Chula Vista Genealogical Society In the Local Newspaper

My local Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS), made the local newspaper, the weekly Chula Vista Star-News, this week.  The article is titled "Retirees Help Researchers Go Back In Time" by Robert Moreno.

Here are screen shots of the article:

CVGS Treasurer Gary Brock was interviewed for the article.

Perhaps the article will bring some inquirers to the next CVGS meeting on Wednesday, 30 March 2016 at 12 noon at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in downtown Chula Vista) Auditorium.  All persons are welcome and the programs are free to attend.

NOTE:  Another Star-News article about CVGS was published in October 2006 - see the transcription at Genealogy Article in Chula Vista Star-News (posted 24 October 2006).  It looks like every ten years we get some Star-News newspaper publicity!

The San Diego Union-Tribune published an article titled "Genealogical sleuths search for the facts of individual lives" by Michelle Ganon on 7 June 2008.  

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/03/chula-vista-genealogical-society-in.html

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

San Diego Colony of Society of Mayflower Descendants on the Front Page

I was pleased and surprised on Thanksgiving morning when I read the front page of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper - an article about the San Diego Colony of the Society of Mayflower Descendants was the dominant article at the top of the page (see http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/25/mayflower-descendants-thanksgiving/):

My friends, Gail and Ray Raser, were in Pilgrim costume in the photograph.  Ray is holding his replica model of the Mayflower.

The article says that "Hundreds of county resident claim to be descendants of Mayflower's passengers," and notes that while there are 30 million Americans who are descended, only 29,000 are members of the Society, including about 300 in San Diego.

Gail Raser is the current Governor, and Ray is a past Governor, of the San Diego Colony.  Ray's comment also made the front page, saying "It makes Thanksgiving more than just a fancy turkey dinner.  It becomes a history you can be part of."

The articles relates the history of the Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and describes the process required to join the Society by proving relationships for every generation with documents.

I'm sure that Gail and Ray will receive many copies of the newspaper this weekend.

While I have at least seven surname lines from the Mayflower, I don't have all of the proof needed (as I understand it) to document adequately any of the lines.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/11/san-diego-colony-of-society-of.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Tuesday's Tip - Check Out the WikiPedia List of Online Newspaper Archives

This week's Tuesday's Tip is to:  Check Out the WikiPedia List of Online Newspaper Archives at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives.

The Wikipedia listing of online digital newspapers includes this description:

This is a list of free and pay wall blocked digital online newspaper archives. Most are scanned from microfilm into pdf, gif or similar graphic formats and many of the graphic archives have been indexed into searchable text databases utilizing optical character recognition (OCR) technology. Some newspapers do not allow access to the OCR-converted text until it is proofread. Older newspapers are still in image format, and newer newspapers are available as full text that can be cut and pasted. Most text is in ASCII, some are using Unicode for diacritical marks not available in ASCII. Google now indexes many newspaper archives.

Some local public libraries subscribe to certain online newspaper archives. For instance, some UK public libraries subscribe to The Times Digital Archive (1785–1985), and any member of one of these libraries is able to access this resource free from their home computer using their library card number. In many instances, library access may be restricted to in-building use, in the confines of the library itself, and not a service otherwise available away from that structure to cardholders.

The Wikipedia listing of online digital newspapers has a list of countries (and other jurisdictions, like states or provinces) in the "Contents" list: 

Down the countries list is the United States.  I clicked on the link for United States and saw the list of States with the online newspaper archives available:

Down near the end of the United States listings is a listing for "Multistate" which includes larger digital newspaper collections like Chronicling America, GenealogyBank, NewspaperARCHIVE, ProQuest, Ancestry.com, etc.

Readers should check this list regularly for new additions as more newspapers are added over time. Note that the newspapers on this list may be current or historical.

You never know when you might need information from online historical newspapers for your genealogical research.  You may find a gem in these lists.  It may be freely accessible, or not.

