Saturday Serendipity (July 9, 2016)

Here are a few recommended items of interest for your reading pleasure . . .

1.  If you know you had ancestors or relatives in Portland, Maine in early July 1866 (or think you might have), then you should read an article The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS linked to this week in Down East magazine. The article is about the Great Fire of 1866 that has been called "the most devastating blaze ever to strike an American city." You can read the article here. Perhaps you will find clues about known ancestors or relatives who were in Portland at the time -- or learn of information that could help solve a mystery.   

2.  If you have Irish roots and have perhaps experienced some delays in your on-line research efforts on Ancestry UK, the Brexit vote might be a reason. As many know, one can apply for citizenship and a passport from the Republic of Ireland if you were born in Ireland or have parents who are Irish. In some cases one can also qualify if one has an Irish grandparent. In the wake of the Brexit vote in the UK, Ancestry UK reports an upsurge of 40% in people suddenly trying to research their Irish roots! The Weekly Genealogist provided this link to the story.  
  
3.  Here is an interesting bit of background history about the Civil War. Most of us know that the almost incomprehensible death toll during the war happened largely because of disease, infection, and the primitive state of medical treatment and care (when viewed with modern eyes). The Vault published a piece this week about the woeful gunshot wound experience among Union Army surgeons. In an attempt to do something about this dangerous lack of information and training, the Navy Surgeon General, P.J. Horowitz of Baltimore, composed a three-page document to get medical officers familiar with the most basic and rudimentary problems to be encountered by gunshot wounds.  Have a read here.       

4.  In 2013, Heather Kuhn Roelker of Leaves For Trees blog set herself the goal of researching each of her 32 three-times great grandparents. Until just this past week, we had seen only one blog post since December 6, 2013. I am happy to report that Heather is now back to blogging and is posting the results of her blogging hiatus and research efforts. You can check out her return and posts about the 17th (Elijah Happy) and 31st (John Joseph Coffman) 3X great grandparents on her project list by going here. Welcome back Heather!  

5.  There is nothing to say about the post two days ago by Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, except  . . . go and read it! Now.     

6.  Have you ever used the Library of Congress for your genealogy research? If not, you should read James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog. He has a very brief summary of what LOC material is available to genealogists online and how you can gain access to "closed stacks" or via interlibrary loan.  Read the post (Part Three in a series) here.    

7.  Nancy Messier of My Ancestors and Me blog has a great cautionary tale post about the excitement of finally finding some information about an elusive ancestor only to find -- due to thorough research and being a stickler for complete citations -- that the information was probably about the ancestor's son and not the elusive gentleman himself. This is a good, elucidating post and you can read it here.   
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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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