Using DNA to Find "F C Tucker"
Sometimes a DNA match will give just the right push in the
right direction to help break down a stubborn brick wall.
Last year, a Box family
mystery was solved using DNA and the newly launched Oklahoma Death Index. After researching a DNA match I
had received on 23andme.com, I was able to finally figure out who the 10 year old
granddaughter “F M Tucker” was in an 1880 census for my 2nd great-grandmother,
Roenna Box.
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| Clip of 1880 US Federal Census, Jack County, Texas, page 34 |
Roenna’s daughter and son-in-law, S A (Susan) and John Tucker,
were listed in Roenna’s household with their two young daughters, enumerated only by their initials. Click HERE to read about solving that
mystery and figuring out who F M Tucker was. The F M Tucker from the census record was our Florida Melissa Tucker (Stanford Leffel). Florida is connected to our family two ways: 1) through her mother Susan Box, sister to our Caldona Jane Box, and 2) through her 2nd husband, George Leffel, brother to our Charles Leffel. But, Florida only shares DNA with us from our common ancestors, Grief J Box and Roenna Johnson Box.
The F M Tucker puzzle was solved, but there was still the problem of the other daughter, listed only as 13 year old F
C Tucker in the 1880 census record.
So, who was F C Tucker, what was her name, and what happened to her??
About the time that Florida Tucker married Rufus Stanford in Wichita
County, Texas, there was another Wichita County, Texas marriage record -- Fannie Tucker married to James Saunders in 1884.
Could the Fannie Tucker in that 1884 marriage record be the missing F C Tucker, I wondered?? I could find no further records for a James and Fannie Saunders to support this theory -- no census records, vital records, newspapers -- nothing. Another dead-end...
Could the Fannie Tucker in that 1884 marriage record be the missing F C Tucker, I wondered?? I could find no further records for a James and Fannie Saunders to support this theory -- no census records, vital records, newspapers -- nothing. Another dead-end...
Using AncestryDNA Matches to Solve a Mystery
Last week while looking through my DNA matches on Ancestry.com, I noticed one of my matches had a tree that included a Fannie Tucker married to a James Sanders with a father, John Tucker. The tree had no facts or identifying information for Fannie, husband James Sanders, nor for her father John Tucker – no dates, no places, only their names. And, the James was a Sanders NOT a Saunders. So, could this be the right family?? I did not see any other way I could be sharing DNA with the the owner of the tree, so I needed to investigate.🕵️♀️
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| DNA match tree with Fannie Tucker (and John Tucker as a father) with husband James Sanders. |
I went back to look at the original 1884 Wichita County marriage record for the
Fannie Tucker to James Saunders and I noticed something funny. James Saunders name was spelled two different ways on the original certificate – Saunders on the license section on top and Sanders on the
marriage portion on the bottom.
So, which was right - Saunders or Sanders?
Could it be possible that this new DNA match with James Sanders and Fannie Tucker turn out to be the answer to the F C Tucker mystery??
Could it be possible that this new DNA match with James Sanders and Fannie Tucker turn out to be the answer to the F C Tucker mystery??
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| Wichita County, Texas, Marriage Record, Book 1, Page 14 |
It appears that the spelling of Saunders on the top half of the marriage record was wrong and that the correct spelling was Sanders. With that new information, I found a cemetery record for a James Sanders who died in 1891. But if James died in 1891, what happened to Fannie and their children after his death and where did she go? I could not find her or any of their children in the 1900 census.
The DNA match only had one child listed for James Sanders
and Fannie Tucker, a child named Lee Elmer Sanders (see above pedigree). So I started researching
him. I was able to put together a family
of his parents and three other siblings. But I could not find any of them in the 1900 census -- why??
Several of the death certificates for the siblings of Lee Elmer Sanders list their mother’s name as Fannie Caroline Tucker. This looking more and more like my lost “F C Tucker” from the 1880 census.
Several of the death certificates for the siblings of Lee Elmer Sanders list their mother’s name as Fannie Caroline Tucker. This looking more and more like my lost “F C Tucker” from the 1880 census.
I continued to research the DNA match ancestor Lee Elmer Sanders and found his obituary that listed half-siblings. That meant his mother Fannie
had married again.
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| Siblings listed from the Obituary of L E Sanders Notice the half brothers and half sister. |
I did a search for the names of the half-siblings and found the family in the 1900 census. It appears that Fannie Tucker Sanders married again in 1899 to Thomas Kirkham, and so in the 1900
census, she and all of her Sanders children are listed with her new husband’s surname
-- Kirkham.
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| 1900 US Federal Census, Jack County, Texas, page 82A, sheet 2 Fannie and her Sanders children enumerated with surname Kirkham. |
Once I had the information from the 1900 census, I was able to put Fannie's family together quite easily.
Fannie had four more children with her 2nd husband, Thomas W Kirkham. The Kirkham family moved to Oklahoma about 1904. Fannie died on 16 Jan 1944 and is buried in the Sunny Lane Cemetery in Del City, Oklahoma. I've updated all my trees and the family can now be found on my Ancestry tree, as well as on FamilySearch and on Find a Grave.
I was even able to find a newspaper clipping that connects Fannie (Mrs T W Kirkham) to her sister, Florida (Mrs G L Leffel). Florida went to visit Fannie in 1915.
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| Marlow Review (Marlow, Oklahoma), 5 Aug 1915 |
She fits into the family tree as shown:
Benefits of Knowing Your DNA Matches
When looking at the shared matches on Ancestry with my original Fannie Tucker descendant match, I can now figure out many more of my previously unknown DNA matches. Most of my matches on AncestryDNA do not have a tree, or do not have more than one or two generations filled out in their tree. But, because of the additional information I found on Fannie’s descendants (surnames & locations) I can now figure who many of the previously unknown DNA matches are.
Thanks to DNA, my tree is becoming more complete as I find more descendant lines.
Both DNA analysis and traditional genealogical research into historical records were required to solve this puzzle. It could not have been done without the DNA or the research into original records.
The DNA matches used for this post were found on AncestryDNA. Sadly AncestryDNA does not provide a chromosome browser, so the shared DNA between the descendants of Fannie and the descendants of her cousins have not been triangulated.😒 Descendants of Fannie should share DNA with other descendants of Grief J Box and Roenna Johnson.
The DNA matches used for this post were found on AncestryDNA. Sadly AncestryDNA does not provide a chromosome browser, so the shared DNA between the descendants of Fannie and the descendants of her cousins have not been triangulated.😒 Descendants of Fannie should share DNA with other descendants of Grief J Box and Roenna Johnson.
At the present time, there are 51 members in the AncestryDNA Circles for Grief J Box and for Roenna Johnson. If you have taken Ancestry's DNA test and descend from the Box family and want to be included in their AncestryDNA Circle, extend your family tree back to include Grief J Box and Roenna Johnson.
If tested at AncestryDNA, consider transferring the raw DNA to FamilyTreeDNA, MyHertiage, and/or GedMatch. Each of these companies provide a chromosome browser and many other tools.
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1 comment:
Good use of DNA to put together a family. Does anyone know what happened to the mother - Susan Ann Box Tucker? Or where she might have been buried? Maybe by her father Grief Johnson Box?
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