Received at the Library

Do you need inspiration for finding the elusive grave of an ancestor?  "Researching abandoned cemeteries" is featured in the Nov./Dec. 2018 issue of Your genealogy today.  It chronicles the methods and adventures of a pair of friends who comb the Midwest finding abandoned grave sites in farmers' fields and other remote locales.  Another article provides a step-by-step guide to connecting with a recent relatives classmates.  Advice is offered on the tricky situation of illegitimate birth, which can block the way to the past in your family tree.   Other topics include military pensions at the state level, the Louisiana State Archives, and a succinct explanation of the significance of cM or centimorgan in DNA research.

The July-Sept. 2018 issue of NGS magazine has an overall theme of family secrets, and provides case studies of some of the most disturbing things you can find when doing ancestral research: desertion and court martial, divorce, mental illness, prostitution, and criminal activity.  This issue also has an article about data security, from the point of view of a genealogist's responsibility to safeguard data that could injure others.  German Interest Group members might also be interested in "Researching Eighteenth-Century German Immigrants."