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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
| IN THIS ISSUE: |
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PRO Seeks Private Help to Place 1901 Census Records on the Internet |
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Click Here for Dick Eastman's Archive |
| June 08, 1999 |
- PRO Seeks Private Help to Place 1901 Census Records on the Internet The Public Records Office in London obviously has been watching the rapid growth of genealogy on the Internet and is taking steps to be prepared for their next major release. British laws require that census records be kept private for 100 years before being published. The next major event will be the release of the 1901 census records in the year 2002. The 1901 census records list every person living in a particular household on the census day in question along with their ages, marital status and occupations. The PRO is now inviting offers from private companies to put the 1901 national census on the Internet to prevent the Family Record Office from an administrative crisis. The Family Record Office, a division of the Public Records Office based in Islington, North London, probably will be unable to cope with the demand caused by the release of the details in 2002. With more than 32 million names on the census, the PRO said: "The release of 1901 is liable to push the FRC into crisis. It is not a question of just adding a few cabinets in the reading rooms. There will be an army of new researchers of all ages, which together with increased visits from existing researchers will cause an unprecedented upsurge in demand at the FRC." The PRO says that, even without the impact of the 1901 census, the FRC will be at saturation point by 2003. "This means high pressure on facilities and services and major queues at peak times." In spite of its concerns, the PRO says it does not have the "substantial capital" required for the Internet project and is engaged in talks with private companies. The winner would recoup its outlay by charging Internet users a small fee for the service. An Internet service would benefit people who find it difficult or inconvenient to visit London. - Arkansas Handwritten Census Records on CD-ROM Ancestor Spy is a small company in Colorado that produces a number of products of interest to genealogists. The company recently announced a number of additions to their line of Arkansas census records. I haven’t used these CD-ROM disks myself, but the company’s description looks interesting. The Arkansas census CD-ROM disks operate under Microsoft Windows and should operate on most any modern Windows computer. Ancestor Spy says that the CD-ROM disks contain scanned images of the best copy of microfilmed census pages available, not transcribed text. The images can be read from page one forward, or you can pick a particular page from a drop down listing of all pages. You view a magnified image of the actual census page that can be scrolled up and down or left and right with scroll bars. The program has multiple Zoom features. The brightness of a page can also be modified. A page can be lightened or darkened for a better display or especially, for printing. Individual pages can be printed on a local printer, and they can also be pasted into other Windows programs. The company presently has 15 CD-ROM disks containing scanned census records from Arkansas counties’ records of the 1850 and/or 1860 Federal census records. They also have a few disks containing Louisiana census records and have announced that Tennessee records will be added in the future. Prices vary from $19.95 to $49.95, depending upon the amount of data on the disk. Full details are available at: http:// www.AncestorSpy.com Last week I wrote about my predictions of large companies moving into the genealogy business on the web. I mentioned several large media companies, including Disney, along with Ancestry and a few smaller companies already in the genealogy business. I predicted that the large companies would either acquire or enter into partnerships with smaller companies already in the genealogy business. I didn’t have any "inside information"; I haven’t talked to anyone at Disney or at Ancestry about this. I was a bit pleased a few days after last week’s newsletter was published to hear that the two companies are working together on the Internet. I don’t know if this is a short-term arrangement or a long-term partnership, but Ancestry.com is now being promoted at Disney’s website. You can see this if you go to http://www.disney.com and then click on the activities channel in the center navigation section, then click on the Ancestry button on the left navigation bar. - New Advanced Search Page at Ancestry.Com Speaking of Ancestry’s website, the following announcement appeared this week in the company’s "Ancestry Daily News", edited by Juliana Smith: Searching for Ancestors on Ancestry.com just got easier. The advanced search page on Ancestry.com has been redesigned to give users more control. Before today the advanced search allowed users to search by given name, surname, and keyword. Searches could be made more specific by setting the proximity search feature, limiting how close keywords could appear together, by specifying a geographic location, and/or by searching only a specific type of record. As the number of databases on Ancestry grows ever larger, the need for researchers to focus their searching also increases. To this end, the redesigned search page allows users to: Filter searches by a date range and by Soundex coding You can also click on "Advanced" just below the "Search" button on the home page, or select "Search Center" on the menu just below the Ancestry graphic at the top of the page. By the way, the Ancestry Daily News is my second favorite newsletter. (Hey! I’m biased in favor of my own.) I know the difficulties of producing a weekly newsletter; I have no idea how Juliana produces one every single business day. She does a great job. To subscribe to the Ancestry Daily News, visit http://www.ancestry.com/whatsnew.htm and type your e-mail address in the box provided, or send an e-mail message to: ancestry_daily_news@anclist001.ancestry.com with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line. The following is rumor and speculation; please treat it as such: Messages are floating around the online world about an upcoming beta test for Personal Ancestral File 4.0. The rumors say it will be a Windows program, unlike the earlier MS-DOS versions. One version of the rumor says that Personal Ancestral File 4.0 will be developed by an outside commercial company, not by the LDS Church’s programming staff. Truth or fiction? I don’t know, but this rumor bears watching. - National Genealogical Society Awards The (U.S.) National Genealogical Society presented the following awards at its nineteenth annual Conference in the States held in Richmond, Virginia, 12-15 June 1999: Rosanne Thaiss Butler, formerly of Fairfax now of Williamsburg, Virginia, received the Society's Honorary Membership award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of genealogy. During her 26-year career with the National Archives and Records Service (NARA), she served as coordinator of NARA's field archives branches and was deputy head of NARA's Regional Archives system from 1993-99. Butler was an instrumental force in the expansion and improvement of NARA's regional facilities and services, which are enjoyed by the genealogical community. She worked with NARA's Genealogy Staff to coordinate efforts between Washington and the Regions and enthusiastically supported and encouraged outreach programs, which included lectures about records and volunteer activities. She supported the National Archives Microfilm Rental Program, and worked on plans for the release of 1920 and 1930 census in the regions. Donald K. Wilson of McLean, Virginia, received the Society's highest award, Fellow, for his outstanding work in the field of genealogy and his outstanding service to the Society. Wilson served as system operator (SYSOP) of the Society's Bulletin Board Service (NGS BBS) from 1987 to 1999 when the BBS closed down, acting as a one-man help-line for distressed users. He was an original architect of the Society's internal computer network and has given thousands of hours of volunteer time and free technical support as the Society's equipment was installed or suffered power outages. Wilson helped to establish the Society's first Home Page at www.ngsgenealogy.org. Wilson received the NGS Distinguished Service Award in 1993 and the Award of Merit in 1996. Four Awards of Merit recognizing the exceptional contributions of individuals and nonprofit organizations that significantly aided research or increased interest in genealogy over a period of five or more years were also presented: Richard A. Pence of Fairfax, Virginia, a founding member of the NGS Computer Interest Group, and an editor of the CIG Digest from 1986-89. In 1986, Pence put NGS on the cutting edge of technology when he obtained a used computer and set up the NGS Bulletin Board Service (NGS BBS) in his own home (the Society did not have a "home" at the time). He conducted workshops on the use of the Bulletin Board at his office and authored a series of articles on getting started in genealogy, which were syndicated to newspapers and publications in the late 1970s. Pence received the NGS Distinguished Service Award in 1986. New York's Chautauqua County Genealogical Society and Sandra Sopak, Chautauqua County Clerk, received awards for the fine example they set of record-keepers and record-seekers working together. The Chautauqua County Genealogical Society was recognized for its efforts to preserve and publish the county's records. Sopak was honored for her continuing efforts to make the county's records accessible to the public; she recently arranged to have all county tax lists photocopied for the society to extract and publish. Jeannette Grosvenor, a part-time genealogy specialist at the Chardon Library, Chardon, Ohio, received the Award of Merit for leading efforts for more than twenty years to index the vital records of Geauga County, Ohio, and the 1870 census, and for collecting genealogical data at the Anderson Allyn Room of the Chardon Library. Some of the society's indexes are now online as part of the USGenWeb project. Last November the readers of this newsletter voted Cyndi’s List as "The Best Genealogy Site on the Web". This week Cyndi announced a companion book called, appropriately enough, "Cyndi's List -- The Book! A Comprehensive List of 40,000 Genealogy Sites on the Internet". Here’s an extract from Cyndi’s announcement: Well, it is finally here - the printed version of Cyndi's List. This was a project that I began last May. I spent most of last summer correcting more than 6,000 broken links so that the addresses in the book would be as accurate as humanly possible once the book went to print. I received my copies of the book today and it looks great! I have placed a couple of new web pages online with complete details about the book: The book is 880 pages, ISBN 0806315563, Item #GPC-2932, $49.95, and can be ordered from Genealogical Publishing Company at 1-800-296-6687 or online at: http://www.genealogybookshop.com/genealogybookshop/files/General,Computers/2932.html - Publishing Your Family History on the Internet Richard S. Wilson has published a new book entitled "Publishing Your Family History on the Internet." Mr. Wilson previously co-authored "The Internet for