Are you a descendant of John and Lucretia Burnett of Picataway Creek, Old Rappahannock County (now Essex County), Virginia? You are not a descendant of John Burnett, Merchant of Aberdeen.

Recently I attended the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference in Maryland. While there I was talking to another attendee and he mentioned he descended from an Isham Burnett. I have an Isham Burnett in my Burnett family and I said I'd get back to him after the Conference. In examining my Burnett line I found that the often followed ancestry for John Burnett and Lucretia Burnett back to Aberdeen, Scotland, appears to be incorrect.

According to research published in 2020, by Mary Neil Burnett and Susan Kromer Hunt, in "John & Lucretia Burnett of Essex County Virginia", John Burnett of Old Rappahannock County was an indentured servant claimed in a land patent dated in 1653 and released from indenture in 1656/7 and who acquired land in Lancaster County (later Old Rappahannock, and now Essex County), while John Burnett, Merchant of Aberdeen/Edinborough, acquired land in Old Norfolk County in 1637. Details with supporting documents and citations are in the referenced article above.

I find the evidence in the article to be very well presented and I agree with the conclusion. I look forwaard to their further research.

Have you done DNA testing at 23andMe.com? If so you may want to download your data.

About 18 months ago there was a data breach at 23andMe. If your data was taken you should have an email from them. Check your emails. Their major funder has pulled out of the contract with 23andMe. There have been layoffs and, this week, the resignation of the full Board of Directors.

If you haven't logged in to 23andMe in the past 18 months, do so now. You may have to change your Password a nd enable 2 factor authentication, TFA, to get into your account.

Once logged in go to the menu bar and click on each menu item to see what is there and to decide what you want to copy to your computer.

At the least:

• download your raw data;
• your Ancestry composition and map;
• and any Health data you may have there;
Consider making page captures of your DNA Relatives List matches down through one per cent of DNA matching;
• Note that the Family Tree at 23andMe is made from your DNA connections. If you can, download it to your computer. No other DNA test company provides this kind of tree.

US Revolutionary War records of Black and Native Soldiers and Sailors, British and American

Black and Indigenous soldiers in the American Revolution

FOLD 3 has released a new database of records for British and American Black and Native soldiers and sailors who served during the American Revolution.

Ancestry new features for June 2023

from GenealogyTV New Collaboration Features at Ancestry

Free access to UK records at MyHeritage May 4-8

Celebrating the Coronation

The coronation of a new monarch is always momentous, and the ascension of King Charles III to the throne of the United Kingdom is no exception. As the world watches this milestone with excitement and fanfare, we’re celebrating the Coronation in true MyHeritage fashion, and offering free access to all 1.1 billion U.K. historical records, from May 4–8, 2023!

MyHeritage Announces Third Installment of DNA Quest Initiative - MyHeritage Blog

My Heritage announces the launch of a third installment of DNA Quest our worldwide pro bono initiative to reunite adoptees with their birth families through genetic testing. We are donating 5,000 free DNA kits to adoptees and people seeking family members placed for adoption.

To apply, visit DNA Quest click “Apply,” and fill out the form. Applications will be accepted until March 17, 2023, and decisions will be made approximately one month after the deadline. … See more MyHeritage Announces Third Installment of DNA Quest Initiative - MyHeritage Blog blog.myheritage.com

DNA Quest has been reuniting adoptees with their birth families since 2018. MyHeritage has just announced another installment of the project.

What did our families do during Slavery? Post #1.

While I have been posting wills, inventories, and deeds, which mention enslaved people since 2017 in the link in the sidebar, I have decided to repost the full documents during February. At this time some 190+ people, named and unnamed, indentured and enslaved, have been located in my Southern ancestors and relatives estate documents. I have not found any mention of the enslaved in my New England ancestry.

I am posting them in chronological order from oldest to newest date. I will post an abstract mentioning the enslaved, and then I will post the full documents. Citations are provided.

#1

Mary (nee Richeford) Brasseur, widow of Benois Brasseur, J.P. Talbot County, Maryland Colony, 9th maternal Great Grand Mother, Deed of land at the Cliffs (Talbot County, Maryland Colony) from Richard Bennett (Gov of both Virginia and Maryland) 1663, included Servants: Thomas Smyth Geo: Dauison William Whitehead Thomas ffrost and Sarah a negro Woman.

Will of Mary Brasseur (made before her marriage to Thomas Starling),1663, mentions delivery of servants, unnamed, to children.

See below for documents: [Spelling is as in the original. Paragraphing in the will is added by the compiler]

The surname of Mary Brasseur is believed to be Rich[e]ford. This is based solely on the importation of a Mary Richford by Benois Brasseur.

