18 November 2008 by Libbi.

Several news sources (see below) are reporting this morning a family dating back 4,600 years, found by archaeologists in Germany, were killed in a struggle. DNA shows that the family, huddled together, are a mother, father and two children, with some aunts and cousins nearby.

The BBC story says in part,

The son and daughter were buried in the arms of their parents.

Dr Wolfgang Haak, from The Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, in Adelaide, conducted the DNA analysis. He says the scientific evidence supports the idea that they were indeed a family.

"We're really sure, based on hard biological facts not just supposing or assuming."

Other news sources covering this story:

Using a Variety of Tools, Researchers Unravel Tale of German Graves

End of a loving Flintstones family

Ancient graves yield clues to family relationships

Cold case: world’s oldest family identified

Prehistoric Family Values

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14 November 2008 by Libbi.

The LOUISIANA CREOLE RESEARCH ASSOCIATION’S FOURTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE - Saturday November 15 with a Jazz Brunch on Sunday November 16, 2008. The theme of this year’s Conference is entitled:

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13 November 2008 by Libbi.

Ancestry Graphics & Printing provides specialized solutions for frugal Christmas shoppers who are favoring gifts from the heart for family members this holiday season. More genealogy buffs than ever are capitalizing on their years of research to provide family members with the most precious gifts of all. Genealogy is this country’s second most popular and fastest growing hobby. Ancestry Graphics & Printing serves genealogy customers nationwide and can be found at www.ancestryprinting.com. Their web site also features many free downloads of genealogy forms, family tree clip art, and screensaver images.

Winfield, IL (PRWEB) November 11, 2008 — Christmas shoppers who have been feeling the pinch of higher energy costs this past year and the fear of continued economic uncertainty are not only scaling back on holiday expenditures this season, but are also turning towards gifts from the heart that are more meaningful and personal in nature. An increasing number of the tens of millions of home-grown genealogists who count themselves among the ranks of this country’s second most popular hobby will be printing family tree charts as gifts for family members again this holiday season. According to Ancestry Graphics & Printing (http://www.ancestryprinting.com) what makes this Christmas season different is the extreme popularity of genealogy charts as holiday gifts.

Past economic cycles reveal that during strained economic times there has always been a trend towards family values, homemade Christmas gifts, and gifts from the heart. For many genealogy buffs, this holiday season presents itself as the perfect opportunity to break from the never-ending cycle of genealogy research and turn the value of their years of research into meaningful gifts for family members. In many families, a printed genealogy chart that shows their family heritage will be a popular gift to parents, grandparents, grown children, brothers & sisters, and aunts & uncles.

The problem many genealogists will face again this year will be getting their family tree data out of their software and onto a large family tree chart in an attractive manner. Ancestry Graphics & Printing says their service will bring cheer to genealogy buffs in search of a solution to this growing problem. “Genealogy software such as Family Tree Maker and online ancestry databases have empowered genealogy buffs to build larger family trees than ever before” said Larry Spiegel, the company’s founder. In most instances, these large family trees are well past the point of printing on standard letter-size paper and taping together. To solve this problem, many people will try and enlist the help of a commercial printer who is capable of doing large format printing without a large price tag.

Generally speaking, Spiegel said that if your family tree chart measures over about 8 feet wide, you probably won’t be able to get it printed at your local printer or self-serve print shop. And, with some applications, the limit may be as small as 4 feet. Printing a wide genealogy chart correctly requires that the genealogy software program be installed on the printer’s PC. Because of growing concerns over third-party software and viruses, it is extremely rare that a commercial printer will even run the risk of installing someone else’s software on their system.

Ancestry Graphics & Printing specializes in printing virtually any size family tree directly from all of the most popular genealogy software programs. Using their printing service, Spiegel said “individuals are assured that their genealogy chart will be printed exactly as they were designed.” By printing directly from the genealogy data within the software program, individuals eliminate the technical problems and limitations associated with outputting their family tree data to a postscript or PDF file prior to printing.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Larry Spiegel

Ancestry Graphics & Printing

630-653-8400

sales @ ancestryprinting.com

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12 November 2008 by Libbi.

Seven new indexing projects were released during the past two weeks:

·        Argentina 1869 Census – Buenos Aires (Part 2)

·        Argentina 1869 Census – Cordoba y San Luis

·        Massachusetts Death Records

·        Massachusetts Marriage Records

·        New Hampshire Birth Records

·        UK – Cheshire – Church Records

·        UK– Cheshire – Land Tax

To help with these or any other indexing projects, go to www.familysearch.org (and click Index Records) or www.familysearchindexing.org.

(Note: Percentages below may refer to a specific portion of a larger project.)

Argentina Censo 1869 - Buenos Aires (Part 2)         Spanish           8%

Argentina Censo 1869 - Cordoba y San Luis            Spanish           8%

Brandenburg Kirchenbücher                                      German           13%

California - 1920 US Federal Census                        English            77%

España Lugo Registros Parroquiales                         Spanish           8%

Florida 1945 Census                                                   English            66%

France, Coutances, Paroisses de la Manche              French             7%

Guanajuato Censo de Mexico de 1930                      Spanish           78%

Guerrero - Censo de Mexico de 1930                        Spanish           46%

Illinois - 1920 US Federal Census                             English            25%

Massachusetts - 1920 US Federal Census                 English            32%

Massachusetts Death Records 1906-1915                 English            21%

Massachusetts Marriage Records 1906-1915            English            4%

New Hampshire - Early to 1900 Births                     English            7%

Nicaragua, Managua Civil Records                           Spanish           8%

Trento Italy Baptism Records                                    Italian              30%

UK - Cheshire - Church Records                               English            10%

UK - Cheshire - Land Tax                                          English            2%

Venezuela Mérida Registros Parroquiales                Spanish           0.4%

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6 November 2008 by Libbi.

