Another Battles match
The Legal Genealogist has said it before and will (I devoutly hope) say it again and again:
I love cousins.
I especially love cousins who are willing to donate just that little bit of themselves that allows an analysis of their DNA against the rest of the family’s DNA.
Because every so often, the results say just what you hope they’ll say.
Case in point: my gawdawful Battles family.
This family is one that I’ve fought with for years. In large part, it’s because of what is at least a single and (more likely) a double out-of-wedlock situation. In a county where the courthouse burned. Twice.
I’ve written before about my third great grandmother, Margaret Battles, who married Daniel Shew sometime before 1849, most likely in Cherokee County, Alabama. There’s no record of their marriage; the Cherokee County courthouse burned twice, in 1882 and 1895.1 They had one child, William, by the 1850 census2 and two more — Gilford and my second great grandmother Martha Louise — by 1860, when Margaret appeared as head of household on the Cherokee County census, apparently a widow.3
We were pretty sure of Margaret’s maiden name, but, with those courthouse fires, documentary proof is hard to come by. We do have oral history passed down to Margaret’s great granddaughter, my grandmother;4 and the death certificate of her son William.5
We could add to that the fact that there was only one Battles family in Cherokee County, Alabama, at any time that could have included Margaret, and that’s the family of William Battles, who was enumerated in Cherokee County in 1840,6 1850,7 1860,8 and 1870.9
In the last few months, we’ve added some amazing bits and pieces, most particularly the fantastic DNA results of a cousin, Jack, who descends from a George Battles, whom we have long believed to be Margaret’s brother, and whose DNA results so strongly match everyone in my family that he should match that it leaves no doubt about George and Margaret being siblings.10
But even with that we have been up against one final question: who was the mother of the many Battles children? You see, William was married twice. His first marriage, to Kiziah Wright, resulted in a messy suit she brought against him for divorce that was finally dismissed in 1829, apparently when Kiziah died.11 His second wife was Ann Jacobs. They were married on Christmas Day 1829, and showed up on the 1830 census with — count ‘em — five children.12
So… how to prove whether Kiziah or Ann was the mother?
We needed a documented direct female-line descendant of Ann.
And a California man named Michael has stepped into that gap. He descends in an unbroken female line from Julia Battles, the middle of three female children enumerated with William and Ann in the 1850 census.
His mitochondrial DNA results will give us the final answer we need: if he matches me and my maternal cousin who’s tested, then we know that Ann was the mother of both Julia and Margaret. If he doesn’t match us, then the older children may well have been Kiziah’s children and not Ann’s.
And … sigh … no, those results aren’t in yet. My fingernail marks from climbing the walls are evidence of that.
But…
But…
But his autosomal results came in this week.
You can see from the chart above that we really really really needed Michael to match Jack and Thelma. At that level, he should be a third cousin once removed to both of them. The odds of a match at that level are good, but not guaranteed.
All I could do was cross my fingers that he shared enough DNA in common with these cousins to show up as a match.
And he does.
He shares 54cM of autosomal DNA with Jack, longest block 24cM, estimated relationship range second to fourth cousin. And he shares 40 cM of DNA with Thelma, longest block 18cM, estimated relationship range third to fifth cousin.
Family Tree DNA still reports, as to the mitochondrial results, that “This test is currently on order and matching will be possible when results come back.”
Oh, please…
SOURCES
- FamilySearch Research Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/), “Cherokee County, Alabama: Record Loss,” rev. 18 Nov 2014. ↩
- 1850 U.S. census, Cherokee County, Alabama, population schedule, 27th District, p. 136 (back) (stamped), dwelling 1055, family 1055, Danl Shew household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Nov 2014); citing National Archive microfilm publication M432, roll 3. ↩
- 1860 U.S. census, Cherokee County, Alabama, population schedule, p. 315 (stamped), dwelling 829, family 829, Margaret Shoe household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Nov 2014); citing National Archive microfilm publication M653, roll 5. ↩
- Interview with Opal Robertson Cottrell (Kents Store, VA), by granddaughter Bobette Richardson, 1980s; copy of notes privately held by Judy G. Russell. ↩
- Texas Department of Health, death certificate no. 10077 (1927), W.W. Shew (10 Mar 1927); Bureau of Vital Statistics, Austin. ↩
- 1840 U.S. census, Cherokee County, Alabama, population schedule, p. 116 (stamped), line 17, Wm Battles household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Mar 2014); citing National Archive microfilm publication M704, roll 3. ↩
- 1850 U.S. census, Cherokee Co., Ala., pop. sched., 27th Dist., p. 136 (stamped), dwell. 1052, fam. 1052, Wm Battles household. ↩
- 1860 U.S. census, Cherokee Co., Ala., pop. sched., p. 314-315 (stamped), dwell./fam. 825, Wm Battles household. ↩
- 1870 U.S. census, Cherokee Co., Ala., pop. sched., Leesburg P.O., p. 268(B) (stamped), dwell. 26, fam. 25, W Battles household. ↩
- See Judy G. Russell, “On with the Battles,” The Legal Genealogist, posted 13 April 2014 (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : accessed 22 Nov 2014). ↩
- Transcription, Records of the Blount County Circuit Court, 1824-1829; Circuit Court Clerk’s Office, Oneonta, Ala.; transcribed by Bobbie Ferguson; copy provided to J. Russell and held in files. ↩
- 1830 U.S. census, St. Clair County, Alabama, p. 252 (stamped), line 24, William Battles 2nd household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Mar 2014); citing National Archive microfilm publication M19, roll 4. ↩
Hang in there! It sounds like you’ve got this one wrapped up.
