Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Number 4,973 in Line to Become Queen of England

Karin Vogel of Rostock, Germany, could become the queen of England. She is a descendant of Sophia of Hanover, a relatively obscure German princess selected by the English Parliament in 1701 to inherit the crown. Sophia's genes have dictated the succession ever since.

Should the 85-year-old Queen Elizabeth II die, her son Charles, if living, would succeed her. Second in line is Charles's son Prince William, whose wedding to Kate Middleton Friday will be a global media event. William's little brother, Prince Harry, is No. 3. The line goes on and on. The royal family's website lists the first 38 successors but neglects to name the rest.

Daniel Willis, of Denver, Colorado, and Bill Reitwiesner, a computer technician at the Library of Congress who died in November, have compiled a list of living heirs to the throne as of 2001. They list Karin Vogel as number 4,973 on the list.

National Genealogical Society's New Civil War Records Course

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Genealogical Society:

Arlington, VA, 27 APRIL 2011: The National Genealogical Society proudly announces the release of its newest educational course, Introduction to Civil War Records, developed by renowned military expert Craig Robert Scott, cg. It will debut at its thirty-third Family History Conference in Charleston in South Carolina, 11 - 14 May 2011.
 
Craig Robert Scott is a nationally-recognized lecturer, educator, genealogical and historical researcher with more than thirty years experience. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians and specializes in the diverse military records at the National Archives.
 

(+) A $249 Bargain Android Tablet Computer

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

Today I purchased a new tablet computer. Well, it wasn't a tablet computer when I purchased it, but it became one a few hours later. Best of all was the price: $249. That's about half of what most other tablet computers cost.

This one has a gorgeous, 7-inch color screen, which is about the right size, in my opinion. I suspect that others will prefer a larger screen, however. The new computer runs the Android operating system, has wi-fi wireless networking, audio (it makes a great music and movie player), a leading e-book reader program, a microSD slot for memory expansion, an accelerometer, a web browser that runs Flash, an email program, a calendaring program, and the capability to download and install new programs.

Perhaps I should also mention what it is missing. There is no Bluetooth capability, no 3G wide area wireless networking, no GPS, and no camera. Oh yes, it is missing one more thing: a big price tag.

A $249 handheld tablet computer with a full version of Android and a color screen that has to be seen to be appreciated? I had to see this!

Last Typewriter Factory in the World Shuts Its Doors

A bit of history happened recently: Indian typewriter manufacturer Godrej and Boyce in Mumbai, India, stopped production after 60 years of manufacturing. Godrej is believed to be the last company anywhere in the world that manufactured typewriters. In recent years, most of the typewriters sold were for Arabic languages. The company's general manager, Milind Dukle, says, "We are not getting many orders now."

You can read more in an article by Nicholas Jackson in The Atlantic at http://goo.gl/fGisj

FamilySearch Records Update: Milestone 600 Free Historic Collections Now Online

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Collections—600 to Be Exact!

Latest Additions Reach New Milestone in Free Online Historic Record Collections

The latest additions to FamilySearch's online collection of free historic record collections pushes it to 600! That's right, 600 free, original source record collections online from all over the world. The tally of insomniacs will certainly expand as the numbers of family history researchers enjoy the latest updates. This week there are new international records from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, France, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Poland, and Spain. Now take a seat while the list of updates for the U.S. collections are noted—California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington State, Wisconsin, and the Virgin Islands. Whew! See the table below for details. You can search all of the record collections now for free at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch Indexing Update 21 April 2011

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

21 April 2011

Historic Records Indexing Volunteers Going Strong

23 New Projects; 5 New Partners

 

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—FamilySearch indexing volunteers continue to set new milestones, indexing 1.5 million historic records a day on average now. Volunteers wrapped up 16 projects in March and have indexed over 500 million records since 2005! So how do we reward such a great achievement? By giving them more work to do, of course! We’ve added 23 new projects for them to tackle! See the list below for details of over 100 current projects.  

