Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Family Atlas Genealogy Mapping and Publishing Software

A new mapping program aimed at genealogists was announced today. I saw a late beta version of this program in operation a few weeks ago and was impressed by it. I hope to write a review of Family Atlas soon.

Here is today's announcement:

Digital Genealogist Goes Live

A new genealogy "e-magazine" is available. Digital Genealogist is now online.

As announced last July by Liz Kelley Kerstens:

"Ancestry has discontinued its magazine Genealogical Computing, effective with the July/August/September 2006 issue that is currently in the mail. As editor of GC for the past nearly seven years, I still believe there's a need for a magazine devoted to genealogy and technology. To that end, I am starting my own magazine later this year. It will be called Digital Genealogist and will be delivered to subscribers as a PDF. It will be similar in format and content to Genealogical Computing. In fact, a lot of the authors and columnists will continue to write for me in the new publication, including Drew Smith, popular Cybrarian columnist. The first issue of Digital Genealogist will be sent out via PDF attachment to subscribers in November 2006"

ProQuest Sells Business Solutions Division for $500 Million

ProQuest is well known in genealogy circles as the parent company of HeritageQuest Online, the company that provides online images of U.S. census records, Revolutionary War Pension Applications, Freedman's Bank records, PERSI, and more than 20,000 local and family history books. The company also has had recent financial troubles. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Gregory resigned abruptly, and the company has now restated its 1999-2004 financial results.

In a brief article in this newsletter on April 30, 2006, I quoted ProQuest's Chief Executive Officer Alan Aldworth: "Given ProQuest's current financial circumstances, we believe the sale of Business Solutions may be in the best interests of the company." That has now happened.

GenealogyBank Adds More Newspapers

GenealogyBank was only announced a couple of weeks ago. You can read my earlier article about GenealogyBank if you click here. Now the service has added a lot more newspapers to its online database. Newspapers that have been added this month include:

BCG Recognizes Retired Trustees

The following announcement was written by the Board for Certification of Genealogists:

Connie Lenzen, President of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, announced the retirement of three respected trustees, effective on October 15th.

Another Method of Finding Your Ancestors

Perhaps it is the time of year. Halloween seems to make us think about "out of the ordinary" research possibilities. Here's one I thought you might enjoy.

The Welch House Inn is located at 56 McKown Street in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. The Inn reportedly is haunted. When current owners Susan Hodder and Michael Feldmann purchased the inn four years ago, they were told that a benevolent spirit lodged there. "I was skeptical," said Hodder. And then the mysterious occurrences began.

(+) Finding Cemeteries With Your Computer - Part 2

In part #1 of this series of articles, I described how to search a free, online database of cemetery locations and then how to display that information on an online map. I also described how to obtain driving directions to the cemeteries of interest.

In Part #2 of the article, I will tell how to simplify the driving process by having an electronic assistant that gives you turn-by-turn driving instructions.

Witches in Your Family Tree

This is the time of year for ghosts, goblins, and other such superstitions. However, perhaps it is also a time to pause and reflect on the horrors of those who suffered in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The witches of Salem and nearby towns probably have hundreds of thousands of present-day descendants (including the editor of this newsletter, who descends from Rebecca Nurse). If you have ancestry from early Essex County, Massachusetts, you have an excellent chance of finding a connection to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Update: Encyclopedia of Genealogy

The following articles have recently been added or updated by the readers of the Encyclopedia of Genealogy:

The End of PAF?

Personal Ancestral File (often called PAF) is one of the most popular genealogy programs available. It is produced by the LDS Church (the Mormons) and is made available to everyone at no charge. Millions of genealogists around the world use Personal Ancestral File.

There is one problem: the program hasn't had a significant update in years. In fact, it is a rather old-fashioned genealogy program by today's standards. Other free programs now offer more features than what is found in PAF. Even more features can be found in programs selling for rather low prices.

Appleton's Books & Genealogy to Close

After more than a decade in business, Appleton's is closing its doors. Appleton's started as a traditional "bricks and mortar" bookstore serving genealogists in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area. Some years ago, the owners closed the physical store in favor of selling books on the World Wide Web. Sadly, Appleton's Books is now closing the online store as well.

An Overhaul for FamilySearch.org

A major overhaul of the Mormon Church's FamilySearch.org Web site will soon be available, phased in one step at a time. The plan is to provide a meaningful site, even for those who have no experience researching family history. Steve W. Anderson, Online Marketing Manager for the Church's Family History department, states that new visitors to the site will be able to "do something meaningful without having to learn anything prior."

