HCAD: A tool for finding Harris County residents and researching house histories

I discovered the Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) website while looking to buy a house, as it gives the appraised value of Harris County properties. However, it would also be useful when looking for living people or recent property owners of Harris County, or for researching house histories in Harris County. 

To use this website, choose Property Search --->  Quick Search. 

You can search by address or by owner name. When searching by owner, note the correct way to enter a name: surname first initial. Don’t use a comma between the surname and first name, and just use the first initial of the first name.

Here I searched “Majors L”, for Lee Majors, the Six Million Dollar Man, rumored to live in Houston.

This search result includes his wife’s name, Faith, as an additional owner, indicating this is indeed the Six Million Dollar Man's property. Note the difference between the property address and the mailing address.

If you want to view all details about the property, use the scroll bar on the right to scroll down the page. Annoyingly, there are two scroll bars to coordinate – one for the web page and one for the record itself.

You can also choose the tax year you want to search, as far back as 2013. Don’t think, though, that you can’t find a name beyond that date. Within each property record there is an area of Ownership History. Click on it and you’ll see previous owners of that property dating back to 1988. My guess would be that’s probably when HCAD started entering records into a computer system.

Here are the previous owners of Lee Major's property at 5042 Tangle Lane. As the property record indicates the house was built in 2004, this is a comprehensive ownership of the house.

Sometimes when I click on Ownership History I get an error message. Try it again later.

Sometimes instead of seeing the owner’s name you’ll see the phrase, “Current Owner”. In this case the owner petitioned HCAD to remove their name from the website. The Public Information Act does not require a governmental body to provide the owner’s name on the internet.  If you really want to know the owner’s name, contact HCAD at (713) 957-7800 for more information.

You can also search by address - useful for when you want to find out the current or past owners of a property, or if you want information about the property itself, such as its value, square footage, date built, or recent remodels.

Joy Oria

Staff Meeting Notes 12/11/18

In attendance: IBW, FS, JO, RG, SK, SB, MH
Absent: RS, MC

Notes:

5 Minute Resource (FS): Slave Narratives and No Land -- Only Slaves! - two book series in the USA section. Remember to suggest these series to researchers who have gotten back to 1870. In the Slave Narratives they can check the comprehensive name index for their ancestors and their ancestors' friends, acquaintances, and neighbors. There is also a location index. No Land is a great resource for those with ancestors in east Texas, west central Louisiana, or Arkansas along the Texas border. The author indexed deed books that mentioned slaves.

Shelving Statistics: SB and SK have been re-evaluating shelving statistics. Beginning in January we longer need to enter a book count; the same is true for volunteers' book counts as well. More info to come. RFID will be coming in 2019.

Shifting: We may be getting additional shelves up front. SK is trying to find out when they may come as that would affect shifting. Stay tuned. Wisconsin and Wyoming have moved to the new shelves by the fire exit. The Oversized books upstairs have been shelved upright.

Frustrating Reference Questions / Phone: If you find yourself in a frustrating customer interaction, it is okay to say, "Can I get your phone number and call you back?" Or, "Let me get somebody who can help you."

Finding Elusive Records on FamilySearch.org: Reminder to watch this video before the January staff meeting. SK emailed us the link, if you can't find that email, you can find it on YouTube by searching the title.

Conference Reminder: If you are interested in attending a conference, you must fill out the questionnaire SK emailed us. The due date for conferences occurring from now until June 30th is December 11, 2018. If you are interested in a conference occurring in the next fiscal year, fill out the questionnaire and give it to SK.

Programming: A Thursday evening orientation will be offered quarterly, with the first one occurring January 10, 2019. Thanks to SB for offering to give the January orientation.
Class sign-up sheets have a box on the bottom of the page to keep track of how many people we are "turning away" once registration is full. Please make one tic mark for each person.

Closing Procedure: If you'd like to help with closing, come out 10 minutes before and help with closing procedures. Otherwise remain in the workroom/lounge area until given the Clear announcement.

Notes by JO.

