Week 2: DNA & The Lawson's - James Franklin Lawson & Lucinda Honey (3rd Great Grandparents) - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Lucinda Honey, my 3rd great grandmother, was born on 16 Jul 1877 in Russell County, Kentucky, a daughter of James and Nancy (Brown) Honey. 

She gave birth to my 2nd great grandfather on 11 May, 1895, when she was 17 years old. 

Lucinda and her son are found on the 1900 census, living with her father and a few of her siblings. She is listed under her maiden name - Honey - as was her son. She was also listed as single. 

This child, William Lee, lived his life with the last name of Brumley. Lucinda was married to William Sherman Brumley in 1901. The family had assumed that William Sherman Brumley was the father of William Lee Brumley.

When I first started doing genealogy, I accepted everyone else's assumptions. But as my genealogical skills grew more, and I started following the Genealogical Proof Standard, something just didn't add up, and I had my suspicions about if William Sherman Brumley was really William Lee Brumley's father. 

As stated before, Lucinda was living with her father and her son in the 1900 census. They were living in Mullentown, Wayne County, Kentucky. Note she was listed as single. Now, at this point Lucinda had already had three children - my 2nd great grandfather, a daughter Nora in 1896, and a son, John, in January 1900. All three are listed as Honey's in this 1900 census.

So where was William Sherman Brumley living in 1900? He was living in Rowena, Russell County, Kentucky, with his mother. He is also listed as single. 

As I was following the Genealogical Proof Standard, a few questions arose. 

• Why weren't William and Lucinda living together, and why were they both listed as single?
• Why did they get married in 1901?
• Why did the children have their mother's last name and not Brumley?

So, this is where DNA testing comes in, and it proved my theory. 

I had my grandfather - John Edward Brumley - take an AncestryDNA test. I was hoping for some clues to prove if William Sherman Brumley was his real great grandfather. Only one problem, though. AncestryDNA does autosomal testing, which tests ALL lines in one's ancestry. And, this wouldn't have been a problem, if his tree didn't twist. The problem is that William Sherman Brumley is related to my grandfather on another branch of his tree, which means the Brumley's would still show up in my grandfather's DNA results, even if a Brumley wasn't his great grandfather (William Sherman Brumley was one of my grandfather's great-great-grandmother's brothers.)

I had him take the test anyway, and here were the results.

As I went through his cousin matches, I noticed something that wasn't quite right. He had 6 2nd  cousins who came up (second cousins means they share a common great-grandparent), and I could not identify how any of these 6 2nd cousins were related to my grandfather. They all had good trees with good information in it. But, I noticed something. They were all descendants of this Lawson family that lived in the same county as Lucinda's family did. Further digging into my grandfather's DNA results proved that he had almost 100 matches to this same Lawson family - that's a LOT!

My grandfather's closest match was a great-granddaughter of a man named James Franklin Lawson. Keep him in mind.

I went back to Lucinda's 1900 census. And I found something that stopped me dead in my tracks. James Lawson is living just a few doors down from Lucinda! The evidence is just flying in my face at this point!

1900 Census - Highlighted is Lucinda and William (Brumley) Honey - and Jim (James) Lawson, who lives three households down.

Now I'm getting suspicions. I of course  draw up a hypothesis that William Lee Brumley's father is a Lawson. But that wasn't enough evidence for me, and I had to take it a step further to prove it.

So, as a genealogist who needs clear-cut evidence, I took it a step further and got my grandfather a Y-DNA test. Since my grandfather is a direct-male descendant of the person in question, having him take a Y-DNA test - which only traces your father's father's father's (etc.) line. Meaning, if his results come back with a lot of people with the same surname, it means he is a descendant of that family. So what were the results?



And there we have it. Almost all of my grandfather's Y-DNA matches were Lawsons! And, they were descendants of this same Lawson family that moved into Kentucky from Tennessee. I knew my hunch about William Lee's parents were right!

So, what does this prove? Well, it proves my grandfather's great-grandfather was a Lawson that lived in the Wayne-Russell County, Kentucky area. However, it does not prove that James Franklin Lawson his his real great grandfather. I believe he is because of the closest AncestryDNA match being his great granddaughter.

