More questions than answers

 

St. Patrick's Parish records. LaSalle, Illinois.

In March I wrote to the Archives for the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, and they directed me to the Parish Secretary in LaSalle. After providing a donation and details on the records I was seeking, the staff conducted a search. Late Thursday I received a reply with some photos, which may provide some new information on the children of John and Bridget O'Brien. The image below raises additional questions, which I've asked to the parish secretary.

St. Patrick's baptisms. LaSalle, Illinois.

If I am reading this correctly, on 24 March 1860, three children of John and Bridget O'Brien were baptised at St. Patrick's:

• Ann O'Brien, "born about 1853"
• Bridget O'Brien, "born about 1856"
• Mary O'Brien, "born about 1859"

I have as children of my John and Bridget: Anna Maria, born about 1852; Isabella, born about 1853; John J. O'Brien, born in 1854; Agnes O'Brien, born in 1858. Bridget also had her surviving son from her first marriage, Michael Dooner, born in March 1850. I thought Bridget O'Brien had died in mid 1859. Maybe the entries above are not for the children of my John and Bridget. Baptisms for John J. O'Brien and Michael Dooner seem to be missing. Is "Mary O'Brien" Agnes? Is Bridget from 1856 Isabella? Lots of questions here. 

The Sponsors

Perhaps I need to look into the sponsors for the baptised children: M. O'Kane, Margaret Gorman, and Julia Clark.

Ancestry. 1860 US Census. LaSalle, Illinois.

In the 1860 US Census, there is a Julia Clark, living in the household of Patrick and Mary O'Kane in LaSalle. We also know that by August 1860, Anna Maria, Isabella and Agnes were placed in the care of the Sisters of Charity in LaSalle, and they appear in the list of pupils at the convent. 

At first I was struggling with the spelling for the sponsor of Bridget O'Brien, born in 1856, but looking at this again I think the name is Margaret Gorman. There is a Margaret Gorman in the 1860 US Census in LaSalle, a 30 year old woman from Ireland, spelled Margarette.

Ancestry. 1860 US Census. LaSalle, Illinois.

Another option is Margaret Conway, born about 1836, from Ireland, living in Grand Rapids, LaSalle, Illinois.

Derby Day 2026

 

LIFE Photo Collection. George Silk. Kentucky Derby 1959.

Later today is the 152nd Kentucky Derby. I've previously shared a set of photos taken at Churchill Downs by my Gumpy, perhaps sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s. We're looking forward to the race and enjoying the festivities with friends in the neighborhood.

Research Progress May 2026

Here's a monthly recap on progress for my research questions. As with last month, it's been a mix of progress and stall, with a flurry of movement in the past week.

My Paternal Side

1 - Looking for parents of my Irish 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. I am continuing to work on chromosome mapping using my Dad's results. I also took the leap and submitted yet another DNA kit, this time to 23andme in the hopes of finding some O'Brien/Bridget matches that only tested there. While I did find matches in common to the James O'Brien group there, I'm so far struggling to see any potential matches to Bridget's side of the tree. I have some new information from St. Patrick's Church in LaSalle, Illinois, but this deserves its own post...coming Sunday.

2 - mtDNA matches in the same mitotree path for Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. Cousin Lynn shared some information on a 1 step match located in Australia. Doing some digging, I think there's a possible maternal line connection who was born in the UK and placed on a convict ship to Australia in 1786. Perhaps our Westall maternal line connects back to the UK in the past with this match, how far back, we're not certain yet.

3 - Jones YDNA. No further movement since last month.

My Maternal Side

1 - Working with Portillo matches. Surprise movement at the end of the month following my 23andme results. I can see several familiar names connected to the Portillo side of the tree. This will be an area of emphasis in May.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez. Cousin Joe's mtDNA results arrived, giving us more matches to compare with cousin Catherine.

3 - Campuzano YDNA. Still waiting on cousin Garry's Big Y result to give us a closer-in-time branch point to compare with cousin Greg.

Allison's Sides

1 - mtDNA results in the maternal line path for Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. Finally results arrived at the end of April.

