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Here is a brief introduction to a new genealogy series by NBC. Daisy Fuentes works with Joseph Carnegie to solve the mystery that has puzzled Joseph and his father for decades: whether they are related to famous philanthropist and railroad tycoon Andrew Carnegie.
This article was written by another source who may have receive some compensation. We are presenting this to you for edification of the many DNA companies out in the market. To read the article in full, please hit here
Debbie Kennett, author of DNA and Social Networking, explains why DNA testing is increasingly important in family history research.
By Debbie Kennett
Published: September 27, 2021 at 2:46 pm
DNA testing has become mainstream in family history research but choosing the right option for what you want to achieve can be quite intimidating. Your choice of DNA test will depend on the questions that you want to answer. Whether you are looking to connect with new relatives or break down some genealogical brick walls or you just want to find out more about your biogeographical background (sometimes referred to as ethnicity), DNA tests can be a useful resource. A DNA test can be considered as an investment which will grow more valuable as more people join the databases and you get more matches. Below we take a look at the pros and cons of the major DNA tests to help you choose the right one for you.
To read the blog in its entirety, hit here
Whether your ancestors lived along the U.S./Mexican border or the southernmost tip of Argentina, all Latin American genealogical research is heavily dependent on two main record sets—Catholic Church records and civil registration records. Grasping at least a basic understanding of these record types—including their history, the information provided in them, and where to find them—is imperative to discovering your Latin American roots.
As the Spanish Crown colonized the New World, the Catholic Church became a predominant, reigning figure across Central and South America. Fortunately for genealogical researchers, this control went hand in hand with the responsibility of recording vital events. With availability back to the 17th-century, Catholic Church records are a rich source of genealogical information for those seeking out their Latin American ancestors.
The Catholic Church recorded three main record types pertinent to family history research: baptismal, marriage, and death records. In Latin America, these record types often follow a pattern that helps one anticipate the information stored within.
Baptismal Records
Typically, baptismal records in Latin America will include the following information:
Baptismal date (typically recorded first)
Birthdate (typically recorded second)
Name of child
Legitimacy status of child (indicating if the parents were married)
Name of father
Name of mother (recorded under her maiden name)
Godparents
Often, beginning in the 19th century, baptismal records will also record the names of the child’s paternal and maternal grandparents.
As shown in the record above, Melide Juana Leonze Argentina Cerdas Chaves was born on 13 January 1915 and was baptized on 4 April 1915 in the San José de Cañas Catholic Church. The priest recorded her as the legitimate daughter of Juan Cerdas, son of Macardo Cerdas and Genoveva Ruiz, and Saturnina Chaves, daughter of Ramon Chavez and Vicenta Calvo. Her padrinos, or godparents, were Jeronimio and Juliana Fernandez.
Note that godparents were often relatives or close friends. If you’re having trouble extending your family line, pay attention to the names of godparents in your ancestor’s baptismal records, especially when the godparents appear more than once.
Marriage Records
Marriage records created by the Catholic Church are usually presented in the FamilySearch catalog under two main titles: Matrimonios and Información Matrimonial.
Matrimonios, or marriages, may contain the following information:
Name of groom/bride
Marital status
Birthplace of groom/bride
Age of groom/bride
Parent’s names of groom/bride
Name of the previous spouse (if applicable)
In cases when bits and pieces of this information were omitted from the marriage record, información matrimonial records can fill in these genealogical gaps. Also known as pre-marriage investigations, información matrimonial records were created because “Catholic couples…had to go through an investigation process to prove that the couple was in good standing in the church and that they did not have any canonical impediments.”
If the desired genealogical information cannot be found under marriage records determine if there are any pre-marriage investigation records at your disposal. Be prepared, however, to search for pre-marriage investigation records page by page, as they are not typically indexed.
Death Records
Whether or not one received all the sacraments, the Catholic priest was responsible for recording the deaths of those under his ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The death records of the Catholic Church will frequently provide the decedent’s name, date of death, marital status, name of spouse (if applicable), and sometimes, names of parents.
Civil Registration Records
Civil registration records are birth, marriage, and death records kept by the government. With a few exceptions, Latin American civil registration records began in the late 19th century. While the Dominican Republic started keeping civil registration records in 1828, Bolivia did not keep civil registration records until 1940.
To find out when your country of interest began keeping civil registration records, please consult the FamilySearch Wiki page, “Civil Registration in Latin America.”
Birth
Birth registration records kept by Latin American governments usually provide information such as the child’s name, date of birth, place of birth, parent’s names, and occasionally the child’s grandparent’s names.
