Finding your family through genealogical research and using DNA to understand your family health history. Presentation at NCLA Conference 2017

1. Skeletons in the Closet III
NCLA 62nd Biennial Conference
October 17-20, 2017
Winston Salem, NC
Marcellaus A. Joiner, Heritage Research Center, High
Point Public Library
Vincent C. Henrich, Biology, Professor Emeritus, UNCG
H. Jamane Yeager, Belk Library, Elon University

2. Learning Outcomes
You will learn:
 How to get started in genealogy
How to search for your family or a family member in
Family Search
How to find a relative in the US Census
How to look at past family members health issues
through death certificates and compare to present day
family members health issues

3. What is genealogy?
Genealogy is the study of families and their lineages.
Oral traditions—”family stories”—can often be a good starting
point.
Genealogy involves research in historical records and
documents.
You will want to document and verify as many facts as
possible.

4. Why Genealogy?
 To Validate Family Stories
 As a Recreational Activity
 To Trace Inherited Medical Conditions
 To Join a Lineage Society
 To Trace Land Ownership or Inheritance
 To Claim Connection to a Famous Person
 As a Religious Tenet or to Prove Tribal Affiliation
 To Establish paternity for adopted persons
 To Pass a Legacy to Future Generations

5. Why Genealogy?
 To Validate Family Stories
 As a Recreational Activity
 To Trace Inherited Medical Conditions
 To Join a Lineage Society
 To Trace Land Ownership or Inheritance
 To Claim Connection to a Famous Person
 As a Religious Tenet or to Prove Tribal Affiliation
 To Establish paternity for adopted persons
 To Pass a Legacy to Future Generations

6. Why Trace Your Ancestry

7. How do I get started?
 Remember to work backwards! Start with yourself.
 Write down what you remember about your family
 Contact family members, especially elderly family members
 Record findings – keep a log
 Research one ancestral line at a time !
 Record elderly living relatives
 Begin searching for records online
 Search for records locally
 Construct a family tree—use ancestor chart or put online

8. How do I get started?
 Remember to work backwards! Start with yourself.
 Write down what you remember about your family
 Contact family members, especially elderly family members
 Record findings – keep a log
 Research one ancestral line at a time !
 Record elderly living relatives
 Begin searching for records online
 Search for records locally
 Construct a family tree—use ancestor chart or put online

9. Vital Records
Vital Records: are records of life events kept
under governmental authority, including birth
certificates, marriage licenses, and death
certificates.
 In some jurisdictions, vital records may also
include records of civil unions or domestic
partnerships.

10. Types of Vital Records
Birth Certificates
Death Certificates
Marriage Licenses
Divorce records

11. North Carolina Birth Records
Birth Certificates were not issued in the state of
North Carolina before 1913.
Some delayed birth certificates were produced
after 1913 as a means to comply with social
security regulations.

12. Name of
Person
Father's
Name
Mother’s
Name
Date of
Birth
Supporting
Evidence

13. North Carolina Death Certificate
Statewide registration of deaths began in 1913.
Compliance in most counties was reached by 1917.
North Carolina Death Collection 1908-2004 available at
Ancestry.com
North Carolina, Deaths and Burials, 1898-1994 available at
Familysearch.com
North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930
North Carolina, Deaths, 1931-1994

14. Place of
Death
Name
Date of
Birth
Age at
Death
Place of
Birth
Father’s
Name
Mother’s
Name
Name of
Informant
Date of
Death
Place of
Burial
Burial
Date

15. North Carolina Marriage Certificate
The Marriage Bond was the only public record from 1741 -1868
North Carolina has produced marriage licenses for close to two
centuries but didn’t begin preserving them until 1851.
North Carolina Index to Marriage Bonds 1741 – 1868 is on
Ancestry.com
North Carolina Index to Marriage Bonds 1762 – 1979 is on
Family Serarch.org
North Carolina Marriage Records & Cohabitation certificates for
African Americans 1741 – 2011 is on Ancestry.com

16. Person
applying
for license
Grooms name,
age, and
current
residence
Parents of
the groom
Living or
Dead
Date of
registration
Brides name,
age, and
current
residence
Parents
of the
bride
Living or
Dead
Parents
current
residence
Witnesses
to the
marriage
Parents
current
residence

17. Location
of
marriage
Groom
Witness
to the
marriage
Date of
marriage
Bride
Clerk
of
Court
Marriage Bond

18. Freedman’s Marriage Record

19. North Carolina Divorce Records
Divorce records may provide information about the
date and place of marriage,
 Names and ages of children,
The cause of the divorce, and terms of settlement.
The superior court for each county also had
jurisdiction over divorce cases beginning in 1814.

