Celebrating 21 years of Blogging

 

Learning about an ancestor’s life entails much more than collecting the basic birth, marriage, and death records. To truly understand them, you need context, and that's where cluster research becomes essential. By studying the friends, associates, and neighbors who shaped their world, we can uncover deeper stories and connections that vital records alone can't tell us. This week, as I celebrate 21 years of blogging about my genealogy journey, I’m sharing a special project: a list of 21 Friends, Associates, and Neighbors (the "FAN club" a term coined by Elizabeth Shown Mills) of my 2nd great-grandfather, William Clifford Cook.  

21 Members of the FAN club of Wm C Cook

1. James Henry Waldo Jones--Wm. C. Cook sold him 140 acres in October of 1854 in Bedford Co., TN.  JHW Jones had married Hester Ann Augusta May two years before the purchase and was just starting his family.  He was a preacher in the Cumberland Presbyterian church in Obion and Weakley County, TN,  where he'd relocated by the time of the 1860 Census.  He was living in Wingo, Graves County, Kentucky, when he died. His son, Andrieus Aristieus Jones, moved to New Mexico and did very well.  He was an educator, a lawyer, and a US Senator.  As a senator, he was the chair of the Committee on Woman Suffrage.
2. Ivey Phillips--a neighboring landowner SW of the land where Wm. C Cook lived in 1846. He was also a witness for Thomas B. Carlton when he deeded the land for the Liberty Meeting house.
3. William Putman--Brother-in-law of Wm. C.  Doubly so, William was Elizabeth's brother, and William's wife, Anna G, was Wm. C's sister. Wm. C. Cook's deposition for the State Supreme Court case of Williams vs. Putman et al. was a great find.
4. Zephaniah Anglin--lived in the neighborhood with Wm. C. Cook and was also involved in the Williams vs. Putman State Supreme Court Case
5. Joseph S Cook--Wm. C. Cook was the administrator of his estate. Relationship not yet determined. He is frequently confused with Davidson County, TN, Joseph Cook.  Their probate files are combined in the Williamson County, TN, Archives folder.  You can tell them apart if you examine each document in the file because Jos. S. Cook died without a will, and Joseph Cook of Davidson County, TN, left a very detailed will and information about his children.
6. Wm G Hight--maternal 1st cousin of Wm. C.  They traveled together and are listed as staying at a Nashville hotel(likely a trip to KY or a Masonic conference).
7. Wm B King--His parents were neighbors of Wm. C., and his daughter married Wm. C. Cook's son. He is my 2nd Great Grandfather
8. Messinah Ann Bailey--1st wife of Wm. C.'s son James Polk Cook. Wm. C. went to court with James to help secure their divorce.
9. Tennessee Ferguson--step-granddaughter of Wm. C.'s son James Polk Cook through James' 3rd wife Susan Carson Ferguson Cook.
10. George Evans--Wm. C. bought a pair of shoes at his estate sale
11. William Gilliam--the depositions for Williams vs Putman were taken at his smith shop in Rutherford Co, TN.
12. Zachariah Little--He and Wm. C. Cook were at the courthouse applying for a marriage license(Zach to marry Mary Hill and Wm. C. to marry Elizabeth Putman) on 26th Sept. 1831.  They were each other's bondsman.
13. John W Maxwell--put up security for Wm. C. Cook(1849)
14. David Lemuel Manire--officiated Wm. C. Cook & Elizabeth Putman's marriage. My 3rd Great Grandfather.
15. David Young--He bought land that Wm. C. Cook's wife received from the estate of her father, Jabel Putman.  When David purchased the land, he was living in District 25 of Williamson Co. TN, and Wm. C. Cook and wife were living in Bedford County.(1837) David's wife was Elizabeth Reed(Dau of Josiah Reed & Mary Elizabeth Carson Reed)
16. Althy Elmore--He and Longshore Lamb were part of a Deed of Trust where Wm. C. Cook put up livestock and household goods as collateral for $50 loan from Elmore and $38 loan from Lamb.
17. Thomas B Carlton--Wm. C. Cook was a witness when Thomas deeded land for the Liberty Meeting House.
18. Jonathan Vickery-- bought a saddle and a saddle blanket at the estate sale of Jos. S. Cook. (1838)
19. Charles Pope--purchased 25 pounds of picked cotton at the estate sale of Jos. S. Cook.  Husband of Elizabeth Smith.
20. Alfred L  Little--purchaser at Estate Sale of Jos. S. Cook.  He married  Martha Emily Pope,  Charles Pope's daughter.
21. Renwick Adams(R.A.) Gault--He and Wm. C. Cook were selected as jurors from District 10. (1855) He lived just north of where Wm. C. lived in 1846. A contemporary of Wm. C., he was married to Elizabeth Floyd in Williamson Co., TN(1833)

