From the Rockville Charitable Loans, 1840

Ancestry. Rockville Charitable Loans. Ireland. 1840.

The image above comes from the Ireland, Sustainability Loan Fund, 1812-1868 file (Rockville Security Notebook 1838-1842). Either this shows my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget Gannon, borrowing 3 pounds in September 1840, or her aunt Bridget Hanley Gannon. The first security is Daniel Dominic Gannon, Bridget's father (or if this is for Bridget Hanley Gannon, her brother-in-law). Bridget would have been 16 then. A young, unmarried woman could borrow in her name during this time, but the loan needed to be for an income generating purpose, such as buying a spinning wheel, flax, wool, or hens or a pig to raise for market.

If the borrower was Bridget Hanley Gannon, she was a sister of Maria Hanley (my 4th-great-grandmother), who married Daniel's brother Michael Gannon in Roscommon on 25 February 1824.

The Rockville Charitable Loans was one of many Irish loan funds established to provide micro-credit loans. Roscommon is one of the key counties covered by the fund. 

According to the Internet, £3 in 1840 could have bought the following:

• A milk cow
• A pig
• A few sheep
• Raw wool, flax for spinning and weaving to sell
• Rent on a small plot of land
• Passage to North America

Daniel appears in the Rockville loan notebook as a security grantor throughout this 1837-1845 period, and received several loans himself.

I do not know which year Bridget arrived in America, or her port of entry. This advertisement from 1841 shows a £3 fare for steerage from Liverpool to New York.

Drogehda Argus, 3 Apr 1841.

Mary Polly and George

I previously wrote about Mary Polly Free, daughter of Nicholas Free, who married George Miller in Adair County, Kentucky on 22 November 1819. George and Polly moved to Illinois, and can be seen in the 1840 and 1850 US Census in Menard County, north of Springfield in the central part of the state.

Ancestry. 1850 US Census. Menard County, IL.

George died about October 1857, and Polly can be seen as the executor of his estate in the Menard County records via FamilySearch Full Text Search.

FamilySearch. Menard County, IL. 24 Nov 1857.

Polly appears in the 1860 and 1870 US Census in Menard County, and there are several records on the family in Menard County records on FamilySearch. According to this entry on Findagrave, Mary Polly Free Miller died on 22 August 1878 in Menard County and is buried in the family cemetery.

Our DNA matches from the Miller line descend from three of Polly's sons - Alfred, Robert and Lemuel. I am not certain if Polly was a full or half sister of William, but these DNA matches are quite small.

I believe Polly, Milly and George Free were children from an earlier marriage of Nicholas Free, half-siblings with William.

From the Robert Wilson Account Books

A key primary source collection for understanding daily life in Pittsylvania County, Virginia in the 1790s to early 1800s comes from the Robert Wilson Account Books. Three generations of Wilsons, starting with Col. John Wilson (1740-1820), kept business records from their general store at Dan's Hill (later Danville, Virginia). The general store was the primary commercial hub for the area in this time, acting as store, bank, craft workshop and community crossroads.

The collection is located at the University of North Carolina and searchable on FamilySearch, containing 80 volumes of daybooks, ledgers and shop accounts. Nicholas Free appears throughout the ledgers, and some examples are below, such as a November 1811 purchase of spectacles and a case.

FamilySearch. 4 Nov 1811.

In 1805, it looks like Nicholas sold John Wilson tobacco for the Danville store.

FamilySearch. 7 Dec 1805.

In June 1816, Wilson made three payments to Nicholas from cash for rent, again a payment in December 1816, and one in June 1817. It is unclear to me if this was cash to Nicholas so he could pay rent, or the other way around. Nicholas bought ginger in August 1816.

In May 1817, it looks like Nicholas sold Wilson a barrel of corn and two bushels of wheat.

FamilySearch. 24 May 1817.

FamilySearch. 3 Nov 1817.

On 3 November 1817, Nicholas sold a steer of beef for the store. 