After the death of Benois, Mary secured a deed to the land and the house the family had from Richard Bennett (Maryland Archives, vol. 41, p. 178).

Arc.MD, 49-178

[p. 238] Know all men by these prsnts that I Richard Bennitt of Virgeina merchant doe hereby Alien Sell and Conueigh unto Mary Brasseur widdow of the Clifts in the prouince of Maryland and to her heires for euer all my right title and Intrest in that parcell of land on which she now liues being eleauen hundred and fifty acres more or lesse, together with all the Stock of Seruants Cattle hoggs and whatsoeuer else thereupon or thereunto any wayes belonging or appertayning for Liber B B and in Consideracon of two hundred and twenty hoggsheads of tobacco to bee paid according to speciality undr her hand and Seale bearing date with these prsents all which land wth the Seruants Cattle &c aforesaid were formerly treated and bargained to bee sold unto Mr Benois Brasseur in his life time which became uoid by reason of a defect and dislike in relacon to the said land in point of quantity and because hee the said Brasseur neuer had any liuery and Seison thereof from mee nor neuer paid any thinge att all to me for it in which regard ? haue now bargained sold and deliuered the said Estate of land &c unto the aforesaid Mary Brasseur and her heires as aforesaid, And doe promise and binde my self e my heires Executors and Administrators to make such further Conueighance and assurance of the prmisses as is requisite and as it lyes in my power to doe, whensoeuer the same shall bee demanded or required?

The Seruants name are as followeth (uizt) Thomas Smyth Geo: Dauison William Whitehead Thomas ffrost and Sarah a negro Woman

I doe allso hereby giue unto the said widdw Brasseur full quiett possession of the aforesaid land Seruants Cattle hoggs &c with war rantee agst all or any person or persons whatsoeuer clayming any right thereunto by from or under mee or my heires.

In wittnes whereof I haue hereunto sett my hand & seale the 17th clay of Aprill 1663 Sealed Subscribed and Richard Bennett Locus Sigilli deliuered in prsence of Thomas Stirling Robert Brasseur

Vppon the backside of a Pattent for One thowsand One hundred and ffifty acres of land Granted to Richard Bennitt Esq bearing date the 18th day of August in the Seauen and twentyth yeare of his Lordsps Dominion in the yeare of Our Lord God One thowsand Six hundred fifty eighte, was this ensueing assignment following (uizt)?

The land belonging unto mee by this Pattent I doe hereby Alien [p. 239] Sell make ouer and Conueigh unto Mary Brasseur widdow and her heires for euer all my right title Intrest and Claime thereunto or to any part thereof acknowledging to bee fully Sattisfyed Contented & paid for the same according to a bill of Sale and a bill Obligatory for payment of twp hundred and twenty hhgs of tobacco bearinge date with this Assignment Wittnes my hand this 17th day of Aprill 1663 By mee Richard Bennett

Mary made a will at this time. The will was probated after she became the wife of Thomas Starling.

WILL of MARY BRASSEUR, Maryland Hall of Records, L. 1, ff. 187-189.

In the name of God, Amen. I, Mary Brasseur, widow of the Cliffs, in the Province of Maryland, being of sound & perfect mind and memory, but knowing the uncertainty of this life, do make and ordaine this my last will and testament in manner and form following: Imprimis, for the natural love and affection I bear to my children and for their future maintenance and livelyhood, I give and bequeath to each of them as followeth;

that is to say, two hundred acres of woodland to Robert, two hundred acres of like land to Benjamin, and also two hundred acres of the like to John Brassures, my sons, the said lland to come to them and either of them, their heires & assignes for ever, when they shall accomplish the age of one and twenty yeares;

and in case any or either of them shall depart this life before he or they shall attaine to his or their respective ages of one and twenty years, the land of him or them so dyeing shall remaine and be to the surviving brother or brothers;

and my will and desire is that no timber trees shall be fallen for any use whatsoever on the said land untill the said children shall come of age; but if they shall all depart this life before they shall attaine to their respective ages, then the said land to remaine and be to such daughter and daughters of me, the said Mary Brasshear, as shall be then living, the said six hundred acres of land being part of the land on which I now live, situate at the Cliffs, and bought by mee of Mr. Richard Bennett, merchant.

Ittem. I do also give and bequeath unto each of my sons above-named one feather bed, with the rug, blankets, curtains, and such like appurtenances to the same belonging.

Ittem. I give to each of my sons, when they shall attain to their respective ages, one servant a peece.

Ittem. I give to my son Robert two cowes, called and known by the names of Cherry and Button.

