Daily Chat

Researching my biological father and I found relatives go back to the Revolutionary War.
I like findagrave also.

I am so glad it is free and that I am able to add family members. Both my sister and her husband were cremated and I was able to add a memorial for them. Maybe, someday, a future relative will want to know about them. I hate the idea that they would be forgotten.

I'll do the same for my son soon. I just can't right now.

I found a few family members this morning. Nice that it is free.

www.findagrave.com/

I started out about 50/50 England and Germanic. Now it is more 49% England and 27% Germanic with a Scotland, Sweden, and the Baltics thrown in for good measure.

This goes along well with my research.

Mine has changed 2 times since the first one. For example: #1 was 39% Ireland/Scot/Wales and the last one is 19% Ireland/Scot/Wales. The other nationalities also changed. What a difference.

It is curious when that happens. The last update more closely mirrors my research.

My map has changed several times since having it done.

They do new analysis based on additional people having dna analyzed.

At first, my DNA did not show Italy but does now. My grandparents came from Auronzo, Italy (north of Venice) so I know I have Italian blood in me.

I was able to visit Auronzo with some of my family and went to see the house they lived and go to the Church. We met a distant relative who gave me information about my grandparents which was so nice.

I think they redo some of the DNAs.

In my world the word for that is "chicken" as in hey look a chicken. I bounce around a lot too but mostly I am into photography, art, quilting, and genealogy. I lose interest in the genealogy and then go back to it. I keep my Ancestry account even when I am not working on it.

Burrrr 11f is coooold! Yeah, windows can wait. Mine have been waiting a long time and I don't have a good excuse. My bad. Hope you are keeping warm with that fireplace and not tons of snow to shovel. News has been really scary.

I haven't been working my tree either and my subscription to Ancestry.com is up end of this month. Seems when DNA changed to show no Irish I lost interest. That was always my goal. But I do have my Scottish.

I go in phases, learn Spanish, art, family tree, declutter. I just jump from one to another, which catches my fancy at the moment. Always been that way.

Is there a word for that???

That is cold. Windows and deep cleaning can wait for awhile.

I need to deep clean but not until I can open doors and windows which will be many months.
I have a propane fireplace and it leaves a film on my windows. I LOVE my firplaces and will worry about windows in April.
It is 11*F above zero now.

I have not worked on genealogy for about a week now.


Edited by: MNLEONA at: 2/17/2021 (18:48)

Looks like a great video. I find I need to get more decluttering done. I have my reasons for stopping.

Over the years I have had a start stop attitude on the genealogy. I continue to subscribe because I don't want to lose everything. I am slowly switching to Wikitree which is a free tree and has a place to upload your Ancestry DNA. Having said that it is so much easier to research with Ancestry that I keep the account even when I may go a few months without any serious research.

we had a lot of rain this morning, glad we don't get the snow and ice. I remember those days up north in Ohio.

I haven't been working my tree. I've been so busy decluttering that haven't bothered with the tree. After last DNA update didn't show any Irish I got lax in working on it. My subscription is up end of Feb.

I guess I should say I'm getting an early start with Spring cleaning. can't remember last time I did it. I've been youtubing cleaning etc.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-af
C9AmC5w

It gets me motivated.

Edited by: -COURT- at: 2/15/2021 (21:34)

Be extremely careful if you go out. Ice and idiots can really cause problems. BTW the idiots are those folks that don't know how to drive in extreme conditions!

Hope you get your results quickly.

81? Shame on you for teasing us! LOL...just kidding. -3 was our low today and 16 was our high. I have my DNA kit ready to mail but can't get out of my driveway at this point. Don't trust our mail service so maybe I will be able to get out toward the end of the week-we are in for another blow starting tomorrow.

Yes, that is really cold. Wish you could feel this 81* here in Florida to warm you up.

That is so cold. I feel like I live in an arid climate as it is 45 degrees here!

Stay safe and warm

Need to get back to genealogy today.

