Recent research (2023) has proven there were two men named Reuben Flanagan, born about the same time. One was the son of Ambrose Flanagan, and the other the son of Whittle Flanagan.
One resided in Fluvanna County (son of Ambrose), while the other resided in Louisa County (son of Whittle). Based on the naming traditions for the children of these two men, the conclusion is that ”’Reuben who went to Alabama”’ was the son of Whittle, while ”’Reuben who went to Ohio and on to Indiana”’ was the son of Ambrose.
Dr Edward Latane Flanagan’s papers combined these two men into a single man. This would have been easy to do, since his research did not go beyond Virginia. Other descendants provided information about Reuben, son of Whittle, to Dr Flanagan, and their information showed Reuben as living in Alabama and then dying in Indiana.
But that wasn’t the case.
We can place the two Reubens in their respective locales, showing that a single Reuben could not be in two places at once.
A comparison of the two men is presented here, in chronological order.
| Reuben, son of Ambrose | Reuben, son of Whittle |
|---|---|