Dec 1
In genealogy, vital records are referred to as primary and secondary sources. These written documents help provide proof of an event in a person s life. There are birth certificates, birth registrations, baptismal records, marriage licenses, wedding certificates, divorce records, death registrations, church records, funeral home records, cemeter...
Nov 29
A fun activity to get family members interested in doing family history research is looking up about famous, present-day celebrities and see if there is any link to a branch on your family tree. Pick any surname on your family tree and do a Google search for any famous individuals with that name. Using my family maiden name, I did 'Kersh...
Nov 27
The real origin of this special day, November 27th, goes back to the labor movement in the 1930s. The pro-labor Broadway musical Pins and Needles, opened on this day in 1937, at the Labor Stage Theater in New York City. This play was written by Harold Rome. It was produced by the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union. Members of this un...
Nov 26
Bloomberg reported that the DNA-testing firm Veritas Genetics experienced a security breach that included customer information. The genome company confirmed this in a statement to Bloomberg. Veritas Genetics provides consumers with cutting-edge genetic testing and interpretation. According to their website, they were the first to offer Whol...
Nov 25
That is right, you might be able to get a second passport from one of your ancestor's homeland – a parent, grandparent or even great grandparent. This second passport is known as 'citizenship by descent'. First, make sure you are eligible for one of the 8 nations granting such citizenship. That means being able to prove a bloodline connectio...
Nov 23
FamilySearch.org has a great collection of material with its 'Digital Library'. It is actual collections from a number of major libraries across the nation. These are world-renowned genealogical research partner libraries: Allen County Genealogical Center, Arizona State Library, Birmingham Public Library, BYU Family History Library, Houston Publ...
Nov 21
Some events happen that you might not be aware affected your ancestors. Better than one hundred years ago there was a world-wide disease of the Spanish Flu. This influenza pandemic of 1918-19 killed between 50 and 100 million people around the globe (men-women-children). Especially affected were young adults, people between the ages of 18 a...
Nov 21
23andMe has opinions about GEDmatch's decision to allow law enforcement to search its database. In a blog post written by 23andMe's Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer, Kathy Hibbs, the company discusses the problems it sees with GEDmatch and clarifies its own stance on protecting customers' data. The 23andMe blog post starts with: “A Flor...
Nov 19
It can be a challenge if you have ancestors dating back a couple of hundred years. Not just to learn their names and other information but also where did they live. Even if you thought they remained in the same county of the same state for decades … you will quickly see that county and state borders changed quite a bit over the years even...
Nov 19
Ancestry announced that their team of scientists have increased the AncestryDNA reference panel to more than double its previous size with samples from more places around the world, resulting in the latest update to AncestryDNA ethnicity estimates. Over the next several months, AncestryDNA customers may receive updated ethnicity estimates, ...
Nov 17
A very nice addition to the Library of Congress digital collection – Vintage Telephone Directories. At the site there are state and city directories for; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the city of Chicago....
Nov 15
Yes, it sounds difficult to start writing down family stories, but sometimes all you need is a concept or theme to kick-start the process. So here are a couple of ideas to get started. You may have or someone else in the family one or two family heirlooms. It could be jewelry, furniture, wall hangings, clothing, anything is possible – ...
Nov 14
Not every direct-to-consumer genetic test offers health information. Some of them do, and the results can be confusing to people. Experts warn not to make health decisions based on the results of genetic testing. Research was done by a team from the University of Southampton. That research as published in the British Medical Journal. Profes...
Nov 13
Of course, there is plenty to get down the days and weeks leading to Thanksgiving Day. However, dividing up the necessary chores can help a great deal. Yet, one very important activity that really needs to be prepared and done when the whole family is together for Thanksgiving, is to gather some of the family memories. Just like ...
Nov 12
A group of researchers at the University of Washington found that GEDmatch is vulnerable to multiple kinds of security risks. The research team discovered that a malicious person could extract someone else's genetic markers and use them to create a fake genetic profile to impersonate someone's relative. The research paper is titled: “Geno...