Missing Link DNA

Have you ever conflated two people during your research (smooshed them together as if they are one person?) I will admit I have. Either I was going too fast or not paying enough attention to clues in the documents. It's especially easy to do when two people are the same age, live in the same county and have the same wife's name! That's more common than you think Watch as I catch myself conflating two men named Jacob Burton b. about 1810 in Sussex County, Delaware and how I figured it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsIoz78EqnE

Hello friends! Over a year ago, I conceived the idea of starting a school to train young future genealogists. I've had a lot of bumps in the road since then, so I decided to start with a FREE course for young genealogists wanting to specialize in African American genealogy. If you know of anyone between the ages of 18-30 who might be interested, please pass this along so they can apply. The first class starts in two weeks, so they need to apply fast.

Genealogists of Tomorrow - ProGen Trailblazers Are you between the ages of 18 and 30? Are you interested in specializing in African-American Genealogy? Then this FREE program may a good fit for you. Apply today for the next available course. (Next course begins October 22, 2024) Important Notes ProGen Trailblazers Genealogists of Tomorrow progra...

I worked on this family today that I just can't get leave. William and Mary Ann Ousley. The couple started enslaved in Kentucky and makes their way to Wisconsin. Dad is a barber. They spend some time in Chicago and North Dakota based on their kids' birth locations. Their daughter is becomes the first Black woman to graduate from Beloit College, WI. I want to know their story, but the records are hard to find!

We're up to 228,131 ancestor profiles in the US Black Heritage Project database this week. That means we're oh so close to our goal of 250k profiles in 2023! The more profiles we have, the more families we can connect together.

This week I also had the privilege of using DNA to connect a lovely lady to her biological great grandfather. It wasn't just about growing her tree, but about connecting to an untold story between two people who weren't legally allowed to marry prior to 1967 because one was white and one was black. We don't know the whole story yet, but we do know there was a separation between family members because of the racist marriage laws of the time. The family has now been put back together in the year 2023 thanks to DNA. Man, I love DNA!