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SYNTHPOPALOOZA asked in our post  Our Surname Tables for DNA Research What do you do in the case of first cousins marrying each other? This happens three times in my tree, and in one case (my father's father's line) both my 2nd great-grandparents have the same last name, Hurst. They share the same grandparents. How do you chart that? Great question. I have some suggestions but before we jump into answering that question, if you want step-by-step instructions on how to create a surname table, this video should help. Back to the actual question of charting when cousins marry each other. What you are describing is tree collapse. BOY, oh Boy, will your DNA become very confusing. Your cousin matches might suggest someone is more closely related to you than they actually are when you map our your family tree using documents. The more occurrences of tree collapse you encounter, the more confusing your research becomes, as you well know. I do not envy your situation. However, her...

Descriptions of our ancestor's physical appearance can help us see them in our mind's eye. But how can we discover what they looked like if we don't have videos or photos to provide evidence? Discover some of the best resources for physical descriptions. Then use these clues to improve your family history writing projects as we discussed in  How To Describe Your Ancestor's Physical Appearance .  Military Draft cards are a gold mine of information. Sadly, they are primarily descriptions of males as men were required to register during the Civil War, WWI and WWII in the US. The features recorded include: height (tall, short, medium) weight (slight, medium, stout) hair color eye color race physical markings - tattoos, scars, large moles physical deformities (if applicable) You can access military draft records on Ancestry , FamilySearch , and Fold3 . Passport Applications are incredible because they are not reserved primarily for males. Additionally, some passports come ...

Do you ever come across a research problem that makes your head spin? That’s what happened with one of our viewers, and we’ll take you on the journey to puzzle it out. When a friend started climbing her family tree, she ran into problems with Winfield Underwood. She reviewed all of the previous research others had accumulated on FamilySearch, FindAGrave, and Ancestry.com and couldn't make heads or tails out of the conclusions. Winfield had multiple sets of parents, and she couldn't determine which set was the correct pair. How could she determine who was the right parents when she didn’t feel experienced enough in genealogy to make those determinations? I was asked to take a look at the tangled tree to see if I could puzzle it out. This case study is the foundation for a multi-part series of videos on our YouTube Channel under the heading Research Over My Shoulder .   In order to make sense of the situation while reviewing Winfield's tree, I used a clue web . Some folks cal...

Many people have varying degrees of photography skills. Some are point and shoot photographers. Others are very skilled. In the age when we're able to take photos of gravestones, the question arises, when should we post a second photo on a Find A Grave profile (or other websites)? When I go to a cemetery I attempt to follow a few rules: Make it Tidy Get Close Capture the Lot When I do that, I generally have good results when capturing a gravestone. I may be an amateur photographer, but I can capture fairly decent photographs that do more than just document the stone, but feature and highlight it. Stephen P. Mayer Dec. 16, 1857 - Oct. 23, 1922 Adaline Mayer 1861 - Jun. 30, 1932 Once in a while, I come across a memorial on  FindAGrave.com for which I have taken a photo, like the one above, with a decent photo already published. My approach in cemetery photography is this: Go to a plot that you know a few photos need to be taken and then snap pictures of the section around the s...

In February, MyHeritage DNA released its long-awaited chromosome browser. Woot-woot. Shout praises. Celebrate however you will. This is tool is a game changer for me and I'm enjoying reviewing my results in a user friendly tool. Check this out. I manage kits for myself, my brother, and my two aunts. This allows me to link their DNA results to my tree. I LOVE this feature better than Ancestry DNA. I have five people that I'll be purchasing tests for who aren't interested in tree building. So, I'm in for a lot of work to get their trees built and connected to their DNA results. ANY-WAY, back on track. I began a one-to-many search with my brother, my two aunts, and then a fourth person. Y'all, I don't have to limit myself to triangulation. I can do whatever five people 'angulation' is. And that's where the power of this tool comes in. My brother is red, my two aunts are orange and yellow, and the 'new-to-us' match is green When I reviewed these ...

I'm on a mission to attempt to establish through a paper trail and indirect evidence who the father of John Townley was. I recently decided to jump into searching Wills and Probates. Ancestry and FamilySearch have made accessing these collections so much easier, but I didn't have the best luck. Ancestry.com made finding the Will for John's potential father Effingham Townley of New Jersey easier. They have a collection entitled New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1739-1991 . I learned of Effingham 's five children, one of which is a John Townley. With John being a common name used in the Townley family, I'm not ready to conclude that John in Cincinnati is Effingham's son John. Probate Records, 1794-1902; Author: New Jersey. Surrogate's Court (Essex); Probate Place: Essex, New Jersey After finding this will, I decided to an attempt to look up Effingham Townley probate files. I found two entries in the New Jersey Probate Records, 1678-1980 which is a browse...

