Member of ISOGG
Archive for October, 2012
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Great news, the new AncestryDNA test is available to order right now! Over the past several months, AncestryDNA was available by invitation only. We’ve sent out all of our invitations, and now the test is available to everyone—you’re all invited! All you have to do is go to the AncestryDNA site, click the orange “Get AncestryDNA” button, and order your test.
As a perk to our Ancestry.com subscribers, you can order AncestryDNA for a special price, so be sure to log in to your account when you get to the site. If you’re not a subscriber, you can choose to include a membership with your DNA test and save. The AncestryDNA test alone is amazing, but adding a subscription gives you access to the world’s largest online family history resource to take your DNA discoveries even further.
So, what is AncestryDNA? It’s the newest DNA test on Ancestry.com that uses some of the latest DNA testing technology out there. Now you can discover if you really do have Viking blood or if your ancestors hailed from Southern Europe. Along with getting a full breakdown of your genetic ethnicity, the new DNA test also connects you to distant cousins—relatives who you probably would have never met otherwise. It’s the easiest and fastest way to learn even more about your family story. Order yours today at AncestryDNA.com.
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The day you get your AncestryDNA results is exciting, but now you may have some questions. Well, we’re here to help. Watch this informative video from our genealogy expert, Crista Cowan, that covers some popular topics such as how to navigate your results, putting your genetic ethnicity into perspective, using new search tools, and making the most of your DNA cousin matches.
Watch this AncestryDNA video now:
If you are interested in learning more, go to AncestryDNA.com here
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The Chronicling America free,
searchable database of historic US newspapers, has posted its 5 millionth newspaper
page. Launched by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
in 2007 as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program, the site digitizes newspapers
published between 1836 and 1922. It now has more than 800 newspapers from 25 states.
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Old Weather, a joint project from the National
Archives and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will have citizen scientists
transcribing historic Arctic and worldwide weather data from digitized Navy,
Coast Guard, and Revenue Cutter ship deck logs. Digital images of the logbooks will
be available on the project’s website and on Archives.gov. The
records offer access to weather data and climate patterns from your ancestor’s day,
as well as details on US maritime history, military operations and scientific exploration. Learn
more about the project and participate at OldWeather.org.
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A new volunteer genealogy lookup site called Gen Gathering has announced it’s
looking for volunteers to do simple lookups for others in their home libraries or
nearby repositories or cemeteries. You also can use the site to find volunteers who
might be able to do lookups for you. Learn
more on the Gen Gathering website.
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A new Windows phone app called Relative History ($4.99) from Papillion Producitons
lets you view genealogy information from GEDCOM files on Windows phones. You
can learn more about it and see screenshots and reviews here.
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Congrats to D. Joshua Taylor who recently was elected to fill the two-year term as
president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FYI:
Josh is giving our Top
25 Tips for Discovering Your Colonial Ancestors webinar on Nov. 13). FGS board
members and directors newly elected or re-elected are Lisa A. Alzo, David E. Rencher,
Janice A. Fritsch, Cherie Bush, Kris W. Rzepczynski and Melissa Shimkus.
Got Iowa ancestors? Our Iowa
Genealogy Crash Course webinar, happening Tuesday evening, Oct. 30, will help
you find their vital records, US and state censuses, land records and more. Learn
more about the Iowa Genealogy Crash Course in ShopFamilyTree.com.
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I’ve just recently started the phase in my genealogy search where you contact distant
cousins to exchange family information. It’s a fun phase!, and not just because of
the enlightening genealogy information and ancestral photos that turn up. It’s neat
to see how we’re related and think about all the other folks out there who could by
my cousins.
This is what reverse genealogy is all about: finding cousins, sharing family information
and memories, and breaking down research brick walls.
It’s starting with your ancestors and working forward in time to find living
relatives (the reverse of what genealogists typically do).
Our Reverse
Genealogy Value Pack has all the tools you need to locate folks who may hold the
keys to your tough family history problems:
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Research Strategies: Reverse Genealogy article download by Lisa Louise Cooke:
Get advice for making like Sherlock Holmes and finding cousins, including tips for
figuring out where to look, as well as the best websites and directories to use.
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Reverse Genealogy independent study course download: This course, also developed
by Lisa Louise Cooke, has in-depth instructions on tracing your family lines forward
to find living relatives.
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They’re Alive: Finding Living Relatives on-demand webinar by Thomas MacEntee:
Learn about using people-finding websites, how to approach a possible cousin (without
feeling like a stalker) and more.
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Step by Step Guide: Safely Sharing Data Online article download by Rick Crume:
You want to find relatives and you want them to find you, but how do keep from putting
“too much” out there (and maybe letting the wrong people find you)? This advice will
help you stay safe.
