History Channel and A&E channel Air its Four Part Event Series ... ROOTS

It starts tonight at 9 p.m. E.T.

The year 1976 can be remembered for many things by those of us old enough to remember. Two things likely near the top of any list are the United States Bicentennial and a book titled Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Both inspired people to dig into their genealogy.

And in 1977 the book was made into an eight episode television miniseries (remember those) called Roots which further inspired people to research their family history.

What does this have to do with tonight?

The History Channel (and A&E channel) premieres its 2016 "re-imagined" remake of the 1977 ROOTS miniseries. This four-part, eight hour, event series begins tonight, May 30, and runs through Thursday, June 3. Each night's broadcast runs from 9 p.m to about 11:13 pm E.T. 

See the show's website pages to learn more and to see an interesting animated presentation of the Roots Family Tree. Each preceding night's episode will also air prior to the night's new episode on Tuesday through Thursday. So by Thursday you could watch the whole eight hours in one sitting à la today's binge viewing habits.

So get your popcorn ready and gather your "present-day" family to revisit "an event from the past." We have the Beginner's Kit and genealogy forms ready just in case.

We hope everyone has had a safe Memorial Day weekend.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Registration for Live Streaming of SCGS's 2016 Genealogy Jamboree is Now Open

On Monday, May 23th, the Southern California Genealogy Society (SCGS) opened up registration for the FREE live streamed sessions of the 47th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree.

Genealogy Jamboree begins Thursday, June 2, with DNA Day and continues Friday, June 3 through Sunday, June 5. There will be hours of free genealogy education Friday through Sunday with handouts available. Ancestry.com's sponsorship is making this possible.

The live streamed DNA sessions on Thursday are pay-to-view and must be registered for separately. If you have already payed/registered for the Thursday DNA sessions just log into your account and check the box at the bottom to add access to the free sessions. You will be sent a separate login for the Friday to Sunday free sessions.

Visit the SCGS blog site or the Jamboree website to see the schedule of live streamed sessions for each day. Registration gets you a user login and password to join the live stream event.

If you can't watch the sessions live, you will be able to watch at your convenience before July 5, 2016, from the special Jamboree Archive. You will still need to register to view the special archive. Live stream registration will remain available until July 5. (These sessions from Jamboree will not be added to the regular webinar archive for SCGS members only.)

You will need the SCGS Jamboree 2016 App to access the session handouts. As of today, the handouts are not yet posted.

The SCGS Jamboree 2016 app is available for smart phones, tablets, iPhones and iPads just go to Google Play or the Apple Store (iOS) to download the app. Look for SCGS Jamboree 2016. There is a browser version (found here) accessible via browser on any computer for those without smart phones and tablets. To access a session's handout you must "browse" to that session's information page. Look for the PDF icon. There is no option to download all handouts for your sessions at one time. If a session handout is not there, check back at a later date to see if it has been added.

The sessions picked for live streaming are varied and look interesting so if you want to watch it all live plan your days accordingly and enjoy some genealogy education.

The 2016 Genealogy Jamboree free live stream sessions. 
Please note that for the convenience of our MCGG members, we have listed the session start times in Eastern Time rather than Pacific Time.

Friday, June 3
4:00 pm EDT
FR008: German Immigrant Waves: Contrasts and Sources - James M. Beidler.

5:30 pm EDT
FR018: Problems and Pitfalls of a "Reasonably Shallow" Search - Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL.

7:00 pm EDT
FR027: Tracking Migrations and More: The Records of Old Settlers Organizations - Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA.

8:30 pm EDT
FR035: Principles of Effective Evidence Analysis - George Goodloe Morgan.

Saturday, June 4
11:30 am EDT
SA009: Getting Started with Eastern European Research - Lisa A. Alzo, MFA.

1:00 pm EDT
SA018: Be Your Own Digital Archivist: Preserve Your Research - Cyndi Ingle.

