Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

I don't know if this qualifies as genealogy or not, but it certainly is a part of my family heritage. As a child, I grew up eating lots of whoopie pies. I know whenever my mother made them, I would shout "Whoopie!" In fact, I think whoopie pies made me the man I am today: a diabetic. For those who do not know what a whoopie pie is, Wikipedia describes it as a "baked good that may be considered either a cookie, pie, or cake. It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of chocolate cake, or sometimes pumpkin or... Dick Eastman

Another casting call for a television program has appeared in my in box. This one is looking for history buffs in the greater Washington, DC area. Quoting from the announcement: Casting Call – History Based Reality Cable TV Show in DC Are you a curious person, and obsessed with history? Can you recite facts inside and out, and name-drop (and even date-drop) with the best of them? Do your friends at trivia night, dare we say it, label you as the history buff? Maybe you're not a full-blown "buff" but if you like history and get psyched at the idea... Dick Eastman

The television documentary series “Genealogy Roadshow” will be in Austin, Nashville, San Francisco, and Detroit reuniting families with long lost relatives, and answering questions about their past, their history, and their lineage. The program's producer are looking for local citizens in those cities to appear on the program. Do you have a Family mystery you would like solved? Is there a missing piece or person in your family tree you’ve always wondered about? This might be your chance! You can read more at http://goo.gl/P9AYN. Dick Eastman

Allan Steel has been commended by the Otago Daily Times for his work in documenting and photographing graves and plaques of servicemen and women in Otago cemeteries to help family historians fill gaps. Steel said the more information available for genealogists the easier it was to create a family tree. "I know what it's like when you are trying to find a headstone for someone in a town that you can't get to. If someone in Auckland wants to get a photo of a plaque of his grandfather in Andersons Bay, then I'm making it available." He has photographed 5800... Dick Eastman

Google will now allow users to decide what happens to their data after they die or become inactive online. The feature applies to Google's Gmail service, social network Google Plus, Blogger, YouTube, photo-sharing service Picasa, and other services provided by Google. Google said users can opt to have their data deleted after three, six, nine or 12 months of inactivity. Alternatively, certain contacts can be sent data from some or all of their services. "We hope that this new feature will enable you to plan your digital afterlife - in a way that protects your privacy and security - and... Dick Eastman

The 2013 New England Regional Genealogical Conference will be held April 17 through 21 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Hey! That's next week! I plan on being at the conference and hope that can also be there. If you plan to attend, you will want to read the latest Conference E-zine #9 at http://www.nergc.org/E-zine_9_2013.pdf. It provides last minute updates on the conference. Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by Origins.net: Search the Index FREE, then purchase and view original documents online. Over 130,000 probate records held at Cheshire Record Office have been digitised, and these images can be purchased with Pay per View credits and viewed directly from the index records. A portion of the probate records held at Lancashire Record Office have been digitised and can also be purchased with Pay per View credits and viewed directly from the index records. Simply Register or Login to search the Indexes and uncover some of your family’s hidden gems. Wills can provide an extraordinary... Dick Eastman

The following book review was written by Bobbi King: Cherokee Citizenship Commission Dockets Vol. II 1880-1884 and 1887-1889 by Jeff Bowen Printed for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore. 2010. This is an edition of a previously published book of transcribed dockets of cases brought before the Cherokee Citizenship Commission from 1880-1889. This edition has been reformatted, contains a shorter introduction, and has a new index. The index contains over 2500 names. There are over 540 docket cases transcribed, but not all in this volume. This volume includes docket #287 through docket #718. The author states the transcriptions appear... Dick Eastman

Yesterday's newsletter contained an announcement at http://goo.gl/J6yZk giving a summation of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's 2014 budget. The 2014 Budget Congressional Justification is now online at http://www.archives.gov/about/plans-reports/performance-budget/2014-performance-budget.pdf. Dick Eastman

Leverich Cemetery in Queens, New York City, is an abandoned cemetery with no visible headstones left. The cemetery is in disarray, with trash strewn everywhere. Unfortunately, no one seems to know who owns the overgrown burial ground. City Councilman Daniel Dromm said he plans to organize a community cleanup of the Leverich Cemetery this spring. “We have to take matters into our own hands and just clean this area up,” Dromm said, noting that a washing machine, half a motorcycle and feral cats now inhabit the land. “It’s become a dumping ground and nobody wants to take responsibility for it.”... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: Washington, DC - Today, President Barack Obama sent to Congress his Fiscal Year 2014 budget request for the Federal Government, which includes $385.8 million for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The requested amount for NARA is a slight decrease from the FY 2012 funding level of $391.5 million. NARA's FY 2013 budget is approximately $371 million, including sequestration cuts. "Our budget is a responsible plan that supports critical agency priorities while continuing to reduce our overall spending levels. NARA's budget request reflects difficult decisions that... Dick Eastman

