Monday, December 27, 2010

Finding Relatives on Facebook

Erica Joy found her Uncle and her Grandfather on Facebook. Here is how she did it:
I Found My Uncle on Facebook

Monday, December 13, 2010

Connected Online PedigreeTrees

I have used a number of connected online tree sites: One World Tree; Rootsweb's World Connect, World Connect and the Allen County Public Library's wiki, WeRelate.

This weekend I entered in 5 generations of ancestors, or 62 names into WeRelate. There are tutorial videos and texts on the WeRelate site that I suggest you watch and read before you begin. I first created GEDCOMs from my Legacy Family Tree database, one for my father's ancestry and another for my mother's ancestry. I submitted them to We Relate and got back a log of possible errors. Most of them dealt with dates. Since the keyboard on my personal computer sometimes duplicates the number 1, I'll check for those mistakes. I then decided to just enter five generations by hand. Somehow my fathers parents don't seem to be connected to him even though I've gone over the steps of creating the individual and family entries several time. Once I get that straight, I'll blog about the process.

I was surprised that only 6 of 62 names were already in the WeRelate system.

I recommend that you check out the WeRelate site if finding out how you connect to others is of interest to you.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Article: Inferential Genotyping of Y Chromosomes in Latter-Day Saints Founders and Comparison to Utah Samples in the HapMap Project

Copyright © 2009 The American Society of Human Genetics. All rights reserved.
The American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 84, Issue 2, 251-258,
13 February 2009

doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2009.01.018


Inferential Genotyping of Y Chromosomes in Latter-Day Saints Founders
and Comparison
to Utah Samples in the HapMap Project

http://www.cell.com/AJHG/retrieve/pii/S0002929709000251 [Link to PDF here]

Jane Gitschier1,*

One concern in human genetics research is maintaining the privacy of
study participants. The growth in genealogical registries may
contribute to loss of privacy, given that genotypic information is
accessible online to facilitate discovery of genetic relationships.
Through iterative use of two such web archives, FamilySearch and
Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, I was able to discern
the likely haplotypes for the Y chromosomes of two men, Joseph Smith
and Brigham Young, who were instrumental in the founding
of the Latter-Day Saints Church. I then determined whether any of the
Utahns who contributed to the HapMap project (the ‘‘CEU’’
set) is related to either man, on the basis of haplotype analysis of
the Y chromosome. Although none of the CEU contributors appear
to be a male-line relative, I discovered that predictions could be
made for the surnames of the CEU participants by a similar process.
For 20 of the 30 unrelated CEU samples, at least one exact match was
revealed, and for 17 of these, a potential ancestor from Utah
or a neighboring state could be identified. For the remaining ten
samples, a match was nearly perfect, typically deviating by only
one marker repeat unit. The same query performed in two other large
databases revealed fewer individual matches and helped to clarify
which surname predictions are more likely to be correct. Because large
data sets of genotypes from both consenting research subjects and
individuals pursuing genetic genealogy will be accessible online, this
type of triangulation between databases may compromise the
privacy of research subjects.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

New Book on New Haven colonial history

Since I have so many ancestors from the New Haven Colony, I recently purchased a new book on the colonial history of New Haven and West Haven: Visible Saints by Peter J. Malia:






I'll post a review later.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mormon or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Genealogy

As stated in an earlier post, I am related to Emma Hale, the wife of Joseph Smith,one of the founders of the LDS church.

I have found two books very useful in doing LDS research, Radical Origins by Val D. Rust, and A Guide to Mormon Family History Resources by Kip Sperry:

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Genealogical Society of New Jersey meeting, 5 June 2010

I attended the Genealogical Society of New Jersey meeting at Monmouth University on 5 June 3010. I had intended to attend the Bergen County Genealogical Society meeting but the GSNJ meeting was exactly what I needed for several genealogical projects I am working on.

The first two lectures I attended were on Dutch research. The first was an intro to the resources of the Dutch Reformed Church in America housed in New Brunswick. I will be contacting them about some marriages that were supposed to have been performed in the 1600s in New Amsterdam/New York. The lecturer was Russell Gasero, Archivist for the Reformed Church in American

The second was about identifying Dutch families in New York and New Jersey. I am trying to determine where Capt Jenkin Morgan lived in New Jersey and where his son lived and was married. I am also interested in ship captain's certificates issued by the Dutch in both the Netherlands and in America. I am trying to determine if my ancestor, Renelder Walker's mother might have been Dutch. Henry
Hoff was the lecturer. He is a Certified Genealogist, a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists and Editor of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

The third lecture was on United Methodist Church Records. I learned that Methodist Circuit Riders were fully ordained Ministers. Many took correspondence courses before they were ordained. My ancestor, Rev James Sullivan, was ordained by Bishop Asbury at Nashville, Tennessee in 1793. I am told there should be a memoire or obituary available for him. I'll also look for some Perkins and Tunnell relatives. Materials from the Mission work of the Church are in the Archives and one Perkins cousin was a missionary to China in the 1800s. The lecturer was Dale Patterson, from the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church, Drew University, Madison, NJ

The last lecture was on Quaker records at Haverford. This was an interesting session with a nice guide to the archives given out by the lecturer. I'll be checking for a biography of my ancestress, Mother Mary Bennefield Phipps, a noted Quaker Preacher who died in the early 1700s. It was printed in an issue of the Quaker periodical, The Friend. This program was presented by Ann Wetherill Upton, Quaker Bibliographer in Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures and thank the GSNJ for providing them.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

My Military Ancestors and Relatives

Vietnam Era:
I served in the Army Security Agency during the Vietnam War. I was stationed in Ft Devens, Massachusetts; Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland; Shemya Air Force Station on Shemya Island, Alaska; and TUSLOG Det-4 in Sinop, Turkey.

