We are a genealogy group for people who like to think outside the box and beyond the chart. We exchange support for our work and excitement about how we’re sharing it. Our meetings include topics and speakers on writing, crafts, photo projects, organization, trips, reunions, issues, and much more.
Third Wednesdays 1:30-3:30 Contact Kathy knielsen68@gmail.com or Karen 917-2042 for Zoom meeting details.
In January: Family History Scrapbooking with Devon Noel Lee.
reserve the date — 23 January 2021 — is coming
The local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter is holding its 40th annual Ancestor Roundup Genealogical Seminar again in January. This time it will be a Virtual seminar via Zoom.
Many of you know this is the best genealogical meeting on the central California coast! If you are working on your genealogy, you really need to attend this seminar. I know I’ll be dialing in.
There will be over 14 classes during the day. You can pick and choose from the calendar and attend up to 7 classes during the day, including the Keynote. (This is actually 2 more than we could attend when the conference was “in person”.) The keynote speaker will be Karen Clifford!
Class Schedule
For a clearer downloadable PDF, Click on the above Image
When your registration and payment has been received, you will be sent a link to the website where you will be able to view detailed class descriptions, instructor bios and downloadable class notes. On the day of the seminar, you will go to this same website to log in to the Zoom sessions. PLEASE LET DAR KNOW IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH ZOOM.
Registration Form
For a clearer downloadable PDF, Click on the above Image
Questions? Here is the contact information!
Relationships! We are related to all our DNA matches, somehow. The question I had was how many of my different cousins have I already tested, how many are deceased, and how many of those remaining should I try to “guilt-trip” into taking a DNA test?
Easy question to ask…. All I gotta do is run a report…. Humm, what report? Who has this report? Ancestry and MyHeritage doesn’t have a report that I need, neither does Rootsmagic. My problem is that when they tell me I can’t do something, I am like the teenage boy who says he will do it just to prove he can!
The DNA part is easy. All the companies who do DNA testing for genealogical purposes sort your matches by relationship. What I need is a relationship report from my tree! Not a one-to-one relationship chart, but a list of all my blood relatives. RootsMagic has a report that lists Name and Relationship. But no dates! I need dates, especially death dates. It is hard to get DNA from a deceased cousin! I need something like this:
Warbis, Maude 1881-1928 3rd cousin twice removed
After a short session with Google, I discovered that the PC program Legacy has a report that does just what I need! The report it builds has the dates included as part of the name field, which is really weird. But a quick run in Excel using formulas to reformat the name into did the trick. I now have 3 columns, Name, Dates and Relationship. Sortable!
To run this report, load your current data. In the Family View, navigate to yourself. Then Click on Tools, then Click Set Relationships. Now go to Reports in the main toolbar. Find the Relationship button in the Other section and run your report to CSV file. Or preview it!
My mother and father were about the same age. But my mother was the youngest of her eleven siblings, and my father was the oldest in his family. So, 11 of my 12 maternal first cousins are deceased! The only living one isn’t talking to anyone any more. And of my 11 paternal cousins, they are all living, but only one has tested! I had better start sucking up to my paternal first cousins!
In looking at the rest of my people, I suddenly have lost interest in doing a comparison. I have so many 1st cousins xx removed and 2nd cousins of all relationships, that I give up. Thank heaven for Thrulines! But, I did prove that I can produce that report!
”Success is where preparation met opportunity.” – Neil Armstrong
Just to be clear, we will be having a meeting of our DNA Discussion group this week, even though the main General meeting was cancelled. You can join us at Noon on Wednesday via Zoom, connection details will be provided Tuesday.
One of the items to be discussed will be extracting DNA from materials besides saliva. Maria Mueller is working with a company called Keepsake DNA to get DNA from an envelope written in 1993 by her father who is now deceased. She has agreed to explain the process and share any reports at our next meeting.
There might be others who would like to know if this will work for them. I know this process sounds interesting to me, especially the cost. We have had a few family members pass on without taking a genetic DNA test. I’ve wondered what options we have.
“People should read every day, because knowledge builds up, like compound interest.” – Warren Buffet
A couple of questions popped up this week. I could guess answers, but I would prefer to tease the group with them and get better answers in the process.
First question:
Two people are DNA matches at Family Tree DNA. Not close cousins, but real matches. They also are experienced users of Family Search and have placed themselves into the “one world” tree. They do not know how they are related. All communication has been by email. They have tried to discover their relationship by using the “View My Relationship” function from within the Person View of various “most recent common ancestors” on both sides. But it never works. Could it work? Should it work? Why won’t it work?
Second question:
Two men are Y-DNA matches on the Big-Y test out at a Genetic Distance of 9 (8 STR differences out of 389) level. In the Yfull tree, they “connect” 950 years ago. But, they do NOT match autosomally. Could they? Should they? Why not?
New question:
Can Family Search be used, generally, to solve these tree building exercises needed to bring DNA matches together? Specifically, can Family Search be used to connect the guys in the 2nd example? We always use Ancestry.com and Thrulines to connect the dots, but if people cooperate, would the “View My Relationship” at Family Search be a better way? Just an idea….
Folks who read the posts here normally are interested in family research using Genealogy and/or DNA. The question comes up, which to do first? Like the chicken or egg, and the cart or horse? If this were a quantum physics web site, we would say both come first!
Lots of people ask me about taking a DNA test to solve a family mystery. They might be adopted and want to find missing parents. Or they might want to prove some old family lore about being related to Indians. They might just want to be looking for relatives. Perhaps there is no mystery to solve, they are curious.
I know of seven people directly who have taken a DNA test and solved a family mystery, three in our family and four friends. In all successful cases, someone had to do some plain old fashioned genealogy to assist the DNA query. Just taking a DNA test without some family research (aka genealogy) won’t solve any mysteries (unless a parent matches you directly). Quite often, DNA without research creates more mysteries than you started with.
If you are trying to solve a family mystery, by all means, take a DNA test. When asked which comes first, the DNA test or genealogy, I always answer either comes first, but both will be done.
and the next question …. Why do mirrors reflect sideways but not upside down?
