• Legacy 3.0
• The Society of Genealogists’ Records Online
• Devon 1891 Census Transcription Project Update
• PAF 4.0: the Videos
• My Least Favorite Genealogy Web Site
• Upcoming Events

Legacy has always been a great genealogy program, but I am surprised that it doesn’t obtain the publicity that it deserves. Previous releases have featured a very powerful genealogy program and a user interface that is easy to use. In fact, I wish that some of the more popular genealogy programs would emulate this user interface! I certainly had high expectations when I opened the box containing the latest version of Legacy.

Unlike some of its competitors, Legacy does not include dozens of genealogy data CD-ROM disks in the box. Legacy 3.0 does not claim to be an all-encompassing "genealogy resource." Instead, it focuses on only one thing: being a top-notch program for tracking and recording your genealogy research.

Installing Legacy 3.0 was a snap. If you have installed other Windows programs, you can install this one. Legacy 3.0 includes a sample genealogy file showing the relatives of John F. Kennedy. This sample database is an excellent tool for getting started with the program. Not only does the sample database have the essential data elements filled in, but it also has pictures, full source documentation, a digital scrapbook and even a mini slide show of three pictures already available. This sample database serves as an excellent tutorial for learning the program as you get to see "how to do it the right way."

I found the new version 3.0 to be as easy to use as previous versions. In fact, while reviewing the program, I never found any reason to open the 328-page user’s manual! At first glance, version 3.0 appeared to be the same program as the earlier version. However, as I started moving around the menus, I noticed numerous additions and improvements.

Legacy’s interface is a bit difficult to describe. It manages to present a lot of information on the screen at one time, yet does so in a manner that always seems intuitive and easily understood. To see Legacy’s typical screen displays, take the online tour at: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Tour.asp. You will see much of the program’s interface in that online tour.

Entering data on individuals is easy; simply fill in the blanks. I added a few fictitious members to the sample Kennedy database and found that I could easily link the newly-entered individuals to existing family members. Later I imported a GEDCOM file of more than 4,000 people, which had been created with a competitive genealogy program. The import was fast and almost error-free. (No GEDCOM import is ever completely error-free on any genealogy program, due to inconsistencies in the GEDCOM standard.)

What I like best is the Sources feature. In my opinion, Legacy is one of the top two or three genealogy programs when it comes to recording sources of genealogy information. When you press the Sources button from the Individual Information, the Assigned Sources window appears. This form shows all the sources that have been assigned to the various pieces of information for the current individual. This includes an Unassigned source, which applies to the individual as a whole as well as specific source assignments that have been made to each event for the individual. Also included are any sources assigned to any marriages for the current person. As you scroll up and down in the list, the full information of each master source and its individual detail appear in the bottom half of the window on the tabs labeled Source Information, Published Facts, Text, Detail and Output. I wish that all genealogy programs would have a sources database as complete and easy to use as Legacy’s!

Legacy 3.0 has a long list of printed reports, including:

• Family Group Sheets
• Descendant Reports
• Pedigree Charts
• Individual Reports
• Timelines
• Ancestor Reports
• Lineage Reports
• Ahnentafel (Ancestor) Book Generation
• Modified Register (Descendant) Book Generation
• Narrative Descendant Report
• Name Tags
• Address Labels
• Age Report
• Calendar Report
• Census Forms
• List Reports
• Surname Summary
• Questionnaire
• Source Citation Listing
• Potential Problems Report
• Information Report
• Relationship Report
• Research Log
• LDS Ordinance Report

Legacy has the best merge capability of any genealogy program I have used. A merge probably isn’t something that you will use every day. However, when you do use it, you will quickly appreciate the flexibility available. A merge is used when you wish to combine two databases. Let’s say that you have a primary database of 1,000 or so people that you have entered as a result of your own genealogy research. You then discover a distant cousin via the Internet, and he or she has additional data that you would like. The cousin sends you a GEDCOM file of that data. You then create a brand new database on your Legacy system and import the cousin’s database. After some examination, you decide that the cousin’s data looks good; it is properly documented and has source citations as to where each piece of information was obtained. You decide to add your cousin’s information to your primary database. There is one problem: your cousin’s database contains data on about 250 individuals. About half of them are new to you, but the other half are individuals whom you already recorded in your primary database. In some cases an individual may be shown in your database with only a date of birth, while your cousin’s database shows the same individual with only a death date. How do you add the new folks without duplicating the existing individuals? And how do you combine two different records about one individual? Now the fun begins…

First, make a backup of your primary database. I repeat: first make a backup.

Next, open your primary database; then import the new database. This will create lots of duplicates in the newly-expanded database, which you will want to eliminate by merging the data.To do this, click on the MERGE icon, and then select FIND DUPLICATES. Legacy 3.0 searches for all potentially duplicate individuals in the database.

