Using Y-DNA and Autosomal DNA Together to Close a Gap in the Nicholas Ackley Family Tree

In past posts on this blog, I’ve written about members of the Ackley Surname Project who have learned that they are descendants of Nicholas Ackley through Y-DNA testing, but did not learn enough to know exactly how. At this stage, the project has enough descendants for each of Nicholas’s sons to define a branch for each son. But each son does not yet have enough branches to allow us to trace lineage down the generations without encountering gaps.

As noted in earlier posts, associations can be determined using more than one method. This project uses Y-DNA, which traces only the males in a lineage. Autosomal DNA traces both the male and the female lines and is used by companies such as Ancestry and MyHeritage. What follows is an example of how both types of DNA may be needed to bridge the gaps and  resolve lineage issues.

This story starts with Nancy Mattison, the author of the excellent book Discovering Nicholas Ackley, Early Connecticut Settler 1630-1695. Nancy also writes a blog on Nicholas Ackley and his descendants, and sometimes gets questions from people looking for help with their Ackley genealogy. Someone who is a descendant of Zebulon Ackley had asked her for help, and she thought DNA might help answer his question and contacted me (see her description of this query here [1]; be sure to click on the link in the post to get a PDF document with all of the details about the process and Zebulon research). We soon learned that this person's father was actually already a member of the Ackley Surname Project who can trace his male Ackley line back to Zebulon Ackley, born about 1775 and died in 1812 in New York. This relationship is pretty well documented up to Zebulon, but at that point it reaches a dead end. This member had done a Y-67 test and matched all of the Ackley men in the project who have known relationships to Nicholas Ackley, so we are nearly 100% sure he is a descendant of Nicholas, but he wanted to discover the connections all the way up to Nicholas.

First Step: Big Y

The first step was to take a Big Y test to try to place this member on one of the branches in the haplotree representing one of Nicholas's sons. A Big Y test was purchased, and the results placed the member on the branch for Nicholas's son James (in fact it created a sub-branch, which will be discussed shortly). We are confident this is the James branch because we have a couple of project members with well-documented paths through James to Nicholas. The block tree before the new Big Y results were obtained is shown below. The numbers in the white blocks at the bottom of the tree are test kit numbers for Big Y testers in the project, and the R-XXX codes in each block represent the Y-DNA mutations that define the branches (blocks) in the tree. Each of the testers has tested positive for the mutations in all of the blue blocks above them. For example, tester 947514 is positive for mutations R-FTA50959, FTA49307, R-FT165378, R-FTA24085, R-FGC52286, BY53874, and FGC52298.

Note that the leftmost block under the James block (R-FGC52300) is a sub-block of the main James branch (R-FT82490). This branch became separate because the two members on it are closely related (a father and son). They matched each other on the mutations listed in that block (which no other testers have), so they established their own block under James. They are known descendants of James's son Nathaniel, so their block represents Nathaniel's branch. On the other hand, the two testers who are in the James block are not closely enough related to create their own branch under James and each one still has some private variants (mutations found in no other tester so far), so they remain in the more general James block. Tester 754287 has a well documented path to James, while tester 985409 has a gap between his earliest known Ackley ancestor and James.

After the new Big Y results for tester 205619 were available, the block tree looked like this:

Note that the new Big Y tester and one of the previous Big Y testers now occupy their own block under the James block. This happened because the new tester (205619) had some variants that matched some of previous tester 754287's private variants; i.e., mutations that were only found in tester 754287 so far. These private variants are now named because they were found in more than one tester, establishing a new branch under James. Tester 754287 is a known descendant of James's son Nicholas (we'll refer to him as Nicholas-2 to avoid confusion with our original immigrant ancestor Nicholas). At this point we can conclude that the new tester is also a descendant of Nicholas-2, but we still have a gap. Nicholas-2 was born in 1708 and died in 1763, while Zebulon was born about 1775, so Nicholas-2 cannot possibly be Zebulon's father. There must be at least one more generation between Zebulon and Nicholas-2.

Translating that to a more traditional family tree, we have this for the testers who are descendants of James:

I have marked the last few generations in each tester's line as private to protect their identities. Note that tester 985409 is left "floating" since we only know he is a descendant of James, but not which son yet. Tester 177515 does not appear in the block tree above because he has only done a Y-37 test and thus does not have his branch identified in the haplotree yet. Having him do a Big Y test remains a goal for the project.

The question is: How do we close the gap between Zebulon and Nicholas-2? One approach would be to find more known descendants of Nicholas-2 to do Big Y tests and establish sub-branches for Nicholas-2's sons on the haplotree. This is certainly a long-term goal of the project, but there are a few problems with that approach. Identifying known descendants and then persuading them to test is a tough task, Big Y tests are expensive ($449 at regular price and $399 on sale), and they take a long time (up to 12 weeks from receipt of sample at FTDNA to final results). While not insurmountable, these issues caused us to look for a different way to try to solve the mystery of Zebulon's parentage and hopefully close the gap between Zebulon and Nicholas-2.

Before jumping into the next section, it is worth discussing the possibilities for Zebulon's father here. Nicholas-2 had four known sons: Jeremiah (1742-1761) and Abel (1746-1835) with his first wife Jerusha, and Lewis (1758-1823), and Nicholas-3 (1762-) with his second wife Sarah Wilson. Given Zebulon's birth date of 1775, Jeremiah could not be his father since he died in 1761. Lewis (born in 1758) and Nicholas-3 (born in 1762) are too young to have been Zebulon's father. This leaves Abel or an as yet undiscovered son of Nicholas-2 as possibilities for Zebulon's father.

Another DNA Tool

Here is where we turned to autosomal DNA to help solve this mystery. Autosomal DNA testing is the most common type of DNA testing used in genealogy, and is the type of test that can be purchased from many companies, such as Ancestry or MyHeritage. Ancestry provides the following description of autosomal DNA:

"DNA comes in long stretches called chromosomes. Humans typically have 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46. There are two broad categories of chromosomes—autosomal and sex chromosomes.

• Autosomal chromosomes—22 matching pairs—make up the bulk of your DNA. Almost everyone has a complete set of them. An autosomal DNA test looks at the DNA from these 22 chromosome pairs.
• Sex chromosomes are made up of X and Y chromosomes, which differ in size and function. People usually have either a pair of X chromosomes or X and Y chromosomes." [2]

The Y-DNA testing discussed at length in this blog is done with the sex chromosomes mentioned above and gives only information about the patrilineal line. We turned to the autosomal chromosomes to help us close the gap. Autosomal chromosomes contain DNA from both parents and thus can be used to gather information on the male and female ancestors in a tester's family.

I don't want to get too far down into the weeds on the biology of autosomal chromosomes, but I wanted to provide a look at how autosomal matches are measured and evaluated. The unit of measure for autosomal DNA is the centiMorgan. Family Search has this to say about centiMorgans:

"A centimorgan is a unit of genetic measurement. It’s what experts use to describe how much DNA and the length of specific segments of DNA you share with your relatives. These shared segments are divided up into centimorgans. The more centimorgans you share with someone, the more closely you are related. A centimorgan is different from the physical units we use in everyday life, such as inches or kilometers. It is less of a physical distance and more of a measurement of probability. It refers to the DNA segments that you have in common with others and the likelihood of sharing genetic traits." [3]

All you really need to remember is that a centiMorgan is a relative measure of the amount of DNA shared between two testers, and the more centimorgans shared, the closer the relationship.

The various testing companies have come up with estimates of relationships based on the amount of shared DNA, but I prefer to use real data to evaluate matches. Blaine Bettinger, a genetic genealogist, has collected mountains of real data from fellow genealogists and has made it available to the genealogy community. He asked users to report the amount of DNA they share with people whose relationship is known to them. He then summarized the data for all different levels of relationship, from parent/child all the way up to 8th cousins and everything in between, including half relationships and "removed" relationships. The table below shows the data for common relationships. The average column is the average shared cM reported by users for each type of relationship, and the range column gives the low to high values reported for that relationship. We'll use these values below to evaluate some of the matches we found.

Shared cM Project Relationship Data [4]

  

Tester 205619's daughter did an autosomal DNA test with Ancestry, and we sorted her matches into family groups representing maternal and paternal grandparents to help reduce the number of matches we needed to analyze. Then, we began looking at the matches for the paternal Ackley group. This type of analysis is somewhat time consuming because we had to either verify existing trees for the matches or even build out sparse trees to go back far enough to be able to compare to what is known about Zebulon. We found many matches who were descendants of Zebulon's children, especially for his sons Ira and Salmon. While not necessarily helpful for discovering Zebulon's parentage, these matches serve to verify the tree is likely correct up to Zebulon. A summary of these matches is shown in the blue and orange boxes in the "Autosomal DNA Matches on Ancestry" chart below.

