In Part 1 of this series, we learned how two volunteers are making a difference for anyone researching their African American ancestors in Liberty County, Georgia. Together they have documented almost 30,000 names of enslaved people using all available records. By transcribing the Southern Claims Commission Case (SCC) files, additional connections are coming to light. In part 2 of this series, Stacy Cole shares her methodology for researching the SCC records and provides examples for...
This week, I learned about genealogical and historical records created before England created the civil registration system in 1837.[1] I’ve learned a wealth of knowledge that I look forward to using to confirm known ancestors and discover new ones through documentary research. The lessons made me think about confirming and discovering ancestors who lived before 1837 using DNA. Autosomal DNA can be used to research ancestors about 6-8 generations back in time. For me, ancestors...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a continuation of Nicole’s research on Robert Daugherty and Sarah Taylor of Craven County, North Carolina and Warren County, Kentucky. In the last episode, we reviewed the objective of the project, to find the children of Robert and Sarah, the timeline, and the locality research. This episode focuses on the research plan, log, and findings and how those were presented in the report. Read the report below. ...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Nicole’s research on Robert Daugherty and Sarah Taylor of Craven County, North Carolina and Warren County, Kentucky. We review the objective of the project, to find the children of Robert and Sarah, the timeline, and the locality research in Warren County, Kentucky. This was the first phase of a project to discover more about a cluster of DNA matches who seem to be connected to the...
In this series we explored how to research Irish ancestors and trace their origins in Ireland – from gathering information in America to consulting maps of Irish farmlands, I hope this has been informative in your quest to learn about your Irish roots. This last post in the series focuses on fleshing out your Irish ancestor’s story through local and contextual history. Once you’ve discovered the location of that coveted townland or house-plot for your...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about our ancestor, Elizabeth Malissa Welch. We continue our discussion of pruning and grafting branches of our family tree by discussing the case of Malissa’s parents. We had previously concluded that Meredith and Susannah Welch of Sumter County, South Carolina were her parents, but as we revisited the conclusion, we found a different set of parents that fit the evidence better. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research...
Have you wondered how you could make a difference in the genealogy world? Your research may be fairly straightforward or have many challenges. For those researching African American ancestors, the brick wall appears relatively soon – generally prior to 1870. Dealing with the lack of surnames in the antebellum era, forced separation of families, and record loss requires a focused approach and pouring through many record collections. Fortunately, more useful records are becoming available and...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about revisiting previous conclusions in your family tree. Have you been carefully adding new branches – or have you added extra ancestors based on hints and suggestions from online programs without much analysis? How about past research – is it up to current standards? If you are like us, some of the branches of your family tree might need pruning out and perhaps some new ancestors grafted...
In previous posts, we discussed research methods to determine where your ancestor came from in Ireland, and we examined available resources both in the U.S. and in Ireland. If you’ve discovered a placename associated with your ancestor, whether in U.S. or Irish records, you may ask yourself: where in Ireland is this? A lot of places in Ireland carry the same name: did your ancestor come from Ballymoney in County Antrim, or in County Cork?...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about evaluating AncestryDNA Thrulines hypotheses. If you have ever received a Thruline for a potential ancestor and weren’t sure if it was worth pursuing, we will discuss a checklist of criteria that make up a reliable Thrulines. We will also talk about some red flags to watch out for then give several case studies Thrulines we have evaluated. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro...