I encourage you to try this exercise with one of your own ancestors.  Making a list of their Friends, Associates, and Neighbors, along with a timeline of their life, can reveal gaps in your research and highlight connections from different areas of their life you might otherwise miss. A heartfelt thank-you to all my readers and everyone who has supported and encouraged me over the years. I look forward to continuing to share my research and tell the stories of my ancestors for many more years to come. 

Celebrating 20 years of Blogging this Week

image created using DALL·E 3

I have been researching my family history for around 34 years and blogging about my research for 20 years this week.  I've found answers to many questions I've had about my ancestors although some remain unanswered.  Sometimes my discoveries have led me to even more questions about those ancestors and shirttail relatives.   In celebration of 20 years of blogging I have made a Top 20 list of questions about my family history research.  I'll not call these research questions as they are not detailed enough for that descriptor, but could be developed into research questions given the time.  This would be a good exercise to use in order to determine research opportunities, and then form research questions from that list.  In no particular order my questions are as follows:

1. Did Wm Taylor Hale drown in the Collins River in 1861 as told in a letter by Phoebe York Hale McCormick(1901-1993) his granddaughter? The letter was given to me in the late 1990s by another Hale researcher.
2. Who was W C Cook's Dad? 
3. Where was the W T. & Adeline Hale family during the time of the  US Federal censuses of 1860 & 1870?
4. When & where did Nancy Hitchcock Hale die? 
5.  Why was W C Cook and family along with his bro In law, Noah Putman & family in Dyer Co TN during the time of the 1840 Census?
6. What became of Susan Carson Ferguson Cook's son John Ferguson?
7. Who were Basil Riddle's 5 children?
8. Where and when did Daniel Pitman die?
9. When did Daniel's wife Comfort Hatfield Pitman die?
10. In the 1850 Census whom ever give the information for the Andrew McElroy household gave Andrew McElroy's place of birth as Ireland but in 1860 whomever gave the answers for the household answered Georgia.  Why?
11. Where was Wm G Cook & family during the time of the 1920 Census?  
12. Regarding the 1850 Census of District 10 Bedford Co TN--was it tallied and lost or never taken?
13. When, Where and what event is happening in the picture where Granny Cooke(Pearl G Jakes Cooke) is shaking hands with a gentleman?
14. Why was Grandpa Luna born in KY or better yet, why was his Mom there the 2nd of April 1892?
15. What happened to Henry F Hill's pension file and why can't it be located?
16. Is our John King line really related to the Samuel King who helped found Cumberland Presbyterian?
17. What happened to Messina Ann Bailey Cook, ex-wife of James Polk Cook?
18. I believe that the Hamer sisters that James P Cook & Jefferson Gideon Cook married died since I've not found any record of a divorces for either couple.  Is that the case?
19. Why are Tennie Ferguson Hill & George Solifelt back in Iola KS shortly after selling property and announces plans to move to Fort Dodge?  Was the move cancelled or did they live there for a very short time?
20. March 5th of 1853, Eliza J Manire King was in Arkansas. My Great Grandmother's birth that day places her there and is the only indication I have that she left TN other than when she & Wm B moved with their son to Texas in later life. Her brother,  Stephen J Manire was enumerated in Lawrence Co Arkansas in the 1850 US Federal Census. Was she visiting him or other family in Arkansas?  

19 Things You Can Do to Enhance Your Family Research

Well, it's official.  I've been blogging about people, places, and things I've found helpful in my research for 19 years.  Whew!  In celebration of the blogiversary, I've compiled a list of 19 ways to enhance your family research(listed in no particular order.)

