VGS Latest News & Tips: 19 December 2016

AncestryDNA for Adoptees: Search Strategies:

Ancestry
"DNA testing has been a boon to adoptees searching for members of their birth family. When paper records don’t exist or are unavailable, DNA can still reveal family relationships and is often the best hope adoptees have of finding their biological family."
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The DNA Era of Genealogy:

Blaine Bettinger
"When does DNA prove a relationship? When is a triangulation group sufficiently large enough to prove descent from an ancestral couple? When is a shared DNA segment large enough to prove someone is your first (or second/third/fourth, etc.) cousin? At what point does the DNA prove that I am descended from Samuel Snell? When does the DNA prove that you’ve found your great-grandmother’s biological parents?"
You may be surprised by the answer...
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Guide To Researching French Records:

Family Tree Tips
"The further you go back in your tree and the more branches you find, chances are you’ll find a French ancestor. Unfortunately with French research you need to know the exact place that person was born (Or get very lucky with a unique surname) to be sure you’re looking at the correct person."
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Lifetime Achievement Awards for Bennett Greenspan and Max Blankfeld:

DNAeXplained
"At the 2016 Family Tree DNA 12th Annual International Conference on Genetic Genealogy held in Houston, Texas in November, I was honored to present Lifetime Achievement Awards to both Bennett Greenspan and Max Blankfeld from the genetic genealogy community in the form of DNA double helix quilts."
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DNA Chromosome Map Poster for Grandkids:

Deb's Delvings
"Being a genetic genealogy nerd, I wanted to do something related to DNA for my grandkids for Christmas. Most of my grandkids do not have all four grandparents living. However, all of them have at least one maternal and one paternal grandparent living."
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How to Set Your Facebook Account to Delete or Memorialize You Upon Your Death:

How-to-Geek
"Many questions come about when one ponders their final days. Where will we go? Is there really an afterlife? What will happen to my Facebook account?"
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This Day In History: 19 December

1909: American socialist women denounce suffrage as a movement of the middle class.
1945: Congress confirms Eleanor Roosevelt as U.S. delegate to the United Nations.
1974: Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as vice president of the United states after a House of Representatives vote.
1959 Death: Reputed to be the last civil war veteran, Walter Williams, dies at 117 in Houston.

State Timelines:

Even though it is hard to tell what made people move or disappear, these are just a few possibilities.
Mississippi:
1699: Biloxi founded
1783: Great Britain ceded to the United States
1798: Mississippi Territory founded
1817: Admitted to the Union