Search This Blog

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Preparing for SLIG 2020: Part 4

In the previous posts of this "Preparing for SLIG 2020" series,  I discussed finding resources to help me develop a base knowledge for the course I am taking at SLIG: Early U.S. Church Records,  coordinated by Rev. David McDonald, DMin, CG. I have been fairly successful in finding print resources on many topics related to religion in the early United States. You can see my previous post here.

Last June I prepared for an Advanced DNA course at GRIP by reviewing many videos and webinars on DNA topics and tools. You can see the links to those blog posts and the results of my preparations here. I have not been as successful in finding videos and webinars on religion and church records. However, I did find several.

Ancestry Academy has a variety of videos on genealogical research. In one video, the SLIG 2020 course coordinator, Rev. David McDonald, DMin, CG, discusses "Church & Religious Records: Their Use in Genealogical Research." A search for the term "church" at Ancestry Academy results in a list of 40+ other videos that discuss church records as part of a larger topic. For example, a video on vital records is in the results, which makes sense since church records can provide a great substitute for local and state vital records. Ancestry Academy is free with an Ancestry login; I don't believe you need to have a paid membership, just a login.

One of my favorite webinar resources, FamilyTreeWebinars, now has over 1000 webinars on genealogical topics. There is an annual fee of $49.95, discounts are available most weeks with codes made available from the free live webinars. Most webinars are free for 7 days after their live debut so discount codes can be seen on most recent videos.

Using the search terms, "church" and "register" separately, I found 12 webinars. Since all webinars are older than 7 days, you will need a subscription to view them but the links allow you to read about them and see a preview.
Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records, presented by Lisa Toth Salinas
England and Wales - Rummaging in the Parish Chests, presented by Kirsty Gray
Zigzagging through German Church Records, presented by James Beidler
Using Church Records to Identify Ancestors, presented by Mary Hill, AG
Online Resources for French Genealogy part I: Compiled Records, Church Records and Civil Registration, presented by Paul Woodbury
Ohio and the Early Gathering of the LDS Church, presented by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG
Locating and Accessing Eastern European Church Records, presented by Lisa Alzo
Irish Church and Civil Registration, presented by Maurice Gleeson
Introduction to the Swedish Church Books, presented by Kathy Meade
Quebec Civil and Parish Registers, presented by Micheal J. Leclerc, CG

You'll note that several of the above webinars do not seem to pertain to US records. The reason that I included them is that I found the Norwegian parish registers that were online before their American Lutheran counterparts, were very similar to the U.S. versions. In fact, most of the late 19th century and early 20th century U.S. church records that I found for my Norwegian ancestors, were in their mother tongue. I am assuming that similarities also follow for other country and religious origins.

From RootsTech videos - free online:
Finally! German Church Records and How to Use Them on FamilySearch, presented by Trish Melander
Unlocking Roman Catholic Records: presented by Brian Donovan
Cross the Atlantic with Religious Records, presented by Jen Baldwin

From FamilySearch.org - Many videos free online with free registration and login
Links to videos available with search term, "church records."

Many state and national genealogical societies also host their own webinars. These are a few I found at societies where I have a membership. Webinar links are not included as membership is a requirement. I have included links to the societies' homepages.

Illinois State Genealogical Society
Online German Church Registers, Duplicates and Substitutes, presented by James M. Beidler
Translating Latin Records of German (and other) Catholic Churches, presented by Jean Wilcox Hibben, PhD, MA
Faith of Our Fathers: United States Church Records, presented by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG

Another source for finding vidoes is YouTube. Here is a link to the results when searching for "genealogy and church records." When choosing a YouTube video, pay attention to the speaker's name or organization presenting the webinar. Choose those with names that are recognized as reputable speakers and organizations.

A wonderful source to review for upcoming webinars is GeneaWebinars. Our "friend in genealogy," Dear Myrtle, has created this calendar for speakers and organizations to contribute information regarding their future webinars.

While creating this list, I realized there are many more webinars and videos available than I thought. I have a lot of webinar viewing to do ahead of me! If you know of other can't-miss webinars on early U.S. church records, please provide the information and link in the comments section below.