Nicholas in Pittsylvania County

FamilySearch. Pittsylvania County, VA. 25 Nov 1814.

The record above was found using FamilySearch Full Text Search, showing Nicholas and Caty Free conveying 100 acres of land in November 1814. Directly above this notation mentioning Caty, is a signature mark by Nicholas. The following page shows Caty was acknowledged as the wife of Nicholas

FamilySearch. Pittsylvania County, VA.

Nicholas appears in a variety of Pittsylvania records from as early as 1796, including tax records, court records appointing him as part of a land surveyor group (1804) and responsible for roads, jury service (1803), laboring tithes and land transfers.

In 1810, he is shown with taxable property in the South District of Pittsylvania as Nicholas Free and son.

FamilySearch. Pittsylvania, VA. 1810 tax record.

Based on the headings from earlier pages (shown above), Nicholas had one son of 16 years in the household in 1810, and was taxed on owning one horse. He had no slaves.

In June 1811, Nicholas Free is listed in the Camden Parish records for the Episcopal Church in Pittsylvania County as keeping the "bastard child of Elizabeth Nelson, named Joel Nelson".

There is no marriage record for Nicholas to Caty (or Catherine), but it's possible they were married after 1811, before the 1814 entry shown at the top of the post.

On 7 November 1810, Nicholas signed a marriage bond for daughter Milly to Anguish Shaw.

FamilySearch. Pittsylvania County, VA.

My Mom and her sisters have at least 50 DNA matches descending from Milly.

A path from Virginia to Kentucky

Google Maps. Pittsylvania County, VA to Adair County, KY.

In January 1819, Nicholas Free might have made the journey from Pittsylvania County, Virginia to the developing lands of Adair County, Kentucky, along the Crocus Creek tributary of the Cumberland River. By 1819, the main route west through the mountains was well established, but at 400-450 miles it was still an arduous overland trek potentially through mud, ice, snow and freezing river crossings. This may have been a three to five week journey.

Traveling from Pittsylvania County, Nicholas and companions would have followed early local wagon trails to Big Lick (modern day Roanoke), then picking up the great wagon road heading southwest into the Great Valley of Virginia. He would have continued along the road to Abingdon, continuing into East Tennessee (the stomping grounds of my Jones family line).

LOC.gov. Abraham Bradley's 1812-1821 Post Road map.

LOC.gov. 

By this time those moving to south-central Kentucky continued on trails following along the Cumberland River.

Nicholas and family settled on a corner of Adair County, along the Crocus Creek, which later became part of Russell County, Kentucky in 1825. The copy isn't great, but the 1861 Metcalfe County marriage entry for my 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Jane Free lists her father William's birthplace as Russell County.

Ancestry. Metcalfe County, KY. 27 June 1861.

How do I know Nicholas Free came from Pittsylvania County, Virginia? I'll pick this up in the next post, thanks once again to FamilySearch Full Text Search.
 

Thrulines for Nicholas Free

Ancestry. Thrulines.

With a current hypothesis that Nicholas Free is the father of William Free, I've put this into Ancestry's Thrulines tool to see what it shows for DNA matches descending from Nicholas. There are definitely DNA matches to explore. Some of these I stumbled across while doing the hard work of digging through my network of matches descending from William Matthews and Martha Jane Free, separating off the Matthews side from the Free side, and then looking for "leftovers" or ungrouped matches who might point to the parents of William Free.

These people are low matches, in the 4th to 5th cousin range, sharing small centimorgans with my Mom and her sisters. Due to multiple relationships and endogamy among the population of settlers in this part of Kentucky and colonial Virginia, there are additional challenges and there are a lot of overlaps with the Gibson and Flatt families in Adair, Barren and Metcalfe counties.

