Online Research

My Introduction to ChatGPT

Today, I was introduced to the power of ChatGPT by my grandson who is an IT professional. He is convinced that it is an important demonstration of the power of artificial intelligence (AI). “ He signed into it on his iPhone and asked me to suggest a question to ask. I suggested: “What is Pymatuning

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Genealogical Crime Mysteries – A New Genre

I have been involved in genealogical research for about 25 years. For the last half dozen years, I have been using DNA testing to find relatives. I also enjoy reading detective novels. When I set out to write this review of The Chester Creek Murders, by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, I discovered that there is a

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Collecting Death Certificates–Payoffs and Pitfalls

Who, what, where and when are key questions that are answered by genealogical records. In the following discussion, we are adding two more questions: why and how. Who to collect death certificates for: ● Direct ancestors are a top priority. ● Ancillary ancestors are a second priority. ● Obtaining death certificates is becoming more costly.

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FamilySearch.org Points to Mayflower Ancestors

Today, I received an email from FamilySearch.org: “You Have a Mayflower Heritage! “Discover your Mayflower connection, and learn about the sacrifices your relative made for religious freedom and greater opportunities as he helped shape the new world.” When I clicked on the View Relationship link, it led me to my relationship with Stephen Hopkins, my 10th great-grandfather. I

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2020: Anniversary Year of the Mayflower

Who’d a thunk it? As a third-generation Finnish-American with a Finnish surname I inherited from my paternal grandparents, I would seem to be an unlikely candidate for membership in the Grand Society of Mayflower Descendents. Yet, I believe that Stephen Hopkins, a Mayflower passenger, and a Plymouth Colony stalwart, is my tenth great grandfather. On

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Goodyear Connections

I was flabbergasted when I read earlier this week in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that our president had tweeted that his followers should boycott the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and not buy its products. Apparently a social media posting to the effect that MAGA gear shouldn’t be worn at a Goodyear plant in Topeka,

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Jumping into German Genealogy–An All-Day Seminar at WRHS

On Saturday, November 16, Western Reserve Historical Society will host an all-day seminar for beginning and advanced genealogists interested in researching their German ancestors. In four seminar sessions, James M. Beidler will cover the following topics: “Your Immigrants’ Germany,” “German Research Online,” “German Names and Naming Patterns,” “Online German Church Registers, Duplicates, and Substitutes.”  

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My Family’s Connection to Cheese-making

I like cheese of all types. The other day I started researching cheesemaking and any connection there might be with that industry and my ancestors and relatives. Here are some facts I learned: My grandkids live on Cheese Factory Rd in Honeoye Falls, New York. (More about this in another post later.) My Great-Unclde Nelson

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Finding “Gold” in a 4th Cousin+ DNA Match

The other day, a new AncestryDNA match came to my attention. It was with Riikka and was at the fourth to sixth cousin level. AncestryDNA rated the result as “Confidence: High.” In fact, the little bar used to illustrate the degree of confidence was almost completely green. Looking into the match, I saw that it was

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Smallest Restaurant in World Is Where? In Finland!

My friend Amy sent an email to me recently with an interesting subject: “The Smallest Restaurant in the World.” It turns out that this restaurant — which seats only two people — is in Finland. Amy found this bit of trivia on a website named Atlas Obscura at https://www.atlasobscura.com. I went to the website to read

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