Hurley's World

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Michael John Neill.

Estate records can do more than tell us an ancestor died and how his property was settled. They can provide clues to an ancestor’s occupation, marital status of his heirs, and much more. Many times what the record tells us is not explicitly stated. We have to look a little deeper. In this column we return to an estate that was looked at earlier in Casefile Clues. Our previous reference to the estate of Peter Bieger in 1850s Illinois focused on his two minor children. We now return to that record to see what additional clues it provided about Peter and his family.

Occupation

Inventories of an estate can often give occupational clues, and the records for Peter Bieger are no different. This was helpful as Peter Beiger somehow managed to elude either the 1850 census taker or my efforts to find his 1850 enumeration. Given Peter’s approximate year of birth (the mid 1820s), his likely immigration to the United States in the 1840s, and my failure to find him in 1850, there is no extant record that indicates his occupation.

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The following announcement was written by the Fairfax Genealogical Society:

The Fairfax Genealogical Society is accepting proposals for its General Meetings, Education Classes, Fall Fair, and Spring Conference for 2010-2011. All events are held in Fairfax County which is in northern Virginia, just west of Washington, D.C. Please see the complete Calls for Papers at www.fxgs.org/callforpapers.htm for the exact details and dates. All submissions must be received between 01 July and 01 October 2009.

Topics may include any genealogical subject such as court records, ethnic research, military records, methodology, migration, writing, colonial research, or beginning, intermediate, or advanced research. No preference is given to topics related to Virginia since many attendees are non-natives; however, Virginia topics are certainly welcome. We will consider proposals from a single speaker for both the Thursday night General Meeting and the following Saturday Education Class/Fall Fair/or Conference; topics do not have to be related. Proposals for remotely presented lectures (General Meetings and Education Classes, only) will be considered but presenter is responsible for providing any services or software needed other than an Internet connection (i.e. GoToMeeting or similar services)

Speakers will receive an honorarium. Travel, per diem, board, and other expenses can NOT be provided and are the responsibility of the speaker.

The Fairfax Genealogical Society has over 550 members. General Meetings usually have over 100 people in attendance while Saturday Education Classes have 50-60. The Fall Fair normally has an attendance of 100-150 people. It also includes one or two book vendors and several informational booths from other societies or groups. For the last several years, attendance at the Spring Conference has been about 260. Also, there are usually 15-20 vendors selling books, software, and other items of interest to genealogists.

Exact dates, requirements, and submission guidelines are posted at www.fxgs.org/callforpapers.htm. Questions should be e-mailed to CallForPapers@fxgs.org.

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

1 July 2009

Twelve new collections were added to the FamilySearch Record Search pilot this week. International collections were added for Argentina, Australia, Mexico, Netherlands, and Spain. New United States collections were added for Delaware, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Utah. Happy searching!

These collections can be searched for free at the FamilySearch.org Record Search pilot (click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot).

Special thanks to the growing number of online volunteers who help make these collections freely available by donating their time and talents to the FamilySearch Indexing program.

Collection Name Indexed Records Digital Images Comments Argentina, Resistencia Diocese, Catholic Parish Records, 1882–1921   9,814 New Australia, New South Wales, alphabetical index to newspaper cuttings 1841–1987 50,488 47,519 New Mexico, Coahuila, Catholic Church Records, 1627–1978   301,339 New Mexico, Colima, Catholic Church Records, 1707–1969   172,930 New Mexico, Campeche, Catholic Church Records, 1638–1944   167,931 New Netherlands, Limburg Parish Register Transcripts, 1600–1822   50,449 New. Additional images will be added later this year. Spain, Gerona Diocese, Catholic Church Records, 1339–1930   861,185 New. Additional images will be added later this year. U.S., Delaware State Birth Records, 1861–1908 45,983 23,624 New. Additional records will be added later this year. U.S., Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841–1915 597,610 601,355 New. Additional records will be added later this year. U.S., New Mexico Deaths, 1889–1945 167,925   New. U.S., Rhode Island State Census, 1915 540,589   New. Images will be added later. U.S., Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah 18,924 19,808 New.

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Overview

Indexers waiting for projects from the Czech Republic, Baden, Germany, or South Africa can now get busy. New indexing projects added this week are:

• Czech Republic, Litomerice Kirchenbücher, 1552–1905 [Part 1]
• Deutschland, Baden—Kirchenbücher, 1810-1869
• Mexico DF Registros Parroquiales, 1886–1933 [Part 1]
• South Africa, Cape Province Dutch Reformed Church, 1660–1970
• U.S., Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1916–1922 [Part 2]
• U.S., Massachusetts Marriages, 1896–1897
• U.S., Minnesota 1885 State Census

 (See the chart below for a complete list and current status of all indexing projects).

Recently Completed Projects

(Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process in preparation for future publication.)

