Rod had just turned six when he lost his dad. Therefore, his memories of his dad are limited.
The Man
James Van Allen Thomson was born May 6, 1936 at Palmyra, Otoe, Nebraska. He was the son of Alexander Joseph and Donna Isabelle (Van Allen) Thomson. He grew up in the Palmyra area.
When James was twenty, he married Janice Lee Helm. Over the coming years, they became the parents to three children with Rod being the youngest.
Love Of the Farm
Rod’s dad worked for Western Electric in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska. However, his heart was on the farm. He loved working on his parents’ farm and hoped one day to again live on a farm and be a full-time farmer.
However, at this point in time, life dictated otherwise. Thus, James, Janice and the kids only got to spend time on the farm on the weekends and holidays.
To The Farm
The kids would get up early in the morning, rising from their 3-tier bunkbed. Rod’s dad had made the three-level wooden bed frame in his shop attached to their trailer. It was perfect to hold three growing kids in a small space.
After breakfast, everyone would pile into their 4-door crew cab Dodge truck and head to the farm. Rod’s dad would take the backroads to the farm. There was one hill that the kids always anticipated as their dad had perfected the ability to make them “lose their stomachs” as they went over it.
They would spend the day at the farm. On the way home, the family would stop at A&W Root Beer in Louisville, Nebraska, where they bought root beer by the gallon jug.
Hunting
The featured snapshot is one of few that shows Rod with his father. Rod is the younger boy on the left and the boy on the right is his brother Roger. Rod doesn’t remember a lot about hunting that fox as he was at most five.
Rod does, however, remember his dad shooting a snake in a field one day. And, we have another photo that shows his dad with a deer.
Rod’s mom told a story about his dad wanting to take him Kodiak bear hunting in Alaska. Rod has no idea if it is true or why his dad would have specifically wanted to taking him on that hunting trip. However, Rod has always been a good shot and is a natural with a rifle.
Farming
Besides hunting, the farm brought many other opportunities for work and play. A couple of Rod’s memories with his dad while farming both involve a wagon. One time when his dad was helping harvest, Rod remembers standing in the wagon while the grain poured in growing deeper burying their feet and legs. Another time when a rain came up, his dad put boards across the wagon so that Rod and his siblings could crawl under them to stay dry.
Rod, his mom, and siblings continued to visit his Grandma Thomson at the farm after his dad died.
Life Cut Too Short
His dad was gone far too soon. When Rod’s dad was ill before he died, Rod remembers being told not to jump on him. But, his dad said, “It’s okay.”
His last memory was seeing his dad in the casket and noticing that he had on his wedding ring. When we married, the ring I slid on Rod’s finger was his dad’s ring. It is one of his prized possessions.
This article explores the current status of research for the three family lines that I most actively researched in 2025 and a look back at the articles I wrote during the year.
The Family Tree Evolves
Currently, my tree on Ancestry contains 45,344 people and my off-line, official tree contains 42,547 people. That is an increase of 833 on ancestry.com and an increase of 64 in my official tree. The reason for the discrepancy is that I am adding people to the McCracken and Peppard lines that I know are related. However, I haven’t added them to my official tree as the exact connection (e.g. Lemuel’s parents) is not known.
Rod’s family trees are much smaller mostly due to the fact that his family immigrated to the United States much later than most of my family. His trees contain 3,744 people and 5,263 people on Ancestry and in our official database, respectively. That is an increase of 54 on ancestry.com and 43 in the official tree.
People in both trees are proven in to varying degrees. In recent years, I have gone back and double-checked people in my direct line and noted in my official tree if they are verified. So, for instance, information seems to point to Lucy Ann Storms’ father being Conrad Storms and we are definitely related to many Sturm/Storm/Storm(s)(es). However, no record has been found that I can use to confirm that relationship. Thus, in the official tree, Lucy Ann is marked verified and Conrad is included in the tree, but is not marked verified. This capability now exists in ancestry.com. However, I have used it only on a limited basis, mostly to identify someone who is definitely in question.
