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This newsletter is available in both ASCII text and HTML versions. To change your preference, go to the address shown at the very end of this newsletter. EOGN: Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter Standard Edition A Weekly Summary of Events and Topics of Interest to Online Genealogists Vol. 8 No. 32 – August 11, 2003 This newsletter relies solely upon "word of mouse" advertising. If you enjoy reading these articles, please tell others to go to http://www.eogn.com.Some of the articles in this Plus Edition newsletter are restricted to your personal use. Search previous issues of Standard Edition newsletters at: http://www.eogn.com/search. Plus Edition subscribers may gain access to a reserved section of the Discussion Board. Details are available at http://www.eogn.com/plus/messageboard.Listen to Dick Eastman’s broadcast on FamilyHistoryRadio.com.Copyright© 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. All rights reserved. - Help the NGS Rescue Family Bibles Items marked with a Plus Sign (+) appear only in the Plus Edition newsletter. Genealogy: A haystack full of needles. It's the threads that I need. - Help the NGS Rescue Family Bibles Something unique happened at the recent U.S. National Genealogical Society (NGS) conference in Pittsburgh. Pamela Cerutti, the great editor of this newsletter, found a vendor selling four old family Bibles as well as several large boxfuls of original family pages extracted from 119 other Bibles. She called this to the attention of Megan Smolenyak, a genealogist who works hard at rescuing family heritage heirlooms. Megan then talked with Dereka Smith of the NGS, and a deal was soon struck. The vendor agreed to sell the entire collection to the National Genealogical Society so that the records could be preserved, catalogued, and transcribed. It is a great arrangement, but with one significant problem: the NGS doesn't have the funding to pay for these valuable items. The seller was kind enough to accept time payments, and now the National Genealogical Society is asking for donations to fund the purchase of these valuable sources of family history information. It is a great cause. For further information, read the article written by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak on Ancestry.com's Web site at: http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/7447.aspWhat Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- (+) Password Protect Your Web Site The following is a "preview" of a Plus Edition-only article: Placing your genealogy information on the Web is an excellent method of making that data available to anyone interested. It also reduces your workload in that you do not have to make copies and mail them (or e-mail them) to each person who is interested. You can simply say, "You can find that information on my Web site at http://www......" However, not everyone wants all of their data available to everyone. Some genealogists may want to restrict data access to family, friends, or "people they know." While the Web is a great convenience for sharing data, many would like to "lock it up" with an electronic key. That is, access to the information would require a user ID and password. Luckily, this is easy to do. This week I want to describe two solutions: one is a high-security method that is for techies only. The other is an easy-to-implement method that almost anyone can configure with security that is almost as good as the first solution. The preceding is a "preview" of a Plus Edition-only article. The full article is available only to Plus Edition subscribers. Click on Plus Edition for more information. - (+) Follow-up: How to Easily Block All Junk Mail The following is a "preview" of a Plus Edition-only article: In last week's newsletter I wrote about my experience in instantly stopping the several hundred junk mail messages that I receive per day. I now have used this service for nearly two weeks and still have not received one junk mail (spam mail) message in that time. I also have noticed that a number of newsletter readers have adopted the same service that I have been using. One testimonial from an unnamed Plus Edition subscriber seems to be worth repeating here: I just wanted to say thank you for your article... We finally got cable in our remote area of Oregon and the "bad" spam has been terrible. I contacted Charter Cable and they refuse to filter anything. I was ready to drop them but I enjoy the Internet speed. Then your article - I am on the 30 day trial now and will be signing up when it is over. I have not received ONE spam of any kind! Again thanks. A couple of people asked about the use of this service with mailing lists. Last week I wrote, "I can also pre-authorize senders and mailing lists at any time, either by entering them individually, or by uploading an entire address book." Perhaps I should amplify this a bit. The preceding is a "preview" of a Plus Edition-only article. The full article is available only to Plus Edition subscribers. Click on Plus Edition for more information. Last week I published an announcement of a new program for Windows called GenSmarts. A reader named "treegranny" posted a message on the newsletter's Discussion Board that I think will be of interest to many: I purchased this program the day before I saw this item. I had no difficulty installing the program but did have some problems with it. They have a message board similar to this one. I posted a message yesterday and received a very helpful answer this morning. They keep their customers informed about what is happening with the program. Legacy users (like me) might have some troubles. This program will work directly with Legacy files. No need for creating yet another GEDCOM. They are releasing a new update the week of August 11 which should address the problems. For now, it might be wise to get the trial version and play around with it first. Also check the message board carefully. Most questions are answered there. I really didn't find their Help files that helpful at all. One thing the announcement didn't mention, is that the program not only lists places where the records can be found but, if it's online, you can access the record from within the program and it separates free online services from paid services by using different icons. At the moment the only subscription service available is Ancestry.com but, Genealogy.com and HeritageQuest seem to be coming soon. Now that I have the wrinkles ironed out, I know that, next to Legacy and Genviewer, this is going to be the one I can't do without. In my opinion it's shaping up to be a superb research tool. You can read more about this on the newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://rootsforum.