Progress and several discoveries

In previous posts I have written about some goals I've set to help with identifying connections within my list of DNA matches.  I use Google Calendar to keep me on track with reminders and scheduling each of the different surname groupings.  This past week was the Frizzell / Manley weekend.  Identifying descendants of my 2nd Great Grandparents helped me to become familiar with the names of the families into which they married.  I took the opportunity to write to the members of the circles of Nathan Frizzell & Reubin Manley at Ancestry and asked them to consider uploading to GEDmatch.  I was able to identify one of my larger segment matches from FTDNA as coming from the Manley line simply because I had been working with the descendants and remembered some of the surnames.  I checked and sure enough back a few more generations there was the connection.

In my searches I ran across an account of a Manley family that along with their neighbors the Crawleys was attacked by Indians.  The Crawleys were at the Manley's as the families hoped there was strength in numbers.  It was about 6 weeks after another attack by Indians further south and they felt this would be best for added protection.  The men folk--- Jesse Manley and John Crawley--- were away with one of Crawley's older sons when the attack  happened(in Humphrey Co along the Duck River)  I have descendants of  Elizabeth Manley(b. 1799) who are sharing matching segments with me and my sister thru our paternal portion of DNA(My Mom has tested so I have made phased kits of paternal DNA for my sister and myself)  When looking at some research on her it is noted that her family was killed by indians while she was away and following that was raised by James Montgomery.   That made me wonder if  her Manley is the same ones that were attacked in Humphrey's County.  She would have been around 13 when those attacks occurred.  If that isn't her family it is likely a cousin given that the area was still very much a new frontier despite having been a state for 16 yrs.  There are several accounts one from Tennessee Times Extra newspaper says it happened May 22,1812 while another says May 17th.   There are numerous accounts online if you get the time to read you might GOOGLE the names and Indian attack.  Mrs. Manley died from her wounds and Mrs Crawley was taken prisoner for a time by the Creek Indians. Mr. Manley and Mr Crawley served under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812.  Something that surprised me ...I also found information on the incident at a Geocaching webpage and The Blog of 1812.  The Goodspeed History for Humphrey Co. TN.   lists the year as 1814 and mentions the place as that of a Johnson family.  It says that Mrs Cauley was there and taken prisoner by the Indian and doesn't say much about the Manleys other than saying Mrs. Manly died from her wounds later.  Charleston newspaper The Times Thur Evening June 18th 1812 edition reprinted the article from the Tennessee Times Extra. This would lead me to believe that the year was in fact 1812.  No mention of the Johnsons in the newspaper articles only in the Goodspeed History for Humphreys Co. TN.

Focusing on Identifying higher cMs matching segments

I use GenomeMate Pro to help me keep track of my DNA matches and map my chromosomes.  Typically I import matches that are 7 centimorgans or more.  That can make for an overwhelming amount of matches especially given that most my paternal and maternal lines were in colonial America.  In GenomeMate Pro you can set preferences so that only matches over a certain amount will show while you are working them..and you can adjust this at any time.  I did have mine set at 12 cMs but still I was looking at an awful large amount of matches.  I've decided to set the option at 20 cms and work those and gradually lower the cM amount.  I started using this process yesterday and have identified 2 larger segment matches already.  Hopefully I'll have continued success using this strategy.  You can try this too if you are working your matches using GenomeMate Pro but you may need to make adjustments depending on how many matches and the avg cMs.  Twenty cMs just seems to work the best for me for now.

DNA To-Do List....the short version

• 2GCsof2GPs project
• Working the AncestryDNA circles
• Focusing on Identifying the larger matches

Researching Confederate Records of the Civil War.

If you have family who was in the United States during the Civil War Period(1861-1865) you need to at least find out if they served on either side.  Even if you do not have a direct line who served you may be able to find out more about your lines by researching a sibling of your direct line who did serve.  With southern research finding pension records may be the only way which you will find some of your ancestors maiden names and date of birth or date of death recorded.  During the war between the states many courthouses were burned and/or records destroyed.  Confederate Soldiers Pension applications were handled on a state level and were filed in the state of residence at the time of application.  While your ancestor may have enlisted and fought in an AL unit however, if he was living in the state of Texas when that state began processing confederate pension applications then his application will be found in Texas states records. There is not ONE exact date in which all states board of pension began processing the applications.  The dates and eligibility requirements varied from state to state.   NARA's Confederate Pension Applications site.  has more info on that.  The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia had pension boards which processed these Confederate Pension Applications.

