Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Ancestry.co.uk Offers Free Access to World War I Records

To commemorate Remembrance Weekend, Ancestry.co.uk is giving everyone the chance to discover their family’s role in the Great War. Access to World War I Service Records, Pension Records and Medal Index Cards is completely FREE, until November 13th.

Available records include:

10 million Cheshire Records Go Online at findmypast.co.uk

The following announcement was written by findmypast.co.uk:

CHESHIRE REVEALED AS A WONDERLAND OF UNUSUAL FINDS AS NEW LOCAL RECORDS GO ONLINE

• Lewis Carroll’s baptism found in Daresbury,11 July 1832
• Earthquake hit Cheshire on 18 March 1612
• Ancestors of James Bond actor Daniel Craig sold coal and were iron moulders
• Over 10 million Cheshire records covering 1538 to 1910 – allowing researchers to delve back further than ever before

Fascinating workhouse records, parish registers, bishop’s transcripts and electoral registers from Cheshire go online for the first time ever as leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk launches the The Cheshire Collection. The collection is a series of over 10 million extraordinary records provided by Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, covering over 350 years of history.

(+) Reduce Online Access Charges on Cruise Ships

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

The genealogy cruise season is upon us. One such genealogy cruise will embark next  week. If you are one of the several hundred genealogists who will be on a cruise ship in the future, this article is for you. If you ever use any other sort of expensive Internet access, such as connecting through an expensive cell phone connection, you may also find something of value here for you.

Just because you are on a cruise ship doesn’t mean that you have to be isolated from the world back home. To be sure, some isolation might be an enjoyable experience as we leave our cares and worries behind. However, some of us do want to keep track of children or grandchildren, make sure the person watching the house waters the African violets properly, or perhaps check with the office to see if a particular contract has been signed or not. Whatever the reason, most of us wish to remain in contact for those high priority messages.

Torrero, Spain, Evicts Thousands of Ancestors' Remains

A crowded Spanish cemetery has begun placing stickers on thousands of burial sites with lapsed leases as a warning to relatives that their ancestors face possible eviction. The deputy urban planning manager for Zaragoza in Spain's northeast, said Monday that the city's Torrero graveyard has already removed remains from some 420 crypts, and reburied them in common ground.

The cases involve graves whose leases had not been renewed for 15 years or more. Torrero, like many Spanish cemeteries, no longer allows people to buy grave sites, instead leasing them out for periods of five or 49 years.

APG Announces Election Results

The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists:

Kenyatta D. Berry Elected APG President

WESTMINSTER, Colo., November 9, 2011−The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG®) today announced election results for its 2012–2014 executive committee, as well as for nine regional directors and two new nominating committee members. Kenyatta D. Berry of Santa Monica, Calif. was elected president. Berry, a genealogist, entrepreneur and lawyer with more than 15 years of experience in genealogy research and writing, served as APG vice president during the last term. She will succeed Laura G. Prescott of Brookline, New Hampshire.

The Average Lifespan of a Webpage

Genealogists typically think of sources of information that last forever. For instance, we have been taught to always cite our sources. That is, to tell where we found the information. The primary reason is so that other genealogists who follow behind us can verify the information, should they wish to do so. That works well for census records and other paper documentation that will probably be preserved in some format for centuries. However, what about citations that point to sources that will probably disappear within 100 days?

Writing in the Library of Congress' web site, Nicholas Taylor, Information Technology Specialist for the Repository Development Group, provides some interesting statistics:

What is the average lifespan of webpage? Predictably, estimates vary and vary over time. A 1997 special report in Scientific American claimed 44 days. A subsequent 2001 academic study in IEEE Computer suggested 75 days. More recently, in 2003, a Washington Post article indicated that the number was 100 days.

Update: 64 Gigabytes on a Stick for $59.99

In the October 25 newsletter, I wrote about something I believe is a great bargain: a 64 gigabyte memory stick (also called a flash drive or jump drive or thumb drive or USB drive) for $59.99, including free shipping. That's less than a dollar per gigabyte! The article is still available at http://goo.gl/LKHGW.

The sale has since ended but a quick search shows that many other vendors are selling the same device for prices that vary from $59.99 to perhaps $80. I even found one vendor advertising a lower price, but that web site also stated "On backorder." I guess you can list any price you wish if you don't have any to sell.

I ordered the 64 gigabyte memory stick and it arrived Saturday. I am generally pleased with it, although it didn't turn out to be quite as cheap as I originally thought.

(+) Preserve Your Newspapers!

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

Most all paper manufactured in the past one hundred years or more contains acids. If left untreated, these acids will slowly decompose the paper itself. Old newspaper clippings, even wedding certificates that are not printed on acid-free paper, will eventually disintegrate. Luckily, modern science has created methods of slowing down or even stopping the decay of such paper.

My Talks on Saturday on Cape Cod

I will have the honor of addressing both the Falmouth Genealogical Society and the Cape Cod Genealogical Society on Saturday at a combined meeting in Osterville, Massachusetts. If you are in the area and would like to join other genealogists, you are invited!

The meeting will be held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Osterville from 10 AM to 3 PM. I'd love to see you there.

