Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Halvor Moorshead Retires

Halvor Moorshead is well known in genealogy circles as the owner/publisher of Moorshead Magazines - which includes Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, History Magazine, and the new Discovering Family History. Halvor has sent an e-mail message to many of his friends and acquaintances announcing that he is retiring.

Nobody should wonder about the future of the magazines, however.

Findmypast.com Adds Six More Counties to the 1871 Census

The following announcement was written by Findmypast.com:

Six new counties have now been added to the 1871 census of England and Wales on findmypast.com - these are Cardiganshire, Cumberland, Monmouthshire, Northumberland, Warwickshire and Westmorland. There are now 40 complete counties online at findmypast.com, equating to 93% of the population surveyed in this census. The remaining 14 counties will be added in early March as part of findmypast.com's mission to offer a full set of England and Wales censuses online by the end of 2008.

LostCousins.com adds "Upstairs, Downstairs"

The following announcement was written by LostCousins:

Upstairs, downstairs - where were YOUR ancestors?

"Upstairs, Downstairs" was one of the most successful TV series of the 1970s, winning awards on both sides of the Atlantic as it told the tale of the Bellamy family and their servants. But what was an enjoyable drama for us could have been grim reality for our ancestors, because in late 19th century England over a quarter of girls aged 15-19 were live-in servants and for most of them their only hope of escape from a life of drudgery was to marry.

Archive CD Books Australia and Gould Genealogy Partner With FamilyLink.com, Inc.

The following announcement was written by Archive CD Books Australia and Gould Genealogy:

First large genealogical collection from Australia to be online at WorldVitalRecords.com

Provo, UT -- 02/29/2008 -- Archive CD Books Australia and Gould Genealogy have partnered with FamilyLink.com, Inc. to make 344 Australian and New Zealand databases more accessible to a worldwide audience at WorldVitalRecords.com (a service of FamilyLink.com, Inc.).

(+) Kekule Numbering System

Genealogists often use terms that are not familiar to “outsiders.” Most of these terms become familiar soon after we get involved in searching for our family trees. We soon speak of pedigree charts, enumerators, Henry numbers, fan charts, and more. However, one term we do not hear often pops up occasionally: Kekule Numbers.

The German mathematician Stephan Kekulé of Stradonitz (1863-1933) was a genealogist as well as the son of famed mathematician and chemist Friedrich August Kekulé. He used a numbering system to show relationships in text format. In German-speaking countries, lists of names created with Stephan Kekulé’s numbers are still referred to by his name: Kekule numbers. 

Video: Allison Stacy, Editor of Family Tree Magazine

At the recent Family History Expo in St. George, Utah, I had a chance to spend some time with Allison Stacy, Editor of Family Tree Magazine. She is an experienced genealogist, a journalist and an editor. Allison discussed the many articles being published in Family Tree Magazine, a "how-to" publication that features articles about genealogy basics, how to find records, product reviews, web site reviews, etc.

(+) Hearsay, You Say? by George G. Morgan

The following article was written by George G. Morgan:

I sent a package of genealogical information to all my first cousins on my mother’s side of the family a few months ago. They were all very interested, and it quickly became obvious that they had all thoroughly read the more than 50 pages of the descendant’s report and notes enclosed. How do I know that? That’s because almost all of the cousins called me within about ten days. All were complimentary about the detailed research, but some of them took exception to some of the information included. I expected that, but I was really surprised that they had also read the citations for the facts I had included. Read on, and you will understand what this process included and the responses I received.

Slave Manifests Offer Link to Ancestors

Fourteen thousand slave manifests have been unveiled at the Atlanta Black Family History Symposium at the National Archives for the Southeast Region in Morrow, in Clayton County, Georgia. The documents track slaves in the late 18th century and the 19th century who came to Savannah, Mobile, Charleston, Beaufort, or Jekyll Island. There are also some manifests from Africa.

Matt Wright Becomes Editorial Director at FamilyLink.com

I suspect that quite a few readers of this newsletter know Matt Wright. Those folks may not know that Matt has switched employers. The following announcement was written by FamilyLink.com:

After eight years at Ancestry.com Matt Wright recently joined FamilyLink.com as director of editorial and print products, bringing with him a wealth of genealogical experience, expertise and connections in the industry.

Video: Legacy Family Tree with Ken McGinnis

Ken McGinnis is Vice-President of Millennia Corporation, publishers of Legacy Family Tree, one of the leading genealogy programs for Windows. He and partner Dave Berdan have been publishing Legacy Family Tree for twelve years. Their program is easy-to-use and appeals to computer and genealogy novices and experts alike. It also has a great price: the Standard Version is FREE while the DeLuxe Edition sells for $29.95.

I had a chance to talk with Ken at the recent Genealogy and Family Heritage Expo in St. George, Utah. Ken described many of the features of Legacy Family Tree. He also brought along a large "billboard" that illustrated many of the reports available.