The Confederate Soldier's Pension Applications tend to contain information about the soldiers unit:

• When and where he enlisted
• Did he sustain any injuries?
• Was he injured during service?
• Family size & dependents
• His means of support

If he preceded his wife in death, be sure to check to see if she applied for a Widow's pension. Widow's pension files normally contain copies of information pertaining to the marriage of the soldier.  You may find a copy of their marriage certificate or sworn statements from person(s) who witnessed their marriage.   To get an idea of what can be found you might want to check out my confederate pensions page which contains information abstracted from some of the Confederate Pension Applications of persons who are in my family(direct or indirect) or who lived in the same area as my direct lines.

FamilySearch has a great deal of Confederate info scanned and on line.  Most of it is not indexed.
Below is a list of what I have noticed was available.  Mainly Pension Applications and POW/Prison records from the different Civil War camps that housed captured Confederates.  While there is no index for the Pension Applications many of the southern states who paid out Confederate pensions have an index online and you can consult the index and then find the application by navigating to the appropriate section and number at the FamilySearch site.

To find the Confederate Pension Applications you will need to look for the applicants state of residence. You can find the US Military  files that are available at this part of FamilySearch
Be aware that this will include files from any of the wars that are available thru FamilySearch.  To narrow it down to confederate records you will need to use CONFEDERATE  as your search term in the Filter By Collection section located in the upper left panel of the page.


United States Records of Confederate Prisoners of War 1861-1865
Below is a basic outline of what is available at the above link at FamilySearch

• AIDE: Index to Volumes
• AK, Little Rock, Military Prison
• DC, Washington, Old Capitol Prison
• DE, Ft. Delaware, Military Prison
• Department of Missouri
• Department of the Gulf
• Department of the Ohio
• District of West Tennessee, Provost Marshal's Office
• Division of West Mississippi
• IL, Alton, Military Prison
• IL, Camp Butler, Military Prison
• IL, Camp Douglas, Military Prison
• IL, Rock Island Barracks, Military Prison
• IN, Camp Morton, Military Prison
• KY, Louisville, Military Prison
• LA, New Orleans
• MA, Ft. Warren, Military Prison
• MD, Ft. McHenry, Military Prison
• MD, Point Lookout, Military Prison
• MO, St. Louis, Gratiot & Myrtle Streets Prisons
• MS, Ship Island
• NY, Elmira, Military Prison
• NY, Ft. Columbus, Military Prison
• NY, Ft. Lafayette, Military Prison
• NY, Hart Island, Prison Camp
• OH, Camp Chase, Military Prison
• OH, Cincinnati, McLean Barracks
• OH, Johnson's Island, Military Prison
• SC, Hilton Head, Prison Camp
• TN, Knoxville
• TN, Memphis, Military Prison
• TN, Nashville, Department of the Cumberland
• VA, Bowling Green, Provost Marshal's Office
• VA, Newport News, Military Prison
• VA, Richmond

Records Relating to All Prisoners

• Applications for release & decisions, 1863-1865, v. 7-9
• Confederate prisoners and deserters released, 1861-1865, v. 10-13
• Prisoner deaths, 1862-1865, v. 5
• Prisoner deaths, 1862-1865, v. 6
• Prisoner deaths in AL, GA, SC, 1862-1865, v. 21
• Prisoner deaths in AR, MS, TN, 1862-1865, v. 17-18
• Prisoner deaths in FL, KY, LA, MD, MO, NC, TX, VA, 1862-1865, v. 19-20
• Prisoner financial records, prisoner lists, supplies, 1862-1865, v. 14-16
• Prisoner registers, 1863-1865, v. 1
• Prisoner registers, 1863-1865, v. 2
• Prisoner registers, 1863-1865, v. 3
• Prisoner registers, 1863-1865, v. 4

Prisoner registers of various locations
DE, Ft. Delaware,  MD, Ft. McHenry, NY, Ft. Lafayette, 1863-1864, v. 424
Prisoner registers of various locations in DE, FL, IL, IN, KY, MD, MO, NY & OH, 1861-1865, v. 425-427

Your ancestor may have lived in the south....but did he fight in the Confederate Army or the Union Army?  Be sure to check both.  Occassionally I have found where a soldier has fought on both sides.  Cyndi Howell has a page with info on how to go about ordering Military & Pension Records for the Union Civil War Veterans from the National Archives

Hope this has given you some new ideas for your research.

Confederate Widow Pension Application #2074 --S. R. James(Widow of T. H. James)

While working through the Descendants of my King/Manire 2nd Great Grandparents I found that their oldest daughter Susannah Rebecca King who married Thomas H. James had filed a Widow's claim on Thomas' Confederate Service.  I had the date of their marriage but I didn't know that they were married by Rev. Jessie C Lamb.  This tells me they likely attended Cumberland Presbyterian church.  They were married in 1862 but didn't have children until 1866(after he was home from the war)  The application mentions that Thomas was captured with his company(Company F 17th TN Regiment) at Chickamauga and was in Camp Chase(Ohio) or Camp Douglas(Illinois)

Also among the info in the Pension Application was a listing by age and gender of their 10 children.
6 sons(ages:  24, 10, 8, 7, 5, 3) and 4 daughters(ages"  25, 22, 20, 18)  I just imagine the oldest son was more than ready to have a brother by the time it actually occurred.

