Author: Don Taylor

Ancestry – December Sale!

Ancestry® December Sale

AncestryHealth® is on sale for $99* (originally $149)
AncestryDNA® is on sale for $59.
Ancestry® Gift Subscriptions are also 20% off.

Sale ends at 11:59 pm EST on Tuesday, December 31st.

This is a great time to get the AncestryDNA® test kit you’ve been wanting.

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I have purchased several AncestryDNA® kits for family members and I pay for an annual subscription to Ancestry.Com World.  The use of these links will allow me to receive a small referral fee from Ancestry which I use to help pay manage this website. Please see my disclaimer page.

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The Haley Brick Wall

Roberts/Scott/Haley
By Don Taylor

I hate to ever admit it but, I think I may have hit a brick wall on my Haley line. I think I’ve followed all the reasonable paths and I’m down to speculation and looking to see if I can find any evidence to support or conflict with my speculation.

My Speculation

1860 Census[1]

The 1860 Census indicates that living with my third-great-grandparents (Andrew & Malinda Haley) were Benjamin and Nancy Haley (ages 81 and 70 respectively) were both born in North Carolina. Andrew as only 23-years-old during 1860, so it is unlikely that Benjamin and Nancy are his parents. More likely, they are his grandparents; but they could be related in some other way. Through this post, I’ll consider facts that may confirm or refute this speculation/hypothesis.

1850 Census[2]

An Ancestry search of the 1850 Census resulted in finding four individuals named Benjamin Haily (or Haley or Hailey) who were born in North Carolina. Ancestry indicates birth years for the four as, 1802, 1805, 1818, and 1830. None of these seemed to fit my Benjamin Haley. I then searched Family Search using the same criteria. There, the same four individuals were presented, however, the one identified as born about 1830 is identified as being born about 1780 which fits my Benjamin Haley. Looking at the image carefully, it is not clear if the entry is 20 or 70. In my opinion, many of the other twos on the page support the idea that this entry is a 70. If this is the case, then the household would consist of

Clay County, Kentucky – Enumerated 24 Aug 1850 – Dwelling & Household 383, Lines 30-36.

  • Elizabeth Haily       Age 44 North Carolina (cannot read or write)
  • A??zy  Jr.                    Age 14 Tennessee
  • Edward                       Age 12 Tennessee
  • Solomon                    Age 8   Tennessee
  • Sarah                           Age 5   Tennessee
  • Asa                               Age 7/12 Kentucky
  • Benj.                            Age 70 North Carolina (cannot read or write)

It is my sense that this is my Benjamin and he is living with his daughter-in-law and her five children.

1840 Census

My Benjamin Haley should be about 60 years of age during the 1840 Census. A review of the census indicates there are two Benjamin Haley’s enumerated in Tennessee. One was in Madison County and appears to be between 30 and 40 years of age[3]. This is clearly not my Benjamin Haley.

The second Benjamin is in Henry County[4]. He is between 20 and 30 years of age. Clearly not my Benjamin Haley either. So, the question is, is he with a son and daughter-in-law or could he still be in North Carolina.

Conclusion

I feel I’ve come against a brick wall. I am not finding any records which are shedding light upon any of these individuals. I think I’ll set this family line aside for a while and come back to it afresh later.

My speculation is that the parents of Andrew J. Haley (1836-1905) are unknown. I believe Andrew’s grandfather was Benjamin Haley (1779-c.1860). I suspect that Benjamin’s apparent wife, Nancy,  during the 1860 census is a second wife and not Andrew’s biological grandmother.[5]

If you have evidence which supports Andrew J. Haley’s parentage or evidence with contradicts this conclusion, I’d love to hear about it.  Please use the comment form below. Continue reading “The Haley Brick Wall”

DNA – Glennis’ Paternal Search – Part 16

It’s a new first cousin.

DNA image by Caroline Davis2010 via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

After years of researching, we are getting closer to determining my half-sister’s (Glennis) biological father. In AncestryDNA matches, Glennis had a new match with a woman, I’ll call “A,” with whom Glennis shares 1,045cM across 33 segments. Wow, other than me, this is now Glennis’ closest relation and “A” shares no DNA with me proving that the match is on her paternal line.

DNA Painter has a tool that provides possible relationships for various amounts of shared DNA. It indicates that is it a 100% probability that 1,045 cM of shared DNA is one of seven potential relationships, great-grandparent, Great-Aunt, Half-Aunt, 1st Cousin. Because “A” is only a few years older than Glennis, I tentatively believe “A” is a 1st cousin.

The good news is that I have already researched this potential family line and saw “A” on my tree. First cousins share grandparents, which suggests that Glennis’ grandparents are Joseph Franklin Stewart (1875-1940) and Stella Belinda Hemsworth (1883-____). In previous research, I had considered that two of Joseph and Stella’s grandchildren were very likely candidates. However, if that were the case then “A” would be a 1st cousin, once removed. First cousins once removed share between 141 and 851 cM of DNA, so “A” must be closer than that.

