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Digging for Deaths: Understanding the Census Mortality Schedule

This is the first article in a series meant to introduce mortality schedules and the information contained within them. The follow-up article will include examples of interesting tidbits and intriguing stories that these records have helped to uncover.  

Mortality Schedules Census

Across most of the United States, consistent, statewide registration of vital events, such as births, deaths, and marriages, did not begin until the twentieth century. For genealogists, this creates a gap that is sometimes difficult to fill. Mortality schedules, although limited in scope, can, on occasion, help address the shortfall and build crucial contextual understanding.  

How were mortality schedules developed?  

Vital registration began in England and Wales on 1 July 1837. Parishioners reported births, marriages, and deaths to a network of local registrars based on the parishes created under the Poor Law Act of 1834. Previously, the Church of England was required to keep similar records dating back as far as 1538. However, the cholera epidemic of 1831 and 1832, which killed over 40,000 people across Great Britain, highlighted the difficulty of making important statistical observations without a centralized collection point for records.  

Massachusetts legislator—and passionate genealogist—Lemuel Shattuck recognized the value of the new English law. He was vital in implementing similar legislation in Massachusetts, beginning in 1842. Shattuck’s subsequent design of the revolutionary 1845 Census of Boston, which expanded the scope of information collected, led to his recruitment to the team developing the 1850 U.S. Federal Census. Under Shattuck’s guidance, the first census mortality schedule was created.  

Enumerators collected the name of every person who had died during the twelve months preceding the official census date of 1 June 1850, along with other information such as age, gender, marital status, place of birth, occupation, and cause of death. The information gathered varied by year, with additions such as notes giving the details of accidental or tragic deaths and comments on the diseases prevailing in the area.  

Shattuck, understandably, doubted the efficiency of this approach. According to U.S. Public Health Service estimates, only about 60% of deaths were reported in early mortality schedules. However, spotty information was better than no information at all. Outside of New England, few localities recorded valuable data connected to deaths.

When were mortality schedules used?  

All federal censuses implemented mortality schedules between 1850 and 1900. Beginning in 1880, cities and states that adopted a standardized death certificate and reached 90% compliance in recording could join the national death registration area. Mortality schedules were no longer mandatory in these areas.  

In 1880, for example, the death registration area included only two states: Massachusetts and New Jersey. By 1900, it had expanded to incorporate ten states, the District of Columbia, and many large cities located in non-registration states, representing approximately 40 percent of the population of the continental U.S.  

By 1902, most states had implemented vital records laws of some sort. The mortality schedules were then fully phased out as The Census Bureau was, in that year, authorized to collect copies of records filed in vital registration offices from states and cities not already included in the death registration area. This development does not, unfortunately, mean that records were complete after this date. It wasn’t until 1933 that country-wide death statistics were considered reliable.  

Basic information in the mortality schedules  

An average entry in the 1860 mortality schedule will include important details about the decedent. For example, Henry Deem, a 76-year-old farmer, died in Wayne Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, in January 1860.  

Mortality Schedules Census

His entry in the 1860 mortality schedule tells us Henry was a married man born in Virginia. His cause of death was a ruptured hernia, which he had suffered for four years.  

Another entry on the same census page for 38-year-old Molly Kay informs us that she was a single woman, an Ohio native who died of epilepsy in May 1860. She had experienced the symptoms of her final illness for four months. However, a note at the bottom of the page provides additional detail on Molly’s life. Epilepsy was not her only medical concern. Molly had also suffered from a bone disease, resulting in forty broken bones over her lifetime. According to the informant, she “was always helpless.”  

Mortality Schedules entry

If Molly’s family had not passed down her story, no one might ever know what she experienced without this crucial record.  

The names of small children, who might otherwise become lost to time, also often emerge in mortality schedules. Fifteen of the thirty-two occupied lines on this census page list the details of children under the age of ten who appear in no other census record:  

  • 1-month-old Sarah Jane Dilly, who died in May 1860, having been ill for only one hour  
  • 3-year-old Fred Flera, 6-year-old Eliza Gondert, and likely sibling pairs Jac and Ellin Anderson, ages 4 and 2, and John and Eli Miller, 5 and 3, all of whom died of putrid sore throat  
  • M. Belle Smith, 6 months, and L. H. Baker, 1, victims of whooping cough  
  • C. Wandel, a 5-year-old girl who, died of inflammation of the brain  
  • 5-month-old Theodore Cook, who had suffered flesh decay for his entire life  
  • J. T. Scott, 1, scalded with coffee  
  • 1-year-old Hannah Hoover, whose cause of death was unknown  
  • Anno Snyder, 1, killed by an inflammation of the bowels  
  • 3-year-old Orlando Smith, who died of a sinking chill  

Death records for Montgomery County, Ohio, where all these children died, do not begin until 1867. The census mortality schedule may be the only source of information on their deaths.  

Where can I access the records?  

Census mortality schedules for most years are available for researchers today, with two prominent exceptions: mortality schedules created in 1890 were burned alongside that year’s census records, and nearly all of the schedules created in 1900 were destroyed by Congressional order after they had already collected statistics.  

The remaining schedules are available online at both Ancestry and FamilySearch. Ancestry is simpler to navigate. All records appear in a single collection, organized by year, state, and county (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8756). At FamilySearch, the user searches the catalog for individual record sets, often organized by state. Filters such as author name (Census Office) and keyword (mortality) facilitate the search.  

Mortality Schedules Family Search

The extra time spent locating records at FamilySearch reaps surprising rewards. Not all counties are filmed in their entirety in the Ancestry collection. Frequently, the missing pages contain only the marshal’s oath or statistical calculations. However, in some cases, entire pages of names have been omitted. For example, in a study of Ohio’s 1850 mortality schedules, eight counties—Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Highland, Hocking, and Holmes—are missing important data. The records at FamilySearch did not encounter this problem.  

