Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

New Annapolis, Nova Scotia Loyalist Books

The Annapolis Heritage Society Genealogy Centre is launching five new Loyalist family genealogy books on August 9 at the Granville Ferry Hall. These books, part of the society’s new Loyalists to Annapolis County series, are the work of four volunteers (Ina Oliver, Denise Rice, Ruth Ritchie, and Frank Taylor) at the O’Dell House Museum. The researchers have traced the lines of the Durling, Gesner, John Ritchie, Merritt, and Williams families who arrived in Annapolis County at the end of the American Revolution.

New Database Available Online - Census of Canada, 1881

The following announcement was written by Library and Archives Canada:

(le français suit l'anglais)

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new online database, Census of Canada, 1881. Through this online database researchers can access digitized images of original census returns featuring the name, age, country or province of birth, nationality, religion, and occupation of Canada's residents at the time of the 1881 Census. This includes notable figures such as Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Timothy Eaton, and Alexander Graham Bell.

The database is available at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1881

Former Archivist to Receive Jail Term for Sale of Historic Documents

As reported in this newsletter on January 28, 2008, Daniel Lorello of Rensselaer, New York, a New York State Department of Education archivist, was charged with grand larceny, possession of stolen property, and fraud. He pleaded innocent at the time but later switch his plea to guilty.

Lorello has since been terminated from his state position and is expected to receive a sentence of up to six years in prison on October 1. He must also pay $73,000 in restitution to those who unknowingly bought stolen property from him and returned it, plus a $56,000 confession of judgment to the Department of Education, and must forfeit all items seized as well as his private book collection.

(+) Include a PowerPoint Presentation on Your Web Site

Perhaps this article should be sub-titled: "Expand the Audience for Your Presentation."

So you gave a presentation at your local genealogy society? Perhaps you had handouts as well. However, it might be better to allow everyone to view your slides online at any time they wish. In fact, anyone who was unable to attend your presentation in person will also benefit from online availability, even if that person is on the other side of the world. Placing your slides online will give you "extra mileage" from your presentation, reaching a wider audience than you could ever accomplish otherwise.

How about your voice? Wouldn't it be great to place the slides online AND your accompanying talk as well?

Using the methods described in this article, you can place the slides online, whether you own a Web site or not. Even better, anyone can view the slides, even if they do not have PowerPoint installed on their computer.

Are DNA Tests a Waste of Money?

Which? is an independent consumer testing service in England. Now the company has written an article with strong claiming that DNA testing services are a waste of money. I'm not ready to believe these claims, but it sure makes for interesting reading!

The article states:

Technology Unlocks Limerick History

Limerick city in Ireland has decided to open up archived material collected from the Famine era right up until 1972. The Irish city has created an online digital catalogue of its records. The digitized collections are freely available to the public to promote research into the history of Limerick City and allow the public to access original documents in a virtual archive.  This is believed to be the first project of its kind in Ireland.

Allen County Public Library Receives $1 Million Gift

Fort Wayne philanthropist Ione Auer, who died in January 2007 at the age of 103, has left large gifts to each of several Fort Wayne institutions: the Allen County Public Library, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Each will receive a one million dollar endowment now plus additional $1 million donations annually for the next ten years. The funds are earmarked for "improving the quality of life for area residents," just as Ione Auer wished.

He Proposed to Her at the National Archives

When Matt Whitmer and Leigh Lacy were in the same eighth grade class, they went on a class field trip to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. While their 8th grade classmates clustered around the Bill of Rights, Matt and Leigh went to find some privacy and sneaked their first kiss before rejoining the group.

Puppy love doesn't last, and the two later went their separate ways. However, both eventually went to college at Miami University of Ohio, where they started dating for real. Recently, they returned to the site of that middle school field trip – the National Archives. This time, at the Declaration of Independence, Whitmer got down on one knee.

"It was 12 years ago we had our first kiss. I love you and want 12 million more ... Will you marry me?" he asked.

Ancestry.com Announces New Partnership with the Shanghai Library

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

ANCESTRY™ EXTENDS GLOBAL REACH TO CHINA, PROVIDING FIRST ONLINE ACCESS TO FAMILY HISTORY RECORDS IN WORLD’S LARGEST INTERNET MARKET

Exclusive partnership with Shanghai Library gives 1.3 billion Chinese and 38 million people* with Chinese heritage internationally the chance to explore their family history

• Chinese internet usage highest in the world
• Chinese family histories dating back 2,600 years
• Confucius’ family history available

The Generations Network Inc., parent company of the global network of Ancestry family history websites, which is the largest network of family history websites and dominates one of the internet’s fastest growing pursuits, has launched a dedicated Chinese family history website, jiapu.cn.

