Skepticism runs rampant through my Missouri-born blood vessels. I can’t help it. Yesterday, 2 hours and 45 minutes into my Saturday morning Library of Virginia research routine, I happened upon the last will and testament of Martha Hambleton, my 7th great grandmother. Martha belongs to my newly-discovered Sims line which has taken me to pre-Revolutionary War Cumberland County, Virginia. Written in 1758, her will was proven on 25 October 1765. (That means she’d died.)

Having found this genealogical gem, I decided to pack it up for the day and headed home. After a while, I fired up my family tree on Ancestry.com and proudly added this new information. Name: Martha Hambleton (maiden name unknown). Date of death: sometime before 25 Oct 1765. Place of death: likely Cumberland County, Virginia. Worldly possessions: four female slaves, a few cattle and hogs, three feather beds, two chests, two trunks, a table and other household and “cichen” furniture. William Hambleton, my 6th great grandfather, was named the Executor of her estate. This same William Hambleton was her only heir. The will was witnessed by Tho(mas) Davenport, Jr. and Elithabeath Ginhin (?). Date of the will: 6 Oct 1758.

Hello, new ancestress.

Then I made the mistake of peeking at information other researchers have on Granny Martha. I know better. First, Granny Martha died in 1733 in Henrico County (and then miraculously came back to life to die again in 1765 in Cumberland County). Highly unlikely. Second, Granny Martha had two husbands – James Hambleton (maybe) and John Moseby (highly doubtful). Despite having only ONE heir named in her will (William), Granny Martha had at least FOUR other children by her husband, John Moseby, all of whom were LIVING in 1765. And yet, none of her Moseby children were named in the will. Talk about bad blood – or bad research. Third, Martha’s maiden name, according to 100% of the trees on Ancestry.com, was “Womack”. We’ll see, but the microfilm is going to have to reveal its secrets and show me.

Next weekend…

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 7th great grandmother
Common ancestors: not sure

I’ve always wanted an Uncle “Judy” and now I’ve found him, although I doubt seriously that anyone ever called him that during his lifetime. Uncle “Judy” was Judith Sims, my 4th great granduncle, one of the newly-discovered Sims-of-Montgomery-County,-Tennessee relatives who now hangs from my family tree.

“Judith” was certainly not a common name for boys in the 19th century but it was also not unheard of. But, boy, did it throw me for a loop when I first came across it. In 1822, Judith Sims and Thomas Travis purchased the land that she, Judith, and her Sims siblings bought for the use of the their mother in 1806. At the time I mistakenly thought that Judith perhaps was betrothed to Thomas (wrong) and was purchasing the land using her maiden name (also wrong) although for the life of me I couldn’t understand why she‘d be doing that. Single women under the age of 30 just didn’t do that kind of thing very often in those days. Several trees on Ancestry.com, which is known for its accuracy, depicted Judith as the wife of Thomas Travis (wrong, wrong, wrong). These folks fell into the same trap that I did initially assuming Judith was a woman!

Thankfully, in 1854, Judith gifted part of the land he and Thomas Travis purchased to two of his three daughters. Next to “his” signature were the words “his mark” which was used to indicated that Judith, who likely could not read or write, sealed the deal so to speak. “His mark!” Ah HA! Judith was a man!

Thomas Travis, I have learned, was not Judith’s husband. My goodness, that would have been a progressive county in those days had that been the case. Instead, Thomas turned out to be Judith’s stepfather, which was revealed in another court case when Mary Thomas, the former Mary Sims, widow of John Sims, gave her permission for Thomas to sell some of John’s possessions.

If you’re following along, good for you. It’s making my head hurt just writing it.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 4th great granduncle
Common ancestors: Judith Sims’ parents, John and Mary (Hambleton) Sims, are my 5th great grandparents

Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Although Edison was not likely referring to genealogical research when he said this, I think it applies – especially as a I begin my search for John Sims, my newly-discovered 5th great grandfather.

According to the 1850 census, John’s son, Alexander Sims, my 4th great grandfather, was born in “Virginia”. In the 1860 census, his birthplace was recorded as “Tennessee”. In the 1880 census, which was the first year the birthplace of each person’s parents was recorded, his birthplace “reverted” to “Virginia” (in the entry for his son, William Barnet(t) Sims). Thus, in looking for John Sims’ whereabouts at the time of Alexander’s birth – sometime between 1780 and 1785, I am reasonably sure that I should be looking in either Virginia or Tennessee. The latter is a bit problematic as Tennessee had not achieved statehood when Alexander was born. Virginia ultimately seems like the most logical place to look for John Sims.

But where in Virginia should I start looking? That is the question I must now answer. In 1787. the Commonwealth of Virginia undertook a state-wide census that included an “accounting of every white male tithable over 21 years” – this taken from the title page of the three volume set of said census which I have in my possession. (As a side note, the 1787 census of Virginia is of great importance since the 1790 and 1800 federal census records of Virginia did not survive.)

There are 12 men named John Sims who appeared in the 1787 census of Virginia – one of them, hopefully, is my 5th great grandfather. And much like Edison, I must eliminate 11 of them who “won’t work” as Alexander’s father. (If I eliminate all 12, then I must turn my attention to Tennessee before 1790 – YIKES!)

One or more men named John Sims resided in each of the following Virginia counties in 1787: Brunswick (2), Charlotte (1), Cumberland (1), Hanover (4), Harrison (1), Louisa (1), and Monongalia (1) and Westmoreland (1).

