I'm pretty new to genealogy, and I've run into my first situation where I'm tempted to disagree with what seems to be the consensus.

I've been pushing further back in my tree and reached an ancestor named Edward Clark, born about 1842 at St. Leonard's in Shoreditch. Every single Ancestry member tree has the same pair of parents listed: Frederick John Clark and Mary Griffith. This is confirmed by an old Family History Book which lists the two as well.

The problem is that I haven't found any primary source/birth records that match, and the best primary source I've found lists an Edward Clark with parents William and Harriet.

I'm hesitant to "go against the grain" when so many trees agree, but it feels like the evidence is pointing elsewhere.

For those of you with more experience, how do you handle situations like this? At what point do you trust the primary records over a widely repeated published genealogy? Is there a best practice for documenting why you're choosing one conclusion over another?

Hey everyone!

My wife's grandmother passed away and we found her engagement photo but it is behind a paywall. Does anyone have access to it?

Thank you!

https://www.newspapers.com/image/465963156/?article=0de36f8e-a1aa-4bae-935d-288b8ae4f99a&xid=3398

I’m creating an article for distribution on a semi-notable historical figure.

In it, I argue that the birthplace and lineage of the individual is the result of sloppy research that was regurgitated and confirmation bias from Victorian Age authors who often janked notable achievers onto illustrious lines.

To prove my point, I discuss timeline details of his father, where he was at various points before, during, and after the person was born, and of course relevant details from the person’s life.

Last, I reveal conclusive evidence from Y-DNA testing, placing the figure in large cluster lineage of non-special people who mostly were farmers by trade.

The overall point being that you can do special things without needing to come from a special background.

As I sit here obsessing over the draft, the one thing that tortures me are narratives which aren’t stated on record, but could heavily be inferred based on probability of available facts.

I’m tortured because I want the final product to be taken seriously, but if I’m hypothesizing certain details based on high probability, I don’t want my information to be discarded because everything stated must be meticulously backed up by record.

“Where’s your record for this guy being with his wife in August 1782?”

“Uhhhh his son was born in May 1783?”

“But there’s no record.”

“Are you saying it’s someone else?”

“Without record, anything’s possible.”

“But his Y-DNA evidence matches surnames and lineage location completely.”

“Could have been another guy with the same surname.”

“🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️”

So my question: To make a credible argument, should I stay away from hypotheses based on high probability?

I submitted a MyHeritage DNA kit September 6th and it’s already been over a month (or their predicted 3-4 weeks) and it’s literally at the last phase before my results. Their website doesn’t help and they don’t have a phone number that actually works. Also their AI assistant didn’t help one bit. Anyone else have this issue where your results were stuck?

Essentially what the title says. Is there a running list anywhere that notes recently released records or resources?

I feel like there is so much out there, and I've found myself wondering what resources I haven't discovered, what records are now available, or if there's websites I've looked at that updated with additional information.

For example, I use NYC's Historical Vital Records website a lot, and have gone through pages and pages of different last names. I periodically check to see if anything new has been added, whether thats through the updates on their Digital Vital Records page or when simply searching, but sometimes I wonder if I'm missing something.

I'd love to hear about the resources people use in general, in addition to any platforms or websites that have new information.

For some additional context - I primarily research in NY, but branch out to FL, WI, Germany, and England. I don't feel like I have much of a grasp on the available records for those outside NY though.

We have had these two portraits in the family for a long time, but the identities of the subjects have been lost to time. I’m hoping to be able to match a name to these faces if at all possible. They would likely have lived in Atlanta from the mid to late 1800s, and are connected in some way to the Crumley, Roberts, Berry, or Bell families. For the man’s portrait it does say William Ver Bryck as the artist, dated 1887, no signatures or dates seen on the lady’s which appears to be more of a watercolor or colored pencil medium. I’ve rules out a few people based on other photos or portraits on find a grave, but any recommendation on how to go about unraveling this mystery would be much appreciated.

