Ancestry.com's AncestryDNA Tests are Now Available Without Invitation

Ancestry.com has now officially opened the floodgates on their new AncestryDNA autosomal DNA test.  It costs $129 ($139 with tax and shipping), which is more expensive than the $99 dollars they offered it for during their invite only period.

Now, you can also order more than one test, although I could only order one at a time when I tried.  That just meant I had to go in and place four separate orders. :)

- Happy Wednesday!

www.GenealogyPlace.com is a Great Free Resource

I had a conumdrum yesterday trying to substantiate whether or not a Susannah Seymour(b 1738) in my tree was the child of a Daniel Seymour (b. 1698).  Because that would mean that my 10th great grandfather was an earlier governor of one of the 13 colonies in early america named John Webster.   I found several trees in ancestry that supported this but not one source in those trees that actually validated the connection.

I did some extensive Google searching and got a result from  http://www.genealogyplace.com.

I found over 10 references to Daniel Seymour (b. 1698) in Connecticut.  The resource helped me find one book written in the 20th century that validated the claims based on another old resource I couldn't find, it does help in my mind that the person who wrote the book was the main vital records guy for that county in the early 20th century.   I found another  resource that validated the information but I couldn't find the original source volume but I did find other volumes in that series, so it is just a matter of time.  I also found a third resource that at least validated the number of children.   I did find one resource that purported something completely different but based on the other three resources the number of kids weren't right (there were way too many) and neither were any of the kids names. 

As a result I am reasonably certain that Daniel is really Susannah's dad and that my 10th great grandfather is actually John Webster.

You Can Search the Census for Free on Ancestry.com This Weekend

I am a member already, but I thought this was interesting.  They are allowing free census searches (with a free account) through midnight on September 3rd.  Not a bad way to expand your marketing list.

http://www.ancestry.com/census?o_iid=52246&o_lid=52246&o_sch=Web+Property

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Identifying the Artist Signature on the Mystery Family Painting

My grandma showed me a painting that an old veteran of the Civil War named Josiah E Cass got while on a train in France.  Supposedly there is a big write up about this thing in the Eau Claire Leader Telegram in or around the forties but I can't find it in any of my searches.  The thing might be worth tons of money but probably not if it can't be identified.

I don't suppose anyone has any thoughts.

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Genealogy is Really a Big Deal!!!!

Seriously... I don't feel like I have ever been a part of something so important as my family.  To capture and record their history for future generations digitally has been a great undertaking but an amazing experience so far.  I know it will take years but I also know that it is worth every second.

Just a thought!

Jamie

Odd Site SortedByName is an Amazing Genealogy Resource

SortedByName.com conglomerates info on people from a number of great Genealogical sources.  It links the original source and the info provided.  The site has people basically listed by name.

Ok, if you go directly to the site SortedByName.com you might be confused as it's hard to figure out it's navigation successfully so I recommend instead starting from Google.  I typed in the site name followed by my last name, followed by the county in Ireland I wanted.  I got several pages that came up all from there.

So my google search was: "sortedbyname miley wicklow"


I then just clicked on any one of them and then did a find on page for "Wicklow".  This lead me to MANY, MANY genealogical sources for Mileys that lived in Wicklow, Ireland.  These included obscure resources like US local municipality websites that had local obituary listings of pioneers that came from Wicklow but also had many mainstream resources like the 1901 and 1911 census from Ireland.

Again, amazing genealogy resource, but the site design needs work.  It's like a harder to navigate craigslist feeling site.  Again, just start from Google.

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Friends Don't Let Friends Scrapbook Family History

So, every once in awhile when I am taking in family history collections and things I am planning to scan it is so annoying to find that it's SCRAPBOOKED!!  Seriously, we are talking about family history that should be preserved forever digitally.

So just remember before you scrapbook the family history that someone someday will just tear it apart anyway to run it through the scanner.

It just had to be said...

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