CVGS Research Group Summary - October 2015

The October 14^th meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society Research Group had 18 in attendance.

In the first hour, Randy discussed:

• The FREE online National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair on October 21-22 – 10 classes from 7 a.m. To 12 noon. See schedule at https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-fair/2015/
• Ancestry.com added Wills and Probates for every state and DC, which they obtained from FamilySearch, and indexed the primary person, but not every name. There are 170 million records, and 120 million names. The Ancestry collection is not complete – not all U.S. probate records are available, but it is a significant collection. He demonstrated finding a Wisconsin probate record and showed some of the pages that might be available for one person.
• MyHeritage searches historical newspapers on NewspaperARCHIVE. He found obituary and death notice articles for several cousins in Kansas using MyHeritage Record Matches and downloaded the newspaper page images, then transcribed the articles. This is one of the benefits of subscribing to MyHeritage – it saves $100/year on a NewspaperARCHIVE subscription.

In the second hour, the attendees discussed their research successes and challenges, including:

• Ana attended the 10/10 Genealogy Day and enjoyed the two DNA talks by CeCe Moore. She learned more about haplogroups, and the information on the ISOGG wiki (www.isogg.org).
• Ralph tested his autosomal DNA on 23andMe, and received little response until recently. A man contacted him noting that Ralph has 1.3% Ashkenazi DNA, and provided much more information about Hispanic descendants of Spanish Jews before the inquisition.
• Jean tested at AncestryDNA, and was told she was 1% Melanesian. She is trying to find possible ancestors who might carry that DNA. The group suggested that it might be a Polynesian woman who married an English or French colonist there.
• Arlene asked about the new free DNA analysis site, DNA.Land, which reads raw DNA data from AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and FamilyTreeDNA, and then analyzes it. Randy showed his results to date on the site.
• Virginia described a story she saw on TV about two Korean women adopted by American families, were friends, and worked in the same hospital. Through DNA, they found they were sisters 40 years later.
• Helen's maternal grandmother Mallory told the family “we are Irish.” Some cousins told her that it was really “O'Mallory,” which may be Scottish.  She also asked about how to preserve a tightly rolled document. The group recommended consulting a preservation expert and professional archivist, especially if the document is old and has been rolled for decades.
• Shirley has a 1944 picture of people in an Albany, N.Y. Neighborhood, which includes some of her family. She is trying to identify all of the people, and wondered where she should send the photograph to display and preserve it. The group suggested she contact an Albany historical society.
• Carole has published two stories in genealogical society publications. They were: “Where Lies John Wesley Akers?” in the 2015 issue of the Memories periodical of the Tehama County [Calif.] Genealogical and Historical Society; and “An Audience with a Future King” in the October 2015 issue of the Root Cellar Preserves periodical published by the Sacramento Genealogical Society.

The next meeting of the CVGS Research Group will be on Thursday, 12 November (note the date change because the library is closed for Veterans Day) at 12 noon in the Conference Room of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in Chula Vista).