What if DNA hadn’t been discovered ?  Similarly, what if the United States was like some other countries that prohibited or severely limited DNA testing ?  The lack of DNA evidence would definitely change my research.  There are relatives that I likely would not have found and stories that would be lost. DNA & Genetic Genealogy We take the knowledge of DNA for granted as it was discovered more than 150 years ago. 

  It is one thing to be related to almost everybody in the cemetery.  It is another thing to be related to three of your mom’s four grandparents’ family lines through one person in that cemetery. When you visit Lola’s grave at Clarksburg Cemetery, you are visiting with someone who ties my Carson, Pellett, and Ashby families together.  And, yes, you are going to need a picture of the family tree for this one.  Thus,

I find that many of the stories that I write are about family secrets or at a minimum – things that were taboo or just weren’t talked about in the family even if the intent wasn’t to keep them a secret.  I find them very intriguing because as Paul Harvey would say they tell us “the rest of the story.”   Setting the Stage Each family seems to have their own slant on what is

    A few years back, I went to a reunion for my mother-in-law’s family.  I took charts (including the tri-fold shown above), my computer, and my scanner, with a plan to gather lots of family information.  That is the day that it sunk in just how confusing the Helm family could be.   The Patriarch and Matriarch In 1854, Johann (Phillip) Helm arrived in the United States from Edenboken, Germany.  As far as it

It seems it would be much easier to be the first wife.  You are typically younger, you can set expectations, you don’t have to mother children that are your husbands  (i.ie. avoid the “You are not my mother!”), and you don’t have the image of an earlier wife to get in the way of your relationship.  However, in the past, being in the First Wives’ Club often meant that tragedy would strike. Members of the