Both record sets occasionally include miscategorized images, most often when combined records of one township with another occurred. If you expect to find an individual in the mortality schedules, be sure your search is complete – browse the records for the appropriate county in case of spelling or transcription errors, and examine the records of localities both geographically and alphabetically proximate.  

Sources for more information

The Census Bureau has digitized copies of statistical abstracts for each census year. You can find them at https://www.census.gov/library/publications.html. For ease of access, filter by topic (health, mortality) and sort by oldest to newest.  

Census Publications Mortality Schedules

Here, you can find information such as:  

 

 

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15 Steps to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors

Immigration ancestor research can be very rewarding as you discover the story behind your ancestor’s journey across the pond. In this guide, we share 15 steps to discovering your ancestor’s story of their journey to the United States and help you retrace their steps to find the records and data to verify your heritage. 

If you live in the United States and your ancestors aren’t Native American, then your ancestors crossed the pond at some point. Depending on the time period and proximity to a port, they might have walked, ridden on the back of a cart, traveled by train, or even taken a small river boat to get to the port city. They got word from a family member or friend telling them exactly how to travel, the best places to stop along the way, the best merchants to do business with (and some to avoid), and the best ticket agents from which to buy a ship ticket. Your immigrant probably knew exactly which shipping line to book passage with, and maybe even the exact ship they should travel on.

Immigrant Ancestor Research

Newly arrived Immigrants from Europe

Your ancestor, excited for the opportunities ahead and perhaps anxious to leave behind persecution, landlessness, poverty, famine, or even military conscription, set sail for America!

Arriving in the United States

After the invention of the steam engine, the Atlantic voyage went from a 45–90-day voyage down to about two weeks in good weather. There were several ports of arrival, including New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, along with several smaller ports on the Eastern seaboard. On the other hand, some immigrants arrived in Canada and then crossed the border by train or on foot. Others arrived at southern ports such as Galveston, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, and other Gulf Coast ports.

Ellis Island in New York was a highly used Immigration Entrance

If your immigrant arrived in New York, they had to pass rigorous questioning and a physical examination and demonstrate they would not become an immediate public burden before they were allowed to enter the United States. Likewise, if they were joining someone, they may have had to wait at the port for that person to arrive and collect them. Some were even turned away the first time and persistently came again.

Creating a New Life

Upon arriving at their final destination, they obtained employment and secured a place to live. They attended church, hopefully in the religion they had participated in in Europe, but in some cases, they chose a nearby church with service in their native language instead. Their subsequent marriage might be recorded in this parish if they were single. Their children’s baptisms and confirmations (usually around age 12-14) occurred in this parish. Their attendance was recorded in this parish, including their death and burial.

Becoming a U.S. Citizen

At some point, your ancestor may have felt a sense of patriotism or wanted to prove they were not loyal to any other country. Perhaps they wanted the opportunity to vote for their representatives in government, or in some cases, they hoped to run for public office themselves. Whatever their core motivation, in most cases, they could apply for U.S. Citizenship after having lived in the U.S. for at least two years. Then after five more years they could turn in their final papers or Petition for Naturalization, followed by a court appearance where they swore their Oath of Allegiance and officially became a United States citizen.

Immigrant Ancestor

After 7 years an immigrant could officially become a United States Citizen.

If they lived in the United States during or after World War II without yet having applied for citizenship, they would have been required to file an Alien Registration form with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Your male ancestors born between 1873 and 1900 would have registered with the World War I draft board (1917-1918). Men born during these same years registered for the “Old Man’s Draft” in World War II (1942), while younger men would also have registered in the World War II draft (1940-1945).

WW1 Draft Card

WW 1 Draft Card

If they were working in the United States in or after the late 1930s, they might have been required to file a Social Security Account application (SS-5 form) as part of their employment.

Each of these seemingly small details of your ancestor’s life generated records. Many of these records could include the exact date and location of your ancestor’s birth in Europe. Each of these records should be found and assessed in the search for your ancestral hometown.

And don’t forget to search for records of the immigrant’s children, extended family, and friends from the same town or area. Any of these records might be the key to locating your ancestor’s place of origin.

As you search for your immigrant ancestor’s hometown in Europe, there are many records you will find easily, and some you’ll have to work harder to locate. This is essential for continuing to research your family in Europe because the records there were kept by local authorities and are still only accessible by searching records from their town of origin.

The following 15 steps outline the most common records you’ll need to obtain to locate your ancestor’s specific place of birth in Europe.

General steps for immigration research:

1. Find each immigrant in every U.S. census in which they appear (make sure to include state censuses if easily accessible)

  • Example: 1925 New York state census says exactly when and in what court the person was naturalized
  • Some enumerators accidentally wrote down a town or region of origin instead of recording the country of origin; these mistakes were crossed out but are still readable on the original forms
  • Don’t just read the indexed information; make sure you know every detail that is handwritten on the original record! This rule applies to all record types.

