Genealogy Adventures

Now that I have some spare time while the books are with the editors, I wanted to share an accidental discovery I made using AncestryDNA’s ThruLines. Or, in other words, this is how I made a genealogical discovery via inaccurate information provided from an erroneous ThruLine.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/01/08/cracking-genetic-genealogy-cold-cases-with-incorrect-ancestrydna-thrulines/

At the time of writing this, genealogists are spoiled for choice when it comes to publishing their family histories. Your research can take the form of a book, an e-book (e.g., Kindle), a series of website articles, a movie, a family history newsletter, or a documentary, or an audio podcast. If you decide to write a book, you have the option of self-publishing.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/03/22/writing-and-publishing-your-family-history-part-3-of-4-choosing-your-publishing-platform/

Every story is led by either a hero, protagonist or anti-hero. What's the difference between these three?  A hero, male or female, saves the day. A hero can be the main character - just like a protagonist.  Heros combat adversity through feats of courage, strength, or ingenuity. Modern heroes, who perform great deeds or selfless acts for the common good, have moved on from the classical hero model whose focus was the goal of wealth, fame, or pride.

A protagonist is always the main character in a drama. However, unlike a hero, a protagonist does not always do the right thing. Right or wrong, a protagonist's actions are based on what they believe is the greater good.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/03/23/writing-and-publishing-your-family-history-part-3-of-4-choose-hero-protagonist-type-supporting-cast/

The structure of a book depends on the organization of events in the plot of the story. So what, exactly, is a plot? A plot is a term that is used to describe the events that make up a story. In short, the plot is the main part of a story. These events relate to each other in a sequence or a pattern of events or experiences.

The plot is the foundation of a story. It's the focal point around which a writer builds his or her characters and story settings. Why is it a focal point? A plot organizes events and relays information in a manner that is logical. A plot also drives the story, and all of a story's characters, forward, providing writers with natural action points that add drama, insights, revelations, and all of the great things that makes stories interesting, compelling, and engaging for readers.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/03/24/writing-and-publishing-your-family-history-part-2-of-4-choose-your-plot/

Writing your family's story might seem like a daunting task. However, just like genealogical research and creating a genealogy research strategy - writing success comes down to planning, strategy, research, understanding the process, and perseverance.

This series of articles will explore how to write a compelling narrative non-fiction family history book - as opposed to a lineage or pedigree style family history book.

So let's begin at the beginning and contemplate some fundamental aspects of writing a family history book.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/03/25/writing-and-publishing-your-family-history-part-1-of-4-understand-your-story/

Credit for this discovery goes to my cousin and co-host, Donya Williams. This latest addition to Ancestry's DNA tools was so subtle that I missed it. At the time of writing this article, this little tool remains unnamed. In the interest of referring to it by a specific name, I refer to it as the Ancestry DNA Match Add Tool (DMA Tool, for short).

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/07/01/ancestrys-dna-match-add-tool/

When it comes to researching enslaved people, finding the slavery-related documents they may appear in is a critical part of this type of research. That’s pretty self-evident. What may not be so readily apparent is deciphering the information that is contained in these documents. An enslaver’s probate records – his or her last will and testament, codicils, and estate inventories – are pretty straightforward documents. If the genealogy gods are with us, these documents can also spell out family relationships among the enslaved people who are cited in probate records.

Random lists of enslaved people are where things can become challenging when it comes to deciphering the information stand-alone lists contain. What may appear to be just a list of enslaved people can yield important genealogical information to the trained eye.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/08/25/using-slave-lists-in-your-enslaved-ancestors-research/

Brian Sheffey is working on a paid research case that has gripped his interest. One reason why this case intrigues him is it is very different from the research he has done for his own family. On both of his parents’ side of the family tree that involves enslaved people, his parents’ enslaved ancestors were kept mainly within their respective enslaving families. Their direct ancestors also rarely left the colony or state where they were enslaved.

The case he is working on couldn’t be more different. It involves the multiple movements of enslaved people across the nascent United States.  He thought he would do a write-up in the form of a case study for the work he has done to-date.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/09/17/case-study-researching-enslaved-people-taken-or-sold-downriver/

In short, this method of adding enslaved populations of people to a family tree was a revolutionary development. You can see a real-world example of this methodology in practice on the Genealogy Adventures family tree on Ancestry.com.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/11/09/using-the-beyond-kin-methodology-for-poorly-documented-fpoc-homesteading-ancestors/

While we, as researchers, endeavour to provide a solid paper trail to document familial relationships - there are times these records simply don't exist. So we have to rely on whatever paper trail we can uncover, and then use deductive reasoning and critical thinking to fill in the gaps. It's not ideal, however, poorly documented ancestors didn't know they would have descendants looking for them over a century later.  And then write our discoveries and research rationale and add this information as a report to the poorly documented ancestors in our tress to enable other researchers to follow our information and logic stream.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://genealogyadventures.net/2020/12/20/researching-poorly-documented-ancestors-harriet-roberts-northampton-county-nc/