An article written by Eric Blaisdell and published the the Barre-Montpelier (Vermont) Times-Argus tells of the latest development in a lawsuit being heard now. The article states:

"A gynecologist accused of using his own sperm to get a woman pregnant in the 1970s has tried unsuccessfully to get the woman's husband tossed off of the lawsuit the doctor faces.It also appears a DNA test reported he is related to the woman's child because the lawsuit is still pending after the test was completed.

"Cheryl and Peter Rousseau, now of Florida, filed the lawsuit in December 2018 in U.S. District Court in Burlington. The lawsuit states the couple decided to partake in artificial insemination in 1977 because they wanted to have a child after Peter Rousseau had a vasectomy.

"The lawsuit said Dr. John Boyd Coates III was a practicing gynecologist working out of Central Vermont Hospital, the former name of Central Vermont Medical Center."

You can read the full story at: 2T94sOX.

From an article by Steven Kantner, Digital Asset Coordinator in the Texas State Library Archives Commission:

"Too much time on your hands during the pandemic? Digitize your old home videos before it’s too late!

"Staying at home during this period of COVID-19 has allowed many of us to appreciate movie watching at home. Now may be a great time to consider digitizing your old home video movies that have been collecting dust in the closet. Unfortunately, we are facing the obsolescence of videotape and VCRs (Video Cassette Recorders). Those of you who may have bought Betamax in the 1980s are already familiar with the difficulties of an out-of-date format. But the more common VHS format, and the dozen or so camcorder formats that came and went since the 1990s are to the point where they will become unplayable due to either the tape degradation or the loss of working playback equipment and parts to repair them.

"There are several approaches to digitizing your videos. One is to send them out to a service and let the professionals do all the work. This service is provided by companies ranging from small internet startups to well-known large corporations. If you are among the many who could never program the VCR’s clock, then this might be your best option. But, if you like to tinker and happen to have an old VCR to dust off, or know family or friends who do, you might be able to do this yourself. Here are three different options to try depending on what type of media and equipment you have available."

You can read the full article at: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/outofthestacks/how-to-convert-your-home-movie-tapes-to-digital-to-format/.

Randy Majors is well known in the genealogy community for his many utility programs that add a lot more functionality to Google Maps and other products for use in genealogy research. Now he has written more about the mapping options he has created.

Randy writes:

"Now, when you share a link to any live map tool on randymajors.com, the recipient will be taken to exactly the same view you were seeing when you shared it. The link you share will remember:

• the map tool you were using (County Lines on Google Maps, ZIP Codes on Google Maps, Historical U.S. Counties on Google Maps, Section Township Range on Google Maps, etc.)
• the zoom level of the map
• the center point of the map
• the location of the blue map marker (determined by the spot you had last clicked on the map)
• the other layers you had made visible using the checkboxes in the lower left of the map (e.g. "Show US city limits")
• whether you had labels turned on in the lower left (e.g. "Show county labels")"

"So, how do you share the link to the live map?"

Ypu can read all this and a lot more at https://www.randymajors.com/2020/10/sharing-maps-just-got-lot-more-powerful.html

From the MyHeritage Blog:

We’re excited to announce that you can now turn your family photos to beautiful wall art and decorate your home with your family history! Plus, you're entitled to receive our exclusive discount of up to 50% off when ordering multiple prints and to enjoy free shipping worldwide.

Millions of MyHeritage users have brought their historical photos to life using MyHeritage In Color™ and Photo Enhancer. With MyHeritage, nostalgic family photos have never looked so good. Now you can turn your favorite family photos to wall art. This is the perfect way to cherish your family memories, and create wonderful gifts for your loved ones.

You can order your wall art directly from the My Photos section of your MyHeritage account and it will be produced by our partner, Mixtiles, the leading global service for wall art, and delivered to you for free. You can stick and restick the wall art on any surface to create beautiful photo displays — no hammer or nails needed. Learn more about turning your family photos to wall art on our blog at https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/10/new-turn-your-myheritage-family-photos-into-stunning-wall-art/.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Explore First World War Rolls of Honour covering Caribbean troops who served with the British Army, new Kent parish records and a host of newspaper updates this Findmypast Friday.

Caribbean Rolls of Honour WW1

Trace military ancestors and their incredible stories in our new Caribbean Rolls of Honour. The records list soldiers from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago who served with the British Armed Forces during World War 1.

For Jamaica, which provided the largest Caribbean contingent to the British and Allied war effort, there are records for army officers from, or connected with, the island as well as NCOs and other ranks who lost their lives in the conflict. For Trinidad & Tobago, the collection is more complete and comprehensive. It is believed to contain the great majority of men who served in the War, including some who served with the French Army. 

As well as soldiers of Afro-Caribbean descent, there are men from the Indian Sub-continent, presumably in most cases the descendants of indentured labourers, as well as men of Latino and Jewish heritage.

Releases for other islands in the Caribbean will be added to this collection over time.

