Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

FamilySearch Publishes Its First Online Portuguese Collection

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Millions of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Civil Registration Records Now Digitally Searchable on the Web

SALT LAKE CITY—FamilySearch added the Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Civil Registration to its online collection—about 4.5 million new digital images. The free collection contains searchable digital images of the original birth, marriage, and death records from all of the municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro from 1889 to 2006. The new digital images can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot).

Video: Down Under Utah: Icelandic Minister

Roots Television has an interesting episodes: Genealogists Kory Meyerink and Nancy NeSmith uncover an interesting story of an Icelandic minister buried in Spanish Fork City Cemetery in Utah.

What was an Icelandic minister doing in Utah in the 1920s? Nancy and Kory decided to find out. The detective work involved serves as an example for all genealogists.

Footnote.com Adds More Than One Million New Images

Footnote.com (one of the sponsors of this newsletter) continues to add a lot of new content, including:

Interactive 1930 US Federal Census
NY Naturalizations
Indian Census 1885-1940
Civil War Union Soldier Service Records - Missouri
Texas Death Records

To see a list of all the records on Footnote.com including what has recently been updated, click here.

1880 History of Parke County, Indiana is Available Once Again

Those interested in the history and genealogy of Parke County, Indiana, now have an opportunity to purchase a previously out-of-print book. The Parke County Historical Society has again reprinted John Hanson Beadle’s 1880 History of Parke County. This book was originally part of Hiram W. Beckwith’s History of Vigo and Parke Counties, together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, published in 1880 by H. H. Hill and N. Iddings.

Flight 1549

Here is another story about computer backups:

Paul Jorgensen had just come from a meeting at Goldman Sachs when he boarded US Airways Flight 1549. He sat down in seat 1A next to the window, pulled out his notebook computer to capture of few thoughts, then put it away and prepared for takeoff.

Seated one row behind Jorgensen was Bill Wiley, also traveling for business with a computer onboard the plane. In fact, he brought a couple of notebook computers with him. But he, like Jorgensen and all passengers, abandoned his personal belongings and focused on saving his life when the plane crash-landed into the Hudson River.

Marilyn Labbe Receives Community Service Award

Marilyn Labbe of Moosup, Connecticut was recently awarded the Community Service Award by the Sarah Williams Danielson chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Labbe is a member of the Killingly Historical and Genealogical Society and is a genealogy researcher who regularly answers historical inquiries from interested residents. She also oversees membership and conducts research on books and papers submitted by callers. As part of her duties, Labbe is often called on to conduct research at various town halls, as well as at the Connecticut State Library.

Update: 3-Minute Book Printing at Your Local Retail Store

Almost a year ago I wrote an article (http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/06/3-minute-book-p.html) that predicted a new service would soon appear. It took a year but a trial of the service will start this week.

As I wrote last year:

Tens of thousands of genealogy and local history books have been printed over the years. Wouldn't you like to walk into a local bookstore and purchase the book(s) of your choice within minutes? That may not be as crazy as it sounds.

This week the Blackwell bookseller chain will launch a three-month trial of the machine in its Charing Cross Road branch in London as a “print on demand” service for shoppers in an effort "to consign to history the idea that you can walk into a bookshop and not find the book you want." The Blackwell store will be able to print any of some 400,000 titles. The company's overall goal is to extend this to a million titles by the summer, and to spread out more machines to the rest of its sixty stores once it works out pricing.

(+) Along Those Lines by George G. Morgan: Your Library is in Peril

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

I am very concerned, and you should be, too. Our libraries are in the greatest peril since World War II. The recessionary economy has had a catastrophic effect on funding for our public libraries and for many academic libraries as well. Without your support and involvement, you may see your nearest public library suffer unrecoverable losses. Let me explain.

NERGC 2009 is a Success

I just spent three pleasant days at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) in Manchester, New Hampshire. I must say that this year's event was well organized, and most everything worked as planned. I never heard the final attendance count but am guessing it must have been close to 800 genealogists. The venue was great, just about the perfect size for an event of this type. Everyone I talked with seemed to enjoy the conference.

I could go on and write about the conference in detail, but you can already find lots of information in previous articles that I wrote at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/04/this-week-at-nergc.html and at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/02/new-england-regional-genealogical-conference.html as well as more information on NERGC's web site at http://nergc.org/2009/. Everything there talks about the "upcoming event," but I can report that most everything happened as planned.

I will share a few of my own observations about the conference, however.

Illinois State Historical Society 2009 Award Of Superior Achievement

The following announcement was written by KMI Marketing:

Springfield, IL – The Illinois Executive Mansion was the stage for the Illinois State Historical Society to present its 2009 Award of Superior Achievement to Madonna Davis for her role in creating and hosting The Lively Family Massacre – a pilot for a documentary TV series featuring the genealogy of ordinary people. 

In The Legend of the Lively Massacre, program host – Madonna Davis -- helps trace the ancestry of Pam Frazer –an Illinois native -- connecting her to some of the first white settlers to arrive in the Indiana Territory in 1813.  The search also uncovers a handwritten letter to William Clark (of the Lewis and Clark Expedition) mentioning Pam’s ancestors by name, and the 200 year old graves of her ancestors who were massacred by a group of American Indians.

