Samuel Gray Chesser and his wife Nancy are my 2nd Great Grandparents. There are a large number of trees online that show Nancy’s family name as ‘Beschett’. A few of these trees show her parents as George Fitzwater and Catherine Chesser. I have yet to find any evidence at all to corroborate these familial links. So, just who is Nancy? I decided to pull together documentary evidence and DNA evidence to see if I could make any headway into answering that question.
Documentary Evidence Found So Far
In re-examining what evidence I have about Nancy so far, my first thought is how little of it there is. In terms of evidence that directly relates to Nancy, all I have to date are 4 census records:
The 1850 US Federal Census[1] tells me that Nancy is reported as being 44 years old at the time of the census (so born about 1806). She was born in Tennessee. At the time of this census she is living in Dwelling 546, Subdivision 1, Lincoln County, Tennessee with her husband, Samuel (a farmer, born North Carolina) and their seven children. Nancy cannot read and write. There is no value in the column for Real Estate which perhaps suggests that they did not own the house and land where they were living.
The 1860 US Federal Census[2] is pretty much in agreement with the 1850 Census. It tells me that Nancy is reported as being 54 years old at the time of the census (so born about 1806). She was born in Tennessee and cannot read and write. The family is now living in Dwelling 1259 (family number 1169), District 9, Lincoln County, Tennessee. It appears, then, that they moved, within Lincoln County, sometime between 1850 and 1860. Samuel is again reported as being a farmer born in North Carolina. Samuel and Nancy are now living with three of their children. Under 'value of estate owned', again there is no value given for Real Estate suggesting that they do not own the land and dwelling. The value of Personal Estate attached to Samuel is $600.
By 1870, the family had again changed residence within Lincoln County. In the 1870 US Federal Census[3] Samuel and Nancy are living in Dwelling 105, District 11, Lincoln County, Tennessee with their youngest child, Louisa. Nancy is reported as being 63 years old at the time of this census (so born about 1807, a year later than reported in the earlier census). She is occupied keeping house. She was born in Tennessee and cannot read and write. Under 'value of estate owned', no value is given for Real Estate suggesting they don’t own the land and dwelling. The value of Personal Estate attached to Samuel has halved to $300 suggesting that in 1870 they were less well off than they had been in 1860.
In the 1880 US Federal Census[4] Nancy is reported as living with her married daughter Nancy and son in law, John Wakefield and their family at Dwelling 114, District 2, Marshall County, Tennessee. She is 74 years old (so born about 1806), born in Tennessee and cannot read or write. This census also tells us that Nancy’s mother and father were each born in Tennessee. Nancy is identified as a Widow. I have been unable to find a death record for Samuel so I can only estimate that he died sometime after 1870 when he was last reported on a census and before 1880.
In looking for documentary evidence associated with Nancy, I was also mindful that ‘Nancy’ can sometimes be a nickname for ‘Ann’. However, I have been unable to find a marriage or death record.
Nancy and Samuel's eldest child, George C. Chesser, appears to have been born about 1825/26[5]. From this I infer, rightly or wrongly, that Nancy and Samuel probably married somewhere in the vicinity of 1824/25 when Nancy would have been about 18 years old.
Documentary Evidence In Summary
In summary, what we know and/or can reasonably assume about Nancy is that:
- She was born in about 1806/07 in Tennessee.
- Her parents were born in Tennessee.
- She could not read or write.
- Her marriage to Samuel was probably in about 1824/25 at about the age of 18 (loosely based on her oldest son’s likely birthdate and her own birthdate).
- She was widowed after 1870 (last census record found for Samuel) and before 1880.
- She died sometime after 1880 (last census record found for her).
- She likely died in Tennessee, possibly in Marshall County (where she was living at the age of 74 in 1880).
Looking across the census documents at neighbours of Samuel and Nancy from 1850 to 1880, there are none that particularly stand out. There are certainly no Beschetts or Fitzwaters in the neighbourhood.
It should be noted that Nancy’s son is often shown in family trees as Samuel Beshett Chesser which may reflect a link to the Beschett family. However, to date, any records I have found relating to her son Samuel list him variously as Samuel Chesser, Samuel B. Chesser or S.B. Chesser. I have yet to find documentary evidence of his middle name being Beshett. That is not to say there isn’t any but, if there is, it is certainly alluding me.
What Does DNA evidence tell me
Before diving into my DNA match list, I needed to decide on a process for analysis. I used an excel worksheet for this purpose. I wanted to make sure I worked through relevant matches methodically and documented as I went. It is not unusual in these types of investigations to get stuck and frustrated along the way; thereby putting the investigation aside for a while. If this happened, I would need to know exactly what I had checked into so far in order to sensibly resume it with fresh eyes later.
ISOGG statistics suggest that there is a 0.00% chance of not inheriting a detectable amount of DNA from a 2nd Great Grandmother[6] so it was reasonable to assume that, if the right relatives have tested, I should be able to find matches with whom I share Nancy's DNA. What I needed to do was to try to separate out the matches that potentially share Nancy’s DNA with me.
In an attempt to do this, I first listed all the matches connected to my tree so far where the most recent common ancestral couple (MRCA) is Samuel and Nancy. These matches could potentially match me either via Samuel’s line or Nancy’s line. This is List A.
