated. There's a gaping hole in my family knowledge I may never be able to fill.

I'm certain all sides of the family likely dressed their many children in their Sunday clothes (the ones with the fewest holes or less mended) and marched them off for Sunday service. But what did they do when they came home?

Candy was probably a luxury they couldn't afford. With chicken coops on the farms, and eggs being a needed commodity, did they hide eggs for the children? There was likely no extra money to hide coins or other treasures. Meals were hard enough to come by, and I know some of my ancestors ate rabbit regularly (the Easter Bunny surely wouldn't have stepped foot on the farms!) 

So what did they do? Was it just business as usual taking care of the many tasks associated with having big families? Were there any traditions they followed? Did they maybe visit a grandparent for a big meal? I don't have the chance to ask these questions now. If you're fortunate enough to still have family living, make a call or stop by and ask while you can. Take notes, and write the stories down, so they won't be lost on future generations.  

Image by Janet Meyer from Pixabay

Beyond ThruLines

Today, I stretched beyond Ancestry's ThruLines® and added a set of 6th great-grandparents to my tree! I was quite excited to "meet" Roger Gantlett and Sarah Ponting of Wiltshire, England. 

To be fair, I wsn't actually using ThruLines® on this branch of my tree. Wiltshire, England has parish records aplenty and it's been relatively easy navigating this line. But it was nice to verify Ancestry's predictions through my 5th great-grandparents on this line were correct. And even more exciting to stretch beyond them.

I'm always in awe as I scroll through the dutifully recorded events from more than 250 years ago. It amazes me to see the original writings, carefully scanned and preserved for future generations. Ink dark in some places, yet almost unreadable in others. Some entries clearly written, others not so much, as perhaps the scribe tired of penning the events of the day. I'm glad the records have been so well preserved, and they've been made available to me without crossing an ocean.

I still have much more to uncover. I know Roger and Sarah were married (by license) on October 13th, 1757, but I don't yet have confirmed birth and death dates. I know they had a daughter Sarah Hart Gantlett (my 5th great-grandmother), but I also see some of their other children, both baptized and buried, in the records. I need to work slowly and add as many as I can find. I'll set aside time to review this particular record carefully, likely going page by page. It's only 68 pages, and in the past, I've found it can be well worth the time to review the entirety of the parish ledger.

One document I saw showed Roger's signature. It put to rest the question of Gauntlett (as quite a lot of records show) or Gantlett (how he signed his name). A quick look shows me I'll likely be able to add the names of both of their parents, but I don't want to rush. I want to take time to "get to know" Roger and Sarah first. To hopefully find his occupation, see how many children they had and how many they lost. I like to reflect on how their lives were so different than ours.

I only have 5 of my 6th great-grandparents identified thus far. Not accounting for possible (ok, likely) pedigree collapse, I only have 251 more to go!

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Could Cherokee Be Back On the Table?

I'm still on the hunt for any clues to my 2nd great-grandfather, Abijah LeRoy. He's the reason I started researching...he's also one of my most stubborn brick walls. I've previously shared our family lore, what I know, and how (were it not for the proof of his children) he seemed to never exist. 

For some time, Ancestry's ThruLines has suggested his mother may have been named Dorcas (possibly Cherokee, but last name is totally unproven at this point) and his father John LeCroy (a spelling variation I'm used to trying). In fact, Abijah may have been named John. I'm not sure yet. However, poking through those DNA match trees didn't yield any definitive "Ah ha!" moments. I really thought Dorcas may have been wishful Cherokee thinking. The given name may be totally right, but that doesn't make her Cherokee. Recently, as algorithms update, so too did the information shown in ThruLines. I noticed John LeCroy had only 39 DNA matches, and Dorcas suddenly showed 54. Certainly, since DNA inheritance isn't exact, it's not surprising to see a small difference in matches, but 15? Looking further, it appeared Dorcas may have had another son, named Thomas LeCroy (this is where all those new DNA matches were). I went ahead and tentatively filled John, Dorcas and Thomas in my tree, even though I've yet to document to my satisfaction. That covered potential 3rd great-grandparents (even if they are a work in progress).

Given the sharp difference in DNA matches, I wondered if perhaps Thomas had a different father. For the time being, I've added an unknown LeCroy as his other parent. A few days after doing this, I noticed even more new potential ThruLines extending further back. The next suggested 4th great-grandparents are a Chulio Tuskingo (Cherokee) and Lucy Daul. This loosely backs up an entry from a book "Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom" by Tiya Miles. While the story compellingly mentions a John LeCroy, I've not yet found enough documentation to prove the account. I did find one property deed, using FamilySearch's full text search, but it alone is not enough. All my matches to this couple descend through Dorcas, making me wonder if this is a real connection or wishful thinking. And then came the "Cherokee is back on the table" moment...a potential 5th great-grandmother, Nionne Ollie Attakullakulla. Keeping in mind, I'm totally unsure of this trajectory, I've not added any more names to my tree beyond those I mentioned...but I have poked around in my DNA match trees, and my interest is piqued. 

