Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2012

Who Do You Think You Are? Live, the world’s largest genealogy conference, was held once again at the Olympia Center in London’s Kensington-Chelsea area, and once again many of us from the United States attended to help at the Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) booth and at the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) booth.

Max moved for more space

And this is only part of the Booth

Conference attendance appeared to be back to normal from its slump last year. Usually Friday is the largest attendance day, but “on-the-ground” observers contend that both Friday and Saturday were equally busy.  Sundays are always slower. The FTDNA and ISOGG booths were both swamped, so I had little time to take photos and am relying on friends who have shared theirs with me this year.

The hall is so large that any photo appears to show a light attendance, but booths (called stands in the UK) were crowded.  Various stands provided information for dating and identifying your old photos, learning about your family heirlooms, asking experts for advice on particular problems, and identifying your military ancestors. Besides accessing the resources at the stands, various Irish, Scottish, and Welsh societies as well as many counties in England had databases or books available to assist you. There are many workshops on various aspects of UK research as well as discounts on vendors who focus on records from the Isles. And as usual, celebrities from the British show of Who Do You Think You Are? made appearances.  Of special interest was the presentation by Dr. Turi King of the University of Leicester regarding Surnames, DNA and Family History. She was a delight to meet as was Dr. Brian McKechnie of the University of Strathclyde who offers courses in various aspects of genealogy, and Dr.Bruce Winney of Oxford University who is leading the sampling program for a project entitled the Face of Britain.  Meeting Drs. King and Winney were the result of efforts by Brian Swann, PhD to gather various members of the genetic genealogy world together.

As a result of my attending last year’s conference, a short visit to the Scottish genealogy society took my Storrier lineage in Dundee, Scotland back another generation, and this year, at the Northern of Ireland Family History Society, I found the baptismal record of my great-great-grandfather Robert Grey Gilmore who was born in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland along with two possible siblings and another probable family member.  Sadly, the records do not mention his mother’s name, but I did learn that his father was a carpenter. This society has a network of people who look up records for you, so naturally, I joined.

Alasdair McDonald

Chris Pomery

Family Tree DNA, a major sponsor of the conference, rotated their speakers so everyone had an opportunity to attend.  Max Blankfeld explained basic information about DNA testing for genealogy followed by Alasdair MacDonald on Scottish DNA, Katherine Borges on DNA Success Stories, Bennett Greenspan on the ABC’s of Y-DNA, Chris Pomery on Combining Traditional and Genetic Genealogy, Bennett Greenspan on New Frontiers for Genealogy, Chris Pomery on British Populations, and the day closed with a panel of experts to answer any audience questions.


Bennett Greenspan, President and CEO of Family Tree DNA
Max Blankfeld, VP Operations/Marketing of Family Tree DNA
Alasdair Macdonald, Professional Genealogist and Scottish representative for Family Tree DNA
Chris Pomery, author of DNA and Family History and DNA in the Genes
Katherine Borges, Directory of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)

Ken in white shirt

You never know who will appear in the FTDNA audience.  One year, an actual princess, and this year the paparazzi spotted Ken Chahine, Vice President of the Ancestry.com DNA division.  Looks like Ancestry is still in their learning phase.  Interesting!  AND, there's no one better to learn from than Family Tree DNA!

The real news this year, however, is that many FREE DNA kits were given away to men with particular surnames.  For the last three years Family Tree Y-DNA project administrators have offered to pay for a Y-DNA test if someone walking by the ISOGG booth had a surname listed on the poster.  In previous years about 3-5 tests were given away each year.  This year the following tests were paid by project managers. We were all shocked as even some of us who were there actually had testers for our projects: Katherine Borges obtained the DNA of a Fuller and a Powell; Linda Magellan found a Parker, James Irvine reaped a Urvin, and  I was fortunate to have a Dowlen and a Doolin test, Doolin being my maiden name.

