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  • 21 Mar 2025 1:06 PM | Anonymous

    Bafta-winning actor Andrew Garfield will take part in BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? to explore his family history.

    The Spider-Man star will learn about his ancestors’ links to pre-war Poland, the Treblinka Nazi death camp and the Hollywood Hills in the latest series of the show.

    Eight celebrities, including Garfield, will be taken around the world in the 22nd series of the BBC programme to unearth stories from their ancestors.

    The 41-year old is best known for his portrayal of Peter Parker in the Amazing Spider-Man, playing Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network and recently co-starring alongside actress Florence Pugh in the drama We Live In Time.

    Andrew Garfield on the red carpet at the Fashion Awards 2023Andrew Garfield has starred in the Spider-Man films (Ian West/PA)

    Simon Young, BBC head of history, said: “The stellar line-up this year is a real treat for our audiences. But so is the history, from the shock of a royal ancestor to epic stories of survival. And that’s why this series endures, because it hints at the amazing family micro-histories that make all of us who we are.”

    Comedian Diane Morgan, best known for playing the clueless historian Philomena Cunk, will be joining the series to learn about her own history, uncovering her ancestor’s love story and brave fight for the rights of her illegitimate children.

    Meanwhile, EastEnders star Ross Kemp will arrive in Casablanca to try to uncover a family mystery while discovering that his ancestor was a drummer boy during the Napoleonic wars.

    British singer-songwriter Will Young will uncover he has both villains and royalty in his family tree while learning more about his grandfather’s experience as a Bomber Command pilot in the Second World War and being captured as a prisoner of war in Germany.

    The star-studded cast also includes journalist Mishal Husain, comedian Aisling Bea, First Dates’ Fred Sirieix and actor Layton Williams.

    As celebrities search for answers, the series will take viewers across the UK and around the world including to Jamaica, Morocco, India, Poland, Germany, Ireland, the US and France.

    Previous episodes saw British singer Olly Murs retrace his family line to Latvia where he discovered his long-lost great grandmother’s grave and learned that she had to give up her son, Murs’ grandfather, and was later imprisoned in a Nazi camp for eight years.

    The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? launches on BBC One and iPlayer this spring.

  • 21 Mar 2025 9:57 AM | Anonymous

    New research has provided fresh insights into Manx emigrants who settled in the United States, revealing the strong presence of Manx communities in Ohio and beyond. 

    The findings come as part of a new agreement between Manx National Heritage (MNH) and Ancestry.com, which now allows visitors to the Manx Museum Library and Archives in Douglas to access Ancestry Institution for free.

    The partnership provides access to over 60 billion records from 88 countries, enabling researchers to explore census data, military records, migration documents, and historical directories to trace family connections.

    The new access to Ancestry has already helped MNH uncover stories of Manx emigrants who established themselves in the US.

    Sarah Christian, MNH Library and Archives Assistant, shared an example of John Henry Quine, an American drugstore owner with Manx roots. While US census records initially listed his birthplace as England, further research using Ancestry confirmed that he was in fact from Douglas, having lived at 5 Derby Road in 1881 before emigrating to the US.

    Ms Christian said: ‘In the MNH Photographic Archive and digitised on imuseum.im are early 20th-century photographs of an American drugstore belonging to John Henry Quine. For us to have these photographs means he must be linked to the Isle of Man, but searching Ancestry, we discovered census enumerators in the US declare his birth country as England.

    William Corlett of Ohio, USA (Manx National Heritage)

    William Corlett of Ohio, USA (Manx National Heritage) (-)

    ‘Only one record from the American 1910 census has “Isle of Man”, but it’s crossed out. This illustrates how even if your family story connects you to the Isle of Man, the documents don’t always make it easy. Further research using Ancestry reveals that indeed John Quine’s family came from Douglas, with the 1881 census recording that he lived at 5 Derby Road before emigrating to America.’

