Research Progress October 2026

September included a rare mid-month research progress update with the findings of the likely parents of my 4th-great-grandfather William Free, the DNA breakthroughs on the Free line, and additional paper trail discoveries on Nicholas and Caty Free in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. 

A big focus for September was continuing with the DNA Skills workshop, which is wrapping up in the next two weeks. I've been really pleased with the format, the coaching and tools provided by the YourDNAGuide team. It's been worth it. I can honestly say I would not have been able to work through the brick wall challenges on my Dad's side to discover the parents of Bridget Gannon, or the bonus work on the parents of William Free on my Mom's side. I'm looking forward to putting these improved skills to work on the Guerrero-Leyva matches in October and November.

My Paternal Side

I'm continuing to build out trees for matches connected to the Gannons and Hanleys, particularly those Australian and New Zealand matches who tie back to Bridget's Roscommon roots. I'm also adding to the chromosome mapping and have a status update on that work coming up.

Also on my Dad's side of the tree, I'm attempting to identify the parents of my 4th-great-grandfather Thomas Green, using the same approach that worked on my Mom's side for William Free's parents. A longer term project is to find additional testers for my Jones YDNA. Both questions may pick up more in December.

My Maternal Side

It's time to return to some of the questions I was working in June:

1. Portillo DNA matches & the Guerrero-Leyva matches
2. Amado DNA matches and building a genetic map for the Amado side of the tree
3. Campuzano YDNA

Exploring Ancestry's 2026 DNA Update

The AncestryDNA 2026 update will heavily feature in my posts, including observations on changes in my ancestral origins for my kit and the ones I manage, SideView 2.0 and journeys by grandparents, and other discoveries. Mark your calendar for 8 October if you have DNA results with Ancestry. There's a lot of amazing information I'm anticipating to see in the 2026 update.

On the map

Derrymoylin townland. IrishRoots.ie.

The map above overlaps one I shared last month for the parish of Termonbarry, Roscommon. The townland of Derrymoylin was home to the Dooner family before they left Ireland for America. We don't know for certain when Patrick and Bridget Dooner made the journey from Roscommon to Ireland, but they were in La Salle in 1849, when Patrick, his two sons Hugh and John, and Patrick's father Hugh died from cholera. Patrick's brother Owen was in La Salle at least by 1846. This gives another area to mine for information about Bridget before her departure for a new life. The location is close to Strokestown Park and the Irish National Famine Museum.

Bali Sunrise

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Bali, 25 Oct 2013.

This sunrise photo of a fisherman and child I've shared before, after returning from a conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia in October 2013. In a few weeks I'll be back in the same spot, as our October meeting will be there.

2026 Ancestry Origins Coming Soon

Ancestry Blog. 24 Sept 2026.

Ancestry teased the upcoming release of the 2026 AncestryDNA update in a blog published earlier today. The update includes SideView 2.0, a larger reference panel, and new region assignment algorithm. There will be new regional and cultural specificity for Mexico and Central America, which is very exciting for my Mom's side of the tree. There may also be ancestral journeys by grandparents included in the release.

The new update is likely to launch in early October, perhaps in the next two weeks.

RootsTech 2027 registration is open

Registration is now open for RootsTech 2027, the world's largest family history conference. RootsTech will be at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, 4-6 March 2027. Online registration is free! In person registration is $99 for a three day pass or $69 a day for individual days. While I wasn't selected as a speaker for RootsTech, I'll be going in person.

From past experience and knowing how schedules for large events come together, it will be a few months before the session schedule is released. Even if you follow online, there's always a ton of great talks and new information. For those going in person (see my posts from RootsTech 2025, here and here), RootsTech is an amazing event. 

What's in a Name

A helpful new video on YouTube from the International Institute of Genealogical Studies titled Irish Research: What's in a Name by Samantha John. The video is 22 minutes long, and provides some practical guidance on dealing with name changes across Irish, English and Latin in researching families in Ireland. I'm finding these tips really useful as I continue the dive through the Irish records on my branches in Roscommon and Longford. 

DNA in the news: History by a Hair

There's a new book out today on the DNA analysis of Thomas Jefferson's hair, definitively linking him to the children of his slave, Sally Hemings. The book is called History by a Hair, from Smithsonian scholar Richard Kurin. See this article in the New Yorker (21 Sept 2026) titled the Lost Descendants of Thomas Jefferson, and this one from NPR today.

The connection between Jefferson and Hemings is not new, going back to when Jefferson was alive. I am interested in the genetics, DNA analysis, and the subject is timely and fascinating.  

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.