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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
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Personal Ancestral File 4.0 for Windows |
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| July 06, 1999 |
- Personal Ancestral File 4.0 for Windows As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the LDS Church has released version 4.0 of its popular Personal Ancestral File genealogy program. The big news is twofold: it is now a Windows program and it is free! Like a few thousand other people around the world, I downloaded Personal Ancestral File 4.0 for Windows last Monday morning shortly after it became available. At three and a half megabytes, it is a rather large download. I then double-clicked on SETUP.EXE and a couple of minutes later the program was operating on my PC. I installed it on a Windows NT system, but it also works on Windows 95 or Windows 98. Since it is a true 32-bit program, however, Personal Ancestral File 4.0 (usually referred to as PAF) will not operate on the older Windows 3.1 operating system. As I started to use the program, I said to myself, "This thing looks very familiar. It looks just like Ancestral Quest." In case you are not familiar with Ancestral Quest, it is a Windows genealogy program that originally used the Personal Ancestral File 2.x database structure. Many users of Ancestral Quest have referred to it as "PAF for Windows." The company that created Ancestral Quest, however, has been very careful to avoid that slogan in their advertising. The more I used PAF 4.0, the more convinced I was that it was really Ancestral Quest. I looked at the copyright statement and it said, "copyright 1999 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." Intellectual Reserve, Inc. is a company that is wholly owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and holds the copyrights for the church’s intellectual properties. The copyright statement didn’t offer any clue at all. Obviously the slogan has become reality: Ancestral Quest has truly become "PAF for Windows." I must admit that I was not surprised by the similarity of the two programs. Rumors have been floating around for weeks that the new PAF 4.0 was created by a company outside the LDS Church. In the last few weeks the rumors were a bit more specific, stating that PAF 4.0 really was Ancestral Quest. Ancestral Quest was originally created by a company called Incline Software. The Hope Foundation, a nonprofit foundation, acquired Incline Software last year. The Hope Foundation has been marketing Ancestral Quest as a fundraising effort to support its other goals. Only a few hours after the release of Personal Ancestral File 4.0 for Windows, Bob Hyte of the Hope Foundation posted a statement on several newsgroups. Here some excerpts from his statement: The secret is out. The LDS church has just released the new PAF 4.0. We at the Hope Foundation are very familiar with PAF 4.0 because it is actually Ancestral Quest 3.0. We only mention this because we have been flooded with calls from our faithful user group asking why the two products are so familiar. After careful consideration we decided to help the world wide genealogy cause by donating a customized version of AQ to the LDS Church. We have been working in concert with the LDS Family History Department since March to customize AQ 3.0 for a summer PAF 4.0 release. We will post a comparison of the two products in the very near future. However, we would like to mention that the major difference is that the PAF 4.0 product has been frozen. You will see an occasional "bug fix" download every so often, but you will not see any major function or design changes. As you know we have posted several new design/function changes almost weekly and we will continue to do so. Our Ancestral Quest product will actually be a "GOLD" version of PAF 4.0. We have several new and innovative features coming in the very near future. We will also inform you of these new features soon. We are only informing members of this on-line community at this time. I used PAF 4.0/Ancestral Quest 3.0 for a while and can report that it is a nice genealogy program. It does all the basics, using the Windows interface nicely. Anyone used to other Windows programs will find the new program much easier to use than the older MS-DOS versions of PAF. To be sure, it is a totally different program. Therefore, some learning and adjustments will be necessary, and a dedicated longtime PAF user may feel a bit uncomfortable in the first 2 or 3 hours. However, those feelings of discomfort will soon pass. Any newcomer not familiar with either version will have no problem with PAF version 4.0. PAF 4.0 is very easy to use. The programmers obviously spent a lot of time designing this user interface; I found everything to be very logical. I imported a 4,000-person GEDCOM file created with a competitive genealogy program and then added a few more people manually. I didn’t find any need to look at the online Help file. Of course, there is no printed manual in this downloaded version. It is difficult to compare the new PAF 4.0 for Windows with the older PAF 3.0 for MS-DOS. Obviously the user interfaces are different. Remember that different programmers in different organizations with different goals wrote the two programs. