Heartland Genealogy

It all Started with the MOUSE! A couple of weeks ago, my mouse started 'misbehaving'. The first thing I noticed was the inability to highlight text. Instead of highlighting what I wanted highlighted, it would jumb somewhere else and start the highlighting. Even if I could get the section of text highlighted that I wanted highlighted, it wouldn't 'stop' highlighting. Then it started creating a 'double-click' when I only clicked once. The obvious solution was to replace the mouse. Since I live with someone who hangs onto older hardware, we tested several different mice. We found that a wired mouse worked as well as a different branded wireless mouse worked. So, I was ready to order a new mouse. However, my husband was still trying to figure out why my mouse - and other mice - were not functioning correctly. He ran the diagnostics and discovered that my hard drives are failing. Yes, that is plural. Both the C and D drives are failing. Thus, all...

I'm struggling with 'same name' issues. Particularly in regards to Alexander Crawford. I believe there are two different Alexander Crawfords. Alexander Crawford who married Margaret McElwee in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1788 and likely lived in Pulaski County, Kentucky Alexander Crawford, son of Rev. James Crawford of Fayette County, Kentucky and grandson of Alexander Crawford and Mary McPheeters Other researchers disagree with me. Thus, I'm on a quest to locate documentation to hopefully resolve this issue. Today, I'm working with census records. Since these are all pre-1850 census listings, they can't be depended upon to prove family relations. However, they can help establish places of residency. Using the family information for Rev. James Crawford from the book Descendants of Alexander and Mary (McPheeters) Crawford, I can determine approximate ages for the various census years. Name Birth Year Death Year Sex Age 1810 Age 1820 Age 1830 ...

Do you struggle with 'same name' issues in your genealogy research? I know that over the years I have struggled to either separate two people or prove that the records I found apply to my ancestor and not to someone else of the same name. My newest struggle is with someone that I currently can't even connect to my tree. I found an Alexander Crawford who married Margaret McElwee in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1788. This marriage is one of four Crawford marriages that occurred in early Lincoln County: 1788 - Alexander Crawford married Margaret McElwee 1791 - Mary Crawford married James Sellers 1793 - James Crawford married Martha Knight 1796 - Sarah Crawford married William David Sellers My ancestor, James Crawford married Sally Duggins in 1799 in Garrard County, Kentucky. Garrard County was formed from Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1796 -- the year Sarah and William Sellers were married. Thus, these 5 Crawford couples were married in the area of 1788 Lincoln C...

Do you ever find yourself so engrossed in researching those 6th and 7th generation brick walls that you overlook documenting earlier generations with obvious sources? That's what I've found to be true with my research. I recently read the post, 7-gen-1-sheet that suggests using a spreadsheet of ancestors to look at one's data in a different manner. Thus, I decided to look at the sources I've attached to death facts to see whether I have sourced an obituary and their Find a Grave site. See all of that red? Needless to say, I've failed! A few of these don't have known death dates/locations - but I've been to some of the other graves shaded red. Before shading the 7th generation, I'm going to try and turn more of these yellow. To start turning the red to yellow, I started by checking the burial fact . For many of these 6th generation ancestors, I had attached the Find a Grave source to the burial fact but not to the death (or birth) f...

Are you overwhelmed with DNA data? Have you ever tried looking at the data in a different way to see what you can learn from it? The Leeds method of looking at DNA matches is often used for this purpose. Today, I read the blog post, 7-gen-1-sheet , by Ann Raymont. In this post, the author explains how to set up a spreadsheet to display 7 generations of ancestors. Once the spreadsheet is created, color coding can be used to identify patterns such as European roots, lineage society lines or whether a specific source has been used. Intrigued by how this spreadsheet could be used, I decided to create the page of ancestors. As I was creating the spreadsheet, I decided to use it to look at my ThruLines data. Since I've tested myself, my two brothers and my mother, I have four sets of ThruLines. Even though I've looked thru this data for each match, I've never compared the results. By adding columns for each of my DNA tests, I was able to record the number of matches...

In your genealogy research, do you have a FAN (Family Associates, Neighbors) club ? If so, do you ever see a name and question whether to add him/her to your FAN club? If so, that's how I felt about Moses Dooley. It was like that name, Moses Dooley, kept cropping up in different places and times. My first notes for Moses Dooley are from tax records for Preble County Ohio -- living in the same community as my ancestor, James Crawford (wife Sally Smith Duggins) and 'big' James Crawford (wife Martha Knight). Thinking that I should find Moses Dooley in Kentucky with these same Crawford families, I looked back at my Kentucky notes and discovered that I didn't record anything about Moses Dooley. Rechecking the tax records, I found Moses Dooley in 1794 Madison County, Kentucky -- on the same page as several Crawfords. [Kentucky, Madison. Tax Books, 1787-1874. Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY. Film #8126 DGS 7834478. Crawford James, William, 1794 Tax bookx ...

A Sellers DNA Mystery If you search your DNA matches for a member of your genealogy FAN (family, associates, neighbors) do come up with results? Do you ever scratch your head trying to figure out how they fit in your tree? I'm sure scratching my head trying to figure out the over 300 DNA matches to my brother who have SELLERS in their tree. (Note the number goes higher if I click on 'Include Similar Surnames'.) I do have Sellers in my database. I have a whole lot of them in my database. Since the Sellers family is part of my Lincoln County, Kentucky FAN club, I have tracked the descendants of Nathaniel Sellers (1720-1795) for several generations. Two of his sons, James and William, married into the Crawford family in Lincoln County, KY. The marriage records for these Crawford sisters, Mary and Sarah, suggest a relationship with the widow, Rebekah Crawford. Rebekah is also thought to be the mother of the James Crawford that married Martha Knight in Lincoln C...