Michael John Neill's Genealogy Website
This illustration appeared in Genealogy Tip of the Day a few days ago, but I decided to write about it a little more here. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between what is “right” and what is “wrong.” Occasionally the experience and perspective of the informant matters. That’s the case with the […]
Genealogy isn’t just about people. There can be stories in animals and inanimate objects. There’s a story about this cat that’s more about my Mother and me than it is the cat. Years ago when Journey was a kitten he “appeared” on my parents’ farm along a state highway in Illinois. It’s never been clear […]
While I have more than my share of colorful relatives, it’s not often that I find one that has a connection some well-known historical group. Such is the case with Heye Albers who was in the First United States Cavalry in the Spanish-American War. Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders” were actually the 1st United States Volunteer […]
I am thinking out loud here. I’m typing up my ahnentafel chart for presentation on my website. One of the issues I have is the precision of the location of an event. Many of my families are clustered in several rural areas, locations are not always overly specific. Genealogists like specifics, but sometimes we have […]
It’s easy to focus on the direct line ancestors in our research. Their names appear in our direct ancestral tree and, if we didn’t inherit any property or wealth from them, we sometimes hope to have inherited some spunk or personality trait from them. That’s all fine and good, but don’t forget those ancestral siblings. […]
I’ve been doing a little thinking about the 1950 United States Federal Census which will be released in April of 2022. One or more of the genealogy vendors will likely have a full name index shortly after its release. I’m fortunate that I won’t to wait for the index. The 1950 census entries for my […]
This is part of a blog post I wrote nine years ago about Ancestry.com. It’s still true and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s still a problem. They aren’t going to listed to me of course–this is confirmation of that. From 26 January 2009 on my rootdig.blogspot.com site: What I would REALLY like to see […]
We’re still excited about the release of Genealogy Tip of the Day–the book. Repeat tips, time-sensitive items, and marketing material has been removed. It’s just tips–and a few pictures. Purchase options include: Directly from Amazon–some vendors claim to have “used” or “library” copies–I’m not certain where they got those. Directly from me–either by credit card […]
Before any analysis of autosomal DNA tests results for genealogical research, it’s suggested that the following things are done (when possible). I realize that in working with DNA kits where there are adoptions or other issues that prevent all these things from being completed–even partially. It’s also recommended that the first DNA kit you work […]
