Tag Archives: Taylor’

Using GEDMiner for Genealogy Errors

21 Sunday Jun 2026

Posted by in CORRECTIONS, Genealogy, UPDATES

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Follow-up on Pierre Vachet marriage record

Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993, Parish Registers, J-Z, Film # 004013147, image 512, FamilySearch.

The St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church (Old Cathedral) register clearly lists two men with the name Pierre Vachet with the identities of their parents. The marriage to Felicite Lacoste is attached to that of the younger Pierre. Issue resolved. Also of note, is two Felicite Lacoste dit Languedoc born in the same year to different parents. The Old Cathedral records will be instrumental when it comes time to research my early Knox County ancestors on my mother’s side.

Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993, Parish Registers, J-Z, Film # 004013147, image 57, FamilySearch.

Continuing Research on Benjamin Cox descendants from Montgomery County, Ohio

I am continuing my research on William Taylor’s descendants. As I finish this week’s research, I finally wrap up Amanda’s children and can move on to another family next week. William and Mary’s son Owen died as a small child so I will continue with their daughter Millie Taylor.

  • Jesse Cox + Mary Waugh > John Cox + Mary Parks > Louisa Cox + David Taylor > William F Taylor + Mary Lucy Pearson
    • Taylor
    • Babb
      • Kentucky: Madison, Estill
    • Brunner
      • Ohio: Butler, Preble
    • Woosley
      • Kentucky: Estill, Clark
    • Madden
      • Kentucky: Madison

Error Resolution

A hot topic right now is the tool GEDMiner.com. I tried this out this week and it is massive and it is FREE. I dropped my GEDCOM file in and it quickly analyzed my 28,000 people. A rather lengthy but useful video presentation by GeneaVlogger giving an overview of how to use it can be found on YouTube: GEDMiner tutorial.

The last available update via Ancestry ProTools: I have 5047 errors in the tree–527 possible duplicates, 4069 with no documents, 451 other errors.

According to GEDMiner, I have 45 possible duplicates. That’s quite a difference from Ancestry’s count. Some of them were legitimate duplicates. A lot of them could be attributed to how I enter women when I don’t know their maiden names. Many of them are mothers-in-law of distant cousins. I have been making a point of pruning them from the tree. I’m going to focus on “duplicates” this week. Next week I’ll start on unlinked individuals. That list is a bit longer.

My Ancestry error resolutions this week included:

  • a husband of a distant cousin needing a source record. A marriage record was available to fill this void.
  • a 5th great grandfather needing a source record. Unfortunately, I will not be able to fulfill this request since German records are restricted in the Ancestry. I will add a German tag to his record for future reference.
  • a distant cousin needing a source record. Luckily she was born pre-1950 and I was able to add that as a reference.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 28,003 people
End of Week: 27,534 people
Change = -469 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Ancestry Research: Tracing Benjamin Cox’s Lineage

07 Sunday Jun 2026

Posted by in Genealogy

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No significant or interesting DNA matches cropped up this week. I had a few which identified a common ancestor, but nothing that I am working on currently.

Before I get too far down the rabbit hole that is Benjamin Cox, I should define the question and the research approach that I am taking.

THE QUESTION:

Is Benjamin Cox (1746-1841), who was a Revolutionary War veteran residing in Montgomery County, Ohio at the time of his death, the son of Friend Cox and Nancy Schurck?

DOCUMENTED INFORMATION:

Friend Cox did have a son named Benjamin who was listed in his probate records along with three other sons–John, Joseph, and Jonathan. The probate records and associated land records did not provide any additional information identifying Benjamin such as where he was residing when the documents were drawn up.

I have a DNA match (CB) who is a documented descendant of Friend Cox through his son John.

Benjamin Cox from Montgomery County had a large family and a large number of descendants who potentially could share DNA with both myself and CB.

APPROACH:

Attempt to find a shared DNA match between myself and CB that can be documented to Benjamin Cox from Montgomery County. Build out the descendant tree of Benjamin, taking note of surnames and locations of those descendants. Because the common ancestor is beyond the limitations of Ancestry’s ThruLines, the search for common individuals in the shared matches must be performed manually. I am starting with the descendants of Benjamin’s son Jesse because there is a Kentucky death record that connects the two men as father and son and Jesse’s descendant pool is extensive.

