Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Melinde Sanborn: Tree Climber

The Manchester Union-Leader has a great article about professional genealogist and prolific author Melinde Sanborn, FASG. It describes how she became interested in genealogy. Sanborn scrapped her aspirations of being an archaeologist and decided she would become a genealogist.

The same article also provides a bit of information about the upcoming New England Regional Genealogical Conference to be held in Manchester, NH on April 22 to 26.

Cliff Shaw Joins FamilyLink.com, Inc.

Cliff Shaw is a prolific software developer and is well known as the founder of GenForum, GenCircles, and Pearl Street Software where he developed Family Tree Legends, a genealogy program for Windows. Now Cliff has joined FamilyLink.com, Inc. as its new lead developer. FamilyLink.com provides the FamilyLink social networking software as well as Word Vital Archives, an online database of both original and transcribed records.

Here is the announcement written by FamilyLink.com, Inc.:

Former founder of GenForum, GenCircles, and Family Tree Legends to help connect families on FamilyLink.com

PROVO, Utah, March 3 -- Former founder of numerous genealogy companies and products, Cliff Shaw, recently joined FamilyLink.com, Inc. as its new lead developer.

Paul McGrath, R.I.P.

I was saddened to learn of the death of Paul McGrath. Paul was the staff genealogist for the Canadian family history television show “Ancestors in the Attic” (now in its third season) on History Television. Paul suffered a heart attack in Scotland working on an episode of the program. He passed away on Wednesday, October 22, 2008. He was 49 years old.

Richard Black Joins FamilyLink.com, Inc.

Many genealogists know Richard Black as the Director of Godfrey Memorial Library in Connecticut for the past three years. Now he has changed employers. Richard has accepted a position in content partnerships at FamilyLink.com, Inc., the parent company of WorldVitalRecords.com. Richard’s new role at FamilyLink.com, Inc. will be to work primarily with content providers who have U.S. genealogical content.

Bill Dollarhide Hospitalized

Friends of noted author and lecturer Bill Dollarhide will want to know that he had two "silent heart attacks" that went undetected at the time. Only some weeks later did he start to complain about the symptoms he had endured since then. Upon seeing a doctor, he was immediately hospitalized and this week surgeons inserted four stents into two of Bill’s arteries.

Details are available on Leland Meitzler's blog at http://genealogyblog.com/general/bill-dollarhide-recovering-from-surgery-at-the-va-hospital-in-salt-lake-city-6939.

More About Chuck Knuthson

Many of us knew Chuck Knuthson, a professional genealogist who was a popular speaker at many conferences, a busy instructor, and a member and leader of several genealogy societies. Sadly, he passed away February 27. You can read my earlier article about Chuck at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/03/chuck-knuthson.html.

While many of us knew him for his genealogy expertise and enthusiasm, very few of us knew about his “other life.” I recently learned that Chuck was a retired police captain, a Viet Nam veteran, recipient of a bronze medal of valor by the Placer County Law Enforcement Association, and also a husband and the father of five children.

You can read more about Chuck’s life experiences that many of us never knew at http://www.granitebaypt.com/detail/78636.html.

Bad Baby Names

Michael Sherrod is a V.P. at Ancestry.com, part of The Generations Network. I guess V.P.s do genealogy research also since Michael and co-author Matthew Rayback must have spent a lot of hours looking at census records. The two have now authored a book, entitled Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With, and You Can Too!

Bad baby names? How about Carr Chase? Well, we can't blame the parents as young Carr was born many years before the invention of the automobile. Likewise, Mr. and Mrs. Pack named their little girl Fanny before that phrase meant a favorite fashion accessory. But how about Mr. and Mrs. Royd who named their young daughter Emma?

Then there is Fat Meat Fields, Pickle Parker, Harry Pigg, Panties Moberg and Toilet Queen, to name a few. And, yes, those are all real names. They come straight from U.S. census records, and the authors have copies of the census records to prove each one.

Chuck Knuthson, R.I.P.

Many genealogists will be saddened to learn of Chuck Knuthson's passing. He was a very popular genealogy lecturer at many of the national conferences. He was also a prolific writer. He received Certificates of Appreciation from the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

As a professional genealogist, Chuck had been researching for more than thirty years. He retired as a police captain after thirty-two years of service. He was president of the 1,300-member Sacramento German Genealogy Society and a board member (including a Program Chair) of others. Chuck was a member of numerous organizations, including the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Genealogical Speakers Guild, the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and the California Genealogical Society.

Be A Genealogy Software Tester

It might be the ideal job for many of us although the position is available only on a part-time basis. OneGreatFamily.com is advertising in the Help Wanted sections for a genealogy software tester.