There was another group of matches who are descendants of Abel's children, which is good news for the theory that Abel and his wife Hannah could be Zebulon's parents. Remember from above that we ruled out Nicholas-2's sons Jeremiah, Lewis, and Nicholas-3 as possibilities for various reasons, but we left open the possibility that Nicholas-2 had another son that we don't know about. So, we need to evaluate the matches we've found to see if we can rule that in or out. To do this, I created the table below that shows the relationships between our tester and her matches if we assume Abel and Hannah are the parents, along with the associated expected shared cM and ranges. This is compared with the same information if we assume Zebulon's parents were an undiscovered son of Nicholas-2 (we'll call him Zebulon, Sr.) and his wife (probably named Elizabeth - it seems like half of the women alive during that time were named Elizabeth!). In that case, there would be another generation between the tester's daughter and her matches who are descendants of Abel and Hannah because Nicholas-2 and Jerusha would be the common ancestors. Here is the table:

You can see that in both cases, the shared cM of the tester's matches are within the observed ranges suggested by real data for the relationship. Match number 1 is very close to the top of the range in the Zebulon Sr. scenario, but still within it. The shared cM values are not too far off from the expected values in either scenario, so overall there is really nothing in the data that would cause us to choose one theory for Zebulon's parentage over the other. We need something else to help us solve this problem.

What we found was a group of matches who were descendants of Richard Shevalier, who is the brother of Abel's wife Hannah Shevalier. These matches to the Shevalier line appear to be independent of the Ackley line; i,e., we found no intersection between the Shevalier and Ackley matches. Although it is possible that our theoretical Zebulon, Sr.'s theoretical wife Elizabeth was an unknown daughter of Hannah and Richard's father Elias Shevalier, it is far more likely that the tester's daughter has autosomal matches to both the Ackley and Shevalier lines because Abel Ackley and Hannah Shevalier are Zebulon's parents. Big Y testing of a known Ackley male descendant of Abel Ackley could solidify this conclusion, but the autosomal matches discussed above are strong evidence that we have discovered Zebulon's parents.

The various groups of matches are summarized in the family tree below, with the number of matches found for the family members in the colored boxes. Side note: there are probably more matches to be found for each group, but given the time it takes to identify them and verify/build their trees, we chose to use what we had as a representative sample. Additionally, there are more Shevalier and Ackley children that were left off of the chart in the interest of keeping the diagram uncluttered and readable.

Link of the Day

This is a link to a technique called the Leeds Method, which is a simple, systematic way to segregate autosomal DNA matches into family groups. It was the method used to sort the matches into groups by grandparent discussed in this post.

https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method/

Quote of the Day

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Sources

1. Nancy Mattison, "Was Zebulon Ackley a Son of Abel?," Discovering Nicholas Ackley (blog), June, 2024, https://ackleygenes.com/2024/06/25/was-zebulon-ackley-a-son-of-abel/.

2. “Autosomal DNA Testing | AncestryDNA® Learning Hub,” n.d. https://www.ancestry.com/c/dna-learning-hub/autosomal-dna-testing, accessed 11 Jan 2025.

3. FamilySearch. “Untangling the Centimorgans on Your DNA Test,” October 3, 2023. https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/centimorgan-chart-understanding-dna, accessed 14 Jan 2025.

4. International Society of Genetic Genealogists. "Autosomal DNA Statistics," October 17, 2022. https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_statistics, accessed 14 Jan 2025.

New Results in the Ackley Surname Project - February 2024

We have recently had two more Big Y-700 tests complete in the Ackley surname project, and the results are quite interesting. These two tests resulted in the creation of a new branch and the splitting of a block in the Y haplotree, which will be described below.

The first test was for a U.S. man who is a descendant of Zebulon S. Ackley (1773-1813). This man's original Y-67 test matched all of the other Ackley men who are descendants of our immigrant ancestor Nicholas Ackley, but the connection between Zebulon and Nicholas is not known. He did a Big Y test hoping to learn more about how his line is connected to Nicholas. One prevalent (and most probably incorrect) theory found in many online trees is that Zebulon is the son of Jeremiah Ackley (1742-1761), who was the son of Nicholas Ackley (1708-1763). The younger Nicholas (referred to as Nicholas 2 from here on to distinguish him from the original Nicholas) was the son of James, Sr. (1677-1746). Many of the online trees with Jeremiah seem to have some of his facts confused with another Jeremiah Ackley who lived in Erie County, New York. In any case, although Zebulon's descendants are most surely descendants of Nicholas Ackley due to their Y-DNA matches with known Nicholas descendants, no clear path from Zebulon to Nicholas has been discovered yet.

The second test was for an English man who does not have the Ackley surname and who is not a descendant of Nicholas Ackley, but who matched a few of the Ackley men in the project at 67 and 111 markers. These matches were at high genetic distances, so were assumed to indicate a fairly distant relationship. Tools from Family Tree DNA indicated the common ancestor of this man and Nicholas Ackley's descendants was likely someone who lived around 1100 AD, which would pre-date Nicholas.

The results from these two tests can be summarized by looking at the block tree before and after the new tests, shown below with notes highlighting the changes.

Before and After Comparison of Ackley Branch of the Y Haplotree

Block Split

Before the English tester's test, the Ackley block (R-FGC52286, the blue block at the top of the "BEFORE" picture) contained 7 equivalent mutations (R-FGC52286 plus BY53874, FGC52295, FGC52297, FGC52298, FGC81756, and FT83233). All Ackley men were positive for these 7 mutations, and the mutations were grouped in one block because they could not be distinguished from one another.

The English tester tested positive for 4 of the 7 mutations (the 4 circled in yellow), but not the other 3 (the 3 circled in red), so the block was split into R-FGC52286 and equivalents BY53874 and FGC52298 (mutations only found in the Ackley men) and R-FGC52295 and equivalents FGC52297, FGC81756, and FT83233 (the new parent block above R-FGC52286 in the "AFTER" picture). The 4 mutations in the English tester's block were found in him plus all of the Ackley men.

This is a good thing – it refines the Ackley block and establishes a new block for the English tester and future related testers, who will likely end up in his block (or sub-blocks) if they do a Big Y test. The ancestor represented by R-FGC52295 is the most recent common ancestor for the Ackleys and the English tester.

New Branch

The new U.S. tester's results ended up creating a new sub-branch in the Ackley portion of the haplotree. Note that in the "BEFORE" picture of the block tree, project member #754287, a known descendant of Nicholas Ackley's son James, is listed in the block labeled R-FT82490, which is the general branch for all of James's descendants. Member #754287's branch could not be refined further because no other tester had matched any of the 6 private variants that he had in his results. However, the new U.S. tester (#205619), came along and matched 2 of #754287's private variants, which were then named and added as a sub-branch (R-FTD69462) under James.

Practical Implications of These Results

The value of the new branch created with the results of the new U.S. tester is straightforward; the descendant of Zebulon is placed on the "James" branch of the haplotree, and in fact the new branch under James (R-FTD69462) can be labeled as the "Nicholas 2" branch since tester #754287 is a known descendant of James's son Nicholas 2. The missing connection between the new tester and Nicholas has now been narrowed down to finding which of Nicholas 2's (1708-1763) sons could have been the father of Zebulon since there is likely only one generation missing given the birth and death dates of the men who are now known to be on the path between Zebulon and Nicholas (1630-1695). The family tree below will be used to illustrate the situation.

Nicholas had 4 sons; with his first wife Jerusha Graves he had the previously mentioned Jeremiah (1742-1761) and Abel (1746-1838), and with his second wife Sarah Wilson he had Lewis (1758-1823) and Nicholas 3 (1762-). Lewis and Nicholas 3 seem unlikely to be Zebulon's father since they would have been 15 and 9 years old at the time of Zebulon's birth in 1773, and Jeremiah could not be the father since he died in 1761. This leaves Abel or another unknown son of Nicholas 2 as the only possibilities to be the father for Zebulon, and the search has been narrowed considerably.

This situation is a great of example of traditional genealogy research and genetic genealogy coming together to solve a problem. Traditional research on the line of Zebulon Ackley reached a point where a brick wall was encountered, and DNA testing has filled in most of the gaps in the path from Zebulon to Nicholas. While the final answer has not yet been found, the descendant of Zebulon, tester #205619, has valuable information that will greatly narrow his search.