Thursday, September 26, 2019

Preparing for SLIG 2020: Part 3

Having determined that I need to expand my base knowledge of religion in early America in order to get the most of my SLIG 2020 class, "Early US Church Records", I started exploring what resources might be available to me.

When I followed this approach for my Advanced DNA class last summer, I was very successful in finding a number of resources. There were many videos, books, blogs, and tools available.  You can see my blogging on that topic here. (Click on the links within the blog to see the earlier postings with links.) While the topic of "Early American Religion" seems very broad, there were far fewer resources that were obviously available. It's quite possible my search terms are lacking but I don't see many videos, blogs or tools. I am able to find a large number of books.

A listing of the books available in the
"Religion in American Life" series.
Archive.org has books online which, even though still under copyright, can be checked out for free. You do need to create an account. I found a series called "Religion in American Life,"1 which has several books, each concentrating on a specific religion. I decided to concentrate on the religions I knew were followed by my ancestors and the general topics of "religion in colonial America" and "religion in 19th century America." I found a review of the series in a theological journal online which gave me some assurance that the series would be helpful.2

Because I am always trying to build my home library, I found a number of these books online at abebooks.com and purchased them to add to my library. They were very inexpensive with free shipping and will help me build my base knowledge.

Very recently released was a new book by Harold A. Henderson, CG and Sunny Jane Morton entitled, "How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records: A Genealogist's Guide: With Specific Resources for Major Christian Denominations before 1900."It is available at Amazon and other markets.

I now have quite a bit of reading material to help me grow my basic understanding of the religions in early America. It's a good thing I love reading!




1Butler, Jon and Harry S. Stout, editors, Religion in American Life, 17 vols. (New York: Oxford. 2000).

3Luke L. Keefer, Jr., “American Religion: A Review Article of the Series Religion in American Life,” Ashland Theological Journal 35 (2003): 87-96; image copy, biblicalstudies.org.uk. (https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/ashland_theological_journal/35-1_087.pdf : accessed 24 September 2015).

3Morton, Sunny Jane, and Harold A. Henderson. 2019. How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records: A Genealogist's Guide ( n.p., Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 2019)


Friday, August 30, 2019

Preparing for SLIG 2020: Part 2

SLIG 2020! 1
As I started planning my preparations as a learner in the Early US Church Records course at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) next January, I took a step back and started thinking about what kinds of records I might already be familiar with.

I quickly realized my knowledge of religious record types is very limited. I am somewhat familiar with the Norwegian Lutheran church records from the early settlements in the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Iowa. I have found hundreds of baptismal, confirmation, marriage and death records from churches in those areas.

Two sources have been especially helpful for me in finding the churches where my Norwegian Lutheran ancestors may have attended.
Map of church congregation growth in Brookings Co., South Dakota 2
The first source is a two-volume set called, "Norske Lutherske Menigheter i Amerika, 1843-1916."3 It is a listing of Norwegian Lutheran churches by state and county. It is in Norwegian but it is possible to glean a lot of information from it. For example, there is often a map drawing showing when churches split it two, perhaps due to size and location, and when they merged, for probably the same reasons.
Lake Sinai, Brookings Co, SD 4

Frequently, the description of each church includes the pastors and dates they served, the building date, any rebuilds due to fire or other destruction, founding members, and a photo of the church. The entry for the Lake Sinai church at right includes the founding members, among them is my great-grandfather, Ole Eken.

The two volumes are available as free digital downloads.  I found Volume 1 at Archive.org and Volume 2 at Google Books.

The second source is a book of Norwegian Lutheran ministers, "Norsk Lutherske Prester i Amerika, 1843-1915."5 If you know the minister's name, perhaps from a marriage license or signed certificate, you could look him up in this book to see where he might have served. It was quite common for a minister to have served in several churches at once which can complicate look-ups. But often, the same record book was used for all churches served and the church name was indicated in each record or record-set.

Anders Nilsen Stover 6

This book can also be found at Google Books here.

