Genealogy Books - Forensic Genealogy

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Customer Rating:

Summary: This belongs in every genealogist's library!
Comment: This book can provide you with tools to ferret out more information than you ever thought possible
from your old family pictures (The Digital Detective), from database information (The Database
Detective), and get you started on your genetic genealogy quest (The DNA Detective).
/>The examples given by the author of exploring old photos are amazing. The techniques used are
fully explained and you can use them on your own collection. Maybe you need to date an old photo or
identify where it was taken. These are covered, plus more. Each of three sections has a Case
Study. For the one on photos she examines an old and damaged photo to determine "Where, Who, When
and Why."

For The Database Detective case study she uses "The History Of the Ulmer
Family." The Ulmers were related to the author and her interests started with the "... discovery of
an iron box that had remained unopened in my maternal grandmother's closet for over forty years."

For the DNA section, the author uses her own family (Fitzpatrick) for examples.
Instead of a separate section at the end, this case study is scattered through the other text with
stars to mark the examples. This turns out to be a very effective way of dealing with the complex
subject of DNA in genealogy. Genealogists must realize that the Pandora's box of DNA testing is
wide open and they are going to need to be familiar with the basics.

"Forensic
Genealogy" is now a mainstay of my genealogy library. I also have Colleen Fitzpatrick's second book
'DNA and Genealogy', by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Andrew Yeiser, also on Amazon, and find it to be
excellent also.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Great Read - Thinking Outside the Box
Comment: The only drawback to this book is that you don't want to put it down. The ideas presented by
Ms.Fitzgerald present a new approach to looking at old photographs, thinking outside the box to
solve some of those genealogy mysteries! Using DNA is probably the only way we will ever determine
some of our ancestors. This book provides a clear understanding of this process. This book should be
on the shelf of anyone who is researching family history,whether they do it as a hobby or
profession. Ms. Fitzpatrick has given clear and concise information which will surely aid anyone who
is currently "stuck" working through their genealogical research.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Covers Areas of Family History Research Sometimes Overlooked
Comment: I heard about Forensic Genealogy though Dick Eastman's excellent online genealogy newsletter. I
immediately put it on my Amazon wish list and received a copy for Christmas. I was not
disappointed. The book is divided into three basic parts: old photographs, available databases and
using DNA in a family history search. Each section is well covered helping the reader get started
unearthing clues that may have been overlooked. It helps you "see" clues that may have been staring
you in the face unrecognized for years.

While I have been studying my family history
for about 10 years, this book has given me a few new tools to aid my research. One example is that
I never considered that the photo paper was used could help date a photo. I will be dragging out
some of my old photos and giving them a second look.

There are numerous examples
given in each section of this book. One of the funnier ones was a photo I had seen circulating on
the Internet. It was a car on a highway with a severed gas station hose hanging out of the filler.
Through a little effort, Dr. Fitzpatrick shows you how to identify exactly where this photo was
taken.

I have been considering using DNA to identify early ancestors. The book has a
comprehensive section on DNA. It does require a bit of study to fully understand but don't worry.
Even a casual reading of this section will supply you with a basic understanding of this new tool.

This book is generally an easy read with lots of useful information. I highly
recommend it.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Poirot would be proud of this book.
Comment: In Forensic Genealogy Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick explains in an easy-to-read manner how to find clues
you never dreamed existed in your photographs and in databases of many kinds of records. She first
explains the concepts to help you think like a detective when using these sources. Then she uses
case studies to illustrate real-life examples of how to put these concepts to use.

I
learned many things in the photo and database detective sections. Like other reviewers I will never
look at a photograph again in the same way I did before. I thought I was meticulous in pulling
details from photos but Dr. Fitzpatrick shows how to go far beyond what I have done before including
using weather history to help determine when a photo was taken.

But the DNA section
has been most useful. After reading several other DNA books written for genealogists, as well as
the popular books written in recent years by scientists, I still hadn't found explanations for some
of the common notation I saw used on web sites and in mail-lists on DNA. I finally found these
defined in Forensic Genealogy. The DNA section is written in such a way that you can get an
overview and basic understanding or go much deeper. I would highly recommend this book to any one
who wants to do professional-level genealogical research using digital tools and DNA.

Customer Rating:

Summary: New approach to genealogy
Comment: Dr. Fitzpatrick approaches genealogy with a database in her hand. She goes from the simplistic
(tracing families through city directories) to the complex in using databases. In the section she
calls "Cultural Profiling" she utilizes public records and the internet to reconstruct living
conditions and cultures of the time which was primarily Irish Catholic immigrants in New Orleans.
For example, overlaying the public hospital admission records with the weather conditions for each
date, she correlates the information with the mosquito population and the amount of time needed for
the mosquito eggs to hatch at different temperatures. She also compares the negative spikes in
admission numbers to the perpetual calendar noticing that the admissions were down on Sundays which
she feels shows the Irish Catholic respect for Sunday as a day of rest.
An approach any
computer person would love.
I had trouble putting the book down!

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