Additional complications include:

• The 50 acres patented by Nicholas Free in 1819 in Adair County became part of Russell County when it was formed in 1825.
• There does not appear to be an estate record formally acknowledging the land transfer from Nicholas to Caty and George, but the Adair County tax records seem to indicate that happened.
• There's no guardian record in Adair or Russell County as far as I can tell, naming William after the death of Nicholas around 1822.
• William does not appear in George Free's household in 1830 or 1840.
• William is in the 1845 and 1847 Barren County tax records for his own household.
• There's no marriage record for William Free and Nancy Clark from about 1841-1842, but William does appear on the 1842 Barren County tax record.
• William's son, William Jacob Free, did not have children, so there's no possible YDNA testers to test descending from his line. I am not sure if male direct descendants of George Free exist for YDNA testing either.

This brings me back to Mary Polly Free and Milly Free, sisters (or more likely half-sisters) of William. There are at least 57 DNA matches or more descending from them, giving me some confidence I'm on the right track in pursuing Nicholas Free.

In the Adair County Tax Records

FamilySearch. Adair County, KY. 1824.

The image above shows an 1824 tax record in Adair County, Kentucky for Caty Free on 50 acres, originally patented by N. Free. She had two horses. Further down the page is an entry for George Free, who was at least 21 years old then.

In February 1819, Nicholas Free patented 50 acres of land in Adair County. He appears on the Adair County tax list for 1819 (on FamilySearch see entry) with two horses.

Nicholas appears in the 1820 US Census in Adair County, as seen below, and on the Adair tax list (see on FamilySearch here).

Ancestry. 1820 US Census. Adair County, KY.

Reading the tick marks on the entry can be a bit of a challenge, but I believe it shows Nicholas in his household as a male over 45, and with a male child between 10-16, a daughter under 10, another female in the household between 16-26, and two over 45.

George Miller and Polly Free were married in Adair County on 22 November 1819. I'll be returning to this couple in another post. I think Polly was a daughter of Nicholas Free, and I'm seeing some DNA matches descending from her.

I think Nicholas died before 1824, possibly 1822. George Free is listed on the 50 acres of land in the 14th District of Adair in 1822, but not Nicholas. George is shown with 3 horses. In 1823, Catherine Free appears on the 50 acres of land with two horses.

George and Catherine Free appear on the Russell County, Kentucky tax record for 1829. Catherine's name appears for 50 acres originally patented by N. Free on Sand Lick Creek. I think George is a son of Nicholas Free, and Catherine is Nicholas' widow. By 1837, George Free is associated with the 50 acre plot in Russell County.

In the 1830 US Census in Russell County, George Free and family are living with a woman who was between 60 and 70, this is probably Catherine. She is not listed in George's household in the 1840 US Census.

I'm not certain yet that Nicholas Free was the father of William, but I'm leaning in that direction. There are several interesting DNA matches to consider, and I'll take that up in another post.

An overlap in journeys

AncestryDNA. 

Earlier in the month I had a post on my Dad's Ancestral Journeys showing Central Ireland. Above is an image from a portion of my Mom's Ancestral Journeys showing an overlap in Kentucky. In particular I'm looking at Barren to Adair and Upper Cumberland County, Kentucky Settlers; Eastern Pennyroyal Settlers; Upper Cumberland Plateau Settlers; and Southern Midwestern Settlers.

There's a big group of family lines who settled in these areas, but for the current research I'm looking at the Free family. The paper trail shows the family moving to Adair County, Kentucky in 1819, and in tax and land records in Adair, Barren, Metcalfe and Russell Counties. Some related lines were also in Cumberland County, Kentucky.

Mid-month Progress

I don't usually have a mid-month research progress post, but this month the updates are hitting quickly. I've had another expert consultation through YourDNAGuide as part of the DNA Skills Workshop, and I'm pleased to see I'm very much on target with my hypothesis around the parents of Bridget Gannon. I have some good next steps for strengthening this case further, including a dive toward the present on the siblings of Bridget. Until recently I had no idea Bridget had siblings, but it looks like she did. This may give some new DNA matches to explore.

Looking into the parents of my 4th-great-grandfather William Free, using my Mom's DNA results, I may have found his parents through a combination of analyzing DNA matches and doing the genealogy. This needs some careful review, but the suggestion looks very promising so far. Signs point to Milly Free as a sister or half-sister of William.

