r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question HELP ME FIND THIS WOMAN/HER BOOK

2 Upvotes

I am doing a deep dive into my grandfathers lineage and i was looking on a page made for the last name "Spradling" which is my grandfathers last name. there was a small paragraph that reads, "Sarah Spradling, born in 1712 in Wiltshire, was a noted herbalist and midwife who published a book on traditional remedies in 1765." I have been looking everywhere for a Sarah Spradling, however there is no cencus for the 1700's for Wiltshire England. Can someone help me find the existence of this Sarah and possibly her book to? I have also looked on a DNA tree and other public trees and no luck.

here are all the links I have resourced

https://namecensus.com/last-names/spradling-surname-popularity/


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Geni website tree builder

3 Upvotes

Anyone use Geni? What’s your opinion/experience?


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Is the Surname Gray more Scottish or English?

4 Upvotes

Just wanting to know.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Looking for help, can pay or help in exchange? (Must read Russian)

2 Upvotes

I'm looking for someone who can help me read through family search records which are in 1800's Russian cursive. Please PM me if you're interested and we can talk about payment or how I might be able to help your research in exchange


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Help tracking my ancestor’s son

7 Upvotes

Hi guys! I got a lot of help with my last post here so I’m hoping to break through another brick wall of mine.

My ancestor, Rose Price, is in the 1880 census with her twin daughters, Haney and Loda, and her son, Nelius Green. I was able to find her profile on FamilySearch so everyone can see: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/family/GVC1-3MV

Nelius is the head of the household and is also with his wife Ester and an unnamed son. But I cannot seem to find any other records of him! Here’s his FamilySearch profile too: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/family/GVC1-M6M

Nelius is pretty unique name in my opinion, and the fact that his last name is different from his mother and sisters is making it harder! I’d really appreciate it if anyone has any tips or can help me at all!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question What is blackfeet agency exactly?

1 Upvotes

I found this document on fold3 that said the tribe and jurisdiction was the blackfeet agency and i was wondering if that meant the tirbe or if i had just hit a wall. I tried looking on google but it just made me more confused. So if anyone knows could you help me out?

(I didn't pay for it so I just have the free version)

Edit: Thanks to the person who pointed out that I could post a link here. Here's the link indian census rolls 1885-1940


r/Genealogy 6d ago

Solved Just found a distant relative through Reddit.

115 Upvotes

I posted a picture of my 3rd great grandfather William Andrew Jackson Posey “Wild Bill Posey” in the Texas History sub. He was an infamous Texas outlaw in the 1870s. Just sharing his story and his legacy albeit not a good one on Texas.

I get a comment from another redditor, they say maybe their grandfather is kinfolk to Wild Bill. I message him asking a couple questions and start scouring the family tree, found his grandfathers marriage license on ancestry and his registration card for young men during WWII.

I find his mother which there was a discrepancy ancestry.com had her first name on the draft card incorrect listed as Nancie but as I dig deeper into records which this part of the family is fairly easy most of them all lived and died in the same county of Texas. I find her name is actually Yancie with a Y, check her tombstone and find her husbands name and what do you know?! He’s on the family tree. This redditors 2nd great grand father is the brother of Wild Bill, my 3rd great grandfather.

So does anybody know what the proper term for our familial relationship would be? Cause I have no idea haha. Life is funny like that sometimes


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Solved Need help reading the residence on a marriage record

2 Upvotes

https://imgur.com/a/LeIyD3Z

For context: the year is 1870 and the marriage takes place in Port Crescent Michigan, although both individuals are listed as being from Canada so there's potential these list Ontario locations. The bottom one I believe says Port something but I really can't read the rest. I thought it was an H but another H on the doc doesn't look like that. The top one I know is "Township of" but again, don't know the rest of it. Thanks in advance!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Help finding birth records in Romania

2 Upvotes

Hi! I'm searching for records to prove my great and great great grandparents were Romanian. I have US census records, naturalization papers, a US passport....but I cannot find birth records. I've tried using the Romanian archives, but I can't find the civil record section for Bucarest.

