Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

California Voter Lists 1900-1944 Online

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:

Ancestry.com Uncovers California's Political Persuasions With More Than 30 Million Names in Voter Registration Lists, 1900-1944

A Modern-Day California Gold Mine for Family History Research, 20th-Century Voter Lists Reveal Party Loyalties of California Residents and Celebrities

PROVO, Utah, Jan. 31 -- Ancestry.com, the largest online resource for family history, today announced the launch of California Voter Registration Lists documenting more than 30 million names of Californians who registered to vote between 1900 and 1944. The collection, now searchable for the first time online, comes just prior to Super Tuesday, one of the most significant milestones in the 2008 race to the White House.

Family History Library to be Closed Saturday

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City will be closed this coming Saturday, February 2d in memory of Gordon B. Hinckley, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who passed away earlier this week.

Marshfield, Wisconsin Public Library Adds Online Genealogy Index

The Marshfield, Wisconsin Public Library has completed a 20 year project: an online local genealogy database. If you had ancestors in the Marshfield area, this is a great new resource.

This database represents over 20 years of work by many individuals.  Volunteers representing the Marshfield Area Genealogy Group and Marshfield Public Library culled through microfilm newspapers for records of births, deaths and marriages.  Their efforts were complemented by the work of GreenThumb/Experience Works/Senior Aides worker, Hilly Weimert.  Work on the index is continuous, with new events added each month.  This online index covers over 200,000 events reported in the Marshfield, Wisconsin area newspapers.

New York State Employee Arrested in eBay Sale of Stolen Historic Documents

Daniel Lorello, 54, of Rensselaer, New York, a department of education archivist, has been charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property and fraud. He pleaded innocent in Albany City Court on Monday. It is believed that Lorello stole hundreds of historic documents, many of which he sold on eBay. As a state-employed archivist, he had easy access to such documents.

Among the missing documents were an 1823 letter by U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun and copies of the Davy Crockett Almanacs, pamphlets written by the frontiersman who died at the Alamo in Texas.

Gordon B. Hinckley Dies at Age 97

Genealogists owe much to the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). The Church collects millions of records of interest to genealogists and then makes the records available to all, regardless of religious affiliation. One of the "friends" of non-Mormon genealogists over the years has been the president of the LDS Church, Gordon B. Hinckley. He has now passed away. Hinckley was 97 years old and served as church president since 1995 - and was very active in the acceleration of the genealogy work.

Washington Post Starts an Online Magazine for Blacks

The Washington Post Company has introduced an online magazine primarily for a black audience, with news and commentary on politics and culture, and tools for readers to research their family histories. Of note to genealogists, the new magazine features a section entitled “Roots” that will have online tools for people to build their family trees, link to or add information to other people’s trees and to construct maps showing their ancestral trails.

No Census, No Feeling

Census enumerators (census takers) have a difficult job at best. Can you imagine The Three Stooges interviewing local residents?

In a 1940 Three Stooges movie, Larry, Curly, and Moe obtained jobs as census enumerators and were to be paid four cents per name recorded. I watched the movie today, and now I understand some of census records I have looked at in the past! I think this is the same group that visited my great-great-grandfather's house.

The Next Generation (TNG) version 6.2.0 Released

"The Next Generation," affectionately knows as "TNG," is the name of a genealogy program that runs on web servers. Indeed, TNG functions in much the same manner as any other genealogy program: it has most all the features one expects in any modern genealogy program, including a powerful database, easy methods of adding new data, relationship charts, timelines, and more. The major difference is that TNG is installed on a Windows, Apple or Linux web server. It also is multi-user: multiple people can access the database and even add new data simultaneously.

I wrote a review of TNG in this newsletter several years ago. That review is still available at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2004/06/the_next_genera.html. You can also listen to an audio interview of TNG software developer Darrin Lythgoe at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/11/tng_with_darrin.html. Now Darrin has updated the program significantly.

Are Genealogy Web Sites Harmful to Societies?

Jim Beidler recently wrote an interesting article about conversations he has had with Jonathan Stayer, the head of reference for the Pennsylvania State Archives. Stayer believes that "Societies have lost members in the last 10 years as a critical mass of genealogical data has moved to the Internet."

True? Or has the Internet brought in millions more people who did not research their family trees in a pre-Internet world?

You can find Jim Beidler's interesting article at: http://www.ldnews.com/columns/ci_8034197.

I wrote an article two years ago offering the exact opposite opinion. I am republishing that article here. The following article was originally published in Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter on December 27, 2005:

Great Western Railway Shareholders Index Goes Live at FindMypast.com

The following announcement was written by FindMypast.com:

UK family history website www.findmypast.com today announced that it is adding another major new acquisition to its existing online collection - the Great Western Railway Shareholders index. This new online resource contains the details of over 290,000 people including 77,000 shareholders in the railway company along with related parties, such as executors or spouses.

Findmypast.com has been working in partnership with the Society of Genealogists to publish online the index to this fascinating set of records held at the Society's London headquarters. Records date from when the GWR was created in 1835 and the series continues through to 1932. This first online release covers the ledgers for the period 1835 to 1910. The indexes to the registers for the period 1911 to 1932 will follow in due course.

Google Wife Targets World Genealogy DNA Domination

Anne Wojcicki is the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, one of the world's richest men. She is also co-founder of a biotech company called 23andme. She was recently quoted as saying, "If genealogy continues at its current rate, what we're offering will soon become a standard part of people's lives."

