Connecting with Descendants of the People in Your Ancestors' Neighborhood

 The folks on Sesame Street have been teaching the importance of the people in your neighborhood for years. There is even a meme circulating on many of the social media platforms that reminds us that we can "never forget the neighborhood kids or the great times we had."  Where am I going with this?  I want to offer a bit of advice that has helped me in my research and enriched my knowledge of my family.  If you are not in contact with the descendants of folks who were the neighbors of your parents & grandparents, you should be.  You both have stories and in many cases pictures of each other's family.  Have old family pictures of people you don't know?  They may be able to help you figure out the identity of those folks.

About 6 years back I contacted the descendant of one of my grandparents neighbors.  It's been great to share stories that were handed down about the people in the neighborhood and their interactions.  Earlier this week she brought me old photos that she'd inherited--some pictures of my folks and others within that neighborhood.  I've spent  the better part of this week scanning and adding them to my Old Hickory, TN--Dupont tree at Ancestry.  Thankfully the majority of the people in the pictures are identified.  This was a true blessing for me and my family and I hope that once I get the pictures uploaded others with family there can experience that same joy.

Family history research is more than just names, dates and begets, It's pictures and documents which, when analyzed and pieced together weave the stories of the lives of our ancestors. 

Lemuel's FAN club

As a researcher you should be familiar with Cluster Genealogy as a method for finding out more about your ancestors.  You may also be familiar with the term Fan Club or Fan Club principle which was coined by Elizabeth Shown Mills to describe the group of individuals who were Family, Associates, and Neighbors of  an ancestor.  By examining the relationship of these persons to your ancestor,  you will gain a better insight into their lives and find more of their paper trail.  If you aren't familiar with this term please check out Mill's Historic Pathways site for more information on her excellent articles, books,  and presentations.

FAN club from Lemuel Manier's Probate Packet

1. Susan E A. Manier (widow)
2. John W. Manier(son)
3. Stephen J. Manier(son)
4. Eliza J. Manier King(daughter)
5. Wm. B King(son-in-law)
6. Minerva O. or A Hays(daughter--Widow of Robert Ralston)
7. Ann Manier Floyd(daughter)
8. John H. Floyd(son-in-law)
9. Lemuel Manier(son)
10. Leanne Manier Hill(daughter)
11. William T. Hill(son-in-law)
12. David C Manier(son)
13. Anna W Manier(daughter)
14. Amasa Manier(son)
15. Drury Bennet(neighboring land owner married to Elizabeth Manier)
16. James Carson(neighboring land owner)
17. John Loney?(neighboring land owner)
18. Wm. R. Nunn(neighboring land owner)
19. Wm McKay(sold Lemuel land in R'ford Co Tn 16 Jan 1835)
20. Solomon(negro)
21. Mary(negro)
22. Harriet(negro --child of Mary)
23. Edmond(negro)
24. Hardy(negro)
25. Balam(negro)
26. Chelsey William(executor)
27. James D. Gillespie(witness)
28. Christopher M Brooks(witness)
29. Noah Scales(witness)
30. Thomas Bullock(Deputy Court Clk)
31. R. D. Morrison(witness)
32. J P Calhoun(witness)
33. John Bittle(witness)
34. Robert Taylor(witness)
35. R.C. Owen(witness)
36. Stephen Bennett(witness)
37. W.W. Floyd(witness)
38. James T. Shurman(witness)
39. Jacob(negro)
40. Andy(negro)
41. George(negro)
42. James A. Hayes(son-in-law---2nd husband & eventually ex  husband of Minerva)
43. Permelia Russell(widow of Daniel Russell)
44. Daniel Russell(deceased trustee for Minerva)
45. James S. Hamlett(Sheriff)
46. William Ralston(son of Minerva who is her trustee)
47. Wm S Fleming(Chancellor of Court 1874)

From the information in the Probate Pkt of 

David Lemuel Manier(Manire) 1792-1837  Williamson Co. TN

Image 2867-2984 of 2992

Source Citation

Probate, Divorce and Original Wills Records, 1800-1899; Author: Tennessee County Court (Williamson County); Probate Place: Williamson, Tennessee

Source Information

Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Original data: Tennessee County, District and Probate Courts.

New Ancestor Discovery--most promising one so far

I had some New Ancestor Discoveries that showed up this past week on my AncestryDNA test.  The New Ancestor Discovery feature is still in Beta and I haven't really found it to be useful. These were a Shipman and McFadin couple and the father of the Shipman.  I have marked the New Ancestry Discoveries with an M if they are ones which also appear on my Mom's AncestryDNA test. They others and the new ones I have marked with a P(for Paternal) to note they are not ones I share with my Mother.

On first glance this doesn't really give much hope as this couple was born in the mid 1800s.  My Grandparents were born in the 1880s & 1890s.  and I have most of the direct lines back to my 4th great grandparents with the exception of my Cook(e) line which I only have proven to the 2nd Great Grandfather who was said to be born in NC in 1811.  Upon further examination of the couple I could see that they had people in early Bedford Co TN which is where my Dad's ancestors were early on in Tennessee's history.  It looks like the Shipmans were all listed as Chisums in the 1830 of Bedford Co TN.  Do not know why but see them in tax listings as Shipmans all other yrs.  Near them are Landers, Walker, and Turner families.  I should also mention that there are Shofners also on the same page.  I mention this because I have noticed matches with descendants of Martin Shofner.  There are also some Prince families on the next page(My Prince line married into the Putman line and was from Union Co SC).  I looked at the wife(Sarah Samantha McFadin) and worked her lines back to her grandparents. Bingo.....Her Paternal Grandmother is a Sally Brandon and a sister to my Nancy Brandon who married John King(they are my 4th Great Grandparents).  This may or may not be the connection but it possible.  The parents of Sally and Nancy are Charles Brandon.......and possibly Sarah Cook which further complicates this as she could be from my Cook line. This is a great argument for friends associates and neighbors research as well as cluster genealogy.  Families traveled together.  In colonial times and even up to the turn of the 20th century ...many people traveled in groups.   Families that had intermarried ...usually of the same faith as well.  Another cool thing about this New Ancestor Discovery is that in the grouping of what can best be described as the precursor to the Ancestry Circle(which groups together matches who have common ancestors with you in their tree) was that there was a group with which I share a rather large segment.  What's next...I will be looking more for more available records in Bedford Co. TN and the other areas in which the Brandon, Shofner, Landers  and Shipman families lived.  Hope to have more information to blog about from that.