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of differences. However, the following seemed most obvious to me: Personal Ancestral File 4.0 allows you to define your own events on individual records. For example, you can add confirmations, bar mitzvahs, engagements, emigration dates, marriage banns, censuses, and so forth. You can select from a predefined list of events or add new ones to the list. You can now add digitized pictures, video clips, and sound files to individual records and source citations. You can include the pictures on reports and create interactive scrapbooks and slide shows. The source feature allows you to keep track of your information sources for each event as well as individual information. You can record details about the author, publisher, book, page, and place where you found the information. The previous PAF 3.0 had a sources database, but the new version adds more fields to the database. You can add scanned images of the sources you use. You can now directly create HTML files for use in publishing your genealogy on the World Wide Web. Personal Ancestral File 4.0 allows you to choose the people and information you would like to include and then creates the web pages for you. PAF 4.0/Ancestral Quest 3.0 will create printed wall charts. These charts are nice although a bit plain looking. PAF 3.0 could produce wall charts but relied upon a separate program called PAF Companion to produce high-quality charts that are very attractive. The announcement for PAF 4.0 did not mention PAF Companion, and I suspect that it is being dropped. The quality of the wall charts in PAF 4.0 is not as good as those in PAF Companion used with PAF 3.0. All in all, for a free genealogy program, this one is impressive. Personal Ancestral File version 4.0 for Windows is essentially the same as Ancestral Quest version 3.0, which has a retail price of $39.95. One certainly cannot criticize a free program very much! Especially one that is easy to use and does the basics one expects in modern genealogy software. Nonetheless, Personal Ancestral File version 4.0 for Windows still is a rather basic genealogy program and does not have nearly the features of its more powerful and more expensive competitors. Here is a short list of things that I found are "missing" in this free software: I feel that one of its biggest shortcomings is the inability to add conflicting dates and places. For instance, I have a great-great-grandfather whose date and place of birth are in question. In the 1840 U.S. census he said he was born in New Hampshire. In the 1860 U.S. census he said he was born in Maine. An old genealogy book I found says that he was born in Massachusetts. Likewise, his marriage certificate specifies one date of birth, the census records list a different year, and his tombstone lists still a third date! Which date and location do I enter into my genealogy program? Most genealogists encounter similar issues in their research. Personal Ancestral File 4.0/Ancestral Quest 3.0 only allows one date and one place in its database. I tried to enter second and third dates and places of birth but could not find any method to do that. The same is true for dates and places of birth and marriage and other important events. Sure, I can enter the conflicting data in text notes, but that is a Band-Aid approach. Almost all the more powerful genealogy programs have capabilities to entering conflicting data directly into the database and to have that data appear on reports (usually in a user-selectable format). PAF 4.0 is a program where you can store your conclusions after you have done all the work. You are forced to make guesses as to which "fact" is the correct one. This is a major limitation. PAF cannot compete with the more powerful programs as a research tool. You can search the database of PAF 4.0 by name and by RIN (Record Identification Number). However, there is no capability to search by Soundex. You also cannot search by places or by dates. There is no capability to code sensitive data, such as illegitimate births, so that they can be excluded from certain reports. There is no spelling checker for use on the text notes. I was a bit disappointed to find that Personal Ancestral File 4.0 for Windows does not have a method to easily filter out personal information about living individuals in either the Web reports or in the GEDCOM export. The Help files do talk about protecting the privacy