Research Reflections on 2024

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Montevideo, 14 Jan 2024.

Looking back on the research and family history finds for 2024, I thought I made some really cool progress revisiting old questions and making advancements with new-to-me tools. Inspired by fellow blogger and distant cousin Jacqi Stevens, in late January and February I dug into the Carter family of Virginia and my related Heslop and Ballard lines. I probably need to return to these families for new records and approaches in 2025.

In March, I started digging into the paper trail in La Salle County, Illinois on my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget, and began to try new tools on some of my branches. A few of these lines would be good to consider again in 2025. I did not spend any time looking into the Free, Matthews and Davis lines on my Mom's side of the tree this year.

In April, I began the month looking at the Oyler family on my Dad's side of the tree, finding the home of George G. Oyler on Google Streetview, and a tavern lease featuring my 3rd-great-grandfather Samuel Oyler. Later in the month I revisited the Civil War pension file of Pleasant Morgan and identified a loop in the tree with the Flatt branch. While I pursued some ultimately wrong theories about Robert Cain as the father of my 2nd-great-grandmother Mary Alice Cain, I did find some interesting things about that Robert and his ties to the early days of the Kentucky Derby.

In May I started working with the dot method using my AncestryDNA matches, prior to the arrival of ProTools in June 2024. During the second half of 2024, I really leaned into DNA research, developing research questions, trying the Leeds Method, and making new discoveries.

Another focus of the second half of the year was expanding the connections in my tree to DNA matches and adding the names of living cousins. I made contact with a few of them this year, and am making progress toward answering some of the deeper research questions that can only be resolved with Y or mtDNA matches.

I was able to identify a cluster of DNA matches descending from James O'Brien and Mary Nolan in Pittsburgh. A goal for 2025 remains figuring out the link between this group of Pennsylvania O'Briens, and their descendants, to my John O'Brien line.