Research Reflections on 2025

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. RootsTech, SLC. 5 Mar 2025.

As with last year, I'm using this post to look back on the research discoveries from 2025 and see how I did with the priorities I set for myself at the end of 2024. Continuing education was a big theme of 2025, as I attended RootsTech in person in March, watched a lot of family history YouTube and YourDNAGuide sessions. I participated in the DNA Study Group, the YDG member community on Circle, and online courses on YDNA, mtDNA and Shared Matches of Matches. I am looking forward to maintaining this ongoing education trend in the near year.

Setting research questions and tracking them each month was useful to maintain some focus, although I continue to use a "bounce around" approach to following different research subjects on the blog. Overall I think the monthly research recaps do keep me on target and accountable to follow-through on a particular question as the year progresses.

Looking back, in January I received my mtDNA results through FamilyTreeDNA. In February my Big Y results arrived. While there's more to do with both, receiving these results gave me a much deeper understanding of the maternal and paternal paths of my side of tree.

During the year I was also able to work with cousins Catherine and Lynn on their mtDNA kits, and their results have added to the incredible stories for two maternal branches in our tree (see this post from September, and this one from November). Thanks to our cousin Greg, a few weeks ago we received his initial YDNA haplogroup for the Campuzano line. Seeing the Big Y results in 2026 will be an upcoming highlight for next year.

With 324 posts (and counting), I've surpassed last year blog post total and am approaching 2012's top spot. While I don't set out to publish something every day, I did try to publish more frequently in 2025. Many of these were new discoveries on different branches of our shared family tree. In January I learned about a surprising Algerian connection on Allison's side with her 5th-great-grandfather Jean Pierre Halter. A branch of this family continued with their epic journey from France to Algeria to Brazil, and this made for a fascinating discovery.

We also learned that Allison and I share a common ancestor in our 8th-great-grandfather Philip Truax. This also means we both have a common ancestor in our Dutch New Amsterdam founders Philippe du Trieux and Lodewyck Post.

This year I put AI tools to the test, such as Claude, Ideogram, Perplexity, Runway, and MyHeritage's photo editing. By summer, other tools such as Suno arrived. I created some imagined scenes from the life of ancestors, such as my 3xgreats Marianna Haiss Oyler and Samuel Oyler at the Buck Tavern in 1850s Ohio, and 2xgreat-aunt Agnes Atherton O'Brien performing in 1890.

As for genealogy tools, I tested BanyanDNA on the generation of connection with the mystery O'Brien matches and learned about XDNA inheritance patterns. I hope to put both methods to further use in 2026.

Reflecting back before moving ahead, I generally stayed on focus with the topics I wanted to explore this year, and I learned a lot. Next week before the calendar turns to 2026, I'll share my updated areas of focus for the new year. Continued growth with DNA research and genetic genealogy will remain a big topic.