Ancestorian Has Cut Down our Tree

Along with removing tree from the name (Evidentree > Ancestorian), we have cut down the tree in our logo.

Online Community

Ancestorian is not a family tree hosting site... we are an online community of Ancestorians (family historians, ancestry researchers, genealogists) who interact with each-other, helping our fellow Ancestorians through the swapping of knowledge, stories and soon... documents, books and records - in our 'first of it's kind' community library. 

Therefore. it is fitting that we don't have a tree in our logo or name anymore, so that there can be no confusion. 

We hope you like the new identity as much as we do.

Greg, Judy, Lesley and Ann

Welcome to Ancestorian – We have Retired the Evidentree Name

Did you notice that you have ended up on a site called Ancestorian even though you thought you were going to Evidentree?

We would forgive if you if you didn't. After all, the logo looks almost the same, with just the name Ancestorian taking place of Evidentree. Yes, we have rebranded to avoid the confusion created by having tree in our name. There are no trees on Ancestorian (Evidentree).

Are You an Ancestorian?

ancestorian

UK / æn.sestɔː.ri.ən / US / æn.sestɔːr.i.ən /

NOUN [countable]

  1. A person who studies their or others’ family history.
    ‘according to an ancestorian, she came from a long line of millers’
  2. An online community of passionate family historians who share and collaborate with each other at www.ancestorian.com.
    ‘he spent hours sharing his knowledge on the ancestorian social network’
  3. A member of the website described in definition 2.
    ‘the ancestorians benefit immensely from their community’

Synonyms: genealogist, family historian

Evidentree Celebrates Our 1st Birthday

This is no April Fool's joke, Evidentree turned 1 today.

We hope you will celebrate with us by reaching out to your fellow family historians in your Evidentree groups and friends lists.

Features Being Worked On

We have been quiet for a few months but this doesn't mean things aren't still moving behind the scenes. We are still working on getting our community library ready for launch. Also, we are making constant improvements to the speed and usability of the site.

RootsTech London - 24-26 October

Greg Scowen, the founder of Evidentree, has been invited to attend RootsTech London as an ambassador. This means that we will have the chance to see you there.

This also means that we will update you with new information about RootsTech London as and when it becomes available. We will also be offering some tickets for the conference to members in a competition. More on that as we get closer to the time.

Comprehensive Review, Comparison and Explanation of Major DNA Tests

Regular readers will possibly know that I am a big fan of the DNA Geek blog. Once again, they have not disappointed, releasing their comprehensive 2018 guide to DNA tests. 

Three Types of Tests

The DNA Geek post briefly explains the 'types' of tests that are available for genealogy testing; Autosomal DNA, yDNA (paternal) and mtDNA (maternal) and helpfully suggests to newcomers that they will mostly be wanting to undergo Autosomal testing in the first instance. 

Autosomal tests are offered by many companies but there are five major players that should be considered. I have personally tested with three of these and have uploaded my DNA to the other two. 

Five Serious Testing Company Options

Each of the five major players in genealogy DNA testing has features and benefits that differentiate them from each other. DNA Geek compares these and provides a helpful explanation and recommendation of which they would choose for testing under which circumstances. 

I have to say, their advice is very much in line with my own opinions - formed through my experiences and that is discussions with Evidentree members.

The five companies considered are; Ancestry DNA (see below), FamilyTree DNA, Living DNA (see below), 23andMe and MyHeritage DNA. Links to regional sites of these follow (where available):

Read the Full Comparison

Head over to the DNA Geek site to read the full post. And don't forget to subscribe to their Blog - they regularly provide information that is pertinent, up-to-date and interesting for family historians - be they new to genealogy and DNA or experienced researchers.

Why Newspapers Are Essential for Genealogy Research

The team over at Genealogy Bank have provided us with a helpful reminder about why newspapers are such an important tool for family historians.

Naturally, they are quite keen to get you to sign up to their service but we at Evidentree would also point you in the direction of many free newspaper resources (more information about these will be coming soon in our community library) such as Australian newspapers at Trove, New Zealand newspapers at PapersPast and importantly, British newspapers in the British Newspapers Archive which is part of the collections at FindMyPast.

Primary Way to Stay Informed

Genealogy Bank reminds us that newspapers and periodicals were the most important source of information for our ancestors:

Our ancestors existed in a time before the Internet, electronic record keeping, social media, and in some cases centralized databases. A time of paper, ink, quills, and the printing press. Periodicals, local newspapers, and letters – not blogs or social media – were the primary way people stayed informed of the outside world.

Not only did newspapers provide stories relevant to their contemporary audience, they also included details that make them invaluable to those studying their genealogy today.

What You Find in Newspapers

There are many sections within newspapers that really stand out for family history research. Genealogy Bank helpfully lists those as follows:

  • Obituaries
  • Marriage announcements
  • Birth announcements
  • Local stories – the community’s trials and tribulations
  • Passenger lists, especially in port cities
  • Casualty or promotion lists for Armed Services
  • Event attendance announcements
  • School-related events (honor rolls, theater productions, graduations, etc.)
  • Classified advertising (ancestors’ businesses, personal ads, etc.)
  • Society news (birthday parties, club meetings and events, notable out-of-town visitors)
  • Immigration and naturalization-related events (ship sailings, naturalization ceremonies, etc.)
  • Legal notices (divorces, sales, purchases, probate, etc.)

Read their Blog in Full

Read the full Genealogy Bank post over at their website.