LIMITATIONS:

Not everyone connects a tree to their DNA file. About half of our shared matches do not have associated trees.

I started William Taylor last week, but did not get too far. Next up is William Taylor.

  • Jesse Cox + Mary Waugh > John Cox + Mary Parks > Louisa Cox + David Taylor > William F Taylor + Mary Lucy Pearson
    • Taylor
    • Babb
      • Kentucky: Estill
      • Ohio: Butler
      • Illinois: DuPage

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5040 errors in the tree–527 possible duplicates, 4062 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • A 5th cousin with no records. Found a marriage record for him.
  • A husband of a distant cousin with no records. I don’t have a first name for him either. Found the missing information in the cousin’s obituary. I need to remember that children, especially daughters, listed in their mother’s obituary aren’t necessarily the children of the named husband.
  • A distant cousin without records. A marriage record was found and her husband’s first name was completed as well.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,866 people
End of Week: 27,919 people
Change = + 53 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Discovering Ancestors: Overcoming Genealogy Challenges

31 Sunday May 2026

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy

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It was a busy week but I was able to get a little research done despite everything.

Most interesting was a DNA match. The match came up marked with a common ancestor, however, there was no tree attached. The surname was not what I would call common so I searched my tree for that and found a handful of distant cousins, complete with a previous DNA match who did have a tree linked to their account. After some trial and error, I was able to determine who the new match was and get him connected to the tree!

Continuing on with the descendants of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle. I am picking up where I left off with descendants of Zachariah Cox and Nancy Wright. I am continuing on with Nettie Taylor and her husband John T. Wilson.

Thelma was a tiny bit difficult to start researching. Ancestry was not providing any hints to work off. She was mentioned in obituaries, but as Mrs. Husband’s Name, as was the norm during a good deal of the twentieth century. Since she was the second eldest, I had not eliminated very many of the names yet. Luckily she was named in her sister Leah’s obituary as Mrs. Thelma Montfort; she was either divorced or widowed at this point in time. Now I am able to circle back to her and fill in those blanks.

Finishing up Zachariah’s children, Mattie, the youngest, was a little difficult to complete. The Ancestry hints populated records for her sister Nettie. So frustrating. She was named in the obituaries for her siblings Alice (1947) and Nettie (1957). She was not listed in John’s obituary in 1959. That narrows the window down considerably. Voila! Mattie Taylor died in 1958.

I was not able to find a date of death for Zachariah, but maybe I can get a clue from his younger siblings. Next up is William Taylor.

  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Zachariah Taylor + Nancy Catherine Wright
    • Taylor
    • Wilson
      • Kentucky: Madison, Fayette
    • Montfort
      • Kentucky: Fayette, Jefferson
      • Louisiana: Caddo
    • Drake
      • Kentucky: Fayette
  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > William F Taylor + Mary Lucy Pearson
    • Taylor
      • Kentucky: Estill, Madison
      • Oklahoma: Delaware

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5041 errors in the tree–529 possible duplicates, 4061 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • Up first is a distant cousin from 200+ years ago. Lots of records found for her and her family.
  • A distant cousin from my generation needs some records. A public record reference will have to do for now.
  • And another distant cousin needs a record. She was featured in a newspaper advertisement at age 5, giving me an approximate date of birth. Score!

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,802 people
End of Week: 27,866 people
Change = + 64 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Honoring Legacy: Memorial Day and Family History

24 Sunday May 2026

Posted by in Civil War, DNA Matches, Genealogy

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It’s Memorial Day Weekend. Memorial Day began after the Civil War and was originally called Decoration Day as tradition in the spring to decorate the graves of the fallen with flowers, flags and wreaths. The holiday today honors all American military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. That said, I wish to remember my 3rd great grandfather John S. Cox. John was a member of the Indiana 80th Infantry, Company C. He mustered in at the rank of Private on September 3, 1862 with his friends and neighbors from the Edwardsport, Indiana area. He died of influenza of the lungs on January 14, 1863 at the Regimental Hospital in New Haven, Kentucky. He left a widow and four children.

