Saturday, March 27, 2021

A Cousin Connection Leads to a Fourth-Great-Grandfather: 52 Ancestors 2021 Prompt “DNA”


DNA Results Confirm a Fourth-Great-Grandfather

Sampson Leachman: 1753-1825

            Several months ago, Ancestry sent me an email telling me there were new photo hints for Laurel Jandy Aird, my mother-in-law. To my delight, I found two college photos of Laurel that I had never seen before. I was curious about who posted them—a C. Paterson, a name I wasn’t familiar with.

            I pulled up Mr. Paterson’s public tree, and looked at his entry for Laurel Jandy. Another surprise—he had used a tag identifying her as a DNA match to himself! This was exciting and puzzling, so I sent Mr. Paterson an email thanking him for posting the photos and asking how he was related to Laurel—who was their common ancestor?

            Mr. Paterson sent a lovely response, saying he was Laurel’s fourth cousin once removed. He said their shared ancestor was Bruce’s fourth-great-grandfather Sampson Leachman, who was reputed to have arrived in Kentucky with Daniel Boone. When I examined Ancestry’s ThruLines feature, I was able to trace the relationship up from Laurel’s grandmother Cora Leachman to Sampson Leachman. This added a new generation to the tree I had been building—I’d been stuck at George Leachman, Cora’s grandfather. There had been several possible fathers for George, but now I had incontrovertible evidence that Sampson was the correct fourth-great-grandfather. DNA doesn’t lie.



            I am still investigating Sampson Leachman, but so far I have discovered that he was probably born in either Fauquier County or what is now Prince William County, Virginia, to parents Thomas Leachman and Elizabeth Leonard Sampson. He was the youngest of the five children I have identified so far. While there are several birth dates for Sampson on different trees, the most likely is 1752 or 1753.

Whether or not Sampson migrated to Virginia in the company of Daniel Boone, or whether he arrived on his own, he seems to have moved there in the 1770s. The only evidence I have found to support this claim is a letter Mr. Paterson received from another cousin which is included below. It quoted a book titled Washington County Kentucky Bicentennial History 1792-1992, which stated:

“From an old Leachman Bible we learned that he ‘Departed for the Wilderness with Daniel Boone in February 1774.’ They first stopped at Boonesboro where, according to the legend, Sampson was awarded a hunting knife for being he ‘homliest man’ in the Fort. Later, his daughter, Elizabeth, won a beauty contest and was acclaimed as the first ‘beauty queen’ of Kentucky.”

Sampson married Nancy Ann Davis, who may have been an immigrant from Scotland, or may have been born in Kentucky, depending on whose family tree you are looking at. She supposedly was born in 1755, but some Ancestry trees have her giving birth to her last child, William Gibson Leachman, in 1816 when she would have been 61 years old. This seems unlikely. As a result, I have my doubts about that 1755 birthdate. More research must be done.

Sampson and Nancy’s marriage date is also a mystery. Their first child was born in 1783, so all I know for certain is that they probably married before 1783.

Sampson likely farmed, but there are few records to confirm this. He appears in the 1810 census living in Mercer, Kentucky. The census record shows that in addition to his family, his household included two slaves.



Sampson died sometime between 1823 and 1825, probably in Mercer County or Boyle County, Kentucky. His burial location is unknown.

While DNA confirms that Sampson is Bruce’s fourth-great-grandfather, that is about all that I can say with any confidence. Records from the late 1700s and early 1800s in Kentucky are very limited. Until I find more records, I will fill in the tree with unconfirmed information that hopefully will be verified at some point in the future.

Sources:

Letter of November 26, 2001 from Bill R Peters

Washington County Kentucky Bicentennial History 1792-1992. Paducah KY. Turner Pub. Company. 1991.

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