Unlike most Catholic Church records, these records will also provide genealogical details regarding the parents, such as how old they were at the time of the child’s birth or where they were originally from (see the record below). Birth registration records are an excellent resource for not only finding out more about the child but also about their parents.
Marriage
Like Catholic Church marriage records, marriage registration records also contain similar information regarding the bride and groom: their marital status, the names of their parents, their age, where they were from, etc. See an example below of a 1914 marriage registration record from Moca, Espaillat, Dominican Republic.
Death
Civil death registration records may contain biographical details regarding the cause of your ancestor’s death. The death registration record below from El Salvador, for example, states a man named Arturo Gomez was killed by General Abraham Perdomo Herrera, whose death registration record precedes Arturo’s.
Occasionally, the civil registrar may provide genealogical data regarding the informant of the death. If the informant was a family member, death registration records may become an unexpected clue in your genealogical research. Obtaining both death records from the Catholic Church and the civil registrar may be a beneficial step in extending your family lines.
Locating Church Records and Civil Registration Records
To access these records, consult the following websites:
FamilySearch.org – The FamilySearch catalog holds thousands of Catholic Church records and civil registration records for Latin American countries that are organized in different ways, the easiest of these to search being digitally indexed databases.
For a comprehensive list of digitally indexed databases pertinent to your country of interest, please refer to the FamilySearch Wiki, type the country of interest into the search bar, and explore their “Online Genealogy Records.” The following list includes a few examples of available databases specific to Mexican research:
Mexico, Puebla, Catholic Church Records, 1545-1977
Mexico, Sinaloa, Catholic Church Records, 1671-1968
Mexico, Nuevo León, Catholic Church Records, 1667-1981
Mexico, Chihuahua, Civil Registration, 1861-1997
On occasion, the church records needed to extend your family line are not digitally indexed in these databases. In these cases, one may consult the FamilySearch catalog and search for civil or Catholic Church records by location. While these microfilmed record sets may require page-by-page searches, the information provided by these records is often necessary for extending your family lines.
Ancestry.com – There are several digitally indexed databases for Latin American church and civil registration records via Ancestry.com. Consult their website to find out more about your Latin American country of interest.
Unlike the FamilySearch digitally indexed databases, which groups birth, marriage, and death registration records into the same database, Ancestry.com divides birth, marriage, and death registration records into their own databases. For example, while FamilySearch has only one database for civil registration records of Nuevo León, Mexico, Ancestry.com has three:
Nuevo León, Mexico, Civil Registration Births, 1859-1947
Nuevo León, Mexico, Civil Registration Marriages, 1859-1960
Nuevo León, Mexico, Civil Registration Deaths, 1859-1962
FamilySearch Historical Images – Not finding the records you need in the FamilySearch Catalog or a digitized database? Sometimes your ancestor’s records will be hiding in what FamilySearch calls their “Historical Image” collection. This collection includes a mix of digitized microfilms, many of which have yet to be organized into the FamilySearch Catalog. Currently, this collection has almost 5,000,000,000 historical documents (and counting!). These historical images are searchable by location.
To access FamilySearch Historical Images,
Go to the FamilySearch homepage.
Locate the navigation bar at the top of your screen and click on “Search.”
After clicking on “Search,” a dropdown menu will appear. Click on “Images.”
These records will not be digitally indexed and must be searched page by page.
Conclusion
Latin American genealogical researchers depend on Catholic Church records and civil registration records to extend family lines. Becoming familiar with both record types can greatly enhance your family history research experience!
This article was written by Becca Spencer. She is an enthusiastic genealogist with a Bachelor's degree in Family History from BYU and five years of genealogical experience. It was published on LegacyTree Genealogist on their blog.
This article was written by another source who may have receive some compensation. We are presenting this to you for edification of the many DNA companies out in the market. To read the article in full, please hit here
Debbie Kennett explains how to get more out of your DNA family history research with FamilyTreeDNA, including testing your DNA on your male and female lines
By Debbie Kennett
Published: May 16, 2022 at 1:54 pm
The firm FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) began selling DNA tests direct to the consumer in 2000. The company started out offering Y-chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) tests and mitochondrial (mtDNA) tests – the only two tests available in the early years. Y-DNA tracks the direct paternal line and mtDNA traces the direct maternal line. FTDNA is now the market leader for both Y-DNA and mtDNA testing, and the only company providing Y-DNA and mtDNA matching databases.
Autosomal DNA tests provide matches with genetic cousins on all our ancestral lines. This is the type of test offered by AncestryDNA which now dominates the market with a database of more than 20 million people. FTDNA’s autosomal DNA test is known as the Family Finder and the company has a database of about 1.5 million people. FTDNA launched its Family Finder test in February 2010 and for five years was the company of choice for those living in the UK. Even if you have already tested at Ancestry or elsewhere, it is worth adding your DNA to the FTDNA database to increase your matches.