Malcolm Doolin & Emily

Bassett
Berry
Bowe
Brooks (3 testers)
Burton
Dowlen
Doolin
Fuller
Griffin
Hixson
Hickson/Wyatt
Moore
Pike (2 testers)
Parker
Phillips
Powell
Reid
Richards
Reynolds
Rockett
Taylor (2 testers)
Townsend
Urvin
Williams

Each year, several of us from the U.S. travel to London to help at the Family Tree DNA stand and the ISOGG stand.  Although the conference is three days, we become typical tourists and stay a week to explore various parts of London and the surrounding areas.  We also enjoy networking with the attendees and workers, giving us the opportunity to meet other genetic genealogists living in the UK.  It is also an opportunity to research at the Society of Genealogists, the Family History Center, and The National Archives.  Several of us have been successful in getting our lines back a few generations and confirming some ancestors through these depositories.  We have enjoyed meeting so many people in Britain, rekindling friendships there, and experiencing the kind help of strangers in navigating the city.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2013 seems too far away!

Enjoy,
Emily
©Aulicino, 3 Mar 2012

Family Tree DNA Allows Transfers of 23andMe Test Results

Today, Family Tree DNA opens the door to 23andMe customers! Those who tested with the V3 (Illumnia OmniExpress chip) may upload their results file to FTDNA for a one-time fee. Those who tested with the lower resolution V2 chip will have the option to retest with FTDNA at a discounted rate!

FTDNA is the largest testing company for genealogists and have allowed testers from several other companies to transfer their results to them, including the buy-out of DNA Heritage. This 23andMe customers will soon discover is because the personal webpages (myFTDNA) are loaded with information and the project administrators and community support are invaluable to the serious genealogist using DNA.

You can transfer test results if you are the owner or primary kit manager of a 23andMe test. Your options depend upon the test you took at 23andMe.  If you took the "V2" test, you can order a new Family Finder test kit at a discount. If you took the "V3" test that uses the Illumina OmniExpress chip, you can import your results into the Family Tree DNA database. You can transfer test results if you are the owner or primary kit manager of a 23andMe test.

There are several options, all allowing you to be a member of a project:

Option............................................Price....................Matching
FTDNA Kit Import (V2)............$50+$109 = $159........Retest
FTDNA Kit Import (V3)............$50..............................Database Import
New Customer Transfer (V2)....$50+$109 = $159........Retest
New Customer Transfer (V3)...$50...............................Database Import

See the FAQs on how to transfer your test result whether you have a current test account with FTDNA or not.

What are the advantages?

1. No monthly or annual fee
2. You can contact your matches directly by e-mail.
3. Your matches are active genealogists, not medical study participants.
4. You continue to receive matches with the arrival of any future tests.
5. You receive the same options to upgrading as other customers, but if you are a new customer, you need to submit a DNA sample with your first order. Family Tree will only receive your test results and not the original sample you gave to 23andMe.
6. You can remove your test results any time; it is your DNA.

Enjoy,
Emily

DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy

DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy

Archives.com and Family Tree DNA

Archives.com Partners with Family Tree DNA

In late September 2011, Bennett Greenspan and Max Blankfeld, founders of Family Tree DNA, called to ask if I would review a database company called Archives.com as FTDNA was creating a partnership with Archives to sell their DNA tests. I groused that I had run into that website more times than I liked since it is a paid site and seemed to have itself connected to many counties I was researching. I just didn’t want to get involved with another paid site. There are many costly databases for genealogists to use, and I feared this one was too expensive as I had found it everywhere. As I was able to explore the site without paying and was asked to give my honest opinion, I agreed.

I was introduced to Julie Hill, Product Manager, and John Spottiswood, Vice President of Business Development who answered any questions I had and requested any feedback I wish to send. Julie spent time showing me around the site, and later I spoke with the director of acquisitions which, to my pleasure, was a certified genealogist.

Background:
Archives.com was launched in July 2009 and has its headquarters in Redwood City, California. This budding company’s goal is to make records available to genealogists at an affordable price. As Julie Hill stated:

At Archives.com we’re extremely proud of our accomplishments this past year adding substantial value for members, and securing a number of fantastic partnerships. We look forward to adding millions of records, bringing the 1940 Census online, and other exciting enhancements in 2012.

 Archives.com contracts with many companies and develops partnerships to allow customers to access various databases at one location. The database is updated weekly, and some content is not available elsewhere.