So who was James Franklin Lawson? He was born on 28 Jul 1864 in Clinton County, Kentucky, a son of Andrew Jackson Lawson and Sarah Jane Brown. He was single when he encountered Lucinda. He was not married until 1896. He went on to have 8 children with his wife, and Lucinda went on to have seven more children with William Sherman Brumley.

I wonder if James knew he fathered William? The two were unwed and maybe their families disapproved of their relationship. Or, was their a darker side the story? We may never know, but what we do know - almost positively - is that William Lee Brumley's father ISN'T William Sherman Brumley, and IS a LAWSON who lived in the Wayne-Russell-Clinton County areas of Kentucky.

Week 1: Philip Randolph McCool & Sarah Frances Tanner (3rd Great Grandparents) - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Let's start off our continuation of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge with my 3rd great grandparents, Philip Randolph McCool and Sarah Frances Tanner.

Philip McCool was born in March of 1858 in Belfast, Marshall County, Tennessee to John A McCool and Mary Ann Luna. He married Sarah Frances Tanner, the daughter of Moses Tanner and Mary Wiley, on 13 August, 1884 in Marshall County, Tennessee.

Sarah was born on 30 May, 1867 in Maury County, Tennessee. She was the 13th of 20 children (yes, 20!) born to her father, and the 5th of 12 children born to her mother.

Philip and Sarah's Marriage Record - 1884 - Marshall County, Tennessee

Philip and Sarah's marriage was not long lived. They divorced sometime around 1892 (it's unknown whether this was formal or informal), and after their marriage, Sarah reverted back to using her maiden name in records - Tanner.

Sarah and Philip had three children:

1. Maud Belle McCool (1885-1958)
2. Nora Lillian McCool (1889-1964) - She is my 2nd great grandmother.
3. Cora Jane McCool (1890-1942)

Sarah did not re-marry after their divorce, and she died on 30 October, 1918 in Lane, Dyer County, Tennessee, aged 51.

Philip, however, was married at least three more times. His next marriage was in 1892 to M. J. Caughran. That marriage lasted 2 years, and he was then married to Bettie Russell in 1894. Philip and Bettie had a daughter, Eulala McCool (1899-1944). In the 1900 census, Philip is listed as a widower and was not living with his daughter, which probably meant that Philip and Bettie's marriage was terminated sometime before 1900. He was not married again until 1906, when he married Annie Harrison.

On 31 August, 1909, in Belfast, Marshall County, Tennessee, Philip died, at age 51. Either Philip or Sarah's tombstone has been located, and it is believed they were buried without one.

Philip McCool's 1909 Death Certificate

Stay tuned for next week, where I will be talking about the family of James Lawson and Lucinda Honey - which is a little more tangled up than this family!

Thank you for reading!

My 2016 Genealogy Goals

We're a week into 2016, and a lot of people have set their New Year's resolutions. As a genealogist, my New Year's resolutions consisted mostly of things genealogically related, and I'd like to share them here.

• I would like to resume my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog posts. Instead of focusing on one ancestor per week, I want to focus on one family per week.
• Do more volunteering - specifically more record indexing with the WAP (World Archives Project) and with FamilySearch.
• Engage in more genealogy education (other than watching videos). Specifically reading more genealogy books.
• Be more involved with my DNA matches - specifically contacting those without trees, and being more available to help those who are adopted.

And, my main goal for 2016:

• Attend my first genealogy conference - Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference - which will be held in Springfield, Illinois (2 hours from my home) August 31 - September 3rd.

Here's to all the new ancestors I will be learning about in 2016!

Ancestor Insight: John Burton Stewart

This week's Ancestor Insight might seem a little bare-boned. I really don't know too much other than the bare birth, marriage and death facts on my great grandmother Frances' Tennessee family. I will try to add a little context and try to create a story line. Well, here it goes:

John Burton Stewart was my 3^rd great grandfather. He was born on 8 September, 1854 in McNairy County, Tennessee to Fleetwood and Sarah Ann Stewart. John was raised in McNairy and Hardin Counties, Tennessee. Like many people of that time and place, John was a farmer.