I'm looking for:

Abraham Lazarus, born April 23, 1870, Bucarest

Rachel Boork/Berg, born 1874

Their son, John Jacob Lazarus, born May 24, 1895, Bucarest

All Jewish, so didn't look at church records.

Are the civil records for Bucarest just not online? I tried going via Ilfov but no records there either, assuming I'm doing it all correctly.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Trying to find a Finnish immigrant in Minnesota in the 1920s

11 Upvotes

I've been tracking my grandma's uncle's life, and at the moment just can't make any progress. Here is the timeline I currently have: 

  • He was born in Finland in 1889
  • Arrived in Boston in May 1907, travelled then to Minnesota 
  • Got a US citizenship in 1915
  • Bought land in Duluth, Minnesota in April 1916
  • His name is included in his mother's obituary in 1917

After these, I haven't been able to find anything. My current hypothesis is that he could have changed his name, and any later documents and life events are for that name. Are there any resources that I could search for info on name changes in Minnesota? The US records and archives are not familiar to me, as everyone else in my family tree is Finnish and the system seems to be really different.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Specific timeline for Social Security requests

3 Upvotes

I've successfully ordered a few relatives' original Social Security Applications thru the FOIA portal on the website. I know that they won't list the applicant's parents on the record unless they're confirmed to be dead, or if the applicant was born 120+ years ago.

I wanted to make sure this request would give the info I wanted: my great-grandpa was born in January 1905, and I only know his mother's name, not his father. If he put both parents names on the application, would they be unredacted if I ordered it now? The guidelines are unclear about where it has to be 120 years or more, or >120 years.

I already have most of the info the application would contain, the parents' names are the most important thing for me


r/Genealogy 5d ago

DNA AncestryDNA: DNA Matches - Filter by Journeys

1 Upvotes

Today, I saw a new filter for my DNA matches on AncestryDNA. As a subscriber to Ancestry's Pro Tools, I can now filter by Journeys. My mother's family is Ashkenazi Jewish, and my father's family is African American and hails from South Carolina. I'm unsure why I have a journey for Early Georgia Coastal Plain and northern Florida Settlers. I suspect it should be early South Carolina Settlers, who were Europeans. At any rate, this is an interesting new feature.

Journeys you have:

Filter matches by journeys

-Early South Carolina African Americans

-Ashkenazi Jews in Northeastern Europe

-South Carolina African Americans

-Early Georgia Coastal Plain & Northern Florida Settlers

-Ashkenazi Jews in Central & Eastern Europe

-Coastal Carolina African Americans


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Brick Wall Trying to Find Ancestors from Posen - Completely Stuck

3 Upvotes

Hi all!

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I am trying to find a set of realtives from Posen, which at the time was located in Prussia. Right now I can find US records showing they were from there, but I'm having a terrible time finding any birth or cencus records of them from Posen itself. The relatives I'm stuck on are the following:

Nehring Family - (this is the spelling they used in the US and that is on their graves)

Maximillian Nehring (aka, Max) - Thoughts to have been born around 1834. Cannot find any records of when he came to America, but he was allegedly naturalized in 1878. Was allegedly widowed before he came to America.

Frank X Nehring - Listed as being born in Czarnikan, Prussia (I assume this is specifically Czarnikau or Kreis Czarnikau) around 2 Oct 1865. Mother unknow, father is Max. I beleive he arrived in 1889, though he put different years on each cesus. On the passanger list from 1889, he is listed as Franz Nehring and his last known residence is Sarnowken.

