Reviewing DNA matches is like reviewing any piece of genealogical information: keep track of any conclusions from the information you make that are not specifically stated in the information. If you figure out how a match is related to you, briefly summarize (in the notes) what caused you to reach that conclusion. DNA conclusions are often tentative as more information (results from additional tests) are obtained. It’s often helpful to be able to go back and review why you thought what you did. That’s what I did with a recent DNA match of my own.
If you have an ancestral picture of an ancestor with significant writing or identification on the back, consider creating an image that includes the front and back in one image. That way it’s all “in one place” and the front and the back stay paired together correctly. This image of my aunt, Lucinda (Sargent) Fairman, was created that way–and includes some citation information.
Early registration for my webinar on “Problem-Solving with DNAPainter and GedMatch” ends on 20 November 2018. That’s to give people time to have their data uploaded to GedMatch and be processed. We’ll discuss using these two sites together to analyze, interpret, and make discoveries from their DNA matches. Join us. There’s more details in our announcement.
When using printed transcriptions of records, it can be tempting to immediately turn to the index to look for those names that we hope to find. That can be a mistake. Published transcriptions may have only included selected records or were created from records that were incomplete to begin with. Those are details someone using the book needs to know and details that are not discovered if the preface is not read.
This 1865 newspaper item indicated my relative’s Civil War unit was on its way home after the war. The 78th Illinois was expected to arrive in Chicago, be paid, and then presumably be sent home in June of 1865. References to your relative may not mention his name at all. Don’t forget to search for military units and other groups and organizations in which your relative was involved.
Based upon suggestions from readers, we’ve put together this session on DNAPainter and GedMatch combined on 3 December 2018. Using just one tool is not an effective way to analyze your DNA matches. More details are on our announcement page. Registration is limited.
Do you have pictures or other ephemera that you’ve not tried to save in some way? Don’t wait until it is too late. For pictures, make certain to include identification if you have it, who made the digital image, where they got it, and who made identification. Those pieces of information are good ones to have for someone who may come across your image years later. Note: Christena Ufkes Habben is a sister to my great-great-grandfather, Johann Ufkes (1838-1924).
A pension application contained an actual copy of a baptismal certificate with a church name that was difficult to read. A Google search for the few words I could read and the name of the probable town located the likely church. The partially legible name of the pastor was discerned by looking at a list of former pastors the church had posted to their website.
When I was a kid, my dad and I would count the cattle as they crossed the road from one pasture to another. It was important to arrive at the same number and to get it correct. The only problem was that my father tended to count out loud and his counting always got me off no matter how much I tried to concentrate Is part of the reason for your research difficulty that you are listening to what someone else has already concluded? Are you letting their interpretations influence yours–perhaps a little too much? Sometimes it’s helpful to put away the conclusions of others and start your analysis from scratch. Then, when you’re done counting your cows separately, you can compare your conclusions with others.
This session will focuses on the free aspects of DNA Painter at http://www.dnapainter.com. We will discuss downloading matching data from DNA sites, painting your DNA matches, finding match data, labeling, grouping, overlapping segments, and more as time allows. Our concentration is on getting you started with DNAPainter in a way that will help you make effective use of it as your research progresses. If you’ve wondered what DNAPainter is, how to use, and what it can do for you, this presentation will help you to do that. Ordering the presentation includes the recorded presentation (that can be viewed more than once) and a detailed handout as a PDF file. You cannot upload your raw data to DNA Painter. You need the segment data that you can get from […]
When thinking about who might have pictures of family members, think about the various pictures in which that person may have appeared. Is it possible that your grandmother attended reunions of her husband’s family? Does she appear in any pictures taken at those reunions?
When abstracting information from a record, include sufficient detail so that the wrong impression is not made. This example in this Rootdig post from an estate record may be a little extreme, but it makes the point. Your abstract should not confuse the dead and the living.
For twenty years, it seemed as if my ancestor Ira Sargent was dropped off by a UFO in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1880. Turns out he wasn’t. He was in the 1850 and 1860 United States Census listed under the last name of his step-father–whom his mother had married in 1849. Until I discovered the last name of the step-father, I was unable to find Ira. Is it possible that your UFO ancestor wasn’t dropped off by aliens but was instead listed in records as a child under his (or her) stepfather’s last name? And that the first time they used their “birth name” in a record was when they married?
Are you spending too much time looking for a specific record that might not really even help your research all that much? There’s a couple for whom I cannot find their mid-1800 passenger list entry. After some thought, I’m not really certain I need it. I have a good idea of where the family is from in Europe as I know where the husband’s brother was born. I know what children the couple had and where they settled. The mid-1800 passenger list probably isn’t going to tell me where they were from. And after having spent several hours trying to find them, it may be best to work on locating other records. Sometimes it is necessary to realize that it may be time to work on other things. […]
Only children with no descendants can leave interesting estate settlements, especially if they die with enough property to require probate and neglect to leave a valid will. Their property typically will be distributed to their first cousins, or depending upon the family structure, even more distant relatives. The records of that estate settlement could be a gold mine. Do you have a cousin who died in this situation? It may be worth your time to search for their estate records
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