Finding Cousins: About families, death, online trees and DNA

 

When people write and talk about DNA tests, they invariably mention that they are hoping to find cousins. They call online family trees and DNA tests “cousin bait” as they see that expanding their test exposure with different companies and publishing an online family pedigree as ways of connecting with others who may be related.

I think what most of these people are looking for are not necessarily cousins, but anyone, related or not, who might know more or different things about their ancestors.

All of us who are engaged in this hobby – and, other than those who make a living consulting with hobbyists – are generally doing this research for fun and to fill time. Yes, some people want or need to know more about ancestors with regard to possible health concerns – what diseases or other health matters might they be prone to because of their genes – but mostly it is just curiosity about who came before us and what might they have been like.

It was interesting to read a blog post by Gail Dever in March 2020 (Living your legacy – now) when she commented that, “As genealogists, we focus a lot on dead people. There’s no doubt we think about death more than the average person.” There is no way around it when you are researching ancestors because they are all gone. In truth, if they weren’t dead, they wouldn’t be ancestors.

For many people, it is a contest to see how far back they can find people to whom they were related. I have come across trees with tens of thousands of names in them and wondered how the originators of those trees know they are part of the same connected families. I know of several trees that have major errors which invalidate most of the connections with people predating those mistaken identities.

But who really cares whether you have a large number of people in your family tree?

I have never thought that having my family tree online was a great idea. But I am coming around to the idea that it may prove of value.

As I wrote in a blog post on 8 July 2014, “It did happen that my family tree ended up online by accident. . . After suffering a loss of files, including my latest family tree data, in a hard drive crash back in 2010, I decided I would look at online storage solutions to protect against loss of valuable genealogical information. I had heard about a system called BackUpMyTree which, when installed on my computer, automatically created a backup of all of my data on a secure site. . . MyHeritage acquired BackUpMyTree in late 2011 and my family tree suddenly appeared on the MyHeritage website.”

I left the tree on MyHeritage and have had many messages from them over the years about possible matches. I use the search tools only occasionally. Right now (9 August 2021) there are 14,535 Record Matches and 39,606 Smart Matches. I never find the time, though, to look at many of them. I do use the site to enhance, colourize and animate photos. These tools have proved to be very useful.

In 2017 my wife and I had our atDNA tested with 23andme. It was our first foray into this way of finding cousins. I wrote a post here about that on 27 June 2017, DNA Matches, and again on 26 November 2019, DNA:Reviewing our tests. Over the years I have had contact with many cousins and learned much more about several family lines. Still some brick walls remain, though.

I did upload my DNA test results to MyHeritage from 23andme, along with those of my wife and children and am working through the 12,703 matches for these to try to break down some brick walls.

I also have Y-DNA and atDNA tests on FamilyTreeDNA along with similar tests for a brother-in-law and a first cousin (both now deceased). I am hoping, between all of us, to be able to extend what I know about direct lines ancestral of me and my wife. That means, of course, finding more cousins. I have 4,683 matches of atDNA at FamilyTreeDNA, but only three using 67 markers of Y-DNA.

For my cousin, there are 5,009 matches of atDNA and one using 67 markers of Y-DNA at FamilyTreeDNA. I wrote about the latter match in a blog post on 14 June 2021, Miller Y-DNA: A minor break-through. I asked that one individual who shared Y-DNA to also test for atDNA so we could see what matches the three of us have in common. The atDNA test for my wife’s brother has 6,138 matches and 12 people who match at the 67-marker level of Y-DNA.

Recently I decided to broaden my DNA testing with an autosomal test with Ancestry. We still have those brick walls to break down, so I thought putting a line in a different pool might result in some more fish (cousins). With that test, I also thought it worthwhile to put up a tree as well. I am keeping it private for now.

It’s a major slog through mountains of data to try to find cousins that will help with breaking down some of our brick walls using DNA. It seems many of the people who match do not know much about their ancestors, so finding common ancestors is that much more difficult. Over time there have been many more ways to use DNA on all of the test company sites, from health reports to maps showing where your ancestors originated to Neanderthal connections. These make the subject even more interesting.

All-in-all it is still worthwhile to keep my subscriptions live, but I am not updating my online trees. That’s just more work and there is enough information on them to attract cousins.

Using Newspaper Resources for Family History Research

 I use newspapers a lot for both family history research and as sources for articles I write. They are great for tracking down people and learning about particular events as they were reported at the time they occurred. Many websites have digitized pages so you can see the actual accounts. Indexing means you can search for keywords and dates.

I have subscriptions at Newspapers.com through Ancestry (https://www.newspapers.com/) and The British Newspaper Archive (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) Along with my database subscriptions at FindMyPast, TheGenealogist and MyHeritage come more newspapers (or perhaps many of the same). Most of the papers go back to the 18^th century. They do not all have the same newspapers but between all the sources, the world is covered very well.

I have used individual newspaper archives as not all the major or local news publications are part of the subscription-based websites. Subscriptions are required by some. The Times (London) can be sourced through a subscription at the Gale website. (https://www.gale.com/intl/c/the-times-digital-archive)

Many papers can be viewed through public library facilities or websites. My local library card gets me to a few of those. Often contacting a library in the area where you are looking for information will get a willing staff member to look up news items for you. Be sure to thank them!

