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Copyright© 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. All rights reserved.

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Most of this week’s newsletter was written in hotel rooms and on board airplanes. I am finishing the newsletter on board Southwest Airlines flight 159 flying from Los Angeles to Providence, Rhode Island. I love these $99 coast-to-coast airfares!

I spent much of this week at the annual conference of the (U.S.) Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) in Ontario, California. This year’s conference was hosted by the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA). The annual FGS conferences are amongst the larger genealogy events of the year. This year’s conference seemed to be a success. I know that I enjoyed myself, and it looked like most all the other attendees were smiling, too. I heard almost no complaints. No wonder, as this four-day conference, with nearly one hundred of today’s top genealogy speakers, was held in a very modern conference center, featuring easy access and several nice nearby hotels and restaurants. The attendance seemed to be a bit less than some other FGS conferences I attended, but several vendors I spoke to claimed that their sales were significantly higher than those of any previous years at FGS conferences.

As the name implies, the Federation of Genealogy Societies is an organization whose members are genealogy societies. The Federation’s primary mission is to help local societies better serve their members. By banding together, the societies trade expertise and help train each other on what has worked well for the member societies. The Federation of Genealogical Societies has more than 550 member societies, representing more than 500,000 genealogists across North America. This is a large and active group!

The Friday banquet speech was one of the conference highlights. This year the banquet featured two speakers: Tony Burroughs and Jim Warren together gave a talk entitled, "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? The Burroughs-Warren Family Reunion." Together, these two walked down memory lane, describing many events of past conferences. If either of these two ever needs to find a different line of employment, each could easily become a stand up comedian.

The many California volunteers who worked so hard to make this event a success obviously succeeded. I’d especially like to thank the ladies at the Registration Desk as they helped me get oriented quickly and easily. (I also promised I would mention them in this newsletter.)

The conference worked well and seemed to please all the attendees. I have one thing to say to FGS President Dean J. Hunter, CSGA President Sheila Benedict, 2002 National Conference Chair Wendy Bebout Elliott, and the many others who worked hard to make this conference work: "Great job!"

The next conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies will be held in Orlando on September 3 through 6, 2003. Next year’s hosts, the Florida State Genealogical Society, will have to work hard to match this year’s event. However, I suspect they plan to do just that.

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One of my personal highlights of this past week occurred a few hours after the FGS conference closed on Saturday evening. Twenty-five readers of this newsletter and I went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was a diverse group of people from all over the U.S. plus one Australian. The food was good, the noise level was high and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

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Whenever I attend a genealogy conference, I always spend time in the exhibitors’ area to see what new products and services are being introduced. The number of new products being introduced in the past year or two seems to be less than in previous years. I suspect this phenomenon is not isolated to the genealogy world; the entire business community is in a slump these days. Nobody should be too surprised to see a decline in new genealogy offerings; similar stories about other industries have become rather common recently. My guess is that the genealogy marketplace is simply reflecting what is happening elsewhere these days.

Despite the reduced number of new products and services being introduced, I still managed to find a number of "gems." These were new or nearly new items that I had not seen before and I would like to share them with you.

"They Came In Ships" by John P. Colletta is a book that has been very popular for more than a decade. It is subtitled as "A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Arrival Record." Ancestry.com has now released a third edition, which was extensively re-written and now contains a lot of new material.

"Honoring Our Ancestors – Inspiring Stories of the Quest For Our Roots" is another new book released by Ancestry.com. Author Megan Smolenyak has written 50 stories that hold one common thread: the seemingly endless ways to creatively pay tribute to those who came before us.

Ancestry.com also has a new book on French-Canadian genealogy resources presently at the printer. While not available at the conference, the word is that it will be available "real soon now." The book should become available within the next few weeks.

The 1920 U.S. Census CD-ROM disks are still being released by Ancestry.com, with a new disk appearing every week or two. The remaining 1920 Census disks should be completed before the end of this year. All of these disks are available in two versions: Regular and Deluxe. Both editions contain the indexes, and both contain links that point to images of the original census pages in the enumerators’ (census takers) handwriting. These images are stored online on Ancestry.com’s Web servers. Anyone who purchases the Deluxe Edition of the CD-ROM can view these images at no additional charge. Those who purchase the Regular Edition will need to subscribe to Ancestry.com in order to view original images.

Genealogy.com has entered into partnership with ProQuest to offer online access to thousands of compiled "Family and Local Histories." I wrote about ProQuest’s new service two weeks ago and mentioned that it was accessible only through libraries. In that article, I explained that the only method of accessing the service was to either visit a subscribing library in person or to gain access to a subscribing library’s remote services. Now Genealogy.com is offering the same access directly to the public. In effect, Genealogy.com becomes "the library" that provides remote access to users in their homes for a fee.