Staff Meeting Notes 11/20/2018

In attendance:  Susan Kaufman, Melissa Hayes, Irene Walters, Steven Bakowski, Franklin Smith,

                         Rodney Sam, Becky Grimes.

Absent:            Joy Oria, Mitch Clendening

 Notes

Fire Department Raises:  Sue informed that if we hear rumors about how the City is going to deal with the referendum they are just rumors, no decisions have been made.  City Council with look at all options at the 11/28/2018 City Council meeting.  Two possible options are to negotiate or legal action.
Programing for February:  Sue and Joy are working on Programs.  Sue is hoping to get together

with the Gregory School to see if possible to do something together.

Digital Programming:  Announced at ELT that HPL is  moving from issuing Neighborhood Libraries I-pads instead of laptops. Sue has requested 2 I-pads.  One for outreach and the other for customer sign-in.

Outreach:  Sue is hoping to schedule outreach at Neighborhood Libraries to get more customers through the doors.   We would set up a table at the Branches and have handouts and possibly demonstrations on genealogy research.  One of the I-Pads would be used at these outreaches.  Sue suggested 3 branches, Collier - Johnson - Jungman.  Everyone will have an opportunity to do programming.  As an example Sue stated we will start rotating staff into the monthly Clayton orientation.  Staff will sit in on an orientation before they are assigned.

New Employee Checklist:  Sue distributed a new employee organization checklist that was discussed at ELT meeting.  We are to look at the list and determine:

• What is absolutely necessary for new employee training.  
• At what stages should training occur, what should be 1st and what can be done later.
• What should be taught at new employee training at Collier.
• What training should be left to the Neighborhood Libraries.
• Mark off any items that you think does not require training.
• Cross off what is redundant or duplicate training.
• What do special collection new hires need be trained.

Jingle-Bells Video:   The meeting ended with the premier of the Clayton Jingle-Bells video.

The reviews were cat-tacular.  Those in attendance were purring and  meowing their approval and amazed at the cat-talent and cinematic interpretation was a work of cat-genius.  It was uploaded in the V-drive for limited release with an system wide release to be announced.


Notes taken by FS



720,000 Newly Digitized Historic Photos Show Where New Yorkers Lived In The 1940s

Three buildings in Manhattan, circa the 1940s. (via the Municipal Archives)

The Department of Records & Information Services is home to a lot of documents and photographs; from Lindsay administration memos to crime scene photos, the expansive collection draws from 50 NYC agencies. The archives are so vast that it's taking a while to digitize everything, but they did just release 720,000 images online.
The latest photo dump brings their 1940s tax photos online; tax photographs were taken by the City’s property tax office (or rather, by freelancers which they paid via funding from the Depression-era Works Progress Administration) as part of their assessment process. All in all, they show "every house and building in the five boroughs" from the decade, according to their press rep.

"This comprehensive collection shows where New Yorkers lived, worked, went to school, worshiped, shopped, dined, and socialized. They have unique value not only for the buildings they depict, but for what is incidental to the picture—the cars, trucks, taxis, buses, horse-drawn wagons, movie marquees, billboards, street lamps and signs—as well as the people—on stoops, on the sidewalks and looking out windows at the busy streetscape. In short, an extraordinary panorama of life in prewar New York City."

The search system is a little bit tricky, but you'll be able to find your building if it was standing in the 1940s. Head to nycma.lunaimaging.com/, and follow the instructions there (you'll need to click on which borough you're searching in on the menu on the left). Learn more about our city's expansive archives here. A few years ago, they released 30,000 photographs online, including some pretty disturbing images from the NYPD's "Alien Squad," car accidents, airplane crashes in Park Slope, the Hindenburg crashing, and Nazi summer camps on Long Island.

