Fly to India

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. TWA Hotel. 2 Nov 2024.

Research Progress March 2026

Since last month, there's some forward movement on my DNA research questions. The questions and updates are organized below.

My Paternal Side

1 - Looking for parents of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. This one has been stuck in a holding pattern for a while. I'm hoping to pick this one up after RootsTech.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA connections on the maternal line path descending from Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. Pending an update from cousin Lynn.

3 - Jones YDNA. We still need another Jones tester on our line.

That's three for three with little movement in a while. I think my approaches on this side of the tree need a shake-up.

My Maternal Side

1 - Working with Portillo DNA matches and continued genealogy on the matches in common with the Leyva group.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez. We have a new mtDNA kit in process for cousin Joe, and when his results arrive, it should give us an interesting set of matches to compare, along with possibly a more recent branch point. Catherine's haplogroup recently updated. There's good progress on this one.

3 - Campuzano YDNA. The Big Y results arrived in the middle of the month. We have another  Campuzano tester descending from Vicente Antonio Campuzano who has submitted a Big Y kit. I'm very hopeful this will give us a more recent branch point for our shared Campuzano line. There's exciting developments, but it will be several months before new results follow.

4 - xDNA analysis using FTDNA's tools. Nothing new this month.

Allison's Sides

1 - mtDNA results on the maternal line path for Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. This is pending the mitotree result, due any day now.

2 - Separating out maternal and paternal line matches on FTDNA. Making some slow progress here, checking against matches on Ancestry.

3 - Analyzing xDNA matches on Allison's sides of the tree.

Welcome March

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria. 4 Apr 2024.

It's the first of March, and it is time to welcome calendar Spring and March Madness basketball. This has been a long cold winter and we're ready for the warmth and colors that follow the calendar flip to the new month. It feels like we're starting to turn a corner, as the last days of February have begun to look more like Spring is on the way.

Ancestry adds Full Text Search

 

Ancestry's Full Text Search.

Ahead of RootsTech, Ancestry has added Full Text Search as a beta feature. This will probably be covered in greater detail next week in the Ancestry keynote and at the Ancestry RootsTech booth. Full Text Search has been invaluable on FamilySearch, so it will be really interesting to see how this new tool stacks up on Ancestry.

This feature may be in the process of rolling out to all users, and can be found from the Search dropdown menu at the top left side of the page when on Ancestry.

A Petition in Equity

 

FamilySearch. Warren County, KY. 1879.

When I last looked at the Grinstead family in Kentucky in March 2020, I did not have a death date or location for Thomas Grinstead (my 4th-great-grandfather). Using FamilySearch Full Text Search, I stumbled on a petition in equity filed by Thomas' daughter Sarah Jane and her husband James Garmon. The Garmons, along with her brother Alexander Grinstead and their families, had moved from Warren County, Kentucky to Missouri. At some point in the 1870s, Sarah's father moved to Missouri and was living with Alexander. He could no longer take care of his father, so Thomas went to live with Sarah, her husband and family in June 1877.

It looks like Thomas' health and mental state deteriorated at the Garmon home in Polk County, Missouri. Sarah and her husband filed the petition in equity to recover costs from Thomas' estate for $500, plus funeral costs and a doctor's bill from March-April 1877. The case includes a deposition from the Garmons, providing the confirmation that Thomas Grinstead died in Missouri about 1 December 1877.

Some of the Grinstead siblings challenged the case, but by August 1879, the Garmons agreed to a settlement to receive $100 from the estate.