DearREADERS,Last month my daughter Carrie gave me the best birthday present ever ~ she decided to become a 'real' genealogist. She has worked the past three years with the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy as admin assistant for the sponsoring organization, the Utah Genealogical Association. When Carrie called to give me the news, she said initially her interest in SLIG was just part of the job. What Carrie learned is that genealogists worth their salt attend genealogy institutes like SLIG to hone their skills by participating in week-long, total immersion, intensive study under the…
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SLIG finally won over my daughter to genealogy
DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog7 Feb 2012 | 11:43 am -
RootsTech 2012 Photos - Exhibitors
Genea-Musings9 Feb 2012 | 12:59 pmHere are more pictures from the RootsTech 2012 Exhibit Hall:1) At the WikiTree booth, I found Dallan Quass (of WeRelate.org) and Chris Whitten (developer of WikiTree) in conversation (these are the two best genealogy wiki developers):2) At the WikiTree booth, Chris Whitten (developer) and Elyse Doerflinger (evangelist) wear their beautiful orange WikiTree shirts:3) Familysearch had several sides to their exhibit - this is the one for the FamilySearch.org records:4) The brightsolid display was large, and all of the exhibitors wore these beautiful hats:5) The… -
RootsTech :: Day Two
kinexxions3 Feb 2012 | 9:30 pmIt was another busy and mind-boggling day at RootsTech. I didn't do much socializing since I attended presentations all day long! As with yesterday, the keynote address was impressive with a nearly full room of attentive genealogists. Given by an enthusiastic and very dynamic speaker - Josh Coates – the topic was “Exabytes, Social Clouds, and Other Monstrosities.” I've never tried Voice Recognition Software but after listening to Luana Darby in “Can You Hear Me Now? Voice Recognition Software and Genealogy” I may just have to give it a try! Someday. (I'm not sure my little netbook… -
Central Coast Genealogy Calendar: February 2012
Little Bytes of Life1 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity." ~Henry Van Dyke Thursday, February 2 Monterey County Genealogical Society 6:00 PM (Doors open at 5:30 PM) Caroline Miller - "The Symbology of Cemetery Art" Saturday, February 4 San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Genealogy NOW! Growing Your Family Tree Day-long seminar featuring acclaimed author and speaker Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL Tuesday, February 7 Conejo Valley Genealogical… -
The Envelope, Please…2011 iGENE Awards!
What's Past is Prologue31 Jan 2012 | 12:38 pmEach year, the (nonexistent) Academy of Genealogy and Family History (AGFH) offers genealogy bloggers the opportunity to celebrate the “best of the best” – our best blog posts for the previous year. After reviewing all of the entries, reading the critics’ reviews, and tallying up the votes, it’s time to roll out the red carpet and present the honors. Welcome to the 2011 iGENE Awards starring What’s Past is Prologue! Best Picture “Loved this! As if the first photo wasn’t cute enough…” ~ Cynthia Shenette of Heritage Zen The Best Picture award goes to Christmas:…
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DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog
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SLIG finally won over my daughter to genealogy
7 Feb 2012 | 11:43 amDearREADERS,Last month my daughter Carrie gave me the best birthday present ever ~ she decided to become a 'real' genealogist. She has worked the past three years with the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy as admin assistant for the sponsoring organization, the Utah Genealogical Association. When Carrie called to give me the news, she said initially her interest in SLIG was just part of the job. What Carrie learned is that genealogists worth their salt attend genealogy institutes like SLIG to hone their skills by participating in week-long, total immersion, intensive study under the… -
Alaska: Wholly Genes Genealogy Cruise 16-23 Sept 2012
7 Feb 2012 | 9:02 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: Seems about this time of year, we need a GeneaVacation, and Bob Velke has just the cure for what ails you. Please address all inquiries to Juliea@cruiseweb.com or bvelke@whollygenes.com.ANNOUNCING THE 8TH ANNUAL GENEALOGY CONFERENCE AND CRUISEThe largest family history conference on the seas.COLUMBIA, MARYLAND -- 5 February 2012 -- Wholly Genes, Inc. announces the 2012 Genealogy Conference and Cruise, September 16-23, 2012, to Alaska’s Inside Passage. This annual conference has a reputation for offering lectures by some of the most respected genealogists in the country… -
Stop ID Theft NOW using RPAC guidelines
6 Feb 2012 | 6:23 pmDearREADERS,It isn't access to public records such as birth, marriage or death records, or the Social Security Master Death Index that cause identity theft, now is it?Tomorrow there will be a major announcement from RPAC and I'd like you to be primed and ready to assist. What is RPAC"The genealogical community works together through The Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC), which today includes The National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) as voting members. … -
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh Registration Begins
6 Feb 2012 | 6:08 pmNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was received from our friends at GRIP. Please address all inquiries to info@GRIPitt.org . Otherwise, get up early tomorrow to log in and register for this brand new institute. Registration for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) will begin on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, at 12:00 noon (Eastern Standard Time).The four course coordinators have proven popular at institutes and conferences:Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, will coordinate the “Advanced Research Methods” that he also offers at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.John… -
RootsTech 2012 Exhibit Hall Part I
6 Feb 2012 | 6:04 pmDearREADERS,So the iPad 2 isn't half bad when it comes to taking photos. Mr. Myrt let me borrow his when I inadvertently left the SD card in my computer back at The Kimball during the last day of RootsTech 2012.More pics in the next post...Happy family tree climbing!Myrt :)DearMYRTLE,Your friend in genealogy.(c) 2011 Pat Richley-Erickson, All Rights Reserved. Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com.
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Genea-Musings
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RootsTech 2012 Photos - Exhibitors
9 Feb 2012 | 12:59 pmHere are more pictures from the RootsTech 2012 Exhibit Hall:1) At the WikiTree booth, I found Dallan Quass (of WeRelate.org) and Chris Whitten (developer of WikiTree) in conversation (these are the two best genealogy wiki developers):2) At the WikiTree booth, Chris Whitten (developer) and Elyse Doerflinger (evangelist) wear their beautiful orange WikiTree shirts:3) Familysearch had several sides to their exhibit - this is the one for the FamilySearch.org records:4) The brightsolid display was large, and all of the exhibitors wore these beautiful hats:5) The… -
Rasputin, Time Travel, Worm Holes - oh my!
9 Feb 2012 | 11:13 amOne of my CVGS society colleagues pointed me to an article by Robert Krulwich titled "'Rasputin Was My Neighbor' And Other True Tales Of Time Travel" that was published yesterday on the Krulwich Wonders blog on NPR. He writes:There are people who live long enough to create a link — a one-generation link — to figures from what feels like a distant past, and their presence among us shrinks history. When 'Long Ago' suddenly becomes 'So I said to him ...,' long ago jumps closer."There are many examples of people who shrink history this way. The blogger Jason Kottke has been… -
Treasure Chest Thursday - Death Index Record of Abigail Gates (1774-1855)
9 Feb 2012 | 9:31 amIt's Treasure Chest Thursday - a time to reveal another gem in my treasure chest of family history. I have quite a few index records from the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841 to 1910 database, I have not collected Death certificates for all of them. In almost all cases, the information on the indexed records are exactly the same that are available from the town records or on a death certificate obtained from the specific Massachusetts town.As an example of one of these indexed records, here is a death index page from 1855 for Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts:… -
San Diego Genealogical Society Meeting on 11 February - Hal Horrocks Presentations
8 Feb 2012 | 4:50 pmThe February program meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society is Saturday, 11 February at 10 a.m. at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (87350 Lake Murray Boulevard, near Jackson Drive). The program speaker is Hal Horrocks, who will present:10 a.m.: British Research - Parish Registers and CensusIn this presentation, Hal will explore the important dates necessary for proper British research, and how they relate to baptism, marriage and burial registers and census records, with many examples provided and how to find them. The British census will be explored from 1841 to 1911 with… -
RootsTech 2012 Photos - Geneabloggers!
8 Feb 2012 | 1:09 pmI didn't take as many pictures at RootsTech 2012 as I wanted to, but I did take some, mostly around the Media Hub ("Blogger Island." Here are some from my iPhone camera:1) The Media Hub from the left side of it. There were two tables for bloggers, and two booths for interviews (video and audio). I don't know who these people are at the table - there were non-genealogy bloggers. This photo shows the video booth: 2) This is the right side of the Media Hub. You can see the RootsTech minder (they controlled entry to the Media Hub) on the right in the…
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kinexxions
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RootsTech :: Day Two
3 Feb 2012 | 9:30 pmIt was another busy and mind-boggling day at RootsTech. I didn't do much socializing since I attended presentations all day long! As with yesterday, the keynote address was impressive with a nearly full room of attentive genealogists. Given by an enthusiastic and very dynamic speaker - Josh Coates – the topic was “Exabytes, Social Clouds, and Other Monstrosities.” I've never tried Voice Recognition Software but after listening to Luana Darby in “Can You Hear Me Now? Voice Recognition Software and Genealogy” I may just have to give it a try! Someday. (I'm not sure my little netbook… -
RootsTech :: Day One
2 Feb 2012 | 9:05 pmThe day began with the Keynote Address by Jay Verkler (with a little assistance from a few other people). It was rather mind-boggling listening to his vision for the future of genealogy research – if only it were possible to live to 2060 to see if his vision becomes reality! Wow. Mr. Verkler has recently stepped down as President and CEO of FamilySearch. In that capacity he helped guide and transform FamilySearch into a leading genealogy-tech company that is bringing online so many wonderful digital documents. Along with many of the other 4,000+ attendees, I went into the Exhibit Hall after… -
The 2011 iGene Awards for Kinexxions
31 Jan 2012 | 12:35 pmIt's time for the Annual iGene Awards in which we announce our “best” blog posts from last year in five categories. Created by Jasia at Creative Gene for the Carnival of Genealogy, this year marks the 5th anniversary of the awards. And this year, the ceremony for kinexxions is coming to you from Salt Lake City! What better place for such an event? And now, the winners... Best Picture: Going through my Mother's papers after her death last February, I discovered a photograph that I had never seen before. In Mom :: Before she was Mom I presented that photo and several a lot of others. Is… -
I Think I Have it! Maybe...