One new DNA match that I was able to incorporate into my tree this week. It was for a 2nd cousin 1x removed on my mom’s side. His parents were already in my tree; I just needed to update them a bit and add the DNA match.

Continuing on with the descendants of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle. I am picking up where I left off with descendants of Zachariah Cox and Nancy Wright. I finished Homer’s descendants and have moved on to Zachariah’s daughter Nettie (fourth of five children) who had ten children. I’m about half way through them. So far they have been straight-forward to navigate.

  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Zachariah Taylor + Nancy Catherine Wright
    • Taylor
    • Plavsic
      • Ohio: Clermont, Hamilton
    • Brown/Broun
      • Ohio: Hamilton
    • Haile
      • Ohio: Hamilton
    • Wilson
      • Kentucky: Madison, Fayette, Estill
    • Dozier
      • Kentucky: Estill, Fayette
      • California: Los Angeles
    • Hardy
      • Indiana: Fayette
      • Kentucky: Fayette
      • Virginia: Henrico

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5023 errors in the tree–529 possible duplicates, 4043 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • A wife of a distant cousin with no references and no maiden name. After piecing together several documents, I was able to determine her last name and fulfill the need for a reference.
  • A husband of a distant cousin needs a reference. The daughter’s marriage certificate held his middle name which led to several hints.
  • A husband of a distant cousin has no first name or references. The marriage record supplied both. It would seem he lied on his marriage record about his age, because all subsequent records list him four years younger.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,707 people
End of Week: 27,802 people
Change = + 95 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Unraveling John D Taylor’s Family Mysteries

17 Sunday May 2026

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy

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Ancestry has a “Recommended” list of individuals on my landing page. My 3rd great grandfather Jean Michel Kaiser is listed with a flag for records from a new collection in France. Unfortunately this is a collection only available to World Explorer subscribers. I’ll have to revisit this record once I upgrade for international research.

I had one new DNA match with a common ancestor identified. He was through my McCullough line. Hopefully I’ll get to that line in the next year or so.

Continuing on with the descendants of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle. I am picking up where I left off with Richard’s son Eugene.

  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Richard Lewis Taylor + Sarah Emma Isaacs
    • Taylor
      • Texas: Eastland, Gregg, Jackson, San Patricio, Harris, Victoria, Travis
      • New Mexico: Quay
  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Zachariah Taylor + Nancy Catherine Wright
    • Taylor
      • Kentucky: Estill, Oldham, Madison
      • Utah: Salt Lake, Utah
      • Ohio: Warren, Hamilton
    • Baker
      • Utah: Salt Lake, Utah
    • Deitrick
      • California
      • Alaska
    • Blythe
      • Ohio: Hamilton
    • Plavsic
      • Ohio: Hamilton

Researching Zachariah’s son John D Taylor and his family was an adventure. From what I can piece together, John was living with his parents in 1900 and he was listed as a widower. There was evidence of a possible marriage in 1894, but I’m not certain if it was this John due to the location. John then married Stella Stratton in 1901. What was confusing is that I found a John D Taylor with a Della, not a Stella, in the census records. Next I received hints for death certificates for two daughters, Imogene and Dixie, who were born in 1902 and 1904, respectively, stating their parents were John and Stella. Hints for Stella show her in Idaho and Utah as early as 1907. Stella remarried in 1907 in Idaho and her daughters are listed with her husband’s last name instead of Taylor. That made it harder to find them. The revolving door of husbands wasn’t very helpful either.

As if those obstacles weren’t enough, John had a son with a widowed woman. This son was given his mother’s late husband’s name. Quite messy to untangle, if nothing else. I believe I am done with John.

Moving on, I am making progress on Zachariah’s son Homer and will continue to do so into next week.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5020 errors in the tree–525 possible duplicates, 4044 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • A father in law of a distant cousin. He and his wife were pruned from the tree.
  • A distant cousin who needed a source added. Added sources for most of his family members as well.
  • Another distant cousin who needed a source added.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,622 people
End of Week: 27,707 people
Change = + 85 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky