Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

(+) Better Than Soundex

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

Genealogists have used Soundex almost since it was invented in 1918. Soundex was patented by Robert C. Russell of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is sometimes called the “Russell Code.” The U.S. Census Bureau immediately adopted Soundex for indexing census records. Since then, others have used Soundex code to sort similar-sounding names for telephone books, work records, drivers' licenses, and many other purposes. Genealogists use Soundex to find variant spellings of ancestors' names. Almost all modern genealogy databases have a "search by Soundex" capability.

Soundex is a form of "phonetic encoding" or "sound-alike" codes. A Soundex code consists of one letter followed by three digits. Smith and Smythe both are coded as S530. Eastman is E235 and Williams is W452. You can read more about Soundex in my Soundex Explained article at http://goo.gl/zBXxF.

A Great Weekend in Raleigh, NC

I'd like to thank the North Carolina Genealogical Society for hosting me last Saturday in  Raleigh, North Carolina. I had the opportunity to give four presentations to an audience of about 100 people. I think it went well. At least, it looked like nobody fell asleep during my lectures! That's one way I measure the success of my lectures.

I cannot thank everyone who helped with this weekend's event but I do have to give special thanks to Lucinda Glover for her role of "hostess" to make sure that I had a hotel to stay in and places to eat.

Ancestry.com Death Record Education Program: Learn Research Skills, Win Prizes

Ancestry.com has announced an educational contest. The Death Record Education Program is underway NOW. When you visit the contest page, you will see contest questions, educational materials and hints of death records in your own family tree. This will help you become more comfortable with Ancestry.com, better educated with death records and also practice new skills with death hints from your own family tree.
 
The contest contains questions that require you to dig through death records, thus helping you practice your genealogy research skills. You have until 11:59 PM Mountain time Tuesday to answer the questions. The winner's name will then be posted Wednesday along with the new question. A new contest will begin on Wednesday morning.

Thousands Of Court Files Damaged By Water, Mold

Here is another reason to make digital copies of paper documents whenever possible.  Thousands of county court files in Greeneville, Tennessee have sustained extensive water, mold and mildew damage that Circuit Court Clerk Pam Venerable said she discovered on Monday.

A video of the damage can be seen on the GreenvilleSun.com web site at http://www.greenevillesun.com/videos/866. The video shows records being packed up and sent to a Michigan company for "freeze drying" and attempted restoration. Judging from the video, I doubt if all the records can be salvaged.

DigiBaeck: a Free Digital Archive Documenting 500 Years of German-Speaking Jewish History

The Leo Baeck Institute (LBI), a research library and archive devoted exclusively to documenting the history of German-speaking Jewry, has completed the digitization of its entire archive, which now provides free online access to primary source materials encompassing five centuries of Jewish life in Central Europe.

The project, named DigiBaeck (www.lbi.org/digibaeck), offers a digital gateway to LBI's growing collections. It already includes 3.5 million pages of material that ranges from the personal papers and photographs of luminaries like Albert Einstein and Moses Mendelssohn to letters, diaries, recipes, and other ephemera chronicling the lives of everyday people over five centuries. The collection encompasses documents in German and over a dozen other languages, and many pieces in the collection include English translations.

MacFamilyTree 6.3 Now Available

Synium Software GmbH has released a new update to its popular MacFamilyTree genealogy program. I have written before about MacFamilyTree, see http://goo.gl/Vwm9s for my past articles. I believe this is the most popular Macintosh genealogy program in Europe although I haven't been able to find any statistics to verify that. Now version adds new features, including a new Research Assistant, a new Media Gallery, and now even includes built-in Document Scanning.

The new version also has added:

FGS Announces 2012 Election Results

The following was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:

D. Joshua Taylor Elected President; New Board Members and Directors Include Cherie Bush, Kris Rzepczynski, and Melissa Shimkus

October 12, 2012 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces the results of its recent election for FGS board members and directors. The election was conducted online September 1 - 30, 2012 with all FGS delegates eligible to vote. Office terms for those elected will begin on January 2, 2013.

How Do You Pronounce "Ye"?

Many of us have encountered the word "ye" in old documents. Of course, we have all seen tourists shops labeled as "ye olde" something-or-other. How many of us know how to pronounce that?

For years, I assumed it was pronounced as it was written. I would pronounce it as "Yee Old." I was a bit surprised later to learn that I had been wrong.

What looks like a "y" is a written character deriving from the old English letter, "thorn," representing the "th" sound. No, it is not the letter "y," it is the letter thorn. The thorn was commonly used in written English in the Middle Ages and for some time after. That explains why we see it on old documents and even in modern written sentences that imitate historical writing. Other than these cases, the thorn has now almost disappeared.

The Rewarding Adventures Of 'Genealogy Tourism'

Travel writer Kyle Ellison recently wrote, "Perhaps it's the rise in popularity of websites such as ancestry.com, but for some reason 'genealogy tourism' seems to be on the rise in the world's most famous 'nation of immigrants,' the United States of America. Despite the fact that millions of families took the plunge to move to a foreign land, their children many years down the road have not relinquished the curiosity to learn more about where it is they came from."

