23andMe DNA Melody

I woke this morning to e-mail from 23andMe with the message:

Hear the music in you! 23andMe has developed a lab that creates a melody from your genetic data. Hear the melodies of your 23andMe connections and share yours with friends and family.

You can hear the music made by my DNA if you go to:

https://www.23andme.com/published/labs/music/ced3d58ae6944ed5/56f8df3b48e88234/

I've always loved the sound of dulcimers. This tool also allows you to hear piano, classical guitar, koto (apparently a Japanese zither according to Wikipedia), marimba, sitar, and steel drums. This steel drums are kind of cool, too.

The rhythm of the melody is based on eye color and height traits in the DNA. Pitch is based on markers for earwax type and photic sneeze response. My maternal haplogroup, U5b1d, determines the key used. Then the listener can choose the instrument that provides the timbre. (Photic sneeze response is a trait where sunlight triggers a sneeze. My husband always told me looking directly at a light would make me sneeze when I am sitting there feeling a sneeze coming on, but it just doesn't come. I always thought he was crazy until I found out it was a real thing.)

This is a cool new tool offered by 23andMe. There is one enhancement I hope they add. On my login page I can listen to the different music made by my DNA and the DNA of others whose tests I administer. I can hear the difference between me and my sister. But when I make my DNA music, then make my sisters, her music page overwrites mine. Apparently there is only one music page per account and not one per person tested. It would be so cool to send my sister a link that would let her listen to both of us and compare. I'll investigate further to see if I can find a way around this limitation.

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Caution: What Permission Will You Give Ancestry to Use Your DNA Results?

Anyone who is having a DNA test performed at AncestryDNA (Ancestry.com's DNA arm) should first read the consent agreement. Do you want to give this much discretion to Ancestry? If not, do not check this box when you register your kit.

Roberta Estes discusses this in her DNA Explained blog article "Ancestry’s Consent Form for AncestryDNA Autosomal Test."¹

I have not yet taken a DNA test at Ancestry. They don't provide the raw data to testers. This is MY DNA data, not Ancestry's. I am paying for the test. I want all of the data. As I indicate in my DNA presentations, I suspect Ancestry will be forced in the future to provide this data to testers as their competitors Family Tree DNA and 23andMe do. I am hesitant to give any of my money to Ancestry until they change their policy. And I won't be agreeing to allowing Ancestry to use my results for whatever they or whoever owns the company in the future may decide is a good idea.

---

1. Roberta Estes, "Ancestry’s Consent Form for AncestryDNA Autosomal Test," DNA Explained Blog, posted 16 August 2012 (http://dna-explained.com/2012/08/16/ancestrys-consent-form-for-ancestrydna-autosomal-test/ : accessed 16 August 2012).

---

To cite this blog post:
Debbie Parker Wayne, "Caution: What Permission Will You Give Ancestry to Use Your DNA Results?," Deb's Delvings Blog, posted 16 August 2012 (http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/ : accessed [date]).

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Two-fer: Surnames and pedigree charts in DNA accounts

I just got a two-fer with a new DNA match at Family Tree DNA.

While my match and her mother were perusing my surname list, Mom noticed a name in common with her current husband whose test results are due back in a few weeks. Not only do I match the daughter on my Ryan line through her bio father, I have a common ancestor with her step-father on my Hurt line. Two matches for the price of one. The family has photos of the Hurt line I don't have. They also have Ryan photos that may help me identify some of the photos I inherited when my grandmother died. Links made through DNA matches can help us with our traditional activities as well as provide new scientific information to further genealogical research using DNA.

I only learned of the Hurt line a couple of years ago while I was researching my Parker line in Milam County, Texas. My reasonably exhaustive search¹ led through the district court indexes looking for all the surnames associated with my Parker line. The FAN club: friends, associates, neighbors, including in-laws. My ancestor surnames were not indexed, but the in-laws were. This led me to a court case that not only named my Parker ancestor and his Maples wife, but gave a maiden name to her mother, named all her sisters and half-siblings with the names of husbands for the women, and named my third great-grandfather and two of his wives.²

If I had not searched for those surnames of the FAN club, I would not have known I had a Hurt line and would not have known how I matched this Hurt cousin. If I had not included my ancestor surnames in my account at Family Tree DNA, we would know we had a common ancestor who passed DNA to us, but would have no idea who that ancestor might be.