The University of Alberta sponsors a website called Peel’s Prairie Provinces which has a large inventory of local and regional newspapers and directories online that go back to 1871. (http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/aboutsite.html) Their collections include many local publications from towns and cities across the province. I am sure other regions have similar collections. The archives of our local paper, the Calgary Herald are available through the University of Calgary website. (https://calgarylibrary.ca/read-learn-and-explore/digital-library/calgary-herald-archive-online/)

Most individual newspapers have their own archives, some of which are searchable for free. National archives also are great repositories for historical publications including newspapers. In the United States there is the Chronicling America webpages of the Library of Congress. (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/) In Canada many newspapers have been collected, digitized and are searchable at the Library and Archives Canada website. (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/newspapers/newspaper-collection/Pages/newspapers-collection.aspx) In the United Kingdom there is The National Archives website. (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/newspapers/)

If you cannot access subscription sites directly you may be able to at your local library or Family History Centre. If you have a library card, it may allow you to sign into certain websites from home.

Just in the past few months, I have looked at and downloaded news items about a 1906 accidental death in Toronto, Ontario; a series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland in 1783-84; a 1984 obituary for a family member; another one from 1909; a tidal wave that hit southern Newfoundland in 1929; a 1917 report about an ancestor who was a WWI casualty; a wedding of a cousin in Saskatchewan in 1890; an epidemic in 1878; deadly winter weather in Europe in 1740; and a myriad of other bits and pieces about people, places and events.

Almost no matter what information you are seeking, you may find references in newspapers going back several hundred years. You even find, as many family historians can attest, data about that elusive ancestor that normal data sources do not have – possibly a picture of them. Give it a try.

The Old Rocking Chair’s Got Me

One of the pieces of old furniture we have in our house is a rocking chair that was once owned by friends and neighbours of my wife’s parents. Although not part of Linda’s family’s mementoes directly, it still has special meaning to her as a remembrance of her childhood.

As you read this, have a listen to that old song, Old Rocking Chair's Got Me, composed by Hoagy Carmichael. The song has been performed by many great artists over the years since it was written in 1929.

Following are Linda’s thoughts about what the chair means to her:

When I was small, we used to visit with Jimmy Jack, Annie Trimmer and Lizzie (Elizabeth) Wilson. The three were brother and sisters and owned the house at 216-12th street jointly. They were great friends to my mom and dad from the time they both came to Canada. I think they met through The Scottish Canadian Club that held social events and formed a great community for new Scottish immigrants. They were a lot of help to my mom when my brothers and sister, Walter, Betty and George, were little. Times were tough during the Dirty Thirties and throughout the war when mom was left alone to raise three young kids.

My dad liked to go fly fishing and he would often take Jimmy with him along with my older brother Walter.

I was the last of five children in our family and we had no relatives living close to us all my parents’ relatives were in Scotland. So, I always knew these three, lovely people as Uncle Jimmy, Auntie Annie and Auntie Lizzie.

Our visits were usually on the weekend and mom and dad would have coffee and I was often trying to entertain myself on the old piano. I learned a couple of tunes and would play Loch Lomond, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star incessantly. Sometimes Jimmy Jack would get his fiddle out and play some Scottish songs and I would get to dance with my dad and sing the songs with everyone.

I also loved to rock (I still do!) and would sit on Lizzie’s old wooden rocking chair and sing at the top of my lungs...songs like Gramma’s Lye Soap and the flip side of that record, a stand-up routine about Little Bopeep called It’s In The Book [You can listen to both on this 1952 recording by Johnny Standley here.]. I knew all the words to both, which was particularly funny to all of them because it had been banned by the government of Alberta whose religious leaders somehow took offence to the tongue in cheek humour of the song.

The three siblings were getting on in years by the time I was a child, and I was always told that someday when they were gone that I would get the piano and the rocking chair. I never got the piano because Annie’s daughter decided it was worth some money. She promptly sold it and kept the money, but she didn’t want the old wooden, well-worn rocking chair, so I did get that!

I would often run errands for the old folks – to the corner store to get groceries like bread and milk or cigarettes and tobacco for Jimmy’s pipe and, of course, some candy or pop for me and my brother, Billy. Jimmy would go to his bedroom and put his hand into a hole in the wall and come out with a ten- or twenty-dollar bill. I was told they didn’t trust banks, so they hid their old age pension money in the wall of the bedroom. I don’t know if anyone knew just how much they had hidden but when one section was full, they apparently started another section. I’m sure the relatives must have found the bedroom money, but I was told that when the little house got sold the new owners were renovating and found money in the walls in every room and it was rumoured to have been over $100,000.

The rocking chair ended up for a short time in the home of Linda’s parents, but when her mother moved, it was brought to our home where it has been ever since. The chair has been spruced up. It was stripped and refinished by Linda and has new cushions. Most importantly, though, it is one of those pieces that evokes great memories of times, places and people now gone.