Projects
Although I am always working toward generally growing and improving the family tree, I usually have at least one special project in the works for our families. Those are projects that typically involve using DNA, doing local research, and traditional research online, to try to find information on a person who has been difficult to track down.
Three special projects are currently most active. Let’s take a look.
Lemuel McCracken
Lemuel McCracken’s Parents
Nothing has been found to disprove or alter the assumptions about Lemuel’s parents. Y-DNA showed that his father was a Peppard. Thus, his mother is a McCracken. I still believe that his mother was most likely a daughter or granddaughter of James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken. Likewise, I still believe that his father was likely one of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gilmore) Peppard’s sons.
These families lived close to each other in Wayne County, Ohio in the early 1800s.
DNA Research
Matches Identified
Below is an update on the number of McCracken and Peppard DNA matches that have been identified as fitting into each of the categories listed.
DNA Matches that are
Begin 2025
End 2025
Comment
Descendants of Lemuel and his first wife
23
30
Descendants of Lemuel and Louisiana
62
67
Includes those that tested for me
Descendants of Louisiana and her first husband
11
13
Total
96
110
Descendants of James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken
83
131
Includes some branches that have strong evidence that they belong to this family, but have not been 100% proven.
Descendants of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gilmore) Peppard
121
188
Bonus Peppard matches through the Bailey family
18
26
This family did not believe they had any ties to the Peppard family. However, both autosomal DNA and Y-DNA say that they do.
DNA Analysis
In addition to looking at new DNA matches as seeing how they align with the families involved, I also spent quite a bit of time looking at the strongest matches to see if any pattern appeared. I started by looking at the older generation. I have 4 samples for that generation.
McCracken
Among my samples. there are only 4 matches to descendants of James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken at over 100 centimorgans. Two of these are descendants of Nathaniel McCracken, and two are descendants of Thomas McCracken. Nathaniel had one daughter who would have been old enough to be Lemuel’s mother. It is important to note that Nathaniel’s descendants may be doubly connected to us. This isn’t clear. However, DNA matches to both us and Nathaniel’s descendants seem to match in a different way.
Thomas’ family has been more difficult to connect as Thomas died young and his wife died only a few years later. However, I have DNA matches that appear to possibly be descendants of his daughters. Unfortunately, he only mentioned his two young sons in his will. Thus, I haven’t been able to prove the relationship.
When I look at total number of DNA matches in the range I am considering (>30 centimorgans), Thomas and Nathaniel show up with the largest numbers. That is not, however, meaningful since it relies on the number of descendants that have tested.
Peppard
Among the same samples, there are only two matches to descendants of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gilmore) Peppard. They both descend from his son John. When looking at total number of DNA matches, John also leads his siblings. In addition, it seems most likely based primarily on circumstances that the Bailey matches are descendants of John. This would increase the number of DNA matches to John significantly.
Rebecca also has a number of descendants. However, being female, she is out of contention as a parent. She has no known children old enough to be Lemuel’s father. It is,, however, possible that she had a child when she was young who would be old enough to be Lemuel’s father. Still, it seems more likely that Rebecca’s descendants have a double connection that increase the strength of the match.
I have now expanded this analysis to include people in my generation as part of the sample. I am now working with a much larger data set and it will take some time to see if patterns emerge. In addition, I am also looking for connections to various women. For instance, if one of Thomas McCracken’s assumed daughters is Lemuel’s mother, descendants of his wife’s family should show up in DNA matches. Unfortunately, it is a common name and we have multiple possible connections to that name.
Read research notes. Follow the links on the pages to different pieces of data regarding this research. Not all research has been added to this series of webpages.
Arthur Reid Thomson’s Parents
According to Arthur Reid Thomson, he was an orphan. He had lived with his grandfather in Scotland before making his way across the ocean. It is unknown if his grandfather was his mother’s father or his father’s father.
He was supposedly sent to live with an uncle in New York, but went to Canada with “friends” instead. He later came to the United States. It is believed his father was also named Arthur and that he had a brother Alexander and sister, Gennia, who remained in Scotland. Supposedly, he lost contact with his family for many years, but did make contact later in life.