2 - Separating out maternal and paternal line matches on FTDNA. Not much progress this month.

3 - Analyzing XDNA matches on Allison's side of the tree. I've added some XDNA matches to the spreadsheet, and have been noting which family group I think these matches might belong to.

Future RootsTech Talk

I have made some progress here, building the bones of the talk into a presentation and pulling together the timeline graphics. I probably have half of the talk built in the presentation and the overall outline and themes are done. More to follow in May, and I suspect there may soon be a call for presentations for RootsTech 2027.

Purple Blooms

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Farnham Castle. 23 Apr 2026.

Matches who only tested at 23andme

Testing at 23andme has proven worthwhile, identifying some matches who only tested there vs on Ancestry, MyHeritage or FamilyTreeDNA but known to connect with documented branches on my tree on those sites. There are some familiar names too, cousins who had also tested on the other sites.

23andme has some tools that I like - the timeline, the reconstructed ancestors tools and clustering are useful. I like that it did a solid job of calculating my maternal haplogroup and allows you to see matches by haplogroup. There are also some features I find annoying, or are not as intuitive as Ancestry and MyHeritage. Looking at DNA Relatives (matches) is not as easy as Ancestry or MyHeritage, and not immediately clear which side of my tree these people are on. I think Ancestry does a much better job at separating out my maternal and paternal sides. 23andme does have a cool DNA Family Tree feature, but I am finding it's mixed up my Mexican side of the tree from my Mom's Whitley/Matthews side (these are both on my maternal side of the tree, but the Mexican side is maternal-maternal, and Whitley/Matthews is maternal-paternal).

23andme also limits you to 5000 DNA matches, vs the 82,574 that I have on Ancestry. But if this number is quality and represents people who only tested here and not on another platform, 23andme is providing potential connections I didn't have on Ancestry or MyHeritage. There's more to do in looking at the tools and possibilities.

And the results are in

 

23andme Ancestry landing page.

In the hopes of finding some potential connections who only tested at 23andme, I sent off a kit at the beginning of the month. Two weeks later, the results are in and I am looking at comparisons between other tests at Ancestry, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. 23andme nailed my legacy mtDNA haplogroup, A2d2, while FTDNA's mtFull sequence provides a more refined MitoTree result. For the paternal haplogroup, my Big Y 700 result is definitely more granular than the higher level R-L2.

Before comparing the Ancestry composition results with other tests, it's worth looking at a timeline report from 23andme (below).

23andme. Ancestral timeline.

The report estimates a most recent ancestor from a specific population based on inherited DNA segments. They estimate I had a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who was 100% English between 1880-1940. Knowing my tree as I do, I know Samuel Oyler was born in Kent, England in 1822. Samuel's son Charles John Oyler (my 2nd-great-grandfather) was half German through my 3rd-great-grandmother Marianna Haiss.

The next interesting entry on the timeline says I had a great-grandparent, 2nd-great-grandparent or 3rd-great-grandparent who was 100% Andalusian, Asturian or Castilian. Here is where some of what I know on my Mexican sides of the tree is useful but incomplete on several of the branches. At the same level, 23andme suggests I also had someone who was 100% Portuguese or Galician, born between 1820 and 1880. I think this was further back, knowing how mixed the people in my tree were about this time.

Between 1760 and 1850, I had most likely a 2nd to 5th-great-grandparent who was Irish. Yes! This would be my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget, and John O'Brien. 23andme estimates I also had someone at this level who was 100% Scottish. Yes! This was my 5th-great-grandfather John McIntosh. 23andme similarly suggests I had someone at this level who was 100% Austrian or Southern German. Correct, this could come from Marianna Haiss, who was born in Hausen im Killertal in Southern Germany.

Further down in the timeline, there are some fascinating recommendations. 23andme suggests I had a 3rd to 7th-great-grandparent or greater who lived between 1700 and 1820 who was 100% Nigerian. Ancestry's latest origins update from October 2025 estimates this very likely enslaved person was from the Nigerian woodlands, so it's interesting 23andme also shows this trace connection. At this level it also suggests an ancestor who was 100% Southern Mesoamerican (possibly Mayan).