2. Create a summary timeline of events based on census data (include immigration date, naturalization date(s), marriage date and likely location)

3. Locate males in WWI and WWII draft registrations (generally applies to any men born after 1872)

4. Identify and order the complete pension file for your Civil War ancestor (for men born roughly between 1815 and 1847)

5. Obtain original U.S. vital records (marriage and/or death) for all immigrants, not just indexes

6. Find church records of marriage, and burial for immigrants (for Catholics always start with FindMyPast)

7. Also, find church records of baptisms, marriages, and burials of their children

8. Identify Social Security Numbers (found in death certificates, Social Security Death Index, and occasionally in other sources)

9. Order original Social Security Account application forms for all immigrants (SS-5)

10. Locate naturalization papers (could have been filed in a county court, circuit court, or district courts)

  • Declaration of Intention and Petition for Naturalization did not have to be in the same court, and both asked for birth information (after 1906)
  • If they naturalized before 1906, still locate the naturalization to learn what country, kingdom or other foreign power they renounced loyalty to (sometimes these early records still included birth details)
  • Before 1906 they could have naturalized in any court; after that date they were legally required to naturalize in a federal district court
  • Check Ancestry, FamilySearch, and county websites for naturalizations
  • As a last resort, you can order a search with NARA and USCIS, but these are more time-consuming, even more so since the COVID closures

11. Passenger lists

  • Search under all known versions of their name;
  • Standardized or “correct” name spellings are a modern concept; as long as the name was a phonetic match, the exact spelling was irrelevant
  • When the record is found, note their last residence, names of relatives in both countries, birthplace, others arriving with them, and any notes in the same line (letters and numbers written above the entry would reference their naturalization or alien registration files)
  • Make sure to check whether your ancestor’s passenger list has two pages; if there are two pages, the end of the second page typically includes a precise birthplace

12. Alien registration for those still unnaturalized in the mid-1940s

13. Obituaries, Gravestones; online memorials

14. County histories, Family histories, and Newspaper articles

15. If you know at least the region they came from, but still have not found the name of the hometown, search emigration (e.g. departure) lists and resources for that region

Pro tips for researching specific ethnicities:

Immigrant AncestorsJewish Immigrants

  • As a general rule, as long as the first letter of the given name was the same, they often changed their name after arriving in the United States; however, some names, like Chana (usually changed to Anna) were changed to a close phonetic match instead
  • The Hebrew portion of your ancestor’s gravestone includes their patronymic (e.g. their father’s given name)
  • The section of the cemetery where they were buried might be a clue to their place of origin
  • Chain migration was widespread
  • Most arrived between 1820 and 1924; another wave of immigration took place between 1933 and the early 1940s due to the atrocities of World War II

Italian ImmigrantsImmigrant Ancestors

  • They were almost exclusively Catholic, make sure not to skip searching parish registers in the U.S. for a record naming the immigrant ancestor’s birthplace
  • Most arrived between 1880 and 1924
  • A 1908 earthquake in southern Italy fueled emigration from that area

 

Immigrant AncestorsGerman Immigrants

  • Germans have been coming to the United States since the late 1600s, but the groups that these records types most specifically apply to are those arriving between 1840 and the 1920s.
  • Religions in Germany were Catholic or Evangelical (after 1830 all Protestant religions were legally made to merge into one umbrella religious group)
  • Depending on the time period, your ancestor may also appear in emigration databases from Europe

 

Immigrant AncestorsIrish Immigrants

  • More likely Protestant if they came from Northern Ireland
  • Chain migration was widespread
  • Comprised about one-third of all immigrants to the United States between 1820 and 1860
  • The Irish Potato Famine was a strong motivation for emigration between 1845 and 1852

 

Immigrant AncestorsScandinavian Immigrants

  • May have been using a fixed surname or their patronymic when they arrived, so search for both names on the passenger lists;
  • They were Lutheran in Europe, so search the nearest Lutheran, Evangelical, or other Protestant / non-conformist churches in the United States
  • Depending on the time period, your ancestor may also appear in emigration (e.g. departing) databases from Europe

 

With the vast amount of information available to search, immigration ancestor research is possible but can be very time consuming. If you need assistance from an expert genealogist team, the professionals at Legacy Tree Genealogists are here to help. Learn more about how we can further your family tree by requesting a quote today. 

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Technological Advances in Genealogy

Legacy Tree Genealogists’ Gretchen Jorgensen is a Research Teams Manager and specializes in genetic genealogy and DNA analysis. In this article, she discusses the impact of technology on genealogy with a particular focus on photographs, access to records, and DNA.

Advances in Technology for Genealogy ResearchTechnological advances impact many facets of modern life, and genealogy is no exception. What has been considered traditional genealogy is changing dramatically, and technological advances are helping family history work become easier and more accessible.

Photographs

Photographs provide fond memories of ancestors no longer with us or of relatives not living nearby. They can also bring to life those ancestors we did not have the opportunity to meet personally. Unfortunately, old photos can decay over time if they weren’t printed on high-quality paper or stored correctly. Digital images are not a replacement for original prints, but they can provide a backup and enable easy sharing.

In February 2020, MyHeritage released their MyHeritage In Color™ feature, which colorizes black and white photos. This feature went viral, with over one million photos colorized in the first five days of availability.[1] In the two years since, additional photo options have been added, including the ability to enhance, restore color, and animate photos. MyHeritage users that have a free basic plan may colorize up to ten photos and restore color on an additional ten, and subscription holders may modify an unlimited number of photos.[2]

I enhanced a decades-old Polaroid picture of myself, shown below. The resulting image is considerably clearer, representing a noticeable improvement from the original smaller, poor-quality image. These results could be achieved with skilled use of photo editing software, but MyHeritage In Color™ requires no skill (or time!) at all.

Edited photo of baby Gretchen

Gretchen, 6 months old

While the ability to scan photographs with a desktop scanner has been available for years, advances have been made with apps for mobile phones. These apps may eliminate the need for a separate scanner and provide the ability to scan photographs that might otherwise be difficult to access with a traditional scanner, such as with photos hung on a wall or permanently attached to a bulky photo album.

