176 posts tagged with genealogy.
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What's the current thinking on commercial DNA databases re privacy?
A relative who is conducting some genealogical research has asked if I'd be willing to submit a DNA sample. I'm not entirely opposed, but have some privacy concerns. [more inside]
Can you translate this old postcard from german to english?
I've been doing some work on tracing my family tree and need this postcard translated from german to english. [more inside]
How can I be sure who my great great great grandfather really was?
For those of you working on piecing together your family genealogy, what threshold of evidence do you use to feel confident of a link in your family tree? [more inside]
3rd Great-Grandfather, Who Wert Thou?
I've hit a roadblock in my genealogical research, specifically on my Scottish-born 3rd great grandfather. How can I get around it? [more inside]
What relation would my great-uncle's brother be to me?
I'm trying to get this straight in my head and there's no-one else around to ask. Can anyone help, please? Thanks.
Decipher some old handwriting
I'm trying to decipher a name on some old records (I can read the father's name OK, it's the mother's name I am having trouble with.
The name appears here, and is a bit clearer here.
(some more clues/details inside) [more inside]
Collaborative genealogy websites
Are there any genealogy websites, preferably free to all, that allow people to collaboratively build family trees? [more inside]
Resources for Mexican genealogy?
A few years ago my partner took a DNA test with Ancestry and tried to build her family tree, but she hit a roadblock on her Mexican father's side pretty early on. Complication: father was undocumented. [more inside]
It takes a village...
Please help me find the right genealogy software to create a "family" tree - not for my family but for the village I married into, where everybody knows everybody and I can never remember anyone's name. [more inside]
In search of searching...or something
My wife is looking for a new hobby/activity which scratches a particular problem solving/puzzle-ish itch. We've tried looking but honestly aren't even entirely sure what we're looking for so I suggested we see what kind of ideas the hive mind might offer up.
She's mostly looking for stuff that can be done indoors/at the computer but all suggestions welcome!
Her thoughts inside. [more inside]
How best to organise old family photos?
I have a few hundred old family photos that I want to digitise (using my iphone).
Please give me your recommendations on how I might best organise and store them together with some text about each photo. [more inside]
Can you help me read this early 20th century immigration document?
I am doing some genealogical research into family history (mostly involving Chinese Exclusion case files), and I have come across a document that seems important but is very difficult to make out. Can you read it? [more inside]
Last Name of Illegitimate Child in the Southern US?
Under what circumstances, if any, would an illegitimate child in the Southern US (e.g. Mississippi) have her father's last name instead of her mother's? (This answer has become much difficult to find since Jon Snow.)
The names of my youth
Is there any way to learn more about this person mentioned who James Cagney mentioned in passing? [more inside]
Exporting Info from Ancestry.com
We were given a .GED file that was exported from Ancestry.com. Does the .GED file only contain the people names and family tree structure? If so, is there any way to export all of the additional profile information and documents for each family member from an Ancestry.com family tree in bulk without having to manually print each? [more inside]
When will my being named as a father show up in Ancestry.com?
I was named as the father. I did the DNA test. It's mine. Now I'll be paying all associated support the court names. However I've been basically keeping this to myself. The question is, how long does that last? If you're named as a father on a birth certificate, how long till that shows up in Ancestry.com (where my sister and I share an account)? Or, for that matter, other publicly searchable databases? I just want to know how much time I have til I have to tell my own family.
What's the best free/cheap + quality/comprehensive genealogy software?
I've got more than two feet stacked up of notebooks, note cards, photocopies, maps, and god knows what all of genealogy I've been working on for more than 30 years. It needs to get computerized. [more inside]
Genealogy fans in England: How do I get WWII records?
I am researching my son's great-grandfather, born ~1911 in England. A census in 1944 lists him as Pvt #[6 digit number], R.A.S.C. Can I use this information to get the rest of his service record? Family lore says he died in the war, but I suppose we don't know that for sure.
Family Tree Resources?