The ages of the children do not match what they should be for the time of the application.
The question is phased as follows and is asked immediately after the question asking the for the husband's time of death.

"13.  How many children did you have by your said husband?  Give sex and age at this time?"

I believe she took that to mean at the time of his death( which was 17 yrs prior to her application.  If you add 17 yrs to the ages she lists it will be the ages each of her children should be in 1908 when the application was filed.

When you find a document read through it and see if the information "jives"  Record what info is given but you should also note when the information given doesn't match with known info.  If you can come up with an explanation write that up in your notes but identify it as your explanation...not that of the person who created the document.

  Tennessee established it's Pension board to handle Confederate Solder Pension Applications in 1891.  They did not begin accepting Confederate Widows Pension Applications until 1905.  Complete requirements for each of these as well as an example of each form can be found at the Tennessee State Library and Archives website.

Visualizing relationships in DNA matches

When I am working with my DNA results and those of my matches, I often find I need to draw out how people were related.  I am a visual person when it comes to working toward a solution.Using Google Tools, I have been able to accomplish a great deal of what I had previously used MS Visio to draw or design.  I also love to use Evernote on occasion.  Lately my GO-TO has been the Google Drawing  tool which is part of Google Docs Toolbox.  I have made a template which I just make a copy of to start a new project.

This is actually a real life example with the names changed.   John & Jane are the couple from whom everyone descends.  Shane and Maggie are siblings which were high matches to the adoptee.
Rodney is the son of Maggie.  Among the adoptee's matches we also found other who descend from John and Jane thru another daughter named Minnie.  The other matches are a granddaughter and Great Grandchildren of Minnie. and I have mapped out their descent and noted the matching cM amounts for those that had tested.  I use the chart at the Shared cMs Project to get an idea of what the relationship might be by taking the amount of matching segments which are 7 cMs in length with that match and totaling them.  Then I find that amount on the chart.  From this I was able to form a hypothesis that the adoptee's birth father is more than likely a descendant thru Lulu.  In my drawing I use the amounts from GEDmatch unless otherwise noted.  (A) for Ancestry's guesstimate and (T) for FTDNA.

To me, it's just better when you can do this and see what is happening...or in some cases what is NOT happening.  Another added perk is the ability to save the file to your Google Drive and have it available to you at any time that you have internet access regardless of which device you are using..

This same technique could probably be accomplished in a regular Google docs or using Google Sheets(Evernote is another option).  I just happen to find that this works for me the best and thought I would share.

Alfred & Fred have an awful lot in common

Working thru descendants of William Benton King and Eliza Jane Manire I began researching their granddaughter Edna Earle Foster.  Edna Earle was the daughter of Margaret Jordan King and William Leroy Foster.   Earle married a man by the name of Alfred Newton Mitchell.  You'd think that would be a name you don't see much...the full name at least.  I was searching thru Ancestry and I notice a link to the WWI Draft Registration Cards  One for a Alfred Newton Mitchell and another for a Fred Newton Mitchell.  So I looked at both of them wondering if he might have a double life.  Stranger things have happened.

Alfred Newton Mitchell

• DOB March 4th 1883
• Address Berwyn, Carter, Oklahoma
• Nearest Relative:  Wife Earl Mitchell
• Occupation:  Sec Foreman Gulf, Colorado & Sante Fe Railway
• White Natural Born Citizen
• Short with a medium build
• Brown Eyes and Brown Hair
• Reg. Date Sept 12, 1918

Fred Newton Mitchell

• DOB Feb 4th 1883
• Address:  Rio Grande Colorado
• DOB Feb 4th 1883
• Nearest Relative:  Wife Hanna Katherine Mitchell
• Occupation:  Stockman Farmer Self Employed
• White Natural Born Citizen
• Short with medium build
• Light Blue Eyes Dk Brown Hair
• Reg. Date Sept 12, 1918

Whew....one with blue eyes and one with brown eyes...
I did find them both in 1920 Census.  I checked that also to make sure ...and no the children don't have the same names.  :-)

I think this is how a lot of mistakes get in peoples tree...they see the Suggested Records and take them as fact and just add away.  Alfred Newton Mitchell is the father of several King descendants(specifically Descendants of Wm Benton King & wife Eliza Jane Manire)
Fred Newton Mitchell is not unless his wife Hannah Katherine Myers was a King descendant.  If she was she didn't come from the Wm B King lines.