The following is a press release written by by the Wisconsin Historical Society:

Explore your family history and learn the basics of genealogy research with this engaging workshop hosted by the Wisconsin Historical Society. With the rise of services such as AncestryDNA and 23andMe, DNA has become one of the most popular genealogy tools, but interpreting the results is not always easy. Presenter Dana Kelly will help you navigate this data and provide information about the key aspects of using DNA results to find more about your family history.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, 9:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m. CDT (includes a 15 minute break between lectures and a 30 minute lunch break.) Registration deadline: 12:00pm Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. A recording of the webinar will be available to registrants for 30 days following the event. All ticket sales are final and non-refundable.

Topics covered

• Introduction to the World of Genetic Genealogy.
• Ethnicity Estimates: Why is Mine Wrong and Does it Matter?
• Using Cousin Matching to Confirm Your Research and Find New Ancestors.
• Ethics, Privacy, and DNA.

About the presenter

Dana Kelly serves as the Executive Director of the Norwegian American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library. She oversees the daily operation of the center and is active in outreach activities and educational programming. Dana’s passion for family history led her to a Scandinavian Studies degree from UW-Madison where she learned to speak, read and write Norwegian. She has presented and lectured to historical societies, genealogical societies, libraries and Norwegian cultural organizations throughout the Midwest and was a virtual presenter at RootsTech in 2021. Dana serves on the Board of Directors for the Dane County Area Genealogical Society and is a member of several genealogical and Norwegian cultural organizations. A Wisconsin native, she lives on a dairy farm with her husband and three children.

Know before you go

An email link to the webinar will be sent after registration closes. If you do not see the email, please check your spam or junk mail folder.

A computer with internet access is required to participate. If you do not have internet access, you may be able to call in for audio-only access.

A recording of the webinar will be available to registrants for 30 days following the event.

Buying multiple tickets? Each registrant is advised to check out individually to ensure that the webinar link will be emailed to the customer name entered at checkout.

Discounts

Discount codes must be applied during checkout. They cannot be applied after checking out.

Society members: Enter your WHS member number in the discount field at checkout.

WSGS members: Use the discount code WSGS at checkout.

NOTE: This article is not one of the usual articles in this newsletter. It doesn't discuss genealogy, history, DNA, or legal events. However, it is about a topic that I believe we all will see within the next few years.

I paid 3 personal bills this morning. I didn't use cash or any checks. Instead, I paid with EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer or e-payments). In fact, I haven't written a check in six months or more. Like many other people, I pay my bills online.

How do you pay for your online purchases?

Although most people still use cash or cash on delivery, the increasing popularity of online shopping made e-payments more acceptable.

If you’re still using cash when shopping online, it’s time to consider joining the cashless society. Here are five reasons to go cashless today:

1. It’s more convenient - you don't need to leave home to pay bills or to go shopping.
2. It makes budgeting easier - when you’re paying online, you can account for how much you’ve spent down to the last penny.
3. It limits your exposure to COVID-19 - not spending time near other people means you won't become infected by them.
4. It saves your cash for when you need it - by going cashless whenever possible, you’ll have more cash on hand when it’s necessary.
5. There’s no need to always have cash available - if all your purchases are paid online, you don’t have to withdraw so much cash all the time. With less money lying around, you’re also unlikely to misplace it.

So the next time you go shopping, go cashless! Perhaps even better, do your shopping online.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) will award fellowships of up to $2,000 to support individuals hoping to locate information related to their family history using resources available at MDAH. The fellowships are a part of a year-long initiative in 2022 to expand understanding of the Great Migration and its impact on Mississippi and the nation.

“The Great Migration is the largest internal migration of people in U.S. history. Many families who left Mississippi still feel a close connection to our state. We’re glad to be able to help them come back to Mississippi and research their roots,” said MDAH director Katie Blount.

Ten research stipends of up to $2,000 will be awarded to ten researchers to travel to Jackson, MS, and conduct three consecutive days of research at MDAH.

Details may be found at: https://bit.ly/3eOyTon.

Did you inherit old postcards or letters from the family? If so, you have another source of genealogy information that perhaps you have not considered: DNA extracted from saliva used to attach stamps.

NOTE: This isn't terribly unusual. I know at least two people who frequently purchase old letters written and presumably mailed by famous historical individuals. They purchase these letters for the sole purpose of extracting DNA information from the postage stamps and from the glue on the envelopes left when the original person licked the envelope to seal it.