Photomyne is one of many companies providing apps for iOS and Android that allows users to scan and enhance photographs and slides.[3] During the 2022 RootsTech conference, Ancestry announced the inclusion of Photomyne technology in their mobile app, providing the ability to scan a photo and attach that photo to relevant ancestors in one’s family tree, all from a single app.[4]  At the time of this writing, Ancestry’s Photomyne features are mobile-only and are not available on their desktop application.

Records Access

A series of technological advances have steadily increased access to genealogical records. Filming vital records onto microfilm or microfiche provides important backups of records and makes them accessible without the need to travel to an original location. Depending on copyright restrictions and a whole host of other factors, some filmed records are available for more widespread distribution, while others remain at a handful of repositories. Access to several locations is better than one, but not necessarily convenient for many genealogists.

In recent years, digitization of previously filmed records has occurred at a rapid rate. In 2021, FamilySearch completed the massive effort of digitizing its 2.4 million rolls of microfilm.[5] FamilySearch now has over 14.3 billion searchable names and images, with many more unindexed images available. Ancestry and MyHeritage offer a similar number of records.[6]

Those numbers are impressive, but they only scratch the surface of what is available online. Digitization projects are also underway for many countries and US states, along with more local efforts, such as libraries or historical societies digitizing their newspaper collections.

Entering your ancestor’s name into a Google search box will not uncover most of this data. Many of these repositories will eventually be indexed and keyword searchable, but in the meantime, digitized records can be accessed by understanding what resources are available for each region.

Most of these newly scanned records remained unindexed, requiring page-by-page searches of the data. Don’t get me wrong, scrolling through records in pajama pants is highly preferable to putting on clothes, scraping the ice off the windshield, driving someplace, and then fighting with the microfilm reader. The need for page-by-page searches will never be completely eliminated (and on-screen viewing doesn’t replicate the satisfaction of paging through an old, rare book), but technological advances have significantly increased the amount of information that can be accessed without travel.

By the time you’re reading this, the 1950 U.S. Census will have been released. A once-per-decade census release is an event highly anticipated by genealogists. In the early days after release, it’s fun to find your family members or even your favorite celebrity in the census through page-by-page searching of the area where they were known to live. That charm wears off pretty quickly, followed by an urge, or even desperation, for an index. Previous indexing efforts have involved thousands of individuals indexing as quickly as possible once the census was released by the government.

The 1950 U.S. Census will be largely indexed by computers, with a quality check by humans.[7] The expectation is that indices will be available far more quickly than at any time in the past. Better yet, the indices will include more fields than were transcribed in prior efforts. This technology holds promise for indexing other collections as well.

Standard disclaimers apply, such as indices are not always correct (no matter how they were created), and the need for a detailed review of images will always be an important part of accurate genealogical research. The technological advances underway will help to make more records available to more people, which is good for individuals, and the field as a whole.

DNA

The addition of DNA in genealogical research has led to one technological breakthrough after another. A decade ago, two of the major autosomal DNA testing companies (Ancestry and MyHeritage) did not offer autosomal DNA at all, and the comprehensive SNP-based Y-DNA tests available used to cost more than they do today.[8] My current AncestryDNA results contain nearly 15 times the number of fourth cousins and closer matches I had when I first tested in Fall 2015. At that time, shared matching had just been introduced in AncestryDNA, but the amount of shared centimorgans wasn’t yet displayed. We’ve come a long way! Back in the day, testers were clamoring for more matches, but as the databases grew quickly, the need for tools to manage a large amount of data became apparent.

The testing companies have delivered tools for grouping and sorting matches, and integration between family trees, records, and DNA results (MyHeritage DNA Theory of Family Relativity and AncestryDNA ThruLines). Testing sites have increased their filtering capacity, offering filters for the amount of shared DNA, family trees, ethnicity, and more.

Third-party offerings have sprouted up to offer additional features not provided by the testing companies. GEDmatch led the way with an advanced chromosome browser and the ability to compare results for testers whose original results were on different testing sites. Other tools have come along to provide automatic clustering (a visual representation of groups of related matches) tools. Genetic Affairs provides particularly flexible offerings in this regard, and is now built natively into GEDmatch and MyHeritageDNA, but also can cluster results from 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, and on the Genetic Affairs website.

The suite of tools at DNA Painter continues to expand, with recent offerings including The Shared cM Investigator, which utilizes segment data from multiple siblings to estimate how much DNA their (untested) parent might have shared with a given DNA match. Analysis by humans plays a huge role in DNA-based genealogical research but having computers do the heavy lifting of categorizing like matches allows researchers to move forward more quickly in their research.

This is an exciting time in the field of genealogy. We have access to more data than ever before, with much more to come. It’s a fascinating paradox that a field focused on learning about the past can benefit so greatly from technological advances our ancestors couldn’t have imagined, and exciting to be able to combine time-honored methodologies with cutting-edge technology.

Legacy Tree Genealogists are experts who are trained to know where and how to look for your elusive ancestors. If cutting-edge technology is outside of your skillset, time, or interest, our researchers are always available to assist. Contact us today to request a free quote!