Hi, AskMe. :) I've become interested in my genealogy lately, and decided to re-activate my account on Ancestry.com and see what I could dig up. I've had some success but would love any other resources you lovely people might suggest. My tree, as it stands now, is here. [more inside]
Using fashion for dating old photos?
I have a two part question about using fashion to help date photographs. [more inside]
What does this say? Deciphering Historical Handwriting
I am researching a genealogical dead end in my family and recently found a death record with the names of the parents of the person I'm stuck at. Exciting! ... But I can't read the names. [more inside]
Batch Sorting Question, Specific to DNA-based Genealogy
I am trying to sort my entire list of DNA matches on GEDmatch in a way that will let me carve out only a set of people related to an ancestor I cannot otherwise identify. [more inside]
Please help me find family tree software that doesn't suck!
I have a sprawling Sudanese family, and I'm hoping to build a family tree that covers my relatives going back at least four or five generations (which I'd guess encompasses several hundred people). It would serve as a memory aid for myself when interacting with relatives (I'm terrible with names) and as a digitized record that my relatives could access.
Sadly, I haven't had much luck with the software I've tried – everything out there seems to be really clunky and Western-oriented. Requirements enclosed. [more inside]
Family tree and geneaology word problem
What's my 2nd cousin once removed to my 2nd cousin on the other side? [more inside]
Figuring out a possible bio-dad - which DNA test?
I'd like to find out if I have a different biological father. My mother is estranged, my father is dead but I think I can get one of my (full/half?) siblings to agree to do a DNA test as well. I know my mother had an affair at the time I was conceived, and I have a possible name. This would be for 95% European-Australasia ancestry. 23andme, Ancestry...?
Name that book, family history edition
According to family lore, my great-great-grandmother named her son after a character in a book that she liked. This literary character's name was passed down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather to my father and partially to me.
The title of the book is a mystery. Can you tell me anything about a book written before 1891 that includes a character named Percy Winfield? [more inside]
A DNA test, a surprise relationship, and an ethical quandry
I took a DNA test, and found an unexpectedly close relationship with a total stranger; now I'm wondering what I should do about it. [more inside]
Slaveholder ancestor
Help me understand this 1799 will, written by a Virginia slaveholder. TW: Slavery, racism. [more inside]
What genealogy software do you use, and why?
What genealogy software do you use, and why? [more inside]
Tracing a Genetic Inheritance?
A recent blood test of my Caucasian mother revealed Sickle Cell Trait yet nowhere in her genealogical history going back many generations is there anyone from an ethnic group where this is more commonly found (African-Americans, Hispanics, South Asians, Middle East, southern Europe). I'm a student of my family genealogy and, while concerned about the medical issues, am nonetheless thrilled to know that my family is a bit more diverse than anyone realized. Some obvious questions arise, however... [more inside]
How can I mark polypropylene sheet protectors in a long-term way?
I recently purchased some polypropylene sheet protectors (like these), and I would like to know how I can mark them in a durable, long-term way. [more inside]
What language is this? Genealogy edition
My wife is working on some genealogy stuff and came across a picture that claims to be of the family's home town in the old country. Complicating factors: we're not entirely sure where the old country was, when the photo was taken, or what language the text on the front and back are. [more inside]
How should I properly characterize my California lineage?
Am I a sixth-generation Californian, a first-generation Californian, or something else? Since my great-great-great grandparents came to San Francisco from Ireland in the 1850s, all of my ancestors and myself have been born in California, except for my parents. Is there a term for how my California lineage should be characterized? [more inside]
Geneaologyfilter: Are we related to these famous golfers?
My dad suspects that we are related to the Smith bothers, three professional golfers who emigrated from Scotland to North America in the early 20th century. What could we do to find out more about them? [more inside]
Ok, so YSearch doesn't work.... is there anything similar around?
I paid for a Y-DNA test about 5 years ago. I can't find any site, besides ysearch, (no longer works) which allows me to enter my results and compare to others. Any suggestions? The company I used was DNA Consultants, which gives you the results but has no database of its own which can be used to compare to others.
