Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Pieces of Plymouth Rock sold on eBay

Thanksgiving week brought out a number of people who were anxious to make a quick buck by selling a piece of our national heritage. They sold rocks. In this case, all the sellers claimed that they were selling pieces of Plymouth Rock. Prices obtained varied from $609 to $2,175.

You can read about one seller's experiences at http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2005/11/29/news/news10.txt

The History of New York's Shinnecock Indians

Earlier this month, a federal judge granted the Shinnecock Indians one of their biggest victories since English settlers arrived in Southampton four centuries ago -- in a rare decision, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Platt decided the Shinnecocks were a bona fide Indian tribe. In the weeks since Platt's ruling, Newsday magazine has examined the hundreds of documents that make up the tribe's application for federal recognition to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is pending. The documents include a 19th-century pastor's handwritten history of his Shinnecock parish; a genealogical tree tracing tribe members' births, deaths and marriages back to 1800.

Billerica, Massachusetts Cemeteries Online

Billerica is a bedroom community of Boston,Ma ssachusetts. It is a sleepy place. The town was founded in 1655, and nothing much has happened there since. The residents like it that way. I know because I lived in Billerica for seventeen years. While I have no ancestors in the town, I did walk through the cemeteries several times. The Colonial-era tombstones are fascinating. Now Billerica descendants can search cemetery listings online. Photographs of many of the older tombstones are also available online.

GedWise 6.3 beta for Palm OS Handhelds

Battery Park Software has released a beta version of GedWise for Palm handhelds. It requires Palm operating system (OS) version 3.3 or higher and at least 512 kilobytes of memory. GedWise provides a fast and easy way to carry your entire genealogy database with you on any handheld device running the Palm OS.  You can quickly access your genealogy data on the Palm device at any time; there is no need to wait for the operating system to boot up. Simply turn the Palm device on, and start using it immediately.

While GedWise is a Palm application, it requires a Windows, Macintosh or Linux computer as well. Confused? Read on.

192.com Creates Online British Genealogy Directory

British directory website 192.com launched a new genealogy service today. The site offers searchable records of the more than 300 million registered births, marriages and deaths since 1837. It has also added information from the 1861 Census, which includes details of ancestors' occupations.

Internet Explorer Flaw Now Rated as "Extremely Critical"

Here is another reason to never use Internet Explorer. The security-riddled web browser has now earned a very rare "Extremely Critical" advisory notice. Microsoft was notified of the problem in March 2005 but has done nothing to modify the program or fix the flaw. In the meantime, rip-off artists can steal information from your computer if you are using Internet Explorer.

(+) Searching U.S. Census Records Online

Only a few years ago, searching the U.S. census records meant traveling to a genealogy library and spending hours reading microfilm copies of the original records. Some of us are fortunate to have well-equipped libraries available within a one- or two-hour drive of our homes, but many people have to travel further to view these records. Many genealogists could only view census records by traveling to a distant city and paying for travel, hotels, and restaurants.

EOGN.COM Web Site Re-arranged Slightly

I made some minor changes to this newsletter's web site this week. If you only read this newsletter in e-mail, you will not be affected by the changes. If you go to http://www.eogn.com and follow the menus, you also will not be affected. However, anyone who has the site bookmarked or anyone who uses an RSS newsreader to read the articles may notice some changes.

Savage's Genealogical Dictionary on CD-ROM from Archive CD Books USA

I often write about various genealogy products and write reviews for this newsletter. I frequently start off by writing, "this week I used something that I have never seen before" or some similar words. In other words, I am describing something that is new to me. This week's review is quite different.

This week I had a chance to use something that I have used hundreds of times before in the past twenty years, something that is invaluable to anyone researching Colonial ancestry in New England. The Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England by James Savage has long been recognized as the standard reference for New England immigrants before 1692. I purchased this four-volume set about twenty years ago and have referred to it time and again. I think my copy is dog-eared from use.

This week's experience with Savage's Dictionary was different, however.

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.

