Gary Clark of PhotoTree.com has had a busy year. He seems to be on a one-man mission to provide every detail a genealogist will need to identify, date, and restore old photographs of virtually every type and in a way to make the process as easy as possible. This is a lot of ground to cover, but Gary seems well on his way. So far this year, Gary has released two book and three laminated guides, as follows:

• The Photo Restoration KwikGuide™ – A Step‐by‐Step Guide for Repairing Photographs with Photoshop Elements®
• 19th Century Card Photos KwikGuide: A Step-by-Step Guide to Identifying and Dating Cartes de Visite and Cabinet Cards
• KwikTips from PhotoTree.com, which include:

• KwikTips: Daguerreotype, Ambrotype, And Tintype Photographs
• KwikTips: Carte De Visite And Cabinet Card Photographs
• KwikTips: Back Imprint For Cartes De Visite And Cabinet Cards

Yet again, Gary rises to the challenge with another clear and easy to follow guide, Real Photo Postcards KwikGuide: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Real Photo Postcards of the 20th Century. This new guide looks into the rise and fall of the real photo postcard. Inside the reader will discover two main elements to helping them identify and date these cards. These postcards can be examined in terms of the structure and style  of the card itself, as well as applying all the normal techniques for dating and identifying photographs. Here are just some of the items the reader will learn to examine for clues:

• Address format
• Stamp boxes and artwork
• Regular and commemorative stamps
• Image styles and sizes
• Manufacturing clues
• and so much more…

Flipping through the pages, the first thing I noticed was how many clear and easy to read samples there are. I don’t think there is a page in the guide that doesn’t have a picture, some have many images. I feel like running out and buy old photo postcards of just anyone, so I can test what I have learned. Making this book even better, it offers my four favorite things in a guidebook:

1. Easy to read
2. Easy to follow and adapt
3. Clear examples and images
4. Inexpensive

About the Author
Gary Clark is a professional photographer, restorer, and genealogist who has merged these skills with his passion for collecting photographs. His 30 years of experience in digital imaging brings a unique and thorough understanding of photograph problems and how to solve them. Clark introduced PhotoTree.com to genealogists and collectors in 2000, and he continually expands the free information with a gallery of over 1,000 images, weekly case studies, and historical information about 19th century photographs.

 

This guide gives a lot of bang for your buck. Order Real Photo Postcards KwikGuide: A Guide to Identifying and Dating Real Photo Postcards of the 20th Century from Family Roots Publishing for only $9.75 a copy.

 

Contents

Introduction

Identifying People in Postcards

Introduction to Real Photo Postcards

Definition of Real Photo Postcards (RPPC)

Chapter 1 ~ Government Postcards

First U.S. Postal Postcards: 1873

Government Monopoly Until 1898

Chapter 2 ~ Private Mailing Cards

Private Mailing Cards – 1898

Chapter 3 ~ The Postcard Rage

New Postcard Name – 1902

RFD – Rural Free Delivery – 1902

Chapter 4 ~ The Modern Postcard

Divided Back: 1907 – A Lasting Change

Slow Transition to Messages on the Back

The Golden Era Begins

Chapter 5 ~ Stamp Boxes and Stamps

Clues From Postcard Manufacturers

Photographic Paper Changes

Stamp Box Gallery

U.S. Postal Stamps

Chapter 6 ~ Image Styles and sizes

Picture Masks

Use of Masks on Postcards

Postcard Image Sizes

Chapter 7 ~ Fashion and Style

20th Century Fashion Influence

Chapter 8 ~ Cars, Farms, and Gatherings

Postcards of America

Chapter 9 ~ The Demise of RPPCs

Pressures on Real Photo Cards

Appendix A ~ Early Kodak Cameras

Appendix B ~ Common Film Sizes

Appendix C ~ Postcard and Camera Influence

A Look at the Early 20th Century

Appendix D ~ Glossary

Notes

Index

Josh Taylor will be the featured speaker at the Johnson County Genealogy Society 2013 Annual Seminar, to be held Saturday October 26, 2013 from 8:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event will be at the Ritz Charles Event Center, 9000 West 137th Street, Overland Park, KS 66221. For further information, click on this link or contact info@jcgsks.org

D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS is the Business Development Manager – North America for bright-solid online publishing, the creator of findmypast.com, and the Lead Genealogist for findmy-past.com. He is a nationally known genealogical author, lecturer, and researcher. Joshua is a frequent speaker at genealogical societies, libraries, related organizations as well as an instructor/coordinator with the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. He has authored articles in American Ancestors, UGA Crossroads, FGS Forum, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, New England Ancestors and was a columnist for Digital Genealogist.

