Dallas County Clerk John Warren read a property inventory list in a probate record from the mid-1800s that includes the record of slaves in Dallas County.

"This particular book is related to the estate of Francis Daniel, who is also the owner of the Daniel Cemetery," he explained.

A historical marker now sits at Daniel Family Cemetery that’s now in University Park. The first person buried there was identified as a slave named "Old Frank" in 1850.

You can read more in an article written by Shaun Rabb and published in the Fox4 web site at: https://www.fox4news.com/news/dallas-county-clerk-uncovers-slave-record-from-the-1800s.

My thanks to Irene Rakovan for telling me about this article.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

"If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium."

Where will you go on your next vacation trip? A trip to New England? Washington, D.C.? How about to the beach? Or how about a European vacation? How about taking a trip to the town where your grandparents grew up or visiting the country of your ancestors? What if you could actually walk the same streets as your great-great grandfather or see the home where your grandmother was born? This is something you want to put on your bucket list.

A trip back to the old home town or to "the old country" can be an immensely satisfying experience. Those who prepare for the trip usually report they have great memories and photographs of the experience.

While it is always worthwhile to visit town clerks, courthouses, libraries, and other repositories wherever your ancestors lived, you also will want to spend some time looking for old cemeteries and perhaps for the land where the old homestead stood. This provides an interesting look at history and the hardships your ancestors faced, even if the old farm is now a shopping center. Few activities are more thrilling than traveling to your ancestor's village or gravesite. Standing where your forebears walked long ago is an amazing experience. When you visit the family homestead or homeland, you can further embrace the experience by eating the local food, and drinking the local beer, wine, or beverage of choice.

Of course, you will also want to find distant cousins, if possible. There is an interesting difference between Americans and many Europeans. Americans typically look back to find ancestors while Europeans often look forward in time, wondering what happened after people went to America.

Here are some suggestions:

Before you go

Do your homework! Research your ancestors before you leave home.

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Following the Civil War, one way that millions of liberated African Americans searched for lost relatives was by writing letters.

Hawkins Wilson, born into slavery and torn from his family as a boy, wrote several to the Freedmen’s Bureau in hopes of locating his siblings.

“Dear Sir, I am anxious to learn about my sisters, from whom I have been separated many years. I have never heard from them since I left Virginia twenty four years ago,” Wilson wrote from Galveston, Texas, on May 11, 1867.

“I am in hopes that they are still living and I am anxious to hear how they are getting on. I have no other one to apply to but you and am persuaded that you will help who stands in need of your services as I do. I shall be very grateful to you if you oblige me in this matter.”

Wilson’s letters went unanswered — until now.

Wilson’s letters were discovered in Ancestry’s digitized collection of more than 3.5 million Freedmen’s Bureau records and featured in a new docu-style film, “A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson.”

“A Dream Delivered” will be available through the CBS News digital streaming network on Paramount+ and Pluto TV starting June 19. You can view a preview today on your computer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnk6DHaNm_U

Ford is cracking open the vault. The automaker has launched a new website full of historic images and brochures that can be searched and shared by fans of the brand.

The Ford Heritage Vault was curated over the past two years and includes over 5,000 selections covering Ford's first century, from 1903 to 2003.

Ford archive and heritage brand manager Ted Ryan said the archive was first established 70 years ago and that this gives Ford enthusiasts an easy way to interact with it.

"This is just the first step for all that will come in the future," Ryan said.

You can take a trip down memory lane in the Ford Heritage Vault here.

You can read more in an article by Gary Gastelu and published in the Yahoo News web site at: https://news.yahoo.com/ford-heritage-vault-opens-public-100020011.html

The following press release was written by Findmypast:

The following press release was written by the U.S. Congress:

Washington, D.C. (June 15, 2022)—Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued the following statement after the Committee voted favorably to approve the Honest Census Communications Act, as well as several other good government bills:

“Today, Oversight Committee Democrats took a critical step to rein in deceptive communications intended to delay or prevent an individual’s participation in a U.S. Census.  In recent years, we’ve seen politically motivated efforts to exclude or intimidate people from being counted.  Anything less than a full and complete count has serious implications for the way in which the federal government targets resources and allocates political representation.  I am proud of the work the Committee has done to protect the integrity of the Census by getting the Honest Census Communications Act one step closer to a vote on the House floor.”

