Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

It seems like only yesterday and yet the world has changed in so many ways that we cannot even list all the changes. 20 years ago today, CERN made the technology behind the World Wide Web royalty free and accessible to all. This was because of the invention created by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. This one man has changed the world. In celebration, the first website ever has been brought back online, at its original location: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html. The all-text first Web page ever created certainly looks primitive compared to what we now see every day on the Web! If you could... Dick Eastman

For as long as there has been an Alachua County, the Clerk of Court has kept its history in the ancient records archive. And for the past 14 years, Jim Powell, also known as “The Wizard of AR (ancient records),” has been the keeper of the lore. A recent article in the Gainesville (Florida) Sun describes the great work done by Jim Powell. In 1998, Powell visited the ancient records storage area in Alachua County where he stumbled across an old records book from the 1840s while researching his family tree. Finding it difficult to read the handwriting and decaying... Dick Eastman

Almost every time I write an article about some Windows program that can be downloaded and installed on your computer, I will receive at least one email message or other report from someone saying something like, "I downloaded it but my anti-virus program says it has a virus." I also often receive similar reports from someone saying that their virus program has reported a problem with a certain web site. My response usually is, "Well, maybe..." In many cases, the claim of a virus is a so-called "false positive." That is, the anti-virus program reported a virus that isn't really... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society: Arlington, VA, 29 April 2013: The National Genealogical Society announces the release of the newest edition in its Research in the States series: Research in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County. This publication was written by native New Yorker and nationally recognized genealogist Laura Murphy DeGrazia, cg, fgbs. Laura is a trustee and former president of BCG and co-editor of the NYG&B Record. Barbara Vines Little, cg, fngs, fvgs, is a former NGS president and is the current editor of the NGS Research in the States series... Dick Eastman

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. Last week I described the easiest method to start a new blog (web log): sign up for a service that hosts blogs on their own servers. Indeed, that process is usually simple and inexpensive. However, for business reasons or for personal preferences, many people will want their blogs hosted on their own servers so that the URL displayed in the top of the web browser shows a desired domain name, not that of a blog hosting service. Another reason for installing blog software is because you... Dick Eastman

DNA is great for proving ancestry. In fact, it is probably the most reliable proof available today. However, DNA tests occasionally produce surprises. Just ask the man known as Paul Fronczak. Newly-born Paul Fronczak was abducted by a woman posing as a nurse in 1964. The abduction occurred in a maternity ward at Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital where he was born. The police launched a nationwide manhunt; FBI Agents examined 10,000 babies and interviewed 30,000 witnesses. More than a year later, a 1 year-old boy was found abandoned outside a store in Newark, New Jersey. Child welfare officers placed him... Dick Eastman

On Monday, April 22nd, a Century Chest buried in 1913 was opened at at the First Lutheran Church of Oklahoma City. Those who buried the chest asked that it not be opened until April 22, 2013. One item will interest genealogists: many people were able to put packages inside to be opened by their descendants in 2013. More info can be found on the Oklahoma Historical Society's web site at http://www.okhistory.org/centurychest/. The web site also includes a lengthy video of this week's opening. My thanks to newsletter reader Vicki Prough for telling me about the event. Dick Eastman

GENDEX was a genealogy search engine that indexed thousands of online databases of genealogical information. Sadly, the site went offline years ago. (See my earlier article at http://goo.gl/0AMSl.) However, there is good news: GENDEX is being re-launched by a new owner and the sightly different name of GenDexNetwork. The following was written by GenDexNetwork: GenDex Network is a completely free genealogical index (GenDex) which indexes family trees on the internet. The first GenDex was operated by Gene W. Stark from 1994 until 2004. It was begun when computer indexing for genealogical information was in its infancy. Since its inception on... Dick Eastman

The following was written by the U.S. offices of FindMyPast: We’ve just added Massachusetts vital records to 1850 on findmypast.com! Since its settlement in 1620, many areas of Massachusetts have carefully recorded births, marriages, and deaths in their respective towns. This collection, compiled by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, offers more than 2 million records of births, deaths, and marriages from the 1600s to 1850. Originally printed in books for each town, these events were compiled from primary source records, cemetery inscriptions, church records, and other private records over the course of many years. Images from the collection offer... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists: The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG®) has appointed Christy Fillerup of Salt Lake City, Utah, as managing editor of its quarterly publication, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly (APGQ). APGQ has served the genealogy community since 1979 with staff-written and contributed articles covering all aspects of the profession. Christy Fillerup serves as director of the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. She is a member of the board of directors for the Utah Genealogical Association, and is a past editor of its Crossroads magazine. In 2007 she founded the Transitional Genealogists... Dick Eastman