At the lowest level of the timeline, 23andme suggests between 1700-1790, I had an ancestor who was 100% Ashkenazi Jewish, one who was 100% Northern Andean (this is from the Chilean branch of the tree), someone who was 100% French, someone who was 100% Belgian, Rheinlander or Southern Dutch - yes I have this from the du Trieux branch.

Your ancestors aren't who you think they are

 

YouTube. David Reich interview. 21 Apr 2026.

There's a fascinating talk from Harvard geneticist David Reich that was recently uploaded to YouTube. The talk is 49 minutes, but it is broken into sections. Reich published a book in 2018 titled Who We Are and How We Got Here, and the YouTube interview is based on his team's research and the themes of the book.

Nature article on DNA and Indigenous Americans

A new article published 22 April 2026 in Nature describes the Evolutionary History and Unique Genetic Diversity of Indigenous Americans. This is the largest genomic dataset of Indigenous Americans to date, helping researchers trace the threads of early migration across the Americas.

It will be interesting to see if this dataset improves future versions of ancestral regions reports from Ancestry, MyHeritage and others. These companies use reference populations in their models, and as the data improves, this can provide more accuracy to these ancestral regions reports.

Through the brick walls

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Farnham, UK. 23 Apr 2026.

Haplogroup path to Dorothea Sophia

 

Ideogram. Dorothea Sophia about 1820.

Our daughter's mtDNA results have finally arrived, providing a maternal haplogroup back to Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann, who lived in the Province of Saxony from about 1800. I previously shared a story in February describing what her life might have been like in Saxony and in the town of Gardelegen in 1817. It will take another week (hopefully less) for the Mitotree result and Discover report, but for now the legacy haplogroup is H3-T152C!.

H is a very European haplogroup, based on the description in this 2014 publication titled Neolithic mitochondrial haplogroup H genomes and the genetic origins of Europeans. 

Guildford on Saint George's Day

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Guildford Castle. 23 Apr 2026.

Thursday morning before meetings I was able to walk down the hill into historic Guildford and see the castle gardens. I didn't know at the time this also aligned with Saint George's Day in England.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Guildford Castle gardens.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Guildford Castle. 23 Apr 2026.

Photo by Patrick Jones.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Wildflowers on the Mount. 23 Apr 2026.

Farnham, Surrey

 

Google Arts & Culture. Farnham UK. 1957.

Drawings of buildings in the town of Farnham, Surrey. This area is southwest of Heathrow, and it's where I was yesterday for meetings. Photos from this quick trip to the UK to follow over the weekend.

Ireland's 1926 Census Online

 

National Archives. 1926 Census Search page. 20 April 2026.

Ireland's 1926 Census is now available for searching online at the National Archives. This is the first census to be released for independent Ireland, following the 1901 and 1911 censuses collected under British rule. According to the National Archives of Ireland, the census is being released online in phases.

Another week

Welcome Monday. Since last week, I am still waiting on things I wrote about earlier in the month, although only one of those things I expected to hear back on by now. While Sophia's mtDNA results have not yet arrived (it's been 15 weeks), cousin Joe's results came back (a month earlier than expected).

I have some travel from tomorrow so it's possible I'll have several updates once I return.

From the London Transport Museum

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. London Transport Museum. 5 Dec 2025.

AI making the past come alive

 

Chloe vs History channel, YouTube.

A new YouTube channel has launched featuring a virtual influencer time traveling to various locations and events. The channel, Chloe vs History, is an AI creation from Majestic Studios in the UK (see this April 2026 interview with Majestic's creator, Jonathan Laramy). Majestic uses AI to create realistic videos of historic cities, and the new series takes this a step further with the virtual Chloe. This is a bit more advanced than the usual "AI slop" populating the Internet.

This March 2026 Sky News interview describes how Jonathan uses AI tools such as Seedance and Claude to create the videos. 

