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Variety of Questions - Part 3 (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

DearMYRTLE:- A Variety of Questions - Part 1RE: A Variety of Questions - Part 2DearROGER,

Genealogy Goals for 2009 (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

Genea-Musings:- It's time to think about my goals and objectives for genealogy research, education, society, and writing for 2009. I didn't do very well in meeting my 2008 goals, but this is an opportunity to start anew - with hope and energy.

BLOGS OF NOTE 2008 (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

MoSGA Messenger:-

Getting the Most out of your Genealogy Society Speaker (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

Gena's Genealogy:- One of the perks of belonging to and attending a genealogy society is the education you receive through the monthly programs. Many times this may mean bringing in an outside speaker. That speaker can benefit you in many ways, besides that 1 hour talk. Here are some of my thoughts.

The Proximidade Award (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

Genea-Musings:- I've been remiss in not mentioning that I have received the Proximidade Award from several genea-bloggers.

What do you want to know about TGN/FTM/Ancestry? (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

Genea-Musings:- Do you have questions, comments or complaints about The Generations Network, Ancestry.com, Family Tree Maker, etc.?

The Proximidade Award (EOGN Other News - powered by KickRSS)

California Genealogical Society and Library blog:-

ADV: This week's newsletter is sponsored by Archive CD Books USA (Sponsors)

(+) Who?s Afraid of Land Records? - Part III - by George G. ...

NOTE: Part #1 and Part #2 of this series of articles are both still available at http://plus.eogn.com.

The last two weeks? columns have addressed land and property records research in the United States. The last column of this three-part series will focus on several helpful methodologies for locating a chain of property ownership, interpreting the contents of deeds, and mining some of the clues found in these wonderful documents.

Tracking Down the Land and Property Records

Your research will initially involve locating the actual indexes and records before you can begin trying to access and work with them.

The earliest land records in the state-land states can often be found in the records of the county in which your ancestor lived at the time. Remember that the boundaries of the colonies, the territories, and later the states and counties have changed many times in the almost 400 years since the earliest arrivals of the first European settlers on the Atlantic coast of what now is the United States. It is therefore imperative that you gain some sense of where your ancestors settled, and then find historical maps to determine in which jurisdiction they lived. For instance, determine the place where your ancestors settled, using a modern map, and then compare that map with an historical map of the same area from the time when you ancestors were there. Make special note of the state and county at the time they lived there. Chances are excellent that the records for your ancestor?s land ownership will be in that county?s records.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live! 2009 (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Perhaps the world's largest gathering of genealogists, history buffs, and military re-enactors,  along with more than 200 exhibitors, will be held in a few weeks in London. The Who Do You Think You Are? Live! 2009 event will be the third annual exhibit and promises to be even better than the first two.

If you have been to either of the first two Who Do You Think You Are? Live! events, you already know what it will be like. However, be aware of the date change this year: instead of being held on the May Day bank holiday weekend as before, the 2009 event will be held much earlier: February 28 through March 2. This year's event will again be held in the Olympia National Hall, London.

This is an excellent time of year for anyone who wishes to travel to the event from overseas. Americans, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, and others will appreciate the off-season airfares and hotel room rates (although rooms in London are never cheap!).

Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE, sponsored by Ancestry.co.uk and powered by The Times Archive, is a one-stop-genealogy-shop that attracted 12,000 visitors in May 2008. With nearly 200 exhibitors and even more people expected to attend this year, this will be the largest historical event of its kind.

Comparing the annual London event to other shows in England, the U.S., and Canada is a bit difficult as it is really quite different. First of all, Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE, abbreviated as WDYTYA, is a fair, not a conference. It attracts thousands of newcomers and intermediate-level genealogists and history buffs. Of course, the hard-core, long-time experts also show up at this fair.

Next, this fair in England is very much focused on the exhibitors. It is much more of a commercial exhibit than most other events I have attended. The exhibits hall remains the focus of attention for three straight days. In fact, the exhibitors at last year's event reported great success in selling their wares. You can view the very long list of exhibitors scheduled to attend this year's event at http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk/index.php?option=com_exhibitors&Itemid=29.

Genealogists will enjoy the many sessions available, including: Ask the Experts, The Society of Genealogists Family History Show, sponsored by TheGenealogist.co.uk and a seminar programme with lectures aimed at both beginner and advanced levels. Plus, new for this year, the SoG has teamed up with The Federation of Family History Societies to create a Regional Experts Workshop dedicated to lectures by regional experts and family history societies.

The line-up includes leading genealogist Nick Barratt.A staunch advocate of bringing history to the masses and inventor of the term ?personal heritage,? Nick will be on hand to pass on tips and advice. Other celebrities expected to attend this year's fair include Ainsley Harriott and quadruple Olympic gold medalist rower, Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE. Well-known genealogy experts at the show will include Else Churchill, Mike Gandy, John Hanson, Sharon Hintze, and Geoff Swinfield, plus experts from The National Archives. There will be in-depth information on how to begin exploring personal heritage and advice on the best use of the technology available, as well as a wealth of products and information.

To be sure, there are various presentations and demonstrations scheduled, both in the exhibits hall and in various rooms around the periphery. At past WDYTYA events I saw sword fighting, 1890s fashion shows, military uniforms from throughout the centuries, a World War II Spitfire fighter airplane, an anti-aircraft gun from the same era, many vehicles from World War I, and more. I also listened to medieval music being performed live. I sat in the audience and listened to presentations by well-known television personalities, famous genealogists, and numerous ?unknowns? as well.

