• Massachusetts Town, Probate and Vital Records, 1600s – 1900s on CD-ROM
• Most Popular Genealogy Sites
• MyFamily.com Gets $30 Million In Funding
• Updated SAR Revolutionary War Graves Register
• Associated Daughters of Early American Witches
• Summit County, Ohio Web Site
• Genealogy.com Adds Another Five Million Names
• The Amistad is Launched
• 27th Annual Nordic Festival
• Upcoming Events

Between 1630 and 1642, approximately 30,000 people left England for Massachusetts. By the time of the American Revolution, nearly everyone still in Massachusetts could trace their ancestry to one of those 30,000 people. This new CD-RM disk lists more than 160,000 individuals in probate records, town histories, and vital records.

The CD-ROM contains data but no software. In order to use this information, you must have one of the following programs already installed on your computer:

Family Tree Maker for Windows version 3.02 or higher Family Archive Viewer for Windows (a free program) version 3.02 or higher Most of the CD-ROM disks produced by genealogy.com also operate with Family Tree Maker for the Power Macintosh. However, the company notes that the "Massachusetts Town, Probate and Vital Records, 1600s – 1900s" CD-ROM is available only for Windows. I placed the data into my Windows NT system, launched Family Tree Maker, selected "View", then "FamilyFinder" and then "View CD-ROM." A second or two later I was looking at the data on this CD-ROM.

This CD-ROM contains scanned images of thirteen books originally published by the Genealogical Publishing Company. The titles include a variety of records types, including probate, town, and vital records. Vital records usually contain the full name of the individual involved in the event, the date of the event, and the town in which the event took place. The thirteen volumes list more than 160,000 individuals. Each of the following towns or counties has at least one volume dedicated to it in this Family Archive: Barnstable, Bristol, Duxbury, Eastham, Fairhaven, Haverhill, Middleborough, Orleans, Plymouth, Sandwich, Scituate, Stoneham, and Suffolk. Anyone researching early Rhode Island ancestors also should note that Massachusetts' Bristol County originally included the Rhode Island towns or areas of Bristol, Warren, Barrington, Little Compton, and Tiverton until 1747; these records may be found on this Massachusetts CD-ROM, too.

Massachusetts probably has the best vital records of any state in the U.S. and probably rates amongst the best such records in the world. Since its early settlement, Massachusetts has been collecting vital records (births, marriages, and deaths) at the town level. In the early twentieth century, many of these records were published in book form. This CD-ROM contains scanned images of the pages of many of these books. It also has an every-name index that can be used electronically. That is, you can type a name onto the index, and the software will automatically link that name to scanned images of the pages where that name appears. You can also electronically "thumb through the pages" of these books, one page at a time.

The books on this CD-ROM include:

• "History Of The Town Of Duxbury, Massachusetts With Genealogical Registers" by Justin Winsor
• "The History Of Haverhill, Massachusetts From Its First Settlement, In 1640, To The Year 1860" by George Wingate Chase
• "History Of Scituate, Massachusetts, From Its First Settlement To 1831" by Samuel Deane
• "History Of Stoneham, Massachusetts, With Biographical Sketches Of Many Of Its Prominent Men" by William B. Stevens
• "Records Of The Town Of Plymouth" Published By Order Of The Town - In Three Volumes by William T. Davis
• "Vital Records Of The Town Of Plymouth, An Authorized Facsimile Reproduction Of Records Published Serially 1901-1935 In 'The Mayflower Descendant.'" By Col. Leonard H. Smith, Jr., and Norma H. Smith
• "Vital Records Of The Towns Of Barnstable And Sandwich, An Authorized Facsimile Reproduction Of Records Published Serially 1901-1937 In ‘The Mayflower Descendant’"
• "Vital Records Of The Towns Of Eastham And Orleans, An Authorized Facsimile Reproduction Of Records Published Serially 1901-1935 In 'The Mayflower Descendant.'"
• "Vital Records Of The Town Of Fairhaven, Massachusetts To 1850" by Leonard H. Smith, Jr., and Dorothy Marvelle Boyer
• "Vital Records Of The Town Of Middleborough, An Authorized Facsimile Reproduction Of Records Published Serially 1899-1937 In 'The Mayflower Descendant'" by Leonard H. Smith, Jr., and Norma H. Smith
• "Abstracts Of Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Records, 1687-1745" by H. L. Peter Rounds
• "Abstracts Of Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Records, 1745-1762" by H. L. Peter Rounds
• "Suffolk County Wills Abstracts Of The Earliest Wills Upon Record In The County Of Suffolk, Massachusetts From 'The New England Historical And Genealogical Register'"

That is a rather impressive collection of records! The above list contains many of the "old standard references" used by genealogists for many years. To be sure, the CD-ROM does not contain records of all the towns in Massachusetts, only the ones listed above. These books are still available on paper, but obviously the CD-ROM version is much more cost-effective.