The Ackley portion of the haplotree has now developed to the point where new testers are likely to be placed on existing branches of members with known genealogies or create new sub-branches that could be helpful in solving brick wall genealogy problems. I would invite any Ackley man who has questions about his genealogy to consider joining the Ackley Surname Project at Family Tree DNA and taking a Y-DNA test.

Link of the Day

Below is link to the Ackley Surname Project for anyone who might be interested in learning more about the use of DNA testing in Ackley genealogy. 

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/ackley/about

Quote of the Day

"Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." 

--Winston Churchill

Runaway

The bulk of the words in this post are not my own. My grandfather, James Edward Ackley Sr. (1902-1988) took the time to write down his life story near the end of his life. He was a terrific story-teller, and my words could never come close to telling the story of his runaway as a teenager as well as he does. The following is the story of how he and a friend ran away from home (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee) in May 1920 and spent the summer working on a steamer on the Mississippi River. Most of the words that follow are his; I have lightly edited and added a few notes that provide context for some of his comments. Here is my grandfather's story...

James Edward Ackley senior portrait, 1921

There comes a time in everyone’s life that you do something – that you are ashamed of. What I am about to put on this paper is such a time. I had one month to go to finish my junior year – I ran away from home. I had been skipping school for a week – caddying – to make enough money to buy a tuxedo – formal party. By Friday night of that week I had earned about 50 dollars – enough for the suit. At 7 o’clock that night I got a call from my friend Howie Morton – “Jim we are going to run away.” Howie's mother had caught him doing something she found unacceptable and all hell broke loose. One more phone call and our plans were made. We met at Kummers drug store with nothing more than the clothes on our back, and a total of $90.00 between us. Once our minds were made up, there was no turning back.

We took the street car to Milwaukee then to the North Shore depot and took the electric line to Chicago where we made our way to the Chicago & Alton railway depot. (While I write it comes to mind that the physical things I write about are long gone, the street car tracks & trestle, the North Shore electric line and the Chicago and Alton RR are gone). We spent the night sleeping on benches. When the agents window opened in the morning we bought tickets for St. Louis – why St. Louis, no one will ever know. I’m afraid Howie nor I ever had good grades in Mathematics – that $90.00 was going fast. We enjoyed the ride to St. Louis but realization came with a bang when we got off that train. Now what?

We spent that first day walking thru the business section, then found our way to a park where we spent the balance of the day. Some of what we did on the second day has slipped my mind but one thing was becoming very apparent – we were fast approaching bankruptcy. After breakfast on the fourth day – the money was gone. That day for the most part escapes my memory – except that as the day wore on came the realization – no lunch or supper money – and certainly no Y.M.C.A. for another night’s sleep. We did keep clean – up to a point – using the wash room in the depot. That night we gathered up newspapers and made our way to the Chicago and Alton freight depot – crawled underneath and spent the night on cold ground covered with newspapers.

The St. Louis levee in 1919. My grandfather would have encountered a similar scene in 1920. [1]

We were up with the sun, and after stealing some fruit from a stand across the way, we knew something had to be done – find a job of some kind or head for home. This time we went down to the levee where boats were being loaded and unloaded. A man standing near the river watching the proceedings looked like authority, and we soon found out he had that authority, was most kind when we came over and talked. We ask him if there was any kind of work we could do – he smiled and said “boys look at the type of man you see working here” – all large, grown men. “Do you mind washing dishes and polishing brass?” Good heavens no. We went aboard his boat and that’s when we told him we had not eaten anything for a whole day. His cook prepared enough eggs – bacon and toast to last for more than a day. This man’s name was Jim Lax and believe me he knew what we were – run-aways. He wrote a note – told us where the office of the “Streckfus Lines” were – told us to present the note at the window and we would be taken care of. We received passes for the Chicago and Alton railway and our destination was Keokuk Iowa. [Blogger's note: My grandfather’s memory was pretty accurate here. There was a captain named Hilmar Lax who worked for the Streckfus Line in St. Louis. According to his obituary, he worked for Streckfus for 35 years and died in St. Louis in 1940.]

We located the steamer Capitol – it was to be our home for the next three months. We were indoctrinated to a life so foreign to anything we had ever experienced – it was almost frightening. The Capitol was a huge excursion steamer with a complete restaurant on the lower deck – a beautiful dance floor on the second deck – and living quarters and deck house on the upper deck. Once I set foot on the deck of that boat I never left it until we were ready to get off at LaCrosse to come home. The Capitol had not had an excursion on the day we arrived so our time was spent trying to get acquainted with some of the crew. We did have some success – but when we enquired about sleeping quarters – Surprise – go to the top deck – they will furnish you with a mattress and one blanket – you sleep on the dance floor. During the next few months I never experienced a warm or comfortable night’s sleep – but I learned to live with it.

The steamboat Capitol was built in 1879 at Cincinnati, Ohio. It was originally named Pittsburgh. It was rebuilt in 1896 at Dubuque, Iowa and renamed Dubuque and ran for the Diamond Jo Line. Streckfus Lines took her over after she sank in 1901. She was converted by Streckfus into an excursion boat in 1920 at Keokuk, Iowa and finished out at Davenport, Iowa. and renamed Capitol. Capitol was dismantled at St. Louis, 1945. Image from University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse. [2]

Ad for the maiden voyage of the Capitol out of Keokuk. Given the timing of his running away (end of his junior year in high school, which would have been May, 1920), it is probable that my grandfather and his buddy Howie were on the maiden voyage on June 4, 1920. Ad from The Daily Gate City Constitution-Democrat, Jun 3, 1920. [3]

The next morning we were introduced to our chores. I was given rags and brass polish and was told that before I left any one section it should shine like the sun. That afternoon we had a large group of women for an excursion – they were also fed. At four o’clock that afternoon I was introduced to a chore so loathsome and monotonous, it should be eliminated from man’s way of living – washing dishes. Hundreds of them – greasy – dirty, but it was to be my main chore from then on. One thing happened that day that had its reward – I found a way to bathe and wash what few clothes I had. A cat walk along the huge rear paddle permitted me to get to a lower paddle – enough room next to the water to do whatever I wanted to do.

Things were a little monotonous that first week, but during that time an older man seemed to want to be a friend. He seemed to want to be sure no one took advantage of us. There were times when we helped him in some of his chores. During our third week we were steadying a tall ladder for him – he was changing bulbs in the ceiling of the dance floor. Two men in business suits walked across the dance floor toward us. When they were within talking distance, one of the men said, “Couch?” (That was our friends name). I pointed to the top of the ladder and this one man asked him to come down – he did. When he was on the deck this one man pulled out his wallet – opened it – and that’s when I saw the badge and identification. Couch never said one word – just started to walk off with this man. That’s when we asked the second man what that was all about. “Boys – that man murdered his wife – but the gruesome part of it all – he carved her up.” Kind, gentle Couch – what prompted that man into that situation.

On a pleasant note. Going from city to city – always new people – new scenery was so satisfying. One other plus – music – some of the finest bands I ever heard played for dancing. It would be a different band for each new town but they were all top flight musicians. Sometimes life on the boat became very monotonous – brass – dishes. [Blogger's note: My grandfather was a musician himself. He learned to play the piano at a young age and played background music for silent movies. He also played the organ at his church for many years. Unfortunately, I hadn't done the research that revealed the identity of one of the bands he heard on the Capitol. He would have been thrilled to know he had seen the incomparable Louis Armstrong at the beginning of his career.] 

One of the bands my grandfather no doubt heard was the Fate Marable Band, pictured above on the Capitol in New Orleans in 1920. Members of the band: L-R: Henery Kimball, bass; Boyd Atkins, violin; Johnny St. Cyr, banjo and guitar; David Jones, sax and alto horn; Norman Mason, sax; Louis Armstrong, cornet; Norman Brashear, trombone; Baby Dodds, drums; Fate Marable, piano. That is the Louis Armstrong. Image from Louisiana Digital Library. [4]

Before I forget – an incident with the dishes. One Sunday afternoon after an excursion – with lunch – the dishes were stacked mile high – greasy and grimy. I looked at them and said “Howie we will be two days cleaning this mess.” They had given me a key to the hold of the boat – so I could replace broken dishes. Now – washing dishes with a little dust – versus the grime – seemed like a good deal. With every tray of dusty dishes I brought up – a tray of the grimy ones went overboard – and part of the river bottom at Davenport Iowa is lined with porcelain.

It seemed that the police would come aboard every new town where we stopped. Someone was always being taken off the boat – I guess the river was a good place to hide.