• Mexico, Censo de 1930—Tamaulipas
• South Carolina—1920 U.S. Federal Census
• Utah—1920 U.S. Federal Census

Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Argentina, Buenos Aires 1855 Census Spanish 44% Argentina Censo 1869—Jujuy Salta Tucuman Spanish 46% Argentina Censo 1869—Santiago y Santa Fe Spanish 12% Australia, Greenwich—Genealogical Records, 1776–1980 English 65% Austria, Wiener Meldezettel, 1890–1925 German 1% Belgium, Antwerp Foreigners Index, 1840–1930 Dutch, Flemish 41% Czech Republic, Litomerice Kirchenbücher, 1552–1905 [Part 1] German (New) France Registres Protestants, 1612–1906 [Part 1] French 81% France Registres Protestants, 1612–1906 [Part 2] French 2% France, Coutances, Paroisses de la Manche, 1792–1906 French 89% France, Paroisses de Cherbourg, 1802–1907 French 1% France, Paroisses de Coutances, 1802–1907 French 1% France, Paroisses de Saint-Lo, 1802–1907 French 2% Germany, Baden—Kirchenbücher, 1810-1869 German (New) Germany, Brandenburg Kirchenbücher, 1789–1875 German 65%* Germany, Mecklenburg 1890 Volkszählung, Div 24–38 German 45% Italy, Trento Baptism Records, 1784–1924 Italian 87% Jamaica, Trelawny Births, 1878–1930 English 25% Mexico, Censo de 1930—Mexico Spanish 10% Mexico, Censo de 1930—Yucatan Spanish 35% Mexico DF Registros Parroquiales, 1886–1933 [Part 1] Spanish (New) Nicaragua, Managua Civil Records, 1879–Present Spanish 55%* Peru, Lima—Registros Civiles, 1910–1930 Spanish 34% Russia, St Petersburg Kirchenbuchduplikat, 1833–1885 German 1% South Africa, Cape Province Dutch Reformed Church, 1660–1970 English (New) Spain, Avila, Moraleja de Matacabras, 1540–1904 Spanish 46% Spain, Lugo—Registros Parroquiales [Part 1], 1530–1930 Spanish 19% U.K., Cheshire Parish Records [Part 2], 1538-1850 English 15% U.K., Warwickshire Parish Registers, 1538–Present English 2% U.S., Arkansas County Marriages VI, 1837–1957 English 51% U.S., Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1916–1922 [Part 2] English (New) U.S., Indiana, Adams County Marriages, 1811–1959 English 50% U.S., Indiana, Allen County Marriages, 1811–1959 English 16% U.S., Indiana, Blackford County Marriages 1811–1959 English 90% U.S., Massachusetts Marriages, 1896–1897 English (New) U.S., Minnesota 1885 State Census English (New) U.S., New York 1905 State Census English 48% U.S., Pennsylvania—1920 U.S. Federal Census English 35% U.S., Washington—County Marriages, 1858–1950 English (New) Ukraine, Kyiv, 1840–1842 Russian 21% Venezuela, Mérida Registros Parroquiales. 1654–1992 Spanish 25%

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

Current FamilySearch Partner Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

Belgique—Registres Des Décès—Charleroi, 1851–1900 French 39% Belgique—Registres Des Décès—En Français, 1796–1910 French 22%* België—Overlijdens Registers—In het Nederlands, 1796–1910 Dutch, Flemish 91%* België—Overlijdens Registers—Kalmthout, 1851–1900 Dutch, Flemish 92% België—Overlijdens Registers—Mechelen, 1851–1900 Dutch, Flemish 9% Deutschland, Bremer Schifflisten, 1904–1914 German 59% Flanders Death Registration, 1796–1900 French, Dutch, Flemish 79%* Norway 1875 Census [Part 1] Norwegian 40% Canada, Nova Scotia—Antigonish Church Records, 1823–1905 English 87% U.S., Arkansas Marriages IV, 1837–1957 English 38% U.S., Indiana Marriages, 1882 to April 1905 English 93% U.S., Ohio Tax Records—2 of 4, Post 1825 English 78% U.S., Ohio Tax Records—3 of 4, Post 1825 English 1% U.S., Vermont Militia Records, 1861–1867 English 45%

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

Current FamilySearch Regional Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

(These projects are being indexed by volunteers in specific areas of the world.)

Australia, NSW—Bounty Immigrants, 1824–1842 English 8% Australia, Sydney Cemetery Inscriptions, 1800–1960 English 9% Australia, Victoria Probate Records, 1853–1989 English 66% Canada, British Columbia Marriages, 1859–1932 English 9% Canada, Quebec—Trois-Rivières IC, 1800–1900 French 54%

I have written a number of times about jump drives, also called thumb drives, USB drives, flash drives, memory sticks, and a number of other names. They are all about the same, regardless of name used. These devices are great for short-term backups and for transporting data from one computer to another. Want to copy data from your desktop to the laptop computer? Use a jump drive. Want to copy data from your cousin's genealogy database and take it home with you? Use a jump drive.

