Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Suzanne Campbell Lowe. In 2005, Suzanne learned from a white cousin about her Campbell family’s connection — through slavery — to a black man named James Meredith. Over the course of the next several years, Suzanne’s white and black families have built their relationships and explored their descendancy from their common ancestor: a prominent white leader of the Confederacy named J.A.P. Campbell. Join us as we discuss Suzanne’s journey getting to know her black cousins and learning about African American research. Transcript Links Coming to the Table...
If the descriptive relationship terms full or half are unfamiliar to you or find it a challenge to describe relationships, this blog post may help you. Figuring out the exact relationship you share with a DNA match can be challenging at times. When the relationship is a “half” relationship, it can be even more tricky. The amount of shared DNA between two matches doesn’t directly indicate whether a relationship is full or half. Traditional documentary research is needed to definitively discern if a relationship is full or half. It’s all about the common ancestor It is essential to understand and...
What happens when you discover a new cousin through DNA? You may find exciting family photos and information. You might even be able to meet that individual who shares your family history. I had the pleasure of meeting my cousin, Patty Hoskins, last month. We connected through Ancestry DNA and today I’m sharing 3 tips to help you connect with your DNA cousins. DNA cousin, Patty, and Diana. Tip # 1 Reach out to your DNA matches. If you’ve tested with AncestryDNA, you’ll see the option to “send message” to your cousin once you click on “view match” from the AncestryDNA...
In honor of Presidents Day today, I thought I would pose the question – are you related to one of the presidents of the United States? I found out I was related to Dwight D. Eisenhower when I first started researching my Grandpa Shults’ side 14 years ago. My 3rd great grandmother, Eliza Ann Isenhour, was his fourth cousin. As you can see, the spelling of the last name morphed over the years. Doris Kearns Goodwin, at her RootsTech conference keynote address in 2016, spoke about how she had basically no living relatives as a young person and didn’t know...
Our ward family history committee, consisting of youth and adult consultants, planned this ward activity for all ages. Held on a Thursday evening it took the place of the combined activity for the young men and young women that week. Each organization had an assignment and each youth group ran one of the activities. One of our consultants did a fabulous job transforming the cultural hall into an old time country fair. Using the color theme of red, white, blue, and yellow, she displayed homemade quilts and added balloons and banners for a festive look. Table centerpieces consisted of bags...
