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The KVEW TV web site has an interesting, although short, article about efforts by a coroner to unite unclaimed remains with as many families as possible. The Walla Walla County Coroner obtained more than 300 cremated remains, all of which have been unclaimed. Ten of the remains have already been identified as soldiers who were honorably discharged, and an honor guard conducted a proper burial of those soldiers.
The Coroner's office is looking for more relatives. You can read more, including a full list of the names of all unclaimed remains, at http://goo.gl/mOazn.
My thanks to newsletter reader Dee Passmore for telling me about this article.
Last week, Brian P. Kemp, Secretary of State for Georgia, announced that the Georgia State Archives would be closed to the public because of budget cuts. Under the new plan, the public would only be allowed to access the building by a limited number of appointments. Now Governor Nathan Deal has overturned that plan. He promises to keep the Georgia Archives open.
You can read the full story in an article by Kristina Torres in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at http://goo.gl/prqaA.
I might suggest that it is just a bit early to celebrate a victory. While the governor has promised to keep the State Archives open, he hasn't defined what the word "open" really means. Open or not, the Archives still must comply with the governor's earlier request that most state agencies trim their budgets by 3 percent. The State Archives probably will still need to lay off employees, curtail hours, and perform other cuts in order to meet the governor's budget cut requests. The exact impact to the State Archives is unknown at this time.
The General Register Office in Dublin has implemented new rules about General Searches and has increased the number of uncertified copies (photocopies) it allows each researcher to obtain on a daily basis from five to eight for those undertaking a General Search.
Scott Hunsinger, his two brothers, Paul and Bob; his three children, Hailey, Matthew and Frankie; his wife, Stephanie; and his nephew, P.J.; have worked together to transform Shady Lane Cemetery in South Abington Township (near Scranton, Pennsylvania) into pristine condition. The place had been plagued by fallen trees, collapsed headstones, trash and uncut grass.
Scott now spends roughly 30 hours a week at the cemetery and he even bought a tractor and chain saw to help keep the overgrowth under control. That's impressive for an unpaid volunteer!
As mentioned in yesterday's newsletter at http://goo.gl/4IDLq, the Georgia State Archives in Morrow, GA will be closed to the public starting November 1, 2012. Georgia will then be the only state not to have archives open to the public.
A group of concerned Georgia genealogists, historians, and others have started an online petition asking for reconsideration of this drastic plan. The goal is to gather 10,000 signatures. At this time, nearly half that number has already been collected but more signatures are needed. You can sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-ga-leave-our-state-archives-open-to-the-public
The National Archives and Records Administration is to move its New York facility to a new site in late October: the Alexander Hamilton United States Custom House at 1 Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan. The move will provide greater visibility for the institution and make its holdings more accessible to the public, archive officials said.
You can read the full story in an article by Felicia R. Lee in the New York Times at http://goo.gl/O7jV6.
Threats have been made before (see http://goo.gl/ohxGr) but now the orders have been given. Effective November 1, 2012, the Georgia State Archives located in Morrow, GA will be closed to the public. The public will only be allowed to access the building by a limited number of appointments. However, if enough opposition is generated, there is a chance this order could be overturned.
The following statement was issued by Jared S. Thomas, Press Secretary for Brian P. Kemp, Secretary of State for Georgia:
The [Georgia] Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget has instructed the Office of the Secretary of State to further reduce its budget for AFY13 and FY14 by 3% ($732,626). As it has been for the past two years, these cuts do not eliminate excess in the agency, but require the agency to further reduce services to the citizens of Georgia. As an agency that returns over three times what is appropriated back to the general fund, budget cuts present very challenging decisions. We have tried to protect the services that the agency provides in support of putting people to work, starting small businesses, and providing public safety.
You probably enjoy posting information on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites. You may have posted your genealogy online or even have created your own web site. You possibly have posted photos on Flickr, Snapfish, Shutterfly, Photobucket, or other photo sharing web sites. Here's a question for you to consider: what happens to your information on those sites after your death?
Will your information disappear from the online world shortly after you also disappear? Or will your last pictures and text remain online forever, leaving a haunting message behind? You might not want to leave a Facebook page online forever that says, "Having a great time here in Cancun. I wish I could stay here forever!"
Thousands of documents detailing some of the most shameful acts and crimes committed during the final years of the British empire were systematically destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of post-independence governments, an official review has concluded.