For example: Let's say the program finds two men in your family file that potentially could be the same person, William Johnson and Will Johnson. Legacy compares the two individuals and shows you the differences, if any, between the information contained in the two records. The data in your primary database is shown on the left while the data from your distant cousin’s database is shown on the right. After looking the information over, you decide that they are indeed the same person and press the Merge Right Individual into Left Individual button to combine them. Legacy takes a look around and notices that William has two parents linked to him named Daniel Johnson and Mary Anderson. Will Johnson also has two parents named D. Johnson and Mrs. Anderson. These two sets of names look like they could be the same parents, so Legacy adds them into the merge process. The next two people to be displayed are Daniel Johnson and D. Johnson, and then Mary Anderson and Mrs. Anderson. The process is continued until all possible duplicates in that line are presented, including ancestors, siblings, spouses and children. The end result is a combination of names, information and links for everyone in the line who is related.

When searching for individuals in your database that might be duplicates, Legacy compares the following information by default:

• The last names must be exactly the same.
• Individuals with blank surnames are not considered.
• Given names must be exactly the same.
• Birth dates must be the same (if there is a birth date).
• Birth locations must be the same (if there is a location).

Legacy has a feature called IntelliShare that is very useful for people involved in "group efforts." IntelliShare that makes it easy for groups of two or more people to coordinate their works and stay caught up on each other's changes.

The following explanation is from the program’s support Web pages:

Form a research group of two or more people. (Each must be using Legacy.) One person in the group is designated as the "Keeper of the Records" (Keeper for short). This person keeps the master Family File. The first step is to mark all the records in the Master Family File with a serial number that uniquely identifies each individual. This is done in Legacy by pressing the Merge picture button and choosing the IntelliShare option. From the IntelliShare window, make sure the Set IntelliShare Values on Every Individual in the Family File option is selected and then press the Set IntelliShare Values button. This will insert a unique serial number in every individual record. The Keeper now sends a copy of the Family File to all the other people participating in the group.

Any or all members of the group can make changes to existing records, delete or unlink records, or add new records to the Family File. (They should not re-serialize the file.) The Keeper can also make changes and additions to the master file.

At an agreed upon interval, all members of the group return a copy of the Family File to the Keeper for merging and reconciliation.

Most of the features I have already described were in earlier versions of Legacy, with the exception of a few of the printed reports. However, Millennia Corporation has added a bunch of new capabilities to the latest version, including the following:

• Legacy 3.0 is now a 32-bit program with long file name support. This means you must be using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 or Windows NT.
• A new To Do List makes it easy for you to track future general and individual tasks needing to be done at home or abroad. You can now print a specific list of things to do when you go on your next research trip. This list can be sorted by nearly any field.
• Global Search and Replace lets you find and replace text in over 100 different fields.
• Spell Checking is available on all Note fields. This works just like the spell checking in a word processor. Misspelled words are highlighted and suggested corrections are shown.
• When entering data about an individual, the user can now switch to next spouse, sibling or parents with a click of the mouse.
• User-selectable information on the Family View and Pedigree View. Choose the fields you want to see for the husband and wife.
• Automatically set Living to Yes or No for large groups of people. Mark entire ancestral lines that you know are no longer alive and mark them as dead. This catches all your ancient relatives with no birth or death dates.
• The Location List can now be sorted by any field while you analyze it to combine duplicates.
• Quick Bookmarks make it faster than ever to return to key people in your file.
• New Master Repository List lets you enter the mailing address, e-mail and web addresses of libraries, archives and agencies and use them over and over again. You can add Latitude and Longitude information to addresses and locations. Tagging operations and searching are now faster than in previous versions.
• Relationship calculation is much faster than previous versions
• You can scan pictures from within Legacy.
• Pictures, sounds and video can now be linked to any type of event. You can also attach pictures to master sources and source citation details.
• Pictures can now be cropped to focus in on just the people you want to show.
• A new Sliding Picture show screen saver is available. You can display your favorite family photos as a screen saver.
• Click on a photo and go directly to that individual.
• Enhanced Photo Album. Print a family photo album from all individuals or just those who are tagged.
• Web page creation is now many times faster. You can break large web sites into multiple folders and specify their location. You can also have a common picture folder so that different web styles can share pictures.
• You can now add unlimited Events to marriages.
• User-definable Husband and Wife labels for each couple. These are shown on the Family View and used on reports. You can also customize report narrative sentences for special situations (common law marriages, children out of wedlock, etc.).
• All Notes fields now hold up to 1 million characters.
• You can now add notes to Births, Christenings, Deaths, Burials and Marriages.
• Legacy 3.0 can print custom address labels and name tags, including A4 size Avery labels and name tags. Name tags can include pictures and three-generation pedigree charts. (This should be great for a family reunion.)

Actually, there are a lot more improvements than what I listed above. For the sake of brevity, I only listed the ones that seemed most important to me. However, you can find a longer list of all the improvements on Millennia Corporation’s Web site.

I finally opened the user’s manual, even though I didn’t see a need for it. All I can say is that it looked good in my brief scan. It is full of pictures, graphics and examples and appears to be easy to read. It has a large index in the back of the book, so I suspect you can find anything easily. I really don’t know as I didn’t find a need to use the manual with this intuitive program.

Legacy has always been one of my favorite genealogy programs since the first day that I saw it in operation. The new version didn’t let me down; it improves on an already top-notch program. If you are thinking about moving up to a more powerful genealogy program, I would suggest that you consider Legacy 3.0.

