The Virtue of Genealogy Patience

Gust Johnson

You know that Bible verse Matthew 7:7, "Ask and it shall be given to you, knock and you shall find?"  I believe it was really written for genealogists.  I would add to it - "though not immediately."

In August, 2017, I sent an email query to a DNA cousin on Ancestry.  I recognized the surname, Chellburg, and knew immediately the relationship.  I was hoping to find a picture of my husband's great grandmother, Louvisa "Louise" Carlson Johnson.  Louise had lived in the house my husband grew up in and when my husband's parents were relocating, I claimed all the photos and letters that had been stored in a suitcase in the basement.  Of course they weren't labeled.  We were able to identify just about everyone, however, and no photo was ever found to be of Louise.  Maybe she was camera shy or perhaps, when she moved in with another daughter the last year of her life, the pictures went with her.  I was really hoping the last scenario was the case.

Over the years, I've checked with all the closer relatives for a photo and no one had one so when the DNA match came up I immediately sent off a message.  Hey, I followed the Biblical directions - I asked and the email served as an electronic knock and then, well, I guess no one was home because I didn't get a response.

Two years, two and a half months later I get an email back with the answer (paraphrased) - Sorry, I haven't been on in a while.  I don't have a picture of Louise but I have one of her husband, Gust Johnson.  I think another cousin, who's 92, has the photos.  He's got a lot but none our labeled.

Big surprise there - another box of unlabeled photos.  My husband had actually reached out to the older relative a few years ago but he didn't respond.  Now I'm hoping that the DNA match can connect with him to find a photo.

I am many things but patient is not in my makeup so the waiting really is the hardest part of genealogy for me.

Those Overwhelming Hints

Did you wake up one day last month and discover thousands of Hints from Ancestry?  I thought their counter had gone ballistic - I had over 15,000 hints on my Main Tree.  I don't use Hints often as I prefer to search the card catalog for databases and then look for records so typically, I just click ignore on the Hint button weekly.  That way, if I ever want to research a particular individual, I can always go to that person's Hint page and then see what was found.

I soon discovered that the counter wasn't the problem, although it is still off by 1 in records and 4 in pictures.  What had happened, I suspect because of the new T.V. season, Ancestry unveiled the link to Newspapers.com Obituary Index and the U.S. Obituary Collection, 1930 +.  This resulted in the huge number of hints.

As I was deleting hints I had to laugh as two were for me - both pictures from my high school annual.  No hint appeared for my husband though, which makes me wonder about the formula they use to identify hints. A family member's high school photo appeared as a hint which was odd as that individual went to the same high school as my husband. 

Unfortunately, none of those new hints provided me any break through that I needed but definitely check out the new indexes as they might provide the clue you seek.

The Dark Side of DNA

Happy Dia Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  This year, for Halloween, one of my family members created two glow in the dark pumpkins and a skull and dressed a skeleton to look like Disney's Coco's grandpa, Hector.  Sneaky way to get little ones to learn about genealogy relationships!  It was quite lifelike, or should I write, really dead looking?  Two little girls burst into tears which was not my intention and I felt awful but the mom's said they loved the movie.  I had to show the girls that it wasn't real.  One little boy was so enamored he said he had questions for Hector and could he come inside.  I told him Hector wasn't talking tonight and would want the boy to enjoy his candy collecting.  Ahh, children and genealogy, what an interesting mix.  Their reaction is just like adults - some run when you start asking about family history and others want all the details. 

Two weeks ago I wrote about DNA now being available from hair follicles.  Right after reading that article, I found another story that I suspect relates to it though the articles purpose is to bring up a controversial side of DNA and genealogy.  The Messy Consequences of the Golden State Killer Case by Sarah Zhang published in The Atlantic 1 October 2019 will give you a better understanding of why GedMatch and Family Tree Genealogy recently changed their policies.

