• NGS Conference In The States a Success
• Heard and Seen at NGS Conference
• New Announcements Column
• PC Magazine Rates Genealogy Software
• Headstone Hunter
• Where is the Real GENUKI Web Site?
• Limousines
• Privacy
• Upcoming Events

I thought this year’s conference was a great success. The event was held in the Rhode Island Convention Center, a great choice for an event of this type. This modern facility is well equipped for conferences. The presentation rooms were large and had good acoustics. Multiple escalators made it easy to move between the different floors. Unlike some conferences I have attended in the past, signs were everywhere, pointing to the various events. The exhibitors’ hall was large and airy with wide aisles. There were three large hotels within a short walk of the conference hall, there was lots of automobile parking available, and I think there were probably 20 or more restaurants within a five-minute walk.

More than 200 presentations were available to conference attendees on a wide variety of genealogy-related topics. Some presentations featured basic genealogy topics, such as "Massachusetts Vital Records: Which of Six Collections Should You Search?" by Jay Holbrook and "Introduction to Irish Genealogy – Where Do I Start?" by Eileen M. O’Duill, who traveled to the conference from Dublin. There were more esoteric presentations as well, such as "Has Genealogy Found Artificial Intelligence?" by Everett B. Ireland and "Using Satellites in Genealogy" by some guy named Dick Eastman. Almost every popular genealogy software package was demonstrated, and several of the programmers who wrote the programs described advanced uses and shortcuts.

The attendance this year seemed to be less than some of the other NGS conferences that I have attended. However, every attendee that I talked with seemed to enjoy himself or herself; all the comments that I heard were very positive. In short, the organizers of the 2000 NGS Conference in the States should be congratulated on a job well done.

Now the big question is: Can they improve on all this at next year’s NGS Conference In The States to be held in Portland, Oregon?

Heard and Seen at NGS Conference
The annual NGS Conference In The States is always the scene of many new announcements by companies in the genealogy business. This year was no exception. I probably didn’t hear about every new service or product, but I did find out about the following new or recent announcements:

The National Genealogical Society has ratified a set of standards for genealogical Web sites.

Ancestry.com announced a $25,000 grant to the National Genealogical Society. This is a "no strings attached" donation to be used for any purpose the society deems worthy. The National Genealogical Society then announced that they would use the funds to create an educational project aimed at middle school youngsters. This project will include easy-to-read materials in the form of "genealogy comic books" to stimulate an interest in family history.

Ancestry.com also announced a $20,000 grant to the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society and Ancestry.com announced a joint effort to provide three well-known family history resources:

The first project to be jointly launched is a CD-ROM version of the Great Migration Project. This effort, led by Robert C. Anderson with a lot of assistance from Melinde Sanborn and George Sanborn, will give biographical sketches of every identifiable immigrant to New England from 1620 to 1633. This collection will detail nearly 900 immigrants. Tens of millions of Americans can trace their ancestry back to one or more of these 900 early arrivals. The Great Migration Project CD-ROM is expected to be available in mid-June.

Over the next three years, Ancestry.com will digitize and post online the entire NEHGS City Directory Collection. The collection contains more than 7,000 city directories estimated to contain well over 90 million names of individuals who lived in New England.

Ancestry.com is creating electronic images of articles in The New England Historic Genealogical Register, one of the most commonly used references in genealogy. In fact, "the Register" is the most commonly referenced periodical in the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). Once digitized, anyone will be able to quickly receive a Register article within hours through e-mail rather than waiting days or weeks for a photocopy sent via regular mail as is done today.

OneGreatFamily.com has announced a very ambitious project: to place data about every identifiable person who ever lived on the face of the earth into one huge, searchable database. This sounds a bit utopian, but I had a chance to look at their project and can report that these folks are serious! OneGreatFamily.com’s CEO Alan Eaton, the former technical lead of FamilySearch.org, received assistance in a formal introduction at the National Genealogical Society’s conference from Donnie Osmond. Yes, that is THE Donnie Osmond. The NGS introduction was staged a few hours after Donnie and Marie Osmond had introduced the product to their nationwide television audience. Donnie Osmond has been a very active beta tester of this new product.