of individuals, but they suggest that you do so by invoking "filters" and then manually go through the database to identify the persons to be included or excluded from the report. In a database of several thousand individuals, that might be unwieldy. The more sophisticated programs generally have a checkbox someplace saying, "Do not include information about living individuals" or similar words. Once invoked, these programs will only include information in the report about individuals with defined death dates or with birth dates more than some specified number of years ago. Often the specification is set to exclude data about anyone born less than 90 years ago or 100 years ago or any other date specified by the user. Personal Ancestral File 4.0 is a program that will meet the needs of many people who do not feel that they need the power of the stronger programs. The fact that it is free obviously appeals to many. I suspect that this new free program from the LDS Church will drive some other genealogy software producers out of business. This will be especially true of the companies that produce low-cost software with limited capabilities for the mass market since those are the programs most impacted by competition from a free program. The producers of the more powerful genealogy programs, such as The Master Genealogist, Ultimate Family Tree, etc., will probably continue to sell products. These higher-priced programs have always appealed to people who understood their advanced capabilities and were willing to pay a premium price in order to use the capabilities that were missing in the lower-cost programs. At first glance, free software seems to be great for the consumer. I wonder, however, if consumers will lose in the long run. One person sent an e-mail to me this week saying, "I wonder whether the LDS (Church) realizes what they've done. I wonder whether those who've been cheering at the price reduction trend in genealogy software will find that this development is really in the interest of the genealogy community." A very good question indeed. - Online Family Reunion Doctor Is your annual family reunion a bit "weak"? Is attendance slipping a bit every year? Or are you interested in holding your first family reunion and you want to make sure that it is a success? Mister Spiffy can help! The topics covered include: Organize Your Reunion In addition, the site has online message boards for you to ask questions and to compare notes with others. The site includes an online bookstore. You can also announce your reunion in the free online registry. Family Reunion Doctor is an excellent online site dedicated to the topic of improving family reunions. I spent some time on the site this week and certainly hope to use some of the advice I found there when I attend my family’s reunion in September. Family Reunion Doctor displays a lighthearted and fun approach to family reunions. Mr. Spiffy is the name of the "online character" who dispenses advice. The site’s "style" is infectious. Family Reunion Doctor was created by Bruce Buzbee. Bruce is well-known in the genealogy world as the creator of Family Origins, marketed by Parsons Technologies, now under the umbrella of Mattel. Bruce obviously knows a thing or two about families, and his new site will produce benefits for your next reunion. The Family Reunion Doctor can be found at: http://family-reunion.com The LDS Companion sounds like a religious program but is not. It is a genealogy file conversion utility to be used with CD-ROM disks created by the Family History Department of the LDS Church (the Mormons). LDS Companion will import data from the following CD-ROM disk sets: International Genealogical Index GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communication) files which can be imported into most genealogy programs ASCII text which can be imported into any word processor and some utility programs. Text files generated by the IGI are formatted as print image files, that is, a copy of the information that would have been printed on paper if you had chosen to do so. The text files created from the other databases will have similar formatting results. The resulting ASCII text probably can be imported into spreadsheet or database programs after a good deal of "clean up" work to remove the formatting. Rich Text Format (RTF) files that can be imported into most modern word processing packages. DBF (dBASE) format used by many database programs. Note that DBF output is not available for all data sources. XLS (Excel) and WK1 (Lotus) formats used by many spreadsheet programs. Note that XLS and WK1 output is not available for all data sources. The LDS Companion also includes a file viewer for reading the output directly on the computer screen. It can also print directly without the need for another program. The LDS Companion is really an updated version of IGIRead, a program