While obviously aimed at newcomers, I suspect that experienced genealogists will also benefit from many of the changes.

LDS Church Launches African American Genealogy Resources Web Page

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has launched a new web page on www.familysearch.org that will make doing African American genealogy research easier. The announcement came during the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society’s (AAHGS) 28th annual conference, which is being held in Salt Lake City.

(+) Finding Cemeteries With Your Computer - Part 1

Perhaps you found a reference that says your ancestor lived in Holladay, Tennessee. Now you ask, "Where the heck is that?" Even more interesting, the record might say that the ancestor was buried there in the Brinkley Cemetery. Now you really want to know where that cemetery is located! Luckily, in this modern age, this is easy to do, using your home computer and an Internet connection.

Back in the B.I. age (Before Internet), you would purchase a map of Tennessee and then look for the town. However, many small locations are not shown on modern maps. It is also possible that the place may have existed only in past years and has since disappeared. A current map may not show the place you are interested in. Most importantly, finding a small cemetery on a modern map is often impossible.

Fender Skirts

I normally don't pass on the various anonymous joke lists and other e-mail messages that I receive but I must admit that I chuckled over this one:

I came across this phrase in a book yesterday "FENDER SKIRTS." These are obviously from a '57 Chevy.

A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about "fender skirts." My '54 Ford and my '61 were so equipped. It started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice. Remember “Two-Toned”?

Like "curb feelers." I've been think about getting a pair of these but couldn't find them in the Auto Parts store.

AncestorsOnBoard.com: A Major New Online Genealogy Resource

A new web site has appeared: AncestorsOnBoard.com. I suspect this is going to become one of the major sources of information about ancestors who traveled from UK ports to various cities around the world. The site will eventually list 30 million passengers who sailed on ships that departed from Southampton, Glasgow, Queenstown (Cobh of Cork), and other ports.

This site greatly complements the Ellis Island web site and even exceeds it in many ways. The new AncestorsOnBoard.com will list detailed information about travelers to many North American cities, not just New York. Yes, it even includes information about many who went to Canada. In fact, this new online resource includes passenger lists for many voyages to Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. You will also find some passenger lists for voyages to South America, the Caribbean, West Africa, and all parts of Asia. Many of these passengers were never documented upon arrival in their newly-adopted countries.

Harvard University to Retrieve Stolen Paintings from a Genealogist's Estate

In the April 15, 2006, newsletter, I wrote a brief article mentioning the death of 62-year-old William M.V. Kingsland, a prodigious researcher and genealogist. He was well-known in genealogy circles. He was also known for his upper class manners and encyclopedic knowledge of Manhattan architecture. In his obituary in the New York Sun, one friend said Kingsland "was slightly annoyed that the 20th century had occurred." It seems that Mr. Kingsland also kept a few mysteries as well.

Who Was Christopher Columbus?

Would you like to solve a genealogy puzzle that is more than 500 years old? Spanish scholars are on a mission to demystify Christopher Columbus's life, long shrouded in a veil of mythic heroism. They are using a combination of 500+-year-old documents and modern DNA testing.

Was Columbus a Genovese nobleman or Catalan pirate? Adventurous explorer or greedy tyrant? What if the Italian gentleman who discovered America was, as some suggest, a brutal torturer and slave owner? Today he might be tried as a war criminal for mercilessly torturing his captives. And what if he wasn't even Italian?

Search 10+ Years of Newsletters

This morning I posted an article about Google's new custom search engine capabilities. Entitled Google Launches Customizable Search Service, the article briefly describes a new search service that lets web site owners create search capabilities that restrict searches to groups of specific pages and websites. I ended by writing, "The new service has only been available for a few hours, so I do not yet know of any Google-based customized genealogy search engines available at this time. However, I suspect we will see a few before long."

Indeed, at least one such genealogy search engine is now online: I created it this afternoon.

Library and Archives Canada adds Online Passenger Lists and More

The following announcement was written by Library and Archives Canada:

Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the launch of Traces of the Past, a new component of the virtual exhibition Moving Here, Staying Here: the Canadian Immigrant Experience. This site, funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage through its Canadian Culture Online initiative, tells the exciting story of immigration to Canada from the early 19th century to the outbreak of the Second World War through documents held at Library and Archives Canada. Not only will you see first hand the trials of immigration through narratives enhanced by manuscripts, publications and visual material, you are encouraged to find your own family's history through the databases of digitized documents that are provided, such as passenger lists, and muster rolls.