Images of the portraits here: https://postimg.cc/gallery/wqyR7Y2
Likely someone on this family tree line or extended family beyond that: https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape/GM6M-9T2

I'm looking for some help finding some of my ancestors.

I will post a link with the 4 images that I can find.

I'm searching for a Frantisek, Frantiska, Rudolph or Jan Sostak in or around the Bradlne region of bohemia. Included in the images are 2 baptism records for Peter Sostak (1880) and Herman Sostak (1877), Frantisek's 2 children. The other 2 records are marriage records for Frantisek and Philomena (1876) and Rudolph and Johanna (1876). In those documents they reference a Frantiska daughter of Jan Sostak.

Unfortunately these are the only documents I'm able to find and this side of my family is a bit of a mystery. I've been searching through old church records but find it to be difficult and very time consuming. Any hits or help would be greatly appreciated.

Records:

https://postimg.cc/gallery/6CMpXmP

An ancestor named Sarah Hite (b.1810) seems to be erroneously included in the very well known Hite family of the Belle Grove Plantation in Frederick County, Virginia. I think she probably belongs to another of the numerous Hite families in the area. My reasons: there is another Sarah in the family, born just 2 years later, she did not appear on census or burial records in VA as her 13 siblings do (in general), and she was born within 7 months of another sibling. All this info I am seeing on the extensive Hite family Family Search page. I don't know how to find a birth record for this individual. I would like to prove that she is not related to this family. Link to Family Search page. I can't include a screen shot of the FS page? The individual in question is Family Search ID LH6T-LDR. Any ideas? Thanks so much!

My paternal grandmother was German and unfortunately I'm not able to do much research on that side of the family since I don't know German, and on top of that a lot of the records I have access to are handwritten so it's even more difficult to decipher.

I would really rather avoid putting my family's records into an AI tool. Any advice on how I can find someone who can help me with this really niche task? I'm still kind of new to genealogy research so idk if there are services out there that do this type of thing or if I just need to find someone who I can pay to translate the records for me?

Looking for assistance transcribing this polish death record from 1845 in Warsaw for Doba Wolkenheim? Record #444 top right page. Please no ai transcription/translation.

https://metryki.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=1016&se=&sy=1845b&kt=3&plik=440-447.jpg&x=2382&y=124&zoom=0.96

Thanks!

Всем привет, делаю свое генеалогическое древо и очень хочу узнать о своих польских корнях, верю в силу интернета)

Добрый день!

Меня зовут Матвей Алексеевич Леванюк. Ищу любую информацию о моих родственниках. Мой дед, Николай Васильевич Левонюк, был поляком; он родился 25 июня 1933 года в деревне Пасечники (Pasieczniki) недалеко от Белостока. Буду признателен за любые сведения или помощь — заранее благодарю. Мой прадед, Василий Александрович Левонюк, также жил в тех краях; по словам родственников, его вторая жена (моя прабабушка) тоже была полячкой. Для меня очень важно узнать историю своих предков, и я рад, что они родом из Польши. Буду ждать вашего ответа! И рад любой помощи и информации!
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Hello everyone! I am working on my family tree and am very keen to learn more about my Polish roots—I have faith in the power of the internet!

Good day! 
My name is Matvey Alekseyevich Levanyuk. I am looking for any information regarding my relatives. My grandfather, Nikolai Vasilyevich Levonyuk, was Polish; he was born on June 25, 1933, in the village of Pasieczniki, near Białystok. I would be very grateful for any details or assistance—thank you in advance. My great-grandfather, Vasily Alexandrovich Levonyuk, also lived in that area; according to my relatives, his second wife (my great-grandmother) was also Polish. It is very important to me to uncover the history of my ancestors, and I am delighted that they hailed from Poland. I look forward to hearing from you! Any help or information would be greatly appreciated!

I have faith in the power of the internet.