MPC

Staff Meeting Notes 10/02/18

In Attendance:  Steven Bychowski, Becky Grimes, Melissa Hayes, Sue Kaufman, Joy Oria, Rodney Sam, Frank Smith

Absent:  Mitch Clendening, Irene Walters

Topics Covered

5-Minute Resource (BD):

"My Genealogical Will For Preserving My Family History" - a genealogical codicil to an actual Will;

requests to keep photos and documents in the family for up to 2 years after death;
we can continue to encourage digitization of papers and photos using our photo scanner to make them easier to store and share within a family

 

Managers Meeting Update (SK):

COH hiring freeze in effect at least thru Nov. elections

HPL staff may be requested to fill in as needed at other locations

AP 3-11 sec. 6.19.4 -  COH employees should maintain political neutrality while on the job and when representing COH in an official capacity.  Don't discuss personal opinions about political matters with the public.  We will have printed voter information for patrons re: the upcoming elections.

 

Parking @ Central - meeting organizers should send you a code for parking if they are expecting you, but you may need to check in with them a few days before your event if you have not received one - be sure to plan ahead.

Health Assessment - due by Nov. 30 to maintain your discount

Digital Strategies - CLA has (1) mobile hotspot (internet access point) for outreach events - see SK; begin transition to Office365 / OneDrive / SharePoint

Patron Incident Tracking System (PITS) - the new way to log an incident report; works similarly to submitting a SPROCKET; utilize branch email account (clayton.library@houstontx.gov) when submitting incident reports (SK will receive any replies that are sent back to the branch email account).

Genealogy After Dark (Fri. Oct. 19) - staff might work regular hours or might work 12-9pm (event goes until 9pm) - stay tuned

Upcoming Events @ JIB: Scream-In (Oct) / Dino-vember (Nov)

CMC - going on Oct 1-31 - we are striving both for 100% staff participation and also to meet a certain fundraising goal for all of HPL

 

Staff Training (SK):

Staff are required to complete the following training by the following deadlines. 

• Cybersecurity Training - by Oct 31
• DFPS Abuse Reporting Training - by Oct 31
• Equity/Diversity/Inclusion Training - during Staff Development Week, Oct 15-21
• Food Service Training (8 hours SK/MH/IW, 2 hours everyone else) - SK will let us know when this training will be held
• Staff Teambuilding Event at Rice Univ. Woodson Center (planned for Mon. Oct. 22)

Sign the acknowledgement sheets in breakroom when training is completed.  Printed Certificates of Completion (if applicable) should be given to SK or MH (do not submit to HPL Training).



Section Reports

• BD - please make sure attendance numbers are recorded on blue forms (needed for monthly reports)
• FS - new "mender-in-chief" for books that require serious mending (do not give him light mending stuff); place on his desk for now, until a mending shelf can be created
• SK - recognized Frank for his upcoming award that he will receive at the AAHGS National Convention in Philadelphia (in acknowledgement of his efforts on behalf of the African-American community in genealogical research)
• SK - Please record any known VAC requests and Saturday switches for Oct-Dec (of which you are currently aware) on the G/P/O Time Off calendar.  SK has requested this info by COB on Wed. Oct. 3

Notes by Steven Bychowski

DPLA updates partner hub list

The Digital Public Library announces new member hubs.  Hubs operate at digital partners as  "spokes" of libraries and archives that feed into the hubs information about digital collections.  As an example, through the DPLA search engine using term "funeral records" there are 192 matches from different "spokes" of digital funeral records.  https://dp.la/search?q=funeral+records

For a list of new member hubs see https://pro.dp.la/hubs/dpla-member-hubs

In addition to the members list, DPLA has also created a page: The Family Research Guide to DPLA.  Included on this page are also collections links that are applicable to Family History Research.   https://dp.la/guides/the-family-research-guide-to-dpla 

The DPLA is a great resource to share with our customers who are looking for materials such as funeral records or other "name, date, place" sources.  It can also supplement that type of information with background images to help tell the full family story.

SK

Clayton Library Staff Meeting Notes 8/7/2018

Attending:   Sue Kaufman, Melissa Hayes, Irene Walters, Steven Bychowshi, Franklin Smith,

                    Joy Oria, Rebecca Grimes

Absent:  Rodney Sam, Mitch Clendening

Topics Covered

Ice Breaker:           

Sue Kaufman did - Life Experience Bingo

Steven was the big winner, the prize, a special donut and posted notes.

