Weeks 5 – 9 – Challenge and More

Welp…I made it to week 4 and flopped! So, to catch up…

Week 5 – Challenge

Boy am I challenged to keep up the writing. I have been banging my head on two lines, Tucker and DeJean. I don’t know how long my stubbornness will last before I throw my hands in the air and move it along.

Otherwise, I continue to work on reviewing and updating my source citations. I am on the Madden line, Rosetta’s grandmother.

Week 6 – Surprise

Well, aren’t you surprised I finally wrote an entry. But seriously, I would like to say I was surprised by a new DNA tool FTDNA just launched. I was certainly excited. It’s called the MitoTree and is detailed more on Roberta Estes’ DNAeXplained blog.

So, what did the MitoTree do for us? Sadly, nothing new, so no surprises. But this may be because the data is still being analyzed on the big ole database.  I look forward to seeing how some of the new sub-tools in the MitoTree shed light on how our exact mtDNA matches relate to us. Supposedly it could help me narrow down which generation to focus around to find that elusive Tucker matriarch.

However, as I was revisiting our X-match cousins, I stumbled on a 2nd-3rd cousin whose ancestors were (at one time) in Herkimer County, New York. What?! That would be where Marian Tucker was orphaned. I still need to pull the sting more on that.

Week 7 – Letters & Diaries

Aaaaannddd…., I have fallen off my Letters Home series and still have a few more of Ken’s letters to transcribe. Then, I will transcribe the letters in Ken’s ditty box. More to follow.

Week 8 – Migration

I have written extensively on migration already. We all know how migratory our Rhoades’ are; every generation ups and moves. Even me.

But how can migration help me do my research? Well, one tip that experts give when using DNA to break through those brick walls is to look for similar ancestral locations around the same time as your brick wall’s location. While our ancestor’s children and grandchildren may have migrated away from the ancestral home, they moved to the same general areas together, which means I should be able to trace the generational movements of our DNA matches back to the ancestral home…right? Ugh. See Week 6’s topic. It’s not as easy as I had hoped.

This brings us to week 9’s topic.

Week 9 – Family Secret

Ok…can you keep a secret? So can I!!!

I have a small mystery that can only be resolved by learning a family secret.  This should be easy, right?   We have recorded seven children for Hugh Coomer and Sarah Batey Coomer. The family has always maintained that Eugene Coomer is the biological son of Hugh and Sarah. There are even family photos that include him as a very young child. But in 2017 while I was perusing court records, I came across an entry for Eugene Coomer’s guardianship in 1904.  Eugene was still a minor, but over the age of 14. The courts appointed guardians for minors under the age of 14, and permitted them to choose their guardians until the age of majority..

Question #1 – if Eugene is the biological son of Hugh, why would he need to legally choose him as a guardian?  

Question #2 – if Eugene is not the biological son of Hugh, whose child is he?  I have a file on all Coomers living in Boyle County, Kentucky at this time, even the cousins of Hugh Coomer, but none had a child named Eugene recorded.

Question #3 – is Eugene even a Coomer, and if not, what surname would he have had before? Could he be a child of a Batey cousin?

Upcoming 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks topics:

Week 10 (Mar. 5-11) Siblings
Week 11 (Mar. 12-18) Brick Wall
Week 12 (Mar. 19-25) Historic Event
Week 13 (Mar. 26-Apr. 1) Home Sweet Home