If you would like to see what happened in past years, take a look at my video reports on RootsTelevision. You can start with the 2007 event at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/national_histor.html. You can view some other videos from past WDYTYA events as well:

Eneclann at WDYTYAL? at: http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=1556072166

JoAnne Rockower of Geni.com at: http://rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=1646075903

A Video Interview with Ken Martindale of Black British Heritage at: http://rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=1551055739

An Interview with Else Churchill, the Genealogist at the Society of Genealogists, at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/06/an_interview_wi_1.html

The World War II Spitfire (when was the last time you saw a fighter plane at a genealogy and history show?) at http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=900482205

An Interview with Josh Hanna (of Ancestry.co.uk) at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/an_interview_wi_2.html

An Interview with Maggie Laughran, Administrator of the Federation of Family History Societies, one of the largest genealogy organizations in England, at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/an_interview_wi.html

An Interview with Paul Blake, co-author (with Maggie Laughran) of Discover Your Roots as well as numerous magazine articles, at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/an_interview_wi_1.html

Jacqueline Depelle - The Hat Lady at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/05/jacqueline_depe.html

An Interview with Chris Pomery, author of the book "DNA and Family History" at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/06/an_interview_wi.html

An Interview with Roy Stockdill, editor of the Journal of One-Name Studies and an expert British genealogist, at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/06/an_interview_wi_2.html

A Video Interview with David Nicholson, Director of DNA Worldwide and is a DNA expert, at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/06/a-video-intervi.html

This year's event promises to be even bigger and busier. I expect to be there again, along with a video crew from RootsTelevision. We hope to bring you a ?behind the scenes? view of what a genealogy fair looks like when 15,000 or more people show up.

For more information about this year's event, look at:  http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk

Use of Digital Camera for Genealogy (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

You can read an interesting "thread" of messages in the EOGN Forum right now concerning the use of digital cameras for genealogy purposes. I was especially interested in A. R. Wilson's detailed description on how to obtain high quality pictures and also with JGR's and John R.'s comments about how they take photographs of documents and then process them with a free OCR program, converting them to text.

You can read the messages at: http://www.eogn.com/forum/index.php/topic,61.0.html.

Upcoming Events (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

The Upcoming Events section of this newsletter is published as a newsletter article once per month, usually in the first week of the month. However, you can also view the latest list of events at any time by clicking on "Upcoming Events" in the Navigation menu near the upper right corner of the page at http://www.eogn.com.

Each event is listed with the name, location and dates. Click on the name to see the details, including a link to the event's web page or to an e-mail address of someone who will provide still more information. The EOGN list of Upcoming Events is also available as an RSS newsfeed at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/eogns_calendar.rss.

If you would like to have your event added to this list, please send the information to meetings@eogn.com. We will publish the name of the event, the city and state/province/country where it is to be held, a very brief description and a web page URL or e-mail address to be used to obtain full details.

NOTE: We compile the list once a month. If you wait until the last minute to send the notice of your event, it might not make it into this month's listings.

The Day the Music Died (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

A bit of history died last week. The last company in America to produce player piano music has ceased production of the paper rolls. QRS Music Technologies halted production of player piano rolls 108 years after the company was founded in Chicago. Some of the machinery that was shut down last week had been built in the 1880s.

To be sure, this is not the end of automated music: the company continues to make digitized and computerized player-piano technology that runs on CDs. The company?s fortunes in recent years have been tied to Pianomation, the digitized player-piano system that can be retrofitted on most acoustic pianos. QRS also pre-installs the system on some of its own Story and Clark grand pianos.

The Pianomation systems sell for between $6,000 and $8,000, not including the piano.  Somehow, a cold digital player piano doesn't seem to have the same charm as a paper roll.

You can read more at the Buffalo News web site at http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/538967.html.

Stacks at NY Public Library are Temporarily Closed (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

The central stacks in the Humanities and Social Sciences section of the the 42nd Street New York City Public Library are closed while the library works on a project related to the façade restoration. 65% of the General Research Material is not available, including the Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy.

You can read more about this on the NYPL web site at http://www.nypl.org/research/chss.

(+) RSS and Newsreaders Explained (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Your paperboy just got smarter. This article will tell you how to read more information on the Internet in a shorter period of time. In short, you can use the Internet without all the clutter.

I used to spend 2 or 3 hours per day visiting specific web sites over and over in an attempt to find new information. I regularly visited CNN.com looking for news, weather.com looking for the latest weather forecast for my home town, various stock market web sites, and, of course, genealogy sites looking for information about a variety of topics.

Today I can accomplish the same thing within a very few minutes instead of spending hours searching for elusive information.

Today I "subscribe" to CNN.com, weather.com, and many other web sites. New information automatically appears on my computer's screen whenever I want; I no longer have to open a web browser to visit dozens of web sites in search of new information. The result is in the a form of a "custom newspaper" designed for me, containing new information about topics of interest to me.

Read the Plus Edition Newsletter Online (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Every week I send a copy of the Plus Edition of this newsletter via e-mail to every Plus Edition subscriber. The e-mail is usually sent on Sunday evenings although occasionally it may be delayed a day or two when I am traveling.

The biggest headache of sending all those Plus Edition newsletters is spam filters. The newsletters are sent via bulk mail. Quite a few e-mail providers will delete large bulk mail messages, such as the Plus Edition newsletter. Some of them do not even place it in a spam folder; they simply delete it completely without leaving a trace.

