Trying to figure out her relationship to Levi. She first married Benjamin Sanford in Pike County, Ohio, in May 1819. In 1820, they were residing on 30 acres of land that had been taxed to Levi in 1819. In 1826 they sold 50 acres of land (not apparently the same) to one of Levi's sons, Samuel Walls, although I am not clear which land this is. It is possible that it is land that was previously owned by Nehemiah Walls - same amount, but the legal description is vague.
It appears that Benjamin Sanford died sometime between 1826 and 1830, when there is a (rather belligerent, by all accounts) Robert Price living in apparently the same place as would have Jane Walls Sanford in Pike County. In early 1836, Jane Price married James Williams, by whom she appears to have had at least three children, including my ancestor, James. She had at least two children that survived to adulthood with Benjamin Sanford.
I have a number of DNA matches to Jane's daughter, Nancy Sanford, so this connection is strong.
However, things then become strange. For my Walls connections before Jane, the strongest connections are to the Walls family in Sussex County, Delaware - Samuel, to be specific. The other notable thing is the connections to the Joseph family (quite a lot of intermarriage between the Walls, Josephs, and Johson families), and I have matches to Josephs who do not seem to have married Walls, strongly suggesting that at least one of my ancestors is a Joseph. From what I can tell, Levi's last wife was not a Joseph, but I cannot state that with certainty.
Jane and Levi appear to have been close, but the relationship is unclear. Her birthday is reported to be 4 December 1802, possibly a transcription difference with 7 December 1802 for Sarah Walls - who is sometimes ascribed as a daughter to Levi. Twins, is a possibility. Interestingly, Sarah married George Williams, who may be a brother or cousin to my James Williams, six months after Jane's marriage to Benjamin Sanford. Sarah and George moved to Edgar County, Illinois - near where Jane's oldest son, George Sanford, married Rebecca Curry in the late 1840s.
Jane and James appear to have lived in Lucasville for some time in the late 1830s, which is where their two sons were born. From what I can tell, Jane and her third husband, James Williams, left there sometime shortly thereafter (and there is an intriguing Cancery suit in Pike County in 1840, but I have not been able to get a copy). It appears they went to Edgar County, Illinois for a while (no records), then went to Shipman, Macoupin County, Illinoisaround 1850, and where James appears to have died sometime about 1853 or so. Her three children all married in Jersey County - where she was apparently a widow in the 1855 state census. Both of her sons served in the 97th IL INF, apparently with her widowed son-in-law, before the mother and two sons moved to Latham, Illinois before dying across the county line in Macon County, Illinois. It is worth noting that many of the families in the Lucasville area also moved to Jersey County, Illinois.
Thus, I am trying to figure out who are Jane's parents, whether it is Levi or one of his sons, and how the Joseph family fits into all of this. If there are any other descendants of Levi who have done DNA tests, it would be interesting to hear whether the Joseph family also shows up prominently in these tests.