It may be time again to pick up the search on the Guerrero-Leyva branch to the Portillos, now that I have some new skills in the genetic toolkit.

I'm continuing to add to the chromosome mapping on DNAPainter, so a longer recap is coming on where things stand across my kit, my Mom's and Dad's.

Finally, any day now through the rest of September into mid October, Ancestry will be rolling out the 2026 update to their DNA results, promising more refined ancestral journeys, new regions, and potentially regions by grandparent. As always, it will be fascinating to compare the changes over time with prior AncestryDNA updates.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2026

LACMA. Photo from 9 Aug 2026.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from 15 September to 15 October each year. Most years I have a post associated with my connection to the culture (see 15 Sept 2025). This year I'm highlighting two art pieces that are near each other at the new David Geffen Galleries at LACMA, one a painting of an indigenous woman with marigolds from 1876, and a photo by George Rodriguez titled Boyle Heights from 1970.

George Rodriguez. Boyle Heights, 1970.

There's a strong juxtaposition between the two even though these are not placed in the same room in the museum, these are near enough, and my mind instantly linked the two. The painting depicts a pregnant indigenous woman, perhaps not unlike an early ancestor from the colonial period, and in the photo, the woman is wearing bullets next to a Viva La Raza poster. I see the photo, and my mind goes to Liga Protectora Latina, the organization my 2nd-great-grandfather Vicente Campuzano was part of in 1915. I'd like to think the girl in the photo is a two or three times great-granddaughter of the woman in the painting. They are not, but seeing the two closely sets up Hispanic Heritage Month.

Lucy

Ancestry. Kentucky Marriages. Barren County, KY. 1847.

In June 1847, a younger sister of Nancy Hayden Clark Free, Lucy Ann Clark, married James Shaw in Barren County, Kentucky. Lucy and James moved to neighboring Metcalfe County by 1860, appearing in East Fork, the same district where William Free and older sister Nancy were living. James' mother was Milly Free.

I have not yet determined the connection between William and Milly, but it seems like this could be more than a coincidence.

In my Mom's DNA matches, there's an 18 cM match whose 3xgreat-grandfather was a brother of James Shaw, descending from Milly. There are two siblings, one a 25 cM match, the other 14 cM, who also descend from Milly. There's a bit of work to do in order to determine if Milly and William Free are siblings or cousins.

Next Steps on the Free Family

I am attempting to identify the parents of William Free, my 4th-great-grandfather, using my Mom's DNA matches on the various platforms. I had previously built a network of Matthews-Free matches descending from my 3rd-great-grandparents William Matthews and Martha Jane Free. A complication in looking for descendants of William Free and Nancy Hayden Clark, among their four children, only Martha Jane had children of her own. In order to separate out the matches who may descend from William's parents, I need to peel off all the Matthews matches from the Clark-Hensley matches. This should leave "leftovers" who descend from the families of William's parents.

This approach worked well to identify the parents of Bridget on my Dad's Irish side, so I'm attempting a similar method on my Mom's side of the tree, one generation back. Another challenge is the presence of multiple relationships and endogamy among these Kentucky-Virginia settlers. I can clearly see overlaps among my Mom's Whitley/Wheatley, Read/Cain/Gibson and Matthews branches.

Among the groups I'm building on Ancestry, there already over 1100 matches in the Matthews-Free group. I'm in the process of building out the Clark-Hensley group, and then need to separate off the Matthews side from the Free side. I am hoping to have another update later in the week on separating these groups and working with the mystery matches who might point to the Free network.

Rountree v Free

FamilySearch. Warren County, KY. 1 Nov 1900.

After the death of William Free, Pleasant P. Rountree brought a suit against William's heirs, Nancy Hayden Free (my 4th-great-grandmother), his daughter Elizabeth Clark Martin, and my 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Jane Free Matthews. Rountree later added to the lawsuit William Jacob Free, son of William and Nancy.

