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Genetic Genealogy Is Cracking Cases Once Thought Unsolvable. Not All Police Forces Can Afford to Use It.

There is an interesting article by Leah Hendry published in the CBC News web site that may be of interest to many genealogists:

As more police forces crack decades-old cold cases with the help of genetic genealogy, Montreal police have yet to have a major breakthrough on a case of their own.

The lack of progress — at least publicly — is raising concerns about the Montreal police department’s priorities at a time when both the Sûreté du Québec and neighbouring Longueuil police have used new forensic methods to solve cases long thought to be unsolvable.

Last spring, Longueuil police solved the 1975 murder of Sharron Prior and in 2022, Quebec provincial police tracked down the man suspected of killing Guylaine Potvin, a 19-year-old slain in Saguenay nearly 24 years ago. He is now on trial for first-degree murder and sexual assault.

Both cases analyzed Y chromosome DNA — which traces paternal ancestry — to help match an unknown profile with a potential family name. Armed with new leads, police then used traditional policing techniques to zero in on a suspect.

Stéphane Luce runs a non-profit organization that raises awareness of unresolved missing persons and murder cases in Quebec. He says it’s about time Montreal had a win.

The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) created a cold case unit in the spring of 2019 which now has eight investigators.

“With this new technology it could be a good thing for the investigators to put their nose in a file and find out if there’s DNA and good DNA to be worked on,” said Luce, president of Meurtres et Disparitions Irrésolus du Québec.

Stéphane Gauthier was kidnapped on his way to meet his mother and her boyfriend in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood on Dec. 21, 1982. (Meurtres et Disparitions Irrésolus du Québec)

Luce’s organization has pushed the SPVM to re-examine several unsolved murders, including that of 12-year-old Stéphane Gauthier, who was abducted and murdered just before Christmas in 1982.

Luce believes Gauthier’s case is a perfect candidate for advanced genetic testing because unidentified DNA was found at the crime scene.

You can read the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/bdp2ehak

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck

February 9, 2024

In the summer of 2011, Rinker Buck and his brother Nick drove a mule-drawn covered wagon from Missouri to Oregon. Their goal was to follow the original Oregon Trail as closely as possible. Although they were not re-enactors, they strove to recreate the conditions that the early pioneers faced. The Oregon Trail is based on Buck’s experiences during the trip.

 

This book was not written with genealogists in mind. However, for genealogists this book is a great way to gain more insight into what your ancestors may have experienced as they followed the trails. Although the author followed the Oregon Trail, most of what he writes about will apply equally to any of the trails that pioneers followed to the West. This will include the Mormon Trail and the California Trail as well as several less known shortcuts and cutoffs.

 

Those of us who grew up on movie and television westerns have a glamorized vision of trail travel. We assume that well-dressed, clean pioneers sat on comfortable wagon seats as their animals moved calmly along the trail.

 

After reading the book, I had a greater appreciation for how difficult travel to the West really was. Draft animals were slow. Crossing the country required at least four months during the peak immigration years. Diseases caused by poor sanitation were rampant. Cholera and typhoid were common and spread from one wagon train to another.

 

Riding on an unpadded wagon seat was bouncy and uncomfortable. To save the animals from the strain of extra weight, anyone who could walked. Animals balked or startled and ran away. Accidents where people fell from wagons and were crushed by wagon wheels were common. Even if medical care was available, doctors could often do little to cure the illnesses and accidents that pioneers suffered.

 

I’d always thought that I might have enjoyed a cross country trip in a wagon like my ancestors took in 1850. After reading Buck’s book, I’m not so sure. Even in 2011, the trip was long, boring, and sometimes extremely frightening when lightning crashed all around and the mules were close to bolting.

 

For me, the best part of the book was the historical information about the Oregon Trail that it presented. I especially enjoyed the excerpts from actual trail diaries kept by early pioneers. Buck includes an extensive Acknowledgements section at the end in which he lists many of the books and other sources he used to write the historical sections of his book. If you have ancestors who travelled the trail, some of these sources may be worth looking into to fill in the blanks in your family’s trip.

 

My only complaint about the book is that I felt Buck was somewhat mean-spirited in his descriptions of other modern travelers he met along the trail. He was particularly dismissive of the older RVers he encountered. He considered their travels superficial and useless. Not everyone has the skills or desire to be able to drive a mule team cross country. That doesn’t mean that they are not getting benefit from visiting the historic sites and making their own mechanized trips along the Oregon Trail. Belittling their efforts felt unnecessary. It added a sour note to what was otherwise an engaging story.

 

Even if you never take a trip along the Oregon Trail, Buck’s book allows you to take one virtually. I found it an interesting read and would recommend it.

 

Carol Stetser

Larimer County Genealogical Society

Researcher

Citizenship and Immigration Info on the U.S. Censuses

February 2, 2024

Anyone who has done genealogical research in the United States is familiar with the decennial censuses. They’re one of the most useful and readily available sources for research in the U.S. Beginning in 1790, censuses have been taken every ten years through the most recent one in 2020. Due to privacy concerns, each census is restricted for seventy-two years. The most recent census available is the 1950 one.

 

Everyone from beginning to advanced genealogists uses the censuses. After all, they’re a snapshot of our ancestral families at a specific time and place. They give us locations, family members’ names and ages and occupations.

 

However, that’s not all they can give us. Although they’re often overlooked, the columns on the right of the census page can provide additional information about immigration and citizenship. The censuses for 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 are particularly helpful if you’re trying to figure out when an ancestor may have come to the United States. Anyone who was not born in the U.S. was required to state the year he or she arrived on these censuses. This can be helpful if you’re trying to find passenger lists for an ancestor.

 

The 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 censuses are also helpful in determining an ancestor’s citizenship status. All four of them ask about a foreign-born person’s citizenship status. The enumerator was to indicate Al for alien, PA for first papers and Na for naturalized. The 1920 census is especially helpful since it also asked naturalized citizens the year that they were naturalized.

 

A few other censuses can be helpful in determining citizenship. The 1870 census includes a check mark for “Male citizens of 21 years of age and up.” If you know your ancestor was foreign-born, this check mark indicates he was naturalized by this date. Finally, the 1940 and 1950 censuses both have columns which ask whether someone was naturalized.

 

If you have ancestors who were enumerated beginning with the 1870 census, be sure to check out the citizenship and immigration information on the various censuses. Although people sometimes lied or misremembered the year they arrived in the U.S., these citizenship columns can be a great starting point for further research. These columns are also a great way to find out whether any of your early 20th century female ancestors lost their citizenship through marriage (see my January 26 blog for more info about this).

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society