JOE BARBER?S COLUMN

 

As I sit down to write this message, I am hoping for spring.  Even though we spent January in Apache Junction, AZ it seems like the winter of 2003/4 has been pretty long.

 

My research continues at a steady pace. Highlights in the past few months have been making contact with three new kin and the exchange of information that has taken place.

 

A descendant of Israel (son of Jabez) has recently undergone Y-chromosome DNA testing. His results matched the other two mentioned in our last newsletter and this is good news for our readers who descend from Ephraim of Renfrew County, Ross Township of Ontario.  Now if we could only encourage some Olmste(a)d males from the Richard of Norwalk line? and the James of Hartford line to undergo testing we could have some proof to support the idea that the three major Olmste(a)d family lines in North America are all related.

 

In Volume 6, Issue 2 (May 2003) Doreen Dolleman wrote about using the Google search engine for online searching. As well as searching by name and place you can also search by newspaper as many newspapers have archived and indexed their obituary notices. The period of time such archiving and indexing covers varies from newspaper to newspaper and can vary from a number of months to several years. I have found obituaries to be a good source of genealogical information. Newspapers that carry birth announcements may also archive and index these announcements. The Ottawa Citizen is one newspaper where I have found both obituaries and birth announcements archived and indexed.

 

Its a pleasure to welcome Helen Herman as a new contributor to our newsletter. I?m sure Carl would like to hear from other contributors as well.

 

May you all have a great spring and summer.

 

Joe Barber.