COVID Didn’t Help My Genealogy

 When the pandemic hit in 2020 and the world seemed to stop for a moment, it didn’t do for my genealogy research what I thought it would do.  Working remote on a full-time basis for the first time, I was sure that I would have more time to do research.  Surely the time saved in the morning and evening commute would leave more free time to research.

Instead, I found myself working more sporadically on the family tree.  Sure, I was able to complete the goal of joining some lineage societies, but I definitely haven’t been able to keep up with day-to-day research.  Or this blog.

Work intensified and other outside commitments have eaten up much of my time. Working from home is still working, it’s not being “semi-retired” as someone referred to me when I told them I was still remote.

Many well-intentioned and half-baked projects to write about remain.  Hopefully, I’ll get them started before the next crisis draws me away.

DNA Cousin Email Template

I’ve been working on a new template to use when reaching out to my DNA matches, hoping to inspire some collaboration.  Here’s an example:

 Hello cousin -

AncestryDNA predicts that we are 2nd-3rd cousins, sharing 192cM (centimorgans) across 10 segments.

Because you also match my father, sharing 406cM (centimorgans), I know that our common ancestors must be on my paternal side.  Looking at the shared matches we have at Ancestry, many of them have ancestry in common with my Lemasters-Wehrly family lines.

Due to the absence of a  family tree at Ancestry, I have not found any commonality yet.  Are you aware of any anomalies in the family tree? 

Would like to work together with you to determine exactly where the relationship lies.  Could you provide a screenshot of your top matches at AncestryDNA or provide me access to your results?

I’ve built a family tree online that does not require membership at Ancestry, at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/LeMaster-580 .  This is a collaborative tree, and I would appreciate any corrections or additions you can provide.

If you’d prefer to share information outside of the Ancestry message system, my email is travis.lemaster@gmail.com 

I have also tested at other DNA sites - such as 23&Me, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and LivingDNA.

What are your thoughts?

Self Documentation - County Birth Certificate

 The next piece of evidence in my quest to make sure that I had documented my own existence and was able to link back through each generation was a copy of my birth certificate provided by the local county Health Department.

The scanned copy of the certificate indicated it was issued back in 1985, so this document was requested by my parents for some official purpose and ended up in my possession.  The heading on the document indicates the name of the county Board of Health and titles the document as a Certificate of Birth Registration.

The certificate gives the city and date of my birth, and lists both of my parents by their first, middle and last names - but again it does not list my mother's maiden name.

The birthplace of both of my parents is listed on this certificate.  Both of them were born in Indiana, and it gives the exact certificate number, as well as the book and page where the document is maintained.

Once again, regarding the proof standard - this document provides original, direct evidence of my parent's names - but it does not list the maiden name of my mother.  The document does, however, list the middle names of both of my parents.

My RootsMagic database has been updated with this source information and the type (original, primary, direct) in relationship to the birth fact.

For many years, this document was the extent of my self-documentation, and it would only be when I began validating my line with an eye towards joining a lineage society, did I realize that my data was incomplete.  

Earlier posts on this topic include Documenting Myself and Even Weak Evidence Can Teach.