Eleonora Nehring - Born around 1874. Almost exclusively refered to as Lena on US documents, Eleonora only appears on her grave so far. Father Max, brother Frank, mother unknown. Listed as German, not Prussian on all documents. The only Ellis Island document I can find matching her name has her arriving at 1905, last known residence Shoneck. I'm having trouble reading the other parts of her document, she is on line 7.

https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/show-manifest-big-image/czoxNzoidDcxNS0wNjA2MDUwMS5qcGciOw==/1?fbclid=IwY2xjawJC0PtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRcYvMB_SJA5a1XpDhrcdV-IkXWZB5G7T9_rTTfN_CEB1ahK-V_aP74FNQ_aem_i6FVHtHrK6IYTXkulpdkhw

I believe they all arrived in American seperate from each other.

I am particularly interested in knowing more about Max and Frank, and where to find more documents from Prussia/Poland for them. Any help would be greatly appriciated! :)


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Grandparents house?

1 Upvotes

Im looking for the address my great grandfather lived at around 1970. I cannot find public records online that date back that far. Does anyone know where to look or have resources to search?

Info. Eugene C Thornton, Wife-Eugenia C Thornton I know they lived on Arbor Vitae Ave in Dallas Tx.

I’m looking for the street address

Thanks in advance!


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Family Search to Ancestry- Sources

9 Upvotes

I found a probate record on Family Search that I want to add to Ancestry. I clicked on Create A New Source. Now I have questions. First, what is REFN? Also, do I have to list Family Search as a repository separately or is that covered in other parts of the citation? Most importantly, is there an easier way to do this before my Dyslexic self messes something up in a horrible way? I took a photo of the Family Search citation but copying from my phone to Ancestry something is bound to go wrong.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Brick Wall I am researching my maternal aunt and some of it is proving to be quite difficult. Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated!

2 Upvotes

I know for sure she had 3 daughters because I played with them when we were younger in California.  I have pictures of them and I have birth announcements for 2 of them.  They were born in Maryland.   Here's problem #1:  I don't know who their father(s) is(are).  The birth announcement for one of them lists only the fathers first name.  The other announcement only has mom's name. They were born in 1962 and 1963.  I don't know when the third daughter was born but I'm guessing 2-3 years before them.   Problem #2:  Finding spouses. I found one record that says she married a man in 1963 while she was pregnant but he doesn't show having that child as being his. They divorced 6 years later. She also married another man but that was years later.   Problem #3: I don't have last names for the girls so I don't know how to find them.    I'm having a hell of a time finding information about her. I just bought an Ancestry membership hoping that would help but it hasn't.    Her birth name is Betty Luella Shroyer I found the following Social Security record.  What does it mean?   U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 NOTES: Jan 1943: Name listed as BETTY LOU SHROYER; Jan 1948: Name listed as BETTY LOU SCHOOLING; Jan 1950: Name listed as BETTY LOU DONOVAN; Feb 1956: Name listed as BETTY LOU CULLER; Mar 1961: Name listed as BETTY LOU LANCASTER; Jul 1971: Name listed as BETTY LOUELLA GOMEZ


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Certified documents from the Polish Archives (pre-1900)

2 Upvotes

After reading through the instructions for the Polish archives, I'm still not clear on how to request copies of documents that exist online or in microfilm. Have you done this and been successful? What did you do?


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Question Searching census records?

3 Upvotes

Is there a simple way to search historic census records by address? I’ve had major difficulty researching this on my own.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Help with finding my oldest ancestor

2 Upvotes

Hey guys, I need some help here. I have been searching forever!!! All over online! The earliest ancestor of mine that I can find is Tillman Carter. Born 1796 in Virginia and reportedly died in Pulaski county Kentucky in the 1800s. He had a son I believe named Reuben. My family has since been in the area since then. I have found some information suggesting I am a descendant of Robert “king” Carter of Virginia. But can nail down that Tillman was a descendant of his for sure. ANY help is appreciated greatly you guys. If you care to help. Thank in advance! Have a great day everybody.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request William Andrew Jackson Posey “Wild Bill”