The company’s focus for historical records acquisition is primarily US based, though they do plan to integrate a number of new international collections. They are adding vital and census records whenever possible, but are interested in any records valuable for family history research. These include immigration, military, obituary, newspaper and others.. So it’s a wide variety!

Archives.com has
...Over 1.6 billion historical records and counting.
...18 of the 20 top records collections of the nearest competitor
...Over 4 million unique visitors monthly.

Family Tree DNA Partnership:
Archives is running the same sale that Family Tree DNA is having until December 31 with kits up to 30% off.  Just go to the site to order your test.


Archives.com Features

Original Hard-Copy Certificates: 
Birth, death, marriage and divorce records are obtainable through Archives.com.

Digitized Historical Newspapers:
This large collection does not focus only on obituaries, but encourages the researcher to look for other topics such as birth and wedding announcements, professional achievements and volunteer work of your ancestors. You can also look up historical events or learn more about the period your ancestor lived and even the prices they paid for products. All genealogists know how the local news can enhance the knowledge of our ancestors’ lives.

On-site County Records Research:
This feature allows you to request a person to search any court, criminal, or civil records in the US, saving you the time and expense of travel. This feature is especially helpful in researching more current records and does require additional cost.

Roots & Branches:
...Partnership between Archives.com and the National Archives to provide the 1940 Federal Census to the public. This is free access to browse, view and download images from the census and will be available April 2, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. See www.archives.com/1940census for more details on the census.
...Contest to win a trip to reunite with a long lost relative for the holiday season through a partnership with WhitePages.com. The deadline is December 19th to submit your favorite memory about a lost relative you would like to locate. See: http://www.archives.com/blog/miscellaneous/win-a-trip-to-reunite-with-a-relative.html
...Partnership with Family Tree DNA, the world leader in genetic genealogy, to sell their tests on Archives.com, giving their customers the opportunity to find historical records and explore their genetic genealogy in one location.

My Tree:
This feature allow you to build a family tree, upload an existing Gedcom, add records, images, and notes from the Archives.com database and share it in email, video, and on social media forums such as Facebook. You can add family members from those social networks and share your lineage with them. 


Learn:
Under this heading you can view several topics, and with each you can visit several resources to help you with each section, including watching webinars, downloading various guides, and reading articles from experts.

Grow Your Tree: 
This section is wonderful for beginners and allows you to start building your tree.  It explains how you should be a detective and offers the ability to set up an alert for information on an ancestor.  This alert will notify you when data has been found about an ancestor you seek.

How to Search: 
This section provides tips and ideas on searching the databases.

Expert Articles:
This is a wonderful section!  There are many articles on a large variety of topics from many well-known experts in the field of genealogy.  I have had the pleasure to meet several of them and can vouch for their expertise.  Everyone can learn from this feature.

Video Tutorials: 
Brick wall Strategies, Finding Your Family in Old Newspapers, Online Immigration Records, Online Census Secrets, and Vital Records are currently listed with more to come. These Webinars can be downloaded or viewed online.

Member Forums:
Here you can ask research questions, help others and get help for yourself.

AND, your membership includes a free copy of Family Tree Magazine.

A year’s membership is $39.95, but some features require additional payments which are cheaper than using other companies or traveling yourself.  A comparison of Archives.com to their nearest competitor may be viewed at:  http://www.archives.com/compare

The Good:
I found the site easy to maneuver. If your search does not give you enough examples, Archives, provides suggestions and possibilities. You can choose to search on the exact given and/or surname or not. The result of a search is given according to databases (i.e., census, newspapers, obituaries, etc.) with the number of entries allowing you to choose the area of interest or you can view all the entries at once. It is easy to alter your search without going to a separate page. I often find on the right of the search page a list of newspapers containing the name I am searching. This list gives the date, name of newspaper and city and state so you can determine if it could be your person without viewing the entire article.

Archives.com has retained the Social Security Death Index as that is a current controversy. From that search I am able to locate the last known residence on a map link and often a listing of cemeteries in the county. However, the word county isn’t indicated and that needs correcting as it can be confusing to the novice. For example: Paul Ogan last resided in Kansas City, MO. There are 72 listings for Jackson, MO. That should read Jackson Co, MO. I know that Kansas City is in Jackson County, but I wouldn’t know the county name for many smaller towns.

