DNA in the news: Adventures in the Animal Archive

A new article describes the use of DNA testing techniques on the pages of ancient manuscripts in the Duke University Library, and how this analysis is opening up methods for tracing the movement of parchments. Adventures in the Animal Archive: New Techniques for the Genetic Analysis of Parchment Manuscripts. Manuscript Studies, Vol 11, Number 1, Spring 2026.

Santa Monica

 

Made in Ideogram.

Urban Light, 2016

Photo by Patrick Jones. Urban Light at LACMA. 4 Jan 2016.

This is a memorable throwback from ten years ago. Night running from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and finishing at the Urban Light installation. I have a return visit to LA coming up, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the new David Geffen Galleries. 

The case for James O'Brien

FamilySearch. Luzerne County, PA Citizenship records. 28 Sep 1871.

While looking at the father of the branch of Pennsylvania O'Briens, James John O'Brien, several of the marriage records for his children list birth locations as Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There's a James O'Brien who appears in the Luzerne County citizenship records in 1871, listing his arrival as November 1864 in New York. I cannot tell if this James was the same one who died in Pittsburgh in 1914. 

Michael Campbell served as a witness for James O'Brien on his petition for citizenship. I'm hoping I can find him in the 1870 US Census, perhaps living near the O'Brien family.

I have a hypothesis that James John O'Brien was the son of a James O'Brien, who may have been born in Ireland sometime about 1815-1825. This James may have been a son of my 3rd-great-grandfather John O'Brien, possibly from a first marriage before John arrived in the US and moved to LaSalle County, Illinois.

Restating research problem one

Ahead of the DNA Skills Workshop kickoff, I am restating my research problem on my paternal side.

Using my Dad's DNA matches, I am looking for the parents of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget (my Dad's maternal 2nd-great-grandmother). There are hints that this family came from County Longford, Ireland before Bridget arrived in LaSalle County, Illinois sometime before 1849.

On the O'Brien side of the tree, I have a cluster of mystery O'Brien matches descended from James John O'Brien and Mary Nolan. This couple went to Pennsylvania. I have tried using WATO and BanyanDNA to figure out how they may be related to my O'Brien line.

I've now built a genetic map using diagrams.net to see the DNA matches descending from my O'Brien side and the mystery Pennsylvania cluster. I do not have that many O'Brien DNA matches, but thankfully my Dad's first cousin tested at Ancestry and transferred results to FTDNA so that I can see matches in common on both platforms. I can also see some of these Pennsylvania O'Briens are on MyHeritage and 23andme.