In December 2021, the remains of an unidentified individual were found inside of an abandoned residence on Wolfe Street in Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick is a small town with a population of approximately 15,000 residents located just south of Savannah near the Turtle River. The Brunswick Police Department responded to the scene and collected evidence in hopes of identifying the unknown individual.

It was determined that the remains were that of a Black male who was between the ages of 45 and 60 years. The man was estimated to be 5'9" to 5'11" tall. Near the man's remains, investigators found a baseball cap, red sweater, cargo shorts, and a sock. No identifying information was discovered at the scene. The Brunswick Police Department requested that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) assist with the investigation and identification.

Details of the case were entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as UP122003 in May 2024. Despite investigators' efforts, the man could not be identified, and he was classified as Glynn County John Doe.

In 2023, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from the provided evidence and then used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the man. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new investigative leads that were returned to law enforcement.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. Reference DNA samples were collected from a relative and compared to the DNA profile of the unidentified man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Christopher Lamont Williams. Christopher Williams was reported missing in June 2021. The case is not under investigation as the autopsy and investigation revealed no signs of trauma or foul play.

A portion of Othram's casework costs associated with the advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy completed in this case were contributed by donors through a DNASolves® crowdfund. We are grateful to everyone that helped crowdfund this case and other DNASolves cases. The remaining cost of Othram's casework was paid by law enforcement.

Individuals who have taken a consumer DNA test can aid ongoing forensic investigations by joining the DNASolves database. Expanding the pool of available DNA data increases the likelihood of successful identifications, helping to reunite families with their missing loved ones and resolve cases that have remained unsolved for years.

The identification of Christopher Williams represents the 25th case in the State of Georgia where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Visit DNASolves to learn about other Georgia cases where your support can help bring long-awaited answers to families.

The Hopkins County Genealogical Society presents, “If Headstones Could Talk” 2025 City Cemetery Walk. A walk among the headstones of pioneer Hopkins County citizens residing at Sulphur Springs City Cemetery. Hopkins County Genealogical Society members will bring these pioneer Hopkins County citizens back to life through stories, costumes, and props. The guided tour will be held at Sulphur Springs City Cemetery November 2nd, 2025, from 2:00 to 4:00pm. Cost is a $10 donation. Reserve your spot by calling 903-885-8523, or by stopping by 611 North Davis Street, Sulphur Springs, Texas.Hopkins County Genealogical Society 2025 Cemetery Walk November 2nd 2025

Digging into your family history can bring to light long-lost relatives, hidden secrets, and even surprising connections. The volunteers with the Warren County Illinois Genealogical Society can help uncover those family roots you didn’t know existed, explains Lynn Devlin:

“The Warren County Genealogy Society and Library was started about 45 years ago by a group of wonderful people who did a great job of building and supporting, which is now being carried on now by volunteers. In this age of tracing your ancestors, that is what we do, and we have volunteers to help people get started, answer questions; plus, class opportunities on how to get started, what things you need to start with, and how to go about recording.”

The Warren County Illinois Genealogical Society is hosting a Genealogy Open House on Saturday, October 25th from 1 to 3 pm, located on the second floor of the Warren County Public Library in Downtown Monmouth, for the entire public to stop by and learn more about the available services.

Veterans and their families are invited to a free Veterans Day research event coordinated by the Rogue Valley Genealogical Society.

The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, at the genealogical society’s library, 3405 S. Pacific Hwy., Medford. Highlights of the event include: Search Fold3’s vast collection of historical U.S. military records. (Fold3 is normally a paid site.)

Search ancestry and family search sites for documents related to your ancestor. Search the extensive resources of the genealogical society’s library. Free volunteer research assistants will be available to help visitors. For more information, call 541-512-2340 or visit www.rvgslibrary.org.

Read more at: https://rv-times.com/2025/10/21/free-research-event-planned-for-veterans-their-families-at-rv-genealogical-society/

The Kansas Historical Society is celebrating American Archives Month by connecting thousands of people to their family history.

Since 2006, American Archives Month has given archivists across the country an opportunity to tell the stories of items and information preserved in state archives. This, combined with Family History Month, has created a very busy month for archivists and researchers at the Kansas Historical Society.

“We help genealogy researchers almost daily here at the archives,” said State Archivist Megan Burton. “Genealogists and family history research make up the majority of in-person researchers that visit us. We typically see about 2,500 to 3,000 research requests by phone or email every year, and I would say that at least a third of those are related to genealogy. That’s probably a really conservative estimate.”

Archivists like Burton spend their time collecting, preserving and providing access to the government record of Kansas, going as far back as 1855. She works with all executive branches of the Kansas government, all 105 counties and every city and municipality to offer support for records management. Her staff proves in-person training and consultation services to help agencies manage their records and establish records retention schedules, which are required to be in compliance with Kansas records laws.

