Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

(+) Damaged CD-ROM Disks

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

I recently received a somewhat frantic e-mail from a reader of this newsletter. She mentioned a specific genealogy CD-ROM disk, but her question could apply to any CD disk of any topic. She wrote (in part):

"Help! I have a CD-ROM disk of [name deleted here] and it cracked. I want to replace it, but can't seem to find it anywhere. Any suggestions? Is there any other CD-ROM that has equivalent materials?"

Massachusetts Genealogical Council Call for Papers

The following announcement was written by the Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC):

Call For Papers
Massachusetts Genealogical Council
Annual Seminar
Ethnicity and Genealogy

The Massachusetts Genealogical Council announces a call for lecture proposals for the Annual Seminar to be held 21 July 2012 at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Genealogy Idol Competition at RootsTech

The following announcement was written by Geoff Rasmussen of Millennia Corporation, the developers of Legacy Family Tree software:

The first-ever Genealogy Idol competition will take place during the RootsTech conference on Thursday, February 2, 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Anyone can participate regardless of where they live or whether they attend the conference.

Four contestants (2 live at the conference and 2 online) will compete (apply below to be a contestant). In the three rounds of competition, contestants will demonstrate their gen-tech expertise and try to woo you with their favorite gen-tech secrets. Everyone will learn - but only one will leave with the title of "RootsTech Genealogy Idol 2012." Legacy Family Tree's Geoff Rasmussen will host the competition which will be broadcast to a live webinar audience who will cast their votes to determine the winner.

First prize will receive a free Flip-Pal™ mobile scanner and the title of RootsTech Genealogy Idol 2012.

MyHeritage Releases Family Tree Builder 6.0

The following announcement was written by MyHeritage.com:

Updated version of world’s most popular free family history software adds new blend of historical content and technological innovation to highlight the depth and diversity in every family’s heritage

PROVO, Utah & LONDON & TEL AVIV, Israel – December 21, 2011: MyHeritage.com, the largest family network on the web, today announced the release of Family Tree Builder 6.0, the most comprehensive free software for family history fans around the world. With the addition of automatic research in historical records and new features for presenting family memories, Family Tree Builder 6.0 makes researching family history more engaging and rewarding than ever.
Millions of family history enthusiasts and genealogists worldwide use MyHeritage’s Family Tree Builder software to explore, document and showcase their roots. The newly improved Family Tree Builder 6.0 will enable them to access historical content for the first time, view their family history in several innovative and stylish new ways and help celebrate family events - past and present.

Presidential Candidates are Related to Most Everyone Else

The Presidential campaigns are heating up. There is an interesting side effect, as mentioned in an old saying: "Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you." Indeed, that is happening now. Until Election Day 2012, you will see many news stories about the ancestors and other distant relatives of every major candidate.

Of course, most of the candidates have family trees that go back for many generations in the United States. If your ancestry also goes back several generations in the U.S., it’s likely that you share at least one common trait with the candidates: you are probably related to many famous people. We all are. After all, you have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, sixteen great-great-grandparents, and so on in a straight mathematical progression. If you go back 300 years, you have about 4,000 ancestors, assuming no duplicates. Of course, most of us have duplicates.

Now add in an unknown number of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and you have perhaps hundreds of thousands of relatives. There's bound to be somebody famous or infamous in a group of that size!

Heroin Found in U.K. National Archives File

You never know what you will find in the old records! A sealed package containing heroin was found in an 80-year-old Foreign Office file at the U.K. National Archives. It was filed with a document from the British Consulate in Cairo about a 1928 court case.

The off-white powder, discovered by a member of the public who asked to see the file, was sent for analysis. And having been confirmed as heroin, the substance was handed over to the Metropolitan Police.

You can read more at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16244217

Thousands of Rare Documents Burned in Egypt

Here's another example of how preserving information only on paper is high risk. Institute d'Egypte, a research center set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France's invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during clashes between protesters and Egypt's military over the weekend. It was home to a treasure trove of writings, most notably the handwritten 24-volume Description de l'Egypte, compiled during the 1798-1801 French occupation. Most of the 192,000 books, journals and writings were damaged beyond repair.

