Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

At the Google I/O conference in San Francisco today, Senior Vice President Vic Gundotra introduced new photo enhancement features to Google+. "Google's data center is your darkroom," said Gundotra. Later, Vic Gundotra posted the following on his blog: Great pictures aren’t taken, they’re made. And it’s the making part that many of us don’t have time for. We'd all love to have photos that capture our vacations and birthdays and anniversaries the way we remember them. But wonderful images require lots (and lots) of work. We think everyone should be able to make beautiful photos, so today we’re launching a... Dick Eastman

Quoting an article by Fred Moss on the Records Preservation and Access Committee blog at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/2013/05/14/oregon-update-house-senate-action-on-hb2093/: I don’t know how many of you listened in to the hearing or accessed the audio only archives—but we won! The hearing was only on the amended version I sent out earlier today —4 and is attached again which keeps the birth records at 100 years, and death, marriage, divorce, annulment and partnership at 50 years. See Section SECTION 33. ORS 432.121 (7a) (page 73) It also removes the restriction on cause of death that is in the existing statute. See Section SECTION 33.... Dick Eastman

Well, so much for history! A 2300-year old Mayan temple in the Nohmul complex in northern Belize was essentially destroyed by a construction crew in order to provide gravel for a nearby road construction. The head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology says the destruction was detected late last week, and only a small portion of the center of the pyramid mound was left standing. (Click on the image to the right to view a larger picture.) Other archaeologists also expressed shock, as Nohmul (the "great mound") was a major Mayan religious center in its day. While the pyramid was... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch: May 14, 2013 FamilySearch has added more than 1.5 million index records and images this week from Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Italy, Peru, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 217,016 index records from the U.S., Idaho, Eastport, Arrival Manifests, 1924-1956, collection, the 151,020 index records and images from the United States, Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files collection, and the 163,314 images from the South Africa, Orange Free State, Estate Files, 1951-2006, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse... Dick Eastman

A newsletter reader wrote and asked, "I would like to get my DNA done on my Mothers side. Can you tell me who would be the best one to do it?" In fact, there is a long list of DNA companies in the business of helping customers find their ancestry. I cannot think of any one that I would call "the best." However, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, or ISOGG, does maintain a long list of companies in the business and even lists the specialties of each company. You can find that list at http://www.isogg.org/wiki/List_of_DNA_testing_companies. Several companies specialize in... Dick Eastman

The following is an update to a Plus Edition article I published about a year ago. Some of the information has changed since the original article was published. I have updated the article and am re-publishing it today. The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. One of my favorite computer tools is Evernote. I've been using it for more than four years now and love it. Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along before Evernote. While Evernote has many uses, I use it primarily as a digital filing system. In fact, I... Dick Eastman

I sat through a demo of this new software last week at the NGS 2013 annual conference in Las Vegas. I was amazed by the capabilities. I hope to spend some time "hands on" with Record Detective™ in the next few days and will then write about my experiences. Based on what I saw at the demo, I have high expectations. In the meantime, here is today's official announcement from MyHeritage: MyHeritage launches Record Detective™ to accelerate family history discoveries Global family history network makes technology breakthrough that turns dead-ends into new leads PROVO, Utah, and Tel Aviv, Israel, May... Dick Eastman

Google announced today that it will unify the storage between the Gmail and the Google Drive online storage service. Now, instead of having 10GB free storage in Gmail and another 5GB in Drive, users will have 15GB total to use. The free storage can be used as you like between Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. In the event you need more storage, Google is offering plans at $4.99/month for 100 GB, and $9.99/month for 200GB. You can read more in Google's Gmail Blog at http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/bringing-it-all-together-15-gb-now.html. Dick Eastman

Michael Merrigan, MA, FGSI, the General Secretary of the Genealogical Society Of Ireland, has sent a message to many noting that the Statistics (1926 Census) Bill, 2013 was published on the Oireachtas website. It is described as: Bill entitled an Act to amend the Statistics Act 1993, in relation to the first census of population of Ireland taken since the establishment of the State; to afford that census a special heritage status and to have such released to the public for genealogical, historical and other research The proposed bill is available as a PDF file at http://goo.gl/LAJgd. Anyone with an... Dick Eastman

I did not get to watch last night's premier of "Family Tree" on HBO. I rarely watch television so I do not subscribe to HBO. The program is not supposed to be a genealogy program. Instead, it is a comedy or sometimes might be called a "mockumentary." However, several reviews of last night's program have since been posted online. Most of them state the program was not very funny. You can find several reviews if you start at http://goo.gl/OWVpt. If you were able to watch last night's episode, please write a comment at the end of this article describing your... Dick Eastman