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

"Social Security Selling Dead Peoples' Identity for $10 a Pop"

Ernest Thode sent a link to this article on the Fox 8 website in Cleveland, Ohio (http://fox8.com/2012/07/19/social-security-selling-dead-peoples-identities-for-10-a-pop/), which was apparently written by Blake Ellis on CNN Money:

The article claims that:

"For $10, identity thieves can access the full name, Social Security number and other personal information of a dead person through a list of millions of deceased Americans, known as the Death Master File:"

and:

"Currently, the Social Security Administration provides the file to the Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS), which then distributes it to more than 450 entities including state and local governments, hospitals, universities, financial institutions, insurance companies, and genealogy services. However, anyone can access the information through the NTIS website. To obtain records for one person, it costs $10. For an annual subscription with unlimited access to all of the files of deceased individuals, the price tag is $995."

and:

"And the identities of dead people aren’t just being stolen for tax-related fraud. A recent report from fraud prevention firm ID Analytics showed that identity thieves also steal the personal information to apply for credit cards, cell phones and anything else requiring a credit check. About 2.4 million deceased Americans each year get their identities stolen each year — amounting to a rate of more than 2,000 thefts per day."

Please read the whole article for context and statements by administrators, agitators and politicians.

Hmmm, my thoughts on this article are:

*  The Department of Commerce charges $10 for a DMF/SSDI entry when many of us can find it for free!  Ah,our government at work.  If they charged $100 for an entry, would it reduce the number of identity thieves using this method?

*  Does the DOC DMF entry provide more information than the genealogy sites?  I really doubt it. The index has full name, date of birth, date of death, Social Security Number, year and state of application, and last known residence. 

*  The stated purpose of the DMF/SSDI is to PREVENT identity theft, not to promote it.  The institutions that purchase it and use it are supposed to check the DMF whenever someone provides a SS number to determine if an identity theft is in progress.  This check is supposed to include any credit check!  Apparently, these institutions are aiding and abetting identity theft.

*  The article mentions "Freedom of Information lawsuits" which are for images of the SS-5 application made by an individual by postal mail. This costs $27 each and takes weeks to obtain.  My guess is that those are not the problem here...but that's probably too much detail for the reporter to process.

*  The ID Analytics firm can't do simple mathematics; 2.4 million divided by 365 days a year is 6,575 thefts per day, not 2,000. My guess is that the 2.4 million number is wrong... perhaps they confused the number of persons dying each year (2,438,077 in 2010 in the SSDI) with the number of actual identity theft claims.

*  Where are the Fact checkers for this article?  Did they just blindly believe what the administrators, agitators and politicians were saying?  

*  How hard can it be for any government agency, and especially the IRS, to do a cross-check on ANY SSN with the DMF. I'll bet that could be easily programmed so no human being has to do anything but enter the SSN into a computer...oh, I forgot, it's the government that we're dealing with here. 

Pardon my snark... 

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/social-security-selling-dead-peoples.html

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Rasputin, Time Travel, Worm Holes - oh my!

One of my CVGS society colleagues pointed me to an article by Robert Krulwich titled "'Rasputin Was My Neighbor' And Other True Tales Of Time Travel" that was published yesterday on the Krulwich Wonders blog on NPR.  


He writes:


"There are people who live long enough to create a link — a one-generation link — to figures from what feels like a distant past, and their presence among us shrinks history. When 'Long Ago' suddenly becomes 'So I said to him ...,' long ago jumps closer.

"There are many examples of people who shrink history this way. The blogger Jason Kottke has been collecting examples. He calls them 'human wormholes,' because these people help us leap across space/time."

The article discusses several "human wormhole" instances, including:


*  In 1973, a man who said that his father was a friend of Rasputin and he remembered that came over for tea.


*  In 1956, Samuel Seymour discussed being at Ford's Theater when President Lincoln was shot


*  Oliver Wendell Holmes, the famous Supreme Court Justice, shook the hands of Presidents John Quincy Adams and John F. Kennedy.


*  President John Tyler has two grandsons still alive.


*  The last Civil War widow, Alberta Martin, died in 2004.


I thought that it was interesting.


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/rasputin-time-travel-worm-holes-oh-my.html


Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012

Tuesday's Tip - find Online Historical Newspapers

This week's Tuesday's Tip is to find newspaper articles about your ancestors in online record collections.

1)  Miriam Robbins Midkiff has an Online Historical Newspapers Website in progress at http://sites.google.com/site/onlinenewspapersite/.  Online newspapers are listed by country, then state, then county.  Free and subscription websites are listed and linked to.  Currently, there are listings for many US states, some Canadian provinces and some Australian states.  However, the listings do not include items on NewspaperARCHIVE and several other subscription sites.

2)  Joe Beine's Research Guides website has a page for Historical Newspapers and Indexes on the Internet for the USA at http://www.researchguides.net/newspapers.htm

3)  The University of Pennsylvania Library website has a listing of free online historical newspapers at http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/hist/onlinenewspapers.html. 

What other online historical newspaper index sites are there?