The next step is research all 12 of them in hopes of finding a will. I know that my John Sims died before 1806 when his children collectively purchased a piece of land in Montgomery County, Tennessee for their mother. My gut tells me that this was stipulated in John’s will which is why they purchased the land as “the Heirs of John Sims”. We’ll see.

If you need to find me this winter, chances are I’ll be at the Library of Virginia looking through countless roles of microfilm in my hunt for John Sims.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 5th great grandfather
Common ancestors:  John’s parents, my 6th great grandparents, are unknown

My genealogical drought ended a few days ago and I couldn’t be happier. Having run out of places to search online for documents that might shed light on the elusive parents of John Boren, I decided to turn my attention to another branch – one that I’ve been dreading to touch. Alexander Sims, my 4th great grandfather, was, according to most family trees posted on Ancestry.com, the son of Thomas and Mary (Nalle) Sims. But, for whatever reason, his “father” left him out of his will which identified many, many children by their first names. Did he misbehave? Also, his “mother” Mary would have been in her 50s when he was born. (Not impossible, but not probable in the 1780s.) This same Alexander supposedly married Elizabeth (aka Isabel) Jordan, who, in the 1850 census, was both miraculously alive and dead on the official enumeration date of 1 June 1850. Moreover, Elizabeth/Isabel somehow died in Claiborne County, TN while still living as Isabel many, many miles away in the Weakley County, TN household of Alexander Sims.

Are you beginning to understand why I’ve avoided this branch for so long? There are too many things that don’t make sense. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!

So I pruned my Sims family tree removing Thomas and Mary and all records pertaining to Alexander’s supposed marriage to Elizabeth Jordan. It was time to start from scratch. (As a side note, there IS some relationship to Thomas and Mary as there are too many Sims DNA matches who descend from this couple for us not to be related!)

In 1820, Alexander Sims was living due east of Weakley County, TN in Montgomery County, TN. That’s were I decided to start my genealogical “dig”. The first clue that I was on the right track came almost immediately. In an estate inventory court record, I found three Sims men owing money to the deceased – Alexander Sims, Newton Sims and, most importantly, BARNET Sims. Uncovering hidden relationships often starts with name recognition. In this case, I immediately recognized the name. My 4th great grandfather and Alexander’s son was named William BARNET Sims. KAPOWIE!

“Barnet” was a family name! Not long after, I found the “smoking gun” we genealogists only dream of – an 1822 deed between the heirs of John Sims and someone whose name is irrelevant (no offense meant). Listed among those names were Alexander, Newton, and my beloved Barnet along with siblings Payton, Moseby, John, Jeffrey, Betsy, Patsey, Sally and Judith. I dug a bit deeper and found a bigger, smokier gun. In 1806, these same heirs of John Sims, along with two new siblings Benjamin and Bunton (?) bought the land they sold in 1822 for the use of their unnamed MOTHER.

Pure genealogical gold. Father, mother and siblings. Merry Christmas to me.

Welcome, John Sims, father of many and my 5th great grandfather, to my family tree.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 5th great grandfather
Common ancestors:  John Sims’ parents are a mystery I cannot wait to solve.

My father loved to tinker with mechanical things. If something could be improved with electricity, he’d find a way to do it. The house I grew up in was riddled with mystery switches. After his passing, it was a bit of an adventure to figure them out. When he was a child, he received a broken toaster for Christmas, or so he told us. It was the perfect gift because, to him, it was the chance to take it apart, fix it and put it back together. His father, my grandfather. could fix any car. He once replaced an alternator in a car I owned in the middle of winter. Paying a mechanic to do the work was out of the question! My brother is also mechanically-inclined and has his degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

It never occurred to me that these mechanical skills might have been traits inherited from John Spencer Boren, my 2nd great grandfather. (For the record, I did not inherit these traits.)

In November of 1883, John and his brother, Charles, filed for a U.S. patent to their innovative design of a “horse-power”. It was issued 1 January 1884. So unique was their design, it caught the attention of the Scientific American journal and was highlighted in their 5 January 1884 edition under “Agricultural Inventions”. A description and diagram of the contraption appeared in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, January 1 to March 

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 2nd great grandfather
Common ancestors: John Spencer Boren’s parents were Absalom and Harriet (Pearce) Boren, my 3rd great grandparents

It’s been more than a year since I discovered that Harriet (Pearce) Boren, who is my 3rd great grandmother, was the daughter of Spencer Pearce. That brick wall came tumbling down after two years of intensive research. Since that time, I have suspected that the “S” in John S. Boren, who was Harriet’s son and my 2nd great grandfather, stood for “Spencer”. That just made sense to me. But would I be able to prove it? Well, yes.

Blessed be Google Books and digitization.

In the July 2, 1883 edition of The Sugar Cane: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Interests of the Sugar Cane Industry, appeared an entry for an innovative molasses evaporator designed by one “John Spencer Boren” of Bonneville [sic], Mississippi.

Seriously, who would have thought that his middle name might be found in such an obscure publication? I’ve searched deeds, court records, death certificates, etc. and NADA. It’s the perfect example of how genealogical research has been changed by modern technology.

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relationship: 2nd great grandfather
Common ancestors: John Spencer Boren’s parents were Absalom and Harriet (Pearce) Boren, my 3rd great grandparents