Beware of Ancestry "Historical" Records

This morning I accidentally encountered a marriage record for my 4th great grandfather Thomas Wingo which gave his bride as his sister-in-law, Sarah W. Rucker.

According to Ancestry's information regarding this database, the source of the information is as follows:

Source Information
Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Original data: This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived from an array of materials including pedigree charts, family history articles, querie.

Description
This database contains marriage record information for approximately 1,400,000 individuals from across all 50 United States and 32 different countries around the world between 1560 and 1900. These records, which include information on over 500 years of marriages, were extracted from family group sheets, electronic databases, biographies, wills, and other sources.

In other words, this information has been primarily taken from family group sheets, biographies and such, none of which would constitute a primary or desirable source.

The truth of this family connection is that Sarah Rucker was the wife of Thomas Wingo's brother John. Although not all Amelia County, Virginia marriage records are extant, Sarah, daughter of William Rucker, is documented as the wife of John Wingo in records of both Spartanburg County, South Carolina and Amelia County, Virginia.

Deed Book C, p. 289, Spartanburg County, SC
William Rucker for the heirs of Sarah Wingo, Dec'd This indenture made this 15th day of Sept and in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and Ninety Four - Witnesseth that I William Rucker of the State of South Carolina and the county of Spartenburgh do hereby give and bequeth unto the heirs of the body of my said daughter, Sarah Wingo, Deceased, one Negro woman by the name of Milly amd all the increase of her body to wit: Sim, Ben, Nan, Charles, Becky, Lewis, Rueben, Ady, and Morris. These at present in the keeping of John Wingo Junior in the State of Virginia and County of Amelia which negros I, William Rucker, never intended to dispose of in any other Way but to my said daughter and the heirs of her body for ever. Wherefore, I the said William Rucker do hereby authorize and Impower Sherwood Fowler to demand the said Negros above mentioned and to act in the behalf of the heirs of my said daughter deceased. Signed William Rucker

Deed Book 21, p. 59, Amelia County, VA
We the subscribers this Seventeenth Day of October 1797, Received of John Wingo Sr. of Amelia County two hundred and Thirty five Pounds seventeen shillings in negroes for which Negoes we the Subscribers do hereby agree that neither us or our heirs and will or shall ever put up or lay any claim or demand against the estate of the above mentioned John Wingo Sr or any part thereof. John Wingo Jr, Sherwood Fowler (for Mary Wingo Fowler), Abner Wingo, Churchill Wingo, Jane Wingo, Fanny Wingo Scruggs (Mrs. William Scruggs), Cyrus Seay (for Nancy Wingo Seay).

The maiden name of Sarah, the wife of Thomas Wingo, is unknown but autosomal DNA supports the belief that she was probably a member of the Joel Meador family of Amelia County. It is no small wonder that there is so much incorrect information across the internet regarding Sarah, wife of Thomas Wingo, Jr., when Ancestry is disseminating the false information as a historical record.

My 5th Great Grandmother Sarah

Sarah was the grandmother of Jerman J. Wingo who settled the town of Wingo, in Graves County, Kentucky. She married Thomas Wingo, Jr. around 1757 and by 1765 she was a young widow with four small children. There are no clues to Sarah's surname and the identity of her family although they were surely neighbors of the Wingo family in Amelia County, Virginia living among the families between Flatt Creek and the Appomatox River.

Various family trees online, particularly on Ancestry.com list Sarah as Sarah Rucker, but that is incorrect as Sarah Rucker was the wife of Thomas Wingo's brother John. This is substantiated by a court case following Sarah Rucker Wingo's death around 1780. In 1791 her father, William Rucker, executed a deed of gift to the heirs of his deceased daughter. The disputed slaves Milly and her children Sam, Ben, Nan, Charles, Becky, Lewis, Rueben, Edy and Moses were still in the possession of John Wingo, Sarah's husband, as late as 1797. A settlement was finally negotiated between John Wingo and his children wherein they received the slaves given by their grandfather and agreed not to make any claims or demands against the estate of John Wingo. (Amelia Co., VA; Book 9; Page 275; Probate records; 22 Nov 1821)

Sarah is also listed as Sarah Foster in many online family trees which is probably the result of some confusion because she married John Foster the son of William Foster of the Stock's Creek area in Amelia County after Thomas Wingo, Jr.'s death. In 1779, Sarah's son Obediah was listed as a tithe of John Foster and in 1782, Thomas Wingo was. This indicates that it was Sarah and John Foster who raised Thomas Wingo, Jr.'s children, not his brother John W. Wingo as some speculate. It is not impossible that Sarah was the daughter of one of the other Foster families in the area but much research has failed to identify a family with a daughter Sarah who was of the right age and available to have been the wife of Thomas Wingo and William Foster's son John.

Over the last 30 years, I have researched many of the Amelia County neighbors of the Wingo family searching for a family that might have been Sarah's. Richard Borum's 1785 Amelia County will named a daughter Sara Foster, but no records can be found that definitely identify Sarah Borum and the Foster family she married into. Colonial Amelia County is filled with countless families like Meador, Burton, Worsham and Seay which are all names I see repeatedly in autosomal DNA matches but have no documentation of any family connection. For now I'll just keep researching each of the neighboring families as I find a DNA match and maybe someday I'll find Sarah.