Always Start With What You *Know*

 

The Anchor Island Methodology: Cultivating Precision in Genealogical Research

I always commence my genealogical inquiries anchored to absolute certainty. This foundational tier consists exclusively of individuals I have personally encountered, alongside locales, dates, and chronologies authenticated through tangible ephemera and concrete memories housed within family collections. These verifiable relationships and activities constitute my "anchor island".

For example: I do not initiate research by blindly searching for an elusive eighteenth-century patriarch. Instead, I start with a grandparent whose existence, residence, and familial ties are corroborated by a physical wedding photograph in my possession or a vividly recounted childhood memory.

Operating from this base of certainty, I meticulously architect bridges connecting to subsequent ancestral tiers. One cannot traverse the generational expanse using flimsy, speculative structures; such compromised foundations inevitably collapse. Consequently, I dedicate intensive effort to fortifying the structural integrity of a single connection, building relentlessly until the pathway to the subsequent generation becomes incontrovertibly solid.

Clients frequently exhibit a palpable urgency to bypass immediate predecessors, expressing frustration when I persist in an exhaustive analysis of the grandparents before venturing further into antiquity. While I strive to accommodate their enthusiasm, elucidating the necessity of this methodical pacing proves challenging within brief consultations, necessitating a comprehensive explanation of my methodology.

The Perils of Proliferation

The rationale driving this stringency stems primarily from the pervasive compilation negligence plaguing modern genealogy. The proliferation of digital repositories facilitates the effortless publication of unsubstantiated family lineages, engendering a catastrophic iteration of the telephone game where initial data suffers complete distortion.

For example: An individual could whimsically publish fabricated relationships—such as claiming a fictional character like Mickey Mouse as a patriarch. Subsequent users, lacking critical discretion, might blindly integrate this hallucination as factual evidence. As more individuals merge these unsourced trees, you eventually confront a convoluted, erroneous profile of a man boasting fifty wives and a hundred and fifty children entirely devoid of legitimate sourcing.

I maintain little patience for sifting through these convoluted, speculative quagmires. My preference is to originate from a blank slate, dissecting individual pieces of evidence with deliberate scrutiny, regardless of how tedious others may perceive this process.

The Primacy of Provenance

A widespread deficiency within amateur research remains the fundamental inability to distinguish primary from secondary sources, coupled with a failure to recognize the paramount importance of accurately reproducing original documents.

For example: An original, handwritten post-it note—when verified against known penmanship samples—possesses exponentially greater evidentiary value than transcribed text upon a digital webpage. If you attempt to verify a mother's maiden name, holding a scan of an original ledger entry is a foundational primary source. Conversely, relying on an Ancestry.com hint that merely points to another user's unverified tree is a perilous exercise in hearsay.

Frequently, the "evidence" touted by researchers to validate significant lineages is merely a regurgitation of secondary assertions, leading down a veritable rabbit hole that culminates in no original statement whatsoever. When evaluating a piece of evidence, I subject it to rigorous interrogation: identifying the informant, establishing the collection date, and calculating the temporal distance from the documented event. Secondary sources recorded concurrently with an event wield substantially more authority than those authored a century later, a distinction that becomes crucial prior to the nineteenth century when primary documentation grows increasingly scarce. Because secondary documentation exhibits varying degrees of reliability, meticulously establishing a source's credibility is absolutely vital before permitting it to arbitrate subsequent historical contradictions.

Cultivating Utter Uniqueness

My ultimate objective is the comprehensive development of an individual, their spouse, and their minor dependents, rendering the familial unit utterly idiosyncratic. To achieve this, I parse out infinitesimal details from every source, acknowledging that no granularity—whether a specific thoroughfare, proximity to a landmark, or a distinct municipal quadrant—is too trivial to document.

For example: Novices erroneously assume that a cluster of familiar surnames within a specific township automatically denotes their target lineage. However, if you extract every granular detail from a city directory, you might discover that your "John Smith" resided at 104 Elm Street and worked as a blacksmith, while a contemporaneous "John Smith" lived at 902 Oak Avenue and was a practicing attorney. This microscopic detailing serves as an indispensable safeguard against the repetitive nature of ancestral nomenclature.