I normally search for occurrences of my own surname on the CD-ROM disks that I review. This time I was particularly interested, as the earliest immigrant with my surname arrived in Salisbury, Massachusetts, in 1638. While Salisbury vital records are not on this particular CD-ROM, I expected that some of his descendants might be listed. I popped open the index and typed my own surname. Hundreds of listings appeared. I then entered the first name of the original immigrant and found that he was mentioned in the "The History Of Haverhill, Massachusetts From Its First Settlement, In 1640, To The Year 1860." I clicked on this reference, and within a second or two I was looking at the page from the original book that gave the detail. In this case, the son of the original immigrant settled in Haverhill and is well documented in this book, along with a mention of his father’s name.

Searching the index is simple: enter the surname and (optionally) the first name. When I typed only the surname, hundreds of entries were displayed. However, when I entered the surname, followed by a comma, a space, and then the first name, the index listings immediately jumped to the first record containing both names.

I spent quite a bit of time browsing through these records. This CD-ROM contains 160,000 records of birth, marriage, probate and other such data. The format varies a bit because these volumes were written by different authors and published by different companies. Yet the volumes are all similar in nature and a single search lists all occurrences of the name you specify in all the volumes")

Printing the original page was a simple task. The resultant printout looked like a photocopy of a page in the original printed book, except for two things: (1.) it was clearer than most photocopies and (2.) it was well-documented, with a reference across the bottom of the printed page that gave the name of the original printed book, along with the title of the CD-ROM disk.

I also had a pleasant surprise when I found that I could cut and paste a page from the CD-ROM to almost any other Windows program. If you are using a word processor to write about a particular family, you can cut-and-paste an image of the reference directly into the document you are writing. Keep in mind that this is an image, not computer text. However, that is still a big improvement over many other genealogy CD-ROM disks that I have used. You can cut-and-paste a complete page, but you cannot highlight just a part of the page and then copy only that part. It is an "all or nothing" approach; however, you can use a graphics-editing program later to crop these images as needed.

All in all, I was pleased with the "Massachusetts Town, Probate and Vital Records, 1600s – 1900s" CD-ROM. It is easy to use and contains high-quality genealogy information. Keep in mind, however, that these are still secondary records. These publications have been in use for 70 to 80 years, and genealogists have found them to be high quality but not perfect. A few transcription errors do exist. I would suggest that you use these references often and use them well. But, when you find a reference in one of these books, rent a microfilm copy of the original hand-written records and verify the information you have found. Not only will you ensure accuracy, but you will occasionally be surprised to find that the original hand-written entries may contain even more information about a family that was not included in the printed volumes published many years later.

"Genealogical Records: Massachusetts Probate, Town, and Vital Records, 1600s-1900s" is a must-have for any genealogist researching ancestors in any of the towns listed above. This is listed as Family Archive 502 in genealogy.com’s list of CD-ROM disks. The CD-ROM lists for $29.99. You can order it directly from the publisher or from many genealogy bookstores. Most dealers will also add a bit more for shipping and handling charges.

For more information about "Genealogical Records: Massachusetts Probate, Town, and Vital Records, 1600s-1900s" or to order it online, look at: http://www.familytreemaker.com/502facd.html

Most Popular Genealogy Sites
Nielsen Inc. is probably best known for their ratings of the popularity of television shows in the United States. However, the same company also produces Nielsen//NetRatings, which measures and reports Internet audience behavior, based on data collected from 43,000 home users and 8,000 at-work users in the United States. The company has just released their ratings for the month of February, 2000.

The most active genealogy site in February was MyFamily.com at http://www.MyFamily.com with 1.5 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Trailing close behind was Ancestry.com at http://www.Ancestry.com with 1.4 million unique visitors. The third most popular genealogy site was RootsWeb.com at http://www.RootsWeb.com with 981,000 unique visitors, followed by FamilyTreeMaker.com http://www.FamilyTreeMaker.com with 640,000 unique visitors.

