A look at updated mtDNA results of tests I manage

 Last week I received the notification that the updates for the two FULLmtDNA kits I manage were in.  

My daughter did the mtDNA test and because there is a backward mutation present in descendants of the mother of my 4th great-grandmother, I find it unnecessary for Mom and I to test.  Nancy Combs b. 1797 d. 1881 is our earliest proven matrilineal ancestor but we do know her mother was the wife of Mason Combs(1746-1802) who is believed to have been named Dorothy.  Some researchers have her listed as Dorothy Mason. There are 25+ Exact matches.

Timeline

My paternal Aunt Bobbie took the full mtDNA test so that we could know the matrilineal haplogroup of my paternal grandmother,  Ruahama Weaver((b. 1766 d. 1840) is the earliest proven matrilineal ancestor for Aunt Bobbie and Dad.  Due to pedigree collapse, this line appears twice from Ruahama and her husband on back thru our pedigree.  There are no exact matches but many are one genetic distance away including a matrilineal descendant of Rebecca Sheppard(1755 - 1837).  The Sheppard family marries into the Rushing, Deason, and Frizzell families in early Maryland. Many from each of those lines end up in Bedford County Tennessee.

Timeline

RootsTech 2025--Day 3

RootsTech Day 3

March 8th 2025

FamilyTree DNA recently announced a new updated MitoTree.  This means an updated haplogroup for those who have taken the mtDNA test and new reports via the mtDNA Discover tool.

Below is a list of the classes which I selected for Day 3.  There are many more sessions available.  For more in-depth information on the day's events check out any of the classes or online expo hall at RootsTech website

9:00 AM CST Online Advanced / Professional

Session:  Document Analysis: Digging into the Details

Speaker:  Angie Packer McGhie

10:30 PM CST  Online Intermediate

Session:  Navigating Sensitive Topics: Writing about Difficult Chapters of the Family’s History

Speaker:  Laura Hedgecock

2:30 PM CST Online Intermediate

Session:  Learning to Use AI Tools: Taking Your Prompting Skills to the Next Level

Speaker:  Steve Little 

These last 3 classes were unavailable to online attendees Live due to technical difficulties but were made available by late Saturday and Sunday.

2:30 PM CST Online Advanced / Professional

Session:  Why Did It Say That & Other Contextual Clues

Speaker:  Rebecca Whitman Koford

4:00 PM CST Online Intermediate

Session:  Extracting Evidence:  Strategies for Analyzing Genealogical Sources

Speaker:  Alice Childs

4:00 PM CST Online Advanced / Professional

Session:  Taming Same-Name Research

Speaker:  Jenny Hansen

RootsTech 2025--Day 2

RootsTech Day 2
March 7th 2025

MyHeritage has introduced a new feature called Cousin Finder™, which helps discover other MyHeritage members who share common ancestors with you. They launched Ancient Origins a few weeks ago for members with a Complete or Omni tier subscription. Their latest ethnicity update (v 2.5) was released earlier this year for those who have tested or uploaded their DNA.

Ancestry has several new features that use AI.  "Recognize Ancestors" helps to identify people in photos by using AI to compare them with other photos on the site.  Another feature uses AI to transcribe the handwriting in uploaded documents. A DNA match clustering tool is also in the works for release later this year. See the video for more on Matches by Cluster.

These were just the classes that I viewed.  There are many more available.  For more in-depth information on the day's events check out any of the classes or online expo hall at

RootsTech website 

Session:  The New FamilySearch Catalog

Speaker:  Robert Raymond

Session:  FamilySearch Full Text Search Is Even Better (a session I missed from Thursday)

Speaker:  Robert Raymond

9:00 AM CST Online Intermediate

Session:  Becoming Betsey: Find Female Ancestors with Cluster Research

Speaker:  Rebecca Whitman Koford

9:00 AM CST Online  Advanced / Professional

Session:  Analyzing Evidence:  A Research Game Changer

Speaker:  Mindy Taylor

10:30 AM CST  Online  All Levels

Session:  RootsTech Innovation and Tech Forum 2025

10:30 AM CST Online  Advanced / Professional

Session:  DNA and Endogamy:  Strategies to Analyze Your DNA Matches

Speaker:  Adina Newman

2:30 PM CST Online  Intermediate

Session:  The Story of Rachel -- Eventually This Enslaved Woman & Her Children Were Freed

