Family History and Identity – Connie Davis Services

June 3, 2025June 4, 2025

Using Segment Data to Document Your Ancestors

Where do you go after you’ve identified a genetic network of matches and figured out how they match you? You document what you’ve learned. One way to document what you’ve learned is by capturing the segment data, the actual places where you and your match share DNA. The news that MyHeritage is going to stop allowing raw DNA uploads is a disappointment since that has been my preferred place for downloading segment data. Leah Larkin explains the possible reasons for this change of process at MyHeritage here, and they certainly make sense. The ease of transferring a DNA data file from Ancestry to MyHeritage was a motivation for many to use MyHeritage. In the future, customers will need to purchase a MyHeritage DNA test to be represented in the database. Two other companies, FamilyTreeDNA and Living DNA still accept uploads and have a chromosome browser, as does the third party website GEDmatch. 23andMe had a chromosome browser before the data breach in 2023. With new owners buying the bankrupt company, the future of 23andMe’s database and functionality is anyone’s guess.

As a reminder of the value of segment data, I have an example from my own research that might entice you to make sure your DNA is on a site with a chromosome browser and that you are familiar with the amazing things you can do at DNA Painter.

In a prior post I wrote about the lure of small DNA segments and you can find another example there.

To dive deep into segment data, the person to know is Jim Bartlett. He writes extensively about segments on his blog, Segmentology, and entries like this one are good places to start. Roberta Estes has organized her information about segment triangulation (when three people all share the same segment) here. Kitty Cooper is another blogger with extensive experience with segment data.

Here’s a DNA Painting of my maternal chromosome 14. The entire chromosome has been painted with the DNA from my two maternal great-grandparent couples, one in pink and one in yellow. You can see where the DNA from my mother crossed over from her paternal side (yellow) to the maternal side (pink). For more about recombination, see this video.

Screenshot from a privatized chromsome painting of Chromosome 14 at DNA Painter

In order to create the DNA painting, I downloaded the segment data from different websites (you will see them labeled: 23andMe and MyHeritage for this particular chromosome) and then uploaded the segment data to DNA Painter. I assigned each segment an ancestor and a corresponding colour. The pink represents my maternal-maternal great-grandparents, Malcolm Argul Pike and Martha Edna (Greer) Pike. I labelled the matches with the relationship (1C1R for first cousin once removed, etc.) These are my cousins KSGM, ADJ, BH, and PP. The yellow segment is a 1C1R who descends from my maternal-paternal great-grandparents, Winfield Scott Johnson and Lillie May Key.

The diagram below of the maternal side of my family tree has been colour-coded to match the DNA painting above.

Family diagram showing my maternal great-grandparents and DNA matches from each of them.

I have now documented my great-grandparents for my maternal chromosome 14. I’m creating a catalogued library of my DNA data. Any matches with segment data can easily be identified by great-grandparent. And as a reminder – matches to great-grandparents are special. You always receive DNA from your great-grandparents!

I hope this example will inspire you to make sure your own DNA is at a website or websites where you can access a chromosome browser and that you have other cousins who do the same. In the long run, this type of analysis will help us all identify our ancestors.

March 15, 2025April 19, 2025

WikiTree Has a New Look!

Over the past year, a team of paid consultants and volunteer developers at WikiTree created an updated look for WikiTree. WikiTree, the free, one-world tree, is the place I share my best genealogical research. Check out my profile to see how active I am on WikiTree. I joined in 2017 and since then I have edited hundreds of profiles, created Free Space Pages, and I manage over 350 profiles. I’ve used the old system and the new one to edit and create profiles and Free Space Pages. I’m very familiar with WikiTree, including its strengths and shortcomings.

WikiTree is a publicly available website and far more likely to outlast me than any other place my research resides. WikiTree is not known for flash. After all, without income from memberships (WikiTree is financed by unobtrusive ads that are only shown to non-members or members who are not logged in), WikiTree lacks the budget power of Ancestry, MyHeritage, or software companies. They have done an amazing job with the redesign.

Let’s take a look at some of the updates on the profile of Arthur Hilton. I’m his two-times-great grand-niece. He died young, and he’s one of the people I honour at WikiTree.

The overall look is cleaner and better organized. The huge grey border (a total waste of space) is gone and there’s a better balance between the two columns. The larger font is easier to read and the use of colour makes sense. See that blue box? It’s a visual cue that I’m looking at the profile of a biological male. The hypertext is green and links you have clicked are purple.

