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.

(+) How to Obtain Information from the 1940 and Later Census Records

Anyone who has been researching U.S. ancestors for very long is probably familiar with the U.S. census records. Most American genealogists know that the census records of 1930 and earlier are publicly available; anyone may view them. However, the census records of 1940 and later are sealed and not available until 72 years after the date of the census. Or are they?

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: