Genealogy Insider

Genealogy News Corral: November 2-6

Diane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:24:18 GMT

Here's what's in this week's roundup:

Databases recently updated or added in FamilySearch’s free Record Search pilot include the Indiana marriage index, Netherlands parish registers (images only so far), 1920 US Census index, Brazil Catholic church records (images only so far), and Italy municipal records (images only so far).

To see details of each addition, click the relevant region on the Record Search Pilot map. Then click the title of the collection in the alphabetical list. (Look for more FamilySearch search tips in the January 2010 Family Tree Magazine, on newsstands Dec. 15.)

Dick Eastman started a free site called GenQueries for posting your surname research queries (for example, “Seeking information about Eugene and Lilly WOODFORD family, lived in Marion Co., Indiana, in 1900”). You also can advertise genealogy services or societies, and search others’ ads. Read about GenQueries on Dick’s blog.

I read about this on the ArchivesNext blog: The Amsterdam, Netherlands, city archives has a scan-on-demand program. You can search the archives’ online records inventory, and if a particular item hasn’t been scanned, ask staff to scan it. You also can search an index to find already-scanned records. There is a fee to obtain a scan, which helps fund the program.

Genealogy and family networking site MyHeritage launched a Family Statistics feature for the family tree sites on MyHeritage. The feature generates statistics, such oldest living relative or most common birth month in the family, based on data in the tree. Family Statistics works for sites on the free basic plan as well as the paid plans.

Registration is now open for the 2010 National Genealogical Society (NGS) annual conference, April 28 to May 1 in Salt Lake City. Registration fees range from $175 to $245 for the full conference, or $95 to $115 per day—it depends whether you’re an NGS member, whether you want the syllabus in print or on a CD, and whether you make the March 8 early bird deadline.

Editors Pick: Wish Lists in ShopFamilyTree.com

Diane — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:39:19 GMT

Got your eye on a few how-to genealogy books, CDs, digital downloads or other helps in ShopFamilyTree.com?

Now you can keep track of those wanted items—and, if you choose, communicate your hankering to those whose gift lists you’re on—by creating a wish list.

Here’s how:

1. Go to ShopFamilyTree.com. Click My Wish List in the top right corner of any page.

2. If you’ve ordered something before, you might already have an account, and you can log in here. If you don’t have an account, click the “Not Registered? Click Here” link to create a user name and password (you don’t have to buy anything to register).

3. Once you’re logged in, click the Wish List link to go right to your list.

4. Set up a list by entering a description (such as “Diane’s Christmas list”), an expiration date, and deciding whether to keep it hidden. If you check the “private” box, you won’t be able to e-mail the list to others, but you can view and make purchases from it. Click submit.

5. Whenever you’re browsing around in the store and see an item you’d like, click the Add to Wish List button. You’ll be taken to the entry in your list.

Once you’ve added items to your list, click Wish List to see the "E-mail Wish List to Friends" link. (If you made your list private, you won’t see this link. Just uncheck the Private box to see the link.) Now you can type a message and enter up 20 e-mail addresses of people who’ll receive your list.

They’ll get an e-mail that starts with “[Your name] has opened a wish list at ShopFamilyTree.com and wanted to let you know. You can view the list by clicking on the link below.”

Then they’ll see your message and a link to your list on ShopFamilyTree.com.

Sneak preview: Watch this blog in the next few weeks for information about an opportunity to win your wish list!

Now's the Time to Start on Family History Gifts

Diane — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:07:21 GMT

We don’t mean to rush you into the winter holidays—it was just Halloween—but if you’re thinking of giving family history-related gifts this year, now’s the time to start.

Many such gifts require prep work: For example, you’ll need to gather, scan, digitally touch up and label photos for a photo CD; start laying out an online photo book or calendar; or collect and transcribe family stories. Maybe you want to check another record or two before finalizing a compiled family history.

And by starting early, you can watch for coupon codes and sales; and make sure anything you order online will get to you in time.

As our early gift to you, here’s our December 2006 article with 13 family history gift ideas you can make. The projects range from very quick and easy to moderately quick and easy. The article has supply lists and step-by-step instructions for seven of the projects.