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=2242e704f98d9b233843859ef4518f02;act=ST;f=1;t=575- Follow-up: Hudson County Cemetery Relocation The irony is impossible to ignore. I wrote the following in the November 4, 2002 newsletter: The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is seeking the descendants of those buried in a potters’ field cemetery in Hudson County. The turnpike needs the land to build an interchange that will serve the Secaucus Transfer train station near Laurel Hill. The cemetery on those grounds was used by Hudson County's former poorhouse, mental hospital, and penitentiary. More than 3,500 bodies may be in the ground, located behind a prison annex and under an elevated section of highway. Work on this project has proceeded cautiously and with dignity. A new location was identified to become the new cemetery for the graves being relocated. Construction equipment moved into the new location, started excavating land for the new graves, and promptly found… human bones! Hundreds of random pieces of bones and skulls have now been found in the exact spot where the remains were going to be reinterred. "I just can't believe this is happening," said turnpike spokesman Joseph Orlando. "We went out of our way to show care and respect for the graves at the potter's field; we're paying the cemetery to reinter these people, and now we find there are people being dug up there." All work has stopped until authorities can determine the origin of the bones found at the new site. You can read more on the NorthJersey.com site at: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NDExNDE5My thanks to Terry Dewhurst for telling me about this story. What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- Progeny Software Adds Another Five Million The following announcement is from Progeny Software: 5-Million More Names Added to FindYourFamilyTree.com Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, August 8 - The online collection of Family Trees available at the free genealogy search site As one of the largest and constantly growing collections of family trees online, chances are good you will find a new connection to your own family. Each name is lineage-linked, which means during an online search you may find an individual's parents and/or spouse. Another click of the mouse and you may find the grandparents and even the great grandparents, and so on! With a total collection of over 61 million names, the possibilities of finding your missing branch are tremendous! With the addition of 5.5 million names just 3 short months ago and 5 more million names added today, it is suggested you bookmark the www.FindYourFamilyTree.com home page and come back to search often.These names have been submitted by people from around the world to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church publishes these genealogy records in a collection of CDs called Pedigree Resource File (PRF). The Church sells these CDs at cost so that people may share their family story. www.FindYourFamilyTree.com is an independently-owned web site that enables you to search this enormous genealogy database for free to see which PRF CDs contain your ancestors. While it is easy to view your ancestors one at a time online, you can use the PRF CD to quickly view and/or print the entire family tree in a variety of charts and reports as well as see full family groups with siblings and cousins. The CD may also contain interesting notes and stories that were submitted and even sources where information was obtained. Only the CD version allows you to download these family history records into your own genealogy database - no Internet connection or additional software is required to run the CD. Sold at cost, PRF CDs are bundled in sets of five CDs (5 million names) for $22.50 US and Volumes of 25 CDs (25 million names) for $59 US. Prices include shipping. Progeny Software Inc. provides the software used on the PRF CDs, including the PRF database engine and Progeny Family Explorer™, a one-of-a-kind program designed specifically for searching and creating reports from lineage-linked databases. FindYourFamilyTree.com complements Progeny Software's growing line of quality genealogy software and research tools. Progeny's complete product line, which includes World Place Advisor™, World Place Finder™, Genelines, Charting Companion, GEDmark, and a variety of other genealogy research databases and software tools, can be found at www.progenysoftware.com.What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- Family History Library Catalog Now Updated Daily The online version of the Family History Library Catalog on FamilySearch has been updated. Even better, the Web site plans to update it every day. That means no more waiting for the new film numbers. What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- Maryland Census Indexes Online Two weeks ago I wrote about Nevada 1860-1920 census records that just became available online. Newsletter reader Michael John Neill sent a message: I saw the Nevada listing you recently had. The Maryland State Archives has several census indexes online at their site: Thank you, Michael. I took a look at the site provided by the Maryland State Archives. It does look good. The following Maryland census indexes are available online:
These are indexes only. If you find an ancestor in this online database index, you will then want to see the full original record, either at the State Archives in Maryland or on microfilm available elsewhere. What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- Orlando Death Records Online The Orlando City Clerk's Office is creating an online database of more than 80,000 interment cards and thousands more deeds to cemetery plots. The database will be searchable by a number of categories, such as name, date, and funeral home. Search results will contain images of the original documents and handwritten notes. "I think people are probably salivating to get their hands on it," said Steve Rajtar, a local real-estate attorney and history enthusiast who recently published a guide to a 4-mile walking tour through the cemetery. "With just a click on a keyboard, you can find out information you could only wonder about before." The database is expected to be available to the public within a month on the Florida city's Web site at: http://www.cityoforlando.net.What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboardGordon Banks wrote this week: Leo van de Pas, an Australian genealogist, has made his massive database, containing more than 400,000 persons available online. Unlike much of the stuff on the Internet that I have complained about, he has documentation for every entry, although some of it isn't online. (In fact, the program Leo uses offline, from which this database is derived won't let him enter anyone until he puts in where the information came from!) This is the best one for medieval genealogy sites I've ever seen. Have a look. Thank you, Gordon. I did take a look and, indeed, this is an impressive online database. Leo van de Pas has crated a great resource. It isn't just medieval, however. There is a lot of