Genealogy Problems and Solutions (Previous Live - Edited)

[@paulaseiple336]

An early question when the surname shows up in an adjoining county is "What year was the county created?" Could be the same spot but in different counties 10 years apart.

[@GenealogyTV]

Could be. Look for the the county was formed. Also refer to census records before and after the border change. If you see the same neighbors in both census, then it is likely the county border jumped over them but they never really moved.

[@virginiahouser1060]

Wonderfully useful presentation! You are a master researcher who makes the process accessible....and an adventure, too! Thank you!

[@GenealogyTV]

Wow, thank you!

[@funnytime1111]

Thank you for your example of research notes and how you point out things that might be researchable. I started my research notes for my great great grandfather who’s age is is very inconsistent on the census records so it is taking a lot of digging to find his birth records. Not only that but his first name is actually the same as his brothers. And not only THAT but he was likely born in Puerto Rico before vital records became a government function and a lot of the church records haven’t been indexed yet 😵‍💫

[@GenealogyTV]

You definitely have a challenge there. I'm wondering if it might be worth hiring a professional genealogist in PR.

[@jenniferkendrick]

This is excellent, Connie! It helps visualize how the process actually works! Thank you!

[@GenealogyTV]

You're so welcome!

[@martast.john-anders6448]

I watched this a couple of days ago and spent quite a bit of time yesterday creating a spreadsheet and entering EVERY bit of data about my gg grandmother (my most frustrating brick wall). This was SO USEFUL! Most important, she gave her birthplace as Yorkshire, England on one of her children's birth records, a detail I had previously missed. Hallelujah! I might be able to track her down now and identify her parents. Thank you!

[@GenealogyTV]

Awesome. Glad it was helpful!

[@teresaeckford305]

I really enjoyed this presentation (as per normal) - having a practical case study was very helpful. Just thought I'd mention that another "outside the box" option is the local museum and/or archive in the location you're researching...where I live, we have two archives and three museums, all of which have information about local families in their collection...

[@GenealogyTV]

Great point!

[@alescographiks]

Thank you so much for these videos, they are so helpful!! I was probably the person who balked at making research notes in the very beginning, thinking I could just look back at my tree, sources, and records I had downloaded. I have since learned the value of notes after doing it the hard way and wasting too many hours rechecking records, that I wouldn't have to if I had made notes.

[@GenealogyTV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DNAConsultingDetectives]

Thanks for the great guidance and a good laugh (Indian Princess)! 😂 I couldn’t find a genealogical Society for a county I was researching in Iowa, so I made a Facebook group. It’s been slowly building and I think will be ultimately, helpful to many people.

[@GenealogyTV]

Nice... got to love FB groups for info sharing.

[@thehistoricallyadequatesea4395]

I do a lot of notes in the Life Story, which is otherwise pretty useless to me, so it keeps it chronological for me. Obit goes in death, wedding info in marriage entry. I use the notes for problems.

[@michaelmccullough9668]

Another great video Connie. Thanks for all the tips. One question for you. I know you talk about research notes a lot. I watched your video on research notes using MS Word. I really like that concept. But, it seems very overwhelming to me, because I never kept research notes. I need you to pound it into my head to start simple and slow on the research notes. Hopefully, a year from now. I can look back to my research notes and feel good about starting them. Please, give me your best shot. 🙂

[@GenealogyTV]

Just add info from one record at a time in chronological order. Easy peasy.

[@cathyholcombe4674]

I use leaf hints only as a tool/clue to use in my own research. Here is one tip I can give you regarding the "hints"....look at the dates. More often than not, they are all over the place.

[@GenealogyTV]

true

[@SyrinxofOz]

I have brick wall in Canada, early 1800s. Sadly, living in Australia means no road trips. I started looking at this for almost 30 years!

[@michellebarlondsmith6243]

Comfirmation Bias .... yes I am researching and got a lot of info from a family member but having issues bcuz i cant find paper documentation that makes sense

[@gfjchs3n1]

Great content!😊

[@GenealogyTV]

Thank you!

[@geebrewer8186]

I have a problem, with no obvious solution. I have several ancestors who played around, and had kids out of wedlock. How do you enter them in Ancestry? There is no category listed for 'mistress"--and labeling them as a spouse seems pretty wrong and dishonest. I like to try to list all the kids my ancestors have had, even with spouses that were not of my direct line.

[@GenealogyTV]

Add them as a spouse then go into the profile of the added person, click edit (upper right), edit relationships, and change to "other." Then make a comment in their comments, or some sort of note for others to understand.

[@cynthiaparker8094]

with Martha Vanhoy do you include that she went by Mary like Martha (Mary) Vanhoy

[@GenealogyTV]

Martha and Mary would be noted as alternate names in the facts column. Just use another name fact and chose one to be the primary. All other will be alternates.

[@reginawoods9820]

I’m using Microsoft 365 Word for my research notes. I’ve discovered I can’t save to a thumb drive. Only cloud. Ok great, but what happens to my notes when I know longer pay for MS 365? No one in my family will be paying. Do you use MS 365? What is your plan for sharing in the future? Thanks!