20. Names of
the
divorcing
parties
Date of
marriage
Location of
marriage
Date of
divorce
Place of
divorce and
current
residence
Errors are
possible

21. North Carolina Divorce Records Con’t
 The superior court in each county in North Carolina has granted divorce
decrees since 1814. This database is an index to divorces that occurred in
North Carolina between 1958 and 2004.
 It is important that you use the information found in this database to
locate your ancestor in the original records that this index references.
Usually more information is available in the records themselves than is
found in an index.
 Details about divorces that were not included in court minutes are very
valuable to researchers. They include “loose papers” that discuss reasons
for the divorce, details of the family’s composition, children’s ages, and
other information.

22. Divorce Records Con’t
After the American Revolution and through 1827, divorces
could be granted by the general assembly, and these
records are among the legislative papers at the state
archives.
Copies of pre-1868 divorce records are at the North Carolina
State Archives; records dating from 1868 are available from
each county’s superior court clerk.
Likewise, requests for copies of divorce records from 1958-
present can be made to the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Service, Vital Records Unit.

23. Divorce Decree

24. Case Study
Subject: Haywood Day (Great Grandfather:
MMS)
Problem: Was unable to connect him to his
parents and family
Vital Record: 1921 marriage certificate

28. Case Study
Subject: Vinnie Ellerbee Glover (Great Great
Grandmother: MFS)
Problem: Was unable to connect her to parents
and family
Vital Record: 1949 Delayed Birth Certificate

32. Case Study
Subject: Eva Reese Mathis (Great
Grandmother: FMS)
Problem: Was not sure of her identity
Vital Record: 1967 Death Certificate

34. Exercises
Using Family Search
Look for vital records
Find a family member on the Birth Index if born in
North Carolina
Find a death certificate of a family member
Find a marriage certificate of a family member, if
married in North Carolina

35. Primary Sources
Family Bible
Birth Certificates
Death Certificates
Marriages Certificates
Census Records
Baptismal records
Church records
Obituaries
Tombstones

36. Our Family Bible
Family bible

37. More Primary Sources
 Military service records, enlistment records, draft enrollment
 Immigration records
 Legal documents—wills, property deeds
 Letters and diaries
 Photographs and heirlooms
 Newspapers articles, marriage announcements, important people, etc.
 City Directories

38. Jamane’s Great-Great Grandmother

39. My Great-Great Grandmother Daughters

40. All in the Family: What Our Ancestors’ Health Can
Tell Us
About Our Health Today

41. Thomas Woodson, an African-American,
claims to be a direct descendent of Thomas
Jefferson. Woodson claims that one of his
ancestors, Eston Woodson, was the son of
Sally Hennings, a slave who lived at the
Monticello. Woodson claimed that Eston’s
father was Thomas Jefferson.
Does the genetic evidence support the
claim? The Y doesn’t lie!
X Y
DNA is a Tool for Identifying Distant Ancestors

42. TJ
Field
Jefferson
DNA information can be used
to determine distant
ancestry……
person by person.
Thomas Woodson carried the
same Y chromosome as the
Jefferson family’s male
lineage.
Modern Day Woodson
Family Members
Sally
Hennings
Eston
Randolph

43. Our Ancestor’s Afflictions Give Us Clues
About Our Own Familial Health Risks
Consider this Case:
 Male patient commits suicide at the age of 61 after years
of suffering from depression, alcoholism, and displays of
erratic and volatile behavior.
Family queries reveal that the patient’s father and
grandfather also had committed suicide, as had his
younger brother and sister.
Later, the patient’s granddaughter dies at the age of 42
from complications of alcohol and drug addiction.

44. The Hemingways

45. Leicester
Margaux
Ernest Hall
Joan
Ursula
Clarence
Hemingway
The Hemingway Family Pedigree
Jack
Hadley
Mariel
• Many members of the Hemingway family
had inherited a genetic variant that leads to
familial hemochromatosis, an abnormal
accumulation of iron in cells…..including
brain cells.
• The disease is progressive. It causes pain,
reduced mobility, and severe depression.
• The addiction to drugs and alcohol resulted
from chronic self-medication for afflicted
family members. Suicide was the only sure
treatment.
• The underlying medical problem was
metabolic and is easily treated once it’s
diagnosed.

