GenWeekly, Vol. VII, No. 6

It's Genealogy. It's Weekly. It's GenWeekly. 

February 5, 2010

Elisabeth Lindsay, Editor

All articles are copyright (c) 2009 Genealogy Today, LLC.

This Week's Articles

The original article(s) in this section are available only to subscribers. You can learn about our $9.95 annual subscription at http://www.genweekly.com/subscribe.html.

Lexicons of Lost Lifestyles: Weaponry Wordings, Part 1
by Jean Hibben. Explores terms and phrases handed down from weapons of war.

The Compleat Database: Names

by Judy Rosella Edwards. Names can be tricky -- taking a closer look at what we think we know and citing the source!

Recent News

• African American DNA Research Highlighted. Celebrating Black History Month. See author's complete interview with Dr. Rick Kittles, and expert in African-American genetic research.

• "Who Do You Think You Are," American style. See a preview of the new series.

• Brief Refresher of Online Genealogy Resources. The Internet as "handy for genealogy research" is hardly news, but the article highlights some good, free online resources.

• Genealogy Project tracks ancestry of Charles Darwin. Turning the table and tracing the evolution of the man himself. 

• MyHeritage Acquires Major Family Network OSN to Accelerate Building the World's Family Graph. New acquisition "expands the size of MyHeritage.com's unique family graph to 13 million trees."

The Genealogy Guide

In the interest of helping readers gain better insight into genealogical terms, Genealogy Today has created a Genealogy Guide. Each week, GenWeekly features a new term from the continually expanding Genealogy Guide.

Jumping the Broom

Jumping the broom is a marriage custom most closely associate with the period of American slavery. The exact origin, practice, and symbolism of the custom is subject to debate. Because African-American slaves were not "officially" allowed to marry, slave couples who wished to be married would ceremoniously jump over a broom in the presence of friends and family. Jumping the broom served as a declaration of intent within the African community.

Understanding marriage rituals and practices within a particular culture is important in genealogy, helping researchers gain a better sense not only of what records might -- or might no -- be available and where, but also to understand more of the historical context in which their ancestors lived.

African-American Resources

Successfully Tracing African-American Ancestry

It Takes a Village: Sharing Documentation with the African-American Community

Black Cherokee

Special Census Schedules, Part II: Agriculture, Manufacturers, Veteran, and Slave Schedules

Copyright © 1999 - 2010 by Genealogy Today LLC, All Rights Reserved

African-American DNA research highligthed

February is Black HIstory Month, and it is no secret to African-Americans with a heritage dating back to the slave era that genealogy research is challenging, at best. A recent article on WisTV.com, "Family Trees: African-Americans find it difficult to trace history," outlines some of the main issues, and highlights DNA research, perhaps, of the greatest breakthroughs for African-Americans. For more on the subject, see author's complete interview with Dr. Rick Kittles, Scientific Director of African Ancestry, at African-Ancestry, Inc. and Associate Professor, The University of Chicago, Department of Medicine.

A couple of resources that might be of interest to researchers include, African Heritage Project and African-American Genealogy Blogs.

Brief refresher of online genealogy resources

A recent article on TribStar.com, "Genealogy: Internet handy for genealogy research," by Tamie Dehler, provides a nice little refresher on some very useful, free online genealogy resources, with some emphasis on land records, but touching on vital records, as well.

The Compleat Genealogy Database: Names

Genealogists are always on a quest for names, and previous articles have explored various aspects of naming. This week's article from Judy Rosella Edwards, "The Compleat Genealogy Database: Names," suggests we take an even closer look at names in the genealogy database and make sure we are recording and interpreting them correctly. The article also encourages us, once again, to be very careful in making assumptions, names can be tricky. Citing the source of how we know a particular name to be true and accurate is an important to building a "compleat" database and, important for helping us stay on the right track in our research.

Lexicons of Lost Lifestyles: Weaponry Wording, Part 1

In this month's article, Lexicon of Lost Lifestyles: Weaponry Wording, Part 1, Jean Hibben explores terms and phrases handed down from weapons of war. As the author points out, language derived from the use of guns is so common, it even "creeps into the vocabulary of the most sincere pacifist." And that's how it is -- words spill off the tongue without much thought to their origin, but knowing the origin helps us make sense of the language and clarify meanings, to say nothing of helping us "mean what we say and say what we mean."

"Who Do You Think You Are" - American Style

The "Who Do Think You Are" website launched today, setting the stage for the show's premiere. The American version of the popular British family history TV series, will feature seven celebrities as they journey back in time to discover more about their ancestors. Lisa Kudrow (Friends), the show's executive producer, will be featured, along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Spike Lee, Matthew Broderick, Susan Sarandon, Emmitt Smith, and Brooke Shields. The program is a partnership between NBC and Ancestry.com. Tune in to NBC on Fridays at 8 PM Eastern (7 PM Central), beginning March 5. The show has become almost an institution in the UK, generating an overwhelming interest among the general public to know more about their own ancestry -- not a bad thing. Even if you're not a celebrity aficionado, and I am not, the show is sure to be of interest to family history researchers. See a preview of the new series.

