DNA Genealogy Oversold
Last week I had posted about Genetic
Genealogy and how it was being used by some people to trace their ancestry back
thousands of years. Well, today I read a posting about how
Genetic Genealogy might be oversold. The poster was referencing an article saying
that Genetic Genealogy was being overhyped to people thinking that they would no longer
need to do genealogy research. The article said that Genetic Genealogy was fun to
do and could be interesting, but it was not a definitive way to find out your ancestry.
The poster came up with some good examples of how Genetic Genealogy
is useful and debunked some of the points made in the article. It is a good read for
anyone thinking about participating in a DNA Genealogy study. I’m still considering
doing this myself. I just need to find the time to do some research on it. Anyone
have a good site that they have worked with for participating in a DNA study?
Popularity: 20% [?]
German Genealogy
Are you working on your German Genealogy? Here is a great list of resources covering all
things German. Maybe I can finally help my wife trace some of her German roots.
Thanks to the Genealogy
Blog for finding this site.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Ancestry.com digitizes entire 1790-1930 census
Ancestry.com has
released a press
release stating that they have finished digitizing and indexing the entire U.S.
Federal Census from 1790 to 1930.
Here are some excerpts from the press release:
Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history source, today
announced it has completed digitizing and indexing the entire U.S. Federal Census
from 1790 to 1930. Ancestry.com is the only source where all publicly released census
information can be found online.
The addition of the complete census collection makes Ancestry.com
the most comprehensive genealogical database ever compiled online with more than five
billion searchable names. Prior to the completion of this project, these priceless
pieces of American history were primarily found on microfilm at the National Archive
and Records Administration (NARA) offices and select libraries across the country.
The 14 available enumerations in the census collection reveal
some fascinating facts. For instance, Abraham Lincoln’s wife Mary, aged only seven
years between the 1850 and the 1860 enumerations (in other words, perhaps someone
wasn’t truthful about their age). Harry Truman lived with his mother-in-law just 15
years before he became President of the United States. According to the 1930 U.S.
Census, Tom Hanks’ grandfather, Clarence Frager, worked for “Rodent Control,” and
his daughter’s birth certificate listed the exact occupation as “squirrel inspector.”
Popularity: 18% [?]
DNA and Genealogy
There have been some news articles recently about DNA and genealogy research. The latest comes as a professor learns that he really isn’t a descendant of Genghis
Khan.
I have been looking into DNA and how it works with Genealogy and I’m thinking about
giving it a try. It would be neat to know if I am on the right track with my genealogy
or if I am completely off base.
There is also a nice
blog post about how one person tried a DNA service and was able to trace his roots
back 60000 years.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Department of Veterans Affairs Adds Maps to Online Gravesite Locator
The Genealogy Blog does a nice writeup about
the Veteran’s Administration Nationwide
Gravesite Locator giving a cemetery map to go with their gravesite locator. If
you have relative who are veteran’s this will be an exciting new feature for you.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Genealogy in the Wall Street Journal
It seems like genealogy has been gaining alot of press the last couple of days and just recently the Wall Street Journal got into the act. The Wall Street Journal did a nice write-up of some online
genealogy databases that are available for people to use. This comes along with
the announcement of Ancestry.com launching their full-index of the 1910 census.
The article gives some information on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org,
and MyHeritage. Recently the LDS
church has launched a campaign to digitize all of their microfilm and make it
available online. They hope to make this available early 2007. I know that this is
something that I have been waiting for since it will make the collection stored at
the LDS Family History library fully indexable and available to everyone.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Tennessee Genealogy Helps
If your genealogy research leads you to Tennessee here is a great blog that can help you out: http://genielinks.blogspot.com/.
This blog has numerous posts to help you locate your Tennessee ancestors and is updated
frequently. Check it out.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Bangor Cemetery Listings Available
Earlier I had posted a press release about Massachusetts Jewish cemetary records being availble. Here is another press
release about Bangor, Maine placing their cemetery records online:
The city of Bangor
has a very nice Web site at www.bgrme.org. Of great
interest to genealogists is the database of interments for Pine Grove Cemetery on
Hammond Street Extension, Oak Grove Cemetery on Finson Road and Maple Grove Cemetery
at the intersection of Pushaw and Church roads.At the Web site, click on “Departments,”
then on “Public Works,” then on cemetery listings. The database is grouped by surname
into three categories: Abbott-Gould, Gowith-Parson and Parsons-Zirk.You don’t need to know the name
of the cemetery where your relative is buried, as the listings are combined.You may know that the city also
owns a portion of the cemetery adjacent to Mount Hope Cemetery, and that’s managed
by Mount Hope. To check listings for both those cemeteries, go to the Mount Hope Web
site at www.mthopebgr.com.
Here is a direct link to the database: http://www.bangormaine.gov/cs_inf_internmentlist.php
Popularity: 19% [?]
55,000 Massachusetts Jewish Burial Records Now Online!
NEWTON, Mass., June 20 /PRNewswire/ — For the first time, anyone can
perform genealogical searches online! So, if someone is looking for late
Uncle Ben on their mother’s side of the family, chances are they can locate
his burial records at any one of the Jewish Cemetery Association of
Massachusetts’ 100+ cemeteries. Just go to http://www.jcam.org, click
on “Services,” then click “Genealogical Search,” enter the name (or just the first
four letters of the last name) and Voila! With just the click of a button, his burial
location, name of cemetery and directions are displayed on the screen! Fantastic!
People are fascinated with their family histories making genealogy
one of the fastest growing popular research endeavors. Now the Jewish community has
access to JCAM’s 55,000 online burial database to fill in the blanks on family trees
or simply for visitation purposes. This is another way of reconnecting Jewish families
with their past and perpetuating the continuity of Jewish cemeteries well into the
future. Visit our website and try the genealogical search link. You may just find
someone you’ve been looking for!
Please contact Stanley Kaplan, Executive Director of the Jewish
Cemetery Association of Massachusetts at 617-244-6509 or for more information on the
work of JCAM, or visit their website at http://www.jcam.org.
Popularity: 26% [?]
African American Genealogy - West Virginia
If you are searching for African
American Genealogy in West Viriginia a new blog has been created that might help
you. Blogger Chaynes has created a large index of African American people in West
Viriginia which has been given to various historical socities. What started out as
a personal search for some grandparents has turned into a large compilation of African
American Genealogy. Here is an excerpt:
Somewhere along the line I decided that if I simply wrote down the names
of every black/mulatto/native american that I could find in the area, by the process
of elimination, I would locate my ancestors.
Every year I would send a copy of my draft notes to a historical society or museum.
The first year I sent one tiny section consisting of, at most, forty pages. Now, there
are 27 sections.I now feel that it might be of some help to folks who had ancestors in southeastern
West Virginia to share some tips and information via a blog.
Popularity: 18% [?]