Research Tips – Page 39

Navigating the Unique Texas Land Grant System: Spanish Colonial Era 1703-1821

Jan 27, 2022

If you have an ancestor who came into what is now Texas in the 1700s or 1800s, understanding the history, jurisdictions, and records will be key to your research. This is the first of a three-part series where we’ll explore the Spanish, Mexican, Republic, and Statehood eras of Texas, specifically focusing on the land grants. Several push/pull factors would have influenced our ancestors in their choice to move to Texas. A major reason was land...

RLP 185: Revisiting Timelines and Analysis Again

Jan 24, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about timelines and analysis. Learn about this second step in the research like a pro process. This is a replay of episode 114, with new commentary at the beginning by Diana and Nicole. Nicole shares Airtable timeline column headers. We talk about Diana’s second great-grandmother, Nancy Briscoe, who Diana researched as part of a 14 Day Mini-Research Like a Pro challenge. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research...

Identifying John Wilson’s Irish Origins, Part 3: Documentary Evidence and Conclusions

Jan 21, 2022

Using both Y-DNA and autosomal DNA (at-DNA) in the previous two blog posts, the ancestral origin of John Wilson (1716-1799) appears to be in an area east of Enniskillen, which is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The purpose of the final blog post is to use documentary evidence to corroborate previous findings and use historical writings to provide rich context to John Wilson’s story of immigration to America. For the documentary portion...

RLP 184: Revisiting Research Objectives Again

Jan 17, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about research objectives. Learn about this first step in the research like a pro process. This is a replay of episode 113, with commentary at the beginning and end by Diana and Nicole. We talk about Diana’s experience discovering more about her 2nd great-grandmother, Nancy Briscoe as part of a 14 Day mini-Research Like a Pro challenge. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is a Research Like a Pro...

Identifying John Wilson’s Irish Origins, Part 2: Autosomal DNA Analysis

Jan 16, 2022

Having identified the probable ancestral origin of John Wilson (1716-1799) using Y-DNA in Part 1 of the blog post series, Part 2 uses autosomal DNA (at-DNA). The purpose here is to provide corroborating evidence that John’s ancestral origin is County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland as well as to offer greater geographic specificity within the county. Compared to Y-DNA, at-DNA has the benefit of identifying more recent cousins (possibly as far back as six to eight...

RLP 183: American Nations Part 2 with Heidi Mathis

Jan 10, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard. Heidi Mathis gives us a snapshot of these 11 nations so that no matter where your ancestors settled in the U.S., you may learn something about the “nation” they lived in. Transcript Nicole (2s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 183 American Nations part two with...

Identifying John Wilson’s Irish Origins, Part 1: Y-DNA Analysis

Jan 8, 2022

I’m delighted to introduce a new guest blogger to Family Locket – Rick T. Wilson. Rick joined us in our Research Like a Pro Study Group #7 and is a skilled researcher and writer. He is sharing a three-part series about his research to identify John Wilson’s origins using Y-DNA, autosomal DNA, documentary evidence, and historical context. Enjoy! -Nicole Identifying John Wilson’s Irish Origins, Part 1: Y-DNA Analysis by Rick T. Wilson Have you...

How To Research in 30 Minutes a Day: Research Like a Pro 14-Day Mini Challenge

Jan 7, 2022

What progress can you really make in setting aside 30 minutes a day to research your family history? You may feel that you need a block of several hours at a time for research, but if you use a focused process, each day can build on the previous work. You’ll find yourself coming to the end of a project either having solved your objective or having laid a foundation for moving the research forward. I...

RLP 182: American Nations Part 1 with Heidi Mathis

Jan 3, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a discussion of the book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard. Heidi Mathis, one of our researchers, joins us to discuss the general idea of American Nations. The book gives us a hypothesis to understand U.S. history as we research our ancestors. Also, the book excitingly has DNA evidence to back up the hypothesis it proposes...

Looking Back at 2021: Top Ten Blog Posts

Dec 31, 2021

With 2021 coming to a close, we reflect on lessons learned. What progress did we make in our research? What do we want to learn in 2022? One of my favorite things about family history is the opportunity to research in new locations and times – opening up the opportunity for using new records and methodologies. One of the hot topics in the genealogy world is DNA and it comes as no surprise that seven...