Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

A Preservation Problem

Do you plan to leave your genealogy records for use by others after your death? If so, what storage method will you use for the information?

Paper doesn't work too well. Today's acid-based paper will probably last only for fifty to one hundred years or so. Even worse, toner used by modern laser printers and photocopy machines will only last ten to twenty years even though the paper itself will last longer. Nobody will be able to read the paper documents if the toner has faded.

Archival quality paper with high-quality ink will last more than 100 years but such ink is not readily available for computer printers. Would you want to write your entire genealogy by hand? Using a fountain pen?

Historic Documents on Display in Boston

New England Cable News is carrying a story about the brand-new Commonwealth Museum in Boston. The museum contains many hidden treasures and jewels from Massachusetts history.

The network's web site has a video that illustrates some of the exhibits available at the Commonwealth Museum. Michael Comeau, the assistant archivist of the Commonwealth Museum, is interviewed and shows an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, which is considered one of the more authentic copies.

(+) Casefile Clues: Multiple Obituaries

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

Two are better than one.

Genealogists are usually advised to obtain as many records as possible. While sometimes this is not always practical, it is generally good practice to get information from a variety of sources. Multiple records of the same event may provide different or conflicting information. This week we look at my Irish forebear whose obituaries unfortunately provide few details as to his origins.

OGS Conference 2010 - Call for Speakers - Selective Deadline Extensions

The following notice was written by the Ontario Genealogical Society:

Further to the recent call for presentations for the Ontario Genealogical Society's Conference 2010, prospective speakers may wish to know that the deadline has been extended to 1 June 2009 for proposals for Italian and Dutch lecture streams only. This extension is to allow for more complete outreach to these communities. The deadline remains unchanged (1 May 2009) for submission of all other topics.

Those needing more details about Conference 2010 should visit http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2010/.

Interview with Don Anderson, Director of The Family History Library in Salt Lake City

Lisa Louise Cook of Family History Expos TV recently interviewed Don Anderson, Director of The Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The interview was videotaped at the Family History Expo in Mesa, Arizona.

Family Stream added to We’re Related on Facebook

We’re Related on Facebook users may have noticed a simplified user interface with a new, “Family Stream” button . Family Stream is located on the top left hand side of your We’re Related toolbar, next to the Find Relatives feature.

The following is from the announcement written by Whitney Ransom McGowan and originally posted to the WorldVitalRecords Blog:

World War I Veterans' Records now Available at State of Washington's Digital Archives

The Washington state Digital Archives has a new program allowing people to access records of about 48,000 World War I veterans from Washington. Copies of World War I Service Statement Cards from 1917 to 1919, recently indexed by Washington Historical Records Project volunteers, are now available and searchable online at the Digital Archives. The United States War Department had originals of the cards, and copies were provided to the Washington State Auditor many years ago.

Stephen A. White Named Genealogist Emeritus

Stephen A. White, the well-known genealogist and author at the Université de Moncton's Centre d'étude acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson, has been named genealogist emeritus by the Quebec genealogy accreditation office.

The office is part of the Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie. It's the highest distinction that the bureau can confer. White is being honoured for his long service and competency in genealogy.

Histpop — The Online Historical Population Reports Project

The University of Essex has created a collection of British Historical Population Reports. The site contains no entries about people listed in the census records but does provide a wealth of background information of interest to genealogists, historians, and others.

Beau Sharbrough on Family History Expos TV

Lisa Louise Cook of Family History Expos TV interviewed author and programmer Beau Sharbrough at the recent Family History Expo held in St. George, Utah. The interview was videotaped and is now available online.

Family Stories and Other Fairy Tales

Do you have a family story handed down over the years? Perhaps an ancestor was a ship's captain. Or perhaps the family name was changed at Ellis Island. Or some lady in your family tree was a Cherokee princess. Another story I have heard many times is that some immigrant was the illegitimate child of the Russian czar or another royal person. Proving such stories can be difficult for one very simple reason: they often are not true! A more common scenario is a family story that contains a bit of truth but was embellished over the generations.

If you are using a family story to try to find an ancestor, I'd suggest that you consider the possibility that the story is only partially true or at least was built on some amount of facts. I can offer two examples from my family's stories plus a third example from someone else's family.