-29*F now at 7:45 AM




Edited by: MNLEONA at: 2/15/2021 (08:48)

Just wait until you get your DNA kit! You will like it.

My family is just the opposite they never stay in one place for a full generation.

My degrees are in history and I've been fascinated with family history for years. I think mine is somewhat unique in being so confined to the south. There just aren't any Yankees on the tree until my first cousin marries a sweet boy from Ohio in 1985 or so. Also unique is the fact that as a family very few of us have strayed from our roots in a 5 county area since arriving in Texas from 1816 to 1836. That makes chasing ancestors considerably easier in some ways.

My son was a historian and was very interested in the family history. Since his death I have been lacking motivation then... my sister-in-law asked for help and that sparked my interest again. I believe my niece, my sisters daughter, will be interested as well.

My two grandsons are young and so who knows if they will be interested in the future.

I did/am doing it for myself and children because I am curious. One of my children is more interested than the other two. I realized after my dad passed away that I did not know very much about his family and that was in 1986. That is when the fever began.

We work so hard on our Genealogies and I don't know about you but sometimes I wonder why.

Wonderful! It is nice to know that she is interested in her heritage.

My sister-in-law is making a 4 generations book for her daughter and has asked for my help! Fun project.

It takes awhile but it is really interesting.

Eagerly awaiting my DNA kit!

What a treasure. Glad you are having some success with your family tree.

Tracing my biological father's family and found we go back to the Revolutionary War as well as my step-father's (Joplin/Jopling) family.

I also worked on my son-in-law's family. His mother is now in more of an assisted living home and so I thought I would do some research for her. Her family and my husband's family are Scandinavian and from Otter Tail, County in Minnesota, northern Minnesota. Small world.

I went through some photo albums yesetrday and found a picture of one of my aunts holding me as a baby. I am 82 years old so that is an old picture.

Take Care,
Leona

Slowly slogging along transferring information to WIKI. this is going to take forever but I will get a lot of it done and ready for public distribution.

Great!

I got super lucky this week, located and purchased a couple of books that catch both my parents, and found a cousin...jackpot week. It was very exciting because it confirmed some research I had done several years ago when I discovered what I thought was a link between my parents lines about Revolutionary War times. My dad would think it was hilarious if he were still alive.

Leona, I know just what you mean. I'll be following leads and suddenly I am unsure of what fits and what doesn't. It all gets confusing especially when similar information disputes what you think you know! I stop and go back at another time.

I have been working on my biological father's side. I am starting to confuse myself again so stopping for a bit. I am back to Ireland for the family.

Have a good day,
Leona

No you have to put the information in Wiki. I am using Ancestry to help fill it in but after 3 generations I will be doing tons more research. I was able to put my Ancestry DNA in and I will have lots more to compare to.

Is Wike linked to Ancestry?

I have started using WikiTree and will be transferring all my important information from Ancestry to Wiki. I have some information that needs a lot more research so I am hoping to clean it up as I transfer the information. I am really hoping to get rid of Ancestry soon as I am tired of paying for it and I don't have anyone to pass the information on to.

I keep renewing Ancestry because it is easy to research my families and I have put a lot into it.

I do surveys and one I finished a bit ago was about genealogy sites.
Ancestry, 23 and Me, My Heritage and Family Search.

I am mainly into Ancestry.

Vicki- I need to read my messages more this year is my resolution.

Leona



Edited by: MNLEONA at: 1/3/2021 (14:58)

It's like putting a puzzle together and when you find the piece that fits, it is a celebration!

Happy New Year!

I organzed some papers yesterday.
On my mother's side, names did not change but on my biological father's side, I am finding many different names.

Have a good day,
Leona

Very interesting.

Thanks for sharing that interesting story. I learned something new today.

I was reading about Benjamin Franklin and his 4 year old son died of smallpox. Benjamin Franklin said he did not have the inoculation so I checked on vaccines.
This surprised me. Some history about vaccines.

"en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine
The smallpox vaccine was the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, the British doctor Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus. Cowpox served as a natural vaccine until the modern smallpox vaccine emerged in the 19th century. From 1958 to 1977, the World Health Organization conducted a global vaccination campaign that eradicated smallpox, making it the only human disease."

"When George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, America was fighting a war on two fronts: one for independence from the British, and a second for survival against smallpox. Because Washington knew the ravages of the disease firsthand, he understood that the smallpox virus, then an invisible enemy, could cripple his army and end the war before it began.

That’s why Washington eventually made the bold decision to inoculate all American troops who had never been sickened with smallpox at a time when inoculation was a crude and often deadly process. His gamble paid off. The measure staved off smallpox long enough to win a years-long fight with the British. In the process, Washington pulled off the first massive, state-funded immunization campaign in American history.

WATCH: American Revolution Collection on HISTORY Vault

George Washington Had Contracted Smallpox in Barbados
The young George Washington and his ailing brother Lawrence resided in this historic plantation house, also known as Bush Hill House, for two months in 1751.
The young George Washington and his ailing brother Lawrence resided in this historic plantation house, also known as Bush Hill House, for two months in 1751.

Claire Plumridge/Getty Images

In 1751, when Washington was 19 years old, he and his brother Lawrence sailed to Barbados in the hopes that the warm island air would cure his sickly sibling of tuberculosis. Just a day after landing, the brothers dined in the home of a wealthy local merchant, Gedney Clarke. In his diary, young Washington expressed some reservations.

“We went,—myself with some reluctance, as the smallpox was in his family,” wrote Washington.

Washington should have listened to his gut. Two weeks later, after the smallpox virus completed its incubation period, Washington was down for the count.


“Was strongly attacked with the small Pox,” was the last thing Washington wrote in his diary for 24 days. Even though his case was relatively mild, he would still have been bedridden for weeks, rocked by high fevers and chills, severe body aches, a twisted stomach and the telltale oozing rash.

Washington was lucky to escape with his life and few visible scars. In really bad cases, individual smallpox pustules ran together into a single pus-filled rash that seeped, cracked and sloughed off in large sheets. Those far more serious smallpox infections were often fatal or left the victim with hideous scars."

Have a Happy New Year.

Leona

That gift will be a nice way to start off the New Year. Have fun.

Hello all,

I am needing to get back to my research. Today, I organized more papers.

I also have family in Colorado and Oklahoma as well as Texas, Minnesota and California.

My kids renewed my Ancestry for my Christmas gift.

Leona

I used Ancestry and continue my subscription with them. Happy enough with the results.

I haven't been doing anything lately, it is just too hard to look at the family knowing that my son wont be able to share in the adventure. Eventually I will get back to it.

Hi guys!


I haven't been here in ages and not done any genealogy, but I still very much want to. My daughter asked me what would I like for Christmas and I said 23andMe or something like it.
Since I don't have any experience kits like this I was wondering if you can recommend a kit for me. About 15 years ago or so .I read a while back on this forum after the DNA testing is done some companies are better than others interpreting the results.

I did a fair amount of work with the LDS church. I still have all the records and I know it will help. The thought of doing my family history is a little overwhelming to me. I figure this may be a good way to start me off.

Thanks very much!

One side of Dad's mom's family came over in the 1600s, I think it was. Otherwise in the 1500s. I can't remember. I'll need to look for my book on Mom's mom's family. They were from way back, too, but I never looked to see when. A distant cousin had done all the research on them and went back to Illinois and Missouri to find the information. She couldn't find Grandma's family until someone told a relative that she knew someone who married Uncle Walter (Aunt Loretta), so she went back and talked to him. That was first hand for Grandma's family. I talked to Donna (distant cousin) and she told me that she was (let me get it strait) GGGranddaughter of my GGGrandmother's twin sister. She and my parents were the only ones who wound up in Colorado.

That is very interesting. I always believed my DH was Blackfoot and was sure when his DNA test came back it would be confirmed. Nope, nada, uh uh. No DNA match at all. He is Irish and has many facial features of his clan.

Me - my family are original immigrants from the 1600's so you would think maybe a little native American. Nope, none

Another part of family lore for me was we had an ancestor that was a Mohawk princess. I hear that is very common, to say to a "princess." Later I was asked by a 2nd cousin (or is it cousin once removed?) if I had heard we were part Cherokee (also a common one) which would be a lot more likely since my great grandfather lived in Oklahoma and my 2nd cousin had coal black hair with no gray until she was 90. Her mother and my grandmother were gray, though. I have no way to figure that out, though. That great grandfather is one of my brick walls. I did have a guy (Navajo) ask me what tribe I was from, though. When I asked why he said it had to do with my eyes -- the shape, I think. I thought I had my aunt's eyes and that is the other side of the family. Grandma and her sister had facial features that would remind me of Native American, but I'm sure that other people have that kind of facial features, too.

The search can be grueling. I found my great great grandmothers marriage license about 3 years ago. The bad news it is in German. The good news is I finally got most of it translated. The part that was most intriguing was the hand written note on it. That really opened up a path to discovering this line on my family. Perseverance pays!

It has taken many years to get collaboration for my dads war time story. Finally got it from the Air Force.

With each of these aha moments I felt like celebrating.

BTW family lore said I was related to John Smith of Pocahontas fame. I am not. LOL

In the TV series "Finding Your Roots," they hire genealogy experts to find out the information for the people they working with. I looked into hiring an expert and I was stunned at the price that was quoted. Has anyone ever found out any information from online records that are outside the United States?

That is cool.

Everything in my ancestry was rumors. I was told that someone was an heir to Sir Walter Raleigh, but I can't see how. Then after reading about him I don't know that I would want to be in his line. Another was that an ancestor was from a high-up in Germany, but married a servant so was kicked out of the family and came to the U.S. as the only survivor from that family. Only there are too many people of that name in the U.S. for him to have been the only survivor. Since I can't find any information on the family back then there is no way to find out if anything is anything but a rumor.

That is cool!

Johnny Cash and I share the same 4th great grandparents on my mother's side.

Do any of you find surprises in your lines like someone really well known? (I haven't). I was watching "Finding Your Roots" tonight after finding it was on. They had on Michael Strahan and traced his line back to Charlemagne (his 30--something great grandfather). He was a little shocked at that.

I think it would be really interesting to find something like that.

I did check mine and DH's out. No big change for either of us. The last update they did was a biggie for me removing 20% Germanic and putting it in the Great Britain column.

Ancestry is updating your DNA results. My hisband's changed a lot and I lost the 3 % Swedish which always puzzled me because I can find no ancestors from Sweden. Check out yours.

I haven't at this point. I have as much information as I have been able to find in a notebook. I don't know that everything I have seen is correct, but what I last found on Family Search did connect back to censuses. I probably would have to go down to the library to do research on it if they have anything. They should have Skidmores, but I don't know about Pfeifers. Until Mom's immediate family they were all in Illinois.

So did you have to start a new tree.

I couldn't change something on my own tree on Family Search. Now I can't find my tree at all. I can't get Ancestry, though, so to look anything up I have to use Family Search.

I am keeping Ancestry and I do use it a lot.

A word of warning about Family Search... anyone can make changes or remove your information on your tree. A relative who did not know my grandfather deleted him and removed my entire paternal line. Turns out he and I are DNA matches and he still doesn't acknowledge my grandpa existed.

I've also had other information changed without documentation. I only use it to find documents now.

That is part of DW's Christmas present every year but this year, neither of us has used it much... gotta ask if she still wants it? I'm waiting to go see how long it takes them to monopolize everything and make it all subscription-based. Then, there will be no other choice aside from hitting the libraries, government offices, and museums.

I get frustrated trying to use Ancestry. I haven't been able to afford paying for a subscription. Now that I can I don't know if I want to. I've been finding all kinds of things on FamilySearch.org that I never dreamed I'd find, so I'm happy with that for now.

