The Harder Stories When the Records Tell You Something You Didn't Expect Most people begin genealogy research hoping to find connection, a famous ancestor, a homeland, a story that explains something about who they are. Sometimes that's exactly what they find. And sometimes the records tell a different story entirely. In twenty-six years of research, I have uncovered a great many things that families didn't know. Some of them were joyful, many were moving, and some stopped people in their tracks. Discoveries that rewrote what they thought they knew about themselves, their parents, their grandparents. This is that post, the one about what happens when the research doesn't go where anyone expected. I want to be honest here, because I think it matters: unexpected discoveries are more common than most people realize. The past was complicated, people made difficult choices under difficult circumstances, secrets were kept, sometimes out of shame, sometimes out of love, someti...

Behind the Research It Started With a School Project: How I Fell Into Family History  26 years and counting Twenty-six years ago, my daughter came home from school with a homework assignment: draw a family tree going back two generations. It seemed simple enough. It wasn't. And I have never really stopped looking since. The project was straightforward on its face. Names of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents. Fill in the boxes. Hand it in. But when my daughter set the sheet in front of me, I realized I couldn't fill it in. I had so many gaps. My father's side was almost entirely a blank.  We had names, a few of them, but dates, and places, the connecting tissue of a family's story? Nothing. I didn't know my father's side well enough to put pen to paper.  My daughter's father's side was non-existent, but this is a whole different story for a later post!  I could have written in what little we knew and left the rest empty. Instead, something in me re...

DNA & Genealogy DNA Testing and Genealogy: What Your Results Really Tell You Millions of people have spit into a tube and waited anxiously for their DNA results to arrive. But once they do, many people aren't sure what to do next. Here's what your DNA test actually reveals and how to use it as a powerful genealogy tool. The Three Main Types of DNA Tests Not all DNA tests are created equal. The type you choose determines what questions it can answer about your ancestry. Autosomal AncestryDNA / 23andMe Tests DNA from both sides of your family. Best for finding cousins and close relatives. Useful back roughly 5–7 generations. Y-DNA Paternal Line Passed father to son only. Traces your direct paternal line deep into history. Essential for surname research. mtDNA Maternal Line Passed from mother to all children. Traces your direct maternal line. Very stable across centuries. Ethnicity Estimates: Exciting, But Not Evidence The colourful ethnicity pie chart is usually the first thi...

Genealogy Tips 5 Things to Do Before You Start Your Family History Research Every family has a story waiting to be told. But before you dive into census records, ship manifests, and courthouse archives, a little preparation can save you weeks of frustration and lead you to discoveries you never expected. 01 Talk to the Oldest Living Relatives First Your greatest genealogical resource may be sitting right at your family's Thanksgiving table. Grandparents, great-aunts, and elderly cousins hold memories like names, places, and stories that exist nowhere else on earth. Record these conversations. Even a simple voice memo on your phone preserves details that no archive can replace. Ask about full names, nicknames, birthplaces, immigration stories, and occupations. The stories they share will become the roadmap for everything that follows. 02 Gather the Documents Already in Your Home Before searching online, search your own home. Birth certificates, marriage licenses, military discharge ...