Family Tree DNA's Family Finder

Seven years ago, I had my mtDNA tested by Family Tree DNA.  I learned I was Haplogroup H and, well, that was about all.  Of course there were matches, but no one with whom I could connect.  My maternal ancestry dead ends with my Italian great-great-great grandparents, for whom I have very little information beyond names.  The odds of making a family connection with any of the matches are pretty slim, but I knew that going into the DNA testing - that mtDNA is your "deep ancestry". 

However, I was still fascinated to learn my haplogroup and excited to at least get the test done.

When Family Tree DNA announced their autosomal test, I waited and waited and waited to upgrade.  Also, with the busy-ness that is life, I simply forgot to order the upgrade. 

I finally ordered the upgrade today and I cannot wait to see the results.  What do I hope to get out of it?

First and foremost, I am looking forward to learning more about my ancestral make-up.  It would not surprise me to find it is mostly English - probably a good 50% or more.  Anything other than English, Irish, Scottish, and Italian will surprise me.

Second, I am hopeful that I will find cousins, particularly from my Murphy great-great-great grandparents.  My most mysterious brick wall is my great-great grandmother, Emma Anna Murphy.  If she had siblings, perhaps they have descendants who just happened to have their autosomal DNA tested too.  However, her parents are 6 generations back from me, and I realize the odds getting lucky - of someone from that side of the family having tested - are very, very slim.  So I'm not super optimistic about that. 

Still, I'm glad I ordered the upgraded and my results will be in the Family Finder database by the end of the month.  I can't wait to see the results.

Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan

Resources

Wow!  Thank you so much for the blogiversary wishes.  I really didn't know it was my blogiversary until I saw the post on Geneabloggers.  So, again, thank you!  I truly enjoy following all of you too, and wish I had more time to focus on my research.  However, life has swung back in a direction I never planned to go again - having a baby - and I also need to concentrate on work, so family and work come first these days.

But I try to get in some time to work on genealogy.  I see myself picking up the pace again when my daughter is older, and my husband has completed his education and returned to work.  For now, I will do it when I can - maybe once a week.

Yesterday I blogged about how we approach the family tree - do we concentrate on one specific ancestor at a time, "climb" the tree one branch at a time, or tackle everybody and try to round up all we can on each person?

Of course, what you are looking for in each instance are resources that confirm names, dates, places, and more.

Most people start out with notes gathered through conversations with family members, particularly older family members. From there, we pursue vital records, censuses, newspaper articles, cemeteries, directories, court records, land records, pension records (my personal favorite), and so much more. 

Maintaining accurate records of the sources consulted, whether they yielded results or not, is important.  This is particularly useful when you are chasing a brick wall ancestor.  Knowing you researched Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 several times, recording the different name spellings you used, and keeping track of the dates you searched the database will keep you from duplicating your efforts and wasting your time.  Also, keep track of the dates of conversations with family members, either by dating your notes or saving emails.  I keep printed copies of emails, as well as copy them to Word and save them in the relevant surname folder.

This is just basic research know-how for most genealogists, but a beginner might underestimate the usefulness of recording all resources searched - even those that yielded nothing.  Everything is worth noting.  Better safe than sorry, so go ahead and over-document those resources.

Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan

Climbing My Family Tree

Everyone has different techniques when it comes to genealogical research.  At the moment, with a 3-month-old baby and work, my technique is non-existent.  ;)

But all kidding aside, each of us has a different way of approaching research.  Some of us have a combination of methods we use.

I'm not referring to using the internet or tracking down certain records, but how we actually decide to go about our research with regard to the family tree itself.  I have 3 different approaches.

1.  Tackling the Brick Wall - I think all of us do this.  We focus on our brick wall ancestors and sometimes devote hours, days, weeks, even months and years to them.  I have a few, most of whom are immigrant ancestors.  When I work specifically on them, they are the sole focus of my research.  However, I always take a break, so I can come back with fresh eyes a few times a year.

2.  One Branch at a Time - Roughly 4 times a year, I climb my entire family tree, from me, up through each and every single ancestor.  It leads me to those brick wall ancestors, to whom I devote extra time and energy, and to those loose ends...

3.  Tying up Loose Ends - These are the people who just need the smallest amount of research to verify dates and places.  Usually I find them in my Massachusetts ancestors in the 1600's.  I'll admit, this is where I get lazy, and I need to do a better job of rounding out these entries in my family tree with complete information.   

This is how I work may way through my family.

Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan

What Do You *Do* With DNA Matches?

My first post since the birth of my newest descendant!  Little Rowan is 5 weeks and 3 days old.  Her brother, Gavin (age 10), adores her.  Her father dotes on her, but has the flu right now, so the 3 of us are doing our best to avoid him!  I'm sleeping on the couch with Rowan, and avoiding the bedroom, mostly to keep her from getting sick.  Though I am nursing, so that means she is getting plenty of antibodies from me.

Life is normalizing for me.  That is, I have a routine and plenty of energy, so I am able to resume many of my pre-baby activities.  This includes genealogical research and blogging, so on with the show!

***

I have two DNA kits at Family Tree DNA.

The first is my mtDNA and I hope to upgrade to Family Finder this year.  My mtDNA matches aren't really exciting, because we probably share ancestors hundreds, if not thousands, of years back.  Still, you never know if that one elusive distant cousin with all the answers might show up... 