Rountree claimed William Free purchased a plot of 32 acres of land in Warren County from him in August 1879, and agreed to pay a promissory note over the years for the land. The heirs of William challenged the suit, denying the claims from Rountree.

It looks like the court ruled in favor of Rountree, and the property was sold in 1904 for $300.

William and Nancy

Before diving into the Warren County, Kentucky Court case involving my 4th-great-grandparents, William Free and Nancy Hayden Clark Free, I need to step back and properly introduce William and Nancy. William is currently a brick wall, I do not know his parents or where he came from in Kentucky. I do not have a marriage record for William and Nancy, but I do have the names of their children, and US Census entries in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 for William and Nancy together. Let's start there.

In the 1850 US Census, William and Nancy appear in Division 2, Barren County, Kentucky, living two houses down from Nancy's parents Jonathan and Martha Clark. My 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Jane Free is listed in the household with her older sister Elizabeth C. Free.

Ancestry. 1850 US Census. Barren County, KY.

By 1860, the family had moved to neighboring Metcalfe County with Nancy's mother, Martha Patsy Clark, and added a son, William Jacob Free.

Ancestry. 1860 US Census. Metcalfe County, KY.

Martha Jane married William Matthews on 27 June 1861 in Metcalfe County. My recap on the family of William and Martha Jane is here from 2017. The marriage entry lists Martha's parents as born in Russell County, Kentucky (for William Free) and Virginia (for Nancy). 

In the 1870 US Census, William Free, Nancy and son William appear in Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky. Nancy is listed as cannot read or write.

Ancestry. 1870 US Census. Barren County, KY.

By 1880, the family is shown in Roseville, Barren County, Kentucky. The 1880 entry states William's father was born in Kentucky and mother in Virginia, so those are leads to pursue on another search.

Ancestry. 1880 US Census. Barren County, KY.

This exhausts the census records for William, who died before 16 June 1900. Nancy appears as a widow in the 1900 US Census in Elk Spring, Warren County, Kentucky, living with her daughter Elizabeth.

Ancestry. 1900 US Census. Warren County, KY.

The census entries provide some hints of where to look next using FamilySearch Full Text Search, for records involving William and Nancy in Barren, Metcalfe and Warren County, Kentucky.

Another source of information on William and Nancy may be found in the Civil War pension files. It looks like William H. Free enlisted in the Union Army, 15th Kentucky Cavalry. There is a pension card on Fold3, and another on Ancestry listing Nancy with a widow's pension file number.

Fold3. US Civil War pensions index.

Ancestry. General index to pension files.

Martha Jane's Testimony

FamilySearch. Warren County, KY.

Thanks once again to FamilySearch Full Text Search, I've found a page of testimony signed by my 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Jane Free Matthews, in the case P. P. Rountree vs Nancy Free in Warren County, Kentucky Court, dated about 1903. While I've looked at the Matthews side, Martha Jane's side has some brick walls after her father William Free. I'll be diving into this case, and peeling back the layers on this mystery branch.

RootsTech 2027 session notices going out

At the end of May I submitted two session proposals for RootsTech 2027. This afternoon, the decline notices arrived from the RootsTech team. I'm really ok with it. I know they receive a ton of proposals each year and need to weigh the proposals with the themes, and talks from established names in the space. I'll still attend in person and I am looking forward to seeing which sessions made it through the competitive process.

The branch that went to New Zealand

Among the many DNA matches connected to my Dad's results on MyHeritage, one 14.3 cM match from New Zealand has a small tree showing her maternal grandfather's Hanley line. These Hanleys arrived from Ireland in 1863, settling in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. John, his brother Patrick, and their sister Margaret Hanley settled in and around the Waimate and Morven Districts. Other trees on Ancestry show John Hanley as a son of Murtagh Hanley and Mary Fahey, and that John was born in Galway in 1843. 

Galway may have been the port the Hanleys sailed from, but it's very likely their roots trace back to Roscommon, 77 km away. Just like the cluster of Australian matches connected to the Gannon-Hanley group, this New Zealand branch shows a group of brave Irish immigrants made the long journey around the world in search of a better life.