Dedicating hours to extracting minute inferences from a single paragraph illuminates glaring chronological or geographical impossibilities that would otherwise remain undetected. Maintaining a hyper-detailed profile exposes absurdities such as instantaneous cross-county relocations, illogical occupational pivots, or the spontaneous reconfiguration of sequential birth orders. Achieving this requisite granularity demands bypassing the superficial transcriptions offered by genealogy databases, which routinely omit critical identifiers like house numbers or specific municipal sectors. One must actively seek the original visual scan or a physical library directory to extract these granular nuances, linking every occupation and spousal detail directly to the originating document.

Bridging the Generational Chasm

The necessity of constructing a uniquely detailed family profile becomes acutely apparent when confronting the challenges of generational transition. This hurdle is exacerbated by marital surname alterations, the utilization of honorifics superseding given names, and rigid, repetitive naming traditions that continually recycle a limited lexicon of monikers within isolated communities.

For example: In many rural nineteenth-century communities, strong naming traditions dictated that the firstborn son be named after the paternal grandfather. Consequently, you may encounter four distinct men named "Jacob Smith," all of whom have sons named "John," residing in the exact same county during the exact same decade.

Formulating an utterly unique familial identity is a laborious endeavor. However, without an incontrovertible comprehension of the current generation, asserting the legitimacy of the preceding generation remains an impossibility. I refuse to squander monumental effort researching prospective ancestors without firmly cementing the generational linkage through robust corroboration.

To definitively bridge the gap between a son and a father, I require a confluence of evidence: probates delineating progeny, obituaries enumerating siblings, localized land transactions illustrating geographical proximity, and newspaper chronicles of matrimonial events occurring on ancestral properties. Such exhaustive cross-referencing is essential to distinguish ancestors from contemporary cousins bearing identical names and inhabiting the precise same county. Consequently, I diligently chronicle all affiliations, religious observances, occupations, and even unsavory legal entanglements. Documenting these unpleasant realities is never a pursuit of sensationalism, but a vital tactic required to forge a distinctly unique, unassailable ancestral profile

In Summary: Keep the faith!

I completely understand that agonizing over a single obituary for an hour feels incredibly frustrating when you are genuinely eager to chase the glamorous details of a long-lost earl. I truly get it. Although my methodical pacing might occasionally feel at odds with your excitement, please know that I am your steadfast ally in this journey. My ultimate goal is to construct an unbreakable pathway to your genuine ancestors—individuals who, while perhaps absent from sensational society headlines, are profoundly vital to the fabric of who you are today. Without fail, this rigorous process always unearths a previously untold story that is infinitely more deserving of a bold headline. We simply need to discover that beautiful narrative and champion it ourselves. By adhering to these foundational steps together, we ensure that when we finally write their story, we do so with the absolute confidence that this remarkable individual is authentically and irrefutably connected to you.

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Recent Updates to the Lepley Genealogy Tree

New Historical Research & Documents

• Jacob Lepley’s Parents: Added Jacob's parents, focusing heavily on his father, John. John's father—a Revolutionary War soldier in the Pennsylvania State Militia—was killed and scalped by Native Americans while milking cows outside Ft. Freeland, PA. I have added court records to the family gallery Google albums that list John as an orphan following this event. Also added land registry certificates and land surveys pertaining to John.

• Eleanor Creighton Lepley: Added documents to the Google albums showing Eleanor listed in her brother's will, which also includes the names of her siblings.

• J.R. Crooks' Civil War Service: Conducted deep research into J.R. Crooks' military service. I have released two installments of a fictionalized account of his experiences on the Lepley Blog. The Last Guard - Story Prologue, The Last Guard - Ch 1

• Enhanced Profiles on MacFamily Tree(s): Expanded the profiles for Jacob & Eleanor Lepley, their son-in-law J.R. Crooks, as well as J.R.'s daughter and spouse, Elmer & Ella Crooks with new sources, images, and life events.

Website & Reporting Updates

• Charts & Reports: Updated the charts and numerous reports (including Descendant Poster, Cemeteries, Occupations, Schools, Education, Veterans, and Churches) with the latest research. Many of these had not been updated since 2022.

