This presentation has been recorded and is available for immediate download. If you ordered and did not receive, please email me at mjnrootdig@gmail.com and I’ll take care of it. In this presentation, we will discuss new and not-so-new features of AncestryDNA matches, including: Groups Notes ThruLines Starred matches Filters Searches Our focus will be on […]

I’ve been experimenting with the groups feature at AncestryDNA. Like many analytical techniques, practice and experimentation are a great way to get started. It’s also helpful to think and ask yourself: what do I want to do with this? Many times genealogists are given “bells and whistles” (also known as “bright shiny things”) that we […]

Going back to the original continues to be excellent genealogical advice. Ancestry.com in search results from their yearbook collection now includes pictures with the search results. Whether this was done automatically by an algorithmic process or manually by minions in an undisclosed location, the original still needs to be viewed. The five entries for my […]

It was quite a sum of money for a widow of advanced age in rural Bedford County, Virginia, in 1841: $500 There are online calculators that would tell me the “present value” of $500 today–in 2019. There have been a large numbers of economic upturns, downturns, crises, etc. But I really have little interest in […]

Sometimes all the genealogist really needs is a lookup. Sometimes they need more extended research. Which really depends upon the situation. One lookup example stems from the newspaper article I located from 1892 in Quincy, Illinois. It references a court case regarding estate of my ancestor, Ulfert Behrens. Years ago, when I was much younger, […]

There is still time to register or pre-order my August 2019 AncestryDNA webinar. Attendance links have been sent out and pre-orders can be ordered at a lower introductory rate. Details are on our announcement page–there’s still time!

Millers can be difficult to find. My Henry Miller is no exception to that rule. Trying to find Henry in the 1860 through 1880 federal census schedules lead to an interesting discovery in the 1880 enumeration. In 1860, Henry and his wife, Geske Catherine Miller, are enumerated in Brown County, Illinois, with their daughter Anke […]

This list of communicants from 1867 is shorter than some of the other lists at the Tioga Evangelical Church in Tioga, Illinois [now Bethany United Church of Christ]. Number 9 is my great-great-grandmother. Number 6, “Vater Trautfelder,” probably is John George Trautvetter, as three of his sons also lived in the vicinity and at the […]

Several of you asked about our “Genealogy Tip of the Day” pens. You can order them through our normal ordering channel–shipping is included. These are sent out by me manually and not from a distribution service. Thanks!

FamilySearch is allowing the editing of some index entries in their online indexes to record images. It’s a great way to correct indexing errors that can easily be made. That’s a good thing. It makes it easier for users to find their person in the database index. According to a blog post on the FamilySearch […]