Indholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2020 i Family Tree

My favorite holiday special has always been Charlie Brown—but not the famous Christmas episode, or even the Halloween episode and its Great Pumpkin. No, my favorite is the Thanksgiving special: Good old Chuck frantically preparing to host his friends for a “feast” of burned toast, jelly beans and popcorn. As he always does, Linus puts the gathering in perspective. In a pre-dinner prayer, he evokes the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving, paraphrasing minister William Brewster: “We thank God for our homes and food, and our safety in a new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice.” Like the Pilgrims 400 years ago, we’ve endured much strife this year. But the holiday season gives us an opportunity to focus on what we have to…

RECENT DATA BREACHES at genealogy websites, such as those reported by GEDmatch <www.gedmatch.com> and MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com> in July 2020, serve as a reminder about the importance of privacy and user security. Though responsibility for safeguarding against hacking attempts often rests with tech companies, users can take several proactive measures to prevent their data from being compromised, including: • Creating unique passwords for each website • Creating passwords that don’t include personal data (such as birthday) • Using two-factor authentication whenever possible • Storing passwords in a secure application…

1 Keep stuffed animals clean and dry, and don’t trust “washable” labels. Cherished animals were likely squeezed, cuddled, and loved to excess (maybe even literally dragged through the mud). But a modern washing machine might damage an animal’s outer covering, and a variety of materials not considered child-safe today might have been used as filling: sawdust, plastic beads, dried rice or beans, rags, or shredded paper or wood. 2 Wear gloves when handling plush and fabric toys. The oils from your hands easily transfer to fabric, leaving enough residue to hold on to dust and invite visits from pests. White cotton gloves, such as those used for handling quilts or coins, are a good choice. 3 Inspect and gently clean artifacts before storing. Though you shouldn’t wash old stuffed animals…

Americans take great pride in our national park system. Yellowstone, founded in 1872, was the first national park in the country and (according to many) in the world. Today, the US National Park System’s more than 400 sites across the country draw millions of visitors every year. And, like the park system, US genealogists take pride in a wide, nationwide network of state archives and historical societies that they can visit and enjoy. This year’s COVID-19 outbreak has dampened in-person visits to both parks and archives. But many archives’ important collections are now online. And each year, we scan the field to find the best genealogy websites for your US-based research and compile them into this state-by-state list. Many of our returning favorites are still expanding and worth revisiting. But…

1528 Spaniard Panfilo de Narváez leads the first Europeans to the region when he locates the mouth of the Mississippi 1682 Frenchman René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle claims Louisiana for France, naming it after King Louis XIV 1763 Modern Louisiana trades hands from France to Spain after the Seven Years’ War 1803 Thomas Jefferson purchases Louisiana (and what would become the middle third of the United States) 1811 In the United States’ largest slave revolt, hundreds of enslaved men living on Louisiana’s German Coast rise up 1815 Andrew Jackson defeats the British at New Orleans—two weeks after the War of 1812 officially ended 1837 The first Mardi Gras parade is held in New Orleans 1863 In a key strategic move, Union forces capture Port Hudson, the last Confederate holdout on…

1792 Robert Gray becomes the first non-Indian to sail “Wimahl,” which he renames the Columbia River 1805 Lewis and Clark cross into what’s now Washington 1836 The Beaver, Puget Sound’s first steamship, sails from Fort Vancouver 1845 Michael T. Simmons and George Bush establish the first US settlements north of the Columbia 1889 Fires burn much of Seattle, Ellensburg and Spokane Falls; Washington gains statehood 1893 The Great Northern Railway completes a transcontinental line to Seattle 1937 The Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River is completed 1962 Seattle hosts the World’s Fair 1979 Seattle native Bill Gates moves Microsoft from Albuquerque, N.M., to the Seattle area 1980 Mount St. Helens in Skamania County erupts, killing more than 50 people and spreading ash as far away as Oklahoma 1996 The “Kennwick…

John Alden Isaac Allerton Mary Allerton Mary (Norris) Allerton Remember Allerton John Billington Elinor Billington Francis Billington William Bradford Love Brewster Mary Brewster William Brewster Peter Browne James Chilton Mrs. James Chilton Mary Chilton Francis Cooke John Cooke Edward Doty Francis Eaton Samuel Eaton Sarah Eaton Moses Fletcher Edward Fuller Mrs. Edward Fuller Samuel Fuller (brother of Edward) Samuel Fuller (son of Edward) Constance Hopkins Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins Giles Hopkins Stephen Hopkins John Howland Richard More Priscilla Mullins William Mullins Degory Priest Joseph Rogers Thomas Rogers Henry Samson George Soule Myles Standish Elizabeth Tilley Joan (Hurst) Tilley John Tilley Richard Warren Peregrine White Resolved White Susanna (Jackson) White William White Edward Winslow…

