* * * HIATUS * * *

This trip is a combo, The Appalachian String Band Music Festival, aka Clifftop, followed by Augusta Old Time Week.    I know that we won't have internet access at Clifftop.    So I won't be back in touch before Aug. 3 or 4.

In the meantime, however, the Fayette Co. Berrys are having a reunion on August 2, 2008 at high noon at the little church on Highland Mountain Road just off Route 41 in Layland Heights, WV, about 10 miles from Clifftop.    I expect to see David, #40, there as well as John, #113, and, hopefully, John's uncle, perhaps the eldest living Berry of that family!

Sadly, SMGF let me down and didn't even respond to my (several) requests for kits to take with me to the reunion.    I still have a couple (just counted.    I have five) left from last year's trip to the Madison Co. reunion so maybe we can still collect some DNA.

*Rant*

Since we invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003:

      4,124 U.S. service members killed.

     30,324 U.S. service members wounded.

     - Iraqi civilian deaths estimated at between  86,312 and 94,174 

          in "W"'s War.

                            "When a man don’t use good judgment it’s the innocent who pays"

                                                                                                                             -- Echo Mountain

Time marches on but we cannot become complacent about "W"'s folly, the Iraq war.    It looks like McSame may be pushed into recognizing the inevitability of Obama's withdrawal timetable.    Even so, we can't survive a third Bush term.

vote Democratic

A World That Stands as One

Speech delivered by Barack Obama in Berlin, Germany July 24, 2008.

True Love

To see the whole amazing story, buy the full dvd at Born Free and help The Born Free Foundation save more wildlife.

Christian left the Kora Reserve in 1973.    He made his new territory along the Tana river, but when the Wakamba herdsmen kept bringing their livestock to his hunting ground, he moved on.    George Adamson said in his autobiography, "I used to count the days on which we hadn't seen Christian, but when they reached 97, I gave up recording them in my diary."    Because a lion can live from 12 to 15 years in the wild, Adamson believed that Christian ended his days in the Meru National Reserve only a few miles up river.

Early Arrivals

Donald's, #120, batch 262 Y-DNA25 upgrade results came in yesterday, confirming his Augusta/Washington Co. Berry relationship.

He has some interesting differences.

I'm looking forward to what a cladogram might show us as soon as we get his Y-DNA37 upgrade results.

Delayed

As you will recall, Phillip's, #10, mtDNA FGS was expected on July 7.    Delayed.    His new 'expected' date has been changed to August 22, with this explanation, "Due to the recent high volume of orders, full sequence tests are running behind schedule.    The lab has obtained a new piece of equipment that, once it is up and running, will enable them to significantly increase their full sequence testing speed.    We have updated your results target date accordingly.    We appreciate your patience."

Wonder if the 'high volume of orders' was for FGS tests, or for those bargain upgrades?

Berry Plain Berrys

I've recently been in contact with John Gibson Berry who believes he is a Berry Plain Berry.    I haven't talked Gib into testing yet, but he recently took a trip to Berry Plain and has kindly shared his video of that trip with us.



and a bonus -

Off to the lab

Emmett's, #119, kit was returned to FTDNA earlier this week and last night was shipped off to the lab for testing, with results expected about Sept. 12, give or take.    Add him to our 'pipeline'.

Speaking of which, Phillip's, #10, mtDNA FGS is still overdue.    It had been expected for July 7.    He's our last one expected until next month.

A New Strategy for a New World

Barack Obama's major speech on national security and the war in Iraq delivered July 15, 2008.


This is a 'must listen'.

For text of speech you can click the title of this post.

Fleshed out

'tbd' has become Henry Berry, #108, thanks to the diligent efforts of Bob Berry, #46.    He is a Faires Berry, his yResults and yAncestry have been posted and, interestingly, almost his entire yAncestry is buried in the Berry Cemetery in Unicoi Co., Tennessee.

The interesting thing about the Faires Berrys is that the five current members of that family have three different 'earliest ancestors'.    Maybe an opportunity for all to extend their lines?

Squirm

Bush III

mtDNA News

We have a new mtDNA participant!    Jeane Berry Borkenhagen, #m9, our 127th participant!    Jeane's HVR1 results are posted to the mtResults page.    Unfortunately, she's a haplogroup H of the most vanilla kind.    Her only HVR1 CRS difference is 16519C which matches almost everyone.

In the process of posting Jeane's information I discovered that Kathleen, #m6, already has her FGS*.    When that arrived and what it means I know not but her results are also posted.    Philip, #10, has also ordered his FGS, the results of which are now a few days past expected.

      *FGS - Full Genome Sequence (also called Whole Genome Sequence or EGS).    It sequences the entire mtDNA genome   --   all 16569 base pairs.

Help Wanted

Help is needed by all serious genealogists to index images that can be viewed free of charge.    For those of you who are unaware of this project, the majority of the films in the vast collection of the Family History Library are being digitalized for display free on-line.    Those records need to be indexed.    For close to two years, volunteers have been indexing many records but volunteers are needed to continue this project.

Some of those already indexed projects can be viewed on a pilot site that can be reached here:
FamilySearch Record Search
New information is being added almost daily so be sure to check back often.

If you want to volunteer to index various records, you can do so here:

Volunteer to Index
The more volunteers the faster records will be made available on-line.

It doesn't take long to do a page of records.

Current projects include those in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian.

Doing this can help you in your own research as you become familiar with old handwriting and various forms.
Posted by Leslie Vaughn

Minus two

Brian, #49, had found and sponsored two folks whom he thought might be related to his line, James and Michael, formerly ##108 and 109, respectively.    They've apparently gotten cold feet because they've stopped answering Brian's emails and haven't returned their kits.    Their orders have now been cancelled, so  --   minus two.

On the brighter side, here's our current pipeline after the several recent upgrades -

Way to go, guys and gals!

Six of you took advantage of the upgrade opportunity offered by FTDNA!    That's great!    Knowledge is king.

Now if we could only nudge FTDNA into putting their Advanced Markers on a similar sale, I've a couple I'd like to jump on.

And finally, if anybody cares -