OneGreatFamily.com says, "As part of the human family, we are all related; we are all connected. The circle of life includes all of us and is always expanding. We are all members of OneGreatFamily." The company maintains a large online database that is available to all members. Access to this database is via a Web browser. An Active-X component called the Genealogy BrowserTM is downloaded and automatically attached to the Web browser, providing one of the nicest user interfaces I have ever seen. You can easily see 25 or 50 or even more generations at once on the screen. You can quickly and easily zoom in to see details and then zoom back out to see the bigger picture. OneGreatFamily.com is a commercial venture, supported primarily by paid subscriptions. However, the company says that there will always be a Free Track membership to the site. The Free Track will see advertising that is not visible to those with paid memberships. I expect that Free Track members will also have less access, but the company has not yet announced the details.

SierraHome displayed their brand-new Generations Grande Suite version 8.0. The company has added a lot of features to their already-powerful software. However, one feature that blew me away is their new Generations 3D Tree. Sierra not only produces genealogy software; they also produce more than 200 other software products, including some state-of-the art video games. Apparently the genealogy division borrowed some Virtual Reality programmers from the gaming side of the house. At the conference I had a chance to move around a full family tree, including all of one individual’s known ancestors plus descendants, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and whoever else was attached to the family tree. I could move up to ancestors, down to descendants and laterally to second, third and fourth cousins, and then move vertically throughout THEIR family trees. Photographs can even be attached to each person’s record in the 3D tree. This three dimensional navigation of a family tree looked a lot like navigating through outer space, seeking and destroying Klingon ships! Trust me, there is no other genealogy product on the market today that can match this. I hope to write a full review of Generations Grande Suite version 8.0 soon.

GENTECH announced the completion of their Lexicon I project, and they are starting Lexicon II. Lexicon I consists primarily of the Genealogical Data Model Phase 1, a data model for genealogical research and analysis. I hope to write more about this great project soon. A new document detailing the Genealogical Data Model was distributed in Providence and also should be available for downloading from the GENTECH Web site sometime within the next week or so. Keep an eye on http://www.gentech.org

Wholly Genes Software gave a brief glimpse of their upcoming version 5.0 of The Master Genealogist. This version is not yet available. The company never predicts the ship dates of new releases. Version 5.0 has an all-new user interface, and I must say that it looks good. It is easy to resize and move windows as the user wishes. In fact, the user can keep a very simple single window open all the time or go to a more complex arrangement with many tiled or overlapping windows giving all sorts of views into the database. The number and position of these windows is saved when the program is closed. When restarted, the program opens up the same windows in the same positions that they were at previously. A number of new reports will be added as well. The Master Genealogist will now be fully 32-bit and will support all of the features normally found in 32-bit software, such as long file names, right-click mouse button, etc.

Wholly Genes Software also announced that a beta of version 4.0a of The Master Genealogist is available immediately. Registered users of 4.0 may download the new update now from the company’s Web site at http://www.whollygenes.com. While Wholly Genes is officially calling this a "late beta" release, the company believes that the same code will become the production release. They simply want a few thousand users to beat on the 4.0a code before creating the master disks.

While at the conference, I talked with Bob Velke of Wholly Genes Software and with a lot of long-time users of The Master Genealogist. I also found quite a few other people who had only recently converted to the program. The recent cancellation of Ultimate Family Tree obviously has greatly increased the sales of The Master Genealogist. The Master Genealogist now is arguably the most powerful genealogy product available today. The new version 4.0a contains a number of additions that former users of the Ultimate Family Tree had requested. Version 5.0 reportedly will include even more features requested by UFT converts.

The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints demonstrated the new Family History Library Catalog on CD-ROM and also the Pedigree Resource File Discs 6 through 10 (along with a new master Index). These products are available now. As with most of their CD-ROM products, the LDS church is offering these for sale at very low prices. See http://www.familysearch.org for details.

Progeny Software demonstrated their new Social Security Death Index CD-ROM for Windows. While a number of companies offer the SSDI on CD-ROM disks, Progeny Software says that they believe they are the only one to offer it on a single CD-ROM disk. Not only does that lower production expenses, allowing for lower prices, it also serves as a showcase product for the company’s data compression techniques. Progeny Software has worked with several organizations to offer large databases on CD-ROM, and the company offers this particular disk as an example of what they can do. Not only does this particular disk have all the 61 million Social Security death records through June of 1999, but it also includes a free trial version of GeneLines. The Social Security Death Index CD-ROM sells for $19.95 (U.S. funds) plus shipping. Details are available at: http://www.progenysoftware.com