I suggest that every computer-owning genealogist should own at least one of these tiny devices. You can purchase one for less than five dollars.

See http://www.google.com/cse?cx=003715150024579880844%3Aulyzue1ivzu&ie=UTF-8&q=%22thumb+drive%22&sa=Search for some of my past articles about jump drives.

Almost everything in the computer world drops in price rapidly, but jump drive prices seem to drop even faster than other hardware. I recently purchased a 32-gigabyte jump drive at a local computer store for $59.95. That's the equivalent storage space of more than 22,000 floppy disks and also more capacity than 48 CD-ROM disks. One 32-gigabyte jump drive can even store six or seven full-length movies without compression, even more if you compress the files first. Not bad for a device that is smaller than a tube of lipstick!

I remember that one of my first thumb drives stored 32 megabytes (that's megabytes, not gigabytes), and I thought that the storage capacity was amazing. I forget the price but suspect it was in the $20 to $40 range. Now four-gigabyte thumb drives sell for eight dollars, (see http://www.rootsbooks.com/shop.php?i=B000NWVAFO for one example and you can find others) and prices go up as storage capacities increase.

My new 32-gigabyte thumb drive stores 1,000 times as much data as the first one I owned. I keep copies of my genealogy data, newsletter articles, several thousand photographs, checkbook information for the past year, all of the PowerPoint presentations I have made in the past six years, a word processor, an e-mail program, several computer games, and more on the jump drive. Even so, I have nearly 20 gigabytes of empty space still available. I do encrypt the more sensitive information in case I lose the jump drive and some stranger recovers it. However, most of the other data is a simple copy made from the various computers I use.

The $59.95 I paid for a 32-gigabyte drive is about the most cost-effective price today for a jump drive when calculated on a per gigabyte basis ($1.87 per gigabyte of storage). Low storage capacity jump drives sell for five dollars or less but typically do not approach the $1.87 per gigabyte price point. I have seen 64- and 128-gigabyte jump drives advertised but at rather high prices. The size of 32 gigabytes seems to be the most cost-effective. Of course, all that will probably change again within a few weeks as prices continue to plummet.

I love thumb drives for short-term storage – that is, storing data for a few weeks or months. However, the technology is so new that the manufacturers are not making any claims about how long the data will be preserved on a jump drive. I wouldn't trust one of these for long-term storage of a year or longer. I do think they are ideal for keeping a backup of your current data and then making new backups frequently. Almost all of today's Windows and Macintosh genealogy programs will back up data directly to a jump drive.

Have you backed up your genealogy data? If not, pick up a jump drive for five bucks or more at the local drug store, department store, or at any computer store.

The following announcement was written by ProQuest:

Through an agreement with renowned news publisher Gannett, 85 full-text local and regional newspapers along with 7 military newspaper titles are now available through ProQuest.

Add all Gannett titles to your collection, or customize your selection with newspapers just from your region. Because they will be offered in full-text format on the award-winning ProQuest platform, these newspapers will be cross-searchable with all other titles in ProQuest Newsstand, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Combined, they’ll deliver national news along with local reactions to events at home and around the world.

To learn more or for a free trial, contact your ProQuest Account Representative, pqsales@proquest.com, (800) 521-0600 x3344.

Additional comment by Dick Eastman: ProQuest subscriptions are available to libraries, not to individuals. To access these newspapers, normally at no charge to you, contact your local library. If your nearest library does not have a ProQuest subscription, ask the librarian if another nearby library does subscribe. Most reference librarians are familiar with the offerings of other libraries near them.

The following announcement was written by Liz Stookesberry Myers of the California Alliance of Genealogical Societies:

Assembly Bill 130 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee very soon.  It was introduced by  Kevin Jeffries (Republican ) of the Temecula area.  The Bill was presented at the request of the Recorder Association of California.  They want to be able to handle Marriage Records the same as Birth and Death Records.  That means that they can black out the Mother's Maiden name, if the County Recorder chooses.  The Recorder also has the option of sending out an informational copy only.

The main concern is what the Recorder of each county may or may not choose to do.  At least that is the way it is written today.

As we know, the unfounded fear of ID theft is a worry to Legislatures on the State and National Levels.  Yet, research shows that ID Theft is caused by Data Hackers or stolen items from a friend or acquaintance!

I urge you to notify the Senate Appropriation's Committee and your State Representatives of our feelings about access to these public records. Remind them that these records help us to find family and determine if an inherited disease is running through the family lines.  That seems to get their attention.

Go to www.senate.ca.gov and click on Committees go to: Standing Committee to Appropriations.  There you will see the members of the committee and staff information.  Call or write these committee members and let them know who important changing this rule is to genealogists world wide!

