Past Newsletters
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– Genealogy and Java, Thursday, 19th @ Monkey Nest Coffee! – Coffee Chats (1 more chat in February) – Researching Black ancestors – Researching UK ancestors? – Online Scottish Conference, Feb 28th (9am-5pm CST)! |
| Genealogy Gems! 26 Jan 2026 | – Genealogy and Java this Wednesday @ Monkey Nest Coffee! – Coffee Chats (2 more scheduled in February) – Family History Products available this year – Online Scottish Conference this Saturday (9am-5pm CST)! – My UK trip!! (April-early May) – Quick Survey – Etsy Products c/o HungUpDoorDesigns |
| Genealogy Gems! 13 Jan 2026 | – News for this year – Genealogy and Java Returns to Monkey Nest! – Coffee Chats – Family History Products available this year – Genealogy services – new features in the past 3 months |
| Genealogy Gems! 26 Nov 2025 | – What Can We Learn from Photos, Diaries, Journals, and Letters? Turning Private Sources into Genealogy Gold |
| Genealogy Gems! 10 Aug 2025 | – 2025 Fall Classes at Austin LLI – Register this Wednesday at noon! – Use Free Resources – Lesson 1, Genealogy Research |
| Genealogy Gems! 24 July 2025 | – 2025 Fall Classes at Austin LLI – CATALOG ONLINE NOW – AncestryDNA Kits on Sale now – Upgrade to Griffith’s Valuation (Ireland) – Using Google AI Studio for transcription – News, Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read * Researching Migration Paths – Nova Scotia * Guild of One-Name Studies |
| Genealogy Gems! 16 July 2025 | – G&J Summer Series: Pt3 – English & Wales Old Parish Registers on July 24 @ 11am-noon at Monkey Nest Coffee! – Ancestry New DNA Cluster Tool – Ancestry Featured Search – Records for Wedding Season – Researching Irish Ancestors with RootsIreland.ie – Researching Migration Paths – News, Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read * New York Public Library – Research the NYPL Digital Collections * New York Genealogical and Biographical Society at NYPL – 2025 Fall Classes at Austin LLI – Personal Note |
| Genealogy Gems! 22 June 2025 | – G&J Summer Series: Pt2 – English & Scottish Heraldry on June 26 @ 11am-noon via Zoom! – Finding evidence using family mementos – Tracking and understanding causes of death within ancestral lines – Updated Resources page – News, Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read * RootsIreland – Adds new records from South Tipperary * Archaeology News – DNA reveals Poland’s first kings may have Scottish origins, challenging founding myths * The Field Lab * Original Owner buys back 23andMe as part of TTAM (Twenty-Three and Me) * Ancestry discovers Pope Leo XIV’s Sicilian Roots (again!) * Police are solving cold cases of “Baby Does” thanks to an investigative DNA technique – 2025 Fall Classes at Austin LLI |
| Genealogy Gems! 18 May 2025 | – G&J Summer Series: Register now! * Pt1 – English Medieval Genealogy this Thursday on May 22 @ 11am-noon * Pt2 – English & Scottish Heraldry on June 26 @ 11am-noon * Pt3 – Old Parish Records (UK) on July 24 @ 11am-noon – Visiting Scotland – Top Historic Sites in Edinburgh – Ancestry’s new DNA Beta feature – News, Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read * ScotlandsPlaces’ records which are managed by ScotlandsPeople will be moving to the latter site later this year * The Librarian for the Library of Congress (LOC) was recently fired * What is a Fletcher? * Ancestry discovers Pope Leo’s Sicilian roots – 2025 Fall Classes at Austin LLI |
| Genealogy Gems! 4 May 2025 | – G&J Summer Series: Register now! * Pt1 – English Medieval Genealogy on May 22 @ 11am-noon * Pt2 – English & Scottish Heraldry on June 26 @ 11am-noon * Pt3 – Old Parish Records (UK) on July 24 @ 11am-noon – Finding published genealogies – Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read * Newspapers.com adds 180 newspapers * Mother’s Day sales * US Migration Trails and Roads *Kitty Cooper shared “Nice new features at GEDMatch” * The Library of Congress (LOC) has several blog themes, including Bibliomania: Rare Books & Special Collections * National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digitization Grants 2025. – 2025 Fall Classes at Austin LLI |
| Genealogy Gems! 5 April 2025 | – G&J Session – Researching Passports, Passenger & Crew Lists, April 24th @ 11am-noon – Quick Tip: Using Maps in the UK & Europe for research – Using free online archives like DPLA & LOC – Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read * Check out a current cartographer’s maps! * The past and other places * Find the women for your family tree * 23andMe – don’t panic |