I estimate that perhaps 10% of the e-mail newsletters never get delivered. Judging by recent feedback from subscribers, I also suspect that percentage is increasing.

It seems that more and more Plus Edition subscribers are reporting that they do not receive the newsletter. However, every time that I investigate, I find that the newsletter always was sent to that person's e-mail address and that it was accepted by the receiving e-mail server. What happens after that is invisible to me.

I'll remind all Plus Edition subscribers that you can ALWAYS read the latest Plus Edition newsletters online, regardless of what your e-mail provider does to your in-box. Even if your e-mail provider deletes the Plus Edition newsletter, you can always go to the newsletter's web site at http://www.eogn.com and click on "Read the Plus Edition Newsletter or Renew Your Plus Edition Subscription (e-mail address and password required.)"

Log in with your e-mail address and password and you will be able to read this week's newsletter and the two previous newsletters.

I'll also remind you that you can change your e-mail address on the subscription at any time. Some people have two or even more e-mail addresses: a regular address for most of your correspondence and then a second account on Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or some other free e-mail provider. If that includes you, you can change the address on your subscription at any time. To do so, go to the newsletter's web site at http://www.eogn.com and click on "Change the E-Mail Address on your Newsletter Subscription." In fact, you might want to experiment: change the address for a week or two, see what happens, and then decide if you want to switch it back.

Suggestion: Try a Better E-mail Service

If you do not yet have a second e-mail address, I'd recommend that you obtain one now. It is good for this newsletter plus for many other purposes as well. I prefer Google Mail, often referred to as ?Gmail.? Google Mail works better than AOL mail or the e-mail service provided by most Internet providers. It has better spam filters than I have ever seen elsewhere and allows for storage of several gigabytes of old messages. Even better, Gmail can find old messages almost instantly, using a search engine that is based on Google itself. I find that Gmail's method of finding past e-mail messages works much better than the concept of filing messages into folders.

Once you create a Gmail account, you can file e-mail messages simply by clicking on the ARCHIVE button. To later find a particular old e-mail message in your archives, use the SEARCH MAIL function. Type in a few words that you remember from that old message, click on SEARCH MAIL, and Gmail will instantly show you a list of all archived e-mail messages that contain those words. It works well.

To obtain a free Gmail account, go to http://www.gmail.com.

New Method To Revolutionize DNA Sequencing (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

A new article in the Foresight Institute's web site describes a new method of DNA sequencing. The article is quite technical so I will leave it to others to describe the "3000 ZMWs (waveguides)" and other techniques used. What caught my eye is a claim that "Company founder Stephen Turner estimates that such a chip would be able to sequence an entire human genome in under half an hour to 99.999 per cent accuracy for under $1000."

Forget 9 markers, forget 24 markers, forget 32 markers. These folks are talking about ALL the markers. Not only will this help identify ancestry, it also opens up all sorts of possibilities about identifying diseases and other inherited traits. If the price this year is to be $1,000, what will the price be ten years from now? Probably only a fraction of this year's price.

Details are available at http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2919.

New in this Newsletter: Share This (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

You may notice something new at the end of each article on this newsletter's web site at www.eogn.com: a link that is labeled "Share This." This new link gives you an easy way to send an article to a friend or post it to your own blog or Facebook account or elsewhere.

This new piece of software allows you to share articles from this newsletter with your friends via e-mail or to post it to your own blog (Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, etc.) or to post it to any of the popular social networking sites (MySpace, LinkedIn, Digg, Google Bookmarks, etc.)

Using the "Share This" service is simple: click on the "Share This" link at the bottom of the article you wish to share with others, click on any one of the three tabs that appear (Social Web, Post, Send/Email), and then fill in the blanks. Finally, click on SHARE.

A link to the article (not the full text) will then be sent to whatever destination you have chosen: to an e-mail address, to a blog you maintain, or to a social networking site.

This new option should make it easier for you to share stories of interest with your friends and relatives.

New FGS President Appointed (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

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

Federation of Genealogical Societies President J. Mark Lowe Resigns; Vice President of Administration Pat Oxley Becomes FGS President

AUSTIN, Texas ? Saturday, January 3, 2009 ? The Federation of Genealogical Societies today announced the resignation of its President, J. Mark Lowe, effective immediately. Mr. Lowe, who was elected to the position of President in the 2008 FGS elections, resigned due to personal reasons. In accordance with the Bylaws of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, Vice President of Administration Pat Oxley has assumed the presidency of FGS.

Pat Oxley began her service to the Federation of Genealogical Societies in 2002 as a volunteer.  She chaired the Exhibit Halls for the 2004, 2006, and 2008 FGS national conferences.  In May 2005, Ms. Oxley was appointed to the FGS Board as a Director by then-President Wendy Bebout Elliott. In the 2005 FGS elections Ms. Oxley was elected to the FGS Board as a Director for a three-year term beginning in January 2006. She served on and chaired the FGS Conference Planning Committee and the FGS Booth Committee, and served on the FGS 30th Anniversary and Membership Committees.  In January 2008 Ms. Oxley was asked to fill the position of Vice President of Administration and was elected to that position during the 2008 FGS elections for a term beginning in January 2009.

Ms. Oxley served in various positions on the Board of the Austin Genealogical Society, including five years as Seminar Coordinator, one year as First Vice-President, and three years as President (2005- 2007).  She resides with her husband Don in Round Rock, Texas, a suburb of Austin.