genealogy data there, and much of it is based upon Australian records. I will echo Gordon Banks' advice: "Have a look." Check out http://www.genealogics.orgWhat Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- Windy Prairie Cemetery Directories Windy Prairie Systems of Lincoln, Nebraska has developed what is believed to be the only free-standing computerized cemetery directory. The company can design a directory to fit the needs of any cemetery, from flat board directories (for small cemeteries, or for those without electricity), to mechanical and electrical roller directories, to the high-tech computerized directories. Windy Prairie can customize — with photographs, text, video and audio — the memorial of each person buried in the cemetery. The company's computer experts have the ability to computer-enhance old and/or damaged photographs. The memorial can also include a 15-second full-motion video. I must say that I wish this had been available at some cemeteries I visited early in my genealogy pursuits! For more information on Windy Prairie cemetery directories, look at: http://www.windyprairie.com.What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard- Bad Experiences with Tech Support Did you ever have a problem using a new computer program? Consumer Reports says, "Good luck if you plan on calling the manufacturer for help." Associate editor Jeff Blyskal said that, in a new survey, software tech support got one of the lowest customer satisfaction scores the magazine has ever seen: Computer users say that 30 percent of the time, tech support offers no help toward fixing what's wrong. The Consumer Reports article considered all sorts of software, not just genealogy-related programs. I started wondering. Have you had any particularly good or bad experiences with tech support of a genealogy program? If so, you might want to share your experience with others so that they can see the good, the bad, and the ugly before they purchase the product. Let's share the knowledge. I would be interested in learning about both good and bad experiences. I would like to invite you to post your genealogy tech support experiences on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard. Perhaps those experiences will form the basis of a future newsletter article.Note that you can post messages anonymously, if you prefer. What Do You Think? Comments and discussion are available on this newsletter's Discussion Board at: http://www.eogn.com/discussionboardThe PR Budget for this newsletter is $0.00. I rely upon "word of mouse" advertising in which you recommend this newsletter to your friends. This newsletter is a private project of mine, and I have a zero budget for a publicity campaign to get more readers. In each issue, I try to offer you useful, interesting and sometimes amusing information to help you with your genealogy efforts. Can you take a minute to help me out in return? If you think this newsletter is a worthwhile read, please tell your friends. Better yet, suggest they can read the Standard Edition or subscribe to the Plus Edition at http://www.eogn.com.Thanks. Are you interested in the articles in this newsletter? Would you like to learn more or ask questions or make comments about these articles? Join this newsletter’s online Discussion Board at http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard.You can also search past newsletters at: http://www.eogn.com.If you would like to submit news, information or press releases for possible inclusion in future newsletters, send them to Richard@eastman.net. The author does reserve the right to accept or reject any articles submitted.COPYRIGHTS and Other Legal Things: 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). This document is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the views of Richard W. Eastman with one exception: words written by other authors and republished herein are the views solely of those authors. All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. You are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute articles from this newsletter to other parties provided:
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 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at Anyone complying with the above does not need to ask permission in advance. Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization. Thank you for your cooperation. ABOUT SPAM FILTERS: Be aware that the biggest problem faced when sending e-mail newsletters is spam filters in e-mail servers. Although the problem plagues many, many newsletters and other types of perfectly legitimate email, this newsletter seems to be particularly susceptible. It is quite long, and contains numerous examples of the kinds of things that spam blacklists, in their infinite wisdom, have deemed to be "spam like." Therefore, numerous email servers will delete this newsletter under the assumption that it is spam. If you all of a sudden stop receiving your copy of the newsletter (and this happens more than you might think), don't just assume I skipped an issue or there's something wrong with the newsletter's distribution. I rarely skip an issue without noting that in advance. If you stop receiving the newsletter, chances are that it's not a problem with your subscription; it's a problem with your mail server or your spam filter. That is the number one cause of newsletter subscription problems. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dick Eastman is a frequent presenter at major genealogy conferences. He has published articles in Genealogical Computing and Family Chronicle magazines and for a number of Web sites. He was an advisor to PBS' Ancestry series and appeared as a guest in one of the episodes. He serves on the Advisory Board of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and is a past Director of GENTECH and of the New England Computer Genealogists. Dick is the author of YOUR ROOTS: Total Genealogy Planning On Your Computer published by Ziff-Davis Press. He can be reached at: If you have questions or comments about the article in this newsletter, go to this newsletter's Discussion Board at http://www.eogn.com/discussionboard. Post your message there. You will receive then assistance from Dick Eastman or from a number of other people.SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: To obtain a subscription to Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter – Plus Edition, go to To receive a free e-mail notification whenever a new Standard Edition of the newsletter becomes available, go to http://www.eogn.com/newsletter/subscribe.This newsletter is available in both ASCII text and HTML versions. To change your subscription to the ASCII version, send an e-mail to ascii@roots.d2g.com. To change your subscription to the HTML version, send an e-mail to html@roots.d2g.com.If you have any questions about your subscription, send a message to support@eogn.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||
