Not Out of the Hat

 

The trouble with planning research goals months in advance is that, once the time arrives to do so, we can't just magically pull a genealogical rabbit out of the hat. Sticky research problems that had me stumped last December, when I was outlining plans for my Twelve Most Wanted for 2025, are still just as sticky as they were back then. Sure, I'm optimistic about what new tech tools can do for document retrieval, but if the documents were never digitized—or worse, destroyed by some catastrophe—fancier tools simply will not produce documents which were never there.

Learning that other researchers have not been able to locate a will for John Townsend, presumed father of my third great-grandmother Delaney Townsend, has been a discouragement. Trying to trace the collateral lines of Delaney's possible family has not proven successful, as far as documentation is concerned. While a descendant of one sibling did apply for membership in the DAR using, among other records, a family Bible, the record was transcribed into the application; there is no actual photocopy of the original record. Keeping in mind that there were at least three Delaney Townsends that I've run across, it would be more reassuring to see the Bible entry itself.

There is, however, one other method to provide a bit more confidence: those 124 DNA matches I'm still reviewing. At this point, I've followed lines of six of the possible siblings of my Delaney to confirm records linking my DNA matches to their ancestral Townsend. While some appear to have documentation problems, most of the matches do line up. But this is not a quick fix to the original problem of having no document to tie all those siblings to the same parents.

And yet, the month is over. With the coming of March, we'll be moving from South Carolina and Florida to mull over another ancestral line with missing documentation, this time in Virginia. We'll meet William Alexander Boothe tomorrow, but for now, wrapping up the question about Delaney could use a to-do list for the next time I revisit her research problem.

First off, finishing the confirmation of each of those DNA matches would help. It's encouraging to see at least one way to demonstrate family connection to this Townsend line. I'm not sure what percentage of successful matches would satisfy my doubt, but if at least fifty percent of the descendants of each presumed Townsend sibling could be confirmed, I'd feel a little less tentative about the connection.

In addition, completing the process of looking at last wills and other documents at each sibling's passing in hopes of finding a sibling identified would be my next step. While the oldest of the presumed Townsends, born in the late 1700s, would not have an obituary written in their honor complete with names of surviving siblings, perhaps among the youngest members of the family, such a remembrance could be found. And looking for signs in wills—such as witnesses to the document or naming of executors—might reveal a brotherly connection.

As I've already witnessed, moving from last year until now, technology has made so many more records accessible and quickly retrievable. It is doubtful I would have found the estate sale inventory for Delaney or the guardianship appointment for her orphaned children without the help of FamilySearch.org Labs' Full Text search. Who knows what tools will be available to us in another couple years?

For now, we'll bid goodbye to my mystery third great-grandmother, Delaney Townsend Charles, and all the question I have about whatever became of her. It's time to look at the early life of a second great-grandfather, William Alexander Boothe. Born in 1812 in a now-nonexistent county in Virginia, by 1850 he had lost his wife and moved with his two young sons to a new life—and a new wife—in Tennessee. My task this month will be to see if I can rewind history to uncover documents about those earlier days back in Virginia. My hope is that, even if I can't pull those documents magically out of the hat, so to speak, I'll find a clear research path forward towards discovery.