 

Sources

[1] “MyHeritage in Color™ Goes Viral: Over a Million Photos Already Colorized!,” MyHeritage Blog, https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/02/myheritage-in-color-goes-viral-over-a-million-photos-already-colorized/, accessed March 2022.
[2] “Color Restoration for Photos with MyHeritage In Color™,” MyHeritage Knowledge Base, https://education.myheritage.com/article/color-restoration-for-photos-with-myheritage-in-color/, accessed March 2022.
[3] “Apps by Photomyne,” Photomyne, https://photomyne.com/get-photomyne, accessed March 2022.
[4] “Ancestry® Integrates Photomyne’s Best-in-Class Technology to Help Mobile Customers Upload, Scan, Enhance and Share Family Photos,” ancestry Corporate, https://www.ancestry.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/ancestry-integrates-photomynes-best-class-technology-help-mobile-customers, accessed March 2022.
[5] “FamilySearch 2021 Genealogy Highlights,” FamilySearch,
https://www.familysearch.org/en/newsroom/familysearch-2021-genealogy-highlights, accessed March 2022.
[6] “Historical Records and Person Search,” Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records, accessed March 2022; and “MyHeritage Surpasses 1 Million Annual Subscribers,” MyHeritage Blog, https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/12/myheritage-surpasses-1-million-annual-subscribers/, accessed March 2022.
[7] “1950 U.S. Census,” Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.com/c/1950-census, accessed March 2022; and, “How Indexing the 1950 Census Will Be Different,” FamilySearch Blog, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/indexing-1950-census, accessed March 2022.
[8] “Autosomal DNA testing comparison chart,” International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki, https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_DNA_testing_comparison_chart, accessed March 2022.

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Setting the Record Straight: 6 Common Myths About Hiring a Professional Genealogist

One of our genealogists breaks down some of the myths about genealogical research and provides valuable insight into the process of hiring a professional. This article may answer some of the questions you have about hiring a genealogist to research your family’s history.

Setting the Record Straight

As professional genealogists, genealogy is our passion as much as it is our profession. We love nothing more than to sink our teeth into a juicy ancestral mystery, gather up all available evidence, and piece together the truth, however surprising (or mundane) the truth might be.

We understand that when you hire a professional genealogist, you are placing your hopes and dreams of discovering your heritage in our hands. Connecting with your ancestors is intensely personal and meaningful, and there are strong emotions involved for you and for us. We take the trust you place in us to discover your personal family history very seriously and are committed to providing each client with the exceptional research experience that has made Legacy Tree the world’s highest-rated genealogy research firm. Part of creating an exceptional research experience is managing client expectations. To that end, I’d like to share 6 common “myths” we’ve heard from clients—and set the record straight on what professional genealogists can and can’t do.

Myth #1: “You have access to records that I don’t.”

YES – We have subscriptions to all the major (and minor) genealogical repositories on the internet. These include MyHeritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch (free), Findmypast, Fold3, American Ancestors, Newspapers.com, and many more. Just like many of you, we rely on these online archives to efficiently gather primary original records (birth, marriage, death, census, social security, naturalization, immigration, etc.) about your ancestors. If you would rather not pay for so many subscriptions on your own, then YES, we have access to records that you don’t. We also team up with Private Investigators as needed to access additional records.

NO – We do not have access to an exclusive database with “all the correct answers” that you don’t have access to. Such a database does not exist. The closest thing to it exists in the form of compiled family trees such as the tree at FamilySearch.org, which is free to the public. This is a crowd-sourced database that may provide a general consensus of what is known or assumed about a particular ancestor. However, there are many mistakes perpetuated by this tree. It is only as accurate as each individual record that is attached to each ancestor. We may start there, but we must follow up by making sure each fact is supported by one or more documents. This means researching each ancestor one record at a time rather than quickly assimilating an entire line or an entire seven-generation tree.

There is no exclusive database with “all the correct answers.”

YES – We are headquartered near the famous Family History Library, housing the most massive collection of genealogical records in the world gathered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called the “Mormon Church”). Although more and more of the resources from this repository is being digitized, indexed, and made freely available at FamilySearch.org, there are still many microfilms that can only be accessed in person at the brick-and-mortar library in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (as indicated in the free online catalog).) If you would rather not come to the library in person, then YES, we have access to records that you don’t. But…

NO – The offline microfilms at the Family History Library do not hold all the answers, including your own accurate family tree. They consist of the same types of records commonly found on major genealogical websites and must be researched one by one, focusing on one individual or nuclear family at a time.

YES – We have a network of on-the-ground genealogists all over the world who can visit brick-and-mortar archives for us. Many archives around the world are in the process of digitizing their records and making them available on the internet. We use your project time most effectively by first assessing what is available online, then confirming what is only available at an archive, and only then arranging for a researcher to visit that archive. This initial assessment process does take project time, but it is a necessary part of effective research.

NO – We do not have special privileges for accessing government records from civil registration offices. In many cases, vital records for recently deceased people (usually within the last 50–100 years or so) are restricted by privacy laws and may only be requested by close relatives. Sometimes, having you sign a power of attorney granting us permission to access records on your behalf will meet this requirement.

Myth #2: “I have put together a big family tree based on other family trees I found online.”

“I have put together a big family tree based on other family trees I found online. You should be able to quickly verify the accuracy of my tree and recognize/fix the mistakes.”

YES – We, too, could quickly assess other family trees online and compare your particular ancestral lines to theirs. However, a family tree is only as accurate as each individual primary record attached to it, and (perhaps even more importantly) whether proper analysis of those records has been performed. Although there are some well-researched, sourced, and trustworthy family trees out there, the vast majority of them tend to be unsourced and based on assumptions, likelihoods, and family stories. These types of trees are anathema to professional genealogists because it could take far more time to untangle their messes than it would to create an accurate, sourced tree from scratch. This brings us back to …

Giant Family Tree – Source Wikimedia Commons

NO – We don’t have an exclusive, authoritative “master family tree” that has been fully researched and certified to be accurate, which we might use to quickly validate your own tree. We are duty-bound to follow the Genealogical Proof Standard, which requires that we search out and find at least two primary sources if possible for each vital event in each ancestor’s life (birth/marriage/death). Multiply this process by the potentially hundreds of direct-line ancestors in your tree, and you will realize how much time it could take to verify it, or to redo it if we find mistakes. If you have a large family tree it is best to have a professional focus on only one line at a time, starting with a specific ancestor and working back as far as available records allow in the allotted time.