46. Each of us carries genetic variants from our
parents and each of us adds some more!
 Each of us carries two copies of every DNA segment….one copy came from
mom and one came from dad.
 Each copy contains about 3 billion individual “letters”.
 The average person carries about 6500 genetic variants……most are
inconsequential.
 About half of these are passed along by a parent to each child though
which ones get passed along is different for each child.
 Each developing fetus generates about 60-70 new variants.
 A few of these variants can increase our risk for certain diseases.

47. 1899-1966
• Successful chemical engineer
• Married in 1919 to Isabell Wirt
• Four children
• Pipe and cigar smoker
• Entered hospital complaining of
dizziness within months after
retirement.
• Died after losing consciousness
from a subarachnoid hemorrhagic
stroke
Vincent C. Henrich, Sr

48. Hemorrhagic stroke
Vincent Jr GustavValerie
Vincent,III, 59
Stroke or
cardiac arrest
Terri Barbara, 64
Henrich Ancestry
Vincent, Sr., 66

49. My great-great grandfather’s passport to America

50. My great-great grandparents’ Marriage Certificate

51. My great-great grandparents in front of their store in Brooklyn
(circa 1884)

52. 1870-1936
• Born in Newark, NJ in 1870
• Married Sally Lynn in 1894
• Two children
• Shoe merchant in Philadelphia area
• Cigar smoker
• Embezzled in 1931 for $50,000 and lost his
business.
• Suffered a sudden stroke shortly after
learning about the crime. Lost consciousness
immediately.
• Recovered but suffered two more sudden
strokes and passed away in 1936.
Gustav Henrich

53. Gustav Henrich’s Death Certificate

54. Strokes occurred in my ancestors going back four generations or
more

55. Hemorrhagic stroke
Vincent Jr
Stroke,
type
unknown
GustavValerie
Vincent,III, 59 Steve
Stroke or
cardiac arrest
Terri Barbara, 64
Lynn
Henrich Ancestry
Vincent, Sr., 66
Gustav, 61

56. Important insights from my ancestors…….
 The familial affliction goes back to the 1800s….at least.
Three of the four familial strokes were preceded by a highly
stressful and unpredictable event.
This unusual type of stroke damages parts of the brain that
control consciousness and sensory response.
A positive family medical history is a major risk factor for this
type of stroke.
Stroke prevention depends on recognizing early symptoms
such as disrupted sleep and/or bouts of numbness and fever,
especially when stressed.
Aspirin increases risk…..not a preventive treatment for this
type of stroke. Intense exercise may increase stroke risk.

57. Our ancestors’ medical history
can help us now!
 Did more than one ancestor deal with the same or a similar health affliction? Was there any
pattern of unusual health symptoms among family members?
 What was the health status of afflicted ancestors? Weight? Smoker? Drinker? Infectious diseases?
Depression?
 Did one or more ancestors suffer from an affliction that caused a disability or early demise? e.g.
Alzheimer’s, a specific type of cancer, heart attack, stroke, adult onset diabetes.
 Are there any details from letters, obituaries, and death certificates that provide clues and
information?
 Are there more distant relatives, such as aunts, cousins (including distant cousins) who dealt with
similar afflictions?
 Are there treatments available now that can prevent this affliction? Are there early symptoms
which give us a ‘warning’ of an imminent problem?

58. Acknowledgments
My Uncle Gus
My family members
Dr. Lori Orlando, Duke University Medical School
Dr. Geoff Ginsburg
North Carolina Library Association

59. African American and Native American
Genealogy
Courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine

60. African American and Native American
Genealogy
Courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine

61. African Americans in the Census
1850 census - Arranged by state into free schedules; “free
persons of color” and slave schedules, both organized by
county.
Free and Slave schedules in 1850 and 1860
1870 census is the first census that includes names of all
people counted
1880 census added relationship to head of household
Free Black Heads of Families in the First Census of the U.S.
1790 as special list 34

62. African Americans in the Census
1850 census - Arranged by state into free schedules; “free
persons of color” and slave schedules, both organized by
county.
Free and Slave schedules in 1850 and 1860
1870 census is the first census that includes names of all
people counted
1880 census added relationship to head of household
Free Black Heads of Families in the First Census of the U.S.
1790 as special list 34

63. Census Recording Form

64. Great-Grand Father 1930 Census

65. 1930 Census

66. Special Census Schedules
Mortality records for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and for
five states in 1885
In 1890 special census prepared to record persons
who served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps
during the War of the Rebellion
Schedule 2, the Agricultural Schedules includes free
African-American farmers