Those papers that survived the purge were flown discreetly to Britain where they were hidden for 50 years in a secret Foreign Office archive, beyond the reach of historians and members of the public, and in breach of legal obligations for them to be transferred into the public domain.
Grant’s Whisky, the world’s oldest family-owned blend, has launched an on-pack promotion in association with genealogy website www.findmypast.co.uk, giving consumers the opportunity to research their own family history, as well as learning about the Grant’s story.
The promotion, which launched on 20 August 2012 throughout the UK, will run across 528,000 70cl and 1-litre Family Reserve bottles. It will offer an instant free reward of a £10 voucher to redeem at findmypast.co.uk via a unique alpha numeric code. Customers will then receive an email directing them to a dedicated website at www.findmypast.co.uk/grants
Here is another story about a vandalized cemetery, this time in The Daily News: http://goo.gl/jblhg. Damage is estimated as being in excess of $100,000. NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is probing the incident.
Why would anyone do this? What is the benefit to the people who create this damage?
Here is an interesting animated infographic “The Internet a Decade Later” by Bestedsites.com. It’s amazing how things have changed in just 10 years.
If the average Internet user could download one MP3 song in 12.5 minutes ten years ago and today the same song requires 18 seconds to download, how long will it require ten years from now?
Lee Greene is betting consumers will pay premium prices for her line of condiments and other items that hark back to some of the original immigrants that settled in the Midwest. She went back in time about 200 years to track down heirloom regional recipes for pickles, ketchups and dipping sauces that could be updated to appeal to contemporary palates.
Her three-year-old company, The Scrumptious Pantry, has seen sales increase fourfold in 2011. She won't disclose dollar amounts, but she says revenue is up 50 percent so far this year compared with last year.
Here is a bit of advice to politicians: before making speeches about any groups you oppose, check your genealogy.
One of the leaders of Hungary's Jobbik Party, which the Anti-Defamation League says is one of the few political parties in Europe to overtly campaign with anti-Semitic materials, has discovered that he is himself a Jew.
Earlier this week, the Shaw Memorial on Beacon Street in Boston was splashed with a bucket of yellow paint. The monument depicts Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the men of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marching to battle. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was made up of "colored" Civil War soldiers. The memorial, Augustus Saint-Gaudens's most popular work, has been closely identified with the Academy-Award-winning movie Glory, starring Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington.
Monuments of all sorts get defaced and many monuments honoring Black Americans were also been destroyed or defaced back in the days of the civil rights movement. What makes this story different is the perpetrator of the crime: Rosemine Occean, an African-American woman from nearby Quincy, Massachusetts.
The South Dakota State Historical Society-Archives recently was awarded a $57,120 Documenting Democracy grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a division of the National Archives and Records Administration.
It is the first day of the month. It's time to back up your genealogy files. Then test your backups!
Actually, you can make backups at any time. However, it is easier and safer if you have a specific schedule. The first day of the month is easy to remember, so I would suggest you back up your genealogy files at least on the first of every month, if not more often.
Of course, you might want to back up more than your genealogy files. Family photographs, your checkbook register, all sorts of word processing documents, email messages, and much more need to be backed up regularly. Why not do that on the first of each month?
The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper has an article stating that previous reports of a possible buyout of Ancestry.com not only are true, but the bidding has intensified. Final bids are due next month from potential buyers, according to the Tribune. (You can read my earlier report of a possible buyout at http://goo.gl/hEO01.)
You can read the complete, although brief, article in the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper web site at http://goo.gl/r4So3.
David Ferriero is the Archivist of the United States, the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. He recently spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at the Wikimania 2012 Conference here in Washington. (Wikipedia is a division of the Wikimedia Foundation.) Over 1400 people from 87 countries came together to talk, hack, and share their expertise and experiences at the week-long event.
Ferriero is obviously a big fan of Wikipedia. At one point he said, "If Wikipedia is good enough for the Archivist of the United States, maybe it should be good enough for you."
The New York Times has reported that Ancestry.com is in talks with private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners Inc. and other firms to be taken private.
DISCLAIMER: These rumors are just that: rumors and speculation. This certainly is not a "done deal" just yet.
With stable revenue and relatively lower valuation, Ancestry.com was “attractively priced,” Bank of America Corp. analysts said last month in a research report. The New York Times reported that the online genealogy website could be valued at more than $1.5 billion, based on current talks.
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