[@GenealogyTV]

I use MS 365 but I save to my computer hard drive 99% of the time. I use the cloud when I'm researching on location.

[@VincentCourtney-mf3rj]

You have to save your files using "Save as", then you can select "This Computer" (or the equivalent phrase on your computer). Then you get to use the up arrow in the location that is shown to the right to find the appropriate thumb drive, and then you can save it in whatever folder or just as a filename on that thumb drive. If you have Auto Save button turned on, your docs automatically are saved in the cloud, but you can always do a "Save as" to save it to your thumb drive. (These instructions are for a Windows-based operating system.)

[@SyrinxofOz]

I have been doing this for 40 years. I like pen and paper!

[@msorlean1]

I know that trying to find my great grandfather's father was an ordeal. His death cert listed John Smith, his marriage license had John Smith... i still haven't found his mother married to said John Smith, but he must have been someone (her 3rd? marriage listed her as Smith) but his father was actually someone named Mallard and his mother changed his and his brother's names. If my family line wasn't estranged, it would've at least been part of a family story but i started from scratch. But i thought it was fun to discover.

[@wandajohnson4753]

I have dabbed into ancestry a few times in my life. I am very serious about it right now. I traveled to my father’s home county and went to the genealogy society. I got a little information there. I went to cemeteries and located ancestors all the way back to my 4th great grandfather. I have trees on Ancestry, wiki tree and family search (put in my parents names and a ton of people popped up on my tree). I did an ancestry DNA, found out things I have been told all my life were not true, lol. My question is whether it is better to do research on a laptop, computer or iPad? I have a computer and an iPad. I am thinking about getting a laptop and portable equipment (wand scanner and printer). I was wondering what you would suggest?

[@GenealogyTV]

I like the desktop with multiple screens.

[@thehistoricallyadequatesea4395]

I have brick dams. I am working on DNA matches, so I have high confidence that there IS a connection. I have common ancestors suggesting possible paths. I have information from the matches tree going up some number of generations. I have fair confidence that the match knows who their parents and grandparents are, allowing for the possibility of adoptions and mistook patrimony. I have my tree and a high degree of confidence in my own path. But I have a few places in my tree where the bridge between my tree and their tree is not clear. And at these 'fords' I have any number of matches who wind up on one side of that DNA river and I, gazing longingly from my side of the river, am unable to determine which line of my tree connect with their particular line. Not to be mean but I'm talkin about you, Archibald Clendenin and Robert McMaster in West Virginia. I swear, nothing like finding cliches coming true... Family circles instead of trees!!

[@GenealogyTV]

LOL. Keep working at it. You'll figure it out. I love the brick dam instead of brick wall. Keep chipping away at it. :)

[@user-ld5tt4ze9b]

How do you merge information from a previous tree ?

[@GenealogyTV]

Call Ancestry for help with this one.

[@hemichallenger3643]

Good morning Connie. I have two questions to ask if I may. I'm hoping you have some insight with your vast knowledge and experience. :-) So I have a cousin I chat with regularly in Ancestry. When I am on her profile I am not a DNA match. When I switch to my fathers DNA, she is a match to him. I am a match to her sister. My father is a match to both. So, is it possible DNA skipped me for the particular cM that gets measured? For years I thought it weird that we didn't match and once I got my dad tested ( and I am forever in your debt for insisting getting parents tested if possible) and found out he was a match to her and her sister and I was only a match to one sister.

[@hemichallenger3643]

Also, recently I was surfing a users tree and found some interesting information. I message her and ask her specifics. After a few months I get a reply. And I couldn't remember where in my tree I was inquiring for information. So I went to her profile. It said she has no tree. I chat with Ancestry and they say she has no tree. So I was frustrated. She messaged me back giving me all the information I needed to get to the right part of my tree. Then I check some leaves and there in the leaves it is her tree and where I was in the beginning. So I chat with ancestry rep again, informing them she indeed has a tree and they are wrongly misrepresenting that she does not. I send a couple screenshots and they start a service case to look into it. It is just one of those things that I never thought about before. I could potentially be skipping brick-wall changing information because there is no way to check there trees by conventional methods. So this is kind of a heads-up. Maybe you have had this before or not and I'm just lucky.

[@GenealogyTV]

You might consider hiring a DNA specialist to help you sort this out.

[@suz0000]

Frustrated that I cannot find marriage documents for my great grandparents, nor either of their death records. Should I give up? I’ve looked for over a decade. They were immigrants from Sweden in the 1880’s, living in Chicago Illinois, identified in 1910 census.

[@GenealogyTV]

Try finding a Facebook group that specializes in Swedish research.

[@garyesue323]

check church records?

[@suz0000]

@@garyesue323Thank you, I have, at least all that I can find online. From what I’m told my g-grandfather left Sweden to avoid conscription, so I assume that’s why his name varies on records. Sometimes he uses 1st name & sometimes middle name& of course the spelling changes, but I know why that was.