Judy, when you reach out to these potential cousins do you ever encounter resistance or apprehensiveness to testing? If so, how do you approach easing concerns and winning them over?
There’s often some hesitation or apprehension, and the best you can do is explain what the test could show, why you need the person’s help (and why he or she has DNA that’s so very important), why it isn’t likely to produce results that could be used against the test taker in (say) a court of law, and then pray. Even that doesn’t work all the time!
Stop marking up the walls, Judy! Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not ladylike… Oh, yeah, it’s you!!
Sounds like you are going to see exactly what you hope to see. Wonderful to have such helpful likely-cousins. Thanks for posting all the details. I’m watching closely and learning as you describe your rationale in testing, as I’m still trying to find my Northern Ireland Gillespie males, and your situation is somewhat analagous to mine. One day…
Celia, just keep asking and asking and asking cousins to test. I offer to pay for every single test that’s important to me. Sometimes cousins step up and do it themselves, and sometimes they need the incentive of me paying for it. But oh… it can be so worth it…
Just checking and if anyone wants to compare. I am from Archibald’s line. I grew up around the area in St. Clair County, Alabama. Here is my gedmatch A039784
My DNA on Ancestry showed 100% European. My e-mail is dareljoe@yahoo.com
You share small bits with my Battles cousins, Darrell! But check your email about another topic, please!
Any news?
Judy, when you use a phrase such as “whose DNA so strongly matches” in reference to a putative brother of your (distant) second-great-grandmother and flavored it with “only one Battles family in Cherokee County, Alabama, at any time that could have included,” are you saying this is proof?
I don’t mean “proof” that allows you to say “that’s him” in a lecture or a website. I mean PROOF that allows you to put in into your database where no one will ever re-examine it because Judy the expert said so? (Maybe George is William’s brother or whatever?)
I ask this not to challenge you, but because I have several such instances that I have not decided how to handle.
Only in combination with the available paper trail evidence, Israel. As you know, unless you’re testing very close relatives (like parent and child), autosomal DNA by itself can’t peg an exact relationship, even though it can prove that two people are related. Only when all the other bits and pieces are assembled can I construct a proof argument that they were brother and sister (and not, say, uncle and niece).
Just wanted to be sure.
But that said, I have some where there isn’t a full paper trail. Just hints, naming patterns, witnesses at namings etc etc.
That’s why we call it a proof argument, Israel. In many cases, there isn’t a full paper trail. In some cases, the paper trail is nothing but bits and pieces here and there. It’s our job as genealogists to assemble those bits and pieces into as full a story as possible, which often means filling in the gaps with DNA evidence.
I understand. I am still debating some of these points with myself.
Stop debating. Start writing. By actually working through the proof, and making your arguments, you’ll be able to see whether the case is good enough or needs more work. Go for it!
Judy, how do you do it? How do you convince so many of your distant cousins to take a DNA test? I know you’re persuasive but what’s your secret?
There isn’t any one answer, Michelle. Sometimes it’s really easy: the person is as excited about the idea as I am. Sometimes, it’s like pulling teeth: one distant cousin would only test if he could be listed in the database as John Doe [LastName]. In general, it’s a whole lot easier to convince someone to test when you’re sitting across from them (much harder for them to say no to you when you’re sitting there smiling, kit in hand), easier when the person is older (one of the most important “last gifts” in terms of family history the person can give), MUCH easier if they’ve served in the military (their DNA is already on file with the government so why not?).
Judy, did you ever find out if Margaret was the child of Ann or Keziah?
Thanks-
Kelley (descendant of William & Ann Battles)
Ann!!! Definitely Ann.
Someone once told me that Ann Jacobs was a Native American. I don’t know if he had any proof, but I wonder if her direct female descendants have one of those Native American haplogroups? Did anyone ever find out who her parents were?
Haven’t identified her parents yet, but her mtDNA haplogroup is H3g, which is definitely not a Native American haplogroup. And there’s no indication of Native ancestry in her descendants who have tested.