Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Practical Tips For Gravesite Searching

Leslie Wagner has some great tips on how to visit  cemetery and find genealogical-relevant information there. She advises that "Take a camera to photograph the headstone. Headstone rubbings will actually cause chemical damage to the stone."

South Carolina African American Records to Be Published Online

The following announcement was written by Lowcountry Africana and The South Carolina Department of Archives and History:

Lowcountry Africana and The South Carolina Department of Archives and History today announced plans to digitize and publish freely online more than 25,000 historic documents of interest to researchers of African American genealogy and history.

Under the new agreement, Colonial and Charleston, South Carolina estate inventories dated 1732-1867 will be digitized and indexed in detail, including the names of more than 30,000 slaves. Inventories of estates in early South Carolina probate records often listed slaves in family groupings. They also detail the material possessions so important for researchers of social and cultural history. "South Carolina has one of the richest sets of early government records of any of the original states,” said Charles Lesser, Senior Archivist at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.” This new cooperative effort will revolutionize access to an especially important segment of those records," concluded Lesser.

"Superguns" of Elizabeth I's Navy

File this under "history:" The English navy at around the time of the Armada was evolving revolutionary new tactics, according to new research. Tests on cannon recovered from an Elizabethan warship suggest it carried powerful cast iron guns, of uniform size, firing standard ammunition.

(+) Along Those Lines... by George G. Morgan: Modern Tools for Your Genealogy Research Trips

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by George G. Morgan.

Technological innovations over the past 25 years have changed our lives and have made our genealogical data collection much easier. Portable computers, handheld personal data assistants, and cell phones and so-called smartphones with high data storage capacities have allowed us to communicate with others and connect to the Internet. Special application programs (apps) also have allowed us to load our genealogical data onto these devices and take it along with us anywhere we go. The result is that we can now make genealogical research trips of all sorts and have our data with us for immediate reference.

This is the time of year when many of us begin planning those summer research trips. Our families may call them “vacations,” but we genealogists all know that these trips are really just excuses to visit ancestral areas and home sites, cemeteries, courthouses, libraries and archives, and other venues in which we can search for more original records to expand our knowledge.

(+) Free or Low-Cost Communications When Traveling - Part I

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

I believe I have some experience with communications while traveling. I am uploading this article to the EOGN web site from a hotel room in Tallahassee. I hope to write Part II of the article while riding a red-eye flight from Orlando to London, England in a few days. If all goes well, I will upload Part II from a hotel room in London.

Traveling does not have to mean you need to be incommunicado. In fact, traveling may be the one time when you want to call home frequently – to check on the children or grandchildren, to communicate with other family members, or perhaps to call the office. However, communications costs can be exorbitant for the unwary traveler. A few simple tricks can slash those expenses to zero or to a modest amount.

Genealogy of the the King in the Wizard of Id

The Wizard of Id comic strip created by Johnny Hart and Brant Parker is one of my favorites. This week, the comic strip shows the King (or the Midget Monarch as he is sometimes known) commenting about genealogy. It is humorous. Due to copyright issues, I won't publish the comic strip here but you can view it by going to http://comics.com/wizard_of_id/2009-02-20.

Maryland Historical Society Lays Off Staff

According to an article in the CityPaper web site, the Maryland Historical Society laid off six of its 48 staff members on Wednesday, including an archivist, a director of collections, an assistant curator, a security guard, and part-time librarian, according to one former employee.

Video Interview with Kasia Grycza

Kasia Grycza is a professional genealogist who lives in Poland. She is an expert in Polish, Austrian, and Russian genealogy. In this interview, Kasia offers some hints on how to get started in genealogy research in Poland and other Eastern European countries

Roots Television kindly recorded our conversation and has now made that video available at: http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences3.php?bctid=11909038001&bclid=10538975001. You might also want to look at Kasia's web site at http://www.discovering-roots.pl.

FamilySearch Update: 6 million New Indexed Records & 1.4 Million New Images

The following was written by FamilySearch:

Familysearch added over 6 million new indexed records and 1.4 million new images since January 5, 2009, to its Record Search pilot (see chart below).

The West Virginia birth, marriage, and death records, and the South Dakota state censuses for 1915 and 1925 are now complete. Many thanks to the thousands of online FamilySearch Indexing volunteers who helped make these wonderful records available. See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

On the Road Again

I will be traveling for the next week and a half so I'll issue the same disclaimer that I write every time I travel: I do expect to be traveling with an assortment of laptop computers, a wireless "air card" and wi-fi equipment, modem, and other gadgets.  I expect to post articles to this newsletter more or less daily during my travels. However, don't be surprised if I miss a day or two because of hardware malfunctions or travel constraints.

