Meet the problem child, so to speak. Reuben was alive during the Civil War and as with many people during the Civil War a number of their records are missing. So best guess was to try a DNA test of a current living male. This actually help surprisingly well. By jumping past the person we were missing we managed to find him the other direction, mainly because a number of the people who had been testing had their entire family tree. Also it didn’t hurt us to go through some only letters and find a couple of names that had been overlooked. With this we made the links. The side benefit of the test was that we learned that our male descendant was also one of the 3 Million who is related to Nialls of the Nine Hostages. There is some amazing things you will learn from testing. Another interesting thing we did learn from testing more family members. If you believe that you have Native American DNA. We did another set of test because a Professor friend said oddly enough that sometimes people you aren’t the direct descendant from the full native, it ma still show up in you DNA profile. We have seen how the tests differ and that sometimes things you don’t expect show up. My advice error on the side of try to anyway. You also may discover something very interesting in your family.

Searching can be fun and take many hours. This was a new discovery that showed up recently to help with our search and it’s a pretty headstone. But searching can have it’s pitfalls. Don’t be discouraged. Also don’t give up because you think your not finding anything important or helpful. Put it away for awhile and then you might make a discovery. Case in point, My Step-aunt’s father. Newer census records told me that what we thought was his real given name, wasn’t the case. We discovered that he was adopted. And then we found is real last name, and the search was back on. Give things time and new discoveries will pop up.

Well is it worth the money to have a DNA test done if you are missing people in your family tree past. Our answer would be a resounding Yes. But you need to know what you are looking for before you buy a test kit. The more markers you have tested the better the results will be overall, but the more expensive the test. National Geographics, DNA Tribes, Family Tree DNA and others perform these tests. You can do a Ancestral Origins, which will tell you where your ancestors came from. Then there is Y-DNA Testing and mtDNA Testing, Only men can have both done, women can have mtDNA done. Again the more markers the more people you can find with just your brand of DNA. What does that mean? Some of these folks know their family tree back to the 1600’s or more so if you are missing someone in your tree they may be able to help you figure it out. Example: One of our trees we were missing Great-Great-Great grandfather’s Father. Most of his information was lost during the Civil War. Thanks to the testing we were able to jump farther back in time to a relative. The person that had the information about the distant relation helped us to move forward in time to figure out who Father of our Great-Great-Great Grandfather was. Not only that but because of testing done by Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and made public we found out that the men of the family are related to Niall Nóigiallach – Niall of the Nine Hostages, legendary King of Ireland who died in 405. Although a number of historian actually believe he died sometime around 450. If you test through Family Tree DNA, they can convert your results over to a couple other services. Although we were not as impressed with the Ancestral Origins, because at this time they only do 8 markers. They other two tests for finding ancestors was the best value from them linking us with more people who knew their trees. DNA Tribes does a 27 Marker Ancestral Origins test which turned out to be far more interesting. When you decided to use this method, do check everyone out, prices and testimonial may also help you make up your mind.

Missing a relative that should be buried in some such cemetery as recorded by a family member, well don’t be surprised if you can’t find them where you thought they were. This is a real problem. In some cases it could be that they are where you think they are and the records for that cemetery may have gotten lost as well as the head stone for them being lost or just plan impossible to read.
Some cemeteries are going to computer versions and some are still on 3 X 5 cards as I found out recently and even some are it rather large books with drawings of plots and the names on some plots have faded away.
This can pose a problem for those using the cemetery to find people.
Two of the most interesting mistakes we have found out searching is stole headstones, and one that had the wrong information on it that had replaced the faded one that was there before.
Be careful. Even in a cemetery things are not always what they seem.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.
Considered the Fairytale King for the wonderful palaces he has built during his reign, this year they have been celebrating his passing. May he always be remembered.

Well the last few months have been full of school and searching. Researching those in the past poses any number of issues. Can we really piece together the lives that these people had when they were alive, and if we are putting this life on display how do we go about that with giving them the greatest amount of dignity. This semester I am also taking a class that goes into the display question even more. We talk about Native American displays, what is art what is artifact and what should not be on display.
At lunch the other day a friend of mine said, “Do they ever consider how white people are displayed?” Do we think how homo spaiens in general are displayed?
Cemeteries are also displays of a different sort. Funerary art of the past and present.