I was lucky enough to find a photo of my great-great-grandfather's brother, Anders Nilsen Stover (listed in the index as Nilsen, Anders), who served in several churches in eastern South Dakota. The information included indicates he was born 13 Sept. 1842 to Niels Olsen and Kari Knudsen, was ordained in 1883 and served in Watertown, SD from 1883 - 1892. He died 25 Nov. 1892. His wife was Magnild Olsen.

I've learned in going through some of the early Norwegian Lutheran Church records that in addition to baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and deaths, the church sometimes took a "census" of church members. If you can find one with your ancestors, you are really in luck. I found two with my great-great-grandfather's family, Knud Nilsen Stover and his wife, Guri Kristoffersdottir.

The information included in the "census" can contain birth and baptism dates and locations, confirmation date, date the family transferred to another church,  and even the maiden name of the wife. The record below shows my great-great-grandfather, Knud Nilson Stover, his wife Guri Kristoffersdatter, and their children Nicolai, Kari, Kjersti, Anna, Karl, Maria, and Mina. The first column with dates is the birth date for that person, the next column is birth location: either Norway or America, the next column with dates is the baptismal dates of two of the younger children and the last column shows when they left the church to join a new church closer to home.

Church family census information for Knud Nilsen Stover7

Knowing which church your ancestors attended can be very helpful when searching for the records. Many record sets are online at Ancestry.com and can be found here. The title of the collection is "U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969."8 While it doesn't contain all Lutheran Church records, I've found hundreds of records for my extended family.  The two-volume set previously mentioned can help you find the state and county the church was in. Ancestry allows you to search the set globally for your ancestor or to browse the set by searching for the church by state and county. Once I have found the correct church, I personally prefer to browse to the church and to page through the book online rather than search globally. The records are handwritten and so the indexing isn't perfect.

You can tell I like the resources that I use for my Norwegian Lutheran ancestry. And that's why I need to learn about other resources from other religions. I have identified the religious preferences of many of my other ancestors. I've found Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Episcopalians, Latter-Day Saints, and others. I need to find out what types of records may have been created and where I might be able to find them.

1. Facebook SLIG Attendee Group image, used with permission. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php fbid=10214455937699943&set=oa.2100166473624041&type=3&theater&ifg=1. Accessed 30 August 2019.

2. Norlie, Olaf Morgan, et al. Norske Lutherske Menigheter i Amerika, 1843-1916. Augsburg, 1918. Archive.org, https://archive.org/details/norskelutherske00tologoog/. Accessed 30 August 2019.

3. Ibid., p. 926. 

4. Ibid., p. 930.

5. Norlie, Olaf Morgan, et al. Norske Lutherske prester i Amerika, 1843-1913. Augsburg, 1915. Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=7VhHAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Norsk+Lutherske+Prester+i+Amerika&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_tpbK8arkAhXBY98KHbS-Dv4Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=nilsen&f=false. Accessed 30 August 2019.

6. Ibid., p. 197.

7. Singsaas Lutheran Church (Lincoln, Minnesota). Church Registers, 1874 - 1923, page 79, Knut Nilsen Stover and Guri Christoffersdatter; digital images. ancestry.com: U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969: accessed 30 August 2019.

8. Ancestry.com: U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969: accessed 30 August 2019.






Monday, August 12, 2019

Preparing for SLIG 2020: Part 1



I had great success by strategically preparing for the Advanced DNA Evidence course at Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) in June 2019, coordinated by Blaine Bettinger. You can read about it by checking out my last blog post of the series here. I spent a lot of time, not only reviewing books and webinars but also searching for other resources recommended by Blaine and other prominent speakers in the genetic genealogy field. I also practiced using the DNA tools available. Many tools were new in early 2019. I feel that preparing in this way helped me to get the most out of the class.

I have now signed up for the 2020 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) course called Early US Church Records, coordinated by Rev. David McDonald, DMin, CG. And I am thinking that I should create a similar process to prepare myself for this SLIG course. I have done a lot of researching in Lutheran church records, both in Norway and in the US, but I'm not very practiced in any other religion records types. Which is why I need to take this course! I like to have a base knowledge before I take a class as it allows me to gather and retain more information than if I went into it cold.

