Heartland Genealogy

Finis! I've managed to combine event data from SIX different lines: James Crawford and Sally Smith Duggins (mine - names in blue) James Crawford and Martha Knight (Knight - names in green) James Crawford and Rebecca Anderson (Anderson - names in brown) Alexander Crawford and Mary McPheeters (McPheeters - names in red) William N. Crawford (WilliamN - names in purple) Nathaniel Sellers (Sellers - names in dark yellow) Besides color coding the names, I color coded the four major counties for my branch: Garrard County, Kentucky -- shaded with lime green Preble County, Ohio -- shaded with yellow Warren County, Indiana -- shaded with bright blue Ford County, Kansas -- shaded with orange   Recent DNA tests are shedding more light on potential connections: yDNA indicates probably relationship to William N. Crawford  yDNA indicates my Crawford line may connect to the McPheeters line somehow a Sellers researcher believes I share DNA with SELLERS descendants...

The results from recent DNA tests -- particularly the yDNA -- are pushing me to re-evaluate my CRAWFORD cluster research. Most of this research is pre-Internet and pre-Excel (remember AppleWorks and Microsoft Works?) However, I want to utilize the power of a spreadsheet to hopefully provide a fresh look at the data. Thus, I turned to the Internet for ideas on how to proceed. I found the blog, Cluster Genealogy Research , by Gus Marsh that provided background on the research process. This blog provided hints on where else to look for data for my cluster. Looking around at what others have done, I found the blog post, Timeline Template - How to Create a Timeline in Exel by Jon Wittwer. Not only does this blog offer a pre-packaged template for a reasonable price, it also includes the step-by-step instructions for the do-it-yourself-er. I would like to create this type of timeline -- especially for family reunion -- but I'm not sure it will work for my Cluster data. Still on the...

For some, DNA is all about their ethnicity. For me, it is all about finding actual cousins. I'm not just looking for that 7 cM of common DNA but for much longer pieces -- my cousins. Recently, I discovered that a little work on my part could improve my results on AncestryDNA . I found if I quit ignoring those green leaves (called 'shaky leaves' by some) and actually worked to confirm the hints, the number of 'shared matches' [shared ancestor hints] would increase. When I posted about this on the 11th, my DNA circles hadn't really changed. However, I now have 16 circles when I had only been seeing about six.

Does anyone remember when Ancestry came out with their 'one tree'? I think it was called 'One World Tree'. The concept sounded fantastic! They would take all of the trees submitted to Ancestry and merge them into this one magical tree -- linking research and researchers together -- and helping us find more ancestors. The problem then was that the computers didn't analyze -- they just lumped. If it looked like the same person -- the computer said it was. For me, the result was that the computer lumped two James Crawfords together that I had spent lots of time to separate -- and had the documentation to prove it. I tried to get them separated but eventually gave up the fight. I'm sure that is why some are leery of the tree on Family Search and perhaps why Wiki tree requires the documentation. Well, my nightmare is returning. This time it is on my Currey (Curry) line where I likely have four generations of the same name: Hiram M. Currey. The problem is with...

Earlier this week, I was contacted by another BRILES researcher who is trying to figure out how a third BRILES fits into our family. She had found me thru DNA matches. Discovering that we both descend from Alexander BRILES , I was puzzled as to why her DNA match wasn't showing on my list of 'shared ancestor hints'. Instead it was buried in my 326 pages of matches. It was also puzzling that I don't have a BRILES circle. Because my Ancestry tree isn't my primary tree, I had uploaded the current version sometime in the last year. I also hadn't gotten very far in dealing with all of the shaky leaves. Although I couldn't find documentation to support this, I wondered if I needed to confirm the exact same hint as another DNA tester in order for them to show on my list of 'shared ancestor hints'. Working on that theory, I decided that I needed to confirm some shaky leaves for my more distant ancestors. Not wanting to risk it not picking up the other t...

My brother's yDNA results came back over the weekend. The matches are interesting and yet mysterious. One of those matches is to a William N. Crawford. So, who is this William Nelson Crawford and how might I be related. On Ancestry, I found two trees with what appears to be the same William Nelson Crawford. Neither tree has any parents identified for William N. Crawford. One tree, has linked two different 1850 census records. One of those records I've seen before and is the household of a James & Martha (Knight) Crawford descendant. This 1850 census record matches the family of William Crawford and Lutitia (Snodgrass) Crawford . This William Crawford is the son of James and Martha (Knight) Crawford. However, I don't have William N. Crawford as a son or grandson of James and Martha. So, is the William N. Crawford in the 1850 census the same William Nelson Crawford who died in Washington? Either way, how does the William N. Crawford in the census ...

Last week, I watched the " Watch Geoff Live: DNA " webinar on Legacy Family TreeWebinars. While watching, I followed along by looking at my autosomal DNA results on Ancestry. I had my DNA tested last summer and had studied some of the results but hadn't found the help with 'brick walls' that I had hoped for. One of the brick walls I've been working on is my James Crawford line. My James Crawford died in Preble County Ohio in 1854. He married Sally Duggins in Garrard County Kentucky in 1799. Sally had previously been married to Alexander Duggins by whom she had two sons: William and Henry. Henry Duggins was married to Jane Sellers, daughter of Nathan Sellers. Nathan A. Sellers was a neighbor of my James Crawford and died in Preble County Ohio in 1824. In early Preble County Ohio, there was a second James Crawford who owned land adjoining my James Crawford. This James Crawford married Martha Knight in 1793 in Lincoln County Kentucky. It is believed that two of...