Pushing the Boundaries

Tonight I made a guest appearance on Steve St. Clair's SinclairDNA BlogTalkRadio episode - Pushing the Boundaries of What Can Be Learned from Your DNA.

The episode was recorded live Friday, February 21 (2014).  You can listen to the recording through your computer by using this link - SinclairDNA

Steve and I talked about my recent experience with y-DNA research; Mapping y-DNA, William the Conqueror and a rare R1b group R-L11*.  We'll also talked a bit on the future of y-DNA testing.

Have a listen if you get a moment.  You can even download the show and take it with you.

The Future of Genealogy: Four Stories

   Come in and close the door. Sit down and make yourself comfortable. Would you like a nice cup of Darjeeling tea?

   I have a crystal ball. It does not show a singular future, it shows multiple possible futures. That’s what you get when you drop it one too many times.

   You want to know what the future of genealogy holds? I could ‘read’ you and tell you exactly what you want to hear. My first impression though, is that you didn’t just fall off the turnip truck and that you will appreciate seeing the whole picture without the sugar glazing. I will regale you with four very different stories of the future and since you look very trustworthy, I will let you peek behind the ‘curtains’.

   The future is not carved in stone waiting for the sunrise to reveal a new chapter. Telling the future is not mystical, it is a combination of science and plausible fiction. All you need to do is analyze the social, political, opportunity, innovation and legal trends that are driving the future. There are many more drivers, including environment, economy, education and technology, but I was looking for a cool acronym (SPOIL).

   For this prognostication to work we need the biggest drivers as they relate to genealogy. I’m going to rule out the economy. Even in a down economy, folks are still spending. Environmental factors, while huge, don’t play a significant role. Education is key, but it rolls up to larger social issues. I think the big three are society, technology and the law.

   Federal, State and local governments have the ability to enact laws that could either help or hinder genealogical research. The trends within this aspect are well understood. Unless an Amendment is repealed, I expect that as a whole more records will be available rather than less.

   There are quite a few social issues. The baby-boomers are still retiring and actively trying to get in touch with their roots. The next generation is interested in family history, but not necessarily traditional genealogy. Professional genealogists are concerned about proper sourcing and the growing surge of ad-hoc genealogy. Genealogical societies are struggling with increasing their memberships as the oldest generation is becoming history.

   Technology is a double-edged sword. It can drive adoption and it can be a gatekeeper. New tools will make it easier to do genealogical research, but perhaps it will make it too easy. As more family history becomes technology driven a portion of the community will become disenfranchised. Can technology solve all our problems or will it be our downfall?

The Stories:

Wild Wild Web
   My friends and my enemies call me Dr. Bob. I consider myself a modern day scoundrel. I’m known as the go to guy for anything genealogy related. Ever since AncestorBook accidentally released financial and privacy info on their one billion customers, the web has been more like a ghost town. My clients are always amazed at the detail of my research results. A little fiction goes a long way. After a search and replace on a few surnames, I can sell the same family tree over and over. It’s not like anyone is going to check up on my work or my lack of credentials. If you look up genealogy in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of me. I redefine family history every day.

Genealogy is easy money.


Golden Age
   Hi, I’m Bonnie Jean and this is my first week as a genealogical consultant for Gene-way. I can’t tell you how hard I worked at having the right dinner parties and getting introduced to the right folks down at the club before I finally received my invitation to join Gene-way. As soon as I have one hundred clients under my belt then I can start inviting and sponsoring my own associates. That shouldn’t be hard, if folks want an official genealogy following the Gene-way Genealogical Standard, then they are required to go through a Gene-way consultant. The internet has become such a place full of filth, corruption and social openness that no right-minded person will go there. Even though the libraries and archives are thriving and busy, I’m still home from researching in time to make dinner for my family.

Genealogy is big business.


Woodstock 3.0
   Skye here, casting to you via the socialnet. I’m here at GeneaCon, the largest virtual family history convention this month. As you can see, I’m sporting the latest tie-dye fashions because I’m heading for the Woodstock pavilion. The fans there have given the storytellers over a million thumbs-up. One of the stories coming up is going to be about my great great grandfather. I’m not sure who he is or how he is related, but my Ancestor App is telling me that this is a must-see. With Genealogy 3.0 I don’t have to worry about names and dates and records, the apps just do it all automatically. Genealogy is about the hardships and the emotions and the exciting events that my ancestors have been through. Someday I’d like to be a professional story weaver. Now that’s real entertainment.

Genealogy just wants to be free.