26 Jan 2012 | 10:45 amAs I alluded to in this post, for the past week or so I've been working on a digital file naming scheme for my ancestor research. I realize that some people are advocates for letting the computer find a specific file by searching for a term with the documents or by using tags and other file properties. Using that premise, file names don't really matter. However, for me, there is another factor involved in naming files. And that is my desire to make it easier for those who come after me to know what it is they are looking at and some way for them to know what is “most” important. -
Up and Away :: Evening Version
22 Jan 2012 | 1:00 amDepending upon the weather, mass ascensions of the balloons are held in the morning and in the early evening. About five o'clock I made my way back to Rotary Park. I could see a bunch of balloons already in the sky and it was an impressive sight! Even more impressive was seeing the balloons floating just a few feet above the surface of Lake Havasu. Wouldn't it have been fun to be a passenger in either one of the boats or one of the balloons? There were reportedly six unusually shaped balloons at the festival. This cute little fish is the only one that came close enough so that I could get a…
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Little Bytes of Life
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Central Coast Genealogy Calendar: February 2012
1 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am"Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity." ~Henry Van Dyke Thursday, February 2 Monterey County Genealogical Society 6:00 PM (Doors open at 5:30 PM) Caroline Miller - "The Symbology of Cemetery Art" Saturday, February 4 San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Genealogy NOW! Growing Your Family Tree Day-long seminar featuring acclaimed author and speaker Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL Tuesday, February 7 Conejo Valley Genealogical… -
WDYTYA/Ancestry.com $10K Sweepstakes!
30 Jan 2012 | 1:23 pmAs if the return of WDYTYA wasn't big enough news, now you can enter to win $10,000 to go find your own ancestors! Who Do You Think You Are is back for a 3rd season and will premier this Friday, February 3 at 8/7c on NBC. Martin Sheen will lead off the series, and other celebrities lined up include Marissa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Helen Hunt, Jerome Bettis, Robb Lowe, and Paula Deen, among others. Be sure to tune-in and see what each of our celebrities learns about their family history! We guarantee lots of surprises too. Check out the WDYTYA site here. In conjunction with Season 3,… -
Veterans History Project Launches Multi-Year Effort to Collect Vietnam War Stories
30 Jan 2012 | 1:05 pmThe Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) has launched a multi-year campaign to preserve the stories of the nation's Vietnam War veterans. Volunteers and veterans are needed to record these important stories for the Veterans History Project collection, accessible at www.loc.gov/vets/. "In the coming years, our nation will commemorate 50 years since the conflict in Vietnam," said VHP Director Bob Patrick, referring to the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration established to honor and pay tribute to Vietnam War veterans and their families. "The personal histories of… -
Wordless Wednesday: Grandparents (Mine)
25 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am* * * "Reba and Lee Swanay." Digital image. Undated. Original photograph privately held by Elizabeth O'Neal, Santa Barbara Co., California, 2012. About Wordless Wednesday. Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal -
Daughters of the American Revolution Partners with Children of the American Revolution to Promote Education and Literacy
15 Jan 2012 | 9:02 amMolly Schutzenberger delivers a donation to United Through Reading in San Diego. On September 26, 2011, Molly Schutzenberger, Honorary State President of the California State Society Children of the American Revolution (C.S.S.C.A.R.), delivered a $5000 check to the San Diego-based non-profit organization United Through Reading (UTR). This donation is a combination of funds including a matched grant from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and a full year of fundraising by members of the C.S.S.C.A.R. “United Through Reading helps USOs, ships, and other military…
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What's Past is Prologue
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The Envelope, Please…2011 iGENE Awards!
31 Jan 2012 | 12:38 pmEach year, the (nonexistent) Academy of Genealogy and Family History (AGFH) offers genealogy bloggers the opportunity to celebrate the “best of the best” – our best blog posts for the previous year. After reviewing all of the entries, reading the critics’ reviews, and tallying up the votes, it’s time to roll out the red carpet and present the honors. Welcome to the 2011 iGENE Awards starring What’s Past is Prologue! Best Picture “Loved this! As if the first photo wasn’t cute enough…” ~ Cynthia Shenette of Heritage Zen The Best Picture award goes to Christmas:… -
The Genealogy Bucket List
27 Jan 2012 | 7:24 amGeniaus has proposed The Bucket List GeneaMeme in which we share genealogy-related things we’d like to do. The “rules” said to put the things you want to do in bold and the others in plain type, but since my list contains mostly things I want to do I’m just leaving it plain. The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is… FEEFHS (Federation of East European Family History Societies) because the topics would be relevant to my research. The genealogy speaker I would most like to hear and see is… Fred Hoffman, because he rocks and I’ve never heard him speak. The… -
Flying High
23 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amFlying high somewhere between Italy and Philadelphia, April 2006. Sometimes when things become ordinary I forget how extraordinary they are – like flying on airplanes. It is so easy to get anywhere in the world by simply buying a ticket. It’s so easy that I forget that flight is a relatively new phenomenon. It was only about a hundred years ago that commercial flight became available, and while that may seem like a very long time ago, in the grand history of the world it’s practically yesterday. My immigrant ancestors spent two weeks on a ship to get to America in the early 1900s. I… -
The Sound of Music Effect
19 Jan 2012 | 4:46 pmThe Von Trapp Family as portrayed in the 1965 film, "The Sound of Music" Does your family history suffer from The Sound of Music effect? What’s that, you ask? Well, it is not when your family has a penchant for suddenly breaking into song about their favorite things or when saying good-night is an elaborate Broadway production. The term came to me after I recently watched Sound of Music both on stage and on film and I became interested in the real Von Trapp family. The enormously popular musical film The Sound of Music premiered in 1965 and was based on the the 1959 musical… -
Donna’s Picks, Link Love, and More: New Year’s Edition
13 Jan 2012 | 4:00 amHappy New Year! Did you resolve to clean out your clutter? Donna’s Picks “Donna’s Picks” was once my occasional weekly feature of noteworthy articles – now it feels more comfortable to roundup my “picks” once a month. Here are January’s goodies including a couple of genealogy blogs that are new finds! I recently discovered a relatively new blog, Alabama Genealogy and Ramblings by Randall Dickerson (1-19-2012: Note – Randall changed his blog name! It’s now Alabama Free-Ranging Organic Genealogy at the same address). Ordinarily I wouldn’t have even looked at a…
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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
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Video: Lisa Kudrow on New 'Who Do You Think You Are' Season in the U.S.
8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pmLisa Kudrow says family histories of fellow actresses Marissa Tomei and Helen Hunt are included in season 3 of the series 'Who Do You Think You Are' she produces for NBC and shares how learning her background in season 1 affected her. You can watch the two minute nineteen second advertisement for the program at http://youtu.be/XEAkKPi07ds or click on the video below: If you enjoyed this article, Tweet it, share it on Facebook or on your preferred social network. Republishing of this article in newsletters, blogs, and elsewhere is allowed and encouraged. Details may be found at… -
Plus Edition Newsletter Has Been Sent
8 Feb 2012 | 9:01 pmTo all Plus Edition subscribers: The weekly Plus Edition weekly update notification was sent to your e-mail address on Sunday evening. If you have not yet seen it in your in-box, check your spam folder. If it is not there, please contact your e-mail provider to see why it was blocked. This week's entire Plus Edition newsletter is also available at: http://www.eogn.com/wp/thisweek.htm. Here are the articles in this week's Plus Edition newsletter: RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online RootsTech 2012 Day #1 Pictures from RootsTech 2012 Day #1 RootsTech 2012 Day… -
Largest Ever EOGN Dinner Held After RootsTech 2012
8 Feb 2012 | 8:59 amAfter most major genealogy conferences, I host a dinner for newsletter readers. This is a tradition started years ago with an informal "pick up" dinner at a local restaurant. The dinners have since grown into far bigger events, now held in hotel banquet rooms. Last Saturday evening, a few hours after RootsTech 2012 ended, the largest ever such dinner was held at the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown in Salt Lake City. 112 genealogists gathered for dinner.These events are always completely informal with no presentations or speeches, except for a few welcoming remarks by myself. -
Ways and Means Committee Social Security Subcommittee Posts Video
8 Feb 2012 | 8:06 amI have written several times about the threats to genealogists from mis-guided politicians who seem to believe that restricting access to the Social Security Death Index somehow stop identity theft. As ludicrous as that thought may be, the idea is gaining traction in Washington, D.C. One recent article at http://goo.gl/PoK7S mentions "the Subcommittee on Social Security of the House Ways & Means Committee in Washington, D.C., [that] will hold hearings that have the capacity to drastically affect the access of genealogists to the Social Security Death Index (“SSDI”) and related… -
Deceased Online adds First NW England Region to Database
8 Feb 2012 | 12:00 amThe following announcement was written by Deceased Online:First region in Northwest England on UK’s only burial records database Cheshire West and Chester Council has become the first local authority in England’s Northwest to make all its burial and cremation records available through Deceased Online, the UK’s only database website dedicated to statutory burial and cremation records.From 9th February local residents, family historians and genealogy researchers worldwide will be able to trace their ancestors via the website www.deceasedonline.com The Council manages five cemeteries as…
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The We Tree Genealogy Blog
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2012 APG PMC at Salt Lake City
9 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amWednesday, February 1, the Association of Professional Genealogists hosted their Professional Management Conference in Salt Lake City. This was a 1-day event with sessions geared toward issues of the professional genealogist. I attended this event. "Developing Advanced Research Plans While Staying on Track in a Modern World" was the single morning session led by J. Mark Lowe. He's one of my favorite speakers. I'd wait in line just to see him read the back of a cereal box because I know he will make it informative and funny. Mark discussed research concepts and methods. It was a good session… -
Who Do You Seek in the 1940 Census?
