The Georgia Genealogical Society’s Annual Holiday Luncheon talk will focus on “Researching Your World War I Ancestors.”
This columnist will be the speaker at the December 9 event at the Georgia Archives in Morrow. The talk will cover how to find information about your WWI ancestor using Ancestry.com, the Georgia Archives, as well as other state archives, the U.S. World War One Centennial Commission website and other sources both online and in published format. I’ll give examples of the information found on specific individuals and will display a French Memorial Certificate, given to the families of the sailors and soldiers who died during the war (1917-1919). The lecture will not cover the history of the war. I also will reflect briefly on my experience of writing a weekly genealogy column for 40 years in this newspaper. The event is from 10:30 a. m. until 2:30 p. m., including lunch, and the society’s annual awards presentations. The cost is $25 for GGS members, $35 nonmembers. Checks to GGS should be mailed by November 20 to GGS, P .O. Box 550247, Atlanta, Ga., 30355-2747. The online reservations can be made at gagensociety.org; the deadline is December 4. For questions, see the website, or call Maggie Thomas 678-800-8456.
DNA bargains
DNA testing companies at this time of year often offer discounts on their tests, so now is the time to check them out. The three major companies, FamilyTreeDNA.com, Ancestry.com and 23andMe.com are either currently offering discounts or will soon. DNA testing is not a “flash in the pan,” but rather the latest tool to help many of us try to get past some of the brick walls in our genealogy. I know that I have already had some breakthroughs, and with strategic DNA testing of certain relatives, as well as just random matches that we don’t currently know about, more leads should turn up. If you order a test, keep up with your kit number and password, as you will need those to access your account. All communication will be via email, not by snail mail. Once results are posted the first time, it’s up to you to check back for later DNA matches.
UGA milestone
The Digital Library of Georgia online via the University of Georgia has just posted the one millionth historic newspaper page. This is a great achievement and everyone should be proud that the State of Georgia is able to offer access to these newspapers for free at gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu or search for “Georgia Historic Newspapers.”
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