Mother’s Day is a good time to remember your maternal line

Mother’s Day is a good time for us genealogists to honor our direct maternal line by sharing information with relatives.

I was lucky to know my mother’s mother and my maternal great-grandmother, Jennie Hudson Russell, who lived until 1960. Just before she died, Jennie Russell was interviewed by my mother, and some of my earliest genealogy clues came from the information she gathered.

If you are going to have lunch with your mother or grandmother, think about asking her about her ancestors. A recent Ancestry.com survey revealed that many people didn’t know their four grandparents, so focus on sharing information about your maternal line, whether from memory or from research, with your near kin. If you can include photographs with your research, it helps relatives put a face to a name. I have a photograph of my great-grandmother’s mother, who died in 1917. Before that, there are no photos of the direct female line.

FamilyTreeDNA.com offers a mitochondrial DNA test so you can have information on your direct female line on record. While it is not as helpful as the Y-DNA test for the male line, the mtDNA is good to have. I have traced on paper my direct female line back to Franklin County, North Carolina, in the early 1700s. Before that, we assume they came from southern Virginia, but can’t yet prove it.

You should also share with family members photographs and research on your female relatives on your father’s side. The goal is to make sure these women are not forgotten by the family, especially on Mother’s Day.

Freedmen’s Bureau records guide

The May/June issue of Family Tree Magazine, on newsstands now, has a good seven-page article about how to use the Freedmen’s Bureau records, with examples shown. It’s certainly worth checking out.

Find a Grave policies

Findagrave.com has some new policies. Be sure you check them out and that you learn how to update or perhaps manage any gravesites of your ancestors.