Right now the Reverse
Genealogy Value Pack is just $49.99, a 66 percent savings. Get
yours in ShopFamilyTree.com.
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Arlington National Cemetery has unveiled a public
database of the 400,000 burials there.
Called ANC
Explorer, the database is available online and as a Mobile app. You can search
it to locate gravesites on a map; get details including birth, death and interment
dates, and branch of service; generate front and back photos of a headstone or monument
(where available); and get directions to those gravesites.
Building it led to the first review, analysis and coordination of almost 150 years
of Arlington Cemetery records. The Army photographed 259,978 gravesites, niches and
markers and instituted a rigorous process to review each headstone photo with cemetery
records and other historical documents. The effort grew out of reports
in 2010 of misidentified graves and poorly kept records at the cemetery.
Arlington National Cemetery was established during the Civil War on the grounds of
Arlington House, once the estate of the family of Martha Custis Lee, wife of Confederate
Gen. Robert E. Lee. Veterans and family members from the Civil War and every subsequent
US war are buried on its 624 acres.
The first soldier buried there is Pvt. William Henry Christman of Pennsylvania, on
May 13, 1864.
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The October 2012 Family
Tree Magazine podcast, hosted by Lisa Louise Cooke of Genealogy
Gems, celebrates Halloween with cemetery research tips, including:
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Advice for cracking the “tombstone code”—the symbolism in carvings and inscriptions—from
contributing editor Sharon DeBartolo Carmack -
How to preserve the genealogy and history information cemeteries hold, and share those
details with others, from Family Tree University instructor and Find
A Grave volunteer Diana Crisman Smith -
Tips for visiting a cemetery (what you can do from home, what to bring and what to
look for once you’re there) from Family
Tree University Cemetery Research 101 course instructor Midge Frazel -
Tombstone rubbing dos and don’ts with Family Tree Magazine publisher and editorial
director Allison Dolan
And Lisa and I chat about some recent big acquisitions in the genealogy world.
You can listen to Family Tree Magazine‘s free genealogy podcast in iTunes or on
FamilyTreeMagazine.com. Show
notes are on FamilyTreeMagazine.com, too.
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Online genealogy company Ancestry.com, rumored
for months to be seeking a buyer, has found one in European private equity firm Permira.
Ancestry.com announced that company owned by the Permira funds and co-investors has
entered into a merger agreement to acquire Ancestry.com for $32 per share in cash,
in a transaction valued at $1.6 billion. Ancestry.com president and CEO Tim
Sullivan, as well as its CFO/COO Howard
Hochhauser, will keep a majority of their equity stakes in the company. Spectrum
Equity will also remain an investor.
The transaction, subject to stockholder approval and other closing conditions, is
expected to close in January 2013.
According to the announcement
of the agreement, Ancestry.com will keep its focus on content, technology and
user experience. It’ll continue a growth strategy led by content acquisition and technology
investment, with the support of the Permira funds and the investor group. It’ll also
expand its product offerings in areas such as DNA, and build the Ancestry.com brand
and the family history category on a global basis.
There are no anticipated changes in Ancestry.com’s operating structure. Ancestry.com
will remain headquartered in Provo, Utah, with a continued large presence in San Francisco,
Dublin, London and other international markets.
Got Iowa ancestors? Our Iowa
Genealogy Crash Course webinar, happening Tuesday evening, Oct. 30, will help
you find their vital records, US and state censuses, land records and more. Learn
more about the Iowa Genealogy Crash Course in ShopFamilyTree.com.
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You may have noticed that the Person Overview page has a new look (the page with the details for an ancestor in your tree). The intent of these visual changes is to start moving toward a simpler design that is more subtle than the previous design so that it more effectively showcases the content about your ancestor. This is just our first step and we plan to make updates based on feedback. With these design changes we worked hard to preserve the same functionality of the page and to keep most features located in the same place.
We’re interested in your feedback so we’ve set up a specialized survey for it. If you have feedback for us please share it through our survey here.
We also recognize that the Person Overview page is very heavily used and that changes of any kind can sometimes be frustrating. We are really trying to improve the site for all our users. We’ve gotten a number of helpful suggestions already, but the main concern we’ve heard is that there is sometimes a greater need to scroll with the new design than there was with the old design. We wanted to reassure you that we’re actively working to address that.
If you have additional feedback you can share it through our survey here.
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If you didn’t hear the news, we just added more than 18,000 yearbooks to our growing U.S. Yearbook Collection. The new additions, spanning 1806-2008, include schools across the United States, from junior highs and high schools to colleges and universities. You can browse this rich collection for a glimpse into relatives’, friends’ and celebrities’ past, from more formal class portraits to team photos and fun, candid shots. In total, the collection now stands at 53,000 yearbooks and approximately seven million images.
Available to everyone who visits the collection is a gallery of stars long before they became the focus of the paparazzi’s lenses. Notable additions include these previously unpublished photos:
- Snoop Dogg as an underclassman at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1988
- Don Johnson, Senior Prom attendant at South High School in 1967
- Kevin Costner playing varsity basketball at Villa Park High School in 1973
- Lucy Liu as a part of the Big Siblings Club at Stuyvesant High School in 1986
“This collection gives everyone the chance to see the surprising differences, and similarities, we share with our relatives and others and serves as a reminder of our own formative years,” said Daniel Jones, VP of Content Acquisition for Ancestry.com. “Regardless of who you are searching for, the Ancestry.com U.S. Yearbooks Collection can make the journey easy, informative, and, most importantly, a lot of fun.”
Take a look at our Ancestry.com yearbooks here and get your search started!
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When researching your family there are several records available to the public to help you in your quest. Using the information you gathered from relatives will make obtaining these records a lot easier. From birth, death and marriage certificates, census, cemetery, immigration and military records, these documents will help to fill in missing pieces as well as connect you with your ancestors. Specifically, let’s look at death certificates, how to find them and the type of information they have to offer genealogists.
Before I got my hands on census records, my favorite records were death certificates. This sounds a bit morbid, but for genealogy purposes they can provide you with information about the deceased’s birth, life and death. In reference to their birth, you’ll usually learn their place of birth, sex and color. The part I love most about these records though is that they usually list the names of the deceased’s parents, as well as their place of birth. These pieces of information can help you add to your tree as well as point you in the right direction to look for the birth certificates of the deceased and their parents.
Along with providing information about a person’s birth, death certificates give us some information about their life. Some of the information that may be included is their occupation or if they were a U.S. war veteran – as well as their residence at the time of their death. The best part, however, is that it also tackles marital status. If the person was married their spouse’s name is usually listed. I cannot tell you how many times a death certificate has helped me discover the maiden names of my female ancestors.
Finally, death certificates supply you with details about the date, location and cause of death. They also include the person’s age at the time of their death and place of burial. Knowing the place of burial for your ancestor can be helpful in finding others who may be related since it isn’t uncommon to find family buried nearby. Most importantly, I have always made a point of looking into the cause of death in case it could be something that might afflict future generations. The more you know about your family’s medical history the better chance you have at prevention.
Now that we’ve covered why a death certificate is an important tool for a genealogist, let’s jump into how to get your hands on them. There are a few different ways to go about getting a copy; it is just a matter of knowing where to look. The most common way is by sending a request to the State Vital Records Office or town hall in which the death took place. Making a request for a death certificate is a lot easier than it sounds, so don’t panic. In many cases you can submit your request by mail or online – just expect to pay a $15-$20 fee for each record requested.
When submitting a request you are simply sending a letter asking for a copy of the document. In order for the office to find it in their records you need to provide them with some details about your ancestor. Information you want to include in your request would be the deceased’s full name along with any nicknames or alternative spellings, their sex, date and place of their death. If you don’t have an exact date of death, be sure to include a span of years to have searched. Other information that’s helpful to include are the names of the deceased’s spouse and parents. The more information you’re able to supply the office with, the better your chances are of your ancestor’s record being found.
Finally you need to provide some information about yourself and get your request sent out. In the letter you want to include your relationship to the deceased and your intentions with the record. You also want to include your name, the date of your request, your address and signature. Once your letter is complete, mail it off with a self-addressed stamped envelope along with a check or money order to cover the document fees. Once your request has been sent off it’s just a matter of having a little patience and waiting for a response, this may take a few weeks. There have been times where I have submitted a request and my ancestor was not found. In that case, my check was returned and the state vitals office or town hall were extremely helpful in giving me suggestions on other steps I might take.
Death certificates can be an extremely helpful tool when researching your family, however when you think of the cost for obtaining one for each of your ancestors, or even select relatives, it can get expensive. This is why I suggest Ancestry.com. For the cost of two requests a month through a State Vital Records Office or town hall you can have access to all of Ancestry.com’s databases. One of those is their Death Records collection, which gives you the opportunity to search civil, church, cemetery and obituary records for your ancestor.
Unlike sending in a request to a state vital office or town hall, Ancestry.com gives you instant access to millions of records. In their collections you may find links to actual images of the death certificates you are looking for. If for some reason you are unable to find your ancestor’s death certificate on Ancestry they also provide links to state vital records offices for every state in the U.S. Through these links you can check each states restrictions, fees and request procedures. While patiently waiting for a response, you can continue your work on Ancestry.com searching hundreds of databases, uncovering new leads, discovering new ancestors and meeting other members who may be related. Just beware: Once you’ve been bitten by the genealogy bug, you’re history.
By Kris Williams
Twitter: KrisWilliams81