GEDCOM Explained

I frequently mention the acronym "GEDCOM" in this newsletter. This week a reader wrote to me with an excellent question: "What is GEDCOM?" I realized that I haven't explained this buzzword in a long, long time. So, here is a brief, non-technical explanation of the term for the newer subscribers to this publication.

GEDCOM is an abbreviation that stands for GEnealogy Data COMmunications. In short, GEDCOM is the language by which different genealogy software programs talk to one another. The purpose is to exchange data between dissimilar programs without having to manually re-enter all the data on a keyboard.

Video Interview: JoAnne Rockower of Geni.com

At this year's Who Do You Think You Are?" LIVE! conferenced in London, I had a chance talk with JoAnne Rockower, Director of Community Outreach for Geni.com, a rapidly-growing genealogy social networking site.

JoAnne talked about the purpose of Geni.com and described the manner in which it works. She described the privacy features, the ease of use, and the new features that have been added in recent months. Geni.com features GEDCOM import and export, family calendars, personal timelines, family timelines, family newsfeeds, birthday reminders, and a lot more. Geni.com excels at keeping families connected.

(+) Ancestor Show-and-Tell by George G. Morgan

Genealogy is a lot more than just names, dates, places, and old documents. Our ancestors were living, breathing individuals who worked hard to support themselves and their families. They lived in and participated in their communities’ social and economic life. They bought food and clothing or they produced their own. Most attended school and religious services, had hopes and dreams, and experiences joys and sorrows the same as we do.

I know that all of that seems pretty obvious. However, our ancestors’ lives aren’t just the sum of the documentation found in courthouses, archives, and cemeteries that we track down in person or on the Internet. Our ancestors and their family members had physical possessions that they used each day, and some of them survive in the caring hands of family members today. These “artifacts” help bring our ancestors’ lives into focus.

FGS Announces Rebates for Societies and Individuals

The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:

The Federation of Genealogical Societies has announced a new rebate program for individual registrants and the member societies to which they belong.

Any member society (including new members) with five or more full-price, full-conference registrants will earn a rebate, which the society may either keep or refund to its members. Societies with five to nine registrants will receive $30 for each registration; with ten to fifteen, $40; with fifteen to twenty, $50; with more than twenty, $50 plus $10 for each banquet ticket purchased by the group. New registrants can use the online rebate form; those already registered need only fill out a form by the end of the conference.

Tribal Junction Adds Social Networking, Genealogy and Family Communications

The following announcement was written by Tribal Junction:

Tribal Junction connects individuals to distant relatives through dynamically evolving family trees, personalized profiles, and group communication tools.
Tribal Junction's fusion of genealogy into a social platform sets it apart from existing social networking sites.

New York, NY - August 2, 2008 -- Tribal Junction has launched an innovative new Web site that branches out from the typical social networking capabilities and offers users an interactive platform for reconnecting with distant relatives. Family members can now sign up for free at www.TribalJunction.com and create a constantly evolving family tree, while also creating customizable profiles that include photos, family stories and more.

MobileFamilyTree Brings Genealogy to iPhone

Synium Software has announced the release of MobileFamilyTree, a genealogy application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. It costs $4.99 and is available for download from the App Store.

You can synchronize the changes you make to your family's origins between an iPhone and a Mac using MobileFamilyTree.Designed as a complement of sorts to Synium's MacFamilyTree software, MobileFamilyTree enables you to keep track of your family roots and information. The software keeps all the changes you make on your iPhone in sync with MacFamilyTree files, and lets you view, add and edit information wherever you are.

A Pre-Announcement of WorldHistory.com

New innovations in doing genealogy research over the Internet are just around the corner, Web entrepreneur Paul Allen said Thursday. The co-founder of Ancestry.com and corporate executive officer for Familylink.com, Allen said his company is about to launch WorldHistory.com in the next few weeks. It will allow users to upload their family trees and then, coupled with historical data on the site, learn more about the environment in which their ancestors lived.

"It will bring history to life," he told attendees at the Conference on Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University. "It will be a time-travel experience."