Eneclann Ltd. is now shipping the "Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858" CD-ROM, a comprehensive index to the Testamentary Records in the National Archives of Ireland (formerly the Public Record Office). The data on this CD-ROM was compiled by professional archivists, not unskilled data entry clerks like many other CD-ROM disks. Professional historians then edited the data. I expect the error rates should be very low on this product. The "Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858" CD-ROM is the first volume in a new series of sources for Irish genealogy. This first volume covers all 32 counties for this poorly documented period. It contains over 70,000 individual records with more than 100,000 names, 10,000 surnames and variants and more than 1,000 different occupations. I hope to write a full review of this disk soon. However, if you cannot wait, take a look at: http://www.eneclann.tcd.ie/cd1.htm

ArchivesOnDemand.com has started to make valuable documents available online for subscribers. The documents to be offered soon will mostly be from the archives of the original thirteen states, supplemented by other rare books. Best of all, subscribers can register "areas of interest," such as particular surnames or locations. If a book is later added with references to this area of interest, an e-mail will be sent to the subscriber advising of the new addition. The service is just getting started now; keep an eye on http://www.ArchivesOnDemand.com

Thomas Jay Kemp was showing off his new book, "Genealogist’s Virtual Library." I already knew that there are a number of full-text genealogy books and journals available on the World Wide Web, but I was surprised at the number of them that Mr. Kemp found! This 268-page book lists thousands of full-text genealogy and history books available to anyone with Web access. I hope to also write about this book before long, but I can tell you now that it can be ordered from http://www.scholarly.com/

iLifeStyle.com is a rather new online service that offers several services. It allows you to create online family trees as "life timelines" that you can use to organize the milestones in your life chronologically and link them to media such as images, audio clips, video clips, or to other Web sites. You can also connect family members together in an online Web site that each can access. The company offers professional genealogy research services for a fee and provides features of interest to professional genealogists. The site is still under construction but will appear soon at: http://www.ilifestyle.com

The Ancestors II television series will appear in a few weeks on Public Broadcasting. Representatives from the TV show were at the NGS conference handing out literature and generally promoting the new series. Guests on this TV series will include Curt Witcher, David Rencher, Tony Burroughs and Cyndi Howells. This one looks like a winner! Keep an eye on your local PBS station’s program listings.

The above represents some of the news found at the NGS conference this past week. I know there must have been more than that, but the above is a list of what I found when wandering about. I couldn’t get to everything, however. If you or your organization made an announcement at the conference that I missed, please send an e-mail to me at announce@rootsforum.com so that I may include it in a future article.

New Announcements Column
Speaking of other announcements, I am thinking about adding a new section to this newsletter, probably to be called "Announcements" or something similar. I expect that once a month or so I will list new announcements of interest to genealogists in a format somewhat similar to the above list: a one-paragraph description. I can then pass this information on to more than 25,000 genealogists.

The new Announcements section will be similar to the Upcoming Events section that I already publish once a month. However, I see these as two separate columns. The "Upcoming Events" column will continue to publish meetings while the "Announcements" column will be for new products or services that have just appeared.

Announcements and press releases from both commercial companies and from non-profits are welcome. The announcements should be limited to two or three sentences, followed by a Web address or e-mail address that can supply detailed information. Announcements longer than this will not be considered. All announcements should be for newly introduced products or services. Repetitive or trivial announcements will not be published. As you might expect, I reserve the right to edit or reject any announcements received.

There is no charge for this service.

Please send any announcements you would like to see mentioned in this newsletter to: announce@rootsforum.com.

PC Magazine Rates Genealogy Software
The latest edition of PC Magazine contains a review of several leading genealogy programs and gives ratings for each. The magazine gives five stars plus the Editors’ Choice award to Generations 8.0 Grande Suite, calling it, "… a great educational tool for those who are just discovering genealogy."

The same article gives four stars to The Master Genealogist version 4.0, calling it, "a deep program with great organizational strengths, … designed for serious researchers."

Family Tree Maker version 7.5 also received four stars with the comment, "Family Tree Maker keeps getting better with each version."

Personal Ancestral File 4.0 and Ultimate Family Tree version 3.0 each received three stars. Apparently the lead times for magazine articles are a bit long; Ultimate Family Tree’s producer dropped the program two weeks before the PC Magazine article hit the newsstands.

Headstone Hunter
Headstone Hunter is a new online cooperative service for those who are looking for headstone information. If you are searching for information about a particular headstone, Headstone Hunter will publicize your search. Maybe someone will be able to respond. That's all you need to do.

