Lacie's Genealogy Blog

As the year comes to a close, I want to share what 2019 was like for me.  Source: Pixabay This year has been filled with many successes and discoveries. I launched my blog- I wanted to start a blog back in 2017/8. This year, I took the plunge and I did it. Blog series:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks-  I didn't do so well on this, but hopefully next year will be better. Best of Genea-Blogs post - My post was featured on Genea-Musings. I was so excited. I never would have expected one of my posts to be on a big named Genea-Blogger. Randy Seaver, if you reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could meet you one day. A possible lead to find my 3rd great-grandmother's parents.   Even likely DNA matches on my mom's and aunts match page. I have to make a post about it next year. Trying to prove my great-grandmother's relation to Rosa Mott. Though I didn't achieve this goal, this year, I made progress. Here is  ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more   Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): 1)  What genea-gift did Genea-Santa bring you and/or your family this Christmas season? 2)  Tell us in a comment to this blog post, in your own blog post, in a Facebook post, and be sure to leave a link to your post. This Christmas, Genea-Santa brought me BOOKS. Can a family historian have too many books? I received a few books.  They are Genealogy Standards- 2nd Edition, How to Archive Family Photos, The FT Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy, Evidence Explained- 4th Edition, and Vestal (Images of America). I will be doing a review on them in the coming weeks. Thanks, Genea- Santa.

Recently, I began plotting my great-grandfather's movements in Brooklyn as well as his siblings. I wanted to see how closely each of them lived from one another. If you recall this topic, you might remember the 52 Ancestors post  that I did. To create your own map, go to Google MyMaps . Make sure to login to your Google account. Start by adding a layer (s) and icons. You can even add a description to the icons too. For example, if you want to create a family trip, you want to add lines to include one place to another. Color-coding the residences helps me distinguish which sibling I am looking at and to calculate the proximity of a location if one or more of them move to a different home or apartment. Using Brooklyn City Directories and census records , I was able to find residences for 2 out of the 5 siblings. Color-coding the residences helps me distinguish, which  There is still a lot of work to be done, but so far, it's a good start. What other u...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more   Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): 1)  Many of us believing in Santa Claus as children, having a Christmas tree, going to church, and visiting relatives and friends at Christmas time. 2)  Tell us your "best" Christmas memory - what Christmas holiday event is still vivid and real in your mind? 3)  Share it in a blog post of your own, in a Facebook post.  Please leave a comment here so we can all read about your memory Here's mine: I have many Christmas memories. On Christmas Day, when I was in 1st grade, I remember receiving my first Lego set. My love for LEGO grew from there. That same day, I got a baby doll. I was just beginning to learn how to change a diaper and to feed...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more   Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): Back in 2013, Leslie Ann had a post on her  Ancestors Live Here  blog titled  Wordless Wednesday -- Surname Christmas Tree  which I thought was a great idea for an SNGF challenge on a Surname Saturday.  We did it in  2018 last - see here!   Are you game? 1)  Read Leslie Ann's post, and figure out how you could make something similar to hers, or to mine below, or even something different.   2)  Make your Surname Christmas Tree using your ancestral surnames - there's no limit on the number of surnames - and decorate your tree as you wish.   3)  Show us your Surname Christmas Tree and t...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): 1)  Only 25 Days until Christmas now!  Have you been a good genea-boy or genea-girl?   2)  What gift should Genea-Santa bring you for Christmas?  What do you need, or want, to help you with your family history, your research, etc.? 3)  Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook. Please leave a comment with a link to your blog post.  I have been a good genea-girl.  I hope Santa brings me more books. Specifically, books about towns and or towns. Images of America would be nice to have. The Genealogy Standards 2nd Edition and Blaine Bettinger's DNA Guide book would go in handy too.  Se...

Last week, I saw a video on my recommendations feed. Of course, this intrigued me because the topic was about DNA. We all have seen the DNA testing commercials and the excitement they can bring to many people, but that isn't always the case. Over the years, the popularity of DNA tests has exploded. People have become interested in learning about their ancestry and where they came from. There is another thing about DNA tests-they can reveal family secrets. You probably have seen articles, videos, and even books about the effect on people's lives of DNA testing. This may change the way someone thinks about themselves and or their identity. In the theoretical example, "Sally" took a DNA test as well as her immediate family. 6 weeks later, she checked her results, all her family matched her, but Sally's sister didn't share enough DNA to be considered as a full sibling. Sally's mother tells her that sh...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:   It's  Saturday Night  again -  time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): 1)  Think about the answers to these questions about your thankfulness for genealogy: a.  Which ancestor are you most thankful for, and why? b.  Which author (book, periodical, website, etc.) are you most thankful for, and why? c.  Which historical record set (paper or website) are you most thankful for, and why? 2)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own; in a comment to this blog post; or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link in comments to your own blog post or Facebook post. a.  The ancestor that I'm most thankful is my maternal grandmother because she recorded home movies from my younger years including my siblings, mother, ...

This is a continuation of my post  Having a DNA Plan in Place  with a worked example. The 1st step is to formulate a research question or goal.  My goal is to identify who is the mother of my great-grandmother. You can view my posts about this challenge here . Next is to  choose a DNA test.   Since I am trying to identify a mother, I need to use mtDNA testing at FamilyTreeDNA. The 3rd step is to find a candidate. In the chart below, I created to illustrate the possible candidates to take a test.  Brother 1, 3, and 4 are now deceased. Brother #2 is the best candidate. Remember, mothers pass mtDNA to all their children. There are no links that break this maternal line.   If Brother #2 wouldn't be willing to submit a sample,  I would need to  trace down  a descendant of the probable mothers' sibling(s), then hope that the person(s) would take a test. Hopefully, this post will help illustrate what a testing ...

Do you want to test more relatives? Do you want to incorporate DNA into your research project? If you said yes to any of these questions, it's time to start creating a plan. Like all great plans, start with a great question. Ask yourself this question: What is your goal or research problem?   For example, you could ask the following: Who is the father of William Jackson?   Once you have your goal or question, it's officially time to say: "What DNA Test Should I (or relative) Take?" Here is a reminder of the 3 types of DNA tested: Y-DNA- Direct paternal  line . Pass down Y Chromosome from father to son. Mitochondrial DNA- Direct maternal line. Mt Chromosone passed down to daughter and son. But stops at the son. Autosomal DNA- DNA   passed down from all lines. Each generation will pass less and less DNA and eventually will be zero. The BIG 5 DNA companies offer the following DNA tests: Autosomal DNA Primarily a British...

This October is Family History Month, so it's the perfect time to start the giving season. Photo by  Jill Wellington on Pixabay Why Should You Give Back? Since   technology has enabled us to connect and share with others, it would be nice to consider giving to others in any way, shape, or form. Ways to Contribute: Indexing/Community Projects - If you have free time during the day, you might consider indexing. FamilySearch has index projects that you can by countries. Another project you can do is  Tree Extending Hints . Donate- You can donate to a society or organization. The amount of money doesn't matter as it does for taking the time to do it. They will appreciate it. Cleaning/ taking photos of gravestones- Another way is taking photos at a cemetery and uploading them to FindAGrave . Visitors will admire having images of their ancestor's gravestones and the time of the contributor to do so. Volunteering at a society or library- Next ...