Go to www.legislature.ca.gov to find your local representative.  When this bill goes to the Senate and Assembly Floor, we will need to jump in and let them know how important access to these records is to us!

We have been advised by Jan Meisels Allen, of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and Chairperson, of Public Records Access and Monitoring Committee to "write to the governor as it can be  heard as soon as today and the way this bill is moving it won't take long for it to pass both houses on the floor." Urge the governor to veto the bill..."  gov.ca.gov/interact

Please take a moment to make a call, or write a letter or Fax your thoughts.  It will only happen if we take the time to do it now!

Liz Stookesberry Myers
California Alliance of Genealogical Societies
Legislative Committee
562/598-3027

The New England Historic Genealogical Society is holding a "special" for the month of July: $15 off the price of an annual membership.

The normal NEHGS research membership is $75, but is now available for only $60 for the entire month of July. A family membership, normally priced at $90 (for 3 members of a household) is discounted to $75.

This offer ends July 31, 2009 and is applicable for new memberships only.

You can find more information at the society's home page at http://www.NewEnglandAncestors.org.

Ancestral Atlas has added a very cool new feature. At the touch of a button you can create a map that links the event locations of a particular person from birth through to death (personal Life Map) and also create maps that link an individual to all ancestors and/or descendants where a location is recorded. The ancestor/descendant maps locate the earliest recorded event location of all descendants/ancestors and then draws a line on the map to these events from the person you are searching against, thus mapping your heritage.

Cool stuff! You can see it for yourself at http://www.ancestralatlas.com.

You can learn a lot more about Ancestral Atlas in a Roots Television video interview with Nick Francis. Start at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/03/a-video-interview-with-nick-francis-of-ancestral-atlas.html.

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.

View the Complete Calendar

Burke's Peerage and Gentry is finally succumbing to the demands of the 21st century.

The guide, which lists the genealogy of every royal and aristocratic family in the Europe and the U.S., is to include illegitimate children for the first time. As part of a major shake-up, the book will also list offspring in order of when they are born, rather than males first, which has been tradition.

Over the next few months the records of one million upper class families will be carefully updated to bring them in line with the modern format.

You can read more in the Mail Online at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1196534/Illegitimate-place-Burkes-revolution-Bible-blue-blooded-takes-step-21st-century.html

Now members and visitors to Ancestry.com DNA can take a quick and fun quiz to discover our prediction of your ancient ancestors.  Post your results on Facebook or Twitter and share with friends.  It’s all free!

Ancient Ancestry Finder™ predicts likely ancestry for both your maternal and your paternal lines.  So, if you’ve only taken one of our tests try it out and see what our best guess is for the test you haven’t taken.

 We’ve offered ancient ancestry information as part of our results package for several years.  If you’ve taken a test, you’ve received a haplogroup designation and name (like The Ice Immigrants or The Stonemasons).  Your results include a short, basic story describing the lives of your likely ancestors.  In addition to connections that can help grow your family tree, we give you a bigger picture to let you imagine what your earliest people were doing back when humanity was just getting started.

To give everyone a sampling of these results, with Finder™ we’ve built a simple experience that takes a best guess at describing your ancient ancestors.   You answer 2 or 3 questions with the most basic info about your family (facts almost everyone knows).  And then we provide a few options for likely ancient ancestral groups, along with descriptions of those groups.  The only way to narrow down those options to the most likely result is by taking an Ancestry.com DNA test.

The spirit of Finder™ is a bit different from what you may have experienced on our site.  It’s part of our effort to introduce ancestry and genealogy to a wider audience.  And the more people who become interested in Ancestry.com DNA and genealogy, the larger our database becomes.  And that benefits us all.

Check it out here!

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

Please, no jokes about my advancing age; but, I do have a bit of a problem remembering things. Where did I find that web page about a new online database? What's the password for the web site I am trying to use? Where is the e-mail I received from a distant cousin? What time is my flight to Los Angeles tomorrow? Where are my car keys?

A program I started using a couple of weeks ago probably will not help find my car keys, but it certainly can help with the other questions. It allows me to easily capture information in any environment, using whatever device or platform I find most convenient, and makes this information accessible to me and searchable at any time, from anywhere. I can even enter data on the desktop computer at home and later find my notes on my handheld computer/cell phone.

My new note-taking program takes just about any kind of input I might want to use. It accepts notes that I manually type, notes that I copy-and-paste, and even notes created from from other web sites, from e-mail messages, or from most anything else that appears on my computer. It saves web pages, e-mail messages, pictures, to-do lists, PDFs, Twitter messages, and more. I can then recall any of those notes at any time in the future by a very quick and user-friendly method of searching.

