This book aims to help genealogists at every level learn to trace descendants of ancestors, both direct line and collateral. With step-by-step guidance, methodologies, and practical examples, this guide will give you the tools and confidence to find and make meaningful connections with living family members. In fact, finding living relatives isn’t all that different from tracing your direct-line ancestors and their families. The same skills apply—researching, organizing information, and following clues—but with a focus on connecting the past to the present. This process, known as reverse genealogy, involves creating a detailed family tree, identifying relatives down both ancestral and collateral lines, and using modern tools to track them down.

Cheri Hudson Passey is a professional genealogist, instructor, writer, speaker, and owner of Carolina Girl Genealogy, LLC. She hosts the “GenFriends Genealogy Chat Show on YouTube, where she and a panel of professional genealogists meet weekly to discuss all things genealogy. Cheri began working as a genealogist researcher subcontracted by Eagle Investigative Services, Inc., for the US Army Past Conflict Reparations Branch in 2018. She uses her skills to identify and locate the next of kin, along with YDNA and mtDNA candidates for the families of World War II soldiers who are listed as missing in action. The goal is to use DNA to positively identify remains and, with the permission of next of kin, bring our war heroes home.

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In all, the six volumes contain upwards of 24,000 genealogical sketches. They are arranged alphabetically, and each fact cited therein includes the source of the information. While a minority of the entries are only a few lines long, they, nonetheless, place a pioneer in time and space. Most of the sketches, however, are paragraphs in length, and many are much longer. Here’s a sample entry:

DODMAN, John 2 – WC (1661-63); son of Jn. DODMAN 1 and Elizabeth DEATH (see Jn. DODMAN 1); wit., Jas. CUDWORTH of Newport in [Rhode] Island in the province of Providence, atty. of Wm. BENTON of Roade Island, merch., per virtue of attornyship dtd. 12 Sep 1661, discharge of Dan. HUTT of WC from all transactions, 11 Oct 1661 (WC Deeds Etc 1661-62:55 (53)); on jury that tried case of BUTLER vs. LETTSUM, 29 Apr 1663 (WCOB 1662-54:12) [Named as a son of Jn. & Eliz. (DEATH) DODMAN in the will of Rich. DEATH, Isle of Wight co., 3 Mar 1647 (Isle of Wight Will Book A:17)]

As Mr. Headley writes in the Introduction, there are “stories of great heroism and horrible cruelty, of financial disasters, of great successes, of vicious feuds, of husbands deserting wives and wives deserting husbands, of marriages, births, and funerals, of doctors, blacksmiths, carpenters, ministers, merchants, rogues, scoundrels, and above all planters. . . . Sometimes we see a slice of a person’s life—a few years and then nothing—and occasionally we can follow a person’s entire life from birth to death. . . .  At the very least, this work can provide a guide to locate records about an individual.”

In the Methodology section at the front of each volume, Mr. Headley explains the approach he took in compiling his database, as well as how he addressed the problems associated with 17^th-century spelling and name variants. Extensive appendices appear at the back each volume, covering the project’s sources, bibliography, list of abbreviations, name variants, and placenames. Each volume is fully indexed. The volumes may be purchased as a complete set or volume by volume, according to the following alphabetical sequence: Volume One, A-C; Volume Two, D-G; Volume Three, H-L; Volume Four, M-Q; Volume Five, R-T; and Volume Six, U-Z.

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Mr. MacEntee starts with general information about AI and gradually drills down to its application to genealogy. First, comes a discussion of different AI platforms, such as ChatGPT, which is capable of producing human-like text based on mere fragments of information. AI capabilities can also significantly enhance genealogical research by providing detailed and accurate family histories, streamlining the research processes, and improving the overall family history experience. Here are just a few AI applications for genealogy currently in use:

• Automated Record Matching: AI algorithms quickly analyze large volumes of historical records, identifying matches and connections that might be missed by human researchers.
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR): AI-powered OCR converts scanned documents, such as old handwritten records, into searchable and editable text, making historical data more accessible.
• DNA Analysis: AI analyzes DNA test results, identifies genetic matches, and infers ancestral origins.
• Recommendation Systems: AI suggests potential relatives, documents, or records based on user data and search history, making the research process more intuitive.

The balance of this guide discusses some of the cautionary issues associated with AI. Among them are matters of fair use, and proper source citation. The author then cites a number of pros and cons. On the positive side, AI can establish family connections far faster than humans, whether by translating, transcribing, analyzing, or assimilating it. Conversely, users of AI will may find it difficult to determine the source of AI-driven data, contend with bias, risk copyright infringement, violate other persons’ privacy, and fail to detect false information.

It concludes with a glossary of technical terms users will encounter when using this brave new technology.

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By the late seventeenth century there were hundreds of baronies in Scotland; however, in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745-1746, the British government enacted the Heritable Jurisdiction Act of 1747, which reduced the powers of barons and the nobility in general.

For this work, Mr. Dobson has traced the origin and line of descent of nearly 1,000 Scottish baronies and baronetcies, including some whose progeny eventually moved to the Americas. In assembling this unprecedented collection, Mr. Dobson consulted numerous primary and secondary sources. His principal source was the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland from about the year 1320. This required him to examine over 20,000 documents written in Latin. Typical of these descriptions is the following one for Hector McLean, Baron of Duart:

MCLEAN OF DUART IN ARGYLL. On 9 January 1540, King James V granted several properties in Inverness-shire incorporated into the Barony of Duart to Hector McLean, son and heir apparent of Hector McLean of Duart; on 12 November 1542 King James V granted Hector McLean, son and heir apparent of Hector McLean of Duart, the lands and Barony of Duart; on 4 February 1549, Queen Mary granted Hector McLean of Duart the lands and Barony of Ardgour in Inverness-shire; John McLean, alias Makaleer, a merchant in Gothenborg, Sweden, was enobled there in 1649, and later was created a Baronet by King Charles II during his exile, McLean died in Gothenborg when his son Sir John McLean succeeded to the title. Sir Hector McLean, son of Sir John McLean, a Jacobite who fought at the Battles of Killiecrankie and at Sheriffmuir. [An Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Gille Eoin meaning ‘son of the servant of John’, examples date from the thirteenth century.] [John McLean, a rebel, was transported to Jamaica in 1685, while Donald McLean, a merchant, died in St Augustine in 1778.] [The Jacobite Peerage, Edinburgh, 1904].

The work includes a list of principal sources and an appendix consisting of Scots-Irish baronetcies established in Ireland and in the New World.

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