07 October 2014

Today's Tip - Search for Place under Surname on FamilyTreeDNA

Have you submitted your DNA for the Family Finder test offered by FamilyTreeDNA? Here is a tip for narrowing down your results to those that are more relevant to your ancestral places.



Under Family Finder - Matches, find the sorting box for Ancestral Surnames. Enter the ancestral location of interest. Do not add the surname. The surname locations are indexed together with the surnames. The results will include all matches who have indicated that one of their ancestors originated from the target location. 

Searching Family Finder matches by place will help you:

  • survey surnames originating from a particular location
  • connect with individuals whose ancestors originated from the same small town, village or shtetl

Happy Searching!

Jennifer Shoer aka Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

01 October 2014

Go See Your Grandma

When was the last time you thought about your grandma? Thanks to the Meet My Grandma initiative, #MeetMyGrandma, from FamilySearch.org, lots of people are talking about their grandmas. This initiative from the LDS church is to encourage their younger generation to capture stories from their older family members. An emotional connection (grandma!) and great social media marketing have made it popular and I hope it catches on with young and old alike, including with those of us who are not part of the LDS church.

Before it’s too late, go see your grandma. Talk with her. Ask her about her life. Not sure what to ask? Try this list from the Lineagekeeper’s Genealogy Blog; Fifty Questions for Family History Interviews. Don’t exhaust her and try to ask all of them. Let her talk as long as she wants and follow her lead. 

Their suggestion to tell one story you love about your grandma is simple and easy to accomplish. I was lucky to know two grandmothers and two great grandmothers and I have stories to tell, but you know what I wish? I wish I had asked them more questions while they were here on Earth. 

What are you waiting for? Go. Go now. Call her. Email her. Get in the car or on a plane and go see her. Talk with her and don't forget to listen. 

Jennifer Shoer aka Scrappy Gen


Let's Remember!

p.s. you can see my grandmothers here, here, here, here, here and here

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