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The following are a few recommendations for inclusion on your reading list this weekend.
1. With DNA becoming an increasingly important part of genealogy, there is a fascinating piece in the Washington Post today. Read about how a couple apparently had a child fathered genetically by the unborn twin of the husband. Read more about how this was possible and learn about "chimerism" here.
2. From UpFront With NGS blog comes a couple items of interest this week . . . An index of 1.5 million National Railroad Pension Records is being made available for FREE through the Midwest Genealogy Center. If you have ancestors or relatives who you know or think worked on the railroads and retired from that employment, you should check out the info and links here. Also, have you heard that 23andMe is now apparently "the first and only genetic service" that can include "reports that meet FDA standards?" This means that 23andMe can now make available reports that include health related information and show "carrier status, wellness, trait and ancestry reports." Read more about this development and get links here.
3. Part 5 of James Tanner's series on how to work with large online genealogy programs was posted yesterday on his Genealogy's Star blog. I found this series to be thoughtful and useful. Read Part 5 and get links to the earlier posts here.
4. Heather Rojo's post this week at Nutfield Genealogy blog was a reminder to me that her Honor Roll project comes around again for Veteran's Day. If you are not familiar with Heather's inspired project, you really must go here to read about it. Her project aims to collect blog posts of photos of war memorials and honor roles WITH transcriptions of the names on the monuments so that a searchable database can be created. I have contributed in the past and this is a reminder that I need to get transcribing and posting to make Heather's Veteran's Day (November 11th) post of contributing bloggers. This great project has been ongoing since Heather's first post in 2010 and it grows with each passing Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Search your photos to see what you already have and can transcribe OR take a trip this weekend to your local monuments and memorials, take a photo, and do a transcription to post in time to add to Heather's November 11th compilation post of all contributions!
5. Most of us are familiar with the often heard saying used to mark the start of the autumnal season . . . "when the frost is on the pumpkin." But did you know this is the opening line of a poem by James Whitcomb Riley? Bill West of West in New England blog reminds us once again of Riley's two most famous poems. Read "When the Frost is on the Punkin" here and then go to yesterday's "Little Orphant Annie" here.
6. How many different kinds of genealogists are there . . . and which one describes you or your family genealogist best? Read here the post by Lorine McGinnis Schulz at the Legacy News blog to find out.
7. OK. I have to admit that I am a complete newbie to DNA testing and its use in genealogy. I have had both my parents and a fairly close cousin of my father's sampled and tested, but I have not yet spent the time to delve into the interpretation and synthesis of the results for purposes of contributing to my family trees. It is on my ever-growing "to do" list now that my retirement has begun and theoretically is supposed to give me more time for my genealogy pursuits. So it is with this background (or lack thereof) that I found Diane Maclean Boumenot's series "DNA and Me" informative and inspiring. Part III of Diane's series (with links) can be read here on her One Rhode Island Family blog.
1. With DNA becoming an increasingly important part of genealogy, there is a fascinating piece in the Washington Post today. Read about how a couple apparently had a child fathered genetically by the unborn twin of the husband. Read more about how this was possible and learn about "chimerism" here.
2. From UpFront With NGS blog comes a couple items of interest this week . . . An index of 1.5 million National Railroad Pension Records is being made available for FREE through the Midwest Genealogy Center. If you have ancestors or relatives who you know or think worked on the railroads and retired from that employment, you should check out the info and links here. Also, have you heard that 23andMe is now apparently "the first and only genetic service" that can include "reports that meet FDA standards?" This means that 23andMe can now make available reports that include health related information and show "carrier status, wellness, trait and ancestry reports." Read more about this development and get links here.
3. Part 5 of James Tanner's series on how to work with large online genealogy programs was posted yesterday on his Genealogy's Star blog. I found this series to be thoughtful and useful. Read Part 5 and get links to the earlier posts here.
4. Heather Rojo's post this week at Nutfield Genealogy blog was a reminder to me that her Honor Roll project comes around again for Veteran's Day. If you are not familiar with Heather's inspired project, you really must go here to read about it. Her project aims to collect blog posts of photos of war memorials and honor roles WITH transcriptions of the names on the monuments so that a searchable database can be created. I have contributed in the past and this is a reminder that I need to get transcribing and posting to make Heather's Veteran's Day (November 11th) post of contributing bloggers. This great project has been ongoing since Heather's first post in 2010 and it grows with each passing Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Search your photos to see what you already have and can transcribe OR take a trip this weekend to your local monuments and memorials, take a photo, and do a transcription to post in time to add to Heather's November 11th compilation post of all contributions!
5. Most of us are familiar with the often heard saying used to mark the start of the autumnal season . . . "when the frost is on the pumpkin." But did you know this is the opening line of a poem by James Whitcomb Riley? Bill West of West in New England blog reminds us once again of Riley's two most famous poems. Read "When the Frost is on the Punkin" here and then go to yesterday's "Little Orphant Annie" here.
6. How many different kinds of genealogists are there . . . and which one describes you or your family genealogist best? Read here the post by Lorine McGinnis Schulz at the Legacy News blog to find out.
7. OK. I have to admit that I am a complete newbie to DNA testing and its use in genealogy. I have had both my parents and a fairly close cousin of my father's sampled and tested, but I have not yet spent the time to delve into the interpretation and synthesis of the results for purposes of contributing to my family trees. It is on my ever-growing "to do" list now that my retirement has begun and theoretically is supposed to give me more time for my genealogy pursuits. So it is with this background (or lack thereof) that I found Diane Maclean Boumenot's series "DNA and Me" informative and inspiring. Part III of Diane's series (with links) can be read here on her One Rhode Island Family blog.
Copyright 2015, John D. Tew
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Thanks for the mention John. I ended up testing myself, too, even though I already had tested my parents. I know it's all a slow learning curve but I figure, genealogy was really hard when I started too. But experience and the various opportunities for education taught me a lot; it's the same with DNA. Once you make the first small discovery with DNA, you will be hooked, believe me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment and your encouragement Diane! It will be part of my genealogy New Year's Resolutions for 2016. ;-)
DeleteHi, John! Thanks so much for mentioning the Honor Roll Project! I hope to see lots of new contributors this year, and another contribution from you, too.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Heather and I hope you get a great turn out this year. I have to check my photos and get a post together before the 11th.
DeleteThanks for the mention, John!
ReplyDeleteHappy to do so Bill. I always enjoy a chance to read those poems again. Thank you!
DeleteThanks for mentioning the NGS blog with links to find the Railroad Pension Index. Wow! Just three days after reading about it, I had pension documents attached to an email.
ReplyDelete