Path in the Park

Vincent van Gogh. Path in the Park. 17-18 Sept 1888.

 

Ancestry's Regions by Parent and Grandparent Coming Soon

Ancestry. DNA regions by parent and grandparents.

Some AncestryDNA customers may have already begun to see updates on their accounts with a new feature - regions by parent and grandparents. This updated version of Ancestry's SideView is supposed to provide additional information about ancestral regions by grandparents. I don't have this yet, but am really interested to see what it says.

Don't overlook Ancestral Journeys

Ancestry. Journeys close-up.

Between 2024 and 2025, Ancestry renamed Genetic Communities to Ancestral Journeys as part of its AncestryDNA feature. In the next month or so Ancestry is likely to release its 2026 DNA update, and it will be very interesting to see how they keep improving on this powerful tool. In 2025, I used my Dad's ancestral journey for Central Ireland (concentrated around Lough Lee and the border of Roscommon and Longford) to hypothesize this journey belonged to the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. Knowing what I know now, it's incredible that two years ago the DNA was pointing at this exact spot in Central Ireland. 23&Me's Ancestry Composition update also aligns with this region of Ireland for my results.

Ancestry. Journeys map for Roscommon and Longford.

Another of her majesty's soldiers

Fold3. UK Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Service Records.

In June 2024, I shared entries from the British Army pensioner records for Timothy Hanley. I now think Timothy was an older brother of my 4th-great-grandmother Maria Hanley, mother of Bridget Gannon. Another Hanley soldier appears in the same records, Martin Hanley. According to his service record, Martin was born in Kilgeevin, County Roscommon, Ireland about 1813. This location is very close to Cloontuskert and Termonbarry (seen on the map in this post from 23 August 2026). He enlisted in the 73rd Regiment of Foot on 4 November 1832, receiving half a crown for signing as a recruit.

Martin was deployed to Gibraltar four months, then to the Mediterranean (Valletta, Malta then Corfu, Greece) for three and a half years, and North America (Nova Scotia) for three years, and the remainder of his time in Great Britain. His service ended on 28 June 1843 and he was approved for a medical discharge on 6 July 1843.

The service record includes a great description of his height and features, brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.

I think Martin was discharged and under home depot service from 1839 through 1843. There is a Martin Hanley who married Ellenora Igo and appears in the 1850 US Census in Salisbury, La Salle County, Illinois. This Martin is the ancestor of three of my Dad's DNA matches. I think this is the same person as the Martin Hanley who served in the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which means Martin was likely a brother of Timothy, Thomas and Maria Hanley.

FamilySearch Wiki on Roscommon

FamilySearch wiki for Roscommon, Ireland.

As I dive further into the records on the Gannon and Hanley families in Roscommon and Longford, Ireland, it is a good reminder to check what sources are available using the helpful FamilySearch wiki. My particular connections point to the border of Roscommon and Longford, at the historic crossing of Termonbarry. While I've looked at some of these records in the past, it is always helpful to revisit these sources to see if there are new records that might have been added or overlooked.

Termonbarry, Roscommon. JohnGrenham.

Research Progress September 2026

With the calendar change to a new month it is time for another recap on my research progress. The main focus of August was the DNA Skills course and determining the family of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. Toward the end of August I seemed to have enough DNA signs to make the case for Daniel Gannon and Maria Hanley as the parents of Bridget.

There's a bit more work to do, and I am continuing to build out a genetic map linking a 44 cM match descending from a brother of Daniel Gannon, and a 23 cM match descending from a brother of Maria Hanley. The Gannons may have had a sibling who left Ireland for Australia, as there's a cluster of Australian matches also in common with HD, the 44 cM match, and his niece, a 26 cM match.

The other research questions I listed in my August post carry over to this month. I may switch over to the maternal side of the tree once I've had my 1:1 meeting with an expert coach as part of the DNA Skills course and confirm if I'm on the right track with my hypothesis for Daniel and Maria.