Earlier this year I was finally able to reconcile my genealogy research with my DNA. The key outcome of this effort was the realization that my birth father was not actually the person my research had led me to. Because this experience is a good example of the importance of DNA in researching family history, I blogged about the experience and related work that led me to my actual birth father over on another site I set up: Finding Father – Circumstantial vs DNA Evidence. So based on this new knowledge, I have updated my list of surnames shown on my…
Finding Father – Circumstantial vs DNA Evidence
As an adoptee, there have been times when my passion for genealogy and family history have been frustrating. Yes, I have wonderful families on my adopted side and on my husband’s side to research, but there was always this whole section of my tree just sitting blank. Finally in about 1995 I received a clue about my birth family when Catholic Social Service told me my birth mother had passed away. While horrible news, it ended up being the only reason I was able to eventually discover my birth mom’s name and family and make contact with them nine years…
Visiting with Isaac Wilson – The Norris Dam Relocation Surveys
The other day I stumbled upon an amazing find on Ancestry.com – the Tennessee Valley, Family Removal and Population Readjustment Case Files, 1934-1953. For years I’ve accessed the cemetery relocation records, but never realized the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) also documented relocations of living families. I imagine being forced to move from the only home these people ever knew was probably traumatic. However, through these records, those who went through it left a fortunate glimpse into their lives for their descendants. Here’s a story I was able to compile about Isaac Wilson just using the information he provided for this…
A Dangerous Time to be Alive
In the study of family history, one aspect of life I have become aware of in the mid-1800s to mid-1900s is the frequency of accidental death and the transparent reporting of the details. For example, I found an article in the Chicago Tribune from July 28, 1903, noting the following accidental deaths in Chicago since January of that year: 623 people died in fires 350 people died from explosions 492 people died in mine accidents 340 people died in cyclones and storms 77 people died from lightning 78 people died by live electric wires 1,066 people drowned Viewing these deaths in the context of…
Mapping the Ancestral Home
It all started with a simple question: When did Anton Washkowiak die? I looked in all the obvious places: the social security death index, the church death records, the church cemetery index. Nothing. Sure he was born in 1863, but I still didn’t think it would be that hard to find out when he died. I had figured out the dates of death for the rest of his family who made the journey to the U.S. including his mother and five of his siblings (his father and three other siblings had passed away in Poland). Why could I not find the date for Anton?…
The Ancestral Landscape
In trying to better understand the life of my ancestors, I usually study maps from different time periods of the area in which they lived. Knowing how the landscape changed over time can offer clues to choices the family made such as relocating or marrying someone from another village. I also like to have this background information in case I ever visit the area because what I would see today might not have been what was there during my ancestor’s lifetime. For example, this was what I discovered when I recently found myself browsing the Military Survey maps linked from the…
Organizing Genealogy Books
Since the first week of Thomas MacEntee’s Genealogy Do-Over covers organization, I decided to start by organizing all my genealogy books. As I collected them throughout the house and placed them in one bookcase, I decided it was probably also a good idea to create an inventory of them. That way, I would always know which books I have already purchased. To make the process go a little faster, I used the Dragon Dictation app on my iPhone and just read the title to the phone. Then after the app translated the title, I copied and pasted the…
Why I Decided to Do the Genealogy Do-Over
When I first read about Thomas MacEntee’s Genealogy Do-Over on his GeneaBloggers Blog, I thought why in the world would I ever want to start everything over again? But over the last few months a few things happened that made me reconsider. First, I have gotten to the point where I had set up three trees so each time I did any research, I had to update all three which was not very productive, and at times it was challenging to make sure I consistently updated everything with exactly the same information. Second someone who had matched with my DNA,…
Finding Your Ancestors in the Cemetery
To the average person cemeteries can represent a place to completely avoid, revere, find solace or perhaps a little of all that depending on the mood. But to a genealogist, a cemetery represents a place where significant family information can be discovered. For me, even before becoming a genealogist, graveyards were most definitely a place strongly associated with family. Possibly because my mom took my brother and I to cemeteries so much as children to visit relatives who had passed away. Later as a young woman, I gained an additional insight into graveyards after working with a land surveyor laying…
The Adopted Genealogist
For most people, figuring out where you came from is just a matter of asking mom or dad or any other member of the family. Sure you might not get a full family tree back to the 1500s, but at least there’s a good chance you’ll get some idea of a starting point from which you can begin your genealogy research. But for many of us who were adopted, it’s not such a simple matter. However, adoption and the challenges it poses do not have to be reasons…