I witnessed one of the biggest dice games ever played. [Blogger's note: I laugh every time I read that line. I'm sure the dice game was nowhere near the biggest dice game ever played, but I suppose in my grandfather's 17 year-old mind it seemed huge.] On our first pay-day the men were putting the long lunch tables in a row – blankets were spread over the surface – and chairs placed along the entire length of the tables. That night the entire crew – and many from off the boat gathered up and down the entire length of the tables – either seated or standing on chairs in back – there must have been a hundred men playing. They had six bankers to handle the dice and at seven o’clock that night it all started. It was hard to believe that there would be that amount of money to be gambled. It was real excitement all of the time. I went to bed long before it was over – when I got up the next morning there were four men still playing – and I was told that all the money gambled found its way in the pockets of these men. During those weeks I wished so often that I was home – my mother’s cooking – a warm bed to sleep in – but it was not to happen for a while. I made the best of it all – but one thing was becoming apparent – I was losing more weight than would be considered healthy for a man as thin as I was. We discussed more than once, our going home – but for one reason or another it never happened.

My senior year was not one of my best at Wauwatosa High. Our escapade of the previous summer did nothing to give us the friendship and understanding we needed to complete our senior year. We had at least five weeks of our Junior year to recover – no small task – but Mr. Kolb – the school super was very understanding and this was a big assist – our teachers were a big help. Getting back to a respectable social position was just a little difficult – it was hard for most people to understand why we did such a crazy stunt. Dating did not resume until the second month of our senior year. Gradually we were able to resume normal school living and we were able to enjoy our last year. Our make-up work consumed many extra hours. I played very little basketball – and all other activities were curtailed.

Blogger's note: The story does have a happy ending - my grandfather did make up all of the work he missed during his junior year and graduated on time with his class at Wauwatosa High School. His diploma is below.

Link of the Day

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page for the Streckfus Steamers page that has a good summary of the company's operations through the years:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streckfus_Steamers

Quote of the Day

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” 

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sources

1. Wikimedia Commons contributors, "File:St. Louis Levee.jpg," Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:St._Louis_Levee.jpg&oldid=705320202 (accessed November 26, 2023).

2. University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, "UW-La Crosse Historic Steamboat Photographs .", Downloaded from website: https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ALaCrosseSteamboat.

3. "Excursion De-Luxe." The Daily Gate City Constitution-Democrat (Keokuk, Iowa), Jun 3, 1920, p. 6, col. 1 (found at newspapers.com at https://www.newspapers.com/image/174417765/).

4. Louisiana Digital Library, "Fate Marable Band.", Downloaded from website: https://ingest.louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/lsm-jaz%3A11187.

Family Tree DNA Black Friday Sale 2023

The Family Tree DNA Black Friday Sale runs from November 20th through November 30th this year. If you are thinking about taking a DNA test, these are great prices, especially the Y-37 and Big Y-700 sale prices. If you want to take a test and have any questions, let me know. Here are the prices for all of FTDNA's DNA tests for this sale:

Summary of Ackley Surname Project as of November 2023

It has been a while since I have written a summary of the data from the Ackley Surname Project at Family Tree DNA. We've had some new results recently that I have not yet reported on. This post is quite long, but I thought it was important to take a comprehensive look at what we know about the various groups of Ackley men who have joined the project.

STR Testing - Description and Results

Before jumping into STR testing results, a little refresher on STR testing is in order. Family Tree DNA offers three levels of Short Tandem Repeat (STR) testing: Y-37, Y-67, and Y-111. It is not necessary to understand all of the science behind this testing, but a few words on the basics might be helpful for understanding how these tests are used. According to the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG):  “A short tandem repeat (STR) in DNA occurs when a pattern of two or more nucleotides are repeated and the repeated sequences are directly adjacent to each other.” [1] According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH): “A nucleotide is one of the structural components, or building blocks, of DNA and RNA. A nucleotide consists of a base (one of four chemicals: adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C)) plus a molecule of sugar and one of phosphoric acid.” [2] STR testing counts the number of repeats on specific segments of Y DNA (called markers), which are designated by the letters “DYS” followed by a number. The marker values for two men are compared, and if the number of non-matching markers (a measure known as genetic distance) falls below established thresholds, there is a high likelihood the two men are related. We have used Y-37 STR testing in the Ackley Surname Project to determine group membership; i.e., to check if a tester is in the group of Nicholas Ackley descendants or a member of some other group.

The table below gives a list of all men in the project who have tested at the Y-37 level or higher. Although most of the members carry the Ackley surname and are descendants of Nicholas Ackley, we have a number of other men with similar surnames who have joined to see if they might be related to the Ackley surname. The testers are grouped by surname and color-coded for easy identification in later data tables. I realize the font in these pictures is quite small, but you can click on any table/picture to open a larger version. Note that the Nicholas Ackley descendants are divided into two subgroups; the men colored in darker orange are descendants whose connections to Nicholas Ackley are known, while those in lighter orange are men whose connections to Nicholas are not known, but are presumed to be descendants because they match all of the other Nicholas descendants whose relationships are known. The descendancy column shows how each tester descends from their earliest known ancestor.

Among the light orange group are men who are members of what has become known as the "New Jersey Line" (kit numbers 938425, 947514, and 950608); they are descendants of Daniel Ackley of New Jersey. While the exact line of descendancy from Nicholas is not known, we now know from Y-DNA SNP testing that they are likely descended from Nicholas's son Samuel. Likewise, kit number B16608 belongs to a man who is a descendant of Lewis Ackley, who is the progenitor of what is known as the "Ohio Line". See this post for a discussion of these two lines.

As mentioned above, relatedness between two men is measured by genetic distance. In theory, the higher the genetic distance, the less chance two men are related. The table below shows the degree of relatedness based on the number of markers tested and the calculated genetic distance.

Note that at 37 markers, any two men whose genetic distance is greater than 5 are considered "Not Related". FTDNA does not report genetic distances greater than 5, so I used a program called Still Another Phylogeny Program (SAPP) [4] to calculate genetic distances between all men in the project at 37 markers, which are shown in the table below. Note that there are many genetic distance cells that are red, indicating that the men being compared are not related. Most of these cells occur for comparisons between men who have different surnames; i.e., Ackley vs. Hackley, etc. There are a few exceptions, which will be discussed in more detail below.  Also note that the genetic distances in all red cells are greater than 30, further validating the conclusion that the groups are unrelated to each other.

Ackley Men Who Are Not Descendants of Nicholas

As mentioned above, there are a few men with the Ackley surname in the project who are not descendants of Nicholas based on their Y-37 test results. The first group of these are men who are descendants of Johan Hendrick Eckler whose ancestors changed their surname to Ackley (darker brown grouping toward the top of the table). We have three project members in this group. A more complete discussion of the Eckler-Ackler-Ackley group can be found in this blog post.

We also have two Ackley men with English heritage who have tested and are not related to the U.S. Ackley men or to each other (lighter brown grouping at the bottom of the table). One of these men was born in England and has a paper trail of English ancestors. The other was born in Australia, but his father was born in England and also has a paper trail of English ancestors. For more information on these men, see the posts here and here.

The newest members of the project are two men who have the Ackley surname, but turn out not to be descendants of Nicholas Ackley. The Ackley line of descent for the first of these new testers is: 

Jacob Ackley (1764-1840) -> Samuel Jacob Ackley (1794-1874) -> James Lawrence Ackley (1823-1918) -> Elmer Ellsworth Ackley (1861-1946) -> Keith Ellsworth Ackley (1905-1999) -> Kit 998479

This man does not match any of the other Ackley men in the project, but somewhat surprisingly he does match two men with the Ackerly surname in the project (grouped with them in the aqua grouping at the top of the table). I have seen plenty of evidence in paper records (mostly England census) where the two names seem to have been used interchangeably for the same family over different census years. In those cases it is always difficult to know which of the names is the "correct" name. It is entirely possible that the two names originated in England as a single name (I don't know if Ackley or Ackerly was the original name) that split when they came to America. More testing and more research is needed to sort this out.

The line of descent for the second of the new testers is:

Benjamin Ackley (1758-1835) -> Benjamin Ackley (1810-1857) -> Uriah Ackley (1852-1928) -> Edward Ackley (1871-1946) -> Willard Ackley (1892-1967) -> Rexford Ackley (1913-2007) -> Private->Kit 1001089

This family lived in Bradford County, Pennsylvania for many generations. Some of the records for the earlier generations spell the name as Ackla or Acla rather than Ackley; as usual it is hard to know if those are misspellings or if the name was originally Ackla and gradually became Ackley. This tester did not match any of the other men in the project with any surname (grouped with the two UK men in the light brown group at the bottom of the table). As with the previous tester, more testing and research is needed.