The second is my ex-husband's mtDNA and Y-DNA.  His mtDNA shows some close matches.

But it's really the Y-DNA that interests me, mostly for my son.

I only have 5 generations of ancestors for my ex-husband on his paternal side.  Only 5 Hawksley men accounted for in the records available.  When you get to the 6th generation, there is only "? Hawksley" and his wife, "Mary Goodwin" (whose parents are another mystery).

It is funny that we have the wife's name and details about her origins, siblings, and family in general (New Jersey, 6 siblings for whom I have names and descendants, her father was a loyalist named Goodwin, her mother's maiden name was Workman), but no information on her husband beyond "Hawksley, an Englishman".

So my ex's Y-DNA is particularly interesting to me.  I know he would also be interested to know the origins of his family, since no one on his father's side really knows anything. 

Family Tree DNA shows me 6 matches, 5 of which are "12 of 12".  That means there's about a 70% chance my ex shares a common ancestor within the last 12 generations with those folks.

However, the surnames are different, and that's interesting.  I guess that means, somewhere along the line, there are half-brothers from the same father, but one of whom took on a different surname.  Though I realize that is just one possibility.

Now, I wonder what I should do with those matches.  Should I do contact those people who have given their contact information?  Should I learn more about their family tree?

I thought Y-DNA was so much more straightforward to work with than mtDNA, in that surnames would match up, thus leading to answers if there were questions.

Instead, I have more questions, and the first one is:

Where do I go from here?

Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan

My Newest Descendant

Sending all of you belated wishes for a Happy New Year, along with apologies for the lack of posts.

On Friday, January 4, 2013 at 8:38 a.m., my daughter, Rowan Alice Callahan, entered the world.  She made her appearance at 7 lbs, 4 oz, and 20.5 inches long.

Even though I am writing a new chapter of my life, rest assured I will be back once we settle into our new routine!

Copyright (c) 2013 Wendy L. Callahan

Are Descendants Necessary?

People often ask genealogists why we do what we do.

Most of us can give an answer that satisfies the question, such as, "I want to show my children where they came from" or "I want to put history in a more personal context for myself and my children."

However, is it really necessary to have children for a person to even care about genealogy?

I don't think so.

I am fortunate enough to have a son (about to turn 10) and a daughter on the way.  However, if I did not have children, I would be just as eager to pursue genealogy.

Most of us probably were turned on to family history at a young age, perhaps by a school project, a relative's stories, or an interest in history and knowing more about our origins.  In fact, I think an interest in history often overlaps with genealogy.  Goodness knows I find both fascinating, and the very few times I pick up a non-fiction book to read for pleasure, it is generally about history.

So why research family history if you do not have someone to pass the research on to someday?  Well, why does a teacher teach?  Why does a policeman or fireman go out there to save lives?  You may as well ask creative types - writers, artists, photographers, dancers, actors, singers - why they do what they do.

They do it for love, whether of the work or an ideal embodied in it.  Many of these endeavors also leaves a legacy, and I do not think having descendants is absolutely necessary for a person to leave a legacy.

Even if you do not have nieces and nephews, or cousins with children to pass this research on to, someone else out there might still find it fascinating.  If you are passionate, no endeavor is worthless.

Copyright (c) 2012 Wendy L. Callahan

Adoption

First, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts.  With the impending arrival of a new family member, preparing for him takes priority.  I will try to post once a month, until I get settled and back into the swing of things, but I’m focused on accomplishing as much work as possible right now.

Second…  Have you ever had a family member simply drop off the face of the earth?  Perhaps you saw them in the 1870 and 1880 census, but lost them after that (or another) point.  You know what became of their elder siblings, if they had any, and you also know their parents died when they were quite young.   You cannot locate a marriage or death record for this person, so where did they go?

I have very, very limited experience with adoption, and the one I managed to find was a happy accident.  After combing through the censuses and Massachusetts Vital Records again and again for Mary Elizabeth Haley (b. 14 October 1860 in Plympton to John B. Haley and Mary Peterson), I finally Googled her name.

As always, never underestimate the power of Google.  

Mary showed up in the following document:

"List of Persons Whose Names Have Been Changed in Massachusetts 1780-1892", Collated and Published by the Secretary of the Commonwealth under Authority of Chapter 191 of the Acts of the Year 1893. Reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1972.
 

Once I read down the list and realized Mary was adopted by her maternal aunt and uncle, it changed my entire focus.  I began searching for “Mary Thompson” and found 1889 her marriage to Sidney Smith Baker in Massachusetts Vital Records.

Each state has different adoption laws.  Some make it quite easy to search and some make it more difficult.  Sometimes, all it takes is a Google search to uncover old adoption documents or name change lists, such as in Mary’s case.  Sometimes, a little more digging is required.

However, whenever I have a relative who seems to have fallen off the face of the earth, and the circumstances show their parents died while they were quite young, I often suspect adoption.  It’s a subject that is tricky, because there is no universal/national system to account for adoptions.  Beyond a very fortunate Google search, laws and resources must be narrowed down by state.

 

I think this is a topic that really needs and deserves more attention in the genealogical community, because adoptions and name changes probably account for a fair amount of our "brick walls".

Copyright (c) 2012 Wendy L. Callahan