The Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss Nicole's second great-grandmother, Alice "Allie" Frazier Harris, focusing on her nurturing nature. Listeners will learn about Alice's birth in Montague County, Texas, and her parents, Richard Frazier and Nancy E. Briscoe. Richard was a Civil War veteran. They also discuss Alice's school years, her marriage to Dock Harris in 1904, and...

Diana and Nicole discuss Thomas B. Royston's land and headstone in Chambers County, Alabama. Diana shares about her trip to Alabama, where she visited the cemetery where her third great-grandfather, Thomas, is buried and viewed the land he owned. They start with Thomas's life in DeKalb County, examining the 1840 census and questioning the identity of "F.B. Royston." The discussion moves to Thomas...

On the podcast episode, Nicole shares her experience identifying people in old family photos, specifically those of her great-great-grandparents, Daniel O'Connell Elder and Jessie Estelle (Ross) Elder, and their children. Nicole begins by describing a 1914 photo where only a few people are identified. She uses letters and information shared from a relative who was a DNA match to figure out who som...

This podcast episode discusses visiting county courthouses for genealogical research. Diana shares her experience at the Chambers County Courthouse in Alabama, where she researched her ancestor, Thomas Beverly Royston. She explains the importance of preparing a research plan before visiting, including creating a timeline and identifying potential records. She also mentions learning about what reco...

This podcast episode centers around Diana's research trip to the Alabama Department of Archives & History (ADAH) in search of information about her ancestor, Thomas B. Royston. Diana shares how she wanted to fill gaps in his timeline, particularly regarding his move to Chambers County, Alabama. She details the process of researching at ADAH, from registering and receiving a research card to workin...

In this episode, Nicole and Diana discuss the ancestral home of Diana's great-grandparents, Charles Cannon Creer and Mary Margaret Peterson. Nicole introduces the topic of researching ancestral homes, emphasizing the importance of exploring the architecture and records like city directories, taxes, maps, and newspapers. Diana shares the story of Charles building a home in Spanish Fork, Utah, for h...

In Episode 360 of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss Eliza Lucas Pinckney and her contributions to 18th Century South Carolina. They focus on Eliza's life, detailing her early years in Antigua and England, her move to South Carolina, and her management of plantations. They highlight Eliza's interest in botany and her successful cultivation of indigo as a valuable e...

This podcast episode focuses on the 1875 divorce case of Belle Carpenter and John W. Carpenter in Dallas County, Texas. Diana discusses discovering the divorce case while researching her ancestor, Isabella Weatherford. She shares how a newspaper article led her to find the court documents and describes using AI to transcribe and analyze the case file. They talk about the details of the court case,...

This podcast episode of "Research Like a Pro" focuses on the common ancestors of Joseph Knight Sr. and Jemima Griggs. Nicole shares how Joseph Knight Sr., who aided Joseph Smith Jr., is her half third cousin eight times removed, connected through her paternal grandmother's fourth-great-grandmother, Jemima Griggs. They both descended from John Knight. Nicole explains how she uses the Relative Finde...

Diana and Nicole discuss using FamilySearch's Full-Text Search to make genealogical discoveries. Diana explains how the tool helped her find new information about her ancestor, Thomas Beverly Royston, after previous searches came up empty. She details how to find and use the Full-Text Search feature on the FamilySearch website and shares tips for refining searches to get the best results. Diana de...

This podcast episode focuses on the genealogy of two women, Clarinda Knapp Allen and Jerusha Barden Smith, and their connection to early settlers and significant figures in American history and the Latter-day Saint movement. Nicole discusses her husband's ancestry, specifically how his relatives married into the Hyrum Smith family. She then shifts focus to one of her own ancestors, Clarinda Knapp,...

This episode focuses on Anna Nash and the Cowdery family connections. Nicole and Diana discuss the genealogical links between Nicole's husband's family and Oliver Cowdery, a prominent figure in early LDS church history. They start with Oliver Cowdery's background, including his work with Joseph Smith and his later life. The episode then shifts to Oliver's half-sister, Phebe Lawrence Cowdery, and h...

Nicole and Diana discuss the life of Phinehas Richards, Nicole's husband's 4th-great-grandfather. Nicole shares details about Phinehas's life, including his birth in Massachusetts, his marriage to Wealthy Dewey, and his work as a cabinet maker. She recounts Phinehas's conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his baptism by Brigham Young, and his ordination as a high priest. D...

Nicole and Diana discuss citing digitized records from FamilySearch. Nicole explains that FamilySearch has billions of digitized records that can be attached, downloaded, or added to a research log. They emphasize the importance of precise source citations. Diana illustrates the challenge of citing digitized microfilm records, using an example from Russell County, Alabama's Orphan's Court Docket....

Nicole and Diana discuss Levi Richards' journal account of Joseph Smith's First Vision. Nicole shares her personal connection to Levi Richards, who is her husband's 4th-great-granduncle and the brother of Willard Richards. They talk about Levi's life, his mission to England, and his role as a physician. They then focus on Levi's journal and its significance as a historical source, specifically the...

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss the challenge of separating women with the same name in genealogical research, specifically focusing on two women named Cleo Zinn. Diana explains how she encountered a mystery DNA match that led her to research Mary Clem Carpenter and her daughter, Cleo. She discovers conflicting information about Cleo, including multiple husbands, d...

In Episode 350 of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss Florence Matilda (Creer) Kelsey's first job. Diana begins by asking Nicole what she has been working on or reading. Diana recaps RootsTech, mentioning classes on AI, locality research, and transcriptions, as well as meeting listeners. Diana then introduces the subject of the episode by asking listeners if they re...

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss several new genealogy tools and features. They cover the AncestryDNA "Matches by Cluster" feature, which is a visualization tool for Pro Tools users to identify related DNA matches. They also discuss the improved AncestryDNA feature that allows users to attach DNA matches' lines to their family trees. Nicole explains the updates to t...

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss their ancestor, William Henry Kelsey, and the spiritual manifestations he recorded in his diary. They explore William's early life in England, his conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his missionary service. The discussion includes details about William's family, his various residences, and his marriage...

Diana and Nicole explore the mystery of Diana's great-grandfather's nickname, Dock Harris. They discuss how his name was recorded as D.H., Dock H., or Dock in records, which was puzzling because it seemed like a nickname. They explain how this caused confusion for Diana's father, Bob, when he began researching the family history. Bob knew his grandfather as Grandpa Harris and had no other informat...

In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss how to choose a favorite photo out of a large collection. Diana shares a photo of her grandfather, Edward Raymond Kelsey, on his horse, Pal, and talks about his love for horses. She experimented with using AI to analyze the photo and shares her findings. Diana used Mark Thompson's Historical Photo Analyzer custom GPT and was impresse...

In Episode #344 of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss Colonial American Research. Diana explains the difficulties of finding the original immigrant for ancestors who immigrated during the colonial years. Nicole suggests learning from historians who have studied immigration patterns and developing a hypothesis based on what is known about ancestors and their groups. They introduce the bo...

Nicole and Diana interview Rebecca Shamblin, genealogist, speaker, author, and blogger, about turning your family tree into a book. Rebecca gives an overview of her two books, "Leaving a Legacy: Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book" and "Building a Legacy: A Guide to Combining Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker." The hosts and Rebecca discuss the five phases of creating a family history book:...