Prohibiting Deceptive Practices Relating to the Census

The Committee favorably reported the Honest Census Communications Act, a bill introduced by Rep. Anna Eshoo, with an amendment offered by Chairwoman Maloney.  The bill would prohibit efforts to intentionally relay communications about a census that are materially false and intended to prevent or delay a person’s participation.  The bill would establish civil penalties for such conduct in alignment with the False Claims Act.  

Maximizing the Use of Technology in the Federal Government

The Committee approved the Telework Metrics and Cost Savings Act, a bill introduced by Government Operations Subcommittee Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, to update current telework law for the federal workforce to improve work-life flexibility for employees and create reporting requirements that measure the cost savings to the federal government associated with telework.  The bill would broaden the current statutory definition of telework to include periodic or full-time telework arrangements and remote work and also provides for annual review and policy improvements by the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The Committee also approved the District of Columbia Electronic Transmittal of Legislation Act, a bill introduced by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, which would permit the District of Columbia to transmit legislation to Congress in electronic form. 

Additionally, the Committee passed several postal naming measures for Postal Service facilities across the country.

MyHeritage has added a LOT of more genealogy-related records in the past few weeks. Quoting from the announcement:

"We are delighted to announce the publication of 1.3 billion historical records in 37 collections from all over the world including: USA, UK, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine. The collections include birth, marriage, death, military, census, newspaper records, and more. Many of the collections include high-quality images alongside the index. With this update, the total number of historical records on MyHeritage has now reached 18.2 billion."

The complete list may be found in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/06/historical-record-collections-added-in-april-and-may-2022/.

23andMe updated its report on an inherited condition characterized by mild to profound hearing loss.

The update to 23andMe’s Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss and Deafness, DFNB1 (GJB2-Related) Carrier Status report adds six variants that improve the coverage of the test for people with East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian ancestry.

“We are extremely excited about this report update, which allows us to provide new and meaningful genetic information to tens of thousands of our customers,” said 23andMe Product Scientist Ruth Tennen. “This is one step forward in our efforts to make our health reports more equitable, and to work toward a future in which people of all ancestries can access, understand, and benefit from the human genome.”

The drive behind this update was to add variants that would make the report more relevant to people of diverse ancestries. Because being a carrier for DFNB1 is quite common in people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent, we prioritized adding variants that are commonly found in those populations. With the addition of the new variants, up to 15 percent of our East Asian and Southeast Asian customers will receive an update indicating that they have a variant detected. More than 1 percent of our South Asian customers will receive a similar update. In total, more than 100,000 Health + Ancestry Service customers across all ancestries will receive an updated report with a new variant detected.

You can read (a lot) more in an article in the 23andMe Blog at: https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/dfnb1/.

The CENSUS of Modern Greek Literature, which provides references to all English-language translations of modern Greek literature and all modern Greek-related studies in English as far back as the 12th century, was formally unveiled last month at an event featuring remarks from the Consul General of Greece in Boston Stratos Efthymiou. Through CENSUS, researchers will be able to search for free for information and to access texts and original sources directly, where copyright allows.

CENSUS was conceived in 1981 and originally housed at Harvard University but underwent most of its development at BC from 1986-2018. From 2016 to 2018, CENSUS collaborated with Boston College Libraries on the initial development of the website, and a workshop of BC undergraduates engaged in data entry and correction. Since 2020, CENSUS has worked in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam.

Dia Philippides, professor emerita in the Classical Studies Department, has directed the project since its inception.

First posted on the CENSUS website is the “Greek Authors 19th-21st centuries” section —available via Open Access. It includes references to 800 Greek literary authors (approximately 7,000 entries). This most recent phase of the project was completed with the support of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation.

You can read more in an article published in the Boston College web site at: https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/bcnews/humanities/language/modern-greek-literature-resource.html.html

A bill introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) would prohibit data brokers from selling Americans' location and health data, Warren's office said Wednesday.

"Largely unregulated by federal law, data brokers gather intensely personal data such as location data from seemingly innocuous sources including weather apps and prayer apps—oftentimes without the consumer's consent or knowledge," a bill summary said. "Then, brokers turn around and sell the data in bulk to virtually any willing buyer, reaping massive profits."

Citing the draft Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Warren said "it is more crucial than ever for Congress to protect consumers' sensitive data."

You can read more in an article Ars Technica web site at: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/06/senate-bill-would-ban-data-brokers-from-selling-location-and-health-data/.