that has been available in both MS-DOS and Windows versions. Author Steve Archer continues to add new functionality; with this version, he has changed the name to reflect its new abilities to import even more databases created by the LDS Church. Steve Archer is in England but has made arrangements to insure the program is available worldwide. The LDS Companion sells in the U.K. for 16 GBP. Residents of the U.S. can obtain it for $25.00 plus an extra $2.00 to cover airmail shipment. For more information on the LDS Companion, look at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/steve_archer/ - New Civil War Research Database The following is an announcement from Ancestry.com: Ancestry is pleased to announce a new and exciting Civil War Database now available to our subscribers in a format specially tailored to fit the needs of family historians. The Civil War Research Database is a historic effort to compile and link all available records of the individual soldiers who fought in the Civil War. It seeks to collect all available data about individual soldiers, thus offering unprecedented research possibilities. Historic Data Systems has compiled and inter-linked a wide array of records including state rosters, pension records, regimental histories, photos, and journals. The genealogical value of this database is immeasurable. More than authoritative names and dates, this database connects our ancestors with this turbulent period of American history. The database is a work in progress and considering the scope of its ambition, the amount of data already available is very impressive. The project to date has digitized, indexed, and inter-linked the roster records of 2.1 million soldiers (out of approximately 4 million who served), 2,719 regimental chronicles, 1,010 officer profiles, 3,343 battle synopses, and 1,012 soldier photographs. As the database continues to grow, so will the impact of this unique genealogical resource. Visitors will be able to search for a soldier and click on his name for more information. You will learn the regiment with which he served and by clicking on the regiment, you will be taken to the regimental history, which includes statistics, a chronology of battles fought, and a link to the entire roster of that regiment. Those with an interest in officers (Brigadier General and higher) will want to search the Officers' database for biographical information and/or photos. Civil War buffs with an interest in a particular regiment can search for regiments separately. Be sure to check back often as this database will be updated regularly. You can search the Civil War database at: http://www.ancestry.com/cwrd/cwrd_index.htm AltaVista has always been my favorite search engine. Its simple user interface and excellent database have helped me find thousands of documents over the years. Now there is a hint that AltaVista may be adding genealogy data. AltaVista was developed by Digital Equipment Corp. four years ago to show off its ultrafast hardware. AltaVista wasn’t the first search engine, but it was out there in "the early days." At one time it was the most popular search engine on the Internet although that title has slipped away as other search engines have added more "bells and whistles." In fact, rival Yahoo barely looks like a search engine these days. It is now referred to as a "portal." However, AltaVista still keeps the title of "the fastest search engine in cyberspace." It claims to have 200 million pages in its information storehouse, far more than its chief rivals. It also generally allows for more precise searches. This week CMGI, Inc. invested $2.3 billion in AltaVista, purchasing an 83% stake in the search engine from Compaq. Compaq acquired AltaVista when it purchased Digital some time ago. CMGI plans to make AltaVista the centerpiece of its Web empire, which includes stakes in more than 40 Internet companies, including Ancestry.com. As reported in the December 19, 1998 edition of this newsletter and in follow-up articles over the following weeks, CMGI invested about $12 million in Ancestry.com. While that seemed like a large investment, it is dwarfed by this week’s announcement of CMGI’s $2.3 billion investment in AltaVista. CMGI's chairman, David S. Wetherell, says he plans to integrate content from about a dozen CMGI investments into AltaVista. I was interested when Mr. Wetherell said that the content will include genealogy, along with vitamin sales, car-part information, Web broadcasting, instant messaging and a financial message board. CMGI also expects to add such services as Internet access, advertising targeting and home-page building. Mr. Wetherell also said he could take AltaVista public "at just about any moment." Want a free PC? Such deals seem to be popping up everywhere these days. Now CompuServe, a division of America Online Inc., has signed a bundling deal with eMachines