Resource Share: 

Irene talked about the new Clayton web page which should be up by the end of August.  The page looks like HPL's site, everything has been moved over waiting to be loaded by downtown.  The page layout has a card style topic interface.  Programs will be added later.     

Social Media Policy:

Melissa passed out the City's Social Media Policy for us to read and review.  It's the City's existing policy but the Mayor wants to insure we understand what's acceptable and not acceptable.  Sue added that we should be careful of what we post even if it is from our personal social media accounts that may reflect negatively about the City or our customers.    A signature was required to indicate we had been advised of and received a copy of the policy.

Shelving Procedures:

Sue created a handout of procedures for shelving the scanned materials.  We should make an effort to insure that scanned material is ready to be shelved on the days we have shelving volunteers.  Steven when he is available will take the lead in preparing a chart for the shelvers. If you are off the desk and a volunteer is here make sure that any books on carts are scanned and ready for the volunteers to shelve.  If a volunteer is coming the next day or on Saturday's if there aren't huge numbers of books stop shelving one and a half hours before closing.   See handout for details.

Sue created a handout of staff shelving stats over the past fiscal year to give us and idea of the volume of shelving. 


Continuing Education Grid FY 19:
Sue has created the FY/19 Grid.  Sue reminded us to not put the word minutes in the time section, just the time in number of minutes as we have been doing.  She is looking into developing training opportunity beyond just webinars.


Time and Attendance:
Sue advised that there is a new policy on tardy sign-ins.  New City policy states you should not sign earlier than 3 minutes before your start time and must be signed not later than 3 minutes after you scheduled start time.   You will now be considered tardy for signing in after the 3 minute window following your scheduled start time.   If you encounter special circumstances when signing in talk to your Kronos supervisor. Sue or Mel.   The policy was handed out with required signature.


Section Reports:
Melissa advised that the subscription to World Vital Records database has not been renewed.  HPL has picked up My Heritage which owns World Vital Records.
Sue stated there is an going discussion between the Friends and Spaces about purchasing additional book carts. 
Steven stated the volunteer training for the microprint desk was done 8/6/18.  With the reduced hours for the house some of the volunteers will move to microprint.  Microprint is now fully staffed on Saturdays.  It was noted we should only send customers to the second floor with a citation for what they are looking for and if time permits go with them is the matter is complex also we will be needed to assist the customers with the microprint machines.
Frank advised the bees are gone and as of 8/6/18 no live bees have be sited in or around the guest house.  Sue stated there should no booking of the Guest House or House through October, do not resume scheduling for the 3 groups, African-American, Hispanic and Regina's groups before then.  The groups have been notified of this through September.  


Notes by Franklin Smith



Clayton Library Meeting Notes

July 17, 2018

Meeting Attendees:  Sue Kaufman, Melissa Hayes, Irene Walters, Steven Bychowski, Frank Smith,

Rodney Sam, Joy Oria, and Rebecca Grimes.

Ice Breaker:  Rodney Sam, Played a guess who game.

Five Minute resource:  Steven Bychowski, Steven talked about a book called: 

A Handbook of Scandinavian Names by Nancy L. Coleman  C692 SCAND

Sue Kaufman went over the Alcohol/Drug Policy for City of Houston (this is located in the intrenet under Amended controlled substance & alcohol abuse:  EO No. 1-12)  Please make sure to sign the sheet that states that you have viewed the policy.

Meeting room bookings:  If some groups don't except our explanations of why they can't use the meeting rooms please direct them to Melissa, Irene or Sue.

Class Registrations:  We have limits for classes because they are usually held on a Saturday and if the classes are to big it is hard for the staff to give good customer service.

We have a new statistics sheet at the public desk.  Not only does it show reference and directional questions, it now has a column for Computer help.  This is for if you have to show a patron how to operate the computer.  Please don't forget to leave your ticky marks when you are assigned to a desk and mark a zero if you didn't answer any questions in the appropriate column.

