Monday, July 29, 2019

Genealogy in the Good Ol' Summertime


Ferndale Genies, a place where friends gather to talk about genealogy.  That’s us.  At our July meeting, we learned that many of our members are in the middle of canning and putting up yummy jams.  Still, ten of us gathered. 

Let’s start with announcements.  Our Genies’ August meeting is Monday, August 19.  1:00 at the Ferndale Library.

At the August meeting, the Northwest Genealogical Conference in Arlington will be a hot topic. We will bring back new ideas to share at the meeting.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful resource close to home.  The free beginner’s class is on Wednesday, August 14 from 1:00 until 4:30.  The speaker will be Janet Camarata, a local favorite of mine.  Previously Thomas MacEntee was scheduled but Thomas has torn his Achilles tendon and will not be able to travel out here.  I will be driving each day and my offer to drive still stands.   The agenda for Beginning Genealogy is at the end of this post.  Complete conference info at http://www.nwgc.org.

Our RootsMagic meetings are continuing monthly.  Our next meeting is on Saturday, September 7 at 1:00.  We will be viewing another basic RootsMagic video and followed by discussion.  If you intend to come, you will want to download at least the free version of RootsMagic ahead of time from rootsmagic.com.

We had a lively discussion at our July meeting.  Writing our stories is an ongoing theme with us.  Suzie is enjoying One Memory at a Time by D.L.  Fulford.  Fulford says just start writing and don’t worry about spelling and punctuation.  You will revise later on.  I also brought the library copy of To Our Children’s Children by Bob Greene (Fulford’s brother).  This is a book of hundreds of questions/prompts you can use in your family history writing.  The content is so rich I decided to buy a copy.  There are many in excellent condition at Amazon.  I paid $5.62 including tax and shipping.  Astounding!

Linda L. said she keeps going back to author William Zinsser, a journalist who also writes about writing.  He tells us not to decide in advance how your memoir will be organized or what will be in it.  He is a talented writer and I fell in love with this statement from his book Writing About Your Life.  “Be ready to be surprised by the crazy, wonderful events that will come dancing out of your past when you stir the pot of memory.”  Masterful!

Personally, I am sure that it’s the stories about my family that will interest our children’s children.  So let’s get started.

Several of us are piloting a group based on the Research Like a Pro genealogy research process.  Some of the benefits we’ve found are keeping organized, focusing on a question and objective, and not revisiting the same sources over and over.  David R. was here and he reminded us that sometimes it’s just fun to poke around and go down a few rabbit holes.  Point well taken.  We will be starting a group on September 22.  It consists of seven weeks of practicing the seven research steps.  You will receive an email each Sunday, describing the step and an assignment.  You will choose something in your own tree to research.  If you think you might be interested, you can learn about the process by tuning in to the earliest episodes of the Research Like a Pro podcast; looking at their website and blog posts at https://familylocket.com/; or finding the Research Like a Pro book by Diana Elder at the library or on Amazon.

Also at the meeting, questions were raised about the X chromosome.  This is diving deep but here are some tips.  One of the best resources is Roberta Estes at DNA-Explained.com blog.  You will also need to use the X-Chromosome Inheritance Pattern Charts developed by Blaine Bettinger and found here: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2008/12/21/unlocking-the-genealogical-secrets-of-the-x-chromosome/  For this, note that there are different charts for male and female.  Lastly, if you want to educate yourself further, I suggest using Genetic Genealogy in Practice, a book by Blaine Bettinger and Debbie Wayne.  For each different kind of DNA test, they give problems to solve, fortunately with the answers in the back.  I will loan you my copy.

Extreme Genes, a long-running podcast hosted by Scott Fisher, has a surprise for us every Monday.  At the time of our meeting, episode 290 featured interviews about the Georgetown University Memory Project.  The Project was originally called GU272 when they thought 272 enslaved people were sold by the university in 1838.  It turned out there were 314 people from the Jesuit-owned Maryland plantation sold to three plantations in Louisiana.  This saved the university from going out of business.  The project researched family trees and identified descendants of which there are now more 4,000.  They traveled to meet descendants and recorded many personal interviews. Details here: https://extremegenes.com/2019/07/14/episode-290-the-georgetown-memory-project-lambert-on-researching-revolutionary-ancestors/

Back to the podcast, you can sign up for an email on Mondays, listen to the podcast and, if you would rather, read a transcript which is available on the website.

Last week on Extreme Genes CeCe Moore was featured in episode 291.  CeCe Moore’s first Law enforcement DNA case has ended with a conviction in a 1987 double murder in Washington state.  They discussed the trial, other cases, the situation with GEDMatch, and the re-growing of the database that’s so necessary for this kind of work.  This week Fisher, or Fish as he is known, interviews Paul Woodbury in Episode 292, starting with beginner DNA and becoming more complex.  Paul is a lesser-known top-tier genetic genealogist. 

I’ve skimmed over a number of topics today.  If I left you scratching your head, bring your questions to our meeting or send me an email to ferndalegenies@gmail.com.  Happy hunting!
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Wednesday, August 14th, 2019
From 1:00pm to 4:30pm

Featuring:

*Regretfully, due to injury Thomas MacEntee is unable to fly;  Janet O'Conor Camarata has very kindly stepped up and stepped in to provide our Beginning Genealogy Class....


Janet O'Conor Camarata
Are you interested in your family’s history, but not sure how to get started? Are you completely new to genealogy research or a seasoned pro, there's always more to learn or to review. In this session of Beginning Genealogy, the following will be covered:
·         Are you a Genealogist or Family Historian?
·         The Basics of the Genealogical Hunt
·         Organizing Strategies for Genealogy Success
·         Locating Genealogy Records Online and Off-line
·         Techniques and Tools to Transform your Approach to Research
·         Resources and References for Improved Research Results
·         Tips to avoid Genealogy Traps, Confusion, and Overload
·         The Next Steps as a Genealogist
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