A few more sources of family tree gift ideas:

Perennially popular gifts for genealogists, from inexpensive to a little pricey

Maureen A. Taylor’s gift ideas for photo fanatics

How to create a family cookbook

Family Tree Magazine Plus members can access this article on making photo gifts using online services

Our very own how-to books, CDs and other helps for your genealogy friends (or wanna-be genealogy friends). You can sign up for our e-mail newsletter to learn about specials in ShopFamilyTree.com.

I’m kinda partial to this one: Family Tree Legacies, a book Family Tree Magazine editor Allison Stacy and I put together for recording all kinds of family history information—not just names and dates, but also family stories, news articles, house history, military service details, where people lived and more.

FamilyRelatives Adds A Million British Military Records

Diane — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:36:29 GMT

British subscription and pay-per-view site FamilyRelatives is adding a million new military records spanning from 1808 to World War 1.

They include:

The Peninsular Medal Roll (1808-1814), naming some who fought in the Peninsular Wars against Napoleon from 1808 to 1813.

De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour (1914-1918), a two-volume set with biographies of 25,000 men. The site currently has 12,500 of the biographies—those of men who lost their lives in the Great War.

Harts Army Lists for several years. The lists were published regularly between 1839 and 1915, and give details of war service.

See the full list of new military records on FamilyRelatives.com (scroll down on the linked page). An annual FamilyRelatives subscription costs 30 pounds (about $50). Click here to see pay-per-view options.

Massachusetts State Library in Danger?

Diane — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:47:37 GMT

First it was the Library of Michigan. Now the State Library of Massachusetts is reporting on its blog that the Massachusetts governor’s office announced during an Oct. 29 press conference that the governor is considering closing the State Library of Massachusetts to cut expenses.

A press release about the state's budget gap, which the governor issued the same day, doesn’t specifically mention the library, but it says state agencies have been asked to prepare for additional cuts.

The state library's blog post links to a petition you can sign, and to contact information for the governor’s office.

The Massachusetts Library Association was already planning a rally at the Massachusetts State House today to support libraries, whose funding has declined over the years even as use goes up.

Tell Us Your New Year's Traditions (You Could Win a CD)

Diane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:29:36 GMT

We’re still taking entries for our November 2009 All in the Family challenge, but only for another week. If we publish your entry in Family Tree Magazine, you’ll win our Organize Your Genealogy Life! CD.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Think of your family’s weird, wacky or wonderful New Year’s traditions. Did you irritate the neighbors by banging pots and pans at midnight? Play board games and watch the ball drop on Times Square? Consume cabbage, donuts or black-eyed peas for luck?

2. Next, describe that tradition in 200 words or less.

3. Send us your description either by posting it to our Talk to Us Forum (you must register with the FamilyTreeMagazine.com Forum to post) or by sending us an e-mail.

Please include your name and your city and state with your entry, like so: Diane Haddad, Cincinnati, Ohio. If we pick your entry, that’ll make it easier for us to credit you in the magazine.

And in that case, we’ll contact you by e-mail to ask for your mailing address so we can send the CD (so keep an eye on your in box).

You have until Nov. 10 to enter. Let’s hear those New Year traditions!

It Works! Writing a Family History Narrative

Diane — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:26:56 GMT

I’ve heard the tip that writing your genealogy research into a narrative forces you to organize your information and for theories about what your ancestors did. I’ve even suggested this tip to people—but I never took my own advice.

Until recently, that is, when relatives started asking for copies of records, and I started feeling guilty that I haven’t already shared them.

But I don’t want to just hand over a stack of papers (or more likely, a CD with a bunch of PDFs) and leave people to interpret them on their own. I wanted to tell the family’s story and provide a framework for the records I've found.

And even though I've looked at these records a million times, in creating my narrative I've spotted some holes and tweaked my timeline. A few examples:

I realized (duh!) that I had the 1930 census schedule for my great-grandfather and three of his children, but one wasn’t listed with the family. I found him lodging in a nearby town.

I realized my great-grandfather didn’t check in at the state prison until after his sons were placed in an orphanage. That's the reverse of what was on my mental timeline.

