Michael W. McCormick, Accredited Genealogist

03/06/2026

Playing in the ball pit with my mom during our yearly trip to the largest worldwide genealogy conference. The colored balls have questions to ask about your friend’s memories and heritage. One of my memories is my mom’s selfless and silly personality. This moment was a great chance to share that silly energy. Thanks mom!

03/01/2026

In contacting McCormicks around the world I eventually learned this history of Jamaica after talking to a family from there. The diaspora is broader than our common knowledge.

01/24/2026

Genealogy is an altruistic hobby when done right. You might share your scans of old family photos, and your best research work online for free in the hope that it helps someone else and promotes connection. The more involved you get the more you give back to the community. You might transcribe old documents at first, and then perhaps start volunteering at a genealogy society. You might convince a local organization to let you help digitize their records, or perhaps organize a genealogy lecture.

My terms on the boards of two global genealogy associations ended with 2025. I let my service end at one and was re-elected to the other for a 3-year term. I’ll be even more involved having been appointed president elect. Check it out at Association of Genealogy Educators and Schools.

In 2025 I took over administration of the McCormick/McCormack Y-DNA project at FamilyTreeDNA, focusing on recruiting more testers. We issued kits to over 75 McCormick males already and have big plans for 2026. If you know any McCormick/McCormack males send them my way.

01/22/2026

Like my 3x great grandfather, I have been inducted into the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At one point in American history nearly half of adult males were members of a fraternal order such as the Odd Fellows or Freemasons. While many join for the fraternity, self-improvement, and service opportunities, it is also a chance for many to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors.

Photo: Original photo of Samuel McCormick with an Odd Fellows logo overlaid. Samuel McCormick was a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 92 at Burlington, New Jersey in the 1880s.

05/23/2025

Join me in donating to preserve the Veteran Bounty Land Records. Made my donation while waiting in the bus to start my next few days at the National Genealogical Society conference.

05/19/2025

Genealogy is in my blood. Alex Haley, creator of Roots, and credited for helping popularize the hobby in the 1970s, is my patrilineal distant cousin as proven from Y-DNA. Yes, it is very distant, but the existence of DNA science to prove this sort of thing is fascinating.

04/17/2025

Does your surname qualify for free DNA testing? The International Society of Genetic Genealogy has a list of surnames qualifying for free DNA kits. For example, men with these surnames I am researching qualify: McCormick, Calamaco, Dunkes, Grauling, and Severns.
https://isogg.org/wiki/Free_DNA_tests
Another good way to find funding is through joining groups on FamilyTreeDNA. https://www.familytreedna.com/group-project

Free DNA tests are sometimes available to encourage participation in surname projects. Offers are usually restricted to Y-DNA tests with sponsorship being provided by the relevant surname project. Some projects will underwrite the entire cost of a DNA test. Other projects will contribute towards the...

04/09/2025

Honored to be part of a professional organization of such caliber and one that that listens to its members. Even more honored to be among other genealogy professionals with enthusiasm for the profession as well as qualifications equal to my own.

Members! Make sure we hear your voice by filling out the 2025 APG Member Survey. You can find the survey in the Members' Area of our website apgen.org; log in, click on Engagements, then Surveys. Deadline is 15 April 2025.

03/17/2025

Happy
St. Patrick’s Day ☘️

Try Y-DNA to connect with your clan.

03/08/2025

One of many things I’ve been up to at . It was fun seeing many of you at this genealogy conference that attracts tens of thousands of attendees, and millions of online viewers.

02/20/2025

Has your family done Y-DNA? If not, do it. It is not the same as AncestryDNA. Probably near 50 million total people have done autosomal DNA testing for genealogy, but only about 1 million have done Y-chromosome DNA testing for genealogy. (I am just guessing on the 50 million based on what I know of the numbers of a couple of the providers.) Females do not have a Y chromosome, but they can still recruit their male relatives to do the testing. Even among my genealogy followers probably only a small percent have had Y testing done on their families. It does cost more. It starts at like $119, but for those that cannot afford it, if you transfer your AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or MyHeritage results to FamilyTreeDNA and pay the $29 unlock fee you will still get a Y haplogroup on male tests, and be able to join surname projects that look at Y-DNA. It is less thorough than Y-DNA-specific testing, but gets you into the projects. Then you can email the project administrator for your surname and talk to them about if pursuing higher level Y-testing would actually be helpful or not. As a volunteer group admin at FamilyTreeDNA myself, I know how helpful it can be on breaking down brick walls, and that while it does not always help it will be more helpful as more people do it.

01/17/2025

Made a call to a family friend today to walk their friend through setting up accounts and doing a DNA kit. They were at a family history center, but no one there at the time was able to sort it out alone. Helping one person with their genealogy can feel just as special as helping with a project that’ll benefit countless family history researchers. Connecting through helping others in their efforts is one way all of us can feel and share joy, even when facing our own research roadblocks.