Ittem. To Benjamin one cow, called the Wild Heifer, and another, called Goate;

to my son John one heifer called Dainty, and one heifer named Starr, the said cowes and heifers, with their female increase, to be delivered to them at such time and when they shall attaine their severall and respective ages aforementioned; and if any or either of them shall depart this life before they shall come of age, the said cattell, with their female increase, to be equally divided between the surviving brothers;

and my will and desire is that the two hundred acres of land that I have bequeathed to my son Robert shall be the two hundred acres which is next adjoining unto my brother in law Robt. Brasseur;

and that Benjamin, my son, shall have his two hundred on this side of my son Robert; and that my son John shall have his next unto Benjamin's.

Ittem. I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary two heifers, called and known by the names of Pascoll and Phillpaill, with their female encrease, to be delivered to the said Mary when she shall accomplish the age of sixteene yeares or day of marriage, which shall first happen.

Also, I give and bequeath to my daughter Ann two heifers, called and known by the names of Ioneeasy and Sarah, with their female encrease, to be delivered to her when she shall accomplish the age of sixteen years or day of marriage, which shall first happen;

also I give and bequeath to my daughter Susannah two heifers, called and known by the names of Fancy and Pye, with their female encrease, to be delivered unto her when she shall accomplish the age of sixteene years or day of marriage, which shall first happen;

also I give and bequeath to my daughter Martha three heifers, called and known by the names of Brouning, Primrose & Roase, with their female encrease, to be delivered unto her at such time and when she shall accomplish the age of sixteen years or day of marriage, which shall first happen;

also I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth three heifers, called and known by the names of Christmas, Cole and Nutt, with their female encrease, to be delivered unto her at such time and when she shall accomplish the age of sixteen years or day of marriage, which shall first happen;

and in case either of my said daughters shall depart this life before they shall accomplish their severall and respective ages, then the cattle, with their encrease, of her or them so dyeing to remaine and be and equally to be divided amongst the surviving daughters.

Ittem. I give my five daughters each of them a servant to be delivered them at the age of sixteene yeares or day of marriage, which shall first happen.

As for that part of my estate that I shall have at my decease and not herein and hereby already given and bequeathed, I give and bequeath to my daughters, equally to be divided between them, share and share alike, to be delivered them at such time and when they shall accomplish their severall ages or days of marriage, which shall first happen.

And my will and desire is that if I depart this life before my children come of age, the overseers of this, my will, take care that my children shall peaceably and quietly enjoy the plantacon I now live on, with all appurtenances whatsoever, without the lett or molestation of any person or persons whatsoever untill they shall accomplish their severall and respective ages or day of marriage, which shall first happen.

And I nominate and constitute my loveing friends, Thomas Sterling, and Robert Brasseur, my brother-in-law, to be overseers of this, my last will and testament, desireing them in all things to see it carefully performed; and I publish and pronounce it to be the absolute lastwill and testament of mee, Mary Brasseur.

IN WITNESS whereof, I have hereunto sett my hand and seale, May the five and twenty, one thousand six hundred sixty and three.

Signed and sealed as the last will and testament of the said Mary Brasseur in the presence of: Theophilus Lewis, James Pugslep.

An update from the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee on recent proposed legislation in the USA

From the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committeee:

The IAJGS Records Access Alert has been posting about antitrust legislation focused on big technology for a while, in Australia, Europe and North America. While big technology is not strictly genealogical, we can’t do our genealogy without the search engines, social media etc. so it is very relevant when legislation is introduced that will address these platforms.

Five members of the House of Representatives introduced bills targeting Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. The legislation is aimed at restraining the power of Big Tech and staving off corporate consolidation. If enacted the bills would be the most ambitious update to monopoly laws in decades.

The proposals would make it easier to break up businesses that used their dominance in one are to get a strong hold in another and would create hurdles for acquisitions of nascent rivals and would empower regulators with more funds to police companies.

In recent years there has been broad bipartisan support to curb the dominance of the biggest technology companies. Legislators are pointing to the dominance of a handful of firms as a root cause of spread of disinformation, in equality in labor and wages and haphazard rules across the internet.

Representative David Cicilline, the Democratic chair of the antitrust panel, is an original co-sponsor of the bills, as is the antirust panel top Republican, Ken Buck. The chair of the Judiciary Committee, Jerrold Nadler, also sponsored the bills. Cicilline’s press release may be read at: https://cicilline.house.gov/press-release/house-lawmakers-release-anti-monopoly-agenda-stronger-online-economy-opportunity

One of the laws would make it illegal for a company such a Google which has a dominant search engine to own another business that relied on online research. The company would not be permitted to favor results for its YouTube video service under the proposed new law and could be required to spin off the video business if it favored it over competitors. The bill is entitled The American Innovation and Choice Online Act. The bill is sponsored by Chairman Cicilline (D-RI-01) and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX-05). The unnumbered bill text may be read at: https://cicilline.house.gov/sites/cicilline.house.gov/files/documents/American%20Innovation%20and%20Choice%20Online%20Act%20-%20Bill%20Text.pdf