I've been thinking for a while about "if your family stories could be streaming", and seeing Majestic's progress with AI storytelling definitely provides ideas for stories that I'd like to see with this approach.

Mapping Mom's side of the DNA tree

 

DNAPainter. Chromosome Mapping.

Using the tools on DNAPainter, I've started mapping the segments corresponding to my Mom's DNA matches on FTDNA and MyHeritage. Because I had already started a chromosome map using my Dad's DNA matches, I paid $55 for a year of access to the tools on DNAPainter. I don't mind supporting the site as I know Jonny Perl does amazing things, and it's a small amount to have more access to the features I already use on DNAPainter.

I expect I'll probably create a chromosome map using my own matches, as I'm expecting results from 23andme at the end of the month my from own test. I can't transfer my parents' earlier kits to 23andme, so I'll have to work with my own results there, and I still need to figure out how to transfer segments in common from Gedmatch to DNAPainter. From the transfers to MyHeritage and FTDNA, I am seeing good results so far. I'm up to 69 segments painted (18% coverage) for my Dad's results, and with some limited effort today, I'm up to 56 segments painted (12% coverage) on my Mom's results.

I can already see some cool segments in common on the Campuzano/Vasquez side of tree, because I can compare segments across cousins Catherine, Joe, Greg, Rodger and Eddie with my Mom's results.

There's more to come on this soon. In the short term this update fits with several of my maternal line research questions. 

LACMA reopening

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)'s David Geffen Galleries officially reopen this weekend. I have a ticket for August when I'm back in LA, and I'm excited to see the reimagined galleries, timed for a sunset walk through the new spaces. I last visited the old LACMA twice ten years ago, when I did some night running in downtown LA, and again with the family in September 2016.

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

I feel like this is something as someone who has adopted LA as my home away from home, or home in my heart, I need to do, to see the new LACMA space in its opening months (NYTimes article, subscription may be required). As with my January trip overlapping with Indiana Basketball vs UCLA and USC, I'm taking in the sights on occasion when I come back to LA.

An update on the mitotree

 

FTDNA. Discover report on A2a5 match.

We now have an additional result descending from Maria Jesus Vasquez (see also here), as cousin Joe received his mtDNA results. As expected, the haplogroup, A2a5, is the same as cousin Catherine. We're waiting on the mitotree to update and this may provide a more refined branch point for both. Catherine's mitotree updated in February, but I think hers will update again once the analysis is complete on Joe's kit. I suspect the image above will change for him soon when this analysis is updated.

Looking at another pair of matches

As with yesterday's post, I'm exploring DNA matches with my Dad's results on MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA, trying to identify segments for chromosome mapping. When I look at a match named Steven, I see he has 68 cM in common with my Dad across five segments. That's pretty good. The longest segment is 43 cM. MyHeritage estimates Steven is a 3rd cousin with my Dad.

Even better, Steven has a sister who also tested at MyHeritage, and she shares that same 43 cM segment. I was able to build a floating tree on Ancestry using their father, and with a combination of sources on Ancestry and FamilySearch work backward until I found a common ancestor in my 6th-great-grandparents William Lee and Catherine Ross. Great! Unfortunately this is too far back to be the only relationship. It's possible this 43 cM segment is Lee/Ross, but the four other segments in common with Steven are pretty small. Multiple relationships mean there's more work to do.

Toward the end of the month, YourDNAGuide's Endogamy and DNA course begins. I'll keep this example in mind as I work through the online course.

Who was Ralph's father

I'm continuing to work on chromosome mapping using matches to my Dad's results on MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. One match I'm struggling with is named Ralph. This match shares 64.7 cM across four segments with my Dad, so potentially this is a good match to see where he fits, and to see if the connection is on Dad's maternal or paternal side.

When I look a little closer, I can see this tester died in 2020. He left a small tree, only with names on his maternal side, and lots of unknowns on his paternal side. Because Ralph's mother was a daughter of German immigrants, I feel like the common ancestor is on Ralph's paternal side. Ralph was born in 1933. His mother married in September 1937 in Cleveland, and the marriage record states this was her first marriage. A profile for the mother on FamilySearch also states that Ralph was adopted by the man that the mother married in 1937. The adoptive father was a child of Hungarian immigrants. The common ancestor has to be on a branch of Ralph's mystery biological father.

