
We hear a lot about bad Genealogy Surprises (unexpected parents or siblings), but more often than not, we find Good Genealogy Surprises!
My latest client knows nothing about her paternal line as everyone on that side is gone. A grandmother had told her that she had an ancestor who was an Indian Trader in KY back in the days of Daniel Boone, and family lore had it that he married a Native American. There might also have been a woman named "Mulatto" in the line.
Clearly, with no paternal ancestors or cousins left to test, Y-DNA was not going to help us! She did an autosomal test that showed she had 2% Native American DNA at MyHeritage, and we decided to re-test at Ancestry in hopes of wider American database. Well, we got 0% Native American DNA from Ancestry, but we pressed on as puzzle solvers will.
Come to find out, she may, indeed, have an Indian Trader in the family! But you know who else she's got in the family? At least six men in different families that fought in the Revolutionary War! They are in the DAR database! Talk about gold documentation! I would like to hug all the previous family historians that have taken that extra step to include their ancestor's member number!
If you have that number you can plug it in to their site and get all kinds of info!
Here is a screenshot of what the Genealogy Research page looks like:
As a bonus, on the first number I entered, I also got an ancestor's record!
Of course, Ancestry also has a section for Military Service records including the Revolutionary War at Fold3 and from your home page in the bottom right hand corner. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3174/
Frankly, I think I'm more excited about these DAR ancestors than my client is, so I'm diving right back in to look for Daniel Boone's buddy and his wife! Any shared DNA from these people this far back is going to be infinitesimal, so it's going to take Genealogy to find them!
When you're researching back in the 1700 and 1800's be sure to check for publications by regional Historical societies and State historical sites for family histories of pioneers. You can Google to find them, or check FamilySearch's vast catalog both of these options are FREE.
Researching is not always easy, but we sure do find it rewarding when we get a good genealogy surprise don't we?
If you'd like some help with your tree, send me an email and let's talk!
Keep cool and hydrated, and good luck with your searching!
Regards,
Leslie Ryan
“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
DAR research link (both images above are clickable) https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/
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