Family trunks.
Twelve major ancestral streams converge at the family's spearhead. Each card opens a chronological walk through that trunk's ancestors, from the deepest documented ancestor down to where the line meets the rest of the family.
The paternal Hindman trunk. Rev. John Hindman of London Grove (1720 Ulster to 1795 Chester County Pennsylvania), through Samuel Hindman Sr. (born Ireland 1762, settled Allegheny Pennsylvania), down through five generations of Illinois Hindmans to Brant's father Bill. The Hyndman surname is Scottish occupational (hind + man). The Tyrone Sliocht Airt O'Neill story documented at Killadrey townland in 1666 belongs to the neighbours, not the ancestors.
The paternal Rice trunk through Brant's grandmother Barbara Frances Rice (1912 London to 1997 USA). Edmund Rice (1594 Stanstead Suffolk to 1663 Sudbury Massachusetts) sailed the Great Migration in 1638 on the Mary and John, settled Sudbury, became a founding deacon. Surname etymology is Welsh (Rhys to ap Rhys to Rice) but the popular Welsh-royalty descent traces to a debunked 1911 self-published book. Edmund's parents in England are unknown.
The Hardin chain through Brant's great-grandmother Bertha Rae Hardin. Joseph Hardin (1751 to 1806 Loudoun Virginia) is a DAR Patriot. Y-DNA testing places his patriline genetically with the Combs family of Aquia Creek Stafford Virginia: William Harding (1720 to 1798 Stafford) was the natural son of Joseph Combs Sr. (1670 to 1756) by an unknown Harding woman, so the Hardin surname descended via the mother but the Y chromosome is Combs. The chain also carries the Sprouse and Ewing families on the maternal side of Bertha Rae Hardin.
The Baird trunk. John Baird married Jonnet Wilson in Falkirk Scotland 22 May 1670 per the Scottish Old Parish Registers. His grandson Henry Baird was baptized 1709 in Scotland and emigrated to Buckingham County Virginia. The Falkirk Bairds are a tenant family, not a cadet branch of the noble Bairds of Auchmedden or Saughton Hall. Y-DNA testing would resolve definitively.
The Bolling trunk. Documented from William de Bolling, lord of Bolling Hall Bradford Yorkshire in 1316, down through ten medieval generations to Robert Bolling the saddler of London (1586 to 1639) and Col. Robert Bolling who emigrated to Virginia in 1660 at age 14. Our line is the junior White Bolling branch through Anne Stith (not the Pocahontas-descended Red Bolling line through Jane Rolfe). Brant's sixth-great-grandmother Susannah Bolling (1764 to 1820) is doubly descended because her parents were first cousins.
The Stith trunk. Major John Stith Sr. was born in Kirkham Parish Lancashire around 1625, emigrated to Virginia by 1652 with a 500-acre land grant in Charles City County, rose to major in the colonial militia, supported Berkeley during Bacon's Rebellion 1676, served as Burgess for Charles City 1686. His daughter Anne Stith married Col. Robert Bolling (the second wife, founding the White Bolling line). His specific parents in Kirkham are unknown despite decades of search; the Robert Stith and Mary Townsend attribution circulating online is debunked.
The Walker-Dean-Parker trunk through Sally Walker Dean (1795 to 1876). Col. Abel Walker (DAR Patriot A120940, born Groton Massachusetts 1734) commanded the Charlestown New Hampshire militia at Bennington 1777. Aaron Dean of Dedham Massachusetts witnessed Shays Rebellion at Petersham 1787. The Walker family traces to Joseph Walker of Billerica Massachusetts (born Reading 1645). The Dean family traces to John Dean of Dedham (1650 to 1727, parents unknown).
The Clapp-Williams-Ford colonial Massachusetts cluster. Capt. Roger Clapp (1609 to 1691) sailed on the Mary and John 1630 with John Winthrop's fleet, founded Dorchester, authored the Memoirs of Roger Clap. Robert Williams of Roxbury (1607 to 1693) emigrated 1637 on the Rose from Norwich. Through Mary Clapp who married Alvan Rice, this whole Great Migration colonial cluster enters Brant's tree.
The Sears-Dallas trunk through Sarah Sears Hardin (1779 to 1868). Capt. Robert Sears (DAR Patriot A101104, born 1740 Kent England) emigrated to colonial Virginia, served as a Revolutionary patriot, married Eleanor Dallas. Their daughter Sarah married Presley Hardin in Loudoun 1803, joining the Sears line to the Hardin chain that flows into Brant.
The Ratliff-Dunnington trunk through Susannah Ratliff (1788 to 1833). Joseph Ratliff of Charles County Maryland married Ann Dunnington whose father Francis Dunnington Sr. was born 1665 in colonial Maryland to George Dunnington and Elizabeth Key of Settrington in the Ryedale District of North Yorkshire England. A second Yorkshire trunk in Brant's tree alongside Bolling.
Brant's maternal line through his mother Janice Barnes. Bud Barnes (born Leland L. Barnes 1922, US Army Coast Artillery Corps WWII veteran, 4 Bronze Battle Stars Normandy through Central Europe) married Hope Blair (Georgia Hope Blair 1922 to 1991). Their Iola Cemetery in Clay County Illinois holds five linked families: the Blairs of Blair Township, the Zinks of Louisville Township, the Barneses of Iola, the Glasgows of Clay City, and the Tolivers of Blair Township. All five families merged in Brant's mother's generation.
The Deister family through Brant's step-grandfather Robert Deister, still living at age 98 in 2026. Robert's parents Charles Albert Deister (1904 Christian County Illinois to 1993 Decatur) and Anna Duggan Deister (1903 to 2002) were Catholic; the family is St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Decatur. After Bud Barnes died in 1982, Robert married Brant's grandmother Hope; Hope died in 1991 and is buried with her daughter Jill in Decatur Graceland Cemetery while her first husband Bud is at Iola Cemetery Clay County. A step trunk, not a blood trunk.