Hurley's World

On 09 Aug 1724, Marie Marthe Gamache, daughter of Nicolas Gamache and Marie Dion, was born. She was baptized in Notre Dame de Bonsecours de l’Islet, L’Islet sur Mer, Québec, New France on 13 Aug 1724.

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Completed Indexes Will Be Free Online

Ontario, Canada—FamilySearch International announced its plans to make the indexes to available Canadian censuses accessible online for free with the help of online volunteer indexers and an agreement with Ancestry.ca. The first censuses completed will be those from 1861, 1871, and 1916. Online volunteers are needed to help transcribe select information from digital images of the historical documents into easily searchable indexes. The completed indexes will be available for free at www.familysearch.org.

Famous Canadians in the 1916 Census

What do Art Linkletter, Sir William Samuel Stephenson, and Elvina Fay Wray have in common? They all have ties to one of the three provinces that make up the 1916 Canada Census, and some lucky volunteer may experience the thrill of transcribing their information for the free online index.

1. Arthur Gordon Kelly (Art Linkletter) will be found as a four-year-old child at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He was abandoned as an infant and then adopted and raised by a preacher. He hosted House Party and People Are Funny both on radio and later on newfangled television, and he is best remembered for his interviews with children on the television show Kids Say the Darndest Things. His adoptive parents were Fulton John Linkletter and Mary Metzler.
2. Sir William Samuel Stephenson was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and a British intelligence specialist during World War II. Stephenson is best known by his wartime intelligence codename of Intrepid and is considered by some to be one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond. He was born William Samuel Clouston Stanger, January 23, 1897, in the Point Douglas area of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
3. Elvina Fay Wray was born September 15, 1907, on a ranch near Alberta to Elvina Marguerite Jones and Joseph Heber Wray and will most likely show up as a nine-year old-child in the 1916 census. She made her film debut in Gasoline Love (1923), but it was her lead role in The Wedding March (1928) that made her a star. She became a cult figure after her role in King Kong (1933), as the beauty captured by a giant gorilla.

Getting Involved

Interested volunteers can begin helping immediately by registering online at familysearchindexing.org, downloading the free indexing software, and selecting the 1916 Canada Census project. A digital image of a census page will appear. Volunteers simply type in the data highlighted on the computer screen and save it online. It takes about 30 minutes to complete one census page, and volunteers have a week to complete it if need be. Volunteers only need to be able to read, type, and have Internet access to participate.

“The 1916 census was selected first because it is the most recent and smallest of the three censuses targeted in the first phase. It included three of the western provinces (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta) and has about 1.7 million names—so it will not take long to complete,” said Stephen Young, FamilySearch project manager.

There are other hidden benefits to volunteering. Volunteers become familiar with historical documents, the valuable stories they can conceal, and their usefulness and application to genealogical research.

Indexers do not need to worry about their skill level at reading censuses. Each census page is transcribed by two different indexers. Any discrepancies between the two entries will be arbitrated by a third indexer. The result is a highly accurate, free index of tremendous value to family history enthusiasts. Young says the more online volunteers that help, the quicker the free census indexes will be available online for all to enjoy and benefit from.

One indexer recently commented, “I am intrigued with how the people come alive for me as I index. I indexed a household . . . containing a family with young children, grandmother, maiden aunt, and a couple of unmarried siblings. They had five servants, and I visualized a well-to-do household; the married son working maybe as a lawyer or doctor, taking care of his extended family. I see both sad and happy stories.”

FamilySearch manages the largest collection of genealogical records worldwide. In 2007 it announced plans to begin digitizing and indexing its collection for broader, online access—starting with popular collections like Canadian censuses. FamilySearch has digitized the 1916 Canada Census and is seeking online volunteers to help create a searchable index for it and other census and non-census Canada projects. The 1861 and 1871 censuses will be next.

Libraries and Archives Canada (LAC) owns and is providing the digital images for the Canada census projects.

Genealogists who use computers can appreciate the marriage of technology with paper-based records. Sometimes that is a rocky marriage: the two do not always work well together. Now President-Elect Barack Obama may have a quandary.

Obama has long used a Blackberry device for communications. Like millions of other Blackberry addicts, he depends on it to conduct day-to-day business in an efficient manner. During the campaign, he told associates to never send him paper memos or reports. Instead, he wanted all reports sent to his Blackberry device. One can assume that he would like to continue that practice as President.