    Another significant discovery involved William Corlett of Ohio, USA, whose portrait is part of MNH’s digital archive. A search for his name on Ancestry led researchers to the 1860 US census, which showed a cluster of Manx families living and working as farmers in Newburgh, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

    Ms Christian added: ‘Next, we explored a photograph of a portrait painting of William Corlett of Ohio, USA, on the Manx National Heritage imuseum.im website. A search for William Corlett on Ancestry led us not only to William appearing on the North American 1860 census but on the next page a whole community of Manx farmers living and working in Newburgh, Cuyahoga, Ohio. As a common name, there is another William Corlett nearby at Warrensville.’

    Ancestry Institution provides access to historical records from the Isle of Man, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and across Europe, enabling researchers to trace their own roots or follow the migration paths of ancestors.

    As part of the new agreement, Ancestry will add Isle of Man Parish Registers to its platform in 2026.

    The Manx National Heritage Library and Archives at the Manx Museum in Douglas is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 4:30pm.

  • 21 Mar 2025 9:49 AM | Anonymous

    A recent paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine calls for regulations to protect customers’ personal and genetic data in light of biotech company 23andMe’s uncertain future.

    The genetic genealogy firm, launched in 2007, became wildly popular, with millions of customers sending in saliva samples for analysis to learn about their ancestry and genetic makeup.

    The company was valued at $6 billion, or $17.65 a share, shortly after going public in 2021. It has since fallen to about $48 million, or $1.78 per share, after a 2023 data breach and resignation of some board members. The firm said in January that it’s exploring “strategic alternatives,” including a sale of the company or assets, restructuring, or business combination, among other options.

    In this edited conversation, I. Glenn Cohen, one of the paper’s authors and faculty director of the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School, explains the legal landscape surrounding genetic data, the reasons for more consumer protection laws, and the steps for consumers to protect their personal and genetic data.

    If 23andMe were to file for bankruptcy protection, what might happen with the genetic data of 14 million people the company holds?

    As 23andMe faces significant financial distress and might be purchased directly or go bankrupt and its assets sold, all of the genetic and health information provided by people is a valuable asset to the company. Many people have used services like 23andMe, Ancestry.com, and others which are direct-to-consumer genetic tests companies, to answer questions about their ancestry or their genetic code.

    But in the course of answering these questions for themselves, they’ve also contributed to these huge genetic databases. Our concern is that they may end up in the hands of somebody other than 23andMe, in a way that many people who have given their information to 23andMe never contemplated and might object to.

    What are the possible case scenarios, and what are your concerns?

    One is about data security. We saw that 23andMe itself was subject to a massive data breach in 2023, and if the company that takes over the data lacks good data security, there’s a possibility of breach.

    Interestingly, once upon a time, the Pentagon told military personnel not to use these at-home DNA kits because it was concerned about national security. A more quotidian concern is that your genetic information might become available to others, and it’s possible you could become reidentified.

    To give you an example from a study several years ago, a number of researchers used genetic data to try to identify, through what’s called genome-wide association studies (GWAS) technology and approach, what parts of the genome were associated with being gay. Many people who had given their genetic information were understandably upset at the idea this could be a possible use of their information.

    So, while customers have made the decision to share with 23andMe, from whom they get a lot of benefit, they really have very little say about what will happen should the company be taken over or should the company go bankrupt, and its assets sold.

  • 20 Mar 2025 11:47 AM | Anonymous

    Since President Trump retook office on January 20, libraries and librarianship have been assaulted via executive orders and other actions.

    While the legality of many of these actions is still being decided by the courts, librarians, archivists, and other information professionals have been working through the confusion to preserve access to information. Below are several examples of the challenges libraries have faced over the past two months and the ways in which librarians and advocates have responded—and continue to respond.

