Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

On the Road Again, This Time to Kansas City

I am headed out again this week. I will attend the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society. This year's event is being held in Kansas City.

This will be my twentieth NGS conference. I have attended all the NGS conferences in the past twenty-one years except for the one held in 1995. It will be interesting to contrast this year's event against those of former years. This year's event should have 1,500 or more attendees as well as 100 or so vendors. Attendees are expected from all over the United States plus a few from Canada, and I know of one from England who plans to be there. Exhibitors likewise will be from all over the U.S. as well as from Canada, Ireland, and England.

On the Road Again, This Time to London

I am headed out again this week. This time it is for an international trip. I will attend the annual Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE! show in London, England. The name of that show is a mouthful, so I'll abbreviate it as WDYTYAL.

I was at this show last year and was impressed to see nearly 15,000 genealogists and history buffs at one three-day event. In fact, you can see the video that I created (with a lot of assistance from Roots Television) at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/national_histor.html. This year's show promises to be bigger and probably better.

Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE! is sponsored by Ancestry.co.uk and is also supported by The Times Archive. It will be held May 2nd through 4th in the Grand Hall, Olympia, Kensington.

Some of the Greatest Tombstone Art in North America

As a genealogist, I have visited many cemeteries. Some people see them as depressing places, full of doom and death. I disagree. For me, a visit to a cemetery is similar to a trip to a park. They vary in details, but the better ones are places of beauty and everlasting memorials that celebrate the lives of now deceased individuals. You can find many beautiful cemeteries, and some of them contain very artistic tombstones, testifying to the artistic skills of the people who converted stones into works of art.

A small town in central Vermont is the home of one of the most unusual and artistic cemeteries I have ever seen. It is almost impossible to stop and admire only one work of art; everywhere you turn in this cemetery, you see four or six or eight works of art, all simultaneously vying for your attention.

The tombstones in this one cemetery are among the most creative to be found anywhere. You can find traditional tombstones with angels, willow trees, and even busts or full-size statues of the deceased. What amazes me even more, you can also find tombstones made in the shape of race cars, barnstormer airplanes, a window, a cat, open books, and one cube-shaped tombstone that seems to balance eternally on one point, looking like a child’s wooden block that has suddenly been spun on one corner.

I recently visited the cemetery and snapped hundreds of digital photographs. I extracted 56 of my best photographs and uploaded them to this newsletter’s web site.

RootsMagic Cruise Early-bird Discount Extended thru April 30

Genealogy Cruises continue to grow in popularity. Genealogists enjoy software presentations, "how to" courses, demonstrations of the latest genealogy techniques, good food, gorgeous scenery, and adventurous shore excursions. What could be better?

One of the best-known cruises is sponsored by RootsMagic. Here is an excerpt from the current RootsMagic newsletter:

RootsMagic Cruise Early Bird Registrations are About to Close

Interested in taking a genealogy cruise? There are several to choose from. One of the cruises is available right now for $50 off per person.  To qualify for the RootsMagic Cruise Early Bird Discount, you must be booked and deposits paid no later than this coming Monday, February 25th.

Disembarking September 28, this year's speakers will include:

Elizabeth Shown Mills
George G. Morgan (well known in this newsletter)
Diana Crisman Smith
Gary M. Smith
Dick Eastman (also well known in this newsletter)

Irish Genealogy Cruise

Genealogy cruises seem to be popping up all over the place, and for very good reasons: they are great fun, educational, and reasonably priced for the most part. The Irish Ancestral Research Association, a non-profit genealogy society often referred to as TIARA, is now organizing an Irish genealogy cruise to be held about a year from now. The time to start planning this vacation is right now.

The Irish Genealogy Cruise will feature leading presenters from the U.S. and Ireland.  All the presenters are experienced speakers at national genealogical conferences.

On the Road Again

I am packing my bags and hitting the road again. I'll be at the American Library Association (ALA) winter meeting in Philadelphia for a couple of days and then will fly on to Salt Lake City for some meetings.

Since I will spend the next week traveling, don't be surprised if some of the daily editions of this newsletter and even the weekly Plus Edition get delayed a bit. I will be traveling with a Mac laptop and a variety of wireless networking equipment. However, good ol' Murphy of "Murphy's Law" fame is never far away.

I hope to bring back some news items from Salt Lake City. Stay tuned!

RootsMagic Cruise 2008

The following was originally posted in the RootsMagic newsletter:

This year's RootsMagic Family History cruise was so successful we have decided to do another one next year.  Next year's cruise will be to the Mexican Riviera (Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) from Sept 28 - Oct 5, 2008.

Report from the RootsMagic Cruise

As I write these words, we are in day #5 of a 7-day genealogy theme cruise sponsored by RootsMagic. The cruise is taking place on one of the largest and most modern of today's cruise ships, the Royal Caribbean's "Mariner of the Seas." We have already stopped at all the ports of call and are now headed back to Port Canaveral, Florida.

The genealogy group on board is a bit smaller than some of the other genealogy cruises this year but also has been one of the most enthusiastic. We have been holding seminars at sea about a wide variety of genealogy-related topics. In fact, most of the days spent at sea have seen three simultaneous genealogy presentations being made from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM except for a lunch break. Soon after the last presentation of the day, all of the RootsMagic attendees usually dine together in the same area of the dining room. After dinner, I see the genealogists often gathering together in the lounges and elsewhere. Camaraderie seems to be high on this genealogy cruise, and everyone seems to be smiling.

On the Road For a Bit Longer

My travels continue and I must admit that I am enjoying myself. I spent the last week basking in the sunshine in Fort Lauderdale. Now I am about to jump on a cruise ship.

I'll spend next week on board Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas, along with many other genealogists. This cruise is sponsored by RootsMagic, the popular genealogy software for Windows. The cruise will depart Port Canaveral and make stops in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Cococay, Bahamas. The ship returns to Port Canaveral at the end of the one-week cruise.

Like most genealogy cruises, the RootsMagic cruise combines genealogy classes at sea, daytime excursions in exotic ports, and luxurious accommodations at all times.