Genealogy

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Happy Birthday America! And as we celebrate our independence on the 4^th, the fight to earn that freedom lasted eight years. I just discovered some of my ancestors were involved.

Jess Brown is a member of the Tennessee Valley Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. He contacted me to see if I was interested in finding out whether I’m a descendant of an American patriot. I gave him the names genealogists needed to get started.

Only about seven in 10,000 Americans have proven they’re a bloodline descendant of a revolutionary war patriot. I wasn’t very hopeful. Genealogists Penny Chilton with the Maple Hill chapter of DAR, and Ray Cassell, Registrar for the Tennessee Valley SAR chapter went to work.

When I sat down with them to see what they’d found, I was surprised. “You are six patriots,” Jess told me. “Your cup runneth over,” he said with a smile.

Most patriots are recognized for their military service. “They literally grabbed a musket or otherwise a weapon and were prepared to fight red coats,” Jess said. Others take a public oath of allegiance. “They publicly signed a document and said I renounce my loyalty to King George, and I am now one of these new Americans,” Jess told me.

Some also gave money or supplies to help the colonial revolutionary war effort. Jess added, “Maybe if you had a great, great, great grandfather or whatever that gave cattle or pigs, whatever to feed the troops, you could qualify as a patriot.”

My family tree includes two who took up arms. Two gave money and…

Most people enjoy the opportunity to stump a world-renowned detective, and Maureen Taylor is the kind of sleuth who loves a challenge.

Hailed by The Wall Street Journal as the “nation’s foremost historical photo detective,” Taylor will be one of the principal speakers Saturday at the annual Capital District Genealogical Society Conference between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The conference, being held on Zoom this year, is celebrating the group’s 40th anniversary, and organizers have asked the public to submit old photographs they can’t identify. That’s where Taylor comes in, and while she can’t guarantee she’ll have the answer to every question directed her way, if anyone has a shot at solving a few old family mysteries she’s the one.

“I’ll have had an opportunity to look at these old photos, and I’ve been at this a long time,” said Taylor, who got her four-year degree and masters in history from Rhode Island College. “There are things you can look at in old photographs. They’ll be things that are no longer commonly used, and there are clues in looking at old military uniforms and fraternal organizations that can help you. I have a lot of experience and I’m a visual person. I walk around with a catalogue in my head.”

Still, Taylor admits that even she gets stumped now and then.

“Way back when my mom showed me an old family album and I was hooked,” she said. “I could never get my grandmother to talk about our family history that much, but I got interested in genealogy as a kid and it’s never left me. They call me the photo detective, so I’m pretty good at it. But even I get stumped, and when that happens that’s fine. But it’s important that we try.”

In 1999, Taylor authored “Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors,” a guide to…

What happens when adopted children reconnect with their birth families? This subject has served as the basis for several extremely compelling documentaries in recent years, including Three Identical Strangers and Twinsters. Joining them is Found, a gut-wrenching new documentary on Netflix from Amanda Lipitz, in which three adopted teens across America discover they are blood-related cousins from China.

As the cousins bond and decide to learn more about their roots, they hire a Beijing-based genealogy researcher named Liu Hao, who quickly becomes one of the documentary’s most riveting characters. The documentary shows Liu spending months traveling across the country in a quest to track down the trio’s birth families and orphanage nannies and confronting her own past as a family outcast. She eventually takes the cousins on an emotional trip across China, serving as their tour guide, mentor and pseudo-therapist all in one.

In a Zoom from Hong Kong, Liu spoke to TIME about her unique connection with the cousins and her big breakthrough at the end of the film. This article contains spoilers for Found.

A Lost Generation

MEDINA, Ohio — The Medina County District Library (MCDL) has added new exciting and helpful materials to its collection.

Genealogy

The Medina Library, 210 S. Broadway St. in Medina, has new additions to its already hearty selection of family history and genealogy services and will host a popular returning event in October, “Genealogy Slam: Researching Your Family’s Property.”

The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 30, with MCDL’s genealogy team presenting three different avenues of property research: land records, previous owners and maps.

There is also a Zoom option available. Register for this free event at mcdl.info/SLAM.

In addition, browse 60,000 pages of Medina County newspapers from 1830 to 1996 at mcdl.info/Newspapers. Search the digital archive with keywords, dates, ranges and titles. More recent archives are only available in the library.

View a selection of new titles covering the Western Reserve, Mayflower & Associated Ships, New York, Ohio, Medina and surrounding counties and nearly two dozen new local family histories. All are available at the Family History Center at the Medina Library.

View the complete selection of books at mcdl.info/HistoryBooks.

Grief Kits for children

More than 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, MCDL children’s librarians want to offer help for families dealing with loss, specifically children dealing with the death of a loved one.

Grief Kits debuted just days before the pandemic shut down libraries and most other non-essential businesses. The kits contain books, activities and resources to help children as young as toddlers, and their families or caregivers, in the grief process.

“The activities and craft ideas included in each kit help young children (pre-readers) and school-age children talk about their feelings and better…

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NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A genetic genealogy website helped solve the murder of a 20-year-old woman from Bay Shore who was found beaten, bound and strangled 42 years ago.

In 1980, Eve Wilkowitz landed her dream job with MacMillan Publishing in Manhattan, according to her sister, Irene Wilkowitz. At the time, Eve was living in Bay Shore with her boyfriend and on the evening of March 22, caught the last Long Island Rail Road train home from Penn Station after a young writer friend dropped her off at the station.

But Eve never made it home. Three days later, her body was found close to the Bay Shore LIRR station she was headed to.

“She was outgoing and social. She had a lot of friends. She loved music and reading and writing and drawing,” Irene said at a Wednesday press conference. “And mostly she liked being a big sister to me. She never got a chance to fulfill her dreams.”

For decades, Eve’s murder had been left unsolved, until Irene got word from detectives last year that they were fairly certain about the identity of her sister’s killer.

The FBI and Suffolk County Police identified Herbert Rice, who died of cancer in 1991, as Eve’s killer after a distant relative of his submitted his DNA to the genealogy website where it was found to have a familial link to DNA in the evidence kit from Eve’s rape and murder.

These questions should be considered when thinking of a genealogy trip: What information do you hope to add to your research? Do you want to visit distant relatives, explore your ancestor’s homeland or way of life?  

By identifying your goals, you can plan a memorable trip that will expand your knowledge of family history.  

Begin by identifying the ancestor or family line you want to explore. Where will the adventure take you? This might be a family cemetery, the Colonial Americas, or overseas to “The Homeland.” 

Once you have decided on a destination, the next step to consider is how to get there.  

There are many tour companies that focus on heritage travel. You can reach out to a travel agent or conduct a simple Internet search to help narrow down some choices for independent travel. Secure your passport and, if traveling overseas, look up Covid Travel Regulations….