Kent Baptisms

Over 7,000 parish baptisms covering Sutton-at-Hone, Woolwich and St Mary Cray have been added to the collection. Explore these transcripts and images of original church registers to discover new Kent family milestones.

Baptism records are essential for getting further in your family tree. They can reveal your ancestors' names, birth and baptism dates, where they lived and importantly, their parents' details.

Kent Burials

Was your ancestor laid to rest in Kent? Discover where and when they were buried with over 5,000 new burials from the parishes of Eltham and Thames & Medway.

Findmypast is home to one of the most comprehensive collections of Kent family records online. You can also delve into marriages and banns, wills and probate indexes and poor law union records from the Garden of England. 

Newspapers

This week, we’ve released four brand new papers and added more pages to 10 publications.

The latest titles to join our expanding archive include: 

And we've added even more issues to:

The following is a message that was posted to the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee mailing list:

As of January 1, 2021 there will be a change in ordering birth and death certificates in Washington State.  This has been reported previously by the IAJGS Records Access Alert resulting from legislation law ESSB 5332, the vital records bill, Chapter 148, 2019 Laws.

The law may be read at: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.58A&full=true

The rules may be read at: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/5300/WSR-20-13-017.pdf

The major changes are:

There is a frequently asked question (FAQ) webpage to assist in better understanding the new requirements for ordering birth and death certificates. https://www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/BirthDeathMarriageandDivorce/VitalRecordsFAQ

If your organization believes it is appropriate to post or distribute to help in getting the word out, they have two fliers which may be downloaded—one for birth records and one for death records—both are attached to this posting. 

For more information please contact policy analyst, Katitza Holthaus at: Katitza.Holthaus@doh.wa.gov 

To read the previous postings on the Washington State Legislation ESSS 5332 and the vital record regulations go to: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/private/records-access-alerts/ . You must be registered to access the archives. 

To register go to: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/listinfo/records-access-alerts  and follow the instructions to enter your email address, full name and which genealogical  organization with whom you are affiliated   You will receive an email response that you have to reply to or the subscription will not be finalized.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

The following announcement was written by the National Genealogical Society:

The National Genealogy Hall of Fame is an educational project sponsored by the National Genealogical Society (NGS). The entire genealogical community is invited to participate in this project – through annual elections to the National Genealogical Hall of Fame, we honor those individuals of the past who made significant contributions to genealogy and set the high standards by which we work today.

Would your society like to honor a genealogist whose unique, pioneering, or exemplary work lives on today? Perhaps there was a notable genealogist in your state or county whose name should be memorialized in the National Genealogy Hall of Fame. If so, NGS and the National Genealogy Hall of Fame would like to hear from you. They are seeking nominations from the entire genealogical community for persons whose achievements or contributions have made an impact on the field. This educational program increases appreciation of the dedication and useful advancements achieved by committed genealogists whose work paved the way for researchers today. This is an opportunity for your nominee to receive National exposure for their contributions to genealogy.

A nomination for election to the National Genealogy Hall of Fame must be made by a genealogical society or similar organization on the official nomination form and National Genealogical Society (NGS) affiliation is not required of nominees, nominating societies, or electors. Thirty-five outstanding genealogists have been recognized for their contributions since 1986. Those elected are permanently commemorated in the virtual Hall of Fame on the NGS website. See https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/hall-of-fame-members/.

The formal Call for Nominations can be downloaded at https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/hall-of-fame/.

Deadline for all submissions is 15 December 2020. Official nomination forms are available from the NGS website (https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/hall-of-fame/) or by contacting the National Genealogical Society, 6400 Arlington Blvd, Suite 810, Falls Church, VA 22042-2318; phone 1-800-473-0060.

The following announcement was written by the Board for Certification of Genealogists:

On 5 October 2020, trustees of the Board for Certification of Genealogists revised Standard 57 (respect for privacy rights) and the Genealogist’s Code of Ethics to allow private sharing of DNA match details. The changes also eliminate the need for test takers to provide written consent for use of their DNA data, although they must be informed about the pros and cons. These changes are effective immediately and will be incorporated into a future update of Genealogy Standards, 2nd edition. Though applicable to all genealogists, the changes respond to concerns about the use of genetic evidence in initial and renewal applications for credentialing. The trustees also approved answers to a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Standard 57, two other DNA-related standards, and other issues involving the use of DNA test results in genealogical work. For the newly revised Genealogist’s Code of Ethics, access https://bcgcertification.org/ethics-standards/code.

Following is the revised Standard 57 in its entirety:

Standard 57 (Revised). Respect for privacy rights. When publishing DNA test results, genealogists respect the privacy of living people. Genealogists refrain from publishing information derived from DNA test results that may cause harm. Genealogists publish personally identifying information about living test takers only with their informed consent. Assembled research results acknowledge living test-takers’ consents for publishing their data shown therein. [See the Genealogy Standards glossary for definition of DNA test results.]

A series of DNA Frequently Asked Questions are accessible on the BCG website at https://bcgcertification.org/learning/dna-resources/dna-frequently-asked-questions-faq.