Iowa State Picnic is Saturday, 14 August in Long Beach CA

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Liz Stookesberry Myers of the Questing Heirs Genealogical Society in Long Beach, California, sent this along and I promised her that I wouldp ost it for interested persons:

"The 110th Annual Iowa State Picnic is being held on Saturday, August 14th from 9:30 to 2:30 at the Long Beach Lawn Bowling Club, 1109 Federation Drive, Long Beach, CA 90804. At about 11:30 the potluck will start. Bring a dish to share, your own beverage, and your own eating utensils. Let us know if you are coming by calling 562/421-0726 or E-mailing: stookesberry@gmail.com.

"The Lawn Bowling Club has several picnic tables, is handicapped accessible with plenty of parking.. However, extra chairs may be needed. Take East Anaheim Street West, Left on Park Avenue, and left on Federation Drive. Or the 22 Freeway-West turns into 7th Street. Take 7th Street West, and Right on Federation Drive."

This announcement, and a map, are shown here.

Who is Chelsea Clinton related to?

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Chelsea Victoria Clinton, daughter of President William Jefferson and Senator Hilary Diane (Rodham) Clinton is getting married this Saturday in New York.

To celebrate the occasion, the Family Forest organization have released a list of Chelsea's ancestor's and notable relatives at Chelsea Clinton Family Forest Kinship before Wedding.pdf .

There are some notable persons on this list, and Family Forest wonders if any of them are invited to the wedding. Here are some of the notables that I saw on the list:

* Adrienne Barbeau (10th cousin twice removed)
* Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (10th cousin once removed)
* Celine Dion (9th cousin once removed)
* Angelina Jolie Voight alias Angelina Jolie (10th cousin once removed)
* Jean Louis "Jack" Kerouac (9th cousin once removed)

* Alanis Nadine Morissette (11th cousin)
* Sean Justin Penn (spouse of 10th cousin once removed)
* William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (spouse of 10th cousin once removed)
* Guy Ritchie (spouse of 10th cousin once removed)
* Duchess Camilla Rosemary Shand (10th cousin)

* William Robert "Billy Bob" Thornton (spouse of 10th cousin once removed)
* Eilleen Regina Edwards alias Shania Twain (10th cousin twice removed)
* Mark Twain (10th cousin twice removed) - I'll bet this isn't Samuel Clemens!
* Jonathan "Jon" Voight (spouse of 10th cousin)
* Prince Charles Phillip Arthur George of Wales (spouse of 10th cousin)

I admit to being not too hip when it comes to popular culture, so I probably missed some famous people.

Unfortunately, none of my ancestors are listed on this 16-page list, so I guess I'm not a cousin of Chelsea's.

Is Robert Pattinson a cousin to Vlad III Dracula?

The newspapers and the Ancestry.co.uk blog have an enthusiastic report today that English entertainment star Robert Pattinson is a distant cousin to Vlad III Dracula - the Count Dracula of history and entertainment. The New York Daily News story is here. Is this claim true?

A screen shot of the Ancestry.co.uk blog page is shown below, and it includes a simple ancestry chart:

The chart shows Robert Pattinson descended (through an unknown number of generations) from the "Pickerings of York." The Princes William and Harry are also show descended from the "Pickerings of York." And then the Princes are also shown descending from the parents of Vlad III Dracula (through an unknown number of generations through King George VI).

There is only one thing wrong with this picture - remember the adage that "the cousin of my cousin may not be my cousin!" Just because Barack Obama is my cousin doesn't not mean that all of my cousins are also his cousins - only those that share my specific lineage back to a common ancestor are his cousins.

The common definition of a "cousin" is a person with a common ancestor to the subject.

If the information in the picture is correct, then Robert Pattinson is a distant cousin of the Princes. and the Princes are a distant cousin to Vlad III Dracula. But Robert Pattinson and Vlad II Dracula are not distant cousins because no common ancestor is shown on the chart.

If Ancestry.co.uk has more specific direct evidence with primary information from original sources concerning the ancestry of Robert Pattinson and Vlad III Dracula, then they should display it for the world of genealogy to see it. Until then, they should remove the claim.

For the genealogists of the world, a better ancestral chart showing all of the generations from the "Pickerings of York" to the Princes and from Vlad's parents to King George VI should also be shown so that the degree of cousinship with the Princes can be established. Proof of all of the relationships would be nice, too.

UPDATED: Nick Gombash, who writes Nick Gombash's Genealogy Blog, has more information about the Besarab family associated with Vlad III Dracula. Nick disputes the link between Vlad II and King George VI of England in his post, Robert Pattinson is related to Dracula?