The Wired web site has published a new article showing how one family solved a mystery in the family tree by using DNA information from an old postcard. The family found the information when they found an old postcard sent by the ancestor when he was fighting in World War I and apparently was on postwar trips. You can find the article at: https://www.wired.com/story/dna-artifact-testing/.

Now, go to your attic and look again at old love letters and other correspondence from your ancestors. You may have the solution to family mysteries already in your possession.

The David Rumsey Map Center has published an article that will interest many genealogists:

"The map center, home to an estimated 250,000 physical maps and more than 200,000 digital maps from 1500 to the present is a cross between a library and a laboratory, replete with leatherbound atlases, spinning globes, enormous high-definition touchscreens and several virtual reality stations."

Map collector and authority David Rumsey with wallpaper made from one of his most treasured maps.

Further in the article, there is the following statement:

"Throughout the next few years, the center will continue to advance the technology it makes available to visitors, Rumsey and Mohammed said. They hope to incorporate artificial intelligence to make it possible to search for words on digitized maps regardless of their orientation or position, as well as a framework for systematically searching digital map files across platforms and databases. They're also looking to put greater emphasis on data visualization and to expand into the metaverse, which could "pull users into the map world," Rumsey said."

You can read this and a lot more in the full article at: https://bit.ly/32OTnuX.

Here is another case of a previously-unknown skeleton in the family closet. Jay M. Ritt writes about his surprise at learning about a previously well-guarded family secret at: https://forward.com/opinion/480175/my-wife-gave-me-dna-test-kit-it-revealed-family-secrets-changed-my-life/.

Thanks to the New Bern-Craven County Public Library and funding from the State Library of North Carolina through IMLS’ LSTA program nearly 600 issues spanning 1976 to 1987 of The Pamlico News, is now available on the  Digital NC website.

The paper was first published in the late 1960s as The Pamlico County News, but in 1977 the paper’s name was changed to The Pamlico News. The newspaper is still published under this name today.

The following is a press release written by the Family History Federation:

Dating by Design: 1840-1915

This NEW BOOK by Stephen Gill, Dating by Design, fills a much-needed gap in the family history repertoire.

Dating by Design is a most readable book! The subject has been tackled in a very detailed yet organised manner which makes it extremely easy for the reader throughout the book. How many family historians have a box of old photographs of their ancestors lurking in a drawer somewhere? And they are not sure who it is or what date it is or what period it was taken. Well, help is at hand with this excellent book enabling them to date photos to a year!

The book is colour-coded by five-year periods based on the year the image was taken. Readers can read through the book or dip into it for whatever year particularly interests them. After a brief history of photography, the author then gives explanations as to the different types of images – daguerreotype, ambrotype, etc, and the various smaller cards like carte de visite and cabinet car.

The colour illustrations are exceptionally clear and show every detail. As the

author notes…when looking at your old photograph, once you have decided which type it is, start by looking at the sitter’s hair. He goes on to show a breakdown of all the style changes of women’s hairstyles from 1840 up to 1900. He applies the same thorough investigative method to other fashions of men, women, children with regards to hair, headwear, neckwear, skirts, trousers, jackets, shoes and so so .on for each period. No detail is missed out.

This new book truly is quite fascinating. And who knew it all began with the death of Prince Albert in 1861.

Federation chairman, Steve Manning, comments “This book takes a different approach to previous publications. It therefore is a must for all needing to accurately identify or date old photographs.”

Produced using quality materials to provide excellent  reproduction of colour and detail. Available in hardback format.

Dating by Design is available NOW from Family History Books. £18.95 plus post and packing.

www.familyhistorybooksonline.com/dating-by-design-1840-1915-311

This article has nothing to do with the normal topics of this newsletter: genealogy, DNA, history, or any related topics.  However, it is something that I use daily and I think everyone should be familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of cloud storage.

If you are not familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of cloud storage, you probably should read an article by Fergus O'Sullivan at https://www.howtogeek.com/775235/what-is-cloud-storage-and-why-should-you-use-it/.

A woman bought two Ancestry DNA kits as gifts. She gave one to her mother and the other to her father. At least, she gave the test kit to the man she believed to be her father. The test results proved otherwise.

It seems that her mother kept the young lady in the dark for 30 years, which made her feel betrayed.

You can read the story at: https://bit.ly/3G2djso.

The moral of this story is: Don't be surprised by skeletons that appear when you open the door to a closet.