Greetings Fellow Family History Sleuths,

As always, this month's issue has a wild hodge-podge of genealogical tidbits ranging from handwriting to artificial intelligence, but I hope you'll indulge me as I emphasize two topics. The first is my grants program. You'll find the latest one summarized below, but I want to remind you that I'm wrapping up the Seton Shields Genealogy Grant program on its 20th anniversary in the middle of this year. So please, if you've even thought you might like to apply, now is the time!

I'd also like to invite you to subscribe to my long-standing YouTube channel. It's been around for 7 years, but recent events made me realize that I've done a poor job of letting folks know about it, so I'm trying to do something about that! You can learn more below. Thanks so much for reading – and maybe now, viewing!

Until next time, keep on sleuthing!

Genealogical Tidbits on YouTube

Not long ago, I noticed that my YouTube channel hit 900 subscribers. This inspired me to post on Facebook and Twitter asking folks to help nudge me to 1,000. Genies are kind people, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that within 3 days, that figure had jumped to 1,228 subscribers!

Now I'm turning to you, the readers of my newsletter. Some of you probably already know about my YouTube channel, but many who subscribed over the last few days mentioned that this was the first they were hearing of it. That's entirely my doing because I'm not very good about mentioning it. For the most part, I just share a link when I post a new video and move on.

So in case you're one of the many who haven't heard of it before, I invite you to take a browse. Though the videos vary widely, I'd like to suggest this one of the memorial service for Captain Lawrence E.Dickson as a good starting point. I had the honor of researching this Tuskegee airman for the Army. His remains were recovered and his daughter chose to have him buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Those who have never attended a military funeral will probably find it especially interesting, but I hope all will find it moving.

If you like what you see after you poke around a bit, please consider subscribing, and if you already do so, perhaps you could share with a few of your genealogical friends.

Thanks a million!

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Seton Shields Genealogy Grant #215: ConferenceKeeper.org

I’m happy to announce that the first of two grant recipients in the fourth quarter of 2019 was Tami Mize of ConferenceKeeper.org.

ConferenceKeeper is a free online calendar of genealogy events. Events of all kinds – from conferences, seminars, and institutes, to local fairs, family history days and library lock-ins – are submitted by both societies and individuals. In addition, Tami spends time each week searching for and adding interesting genealogy events. Events are listed on the website on a main calendar and on individual pages by specific location (US State, Canadian Territory, etc.). Additionally, there are specific pages for Contests, Calls for Papers, Grants & Scholarships, Volunteer Opportunities and more.

Grant funds will be used to help cover the costs of running the ConferenceKeeper website. These include upkeep, web hosting, and automation software fees. If you'd like to join me in supporting ConferenceKeeper, you can donate an amount of your choice using the donate button on the website's home page (you'll find it in the left-hand sidebar).

Watch for an announcement about the second grant recipient shortly. Meanwhile, though, you can apply for a Seton Shields grant here. Don’t miss checking out the cool projects I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to over the years, plus an article that will give you a behind-the-scenes peek into my grants program (and might help you increase your odds of being selected when you apply). The clock is ticking, so don't delay!

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Genealogy Round Up, January 15

How a daughter's fight won full-honor burials for POWs, Medal of Honor recipients – Applauding!

DNA Ethnicity for Identical Twins: Is it the same? – Interesting outcomes!

How Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Identify Thousands of Unknown Civil War Soldiers – Impressed with their success rate.

View Ken Fuson's Obituary on DesMoinesRegister.com and share memories – This fellow wrote his own obit and made it memorable:

“In lieu of flowers, Ken asked that everyone wear black armbands and wail in public during a one-year grieving period. If that doesn't work, how about donating a book to the public libraries”

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Genealogy Round Up, January 8

My Relentless Search to Find My Family’s African American ‘Eve’ – This is how you do it.

How to Scavenge for Bits of History Like London’s Mudlarks – always found mudlarking captivating

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Winchester, W.) – Welcome home, PFC William Junior Winchester. Honored to have researched your family.

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Genealogy Round Up, January 2

Photo Credit: Artful Ashes

This company transforms the ashes of your loved ones into colorful works of art

Bring Back Handwriting: It’s Good for Your Brain – Guessing many of my fellow genealogists would agree with this

After nearly 70 years, a Pennsylvania farm boy killed in Korea will be coming home – Welcome home, Cpl. Earl Henry Markle. Honored to have researched your family. (2004)

Tribal Elder Hears Grandfather’s Voice in Archived Songs

The Nebraska Death Index: Free, searchable database, presented by Reclaim The Records – !!!

A Massive New Database Will Connect Billions of Historic Records to Tell the Full Story of American Slavery – Not quite sure about “billions,” but this sounds like a promising resource.

Annie Moore of Ellis Island Memorial – Annie Moore of Ireland was the first to arrive at Ellis Island on Jan 1, 1892. In 1924, she was buried at Calvary Cemetery in a plot that holds 11 people (including several of her children), but had no tombstone. This is video of the 2008 memorial dedication for her.

FYI - I neglect to mention my YouTube channel, but you’ll find plenty of other genealogy-themed videos here as well!

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Genealogy Round Up, December 18

Photo Credit: Mike Steele under Creative Commons license

The Perfect Gift: Your Loved One's Name in an NYPL Book – Gift idea for the book worm in your life

10 Years Ago, DNA Tests Were The Future Of Medicine. Now They’re A Social Network — And A Data Privacy Mess. – “You might be comfortable with all of this. You might not. You should definitely think about it because when the information is your own DNA, there really is no such thing as “de-identified” data.”

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Upcoming Events

After traveling around and speaking in 40 states and half a dozen countries, I decided to take a breather from the road to tend to some projects. That said, I'm sharing exceptions here. And by the way, you can see if I’ll be in your area any time by checking my Events Calendar.

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