Ancestry's ThruLines tool can be useful in helping to find clues about more distant ancestors, but caution is imperative.

Francis “Frank” Robinson (a.k.a. Roberson) was born to unknown parents about 1776, probably in Frederick County, Virginia. His mother, clearly, was enslaved because he was born into this institution. His last enslaver was James Wood, an immigrant from Winchester, England, who obtained a large grant of land in the Northern Neck of Virginia from Thomas Lord Fairfax.

One question I hear often from clients and others—friends or others who reach out to me or attend my presentations—is whether...