A little over a year ago, I learned that I had Hawkins ancestors on my mother’s side. If DNA is any indication, I appear to have Hawkins on my father’s side, too. Most trees on Ancestry.com indicate that Valentine Choate’s middle name was “Hawkins” for two reasons: 1.) a deed floating out there somewhere attributing a middle initial of “H”… More →
Author: K Trantham
Naomi
A lot has happened since the last time I posted just a short few days ago. I now know the identity of Naomi Pearce’s father and her maiden name. She’s no longer a brick wall. KA-BOOM! It happened like this: I reached out to a DNA match on Ancestry whose private (i.e., hidden) family tree contained the surname “Gabel”. I… More →
Uncle Barnabas?
In 2017, I wrote about my 4th great grandmother, Neoma Pearce (maiden name unknown). Neoma, or Anna, was the mother of Harriet (Pearce) Boren. Three years later, I am still searching for clues as to Neoma’s parentage. I’ve said this before: the further back in the time you go, the harder genealogical research becomes. The lack of records pointing you… More →
Genealogical Byrd-en
The lack of recent posts doesn’t mean I have abandoned genealogy. Quite the opposite, I am knee-deep in research on a couple of fronts. I have discovered a Charles “Peirce” and George “Peirce” living in Lincoln County, North Carolina in the 1790 census. “Charles” was the name of my 4th great grandfather Spencer Pearce’s father. Spencer was allegedly born in… More →
Germanna Germane
My mother was very proud of her paternal German ancestors who came to America in 1836 and settled near Osage County, Missouri. Before her passing, she gifted each of her children with overflowing notebooks of her genealogical research – the history of our ancestors. But, as all genealogists know, there’s always more to be learned and always another ancestor to… More →
I have fifteen going on sixteen…
Just when you thought you’d identified all of your cousins who married your cousins, up pops couple number 15. It’s been a while since I’ve posted on this topic. In summary, I have found 15 of my mother’s distant cousins who married 15 of my father’s distant cousins. I have to give Ancestry’s ThruLines credit for this latest find. Based… More →
Sally, Sarah, Sukie
As I mentioned in my previous post, I expect more from my DNA. A week ago, one of my Joyce cousins posted new information about my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Ann (Roberts) Joyce. He discovered that she was still living in 1889, when one of her granddaughters was married in her home. This same cousin went on to describe Sarah… More →
Nancy Rogers
A couple of months ago, I decided that I needed my DNA to work harder. I came to this conclusion after realizing that the tried and true paper-trail methods of genealogical research were getting me nowhere. Brick wall here, brick wall there, brick wall everywhere. If the documents I needed to prove a genealogical relationship didn’t exist, DNA was my… More →
Shallow Gene Pools
Admittedly, I am a sucker for anything having to do with genealogy and DNA. So, when an email landed in my inbox promising 25% off something called a “GPS Origins” DNA analysis, I jumped at the chance to learn more about the migration patterns of my “ancient” ancestors! How could I pass up the opportunity to get GPS coordinates pinpointing… More →
Through and ThruLines
One of Ancestry.com’s newest genetic tools is called ThruLines. Essentially, ThruLines looks at your DNA matches and information in your collective family trees and attempts to create a biologically-based family tree explaining how you are/might be related through a potentially common ancestor. I have a love/hate relationship with this tool. Unfortunately, in a few cases, it has picked up bad,… More →