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genealogy of the wheeler and blaase families

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Helena "Nellie" (O'Donnell) Hetherington

“What is Forensic Genealogy?”
The word “forensic” means “relating to the use of science or technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence.” In this case, forensic would mean to use science or technology in addition to traditional records. In short, Forensic Genealogy is the use of something OTHER THAN standard records to add to your family history.

This is not to say that forensic genealogists ignore the records. Quite the contrary. Forensic genealogists always start with the available records. If those records are insufficient to prove a relationship, the forensic genealogist then looks for other clues. In other words, forensic genealogists think differently.

Heritage Forensics offers the following definition:

Forensic Genealogy is the use of science or technology by investigation through due diligence to establish facts or evidence in a court of law that pertains to a direct descendant; creating a record, pedigree, or lineage of a person, family, or group from an ancestor.

The term “forensic genealogy” is often misused as part of heir searches: finding heirs who stand to inherit property or goods left by a deceased individual. Actually, heir searchers often do use forensic genealogy to locate heirs, but the terms are otherwise unrelated. Forensic genealogy can be applied to almost all genealogy studies, whether heirs are involved or not.

Forensic genealogists will digitally scan old photos and then magnify them greatly or use photo editing software to emphasize certain colors to find details not otherwise visible. Don’t know where the photograph was taken of the old automobile? Scan the picture at very high resolution, and then see if you can decode the license plate information. How about a distant sign in the background? What is unique in the photo?

Would you like to determine the date of an old photograph so that you can find approximate dates of birth of the family members in the photo? If the photographer has his studio name on the photo, you might research the years he was in business.

When you cannot determine the ancestry of some individuals, you start researching the relationships of the person’s neighbors. Families often lived close to each other. Sooner or later, you will often find a connection.

You can find several definitions online; most of them are similar to each other. Forensic genealogists look “beyond the records” to gather all available clues.

[This article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.]

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27 Sep 2009 - Added a whole new look to my site.

14 Jan 2011 - Upgraded TNG to v. 8.1.

17 Jun 2011 - Upgraded TNG to v. 8.1.2.1.

Kansas and Iowa State Census Records Added -
Many new records have been added for our ancestors who lived in Kansas between 1855-1925 and Iowa between 1836-1925.