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AncestrySeeking Newsletter October 2025
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Welcome to the October edition of AncestrySeeking!
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Whether you’re a regular subscriber or recently joined me through the OBCGS webinar, I’m glad you’re here. Fall always feels like a season of reflection, the perfect time to think about the stories we’ve collected and how to protect them for the future. In this issue, I’m sharing new resources, a special course announcement, and some practical tips to help you safeguard, organize, and share your family history with confidence.
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✨Coming October 5th ✨
A Brand-New Online Course!
You’ve worked hard to build your family history, now it’s time to make sure it lasts. That’s why I created the Preserving Your Genealogy: A Step-by-Step Course to Protect and Share Your Family History online course. Inside the course you’ll find:
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Clear lessons that break big tasks into easy steps
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Downloadable checklists, templates, and guides
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Practical strategies for both paper and digital records
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A legacy plan you can finish with confidence
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Special for Book Readers: If you’ve purchased my book Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, you’ll receive a 20% discount on this step-by-step online course. It’s my way of saying thank you and helping you put the book’s strategies into practice.
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And if you haven’t read the book yet, don’t worry, the course stands on its own as a complete system.
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Launches October 5th!
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Naming a Genealogy Guardian:
Why It Matters More Than You Think
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Imagine this: You’ve spent years building your family tree, collecting photos, writing ancestor stories, and preserving family records. But what happens if something unexpected happens to you? Will your research survive? Will anyone know where to find it, or even what to do with it? That’s where a Genealogy Guardian comes in. What Is a Genealogy Guardian?
Read more
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New 4 Free Mini Webinar Series
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Discover, Protect, and Share Your Family History —
One Mini Webinar at a Time
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👉 Start your journey today and explore the series here: Ancestryseeking.com for more information.
Free for a limited time, explore at your own pace
to make the value clear.
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Upcoming Virtual Genealogy Events
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Probate Packets, Wills, and Genealogical Research
• When: Tuesday, October 7, 2025, 10:00 – 11:30 AM (Virtual via Go To Webinar) libraryaware.com
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Wisconsin State Genealogical Society – “Alienation of Affection Divorce in the United States”
• When: Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 7:00 PM Central Washington State Geospatial Program
• What: Explore historical divorce records, court files, and how these documents can give clues in genealogy research.
• Cost / Access: Webinar format; registration required. Washington State Geospatial Program
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Genealogy Methods – Live Online Class
• When: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:30 PM Central Time The Formidable Genealogist
• What: A working example of how a professional genealogist tackles a research problem — step-by-step techniques in action.
• Cost / Access: $15; live only (no recording). The Formidable Genealogist
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🧬 DNA Tip: Don't Ignore Small Matches
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When you first see your DNA results, it’s tempting to focus only on the biggest matches — the ones sharing hundreds of centimorgans. But those smaller matches (20–50 cM) can be incredibly valuable.
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Small matches often connect you to distant cousins who may hold pieces of your family history you don’t have.
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They can help you identify clusters of relatives that point to a specific ancestral couple.
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A group of small matches sharing the same surname or location can confirm a hunch.
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Tip: Use tools like the Leeds Method or clustering charts to group small matches by family line. One “tiny” connection might be the key to solving a big mystery.
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Genealogy Tip of the Month!
How to Use AI
to Break Down Brick Walls in Genealogy
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Every genealogist knows the frustration of hitting a “brick wall”, those dead ends where a paper trail disappears, records are missing, or names and dates just don’t line up. But here’s the good news: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a powerful tool to help break through those barriers and find answers that were once out of reach.
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In this post, we’ll explore how AI can assist you in identifying hidden patterns, suggesting relationships, and unlocking new directions in your family history research.
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Genealogy Term of the Month: Patronymic
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A patronymic is a surname derived from the given name of a father or male ancestor. For example, “Johnson” originally meant “son of John,” while in Scandinavian countries you might see “Andersson” or “Andersen.”
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Why it matters:
In cultures that used patronymics, surnames can change with each generation. That means tracing family lines requires extra care, a father and son may not share the same surname at all.
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👉 Tip: When researching in regions like Scandinavia, Wales, or parts of Eastern Europe, focus on given names, parish records, and naming patterns rather than relying solely on surnames.
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Join Me!
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Learn more by following my Weekly Blog Posts on Facebook, Linkedin, & Pinterest
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In Case You Missed It
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Earlier this month, I presented Safeguarding Your Family History for OBCGS. The replay is now available for a limited time! If you want to learn practical strategies to protect your genealogy from accidents, disasters, or loss, this is a great place to start.
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“Did You Know?”
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Old telephone books can be a goldmine for genealogists. Beyond names and addresses, they sometimes list occupations, business ads, or even “reverse directories” that show who lived at a specific address. They’re a great way to track families between census years.
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Making Your Family Tree Understandable for
Non-Genealogists
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When we spend years digging into records, building charts, and mapping connections, it can be surprising when our relatives look at our family tree and say: “I don’t get it.”
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That’s because most family trees are designed for genealogists, not for everyday family members. The charts are full of jargon, symbols, and dozens of names that overwhelm rather than inspire. If our goal is to share and preserve our family history, we need to make our research understandable, inviting, and meaningful.
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Here are five ways to make your tree connect with non-genealogists.
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In my next newsletter, learn about
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"Deepfake Dangers and Digital Ethics in Family History!"
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Want More Resources
Visit Ancestryseeking.com
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Thank you for being part of this journey!
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If you found something helpful or inspiring, I’d love it if you forwarded this newsletter to a friend who’s also passionate about family history. Let’s grow the community of curious minds by preserving the past!"
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Wishing you success in search,
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4info@ancestryseeking.com
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