2:30 pm EDT
SA022: German Names: Their Origins, Meanings, and Distribution - C. Fritz Juengling, PhD, AG.

5:00 pm EDT
SA032: Using Military Pension Files to Fill Gaps in Family History - J. H. Fonkert, CG.

6:30 pm EDT
SA037: Maximizing Your Use of Evidence - Thomas Wright Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS.

8:00 pm EDT
SA052: German Genealogy on the Internet - Michael D. Lacopo, DVM.

Sunday, June 7
11:30 am EDT
SU009: The Firelands, the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Ohio Territory - Peggy Clements Lauritzen, AG.

1:00 pm EDT
SU010: Avoiding Shiny Penny Syndrome with Your Genealogy - Tessa Ann Keough.

3:30 pm EDT
SU027: All Aboard: Staying on Track with Your Research - Barbara M. Randall.

5:00 pm EDT
SU031: U.S. Passport Applications - Debbie Mieszala, CG.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Season Three of Genealogy Roadshow Began Last Night; Will Run Thru June 28

This one slipped by me.

Season Three of the Genealogy Roadshow began airing last night, Tuesday, May 17 at 8 p.m. E.T. Episodes will air through June 28. The cities featured this season are: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; and Los Angeles, California. Albuquerque was the feature of the first episode. 

You can find out more about the show at the show's page on the PBS website, or the website ran by the production company. 

Everyone has different television delivery/provider systems. Use your television provider's schedule system or PBS Detroit's schedule system to find the PBS channel number on your provider system and to learn when the show will be re-aired again. (On PBS Detroit's schedule system you can customize the listing to your service provider by edit or change provider so the schedule generated reflects your television provider's channels and schedule.)

If you can not watch the first airing on Tuesdays, remember PBS often re-airs most shows again later in the week so check your PBS schedule for additional air times. If you have cable or satellite, your provider may have a view-on-demand system offering the show. Or set your DVR ... or VCR?

See you soon at the Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

May 16, 2016, until 11:59 p.m. ET: Get Free Shipping for AncestryDNA Tests

Out of the blue, Ancestry.com announced that for Today Only (May 16, 2016) until 11:59 p.m. ET there will be free shipping for AncestryDNA tests. Shipping is valued at around/just under $10.

Unfortunately, the AncestryDNA test is still $99, its regular price.

But did you know there is also another regular ongoing offer on AncestryDNA? If you know someone who already has an AncestryDNA test, you can get a referral link from them which will save you 10 percent off the regular price. What we don't know is if you can combine these two offers today -- save 10 percent and get free shipping. Might be worth a try.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Thank You One and All

Thank you to the volunteers and Macomb County Genealogy Group members who helped our new attendees and fellow MCGG members with their genealogical and sometimes technical questions at our Research Help and Open House last Wednesday.

Thank you to MCGG members who attended for an opportunity to get some research help, do some research, and socialize with your fellow members and attendees.

2016 Open House

Thank You to the new attendees for attending our Open House. We hope you will return to continue your research, talk to our volunteers for help/advice, and perhaps attend one of our Friday or Wednesday meetings.

And, Thank You to the Mount Clemens Public Library for your hospitality and being one of the best libraries.

2016 Open House

We were so busy helping and talking we ended up with just two photos from the evening towards the end of the night. These photos are of the Genealogy & Local History Room's main room. Besides the genealogy room, the tables in the Auditorium and the Special Collections area were full with people too.

We hope everyone enjoyed themeselves.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Join Us Wednesday, May 11, 6:30-8:30 pm for a Genealogy Help & Open House

This Wednesday, May 11, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. the Macomb County Genealogy Group (MCGG) will hold a Genealogy Help & Open House in the Genealogy & Local History Room of the Mount Clemens Public Library. 

Come for a few hours of socializing and helping each other. If you have a laptop feel free to bring it to use the library's in-house resources and pick up some tips and tricks. For those attendees able to walk up and down the stairs, we will also have the MCGG Special Collection area open for use and have additional help along with Cookies and Refreshments in the Auditorium downstairs. (The elevator is out of service.)

