Lacie's Genealogy Blog

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...