1. DNA Testing--Testing using autosomal and YDNA can bring about research avenues that you might not have ever discovered using only traditional genealogy research.  It can help to focus on our blood ancestors path while broadening our family.  Many times those cousins you discover thru DNA will have pictures, family memorabilia or stories about our ancestors that weren't passed down in our own line from the shared ancestor.  DNA testing mtDNA can also be helpful if you have a specific question about a matrilineal line.
2. Read books about social situations--It was helpful for me to learn more about the Tuberculosis outbreak and hospitals when writing about my Cook(e) family.  My paternal grandfather's oldest sister's family was almost wiped out during the outbreak in Rutherford County Tennessee.  There are also many great books about slavery, women's history, and just about any other social situation you can imagine.
3. Explore the Unindexed records at FamilySearch--These are a goldmine.  I have bookmarked the Place Catalog Search Results for areas I'm researching so that I can see what is available online at FamilySearch.   It makes it feel as if I am at the courthouse browsing thru through the record books.  The best part is, no travel, no need to worry about your attire, and no dust.
4. Genealogy Education--There is so much out there in the way of education for genealogist.  Webinars, Seminars, Books and How To Videos.  Many of the libraries and genealogical societies offer free help.  I personally love Legacy FamilyTreeWebinars. ConferenceKeeper.org is also great for keeping up with all of the educational opportunities out there.
5. Order Document retrieval--There are a good number of document retrieval services offerings.  When you think about how much it would cost to travel to a library and/or archives to get copies of the files you need, it's no wonder that there is a market for retrieval.  I've discovered so much wonderful information in pension files and copies of other records and often wish I had started taking advantage of these services sooner.
6. Network--We really need to interact with other researchers who are studying the same areas or surnames.  They may have specialties that we don't. I've found it helpful to ask a friend about research problems to see if it is my approach that is limiting my results. 
7. Talk to Family--Even siblings have different memories of events that happened in a family due to their own unique perspective.  Talk to cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. They may have stories you don't and may have just assumed you knew the stories.  
8. Cluster Research-- If you aren't researching the friends, associates, and neighbors of your ancestors, you are just getting a partial picture.  Their story is so much deeper than what you see if you merely scratch the surface.
9. Visit areas where your ancestors lived.  If nothing else, it makes you feel closer to them.  It might also put you more "in tune" for researching the area.  For me it's a deep personal experience to walk on the same ground where my ancestors walked.
10. Create a Family Archive of important documents--I have made several of these for my family.  I have one with the papers of my paternal grandparents and another starting at the marriage of my parents.  Often time you don't realize how much information you have until you start assembling the notebook/binder.
11. Plan what becomes of your research--Not to be morbid, but if you don't want your research to end up at the landfill, you need to make plans for what happens to it once you have passed.  State Archives, local libraries or if you have historically significant items such as ledgers or family papers you might consider area museums. 
12. Place Name or One Name Studies--This is a given really.  The more you know about an area in which your ancestor lived, the easier it is to know and understand what was going on in their life.  Also if you familiarize yourself with the different families who carry the same surname, you will be able to differentiate between your Cook family and the other Cook families.
13. Organize Photos and Exchange--Organize your photos and try to identify the subjects and dates of each photo.  Many people do not like to share their photos of ancestors.  I share freely.  They have other descendants who might want copies.  Also if(heaven forbid) something should happen to your photo there will still be a digital version out there. That should be incentive enough to share right there.
14. Use a Notebook(or notebooks) for Brainstorming--Always keep a notebook devoted exclusively to brainstorming on your research.  When you get an idea for an avenue of research, write it down otherwise you are likely to forget.  I keep a notebook on my nightstand.
15. Revisit old Documents and Research periodically--This is especially helpful when you feel you are at a brick wall for a particular ancestors.  Many times what didn't look like helpful information when we first viewed the document is found to be helpful given what we know presently.
16. Write about your research(blog or article submissions)--Writing or blogging is so helpful.  It helps you think thru research issues. Too writing about your ancestors gets your research out there.  This can be scary but it's also scary to have done years of research and no one is aware because it's never been put out there in a publication.  It doesn't matter whether it's a submission to a local or national genealogical publication or your own blog.  Please write.
17. Join at least one Historical or Genealogical society--There are many types of historical and/or genealogical societies:  State, county, area, surname or association.   All of these serve a purpose you will just need to find one that suits your needs.  This can also help with networking and publishing.
18. Email or Call County Clerks or Librarians with Specific Questions--Emailing or calling can save you time.  If you are planning on visiting the library or archives, you can be better prepared and increase the likelihood of a successful and productive research day(or week.)  Also, sometimes they can email you a document.  
19. Mentor or be mentored--if you are an experienced researcher consider mentoring a new researcher. I began researching in 1990. I can't tell you the number of times I've wished I could tell my 1990 self DO THIS or DON'T DO THIS.  Regardless of whether you are mentoring or being mentored you will learn new things.

