• CompuServe's Genealogy Forums are Now Available on the Web
• More on Family Tree Maker and "E.T. Phone Home"
• Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858
• Online Family Tree Enhanced
• Online Timelines
• Society of Genealogists' Computer Committee Dissolved Abruptly
• More NGS Awards
• Back Issues of this Newsletter
• Upcoming Events

The "problem" with these genealogy forums is that they have only been available to CompuServe members who paid fees for online access. While there are 2.5 million CompuServe members, that is only a fraction of the people online these days. Now these genealogy forums have been opened up to everyone with Web access. Best of all, they are free. Besides CompuServe's 2.5 million members, an additional 22 million AOL members plus another 40 million Instant Messenger users can access the same forums. You don't even need the special software that CompuServe used to require; now you can access these forums with Netscape, Internet Explorer, or AOL's software.

CompuServe has three genealogy forums:

The North American Genealogy Forum focuses on genealogy research in the United States and Canada, including Native American and Black American genealogy sections. There is also an active Adoption Searches section that has produced a number of success stories.

The World Wide Genealogy Forum focuses on all genealogy research outside of North America. Obviously, this includes the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe. It also has sections for Australia and New Zealand, the Caribbean, and Hispanic genealogy. The Jewish Genealogy section also resides in the World Wide Genealogy Forum.

The third, and most popular, forum is called the Genealogy Techniques Forum. Here you will find all the messages and files that are not related to geographic or ethnic origins. Sections in the Genealogy Techniques Forum include How to Get Started, Genealogy Software, Creating Your Own Genealogy Web Pages, Genealogy CD-ROM Disks, Books and Magazines, Seminars and Meetings, Heraldry (Coats of Arms), Professional Genealogists, Finding Living People and more. The same forum has file libraries with hundreds of free and shareware genealogy programs and utilities for Windows, MS-DOS, Macintosh and a few other operating systems. You can also find a discussion board section dedicated to the articles in this newsletter.

In the North American Genealogy Forum you can find another popular section: Online Queries . Here you can post brief queries that are similar to the queries you see in printed magazines. Examples would include, "Who are the parents of Sarah Smith, married to John Jones in Salem, Massachusetts in 1638?" Such a question normally is followed by four or five sentences listing information already known about that person. The advantage of placing these in text files is a longer "shelf life" and the ease of quickly searching by keyword.

The three genealogy forums have a total of 32 chat rooms. Most of the online chats occur in one of two rooms in the Genealogy Techniques Forum: The Main Chat Room and The Hot Tub. As you might guess, The Hot Tub is an informal place where online friends may gather to chit-chat about any topic, genealogy-related or not. There are other chat rooms for specific genealogy topics, such as New England Genealogy, Scandinavian Genealogy, Black American Heritage, and other geographic and ethnic origins. The most popular online chats are held Tuesday evenings at 10:00 PM Eastern time, 7:00 PM Pacific, in The Main Chat Room on the Genealogy Techniques Forum. These are free-wheeling online chats, where you will see genealogy-related and non-genealogy-related conversations intertwined all evening. The primary topic is whatever you want it to be: bring your questions!

You can even host an online chat dedicated to your favorite genealogy-related topic. If you send a message on the forum to the forum administrators, they can help "advertise" your session with an announcement. All of the chat rooms are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can drop into a chat room at any time and converse online with other folks who are interested in genealogy. To access the Genealogy Forums on CompuServe, you need to have any one of the following:

Netscape 4.0 or later, plus a registration on CompuServe Instant Messenger or America Online Instant Messenger or Netscape Instant Messenger

Microsoft's Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later, plus a registration on CompuServe Instant Messenger or America Online Instant Messenger or Netscape Instant Messenger

An active CompuServe membership along with any modern CompuServe program, such as CompuServe 4.0, CompuServe 2000, OzWIN, TAPCIS, Csurfer, etc.

An active America Online membership and current AOL software (This includes the AOL Instant Messenger.)

