Ancestry® Expands Reference Panel to Deliver More Precise Results and New Regions

Consumer genomics is a new and evolving field and Ancestry® is at the forefront, constantly developing new ways for you to learn about yourself through DNA. Today, we’re proud to announce that our team of scientists have increased the AncestryDNA® reference panel to more than double its previous size with samples from more places around the world, resulting in the latest update to AncestryDNA ethnicity estimates.

Over the next several months, AncestryDNA customers may receive updated ethnicity estimates, thanks to our expanded reference panel, which allows us to determine ethnic breakdowns with a higher degree of precision. This means there may be some changes to your results.
Additional story at: https://tinyurl.com/y2lu9ybr

Ancestry's DNA health screening will require doctor's order

Ancestry.com is entering the growing field of genetic health screenings with a strategy that’s markedly different from that of its biggest competitor.

Ancestry said Tuesday that its new consumer health tests will require authorization by a physician. Its main competitor, 23andMe, went through the lengthy and expensive process of getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration so it can sell its tests directly to customers without a prescription.

The involvement of doctors in Ancestry’s tests places it in the midst of a debate over whether physician-ordered genetic screening is merely a way for companies to avoid the regulatory scrutiny of the FDA. Several other DNA startups, including Color and Veritas, also require a doctor to order health tests.

Additional story at Health Watch: https://www.healthdatamanagement.com/articles/ancestrys-dna-health-screening-will-require-doctors-order

Google Photos just got an awesome feature that makes it a must-have Android and iPhone app

Chris Smith
Google Photos is easily one of the best apps you could have installed on your phone, especially if it’s an Android device, and especially a specific type of Android that comes with unlimited storage. Even if you prefer a different cloud or storage device for your photos, you should still consider getting the Google Photos app on your Android or iPhone right now, because the service is about to get a super convenient feature.

Learn more at: https://bgr.com/2019/08/23/google-photos-features-ocr-text-recognition-on-android-and-iphone/

Five Photos You Should Take at the Cemetery

BY AMY JOHNSON CROW

It’s sad — and rather frustrating — to go to a cemetery, take some photos, and realize when you get home that those photos don’t really help you. (It’s especially frustrating when you’re not able to get back to take more photos.) To help ease the frustration, here are 5 cemetery photos that you should get in the habit of taking every time:

1. The Cemetery Sign?
The cemetery sign should be the first photo you take each time you go to the cemetery. I know it feels a little strange to take a picture before you even get into the cemetery. Honestly, this was a hard habit for me to get into, but I am so glad I did!

When you go to several cemeteries, you can lose track of which one was which. Having the sign as the first photo for that cemetery, you never have to wonder later, “Which cemetery was this?” All you need to do is scroll back through your photos until you get to the cemetery sign.

More great ideas at: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/5-photos-you-should-take-at-the-cemetery/?fbclid=IwAR18wn10AmH3WoKEa8P7NXKCkkhJLnKk9FpwybqNzJBu7pLCbs5VBf8q0eo

The Actress Who Left the Stage to Become a Civil War Spy

Pauline Cushman, now featured in a Smithsonian photography exhibition, unexpectedly found herself spying for the Union after accepting a dare
By Emily Toomey

In a photograph no bigger than a playing card, a woman dressed in military costume cradles a sword, staring confidently beyond the frame. Her name is Pauline Cushman, an actress turned Civil War spy whose story dances between the boundary dividing history and fiction.

Born Harriet Wood in 1833, Cushman changed her name when she moved to New York City to pursue acting at age 18. There, she met her first husband, who joined the Union army as a musician, but tragically died in 1862. (Like much of Cushman’s story, the specifics of her husband’s death are unclear...

Additional story at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/actress-who-left-stage-become-civil-war-spy-180972821/
(photo-Amazon)

Pauline Cushman-Spy of the Cumberland
https://www.amazon.com/Pauline-Cushman-Cumberland-William-Christen/dp/1889020117/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=pauline+cushman%2C+spy+for+the+cumberland&qid=1566486404&s=gateway&sr=8-2

August 1650 in New Sweden History

August 1650 in New Sweden History

Martha Ashman was born in August 1650.

Generally known as Captain Lasse Cock, Lars was a Wicaco church warden, had served as a justice on the court since 1680, was a member of Pennsylvania legislature and was frequently called upon by William Penn's government to act as interpreter and witness to treaties with the Indians of Pennsylvania.

Born in New Sweden 21 March 1646, he married on 15 April 1669 Martha Ashman, English, born in August 1650. She was the daughter of Robert and Katherine Ashman, who had moved from Long Island to Passyunk by 1666. As a result of this union, Lasse acquired greater skill with the English language than his Swedish and Finnish contemporaries. Initially, Lasse Cock's family lived at Shackamaxon, but by 1678 their home plantation was located at Passyunk.

By 1693 his wife had borne eleven children, three of whom had died in childhood. Their eldest child, Catherine, born December 1669, had left home and was living nearby with her English husband, Richard Rhodes. Lasse's household included their son Peter, born 20 January 1671, his wife Elisabeth daughter of Anders Svensson, six unmarried children, John (born 20 January 1673), Anders (1675), Robert (September 1681), Måns (4 November 1683), Margaret (18 February 1685) Lars (15 August 1688) and a grandson, Lars Petersson Cock (1692). Captain Lasse Cock died in October 1699. His wife was still living in 1724.* 

Source: The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig, p. 29-30. To purchase the book or others, see The Swedish Colonial Society book store at https://colonialswedes.net/books-3/ Picture: Wicaco Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
*Subsequent children: Deborah (b. 7 July 1693), Gabriel (25 March 16950). On 25 May 1694, Lasse's son John married Margaret, daughter of Sven Svensson.

(Swedish Colonial Society)

Visiting Dead Relatives on Google Street View

This is just an incredible story. I hope you will take a moment to read it - you may also find a past loved one.

Google Maps is meant to look up addresses, but it can also provide a window into the lives of the recently deceased.
BY JESSIE SCHIEWE

Three years after her grandparents’ deaths, 19-year-old Luisa Hoenle looked up their old house on Google Maps. Feeling nostalgic if not a bit masochistic, the Switzerland-based art school student input their street address and then clicked on the Street View icon, which showed panoramic photos of the property.

Built decades ago by her grandfather Siegfried, the house had fallen into disrepair since his death from cancer in 2016, its once lush lawn now filled with withered and dying plants. But on Google Street View, Hoenle found older images of the home from before its decline. She scrolled through the photographs, reminiscing, when she noticed something else: her grandfather.

A Google Street View car had unknowingly snapped photos of the late Siegfried while he was gardening in his front lawn, a year or so before he died.

 Additional story at: https://www.okwhatever.org/topics/things/dead-relative-google-street-view