How long have you been on WikiTree and what brought you here?
I joined WikiTree just over a year ago. I had been doing some work through the FTDNA Myers Surname y-DNA project with Eric Myers. We were trying to work out whether y-DNA data could support the published family trees which traced his Meyer family back to the Swiss Anabaptists of the 16th century. We agreed that we needed a shared platform to track our research, and after some investigation Eric decided that Wikitree looked good. I took some convincing, I was worried about having everything out in public where anyone could edit it - but I realised quickly that my concerns were unfounded. I love it now, it’s such a great way of collecting, sharing, comparing and discussing information, and I’ve moved most of my research across to Wikitree, not just the Swiss Anabaptist Meyer families.
What do you spend the most time doing on WikiTree?
Building out patrilineal and matrilineal lines in the hope of finding people who might be willing to consider DNA testing. That and sourcing - you just can’t have too many sources.
Which project or projects are you most involved in?
I’m involved in a few different projects. The big three are the Palatine Migration Project, the Ireland Project, and the Quakers Project. I probably spend the most time in the Palatine Migration Project. There are a lot of profiles which have been created as part of unsourced gedcom uploads, and so I try to tidy them up and find sources. And, because most of the profiles are for people who lived around 1700, many have sources which give conflicting information, so I try to reconcile them and work out where any misconceptions might have come from.
I also run a couple of informal projects with Eric Myers. One is the “Baschi Meyer Project” which focuses on the family of Baschi Meyer and his wife, Otilla Mueller, who lived in Switzerland in the early 17th century and who were persecuted for their Anabaptist faith. Other researchers had put together an extensive family tree detailing the Meyer descendants who were believed to have emigrated to Pennsylvania. Those researchers relied on shipping lists and land records, and made a few educated guesses which were not unreasonable at the time. However, the y-DNA data shows that this “family” actually comprises at least three completely unrelated Meyer families. So our next step is to try to work out which, if any, of them might have been related to Baschi and Otilla - which has led to our very new “Swiss Anabaptist Immigrants” Project.
How can others help that project?
I’m on a bit of a crusade at the moment to trace the women who came with the Palatine Migration. So often I see instances where the husband’s profile will have all the immigration details and the land purchases and the names of the children - and then the wife’s profile will say, “We don’t know much about her.” Actually, we know everything about her that we know about her husband, although we might be missing her birth surname. And of course the sons, who carry the surname and own land and pay taxes, are much more easily traced, but the daughters are often overlooked. It would be wonderful to see more women’s profiles more thoroughly researched.
What inspires you to contribute so much of yourself to WikiTree's mission?
Honestly, it’s just an endless and intricate jigsaw puzzle, and I love puzzles.
What is your favorite feature or function on WikiTree?
I’m still working out so many of the features and functions, I don’t think I make the most of all the different capabilities on the platform. I really like the “DNA Descendants” tool which shows who has inherited the different sorts of DNA from any given person. In the past I’ve spent ages drawing up charts to keep track of the patrilineal descendants (for y-DNA purposes) and the matrilineal descendants (for mt-DNA purposes), and I love being able to just hit the button on anyone's family tree page and see immediately where the possibilities for further research and DNA testing are.
Do you have a story about how you were helped through the work of others on WikiTree?
Working with the Palatine Migration Project led me to the realisation that my Irish Meyers ancestors, who were Quakers and whose y-DNA is Germanic, were quite likely also Palatine migrants … I had never heard of Irish Palatines up until then, and so this has opened up a whole new avenue of research for me.
Do you have any tips for someone who wants to get more involved in our community?
I’d highly recommend joining a Project. It’s brilliant to be engaged with a group of people who are interested in the same things that you’re interested in, who can understand and sympathise with the research problems that you have, and who just might have a snippet of information or advice that makes all the difference to your research. I’ve learned heaps from the people in the Palatine Migration, Ireland and Quaker projects, and am so grateful to have “met” them through the WikiTree community. Whatever your goals, everything is better with community.