One point to note is that, even though Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer users must be registered with one of the appropriate instant messenger services, they do not need to actually have the instant messenger software installed. Only the instant messenger user ID and password are required to access the genealogy forums. This works whether the instant messenger software is installed or not. Once the user ID and password are entered, the user can access the forums, even without the instant messenger software installed.

Each of the Genealogy Forums on CompuServe has its own URL. However, I have created an "umbrella site" at http://www.rootsforum.com that contains links to all three forums, plus links to a few other online genealogy resources. The URL of http://www.rootsforum.com is easier to remember than the longer URLs of each individual forum.

You can also find information at this URL on how to register a user ID and password on CompuServe Instant Messenger, America Online Instant Messenger or Netscape Instant Messenger.

Access to the Genealogy Forums on CompuServe is free. To check it out for yourself, go to: http://www.rootsforum.com

More on Family Tree Maker and "E.T. Phone Home"
Last week I wrote a lengthy article about the so-called "E.T. Phone Home" programs that are rather common today. These programs surreptitiously collect information about the person using the software and then secretly send that data back to the software producers or some other organization. All of these programs will report on the user's personal data without his or her knowledge. Data reported may include such information as Web sites visited, mouseclicks (especially those clicks made on various online advertisements), software installed on the hard drive, e-mail addresses, etc. I then reported my experience with Family Tree Maker version 7, which uses this technology. You can read the entire article at: www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/1797.asp

This week the folks at genealogy.com, the producers of Family Tree Maker, wrote to say that the current version of Family Tree Maker (version 7.5) does not include this technology. Further, they provided the following explanation for their use of the technology:

Brodcast is a technology developed at Broderbund (hence the play on the word broadcast).

When you start most programs, the first thing you see is the "splash screen" which usually includes a logo and some version information.

The idea behind Brodcast was that the splash screen didn't have to be static and stay the same for the life of the program. It could be changed when there was some information that the company wanted to pass along to its customers. The availability of new versions or related products or services could be made known on the splash screen.

In order to do this, though, the company had to enable your program and had to know what program and version you had. Programs that included Brodcast and that had Brodcast enabled made an entry in the Windows registry. For instance, in Family Tree Maker when the program installed, the customer is asked if they want to enable Brodcast, and every time the program is started the customer can choose to enable to disable it. When an online connection was sensed, the DSSAgent (DSS stands for Dynamic Splash Screen) checked with a Broderbund server and asked if there were any new splash screens available. If so, they would be downloaded (the splash screen is simply a *.jpg image) and put into the appropriate program's directory.

While a few versions of Family Tree Maker did have Brodcast technology built in, we never used it to send any new splash screens to any Family Tree Maker customer. And the latest version of Family Tree Maker (which is 7.5) does not include Brodcast.

Additionally, Mattel recently released a utility that will remove Brodcast. It can be found at: www.mattelsupport.com/broadcastpatch.asp

Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858
This week I had a chance to use a new genealogy CD-ROM disk with a very long name: "Irish Records Index Volume1, Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858, Records at the National Archives of Ireland." This Windows CD-ROM produced by Eneclann Limited is an index to the Testamentary Records in the National Archives of Ireland (formerly the Public Record Office). Notice that it is called "Volume 1." Obviously there will be follow-on CD-ROM disks in the future.

This first volume covers all 32 counties for these years that were poorly documented. Volume 1 contains over 70,000 individual records with:

• over 100,000 names
• over 10,000 surnames and variants
• over 1,000 different occupations

I was going to write about the contents of this CD-ROM disk. However, I found a great description on the disk itself, so here is the publisher's own offering:

