Update March 24: Gedmatch is up and running again!
Yes, just as we got used to gedmatch.com being there and adding new features right and left, we were met with the recurring server failure notice. It is unexpected even though it happens often, and what a blow it is at this time. The new features were making chromosome segment comparison easy and fun, and changes were almost moving too fast. As before, my advice is to be patient, just as we are with receiving matches from the companies we are subscribed to, and once gedmatch is up and running again, just be sure to take advantage of the features there for your most interesting genealogical problems. For those who have been in this for awhile, finding matches, using utilities, and so on, you know that it has been a very up and down process with many long detours and stops along the way. If you are new to all of this, be glad of the many options we have. And while you are waiting, be sure to check out HIRsearch and promethease--both interesting and fun to use.
With all of the options out there, those who are working hard at finding common ancestors should be finding at least a few previously unknown ancestors out there. Let me know if you have done so or if you are narrowing down those names and places!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Triangulation of chromosome segments--Amazing new feature at Gedmatch.com
This is a very useful feature, and one that will really save time when trying to understand how your match matches you and others by chromosome segments. It is very simple--all you have to enter on the utility is your kit number. Your closest matches for each chromosome appear, and the matching segments are color coded to indicate where you match, where matches match each other and not you, and best of all, where there is a three-way match, where two matches match each other AND you. As noted on the utility: "This indicates ancestry." What an amazing utility to work with. This is exactly what autosomal DNA testing is all about. You don't have to break your brain seeking out segments, measuring them, and comparing them to potential matches. It is done for you in a flash.
Even better--while the comparisons show the kit numbers which match you, all you have to do to find out who the person (or pseudonym) is behind the match is to hover your cursor over the
number.
Gedmatch.com has taken an important step towards the future. Imagine a time when we will be finding matches with little effort, and that means extending our family trees with certainty. Slowly but surely we are getting closer to that experience.
Even better--while the comparisons show the kit numbers which match you, all you have to do to find out who the person (or pseudonym) is behind the match is to hover your cursor over the
number.
Gedmatch.com has taken an important step towards the future. Imagine a time when we will be finding matches with little effort, and that means extending our family trees with certainty. Slowly but surely we are getting closer to that experience.
Genealogy Researchers can find tiny cemeteries with google maps
It's one thing for locals to give directions to a cemetery (whether online or in person) and often quite another thing for far-away visitors to find the gravestones. If you plan to visit a tiny cemetery out in the rural countryside in an area you are unfamiliar with, you will probably want to be armed with more than a street map. As I learned, street names are not always the same on a sign as they are designated on a map. Some roads seem to have no names. Some arrows point in nebulous directions.
You will want to avoid the long and often circular drives with all passengers peering out the windows for sights of a little cemetery. To be sure that you can find the place, plan ahead with the new google maps. You can locate the general area of the cemetery via the maps, by using the information you have at hand and and then can use the google earth feature to get a bird's eye view and plan just how you will get there and where you can park your car. Yes, you can actual see the headstones--not close enough to read, but close enough to see where they are.
See this example of Bishop Cemetery in rural Henderson, New York: Bishop Cemetery.
I was able to find this cemetery before there were google maps, but only with great difficulty.
You can also use the google maps views to see where the cemetery was for purposes of comparing it to where old farms, roads, and structures once stood.
A new plus on the new google maps is an easy-to-use coordinates feature. You click on the part of the map view that interests you, and the coordinates appear just under the left side search box.
You will want to avoid the long and often circular drives with all passengers peering out the windows for sights of a little cemetery. To be sure that you can find the place, plan ahead with the new google maps. You can locate the general area of the cemetery via the maps, by using the information you have at hand and and then can use the google earth feature to get a bird's eye view and plan just how you will get there and where you can park your car. Yes, you can actual see the headstones--not close enough to read, but close enough to see where they are.
See this example of Bishop Cemetery in rural Henderson, New York: Bishop Cemetery.
I was able to find this cemetery before there were google maps, but only with great difficulty.
You can also use the google maps views to see where the cemetery was for purposes of comparing it to where old farms, roads, and structures once stood.
