Kenyatta Berry — host of the television program “Genealogy Roadshow” — has complied a new, but not unique guidebook to helping folks understand genealogy records of all types and how to locate them.
In “The Family Tree Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy,” Berry starts with her own story and encourages researchers to begin at home by asking questions and collecting data. She then discusses census, tax, courts and court records, city directories, newspapers, and so forth. She spends a chapter on immigration and naturalization records, followed by a long chapter on military records, breaking out all U. S. military conflicts from the Revolution to Korea and Vietnam.
In the chapter on “Ethnic Ancestry,” she covers African-American ancestry and records from the slave era, as well as some information on Native American research. But she offers advice on European research. The last chapters are on adoption research and DNA.
The book is a good overview that should whet the appetite of those getting started in, or possibly resuming, their research. There is a good bibliography arranged by chapters, but no index. There are a whole lot more sources out there, but you need to start somewhere. This 267-page, soft cover book is reasonably priced at $20 plus postage (if ordered) and would make a great gift for a new genealogist. It is available from Skyhorse Publishing at Skyhorsepublishing.com, online at various websites, and at bookstores.
Courthouse research lecture at Smyrna Public Library
On Oct. 19, from 10:30 a. m. until noon, the Smyrna Public Library downtown will host a free lecture, “A Visit to the Courthouse — what kind of records might I find?” The speaker is Dianne Barfield. This is a great topic and well worth attending. The Smyrna Library has a great genealogy collection, with heavy emphasis on Virginia. Check Smyrna-library.com for more details and hours. If attending, RSVP at sreference@smyrnaga.gov.
DNA transferring/copying to other companies
Diahan Southard, DNA expert, has instructions on her website detailing how to transfer (actually copy) your DNA results from one company to the next. Go to YourDNAGuide.com and then “resources” and scroll down.
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