In my DNA presentations I stress the need for a surname list and pedigree chart to determine how your DNA matches are related. If you don't include a GEDCOM file or surname list your matches won't be able to easily determine how you are related. This experience shows how important it is to include your ancestral data in your DNA account profile. Some of your matches may not contact you if they can't see how you might be related. Why spend the money to do a DNA test if the goal is not to determine HOW we relate to our matches?

Your research will benefit by including your surnames and pedigree in your account profile.

---

1. Christine Rose, Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, 3d ed. (San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2009).

2. Milam County, Texas, District Court Minutes, D:329–334, Nancy Stovall, et al. vs. Lizzie Richards, et al.; and District Court Civil Case #3402; District Clerk's Office, Cameron. This case settles the estate of Richard Hurt, father of Monterey Carise Hurt Maples, naming Monterey's daughters and children of the deceased daughter. It also names other heirs of Richard Hurt.

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Curiosity - A Safe Landing

"... curiosity is, perhaps, the central defining human attribute."
- Dr. Adam Steltzner, 5 August 2012, NASA News Conference held after the safe landing of Curiosity, the latest Mars Lander

Congratulations to NASA, JPL, all the teams across the world that contributed to designing and building the Curiosity Mars Lander, taking it to Mars, executing a safe landing, and bringing us wonderful new images and scientific knowledge from Mars. In the press conference we learned it only cost seven dollars per American for this project. It seems like a good investment to me. Seeing the earlier Mars landers function well past the predicted service life shows, when we put our minds to it, we can still build quality products that exceed expectations. A goal we should all strive for.

How can we relate this to genealogical research?

Our genealogy software developers may one day need to add new elements to the place fields for planet, planetary system, and galaxy. Maybe not in my lifetime, but someday. What we can learn on Mars is a first step to those more distant trips through the galaxies.

Our image enhancement capabilities will likely be improved as the techniques developed by these scientists become part of main-stream software programs. Not to mention whatever cool new things like Velcro may come from the technological teams working on space exploration.

The scientific method of research has the same elements no matter what field of application. We form a question, gather information, form a hypothesis, test the hypothesis, analyze and correlate the data, publish the results, and retest and review the findings. New data can always change the findings. This applies to genealogical research as well as scientific endeavors.

Curiosity, that defining human attribute, leads us to explore our family history and others to go where no human has gone before.

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Native American DNA - or Lack thereof in Population Databases

I hope this post doesn't generate a lot of controversy. I can sympathize with Native Americans not wanting to be taken advantage of while also regretting the paucity of Native American DNA in the population databases used to measure ethnicity. Dienekes has an interesting discussion on this in his "Petty identity politics indeed, or, holding a grudge is no excuse for anti-science" post.¹

In my DNA presentations I state that testers should not rely too much on the predictions of ethnicity percentages for two main reasons.

• One, you are only seeing a percentage of how much you match the other populations represented in the database. If your ethnicity isn't represented the percentages will not be accurate. Until we have databases with more samples from all population groups we won't have the full picture.
  
• Two, approximately half of the autosomal DNA (atDNA) of any progenitor is lost in each new generation born. It is a roll of the dice as to whether you still have atDNA from any particular ancestor whose ethnicity you are trying to prove. And your percentage of DNA from any particular ancestor can be different from that of your sibling or cousins.
  

As of today, you can really only use DNA to prove Native American ancestry if it is on your Y-DNA line (passed from father to son and represented by the top line on a left-to-right pedigree chart) or your mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) line (passed from mother to child and represented by the bottom line on a left-to-right pedigree chart).

---

1. Dienekes Pontikos, "Petty identity politics indeed, or, holding a grudge is no excuse for anti-science," Dienekes Anthropology Blog, posted 13 July 2012 (http://dienekes.blogspot.com/ : accessed 13 July 2012).

To cite this blog post:
Debbie Parker Wayne, "Native American DNA - or Lack thereof in Population Databases," Deb's Delvings Blog, posted 13 July 2012 (http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/ : accessed [date]).

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Understanding Historical Spanish Documents in the U.S.

Need help understanding Spanish language documents in your historical research?