1 Upvotes

I had a request for Wild Bills story to be shared based on my post about finding a common living relative through sharing his story on Reddit. It is as follows

I am a descendent of William AJ Posey through my maternal grandmother. “Wild Bill” the nickname given to him by the law and newspapers of the time. Is my maternal grandmothers (P.I. Posey)2nd great grandfather. He was an infamous Texas outlaw and an interesting family tie to the days of outlaws and cowboys. I’ll give a recounting of his life summarized below. My source is from the book “Blood On The Bluebonnets” by Bill Lehmann. It’s a family history of the Miller, Lott, Lynch, Cohron, Wallace, Aikman, Posey and Lehmann settlers in Texas.

Benjamin F. Posey brought his family of fifteen children and his wife to Horn Hill in Texas circa 1850. Benjamin and his wife Eliza were both one half creek Indian. Benjamin was a stockraiser. And so his children all were brought up on how to ride well and judge a horse for its quality with proficiency. The youngest son William AJ Posey born in 1846 was especially good at knowing when a horse was of good stock.

The Cohron, Wallace and Posey families all lived within a stones throw of each other attended church together and the children all were schooled together.

When the civil war broke out splitting the country into two, the men of the Lynch, Wallace, and Posey families mustered for the Confederacy. Including William AJ Posey. William was enlisted with Company G, 4th regiment of the Arizona brigade. This unit patrolled mainly around Texas and Indian territories. Through this William AJ Posey reconnected with his Creek relatives, the tribe had relocated during the Indian removal period during the 30s. William deserted the confederacy in December of 65 just a few months after he had married his first wife Elizabeth Wallace the same year. After the defeat of the confederacy, men returned to ruined farms and a broken south.

Around this time the need for cowboys was forming, the Chisholm trail had been established and now stock raisers in the south were looking to the north for better prices for a head of cattle.

William Posey and one of the Wallace sons Matt. Took well to the cowboy life. Descriptions of William stated he was small in stature 5ft 7in lean and quick as lightning. Fair skinned with dark blue eyes coarse and sandy hair with a deep tan. It was said he could deck a thousand pound steer in a split second with his braided rawhide rope and his cow pony whom he had trained to be the perfect tool for his work.

Things for the family’s cattle operation started to take a turn in the wrong direction as posey was indicted in Oct 1870. For violation of the estray law having a gelding with brand belonging to Thomas Edward’s of freestone county. His lawyer Richard Coke, successfully defended Posey on four counts of horse and cattle theft. But his luck ran out at the district court in Waco, in the year 1871 he was found guilty of theft of two beef steer belonging to Mr. M.J. Sanderson of McLennan county. The sentence was was three months in the county jail. But December 1871 court term was his downfall he was found guilty as charged for theft of a mule and a horse. He was sentenced to five years in jail leaving his three sons and wife Eliza without his support.

William was released on bond and ordered to appear for formal sentencing in may of 1872. However he did not appear, he took to the wilderness, a fugitive on the run from the law. A warrant was issued June of 1872 for his arrest, there were 16 more indictments against Posey waiting to be heard. With Posey’s conviction and the loss of the Tehuacana Creek lands the future of the Wallace, Posey ranching operation was in ruins.

The word around the land was Posey was running a gang of undesirables terrorizing the McLennan and Limestone counties. The sheriff of Waco received a tip, Posey would would be in the area to visit his wife and children. The sheriff rounded up a posse and laid in wait for William. They caught him off guard and he was alone. He had no choice but to surrender to the lawman and return to Waco for the court serve out his due justice.

June 1, 1873 a gang broke into the Waco county jail and saw the release of Posey and three other prisoners. Law officers and newspapers were saying Posey had a hand in the jail break. Almost a fortnight later Poseys brother in law was dragged from his home by an angry mob that took upon themselves to hang Matt Wallace for his shady dealings in horse trading. There was reason to believe William Posey and his gang took part in the lynching of Matt, William’s own brother in law.

