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Northeastern Pennsylvania is beautiful at this time of year, with mountains and valleys full of forests in a riot of autumn color.
To a genealogist, though, the Northeast can be less a scenic wonderland than a frustrating jungle of counties and municipalities formed at many different times from the 1700s up through the 1900s. In other words, who’s got the vital records you need today?
The place to start is Pennsylvania Genweb (search by that name), a collection of county-based historical and genealogical websites. Open the Genweb site for Luzerne or Lackawanna County and you’ll find data on the creation of all of the northeast’s counties.
You’ll learn, for instance, if a “Luzerne County” ancestor of 1825 was living in an area that ultimately became Lackawanna County or Wyoming County or another county. You will then be on the trail to locating vital county and municipal records and decoding old history books despite county name and border changes. You’ll be able to find the right modern courthouses plus the public libraries and historical and genealogical organizations most relevant to you, with their websites, phone numbers, hours and look-up policies.
As a bonus, if you do travel, you’ll have great scenery along the way.
RootsTech: Don’t forget – RootsTech 2025 has been scheduled for March 6-8 next year.
“RootsTech is a three-day global online and in-person family celebration conference hosted by FamilySearch International, which is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other leading genealogy organizations,” a release says.
It consists of a series of first-day events for which registration and payment are required, and succeeding days of free online access to numerous presentations covering a wide range of genealogical topics. All presentations are conducted by experts. Videos remain free online for several years. Go to www.familysearch.org for detailed information.
Testing company troubles: The DNA testing (and storing) company 23 and Me is in a difficult state these days, news stories say. The company’s board of directors resigned recently, and its stock lost 99.9 percent of its value. Business analysts point to various causes, but founder Anne Wojcicki has vowed to maintain the company’s integrity and continue to operate it.
23 and Me has long offered itself as a testing source for genealogy and health issues. Analysts have expressed concern over what will happen to customers’ personal information if the company does not recover and goes out of business.
Go to the website 23andme.com for information on its current status and its products.
DNA test gifts: DNA test kits have for years been popular Christmas gifts. As the holidays draw near, I’ll issue my annual observation that kits sent in for analysis after Christmas can take longer than normal to process because of the sheer volume the testing companies face.
Those who receive the kits as gifts must remember that DNA tests can provide names of people with whom you share some DNA. But you still have to do your genealogy to find out exactly how they fit into your family tree.
Warning: In recent weeks the popular sites Internet Archive and Word Press (among other sites) have been invaded by hackers. Internet Archive stores a great deal of print material, while Word Press offers website building .Since we genealogists spend a lot of time online, we above all others should be careful and do all we can to keep our data safe by backing it up, printing it out and making sure our anti-virus is up to date.
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Tom Mooney is a Times Leader history and genealogy writer. Reach him at tommooney42@gmail.com.
Tom Mooney is a Times Leader history and genealogy writer. Reach him at tommooney42@gmail.com.