SNP Testing - Description and Results

While STR testing has been used to test group membership as discussed above, we have used SNP testing to define the Ackley branches on the Y haplotree (sometimes known as the "Tree of Mankind"). This approach has been helpful in defining genetic branches for the sons of Nicholas Ackley, which in turn has helped some project members refine their genealogy research. SNP testing identifies Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms. From Family Search: “A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP is pronounced snip) is a DNA sequence variation occurring when a single nucleotide - adenine (A), thymine (T), cytosine (C), or guanine (G) in the genome (or other shared sequence) differs between members of a species or paired chromosomes in an individual.” [3] For example, the substitution of a C for a G in the nucleotide sequence AACGAT, producing the sequence AACCAT, is a SNP. The Big Y test examines over 700,000 locations on the Y chromosome looking for SNPs. SNPs found are compared to a known, named list of over 260,000 SNPs (named variants in FTDNA terminology), and the individual is placed in the tree at the lowest (most recent) named variant for which he has tested positive. The FTDNA SNP test is known as the Big Y-700 test.

Of the 19 men in the Nicholas Ackley group, 12 have done a Big Y test. The results of these 12 tests have created a branch on the Y haplotree for Nicholas and sub-branches for 3 of his 4 sons who had male children. We have not yet had a descendant of Nicholas's son Thomas join the project. A fifth son, Nathaniel, does not appear to have had any children. FTDNA uses a graphic known as a block tree to represent branches of the haplotree. Here is the block tree for the Nicholas Ackley branch and sub-branches:

I have labeled the blocks (branches) for Nicholas and his sons Samuel, John, and James, and replaced the names of the testers with their kit numbers to protect their privacy. The combinations of letters and numbers in each of the blocks represent the SNPs that a given set of testers have tested positive for. If there are multiple SNPs in a block, that means that current testing has not been able to differentiate the time of formation of that group of SNPs and they are considered equivalent. Typically one of the equivalent SNPs is chosen to name the branch represented by the block of equivalent SNPs. For example, R-FGC52286 is the current name for the large blue block at the top of the block tree that represents Nicholas. 

All testers below each block are positive for all of the SNPs in that block. Thus, the 12 Big Y testers from our project whose kit numbers are listed above were all positive for R-FGC52286 and the other equivalent SNPs in the Nicholas block. Moving down the tree, there are 5 testers who are positive for R-FTA24085, which we have been able to identify as the "Samuel Branch" based on traditional genealogy research.

Note that below R-FTA24085, block R-FT165378 spans only 3 of the 5 kits that have been identified as descendants of Samuel. This means that the 3 kits under that block (947514, 938425, and 950608) have tested positive for R-FT165378, while the other two kits (938369 and 938816) were negative for R-FT165378. The implication of this is that the 3 men under R-FT165378 must share an ancestor in which the mutation represented by that SNP formed, while the 2 men who do not have that mutation do not share that ancestor. The three men who are positive for R-FT165378 are in the "New Jersey Line" discussed previously. Although we know who their most recent common ancestor is (Jehu Ackley, see "Descendants of Samuel" family tree below), at this point we cannot label the R-FT165378 block with his name since we can't tell if the SNP formed in Jehu or some other ancestor between him and Samuel.

Going down one more level in the Samuel block, there is yet another block, R-FTA50958, which spans only two of the three kits under the R-FT65378 block. This again reflects the fact that the two men under that block (947514 and 938425) tested positive for the SNP known as R-FTA50958, while the other kit under R-FT65378 was not positive for R-FTA50958. The relationship between these two men is uncle and nephew, and the common ancestor between them is the father of kit #947514 and grandfather of kit #938425 (Paul on the "Descendants of Samuel" family tree below). We can in fact label this branch the "Paul Branch" on the tree, and we would expect any other descendants of Paul who do a Big Y test to fall under that branch.

The "John Branch" does not yet have any sub-branches below it because all 3 testers on that branch are closely related; in fact they are a father and two sons, and they are all positive for the same SNPs. As other descendants of John test, we would expect sub-branches to form under R-BY135594.

Similarly the "James Branch" does not have as many sub-branches as the "Samuel Branch". The two testers under R-FGC52300 are father and son and have defined their own sub-branch under the main branch of R-FT82490, but currently there are no SNPs separating the other two testers under R-FT82490, so we can only conclude that they are both descendants of James from the block tree. 

While the block tree is useful for displaying the relationships between Big Y testers and their haplogroups, it lacks the detail of more traditional family trees. Following are streamlined family trees showing the paternal lines of descent for Nicholas's sons Samuel, John, and James as well as partial trees for 4 men whose relationship to Nicholas is not yet known.

Next Steps

With the number of Big Y testers in the project and their distribution among Nicholas's sons, we now have a good structure to help other testers identify their connection to Nicholas. For example, if any of the four testers whose connections are not currently known were to take a Big Y, there is a high probability that those testers could learn which of Nicholas's sons they descend from. Further, if the right combination of members tested (such as members 648883 and 205619, who are both descendants of Zebulon Ackley), sub-branches could also be defined. As of this writing, two of those four members have recently purchased upgrades to Big Y, and we will soon learn more about their connections to Nicholas Ackley.

Even with the progress we have made, there is more that can be done to grow the Ackley portion of the haplotree. Finding the connection to England is still the highest priority; I will continue to search for English Ackley men and try to persuade them to test. Likewise, I will also search for Ackley men who are descendants of the untested sons of Nicholas's sons to try to define additional sub-branches. The detail provided by these additional branches could be helpful for testers who have not yet identified their exact connection to Nicholas.

Link of the Day

This is a link to an explanation of the Big Y test from FTDNA: https://blog.familytreedna.com/big-y-700/

Quote of the Day

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” 

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Sources

1. International Society of Genetic Genealogy. "Short Tandem Repeat". ISOGG Website, accessed 25 Feb 2023.

2. National Institutes of Health. "Genetics Review - Nucleotide". National Center for Biotechnology Information Website, accessed 25 Feb 2023.

3. Family Search. "Y-Chromosome Single Nucleotide Polymorphism testing". Family Search Website, accessed 25 Feb 2023.

4. Vance, David. "Still Another Phylogeny Program (SAPP)." Available online at https://www.jdvsite.com/. Accessed 5 Oct 2023.

Ackley Family Genealogy Website and One-Name Study Announcement

 

I am writing this post to make readers aware of a website that I put together a few years ago while working with one of the members of the Ackley Surname Project that I administer at Family Tree DNA. After doing a Y-DNA test that led to the discovery that he was a descendant of Johan Hendrick Eckler on a line that had changed their name to Ackley (see this post for a discussion of that line), he put together a family tree for the Eckler/Ackler/Ackley family using a genealogy published by A. Ross Eckler in the 1970s as a starting point. He painstakingly went through the entire genealogy and added every individual to his tree and then expanded many of the lines to more recent generations, adding many sources for each individual along the way. The result is a well-documented, quite comprehensive tree for the Eckler/Ackler/Ackley line

Before discovering the Eckler connection, he had also started work on a tree for the Nicholas Ackley family, using the same meticulousness he had used to build the Eckler/Ackley/Ackley tree. That is to say, he found as many sources as he could to support the individuals he put into the tree, and didn't add anything he couldn't support. He granted me edit permissions to the tree, and I have continued to add individuals with the same care that he used. While this tree is in no way comprehensive at this point, I believe it is a good starting point that will only get better.

Both of these trees were built on Ancestry, and we thought it would be helpful to make them available on a website not tied to any subscription service so that anyone could view them for free. I created a website using the outstanding "The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding" software, and it has been available online for about two and a half years. We didn't publicize it at all because we considered it a work in progress, but it occurred to me that we aren't helping anyone if they don't know about the site and we also can't enlist the help of all you Ackley researchers to make the trees better if you don't know about it.

The web address for the website is:

www.ackleyfamilygenealogy.com

and the home page looks like this:

The header and color scheme should look familiar -- I tried to make it look as much like this blog as possible within the parameters available on each site.

The functionality of the website is pretty self-explanatory. There are several different ways to view the tree structure, and each individual has their own profile page with the usual vital dates and references to supporting sources. Photos and documents for each individual can be viewed on their profile page as well as in a master list of documents and photos that can be accessed from the main menu. In addition to the supporting documentation for each individual, we have uploaded several reference documents that are useful for researching the Ackley surname.

