Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Grave Dowsing for Genealogists

I have written before about grave dowsing (see http://goo.gl/gqCiZ for my past articles). Many people dispute the effectiveness of searching for graves this way but public demonstrations often demonstrate that it works. Writing this week in the Sand Mountain Reporter, Lionel Green describes one recent public demonstration given to the Boaz Chapter of the NorthEast Alabama Genealogical Society (NEAGS).

The online article includes a picture of Rodentown resident Wayne Gregg in the midst of a demonstration on the art of grave dowsing. Gregg used the rods to effectively identify the gender, positioning and even the height of bodies buried in the cemetery as he showed how grave dowsing is a useful tool in the study of genealogy.

Inbreeding Really Isn’t as Bad as You Think It Is

Inbreeding is when cousins and other close relatives have children together. Most cultures have strong taboos against it, primarily because of the increased risk of birth defects. Genetics experts, however, claim that the risk isn't all it's cracked up to be. Of course, there can be some very serious consequences to inbreeding, particularly when it's sustained over multiple generations.

One example is the sad story of Charles II, the last King of Spain from the House of Habsburg, who lived from 1661 to 1700 and reigned from 1665 onwards. From 1550 onward, not a single outsider married into the Spanish royal line. Cousins married cousins, uncles married nieces, and second cousins married second cousins. All of Charles II's ancestors after 1550 were, in one way or another, descendants of Joanna the Mad and Philip I of Castile.

The result of all this was Charles II, quite possibly the most inbred person in history.