Untangling the Vines

This past week I have been fairly busy going through my husbands DNA matches and trying to make sense of what I found. In the process I have found a lot of tangled vines that are going to take some work in untangling. Thus the reason for this post topic.

I am sure most of us who have been doing this for any length of time will discover at some point or another that they have a lot of common surnames. Names such as JOHNSON, MILLER and SMITH as well as JONES are quite a few that come to mind.

But what do you do when you not only have a common surname but a common first name as well? Research this week has turned up a gentleman named Henry WIMER. As I set out to conduct my research I ran across four possible wives for this man. The more I dug the more confused I got. I finally was able to come to the conclusion that there are two men with the name Henry WIMER. Both look to have been born about a year apart and both were born in Pendleton County, West Virginia. These are my husbands relatives. It is going to be necessary that I sort out just how these folks connect. That is going to take a lot of time and effort on my part. If you are in a similar situation there is a wonderful online article published HERE that might help you formulate how to conduct your own search.

As to what I have done in this situation. I have created two documents. One for each gentleman and I plan on forming a timeline as suggested in the article for each one. With the two of them having similar years of births as well as the exact same location it may prove hard for me to discern between the two.

The first Henry WIMER that I have located which I believe is my husbands relative was born about 1793 in Pendleton, West Virginia probably Dry Run area. I show a wife for him by the name of Elizabeth THOMPSON. They were married 25 September, 1817. It looks as though his parents are Henry WIMER and Catherine LONG. There is another Henry WIMER who was born about 1794 in Pendleton, Highland, Virginia. His fathers name is said to have been one Phillip WIMER and I have seen his mothers name stated as either Sarah SIMMONS or Sarah Catherine HARPER. I believe this second Henry WIMER is also a relative of my husband as he has HARPER and SIMMONS relatives in this line as well. I have also see the WIMER surname spelled as WYMER.  I note there are marriages between a Henry WIMER and a Susannah JUDY as well as a marriage record between a Henry WIMER and a Margaret MILLER. I am in the process of untangling all of these vines. As soon as I have them sorted I will post the corrected and sourced information to this blog.

If anyone out there has ties to this family and has documentation as to which one is who, I would appreciate hearing from you!

Tracing Your African American Roots

Today I am going to share some new information that I have unearthed during the search for my husbands Roots. When I hear the term "Roots" I am often reminded of the film by Alex Haley entitled "Roots" which I remember watching as a child. It was one film that caught my eye and stands out to this day. I really think that it planted a desire in my heart to learn more about my own ancestry.

When my husband received his matches this past week we noticed he had quite a few African American cousins. Given that fact we decided to set out and see what we could find that might account for his new found family members.



One of our first findings was a man named Richard "Dick" Fancher. According to information contained in his Find a Grave profile, we found out the following:

"Richard "Dick" Fancher was a slave of James Fancher of Osage, Carroll County, Arkansas, and then of his son, Thomas Washington Fancher;after his marriage in 1856. Dick worked in the home of Thomas Fancher and Elizabeth Sneed Fancher, as a Cook until he was released by the Civil War. Upon his emancipation, he married Hannah "Sneed" Riggs, who had belonged to Charles Sneed, but was willed to his daughter Elizabeth in 1855."

(c) Find a Grave Contributor Jenette

You can read the rest of the above Biography on Dick FANCHER at the Find a Grave Memorial, which I have linked above.

The information goes on to state that the family was driven out of the Harrison Arkansas area where they had made their home, in the early 1900`s. They relocated to Eureka Springs and took up jobs working as Porters and Laundresses and other positions at the Basin Park Hotel. According to Historical information the Basin Hotel held its Grand Opening on 1 July, 1905.

It was Dick`s half-brother James Polk FANCHER that purchased his tombstone for him and had it erected upon his death.

What Records Tell Us

The first record that I have located for Dick is the 1880 Census for Osage, Carroll, Arkansas. He is listed as   Mullato.

Richard Fancher	39
Hanah M. Fancher	30
Isaac C. Fancher	4
Thomas Fancher	2
Fanny Riggs	60

We notice that Hannah`s mother Fanny RIGGS is residing in the household with them.  In checking the list of neighbors we turn up some common surnames within the FANCHER family. They are: USREY, MORRIS, SISCO, MILLER, PHILLIPS,SMITH,TRENTHAM, WALKER, POYNER,WEST, SNEED, FULTS (FULTZ).

Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Osage, Carroll, Arkansas; Roll: 40; Family History Film: 1254040; Page: 244C; Enumeration District: 028; Image: 0009.

By 1900 we find them living in Harrison Township, Boone County, Arkansas.  This time they are listed as Black as opposed to Mulatto.

"United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M3XV-61Z : accessed 29 Jun 2013), Richard Fancher, 1900.

During this Census year Richards Occupation is listed as a Day Laborer, his Son Issac is also listed as a Day Laborer, son Thomas is listed as Laborer in a Saloon and daughter Mattie is listed as a House Keeper.

After that census record I have been unable to locate Richard and Hannah on the 1910 Census. I did find some records on their children, as follows:

Isaac Carlock FANCHER

The oldest child of Richard and Hannah FANCHER. 

Notice that this document is signed by Isaac`s Uncle: James Polk FANCHER as a witness to Issacs age. 

Note: So as to save space I have decided to break this post up into several parts. I will continue with the information found on Isaac Carlock FANCHER in the next post.