The research center caught fire during clashes between protesters and Egypt's military over the weekend.

California State Genealogical Alliance Announces Blogs

The following announcement was written by the California State Genealogical Alliance:

20 December 2011– Oakland, CA. The California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), announces two new blogs for the genealogical public.

(1) The CSGA Blog (http://www.csga.com/Blog/) is a joint society effort to keep the California Genealogical community informed. Topics include:

The Story of the new Pennsylvania Vital Records Law

Genealogists with Pennsylvania ancestry recently received good news: Governor Corbett has now signed Senate Bill 361 and it will become law. The new legislation makes state-issued birth and death certificates open after a predetermined amount of years. See my earlier articles at http://goo.gl/LZ7pl and at http://goo.gl/bjYn1 for details.

Writing in the Lebanon (Pennsylvania) Daily News, James Beidler describes the history of the the drive for the new law. Passage required a lot of email messages, phone calls, and other efforts by genealogists throughout the state. His article might be used as a blueprint for legislative changes in other states.

Create Your Own View-Master Pictures

Remember the View-Master? If not, look at http://www.image3d.com/. I had one as a child and spent many hours with it. When my children were young, I managed to find a new one and gave it to them as a gift and they also used it for hours. However, View-Masters were scarce by the time I had children. I had some difficulty in finding one. Now, View-Masters are easy to purchase on the Web and also may be found in some toy stores (see http://goo.gl/xSh3b). Even better, you can now create your own Viewmaster disks (or "reels") that will work in all View-Masters, old and new alike.

Invented in 1938 by William Gruber, a piano tuner by trade and a stereo photographer by hobby, the View-Master was introduced in Portland, Oregon in 1939. However, it wasn't until the following year at the 1940 New York World's Fair that the world began to pay attention.

View-Master devices are now sold by Fisher-Price.

Where Did My Ancestors Come From?

Myron Phillips wrote to tell about a mapping site that contains information about the origins of many Europeans. The map gives history and a timeline up to modern day. It is primarily European maps, but touches on Asia.

If you have had your DNA tested, you already know where your earliest ancestors originated. Now you can see where they originated on a map. You can also see migration patterns and also see a timeline of those migrations. The European History Interactive Map at Worldology.com shows the origins of nations and ethnogroups. It optionally can also show ancient and modern political boundaries.

Follow-up: How to Use Google Voice

Yesterday I posted an article with a title of Google Extends Free Voice Calls in Google Voice for All of 2012. That article is still available at http://goo.gl/Dd5zG. In the article, I mentioned that "I disconnected my old telephone service several years ago and I don't miss it. My new telephone looks like a normal cordless phone; I don't wear a headset and I don't need to leave my computer running to receive calls."

Newsletter reader Sue asked a question: "How do you use it with a regular phone if your phone service has been disconnected?"

I thought I would share the answer here where everyone can see it in case anyone else has the same question.

Why You Want a PayPal Account

The Web is a big place. You can buy anything from t-shirts to books to car insurance to genealogy newsletters to automobiles just by entering your credit card number. The more you buy on the Internet with a normal credit card, the more your credit card number is being spread around. I don't like sending my credit card number all over the place, especially to companies I never heard of before. PayPal has a better way.

PayPal conceals your credit card numbers so the merchants or other users cannot access your accounts. PayPal allows a quicker, smoother way to pay for your transactions. Use your Visa, Master Card, Discover or American Express credit card safely, and be insured for all of your purchases. Or, use your bank account and never reveal any of your sensitive banking information to merchants.

PayPal is the leading online checkout site and is trusted globally. You'll notice millions of sellers accept PayPal as their preferred form of payment. You'll be protected if the item you pay for is never shipped, and in some instances, you'll be covered under the PayPal Protection Policy if the item is significantly not as described.

I have been using PayPal since 2000, and I know that it works. I have learned to trust PayPal. In fact, I trust PayPal more than most other credit card services.

