52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #31 Robert Hairston Married Sarah Lang

The solid lines indicate that the connection to the family is documented while
the dotted lines indicate that direct evidence has not yet been found to
make the connection. Click on the family tree to see a larger image.

No Story Too Small

I am a little behind in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. This is post #31 and by Wednesday, I hope to be caught up with post #33. 

Since my last post about John Hairston of Alabama (NOT my great-great-grandfather), three distant relatives mentioned Robert Hairston and Sarah Lang in their email. So, as usual, I had to know more. 

The Hairston History and many Public Trees at Ancestry.com state that John and Ann Robertson are the parents of Hugh Brown Hairston, Robert Hairston and several others. However, no sources were given to verify this information. 

So, I don't know if Robert Hairston and Hugh Brown Hairston were brothers or even the sons of John Hairston and Ann Robertson, but my DNA matches indicate that they were probably related in some way. Note, on my family tree, dotted lines indicate that no direct evidence has been found to make the connection. 

In a 1981 publication of the Texas State Genealogical Society, Maxine Alcorn submitted a transcription of Robert Hairston's family Bible which gives a record of Robert Hairston, his wives, and his children.  Click on this link to The Portal to Texas History to see the two page transcription. 

The will of Ann Robertson Hairston, as found in The Hairston History, gives everything to Sarah Ann Hairston, a granddaughter. According to Robert Hairston's Bible, he had a child named Sarah Ann.  So, what do we know about Sarah Ann? Can this Sarah Ann can be definitively linked to Ann Robertson Hairston?  

Diana

© 2014

Sources 

Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.

Hairston, Victor , and Edward Bregenzer. The Hairston History.  1998. Print.

Texas State Genealogical Society. Stirpes, Volume 21, Number 3, September 1981, Christine Knox Wood, editor, Journal/Magazine/Newsletter, September 1981; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth29528/ : accessed August 15, 2014), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Genealogical Society, Tyler, Texas.

I Wish for More Tools at AncestryDNA

My mother, wearing the hat, and 

her sister were not surprised 
when their DNA differed. 

I have been a fan of Ancestry.com since I started my membership in 2000 so was very pleased to try their new Autosomal DNA test last summer. Since then, I have coerced three family members to take the test and have several thousand matches, but organizing and taking the time to look at them all is an overwhelming task.

I have 58 pages of DNA matches with 50 matches per page - that's 2,900 matches. One match is immediate family (my mother), another is close family (my aunt), and I have two 3rd to 4th cousin matches; one who I know and love and one who also matches my mother and my aunt, but we don't have a clue as to how she matches us. Ninety-eight of my matches were in the 4th to 6th cousin range making the remaining 2,700+ matches distant cousins in the 5th to 8th cousin range. 

Now, triple the 2,900 matches as I am the administrator for both my mother's and my aunt's DNA. And, add my brother's DNA as his is processing. This will give me approximately 11,600 matches to wade through and more are added each week! Looking at over 11,000 matches is impossible so I don't look beyond 4th to 6th cousin matches. 

Of all of those matches, I have had a few new leads, but I have yet to find any new conclusive matches. Honestly, I can find more by searching the Public Trees at Ancestry.com. 

A newer tool at AncestryDNA puts a leaf next to any match that contains someone in my tree, but, in all of my current matches (almost 8,000), I only have two leaves. 

I have read that having the raw data from AncestryDNA will really help with the matches and that will come soon.  I know that if I can access that raw data, I will need to upload this data to another site such as GEDmatch or FamilyTree DNA.  However, are all those persons who match my DNA going to upload to another site? 

So AncestryDNA, make our matches easier to manage and please grant my wish!

Diana

© 2012