An upcoming BCG-sponsored webinar, “Using DNA Results to Confirm a Pedigree” presented by Angela Packer McGhie, CG, demonstrates the use of DNA test results to confirm traditional research. Register free before 20 October at BCG’s partner Legacy Family Tree Webinars website (http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=5287) or view the webinar free for one week following the broadcast on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

The following article was written by a guest author and newsletter reader, David Taylor. He is also known in ham radio circles as WB5PIO:

Amateur Radio and Genealogy

A surprising resource by David Taylor.

Did you know that amateur radio operators have a resource that can be used for genealogy research? Their resource is valuable for finding addresses between censuses especially if they moved around a lot. They had a book that was published every year from 1913 to 1997 and listed the call sign, license class, operator’s name, and address of their radio station. Almost all amateur radio operators or Hams as they are known have their stations in their homes or somewhere on their residential property. The address that was published in the book had to be the actual location of the radio station and it had to be current. If you have someone in your family that was an amateur radio operator and they moved and you can’t find them, you now have another way to look for them.

The Radio Amateur Callbook is available for download or viewing from https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php. You can view or download all of the books from 1913 to 1997 free of charge. When you use the link shown above type Radio Amateur Callbook in the title field, change “all media types” to texts and press search. On the page that comes up hover your mouse over the tab Date Archived and select Date Published.

This will sort all of the books by date from newest to oldest. Select the book you wish to view and you will be taken to the next screen. You can view the pages by clicking on the page that is open at the top of the screen and browse through the section that is displayed, if you can read it. I can’t because the type is too small. A better way is to scroll down to the area for download options and select PDF. This will give you the option of selecting a district to view. The callbook is arranged by districts as shown in the map. Looking at the map, look for the state your family member lived in and find the corresponding district number. After you find the district number simply download the appropriate pdf and you will be able to view the pages in a type size that is easy to read and/or save the file to your computer. Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat can search most of the books that have been scanned by achive.org. Select edit and scroll down to advanced search in your pdf program and type in the name of the family member you are looking for. You must enter a name exactly as it appears in the callbook or your search will not produce any results. Most amateur radio operators use their middle initial in the listing. You can search by name, call sign, city or street. Once you find your family member in one listing it is then very easy to search all of the callbooks and compare addresses where they have resided while they were an amateur radio operator. Sometimes a search will provide no results even though you are searching for someone that is in the book exactly as you are searching for them. This is because the scanning process does not always scan one line at a time. Sometimes it scans two lines and the search can only scan one line and so you do not get any results. In this case you will have to manually search through the pages to find what you are looking for. As an example I searched for myself David F Taylor (don’t use a period after the initial) in the 1997 callbook. It returned no results. I knew I was in the book so I manually scrolled through the pages until I came to WB5PIO which is my call sign. When I tried to highlight my listing I could only highlight two lines instead of one which is why the search would not work. Do not get discouraged because once you find your family member and obtain their call sign it is very easy to look through the pages of all of the books to obtain their addresses. It is important to note that the call signs are arranged alphabetically by the letters following the district number. See the example below.

In the example shown above you can see that I was not able to select just my listing which is why the search did not work. However the search did work in most of the other books. Also note how the listings are sorted. For example: K5PIO, N5PIO, KC5PIO and finally mine WB5PIO. Then comes K5PIP, N5PIP, W5PIP, KA5PIP, KB5PIP, and KC5PIP. Also note that sometimes amateur radio operators change their call signs. See the red arrow above. If this was your family member you would now have to go to the area where FKE is located to see his address.

I had an uncle whose call was WA0FZS. I first found him in the callbook in 1964. The last time I found his call sign was in 1982. Then I made a search for Francis D Baumann and discovered that he had changed his call sign to N0EEL. The callbook did not give me notice that he had changed it. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. When you are searching by call sign and you no longer find it be sure to do a name search. After continuing to search the callbooks I found every address that he had lived at up until his death in 2005. My genealogy profile on him just became more complete thanks to the Radio Amateur Callbook.

Do you have ancestors that were Amateur Radio Operators? This might be the answer to that brick wall problem that you have.

This original article was created by David Taylor and used information from the Radio Amateur Callbook as well as information from the American Radio Relay League, Inc. of which David is a Life Member. David has been a Ham since 1976 and currently holds a General License.

Hundreds of Native American treaties have been scanned and are freely available online, for the first time, through the National Archives Catalog. Also, in partnership with The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), these treaties and extensive additional historical and contextual information are available through Treaties Explorer.

Ratified Indian Treaty showing signatures
Ratified Indian Treaty 37: Eel River, Wyandot, Piankashaw, Kaskaskia, and Kickapoo - Vincennes, Indiana Territory, August 7, 1803. National Archives Identifier 81145643

Thanks to an anonymous donation, the National Archives was able to do needed conservation work, scan and digitize this historically and culturally important collection. These records are accessible for anyone, anywhere, through the National Archives Catalog.

You can read more in the National Archives Catalog at: https://bit.ly/3j0EHuH.

My thanks to newsletter reader Ernest Thode for telling me about this resource.