Everybody in the genealogy world today knows Thomas MacEntee. He is the spikey-haired-bead-wearing guru of genealogical websites and presentations (my opinion). He recently did an interview and subsequently created an 11-page handout about DNA and your privacy. He gave permission to share it with one and all………….. here’s the link:
DNA-Testing-Balancing-Value-and-Privacy
Tiz a very good read, I promise.
Today a most different kind of serendipity……… good news for genealogical societies who have a “pet” cemetery they sponsor:
The newspaper bit read: “Historic cemeteries can now apply for grants for cemetery rehabilitation and preservation through the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Cemeteries must be more than 50 years old, and the funding is for capital project that assist with improving and/or preserving the cemetery.”
For more info click to: dahp.wa.gov/historiccemeterygrant
Or call Julianne Patterson at 206-624-9449 for more information.
On our New Zealand trip, we visited the Waikato Museum in Hamilton. A current exhibit there was “The Horses Stayed Behind.”
“Ten thousand horses left New Zealand for the front lines in World War I but only four returned. It was this fact that catalyzed artist Cat Auburn to ask horse owners from across the country (of New Zealand) to donate a small clipping of full length hair from their horse’s tail which she then made into rosettes and flowers in the style of Victorian hair wreaths.”
“In the exhibit each horse is identified in stark contrast to the anonymous fate that awaited thousands of the horses and men who left New Zealand for the war.”
What feelings did you have as you read this???
Ever seen a gravemarker like this one?
Proving yet again that you’ll find genealogy in the unlikeliest of places….. we were driving the road from Te Anu in New Zealand’s South Island to Milford Sound. At a pull-off along the road, I spotted this…..
This road cuts right through the heart of a humungous granite mountain and this tunnel took 20 years to build……. I’ll bet there were several accidents and many deaths. Standing and looking through the trees at the magnificent view and then turning to this marker…………well, it was sobering.
More thoughts, ideas and sights gleaned from my trip to New Zealand:
Do you have your mother’s or grandmother’s teacup collection??? If so, have you ever wondered what to DO with all of those porcelains??? Well, here’s an idea, found in a cafe in NZ:
Throughout all our years of school, whenever we looked at a map of the world, be it huge on the wall or small in a book, it was always oriented the same. North Pole was up. Always. But are all maps that way??
This is kinda fuzzy but you will get the idea. On our recent trip to New Zealand, I spotted this big map on the wall at a resort. And it stopped me in my tracks! I’d never seen a map like this with the North Pole at the bottom. Have you ever seen a map like this? And if you’re a “map-o-phile” you will love it.
Google “upside down map” and you’ll find a clearer, better image and you can even order one for your own collection. (Russia is how many times the size of America????)
We here in Washington state know full well that our Pacific coastline is astoundingly beautiful………. but we (should?) also know that Washington, or even America, does not have the corner on beautiful coastlines. Take New Zealand………. If I had shared this photo of mine and asked if you could identify WHERE it was taken, would you have guessed the Pacific shore of the North Island, New Zealand???
Hubby and I recently spent over two weeks in New Zealand; it was (of course) fabulous. In this blog-spot and over the next few weeks, I shall share some New Zealand serendipity with you………… Scotch Broom, as we call it, is found all over the Puget Sound region…… I look forward to visiting my family in Port Angeles in spring for the extra reason of seeing all the Scotch Broom in bloom. BUT…………………..
This familiar plant, also known as Scot’s Broom, is an invasive flowering shrub that grows commonly throughout the Puget Sound region. Originally introduced from Europe as an ornamental and for erosion control, it is highly aggressive and forms dense, monotypic stands which reduce wildlife habitat and hinder re-vegetation of upland sites and wetland buffers.
We saw this plant (not blooming, too late in the summer) all over New Zealand. Very surprised to see it but people from Scotland did settle there, especially in Dunedin on the South Island.
In fact, Mark Twain must have visited Dunedin because he wrote, “This town was settled by the Scotch. They were on their way home to heaven and stopped here. Thinking they had arrived, they stayed.”
So think of it! Washington and New Zealand have something in common, Scotch Broom!
When you hit a really big tough roadblock in your genealogy (like into Russia?) then it might be time for you to consider hiring a professional genealogist. Have you ever heard of genealogyDOTcoach?
This is a fairly new online service matching professional genealogists (called Genealogy Coaches) with people who want to have all the fun of making family history discoveries for themselves but who just need a little assistance from someone they can trust. This new family history service has been formed to fill that critical gap. It was initially launched with 26 coaches with expertise across 46 different topic areas.
If this is a life-preserver-tossed-to-you service that might interest you, Google the name and start learning and feeling better!
Kenyatta Berry, genealogist on the TV show, “Genealogy Roadshow,” was a keynote speaker at the Northwest Regional Genealogy Conference last August in Arlington. One project that involves her is very near and dear to her heart: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database has “information on almost 36,000 slaving voyages that forcibly embarked over 10 million Africans for transport to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries.”
If this points to your ancestry, go have a looksee. Included on this website is a database “identifying 91,491 Africans taken from captured slave ships or from African trading sites.” Your ancestor’s name might just be there.