Innehållsförteckning för September - October 2020 från Family Tree

Let me tell you a story. My great-grandfather Edmund loved boating. Every summer, he’d take his 10 children to Indian Lake in north-central Ohio, whiling away their days swimming, playing and drifting through the lake’s many coves. Tragically, boating was also part of his death. According to family legend, Edmund had a heart attack while operating his boat alone and drove it “straight into paradise.” But, according to the story, that destination wasn’t supernatural—he literally crashed his boat into a local sandbar called Paradise Island. Seems unlikely, right? Imagine my surprise to find out that the story may be true, after all. An article in the The Lima (OH) News states 53-year-old Edmund was found “slumped over in the boat, drifting toward Paradise Island.” And sure enough, I found that…

1 Preserve paper items by storing them in an acid-free envelope or archival plastic sleeve. Ticket stubs and gameday programs are typically tossed into the trash post-game, but sports collectors often haunt auction websites for souvenirs of landmark games and sports superstars. Look for plastic that has passed the Photographic Activity Test (P.A.T.), which assesses ability to safeguard against acid build-up that hastens paper deterioration. Then store these souvenirs inside a metal filing cabinet or in a dark closet away from heat, moisture, light and pests. 2 Display souvenirs in a dust-proof acrylic cases designed for souvenirs. Rotate these items (such as autographed helmets or footballs) to minimize damage from UV light. Specially designed mounts and supports will help show off your souvenirs to the best advantage and protect them…

Do you ever wish you could share family history stories more powerfully? Maybe like they do with celebrities on the popular PBS television show, “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”? The show captivates its guests with stirring stories about their ancestors. By the end of each episode, these famous visitors feel more profoundly connected to their heritage—just the kind of experience you may want for your cousins or children! Recently, I spoke with two powerhouse members of the “Finding Your Roots” (FYR) team. Working from home through the coronavirus shutdown, they’re busy preparing for season seven. But here, they take some time to share behind-the-scenes strategies with you. You’ll see their strategies in action as more of your favorite celebrities learn about their roots this October, when the…

“Genealogy Roadshow.” They had average people (not celebrities) researching their families.Debby Sprouse Abad via Facebook “Who Do you Think You Are?” is my favorite to watch, but “Finding Your Roots” is my overall favorite. The amount of information Henry Louis Gates Jr. gives the participants of the show is truly genealogy gold.René Holder-McClean (@reneh) via Twitter “Relative Race.” For those that think there are no shows for the “common people,” you are incorrect. BYUTV network. Six seasons, and you don’t want to miss it!Casey Linder via Facebook “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”!!! I love it! They take the time to travel to different countries, and they also consult experts who are able to explain documents, culture, society, and other facts. It is amazing to see the connections with the…

WE CAN’T YET MEASURE the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the genealogy community, but the community’s initial response was telling. Libraries and archives closed and in-person conferences and institutes canceled or shifted to virtual events. But during quarantine (and with shutdowns in other areas of life), many genealogists found themselves with unexpected time to research. A poll in American Ancestor’s “The Weekly Genealogist” newsletter <www.americanancestors.org> showed nearly 40% of respondents spent more time than usual on genealogy during April. Family Tree University <www.familytreemagazine.com/course> saw high levels of participation throughout the spring, and NGS’s online conference attracted more than 1,800 registrants. In addition, organizations ranging from elementary schools to the Indiana Historical Society <www.indianahistory.org> began gathering pandemic stories for use by future genealogists. Even DNA testing was impacted: 23andMe…

An Ohio woman discovers photos from her childhood in a stranger’s Facebook album. Noy Lovanh of Willowick, Ohio, spent her early years in a refugee camp in the Philippines with her parents and three older sisters. “I’m not sure exactly why we had to leave our home in Vientiane, Laos,” she says. “My parents don’t talk about it.” Her recollections of the camp were fleeting. But her family talked about it as she grew up. In fact, as Lovanh sees it, the camp is where her family history begins—she knows little about her ancestors in Laos. In 2019, she discovered an online album with 79 photos from “Lowland Lao Refugee Camps,” which included the Nong Khai camp where her family lived. Someone had uploaded the photos to an online Lao…