The area for the WikiTree ID and dropdown menus has been streamlined and cleaned up. The menus are more visible with the larger font and the menus themselves contain less clutter. (The menus are not shown here! Click on one and check them out!)

The visibility of useful copyable text options is perfect! In the old version, they were almost invisible in tiny green font. They are now clearly marked with a new copy icon, familiar from other websites. I use these links when sharing profiles in emails, adding links within profiles, and in my research logs. And if you like to cite WikiTree, you can do that here with one click.

Like all good websites, there’s usually more than one way to navigate. This menu in grey background is a redesigned tab menu. It uses icons and text to move commonly used features and actions together. The more experienced WikiTree user wants to access profiles and features quickly without scrolling, and here they are. I’m referring to this as the “Quick Menu.” Well done, design team! I love the simple navigation arrows and ability to jump to the part of the profile I want to see, (including the ancestors and descendants tabs), the “edit” pencil, the profile change history icon, familiar privacy icon (padlock), and the new Tree apps icon.

Information that was small and difficult to parse is now separated with better placement in the profile. Key details (birth and death with locations and certainty indicators) now appears immediately below the larger, improved name block. Relationship information is in the shaded block, blue for Arthur, a biological male.

Finding the profile manager is also easier.

The new profile manager section

The profile manager formerly appeared in small font in the crowded area on the left. It now has its own shaded block on the right. In addition to allowing an instant email to the profile manager, there is now a redesigned “connections” icon which allows you to see how the profile manager is connected to the profile. In the past, I needed to go to another part of WikiTree to see this information. Now when I contact a profile manager, I may gain insight of their motivation to create or manage the profile.

The next improvement may be lost on many WikiTreer users.

Better placement of Ancestors and Problems/Questions buttons

As part of the Ambassador team at WikiTree and someone who is often demonstrating WikiTree, I appreciate that the Ancestors Button and Problems/Questions buttons are no longer in a similar position with the same design. Note: There would be a descendants button on the “old” version if Arthur had descendants. The new design allows the user to access ancestors or descendants using the icon in the grey Quick Menu bar or using the clearly visible tab.

Either option opens a family tree for Arthur, also with an improved look and feel. It features separated colour blocks, cleaner font and icons, and arrows to navigate further back in the tree. The Descendants view has similar improvements.

Back on the profile page, it’s time to look at the treatment of DNA in the new profile.

DNA Connections can now be accessed via the Quick Menu in grey and is found in a familiar location along the right, now below a redesigned photo section. Again, the text block is cleaner, easier to read, and only contains the information it needs to contain.

The old images block sometimes made a simple profile like Arthur’s lopsided, with the photos dominating the right side. A new photo block allows you to toggle through the uploaded images using a navigation arrow to the side of each photo. You can also navigate quickly to the “Upload Photos” page, which has also received an update and is cleaner and easier to use. Again, kudos to the Design Team and programmers. They went over this website with a fine-toothed comb!

In the past, the use of yellow background wasn’t clear to me. Now yellow highlights collaboration and ongoing research. The collaboration language is friendly and clear. The research block encourages people to check out the incredibly useful WikiTree Sourcer Extension (which works great with the new updates.)

Comments, Matches and Merges, and useful Connection and Relationship Information

Scrolling down, you can see how the new design makes better use of space – there is not a huge empty block to the left. In profiles with a longer biography, there will be blank space to the smaller right side of the page. The Comments and Match and Merge sections have gotten the cleaner, pithier treatment, and thankfully, the text with “See your connection or your genealogical relationship with Arthur” is now separated from the Featured Connections text.

Even the footer is now easier to read and more pleasing to the eye.

I know this is a tiny glimpse of all that was accomplished with this redesign, and there’s much more I haven’t noticed yet. I look forward to finding the features I’ve missed, and new features that may replace what I’ve shown here.

Well done, WikiTree!

And if you’re new to WikiTree, welcome! Check out the Help links on WikiTree and useful information at the WikiTree YouTube channel.

February 9, 2025March 17, 2025

The benefits of taking a break

Sunrise at Kilauea Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, photo by Connie Davis

I’m returning from a wonderful trip to the Big Island, and I’m privileged to have that opportunity. I’m reflecting on the benefits of a break.

According to the Harvard Business Review, vacations benefit “mind, body, and soul.” The potential benefits include an uncluttered mind, improved creativity, and enhanced mood. A reduction in circulating stress hormones allows the immune system to recover and can reduce your blood pressure. And if you are in your “happy place,” you may have the opportunity to reconnect with who you truly are and what matters to you.

