More Jenealogy

I posted awhile back about Jenealogy - Jen's Genealogy. It's not something that I do on a daily basis, but it is something that I fall back into on a lazy Sunday afternoon when the warm sun pours through the kitchen window and the cold wind is blowing the snow around outside so much that I just want to kick back and read a good book with the fireplace going.

Well...what better book than the internet with it's vast array of links to history from our past and resources for linking into research by other genealogists? I thought today I would share some links.

DNA. A few years ago, I had my brother tested for the Moore line (dad), and my uncle tested for the House line (mom). I have since joined a few (very few) DNA groups. I find it so exciting....to be able to prove your lineage through a simple swab of the mouth. But man! It is just so expensive!

The German DNA network

one of the Moore DNA networks

When you look at these charts, you will see all types of numbers off to the right. The first 12 numbers are the most common "markers" and these groups will email me whenever someone else joins who is a match to our family numbers. It's a relatively new field of research and because of the expense, there just are not too many people doing this yet....but I believe it is the future of genealogy. And I jumped on board the first year it was available to the public....which has been an interesting journey in itself! Watching this field of research evolve...just incredible. If I can ever afford, I'd love to get more than just the first 12 markers done...but for now....this has been great fun!

Rootsweb is a great place to get started, but be sure to check out the hundreds and hundreds of pages from the Germanna History notes. What a fabulous collection to have access to online!

And if you want to do a query or read thousands of queries and search them, then my favorite is GenForum. I have found loads of "cousins" thru this site! You can search a surname, a state, a township or county, a war...it's incredible!

Of course, if you can pay the money, the Ancestry.com is the place to search. I do not have my tree posted anywhere on the internet. Why? Because Ancestry will find it, add it to their collection, then charge you to look at it and not pay me a cent. I figure my 40 years of research are worth at least 2 cents!!! LOLOL! I'm not about to give it to them for free! And I'm pretty adamant about that! I shared my tree with a 3rd cousin about 10 years ago and it showed up at Ancestry. I made him delete it and ancestry removed it. The front of my tree clearly states it is never to be published online.

I happen to live close to the federal records center in Lakewood CO which is the best place to go search for census records and other public information. And, the Denver Public Library is one of the 5 top genealogy research centers in the country. I haven't been in about 5 years...but at one time, I think I had read almost every book there. About time I take another trip to see what's new!

I hope to blog tomorrow about a scrapbook layout that I did based on this research that led me to uncover stories about ancestors that had long been forgotten....that need to be remembered. After all...that's why I scrap....to preserve today's memories for tomorrow's generations.