GenWeekly, Vol. VII, No. 5

It's Genealogy. It's Weekly. It's GenWeekly. 

January 29, 2010

Elisabeth Lindsay, Editor

All articles are copyright (c) 2009 Genealogy Today, LLC.

This Week's Articles

The original article(s) in this section are available only to subscribers. You can learn about our $9.95 annual subscription at http://www.genweekly.com/subscribe.html.

Do You Have What It Takes To Be a Census Taker?
by Rita Marshall. If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a census taker, here your chance -- the U. S. Census Bureau is hiring.

How Would DNA Help My Research?

by Alan Smith. DNA testing has a role in genealogy but it's good to keep it in perspective.

Recent News

• LiveRoots in the News. Genealogy Today's own LiveRoots website is praised for its access to "one-of-a-kind family history files."

• Google Newspaper Archive. Google is digitizing periodicals, including newspapers -- a work in progress.

• Tips for using the Find-a-Grave website. It's not like being there, but the ability to navigate some 40 million graves from your home computer ain't all bad.

The Genealogy Guide

In the interest of helping readers gain better insight into genealogical terms, Genealogy Today has created a Genealogy Guide. Each week, GenWeekly features a new term from the continually expanding Genealogy Guide.

Deep Ancestry

Deep ancestry is a term used in the DNA research community referring to one's ancestral group or "clan," dating back to the dawn of humanity. Every person has at least one type of DNA that has been passed down from one parent unchanged through generations of time. The mutations or changes on this DNA is so rare that only a few such changes have occurred over the ages. As we know, one ancestor can have many descendants. Thus, people who share the same DNA are said to share a common ancestor. One type of DNA study is focused identifying and mapping these various ancestral groups around the world.

For genealogy researchers this type of DNA testing will not tell you much about your more recent ancestry, but it can help you discover how you were descended from our earliest forefathers and how your own DNA patterns traveled the earth. Other types of DNA studies can help researchers address more immediate genealogical questions. Understanding the various types of DNA testing and their uses can help researchers make more informed decisions.

Archive Articles

For additional reading on the topics covered in this week's newsletter, you may wish to read the following articles from the GenWeekly archive:

• United States Census: An Overview for Beginners

• Finding Elusive Ancestors in Online Census Indexes

• British Censuses: Advice for Americans

• Beyond the Paper Trail: Discovering Family History with Different DNA Tests

• Using DNA to Find Your Surname

• The Literal Descendants of Aharon

Copyright © 1999 - 2010 by Genealogy Today LLC, All Rights Reserved

LiveRoots in the news

Our own Genealogy Today, LiveRoots website received honorable mention recently is an article on NewsOK, by Sharon Burns, "Site may help people break through walls." 

"Family historians and genealogists who hit walls searching for information about ancestors should try Live Roots at liveroots.com, a genealogy search engine. . . . The project, under development by D’Addezio and Genealogy Today, offers access to one-of-a-kind family history files working in sync with genealogy providers and files collected by D’Addezio."

As noted, the December/January edition of Internet Genealogy features an article by Tony Bandy, who discusses this site. 

For a first-hand look, come visit the LiveRoots website.

Do You Have What It Takes to Be A Census Taker?

If you've ever wondered what it was like to be a census taker, here's your chance. The U. S. Census Bureau is hiring for the 2010 census year. In her article, "Do you have what it takes to be a census taker?" Rita Marshall explores the opportunity. As the article states, "We've admired their dedication and been exasperated by their penmanship,"  here is the chance, literally, to walk a mile in his moccasins. Nothing like a little first-hand experience to increase our understanding and appreciation.

Google Newspaper Archive

Another resource highlighted this week on The-Dispatch.com is Google's online newspaper archive. As noted, "Google is digitizing periodicals, including newspapers, to create a global library. The company is doing this by accessing microfilm of the periodicals." The article points out that microfilm of The Dispatch goes back to 1889 and those early editions are available through Google, suggesting the scope of the archive. The project was launched back in 2008 and is a work in progress. To learn more, see "Bringing history online one newspaper at a time."

Tips using the Find-a-Grave website

This seems to be a week for reviewing good resources. A nice article on TBO.com,"Find A Grave can shorten the search,"  by Sharon Tate Moody points out the benefits of the Find-a-Grave website, with the caveat that nothing takes the place of visiting ancestor graves personally and making that "spiritual connection." The article provides some tips for a successful search. It also observes the site's focus on celebrity grave sites, while distracting (if not downright annoying) to  genealogists, is the very reason the site exists at all, so we can be a little tolerant. The site is definitely worth checking -- I've personally found burial information and photos it would take me a long time to find otherwise.

How Would DNA Help My Research

In his article, "How Would DNA Help My Research," Alan Smith takes a look at DNA testing and how it might be used in genealogy. The author makes the point that DNA testing is supplemental to the more traditional genealogical methods, which is good to remember. As the article states, "If any disputes arrive over the history of a family, it will most likely be the offering of an original document which will end the debate."