Some things to remember about DNA tests: have your tree as complete as you can–evaluate connections that were mere guesses or hunches; work on finding descendants of aunts/uncles as far down as you can while waiting for results–this helps with sorting out matches–it’s ok if you can’t figure them all out to the current generation; not every match will respond–people take DNA tests for different reasons and some may be surprised enough about their results that they don’t respond to inquiries.; remember that DNA won’t solve every genealogical problem; use any automatic sorting or predicted ancestor names by AncestryDNA as a potential clue–these predicted ancestors are based partially on trees submitted by other users which are not necessarily correct; you may find close relatives you did not know […]
Witnesses and informants frequently can’t remember specific dates of events. It’s possible that they: never knew them in the first place; are lying for one reason or another; honestly cannot remember. It can be difficult sometimes to tell which and it’s best to avoid rushing to judgement. Use any dates in the document itself to establish some broad time frame for when the event could have taken place. Be certain to cite the source and include the name of the known or probable informant. The information can’t be analyzed if you don’t know who gave the information and the circumstances under which it was given.
A biographical admixture is the estimate of ancestral geographical origin or ancestral ethnicity that is made when comparing the results of a DNA test kit with a reference group.The admixture’s accuracy is dependent upon the reference group and the algorithm used to determine the admixture.
The genealogical reality is that in some areas and time periods, exact dates of events will never be known. The records were never created or have long since been destroyed. In this situations, there may be other records that suggest an approximate date of death or a “dead by date.” It’s often not the precise date of death that matters but the relationships between individuals that one can establish and the other bits of identifying information about people that can be sifted out of other records.
Instructions to enumerators in the 1910 census reminded them to ascertain the exact age when possible. Enumerators were warned that ages ended in “5” or “0,” may have been a rounded age. If the exact age was unknown, enumerators were told to use the approximate age instead of returning the age as “unknown.”
Sometimes it is a wonder anything gets indexed correctly. Things are easier to read when you know what they are. When I “see” it the first name of the Civil War veteran listed on this coversheet to his pension file is easy to read. But if I were reading it cold. In this case, even the last name of Newman could be transcribed incorrectly. When you are using a “typed-up” index always keep in mind what the typer-upper might have been seeing. And if the typer-upper is a really “quicker typer upper,” the chance of an error is even greater. Check out the books on Michael’s genealogy shelf.
Ok, so it’s not just a genealogy tip. Our laptop is on the fritz and my daughter wanted to use the desktop. I was forced to read some homestead case files without the internet and email as a distraction. And guess what? I noticed three things I had not noticed the first time I read through the papers. The first time I had read them while I was “waiting” on webpages or search results to load. Is multitasking your problem? Would you notice more details in a record or a file if it had your complete attention?
Before making images of individual photographs within an album, create images of the entire page. Sometimes there’s an organizational structure to the pages. Other times there is not. But it’s something that should be preserved because, like a picture, when it is gone…it’s gone.
Definitions matter. When interpreting a word in any genealogical document, particularly one where the word conveys a relationship, a property right, or some occupation or status, make certain that you know the contemporary meaning of that work. The definitions of words can change over time due to common usage and practice. What’s meant by a certain job title can change over time. The definitions of some legal words remain relatively constant, but occasionally then can vary as state statute or contemporary law changes. Meaning isn’t always set in stone.
Geography matters. Language matters. The obituary of John Luft from the Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois, newspaper of 24 June 1921 indicated that he was born in “Grossehertzgotum,” Hessen, Germany. It refers to the Grand Duchy of Hesse–not a specific village. James Beidler tells of a researcher who looked for this village for years in his Trace Your German Roots Online: A Complete Guide to German Genealogy Websites. All of which make the point: ask, learn, and don’t assume. It’s easy to be confused about locations in an area where you don’t know the language, where you don’t know the geography, and where you never lived.
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If compiling an entire genealogy seems like too large of a task, start small: write a biography of an ancestor. Try and limit yourself to what you can document with actual records. Your citations don’t have to be perfect (the genealogy world will not end), but they should indicate where the information originated and how you obtained it. Avoid including details that are purely speculation. It doesn’t have to be overly literary and, if you are not feeling all that artistic, the writing can take the form of an extended chronology. Or that can at least be a starting point on which to build. And when you’re done, you have a finished project. Or you realize you have gaps to fill in. Either way something has been accomplished.
Karen is one of my shared DNA matches. She is a known descendant from my immigrant Neill ancestor. Looking at her “shared matches” I immediately recognize many other Neill descendants based upon their usernames. I assume that the shared matches with Karen are also Neill descendants or connected to me through the Neill family. One of these matches I share with Karen is Tom. He must be a Neill as well. Somewhere. When I look the matches I share with Tom, Karen is there and so is her sister who also tested. But those other Neills that I shared with Karen and those other names I shared with her that I can’t figure out but who are probably Neill descendants? They aren’t there. Not one of them. The […]
One research approach to tracking immigrant origins is to look at their neighbors where they settled. If the ancestor’s origin can’t be discovered, locating their neighbor’s homeland “across the pond” may help determine where they were from. It’s a good approach–but sometimes it may not work. It’s possible that those neighbors from the same country who eventually settled near each other were not really neighbors in the homeland as well. It is possible that they connected at some point along the way and, because of their shared ethnic heritage, they relocated together. Possibly. Just don’t assume that immigrant neighbors with a shared ethnic heritage were always neighbors. Sometimes people made a pit stop along the way.
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