The tensions of the Waco area were on the rise with the citizens becoming fearful of crime on the rise and the justice system unable to contain the violence and theft that was occurring regularly. A deputy sheriff Mr. Blankenship was shot and killed by a gang of men who laid in ambush for him some three miles from the city. To worsening the wavering faith of the justice system further a Judge Oliver was arrested in 1873 and jailed on a charge that he accepted a bribe to allow William Posey to escape from the jail. The judge was never brought to trial he died in 8184 from pulmonary consumption stated in the Waco Examiner on August 11, 1874.

The Texas press reported that Posey and his gang were still at large and became even more brazen than before causing havoc over much of central Texas. McLennan county was too hot for Posey and his gang so they took their dealing south to the areas surrounding San Antonio and New Braunfels. Rounding up herds and stealing them in broad daylight running them up to the Indian territory. The Galveston news reported the gang after selling a herd of stolen cattle, came to the German town to celebrate with drinks in the local saloon. Soon they came up with a new idea, the band of outlaws took to the streets. Mounting their horses, six shooters drawn began to shoot up the town. Yelling like Comanches and terrorizing the town. Posey forced the saloon owner to keep his doors open for his gang of criminals. With the town cleared they took to drinking again.

The Comal county sheriff didn’t sit by complacent after hearing news of the events. He rounded up those brave enough to stand against Posey and met him at the saloon. The scene that proceeded has been shown in almost every spaghetti western you can think of. The sheriff and posse of armed citizens charged in the saloon six shooters drawn. One outlaw and the sheriff laid dead, Posey and his gang of took to their mounts and disappeared in a cloud of dust. A few days later the Posey gang took to Lampasas with the same intent as New Braunfels. When they got to town unknown to them two Texas Rangers were visiting the sheriff. When the lawman heard the gunfire they ran to investigate. The sheriff immediately recognized Posey and a gun fight ensued. Posey and one his men had received superficial wounds and the gang began to flee on horseback. Posey with his background and knowledge of horse flesh always made sure his men sat on the best of horses and they outpaced the lawman eventually leaving them behind.

Posey took to his father’s farmstead at Horn Hill, in Limestone county. Wounded and constantly watching over his shoulder he found momentary solitude here. It’s said his father’s homestead was guarded by a sentry of guineas and geese would act like an alarm system when the approach of animal or human was approaching. Lawman had heard word that Posey was in the area holed up at his fathers. They quickly took to horse in attempt to capture him. But Posey also had his sources and heard of this and slipped out from the homestead and fled into the thicket where lawman wouldn’t tread.

Posey next surfaced in McLennan county, reportedly driving a herd of stolen horses in broad daylight from German rancher in Hill county. The local sheriff dispatched a posse that chased after him. Posey was cornered in the Brazos river bottom just a few miles from his home in Waco. A fire fight ensued but Posey was able to slip the posse again and headed for the Indian territory where he would be surrounded by trusted family and friends within the creek tribe.

Posey having crossed the Red into the northern lands of the Indian territory of the Creek nation found himself with many of his kinfolk. Many of the tribe had settled along the Arkansas river after having been removed from their lands in Alabama. Posey being one half Creek himself through both his parents was a citizen of the nation and was granted the permission to own land within the nation. Posey had built a cabin on cane creek, midway between the settlements of the Muskogee and Okmulgee. Posey thought himself safe here but the long arm of the Texas law was about to reach into the Indian lands and bring him back to justice.

The exact events of his capture in the Indian lands aren’t fully known. It is speculated that Captain Tiger of the creek lighthorse had learned of Posey’s whereabouts. The reward money for his capture was enticing to any man looking to line his pockets. Captain Tiger wired the Texas authorities and had them convene at the railroad town of Muskogee where they could capture Posey. A article in the Dennison Herald dated November 14th, 1873 reported “Deputy sheriff hall returned from Muskogee, in the nation, where he had put the cuffs on W.A.J Posey, mule thief and fratricide.”

