Thursday, June 28, 2018


CATHOLIC TELEGRAPH FROM 1831-1885 NOW ONLINE


The Hamilton County Genealogical Society and the State Library of Ohio provided grants which are bringing an exciting project online…all issues of The Catholic Telegraph from 1831–1885, some 2,726 issues, are now available online at TheCatholicNewsArchive

If you have Catholic ancestors who lived in Cincinnati, you will be interested in this valuable collection for both genealogy and social history research. 

The Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA) has been working with the archdiocese to post the digitized issues. The project to digitize Catholic newspapers of regional and national import was begun by the CRRA in 2011.

In a separate project, HCGS and the Public Library of Cincinnati (PLCH) are working to make the remaining issues in the public domain from 1886 through 1922 available through the PLCH Digital Library.

The Catholic Telegraph began publishing in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1831. One of the oldest diocesan papers in the United States, it is, according to archdiocese Archivist Sarah Patterson, also one of the most heavily used.[1] 

For more information about the CRRA project, go HERE and HERE.



[1] “All Issues of the Catholic Telegraph from 1831–1885 Can Now Be Read Online,” The Catholic Telegraph (www.thecatholictelegraph.com : accessed 28 June 2018), article, 13 June 2018.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Using DNAGedom to Analyze Your DNA Results




The Southwest Ohio DNA  Interest Group posted a new video to the website. Advanced genetic genealogists may appreciate the ability to combine all of their DNA results into one location. This program is actually an umbrella for several programs that allow you to work with results from Ancestry, 23andme, FTDNA, and Gedmatch. It also includes utilities for creating spreadsheets and comparing gedcoms.


Once your results have been uploaded, you can easily produce results like those pictured which graphically compare your DNA to others in your database. You can see visually how long each segment is in cMs and where they overlap. If you hove over a segment, the In Common With (ICW) tool will show everyone in your database who has some degree of overlap. In addition, you can click on the email address of your match and try to determine who your shared common ancestor was.

You cannot take advantage of this program without using the DNAGedcom Client program at a cost of $5 a month or $50 for a yearly subscription. You must also be a Tier 1 user on Gedmatch at a cost of $10 for a month of access. Watch the video for a complete explanation.



Finally, make sure you download the manual for how to use the Autosomal DNA Segment Analyzer and interpret your results. It is an investment, but one that will definitely have returns. Happy hunting.




Submitted by Kathy Reed
SWOHDNA Interest Group Chair
Email: dna.interest@hcgsohio.org


Saturday, June 16, 2018

Searching for William Henry Jones by Jon Nedry


The Southwest Ohio DNA Interest Group (SWOHDNA) welcomed a new member, Jon Nedry, to our last meeting. Jon is new to this area. He formerly took two GRIP (Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh) courses on Genetic Genealogy and is active in working with DNA to solve genealogical problems with his research. He is very active in the DNA community, and we are lucky to have him here with us.

We were able to share his presentation online and record it for our website. Unfortunately, the MidPointe Library West Chester is still experiencing some problems with their internet connection, and sound quality deteriorated to some degree after about 40 minutes. If you missed the meeting and want to view the video, click on this link, It will also be added to the website.

Jon introduced us to the McGuire method which involves a creating a specialized chart developed by Lauren McGuire to keep track of the DNA results of all tested cousins related to a particular research subject. Lauren explained her method in a guest post published on Blaine Bettinger's blog The Genetic Genealogist.




I'm sure all participants readily recognize the potential value of this tool. At the same time, we agreed that understanding something like this would require a session in itself.  Blank templates of this chart are available in Blaine Bettinger's facebook group, Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques. Check for these and other templates in the "files section." If you are on facebook, you may want to consider joining this group.

Hopefully, Jon will volunteer to come back another time.

Submitted by Kathy Reed
Email: dna.interest@hcgsohio.org