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Ilcik


Thu 1/14/2021 7:01 PM

Beth,

Do you have a better picture of John Sr.’s gravestone, or did you see “Ilcik” during a visit to the cemetery? My eyes may be going the way of my hearing as I can’t see it on the photo at FindAGrave.

Are you ok with my reporting this as fact to the Ilcik’s and the MyCousins groups? It is a big scoop (attributable to you) and could ignite interest in a DNA test. What do you think?

John, IV

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Re: Ilcik

Thu 1/14/2021 10:46 PM
John,

 
I don’t have a picture of the gravestone, but I can send you the one Earl sent me.  It’ll be a different email address, one that I use for my personal emails.  You should be able to enlarge it.  That’s what I did, and I had to do it several times to see the letters.  I may go to the cemetery tomorrow to see if I can get a close-up.  The letters are raised rather than engraved.
 
It’s definitely OK to use the Ilcik spelling for both groups.  I’m not sure it’ll spark any interest in a DNA test.  If people want to do that, they would have already done it.  At least, that’s my feeling.  
 
You asked me about Jack’s DNA test.  I can’t find it.  I have mine, and his is MIA at the moment.  I’m so upset with myself.  I have lots of documents and Ancestry info for my family in my office, and it may be mixed up with that.  I’ll keep looking for it.
 
I’m switching to my email to send you the picture Earl sent me.
 
Stay tuned,
 
Beth
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Re: Ilcik

Fri 1/15/2021 11:55 PM

Beth,

Did you notice just how active Earl has been? Incredible work ethic.
Yes, that IS me. What can I say? Actually, I’m speechless. Wow.  I thought I wouldn’t be surprised again, at least not right away. The surprises keep coming.
  1. Great-grandfathers’ obituary.
  2. Great-grandfather’s gravesite and Ilcik connection.
  3. Your Byrus connection.
  4. Earl’s DNA revelation.
What is next?
What fun! And you are at the center of all these discoveries. 🎉🥳
Thank you!
John, IV
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Ancestry.com DNA Features

Tue 1/19/2021 5:57 AM

Beth,

I have discovered three interesting features on the Ancestry.com website under the DNA menu.
  1. Have you explored the ThruLines™ feature?  It creates what I would call a Surname Chart using photos if they are in your records. Better yet, click on an individual.  If there are DNA suggestions for that individual, you will see them on your Family Tree. Very cool feature!
  2. StoryScout has an awkward interface, but it produces some entertaining results. Please take a look at the stories it wrote for my grandparents.
  3. The Personal Discoveries Project is Free to use. They ask you to talk about yourself and your family through survey questions. They’re fun and easy to answer. They hope the questions will bring you a deeper understanding of yourself and your DNA family connections.
Curiosity killed the cat, and satisfaction brought it back.
John, IV
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Re: Reading Hard-To-Read Gravestones

Sun 1/24/2021 12:06 AM
Beth,
I just gave you access to the MyHeritage site, though I don’t know what that means. I’m still learning their system.
It isn’t as impressive as you might think when I tell you the back story.
MyHeritage was having a Good Friday discount on their already low price for a DNA Kit, and I figured why not.  I’m a researcher at heart and like comparing software products.
Shortly thereafter, I ran into a snag with their pricing. It turns out that you can create a free site for up to 250 people with a limit on storage space.  I complained that it did not include a family tree subscription. I could pay for a month or two, but they only sell a one-year subscription. Ouch!  I went on to say (truthfully) that I got 3 months of World Discover for #1 with my DNA kit at Ancestry.com.  I was nice about it, and they rewarded me with a couple of months of free access.  The big advantage of this was I took down my tree with 249 people and used a backup of my ancestry tree to create a new one. When my free trial is over, the side benefit is that while I won’t get any more hints, whatever I have created doesn’t go away.
Very nice of them.
The pictures are from my (new) Top 100 Photos folder. It is exclusively old, black-and-white photos. The neat thing for us is the MyHeritage system used the photo’s file name to create the description, saving me a lot of extra work. I created a few albums, and presto, I have magic. I also have played with their feature to identify people in photos.
The hints on the MyHeritage site work a little differently.  They are always trying to increase the number of people and/or storage that determines the annual subscription price. The Elsik Hint notably said it would add 12 people. Other hints have been offered to add 50-100 people at a time. I usually say yes.
Again, MyHeritage only has annual subscriptions. Without the “Christmas” present of a free 2-month subscription, none of this would have happened.
Two items of note:  First, I don’t keep the family tree on MyHeritage as up-to-date as Ancestry.com.  It is a GEDCOM snapshot, plus their separate HINTs. And secondly, they have their own software, which I can use to sync an offline copy. Again, I am a software addict.
I think that something like the Top 100 will be on the eBook website. I’m still investigating options to make the mycousins.org site special.
Enjoy!
John, IV
P.S. My Ancestry.com site is undergoing a dramatic increase in the number of photos and stories.  Rather than use my workaround to accept individual HINTS, I aggressively use public family trees to grow the site. Since I understand how the software operates (the behind-the-scenes programming), I can do so rather safely. I also know if I do create errors or duplicates, how to fix them.