You can download a free demo copy of Legacy 3.0 online. You can do everything with this demo that you can do with the full retail version. You can import existing data, print reports and even merge individuals. Everything is available with just one limitation: when your family file contains more than 50 individuals, you will not be able to save changes made to individuals; however, everything else continues to work as normal. Like the full program, the demo version will import PAF and GEDCOM files so that you can try Legacy's features with your existing family information. Even if you have more than 50 individuals in your present database, you can still import all of them, print reports, create Web pages and do almost everything that the full version can do. You will have hundreds or perhaps thousands of individuals in the demo database, but you simply will not be able to add new individuals.

Legacy 3.0 sells for $49.95 (U.S. funds). Users of earlier versions of Legacy can purchase an upgrade for $24.95. You will need to add shipping charges onto those prices, of course.

To learn more about Legacy 3.0, to download the demo version, or to order the program online, go to: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com

The Society of Genealogists’ Records Online
Four weeks ago I wrote an article entitled "Society of Genealogists’ Data to be Online." In that article I wrote, "I suspect a formal announcement of this new agreement will be made at the Society of Genealogists' Family History Fair in London on May 6 and 7." I was close; the following announcement was made on May 5:

London, England -- May 5, 2000 -- The Society of Genealogists (http://www.sog.org.uk), has selected Origins.net (http://www.origins.net) to provide exclusive Internet access for an initial ten-year period to important elements of its valuable collections of indexes and genealogical data. Origins.net currently is the sole provider of Internet access to the official genealogical data of Scotland: birth, death and marriage records dating back to 1553. With the addition of data from the Society, family researchers with British ancestry now gain a unique, new Internet resource for ancestral information. Access will no longer be restricted to those who can travel to the Society's premises in London, nor will researchers have to contend with the tens of thousands of visitors that crowd the aisles of the Society of Genealogists (SoG) library every year.

The Society of Genealogists collection is the foremost source of genealogical information in the British Isles. The Society's collections bring together thousands of source materials such as parish registers and bishops' transcripts, monumental inscriptions and censuses, local history, as well as an unequalled assembly of research notes on families. More important are the unique indexes and finding aids that have been compiled from a number of sources that enable access to a vast fund of useful genealogical data. Chief among these are those finding aids listed below that will be the first data sets to appear on the Origins.net web site beginning in the fourth quarter of 2000.

The information to be made available online includes:

Vicar General Marriage Licence Allegations Index 1694-1850
The Vicar General of the Archbishop of Canterbury granted marriage licences within the Province of Canterbury. The court had great status and was used widely by Londoners or by couples who lived in different dioceses within the Province of Canterbury. This index replaces the old manuscript calendars and makes finding the original marriage licence allegation much easier.

Faculty Office Marriage Licence Allegations Index 1715-1850
The Faculty of the Archbishop of Canterbury granted marriage licences within the Provinces of Canterbury and York. The court had great status and was used widely by Londoners or by couples who lived in different parishes in the Provinces of Canterbury and York. This index replaces the old manuscript calendars and makes finding the original marriage licence allegation much easier.-

Bank of England Wills
This index to a series of 176 volumes, covering the period 1717-1845, contains will extracts for those with monies in the public funds. The volumes also contain details of stockholders who went bankrupt or who were declared insane. Many of the will extracts are from PCC (Prerogative Court of Canterbury) wills for which later period there is no published index.

London City Apprenticeship Indexes
An ongoing project to index the London City Guilds and Livery Company Apprenticeship records. Many men came to London to seek their fortune.

London Consistory Court Depositions Index
The London Consistory Court was used as the country's divorce court and contains depositions from people from all over England.

Apprentices of Great Britain Series: Indexes to Apprentices and Masters, 1710-1744
A tax was levied on apprenticeship from 1710 to 1808. The resulting records at the PRO (Public Records Office) in the IR1 series were indexed by the SoG for the period 1710-74. The indexes usually give the name of the apprentice, the father of the apprentice, the name and trade of the master and the amount paid. The tax was not paid on apprenticeships paid for by parish and public charities and the series contains few borough or city apprenticeships.

Boyd's Marriage Index
The first and largest index of marriages 1538-1837. Arranged in generation spans, it contains coverage for some 16 counties in specific county volumes and covers many other counties in miscellaneous sections. The arrangement is phonetic and includes the name of either party and the date and place of the marriage. In some counties only the grooms have been indexed. The coverage is most useful for marriages in East Anglia, Yorkshire, Durham, Somerset, etc., but most counties have some parishes represented. The index also includes references from marriage licences such as those issued by the Archbishops of York or Canterbury, the Bishop of London and the Archdeacon of Nottingham. There are also references to marriage notices in the Gentleman's Magazine.

Boyd's Inhabitants of London
The collection contains family group sheets relating to men and their families found in London City records, notably apprenticeships, freemen records, parish registers, poll books, London letter books, Courts of the Common Serjeant and Common Council, Herald's Visitations, Wills in the PCC and other courts. It is strongest for persons in the 16th & 17th centuries, but entries occur from the 14th century up to some very few in the 19th. Many sons of such families migrated to America in the 17th century, and London attracted many migrants from the English shires to the metropolis. It is a unique source for London and migration within the UK.

Boyd's London Burials
Extracts of burials for adult males in London City parishes as well as neighbouring Middlesex and some other parishes.

Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) Wills Index 1750-1800
The PCC was the highest church court that dealt with testamentary matters. It also had jurisdiction over people dying overseas and refers to many who died in America and other foreign parts who had property and connections in England.

Trinity House Petitions, Apprenticeships, Pensions, and Almshouse Applications 1780-1890 Index
This indexes the petitions from seafaring men and their dependants asking for assistance to be paid out of charitable funds administered by Trinity House. They are rich in biographical material.

Teachers Registration Council c 1902-1948 (Subject to Data Protection Act Limitations)
Registrations made by the Teachers Registration Council. Registration was never compulsory, so the registers do not contain all teachers; however, the volumes are useful for the information they contain on the careers of teachers, including the institution where they trained and details of the schools where they taught. There is one main alphabetical sequence and a smaller run of registrations of deceased registered teachers, often stamped with the date of "notification of death" and the source the information came from.

The first of these databases will probably appear online late this year. There is more information about this new offering available at the Society of Genealogists’ Web site at http://www.sog.org.uk and at Origins.net’s Web site: http://www.Origins.net.

Devon 1891 Census Transcription Project Update
A major project involving the 1891 Devon (England) census is underway. Quoting from the project’s Web page:

This project aims to provide a free online searchable transcription of the 1891 Census for Devon. It is intended as a pilot project, testing out organizational procedures and specially-designed software which is hoped will prove suitable for, and encourage the undertaking of, a planned much larger project, the FreeCEN Project, that would encompass other UK counties and census years . . . The project makes use of specially developed software modules for data entry, checking, validation and database upload, under the global name of UK-CENS . . . Over fifty volunteers are already involved in transcribing microfiche copies of the Devon census. . . Additional volunteers are very welcome - a few more transcribers are needed, and a larger number of checkers will shortly be required to help with the upcoming checking task. We also welcome contact by people who are willing to organise other similar contributions, for other census years and counties . . .

The project was initiated and planned largely by John Lerwill, with the assistance of a number of people, in particular, Bob Muchamore and Sue Kinsella (Australia), Nick Mayne, Brian Randell and Phil Stringer (U.K.), and Ray Osborn (New Zealand). John Lerwill remains in charge of the overall technical aspects of the project, while Brian Randell handles the project coordination. In order to spread the workload and reduce postal expenses, much of the organization of volunteers is handled on a regional basis by the following people:

• Dennis Radford assisted by Roy Conibear (US and Canada),
• Lesley Dawson assisted by Ros Haywood (UK), and
• Bob Muchamore (Australia and New Zealand).

This is a great "grass roots" cooperative genealogy project. A Web page describing the present status of this project, including a list of all the completed 1891 census transcriptions that are already available in GENUKI/Devon, is available at: http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/DEV/censusproject.html

PAF 4.0: the Videos
This week I watched some videotapes. In fact, I watched more than three and a half hours of videos on how to use the Windows version of Personal Ancestral File version 4.0. I must say that I learned a number of things about the program that I didn’t know previously.

Personal Ancestral File is a very popular genealogy program that is offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One reason for its popularity is its price: the program is free. You can download it directly from http://www.ldscatalog.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=369179
&prmenbr=1402&CGRY_NUM=373032&RowStart=1&LocCode=FH.

The Mormon Church does not produce the videotapes that I watched. Instead, these videotapes are produced by "The Studio," a commercial video and multimedia production facility based in Utah.

Two different videos for Personal Ancestral File are available now: "Getting Started Video Training" and "Intermediate Video Training." These videos tend to go deeper into various topics than the available manuals or the program’s built-in help files. Best of all, you can watch as an experienced instructor demonstrates the use of the program, something you will not obtain from a user’s manual.

The Personal Ancestral File "Getting Started Video Training" video features host Steve Lemmon, who spends roughly an hour and 45 minutes showing the basics of the program. He starts off with such topics as how to use the mouse, how to enter names and other basics. Very early in the video he shows how to insert multimedia files into the database. This surprised me a bit, as I didn’t think the use of multimedia was an elementary topic to be used at the beginning of a "Getting Started" videotape. However, Steve only spends a brief amount of time on the subject and then moves onto other topics that I expected. He shows how to enter data, how to insert European characters (umlauts, accents, etc.) and how to use the LDS-specific fields in the database. He also discusses protecting the privacy of living individuals. Near the end of the tape, Mr. Lemmon spends time showing how to use the program’s built-in help files and also how to make backups of the database. This "getting started" video lives up to its name; Steve Lemmon does an excellent job of covering the basics.

The "Intermediate Video Training" features Alan Mann. Alan is an Accredited Genealogist who is well known in genealogy circles. He is a prolific writer and lecturer on a wide variety of genealogy topics. The intermediate tape is almost two hours long and shows Alan demonstrating features of the program not shown on the earlier tape. He demonstrates several ways of navigating around the program, both with and without the use of a mouse. Alan also demonstrates quite a few of the hotkeys PAF version 4.0 utilizes as shortcuts to many functions. He also covers many of the advanced preferences, such as "auto-completion" and the use of the address book. I was especially pleased to see him spend quite a bit of time on recording sources. Not only does he show the keyboard commands, but he also discusses why every genealogist needs to record the source of every piece of information recorded.