7 Feb 2012 | 9:21 amThe countdown to the 1940 census release is approaching quickly. I was talking to my dad about this and he pitched an awesome blog topic on the subject, so I'm posing the question to you: When the 1940 census becomes available in April, who will you look up first? I'll be looking for my paternal grandparents in suburban Los Angeles. My uncle will be in the census for the first time, and it marks my parents' generation being in the census. I'll have to wait for the 1950 census to find my own parents. Special thanks to my dad for asking such a good question. Comment with your own answers below,… -
RootsTech Live Sessions Available Now
7 Feb 2012 | 12:30 amRe-caps of each day of RootsTech 2012 are available now for viewing. That's three days of sessions for free! There aren't many genealogical education opportunities better than this. View them now because I don't know when they'll go away. -
Win an iPad from RootsMagic
6 Feb 2012 | 12:45 pmThe kind folks at RootsMagic gave away an iPad during RootsTech. If you weren't able to make it, or your name wasn't called in the drawing, I have good news for you: RootsMagic is giving away another iPad and you can enter to win from the comfort of your own home! For more information, check out the RootsMagic blog, and the RootsMagic Treasure Hunt. Good luck everyone. Now go out there and win that iPad! (Disclosure: this blog is one of those mentioned in the RootsMagic Treasure Hunt. There, I just did 1/15th of the work for you.) -
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) Registration Now Open
6 Feb 2012 | 7:48 amThere's a new genealogy education opportunity out there. The registration announcement came while I was away at RootsTech. The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburg will host its inaugural event July 22-27, 2012. Registration opens February 7. The faculty line-up looks pretty impressive: John T. Humphrey, CG Thomas Jones, Ph.D, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS Claire Bettag, CG, CGL Richard Sayre, CG Pam Stone Eagleson, CG Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL Deborah Lichtner Deal For further information, visit the GRIP web site. I have no…
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The Virtual Dime Museum
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The Bedford Black Sheep
16 Jan 2012 | 6:11 amThis post is essentially a précis of a few future posts about a Hicks cousin - yes, another one. His story involves a notorious Brooklyn gang, the New York vaudeville and burlesque scene in the 1910s, and some side trips to upstate New York and Omaha, Nebraska, too. Garrett Wilson was my grandmother Grace Hicks' second cousin. The picture of him here is a detail from a photograph showing Garry with Grace and her siblings and their goat cart, taken in 1896. Garry was 14 at the time; my grandmother was 7. Garrett was born in 1882, the son of Franklin P. and Hannah (Van Duyne) Wilson. He… -
Whoever Harbors Her
11 Jan 2012 | 7:20 amEast New York in 1857 [NYPL Digital Gallery] I found this story when I was looking up something about my Losee ancestors in an 1852 Jamaica Long Island Farmer, over at the fabulous Old Fulton NY Postcards. And I couldn't stop wondering about Emily and her family - and what the story was, and whatever happened to her: NOTICE: LEFT HOME on the 19th inst., my daughter Emily, 13 years old, small of her age, dark complexion, hair short and black eyes, had on a calico bonnet, green shawl, light blue frock, brown apron, blue quilted petticoat, black stockings, and heavy shoes just mended. Whoever… -
The False Mother-in-Law
5 Jan 2012 | 6:51 amDetail from 1928 photo Fulton/St. Felix [NYPL] Many thanks first of all to Apple at Apple's Tree for the heads-up about the newly indexed 1875 New York State Census over at FamilySearch. If you have any New York ancestors you'll want to have a look at this, too. I couldn't resist going straight over there and start looking up ancestors. I immediately ran into a couple of mysterious new people in the household of my gg grandparents, Daniel Losee Hicks and his wife Mary Ann Barnett Hicks. Mary Ann, also called Polly, was an intrepid young woman from the East End of London who came to America at… -
The Christmas-Tree Ride
15 Dec 2011 | 11:40 amEvery December, starting in 1887 (and continuing at least through the next decade), Durland's Riding Academy at Columbus Circle and 59th St.* in New York held a "Christmas-Tree Ride." Wealthy riders gathered inside the arena and showed off their equestrian skills in honor of the season. In 1894 the New York Times reported that Durland's was decorated with "flags and bunting of many colors, a profusion of wreaths of holly and evergreen, and Christmas trees...at the north end of the arena." There were red, blue and white lamps hung everywhere, too. Durland's, undecorated The evening typically… -
The Mysteries of Mary Lupton, Part 2: Some Notes
24 Nov 2011 | 9:34 amEast 14th St. at 3rd Ave. [NYPL] What I have for you as a follow-up to the story of Mary Lupton's amnesia is really a series of notes for a longer piece. The people in the Lupton case are both fascinating and elusive (like so many so-called ordinary Victorians). In other words, I can tell you a little bit more - what I know so far. Mary Frances Smith was born about 1866 in New York City, on East 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd, according to one of her uncles. She was the daughter of Patrick Henry and Catherine/Kate (Plunkett) Smith, according to her marriage license. You can imagine what it…
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The Genetic Genealogist
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Ancestry.com’s Autosomal DNA Product – An Update
4 Feb 2012 | 10:27 amThis morning’s Keynote at Rootstech 2012, was from Ancestry.com and was entitled “Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry.” Although I was unable to attend Rootstech in person this year, I was able to view the keynote online. During the panel discussion, we heard from Ken Chahine (LinkedIn profile), the Senior Vice President and General Manager, DNA at Ancestry.com. From his profile at Ancestry.com: Ken Chahine has served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for Ancestry DNA, LLC since 2011. Prior to joining us he held several positions,… -
Does DNA Link 1991 Killing to Colonial-Era Family?
11 Jan 2012 | 5:32 amThe genetic genealogy world is abuzz following a recent report in news outlets around the world (including CNN, Seattle PI, Daily Mail, etc) that investigators have used public genetic genealogy DNA databases for leads in a 20-year-old cold case. The Case In December 1991, 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough was tragically murdered in Federal Way, Washington. Despite an extensive investigation, no suspect has ever been named. Investigators have sketches of a man they believe might have been involved, but there is no name to put to the pictures. Investigators did find some important evidence… -
23andMe Announces 80x Exome Sequencing for $999
28 Sep 2011 | 4:51 amYesterday, at Health 2.0 in San Francisco, 23andMe announced that it will be offering sequencing of exomes with 80x coverage for $999. At Exome 80x, 23andMe discusses their test: Your exome is the 50 million DNA bases of your genome containing the information necessary to encode all your proteins. Informally, you can think of the exome as the DNA sequence of your genes. Your entire genome is made up of your exome plus other DNA, consisting of three billion bases with repetitive sequences, sequences of unknown function, and DNA that does not code for proteins. Note that the Exome 80x test is… -
NFL Players Xavier Omon and Ogemdi Nwagbuo Confirmed as Half-Brothers
2 Sep 2011 | 5:15 amDirect-to-consumer DNA testing has led to the re-joining of yet another family. Y-DNA and autosomal testing by Family Tree DNA has revealed that two NFL players , Xavier Omon (San Francisco 49ers)) and Ogemdi Nwagbuo (San Diego Chargers), are half-brothers. ESPN has a long write-up of the story at “A brothers’ tale for Omon, Nwagbuo.” Meeting for the First Time The brothers had planned to meet face-to-face yesterday, September 1, 2011, as their teams met on the field. Turns out Omon’s team, the 49ers, were victorious, meaning that if he’s anything like my… -
“My Beautiful Genome” by Lone Frank
1 Sep 2011 | 3:00 amLone Frank, a journalist and author with a Ph.D. in neurobiology, has just published her fourth book, entitled “My Beautiful Genome: Exposing Our Genetic Future, One Quirk at a Time” (available for pre-order at Amazon). A chapter of the book is available here (pdf). Frank describes her book thusly: “This book is my very personal take on personal genomics. It chronicles my meetings and interviews with leading scientists and lays out the – somtimes [sic] disquieting – discoveries I make in my own genome.” The book is described as follows at Amazon:…
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:: C R E A T I V E G E N E ::
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Carnival of Genealogy, 114th Edition
4 Feb 2012 | 3:54 amWelcome to the February 4, 2012 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. This is without a doubt the most exciting edition of the COG all year... It's the 5th Annual iGene Awards edition! Cue the spot lights, cue the orchestra, bring on the dancers! The annual awards ceremony for genealogy bloggers near and far is here again. This is the very special event where bloggers select their "best of the best" articles on their blogs from the previous year. Selections are made for the following categories: Best Picture (photo), Best Screen Play, Best Comedy, Best Biography, and Best Documentary. -
Creative Gene's 5th Annual iGene Awards
30 Jan 2012 | 10:32 amIt's iGene Awards time again! I'm lookin' back at 2011 and showcasing my best and favorite blog posts in 5 categories. I'm hoping you'll enjoy revisiting these posts from last year. They nicely represent my work, my friends, and my family. I bow to you, my faithful readers, and take the stage to present... Creative Gene's iGene Awards for 2011! Best Comedy I'm not much of a comedic writer but like anyone, funny things do happen to me. In Memories of My MC I write about one such event. It wasn't funny at the time, but it sure gives me a chuckle to remember it. It gets the iGene Award for Best… -
Bucket List GeneaMeme
29 Jan 2012 | 2:34 pmI saw this meme going around and thought it would be fun to join in. The instructions are as follows: The Bucket List GeneaMeme (courtesy of Geniaus) The list should be annotated in the following manner: Things you would like to do or find: Bold Type. Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type. You are encouraged to add extra comments after each item. The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is... the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, to meet a lot of my online genealogy friends and to soak up some of the Cali sun! The genealogy speaker I would… -
Carnival of Genealogy, 113th Edition
10 Jan 2012 | 8:02 amWelcome to the January 4th, 2012 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic for today's edition is, "A Dickens Christmas". We're all taking a look at Christmases past, present, and future. Charles Dickens was a genius story teller and his timely work, A Christmas Carol, was the inspiration for our posts included here. I know you'll enjoy reading about these little vignettes of Christmases then, now, and yet to come! So without further ado, pour yourself a glass of eggnog (if you've any left ;-) and let's take a peek at where the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future… -
New Year's Resolutions Past and Present
7 Jan 2012 | 12:24 pmI'm not always successful in achieving my New Year's resolutions but in 2011 I was. My resolution for 2011 was to "fill in the holes" in my family tree. I didn't expect to fill in every hole of course, and honestly, I filled in more than I expected to. My crowning achievement was finding Julia Laska and knowing that my cousin Ray was doing the happy dance in heaven when I did. Julia was just one of many new names, dates, places, and/or events added to my family tree in 2011. I like that kind of past-year review! :-) Now it's time to look forward. I've been giving my genealogy some…
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Genealogy News
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Locals donate photos and historical papers to Cedartown Library for Black History Month
9 Feb 2012 | 11:59 amCedartown Library Branch Manager Sharon Cleveland accepts the files from Linda Smith on Thursday. -
Online slave history database helps people find their history
9 Feb 2012 | 9:49 amIt features the names of thousands of slaves, slave holders and free blacks who once lived in Virginia. -
Voter card proves a passport to a family's tree
9 Feb 2012 | 5:44 amI took the old card and studied it. I traced the handwriting on it with the tip of my finger. -
Join the local genealogy society
9 Feb 2012 | 1:25 amDo you have an "information expert" in your family? Someone who keeps track of the weddings, the funerals, the baptisms? Someone who knows where Cousin Ned moved to after he left the farm back in 1938, or how many children your second cousin Sally had? These "family historians" are precious, and can be so valuable to assist you in beginning or ... (more) -
Journey Stories begin to wrap up with story of the - Hunley'
9 Feb 2012 | 12:25 amOn Tuesday evening, Dr. Jerry Polson spoke to an audience at Three Valley Museum about the "Hunley," a Confederate submarine, as part of the museum's Journey Stories.