Where to send my grandfather's memoir?
I recently finished editing my grandfather's memoir and I'm wondering what institutions may be interested in a copy. He is a German Jew (b. Halberstadt) who left for San Francisco in 1934. Topics: his early childhood (family life, local businesses, Jewish life/education, shifts under Nazi regime), the voyage, a good deal about growing up in San Francisco in the 30s and 40s, some WWII Army engineer anecdotes of France/Belgium, Berkeley in the 50s, the technology industry, MIT in the 60s, and more. [more inside]
Could you translate this German occupation to English? Prok.d.Fa.
The full occupation from 1940 is Prok.d.Fa. Natermann & Hurm and they lived in Bremen. What is Prok.d.Fa. ?
I want to write a family history book but MS Word isn't cutting it...
I have 30 years of family history research, documentation, photos, interviews, notes - I also have a bunch of info between my ears that I never got around to writing down. Funds are tight right now, so paying someone to write a book for me isn't going to happen. I need recommendations (as in, you've done this) for software, open source is best, which will help me organize and publish my family history as an ebook, with the option to pay a publisher some day for hard copies.
Genealogy Sites?
It's been a few years since this question has been asked, and I know things have changed since then. There's so much info out there on the various genealogy sites, and I'm not sure what to do. Right now I have free trials with MyHeritage and Geni, but apparently a relative has done a lot of research into a certain branch of my family on Ancestry.com. I'm looking for insight on which to pick in terms of price and usefulness, etc.
Solving a family heritage mystery -- Sweden vs. Denmark
I'm trying to figure out why my great-great-grandparents told the 1900 US census they were from Denmark, when really they were from Sweden. Would there have been some reason for the lie at that time? [more inside]
Remarrying after immigration?
Was it typical/usual/done at all for immigrants to the US (20th century, pre-WWI) to marry in the United States even if they had previously married in their country of origin? [more inside]
Finding a relative using limited information
We've got two photos, a first name and potential surname, rough year and known location at that time, distinguishing marks and military rank. What are our options for finding out more about someone from the past with this amount of information? [more inside]
Good genealogy websites for wildcard name searching?
I'm trying to compute all the variations of my family last names in hoping of finding more leads to my family tree. [more inside]
Should I hire a professional genealogist?
For the past several years I've been working on my family tree on Ancestry, which has been great. Lots of work has already been done on a number of branches, so there's lots of information. However, I've hit a few genuine dead ends and have run out of ideas of where to look and what to look for. Would hiring a professional researcher help? [more inside]
Do you know your Filipino given names? Help!
Quick and simple question: How common is the name Janeskie or Janeski as a given or first name for women in the Philippines? [more inside]
Name that organization!
I'm starting a group that will be pursuing Freedom of Information requests (mostly under state laws, not federal FOIA) to have genealogically and archivally relevant materials released from local and state archives and governments and put online for free access. But we need a name for this new group! [more inside]
Help name my genealogy website?
I'm putting together a genealogy website. Half of it is about my personal family history so my own relatives can look at it. The other half is about genealogy research itself, things of interest to other genealogists in general. I'd like a cool, fairly unique name for this website. Maybe a phrase? Any clever suggestions? Thanks!
Why did my Irish ancestors leave from Liverpool instead of Londonderry?
My 3-greats grandfather departed Liverpool, England with all of his children for America and arrived here in New York on November 18, 1866. The thing is, I am as sure as I can be that he lived in Raphoe, Donegal, Ireland. Why would he go alll the way to Liverpool when Londonderry was so close? [more inside]
What does this passport say?
This is my uncle's passport. It was issued in 1949. He was originally from Aleppo, Syria, but he lived elsewhere. I'm not certain what some of the words are (in French and in Arabic) on his passport. [more inside]
What could this building be?
I have a photo of my grandfather from the 1930s standing in front of the doorway of a building. I'd like to figure out what the building is and have a few hints that may help narrow it down, but I haven't had any luck just yet. [more inside]