In recent years I've compiled quite a collection of books and articles related to the law, using laws for genealogical research, and interpreting historical documents. I'm reviewing my collection and updating my notes in preparation for the "Statutes and Story: Laws and Social History in Family Research" workshop next week at the Angelina College Genealogy Conference. One of those books in my collection is a must have for any genealogist working in the areas of the U.S. once claimed by Spain and Mexico. Whether studying the laws or anything else in any locale where Spain once ruled this book is useful:

J. Villasana Haggard, Handbook for Translators of Spanish Historical Documents (Austin: University of Texas, 1941).

Haggard describes his reason for compiling the book. It is one that I suspect leads to many of our most useful how-to books: he needed to do something and couldn't find a book already published that explained how to do it well. So he compiled one, with help from his colleagues who were also subject matter experts. He made notes during a decade or more of work and then documented what he learned to help others. He points out that even an expert in a language needs to know more when translating historical documents. He had the same problems genealogists encounter during research: different paleography, faded ink, crumbling paper, long sentences with no punctuation, and understanding the different way of looking at things hundreds of years ago.¹

Especially important is Haggard's statement:

One must not mistake verbatim translations, paraphrases, imitations, parodies, or any other thinly veiled approximation for the serious work of translation. A verbatim version of an original cannot properly be called a translation, for a translation should be first and foremost a faithful rendition of the substance as well as the form of the original.²

A good reminder that we shouldn't rely heavily on machine "translations" of our historical documents. We need additional analysis by someone knowledgeable both with the history of an area, the culture, and the language.

Haggard planned to update the handbook and publish a later edition.³ I haven't been able to find one. If anyone knows of a later version please let me know. This 1941 version is obviously typed on a typewriter and may look quaint to modern eyes. But the information is invaluable. Twenty pages of bibliography. Nine pages showing letter forms used in different centuries. Many document samples with translations. Symbols and abbreviations used. A short history of the development of language and writing in Spain. And so much more including a procedure that starts with reading the document twice before anything else is done.

By the way, even though Google is my go-to source for a lot of things, when looking for electronic copies of books I don't go first to Google Books. The PDF files on Google Books do not allow searching within the text after the PDF is downloaded to my computer. The citation below leads to a searchable PDF version at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Many other sites also provide searchable versions. I download the PDF from Google Books only when I can't find any other option. Yes, I know I can find tools to make the PDF searchable. But if someone else has already done so, I see no need to repeat their work.

---

1. J. Villasana Haggard, Handbook for Translators of Spanish Historical Documents (Austin: University of Texas, 1941), iv-v; Digitized Books, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (http://libsysdigi.library.illinois.edu/oca/Books2008-09/handbookfortrans00hagg/ : accessed 30 January 2009).
2. Ibid., 1.
3. Ibid., iii.

---

To cite this blog post:
Debbie Parker Wayne, "Understanding Historical Spanish Documents in the U.S.," Deb's Delvings Blog, posted 12 July 2012 (http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/ : accessed [date]).

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Google and the Genealogical Proof Standard

How do you apply the Genealogical Proof Standard¹ to an online search?

A reasonably exhaustive search could take years if you just type a name into Google and try to review millions of hits. Search for samuel christopher johnson. As of today, Google gives about 16,700,000 hits. Advanced search engine features can focus your results on the best matches to solve research problems. Add quotes around the name and narrow the number of hits to 54. But don't forget there may be lots more information on this person in pages not indexed by the search engine—what is called the Deep Web.

Other advanced search engine features can narrow the focus to even more pertinent hits. Using the time limitation tools can display only those pages added or changed since the last time you did this same search (assuming you keep a research log so you know when you last searched for samuel). Restricting a search to a specific USGenWeb site (using the site option in Google) is helpful when I want something from a specific county, but that county site doesn't include a good search tool. Using a minus sign to eliminate some words is helpful when searching a surname that is also a generic word like Lake or Carpenter. Parentheses and the OR modifier help when several words or phrases might be found in pertinent sources.

Some of the most useful Google modifiers are covered in John Tedesco's blog post "How to solve impossible problems: Daniel Russell’s awesome Google search techniques."² Tedesco's article lists several of the advanced Google search terms every genealogical researcher should know. Tedesco learned about these in a presentation by Daniel Russell who studies search techniques for Google. Russell's SearchReSearch blog is one of my favorites. Tedesco's post links to this challenge on Russell's blog:

"Where are you?" posts a challenge to the researcher with solutions entered in the comments sections by readers.³ "Answer: where are you?" is Russell's solution.⁴ Any genealogist who has ever tried to glean family information from a photo will be interested in the search techniques presented here.