• Homepage Redesigns: Updated lepley.consultchris.us to improve the visibility of the reports and blog. The directory of family galleries has also been expanded to include several more families.

Important Changes to MacFamilyTree Organization The Lepley MacFamilyTree has been dramatically expanded. However, due to hosting costs and a 2GB size limit per file on the MacFamilyTree website, I had to restructure how the tree is organized.

• Shared Base Data: All of the new trees contain the exact same base data for Jacob & Eleanor, their ancestors, and any of their children who did not marry or have children.

• The Split: The tree is now divided at the level of Jacob & Eleanor's married children and their descendants downward. The separate trees are:

  • Lepley Hickman: Simeon & Susannah Hickman (Lepley)

  • Lepley Crooks: J.R. & Mary Crooks (Lepley)

  • Lepley Callahan: Clark & Nancy Callahan (Lepley)

  • Lepley Anderson: Omar & Clara Lepley (Anderson)

  • Lepley Glasgow: William & Cora Lepley (Glasgow)

• Navigation Video: If you are viewing one tree (e.g., Hickman) and want to jump to someone in another tree (e.g., Crooks), the home menu contains links to each of the MacFamilyTree files for this family group. I have included a short, silent screen-recording video demonstrating exactly how to navigate between these files.

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The Last Guard, Chapter 1

 Author’s Note: The following narrative is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Sergeant James R. Crooks (1840–1936). While the specific dialogue is imagined, the events described—from the surrender at Harper's Ferry to the tragic loss of his children—are grounded in primary historical records. To view the original military documents, photographs, and census records that inspired this story, please visit lepley.consultchris.us - James & Mary Crooks .

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The Last Guard

A Fictionalized Memoir of Sgt James R. Crooks Based on the true events and records of the Lepley-Crooks family archive. 

Chapter 1: The Shame of the Valley (1862)

You know me as an old man who sits on the porch, watching the cars go by on Elm Street. But in June of 1862, I was younger than you are now. I was twenty-two, clean-shaven, and naive.

I left the farm in Tuscarawas County thinking I would be back by harvest. I promised my sister Elizabeth—she was just fourteen then, that I would bring her a silk ribbon from Maryland. I joined Company K of the 87th Ohio Infantry.

Now, you might read books someday written by men in universities who say we only fought to "Preserve the Union." They say maybe one in ten of us cared about the Negro or the sin of slavery.

Perhaps that was the way for some. I had plenty of tangible reasons to stay support my widower father and young sister to survive the winter.

You have to understand the land we lived on. Ohio is separated from Kentucky by nothing but a river. If my father, Robert, or his father before him, had wanted to own other men, they could have walked across a bridge. They didn't. They stayed on the free side of the river because they believed that a man should sweat for his own bread.

We didn't leave our plows in the field just to draw a line on a map. We left the harvest—the wheat that would feed us and all those around us through the unpredictable Ohio valley winter.

My brother Josiah—was the one who made me see it. He was ten years older than me, and he saw the war not just as a rebellion, but as a Reckoning. He used to say, "James, the Lord will not let this nation stand if we build our house on the backs of slaves."

So when I signed my name that summer, it wasn't just for adventure. It was because I couldn't look across that river anymore and do nothing. I was willing to let the harvest rot in the field if it meant tearing the rot out of the country's soul.

 1 July 1862, The Pittsburgh Post, Pg3

They sent us to Harper's Ferry. If you look at a map, it looks like a masterpiece of God—where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers crash together at the feet of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The town sits at the bottom of a bowl. We were stationed on Bolivar Heights, a long ridge to the west. We dug our trenches and thought we were safe. We looked at the mountains towering above us—Maryland Heights to the north, Loudoun Heights to the south—and we assumed our generals had secured them.

But confusion is the first child of war. Orders were shouted and countermanded. We heard rumors that the troops on Maryland Heights—the most important position—had abandoned their posts. We didn't believe it. How could they give up the high ground?

But on September 13th, we looked up, and the sky turned black. Stonewall Jackson had dragged his cannons up those cliffs. The enemy wasn't in front of us. They were above us. They looked right down into our trenches. We were rats in a barrel.

The air was filled with the cacophony of sound, with the world shaking, and acrid smell of war, violence and death.