The Empire
   Hello...hello...this is Simon. Our location has been compromised and this may be my last transmission. Moments ago we finished hacking ProGene’s 1950 US Census database. Our breach did not go unnoticed and the feds are massing outside. ProGene used to protect the genealogists. They made sure we had access to records. Just when technology was getting easier and digital records were becoming more accessible, ProGene inked a deal with the feds to get proprietary rights to the records. ProGene claimed that this was the only way to keep data free, but it essentially locked it away from the average user unless you engaged with ProGene consulting. We won’t stop until all genealogical records are freely avail........damn, they’re coming through the door and they have mind erasing gear. Simon out....

Genealogical freedom is not free.


   I have painted four dystopian pictures of our genealogical future and have used a fair amount of hyperbole. Technology is wonderful, it has brought us the digital revolution and made records available, creating a genealogical boom. Technology should never replace good research practice or become so integrated into our lives that the loss would be devastating. The definition of what genealogy is should not be defined by any one person or group. I was once told that if I didn’t have proof, then it wasn’t genealogy. That is not the way I want to practice. I am perfectly happy living in a genealogical world that combines proof and theory.

   Predicting the future is like announcing the latest fashion trend. As soon as you tell everyone about it, you have guaranteed that the trend will die. You are no longer in fashion if everyone is wearing the same thing. When you announce the future, there will be groups that will actively work toward and against that vision. The net gain falls somewhere short of the prediction and usually to the benefit of the human race.

   I've shown you four stories that I don’t want to come true and they won’t. The intention is for you to think about what the future of genealogy should look like.  What would you want to happen or not happen?  Meanwhile, each new generation will shape some aspect of the future. We can choose to understand their needs and shepherd them or we can sit back and enjoy the surprise of what Genealogy 3.0 will bring.

   For now, relax and finish your tea. The future is not here....yet.

Why Y-DNA?

   I talk about using DNA for genealogy often.  My favorite is the Y-DNA test.  It has the largest number of benefits for the researcher.  I also get quite a few discouraging comments about Y-DNA.

   Recently I was told that Y-DNA marker mutation rates were too unstable.  The comment might give the impression that Y-DNA testing was unreliable or unusable.  This is far from the truth.  The marker mutation rates are exactly what makes Y-DNA so valuable.  Without the mutations, we would all be one big happy/unhappy haplogroup.

   Another comment I hear is that Y-DNA only tests your paternal line and that is just a small fraction of your genealogy.  This is true.  But...

   My genealogy is more than just my paternal line.  I’m sure many of us can’t help but to associate deeply with our paternal line, our surname.  That deep association makes getting the Y-DNA test so important.
That doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped with my DNA.  I’ve also collected my father-in-law’s DNA.  I am planning to collect DNA from my mother’s male line and my mother-in-law’s male line, etc., etc.  It’s very possible to collect samples for hundreds of your surnames.  See the second half of my post on NPEs.

Here is a short list of reasons to get your Y-DNA tested:

   Cultural origins:  We focus a lot of our time on nationalities.  I’m Italian or I’m Irish.  Your nationality will only take you so many years into the past, depending on how old your nation is.  DNA testing (y-dna and mitochondrial) allows you to go further back in time to a cultural heritage – celtic, norse, phoenician or native American as examples.  Between my Y-DNA and my autosomal tests, I can tell you which Caucasus Mountain culture that I relate to.

   Traditional research validation:  You can have a great paper trail and have a bad genealogy.  There will be non-paternal events.  When you compare your Y-DNA test for your surname Brown and all the other matches, across a half dozen databases, come back with the surname Brown you will feel confident about your research.  If your matches come back with the surname Green, then you will have some work to do.

   Traditional research to find Y-DNA:  You will need to use traditional research to find all those cousins you need to get samples from.  You can also use your existing research to find the Y-DNA of your ancestors.  Typically every DNA database asks for the most distant paternal ancestor (Y-DNA) or maternal ancestor (mito).  If you search for your ancestors among these records you will then have the results of a test someone else has already completed.  I will be posting a mini-webinar on this subject to walk you through the process.

   Adoption research:  In the case of adoption, you are hoping to get that surprise surname.  In my research, I ran across a person by the name of Tom Doty.  In his profile, he stated that he had been adopted.  What made him stand out was that his DNA matched so closely with a very large Dodge surname study.  I contacted him and pointed him in the right direction.

   Discover living relatives:  Every match is a connection to a living cousin.  Odds are pretty good that one of you can help the other connect the dots on your common ancestry.

   Mapping your tribe:  As I mentioned earlier, it is the mutations in Y-DNA that give it the most value.  Using those mutations, you can trace your ancestors across time.  Using readily available tools, you can calculate that you and a group of individuals have a common ancestor 1000 years ago or 2000 years.  Map the ancestral locations of that group and look for patterns to emerge.  I will be giving a talk on this subject in March.