MyFamily.com Gets $30 Million In Funding
MyFamily.com Inc. announced this week that the company has raised $30 million in its third round of financing, adding a unit of Eastman Kodak Co. to an investor base that already includes CMGI Inc., Intel Corp., and Compaq Computer Corp. The latest round brings the total investment in MyFamily.com to $75.5 million.

Kodak was the only new investor in the round. Previous investors that gave MyFamily new capital in the current round also included Tango of Boulder, Colorado, which led the round, French investor Bernard Arnault's Europeb, and Pivotal Asset Management.

MyFamily is based in San Francisco and runs three Web sites: MyFamily.com, which lets families post information and photos; ancestry.com, a genealogy site, and FamilyHistory.com, a message-board site.

Company executives have declined to discuss possible plans for an initial public offering, though funding rounds like the one MyFamily completed are generally signs that an IPO filing is in the offing.

Updated SAR Revolutionary War Graves Register
Progeny Publishing has announced the release of the 2000 Edition of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) Revolutionary War Graves Register. This new edition has doubled in size since the previous version, published in 1998. The new version contains over 140,000 names and burial locations of soldiers, sailors and civilian Patriots of the Revolutionary War, as well as many of their spouses. The majority of records also variously contain details on birth, death, service, state served, township, and source of entry.

I reviewed the earlier version in the January 31, 1998 edition of this newsletter. At that time I wrote:

The information on this CD-ROM is compiled from the Revolutionary War Graves Register, which was first published as a book in 1993 by the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Quoting from the forward by then President General Robert B. Vance:

"The American citizens of 1774 to 1783 dominate. ... there are listed Lady Patriots, as many Black Soldiers as could be found, many of the Jewish patriots and soldiers, the German, the Polish and hundreds of French …[plus] more than one thousand brave American soldiers who perished at Valley Forge during the severe winter of 1777-78."

I will point out that this CD-ROM does not contained scanned images of the original book. Instead, the data has been laboriously re-entered into a true computer database that is fully searchable. The "search engine" is the brand-new Progeny Family Explorer, which is included on the CD-ROM. You do not need any other software to use this database.

Use of the Progeny Family Explorer is "falling off a log simple." Start the program, enter a last name, enter a first name and click on OK. Within a couple of seconds you see a list of all the Revolutionary War soldiers of that name with known burial locations.

The complete article went on at some length describing the CD-ROM’s operation. I also described how I found a new ancestor on this CD-ROM disk that was previously unknown to me.

This week’s announcement describes the new version this way:

From its founding in the 19th Century, the SAR has sought to locate and record the final resting places of those who served the cause of the War for Independence. Records are regularly gathered by members from burial sites and reported on forms, letters, index cards and tapes. The first CD Edition of the SAR Revolutionary War Graves Register contained 69,000 records, and was comprised of the original 54,000 names published in book format (1993) plus 15,000 spouse names. This was published for the NSSAR in 1998 by Progeny Publishing.

In order to publish the greatly expanded Millennium Edition, the SAR War Graves Committee, chaired by Robert Galer, conducted an intense acquisition program with the goal of doubling the number of grave sites in the Register. In addition to the graves researched and reported by SAR members over the past two years, new sources for this 2000 Edition CD were found in the Annual Reports to Congress of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

Americans who lived in the 13 original colonies from New Hampshire to Georgia make up the bulk of the Register. They include 280 Lady Patriots and additional graves of the thousands of black soldiers and sailors who served the American cause. There are more Canadian graves, and those of the French Allies who died on land or sea, or returned to their country to live out their lives. The new Register also includes, for the first time, 300 Louisiana Patriots of different nationalities who fought with Bernardo de Galvez, and other soldiers of New Spain who served in the Presidios and missions of Alta California.

The SAR War Graves Register now indexes virtually all the Revolutionary War Patriot graves recorded over the last hundred years by the members of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and SAR.

"With this latest publication of the War Graves Register," explains Bob Galer, "the SAR has made a tremendous contribution to the genealogy of patriotic Americans. Every person interested in the history of the Patriots who won our independence from colonial rule will certainly find this CD a valuable research tool."

For more information about the new SAR Revolutionary War Graves CD-ROM, look at: http://www.progenysoftware.com

Associated Daughters of Early American Witches
Are you a female with an ancestor in Colonial America who was accused of or tried or executed for the practice of witchcraft prior to 31 December 1699? If so, you may be interested in the Associated Daughters of Early American Witches. This society was formed 13 years ago for the purpose of:

1. Searching for and preserving the names of those accused of witchery in that portion of Colonial America now the United States of America.
2. To locate the living female descendants of all witches who were accused in the American colonies prior to published records of same.