Handheld computing power keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. Now Hewlett-Packard has introduced what may be the cheapest full-featured handheld device on the market: the HP Slate 7 Tablet. It will sell for $169.99. That is the manufacturer's suggested retail price, not a closeout special and not a discount. Best of all, it runs the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system. It should be capable of running all of today's Android programs, including genealogy programs. (Click on the picture to see a larger image.) The Slate 7 Tablet will play videos for 5 hours and should last even longer when running... Dick Eastman

The following review was written by Bobbi King: The Quack’s Daughter by Greta Nettleton Published by the author at www.gretanettleton.com. 2012. 328 pages. Nonfiction is the homely kid sister to fiction’s senior prom queen. Regarded as intelligent but dreary, nonfiction books have had an uphill road to notice and acclaim over the more audacious and best selling fictional genres. And then there’s self-publishing. Vanity books, as they were called in the old days, were ordered in quantity by the author, at great expense, the books hopefully sold at the family reunion, and finally may have ended up being stored in... Dick Eastman

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo and Bing are great inventions for genealogists. We can go to a search engine and enter a name of an ancestor or other relative. The search engine will then provide us with a “hit” list—a list of web pages that contain that name. If the name is an uncommon one, we often can find the information we seek within seconds. The more common names may be a bit more difficult as the search engines return too many "hits"... Dick Eastman

Set your VCR or video disk recorder! The new "Family Tree" television show will appear on HBO with the first episode to be aired on May 12th. Seven more episodes will follow. Here is a trailer about the show: Family Tree - Trailer Here is the press release: NEW HBO COMEDY SERIES “FAMILY TREE,” CREATED BY CHRISTOPHER GUEST & JIM PIDDOCK, STARRING CHRIS O’DOWD, DEBUTS MAY 12 Down on his luck in love and life, having recently lost his job and girlfriend, 30-year-old Tom Chadwick has an unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box,... Dick Eastman

A man claiming to be Al Capone's grandson claims the new ReelzChannel reality show "The Capones" is based on a fictitious family tree. The show's star, Dominic Capone, claims his great-great grandfather was Al Capone's uncle. However, another man, Chris K. Capone, claims that HE is Al Capone's grandson and further claims that Dominic Capone is not in the gangster's family. If his claim is true, the future of the entire television show is in doubt. You can read more at http://goo.gl/qw6Na. I think it is time for a DNA test. Dick Eastman

A number of comments posted to the end of recent articles in this newsletter have mentioned the recent redesign of FamilySearch.org. While many things have been improved, several of the commonly-used functions are now harder to find. Writing in the FamilySearch Blog, Steve Anderson notes that the web designers at FamilySearch apparently have been listening and reading. As a result, the FamilySearch Wiki is now easier to find with very few keystrokes. Details may be found in Steve's article in the FamilySearch Blog at https://familysearch.org/blog/en/finding-wiki-easier/. Dick Eastman

The following was written by the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant Committee: April 22, 2013 PASADENA, California – The Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant Committee is pleased to announce that Michael Savoca, a college junior from Toms River, New Jersey will receive a $500 grant from the Freeman Memorial Grant program and full registration to the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank, California from SCGS. Michael Savoca will attend the SCGS Jamboree June 7-9, 2013 and use the grant funds toward genealogy research and education. This is the third year that the Freeman Student Genealogy Grant Program... Dick Eastman

I have found the growth of Geni.com to be fascinating to watch. The service started several years ago as a user-friendly method of allowing distant relatives to find each other online. Over the years, the service has matured into a genealogy powerhouse that offers many features. Today, Geni.com announced another step forward: the addition of Record Matching and Smart Matching. You will find it is now easier than ever to find both ancestors and distant cousins on Geni.com, thanks to the ability to suggest matching records and family connections, based on the many records available in the MyHeritage.com database. I... Dick Eastman

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch: April 23, 2013 FamilySearch has added more than half a million images this week from Australia, England, Italy, Philippines, Spain, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 92,436 images from the new U.S., Ohio, Southern District Naturalization Index, 1852-1991, collection, and the 73,580 images from the new Australia, Tasmania, Civil Registration, 1803-1933, 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... Dick Eastman