Sunday, May 10, 2009

Best of the Genea-Blogs - May 3-9, 2009

Several hundred genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

* What Attracted Our Ancestors to the New World by Dick Eastman on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter blog. Dick has a wealth of experience and knowledge and I appreciate it when he writes original work like this for his readers.

* Browning v. Beck, Pt. 2 - Another Charge Is Added by Patti Browning on the Consanguinity blog. What an interesting case! Patti takes us through some court records that talk about Trespass on the Case. Good sleuthing here!

* More Genealogy Research Aids by Lee Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee has some useful technology tips about Google News Timeline and using Google Earth to create fly-throughs of historical sites.

* Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - May 2009 by Julie Cahill Tarr on The Graveyard Rabbit blog. There are five entries in this monthly carnival with the theme of cemetery preservation.

* Scanning My Women Wearing Glasses And What I've Learned by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. fM has excellent advice for scanners of photographs - read the list and follow it!

* Ancestry.com (TGN) Town Hall Webinar - From My Viewpoint - May 2009 by M. Diane Rogers on the CanadaGenealogy, or "Jane's Your Aunt" blog. Diane sat in on the Ancestry.com webinar this past week and comments on it. Perceptive, they seem spot on. Good job!

* New site features coming to Ancestry.com by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI also attended the Ancestry.com webinar and snagged some screen shots of several of the new features, including the new People Pages.

* Family Reaction to Genealogy by Tina Sansone on the Gtownma Genealogy blog. Tina has an interesting take on the subject - good discussion and photos too.

* Family Curator Visits NEHGS Spring Research Getaway 2009, Part 2: Consulting with the Experts by Denise on The Family Curator blog. Denise's second report about her NEHGS visit describes her consultations with resident experts at NEHGS. This event is on my genealogy "bucket" list!

* I'm baking for the Sale at Itawamba Historical Society by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry shares his bread baking secrets with the rest of the drooling world in a series of posts complete with pictures of each stage of the process. I wish I could smell and taste the results!

* United States Veteran Burial Places by Gena Philibert Ortega on the Gena's Genealogy blog. Gena provides descriptions and links to military veteran burial places.

* The Census Explained by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig posts a newspaper article about census taking for the 1890 census. Good catch! Fascinating!

* What Family History Terms Are People Searching For? by Sean Sexton on the Sean on Family History blog. Sean has a bit of fun with the "type ahead" feature on Google. Try it - interesting.

* Genealogy Questions Answered in 6 Minutes by Dan Lawyer on the Taking Genealogy to the Common Person blog. Dan uses Twitter and Facebook to get a genealogy question answered quickly. This demonstrates the power of online social networking.

* World's Oldest Mom, age 110 - over 1,000 descendants by Tom Kemp on the GenealogyBank - The Official Blog. Tom finds a newspaper article from 1915 that tells of this Louisiana woman married at age 13 with over 1,000 descendants. Amazing story. I'll bet she couldn't remember the names of all those descendants. Can you imagine how many cards she would have to send out every week?

* Happy Mother's Day! ~ Before I was a Mom by Cheryl Fleming Palmer on the Heritage Happens blog. Cheryl's post is the best Mother's Day ode to motherhood I've read this week. Thanks for sharing, Cheryl!

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
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4 comments:

Terry Thornton said...

Thanks, Randy, for including one of my "I'm cooking with a camera in my hand" attempts. The Itawamba Historical Society had a successful sale in spite of major rain. I baked the bread for Friday's bake sale and then I baked cinnamon rolls for Saturday's sale.

Next time I'll put a "scratch and sniff" square on the article just for you! LOL!

My regards to your Angel on this Mother's Day.

Terry Thornton
HILL COUNTRY OF MONROE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI

M. Diane Rogers said...

Each week your 'Best of the Genea-Blogs' article shows just how many different things are going on in genealogy and family history these days. Never a dull moment, that's for sure.
Thanks for including me. I sure would like some of Terry's bread too, and now he's baked cinnamon rolls!

my Heritage Happens said...

The Blog Posts that you choose each week are so fantastic! Again this week I have enjoyed all of these posts that you chose. I am flattered that you have included my Mother's Day Post! I thank you so much. Great job Randy, thanks for sharing these with us every week! (I am with M. Diane Rogers,I would love to taste everything Terry is baking, and waiting for the "scratch and sniff" square too!)

Patti Browning said...

Randy....

Thank you for your words about my Browning v. Beck case. I'm glad others find it as interesting as I do.

Too bad I can't eat wheat or I'd have some of the rolls. *sigh* Ah well. I'll take a virtual bite....