The "Intermediate Video Training" also covers image file formats, how to import data from other sources and especially how to import data into a new database so that you do not insert possibly erroneous data into your own! The videotape spends quite a bit of time showing how to merge two datasets together. That is, when a newly received database contains information about individuals that are already recorded in the main database, the merge feature allows the user to identify these "duplicate" individuals and combine the data on them, preserving all the links to their relatives. The "Intermediate Video Training" tape also covers many of the printed reports available and then spends quite a bit of time on creating computer-generated Web pages. Again, the Intermediate tape does a great job of covering the topics involved.

The "Getting Started" videotape is aimed at the complete novice, while the intermediate tape is aimed at the user who has been using Personal Ancestral File for a few hours and is already comfortable with the basics. Near the end of the intermediate tape, there is a hint that an "Advanced Topics" videotape will be available some day, but apparently this third video has not yet been released.

The Personal Ancestral File videotapes apparently are only available in NTSC format and therefore can only be used on North American television sets. They will not play properly on U.K. or European television systems.

The Personal Ancestral File version 4.0 for Windows "Getting Started Video Training" sells for $12.95 and the "Intermediate Video Training" costs $14.95. Both prices are in U.S. funds. You will also have to pay for shipping charges. You can obtain more information about these videotapes or even order them online at: http://www.pafvideo.com

My Least Favorite Genealogy Web Site
This week I decided to publish a "reprint" of an article that I wrote almost three years ago. The reason that I am publishing it again is because of all the e-mails I have been receiving lately on this topic.

I have written a lot over the past few years about Halbert’s, a company that claimed to publish "the story of your family name." Halbert’s sent hundreds of millions of advertisements showing a Bath, Ohio return address even though the company was actually located in nearby Akron, Ohio. While the advertisements seemed to describe books full of valuable genealogy data, the hapless buyer paid $30.00 or $40.00 for a cheaply-produced booklet full of names and addresses extracted from telephone books, along with some generic information on how to get started in genealogy. Halbert’s also sold so-called "family coats of arms" suitable for framing. They also sold coats of arms on coffee cups, golf shirts and even on key chains. (Please note that there is no such thing as a "family coat of arms" in the British Isles or in Western Europe, but people keep buying this junk anyway.)

Late last year I wrote several articles about Halbert’s. One described an announcement that the company was for sale, and then, a few weeks later, another article described the shut down of Halbert’s. In fact, last fall the company laid off all the employees and even sold the office furniture. I was told recently that Halbert’s parent company, NUMA Corporation, has also ceased operations within the past few weeks. I haven’t verified that, but I did dial NUMA’s published telephone number at 330-923-5000 this week. I got a recording that says the number has been changed to 330-945-8228. When I dialed the second number, I got a recording that said that number was disconnected. If NUMA is still in business, then they certainly are hard to find.

Ever since I wrote that Halbert’s has been shut down, I have received e-mails from people saying that the company only moved or perhaps was sold to new owners. Apparently the Internet newsgroups frequently contain wildly speculative messages claiming that Halbert’s has been reincarnated elsewhere. These e-mails report "new operations" from various locations in Colorado, Florida and/or Canada. In fact, all of the companies mentioned so far were in business for several years before Halbert’s was shut down and are not affiliated with Halbert’s in any way. While Halbert’s was the best-known or most notorious company in this business, they always had competitors, other companies that sell the same or similar "products." Some of these competitors have been in business for years.

The following is an article that I published in the July 7, 1997 newsletter describing one of these companies. Little has changed since then, except that they now have new URLs, which I have updated in this article:

I received an e-mail this week proclaiming "Discover Your Family History - Rated ‘Cool Site of the Week’." This was obviously an e-mail sent as "bulk mail," not a personalized message to me. But the e-mail went on and on:

Do you know WHO your ancestors are and WHAT they did?

Do you know WHEN your surname first appeared?

Are you curious about WHERE your family roots originate?

Now you can fill in the missing pieces of this puzzle. Join the satisfied multitudes who have discovered their complete Family Surname History.

All Nationalities. It's easy. Just key your last name into our online index, and in seconds we will tell you it's origin and much MORE. See if we've researched your complete family name history during our 25 years of professional research.

Well, I happen to know who many of my ancestors are and even what many of them did. I do know where my surname first appeared. I also admit to being rather skeptical, but I just had to see this one. So I fired up a Web browser and look at the site listed. I was soon looking at the "Hall of Names International" which obviously is trying to sell reproductions of coats of arms and the "history of your family name." The Web site has numerous graphics of coats of arms and pictures of medieval armor.

The site offers a surname search capability, so I entered my own surname. It said, "Eastman is of British and/or Irish origin." That’s only partially correct. The name is found in England in the 1500s but not in Ireland until the 1800s, when an Englishman of that name moved to Ireland. And the Web site ignores the various EASTMAN immigrants to the U.S. and Canada who came from Sweden and Denmark and even one Eastman who came from Russia.

I then clicked on an icon for more information and was informed that:

Yes! We have researched your Family History! The history of this ancient Suffolk family traces its ancestry as a family of Anglo Saxon origin before the year 1100 and appears first in the ancient records in Suffolk .