The vacation was an opportunity to reflect on the beauty of the world around me and on serendipity. When our rental car was unexpectedly available at midnight, we added a middle-of-the-night visit to Kilauea Crater to our agenda and saw glowing lava and a beautiful sunrise. When our rental car’s “Check Engine” light came on during our first day, our budget rental was replaced with a brand-new 11-miles-on-the-odometer SUV, perfect for our seven nights of beach camping. When a storm caused the Hawaii County officials to close their parks to overnight campers, we were able to find a sweet, inexpensive hotel room in a family-owned operation one block from a beach where turquoise blue waves crashed into the rocky shore. As an added bonus, whales cavorted offshore. When another camper couldn’t finish his last papaya before boarding his flight, we received an unexpected treat of the delectable fruit. We were among the less than one thousand people who will visit a protected national wildlife reserve in 2025. Our trip did end with a return to our own vehicle at 11:45 PM, buried under 6 inches of snow with a dead battery. Luckily we were prepared with a Battery Jump Starter and it started right away. (Seriously, if you don’t have a Battery Jump Starter, add it to your wish list!)

Our travel experiences remind me that I need to accept my family history research journey with the same attitude of wonder and the ability to change strategies as needed. I’m easing my way back into my genetic genealogy projects with renewed energy and hope.

January 17, 2025April 19, 2025

Reparative Genealogy: Healing Through History

Reparative genealogy seeks to uncover and reconnect stories, people, and histories that were disrupted or erased. Lottie Lieb Dula and Briayna Cuffie, founders of Reparations4Slavery, define reparative genealogy as “the act of researching our heritage, acknowledging our connections to slavery, and daylighting the history of those our ancestors enslaved.”

Unidentified Civil War Soldier with children, Library of Congress

Imagine discovering a photograph of a long-lost ancestor, reading their name for the first time, or learning about their resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship. These are some of the potential benefits of reparative genealogy. African Americans often face genealogical roadblocks such as incomplete records, name changes, and erased identities. The gaps in these narratives are not just personal but systemic, reflecting a deliberate history of exclusion and dehumanization. Overcoming those gaps can provide benefits. Lakisha David has described the potential of genetic genealogy to build community and improve well-being in African American individuals and communities. Reparative genealogy isn’t just about the past; it’s about the present—giving voice to those who came before and creating a foundation of knowledge for future generations.

Reparative genealogy is about more than restoring a family tree; it’s about the descendants of enslavers acknowledging harm and making amends through research, documentation, and storytelling. By uncovering forgotten or hidden histories, descendants of both the enslaved and enslavers can address the gaps left by historical injustices.

In 2021, Danette Ross, the founder of a non-profit and trained mediator, decided to learn more about her family history. We worked together using documentary evidence and DNA to explore her origins. She was curious about which African countries her family descended from. She also wanted to learn about her family’s experience during Reconstruction. Danette knew that most of her ancestors had likely been enslaved, and some could be enslavers.

Danette’s 18 Ancestral Regions based on DNA results

Danette’s Ancestral Regions confirmed her prediction, showing both African and European ancestry with possibly a small proportion from Southeast Asia.

In answer her second question, an 1866 letter written by an official in the Freedmen’s Bureau office in Winchester, Virginia provided a glimpse of the Reconstruction experience of one ancestor. Danette’s 3x great-grandfather, Adam Bullett, traveled to Winchester and asked the official to write a letter on behalf of his wife and step-sons. They were owed wages because they had been illegally hired out by Mrs. Mary Morgan to two different men. This letter highlights the challenges that newly freed people faced in gaining control over their work and income.

Excerpt of a Freedmen’s Bureau Letter 19 December 1866, Winchester, Virginia, FamilySearch.

Here are some practical steps to get started with reparative genealogy, starting with personally held information and expanding to public resources:

Family oral histories
Old photographs
Historical family documents that may acknowledge enslaved people
Census data, particularly the census records from 1790-1840 and slave schedules from 1850 and 1860 (example below)
Freedmen’s Bureau records
Deeds, Wills, and Bills of Sale
DNA testing

Excerpt of 1860 Slave Schedule showing my ancestor, Thomas Walker in Benton County, Tennessee. FamilySearch

Collaboration between the descendants of the enslaved and enslavers supports builds a better understanding of the past and can inspire actions of repair. Linked Descendants is a working group of Coming to the Table, an organization dedicated to “working together to create a just and truthful society that acknowledges and seeks to heal from the racial wounds of the past.” The process of building these bridges can be as meaningful as the discoveries themselves. Some of these stories are told in Bittersweet, the blog by authors who are linked through slavery.