“Beyond that, I help the Head of Reference Services, Adam Hodge, with research room operations, do outreach programs across the state (and sometimes beyond), and promote all our collections here in the archives,” said Burton. “We have a section within our State Archives Division devoted to special collections, which include the records, papers, photos and other materials of private individuals, businesses and groups. Our collections are diverse and provide excellent resources related to the rich history of Kansas.”

Burton wants the public to know that archives are for everyone. While her work may appear more academic in nature, she and her office can help anyone make a connection to anything related to Kansas history, and she encourages anyone interested to visit in-person, or make an online appointment to see what they have to offer.

The Kansas Historical Society recently created this genealogical research guide, if you or your family are interested in uncovering family history in the state.

In Honor of Maryland Emancipation Day on November 1st, Historic Sotterley is proud to be partnering with Maryland Humanities and their One Maryland One Book initiative to host a full day of programming that celebrates ancestry, literature, and the power of storytelling.

The event will highlight the impact of descendant voices in preserving, sharing, and interpreting ancestral histories, while inspiring others to embark on their own genealogical journeys.

One Maryland One Book brings our community together across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book.

This year’s selection, Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford, with illustrations by Jeffery Boston Weatherford, is a powerful blend of poetry, history, and personal genealogy.

The book chronicles the authors’ journey into their ancestral roots, uncovering ties to some of Maryland’s earliest settlers and offering a deeply moving exploration of identity and legacy.

The themes and journey of Kin: Rooted in Hope mirrors the journey many of our Sotterley Descendant community and we’re excited for this event to take a deeper dive into what that journey can look like and how our visitors can explore their own ancestry and experiences through storytelling.

Highlights of the event include:

• Keynote Address by Olivia Smith, St. Mary’s County Library
• Sotterley Descendant Panel featuring Gwen Bankins, Dante Eubanks, Kelsey Bush, Tre Lancaster-Smith, and Nocola Williams, moderated by Merideth Taylor
• Creative Writing Workshops with author Caitlyn Hunter
• Living History Performances by Ms. Story
• Author Presentation & Q&A with Dave Brown, author of The Barber Family and his latest work on Agnes Kane Callum
• Open Mic Session for poetry and creative writing
• Food & Refreshments:Aunt Titty’s Food Truck will be onsite with delicious offerings available for purchase. Boxed lunch pre-orders will be available soon.

Admission to the event is free, but registration is required. Seats are limited. Registration for the event can be found at

Event Schedule

• 9:00 – Doors Open
• 9:30 – Program Start, Welcome from Nancy Easterling
• 9:40 – Land Acknowledgement
• 9:50 – Keynote from Olivia Smith of St. Mary’s Public Library
• 10:05 – Living History Chapter 1 performance by Ms. Story
• 10:40 – Sotterley Descendant Panel with Gwen Bankins, Dante Eubanks, Kelsey Bush, Tre Lancaster-Smith, and Nocola Williams, Facilitated by Merideth Taylor
• 11:25 – Creative Writing Workshop 1 with Caitlyn Hunter
• 12:00 – Lunch/Free Time, Manor House Tours and Exhibits Open
• 1:15 – Living History Chapter 2 performance by Ms. Story
• 1:40 – Creative Writing Workshop 2 with Caitlyn Hunter
• 2:15 – Open Mic
• 2:40 – Presentation by Dave Brown
• 3:15 – Living History Chapter 3 performance by Ms. Story
• 3:45 – Final remarks, opportunity to purchase books and book signings

Join us for a day of remembrance, creativity, and community as we honor the past and inspire the future through the power of story.

Monday, November 3, 2025     6:15 PM

KDGS, Zoom Meeting, Kelowna

Every Source Matters: Using a variety of clues to find distant family members.

Researching your family history has never been easier, thanks to an ever-increasing number of records available as well as DNA information you can unlock from your saliva.

Dave Obee is a journalist and genealogical researcher who has written a dozen books and given more than 700 presentations at conferences and seminars in Canada, the United States and Australia since 1997. He is Editor and Publisher of the Times Colonist in Victoria, BC. He has received numerous awards and acknowledgements for his work as both a genealogist and journalist.

Bite-size presentation: My Mom: World War II Veteran, with KDGS member, Claire-Smith Burns.

Pre Registration required (see link)

Price: KDGS members Free; non-members $10; (PayPal or e-transfer)

For more info visit kdgs.ca . Join us this year and watch our guest speakers give expert advice on how to research your family history.

https://kdgs.ca/updates/meetings/

Dates, Times & Tickets

Monday
Nov 3

06:15 PM

Digging into your family history can bring to light long-lost relatives, hidden secrets, and even surprising connections. The volunteers with the Warren County Illinois Genealogical Society can help uncover those family roots you didn’t know existed, explains Lynn Devlin:

“The Warren County Genealogy Society and Library was started about 45 years ago by a group of wonderful people who did a great job of building and supporting, which is now being carried on now by volunteers. In this age of tracing your ancestors, that is what we do, and we have volunteers to help people get started, answer questions; plus, class opportunities on how to get started, what things you need to start with, and how to go about recording.”

