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Latest Standard Edition Articles

  • 25 Feb 2022 8:25 AM | Anonymous

    Thanks to a partnership between the City of Carmel and the Carmel Clay Historical Society (CCHS), hundreds of historic photos have been scanned into the historic archive and are now available to the public through the Historical Society’s website. There is no cost to view the images, but there is a nominal fee for prints.

    The photos had previously been stored at City Hall, where it was difficult to provide access to the public or researchers interested in viewing the images. As of today, more than 1,200 images have been scanned and made available.

    Details are available at: https://bit.ly/351Mp73.


  • 24 Feb 2022 11:34 AM | Anonymous

    Wyoming lawmakers really don’t want anyone’s DNA data sold to foreign countries or used for internet cookies without consent. Those are just two features of a bill now contemplated in the House of Representatives, House Bill 86, which this week cleared both its introduction and a Judiciary Committee review with unanimous approval.

    HB 86 is aimed at companies such as Ancestry.com and 23 And Me, which map human DNA to trace family origins or track health issues.

    If the bill becomes law, it would compel DNA-mapping sites to provide a “clear and complete” rundown of privacy policies to the consumer, to inform the consumer about DNA data use and storage, and to get consent for those policies. The companies also would have to seek “separate express consent” to keep biological samples, to target consumers for marketing based on their genetic data or to let other companies use the genetic data for marketing.

    The companies would need to “require valid legal processes” for giving someone’s genetic data over to law enforcement without “express written consent.”

    You can read more details in an article by Clair McFarland published in the Cowboy State Daily web site at: https://bit.ly/3toyD6H.


  • 24 Feb 2022 9:10 AM | Anonymous

    A second passport offers security from unpredictable threats. It could be a social movement, political issues, economic issues, natural disaster, and the list goes on… Remember life is unpredictable. A second passport is an insurance policy.

    For instance, the government of your country might revoke your passport or take your money (think Greece) for any reason whatsoever. What would you do then? Live like a political prisoner in your own country?

    Most people don’t realize it, but the US cancels the passports of Americans living abroad every day. Owe child support or haven’t paid your taxes? Your passport can be cancelled. If you only have one passport it can be a weapon to be used against you.

    Without a second passport in hand, you will have no valid travel document and will be forcibly returned to the US. Again, I reiterate, this happens every day… it’s not limited to the cases that make the news like Edward Snowden.

    For many years, U.S. citizenship and an American passport were the gold standard around the world. The pandemic and the recent election changed all that, resulting in a surge in demand for Americans seeking second passports and wanting to buy citizenship—especially in Europe. “Americans want freedom, and many are starting to realize how restrictive U.S. citizenship can be,” says Rogelio Caceres, CEO and founder of Global RCG, a global mobility firm that helps people secure residency, employment and citizenship rights in other countries.

    An article by Laura Begley Bloom published in the Forbes web site describes the basics of obtaining a second (or third or fourth...) passport. The most common method (but not the only method) is by claiming ancestry in the other country. Yes, you can thank your ancestors for that.

    According to Global RCG, “Through our research, we estimated that roughly 40% of all Americans could be eligible for citizenship by ancestry in the European Union.”

    If you are interested in obtaining a second passport, you will want to read the article at https://bit.ly/3v8Ue5s.


  • 24 Feb 2022 8:47 AM | Anonymous

    On April 1, 2022, the 1950 United States census will be released to the public. (Hey! That's only a bit more than 5 weeks from now!) To get prepared for that release, you might want to review the questions that appear in that census.

    The 1950 census population questionnaire asked fewer questions than its predecessor; the full population was asked only 20 questions. Enumerators asked additional supplemental questions of a 20 percent (questions 21–33) and 3.5 percent (questions 34–38) sample of the population. Enumerators asked the following questions, listed by column:

    Population

    Name of street, avenue or road where the household is located

    Home or apartment number

    Serial number of dwelling unit

    Is this house on a farm (or ranch)?

    If no, is this house on a place of three or more acres?

    Corresponding agriculture questionnaire number

    Name

    Relationship to head

    Race

    Sex

    How old was this person on his last birthday?

    Is this person now married, widowed, divorced, separated, or never married?

    Enumerators were to enter "Mar" for married, "Wd" for widowed, "D" for divorced, "Sep" for separated, or "Nev" for never married

    What State or country was the person born in?

