Tag: GeneaInspiration

Connected to Women in History

In Celebration of Women’s History Month, I am proud to say that I am related to Clarissa Harlowe Barton (1821-1912), the Founder of the American Red Cross.

We appear to be separated by 20 degrees, perhaps 7th cousins, 5 times removed.

Simplified Surname Tree based on WikiTree Generational Path to illustrate the 20 degree connection.
Simplified Surname Tree based on WikiTree Generational Path

This connection was identified using WikiTree. When on a WikiTree category page, if a “My Connections” button appears in the upper right, clicking the button will lead to a page of personalized connections. The names fall into two categories: Ancestors and Cousins (blood) and Connections (through marriage). You do also need to have enough of your family’s details entered to connect to the shared tree.

When viewing the Women’s History category, I clicked the “My Connections” button to discover the connection to Barton.

Who are you connected to?

2019 Goal Achieved

For the past 3 years, I’ve been using my version of 52 Ancestors to keep my from being overwhelmed and to make noticable progress. After 12 years of genealogy research, converting gedcoms from different platforms, and early indiscriminate adding of hints, my source citations had been a mess.

Previously when I had a free moment, I would use random.org to generate a number that I could match to an ancestor’s ahnentafel  number.

Continue reading 2019 Goal Achieved

2018 Goal Achieved

It was a productive year. My favorite goal this year was my version of 52 Ancestors. I was inspired by Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.”

I needed a systematic way to work through my gedcom file. I have been working from the same file since I started building the tree in 2003. After moving between several genealogy file management systems, my sources were junky, incomplete, or non-existent on earlier added profiles. Locations were not uniform. And, somehow the notes had duplicated multiple times. I didn’t know where to start. When I looked at the full file, I was overwhelmed. Continue reading 2018 Goal Achieved

Unboxing Prize Package from Shop the Hound

“Congratulations you’re the winner of the December Edition of The DNA Angel Project sponsored by Shop the Hound. Which was an assortment of tools that could help you in your DNA journey.” ~ Ellen Thompson-Jennings from Shop the Hound

I was surprised when I received her message and very excited when the shipping box arrived. I unboxed the prizes this weekend

  • 8GB USB Audio Player Recorder
  • “DNA & Genetic Genealogy: An Introduction” by Diahan Southard (@DNAdiahan)
  • 3 quick reference guides from the Your DNA Guide series also by Diahan Southard, Genealogy Gems Publications
    • “Gedmatch: A Next Step for Your Autosomal DNA Test.”
    • “Next Steps: Working with Your autosomal DNA matches”
    • “Organizing Your DNA Macthes: A Companion Guide”
  • “The Shared cM Project – Version 3.0” (August 2017) by Blaine T. Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist (@blaine_5)
  • And, a blank journal for all my notes

Thank you, Ellen. I love the prize package. #HoundontheHunt

Holiday Conversations

The holidays are a great time to catch up with family. You can share the research you’ve done and listen to the family stories that put the research in context.

Scan and share old photos.
You can show how family members and the holiday celebration has changed over the years. You can share photos of family members that everyone hasn’t seen in years.

This year I scanned slides my father had gotten from his father. Since my parents never had a slide projector, we never saw these images growing up. I used an adapter that we had for our older Epson scanner. Continue reading Holiday Conversations