Rod did a Y-DNA test. The results included four men – all with different last names. One of the men did have the name “Thompson.” That could be a variation of Thomson or it could be a totally unrelated surname. I am currently searching ancestry data (autosomal DNA) for the surnames. I have found a good-sized group that have ties to Scotland and North Ireland. However, they are very distantly related to Rod’s branch and most are distantly related to each other. Only a very small number show the name Thomson in their tree. However, it isn’t clear that Rod connects to them on that specific branch.
In Addition, I have found a group with strong Canada ties. However, it isn’t clear how they are related to Rod. I found a couple of pieces of data that indicate they might be distant relatives in the Van Allen family line, but there is more work to do.
Autosomal DNA
We have not been able to identify any matches that are definitely Thomson matches beyond direct descendants of Arthur. It would seem that if his uncle was in New York, that matches to some descendants would be found. However, it is possible that the uncle was a maternal uncle.
We recently tested three additional members of the family – two in Rod’s generation and one in his dad’s generation. Since everyone in a family inherits different pieces of DNA, we are hoping that the additional testing will result in new matches that help determine the names of Arthur Reid Thomson’s parents.
Roger Ellis’ Parents
This year I started systematically researching Roger Ellis’ parents. He is my 4th great-grandfather and our earliest known Ellis ancestor. There are theories about his parents, but it doesn’t appear that any of them are based on anything other than other Ellis families in the general area. It may, or may not, be important that this family often spelled their name Elless or Elles. Additionally, the family Bible spells the name of the original owner as David Alles. Although, the entries apparently are with the name Elless.
Read research notes. Follow the links on the pages to different pieces of data regarding this research. Not all research has been added to this series of webpages.
DNA Research
DNA Matches that are
Begin 2025
End 2025
Comment
Descendants of Roger Ellis and his wife Susannah Lewis
176
Includes people that tested for me.
All the DNA matches that I have been able to definitively tie to our Ellis family line are descendants of Roger and Susannah (Lewis) Ellis. I do have a couple of groups of interest that I have identified.
One group contains descendants of Enos Ellis, who was born in 1786, which would make him a contemporary of Roger. However, the name Enos Ellis does not appear in the family Bible, which lists Roger and what appear to likely be some or all of his siblings. The name Ellis is super common and it is possible that this group connects to us in a different way.
The second group is clearly associated with the Ellis family or one of the allied families. People cluster under several different names and some of the clusters are in West Virginia. Since George Nicholson, another ancestor, was from West Virginia, it is possible that this group ties into his family line instead of the Ellis family. However, I am in the middle researching them, so I have no definitive answer yet. If they are related to George Nicholson instead of Roger Ellis that could help solve the mystery of George’s parents. Some people have identified who they believe are George’s parents. However, I have not found enough evidence to date to add those people as his parents.
2025 Articles
This year I didn’t keep up with an article each week. However, some of the articles were quite in-depth. They required extensive research. I have one that I started about my 3rd great-grandfather Henry Thomas in the Seminole Indian Wars. It was one of those that required a lot of research. I hope to finish it in 2026.
It is very likely that George Nicholson’s parents will end up getting worked with the Ellis research since possible DNA matches to that line are popping up when looking at distant Ellis matches.
Future Projects
Future projects under consideration:
Was Elizabeth Brown Donaldson really kin to Chief Justice John Marshall? I have worked on this one quite a bit with traditional research. Additionally, I contributed to a project looking at this with DNA. Read about the John Marshall research.
Am I related to women who were persecuted during the Salem Witch Trials? It is thought that my Thomas family might be related, but that we are not a direct descendant. At least one other family needs to be researched as they had ties to the area.
Who were George Nicholson’s parents?
Who were Martha (Johnson) Peelle’s 5 missing siblings and what happened to them? I have worked on this question on and off, but have never undertaken a special project to find them.
The German ancestry of Helm, Kutzner, Schmidt, Ackermann, Stetler etc.