The problem is the Presidential Records Act. That Act requires all official correspondence to be public domain. This means that the incumbent President has "to dispose of records that no longer have administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value, once he has obtained the views of the Archivist of the United States on the proposed disposal."

In other words, the President cannot delete anything from the Blackberry until the Archivist of the United States has approved the deletion.

On the bright side, President-Elect Obama has also stated that he will be the first president to keep a laptop on the desk in the Oval Office. He plans to take the same laptop with him when he travels.

Indeed, the White House is now moving into the twenty-first century.

How many states have digital archivists to make sure that today's records are available to future generations? Washington State obviously does, as evidenced by this announcement:

Kerry Barbour is taking the reins of the state's Digital Archives office in Cheney, bringing with her nearly 20 years of information technology experience.

"I am excited that Kerry Barbour has agreed to join our Digital Archives team," said Washington State Archivist Jerry Handfield. "Kerry has managed many successful technology projects in state government. She will take us to the next level in our mission to preserve Washington's legal and historical records and make our documents of democracy accessible to our citizens."

In her role as digital archivist, Barbour will manage the operations of the state Digital Archives, located at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. Digital Archives is a branch of the Olympia-based Washington State Archives. Regional branches are found in Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney and Ellensburg.

"I'm thrilled and excited to become the digital archivist," Barbour said. "My initial goal is to educate state agencies about digital archives and our infrastructure. I want to let them know we are here and what we can do for them."

Before starting her new job, Barbour was the information services director for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission in Olympia the past three years. Before that, she was an information technology manager with the Department of Social and Health Services for about 12 years.

The mission of Digital Archives is to collect, index, store and make accessible electronic records created by state and local government agencies of Washington State.

Since launching in October 2004 as the first of its kind in the nation, Washington's Digital Archives is the lead partner in a multi-state project funded by the Library of Congress to demonstrate the requirements of building a digital archive system in states around the country.

More than 74 million items can be accessed online at the Digital Archives. Visit http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov for more details.

On 14 Mar 1719, Élisabeth Gamache, daughter of Nicolas Gamache and Marie Guyon (Dion), was born. She was baptized in Notre Dame de Bonsecours de l’Islet, L’Islet sur Mer, Québec, New France on 16 Mar 1719.

Genealogists often republish materials from old books as well as from archives, courthouses Web sites, and other sources. Sadly, many modern day genealogists simply ignore copyright laws. Doing so can result in an unpleasant notice from a law firm appearing in your mailbox. The laws that limit someone’s right to copy a work have changed in recent years. Your awareness of the current laws can protect you from land mines of liability as you prepare your research for publication.

Here is one of the most important issues concerning copyrights, as written by an attorney:

Copyright protection does not last forever. That is why copyright is often called a "limited monopoly.”

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Perhaps the best-known genealogy site is Cyndi's List, run by Cyndi Howells. I caught up with Cyndi on the 4th annual Wholly Genes cruise and had a chance to talk with her about the categorized, cross-referenced list of more than 265,000 genealogy sites on the Internet. Cyndi offered her insights into genealogy and into the operation of her popular web site.

Roots Television videotaped our conversation and has now placed it online. You can watch the interview with Cyndi at http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=2474692001.

The following announcement was written by Genoom.com:

Social media takes on the family network with family history / genealogy-based social network, www.Genoom.com. Genoom recently added Chinese language support - the network is now fully accessible in 17 different languages, letting users connect with, and stay in touch with, family across the globe.

Barcelona, Spain - November 17, 2008 -- Family networking site, www.Genoom.com, makes social networking a truly global affair with support for 17 languages, including the latest addition of traditional and simplified Chinese. The social network caters to families interested in staying in touch with relatives near and far, sharing family trees and genealogical research, and more in a private and secure online environment.

Genoom.com is a free family networking tool connecting family members from around the world. Members can add family trees, personal information, photos, videos, and related documents about ancestors and living relatives alike, limiting access to uploaded information through invitations and custom group privacy settings. Genoom even offers a Facebook application, allowing users to access their family tree and communicate with family, all while logged into their Facebook account.

"We're excited to be expanding our reach even further into the international market," says Genoom CEO David Diaz Daré. "By adding Chinese language support to the Genoom network, we're able to connect a large population to family members both locally and globally, unlike other family networking sites. Our goal is to make Genoom as internationally accessible as possible, to connect even distant family in ways previously not available due to geography and language barriers."