Hester Ann Barnett, daughter of Jesse and Lethe Barnett, became his wife in 1876. He and Hester had eight children: Samuel, Martha, James, Lenora, Virgil, Hallie, Winnie and Jessie – some of the children were born in McNairy County, others in Obion County, and one in Dyer County, Tennessee.

In 1918 John became a widower, and John died on December 4, 1927 in Ridgely, Tennessee, aged 73. We have not been able to find a tombstone for John, and it's likely he's buried among the unmarked graves of the rural Tennessee cemeteries.

Published: 16 January 2015

My E-Mail: tylerjamesmccane@gmail.com

Next Week: Hester Ann Barnett Stewart, 3^rd Great Grandmother

Last Week: Mariah Elizabeth Southard

Ancestor Insight: Mariah Elizabeth Southard Couch Reed

Hi again! Welcome to another Ancestor Insight! Today I will be writing about my 3^rd great grandmother, Mariah Elizabeth Southard Couch Reed of Hopkins County, Kentucky.

Born to Fielding Grandison Southard and Margaret E Wheatley on December 25, 1864 in Hopkins County, Kentucky, was my 3^rd great grandmother, Miss Mariah Elizabeth Southard.

Mariah grew up on a farm in Hopkins County; Southard being a prominent name in that county. Her grandfather, Fielding Southard, came to that place from Madison County, Virginia. Mariah had six siblings: Martha, Malissa, William, Thomas, Charlotte and Joseph.

Hopkins County, Kentucky Map

On September 25, 1883, she was married to William Allen Couch, son of John and Alcy George Couch. Mariah was 18 and 9 months old. They had their first child, Vernia Hester Couch, in December of 1884. She then had 7 more children – 6 of them dying before adulthood.

William and Mariah separated sometime around late 1899-early 1900. We may never know why they separated, buy by 1902, Mariah was married to James Buchanan Reed. James and Mariah had two children – Jerome and Buchanan.

Mariah and children on the 1900 Hopkins County Census, living with an aunt-in-law

Mariah died at the age of 68 on January 6, 1933 in Hopkins County. Here is the obituary that ran in The Daily Messenger in Madisonville, Kentucky on January 6th:

“Mrs. Mariah Reed, 68, widow, Carbondale section, died at her home at 8 o'clock this morning of influenza-pnumonia, following nine day illness.

Funeral services will be conducted at the residence at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon and burial will be in Cane Run cemetery at Carbondale.

She is survived by four children, Buck and Jerome Reed, Carbondale; Mrs. Henry McCain, Missouri, and Mrs. Tommy Osburn, Grapevine section; brother, Tommy Southard, Carbondale; and a sister, Mrs. Lottie Ausenbaugh, also of Carbondale section.”

Mariah was buried at the Cane Run Cemetery near Madisonville. Unfortunately, the cemetery is very badly kept, and we are unable to find a tombstone. But the memory of Mariah Elizabeth Southard Couch Reed will remain and live in the hearts of her descendants.

Published: 12 January 2015

My E-Mail: tylerjamesmccane@gmail.com

Next Week: John Burton Stewart, 3^rd Great Grandfather

Last Week: William Allen Couch

Ancestor Insight: William Allen Couch (1864-1942)

WILLIAM ALLEN COUCH, 3RD GREAT GRANDFATHER

William Allen Couch (known as “Mel” by his family members), was my 3^rd great grandfather. He was born in the backwoods of Gilmer County, Georgia to John W Couch and Alcy “Elsie” Matilda George. At about age 5, he, his parents, siblings, and a grandmother moved to Wilson County, Tennessee. Though, they didn't reside their long, for by 1880 the family is living in Kitchen township, Hopkins County, Kentucky.

William with his parents and grandmother on the 1870 US Census in Wilson County, Tennessee
SOURCE: Ancestry.com; Year: 1870; Census Place: District 22, Wilson,Tennessee; Roll: M593_1572; Page: 637B; Image: 607; Family History Library Film: 553071.