The Genealogy.com/ProQuest partnership is so new that it has not yet been announced, and there were no announcement flyers, brochures, or other hand-outs at the Genealogy.com booth. The databases quietly became available just a few days ago on Genealogy.com’s Web site. You can gain full access to this huge online resource now. Look for a formal announcement within a few weeks, as soon as the company can get the press releases out. Genealogy.com charges $14.99 a month for online access to these databases. A full year’s subscription costs $79.99.

Genealogy.com’s new Family Tree Maker version 10.0 was mentioned in last week’s newsletter. The company demonstrated the program in their booth. The product is in the "production house" right now, and copies should start appearing on retailers’ shelves within a week or two. Look for a review soon in this newsletter.

Well-known genealogy software author Bruce Buzbee was showing off his new genealogy program, called RootsMate. The program was first announced and demonstrated in May at the National Genealogical Society conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The program is not yet available as Bruce is still writing code. However, the program I saw this week is more polished and more complete than what I saw in May. I especially like the method of citing source citations in RootsMate. However, Bruce asked me to not describe that just yet in this newsletter as it is something he is still working on and may change a bit before the release version appears. Stay tuned for more information about RootsMate later this year. Keep an eye on http://www.RootsMate.com/

BlueBloods is described as a "Genealogical Encyclopedia" on CD-ROM. It is a database of European royal and American aristocratic lines, containing more than 202,000 famous rulers, nobles, politicians, and related individuals. It is designed to be an educational tool for people interested in genealogical history. The data was obtained from a wide variety of published sources. The disk contains databases in the native formats of Family Tree Maker, Ancestral Quest, Family Origins, Generations, Legacy, Personal Ancestral File, Roots, The Master Genealogist, Brothers Keeper for Windows, and Universal Family Tree. Watch for more information on availability in a future newsletter.

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I have been doing genealogy research for years and thought I was familiar with all the terms used in genealogy and in cemeteries. However, I encountered a new word this week at the FGS conference: columbarium. Thanks to Stanley Clarke, I now know that a columbarium is a place where cremation ashes, or cremains, are stored or buried.

Several; months ago I mentioned the introduction of the Oregon Burial Site Guide, compiled by Dean H. Byrd, co-compiled by Stanley R. Clarke and Janice M. Healy. However, I had not seen this new reference book myself until this week’s conference, where I spent some time turning the pages of this huge reference work. This 1,216-page tome has got to be the ultimate reference on burial places in Oregon. The amount of information and trivia in this book is almost overwhelming. To be sure, the Oregon Burial Site Guide does not list all the people who are buried in these cemeteries. (Such a publication would fill tens of thousands of pages!) However, the Oregon Burial Site Guide lists each burial place in Oregon and gives information as to its location, affiliation, and much, much more. It covers the largest cemeteries down to some as small as only one grave. The 1,216 pages are crammed with information.

One of the things that caught my eye in the Oregon Burial Site Guide is a picture of what has to be one of the most unusual burial sites in the United States. The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse sits on a tiny island off the coast near Seaside, Oregon. The lighthouse on this tiny rock was decommissioned some time ago and then was turned into a columbarium.

The rock that supports the lighthouse isn’t much bigger than the lighthouse itself. The rock has sheer vertical cliffs on all sides that make it impossible for boats to land. Years ago passengers were transferred to and from the lighthouse by a Bos’un’s Chair that would swing beneath a rope, tethered on one end at the top of the cliffs and at the other end on board the boat as it tossed up and down in the waves. I bet that was an interesting ride!

Access today is by helicopter. The scenery at Tillamook Rock is gorgeous, and it looks like a great place in which to spend eternity.

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Despite the somewhat unrelated name, Curious Fox is a new Web site of interest to both genealogists researching ancestry in the U.K. and to historians. I took a look at the site this week and must say that I was impressed. This site is rather different from most other genealogy sites. While it does contain local and family history, the Web site focuses on place names. All genealogy information is associated with a location. Historical information about each place name is available, with most of the data provided by users.

Curious Fox is based upon a gazetteer of 50,000 UK villages, towns, and counties. You can search for the village name, generate lists of nearby villages and hamlets, and link to the exact location on a modern map or an old map. Each village/town/county has a page where you can leave genealogy and local history contact messages. You can also search by family name.

The site has been set up by a husband and wife team based in Whixall, Shropshire, UK. The Web site has a rather unusual financial arrangement: you can either pay or not. The owners request that you pay a modest fee of £5 (about $7.50 in U.S. funds), but they do not require payment before you are allowed to view the data. However, paid members receive more privileges than free members. Curious Fox does not carry any banners or any other form of advertising for other businesses.

The advantage of this system is that anybody being helpful doesn't have to pay a penny, but anybody wanting help can encourage responses by choosing to pay. It is completely up to the user whether to pay or not. However, at least one side in any message transaction has to be a paid member.

The free membership lasts as long as the user wishes. The site has a "red box / green box system. Free members have red mailboxes. Only paid members can contact them. That is, free members cannot contact free members. However, free members are able to contact paid members, and paid members may contact free members.

