How to Inject New Life into Your Genealogy Research

Break out of your genealogy rut by choosing a new-to-you research path.

Do you ever get a little bored by your genealogy research? Are you so deep into one branch that you're ignoring the rest of your family tree?

Pick a new branch to liven things up. Here are 3 ways to find a new dead end to explore:

• Look for the blanks in your grandparent or ahnentafel chart.
• Color-code your direct ancestors (in Family Tree Maker) to see where each line ends.
• Create ancestor charts that include blanks for the missing generations. Those blanks will help you spot the holes.

Now pick a branch you haven't spent much time on. That'll freshen things up.

I've decided to research a branch from an Italian town I haven't explored—Apice. I learned from my 3rd great grandmother's death record that she was born there.

My 3rd great grandmother was Rufina Zullo. Her daughter, my 2nd great grandmother, came to America the year Rufina died—1898. That's a little sad and makes me want to go further on Rufina's branch of my family tree.

Here's what I'll do.

1. Gather Research Documents

I'll download the Apice vital records to my computer. If you're lucky enough to have your ancestral towns' records online, download them all. Find out how to use the Antenati Italian archives and download the records. Check that page's comments for a program that can download from Family Search.

Figure out what you know and when and where you should look.

2. Label the Related Images

I'll mark the image files that have last names from this branch. The last names of Rufina Zullo's great grandparents were Zullo, Trancuccio, Montenigro, and Lomaglio. I learned these names from the death records of Rufina's parents.

When I find a death record with 1 of those 4 names, I'll rename the image file name to include the deceased's name.

You'll never wonder where you saw that one file if you rename it and make it searchable.

By renaming the images, I'm creating a searchable database of Apice vital records on my computer. Of course, as I'm renaming the files, I'll keep an eye out for the 4 exact people I want to find:

• Saverio Zullo
• Angela Montenigro
• Biase Trancuccio
• Angela Lomaglio

It's important to have that list of 4 names in front of me the whole time. I need to pounce whenever I see those names.

And may I say, Oof! This town's records are hard to read. I'm searching for the shape of those 4 names and ruling out names that can't possibly be them.

Many of the vital records for Apice don't have an index. That's why it's so important to download the whole collection. It's infinitely faster to click through the files on your computer than online.

3. Focus on the Right Timeframe

I'll target my searches to the logical years when these 4 ancestors may have died. All I know so far is that 2 died before their son did on 28 Dec 1844, and 2 died before their daughter did on 22 Aug 1837. I know this because their parents were dead when my 4th great grandparents died.

4. Examine the Results

Now comes the tricky part. I found an 1816 death record for a Saverio Zullo. That's the name of my 5th great grandfather. How can I tell if this is "my" Saverio Zullo? Let's look at the facts:

• The son of my Saverio Zullo was born in 1789. I'm using an estimated birth year for Saverio of 25 years before 1789, or 1764. I don't know when he was really born.
• The Saverio Zullo who died in 1816 was 80 years old. So he was born in 1736. It's completely possible that he could have had a child in 1789 when he was 53 years old. That is, as long as his wife was a few years younger than him.
• The 1816 death record does not say if 80-year-old Saverio was married or widowed. It only mentions his parents' names: Giuseppe and…geez…I think Libera Carese but I can't be sure yet.

I'll rename this image file and keep searching.

A few documents later I find an Angela Montenigro. This is the name of my Saverio Zullo's wife. If it is her, she is a good age to have had a child in 1789. This entire town doesn't include the name of the deceased's spouse on the death record! So I'll rename this image, too. If I search every year and never find another Saverio Zullo or Angela Montenigro, then these are probably my 5th great grandparents. I may not be 100% sure, but I can be reasonably sure.

It's also important that I keep viewing this town's records to get familiar with the names there. Angela Montenigro's mother seems to be Berardina Lavorano. If I see "Lavorano" a few more times, written clearly, I'll know that's the correct name.

In the end, I'll have marked the documents for siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles of my 3rd great grandmother. That's what I like to do—piece together extended families. That is my never-ending, never boring jigsaw puzzle.

Genealogy research is never done. That's why so many of us have been at it for years. If you find yourself in a rut, look for that unexplored branch. Can you take it back another generation or two? Think how much that can juice-up your family tree research!