Sorry, folks. Again I disagree. The name first appears around the year 1500 near Salisbury, Wiltshire and not "before the year 1100." The Web site’s text went on to say the company could send a "completely researched parchment history of the Eastman family [that] not only includes in full colour the most ancient family name Coat of Arms but traces the surname origin forward from the 11th or 12th century. This beautifully detailed history includes the Eastman nobles & titles, the family castles, estates and manors, the battles, wars and feuds they overcame, the branches as they formed throughout Europe, pioneers and settler's and also the notables of this distinguished family who lived during this century."

Nobles and titles? Family castles? Estates and manors? Give me a break! These ancestors were farmers and basket makers. The wealthiest one I ever found was one who left a few head of sheep and some pewter plates in his will. Nothing else. I’ve been researching this name for years and have combed every piece of information I could. I have never seen a single documented reference to an Eastman castle, estate or manor. I have to question this "completely researched parchment history."

For "only" $14.95 they offered to send me this "completely researched parchment history." And free with every order is a key chain with my coat of arms. They even offer a golf shirt embroidered with "my" coat of arms for $25.95. I decided to pass up these "great offers."

If you really want to see this electronic equivalent of the stuff sold in mall pushcarts, look at: http://www.hallofnames.com or http://www.endofschool.com/tree/wisha1.html. These are sites advertising products produced by Swyrich Corporation. But hang onto your wallet real tight.

Little has changed since I wrote the above words nearly three years ago.

The International Hall of Names also sells "franchises" to others. Apparently some of these are the pushcart businesses that you sometimes see in shopping malls. Private individuals can license the database and some software to make printouts on demand. A "franchise" costs $5,000, according the International Hall of Names’ Web site. I also found a number of other Web sites peddling similar products. While they were doing business under several different business names, every one of them had the statement "Copyright by the International Hall of Names" on their pages.

If you receive solicitations from any company that claims to deliver the history of your family name or your so-called family coat of arms, check with the National Genealogical Society's Consumer Protection Committee. They keep tabs on all of these companies as part of their genealogical consumer protection activities.

If you would like to learn more about legitimate coats of arms, look at The Feudal Herald at http://www.baronage.co.uk or at the American College Of Heraldry Web site at: http://users.aol.com/ballywoodn/acheraldry.html or at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies Web site at: http://www.ihgs.ac.uk. The information found on these sites will be far more accurate than that from someone peddling coffee cups, key chains and golf shirts.

Caveat Emptor!

Upcoming Events
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.

If you would like to see your event listed in future newsletters, 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 list of events is published once a month, usually in the first newsletter of each month.

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 Ontario Genealogical Society will hold Seminar 2000 at the Ottawa Congress Centre in Ottawa on May 12-14, 2000. Details are available at: http://www.cyberus.ca/~ogsottawa/sem2000.htm

The Wisconsin State Genealogical Society will hold its Spring Seminar on May 13, 2000 in Madison, Wisconsin. The theme of the seminar will be "Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place." The speaker will be Michael J. Leclerc of NEHGS. For further information, visit the WSGS web site: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wsgs.

The Fulton County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society will hold "Discovering the Past," a one-day seminar, on May 20, 2000 in Delta, Ohio. Featured speakers will be Paul Milner and Curt Witcher. Mr. Milner is the book review editor for the Federal Genealogical Society's "Forum" and a specialist on British research. Mr. Witcher is the manager of the Historical Genealogy Department at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For more information concerning the seminar, look at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohfulton/.

The Computer-Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois will hold a seminar featuring Patricia Sengstock discussing the use of Deed Mapper software in a presentation entitled "Plot It Yourself" on May 21st in Schaumburg, Illinois. For more info, look at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcaggni

*The Society of Australian Genealogists is holding its 5th annual Showcase on May 26th and 27th. There will be lectures, Internet and genealogical software demonstrations as well as representatives from various organizations, government departments, churches, and more. For more information see http://www.sag.org.au

The National Genealogical Society’s "Conference in the States" will be held in Providence, Rhode Island from May 31 through June 3, 2000. This is the largest genealogy conference in the United States each year. This year’s event will feature more than 100 presentations, seminars and meetings. Details are available at: http://www.ngsgenealogy.org

The first all-inclusive McCleskey Families of Texas Reunion is planned for June 3-4, 2000 in Dublin, Texas. These are generally the descendants and allied families of James and Joseph McCleskey of Georgia (1700s), who made their way to Texas after the Civil War. For more information, look at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~peggyjbr/index.htm

The Cape Cod Genealogical Society will hold their Annual Meeting and Luncheon on 7 June 2000 in Orleans, Massachusetts. This meeting features a presentation by Kyle Betit on "Sources & Strategies for Finding Immigrant Origins." For information, contact: jwb@mailman.c4.net.