This article was written by another source who may have receive some compensation. We are presenting this to you for edification of the many DNA companies out in the market. To read the article in full, please hit here
Debbie Kennett examines the pros and cons of LivingDNA - the DNA testing company that offers detailed breakdowns for British ancestry
By Debbie Kennett
Published: May 16, 2022 at 11:38 am
LivingDNA is based in Frome in Somerset, and offers fine-scale regional breakdowns for family historians with British ancestry. The company was founded in 2016 and is an offshoot of DNA Worldwide, which offers a range of DNA tests for paternity, relationship and immigration testing. The DNA testing is outsourced to a lab in Denmark, but all of the other operations take place in the UK. The firm is therefore a good choice for anyone concerned about privacy and data security, because it is the only major genetic genealogy company that keeps all of your data in Europe.
LivingDNA sells an ancestry test (£99) and a wellbeing test (£129), or you can buy a single combined kit for £179. The ancestry test is also sold by Findmypast with the brand name Findmypast DNA. Whichever way you order the ancestry test the results will be added to the same database. The wellbeing test offers reports on diet and fitness, but these reports are of questionable value and have no genealogical application.
Colleen Robledo Greene has updated her blog in naming conventions for married women. She is kicking off her new “Genealogy Quick Tips” video series. Her first Quick Tips focuses on married women and surnames in the Spanish speaking world. This a much webinar to watch.
To watch her presentation on her blog, hit here
To watch the video, hit here
This video helps you to understand the differences of endogamy and pedigree collapse. Are you related to a polygamist? How about a man with multiple partners? Learn how a man with a lot of kids impacts your DNA results.
To read the article in full, hit here
This article appeared on Legacy News and it was written by: Marian Pierre-Louis is a house history and genealogy professional who specializes in educational outreach through webinars, internet broadcasts and video. Her areas of expertise include house history research, southern New England research and solving brick walls.
In her recent webinar, Gena Philibert-Ortega (a member of GSHA-SC) asked us if we remembered our grandmother's kitchen. Do we remember her rolling pin, dishes or the way the kitchen looked? That got me thinking about all the kitchens I have known and the relatives who filled them with warmth and good food. But as a photographer, I couldn't help but start thinking about photographs too. As part of our role as genealogists we should be proactively thinking about taking photos so that our descendants don't have to rely simply on their memories.
Here are five photos every genealogist should be taking now in order to pass down more than just memories:
1) In the kitchen
The kitchen is the heart of most homes. Great smells emanate from the kitchen as family recipes are being cooked. During holiday celebrations conversations are happening, people are bumping into each other, laughter is peeling out. Other times the kitchen is the center for hanging out. A visitor stops by unexpectedly and everyone gathers around the kitchen table for lemonade. Or family and friends relax there after a high school soccer game or theatre production.
When capturing your kitchen in a photo try to consider all the uses of your kitchen. Take photos of the cook(s) and what they are cooking. Show images of friends casually gathered around the table. Don't forget to include special items such as heirloom china or your mom's favorite bowl. I know my kids will remember me wearing an apron. I am always wearing an apron in the kitchen. While I might not want someone to photograph me in an apron it would be a really meaningful photo for my children to have. It would bring back lots of memories for them.
2) Don't forget your pets
Everyone seems to have lots of photos of their pets which they've shared on Facebook. But do you have photos of you and your other family members with your pet? Photos of interest to genealogists will also contain family members. Take a family photo with your pet when he first joins your family. Then be sure to continue taking more photos through the years. Both your family and your pet will change as time passes. You will all grow and start to look older. Also, how did you interact with your pet? Did you take your dog on hikes or summer vacations? Did you ride your horse on a particular trail? You want to be able to capture those moments so that you can show your descendants how much your pet meant to you.
3) Multigenerational photos
Perhaps the most important photo of all for genealogists is the multigenerational photo. Every time you get together as a family you should consciously take a photo of the youngest person in the family with the oldest person in the family. Those photos serve as the link between generations many years into the future. The youngest people in your family will be grateful they have photos with a relative they were only able to meet once or twice.
Also, how many generations of living family members do you currently have - three, four, maybe even five? Get a group photo showing the span of the generations as they are now.
Sometimes people like to take these photos based on gender - daughter, mother, grandmother, great grandmother. And the same photo for the men. Other options are to take a photo with all the men in the family and another of all the women in the family. A single photo showing the entire family is certainly good too but it gets more difficult to see everyone well. And not to mention it's nearly impossible to get a good photo of everyone the more people you have in the photo.