Ralph does have a second cousin match with 271 cM in common, also matching my Dad at 26 cM across 1 segment. There's more to do digging into shared matches of matches. Right now I'm parking this to pick up later, and moving on to another match to my Dad in the same range.

Still...

Another week has flown by, and I'm still waiting on the things I posted about last Monday. While the month is off to a slow research start, we've been enjoying some beautiful spring weather before it feels like early summer this week with a stretch in the 90s expected.

Tonight is the end of the NBA regular season. Unlike last year's magical run, this season has been pretty forgettable for the Pacers. There are positive signs for next season. They've set themselves up for a potential high draft pick, and the team should return to full health for the start of the 2026-27 year.

Although it's been a quiet start to the month, there's a lot of potential for new stories in the remaining days.

Artemis 2 eclipse

 

Source: NASA. Artemis 2. 6 Apr 2026.

A historic photo from NASA's Artemis 2 mission, taken as the crew passed behind the dark side of the Moon. There are some incredible photos on the NASA website from the mission and the lunar flyby.

The Huguenots of Spitalfields

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Spitalfields, London. 6 Dec 2025.

Back in December I had a stopover in London, and took the opportunity to visit historic Spitalfields Market. My Oyler side of the tree has a long connection to the market. Another historic marker is on the Huguenots of Spitalfields, which can be seen in my photo above. There are some great resources on the Huguenots of Spitalfields website if you're descended from these families. 

Looking back a year ago

So far things are slow, there's no way around it. When I look back to this time last year, I was in a similar position, trying a new tool (Ancestry's Networks) with the Irish in LaSalle population who may be connected to my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget.

I'm not really any further now, but am trying a new tool, where I am making a bit more progress. I am running into a known barrier where I need more testers in places other than on Ancestry so I can continue with chromosome mapping. Let's see if testing on 23andme generates some new results. I may have those by the end of April.

DNA Day Sales

FamilyTreeDNA is currently running several sales ahead of DNA Day through the end of April. Other than RootsTech deals, this tends to be their largest sale of the season. If you're interested in the mtDNA test, and you should be if interested in learning more about the maternal line, the FamilyFinder + mtDNA bundle saves $70. Other bundles paired with YDNA tests save even more. 

Waiting

A running list of things I'm awaiting right now:

• Sophia's mtDNA results, descending from Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. Due any day now...
• mtDNA results for cousin Joe (maybe May?)
• Big Y results for cousin Garry (maybe June/July)
• the mail for a possible package from the LaSalle church archives (any day now)
• 23andme results for me (sent today), now that I'm fishing in all the DNA ponds (maybe at the end of the month?)

These are just what I'm actively waiting on, I'm not including "wish list" items (Big Y match to myself). 

In bloom

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria, 3 Apr 2026.

Spring time among the vines

 

Ideogram. Bodega Campuzano.

An imagined scene above from the fictional Bodega Campuzano winery in Cantabria, Spain, and an actual Spanish winery below in the springtime from the lovely Finca Villacreces in Ribera del Duero.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Finca Villacreces. 16 May 2017.

Research Progress April 2026

This is my monthly recap on research questions. It's been a mix of progress and stall, along with some scene-setting to anchor real movement this month.

My Paternal Side

1 - Looking for the parents of my Irish 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. In March I started a process of chromosome mapping, and yesterday had another expert consultation with Jarrett Ross. There were a lot of helpful suggestions and ideas to explore. I highly recommend using guided instruction when you need it, and I had definitely reached a point where I needed to bounce ideas off someone more expert than I am. it was helpful to hear I'm on the right track, and I'll share more on this shortly.

There's clearly two groups of matches (and maybe a third) who I think connect to Bridget's lines, one associated with the Hanleys who moved to LaSalle County, Illinois, and another group descended from Greeley, Casey, Farrell families in Longford, Ireland. Now I need to go through the steps to work through chromosome mapping along with the traditional genealogy and research to look at the connections.