• September 13: The shelling began. It wasn't a battle; it was an execution. We lay flat in the dirt, pressing our faces into the mud, while iron rained down on us.

• September 14: The confusion turned to rage. We tried to fire back, but our cannons couldn't elevate high enough to hit the mountain peaks. We were helpless. Men were screaming, asking where our support was. Where was the Army of the Potomac? Why was Colonel Miles, our commander, doing nothing?

The rumors flew down the line like wildfire. Some said Colonel Miles was drunk. Others said he was a traitor. We didn't know the truth, only that we were being strangled.

My Major, Joab Stafford, was a good man. He walked the line while the shells burst, his hand on his sword. He told us to check our caps. He told us to fix bayonets. We thought, This is it. We are going to charge out of this hole or die trying. I gripped my Enfield rifle until my knuckles turned white. I was ready to die. I was not ready for what happened next.

Enfield Rifle

The morning of September 15th dawned with a heavy, wet fog. The river mist mixed with the black powder smoke, blinding us. The cannon fire started early, shaking the ground so hard my teeth rattled.

And then, through the mist, the shouting started. Not the rebel yell, but our own officers. "Cease fire! Cease fire!"

We looked down the line. A white flag was waving in the wind.

But here is where the chaos of life truly shows its teeth. The fog was so thick that the Confederates on the mountains couldn't see the white flag. They kept firing. The shells kept screaming in.

We watched in horror as a shell exploded right behind Colonel Miles. It shattered his leg. He fell, mortally wounded, killed by the very surrender he had ordered. It was a chaotic, bloody mess. Men were running, officers were shouting, and the ground was soaked in blood and shame.

When the firing finally stopped, a silence fell over the valley that was heavier than the noise.

We were ordered to "Stack Arms." I want you to picture this: 12,000 men, the largest surrender in the history of our country. We stood in ranks. I looked at Major Stafford. He had tears running down into his beard. He looked like he had aged twenty years in twenty minutes.

I stepped forward. I held my rifle—the weapon I hadn't fired a single shot with to save us—and I placed it on the pile. I saw men around me smashing their guns against the rocks. They broke the stocks so the Rebels wouldn't get them. They tore the colors from the flagpoles and hid the scraps in their shirts. It was a scene of utter heartbreak.

Then, the enemy marched in. They were A.P. Hill's men—Confederates. The victors were skinny, ragged, barefoot, and dirty. They walked past our polished lines and ate our rations while we stood there with empty hands.

Because the South couldn't feed 12,000 prisoners, they "paroled" us. They made us sign papers swearing not to fight again until we were "exchanged."

 18 Sep 1862, The Cleveland Morning Leader, pg1

I walked out of that valley, a long, dusty walk toward Annapolis. I sat in the dirt that night and tried to write to my father. I couldn't write to Elizabeth. I couldn't tell my little sister that her brother was a prisoner.

September 18, 1862 Camp of the Paroled, Annapolis

Dear Father, I am coming home, but not the way I intended. We have been surrendered. The shame of it sits heavy on me. It was confusion, Father. We wanted to fight. I saw Major Stafford turn his face away when the flag went up; I felt the same.

20 Sep 1862, The Baltimore Sun, pg 1

I came home to the quiet of the farm. But I couldn't stay. I couldn't live with the memory of that white flag in the fog.

I had fallen as low as a soldier could fall. But my brother Josiah—was out there serving as a Chaplain. He was preaching the gospel of freedom to dying men. I knew I couldn't stay home while he did God's work.

I wiped the mud of Harper's Ferry off my boots. I looked toward the mountains of Tennessee, and I signed my name again.

                                                  16 Sep 1862, The Richmond Dispatch, pg 1.            19 Sep 1862, The Philadelphia Inquirer

 

22 Sep 1862, The Daily Pittsburg Gazette, pg 3

This is the further installment of a fictional short story of the life of a very real man, "JR" Crooks.  Visit Lepley-Crooks family archive for more.  Follow this blog for the next installment.

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A User’s Guide

Navigating Our Family History: A User’s Guide

I use a variety of economical tools to publish our family history. While this ensures the data is secure, and accessible, I understand that jumping between different websites can be confusing. 