I hope you have found this list helpful and thanks for visiting! 

18 of my favorite books in my personal library

I can hardly believe that I've been blogging about my genealogy for 18 years.  When I consider that I've been researching for about 32 years, it doesn't seem like that far of a stretch.  In keeping with the purpose of my blog, I am celebrating the 18th blogiversary with a favorites listing(in no particular order).  I've compiled a list of 18 of my favorite genealogy/history books in my personal library.  I have an account at LibraryThing.com for cataloging purposes.  This really helps me out so that I don't buy more than one copy of a book(Yes, I've done that before.) You'll see that some of the books are Volume 1 of a set. That's my way of "squeezing in" the entire set as one book.  I also use WorldCat.org to find books which aren't in my personal library ...yet.

1. The Evolution of the Southern Backcountry: A Case Study of Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1746-1832. Richard R. Beeman. 1984.
2. The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations. Ira Berlin. 2010
3. Communities of Kinship: Antebellum Families and the Settlement of the Cotton Frontier. Carolyn Earle Billingsley. 2004.
4. DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer: Tennessee. Delorme. 2017.
5. Ancestry's Red Book : American state, county & town sources. Alice Eichholz. 1992.
6. Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. David Hackett Fischer. 1992.
7. Tennesseans before 1800. Davidson County. Marjorie Hood Fischer. 1997.
8. History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford, and Marshall Counties, Tennessee. Goodspeed Publishing Company. 1988(reprint).
9. Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk. Amy S. Greenberg. 2019.
10. Land and Property Research. E. Wade Hone. 2008.
11. The Kentucky Encyclopedia. John E. Kleber. 1992.
12. Bedford County Tennessee Land Deed Genealogy, 1807-1852 (Vol. #1). Helen Marsh. 2003.
13. Davidson County Tennessee Wills & Inventories: 1783-1816 (Vol. #1). Helen C. Marsh. 1989.
14. Chancery Court of Records of Bedford County, Tennessee. Timothy R. Marsh. 1988.
15. The North Carolina gazetteer : a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. William S. Powell. 2010.
16. History of Rover and the 10th District of Bedford County Tennessee. Rover Historical Society. 1986(update printed in 1999).
17. Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary 1831-1850. Volume 1. Charles A. Sherrill. 2015.
18. Traveling the Trace: A Complete Tour Guide to the Historic Natchez Trace from Nashville to Natchez. Cathy Summerlin. 1995.

17 of my favorite Databases, Tools, Websites, and Approaches

Picture of Blog during it's 12th year.

In keeping with my purpose of the blog, I am celebrating the 17th blogiversary of this blog with a favorites listing(in no particular order).  I've compiled a list of 17 of my favorite Databases, Tools, Websites, or Approaches that are helpful in furthering my family history research .  I've written a description of how each can be used but check out the link for more information on each resource. Please remember to check with and support your local libraries, county archives, and area genealogy & historical societies.  They have many items you won't find online and they need your help to thrive now more than ever.

1.  Genetic Affairs--This site contains tools developed by Evert-Jan Blom to help with analysis of your DNA match lists using clustering.  You can register for free and purchase credits which allows you to run a wide selection of reports.

2.  TN State Library & Archives website--They are great about answering questions via the Ask A Librarian chat and I've found a great deal of information about ancestors by ordering copies of articles(request form sent by USPS) and thru TN Supreme Court Case File orders.

3.  U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482

You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  As a side note, some of the discharge papers for WWI and WWII can be found using the next site I mention.

4.  FamilySearch Catalog Place Search for Area of Interest  County Records available online

Make sure you are logged on to the FamilySearch website.  Select Catalog---Search by Place---Enter your Location(Country, State, County--for the US) in Place Search ---Select Online Availability option and then hit that Search Button.

As I mentioned in the previous listing, discharge papers that were filed within the county for WWI or WWII for your location of interest should be under the Military Records section you see when viewing the Search Results if available.  You'll need to click thru to expand the listings under each category. Be sure to check under each category.  I found my ancestors listed in School Census and Roadwork

5.  AncestryDNA--the largest autosomal DNA database.  Once you receive your results, you can download your raw data and upload to other sites such as MyHeritage, FTDNA, and GEDmatch to compare with others who have uploaded or tested there.  Be sure to read each site's User Policy/Terms of Service.  AncestryDNA is the site I recommend testing at especially if you are an adoptee or have unknown direct ancestors at the parent or grandparent level.   