   All DNA tests have their pros and cons.  With a good understanding of the possibilities and the limitations, we can develop some new tricks that the DNA companies have never thought of.  If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that genealogists are very resourceful.

Genealogical Lemons

   Have you ever gone down the wrong research path or followed a family line only to find out that there is no relationship?  I have.  I do it on purpose.

   In my research I see a lot of family trees that just stop.  They don’t stop because of a brick wall. They stop because the researcher probably didn’t see the value in continuing that line.  In their defense, these discontinued lines are usually ancillary and not the focus of their research.

   I will argue that every line should be followed as far as possible.  Every time I find a new maternal link, that link is another new surname with a potential to dovetail back into my main lines.  For me it is all about the connections, which is why my genealogy database has over 500,000 people.

   I’ve been reading The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  Last month I posted about Herman Mudgett.  I’m never going to get through the book because I keep putting it down to research another new name.

   If you are not familiar with the book, it tells two intertwined historical stories.  Larson weaves the history and the people who created the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago with the account of America’s first known serial killer.  The creation of the 1893 World’s Fair was America’s way of outdoing France’s 1889 Exposition Universelle.  One of France’s greatest attractions created for their Exposition was the Eiffel Tower.  At completion in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest man-made structure for the next 41 years.
For the World’s Fair in Chicago, they needed something better than the Eiffel Tower.  They got the very first Ferris wheel.  Not just any Ferris wheel, this one could carry over 2000 people at a time.  The inventor’s name was George Washington Gale Ferris.

   So, I put down the book because George Washington Gale Ferris sounded like a great name to research.  The Gale name is what attracted me the most.  The Gale family has a lot of ties to Worcester Co. Massachusetts.  How was Ferris related?  Long story short – he wasn’t.  Even though Ferris’ Gale roots didn’t lead where I hoped, I didn’t stop researching.  I looked at every path and another name jumped out – Olmstead.

   Another major name from Larson’s book is Frederick Law Olmstead.  Olmstead was the landscape architect for the 1893 World’s Fair and is also known as the designer of New York’s Central Park.
Were Ferris and Olmstead related?  You betcha.

James Olmstead (1551-1595) & Jane Bristow (1554-1582)
Richard Olmstead & Frances Slany
Richard Olmstead
John Olmstead & Mary Benedict
Daniel Olmstead & Hannah Ketchum
Nathan Olmstead & Millicent Goodrich
Hezekiah Olmstead & Sarah Gale
Sarah Olmstead & Sylvanus Ferris
George Ferris & Martha Hyde
George Washington Gale Ferris (1859-1896)

James Olmstead (1551-1595) & Jane Bristow (1554-1582)
James Olmstead & Joyce Cornish
Nicholas Olmstead & Sarah Loomis
Joseph Olmstead & Elizabeth Butler
Joseph Olmstead & Hannah Marsh
Jonathan Olmstead & Hannah Meakins
Benjamin Olmstead & Content Pitkin
John Olmstead & Charlotte Hull
Frederick Law Olmstead (1822-1903)

That makes George and Frederick 7th cousins once removed.  While not a close connection, it is a fun connection.  If you are out today, look at the nearest stranger.  What is the probability that you are related?  Higher than you think.

Whenever possible, I turn genealogical lemons into lemonade.

Genealogy Addiction: Just Say Know

*Caution: This may be a parody

   If you’re worried about your own or a friend or family member’s genealogy research addiction, it’s important to know that help is available.  Learning about the nature of genealogy addiction - how it develops, what it looks like, and why it can have such a powerful hold - will give you a better understanding of the problem and how to best deal with it.

   People start genealogy for many different reasons. Many first try researching out of curiosity, to have a good time or because friends are doing it. Researching ancestors doesn’t automatically lead to addiction, and there is no specific level at which research moves from casual to chronic. It varies by individual.  No matter how often or how little you’re researching, if your genealogy is improving your life—at work, school, home, or in your relationships—you likely have an addiction.

Genealogy and the brain

• Researching causes a surge in levels of dopamine in your brain, which trigger feelings of pleasure. Your brain remembers these feelings and wants them repeated.
• These changes in your brain increase your ability to think clearly, make connections, and feel mentally stimulated.
• The urge to research genealogy is so strong that your mind finds many ways to deny or rationalize the addiction. You may drastically underestimate the duration of research, how much it improves your life, and the number of ancestors remaining to be documented.

