“
No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away…” – Paul Simon
Of all the DNA testing for genealogical purposes, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests are the least popular and for good reason.
Still, I began to wonder… would a mtDNA test help in busting down a long-standing brick wall?
After proving (with primary sources) the correct parents for the immigrants Hendrick and Peter Enloes, it was time to investigate who they were and from where they came.
Every genealogist has at least one encounter with an ubiquitous myth in their family tree. When fiction takes over hard fact, it can be surprising how readily the fabled details populate scores of pedigrees.
One such example of this involves Hendrick Enloes, an early (17th-century) settler of Baltimore County, Maryland.
Hendrick is believed to have initially immigrated to Nieuw-Amstel (now New Castle, Delaware) from Amsterdam together with his brother, Pieter Enloes in 1657. These two brothers are the progenitors of the Enloes/Enloe families of colonial Delaware and Maryland.
Being born on a leap day is so uncommon that I’ve only ever found one of my confirmed direct line ancestors to have been so.
Today would have been Araminta Rebecca “Mintie” Brown’s 140th birthday.
My autosomal DNA test results are in.
Some scraping of my inner cheek promised to give insight on my ethnic background and a chance to find folks somehow related to me.
I wasn’t expecting any surprises or revelations about my ethnic makeup.
ICYMI: Ancestry.com is offering free access to some of their featured UK records through midnight on Monday.
I managed to find one particular gem: a memorial copy of the Quaker marriage certificate for my 8th-great grandparents, Hannah Cullimore and William Watson, who married 22 Mar 1710/1711 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England.
If you have a German-American ancestor who was residing in colonial Philadelphia, it might be worthwhile to check the Lord’s Supper guest register for St. Michael and Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1755-1763.
It can be found online via Ancestry.com’s Pennsylvania and New Jersey Church and Town Records, 1708-1985.
A recently published NPR article ponders the connection between DNA and family history and appears to the be the first piece in what could be an intriguing ongoing series.
Writer Alva Noë makes the distinction between genetic (or DNA) ancestors and pedigree ancestors, and touches on some important facts and thoughts to consider when it comes to utilizing consumer DNA testing as a tool for exploring one’s genealogy.
Illegitimacy often poses serious challenges to tracing one’s roots. This is the roadblock I face with the third of The Three Sarahs.
Sara Rebold/Sarah Raybold, wife of Godfrey Bender, was born 6 Sept. 1765 in Germantown township, Philadelphia.
Her death date is listed in the church registers of St. Michael’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germantown. From the exact age in years, months and days recorded at her burial, I could easily calculate her birth date.
But finding a baptism record proved tricky.
I recently discovered an invaluable resource for researching Irish ancestors. I’m six months late to this party, but figured it was worthwhile to write about in case others have yet to come across this information goldmine.
axehandles 