Genealogists: A Beginner's Guide." The earlier book described the use of the Internet for genealogy in very broad terms. The newer book, however, takes one particular topic and explores it in depth. "Publishing Your Family History on the Internet" guides the reader through the process of creating a personal genealogy website, including how to set up the web pages, how to locate a site, and how to place your family history on the web. It also gives advice on how to advertise your site so that others will find it. The book also includes step-by-step instructions for creating web pages in a variety of genealogy programs, including Ancestral Quest, Family Origins, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Generations, The Master Genealogist and Ultimate Family Tree. He also describes utilities that will convert GEDCOM files to HTML format, suitable for uploading to a website. Wilson also writes about privacy concerns and the need to make sure that both the privacy laws and your relatives’ rights to privacy are maintained. To help insure privacy, Wilson describes three utilities that strip improper data from GEDCOM files: GEDClean, GEDPrivy and Res Privata. The book’s Table of Contents lists the following chapters: Why Publish Your Family History on the Internet? One section that interested me was a chart showing the results of converting a genealogy database to HTML using different programs. Wilson started with a GEDCOM file containing information about 218 people and 76 marriages. This file was imported into each of the genealogy programs he listed, then converted to HTML format. He also did a direct GEDCOM-to-HTML conversion using the various utilities mentioned earlier. The results varied widely: The total number of HTML pages created by the different programs and utilities varied from 2 to 78 pages. The total size of those web pages varied from 45 kilobytes to 1.27 megabytes. Some programs inserted graphics into the resulting HTML pages while others did not. Some programs automatically hid information about living individuals while others did not. All of the regular genealogy programs included text notes, but two of the GEDCOM-to-HTML utilities did not. Some of the programs could generate pedigree charts, family group sheets and book format reports, yet others only published the data as simple textual information. The same is true for photographs: some programs could insert them into the web pages while others did not. Wilson depicts all of the above data and more in a simple, easy-to-read chart that compares the capabilities of each program against its competitors. I found that "Publishing Your Family History on the Internet" was well written in simple English, not in techno-babble. If you are thinking about publishing your genealogy information on the World Wide Web, you will find this 340-page paperback book to be useful. "Publishing Your Family History on the Internet" costs $19.99 plus tax (for California residents only) and shipping. The book may be ordered from the author’s website at: http://www.compuology.com/book2.htm - The Man Behind the Online Census Images Last week I wrote about the great new 1850 U.S. Census records images now available online at http://www.GenealogyLibrary.com. The website allows you to sit in the comfort of your own home and to view original source records on your computer screen. You can also print them on your local printer. After I published that article, a couple of people at the company told me that the good quality of those images is due to Steven Horowitz, who was the Chief Technology Officer for Palladium. Quoting from a message from one of Horowitz’s coworkers: He is as close to an "image" guru as you are probably likely to meet. He is very conversant with the challenges of cleaning up microfilmed images with scratches, fading, dirt, etc. etc. I have had many conversations with him and it is fascinating how he electronically "looks" at the images, filters out the background noise, and produces a clean image. Some of those images are better than the original microfilm. We often forget about the people who work very hard to make our electronic genealogy possible. I think that all computer-equipped genealogists should say, "Thank you, Steven Horowitz." I have written a number of times about Halberts, a company that uses a Bath, Ohio mailing address although the company is located elsewhere. Halberts sends out thousands of ads weekly for the "New World Book of (your surname)." For instance, in the ads sent to me, the book is the "New World Book of Eastmans." If your last name is Smith, then the ad you receive will be for the "New World Book of Smiths." Halberts is well-known in the genealogy world, and they have been in court a number of times defending their questionable advertising practices. Halberts is a division of NUMA Corporation of Akron, Ohio. NUMA, in turn, is a division of Cendant. A few days ago Cendant announced that the NUMA division, along with several other divisions of the company, is being offered for sale. Cendant plans a major overhaul aimed at focusing its core operations on travel, real estate, direct marketing and car rentals. Cendant, which plans to keep its Ramada hotels and the Jackson Hewitt tax service divisions, said it intends to sell its Avis Rent A Car, Central Credit, Global Refund, North American Outdoor Group, Spark Services and NUMA publishing arm, and may sell Green Flag, its European roadside assistance unit. Revenues in 1998 for the business units it intends to sell were about $316 million. New York-based Cendant has hired Merrill Lynch to consider strategic alternatives for Green Flag, which it purchased in 1998. Cendant, which endured an accounting scandal last year that led to the departure of its chairman, has said it could raise