GedStar Pro version 3.0 for Palm OS Released

Owners of Palm handheld computers will be interested in this announcement from GHCS Software:

GHCS Software announces the release of GedStar Pro V3.0, an update of their premier genealogy software package for PalmOSä handheld devices. The major new feature in version 3 is support for the display of pictures on the handheld as an integral part of the genealogy data. Pictures can be imported directly from The Master Genealogist and Legacy Family Tree, as well as from GEDCOM files that contain links to picture files. The user has some control over which pictures are converted, and all included pictures are automatically resized and compressed for efficient storage on the PDA. With a single tap, users can view pictures associated with individuals, events, sources, and repositories. The initial release supports pictures in the popular JPEG and BMP formats, but support for more formats is expected in the near future.

Beware of "Your Family's Coat of Arms" Scams!

As the Christmas shopping season is upon us, perhaps it is time to remind people that there is no such thing as a "family" coat of arms. You will see ads on the web and in magazines as well as pushcart merchants in the malls selling this stuff. Yes, they will be happy to sell you an "authentic" reproduction of the Smith or other surname coat of arms, suitable for framing. They will also sell golf shirts embroidered with the same coat of arms or coffee cups with the same.

(Insert the sound of a loud, obnoxious buzzer here.)

(+) Palm Z22 handheld computer for only $79

You can now purchase the Palm Z22 handheld computer for the lowest price I have seen. This model has a bright color screen, 32 megabytes of memory and weighs only three ounces. It is capable of storing a large genealogy database in GedStar PRO, the leading genealogy program for Palm operating system handheld computers. You can take your entire genealogy database with you in a shirt pocket the next time you visit the library or archives. (GedStar PRO is not included at this $79 price.)

Major Jewish Genealogical Database from Istanbul, Turkey goes Online

The International Society for Sephardic Progress has announced that one of the largest and most important collections of Jewish genealogical records from a Muslim country have gone online. The text of the full announcement may be found at http://announcements.eogn.com/2005/11/major_jewish_ge.html

 

Read This Newsletter on your iPod

That's right, you can read this newsletter and other RSS feeds on your music iPod! You will need Macintosh OSX 10.4, Tiger, or OSX 10.3.9 Panther running on an iPod, iPod mini, or iPod Nano with Notes facility, plus the free program iFeedPod.

 

iFeedPod is available at http://www.carnglas.com

 

 

Archive CD Books USA

Family history archiving project expands to the United States

Columbia, Maryland - 24 November 2005 - The international Archive CD Books Project today announced its expansion and renewed focus on family history resources within the United States with the debut of a new partner company, Archive CD Books USA (www.ArchiveCDBooksUSA.com). 

Colorado State Attorney's Office files suit against Morphcorp

I have written about MorphCorp, Inc. and OurFamilyNewsletter.net a number of times. The company has been selling "family yearbooks" for years. They send advertisements for the "International [Surname] Family Yearbook" or similar titles. In this case, substitute your last name in place of "[Surname]." For instance, an advertisement sent to a person named Smith would peddle "The Smith Family Yearbook" while someone named Clark would receive an advertisement for "The Clark Family Yearbook."

You can read my most recent article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/07/international_s.html

About a year ago the company added an online web site to their bag of tricks. You can see the site at http://www.ourfamilynewsletter.net.

Now Colorado State Attorney General John Suthers has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Morphcorp, as well as the company's president and general manager, Maxwell MacMaster, for alleged deceptive advertising and sales of "Family Yearbooks."

Funny How Things Work Out...

You remember when your neighbor was the first person in town to get cable TV? To be sure, they got clear pictures but they only got five channels! Who would be dumb enough to PAY for the privilege of watching a television channel when the other channels are all free? All you need is rabbit ears. The neighbor pays HOW MUCH for those extra channels? I'll never do that!

Fake E-mail from FBI or CIA is really a Worm

Both the FBI and Internet security companies have announced this week that there is a fake e-mail that looks like it is from the FBI and a similar fake e-mail appearing to be from the CIA going around which are really being sent by the Sober worm. (A worm is loosely similar to a virus: it infects your PC and does nasty things.) The e-mails include an attachment, which is, of course, the worm. If you open the attached file, your PC is immediately infected.

If you get an e-mail that claims to be from the FBI or the CIA, don't open it!

What Did Our Ancestors Listen To?

What did Grandpa and Grandma listen to in their leisure time? You can now listen to their music to find out.