Do you have an ancestor who was the first in their family to graduate from high school or attend college? Many of our ancestors, out of necessity, needed to stop school after the 8th grade and start helping in the fields or the family business. On my paternal line, my father, Bobby Gene Shults, was the first to earn a college degree. With the theme of education for this week’s 52 ancestor post, I decided […]
When you hear the term endogamy, what communities come to mind? French Canadians, Puerto Ricians, Mennonites, Pacific Islanders, and Ashkenazi Jews are common examples. Some of these examples are from island peoples, so what about the Irish? Last time, I discussed the effect of a clearly endogamous community, Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ), on a relatively non-endogamous community, German, within my dad’s match list. My dad has more AJ matches with longer segments (greater than 20 cM), […]
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about our ancestor, Ettie Belle Harris, Diana’s paternal grandmother. Diana is doing the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. We discuss writing letters to relatives to learn about Ettie, an heirloom passed down from Ettie, and her life story. We also talk about a few tips for writing about ancestors. Transcript Nicole (2s): This is Research Like A Pro, episode 237 […]
Do you have an ancestor who appears in an unexpected place or took off for parts unknown? This week I’m writing about my grandfather, Edward Raymond Kelsey, and his adventures as a hobo in the early 1900s. My mother compiled his life history based on his remembrances and wrote the following. Dad completed his education when he was eighteen in 1904. He grew restless and wanted to get out in the world. He was a […]
As genealogists we want to understand our match lists. We want to identify the matches that will give us the solid clues we need to make progress on our target ancestor’s family tree. Endogamy and its close cousins, pedigree collapse and multiple relationships, complicates that. Diana laid out the definitions in the first blogpost in this series: “Endogamy, Pedigree Collapse, and Multiple Relationships: What’s the Difference and Why Does it Matter?” Nicole wrote about strategies […]
We’re reading Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution’s Women for our winter selection for the Family Locket Book Club on Goodreads. Written by historical fiction authors Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and Eliza Knight, the book provides a fascinating insight into the French Revolution through the eyes of seven women who were part of it. Based on historical accounts, speeches, writings, letters, and diaries, with fictionalized dialog, Ribbons […]
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about endogamy, its effect on DNA analysis, and strategies to overcome these challenges. We discuss a client case with French Canadian and Acadian lines as well as making a network graph and analyzing it. Join us as we discuss calculating average segment size, sorting by longest segment, segment mapping, and more. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like A Pro. episode 236 Strategies for Overcoming Endogamy Welcome […]
How do you pick a favorite photo? I have so many that speak to me – but for this week’s 52 Ancestors post, I’m choosing a photo of my grandmother in her early years. I only knew her for the last fifteen years of her life, but we share a love of books, learning, travel, family, scrapbooking, gardening, and more. I have written posts about Florence’s later years as a member of the American War […]
Can segment patterns help you differentiate matches with paternal grandparent from a maternal grandparent? A tool at DNA Painter helps you do just that. The tool is called Library of Matches – https://dnapainter.com/tools/lom, developed by Cody Ely. In a blog post titled “Introducing the Library of Matches,” from May 2022, Cody shares how he came up with the tool. He was working on an unknown parentage case and was trying to determine if a 333 […]
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s Airtable template for tracking research on her own ancestors. She has added a DNA status field in order to show which level she has reached for incorporating DNA evidence into her ancestral research. We discuss the levels for documentary research, created by Yvette Hoitink, and the DNA levels that we came up with ourselves. RootsTech Giveaway To enter the giveaway, go the comments section of […]
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