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.