The program I use runs on Windows XP or Vista computers, Macintosh OS X computers, iPhone cell phones, iPod Touch handheld computers, BlackBerry cell phones, Palm Pre handheld cell phones, Windows Mobile cell phones, and even on SanDisk U3 "jump drives" that plug into a computer's USB port.

Even better, since I use more than one of these devices, they can all synchronize information with each other, as long as they all have an Internet connection available. If an Internet connection is not available at this moment, the newly-entered notes are “queued up” and then are transferred whenever an Internet connection becomes available in the future.

I can enter notes on my Windows system and later retrieve those notes on my iPhone or on the Macintosh. If I had a Blackberry or a Palm Pre, I could retrieve the notes on those devices and even enter new notes on them which I can retrieve later on any of the other devices. I can "clip a web page" by using the program's "Web Clipper" feature and then click on SYNC, and that web page becomes available everywhere on the other systems within seconds. All these  devices will exchange data with all the other devices.

Did I mention that it's free? It does have an optional $5-a-month service that offers even more features.

The remainder of this article is for Plus Edition subscribers only.

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://eogn.com/wp/?p=5431. This article will remain online for several weeks. 

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If you decide to subscribe to the Plus Edition right now, you will be able to immediately read this article online.

For more information about subscribing to the Plus Edition of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, visit http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/plusedition.html.

NOTE: I publish an update to this article about once a year. In fact, several new Macintosh genealogy programs have appeared in the past twelve months.

Macintosh users can feel smug about using the best operating system available today. The OS X operating system is easy to use, very reliable, and doesn't "get in the way" with all sorts of pop-up messages. In short, "it just works."

However, one major disadvantage of the Mac is that it doesn't have as many genealogy programs to choose from as does the Windows operating system. Or does it? I would contend that Macintosh has MORE genealogy programs available than does Windows.

There are several genealogy programs written for the Macintosh:

Reunion by Leister Productions appears to be the most popular Macintosh genealogy program in North America. It works on both Intel and PowerPC Macs. It will also export data to an iPod or to an iPhone so that you can carry your database with you in a shirt pocket. Reunion focuses on couples, or "family units,” always showing a couple in the center of the screen, with various screens showing information about children, parents and siblings. The couple might be a man and a woman or it could be two same-sex partners or it could be two gender unknown persons, but it always shows a couple.

Reunion is rather expensive at $90 although some retailers may offer a small discount. I last wrote about Reunion at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/03/reunion_version.html.

Personal Ancestry Writer II is a very popular, free genealogy program that does the basics. It lacks many of the more sophisticated features found in today's commercial programs. However, you certainly cannot argue with the price. Free is good! Personal Ancestry Writer II is an excellent selection if you only want the basic record keeping functions and can skip all the multimedia scrapbooks, mapping programs and other whiz-bang features of commercial programs. MacWorld reviewed this program some time ago at http://www.macworld.com/article/57840/2007/05/paw69.html. You can learn more about Personal Ancestry Writer II (PAWriter II) or download this free program at http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/27497/pawriter-ii.

iFamily for Leopard is an excellent genealogy program developed by Keith Wilson in Australia. Unfortunately, Keith passed away last year. His heirs are planning to keep the program alive and expect to add new features. As Keith wrote on the program's web site, the program "is a family tree program with a difference because Apple users think differently." Unlike most other Macintosh genealogy programs, iFamily for Leopard focuses on individuals, not couples. It also displays the entire extended family of that individual, including all spouses as well as all children, step-children, and adopted children, all displayed on the same screen.

iFamily for Leopard is a graphics-oriented program, unlike the data-entry mode of operation of many other programs. It sells for a very modest $29.95 US. You can read my review of the program at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2006/12/ifamily_for_tig_1.html (it was called "iFamily for Tiger" at that time). Next, look at the program's web site at http://www.ifamilyforleopard.com.

MacFamilyTree is perhaps the most popular Macintosh genealogy program in Europe and has a growing customer base in North America as well. Developed in Germany, this program is available in German, English, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Dutch Swedish, Dansk, and Italian. MacFamilyTree includes a 3D Virtual Tree that has to be seen to be appreciated. (Screenshots are available on the company's web site.) Navigating the Virtual Tree is simple: just point, click and drag with your mouse, or use a dedicated "Navigator" to literally fly through your own ancestry. It is unlike any other genealogy program I have seen, for either Windows or Macintosh. MacFamilyTree also has an excellent database for storing information; you can enter information easily and then retrieve it in any number of ways. The program also includes very good reports. By purchasing a $5 optional program, MacFamilyTree will also export data to an iPhone or iPod Touch, allowing you to carry your database with you at all times.

MacFamilyTree sells for $49 US. You can read my review of MacFamilyTree at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/06/synium-macfamil.html. Further details about MacFamilyTree can be found at http://www.synium.de/products/macfamilytree.

MyBlood is a brand new genealogy program from Belgium. MyBlood 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. 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.

