Lemuel McCracken Mystery

Since various records listed Lemuel as being born in Pennsylvania or Ohio, it seems reasonable that he may have spent some time in Ohio even if he was born in Pennsylvania. (See Record Timeline for a discussion of his birth location.) Since Lemuel isn’t found in the 1850 census in any state, a review was made of the 1840 census. Since, the 1840 census only lists the head of the household by name, each household in Ohio was reviewed for a male in the household of the approximate age of Lemuel. Lemuel should show up as 5-9 years old. Households with males this age are the primary candidates to be Lemuel’s family. Secondary candidates are those with sons 10-14 as his age could have been incorrectly marked. It is possible he was marked younger than he was, but that seemed less likely.

Of the primary candidates, we have DNA connections to people with Nathaniel McCracken’s descendants in their family tree. There may also be connections to Robert McCracken and to James McCracken of the secondary candidates. These potential relationships are not as well researched as the first one mentioned.

Table shows McCracken families in Ohio in 1840 with the name of the head of the household, location, number of people in the household, indicator if the family had a male 5-9 years of age in the household, and indicator if the family had a male in the household 10-14 years of age. Note: If a male 5-9 years of age was in the household, the 10-14 category was left blank. It was only filled in if 5-9 equaled “No” and 10-14 equaled “Yes.”