Nicole Elder Dyer

About Nicole Elder Dyer

Nicole Dyer is a professional genealogist specializing in Southern United States research and genetic genealogy. She is the creator of FamilyLocket.com and the Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast. She co-authored Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide and Research Like a Pro with DNA and is an instructor for the study groups of the same name. She lectures at conferences and institutes and previously served as the secretary and publicity chair of the Pima County Genealogy Society. Nicole holds a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in History Teaching. At Family Locket Genealogists, Nicole is a project manager, editor, and researcher.

How to Match Individuals in Old Photos Using Related Faces

Apr 7, 2025

Old family photos are great for telling our ancestors’ stories. I’m writing about my great-great-grandparents, Daniel O’Connell Elder and Jessie Estelle (Ross) Elder, and wanted to use some early photos of their family. One of their sons is my great-grandfather Charlie. Charlie had many siblings, but I only have a few photos showing them together; and none of them show all the siblings at once. The main problem was that most people in these old...

RLP 351: Separating Women of the Same Name: A Tale of Two Cleo Zinns

Mar 31, 2025

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss the challenge of separating women with the same name in genealogical research, specifically focusing on two women named Cleo Zinn. Diana explains how she encountered a mystery DNA match that led her to research Mary Clem Carpenter and her daughter, Cleo. She discovers conflicting information about Cleo, including multiple husbands, death dates, and birthplaces. Diana details how she uses her Airtable research log...

RLP 350: Florence (Creer) Kelsey and the Challenge of a First Job

Mar 24, 2025

In Episode 350 of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss Florence Matilda (Creer) Kelsey’s first job. Diana begins by asking Nicole what she has been working on or reading. Diana recaps RootsTech, mentioning classes on AI, locality research, and transcriptions, as well as meeting listeners. Diana then introduces the subject of the episode by asking listeners if they remember their first job outside the home. She notes that ancestors also...

RLP 349: RootsTech 2025 Tech Announcements

Mar 17, 2025

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss several new genealogy tools and features. They cover the AncestryDNA “Matches by Cluster” feature, which is a visualization tool for Pro Tools users to identify related DNA matches. They also discuss the improved AncestryDNA feature that allows users to attach DNA matches’ lines to their family trees. Nicole explains the updates to the FamilySearch catalog, focusing on the site architecture and place standardization....

RLP 348: William Kelsey’s Diary and Spiritual Manifestations

Mar 10, 2025

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss their ancestor, William Henry Kelsey, and the spiritual manifestations he recorded in his diary. They explore William’s early life in England, his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his missionary service. The discussion includes details about William’s family, his various residences, and his marriage to Harriet Huggett. Nicole shares specific entries from William’s diary, including accounts of spiritual...

New Features and Apps Announced at RootsTech 2025

Mar 10, 2025

During the last in-person class I taught at RootsTech, on Saturday afternoon, I asked attendees which tech announcements they were most excited about. The answers included Ancestry’s upcoming clustering tool, FamilySearch’s new catalog, Ancestry Networks, and the FamilySearch Together app. These are just a few of the many exciting announcements made at RootsTech 2025! It’s fun to see so many companies announce new technology that will help us with our genealogy research. Here are a...

RLP 347: Effie Kelsey and BitterSweet-A Poem, Researching Material Culture

Mar 3, 2025

In episode 347 of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss researching material culture through family heirlooms, specifically a book. They use a historical research process similar to the genealogical research process to examine the poem BitterSweet by J.G. Holland, which Diana inherited from her great aunt Effie. Diana inherited the book and, using Gena Philbert Ortega’s methods from her institute course on Material Culture, researches its origins and significance. The...

RLP 346: The Mystery of Claude “Dock” Harris’ Nickname

Feb 24, 2025

Diana and Nicole explore the mystery of Diana’s great-grandfather’s nickname, Dock Harris. They discuss how his name was recorded as D.H., Dock H., or Dock in records, which was puzzling because it seemed like a nickname. They explain how this caused confusion for Diana’s father, Bob, when he began researching the family history. Bob knew his grandfather as Grandpa Harris and had no other information to go on. The family bible even listed his name...

Jemima Griggs and Joseph Knight Sr.

Feb 24, 2025

Joseph Knight Sr. and his family were instrumental in Joseph Smith Jr.’s work to translate the Book of Mormon. I learned this week that he is my half third cousin eight times removed—the half third cousin of my paternal grandmother’s fourth-great-grandmother, Jemima Griggs. Joseph Knight and Jemima Griggs’ son both joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the 1830s. This week’s Come Follow Me Lesson was February 17–23: “Upon You My Fellow...

RLP 345: Edward Raymond Kelsey – Horseman and Sheriff’s Posse Member

Feb 17, 2025

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss how to choose a favorite photo out of a large collection. Diana shares a photo of her grandfather, Edward Raymond Kelsey, on his horse, Pal, and talks about his love for horses. She experimented with using AI to analyze the photo and shares her findings. Diana used Mark Thompson’s Historical Photo Analyzer custom GPT and was impressed with the results. The AI provided...