We are beginning a new way of shelving.  Before we can shelve a book we have to take cart to workroom and scan all books on SIRSI.  The computer next to typewriter in workroom is set up for this.  It may also be done at any staff desk.  Open the circulation wizard, the Special, then MARK ITEM USED.. Scan with scanner or type in R0 # if they doesn't have a barcode that can be scanned.  We will keep counting our books on the blog site like we usually do.  We will also have to scan the books for our volunteer shelvers.

We will be having quarterly meetings on Mondays starting on July 23.  Steven Chamberlain will be at this meeting.

Please view the video by Curt B. Witcher of Allen County Library.  The name of the video is:

Tools & Trends in genealogy:  Something for everyone-- Genealogical reference service in the 21st Century.  https://www.slideshare.net/ancestry/global-family-history-report

Please have this done before Monday July 23.  We will be discussing this at the meeting.

Meeting notes taken by Rebecca Grimes





University of Texas Arlington Special Collections

While assisting a customer looking for longshoremen records for Texas, I used Google to see what I could find. The University of Texas Arlington Special Collections website provided the answer.
The International Longshoremen's Association records for Texas are found in the Texas Labor Archives at UTA Library Special Collections.  Contact information is provided under the collections description.

So visit the UTA Library Special Collections website for more interesting collections!

https://Library.uta.edu/Special-Collections



MH

Find-A-Grave leads to super webpage

While looking at a Find-A-Grave record I found a newspaper clipping about my McGohon ancestor who was removed to another cemetery. Finding the poster, I followed the link uncovering a great source for Kentucky information.

https://KentuckyKinderedGenealogy.com

Ms.. Phyllis Brown has a super site about Kentucky historical events and books published for Kindle users to purchase.

MH

Interviews from the early days of sound

Sources of genealogy value often lurk in unsuspected places. As researchers,  you have to be open to every resource available beyond the traditional. Sometimes, you don't know what you don't know.

One unusual source of genealogical information comes from the early days of sound cameras when interviewers searched the U.S. for the oldest living Americans at the time during the late 1920s and 1930s. Many of the people interviewed were born in the 1820s and 1830s. Hearing the voices, words and stories told by octogenarians about the long-gone world of the 19th century is like stepping into a time machine. But, as genealogists, it is possible that many of the elderly people interviewed in these films were your ancestors. You can view the interviews via youtube. The original source material is part of the "Fox Movietone News Collection"  in the University of South Carolina Digital Collections Archives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FE30a4J38Q


RS

Kentucky Historic Institutions

Searching for information for my asylum talk I found this website.

https://Kentuckyhistoricinstitutions.com

Preserving the Memories of Kentucky's Historic Asylums, Hospitals and Institutions.




MH

Reclaim The Records Fights for Access to Pubic Records

Reclaim The Records is a not-for-profit organization formed to break down barriers to public access of public records. The work is driven by genealogists, historians, open government advocates and other researchers.
Once the group has located public record sets with value to researchers, they file Freedom of Information or Open Data requests in compliance with local or state laws. If the government doesn't comply, then Reclaim The Records takes them to court.
The ultimate goal is to digitize these public records and put them online for free, without logins, paywalls or usage restrictions. Data sets are maintained by Reclaim The Records.org, and provided to Family Search and The Internet Archive.
The first records reclaimed are primarily from New York and New Jersey, but they represent the first easily available indexes to birth, death and marriage records in these states.
The website maintains a "To-Do" list of records they are attempting to reclaim. It also provides a way for readers to suggest record sets that are currently restricted.


mc

Chicago Defender newspaper database

The Chicago Defender is an African-American newspaper established in 1905 at Chicago. The defender covered events, subjects and stories relevant to the lives of African-Americans. Not only is the Chicago Defender a valuable source for anyone curious about the history of African-Americans in the 20th century, there are also tidbits of genealogical value for African-Americans looking to find clues about their family. There are obituaries, marriage announcements and accounts about the social life of your ancestors scattered across nearly a century. The Chicago Defender reported stories from all across the country relevant to African-Americans. The Chicago Defender has a searchable digital database on the Houston Public Library website. I searched by surnames and places where my ancestors lived and found articles referencing people and events I was familiar with from my research. I found one of several obituaries noting the death of former slaves from 1916.