The society maintains a list of "Approved Ancestors: that have been documented as those who were accused of witchcraft. While many on the list lived in Salem, Massachusetts during the hysteria there, the list also includes others accused of witchcraft in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland.

Membership is by invitation only, but you can submit documentation showing proof of your descent from an identified witch. If your claim is validated, you may be invited to join.

For more information on the Associated Daughters of Early American Witches, look at: http://www.adeaw.org

My thanks to Audrae Mathis for letting me know about this organization.

Summit County, Ohio Web Site
The Summit County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society has provided a text-based genealogical section on ACORN (the Akron Community Online Resource Network). Until recently, this was a dial-in service, not a service on the World Wide Web. Now the genealogy section has been converted to a Web-based system.

New queries and a new and updated surname list are now online. New information also includes a township outline map, along with burial information from two small cemeteries in Boston Township. Although the cemeteries are small, the burial information is invaluable because the files contain information first gathered in the early 1900s. Some tombstones are missing or unreadable since they were first recorded, so the records in some cases are available nowhere else.

Some information files on the website are still being undated, and new cemetery files will be added.

The new site, which is also the official site of the Summit County chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, can be found at: http://www.acorn.net/gen

Genealogy.com Adds Another Five Million Names
Genealogy.com, LLC, announced this week that the company has added several significant new resources to its online collection. This collection of data includes nearly five million names in 11 different compiled resources. The site’s Internet Family Archives currently contains the following titles:

• UK Census Records - Records for approximately 1 million individuals from the 1851 census with each household member's name, age, occupation, address, relation to the head of the household, marital status, and the exact town or parish of his or her birth.
• Italians to America – An index of 413,000 Italian immigrants passing through New York's port of entry. May include age, occupation, or village of origin and arrival date.
• Notable British Families - 429,000 unique names referenced in pedigrees and lineage records published in Great Britain by Burke's Peerage. Includes the best reference work ever published on British heraldry, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
• Mayflower Genealogies - 111,000 names in pages from Genealogies of Mayflower Families and Mayflower Source Records. Resources contain vital information and lineages pertaining to passengers of the Mayflower.
• Ontario, Canada Census Index - 374,000 names in partial index of heads of household in the 1871 Ontario Census. May include age, birthplace, ethnic/religious demographic, occupation, and district/subdistrict.
• Virginia Genealogies - 113,000 names from a variety of family history articles, genealogies, newspaper notices, town records (including deaths and marriages in some cases), Bible and family records, wills, and deeds for the state of Virginia; information spans the years 1892-1942.
• Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy - 455,000 names from William Wade Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Almost half of all people who can trace their ancestry in America prior to 1850 have Quaker ancestors. This is a broad, yet comprehensive collection of vital records and certificates of removal for Quakers in several states.
• National Genealogical Society Quarterly - 702,000 names on images of volumes 1 - 85 of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Among the oldest and most widely respected genealogical journals, the NGS Quarterly contains methodological case studies, discussions of major resources, compiled family histories and genealogies, and guides to research.
• Massachusetts Marriage Index - Indexed marriages for approximately 837,500 individuals in 1633-1850 Massachusetts; includes marriage date, names of bride and groom, and county where the marriage was recorded.
• Ohio Marriage Index - 303,000 indexed marriages across 85 Ohio counties in 1789-1850; includes marriage date, names of bride and groom, and county. Directory of Deceased American Physicians - Biographical records extracted from the Directory of Deceased American Physicians for approximately 149,000 medical practitioners. May include dates and locations of births and deaths. Usually only available at libraries, the Directory normally sells for $200 in book form.

For more information about these new additions, look at: http://www.genealogy.com/press-032800.html

The Amistad is Launched
More than a century ago, Sengbe Pieh led slaves aboard the Amistad in a revolt in which they overthrew their captors in an effort to return to their homeland. This story was captured in the 1997 movie by Steven Spielberg named after the ship. On March 25, the launching of a replica of the 129-foot schooner gave Pieh's great-grandson hope for the future and optimism that his ancestor's fight for freedom would soon be heard around the world. "It's unbelievable that an icon of slavery is being transformed in this millennium into an icon of partnership, faith in each other and of human rights for all of us," said Samuel Pieh, who runs an organization that works to improve relations between Africa and the United States.