The bureaucrats won't give up! Pressure is mounting to lock up access to the Master Death File (often referred to as the DMF), this time from the White House. This is despite the fact that the SSDI helps PREVENT identity theft! I do notice, however, that the new document from the White House does admit, "Although some DMF users need immediate access to the DMF for fraud prevention purposes..." (See my earlier article about the SSDI and identity theft at http://goo.gl/IpGr1.) You can read about the latest threat and watch a video on NBC News at http://goo.gl/3yu7I. The actual document... Dick Eastman

Grant Aylesworth has begun a project, in partnership with the archaeological services unit of the Government of New Brunswick, reading “illegible” tombstones from the 1700s using 3D software technology. Aylesworth, an anthropology professor at Mount Allison University, and the team that he heads has been able to read previously illegible inscriptions on 250-year-old tombstones using 3D software models derived from photos taken with a regular digital camera. “This new technology is enabling us to digitally preserve the old tombstones, important for many researchers, most notably historians and genealogists. More importantly, this has allowed us to bring back the name of... Dick Eastman

I know life was tough in "the good ol' days," but an article by Sara C Nelson shows just how tough it was. Would you want to have an occupation of toad doctor? Even worse, how about being leech bait? Those occupations were found on family history website Genes Reunited. You can read about these and more at http://goo.gl/VYK75. Dick Eastman

Every spring during the Qingming Festival, people in China honor their ancestors by cleaning and repairing their tombstones. Offerings are also made to the dead, typically consisting of food and drink, but because Chinese culture dictates that deceased relatives will need money and other material goods in the after life, many will also burn fake money or paper replicas of homes and cars as offerings. During this year’s Qingming Festival, fake Apple products made out of paper and cardboard were one of the biggest hits. One man, who makes cardboard replicas of luxury products like cars and houses, added Apple... Dick Eastman

I broke my eyeglasses this morning. While loading a toolbox into the back of the car, my eyeglasses slipped off my face and landed on the concrete driveway. One lens shattered. Luckily, I also have prescription sunglasses that happened to be in the front seat console of the auto. I put the sunglasses on and had full vision, but I wouldn't want to wear sunglasses around the house, especially at night. I should also mention that I am in Florida, but I purchased the glasses a bit more than a year ago from a big-name optical franchise in Massachusetts. I... Dick Eastman

FamilySearch recently opened full access to everyone in the new Family Tree. (See my earlier article at http://goo.gl/Yy2OA.) Family Tree is a free, single, large database available at www.FamilySearch.org that everyone can see and can also enter new data or can correct previously-entered data that contains errors. You can see family tree information entered by others, even those who might be your distant cousins. You can also enter information about your family tree manually, using a web browser. However, the FamilySearch programmers also created an API (application programming interface) so that other programs could communicate directly with the FamilySearch Family... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by the folks at Findmypast.com.au: Thousands of new military records added to mark Anzac Day 9 April 2013 – With Anzac Day fast approaching, Australians and New Zealanders are preparing to reflect on the heroic efforts of their ancestors. To commemorate this important event, leading family history site, findmypast.com.au, has just launched its inaugural Findmypast Anzac Memory Bank and has also added thousands of new military records to its collection. Plus, to commemorate Anzac Day the entire military collection (including the newly released records below) will be available free of charge in the week leading... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch: FamilySearch has added 2.1 million indexed records and images this week from BillionGraves, Canada, Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 815,732 index record and images from the BillionGraves Index collection, and the 753,021 images from the U.S., Washington, County Records, 1856-2009, collection. See the table below for the full list of updates. Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org. Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from... Dick Eastman

I have written several times about the handheld Magic Wand scanner made by VuPoint. (Past articles may be found by starting at http://goo.gl/GB9Co.) The articles I have written have described the original scanner that stores data on a microSD memory card. After making the scans, you can copy the images to your computer by either connecting a USB cable from the scanner to the computer or by removing the memory card and inserting it into your Windows, Macintosh, Linux, or Chromebook computer (a microSD adapter may be required if your computer does not already have a microSD socket). You can... Dick Eastman