About FGS

The Federation of Genealogical Societies was founded in 1976 and represents the members of more than 500 genealogical societies.  More information about FGS is available online at http://fgs.org.

MyBlood - A Genealogy Program for Windows and Macintosh (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

MyBlood is a brand new genealogy program from Belgium. It is so new that it is not even in beta test yet. The latest available version is referred to as Alpha 2.1.

The program has several unique features. First of all, it is available in two versions: Windows and Macintosh. There aren't many genealogy programs that can make that statement! Next, it is multi-lingual. English, French, and Dutch versions are available today and the program includes a Translator Tool to help you translate everything in the application. You can modify the program to create a new language if your preferred language is not yet available. All reports are also translatable. MyBlood encourages people to share their language files, and will put them on the MyBlood web-site and forum for further use.

MyBlood is a visual program: almost everything is oriented around pictures, graphs and historical timelines. The program's advertising states, "MyBlood visually represents information to help you discover incorrect information. Therefore there are several ways to look at data. e.g. Ancestors, TimeMaps, Chronology... From each view you can easily navigate to the information and modify it. For example, the Ancestors View - on the left - also shows the Timeline of 5 generations, and highlights the Person the cursor is moving over."

MyBlood also has a very powerful FIND feature. The Find window can show you specific information or everything MyBlood can find. You don?t need to do a search on a specific field like ?date of birth.? With Find Distance and Time, you can find all data that is found in a circle around a place, and even in a specific time range. Double-clicking on any item will take you to the item, person, place, note, or other object.

Many of today's genealogy programs support timelines, as does MyBlood. However, this program also contains Time Maps: it displays the locations of a person's ancestors on a computer-generated map, up to four generations.

MyBlood also can import GEDCOM files so that you do not have to re-enter all your data into this new program.

MyBlood is developed for both Windows and Macintosh systems. It uses 99% the same code for PC and Mac, and runs on Mac OS X 10.5 for Intel and PowerPC as well as Windows XP and Vista. Other requirements include:

Memory          512 megabytes minimum, (1 gigabyte recommended)
Disk Space      150 megabytes
Screen size     1024 x 786 pixels (minimum)

MyBlood is produced by Vertical Horizon, a small company in Belgium that is owned by Geert Jadoul.

The Alpha version of MyBlood is free, but to be able to save changes, you need to register for a free license key. The program will be a commercial product once the regular version is released. Pricing has not yet been announced.

This certainly looks like an interesting program that is still under development. I wouldn't trust the only copy of my genealogy data to this program while it is still in alpha. However, if you would like to experiment with the program, either on Windows or Macintosh, you might like to look at all the details at http://myblood-line.com.

(+) Manuscript Collections by Lloyd Bockstruck (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Manuscript collections are underutilized in genealogical research. Most of them were created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by genealogists who specialized in a locality. Because of  the widespread availability of research guides and on-line finding aids, manuscript collections deserve to be used much more than they are.

Some examples of manuscript collections are the Draper Collection for the United States, the Andrea Collection for South Carolina, the Gardner Collection for New Jersey, the McCubbins Collection for North Carolina, Genealogical Notes of Cape Cod Families for Plymouth, the Cope Collection for Pennsylvania and Delaware, the Hollingsworth Collection for Georgia, and the Corbin Collection for Massachusetts. Today all of these exist in microform. Some have had selected portions published; others have various levels of access.

"Google Your Family Tree" to be Featured on Television Show (Eastman's Online ...

Dan Lynch has written an excellent book called "Google Your Family Tree." I wrote about it a few weeks ago at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/12/google-your-fam.html. Now the book is to be featured on a local television program in Connecticut.

WFSB?s ?Better Connecticut? television show will be broadcast from Hartford this coming Monday, January 5th, sometime between 10:00am and 11:00am.  Author Dan Lynch writes, "The show airs on Channel 3 with hosts Scot Haney and Sara Sundlun and while it?s focused on my new book 'Google Your Family Tree,' I will certainly be taking the opportunity to mention how special Connecticut is with GREAT collections at the CT State Library and CSG (celebrating 40th anniversary).  AND, I?ll be directing viewers to CSG for purchase of the book too.

"It will be a 4 minute segment and will be LIVE . . .  I?m writing something for the WFSB web site now and am working with them as to the exact content to be featured."

If you would like to call in about the show or send an email, the contact info is:

Better Connecticut With Scot Haney and Kara Sundlun
E-Mail: better.ct@wfsb.com
Call: 860-244-1747

FamilySearch Record Search Update: 4 million new records added (Eastman's Online Genealogy ...

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

FamilySearch added about 4 million new records to its Record Search pilot over the holidays.  Patrons will find records from Brazil, Hungary, Czech Republic, Southern Bohemia, T?ebo?, West Virginia, and the much anticipated Indian Territory records from the 1900 U.S. Census.  See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Collection         Name	Indexed         Records	Digital         Images	Comments
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro         Civil Registration		1,291,670	Updated ? New         localities added to browse
Hungary Funeral Notices		539,096	New
Czech Republic, Southern         Bohemia, T?ebo? Archive Church Books		24,835	New
Arizona Death Certificates	265,726	264,534	New
West Virginia Births	242,781		Ten new counties added
West Virginia Deaths	402,154		Ten new counties added
West Virginia Marriages	393,867		Ten new counties added
1900 United States Census	826,030		Added Indian         Territory

FamilySearch Indexing Update (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

5 January 2008

New International Projects/Two New Languages

Several new international projects were added to the list of active FamilySearch indexing projects (see chart below). There is now a need for volunteers with an interest in or knowledge of the new Norwegian and Russian records?Norway 1875 Census and Ukraine Kyiv 1840?1842.