3 Reasons To Do Your Own One-Name Study

How much more can you learn by researching one family name at a time?

There's an organization called the Guild of One-Name Studies based in London. Its members study one last name and its variations over time and geography. Maybe that's more interesting for some cultures than others. I looked for my Italian surnames—even the most common one I have—and found none.

That's why I'd rather do my own version of a one-name study. Here's why I think you should do the same.

You Can Connect With Your DNA Matches

Earlier this month I wrote about the benefits of focusing on one genealogy goal at a time. Concentrating on one goal shuts out all the noise and distractions. If you stick to the goal, you'll get better results.

One of my 2019 genealogy goals is to "enter every Pozzuto baby from Colle Sannita into my family tree". I have tons of vital records from my grandfather's town of Colle Sannita on my computer. I'm going through them year by year, stopping each time I find a birth record for a baby with the last name Pozzuto. Then I enter that baby into my family tree.

Labelling my files lets me search for any name. Adding the xxxxx's show me who isn't in my family tree yet.

Keeping my focus on one name builds more families faster. And the more Pozzuto families I build, the easier it is to figure out my relationship to my Pozzuto DNA matches.

As I focus on Pozzuto, I keep thinking about which name I want to do next. Should I do my own last name of Iamarino? Whichever name I choose, I'm going to make a ton of progress.

You Can Find Forgotten Relatives

I searched Ancestry.com for every person named Saviano who died in the Bronx, New York. It was a very specific search for the exact name and the exact place. Saviano is the maiden name of my great grandmother. Her father was my first ancestor to leave Italy and come to America. He settled his family in the Bronx.

Restrict your searches to one last name, not one person, for more discoveries.

There were 14 people listed with deaths ranging from 1906–1947. Of the 14, one was news to me. Luigi Saviano was one year old when he died in 1911. And I don't know who he is. Who were his parents?

I have two 2nd great uncles named Saviano who had children in the Bronx. Neither one could have been Luigi's father because:

• he had another baby at about that time, and
• I have close cousins who know about every member of those families.

I also have two 3rd great uncles named Saviano. Their sons might have been Luigi's father, but I don't know enough about them. Did they come to New York? This gives me a new set of Saviano relatives I need to research.

Searching for distant Saviano relatives may uncover cousins my living relatives never knew.

You Can Better Understand Your Roots

I have a PDF of a book on Italian last name origins. It's perfect for anyone with Italian roots. (You can download it from archive.org.) Here's part of what it says for my last name:

Iamarino is absolutely rare and seems to originate from Colle Sannita (Benevento, Italy)…it could derive from a combination of the names Gianni and Marino).…In Colle Sannita, Iamarino has been registered since 1588 as a last name belonging to several local families.

Woo hoo! I'm authentic Colle Sannita.

The book says my name of Saviano is rare, too. And for my name Pilla, it says:

It seems to derive from the medieval name Pilla, present in the area between Benevento and Foggia, but absolutely not used elsewhere. Based on registers of the church in Colle Sannita (Benevento, Italy) the name Pilla is one of the oldest in the area. It has been registered there since 1588, and is still present.

Rock on, Pilla.

You can search for your name origin for free on Google Books. Go to books.google.com and enter a search term (last names, German names, Irish names, etc.). Then restrict your results to only "Free Google eBooks". I found:

• Patronymica Britannica, a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom (This covers more nationalities than you'd think.)
• The Book of English Surnames: Being a Short Essay on Their Origin and Signification
• The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames
• A Dictionary of Names, Nicknames, and Surnames of Persons, Places and Things
• The Teutonic Name-system Applied to the Family Names of France, England and Germany

Be sure to search archive.org, too. That's where my Italian last name book came from.

What can you learn about the last names of your ancestors? The history behind your many family names may surprise you.

3 Steps to Identifying Certain DNA Matches

Have too many DNA matches? Follow these steps to pick off the easier ones.

You may have a ton of DNA matches to figure out. Don't get overwhelmed. What I'm about to describe should help you solve a good number of your DNA matches.

For some others, you'll have to contact the person for more information. For still others, the connection may be too distant for either of you to figure out.