Identifying descendants of William Hurrie, who rang the Liberty Bell.
A woman who was buried at the same cemetery as William Hurrie’s granddaughter claimed to be related to William Hurrie. Basic research shows she was German and he was said to be from Scotland. Not sure if she was related to his granddaughter’s husband, William’s wife or if there was really no connection despite her claim.
Is Matthias Matteer’s ancestors who they appear to be?
Who was Mary Rogers/Rodgers’ parents?
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What does a signature have to say about you? I started saving signatures of relatives several years ago. This article explores the signatures of some direct ancestors of my husband and myself.
Just Initials
In bygone days, it was common for men’s signatures to include only the initials of their given names and their surname. Many documents and news articles were written also without the man’s first name, which can make researching families with similar initials difficult.
Both of the following men used their initials at times. Occasionally, Andrew is found with is name as Andy. The way he wrote McCracken is sometimes misunderstood by transcribers. Thus, the name sometimes becomes Cracken in indexes.
William was known as William, W J, and Will. His signature is also interesting because it contains both cursive and fancy print.
Andrew Johnson “Andy” McCracken
William Johnson Peelle
The following signatures of women show how they often defined themselves by their marriage or lack there of. Both Blanche and Donna signed with their husband’s name while Minnie indicated that she was not married.
Blanche (Klinefelter) Thomson
Donna (Van Allen) Thomson
Minnie (Kutzner) Helm
Not all women identified their marital status in their signature. Interestingly, however, in the examples below, Matilda signed with her maiden name as a middle name.
Nellie signed with the name she was always called. However, it wasn’t her birth name. Her name at birth was Eleanor. It was the name of her great-grandmother and her great-aunt. Both of those women had been major influences in her mother’s life and she likely wanted to honor them. However, Nellie did not like the name Eleanor. And, since she was called Nellie when she was young, the name stuck. To my knowledge no documentation exists that uses her birth name.
Martha was born in 1826 and I believe she signed the source document after 1900.
Matilda (Jury) Peelle
Nellie (Peelle) McCracken
Martha (Johnson) Peelle
The following signatures show three different styles of signature. One with a first name only, one with a first name and middle initial, and one with the full name. Those with a full name are typically found on draft registrations, although not all draft registrations are signed with the full name.
Passco Peelle
Willis Alexander Conner
Clifford Claney Pellett
The following are additional signatures where the men signed their full name on draft registrations. It is likely that this was not their standard signature.
Alexander Joseph Thomson
James William “Will” Thomas
Herbert James Thomson
The following examples show how different a given person’s signatures can be. In both cases, the first signature had an abbreviated form of their the first name. The second signature is a full signature with all three names.
The odd thing in the case of Jake Helm is that when he signed his full name, he still used Jake instead of Jacob. In addition, he wrote his name as “Jake Phillip Helm.” However, his name as recorded on his baptism record was “Phillip Jacob Helm.”
It was tradition in Germany, the Helm family’s homeland, to call people by their middle name. In many cases, the boys all had the same first name and all the girls had the same first name. Each being named after their father or mother according to gender. This family did not go so far as to name all the children that way. However, they did have multiple sons named Johann. And, Jake couldn’t be Phillip because he had an older brother Johann Phillip, who later went by Phillip John. And, yes, German traditions are confusing, but they are much more so when intermixed with American traditions.
With regards to Joe McCracken, he generally signed his name as “Joe McCracken.” Thus, signing with the full name would not have been natural for him. That is likely the case for most people.
Phillip Jacob “Jake” Helm
Joseph Andrew McCracken
And, last, but not least, the oldest signature of a direct ancestor that I have collected. It is the signature from William Hurrie, the ringer of the Liberty Bell. It is on a document acknowledging receipt of a payment authorized by John Bayard, speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
Another interesting thing about William’s signature is that unlike the others, he most likely learned to write in Scotland or England before immigrating to the United States. He spells his name “Hurrie.” Meanwhile, others that appear to be related or associated with him spelled their name “Hurry.” Records intermix the spellings and his gravestone spells it as “Hurry.” However, this shows the spelling that he used.