Matching with relatives. Discovering your ethnic background. Solving genealogical questions. We frequently discuss these benefits of having your DNA tested, but another use comes up less often in genealogy circles: learning about your health. Along with ancestral information, your genes contain data that impacts your predisposition towards various health conditions, plus hints about how your body will respond to foods, sleep, exercise and more. Health results are an increasingly important focus for commercial DNA tests. For years, 23andMe <www.23andme.com> was the dominant player in this field, providing both genealogical and health-related DNA results. But other companies are catching up, with three of the other “Big Five” testing companies offering such tests: AncestryDNA <www.ancestry.com/dna>, Living DNA <www.livingdna.com> and MyHeritage DNA <www.myheritage.com/dna>. (As of writing, the fifth “Big Five” testing company, Family…

Want your ancestor’s application for a Social Security Card (called an SS-5), WWII alien registration form, or other federal record that isn’t already publicly available? You’ll need to send a Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) request to the right agency. Here’s how: 1. Identify the record. You’ll need to know the agency that created it, what the record is, when and why it was created, and the name of the person in question. Then see if the record is already out there on a website like FamilySearch <www.familysearch.org> or Ancestry <www.ancestry.com>, or on microfilm at the National Archives <www.archives.gov> or a library. 2. Locate the right FOIA office. Go to <www.foia.gov/#agency-search> and type in the name of the agency. The resulting page will give you basics about the agency,…

Q I’ve scanned hundreds of family photos—both new and very old—and would like to caption them for future family. I cannot find software to do that. Is there any easy way to add this info? A The simplest, most foolproof way to “caption” family photos is of course to change the name of the photo file itself: john_smith_1912.jpg, for example. However, this approach might not be practical for more complicated images—say, a family portrait with multiple individuals Popular photo-filing programs let you add descriptions apart from the file name to what’s called “metadata” or EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data. In the Mac Photos program, for example, just click on the photo from the thumbnails view then click the “i” in a circle in the upper right. This brings up…

THE HISTORY OF LAUNDRY is both ancient and relatively new. Although the Roman Empire had a sophisticated clotheswashing industry, by the Middle Ages clothes (like people) were washed only infrequently. As late as Victorian times, doing the laundry was often a week-long manual affair. Modern washing machines and detergents didn’t develop until the 20th century—another reason to be thankful we live now and not in our ancestors’ time. c. 10 A.D. Romans build laundries called “fulleries.” At this time, laundry was a man’s job, using rocks and boards to bash dirty clothes in stone bowls containing clay and ammonia bleach. The ammonia was produced from urine collected from public urinals. (In medieval Europe, urine was referred to as “chamber lye” and continued to be used as a stain remover.) After…

“STORY IS THE UMBILICAL CORD that connects us to the past, present, and future. Family. Story is a relationship between the teller and the listener, a responsibility… Story is an affirmation of our ties to one another.” Writer and activist Terry Tempest Williams shares this insight in her 1987 book Pieces of White Shell (University of New Mexico Press), a collection of Navajo history and legends (as well as Williams’ reflections on them). Family historians are storytellers, in addition to researchers. Learn from the expert storytellers at PBS’ “Finding Your Roots” on page 18, and consider what details to include in your ancestor’s story using the guide on page 26.…

THE FIRST STEP in tracing your Georgia ancestors might be to shake your preconceptions of this state, which presents many different faces to history: Georgia was the last of the original 13 colonies, a frontier where settlers pushed Indian tribes out of the way, as well as the jumping-off point to the Old Southwest of Alabama, Mississippi and beyond. It was the core of the Confederacy, yet today it epitomizes the “New South.” Whichever face of Georgia your family saw, your genealogical research efforts are sure to bear fruit. A SLICE OF EARLY HISTORY The Peach State started as a buffer between British and Spanish colonial ambitions. The British chartered a Georgia province in 1732; the next year, James Oglethorpe and 35 families founded Savannah. Oglethorpe had promoted the colony…

1 The card’s patterned border suggests circa 1900. Card-stock colors for this style included cream, gray and shade (shown here). 2 When you can find a photographer’s name, search Google <www.google.com>, then dive into city directory records to narrow the time frame. In this case, the Hoboken Historical Museum <hoboken.pastperfectonline.com> has information on A(drian) Van Kampen—and images by him, too. 3 The wicker chair is a common prop at the turn of the century, as is the potted plant. The anachronistic wooden brace visible at her feet, however, dates from the mid-19th century. A springtime sprig of flowers around the chair makes for a seasonable flair. 4 Wide-collared yokes and ruffled wrist openings were fashionable for girls during this time period. Her hair style (down, with bows) suggests she’s a…