I then repeated this exercise with all the matches connected to my tree with the MRCA George C. Chesser. George is my Great Grandfather and son of Samuel and Nancy. Only half matches are added to this list. That is, matches who descend from George and his first wife. These matches could potentially match me either via Samuel’s line or Nancy’s line. This is List B. I descend from George’s second wife, Sarah Dellow Ray so by excluding those matches and focusing on half matches my intention was to avoid ‘muddying the waters’ with Ray DNA.
Next, I listed all the matches connected to my tree to date who descend from Samuel’s ancestors. This is List C. As I must have got this DNA via Samuel, these matches and their shared matches can be excluded from Lists A and B. I list the shared matches as List D. By subtracting all the matches on List D from Lists A and B, the remainder (List E) are those matches that, by a process of elimination, could potentially match me on Nancy’s line rather than Samuel’s line (A-D) + (B-D) = E.
This methodology provides a starting point for further analysis only. There remains a possibility that the DNA I share with List E matches comes to me via Samuel not Nancy. For example, this methodology doesn't take into account that there will be smaller matches (less than 20cM) that won’t have shown up as shared matches to the List C matches on Ancestry. Nor does it account for people who match me through more than one line. Given the incompleteness of my tree and the likelihood of marriage between relatives in colonial times, it is likely that things are not clear cut. For example, perhaps I have mistakenly connected a match via a genealogical line when the genetic line is somewhere else?
What I had, at best, was a reasonable starting place for further analysis. I next used shared matching to try to group the List E matches using an adapted version of the Leeds method[7]. I wanted to see if it was possible to separate these matches into two distinct groups - one group of matches with overlapping connections that likely share the DNA that I got via Samuel and one group that likely share the DNA that I got via Nancy. This would allow me to discard some of the List E matches to focus in on those List E matches that more likely share DNA that I inherited via Nancy. That proved impossible to do. What I found was that all these matches are interconnected. They aren't all shared matches to each other but they are all shared matches to overlapping sets of matches within the List E group to the extent that no two distinct groups could be identified.
I concluded that, EITHER none of the List E matches are matches that I genetically link to via Nancy (that is, they are all matches that I genetically link to via Samuel's line), OR Samuel and Nancy are in some way related. From my observation of the match data, including match trees, the latter seems more likely. I had already noted from my search for documentary evidence that some trees on Ancestry do suggest that Nancy's mother was a Chesser, although as previously indicated, I have found no documentary evidence to support this.
I also checked through the trees of the List E matches to see if I could find any commonalities. What I was looking for was whether any of the data threw up any patterns that may help to either connect them to Samuel's line, and so exclude them from the current investigation, or any patterns and connections that may help in identifying Nancy. This entailed listing re-occurring names by match and attempting to make connections between shared matches in a working research tree. There were some re-occuring names but no real patterns emerged to advance my thinking. The re-occurring names were quite common names and, therefore, not necessarily indicative of the same family. I was unable to connect any of these matches together in my working research tree. Nor could I find any matches with Beschett or Fitzwater relatives.
At this point in time, this investigation is not a success story! It has proven to be quite a frustrating exercise. To date, what I do have for my efforts are some of the puzzle pieces gathered together in some semblance of order. I have a summary of what I do know so far, or can reasonably assume, about Nancy based on documentary evidence, a spreadsheet with lots of data about DNA matches who are potentially relevant to the question being investigated and a lot of information, albeit unconnected, in a working research tree. What I have is a starting point from which to keep searching. Clearly, there are missing pieces to find[8].
Next Steps
So, where to from here?
Firstly, I need to continue looking for documentary evidence that may help. My next step in this regard will be to message tree owners with Nancy named in their tree as Nancy Beschett to see if they have evidence relating to her family name.
Secondly, I need to put the DNA aside for a while. Perhaps if I look at it again later with fresh eyes in light of any new matches that turn up, something may click into place?
In the meantime, I remain left with the question I started with … So, just who is Nancy?
Note: I have now moved my blogging efforts from this platform to WeAre.xyz so that I can integrate building my family history archive with blogging. This post, or an updated version of it, can be found at: https://app.weare.xyz/blog/the-dual-genealogist/blogposts/so-just-who-is-nancy
Notes
[1] Year: 1850; Census Place: Subdivision 1, Lincoln, Tennessee; Roll: 887; Page: 145b Image via Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Provo, UT, USA/ Accessed 19 April 2022.
[2] Year: 1860; Census Place: District 9, Lincoln, Tennessee; Roll: M653_1261; Page: 87; Image: 177; Family History Library Film: 805261 Image via Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Provo, UT, USA. Accessed 19 April 2022.
[3] Year: 1870; Census Place: District 11, Lincoln, Tennessee; Roll: M593_1544; Page: 329B Image via Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Provo, UT, USA. Accessed 19 April 2022.
[4] Year: 1880; Census Place: District 2, Marshall, Tennessee; Roll: 1269; Family History Film: 1255269; Page: 324B; Enumeration District: 133 Image via Ancestry.com. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Provo, UT, USA. Accessed 19 April 2022.[5] Various census records – 1850, 1860, 1880, 1900 via Ancestry.com. Accessed 19 April 2022.
[6] Cousin Statistics via International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki [Website]. Accessed 19 April 2022.
[7] The Leeds Method via Dana Leeds [Website] Accessed 19 April 2022.
[8] If you have information that may help me answer my question about who Nancy is, please get in touch by either leaving a comment on the post or, privately, by way of the contact box in the side menu.
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