Two of Russell's "Search lessons" in his answer apply to everything we do in genealogy. Every time we analyze the information in a source we should remember:

— Sometimes clues can be misleading.

— Sometimes clues are hidden in the details.

Adhering to the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) reduces the chances of clues leading us down the wrong trail. These are just some of the things to think of when doing online research:

A reasonably exhaustive search lets us find other evidence that will help us determine which is the misleading clue. Using the right search terms and tools help make that search reasonable and not just exhausting.

Carefully citing our sources lets us and others know what we have searched—even if it has been years since we worked on this problem and we can't remember where the information came from without that citation. For online searches the citation should also include where we did the search and what search terms we used.

Careful analysis and correlation of those details and information about the source can eliminate the misleading clues. Analysis also tells us which sources are more reliable and should be given more weight. It is especially important to include an evaluation of online sources. Are the findings from an undocumented site put up by a cousin who is guessing about things? Or do they come from a trustworthy archive site that is making digital copies of their holdings available online? Has the entire collection been placed online or is it still a work in process with some documents not yet available?

Resolving conflicts logically lends credence to our proposed solution. Not being able to resolve a conflict may indicate the need for more research or let us know we've been misled and need to rethink the proposed solution. Many times this will indicate a need to do research in original records that aren't online yet. Those records may not even be microfilmed requiring us to visit the courthouse or repository holding the paper records.

Putting the results of that analytic process to ink and paper helps us see what we did right and wrong. It shows whether there is more we need to do as we see holes in our theory and possible sources to fill that hole.

And don't forget you can learn more about using Google from Dan Lynch's Google Your Family Tree.⁵

---

1. Christine Rose, Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, 3d ed. (San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2009).

2. John Tedesco, "How to solve impossible problems: Daniel Russell’s awesome Google search techniques," John Tedesco blog, posted 21 June 2012, (http://www.johntedesco.net/blog/2012/06/21/how-to-solve-impossible-problems-daniel-russells-awesome-google-search-techniques/ : accessed 10 July 2012).

3. Daniel Russell, "Wednesday search challenge (Feb 1, 2011 [sic): Where are you?," SearchReSearch blog, posted 1 February 2012
(http://searchresearch1.blogspot.com/2012/02/wednesday-search-challenge-feb-1-2011.html : accessed 10 July 2012).

4. Daniel Russell, "Answer: Where are you?" SearchReSearchblog, posted 2 February 2012 (http://searchresearch1.blogspot.com/2012/02/answer-where-are-you.html : accessed 10 July 2012).

5. Daniel M. Lynch, Google Your Family Tree: Unlock the Hidden Power of Google (Provo, Utah: FamilyLink.com, 2008).

---

To cite this blog post:
Debbie Parker Wayne, "Google and the Genealogical Proof Standard," Deb's Delvings Blog, posted 10 July 2012 (http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/ : accessed [date]).

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Sizzling Summer Sale - Family Tree DNA

If you've been waiting for a good sale to buy a DNA test or order an upgraded test - NOW is the time. Feel free to forward this information to others.

Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) is offering a Sizzling Summer Sale.

As Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) DNA Project Administrator, I'd like you to order through the TSGS / TxStateGS links. DNA information and a link to the order page is available at http://debbiewayne.com/tsgs_dna/ or go directly to the TxStateGS Project at FTDNA to order at these great prices:

Orders must be in and paid for by 11:59PM on Sunday July 15th, to receive this offer.

Special Summer Prices

NEW KITS
--------- — SALE PRICE
Y-DNA
Y-DNA 12 — $59
Y-DNA 37 — $129
Y-DNA 67 — $199

atDNA
Family Finder — $199

mtDNA
mtFullSequence (FMS)— $219

Combined tests
FF+ Y-DNA 37 — $328
FF + mtDNAPlus — $328

Comprehensive (FF + FMS + Y-DNA 67)— $617

SuperDNA — $428

------

UPGRADES
--------- — SALE PRICE
Y-DNA
12 to 37 — $70
25 to 37 — $35
25 to 67 — $114
37 to 67 — $79
37 to 111 — $188
67 to 111 — $109

mtDNA
mtHVR1 to Mega — $209
mtHVR2 to Mega — $199


If you want to order directly from Family Tree DNA instead of through TSGS, go to http://www.familytreedna.com/products.aspx. Descriptions of all the offerings are also available on this page to help you decide which test to order.

