Searchable Trees

Do you have a private tree on Ancestry? If so, I would like to convince you to make it searchable -- especially if you have a DNA test attached to that tree. (See AncestryDNA ThruLines FAQ)

Ancestry's new DNA ThruLines tool is helping me figure out how I connect with my multitude of DNA matches. The clues provided on my James Crawford ThruLines have helped me identify another granddaughter, Matilda Caroline Stoner.

Thru Lines Missing

I'm in love with how ThruLines is helping me learn more about my DNA matches. I wanted to show my husband how helpful this tool is.

Unfortunately, when I went to his DNA test to look at his ThruLines, the screen indated he didn't have any.

ThruLines Find

Have you experimented with Ancestry ThruLines yet? If not, you have to check it out!

As I posted earlier, ThruLines suggested that Matilda Caroline Stoner was a granddaughter of James and Sally (Smith Duggins) Crawford.

Based on the family tree suggested by ThruLines, I was able to research the family of Matilda Caroline Stoner and William Harrison Fields. Thru that research I was able to follow descendants to my suggested DNA matches.

Crawford vs Cox

Gowns, Petticoats and Silver Spoons

Have you ever seen a court case ordering the sale of the household goods -- including the gowns and petticoats -- to pay a debt?

I admit I haven't looked at a lot of court records - but this one is new to me.

I found the court case when looking for documents relating to CRAWFORD family members in Madison County, Kentucky. The index for the Court of Quarter Sessions case files led me to Case #588 for William Crawford vs William Cox.

Mustered Out

Have you ever discovered an obituary in a location that you never imagined? While searching for an obituary on a collateral line, I stumbled across a brief obit in a 'Mustered Out' column in the National Tribune (Washington, D.C.)

Since I had never encountered this type of obit before, I was curious to see if I could find an ancestor in a similar "Mustered Out" column. Thus, I searched for my great-great grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford who died in 1889. And - I found it!

DNA Thru Lines Potential Breakthroughs

Did you hear all about it yesterday? Both Ancestry and My Heritage announced new DNA tools. That combined with Diahan Southard's 'Connecting Your DNA Matches' presentation that was live streamed by RootsTech made for a BIG day in my DNA world.

In Diahan's session, she discussed using Blaine Bettinger's Shared Centimorgan Project to help verify relationships suggested by DNA. Even though I was aware of and had contributed to Blaine's project, I had never used the results to analyze my cousin matches. During her presentation, Diahan talked about using a spreadsheet to keep track of this data. 

Thus, I tried to create my own spreadsheet based on Diahan's presentation. So far, I haven't found any 'surprises' in the amount of shared DNA. However, I am finding an advantage to this type of spreadsheet for DNA matches. This type of spreadsheet will help me keep track of how I am related to my matches. Below is an image from my new spreadsheet. I have blacked out the identifying information for my matches.