Extreme Genes

The settling of the west wasn't much unlike the settling of colonial America a century or two earlier. And as people came, more and more lines were drawn. Fisher shares just a few so you know what to look for as you consider your research strategy.

War, population growth and shifting can all contribute to boundary changes. And boundary changes mean that, even if your ancestors stayed in the same place, their records could be hiding in many places.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.  The guys begin with talk of the recent passing of former President George H. W. Bush, and the math that suggests he was related to a large part of the American population. Next, David talks about two half sisters who discovered each other in thei...

Fisher had given up on finding the parents of an elusive ancestor when he took one last step before closing the book on the case. And it made all the difference in the world!

Females ancestors are sometimes difficult to find.  Fisher shares a few thoughts on other ways to look for them.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.  David begins the segment talking about how you can preserve the history of your Christmas ornaments. David recently observed that he still has ornaments from his mother's childhood in the 1930s, and several from his own youth, and notes, what hap...

Struggling to figure out where your ancestor's Social Security records went? They might not have been there at all because things were different before 1951!

Ever notice familiar repeating family names in a single family group? It could be the parents were following a classic pattern. And that pattern can tell you some very important truths about the previous generation.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society & AmericanAncestors.org. The guys begin with the story of a Massachusetts couple that have been married to each other twice. In the same year. Wait til you hear why! Then, it was an American that saved the theft of a copy of the Magna Carta in the UK. David explains. David...

Back in 1752, England enacted a law that changed our calendars forever. But did that law ever make a genealogist's life complicated!

Ancestors love to play tricks on us as we trace them down… sometimes by disappearing from where we think they should be. Fisher explains where you might want to look next.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys kick it off with word about some new World War I souvenirs David was recently gifted. Then, they open Family Histoire News with the story of an article in which English family members write about loved ones who were killed in World War I....

Fisher worked to break open one ancestral line for fifteen years. It wasn't until he was closing the book on the case by creating a timeline that he saw the answer!

Just the way not every record is digitized, many records are digitized but not indexed! Can't find what you're looking for? It's time to check those massive unindexed records!

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.com. The guys start by talking about the strange way in which David received his names. Then, the guys talk about the controversy of using DNA to help solve cold cases , and a great article on genetic genealogy from Bloomberg. How many different types...

Immigration records really can be tricky, especially when you're looking for someone with a common name, or just trying to learn where they came from. Fisher has a simple technique that could really help you out!

Fisher's long been an advocate of creating ancestral timelines. But if you really want to know more about your people you need to make more than one timeline.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.  Fisher and David begin talking about those men who, through DNA, learn their child is not their child, and the support that is available to them. Then, it's a fascinating story about loved ones' ashes and how many, as the urban legend says, actua...

Genealogical "brick walls" can last a short time or a lifetime. But have you ever thought of exchanging a brick wall with a research friend? There could be benefits in it for both of you!

As if genealogy isn't complicated enough, imagine what it's like when you find ancestors with more than one surname? It happens more than you think, especially with French Canadian ancestors.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys open Family Histoire News talking first about genetic genealogist CeCe Moore's recent appearance on 60 Minutes. Then, speaking of DNA, the guys chat about a woman who recently learned that it wasn't her father who abandoned her as a child...

Recently, Fisher discovered something he hadn't come upon before… a marriage bond for his name line immigrant ancestors in London.  What can marriage bonds tell you?  Here's where to find out!

Once you've gone from the land of the researcher to the land of the researched, you no longer control what happens to your heirlooms and research records. Here's what you can do now!

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.  The guys start off with a great find for the family of Muhammad Ali. Through DNA, a third cousin learned that "The Champ" was a 3rd great grandson of a freed slave whose likeness was used for a very special statue. Find out what it is. Then, a di...

Have you become reliant on online sites for your key records? If so, you're missing out on the thrill of the hunt the old fashioned way!