Confused Yet?
Francis Warman (1697-1743) married Frances Hanslep (1701-1750) and had a daughter, Frances Hanslep Warman (1765-1787) who married Stephen Watkins (1735-1828) and they had a son, Joseph Hanslep Watkins (1786-1870), my 3rd great grandfather. But oops! The dates don’t work.
As I began researching Joseph Hanslep Watkins and his father Stephen Watkins who was in the American Revolutionary War, I discovered many Franci(e)s Warmans and many Stephen Watkinses. It became very hard to sort the various people out. Many of the various Francises and Stephens became interchangeable and putting the correct facts with the correct individual was challenging. In addition to direct lineage, there were siblings, cousins, nephews, and children with actual documentation very limited. When I looked at the information in other people’s trees it was just a mix of facts added very haphazardly without coherent thought concerning those facts (and the reality was that there were indeed many people with the same name).
According to the dates that I had, Frances Hanslep Warman who was born in 1765 would have had to have been born after both of her parents died. I obviously skipped a generation. I also skipped a generation with her husband, Stephen Watkins (1763-1838). Many people added facts about Stephen and his father Stephen interchangeably. Again there were siblings, nephews, cousins, and children also named Stephen Watkins. I was able to sort the various Stephens out by using the Daughters of the American Revolution information. DAR verifies the information. Of course this is also where I discovered more confusing information: there were two John Calvin Watkinses who were first cousins. I was confident of the details concerning my great grandfather, John Calvin Watkins, father of my grandfather Donald, so I was easily able to differentiate the two.
My ancestry tree now reflects that Francis Warman (1697-1743) married Frances Hanslep (1701-1750) and they had a son, Stephen Warman (1722-?) who married Ann? and Stephen and his wife had a daughter Frances Hanslep Warman(1765-1787). There is very little information on this Stephen Warman and even less on his wife Ann so I will continue to look for more facts. Frances Hanslep Warman married Stephen Watkins (1763-1838) who was the son of Stephen Watkins (1735-1828) and Elinor Boyd (1738-?). Frances Hanslep Warman (1765-1787) and Stephen Watkins (1763-1838) had a son, Joseph Hanslep Watkins (1786-1870) who was my 3rd great grandfather.
Now just to add to the confusion a little, Stephen Warman (1670-1740) and Sarah Warman (1679-1700) are the 2nd great grandparents of Joseph Hanslep Watkins on his paternal side. But wait…Stephen and Sarah are also Joseph’s 2nd great grandparents on his maternal side. Mary Warman (who married John Elfreth Watkins) was the sister of Francis Warman who married Frances Hanslep. I created a colored coded chart showing the connections (this is why Joseph is listed twice as well as his parents).
Ah, genealogy research is definitely not linear. And the research continues.