The indexing program?s interfaces have not been translated into Norwegian and Russian yet; however, the instructions for the Ukrainian project are available in Russian and English.

State Censuses

New state census projects were added for Florida (1885 and 1935) and Massachusetts (1855 and 1865).

Additional online volunteers are always needed. Patrons or indexers are encouraged to forward these updates to anyone they feel will be interested in helping to index the current projects. New volunteers can register quickly online at www.familysearchindexing.org.

Current Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion Status

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Argentina   Censo 1869 - Buenos Aires 2	Spanish	42%
Argentina   Censo 1869 - Cordoba y San Luis	Spanish	30%
Arkansas   Marriages [Part 1]	English	74%
Arkansas   Marriages ? Part 3	English	8%
Arkansas   Marriages IV	English	12%
Belgique   ? Registres Des Décès (Français)	French	14%
België   - Overlijdens Registers - In het Nederlands	Dutch,   Flemish	11%
Belgium - Antwerp Foreigners Index	English	12% (New)
Brandenburg   Kirchenbücher	German	32%*
Bremer   Schifflisten	German	11%
España   Lugo Registros Parroquiales [Part 1]	Spanish	12%
Flanders   Death Registration	French,   Dutch, Flemish	34%
Florida 1885 Census	English	6% (New)
Florida 1935 Census	English	19% (New)
France,   Coutances, Paroisses de la Manche	French	8%
Guerrero   - Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	68%
Illinois   - 1920 US Federal Census	English	62%
Indiana   Marriages, 1790 ? Apr 1905	English	99%
Massachusetts - 1855 State Census	English	4% (New)
Massachusetts - 1865 State Census	English	1% (New)
Indiana   Marriages, Apr 1905 ? Dec 1957	English	98.9%
Massachusetts   - 1920 US Federal Census	English	79%
Massachusetts   Marriage Records 1906-1915	English	23%
New   Hampshire - Early to 1900 Deaths	English	24%
Nicaragua,   Managua Civil Records	Spanish	8%
Norway 1875 Census part 1	Norwegian	1% (New)
Nova   Scotia Antigonish Church Records	English	48%
Ohio   Tax Records ? 2 of 4	English	63%
Queretaro   - Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	39%
St Petersburg Kirchenbuchduplikat   1833-1885	German	(New)
Tlaxcala   - Censo de Mexico de 1930	Spanish	4%
UK   - Cheshire - Church Records	English	35%
UK   - Cheshire - Land Tax	English	5%
Ukraine Kyiv 1840-1842	Russian	(New)
Venezuela   Mérida Registros Parroquiales	Spanish	1%

(*This percentage refers to a specific portion of a larger project.)

Family Tree Builder 3 (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

MyHeritage Makes Family History Research Easier With Launch Of Family Tree Builder 3

New software makes it easier to automatically find long lost relatives, publish content to MyHeritage.com, and print your family tree on one page

Tel Aviv, Israel ? January 2, 2009 ? MyHeritage, one of the world?s most popular family Web sites, today announced the launch of Family Tree Builder 3, a powerful software program that MyHeritage members can download and use to build family trees, research family history and add content like photos and videos.

Family Tree Builder 3 includes new functionality to make it an even more powerful tool for researching family history:   

• Smart Match Merge: MyHeritage?s Smart Matching? technology constantly compares new family trees to the database of more than 300 million profiles on MyHeritage.com, to find matches and discover long lost family connections. Now, members can work together to easily merge the information in their overlapping trees
   
• Smart Research: Automatically plugs the names from any member?s family tree into MyHeritage?s powerful search engine, researches these names in more than 100 of the most important databases on the Internet and provides results, saving months of manual research
   
• All-in-One Chart: With intelligent organization, members can quickly and easily print family trees on one easy-to-read page or poster ? even huge trees with many branches and people
   
• Online Publishing: Members can publish their family tree plus any related media ? photos, videos, audio files and documents from Family Tree Builder to the MyHeritage.com family Web site, for sharing with family members

?Since its introduction in 2005, Family Tree Builder has become one of the most successful family history tools in the world. More than one million people are now using it in 34 languages to build their family trees and share the experience with their family members all over the world. The launch of Family Tree Builder 3 puts even more powerful technology into the hands of our users, while keeping it simple and fun to use,? said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage. ?Family Tree Builder 3 also makes it possible to upload videos and documents to family websites on MyHeritage.com, giving people new ways to preserve their heritage and stay connected with relatives worldwide.?
   
Using the MyHeritage Family Tree Builder will continue to be free and members can add an unlimited amount of profiles to family trees using the software. For access to the new functionality and to publish content on MyHeritage.com, the following price plans apply:

                                                                                                 

    MyHeritage 3     

Plan	Price	Online trees	Online storage	Additional features
Basic	FREE	Up to 500 people	Up to 100 MB
Premium	Holiday offer available until 15 January, 2009:       $1.95/month       (?1.70, £1.50)       Normal price:       $3.95/month     (?3.45, £2.95)	Up to 2500 people	Up to 500 MB	Smart Match Merge        Smart Research        All in One Chart        Publishing Videos and Documents        Priority support
PremiumPlus	$9.95/month     (?8.95, £7.95)	Unlimited	Unlimited	Smart Match Merge        Smart Research        All in One Chart        Publishing Videos and Documents        Priority support

MyHeritage.com is a leading online destination for families. On the site, people can find relatives, research family history, and stay connected to family members across the globe. In addition, MyHeritage offers automatic photo tagging technology that makes it easier to label, organize and search for digital photos, giving families another fun way to stay in touch.