several billion dollars in 1999 selling off businesses not core to its real estate and travel empire. - Witch's Kin Fight to Clear Family Name When the chance came 288 years ago to clear Susannah Martin's name after she had been hanged as a witch, none of the Amesbury, Massachusetts woman's children or grandchildren stepped forward in her defense. Nine generations later, however, dozens who proudly draw their family roots to her are using the Internet to do what her children did not -- convince the Massachusetts Legislature to give Mrs. Martin some long-awaited justice. One of those descendants is Mrs. Martin's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Bonnie Johnson of Columbia, MD. "There's a lot of people who say, 'What difference does it make? She'll never know,’" said Mrs. Johnson. "But if you believe in an afterlife, you have to believe that she would know, and that she would care." Massachusetts lawmakers recently held a hearing on a bill that would officially exonerate Mrs. Martin and four other accused witches of the charges for which they were convicted and executed in 1692. Mrs. Martin and the other women were overlooked in 1711, when a backlash against the witchcraft hysteria caused the colonial Legislature to drop the charges against accused witches and pay damages to the survivors of those who were executed. The Legislature ignored six women because none of their family members appeared in court. Through Internet chat rooms, postings on genealogy websites, and e-mails, Mrs. Johnson has contacted descendants across the nation, informing them that an effort was afoot to clear her distant relative's name. ''I posted information on (two websites) where I knew a bunch of folks were descendants of Susannah Martin,'' said Mrs. Johnson. ''I also personally contacted 20 to 25 other people and asked them to spread the word.'' As was the case in 1711, none of Mrs. Martin's relatives came to the hearing last week to ask that her name be cleared. But unlike the methods of communicating in 1711, several relatives had already made their views known through e-mail and letters to the Legislature. "Some of the people I contacted sent me copies of the letters and e-mails they sent,'' said Mrs. Johnson, who also submitted a letter. ''I would have given anything to be there today, but it's a pretty long way." Craig D. Martin, a direct descendent, also sent a letter urging lawmakers to clear Mrs. Martin's name. "It's hard to imagine the extreme pain and suffering that these women and their families experienced, knowing in their hearts of their innocence, not to mention the descendants who were tied to the stigma of witchcraft for years after the trials," he wrote. Mrs. Martin was one of 20 people executed during the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. Like several other women who were accused of witchcraft, she was a strong-willed, outspoken, elderly widow who owned a sizeable amount of land. She had also run afoul of her neighbors in the past. In 1669, she was accused of witchcraft, but the charges were dropped and her husband successfully sued for slander. When the witchcraft hysteria broke in 1692, some of her old enemies resurfaced and provided damaging testimony against her. Mrs. Martin ridiculed much of the evidence against her, and laughed out loud when the ''afflicted girls'' writhed on the floor and screamed -- a sight that the judges deemed credible evidence of witchcraft. Asked why she was laughing, she replied, ''Well, I may at such folly.'' The court ignored her vigorous defense and constant denials of witchcraft. On June 26 she was sentenced to death. Less than a month later, she and four other women were taken from their cells, put in a rickety cart, and driven to the gallows. 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 descendants of John Morgan MINTER (1792-1856) and Dorothy Brooks MATHIS (1792-1852) will celebrate their memory with a reunion at Hopkins County, Texas, June 11, 12, 13, 1999. For information, send an e-mail to: djr@swbell.net The Midwest Historical and Genealogical Society, Wichita, KS will host the 24th Annual Conference of the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies on June 11 and 12, 1999 in Wichita. Featured speaker will be James L. Hansen, Reference Librarian of the Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. For additional information see: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/mhgs/conference.htm The Godfrey Memorial Library, Middletown, CT will hold their Second Annual Conference "Seminar for Historians and Genealogists: Migration Patterns" at Wesleyan University on Saturday, June 12, 1999. Four speakers will talk about the migration of the Quakers, French Canada and New England Connection, immigrants from Sweden and the French Huguenots. For more information, send an e-mail to: seminarinfo@godfrey.org A Computers, Genealogy And The Internet Expo will be held in Brisbane Qld, Australia on June 12, 1999. The same expo will also be held in Toowoomba on June 14 and at the Hervey Bay RSL Club on Sept. 25th 1999. For details, go to: http://www.angelfire.com/or/janetreakesgenealogy/index.html *The New York Stake of the LDS Church and the New York Family History Center are sponsoring an all-day Family History Seminar on Saturday, 12 June 1999, at the LDS Church building, 125 Columbus Avenue at 65th Street, Manhattan, New York. The keynote speaker will be Alan E. Mann of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City talking about Internet genealogy. You may obtain details at: http://www.panix.com/~klarsen/NYFHC.html The 21st annual reunion of the LILLARD Family Association will be June 12 and 13, 1999, at Benton, Tennessee. For details, contact rlill55941@wingnet.net *The Southern California