In early June, 2015, husband, John, and I took the free government-run tour of the Hanford Nuclear Site, north of Richland, Washington. We both knew something of the chronology and the story but we were eager to learn more details and to see the places for ourselves. What I’ve summarized below is not meant to be a full and detailed explanation of all the history and parts of this two-fold massive project (first to build to get the plutonium and then, after the war, to clean up the mess that was made) but to share our new understanding of this episode in American history.

In the early1940s America greatly feared that the Germans would get a nuclear bomb (and use it) before we did. That fear prompted the haste to get the job done and since nobody had done a project like this before they were “flying by the seat of their pants” in many instances.  It then follows that very little care, understanding or recognition was given at the time to the nuclear waste mess that was being created.

Tour participants had to arrive by 7:00 and show photo ID. Our group of about 30 was given numbered name badges and then invited to view a short video showing the overview of Hanford and the project, before, during and after. We enjoyed the many B&W vintage photos.  Then we boarded the big bus and were off! The tour took just under five hours; no cameras were allowed.

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This announcement from Ancestry appeared in their blog a month ago and I was excited to learn more. Then a couple of weeks later, Anna Swayne, Ancestry’s DNA Educator, posted a blurb, “Getting the Most from Your New Ancestor Discoveries.” I do recommend that you go ask Grandma Google (who knows everything) to read and learn more about this exciting development.

Bottom line, Ancestry is taking the results from the DNA that you or I submitted to Ancestry. Then they do their internal magic to make facts and connections know to us that were unknown previously.

Assuming you’ve taken the Ancestry DNA test, log into your Ancestry account, go to the DNA tab and check your DNA homepage. If you have a New Ancestor Discovery, it will show up on you results page! Maybe you will have none (currently, none, but do check back) and maybe you’ll have several. Just click on the card/circle about which you’d like to discover more information. It really is as simple as that. 

Of course, all the connections and facts that Ancestry finds for you will come from the Ancestry database but that is a good thing for Ancestry is one of biggest databases of information available to us.

I’m confident that there will be several learning opportunities and tutorials made available by Ancestry to help us learn about this new opportunity but I’m also confident that unless you go searching and want to learn, your new Ancestor Discoveries will remain hidden to you. “Try it, you’ll like it,” I do recommend.

George Murphy was a Marine in the Civil War, and since there were only 4000 Marines in the Civil War, so to have two Marines buried in Spokane, Washington is kind of rare. George did not have any kind of a military marker at Fairmount Cemetery and so Barbara Brazington tried to get a Civil War marker for him, but since she was not related they refused, so she contacted the local Marine League, and they got a marker donated by a local company and set up a wonderful memorial service. Go here to see the full story .

These “sponge rocks” have, for over 80 years, been important to my family. In the early 1930s, my mother lived with her parents in St.Louis, Missouri. (She always pronounced it St. Lois.) Her father, my grandfather, worked in a print shop and hated it; he hated being indoors all day long. Weekends, he would putter in his urban back yard and he built a fish pond there. He rimmed the edge with these large pieces of “sponge rock.”

Mom remembers going out to Rock Hollow (they called it) somewhere near but outside of the city. There they could spend a picnic day and gather rocks for the fishpond.

In the 1940s, my grandparents moved from St. Louis to near Kalamazoo, Michigan, to live on very small Pickerel Lake. Oh, did Grandpa enjoy living on that lake! They took the sponge rocks with them and they formed my grandmother’s flower bed.

Upon her death in 1987, my Mom hauled the rocks back to Spokane, Washington, and they’ve been around her favorite lilac bush for these past 28 years. Upon Mom’s passing in 2014, the rocks were mine and now they reside in a space near the garage entry where I walk past them several times a day. (The brown insulator was added to show the scale of the rocks.)

To this day I don’t know where “Rock Hollow” was, but doing a Google search I did find a Rock Hollow (bicycle) Trail as part of the Meremec River Greenway. I’m sure today it would be a tremendous legal offense to haul rocks from this spot but back in the 1930s it was wilderness and unprotected.

And my grandfather, then my mother, and now me, are committed to protecting these very special rocks.

Thought that since we started last week with some Big News from Ancestry, I would continue this week with more Big News from them.

Would you like to attend a free online lecture chosing from a dozen topics presented by Ancestry?

The Ancestry Academy is then the choice for you! Click to https://academy.ancestry.com/academy

There you will find the list of courses available to you. Most are 45-60 minutes in length, doable in one session (if you’ve been “down the hall” and have a water bottle and some snacks).