If you want to volunteer your services to look for headstones (become a Headstone Hunter yourself), you can tell the world about that too. Both seekers and volunteers can register at the Headstone Hunter Web site.

I took a look through the Web site and found it easy to use. Since I live in New Hampshire, I first looked at the New Hampshire queries. Here is a typical request:

• ID:1175
• Headstone Description
• Name (last, first): Morissette, Marie Louise Almira
• Date of Death: Sep 1975(as reported)
• Date of Birth: Dec 1907 (as reported)
• Cemetery Information
• Country:US
• State / Province:NH
• City:Manchester
• Cemetery Name:

The e-mail address of the person who submitted the request was also shown.

The idea of such a service is that perhaps someone in the Manchester, New Hampshire area will see the request and will volunteer to find the tombstone. Even better, perhaps photograph it. Quoting from the site’s home page:

Genealogy research depends on accurate information and official records. Details from birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, wills, probate papers, and other legal documents are a great way to fill in branches on the family tree. In many cases, copies of these documents are easily available from local authorities.

But, there's another source of genealogy information that's just as credible - Headstone inscriptions. Unfortunately, it's a little more difficult to get copies of this data. And, with many of the popular genealogy software products providing the capability of including photos as part of the record, it would be nice to include a picture of Great Uncle Harry's tombstone ...if only you had it. That's where this web site comes in.

Using the Internet, we put people together with a common interest: those that are in need of headstone inscription data, and those that are willing to do the looking. It's that simple, and it's free.

This is an interesting service. To check it for yourself, to post a request or to assist someone else, go to: http://www.headstonehunter.com

Where is the Real GENUKI Web Site?
There seems to be a bit of controversy brewing over the acronym GENUKI. The GENUKI organization has been in business for several years at; www.genuki.org.uk. "GENUKI" is an abbreviation for "GENealogy United Kingdom and Ireland." The site at www.genuki.org.uk says, "The information provided by GENUKI must not be used for commercial purposes, and all specific restrictions concerning usage, copyright notices, etc., that are to be found on individual information pages within GENUKI must be strictly adhered to. Violation of these rules could gravely harm the cooperation that GENUKI is obtaining from many information providers, and hence threaten its whole future."

The letters "uk" at the end of www.genuki.org.uk indicates a site registered in the United Kingdom. Recently a new Web site has appeared at www.genuki.com. The "com" at the end of this URL indicates a registration within the United States. The site at www.genuki.com simply says that the site is under construction. However, a press release issued by Genuki.com Ltd of 27 Lowther Village - Penrith - Cumbria - CA10 2HP, England says, "In the coming weeks Genuki.com Ltd will open for business at www.genuki.com. The site shall eventually consist of links and various free submission engines, an online magazine, classified small ads for business and private subscribers and a shopping mall for businesses connected with family and social history." The same announcement says that genuki.com is "Incorporated in England and Wales - reg no 3983227."

The folks who operate www.genuki.org.uk are a bit upset about this new upstart with the similar URL. They believe that there will be lots of confusion with the authentic GENUKI site. I am no lawyer, especially in regards to English copyright laws, but I have to wonder if there is a copyright infringement here.

Limousines
Donnie Osmond, well-known entertainer and co-host of the Donnie and Marie Osmond television show, made an appearance last Thursday at the National Genealogical Society’s annual conference in Providence, Rhode Island. There seemed to be a large number of people following his every move, including a television news team from one of the local stations. I got the impression that Mr. Osmond doesn’t get to enjoy much time alone.

I was a bit amused to count 12 stretch limousines parked outside the convention center while Donnie Osmond was inside. Amid the usual assortment of stretched Lincolns and Cadillacs, I noted one extremely long Chevrolet Suburban. I had never seen a stretched Chevrolet Suburban before.

I am not used to seeing limousines parked at a genealogy conference. Maybe this is the wave of the future?

Privacy
In the February 26, 2000 edition of this newsletter, I wrote about AnyBirthday.com. In that article, I wrote the following:

AnyBirthday.com allows you to search a free database of well over 135 million records for the birthdate of almost anyone in the United States. I went to that site and started testing it. Not only did I find my own date of birth, I also found the birthdates of almost everyone else that I tried. Of course, I did try to find the exact birthdate of my great-great-grandfather who was born around 1810. Unfortunately, this site doesn't have records back that far. Most of the records contained in their database are for living individuals.

I find it a bit disturbing that my own birthdate along with about ten others that I checked on are available to anyone who wants to know this information and has access to the Internet. Does this seem a bit scary and invasive to anyone else?

