Tag: Community

Faces of NextGen: Meet Eric Wells

March 7, 2016

Eric Wells, 38, Missouri

What five words would you use to describe yourself? Three instead: Just plain awesome.

Why genealogy? Genealogy was the unintended result of trying to assemble a photo book for my grandmother. She wanted to pass on hundreds of old original photographs to her five children, but ran into a problem when one or more photos needed to be given to more than one of her children. I had no idea this was a big desire for her, nor did I know she had been stuck for decades with this roadblock. At the time I had no idea that taking on this project would inevitably lead me to make connections between the people in the photographs. Diving headlong into my own family’s genealogy was enough to make me love the work.

What’s the coolest discovery you’ve made? On my wife’s side of the family, I discovered the parents of her great grandfather. It took hours upon hours browsing through early twentieth century records from Alabama and Georgia to build up enough circumstantial evidence to create a plausible theory. It took locating her distant relatives and running DNA tests to confirm the connections, the result of which deepened her family tree back to the early nineteenth century as well as widened it by discovering that her great grandfather actually had a half brother and a half sister.

What are you working on this week? I am researching a client’s family tree in an effort to produce heritage books and family tree posters for an upcoming family reunion.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? Thinking outside the box. Following the trail of census and vital records is the backbone of the research, but the real fun starts when those sources don’t have the info one needs to solve the problem. Thinking outside the box has helped solve more problems than I can count. It often requires having to take the time to learn and understand the time period, culture and geographical area to discover new resources and records which are not normally used.

What superpower would you want to help you uncover your family history? Easy, time travel (with a camera and spare batteries). Burned counties could be saved, ancestors could be seen for the first time, and thanks could be given to those who prevailed through the tough times. I’d like to get to know the deadbeats and the black sheep to understand why they did what they did. Unfortunately I am not (yet) endowed with that superpower, so I’ll just have to live with my own impressions and use my imagination to re-animate our ancestors.

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? Fixing and remodeling houses (especially my own), some social activism, listening to podcasts, catching up on the latest discoveries in science and archeology, and working my way through a list of the top one hundred greatest books.

Anything else you’d like to share? This is may be a bit macabre, but genealogy is a way to bring people back from the dead. Not in the Frankenstein way, but instead it brings the people back to life within the memory and the minds of those exposed to the work I do. One of my favorite quotes is a recent one from the artist Bansky. He said. “…they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” As odd as it may sound, genealogy is currently the best shot at immortality.

The NextGen Genealogy Network is made up of young genealogists with diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences. Faces of NextGen showcases a different member of our community each month. If you would like to be considered for an upcoming feature, simply complete our questionnaire and submit a selfie.

Faces of NextGen: Meet Melanie McComb

February 9, 2016

Melanie McComb, 31, New York

Why genealogy? In college I was assigned a project in my genetics class to research my family tree to review medical history. I started to hear more of the family stories and I was hooked, particularly about my paternal grandparents. They died when I was young so I don’t remember much about them. When I had the funds to purchase a subscription to Ancestry.com, I dug in and started finding out as much as I could. That was three years ago and now I do genealogy every chance I get! I feel a connection to my ancestors every time I find out more about their lives.

What’s the coolest discovery you’ve made? I found my great grandmother’s declaration of intention documentation which included the name of the city in Romania she lived as well as a picture of her! I had never seen a picture of her before. It also included her birth name as well as my great grandfather’s name.

What are you working on this week? I am helping several adoptees locate their family by reviewing their DNA matches and completing mirror trees. For my personal tree, I’m re-reviewing my oldest ancestors to see if I can find further records to keep going further back.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? Change up your approach when you can’t find a particular record or ancestor. Try another website, ask for assistance in a genealogy group, post on message boards, contact DNA matches, etc.

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? I love to travel, spend time with friends, and binge-watch Netflix.

Anything else you’d like to share? I will be starting my blog showcasing the research I have completed on my family tree. I’ve learned so much since I started and I want to use that advice to help others. I’m also hoping it will serve as cousin bait to help my relatives learn more about our family history. Please follow me on Twitter to keep posted on when the first blog entry is ready!

Faces of NextGen: Meet Mike Quackenbush

January 4, 2016

Mike Quackenbush, 25, Canada

What five words would you use to describe yourself? Ambitious, Charismatic, Giving, Sociable, Individualistic.

Why genealogy? When you’re born with the curiosity bug, what better than directing that into an activity that really never ends! I was eleven years old when I received a family history on my mother’s family which was prepared by my great-aunt. That book most certainly got my interest piqued! After a few years of delving into further research of the lives on my maternal family, I began to get even more curious of my father’s family. My dad never really knew his father growing up, which in turn left a generational gap of information not being passed down. Almost fifteen years later—I am so excited to share what I have found in my research with family and friends and connect with cousins all around the world!