With many users able to access the social network in their native language, Genoom allows users to stay in touch with family all over the world. It's an ideal medium for families to connect, ask distant relatives about family histories, and more in a fast manner and safe environment. Members have the ability to upload a variety of information to their family tree, including:

Photos - Whether they're interested in sharing photos of a new baby in the family or hard-to-find photos of ancestors, the Genoom social network makes it easy to share memories with relatives without the costs of photo copying and the delay of shipping pictures.

Videos - First steps, graduation ceremonies, and more can easily be shared with family unable to actually be there by uploading videos to a family network on Genoom.

Documents - For those hard core genealogists or simple ancestry buffs, Genoom makes it possible to share documents either needed or discovered during family history research. Users can share census records, vital records, ship manifests, or other documents that allow family members to better understand and track the lives of their ancestors.

Members of the Genoom network control who is able to view their family tree. They can invite family members via email to build their free family network securely. Genoom offers even greater protection for photos, videos, and documents. Users can create "groups," or subsets of their full family network - when creating photo albums or uploading individual documents or videos, users can then choose which groups have access, and which don't (for example, vital records can be shared with a very limited group rather than both full sides of the user's family tree / network).

Basic membership to the Genoom social network is free, with the ability to add a family tree (including importing GEDCOM files), upload photos, videos, and documents, and send messages to members within the user's family network.

About Genoom

Genoom is a social networking platform designed to build private family networks. Launched in July 2007, the site already features support for users in 17 languages and includes a growing collection of over 3.5 million profiles. From centralizing current family connections to discovering and sharing ancestral information, Genoom offers users a secure, private, and interactive family networking environment on the Web.

For more information about the Genoom, please visit www.Genoom.com.

I recently had a chance to talk with Buzzy Jackson, a historian, author and genealogist. She wrote author of "A Bad Woman Feeling Good" on her research for her next book, which is about the world of genealogy. "The Jackson 5,000" is expected to be published in 2010. She described the process of writing books and her discoveries in genealogy.

The Roots Television camera crew recorded our conversation and you can watch it now at http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=2474688001.

Betwen 28-29 Nov 1715, Marguerite Gamache, daughter of Nicolas Gamache and Marie Dion, was born. She was baptized in Notre Dame de Bonsecours de l’Islet, L’Islet sur Mer, Québec, New France on 02 Dec 1715.

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

The Encyclopedia of Genealogy: http://www.eogen.com (Disclaimer: This is a site that I created but the data has been created by many different people. In fact, you can also add data to the Encyclopedia of Genealogy.)

Abbreviations Found in Genealogy: FamilySearch has an extensive list at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Abbreviations_Found_in_Genealogy_Records. Other lists may be found at :  http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/abbrev.html  and http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sam/abbr.html and http://www.genealogy.com/Glossary/glossary.html and http://www.geisheimer.org/info/gene/abbr.htm

A List of Occupations, many of which are archaic. You can discover what your ancestor really did at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dav4is/Sources/Occupations.html (with emphasis on England and its 16th and 17th century colonies ) and http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/ocupaton.html and http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genepool/jobs.htm and http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wiashlan/occupations.html and http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/misc/occupations.shtml

“Cousinship” - What is a second cousin twice removed? This and other cousin relationships are explained at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/02/what-is-second.html

Cyndi's List of Medical Terms: http://www.cyndislist.com/medical.htm

Archaic Medical Terms, Diseases and Causes of Death: http://www.antiquusmorbus.com/Index.htm and http://rmhh.co.uk/illness.html and the MedTerms Dictionary with both modern and obsolete terminology at http://www.medterms.com/script/main/hp.asp and http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~billingh/disease.htm and http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/omd/ and http://www.neonatology.org/classics/old.terms.html and http://www.genealogy-quest.com/glossaries/diseases1.html

Glossar: Die Familie: An annotated English-German glossary of terms frequently found in genealogy research: http://german.about.com/homework/german/library/blfamilie.htm

Meanings and origins of first names - an etymology (the origin of words) and list of the most popular names: http://www.behindthename.com

Old handwriting in genealogy research (with images of handwriting samples): http://www.amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/oldhand.html

Old Style Abbreviations - Proper Names (with images of handwriting samples): http://www.amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/x-prop.html

Abbreviations on Gravestones: http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/misc/grave_symbols.shtml

Military Abbreviations Found on U.S. Grave Markers: http://genealogy.about.com/od/military_records/a/abbreviations.htm

Cemetery Junction Directory - A directory of more than 20,000 cemeteries, arranged by state. Search by cemetery and family name. Links to obituaries and genealogical societies in the U.S, Australia, and Canada: http://daddezio.com/cemetery

Where to Write for Vital Records - Addresses and guidelines for contacting each U.S. state or territory for vital records and documents: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welcom.htm

There are many, many more such lists online. You should be able to find them with any search engine. However, the above is a list of the ones I keep handy.