This guide explains how my files are structured, which tool to use for what purpose, and how to find your way back if you get lost.

1. The "Front Door": Your Starting Point

Where to go: [familyname].consultchris.us (e.g., lepley.consultchris.us)

Think of the ConsultChris Family Homepage as the directory or "front door" to all my research. I strongly advise you to start here and end here.

• What you will find:

  • Directories of names (Family Groups).

  • Links to maps, charts, and research reports.

  • Direct access to the Research Blog.

• Navigation Tip: If you ever feel lost deep in a photo album or external site, simply type the main address back into your browser to return to safety.

2. The News Center: Research Blog

Best for: Discovering "What's New" without digging through files.

Genealogy is a living, breathing project. The Research Blog is where I share the excitement of the hunt in real-time. This is the best place to visit if you want to know what I am working on right now.  

• What I post here:

  • Exciting Finds: A neat story, a rare news clipping, or a "breakthrough" discovery I just made.

  • Trip Reports: Photos and details from my recent "genealogy vacations" and archive visits.

  • Site Updates: Announcements when I refresh a report, add a new family line, or upload a new batch of documents.

• How to find and follow: Each family homepage has a link to their own Research Blog. To find it return to 1 above.  You can read the latest posts directly on the site, or subscribe to get these stories delivered to your email so you never miss a beat.

3. The "Couple Page": The Gateway

When you click on a name from the main directory, you are taken to a dedicated page for that specific couple. This page serves as a launchpad to all other platforms.

• The Main Photo: Clicking the main photo at the top of the page will take you directly into their Google Photo Album.

• The Direct Links: Below the photo, you will find customized links taking you directly to that person’s profile on external platforms (FamilySearch, Find A Grave, MacFamilyTree, etc.).

  • Note: Some sites (like Ancestry or Fold3) may require a login. If a link takes you to a login screen, sign in, and then come back and click the link again to go straight to the specific record.

4. The Visual Archive: Google Photo Albums

Best for: Browsing pictures easily on your phone or computer.

For each married couple, I have created a dedicated online album containing all relevant photos and documents.

• Pros: Very easy to swipe through. No login required.

• Cons: Photos lack context. You might see a court document next to a portrait with no explanation of what the document proves.

• Getting Back: Every album contains a text slide reminding you of the family homepage URL. Use this to return to the main directory to find other albums.

5. The Research Core: MacFamilyTree

Best for: Understanding the "Who, When, and Where" (Context).

This is a dedicated genealogy website where I publish my organized data. It is Browse Only—you cannot accidentally delete or change anything, and no login is required.

• Why use it? Unlike the photo albums, this site connects the dots. It links the photos to dates, events, and relationships, explaining why a document matters.

• Features: You can view interactive trees, download documents, and explore family facts without restriction.

6. The Cemetery: Find A Grave

Best for: Locating burial sites and viewing headstones.

This is a free, public website. I have organized our family graves into "Virtual Cemeteries" for each family group (e.g., Lepley, Borger). 

• What you can do:

  • View photos and transcriptions of headstones.

  • See GPS coordinates of specific graves.

  • Sort the list by name or by cemetery location.

7. The Workshop: FamilySearch

Best for: Collaboration and adding your own knowledge.

Think of FamilySearch as the "Wikipedia" of genealogy. There is only one profile per deceased person in the world, and everyone contributes to it.

• My Workflow: I use FamilySearch as my "sandbox." When I find new information, I save it there first. Once verified, I move it to my permanent MacFamilyTree records.

• For You: If you want to contribute stories, correct errors, or add photos yourself, this is the place to do it.

8. Printable Reports & Charts

Best for: Taking information offline or visiting locations.

I have created custom reports for each family group, available via the Lepley Homepage or the "Home" tab in MacFamilyTree.

• Popular Reports:

  • Cemetery Report: Essential for visits. Organized by State -> Cemetery -> Family Name (including plot numbers).

  • Descendant Poster: A visual tree useful for orienting yourself within the larger family lines.

  • Vital Records: Reports on veterans, causes of death, schools, etc.

• How to Print: When viewing a report, look for the "Pop-Out" button (usually in the top right corner) to open the file in a new window, then select "Print." 

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