Greenwich Cemetery Records 1856-1902 now on Deceased Online

The following announcement was written by Deceased Online:

Following the September release of just over 50% of the records for Greenwich Cemetery, all remaining burial records are now available on www.deceasedonline.com

• In total, the historic South East London cemetery has approximately 93,000 records for the period 1856 - 2000
• Greenwich Cemetery features a very high number of military burials spanning many wars and campaigns conducted by British forces overseas
• Click here to read more details about this cemetery and many others within the 'database coverage' section on Deceased Online website

FindMyPast Releases More Than 56 Million New Australian and New Zealand Genealogy Records

The following announcement was written by Findmypast.com.au:

• Over 56 million new Australian & New Zealand records
• 24 million passenger list records available to Australia/New Zealand subscription holders
• New World Collection brings the total records to over 1.5 billion
• PayAsYouGo credits for added flexibility

Oklahoma Museum Cancels Cemetery Tour due to Facebook Protests

This is an unusual story. I don't remember ever hearing of something like this before. The Three Valley Museum in Durant, Oklahoma and the Bryan County Genealogy Society have canceled a planned “ghost stories” historical tour at Highland Cemetery, following a storm of protests on Facebook.

The event on Oct. 27 would have chronicled the lives of six individuals and involved people dressed in period clothing. The event was to be a fundraiser for both organizations.

2013 BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy Call for Papers

The following was written by the organizers of the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy:

“Strengthening Ties That Bind Families Together”
Tuesday, July 30 through Friday, August 2, 2013

Proposals are now being accepted for the 2013 BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy which will be held Tuesday, July 30 through Friday, August 2 at the BYU Conference Center in Provo, Utah.

A Tombstone for Every Interest

It doesn't take much imagination to determine who would purchase this tombstone.


(Click on the image to see a larger picture.)

Actually, this tombstone is brand-new and has not yet been purchased by a customer. I found it on display outside a cemetery memorials dealer in Leesburg, Florida. I don't think I would want this on my grave for eternity but I know a number of people who would love to have it as their tombstone.

FamilySearch Indexing Update: Genealogists Say "Thanks" Video Contest

The following was written by FamilySearch:

Join FamilySearch indexing for its first video contest: Genealogists Say "Thanks!" 

Here's your chance to say thank you to the indexers who have helped you find your ancestors. Create a short video that is one minute or less to thank FamilySearch indexers and arbitrators for helping to make records searchable online. Highlight an ancestor you have found, or highlight someone you know who has found an ancestor while searching on FamilySearch.org, and express your gratitude to the indexers who helped make it possible.

Help indexers know their work matters!

North Dakota State Archives to Place 500,000 Photos Online

The following was written by the North Dakota State University:

The North Dakota State University Archives is offering you a glimpse of how Fargo looked a century ago.

A new project by the NDSU Archives is combining history with geography through Historypin.com. The dynamic website allows users to "pin" historic photographs onto a Google map.

The site gives viewers the opportunity to see historic photographs superimposed onto the current Google street view map, and compare what present buildings looked like in the past.

Genes Reunited Launches Unique Keepsafe

The following announcement was written by Genes Reunited:

• At launch 2.7 million private images uploaded to keepsafe
• Over 260 million relation profiles already created
• New, fresh and easy to use design
• New relation profiles where details can be see all on one page

Today leading family history website Genes Reunited added new and innovative features including a Keepsafe, for digitally storing all of your family records, photos and memories and Relation Profiles, where you can view and edit details about each individual in your tree. This latest addition comes after genesreunited.co.uk recently refreshed its appearance with a new, and easy to navigate redesign.

(+) How to Preserve Newspaper Clippings

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

Many family members collect newspaper clippings of marriages, death notices, birth announcements, school graduation announcements, and similar items. If kept under proper conditions, these newspapers clippings may last for generations. The key phrase in that statement is "if kept under proper conditions."

In fact, there are several things you will want to do to preserve the information:

Recent SSDI Changes Now Make It Easier to Get Away With Identity Theft

I have written before (at http://goo.gl/9e3nB) about the stupid efforts to limit public access to the Social Security Death Index, commonly called the SSDI. This is typically caused by well-meaning, but ignorant, politicians and bureaucrats who think that such limits will somehow reduce identity theft. Actually, a new article in the New York Times shows that the recent change is doing the exact opposite of what it was intended to do: limiting such access to the SSDI actually actually makes it EASIER to get away with using forged Social Security Numbers!

The statement that caught my eye was, "... a spokesman for financial industries like life insurance, banking and credit services said the arcane change was making it more difficult to detect identity thieves who steal names and Social Security numbers from the deceased."

In other words, it is now EASIER than ever to steal Social Security Numbers of deceased individuals and get away with the crime because the very people who need to verify those numbers no longer have access to the list of the numbers that should not be used! Anyone can now find Social Security Numbers by any number of methods, such as a $20 bribe to a funeral home employee or a Social Security Agency clerk, and then use that number with little fear of being caught.

My Trip to Houston

I'd like to thank the Houston Genealogical Forum for a very good time in that city this weekend. They kindly hosted several of my presentations on Saturday and they also were excellent hosts and hostesses. I'd love to return in a year or two and do it again. (hint hint)

I cannot mention everyone who helped me this weekend but I do have to especially thank Leslie Conrads and Robert de Berardinis for the time they spent hosting me at a number of events. I also loved all the Cajun food!