NOTE: This is a repeat of an article I published about a year and a half ago. It seems that spam filters are even more of a problem today than they were last year. I frequently receive messages from Plus Edition subscribers stating that they have not received the newsletters. However, it seems that the newsletters were always sent, only to be deleted by spam filters at the receiving mail server.

For the past couple of years, I have spent eight to ten hours per week writing e-mail messages about problems with spam filters. I suspect that some of you are tired of reading my messages and articles about this problem.

In short, after spending thousands of dollars on bulk mail servers and after consulting with various industry experts, I must conclude that there is no way to guarantee e-mail delivery to 100% of the Plus Edition subscribers. Therefore, I provide the Plus Edition newsletter online at http://plus.eogn.com. You can always read the online version, regardless of what your e-mail provider does to your in-box.

I also guarantee that I will SEND the Plus Edition newsletter to every subscriber's e-mail address every week. Notice that I wrote that I guarantee that I will SEND it. That is not a guarantee that you will RECEIVE it as that is beyond my control.

Details:

I send an e-mail version of the Plus Edition newsletter every week to every Plus Edition subscriber. Each e-mail message always leaves the bulk mail server I use. Each e-mail message always gets delivered to the mail servers of the recipients' e-mail providers. I can see this time and time again in the mail server log files. There is NEVER a missed subscriber in the sending.

Based on feedback received, however, I believe that 5% to 10% of those newsletters never get delivered. This 5% to 10% get blocked by spam filters in the receiving mail servers.

I have consulted with several "industry experts" and with the tech support departments of two major (expensive) bulk mail services. The people who are the most experienced with sending large amounts of e-mail tell me that my 90% to 95% delivery rates are higher than most of theirs! Nobody ever achieves 100% delivery, and some people are satisfied with a 50% delivery rate.

In short, e-mail has now regressed back to the level of old-fashioned "snail mail." I can take a letter to the post office, I can paste a stamp on it and I can place it in the mail slot there, hoping for delivery. However, I cannot guarantee delivery. That is beyond my control; the postal service employees are the only ones who can make that happen. After I place the letter in the mail slot, I am no longer able to make guarantees. I cannot even see what the postal employees are doing with the letter. An errant postal employee might even throw my letter in the trash.

E-mail is now the same. I can guarantee that I will send the message out of the mail server I use and I can even guarantee that it will be delivered to the receiving mail server. I can see all that in the log files and I know that it works 100% of the time. After the e-mail message is delivered to the receiving mail server, I can no longer see what happens. Indeed, that mail server may send the e-mail message to the trash.

Sadly, spam filters in the mail servers often trash legitimate e-mail messages, especially larger messages such as my newsletter. Deletion of a legitimate message is called a "false positive" Indeed, it looks like that happens 5% to 10% of the time for my newsletter, even more often for some other bulk mailers.

I give up. Starting now:

I am guaranteeing that Plus Edition subscribers can always read the current edition and the two previous editions online on the newsletter's web site at any time. Go to http://www.eogn.com and click on "Read the Plus Edition Newsletter (user name and password required)." That will always work.

I am guaranteeing that I will send the Plus Edition newsletter by e-mail to every subscriber every week.

Note: I am saying, "I am guaranteeing that I will send it;" but, I am not guaranteeing that you will receive it. Receiving the newsletter is not under my control. I can only control the sending.

If you do not receive the e-mail version, please contact your e-mail provider for assistance. They are the only ones who can tell you why you did not receive it. Most of the time, the answer will be "blocked by spam filters." However, you need to contact your e-mail provider to make sure.

Thank you.

- Dick Eastman

[Updated 18-Nov-2008]

A few months ago I wrote an article complaining about outrageous charges for hotel rooms at or near the various national genealogy conferences. I have now vowed that I will never pay those rip-off prices again. Today I made my reservation for a hotel room at the 2009 conference of the National Genealogical Society's annual conference to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on 13 through 16 May 2009.