 

DNA Identifies Titanic's Unknown Child

Five days after the passenger ship the Titanic sank, the crew of the rescue ship Mackay-Bennett pulled the body of a fair-haired, roughly 2-year-old boy out of the Atlantic Ocean on April 21, 1912. Along with many other victims, his body went to a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the crew of the Mackay-Bennett had a headstone dedicated to the "unknown child" placed over his grave.

When it sank, the Titanic took the lives of 1,497 of the 2,209 people aboard with it. Some bodies were recovered, but names remained elusive, while others are still missing. But researchers believe that they have finally resolved the identity of the unknown child -- concluding that he was 19-month-old Sidney Leslie Goodwin from England.

Salt Lake City Family History Library Implements New Copy System

Dave Dowell visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and encountered a bunch of new Ricoh Aficio MP C4501 copiers in the building, all wrapped in plastic and obviously having recently been delivered. Dave asked some questions and found that the new machines will replace all the older photocopiers with the switchover scheduled for April 26. Hey, that's today!

The 18 all-in-one copiers will replace the current 14 book copiers and 15 print release stations. The new machines will copy or print or scan to flash drives or similar media. OCR capacity will be available. Click on the image to the right to see a larger picture.

Genealogy Start-up Youwho Raises $5 Million To Show You Who You Are

Youwho is an Internet startup that is very much in stealth mode. Most people have never heard of it. However, an SEC filing reveals the company has raised $5 million in funding and that one of the co-founders is a man well known in genealogy circles: Andre Brummer, former Senior Vice-President of Product at MyFamily.com (now known as Ancestry.com).

The SEC filing says the company's tagline is “providing an on-line searchable database in the field of genealogy and family history.”

The new company's web site at http://www.youwho.com/ provides very little information but does say:

Karen Kenworthy of Karen's Power Tools, R.I.P.

I have written several times about the need to make frequent backups. For Windows users, I have usually recommended several programs, including Karen's Replicator. I know from feedback that a number of newsletter readers have been using and enjoying Karen's Replicator as a backup and file copying tool. If you are one of the many enthusiastic users of Karen's Replicator or any of the other Karen's Power Tools created by Karen Kenworthy, you will be saddened to hear that she passed away on April 12.

The following was written by Bill Kenworthy,  Karen's brother:

Podcast: An Interview with Brenda Sullivan of the Gravestone Girls

I recently had a chance to talk with Brenda Sullivan. She is one of "the Gravestone Girls," a company that teaches how to make cemetery gravestone rubbings without damaging the stones; gives lectures about cemetery art, history, and symbolism; and also creates replicas of tombstones by making an impression of the art of the tombstones.

In this interview, Brenda talks about her background and the services of the Gravestone Girls. I found her products to be a fascinating preservation of disappearing art. Brenda also talked a bit about how valuable cemeteries can be at supplying information to today's genealogists.

Brenda_Sullivan

 You can listen to the interview by clicking on her name above.

"Hahd Tellin' Not Knowin'" - How Mainers Talk

The audio on the web site I’m writing about sounded normal to me, but I suppose it might be a bit peculiar for some folks. The site includes audio recordings and explanatory text about the accents of people from Maine. If you have ever been to Maine, you probably know what the accent is like. If you haven't been to Maine... well, it's time that you learned.

Mainer Tara Taylor did a bunch of research on the subject for her thesis project. She has captured much of the research in the form of a huge Flash file. If you visit the site and load the file, you'll have to sit back and wait for a long time for it to load. However, it is worth the wait.

(+) How to Become an Accredited Genealogist

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

In this newsletter you frequently see letters appended after the names of individuals, such as CG or CGL. This means that the individual has received a genealogy accreditation of some level. This week I thought I would describe the various certifications and tell why perhaps you might be interested in obtaining accreditation.

Accreditation is valuable in many fields. We have CPA ratings for accountants and similar ratings for many other professions. When you hire an accountant, a lawyer, a financial planner, a surgeon, or almost any other professional, you want some assurance that he or she has passed an examination by a certifying board which ensures that its members measure up to proper standards. The same is true in genealogy: you want to hire someone who is qualified and has passed an examination.