Active in the genealogical community, Joshua is the President for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). He is the former Director of Education and Programs at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS). Joshua is the re-cipient of numerous awards and honors, including RootsTech’s Distinguished Presenter Award, the FGS Award of Merit, and the Rubincam Youth Award from the National Genealogical Society.

D. Joshua Taylor holds an MLS (Archival Management) and an MA in history from Simmons College. You may have seen him in several episodes of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? with Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashley Judd, Reba McEntire, and Rob Lowe.

The following information is from FamilySearch:

FamilySearch has added more than 2.25 million index records and images this week from Argentina, Austria, Italy, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 1,152,830 index records and images from the U.S., Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934, collection, and the 244,523 images from the Spain, Province of Valencia, Municipal Records, 1611-1935, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Collection – Indexed Records – Digital Images – Comments

Argentina, Santa Fe, Catholic Church Records, 1634-1975 – 1,834 – 0 – Added index records to an existing collection.
Austria, Seigniorial Records, 1537-1888 – 0 – 100,829 – Added images to an existing collection.
Italy, Como, Como, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1929 – 0 – 10,431 – Added images to an existing collection.
Italy, Cuneo, Alba, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1910 – 0 – 3,369 – Added images to an existing collection.
Italy, Cuneo, Saluzzo, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1942 – 0 – 106,557 – Added images to an existing collection.
Paraguay, Miscellaneous Records, 1509-1977 – 0 – 200,980 – Added images to an existing collection.
Portugal, Beja, Catholic Church Records, 1550-1911 – 0 – 116,091 – Added images to an existing collection.
Portugal, Portalegre, Catholic Church Records, 1859-1911 – 0 – 146,187 – Added images to an existing collection.
Spain, Province of Valencia, Municipal Records, 1611-1935 – 0 – 244,523 – Added images to an existing collection.
U.S., Georgia, Fulton County Records from the Atlanta History Center, 1827-1933 – 0 – 31,670 – New browsable image collection.
U.S., Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934 – 702,642 – 450,188 – Added index records and images to an existing collection.
U.S., Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959 – 42,579 – 0 – Added index records to an existing collection.
U.S., Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1891-1959 – 0 – 2,533 – Added images to an existing collection.

The following ws received from Daniel Horowitz at MyHeritage.com:

In honor of Memorial Day next week, MyHeritage is granting free access to millions of military records from their most popular collections. The records can be accessed from here.

The free offer ends on May 28.

The collections will help you journey back in time to some of the most important conflicts in world history, which impacted American families as well as millions of families worldwide.

So – it’s now longer a rumor… The following was received from Matthew Deighton at Ancestry.com:

World’s Largest Online Family History Resource Sponsors TV Series with Personal Look Inside the Ancestry of Beloved Celebrities

PROVO, Utah, May 21, 2013– Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, announces it has teamed up with TLC, Shed Media US and Is or Isn’t Entertainment as an integrated sponsor of the upcoming season of the “Who Do You Think You Are?” television series, premiering July 23.

“We are thrilled to be teaming up with TLC, Shed Media US and Is or Isn’t Entertainment to bring this entertaining and inspiring series back for another season,” said Rob Singer, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Ancestry.com. “Charting one’s family history helps each of us better understand who we are. Through the journeys of these celebrities, we hope millions of Americans will see just how life-changing and rewarding genealogy can be and begin researching their own family history to make discoveries that tell them who they are and where they came from.”

“Who Do You Think You Are?” explores the roots of celebrities who embark on an intense personal journey to discover their family’s past. Some of the celebrities to be featured in these all-new episodes include Christina Applegate, Cindy Crawford, and Zooey Deschanel. Each of the 8 hour-long episodes reveal the real person behind the celebrity as they come to understand the lives their ancestors lived that helped shape the person they are today. As part of the show sponsorship, Ancestry.com provides important family history research on each of the featured celebrities, which is used to build out the story of each episode.

