Back in December I wrote about wanting to find the descendants of “Betsy’s other children”. Betsy, is of course, Elizabeth (Martinleer Eppinger) Trantham, my 6th great grandmother and wife of Martin Trantham, Jr, my 6th great grandfather. The “other children” are the siblings of my 5th great grandfather, Martin Trantham (III). I’ve decided that having these descendants find me is a lot easier. That is what happened this week when a new DNA matched popped up on Ancestry.com!

In his 1884 letter to the editor, Betsy and Martin’s great great grandson Lewis Peach identified Parmelia Trantham as one of their (other) children. Parmelia married a man by the name of Charles Gray according to Lewis. All true. One of my newest DNA matches on Ancestry.com identifies himself simply as “D.C.”. His 4th great grandmother was Barbara Gray, the daughter of said Charles and Parmelia.

How easy was that?

Now, most folks might not understand the significance of the name “Barbara” but I am not most folks. Being the self-proclaimed expert on all things Betsy Trantham, I know that “Barbara” was the name of Betsy’s mother. Barbara Eppinger, nee Blocker, shows up multiple times in deeds from Cumberland County, North Carolina alongside husband John Eppinger and father Michael Blocker.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 1st cousin, 6x removed
Common ancestors: Barbara’s grandparents, Betsy and Martin Trantham, Jr. are my 6th great grandparents