Happy hunting!

RS

Texas Vital Record Keeping Begins

From the October 2, 1903 issue of the Houston Post:

JO

Missouri Birth Certificates of adoptees

According to the Spring issue of the  Missouri State Genealogical Society newsletter ( pg.5), adoptees born before 1941 now have legal access to a non-certified copy of original birth certificates.  Requests will be answered with a copy of the unredacted birth record stamped with "For Genealogical purposes not to be used for establishing identity".    For more information direct queries to the "Missouri Adoptee Rights Act" Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

Website: http://health.mo.gov/data/vitalrecords/adopteerightsact.phb



MH

Cremation: History and How it's Done

Many of you know that I have a talk on Funeral Records.  Here is an article that discussed the history of, the increase in, and the process of cremation.

Click here  to read the article.

SK

Clayton Staff meeting minutes 6 February 18

Meeting lead: Sue Kaufman

Attendance: Becky, Irene, Frank, Joy, Steven, Rodney, Melissa, Sue,

Ice Breaker: Steven introduced us to the game Cranium. Players use nonverbal communication skills to answer questions. Players can choose drawing, clay or pantomime to answer the short questions on players card.  Rodney, Sue and Irene took the stage to play the game. We learned to observe the payer, perceived what they player was trying to convey and became aware of our interaction with the player through body language.  

5-minute resource share: Becky Shared the book; Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Lafayette, Louisiana: Cemetery and burial records by Shelby and Betty Mier.  CLA M632 La Fay LA with supplement volume.  The book has funeral records for interment in the cemetery and funeral’s using the church.  Notes Slave burials with owner’s name as well as slave’s name, age, family and date.

Managers meeting report:  Melissa reported on the highlights of the Manager’s meeting January 26^th at Central.  Robinson-Westchase is scheduled to sometime in April.  Reminder to nominate Harvey’s Hero’s by February 29^th.  Please fill out outside employment form if you have a second job. Review the policy for clarification.   Read the emailed Minutes when they are sent out.

Meeting rooms forms: Reminder to sign the forms when handed to you and note event in the calendar. If the form is not signed but in the calendar issues can arise.  Remember to add time, location event and contact info in the calendar.  Write room on top of form. 

Shifting update: Sue reported that we will be getting shelving where the 1^st floor filing cabinets are.  Large print materials will be moved up stairs after the Heritage books temporally. Shifting USA section on Monday’s, Irene is the supervisor of the shifting project.  Phillips will be volunteering to assisting in the shifting project on Tuesday Feb 13^th. 

Researchers List:  Steven is updating the researchers list and adding more content to the list and form to be added to the list. He will contact the current list researchers for more updated information.

FY Discussion and Team Reports not addressed due to lack of time.

Sue mentioned Training to help the branches in the future for all staff members. We will/might be needed to cover staffing issues at other branches due to budget issues depending on the FY19 budget. Hours of operations might be impacted due to budget.  Our open part-time position will not be filled at this time. If you want a Saturday off you must replace yourself.

 

MH2/8/18

New York Slavery Records Index Records of Enslaved Persons and Slave Holders in New York from 1525 though the Civil War

The John Jay College for Criminal Justice in New York has created a database relating to the history of slavery in the state of New York from the Dutch colonial era to the years before the Civil War. The database was abstracted from over 35,000 records collected in New York relating to slavery. The abstracts contain names, places and dates valuable to anyone with ancestral ties to New York.

https://nyslavery.commons.gc.cuny.edu/search/




RS

Sign up for Family Search News.  To get the latest information sent to your inbox!  Get the month's new webinars and information.   For example:

Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for February 2018

Sign up today and get the list!

