In our last blog we discussed how a DNA test was helping my husband tear down his brick wall where his great great grandfather was concerned. We figured out how his great great grandfather Austin "Frank" had two families and the DNA match we were working with was from his first family and my husband was from the second family. If you think that is crazy go back one more generation and let's just say the apple didn't fall far from the tree and Austin's own father did the same thing.
Austin "Frank" had two families
Since we had figured out the names of the great great grandparents we then started working backwards. As fate would have it, we did find the names of the great great great grandparents in census records. The US records said they were both from England, yet we could not find them there. Sometimes those brick walls may just be double layered.
Once again after conferring with the relative found through DNA matching, and lots of detective work, it would seem the great great great grandfather that came from England to the United States changed his last name! To be honest, he didn't change his last name, he just dropped his last name and kept his middle name as his last name. What was found? While putting in the information we had from his American records, the only records that came up were for a Mark Hall Shearn in England. When going through DNA relatives we could not find any Halls. Which would seem unlikely since it is the male family line we were working with.
The great great great grandfather that came from England to the United States changed his last name!
So, what do you do next? How do you follow a forked trail like that? Well, you take the last name Shearn and you put it into the search portion of the DNA test matching results to find relatives with the common surname. Lo and behold there were 5 people with matches to Shearn. The cousin we had been working with was a match and shared the common ancestor Mark Hall's son Austin "Frank." Now we know Shearn is the last name we needed to work with. But, why did he drop his last name? It turns out Mark Hall Shearn had a family with five children in England. Three of the other DNA matches came from Shearns in England.
The Records Are the Trail ... Even When There Are Gaps
We were able to find Mark in records until 1833 in England. After that he is nowhere to be found in any English records. We also found a ship record of a Mark Hall and Ellen Hall sailing into New York in late 1835. His first son with his "new" wife was born in New York in 1839. By the way we have never found divorce records or death records in England for Mark. In Ellen's obituary it said they were married in 1832 when she was "in her 16th year" (15 years old) in England. We have yet to find a marriage certificate or banns or anything for that marriage. Maybe they were never officially married since he never divorced his first wife.
After 1833, Mark disappeared from English records.
Breaking down some genealogical walls takes lots of time and patience. While we are not yet completely done hunting for records. We are pretty positive we have crumbled another brick wall on my husband's side of the family. Now to start chipping away at my family's colorful past.
We can help break down your walls too. When you're ready, get in touch!