MyBlood is still in beta test but appears to be stable. It is available for 20 euro, roughly $28 U.S. You can learn more at http://www.myblood-line.com.

GEDitCOM II is a new genealogy application for Macintosh OS X allows ease-of-use editing of genealogy files, for customization of the user experience, and for power features allowing access to your genealogical data. GEDitCOM II provides a multi-window "browser" interface, a powerful index window, drag & drop features, a switchable user interface per user preference, powerful searching tools, full multimedia support, lots of charts and reports, and more. GEDitCOM II sells for $64.99 and is available from http://www.geditcom.com.

Osk is a genealogy program produced in Iceland. It is a Universal Binary program, so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. Osk enables you to enter detailed information about family, friends and celebrities, with birthday, connected media, places of residence, sources for your information and other data. You can plot family trees and track ancestors and descendants. You can draw family trees and save them, create a family website. It’s available in English, Icelandic, German, Russian, Portuguese, Norwegian and Swedish.

Osk sells for $40. You can learn more about Osk from Studlar Software at http://www.studlar.net/en/software/osk_48.html.

GRAMPS is available for Macintosh OS X. GRAMPS has an excellent reputation as a Linux genealogy porgram, although it has also been ported to the Macintosh. GRAMPS is available free of charge. You can learn more about GRAMPS for Macintosh at http://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php?title=Mac_OS_X.

Another option is to install Parallels, Fusion, or virtualBox (see below) and then install Linux as a second operating system on your Macintosh. You will then be able to run the native Linux version of GRAMPS.

NOTE: All of the above programs support GEDCOM imports and exports. You can import data from any other modern genealogy program without re-typing all the data again.

All of the above programs are native Macintosh programs. However, are you aware that you can also run most any Windows program on your Macintosh? That includes The Master Genealogist, RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Family Tree Maker, AncestralQuest, and other Windows programs. To be sure, this works only on Intel Macs running OS X Tiger or Leopard. You actually install a copy of Windows and run it as a slave operating system under OS X. This capability allows you to run Macintosh and Windows programs simultaneously!

To install Windows on your Macintosh, you will need ANY ONE of the following:

1. Parallels - a $90 program. For details, see http://www.parallels.com (I have this installed on my MacBook laptop and find that it works well.)
2. VMware Fusion - an $80 program. For details, see www.vmware.com/mac
3. virtualBox - a free program from Sun Microsytems. For details, see: http://www.virtualbox.org (I have this installed on my Mac Mini desktop system and love it. virtualBox isn't quite as sophisticated as the other two, but it's price is much better: FREE!)

NOTE: A fourth option is to use the free BootCamp program that is included with Macintosh OS X. However, it does not run as a slave operating system under OS X. At boot time, you can select to run Macintosh OS X or to run Windows; you cannot run both simultaneously. I tried BootCamp for a while but was not very happy with it.

All of the above four "Windows solutions" do require a licensed copy of Microsoft Windows. They should be able to run most any version of Windows or even Linux or BSD Unix or other operating systems designed for PC hardware. I'd suggest Windows XP although that is no longer sold or supported by Microsoft for normal PCs. You may have a copy available from an older computer or perhaps you can find it on eBay or from other retailers who are selling off old inventory. Generally speaking, Windows XP works much better than Windows Vista in all systems but that is especially true when using it as a "virtual computer."

NOTE: Running Windows on a Macintosh does not mean that you can avoid the "problems" of Windows: you must also install and use a Windows anti-virus program and any other "patches" that Windows users find so necessary to maintain normal operation. The slave Windows operating system will also have the same reliability issues as any normal Windows system. However, the native Macintosh operating system will continue to operate normally even if the slave Windows operating system crashes.

Let's go back to the paragraph I wrote near the beginning of this article:

However, one major disadvantage of the Mac is that it doesn't have as many genealogy programs to choose from as does the Windows operating system. Or does it? I would contend that Macintosh has MORE genealogy programs available than does Windows.

Actually, modern Macintosh systems do have more genealogy programs to choose from: several modern and powerful genealogy programs available for their exclusive use as well as all the Windows genealogy programs of today and all the Linux genealogy programs of today. In other words, the Mac user can select from ALL the genealogy programs available today!

Now you know why Macintosh users are such diehard enthusiasts: they have simplicity, reliability, and a wider variety of programs to choose from!

The following announcement was written by Aster Software:

Aster Software Releases FamViewer Version 2.0, Genealogy Software for iPhone and iPod Touch

LEXINGTON, KY, June 29, 2009 --- Aster Software has announced the release of version 2.0 of its genealogy application, FamViewer. FamViewer allows genealogists to carry their genealogy databases with them on their iPhone and iPod Touch.