    If foreign born, is the person naturalized?

    For persons 14 years of age and over

    What was this person doing most of last week - working, keeping house, or something else?

    Enumerators were to record "Wk" for working, "H" for keeping house, "U" for unable to work, or "Ot" for other

    If the person was "keeping house" or "something else" in question 15, did the person do any work at all last week, not counting work around the house? (Including work-for-pay, in his own business, working on a farm or unpaid family work)

    If the person answered "no" to question 16, was he looking for work?

    If the person answered "no" to question 17, even if he didn't work last week, does he have a job or business?

    If the person was working, how many hours did he or she work in the last week?

    What kind of work does the person do?

    What kind of business or industry is the person in?

    Class of worker the person is.

    Enumerators were to mark "P" for private employment, "G" for government employment, "O" for own business, or "NP" for working without pay

    Supplemental Questions for a 20 Percent Sample of the Population

    For all ages

    Was the person living in the same house a year ago?

    If no to question 21, was the person living on a farm a year ago?

    If no to question 21, was the person living in the same county a year ago?

    If no to question 23...

    What county (or nearest place) was he living in a year ago?

    What state or foreign country was he living in a year ago?

    What country were the person's mother and father born in?

    What is the highest grade of school that the person has attended?

    Enumerators were to mark "0" for no school; "K" for kindergarten; "S1" through "S12" depending on the last year of elementary or secondary school attended; "C1" through "C4" depending on the last year of undergraduate college education attended; or "C5" for any graduate or professional school.

    Did the person finish this grade?

    Has the person attended school since February 1st?

    Enumerators could check a box for "yes" or "no" for those under thirty; for those over thirty, they were to check a box for "30 or over."

    For persons 14 years and older

    29. If the person is looking for work, how many weeks has he been looking for work?

    30. Last year, how many weeks did this person not work at all, not counting work around the house?

    31a. Last year, how much money did the person earn working as an employee for wages or salary?

    31b. Last year, how much money did the person earn working at his own business, professional occupation, or farm?

    31c. Last year, how much money did the person receive from interest, dividends, veteran's allowances, pensions, rents, or other income (aside from earnings)?

    32a. If this person is the head of the household: last year, how much money did his relatives in this household earn working for wages or salary?

    32b. If this person is the head of the household: last year, how much money did the person earn working at his own business, professional occupation, or farm?

    32b. If this person is the head of the household: last year, how much money did the person receive from interest, dividends, veteran's allowances, pensions, rents, or other income (aside from earnings)?

    33. If male: did he ever serve in the U.S. Armed Forces during...

    World War II

    World War I

    Any other time, including present service

    Supplemental Questions for a 3.5 Percent Sample of the Population

    34. To enumerator: if the person worked in the last year, is there any entry in columns 20a, 20b, or 20c?

    If yes, skip to question 36; if no, make entries for questions 35a, 35b, and 35c.

    35a. What kind of work does this person do in his job?

    35b. What kind or business or industry does this person work in?

    35c. Class of worker

    36. If ever married, has this person been married before?

    37. If married, widowed, divorced, or separated, how many years since this event occurred?

    38. If female and ever married, how many children has she ever borne, not counting stillbirths?


  • 24 Feb 2022 8:18 AM | Anonymous

    Randy Waites was watching the local television news two months ago at his home near Sacramento when he saw somebody appear briefly on the screen who shared his last name.

    The man, a tourist identified as Edward Waites, was being interviewed by KCRA Channel 3 about a major snowstorm that was about to hit Lake Tahoe during his family vacation there. Randy Waites, 55, quickly hit “pause” on the TV and took a photo of the screen. Then he called in his kids, who were in the next room.

    “Hey, look at this,” Randy said that afternoon, Dec. 22, as he pointed at the television. “We have the same name. It’s probably a coincidence, but I wonder if there’s a family connection.”

    It turns out there was a family connection, one that is much closer than what Randy Waites had guessed. You can read the full story in an article by Cathy Free published in the Washington Post at https://wapo.st/3LUA59d.


  • 24 Feb 2022 8:06 AM | Anonymous

    The following was written by the Kentucky Genealogical Society:

    Finding Your Celtic Ancestors


    The Kentucky Genealogical Society will host a five-session webinar series on "Finding Your Celtic Ancestors" during March for $40 USD.  You can register for this series at   https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1945985368276991248.

