Methodology Monday with NGS Magazine on women and DNA

The April-June issue of NGS Magazine includes two introductory "gateway" articles (including further references) that can help us jump-start some potentially neglected aspects of our genealogy:

* Jane E. Wilcox on "Finding American Women's Voices through the Centuries." In research on five centuries of records on her surname family, "The records where I most often 'heard' their voices were court records, letters, journals, and newspapers."

* Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, on "Using Autosomal DNA for Genealogy." Unlike more familiar male-line Y-DNA and female-line MtDNA, autosomal DNA involves the other 22 chromosomes. Over the generations DNA from the two parents is mixed but some comparatively long segments are retained. To make the ancestral connection, both automated and hand analysis of matches and an accurate document-based family tree (preferably including collaterals) is needed. "The atDNA test offered today for genealogical purposes looks primarily at five hundred thousand or more individual locations or markers on the chromosomes. The value at each location of one person is compared to the same location of another person . . . . It takes work to determine who a common ancestor is."


Jane E. Wilcox, "Finding Women's Voices through the Centuries," NGS Magazine vol. 40 (April-June 2014):28-32.


Debbie Parker Wayne, "Using Autosomal DNA for Genealogy," NGS Magazine vol. 40 (April-June 2014):50-54.



Harold Henderson, "Methodology Monday with NGS Magazine on women and DNA," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 16 June 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

It's not too late to listen to the Forget-Me-Not writing show

Jane E. Wilcox, host of the Forget-Me-Not hour, reports on the show from two weeks ago where we talked about writing for genealogy publications. On Monday we were over 1000 listeners and Friday we were up to 1436. Those are good numbers in my world, but last I heard there was still room to listen ;-)   Jane has the link on her blog.

If you still have questions after that hour, you know where to find me.

While we're on the subject, some brief thoughts here by a non-genealogist who blogs once a week. I think I like his fourth realization best.


Harold Henderson, "It's not too late to listen to the Forget-Me-Not writing show," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 29 September 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

"Writing Genealogical Articles" on Blogtalk Radio

Jane E. Wilcox and I talked about all kinds of writing that genealogists can (and should!) do last night on the Forget-Me-Not radio hour, which overflowed the standard 60 minutes, lasting 1:16. As she says, "Your ancestors want their stories to be told." We had fun and I hope listeners will too! (The first page of my two-part article on William Berry in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register annual American Ancestors Journal even has a cameo role.)

If your download begins with Peggy Lee singing "Fever," you do have the right audio file. Jane's point is simply that if there weren't any of what Peggy is singing about, there wouldn't be any ancestors . . . or descendants for that matter.



Harold Henderson, "'Writing Genealogical Articles' on Blogtalk Radio," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 15 September 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

On the radio Friday the 14th

Friday night I'll be on Jane Wilcox's Forget-Me-Not radio hour.



Harold Henderson, "On the radio Friday the 14th," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 10 September 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]