Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

U.S. Government's Disappearing Data

Much of the US government's digital data from the late 20th and 21st centuries will be lost unless a system is developed to save and store it properly, says Reynolds Cahoon, the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) assistant archivist and chief information officer. Vital digital materials are being lost every day, and the cost of the losses is unknown and unknowable.

Historic 1798 Massachusetts Tax Records Discovered

Pam Fox, author of "Farm Town to Suburb: The History and Architecture of Weston, Massachusetts, 1830-1980" has discovered a dusty old book at the Weston Town Hall. Apparently it has been there since 1798 but nobody paid much attention to it. The volume is labeled District #5, Fifth Division Mass., and covers the towns of Weston, Newton and Waltham. Any genealogist with ancestors in those towns in 1798 will be interested in this book.

Statue of Liberty Items for Sale to the Highest Bidder

Artifacts removed from the Statue of Liberty during its recent renovation are now for sale on eBay. The items up for bid include eighteen 10-inch pieces of Lady Liberty's original inner framework, so-called splice bars, used to connect metal beams inside Alexandre Gustave Eiffel's gift to the American people, which was erected in 1886. The auction also includes 25 original bricks salvaged from a renovation of the Great Hall on Ellis Island, the immigration center's main processing building, built in 1916.

Update: Family Tree Maker 2005

Last week's newsletter contained my review of the latest release of Family Tree Maker. That one article has generated about forty comments and questions, all visible in the online "blog" of this newsletter. Many of the comments came from those who already have the program installed and have used it for a bit. These experienced users have provided a lot of additional material above and beyond what was in the original article.

If you are interested in learning more about Family Tree Maker 2005, make sure that you read all the feedback comments and questions.

Pocket Genealogist 2.90 Released

One of my favorite gadgets is my iPAQ handheld computer. I keep this little powerhouse in my pocket most of the time. It keeps my personal calendar, phonebook, and a lot more in a much smaller and lighter electronic version of those "Day-Timer" books.

Best of all, I also keep a genealogy database of 3,000-plus people in the same handheld computer. That includes events, facts, notes, sources, repositories, addresses, and to-do lists. I use the Pocket Genealogist, which is capable of storing many more records than my modest 3,000 entries.

On the Road Again

I will be traveling this week to Austin, Texas to attend the annual conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). There is a strong possibility that there will not be as many articles as usual for the next week in the daily edition of this newsletter, due to my travel plans. However, I almost always find interesting tidbits at these conferences so perhaps there will be some news to report each day of the conference. Also, with the new "blog" format of this newsletter I can now upload daily reports and even pictures to the newsletter. This week I will probably be posting articles and pictures from the conference within minutes to http://blog.eogn.com.

Fire Destroys 30,000 Priceless Books in German Library

A fire raged Thursday night for two hours in the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany. "A piece of the world's cultural heritage has been lost forever," said Culture Minister Christine Weiss.

National Archives in Waltham, Massachusetts Announces Election Related Exhibits

On Wednesday, October 6 at 6:30 PM, State Senator Susan Fargo, Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy, United States Marshal Anthony Dichio, and NARA Regional Administrator Diane P. LeBlanc will perform a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open three new election related exhibits. A special Open House and Tour will also be held for Waltham residents.

The Internet is 35 Years Old

Stephen Crocker and Vinton Cerf were among the graduate students who joined UCLA professor Len Kleinrock in an engineering lab on September 2, 1969, as bits of meaningless test data flowed silently between two computers. By January, three other "nodes" joined the fledgling network.

His Remote Was Cremated With Him

As a genealogist, I have read thousands of obituaries. One I read today surprised me. The last sentence stated "His remote was cremated with him."

True Brit - Part II

This is a follow-up article to the earlier one entitled "Federation of Family History Societies' conference is a Success." You can read that article at http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/08/federation_of_f.html. Perhaps this update should be called "Elvis appears at genealogy conference in England."

MyFamily Reunites Sisters on the Jane Pauly Show

Jane Pauly, one of the most recognized and successful TV journalists, is now launching her own talk show, The Jane Pauly Show. This is the PREMIERE WEEK of the show. The very best stories and topics will be rolled out during this big week - while NBC watches the ratings and reaction to a new show.

The show is titled: Sisters - The Unbreakable Bond. MyFamily will be reuniting sisters LIVE on the show on TOMORROW, Sept 2. Take a look at the Promo at: http://www.thejanepauleyshow.com/

Do the Dead Have a Right to Privacy?

Under U.S. laws, dead people have no legal rights to privacy although living people do. That is why U.S. census records are sealed for 72 years: the average expectancy of American adults at the time that decision was made was 72 years.

(Don't ask about the 50% who live longer than the average; this decision was made by a governmental bureaucrat, so normal logic does not apply.)