It occurred to me that I should see if the Lions Club that sponsored part of my grandfather’s college education has minutes from the meeting he attended to thank the group.

I didn’t think I’d accomplished much in my research. But now that I’ve laid it all out, I realize how far I’ve come—and I’m inspired to rev up my efforts.

My narrative isn't anything fancy. I just reviewed my records and notes chronologically, and explained what each document is, what it says about our relatives, and any theories and questions it inspires. I’ll update it as I learn more.

A timeline or a research journal also can help you analyze your work. Try these resources:

Ancestry.com Cemetery Collection Free Through Nov. 5

Diane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:02:20 GMT

This just in: Ancestry.com is making its "creepiest collections"—records of cemeteries and gravestones free through next Thursday, Nov. 5. You will need to register for a free Ancestry.com account to view details of your search results.

Use the search box on this Halloween landing page to access the free databases.

Click here to see the list of cemetery indexes and inscriptions included in this offer.

Genealogy News Corral: October 26-30

Diane — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:48:23 GMT

Here are some genealogy news bits we've rounded up for you this week. Happy Halloween!

Familybuilder DNA has added Groups, a feature that let customers collaborate on genetic genealogy research. They’ll be able to create and join groups focusing on commonalities such as haplogroup, national origin, surname, birthplace, etc. read more on Familybuilder.com.

Historical newspaper and records site GenealogyBank has added content from more than 36 newspapers in 21 states. Here’s the full list of new expanded titles.

Dick Eastman blogged about a National Library of Wales project to put 190,000 Welsh wills online. You can search the documents, which date from the 14th century to 1858, free on the National Library of Wales' website. You’ll find more details about the wills in Dick’s post.

Census Collection Q&A With Footnote

Diane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:53:34 GMT

By now, you’ve probably heard the announcement that historical records site Footnote is adding indexes and images for the entire US census. Our Q&A with Footnote spokesperson Justin Schroepfer offers more information on the changes to come for the site:

1. Is Footnote creating new census images and indexes? How is this being done?

We are digitizing the microfilm and indexing the data ourselves the same way we have done the [1860 and 1930] censuses. The way we do the census records is different with the addition of what we call ‘sub documents.’

We create sub documents for each individual on the census. It features the indexed information, and allows users to click that they are related and add their own contributions in the form of stories, photos or other documents. Essentially, this creates what we term the Interactive Census Collection.

2. When will we start seeing the new censuses added to the site? What states will be first? When do you anticipate the collection will be complete?

We have already started on 1920, 1910 and 1900. We are starting with the most populous states from these decades. We anticipate the entire census collection to be completed by the end of next year. We created a page where users can check the status of each decade and sign up for a notification when content is added to a specific state from a specific decade.

3. Looking down the road, how will the census addition affect Footnote’s subscription pricing ($79.95 per year or $11.95 per month)?

We are always trying to keep the price of our membership manageable by operating lean and efficient. The pricing for Footnote memberships will not be affected by the addition of this specific collection. It is included in the Footnote membership fees as they stand now. We believe that we can cover our costs by providing significant increase in value to the current product. This, in turn, should help with conversion and retention.

4. Will changes to the workings of the site be necessary to accommodate the added data, searches and traffic?

Adding over 9 million images to the site with the indexes and the sub documents is not a small feat. Our engineering team has been working to ensure that the site experience, including the speed, remains optimal. The team has made some creative decisions to handle this new data and help ensure the customer experience is not negatively affected.

Last Week to Vote in the Family Tree 40!

Diane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:28:22 GMT

Remember to cast your vote for your favorite genealogy blog—the top 40 will be in a May 2010 Family Tree Magazine article.

Click here to see more information on the voting categories.

And click here to vote. Thanks for taking part!

Watch for Family Tree 40 updates here and on Twitter (look for the hashtag #FT40).

Footnote To Add Entire US Census

Diane — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:27:57 GMT

Historical records subscription site Footnote announced early this morning that it will digitize and post online the entire US census, 1790 through 1930. (Footnote already has the 1860 and 1930 censuses.)

That'll add more than 9.5 million images and half a billion names to Footnote's databases.