I could list all the topics but new topics are being added monthly so any list posted here would soon be incomplete.

Does it seem to you, like it does seem to me, that Ancestry is getting more and more worthwhile and worthy of our subscription? Yes, the Ancestor Discoveries ( explained last blog on May 11th) and this Ancestry Academy are free to us, but of course they all will point to using the Ancestry database. We cannot and we should not expect everything in genealogy to be free to us; some things are just worth the money.

Get started in using, understanding and appreciating Ancestry by sitting in your ‘jammies and watching an online presentation of your choice……. since they’re free, I advise taking two!

Mary Holcomb is a vitally important member of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society. She was telling me recently about the updates with HeritageQuest/ProQuest, the public library online database. With her permission, I share her penned comments with you:

The “New” HeritageQuest —  By Mary Holcomb – March 2015

Heritage Quest/ProQuest  has for years been a genealogy tool available to all genealogists through their local public library (not individual subscription). Those who have used this database of information know its value and are excited about the transformation this website has undergone for our benefit. Those unfamiliar with the HQ database should plan a visit to your public library  and inquire about this. We just hope your public library has this subscription!  Now for Mary’s update:

I’m excited to be telling you about this update! As of March 3, 2015, HQ has undergone a face lift. The site is now powered by Ancestry with a different but similar search format.  I for one will miss the old search but find the new site exciting and very manageable. The images are much improved, the search boxes are user friendly and much more information is available.

There still are six major categories to search:

CENSUS — Includes all the US federal Population schedules (1970 – 1940). Slave, Non Population, Veterans Schedules and more. There is also included an extensive list of Indian Census Rolls.

BOOKS & DIRECTORIES —  lets you search where your ancestors lived with Local Histories from History Books and City Directories.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR —  Search has actual copies of the requests for pension and benefits for many soldiers and their spouses. I found this section much improved over the old search. I gained five more pages of information for my Patriot.

FREEMAN’S BANK —   A searchable data base of ancestors  (Afro American and white) who applied to a federal banking program during Reconstruction period after the Civil War (1865 – 1874).

US SERIAL SET —  A unique area to search for Information. If your ancestor petitioned a State Representative or the President for special help (Amnesty, exceptions to existing law or other assistance) paperwork documenting this could probably be found here.

While the above categories were made more user-friendly than the original versions, there are a couple new and very exciting additions. Under the HeritageQuest banner on the home page and next to SEARCH are RESEARCH AIDS and MAPS.

Here in MAPS you will find in one place, all the state’s county maps and how they changed over the years. The original states, new states and then the territory’s breaking down to the states as we now know them, It’s all here.   Down-loadable state research guides are available here as well.

RESEARCH AIDS is a gold mine. Tips and tricks to help when you get stuck are here. Sub categories for Military, Immigration, Census and ethnic Research are here. Also here are sections for “getting started” and “beyond the basics”.

I hope you will take a trip to your nearest public libary and check out the new HeritageQuest. This is truly another wonderful tool to add to your genealogy toolbox.

Looking at a map of the Evergreen State, how many of our Washington place names are unique to Washington would you guess? Doing some Googling, I only found five:  Seattle, Port Townsend, Ritzville, Mossy Rock and Moses Lake. But my oh my the other names:

Custer  —  MN, SD;  Oak Harbor  —  TX, GA, FL, LA;  Spokane  —  OH, SD, MO, LA;  Bellingham  —  MN, SC, MA;  Arlington  —  13!;  DesMoines  —  CA, NM, IA;   Edmonds  —  ID, NC;  Raymond  —  11!;  Black Diamond  —  MT, PA, FL, AL, AR, AZ;  Cheney  —  ME, IA, KS, MO;  Pullman  —  AR, IL, TX, MI, WV;  Rosalia  —  KS;  Odessa  —  9!”   Starbuck  —  MN;  Colville  —  KY:  Chattaroy  —  WV;  Kettle Falls  —  MN;  Mesa  —  TX, MS, AR, AZ, CO (with many more with this as part of the name).

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Here is a lesson for all of us.  She had come early to a meeting and took out the packet of photos she just picked up at Fred Meyer and was writing the particulars on the back of each photo. Would that we all would follow suit.

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As you zoom along I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass, have you ever thought to stop at Snoqualmie Falls? The falls are quite magnificent (even on a gray day):

In the parking-park, there is a kiosk explaining about the falls and the importance of these falls to the Snoqualmie people:

And I realized that I had been mispronouncing the name all these years.

It is Sno-qual-mie and not Sno-qual-A-mie.  How about you?