My Genealogy Blog

Honestly, genealogy is never done.  During COVID I have had a lot of time to spend on my family. I have also been volunteering for a group called Search Angels (www.Searchangels.org).  I have been applying techniques I have developed helping others to help myself.  One of the most unexpected things that has happened is that I have found more of my Miller tree.   Sherman, my great grandfather, had some brothers. I knew that there were some descendants,  but I never thought any were living. I now have found descendants of 2 of them.  Their DNA has led me to believe my suspicions about the Swafford connection.  Using the tool at DNA painter, however, it always comes out more likely that Sherman is not a half brother to his siblings at all but rather a full brother.  The confidence level at the tool is not as good as it could be though because the distance of the relatives. 

So I am going through all my matches again. This time I notice another LEE family in Bradley County. This time the same city as the Millers. It wouldn't even need to be a travelling minister. I wonder where the big breakthrough is going to come? Anyway, this Lee family is also descended of the Swafford Lee family. This guy's name is Burrell Lee as well, though on this census record it is spelled Lea. Name: Burrell Lee Age: 38 Birth Year: abt 1822 Gender: Male Birth Place: Tennessee Home in 1860: District 10, Bradley, Tennessee Post Office: Cleveland Family Number: 984 Value of real estate: View image Household Members: Name Age Burrell Lee 38 Sarah E Lee 28 Robert A Lee 3 Manerva J Lee 2 Nevin Owens ...

AncestryDNA has a new feature that links your DNA results to family that are not included in your tree. This is all well and good for finding your way through brickwalls, but when it affects a portion of your tree you thought you had all mapped out, it is quite upsetting. This happened to me in the case of Burrell Russell Lee (1804-1877) and Louhaney Paralee Swafford (1800-1863).  AncestryDNA states there is a very good chance I am related to this couple. First I thought I had a great breakthrough for one of my brick walls. Mary Matilda Robertson (1845-1901) or James Jesse Guider (1849-1909), both of which I have not been able to trace back to their parents. However, this was quickly dashed when I realized two things. The birth dates did not make sense and the location was off.  My first task was to find out about the Lee family. I saw that they lived in Tennessee where my Miller family was. As I looked closer I saw that they did not have any unaccounted for kids, with...