The impetus behind this publication developed out of the needs of Eneclann's own genealogical research division. Every Irish historian and genealogist researches under the shadow of the destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) in 1922. The vast majority of Ireland's testamentary records (wills, administrations, probates, etc.) were lost in that explosion. But not everything was lost. More importantly the staff at the PROI (now the National Archives of Ireland) have spent the last 77 years trying to recover from that loss. Today there are thousands of testamentary records again, although they are not always easy to find. For this reason it became clear that there was a need to publish an index to these records, making it easier for researchers and hobbyists to locate what is available. This publication aims to answer that need. So what is contained in this publication? First of all it is an index to records at the National Archives of Ireland only. Future volumes in this series (Irish Records Index) will feature sources from other archival repositories. This volume is only concerned with those records which survive in more than index form. In other words: original documents, copies, transcripts, abstracts and extracts. We have, however, not included two sources which will have to await publication in a subsequent volume of this series. These are the Betham Abstracts and the Groves Papers. The former almost exclusively relate to Prerogative wills pre-dating 1800, which have been indexed by Sir Arthur Vicars. The Groves Papers would also have been a useful addition to this project, but proved unwieldy for publication in the short term. We intend to return to both of these sources in the future. And finally, this index covers the years up to 1858, when the whole testamentary system was fundamentally overhauled. Prior to this date the established church (the Church of Ireland) had authority over all testamentary matters, including proving wills, grants of probate and administrations. This took place at the local diocesan or consistorial courts in each Diocese. There was also a central Prerogative Court under the authority of the Archbishop of Armagh as Primate of Ireland. Testamentary matters were sent to the Prerogative Court when the deceased's property was assessed to be worth more than £5 in more than one diocese. In other words the wealthiest sector of Irish society. 'The Probates and Letters of Administration Act (Ireland)' was enacted on 25 August 1857, and removed control from the Church of Ireland and placed it in the hands of the state. This Act (20 & 21 Vict. c. 79) came into force in January 1858. Thereafter all probates and administrations were granted at the Principal Registry in Dublin and District Registries throughout the country. Summaries of their proceedings were published annually in calendar form. Eneclann hopes to electronically publish these volumes in the near future.

Types of Documents There are several types of documents indexed on this CD. While most of the records are wills or relate to testamentary matters (wills, probate, administrations, etc.), about 10% are not. Most of these additional records are marriage licences and assorted genealogical abstracts and their inclusion in this publication is not accidental.

• Standard Search
• Expert Search
• Soundex Search
• Table of Contents

Murphy, Andrew M610
Family Name: Murphy
Forename: Andrew
Status/Occupation: Solicitor
County: Dublin
Address: Rathgar Road, Dublin
Document Type: Administration
Document Status: Certified Copy
Year of Grant: 1847
Where Proved/Granted: Prerogative Court
NA Reference: T/674
Document ID: 48928

The Expert Search is quite a bit more complicated but useful with common names. With Expert Search, you can use almost all the Boolean search operators, including And, Or, Not, Exclusive Or, Phrase, single and multiple character wildcards, Ordered Proximity, Unordered Proximity, Greater Than, Less Than and Synonym. It took me a while to learn Expert Searches, but then I found that it was a powerful tool.

A Soundex Search is an excellent method of finding family names (or surnames) that can be spelled in a variety of ways. For example, "Smith" can also be spelled "Smyth," "Smithe," and "Smythe. A Soundex Search will find most spelling variations of a name.

Finally, you can start at the Table of Contents and browse through different record groupings.

When you find a document number listed, you can add that document number to a shopping cart and then later send a request for a photocopy of this document. The request goes to Eneclann, the producers of the CD-ROM. They will even scan the document in question and send the image to you by e-mail as well as sending a photocopy by "snail mail."

Each request costs $20.00 in U.S. funds. Obviously, you do not have to use Eneclann's services if you don't want to. However, this online ordering interface does provide a convenient method of using Eneclann, if you wish.

All in all, I found this CD-ROM to be an excellent genealogy tool. It contains a high-quality index to original records available at the Public Record Office of Ireland. Keep in mind it is an index; it does not contain the actual records. Like all indexes, the data available is limited to whatever the indexer(s) felt was needed. For instance, a probate record listed in this index may show the names on the will but will not list the property, the value or such genealogy tidbits as "I leave to my brother John...." If you find an ancestor listed on this CD-ROM, you will want to obtain a photocopy of the original document to examine all the data available.

