Our primary focus is on Ketchum’s passing through the lower central U.S. (Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas) in the 1700-1800's and identifying our native American links.

We are also looking for Ketchum’s worldwide (with any variation of spelling) as we wish to determine where each family originated and whether we can claim any relationships.

We recommend that members use their My FTDNA pages to enter their earliest known (most distant) maternal and paternal documented ancestors. Include given names, birth & death dates, and birth & death places so that the ancestor is uniquely identified.

We encourage our members to take mtDNA tests, which show their maternal ancestry, as well as Y-DNA tests.

Previously Ketchum-Hanan: When I began researching my husband's paternal side of the family, after inheriting family records and photographs, I became curious as to why his great grandfather, Archie W. Hanan (1861 - 1913), took that surname when it appeared his biological father was Lewis Grant Ketchum. Present day family members don't know the answer and I have yet to determine by written record why this is so.