About MyHeritage
  MyHeritage was founded by a team of people who combine a passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. It is now one of the world?s leading online networks for families, and the second largest family history website. MyHeritage is available in 34 languages and home to more than 28 million family members and 300 million profiles. The company recently acquired Kindo, a family social network, and is based in Bnei Atarot, near Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit www.myheritage.com.

EOGN Forum (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

The EOGN Forum has evolved into a rather impressive discussion board since it was created in October. It now sees many new messages per day covering a wide variety of genealogy-related topics. It is a place where newsletter readers will tackle your questions on a wide range of genealogy-related subjects.

The EOGN Discussion Forum is available FREE of charge to everyone. In fact, everyone may read messages in the forum without registering. However, in order to post a new message or to reply to an existing message, you must register first. Registration is free, and you are never asked for a credit card number. As always, I will never share your registration information with any vendors. You will not be spammed because of participation in the EOGN Forum.

Three months ago I wrote the following words in an article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/10/eogncom-adds-a.html that introduced the EOGN Forum for the first time:

I plan on keeping the Discussion Forum in operation for ninety days, then reviewing its operation. If the forum provides a positive contribution to the genealogy community, I'll continue its operation. However, if after ninety days or at any time in the future it has degenerated into a general "complaints board" with constant bashing of vendors and similar non-productive messages, I'll delete it.

Well, ninety days has passed and there is no thought of deleting the Forum. It has blossomed into a very useful resource for genealogists. Have a question about genealogy or any genealogy-related topic? Ask it in the EOGN Forum at http://www.eogn.com/forum.

If you have suggestions for improvements, please post them in the "Messages About This Message Forum" section at http://www.eogn.com/forum.

Close Spellings Count Toward Matches (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

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.

You can read the entire article at: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/04/tr-close-spellings-count-toward-matches.

2 Million Documented Descendants (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Now THIS is a family tree! On New Year's day, the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee (CGCC) announced that it is "closing the book" and is now sending the fifth update of Confucius' family tree to the printers. The new publication will contain more than two million documented descendants of the Chinese philosopher who was born in 551 B.C.

The latest revision took 10 years to complete. It gives the most complete and systematic record of Confucius genealogy ever compiled. The previous revision in 1937 included 600,000 members.

The new list, which includes overseas and female descendants for the first time, is expected to be published sometime around Confucius' 2560th birthday, which falls on Sept. 28.

(+) Who?s Afraid of Land Records? Part I by George G. Morgan (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Land and property records are among the most interesting documentary evidence available to genealogists. They potentially contain a wealth of genealogical information, or they may present clues to other people?s information. They also are among the most numerous records available. Unfortunately, many genealogy researchers are afraid of the prospect of working with these records. They may be put off by the legal terminology, the measurement systems used, and the prospect of tracing ownership of a piece of property. They fail to take the time to learn about them and how to work with them. However, as with any other record type, some advance study of the topic, the time period, and the location will prepare you for your research.

This week I am starting a three-part series concerning United States land and property records. The series will address the following topics:

• Types of land records and the kinds of information that may be found in them;
• Indexes to land and property records and where to find them; and
• Methodologies for working with deeds and other records.

My goal is to provide a basic understanding of these records. I do not plan to address Federal Land Patents or the Homestead Act of 1862 at this time. Those are subjects for future columns.

(+) Who?s Afraid of Land Records? - Part II - by George G. ...

Last week?s column was the first in a three-part series concerning land and property records. In it, I discussed a little background of United States land records, explained some very basic land transfer terminology related to working with these records, and provided a glossary of common U.S. property terms that you are likely to encounter in your research.

Land and property records are among the most numerous records in existence, and they can be a rich source of genealogical information, about both the property and the family. They are unique and therefore require some preliminary understanding of their purpose and content before you can glean the most from them. Like census schedules, wills, and passenger lists, land and property records are simply another format with which you need to become familiar.

This week?s column will discuss the land measurement systems, and how to locate  common land and property documents.

What To Do With All Those Christmas Cards (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

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.

VHS Is Dead (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

This newsletter often talks about new or emerging technologies. Perhaps it is time to note the death of another technology that nearly all of us have used in the past.

In case you haven't heard, VHS videotape is dead.

Nobody manufactures VHS videotapes anymore. The major chain stores, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, stopped selling VHS recorders and players some years ago. Not long after, the manufacturers of videotapes stopped manufacturing them, due to a lack of sales outlets and a lack of sales.

The same companies stopped manufacturing VHS video recorders as well. The reason was the same: declining sales. However, several manufacturers still produce combination VHS and DVD recorders, designed to copy your old VHS tapes to modern CD or DVD disks.

In October, what is believed to be the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Florida, warehouse. You may find videotapes in stock in various stores for several more months, but there are no more VHS tapes left in the supply chain. Wal-Mart and other major department store chains stopped selling VHS videotapes a few years ago although you might still find some for sale at the Dollar Store, convenience stores, and at truck stops across the country. Be aware that these videotapes are for sale "as long as supplies last." The wholesalers have since moved on to other products, so retail sales will soon dry up.