The obituaries can be seen in full and are easily printed. I found a few which were poorly transcribed, but that is a result of the organization that partnered with Archives. What was very helpful is that every location mention is linked to a map which shows you the locations of family members. This source is invaluable for genealogists seeking family members that may still be living as well as clues for relationships.

All of the census images will be ready by the end of 2011 and they are working on the 1940 census to have it ready soon after it is available in April 2012 with all its indexing ready a few months after that.

I also found that John and Julie were very helpful and listened to my comments. I was told they listen to their customers, and I find that is true as they have already implemented some of my suggestions and have put others in the queue for IT to repair.

The Bad:
Like most database companies, Archives.com relies on other companies and volunteers to transcribe and index data, and results in errors. All genealogists know how frustrating it can be when those volunteers do not know how to read the old handwriting, do not take the time to match difficult to read letters with other examples on the page or nearby pages, or do not clarify the difference between towns and counties clearly. In other databases, I have seen the surname Talley spelled by indexers as: Lalley, Salley, Falley and more. One only needs to compare the handwriting with other names (in this case, Lawrence, Sally, Franklin, and Thomas) to determine the correct letter. Every database has these problems, but I want to see less errors. It may be extremely difficult to correct once the material is uploaded, but as I have been researching for the last forty years, it is very worrisome that, with the advent of the computer, we are seeing more and more people take what they read online as gospel and not use multiple sources to double check facts. For this reason it is imperative that a company demand their workers and clients produce the most accurate product possible.


The Best:
Besides all the features above, the pace at which this company’s database is growing, and their willingness to listen to customers, it is wonderful to have a business give the other huge database companies a run for their money and to do so by not taking all of ours! The subscription is only $39.95 per year, quite affordable for anyone and well worth the cost.

The generosity of this company towards its Family Tree DNA partner is wonderful. Attendees at the FTDNA conference last November heard the first public announcement of this partnership. Those near me were very pleased with what they saw from Archives even before Archives announced that all present would receive a year’s subscription free. FTDNA has formed a committee, under Katherine Borges, Director of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG), for feedback to Archives, and I look forward to their growth and partnership with FTDNA.

Pitts Project DNA Success Story

DNA testing for the use of genealogy has produced many success stories over the years.  Genealogy research will always have a dead-end where DNA testing can give you matches with cousins when the connection is current to hundreds or thousands of years old, depending upon the test taken.  Many of these stories can be seen under Success Stories for the ISOGG (International Society of Genetic Genealogy) website.  Many stories have not been printed anywhere.  David has three such stories on the Pitts website, but the one below is the most current.

In the past I have posted some of the success stories for my projects and have found that others recognize the names, so more cousins were located and more genealogy shared.  If you would like your DNA Success story posted here, email me.

The particular story is a result of testing Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test, an autosomal test which gives the testers matches anywhere in their lineages back to 5-6 generations, and allows you to compare shared segments on each of our 22 pairs of chromosomes. There are exceptions that give matches farther back. For example, if an ancestor married his or her cousin, the descendants would inherit more autosomal DNA from that couple than from others in their lineage.  For this reason, a predicted match of a 3-4 cousin could be a 6-7 cousin or so in reality.  The Family Finder test can also help adoptees find more recent cousins who may know more than they about their lineage.

Family Tree DNA has many of their tests and upgrades to tests on sale now through the end of December so take advantage of the most accurate tool a genealogist has.  See the post prior to this one for details of the sale.

Family Finder DNA Success Story for Group 1 of the Pitts DNA Project 

We had long suspected that Mary Lenora Pitts was a daughter of Pitman Pitts (b. 1784 VA) and Mary C. Andrews Pitts. This was, in part, due to the 1860 census showing Mary Lenora and another girl (possibly granddaughters) living with Mary C. Andrews Pitts. We had tried for several years to figure out a way to test this hypothesis using mtDNA by testing the descendants of Mary Lenora Pitts to a living person who was in a direct female line. But the other two daughters of Mary C. did not produce viable direct female lines.