The Lay Family Genealogical Association will be meeting June 15-17 at Indian Rocks Beach, FL. All Lay, Leigh. Ley. Lea, Loy, etc. genealogy researchers are welcome. Lay research will be shared, and genealogy classes offered, at a beach location. For information, contact: ovlay@aol.com and Loyal_Lay@yahoo.com

The first national Ory/Owrey (and various other spellings) reunion will be held June 16-18, 2000, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. For more information, contact tblake@iolinc.net

The Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies will hold its Silver Anniversary Conference in Wichita, Kansas on June 16. The conference will consist of genealogical workshops, an awards dinner, and a Silver Anniversary Reception. Dr. George K. Schweitzer, nationally known lecturer and author, will be the featured speaker on Saturday, June 17. For additional information, look at: http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/kcgs/conf.htm

The Wayne County (PA) Historical Society will host a Genealogy Fair on June 17, 2000, featuring speakers and experts from twelve regional historical/genealogical organizations. For information, send an email to wchspa@ptd.net

*St. Louis, Missouri: The St. Louis Genealogical Society will hold its 30th Annual Fair on Saturday, June 17, 2000 in St. Louis, Missouri. The all-day fair will feature Pamela Porter, CGRS, Craig Scott, CGRS and Curt Witcher, MLS. For more information, look at: http://www.rootsweb.org/~mostlogs/STINDEX.HTM

*The Florence Siuslaw Genealogical Society will sponsor a one-day Genealogy Seminar on Saturday, June 17 in Florence, Oregon. Four beginning classes will be offered, including "How to Begin," "Documentation," "Census Records," and "Pedigree Analysis." The four intermediate sessions are "Indian Rolls," "Genealogy and the Internet," "Irish Research," and "County Records." Details are available from: panama@presys.com

Descendants of two SISSON kindred, Richard and Mary SISSON of colonial Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and Robert and Amye SISSON of colonial Virginia, will meet near Cincinnati, Ohio, from June 22 to 24, 2000. More information is available at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dasisson/

*The Gann Historical Society & Library, Inc. Annual Meeting and Conference is scheduled for Englewood, Colorado on June 23 and 24. To receive a registration packet and a schedule of events, or any other information about the organization, contact: Crjagann@aol.com.

The McCraw Family Association biannual family reunion will be held 23, 24, 25 June 2000 in Bradenton, FL. All descendants of William McCraw, immigrant from Scotland, are invited to attend. For information, contact audraem@aol.com

*The first Dennis Family Reunion will convene June 23, 24 and 25, 2000 in Newport, RI. For more information, contact: Serge317@aol.com

The Connaughton Family Reunion will be held July 4th and 5th, 2000 in Clonark, Athlone, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. Information is available at: http://homepage.eircom.net/~connaughton/reunion2000/

The CASSELMAN Ancestral Society will be holding an international family reunion July 7-8-9 2000 in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada, open to all members and friends of the Casselman/Castleman (and other spellings) family. For info, look at: http://www.glen-net.ca/casselman

The Lloyd-Jones Reunion 2000 will be held near Spring Green, Wisconsin, July 7-9th. The family reunion is held every five years. For more information see the website at http://www.unitychapel.org

The Newberry Library's Friends of Genealogy will hold their Annual Open House and "Internet Genealogy 101" evening lecture with Bruce Gillis, Rhonda Frevert, June Buller & Marsha Peterson-Maass on July 12 in Chicago. Details are available at: http://www.newberry.org/nl/genealogy/L3gfriends.html

The Germans From Russia Heritage Society (GRHS) will celebrate its 30th anniversary at its year 2000 convention in Bismarck, North Dakota, July 13-16, 2000. Additional details are available at: http://www.grhs.com.

The William & Antonia Plooster Family Reunion "2000" will take place on July 14, 15 and 16, 2000 in Mitchell, South Dakota. All descendants of the William and Antonia Plooster family are invited to attend. Information is available from: mplooste@du.edu

The Crandall Family Association will hold its biennial meeting on Saturday 15 Jul 2000 at the First Hopkinton Seventh Day Baptist Church Parish House in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. The theme of this year's reunion will be "Prudence Crandall of Hopkinton". For further details go to: http://www.cfa.net/cfa/reunion.html

The German Interest Group is hosting "Improving Your German Research" on 15 July 2000 in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The speaker is Shirley J. Reimer from Sacramento, CA, who is the author of "The German Research Companion". For more information see: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/origins1/gig.html

The Allen County Public Library and the Allen County Public Library Foundation, through the Historical Genealogy Department, will hold a national conference to be held at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, July 20-22, 2000. Details are available at: http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/graphics/year2000.html

The Cherry-Krisher Family Reunion 2000 will be held July 27-28-29, 2000 in Fort Steele, British Columbia, Canada. All descendants, relatives and allied families of William Henery Krisher and Charlotte (Dot) Elizabeth Cherry are invited to attend. More information is available at http://www.cherry-krisher.i-p.com/.

The Alden Kindred of America will hold its 100th meeting in Duxbury, Massachusetts, August 2-6, 2000. Events include a cruise to Provincetown, the Centennial address by The Reverend Professor Peter Gomes at the First Parish Church, Duxbury, a 1620 Theme Dinner at Plimoth Plantation, and the 100th Reunion Celebration at the historic John Alden House Museum. Full details are at: http://www.alden.org

The National Association of the Van Valkenburg Family will hold its annual reunion in Indianapolis, IN on Aug. 9-13, 2000. All Van Valkenburgs, or descendants of VVs, regardless of spelling (VanVolkenburgh, Van Velkingburg, etc.) are welcome. For more information contact: renflod@azstarnet.com.