The "Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858" CD-ROM requires Windows 95, 98 or NT, according to Eneclann. I suspect it will also operate on Windows 2000 although I didn't test it there myself. The disk also requires Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5. If you do not already have version 5, a copy is included on the CD-ROM. Obviously installing Internet Explorer from this CD-ROM will be much faster than downloading the same version from Microsoft's Web site.

The "Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858" CD-ROM disk costs $39.95 U.S. funds for non-European Union residents. Irish residents may purchase it for IR £36.30. Residents of other European Union countries will have to pay 46.09 Euros plus VAT of 21%. These prices do not include shipping. Luckily, it is easy for anyone to order online with a credit card, so you do not have to worry about buying a money order in some other country's currency. However, I was a bit dismayed to note that the online order form did not display a padlock symbol, indicating that it was not a secure page. I'd be reluctant to type my credit card number into a non- secure page, although I wouldn't hesitate to do so in a secure page. Perhaps you can drop a note to support@eneclann.tcd.ie and ask if they have a secure method of ordering by credit card.

To read more about the "Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858" CD-ROM disk, look at: www.eneclann.ie/cd1.htm

Online Family Tree Enhanced
The following is an announcement from Ancestry.com:

The "Online Family Tree" is a free, easy-to-use application to help users create family trees. It is also the only multi-user genealogy tool anywhere, so users can collaborate with family members to create family trees.

Ancestry.com is now introducing significant improvements to the "Online Family Tree." The new "Online Family Tree" gives users an experience that is more familiar, which will make it much easier to use for both experienced genealogists and those new to the hobby.

• A familiar user interface makes it fast and easy to move between different views and add new information.
• The user has the ability to view from four to seven generations in a pedigree.
• A view that displays three generations of descendants is now available.
• Each Editor, Guest, and Administrator can choose his or her own start individual, so each user sees the preferred root individual when logging in.
• The user can now navigate to the left in the pedigree as easily as navigating to the right.
• Pedigrees and family group sheets are offered in printer- friendly versions.
• It is now possible to view and add sources for all events.
• The user can include some non-English characters, such as German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Online Timelines
This week I used a Web site that I found intriguing. OurTimeLines.com offers personalized web pages that show how your life (or the life of anyone else you choose, such as ancestors) fits into history.

The first timeline that I created was for myself. I entered my year of birth and selected the year 2000 as the latest year of the timeline. A few seconds later, I was looking at a timeline of my life, along with events that occurred during those years. The events included wars, the reign of several heads of state, and a number of scientific discoveries.

I next entered the name of my great-great-grandfather along with his years of birth and death: 1811 to 1887. The resulting timeline was interesting. When great-great-granddad was 10 years old, the entire population of the United States of America was only 9.2 million. The internal combustion engine wasn't invented until great-great-granddad was 13 years old, the same year that John Quincy Adams was elected President. Even the first railroad in the U.S. did not appear until he was 17 years old, yet I know that railroads had a major influence on his later years. I can only imagine his wonder the first time that he saw a railroad locomotive. Still another item that caught my eye was the Depression and Panic of 1837 when great-great-granddad was 26 years old. Perhaps this was the reason he moved to the frontier of Maine at that time. Was he driven by economic necessity, looking for work? The timelines triggered many such imaginings.

