How Many Genealogy Gems Are You Sitting On?

Are you guilty of ignoring the tips and leads you stashed away? I am.

Years ago I put a folder on my computer desktop called "gen docs". It was a handy place to stash anything that:

• I hadn't added to my family tree yet, or
• belonged to someone who wasn't in my tree yet.

I even took the time to organize this stash with sub-folders for the different document types.

Then I moved the folder to another folder that's automatically backed up to cloud storage. That's keeping it safe. (See "How to Back Up Your Family Tree Files Automatically".) But since it's not staring me in the face anymore, it's been out-of-sight, out-of-mind for a long time.

I'm sure there are a ton of genealogy gems in that folder. Things like:

• photos of relatives I found online
• draft cards for men who weren't connected to me, but may be connected now
• vital records I photographed from microfilm (badly)
• the flight record for my Uncle Johnny who crashed and died in World War II

There's so much in that folder that past-me thought would be important to future-me. And I'm sure she was right.

This is what happens when you have a "deal with it later" folder.

Aside from this jam-packed folder (I'll bet that phrase doesn't translate well), I also have my earliest genealogy research. It's a school notebook I filled with facts taken from ship manifests I saw on the Ellis Island website 16 years ago. It's hard to believe I ever did something so non-digital. I wish now it was a Notepad file. And I have the college paper my brother wrote about our family history in the 1970s. That paper has some stories that came straight from our grandparents. I need to capture all those gems!

What about you? What gems have you been tucking away to deal with later? Do you have death certificates you never scanned? An audio interview you never transcribed? (Guilty!) Photos you meant to digitize?

I know we like to forge ahead in our genealogy hobby. We're eager to search through the newest database. We want to try another software package that shows a lot of promise. We want to focus our energy on that brick wall.

But past-you has already laid the foundation of your family tree. What if the clue you need to break through your brick wall has been sitting in your collection all this time?

I challenge you today to a project I'm beginning right now. Go through your old notes, files, and collections. You know more about your family now than you did back then. Take a close look at each scrap of information past-you set aside and make a decision.

These documents should have gone straight into my family tree. No more procrastinating.

Does it belong in your family tree?

• If yes, scan it, crop it, type it, and get it in your family tree. Now.
• If no, put it in another folder and make note of why you kept it and why it isn't in your family tree.

I'm starting this project by dealing with one sub-folder at a time. The "legal docs" folder has things like the sale of my grandfather's house in 1990. The "funeral cards" folder has pictures of these mementos I need to enhance in Photoshop. The "Missing Flight" folder has Uncle Johnny's flight record that I keep forgetting to put into my family tree.

There's no telling what I'll find in my stash that may:

• answer age-old questions
• establish unknown connections, or
• add a missing piece to one relative's life story.

So, yes, I challenge you and me both. Stop forging ahead for a couple of days and clean up the trail of evidence past-you created. Then tell me what genealogy gems you've discovered.

And speaking of discoveries:

• My 5th Great Grandfather: A Random Act of Kindness?
• Finding the Story Behind an Intriguing Family Photo
• POW: My Grandfather's World War I Experience

Is This the End of DNA Matches?

The industry is reporting layoffs as the DNA kit surge reaches its peak.

Should genealogy fans worry about the future of DNA tests? Ancestry cut 6% of its staff. 23andMe cut 14%. MIT Technology Review says more than 26 million people submitted DNA ancestry kits, with a huge spike since 2017. There was such a rapid increase of kits in the last 2 years, it's surprising to read about these staff cuts.

Whoever is in your DNA match list today, you shouldn't expect a tremendous increase in the future. And the reason so many of your DNA matches have no tree or don't answer you is simple. They aren't interested. The kit was a gift, they went along with it, they saw their pie chart and said, "So what?"

This past weekend I worked on one of my 2020 Genealogy Goals. I tried to figure out my connection to someone in my DNA match list who had a family tree. I've figured out a lot of them already. I spent my time working on a 4th cousin who'd reached out to me on Facebook a while back.

I know the connection is there, but missing documents are keeping it secret.

I told her that her grandmother's maiden name was my grandmother's maiden name. She was Concetta Sarracino. I found Concetta's 1887 birth record in my vital record collection. I found her 2 siblings, her parents, her aunt and uncle, 3 grandparents, and 1 great grandparent.

Free to use.

But none of them tied into my family tree. The Sarracino family is from a town with records that don't go back before 1861. I tried to find any loose threads that might tie me to this loose branch. Concetta came to America with her husband and 3 children. I have their ship manifest. Her 1st cousin Angelo was already in New York City. I built out his part of the family, too.

Now I've got dozens of people in my tree, closely related to my DNA match. But their profile pictures are my "No Relationship Established" graphic. Once again, I had to put this branch aside and hope for a future breakthrough.

As I was about to quit playing with my family tree for the day, someone sent me a message on Ancestry. My family tree kept coming up in her search results over and over. She gave me a handful of names, and I went to her tree.

While her family names are clearly from my grandfather's hometown, she is not in my match list. But she is in my dad's match list. It's a distant relationship. Between the DNA and those last very familiar names, I wanted to know more.

In her family tree I saw 2 last names that are important in my family tree: Pozzuto and Zeolla.

These 2 names seem to hold the hidden DNA connection between my mother and father. I've been trying to find my parents' distant cousin connection by adding those names to my family tree. Last year I added every Pozzuto baby from my vital records collection to my family tree. This year's goal is to add every Zeolla baby.