I have received lots of e-mail about this topic in the three months since I wrote those words. AnyBirthday.com continues in operation and apparently is enjoying some level of success. Other sites with public domain birth information have since appeared, including some birthdates of living individuals on RootsWeb. In short, this issue isn’t going away. In fact, I suspect there will be more and more of this sort of information available in the near future.

Let’s look at this privacy "issue" for a minute. There is really nothing new here. Birth records have always been public domain data in the United States, and I believe the same is true for Canada. I am not so sure about other countries, so I will focus only on the U.S. Not only have birth records always been freely available, but so have property records and (in some states) driver’s license databases. Did you ever buy or sell a house? Your name and address are available to anyone who cares to look at real estate transaction data.

Of course, these are not the only sources of public domain information. You may also be listed in any of a number of professional and personal databases. For instance, I happen to have a pilot’s license; my name, age and address are available on several Internet databases that publish data released by the Federal Aviation Administration. This information even says that I possess a third-class medical certificate, which gives some indication of my state of health. My ham radio license information is also listed publicly, along with my home address and my age, at a number of ham radio sites. The sites listing my ham radio information obviously got their information from the Federal Communications Commission.

The list grows and grows. Again, there is nothing new here. These sources of data have been available for more than one hundred years. The local town clerk certainly would have given out my name and birth date to anyone who asked within a few days after my birth. My name and home address was published in the printed directory called the Radio Amateurs’ Callbook back in 1960, when I obtained my first ham radio license. The same was true a few years later, when I earned my pilot’s license; my name, age and home address was soon freely distributed. I know that it was published because I soon received lots of junk mail from companies that sold pilots’ supplies.

There is nothing new in the amount of personal information being made available today. The only difference is the convenience afforded by new technology. Now anyone can find this information with very little effort, while in years past they had to expend a bit more effort to find this data.

As I think more and more about this concern, I am starting to change my mind. The high tech world in which we live has brought us many conveniences. As genealogists, we all appreciate the many very convenient sources of data that we have. Again, this is data that was always available to us. The public domain data that we look at on the Internet is the same data that was always available by other means. The difference is that today we no longer have to write letters or to travel thousands of miles to view original source documents. We can now stay at home or travel to nearby libraries and Family History Centers to access data online, on CD-ROM or on microfilm and microfiche. I hope we never return to the "old days" of genealogy research. Yet, like most other new technologies, this is a two-edged sword. Others can find information about me as easily as I can find information about others.

A recent book, Maximum Security: A Hacker's Guide to Protecting Your Internet Site and Network, Second Edition, says, "Technology is rapidly changing our society and personal privacy is disappearing in the process. The Internet will only facilitate that process."

My favorite quote, however, comes from Sun Microsystems CEO, Scott McNealy. At a Sun Microsystems press event held earlier this year, Mr. McNealy was asked about privacy issues. "Get over it," McNealy told reporters and analysts. "You have no privacy anyway."

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 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 their 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.

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.

*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

*The Lawrence County (Tennessee) Genealogical Society will hold their Third Annual Family History Fair Saturday, June 17. Many researchers and vendors from across the U.S. have reserved tables to display their family histories or books for sale in hopes of finding long lost relatives.

*Kyle J. Betit will give a presentation titled "Tracing Your Irish Roots" on June 19 at the Collège des Irlandais in Paris, France. The presentation will be given in English, but a written French translation of key material will be provided. For information, contact: irishcol@easynet.fr

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.

*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

*A presentation entitled "The Irish in Germany and the Germans in Ireland: A Historical and Genealogical Look at Both Migrations" will be given by Kyle J. Betit on June 27 to the Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis Bayern (German-Irish Friendship Society of Bavaria) in Munich, Germany. For further information, contact MclyMoff@compuserve.com

The Connaughton Family Reunion will be held July 4th and 5th, 2000 in Clonark, Athlone, Co. Roscommon, Ireland.

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.

The Lloyd-Jones Reunion 2000 will be held near Spring Green, Wisconsin, July 7-9th. The family reunion is held every five years.

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.

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.

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".

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".

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

*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 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.

*A Family History & Genealogy Fair to be held at Heritage Square in Phoenix, Arizona on October 7.

The Newberry Library's Friends of Genealogy will hold their 4th annual "Ask The Experts: On Military Records" panel discussion on October 11 Chicago.

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.

*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.

*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).

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.

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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