FamViewer imports standard GEDCOM files and displays them on the iPhone. GEDCOM files can be uploaded to FamViewer with a web browser on a desktop computer or downloaded to FamViewer from any web site or web server via WiFi. FamViewer will import the GEDCOM file and display its contents. Once a GEDCOM file is downloaded and imported you can view individuals, families, notes and sources. Navigate the family tree with a touch. You can carry your genealogy database with you wherever you bring your iPhone or iPod Touch.

New in version 2.0 is an ancestry chart that displays up to eight generations for anyone in the database. Tap on the name of anyone displayed in the chart and go to their family page.

An index by surname allows the user to find anyone in the database. A family view, resembling a family group sheet, displays three generations of a family: parents, children, and grandparents. Touch the parent's names to view the details of their life events and personal attributes. Each event and attribute can have sources and notes, which are visible in another view.

All the FamViewer views work in portrait or landscape orientation so long names, places, dates or other data can be easily viewed.

FamViewer isn't tied to any desktop genealogy software. Active genealogy researchers already own genealogy software that they run on their desktop, or laptop, computers. All modern genealogy software can export their genealogy databases in GEDCOM format. FamViewer will import GEDCOM files exported by today's popular genealogy applications.

User comments about FamViewer from online reviews:

"A perfect solution. This genealogy app is exactly what I've been waiting for."

"Great App!"

"Great iPhone App. This is a great portable application that I have long awaited for my iPhone. I use Family Tree Maker and have successfully imported 80,000+ names. The customer support and responsiveness is awesome!"

"Love it, and with the latest update, you can see the actual pedigree chart, it’s great."

"Outstanding software. Outstanding value. It was great having my entire TMG database (all 2700 people and nearly 2000 sources) with me on the last two business trips to Washington DC (the Archives and the DAR Library) and all on the iphone."

Version 2.0 improvements:

• Added family tree view that allows viewing eight generations of a family tree.
• Added support to display long notes.
• Added ability to connect to FamViewer using Bonjour.
• Improvements to the networking code should provide better reliability on certain networks.
• Implement choosing the home family.
• Added progress bar that shows progress of importing a GEDCOM file.
• Plays a sound when the GEDCOM import is complete.
• Changed placeholder text on the family page view from 'Grandfather'/'Grandmother' to 'None' due to user feedback.

FamViewer can be purchased at the Apple appstore and is priced at US$14.99. To find out more about FamViewer visit the appstore with iTunes. FamViewer is listed under Productivity Applications and Genealogy. More information is also available at http://www.astersoftware.biz. View an overview movie showing FamViewer's main features at http://www.astersoftware.biz/screencasts.html.

About Aster Software.

Aster Software is a small company specializing in products for iPhone, iPod Touch, and Macintosh. The company website is http://www.astersoftware.biz.

The following was written by The Generations Network, parent company of www.Ancestry.ca:

Canada Day is not only a great day to spend with family – it’s the perfect time to get together and learn more about how your family came to be Canadian.  To celebrate our 142nd birthday, for the first time Ancestry.ca is making available the Canadian Passenger Lists free to access  from June 29 through July 3, 2009.

The Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 captures 70 years of immigration to this country and includes the names of more than 5.6 million individuals who travelled from around the world to start a new life in Canada.

It is estimated that 11.6 million Canadians, or 37 per cent of the population today, are direct descendants of those in this collection.

Canada Day is a great time for us to reflect on our roots and to look at the ancestors who helped build this great country. This is a rare opportunity to delve into the records and discover the story of how one’s ancestors arrived in this country, who they came with, where they arrived and where they settled.  They help paint a picture of a family’s journey and of a new beginning in a land of promise.

The collection is fully indexed, meaning the records can be searched quickly and easily online by name, month or year of arrival or ship and port of origin.

In total, the collection includes original images for more than 310,000 pages of historical records chronicling the arrival of more than 4,000 ships at ports across the country.

Fast facts about the Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935

1. Digitising and indexing the passenger lists took approximately 83,000 man hours - that’s the equivalent of a person working 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 9.71 years.
2. There were roughly two men arriving in Canada for every woman. 4,711,452 men are listed in the Collection compared to 2,574,644 women.
3. 1913 and 1919, the years immediately before and after the First World War, saw the largest number of arrivals in Canada, with 485,660 and 419,113 people arriving respectively.
4. Liverpool, England was the most common port of departure for those coming to Canada between 1865 and 1935, with almost three million leaving that port.  Quebec City was the most common landing port, with more than three and a half million arrivals.
5. The 24th of March 1919 was the busiest day ever at Canada’s ports, with 11,263 people arriving.

It may be more than a hundred years after their deaths, but the founding families in Easton, Connecticut are getting renewed attention. The names read like a who's who from the town's early history: Bradley, Wakeman, Fanton, Hill, Wheeler, Nichols, Burr and many, many more. Those are the names etched on marble, granite and other stones marking the graves of these longtime families in the 1.25-acre Center Street Cemetery, which dates back to the 19th century, on Black Rock Turnpike.