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

Y-DNA: Going Beyond Comparing Rows of Numbers

This discussion is based on the Y-DNA portion of my lectures "Paternal Lines: Using Y-DNA" and "GATA GACC! DNA and Genetic Genealogy."

A Y-DNA test will provide each tester with a list of the markers tested and that person's value for that marker. Marker names are shown in this certificate as "DYS # xyz." The marker values (or alleles) are compared to determine whether testers have a common ancestor.





In many surname projects, the marker values are listed in long rows of numbers with differing markers in different colors. The chart below from the Parker Family DNA Project¹ is a different representation of the marker values shown in the certificate above.





These charts can be difficult for some people to interpret. By taking small groups of matches and combining the paper trail lineage with the DNA results, we can determine if the paper trail and DNA results confirm or contradict one another.

---

The chart below uses a subset of data from family group one in the Parker Family DNA Project to demonstrate one way Y-DNA test results can be charted to help in that analysis. Some of the genealogical research listing the lineages was done by other descendants of Henry Sr. Some of the research has been confirmed, some has not yet been confirmed. When you start analysis of your family group you will need to start with the lineage information provided by the other testers. That lineage will need to be confirmed using the Genealogical Proof Standard.² It is also important to understand this discussion does not include every possible explanation for the DNA test results. It demonstrates one of the first steps in the analysis and one possible explanation for the results.

Because there are two George W.'s in the chart their birth years will be included in the discussion of the chart. This chart was created in a word processor table. Diagramming tools can be used to make a prettier graphical representation. A word processor is used to show that every computer user has a tool in which they can do a similar analysis even if no graphic program is available.





Each box contains the man's name, possibly a birth year, and information on the DNA marker values attributed to that man based on the analysis. Some include migration routes as indicated in the paper trail (for example, Henry Sr. in row 1 lived in NC, SC, IL, and AR according to documents located so far).

The bottom row does not include the names of the DNA contributors. For privacy purposes the chart ends with the name of the tester's ancestor who was born in the mid-1800s. Parker Family DNA project tester numbers are included instead. For example, in the leftmost box of the bottom row, a descendant of George W. born 1854 was assigned number P20 in the Parker Family DNA project, a descendant of Perry A. was assigned number P63, and so on.

Following the assigned number is a dash and an indication of the number of Y-DNA markers tested by each person. Knowing the number of markers tested is important as the DNA differences may change when and if all of the men test the same number of markers. We can only compare and analyze the smallest number of markers that have been tested in common by all of the men. We might hypothesize about what expanded tests will show, but until those tests are done we will not be able to prove that hypothesis.

This chart shows Henry Sr. (row 1) with two sons (row 2): Henry Jr. and George W. born 1836. Five descendants of Henry Sr. have tested (row 3): four descendants of Henry Jr. and one of George W. born 1836. Those tested are:

• P20 tested 25 markers at FTDNA and is a descendant of Henry Jr.'s son George W. born 1854.
  
• P63 tested 67 markers at FTDNA and is a descendant of Henry Jr.'s son Perry A.
  
• P17 tested 37 markers at FTDNA and is a descendant of Henry Jr.'s son John W.
  
• P363 tested 46 markers at Ancestry.com and is a descendant of Henry Jr.'s son John W.
  
• P31 tested 25 markers at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and is a descendant of George W. born 1836.
  

The descendant of George W. born 1836 (P31) has no mutations from the most common DNA signature for Parker family group one. The most common DNA signature is referred to as the modal. This means it is likely Henry Sr. also had the modal values and passed them to George W. born 1836. Descendants of other sons of Henry Sr. can be tested to confirm this.

All of Henry Jr.'s descendants who have been tested at markers 464C and 607 have the same value for those two markers. This indicates these marker values were likely passed from Henry Jr. to all of his sons. We would not normally expect Henry Jr. to have two markers different from his father. But, as more DNA tests are done, we are learning more about the possibilities and probabilities for DNA inheritance. Several reports of a man having two or three different marker values from his father or brothers have been reported. See this August 2008 list discussion on "father and son with a 2 marker difference."³ A private list contains several similar discussions of more changes than expected between father and son.