    Institute of Museum and Library Services threatened

    On March 14, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to eliminate “non-statutory components and functions.” While it is unclear which of IMLS’s functions will be determined statutory or nonstatutory, IMLS staff jobs and funding for library programsacross the country are at risk. An American Library Association (ALA) statement and call to action released on March 15 opposes the order, highlights many ways that “libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits.”
    White House, Mar. 14; ALA, Mar. 18; AL: The Scoop, Mar. 16

    Previously available public data deleted

    Starting in late January 2025, thousands of federal web pages have been altered or removed, preventing public access to information on a range of topics related to science, health, equity, and foreign assistance programs, among others. In response, information professionals are banding together to preserve the affected information and provide alternative access. The Data Rescue Project, maintained by a consortium of three data organizations, is the clearinghouse for these efforts, tracking who is rescuing which data and where it can be found now. The project’s website also highlights libraries across the country providing patrons with information on how to access federal data and help preserve it.
    The New York Times, Feb. 2; Wired, Feb. 1; The New Yorker, Mar. 14; The Data Rescue Project

    Employees fired from federal libraries and the National Archives

    There is no official tally yet of federal library workers who have lost jobs from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, but probationary federal employees—those who have been at their jobs less than two years—have been fired  at multiple federally operated presidential libraries. At the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, firings forced the library to close for a day. Firings have also hit the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library Museum and Boyhood Home in Independence, Missouri, and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas.

    At the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Colleen Shogan, former archivist of the United States—a position that oversees government records—was fired on February 7 by President Trump. US Deputy Archivist William “Jay” Bosanko subsequently chose to retire. ALA signed a joint letter to the White House on February 11 outlining the threats these staffing changes pose to the collective memory of the country and Americans’ ability to access their history. The Society of American Archivists also issued a statementcondemning the firing at NARA and employees at other cultural institutions.
    WBUR (Boston), Feb. 19; KSHB-TV (Kansas City, Mo.), Feb. 18; CBS News, Feb. 7; CBS News, Feb. 15;Freedom of the Press Foundation, Feb. 12; Society of American Archivists, Feb. 25

    Books removed from school libraries on military bases

    As a result of executive orders aimed at removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) materials from federal spaces, school libraries on military bases have been told to remove for review books the Department of Defense describes as “potentially related to gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology topics.” Books flagged for review include No Truth Without Ruth, a biographical picture book about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, written by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Nancy Zhang; Freckleface Strawberry, a picture book by actor Julianne Moore, and Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by Vice President J. D. Vance. On February 2, ALA and the American Association of School Librarians released a statement calling the order calling the order “censorship of legitimate views and opinions that violates the First Amendment rights of those who serve our nation and their families.” On March 6, hundreds of students on Defense Department campuses in Europe and Asia staged a coordinated protest of the removal of library books and other materials.
    The Guardian, Feb. 13; PEN America, Feb. 19ALA, Feb. 2; Stars and Stripes, Mar. 6

    The fates of federal grants remain unclear

    The Trump administration’s January call for a pause to all federal grants through the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) has led to conflicting guidance from OBM on which programs will be defunded—although there has been a marked focus on ending DEI-related programs. Two separate injunctions have been levied against the funding pauses in federal courts in Rhode Island and in Washington, D.C. With federal funding in limbo, organizations have come out in support of further funding for cultural institutions—including the Authors GuildEveryLibrary, and the American Alliance of Museums. ALA’s Show Up for Our Librariesinitiative calls on supporters to share stories of how libraries have benefited their communities and provides other tools to illustrate to government officials the importance of library funding.
    NPR, Jan. 29; NPR, Jan. 31; NPR, Jan. 28; The Authors Guild, Mar. 5; EveryLibrary, Jan. 28; American Alliance of Museums, Jan. 28; ALA, Jan. 22

  • 18 Mar 2025 4:08 PM | Anonymous

    Kathryn Donohue

    The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Cold Case Unit charged 82-year-old Rodger Zodas Brown with the 1979 murder of Kathryn Donohue in Glenarden, MD, following advancements in forensic genetic genealogy. Brown, who lived in Hyattsville at the time of the crime, was arrested in North Carolina and faces extradition to Prince George’s County on charges of first-degree murder, rape, and related offenses.

    Per the news release distributed on Tuesday, March 18: “The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Cold Case Unit identified and charged a man for an unsolved murder that occurred more than 45 years ago in Glenarden. The suspect, 82-year-old Rodger Zodas Brown of Pinehurst, North Carolina, is now in custody for the 1979 murder of 31-year-old Kathryn Donohue of Arlington, VA.

