history
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Tracing Your Roots: How Safe Is It to Date a Cousin?
A woman seeks to know the risks of dating—and the risk of having offspring with—a relative. Dear Professor Gates: I want to date a fourth cousin of mine. Is that wrong? I’m curious to know how related we actually are. We do not plan to have any children together, but if we did, would there…
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Tracing Your Roots: The Story of My Ancestor’s Origins Keeps Changing
A great-granddad appears to have been the marrying kind, which may explain why records vary on when and where he was born. Dear Professor Gates: I’m curious about the origins of an elusive family member, my great-grandfather Schofield Love. There were rumors of Native American and Jewish ancestry, but an Ancestry.com DNA test of his…
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Tracing Your Roots: Is My Ancestor’s Surname From Slavery or Marriage?
The origins of the surname of a great-great-grandmother who was born into slavery are shrouded in mystery and require creative sleuthing. Dear Professor Gates: I am trying to map out my father’s side of the family tree. He passed away a few years ago and I never met his side of the family. I’ve been…
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Tracing Your Roots: I Am Black but Discovered I Have Jewish DNA
Test results show unexpected Ashkenazi heritage and raise the possibility that a family legend is true. Editor’s note: This article was originally published Jan. 22, 2016. Dear Professor Gates: I’m African American, but about a year ago I received the results of genetic testing, which indicated that I’m 5 percent Ashkenazi Jew. My European genetic…
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Tracing Your Roots: Was My Civil War Vet Ancestor an Overseer’s Son?
Family lore and death records contain conflicting information about the parentage of a forebear who served in the colored troops during the Civil War. Dear Professor Gates: I’m writing for help in tracing the parents of my third great-grandfather, William Owen Van Vaxen Goodlow. He lived in Missouri and Iowa, was married to Mary Nickelson…
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Tracing Your Roots: Help Me Separate Fact From Family Fiction!
An upcoming family reunion motivates a young woman to prepare an accurate presentation about the storied family matriarch. Dear Professor Gates: Since the late 1970s, my family has come together every two years for a reunion. For the upcoming one in 2018, I would like to present my family with information on the origins of…
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Tracing Your Roots: Did My Wife Descend From Runaway Slaves?
A Canadian resident tries to confirm the origins of his wife’s ancestors, who reportedly traveled the Underground Railroad. Dear Professor Gates: My wife, Kathy Brooks, and I live in Canada, and she is trying desperately to trace the ancestry of her great-great-grandmother Mary Ann Shepherd, who arrived in Canada between 1845 and 1861. We believe…
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Tracing Your Roots: Untangling the Origins of My Dad’s Blended Family
A reader seeks details on grandparents who left behind a family tree with many branches. Dear Professor Gates: Can you please help me get some clear history on my grandfather and grandmother? My father, George W. Murphy, was born March 25, 1919, in Little Rock, Ark., one of many siblings. My grandmother Ada Wiley Murphy…
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Tracing Your Roots: What Is the Secret of My Grandma’s Past?
A record search uncovers clues to why a Georgia family fractured eight decades ago, leaving painful memories. Dear Professor Gates: My grandmother Frances Walker of Edison, Calhoun, Ga., was born on Dec. 22, 1938, and died Dec. 2, 2002. Her mother was Ella M. King, who was born in 1913 and died in 1981 under…
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Tracing Your Roots: Was My Ancestor Kidnapped From Freedom to Slavery?
A book claims that a man’s great-grandfather was abducted as a boy and sold into bondage. Official records back up at least part of the heartbreaking story. Dear Professor Gates: I am trying to find the names of the parents of my great-grandfather Lucius Kidd. All I have to go on is a book written…