Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Towne Family DNA Project

The following announcement was written by the Towne Family Association:

The Towne Family Association (TFA) is pleased to announce the formation of a Towne Surname DNA Project. The primary purpose of the project is to establish a baseline yDNA profile for William Towne (1598/99 - c 1673; married Joanna Blessing) by testing documented male descendants of his sons Edmund (married Mary Browning), Jacob (married Catherine Symonds), and Joseph (married Phoebe Perkins).

On the Road Again

I am packing my bags and hitting the road again. I am leaving home for three weeks and will be traveling by land, sea, and air.

I'll spend the first week on board a cruise ship with several hundred other genealogists. This is the annual cruise sponsored by Wholly Genes, producers of The Master Genealogist genealogy software and of Archive CD Books USA, which makes digital reproductions of old books and other materials of value to genealogists. I have been on this cruise before and always found it to be top notch. I suspect this year's cruise will be at least as good. This year's cruise will depart Fort Lauderdale and make stops in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Princess Cays, Bahamas. The ship returns to Fort Lauderdale at the end of the one-week cruise.

Like most genealogy cruises, the Wholly Genes Cruise combines genealogy classes at sea, daytime excursions in exotic ports, and luxurious accommodations at all times. Three things differentiate the Wholly Genes cruises: the large number of speakers, the large number of presentations, and the large number of attendees.

The United Church of Canada Archives Finds a New Home

The following announcement was written by the United Church of Canada:

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- In a statement released today, The United Church of Canada is pleased to announce a new location for its archives that are housed in Toronto.

In early 2008, The United Church Archives (Toronto) will be moving from the Victoria University campus at the University of Toronto to The United Church of Canada's General Council Office at 3250 Bloor St. West in west-end Toronto.

Currently The United Church of Canada supports a regional network of archives situated in 10 different locations throughout Canada. In Ontario, the United Church Archives (Toronto) manages the records of the General Council, the antecedent denominations, and the records of Bay of Quinte, London, Hamilton, Manitou, and Toronto Conferences and their respective presbyteries and pastoral charges.

GenealogyBank Expands Online Historical Newspaper Collection

The following announcement was written by GenealogyBank:

Over Four Million New Articles Available for Family History Research

NAPLES, FL -- GenealogyBank, a leading online provider of historical and recent newspapers for family history research, announced today the addition of over 100 fully searchable historical newspapers. This includes more than 4 million articles brimming with significant genealogical content.

Next week, GenealogyBank will add another 2 million articles from over 100 more newspapers. Complementing more than 200 million family history records, this latest addition will expand coverage to over 2,200 U.S. newspapers in all 50 states.

Attention French-Canadian Descendants: Did You Inherit Oculopharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy?

Not only do genealogists have the opportunity to learn about their ancestors, but they can also learn about various inherited diseases. Some of these medical conditions could be life-threatening while others are merely an inconvenience. By studying inherited diseases floating around in your family, you may save or prolong your own life or the lives of your loved ones. By identifying the risks early in a person's life, medical treatment often can be much more effective than the limited choices available after the medical condition becomes obvious.

I find it interesting that one French-Canadian couple in the 1600s who are the ancestors of millions of living people have tentatively been identified as carriers of a common form of muscular dystrophy. It became more than "interesting," however, when I recognized the names of this couple as my ninth great-grandparents. Suddenly it wasn't just "interesting;" it was personal!

If you have French-Canadian ancestry, now is the time to check your pedigree charts.

GeneTree - a New DNA & Genealogy Social Networking Site

The Sorenson Foundation is well known as a major DNA testing organization that is interested in genealogy. Now the same foundation is branching out by starting a brand-new, DNA-enabled social networking site, again with a focus on genealogy and family. GeneTree.com is a place that allows people to share photographs and videos and collaborate on sharing their family history. The web site's goal is “… to be able to take any two people in the world, sit them down and tell them exactly how they are related.”

Genealogy social networking sites seem to be popping up everywhere these days. GeneTree enters a crowded field, already filled with the long-established MyFamily.com as well as more recent sites such as Geni.com, FamilyLink, FamilyRelatives.com, Zooof.com, and Famillion.com. According to GeneTree, the web site is unique due to its digital media software and a tie into the DNA database run by Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF). The site will also offer mitochondrial DNA testing as part of its suite of services.

NPRC Opens more than Six Million New Military Personnel Files

The following note was forwarded by Dear Myrtle. (Thanks Myrt!) Her blog is available at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com.

NOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just released by the NARA Public Affairs office. Please address all inquiries to Public.Affairs@nara.gov  or contact Bryan McGraw, Director of Archival Programs at NPRC, at 314-801-9132.

National Personnel Records Center Opens more than Six Million New Military Personnel Files
St. Louis, MO

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) will open for the first time all of the individual Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) of Army, Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard military personnel who served and were discharged, retired or died while in the service, prior to 1946.

Video: Midwest Genealogy Center

The Mid-Continent Public Library's Genealogy and Local History Branch in Independence, Missouri is a world class genealogy center. It attracts genealogists from all over the country. However, the Genealogy and Local History Branch has outgrown the available room and a new $8 million building is now under construction. The new building is now scheduled to open in May, 2008. I wrote about this some time ago at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/09/new_8_million_g.html.

A new video now describes the many services of the Mid-Continent Public Library's Genealogy and Local History Branch, interviews a number of patrons and the describes the new building. If you are thinking about visiting the Mid-Continent Public Library or if you are not familiar with this great facility, you will want to see this video.