    Wanting to research your Irish and Scottish ancestors? Struggling to piece together these branches of your family tree?
    This five-part webinar series offered by the Kentucky Genealogical Society throughout the month of March brings you three of the world's leading genealogical educators on the topic:
      • Pamela Guye Holland
      • Chris Paton
      • Maurice Gleeson
    All webinars are recorded and available for one month to view on-demand. If you can't make the live webinar or you find yourself having internet or technology challenges, you'll be able to view the webinars on-demand as often as you'd like for one month following the live events. If you aren't a member, you will be sent an email with links to all five webinars at the completion of the series.
      1. Monday, March 7: 4 to 5 p.m. PST: "Where Did They Come From: Irish Migration Routes" with Pamela Guye Holland

      2. Tuesday, March 15: 4 to 5 p.m. PDT: "Researching in Irish Records" with Pamela Guye Holland

      3. Saturday, March 19: 11 a.m. to 12 noon PDT: "Discover Scottish Church Records" with Chris Paton

      4. Saturday, March 19: 12:10 to 1:30 p.m. PDT: "Scottish Marriage - Instantly Buckled for Life" with Chris Paton

      5. Saturday, March 26: 11 a.m. to 12 noon PDT: "DNA and Irish Genealogy: Where to Now" with Maurice Gleeson
  • 23 Feb 2022 7:43 PM | Anonymous

    Larry Bleiberg has written an article about places to go to get started in finding your family tree. Writing, in USA TODAY, Bleiberg suggests all sorts of things from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City to cruise ships and even at a five-star resort in Ireland (useful for Irish ancestry, obviously). The article was published in 2014 but is still useful today.

    You can read 10 Great Places to Trace Family Roots by Larry Bleiberg at https://bit.ly/3JTR49T.

    As I read the article, I had to agree that each place listed was a great resource but I believe Bleiberg overlooked the best place of all: start at home. Talk to your older relatives first as they often can provide more information than any (expensive) trip to a distant archive.

    If you still live within driving distance of your most recent ancestors, you also should check out local resources. Local libraries, courthouses, and other resources often provide much more information than do distant archives.

    Visit a local Family History Center near you. There are thousands of them around the world and they provide huge resources. You can find your nearest Family History Center by starting at https://familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator.

    Traveling to a distant archive without preparation and expecting to find information there is usually disappointing. You cannot walk in and say "Please show me the book of all my ancestors." It simply doesn't work that way. More than one unprepared would-be family tree seeker has been disappointed after visiting a major genealogy archive.

    Always do your homework first. Learn as much as possible BEFORE you make the trip. The better prepared you are, the higher the odds of success.

    As good as Larry Bleiberg's article may be, I would suggest it should be the SECOND article you read. I'd suggest the first one should be Getting Started With Your Family History at https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/getting-started-with-your-family-history.


  • 23 Feb 2022 8:29 AM | Anonymous

    The following is a press release issued by U.S. Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12) and Representatives A. Donald McEachin (D-VA-04), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01):

    Bipartisan Legislation Would Establish Preservation Program through National Park Service

    WASHINGTON, DC – Today, in honor of Black History Month, Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12) and Representatives A. Donald McEachin (D-VA-04), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) introduced the bipartisan African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act, would establish a program at the National Park Service to provide grant opportunities and technical assistance to local partners to research, identify, survey and preserve these historic sites.

    Text of the legislation is available here.

    “Graveyards, burial grounds, and cemeteries not only honor our ancestors; they’re also an important resource for historians and genealogists who want to tell our history. However, the burial sites of African Americans are often forgotten or ignored,” said Congresswoman Adams. “This dishonors the memories of those who came before us and obscures our nation’s history. That’s why I’m proud to introduce the ‘African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act.’ with Senator Brown and Representative McEachin. This legislation will provide federal support for historic African American burial grounds to ensure their preservation. I can’t think of a better time than Black History Month to take an affirmative step to preserve our history for generations to come.”

    “Since the inception of our country, the graves of African Americans have suffered unjust abuse and neglect,” said Rep. McEachin. “These burial sites hold the untold stories of millions of African Americans and the integral role they played in our nation’s trajectory. I am proud to stand alongside Congresswoman Adams and Senator Brown to introduce the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act to preserve predominantly Black cemeteries and other resting places. The protection of these burial grounds is long overdue and critical to ensuring a more complete, comprehensive understanding of America’s history.”

    Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced a companion bill in the Senate last week with bipartisan cosponsor Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT).

    “As a nation, we have not invested the necessary resources to preserve these hallowed grounds. That’s why we’ve worked with the community, and with civil rights, veterans, and historic preservation groups to introduce bipartisan legislation to preserve historic Black burial grounds around the country,” said Senator Brown. “Cemeteries like Union Baptist are important historical sites, and they’re tools for education and understanding the American story. We need to act now before these sites are lost to the ravages of time or development.”

    Last Congress, Reps. McEachin and Adams introduced the African American Burial Grounds Network Act to create a voluntary national network of historic African-American burial grounds. Today’s legislation will take more immediate steps, establish a competitive grant program, and aid localities in acquiring the funding necessary to preserve these burial sites.

    Scores of local, state, and national organizations are supporting the legislation, including the Coalition for American Heritage, United Negro College Fund, Sierra Club, National Parks Conservation Association, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Archaeological Institute of America, American Anthropological Association, American Battlefield Trust, American History Press, Fearnbach History Services, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, New South Associates, Preservation Action and the Society of Black Archaeologists Society for Historical Archaeology.

  • 22 Feb 2022 10:22 AM | Anonymous

    The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

    We are pleased to announce the publication of 5.8 million records from 28 historical record collections of Jewish historical records. The collections span the 18th–21st centuries and contain vital records such as birth, marriage, death, as well as tax, voter, immigration, and obituary records, from Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Germany, Hungary, the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, and more. These records are invaluable for anyone researching their European Jewish heritage.

    The release of these records — made possible thanks to MyHeritage’s collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and its affiliate, JewishGen, a leading website for Jewish genealogy — constitutes the first installment of a licensing agreement that will ultimately make almost all the JewishGen records accessible on MyHeritage. Future installments will include important Jewish historical record collections from North Africa, the Middle East, North America and more European collections.

    These collections further expand MyHeritage’s extensive resources for Jewish genealogy.  Through its member base of one million users in Israel, MyHeritage is home to the world’s largest collection of Jewish family trees and is the only major commercial genealogy company to support Hebrew. Furthermore, MyHeritage’s collections of global historical records include millions of records that are valuable to individuals researching Jewish heritage, such as passenger and immigration lists that document the wave of Jews seeking refuge in North America, South America, and Israel after their communities were devastated by the Holocaust.

    The full announcement may be found at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/02/myheritage-adds-28-collections-of-jewish-historical-records/

  • 22 Feb 2022 9:25 AM | Anonymous

    The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

    Call Me John

    By Michael Schoenholtz. Self-published. 2021. 149 pages.

    Isadore Katz, 14 years young, walked through and out the door of his family’s home and never returned. If he glanced around with residual doubt about his deliberate leave-taking, he saw nothing that would draw him back. The mystery of his forever absence and the shadow of his loss hung over the family for nearly a century.

    Decades later, when Michael Schoenholtz’s father saw his son beginning research on the family, he asked if he could possibly resolve the mystery of his vanished uncle Isadore.

    Early on, the author enjoyed the company of a whole new clan of cousins recruited via their shared DNA matches. Emails full of family information brought excitement and enlightenment to Mr. Schoenholtz, but the conclusions he came to, and shared with this other side of the DNA family, were not so joyfully received by the new cousins. Gradually, his online family relationships fizzled, but Mr. Schoenholtz had his answers, and he was satisfied they were certain ones.

    This must be the most gratifying of family discoveries to find when a researcher begins the search into the unknown. Hoping for the best, apprehensive about the worst, the family genealogist plows ahead and can only present the story that emerges from the proofs.

    Here, Mr. Schoenholtz researched apart the curtains that concealed the extinct life of his father’s uncle. Isadore may have disremembered his origin family, but his origin family always remembered him.

    Call Me John, with answers now to aged questions, narrates the second life of the mourned Isadore. It’s a memoir devoted to an uncle and ancestor whose enigmatic decision to leave, and puzzling determination to be eternally anonymous to his founding family, can never be positively identified, but at least now his explorations, encounters, waypoints, jobs, and destinations can be told.

    The Whys can never be answered, but at least now, the Wheres are known.

    Call Me John by Michael Schoenholtz may be purchased from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3s7A6Pg as well as from the author at https://www.callmejohn.info/.


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