     On March 3, 1979, a citizen walking through a parking lot in the 8400 block of Hamlin Street located the victim’s body and called police. The PGPD’s Homicide Unit responded and opened an investigation into the victim’s rape and murder, which despite an extensive, years-long investigation, remained unsolved.

    PGPD Cold Case Unit detectives sought and obtained court authorization to initiate a forensic genetic genealogy DNA analysis in connection to this case. Thanks to advancements in both DNA and genetic genealogy, in late 2024, the FBI Baltimore Field Office was able to identify a relative of the unknown male suspect. Additional investigation ultimately led to the identification of the suspect, Rodger Brown. With the assistance of the Moore County Sheriff’s Office (NC) and FBI Charlotte Field Office, he was arrested at his home in North Carolina last week. Brown lived in Hyattsville at the time of the murder in 1979. While this remains an active investigation, at this time, there is no known connection between the victim and suspect.

    Brown is charged with first degree murder, rape and related charges. He remains in North Carolina pending extradition to Prince George’s County.”

    Roger Zodas Brown
  • 17 Mar 2025 4:01 PM | Anonymous


    Kerryn Tate was murdered in 1979, and advancements in DNA technology have identified a suspect in the case.  (Supplied: WA Police)

    Described as WA's biggest cold case breakthrough since the introduction of new DNA technology, the naming of Terence John Fisher as a suspect in the 1979 murder of Perth woman Kerryn Tate created headlines around the country.

    But for those who specialise in genetics and forensic work it came as no surprise, and they believe it could be part of the new normal when it comes to solving old crimes.

    "I'd be expecting this to happen in quite a lot of cold cases now," said Dr Jemma Berry, who has a PhD in genetics, and lectures in genetics and forensic science at Edith Cowan University.

    Police say those who had believed they had gotten away with major violent crimes can no longer rest easy.

    Senior Constable Lisa Rosenberg issued a warning to criminals that advancements in DNA technology would mean more cold cases are solved.  (ABC News )

    "Finally they're looking over their shoulder, instead of the victims and their families," said Senior Constable Lisa Rosenberg, who specialises in Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) with WA Police.

    She played a major role in the breakthrough case of Ms Tate.

    "If someone knocks on the door or they're getting pulled over, we'll be coming for you," Senior Constable Rosenberg said.

    An old photo of Terence John Fisher in the yard of a house holding a drink in a glass, with bushy hair and a bushy beard.

    Terence John Fisher died in 2000, but he has now been named as a suspect in the 1979 murder of Kerryn Tate. (Supplied: WA Police)

    The breakthrough was possible due to new techniques in tracing DNA in investigations.

    How exactly does it work?

    Thanks to a spike in the popularity of ancestry websites as people look to learn more about their family history, police have access to more DNA data, which they can use to identify familial matches.

    The DNA databases providing answers to unsolved mysterie


    Federal, state and territory police forces have started solving cases using official police access to private genealogy databases, which combined, hold the DNA records of millions of people.

    "This is not necessarily a development in DNA technology, these ancestry websites and the DNA analysis has been around for a really long time, it's just a totally different way of looking at the DNA," Dr Berry said.

    "What they're really looking for is familial relationships, links to other people in a suspect's family tree that they can then use to start their genetic search.

    "And then finding those links to people in that family tree that could then potentially be a suspect for these cases."

    But the method requires a remarkable amount of time and resources, which the Tate case illustrates.

    It involved going through the profiles of more than 10,000 people, all the way back to the 1600s.

    "Most of our matches were six to seven generations away from our person," Senior Constable Rosenberg said. 

    "We have four people in our team and we worked on this pretty much non-stop for 12 months until we identified that one person."

    Can my family data be used?

    Police have downplayed concerns people may have regarding law enforcement having access to their DNA profiles, emphasising the information from the websites is publicly accessible, and those who use the sites have the option as to whether they allow the data to be shared with police.

    "I can't see the concerns and if people don't want to upload they don't have to, but if they've already got their DNA on these databases, millions of people worldwide are seeing that data, so I don't see why we can't," Ms Rosenberg said.