I have 51 DNA matches to Nionne. 10 of those descend from Chulio (obviously still in question). But there are 8 other potential lines with 41 matches! I can easily understand how anyone looking for Abijah or Thomas might perpetuate incorrect information, but now I have 8 more other potential Native American ancestors. While I haven't had time to research any of these in detail, poking through trees shows a couple actually reference Dawes Roll entries. I clearly have a lot more research ahead! I do know for sure, I have some kind of DNA connection to a group of 51 people also looking into Cherokee ancestors, and 41 of them are not through Abijah, Thomas, Dorcas or Chulio. I see a glimmer of possibility!

Could we all be wrong? Certainly! We are talking about the early 1700's for this potential 5th great-grandmother. There will be few if any records. It will not be easy to research. And the Cherokee family story is a common one. But could all these people researching different ancestors be wrong? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps I dismissed the Cherokee possibility too soon. Maybe my 1st cousins and I who've tested simply didn't inherit the DNA. But unquestionably, we have DNA matches to 51 other people also looking into Native American heritage. I need to begin the search into each of them to see if there's a true trail of records, or if debunking the family story will be my own personal trail of tears.

Balancing Life, Health, Work and Family Through the Generations

This past year brought unexpected challenges to my life. Lately, I've been reflecting on my ancestors and how they balanced life, health, work and family...the same challenges we each face today. How did they manage in a world where medical and techonogical advances (we often take for granted) simply didn't exist? How did they have the fortitude to survive...and even thrive?

I've wondered if they ever felt angry or frustrated as they navigated the ups and downs of life. How did so many of the early generations find the courage to leave their home country (or state) and set off in search of a new and hopefully better life? If they'd known the challenges their lives would be filled with, would they have made different choices? Or were they happy with how their lives turned out, perhaps counting their blesssing every time they saw another sunrise? My father used to say "any day you're looking down at the ground, instead of up, is a good day." 

The lives of my ancestors help me find balance in my own life. Researching them provides a sense of fulfillment, and it reminds me to be thankful for all I have. Though I've had to scale back in the recent months, I'd be devastated if I couldn't continue my genealogical journey. I'm very thankful for all the people and websites who make researching from home possible. As genealogists and family researchers, we're so fortunate to have access to so many repositories of information. It's hard to imagine how much data is sill uncataloged, patiently waiting to be revealed to us, little by little in the years to come!

This past year, Ancestry tells me I added 579 people to my tree,  All but 25 people in my tree have some kind of record attached. I reviewed thousands of hints in 2024. I was thrilled to satisfactorily confirm several new direct ancestors. And Ancestry's ThruLines even turned up a tantalizing breadcrumb...a potential sibling or half-sibling, in my search for Abijah, the ancestor who started my journey. I was also excited to see (on 23andMe) I now have 10 confirmed ancient DNA matches, all to the Viking era. 

As we approach the end of 2024, and look forward to 2025, I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. While we come from all different corners of the world, the genealogy community feels like a big extended family. I'm thankful genealogy is a part of my life. Happy Re searching!!

Image by No-longer-here from Pixabay

Share Your Journey This Independence Day

I wish everyone a very Happy 4th of July! 

On this day when many are gathering with family and friends to celebrate the holiday, take time to share about your genealogy journey. Yes, yes, I know - some eyes may glaze over as you speak, but don't give up! Talk to the children and regale them with interesting stories you've discovered. Show them pictures from times gone by. Listen, so the older generations might share their stories with you. Record them if possible or take notes so you can write their recollections down for future generations. One day, you'll be very glad you did. Share new discoveries with your elders. They may be thrilled to hear the stories. And, it may spark memories you've never heard before.

This is a day to celebrate our country, our independence and most of all, our family journeys. Many of us have traced far enough back in our lines to discover ancestors who fought for independence. We owe these ancestors a great debt of gratitude. Other families immigrated to a this country later, leaving all they knew behind. It doesn't matter from where your ancestors came, or when they came, today we celebrate together!

Remember all those who've bravely served their country. If possible, thank them for their service. For those no longer with us, say a silent thank you to honor their memory and the sacrifices made to ensure the independence we enjoy today.

Today is a day to be grateful for all who came before. It's a day to be thankful for all the resources available so we can uncover and discover our ancestors. Today, I'm deeply thankful I embarked on my genealogy journey and for all the wonderful discoveries I've made (and have yet to make). Happy Independence Day!

Image by free stock photos from www.picjumbo.com from Pixabay