Family Locket – Finding ancestors and keeping them close to the heart

RLP 435: Mastering Identity Resolution: Insights from the Course Instructors

Hosts Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer are joined by course coordinator Jan Joyce and instructors Kristin Britanik and Kim Richardson to explore the “Merging & Separating Identities” course. Jan Joyce, course coordinator and instructor, explains that the course provides genealogists with systematic tools to untangle complex cases involving same-name individuals or name changes using a shared Common Data Set. The instructors detail their specific methodologies for solving these challenging identity problems. Kristin Britanik, instructor of […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer November 9, 2026 Research Tips

Research at the Texas State Library & Archives: Finding the Muster Roll for Benjamin Cox and the Independent Blues

Onsite research is always an adventure. Preparing beforehand helps, but sometimes a kind archivist who knows the records and can navigate the collections is your best chance of finding the record you want. On our recent trip to Texas, I planned a visit to the Texas State Archives and Library in Austin, Texas. My research focused on my fourth-great-grandfather, Benjamin Cox, and finding sources about his service as a Texas Ranger. In this blog post, […]

By Diana Elder November 7, 2026 Research Tips

RLP 434: Newspaper Notices and Thomas B. Royston’s Parentage

Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer discuss how eleven historical newspaper notices helped prove the parentage and migration of Thomas Beverly Royston in a complex genealogical case study. They examine how records like sheriff’s sales, unclaimed letter lists, and hotel advertisements bridge census gaps between 1830 and 1840, place ancestors in specific counties, and clarify unusual census households by revealing student boarding houses. Listeners learn how to analyze the FAN club—family, associates, and neighbors—across multiple counties […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer November 2, 2026 Podcast

One Technique That Brings Order to Your Merging and Separating Cases

Welcome to the first of three blog posts about our upcoming Merging and Separating Identities course. The course addresses one of genealogy’s toughest challenges, distinguishing between same-named individuals, and today’s post covers the most essential technique taught in it. One Technique That Brings Order to Your Merging and Separating Cases If you’ve ever stared at a mountain of records for multiple same-named individuals and felt completely overwhelmed, you’re not alone. One of the most common […]

By Jan Joyce November 1, 2026 Research Tips

Step-By-Step Guide to Analyzing Your Ancestral Regions: Part 2

In this second post in our series on Ancestry DNA , we’ll look at how to save, record, and analyze your own 2026 Ancestral Regions results, with my father, Ellis Guiles, as the example (Figure 1). Five steps take you from saving your results to recording what you find. If you tested before the update, you can also review your previous results. Ancestry changed its method (Part 1), so a changed percentage does not […]

By Yvonne Fenster November 1, 2026 DNA

RLP 433: What Naming Patterns Can and Cannot Prove

Diana and Nicole examine how ancestral naming patterns serve as crucial supporting evidence in genealogical research. Focusing on the Royston line, they analyze two 1850 households in Alabama and Georgia—headed by Thomas B. Royston and Sarah B. Royston Irwin—where both families independently gave their children matching first and middle names, including Robert Cisnie and Cessne, Thomas Beverly, and Mary Elizabeth. They explain how uncommon middle names derived from the Cessna surname carry significant evidentiary weight […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer October 26, 2026 Podcast

Research at the Milam County Genealogical Society Research Center: Assessing County Histories

County histories are one of my go-to sources when researching an ancestor. They can provide valuable information about the early settlers, churches, businesses, schools, and more in the community. Biographies are often included, which can give clues about family connections. This type of source, however, can vary greatly depending on the author or group compiling the history. This can often be a historical or genealogical society, but it may also be an individual. County […]

By Diana Elder October 25, 2026 Research Tips

RLP 432: No Marriage Record, No Problem – Proving the Marriage of John and Betsy

Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer discuss how to prove an ancestral marriage when no direct marriage record exists, using Diana’s research on John Dawson and Elizabeth “Betsy” Cessna. They break down the steps of the proof argument, including bracketing the marriage window between 1811 and 1816, conducting negative searches in regional county records, and uncovering extensive financial and legal associations between Dawson and the Cessna family over twenty years. They also examine a key 1830 […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer October 19, 2026 Podcast

A Plain-English Guide to Ancestry’s 2026 Ancestral Regions Update: Part 1

Every few years, AncestryDNA customers open their results and find that their ancestral regions have changed, even though their DNA hasn’t. The 2026 update is one of the biggest yet. Ancestry now reports 302 ancestral regions, up from 146 in 2025, and it rebuilt much of the method behind the estimates: a reference panel of more than 295,000 samples, a new way of comparing your DNA to that panel, and an AI transformer in […]

By Yvonne Fenster October 18, 2026 DNA

RLP 431: Merging Identities on FamilySearch: Angeline or Algeline?

Diana and Nicole open the episode by discussing Nicole’s recent genealogical work at the Dallas Public Library and a Dyer family Bible. They then explore the benefits of adding research to the collaborative FamilySearch Family Tree, highlighting its free access, vast record collections, and permanent archiving. Diana shares a detailed case study illustrating how to merge separate identities on FamilySearch using the example of Angeline Weatherford and Susan Louisa Algeline Weatherford. Listeners learn how to […]

By Nicole Elder Dyer October 12, 2026 Podcast

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