Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Jefferson Davis' Biloxi Home Beauvoir Reported "Demolished" by Hurricane

The following is from The Present Past blog:

Beauvoir, the last home of Jefferson Davis, was reported late Tuesday to be "virtually demolished" by Hurricane Katrina. The Jackson, MS, Clarion Ledger said that the historic building has been "reduced to rubble and a frame of a house."

New web site: US Census Bureau History

Here is an announcement from the U.S. Census Bureau about a very interesting new web site:

The Census History Staff has now launched a new website that makes its publications and services available online. There are high hopes also of being able to provide electronic copies of all available procedural histories as well transcripts of oral histories and a variety of publications and articles relating to the history of the Census Bureau and its efforts to provide quality data about America's people and economy. To access the new website, tap into: http://www.census.gov/mso/www/history/index.html

Index to Alberta Homestead Records goes online on Sept. 1

The following is an announcement from the the Alberta Genealogical Society:

With volunteer help, the Alberta Genealogical Society has created a name index to a collection of early Dominion land files held on microfilm at the Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) in Edmonton. Many of these files pertain to homestead lands patented in Alberta between 1870 and 1930. Volunteers indexed records on 685 reels of microfilm.

An Introduction to Graveyard Recording in Scotland

The Council for Scottish Archaeology has produced an excellent e-booklet for anyone who plans to spend some research time in Scottish cemeteries. While the information in the booklet describes Scottish cemeteries in detail, much of the information applies to cemeteries elsewhere.

RootsMagic 3 to be Released at FGS in September

The following is an announcement from RootsMagic, Inc.:

RootsMagic, Inc., a leader in family history software, will release version 3 of its award winning family tree software RootsMagic at the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference September 8, 2005.

San Francisco Genealogy Online

"San Francisco is a mad city, inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people whose women are of remarkable beauty." -Rudyard Kipling

SFGenealogy.com is a site created "...to provide FREE Internet access to genealogical and historical information for San Francisco and San Mateo Counties, and the State of California." The web site provides great information about the history of different neighborhoods, dating back as far as the site's owners can find data.

Project Reveals Details of Slave Life

The information she has could help someone find that missing branch in their family tree. That's what Marguerite Ross Howell thought each time she came across new data taken from centuries old court petitions.

"Genealogists may know their family history and that they were enslaved by so and so, and their ancestors lived on this plantation, but they may not know that one of their relatives was a cook or a carpenter or suffered a disease. These documents tell a lot of personal detail," Howell said. "They fill in the gaps a little bit and give a face to the individuals."

Update: Encyclopedia of Genealogy

A few months ago, I created a free online service for genealogists, called the Encyclopedia of Genealogy. While I'm the person who created the "shell" of this new service, newsletter readers like you write much of the information within it. If you missed the announcement, you can read it here.

ThinkFree Online

Every once in a while I find a product that causes me to say, "Wow! That's neat. But what would I ever use it for?" I found one of those products this week and have been using it for a bit. I have even found some useful purposes for it.

Saxony Roots' Online Ships and Passengers Lists Database

The Saxony Roots web site has embarked on a project of great potential value to genealogists. As stated on the site:

There seem to be "zillions" of transcribed Passenger Lists on the Internet, but they are extremely hard to find.

Our database is intended to serve as an INDEX for all FREE available Ships- and Passenger Lists on the Internet and to direct you to the proper website with just a "click." If you find any Passenger lists which are not yet in our database, PLEASE, let us know.

Legacy 6 to be Released Sept. 8

The following is an announcement from Millennia Corporation:

Legacy 6 to be officially released at FGS in Salt Lake City, UT on Thursday, September 8, 2005

It’s been 1 year, 9 months, and 20 days in the making — On Thursday, September 8, 2005, at the FGS Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, Legacy Family Tree 6.0 will be officially released! The wait will definitely be worth it.

(+) Another Way to Reduce Unwanted E-mail Messages

NOTE: Many online companies do not want you to read this article. This article describes a simple method of avoiding most of their advertising e-mail messages.

Several of the "big name" genealogy sites, along with thousands of other web sites, like to send e-mail to you. The "offending sites" include Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, CompUSA.com, Travelocity, and several of the larger and smaller genealogy sites. Perhaps you look at one thing on their site or purchase an item from their online e-store. Along the way, you had to give them your e-mail address. You know the rest: you receive frequent advertising e-mail messages from them, time and again for years.

DoroTree: Genealogy Software for Jewish Genealogists

The DoroTree software program is the creation of Jewish genealogists who were searching for a solution to their unique needs. This Windows program offers features not found in mainstream genealogy programs, including:

Jeff Chapman, R.I.P.

Jeff Chapman of Family Chronicle Magazine has passed away. He was only 32 years old.

The following is from Halvor Moorshead:

I am sad to tell you that Jeff Chapman passed away on the evening of 23 August 2005. Jeff was diagnosed with cancer in December 2004: he was told that he had about two months to live. Jeff and his new wife Liz determined that they would try to live as normal a life as possible for the remaining time: thankfully this was for considerably longer than the original estimate.

Video Tombstones

A new company plans to unveil new high-tech tombstones with embedded flat screen monitors that would allow visitors to play memorial videos of the deceased. Joe Joachim, who says he wants to be the Walt Disney of the funeral business, plans to show the Vidstone this year at the annual funeral directors convention.

QinetiQ sells 1901 UK Census site to Friends Reunited for £3.3m

QinetiQ (pronounced "kinetic") is a private corporation owned by the British government that launched the online version of the U.K. 1901 census on 2 January 2002. The site had lots of problems when it launched as tens of thousands of genealogists tried to access it at the same time. The site's servers crashed frequently and were down more than they were up in operation. You can read more about that here, here, here and here. Eventually, the company added more servers, and the load also abated. The U.K. 1901 has been stable now for more than three years.

In Memoriam: Ethel Farrington Smith (1910-2005)

The following is from the NEHGS eNews:

It is with great sadness that we report that Ethel Farrington Smith, our longtime patron, friend, and former trustee, died August 20, 2005 at the age of 95.

Map Your Ancestors

One new web site offers a very unique service: online maps of where your ancestors were born or lived. The maps are available online, drawn on Google's mapping service.

This new service provides a tool for you to present your family history in a visual format that will enable you to bring genealogy "to life." You will obtain a free web site as you trace your ancestors' paths. You can even zoom in on the satellite images of your great-great-great-grandparents' back yard. However, I should note that the satellite images are quite recent. Chances are there weren't any picture-taking satellites over your great-great-great-grandparents' back yard during the years they lived there!

Norwegian Database of the Dead

The Genealogy Society of Norway (DIS-Norge) is compiling a database of cemetery transcriptions. Many church web sites are also involved, adding their records to the effort.

Dr. Ralph Crandall steps down at NEHGS

After nearly a quarter of a century as Executive Director of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Dr. Ralph J. Crandall has decided to retire from that position, effective upon the hiring of his successor.