I spent a good portion of the month reviewing strategies from RootsTech and following examples from case studies shared by YourDNAGuide. The combination of guided instruction and Study Group has given me some confidence that it might be possible to figure out this long time brick wall on Bridget's side of the tree. I also submitted a paper inquiry to the church archives in LaSalle, and I'm awaiting either a confirmation that no records exist, or maybe something will be found that opens up another door to this quest.

This research question has received the most attention in March, deservedly so. It will likely be the big one in April too.

2 - mtDNA matches descending from Sarah Westall and Elizabeth Thornhill Jones. No movement since the last update.

3 - Jones YDNA. I have some new Y-37 matches, but not higher level Big Y matches to explore. This one is still holding in place.

My Maternal Side

1 - Working with the Portillo matches and continued research on the Leyva group. No movement this month.

2 - Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez. Autosomal results arrived for cousin Joe on his mtDNA kit, while we still await the mtDNA results. Already there are some interesting XDNA matches to triangulate using his kit and Catherine's in comparison with mine and my Mom.

3 - Campuzano YDNA. We're awaiting Big Y results for cousin Garry, which should give a more recent branch point for our Campuzano line. I'm not expecting this for a few more months, so this one will likely be revisited in the summer.

Allison's sides

1 - mtDNA results in the maternal line path for Dorothea Sophia Gagelmann. It seems there are delays at FTDNA in processing mtDNA results, and we're on week 12 since Sophia's kit was received. I'm still expecting the results any day now, so hopefully we'll have an update this week.

2 - Separating out maternal and paternal line matches on FTDNA. I'm interested to apply some chromosome mapping techniques here, using the approach I'm taking with my Dad's matches on MyHeritage and FTDNA.

3 - Analyzing XDNA matches on Allison's side of the tree. I've continued reviewing FTDNA and matches in common on Ancestry to keep building this out.

Future RootsTech Talk

I'm giving this its own category here, as I spent quite a bit of time catching up on recordings of RootsTech 2026 sessions from earlier in the month. Partly this is to get a better sense of the type of sessions that were accepted, so that I can realign my own future talk proposal for the next time submissions become open. I have also started to construct the talk and accompanying material, and may try to present it somewhere else first to see how it is received before trying again for RootsTech 2027. This takes a bit of planning, and researching how similar talks and case studies are presented is worthy of tracking.

Welcome to April

 

Claude Monet. Woman with a Parasol. 1875.

Welcome to April, a month of transitions. Spring has fully arrived in Northern Virginia, pollen and all. It feels like early summer already these past few days, which is welcome after the long brutal winter. Last year for Easter I used another Monet painting from 1875.

Deed from Solomon to Samuel

 

FamilySearch. Hamilton County, OH. 1857.

Here's another land deed from Hamilton County, between Solomon Biddinger and Samuel Oyler. Yesterday's post featured an earlier deed between George Oyler and Biddinger in 1852.

From the Buck Tavern, 1852

 

Ideogram. Marianna Haiss Oyler, 1850. Ohio.

I've shared previously how my 4th-great-grandfather George Oyler Sr was operating the Buck Tavern in Hamilton County, Ohio. My 3rd-great-grandmother, Marianna Haiss, may have been working as a barmaid in the tavern and public house. The imagined scene above shows Marianna cooking a pot of lamb stew.

Courtesy of FamilySearch Full-text search, I found a reference to the Buck Tavern in a deed between George Oyler and Solomon Biddinger from 1852.

FamilySearch. Hamilton County, OH. 1852.

Chromosome Mapping

 

DNAPainter. Chromosome mapping.

I am trying something new to get beyond this brick wall that I have on the family of my Irish 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. I'm using the tools at DNAPainter to try chromosome mapping, and see if I can identify matches that might descend from Bridget's side of the tree. For this approach, I am working with some of the matches on MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA that I had previously identified might be promising connections. I also need another round of guided instruction, and I've scheduled a consultation for next week. It will be interesting to see how this works, but so far, chromosome mapping looks pretty cool.