Genea-Musings makes the Newspaper

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When I posted (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 98: A Picnic at La Jolla last month, I didn't expect it to make the newspaper.

Shortly after I posted the picture of my grandfather and his colleagues at La Jolla beach in 1915, I received an email from the editor of the La Jolla Light newspaper, who asked if they could run the photo in their newspaper. I said "of course" and forwarded images of the front and back of the picture.

The picture, with a short article, appeared in the May 19th edition of the newspaper - a screen shot is below:

The article, headlined, "A Look Back," notes:

"Chula Vista resident Randy Seaver, a retired aerospace engineer and genealogist who has been sifting through what he calls an 'endless collection' of family photos and papers, came upon this photo of his grandfather Lyle Lawrence Carringer, second from left, taken in 1915. He knew only that it was taken in La Jolla and likely was a group of employees from Marston's Department Store where his grandfather worked. With the help of La Jolla Historical Society archivist Mike Mishler and historian Carol Olten, he learned it was taken at Devil's Slide, by Goldfish Point, along what is the Coast Walk trail. Seaver, a native San Diegan, writes a blog at http://www.geneamusings.com/."

Thank you to the La Jolla Light for the article, and to @SouthwestArkie on Twitter for tweeting about it! News travels fast sometimes! I think that my grandfather would be amazed by websites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc., and then he would jump into it!

Ellen DeGeneres has some notable cousins!

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The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) recently announced that entertainer Ellen DeGeneres has New England ancestry and has several notable cousins - including Halle Berry and Richard Gere. The press release is here.

The article mentions that Halle Berry is a distant cousin to Mark Wahlberg, Mark is a distant cousin to Madonna, she is a distant cousin to Camilla Parker-Bowles, who is a cousin of Diana Spencer, who was a cousin to Tim Robbins, who is a cousin to Richard Gere.

This article on Inside TV, with a link to a video of Ellen's show (which is pretty funny), claims that Ellen is related to all of these celebrities, but the NEHGS article indicates that she is related to only Halle Berry and Richard Gere. The article's author forgets that "a cousin of my cousin may not be my cousin." Or probably doesn't understand any of this!

You can see family trees for some of these celebrities, and many others, at http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/ including:

* Halle Berry - not much here...there may be more elsewhere

* Madonna - a fine French Canadian ancestry

* Diana Spencer - see also here.

* Richard Gere

There are extensive family trees at the William Addams Reitwiesner's Genealogy Services site for:

* Camilla Parker-Bowles

* Halle Berry

* Tim Robbins

* Mark Wahlberg

I don't see a family tree for Ellen DeGeneres online, but perhaps it will appear shortly.

Gary Boyd Roberts and his colleagues at the New England Historic Genealogical Society have published many ancestries of some of these celebrities but I didn't see them on the NEHGS web site. They may be hiding in the New England Ancestors Magazine publications.

So why do I care? Well, I'm just a sensitive guy interested in everybody's ancestry, but I would like to know if I'm related to these folks too. Actually, I just want to impress my cousins, brothers and offspring so maybe they'll become hooked on genealogy research.

UPDATED: Thanks to reader/blogger Martin for the links for Berry, Robbins and Wahlberg. I missed them on the WARGS site. Martin said that all of Roberts' work is on the NEHGS site, but I don't see them doing a search for several of them.

1000 Years of Family History in 37 Minutes?

The Mormon Times website has an article today titled A thousand years of family history in 37 minutes by Emily Schmul. The article highlights a 37 minute YouTube video (in four parts) put together by Clayton Brough, the current President of the Richard Brough Family Organization.

There is a transcript of the video on the Richard Brough Family Organization on their website.

I am genea-smacked by two things about this organization and the video created by it.

1) Look at the Richard Brough Family Organization website. What a wonderful tribute and work of family history by a group of family historians. Absolutely wonderful. What a great example of what can be done when a family organization works together.

2) The video and script are absolutely beautiful! What a story to be able to hand to their children, grandchildren and future generations.

I admit to being impressed by family history efforts such as this. Are there other works similar to this one? There are many family history associations and organizations available for membership and participation - but I fear that their activities are not as well attended or supported as they were in the past, before the Internet explosion of genealogy.

Hat tip to Dianne Simpson @FamilyTree101 who posted about this on Twitter this morning. Nice find!

