Twisted Roots Research

07/08/2026

Discover the parital story of Henry E. Ballou — active member and treasurer of the Neil’s Creek Anti-Slavery Society in the 1840s. Besides this, his marriage to Jane K. Mattley in 1843, and a brief stint in the Union Army during the Civil War, little is known about this man who worked with Lancaster residents against slavery. Read more: https://wix.to/TgVdMdw

Henry Ballou Meagan was an active member of the Neil’s Creek Anti-Slavery Society in 1842. On February 25, 1843, Ballou was named treasurer of the NCASS; two months later, on April 25, he married Jane K. Mattley, daughter of English immigrants John and Elizabeth “Betsy” Key Mattley.

07/02/2026

Elijah Anderson died suspiciously on the day he was to be released from the Kentucky State Penitentiary.

Born a free man in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1808, young Elijah Anderson worked on the steamships that sailed the Ohio River as a blacksmith, working on steam fittings and maintaining the engines that propelled the boats up and down the river. He eventually became a leading figure of the Underground R...

06/30/2026

Yep. That would make any body of water turn green.

06/30/2026

New on Twisted Roots Research: Elijah Anderson: Martyred? — the story of a free-born Lynchburg blacksmith who became a leading figure of the Underground Railroad. Read about his river work, bravery, and legacy in this 5-minute read. Dive in: https://wix.to/EvG98IX

Born a free man in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1808, young Elijah Anderson worked on the steamships that sailed the Ohio River as a blacksmith, working on steam fittings and maintaining the engines that propelled the boats up and down the river. He eventually became a leading figure of the Underground R...

06/23/2026

New on the blog: History Overlooked — Jefferson County and the UGR. A 1980s National Geographic map left out routes from Jefferson and nearby counties that guided freedom-seekers north to Michigan and Canada. Read how local paths and stories change the bigger picture of the Underground Railroad and why these omissions matter. Read more: https://wix.to/pbzFf3d

A couple years ago, I came across a 1980s edition of National Geographic that included articles and maps about the Underground Railroad and the main routes that historians believed were used to transport the tens of thousands of enslaved Americans of African descent who were determined to build thei...

06/03/2026

New on Twisted Roots Research: "Black Sheep of the Codling Family" — a deep, 13-minute read into the life of Stephen Codling (1851–1924), a man whose choices shattered his family and left a secret legacy hidden for generations. Read the full story and uncover the family truth. https://wix.to/ySZY14s

Stephen Codling was born in 1851 in Canada. At 73, he died as a recluse after having shattered his family and leaving a legacy that was never discussed for two generations.

01/04/2026

If you haven't explored AncestryDNA's ThruLines tool, you should. And here's how to start!

Ancestry's ThruLines tool can be useful in helping to find clues about more distant ancestors, but caution is imperative.

11/11/2025

Yay! A new blog post! (Finally...)

Francis “Frank” Robinson (a.k.a. Roberson) was born to unknown parents about 1776, probably in Frederick County, Virginia. His mother, clearly, was enslaved because he was born into slavery. His last enslaver was James Wood, an immigrant from Wi******er, England, who obtained a large grant of la...

06/06/2025

So many people that were involved somehow in Robert Jefferson's life, and others who weren't, but can be connected, died at fairly young ages. This person I am featuring today lived in Mississippi just around the end of Reconstruction, but met O.R. Singleton to talk about a business opportunity his dad had asked him to find out more about.
There is so little out there that I've been able to find on Singleton, even though he was a heavy hitter in Mississippi and both the U.S. and Confederate Congresses, and an officer in the Confederate Army. I have heard from at least one scholar who knows something about him that he was a hateful person and she couldn't believe that he would have signed manumission papers for any enslaved person of color. Of course, if you are a son of the third POTUS, people who don't usually pay attention to your race do pay attention to you.
Anyway, it's not a lot, but it was fun hearing a contemporary talk about his take on this elusive character of Southern history.

A recent Perplexity.ai search led me to find letters written by one Samuel Bradley Wiggin, who had mentioed in one or more of the letters O.R. Singleton, the Mississippi lawyer, politician, plantation owner and slaveholder who signed Robert Jefferson’s freedom papers. A man who, despite serving in...

05/15/2025

Delia Webster should be considered a National Treasure. There. I said it.

Several years ago, I read a biography of Miss Delia Ann Webster, an amazingly strong woman who was born and raised in Vermont, but moved south to become involved in anti-slavery activities from the 1840s through Emancipation. Recently, I read the only other biography about Webster that I could find.