Sunday, January 3, 2016

My 2016 Genetic Genealogy Goal


Looking for descendants of Aaron Lake, born about 1775

  • Aaron Lake lived in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, at the time of the 1820 census.
  • Is he the same Aaron Lake who lived in Perry County, Indiana during the 1820 census?
  • Was he the man enumerated in Washington County, Pennsylvania in the 1800 census?
  • Did he pay taxes in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1800?
  • Did he marry and have children in Hunterdon County, New Jersey?
  • Was he the same Aaron Lake who died in Morgan County, Illinois, on July 6, 1835?
  • Which man, if any, is my ancestor?




Researchers have shared this tidbit online: Mary Ann Lake (daughter of Aaron Lake) was born about 1794, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. She died in 1852, in Leopold, Perry County, Indiana, where she was buried in the St. Augustine's Catholic Church Cemetery. She married John Baptist Alvey on June 8, 1813, in Breckinridge County, Kentucky.

My ancestor, Lindsay Lake, was born in Breckinridge County on May 5, 1813. He named his eldest son Aaron. Lindsay died in Morgan County, Illinois on August 19, 1876. Lindsay has the dubious distinction of my ancestor who married the most times. His son said it had been seven times, though it may have been eight. Son Aaron, born in 1835, is my ancestor.

An Illinois neighbor, Israel Lake, provides additional clues. He was born in Pennsylvania about 1809 and married in Perry County, Indiana, in 1829. One of his descendants and I have an autosomal DNA match at the 5th-8th cousin level. Israel's death is unknown, but was after 1880 and most likely was in either Cass County or adjoining Morgan County, Illinois.

William Lake was born December, 1800, in Pennsylvania. He married in Perry County, Indiana, in 1824, and died in Vermillion County, Indiana, on Aug 27, 1868. His probate mentions Linzey Lake, likely my ancestor. I have a trace autosomal DNA match to a descendant of William Lake. William named his eldest son Aaron and another son Israel.

Lord Harrison Lake was born in Pennsylvania before 1800, married in Perry County, Indiana, in 1822, and died in Cass County, Illinois about 1846.

Both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA can help with this relationship puzzle. If you are a male Lake descendant, with all male Lake ancestors back to any of these men, please join the Lake surname project at FamilyTreeDNA. If, like me, your Lake ancestry wanders between males and females, your autosomal DNA can help. Consider testing with the FamilyTreeDNA Family Finder or with Ancestry DNA. Also be sure to upload the results to GedMatch.com. Let me know via a private comment here, if you do one of these tests. The more cousins who test and communicate, the more we can learn about the Lake family.

Lindsay Lake had a mix of step and natural children. Obviously, we need DNA from only his natural children. Fortunately for us, his heirs had a court battle over his estate. His named heirs, all believed to be natural children are: Aaron Lake, Cynthiana Lake Fanning, John L. Lake, Susan Lake, Josephine Lake, George B. Lake, and Isaac H. Lake. I have a 4th-6th cousin match with a descendant of Cynthiana.

The minor children of the Aaron Lake who died in Morgan County in 1835 were named in his probate:
  • Angeline married George Sibert
  • Rebecca married Edward Hardy

I look forward to hearing from Lake cousins near and far!


3 comments:

  1. I think that my husband's ancestor is a sister of Lindsay Lake. I also think that Aron Lake of Breckenridge Kentucky and Morgan and Cass Illinois may be their father. All circumstantial at this time, no records to prove. My husband and his sister have recently completed autosomal DNA tests. Please contact directly.

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  2. In the 1835 census of Morgan county there is a Lucinda Lake with 2 daughters under 10 living next to Lindsay Lake. Could this be the widow of the Aaron Lake that you show dying 6 Jul 1835? Only issue with this possibility is that the census is dated 3 Jul 1835 though it seems too extensive to have been completed in a single day. Lucinda remarried in Dec of 1835.

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    1. Rebecca, yes that is the widow of Aaron Lake, who I now believe to have been the brother of Lindsay. I have a copy of the probate where Lucinda was the administratrix. It references Lucinda Carter formerly Lucinda Lake and shows John C. Carter as becoming the guardian of the minor heirs. Bondsmen were Eliazer Skinner and John York. A debt was owed to Nicholas Huston, another allied family name. He also was a bondsman for the guardianship, along with Nicholas Carter. I will send you a copy of the probate if you leave me your email in a comment which will remain private and not published.

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