The website currently has only the trees for the Nicholas Ackley family and the Eckler/Ackler/Ackley family. I am in the process of researching British Ackleys and Canadian Ackleys as well as a couple of other U.S. Ackley lines that appear to be unrelated to either of the known U.S. Ackleys. As this research gets further along, I will add trees for these other family groups to the website.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I believe genealogy is more fun when people collaborate. I would love for this website to grow with the help of anyone who is interested in the Ackley surname. If you have pictures, documents, or any other items that you'd be willing to share on the website, please send me an email. Additionally, if you have information on Ackley individuals that are not found in our trees that you would like to share, we would love to have that as well. If it is a large number of individuals, you can share a GEDCOM file with me and I can merge it into one of our existing trees.

Ackley One-Name Study

I have recently registered the Ackley surname with the Guild of One-Name Studies, and the new website announced above will be useful in publishing the information I learn as part of that study. I have already been doing many of the activities typically undertaken in a one-name study, so it seemed like a no-brainer to register the Ackley name and make the data available to a wider audience.

The Guild is based in England, and members are committed to assisting each other with their studies. Although the usual genealogy techniques are used, a one-name study is a bit different from regular genealogy in that all occurrences of a surname are studied rather than just your own line. Here is a description of the elements of a one-name study from the Guild's website:

A One-Name Study (ONS) is a project researching all occurrences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree (ancestors of one person) or descendancy (descendants of one person or couple).

A one-name study may concentrate on aspects such as geographical distribution of the name and the changes in that distribution over the centuries, or it may attempt to reconstruct the genealogy of the lines bearing the surname. A frequent aspiration is to identify a single place of origin for the name, especially if the name appears to derive from a place name.  However, for many names – for example those indicating an occupation like Butcher, or a patronymic-type surname such as Peterson – there will not be a single origin.  Some one-namers also run an associated DNA surname project to assist with the analysis of origins.

The objective of a one-name study is not just the collection of data; collection is a means to an end. A one-name study aims to research the genealogy and family history of all persons with a given surname (and its variants). As part of this, it attempts to ascertain such things as:

• The origin of the name or early references
• The name’s meaning: is it patronymic, topographical, toponymic, occupational, etc? Or a mix of these? (See Surnames for more information on this.)
• Relative frequency
• Distribution in geography and time
• Patterns of immigration and emigration
• Name variants and “deviants” [1]

As I get deeper into the research for this study, I will publish results on this blog.

Quote of the Day

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. 

--Walt Disney

Link of the Day

This is the link to the Guild of One-Name Studies: https://one-name.org/

Sources

1. Guild of One-Name Studies. "One-Name Studies". Website visited on 19 Jun 2023.

Willard Leroy Ackley (1890-1969), Chief of the Sokaogon Band of Chippewas and Nicholas Ackley Descendant

This is the story of Willard Leroy Ackley, who became Chief of the Sokaogon Band of Chippewa Indians in northern Wisconsin. His Chippewa name is Gaabaisgon, which means Walk Around the World.

Chief Willard Leroy Ackley (Gaabaisgon) (photo from Pamela Burley on Ancestry)

Note of Thanks

I am grateful to Stuart Whiteeagle Ackley for reading several drafts of this post and for providing personal memories and insights about Chief Ackley (a man he knew as Uncle Willard) and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community. Stuart recalls Uncle Willard as "a remarkable statesman, even though he was forced into an Indian school run by Catholics in the UP [Upper Peninsula of Michigan].  He spoke English and Ojibwe perfectly and he gave us all Indian names when we celebrated our 1st birthdays." [22]

Stuart also provided the correct spelling for many of the Indian names found in this post. Stuart's great grandfather is Charles Ackley, who was a son of the elder Willard Leroy Ackley (1828-1894), who will be discussed below. Stuart is currently working on a book that tells the story of the Sokaogon Chippewa people.

Ojibwe or Chippewa?

You will see the words Ojibwe and Chippewa used interchangeably in this post. The words are entirely equivalent; Chippewa is the French version of the English word Ojibwe. The Ojibwe call themselves Anishinaabeg, which means "True People" or "Original People". [22], [27]

Ancestry

Willard Leroy Ackley was a descendant of Nicholas Ackley [1]. His line of descent was:

It will be useful to examine the details of Willard's grandfather's life, also named Willard Leroy Ackley, to learn how this branch of the Ackley family came to northern Wisconsin. The elder Willard Ackley was born in Coventry, Chenango County, New York; there are many different birth years given in various sources. In the 1880 census he is listed as 52 years old, which would make his birth year about 1828 [2]. On his headstone his birth year is given as 1818 [3], while the "History of Langlade County" claims he was born around 1830 [4]. Stuart Ackley believes that 1828 is the correct birth year, and that the birth year for his wife is actually 1830, not 1802 as shown on the headstone [22].

Headstone of Willard L. Ackley from Find-A-Grave (photo by Kathleen Engelbretson)

Willard and his brother Adelbert (also known as Elbert) decided to look for opportunities in the west since their older brother Jesse would inherit the family farm. In 1844, when Willard was just 16 and Elbert was 21, they traveled by horse and wagon from their home to the Erie Canal and then took a steamship through the Great Lakes from Buffalo, New York.  They cruised to Milwaukee, and then went to work on a farm in Fort Atkinson as farm hands on a farm that was owned by a friend of the family who had been in Wisconsin for about 10 years [22].

After Willard and Elbert had been working on the farm for about 4 years, they attended a dance to celebrate Wisconsin’s statehood, which was granted in May, 1848.  Elbert met a young woman named Margaret Baldwin and they were  married Christmas Day, 1848. Willard Ackley and his friend John Hogarty decided to go to northern Wisconsin to try their hand at logging. Their partnership was fruitful, and they opened a trading post near their logging area that served the Sokaogon Chippewa tribe [22].

Willard was the first white settler in Langlade County. At the trading post, he met an Indian woman named Mejawaanokwe, who was the daughter of Chief Migiizi (Great Eagle), chief of the Sokaogon Chippewa Band.  Her name means “the sound of wind through the forest” and the above is the proper spelling of Ma-Dwa-Ji-Was-No-Quay shown on the headstone above (she was also known as Mary). Mejawaanokwe, who had a young son, Missabe (which means Giant), had become a widow when the boy's father, Nitoonosk, (who was a messenger for Chief Migiizi) had burned his foot at a treaty signing in 1847 and died of sepsis. Mejawaankowe and Willard were married in a tribal marriage ceremony in spring 1850 [22].  

The couple, along with Mejawaanokwe's two brothers were victims of the Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850, also known as the Chippewa Trail of Tears. The federal government was trying to relocate the Chippewa Indians to the west of the Mississippi River, and devised a scheme that they hoped would effect the move that the Chippewa had so far resisted. The government informed the various Chippewa bands that the location for their annuity distribution specified by treaty agreements had been changed from LaPointe, Madeline Island in northern Wisconsin to Sandy Lake, Minnesota. They were told by the Indian Agent, John Watrous, to arrive in October for their payment and goods. According to the plan, once they arrived at Sandy Lake, Alexander Ramsey, territorial governor of Minnesota, would delay the payments until the waterways froze over, forcing the Chippewa to remain in Minnesota. [23]

Most of the Wisconsin Chippewa canoed there on waterways, such as the Eau Claire River and others.  But when they got to Sandy Lake, there was just a US Army person there; the agent with the money and goods was tied up (on purpose) in St. Louis. There was little food and much of it was bad and sickened many Indians. Mejawaanokwe’s brother, Ni-gog died of chicken pox while they were waiting. Many other Indians died there from other common diseases.  The Indian agent didn’t show up until late December, and he didn’t have all the money that was promised. Winter had come early and most of the rivers that had taken them to Sandy Lake were now frozen, so they had to walk back to their homes.  Many more lives were lost (about 400 in total), including Mejawaanokwe’s brother Wabizhkibanase (White Eagle) from exposure as they traversed the woods to get home. [22]

Willard and Mejawaanokwe had two sons, Charles Ackley (born in 1857) and DeWitt Charles Ackley (born in 1851). Mejawaanokwe's son Missabe took the name Edward Ackley. Dewitt first married Annie (Biimoseegiighizikwe) the daughter of Wilhelm Dinesen and his Indian housekeeper. They had two sons Albert Leroy and James William Ackley born in 1875 and 1876 respectively.  No one knows what happened to Annie, but Dewitt married a ¾ Indian woman name Phyliss Lorraine Johnson in 1888. They had nine children together, the eldest of whom is Willard Leroy Ackley [22]. 

Interesting side note: Wilhelm Dinesen was a Danish man who came to America to live among the Indians. He built a cabin near the Sokaogon, and fathered a daughter. He only lived near Mole Lake for a couple of years before returning to Denmark.  He is also the father of author Karen Blixen, who went by the pseudonym Isak Dinesen [22]. Isak Dinesen is the author of Out of Africa, Seven Gothic Tales, Shadows on the Grass, and Babette's Feast [24].