As technology evolves, past policies must be rethought.  I've blogged in the past about clients and colleagues mentioning that their returned DNA results were just plain wrong.  We all understand that DNA is a Pandora's box of family secrets but it never crossed my mind that medical procedures acquired as an adult could skew the results.  When I read A Woman Found Her AncestryDNA Test Revealed a Medical Secret also written by Sarah Zhang and published in The Atlantic on 13 September 2019, I was shocked by the findings.  I'm not going to give you a spoiler alert - you must read this article if you have DNA results that seem skewed.  Who would have thought this?!  Clearly not the specialists who first heard their patient's stories.

Both articles are thought provoking whether you are a donor or are making the decision of sharing your DNA results.

The last DNA related article I'd like to share is a topic I've also blogged about in the past.  Accepting the foibles of your family history can be difficult.  Although the author, Ken Bradford, used DNA to build his tree, the old fashion research methods also provide the same results - acquiring the knowledge of the past sins of our forefathers.  Look What the DNA Brought In published in Notre Dame Magazine Autumn 2019 can be helpful if your wrestling with the dark side of your family findings.

All of this is quite spooky, don't you think?  Happy Day of the Dead!

A Volunteer Opportunity from your Arm Chair

Want to get help with an overwhelming indexing project or help get records you are desperately seeking online?  You"re in luck! Now available is a crowd sourcing tool for genealogy groups or individual enthusiasts to use to help get those currently unavailable online records indexed for everyone's benefit. 

Thanks to the Federation of Genealogical Societies Fall Forum 2019 article, check out Crowd Sourced Indexing for more info.  If you're an individual who'd love to help the genealogy community but want to do that from the comfort of your home - check out the current index projects on the site and pick one that tugs at your heart.  If your a community group that has salvaged old records and wants to get them indexed - on the ribbon, go to About and FAQ to obtain information on how to contact the site administrator to get your project up and running. 

This is a win-win for all and with winter approaching, a perfect time to cuddle up with your laptop, a mug of cider and the knowledge you're a do-gooder!



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DNA Today from Hair of the Past

Short blog this week as I'm slammed with work.  I just read something I think is super interesting - Hair DNA Advance Hailed as Forensic Game Changer.  A family member knows I'm interested in DNA and genealogy and passed the article along to me.  Personally I think it's going to be a boon to family genealogy once the new technology gets simplified.  Imagine being able to take in grandpa's hair brush or that Victorian hair ring you inherited but have no idea who it originally belonged to!  Better yet, think of mummies that still have clumps of hair or even woolly mammoths.  I can't even imagine all the new information that will result from these DNA samples.

Reformed Dutch Church Records

Photo courtesy of https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org

A few weeks ago, I wrote about free genealogy newsletters I receive.  I failed to mention I also read other genealogy blogs.  Recently I read a wonderful article about New York Reformed Dutch church records.

Both my husband and I have ancestors who resided in New Amsterdam.  Although I haven't extensively researched those individuals, the blog article gave me new insights.  Here's what really stands out to add to my knowledge base:

• Before 1664, the Reformed Dutch was the ONLY denomination permitted so if  your ancestor was not of that religious persuasion and wanted to marry or attend a church service, the records are most likely held by the Reformed Dutch.  Who knew?! 
• Although the church in Manhattan founded in 1628 is still in existence today, records are only available from 1639.  That's interesting because the physical church was erected in 1642.  That same year a second church was erected in Albany.  
• Collegiate churches had 1 minister that traveled between several locations and all the records were maintained by the 1 minister.  I have found that happened in New Jersey in the early 1700's also.  
• Many Germans came to New Amsterdam and attended the Dutch church.  Even after the city changed hands and became New York, Germans who immigrated continued to attend the Dutch church so make sure you look over Dutch church records.
• The two databases on Ancestry.com for Dutch Church Records are NOT the same, even though they appear to be.  There are a few names missing in one database so check both.  As is always a good practice, go beyond using the index and browse the records as the transcription may be in error or the spelling may have been slightly changed from what you are seeking.
• Check out the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society's databases. I neglected to mention in my last blog that I also get their free weekly newsletter.  