William Hurrie
Featured Image: Credit to StockSnap via pixabay.com
How often is it that a train coming through town is a reason for a family reunion? That was the case for the Thomson family.
Story of The Thomson Family & The Liberty Bell, The Lincoln Star, Lincoln, NE, July 9, 1915 via newspapers.com
1915 Liberty Bell Tour
Trains played a big part in the history of the Thomson family, as Blanche Thomson, a city girl from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had met her future husband Herbert Thomson on a train platform in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1905.
So, it seemed appropriate that the family would visit any trains that related to their family. The first significant visit to a train was in 1915.
The Request
Blanche (Klinefelter) Thomson, Rod’s great-grandmother, heard that the Liberty Bell was going to be loaded on a train for travel across the county to an exposition in San Francisco. She was very interested in this happening. She had seen the famous bell when she visited Philadelphia as a child and it remained a special memory. Moreover, she heard that it was going to make a stop in Lincoln, Nebraska, a few miles from their home near Palmyra. So, she did what any descendant of the most famous bell ringer in the country would do when the most famous bell in the country came to town. She put in a request for her family to attend the festivities.
Blanche wrote to the Lincoln Commercial Club asking if they could reserve seats for her family. She explained her connection to the Liberty Bell and said that “[S]he wanted her children to see the world-famous emblem, this sacred relic which their direct ancestor had rung.”
William Hurrie Lineage
Blanche and family’s viewing of the Liberty Bell was nearly 140 years in the making. It all started on July 8,1776 when Andrew NcNair was away from his role as doorkeeper to Congress for the day. William Hurrie, who would later hold that position, substituted for Andrew. And, it was on that day that Congress asked for the people of Philadelphia to be called together to hear the first official public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
As a result of Blanche’s request, Blanche, her husband Herbert Thomson, and their children were guests of honor at the Commercial Club Luncheon. The date of the event in Lincoln was 139 years and 1 day after Blanche’s ancestor rang the 2080 pound bell declaring independence.
They were guest of the president of the Commercial Club and were also greeted by the mayor and the secretary of the Commercial Club. After the luncheon, the family was taken to the site of the Liberty Bell program and were seated on the platform where speeches were given.
The Program
Security was tight with National Guard and police in charge, but that didn’t stop people from pushing past others for their chance to see the famous bell. The time allotted in Lincoln simply could not accommodate everyone who wanted an up-close view. However, the number of people that got within a half-a-block from the bell and who were considered close enough to get a glimpse of it, range from 25,000 to 40,000.
The program that day was cut a bit short mostly because people simply could not hear over the crowd. Of course, it was also 88 degrees and several people fainted or had heat-related issues. No one was afforded the opportunity to hear the sound of the bell. However, it had been rung the previous February to proclaim liberty throughout the land. This time it wasn’t just heard in Philadelphia, instead, the tones of the bell were sent over the transcontinental telephone line, which had just been completed. As the bell was struck with a mallet, the sound of the bell was heard in San Francisco. It was also recorded. Note: In 1944, they rang the Liberty Bell again for D-Day. It rang out seven times – once for each letter in the word “Liberty.”
The Crowd In Lincoln, NE at the Liberty Bell Source: Nebraska State Journal, July 10, 1915 via Newspapers.com
Liberty Bell 1915
Liberty Bell 2003
Photo taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during our visit in 2003.
1948 Freedom Train Tour
Thomson family at the Freedom Train in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1948.
Having been honored guests when the Liberty Bell had come to town in 1915, many people were aware that the Thomson family had a connection to the days of the American Revolution. So, when in 1948 the Freedom Train put Lincoln, Nebraska on their list of scheduled stops, it only seemed fitting that the Thomson family again be honored guests. However, Blanche and Herbert’s children were now grown with families of their own. Thus, it an opportunity for a family reunion.