///

Dzień dobry wszystkim! Pracuję nad swoim drzewem genealogicznym i bardzo chciałbym dowiedzieć się więcej o moich polskich korzeniach – wierzę w potęgę internetu!

Dzień dobry!
Nazywam się Matwiej Aleksiejewicz Lewaniuk. Poszukuję wszelkich informacji na temat moich krewnych. Mój dziadek, Nikołaj Wasiljewicz Lewoniuk, był Polakiem; urodził się 25 czerwca 1933 roku we wsi Pasieczniki, niedaleko Białegostoku. Będę bardzo wdzięczny za wszelkie szczegóły lub pomoc – z góry dziękuję. Mój pradziadek, Wasilij Aleksandrowicz Lewoniuk, również mieszkał w tamtych okolicach; według moich krewnych jego druga żona (moja prababcia) także była Polką. Odkrycie historii moich przodków jest dla mnie bardzo ważne i cieszę się, że pochodzili oni z Polski. Czekam na Wasze odpowiedzi! Każda pomoc lub informacja będzie dla mnie niezwykle cenna!

Wierzę w potęgę internetu.

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I’m not sure what the right flair would be, sorry… but..

I always come across these FamilySearch usernames that are variations of “CensusProject” or “tree_helper”
These users either make 3-10 separate duplicates of the same person/couples/families, per record.. Or, they attach wrong records to individual with similar names. Then they abandon what they started, and continue onward doing the same thing.

Are these users with the church, or whats the deal? Why do they do this? Are they bots?

Thought you might be interested in this

Last Sunday 25th marked the 101st anniversary of the death of my grandmother’s brother, Martin Nagle of Nenagh, County Tipperary.

A sergeant in the newly established Civic Guard, Martin died aged just 23 in circumstances that remain unexplained. The post explores his life, his service and the mystery surrounding his death.

Read the story here: https://holmesfamilyireland.blogspot.com/2026/10/sergeant-martin-nagle-19021925-nenagh.html

So it came to my attention that one of my ancestors had a pretty "unique" name in Switzerland, the family name Stecher.

On surname maps or even family dictionaries, old stock families named Stecher are pretty rare in the country. If they really are long standing swiss families, they are specifically from only one region in Switzerland "Graubunden". Otherwise they were originally from Austria, Italy or Germany and got naturalized later. These informations can be found on the public dictionary of famillies of switzerland(https://familiennamenbuch.ch) or other websites.

So my great grandmother had this surname and all i knew is that she was from Zürich Stadt in Switzerland, at least for sure that her son was born there. I am not well informed on my swiss side as i ,first things first live in the french speaking part of Switzerland and that i'm more linked to my north african side(i'm half).

I asked myself which Stecher lineage was she from, was she from the mountainous regions of Graubunden ? The Tyrol region?

I decided to contact Civil Registry Office of the City of Zurich, and asked them only two informations: Where is the family Stecher originally from and what was the surname of my great grandmother's mother.

I asked only these two things as i reaaaallly wanted to have no fees as i cannot permit myself to pay things rn. Anyways i received a call, and then the worker told me->The Stecher were originally from Germany, and got naturalized in 1933 in Zürich Stadt. I asked for more details on the region and she replied : "it's pretty vague, it says that they came from Baden". Funfact, so the mother of my great grandmother is swiss and when she married her "Stecher" husband she lost her nationality and became german pfffhaha.

I wanted to know more, but as i got these info without fees i didn't want to be a burden to the worker and decided to be grateful.

But now i'm dying to know the S P E C I F I C region in Baden, so i can explore furthermore my genealogy. Could yall explain to me why is the origin so vague ? Or did they mean the city Baden-Baden? I don't know from which kind of record she got her infos from but i really dont wanna ask her anything rn.

