Sunday, February 10, 2008

Best of the Genea-Blogs - February 3-9, 2008

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week. My criteria are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, address current genealogy issues, personal family history, are funny or are poignant.

I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

* BEST of the Internet for Genealogists Award 3 Feb 2008 by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE Blog. Ole Myrt has ten awards to deserving genealogists - check them out.

* Where Our Ancestors Were in 1808 by Donna J. Pointkouski on the What's Past Is Prologue blog. Donna provides a summary post for this meme theme, which attracted 12 posts. What amazes me is the diversity of our ancestry!

* Genealogists on Parade by Bill West on the West In New England blog. Bill provides his summary of the Genealogist Parade entries and the awards given toi each participant. The parade featured one band unit, two automobiles and 13 floats. Well done, Bill!

* County Courthouse Records - A Vital Step in Researching Your Family History by Kathy Jones-Kristof on the Genealogy Helps and Hints blog. Kathy has some wise words for researchers, and some hints on reading the records found in Courthouses.

* A New Mystery by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. I love mysteries and Apple has a good one with her Carlisle civil War veterans. We'll be waiting to see how this turns out.

* The Family Tree of Blue-Eyed Individuals by Blaine Bettinger on The Genetic Genealogist blog. Blaine explains the DNA research and the claims about a mutation 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. I may have more cousins than I think!

* What Is a Loyalist? by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on The Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. Lorine defines the term and provides some links to Canadian Loyalist records. I have several of these guys, and some of the links were new to me.

* Talking to Myself Through a Rift in the Space-Time Continuum by John Newmark on the Translyvanian Dutch blog. John has an interesting discussion with his younger persona in this post - funny too. This opens up another genre of blogging, doesn't it?

* Using Facial Recognition Software in Photo Identification by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. I love it when someone uses technology to advance family knowledge. Jasia gets creative in her research and uses the www.MyHeritage.com software to try to determine relationships in old family photographs. This set off several other bloggers doing the same thing. I hope Jasia runs a summary of them.

* Hill Country Games: Spin the Bottle by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry had an interesting childhood - and he still remembers it somehow. He wrote about Pitching Washers, Checkers and Pop the Whip also this past week.

* Life on the Battle Plantations by Taneya on the Taneya's Genealogy Blog. Taneya tells a fascinating story about a slave narrative and a court case about a slave probably known by one of her slave ancestors.

* The Tally Sheet of Shame by Tim Abbott on the Walking the Berkshires blog. Tim examines the instances of slave holding in his own ancestry in New England and New Jersey, and provides contextual articles along with it, plus his own experience teaching in Africa.

Please go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add the blogger to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read.

Please make a comment to them also - we all appreciate feedback on what we write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!

7 comments:

Terry Thornton said...

Thank you Randy, for linking to Hill Country. Yes, I did have an interesting childhood --- thanks to a loving family and a rural setting where I was free to explore and grow. The week-long series I wrote about games children played in the hills has caused a rush of memories and details I've enjoyed tremendously.
Thanks for calling attention to my blog.
TERRY

Bill West said...

Thanks, Randy but it was you and the
other genea-bloggers that made the
parade a success.

Bill

Jasia said...

Thanks for the mention and the link Randy! That was one of the most fun blog posts I've written in a long time.

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

Thanks for including me Randy. I hope to find the answer when I go to Michigan in April.

Lori Thornton said...

Near the organ in Balboa Park,
Lived a blogger who's right on the mark,
When it comes to his picks
He has a great mix
That will leave no great post in the dark.

Charley "Apple" Grabowski said...

Lori - This is the best Limerick yet!

GreenmanTim said...

For Randy, who's Genea-musing
Illuminates posts of his choosing,
Conducive to eager perusing,
So now let us praise,
His most generous ways,
It is he we should all be enthusing!