Why An Exhibit
In 1948, the Attorney General of the United States “became concerned with the complacency of the American people, their lack of appreciation of the freedoms that have been won for them during the last 160 years…” Thus, an exhibit traveling by rail called the Freedom Train was born. It was to travel to 300 cities across the nation.
The train consisted of seven cars. Three held exhibits, one was for baggage and equipment, and the other three were for the crew. Thirty or forty men traveled on the train, with a significant majority of them being Marines that guarded the train 24 hours a day/7 days of the week.
Ad for a commemorative book about the documents on the Freedom Train.
The Museum
The Freedom Train was a “moving symbol of America’s year of rededication to the ideals and practices of democracy.” This train carried 127 exhibits including many documents of American’s heritage: such as,
The Declaration of Independence (Jefferson’s rough draft with changes marked on it)
The Constitution (George Washington’s personal copy of the draft of Constitution with his corrections marked on it)
The Bill of rights (original copy)
The Gettsburg Address (actual copy he read when he gave the address)
A letter Christopher Columbus wrote about discovery of America
WWI & WWII documents
A flag that flew at Iwo Jima
To protect the precious artifacts, the train and everything on it was fireproof with the exception of the artifacts themselves. To ensure that the documents remained safe, they were put in envelopes that were waterproof, fireproof, and shatterproof. Then they were placed in steel cases with multiple layers of glass that protected them from damage from light.
Rededication Week
Each city held its own activities focused on rededication to the principals on which this country was founded. They held Rededication Week in the days leading up to the arrival of the Freedom Train at their location. The goal was to remind everyone of the value of their heritage and their own responsibility in preserving those freedoms.
Daily Theme
In Lincoln, Nebraska each day had a specific focus with rallies, speeches, music, and other events planned around the specific topic. The focus areas were:
Sunday – Freedom of Religion
Monday – American Justice
Tuesday – Veterans
Wednesday – Women
Thursday – Labor and Industry
Friday – Schools (Including both teachers and students)
Saturday – Municipal
Sunday – I am an American Day. Dedicated to those 21 and over that had been naturalized within the previous year.
The Pledge
Everybody got into associating with the Freedom Train. Even Kellogg’s cereals.
During the weeks leading up to the arrival of the Freedom Train and for some time after, films were shown at clubs, organizations, etc. about the documents and history of the founding of the country. There also were radio programs on the subject. Additionally, the newspaper ran articles, not only about the event, but also focused on some of the key documents aboard the Freedom Train. During the week, people were also encouraged to take the following pledge:
I am an American.
Free to speak – without fear.
Free to worship God in my own way.
Free to stand for what I think right.
Free to oppose what I believe wrong.
Free to choose those who govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold.
For myself and all mankind
After the week of rededication, the red, white, and blue Freedom Train was to be parked at the Missouri Pacific railroad station on Sunday. The public could view the document from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., but could only accommodate approximately 10,000 people. Therefore, it was recommended that families only bring children age twelve and up as the documents would not be meaningful to youngsters and both time and space for viewing the exhibit were limited.
Viewing The Exhibit
Special Showing
Judge Klinefelter signs the register at the Freedom Train in 1948
A special showing between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. before the doors opened to the public was held for by-invitation-only guests. Most of the guests were city, county, and state officials, and the press. However there were a few special guests. Among them were Blanche, her father Judge Sharpless Klinefelter, and 24 of her descendants. The only other guest with the distinction of having a connection to the documents on the train was a woman whose grandfather worked on the original draft of the 14th Amendment.
As the family exited the exhibit, they were invited to sign the rededication scroll.
The chairman in charge of the train said, “A family rich in American tradition as this one, certainly deserves a little special treatment.” It was mentioned by someone present, however, that a history researcher claimed that Andrew McNair was the bellringer who called together the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. To which, Judge scoffed and replied, “Andrew McNair, eh? Hump!” Following the viewing of the exhibits on the Freedom Train, Judge and his descendants enjoyed a picnic dinner at Antelope Park.
The General Public
At 10 a.m. the public started boarding the train. The first ones on had been in line since 5:45 a.m. The line varied from two to three blocks in length. However, with every Lincoln police office on duty and the fire department assisting, the crowd remained orderly.
