Jon Cryer, Hilary Duff to be on TLC TV series

‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ looks into celebrity ancestors.

Returning May 21 on the TLC channel for its 10th season will be the genealogy based program “Who Do You Think You Are?”

Scheduled to be featured are celebrities Laverne Cox, Jon Cryer, Hilary Duff, Megan Mullally, Molly Shannon and Jean Smart. The season contains six, hour-long episodes. The celebrities usually say how much they know about their ancestry, then one line is focused on. Hints at the ancestors uncovered in this new season include witches, royalty and indentured servants. The show will travel to Ireland and Scotland and also will include some DNA testing.

Past episodes can be found at TLC.com, then search for the program. Earlier episodes featured very good and specific areas of genealogical research and discussed the condition of records in certain countries.

Heirloom Handoff

“Heirloom Handoff ” is the title of an article by Denise Levenick in the May/June issue of “Family Tree Magazine.” It covers a dilemma I hear weekly from my friends: What to do with family heirlooms, including papers, research, family furniture, silver, china and so forth.

The author is quite to the point — distribute the items to heirs, donate to an archive and dispose of the rest. An archive is going to be interested in your papers, with major reservations of course. A museum might be interested in some of your family belongings, such as decorative arts, paintings, etc. But, from my experience in helping folks with just one painting, even that is not easy. You can dispose of items via an auction or other sale after you have tried other means. That brings us back to distributing to your heirs and other relatives. Many friends say their children have shown no interest. I always ask, “Have you actually asked them?” One friend created a legacy notebook listing all the family items, such as furniture, books, china, with the point of origin from various ancestors, so her children would know where they came from.

Levenick’s article can help people get organized. Best to do your planning before something happens to you. At newsstands now, or see www.familytreemagazine.com.

Georgia Supreme Court Case Files subject of talk

Joanne Smalley will speak May 22 at 7 p.m. at the Cobb County Genealogical Society in Marietta. She’ll discuss the valuable information found in Georgia Supreme Court cases and their case files at the Georgia Archives. See Cobbgagensoc.org for details. Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P.O.Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031 or gagensociety.org.