    "That's all we see, just what they see.

    A woman wearing a mask and gloves, holding tweezers, at a workbench.

    Police currently only have access to two DNA databases.  (ABC News)

    "If you're allowing all of these millions of strangers around the world to look at your DNA data, it's not a big question for me to tick that box and allow law enforcement to solve serious crimes."

    Dr Berry said she would also have no concerns sharing her data.

    "I personally haven't done anything that the police need to worry about, but that doesn't say some third cousin twice removed in my family might not have," she said.

    "But you know what, I'd rather they get caught and prosecuted for something like that than be left free in the community."

    Do police have access to enough data?

    For now, WA Police only have access to the databases of two genealogy websites.

    It's prompted a public plea for people to upload their DNA and make it available to them, to help police solve violent crimes.

    "We use GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA at the moment," Senior Constable Rosenberg said.

    Police name suspect in 1979 cold case murder after DNA breakthrough

    Photo shows A head and shoulders profile shot of Terence John Fisher posing for a photo with a bushy beard.A head and shoulders profile shot of Terence John Fisher posing for a photo with a bushy beard.

    Evolving DNA technology helps WA Police identify Terence John Fisher as a suspect in the cold case murder investigation of Perth woman Kerryn Tate.

    "There are other databases starting up but the numbers are just too small for us to use at the moment.

    "Of those, probably only 10 per cent have opted in for law enforcement.

    "We're just asking members of the public to upload to GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA."

    Do police expect more breakthroughs?

    Experts describe DNA technology as forever improving, and as it evolves, it's hoped more cold case crimes can be solved more easily.

    "It's a great investigative tool, and it's only getting better with technology and the changes that we see coming, we're only getting better," Ms Rosenberg said.

    Dr Berry agrees.

    "DNA technology is rapidly evolving, there's new things coming out all of the time," she said.

    "With all the new advancements in DNA technology there's always an application for those in the forensic sphere."

  • 17 Mar 2025 9:18 AM | Anonymous

    Pat Sydlo-Arshan spent decades wondering about her Irish heritage, carrying fragments of family stories and newspaper clippings about relatives she'd never meet. At 73, she finally walked through the door of her great-grandfather's cottage in County Roscommon, Ireland — a home her family has maintained for over 200 years.

    "Americans always know they're from somewhere else," the Port St. Lucie resident told TCPalm. "All these people are ones you've heard of in your head, but you would never imagine meeting them."

    The journey to find her Irish family began with a DNA test and a message on Ancestry.com. A family genealogist in Ireland contacted Pat with news that would change her life. The genealogist's husband's uncle was a strong DNA match to Pat.

    News clip from Bayonne Public Library in New Jersey announcing death of Martin Tansey, grandfather of Port St. Lucie resident Pat Sydlo-Arshan. She went to Ireland in 2024 to reconnect with her ancestors.

    Her family's story, like many Irish immigrant tales, began during the aftermath of the Great Famine. In 1890, Pat's great-grandfather, Patrick, left the family cottage for America. As the eldest child, he carried his family's hopes and savings across the Atlantic, settling with wife Margaret in New York, where they remained active in Irish causes, sending money back to support those he'd left behind.

    But the family's American story took a tragic turn. Pat's grandfather, Martin, who was Patrick's son, was killed in a train accident before Pat's mother was born. The tragedy left her mother disconnected from her paternal relatives; their stories preserved for Pat only in microfilmed newspapers she would later discover in the Bayonne Public Library in New Jersey.

    In November, Pat took a three-week journey to Ireland, to reconnect these severed family ties. Her first stop was Roscommon, where her ancestors' cottage still stands. In Galway, she spent a day with her newfound cousin and his wife, who arrived bearing photographs of relatives long passed.

    "They brought an entire bucket of pictures," Pat recalls, "showing me all the people I could never meet. They told me stories about them, told me who they were." The day ended in true Irish fashion — at a local pub with hot whiskies, creating new memories to replace the ones lost to time.