Produced by Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky, the show is based on an original format created by Wall to Wall Media. An earlier version of the series previously aired on NBC for three seasons.

At one point in time or another, every genealogist faces questionable sources and must determine whether to accept or reject these sources as accurate. The question arises, “can we not determine reliably which findings reflect the past?” Then, of course, if we do decide a source is acceptable, or credible, how do we prove this to others?

These are the questions for which Thomas Jones attempts to provide answers in his new book, Mastering Genealogical Proof. Better stated, perhaps, is to say in Jones’ new textbook. For this book is written in textbook style. Each chapter provides the critical learning followed by problems, which provide the reader a opportunity to practice ans set in memory the concepts shared within the chapter.

In 2000, the Board for Certification of Genealogists developed and produced the “Genealogical Proof of Standard,” a.k.a. GPS. This standard was an attempt to create a system for proof, pulling from the field of law and applying the best practices used by genealogists. The final product was a fifty-six point research standard.

Jones’ textbook pulls from the GPS, distilling its contents into an understandable and useable methodology any researcher, student, or newbie genealogist can use. The book teaches and guides the reader with easy to read chapters containing sixty-two real world exercises. The examples were pulled from the author’s own family’s genealogy and contain American, British, Germanic, and Irish roots. These examples demonstrate the use of this methodology across “diverse ethnicities and geographic origins.”

In the author’s own words:

“I wrote this book to help other genealogists understand in a reasonable time frame what decades of trail-and-error have taught me. I hope the text and exercises will save them from the embarrassing blunders and misconceptions I have experienced.”

About the Author

“Thomas Jones is a professor emeritus at Gallaudet University, where he designed and managed graduate programs, conducted research, and taught and mentored graduate students for twenty-seven years. He has co-edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly since 2002 and is a trustee and a past president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists. He coordinates courses at the British Institute, Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and Samford University’s Institute on Genealogy and Historical Research; and he teaches in Boston University’s Genealogical Research Program.”

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Genealogy’s Standard of Proof

• What is genealogy?
• Why a genealogical proof standard?
• The Genealogical Proof Standard
• Modern technologies and genealogical proof
• Research and reasoning cycles
• Using the GPS
• Chapter 1 exercises

Chapter 2: Concepts Fundamental to the GPS

• Research questions
• Sources
  • Categories of genealogical sources
  • Importance of source distinctions
• Information
  • Informants
  • Categories of genealogical information
  • Importance of information distinctions
• Relationship of sources and information
• Evidence
  • Categories of genealogical evidence
  • Importance of evidence distinctions
• Relationship of sources and information to evidence
• Chapter 2 exercises

Chapter 3: GPS Element 1: Thorough Research

• What “reasonably exhaustive” means
• Planning thorough research
• Executing thorough research
• Demonstrating research extent
• Chapter 3 exercises

Chapter 4: GPS Element 2: Source Citations

• Citation components
  • Five questions that citations answer
  • Physical sources viewed as images
  • Sequencing citation elements
• Kinds of citations
  • Reference notes
  • Source lists
• When and how to craft a citation
• Resources for citing genealogical sources
• Chapter 4 exercises

Chapter 5: GPS Element 3: Analysis and Correlation

• Tests of analysis
  • Authored work or original or derivative record?
  • Primary, secondary, or indeterminable information?
  • Other tests of analysis
• Tests of correlation
  • Prerequisite to correlation
  • Ways to correlate
• When to analyze and correlate
• Outcomes of analysis and correlation
  • Casting doubt
  • Resolve conflicts
  • Yield conclusions
• Chapter 5 exercises

Chapter 6: GPS Element 4: Resolving Conflicts and Assembling Evidence

• How evidence conflicts
• Resolving conflicting evidence
  • Reasoning
  • Explaining conflict resolutions
• Unresolved conflicts
• Assembling evidence to establish a conclusion
• Chapter 6 exercises

Chapter 7: GPS Element 5: The Written Conclusion

• Proof statements
• Proof summaries
• Proof arguments
  • Differences between proof arguments and proof summaries
  • Divisions within proof arguments
  • Developing the argument
• Clear writing
• Chapter 7 exercises