Myth #3: “You are professionals, so you should be able to work much faster than I can.”

YES – We are accustomed to this work. We know where to look for a particular kind of record and quickly glean the important genealogical details from it. We know how to analyze and evaluate the genealogical data to recognize clues that will point us in the right direction to find additional records. We seek out online sources first in order to use your project time most efficiently. On the other hand …

Given enough time, we may be able to successfully accomplish these goals.


NO – While we do guarantee efficient and effective use of your valuable project time, and we love to find as much information as is humanly possible, we can never guarantee what or how much will be found in the course of our research. We may encounter challenges such as missing records (destroyed or never created in the first place), contradictory evidence which must be sorted out, and surprising results which must be double-checked or which may require us to go back to square one. These scenarios happen all the time, often because most people hire us to work on tough problems. Even professional genealogists need time to break through brick walls, especially if you have been working on yours for thirty years. If we don’t achieve a breakthrough within the allotted project time, we hope our professional perspective will help you to recognize new leads and start on a more accurate path toward achieving your goal. Our reports always include specific recommendations for future research, whether you pursue them yourself or we do it for you in a new project.

Myth #4: “You are professionals so you are obligated to find the records I cannot find.” 

YES – Perhaps there is a clue you missed in your own research that will lead us to a place you have not looked for a particular record. Perhaps you have not invested the time to study all of your ancestor’s friends, associates, and neighbors to gather enough circumstantial evidence to adequately link an ancestor to the previous generation. Given enough time, we may be able to successfully accomplish these goals. But … 

NO – There is a possibility that the record or DNA match we need to prove a genealogical connection no longer exists or was never created in the first place. Despite our greatest wishes as professional genealogists, we cannot will a record or a helpful DNA match into existence. We can and do take the time to “leave no stone unturned” in our search for evidence, but when our allotted time is up, we must acknowledge the results of our search may be “nil,” keeping in mind that even from a negative search we still learn something valuable.  Remember, you have paid us for our time and skill in searching, not for a guaranteed outcome. 

Myth #5: “DNA results are guaranteed to reveal my unknown ancestor.” 

YES – DNA results are an incredibly valuable tool in any genealogist’s toolbox. They can help to bridge record gaps and reveal biological truths that documents and family stories have obscured. However, the key word here is “can;” successful breakthroughs always depend on the number and quality of matches (cousins who share a portion of your DNA) you have on the line of interest. But keep in mind … 

NO – If you don’t have enough close matches on the relevant lines, you can choose to wait for them to show up on their own as more people test, or you can find and recruit likely matches by researching the descendants of key ancestors. Our DNA research team is very adept at searching out candidate testers to help prove the identity of your unknown ancestor. But be mindful—this process takes time, first to do the descendancy research and recruit testers, and then to wait for their test results to be posted (typically six to eight weeks after samples are sent in). Even then, theories may be proven wrong and we may need to move to Plan B. Also remember that traditional document research is required to support and explain DNA evidence. 

Myth #6: “I’ll receive frequent updates from my researcher as discoveries are made.” 

This is perhaps one of the most difficult myths to resolve when it comes to working with a professional genealogist. We understand—you have paid good money to have professional genealogists research your family tree, and you want to be as involved in the process as possible!  

The time you purchase is extremely valuable and we are committed to using it in the most efficient and effective way possible. This means that we strive to spend the majority of project time researching and writing, citing and documenting the professional report that you will receive as the final deliverable. Especially with our small projects, taking project time to give you frequent updates is not practical; in fact, there is a risk that conclusions may change as research progresses and is reviewed by multiple genealogists.  

NO – As much as you may enjoy the idea of collaborating with us, simultaneously researching the same ancestors you have paid us to research creates a great risk that we will simultaneously make the same discoveries as you. Even if you beat us to it, the new information you send in the middle of a project may require us to spend extra time evaluating it, possibly dismissing it, or possibly changing the direction of our research. This is best done at the beginning of a project, which is why we ask that you provide all background information before research begins.  

YES – With all of this said, we do often reach out to clients during the research process if an update is needed to make a certain decision, or if we need clarification that only you can provide. DNA projects tend to be more interactive because we may need you to identify or communicate with close matches. Large projects (75-100 hours) do allow for more frequent midpoint communication. Every project is different, but we hope you trust that your research is in good hands even if you haven’t heard from us in a while. 

Is Hiring a Professional Right for You?

We love building beautifully sourced family trees. We love to make discoveries and help you learn about your ancestors. We really love happy clients and will go above and beyond to ensure we have considered every angle of a tough problem. You can always count on us to give each research project our very best effort, leaving no stone unturned in the quest to find answers for our clients. We hope debunking these common client myths will help you feel empowered to make the determination if hiring a professional genealogist is right for you.  If it is right for you, contact us!

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Meet Tani, Project Manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists

Meet Tani, one of Legacy Tree Genealogists talented project managers!

Tani began her love affair with genealogy as a young girl at sleep-overs with her maternal grandmother when together they would compile family history books. Later visiting the Family History Library with her mother and grandmother simply fanned the genealogy flame in her young heart. Both of these amazing women spent many of their final days and hours fully engaged in compiling records with sources and stories to pass on to their family. It wasn’t until they were gone that Tani really began to treasure the books they had worked on together. She had heard the stories, and learned of the brick walls, but now wanted to learn more! What happened to her great grandfather that served in the war and was injured and sent home to recover? Did he return to battle? Did he go AWOL? What started as a curiosity for her, with no genealogy experience, bloomed into a passion and a drive to learn how to discover more and to pass these treasures on to her own posterity! The circle of life continues!

