Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

(+) How to Easily Block All Junk Mail

Take back your in-box!

I have a new method of blocking all spam mail. This method blocks 100% of the spam, all the time. Yet my wanted e-mail gets through. I am convinced that if everyone on the Internet switched to this method today, spam mail would disappear from the Internet within six weeks as the spammers discovered that nobody ever received their messages, thereby never buying their junky products.

I had a huge spam mail problem until recently. I received more than 900 spam messages per day, and some days the total peaked at more than 1,100 such messages. Now I receive zero.

The Generations Network Shuts Down the Famous Census Images Site

Michael John Neill operates a great genealogy site, called RootDig. He has hosted many things on the site, but one of his most popular offerings has been images from census records, World War I draft registrations, passenger manifests, and other records that showed famous people. He openly stated that the images were obtained from Ancestry.com, and then he gave a lot of publicity to Ancestry.com besides.

I wrote about RootDig.com several times; you can find my past articles at http://tinyurl.com/359jyn. Now The Generations Network (TGN), parent company of Ancestry.com, has "requested" that Michael eliminate the images downloaded from Ancestry from his web site.

Footnote.com Drops Prices

I have written frequently about Footnote.com and will point out that the company sponsors this newsletter. This new online web site is making images of millions of historical documents available to everyone at very modest fees. Many of these documents are unique; they have never been available online until now. Footnote.com is doing this through agreements signed with the National Archives and Records Administration as well as with several other organizations.

Now the company has been experimenting with pricing. In the past, a monthly subscription that offers unlimited downloads was priced at $9.95. Now the same subscription costs $7.95. The annual subscription, again offering unlimited downloads, has dropped even more: from $99.95 to $59.95.

Hotel Genealogy Concierge Service

The concierge service at any good hotel offers many valuable services. The concierge can help you with dinner reservations, theater tickets, sightseeing tours and much more. Now the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh has teamed up with genealogy expert Sheila Duffy to introduce Scotland’s first ever hotel Genealogy Concierge service for visitors to Scotland.

In Memoriam: Jack Brissee

The following announcement of the passing of Jack Brissee was posted on the APG Listserve this morning.

At the request of Jack’s family, it is my sad duty to inform the list of the death of John A “Jack” Brissee, past president of the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society, current director of the National Genealogical Society, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and sometime attendee of the Institute at Samford.

Do You Have Jamestown Ancestry?

In conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the settling of Jamestown, the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation is offering an opportunity to discover possible ancestors who helped settle the colony. You do need to have an all-male (Y-chromosome) or an all-female (mtDNA) line of descent to be able to use this service.

The following announcement was written by the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation:

Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Invites Curious to Search World’s Largest Genetic-Genealogy Database for Jamestown Ancestors During 400th Anniversary

Encyclopedia of Genealogy Created, Updated by Readers

Writing in the Cincinnati Post's web site, Jan Mueller has published some very kind words about one of the projects that I am involved in. Jan wrote:

The powerful and progressive impact of social networking sites continues to transform the Internet as well as online genealogical research with the ever-increasing popularity of interactive Web sites such as the free-content Encyclopedia of Genealogy.

Update: “Who Do You Think You Are?” Conference - With Pictures

Date: 6 May 2007

Day #2 of this three-day event was mostly a repeat of Day #1: crowded, noisy and everyone seemed to be enthusiastic. I forgot my camera, leaving it in the hotel room. I meant to go back to the hotel in mid-day to retrieve it but never had a chance. There were too many things going on all the time.

(+) The National History Show in London versus Other Genealogy Events

I'd like to compare this weekend's London event with other genealogy conferences and events in the United States. First of all, the show in London was a fair, not a conference. There is a huge difference. Genealogy conferences as held in the U.S. and in many other countries tend to be aimed at the intermediate to advanced genealogists. To be sure, many conferences also have topics for beginners but if you go down the list of presentations, define each as introductory, intermediate or advanced and then tally the results, you will find that most conferences are heavy in the intermediate to advanced categories.

Wynne Genealogy on BBC Wales

BBC Wales recently ran a story about a group of Americans who returned to visit the birthplace of their ancestor. Dr. Thomas Wynne left Caerwys, North Wales in 1672. He traveled to the New World with fellow Quaker William Penn. The group even visited the room where their ancestor held secret Quaker meetings.

It is an interesting program that may inspire you to make a trip to your ancestor's homeland. You can view the entire story if you click on the above icon.

Plus Edition Newsletter is Delayed

I normally send my genealogy newsletter via e-mail every Sunday evening about this time. This is a short note to let you know that this week will be an exception.