6.  GEDmatch-Free to use site with an upload.  Is not a testing site but rather a site where results can be uploaded and compared to others who have tested at any of the major DNA testing sites and uploaded to GEDmatch. Tier 1 DNA analysis tools available at $10 a month but basic tools are free.

7. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2469

You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  Often overlooked by many, City Directories offer an insight into the lives of townspeople.  See my previous blog post--In Praise of City Directories.

8  Contacting libraries, records offices, museums, local history societies, historians etc--There are still plenty of things that you can learn without making a physical trip to the library or courthouse.  When I first began research I wrote LOTS of letters of inquiry.  Today it's much easier.  You can email or call. Don't expect them to do research for you but they can point you in the right direction and sometimes can give you public information from their database.  I learned more about records of the company for which my grandfather worked by sending an email inquiry.  This is just one example.  Google that company from which your ancestor retired.  Call or email that library in the area where your ancestors lived.  Email that Register of Deeds.

9.  DNA Painter & Interactive Shared cM Project with Relationship Probabilities--The DNA painter portion is Jonny Perl's tool for Chromosome Painting & so much more when it comes to visualizing your research.  The interactive Shared cM Project with Relationship Probabilities is a tool by Jonny Perl which uses Blaine Bettinger's Shared cM Project info and the probability chart by TheDNAGeek.  The WATO tool is invaluable.

10. Hathitrust.org---Free Online Digital Library

What's not to love about free books!  I've had luck finding city directories, county histories and Governor's papers collections.

11. U.S. Special Census on Deaf Family Marriages and Hearing Relatives, 1888-1895 https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1582

You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  I have found a wealth of information on collateral lines in this database which has led me to other records for my direct lines.

12.  MyHeritage DNA Tools--love the DNA Tools. If you upload your tests from other sites you can unlock the tools for a one time fee of $29(this is per kit instead of per acct unfortunately) Occasionally they will run a special where the tools are free with upload.  They have a chromosome browser and clustering tools as well as Theories of Family Relativity for DNA matches.  Other tools are photo editing tools to enhance, colorize and animate old photos.  Their site would be better were they to up their maximum amount of persons in their tree for free accounts.  250 is just too small. I'm sure they are reluctant because they began as a Tree hosting site but they could do so and restrict the number of photos to free accounts.  Their Theories of Relativity algorithm would reap the benefits from larger trees.

13. Legacy Family Tree Webinars--educational webinars covering a wide variety of research topics and techniques.  You can register to attend webinars which are free for a limited time after broadcast or you can subscribe to have access to the entire webinar library. This is an EXTREMELY valuable resource.

14.  Google Docs/Sheets/Slides--The Google office products which help me to organize share and make notes and charts of my research analysis.

15.  Newspapers.com--A newspaper database that is part of Ancestry.  This is pretty much an essential tool for me.  I do subscribe to the Publisher's Plus which contains much more than the basic plan but it's worth every bit of it.

16.  Thriftbooks--I order from them a good bit and like that I can earn points which I can use toward purchasing more books.  I used them when I was gathering books to research a number of subjects:  Civil War, Slavery/African-American research, War of 1812, American Revolution etc. 

17.  Facebook County History & Genealogy groups--these groups have been very helpful when needing advice from others researching the same topic or location.  Use the search box to search for topics and locations of interest within the group listings.  

Hope this listing is helpful and I hope to be blogging for many more years.--Marie

MarieB's Genealogy Blog Turns 14!

Today marks this blog's 14th year.  In keeping with my purpose of the blog, I'm listing in no particular order my 14 favorites databases, tools, websites etc. that I find helpful in my research.  I've written a description of how each of them can be used but please check out the link for more info on each of the resources. Please remember to check with and support your local libraries, county archives, and area genealogy & historical societies.  They have many items you won't find online and they need your help to thrive.

14 of My Favorite Databases, Tools, and Websites

1.  U.S. Special Census on Deaf Family Marriages and Hearing Relatives, 1888-1895
https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1582
You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  I have found a wealth of information on collateral lines in this database which has led me to other records for my direct lines.

2.  U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2469
You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  Often overlooked by many, City Directories offer an insight into the lives of townspeople.  See my previous blog post--In Praise of City Directories.