A second measure would make it illegal in most cases for a platform to give preference to its own products on its platform with a hefty fine of 30% of the U.S. revenue of the affected business if they violate the measure. The tech giants face comparable challenges to their energy throughout the globe, dealing with a number of antitrust investigations in Europe and new laws in Australia and India to curb their energy. The bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08) and co-sponsored by Ranking Member Buck (R-CO-04). The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act (yet unnumbered) may be read at: https://cicilline.house.gov/sites/cicilline.house.gov/files/documents/Platform%20Competition%20and%20Opportunity%20Act%20-%20Bill%20Text%20%281%29.pdf

Another measure bans platforms from owning subsidiaries that operate on their platform if those subsidiaries compete with other businesses - potentially forcing the Big Tech firms to sell assets. The bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07) and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX-05). This bill is entitled, The Ending Platform Monopolies Act, and may be read (yet unnumbered) at: https://cicilline.house.gov/sites/cicilline.house.gov/files/documents/Ending%20Platform%20Monopolies%20-%20Bill%20Text.pdf

A fourth measure promotes competition online by lowering barriers to entry and switching costs for businesses and consumers through interoperability and data portability requirements. It is called The Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) This bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D- PA-05) and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT-04) and may be read (yet unnumbered) at: https://cicilline.house.gov/sites/cicilline.house.gov/files/documents/ACCESS%20Act%20-%20Bill%20Text%20%281%29.pdf

The fifth bill updates filing fees for mergers for the first time in two decades to ensure that Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have the resources they need to aggressively enforce the antitrust laws. It is called The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act and is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO-02) and co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN-05). It and may be read (yet unnumbered) at: https://cicilline.house.gov/sites/cicilline.house.gov/files/documents/Merger%20Filing%20Fee%20Modernization%20Act%20of%202021%20-%20Bill%20Text%20%281%29.pdf

The above bills will all be referred to the House Judiciary Committee. The House Judiciary committee is chaired by Jerry Nadler (D-NY-10) since January 2019 and the ranking member is Jim Jordan(R-OH-04) since March 12 2020. The members of the Judiciary Committee may be found at: https://judiciary.house.gov/about/members.htm

"From Amazon and Facebook to Google and Apple, it is clear that these unregulated tech giants have become too big to care," said U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat and sponsor of this measure.

The pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it "strongly opposes" the bills' approach. "Bills that target specific companies, instead of focusing on business practices, are simply bad policy ... and could be ruled unconstitutional," the Chamber's Neil Bradley said in a statement.

In contrast, Robert Weissman, president of advocacy group Public Citizen, said "Big Tech’s unchecked growth and dominance have led to incredible abuses of power that have hurt consumers, workers, small businesses and innovation. That unchecked power ends now."

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/technology/big-tech-antitrust-bills.html and

https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-house-lawmakers-introduce-bipartisan-bills-target-big-tech-2021-06-11/

It is too soon for bill numbers to have been assigned. One will have to monitor Congress.gov at https://www.congress.gov/ for the numbered bills. As they were only introduced on June 11 I would wait until later next week to determine if numbers have been assigned.

To read the previous postings about antitrust, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, US antitrust legislation, EU antitrust legislation and more, go to the archives of the IAJGS Records Access Alert at: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/private/records-access-alerts/. You must be registered to access the archives. To register go to: http://lists.iajgs.org/mailman/listinfo/records-access-alerts and follow the instructions to enter your email address, full name and which genealogical organization with whom you are affiliated You will receive an email response that you have to reply to or the subscription will not be finalized.

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

The U.S. National Archives has a request for comments on a Draft Customer Research Agenda. Comments are due by 21 October 2022

See this page for the request and links to the draft: Draft Customer Research Agenda.

Are we related? Checking at Family Search's RootsTech

Until the end of March you can check if you are related to me by using the link below. You will need a free account and a tree on Family Search. This relies on the information entered by the users and is for use as HINTS and not to be taken as correct until you have verified each link.

One example is my Ball ancestry. I am NOT related to Col William Ball, a grandfather of George Washington. See my earlier article on the Washington-Ball ancestry. My ancestors John Ball and his son, Moses Ball, owned land that became Mt Vernon, and Moses worked for George Washington. In his writings, Washington refers a coorespondent to Moses Ball for information about "family land" because Moses and John Ball had owned the land before the Washington family. He nowhere refers to Moses Ball as kin.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/connect/787b5034-edf8-465c-b6fa-f301452de294/friend/MMM9-XB3?cid=rar_copy

Let me know if you find a verifiable connection. Happy Hunting!