If you've been following this series of DNA blog posts, you are ready to create a research objective and move ahead in your genetic genealogy journey. With access to DNA results and information about matching relatives, you now have a tool that is like a sledgehammer that can break down brick walls in your family history research. DNA alone does not tell you anything about your family history. But when it is used in conjunction with time-honored, traditional genealogical research you have a powerful tool that will help you find your ancestors. With DNA, you need to understand what you’ve...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss one of our new favorite tools, Lucid Chart! After Robin Wirthlin, our genetic genealogist friend and guest blogger, wrote about using LucidChart, and helped Nicole get started using it, we quickly realized how useful it is when doing client projects involving DNA matches. We talked about how Diana found her sister's biological parents with DNA diagramming complex relationships of matches with MindMup, a free open source Mind Map program. Now she uses LucidChart. We also mentioned some other alternatives. Links Seeing the Big Picture: 3 Ways to Chart Your DNA Matches...
With DNA testing turning up skeletons in the closet left and right, I was interested to read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. This fictional account of a family describes the horrific Tennessee Children's Home Society operated by Georgia Tann in Memphis, Tennessee, from the 1920s to 1950. (The above is an affiliate link). Wingate created her story based on recollections of children who were kidnapped from their families and put into Tann's "orphanage." It is estimated that Tann stole over 5,000 children. Many of them were adopted out to wealthy families, mostly in New York or California. The adoptive...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss three tools we love in AncestryDNA for sorting and using cousin matches. In addition to those three tools, we discuss some of the new features that AncestryDNA just announced at RootsTech as well! We talk about adding notes to your matches, using the shared match tool, and using unlinked family trees. We also discuss the new beta features called "New & Improved DNA Matches" that you can sign up for. This includes new ways to filter, relationship probabilities, and adding colors to groups of matches. Lastly, tune in to hear...
How did your ancestors receive their land? Did they win the land lottery? Could they have received a bounty land grant for military service? Perhaps they homesteaded and lived on the land long enough to obtain a land patent. If your ancestor was the first person in the chain of land transfer, he would have either received the land directly from the colony/state or from the federal government. After the initial land distribution, the subsequent transactions for that parcel of land were recorded in deeds at the county courthouse. It is possible to trace the land an ancestor owned back...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss how to best contact your DNA matches so that they respond, creating a family tree in your software that includes living cousins, and sharing research and memories with the cousins you find. We also talk about Diana's experience meeting in person with a 2nd cousin she found through DNA and what interesting family document she had which gave Diana helpful information to sort through a difficult discovery she had made years before. Links 3 Tips for Connecting with your DNA Cousins - Diana's blog post Understanding and Using Your DNA Results...
Are you challenged with visualizing how you connect to your DNA matches? DNA companies provide match lists, but sometimes we need to take control of our DNA data and organize it in a way that works for us. Creating a genetic family tree for your DNA matches might be easier than you think. Robin Wirthlin, FamilyLocket's new genetic genealogist shares three ways to view your DNA matches in the following article. I'm looking forward to trying each method to see what works best for me. Why don't you do the same! -Diana Organize After you have identified some of your...
In our podcast episode today, we are sharing Nicole's RootsTech lecture, Organize Your Research with Google Drive. Do you work from multiple devices? Laptop, desktop, work computer, home computer, smartphone, iPad? Learn how to utilize the free tools at Google Drive and Google Docs to help keep your genealogy research organized. You can create research logs with Google Sheets, transcribe records into Google Docs, add document links to records you have saved within your Google Drive files and share your work with other genealogists. The comment feature is a powerful collaborative tool that allows you to give and receive feedback...
If your ancestor deeded land to a church, that could be a huge clue to their religion! We will discuss that and more in our podcast episode today about how to discover your ancestor's religion and how to find church records. There are many clues to be gleaned from genealogical records, like inscriptions on headstones and family bibles. There are many places to find collections containing church records as well. Links Back to the Basics with Church Records Part 2 by Diana at FamilyLocket.com PERSI helpful search page at FindMyPast.com https://search.findmypast.com/search/periodical-source-index PERSI not helpful search page at FindMyPast.com https://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/periodical-source-index Social...
Are you ready to make new discoveries in land records for your ancestors? In Part 1 of our series on land records, I shared several reasons to research the land. A land record may reveal the following: a family relationship, clues to past or present residence, associates, evidence of migration, and more. I also explained the differences between "state land states" and "federal land states" in the United States system of land distribution. We looked at the metes and bounds system of land measurement as well as the grid system. Now it's time to dive into the various types of...