Genealogy certification is not just for professionals, however. Many individuals seek and obtain genealogy certification for their own satisfaction. Knowing that your work meets high genealogy standards is proof that you know what you are doing, whether you ever accept a dime in payment or not. Many certified genealogists have no intention of earning a living in this field, but they enjoy the confidence that the time they spend researching ancestry will yield results of certifiable quality.

The Easy Way to Add Maps to Your Family History Projects

Would you like to include U.S. maps in your family history projects, but can’t find what you want? Would you like to add maps to a book you plan to publish but cannot find anything that isn’t copyrighted? Do you need a simple, prepared map that you can print at home, at school, or in the office? A service provided by the U.S. Government will provide maps for you. Best of all, there are no copyrights on the maps. You can use them in commercial books as well as for personal purposes.

The National Atlas is a map-making platform sponsored by the Federal Government that lets you build your own maps. You can create maps that capture and depict patterns, conditions, and trends of American life. You can use the National Atlas templates to create maps that cover all of the United States or just your area of interest.

Another Genealogy Scam?

Megan Smolenyak wrote an article entitled "10 Things You Didn't Know About Katy Perry's Family Tree." I normally am not very interested in the family trees of celebrities. However, a postscript written by Megan at the end of the article caught my eye.

Megan points out an online blog written to by someone purporting to be genealogist to the stars. The only problem is that the person seems to have lots of errors in her (his?) research and also that there's no one of this name in the state of California. Of course, she might be writing under a pseudonym, which is quite common and is usually legal. This "genealogist to the stars" sells celebrities' family trees for a fee and then offers gift cards for information she's unable to find on her own. The web site looks like a blend of Hollywood gossip and genealogy.

Attention Canadians: Please Click "Yes"

The 2011 Canadian Census questionnaire to be filled out in May contains a question that permits you to be part of the history of Canada. If you check "yes" to this permission question, your descendants will be able to do family and genealogical research on you and your family in the future.  

The amended Statistics Act permits the release of historical census records from 1911 to 2001 after 92 years.  Equally important, beginning with the 2006 Census, Canadians will have the choice to decide if they want their census records released to the public after 92 years.

Who is the Man in the Boynton Beach Picture?

Boynton Beach, Florida, librarians are on a search. In an old piece of furniture, they found a rather large portrait of a man who could have died 150 years ago. Aside from the way the man looks, Boynton archivist Janet de Vries can only say one thing for sure. "He's dead," she states matter-of-factly.

Librarians are asking you to take a good look at him. He might be a relative.

You can learn more in the following video from WPTV television:

Circus World Collection to be Placed Online

The Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin recently hired a new archivist and a staff member to work toward making the museum's collection available online. Former Sauk County, Wisconsin, Historical Society Director Peter Shrake has been selected to lead the Robert L. Parkinson Library and Research Center. Baraboo business owner and circus fan Ralph D. Pierce also has been hired to digitally scan 1,377 valuable glass plate negatives taken between 1905 and 1930, which will become available over the Internet.

You can read more in an article by Brian D. Bridgeford in the Baraboo News Republic at http://goo.gl/MDDi8

Free Access to Ancestry.co.uk's England and Wales Marriage Indexes and Canadian Marriage Records

To celebrate the forthcoming nuptials of Kate and Wills and to offer an Easter treat, Ancestry.co.uk is making all of the site's England and Wales Marriage Indexes as well as its Canadian marriage records available free of charge until 30th April. The free access includes both the fully-searchable transcriptions and the scanned images of the record indexes.

The Canadian marriage collections span over 300 years and contain 20 million records.

Easter Sunday Calculator

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox on 21st March. This year, the date is April 24, the latest it has been since 1943.

Knowing te date of Easter can be useful for genealogists. Many times, you will find an old family photograph that is cryptically labeled, "Easter 1938." What date was the photograph taken?

Some religions, such as Catholic and Episcopal, did not allow marriages during Lent. By knowing the exact date for Easter (and the 40 days of Lent before) can help pinpoint when a marriage would not have taken place.