We left the Tetons and drove toward Salt Lake City. The campground I
had selected about half way to SLC was small and had no spots so we
drove another 100 miles to Evanston, WY and the Philips
RV Park . The park had an interesting history starting
as the Phillips Camp and Sinclair Service in 1936
on the Lincoln Highway. At one time they had cabins and motel rooms
but now it's only a campground although still owned and operated by
the Phillips family. Across the street are what remains of the
Evanston Sunset Camp,
Which served as a tourist camp for travelers
along the Lincoln Highway. Built in 1920 "these cabins represent
an opportunity for adaptive reuse and historic preservation". "The
Lincoln Highway was established in 1913 as the nations first coast
to coast automobile route. In dozens of towns along the Lincoln
Highway tourist camps sprang up. providing roadside lodging and
camping facilities for travelers."
We also walked on a very pleasant Greenway trail
along the Bear River
and a day latter we arrived in Salt Lake City. Our fourth visit to
the city for a stop at the Mormon Family Heritage Center. In
addition to visiting the Family History Center we walked on the
Jordan River Trail. Not that Jordan River but that’s what the river
is called in honor of the original.
We also saw less homeless people then we had
last time. On the other hand it does look like Salt Lake City
welcomes refuges
Between my retirement in 1998 and our beginning of the RV lifestyle
in 2002 I dabbled in genealogy and the creation of a family
tree. I didn’t pursue this seriously for many years although
we did stop at the Mormon Family Heritage Center in Salt lake City
on our first trip west.
During those years we tested our DNA As past of the National
Geographic Genealogy study both one and two. We learned about our
respective ancestors migration out of Africa but nothing personal.
Then after the second phase there was a tie in with Family Tree DNA
and we took advantage of that tie in by buying and taking the
Autosomal, and Full Mitochondrial DNA tests I also took the “Y” DNA
test only available to men because it’s what’s determines our sex.
Men get a Y from their dads sand an X from their mother while women
get an X from each parent . Men have an XY and women an XX. We also
inherit our Mother Mitochondrial DNA which has been passed down from
mothers since before we left the trees. Autosomal is a combination
of DNA you inherited from both parents and is used to identify you
matches people you are related to, both known if they tested and
unknown. Those that take what's available at FTDNA also get matches
on mitocondrial DNA and of course men get matches on their Y DNA as
well.
Some years ago the Mormon’s supposedly to trace or locate Joseph
Smith’s antecedents began collecting Genealogical records. Along the
way they attempted to baptize all the world’ dead. Well you can
guess the Jews weren’t to happy and created a real storm. The
Morman’s relented but continued to collect data which is available
in SLC and at satellite centers all over the world. The volunteers
helping visitors search for their genealogical history are friendly
and don’t proselytize.
Over the years I have discovered my father’s birth record and Debby
has discovered her Great grandfathers actual surname name along with
other interesting tidbits. Many organizations such as Ancestry
have tapped into the Mormons data base as have several others
including the free site Jewish Gen which is an online volunteer
organization that collects, translates and makes available a very
extensive database of Jewish Genealogy.
In addition to Family Tree DNA, several other companies
test DNA and all offer health analysis if your
interested. I am not but Debby has taken some tests regarding a
family history of cancer. There are also several organizations that
offer family tree software which helps you record and organize
your tree. The biggest and best known is Family Treemaker
which has a tie in with both Ancestry and Family Search, the Mormon
free software. My Heritage offers free software with an online
version, DNA testing and a premium membership which provides
data. I find Ancestry a better source for information as
MyHeritage keeps pushing stuff I don’t care about like information
on my wife’s second cousins mother in law and similar information
that doesn’t interest me. I would say the best source for
Jewish genealogy is Jewish Gen. This is online and free
although they offer extra access for a voluntary charitable
contribution. They have a very extensive database of Jewish
Genealogy obtained from Ancestry and the Mormon Family History
archives. There are also local Jewish Genealogical groups with
meetings and events all over. We belong to the Jewish genealogical
Society of Palm Beach County. Membership is $18 a year, non
members pay $5 a meeting and there is a library in a local area
synagogue. We also belong to an Escapee genealogical group so even
RV’ers who move around a lot can find support, research material and
yes there are even facebook and MeWe group. You never know who your
related to unless you test.