The 110th annual Storrs Family Reunion will be held on 13 August 2000 in Storrs, Connecticut. All Storrs and related family members are invited to attend. For registration or questions, please contact: mstorrs@neca.com

The Timen Stiddem Society, a family association for the descendants of this immigrant from Sweden in the 17th century, is holding a "Reunion of the Descendants of Timen Stiddem," August 18-20, 2000, in Wilmington, Delaware, site of the origin of the Stidham family in America. Surname variations include: Stidam, Stidom, Steadham, Stedham, Steddom, and Stedum. More information can be found at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~tstiddem/index.html

The "Hooked on Genealogy Tour" will leave New Zealand and Australia on their round-the-world tour on August 19, 2000. The first stop will be for nearly 3 weeks in Salt Lake City, to be followed by one week in London (with an optional second week) and then a trip to Perth for the Australasian Genealogical Congress. Americans are especially invited to join this round-the-world genealogy trip. Details are available at: http://HookedonGenealogyTours.bizland.com

The British Isles Family History Society - U.S.A. will present its 13th Annual Seminar on the legendary Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach Harbor, August 24-26 2000, Long Beach, CA. The three days will include a variety of topics by national and international experts, including: Peter Wilson Coldham, Kathleen B. Kory, Cyndi Howells, Brian Mitchell and Darris Williams. For details, visit the Society website at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~bifhsusa

*The Twentieth Annual Meeting for the Towne Family Association, Inc. to be held September 14-17, 2000 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Towne Family Association is a genealogical organization whose members are the descendants of William and Joanna who came to America from Great Yarmouth, England and settled in Salem, MA about 1640. For information on the annual meeting or Association membership please contact: BRBAYLIS@aol.com

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.

The Fov Valley (Illinois) Genealogical Society's September 30, 2000 Conference will feature Dr. George K. Schweitzer (who dresses in appropriate period costume). Topics will include "Migration Routes and Settlement Patterns," "Finding Your Ancestors’ Parents," and "Civil War Genealogy." Early registration is strongly suggested. Details are available at: http://www.members.aol.com/fvgs1/index.html/

*A Family History & Genealogy fair will be held at Heritage Square in Phoenix, Arizona on October 7. For information, see the Family History Society web site at http://www.fhsa.org/.

The Newberry Library's Friends of Genealogy will hold their 4th annual "Ask The Experts: On Military Records" panel discussion on October 11 Chicago. Details are available at: http://www.newberry.org/nl/genealogy/L3gfriends.html

The Dragoo Family Association (DFA) Biennial Reunion will be held October 12-15, 2000 in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, contact: GWatson3@Compuserve.com

An O'Mahony get-together to be held in Ottawa, Ontario Canada on October 13-15, 2000. This will be the first Canadian gathering. For information about the society and fall gathering, contact: grandpre@global2000.net

The Alford American Family Association will hold its 13th annual meeting and national Alford family reunion in Augusta, GA Oct 13-15, 2000. The association is for all spelling variations such as Alvord, Halford, Alfred, etc. Membership is not required for attendance, but registration is required and pre-registration is recommended. For more information go to: http://www.alford.com/alford/aafa/homepage.html.

*Preserving Our Past (POP) Fair will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on October 14. The Fair features historical organizations and repositories from Central Arizona. For additional information, contact the Arizona Archives at: msturgeo@dlapr.lib.az.us

*The Family History Society of Arizona will host an Annual Seminar on October 27 and 28, 2000. Guest speaker will be Kellee Blake, Director, National Archives, Mid-Atlantic Region. The seminar will be held at Arizona State University Memorial Union. For information, see FHSA website http://www.fhsa.org/

The Ingham County Genealogical Society (of Mason, Michigan) holds its annual fall seminar on October 28, 2000. Speakers are Curt B. Witcher and Shirley J. Hodges. For information go to: http://userdata.acd.net/mmgs/icgs.html

*The West Valley Genealogical Society seminar will be held February 17, 2001 in Sun City, Arizona. Birdie Monk Holsclaw will be the guest speaker. For information, contact jmcraewh@earthlink.net

A reunion for anyone who has an interest in, or ancestors from, the Dutch island of Goeree-Overflakkee in the province of Zuid, Holland, will be held in September 2001. This reunion will take place in or near the village of Ouddorp, which has been inhabited since before 300 BC. Participants will not only visit the Genealogical Center in Middelharnis, but also the annual genealogical day, organized by the Zeeland chapter of the NGV, (Dutch Genealogical Society). Details are available at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lake/1588/

If you would like to submit news, information or press releases for possible inclusion in future newsletters, send them to roots@compuserve.com. The author does reserve the right to accept or reject any articles submitted.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is being written and sent via e-mail at no charge. I expect to write one new issue on a more or less weekly basis. However, life sometimes interferes, and the need to earn a living may create an occasional delay.

COPYRIGHTS: The contents of this newsletter are copyright by Richard W. Eastman. You are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute articles from this newsletter to other parties provided you do so strictly for non-commercial purposes. Please limit your re-distribution to one or two articles per newsletter; do not re-distribute the newsletter in its entirety. Also, please include the following words with any articles you re-distribute:

The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2000 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author.

Thank you for your cooperation.