Monday, February 2, 2015

Elmore and Elmer Ancestors by Cousinship

Okay. Here there be dragons.

By it's very nature this family tie is...difficult. There is no paper trail to connect to here, only some DNA evidence, rough proximity and timing. This listing constitutes my best guess at the time given Autosomal and Y DNA Evidence. I've been wrong. I'll be wrong again...but I'm tired of trying to describe this family to people so I need a standard cousin listing like my other families.

Another note about the family, some of their lines are shrouded in mystery. Several family trees do not progress beyond James Walsworth Elmore. Ironically, that is where my Y match to the Elmers and Elmores comes into play.

Here is a list of my dad's most likely "Elmore and Elmer" relatives by cousinship:

****2nd cousin sharing great grandparents****
This is going to be tough. There are several men I suspect could be my dad's great grandfather. I have no Y test closer than Hezekiah Elmer born in 1686 to guide me. I do have the convenient proximity of this family in Peoria IL (and surrounding areas) in 1924 and the results of one autosomal test. The match was good on the autosomal test, but at a 3rd cousin range when I was expecting a 2nd cousin. Also the matching segments don't triangulate to any known members of any family yet.

I'm going to list the couples that might foot the bill. As a result there will be way too many people here and lots of notes. Take your pick.

Elbridge Walsworth Elmore 1850 Clinton NY.
Sarah Jane Hargraves 1844 NY
note: I think this couple is unlikely because they move back to New York putting them a bit out of reach.

Herbert Leslie "Darby" Elmore 1870 Peru Clinton NY
Elta Mabel Davidson 1880 Illinois
note: I don't see any children for this couple.

Halsey Orton Elmore 1866 NY
Etta Mae VanHouten 1868 Ill
note: multiple sons. This family was my first choice. A descendant of Halsey is a good autosomal match for my dad, but in the 3rd cousin range. That makes me think it could be one of Halsey's brothers.

James W Elmore 1864 NY
Elmira 1871 Ill
note: no children listed.

Asa Buell Elmore 1857 Clinton NY
Georgetta Craft 1867 PA.
note: the Craft family name appears quite a bit among genetic relatives of my grandfather, but these Crafts go back to Germany while the others do not.

William Ernest Elmore 1854 Clinton NY
Elizabeth Cranford 1860 Ill.
note: There may be a connection through some of Elizabeth's Harrell family to genetic relatives at 23 and me and FTDNA who have Crawford and Harrell families. It would be a very old autosomal match.


****3rd cousin sharing 2nd great grandparents****
Some of these will be missing. Without knowing which guy could be a great grandfather, I'll stick to listing the two people I feel most confident of. This would be the most likely common ancestors for the autosomal tester in the Elmore family.


James Walsworth (or Walworth) Elmore 
Birth: 1823 Essex NY
Death: 1904 Seville, Fulton, IL

Lydia Ann Hicks
1824 NY
1887 Seville, Fulton, IL



****4th cousin sharing 3rd great grandparents****

James Elmore 

birth 1798 Peru, Clinton, NY
death 1833 Peru Clinton NY

Katherine Cochrane
birth 1803 
death 1825 Peru Ny

Amizi Amaziah Hicks
birth 1788 NY
death 1870 Seville, Fulton, IL

Lydia Ann Fuller Irish
birth 1793 Peru, Clinton, NY
death 1869 Seville, Fulton, IL


****5th cousin sharing 4th great grandparents****

John Elmore
birth 1766 Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts
death 1840 Peru, Clinton, NY

Elizabeth Hay
birth 1778 Quebec Canada
death 1851 Peru Clinton NY

Here the Hicks, Fuller (or Irish) and Cochrane families have kind of disappeared. I've poked at them a bit but I haven't pushed them any farther.

Elizabeth Hay is the daughter of William Hay from Scotland and his wife Elizabeth Williams who may have been from the U.S. 


John Elmore is the son of Daniel Elmer and Mary Norton from Franklin Mass. Daniel is the son of Hezekiah Elmer and his wife Miriam Standish Janes of Massachusetts. That brings us to our closest Y match.