Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Bankruptcy Case Files Can Reveal A Wealth Of Data

Sharon Tate Moody has written an article about an often-overlooked source of genealogy data: bankruptcy records. She writes, "Today's economic troubles offer us the chance to understand some of our ancestors from an enlightened perspective." She then goes on to describe the types of records available and how to access them.

Practical Tips For Gravesite Searching

Leslie Wagner has some great tips on how to visit  cemetery and find genealogical-relevant information there. She advises that "Take a camera to photograph the headstone. Headstone rubbings will actually cause chemical damage to the stone."

Pitfalls That Can Create Brick Walls or Cause You to Claim the Wrong Ancestors

"Mary L. B." has placed an interesting article on the EOGN Discussion Forum that I wish all genealogy newcomers would read. Entitled, "Pitfalls That Can Create Brick Walls or Cause You to Claim the Wrong Ancestors," Mary details several bits of "misinformation" that most of us struggled with when we first started.

Stalking the Insanity that Stalks My Family

A biological disorder of the brain that runs in families, schizophrenia is the most severe of all the mental illnesses, one characterized by auditory, visual and even tactile hallucinations.

Patrick Tracey has written an interesting article about inherited schizophrenia. In this case, it has been handed down from generation to generation within his family. He even went back to old Ireland to stalk the madness that stalks his family.

Half of Brits Have Immigrant Ancestors

Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and many others assume that their ancestors immigrated to the new lands. However, we don't often think about immigrants to the "old country" in Europe or the British Isles. We seem to assume that they were always there. New research now shows that more than half of Britons have immigrant ancestors. In fact, 23 per cent originated from Ireland.

Preserving Old Newspapers

Toss a paper keepsake into a pile, and in months it can yellow and crumble like papyrus from Tut’s tomb. But there are things you can do to keep paper keepsakes safe.

Most printed paper “contains the seeds of its own destruction,” says University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries archivist Michael Doylen.

Close Spellings Count Toward Matches

Sharon Tate Moody has published an article in the Tampa Bay Online web site that should be required reading for all beginning genealogists. She writes:

Genealogy is all about names. We find most records through surnames, and then narrow the search with given names. But too many of us search only for the perfect match. Close counts not only in horseshoes but also in heritage hunting.

What To Do With All Those Christmas Cards

Diana Lynn Tibert has published a great article in the Kings County (New Brunswick) Record about Christmas cards, She writes, "Yes, Christmas cards are significant to genealogy research." She then goes on to describe her method of tracking "almost every known address for family members regardless if I send them a card. I always buy a large book, so it will last 20 years or more."

You can read this interesting article at http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/news/article/519815.

Genealogy Resources by State

Genealogists constantly pore over old records. Of course, the biggest provider of old records in the U.S. is the U.S. government. The government even maintains a listing of significant record collections available for genealogists. The list also mentions many state and local archives.

You can view the listing at: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/History_Family/State_Genealogy.shtml.

Online Genealogy Dictionaries and Lists

I have been collecting URLs (Web addresses) of various online dictionaries and lists that are useful to genealogists. These are useful when trying to decode foreign or obsolete words often found in genealogy work. Here are a few of my favorites:

Thought for the Day

"He who laughs last probably made a backup."

I Want to See THIS Family Reunion!

Here's a great quote from an article by Eilis O'Hanlon, writing in the Independent (a newspaper and web site in Dublin, Ireland):

Trace a line back 600 years and what you have is 16 million ancestors. Go back 80 generations and the figure rises to a trillion trillion (which is actually greater than the total number of people who've ever lived, but that's maths for you).

The US National Centre for Biotechnology Information puts it as bluntly as it gets by pointing out that, if you trace the line back far enough, every single human on the planet would eventually be shown to be related.

Ahnentafel Explained

One of the fundamentals of genealogy is the various numbering systems used to make quick and easily-read lists of ancestors and descendants. Perhaps the most common method of listing ancestors is to create an ahnentafel. Yet I suspect that word confuses many newcomers. Here is a (hopefully) simple explanation.

Increase or Decrease Web Page Text Size

Are you having difficulty reading this web page? or any web page? Many people do not realize how simple it is to increase and decrease the display sizes of web pages. Here's how you can easily zoom in (magnify), zoom out, and reset the zoom level back to its default condition in seconds:

Factoid of the Day

It is estimated that everyone has approximately 4 trillion 20th cousins. That is obviously more than the total number of people who ever lived.

In other words, everyone is related to nearly everyone else. Yes, you are undoubtedly related to most everyone you know. Barack Obama is probably related to John McCain in many ways above and beyond the various relationships already described in the press. Both men are probably related to you as well.

We are all related.

Have Your Documents Scanned the Easy Way

I have a four drawer filing cabinet that is mostly full of paper. Two drawers are full of genealogy documents: a mixture of my handwritten notes and of photocopies, all of them made years ago. I now scan electronically and transcribe onto a computer; I no longer collect paper. However, there must be several thousand sheets of paper in that filing cabinet that I made in "the old days" before I started computerizing.

I really need to scan those documents, get them into a proper genealogy database, and then file and organize them properly. The longer I procrastinate, the bigger the problem. I don't dig into that filing cabinet often but the last time that I did I noticed that many of the photocopies are fading. Some are already difficult to read and the problem will become worse the longer I procrastinate.

GEDCOM Explained

I frequently mention the acronym "GEDCOM" in this newsletter. This week a reader wrote to me with an excellent question: "What is GEDCOM?" I realized that I haven't explained this buzzword in a long, long time. So, here is a brief, non-technical explanation of the term for the newer subscribers to this publication.

GEDCOM is an abbreviation that stands for GEnealogy Data COMmunications. In short, GEDCOM is the language by which different genealogy software programs talk to one another. The purpose is to exchange data between dissimilar programs without having to manually re-enter all the data on a keyboard.

Plastic Bins Can Help Save Precious Documents

Writing in the Tampa Bay Online web site and the Tampa Tribune newspaper, Sharon Tate Moody offers some sound advice about disaster planning for genealogists. She writes: 

I have a zillion paper files and notebooks full of old correspondence (from pre-e-mail days) and copies of so many deeds and wills that I'll be 90 before I find time to scan all of them.

Department of Homeland Security Plans to Create a New Genealogy Program

No, this isn't the kind of program you run in a Windows or Macintosh computer. Instead, the  Department of Homeland Security is planning to create a new methodology (they call it a "program") to simplify the the process for acquiring historical records of deceased individuals.

Julie Miller's Genealogy Disaster Plan

Julie Miller is a certified genealogist, researcher, lecturer and a prolific writer. She recently wrote:

The year is only half over, and already there have been numerous natural disasters that have hit close to home: The tornadoes in northern Colorado; the floods in the Midwest; the wildfires in California.

Watching the people on the news who have been affected has been heart-wrenching. Many folks have lost everything. Some of their possessions can easily be replaced, such as clothes, appliances and dishes. But what about all those things that cannot be replaced? I look around my house and see the wedding quilt made by Great-Grandma Ivy, the baby photo of my mother, the file cabinets of family history documents and notes. No amount of insurance money could bring those items back.

There is a precaution to safeguard your family history should disaster strike. I recommend creating and implementing a written genealogy disaster plan.