(+) Epidemics

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

The rampant spread of disease was common in the days before penicillin and other "wonder drugs" of the twentieth century. Our ancestors lived in fear of epidemics, and many of them died as the result of simple diseases that could be cured today with an injection or a prescription.

If you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors disappeared during a certain period in history, you may want to investigate the possibility of an epidemic. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area. 

Google Extends Free Voice Calls in Google Voice for All of 2012

I use Google Voice most every day and love it. The service provides FREE¹ telephone calls to all telephones in the United States and Canada and calls to other countries are available at very, very low prices.  Google Voice works with your normal telephone you already have; there is no need to use a headset on your computer or anything similar. In fact, Google Voice works with normal phones from the telephone company as well as with cell phones, and VoIP (computer) phones. You also receive a new telephone number that you can use for incoming calls, again at no charge.

I disconnected my old telephone service several years ago and I don't miss it. My new telephone looks like a normal cordless phone; I don't wear a headset and I don't need to leave my computer running to receive calls. I have full 911 emergency service, Directory Assistance, voice mail, call forwarding, and all the other services one expects with any telephone. By using Google Voice and some options available with Skype, my monthly telephone bill now is $3 to $5 per month², not the $30+ per month that I used to pay to the telephone company.

Illiana Cemetery Website to Contain 400,000 Tombstone Photos

Michael Coan has created a valuable resource for many genealogists researching ancestry in Illinois or Indiana. He has placed many tombstone photographs online from Vermilion and Champaign counties in Illinois, as well as from other cemeteries in Edgar County, Illinois; Iroquois County, Illinois; Douglas County, Illinois; Ford County, Illinois; Vermillion County, Indiana; and Warren County, Indiana.

Ancestral Lines Pairing System: A New Genealogy Numbering System

Genealogists have invented several different numbering systems over the years to keep track of the individuals in a genealogy. In situations where names are repeated often in a family, a numbering system helps identify the individual of interest. We already have Ahnentafel Numbers, d'Aboville Numbers, Henry Numbers, the Register System, the Dollarhide System, and the NGSQ System. Each assigns numbers, letters, or combinations of numbers and letters to each individual. Now, writing in the American Ancestors web site, Capers W. McDonald has suggested using a new numbering system: the Ancestral Lines Pairing System.

Quoting from the web site:

A new ancestral numbering system has been developed that visibly displays component lines and generations of pedigrees in either text or chart formats.  This “Ancestral Lines Pairing System” meets essential requirements of being easy to read and understand while maintaining the integrity of its unique indicators, and of recording relationships briefly with as much useful information as possible.

Czech Census Reveals Jedi Knights Amongst Us

The Czech government conducts a national census every ten years, the same as several other countries. This week, the Czech Statistical Office unveiled the results of its most recent 10-year census. When asked for "religion," 15,070 Czechs identified themselves as Knights of the Jedi.

On a more serious note, marriage is becoming less popular in the country. The number of divorced men overall has increased by 37.7 percent over the last 10 years and the number of divorced women by 33.4 percent. The number of married men is down 6.3 percent and married women down 7.1 percent.

Unroll.me Kills Unwanted Email Subscriptions

This article has nothing to do with genealogy but I found it to be a great service. I decided to share it with others.

Do you have a lot of email newsletters or other subscriptions clogging up your inbox? That includes advertising "subscriptions." You could unsubscribe from each one at a time but, if you have many of them, that takes a long time. Now a new service will automate the process. Of course, you don't want to unsubscribe from the eogn.com newsletter, right? (ahem)

Video: Genealogy Introduction—Census Records at the National Archives

Constance Potter is an archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC, specializing in federal records of interest to genealogists. She is an expert on the U.S. census records. In a YouTube video, Connie delivered a talk on the intricacies of the U.S. Federal Census records from 1790 to 1930 and how they can be used for genealogical research.

You can view the video at http://youtu.be/yl54NX_H1ko or click on the image below.