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Crowe's Nest by Elizabeth Powell Crowe
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Press Release from Fold3: Special Black History Month Access
3 Feb 2012 | 6:57 amThis is a press release from Fold3: Celebrate Black History Month with Free Access to Black History Records In 1976, President Ford designated February as Black History Month to highlight the achievements of African Americans in U.S. history. He encouraged the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every [...] -
Press Release: Attend some of RootsTech Free Online!
30 Jan 2012 | 10:57 amRootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a leading family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012, announced today that fourteen of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample [...] -
WikiTree: A different sort of web site for genealogists
19 Jan 2012 | 2:09 pmI recently had a wonderful opportunity: Chris Whitten, the Creator of WikiTree.com (his page is http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Whitten-1) agreed to let me interview him about his genealogy web site. WikiTree is a genealogy site where you can upload your genealogy data and compare it to data others may have on the same people. If you have a match you can merge [...] -
Why Online Genealogy is So Cool
12 Jan 2012 | 12:36 pmOf course, things like this happened back in my mother’s day, when you did your genealogy queries and research by sending letters and reading magazines, but still: Looking for my grandmother’s genealogy, I came across Looking4Roots.com, which had Flora Beeman Powell’s family. I emailed the owner, who is my third cousin. Her name is Carol Ann. She answered, [...] -
Come hear me speak at the Navarre Library January 31!
6 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pmUsing genealogy, history and online resources, Elizabeth Crowe will paint a lively picture of Colonel Guy Wyman, the founder of Navarre, at 5:30 p.m. January 31, 2012, at the library. It’s a story of murder, mayhem, madness and many wives. There’s never a dull moment in the story of Wyman and his family. Libbi Crowe, a [...]
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California Genealogical Society and Library blog
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Three Directors at SLIG 2012
28 Jan 2012 | 9:00 amThree happy California Genealogical Society board members just finished a week of intensive learning at the 2012 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, sponsored by the Utah Genealogical Association. President Jeff Vaillant and Recording Secretary Lisa Gorrell were here with me although we rarely saw each other since we were taking different courses. Kathryn Doyle, Jeff Vaillant and Lisa Gorrell at SLIG 2012.We were able to sit together at last night's banquet and compare notes about our courses, instructors, and what we learned. Bottom line: we all need to catch up on sleep but we had a fantastic… -
San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar: February 2012 Published
25 Jan 2012 | 11:35 pmFebruary 2012 events have been published on the San Francisco Bay Area Genealogy Calendar – a collection of local genealogical society classes, workshops and meetings within a 75 mile radius of San Francisco.The February calendar has more than fifty classes and events at various venues around the Bay Area, sponsored by twenty different societies and genealogy libraries.If you would like to add your group's events to the calendar, please email the information by the 15th of each month for publication on or before the 25th. (Please put "SFBA Calendar" in the subject line.)Copyright © 2012 by… -
Using Online Historical Black Newspapers for Genealogical Research
21 Jan 2012 | 11:45 pmSaturday, February 25, 20121:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.California Genealogical Society Library2201 Broadway, Suite LL2Oakland, CA 94612Many historical black and abolitionist newspapers are available online, with more being added. Most are on subscription sites, and some are free. This class will give an overview of the role of blacknewspapers, tell what is online and where to find it. Instructor Janice Sellers will suggest access strategies and show sample search results.Register online.The class is limited to thirty participants and is a free benefit of membership. Non-members fee is $20.00… -
How To Go Home: 1000 Memories Scanning Event
16 Jan 2012 | 6:24 pmSaturday, February 11, 2012Session one: 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.Session two: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.California Genealogical Society Library2201 Broadway, Suite LL2Oakland, CA 946121000memories, creator of the popular ShoeBox iPhone app that lets you scan and share old paper photos, will host a free scanning event including two sessions of photo and document scanning and a short class on uncovering family stories hidden in your shoeboxes and closets. There is no limit on the number of photos or documents you may bring to the workshop. 1000Memories will furnish iPhones to participants to use in… -
Wordless Wednesday
11 Jan 2012 | 11:50 pmBook Repair Committee LuncheonTuesday, December 13, 2011 Bill O'Neil, Lorna Wallace, Marianne Frey, Judy Bodycote and Dick ReesPhotographs courtesy of Lorna Wallace and Dick Rees, 12/13/11, Oakland, California.Copyright © 2012 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library
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Granite in My Blood
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Hardy New Englander
9 Feb 2012 | 11:29 amIcicles or Sap on Trees?, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.Hillside Cemetery in Stow, MA Just to prove that I am a hardy New Englander, I took this photo in the Hillside Cemetery in Stow this morning to show you that winter is not over.My husband pointed this out to me and I used the telephoto setting on my camera to zoom up close to look at the trees.We are thinking (hoping) that it might be sap dripping off the ends of the branches and not icicles. (Yeah, right!)Well, I think it is still too early for real cemetery hunting but at least my photos came out great with my new… -
Photographing a Gravestone
9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 amPhotographing a Gravestone, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.Hillside Cemetery Having purchased a new camera for Christmas, I have been itching to get out and test it in the cemetery. I handed my old camera to my husband and told him to take photos of me while I was working and to not tell me about it. This is the best one. I will show you the less flattering ones as we go along. Gravestone photography is not glamorous. You should never go to the cemetery alone. I have broken this rule for taking a photo in a local graveyard but it is really not safe. The ground is New England Cemeteries… -
They were Quakers!
7 Feb 2012 | 12:02 pmThis is the first break I have had in years for one branch of my tree that were Quakers. I found a record (at Ancestry.com) of Quaker "Monthly Meeting" in Adrian, Michigan. By searching for Adrian Monthly meeting, I was presented with this Web page. I am very excited!Family name: Aylesworth or AylsworthMy friend, Russ Worthington, also has Quaker roots. He looked up his family in this blog reference. I thought you might like to see that post. -
Erected 1852
7 Feb 2012 | 8:52 amErected 1852, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.It is only fair to show the detail in the gate in the Wadsworth cemetery. I was pleased to see that the date on the monument (in the background) matches the date on the gate.This gate is in such great shape. The town must be taking good care of it. -
Wadsworth Monument
7 Feb 2012 | 8:49 amWadsworth Monument, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.Tombstone TuesdayThis is a close up of the large monument at the Wadsworth Cemetery in Sudbury, MA. I stepped inside the gate to take the photo but I was glad the names are large and easily read, just in case there is someone out there who is looking for one of these folks.
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The Chart Chick
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My three favorite moments from RootsTech
7 Feb 2012 | 1:16 pmBesides being able to have a party at our home Saturday night, here are my three favorite moments from the conference last week:My lecture "Advocating Genealogy and Growing the Market: Issues of the New Genealogist" went amazingly well. I told them that this was not particularly the lecture I knew how to give, but rather the lecture that I wanted to hear at RootsTech. I'm passionate about trying to engage new genealogists (that's why we do charts) and I really want to know why so many people are turned off to genealogy. So we discussed some of the brick walls that I see that the genealogy… -
My very own Super Bowl Party
7 Feb 2012 | 10:53 amEven though you may have already seen the posts by Banai Feldstein, Jill Ball, Amy Coffin, I have to show you my favorite pictures from RootsTech. Over the weekend I had the honor of hosting my very own Super (bowl) party with the Giants of the genealogy industry.Paula Hinkel, Kim Van Aspern-Parker, Caroline Pointer, Banai Feldstein, Randy Seaver, Linda Seaver, Leo MeyersDrew Smith, Christy Fillerup, Kimberly Powell, David Pugmire, Elissa Scalise Powell, Audrey Collins, Reed Powell, Lisa Louise CookeBanai Feldstein, Daniel Horowitz, Mark Olsen, Paula HinkleThere was this moment in the evening… -
Keeping it real
5 Feb 2012 | 8:18 amSo we've been trying to work on family history for a couple of hours each Sunday morning with the kids. Some has gone ok, some hasn'tIn the 18 hours that I was home between the Mesa conference and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy the other week, I was a basketcase trying to spend some time on this. I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out the password 13 year old boy had used when he signed up for new.familysearch. When we did finally get it, everything worked out and I got him matching up his grandmother's file with new familysearch fine. He's worked on it a little more since then. He's… -
There's only so much you can do.
4 Feb 2012 | 12:11 pmSo last weekend we were going to take the kids to the library again like we had planned to do every month. But between going to the conference in Mesa, then heading straight into SLIG, going to RootsTech this weekend, and then heading out for Who Do You Think You Are Live, the UGA Spring Conference and then the Story At Home conference, I just couldn't do it. They were all set to go but I needed some down time. Helping me set up for RootsTech is going to have to be enough this week.You win some, you lose some. 9 weeks of straight conferences with only one at home--you really can't fit more… -
Bringing the kids to RootsTech
4 Feb 2012 | 4:18 amI just had a flash of inspiration.I had asked 15-year-old boy if there were any classes at RootsTech that looked interesting to him. He wasn't that enthralled, and in the busyness of this 9 week stretch of conferences, I didn't really push him. I had brought 11 year old girl up to help set up the booth and they were meeting people after the conference but that was about it. Someday I want to take them to classes--I have to walk the walk there. But it's not like they've never seen a genealogy conference. But then I was thinking: a number of people have asked if they were going to get to meet…
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Family Research - English, Scottish and Irish Genealogy
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Bastardy Orders & Certificates in Warwickshire Quarter Session Records
9 Feb 2012 | 9:41 amBastardy records are a familiar class of record that can turn up in the parish chest. They form part of the administrative records of a parish that began with the introduction of the Elizabethan Poor Law. for more click here -
Bombed twice, buried alive, covered in hot tar and lined up in front of firing squad… and River Kwai hero lived to tell the tale
9 Feb 2012 | 8:35 amFor 70 years a British prisoner of war has kept the horrors of his River Kwai experience to himself. But now 93-years-old, Gus Anckorn of Kent has decided to share his story, recalling how he was bombed twice, buried alive and even lined up before a firing squad. for more click here -
Dictionaries and reference
8 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amAncestry.co.uk is even more than a huge repository of historical records and lively community – it’s also a library. Freely available to subscribers are dozens of reference books, which can be very useful in the course of your research. for more click here -
London records
8 Feb 2012 | 2:57 amOur amazing new London Parish Records collection gives you a unique opportunity to see records going back further than 1837 — right back to the reign of Henry VIII, which is when formal birth, marriage and death certificates were introduced. for more click here -
Irish records
8 Feb 2012 | 2:55 amFrom 1800 until 1922, Ireland was part of the UK so there are strong similarities between the records available for both countries. However, because they were one country, it means there are no official immigration records covering travel between the two islands. Another main stumbling block for those researching their Irish roots is the fact [...]