The Warren County Illinois Genealogical Society is hosting a Genealogy Open House on Saturday, October 25th from 1 to 3 pm, located on the second floor of the Warren County Public Library in Downtown Monmouth, for the entire public to stop by and learn more about the available services.

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our fifty-fifth how to argue with the government newsletter Appealing to a Higher Power We have four new suggestions you can use right now to write a FOIA Appeal to the VA, to get copies of the unique veterans' files they're suddenly refusing to turn over to the public Hello again from the little government gadfly group Reclaim The Records. Last time we were in  your inbox, it was to tell you the good news that we released 1.5 million brand new records online for free, but also to relay the very annoying news that the US Department of Veterans' Affairs (the VA) had suddenly started withholding the full versions of these records from our (and your) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. This is very annoying. We've been helping genealogists and researchers make FOIA requests for these incredible never-before-online VA files through our new BIRLS.org website for almost a year now. Hundreds of lucky, early requesters got DVDs sent to their homes with newly-scanned images of these benefits claims files (C-Files or XC-Files), sometimes containing hundreds of pages of material which have been amazing resources for genealogists, journalists, and researchers. And then suddenly the federal government decided that they just didn't want to do that anymore, and started sending out these weird "genealogy letters" instead of DVDs with PDFs on them. (This suddenly did not have any warning or public comment period about the VA's change in public records policies, but it coincidentally happened at the same time as thousands of federal workers at the VA getting the axe a few months ago. Funny how that worked.) Luckily, FOIA has a built-in appeal process. An appeal is your request to the agency, generally to an attorney on staff there, to review its initial determination. It could result in more records being released to you, or the agency affirming its initial response. And appealing a FOIA denial is easy, free, and best of all it preserves your right to (potentially) sue the government for up to six years after the date of your appeal...if suing stubborn government agencies under FOIA is something you might be interested in doing someday -- and for us it often is! So, with the help of our trusty attorneys, we at Reclaim The Records have put together four new lawyer-vetted FOIA Appeal Texts you can choose and reuse today, so you can fight for the release of your relative's (or research interest's) C-File from the VA! This language is now available on our website at BIRLS.org/appeals . There are four different situations covered: Situation 1: You're seeking a Claims File for your deceased parent or grandparent or spouse; or You are otherwise the next-of-kin of the deceased veteran; or You are a legal representative (select this option even if some of the other situations listed below also apply)   Situation 2: You're seeking a Claims File of a Civil War era or Spanish-American War era veteran (e.g. their file should have been transferred to NARA years ago, but probably was not)   Situation 3: You're seeking a Claims File of a World War I, World War II, or Korean War era veteran, someone who was discharged from service more than 62 years ago (e.g. their file may contain a copy of their OMPF)   Situation 4: All other Claims File requests Check out the text of the four suggested FOIA Appeal letters, and send them out to the VA today! You have ninety days from receiving a FOIA denial to write an Appeal of the denial, but once you do that, you have six years from your Appeal to decide whether or not you want to try suing the VA under FOIA. And given how many thousands of us have been denied our FOIA requests for these identical types of C-Files in the past few months, it's possible we could even pull together our first ever class action FOIA case against the VA at some point in the future...stay tuned. But to even maybe consider doing that, you will need to have made a FOIA Appeal in a timely manner. So send those Appeal e-mails! Help Us Keep Fighting – Donate Today! The VA is trying to close the door on public copies of millions of cubic feet of unique historical material; we’re going to pry it back open. If you can, please help us pay for the crowbar. Turning this around will, at best, take a lot of work from our lawyers. None of this is going to be cheap. If you can, please make a tax deductible gift today to underwrite our efforts. Otherwise, these records may languish in warehouses for decades, and the stories they hold will remain unknown. Reclaim The Records is a small but mighty organization that fights for public access to historical records. We don’t take government funding — we rely on grassroots support from people like you. If you believe in open records, transparency, and genealogical rights, please make a donation today. Every dollar goes directly toward legal efforts, public awareness campaigns, and the fight against record closures — and the fight for awesome new records acquisitions, like this one! Here’s how you can support us, and our work. Thank you! Because history should never be padlocked, your annoyed but determined friends at Reclaim The Records

@ReclaimTheRecs Like us on Facebook www.ReclaimTheRecords.org MAKE A DONATION TO RECLAIM THE RECORDS Reclaim The Records is an IRS-recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Our EIN is 81-4985446. Your support helps us keep fighting for more open records!