Family History and Genealogy

One of my many hobbies is family research and genealogy both for my own family and others'. You can find my blog posts and results at Farbrente Research.

Family Tree

I maintain a complete family tree in Family Tree Maker 2019 and synchronize it from time to time with Ancestry. The full tree is not perfect, but there are conflicting records for a number of individuals and many of the distant/extended family records are assuming correct information in other individuals' trees.

My research focus, when I have time to research is on a handful of main areas, strongly tied to DNA-based genealogy:

  • Finding and mapping genetic links on my mother's Snider/Nickelberg side as much of the family history information was lost upon departure from Europe in the early decades of the 20th century. With this side of my family I have already worked to build an extensive Snider tree (though it stops at Poltava, Russia/Ukraine), but the Nickelberg side has very little information and few records.
  • Finding cousins on my mother's Lichstein/Rotenberg side. I have established some wonderful cousin connections on this side and look forward to future discoveries.
  • Unearthing the true history of the Burrell/Kimes lines. There is a well-known tree for this line but some remaining controversies over its accuracy. Through DNA triangulation of distant relatives I have been working to confirm the tree. I have also been given a pile of letters and historical documents by a relative that I have yet to find time to work through.

A privatized GEDCOM of my main tree (no details for living relatives or private facts) is available for download here (14MB, 810k compressed). Additionally, I have a collaborative tree of just the Snider family on Ancestry, but it remains private due to misuse of information by overly hopeful researchers.

Much of the data has been shared publicly on WikiTree, FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and other sites.

DNA Kits

My mother, Korrine Lytestone, and my father, Leland Burrell, are both departed and I manage the DNA kit for my mother on sites like Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and GEDmatch. If you find you have a close connection, let me know!

  • 23andMe Kit: Aria Burrell
  • Ancestry Kit: Aria Burrell (name appears on site if you match)
  • Ancestry Kit: Korrine Lytestone (name appears on site if you match)
  • FamilyTreeDNA Kit: Aria Burrell (name appears on site if you match)
  • FamilyTreeDNA Kit: Korrine Lytestone (name appears on site if you match)
  • GEDmatch Kit for Aria Burrell: VG629742C1 (combined autosomal kit)
  • GEDmatch Kit for Korrine Lytestone (mother): SK4247711 (Ancestry kit)
  • mitoYDNA mtDNA Kit for Aria Burrell: T15688

I work through DNA matches using painting and clustering techniques.

Memorials

Through the Find-a-Grave site, I have built and maintain a number of memorials for my relatives both close and distant. I eventually plan to set up memorial pages on my own site, free from ads and noise.

You can find my Find-a-Grave profile here. Below are the memorial citations for my father and mother.