Maine Town Reports Digital Project

The University of Maine's Fogler Library, in collaboration with the Maine State Library, is creating an online database of Maine Town Reports.

Like many states, each city and town in Maine has long been required to publish annual reports that list all the financial details of the town and provide a lot of other information besides. These annual reports can be gold mines to genealogists as they often provide clues about the activities of the town's residents.

For instance, the 1873 annual report for Bangor, Maine, lists such items as:

Thank you Elkhart County Genealogical Society

I must say I had fun on Saturday when I addressed the Elkhart County Genealogical Society in Bristol, Indiana. I talked with many of the members and learned a lot about Hoosiers. Thanks for inviting me!

This active group is sponsors seminars and a number of other activities. The society publishes The Elkhart County Indiana Searcher four times a year, which is sent free to members. The society also has refurbed an old schoolhouse in Bristol, Indiana to create an excellent meeting place.

Report from FTDNA's 7th International Conference for Group Administrators of DNA Projects

Dave Dowell attended Family Tree DNA's annual Conference for Group Administrators, held in Houston this past weekend. He has written a report that will interest many who are involved in DNA projects. He also writes of a new sale on DNA tests to be announced later this week.

You can read Dave's report if you click here.

1940 U.S. Census Video Available Online

The 1940 census will become available to the public on April 2, 2012. The date was chosen to comply with the requirement to protect privacy for 72 years. If you want to watch a vintage video, you can learn more about the contents of the 1940 census in a 10-minute movie created by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The movie was created in 1939 or 1940 and is typical newsreels of that time.

The movie focuses on the role of the enumerators (census takers) but explains who was counted and also provides many details about the 1940 census. You can watch the video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/OwZk6rASC8k or click on the image below.

NERGC Call for Papers

The following announcement was written by the New England Regional Genealogical Conference:

12th New England Regional Genealogical Conference
17-21 April 2013
Radisson Hotel Conference Center,
Manchester, NH

NERGC 2013 presentation proposals are now being welcomed before 1 March 2012.

More About the Ancestry.com Android App

Ancestry.com subscribers now have another way to access their family tree, as the company has released the first beta version of their official Android app. You can see my earlier article at http://goo.gl/vvons. Now Aaron Gingrich has published an article in the Android Police web site that describes the new application and provides screen shots.

Aaron writes, "At the moment, it's read only, meaning you can't modify information via the app, and the team has yet to implement many other necessary features such as searching for specific people in your tree."

Blogger Showcases Canada's Veterans' Week

The following article was written by Elizabeth Lapointe:

Ottawa, Canada - November 3, 2011 - In accepting the remembrance challenge of this year’s Veterans’ Week, “Make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do”, Canadian blogger, Elizabeth Lapointe, will have a whole week of Canadian military-related posts on her blog www.GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com.

Lapointe says, “Coming from a military family, and married into one, Veterans’ Week means something special to me. It is in this spirit that I will post on related Canadian military websites and blogs, culminating with a special Remembrance Day post on November 11th.”

On the Road Again: Bristol, Indiana

I am traveling again. I spent ten straight days at home, which is a record for me in the past three months. I am now off to give presentations at the Elkhart County Genealogical Society in Bristol, Indiana. I wrote about this seminar earlier at http://goo.gl/oWJ0R.

I will be traveling with a 2½-pound laptop computer, a 4G/3G wireless card, and wi-fi capabilities as well. In theory, I should be able to continue publishing articles in the same manner as when I am at home. The only difficulty I can see is with time management. Due to almost constant traveling, I will be busy. Please do not be surprised if I miss a day or two of new articles. I most likely will "catch up" when I do connect online again.

An Ancestry.com App for Android?

Rumor has it that Ancestry.com is developing an app for Android tablets and smartphones. Note that this has NOT been confirmed by company officials or employees. However, two newsletter readers have reported receiving invitations to test the new software during its beta test period.

I would assume the Android app would have similar functionality to the already-available Ancestry.com "Tree To Go" App for iPhones and iPads. You can read more about that in my earlier article at http://goo.gl/0a1GJ.

Bribery Probe Targets Former U.S. Census Official

The Detroit News reports that Dwight Dean, once the highest-ranking U.S. Census Bureau official in Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia until he was abruptly, and inexplicably, replaced in August 2010, is now under investigation for bribery by a grand jury.

Federal investigators did not put a value on the alleged bribes, which involved dinners at expensive restaurants and what appear to be free tickets to the North American International Auto Show charity preview. In the documents released so far, there have been no claims of money being paid although there is a question about awarding an $857,000 no-bid contract.

Strauss-Kahn Ancestor Ran a Brothel

Former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn became famous when he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel worker in New York in May. The charges were later dropped. Now a new book about French politicians' genealogies makes an ironic claim: that Strauss-Kahn's great-great-grandfather ran a brothel.

The book, called Le Tout-Politique (All Politicians), claims that Strauss-Kahn's ancestor, Léon Bricot, was a violin teacher who also ran a hotel in Lons-le-Saunier in the eastern Franche-Comté region. The hotel allegedly doubled as a "maison close," or a house of ill-repute. Bricot had an unfortunate end after he shot and killed a soldier customer who had become troublesome, resulting in him ending his days in prison.