Speaker:  Diane L. Richard

2:30 PM CST  Online Intermediate

Session:  How Just One Match Can Help You Find Missing Ancestors in 2025

Speaker:  Diahan Southard  

RootsTech 2025--Day 1

RootsTech Day 1
March 6th 2025

Ancestry announced the addition of Networks.  It is a tool that can be used to track an ancestor's FAN.  Right now it's only available to ProTools subscribers, but might be rolled out to other users at some point.  There are a few other promotions they are running right now here

FTDNA has discount codes available and includes some discounts on upgrades 

Legacy Family Tree Webinars has a great offer see the coupon code at

https://cms-z-assets.familysearch.org/b6/00/dacb99a94dd6037ce9e5111ebf69/webinars.pdf

These were just the classes that I viewed.  There are many more available.  For more in-depth information on the day's events check out any of the classes or online expo hall at

RootsTech website.

9:00 AM CST Online Advanced/Professional

Session:  Intersecting Lines: Pedigree Collapse Helps Identify an Ancestor’s Parents

Speaker:  Alice Childs

10:30 AM CST Online Intermediate

Session:  Women and Children Second: The Laws and Records of Citizenship
Speaker:  Alec Ferretti

1:15 PM CST Online Intermediate

Session:  Endogamy? Now what?

Speaker:  Kelli Bergheimer

4:00 PM CST Online Advanced/Professional

Session:  Finding Migrating Families: How to Trace Elusive Ancestors Using Cluster Research

Speaker:  Nancy A. Peters

5:30 PM CST Online Intermediate
Session:  Using Indirect Evidence to Identify Enslaved Parents
Speaker:  LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson

A letter for George in Denison City, Texas(March 1888)

In George Solifelt's pension application, he claimed he had been living in Denison City Texas in 1886 when he began his pension application process. Many of the things George claimed in his pension are sketchy and some are just outright lies, but today I found evidence that he was likely in Denison City Texas before March of 1888(at least). A newspaper included a Letter list of those with letters at the Denison City post office on March 24th of 1888; Geo H Solifelt was on that list. So someone had reason to believe that they could reach him by mail there. Did he ever get that letter?  Who was it from?  And where is the Bosque Co TX marriage record for him?  He denied being married repeatedly and then admitted that he had been married but was no longer married. Not sure at this point how many times he was married.  Hopefully, more pieces to the puzzle will surface soon.

Source:

"Letter List Denison City, Grayson County, Texas: Date of List, March 24, 1888," The Sunday Gazetteer(Denison, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 47, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 25, 1888, p 4, col 6, Solifelt Geo H on unclaimed letter list; digital imaged at University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth555506/m1/4/zoom/?q=Solifelt&resolution=1.5&lat=2011.722868720386&lon=4532.198686273052 : accessed March 2, 2025); original newspaper for digitization provided by Grayson County Frontier Village.

George Solifelt(Pvt., Co. E, 20th PA Cav., Civil War), pension application no. 580,089,
certificate no. 950,395, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil
War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National
Archives, Washington, D.C [George used the aliases George Sullivan & Theodore Sullivan both of which are noted in the Pension Index Cards. He also served in Co. C 2nd PA Inf., Co. H 126th PA Inf., and Co. C 1st PA Prov. Cav.]

Antioch news from Warren Co. TN(Sept 1933)

Before there was online social media, there were newspaper articles focused on specific areas where they posted about what all the citizens of that area were doing.  This one is from Antioch, a community in Warren County Tennessee(not to be confused with the city in Davidson County)

Notes of Interest Around Antioch  (Sept. 1933)

(transcribed as written)

Mss Aileen Johnson spent the week-

end with her sister, Mrs Evy Spark-
man of Cummingsville.
Andrew McElroy has malaria fever.
Sam Brady is some better.
Mrs. Charles Rogers is visiting her
daughter, Mrs Oda Grissom.
Andrew Hillis was in Sparta Satur-
day.
Mrs. Jim Breedlove and children and
Miss Della Chandler were Wednesday
guests of Mrs. Andy Acuff.
Miss Willie Maye Witt visited Mrs.
Bascomb Chandler Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs R.obert Wednestead
visited Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Wednestead.
There will be a box supper at Semi-
nary(near Bone Cave) Saturday night,
Sept. 23. The public is invited.


"Notes of Interest Around Antioch," Southern Standard(McMinnville, TN), Vol LIV No 30, 21 Sept 1933, p 7, col 2; images, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-B3RM-16VB : accessed 24 February 2025) IGN 8964042, Image 828 of 1152.