Sofer Family Tree
Click on the image below to see a version of this family tree that you can zoom into and pan around in order to appreciate the detail. When the viewer opens, you can either click on a part of the image to zoom in or use the controls at the bottom of the window. You may need to wait a few moments for the higher resolution view to load, depending on your Internet speed. Click outside the viewer (or on the small “x” in the bottom right) in order to come back to this page.
Read MoreDNA Explained
We have a few posts on the use of DNA in genetic genealogy, and we understand that all of the detail can be very confusing. So if you want DNA explained in the context of genealogy, you’ve come to the right place. Sometimes, getting your first (or second or third) report raises more questions than it answers. What does it mean that the report says you’re in the “Western Modal Haplotype” or the R1b1a1b1* haplogroup? Maybe you’re in R1b1a1b1* and U5a; and what does that mean? Well, there is someone who can assist you in working through the details of your DNA...
Read MoreScottish ancestors Jacobites?
Were my Scottish ancestors Jacobites? Since the trail of my Angus ancestors of Banffshire becomes murky for times before the 1790s, I had often puzzled as to whether they were mixed up in any of that Jacobite Rising nonsense. On the one hand, it seemed rather unlikely to me, since my grandfather was about as protestant and dour a Scot as ever lived. Since the Jacobite cause supported the restoration of a Catholic king with a “divine right of kings” policy, that didn’t line up with the grandfather’s dour protestantism in my mind. Of course, there could have been other...
Read MoreStatistical Accounts of Scotland for genealogy
Perhaps you are looking for a more “intimate” view of what life was like for your Scottish ancestors. Whether they lived in the Highlands or the Lowlands, look no further than the Statistical Accounts of Scotland. While the Wikipedia article gives some background on their history, there is nothing quite like just starting to read these volumes. Honestly, the Statistical Accounts of Scotland for genealogy information are amazing sources. With just an exception or two, one is unlikely to encounter one’s family by name unless you’ve descended from the landed nobility of...
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