Inc., including a package in which consumers can essentially get a free system when they sign up for CompuServe’s service. "Consumers are increasingly purchasing PCs for the sole purpose of getting online, and when they do, they want easy access to the leading online brands like AOL and CompuServe," said AOL marketing president Jan Brandt in a release. "Participating with eMachines in this rebate program will give computer buyers even more incentive to sign up for the new CompuServe 2000." In essence, the new deal is a $400 rebate on $399 PC. Starting this weekend, consumers who sign up for a three-year CompuServe 2000 service contract will get a $400 rebate on an eMachines system. The rebate program covers a $399 eMachines tower system. In addition, purchasers will need to pay $21.95 per month for unlimited online usage. Part of the unlimited online time will include access to CompuServe’s four genealogy forums. That includes access to the discussion group for this newsletter that can be found on the Genealogy Techniques Forum at: http://go.compuserve.com/GenealogyForum - Charges Dropped Against What's His Name Would you like the task of keeping track of this man in your genealogy database? John Warnock, or Clarence Joyce Jr., or Wayne Hutchings -- or whoever he is – remains in jail even though criminal charges against him were dropped because figuring out his real identity proved too difficult. The man with too many names -- charged as Randolph Stitt with four counts of possessing a stolen credit card and one count of obstructing police -- was kept behind bars in Ottawa because police suspect he is a U.S. citizen who can be deported. After his arrest police found identification on the man ranging from driver’s licenses to hospital cards with 10 different names with addresses from as far off as Australia and England. Various birth dates made him as young as 42 and as old as 50. Police became suspicious on March 12 when they stopped him to ask for identification -- and he supplied two cards with different names. "He's a fat, strange type of guy," according to Ottawa police detective Paul Heagle. To prove the cards were stolen, prosecutors would have had to show he was not actually any of those people, Heagle said, which would have meant flying in witnesses from around the world to testify he was not the person whose name was on the cards. Credit cards found on him were under the name of Gerald Demanenko, a dead man from Manitoba. "It's hard to prove in court because you can't bring dead people back to testify they didn't allow him to use their names," Heagle said. The mystery man also used the names John Malishewski, Paul Davis, Dean Oblin, Travis Bindernagel and Mike Johnston. He will stay in custody awaiting a deportation hearing. The Upcoming Events section of the newsletter is published once per month. Each event will be listed very briefly: title, date(s), location, and sponsoring organization, all followed by either an e-mail address or a Web page that you can use to find more information. Since detailed information is available via e-mail or the Web, I will not list the details in this newsletter. If you do contact any of these organizations, please tell them where you heard about the event. Here are the listings, arranged by date. An asterisk indicates a new listing that has been added since the last time this list was published: The Germans From Russia Heritage Society (GRHS) 1999 Convention will be held in Aberdeen, South Dakota on July 8 through11, 1999. Details are available at: http://www.grhs.com/ Dr. George K. Schweitzer will speak on German Genealogy on July 10, 1999 for a workshop sponsored jointly by the German Interest Group and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Area Research Center in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Details are at: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/origins1/gig.html The South Carolina Genealogical Society will hold their Twenty-Eighth Annual Workshop on July 10, 1999 in Columbia, South Carolina. Details are available at: http://www.scgen.org LABERGE-LaBARGE Reunion will be held in Keeseville NY on July 16 and 17, 1999. If you are one of the descendants of Robert de la Berge, the original Laberge in North America (and virtually all Laberges, LaBarges, Lebarges, etc. in North America are), you are cordially invited. For more information, see: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/LaBarge_C/laberge.htm The First National STIDHAM Family Reunion (including all spelling variations) will be held July 16-18, 1999 near Burlington, Kentucky. For information, visit the Timen Stiddem Society's website at: http://members.aol.com/RLSteadham/TimenWeb.index.html The Pikes Peak Genealogical Society, Colorado Springs, Colorado, hosts its Annual Genealogy Seminar in Colorado Springs on Saturday 17 July 1999. The seminar will feature the "Heritage Quest Road Show". Details are available from: ggray01@aol.com The Nehemiah HUBBLE Family Heritage Association will hold its 50th Anniversary Reunion in Rawdon Township, Ontario on July 18th, 1999. For more information, contact: rdawes@reach.net The HIVELY/HIVELEY/HEIVLY/HAIBLE Family Reunion will be held in York County, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 24, 1999. The reunion will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the arrival in America from Germany of two Haible brothers. For information, contact dphively@aol.com *The annual KETCHESON Family Reunion/Picnic will be held Sunday, July 25th, 1999 near Belleville, Ontario. For details, contact: jim.ketcheson@sympatico.ca. *The Guy J.BRIGGS family of Macomb County is planning a family reunion on 25 July 1999, in Tawas, Michigan. For further information contact: Zorsch@compuserve.com. The 43rd Annual Meeting of the Livesay Historical Society will be held in Duffield, Virginia, from July 29th through 31st, 1999. Additional details are available at: http://hometown.aol.com/lhsociety/livesay.html. The New Brunswick Genealogical Society will present its 20th Anniversary Conference "New Brunswick Ancestors - Arrivals and Departures" July 30th to August 2nd, 1999 in Moncton, New Brunswick. Details are available at: http://www.bitheads.ca/nbgs/conf.html. The COGSWELL Family Association’s 10th Anniversary Reunion will be held July 31, 1999 through August 1, 1999 in Salem/Essex, Massachusetts. For information, contact: president@cogswell.org. The first annual gathering of the English HATCHER family(ies) will take place on Sat 31st July 1999 at Bruton Somerset with trips to the various West-country (of England) villages associated with the name over the next three days. Information is available via reunion@bob.hatcher.clara.net or at: http://home.clara.net/bob.hatcher/Reunion.htm. *The 117th gathering of the descendants of John MATHER will be held Sunday, August 1, 1999 in Alliance, Ohio. Details are available from: jwff40d@prodigy.com. Brigham Young University’s 1999 Genealogy and Family History Conference will be held August 3–6, 1999. Topics will include the new FamilySearch Internet site, Finding Useful Information on the Internet, Writing Your Family History, Scanning and Enhancing Photos, Personal Ancestral File, The World Wide Web, Computers and Family History Centers, Comparing Genealogy Programs, What's New at the Family History Library, and others. Information is available at: http://coned.byu.edu/cw/cwgeneal/index.htm BROWN/MCNATT/RICHARDS Reunion, Aug 7, 1999 in Clayton, Delaware. Details are available from: mbluehen@sensible-net.com The 75th annual PARKMAN Association Meeting will be held August 8, 1999 in Skowhegan, Maine. This association is for all descendants of Gideon and Mary (Vining) Parkman of Abington, Massachusetts and Skowhegan, Maine. Details are available by sending an e-mail to: klary-jr@hannaford.com The ninth annual Walter PALMER Society reunion will be held on August 8th 1999 in Stonington, CT. For details, look at: http://www.walterpalmer.com/news.htm The 105th annual JOHNSON reunion of the descendants of Daniel JOHNSON and Clarissa BLACKMER will be held Sunday, August 8, 1999 in North East, Pennsylvania. Details are at: http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~vh2/johnson.html *The 4th Annual LINSCOTT Family Picnic will be held on August 8, 1999, in Liberty, Maine. All Linscotts, or descendants of Linscotts, are encourage to attend. Information is available at: http://www.pivot.net/~jlinscott "New York.... Gateway to America," the 19th Annual Conference on Jewish Genealogy, hosted by the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc., will be held August 8-13, 1999. For information, look at: http://members.aol.com/nyc99conf The New England Historic Genealogical Society’s annual "Come Home to New England" program will be held August 8-15, 1999 at the Society’s headquarters in Boston, MA. Participants enjoy one-on-one research consultations with NEHGS staff, daily lectures on New England research and methodology, and private research time and exclusive early library hours. For information, look at: http://www.nehgs.org. The St. Louis County Library is sponsoring a workshop for Genealogical Librarians on August 10, 1999. Note that this is the day before the FGS national conference in St. Louis. Speakers will be Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck of the Dallas Public Library, Eric Grundset, librarian the DAR library, Paul Conner of the Library of Congress, Brent Griffeths of the LDS Family History Library, Martha Henderson of the Mid-Continent Public Library, and Constance Potter of the National Archives. Details are available at: http://www.slcl.lib.mo.us/slcl/sc/sc-pcon.htm. The Federation of Genealogical Societies and the St. Louis Genealogical Society invite you to "A