67. Special Census Schedules
Mortality records for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 and for
five states in 1885
In 1890 special census prepared to record persons
who served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps
during the War of the Rebellion
Schedule 2, the Agricultural Schedules includes free
African-American farmers

68. Freedmen’s Records
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands,
popularly referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau
Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company referred to as
Freedman’s Bank 1865-1874
Both Freeman’s Bureau and Freedman’s Bank records are in
Ancestry.com and Familysearch,org

69. Freedmen’s Records
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands,
popularly referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau
Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company referred to as
Freedman’s Bank 1865-1874
Both Freeman’s Bureau and Freedman’s Bank records are in
Ancestry.com and Familysearch,org

70. Social Security Death Index
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a database
of people whose deaths were reported to the Social
Security Administration (SSA) beginning about 1962.
 It’s very similar to a national death index for the
United States and contains 90 million records.

71. Social Security Death Index
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a database
of people whose deaths were reported to the Social
Security Administration (SSA) beginning about 1962.
 It’s very similar to a national death index for the
United States and contains 90 million records.

72. Native American Genealogy
The National Archives holds information about American
Indians includes Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
pictures school records and allotment records.
Index to the Applications Submitted for the Eastern Cherokee
Roll of 1909 (Guion Miller Roll) includes the names of all
persons applying for compensation arising from the
judgment of the United States Court of Claims
The Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Creek, and Seminole

73. Native American Genealogy Con’t
“Dawes Rolls” also known as Index to the Final Rolls of
Citizens & Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian
Territory(Oklahoma)
Lists individual who chose to enroll and were approved for
membership in the Five Civilized Tribes.
Enrollment began in 1896 and ended in 1906
Native American Gateway- is a resource for those
exploring First Nations family history.

74. Native Americans in the Census
1880 Census of Indians, Not Taxed
1880 Native American Census special census
1885-1940 Indian Census rolls
1850-1885 Census Mortality Schedules useful for tracing
genetic symptoms and diseases and verifying and
documenting African American, Chinese and Native American
ancestry.

75. Native Americans Census Cont’d
 1898-1906 Indian Census Cards Index was compiled by the Dawes
Commission
 1910 Census, a special Indian schedule, found at the end of regular
population schedules for some counties
 1910-1939 Indian School Census – The Bureau of Indian Affairs

76. Resources
 NARA National Archives Native American Heritage
http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/
 Oklahoma Historical Society
http://www.okhistory.org/research/genealogy
 African-Native American Genealogy-useful information for tracing native
American and Black ancestry
http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/
 Archive Grid - Access to primary source information, including birth and
death records, ship logs, and cemetery records.
 NCpedia- NCpedia is an online encyclopedia. Its purpose is to highlight
North Carolina's unique resources, people, and culture to enrich, educate,
and inform.
 African American Gateway – includes information from the United States,
Canada, and the Caribbean. Bibliography created by Allen County Public
Library Genealogy Center

77. North Carolina
 Commission on Indian Affairs has resources for Indian tribes in North Carolina
 State Library of North Carolina Government and Heritage Library. Offers extensive
resources onsite and online. You can get some materials through interlibrary loan,
through your library.
 Public libraries in North Carolina

78. NC Resources
 American Slave Narratives – From 1936 to 1938, over 3,200 former slave from
across the American South. These are the actual interviews.
 Ancestry Library aka Ancestry.com
 NC ECHO Online access to special collection libraries in North Carolina
 Digital NC –culture and heritage of NC from across the state
 Archive Grid - Access to primary source information, including birth and death
records, ship logs, and cemetery records.
 Sanborn Maps North Carolina – large scale plans of a city or town. Created to assist
fire insurance companies as they assessed the risk associated with insuring a
property.

79. Additional Records
 Account books
 Baby books
 Citizenship papers
 Employment records
 Farm records
 Health or medical records
 Journals and diaries
 Military files, medals
 School records, yearbooks diplomas,
report cards.etc
 Photograph albums
 Scrapbooks
 Family Bibles
 Heirlooms get history
 Letters
 Memorial Cards
 Oral traditions
 Social Security Cards

80. Challenges
 Some people may find it difficult to find information on their families
 Census records only list head of household prior to 1850
 Spelling often inconsistent
 Recent immigrants
 Adoptees

81. Questions?
 Feel free to contact us if you have questions later
 Jamane Yeager
 Electronic Access Librarian
 jyeager@elon.edu