I was hoping that yall could explain to me, but above all help me with this research. I thought of this because it seems like the Stecher family(from Germany) is pretty unique so maybe can be easily pinpointed on some kinds of records? You can all type Stecher on (https://familiennamenbuch.ch), and yall will see that there is only one family that got naturalized in Zürich, and it was in 1933. So i'm basically searching for help. Thanks for reading me !

Several years back, my uncle had my grandparents' DNA tested through a company call CriGenetics.

Below is my grandmother's results.

Both of her parents came from Calabria (Molochio and Cosensa. I've already been able to verify that much through records.

I'm curious about the Middle Eastern portion. I know that percentages can and do change, but if that holds true, how far back would I have to go in order attempt to verify with documents?

Thanks!

ETA: Here are her results Total came to 63% Italian 11% Spanish

Middle East 10.2 % Arab 6.8% Jewish 6.5% Armenian

2.5% Sri Lankan Tamil

I built my own personal tree software and after starting research, Im finding information on pets I dont want lost.

I realize most people disagree with adding pets, but here I am, going against the grain.

My question, how would you link pets to a person or family?

I know the Gedcom scheme has no pets option, and adding a pet as a "child" is a bad idea. What would you do? How would you "attach" a pet to a family?

Is anyone able to decipher the professions on this census record?

https://ibb.co/HfrNLX79

I’ve finally found out my great grandfathers birth parent names are and I’ve looked through family search and I could not find it. I was wondering if anyone know any services to help me. DNE express I’ve reached out to but they barley respond lol. Just asking for help

Currently researching “Charles Anthony Sellner” aka Charles A.J. Sellner” born Jan 19, 1902 (a few other dates are given on his other records spanning 1897-1902).

Military records seem to give his death date of Feb 12 1969

They also hint at another surname (since he was likely not born the son of his mothers 1st husband, Mr Sellner)

I don’t see any matching MD death certs for that date so I assume he must have died in another state.

I’m looking for his death cert so I can find out where he was buried.

Hi Everyone-

I am following up on a post I made a few days ago where I discussed my ancestors, Davis Henderson (1787-1865) and Susanna (1784-1855???) and the likelihood of Susanna having some degree of African ancestry.

Following some wonderful suggestions from contributors, and doing some research on common relatives among my 23andMe matches, along with research into my grandparents ancestrydna test, I noticed a few things.

On the segment of DNA where my African ancestry is, matches tend to trace back into the following families or people-these same families’ descendants also appear in my grandparents Ancestry matches found through LEEDS sorting.

Davis and Harp/Earp, with many matches connecting to;

Oliver Elijah Davis (1823-1864)

Samuel Edward Davis (1834-1918)

Sampson Harp (1788-1836)

Elijah Bohannan Harp (1826-1864)

(Many of these Harps ended up in Overton, TN, and Newton, AR, where the family ultimately ended up.)

Various Goins Family Members (Melungeon Founding Family)

Lewis Perkins (1762-1838) (Another Melungeon “Founder”, parents are Joshua “Old Jock” and Mary UMN)

Valentine Collins (1768-1854; thought to be a Zmber of the Bunch family, both Collins and bunch are Melungeon Founding Families)

Dicey Gibson (1770-1844) (Melungeon Founding Family)

Firstly; i find it perplexing that there’s a lack of singular common ancestors, but i should note the matches often do not match perfectly on the SSA segment, and it has British ancestry beside it, so I figure some match on the SSA portion, some the Euro portion, some both-I take this to mean that Susanna did indeed have mixed heritage, I inherited multiple segments from her, and Susanna was related to the British descended Harp/Earp family, and also was related to some FPOC, many whose lineages would become Melungeon families.

Some background Knowledge; I know Susanna was born in North Carolina, and notably another relative descended from her has a Genetic Community for “North Carolina African Americans”. Davis was found in the 1811 Tax Records for Muhlenberg, KY, 1820 White, TN, and 1830 Overton, TN. Davises’ first child was born 1813, in Kentucky or TN, and the second most likely in KY-so my guess is they met there. Given where they were, I do not believe Susanna herself was “Melungeon” in the traditional sense, but could have shared ancestors with people who became Melungeons.