Chapter 8 Using the GPS

• Chapter 8 exercises

Chapter 9 Conclusion

Appendix A Pritchett Article

Appendix B McLain Article

Glossary

Reading and Source List

Answers to exercises

• Chapter 1 exercise answers
• Chapter 2 exercise answers
• Chapter 3 exercise answers
• Chapter 4 exercise answers
• Chapter 5 exercise answers
• Chapter 6 exercise answers
• Chapter 7 exercise answers
• Chapter 8 exercise answers

 

List of Tables

• Table 1 Suggestions for Identifying Sources to Answer Genealogical Questions
• Table 2 Selected Guides Describing American Genealogical Sources
• Table 3 Long-Form and Short-Form Reference-Note Citations to the Same Source
• Table 4 Selected Documented Examples of Errors in High-Quality Sources
• Table 5 Correlation in a Narrative and a List
• Table 6 Timeline Separating the Identities of Men Named John Geddes in the Same Irish Parish
• Table 7 A Table Correlating Sources, Information, and Evidence
• Table 8 Seven Related Proof Statements in Context

List of Figures

• Figure 1 Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Four Citations to Published Sources
• Figure 2 Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Four Citations to Unpublished Sources
• Figure 3 Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Citations to Published Sources Viewed in Published and Unpublished Media
• Figure 4 Who-What-When-Where-Where Elements in Citations to Unpublished Sources Viewed in Published and Unpublished Media
• Figure 5 Map Correlating Evidence from Ten Deeds, a Chancery Case, and a Land Grant to Help Prove a Relationship
• Figure 6 Illustration and Analysis of an Explanation of the Resolution of Conflicting Evidence

 

Order your own copy of Mastering Genealogical Proof from Family Roots Publishing; Price: $24.45.

There has been a recent rush in the genealogy publishing market to produce two to four page laminated guides. These guides have proven very popular as they typically provide a high density of basic information on a single topic. Guides reviewed on this site cover everything from researching a specific ethnic group or nationality to areas of specific research, like Ellis Island records or U.S. Census Records, and even dating specific types of photographs. Now the New England Historic Genealogical Society has jumped on the bandwagon, and is producing a series of laminated guides called The Pocket Genealogist.

One guide from this new series is The Pocket Genealogist: Genealogical Numbering. Whether you are producing a report from your genealogy software, using an online system, or writing a custom list of family information, number systems are important. Following standardized numbering systems will help your reader follow your intentions. This numbering guide is intended to help you “navigate and implement these basic numbering systems in your writing.

In addition to covering standardized numbering practices, this guide shows the reader how to use the automatic numbering feature in Microsoft Word. Along with this main content, there are a couple of tips which stand out in their own shaded boxes. The NEGHS guides are three-color, four-page laminated guides, pre-punched for insertion into a three-ringed binder.

 

Topics Covered

Ancestor table numbering

Register-style numbering

Automatic numbering in Microsoft Word

Generational numbering

 

Order The Pocket Genealogist: Genealogical Numbering from Family Roots Publishing; Price: $6.81.

Click here to see a full list of laminated guides.

The Irish and the Scots have a nearly inseparable history, if examined on the basis if origin. Scottish Highlanders originally came from Ireland and the two peoples have long been connected by blood, language, and religion. Both, have also, played a significant role in the founding and growth of America dating back to the earliest colonies. The Irish Scots and the “Scotch-Irish”: An Historical and Ethnological Monograph, With Some Reference to Scotia Major and Scotia Minor tell of the lives and history of these two groups. The discussion covers both the historical and ethnic background to the Irish and Scots as well as their place in early America.

This book is comprised of several independent publications produced between 1888 and 1895. Thus, the book is broken into three main sections in accordance with those publications:

• “The Irish Scots and the Scotch-Irish”
• “How the Irish Came as Builders of the Nation”
• “Supplementary Facts and Comment”

In the historical review, reader learn of the relationships between Celts, Saxons, Normans, and various religions practiced by these groups. The Gaelic language is also reviewed. In examining American contributions, the book tells of Irish settlers who played prominently in early American and U.S. history. Adding value to genealogists, the book lists the surnames for many Irish immigrants of the 1700s. There are also lists of surnames of Irish natives who received land grants or had land set apart in the Plantation of Ulster in the early 1600s. There is also a list of Scottish names derived from Irish names.

