Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

(+) Finding Heirs: The Dark Side of Genealogy

Genealogists find ancestors. However, a few also find descendants and others. In fact, a number of professional genealogists supplement their income by finding "lost heirs." That is, they locate beneficiaries who may not be aware that someone has left them money. This seems like a benevolent thing to do until you examine the underlying business practices often employed.

Still ANOTHER Celebrity Genealogy TV Series in the U.K.

BBC Two's "Who Do You Think You Are?" television show about researching your family tree has become so popular that it is now spawning imitators. Great Britain's ITV networks plans to show "You Don't Know You're Born" this fall. The program will follow well-known personalities as they trace their family tree and then take on their ancestor's job.

An every-name index of the 1901 and 1906 Censuses of Canada

The following is an announcement from Ancestry.ca:

Celebrate Canada Day -- Explore Your Family History

What were your ancestors doing in 1901?

New Heritage Centre in the Scottish Highlands

Inverness will be the home to a new £4 million ($7.3 million U.S.) heritage centre, it was announced today. The Highland Archive Centre will house significant documents from post-Culloden legislation, documents relating to the Highland Clearances and details of 15th-century council meetings. The new centre will also contain a family research facility.

Civil War Records Online

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a computerized database created by the U.S. National Park Service. The database contains very basic facts about Union and Confederate servicemen from all 44 states and territories of that time.

The first phase of the CWSS contains names and other basic information from 6.3 million soldier records in the National Archives. This phase of the project is complete and is available now. Note that these are strictly soldier's records; the database does not yet include information about sailors.

Photos Being Collected for New Book on Massachusetts Polonia

The following is an announcement from Barbara Proko, Janice Baniukiewicz Stickles, and the Women's Guild of Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, Worcester, Massachusetts:

If there's a vintage photo of a Central Massachusetts Polish picnic in your family album, it could help tell the story of Worcester County Polonia in a groundbreaking new book.

ASA Upholds Complaint Against Ancestry.co.uk

The British Isles apparently have stricter rules about truth in advertising than do the Americans. Ask the European office of MyFamily.com. The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint lodged about a magazine ad that described the company's U.K. web site.

National Archives to Preserve Valuable Digital Data Collections

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) signed an agreement earlier today to create methodologies for "collaboration, innovation, demonstration, and preservation of some of the nation's most valuable digital research collections." The impact of this project could be huge for genealogists, historians and many others.

Using SiteFinder Online

I have been using an interesting new web service called SiteFinder Online. It is a free web-based version of The Gold Bug's SiteFinder U.S. place name database. I have been using the service to locate old cemeteries, but it has many other uses as well. SiteFinder Online lets you search for towns, cemeteries, schools, and courthouses (and more) and plot them onto Google Maps, where you can zoom in and out or overlay the SiteFinder locations onto satellite images of areas you are studying.

The Role of the 21st Century Genealogist in International Probate Research

The following is an announcement from the Association of Professional Genealogists:

You still have until July 1 to register early (and get a member discount) for the Association of Professional Genealogists' Professional Management Conference in Boston on August 30.   The conference will be held at the Conference hotel (Sheraton) in historic Back Bay Boston.

Not sure about attending? Here's what you'll be missing!

Pocket Genealogist Version 3

The following is an announcement from Northern Hills Software:

Northern Hills Software is pleased to announce the release of Pocket Genealogist Version 3. 

Pocket Genealogist, the award winning product of Northern Hills Software LLC, is the leader in genealogy software for Windows Mobile devices such as the Pocket PC.    With Pocket Genealogist, you can keep your key genealogy facts at your fingertips and leave the bulky laptop and notebooks at home.  Pocket Genealogist provides the most comprehensive data support available on a mobile device including events, facts, notes, sources, repositories, addresses, to-do lists, and LDS Ordinances.

What a Difference Only Five Years Can Make

It can be interesting to look back at lifestyles and prices of several generations ago. However, I would suggest that we don't always have to look that far back.

For instance, in the year 2001:

Genealogy Data Endangered in RV Fire

Clifford and Arlene Beck escaped from their recreational vehicle (RV) moments before it was consumed in flames Sunday at Riverside RV Park in Canby, Oregon. RV Park employee Peter Fooks was the hero: he rescued the couple from the burning RV when a power scooter used by the physically handicapped blocked their exit. Fooks reached into the heat and thick black smoke to pull the scooter from the RV's main exit. The Becks then were able to escape on their own.

A Voice for Genealogists in the Library World

The following article was written by Janet Tomkins, a genealogy librarian at the Vancouver Public Library in British Columbia. It is copyright 2006 by the author and is published here with her permission:

International Federation of Library Association's Section 37. Genealogy and Local History. Not the punchiest moniker, perhaps, but one that denotes an entity doing important work on behalf of librarians serving genealogists.

U.S. National Archives Closed by Flooding

Flooding from a weekend of heavy rain in Washington, D.C. shut down the Justice Department building, Internal Revenue Service headquarters and the National Archives on Monday, and created a commuter nightmare with washed-out roads, mud blocking the Capital Beltway, and delays on area rail lines.

District of Columbia officials urged people to avoid the flooded downtown areas.

(+) Dutch Tulip Mania of 1636-1637

We often think of speculation in stock market, real estate, oil futures, or dot-com companies to be modern ventures for risk-taking entrepreneurs. Not so. Our ancestors were known to take perhaps even greater risks in a largely unregulated business atmosphere. Perhaps the most famous was the Dutch Tulip Mania of 1636-1637. However, it was not confined to the Dutch; many of our ancestors in other countries also joined in the frenzy. Many of them lost fortunes, large and small.

Naturalization Index Published for Los Angeles County

The Southern California Genealogical Society has announced the publication of a new three-volume series:  The Naturalization Index of the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, California 1852-1915.

Brewster Kahle's Modest Mission: Archive Everything

Brewster Kahle is on a mission. He wants the whole planet to have access to human knowledge. All human knowledge. And he's striving to make that possible--one byte at a time.

Ten years ago, Kahle founded the nonprofit Internet Archive, with the goal of preserving the hitherto ephemeral pleasures of the Net for posterity. But, unsatisfied with limiting himself to the saving of Web sites, Kahle decided to broaden his scope and include existing collections of books, television programs, movies and music in the archive's massive digital repository.

FGS/NEHGS 2006 Genealogy Conference Early Discount to End Soon

The following is an announcement from the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the New England Historic Genealogical Society:

FGS/NEHGS 2006 Genealogy Conference in Boston: Early Discount Deadline July 1st!

Are your calendars marked for this coming August 30 to September 2, 2006 for a visit to historic Boston? An awesome genealogical event of a lifetime will be taking place in The Birthplace of American Genealogy. The Federation of Genealogical Societies and the New England Historic Genealogical Society are hosting a spectacular genealogical conference. It is just over two months away and the registration and excitement levels are tremendous. You don’t need to have a connection to either FGS or NEHGS to register for this conference. Everyone is welcome.

Ancestry.com Completes U.S. Census Indexes

Ancestry.com announced the addition of historic U.S. Census records to boost its archive of searchable names to 5 billion, making it what the company calls the most comprehensive genealogical database ever compiled. The Provo, Utah-based company announced on Thursday that it has now indexed the complete U.S. Census records from 1790 to 1930 and placed all the indexes online, along with images of the original records. It has been a Herculean effort that took a team of experts and workers a combined 6.6 million hours to accomplish.