Tani went on to share her excitement with others, who also had a desire to learn more but didn’t know how nor where to begin! Tani has worked with hundreds of people instructing and teaching Family History skills, providing encouragement, creating interest and enthusiasm as they pursued their own family story. Everyone has a story!

Earning a degree in Humanities, then a Bachelor’s degree in Travel & Tourism from Brigham Young University initiated her interest and love of people which has flourished ever since. Her favorite thing about touring is to observe, meet and speak with people of different countries, cultures, religions to discover their traditions, passions and their family stories!

Tani brings decades of customer relations experience to Legacy Tree, including compassion and empathy for people dealing with difficult circumstances. Tani knows our family trees are not always perfect little packages nor what we may expect them to be. But that’s what makes it so exciting! One of Tani’s strengths is allowing herself and others to be human, and believes our family members and our ancestors deserve that same privilege.

Tani enjoys being in nature either skiing, scuba diving, biking, hiking in the mountains or strolling on the beaches! Touring, photography, good food and time spent with friends and family bring her joy! Tani loves her three amazing daughters, their awesome husbands and simply adores her grandchildren! Family is her life and greatest blessing!

Tani is very excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Legacy Tree and turn her love for genealogy into a career! She looks forward to helping you as your Project Manager have an excellent experience with Legacy Tree Genealogists as you discover more of your own unique story!

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Shocking Ethnicity Estimate Leads to Life-Altering Discovery

A surprising ethnicity estimate leads Tom to explore the possibility that the father who raised him was not his biological father.

Sometimes, genetic genealogy test results don’t fit with what you might expect given what you know (or think you know) about your family tree. These anomalies can sometimes be explained by the way in which estimates are generated. Other times, surprising ethnicity results are instead due to cases of recent misattributed parentage. Such was the case with Tom.  We share his story with permission. 

Tom’s Story 

At 70 years old my wife figured I didn’t need another shirt for Christmas so she bought me a DNA kit. I was in no hurry to send it in as I knew my ancestry. My Mom was Irish on both sides and my Father’s Dad was an Irish immigrant and his Mom was born in Germany. I always just considered myself Irish.  

After much pestering I finally sent it in. The results came back that I was largely Italian. I dismissed that as ridiculous and bought a DNA kit from a different company. When these results came back exactly the same as the first kit, I figured they must copy each other’s results. Still, I was troubled by this. My wife said, “At your age why not just forget it.” But I couldn’t. I had to find out the truth, and if these tests are correct, I had to find out who I am. 

An Unexpected Ethnicity Estimate 

Tom took autosomal DNA tests at several different testing companies. Individuals inherit half of their autosomal DNA from each of their parents. Beyond that, the amount of DNA shared in common is only approximate due to a random process called recombination, which shuffles the DNA each generation. Each individual will inherit about 25% from each grandparent, 12.5% from each great-grandparent and approximately half the previous amount for each subsequent generation.  

From what Tom knew about his ancestry, he expected to find Irish and German ancestry. When our researchers at Legacy Tree Genealogists reviewed his ethnicity results at several testing companies, we confirmed that while he did have some British and Irish admixture, approximately half of his DNA was found to originate from Southern Europe and North Africa – an admixture profile typical of individuals with ancestry from southern Italy and other Mediterranean populations. Since each individual inherits exactly half of his or her autosomal DNA from each biological parent, Tom’s test results suggested that one of his parents had Italian ancestry, rather than the expected Irish or German. We suspected that either one of Tom’s parents was not his biological parent or that one of Tom’s parents was adopted. Determining which scenario was more likely would require more investigation.  

Tom’s Story 

Determined to find out who I really was, I did a Google search for ‘genealogy research companies.’ After reading reviews, I called Legacy Tree Genealogists. I found them polite and understanding so I hired them.   

When I received my completed research project, it said the man who raised me was not my biological father. My first reaction was negative and upset, but I soon regained my determination to find out who I was. The folks at Legacy Tree were amazing. “These are your paternal grandparents who immigrated to the USA from Sicily,” the report said. One of their sons was my father. 

Examining Genetic Matches for Clues 

While genetic genealogy test results do provide ethnicity estimates that can offer genealogical context and clues, they also include lists of genetic cousins whose relationships are much more useful for proving genealogical connections. Review of Tom’s DNA match lists revealed that not only did he have ethnic admixture linking him to southern Italy, he also had close genetic cousins who descended from a family of Italian immigrants. Based on the relationships between these individuals, it seemed most likely that Tom was also descended from this same family. While Tom had genetic cousins who were related through his known maternal ancestors, suggesting that his proposed mother was indeed his biological mother, he had no genetic cousins who could be identified as relatives of his proposed paternal ancestors, suggesting that the man who raised him was not Tom’s biological father.  

Genetic genealogy testing companies prioritize and organize genetic cousins based on the number of centimorgans of DNA they share with a test subject. Centimorgans are a unit of measurement commonly used in genetics to specify how much DNA two individuals share in common. Larger segments with high centimorgan values typically suggest that two individuals share a recent common ancestor. 

Collaborating with Descendants 

Tom had a close estimated first cousin match who was sharing 836 centimorgans on 36 segments of DNA. Given this amount of shared DNA, there was a 95% probability that this match was indeed Tom’s first cousin. Unfortunately, however, this match had published no family tree or identifying details in connection with their DNA test profile. Even so, using just the unique username of this match, we performed a search on BeenVerified and determined the identity of the match. The match’s BeenVerified profile revealed details of the match’s father, including his birthdate and death date. We were able to use this information in conjunction with other genealogy research websites to extend the match’s family tree, find how he was related to other genetic cousins and identify the likely paternal grandparents of Tom: John S. and Grace L.  