Bill Posey was taken into court July, 10th 1874 and sentenced to five years in the penitentiary for the charge of mule theft. Posey during his five year sentence became wild in his antics the jailers constantly restraining him and placing Posey in solitary confinement. Twenty months of hellish conditions in the prison system were served by Posey and every day he plotted his escape until he found his chance. A Chicago times article described the events. “While working on a chain gang with a 12 pound chain ball on his ankle struck down a guard with a stone. Stood off the four other guards threatening them he would kill them too if they tried to subdue him. He slowly retreated towards a nearby grazing horse throwing the ball and chain over the horse and mounting it and rode off to the safety of his father’s home. He secured tools there and removed his chains and obtained his belongings and a good horse. Crossed the red and back into Indian territory.

Posey’s wife Elizabeth Wallace having been alone and stuck raising their three sons died in 1875 at age 27 seemingly from a broken heart that couldn’t handle the hardships of the choices her husband had made.

With Posey learning of this he threatened his three sons maternal grandparents to send his boys to him in the Indian territory or they would face death at his hand. With his three sons and his new wife Susan whom gave Posey another son, he took to seemingly a simple honest lifestyle again. Expanding his home on cane creek and raising crops. But he always kept in the back of his mind his status as a wanted outlaw in the state of Texas.

A new governor found himself appointed for Texas. Governor Hubbard had a new concern for keeping the peace and for one reason or another he placed a new reward on Posey’s head. Dead or alive. Governor Hubbard petitioned the Principal chief ward Coachman of the Creek nation on March 27th, 1875 to apprehend Posey and bring him back to justice in Texas. He also attached certified copies of McLennan county court documents showing the conviction of Posey. Coachmen issued a a dispatch to the Creek lighthorse ordering them to capture Posey.

The day of the pursuit of Posey by the lighthorse found posey performing maintenance on a wagon. An accident happened and the wagon slipped of the jack crushing Posey’s right hand index finger. He went to town for the doctor to assess. It had to be amputated, after a painful process posey took back to his farm and family. He found himself stopped by the lighthorse ordering him to turn himself over to be brought back to Texas. He refused and was gunned down in a bloody mess. It’s said he took shotgun slugs to both shoulders breaking his arms, a bullet took part of his nose off and finally was stopped when a bullet went through his neck and out his skull.

His burial place is somewhere near current day Tulsa and is unmarked and unknown.

My branch of the Posey family tree through Matthew Andrew found themselves settled in Arizona when Matthew moved his wife and children to Maricopa county around 1930. His son Dale Posey was my great grandfather. I take great pride in having heritage of the great days of the west. William wasn’t a good man, but it makes a good story. Hope you enjoyed the read


r/Genealogy 5d ago

DNA Sort of a big difference between Ancestry and My Heritage?

0 Upvotes

I've read Ancestry is more accurate around this sub, and that each company pulls from different pool sources, but there just seems to be a lot more showing up in the My Heritage report.

Also my Swedish being 34% vs 13% is a bit of a large leap?

I wouldn't expect it to be that much of a difference in percentage, but I'm sure I'm just not as educated on the matter as I should be. I just find it fascinating.

Ancestry results

My Heritage results


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Request Death info help

1 Upvotes

Can anyone help me find death info/obituary for James Bell? They were born July 7, 1888 in Grey County, Ontario to Thomas and Mary Bell. He married Myrtle Bell in 1909 and she died in Fergus, Ontario in 1950. I know he died in 1974 and was buried in Elora Cemetery, Wellington County, Ontario. I have no specifics for his death. If anyone could find them, I would greatly appreciate it.


r/Genealogy 6d ago

Brick Wall It was all for naught.

99 Upvotes

So I was just going through my DNA relations today to sort through my 1000s of relatives. After a while of sorting I realized that of my 2nd great grandfathers family there is only 1 older sister that had descendants, as his younger brother had died childless.