Ruth's Grandma Camp makes the LA Times

The article Camp Grandma is a win-win by Whitney Friedlander appeared in the Los Angeles Times newspaper today -




The article includes several lines about my CVGS colleague and genea-blogger Ruth Himan's Grandma Camp held over Thanksgiving weekend. I highlighted Ruth's posts in Ruth and her Grandma Genie Camp last November.

Well done, Ruth! You've made the big-time. Expect some readers to your blog.

Scott Brown a distant cousin of Barack Obama too!

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The Washington Post and other newspapers have articles today describing the relationship of Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown to President Barack Obama.

The press release from the New England Historic Genealogical Society is here, and the descendant chart from their common ancestor, Richard Singletary of Haverhill MA, is here.

Scott Brown joins a lengthening list of famous cousins to the President, including:

* Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush

* Vice-President Dick Cheney

* Actor Brad Pitt

* Many other notable persons (per NEHGS "Notable Kin" article)

* your humble scribe... (I can't help bragging about it - my New England cousins are ecstatic, my readers and audiences are amused or amazed).

An interactive Obama Family Tree is online here.

Thanks to the NEHGS for sleuthing these relationships - I can hardly wait for the next one because it may reveal another distant cousinship of mine. Now, I need to go see if I can find a relationship to Scott Brown. Who else may run for President in 2012? I already have cousinships to Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney.

What I want to know is when President Obama will invite all of his distant cousins to the White House for a family reunion. It could be an august and large group. I will be happy to clear my calendar...anytime, cuz!

Pictures of Annie Moore!

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak has another post titled Photos of Annie Moore, First Ellis Island Immigrant: Help Solve a History Mystery on The Huffington Post blog. She doesn't show the picture of the young Annie, but she talks about one that sure sounds like it may be her.

The New York Times published a picture, along with an article, about the mature Annie Moore in their article the other day - see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/nyregion/29annie.html (the article may disappear from the site soon). Nice to see who we looked for... and learned the story of three years ago.

Follow the links in the two stories for more information about the Annie Moore saga.

How can I preserve my family memories?

Today's San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper has an article titled "How can I preserve my family memories?" by Jennifer Davies. The article leads with:

"This time of year, family is always front and center. Instead of fixating on how aggravating they can be, focus instead on how interesting they actually are. Everyone has a story, from Grandma who lived through the Great Depression to Uncle Franklin who served in the Vietnam War."

In the article, she lists a number of local and national web sites to help persons and families perform this task. They include:

* www.SaveTheirStory.com, a San Diego company that does video oral histories by Bridget Poizner

* www.VoiceAndVideo.com, a San Diego company that rents equipment

* www.storycorps.org/record-your-story/cant-come-to-us, the national StoryCorps organization has equipment to rent

* www.DigitalStoryStation.com, a San Diego program where residents can make a three to five minute video for free

The article also mentions the "Do-it-yourself" guide at www.NationalDayOfListening.org.

This is an excellent article with good advice on how to capture your family stories.

San Diego's Pioneer Park - not what it seems

“ 'There was supposedly a woman (ghost) who would rise up and walk around there,' Valerie Goodpaster told a group of Grant Elementary school kids who did an impressive research project on Pioneer Park in 2005 ..."

An article about Pioneer Park by Priscilla Lister appeared recently in the San Diego Uptown News and was put online on the San Diego News Room website on 20 October. It recounts the history of Calvary Cemetery in the Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego city. The tombstones in the cemetery were collected and put in a ravine at Mount Hope Cemetery some miles away, while the graves were undisturbed but covered over in 1970 and the place turned into Pioneer Park. Some of the tombstones were recovered and erected in a corner of the park many years later, but the tombstones were not placed over the appropriate graves.

I didn't know that my friend, Marna Clemons, current President of the San Diego Genealogical Society, had studied the history and residents of Calvary Cemetery. The article says:

"Marna Clemons, a professional genealogist and president of the San Diego Genealogy Society, spent more than two years full-time researching Calvary Cemetery.


"She was doing some research for her sister-in-law when she came upon a Bible on eBay that belonged to the John Stewart/Rosa Machado family — whose 1830s adobe home is today part of Old Town State Historic Park. While it wasn’t related to the research she was doing for her sister-in-law, she thought it held a lot of San Diego history, so she put together family information to give to the San Diego Historical Society.

“One thing led to another, which led me to learn about the history of Calvary Cemetery,” said Clemons. “There was no complete record of who was buried there. I had the time, I started researching, and it led to a Web site.” Her Web site, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~clement/Calvary/home.htm , is an invaluable resource for information on the historic cemetery."