3.  U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482
You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.

4.  Famly Search Catalog Search for Area of Interest  County Records available online

Make sure you are logged on to the FamilySearch website.  Enter your Location(Country, State, County--for the US) in Place Search and select Online Availability option.

5.  AncestryDNA--the largest autosomal DNA database.  Once you receive your results, you can download your raw data and upload to other sites such as MyHeritage, FTDNA, and GEDmatch to compare with others who have uploaded or tested there.  Be sure to read each site's User Policy/Terms of Service.  AncestryDNA is the site I recommend testing at especially if you are an adoptee or have unknown direct ancestors at the parent or grandparent level.   

6.  GEDmatch-Free to use site with an upload.  Is not a testing site but rather a site where results can be uploaded and compared to others who have tested at any of the major DNA testing sites and uploaded to GEDmatch. Tier 1 DNA analysis tools available at $10 a month but subscribing is not necessary for use of the majority of the tools.

7.  DNAgedcom-- available as a client software for retrieval of match info from the other testing sites and also web-based analysis. See the website for more info on its current offerings and price.

8.  Interactive Shared cM Project with Relationship Probabilities--the latest version of a helpful interactive tool by Jonny Perl using Blaine Bettinger's Shared cM Project info and the probability chart by TheDNAGeek.

9.  DNA Painter--Jonny Perl's tool for Chromosome Painting.

10. & 11.  Chrome Browser Extensions--There are two browser extensions for Chrome Browser that I use to help sort and identify my AncestryDNA matches:  AncestryDNA Helper and MedBetterDNA. You can find those at Google Chrome's Webstore using the search option.

12.  Visual Phasing Spreadsheet--Visual Phasing an autosomal DNA analysis technique where you use chromosome comparison of 3 full siblings' atDNA results to find which segments came from each of their 4 grandparents  This is particularly helpful when trying to determine which lines you share with a DNA match.  You can find the Visual Phasing Spreadsheet by Steven Fox in the Files section of the Visual Phasing Working Group at Facebook. Members of that group are very helpful. Also more information about visual phasing in the series Visual Phasing: An Example(part 1 of 5) on Blaine Bettinger's blog.

13. Legacy Family Tree Webinars--educational webinars covering a wide variety of research topics and techniques.  You can register to attend webinars which are free for a limited time after broadcast or you can subscribe to have access to the entire webinar library. This is an EXTREMELY valuable resource.

14.  Google Docs/Sheets/Slides--The Google office products which help me to organize share and make notes and charts of my research analysis.

It's a Blogiversary!! MarieB's Genealogy Blog turns 13!!

It is hard to believe that it has been 13 years since I started blogging about my genealogy. There have been times when I rarely posted and others in which I posted a great deal.  I am thankful I have an outlet to share my excitement about my family history research and things that I've found that have been helpful and maybe at times--things to avoid.  Thanks to my readers past, present and future for being part of the journey.  I love my research and I love sharing tips and genealogy "happy dance" moments with you.  In celebration of the Blogiversary I thought it might be a good idea to review the top 13 most popular posts of the 13 years!  Hope you enjoy and I look forward to sharing many more posts with you!

13 Most Popular Posts

at MarieB's Genealogy Blog

1. Arrival in America of my Putman/Putnam and Shropshire Ancestors--Oct 3, 2009
2. Elisha Miller Robinson(1825-1896)--Jul 10, 2009
3. How the houses my Grandparents lived in look today(Part 1 Part 2)--Oct 26, 2013
4. My Grandmother's Post Cards--Tennessee Buildings--Oct 9, 2009
5. My 32 Great Great Great Grandparents( 30 known, 2 unknown)--Sep 5, 2009
6. Skill builders from the Board for Certification of Genealogists--Jul 19, 2004
7. Examining a Maternal DNA Circle--Mason Combs(1746-1802) --Mar 21, 2017
8. Dear Cousins: If you have taken an atDNA test--Nov 18, 2016
9. Researching Confederate Records of the Civil War.--Aug 30, 2016
10. 1840 Williamson Co. TN Census Head of Households Dist 25--Apr  19, 2016
11. AncestryDNA Circles Spreadsheet strategy--Aug 9, 2016
12. March 21, 1891--Birthday of Pearl Gray Jakes Cooke--Mar 31, 2017
13. A plan for helping to identify my 3rd and 4th cousins DNA matches--Aug 27, 2016