[@barbaranorthrop8509]

Did they immigrate together as a married couple? Consider a consultation with a Swedish Specialist at the Family History Library. You can schedule a online consultation. If you found them in the 1910 census in Chicago, that should tell you if they are naturalized. Look for naturalization paperwork. It should contain marriage information so you know where to look. Don’t give up👍

[@suz0000]

@@barbaranorthrop8509 Thank you! He came over in 1885 and she in 1889. On 1910 census he is entered as ‘AL”, which I believe is alien. The 1920 census says she was Naturalized in 1890. I will look into those records. I believe they met after emmigrating. The 1910 census states they had been married 17 years. I find no marriage record but believe it’d be about 1893. I appreciate your advice!!

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

Why can't I see my, Family Members Results, anymore, on My Heritage DNA Site, and also on My Heritage, why did they take, one thing away, on the Overview section, where you can see, how many of My, Family Members, are this Ethnicity and that Ethnicity?

[@GenealogyTV]

It is likely a privacy issue.

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

@@GenealogyTV Are you saying, you can never look at, Your Family Members Results, on My Heritage again?

[@ramonaburns4077]

I’m not able to find my grandfathers parents……I did find a half sibling but no mother for her either…..the closest I got was that a person with his name was listed as a adopted 10 year old living with a 17 year old female….but how would I know that’s really him?

[@GenealogyTV]

Look for all records you can. Sometime those have other family. Look for guardianship records in the county courts.

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

Hi. I have a good Question. What if, you cannot log in, to one of the DNA sites, and.... you did make, a New Password, and your New password, doesn't work. But, you DID, put one Letter Capitalized and put at least, one symbol, for your New Password. And when you, DID that, and it still won't, let you log in. BUT, I got a solution for it. If you DID download, the Raw Data, from the site, (the one, that won't let you, in) Can you use that data, to get your profile back?

[@GenealogyTV]

I would contact the website support for that one. Every site is different. You could start a new account with the downloaded data too... but I'd try support first.

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

@@GenealogyTV Okay

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

Hi. About Chromosomes and/or Chromosome Browser/Chromosome Painter. I'm, not sure, what Number Grandparents, each Number Chromosome, is coming from. Like... is Chromosome Number 1, is it coming from, My Grandparents or My 1st Great Grandparents. And where is Chromosome 2 and and Chromosome 3 and so on, what number Grandparents, are each Chromosome Coming from?

[@GenealogyTV]

It's not that simple. You can have a combination of all lines of your family on Chromosome 1. What might be more helpful is to understand triangulation. True triangulation is when you and two other people share the same part of the same chromosome. So if say you have two dna cousins (that you know what family line they come from) and share a single segment on the same chromosome... then you can identify that section of that one chromosome as coming from that line of the family. Make sense? MyHeritage has the Chromosome browser that shows you this. If you pick the right cousins to "compare", you will see a section of a chromosome that has a grey box around it. Those are triangulated segments.

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

@@GenealogyTV Okay

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

Hi. I can't log in, to My 23&me Account. (The first time, I change My Password, because of this situation, everything was Okay, and My New password worked.) And I used, My New Password worked, for a few weeks, but then, out of the blue, I couldn't log in, to 23&me. When I couldn't log in, I decided to, change My Password, and it still, didn't work, and then, I change it, a few times more, an still, could not log in. I have like... a 6.4% Ashkenazi Jewish, on my Results, and My Ashkenazi Jewish says, Highly likely, so... did my Account, get deleted, because, I have Ashkenazi Jewish? That's a guess, to why I can't log in. But could be, another reason, I don't know.

[@GenealogyTV]

No they would not delete your account because of a Jewish ethnicity. They were hacked a few weeks ago. Contact their customer service to get your account back up and running.

[@stevechrismillersarro5445]

@@GenealogyTV Okay

[@user-dz1fq2di1g]

you have a known person in your tree but I do not know who my father was and my mother refused to tell me. My DNA tells me he was German and Italian which my sister's are not.

[@GenealogyTV]

Focus on the DNA cousins, not so much on the ethnicity estimates. Research the families of your closest DNA cousins on your father's side of the tree. It might provide hints as to who he was.

[@cindycarrasco2383]

Connie, question what kind of records are considered primary and which ones are considered secondary 🤔? I find all records for my ancestors are all important so just curious as to what ones where primary and secondary to be able to classify as.

[@Virginiafamilies]

death certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates, Census records, Wills,deeds, Inventories, Church Records of births marriages deaths and baptisms are all considered primary records.

[@cindycarrasco2383]

@DescendantsofPocahontas thanks, I was thinking on that lines, but didn't want to assume that. I know that being a member of DAR when looking for Patriots main focus on documents is birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, and wills. I knew Census Records were secondary. Thanks for clarification 😊

[@GenealogyTV]

Original records (not copies) are considered primary. Keep in mind that the evidence within a document can be mixed between primary evidence and secondary evidence. For example, a death certificate. Look at the informant. Unless the informant was the mother of the deceased, the birth info would be secondary because whoever the informant was likely did not witness the birth. Give more credibility to the witnesses of an event.

[@cindycarrasco2383]

@GenealogyTV thank you Connie that definitely puts some perspective on it