Ancestor surnames can be a challenge in research – especially when they begin with a vowel! Take, for instance, my Eisenhaur/Isenhour ancestors. My earliest ancestors emigrated from the German region of Europe in the 1700s and retained the spelling Eisenhauer until my ancestor, John, anglicized the spelling to Isenhour. Some branches of the family still use the Eisenhower spelling – such as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, my 4th cousin, 5 times removed. Nicole wrote about...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about chapter 9 of Research Like a Pro with DNA, about research planning. We talk about how to use what you’ve learned about available records and DNA tools to help you make a research plan. The steps for research planning include reviewing the known information and DNA starting point, creating a hypothesis, identifying possible sources and methods, then prioritizing your research strategy. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the second half of Chapter 8 in Research Like a Pro with DNA. This part of the chapter focuses on tools that use segment data to help you find common ancestors with your matches. We discuss chromosome browsers, segment triangulation, chromosome mapping, DNA Painter, visual phasing, and several third party tools. We also review tools to help analyze mitochondrial DNA, Y-DNA, and X-DNA matches. Transcript Nicole...
Do you have any ancestors who were lucky? Perhaps things always seemed to go their way or perhaps they really did win the lottery. Such was the case with John Royston’s orphan. Not only was this individual lucky in the land draw, but I was also lucky that this record was created because it became a key piece of evidence in linking generations. The Georgia 1827 Land Lottery Georgia is a state-land state meaning that...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the first half of chapter 8 in Research Like a Pro with DNA. We discuss genetic networks and pedigree triangulation, including several tools to help with building and analyzing trees. We also discuss manual methods for clustering DNA matches and automated methods, including AutoClusters and network graphs. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like A Pro. Episode 245 RLP with DNA eight part one, DNA tools...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about chapter 7 of Research Like a Pro with DNA. We discuss ethnicity estimates and how they can help with your genealogy research. We review the ethnicity estimates from each testing company and GEDmatch. We also discuss locality research and three small case studies showing how ethnicity and location were instrumental in solving the case. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like A Pro. Episode 244 RLP...
When I began my genealogy journey, I carefully sorted the papers inherited from my dad’s research and started building my family tree. Those were the days before online trees so I used Personal Ancestral File (PAF). I worked hard to document each person and generation with sources – using the newly digitized censuses available on Ancestry and research done at the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City. Eventually, though, I came to a stopping...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about chapter six of Research Like a Pro with DNA. Chapter 6 is about analyzing sources, information, and evidence. DNA sources can be original, derivative, or authored, just like documentary. We go over the source, information, and evidence labels and discuss DNA examples for each. We also talk about evaluating a DNA match to determine the relationship with the match – including X-matches, Y-DNA matches, and...
At the virtual RootsTech Conference last year, I learned about a new tool for creating source citations called Cite-Builder.com. The program helps you create citations in the Evidence Explained style and also has options to use additional styles.. The tool asks you to select which type of source you’re using, then has a form where you type in details about the source, like person’s name, birth date, registration year, volume number, etc. Cite-Builder was created...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about chapter five of Research Like a Pro with DNA. Chapter 5 is all about source citations. We focus especially on writing citations for DNA reports and matches. We go over the five elements of a source citation – who created the source, what is the source, when was the source created, where is the source, and where in is the information cited. Join us as we...
