2023 Genealogy Wish Grants Winner!

2023 Genealogy Wish Grants Winner!

The 2023 Genealogy Wish Grants Winner has just been announced! Congratulations to Linda Pollard of Virginia, who won this year for her double adoptee story/Brick Wall!

About This Year's Winner

​Linda Pollard has been researching her family history and genealogy for the past 20 years. She has been following Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family for close to 2 years, while being an active participant. Like many who have been working on their genealogy for decades, she has reached a brick wall that she just can’t seem to break through! 

A Tough Choice, Once Again

There were many entries for this year's second Genealogy Wish Grants! It was down to two compelling stories that made it a tough choice. Not only did Linda meet all the criteria to apply, but her mystery was intriguing as well.

This Year's Story Entry

“I am the daughter of a deceased male adoptee (J) who was born in 1929 and we now know was the son of a female adoptee (F). I am trying to find a living descendant of the man named my paternal grandfather (R) to see if the family has any photos or can provide documentation of this man’s life. Or maybe they want to be in my life, one can hope. I am also trying to learn more about my paternal great grandmother (L), who disappears after 1910. I can’t find a birth certificate for my paternal grandmother nor her sister (E) and brother (D). I’d like to be able to say all three children were the offspring of my paternal great grandmother and great grandfather (G). He was married to someone else (O) but had no children with her. The three children disappear from records and the two girls separately appear with 1) an aunt and 2) another family and then one of the girls, my grandmother, is adopted out of the family. The births were 1901-1907. She is listed as divorced with three children, none of whom are living with her. I have taken a DNA test at both Ancestry and 23andMe and uploaded to the others, but I am not familiar with how to process matches at the other sites.

My sister (N) and my father’s newfound maternal half-sister (M) have tested as well as the half-sister’s niece. I found a match on 23and me that didn’t make sense and after speaking with her I had her father (CJ) tested. I need to know what relation he is to my dad. My mother is deceased as never tested but her half nephew (WE) did so that has helped me sort matches. Because she was an only child and her father had other children, I have a match that helps me identify my mother’s paternal line.

I have a lot of mystery matches. One female match (JB) is also adopted and knows who her father is but not her mother. We are related by her maternal and my paternal lineage. I have access to her DNA results. I have access to my dad’s half-sister’s (M) results, my sister’s results (N), and this new male match (Cj)on my dad’s paternal side.

I’m a good researcher but I don’t know a lot about cMs and how to title how I’m related to people by the numbers. Dad’s half-sister (M) has turned over her mother’s (F, who we now know was also my dad’s mother) personal letters from her birth father (G), her sister (E), and her paternal grandmother(S). I’m cataloging those now to fill in some blanks. None of the letters mention my father’s father (R), my father’s maternal grandmother (L), nor my father (J).

I would love to be considered for your grant. My parents are gone, and I have only my little family of three. It’s up to me to build this tree, verify all the sources, and pass it down to my child and her four cousins. Thank you for considering my request.”- Linda Pollard

Thank You

Thank you to all of this year's first Genealogy Wish Grants applicants! I hope you all continue to follow and participate! Don't forget to apply to Genealogy Wish Grants 2024, details coming soon! The entry start date will be posted on my Facebook Page, my Facebook Group, my blog, and on the Genealogy Wish Grants page, so stay tuned!