A new plus on the new google maps is an easy-to-use coordinates feature. You click on the part of the map view that interests you, and the coordinates appear just under the left side search box.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Famous and ...Notorious Relatives
Are you related to anyone famous? How about notorious? Got a black sheep in the family? A mystery? Maybe there is a story somewhere in the family history that is just a little bigger than life, worth repeating, sharing, and savoring.
Maybe you've found it, and maybe you've found many such figures and their stories.
And maybe that story is out there waiting to be found.
Think about where, when, why, and how to find them.
First you find out who is in your tree, and then you find out what has been left to learn about that person.
The more you use search engines on their names, the better your chance at finding their interesting bios.
Great stuff to add to the notes in the family tree and to pass along to relatives, both close and distant.
You may have some of those early American ancestors linked to or themselves the early members of local or federal governments. Many of those early Americans were involved in some way, whether in the formation of early militias, or serving on town or county juries, or as town clerks, or perhaps as governing officials, even on the federal level. In that case, you will find that the digging for historical gems is relatively simple. Finding more and more details may take more dedicated attention, and possibly the expertise of a genealogist, but the surface details can easily be found by anyone .
Or...it maybe that the story is not so much about fame or infamy, but rather about the nuances of settling in a new area and encountering the challenges of the frontier.
Examples can easily be found--for starters, if you've got any ancestors from the wild west, there you go... and the east was not that much less wild at times.
Search for the ancestor's name with any combination of the following--locations where he/she settled, dates of birth or death, occupation (pony express) or name of company or town....and keep going!
Just found some great info on distant relative William Augustus Brown, myself. For years I only had the information of his name and a note that he had been murdered in 1853 (California was a baby in the nation at that time) in Stockton. But things are different now, and the story of his life is easily expanded. Search engines now provide so much info in various forms that I know he ran a pony express (and I can see examples of the stamp he put on the letters). He's neither notorious nor particularly famous, but he was a victim of a wild west shooting. The story is good, and remains contemporary, as even the auction house Christie's offers some of his stamped envelopes for auction.
Photo from Western Cover Society:
Update 2015: the name of the murderer and the entire narrative of the murder have been uncovered in old newspaper articles.
Find those great stories about the family history, and make sure to keep looking for the best details and the tie-ins to the growth of the country or the current culture and economy.
See an example of Pony express covers for sale at Western Cover Society. Use search engines to see more examples of covers and stamps. They are all interesting.
Maybe you've found it, and maybe you've found many such figures and their stories.
And maybe that story is out there waiting to be found.
Think about where, when, why, and how to find them.
First you find out who is in your tree, and then you find out what has been left to learn about that person.
The more you use search engines on their names, the better your chance at finding their interesting bios.
Great stuff to add to the notes in the family tree and to pass along to relatives, both close and distant.
You may have some of those early American ancestors linked to or themselves the early members of local or federal governments. Many of those early Americans were involved in some way, whether in the formation of early militias, or serving on town or county juries, or as town clerks, or perhaps as governing officials, even on the federal level. In that case, you will find that the digging for historical gems is relatively simple. Finding more and more details may take more dedicated attention, and possibly the expertise of a genealogist, but the surface details can easily be found by anyone .
Or...it maybe that the story is not so much about fame or infamy, but rather about the nuances of settling in a new area and encountering the challenges of the frontier.
Examples can easily be found--for starters, if you've got any ancestors from the wild west, there you go... and the east was not that much less wild at times.
Search for the ancestor's name with any combination of the following--locations where he/she settled, dates of birth or death, occupation (pony express) or name of company or town....and keep going!
Just found some great info on distant relative William Augustus Brown, myself. For years I only had the information of his name and a note that he had been murdered in 1853 (California was a baby in the nation at that time) in Stockton. But things are different now, and the story of his life is easily expanded. Search engines now provide so much info in various forms that I know he ran a pony express (and I can see examples of the stamp he put on the letters). He's neither notorious nor particularly famous, but he was a victim of a wild west shooting. The story is good, and remains contemporary, as even the auction house Christie's offers some of his stamped envelopes for auction.
Update 2015: the name of the murderer and the entire narrative of the murder have been uncovered in old newspaper articles.
Find those great stories about the family history, and make sure to keep looking for the best details and the tie-ins to the growth of the country or the current culture and economy.
See an example of Pony express covers for sale at Western Cover Society. Use search engines to see more examples of covers and stamps. They are all interesting.
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