Time to Let Go – Rearranging the Family Tree

Do you ever find yourself taking a particular liking to one of the relatives in your tree? I do. One relative I have a bit of a soft spot for is Richard Lang. I wrote about Richard in an earlier post Loyalist - Rebel - Justice of the Peace: Richard Lang (1744-1816).

DNA evidence suggests that Richard's parents, Robert Lang and Millicent Myrick, are my 5th Great Grandparents. I am confident that William Lang and Martha ‘Patsy’ Adams are my 3rd Great Grandparents. The question is whether the connection from William to Robert is via Richard or one of Richard's siblings. I wrote about this in my post Relationship to Richard Lang - What Does the DNA say?

In my working research tree, Richard has been placed as my speculative 4th Great Grandfather. He has been there for some time now while I have scrabbled around, off and on, looking for evidence to justify the placement. Certainly, a lot of other people’s family trees have him there. However, that doesn’t make it right and, in reality, firm evidence continues to elude me.

One way towards gaining some certainty would be for me to find a DNA connection between myself and Richard’s wife, Sara Benson. Unfortunately, a lack of documentary evidence means I haven't been able to determine Sara's parentage with any confidence. Finding a connection to Sara has been problematic. A number of my DNA matches do trace their ancestry back to Robert Benson and Frances Prou but, so far, I have been unable to make headway in this line of inquiry. 

Having reviewed the evidence again, I have now made the decision to move Richard from my direct line. I do this with some reluctance but he is not going far ... He's just sidestepping to a collateral line. I can always add him back should some evidence emerge to justify it. In the meantime, moving him will help me to keep an open mind and avoid confirmation bias. I really do want him in my direct line but instinct and common sense tell me he has to go ... at least for now!