The online timelines also offer the ability to generate a list of peers or contemporaries which provides the names of notable individuals who were born the same year as the person you're interested in. While not designed specifically for genealogy purpose, these timelines can help you visualize how a family member fits into history. It certainly can help your genealogical efforts to know these people a lot better. The site has numerous other "bells and whistles." It is an interesting place to spend an hour or so. To see for yourself, go to: www.ourtimelines.com/

My thanks to Bob Fenner for telling me about OurTimeLines.com

Society of Genealogists' Computer Committee Dissolved Abruptly
Something is amiss in England. I don't know all the details, but I do know that many Society of Genealogists members are incensed. Reportedly, the SoG Computer Committee was dissolved without the majority of committee members knowing about it in advance and with only 10 days notice to the Executive Committee. The Chairman of the Computer Committee reportedly wasn't even consulted about this action before the Executive Committee shut down the Computer Committee.

Computer Committee members and a number of other SoG members are loudly questioning this abrupt action in messages posted to the SoG Mailing List. Messages there make strong claims about the motives behind this abrupt action.

Is something going on? I don't know. But if I were a concerned member of the Society of Genealogists, I'd be asking some questions. I'd be reading the SoG mailing list messages, and then I'd be asking the Executive Committee why this happened so quickly and without notice. After hearing both sides, I'd make up my own mind.

By the way, the Annual General Meeting meets next Tuesday.

More NGS Awards
The following is an announcement from the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society:

NGS gave the following awards out at NGS Conference, Providence, RI, 31 May-3 June 2000:

COL. VARNEY R. NELL of Falls Church, Virginia, received the National Genealogical Society's President's Citation for his work as chair of the National Genealogy Hall of Fame Committee. Col. Nell chaired the committee from its inception until June of this year. During the fourteen years of his leadership, he won widespread recognition and respect for the National Genealogical Society and for genealogical excellence in venues beyond the Society's usual reach.

BYRON H. SISTLER, Nashville, TN, received the NGS Award of Merit for his many contributions to the field of genealogy through publishing. His publications cover Tennessee censuses from 1830-1880, Tennesseans in the War of 1812, the 1890 Civil War Veterans Census of Tennessee, Tennessee land grants, and vital records from 19th century church records. Numerous other of his publications focus on or index the marriages, wills and administrations, or tax lists of specific counties. He has also published the 1850 census of Kentucky. Byron publishes under the name of Byron Sistler and Associates -- his associates include wife, Barbara, and their six children.

GARLAND K. CHILDRESS of Louisville, KY, received the National Genealogical Society's Award of Merit for his dedication to obtaining recognition for three additional soldiers as participants in the Battle of Blue Licks on 18 August 1782. Through his efforts, the names of three Revolutionary War soldiers--Thomas Boone, James Ledgerwood, and John Childress (no relation)--were added to an existing monument at Blue Licks Battlefield Park, a Kentucky State Park. Mr. Childress also spearheaded fund raising efforts to pay half of the cost of the new monument erected on the site.

Back Issues of this Newsletter
Several people have recently asked about articles that I wrote weeks or even months ago. I'd like to point out that Ancestry.com keeps an excellent archive of back issues of this newsletter. Rick Sampson of Ancestry.com handles the Web pages there, and he also lists the major headlines from each issue so that you can quickly find the one you want. To quickly find back issues, go to: www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/d_p_1_archive.asp

Of course, the current issue is also available at: www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/eastman/eastman.asp

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.

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 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: 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 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: 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: 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 16th Annual Lowry Family Reunion will be July 14, 15 & 16, 2000 in McMinnville, Tennessee. This Lowry Family is descended from Revolutionary War Soldier John Lowry, but all Lowrys are invited to attend and share their family research. For more information, contact LowryLines@aol.com

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: 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: www.angelfire.com/biz/origins1/gig.html

*The Heritage Hunters of Saratoga Co., NY will host their 7th Annual Ancestor Connection Day on 15 July 2000 in Ballston Spa, NY. The event will include representatives of the National Archives of Pittsfield, MA, DAR, SAR, historians, book sellers, genealogical groups, and lectures by various speakers every hour. For more information, contact unlimitd1@juno.com

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: www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/

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 www.cherry-krisher.i-p.com/.