Remember: The more developed your tree, the better your chance of identifying your DNA match.

Let's get started.

1. Sort Your DNA Matches by Closeness

How you find your closest matches depends on your DNA testing site.

• Ancestry DNA lists your matches in order of closeness by default. My list begins with my parents (who I tested), a 1st cousin, 2nd–3rd cousins, 3rd–4th cousins, etc.
• FamilyTreeDNA, where I uploaded by raw DNA results from Ancestry, lists my matches in a table with the closest matches on top. If they're not listed in order for you, click the top of the "Shared cM" column to sort the list from largest to smallest. (A cM is a centimorgan—a measure of how much DNA you share.)
• GEDmatch, where I also uploaded my raw DNA, has a "One-To-Many DNA Comparison Result" that lists matches by "Total cM".
• Other testing sites, like 23andMe, will have a way for you to see your matches that gives priority to the closest matches.

See what's available and choose which DNA match you want to solve first.

2. Consult a Relationship Chart

With your closest DNA matches at the top of the list, pick the first one you can't identify. How many cMs do you share with this match?

Start by looking up all your possible relationships. Use this consanguinity chart showing possible relationships based on shared cMs. (Consanguinity means "close relationship or connection".) Pay attention to the number in the gold-colored box in each square of the chart. That's the number of cMs. (This chart is very helpful, too.)

If your match has no family tree available, you're stuck for now. You'll have to contact and share information with your match. Let's look at how this process works on Ancestry when your match has included a family tree.

3. Look at the Family Trees

If you have your DNA online and haven't posted a decent-sized family tree, you're a part of the problem. No one can figure out their exact connection to you. Your genealogy website can't make an educated guess. Worried about privacy? Put your effort into adding facts for your older generations. I want to know who your great grandparents were.

I have a match called T.H. who has a small tree. Ancestry says T.H.:

• shares 35 cMs with me
• is in the range of 4th–6th cousin
• is on my father's side (This is the benefit of making your parents test.)

Before going to T.H.'s family tree, I checked the consanguinity chart. With 35 shared cMs, this DNA match could be my:

• 3rd cousin once removed
• 2nd cousin 3 times removed

Notice the consanguinity chart and Ancestry have different estimates of our relationship. Here's a tip. On Ancestry, click the little letter i next to your estimated relationship. Or click the relationship itself, if it's a link. You'll see all your possible relationships. For T.H., the highest possibilities are 4th cousin or 3rd cousin twice removed.

This helps you gauge how far up your tree to look for your connection.

T.H.'s family tree on Ancestry has 5 people, and 3 are private. That's as disappointing as can be. But her grandparents, the only unmasked names, are familiar. Her grandfather has my maiden name.

That's all I can learn from T.H.'s family tree. So I'll turn to my tree.

Her grandparents are already in my family tree. This was a big branch I met many years ago in Canada. It turns out T.H. is already in my family tree, too! Now I can add a note to her name on my DNA match list. From now on, I'll know I've identified her as my 5th cousin once removed. (Quite far from the estimates!)

Many times you'll have only the slimmest family tree to work with. I have 3 DNA matches that are like the golden ticket to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Ancestry says they match both my father and my mother. Of the 3, one has no tree. The second has a tree with only herself. The third has a tree with 228 people, but only one Italian name. (I'm only Italian.)

If you recognize names from your ancestral hometowns, it helps with your DNA matches.

I recognize this last name as being from my grandfather's hometown of Colle Sannita. My DNA match's ancestor Americanized his first name from Donato to Dan, but I found him. His 1896 birth record says his parents were Francesco Zerrillo and Libera Piacquadio.

Using my Italian document collection, I extended Donato Zerrillo's tree 4 generations. On some branches I went even further than that. But there's no connection to me that doesn't involve a marriage or an in-law.

This is the real lesson of your DNA matches. Each one takes research to solve. If you're lucky and find someone like me in your match list, you could gain a windfall of ancestors. But most of your matches will leave the work up to you.

Take another look at your DNA match list. Are there easier ones you can knock off? Look for a high number of cMs and a match with a family tree. Look for last names you recognize. When you've finished the easy ones, you can sharpen your genealogy research skills on the rest.