What does this mean if you have a stash of old family videos on VHS tapes? Well, there is no emergency as the VHS-to-DVD copiers will probably be around for a few more years. VHS tapes all deteriorate slowly over time, but they will probably still be playable for another ten years or so, assuming you can find a VHS player. The problem is that the analog video signals stored on VHS slowly deteriorate, something the engineers refer to as "noise." If you copy a tape to CD today, the result will probably be good. You will probably obtain a clear video.

The problem arises when you procrastinate. Every year, a bit more noise will be introduced to every VHS video tape in your library. The result will not be dramatic if you wait a year or two. However, if you wait 5 or 10 or 20 years, the result is cumulative: every year you procrastinate will result in more and more noise introduced to the tapes. Copying a VHS video tape to DVD twenty years from now will result in a much "noisier" video than copying the same tape today.

Unlike the analog VHS videotapes, DVD disks are digital and do not suffer from video degradation with the passage of time. There may still be an issue of finding suitable DVD players some years from now, but the signals on DVD disks should still be playable for many years.

DVD disks do not last forever, however. The disks themselves will suffer from some internal chemical changes and will deteriorate for different reasons than those of VHS tapes. Even so, the life expectancy of a DVD disk is significantly longer than that of a VHS videotape. When copied, the video on a DVD disk will not have induced noise like a VHS videotape.

While not perfect, engineers agree that DVD disks last a lot longer than do VHS videotapes. The signals stored on that disk twenty years from now will be much clearer and have much less induced "noise" than the same video stored on VHS videotape. By that time we all will be copying to Blu-Ray disks or perhaps to some other as yet unknown technology that will eventually replace Blu-Ray.

Do you have old family videos stored on VHS? The time to copy them to DVD is NOW.

If you do not have a VHS-to-DVD copier already, you might think about purchasing one before supplies dry up. Prices range from $75 and upwards. I'd suggest that you purchase one soon as the VHS-to-DVD copiers probably won't be available within a few years.

Preserving old videos is about the same as preserving old digital data: it is easy to do as long as you make sure that you do not wait too long. Always copy your old files and videos to new technologies as soon as it is cost-effective to do so.

I'd suggest that the time is now.

For more information about the death of VHS, look at the recent article in the Los Angeles Times at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-vhs-tapes22-2008dec22,0,5852342.story.

Turn Off Your Television! (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Warning: this article contains personal opinions.

A brief mention in Dear Myrtle's blog (http://blog.dearmyrtle.com) caught my eye. It was a one-paragraph "pointer" to an article on CNet, entitled "Ditch Satellite TV for Online Alternatives and Save." The James family canceled their satellite dish TV package and replaced it with a media center PC, a fast broadband connection, and a Netflix account. They now save $93 a month.

James said she and her husband were spending $115 a month for their Dish satellite service, which gave them about 250 channels of programming. But when she sat down and listed what she and her husband actually watched, she discovered that they only viewed about 25 of those channels.

"I just couldn't justify watching only 10 percent of the channels I was paying for," she said. "I would have felt a lot better about keeping the satellite service if I could have thrown out the extra channels and only paid for the channels we watched. It's just like buying a whole loaf of bread and only eating two slices?such a waste."

The Jameses' canceled their satellite service and purchased a multimedia computer. Mrs. James said, "We definitely watch more TV now than we did with Dish," she said. "And because most of the shows online through services like Hulu.com don't have commercials, I can watch them much quicker, too." The family canceled their $115 a month satellite service but does spend some money for Netflix. The family's bottom line savings is $93 a month.

It made me stop and think for a bit. I turned my television off in July, 1984. This means that about six months from now, I will celebrate my 25th anniversary of being TV-free.

Admittedly, there is a very old television set in the house, and we do subscribe to the cheapest package the local cable company offers. However, I tolerate the television set only because other family members watch it. If it were solely my choice, I'd throw the TV out and cancel the cable service.

I will admit to occasionally watching the news and the weather reports. I have watched a few specials on PBS and on some of the cable-only channels. We also rent movies on DVD quite often. However, I prefer to spend most of my ?entertainment time? online.

I haven't watched a television game show or a sit-com in nearly 25 years. Name any popular weekly television program of today. I haven't seen it, not even one episode.

Most engineers know what a heat sink is. When attached to something warm, a heat sink dissipates the heat. In my mind, television is a ?time sink;? it dissipates time.

When I stopped to think about all this tonight, I realized that I feel liberated. I don't feel as if I am missing anything, except for occasional small talk around the office when others start talking about a television show they watched. I do feel a bit left out of those conversations. I find that's a small price to pay for all the extra time I have earned.

This newsletter would not exist if I didn't have the time every day to spend on it. I also get to spend time with my family and with some of my other interests.

Please read the article about the James family at http://lifehacker.com/5115183/ditch-satellite-tv-for-online-alternatives-and-save.

I'd like to offer an invitation: join me and the James family and a few million others who have learned that life without television is a lot more fun than watching the "boob tube" every day. Like drugs, television is addicting. It wastes your time, and I believe it also wastes your mind.

As my mother used to say, "If you watch too much television, your brain is going to rot."

