Methods

Case Studies using Mitochondrial DNA

Finding female ancestors often challenges researchers! DNA–both autosomal and mitochondrial–is a powerful tool for identifying the often-hidden women in our family tree, and case studies–illustrations of how researchers have solved particular kinds of problems–help us learn how to use new methods and tools in our own research. Here is...

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Weddings, Heirlooms, and Stories

Earlier this month I attended my sister’s beautiful beach wedding in Rhode Island, which took place on my daughter’s birthday. In honor of the coincidence of the two dates, my sister gave my daughter, who is engaged, the engagement ring that belonged to my paternal grandmother, Julia Mary (Sakusky)...

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Tips for Attaching Trees to Your DNA Results

Today AncestryDNA announced that they sold 1.4 million DNA test kits in the fourth quarter of 2016, setting a sales record for the quarter and bringing their DNA database over three million participants.[1. “Ancestry Sets AncestryDNA Sales Record Over Holiday Period and Fourth Quarter,” 10 January 2017, Ancestry Corporate,...

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Working with POISON DNA Segments

Earlier this week Blaine Bettinger posted on “The Danger of Distant Matches.”[1. Blaine Bettinger, “The Danger of Distant Matches,” 6 January 2017, The Genetic Genealogist (http://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/01/06/the-danger-of-distant-matches/ : accessed 7 January 2017). This was a follow-up to an earlier post, “Small Matching Segments–Friend or Foe?,” 2 December 2014 (http://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2014/12/02/small-matching-segments-friend-foe/ :...

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What does raisin cake have to do with genealogy?

Tomorrow I will be speaking at Hennepin County Library‘s annual Family History Fair on “Finding Female Ancestors.” During my talk one of the topics will be women’s historical household roles, including cooking, sewing, and needlework, and what recipes and crafts can tell us about family history. While I was...

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