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Genealogy Canada
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Roots to Boots Festival War of 1812
9 Feb 2012 | 1:30 pmThe Bicentennial Signature Event in Amherstburg, Ontario to commemorate the War of 1812 will take place on the weekend of August 3, 2012.They say that it will be a community “totally immersed in 1812” during the festival.There will be a Genealogy Pavilion – Ontario Genealogy Society & Certificate Program on the Saturday, as well as a Grand Parade Downtown, a First Nations presentation at Kings Navy Yard Park, and a Destiny Art Exhibit, and much more!Go to www.1812amherstburg.com to find out about the summer long program.BooksI have just published two booklets -The War of 1812:… -
Ancestry Search at Library and Archives Canada Blog
7 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pmIn their blog today, they had hints for doing ancestry research in their databases by simply using the ancestor’s name. I have used this method before on my Webster line, and it has worked for me, so give it a try, and see what you can find.They also give hints under the title of "Did you know?", and some of them are -Databases can have indexing errors because of poor handwriting, poor legibility, or the fading of ink over time in the original records. If you find an error in the index, use the “Suggest a correction” feature. Some databases allow for wildcard searching, that is, you can… -
New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs Week 19
5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmHere are some of the websites and blogs that I have come across the week ending February 5, 2012.Yukon Territory Online Historical Directories http://sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/Home/can/yt Over a dozen directories, and you can search them online. They include telephone directoties, city directories, and Alaska-Yukon City and Business Directory.GenDisasters: Events That Touched Our Ancestors' Lives http://www3.gendisasters.com/taxonomy_menu/6/80 News reports about Newfoundland and Labrador disasters.Ancestral Notes: A family history blog with genealogy links, resources,… -
Rama-Mara History Website
4 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmOn February the 16th, Rama-Mara History Society of Orillia, Ontario will meet at 7 o'clock at the Rama-Mara History WebsiteOn February the 16th, Rama-Mara History Society of Orillia, Ontario will meet at 7 o'clock at the Udney Community Centre at 2347 Concession Road 10, Rama Township at which Mike Crosby will conduct a "Genealogy 101 Workshop."Recent acquisitions of the society are Fires of 1881, McKinnon Family Tree, Murphy-Heiztener Tree/genealogy site, Sebright United Cemetery, and St. John's Anglican Cemetery Atherly/Ramara Cemeteries.They have records of 26620 individuals, 8694… -
Genealogical Society Study Groups
4 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amSome genealogical groups in Canada have study groups, and Brant County Branch has two such groups -The British Isles Study Group meets at the Brant County OGS library, 114-118 Powerline Road, Brantford at 7:30pm on the 1st Tuesday of each month. There is also The Family History Study Group meets at the Brant County OGS library at 10:00am on the 3rd Thursday of each month. Bring what you have, and the groups will be glad to assist you. The groups are a great place to meet fellow researchers and to obtain valuable assistance in your pursuits of elusive ancestors.The website is…
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Genealogy Insider
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Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers FTU Course: Just $39.99
9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 amIf you're researching African-American ancestors, we've got a great deal on our Family Tree University course Finding African-American Ancestors in Newspapers: Research Strategies for Success, with instructor Tim Pinnick. Thanks to a sponsorship from GenealogyBank, registration in the four-week session starting Feb. 20 is just $39.99 (down from the regular $99.99). So if you've been thinking about taking this course, now's the time. You can learn more about the class and see the syllabus here. Past students have been surprised at the number of newspapers that have been published in the United… -
RootsTech News Wrap-up
9 Feb 2012 | 6:10 amThe RootsTech conference was the talk of the genealogy world last week. For those of you catching up on conference news, here's a listing of our RootsTech posts: Mocavo Rolls Out New Content, Features GeneTree Introduces New Test, Consultation Service 1940 Census Community Project Update Brightsolid to Launch 1st Pay-As-You-Go Census Records Site Ancestry.com to Live-Stream its RootsTech Presentations RootsTech: Sessions You Can Watch From Home Four Genealogists to Compete for Top Honors at RootsTech Keep an eye on RootsTech.org and Ancestry.com's YouTube channel for each organization's… -
Save $$ With Our Virtual Conference Early Bird Rate!
8 Feb 2012 | 6:00 amI wanted to give you a heads up that the $50 early bird registration savings for our Spring 2012 Virtual Conference is good through next Monday, Feb. 13. The Virtual Conference, taking place March 9 – 11, is packed with video classes, live chats, message board discussions, a virtual exhibit hall and more. See all the Virtual Conference details at FamilyTreeUniversity.com and use promo code FTUVCEARLY to get the early bird rate. -
RPAC Announces "Stop ID Theft NOW!" Campaign to Save SSDI
7 Feb 2012 | 7:29 amAs part of its "Stop ID Theft Now!" campaign, today the genealogy Records Preservation and Access Committee (a joint task force of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society) plans to launch a petition drive to help preserve access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Update: Click here to read and sign the petition. (Note: The page took awhile to load for me.) Click here to read FAQs about the petition and how to electronically sign it. I recommend reading them, as I encountered some hiccups in the process of creating an account and clicking to sign. -
They’re Alive! Get Genealogy Answers by Finding Living Relatives
7 Feb 2012 | 6:16 amSo I think I finally found out whatever happened to my great-grandmother's brother, who was my grandfather's baptismal sponsor. But I'm feeling tentative about the next steps: researching that family forward and then (gulp) contacting a descendant to try to find out if we really are cousins. So I'm looking forward to this week's Family Tree University webinar, "They’re Alive! Finding Living Relatives." "Living people can be found using some unlikely online tools," says presenter Thomas MacEntee. "You’ll be surprised at how much information is made public about a person and how to…
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About.com Genealogy
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Advocating Records Access - How You Can Help!
7 Feb 2012 | 3:41 amI wrote last week about the very real threat of losing all public access to the Social Security Death Master File, or SSDI. This would be a HUGE loss to anyone researching individuals in the U.S., whether you are researching ancestors, relatives, descendants of recovered military MIAs, missing heirs, etc. That's on top of the enormous threat to identity theft if this public database is no longer freely available to the many small and medium-sized businesses that use the death master file to verify an individual's identity in an effort to prevent fraud. Read Full PostAdvocating Records Access… -
Cool New FamilySearch Indexing App!
3 Feb 2012 | 10:05 amYep, FamilySearch Indexing can now follow you everywhere. And guess what? It was out for the Android market first! But FamilySearch was able to quickly get through all of the Apple hoops, and the FamilySearch Indexing app is now also available in the Apple app store for both iPhone and iPad. Read Full PostCool New FamilySearch Indexing App! originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 18:05:55.Permalink | Comment | Email this -
Call to Action - Save the SSDI
30 Jan 2012 | 7:49 pmLast month I wrote about several popular genealogy sites being pressured into removing or altering access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) through the actions of four Senators in support of a bill by Representative Sam Johnson (R - Texas) to remove all public access to the Death Master File, often referred to as the SSDI. This is an extremely valuable tool for anyone researching 20th century U.S. ancestors, and loss of access would be a huge blow for genealogists. Read Full PostCall to Action - Save the SSDI originally appeared on About.com Genealogy on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at… -
RootsTech Live from Home for Free
30 Jan 2012 | 4:59 amThe popular RootsTech conference, now in its second year, will once again broadcast a number of its popular sessions over the Internet for those unable to attend the conference in person. These 14 sessions, a large increase over last year's live broadcast sessions, are free for anyone to view over the Internet -- the only caveat is that you have to watch them as they are streamed live during the conference which is being held later this week in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012. The free online sessions include Read Full PostRootsTech Live from Home for Free originally appeared on… -
Search for Sources, Not Just Surnames
28 Jan 2012 | 11:04 pmGenealogy records and documents are easy to find online, but it is not uncommon for genealogists to overlook unknown resources in favor of sites they use on a regular basis. Even if you keep good notes and try to stay on top of new sites and databases, there are new resources coming online every day -- and not all of them are advertised to the genealogical community (every few weeks I seem to find a new U.S. county has put its deed records online). This is why your search for ancestors should always include a review of known resources and a search for new ones (i.e. explore the website for…
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AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
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Tuesday's Tip: The Confederate Pensions Databases (Again)
7 Feb 2012 | 2:00 amToday's tip is to revisit my post written four years ago, "Confederate Pensions Databases".When I originally wrote that post, only about half the former Confederate states had pension indexes available online. Slowly more have been added, and I just updated and added quite a number of links. Currently, only the state of Alabama does not have an online index or database available, but I do have information on how to contact their state archives. If you have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy and lived in former Confederate states after the war, check out these links to see if they… -
January 2012 Scanfest
29 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am<p><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=91fa729961" >January 2012 Scanfest</a></p> -
Scanfest is Coming
27 Jan 2012 | 4:56 pmI apologize for such a late reminder... The January 2012Scanfest will take place here at AnceStories this coming Sunday, January 29th, from 11 AM to 2 PM, Pacific Standard Time. What is Scanfest? It's a time when geneabloggers, family historians, and family archivists meet online here at this blog to chat while they scan their precious family document and photos. Why? Because, quite honestly, scanning is time-consuming and boring! Scanfest is a great time to "meet" other genealogists, ask questions about scanning and preservation, and get the kick in the pants we all need on… -
Tuesday's Tip: The Newberry Library's Research Guides
17 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amDid you know that the Newberry Library in Chicago has its own online research guides that can help you, sitting comfortably in your pajamas doing online genealogy? On this page, you can find research guides--most available in downloadable .pdf format--for any genealogy topic under the sun, from Adoption Research to the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. There are research guides for 27 states and the Province of Ontario, as well as major city, regional, ethnic, and overseas resources. When looking at the research guides, you won't find a how-to, but rather a list of… -
My Sixth Blogiversary
16 Jan 2012 | 12:42 pmOn January 16, 2006, I published my very first post, "Moses Crothers - possible son of John Crothers and Mary 'Polly' Wycoff?" Little would I know that with the creation of my genealogy blog, my life would literally change. At that time, there were a handful of geneabloggers (and that term hadn't really been created yet) out there: Dick Eastman, DEARMyrtle (Pat Richley), Leland Meitzler, Randy Seaver. Soon I learned about the Carnival of Genealogy and Jasia, Craig Manson, Apple, footnoteMaven, and Becky Wiseman (who's got a nice list of the "old-timers" right here!). In six years, I've…
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Holy Kaw!