Conference for the Nation's Genealogists" in St. Louis, MO August 11 through 14, 1999. This is one of the major conferences of the year. The full Conference Registration Booklet is now on-line at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mostlogs/STINDEX.HTM. The descendants of Catharine MAHONY and John McCARTHY of Prescott, Ontario will hold their second reunion August 13-15, 1999 in Ottawa, Ontario. For information, contact: grandpre@global2000.net. The descendants of William DUDLEY, a founder of Guilford, CT in 1639 and his wife Jane Lutman will hold their 1999 Reunion on August 14-15, 1999 in Guilford, CT. For information, contact: adud@compuserve.com. *The 95th Annual DAGUE Family Reunion will be held August 15, 1999 in Spencer, Medina County, Ohio. Information is available from: cjschetter@worldnet.att.net. The 1999 National HANKS Family Reunion will be held on August 20, 21, 22, 1999 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The reunion is to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the New England Branch of the Hanks family to America. More information can be found at: http://www.enol.com/~hanksdc/hanksplace/reunion.html. The 1st Annual West Virginia Highland Games and Celtic Festival will be held on August 21, 1999 at South Charleston, WV. For more information, see the supporting organization’s Web page at: http://www.wvhighlandgames.org. *The 12th Annual British Isles Family History Society - U.S.A. "Family History Seminar" will be held in Los Angeles on August 26-28,1999. The speakers are: Colin R. Chapman, Tony McCarthy and Paul Smart. For more information, look at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~bifhsusa/. The second CLEVER Family Reunion (KLEBER of Lancaster Co. PA) will be held 27-29 August 1999 at Bellville, Ohio. Details are available from: Robert.H.Clausen@att.net. The Searching For That Elusive Irish Ancestor 1999 Family History & Heritage Conference will be held in Belfast and in Dublin, Ireland September 7 through 14, 1999. The conference will concentrate on making practical use of the genealogical research sources available to the family historian in both cities. Delegates will have ample opportunity for guided research at the main archives and repositories in addition to lectures, tours and entertainment all at no extra charge. Details are available at: http://www.uhf.org.uk. The Willamette Valley Genealogical Society, Inc. is sponsoring a conference on genealogical research featuring Mr. George K. Schweitzer, Ph.D., one of America's Foremost Genealogical Speakers. Sessions will focus on "American Land Grants", "Obscure Genealogical Sources", and "Researching in Burned Out Counties". The conference will be held in Salem, Oregon Saturday, September 11, 1999. For details contact jwillhit@orednet.org. The Gloucester County Historical Society of Woodbury, NJ is sponsoring a Heritage Quest Genealogy Road Show on September 11, 1999. For more information, look at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njglouce/gchs/gchs@citnet.com. The Eli and Mae GARMAN Family Reunion will be held on September 12, 1999 in Independence, Kansas. Details are available from: cgarman@horizon.hit.net. The Colorado Genealogical Society/Computer Interest Group will present their 8th Biennial Symposium, "Helping Genealogists Use Computers" on September 17th and 18th, 1999 in Denver, Colorado. For additional information, contact:: schetter@worldnet.att.net. The New England Historic Genealogical Society is hosting its Fourth Annual "Irish Genealogical Conference" in Randolph, Massachusetts, on September 17 and 18, 1999. The conference will feature nineteen lectures specifically on Irish genealogical topics. Details are available at: http://www.nehgs.org. An Everton Workshop will be held 18 Sept. 1999 in Prineville, OR; hosted by the Crook County Genealogical Society. For further information, send an e-mail to: drussell@bendnet.com *A reunion of the descendants of John Rooney and Mary Clark Rooney will be held in Sacramento, California on September 18, 1999. Related families, Clark, Lynch, Devlin, Codd, Garland are welcome. For more information, contact seebou@mail2.quiknet.com The 25th SEABOLT Family Reunion will be held in Vogel State Park, Georgia on September 18 and 19,1999. For information, contact harsea@aol.com The New England Historic Genealogical Society will present "Computer Resources for Genealogists" at The Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston, MA. Participants may choose to attend our day-long seminar on either September 24 or September 25, 1999 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Speakers will include Rhonda McClure, Steve Kyner and Dick Eastman. Details are available at: http://www.nehgs.org The Slippery Rock Heritage Association will hold their Annual Heritage Festival on September 24 through 26, 1999. It will be