Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about evaluating family trees and the sources in them to help us determine if a family tree is accurate. We review independent sources, primary information, and direct evidence. In the absence of direct evidence, we can often put together a body of indirect evidence to help us prove a parent-child link, but that requires a written conclusion. Often family trees are missing this element. Transcript Nicole Elder...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s RLP with DNA study group project. She shares how she made a timeline for the hypothesized brother of Cynthia Dillard, Elijah Dillard. We discuss her Airtable timeline as well as citations and FANs. Part of the assignment is to analyze the sources in the timeline as well as the DNA sources. Using the Shared cM Project, Diana compares the proposed relationship with the shared...
No, it’s not a game show or a board game – it’s a fantastic tool in the hands of serious genetic genealogy researchers! What are the Odds? (WATO) is a tool developed by Leah Larkin, and Jonny Perl at DNAPainter.com. You can use this tool to further your research in cases where you don’t know how a person fits into a family tree, such as in adoption or unknown parentage research cases. It can also...
If you’re like me and overwhelmed by DNA and this new wealth of information for genealogists, I am going through my experience with the Research Like a Pro with DNA e-course to help those looking for a way to get started! This is the fourth post in the series. In the first step of the RLP with DNA process, Assess Your DNA Matches and Analyze Your Pedigree, I found some holes in my husband’s family...
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...
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. Links Caring for Your Family Tree:...
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...
What is your confidence level 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 me, some of the branches of your family tree might need pruning out and perhaps some new ancestors grafted in. How can we be more...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the second step in the research like a pro process – timelines and analysis. This is where you gather everything you know about the objective – previous research, known information from published trees, etc. You compile it into a timeline, then analyze each piece of information for reliability. We talk about source, information, and evidence analysis. Links Airtable DNA Research Log for Multiple Test Takers...
When is the last time you discovered an important new genealogy record because of the FamilySearch indexing effort? Did you know that when you attach a record hint generated by the system you may also have the option to send a thank you to the indexer? Lest we ever forget that our ability to research quickly and effectively is due to the efforts of many who volunteer their time, during this season of Thanksgiving we...