Common signs and symptoms

• You’ve built up a research tolerance. You need to research more to experience the same effects you used to attain with smaller amounts.
• You research genealogy to avoid or relieve withdrawal symptoms. If you go too long without genealogy, you experience symptoms such as restlessness, insomnia and anxiety. 
• You’ve lost control over your genealogy time. You often research more than you planned, even though you told yourself you wouldn’t. You may want to stop researching, but you feel powerless against its attraction. 
• Your life revolves around genealogy. You spend a lot of time thinking about genealogy, figuring out how to do more research, and recovering from weeklong conferences. 
• You’ve abandoned activities you used to enjoy, such as reality TV, collecting garden gnomes, and root canals, because of your genealogy. 

Physical warning signs of genealogy research addiction

• Bloodshot eyes, long periods in front of a computer screen. 
• Changes in appetite or sleep patterns. Up all night researching. 
• Signs of genealogy paraphernalia; old books, index cards and Flip-Pal scanners.

Behavioral signs of genealogy research addiction

• Sudden change in friends, favorite hangouts, and hobbies. 
• Unexplained need for money for the latest software or DNA test. 
• Engaging in secretive or suspicious behaviors; wandering around attics and graveyards.
• Repeated unexplained outings, often with a sense of urgency; “I have to go to the Archive.”

Psychological warning signs of genealogy research addiction

• Unexplained change in personality or attitude. Increased optimism and sense of connectedness.
• Sudden mood swings, irritability, or angry outbursts about brick walls. 
• Periods of unusual hyperactivity, agitation, or giddiness after a breakthrough.  

Support is essential

   Don’t try to go it alone; it’s all too easy to get discouraged and rationalize “just one more” ancestor. Whether you choose to go to events, rely on webinars or take a self-directed learning approach, support is essential. Living with genealogy addiction is much easier when you have people you can lean on for encouragement, comfort, and guidance.

Coming to terms with genealogy addiction

   Remember, you’re not just helping yourself, but everyone around you.  You are uncovering history and adding meaning to the events of your ancestor’s lives.  You are creating a sense of how the world and its people are connected.  You are passing your legacy on to future generations.

Just say know.

Old Dogs and New Genealogy Clues

   We organize data and it becomes information.   We interpret and integrate that information and it becomes knowledge.  When knowledge of one topic merges with the knowledge of another, we get the spark called innovation.

   I have been researching genealogy for over 25 years and the world of genealogy keeps changing.  I plan to keep changing along with it and learn as many new tricks as I can.
  
   I haven’t had the need to do much Civil War research in the past but I decided to take advantage of a workshop presented by the National Archives in Waltham.  The session was titled Torn in Two: Researching Civil War Records at the National Archives.  I had been to the Archives dozens of times in search of Naturalization records.  This was an opportunity to find out what else they offered.


   The most important and most disappointing information that I learned was that Waltham didn’t have any of the Service or Pension records.  Everything was in Washington DC.  This drawback was offset by the fact that Waltham does have thousands of other Civil War records and letters.


   The presentation focused on the hidden treasure behind the Service and Pension records.  Once you have a Pension application number or the regiment that your ancestor served in you can send away for the entire file.  This entire file could be dozens of records including letters and genealogical information.


   As soon as the workshop was over, I took advantage of the newfound knowledge and headed for the research room.  The Archive’s Service records are indexed by Ancestry.com and the Pension records are indexed by Fold3.com.  If you have access to these sites then you can get started at home, if not well the National Archives gives you access for free.


   I started with some research for a friend.  A few minutes later, I had the Massachusetts regiment that her ancestor served in and the Pension index record with two application numbers, one for him and one for his wife after he died.  Using the application numbers my friend will be able to send away for a variety military files the government has collected.


   I was a bit luckier. 

   My 3rd great grand uncle, George Albig, was born in Germany and immigrated to the US around 1850.  Thirteen years later, he fought for the Union and died at the Battle of Ringgold Gap in Georgia.  His mother, Margaretha (Hess) Albig, (my 4th g-grandmother) filed for George’s pension.  Fold3 had 20 pages digitized from this pension application.   Many of these pages were sworn affidavits from friends and neighbors saying that Margaretha was who she said she was.  


   One document was genealogy gold.  It had the birth information for my 4th g-grandfather, Johann Georg Albig, in 1796 in Endsee, Germany and the birth of Anna Margaretha Hessin in 1800 in Hartershofen, Germany.  There were the godparent’s names and the parishes where the baptisms took place also.  I now know that they were married in 1820 and that there is a 14-year gap between that marriage and the birth of my 3rd g-grandmother, who I thought was the first born, which creates a few questions.


   Take every opportunity to learn something new, every day if possible.  This old dog learned a new trick and the rewards were records that confirmed my research and opened up new avenues into this line of German ancestry.