MH

To sign up for the newsletter sign in to your FamilySearch.org account. Click on your username in the upper left corner then

1. Click Settings.
2. Click Noticifations.
3. Check whichever newsletters you would like to receive.
4. Save changes.

IBW

Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project

 The colonial records of the French Superior Council (1714–1769) and the Spanish Judiciary(1769–1803) have been digitized as part of the Louisiana colonial documents digitization project. There is also a searchable database where historians and genealogists can search records my surname and geographic location. There is also a category where the names of slaves and free persons of color were abstracted. This resource should benefit historians of Louisiana and curious genealogists alike. 

http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/post/1/overview



RS

Journal of Genealogy and Family History

The Journal of Genealogy and Family History is a one-year-old peer-reviewed journal began by an organization of  professional journalists. Anyone is free to publish articles to the journal where the reviewers will apply research standards like the GPS[Genealogical Proof Standard] to ensure high quality material.  Issues are free to view and download. http://www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/ojs/index.php/JGFH


RS

Reconstructing the Genome of an 18th century immigrant to Iceland of African ancestry.

Ever since the Human genome was sequenced in 2003, genetic sequencing technology has advanced at a remarkable rate. The evolution of DNA technology has made it possible for genealogists, archaeologists and historians to look at the past in a way deemed impossible prior to the discovery of the DNA molecule. Now, we can read  genes inherited from our ancestors and find unknown cousins by spitting in test tubes and submitting DNA samples to commercial DNA company giants like AncestryDNA, 23andme and FamilyTreeDNA.

The field of ancient DNA makes it possible to partially reconstruct the genomes of ancient humans and see how similar they are genetically to living people. The falling prices of full genomic sequencing enables genealogists, scientists and anthropologists to find answers to questions that would have never been answered 30 years ago.
It is now possible to reconstruct the genomes of ancestors who died over 200 years without analyzing human remains by looking at the genes of living descendants.  The unique story of Hans Jonathan is a remarkable example of how using the tools of science can rewrite and recover lost histories.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/hans-jonatan-iceland-genome-reconstructed/550667/

Grandson of Hans Jonathan with his family in Iceland

Happy hunting!


RS

FREE AFRICAN AMERICANS OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, MARYLAND AND DELAWARE

Paul Heinegg's classic study "Free African-Americans of Virginia, North Carolina , South Carolina, Maryland  and Delaware "illuminates  the shadowy origins of colonial free persons of color in British America featuring over 2500 pages worth of family histories.  For years, I've been fascinated by the social world and historical processes that created this unique population of Americans. Little did I know, some of my ancestors were part of this group. My GIBSON ancestors originated in 17th century Jamestown and I get occassional DNA matches from people with surnames such as LOCKLEAR and CHAVIS covered in Heinegg's volumes. If you have deep colonial roots in America, you may discover a few ancestors in Heinegg's list. His companion website, http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/ is a companion website to his volumes occasionally updated with new research findings valuable to historians and genealogists alike.

Best of luck!

RS

Missouri releases original birth certificates to adoptees

If an individual was born during or after 1941 in Missouri and adopted, and are at least 18 years old,  those individuals now have access to their original birth certificates.

The Missouri Adoptee Rights act from 2016 opened adoption records in two stages.  In 2016 those born prior to 1941 could obtain original birth certificates.  As of 1 JAN 2018, those born after 1941 are now able to receive the same document.

There are some stipulations still attached to the law:

First: the adoptee must be at least 18 years old.

Second: the birth parents had the right under the statue to register their objections ewith the state.  Where one parent objects, the other parent's name will be disclosed but the name of the objector redacted.  Where both parents object, the original birth certificate won't be provided.  

Third, access to the certificates is limited to the adoptee: if you’re the child of a deceased adoptee, the access doesn’t pass to you.

Original post: The Legal Genealogist -  http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2018/01/03/new-light-show-state/
More information: Missouri adoptee rights act:      http://health.mo.gov/data/vitalrecords/adopteerightsact.php

SK