Holly! This reads like the "Murphy's Laws" of genealogical research! Great
stuff. Thanks!
Karen Nelson
-----Original Message-----
From: Holly Carter Dunlap Georgia <holly_carter_dunlap(a)hotmail.com>
To: carter <carter(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Thu, Dec 15, 2011 7:50 am
Subject: [CARTER] My list of Genealogy Research Tips
My list of Genealogy Research Tips
December 15, 2011
- Just because two people have the same name doesn't mean they are the same
person.
- No matter how unusual you think a name may be, don't assume there was only one
person with that name.
- The wife named in a man's will was not always the mother of (all of) his
children. (Or even any of his children.)
- When anyone uses the phrase "has to be", consider that a Red Flag. Sometimes
there are other possibilities that haven't been considered.
- The most obvious explanation is not always the correct explanation.
- Sometimes the information reported in the census records is wrong.
- A lot of incorrect genealogy information has been posted on the Internet but
the Internet does not have a monopoly on incorrect genealogy information.
Sometime the information printed in genealogy books is wrong too. Just because
something gets printed in a book, doesn't make it correct.
Key points for Y-DNA testing:
- Only males have Y-DNA. Females do not have Y-DNA.
- Y-DNA is passed from biological father to biological son.
- Y-DNA is usually passed from generation to generation without change. Changes
do happen from time to time but they are rare.
- You have to have matching Y-DNA from descendants of two different sons in
order to be able to triangulate back to their father.
- When selecting participants for Y-DNA triangulation you want to select men who
are as distantly related as possible but still have a documented relationship
along their direct paternal lines. That is, 5th cousins are better than 4th
cousins but 4th cousins are better than 3rd cousins and 3rd cousins are better
than 2nd cousins. You can only triangulate back to their most recent direct
paternal line common ancestor. For 1st cousins that would be their grandfather.
For 2nd cousins that would be their great-grandfather. Etc.
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