Obtain a copy of The Irish Scots and the “Scotch-Irish”: An Historical and Ethnological Monograph, With Some Reference to Scotia Major and Scotia Minor from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: HBL0788, Price: $16.17.

The following teaser is from an article posted in the May 15, 2013 edition of NewsDemocratLeader.com:

Logan County, Kentucky: In March, Logan’s magistrates discussed renovating portions of the old county jail on Fourth Street in Russellville. The Archives and Genealogical Society now calls the historic structure home. Problems have been surfacing with rain getting into the building and the electrical system, which is outdated and a safety hazard.

Architect Robert Burge, who was in charge of the old courthouse renovation, was hired by the Fiscal Court to look into the problems and come back to the court with solutions. Burge attended Tuesday’s Fiscal Court meeting to present his findings, and suggest what the county can do to fix the issues.

The archives is the home of some of the county’s oldest documents and is operated by two part-time employees and a handfull of volunteers. The building, erected in 1869, once served as the county jail with living quarters in the front where the jailer lived. The bars are still visible from the outside of the structure, and the cells are all intact. The building is listed on the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, which is good news for the county, as it will be applying for historic funds to pay for the renovation project.

Read the full article.

The following excerpt is from an article posted in the May 17, 2013 edition of TheAtlantic.com:

…If you are the Richard III Society, your answer would be (e). After the discovery of the remains of Richard III in February, a professor at the Society, Caroline Wilkinson, put the new evidence about the king’s body — a centuries-old smoking gun — to use. The professor, The Guardian reports, worked with the forensic art team at the University of Dundee to digitally determine what the king’s face would have looked like in person (well, “in person”). From there, the team used stereolithography — yep, 3D printing — to convert that rendering into a physical model of the king’s face. They extrapolated details like hair color and clothing style from portraits painted during Richard’s time.

Read the full article.

The following teaser is from an article posted in the May 17, 2013 edition of Canada.com:

A time-yellowed, 439-year-old baptismal registry from 16th century France, recently found to contain long-sought clues about the birth and family history of the famed New World explorer Samuel de Champlain, has arrived in Canada to help mark a major milestone in this country’s own birth.

The document that appears to solve a centuries-old mystery about when the founder of New France was born — and whether he was, as generations of scholars have suspected, from a Protestant family — is to be publicly displayed for the first time later this month at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., directly across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill.

The exhibit, open from May 29 to Aug. 5, celebrates the 400th anniversary of Champlain’s landmark 1613 voyage up the river that runs past Canada’s national history museum. Its curators have been loaned the fragile parish registry by the district archive in France where local genealogist and Champlain enthusiast Jean-Marie Germe unearthed the telltale reference last year.

Read the full article.

The following teaser is from an article posted at the May 18, 2013 edition of Boston.com.

Richard Stower, former minister of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Scituate, has published “A History of The First Parish Church of Scituate, Massachusetts: Its Life and Times.” The book follows the congregation that was gathered in 1634 as a part of the Pilgrims’ Plymouth colony, making it one of the oldest in New England.

“The issues that the early church faced in Scituate and how they developed over time were very influential in New England Colonial church history — I don’t think the history of Scituate has gotten its due in terms of Colonial American history,” Stower said.

Read the full article.

Interesting… Even the world’s most successful genealogy company has one heck of a lot of outstanding debt…

PROVO, Utah, May 15, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced that it has refinanced its Term Loan due December 2018 (the “Old Term Loan”), which had an outstanding balance of approximately $668.3 million immediately prior to the refinancing, for an amended term B loan of approximately $488.3 million due December 2018 (the “Term Loan B”) and a term A loan of $150 million due May 2018 (the “Term Loan A”).

…Subsequent to the refinancing, the Company has total outstanding debt of $938 million.

Read the full article.

I just received news that my friend, Carolyn Barkley, has passed on. This was a bit of a shock, as I didn’t realize she was terribly ill… I understand that she’s been dealing with a misdiagnosed “cough” for some time. Then a few days ago she found that she had cancer. Two days later she was dead. Goodness… Life is fragile. Carolyn always had hug for me when we would meet up at conferences. The last time I saw her was a RootsTech. I along with many others, am going to miss Carolyn.

Joe Garonzik, at Genealogical.com, gave me permission to use the following from their blog.

Carolyn was the creative force behind … www.genealogyandfamilyhistory.com, but she was so much more. She wrote hundreds of articles for the blog, always emphasizing both the conventional and the most current electronic sources and techniques bearing on the topics. Many of her articles were rated by other bloggers as the “best of the week” on the Internet.

Carolyn also wore many other professional hats. She was a master indexer, who indexed a number of our [GPC's] recent reference works, including Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1625, by Martha W. McCartney. Carolyn was a longtime staff member of the Genealogical.com exhibits at the annual National Genealogical Society conferences and other trade shows. She served as president of a number of genealogical societies and other organizations throughout Virginia. In her professional life Carolyn was a distinguished librarian, who served thirty years as the head of the central Virginia Beach Public Library before retiring.

Above all, Carolyn was a wonderful human being. Quick to smile and possessing a hearty laugh, Carolyn was that rare combination of organizational whiz and kind personal friend. She got things done and she inspired and cared about others. We will miss her immensely.

Reprinted below is the obituary for Carolyn Barkley that appeared in a recent issue of The Virginia Pilot newspaper.

Carolyn L. Barkley (1947-2013)
Virginia Beach – Carolyn Linda (Lopes) Barkley, 65, of Wintergreen, VA passed away on Sunday, May 12, 2013 at Augusta Health. Born December 16, 1947 in Springfield, MA, she was the daughter of the late Olivio and Lois (Smith) Lopes. She was the granddaughter of Clifford F. Smith, long time City Clerk of Springfield, and Mildred Carolyn Abbe. In addition to her grandparents and parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, William L. Barkley, in 2010. Carolyn earned her B.A. from Wellesley College and her Masters in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was employed by the Virginia Beach Department of Public Libraries for over thirty years. After her retirement, Carolyn continued to work as a freelance editor and researcher. She spent much of her time traveling. Carolyn has been the genealogist for Clan Barclay International, served as President of the St. Andrew’s Society of Tidewater, the Scottish Society of Tidewater, the Virginia Beach Genealogical Society, the Virginia Library Association and many more too numerous to list. Most recently, Carolyn was President of the Wintergreen Nature Foundation. Survivors include her son, Kelley, and his wife, Kimberly (Murray) Powell, of Roanoke; granddaughters Megan Murray, Samantha Kate Powell and Mackenzie Grace Powell, all of Roanoke. A celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 19, at the Waynesboro Chapel of Reynolds Hamrick Funeral Homes, 618 W. Main St., Waynesboro, VA, with Pastor Matthew Coiner officiating. The family will receive friends following the service. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to donate may make donations to the Wintergreen Nature Foundation, R.R. 1, Box 770, Roseland, VA 22967. Relatives and friends may share condolences and memories with the family online by visiting www.reynoldshamrickfuneralhomes.com.

Published in The Virginian Pilot on May 15, 2013

Have any of you heard of this project? Their stated goal is “to study the surnames, families, clans, of the people of Ulster and their descendants throughout the Diaspora. Another goal is to allow Ulster descendants in the Diaspora to locate their kin still in Ulster and to communicate with them. The Ulster DNA Project will use the Y chromosome test to accomplish these goals. Anyone from Ulster of or Ulster ancestry is urged to participate.”

Here’s the link to their website: http://ulsterheritagedna.ulsterheritage.com/

Reason I’m asking is that I’d bet that my hubby John is not the only Ulster descendants “lost in the woods” and unable to trace his lineage. We have as far as a Mark Phillips who claims land in Georgia after the Revolutionary War. From all the background reading I’ve done on the Scotch-Irish (and I have it on good authority….. the guru of this project…. that it is rightfully Scotch-Irish and not Scots-Irish) show me that his Phillips were very likely among those frontier-loving-dwelling Scotch-Irish folks.

I’m very interested in having him do a DNA test particular to this project. The website gives about three pages of testing options (and pricing). I would very much like to hear from anybody who has contributed to this project; were you pleased with the results?

Donna, aka Mother Hen, until next peek