I will be posting links to videos available online that I hope will help me get more understanding out of this course. I will also post links to books and articles that I find useful. Hopefully, I will have the same success using this process for SLIG 2020 as I did for GRIP 2019.

It might seem a little early to start preparing for a class that doesn't start until January of 2020 but I am taking two other online courses in the interim. I'm going to need to spread out my preparation time over many months to get it done. If you are aware of other resources that might be helpful in preparing for Early US Church Records, I would love to hear about it!

Monday, July 8, 2019

GRIP 2019! I Did It! (And a Big Thank You to AncestryProGenealogists!)

The week of June 23 - June 28 at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) absolutely flew by. The course I attended, Advanced DNA Evidence, was coordinated by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D., and instructed by Blaine, Angie Bush and Karen Stanbary, CG. 

There were some prerequisites for this course: a prior week-long DNA course from an institute, a multiple week online course with homework, AND/OR familiarity with DNA evidence combined with experience with multiple testing companies,  study of the books The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy and Genetic Genealogy in Practice (Blaine T. Bettinger and Debbie Parker Wayne) as well as completion of the exercises in Genetic Genealogy in Practice.


If you've looked at my recent posts, you know that I spent considerable time preparing for the course. The links to the posts are below and each describes videos, books, and tools I used to review and to prepare myself for the course.




So, did all my preparation and review pay off? I'm very happy to report that it did! The course description gives a list of lecture topics which covered:
  • Y-DNA
  • mtDNA
  • X-DNA
  • Autosomal DNA
  • DNA company tools
  • DNA 3rd-party tools
  • Evaluating a genealogical conclusion using DNA evidence
  • Using Shared Matching
  • Chromosome mapping and painting
  • Advanced chromosome mapping
  • Visual phasing
  • Literature review of DNA evidence in case studies
  • Ethical and legal considerations
  • Future of genetic genealogy

Each day ended in with a case study and optional homework, each day's information building on the last. The final day, we went over the case study to see how we fared with our homework.

I need to express my sincere thanks to AncestryProGenealogists who selected me as the scholarship winner for the GRIP Institute. It was an absolutely wonderful experience. I learned from some of the best in the field. My classmates had a variety of genealogical talents and experiences and I learned from them as well. Thank you, AncestryProGenealogists!


Sunday, June 9, 2019

GRIP is Almost Here! (and some other things to check off my to-do list)

In my previous posts, I talked about my prep work for my Advanced DNA Evidence course at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). I'm happy to say that my plans are almost completed. I have a few loose ends to tie up and some chapters to re-read but otherwise, I feel ready.

In addition to preparing for GRIP, I also completed a couple of other tasks on my 2019 (and earlier) Genealogy to-do list.

Task 1 - Update a cemetery on Findagrave.com: While researching the burial location for my great-great-grandfather, Knud Nilsen Stover, I discovered that the cemetery had gone through a few name changes and less than 50% of the 700+ burials were listed on findagrave.com.  I posted a query on a local Facebook group and they were quick to point out the most current name of the cemetery. I also found out the name of the church that was currently overseeing the cemetery.

I called the church and after a few conversations with the church secretary and the chairman of the cemetery board, I was able to get a copy of the spreadsheet with all the burials listed. My plan was to update the spreadsheet into a format that I could upload into findagrave.com. I quickly learned that what makes perfect sense for data fields in a spreadsheet tracking burials does not necessarily work for the data fields required by findagrave.com. For example, there are no birth or death dates in the cemetery spreadsheet, just age, if known, and burial date.


After mulling over my options, I decided to hand enter each burial with as much data as my research time would allow. Since the cemetery was very near the Minnesota and South Dakota border, I used birth, death and marriage records from each state. I was also able to locate obituaries online for about a third of the burials. Hand entering also allowed me to become more familiar with each person buried there.


