Chipping away at our brick walls.

Not much progress since last fall, but there have been a few little glimmers here and there. We have had a couple of low-level matches on the DNA samples we have posted, and time will tell if those result in anything helpful down the road. Also, an Ancestry posting has led us to John Waite and family's emigration record from England to New York. Not certain this is our family, but it's provided some hope, and is worth further investigation.

DNA - our best hope for breaking down brick walls!

This has been a big month for me. After many years of research, Dad and I agreed there were very few stones left unturned when it came to our research on the Waite and Smith families. We have done most of the work ourselves, but we have also hired professional genealogists to help us to tackle these brick walls.

In the fall, we visited Philadelphia, and hoped to make some progress with the Smith family, but there was simply nothing to add to the John Smith story, and just a few tidbits about his children. We plan to visit Ontario again later this year, and hold out some hope we will find something about the Waite family. There is some work to do at home before we get there -- I am thankful Dad is a very organized and methodical person, as I am much more random in my approach to our research.

We have gone back to the DNA data that we have for the Smith family, and have posted it in the Ancestry database. Next, I will add it to the Family Tree Maker database, as that seems to be a larger pool of DNA data.

On the Waite side, we are thankful that one of the direct Waite descendants has agreed to take a DNA test, and we have ordered and sent the test to him. We will add the results to the existing Waite study, which has been in place for many years. I spoke to Sue Waite-Langley on the phone this week, and I am very excited about the potential, as she seems very organized and was quite encouraging. This is not an inexpensive process, but it will be worth it, as we will have proof -- there are a few Waite families we could be descended from, and we will finally hope to tie ourselves to one specific line.

All there is to do now is to wait for the results of the test. It will take about 2 weeks for the test to make its way from Family Tree Maker to our willing test-taker in Canada, then time for him to do the test and return it. At best, we will be looking at about the middle of April, and from then, I would guess it will take FTM a week or two to process the sample and provide the results. We have linked to the Waite group project when we ordered the test, so Sue Waite-Langley will have the results and will be able to connect us with any potential connections right away.

So now we wait patiently, and hope for good news this spring!

A New Tree - Schmidt

Recently we created a new tree on Ancestry, as searching by "Smith" was not giving us many good results. We have reason to believe the Smith family may have been Schmidt, so the new tree is very small, but narrows down the family a little, and the different surname has given us a few new leads.

In addition, we have posted Dad's DNA data in Ancestry's DNA database, and we're now waiting to see if we'll see any solid matches in the future. At this time, there are a few matches, but nothing clear enough to pursue as close family members.

Somehow in all of this, we hope to make some headway with the Smith/Schmidt family. The new church records from Pennsylvania have given us some hope, and with a little persistence, perhaps we'll get some proof of the family's arrival in North America, and clues as to where in Switzerland they came from.

Just DO it!

I've really struggled lately to do the things I set out to accomplish. I have many items on my list, and they are certainly not all about genealogy, as I have many other interests in my life, such as photography. It's becoming clear to me that I need to write my goals & "to do" list on a big whiteboard or something in order to stay on track.

I spend a fair amount of time researching our family history, but I'm not great at organizing the data. Dad is better at that. I go and find bits and pieces, and rarely keep it straight in my head. He knows instantly what goes where, and whether the information is relevant. We have binders and folders and at least 2 programs on the computer. I really need to go through each person in our main line and ensure we have the source documents in a place we can find them. Ideally, each image would be scanned and entered electronically, and the originals would be filed. I need an administrative assistant!!

I am also a procrastinator. I think we all can be at times. Mostly, I put things off when I don't know what to do, or when a situation seems uncomfortable or awkward. Right now I want to make some headway with two brick walls, but in both cases my best hope is to use DNA to determine our ancestry. In once case, I have the DNA, and just need to figure out how to use the data with a new database. In the other, I need to ask someone I don't know very well for their DNA. If I knew they shared my interest in genealogy, it would be easier, but I'm not sure. So ... I have a letter ... and my relationship with the post office has never been all that strong, so I hope to get it mailed soon. I've had the letter ready for a few weeks now. What I DO know is that nothing is going to happen if I don't mail the letter, as this person has no idea what I'm looking for.

This blog is a bright spot in all of this, however, as I like writing, and if I can commit to posting about once each week or two, I will make progress in my genealogy overall. I have many photos and memories, and Dad has written out some of the tricky parts of our family history. Many of those stories would be good starting points, and now I have decided to use this blog as a place to hold some of the memories, so it's all worthwhile.

Today I purchased a helpful book online, "The Big Genealogy Blog Book." It was written by Amy Coffin, who I met through Twitter not long ago, when I first started. I looked at her blog and commented to her that I liked it. (Check it out: http://wetree.blogspot.com/)  She encouraged me, and told me it was easy to start a blog. I jumped right in and tried it out, and she was right! It was so easy! It's taken awhile to figure out how to let people comment, and how to post pictures, but over time I'll acquire new skills and I'll improve the blog. I have a lot of work to do before mine is anything great, but at least I'm getting the information down, and there is a place for family to find out what I'm doing.

I may not post regularly on my blog, and I'm not a "New Year's Resolution" kind of person, but today's a start, and I intend to keep it up. Perhaps if I make a note on my calendar each week? Amy's book will help, I'm sure, as it's a well-written, easy to read guide, and just the kind of resource I like. Not too heavy, but practical and helpful. I suppose you'll see how well it works for me in the weeks ahead. ;-)