The couple on the left are my grandparents – Bobbie Witherell and Mary Hummel. I’m not sure who is on the right.
The
Category: Personal Page 7 of 9
Yesterday I posted about the FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) tests I sent to my grandparents. I was able to transfer my AncestryDNA to FTDNA and I’m anxiously waiting for that to finish up. While I’m waiting, I’m trying to learn as much as I can about the tools that FTDNA has to offer by going through their webinars. Specifically those on the FamilyFinder, the tests I sent to my grandparents and the one I transferred.
The videos are about an hour and a half long a piece and I’m taking as many notes as I can while I’m watching. I also have a list of books I plan on getting from the library on DNA too! GRIP is having a DNA course this summer (still open by the way!) and although I can’t quite manage the cost this year, I looked at the course and noted the pre-reading recommended for the course:
Genetic Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond by Emily D. Aulicino
Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA by Richard Hill
DNA and Social Networking: A Guide to Genealogy in the Twenty-First Century by Debbie Kennett
Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner
I Have the Results of My Genetic Genealogy Test, Now What? by Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD and Matt Dexter (the link is to the PDF version)
So those are now on my to-read list.
So those books, along with the webinars I mentioned should help make me better at interpreting the DNA tests once my grandparents send them in! If you’re interested in learning about using DNA in your genealogy, I highly recommend checking out the free webinars on FTDNA and checking out as many books as you can on the subject! Lucky for me, this was my favorite topic in science so I hope that I will be just as interested now as I was then. 🙂
Any other suggestions for learning about DNA (cost effective is always a plus!)? Leave a comment below!
Happy hunting!
This weekend we had a family get together because of the holiday. I don’t normally take advantage of family holidays to check items off of my genealogy checklist because it tends to be quite noisy and food driven. However, this time I did for a few reasons.
1) I had asked my grandmother if I could borrow her old VHS family videos to make DVDs for her (and me). She was excited as she wanted that done for a while so I happily got some old VHS that I can convert at my local library:
2) I had found some neat information on my maternal line (so my grandmother’s line) that I shared with her while she was here. Everyone in the living room got quiet and then all came over to see new pictures I found. That surprised me! I knew both my grandparents were interested in what I find on their families but I didn’t know everyone else would be too. That started a great conversation with my cousin too. I’m excited that so many people can’t wait to hear what I find out next!
3) I finally asked for my grandparents DNA! Or well, if they would take a test for me. They both said yes and my grandmother chuckled and said “No one has ever asked for my spit before.” Ha! I had asked if they had a preference for a spit test or a cheek swab test, and they didn’t care either way, but I am going with FTDNA instead of 23andme because of what it can offer.
I do try to remember to ask my grandparents questions because they are still here. I hadn’t realized that so many others of my family would also be interested in their answers so I think from now on, I’ll start up conversations with the whole family there as well. It could bring up some fun side stories too.
I wanted to share this as a reminder to those out there that still have older relatives who you can ask family questions. Do it! You may be surprised at what you can find out 🙂
Happy hunting!
I hope all of you got through April Fools with ease! As a past teacher, I dreaded the day. Luckily it normally landed on spring break but when it didn’t, I always felt extra cautious!
When I started this blog over a year ago (it was then My People in History), I didn’t really know what to expect. I got the blogging idea after searching for people’s opinions on some genealogy education I was looking into and found a LOT of genealogy blogs. I decided to participate and created my blog with the intention of discussing going from a hobbyist to a professional as well as a place to record my own family history.
What I didn’t expect was the “cousin bait.” If you’re unfamiliar with this term, “cousin bait” is what bloggers use to describe some or all of their blog posts about their ancestors. The hope is that other “cousins” looking for the same relative will stumble upon your blog and connect with you.
All of us have a very LARGE extended family with many 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. cousins. So why didn’t I expect to this? Well, I come from a very small family. I mean small – I have three sets of aunts and uncles and five first cousins. That’s it – just five. The closest cousin in age to me is nearly ten years older than me too, so it’s safe to say that I didn’t know my cousins very well. I assumed then that I just had a small family even though I knew my paternal grandmother came from a large family and my maternal grandfather came from a large family. My maternal grandfather’s siblings I did know (my aunt Betty is one of them) but I can’t really remember meeting a lot of my mom’s cousins. I didn’t meet any of my paternal grandmother’s siblings (that I know of anyway) and although I probably met some of my dad’s cousins from that side, I couldn’t tell you who.
So, when I began searching in to my family and discovered just how large it really was, I was astounded! Then, when I started getting emails, I was elated! By far, this blog has brought me (and my dad) closer to family members we never knew existed. In fact, many cousins even went to the same school around the same time period as my dad but he didn’t know about them. How amazing is that?
I mentioned before that I recently met a Raifsnider cousin (my paternal grandmother’s mother’s family that my dad knew nothing about) and this week I “met” some Hummel cousins! Pictures and stories were shared and I feel a bit overwhelmed with everything that has happened! I am going home for the holiday this weekend and I cannot wait to share this with my dad!
The Hummel side is my grandmother Mary’s family. I can’t fully describe how much I miss that woman although I think I’ve mentioned it a few times on this blog. My grandmother meant the world to me and even though I was only 17 at the time she died, my world fell apart a bit at her death. It’s been 15 years since she passed but I still cry whenever I talk about her and not a day goes by when I don’t wish she was here. I wish she could have known me as an adult, see what I’ve done, met my husband, traveled to my home. This wonderful woman even taught me to love my family history. This past week with all these new stories about “Aunt Mary” have been amazing. In my own way, I do genealogy to feel closer to her and this last week made that even more clear.
1980’s sometime – Me, my grandmother, and my brother at Bronners in Frankenmuth, MI
So if you’ve ever wondered about starting your own family history blog but wasn’t quite sure what it could bring you, let me tell you that it’s absolutely worth it because of the amazing connections you can make!
If you have any wonderful cousin bait stories, please share below!
Happy hunting everyone 🙂