Heartland Genealogy

Do you have 'floating' or 'orphan' trees in your Ancestry tree? I know that I do have 'floaters' in my tree. I recently watched a Genealogy TV video by Constance Knox on how to make connections to link some of those 'floaters' to my big tree. Today, I decided to get this set up for some of the members of my Crawford FAN Club: Nathan Sellers James Crawford (wife Elizabeth Vansant) Alexander Crawford (wife Mary McPheeters) James Crawford (wife Rebecca Anderson) James Crawford (wife Rebecca McPheeters) James Crawford (wife Martha Knight) Alexander Moore (wife Mary Crawford) Alexander Duggins (wife Sally Smith -- who married James Crawford) John Anderson (father of Rebecca Anderson Crawford) Bazeleel Maxwell (brother-in-law of James Crawford/Rebecca Anderson) Alexander Crawford (wife Margaret McElwee) Absalom Adams (grandfather of Margaret McElwee) James Crawford (wife Sally Duggins) -- MY ANCESTOR Edward Crawford - yDNA co...

Do you ever feel like you've figured out a new way to cluster matches and then realize that those clusters you thought you had found included matches from distinctly separate areas of your tree? Well, that was my experience when I expanded my mountain/valley analysis of my Crawford line. As explained in my DNA Clusters: Mountains and Valleys post, I had a 'missing mountain' for the parents of Nelson G. Crawford in my original diagram.

Have you ever tried to figure out who is who in a community when there are multiple people of the same name? Well, that's where I am with the Garrard County tax records from 1797-1806. I have four Crawford families that potentially live in Garrard County during that time period. James Crawford husband of Rebecca Anderson who purchased land from Thomas Kennedy. James ' sons were Isaac (?-?), William (1784-1864) and James (1790-1856) William Crawford who claimed to have purchased land from J Kennedy. His sons would not have been old enough to be listed on the tax lists while William Crawford was living in Garrard County.  James Crawford who married Martha Knight in 1793 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. James is thought to be the son of Rebecca Crawford . Rebecca purchased land from George Douglas. James Crawford who married Sally Duggins in 1799 in Garrard County, Kentucky. James is thought to be the son of Mary Crawford who married Alexander Moore.

Last week, I watched the " Watch Geoff Live: DNA " webinar on Legacy Family TreeWebinars. While watching, I followed along by looking at my autosomal DNA results on Ancestry. I had my DNA tested last summer and had studied some of the results but hadn't found the help with 'brick walls' that I had hoped for. One of the brick walls I've been working on is my James Crawford line. My James Crawford died in Preble County Ohio in 1854. He married Sally Duggins in Garrard County Kentucky in 1799. Sally had previously been married to Alexander Duggins by whom she had two sons: William and Henry. Henry Duggins was married to Jane Sellers, daughter of Nathan Sellers. Nathan A. Sellers was a neighbor of my James Crawford and died in Preble County Ohio in 1824. In early Preble County Ohio, there was a second James Crawford who owned land adjoining my James Crawford. This James Crawford married Martha Knight in 1793 in Lincoln County Kentucky. It is believed that two of...

One of my genealogical challenges is identifying the parents and siblings of my ancestor, James Crawford. James marries Sally Duggins in Garrard County, Kentucky in 1799. By 1810, the couple is living in Preble County Ohio. I've already done some cluster research to try and make headway on this line. In the process, I've identified quite a few potential members of a cluster. In trying to figure out how to track my research, I created a spreadsheet to show where these people were at various times. The above spreadsheet provides a visual of what I currently know. Now the struggle is to create a research plan and figure out how best to track this research. Cluster Surnames Crawford, Duggins, Smith, Knight, Neal, Finley Time Period 1770 to 1850   Locations Preble County Ohio pre-1800 Kentucky