Genealogical Society will hold its annual two-day Jamboree'99 on June 12 and 13 in Pasadena. Many speakers will present lectures on a large number of topics. For details, see http://www.scgsgenealogy.com The Descendants of Baron Christopher de Graffenried will hold their 1999 Reunion in Oklahoma City, OK June 18-21, 1999. For information, contact: Jdegraf203@aol.com *The Genealogical Forum of Oregon will hold its annual Family History Fair, "Preserving Our Heritage," Saturday, June 19, 1999 in Portland, Oregon. The all-day fair includes five free classes, a fee workshop on writing your story, computer displays, vendors, and genealogical and historical societies. Details are available at: http://www.gfo.org *The Lawrence County, Tennessee Genealogical Society will hold their Second Annual Family History Fair Saturday, June 19, 1999, at the Lawrence County High School. For further details, please contact: lcarchives@lorettotel.net *The annual YOHO family reunion will be held June 19, 1999 in New Martinsville, West Virginia. For more information contact the Yoho Family Association at: coffield@aol.com *The Computer-Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois will present Geneva Shay talking about saving your family images and documents. "Burn That CD (at home)" June 20th in Schaumburg. For more information, contact lolson@mountprospect.com The LAY Family Genealogical Association (including Lay, Leigh, Lea, Leh, Ley, Loy etc surnames) will hold a meeting in Branson, MO June 25 through 27, 1999. Details are at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/8896 The National KITTERMAN Family Reunion will be held June 25-27th at Fort Dodge, Iowa. For information, contact: rwhipple@quis.net *The descendants of Abraham and Mary VANDAL of West Virginia will hold their 1999 National Bi-Annual Reunion June 25-27 in Nashville, Indiana. Details may be found at: http://www.startext.net/homes/chield/vandalreunion.htm "Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" will be held on the Berea College campus in Kentucky on Saturday, June 26. An extensive program is planned. Details are available from: nmorri3924@aol.com The 6th Annual Genealogical Institute of Mid America will be held in Springfield, Illinois, in July of 1999. Details are available at: http://www.misslink.net/neill/gima.html The EARL and BOWEN Family Reunion will be held in Elma, Washington on July 3, 1999. Details are available from: r.reid@sympatico.ca. *LAMPSON Surname Reunion (1st ever) Biennial will be held July 3 in Madison, South Dakota. Details are available at: are available at: http://ww2.sd.cybernex.net/~pawalker/lampwit.html The Germans From Russia Heritage Society (GRHS) 1999 Convention will be held in Aberdeen, South Dakota on July 8 through 11, 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 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 Brigham Young University’s 1999 Genealogy and Family History Conference will be held August 3–6, 1999. Information is available at: http://coned.byu.edu/cw/cwgeneal/ 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 "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 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 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. 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 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 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/ *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 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. The following is a list of some of the genealogy-related World Wide Web home pages that have been listed recently on http://www.rootscomputing.com. Some of these sites may charge a fee for their services: The Freedmens Bureau Online – Transcriptions of the records of the Freedmens Bureau including marriage records, Freedmen's work contracts, reports of outrages against newly freed slaves and reports of conditions in the south following the Civil War: Presley-Pressley electronic mailing list devoted to the research and history of these surnames: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/Presley-Pressley. Akin Ancestry Exchange – all about the Akin family: Largs & North Ayrshire Family History Society website: History and information about Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. This site contains a surnames list with over 600 entries, local WWII veterans list and a local cemetery list: http://www.mtpleasantpa.com. History of the Schimmelpfennig family from the year 1300 until today. The whole collection includes more than 3000 individuals within the family branches in the USA, The Netherlands, Germany, Pommerania, Eastprussia, Westprussia and Hessen: http://www.schimmelpfennigweb.de/. Information about the 2000 SISSON GATHERING, a newly published SISSON genealogy, and two online SISSON databases for descendants of Richard and Mary SISSON who were in Rhode Island by 1653, and of Robert and Amye SISSON who were in Virginia by 1670: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dasisson Descendants of Don Diego de Montemayor, who founded Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico on September 26, 1596: http://www.skyfamily.com/dddd History and family tree of Somerwill/Summerwill/Summerwill/Somerville etc. originating in Devon, England: http://www.RE-source.mcmail.com/tree/tree.htm Scottish Names Research with goals to help people to do their family research by providing links that will help them to do so: http://www.spiderweb.com.au/~frasbett The surnames of KANE, DINNING and WAKE along with pages about the 19th century history of a North East England colliery village: http://arrive.at/davekane 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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