Emily Aulicino
Emily is the regional coordinator and speaker for the International Society of Genetic Genealogists (ISOGG) for Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and is the administrator of several DNA projects.
EA: Thank you for the opportunity to share my
experiences with your readers. MFT: What got you interested in Genealogy and family
research? EA: I have always had a healthy curiosity about my
family's stories as well as an interest in history and traveling. When I
considered having a family, knowing I would not be living near relatives, I
became interested in researching my heritage to pass down the family
information to my children. About forty years ago I was living in the
Chicago area when I ordered my grandmother Emily's death certificate and found
she was born in Illinois. After reading the county history at a local library, I
wrote the historical society who had a collection of glass plate negatives from
the mid 1800s. The person who replied was a genealogical cousin, and I received
several photos of my ancestors including my great-great grandmother Emily, the
first in a series of three Emily’s, I being the third with each of us being
named after our grandmother. Until this find, I had no idea this was the
situation. I was hooked and have been researching and traveling ever since. MFT: In your opinion, what are the 3 best genealogy
websites for research purposes?
I do, however, use
Ancestry.com
for the primary documents (actual copies of
the records) they have, but only use the transcribed records as clues. Sadly,
the indexes and transcriptions are inaccurate at times and never seem to be
corrected. I also use Heritage Quest with the same approach. Both of
these or any other online resources are limited in their scope and do not
pertain to the time periods I currently need. MFT: You have traveled in and out of country to
research family history, are there many things that are just impossible to find
online? EA: Most records are not on the internet. Most everything I need at this point is nearly impossible to find online, especially as my ancestors came to America so early. The documents I need here and for places across the pond are not available from my computer. It is easier to either travel to the desired location or to write someone to check city directories or some unique record at a court house. In some cases the records do not exist, but from time to time more are discovered in someone's attic or in a courthouse basement. I find that much more can be found in traveling to the areas where my family lived than just reading information in a record. The estate papers of an ancestor who died intestate were found in a historical society rather than a court house. This would have not been known without getting to know the people in the area. As a result, I now have all the signatures of the heirs as they were required in order to receive their inheritance. I have been able to locate an ancestral home in Wales in the
early 1600s and have stayed there. I have found castles my ancestors build,
although now in ruins. I have read primary documents written on sheep skin
which were 400 years old. I have walked the land my ancestors walked and knelt
beside their graves. I have experienced the cultures in which my ancestors were
raised. There is more to genealogy than names, dates, and places.
EA: I'm a retired teacher and know that not only teaching
family history instills pride when children realize their ancestors helped
make our culture what it is today. Researching the family’s heritage
enhances the child's interest in history which translates into better grades in
school and a better respect for our country and our culture. In college, as a
history major, I preferred European history, but when I began my genealogical
research, American history had so much more meaning for me. MFT: When researching family history, what are the biggest challenges you have faced?
The shear numbers in this family is daunting as in one family there were eighteen single births in the very early 1800s, all living to adulthood. To bring all these lines to the 1900s is a major undertaking.
The next challenge is my dead-end lines. Of course we all
reach brick walls in our research due to the lack of available paper records,
but now with DNA testing possible some of those walls will crumble. Even
with DNA testing there is a need for quality research, but with out testing, I
would get nowhere. MFT: Have you ever taken a DNA test for genealogical
purposes? EA: Absolutely! Genetic genealogy is the most
accurate tool a researcher has. I have been able to prove and disprove
family lines, find new cousins with whom to research, and break through some
brick walls where the paper trail had ended. Sadly, one line I disproved was
after I had spent hundreds of dollars researching and before genetic testing was
available. I won't make that mistake again! DNA test first! (Emily has aligned herself with Family Tree DNA) I now run twelve DNA projects including the entire
country of Ireland with over 3,000 tested participants. I have the help of
two wonderful administrators who live in Ireland. Thankfully, some of my other
projects are smaller. We have had some wonderful success in determining who is
related and who is not. It has straightened out some lines where the paper work
gave false leads, reinforced some theories on who is or isn’t related, and made
us all realize that genetic testing is greatly beneficial to our research. MFT: These were amazing answers to my questions. I appreciate your time, and our readers will appreciate your knowledge about Genealogy and Genetics. I requested this interview because of your extensive knowledge with DNA Genealogy. Emily is the Northwest Regional Coordinator and Speaker for
ISOGG (www.isogg.org) To learn more about the wonderful Genealogy and DNA services Emily provides click on her name. Emily Aulicino -OR-
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Emily
Aulicino has researched her lineage for over thirty-five years,
traveling to various U.S. states, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy in the
hunt for ancestors. She is a retired teacher with an undergraduate degree in
history and a master’s in education. 
