52 Ancestors (2020) – Week 3: Long Line – Lancaster Family

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

Three Generations of Lancasters
My grandmother holding my mother & my great-grandparents & great-uncle

My grandmother was born Pansy Louise Lancaster (1913-2013). I have researched the Lancaster line back to Robert Lancaster (1784-1840), who was her 3x-great-grandfather. 

·   George Warren Lancaster (1893-1964)
o William Carl Lancaster (1873-1946)
§  George W. Lancaster (1839-1919)
·   Ellis Wilson Lancaster (1808-1866)
o Robert Lancaster (1784-1840)

I found Robert Lancaster in Shelby County, Kentucky in the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses.[1] He purchased land from Thomas Hanna and his wife Mary on 5 December 1821. This land was located on the waters of Floyds fork and Luteses run, being a branch of Bullskin creek containing 231 acres and eight poles.[2] He and his wife, Sarah Ellis, had six children together. He had another wife, perhaps named Jane, and they had two daughters. His last marriage was to Mary Taylor and there were no children.

Some of the possessions and slaves went to Mary at Robert’s death, but the land was divided among seven children: John S. Lancaster, Ellis W. Lancaster, Josiah R. Lancaster, William T Lancaster, Lennis Mary Ann Neill, Elizabeth Myers, and Eliza Jane Lancaster.[3]

I have not personally found records of Robert’s parents, though many trees name them as Nathaniel Lancaster (1734-1809) and Hope Walker (1740-1785), of Goochland and Prince Edward Counties, Virginia.[4] From there, these trees trace the Lancaster line back to Cumberland, England into the 1500s.[5]

I do not add people from these family trees any longer—I have enough individuals I entered when I was a starting genealogist that I don’t have proof of relationships. Some day, I will use the hints from the tree to trace Robert’s parents and find documents that might help prove his relationship to them. But it is fascinating that someone thinks this line goes back that far!

[1] 1820 U.S. census, Shelby Co, Kentucky, pop. sched., p. 154 (penned), Robert Lancaster, digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com); citing NARA M33, roll 24. See also 1830 U.S. census, Shelby Co, Kentucky, pop. sched., p. 276, Robert Lancaster, digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com); NARA M19, roll 41. See also 1840 U.S. census, Shelby Co, Kentucky, pop. sched., p. 117, Robt Lancaster, digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com); NARA M704, roll 123.
[2] Shelby County, Kentucky, Land Records, Bk S, p. 315-16, Thos Hanna to Robert Lancaster, 1821, digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org); citing FHL film 0259235.
[3] For land division, see Shelby County, Kentucky, Probate Records, Bk 15, p. 106-07, 1843, Robert Lancaster land division, digital image, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org ), citing FHL film 259255, item 1.
[4] Nathaniel Lancaster and spouse Hope Walker are found in many trees on Ancestry. See “Holler Family Tree,” owned by HollerT, and “Meservy Family Tree” owned by Steven Paul Meservy as examples.
[5] FamilySearch Family Tree (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/L8BC-LQ9 : accessed 15 Jan 2020) Robert Lancaster, no. GMRF-8D1.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family, All rights reserved.

Comments

  1. KathyJanuary 15, 2020 at 12:55 PM

    Interesting and I am with you on not taking hints from other trees any more, I have spent hours rooting out the unprovens that I accepted years ago! I enjoyed your blog.

    ReplyDelete

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