Ancestry has been making changes again. I am not sure how they all work but I am feeling very interested.

Just one more reason to verify and double verify. I have had lots of misinformation or conflicting information thrown at me. Unraveling is hard. LOL

Thanks. I hadn't heard anything about it before. I changed my password after that time. Not by much, but they wouldn't accept my old one, so I had to.

I don't know anything about that other site -- burials.com I think it was. They were putting in "more information on Marie Hurley" and had down armed services (army), rank (sgt) and such. That wasn't my mother, that was my father. The photo of the headstone was of my father's side, not my mother's side. It seems that site isn't very accurate.

Still don't remember putting anything on that website. I put it on Family Search and Ancestry. It's disappeared from Family Search and I think Ancestry, too, but I'm not sure on that one.

It was hacked in 2018. Probably a good idea to change passwords on accounts like online banking and such.

Can MyHeritage be hacked, too? I got something that they had found records on my mother, but going to where it says I can't figure a thing out. I replied to their email and it says there is no such email address. Now I'm a little worried. Of course, they wouldn't be able to do a lot to me when I have nothing in my checking or savings and my credit cards are maxed.

The family tree that MyHeritage sent me isn't anywhere near as complete as anything I have done.

Thank you for the warning. I don't think I have used or heard of GEDMatch before.

F8CONE8, I have not used GEDmatch yet, though I have often thought about it, so I was not affected by the breach.

Were any of you affected by the GEDMatch Security breach. Here is an excerpt from the email I received.

If an email seems suspicious, contact the company in question directly through the phone number or email address listed on their website, not via a reply to the suspicious email. You can reach GEDmatch at gedmatch@verogen.com or (858) 285-4101. At this time, we have no evidence to suggest the phishing scam is a result of the GEDmatch security breach this week. We are continuing to investigate the incident.

Good website. Thank you!

This is from Linda Weaver Clarke, I have read some of her books.

lindaweaverclarke.blogspot.com/2020/
07
/genealogy-for-beginners.html

Leona

Hi Holly,
I'm not sure where you are located but I live in New York State (near Buffalo) so I used Fultonhistory.org to look up newspaper items, such as obituaries. It's free and he has been adding a few newspapers from other states as well.
Cindy

Thank you.
Will look into it.
Hope that all of you are doing well.
Have a great weekend. Holly

Good question. I like Ancestry so much better but I know once you leave it they only give you a short time to get the information off. I am trying to get all the important stuff downloaded before I can't afford it anymore.

Carol, How do you exist if your grandfather didn't? Tell them they're crazy.

Of course, looking things up it looks like a couple of my great grandfathers didn't exist. I am still looking, even after finding the information someone entered (with backup) on Family Search. They entered on the woman's side of the family, not the man's.

I had entered my tree on Ancestry and Family Search. Can't get on Ancestry now, even to see what I had on the tree, and the one I entered on Family Search has completely disappeared. When I look up Sarah Skidmore the people have her with only one child (she had 3 with my great grandfather and 4 with her first husband, who had passed). One person said the child was my grandmother and one person said it was my great aunt. I messaged one of them but don't know if I'll get an answer.

Family Search is free and has a lot of information. Just make sure you keep any information you want to keep in a document. People can change your information on family members if they feel you are wrong.

One funny experience I had was on my grandfathers family. A cousin told me he didn't exist and removed the records. LOL

A good place to start. www.familysearch.org/search/
family-tre
es/results

Edited by: F8CONE8 at: 7/10/2020 (12:12)

Thank you Cindy.
Do you know were I can find records?
I know there is Ancestery.com.
Have to be careful with our money.
Dear Hubby is the only one working right now.
(Had to stop because of pressure sores on my feet.)
Happy to report they should be gone in two more weeks.
Hope that all of you are doing well. Holly

Hi Holly,
Very nice to meet you! Good luck in your genealogy search and don't be afraid to keep asking us questions.
Cindy