That’s big news for two reasons:

It really ramps up competition in online genealogy. Right now, Ancestry.com is the only site that offers the entire US census digitized and indexed. I wonder if/how this will affect Ancestry.com’s IPO process—the census claim is probably a major selling point to potential investors.

Like Footnote's other historical records, its US census collection will be interactive. Members can add comments and insights to a census record, upload and attach photos or documents, create a Footnote Page and identify relatives found in the census by clicking an I’m Related button.

Ancestry.com’s new Member Connect features offer interactivity, but not quite to the same extent as Footnote.

Records for each state will be added as they're completed. Footnote has created a page where you can track the progress.

Footnote CEO Russ Wilding likens the census to a path linking to additional, less-used genealogical sources: “We see the census as a highway leading back to the 18th century. This ‘Census Highway’ provides off-ramps leading to additional records on the site such as naturalization records, historical newspapers, military records and more.”

He promises Footnote.com will keep adding unique record collections, not just the same records already on other sites.

“We will continue to move aggressively to add records to the site, specifically those that are requested by our members and others that are not otherwise available on the Internet.”

You can watch a free Webinar on how to use Footnote here (just enter your first and last names and e-mail address and click Register, and the Webinar player will open).

Update: Get more details on Footnote's forthcoming census collection in our Q&A with spokesperson Justin Schroepfer.

Truths Behind History-Inspired Halloween Costumes

Diane — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:02:24 GMT

Even when you’re beyond the age of trick-or-treating (and I’m not saying any of you are!), it’s fun to dress up at Halloween to entertain the little ones or impress fellow partygoers.

You’ve might’ve donned one of these history-inspired costumes at one time or another. We dug up some hidden history not revealed in the Halloween costume clichés:

Uncle Sam isn’t just a character: During the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson of Troy, NY, provided the army with beef in barrels labeled U.S. The letters stood for United States, but people joked they referred to "Uncle Sam." The term came to mean the federal government; depictions of Uncle Sam appeared starting in 1852. In 1961, Congress officially saluted “Uncle Sam Wilson” as the “progenitor of America's national symbol."

You can morph into Rosie the Riveter with rolled-up sleeves and a red handkerchief in your hair. The name was popularized in a 1942 song, but there wasn’t any one Rosie. The most famous image we associate with Rosie the Riveter, J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!” poster, isn’t her. Miller created the poster for the Westinghouse Co.’s War Production Coordinating Committee, and it was posted at the Michigan plant for only two weeks in February, 1942. He didn’t intend for it to portray Rosie.

Read more on the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Memorial Park website.

Most Viking costumes involve a horned helmet, but in reality, Viking helmets never had horns, according to the American Museum of Natural History. Instead, these Norse explorers and warriors wore conical leather hats as they raided the European coast from the late 8th to the early 11th century. Fun fact: Vikings were quite clean for the time—they bathed every Saturday. Get more Viking fact vs. fiction here.

The witch of popular culture—black robe, pointy hat and warts a lá the Wicked Witch of the West—got her start in Shakespeare’s MacBeth and the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. But those accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials of 1692 and 1693 looked like anybody else. The series of trials resulted in the hangings of 14 women and five men. Another man was crushed to death under stones in an attempt to force him to enter a plea.

Learn more about the trials and see related historical documents in the Famous American Trials website.

Vampire costumes are big this year, thanks to the book Twilight and the movie based on it. The name of late 19th-century novelist Bram Stoker’s fictional vampire, Dracula, was inspired by a real historical figure: Vlad III (aka Vlad the Impaler), Prince of Wallachia, born in Transylvania in the 15th century. His Romanian surname, Dracula, meant “son of the dragon;” Vlad’s father had joined the Order of the Dragon.

Thanks to Treasure Island, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean and other popular depictions, pirate costumes sport colorful bandanas, jewelry, an eye patch, a stuffed parrot and maybe a hook or wooden stump. Your typical early 18th-century pirate dressed for the most part like sailors did. The parrot cliché probably arose because many pirates benefited from the trade in exotic animals; the eye patch and hook/stump because of the risky profession. See more theories in this pirate Q&A.