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Can dessert for breakfast help you lose weight?
9 Feb 2012 | 1:39 pmNew research suggests that, in the early morning, you can have your cake and shed pounds too A new study from Tel Aviv University finds that eating a small dessert as part of a balanced breakfast can actually help you shed unwanted pounds. Staying skinny and eating chocolate? Here, a brief guide to what sounds, frankly, impossible: Full story at The Week. Photo: CC by ::paqman:: All the top stories from The Week. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Romance survey [infographic]
9 Feb 2012 | 12:02 pmVia Hotels.com. Infographics to put you in the mood. Permalink | Leave a comment » -
Do aliens go invisible by 'going green'?
9 Feb 2012 | 11:24 amAs we discover more and more planets around other stars, the Fermi Paradox is becoming, well, more paradoxical. The Fermi Paradox simply asks the question "where are they?" Our Milky Way galaxy is so big and so old -- and we are estimated to be accompanied by at least 100 billion planets -- that aliens should have visited us by now. Instead, when we peruse the heavens, we are faced with the Great Silence, which is one of the biggest challenges to modern astronomy. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink | Leave a… -
Mysterious sounds reported around the world
9 Feb 2012 | 11:23 amPeople around the world have reported hearing strange sounds from the skies over the past month. Sometimes they describe it as a hum or low rumble; other times it’s a whine, thump, or even a melody. Often the sounds have been recorded and posted online, fueling rumors and conspiracy theories. One blogger wrote, "either the world is ending, aliens are landing or everyone is getting hoaxed. Or, possibly, there’s an actual scientific explanation for the mass amount of YouTube videos capturing bizarre sounds that are being heard around the globe. Are we witnessing the beginning of a… -
Costa Concordia: an ecological time bomb
9 Feb 2012 | 11:21 amAs workers begin to extract the half-million gallons of fuel in the shipwrecked cruise liner, locals are worried that their pristine waters are in danger. Reporting by Rossella Lorenzi. Written and produced by Rossella Lorenzi and Martin Berman. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Permalink | Leave a comment »
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Genealogy Blog
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GEDitCOM II 1.7 Update Released
9 Feb 2012 | 12:15 pmFull Featured - Mac - Purchase GEDitCOM II 1.7 has been released. Changes: • Place Records - this version introduces place records. • A new "Place Advisor" window gives you access to a large data base of information on places specially designed for genealogy research. • Book Style Records - this version introduces book style records that help you automate the process of running the Generations LaTeX book. • New Application Support Folders - GEDitCOM II has always had two folders for application support files. • Family tree charts were improved to allow portraits to be either to the… -
GeneaStar: Latest Famous Genealogies
9 Feb 2012 | 10:15 amThe following genealogies have been added to GeneaStar: Steve Young, Steve Forbes, J. A. Folger, Carlton Fisk, John Wooden, Paul Kantner, Frank Wiziarde, Warren Zevon, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hugh Hefner, Mariel Hemingway, Jon Huntsman, Grover Cleveland, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, James Polk, George Gallup, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert Frost, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ralph Fiennes, Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, Chester A. Arthur, James Garfield, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Timothy Geithner,… -
Brother's Keeper 6.5.6 Update Released
9 Feb 2012 | 8:15 amFull Featured - Windows - Purchase Brother's Keeper 6.5.6 has been released. Changes: • New under File, Utilities, to do a Global sort of marriages. This is useful if you do a gedcom import and the marriages for each person are not in the correct marriage date order. • Fix error 53 from happening when you are printing reports if some temporary .dta or .dat files were 'read only' • On the File, Statistics screen, added the number of source citations. • When doing a Backup, it will create the file BKFileNotFound.txt to show the file names of text or picture or media files that were not… -
Agelong Tree 4.3 Update Released
9 Feb 2012 | 6:15 amFull Featured - Windows - Shareware Agelong Tree 4.3 has been released. Changes: • The algorithm of the tree building has been improved. • The order of the lines have been optimized, owing to which there are less intersections of lines in the tree and trees are more visual. • In tree type "Direct relatives, brothers, sisters" subtrees of brothers and sisters are shown now too. • There was added an option "Carry branches to the nearest edge". • In calendar there have been added a button "Today". • There has been added Turkish language. -
San Fernando Pioneer Memorial Cemetery in Sylmar, California, Seeks Volunteers to Confirm List of Burials
9 Feb 2012 | 4:15 amThe San Fernando Pioneer Memorial Cemetery in Sylmar seeks knowledgeable volunteer researchers to help solve the mystery of who is actually buried at the cemetery. The call for volunteers comes after a scientific study using ground-penetrating radar revealed 214 gravesites, which conflicts with an existing roster of 600-plus burials at the cemetery between 1874 and 1939. Source & Full Story
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Genealogy Reviews Online
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Who Do You Think You Are?
4 Feb 2012 | 11:34 amA colleague from work convinced me to give this show a try again. Up until today I've only watched the first episode of the first season. The show with Martin Sheen travelling to Ireland and Spain in search of his ancestors was really very good and I may be a regular from now on. -
Archivio Di Stato Di Cosenza - Revisited
27 Feb 2011 | 8:11 amThe Archivio Di Stato Di Cosenza is one of the most interesting genealogy resources I've explored. I guess I feel this way because no other site on the web has Italian records useful to me. Granted, it's only focused on a Provance in Calabria, but both of my paternal grandparents were born there. I've written about the Archivio Di Stato Di Cosenza a couple of times, but never had much success actually using it - until now. Of course I haven't found my grandparents yet (Antonio Agazio/Marietta Rota), but I'm getting closer because today I found my grandmother's father (Pasquale Rota). … -
Cause of Death
7 Nov 2010 | 10:42 amThe other day, as I was going through death certificates collected over the years, I noticed I've never paid much attention to the causes of these deaths. Of course I've always looked at the entry, but my main interest was the identification of the father and mother, birth and death location, and other people listed. I thought it would be interesting to review these causes of death and see if any patterns developed. My mother (Mary J. Zaring; 1920-1971) and father (Louie Agazio; 1921-1972) both died when I was a young teenager. My mother's stated cause of death was a sub-arachnoid brain… -
Italian Genealogy Records Online - Another Look
17 Mar 2010 | 4:53 amFor a long time I complained about the fact there were no Italian genealogy records online despite the fact Italians immigrated to the US in such massive numbers in the 20th century. Every so often I like to check out to see how the situation has improved. While I find progress, there's still a long way to go. There's been steady improvment at Ancestry.com, and while they do have some Southern Italian records, those they have still center on the North of the country. By the way, I'm interested in Southern Italian records because the vast majority of Italian immigrants came from the… -
13 Mar 2010 | 2:00 pm
13 Mar 2010 | 2:00 pmAntonio Fragale, Sarafina Aggazio (younger sister of Antonio Agazio) and Family.
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CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'
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The Bucket List GeneaMeme
8 Feb 2012 | 7:21 amGeniaus started The Bucket List GeneaMeme last month and a good number of Geneabloggers participated. Genias has a Bucket List Meme link list for many of the responses.I'm a bit late chiming in, but here goes. The genealogy conference I would most like to attend is... oh, my! oh, dear! I'll say 'Who Do You Think You Are' – it's the furthest away but the closest to many of my ancestors, although there's that Southern California Genealogy Jamboree which sounds such fun (and I do have missing Smiths from Long Beach) and, of course, there's RootTech. I just attended some great sessions at that… -
Symbolising 2012
29 Jan 2012 | 8:32 ambabygenie started an image meme this week - choose an image or icon that shows how you want 2012 to go. Who else would like to join in?Since I said my 2012 'word' is OPPORTUNITY, and I did mention lemons, here is a photo that illustrates my personal hopes and intentions for this year.Photograph taken November, 2011, in Hawai'i. Posted on Flickr by Bytemarks (Burt Lum) in the 'Lemonade Alley' photo set. More here about Bytemarks Cafe on Hawaii Public Radio. Creative Commons - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Lemonade Alley is a "business literacy competition" for students in Hawai'i. A cool idea indeed. And… -
Opposing SOPA
17 Jan 2012 | 10:57 pmI too am opposing the US bill - SOPA.This is an issue for Canadians too. For more information, see Michael Geist's posts on his blog, especially his post today, "Why Canadians should Participate in the SOPA/PIPA Protest". -
Genealogy Resolutions - 2012
17 Jan 2012 | 12:43 pmI know, January 2012 is half over and I've not even set out my New Year's Resolutions yet.As far as last year went, I did keep up with most of my resolutions, but sometimes that meant running, running, running, and sometimes my resolve just got left behind. And looking back at 2011's Resolutions, I see 2010 went a bit too fast for me too.So I'm only making a couple of resolutions this year, however, since many of the previous years' resolutions were designed to instill and enhance good genealogical habits, wherever possible, I'll continue following up with them.1. This first resolution I did… -
Happy New Year
1 Jan 2012 | 8:28 amHere are some New Year's thoughts from Agnes Deans Cameron, one of British Columbia's famous women.We are men, now, and women, in a world of work. Let us do that work as well as we can, without stopping to ask if we were once slugs or will one day be angels. And have a kind word and a smile for the next one you meet; he too is fighting a hard fight.Victoria, January 1, 1903.Published in The Province, Vancouver, Friday, 2 January, 1903, page 12.Agnes Deans Cameron (1863-1912) was an educator and a journalist - and an adventurer and an activist. Read about her in the Dictionary of Canadian…
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AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
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Tuesday's Tip: The Confederate Pensions Databases (Again)
7 Feb 2012 | 2:00 amToday's tip is to revisit my post written four years ago, "Confederate Pensions Databases".When I originally wrote that post, only about half the former Confederate states had pension indexes available online. Slowly more have been added, and I just updated and added quite a number of links. Currently, only the state of Alabama does not have an online index or database available, but I do have information on how to contact their state archives. If you have ancestors who fought for the Confederacy and lived in former Confederate states after the war, check out these links to see if they… -
January 2012 Scanfest
29 Jan 2012 | 11:00 am<p><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=91fa729961" >January 2012 Scanfest</a></p> -
Scanfest is Coming
27 Jan 2012 | 4:56 pmI apologize for such a late reminder... The January 2012Scanfest will take place here at AnceStories this coming Sunday, January 29th, from 11 AM to 2 PM, Pacific Standard Time. What is Scanfest? It's a time when geneabloggers, family historians, and family archivists meet online here at this blog to chat while they scan their precious family document and photos. Why? Because, quite honestly, scanning is time-consuming and boring! Scanfest is a great time to "meet" other genealogists, ask questions about scanning and preservation, and get the kick in the pants we all need on… -
Tuesday's Tip: The Newberry Library's Research Guides
17 Jan 2012 | 2:00 amDid you know that the Newberry Library in Chicago has its own online research guides that can help you, sitting comfortably in your pajamas doing online genealogy? On this page, you can find research guides--most available in downloadable .pdf format--for any genealogy topic under the sun, from Adoption Research to the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. There are research guides for 27 states and the Province of Ontario, as well as major city, regional, ethnic, and overseas resources. When looking at the research guides, you won't find a how-to, but rather a list of… -
My Sixth Blogiversary
16 Jan 2012 | 12:42 pmOn January 16, 2006, I published my very first post, "Moses Crothers - possible son of John Crothers and Mary 'Polly' Wycoff?" Little would I know that with the creation of my genealogy blog, my life would literally change. At that time, there were a handful of geneabloggers (and that term hadn't really been created yet) out there: Dick Eastman, DEARMyrtle (Pat Richley), Leland Meitzler, Randy Seaver. Soon I learned about the Carnival of Genealogy and Jasia, Craig Manson, Apple, footnoteMaven, and Becky Wiseman (who's got a nice list of the "old-timers" right here!). In six years, I've…
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West in New England
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THE GENEALOGIST'S TIME CAPSULE CHALLENGE
9 Feb 2012 | 10:25 amRecently a time capsule left by the residents of Abington in 1912 was opened at a meeting of the Historical Society of Old Abington. ("old" Abington included the neighboring towns of Rockland and Whitman that had broken off from Abington). You can read about the contents of the box here at Boston.com. This got me thinking:if I were going to leave a time capsule for someone to open a century from now, what would I leave in it? What things from my every day life, what family memories would I want to pass on to future relatives? What would you put in YOUR time capsule? I'm… -
THE GIPSY IN THE FAMILY
8 Feb 2012 | 11:33 pmOne of the items my Aunt Dorothy (West) Bargar gave me was the above photograph of my 2x great grandparents Amos Hastings Barker and Betsey Jane Moore and their family. She also included a list of the children and their spouses. One part in particular sparked my curiosity: “Gipsy wife of Arthur Barker”. This puzzled me at first. Did this mean Arthur Barker had married a gypsy? She’s the last person in the back row on the right, standing behind the top hat on the ground. I started paying attention to my ancestors’ siblings and their families within the past year.My… -
EDSONS AND PACKARDS AND KEITHS, OH MY!
6 Feb 2012 | 9:11 pmDeacon Samuel Edson is one of my ancestors from Plymouth County south of Boston whose descendants emigrated to what was the Maine territory of Massachusetts. My line goes like this:: Deacon Samuel Edson m.Susan (?) Susannah Edson m, James Keith Joseph Keith m Elizabeth Forbes/Fobes Jemima Keith m. James Packard Reuben Packard m Anne Perkins Cynthia Packard m. James T. Dunham/Donham James T, Dunham m Sally Houghton Florilla Dunham m, Asa Freeman Ellingwood Clara Ellingwood m. Philip J West Floyd E West Sr m. Cora Berthella Barker Floyd E West Jr m. Anne M White Me. The Keiths,… -
SPORTS & MEMORIES
5 Feb 2012 | 8:53 pmWell, the Super Bowl is over now and the Patriots’ season has come to a sad end. But I’m a New England sports fan. We’re used to disappointment. I know there are some folks who have no interest in sports and spent the day trying to avoid all the hoopla. But for many people the Super Bowl is a family occasion when friends and relatives party and watch the game together. More importantly, it’s an occasion when memories and family stories are made. There are families who’ve followed the Red Sox for over a century and others who’ve followed the Bruins for nearly as… -
PEG O' MY HEART
4 Feb 2012 | 7:20 pmMemory is a funny thing. You can go for years not thinking about something and then something will catch your eye or ear and a memory will be triggered, which might lead to others. I had one of those memory triggers happen the other day. I was doing my laundry over at the community center here in the apartment complex and while I was waiting for the dryer to finish I checked out the recreation room bulletin board and passed by the record player. Now for you young folks records were these large wax or vinyl discs that you played music with using a turntable and a needle. There was a…
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Appalachian History
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North Carolina politician gives us the word ‘debunk’
8 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmThe North Carolina historical marker skirts the issue diplomatically: there’s much more to the story of how Felix Walker ‘gave new meaning to the word’ than the sign is letting on. The verb debunk means to expose or ridicule the falseness or hollowness of a myth, idea or belief. It is made up of the prefix ‘de-’, meaning to remove, and the word ‘bunk’. On February 25, 1820, the Missouri Question, whether Missouri should be admitted to the Union as a slave or free state, was being hotly debated in Congress. Near the end of the debate and amidst calls from the… -
A system of morality veiled in allegory
7 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmNo, they’re not taking over the world, they’re not Illuminati. The Masons were and are a fraternity of men who all share similar moral beliefs (including a belief in a God) and get together regularly, often to raise money for various charities. And for many decades they were at the center of small town life–being a Mason was the entree to a town’s business and political elite–which is why their presence is widespread throughout Appalachia. Members bill the study of Freemasonry as a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. This system offers three… -
Ah, how poets sing and die!
6 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmBlack Man o’ Mine,If the world were your lover,It could not give what I give to you,Or the ocean would yield and you could discoverIts ages of treasure to hold and to view; Could it fill half the measure of my heart’s portion . . .Just for you living, just for you giving all this devotion,Black man o’ mine. Black man o’ mine,As I hush and caress you, close to my heart,All your loving is just your needing what is true;Then with your passing dark comes my darkest part,For living without your love is only rue. Black man o’ mine, if the world were your loverIt could… -
When the wind’s in the west, the sap runs best
5 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmWhen temperatures begin to rise in February and March, maple sap begins to flow from the roots of trees up the trunks to the branches and limbs. During the short period of spring when the daytime temperatures are above freezing, and the night temperatures are below freezing, the sap flows up and down the tree trunks daily. Appalachia has a long history of sugar making. The Cherokees threw hot rocks into hollowed-out logs that were filled with sap. The early colonial settlers, too, quickly learned to make the sweet stuff: even though census enumerators were inconsistent in reporting maple… -
Listen Here: Appalachian History Weekly podcast posts today
4 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pmWe post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here: We open today’s show with an excerpt from Kentuckian Mary Brewer’s The Rugged Trails of Appalachia (1958). “So many outside writers had come in and . . . and given such a terrible account of the people,” she says. “They had put ‘em down a lot in their articles that I didn’t think this was true, because the people that I met…
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WorldVitalRecords Blog
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MyHeritage RootsTech Day One Recap
2 Feb 2012 | 9:40 pmRootsTech 2012: Day one highlights MyHeritage’s experience at RootsTech has been a success, from setup to live hangouts and a very busy booth on the first day. The team began setting up Wednesday afternoon. Our booth is a real standout with double arches of balloons in the MyHeritage logo colors. Everyone knows where our booth is located as the colorful balloons fly high above the exhibit floor. Booth Setup MyHeritage Super Search Today, the opening day, our CEO/founder Gilad Japhet demonstrated the new MyHeritage Super Search technology. The new tool greatly expands search functionality… -
In praise of baby-steppers
1 Feb 2012 | 10:10 amI work at MyHeritage, so you might think I’d be a dedicated, relentless genealogist who spends many hours each month on my own family’s roots. My long-standing commitment is more than casual, and I expect to enjoy RootsTech this week as much as last year. However, my life and my chosen pursuits never seem to allow much time or energy for my own research. I know many people, even in my own neighborhood, who work much harder and accomplish far more. I still like to think there’s room for me and others like me in the vast, welcoming community of genealogists. More importantly,… -
MyHeritage at RootsTech 2012
30 Jan 2012 | 9:12 amWorldVitalRecords at Rootstech 2012 Here at WorldVitalRecords we are all very excited about the upcoming Rootstech Conference. Soon over 3,000 people will gather at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City to learn and share technology and genealogy. The MyHeritage Team at Rootstech As many of you know, 3 months ago MyHeritage acquired WorldVitalRecords and since then we are the MyHeritage team in the US. To read all the details of the announcement read here. As you can see in the image to the left there will be many from MyHeritage USA and MyHeritage attending this year. Rootstech Agenda… -
Take 10 Steps: Begin Your Gen Journey!
23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amFamily Portrait By Schelly Talalay Dardashti Are you one of those people who want to begin researching their family, but just don’t know how or where? Beginning your unique journey – every family is different – down discovery road will be easier if you understand why you want to take that first step. Some are interested in their medical histories, others want to find “lost” branches around the world or prove family stories. One person may wish to write a book; another to visit an ancestral town and make a documentary. Have you inherited family information and want to understand it,… -
Start today: Work on your to-do list
18 Jan 2012 | 10:29 amStart today: Work on your to-do list A genealogy friend recently told me that – for several weeks – he has been busily scanning a pile of family photos. Collectively, his family has more than 10,000 images to be scanned and saved. I just read an article indicating that it is not uncommon around the world for homes to burn down, and the surviving family reminisces about the lost quilts, mementos and, most importantly, family photos. In another story yesterday, Kodak continues to revamp from the inside out as rolls of film and 35mm cameras have all but disappeared, forcing the company…
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@ProBlogger
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Is Perfectionism Stalling Your Productivity?