Korean War and World War II:
My father, Denval "Dennie" or "Dick" Perkins, served in the US Navy and saw combat in WWII and the Korean War. He was on several ships that were sunk, one being the USS Preston DD-379 which was sunk during the Second Battle of Guadalcanal or Third Battle of Savo Island. He served 17 years in the Navy. His younger brother, Ralph Carl Perkins, served 25 years in the Navy and retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer. He served in the Korean War and later was a Recruiter.

Two of my maternal Uncles served in WWII in the US Army, Arnold Dow Ball, and Homer Darus Ball. Both saw combat in France and Italy.

World War I:
My paternal grandmother's first husband, James Francis "Frank" Inman served in the US Army during WWI. I do not know if he saw combat. I haven't found any others with service during WWI.

Spanish American War:
None known.

Indian Wars:
None known.

US Civil War:
Several of my ancestors and their siblings fought for the Union during the US Civil War: my paternal great grandfather, Jesse Perkins; my paternal great great grandfather, Nathaniel F. Walker; my maternal great great grandfathers, James Ball; Jesse D. Swain; John Kidd.

Mexican-American War:
My maternal second great aunt's fiance, Reuben Meadors, was killed in the Mexican- American War.

War of 1812:
None known.


American Revolution - 
Paternal lines:

My fourth great grandfather, Timothy Perkins, and his brother, Joseph Perkins, who were from New Haven, Connecticut and lived in Ashe and Wilkes Co., North Carolina, were Loyalists in the American Revolution and they served in several South Carolina Militia companies, one of which was commanded by a Captain Benjamin Perkins. It is not known if he was a relative. Timothy was killed during the War. During the War the Perkins brothers supposedly captured a notorious American officer, Col Benjamin Cleveland, and locked him in an out-building while they went to get other Loyalists. It is said that their wives let him escape.

Fourth great grandfathers Henry Porch served from Virginia; and William Bishop; Samuel Wiatt served from North Carolina; James Sullivan, who later became a Methodist Circuit rider, served from Virginia as did his brothers, John Sullivan, and Charles Craven Sullivan; as did fifth great grandfathers John Bennett of North Carolina; James Whitecotton of Virginia; Joshua Moses served from North Carolina, was captured for nine months and escaped from a prison ship in Charleston Harbor, his brothers John Moses and Samuel Moses also served.

Maternal Lines:

The brother of my fifth great grandfather, Lt. James Ball of Virginia; fifth great grandparents Lt. Joshua Phipps of Virginia at Battle of Guilford Courthouse; Jeremiah Burnett of Virginia; James Harvey May of Virginia; Thomas Stephens of Virginia.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

My 6 generation pedigree chart

Here is a link to my 6 generation pedigree chart back to my 32 Great Great Great Grandparents: Steven C Perkins' Pedigree Chart.

Surnames on this chart are Perkins, Shepard, Smith, Creekmore, Porch, Campbell, Osburn or Harrison, Walker, Bishop, Wiatt, Sullivan, Manning, Anderson, Moses, Richardson, Ball, May, Phipps, Davenport, Strunk, Pennington, Davis, Swain or DeSwain, Kidd, Bagley or Begley, Stephens, and Hayes.

Creekmore, Ball and May appear twice in the list.

Genealogy Brick Walls

My Brick Walls start to appear at the 5th generation back with some of my Great Great Great Grandparents.


  1. Who is Nancy Ann, the wife of Jabez Perkins? We know her name is Nancy Ann because she signed a release for the sale of land when they left Pulaski Co., KY and moved to Bureau Co., IL. Some people believe her family name is Creekmore, but I have found no contemporary evidence for that. After the death of Jabez a Nancy Perkins renounced her portion from the will. I assume she wanted her "widow's third" instead. I have not found any documents about the disposition of Jabez' estate either in Kentucky or Illinois court records. To further complicate the situation, one researcher told me there is a marriage license in Frankfort for Jabez Perkins and Nancy White dated just before his death. I have not seen that marriage license.

  2. Who is Elizabeth S., wife of William Campbell? She is Elizabeth S. in the Census and is named Elizabeth Osburn on the marriage certificate of their son Jasper Newton Campbell. I have been told her family name is Harrison or Osburn. Which is correct and who are her parents and siblings?

  3. Who is Charlotte, wife of William Ball? Who are her parents and siblings? I have her as a daughter of James Harvey May and Elizabeth King, but what is the documentation for that?

  4. Who is John D. Swain, or DeSwain, husband of Isabel or Nancy Swain? Deed records show his name in both ways. Who are his parents and siblings?

  5. Who is Isabel or Nancy Swain, wife of John D. Swain? Who are her parents and siblings?

  6. Who is Margaret Bagley, or Begley, wife of Elias Kidd. They were married in Tazewell Co., VA and then moved to Whitley Co., KY. Who are her parents and siblings?

  7. Who is Susan Hayes, wife of Zorababel Stephens? Susan was born in either NC or SC and lived in Claiborne and Fentress Co., TN. Who were her parents and siblings?


Any assistance will be appreciated.