Tallahassee Genealogical Society's Annual Spring Seminar

If you are in or near northern Florida this weekend, you might want to stop in at the seminar sponsored by the Tallahassee Genealogical Society. In fact, I'll be there. That's because I am making several presentations to this group.

Unusual Names: A Video Interview with Dan Poffenberger

I met Dan Poffenberger at the recent AFFHO Congress in Auckland, New Zealand. Dan is an interesting fellow for several reasons. Many of us pursue genealogy as a hobby. Dan pursues genealogy as an vocation: he is a professional genealogist. Along the way he has developed an unusual hobby: he collects names. Not just any names, mind you, but unusual and humorous names, all with source citations that point to original documents.

How Popular is Genealogy?

WARNING: This article contains personal opinions.

A newsletter reader this week sent an e-mail asking a simple question:

I have heard about surveys showing genealogy to be the 2nd most popular hobby in America. Now I need a citation on this statistic and can't find one on the Internet. Can you help?

In short, the answer is "No." In fact, I question the "fact." I don't believe that genealogy is as popular as often claimed. Let's look at the facts.

Ancestry.ca Announces Global Project To Preserve Deteriorating Historical Canadian Records

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.ca, the Canadian online service that is part of The Generations Network:

Ancestry.ca designs new software to enable individuals to preserve historical records

(Toronto, ON – February 18, 2009) Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading online family history website, today launched the Canadian arm of the World Archives Project, which will give individuals the opportunity to help preserve historical Canadian records from the comfort of their own homes.

GenealogyBank Adds New Features

The GenealogyBank site announced several new features this morning, including:

1. Limit search to most recently added content
2. Search multiple states at once
3. Search multiple cities (Click on a state and you'll see the list of cities)
4. Search multiple titles (Click on the cities and you'll see the list of newspapers)
5. Narrow search by article types (look on the left column once you've done a search)

Follow-up: Facebook Reverts Terms of Service Change After User Uproar

This is a follow-up to the article I posted yesterday at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/02/facebooks-users-ask-who-owns-information.html:

CNN and other media outlets report that Facebook reverted their Terms of Service update and went back to using the previous one. The site posted a brief message on users' home pages that said it was returning to its previous Terms of Use policy "while we resolve the issues that people have raised."

(+) Casefile Clues: Comparing Lists of Children by Michael John Neill

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Michael John Neill.

There was not much to settle up when Wesley Jones died near Callao in Macon County, Missouri, in 1872. His estate consisted of a handful of chattel items and a few farm animals. There was no real property, and Wesley's estate was valued at $176.50 when it was appraised on 21 August 1872. The estate was small enough that nine days later his widow Surrelda Jones petitioned the court to receive the entire estate instead of distributing it to Jones' heirs. According to the petition, there “is no more if as much as she is by law entitled to.” As Wesley Jones' widow, Surrelda was entitled to a widow's award, and apparently Wesley's estate did not cross the threshold of her widow's amount. There is no record of the granting of the petition; but since the record ends there, it is reasonable to assume her petition was granted.

New Genealogy Wiki for Chinese-Canadian Roots

The following was written by the Vancouver Public Library:

The Vancouver Public Library has produced a new resource of special interest to genealogists with Chinese-Canadian roots.  The project also demonstrates the use of wiki technology for genealogy-related purposes.

Chinese-Canadians: Profiles from a Community is a wiki-based project developed in partnership with Library and Archives Canada.  The project reflects the long history of the Chinese community in Canada.  The goal is to create a portrait of the early Chinese-Canadian community by collecting and sharing the stories of individuals of Chinese origin who were born in Canada in the 19th century.

Dome Leaks Threaten Providence City Archives

The Providence, Rhode Island city archivist says leaks in City Hall's dome are threatening valuable centuries-old records. The leaks in the dome have stained the walls and have already damaged boxes of old photos, which are warped and stained from sitting in puddles. Plastic tarps covers some areas of the archive to prevent further damage.

Archivist John Myers tells The Providence Journal the problem has been getting worse in the past few years.

Legend Seekers: a Pilot for a New TV Series

The following was written by Legend Seekers:

Watch for the first TV series dedicated to the genealogy of ordinary everyday people -- like you!

Legend Seekers preview episode THE LIVELY FAMILY MASSACRE will begin airing on public television in select local markets starting with WFYI-TV Indianapolis, Thursday, March 26th at 9:30pm. See the episode trailer at: www.Legendseekers.com/media.html

Filming for the historical reenactment scenes was done on location at Indiana's own Connor Prairie in Fishers, IN.

Bloomington, IN schedule to be announced.  Check website often starting in mid-March for a complete listing of listings and markets.

Legend Seekers... the sagas of real American families
www.legendseekers.com