From mystery to Maben: breaking down a genealogical brick wall

img_1172It’s been said that setting goals turns the invisible into the visible.

With a brick wall ancestor, it often seems like one is chasing a ghost, hoping one day for identity to materialize. The pursuit can last years – decades, even.

This is the story of how setting a concrete goal enabled meĀ  – nearly one year after I had set my goal – to finally busted one of the biggest brick walls in my family tree!

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mtDNA testing: a mother and child reunion?

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?

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