More Korean War era draft cards

 

Fold3. US Korean War era draft card. 1948.

At the beginning of the month, I wrote about the new collection of US Korean War era draft registration cards available on Fold3. When the database launched, registration cards from 10 states were available. Ancestry and Fold3 have now added 10 more states to the set. Above is a card for Allison's paternal grandfather, James Ross Havens. In 1948 he was a student at Evansville College (now the University of Evansville), and was a Navy veteran of World War II.

Fold3. 1948.

The draft registration card for Allison's maternal grandfather is also above, showing he was working as a postal carrier in Evansville in 1948. Like James, Fritz was a veteran of World War II and served in the US Army.

FTDNA updates to the MitoTree

 

Source: FTDNA. 24 Nov 2025.

FamilyTreeDNA has published an update on new mtDNA haplogroups added to the MitoTree of Humankind. It looks like new and updated haplogroups may be rolling out soon for those who have taken the mtFull sequence test with FamilyTreeDNA. My own mtDNA haplogroup has not yet updated, but the time tree graphic on my discover page has changed.

In March, the result showed the most recent common maternal ancestor for this line was estimated to be born about 1100 CE with three DNA tested descendants. Now the discover report is showing 850 CE, with six DNA tested descendants.

There's more to read based on these improvements. The FTDNA website is running a bit slow at the moment, but I'll check back this week to see what is new and changed.

Always warm and bright

 

London Transport Museum. 1912.

XDNA Inheritance

 

Source: Blaine Bettinger. The Genetic Genealogist, 2008.

In July 2025, I wrote about using XDNA with DNA matches. I am looking again at XDNA patterns, now that I also have access to my cousin Catherine's results with FamilyTreeDNA. I can compare XDNA matches in common between Catherine and my Mom, and possibly try to identify the most recent common ancestor with matches on the Mexican or Chilean sides of the tree.

Catherine and my Mom share 36 cM of XDNA, and 208 cM of autosomal DNA. Her common ancestor are my 2nd-great-grandparents Vicente Plutarco Campuzano and Maria Jesus Vasquez. With XDNA, because this has a specific inheritance pattern, those 36 cMs could be 50% from Vicente and 50% from Maria Jesus. In addition, Maria Jesus inherited her XDNA from both her parents, Gabriel Vasquez and Maria Jesus Suastegui, while Vicente only inherited his XDNA from his mother, Maria Concepcion Amado. As one of my research areas is to dig into the Amado DNA connections, XDNA provides another possibility for discovery.

Catherine has another XDNA match sharing 25 cM, but only 12 cM autosomal DNA. This match is in Brazil, so this hints at a possible Portuguese connection. It would help to see if there are more testers with a connection to the Amado side who also have a match in common with this particular XDNA match. We're currently waiting on another Campuzano cousin descending from Vicente Plutarco Campuzano and Maria Jesus Vasquez to complete his test, so I'll be curious if this match also appears.

Update - The chart at the top of the post shows female XDNA inheritance, highlighting the parts of the tree passing along XDNA (blue for paternal line inheritance, pink for maternal). So, if you have XDNA matches this can be a powerful tool for identifying matches and lines on the tree for research focus.

FamilyTreeDNA and Gedmatch are the only DNA sites I am aware of that currently display XDNA matches.

Revolutionary Veterans

 

Emanuel Leutze. Washington Crossing the Delaware. 1851.

With the PBS documentary series on the American Revolution premiering this week, I thought it was timely to look at some of the Revolutionary veterans I have covered previously on the blog. Since my meeting in Dublin, I've been providing some research assistance with a distant cousin's DAR application involving my 6th-great-grandfather James Tucker. This recap might be useful later in case S would like to pursue a DAR application.

• James Tucker, 1759-1849. He served in North Carolina.
• Azariah Davis, 1756-1830. He served in Pennsylvania.
• James Smith, 1755-1838. He served in Maryland. See also his pension file.

There's another group I think served during the American Revolution, but I have not yet verified this.

• Samuel Pollock, 1756-1835.
• William Allman, 1746-1830. Pennsylvania.
• Thomas Armstrong, 1734-1776
• Samuel Vail, 1754-1846
• Moses Lambert Jr, 1737-1782. New Jersey.
• Michael Braun. 1761-1826. Pennsylvania.
• John Read, 1734-1819. Virginia.

Finally, there's John McIntosh, the Scottish surgeon whose legend states he was captured at the Battle of Cowpens in 1781 while serving in the British Army.