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.