Paid members have green mailboxes. Both free members and paid members may send messages to green mailboxes. The advantage to paid members is that it is very easy for free members to contact them, and they are far more likely to receive messages as a result.

There are several other benefits of £5 membership. For instance, all members can store a list of villages for easy access; however, only paid members will receive an e-mail whenever a new entry is added for one of their stored villages.

Another advantage to be added soon: all members will soon be able to add URLs to link to other Web sites. However, a red URL (posted by a free member) will only work for paid members. A green URL (posted by a paid member) will work for everyone.

Everyone can search the Curious Fox site by surname. The surname search only finds true surnames. That is, a search for the name Teacher will not find entries that refer to the occupation of teacher.

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The gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor was raised last week from the floor of the Atlantic, nearly 140 years after the historic warship sank during a storm. Salvage crews whistled and cheered as the coral-encrusted turret was pulled up on a heavy cable attached to a crane on a 300-foot barge. Water poured from the turret into the whitecapped sea before the turret was swung onto the barge.

The turret was raised during a $6.5 million expedition by the Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which controls the underwater sanctuary where the wreckage is.

The Monitor, a Union ship, and the Confederate vessel CSS Virginia revolutionized naval warfare when they fought to a draw on March 9, 1862, near Newport News, Virginia. The Monitor's revolving cylindrical turret was a naval innovation that allowed the crew to maneuver out of harm's way while maintaining accurate fire by adjusting the turret.

While the gun turret has now been recovered, there are no plans to raise the rest of the Monitor. Divers report that deterioration to the hull has left it in a weakened state; too delicate to raise.

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The following announcement is from Marc Houle of the National Archives of Canada:

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A vicar in eastern England is trying to raise money for "a proper Christian reburial" of 662 skeletons of local parishioners who died between the eighth and 10th centuries. The skeletons of the Saxon peasants and fragments of a cross were dug up in 1999 by builders working on new houses in the village of Cherry Hinton, near Cambridge. After being tested by archaeologists, the skeletons were entrusted to St. Andrew's church, close to the site of the Saxons' place of worship.

"These are ordinary Cherry Hinton people, and common decency dictates that we treat our ancestors with respect," said the vicar, the Rev. Christopher Boulton. "Each one was an individual who deserves a proper Christian reburial."

The Saxon graveyard was found about 200 yards from the current church graveyard, which has served as the village cemetery since medieval times. The cross and the fact that the bodies faced due east -- in order to be ready for the Resurrection -- indicate that the group had a Christian burial, archeologists say. Holes that had contained posts from an ancient wooden chapel were found nearby.

The Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust, which spent five months excavating the site in 1999, said the skeletons were buried up to four deep, indicating the Saxon cemetery had been in use for a long time. Several "pillow burials," in which heads rested on stones, contained carving fragments dated to the ninth and 10th centuries. Fragments of a stone cross were dated tentatively as eighth-century work.

"The people buried were country people who worked on the land," trust spokesman Lee Prosser said. "Many of the bones suggest they performed heavy manual labor." Tests on teeth deposits also showed they enjoyed a diet rich in fruit.

Boulton said the skeletons will be buried in a corner of the churchyard, along with a replica of the Saxon cross found with them and "a little memorial saying, 'Here lie our ancestors.'"

Boulton estimates that the reburial and new cross will cost about £5,000 ($7,500 in U.S. funds), and he has asked parishioners to contribute. "If 600 people sponsored a skeleton at 10 pounds ($15) a time, we'd be there," he said.

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How old are you? You may be older than dirt! Take this quiz to find out.

Count all the ones that you remember -- not the ones you were told about! Ratings are at the bottom.

1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed bottle
5. Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P. F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (Olive -6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16. Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19. Blue flashbulb
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

Scoring:

If you remembered 0-5 = You are still young

If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older

If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age

If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

Don't forget to pass this along, especially to all your really OLD friends.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is being written and sent via e-mail at no charge. I expect to write one new issue on a more or less weekly basis. However, life sometimes interferes, and the need to earn a living may create an occasional delay.

COPYRIGHTS: The contents of this newsletter are copyright by Richard W. Eastman with the following exception:

Many of the articles published in these newsletters contain quotes or references from others, especially from other Web sites, software user’s manuals, press releases and other public announcements. Any words in this newsletter attributed to another person or organization remain the copyrighted materials of the original author(s).

You are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute articles from this newsletter to other parties provided:

1. You do so strictly for non-commercial purposes
2. Your re-distribution is limited to one or two articles per newsletter; do not re-distribute the newsletter in its entirety
3. You may not republish any articles containing words attributed to another person or organization until you obtain permission from that person or organization. While you do have permission to republish words written by Richard W. Eastman, you do not have automatic authority to republish words written by others, even if their words appear in this newsletter.

Also, please include the following statement with any articles you re-distribute:

The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author.

Thank you for your cooperation.

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