DNA Proves Family Lore

 As I work through DNA matches about which Ancestry suggests a common ancestor, I like to research everyone from the common ancestor forward through to the person with matching DNA. Then I add all the new information to my family tree.

My three times great grandmother was Anna Mariah or Marie Waldrond (1782-1868)1. Several of my Waldron DNA matches share Anna's father, Benjamin Walrond (died 1811) as our common ancestor as did this interesting match:

Ancestry.com suggested common ancestor; courtesy Ancestry.com

I had researched Thomas, John and Samuel Washington Waldron extensively. According to my research Samuel Washington Waldron didn't have a daughter named Sallie Bell and why was her maiden name Presley?

I found this note posted by Ancestry.com user Timothy Hunt in 2007:

Courtesy Ancestry.com

After much research, I discovered that the family lore outlined above was true as proved by my DNA to Sallie Belle's grandson as well as several other shared matches that could only be matches to me if a son of John Waldron fathered Sallie Bell. 

What Nina's grandmother, Bertha (Altizer) Waldron failed to mention however, was that Bertha's father Cecil Corbin Altizer was born before Bertha's marriage to Augustus Spotts Waldron, Samuel Washington Waldron's brother. Such a tangled, but oh so interesting family tree.

Relationships between Waldron and Altizer families; created using
Microsoft Powerpoint

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1 Spelling of the Walrond surname was later changed to Waldron.

Will "My" Coy Franklin Hicks Please Stand Up?

Mary Inez Muir was my first cousin once removed, the eldest daughter of my grand uncle, Henry "Jack" Muir and his first wife, Mary Frances Canterbury. Mary Inez was born on 8 January 1922 in Raven, Virginia. According to her granddaughter, she was married as many as nine times. So far, I have found at least the surnames of eight husbands. 

On 26 January 1994 Mary Inez married Coy Franklin Hicks in Tazewell County, Virginia. For years I could not find any additional information about Coy beyond his name. Earlier this week, I tried searching for him again. I had more success than I bargained for and found three men named Coy Franklin Hicks!

Virginia marriage record for Mary Inez and Coy Franklin Hicks; 
courtesy of Ancestry.com

Coy Franklin Hicks

• Born: 17 June 1917 in Caretta, West Virginia, to Mitchell and Rebecca "Beckie" (Boothe) Hicks.
• Died: 23 May 1999 in Tazewell County, Virginia
• Married: 1) Kathleen Hopkins (died in 1988) in 1938 and 2) Mary Inez Muir in 1994; no known children

Coy Franklin Hicks

• Born: 21 December 1918 in Davidson County, North Carolina, to Marvin and Cora Louise (Klass) Hicks
• Died: 8 June 1971 in Thomasville, North Carolina
• Married: 1) Dorothy Mae Loveless in 1938; one known child

Coy Franklin Hicks

• Born: after 1940 to Coy Harrison and Elma H. (Ward) Hicks
• Married: 1) Carolyn Joy Harris and 2) Trudy (maiden name unknown); three known children by his first wife

I was able to discount the North Carolina Coy Franklin Hicks fairly quickly as he died before the 1994 marriage to Mary Inez Muir. However, I added him to my tree in order to have facts about him readily available so I could better analyze each record I was finding to determine to which Coy Franklin Hicks they related.

However, I had a "stray" marriage record that led to the third Coy Franklin Hicks. On that record he and wife, Carolyn Joy Harris, were the parents of the bride. Was this "my" Coy Franklin Hicks? Determining there was actually a third man with that name was confirmed by the obituaries of Elma (Ward) Hicks and Tina Joy (Hicks) Stewart. To find those obituaries, though, required more researching. That's how I end up with unrelated people in my family tree. And research notes with links to all the men named Cory Franklin Hicks so I, and others in the future, don't have to do the research again.

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Unraveling Henry's Children: Mary Inez Muir (1922-2002)