Jon Smith

About Jon Smith

Jon Smith, PMP, serves on the boards of four genealogical societies and holds multiple leadership roles, including Secretary and Education Chair of the North Carolina Genealogical Society. In addition, he serves as the Education Chair for the Sussex County (Delaware) Genealogical Society and the Howard County (Maryland) Genealogical Society, and the Genealogist for the North Carolina Cline Family Association. In addition, Jon serves as an Instructor of Genealogy for Howard County Community College in Maryland and Cheer Academy in Delaware. Jon regularly provides presentations to genealogical societies, primarily across North Carolina, and recently spoke at the North Carolina Genealogical Society’s Annual Conference. All sixteen branches of Jon’s family settled in the Hickory, North Carolina area by 1790 and remained there. As a result, he frequently encounters cousins in that area during his research and collaborates in a close-knit research group of eight cousins, since everyone relates to each other in multiple ways. Jon earned his master’s degree from Florida State University with a focus on Artificial Intelligence and holds an undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His genealogical interests center on DNA analysis, particularly endogamy, artificial intelligence applications, and the development of analytical tools for family tree research and evaluation.

A Visual Tagging System for DNA Matches

Apr 2, 2026

We’re excited to share this guest blog post by Jon Smith – a member of our Research Like a Pro Study Group. Overview A genealogist who applies a visual and numbering tagging system to DNA matches gains a powerful tool for organizing and interpreting genetic data across multiple testing platforms. This system uses color coding and numerical labels to map each DNA match to a specific ancestral line, enabling faster analysis and more reliable conclusions....