So I decided to go a step further and try to attach family members to each burial. Findagrave lets you add father, mother, and spouse. Findgrave will add siblings based on each burial's parents as listed. All the burials have now been added with as much information as I could uncover. I have sent "edits" to findagrave.com for those burials that were previously entered if I found new information: birth, death or marriage dates or locations, family relationships, or burial location. Another member of the Facebook group is taking photos of the stones. Soon the entire cemetery will be completed and hopefully will help future researchers.


Task 2 - Apply for Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) membership: I have had this on my to-do list for a few years, but I knew I would have trouble with my g-g-grandmother's documentation. It is her grandfather that was the patriot who fought in the Revolutionary War and so her information was critical. I have been working on it for a number of years and decided that while I have no direct evidence of her birth parents, I had enough indirect evidence where a case could be made. The local registrar was extremely helpful and even met with me at the Minnesota History Center twice to point out the areas where I needed to find more documentation. My application was submitted in early April and I was just informed that I was accepted as a member of the DAR!


Task 3 - Apply for The Mayflower Society membership: The same Revolutionary War patriot that allowed my membership in the DAR was also a direct descendant of a Mayflower passenger. But there was quite a bit more work to do for the Mayflower Society. In both lineage societies, you only need to prove back to a known proven descendant and in the Mayflower Society, I had to go back another generation with documentation. They also require marriage information for all marriages, not just the one that proves descent. My great-grandfather was married four times and I was able to get a marriage certificate for each. My own marriage certificate was more difficult to get!  The Mayflower Society application was sent in mid-April and I will probably hear something in August.


Task 4 - Write an article for possible publication: This is a little overwhelming for me, but I have completed the article and will submit it soon. Whether or not it is published remains to be seen!

It's so nice to be able to check items off my to-do list. 
It's just about time to start packing for GRIP. Hope to see you there!

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 6

 I have been working on many of the tasks outlined in my first several posts about preparing for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). The course I will be attending is "Advanced DNA Evidence," coordinated by Blaine Bettinger.

I have finished reviewing the first two books mentioned in Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 1. I am now just beginning to study the newest book mentioned in my last post, "Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies," edited by Debbie Parker Wayne. I am so looking forward to each chapter as they all promise new learning for me.

I have also been reviewing the webinars previously mentioned and watching new ones that have been made available. I have also been spending quite a lot of time investigating the new tools made available by some of the DNA companies. And I am having some great successes if I do say so myself!  I am starting to feel less intimidated by the word "Advanced" in the course title! But there is still a lot of work to be done.

My next set of tasks has to do with DNA tests organization. I manage the tests of many family members and monitor a few more. I have tested with five different DNA companies and have one or more other family members in each company as well. Almost all of the tests have been uploaded to Gedmatch or the newer Genesis. So there are a lot of logins, passwords, test IDs, and permissions to keep track of. I have a spreadsheet with this information that I will update. I will also need to double-check the logins and passwords to be sure they all work.

Some of the third-party tools require paid subscriptions so I will also want to be sure those are kept updated as well.

I also plan to create a set of ancestor fan charts, one for each person whose family I am researching. Each set will consist of a color chart similar to the one seen here, a basic ancestor chart. I'll also add a chart that will indicate which of those ancestors I have connected to through another descendant - a genetic ancestor chart. Another chart I like is an ancestor chart that shows which ancestors would have contributed to the X-DNA of the subject of the chart. My chart is on the right.

Oh my gosh, I just realized that GRIP is only 2 months away. I have a lot of work to do yet!




Saturday, April 6, 2019

Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 5


Even though I just blogged about books, videos, and 3rd-party tools that I need to review and practice with before my Advanced DNA Evidence class at GRIP, there are already new entries in each of the areas that need to be reviewed. Genetic genealogy is evolving quickly and it's difficult to keep up with everything!

First, a brand new book has been made available, "Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies," edited by Debbie Parker Wayne. I've just been able to browse through it, but I really think it's going to be a great resource. I love that it has case studies as well as techniques. And I love that many of the charts are in color. Plus all of the contributing authors are a "Who's Who" in genetic genealogy.