held in conjunction with the Slippery Rock University Homecoming Weekend Celebration. Details are available at: http://www.geniespeak.com/event.html The "Make Mine Maryland" genealogy conference, sponsored by the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society, will be held September 24-27, 1999 in Annapolis, MD. Full details are available at: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/4256/gensoc.htm *The First (Australian) National Family History and Heraldry Fair is scheduled to run in the September school holidays; 24th September - 3 October 1999 at the historic Beechworth Campus of La Trobe University. For more information, contact the Manager Campus Information and Convention Centre at: cicc@latrobe.edu.au The annual ESKRIDGE Family Association reunion will be held Friday and Saturday, October 1-2, 1999 in Richmond, VA. Activities include a business meeting, a program on "Using Technology in Genealogy" and other technology workshops as well. For details, contact: GenSeeker1@compuserve.com The Victoria Genealogical Society will hold an all day seminar on October 2, 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia. The program will feature Cyndi Howells. For details, see: http://www.islandnet.com/~vgs/ The Alford American Family Association, Inc. (including Alvord, Halford, Alfred, etc.) will hold its 12th annual meeting and national "Alford" family reunion October 8-10 in San Antonio, Texas. Details are available at: http://www.alford.com/alford/aafa/homepage.html The McHenry County, Illinois Genealogical society will host "Genealogy. . .On The Internet. . .With Cyndi Howells" on Saturday, October 9, 1999, in Crystal Lake, IL. For additional information look at: http://nsn.nslsilus.org/clkhome/mcigs/ *An October Seminar will be sponsored by the Genealogy Friends of Plano (Texas) Libraries, Inc. on October 16, 1999. The seminar will feature Helen F. M. Leary, speaking on "Clutching at Straws and Other Last Ditch Efforts: A Workshop in Genealogical Problem Solving." Details are available at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/4167 The Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society will hold an all-day seminar on Saturday, October 23, 1999, in Trappe, PA. The program includes a number of speakers discussing German genealogy research in Pennsylvania. For details contact: jsheviak@aol.com *The Florida State Genealogical Society will hold its 23rd Annual Conference October 29 and 30, 1999 in Sarasota, Florida. The featured speaker will be Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. For more information, send an e-mail to: kleback@bellsouth.net *The Ingham County (Michigan) Genealogical Society presents "A Genealogical Seminar" on Saturday, November 13, 1999. Speakers will be Shirley J. Hodges and Jana Sloan Broglin. For more information see: http://userdata.acd.net/mmgs/icgssem99.html The New England Historic Genealogical Society is offering its annual "Research Program to Salt Lake City" from November 14-21, 1999. This program brings the experience and knowledge of the society’s research staff to The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which houses the world's largest collection of genealogical data. Details are at: http://www.nehgs.org GENTECH, a non-profit volunteer organization, and the San Diego Genealogical Society will host GENTECH2000 "Bridging the Centuries: Bringing Genealogy and Technology Together" in San Diego, California on 28-29 January 2000. A large program is planned. Details are available at: http://www.gentech.org/~gentech/2000home.htm The McAllen Genealogical Society will hold its annual all-day seminar Saturday, February 5, 2000 in McAllen, Texas. Henry Z (Hank) Jones, the featured speaker, will present four informative and fun lectures. For details, contact: ecmacey@ibm.net The Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies will host its Annual Rocky Mountain Regional Conference, 22-23 September 2000, Lakewood CO. Featured speakers will be Cyndi Howells, Henry "Hank" Jones, and Christina Schaefer. For details, contact: pakemper@aol.com If you would like to see your event listed, send an e-mail to: meetings@rootscomputing.com. You must include either a Web page that gives details or an e-mail address for the organization or for someone within the organization who is willing to supply the meeting details upon request. Please limit your listings to events where you expect 100 or more people to attend. This is already a rather long newsletter. I’ll skip the listing of new genealogy-related home pages this week and double up next week instead. To submit your home page to this newsletter, enter the necessary information at: http://www.rootscomputing.com/register.htm. Due to the volume of new Web pages submitted, I am not able to list all of them in the newsletter.
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