As a sort of record keeping mechanism and for general interest, I’m going to try posting some of the more interesting message board queries I find – and my responses – to the blog. In years past, these message boards were a lifeline between genealogists, evolving from the more traditional mode of communication, letters. Message boards were (and still are!) searchable by Google and other search engines and are in place for years. Someone may not know they are interested in your surname in 2016, but your message will stay there, available to all, when down the road in 2020 that person realizes they do need to know more about your guy, or have exactly the little tidbit of information you were looking for. One might say that message boards have now evolved into Facebook, but I hesitate to wholeheartedly agree. And its this seemingly “everlasting” quality that message board posts seem to have that is lacking in Facebook. Facebook simply doesn’t pop up in my general searches the same was as message board queries do.
This query was posted in August of this year to the Ancestry message boards, specifically the McKimmey one, which can be found here: McKimmey Message Board and deals with the relationship between a family living in the household of Charles McKimmey in the 1910 US Census for Loudoun County, Virginia.
The census the poster refers to is here:
And my response, not all that helpful, but hopefully we can start a conversation and learn more about our possible connections.
Hi,
I’m not sure exactly what you’re looking for, but this McKimmey line is pretty well established and goes back to McKemie and then to Ireland and eventually Scotland.
If you are trying to ascertain the relationship, without paper documentation (this is not my particular McK line so I have less documentary info than others, but am happy to try and help), the Y-DNA testing is the way to go. This line’s YDNA is in the McKemie DNA Study already. So what exactly do you think the relationship is? That Maggie is the daughter of Charles McKimmey or that her children were fathered by him? What testing was done that was compared when you were contacted by a McK researcher? The most accurate way to determine a relationship would be if Maggie’s children were fathered by Charles, then a male descendant from one of her sons (male to male to male, etc) have the yDNA test done, a minimum of the 37 marker test and then compare those results.
Also, the 1910 census doesn’t say she has 0 children, its just not filled in. That could mean that yes, she has 0, or that the enumerator was slacking in his gathering of data. Census records are notorious for errors and are more of a “guide” than facts, until additional information is found to support the census data, so I wouldn’t let the age discrepancies stop you from pursing a line of research, if you feel its valid otherwise.
My limited understanding of DNA testing says that autosomal testing is only accurate up to about 5 generations. If you’ve gone beyond that, its sketchy. If you have a male relative that has done YDNA testing, we could make some more concrete determinations.
Lastly, some links 🙂
The McKemie DNA Study has more information. I believe Charles’ descendants would be in group 2.
Charles McKimmey has a tree on FamilySearch. However, as with all trees, please don’t take that for gospel as there are bound to be errors in it, despite anyone’s best intentions. You will need to verify and conduct your own research to ensure accuracy.
Lastly, my website: mckemie.org Here you’ll find assorted records and info about the family line. If you are interested in Charles, he is part of this larger family going back to Ireland and with connections to Francis Makemie, the “Father of American Presbyterianism.”
If you have particular questions or if you’d like to be a part of the DNA study or the McKemie One Name Study, I hope you’ll contact me! Otherwise, good luck in your research!
Jen
Many genealogists comment on the secrets and scandals they uncover and how they do and don’t deal with them. It’s my opinion that knowledge is knowledge and while some might claim some sort of embarrassment for situations in years past, I would rather embrace all family, regardless of how they come to us. We can’t change or undo the past, but we can move forward with gratitude for what our previous generations gave us and respect for our future generations.
Sources
1. “cheriboyd”, “McKimmey Illegitimate McKimmey Children, Leesburg, VA”, McKimmey Message Board, discussion forum, posting date, (http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.mckimmey/38.1/mb.ashx: accessed 21 October 2016).
2. 1910 U. S. Census, Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, p. 9A, dwelling ___, family ___, Charles F. McKimmey, head of household, image, Ancestry.com (url: accessed 21 October 2016); citing FHL microfilm 1375646.
Her Tree Story 