The next two months will give you lots of opportunities to gather many generations of your family together: Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Hannukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.

Plan NOW to ask your oldest relatives for some oral history. You can’t do it all in one day, but you can get some information.

Get yourself an MP3 player that records, or a hand-held cassette recorder, or a microphone, laptop and recording program, whatever you can lay your hands on and start planning now what you need to ask.

Some suggestions:

1. Of course the vital statistics. Birth, marriage. Parents’ birth and marriage. Siblings’ birth and marriage Dates, places, anything notable (Born on father’s birthday? Born December 7, 1941? Married overseas?)

2. Ask a starter question and see where it goes such as: What was school like? When did you know your spouse was “the one”? Who was your favorite sports figure/movie star/national hero growing up?  Ask just one, and let the answer help you with the followup.

3. Where were you when…..and name an historic event in that person’s life: The end of WWI. D-Day. Kennedy Assisnation. Nixon’s resignation. Or if remembered, what did their fathers, grandfathers, etc say about historical events such as the 1929 Stock Market Crash or Teddy  Roosevelt’s election.

4. The traditional Thanksgiving Day question: When did our family come to America?

Remember to limit the conversation to about an hour at a time, especially for the very elderly. Give time and space for the answers to emerge, and don’t press too hard.  And be aware that some of these memories will be sad; my mother choked up whenever she remembered her brother Vernon, killed in the Battle of the Bulge when she was a teenager.

 Record and backup (and transcribe!) the results as soon as you can after the interview, while your memory is fresh, and in case some of the recording is hard to hear. You could burn the sound file and a pdf of the transcription along with any pictures you take or have of the interviewee onto a CDROM for future reference.

And while you’re at it, answer some of those questions yourself, and record those answers!

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5 November 2008 by Libbi.

I’ve talked before about the value of finding an ancestor’s diary. My great-grandmother kept a diary when they homesteaded from Indiana to Oregon. Later they had to move back east to care for an elderly relative, but she regaled my mother with tales of how beautiful Oregon is, second only to heaven from her descriptions. Later, as an adult, when Mother read that diary, it was much more alive to her for having heard her grandmother’s stories.

So. Here you are in the middle of an historic moment. Maybe you are giddy with the thought that America has elected a Black President. Maybe you admire both candidates, but feel the best man won. Maybe, like one of my friends, you are filled with dread that Obama will drag us down the path of Godless Socialism and the end of the American experiment is near. Maybe  you feel it was an election like all elections and now we just have to wait and see whether the new administration can handle the problems facing it.

Whatever your thoughts, opinions, and feelings, you should be writing them down somewhere, for your great-great-grandchildren to find  in 100 years. Describe what voting was like for you: did you vote early? Did you stand in the rain for hours? Were there issues on the ballot that you felt you had no business voting on (which is how I feel about some of the Florida initiatives)? And what else was going on in your life?

Your descendants for generations will be glad you did!

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4 November 2008 by Libbi.

Go vote. Take a book or an MP3 player with you, stand in line however long it takes, and vote!

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31 October 2008 by Libbi.

My Halloween Scare: I’m signed up for National Novel Writing Month. Yep.  Gonna try to write 1667 words a day all November.

Why? Hmm.

I’m the greatest American writer ever, I just don’t know it yet…..nah.

My angel whispered it’s time to get those characters out of my head and onto paper….maybe.

I just want to see if I can do it….very likely.

It’s been a year since I finished Genealogy Online 8th Edition and I’m itching to be writing creatively again….getting closer.

I want “to allow my innate gifts to come to the surface, unmolested by self-doubt, self-criticism, and other acts of self-bullying” for  30 days….I think that’s it. That phrase is from the contract you make with yourself to participate in NaNoWriMo. It really caught me, because that sounds like writer heaven.

Another part of the contract is that one is to “brag” about starting the novel, to make yourself accountable to the whole world. Bragging isn’t my long suit, so this post will have to count. 

Prayers for success in this endeavor gratefully accepted!

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I’m also going to participate in the Geneablogger’s Cookbook. I have an old cigar box full of Mimi’s recipes….and of course food will play a prominent part in my new novel that starts tomorrow. So it dovetails nicely.

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24 October 2008 by Libbi.

Next week is NASA’s 50th anniversary. NASA is why I was born in Huntsville. Just another example of how knowing history can help you find your ancestors!

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23 October 2008 by Libbi.

Sometimes people who are just getting started in online genealogy will ask me for a recommendation of a browser.
Browsers, like cars, come with different features. Some are really easy to use. Some are really fast. Some use more “gas” (memory) than others. And which one you choose depends on your taste, needs, and style.
Here’s a quick roundup of what is out there:

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