On September 25, 1883 he was married to Miss Mariah Elizabeth Southard, a daughter of Fielding Gradison Southard and Margaret Wheatley. The Southard's were prominent citizens in that county.

We know of only two children born to William and Mariah; Vernia and Gertrude. Vernia is my great great grandmother was was born sometime around December of 1884. Gertrude was born in November 1899. Quite a gap between children.

By 1900, William and Mariah are no longer together. They divorced (whether formally or informally), and Mariah is living with William's aunt, Sarah Couch Buchanan. Mariah is listed as having bore 8 children, only 2 of which are living, which could be an explanation to why there is such a large year gap between the births of Vernia and Gertrude.

In 1902, Mariah was re-married and had two children. What happened to William? On April 1, 1901, he was married to Susie Buchanan. They had six children. Around 1910, William and the family moved to Stoddard County, Missouri, and lived in that area for the rest of their lives.

William Allen was married a third time in 1927 to Fannie Buchanan (he liked the Buchanan family, didn't he?) And by 1940 was married a fourth time to a woman by the name of Viana. William was married at least four times, and could have had at least 14 children, 6 of them not making it to adult hood.

Now, there is another mystery to how many children William was the father to. In the 1898 Hopkins County School Census, William is listed as being the parent or guardian of Bige Harris, who was born on 8 Sep 1880, and was listed as a father to Vernia H. Couch (my g-great-grandmother). Was Bige Harris another child of William?

I can't say for certain. In the 1900 census, Bige Harris is working on the farm of R. F. Smith in Hopkins County, so I don't get any context to who his family his. He was born after the 1880 census was taken, so I probably won't find him in any census' with his family.

My 3^rd great grandfather died on July 2, 1942 in Parma, New Madrid County, Missouri, aged 77. He's buried at the Parma Cemetery in Parma township.

INTERESTING LINKS:

William's Find-A-Grave Memorial Page

***

Published: 9 January 2015

My E-Mail: tylerjamesmccane@gmail.com

Next Week: Mariah Elizabeth Southard, 3^rd Great Grandmother

Last Week: Eliza Jane Knight McCain, 3rdGreat Grandmother

Ancestor Insight: Eliza "Liza" Jane (Knight) McCain

LIZA JANE KNIGHT MCCAIN, 3RD GREAT GRANDMOTHER

Eliza Jane (Knight) McCain was born on April 15, 1867 in Smithland, Livingston, Kentucky, and a daughter of James and Nancy Jane (Rail) Knight.

In about 1880, she removed with her family from the Kentucky home to Charleston, Mississippi, Missouri. It was at that place on June 24, 1882, that she was married to Levi M. McCain, son of Jacob and Arminty (Kitts) McCain, natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively.

At the time of her marriage, Eliza Jane was 15 years, 2 months, and nine days old. Her new husband was just two months over 30. Being so young, and the law's legal age of women to marry being 18, Eliza needed her father's permission. James granted permission, signing Eliza and Levi's marriage certificate, "James Knight, the father of the said Eliza Knight, has given his assent to said marriage.

Mrs. Eliza McCain was widowed on April 4, 1923, aged 55. Her husband died at the age of 70 of pneumonia. He was buried on the fifth in Bernie Cemetery. Throughout their marriage, they had five children: William Henry; Julie Frances; Cora Elizabeth, who died in California three months after Levi's death; John Wesley, who died in 1994, aged 101; and Pearl M.

Eliza McCain's Missouri Death Certificate

Eliza Jane Knight McCain breathed her last on December 7, 1948 in Como township, New Madrid county, Missouri, aged 81 years, 7 months, and 22 days. She was buried at Bernie Cemetery on December 9th. The cause of her demise was cerebral hemorrhage.

Eliza had eight siblings: Serena, Richard, John, Martha, James, Henry, William and Isaac.

INTERESTING LINKS:

Levi McCain's Biography

Eliza & Levi's Find A Grave Memorial

Published: January 5, 2015

My E-Mail: tylerjamesmccane@gmail.com


Next Week: William Allen Couch, 3^rd Great Grandfather

Last Week: Levi M McCain, 3rd Great Grandfather