Tuesday, April 8, the La Porte County,
Indiana Genealogical Society met at the La Porte City Parks and
Recreation Department Headquarters on Pine Lake Avenue in La Porte. Sixteen members and guests were in attendance.
Before a business meeting presided over
by President Dorothy Palmer, the group enjoyed a presentation by
Jeffrey Bassett. Mr. Bassett was an early customer of Ancestry DNA,
and was able to use yDNA matching to clarify relationships on his own
family tree. As introduction, Mr. Bassett told of the early results
he had from classic genealogical methods. He began collecting his
family history while his four great-grandmothers were still able to
give him a lot of information. The Bassett family had held family
reunions as lately as 1912, and many photographs were preserved. This
enabled him to trace back to his first immigrant ancestor with good
certainty.
Jeffrey told the audience of the three
major types of genetic matching and the utility of each. More
specifically, he illustrated the utility of using yDNA results to
further the study of a surname group.
When the first yDNA tests were
available, he took part, and became the defacto head of the Bassett
yDNA project. He presently maintains an on-line newsletter and
promotes and coordinates the comparison of genetic results for the
Bassett surname group.
Using illustrations from this project,
Bassett told of the mysteries and contradictions that were resolved
when genetic testing was used. During his talk, he accepted questions
from the audience, and he told all that he would be willing to advise
individuals according to their unique situations. The audience seemed
very interested his presentation, and hearty applause greeted the
end.
After refreshments provided by Mary
Wenzel, a business meeting was held. Patricia Harris, the chair of
the bus trip to the Allen County Public Library on April 23, reported
that a satisfying number of reservations have been received. The
board is reviewing the Constitution and the By-laws, and Fern Eddy
Schultz spoke of the objectives and purpose of the society. She
concluded that they haven’t changed, but the society should be
alert to changes in technology and communication that will enable us
to pursue these objectives.
Next month’s program, on May 13, will
be “What the St. Joseph County Archives Can Do for You”,
presented by Vicky Rydzinski, the Records Manager /Archivist.
The society meets at 7 pm on the second
Tuesday of each month, weather permitting, at the La Porte City Parks
and Recreation Department building at 250 Pine Lake Avenue. The
business meeting will start promptly at 7:00, and the social time and
refreshment period will come between the business meeting and the
program. The public is welcome at all meetings. Coming up soon is the
deadline for residency applications. If you had an ancestor who came
to La Porte County early, check the certification categories link
from the main page of the web site. For more information about the
society's activities in awards, research, abstracting, transcribing,
indexing, publishing, and records preservation, visit our web
site at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inlcigs/.