    The journey's emotional peak came in Dublin, where the genealogist's family welcomed Pat with a special Thanksgiving dinner, thinking she'd missed the American holiday. "We were all sitting around saying this should be a movie," Pat laughed, suggesting Irish actress Saoirse Ronan could play her younger self.

    For Pat, a retired English teacher who once briefly considered staying in Ireland during a trip 45 years ago, this homecoming held special significance. "I'm 73 years old and went all this while, always wondering about them," she reflects. "And someone gave me this gift of: these are your people."

    Her family legacy now stretches from Ireland to America and even Australia, with cousins scattered across continents, all connected by DNA and a shared heritage. Pat's journey represents more than just a family reunion — it's a testament to the enduring bonds of ancestry and the power of modern technology to bridge centuries-old separations.

    "They just love their heritage so much, they're so open and warm and friendly," Pat says of her Irish relatives. "I feel like I don't deserve that. I feel so lucky." Then, with a smile, she adds, "I guess you could say it's the luck of the Irish!"

  • 16 Mar 2025 7:11 PM | Anonymous

    Thanks to our partners at the Railroad House Historical Association and Museum in Sanford, North Carolina, DigitalNC is proud to announce that a variety of records relating to our state’s railroad history are now available online! Ranging from as far back as 1894 (and as recently as 1984!), these materials encompass a variety of aspects relating to our state’s steam engines — from coal mining to passenger rail. They will join an already existing collection of materials from the Railroad House Museum uploaded earlier this year, deepening the digital presence of Lee County’s oldest building. Materials in this batch include annual reports, newspaper clippings, and ration books, as well as a collection of local high school yearbooks.

    The front page of the Langdon-Henszey mortgage bill.The front page of the Langdon-Henszey mortgage bill.

    Ardent railroad fans will be pleased to know that DigitalNC now has a modest collection of Rail South, a bimonthly magazine written by and for locomotive aficionados. Each issue featured stories on train-spotting across the Southeastern United States, as well as updates on the construction and operation of major rail lines across North Carolina. Letters from conductors, union leaders, and trainspotters were also featured in each issue, granting the magazine a community-oriented and grassroots feel. Even if you’re not a train-head, these magazines are a fascinating glimpse into an industry, sub-culture, and even hobby that you may be unaware of. It’s somewhat amusing to flip through each issue and read perspectives on apparently longstanding and contentious topics, such as the disappearance of Chessie Coal Trains, or the relative rarity of color slides depicting “ICG SW14s.”

    A personal highlight of this collection, however, is a mortgage deed dating from 1894. The deed was issued by the Langdon-Henszey Coal Mining Company for five hundred dollars, which was due in full twenty years after being issued. These deeds were given by the company to workers based out of then-Egypt, North Carolina (now known as Lumnock). It included stamps that were dated with each payment amount and due-date. The document is a wonderful piece of mining history, and demonstrates the centrality of coal corporations to its employees. On a logistical level, it’s wild to see how mortgage deeds worked before the advent of modern payment methods — before digital banking, one’s entire history resided in one collection of card-stock.

    The front cover of a War Ration Book, given to Archie M HubbardThe front cover of this batch’s War Ration Book, given to Archie M Hubbard

    Also included in this collection is a ration book from the second world war, which also charged its owner with maintaining a collection of stamps — to be cashed in exchange for household goods such as sugar, flour, and cloth. The book was created just fifty years after the Langdon-Henszey mortgage, and similarly grants us a glimpse into the everyday logistics of a pre-digital age. It’s interesting to note that neither the mortgage nor the ration book are exhausted of their stamps, suggesting that the recipient of the ration-book was perhaps more fiscally secure than the grantee of the mortgage.

    Other items of note in this collection include dedication programs for railroad depots, timetables for passenger train rails to Asheville, and a written account of locomotive history within North Carolina. You can find the new rail memorabilia and yearbooks online now at DigitalNC. Interested in learning more about Lee County history? You can find our partners at the Railroad House Historical Association and Museum online at their partner page here, or search our collections by location here. Thanks again to our wonderful partners at the Railroad House Historical Association and Museum for making these records available.