MCGG members and anyone who is curious about researching their family tree are welcome to attend. 

This is a joint meeting of the MCGG Friday and Wednesday Let's Talk...Genealogy groups. Please note: that we cancelled the annual Pot-Luck and Silent Auction previously announced due to the library elevator problem.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library! 
LE

Family Tree DNA Mother's Day Sale on FamilyFinder + mtDNAfull Bundle

In honor of Mother's Day Family Tree DNA is having a sale on its FamilyFinder + mtDNA Full Sequence bundle. Regularly $298, the bundle is on sale for $228 from May 6 until May 8 at 11:59 p.m Central Time. Pricing does not include taxes and shipping which may vary by shipping distance.

This is a bundled test kit (two tests in one) that will allow you to test one person's autosomal DNA (FamilyFinder) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA Full Sequence). That person can be male or female because both tests types can be taken by males or females.

(If you only want to test someone's autosomal DNA, you'll need to wait for another sale or buy the autosomal DNA test at full price.)

Here is some additional information for you.

Family Tree DNA tests are done with spit swabs not a spit tube.

Autosomal DNA tests (males or females)
Autosomal DNA is inherited from both parents about equally but randomly. Due to the random nature, siblings my inherit different "pieces." That randomness means you may not get a "piece" of some ancestors. And because of that randomness, it means it is best to test as many family members as possible because you all inherited a different "mix" of autosomal DNA from your ancestors.

An autosomal DNA test will also give you show you the ethnic mixture of what you inherited. Your test matches may match you because you share a common ancestor (Identical By Descent or IBD) or because of coincidence (Identical By State or IBS.)

At Family Tree DNA an autosomal test is called FamilyFinder. (At Ancestry.com an autosomal test is called AncestryDNA.)

mtDNA tests (males or females, mother's line)
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is inherited from mother to child but only female children pass that same mtDNA on to their children. This test is often described as being used for maternal ancestry testing. 

Generally, you only need to test one person for each maternal line. (If you test your Mom you don't need to test the mtDNA of you or your siblings because you inherited the exact same mtDNA from her that she inherited from her mother and she from hers etc. (Unless there is question about maternity.) Males can take an mtDNA also because they inherited the mtDNA of their mother who inherited her mother's mtDNA, and she inherited her mother's mtDNA, etc. Males just don't pass on that mtDNA to their children because their children will get their mother's mtDNA.

The only testing company doing mtDNA testing for genealogy is Family Tree DNA.

Remember, DNA testing is a tool to help you with your genealogical research it does not replace your research in records.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

AncestryDNA Changes Algorithm Today

Ancestry.com's AncestryDNA

In case you had not heard, around about April 19 Ancestry.com and various genealogy/DNA bloggers began talking about an impending change to Ancestry's algorithm used to filter AncestryDNA test matches. The talk was that the change would happen in "one to two weeks."

That changed appears to have occurred today, May 3.

So if you have any AncestryDNA tests expect to see some changes in your matches the next time you sign-in. Hopefully the change is for the better.

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library!
LE

Free Access to Fold3 World War II Collection from May 1 - 15, 2016

Fold3 website is offering free access to its World War II Collection from May 1 - 15, 2016.
All World War II content is included. So take some time to investigate those ancestors and relatives who are closer to you on your family tree. Free Access is being made in honor of the anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day which was May 8, 1945.
 
Just register for the basic Fold3 membership which is free with no credit card required. If you already have a free Fold3 basic membership, just sign into the website. (You do not need to sign up for a 7-day free trial which requires a credit card.) The easiest way to do this is to just start a search from the World War II Collection page and then click to view an image (marked free) and then the correct registration link to a free basic membership option will come up. 

See you soon at Mt. Clemens Public Library! 
LE