Ancestry Health? Yes, Ancestry Health

This is a little bit disturbing in my opinion.  Maybe even creepy.  But Ancestry.com is diving into the health data field which, on the surface, sounds a bit like what the FDA prevented 23andMe from doing, at least in its original form.  But that's another story!

I refer everyone to the most excellent DNA blog by scientist and genealogist, Roberta Estes.  If you have any interest in DNA whatsoever, her blog provides an excellent resource.  She speaks "English" in her blog rather than "Scientist."  Well, she does for the most part!  Some of the entries get a little long and have a tendency to cause my eyes to glaze over, but I'm always able to get the gist of her knowledge and manage to read most of the information.  Then there's the comments...hundreds of comments from researchers everywhere.

But I digress!  Here's the link where she explains with reasonable clarity the ins and outs of the beta program: http://dna-explained.com/2015/06/06/and-now-ancestry-health/ which should be a heads-up for anyone who may be tempted to jump right into the Ancestry Health pool.

She also references Judy G Russell, a very accomplished genealogist who happens to be a lawyer, a former prosecutor in fact.  That's another blog I would strongly recommend.  You can read and subscribe to her clever, informative, sometimes personal and often humorous words published daily at http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/.

Needless to say, I subscribe to both.  Some posts I have no interest in reading but most of the others and their comments are an education in and unto themselves.

Happy researching!

In closing, I had to share this Father's Day "card" from my kids.  Matthew, Mark and Kimi collaboratively colored this cartoon for a long ago Father's Day sometime around 1995.  They're a prescient group as I recently discovered through 23andMe that I am, in fact, 3% Neanderthal!

Thanks kids!

Visit http://www.oldbones.info for more information about yours truly then "Like" my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OldBonesSearch?ref=hl

DNA: bringing them home | The Legal Genealogist

What good is genealogy?  What good is DNA testing?  Judy G. Russell has some VERY solid answers! Please click the link "DNA: bringing them home" (you may have to click "Continue reading" for the live link):

DNA: bringing them home | The Legal Genealogist.

You may also want to subscribe to Judy Russell's blogs by RSS feed or by e-mail.  She's worth the minute or so a day to read.

A section of DNA; the sequence of the plate-like units (nucleotides) in the center carries information. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AncestryDNA Rolls Out "Update"

Here's a link to one of my favorite blogger, lecturer, genealogist, lawyer and general expert in a lot of the things that also interest me! There's a great deal of information here and in every blog she posts... Although not always about DNA:

The Legal Genealogist

Especially interesting is the last paragraph where she quotes Dr. Ken Chahine of AncestryDNA.

The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions - Live Webinar

Attached is a link to "The Legal Genealogist" blog. Judy Russell is an attorney and an accomplished genealogist, writer and lecturer in the field of genealogy and how the laws apply to the field. She writes daily in a very interesting and humorous style in her blog, The Legal Genealogist. She's another one of those highly educated, highly intelligent professionals who "speaks English"!!

I wanted to share this link: The Treasure Trove in Legislative Petitions so that I could introduce you to her and inform you about the ISGS Webinar which is being broadcast tomorrow night. "Admission" is free and yes, I know, it's running concurrently with WDYTYA! Fire up your TVR's and participate in what should prove to be an interesting and educational hour.

Massachusetts Genealogical Council

"The Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC) is an umbrella organization representing genealogists, historical researchers, and all those concerned about records preservation and open access to public records."

Karen and I participated in the annual meeting of the MGC yesterday, Saturday, July 20, 2013. We actually had a pretty good time with the help of VERY effective air conditioning at the Hogan Center on the campus of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. The featured speaker was a nationally known lawyer/genealogist, Judy G. Russell, CG, CGL owner of "The Legal Genealogist". You can find her at The Legal Genealogist

Judy presented 3 programs through the course of the day. She's far from boring! Intelligent and very knowledgeable in the field of genealogy, the first program was "Breaking Through the 20th Century Brick Wall---Building a Family Through Circumstantial Evidence." Great stuff! She pointed out a number of time saving strategies that could help just about anyone who has hit their genealogical "brick wall."

Second, she presented How Knowing the Law Makes Us Better Genealogists." She strongly advises checking the laws in the state in which you're researching. For example, based on her experience in one particular town clerk's office, she brought copies of the legislation that allowed public access. The town clerk stated emphatically, "You can't see that. It's the law." She immediately pulled out "the law" and asked to be shown which part of "the law" prevented her from doing her research. It took about a half hour of the clerk and her staff studying Judy's copies, but she ultimately prevailed.

Finally, she presented "No Person Shall...Gallop Horses in the Streets: Using Court Records to Tell the Story of Our Ancestor's Lives." Among all the information she provided, here's a bit of interesting data: So, you think that checking the voter's list in the early 1800's Virginia for a female ancestor is a waste of time? Believe it or not, sometime between 1805 and 1807, the Virginia legislature allowed it!! It wasn't long before they legislated against it, but it happened.

We also heard from Kimberly Toney representing the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester. They are the repository foor an amazing amount of early American history in the form of millions of documents, books, leaflets and loose paper from "first contact" to about 1876. Worth a look!

Great program, great venue (it was actually TOO cold!!) and great to see a number of people that I usually only communicate with in blogs, webinars and other internet venues.

We took the scenic drive home and stopped at the "Steaming Tender" in Palmer, Mass for dinner. All in all, a long but productive day.