Memory Tree Genealogy Journal

Castle Garden in New York, 1840 (precursor to Ellis Island) - Library of Congress Genetic genealogy. This phrase is simultaneously overwhelming and magical for me.  My angst comes from not enough time to devote to learn, grow my understanding, and fully digest all that this field has for newbie genealogists like me (hello, life...I need about 4 extra hours in my day strategically placed after children are asleep at night).  Excitement comes from the obvious: discovering what I don't know I don't know. I was recently asked to give a short talk about my foray into DNA research at our weekly meeting for amateur family researchers in our community.  Talk about angst!  Overwhelming!  Wanting to shout from the rooftops, "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing!" No shouting was involved (thank goodness) - just a bit of sharing.  Both my husband, my mother, and I have tested with AncestryDNA .  My dear husband has also tested with 23andMe ....

Image Source Two days ago, I received a much-awaited email from an archivist with the Children's Aid Society in New York City in regard to a research request I placed at the end of January.  Just in case you're wondering, I'm finding genealogy to involve a lot of what I call "fishing" for information.  Sent out a baited line (ie: email to a historical society, archive, family member, etc.) and wait for a nibble.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough to land a HUGE fish in the form of a break in a brick wall.  Other times, I might catch a shoe (like this week).  Cast, tug, wait, reel-in, repeat. So, back to the Children's Aid Society. Paul's paternal great grandfather, a gentleman named Joseph W. (William?) Daly {1869-1934}, was an orphan train rider.  Until a few months ago, when we started to suspect that he was in fact an orphan, I had never even heard of the Orphan Train Movement in the United States.  Reaching out to one of Paul's cousins enabl...

THIS article today on GENEALOGY and DNA TESTING gives a quick explanation of the three main types of testing offered to the general public for genealogical purposes.  Are you curious about your ethnicity?  Do you have holes in your family research due to "brick walls" or stalled research?  I've found much enjoyment from my experience with Ancestry.com's Autosomal DNA testing product as of late.  While it hasn't provided any huge "AHA" moments or broken down any brick walls in research, I've found several promising cousin matches and common ancestors, according to the results.  A few months back, I posted on my family's blog about my initial, shocking results.  See the article HERE. For a refresher, here is a snippet of my ethnicity profile: Persian/Turkish/Caucasus??  What gives?!? To my surprise, my mother also volunteered to take the test!  I eagerly anticipated her results, because I had a sneaking suspicion that the odd-ball ethni...