Extreme Genes - America's Family History And Genealogy Radio Show & Podcast

Imagine a library that stores billions of webpages from sites that no longer exist, and digitized texts of millions of books and other assets. It’s not in Greece, and it costs you nothing to visit.

There’s a time for collecting and a time for distributing. While you’re still here, it’s time you figure out how that’s going to happen. Fisher shares some thoughts on protecting your life’s family history work.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org.  The guys begin Family Histoire News with an incredible new discovery about the family of Leonard da Vinci. David has details. Then, it’s a new web project tracking the movement of the enslaved of South Carolina. SoldDownRiver.com is doing great work in identifying those who were enslaved and sold out of their families. A new organization is coming together to recognize descendants of those with ties to the Boston Tea Party. David explains. Canadians are rejoicing in anticipation of the release of the 1931 Canadian census coming out in June. And the New York Times has written about the “DNA of a Donkey!” It has been learned that our earliest form of transportation goes back 5,000 years! Finally, we sadly announce the passing of Pearl Harbor survivor, Jack Holder, who recently passed at the age of 101. Hear Fisher’s 2021 interview with Jack next week. Then, w

Genealogy and family history, believe it or not, are actually defined very differently. Hear why the two terms are not the same.

Wondering why you can’t always find articles you believe should be there in a digitized newspaper? Here are some tricks for squeezing it all out of digitized newspapers!

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. Fisher begins discussing his recent 3D printing project, by which he recreated the 1856 New York City volunteer firemen’s badge, number 1475, lost by his great grandfather. Andrew Fisher ran an ad in the New York Daily Herald on March 19 of that year seeking its return. Fisher explains the process and the cost. David then sends out 104th birthday greetings to the last surviving pilot of the Battle of Britain. Hear his story. Then, a new theory is out there on the true identity of Jack the Ripper! Could they have it right this time? Another previously unidentified victim of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has been laid to rest. David will tell you his story. Meanwhile, in Canada, researchers are combing through remains of a cholera cemetery that has burials from the 1830s and the 1850s. And finally, an ancient Iranian language, dating from between 200 BC a

If you’ve ever dug into Swedish ancestry, you know the issue. Tons of people have the same name and live in the same places. Well, Swedish Church records can at least help a little in sorting out which Hans Olsen might be yours. Fisher explains.

Two key census record sets were destroyed in Ireland in 1922, but some of that information was preserved in another way. Fisher explains why your ancestors’ data from those census records may still be available.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys begin Family Histoire News with word of the identification of the remains of a World War II soldier who died in Italy. It has taken 79 years. David shares details. Then, “Ava” is back in the news. She is the Bronze Age Scottish woman whose face has now been brought back to life! Hear what was done. The Times-Union of Brooklyn has an article about how New York’s state government still hasn’t escaped the onslaught of genealogical record requests from during the pandemic. Find out how far behind they are. In Oregon, it has been learned that people were living there some 18,000 years ago… as were North American camels. Honest! And finally, there has been quite the discovery in Israel having to do with something Egyptian. Hear what it’s about. Next, from sponsor Legacy Tree Genealogists, Melanie Torres joins the show and talks about German research. No! M

Within the United States, it was not uncommon for churches to give a “letter of transfer” to a member of their congregation who is moving to a new location. But sometimes they came with immigrants from across the ocean. What can this mean to you? Fisher explains.

Obituaries often reveal connections to the Free Masons. If you have an ancestor that belonged to this organization, his membership application may provide great information on him. Fisher has more.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys open the show talking about the first ten years of Extreme Genes. David then reveals more good news for Irish researchers. Next, in Family Histoire News, Stanford University has developed a new DNA analysis technique for African-American research. Then, a Kentucky cornfield has yielded some 700 gold Civil War era coins, and they’re still coming out the ground! David has more. The last slave ship, the Clotilda, is back in the news again. David shares details. And finally, this week marks the 50th anniversary of the fire in St. Louis that destroyed over 750 million records of 20th century US Army and Air Force service people. Fisher and David talk about the impact and how many of the records are being reconstructed.   Next, Your DNA Guide, Diahan Southard, joins the show to discuss the history of genetic genealogy over the last quarter century. She was

Slave research is hard enough, and this little nugget, unfortunately, might make it harder. Not all slave names come from the most recent slaveholder. Fisher shares some other possibilities.

The settling of the west wasn’t much unlike the settling of colonial America a century or two earlier. And as people came, more and more lines were drawn. Fisher shares just a few so you know what to look for as you consider your research strategy.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. David shares one of his great finds from his recent trip to Scotland. Then, in Family Histoire News, he begins with a story out of Spain about a half-millenium old find behind a wall in house! Hear what it is. Next, up in an attic, some pictures and film have been recovered, never before seen, of the Polish Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. David has details. In Uruguay, a large bronze eagle with the Nazi swastika has been recovered from the wreck of a Nazi ship. Find out what the government is planning to do with it. David then talks about a fascinating story out recently about a man enslaved by George Washington. But he didn’t stay enslaved forever. David will explain what happened to Harry Washington. Then, another ghost vessel has appeared along the coast of England. Catch the details. Then, in two segments, Fisher visits with Dennis Culliton of Connecticut

War, population growth and shifting can all contribute to boundary changes. And boundary changes mean that, even if your ancestors stayed in the same place, their records could be hiding in many places.

Fisher had given up on finding the parents of an elusive ancestor when he took one last step before closing the book on the case. And it made all the difference in the world!

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England History Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. The guys open the show talking about a woman who was being eulogized who started knocking from inside her coffin! Catch the details. Then, hoping to bring his family closer together, you won’t believe what this one man did. He should probably be arrested. Talk about “Archive in the Attic,” we’ve got another winner! And it’s amazing the roof didn’t collapse! Ellis Island has come out with a report that likely explains why many of us can’t find our peoples’ immigration records from the late 1800s. In Germany, personal belongings of some Holocaust victims are finding their way back to their families. David explains. Then, in London another multi-millennia discovery has been made. Find out what it was. Next, Fisher begins his two-part visit with Michael Henderson of Atlanta, Georgia. As an African-American Creole from New Orleans, Michael took an early interest i

Females ancestors are sometimes difficult to find.  Fisher shares a few thoughts on other ways to look for them.

Struggling to figure out where your ancestor’s Social Security records went? They might not have been there at all because things were different before 1951!