Meet Elizabeth Hannah, wife of Francis Walker III, and newly discovered (for us) daughter of Richard and Catherine (Walker) Hannah.
Until a few weeks ago, our family tree included six children of Richard and Catherine Hannah—Edward, John, Francis, Andrew, Isabella, and Richard. They all arrived in Manvers Township, Durham County, Canada West (now Ontario) from Ireland about 1848, and are “easily” followed through the Census of Canada for many decades after.
Una May Davey Porter provided us this tantalizing breadcrumb regarding the children of Richard and Catherine Hannah …
New information — Francis, Edward, John, and Richard had twin sisters Elizabeth Hannah and Mary Ann Hannah, besides another sister Sara.
Hannah – Adams Genealogy, 1848-Present, 1987, page 105.
The 5-second rule has SO expired on this 32-year-old breadcrumb.
During our research of the Hannah family, we identified several associated families of Walkers, Loves, Kerrs, and Virtues that removed with the Hannahs from Manvers Township westward to Holland Township, Grey County, Ontario; to Arran Township, Bruce County, Ontario; to Manitoulin Island, Ontario; westward through Canada or to Hannah, North Dakota. We even found a Francis Walker, married to an Elizabeth Hannah, but had been unable to determine their relationship to our Hannahs.
We also found many DNA matches of our family members with these Walker, Love, Kerr, and Virtue families, but have been unable to identify a most recent common ancestor (MRCA) shared with them that explains the shared DNA.
On 6 Jan of this year, we stumbled across a family tree belonging to kfwalker11 on ancestry.com containing an Elizabeth Hanna, wife of Francis Walker. What actually caught our eye is this tree contains actual sources for baptisms and marriages of their Walkers in Ireland, which is not often seen during our research of our Irish lines. The sources though refer to private research that was paid for by this Walker family with a genealogy research company in Ireland, so we were not immediately able to see the actual records.
We contacted kfwalker11, aka F. Walker, and have been blown away with what we received. F. Walker mailed us 69 pages of research into the Walker family including the research of L. Walker and K. Moore. This research connects their Elizabeth Hanna as the daughter of our Richard Hannah and Catherine Walker, and connects their Francis Walker to our Catherine Walker. Elizabeth’s husband Francis is Catherine’s 1st cousin.
Our Hannah family has long known its ancestors emigrated from Donegal, Ireland, to Canada. We now know from precisely where!
And we now know precisely where to keep digging—which led us to learn that Mary Jane Gallagher’s (Andrew Porter’s wife’s) family is from this same place in Ireland. So her mother Mary Walker is probably from this same Walker family—which is also supported by numerous DNA tests.
Thank you F. Walker, L. Walker, and K. Moore for generously sharing your Walker research with us!
Elizabeth Hannah (1807-1888) is daughter of Richard Hannah and Catherine Walker, and 5th great-aunt of MKS in the Watne branch.
Francis Walker III (1803-1871) is husband of Elizabeth Hannah, and 1st cousin of Catherine Walker.
Richard Hannah (1780-1874) and Catherine Walker (1784-1825) are 5th great-grandparents of MKS in the Watne branch.
References:
[1] Ancestry.com member kfwalker (research) and jazzysdad (photograph).