Secondly, DNA companies used RootsTech week to release new products and/or add-ons to their DNA tools.

Ancestry released three new products which are described here.
  • Thrulines
  • MyTreeTags
  • New and Improved DNA Matches with color coding
MyHeritage released two new tools which were blogged about here.
  • Autoclusters, same creator & similar to geneticaffairs
  • Theory of Family Relativity

Thirdly, there are also more videos made available in the last month. Blaine Bettinger released two short videos on YouTube about the new tools.

And the 2019 RootsTech Virtual Pass contains 5 additional DNA videos as well as many other excellent video classes. This is the first time the virtual pass has been offered and I think it's great even though there is a fee. RootsTech has not yet fit into my schedule for conferences but this is a great substitute.

I have so much catching up to do it feels like I am standing still even though I have been working hard to keep up!

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 4


Whew! There has been so much going on in the world of Genetic Genealogy that I have to keep restarting this post! New videos, new books, new tools! We'll get to all that later - I'm going to continue on from the last post about 3rd-party tools.

My last post talked about the Chrome Extension, MedBetterDNA, and how I use it to take notes and color code my matches on Ancestry.com.

This post will list some of the other 3rd-party tools that I've tried, some with success and others, not so much. Usually, the lack of success is not the fault of the tool but rather the end-user!

The first 3rd-party tool that I tried was gedmatch.com. Because most of the tests that I manage are on Ancestry.com which does not have a chromosome browser, I download the raw data from Ancestry.com and upload it to gedmatch.com to use their chromosome browser and other tools. Of course, I obtain informed consent from each test taker first. There are many free tools available there and an additional set of tools if you join Tier 1 for a small monthly fee.

Trying some of the tools on gedmatch.com was, and still is, a very visual way for me to understand how sharing DNA between family members works. There are great tutorials for using gedmatch.com and its new, updated version, Genesis,  the best place to start is the Gedmatch wiki. You do need to create a free login.

Some of the other tools that I am currently practicing with include:
DNApainter.com - a tool that lets you take the chromosome match data and create a map of your chromosome based on which grandparent (or great-grandparent or g-g-grandparent) you inherited the DNA from. It can help you identify unknown matches because, if they match you in the area you received your paternal grandfather's DNA, you only need to look at the part of the tree to research the match. Blaine Bettinger has a video on youtube that explains the process.

Visual Phasing - Using Steven Fox's automated spreadsheet, I compare myself and two siblings and attempt to "paint" each chromosome for each sibling and myself, based on which grandparent we inherited our DNA from. It's a "logic puzzle" and you use other distant cousins to determine the match. Information can be found in the very helpful Facebook Visual Phasing Working Group.

One of my favorite tools is found at geneticaffairs.com, a DNA match clustering tool that groups your matches based on how they match each other. The first time I tried this tool, I was very pleasantly surprised to see how my MedBetterDNA notes from Ancestry appeared at the bottom of the report. I was especially happy to see that my notes agreed with the clustering chart from geneticaffairs.com.

Here is a screenshot of the chart (match names redacted). I have marked the family surnames on the report so that I can more easily remember which cluster is from which family group.

My results from the geneticaffairs.com tool using Ancestry

Following the chart is a report which gives more information on each match. It was in this report that my MedBetterDNA notes surfaced. The very first part of the report with names redacted is below.

My geneticaffairs.com report with MedBetterDNA notes in far right column 



Many of these are discussed in the familytreewebinar.com "A Guide to Third Party Tools For DNA Testing" by Michelle Leonard. There is a fee to join the Family Tree Webinar series but it is very reasonable and there are so many excellent videos that it is an outstanding value in my opinion.

My goal is to continue practicing with these tools as well as learn the new tools that were recently released by several testing companies.







Saturday, March 16, 2019

Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 3

In my last two posts, Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 1 and Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 2, I described how I am preparing for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) course, “Advanced DNA Evidence,” coordinated by Blaine Bettinger. I have been viewing and reviewing the many webinars covering DNA topics. I also want to add this link to RootsTech as they have grouped all their DNA webinars from the past few years together. It makes it much easier to find these webinars; thanks RootsTech!