What’s the coolest discovery you’ve made? Definitely finding out that my 2x great grandfather was imprisoned at HMP Wakefield in Yorkshire, England—not once, but sixteen times in twelve years – was a WOW moment for me! Following his medically unfit (nowadays referred to as PTSD) discharge from his twenty year career with the British Army, he was jailed for not providing for his family—keeping in mind that he literally just got booted from his job. After serving his first sentence, he was jailed fifteen more times in eleven years for reasons including: not providing for his family, begging for money, being homeless, and carrying unpaid civil debts. Putting the whole picture together really made me feel for this man whose life was turned upside down after putting his life on the line to fight numerous battles including the Boer Wars.

What are you working on this week? Following a presentation I made mid-November on British Home Children, I realized that I wanted to learn more about the 118 Middlemore Home Children who traveled on the same ship alongside my great-grandfather in 1913. So this week, I’ve been starting to gather the project framework to begin the multi-year process of researching all of the home children on the passenger list, so that I can then dedicate a database to these 118 children who left their families and roots behind in Great Britain to serve as indentured labour on farms in Canada.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? Organization. We handle a lot of files, both paper and digital, and you need to develop your own system for filing and managing data. Some people get data-overload—I crave it. Names, dates, places—I feel like I have an eidetic memory for these, which helps immensely when parsing through records and making connections.

What superpower would you want to help you uncover your family history? I think every genealogist on the face of the earth would say, at some point, that time travel would be an incredible super power to have. Just imagine.

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? When I’m not researching family history, I first love to catch up on the sleep I’ve missed from those late-night binge research sessions in new databases online! After I’ve reenergized, I love to travel, spend time with friends, try new wine selections, and maybe sneak in some movies—or binge watch Netflix!

Anything else you’d like to share? Make yourself a New Year’s resolution you can actually keep and achieve for 2016! Simply get involved. A few minutes a day can help you to become part of a larger community, and help people around the world. As the great leadership speaker Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

Faces of NextGen: Meet Lisa Chan

December 1, 2015

Lisa Chan, 40, Washington

What five words would you use to describe yourself? Curious. Independent. Dog lover. Transgendered. Musical.

Why genealogy? I love solving puzzles, a good mystery, the natural world, genetics, history, photography, anthropology, migration stories, and social and civil justice. Genealogy has it all!

What’s the coolest discovery you’ve made? Just one?

A fourth great grand uncle was the reason an entire village in Niedersachsen, Germany practically emptied due to a mass migration to Illinois inspired by his letter home. It had been copied 1,500 times and then distributed far and wide. Hundreds of Ostfriesen families got their good start in Illinois based on his detailed instructions for success.

With the help of genetic genealogy and segment analysis, I was able to solve a 7 decade-old brick wall and reconnect more than twenty curious descendants and project participants to colonial roots in Maryland in the 1700s.

After participating in a DNA test for a medical study, I discovered that I am the non-paternity-event in my generation. With the help of genetic genealogy and caring “Search Angels,” I have been reconnected with my paternal family. We are excited to get to know one another. It turns out my NEW GRANNY is a genealogy nut too.

What are you working on this week? I just discovered a cluster of shared segments associated with lots of recent Irish surnames and locations. It’s exciting because my admixture reports suggest a decent portion of Irish descent, but the only known Irish patriarch was from the late 1700s.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? Sleep on it.

What superpower would you want to help you uncover your family history? Time travel, of course!

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? Playing the drums or walking our dogs. I love percussion and engage in music therapy to address a wide variety of emotional and physical health needs. Did you know that doing anything percussive helps to regulate digestion?! Feeling anxious? Sing a song and clap your hands. Can’t sleep? Forget counting sheep, count measures instead.

Anything else you’d like to share? I’d love to see the disregard for adoptees and persons with unknown paternity decreased in the genealogical community overall. We’re the fastest growing demographic in genealogy today. We comprise the majority of young genealogists entering the hobby. We spend a lot of money – testing at each of the big three and purchasing genetic genealogy workshops. We are eager to help others with triangulation projects, are generous with what we do know, and our motivation to get to the truth is unparalleled. It would be really great if we had more allies among the full-tree’d who could advocate for embracing us.

The NextGen Genealogy Network is made up of young genealogists with diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences. Faces of NextGen will showcase a different member of our community each month. If you would like to be considered for an upcoming feature, simply complete our questionnaire and submit a selfie.