THE REST OF THE STORY
STORIES THAT HAD APPEARED IN THE SGS NEWS
REAL STORIESA man of many aliases seems to have murdered a number of wives, girlfriends, and children. At various times, he lived in New Hampshire, Texas, California, Idaho, and probably in other states as well.
Genealogists became involved when there was a need to identify the ancestry of one little girl who was abandoned, but not murdered, by the serial killer. Working with DNA and with public records, the volunteers spent thousands of hours building her family tree of some 19,000 people, just on her maternal side. The list of people who descended from just one ancestor, the one with 18 children, filled a line of letter-size sheets that, taped together, extended 11 feet. The serial killer eventually died in prison (for other crimes) and yet little is known about him. He was smart, fluent in French, and, according to one witness interviewed by police, also spoke Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. Investigators suspect he may have served in the military, but they have been unable to identify him. They don’t know where he was born and raised, or where he was before he surfaced in New Hampshire in the late 1970s, when he appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s. Perhaps you can use your genealogy skills to help the investigation. You can read this fascinating story at FINDING LISA. My thanks to newsletter reader Bill Kelleher for telling me about this story. |
GENEALOGYA little like Facebook, Famicity, offers an easy-to-use social sharing platform—but in a more personal and secure way. When one family member opens a free account on Famicity and invites other family members to join, you
create a private family network where you all can have fun sharing pictures and stories. One unique feature of Famicity is that, once you sign up for the free service, you can download your family tree, photos, and memories from FamilySearch.org and then lock them down on Famicity for “by invitation only” access. Because Famicity is free of unwanted ads and posts, you can also feel safe allowing your whole family to participate, including the younger children. Many people use the FamilySearch Memories app to preserve family photos and share photos of their deceased ancestors. Once you connect a photo to a deceased ancestor on the FamilySearch Family Tree, the photo can be seen by other FamilySearch users. Famicity allows you to upload and share family photos in a private, secure network. Many users have said they are using the Famicity platform as a sort of hub for their family to stay connected by sharing current photos and stories. Famicity allows families to have completely private interactions without the risk of having personal photos exposed as they may be on traditional social media outlets. Sign Up for a Free Account at Famicity.com Visit Famicity, and click Register in the top right corner. You can sign up using your FamilySearch account, an email and password, or a Facebook account. Remember, if you want to be able to import your family tree and photos from FamilySearch.org, you need to register for Famicity using your FamilySearch account information. TO LINK TO SITE: FAMICITY |
TRADITIONSOne Easter while preparing the ham for our family dinner, my eldest daughter was helping in the kitchen and asked me why I was cutting both the ends off of the ham. I told her this is the way my mother always did it and so I was just doing it the way she taught me. She then wanted to know if there was a culinary reason why I was doing it? I was busy, so I told my daughter to go ask her Grandma, who was at the sink getting the potatoes ready. So she did.
My mother told her, "Well sweetie, I don't rightly know why, Its just always been done that way I suppose. Perhaps it may make the meat taste better? You go ask Great Grandma she is setting the table. She will know, as she was the one who taught me." So she did. Great Grandma was helping the little ones set the silverware on the table when my daughter approached her and asked, "Nana why do we always cut the ends off of the ham?" "What's the matter with the ham?" she asked. Getting a little bit irritated with the long answer, my daughter replied, "No, Nana nothing is wrong with the ham, we just want to know why you taught everyone that the Easter ham should be cut on both ends?" "Well, that's an easy question." Great Grandma replied. "you see, I used a wood cookstove back in the day, and the oven door was only so wide, so in order for the ham to fit in the pan I had to cut both ends off." We all had a good laugh, as we realized that there was NO REASON to cut the ends of the ham off, it was simply TRADITION! |