Discovering the Dead in Your Regional Backyard

Today's blog is a special 2 for 1.  You'll understand in a second so keep reading.

First, spooky season is almost upon us and somehow, in my travels last summer, I missed an article in my local newspaper - Radar finds more than 120 coffins buried beneath Tampa apartment complex.  I found the article by subscribing to a weekly list service through Geneanet.  I believe the organization is headquartered in France so it's interesting to discover a regional article (for me) in their newsletter.

Here's why I was creeped out - my first career was as a school counselor and one of the sites I was assigned had a student population that encompassed the Tampa apartment complex named in the article.  I couldn't even begin to tell you how many home visits I made to that location over the years.  Although I never felt scared while visiting there, a colleague who accompanied me once made a comment about feeling uncomfortable and said every time she had to go there she dreaded it like she did visiting a cemetery.

Personally, there is another complex I had to visit that I absolutely hated to visit.  Every time I used the south stairwell I got a feeling of dread and felt cold and clammy.  I mentioned this to a gentleman colleague who had accompanied me on one visit and asked him why he didn't use that stairwell.  He claimed it was due to his bad knees and said he preferred the others because they had a more secure handrail.  Turns out, his story wasn't the truth.  He told a friend what I had said who later informed me that there had been a murder on those stairs  Hmmm.  That apartment complex was located across from an older school that had a basement.  If you live in Florida you know that's rare - because the water table is not far down there aren't true basements in Florida.  I grew up with basements so they don't bother me but every time I was alone in that basement hallway I got the eebie jeebies - that hair standing up on the back of your head feeling.  I also felt like someone was behind me but no one ever was.  I wouldn't be surprised if there was a graveyard under those two sites.

If you have spent any time with genealogy you most likely have a list of ancestors that you can't find their burial location.  This story is a classic example of why you need to search through old newspapers of the town where they resided to see if you can find references to burial sites that no longer exist.  Old maps and regional  books are another wonderful source to locate cemeteries that have long disappeared.

I suspect most of those buried did not have gravestones.  Death has always been expensive and money may not have been available for a headstone.  In other locations, it may have not been a custom to have one.  My husband's Dutch 4 x's great grandfather preferred a small rough stone carved with his initials.  The stone is long gone but thankfully, the record remained that it once was there next to his wife who had a traditional marker.  A modern trend is to be interred in "green" cemeteries where no stones are used.  I point this out as future genealogists are going to run into the same problem we do today.

If you think after reading the article that this practice only happened in the south think again.  Later in the week I was reading the New England Historic Genealogical Society's weekly newsletter which linked to the story Skeletons found at New Haven site tells immigrants story.  The poor of every race, creed and national origin are marginalized even after death.  I found this second article fascinating in regards to the painstaking research that was conducted after the DNA results were obtained to try to identify those buried.

This gets me to an unrelated but still important topic which I've deemed second in my 2-4-1 special today.  Signing up for free genealogy/history related newsletters can be a wonderful resource for your research.  I subscribe to several.

If you aren't familiar with Geneanet, from their website, they were "Launched in 1996 by genealogy enthusiasts.  Geneanet is a community of more than 3 million members who share their genealogical information for free:  more than 6 billion individuals in the family trees, some digitized archival records, some family pictures, some indexes, all available through a powerful search engine, and a blog."  And they didn't mention the weekly newsletter that I really enjoy.  They also have a paid premium site that I haven't experienced.

As I noted, the second article was found through reading the weekly newsletter from the .
New England Historic Genealogical Society  I also subscribe to FamilySearch.org's monthly update,  RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Find My Past, Ohio History Connection and Genealogy News.

You don't have to feel overwhelmed to read every article.  I let them sit in my email inbox and once a week, open and read those of interest to me.  I have gained historical background to an area I was researching, hints on where to look for records and knowledge of research techniques that have proved helpful.  Most beneficial - all of this information was free!  Check these out and if you have a favorite let me know.