Joseph and Stella had five sons that I know about. One of them is “A’s” father and can’t be Glennis’ father – “A” would then be a half-sibling and doesn’t share enough DNA to have that relationship. That leaves four sons as potential candidates. (Note: there is a nine-year gap in ages between two of the boys lending itself to the possibility of other candidates.)

Picking any of the four boys as the father, I need to look and see if all of the other DNA matches fit an expected DNA amount. (If not, then the relationship between Glennis and “A” must be one of the other possible relationships.)

Shared DNA Consistent?

Individual Tree Relationship DNA Shared Range/Consistent?
“A” 1st Cousin 1,045 553-1,225 – Yes
“B” 1st Cousin Once Removed 416 141-851 – Yes
“RB” 1st Cousin Twice Removed 271 43-531 – Yes
“ML 2nd Cousin 201 46-515 – Yes
“KL” 1st Cousin Twice Removed? 195 43-531 – Yes
“SH” Unknown 178 N/A
“BR” 2nd Cousin 173 46-515 – Yes

So, if one of the uncles of “A” is Glennis’ biological father, then all of the known matches fit that relationship. The next step is to take a look at “A’s” uncles and determine if any or all of them are likely to have been in the right place at the right time to be Glennis’ biological father.

PS: If you are a descendant of Joseph Franklin Stewart (1875-1940) and Stella Belinda Hemsworth (1883-____), please consider testing with AncestryDNA® and help us determine who might be Glennis’ father.

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FamilyTreeDNA Sale

FamilyTreeDNA Sale

Sale Ends December 26th

Family Tree DNA is having sales on several of their products.

Save $30 on FamilyTreeDNA’s autosomal test, “Family Finder” is only $49.

Save up to $250 on FamilyTreeDNA’s Y-DNA Paternal Ancestry tests during their December Sale!

Save $60 on FamilyTreeDNA’s Maternal Ancestry Test – mtFull Sequence – to understand your maternal line better and connect with relatives during the Black Friday Sale @ FamilyTreeDNA!

This is a great time to get the FamilyTreeDNA test you have been wanting.

I have purchased the FamilyTreeDNA Y-37 test for myself and a brother-in-law. I have also purchased FamilyFinder tests for myself, my mother, and my half aunt. I think it is a great genealogical research tool to be tested. I have received no products from FamilyTreeDNA.

The use of these links will provide a small referral fee from FamilySearchDNA that I use to help pay for this website. For further information, disclaimer page. Thank you for your support of Don Taylor Genealogy.

I think I’ll get an mtDNA test for my wife – Don’t tell her though. It’s a Christmas present.

Donna Darling Collection – Part 58

Orpheum Theatre – (August?) 1925 – Donna Darling’s Revue

Treasure Chest Thursday
By Don Taylor

For this week’s Treasure Chest Thursday, I’m looking at a clipping from the Donna Darling Collection. I only found an ad and not an associated article.

display ad for Donna Darling's Review playing at the Orpheum TheatreOrpheum Theatre
Vaudeville Tonight | Friday | Saturday

Donna Darling’s Revue

See Dance of “Evolution” | The Charleston” | A Fast Colorful | Dancing Revue | Pretty Girls

PLENTY OF SINGING AND DANCING

Key features:

  • The venue is the Orpheum Theatre. There is no mention of date or location.
  • The show is “Donna Darling’s Revue.”
  • Also on bill
    • Meyers & Nolan – Comedy-Singing – The man with lots of avoirdupois
    • Tom Calloway – Comedian – In a Specialty Act | Full of Fun
    • Constance Talmadge in “Her Sister From Paris” on the Screen Tonight and Friday.

Analysis

The silent movie, “Her Sister from Paris” starring Constance Talmadge was released on August 2, 1925[i]. That fact is the only item that provides a potential date.

I searched at length[ii] for Donna playing at an Orpheum theater with Meyers & Nolan without success.

The known schedule that I have for Donna includes virtually no known venues for August 1925. She played in Buffalo, NY from July 27th to August 2nd. She also played in Oklahoma City from September 6th through the 9th. So, her playing at an Orpheum Theatre could be almost anywhere. (Cinematreasures.org indicates there are some 335 Orpheum Theaters in the United States.

Conclusion

(Probably August)  1925 – Unknown Location – Orpheum Theatre – Donna Darling’s Review (on stage with Meyers & Nolan and Tom Calloway). I’ll need to wait until more newspapers are digitized to determine when and where Donna played the Orpheum Theatre.

Endnotes:

[i] “List Of First National Pictures Films”. 2019. En.Wikipedia.Org. Accessed December 3 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_First_N

[ii] My typical search of this type includes Newspapers.Com, Genealogy Bank, Newspaper Archives, Elephind, Don’t List, and Fulton Postcards.

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