High school bands played to entertain the people waiting. Meanwhile veteran groups sold refreshments. However, no peddlers or others who followed the train were allowed to sell their wares as it was considered a serious subject and the people organizing the events did not want a circus environment.
By the end of the day, 8,241 people would board the train and view the exhibits. And, a half-hour after the last person exited the exhibit, the train was on its way to its next destination.
People waiting to see the exhibits on the Freedom Train. Adapted from The Lincoln Star, Lincoln, NE, May 17, 1948, via Newspapers.com
One More Freedom Train
The Bicentennial brought about another Freedom Train. It was bigger. Since it stayed longer at many locations, the train traveled in both 1975 and 1976. This time, they charged admission ($2 for adults, $1 for children) to defray costs.
The Thomson family didn’t hold a big reunion for the Bicentennial Freedom Train. This is likely because Judge and Blanche, who seemed to be the biggest voices for the family’s history in Philadelphia, had all died prior to this date. Still, when the train came through Omaha, my husband’s mother took him and his siblings to see the Freedom Train.
As 2025 begins, years of research have already passed, DNA tests have been done, stories have been written, records have been found, and mysteries have been solved. However, much more remains to be done. This article takes a look at the current state of my research as the year begins with an update on my special projects, which dig deep into DNA and traditional genealogy.
The Family Tree Evolves
Every year my family trees evolve. People are added and even sometimes removed as research continues. Currently, my tree on Ancestry contains 44,511 people and my off-line, official tree contains 42,426 people. Rod’s family trees are much smaller mostly due to the fact that his family immigrated to the United States much later than most of my family. His trees contain 3,690 people and 5,210 people on Ancestry and in our official database, respectively.
I purposely do not sync the trees as I use the Ancestry trees for research and I have information in my tree off-line that I do not want on Ancestry. If I learn new data from other sources, I don’t necessarily add it to Ancestry. Likewise, I add a lot of people on Ancestry when doing DNA research that I don’t know exactly how they tie to our family. Thus, people are included in Ancestry that are not yet added to the official tree.
People in both trees are proven in to varying degrees. In recent years, I have gone back and double-checked people in my direct line and noted in my official tree if they are verified. So, for instance, information seems to point to Lucy Ann Storms’ father being Conrad Storms and we are definitely related to many Sturm/Storm/Storm(s)(es). However, no record has been found that I can use to confirm that relationship. Thus, Lucy Ann is marked verified and Conrad is included in the tree, but is not marked verified.
Special Projects
Although I am always working toward generally growing and improving the family tree, I usually have at least one special project in the works for our families. Those are projects that typically involve using DNA, doing local research, and traditional research online, to try to find some parent or parents that have been difficult to track down.
Three special projects are currently most active. Let’s take a look.
Lemuel McCracken
Lemuel McCracken’s Parents
An incredible amount of time and effort has been spent over the years to determine who Lemuel McCracken’s parents were. Today, we know that although he used the surname McCracken, his father was likely one of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gilmore) Peppard’s sons. It was his mother who was a McCracken. DNA indicates she was most likely a daughter or granddaughter of James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken. We also know that these families lived close to each other in Wayne County, Ohio in the early 1800s.
DNA
To assist this research, many family members have taken DNA tests for me or given me access to their results and I thank them for that. Each test has been useful, as we all inherit different pieces of DNA. I created many charts and spreadsheets to analyze the DNA matches. As the year begins, I have identified and fit into the family the following number of DNA matches related to this research.
DNA Matches that are . . .
Number
Comment
Descendants of Lemuel and his first wife
23
Descendants of Lemuel and Louisiana
62
My great-great grandparents. Includes those that tested for me.
Descendants of Louisiana and her first husband
11
Total
96
Descendants of James and Rachel (Kelly) McCracken
83
Includes some disconnected branches that have strong evidence that they belong to this family.