4) Gravestone photos with people in the photo
Genealogists love to go to cemeteries to locate and photograph the graves of their ancestors. But have you ever included yourself or your family in the photo? Gravestone photos are so much more meaningful when the people we love are in the photos. And it also serves to document for future generations that we have visited the graves of our ancestors. When my children were little I took them to cemeteries quite regularly. Some of my most precious photos are of my little boys next to an ancestor's gravestone. They may not remember the specific visit but they will always know that there were there once.
5) Photos of your passions
Back when I was in high school my local church was making a directory of all its members. They asked all the families to come dressed in the outfits that represented them the most. The father might be holding fishing gear, the mother in her running clothes, a son in his football uniform and a daughter with her camera gear. The photos were wonderful because they really gave a sense of who each person was. It would be fun to create a staged photo like that just for our own family keepsake or maybe even a holiday card.
If you don't feel like staging an event like that then you'll have to keep in the back of your mind to capture these moments as they happen. Photograph your kids during scouting events such as Brownies, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. Head off to a sporting event and get a photo of your kids in uniform before or after the game. Take photos of family members marching in the local 4th of July parade. And don't forget that photo of your Dad in his favorite hat when he's off sailing.
By going to the effort of taking these photos now you'll provide a much richer way for your descendants to get to know you. What other types of photos would you include? What images do you want to pass down to your descendants? Let me know in the comments.
To watch the video, hit here
This video helps you to identify who your ancestors are based on your ethnicity percentages? Your ethnicity results might not be accurate, but this is a good guide to understand the percentages.
In the past, our organization has helped with the promotion of webinars that the Los Angeles Public Library's Genealogy Garage puts on for the general public. Even though we are a Hispanic genealogy group, we promote the education and knowledge that one may obtain from these presentations. Who knows if your ancestors may have some connection to these areas. Since they our free online via YouTube or Facebook, we are letting our members know that these courses are available to you if you sign in to YouTube or Facebook. Information to see the streaming live are below.
One of the most powerful online tools for genealogy research (and free, by the way) is the website FamilySearch.org. They have been filming records from all over the world for decades—and not just records for Latter-Day Saints members. Family History Library Research Specialist Lauren Wake will show us how to best use the powerhouse genealogy website FamilySearch.org. To watch this 0nline presentation, hit the url below:
This upcoming Saturday is the Los Angeles Public Library's free, online genealogy information session: Genealogy Garage. This month, we have the Family History Library's Lauren Wake visit with us to talk about how to best use the powerhouse website FamilySearch.org.
Go here for more details and the link to our YouTube page (to watch the event): https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/genealogy-garage-best-ways-use-familysearchorg
The session WILL BE recorded and available to watch after-the-fact (and after we have it subtitled), so don't worry if you can't make the live broadcast.
To read the article in full, hit here
What is a one-name study, how do you start one and what resources are out there to help? Genetic genealogy expert Debbie Kennett answers your questions
What is a one-name study?
The Guild of One-Name Studies defines a one-name study as “research into the genealogy and family history of all persons with the same surname and its variants”.
A one-name study is an interesting and popular extension of family history research. Most people do not start their research by deciding to start a one-name study; instead they end up doing it without even realising. Many family historians find that they spend more time researching one or two of the more interesting surnames in their tree. It may be that their interest in a one-name study is sparked by a desire to verify family stories about a connection to royalty or a link with a famous person. As the research progresses back in time it becomes necessary to collect all of the references to a surname in a particular county or location, and to reconstruct the families by matching up the baptism, marriage and death records in order to correctly assign the events to their own direct line. By this stage they have already covered some of the basic elements of a one-name study by researching beyond their direct ancestral line.
How to start a one-name study
If you’re thinking of starting a one-name study, it helps to do some preliminary research to determine the size and scale of your study and to decide which variant spellings you wish to include. Bear in mind that many people spelled their first and last names inconsistently on different historical records. You can get an estimate of the frequency of your surname and the number of available records worldwide by doing a surname search on the major websites such as Ancestry, FamilySearch and Findmypast. You can also use Forebears, which reveals the global distribution of a surname in 2014, and the list of websites on the International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki, for more help with surname mapping.
Organising your genealogical records is important for all family historians, but is absolutely essential for a one-name study. This is best done using dedicated family history software. Family Historian, Legacy Family Tree and RootsMagic are the programs that provide the best functionality for one-name studies. Combining all of the family trees into one big file allows you to look for patterns in the data you’ve gathered, reconcile duplications, and spot previously undetected linkages.
