DAR to accept Y-DNA evidence!

According to a post on the NSDAR President General's Today's DAR blog, beginning January 1, 2014, the NSDAR will accept Y-DNA evidence in support of new member applications and supplemental applications. DNA evidence submitted along with other documentation will be considered along with all of the other source documentation provided to prove heritage. Y-DNA will not be considered as stand-alone proof of lineage because while it can be used as a tool point to a family, it cannot be used as absolute proof for an individual.

See the following webpage for the full statement from the President General's official blog of the DAR. http://youngblog.dar.org/dna-evidence-dar-applications-and-supplementals

As soon as I see more on how this fits in with the rest of their proof structure, I will post additional information on this blog.

It is my opinion that this is a very important step forward in genealogy research. I have stated in the past that "every" genealogist should at least take an autosomal DNA test. You need to consider this test a unique genealogical record that only you can create. It is a record that will last for generations and help future researchers untangle all of your family lines. The more people who test, the more we all will be able to lock down and prove scientifically all our paper trail lines. Like the computer was to genealogy, in the future, so will DNA testing.

So it is great that such a nationally recognized lineage society, such as the NSDAR, recognize the new frontier of DNA testing. Now I hope we won't have to wait long to see autosomal DNA testing as part of the proof structure in lineage genealogy research.

More on this very soon de Larry.

Three Ways to Celebrate National Family History Month

Some of my relatives at the String Prairie, Bastrop County, Texas, Post Office. Love those floppy hats. And check out those dudes on horseback. Must have been one heck of a celebration. If you know the story of this photo, contact me at the email address in the masthead.

October is National Family History Month, a perfect time to discover your roots, learn something new, or gather photos and other memories to create that special project you’ve been meaning to work on. Here are three great ways you can make the most of this month to celebrate and share your family’s story courtesy of Lisa A. Alzo.

See more at: http://www.reelgenie.com/blog/3-ways-celebrate-national-family-history-month/#sthash.rnWQPLBU.dpuf

The Ellis Island Name Change Myth

A bit of controversy arose after the Monday night airing of PBS' Genealogy Roadshow. Joshua Taylor made a comment about immigrant name changes supposedly made at Ellis Island by the personnel on the Ellis. According to Taylor that comment which aired was a mistake. His very interesting comments on this subject can be found on his blog at http://www.djoshuataylor.com/2013/10/01/the-ellis-island-myth/.

Ancestry.com LLC Acquires Find A Grave, Inc.

Editor Note: Well dear readers this was only a matter of time.

PROVO, Utah, Sept. 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ancestry.com LLC announced today it has acquired Find A Grave, Inc., the leading online cemetery database.

With over 100 million memorials and 75 million photos, Find A Grave has amassed an unparalleled collection of burial information. Over the past 18 years, it has grown to become an invaluable resource for genealogists, history buffs and cemetery preservationists. Find A Grave will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ancestry.com, and will continue to be managed by its founder, Jim Tipton.

"Find A Grave is an amazing phenomenon supported by a passionate and engaged community of volunteers around the world," said Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com. "We at Ancestry.com are so excited...honored really...to take on the responsibility of supporting this community. We will maintain Find A Grave as a free website, will retain its existing policies and mode of operation, and look forward to working with Jim Tipton and the entire Find A Grave team to accelerate the development of tools designed to make it even easier for the Find A Grave community to fulfill its original mission to capture every tombstone on Earth."

Ancestry.com plans to bolster the resources dedicated to Find A Grave to launch a new mobile app, improve customer support, introduce an enhanced edit system for submitting updates to memorials, foreign-language support, and other site improvements.

"Ancestry.com has been a long-time supporter of Find A Grave. They have been linking and driving traffic to the site for several years," said Jim Tipton, founder of Find A Grave. "Burial information is a wonderful source for people researching their family history and I look forward to working with Ancestry.com to help continue our growth and accelerate the pace of improvements."

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com is the world's largest online family history resource with approximately 2.7 million paying subscribers across all its websites. More than 12 billion records have been added to the Ancestry.com sites and users have created more than 50 million family trees containing more than 5 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site www.ancestry.com, the Company operates several Ancestry international websites along with a suite of online family history brands, including Archives.com, Fold3.com and Newspapers.com, all designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.

About Find A Grave
Find A Grave is a free resource for finding the final resting places of famous folks, friends and family members. With millions of names, it's an invaluable tool for genealogist and history buffs. Find A Grave memorials are rich with content, including dates, photos and biographies. Visitors can leave 'virtual flowers' on memorials to complete the online cemetery experience. Find A Grave also contains listings for thousands of celebrity graves, making it the premier, online destination for tombstone visitors.