The Orphan Trains (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

From the 1850s through the 1920s, New York City was teeming with tens of thousands of homeless and orphaned children. To survive, these so-called "street urchins" resorted to begging, stealing, or forming gangs to commit violence. Some children worked in factories and slept in doorways or flophouses. The children roamed the streets and slums with little or no hope of a successful future. Their numbers were stunningly large; an estimated 30,000 children were homeless in New York City in the 1850s.

Charles Loring Brace, the founder of The Children's Aid Society, believed that there was a way to change the futures of these children. By removing youngsters from the poverty and debauchery of the city streets and placing them in morally upright farm families, he thought they would have a chance to escape a lifetime of suffering.

Brace proposed that these children be sent by train to live and work on farms out west. They would be placed in homes for free, but they would serve as an extra pair of hands to help with chores around the farm. They wouldn't be indentured. In fact, older children placed by The Children's Aid Society were to be paid for their labors.

The Orphan Train Movement lasted from 1853 to the 1920s, placing more than 120,000 children. Most of these children survived into adulthood, married, and had children of their own. Several million Americans today can find former Orphan Train children in their family trees.

Orphan Trains stopped at more than 45 states across the country, as well as Canada and Mexico. During the early years, Indiana received the largest number of children. There were numerous agencies nationwide that placed children on trains to go to foster homes. In New York, besides Children's Aid, other agencies that placed children included Children's Village (then known as the New York Juvenile Asylum), what is now New York Foundling Hospital, and the former Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York, which is now the Graham-Windham Home for Children. Not all the children were from New York City. Children from Albany and other cities in New York state were transported, as were some from Boston, Massachusetts, where the Boston Children's Services merged with the New England Home For Little Wanderers, which also is still active today.

Only a few of the Orphan Train children are alive today, and most were too young at the time to remember their experiences. However, a few elderly Americans can recall their experiences on the Orphan Trains.

Stanley Cornell and his brother are amongst the last generation of Orphan Train riders. When asked about his experience, Mr. Cornell replied, "We'd pull into a train station, stand outside the coaches dressed in our best clothes. People would inspect us like cattle farmers. And if they didn't choose you, you'd get back on the train and do it all over again at the next stop."

Cornell and his brother were "placed out" twice with their aunts in Pennsylvania and Coffeyville, Kansas. Unfortunately, these placements didn't last, and they were returned to the Children's Aid Society.

"Then they made up another train. Sent us out West. A hundred-fifty kids on a train to Wellington, Texas," Cornell recalls. "That's where Dad happened to be in town that day."

Each time an Orphan Train was sent out, adoption ads appeared in local papers before the arrival of the children.

J.L. Deger, a 45-year-old farmer, knew he wanted a boy, even though he already had two daughters, ages 10 and 13.

"He'd just bought a Model T. Mr. Deger looked those boys over. We were the last boys holding hands in a blizzard, December 10, 1926," Cornell remembers. He says that day he and his brother stood in a hotel lobby.

"He asked us if we wanted to move out to farm with chickens, pigs, and a room all to your own. He only wanted to take one of us, decided to take both of us."

Life on the farm was hard work.

"I did have to work and I expected it, because they fed me, clothed me, loved me. We had a good home. I'm very grateful. Always have been, always will be."

Cornell eventually got married. He and his wife, Earleen, now live in Pueblo, Colorado. His brother, Victor Cornell, a retired movie theater chain owner, is also alive and living in Moscow, Idaho.

Stanley Cornell believes he and his brother are two of only 15 surviving Orphan Train children.

Some of the children struggled in their newfound surroundings, while many others went on to lead simple, very normal lives, raising their families and working towards the American dream. Although records weren't always well kept, some of the children placed in the West went on to great successes. There were two governors, one congressman, one sheriff, two district attorneys, and three county commissioners, as well as numerous bankers, lawyers, physicians, journalists, ministers, teachers, and businessmen.

The Orphan Train Movement and the success of other children's aid initiatives led to a host of child welfare reforms, including child labor laws, adoption and foster care services, public education, and the provision of health care and nutrition and vocational training.

The Orphan Train Heritage Society of America in Concordia, Kansas, serves as a clearinghouse of information about the estimated 150,000 children who were "placed out" from 1854 to 1929. It helps members establish and maintain family contacts, retrace their roots, and preserve the history of the Orphan Train Movement. The Society did maintain a web site although that appears to be offline at the moment.

Other web sites that provide information about America's Orphan Trains may be found at http://www.orphantraindepot.com, http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/orphantrains?gclid=CNjBx9rt4ZcCFQG7Ggode16L7A, http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2400, http://www.nebraskahistory.org/sites/mnh/orphans, and http://encyclopedia.adoption.com/entry/Orphan-Train-Heritage-Society-of-America-Inc-OTHSA/267/1.html

Readers' Comments Are Now Available as an RSS Newsfeed (Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter)

Many newsletter readers use RSS newsreaders to quickly and easily retrieve the articles in this newsletter. Newsreaders are computer programs that automatically retrieve information from web sites that support the RSS standard and then store the information on a user's computer. Information available in RSS format includes this newsletter's articles as well as news, weather forecasts, stock market information, airline arrival times, UPS shipping information, and much more.

RSS provides a faster and easier method of having the latest information available from as many sites as the user wishes to monitor, including new articles published at this newsletter's web site at http://www.eogn.com.

For an explanation of RSS and of RSS newsreaders, see my earlier ?What Can RSS Do For You?? article at: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2005/12/rss_explained.html.

A couple of weeks ago I added something new to www.eogn.com: RSS newsfeeds of the comments that others post to the various articl