The autosomal Family Finder test, however, made testing this hypothesis easy since the lines could be mixtures of males and females.

I matched Nancy (the descendant of Mary Lenora) on chromosome 3 and my sister Imogene matched her on a slightly larger segment in the same area on chromosome 3 (both with the Affymetrix and Illumina chips). My 3rd cousin once removed (Sue, verified by both Family Finder and Y-dna with her brother at 67 markers exact) matched Nancy on Chromosome 5 with the Affymetrix chip but not with the Illumina chip. My 1st cousin once removed, Celestine, however, did not match Nancy with the Affymetrix chip, but did match her on chromosome 16 with the Illumina chip. So all four of us that tested matched Nancy. We are fourth cousins with our most recent common ancestors being Pitman Pitts and Mary C. Andrews Pitts.

David Pitts
Pitts DNA Project co-administrator

Enjoy,
Emily Aulicino, 18 Nov 2011

Family Tree DNA SALE

Dear Project Administrator,
As we approach the holiday season, we feel having one BIG promotion for a sufficient amount of time best supports our volunteer Administrators, in their effort to recruit new members. Current members will also benefit by having simultaneously reduced prices for upgrades.
Effective immediately this promotion will end on December 31, 2011.
We hope that this will give a big boost to your projects!

New Kits

	Current Group Price	SALE PRICE
Y-DNA 37	$149	$119
Y-DNA 67	$239	$199
mtFullSequence	$299	$239
SuperDNA (Y-DNA67 and FMS)	$518	$438
Family Finder	$289	$199
Family Finder + mtPlus	$438	$318
Family Finder + FMS	$559	$439
Family Finder+ Y-DNA37	$438	$318
Comprehensive (FF + FMS + Y-67)	$797	$627
Upgrades
12-25 Marker	$49	$35
12-37 Marker	$99	$69
12-67 Marker	$189	$148
25-37 Marker	$49	$35
25-67 Marker	$148	$114
37-67 Marker	$99	$79
Family Finder	$289	$199
mtHVR1toMega	$269	$229
mtHVR2toMega	$239	$209

ALL ORDERS MUST BE PLACED AND PAID FOR BY MIDNIGHT DECEMBER 31st 2011 TO RECEIVE THE SALE PRICES. THIS PROMOTION IS NOT VALID IN CONJUNCTION WITH ANY OTHER PROMOTIONS OR COUPONS.
AT THIS TIME, WE WILL NOT BE OFFERING DISCOUNTS FOR THE Y-DNA111, NEW KITS OR UPGRADES. THOSE MAY BE OFFERED AT A LATER TIME PENDING THE LAB VOLUMES WITH THE TESTS UNDER PROMOTION.
Log in to place your order You are welcome to share this information with the members of your groups.

As always, we appreciate your continued support.
Family Tree DNA
www.familytreedna.com

DNA and Social Networking by Debbie Kennett

DNA and Social Networking: A guide to genealogy in the twenty-first century
by Debbie Kennett

The History Press, The Mill, Brimscombe Port Stroud, Gloucestershire, gl5 2qg (www.thehistorypress.co.uk), 2011.



I must admit that I personally know Debbie Kennett as we both attend the Who Do You Think You Are? Conference in London every year. She is a delight and a go-getter when it comes to genealogy and genetic genealogy. Debbie has written several wonderful articles for genealogical magazines in the UK, and I’m pleased to see she has published a very timely book.


Few books have been published by genetic genealogists in the United Kingdom; however, Ms. Kennett’s book not only addresses the basics of using DNA testing to assist genealogists but the advantages of social networking. Although written for the British population with examples from her own project, there are many methods and suggestions that are applicable for any family historian and/or any genetic genealogy researcher.

The book is divided into two sections: The Genetic Genealogy Revolution and The Social Networking Revolution. The forward is written by Chris Pomery, author of two DNA books.

The Genetic Genealogy section gives an overview of the basics of DNA testing, the three major tests for the genealogy research with their uses and limitations clearly explained, and suggestions on establishing and running a DNA project. Several charts and screen shots enhance this section.