We have also learned that some markers seem to change more often than others. These are referred to as fast changing or fast mutating markers. See http://www.worldfamilies.net/marker for more information.⁴ One of the differences between Henry Sr. and Jr. is 464C which is one of those fast mutating markers. A case can be made that it is possible for Henry Jr. to have these two mutations from the DNA values of his father.

Two of Henry Jr.'s descendants have one additional mutation each that could have occurred in any generation between Henry Jr. and the person who tested. P20 has a different value for 449-1. P63 has a different value at CDYA1. Both of these are fast mutating markers. Remember this chart does not show the persons born after the mid-1800s. There are four to six generations that are not shown in this chart. Several mutations could have occurred in those generations.

P17 is a descendant of Henry Jr.'s sons John W. P17 has only the two mutations we see in all descendants of Henry Jr.

P363 tested at a later time than the other descendants and tested at Ancestry.com instead of Family Tree DNA. Ancestry.com tests 46 markers. Thirteen of those are not tested by Family Tree DNA. Family Tree DNA also tests markers that are not included in the Ancestry.com test. We can only compare the markers included by both companies.

Ancestry.com does not test marker 607 so we do not know if P363 matches the others on that marker. P363 does match the other descendants of Henry Jr. on marker 464C. If P363 matches the others on marker 607 he could be shown as a likely descendant of Henry Jr. even if there was no paper trail to show this kinship. The DNA and the paper trail research lead to the same conclusion. One contradiction is that there are more mutations than would normally be expected between Henry Sr. and the descendants of Henry Jr. But all of the mutations expect marker 607 are fast mutating markers. This fact is used in the proof argument when discussing this contradiction.

P363's value for marker number 442 is 17. The other descendants of Henry Jr. have a value of 12 for this marker. We might get sidetracked by a difference of five steps in one marker if we did not know that we sometimes must convert values when two different testing companies have been used. For marker 442 a 17 reported by Ancestry is equivalent to a 12 reported by FTDNA. So even though the raw number is different, all of our testers match on this marker after conversion. See ysearch.org/conversion_page.asp for information on conversions between values reported by each company.⁵

As with all genealogical research, our conclusion may change if more evidence is found. The conclusions might change if additional markers are tested with results that are inconsistent with the current conclusions. We have to remember that the statistical probabilities given for kinship based on DNA marker values are just that—probabilities. DNA mutations are random and the changes between any two people may fall outside of the probability matrix. We need to use logic to analyze and correlate all of the information from traditional and genetic research, to resolve conflicts, and write a conclusion our peers can then review.

With the documentary and DNA evidence we have at this time, a proof argument can be written to support the conclusion that Henry Jr. is a son of Henry Sr. An article on this family has been submitted for publication. Once it is in print a citation to the journal will be added to this page.

---

1. Parker Family DNA Project (http://web.utk.edu/~corn/parkerdna : accessed 25 June 2012).

2. Christine Rose, Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, 3d ed. (San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2009).

3. "father and son with a 2 marker difference," Y-DNA-PROJECTS mail list, 13 August 2008, Rootsweb.com (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/Y-DNA-PROJECTS/2008-08/1218680347 : accessed 25 June 2012).

4. "Marker and Mutation Comparison," WorldFamilies.net (http://www.worldfamilies.net/marker : accessed 25 June 2012).

5. "Markers that may need to be converted," Ysearch.org (ysearch.org/conversion_page.asp/ : accessed 25 June 2012).

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved

News - Portal to Texas History

Check out this issue of Beyond the Bytes, the newsletter of the "Portal to Texas History" project at the University of North Texas. You can subscribe to the newsletter via e-mail or connect with them on Facebook.

Hot news this month includes:

• The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History contributed a selection of its Moses and Stephen F. Austin papers.
  
• The National Museum of the Pacific war added transcribed interviews of Texas veterans' experiences in World War II.
  
• Newspapers added to the Texas Digital Newspaper Program include The Texas Posten Swedish-language newspaper (1896–1902), The (Galveston) Representative—first Texas newspaper with an African American editor (1871–1873), and The El Paso Morning Times (1913–1918). Search in Swedish and Spanish are supported where appropriate.
  
• War Department Field Manuals, Technical Manuals, posters, and newsmaps.
  
• The Digital Frontiers conference focusing on digital resources for research, teaching, and learning (genealogists are invited as well as historians, librarians, educators, students, and technologists)—September 21-22.
  

© 2012, Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, All Rights Reserved