DavisDNA and Family Research

DavisDNA and Family Research Need help with a Family Tree research project or understanding your DNA results? We have loads of e

04/11/2026
04/11/2026

Are you overlooking the legal notices in your ancestor’s local newspaper? These gems can provide the missing link in your research. Judy G. Russell shows us exactly what to look for and how the law worked in our favor to create these records. Free through April 15th

04/11/2026

All of the 2026 APG Professional Development webinars have now been scheduled and are on the calendar!

Our popular monthly webinars cover topics of interest to professional genealogists, with a focus on tools and best practices for running a successful genealogy business.

For details and to see the lineup visit the APG website and go to News and Events > Event Calendar.

04/11/2026

Did you know that during WWII, Luxembourg’s railway heart was a primary Allied target?

To cripple the N**i war machine, Allied bombers focused on the Luxembourg City marshalling yards. These "Gare" raids were a double-edged sword: they successfully cut off German reinforcements and supplies heading to the front, but they also left deep scars on the city and its people. https://f3.social/6yd4

04/11/2026

Our first Tier 1 webinar is now live on YouTube! 🎉

Join GEDmatch Product Manager Tom Osypian and genetic genealogist Ryan Russell as they walk through everything you need to know about the One-to-Many tool — GEDmatch's home base for DNA research.

In this webinar you'll learn:
🔹 How to read every column in your One-to-Many match list
🔹 How to use Multi-Kit Analysis, the A-Matrix, and Tag Groups to organize your matches
🔹 10 practical strategies for figuring out how you're related to mystery matches
🔹 The differences between Free and Tier 1 One-to-Many features

Whether you're brand new to GEDmatch or a long-time Tier 1 member, there's something here for you.

This webinar was free and open to everyone — but future monthly webinars in this series will be exclusive to Tier 1 members. Next month: "From Segments to Stories: Turning DNA Data into Ancestral Discoveries," covering Segment Search and Triangulation.

👉 Watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgPRq_9ud0

Not a Tier 1 member yet? It's just $10/month or $100/year. Log in to your GEDmatch account to upgrade and join us for the next one!

04/11/2026

What's the most unusual wedding you've been to? In 1930, Katie Wilson and Joe Gutrick got married at the bottom of a hotel swimming pool in Los Angeles! Newspapers of the time declared it was the first underwater wedding in the United States.

The bride and groom wore traditional wedding attire topped with diving helmets. The minister went underwater too.

A little more digging in old newspapers reveals that unfortunately the "plunge" didn't stick, and the couple divorced seven years later.

See this clipping in the South Wales Argus on our site: https://www.newspapers.com/article/south-wales-argus-wilson-gutrick-swimm/194517310/

Or see a photo of the wedding in the San Antonio Light: https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-antonio-light-wilson-gutrick-swimm/194517189/

04/11/2026

Today’s 🎉🎉🎉

04/11/2026

At the age of 82, Marie Wilcox realized she had become the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni. Faced with the possibility that the language of her ancestors could disappear forever, she chose to act. Rather than letting it fade away, Marie committed herself to preserving every word she could remember for the generations that would come after her. 🪶

Despite never having used a computer before, she patiently taught herself how to type and began documenting the language from memory. Day after day, she worked carefully at her computer, recording vocabulary, meanings, and cultural knowledge that had lived in her mind for decades. The process required patience and dedication, yet Marie felt a deep responsibility to protect the voice of her people.

After nearly seven years of steady work, she completed a 6,000-word Wukchumni dictionary and helped create audio recordings so others could hear the language spoken correctly. When Marie Wilcox passed away in 2021, her effort had already secured something powerful: the survival of Wukchumni in written form and living sound, allowing future generations to reconnect with a language that might otherwise have been lost. 🌎🪶

Address

Belleair, FL

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when DavisDNA and Family Research posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to DavisDNA and Family Research:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category

Who We Are and What We Do

DavisDNA & Family Research is a traditional and genetic genealogy research service based in Tampa Bay, Florida. I am an experienced professional genealogist with a successful 28-year track record in genetic genealogy, traditional family research, speaking and writing.

Genetic genealogy has quickly become an essential part of the family history toolkit, but it’s important to understand what it can – and can’t - do. When coupled with traditional genealogical experience, DNA testing can be used to help provide proof of ancestral connections, connect you with living cousins and guide your research toward promising possibilities and away from dead ends. It is not a silver bullet – its value is limited without the concurrent use of traditional family research methods to evaluate and document a paper trail that can be substantiated by DNA evidence.

I have particular expertise in the following areas: