NOVEMBER MEETING
Monday, November 2, 2009
Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.
Amarillo Public Library, Downtown
Meeting room on the Second Floor
Visitors are always welcome.
NOVEMBER PROGRAM
The November program has not been announced at this time. What will it be? Come to the meeting and find out.
FALL SEMINAR
Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick began the day by saying she was not going to give us a long list of places to look for genealogical information—she was going to show us how to look at the information we already possessed. And she did.
1 – You Will Never Look at your Old Photos the Same Way Again. Dr. Fitzpatrick said we must pay attention to important details. She illustrated her point with slides of photographs showing us how tiny details can help determine the who, the when and the where of a picture.
- Dating photographs by the people’s clothing may or may not be useful. Many people kept their clothing for a long time or wore hand-me-downs. However, customs such as “don’t wear white before Easter,” may be useful in pin-pointing dates.
- Make sure you look at the back for photographer’s marks, logos, lot numbers, etc.
- What kind of photograph is it? Cabinet card , Daguerreotype, Tintype, etc.
Colleen suggested we make a list of everything in the photo. Notice things such as signs on buildings, model of automobiles, etc. Then use E-Bay and
other collectible sites to learn about the objects. If you have a name or location for your picture go to Amazon.com to see if there is a book about that person or place.
2 – The Database Detective.
- After using all standard databases, look for unconventional materials: coroner’s reports, Insane Asylum records; orphanage admissions, etc.
- Connect the Dots. If you have two documents with the same name, check the signatures or other identifying facts to see if it is the same person.
- Use your documents to create a timeline for your person/family and then look for further information to fill in the gaps.
- Look at the big picture. Study the village and other townspeople to see what was going on where your ancestor.
Using a case study of her Naegler family, Dr. Fitzpatrick discovered why their entire village had no baptisms and an unusual number of deaths of children for a ten year period in the 1600s.
3 – A Different Kind of DNA Talk. The value of doing a DNA study, Colleen said, “is it picks up where your paper trail leaves off.” She gave a simplified explanation of what DNA is and how it is used in genealogy study.
- Mitochondrial DNA (X chromosomes) is passed on by the mother to all children, but only daughters pass it on to their children.
- Y-DNA (Y chromosomes) is passed on only by the father to the sons.
- By studying the SNP mutations, you find your “haplo group” which is where you came from (Africa, Europe, etc).
- By studying the STR mutations, you find your “haplo type” which is who you came from.
Colleen told us how to sign up with a study or start our own, the mechanics of collecting DNA, and how to interpret the reports.
Once you have done your DNA testing, you can visit DNA databases to find your families:
http://www.ysearch.org ; http://www.ybase.org ; http://www.smgf.org ; http://www.mitosearch.org
4 – The Six Degrees of Separation are History! According to studies, anyone in the world can find a relationship to anyone else in the world within six steps or even less. Tools used to establish your relationships are:
- Telephone books: US and foreign
- Ask Someone: Libraries, historical societies, churches, similar people (ie: camp survivors, hidden children)
- Google: Ethnic, religious, historical, maps
- DNA testing: (see above sites)
Bob and Pat Gordon of Books and Things had a large array of books and other genealogical merchandise for sale. Their prices were reasonable and we were able to purchase many useful books to help us in our research.
Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick’s three books were available and she graciously signed them for all who asked. Her books are: “Forensic Genealogy,” “The Dead Horse Investigation, Forensic Photo Analysis for Everyone,” and “DNA & Genealogy.”
HERE’S WHAT AMARILLO PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS FOR YOU!
To encourage genealogists to visit and make more use of our books and other materials, the Library staff begins another year of our “Just a Few” segment to suggest books available on certain topics or states. We want to bring to your attention to some very useful, but not always familiar resources that can be found on the genealogy bookshelves.
If you haven’t visited the renovated library downtown, we encourage you to do so. The second floor (where the genealogy collection is still located) is now designated a research area. You will find it to be a quiet place, very conducive to spread your pedigree sheets out and pull those books off the shelves and do some serious genealogy!
Along those lines, the Reference/Special Collections Department wants to entice you genealogists by listing “just a few” new books that have been processed since the Department was closed.
The History of Angelina County Texas, 1846-1991 976.4173 Hi
Defiance County, Ohio: history told in pictures and words of living memory 977.114 An
History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania 974.881 Bo Volumes 1-3
German Church Books: beyond the basics
943 Smi
Proprietary Records of South Carolina 975.7 PRO Volumes 1-3
![C:\Users\Audrey\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\8O7AJXOR\MCj04260540000[1].wmf](http://docs.google.com/a/aricbrown.com/File?id=dp734hn_87gm4x2hq_b)
As of this writing, the Ancestry Library Edition has not been connected. But if you would like us to call you when it is, please call Gayle at 378-6022 and leave your name and phone number.
See you soon!
* * * *
IN THE MONTHS TO COME
December 7, 2009 –l Christmas Party at the Amarillo Club, 6:30 pm. Award-winning author, Jodi Thomas, will be our speaker.
WHO’S WHO
If you have an idea for a program, please contact Kellie Sanders, 1st Vice President,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 806-373-0067.
If you have an announcement or a story you would like to see in this newsletter, please contact Audrey Massingill, 2nd Vice President, at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 806-353-5866 (answer- ing machine).
If you want to pay your dues, make a donation, or change your mailing address, contact Bob McGinnis, Treasurer,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 806-353-7988.
If you want to add or change an e-mail address for our e-mail notice list, contact Joe Brown at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
For anything else, contact Bob Sanders, President,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 806-353-2553.
MEMORIAL
Long-time AGS member, William James “Bill” Foran died Saturday, October 10, 2009. Bill was born on October 28, 1919, in Rock Valley, Iowa, to James and Inez Foran. The family moved to Amarillo when he was a baby. Bill graduated from Amarillo High School and got his degree at Texas A&M. He was a decorated veteran of both World War II and Korea. Mr. Foran was married to his high-school sweetheart, Roberne Wilson, for 61 years. After retirement from Foran Construction, which he owned with his brothers, Bill devoted much of his time to his grandchildren and to community organizations. He will be missed by his family and friends and his community.
* * * *
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
Just a reminder that the 2010 dues are now owing. There is a membership applicaton on the back page of this newsletter.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
To continue: FINDING? DOLLY by Audrey Cannady Massingill
The cemetery was medium-sized, as rural cemeteries go. It was freshly mowed. No tall grass to wade through. Another good omen. One side was bound by the road and the other three sides were confined by corn fields—the stalks rising high in the July heat gave the place a deserted air.
I was glad to see a dirt road going into the cemetery, so I could drive up the hill until I was in the middle of the graveyard. As I got out of the air-conditioned car, the heat slapped me in the face and my glasses fogged up. I almost turned around and left. This is not a good idea. My body does not handle heat well, and anyway, if there were Cannadys here they would only be collateral lines. But I just could not make myself leave without seeing the Cannady plot.
I slung the camera and a water bottle around my neck, and put on my sun hat, and changed into my old shoes, and picked up Bob’s map and my notebook and pencil, and trudged up the road to the far end of the burial grounds, where Milo was supposed to be buried. Within seconds I was wringing wet.