OneGreatFamily.com is well known as a provider of an interconnected online genealogy database of thousands of individuals. You can read my review of the service at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/09/onegreatfamilyc.html. Now the company is looking for a part-time software tester in its Springville, Utah office.

Halvor Moorshead Retires

Halvor Moorshead is well known in genealogy circles as the owner/publisher of Moorshead Magazines - which includes Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, History Magazine, and the new Discovering Family History. Halvor has sent an e-mail message to many of his friends and acquaintances announcing that he is retiring.

Nobody should wonder about the future of the magazines, however.

Matt Wright Becomes Editorial Director at FamilyLink.com

I suspect that quite a few readers of this newsletter know Matt Wright. Those folks may not know that Matt has switched employers. The following announcement was written by FamilyLink.com:

After eight years at Ancestry.com Matt Wright recently joined FamilyLink.com as director of editorial and print products, bringing with him a wealth of genealogical experience, expertise and connections in the industry.

Society Names Irvin's Place in History

There's the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame -- and now the Virgina V. Irvin Volunteer Hall of Fame for the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society.

Those who have a hall of fame named after them usually have done something so extraordinary that a mere place in a hall of fame isn't enough. More than 220 members of the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society recently named their hall after Virgina Irvin.

Gardener Retires at 104

I don't know if this article is genealogy-related or not, but I found it to be very interesting.

Jim Webber has decided to retire. He has been a gardener for as long as anyone remembers. Mr. Webber carried out hedging, mowed lawns, and did other gardening jobs for residents of Stoke Abbott, Dorset, England, as well as mowing the lawn of the local pub, the New Inn. This year he finally decided to stop mowing lawns and doing the hedging. Arthritis is forcing him to slow down a bit. You see, Jim Webber is 104 years old.

Lolita Thayer Guthrie inducted into the Ruth C. Bishop Volunteer Hall of Honor

The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:

Lolita Thayer Guthrie has been chosen as the 2006 inductee into the Ruth C. Bishop Volunteer Hall of Honor. Mrs. Guthrie was nominated for this honor by the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS), of Mansfield.

Mike Dodd Joins Omniture

Many people in the genealogy business will recognize the name Mike Dodd. He spent the past four years serving in various executive-level capacities at MyFamily.com, Inc., including senior vice president and general manager of the Commerce Business Unit, vice president of New Channel Marketing, International Marketing and Business Development. His friends and acquaintances will be interested to learn that he is now at Omniture, Inc.

The Family Tree: an Interactive Board Game

Luanga Nuwame, 29 doesn't play games. He creates them.

A couple of years ago, Nuwame hit upon an idea of creating Black Heritage trading cards. Soon he was inundated with requests from consumers who wanted to buy them. The success of the trading cards led him to design and develop customized, hand-made cards and games, such as The Family Tree, an interactive board game that is based on genealogy. The game can be tailor-made to suit any family.

Leland Meitzler joins Everton Publishers

The many friends of Leland Meitzler will be delighted to learn that he has landed on his feet, back in the genealogy publishing business. Leland has been named Managing Editor of Everton's Genealogical Helper.

In Memoriam: Sandra Devlin

Sandra Devlin was a veteran journalist of 30+ years and a self-confessed genealogy addict. After a 25-year career as a daily newspaper reporter, photographer, editor, and managing editor in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and southern and northern Ontario, followed by a three-year stint as a community college journalism instructor in Prince Edward Island, Sandra decided in 1996 to become a freelance genealogy journalist. Her weekly genealogy column was published in more than 12 newspapers in the Maritime Provinces.

Genealogists Drop Out, Move to Iowa

I mentioned Adrian and Leslie Brisee in this newsletter more than a year ago. The New York couple read a listing for an abandoned school building on eBay. It sounded like what they were looking for; so, the couple drove from their home in New York to Iowa to inspect the building. They made an offer, and it was accepted soon after. Adrian said he needed the room to store his genealogy books. (You can read that article here.)

There must be a lot of books involved. The Brisee's previous home was a former hotel near Albany - not just a room, but the entire hotel. "The (hotel) ceilings were starting to sag because of the books," Leslie said. The books are Adrian's. He is into genealogy.

"It started as a hobby, but it got out of control," according to Adrian. Today he has over 12,000 items.

The Ancestry of Rosa Parks

The United States lost a heroine last week. Because of one symbolic act by Rosa Parks, an entire race of Americans stood up for their rights as human beings. Much has been written about Mrs. Parks, but little has been mentioned about her ancestry.