Madness Monday: The Tale of Two Nancys – Uncovering Two Distinct Women

 I know I didn't post a Madness Monday last week. It was a holiday, and I was busy helping my husband put up a fence, but I’ve been working on a mystery that I’ve now found some resolution to.

I've managed to trace my father-in-law’s Crooks line back to John Crook, born in 1788 in North Carolina, and Nancy, born in 1797 in Kentucky. Through DNA matches to my father-in-law and descendants of four of their children, I've confirmed the following:

• Bolivar Houston Crooks (1836–1906) - great grandfather of FIL
• Marcus de Lafayette Crooks (1828–1923)
• Ann Crooks (b. 1822)
• Mariah T. Crook (1828–1913)

This research has been validated by DNA evidence.

The overall results of this BanyanDNA tree is a Chi-Square Test Result of 1.00

For years, I knew John and Nancy Crooks were the parents of these children, but had no clue about Nancy’s maiden name. Recently, however, a marriage record surfaced for a Nancy Dawson, who married a John Crook in October 1814 in Hardin, Kentucky. While this may be our Nancy, as it fits the timeline with their first known daughter, Leannah, born in 1820, there are still some uncertainties.

More recently, I encountered research combining our Nancy Crooks—possibly Nancy Dawson—with the wife of Richard Bostic and several Bostic children. After investigating further, I was able to confirm that these are, in fact, two different women. The key evidence comes from the 1850 census:

• Our Nancy Crooks is in Arkansas in 1850 with her husband, John, and three of their children: Lafayette (16), Houston (14), and Jamima (12). [1]
• Nancy Bostick, on the other hand, appears in Kentucky in 1850 with her 13-year-old daughter, Susan. Also in the household are Gabriel (27), Jeremiah (19), Bricey (17), and Martha (15), all inferred to be her children. [2]

It is physically impossible for these two records to be for the same woman.

1. 1850 United States Federal Census for Nancy Crooks, Arkansas, Independence, White River. Detail: Year: 1850; Census Place: White River, Independence, Arkansas; Roll: M432_26; Page: 339A; Image: 675
2. 1850 United States Federal Census for Nancy Bostick, Kentucky, Hart. Detail: The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Hart, Kentucky; Roll: 204; Page: 191a

Adding to the complexity—and likely the reason this connection has been made—descendants of two of the Bostic children (there may be more, but I’ve only identified two) are DNA matches to my father-in-law. I believe this confusion is partly perpetuated by ThruLines on Ancestry.com. While I do use ThruLines as a hint, this is a prime example of how it can cause issues when people don't understand that it's merely a suggestion. If the paper trail doesn’t support the hint, further research is needed. I am sure I will eventually discover how these Bostic descendants are related to my father-in-law, but it’s not through our Nancy Crooks.

It’s still possible that our Nancy Crooks may be Nancy Dawson, but more work is needed to definitively place her and John in Kentucky around 1814. However, I can confidently state from the above records that Nancy Crooks and Nancy Bostic are not the same person.