Now, on to the next topic: I created a list of all the 3rd-party DNA tools I have tried using and which ones seem to work for my purposes. I'll share that list in a future post. For now, the one I use the most is the Chrome extension, MedBetterDNA. With all of the new announcements at RootsTech this year, my process will probably change over time, but I am still using this extension for now. 

Ancestry allows you to keep notes on your matches, notes that only you can see. If you create a note, you’ll see an icon of a notepad next to the person’s name. You can click on the note to read it. MedBetterDNA “pushes” that note to the match screen so you don’t have to click and you can see all your notes as you scroll through.

I use colored icons, depending upon the grandparent we are related through, as part of my note. I also include the relationship to me, if known, otherwise a red question mark icon. I include the number of cMs and the number of segments (ex: 189 cM/11). And then I try to find the most common recent ancestor or ancestral couple (MCRA) and add which child of that couple the person is descended from. I try to be consistent but it’s not always perfect.
Lynn's Ancestral Fan Chart

Color, instead of just words, seems to help me discern the matches more easily. Below is the key I use for my icons. I keep them on a notepad on my desktop so I can copy/paste. For close matches, I use multiple icons if they match on multiple lines. I use these specific colors for grandparents to match the Ancestor Fan Chart as created by my genealogy software program. There are also online charting tools to create similar charts. My chart is on shown on the right.



My Key:
💛   -    Descendants of ancestors of) Julia Moe (maternal grandmother)
♥️   -    Descendants of ancestors of Joseph Eken (maternal grandfather)
💚   -    Descendants of ancestors of Myrle Piper (paternal grandmother)
💙   -    Descendants of ancestors of Francis Puncochar (paternal grandfather)
  -    Not sure of the relationship


Here’s a sample page of some of my 3rd cousins with my notes. Youll have to look closely to see the colored icons. I’ve redacted the living people’s names:



So now I have most of the cousins I could identify all color coded. You can see on the 3rd cousin page above that all four colored icons appear.

When I get a new match, I look at their tree if they have one. If they don’t, I click on “Shared Matches” which tells me the matches we have in common. And, if all is right with the world, and the planets align, I get a page like this one:


And hopefully, you can see that every single one has a yellow heart icon which tells me they are related through my maternal grandmother’s line!


One problem is that even though I created the note, it doesn’t show up on other kits I manage. I have seven siblings' tests so I need to copy the note to for every match plus change the cMs shared. For paternal matches, I also need to add the information to my dad's and uncle's match list. They have a different color scheme (to match their ancestral fan chart) so I need to consider that as well.

So, after that lengthy explanation, one of the many items on my list of preparations is to keep updating the notes for all siblings and older generations. That should be a weekly task and will keep me busy all spring! It should also help me when I begin using some of the newly announced DNA tools from Ancestry and others. 

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 2

In my last post, Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 1, I described how I am beginning my preparations for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) course, “Advanced DNA Evidence,” coordinated by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.  In addition to Legacy Family Tree Webinars, there are some other webinar sites that I regularly use and I will survey those for webinars on DNA topics that will help me review and study.

In no particular order:

Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS): The society has regularly scheduled webinars available free to the public, but you must register. They also archive the webinars which are available to members only at any time. 

Rootstech has a wonderful collection of webinars from their annual conferences. There are sessions available from 2019, 2018, and 2017, including these from February/March 2019:

Examining Your DNA Matches with DNA Painter - Johnny Perl
Connecting Your DNA Matches - Diahan Southard
Essential Considerations for DNA Evidence - Blaine Bettinger

Youtube has many DNA videos available on a variety of DNA topics. I used the search terms "genealogy" and "DNA" and there were many available. Look for well-known DNA experts as the presenter as there are probably many that aren't as valuable for learning.

The Association of Professional Genealogists has a members-only area with videos from well-known experts. There are a few discussing DNA but most are somewhat older, 2012 - 2013 and only two from 2018.