9 Feb 2012 | 12:04 pmWe’ve all been there … You sit down to write a post. You get the opening line down, but half-way through the second sentence, you go back to tweak the first. A bit further on, you decide to chop up the paragraphs you’ve done so far and rearrange them … but on second thought, is that really the better option? In two minds, you “finish” the post, then spend a half-hour writing and rewriting the “ideal” headline. Finally, happy(ish!) your cursor hovers over the Publish button … but you just can’t press it. You decide to give it some… -
6 Powerful Guest Post Tactics that No One’s Talking About
9 Feb 2012 | 6:05 amThis guest post is by Tom Ewer of Leaving Work Behind. Guest posting is a hot topic amongst startup bloggers. It is one of the most widely-adopted blog promotion strategies in existence, and has been made perhaps even more popular by the success of “serial” guest posters such as Danny Iny of Firepole Marketing. His “blitzkrieg” strategy may come across to some as a triumph of quantity over strategy, but nothing could be further from the truth. He understands the key concepts that we will be exploring in this post, and executes them in a highly effective manner. Whilst… -
How to Succinctly Report a Blog Issue to Tech Support
8 Feb 2012 | 6:07 amThis guest post is by Matthew Setter of Malt Blue. How often do you find it happening to you? You discover an issue with your site, or one of your community members emails you to tell you about it, and soon you start to see tweets about it too. Maybe it’s as simple as an error message that detracts from the professional appearance of your site. Perhaps the contact form doesn’t send messages to your contact email address. Or is it that the whole site just displays as a blank page, otherwise known as the white page of death? You’re not a programmer, a software engineer or a seasoned… -
Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger: Part 2
7 Feb 2012 | 12:05 pmThis guest post is by Devesh of WP Kube. A few months ago, I wrote a guest post here called How to Make Your Blog Load Faster than ProBlogger. Today, I’ll go into some more detailed advice to help you speed up your site even more. If you’re a blogger, you already know about the importance of blog loading speed, and the role it plays in search engine rank and marketing your blog. But if this is new territory for you, here are three quick reasons why you need to speed up your blog: Google includes website loading speed as an important metric in their ranking algorithm. If you want… -
How I Beat my Best Month Ever by Doing Something Good, Better [Case Study]
7 Feb 2012 | 6:04 amMid-December 2010: on my photography site, we launched a new campaign—our first ever 12 Days of Christmas promotion. The result was my biggest month of earnings ever up to that point. The idea was simple: offer discounts on 12 products over the 12 days leading up to Christmas. I used a mix of my own ebooks and products from other photography sites with affiliate commissions. The result was massive. Not only did we see some great revenue generated, it created some lovely buzz on the site. Due to the success of the 2010 campaign, in mid-December 2011 we launched our second 12 Days of…
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Seth's Blog
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The Weird interview
9 Feb 2012 | 12:06 pmTo celebrate the launch of Squidoo's new UpMarket magazine, we got permission to post an audio interview I recently did with Darren Hardy of Success. You can find it here. Thanks for listening. -
Inaccurate labels and why we need them (and need to improve them)
9 Feb 2012 | 2:46 amIf I tell you, "I'm going to the baseball game," it seems as though you're likely to understand what I mean. Of course, you won't. When George Will goes to a baseball game, it's a religious experience. Me, I don't even like baseball. Or maybe it's my nephew's ball game (the playoffs), or maybe going to the game causes me to miss an important event, and on and on. We label the experience with just two words, and two words can't possibly capture the emotions and circumstance surrounding an event. The same thing is true with brands. If I tell you that a new business was funded by USV, that might… -
How do they know you're not a flake?
8 Feb 2012 | 2:43 amBefore your link gets clicked or your proposal gets read, a busy person is going to triage it to find out if it's even worth glancing at. Since everyone is now connected, the new permeability has created a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is taking defensive measures. Do I know this person? Did someone I trust send them over? Where does she work? (Ideo? the FDA? The New York Times?) Has she won an award? Is she famous? Are there typos and is the design sloppy? Are they pestering me? Do I already follow this person online? Does music play when I visit the website? Will… -
Horizontal marketing isn't a new idea
7 Feb 2012 | 2:09 amBut it is the new reality for just about every organization. Vertical marketing means the marketer (the one with money) is in charge. Vertical marketing starts at the top and involves running ads, sending out direct mail and pushing hype through the media. Your money, your plans, your control. It might not work, but generally the worst outcome is that you will be ignored and need to spend more money. Horizonal marketing, on the other hand, means creating a remarkable product and story and setting it up to spread from person to person. It's out of your control, because all the interactions are… -
Who is your customer?
6 Feb 2012 | 2:26 amRule one: You can build a business on the foundation of great customer service. Rule two: The only way to do great customer service is to treat different customers differently. The question: Who is your customer? It's not obvious. Zappos is a classic customer service company, and their customer is the person who buys the shoes. Nike, on the other hand, doesn't care very much at all about the people who buy the shoes, or even the retailers. They care about the athletes (often famous) that wear the shoes, sometimes for money. They name buildings after these athletes, court them, erect…
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Mashable!
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LinkedIn Hits 150 Million Members
9 Feb 2012 | 1:26 pmLinkedIn on Thursday announced it has 150 million members in its network, a 20 million increase over November. The figure was disclosed in a press release the company issued Thursday announcing its fourth quarter and full-year 2011 results. The company posted revenues of $167.7 million, beating the analysts’ consensus of $160 million for Q4. Earnings were $0.06 cents per share, which was on target. LinkedIn’s stock was up more than 5% in after-hours trading. The Q4 revenue figure was a 105% jump over the same period in 2010. Revenues for full-year 2011 was $522.2 million, a 115%… -
FarmVille Toys Are Coming: Zynga and Hasbro Sign Licensing Deal
9 Feb 2012 | 1:14 pmIf Angry Birds and Cut the Rope can have toys, why can’t FarmVille? Social gaming juggernaut Zynga is teaming up with toy maker Hasbro to create a “wide range of toys and gaming experiences” based on Zynga properties and brands, a release read. The first products are expected to hit the market in Fall 2012. The agreement gives Hasbro license to develop and distribute an array of products in various toy and game categories for Zynga’s various properties. The companies will also be able to co-brand merchandise, which could potentially lead to digital product tie-ins. The… -
Hipstamatic Releases Lens for New York Fashion Week
9 Feb 2012 | 1:02 pmIn conjunction with New York Fashion Week, iPhone photography app Hipstamatic has released a cool-toned lens (i.e., filter) designed to capture the aesthetic of classic American beauty. The lens was developed in partnership with fashion photographer Chiun-Kai Shih, whose work has appeared in GQ, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, among other well-recognized publications. This is the second lens Hipstamatic has developed with Shih to commemorate NYFW. Last year, the pair released a lens called “Chunky,” which gives images a highly saturated, hazy glow. A spokesperson for Hipstamatic… -
Apple Hit With 250,000 Signatures Protesting Labor Conditions in China
9 Feb 2012 | 12:46 pmFair-labor organizers delivered 250,000 signatures to Apple stores in six cities around the world on Thursday in protest of the company’s working conditions in China. Apple’s main factory, Foxconn, has faced numerous accusations of providing an inhumane work environment to Chinese workers. “It’s hard to hear tales of people jumping off buildings and using their hands until they can’t anymore,” said senior organizer of Change.org William Winters, who delivered a stack of petitions to the San Francisco Apple store on Stockton Street. The rest of the 250,000… -
Live LOLz: Cheezburger Plans Grammy Awards Memes in Real Time
9 Feb 2012 | 12:35 pmI Can Has Cheezburger plans to turn the 54th Grammy Awards into a laughing matter by giving viewers an outlet to write funny captions for red carpet and ceremony photos. The “Live LOLing” event starts Sunday at 4 p.m. PT when Cheezburger’s ROFLrazzi site, Twitter profile and Facebook page will begin publishing Grammy images with humorous captions — in lolcat meme format. People can click “Recaption This” to plop their own witty text on the photos. Participants can then share their creations on their social networks. Cheezburger editor in chief Emily Huh…
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chrisbrogan.com
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Throw Away the Maps
6 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amPeople judge us by the path they’ve seen us walk before. They can’t anticipate our future steps. We, ourselves, look to how things have been, what seems to be the lay of the land, without realizing that the maps are not the territory. Want to succeed at work? Then don’t try to do your job. Instead, work towards something larger, more meaningful, and something that blends your convictions internally with your best ability to help others externally. Want to create something new? Then throw away the old, or maybe join two disparate old things together into something new. The… -
The Next Social Networks
5 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amThe rage in social networks right now is Pinterest, partly because it’s probably the first social network that has a much higher adoption rate by females than males, and partly because it’s an interesting concept: somewhere between visual social bookmarking and scrapbooking. What also might not be immediately obvious is that it’s just “easier” to interact there. In that way, Pinterest has something in common with Instagram, which is community around photos. What I’m interested in, though, is Gentlemint, which I keep calling “Pinterest for… -
Learn From Adele – Build Your Platform
3 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amJacq and I just watched Adele Live At The Royal Albert Hall (amazon affiliate link), and though every song was just wonderfully done, I found myself fascinated by what Adele was doing in between each song. Because even though most people would be interested in hearing her belt out her amazing repertoire of hits, what I took away from the performance was Adele’s real magical ability: the ability to resonate with her audience. What Adele Could Teach You About Impact I’m writing something about this right now for my upcoming book with Julien Smith, but I had to share some of the… -
Rob Gokee is a Musical Wizard
2 Feb 2012 | 8:05 amI had such a great experience working with award winning musical composer Rob Gokee. We did some musical work together, and the process was so amazing. Rob helped me create my theme song for Shhh! The Secret Show. So anyhow, he and I sat down to do an interview, and it’s a bit long, but it’s totally worth it. We talk about what collaboration feels like at a distance, what it takes to get music like this made for your own show, and a lot more. Rob’s a hero to me, and has been part of the community for a while. I was so fortunate to have worked with him. Can’t see the… -
Build Your Platform – Start
30 Jan 2012 | 1:30 amThe following is part ONE of a series called Build Your Platform. If you find it interesting, please consider subscribing for free to get the rest of the series. This post is long. You might want to bookmark it for later. The age of social media oversaturation is upon us. People are declaring Twitter bankruptcy to go along with their email bankruptcy. They cite not wanting to start on yet another social network as their reason for not getting more involved with Google+. And just as soon as you start getting into Pinterest, you hear about Path, but wait: there’s Gentlemint, which is…