Another notable effort in reparative genealogy is the U.S. Black Heritage Project at WikiTree. WikiTree allows creation of profiles of those who were enslaved, including people whose names are not currently known. You can read more about it in this blog post I contributed to the Family Locket blog. Volunteers are currently creating profiles for every African American enumerated in 1880, the first census which noted relationships within households. Ten Million Names is an effort of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society to recover, restore, and remember those whose lives were hidden in the system of chattel slavery. You will find free education, access to records, and more on the website. There are many more resources in African American genealogy, and a good place to start is at the FamilySearch Wiki.

Reparative genealogy offers a way to acknowledge the past while shaping the future. It reminds us that the work of repair is ongoing and every piece of history we uncover is a step towards a better future. If you are a descendant of an enslaver, consider how you can contribute to reparative genealogy.

Use of AI in this blog: I asked ChatGPT 4.0, as an expert genealogist and educator, to provide three outlines for a blog on the topic of reparative genealogy. As part of my prompt, I told Chat GPT that I would provide a case study. After reviewing the three outlines, I chose one and asked ChatGPT to write a draft. I reviewed the draft, edited it, and added definitions and links. I added the case study which I asked ChatGPT to review for excess wordiness or errors in tenses. There were no changes made to the case study. I then reviewed the draft, added the images and published it.

December 31, 2022January 2, 2025

The year 2022 in blogging

It’s that time of year when people look back to reflect and look forward to wonder. I began the year 2022 with an internal pledge to blog regularly. I set up an every-other-week reminder within my task-management software, Omnifocus for Mac (based on Getting Things Done by David Allen). I exceeded my goal and published 33 blogs here in 2022. I focused on the things I care about:

History and Identity
Impacts
Genetic Genealogy
Documentary Research
My Family History

In my first post of 2022 I wrote:

I study family history because it forms the foundation of who I am and how I think and act. An understanding of where I come from gives me strength and gives me pause. I have discovered inspiring stories and tragic ones. I have marvelled at the steps my ancestors took (literally) that led to my presence and wondered at their inhumanity. Curiosity and the quest for meaning shape my journey. And sometimes that meaning requires action. The action can be reporting on what I’ve discovered or taking steps to address historical wrongs.

The blog that most clearly captures that theme is this one from February. I expect to continue uncovering and facing my family’s past and sharing it here and on WikiTree.

Throughout the year, there are blog posts telling about new tools, reminders about tried-and-true research approaches, and touching stories encountered during research.

In September I embarked on several journeys. One I wrote about here. I volunteered as a peer group leader for Family Locket’s Research Like a Pro Study Group. Genealogy is good for your brain (another theme of my first blog entry of 2022), and one way I do that is through continuing education. As a peer group leader, I read many other people’s research as well as working on my own. And as is more common than not, it will take several phases of research until I consider the project “done.” (Done in a genealogical sense, meaning that new evidence could lead to a reassessment and new conclusions.)

Another journey took me on a new path. I was invited to join the team at Your DNA Guide. This launched an intense period of getting to know all the amazing offerings at Your DNA Guide and figuring out how I could support the mission: “Strengthening personal identity so people can connect to their families and communities.” I’ve contributed a couple of blog entries (you can find those here and here.) I’ve started coaching students in Your DNA Guide courses. And I’ve taken on project management for the Academy courses. It’s an exciting time in a growing company whose mission I care deeply about.

A third journey is one of friendship. A genealogy joy of 2022 is an ongoing relationship with two genetic genealogy buddies. We have plans. We have dreams. And we have real lives. Some of our plans may come to be, who knows?

So what does all this mean for 2023? I think I’m going to pause that reminder on blogging. I want to write when I feel moved to write. One recent blog was inspired by a new client who is enthusiastic about learning genealogy to face their own family’s history. I continue to be drawn to and repelled by my family’s contribution to colonization and slavery. I expect to continue to share what I learn about that here and on WikiTree. And when new and exciting things come around, I might be inspired to write. But as a task, I don’t think blogging serves me well.

Thanks for being here. And doing what feeds your soul.