Descendants of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Gilmore) Peppard
121
Bonus Peppard matches through the Bailey family
18
This family did not believe they had any ties to the Peppard family. However, both autosomal DNA and Y-DNA say that they do.
Who are his parents?
At this point, I have eliminated or determined some of the candidates to be Lemuel’s parents to be unlikely. The remaining candidates have been evaluated. However, no conclusion has been drawn although I am toying with the idea that it was one of the younger Peppard sons and one of the McCracken granddaughters. But, definitely no proof, yet.
Read research notes. Follow the links on the pages to different pieces of data regarding this research. Not all research has been added to this series of webpages.
Roger Ellis’ Parents
Background
Roger Ellis is my 4th great-grandfather and our earliest known Ellis ancestor. He showed up in Kentucky in tax records at age 19. Within a few years, he marries Susannah Lewis. Records indicate Roger was born in Pennsylvania. His story sounds a lot like Lemuel’s except that it was two generations and 50 years earlier.
There are theories about his parents, but it doesn’t appear that any of them are based on anything other than other Ellis families in the general area. It may, or may not, be important that this family often spelled their name Elless or Elles. Additionally, the family Bible spells the name of the original owner as David Alles. Although, the entries apparently are with the name Elless. In 1991, at the time of the article, the Bible was in the possession of one of Roger’s descendants.
Research
Over the past year or so, I have been toying with DNA trying to find leads as to who Roger Ellis’ parents were. Doing that I have identified one group of DNA matches that tie back to a William Ellis who was born in Tennessee in 1823. I have yet to prove who William’s father was. No other group of matches has proven fruitful yet.
So, I have decided it is time to seriously work on this project. I am currently in the process of identifying Roger and his wife’s descendants who have DNA tested. This allows me to weed out the Ellis clan from all the other families that we are related to that lived in the same area. Hopefully, it will also lead to descendants of some of the other people listed in the family Bible and then to possible parents.
Read research notes. Follow the links on the pages to different pieces of data regarding this research. Not all research has been added to this series of webpages.
Arthur & Margaret (Ronald) Thomson
Arthur Reid Thomson’s Parents
According to Arthur Reid Thomson, he was an orphan. He had lived with his grandfather in Scotland before making his way across the ocean. As the story goes, as a teenager, he was sent to New York to his uncle. However, he went with friends to Canada instead. He later came to the United States. It is believed his father was also named Arthur and that he had a brother and sister, who remained in Scotland. Supposedly, he lost contact with his family for many years, but did make contact later in life.
It is unknown if he ever contacted his uncle in New York or not. It is also unknown if the uncle or grandfather that he lived with was his paternal or maternal family. Autosomal DNA and traditional research have not led us to a family from New York or his family in Scotland. Only a few distant matches have the name Thomson appearing in their tree. A Y-DNA test is now in the works in hopes that it will help connect to his paternal family.
In case you were worried that I will run out of things to research, I have numerous other special projects to work on the in the future. Some include:
Was Elizabeth Brown Donaldson really kin to Chief Justice John Marshall? I have worked on this one quite a bit with traditional research. Additionally, I contributed to a project looking at this with DNA.Read about the John Marshall research.
Am I related to women who were persecuted during the Salem Witch Trials? It is thought that my Thomas family might related, but that we are not a direct descendant. At least one other family needs to be researched as they had ties to the area.
Who were George Nicholson’s parents?
Who were Martha (Johnson) Peelle’s 5 missing siblings and what happened to them? I have worked on this question on and off, but have never undertaken a special project to find them.
The German ancestry of Helm, Kutzner, Schmidt, Ackermann, Stetler etc.
Identifying descendants of William Hurrie, who rang the Liberty Bell.
A woman who was buried at the same cemetery as William Hurrie’s granddaughter claimed to be related to William Hurrie. Basic research shows she was German and he was said to be from Scotland. Not sure if she was related to his granddaughter’s husband, William’s wife or if there was really no connection despite her claim.
And, the list goes on….
Clearly, I need to live a very long time if I am going to solve all the questions in our family trees.
Attributions & Notes
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