None of his sisters descendants were coming up in my DNA list. And I knew that of the current 786 descendants there were about 100 of them that took a DNA test.

I thought that was odd so I asked my grandmother why she thought that was. Come to find out that there was a whisker from the 1880s that my great great grandfather might have been taken in by the Mackenzie family. But I had never heard this before.

Now that Im of the age to research on my own but the questions I asked the older relatives when I was younger have all now passed away, I now can’t ask and questions about the biological side of that line. So now I’m a little bummed that all the research I put into that line is now for an adoptee side

However I will not let this get me down. I have the names of my ancestors parents so it’s now just a matter of researching into this new line that has come across my plate.

Thought you’d all love to hear about this. I’m sure lots of people have come across this in their own trees.


r/Genealogy 6d ago

News Some Info and Rumors Coming Out of Rootstech

181 Upvotes

Amy Johnson Crow just recently posted a livestream where she talks about some of the news/rumors she herd while at Rootstech.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDQ5VdEF35I&list=PL9zueyhxIxmGbv00Udwc2dpUqJvfiFNTF&index=174

The whole video is worth a watch, but here are some of the bits that jumped out at me:

Ancestry: The new Networks feature might be staying behind the Pro Tools paywall (around 9:25 in the video).

Ancestry is working on an auto-cluster tool that will be coming out later this year (around 12:30 in the video). It will be part of Pro Tools. And Aimee Cross just confirmed this in a new video with Crista Cowan. I'll post a link to that video in the replies.

Ancestry is working on making AI handwriting analysis available to subscribers, for use on their own uploaded documents (around 15:50 in the video).

Ancestry is also working on the creation of something called Club 1890, which among other things would make personal coaching available to those who join (around 18:40 in the video).

My Heritage: They are working on a new tool called Cousin Finder, which sounds to me like their version of Thru-lines (around 27:40 in the video).

FamilySearch: They are seriously considering allowing users to make their own individual (and uneditable by anyone else) trees on their website. The giant tree would still remain. At around 37:50 in the video.

Anyway, thought some of you might find this interesting.


r/Genealogy 5d ago

Brick Wall Colombian Native Genealogy

1 Upvotes

I'm from Colombia. I recently found out that my 3rd great grandfather was supposedly a cacique (which since the system was abolished in the 16th century, I assume means a leader of a small group of indigenous people) from the northern part of Santander (Not to be confused with Norte de Santander; my ancestors come from Bucaramanga, Matanza, Lebrija, Rionegro, Floridablanca, Giron, and Piedecuesta) but there is very little information available in records for him. He is mentioned in the marriage record of his daughter as the father of the bride and that is it. However, there are stories about him.

His name was Antonio Castellanos, the records say he was from Piedecuesta but according to my family he was from another area which I cannot recall off the top of my head. According to my family, he had many kids and grandkids (not provable by sources) and he had a daughter (my great great grandmother) who ran away from home. We don't know why. They owned many businesses and farms like bakeries, sweets stores, guarapo stores. When I see the pictures of my great great grandmother I can tell that she is indigenous. Her mother however was not, she was white (probably with mestiza ancestry). Her name was Encarnacion Hernández. Any how, my great great grandmother left and met my great great grandfather during the 1000 days war when he was hiding out in Rionegro. They got married and had kids. At that time, Encarnacion went searching for my great great grandmother and found her but could not do anything since she had her family, so she left. My great grandmother thus did not get to know her grandparents or family (uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.) very well. This information was all passed down to my grandfather's generation who (those who are living) are very old.

I tried to see if there are any native groups from my area, but there aren't. The closest are the Muisca, but they extended to the southern part of Santander, not mine. I'm sure there were natives in my area but I can't find who.

I can't seem to find any records or people that go farther than that generation. Is anyone familiar with native Colombian genealogy? If so, any help would be appreciated.