  • 16 Mar 2025 7:05 PM | Anonymous

    Join the Belfast Free Library and the Wawenoc Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library for a presentation by Dana Murch titled, “Mysteries, Mistakes, and Surprises: Adventures in Maine Genealogy.”

    Genealogy can be an adventure. In this presentation, Belfast resident and author Dana Murch will talk about some of the mysteries, mistakes, and surprises he has found while researching the Murch family of Maine.

    These adventures include stories about King Philip, the Mayflower, child-bearing, genealogists, extra-marital affairs, birth and death records, cousins, George Washington, gravestones, granite, and Henry David Thoreau. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

    The Wawenoc Chapter is part of the Maine Genealogical Society. It meets monthly on the third Wednesday at the Belfast Free Library. Genealogists of all abilities and skill-levels are encouraged to join. Annual dues for members are $5 and go toward speaker fees and supplies, but membership is not required to attend individual programs.

    This event is free and open to the public. It is an in-person event, with a Zoom option available. Please email to request the link.

    For more information, contact Sharon Pietryka at spietryka@belfastlibrary.org or 338-3884 ext. 25.

  • 14 Mar 2025 4:43 PM | Anonymous
    • A man uses dowsing rods, which he believes are affected by the Earth's magnetic field, to locate unmarked graves.
    • He believes that disturbed earth from a burial creates a different magnetic field, causing the rods to cross.
    • The man uses this method to help families find the unmarked graves of their loved ones.

    Walking on a hilltop in an all-but-deserted town in Southwest Mississippi, a man searched for lost graves. Most graves in the area are unmarked, so he relies on copper, steel and the Earth's magnetic field to locate the dead.

    "It's just some steel rods placed inside some copper tubing that lets them freewheel around," said Neil Randall of Slidell. "That's basically all it is."

    The steel rods are bent at 90 degree angles in the shape of an "L". The short ends sit inside copper tubes that Randall uses as handles. He holds the rods in front of him with the longest parts of the rods parallel to the ground as he walks along. When the rods turn inward and cross, that indicates a grave.

    "I believe they pick up the Earth's magnetic field," Randall said. "If dirt is disturbed it creates a different magnetic field than the Earth's normal magnetic field.

    "That's what causes the crossing of the rods. Dirt that has been disturbed has a different magnetic field than dirt that hasn't been disturbed."

    Neil Randall of Slidell walks through a section of a cemetery in Rodney with dowsing rods that he says indicate where graves are located.

    Finding graves in a lost Mississippi cemetery

    Randall, a Vicksburg native, was recently working with a cousin, Trent Lewis, who owns The Cemetery Doctor. Lewis' business is cleaning and repairing headstones, clearing overgrown areas and bringing old cemeteries back to life.

    On this rainy afternoon, the two were trying to find graves in what appears to be a Black section of a cemetery in Rodney that Lewis recently located adjacent to another section of cemetery that he and others have been trying to restore for a number of years.

    Some of the graves have headstones and Randall, who enjoys genealogy, researched the names on them. "They were African-American, definitely," Randall said. "A number of them are on the 1900, 1910 census."

    According to Britannica, dowsing appears to have first come into fashion in the Middle Ages and is a practice used to find a number of things including underground water sources. While Randall relies on metal rods, other methods call for forked sticks. The practice has its skeptics, but Randall believes it works.

    Crossed dowsing rods indicate a grave as Neil Randall of Slidell walks through a recently uncovered section of a cemetery in Rodney.

    Man finds more than graves through dowsing

    Randall said he was introduced to dowsing when he purchased a set of the rods from a member of a historical society about 10 years ago. Randall said he first tried dowsing over known graves and found the method to be reliable.

    "To my surprise, it worked," Randall said.

    Randall said he can also determine the sex of the deceased. Holding a single rod over a grave, Randall said a clockwise motion indicates a male and a counterclockwise motion indicates female.

    "I can't explain how it works, but it does work," Randall said.

    Randall said it's exciting to find graves, but it can also bring a sense of satisfaction. He said he was recently able to locate an unmarked grave for a family that wants to provide a headstone for their departed relative.

    "I feel like that was a success; giving the family a location where the grave is," Randall said.

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