For another, I have seen many trees cite her name as Claiborne as it was her son’s first name; I do not believe that this is her maiden name. I concluded this since Davis had a brother, Claiborne Henderson (born around 1800) who I believe was the namesake for the son of Davis and Susanna.

At this point, I need some help with this DNA Research and deciphering what I have found so far and what it means for my research, and more importantly-i would appreciate assistance using these clues to help find records that could lead to, hint at, or better yet, spell out who her parents and siblings may have been, how Susanna connects to the European Harp/Earp family, and which of these African descended families Susanna has a connection to, as I am very eager to uncover this family mystery.

All help is very much appreciated!

https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/pedigree/landscape/9NS7-ZYJ

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108745347/davis_l-henderson

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-403315

I have a book by my great-grandfather that says we are descendants of Philip christian fredrich graf von Normann-Ehrenfels through a man named Karl/Carl Normann, who died in Wisconsin in 1856. I have been on a journey to prove that we are descendants of Philip Christian; he had a son named fredrich carl wilhelm in 1809, his last, which, according to Karl's immigration record, was around that time. What I need is a marriage record listing either his birth name or his dad, as he was married in Württemberg before coming to America in 1853. How would I go about finding that document? I don't know which church they went to in Württemberg or their specific religion, or even when they married, but their first son, Theodore, was born in 1846, which I know is not good, but I'm stuck and need help. Any help is much appreciated!

For years my family believed my grandfather was born before his parents married. He was born in 1888 in Tennessee. We have the record of his parents' marriage in 1889 in North Carolina. Now I have found a marriage certificate of the two of them getting married in 1886 in Tennessee, in the county where she was born. I'm positive it's the same people because of their unusual names for the time, Kirk Ward and Mary Magdalene Taylor... and because that's the area in TN where she was born and where my grandfather was born.

So it looks like they married, had my grandfather, lived in Tennessee for a few years and then moved to NC where his people were (it was just across the state line, wasn't a major move) and married again.

Now my great grandfather was married before, in 1881, in NC,, and as far as I know, divorced his first wife long before his marriage to his second wife. Can't find a record of that though, but I'm wondering if that had anything to do with them having to do it all over again in NC?

Edit: Thank you for all your suggestions. I'll check out all the different avenues to get to the bottom of this mystery!

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone who can get to a FamilySearch Center or affiliate library could do a quick look-up for me.

The record:

- Thomas Coleman, yeoman, of Foxley (Blakesley parish), Northamptonshire

- Will proved in the Archdeaconry Court of Northampton, 1782 (index date 4 Nov 1782; Northamptonshire & Rutland Probate Index)

- FamilySearch catalogue: "Probate records, 1467-1877" (Archdeaconry of Northampton), film 187770, DGS 8047659, "Original wills, administrations, inventories, 1782"

- The images are restricted, so they only open at a Center or affiliate library.

• The FamilySearch catalogue entry, film 187770 / DGS 8047659 (“Original wills, administrations, inventories, 1782”): https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/350023
• The film itself (DGS 8047659): https://www.familysearch.org/search/film/008047659 This should open the 1782 image set directly.

Why I'm asking: I'm trying to find the parents of Elizabeth Webb (c.1759–1846) of Towcester, who married Richard Webb there in 1788. She may be the Elizabeth baptised at Blakesley in Dec 1757, daughter of John and Elizabeth (née Higham) Coleman. Thomas is the only Blakesley Coleman with a will in those years, so his will might name her or her father John.

If you can, a photo or screenshot of the will (and any probate act or inventory filed with it) would be wonderful. Even just a note of the names in it would help a lot.

The wills on the film are probably in rough alphabetical or date order for 1782, so it may take a bit of scrolling. Thank you so much!

With kind regards,

Jaap Jansen