Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

New Web Site: www.NewYorkAncestors.org

The following announcement was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:

NEHGS LAUNCHES NEW WEB PORTAL HIGHLIGHTING NEW YORK RESEARCH TOOLS

NewYorkAncestors.org Features a Wealth of New York State Resources

Boston, MA – May 15, 2008 – New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston today announced the launch of a new Web portal highlighting the wide variety of New York resources available on their award-winning Website, NewEnglandAncestors.org. This new portal, located at www.NewYorkAncestors.org, will direct members to a wide range of databases, publications, and articles focusing on New York state research.

ISFHWE Excellence in Writing Award Winners Announced

The following announcement was written by the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors:

Winners of the 2008 International Society of Family History Writers and Editors Excellence in Writing Contest were announced 14 May 2008 in Kansas City at the annual ISFHWE banquet.

Arphax Publishing Announces New Texas Land Survey Maps Series

Many announcements are being made at the annual National Genealogical Society conference held this year in Kansas City, Missouri. Here's one of those announcements, written by Arphax, THE company known for publishing land survey maps:

Kansas City, Missouri, May 14, 2008. Arphax Publishing of Norman, Oklahoma is pleased to announce the publication of its first three books in its new series of books, the Texas Land Survey Maps.

“This represents the result of nearly three years work,” says Greg Boyd, creator of the series. “Similar to my Family Maps series of books, I’ve taken land-ownership, transportation, and geographic data from a multitude of sources and melded it into something unique and totally researcher-friendly.”

Arphax chose this year’s National Genealogical Society Conference in the States to unveil this latest addition to its burgeoning list of historical-map titles.

400 Years of Surrey Wills Go Online

The following announcement was written by Origins.net:

"Dung to Diamonds: 400 years of wills go online" * Major New Collection on British Origins - Surrey Will Abstracts

The Surrey Will Abstracts  are among the most valuable research sources for the county of Surrey, and for family and social history generally.  Dating from the 15th to 19th centuries, these fully indexed abstracts of all 28,000 wills proved in the Archdeaconry and Commissary Courts of Surrey (and known still to exist) are now available online exclusively on British Origins [at http://www.britishorigins.com].

A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette Online

The following announcement was written by Library and Archives Canada:

(Le texte français suivra)

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the launch of A Nation’s Chronicle: The Canada Gazette, a project funded by the Canadian Culture Online Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Gazette Directorate.

Often referred to as “the official newspaper of the Government of Canada,” the Canada Gazette has been an important instrument in the Canadian democratic process for more than 160 years. It has informed Canadians of the operations of government and encouraged them to participate in the legislative process.

Ancestry.com Global Content, Product, and Marketing Update

To mark the first day of the 2008 National Genealogical Society Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, The Generations Network CEO Tim Sullivan has published a rather lengthy letter addressed to the genealogy community. He highlights several recently released content collections and product enhancements on Ancestry.com, and gives insights into some new projects on the horizon.

He starts off with:

Legacy Family Tree 7.0 (Pre-Release Edition) to be Released at NGS this Week

The following announcement was written by Millennia Software, producers of Legacy Family Tree for Windows:

If you are going to be at the National Genealogical Society Conference this week in Kansas City, Missouri, we invite you to visit the Legacy Family Tree booth where we will be displaying the new features in Legacy Family Tree version 7.0.

Geni Adds GEDCOM Import

The following announcement was written by Geni:

Geni Enables Genealogy Community to Build Family Trees From GEDCOM Files In Bid to Become #1 Family Networking Site

Top rated genealogy and family networking site Geni.com announced today that genealogists can now import their family history into Geni using the popular GEDCOM format. The launch of this features makes it easy to move their research into Geni to easily share it with their family.

Los Angeles, Calif. (PRWEB) May 12, 2008 -- Geni (www.geni.com), the popular social network with a genealogy twist, today gave genealogists the ability to upload their family history from other programs to the Geni site using the industry standard GEDCOM file format. GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication and is used to exchange data between genealogy applications.

Footnote.com Adds Interactive 1860 US Census

The following announcement was written by Footnote.com:

FOOTNOTE.COM ADDS TO ITS LEADING CIVIL WAR COLLECTION BY LAUNCHING THE FIRST-EVER INTERACTIVE 1860 US CENSUS

Footnote.com’s innovative tools enable members to enrich the census records by adding photos, comments, and related documents to names featured on the records.

Lindon, UT – Today, Footnote.com announced the addition of the 1860 US Census to their Civil War Collection. As the largest online collection of original Civil War documents, this new addition to Footnote.com provides a snapshot of America before the bloodiest war in its history.

The 1860 US Census reveals many details about individuals at that time. What was their occupation? Where were they born? What was their marital status? Did they attend school? Could they read or write? Was your ancestor insane, idiotic, or a convict? The 1860 US Census will let you know.

FamilySearch and Findmypast.com to Provide Online British Historical Records

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch, a nonprofit organization sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

FamilySearch Teams with Findmypast.com to Increase Online Access to British Historical Records

Retired servicemen and merchant seamen records are first projects

SALT LAKE CITY-FamilySearch announced today it is working with the UK family history Web site www.findmypast.com and The National Archives of the United Kingdom to increase access to select British historical records. The first major projects will provide access to millions of names of deceased British soldiers and seamen from eighteenth to twentieth century.

Findmypast.com and FamilySearch were recently awarded licenses by The National Archives to digitize and make available both the Chelsea Pensioners retired soldiers records between 1760 and 1914, and the Merchant Seamen's collection of records dating from 1835 to 1941.