Several recent comments posted by newsletter readers have mentioned methods of saving partial or complete web pages to your computer so that you may preserve them and also easily find them in the future. The obvious use for genealogists is to save information found on the web about an ancestor or other member of your family tree for future reference. A couple of these methods sounded rather complex to me so I thought I would write about the method I use to to save web pages. It is simple, smart and efficient. It also makes the saved web pages available... Dick Eastman

As mentioned in earlier articles in this newsletter (as mentioned last year at http://goo.gl/HxGeV and more recently at http://goo.gl/kDWZA), a new television program called Family Tree will appear on HBO this Sunday evening. However, one word of warning: this will not be a genealogy program! Despite the name, this is a mockumentary comedy, not a "how to research your family tree" program. The comedy series follows Tom Chadwick (Chris O’Dowd in charming loser mode) as he tries to learn more about his ancestors. His family tree is described as "a world full of weirdos." Tom learns that a great aunt... Dick Eastman

Crista Cowan gives a quick look in a YouTube video at the new features and tools available to help make your family history easier and more fun. You can view the video at http://youtu.be/lY0FBu-R1-U or by clicking on the icon in the middle of the picture below: Dick Eastman

The iPad tablet is a great device but, by itself, is poor at saving web pages for later viewing or printing. Michele Berner has created a YouTube video that shows a better way to save those web pages. However, her method only works with the Chrome web browser (available free of charge at the iPad App Store). Once saved as a PDF file locally or on a cloud-based storage service (Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or a similar service), you also can print that file, display it later on your screen, save it in Evernote, or send it to someone via... Dick Eastman

Glenn Jones, Putnam County Archivist, recently received a grant from the State of Tennessee to digitize the Patton Papers to make them accessible to anyone anywhere. “The amount of records she collected is amazing,” Jones said. “Maurine Patton worked on these for years and she wanted them preserved.” Those records — totaling thousands of pages — are documentation of numerous families from all over the region in a chart organization. When the digitization process is complete, the files will be available in a format anyone can view anywhere, thanks to the World Wide Web. They will be put online at... Dick Eastman

FamilySearch.org and the Maryland Archives have begun a joint venture to digitize Will and Probate Records held at the Maryland Archives. This important project will ensure the preservation of these vital records and make them more readily accessible to the public. Records from Baltimore County, Carroll County and Caroline County will will be prepared by local volunteers and digitally imaged by FamilySearch.org. These documents date from the mid-1800's to the mid-1900's. FamilySearch is currently seeking volunteers to assist with this work. If you have an interest and can contribute a 4 hour shift on a day of your choice, look... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch: Presentation proposals for RootsTech 2014 will be accepted June 17-July 8, 2013, online at rootstech.org/proposals. RootsTech is a family history and technology conference "where families connect." The fourth annual conference, hosted by FamilySearch, will be held February 6-8, 2014, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. RootsTech brings together the best in family history tools and technology to help attendees discover and share their family's connections and stories. RootsTech 2014 will reach thousands of attendees both on-site in Salt Lake City and at remote locations around the world. Presentations... Dick Eastman

A new genealogy television show in the U.S. has been rumored for some time (see http://goo.gl/OWVzi for my earlier article), but now the producers have issued an official press release giving many of the details. The following was written by Big Mountain Productions and Krasnow Productions: ARLINGTON, VA; MAY 9, 2013 – PBS announced today that it will add the new series GENEALOGY ROADSHOW to its fall lineup. Part detective story, part emotional journey, GENEALOGY ROADSHOW will combine history and science to uncover the fascinating stories of diverse Americans. Each individual’s past will link to a larger COMMUNITY history, revealing... Dick Eastman

The following review was written by Bobbi King: “At a Glance”guides. Four-page laminated 8 ½ x 11 publications. Published by Genealogical.com. “Irish Genealogy Research” by Brian Mitchell “Scottish Genealogy Research” by David Dobson “German Genealogy Research” by Ernest Thode “African American Genealogy Research” by Michael Hait “Ellis Island Research” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack “Revolutionary War Genealogy Research” by Craig R. Scott “Michigan Genealogy Research” by Carol McGinnis “Immigration Research” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack “English Genealogy Research” by Paul Milner “Italian Genealogy Research” by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack “French Genealogy Research” by Claire Bettag “Virginia Genealogy Research” by Carol McGinnis “American Cemetery... Dick Eastman

In January, Nathan W. Murphy, Senior Research Consultant, of the LDS Church's Genealogical Department, wrote an article in the FamilySearch blog at http://goo.gl/twYxq to clarify the misconceptions that many novice genealogists believe to be true. Murphy write, "...it is not even possible to verify historically a connected European pedigree earlier than the time of the Merovingian Kings (c. a.d. 450–a.d. 752)." In the blog posting, Murphy also refers to a longer article written by Robert C. Gunderson, Senior Royalty Research Specialist, of the Church Genealogical Department, about the same subject in the LDS Gospel Library Magazines at http://goo.gl/Ulp0N (scroll down... Dick Eastman