While I learn more about this approach, I received an electronic reply from the parish secretary in LaSalle, confirming receipt of the required documents. Now I'm waiting to see if there's something in the church archives on the Dooners and O'Briens. If there's nothing, then there likely are not records waiting to be discovered in LaSalle that have the information I've been missing. But if something comes back, that's the tantalizing hope that my brick wall might be opening.

DNA in the news: Genomic history of the early dogs of Europe

 

IMDB. Alpha (2018).

A new publication in Nature (25 March 2026) dives into the early history of dogs in Europe. Open access versions can be read here:

• Dogs were widely distributed across western Eurasia
• Genomic history of early dogs in Europe

Planning another visit to the old country

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Sevilla. 27 Aug 2019.

In August 2019, we had an extended trip to Portugal and Spain that took us to Sevilla. I'll be returning this summer for our mid-year meeting, and to scope out spots for future visits there in early 2027. I am still working on one of our Spanish ancestral lines, but this one seems to point to Northern Spain, possibly Cantabria. We're awaiting Big Y results for another Campuzano cousin that may provide a more recent branch point before this line appeared in Sonora, Mexico. 

Again, signs point to Longford

Once again I'm looking at DNA matches with links to this border area of County Longford, Ireland and Roscommon. On MyHeritage, my Dad's results match to someone (EM) who is likely a grandson of a first cousin from the O'Brien side, but might be more closely related. This match has 228 cM in common across 10 segments. EM and my Dad also match with PH, who has 23 cM in common with my Dad across 2 segments and has 39 cM in common with EM.

Here's where things get interesting. PH has a tree on MyHeritage and Ancestry. On Ancestry, I can see from shared matches of matches that he and his sister match with my Dad. On Ancestry PH has 17 cM in common, with 99 cM in common with another match (EG) who has 13 cM in common with my Dad. This person also has 32 cM in common with Mike, my Dad's first cousin on the O'Brien side. The sister has 17 cM in common with my Dad, and she does not seem to match Mike. The sister is also a 30 cM match with EG.

I posed this question to Claude, which identified this is likely a set of matches in common with my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. I suspected this was the case but because I have so few matches with this line, I'm pursuing a variety of leads. A further wrinkle of connection is PH's 3rd-great-grandparents were Hanleys who immigrated from Roscommon, Ireland to LaSalle County, Illinois and were living in the same township as Bridget in 1850.

I feel like I've looked at these people previously. There's definitely more to follow and further posts soon.

An Ancient Connection

 

FTDNA. A2d Discover Report. Mar 2026.

FamilyTreeDNA shows I have another rare ancient DNA connection, this time to a Mayan man who lived at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan between 500-900 CE. This is pretty cool as I've been to Chichen Itza twice over the years, most recently 10 years ago.

Last year I also shared a link to a study on DNA at Teotihuacan, and another study on DNA at the Mayan city of Copan.

Waiting on the mail

Earlier in the week I sent an inquiry to the church secretary in LaSalle, Illinois who may hold the records from the time when the O'Briens were living in the town. The inquiry was on several printed forms, and dropped in the mail along with a donation research fee. This envelope should arrive today. Now I wait in the hopes that the records I seek still exist and contain the breakthrough information that has eluded my search so far.

In addition to the mail, we're still waiting on the results from several mtDNA kits and a Big Y with FamilyTreeDNA. Our daughter's results really should arrive any day now as we're in the 10th week of processing.

Flower Sculptures

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mumbai. 5 Mar 2026.

The photos above and below are ornate flower decorations at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, our venue from the meetings earlier in the month. The sculptures were part of the lavish 2024 wedding of the year at the venue. Another wedding occurred at the building at the start of our event, and while there aren't photos, the flower sculptures are a reminder of what was. Here's a link from Vogue India on the spectacular from 2024.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Jio World Centre.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mumbai. 5 Mar 2026.

Deadwood

 

Gem Theater, Deadwood, South Dakota.