The Easton Cemetery Committee has enlisted the help of state legislators, descendants of those buried in the old graveyards, officials from other cemeteries in the region and, just a few weeks ago, State Archaeologist Nicholas F. Bellantoni. Members have spent hundreds of hours of their own time over the past few years scouring documents here and in nearby communities, where records may indicate burial plot owners and occupants.

You can read more in an article by Cindy Simoneau in the Connecticut Post at http://www.connpost.com/ci_12710843.

The following announcement was written by the (U.S.) Federation of Genealogical Societies:

Wednesday, July 1st is an important date. That is the last day to register with a savings of $50.00 for the exciting Federation of Genealogical Societies 2009 “Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists.” The September 2-5 event is being held in Little Rock, hosted by the Arkansas Genealogical Society. The hospitality features of this conference will make us all feel right at home!

• Who is invited? Anyone interested in genealogy and history. Family historians, genealogy dabblers, professional genealogists, geneabloggers, librarians, archivists, Civil War buffs, and writers are already registered. Do you like special surprises? Then this is the conference to attend.
• What will be there? Almost 200 lectures, workshops, special events, meals, and other things to do over 4 days. Learn from top genealogists, librarians, and archivists from all over the U. S. Mingle with folks that will listen to your genealogy stories.
• Need more reasons? Find out how to interpret old documents, figure out where that land deed is today, understand the workings of the U.S. National Archives, hear about digitizing records, determine if ancestors served in the Revolutionary or Civil wars, get a sneak preview of new software and databases, and become energized to dig more thoroughly to find and document your family and community history.
• Gain knowledge about family history records and resources that are online and the billions of pieces of paper that are not online yet but hold ancestral details.

To register please visit www.fgsconference.org. The conference also has a news blog that carries vital details, updates, news, and FAQs along with a way to make your own comments and post questions that will be answered. For the blog visit www.fgsconferenceblog.org.

The size of Ancestry.com’s record collection is a fascinating topic. As of June 2009, subscribers to Ancestry.com and our international sites can search the historical censuses for the U.S., UK and Canada, U.S. and international vital records, amazing collections of military and immigration records, and many others, not to mention the 10 million family trees added to our site by members in the last three years with over one billion profiles (names) and 20 million user-submitted photos and stories. This much is certain: Ancestry.com is far and away the largest collection of family history records online.

 

Defining and counting records on Ancestry.com

 

The concept of ‘counting’ records sounds relatively simple until you get deep into the details. How is a record defined? Is it a mention of a person? A household? A page? If a birth record has the person, parents, doctor and witness, how many records is that? And what of records where we don’t know for certain how many people are referenced, such as newspapers or city directories?

 

For our ‘fielded’ or indexed collections - structured data such as censuses and passenger lists - a record count is defined as the information about each specific person included. For example, one WWI Draft Registration Card is counted as one record. Similarly, each line on a census page is also counted as one record as typically it to will contain information about a specific individual.

 

For our ‘unfielded‘ collections such as newspapers and family histories, there is no underlying structure to define a field and so until now pages have been sampled then an average applied to determine an estimated name count. For example, our 42.5 million (countable) newspaper pages were multiplied by 60 names per page to achieve an estimated total name count.

 

Traditionally, we have counted our total number of records by combining the number of records for each person contained in our fielded collections and the estimated number of names in our unfielded collections.

 

However, as our company and collections have grown so significantly in recent years, we have decided to apply a new and highly conservative counting methodology that better reflects our differing data structures. Going forward, all unfielded pages will now be counted as one record - no name estimates will be included in our total record counts.

 

So what does this mean?

 

Based on this new methodology we have over 4 billion records. Previously, we referred to an estimated 8 billion names listed with in our record collections. This is a change to our counting methodology only - no records have been removed. Ancestry.com members will continue to have access to all the great records they had previously.

 

With new records launching every week, these numbers are always increasing. More importantly, no matter how we count them, our goal is to continue to bring millions of valuable records to our members like we’ve been doing for more than a decade.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by George G. Morgan.

I enjoy visiting and researching in courthouses. I like the sensation of being surrounded by the history of an area in the various indexes, ledgers, record books, files, and loose documents. It is normal to think that all of the county records are going to be held there. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, and there can be a number of reasons for that. Let’s explore some reasons why what you seek may not be in the courthouse you visit.

The remainder of this article is for Plus Edition subscribers only.

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://eogn.com/wp/?p=5396. This article will remain online for several weeks. 

If you do not remember your Plus Edition user ID or password, you can retrieve them at http://www.eogn.com/wp/ and click on "Forgot password?"

If you decide to subscribe to the Plus Edition right now, you will be able to immediately read this article online.

For more information about subscribing to the Plus Edition of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, visit http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/plusedition.html.