FindMyPast.com Acquires PedigreeSoft.com

About six weeks ago I wrote a review of PedigreeSoft.com. It is an excellent online genealogy application that helps you manage your family history and genealogical research. It operates in much the same manner as all the other genealogy programs that we have all used for years, such as The Master Genealogist, RootsMagic, Legacy, Personal Ancestral File, Reunion and others. You can enter data, update that data, create reports, import and export GEDCOM files, share data with others, and much more.

At first glance, PedigreeSoft.com appears to be much like other traditional genealogy applications. There is one major difference, however: your data is stored on a web server, not on your own hard drive. In fact, PedigreeSoft.com is one of the new Web 2.0 applications. I expect we will see many more, such Web-enabled products within the next few years.

“Who Do You Think You Are?” Conference - With Pictures

I am sitting this evening in a hotel room in London, England. I am dog-tired. That's a sign that I had a busy and successful day. You see, I attended a genealogy and heritage show all day today. Given the size and activity of this show, it is no wonder I am exhausted.

Some Thoughts About Publishing Your Genealogy Data

Watching the comments posted to this newsletter's web site prompts many questions: Just how private are the facts that we record? Can we really "protect" our genealogy data? Should I copyright my data? Is my data automatically under copyright protection when I publish? Should I keep my data secret? Is it a good idea to do so? Or should I publish my genealogy data for all to see?

I do not know all the answers, but perhaps I can offer a few thoughts for your digestion.

Footnote.Com Releases Original Revolutionary War Documents for the First Time on the Internet

The following announcement was written by Footnote.com:

Lindon, UT - May 3, 2007 - Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones is best remembered for responding, "I have not yet begun to fight," when asked by the British if he wanted to surrender while doing battle on the night of September 23, 1779. 

Did you also know that he began his Naval career at the age of 13 or that his given name was John Paul?  It is believed that he adopted the surname Jones to throw authorities off his trail after being accused of flogging a man to death.  Based on historical documents it seems John Paul Jones had a number of disagreements with authorities that prevented him from rising higher than a captain in the Continental Navy.

Footnote.com released a collection of Revolutionary War documents available for the first time on the Internet.  Featuring collections such as the Revolutionary War Service Records, Papers of the Continental Congress and Revolutionary War Rolls, Footnote.com is quickly becoming the leading source for original documents relating to the birth of the United States. 

Footnote.com Users Meeting at 2007 NGS Conference

Footnote.com will be hosting a users' meeting at the National Genealogical Society Conference in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 10:00 AM. Footnote users who live near Richmond or who will be attending the 2007 NGS Conference, are welcome to attend. The company will discuss future plans, solicit user opinions, give out door prizes, and have fun with Dick Eastman and Beau Sharbrough.

Fewer Questions on U.S. 2010 Census Form Upsets Some People

The 2010 Census won't begin for another three years, but advocacy groups already are trying to add more questions onto the census form that will be sent to every American household.

Child welfare groups are fighting the government's decision to drop foster care from the choices listed to describe the relationships of people living under one roof. Ethnic advocacy groups, led by the Arab American Institute, are lobbying to add a question about ancestry.

ProQuest Civil War Era Database Now Available Online

The following announcement was written by ProQuest CSA. Please note that this online service normally is available through your local library and is not a part of HeritageQuest Online, a different product offered by the same company:

19th century American history resource helps researchers go beyond the battles

Ann Arbor, Mich. – May 1, 2007 –ProQuest Civil War Era, a new digital resource that will make researching the American Civil War and its context more direct and complete than ever before, is now available from ProQuest CSA.  ProQuest Civil War Era is the first research solution to collect, digitize and combine in a single search platform the era’s key newspapers and activist publications, creating a comprehensive view of not only the years of battle, but also the factors leading to war.

Medieval Help Desk

Struggles with technology are not new. We sometimes think of wrestling with word processors, spreadsheets, cell phones, ATM machines and other such devices as a new challenge, something that our ancestors did not have to deal with. Not so! In fact, technology has been both a help and a hindrance for centuries.

Beau Sharbrough, Senior Director of Content Strategy and Acquisition at Footnote.com, gave a hilarious and yet serious keynote speech at the recent New England Regional Genealogical Council conference in Hartford, Connecticut. He talked about many topics, including today's technology versus the future and the past. His speech was not recorded, but one example that he used is available online. Click on the icon above to see it

U.S. - Mexico Border Crossings Collection From 1903 to 1957 Now Online

The following is an announcement written by The Generations Network, the parent company of Ancestry.com:

PROVO, Utah, May 1 -- To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Ancestry.com, the world's largest online resource for family history, today announced the release of the first and only online collection of border crossing records for individuals who crossed the U.S. - Mexico border between 1903 and 1957. This new collection, which includes more than 3.5 million names, is the latest addition to Ancestry.com's Immigration Records Collection, which also includes the largest online collection of U.S. ship passenger list records featuring more than 100 million names from 1820 to 1960.