The Norway Project on FamilySearch Community Trees

Diane — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:53:13 GMT

This update on FamilySearch’s Norway Project is from genealogy writer Sunny McClellan Morton:

The recent buzz on FamilySearch’s Community Trees has prompted questions from those who read about the Norway Project in the July 2009 Family Tree Magazine. As explained in that article, the project will extract and link ancestral data from Norwegian bygdebøker (community books). Who wouldn’t be anxious to start searching a database that automatically links their ancestors to each other?

Data from the Norway Project now appears on the Community Trees site. But like anything on a beta site, the information isn’t quite complete. Only the Sør-Aurdal Clerical District of Oppland County is currently posted.

With 61,228 individuals from 18,428 families (12,276 unique surnames), the information is certainly useful, but limited in scope.

Even the posted data still need a little refining. According to project manager Roger Magneson, the following improvements are yet to come:

The current long list of six locality descriptors (small farm, large farm, parish, clerical district, county, country) will be reduced to four (large farm, clerical district, county and country).

The current list of only one or two locality descriptors for “move-ins” from other clerical districts will be expanded to three or four descriptors wherever possible.

Current errors regarding place names (caused by early extractors who couldn’t read the language) will be corrected in a later dataset.

Variants and diminutives of some names will be corrected and standardized in a later version.

Magneson hopes to post updated Sør-Aurdal data by the end of 2009. The next clerical district data to appear will likely be Nord-Fron, Sør-Fron, Norde Land and Søndre Land, beginning in early 2010.

Of course, Norway’s not the only country on FamilySearch’s Community Trees. Check the site for other datasets related to your pedigree. Choose “Advanced Search” to select the dataset you want to see.

(Note: The site doesn't work well in the Firefox browser.)

Ancestry.com Plans Overnight Maintenance

Diane — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:27:21 GMT

In case you’re planning a late-night online research session tomorrow: Subscription site Ancestry.com and its related international sites (Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.co.uk, etc.) will be down for about 3 hours of scheduled maintenance starting Wednesday morning, Oct. 28, at 1 am Mountain Time (3 am Eastern Time or 7 AM Greenwich Mean Time).

DNA Tests in Ghana May Shed Light on African-American Origins

Diane — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:33:47 GMT

The Center for African-American Genealogical Research, Inc. (CAAGI), genetic genealogy company FamilyTreeDNA, and the Public Records and Archives Administration Deartment of Ghana (PRAAD) are embarking on a project that may improve the ability of DNA tests to estimate African-Americans’ origins in Africa.

DNA tests designed to analyze origins in Africa often lead to more questions than answers because relatively little is known about the diverse genetics of African tribes. The tested person’s DNA is compared against a database of modern Africans' DNA—but because of historical migration in Africa, the DNA of a given area’s modern residents may not match its original inhabitants.

Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast), located in Western Africa, was the source of an estimated million-plus African slaves. FamilyTreeDNA will test several hundred members of the Nzema, Ga, Fante, Ewe and Asante tribes, all of which were part of the slave trade.

The DNA will be gathered at a workshop CAAGI is conducting this Friday at the PRAAD offices in Accra, Ghana, as part of its Sankofa project to use traditional genealogical sources and DNA to reconnect African families. Attendees will learn about online genealogy databases, preservation of song lyrics and photographs, transcription of family stories, and forensic genealogy.

Ghana was once a UK colony where British, Dutch and Danish merchants traded. PRAAD has a Slave Trade Archives project with microfilm on Danish activities in Ghana from 1658 to 1850; some of the film is digitized online.

Addition: Bennett Greenspan, president of FamilyTreeDNA, provided a bit more information on this project.

Greenspan believes the results, which should be available in three to four months, will “absolutely” help improve analysis of African-Americans’ origins in genetic genealogy tests.

“The results of this outreach will be to both increase the size of the FamilyTreeDNA/AfricanDNA.com comparative databases and the results will also be added to the permanent Hammer collection at the University of Arizona, who will publish on the results of these and other outreach missions to Africa," Greenspan says. "In that way, the data will be published and available to all researchers of Africa.”

The University of Arizona's Hammer Lab is managed by Michael Hammer, FamilyTreeDNA's chief scientist. AfricanDNA.com is the African-American genealogy research firm of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates.