The Genealogical Discussion at the Bogalusa Branch Library at 6 p.m. Tuesday

will cover a couple of topics, according to Washington Parish Library Director Al Barron.

“First, it will cover what library resources are available online — Ancestry, Heritage Quest, free online sources like www.usgenwebarchives.com and Familysearch.org, and it will cover a little biology on DNA and how it is used in research,” Barron said. “I’ll talk a little about the vendors/suppliers of DNA tests and some family tree programs.”

He said that DNA (de-oxyribonucleic acid) consists of one of four parts — adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine — which are simple proteins that are used by the chromosomes inside the nucleus of our cells to divide and replicate millions of times over and over, completely copying an organism. These proteins have traits or alleles, which leave a genetic signature in the form of the composition of these items that gives a traceable “fingerprint” for a researcher to follow.

“DNA has been extracted from mummies over 2,000 years old and has been used when very little other documentation or evidence exists to support a lineage,” Barron said. “Most recently, Thomas Jefferson’s paternity of the Hemmings family was proven by DNA.”
He urges anyone interested in their family history to get involved in the discussion Tuesday.

“The library’s resources for genealogical research are limited more by the time the customer has to spend using them than they are by any other means,” Barron said. “The Washington Parish Library currently has over 90,000 books in print on its shelves, the genealogy tools that are present in the library, offered over the internet, practically double this amount. What is included are pension, land, tax, census, marriage and cemetery records — not only of the United States, but the world.”