52 Ancestors: Jerry Roe - The Overlooked Detail That Shattered a Brick Wall

This weekend’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks theme, “Overlooked,” brings to mind a small but critical detail I once missed in my genealogical journey—a detail that ultimately blew my research wide open. This story takes us back to a seemingly insignificant entry on Pier Roe's delayed birth certificate. Overlooking it initially cost me years of research, but revisiting it changed everything.

For over a decade, I had been stuck on one of my longest-standing brick walls: Jerry Roe, my great-great-grandfather. Who were his parents? Where did he come from? These questions haunted me, and though I had pursued countless leads, the answers eluded me.

Back in 2008, I wrote about my great-grandfather Frank Roe, surprised to find his parents, Jerry and Rachel Roe, living on an Indian Reservation in Ote, Oklahoma, according to the 1910 census. Rachel’s claim of Chippewa ancestry intrigued me at the time but was later disproven through DNA and further research. That revelation, however, did little to uncover Jerry’s origins.

Over the years, breakthroughs came in fits and starts. In 2011, Jeanette Perrin Coaly, a cousin on both my husband’s and my sides, unearthed significant clues—including Jerry and Rachel’s marriage record. Despite the excitement, their ancestry remained a mystery for years.

It wasn’t until 2017, when my mother took a DNA test, that the tide began to turn. I spent months painstakingly analyzing her matches, searching for connections to the Roe family. Eventually, this effort led me to Jeremiah Roe, born around 1750 in Ireland and later immigrating to Pennsylvania. This line offered promising leads, but no definitive answers.

One of Jeremiah’s descendants stood out: Joel Roe, born in 1832. Joel’s life in Iowa, his marriage to Julia Ann Richardson, and his children provided tantalizing hints. Among them was Josiah Roe, born in 1859, whose adult life proved maddeningly elusive. Could Josiah be Jerry?

This is where Pier Roe’s delayed birth certificate entered the picture. Filed late and initially dismissed as unremarkable, the document contained a curious detail: it was signed by Jennie E. Norton, who was identified as Pier’s aunt. That one line stopped me in my tracks. I had seen that name before, and the reason she stood out to me is that I knew she was the only Roe descendant I could trace, having died not 30 minutes from where I live in the Inland Northwest. No, my family is not from this area, so to say the least, she stood out. 

I returned to my tree and found Jennie (Roe) Norton in my tree. Jennie Norton, as it turned out, was Joel’s daughter, making her Jerry’s sister. Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place. Josiah Roe hadn’t disappeared; he had adopted the name Jothanan "Jerry" Roe in adulthood. This revelation not only confirmed Jerry’s parentage but also validated years of DNA matches connecting my family to Jeremiah Roe’s descendants.

That one overlooked signature on Pier’s birth certificate transformed my research. It underscored the importance of examining every detail in primary sources—not just once, but repeatedly. It’s easy to focus on the larger picture and miss the smaller, seemingly insignificant clues that hold the key to unlocking long-standing mysteries.

Today, I can confidently trace my lineage back to Jeremiah Roe, born around 1750 in Ireland. This journey, filled with false starts and dead ends, is a testament to perseverance and the power of DNA. Most importantly, it’s a reminder that no detail is too small to matter. Jennie Norton’s signature may have been overlooked at first, but in the end, it shattered the brick wall that had stood for generations.