(+) Install Windows 7 the Easy Way

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

Windows 7 beta version has been available for some months, and thousands of people have been testing it. In fact, I am one of those people. I can report that it works well. Now Microsoft is about to release what is called the "Release Candidate." In other words, this version is believed to be the same as the final version unless any last-minute show-stopper bugs are found.

The Windows 7 Release Candidate will stop working when the product starts appearing in stores. Anyone using the free release candidate version will have to purchase a commercial license in order to continue using it.

Canada's Top Archivist Talks About Digitization

I wrote last week about Ian Wilson's retirement (at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/04/ian-e-wilson-announces-his-retirement-as-librarian-and-archivist-of-canada.html). He is the national archivist of Canada and has had many years of experience in storing paper documents and making them available to researchers and to the public. In a recent newspaper interview, he offered insights as to why he led Library and Archives Canada into a major program to digitize records.

Build a High-Speed Book Scanner from Trash and Cheap Cameras

Now here is a project: instead of purchasing a book scanner for $15,000 to $100,000 or more, build your own from scrap parts and cheap digital cameras.

Digital books change the landscape. After suffering through scanning many of my old, rare, and government issue books, I decided to create a book scanner that anybody could make, for around $300.

You can find step-by-step instructions at: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-High-Speed-Book-Scanner-from-Trash-and-Cheap-C.

Volunteers Transcribe 250 Million Historical Records

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Incredible Effort Speeds Up Access to Online Genealogical Information

SALT LAKE CITY—FamilySearch volunteers reached a monumental milestone this week, transcribing their 250 millionth historical record.  The incredible online initiative started in January 2006 with a few thousand volunteers and has now grown to be the largest Web-based initiative of its kind with over 100,000 volunteers worldwide. The 250 millionth record was part of the current Nicaragua Civil Registration indexing project online at index.familyearch.org—one of 45 projects being indexed by online volunteers. It was extracted by three different online indexers from Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Time to Get Rid of Adobe Reader?

I have used Adobe Reader (formerly called Acrobat) for years and have loved it. When I set up a new computer, the free Adobe Reader is one of the first utilities I download and install. I must admit, however, that I have been a bit dismayed by the added complexity of the later versions. Adobe seems to be adding lots of "bells and whistles" that I don't care about. Now the program takes longer to load and displays complex menus. I have never needed to add a digital signature to a document but the later versions of Adobe Reader allow that and many other features that I find to be useless. Whatever happened to the good old, simple Acrobat?

Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century

The title of this web site describes it well: Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century. What else can I say? It has lots of pictures; click on any picture to see a larger image.

Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century can be found at http://mustachesofthenineteenthcentury.blogspot.com.

I think I'll print out one of those pictures and take it to my barber.

Electronic Genealogy Magazine Publications

Randy Seaver has written an interesting article that I fully agree with. He writes:

My under-window bookcases groan under the weight of about 15 years of NEHGR and many other journals and magazines. My piles fall over sometimes. There is no more room! I welcome electronic distribution of magazines and newsletters! I have a lot more hard drive and flash drive space than physical space, and I can take the electronic versions with me on a flash drive. Not to mention saving publishing and mailing costs.

A Neat Scanner

I have recently spent a lot of hours using a really neat scanner. I know it is neat, as that word is embossed on the top of the scanner: Neat. It is sold by The Neat Company of Philadelphia. The model I have been using is called the Neat Receipts for Macintosh Mobile Scanner. The company also produces an identical unit, except for the included software, called the Neat Receipts for Windows Mobile Scanner. After using it for about ten hours, I must say that I am very impressed with this tiny scanner that slides into an overcoat pocket.

Admittedly, I did not purchase this scanner to scan genealogy documents (although it can do that) or to scan old family photographs (although it can do that also but with some reservations). Instead, I purchased this scanner to prepare my income taxes.

On the Road Again: to NERGC in Manchester, NH

I will be traveling for the next few days 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.

This should be one of my easier trips: I'll jump in the car and drive to Manchester, New Hampshire. That's only a bit more than a one hour drive for me. In fact, when I travel to distant genealogy conferences, I often fly out of the Manchester airport. This time, however, instead of going to the airport, I'll go downtown and check into the Radisson Hotel.

I'll attend the New England Regional Genealogical Conference, otherwise known as NERGC. This conference is sponsored by a consortium of more than twenty genealogy societies. I expect that it will be the largest genealogy conference of the year to be held in the northeastern United States.

Magic: Faded Census Records to Re-Appear

This is about as close to magic as I can imagine. Picture in your mind original census pages that have faded so badly that the enumerators' handwriting is no longer visible. I am not talking about ink that has faded a bit. In this case, the ink is gone, not even visible on the page. All you can see is the page as it was printed and given to the enumerators (census takers) with the pre-printed text and boxes. These pages look as if they were never filled out, and yet you know they were.

Now, add in a mix of digital photography and different lights. Shake well with some computer enhancements. The result? Readable images!

If this isn't magic, I don't know what is.