I have always been interested in my Sanks Ancestry.

My great-great-grandmother was Eliza Sanks, grand-daughter of Joshua Sanks of Dearborn County, Indiana.  She married Joseph Laird in Dearborn County after he returned from his service in the Indiana Cavalry during the Civil War.  The Lairds and the Sanks had property next to each other in the Wilson Creek area outside of Lawrenceburg in Dearborn County (shown above in an 1860 map) in the far southeast of Indiana by the Ohio River.

Joseph and Eliza moved to Vermilion County, Illinois after their marriage - where Lairds and Sanks live to this day. Joshua was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, served in the militia there in the 1790’s, moved to Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and then on to Dearborn County. He is our bridge to the original known Sanks in Maryland.

Bob Sanks’ 1998 book “Sanks in America” is the definitive chronicle of this family.

Bob’s book does a great job of describing different pieces of the Sanks ancestry in one book - the early times in Maryland, the African-American family branch, and how the Sanks moved west in later generations. I am mentioned in the book as I contributed some items about our branch to the effort.

I have taken some of that research further - and have my own family records file, and long Sanks text document - which recorded as many of the actual records about each early family member as I could find. Until I post that information, I am willing to share whatever I have with interested family members.

In the meantime, the overarching question is what our Sanks ancestry is, a question that challenged Bob Sanks. It is a “brick wall” and a chance to post a research paper and plan to see if we can get past this “brick wall”.

Bob Sanks developed alternate theories about the original family origin prior to showing up in Maryland records in the 1760’s. He thought there were different possibilities that our Sanks descended from ancestors in different European countries.

As this website is first launched in December 2020, the only Sanks information I am posting is my attempt to take our ancestry past the first records that Bob showed identified our ancestors in Maryland in the 1760’s.

The one other initial Sanks web page is a narrative that takes the earliest Sanks research Bob Sanks did, and adds any early record of a possible connection, and tries to weave them together toward a conclusion. I have posted the actual records if I can find them - beginning with John Algire’s 1763 will and probate - which first lists the original Sanks brothers. By listing all the names of other people listed in these early records, listing all the locations that were referenced, and expanding the review of records in these same locations - a research template emerges for further action.

Based on what is put together thus far, my first take is that the Sanks were of German ancestry (Zenk). This is the first of “brick wall” research posted on this page, and my reason for posting is so that others can examine what is known and see if they can help in the challenge of adding to it. I look forward to any feedback, additions, questions, or further analysis.