I know, I know. I made a big deal about the cousins chart way back when, when I first started trying to build my family tree. And it is helpful. I don’t mean to dis’ it. But I hit a roadblock. I need to go back a little ways. On January 8, in my post Honigs, Saltzmans, Schwartzes. Oh My, …

In researching my family history through U.S. censuses, I’ve occasionally come across people residing with a family who are not related to each other. They are usually listed as lodgers, roomers, or boarders. Coincidentally, two of my great grandfathers were listed as boarders or lodgers at one point on U.S. censuses, albeit, in very different circumstances. My birth mother’s grandfather, Watson James Milligan was born in Utica, New York, in 1874 to James Milligan, born in Scotland, and Sarah Batshelar, born in Utica.

My husband, the mensch that he is, forwarded an email to me a few months ago from the Jewish Council of Lake Norman. I know what you’re thinking. There’s a Jewish Council of Lake Norman? There is! We were about to move to Lake Norman, and he thought I would be interested in attending a meeting on exploring your Jewish family history and digging up your roots.

You would have to be living under a rock the last few weeks to not know that 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy. The writing had been on the wall for a while (See my post, “The Ups and Downs of Forensic Genealogy,” in December 2024). Every article in response to the bankruptcy announcement included the same action item for people who had sent their saliva to the company: Delete your DNA profile NOW!

I know. I disappeared for a while. I'm sorry. I was moving and thought I would be able to keep up with my weekly posts. Alas, I could not. It was an exhausting, emotional time, packing up the home I have lived in for 28 years with my husband. It's where we raised our two children. Needless to say, there was a lot to pack up!

The sun starts to set in the sky. Dusk approaches. In the distance we hear my mother calling me to come home for dinner. We stand up from the curb we’ve been sitting on for the past ½ hour. Our bikes strewn on the grass behind us. Just talking. About everything and nothing. Recapping the day spent in and out of neighborhood houses, riding to and from the candy store, playing kick the can in the cul-de-sac.

I’m sure this isn’t a shock to those that follow this blog on a regular basis, but it is not topical. It’s pretty niche. I don’t write about the latest in current events, and I’m not going to now. But my post is in response to something that recently happened. I’m not going to name names. This person has received way more press than he deserves.

I have pale skin and light green eyes. I tend to burn if I go out in the sun without sunscreen, except for my arms. I look exactly like someone with mostly English, Irish, Scottish, and German DNA in them. I am also 4% Indigenous American/Mexican and 4% Spanish. This DNA comes from my paternal grandmother Josephine. Her mother Ramona was Mexican.

Putting a pin in the Honigs after struggling to find any connection to Sofia Schwartz or Christeen Milligan/Baker, I turn my focus to other Jewish last names that occur multiple times in my DNA matches. Keeping to my 3rd cousin rule, I click on Roger Schindler, my ½ 3rd cousin 1x removed or 4th cousin. His mother is listed as Edith Astrachan.

We’re going to take a break from our regular search this week. (Read: I will give you a break from reading about my rambling searches through DNA databases. You’re welcome.) While I was packing up my office, I came across some adoption papers I had found when cleaning out my parents’ house. Included in those papers was information regarding how much it cost to adopt me.

Someone kindly and correctly pointed out to me that my last blog post was confusing. I agree. It was confusing to me when I was doing the actual search and years later as I am putting it all down on paper. I mentioned in an earlier post (Day 253) that I relied on a Cousin Chart when I was searching for my birth mother.

Since I started my search, Ancestry has made upgrades to its platform. Now, you can search on just one side of your family, separating results by parent. Since I know my birth mother’s side is where my Jewish heritage is, I now limit my searches to her (Parent 1). That is still 28,065 DNA matches, so not a simple task. But it does guarantee that anybody I find (or at least half of them) will probably have Jewish DNA and hopefully be related to the Schwartzes I’m desperate to find.

As if you couldn’t tell already, I’m dedicated to my ancestry search. Not only am I constantly on the hunt for close biological family but I honestly enjoy genetic genealogy. Estimating ethnic makeup, learning where ancestors may have come from, understanding relationships between families. It’s fascinating. Even when I find out that someone I’m researching isn’t really related to me, I don’t feel like I’ve wasted my time.

I was scrolling the Internet as one is want to do when I came across an article about a 40 year old cold case solved with DNA submitted to a private company. The 1980 murder of Helene Pruszynski. It’s not a new case, so I’m not sure why it popped up, but I was hooked. Immediately following the murder, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado had a sketch of a suspect and very little evidence.

January 6, 2021 The Search for Schwartz On November 13, 2020, 23andMe updates my DNA matches and reveals a second cousin once removed, Julia Liskowitz, who seems to be related to me on my mother’s side. As I’ve mentioned before, 23andme doesn’t have links to any historical documents. It relies on the information provided by its participants. Julia hasn’t included any information about her ancestors, so I consider it a dead end.

I am here, I am here I've already seen the bottom, so there's nothing to fear Know that I'll be ready when the devil is near 'Cause I am here, I am here All of this wrong, but I'm still right here I don't have the answers, but the question is clear - Pink April 4, 2019 Putting a Pin in it…