Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

New Director of Development for East Tennessee Historical Society

Tamara W. Ownby, CFRE, began May 15 as Director of Development for East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS).  She brings 10 years fundraising experience to this new position and will be responsible for securing financial resources to support the mission of ETHS to preserve, interpret, and promote the region’s history.

U.S. WW II Draft Cards Online

As predicted in this newsletter on May 19, Ancestry.com has now created a new online database collection of World War II Draft Cards. Be aware, however, that this new online collection is not all the draft registration cards, only a subset.

Street Digger Inherits an Unexpected Share of $10 Million Fortune

You say that you know all your ancestors were of modest means? You know there will never be any money to inherit? Perhaps you should be checking a bit more closely.

A 71-year-old man in California looks likely to share the proceeds of an art sale worth up to £5 million (roughly $10 million U.S.) after he was tracked down by genealogists and identified as the descendant of a Victorian servant.

Genealogical Society Hoping to Return Veteran's Plaque

The Flint (Michigan) Genealogical Society has a plaque honoring a veteran of World War II and would like to find the grave or vault it belongs on. The society got the bronze plaque, which is about 5.5 by 8.5 inches, from the Davison Historical Society, which received it from the Davison VFW.

The plaque reads, "Clyde N. Lehew, Tech 5 US Army, World War II, Feb. 1 1920 Jul. 15 1994, Purple Heart."

BCG names two Certified Genealogists

The following is an announcement from the Board for Certification of Genealogists:

The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) is proud to welcome two individuals who have earned the credential of Certified Genealogist.

(+) Update: Free Telephone Calls via the Internet

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a great service to make telephone calls via the Internet in place of a regular telephone. I have been pleased with this service, especially the price. Free is always good. In addition, the audio quality usually is as good as or better than a regular telephone call.

Find a Courthouse Address

Looking for the address of a particular courthouse? The web site of the National Center for State Courts can help.

Ingham County, Michigan Removes Online Document Images

In a major step backwards, the Ingham County Recorder of Deeds, Michigan, has announced that she is removing images of recorded documents from the county's web site. The Lansing State Journal reports that Social Security Numbers will be removed from recorded documents, including tax liens, even though there are few records with SSNs.

Index to New Jersey Marriage Records, 1848-1867

The State of New Jersey began collecting marriage records on May 1, 1848. The Secretary of State has now computerized the records for May 1848 through May 31, 1867 and has placed the index online, where it is available to everyone.

Podcast: An Interview with Simon Orde about Family Historian

Podcast: Version 3.0 of Family Historian was released a few weeks ago. This powerful Windows genealogy program is very popular in the U.K. and elsewhere. Family Historian is very graphics oriented and its visual representations of family trees extend even to the program’s data entry screens. In this audio podcast, Dick Eastman talks with Simon Orde, the owner of Calico Pie Limited, the company that produces Family Historian. Simon thoroughly describes the many features of Family Historian.

(+) How to Search 5000 Family History Books for Free

There is an excellent online collection of genealogy indexes and digital images of several thousand books, all available to everyone for free. The collection includes images of the pages of more than five thousand family history books. The majority of the collection focuses on U.S. genealogy although there are references to ancestors in other countries. Any collection this big is a treasure trove for genealogists, but searching it for particular names or places can be daunting - unless you use a few simple tricks.

The Popularity of Your Last Name

The U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of Americans every ten years. The same government agency also asks a lot of questions of those people, such as how many bathrooms are in their house and whether or not the family owns a computer. The Census Bureau even counts how many people have the same first or last names.

Announcing Podcasts on EOGN!

Podcast: I am delighted to announce another expansion of this newsletter’s offerings: podcasts. I will now be offering “radio broadcast” interviews of many of the world’s leading genealogy experts. To listen to these interviews, all you need is your present computer. In fact, there is no requirement for new software; you can use what you already have.

You can listen to this 9 minute, 47 second story using any modern computer that has either speakers or headphones attached. It can also be downloaded to an iPod or other portable music player. To listen to the interview, click on the "play" button located to the left of the long bar below.

First, a bit of explanation is in order. You may ask, "What's a podcast?"

Podcast: NGS 2006 Conference Discussion with Barbara Vines Little

Podcast: This is an audio interview with Barbara Vines Little, President of the National Genealogical Society. In this podcast, Barbara and I discuss the upcoming National Genealogical Society annual conference to be held near Chicago on June 7 though 10.

You can listen to this 28-minute interview using any modern computer that has either speakers or headphones attached. It can also be downloaded to an iPod or other portable music player. To listen to the interview, click on the "play" button located to the left of the long bar below.

RSS Feed of Podcasts

MP3 File

SiteFinder Online

The following is an announcement from Art Lassagne of GoldBug. It describes an interesting new and free service:

Introducing SiteFinder Online, a free web-based version of The Gold Bug's SiteFinder U.S. place name database. SiteFinder Online lets you search for towns, cemeteries, schools, courthouses (and more) and plot them onto Google Maps, where you can zoom in & out or overlay the SiteFinder locations onto satellite images of areas you are studying.

Gordon Watts Reports

The latest issue of 'Gordon Watts Reports' is now online. This online publication focuses on Canadian genealogy current affairs. Topics in this issue include:

• 2006 Census: Census Day 2006 has come and gone
• 2006 Census: Promises, promises repeated - and then reality

(+) You Have No Privacy. Get Over It.

Over and over we read articles bemoaning the lack of privacy. Lawmakers propose silly laws to "protect privacy" or to "stop identity theft." The proposed laws actually would do no such thing. The fact is that we don't have any privacy today, laws or no laws. Our movements and our personal information are easily available to anyone who cares to check. In fact, our ancestors also had no privacy. The only difference is that today's technology makes it easier to spy on you, me, and other citizens.

How I Send This Newsletter

A newsletter reader this week asked about a problem he was having receiving this newsletter. As part of my answer, I mentioned that I spend several thousand dollars a year for a bulk mailing service to send these newsletters. The reader expressed surprise and asked, "Why can't you just mail 'em out like regular email from your home/office computer?"

County Mayo 1838 Ordnance Survey Maps Online

The Mayo County Library has just placed the 1838 Ordnance Survey maps of Mayo online. The maps are presented in very high definition that allows you to identify individual houses, narrow country lanes, rivers, lakes, and even rows of trees.

NARA to Announce ERA Release Date

The National Archives and Records Administration expects to unveil initial capabilities of its Electronic Records Archive in September 2007, according to Ken Thibodeau, director of the electronic records archive program management office. Thibodeau spoke at the 2006 AIIM Conference and Exposition in Philadelphia last week.