Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Turn Your Phone into a Flash Drive

This might be the world's most expensive flash drive. However, if you already own an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Android device, you can add extra functionality for no additional cost.

Want to store files on your Apple or Android smartphone or tablet computer? Actually, there's probably a dozen or more programs that will allow you to do that. You can look in the iPhone App Store or the Android App Store to find several in each store. However, a new app from Bump claims to be the easiest of all the competitive apps.

I tested the Bump app and can verify the process is very easy. However, I haven't tested all the competitive programs so I cannot verify any claims of being "the easiest." Instead, I will simply state that Bump is "very easy to use."

Who Was Saint Valentine?

Valentine’s Day is the second most popular holiday to send a card. The Greeting Card Association claims that an estimated one billion cards are sent each year. Yet, most of the people who send the cards have no idea who Saint Valentine was. Even historians cannot agree.

According to some authorities, there were two Valentines. One was a priest and doctor who was martyred in the year 269, and the other was the bishop of Terni, who was brought to Rome to be tortured and executed in 273. Others say it was the same person. Both men (or the same man) have legends attributed to them concerning love and matrimony, legends that may or may not be true.

The Online Database of Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Georgia

Many cemeteries are now computerizing their records. The more forward-thinking cemetery managers are even making their records available on the World Wide Web. One of the best efforts I have seen is that of the Riverside Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

Riverside Cemetery was established in 1887 as a private cemetery located above the Ocmulgee River and has operated as a not-for-profit entity since the 1940s. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the final resting place for more than 18,000 people representing many ages, faiths, races, and national creeds. Many Civil War veterans from both sides are interred in Riverside Cemetery's 125 acres of landscaped property. Careful records, including thousands of obituaries, have been kept and maintained since the cemetery's inception in 1887.

Announcing a Genealogy Conference on British Migration

The following announcement was written by the Halsted Trust:

With 20 talks from 17 different internationally known genealogists and historians, the Halsted Trust is delighted to announce its Second International Family History conference featuring the theme of British Migration; from, to and within the British Isles. Exodus: Movement of the People will be held at a comfortable and modern hotel from 6th to 8th September 2013.

MennoTree searches Mennonite Ancestry

A new Mennonite genealogy search engine has gone online that should be a huge help to anyone searching for Mennonite ancestors. The new web site already claims to have more than 2 million names in its database.

The search mechanism is super simple. You can see the search page in the image to the right. (Click on the image to see a larger picture.) You can perform a search, then use the "Narrow By Category" menu to refine the results.

Bedbugs Found in Book Bindings Close Kalamazoo Library

As if libraries didn't have enough problems already. The Washington Square Branch of the Kalamazoo, Michigan, Public Library was closed after bedbugs were found in a number of book bindings.

The infestation appears to be minor. The few infected books had been returned in a drop box. A worker put the few books in plastic bags and destroyed them. However, officials have closed the entire library and plan a full treatment. Officials expect to raise the temperature inside the library to 120 degrees, killing any eggs. This process will take a few days to prepare for the treatment, then some more time to restore books to the shelves and become operational again. The library will remain closed until after the treatment and after dogs trained to detect bedbugs are brought in to give the library a clean bill of health.

Proposed New York Legislation Will Allow Access to Adoptees' Birth Records

The following email was sent by the German Genealogy Group on Long Island:

The Adoptee Bill(s) of Rights would repeal the 1935 legislation that sealed in perpetuity the original birth certificates, and thus the original identities, of anyone adopted in the state of New York.

The Bill permits an adopted adult to access birth certificates and medical histories when they reach the age of 18. It also creates a contact preference to be filed by the birth parents.

We must get calls going to the members of the assembly & senate.

LegacyTec for Smartphones

Otter Creek Holdings, the new parent company of BillionGraves.com, (see my earlier article here) has displayed new software they've built into a soon-to-be released smartphone application, LegacyTec.

In the past, some companies and a number of cemeteries have promoted the use of QR codes on small "medallions" that are cemented onto the face of the tombstone. Anyone with an Apple or Android smartphone could scan the QR code and immediately see a web page devoted to the life of the person buried there. Tombstone experts have questioned the practice of using any sort of adhesive to attach anything to a tombstone. The new app from Otter Creek Holdings plans to make QR codes obsolete by replacing them with the one thing that never changes: latitude and longitude.

Help Wanted in Identifying Black Americans in Charlotte, North Carolina

The Levine Museum of the New South is an unusually important artifact: a photo album containing photos and tintypes of 34 men and women (and a couple of teens) who appear to be part of the upper-class black society that emerged in Charlotte after the Civil War and before the rise of Jim Crow segregation laws. The photo album probably was made around 1900, a period when Charlotte saw its “first blossoming” of an African-American mainstream culture that included black churches, schools, stores, a newspaper and theaters.

Evidence suggests most of the 34 people are locals, starting with the fact that some photos are credited to Henry Baumgarten, a 19th century Charlotte photographer and leader in the local Jewish community. Baumgarten died in 1918.

(+) Protecting Your Genealogy Work from Natural Disaster

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

I sat through a huge “nor'easter” storm this week, one of the largest storms to hit New England in the past decade or two. Luckily, property damage was minimal this time but it did make me pause and reflect on other disasters in which local residents were not so fortunate.

Hurricanes, floods, building collapses, and other frequent news should teach all of us many lessons. One lesson concerns preparedness; waiting until a hurricane or tornado or blizzard or forest fire is bearing down on you is not the time to start planning! Some years ago I remember watching a television news story from California when a reporter interviewed a woman in front of her burning home during a wild fire that leveled the entire neighborhood. The woman was obviously crying and, when asked about her losses, she moaned that she had lost years of genealogy work in the flames.

Of course, we should plan for all sorts of problems, not just major disasters. Anyone can suffer from a burst water pipe that ruins documents, photographs, fabrics, and many other precious items.

Scientists use DNA Gene Therapy to Cure Dogs of Type 1 Diabetes

If they can do this for dogs, can similar cures for humans be far behind? Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have claimed a first by successfully using a a minimally-invasive single session of gene therapy to cure dogs of type 1 diabetes. Over the long term, the dogs that were treated displayed good glucose control when fasting and after eating, and also after exercising – which is an improvement on dogs that receive daily injections of insulin. No occurrences of hypoglycemia were recorded.

You can read more in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona web site at http://goo.gl/vZesf.

Have Irish Ancestry? Research the Records in Ireland!

Donna Moughty leads a group of Irish descendants to Ireland every year to research records and possibly even walk where their ancestors walked. I know people of have taken her previous trips and they speak highly of the experience. I now see that Donna is planning another expedition this year:

October 2013 - Genealogy Research Trip to Dublin, Ireland

Book Review: the various QuickSheets authored by Elizabeth Shown Mills

The following review was written by Bobbi King:

QuickSheets.
Authored by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Laminated, folded, 4 pages, 8 ½ x 11. Published by Genealogical.com.

The QuickSheets are laminated 4-page guides published by Genealogical.com, similar to the “At A Glance” series. Durable book-size pages that can be stowed in a bag, these QuickSheets replace the full volumes of Evidence! or Evidence Explained that are nearly impossible to carry around, say, if you’re in Salt Lake City for the week. These are quickie references that survive coffee drips, sandwich crumbs, and stuffed suitcases.

Cloudfogger for Windows and Macintosh Secures Your Files in the Cloud and Elsewhere

I have published numerous articles about the advantages of cloud computing, something I use myself extensively. The most common question I receive is, "Is it safe?" Indeed, with most services, cloud storage is very safe. However, a new, free program from a German company makes cloud storage very safe everywhere, even on the few services that are not otherwise secure. This should provide a high-security solution to always make cloud computing safe in all circumstances.

Cloudfogger encrypts your data with 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) encryption on your own Windows or Macintosh computer, before it is uploaded to the cloud. Only encrypted data ever gets uploaded to the cloud. This guarantees that Dropbox and other cloud storage services never get access to the content of your files. In addition, you can obtain Cloudfogger file viewer (decryptor) software for Android and Apple smartphones and tablets so that you can read your own files that you retrieve from the cloud.

FamilySearch Adds 8.5 Million Records from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, and the United States

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

February 7, 2013

FamilySearch added 8.5 million new, free indexed records and images this week to its collection. Included are 2,897,940 additional index records and images for the new New York State Census of 1855 collection, the 1,070,807 index records and images from the Texas Birth Certificates collection from 1903-1935, and the 554,541 images from the Italy, Catania, Diocesi di Caltagirone, Catholic Church Records collection from 1502-1942. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Why Was the Information Removed from Online?

A newsletter reader posted a comment expressing dissatisfaction that a set of images of Cook County, Illinois, birth records has been removed from FamilySearch.org. Indeed, removal of any online records of genealogical value is sad, but not unusual. Changes such as these are quite common on FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, Fold3, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, and most all other online sites that provide old records online. Removal of datasets has occurred dozens of times in the past, and I suspect such things will continue to happen in the future. I thought I would write a brief explanation.

How I Survived the Blizzard of '13

This is a follow-up to yesterday's article warning that I might be offline for a few days due to the expected blizzard that was scheduled to hit the New England states:

The storm arrived exactly as the weather services predicted. It was a wild and wooly afternoon, evening, and night with snow falling at the rate of two to three inches per hour. The snow arrived horizontally with 50 mile-an-hour and stronger winds. However, from my viewpoint, it was almost a non-event. I slept through much of it.

The snow ended this morning and my neighborhood is now digging out. I am including some pictures I took a few minutes ago just to show folks in the southern states what a real snow storm is like. Click on any picture to see a larger image.

I Think I Made a Mistake!

I may disappear from online for a few days. Please don't be surprised if I don't post any new articles for the next several days. The mailing of the Plus Edition newsletter on Sunday also is in jeopardy. Chances are I won't have any electricity. All this is because of a new addition to my family tree.

Starting last winter, I have been leading the life of a "snowbird:" I spend my summers in pleasant New England weather and my winters in equally pleasant central Florida. It has been a great life, until now...

[Caption: "I don't think we are in Orlando any more, Toto..."]

calibre 0.9.18

calibre is a FREE e-book library manager, e-book reader and converter all in one. It’s the ideal companion to your e-book reader. Books can be categorised manually and searched by author, year or genre. It includes library management, format conversion, news feeds to ebook conversion, as well as e-book reader sync features and an integrated e-book viewer. Calibre also makes it easy for users to find DRM (Digital Rights Management)-free e-books. It runs on Windows, Macintosh and Linux. Also, iPhone users can access Calibre via Stanza.  I have written about calibre before at http://goo.gl/SbIr3.

Now the producers have released an updated version with several new features as well as bug fixes.

Photos Needed for “African Americans of Galveston” (Texas) Book

The Galveston Historical Foundation is looking for photos for an upcoming book titled: African Americans of Galveston. Written by Tommie Boudreaux and Alice Gatson, the book will celebrate Galveston’s African American culture from the 1840s to the 1960s.

Photos should be submitted no later than February 15.

Details may be found in the Houston Chronicle book blog, written by Maggie Galehouse, at http://goo.gl/JZiQB.