*The Fourth Annual Angelina College Genealogy Conference will be held July 27 through 29, 2000 in Lufkin, Texas. Details are available at: www.angelina.cc.tx.us

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: www.alden.org

*The 44th Annual Meeting of the Livesay Historical Society will be held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, August 3-5, 2000. The Society is open to all persons who are of Livesay descent, regardless of the variations in the spelling of the name, and any others who adhere to the purpose of the Society. More information about both the Society and the meeting can be found at the Society's web site: www.lhsociety.org/

*The Second Local and Family History Fair is to be held on Saturday 5 August at the Pavilion Conference Centre, Spa Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales. It will be hosted by the Powys Family History Society. Exhibitors include local and family history societies from Wales and the Border; Gwent and Powys Archives Offices, Brecon Military Museum, The Radnor Society, etc. For further details please see: www.kc3ltd.co.uk/~micronic/events.htm

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 Bendert/Williams Family Reunion will be held August 12, 2000. For information, contact: 102522.63@Compuserve.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 106th annual JOHNSON reunion of descendants of Daniel JOHNSON and Clarissa BLACKMER will be held Sunday, August 13, 2000 in Union City, Pennsylvania. Details are available at: www.buffalo.edu/~vh2/johnson.html

The Isle Madame Genealogy Summit will take place 15 through 19 August 2000 on Isle Madame, a small island off the south coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Details are available at: www3.ns.sympatico.ca/j.josse/Summit2000.html 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: 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 American-Canadian Genealogical Society's fall conference will be held at the society's library on September 22, 23 and 24. This is a great resource for anyone researching French- Canadian ancestry. More information may be obtained at: www.ACGS.com

*The National Archives and Records Administration-Great Lakes Region, the Chicago Historical Society, the National Park Service, Chicago and Salt Creek Civil War Round Tables are cosponsoring their annual Civil War Symposium in Chicago on Saturday, September 23, 2000. This year's program is "War on the Waters: Civil War Naval Operations." Details are available at: www.nara.gov/regional/chisym00.html

The Fox 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://members.aol.com/fvgs1/index.html/

*The Genealogical Council of Oregon Invites All Genealogists to attend the 6th Statewide Genealogical Conference Friday and Saturday, Oct. 6 & 7, 2000. The meeting will be held in Salem, Oregon. Alan Mann will be the keynote speaker, and a number of presentations are planned. For information, contact: jwillhit@orednet.org

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

*The descendants of Isaac Lesesne, Huguenot immigrant to Daniel Island, SC, in the 17th century, will hold their biennial reunion at New Market, near Greeleyville, South Carolina, on October 7, 2000. For details, contact: lesesne@lesesneconnette.com.

*AKEHURST GetTogether: An international meeting of all researching the name Akehurst (and variants) will be held in Canterbury, Kent, UK, on the weekend of 7 & 8 October 2000. For further information, look at: www.peninsula.starway.net.au/~ackehurst/conference.html

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: 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 will 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. For more information go to: 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 National Genealogy Society Regional Conference will be held in Spokane, WA on the 14th of October. It is being hosted by the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society. The speakers will be Curtis Witcher and Christine. For additional information, contact toppline@cet.com

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 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 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2001 will be held 8-12 January 2001 at the Wyndham Hotel, Salt Lake City, UT. The following courses will be held: 1) American Records and Research: Focusing on Localities; 2) Tracing Immigrant Origins; 3) Scottish Research; 4) Scandinavian Research; 5) Preparing a Family History in the New Millennium; 6) US Military records; 7) and 8) Research Methodology: Problem Solving I and Advanced Methodology: Problem Solving II; 9) Making the Most of Your Computer As a Serious Genealogist; 10) The Internet: A Tool for Genealogical Research. For more information, see: www.infouga.org/institut.htm

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

The Sonoma County Genealogical Society in Santa Rosa, CA, will feature Helen F.M. Leary at their meeting on 24 March 2001. Details are available at: www.rootsweb.com/~cascgs/leary.htm

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: 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.

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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.

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