This is the first known book to address the new autosomal testing done by Family Tree DNA and 23andMe. I was pleased to see the chart on the average percent of autosomal DNA shared with close relatives as well as a chart for the inheritance of the X chromosome.

The Social Networking section of the book covers a large variety of areas where genealogist converse directly with other genealogists or can gain a wealth of information using the web.

Ms. Kennett reviews traditional networking methods including family history centers, journals, e-mailing lists, message boards and forums. Of course, depending upon when a family historian began researching and the fact that the internet was not accessible to the general public until the 1990s*, some of these resources may not be viewed as traditional by everyone. But perhaps they are traditional methods when considering the recent interest in and advancement of social networking for genealogy and the speed with which it has grown.

For genealogy networking sites, Ms. Kennett includes various paid and free genealogical websites which go beyond mere conversations with other genealogists. These sites offer the ability to establish online family pedigree charts as well as obtain genealogical data and converse with other genealogists. Features vary with each site.

The use of current social networking systems such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and others has greatly increased contact with people around the world who are not necessarily genealogists, but who may have an interest in their ancestors. Ms. Kennett discusses how genealogists use these forums to reach possible relatives for either sharing genealogy or for genetic testing to prove relationships.

Another portion addresses Blogs which range from personal online diaries to information on a variety of topics on researching, resources, and DNA testing for genealogy. Ms. Kennett offers information about RSS Feeds to easily monitor all the blogs you wish to read. She also gives advice on free blog sites, and on writing and advertising your own blog.

Wikis, online collaborative encyclopedias, cover a myriad of topics, and as Ms. Kennett has helped establish the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)’s Wiki, her knowledge is invaluable.

The Multimedia section explores several sites that allow users to share photo with others. Projects have been established for entire countries with the goal to upload photographs of people and tombstones throughout the country. Videos on various genealogy subjects have been added to the web through RootsWebTV. Genealogy companies have shared information through YouTube. Various Podcasts allow researchers to download topical information on various subjects and interviews with knowledgeable personalities. Webcasts allow the attendee to stream the presentation live through the internet. Some webcasts are free; others are not. Webinars, similar to Webcasts, differ in that they allow the audience to give feedback. Online storage and sharing devices such as Google Docs can be a boon to genealogists who need to share or store large files.

Over time any genealogist has hundreds of bookmarks saved as “favorites”, but if you use more than one computer or wish to share any of these with researchers, you need to export those bookmarks. Few browsers can do this, but Ms. Kennett’s book offers a solution through the use of social bookmarking websites that allow you to store all your bookmarks online and share them easily.

The Voice and Video Chat section provides several resources such as Skype which allows the researcher several options: to make free phone calls with or without the addition of live viewing, to type messages similar to Instant Messaging or Chat in other programs, and to share files much faster than regular email.

Appendixes provide a selection of DNA websites, Testing companies, DNA projects, Surname Resources, a Glossary, and a Bibliography.

One topic of great interest to me, as it has been one of my “soap-boxes”, is what happens to your DNA tests after your death. Who manages it? I have had several testers in my DNA projects die, and in most cases, I found out months later while checking the Social Security Death Index. Humans procrastinate when it comes to our own mortality, but as an administrator of several DNA projects, I find this most important for us to consider. Ms. Kennett takes this a step further, asking who will care of all your online activities.

Although she says the easiest solution is to leave written instructions in your will regarding your online presence, she offers several online sites that deal with these issues. Every genealogist wants their work to be preserved, if not continued, and our future generations need to know our wishes.

In conclusion, it is wonderful to see that a book for genetic genealogists not only touches on the newer autosomal tests, but that it focuses on helping the genealogist and genetic genealogist get the most out of the social networking system.

I am always excited to see another book being published for the genetic genealogist, and to have one that brings the researcher into the twenty-first century is wonderful!

Excellent work, Debbie!

*The first commercial dial-up ISP was established in 1990 and the first webpage was created in 1991. The first email was sent in 1971, but the general public began using it until much later. RootsWeb.com was established in February 1996 by two genealogists in a mountainside cabin, creating the beginning of online genealogy!

The book is currently available in the United Kingdom and will be available in the US in a few months through Amazon.com.
 
Enjoy,
Emily
9 Nov 2011