GEDxlate Converts GEDCOM to Excel, Access or CSV Files

GEDxlate is a FREE Windows program that quickly and easily translates genealogy data from standard GEDCOM format into MS Access dB (*.mdb), MS Excel Worksheet (*.xls), comma delimited (*.csv), or text file (*.txt) formats. If you would like to export data from your favorite genealogy program so that you can examine it in a spreadsheet or another database program, GEDxlate should simplify the task.

Use of a utility such as GEDxlate can often help you find data inconsistencies. An Excel spreadsheet shows the data in columnar form. You can export a GEDCOM file from your favorite genealogy program, import the result into Excel or any other spreadsheet program, and then look at the column of names to identify misspellings more easily. You can also sort by columns, such as the birthdate field, to find inconsistencies in the data.

Video Interview: Richard Gray of Deceased Online

I recently had a chance to talk with Richard Gray, head of marketing at Deceased Online. The company has been in business for years although its new online database is new to genealogists. Deceased Online is a large database of burial records from many different locations in the United Kingdom. The web site includes cemetery maps that often provide the  exact location of each grave.

In our conversation, Richard describes the data available on www.DeceasedOnline.com, mentions many of the areas covered, and describes the history of the companies involved.

(+) How to Give Remote Presentations by Teleconference

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

In this day and age of ever-escalating travel expenses, the opportunities are slowly disappearing for live presenters at genealogy conferences and meetings. Many societies and conference organizers find it difficult to spend $300 to $600 in airfare, hotel rooms, and restaurant meals for one presenter to talk in front of a crowd of 100 people or less.

At the larger conferences featuring 50 or more presenters, the total expenses just for speakers are often $10,000 to $50,000. Of course, those expenses fall right through the ledger sheets to the bottom line: conference attendees have to pay the expenses by paying higher admission prices.

Luckily, there is a high-tech solution that can reduce expenses significantly and yet still offer internationally-known speakers to local and even to national conferences. The solution is  teleconferencing. I doubt if all presenters and all meetings will ever move exclusively to teleconferencing, but I would suggest that you can find many opportunities for justifying some remote presentations.

Lincoln's DNA

One hundred and forty-four years ago tomorrow, Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington when John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president's box and shot him. Lincoln died the next morning, and now his blood and brain matter - on part of a pillowcase at a Philadelphia museum - are being sought for DNA testing that may definitely solve a medical mystery.

Was the 16th president dying of cancer at the time of the assassination?

(+) Along Those Lines...: "Mining Tax Lists" by George G. Morgan

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

Land and property records are among the most abundant records that survive our ancestors and their families. Tax lists can be even more plentiful in most places. The term “tax list” is used to designate a number of documents: land tax lists, tax valuation lists, rent rolls, personal property taxes lists, tithables, and poll lists. These lists can be invaluable because they place people in a specific geographical location at a specific point in time. They document or infer the type of property, the amount owned, and the value at the time. Some tax lists point to property ownership for which the purchase, sale, or inheritance is recorded in deed books. Others may indicate the relationship of individuals in a household and their particular ages.

Tornado Destroys Genealogy Findings

On Friday afternoon, a tornado with 100 mile-an-hour winds moved south of Vaughn Road and the Eastern Bypass in Montgomery, Alabama. The twister quickly moved east and struck an apartment complex, a new school, a ballpark, and numerous homes.

A story on WSFA News states that residents worked through the night to save what they could, but when the sun came up, they found the true extent of the damage.

1911 Census: All English Counties Now Complete

FindMyPast.com has now added the remaining English Counties (Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland) and the missing Gateshead district records into the county of Durham. Therefore all English counties are now complete and online.

SplashUp Online Photo Editor

One of the best things about "cloud computing" is that hundreds of applications are available without installation. You can simply go to the application's web site and start using it. Many of these applications are available free of charge.

A few days ago I was using my two-and-a-half-pound "netbook" laptop computer when I had a need to resize an image that I wanted to upload to this newsletter. I had just snapped a photo with an 8-megapixel camera working at its maximum definition. I copied the photo to my tiny computer.

The image was much too large to use on a web page. The problem was that I didn't have Photoshop Elements, or any other image editing software, installed on the small computer.

Not a problem! I opened a web browser and went to SplashUp.com.

(+) Casefile Clues: Framing Potential Parents by Michael John Neill

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

Census records can give us specific details about a family--all we have to do is read the entry. However, sometimes the researcher needs to go beyond what an actual entry says in order to get suggestions for searching other records. This week we look at several census records from England and see what information it tells us about this 19th century family and how we can go beyond what the census actually says. Of course, "going beyond" does not mean that we read information that is not there into a record.