| Genealogy Gems! 16 March 2025 | – Genealogy & Java Session, Mar. 27 – Using Yearbooks to find Ancestors – Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Are you of Irish descent? – Recently removed histories for Arlington Cemetery – CDC website is rebuilt on a new website – Quick Tip: Finding Naturalization records and Applying for Italian Citizenship |
| Genealogy Gems! 6 March 2025 | – Upcoming Scottish Conference: Saturday, 15 March, speakers live via Zoom (from Scotland) – Heraldry and blazoning (describing the crest or coats of arms) – with a list of online books! – Wayback Machine (and partners) are working to archive removed websites – Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read: * Hutto, Texas Historic Preservation Committee work * Dana Leeds’ recommendations for DNA talks at RootsTech for tomorrow and Saturday. |
| Genealogy Gems! 16 Feb 2025 | – Tips and Techniques: Using Gazetteers in the UK to learn about places – Fold3 – February 1864: Andersonville POW Camp Opens – News: Update on Executive Orders; genealogy impacts – Black History Month: * Inventor – Frederick McKinley Jones * History Hub – Famous African Americans on Biography.com * “National African American Read In” * Other resource sites – Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read: * Celebrate Washington’s Birthday / Presidents’ Day! * Have you ever visited Mount Vernon? * U.K. occupations * Irish Memorials of the Dead * 1970: VICTORIAN TEENAGERS reminisce * FTDNA Family Finder Matrix |
| Genealogy Gems! 3 Feb 2025 | – Genealogy and Java: Wed., Feb. 27 – Reclaim the Records – Tips and Techniques: Searching records on Bureau of Land Management site (BLM) – News: Executive Orders affect all federal websites; how is genealogy affected? – Black History Month: * Fold3 – The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion * History Hub – Researching African Americans * Other resource sites – Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read: * Fold3 – New Virginia Military Record Collection * Administration for Native Americans (ANA) 50th anniversary * Advisory Council on Historic Preservation * National Archives, on Flickr! * Family Tree Magazine article on the history of genealogy * Women Cryptologists of the Second World War |
| Genealogy Gems! 19 Jan 2025 | – Evaluating AI tools for Genealogy Research – News and Resources: * Read cursive? Volunteer with The National Archives * Irish records – Check out the Irish Memorials website * Scottish Indexes – Free monthly Saturday Conferences * Texas Tech Newspapers – a map of the digitized ones – Blogs, Videos & Articles to Read: * Ancient DNA suggests women were the anchor for Celtic society in Britain * What is a Cousin Once Removed? * Potential mishandling of DNA evidence in the 2022 Idaho murders * How a Cigarette Butt solved a 30-year murder mystery * History of women and US naturalization * American Ancestors’ Free and for Fee events * Dallas County Genealogical Society’s 2025 Spring Seminar (March 15) – “Honoring Your Shamrocks: Irish and Scots-Irish Research” |
| Genealogy Gems! 8 Jan 2025 | – Genealogy and Java – Wed., Jan. 22nd – US Cemetery Records, Obituaries, and Death records – SYFT News – Recent trip to Washington, D.C. visiting family, Oak Hill Cemetery and The Kennedy Center – Fraudulent Genealogies – Tips & Techniques: Searching and submitting a FOIA request using the BIRLS database – Genealogy & Archives Blogs to Read this Month, including “Confederate Spies: Three women vital to the Confederacy, in Washington, D.C.” |
| Genealogy Gems! 15 Dec 2024 | – Library of Congress (LOC) Native American Digitized Records – Census Records – Using Enumeration District Maps – The Myth about Ellis Island and name changes – The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. – Family Tree Maker (FTM) 2019 – an issue syncing to Ancestry – Tips & Techniques – Use Census records to “start a family” but look further! |
| Genealogy Gems! 29 Nov 2024 | – Newest Blog – Analyzing Causes of Deaths for Ancestors – Military Records – Researching U.S. Civil War and Korean War Era Records – Life in the UK: Early 20th Century – What was a “working wage”? – Tips & Techniques: Using National Library of Scotland (NLS) maps for historical locations |
| Genealogy Gems! 17 Nov 2024 | – Genealogy and Java Meeting – Dec. 13th – FamilySearch Full-Text Search feature – Researching World War I (WWI) Veterans Using Memorials and Cemeteries – Immigration Documents – Tips & Techniques: Using Bio (biography) Keywords at FindAGrave.com |
| Genealogy Gems! 4 Nov 2024 |
– Genealogy and Java: Nov. 11 – Newspaper Surprise! – Remember our Veterans on Nov. 11th – Genetic Genealogy News (DNA Matches) – Tips & Techniques: Using the FamilySearch Full-Text Search feature |