White River Valley Museum Our soggy Puget Sound weather may have you seeking a warm, dry indoor activity. If so, I recommend a visit to the White River Valley Museum. It is conveniently located adjacent to the Auburn Public Library. You might even combine a research trip to the genealogy section of the Library with a visit to the museum. This small museum features high-quality exhibits including one about the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (the original settlers of this region), a replica of a 1915 Japanese farmhouse and an exhibit about downtown Auburn in the 1920s.  The museum also features an extensive oral history collection and over 13,000 photographs.[1]  Several historic newspapers of the area are available to search online, and the extensive library of books and newspapers is open to researchers.[2] Family Tree Maker User Group Back across the parking lot to the KCLS Library, the FamilyTree Maker Users Group will meet there Saturday, February 1, from 10:15 – 11:4...

Rootsweb lists will be gone 2 March 2020 Perhaps you have heard that news that Rootsweb mail lists are going away, leaving only the list archives behind. At least those invaluable archives will remain. The notice: Beginning March 2nd, 2020 the Mailing Lists functionality on RootsWeb will be discontinued. Users will no longer be able to send outgoing emails or accept incoming emails. What are the alternatives? Twenty years ago, this would have been devastating. These days, we have lots of other places to place queries, ask questions, get answers and make connections. Where best to post? That depends on what you want to accomplish. We humans work best in connection with others, and getting your message out helps you find new collaborators and new cousins. Let's explore some of the options. Many (but not all) lists are moving elsewhere. Linkpendium.com , among others, will be keeping track of the new locations. A very popular destination for the lists is  groups.io  a...

In 2030 I'll turn 77, so it seems a good time to think ahead! Are you laying plans for the next decade? Please write about your plans in the comments. Barbara's challenge last week is what prompted this blog. Please read her blog if you haven't done so yet! Past I began asking family for information about their family and ancestors in the late Seventies. There were no private computers back then, and I doubt that the word "genealogy" was in my vocabulary. By the Eighties, I was writing letters to relatives and including a stamped, self-addressed envelope (remember those?) and Family Group Sheets. I still have many of those in my first genealogy notebook. A few lovely family members included money along with their answers! By the Nineties, I was online (sort of) and using genealogy lists such as Roots-L . I joined the South King County Genealogy Society sometime in the Nineties; unsure exactly when. The Society was meeting at the United Methodist churc...

Fish in all the DNA ponds We've heard this advice; do we use it? Most often it is given about DNA testing. No matter what company you choose to test with first, download your raw DNA results and then upload to all the sites which allow uploads that fit your research goals. If you have the funds, test at both Ancestry and 23andMe . Neither allow uploads, and they have the largest databases. If you are using DNA testing for genealogy research, your goal is the most matches possible, and "fishing in all the ponds" accomplishes that goal. You can download your results from either Ancestry or 23andMe or both, and upload to: FamiyTreeDNA  - the earliest DNA testing company, and most often used by researchers. The only choice for Y and mitochondrial testing. Upload is free. MyHeritage  - most used by Europeans and is the top choice by those who do not want law enforcement to have access to their DNA results and matches. Upload is free . LivingDNA  - the newc...

It is the time of year when we think about setting goals for the New Year.   How many timeshave we resolved to lose weight, go to the gym regularly, call Mom every week, or any number of other things.   I always have a goal of reading 50 books a year.   Some years I do better than others.   This year looks like it will be about 31 or 32.   Not too bad, but I could do better.   I listed 19 things that I wanted to accomplish in 2019, and I must admit that I did not do very well.   As I reflect on this performance, or lack of same, I have resolved to take a different approach in 2020.   After setting my overall goals for 2020, I am going to break them into monthly goals and do a monthly review, so that I do not get so hopelessly behind that I just give up. I’m particularly thinking about my genealogy goals for 2020.   Many of you know that I want to become a Certified Genealogist.   Before the end of 2020, I will “go on the ...

If you use Ancestry, and have done a DNA test there, you've heard about the shortcomings and the value of Thrulines. Recently I've been doing a drive to get all my Baysinger DNA matches actually onto my Ancestry tree, and properly tag them as DNA matches, and also tag each of their connections to our most recent common ancestor (MRCA). The match gets a DNA Match  tree tag, each connecting ancestor gets a DNA Connection tag, up to the MRCA(s) which get a Common DNA Ancestor tag. When one does this on enough lines, in the pedigree view of the tree: Valorie Cowan Zimmerman's 6-generaton DNA-proved pedigree See all the DNA symbols? Isn't that cool!? The part that doesn't show here is the work of "building down" some or all of these lines. I'm happy to say that I've finished building down all lines from Elias Henry Baysinger, my two times great-grandfather, at least until the new DNA matches hit the database in January and February! I may have ...