Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

When I got my DNA results back, the biggest surprise I had was in all the people from the southern states who I shared DNA with. I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is from Salucia Sophronia Squibb , but that certainly doesn't explain it all. The only other unknown line, is that of Martha Brennan Davis , mother of Lillian Davis Stephenson, who was mother of my grandfather, Fred Stephenson. I have thought she was Irish, probably an Irish immigrant, and probably related to other Brennans of Galesburg, Illinois, but there is evidence she was from Indiana. Besides the unexplained southern DNA matches, I have little Irish DNA on this line, not enough for Martha Brennan to be full blooded Irish. But more importantly, the Stephensons had dark complexions. I honestly don't know beyond that where the dark hair and eyes came from. Here is a picture of Lillian Davis Stephenson, my great grandmother. Notice the dark hair, deep set, dark eyes. She doesn't look Irish. Her featur

I thought I knew the important events of my Mom's life. But this year I learned something about her that I never would have suspected. I had known that Mom had a stillborn baby, Allen Leroy, the year before I was born. And I learned more recently that Mom lost twins during pregnancy before my brother was born. But this year I found that Mom became pregnant before she was married to my Dad. She gave up the baby for adoption. These were things that Mom didn't talk about. I don't blame her. They weren't pleasant things. She didn't want me to know about her early pregnancy, but now when I think back, there were things she did say to me that tie back to that event. And I can't help but think that that event changed her. I discovered that Mom was mother to another child through the use of Ancestry DNA. After contacting a close, but unknown, DNA match, and doing a little research, I suspected Mom had another child. And then I confirmed the story with relatives. It