Tribal History

According to Sokaogon legend, "Family clans migrated from eastern Canada to Madeline Island [in northern Wisconsin in Lake Superior] a thousand years ago, led by a vision that their journey would end in a land where the 'food grows on water' - Manoomin or wild rice. The Sokaogon Chippewa Community's journey ended here in this area of abundant wild rice." [5]

The Sokaogon Chippewa Community became known as the "Lost Tribe" in the mid-1850s. The Chiefs preceding Willard, who were his ancestors, negotiated a series of treaties with the government that were to have given them land for a reservation. Chief Wabesheshi, or the Great Marten, signed various treaties in 1826, 1837, 1842, and 1847 that ceded their land to the federal government in exchange for payments of cash and various goods to the Sokaogon people, but no land they could call home. His successor, Chief Migiizi, signed additional treaties in 1854 and 1855 that would have finally given the Sokaogon band possession of the land they so desperately needed. The proposed reservation was to have been about 12 square miles in area (about 7,600 acres). However, the legal title to the reservation from the treaty of 1854 was lost when the agent who was sent to Washington to confirm the treaty drowned in a shipwreck on Lake Superior. Without the legal documents confirming their right to the land, the Sokaogon Chippewa Band was denied their land, and they became the "Lost Tribe" with no place to call home. The fight to obtain what was rightfully theirs would continue for almost 80 years until Chief Willard Leroy Ackley finally secured the land in the 1934 Reorganization Act [5], [13], [15]. 

Willard Leroy Ackley

Willard Leroy Ackley was born in a traditional Ojibwe wigwam on the shores of Bishop Lake in Forest County, Wisconsin [5]. His birthday is consistently listed as December 25th, but the year varies from source to source. The Sokaogon Community website gives his birth year as 1889 [5], his death certificate gives 1885 [6], and the Indian Census for 1937 gives 1890 [7].

Willard was the last hereditary Chief of the Sokaogon Chippewa. His 2nd great grandfather, Wabesheshi, was chief in the early 19th century when many of the treaties mentioned above were signed. His son Migiizi became chief when Wabesheshi died. Chief Migiizi signed the treaties of 1854 and 1855, and lived for only a few more years after that. His son, Waabizhkibanasee became chief next, and he took up the cause of getting the land that was promised to his father, to no avail. When he died, John Seymour (Wambash) became chief, and Edward Ackley (Missabe), son of Mejawaanokwe (wife of Willard Leroy Ackley, Sr.) was made chief when Wambash passed. Missabe again took up the cause of securing the reservation for his people, and in 1925 travelled to Washington to promote the cause. He too was unsuccessful, and died in 1927. His brother, Dewitt Ackley, was to become chief upon Edward's death, but he was ill and signed a release of chieftainship and passed the role to his son Willard Leroy Ackley. Willard assumed the role of chief in 1929. [13], [15]

Willard was a carpenter by trade, and helped build many of the homes that replaced the wigwams around Mole Lake [14]. He was also regarded as an expert in many Ojibwe customs. He taught many of these customs to the community, including the use of traditional plant medicines, hunting and fishing, and the creation of birch bark crafts [5]. His greatest achievement was his leadership in securing the reservation land for his people after a long, relentless struggle with the bureaucracy of the U.S. government.

Chief Ackley began his efforts to build a better life for his people working with Congressman George J. Schneider, who in 1930 introduced a bill to appropriate funds for an investigation into the living conditions and tribal rights of Native Americans. It was agreed that the "Lost Tribe" would be the first group to be investigated. Congressman Schneider's goal was for the federal government to purchase land, perhaps as much as 40 acres per member, and turn it over to the Sokaogon Chippewas [18]. A census of the tribe was taken, but nothing concrete came of Chief Ackley and Congressman Schneider's efforts. Chief Ackley was undeterred, and continued corresponding with the government trying to get real solutions for his people [13].

In 1934, Willard met with John Collier, head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Franklin Roosevelt, to discuss the Indian Reorganization Act, also known as the Wheeler-Howard Act or the Indian New Deal. The act was designed to give Native Americans greater control over their lands, establish their own tribal constitutions, and set up their own local governments. It also provided much-needed funding for healthcare and schools on reservations [16]. During the meeting, Collier asked Chief Ackley where the Sokaogon Chippewas wanted to establish their reservation, and Chief Ackley told him that they desired the area around Rice Lake because of the availability of wild rice as a food source. Collier agreed that the government would buy the land [13]. In 1937, an area of 1,745 acres was purchased and the Mole Lake Reservation was established. A constitution was accepted in October, 1938 [17].

Chief Ackley continued to fight for his people even after he secured reservation lands for the tribe in 1937. In 1944, he testified before a Congressional committee that was investigating the conditions on Indian lands throughout the country. Although the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 had helped his people tremendously, he knew there was much more that needed to be done. He talked about the need for more land, specifically timberland, and the requirements for financial aid, a school, and a hospital on the reservation [13]. He also led the efforts to get electricity supplied to the reservation in 1947 and a new waterworks in 1967 [14].

Chief Willard Ackley died on 2 Nov 1969, but his legacy continues to live on. Chief Willard Ackley Day is celebrated every year on the Friday before Christmas (which was his birthday) [8]. According to Fred Ackley, Willard's nephew, "'He was a true leader of the people. He represented the Great Spirit, and everything that's good about Indian people,' Fred said. 'He taught myself and many others what it means to be a good person - to be a good human being. Through him our Tribe has survived.'" [5]

The Sokaogon Chippewa Community

Members of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community continue to live and work on the tribal lands secured through the lifelong efforts of Chief Ackley. Here is a map showing all of the tribal lands for the various tribes in Wisconsin:

Map from Wisconsin First Nations Website [9]

The Mole Lake Ojibwe Reservation can be found in the northeast part of the state, and is by far the smallest of the reservation areas in Wisconsin. In 2020, the Mole Lake Indian Reservation was 2.94 square miles; there is also an additional 2.16 square miles  of off-reservation trust land [11]. Off-reservation trust land is land outside a reservation held by the Interior Department for the benefit of a Native American tribe or a member of a tribe. Off-reservation trust lands are typically used for housing, agriculture or forestry, and community services such as health care and education. The total population of the reservation and off-reservation trust land in the 2020 census was 507 [12].

Much of the economic activity on the reservation comes from the Mole Lake Casino Lodge. According to a local newspaper:

"The introduction of bingo and casinos drastically altered unemployment on the reservation from 80% to 10% in just a few years. It helped to reduce the need of federal dependency for many tribal members. Today the tribe plans to utilize much of its revenue by spending it on cultural restoration projects, environmental planning of the resources, education of its members and social programs that enhance the general health of the tribe." [8]

Below is a close-up map of the reservation boundaries (the yellow portion of the map).

Note that there are three lakes on or bordering the reservation. Bishop Lake, where Willard was born, is the lake to the west. The small lake to the south is Mole Lake, and the larger lake completely within the borders of the reservation is Rice Lake. The wild rice (the Ojibwe word is manoomin) that grows on Rice Lake was an important factor in the choice of this area for the site of the Mole Lake Reservation. According to a recent article in a local newspaper:

"When the government forced the original inhabitants of northern Wisconsin, the Ojibwe, onto reservations a fraction of the size of their territory almost 200 years ago, tribal leaders knew exactly which tracts of land would be best for their people.

They chose areas that had the best lakes and wetlands that produced wild rice unique to this part of the world.

'When the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) agent came to ask why we chose this place for our reservation, our chief showed him a handful of wild rice,' said Peter McGeshick III, a rice chief with the Sokaogon Community of Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who has been harvesting rice for more than 50 years on the reservation in Forest County in northeast Wisconsin." [10]

Wild rice harvesting remains an important part of the Sokaogon culture, and the Sokaogon Community sponsors a manoomin camp to teach the traditional harvesting techniques to local youth. Most of the rice is harvested for home and ceremonial use.

Arlyn Ackley, Jr. and a manoomin camper harvest rice on the reservation [10]

Modern times have brought some modern problems for the Sokaogon Chippewa Community. In 1975, a large zinc-copper sulfide deposit was discovered adjacent to the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa Reservation. The Exxon Minerals Company was planning to mine about 55 million tons of sulfide ore during the 30 year life of the project [19]. As is the case with many projects of this type, the positive economic benefits of the project were pitted against the negative environmental impacts to the area. 