Read the entire article - it is a decent summary of what happened to Calvary Cemetery. Just in time for Hallowe'en!

Colleen Fitzpatrick's Articles in "Orange County Register"

I love it when genealogy and family history research is publicized in the newspapers or in magazines. We had Megan Smolenyak's articles yesterday that continued to resonate in the media today, and we've had the articles about Colleen Fitzpatrick's research in the Orange County (CA) Register over the past week. It's all good!

The four article series about Colleen Fitzpatrick's forensic genealogy cases was completed today. The links to the four articles in the Orange County Register, written by Tom Berg, are here:

* 2 October -- Is she the world's greatest DNA detective? This article describes the mystery man puzzle, and how Colleen came to be a DNA detective.

* 6 October -- A frozen arm in the snow. Whose is it? A severed and frozen arm was found in the ice at a 1948 airplane crash in Alaska. Whose was it? Colleen found a mitochondrial DNA match with a man in Ireland and solved the identity problem.

* 7 October -- Unlocking a Titanic mystery. This article summarizes Colleen's effort to find the identity of the Unknown Child from the Titanic, based on three teeth and a pair of shoes.

* 8 October -- Can she find a name for naked, beaten amnesiac This article discusses the search for Benjaman Kyle's real identity - it has stumped Colleen so far.

These four articles demonstrate that even seemingly unsolvable genealogy mysteries can be worked on and solved. The methods that Colleen uses are the same methods that most genealogists and family historians use in their research. I found the articles to be inspirational and excellent examples that reflect the very best in genealogy research.

Thank you, Colleen, for sharing your stories. Now, about Benjaman, have you put him on America's Most Wanted? Or Dancing with the Stars? How about a meeting with President Obama? Or a spot on the Super Bowl telecast? He really needs more exposure.

"Is She the World's Greatest DNA Detective?"

The Orange County (CA) Register newspaper ran an article by Tom Berg on Friday, 2 October with this title about my genealogy friend, Colleen Fitzpatrick (www.identifnders.com, www.forensicgenealogy.info). The web page has a heading "She's part Sherlock Holmes, part Miss Marple, and a lot CSI." The article talks a bit about Colleen and her search for the identity of "Benjaman Kyle," the man with amnesia found near Savannah, Georgia in 2004.

Read the entire article - it is an excellent summary of Colleen's life and one of the cases that has stumped her, and others. It even lists her telephone number and email address.

There are seven photographs on the page - click through each of them and read the captions too.

Three more stories are planned --

* Tuesday, October 6 -- Fitzpatrick tracks a severed arm halfway around the world

* Wednesday, October 7 -- Three tiny teeth tell the story of the Titanic's "Unknown Child."

* Thursday, October 8 -- Will the Man With No Memory be the first case Fitzpatrick can't solve?

I'm looking forward to all three of these articles.

On the one hand, I am happy that Colleen is getting this publicity because it is a major and favorable boost for Genetic Genealogy and Forensic Genealogy.

However, I think the headline is misleading. There are many DNA detectives out there, and Colleen is one of the best. But I would not put her in the same class as, say, Bryan Sykes.

"Be Fruitful and Multiply" lived out

Dick Eastman posted a link to a fascinating story about an Israeli woman who recently died with with over 1,400 descendants (so far). The online article is at Ynet News here.

Soem key paragraphs:

"Rachel Krishevsky passed away at the age of 99, leaving behind no less than 1,400 children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren. In accordance with haredi custom, Krishevsky brought up her children to see children as a great joy. Her children subsequently adopted her outlook and produced 150 children of their own.

"These 150 children continued the commitment to be fruitful and multiply and themselves had no less than 1,000 children. From here, the lineage continued even further, and Rachel Krishevsky was blessed with a few hundred great-great-grandchildren."

Isn't that story amazing? Can't you just imagine how much money she spent on birthday and anniversary cards and gifts? And if every one of the descendants sent her cards and gifts on her birthday, it would certainly boost the Israeli economy!

A family tree showing all of her descendants would probably cover a wall in the family room. This would be a good job for The Chart Chick (but it might have to be in Hebrew?).

Think about her husband too - he had to support all of those children and probably many of his grandchildren too. What lucky people to be blessed with so many children and descendants. What lucky descendants to be blessed with Rachel and Yitzhak as ancestors.

For comparison purposes, my parents would have been 90 and 98 this year, and have 14 descendants!