Minnesota Genealogical Society also has a members-only area with videos archived. There are a few discussing DNA.

If you want to learn about the basic science of genetics behind DNA for genealogy, the University of Utah has some videos here.

And as mentioned in the previous blog post, DNA Central has some great videos for learning. It does require a subscription but there are other resources beyond videos as well.

Does your state or local genealogical society archive videos for members to view later? There are many more out there than I could possibly list!



Saturday, March 2, 2019

Preparing for GRIP 2019: Part 1

I’m very excited to be registered for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburg (GRIP) course “Advanced DNA Evidence” coordinated by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D. The course runs from June 24 through June 28, 2019. I’m looking forward to being part of the class and learning from the instructors and other class members.

In January of 2018, I attended the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) "Establishing Genealogical Proof with DNA” course coordinated by Karen Stanbary. I’ve been reviewing my notes on preparation for that class and have created my own list for the GRIP course. I want to be sure that I have reviewed everything I’ve covered in previous courses so that I am properly prepared.

This and the next few blog posts will cover some of the resources that I am planning to use over the next few months to prepare for the class.

In the course description, there are several prerequisites listed. Most were also prerequisites for the 2018 SLIG course so these will be reviews. I’ve added to them my own list of resources that I am planning on using to these prerequisites in order to prepare for the course.


Reading material to review:

  • The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy  (Blaine T. Bettinger)
  • Genetic Genealogy in Practice (Blaine T. Bettinger and Debbie Parker Wayne); also must successfully complete the activities

Webinars were not listed as prerequisites but I find them very helpful in “cementing” the concepts needed for understanding the uses of DNA in genealogy.

Webinars to watch or review:
There are already 70 webinars with the subject “DNA” at Legacy Family Tree Webinars.  Over 20 of them are free without a subscription. You need a subscription to view the remaining webinars, but the subscription is very reasonably priced. And there are 20 additional DNA webinars scheduled for the remainder of 2019. I plan to view as many as possible but I will start with these for review:


Blaine Bettinger has also created a new DNA resource area, DNA Central, using a subscription model. There are a wide variety of resources available, including courses and webinars. Courses include an introductory course for DNA testing at each of the “Big Five” DNA testing companies: Ancestry, MyHeritage, LivingDNA, 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA. There are also webinars on a variety of DNA topics available from a variety of presenters. DNA Central has a resource page which has links to some additional webinars, podcasts, blogs, third-party tools and more. 

Reading the books, completing the exercises and reviewing the webinars should keep me busy for the next few months!



Saturday, February 23, 2019

Oh My Gosh, I Won a Scholarship!



As an avid family historian with a lifetime of experience in the public education system, I firmly believe in lifelong education. Since beginning ProGen 25 in 2015 one of my personal genealogy goals has been to attend one genealogy institute per year. I’ve been very fortunate to have done just that once a year from June 2015 - January 2019.

I was able to extend that goal by attending virtual institutes presented by Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) in the fall of 2017 and 2018. All were wonderful learning experiences. The opportunity to learn from the best and network with other budding and professional genealogists is very valuable to me.

Last November I decided to fill out an application for one of the AncestryProGenealogist scholarships. I had applied for this and other scholarships over the past few years without success. I updated my resume to reflect some volunteer work I had completed last summer and the genealogy institutes I had recently attended.

I also wrote an essay briefly explaining “my genealogy career up to this point, where I see myself in the future as a professional genealogist, and how attending my top-choice institute would benefit my career.”

I filled out the application and rated the four genealogy institutes based on my preference. This was probably the toughest part as I have experienced two of the four institutes and heard only wonderful things about the remaining two. 

So, since I had attended the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) twice and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) three times, I decided to rate Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) and Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (GedFed) as the top two.

At the end of January, I received an email that said, “CONGRATULATIONS! You have been selected as a GRAND PRIZE Winner in our Contest.”  I had to read it a few times to let it sink in. I won one of the grand prizes which included the flight, hotel and course fee to the Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)! 

I am so grateful for the opportunity and truly appreciate the scholarship program that AncestryProGenealogists sponsor.