Wojcicki and her business partner Linda Avey reckon their service represents the future of social networking. In the same way that MySpace, Facebook, You Tube and Flickr allow users to share information - in the shape of videos, photos or instant messaging - Wojcicki and Avey can see a time where people worldwide will share and compare their genetic details.

FamilySearch Indexing - You Can Help!

Tens of millions of records are now available to genealogists. Many of these records are available online and even millions more are available only on microfilm. Unfortunately, many of these records have never been indexed.

How can you find information that is available to you? The task is not easy today. However, a project organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will produce millions of indexed records within the next few years. In fact, the Church's vision is to provide computerized indexes to millions of  rolls of microfilmed records held in the Granite Mountain Vault near Salt Lake City.

American Legacy Magazine Presents "Know Your History" Mobile Tour Exhibit

February is Black History Month in the United States. To increase awareness of Black history and genealogy, American Legacy magazine is sponsoring am 18-wheeler "road show" that will tour 12 U.S. cities throughout the month.

Board for Certification of Genealogists’ Education Fund Workshop

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

Board for Certification of Genealogists’ Education Fund Workshop at the National Genealogical Society 2008 Annual Conference and Family History Fair in Kansas City, Missouri.

May 14-17, 2008, will mark the 30th Annual National Genealogical Society Conference in the States and Family History Fair. The 2008 conference will be held in conjunction with local hosts – Missouri State Genealogical Association, Mid-Continent Public Library, Northland Genealogy Society, APG Heartland Chapter, and Johnson County, Kansas, Genealogical Society.

(+) A New Genealogy Show for U.S. Television

Several countries have enjoyed genealogy television shows for several years. Most noticeable is “Who Do You Think You Are?” in the U.K., a hit series now in its fourth year.  A Canadian show of the same name is now being broadcast weekly on CBC. The format has also been sold to television production companies in Germany, Poland, Sweden, Australia, France, Italy, and Spain.

Of course, the United States had the wildly popular Roots series in 1977, based upon Alex Haley’s novel of the same name. However, it was a television adaptation of a novel that was loosely (but not accurately) based upon Haley’s family tree. After all, it was a novel: a fictional work.

James LeVoy Sorenson Dies at 86

It is with sadness that I report that James Sorenson, the man behind the non-profit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation and the GeneTree family history social networking site, has passed away.

I had a chance to meet Jim Sorenson on two occasions and both of those events left a lasting impression on me. I remember him describing his childhood and his early days in business. He grew up in the middle of the depression in a story reminiscent of the "Grapes of Wrath." As a young child, Mr. Sorenson moved with his parents to Yuba City, California as his father looked for work. Unable to find housing, the elder Sorenson rented a former chicken coop and converted it to a home for his family.

Jim Sorenson went to public school at the age of six. After one day in the classroom, the teacher sent a note home with the child advising the parents to keep the boy at home because he was "unteachable." Jim Sorenson never attended public school again. Many years later, after becoming a multi-billionaire, Sorenson was diagnosed as dyslexic.

Scotland Online Acquires FindMyPast.com

Two major organizations in the U.K. have issued an announcement of an acquisition. Scotland Online has been known in genealogy circles for its ScotlandsPeople service. FindMyPast.com (formerly known as 1837onlone.com) has been a major online genealogy company in England. (Click here to see my many past articles about FindMyPast.com.) Now Scotland Online has acquired FindMyPast.com. Here is the announcement:

SCOTLAND ONLINE CREATES WORLD-CLASS FORCE IN FAMILY HISTORY MARKET WITH ACQUISITION OF FINDMYPAST.COM

Scotland Online, the ISP and IT solutions provider, today announced it has acquired findmypast.com, the leading independent UK-based family history website, from Title Research Group as part of its plans to establish a world-class online network of family history resources.

This Newsletter is Twelve Years Old!

Boy, the time does fly! Twelve years has slipped by in almost the blink of an eye. It seems like only yesterday that I sent the first e-mail newsletter to about 100 people, mostly members of CompuServe's Genealogy Forums. None of them knew in advance that the newsletter would arrive; I simply mailed it to people who I thought might be interested. In 1996 nobody objected to receiving unsolicited bulk mail; the phrase "spam mail" had not yet been invented. I shudder to think if I did the same thing in today's Internet environment.

In that first newsletter on January 15, 1996, I wrote:

Family History Expo 2008, St. George

One of the largest genealogy fairs of the year will soon take place in the small city of St. George, Utah. This annual event is a "sleeper:" That is, the expo is not a national event and yet it attracts large crowds and a long list of presenters and exhibitors. The expo location is about a two-hour drive from Las Vegas, very convenient for many of us who fly to the event. I have been to several of the past Family History Expos and plan to attend this year's event as well.
 
Of course, those of us who live in colder climates always appreciate traveling to St. George in February. While the weather is variable, average daytime high temperatures at that time of year are about sixty degrees with occasional sunny days in the seventies.

Search the Virtual Surname Wall

The following was written by Paula Hinkel of the Southern California Genealogical Society:

We are very pleased to announce the roll-out of the searchable Virtual Surname Wall database, sponsored by the Southern California Genealogical Society.  The Virtual Surname Wall is free and open for use by all family historians and genealogists.  You need not be a member of SCGS to participate.

Although it took a little longer than we anticipated or wished, entries from over a thousand genealogists from around the world are now searchable by family name, by geographic region, and by each participant's Submitter ID.