MyFamily.com Launches Updated Social Networking Site

The following announcement was written by The Generations Network, parent company of MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com and several other web sites:

BELLEVUE, Wash., Oct. 23 -- Myfamily.com, the leading social networking service for families, today announced a new release of myfamily.com 2.0 beta available at http://www.myfamily.com/. The new release lets families connect online to share news, recipes, family history, photos and video in a safe, private and media-rich environment. Myfamily.com 2.0 beta offers several new features and services, including the ability to leave voice messages directly on the site or narrate photo slideshows using a phone.

National Archives and FamilySearch Announce Wide Reaching Agreement

The U.S. National Archives and the FamilySearch team today have both issued press releases about cooperative projects. I posted the announcement about Civil War widows' records a few minutes ago. It was written by the National Archives and records Administration. A few minutes later I received this similar, but different, announcement from the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU), doing business as FamilySearch:

National Archives and FamilySearch Team Up to Digitize and Index Mountains of Historic Documents

National Archives and GSU to Digitize Some Civil War Records

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:

National Archives and the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) Announce Digitizing Partnership

Washington, D.C.  Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Wayne Metcalfe, vice president of the Genealogical Society of Utah, today announced a five-year partnership agreement to digitize case files of approved pension applications of widows of Civil War Union soldiers from the National Archives.  GSU has many years of experience microfilming historical records at the National Archives and throughout the world and in recent years has moved to providing digital capture and publishing services.  Digitization makes possible unprecedented access to the unique historic documents in the custody of the National Archives.

Libraries Shun Deals to Place Books on Web

I have written several times about Google Books and occasionally about Microsoft Books. Those two organizations are working with some major libraries to scan millions of older books. However, some libraries are no longer cooperating. They do not like the restrictions placed by those companies.

Several libraries, including a large consortium in the Boston area, are instead signing on with the Open Content Alliance, a nonprofit effort aimed at making their materials broadly available.

NEHGS and Ancestry.com Announce Partnership

The following announcement was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:

The New England Historic Genealogical Society is pleased to announce the launch of the NEHGS & Ancestry.com collaboration, making available for the first time special pricing and other member benefits.

This collaboration is one we hope marks the beginning of future programs and specials that bring together some of the most important and vital research information to amateur and professional genealogists everywhere. We are excited to offer the following specials to our members and friends:

Video: NEHGS and Ancestry.com Announce Partnership

I recently had an opportunity to talk with D. Brenton Simons, President and CEO of the New England Historic genealogical Society and also with Loretto Dennis Szucs (Lou), Executive Editor and Vice President of Community Relations for Ancestry.com. The primary topic of conversation was the partnership between the two organizations that was announced earlier today.

DNA Analysis for the Masses

Reuters News recently produced a video article about the use of DNA to learn about one's genealogy. It features Ancestry.com's new DNA service produced in conjunction with Sorenson Genomics. It also features a very brief question-and-answer session with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak.

You can watch this video either by clicking on the above icon or by going to http://youtube.com/watch?v=gOA2v48r1z0.

On the Road Again

I am traveling once again. This weekend I'll be in the Syracuse, New York area for a meeting of the Central New York Genealogical. If you find yourself in the Syracuse area this Saturday, stop in! I suspect you will enjoy the meeting.

Details may be found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~nycnygs/meetings.htm#Oct.

I also suspect the weekly Plus Edition newsletter might get delayed by a day or so this week.

Guardian and Observer Newspapers to be Available to All

I recently wrote an article (still available at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/10/british-guardia.html) about 212 years of stories of the British Guardian and Observer newspapers becoming available online. To access the archives at no cost, you need to visit a library that subscribes to the archives. Access presumably will be free for the patron although the library does pay a subscription fee.  A new announcement now says that anyone may access the same archives from home by paying a fee.

Use a Jump Drive, It's Better

While standing in the checkout line today at the local Target store, my eyes zeroed in on the one high-tech device on the nearby rack. This is the display rack that contains all the “impulse items” that buyers might consider while waiting in the interminable check-out lines: bubble gum and candy for the kiddies, Hollywood movie magazines for the bored, and jump drives for the techies.

Yes, the local Target store is selling USB jump drives at the checkout stand. I have written before about these tiny devices, describing how convenient they are. USB jump drives or thumb drives, or memory sticks or whatever you care to call them are rapidly replacing floppy disks and CD-ROM disks as the media of choice for short term storage, say a year or less. Now Target is selling 32 megabyte jump drives for $3.99 each. At that price, I could find many uses.

Cheney and Obama are Related

You will probably read a dozen more stories like this before the election, but there is one new article about related politicians in the news recently. Lynne Cheney has been researching her husband's genealogy for her new book and discovered that Dick Cheney and Barack Obama have at least one thing in common: an ancestor.

You can read the full story at http://www.thesequitur.com/content/view/1690/43/.

Comment: If I read one more story about two politicians being related, I think I'll scream. Let's face it, everyone is related to everyone.

Genetic Ancestry Tests Mostly Hype, Scientists Say

An interesting story has appeared in Science magazine, followed by a synopsis in the LiveScience web site. While several companies now claim that for as little as $100 and a swab of the inner cheek, they can reveal a person's family tree and ancestral homeland. However, more than a dozen scientists from various backgrounds say such "recreational genetics" or "vanity tests" have significant scientific limitations and rely on misconceptions about race and genetics.