This past weekend I found that I am connected to this DNA match's great grandmother. I can't see her 1875 birth record because that year is missing from the records collection. But I have her parents' and siblings' records. Filomena Zeolla, born in 1875, is my 3rd cousin 4 times removed.

That doesn't help me figure out my parents' DNA connection. But it does extend my family tree into an area I couldn't reach before. I had no way to know about Filomena because there are no 1875 birth records. I had no way to know she had married a Pozzuto who has a huge branch in my family tree.

Because of this DNA match, I realized I'd attached her grandfather to the wrong parents. Their names were almost identical. I had no way to know!

And this is the importance of DNA matches' trees to me. I don't expect to discover many close relatives. Years ago my family tree (not my DNA) attracted my 3rd cousin to me. I knew nothing about her ancestor—my great grandfather's sister. But now I've built out my 2nd great aunt's branch of the family and extended them into America.

I need my distant cousins' family trees to find out what happened to relatives who scattered across America—or stayed in Italy.

If you want to find long-lost family through DNA, don't despair about the DNA-test market. There are still millions of family trees online and other research that can connect you to 3rd and 4th cousins.

It's the people trying to find their birth parents' who have the most to lose as this DNA-kit fad winds down. On the flip side, more people are afraid to test because they might learn their mom and dad aren't their birth parents.

So, should genealogy fans worry about the future of DNA tests? For most of us, the answer is no. There are still 26 million DNA kits out there. And your DNA match list was never meant to replace genealogy research.

Still, you should reach out to those matches while they still have a shred of interest.

And speaking of DNA matches:

• Don't Give Up When Your DNA Match Has a Puny Little Family Tree
• Use Cousin Baiting to Expand Your Family Tree
• This DNA Reference Site Solved a Mystery

Make Your Own 'Elder Scroll'

This fun project produces a list of your ancestors by Ahnentafel number.

I'm amazed by your response to my April 2019 article titled "3 Things to Do with Ahnentafel Numbers". As I'm writing this, you have read that article 6,019 times. It looks as if a carved-in-stone numbering system for your ancestors has wide appeal.

You see, there is a specific, unwavering pattern for numbering your ancestors. You are #1. After you, all male ancestors have an even number, all female ancestors have an odd number. Your father is #2. Each person's father is double their number. So your father's father is double his #2, or #4. And every male ancestor's wife is his number + 1. So your mother is #3, her father is #6, and her mother (his wife) is #7.

I created an Excel spreadsheet (free to download and use) with an Ahnentafel number as a placeholder for each of your ancestors up to your 10th great grandparents. I update my copy of the spreadsheet each time I discover a new ancestor. And because of the numbering system, I know exactly where to place the new ancestor in my spreadsheet.

Today I want to create a numbered list of all my direct ancestors. I want it sorted by their Ahnentafel number, and I want it to include each person's name and birth date.

This list (a 17-page PDF file) is my Elder Scroll. I'm calling it that as a joke and a nod to the video game of the same name.

Here's how I did it.

1. Make a Custom Ahnentafel Field

I use Family Tree Maker software to build my tree. On the main Person screen, you can customize what you see in the right column. For example, you can have Birth, Death, and Marriage Facts in that column. I also placed Baptism and Immigration there. My ancestors' Italian birth records usually have their baptism date. So I need to have that field handy. And I like to see at a glance which of my ancestors came to America.

I had room for another field, so I created a custom fact called Ahnentafel. (To do this, choose to add a fact to a person, but instead of choosing a fact type from the list, click to add a custom fact.) It has only a description field (no date or place field) that will hold only the person's number. Then I clicked Customize View on the main Person view to include the Ahnentafel fact. (Be sure to see my screen captures.)

After creating a custom fact type, add it to  your main person view.

2. Apply a Filter

Family Tree Maker has a new feature I haven't used until now. You can create a custom filter to narrow down the index of individuals to only those you want to see. I created a filter to show only my direct ancestors. I gave my direct ancestors a color code in the past. That color shows in my index list, so it's easy to see who is my direct ancestor.

This filter shows only my direct ancestors, color-coded by branch.

3. Fill in All Ahnentafel Numbers

With this filter in place, I can use my down arrow key to look at each person in this filtered index. As I do so, my eyes are resting on the Ahnentafel field. If it's blank, I look up the person in my grandparent chart and fill in their Ahnentafel number in Family Tree Maker.

I continue doing this until every direct ancestor has a number. But I have a twist. My paternal grandparents were 3rd cousins, so they have shared ancestors. Those "double ancestors" have 2 Ahnentafel numbers:

• one as Grandpa's ancestor
• one as Grandma's ancestor

I chose to write those as "64 and 80", for example. That's my 4th great grandfather—twice.

4. Create a Custom Report

Finally, I create a custom report. In Family Tree Maker, this is in Person Reports, then Custom Report. My report includes:

• only my direct ancestors and me (292 people)
• everyone's Ahnentafel number
• everyone's name
• everyone's birth date

I set the report to sort people by their Ahnentafel number.

The result is a list of all my direct ancestors, in order. I can't wait to show it to my parents. We never knew anyone's names beyond my great grandparents. Now I've identified a handful of my 7th great grandparents.

You may think of other ways to create a custom report with a different custom fact.

Imagine you've printed out your elder scroll. You taped the pages together end to end, and rolled them up…like a scroll. Now, imagine you bring that scroll to the next family gathering. You unfurl it and amaze your relatives. Go on, give it a try!