Speaker for the Dead: A Genealogy Blog
Why I don’t sync RootsMagic with Ancestry, anymore.
Keeping my RootsMagic (RM) data and Ancestry data consistent is made simple by the TreeShare functionality in RM. Any work done on Ancestry, such as attaching documents to a profile or adding facts to a person, can be synced to RM without needing to manually reenter the […]
Finding the Mystery Father of Ernest Piatt with Autosomal DNA Matches – Part 3 or 3
by Stewart Blandón Traiman, MD
[This article was originally published in The California Nugget, Spring 2024 edition.]
The DNA Connections
We have successfully verified the relationships of eleven DNA matches within the mystery line and have identified common ancestors. These relationships fall within the statistically expected range of shared centimorgans (cM) and have a […]
Finding the Mystery Father of Ernest Piatt with Autosomal DNA Matches – Part 2 of 3
by Stewart Blandón Traiman, MD
[This article was originally published in The California Nugget, Spring 2024 edition.]
Searching for a Common Ancestor
Our next focus was to research the eleven matches with connections to the mystery line to determine how they related to each other. [See Genogram]
Cousin 08 – This cousin was the known […]
Finding the Mystery Father of Ernest Piatt with Autosomal DNA Matches – Part 1 of 3
by Stewart Blandón Traiman, MD
[This article was originally published in The California Nugget, Spring 2024 edition.]
In my son’s (J.T.) paternal lineage, there is a persistent mystery surrounding a third great-grandfather whose identity was thought to be unknowable. Ernest Richard Piatt, J.T.’s biological second-great-grandfather, was raised not knowing who his father was. Ernest’s […]
Evidence Explained: Third Edition vs. Fourth Edition
Upon discovering the imminent release of a new edition of Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifact to Cyberspace, I was filled with both eager anticipation and apprehension of change. The third edition (revised) was published seven years ago in 2017, and the prospect of a refreshed volume piqued […]
Poor Penmanship Confuses the Identify of Mary Yearwood Weast Rose
Samuel Rose married in Macon County, North Carolina on 16 April 1836.[i] His bondsman was Jonathan Phillip. Both Samuel’s and Jonathan’s names are legible on the document. However, the name of Samuel’s spouse is not written clearly and looks like this…
The first name reads as “May,” but […]
LGBTQ Genealogy – Part 15a
Happy Pride Month Everyone!!
This is a month to honor all LGBTQ+ folk past, present, and future. As genealogists and family historians, when we encounter individuals in our family trees that raise our rainbow flag or set off our “gaydar,” it’s crucial to pay attention to that intuition and delve deeper. […]
Nicaragua Genealogy
Nicaragua Genealogy
A brief time ago, FamilySearch posted new databases for church records in Nicaragua – Archivo Diocesano de Granada (Nicaragua). This group contains baptismal, matrimonial, and death records for churches in Boaco, Diriomo, Granada, Nandiame, Ometepe, and Rivas. I was especially happy to see three databases that relate to […]
They / Them Pronouns
Using “They” or “Them” as pronouns is the appropriate and respectful choice for non-binary individuals or anyone who identifies with these terms. I candidly admit that adapting to what my mind perceives as plural terms has been challenging. It’s not a resistance to acknowledging preferred pronouns; rather, it’s the need […]