As I look into the timeline of Agnes Atherton's performances, one that I had previously overlooked stands out as incredibly adventurous. In January 1883, as part of Niblo's Humpty Dumpty company based in Chicago, Agnes ventured into Deadwood, South Dakota for performances at the New Gem Theater run by the notorious Al Swearengen. This 2019 article from True West magazine provides some interesting color (and historic photos) on Swearengen and the Gem Theater, which was known as a din of prostitution, drinking and gambling. Deadwood would have been a snow-packed mountain mining town transitioning from a lawless gold camp into a more permanent and rugged settlement. A dangerous place for a young 24 year old to be.

Daily Deadwood Pioneer-Times. 6 Jan 1883.

I have not watched the HBO series Deadwood, featuring Ian McShane as Swearengen, but now I need to put it on my watchlist.

Black Hills Weekly Pioneer. 19 Jan 1883.

Agnes likely arrived by stagecoach for the last miles from the nearest train to arrive in Deadwood. She was traveling apart from her first husband Fred Day, who was back in Detroit. It is unclear how long the Chicago company remained in Deadwood, or if Agnes stayed on for very long. By September 1883 Agnes had returned to Detroit. She and Fred separated permanently shortly afterward.

Behind the scenes

Over the past few days I've been catching up on things missed during my India trip, enjoying some celebratory time, and planning ahead for a potential RootsTech 2027 talk proposal. I've begun to assemble the talk and have been using Claude to bounce ideas for the structure. I think I have a better angle to pursue than the original proposal I submitted last June, and I'm working on making it more practically relevant to the RootsTech audience or a local/regional genealogy society. Perhaps I'll try to present this somewhere in advance of submitting again to RootsTech.

In the near term, we're now in my favorite sporting event of the year, March Madness. Last night's games were exciting. As with last year (and the year before that), the Hoosiers are out of the field, but we'll be watching anyway and cheering on some upset teams to make the early rounds interesting.

In the Sonntagpost, 1899

 

Sonntagpost. Chicago, 5 Mar 1899.

The clipping above appeared in the German-language Chicago Sonntagpost (Sunday Post), describing the reunion between Agnes Atherton and her centenarian father John O'Brien. The article states that Agnes was a well-known Chicago actress, separated from her father for over 35 years as she was placed in an orphanage after the death of her mother. The article gets some aspects of the story wrong, as Agnes was placed with the Sisters of Charity in LaSalle by 1860, not Chicago in 1864, and John was 105 or 106 by the time of the reunion. 

It is great to see this family reunion appeared in a German language newspaper - this is the fourth different language newspaper that Agnes has appeared in over the years (French newspapers in Canada, an Italian newspaper in NY, now German in Chicago). The clipping shows the story was shared across a wide audience at the time.

The article is a new-to-me find as I upgraded my membership with MyHeritage to get access to OldNews.com. I'm hoping to uncover some other articles on Agnes and her incredible life that were not previously available to me on other sites.

Through a digital lens

 

Made in Ideogram. Maria Jesus Vasquez.

I have previously shared the photo of my 2nd-great-grandmother Maria Jesus Vasquez, taken about 1895 in Sonora, Mexico. Using the cropped colorized photo of Maria Jesus, I uploaded it to Ideogram, an image and art generation platform that I frequently use with my family history writing and blogging. Ideogram created several realistic options (above and below) that look quite close to how Maria Jesus appears in the original grainy photo.

Made in Ideogram. Maria Jesus Vasquez.

Maria Jesus, cropped from original photo about 1895.

It's an example of how far AI tools have progressed in a year. AI was a hot topic at RootsTech 2026, and it will only increase in use with family history. I try to be very clear when I am using AI with this blog. I label images generated as "Made in Ideogram" (or if I use another platform like MyHeritage, I label it accordingly). It's interesting to look at this image in context with a painting in our family, currently in the care of my cousin Catherine in Tucson. The artist used the 1895 photo to create a family portrait of Vicente and Maria Jesus. One can make an argument that I'm using digital tools today in a similar fashion.