There will be a shortage of hotel rooms in the city during the 2009 NGS conference. Three major universities in the city reportedly will all hold their graduations the same weekend. As a result, hotel rooms are expected to be fully booked months in advance. If you are planning to attend this conference, I'd suggest you make a reservation NOW in some hotel.

The official conference hotel will be the Marriott City Center, adjacent to the convention center. Don't bother checking for rooms; it is already sold out, seven months in advance of the conference. The hotel charges $124 a night plus taxes.

Other nearby hotels listed on the conference web site include the Sheraton Hotel at 421 South Salisbury Street (a short walk away, $120 a night plus taxes but with free parking) and the New Clarion State Capitol Hotel at 320 Hillsborough Street at $79 per night (nine-tenths of a mile away and also with free parking). Both of those locations are too far to walk for some people.

I just made reservations at the Raleigh Days Inn at 300 N. Dawson Street. The price is $59.49 per night plus taxes.

UPDATE: The Days Inn is still offering rooms on the www.DaysInn.com web site for $59.49 per night for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday ONLY but have now increased the rate to $102.00 for Friday and Saturday night. I am guessing that is in reaction to all the graduations going on in Raleigh that weekend.

That price includes free parking, free high speed Internet access, and a free continental style breakfast. It also includes a king-sized bed in a non-smoking room with a micro-sized refrigerator. I doubt if the Days Inn will be as nice as a Marriott or a Sheraton, but I don't plan to spend much time in the room. I expect to spend long days in the convention center. What more could I need?

The Raleigh Days Inn is about two miles away from the convention center. That's an easy drive if you have an automobile but too far to walk. I suspect there will also be parking fees at the convention center. Even so, I decided that the savings in hotel fees alone will more than pay for a rental car plus parking fees. Besides, having a rental car also provides more freedom in choosing restaurants and other travel.

You can learn more or even make a reservation at http://www.daysinn.com/DaysInn/control/home. If you prefer to use the telephone, call 919-828-9081.

You can see even more hotels in the vicinity of the 2009 NGS Conference at http://tinyurl.com/ngs-hotels.

I think it is high time to fight rip-off prices at conference hotels. There are many cost-effective alternatives, I'd suggest using one of them.

For more information about the 2009 NGS conference, look at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/Conferences/2009/index.htm?CFID=4802765&CFTOKEN=60385986.

My thanks to Carole Magnuson for telling me about the Days Inn hotel in Raleigh.

On 12 Feb 1714, Joachim Gamache, son of Nicolas Gamache and Marie Guion (Dion), was born. He was baptized in Notre Dame de Bonsecours de l’Islet, L’Islet sur Mer, Québec, New France on 13 Feb 1714.

Your elementary school teachers tried their best to teach you how to write legibly. At that age, however, none of us had any inkling that poor handwriting would ever be a concern to us. Boy, were we wrong!

I’ve just spent several hours poring over a number of old documents, trying to decipher the handwriting. The frustration, not to mention the eyestrain, was really getting to me. I found myself asking aloud, “Was that an f, a p, or an s in that name in that 1920 U.S. census record?” That was a quite recent document, too. This one, however, was one of those important pieces of evidence that was crucial in helping me demolish a brick wall. Any help would have been welcome, and so I began using some of my favorite methods to analyze handwriting. Let me share these with you.

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If you have a Plus Edition user ID and password, you can read the article right now at no additional charge in this web site's Plus Edition at http://plus.eogn.comIf you do not remember your Plus Edition user ID or password, you can retrieve them at the same place: http://plus.eogn.com.

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On 06 May 1712, Marie Gamache, daughter of Nicolas Gamache and Marie DuBuisson (Dion), was born. She was baptized in Notre Dame de Bonsecours de l’Islet, L’Islet sur Mer, Québec, New France on 07 May 1712.

Genea-Musings:- The January 2009 issue of Family Tree Magazine came today in the mail, and I read it while waiting for my wife to finish doing her email work before dinner.

Genea-Musings:- I really enjoyed Cyndi Howells' presentation about "Plotting, Scheming and Mapping Online" at the Wholly Genes Conference. She had several links to web sites that I had not seen previously, so I'm investigating them one at a time.

Genea-Musings:- The United States government Census Bureau has released a book called Census Atlas of the United States. It can be downloaded in PDF format at http://www.census.gov:80/population/www/cen2000/censusatlas/. The web site says:

Genea-Musings:- One of the top-rated genealogy software packages in the British Isles is Family Historian. Family Historian 3.1 runs on Windows Vista, XP Home and XP Professional, 2000, ME and 98.