Q I found broken or damaged tombstones. I would like to replicate the stones rather than try to repair, as pieces are missing and/or deteriorated. Do you know of any businesses that can do this? A You might be surprised by how well even seriously damaged tombstones can be repaired. Lowell Herzog, a gravestone conservator at Texas Gravestone Conservation <www.texasgravestoneconservation.com>, shared some remarkable “before” and “after” examples when we passed along your inquiry. “I have conserved small stones that were broken into more than a dozen pieces, and while the stone can never be conserved to look as it did originally, it remains as it was intended,” he said. According to Herzog, any conservator using American Institute for Conservation <www.culturalheritage.org> standards would be loath to suggest “replicating” a tombstone. “Most…

The FamilySearch Research Wiki <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page> is an excellent resource to learn more about the ancestors you’re researching, as well as the places and time periods in which they lived. With more than 90,000 articles, the Wiki provides research advice and tips to help you move your research forward. You can search the Wiki’s articles by keyword, or you can browse articles by country <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Online_Genealogy_Records_by_Location> or by topic <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Category:Articles_by_Topic>. The page for Ohio (below), for example, contains links to subpages about specific kinds of records, plus a clickable map that allows you to view county-level wiki entries. Keep scrolling down the page for links to additional Ohio resources, such as Cyndi’s List <www.cyndislist.com> and state-specific collections such as Ohio Memory <www.ohiomemory.org>. Search by keyword for locations, record types and more. Curated…

The amount of laughs my mum and I have while working together on our genealogy.Ewe and Euthie — Flinn Family History via Facebook LETTERS MY GRANDMOTHER WROTE TO MY UNCLE WHILE HE WAS IN COLLEGE DETAILING EVERYDAY FAMILY LIFE IN THE MID_’60S!Pamela Nester-Nagorney via Facebook A family history from my aunt on my mother’s side that went back to the 1500s!Rusty and Kathi Sizemore via Facebook I NOTICED A LOCAL DECEASED RELATIVE’S collection of family photos ended up in the hands of a person who was adding them to her tree on Ancestry.com. I emailed her through the site and thanked her for posting them so they were accessible. She replied that her connection was through marriage and would I like over 80 family photos? She lives in Texas; I’m…

AncestryDNA <dna.ancestry.com> (now with 18 million kits in its database) has updated its user experience. Testers can now see the size of the longest segment of DNA shared with individual matches, which helps distinguish matches who share recent common ancestors from those who result from endogamy. AncestryDNA has corrected previously inflated reporting of shared segments, too. In addition, AncestryDNA has increased the shared centimorgan (cM) threshold for its DNA matches from 6 cM to 8 cM. So any DNA matches who share less than 8 cM with a test taker have been removed from his or her match list. AncestryDNA cites research that indicates DNA matches between test takers with less than 8 cM have a low accuracy rate; you can view an updated set of white papers here <www.ancestrycdn.com/support/us/2020/07/2020whitepaper.pdf>.…

Finding gifts for the avid family historian (or even making a wish list for yourself) can be a challenge. DNA test kit? Got it. Records access memberships? Been there, done that. But don’t sigh and settle for that “I Seek Dead People” bumper sticker just yet. We’ve gathered these 8 must-have kinds of gifts for you to consider this holiday season. From DNA-personalized gear to archival supplies, there are plenty of great gifts for the genealogy buffs on your list—yourself included! 1. GENEALOGY BOOKS Genealogy books will make a great addition to any researcher’s bookshelf. Some cover how to research specific countries or ethnicities, while others share detailed listings of historical records for a region. We’ve listed of some of our favorite genealogy books at <www.familytreemagazine.com/genealogy-research-books>, but one standout is…

Websites Acadian-Cajun Genealogy & History <www.acadian-cajun.com> Cyndi’s List: Louisiana <www.cyndislist.com/us/la> FamilySearch Research Wiki: Louisiana <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Louisiana,_United_States_Genealogy> LAGenWeb <www.lagenweb.org> Louisiana Clerk of Courts Association: List of Clerks <www.laclerksofcourt.org/clerks-of-court> Louisiana Digital Library <www.louisianadigitallibrary.org> Louisiana Historical Society <www.louisianahistoricalsociety.org> Publications Historical Atlas of Louisiana by Charles Robert Goins and John Michael Caldwell (University of Oklahoma Press) History of Louisiana, four volumes by Charles Gayarré (Pelican Publishing) Old Families of Louisiana by Stanley Arthur (Arcadia Publishing) Archives & Organizations Louisiana State Archives 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809, (225) 922-1208 <www.sos.la.gov/HistoricalResources/LearnAboutTheArchives/Pages/default.aspx> National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas 1400 John Burgess Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76140, (817) 551-2034, <www.archives.gov/fort-worth> New Orleans Public Library Louisiana Division/City Archives & Special Collections, Third Floor, 219 Loyola Ave, New Orleans, LA 70112, (504) 596-2610, <archives.nolalibrary.org/~nopl/spec/speclist.htm> The State Library of Louisiana…

Websites Cyndi’s List: Washington <www.cyndislist.com/us/wa> FamilySearch Research Wiki: Washington <www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Washington,_United_States_Genealogy,> University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections <content.lib.washington.edu> Washington Digital Newspapers <washington digitalnewspapers.org> Washington GenWeb Project <www.wagenweb.org> Washington History: Historical Maps <www.secstate.wa.gov/history/maps.aspx> Washington State Archives Digital Archives <www.digitalarchives.wa.gov> Publications Exploring Washington’s Past: A Road Guide to Historyby Carmela Alexander and Ruth Kirk (University of Washington Press) Historical Atlas of Washington by James W. Scott and Roland L. De Lorme (University of Oklahoma Press) Washington State Place Names: From Alki to Yelm by Doug Brokenshire (Caxton Press) Archives & Organizations Seattle Genealogical Society 6200 Sand Point Way, Seattle, WA 98115, (206) 522-8658, <www.seagensoc.org> Seattle Public Library 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle, WA 98104, (206) 386-4636, <www.spl.org> Washington State Archives 1129 Washington St. SE, Box 40238, Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 586-1492, <www.sos.wa.gov/archives> Washington State…

Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Family Photo Detective (Family Tree Books).…

A Ancestry.com and AncestryDNA AncestryHealth Sep/Oct, 45 comparison to other “Big Four” sites Mar/Apr, 18 free records on Mar/Apr, 41 researching censuses on Mar/Apr, 58 ThruLines tutorial Mar/Apr, 68 D DNA testing and American Indian heritage Nov/Dec, 66 comparison guide: DNA health tests Sep/Oct, 42 health add-ons Mar/Apr, 69 privacy Jul/Aug, 71 reliability of May/Jun, 71 sensitive information from Jan/Feb, 71 shared matches Nov/Dec, 71 transferring raw data Sep/Oct, 71 using results Mar/Apr, 71 F FamilySearch comparison to other “Big Four” sites Mar/Apr, 18 FamilySearch Cheat Sheet Nov/Dec finding digitized records on May/Jun, 61 finding Family History Centers Jul/Aug, 68 records digitization process May/Jun, 56 researching censuses on Mar/Apr, 61 H heirlooms, caring for baby treasures Jan/Feb, 12 slides Mar/Apr, 12 sports gear Sep/Oct, 12 stuffed animals Nov/Dec, 12 wedding finery…

With more than 1.2 billion names, the FamilySearch Family Tree is an excellent resource for genealogists around the world. Unlike other online tree websites wherein each user has his own family tree (such as Ancestry.com <www.ancestry.com> and MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com>), FamilySearch combines its users’ family “trees” into just one global Family Tree. FamilySearch offers different family tree views you can select from this dropdown, including Portrait (pictured), Descendancy and Fan Chart. Purple icons indicate Research Suggestions: notes from FamilySearch about other possible relatives or potential data errors (such as missing vital events). Blue icons indicate Record Hints (matches in indexed digital records). Only deceased people (i.e., profiles that have a death date) are public on FamilySearch. The Person page indicates details about the person’s life, from birth and death data to…

Researchers at 23andMe <www.23andme.com> have published genetic evidence related to the forced paths of enslaved Africans to North and South America. Some findings are in line with documentary evidence, but others are surprising, such as larger-than-expected traces of Nigerian ancestry in people now living in Latin America and the United States. Genetic analysis in the study also reflected the systematic sexual exploitation of enslaved African women. Because of this, African women had a higher overall contribution to the modern gene pool, despite being outnumbered by African men. Read more at <www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53527405>, or see the full study in the American Journal of Human Genetics <www.cell.com/ajhg>. Sunny Jane Morton is a contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine, content manager at Your DNA Guide and industry expert on the giant genealogy websites.…

WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD CHOICES, we love to say “cheese.” From pizzas to grilled-cheese sandwiches to cheeseburgers, Americans annually consume roughly 40 pounds of cheese per capita. Our earliest ancestors would approve: The oldest evidence of cheesemaking dates back 7,500 years. The earliest surviving depiction of cheese is a frieze at the Temple of Ninhursag in Mesopotamia dating from 3,000 BCE, and cheese is mentioned in both the Odyssey and the Bible. And yet the invention of cheese is a mystery. c. 7000 B.C. Cheese is first made. Not long after the domestication of animals such as sheep and goats, a herder may have stored milk for a journey in a container fashioned from a dried sheep’s stomach. There, the agitation of travel plus heat and leftover enzymes (called…

Using the Main Search Form The main search form <www.familysearch.org/search> allows you to search all of FamilySearch’s indexed records at once. This can be a blessing and a curse. With too broad of a search, you’ll have to sort through millions of results (many of them irrelevant). But with too narrow of a search, you’ll risk missing important records. With the right fields filled in, you can deftly navigate FamilySearch’s more than 7 billion indexed record results. The search form has separate fields for first and last names. You can search by life events, notably birth and death dates and places. Remember that adding more life events to your search will result in fewer record matches. Any records that don’t include this information will be omitted. With one click, you…