Researching your family tree using DNA can be complicated when you haven't created a surname table as a cheat sheet for referencing your data. Andy talks about these regularly in beginner DNA classes but I hadn't created one until today! And you're about to see my jealousy rear its beastly head. Before we begin, take a look at Andy's Surname Table: Look at the five spots that are holes in the 4th GGP section. That's not bad. The holes beside the Garnett in 3rd GGP only indicates that the Lees aren't really Lees and from that point on the surname line changes. Are you ready to see my chart? I'm really sad. Before you think I'm a terrible Genealogist, each missing surname comes with a challenge. The Anderson/Sparks is pretty 'righteous' (bad holey/holy pun) because Anderson and Sparks disappear from records after they have a child. There's only one record for William Anderson, of Sweden, in Missouri and nothing else. Oh, yea!  After that, the w...

A family legend and an interment record point to the origin of my Townley ancestor who settled in Cincinnati in the early 1800s. When I was a young genealogist, I would accept the family legend and the name on the burial card as substantial evidence that the information people write their family trees are accurate. In so doing, I would fall victim to some rookie mistakes.  But no more, let's talk about the rookie mistakes and how avoiding them helps me tackle a mystery on my Townley family. 1. Believing all Family Legends are Accurate Family legends are fun stories, and some of them are factual. However, many of them have alterations that introduce errors or complete falsehoods. We also do not know how family stories start or understand the purpose of misleading legends. In my Geiszler line, a handwritten paragraph details the demise of my German immigrant ancestor. Upon closer scrutiny, many of the specifics are inaccurate or not plausible. Why would my relatives pass along a fals...

While we're on holiday break from homeschool and the like, Andy, Caleb, and Devon Noel Lee are look back so they can move forward by examining the most popular blogs and videos that we posted in 2017 so we can plan ahead for 2018. Take a look at the posts on this blog. #10 -   3 Suppliers to Start Your Scrapbook Stash If you're just starting out in digital scrapbooking, you'll want to purchase P hotoshop Elements . Then, you'll want to visit these three talented designers for all the basic supplies you'll need for your beginner stash of supplies. You'll have templates, background papers, decorative elements, and title art. # 9 -   German Names in Print? "Do you know what is the best on this site? I can see what my German last name looks like in print. I've assumed the German β would look just like that in print. But when I look at the name, it seems 'weird.' The newsprint version doesn't have the distinct demarcations that I see in a compute...

It's that time of year when people are B--U-S-Y. It's also the time of year when you're trying to make good on old resolutions or plan for new ones. Below I'm sharing a list of tasks you can do in 15 minutes or less that will have you finding time for genealogy during your hectic seasons throughout the year. When it comes to researching, there are many tasks that can be done in 15 minutes or less. Some tasks are addictive set a timer. When it beeps, STOP. You can keep come back the next time! Create a research log or to do list Brainstorm new search ideas Examine ONE hint on FamilySearch  Examine ONE hint in RootsMagic for FindMyPast or Heritage Investigate a newspaper site for an ancestral name and place Contact a fellow researcher and ask for tips or to share resources Look up a specific record such as: SSDI or census record Look up one name on Find A Grave Submit a correction or update to Find A Grave Run an problem report in RootsMagic Resolve one clean-up task usin...

When we acquire large databases, I wonder how many times we are like the three monkeys Hear No Problem See No Problem Speak No Problem But, far too many GEDCOM files (and our own databases) are rife with errors and if we ignore them, we're like another animal. One with feathers, a long neck, and likes to stick it underground! The first step to having reliable genealogy is to check our files for potential problems. The most common problems in our databases are: 1. Age-Related Errors Can a woman give birth to a child past the age of 50? With few exceptions, the answer is no.   Can a woman give birth when she is 5? Even that's a bit too young for puberty to kick in.   Can a man sire a child 3 years after his death in a time before artificial insemination? Nope. A child generally has to be born within 9 months after his father's death pre-AI. 2. Living After Death Property remaining in a deceased person's name can occur, until their estate is settled and new owners scrawl ...