The Sokaogon Chippewa Community was especially concerned about the impacts on groundwater and the lakes and rivers in the area, as well as the potential to disturb ancient burial sites. A 28-year fight over the project ensued, and the Sokaogon Chippewa Community joined a coalition of sports fishermen, environmentalists, and the Potawatomi, Menominee, and Mohican tribes to oppose the mine. The conflict played out in the press and the courts, including a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that the concept of "Treatment as a State" status for Indian nations applied to setting and enforcing environmental standards. This meant the tribes could set their own, potentially far more restrictive limits than those of the state Department of Natural Resources, essentially meaning a potential Crandon mine would have to be completely free of pollution [20]. This made the project economically unviable for the mining company, and in 2003, the Sokaogon Chippewa Community and Forest County Potawatomi Tribe joined together and bought the proposed mine site and the mineral and timber rights for $16.5 million using casino revenues. The tribes have no plans to mine the mineral deposits [21].

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Ojibwe became embroiled in a controversy over fishing and hunting rights. In the treaties of 1837 and 1842 mentioned above, they had retained their rights to hunt, fish, and gather wild rice and maple sap on the lands they had ceded to the federal government. In the years following those treaties, the tribe and the state of Wisconsin argued almost continuously about those rights, including whether the rights extended to all land ceded to the government or only land on reservations. The fight finally came to a head in 1983 when a federal appeals court in Chicago "asserted that Wisconsin had no rights to regulate fishing on Ojibwe reservations and, more importantly, that the 1837 and 1842 treaties guaranteed Ojibwe rights to hunt and fish off their reservations without being bound by state regulations. This decision, commonly called the Voigt Decision, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court that same year." [25]

The court win did not end the controversy. As the Ojibwe began to exercise their rights, non-Indian sports fisherman began to protest. 

"They believed the federal court had given the Ojibwe special privileges. Whites also complained that the Ojibwe were allowed to harvest fish using methods employed by their ancestors but which were illegal for other fishermen. For centuries, the Ojibwe used torches on the ends of their canoes to attract fish and then speared them. The Ojibwe continued to use this method but used flashlights, metal spears, and aluminum boats." [25]

The protests turned ugly, and at times were racist and violent. Protesters showed up at boat landings, harassing tribal members, including throwing rocks and full cans of beer at the Ojibwe fishermen. The protests sprang from a complete ignorance of the customs of the Ojibwe and lack of understanding that the practice had been part of their culture for hundreds of years. As Wayne LaBine, an Ojibwe fisherman put it, "I never thought that people could be so cruel about fish and not recognizing somebody’s culture and how they did things. I mean, we’ve been doing this for thousands of years." [26]

Photo of protesters from WXPR Public Radio [26]

The controversy mostly died down in the early 1990s. The Ojibwe people demonstrated their commitment to be responsible stewards of the fish population early on. For example, in 1987 the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources established a limit of 82,000 walleye fish that could be taken by the Ojibwe; they actually harvested only a little over 21,000, while non-Indian sports fisherman caught over 839,000 walleye. The Ojibwe have established their own fish hatcheries, and restock the lakes with a number greater than the number they take out every year [25]. The harvest is also highly regulated. During spearfishing season teams from the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission are stationed at all of the boat landings, and they weigh, measure, and document every fish brought in by tribal members. Violations of size and/or number of fish can result in a tribal court citation or even loss of fishing privileges [26]. Ojibwe of today are showing the same respect and reverence for nature's bounty as their ancestors did a thousand years before them.

Quote of the Day

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

-- Martin Luther King

Link of the Day

This is a link to the Congressional testimony of Chief Willard Ackley that took place in 1944 during an investigation into conditions on reservations:

https://books.google.com/books?id=-VchkZMCg9kC&pg=PA669&lpg=PA669&dq=willard+leroy+ackley&source=bl&ots=vVFHQ3z2fd&sig=ACfU3U2klWHzqPnlTUD44Rd85L-mPlCeXw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlgsGGxOjoAhUKX60KHb-jBSA4ChDoATABegQICxAu#v=onepage&q=willard%20leroy%20ackley&f=false

This document contains Chief Ackley's testimony as well as a written statement that was inserted into the record that contains a great deal of detail about the promises made in the various treaties signed by Chief Ackley's predecessors.

Sources

1. Ackley, Allen C., "Ackley Tree", ancestry.com, website accessed on 1 Mar 2023.

2. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN4Y-22R : 13 August 2016), Willard L Ackley, Ackley, Lincoln, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district ED 59, sheet 271B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1433; FHL microfilm 1,255,433.

3. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

4. Dessureau, Robert M., History of Langlade County Wisconsin, From U.S. Government Survey to Present Time, With Biographical Sketches, (Antigo, Wisconsin: Berner Bros. Publishing Co., 1922), p. 266.

5. Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Mole Lake Band. "History : Sokaogon Chippewa Community". Website, accessed 27 Feb 2023.

6. State of Wisconsin, Department of Health and Social Services. Original Certificate of Death for Willard Leroy Ackley. Found on find-a-grave.com, memorial #171248539 (viewed online 7 Mar 2023).

7. The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; Record Group: 75; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Series: Microfilm Publication M595. Viewed at Ancestry.com. U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

8. Passon, Kevin. "Celebrate Sokaogon Chippewa, local history during Native November." Antigo Daily Journal, 29 Nov 2022 (viewed online 27 Feb 2023).

9. Wisconsin First Nations, American Indian Studies in Wisconsin. "Current Tribal Lands Map and Native Nations Facts". Website, visited on 1 Mar 2023.

10. Vaisvilas, Frank. "As Wisconsin’s wild rice season nears, here’s what to know about tribal and public harvesting and blue-green algae." Green Bay Press Gazette, 24 Aug 2022 (viewed online 1 Mar 2023).

11.  U.S. Census Bureau. "2020 Gazetteer Files". census.gov. Retrieved 1 Mar 2023.

12.  U.S. Census Bureau. "2020 Decennial Census: Sokaogon Chippewa Community and Off-Reservation Trust Land, WI". data.census.gov. Retrieved 1 Mar 2023.

13. Investigate Indian Affairs: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee of Indian Affairs, 78th Congress, Second Session. United States: n.p., 1943.

14. Glasgow, Olive. "Chippewa Chief Devoted Life to 'Lost Tribe'". Green Bay Press Gazette, 11 Nov 1969, p. 31.

15. Ehlert, Edward. "A Chippewa Indian Tells The Story of Her Life, the Story of How the Chippewa Indians Realized Their Basic Human Needs, as told by Mrs. Alice Randall". Manitowoc Historical Society, Monograph 23, 1974 series (PDF downloaded from University of Wisconsin Library).

16. History Channel. "Indian Reorganization Act is signed into law". https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/indian-reorganization-act-signed-into-law-fdr website (viewed online 6 Mar 2023).

17. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. "Sokaogon Chippewa Community". https://dpi.wi.gov/amind/tribalnationswi/sokaogon website (viewed online 6 Mar 2023).

18. Sannon, Leo V. "'Lost Tribe' Is Not Far From Appleton". Appleton Post-Crescent. 14 Aug 1930, p. 5.

19. Gedicks, Al. "War on Subsistence: Exxon Minerals/Rio Algom vs. WATER 

(Watershed Alliance to End Environmental Racism)". Wisconsin Resources Protection Council. http://www.wrpc.net/waron.html website (viewed online 6 Mar 2023).

20. “Crandon mine,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified Oct. 23, 2022, 13:10, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crandon_mine#.

21. Seely, Ron. 2003. "Tribes Will Pay $16.5 million for Mine Site: The Sokaogon Mole Lake Chippewa and Forest County Potawatomi are Elated by the Deal." Wisconsin State Journal, 10/29/2003, A1.

22. Ackley, Stuart Whiteeagle. E-mail correspondence with the author. March 2023.

23. Minnesota Historical Society. "Sandy Lake Tragedy".  https://www.mnopedia.org/event/sandy-lake-tragedy website (viewed online 13 Mar 2023).

24. “Karen Blixen,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified Jan. 15, 2023, 10:59, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Blixen.

25. Milwaukee Public Museum. "Spearfishing Controversy". https://www.mpm.edu/content/wirp/ICW-112 website (viewed online 13 Mar 2023).

26. Meyer, Ben. "Spearing walleye, fighting misconceptions: a night with tribal members on a Northwoods lake". 24 May 2022. WXPR Public Radio website https://www.wxpr.org/native-american-news/2022-05-24/spearing-walleye-fighting-misconceptions-a-night-with-tribal-members-on-a-northwoods-lake (viewed online 13 Mar 2023).

27. Milwaukee Public Museum. "The Ojibwe are an Algonkian-speaking tribe and constitute the largest Indian group north of Mexico". https://www.mpm.edu/content/wirp/ICW-151 website (viewed online 14 Mar 2023).