In addition, Excel is useful in one-name studies for downloading and storing large datasets such as birth, marriage and death indexes. Powerful note-taking programs such as Evernote and OneNote are useful for collating, indexing and searching information from multiple sources in diverse formats such as web pages, PDFs and e-mails.
Good backup procedures are important for your one-name study. These can be online, using cloud-based services such as OneDrive or Dropbox, supplemented by backups on alternative media such as an external hard drive.
What is the Guild of One-Name Studies, and why should you join it?
The Guild of One-Name Studies is a registered charity that promotes the interests of individuals and groups engaged in one-name studies. It is perfectly possible to organise a one-name study independently of the Guild, but membership provides considerable benefits and gives your study an aura of authority.
One of the joys of a one-name study is collaborating with and learning from other researchers. I’ve found that one of the main benefits of my membership of the Guild is the combined wisdom and knowledge of my fellow members, and the ability to belong to a community of like-minded individuals who share my enthusiasm for one-name studies.
The Guild has a lively Facebook group and mailing list, as well as an online forum. Whatever questions you have about one-name studies anywhere in the world, there will always be members who are willing and able to provide answers. We also have interesting discussions about best practice, methodology, and good tools and websites to use in one-name studies.
What’s more, the Guild of One-Name Studies offers four seminars a year and these events are open to both members and non-members. These were previously in-person events, but have now moved online during the pandemic. Most of the talks from past seminars going back six years or more have been recorded, and members have access to a rich archive of educational material.
The Guild’s Members’ Websites Project gives family historians the opportunity to host a website on the Guild’s domain, to provide for the long-term preservation of their one-name study. Members can also deposit digital research, including GEDCOM files, in its library.
Y-DNA testing is also an important tool in conducting a one-name study, because Y-DNA is inherited along the male line and surnames are normally passed down from father to son.
To read the article in full, hit here
Ancestry's new SideView technology splits customers' ethnicity results in two. We have a look to see how this works and how useful it may be for family historians
Ancestry has unveiled its new SideView technology which separates DNA into parental sides giving customers who have taken an Ancestry DNA test new insights into their ethnicity.
“Understanding ethnicity and community inheritance in more detail has been the number one request from Ancestry customers for years. In fact, in a recent survey, we learned that one in three people don’t feel knowledgeable about their family history and origins and want to learn more,” said Brian Donnelly, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AncestryDNA at Ancestry. “With our new SideView™ technology, we can now tell customers with great confidence from which side of the family they received their ethnicities and in the future, we’ll also be able to tell them which communities and DNA matches are from each side of the family.”
We have had a look at the new tool and it certainly looks like an interesting new development for family historians. Customers who have taken an Ancestry DNA test can log onto the website and see a new option labelled ‘Ethnicity Inheritance’.
Select that and you will be presented with a ring portioned by your ethnicity as calculated by Ancestry using their database next to a ring showing one parent on one side and the other opposite.
In the past, you would need to test one of your parents to gain this insight.
Unfortunately the tool as it is currently presented does not tell you which parent is which, you have to try to work that out yourself using the knowledge that you already have of your parents’ background.
Where you can do that, it may be useful and it is certainly very interesting!
During Archaeology and Preservation Month, explore the ways that archaeobiography can help rediscover lost stories of women in the past. Join us as Dr. Bonnie Clark shines a light into the complex world of Amache Ochinee Prowers, a Victorian-Era Cheyenne Woman whose story counters myths about the role of women in the creation of the West and illuminates the power of using multiple methods of storytelling to recenter marginalized groups in the historical record.
Bonnie J. Clark is a professor of anthropology at the University of Denver. She is coauthor of several books, including Archaeological Landscapes on the High Plains, Denver: An Archaeological History, and Colorado Prehistory: A Context for the Platte River Basin.
To watch this zoom video, you will need to register in advance by hitting here
FUNDRAISER UPDATE
We were informed that on Monday, May 3rd, Carlos Yturralde will be traveling to Chihuahua to
visit the Archdiocese Archive in Chihuahua City. He will be meeting with the director of the archive along with
Mexico's representative from FamilySearch and also with Dr. Clementina Campos
one of their directors who is a professor from the Universidad Autónima de Baja
California. The university is their partner in the scanning project in Mexico.
They will be discussing the scanning of sacramental records currently not
available online. Their fundraiser is moving along nicely. The
total has reached $3239 including donations received through
panes.info. Keep spreading the word. Every little bit helps and they appreciate
all of you who are dedicated to the important work of conserving Mexico's cultural
history. If you wish to donate, please hit here |