John and Grace were natives of Sicily who migrated to New York around the turn of the twentieth century. After their marriage in 1903, they had fourteen children, including eight sons. One of those sons was the father of Tom’s first cousin match and therefore could not be the father of Tom himself. If he were, then Tom would share much more DNA with his genetic cousin. The seven other sons were each an appropriate age to have been the father of Tom, but the youngest three were less likely given their ages. Additional exploration revealed that two of the older sons were living in the same city as Tom’s mother around the time of Tom’s birth, making them likely paternal candidates.  

While both of these candidates are now deceased, their obituaries revealed they both had living descendants. Using the details reported for these descendants from the obituaries, we located contact information for Michael, a son of one brother, and Carla, a granddaughter of the other brother. Both individuals agreed to test.  

Michael’s Story 

Several months ago, I received a phone call from my cousin Carla. Little did I know that this would turn out to be one of the most important calls of my life. She told me about a call she had from a stranger by the name of Tom. Tom explained to Carla that he was researching his heritage and discovered that the man he knew as “Dad” for seventy years was NOT his father. As with anyone hearing this type of news, Tom was very upset and really needed to know who his real father was and who, if any, the rest of his new family were. 

 At first, I was very upset and skeptical since my father was a prominent surgeon and family man. Could this be one of those scams I had heard all about? Then I thought that if this were me looking for my real father I would hope that someone would be kind enough to help. I was in my early seventies, and after much pondering and prayer I decided to send in my DNA just as Carla had sent in hers.   

Honing In On the Results 

Assuming that Tom was the biological son of one of these brothers, then there were two possible relationship scenarios with Michael and Carla:  

  1. Tom was the half brother of Michael and a first cousin once removed to Carla; or 
  2. Tom was a half uncle of Carla and a first cousin of Michael.  

Carla’s test results were the first to complete processing, and they revealed that she shared 838 centimorgans of DNA with Tom. At that amount of sharing, there was a 96% probability that she was a half niece and only a 4% probability that she was a first cousin once removed. If these were the only test results that we had obtained, then we might have concluded that Tom was most likely the biological son of Carla’s grandfather. However, when Michael’s DNA test results completed processing, they left no room for that possibility.  

Michael shared 1987 cM of DNA with Tom. This amount of shared DNA is only possible for half sibling, uncle/nephew and grandparent/grandchild relationships. It has never been observed between two first cousins, though it is possible for double first cousins. In this case, Carla’s grandfather and Michael’s father married unrelated individuals and share an appropriate amount of DNA with each other to be first cousins once removed, ruling out the double first cousin possibility. Even though Carla’s test results alone suggested she was more likely a half niece, they still left open the small possibility of a first cousin once removed relationship. Meanwhile, Michael’s test results clearly suggested a half sibling relationship and left no room for a possible first cousin relationship. Therefore, we concluded that Tom was the half brother of Michael and a first cousin once removed to Carla.   

“I Have a Brother!” 

When my cousin Carla’s test results came back, it verified that she was a first cousin match to Tom. When I received my DNA results, it left no doubt…my DNA came back 100% proof that I had a brother Tom!

How did this happen? Tom and I started calling each other to try and find the connection between his mother and my father. Where did they live? What did his dad do? What was his mom like, etc.? We discovered that his mom and my mom were very social, usually the center of attraction at parties, loved to dance and drink, and both were very attractive. Then Tom said his dad was in charge of the Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ. BINGO!!!!!   

My Uncle Lou was the World Bantam Weight Champion in the late 1930s and early 1940s. If you were having a championship title defense in boxing on the East Coast, it would be held either in Madison Square Garden in NYC or at the Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ. My dad always went to his brother Lou’s championship fights. The world champion always sat at the dinner table with the big bosses of the convention center. So now we had the connection! THIS WAS REAL! 

I sent Tom many photos of our dad and our family. We also described ourselves to each other. We have very similar likes and dislikes, same sense of humor, and the same religious and political views. Tom is larger than me and we don’t look that much alike other than the same nose and I’m better looking LOL. While sifting through photos, I came across our dad’s wedding picture that included his parents and siblings. There was an uncanny resemblance between Tom and our grandfather. I sent the photo to Tom’s phone, called him and asked him to put his phone on speaker, go stand in front of a mirror, and zoom in on our grandfather in the center of the photo. When he did so, I heard Tom say, “Oh my God. I have found my family.” At that moment, two septuagenarian brothers broke down into tears. 

a surprising ethnicity estimate lead Tom to explore the possibility that the father who raised him was not his biological father.

A Cautionary Tale 

This case demonstrates the importance of not discounting possible relationship levels just because they are less likely. Carla’s results suggested she was more likely to be a half niece, but in fact, she and Tom are among the 4% of the population sharing this amount of DNA who are first cousins once removed. Though researchers might be in the habit of dismissing these lower possibilities, some relationships do fall in those ranges of possibility, and someone makes up the 4%. Therefore, before assuming that a relationship is proven, we recommend exercising caution and getting as close to 100% probability as possible.  

Through DNA testing, analysis of genetic cousins, contact with testing candidates and targeted testing of close relatives, we were able to determine the identity of Tom’s biological father. 

Do you have a genetic genealogy mystery you would like help resolving? Contact Legacy Tree Genealogists today. Our team is experienced at utilizing DNA evidence from all major testing companies in combination with thorough records research to break down the brick walls in your family tree.