Thousands of observers, including American and Sierra Leone dignitaries and descendants of the Amistad captives, watched and cheered as the 138-ton vessel was lowered into the Mystic River in Connecticut. The ship was christened with water from Cuba, Long Island, and Sierra Leone -- where the slaves were sold, captured by American authorities and finally returned home.

The six-year, $3.1 million project marked the beginning of the unending task of teaching histories, retelling forgotten stories, and improving race relations, organizers said. "She represents friendship, which is the translation of the name Amistad, cooperation ... all of the good stuff," said Warren Marr II, who began in 1976 to push for the project.

The slaves took control of the original Amistad near Cuba in 1839. Led by Sengbe Pieh, the slaves killed the captain of the Spanish ship and tried to force its crew to sail them back to Africa. The ship wandered up the East Coast before landing on Long Island. They were captured there, brought to New London, and then jailed in New Haven, after which several trials followed.

An 1841 U.S. Supreme Court ruling freed the slaves, whose cause had been taken up by white abolitionists and former President John Quincy Adams. The 35 Africans who survived returned to their homeland in 1842 and established churches and schools for others.

"Our mission is to tell the story of the Amistad as well as the story of the human rights struggle that exists today," said William Pinkney, the ship's captain. "We want to show young people what can happen with cooperation."

The ship will make its maiden voyage to New York City on July 2. The ship will then sail around the world, making stops in many countries, including Cuba and Sierra Leone.

For more information, look at the Amistad America Web site at: http://www.amistadamerica.org. A second source of information can be found at the Mystic Seaport site: http://www.mysticseaport.org

27th Annual Nordic Festival
The rich traditions of Norway -- music, food, folklore, and the arts -- will be celebrated at the 27th Annual Nordic Festival on April 22 at the Radisson South Hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota. The fundraising event for the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa, is sponsored by the Twin Cities Friends of Vesterheim, a local organization of more than 1,000 members.

The festival features the sights, sounds, and flavors of Norway to tempt people of all ethnic backgrounds and ages:

• a Nordic brunch with entertainment, including Nordic fiddlers and a parade of traditional Norwegian costumes, called bunads, worn at weddings and special occasions;
• 25 exhibits of Nordic crafts by artisans, many of whom will demonstrate their trades, including hardanger embroidery, rosemaling, woodcarving, jewelry, and clothing;
• Norwegian story-telling and songs;
• antiques from the Vesterheim museum;
• a silent auction and raffle will offer many Nordic products and prizes, including two airfare tickets to Norway;
• strolling musicians, friendly trolls, homemade lefse, and more.

Founded in 1877 in Decorah, Iowa, the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is the oldest and most comprehensive museum in the United States dedicated to a single immigrant ethnic group. The museum complex includes 15 historic buildings plus an immigrant farmstead, a prairie church, and a genealogy research facility. The museum houses over 20,000 artifacts -- samples of fine, decorative, and folk art, as well as the tools and machinery used in immigrant industry. Most of the collection is displayed either in formal exhibits or in open storage, where the visiting public, students, and scholars can view it.

The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum’s Web site can be found at: http://www.vesterheim.org

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.

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 April 8, 2000 Lecture Series of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society, South Eastern Branch will feature "Recording Your Research Right the First Time" by Dawn Kinnie and "Picking the Computer Program That is Right for Your Research" by Stan Balch. Meetings are held in Moncton, New Brunswick. For information, send an e-mail to: rgmess@nbnet.nb.ca

The Indiana Genealogical Society will hold its Annual Meeting and Conference in Evansville, IN, on 8 April 2000. The featured speaker will be Lloyd D. Bockstruck, FNGS. For a complete listing of workshops and a registration form, visit the IGS website. http://www.indgensoc.org/igs20003.htm

The Sonoma County Genealogical Society will hold its annual all-day seminar on 15 April 2000 featuring Curt B. Witcher, Department Manager for the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For details, see: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cascgs/witcher.html

The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society will hold their Annual Spring Seminar, in connection with the Washington State Genealogical Society Conference, on 15th April 2000 in Spokane, WA. The all-day seminar will feature Dr. John Phillip Colletta with lectures on passenger lists, naturalization records among other titles. For information, contact: toppline@cet.com

The Newberry Library's Friends of Genealogy will present "Digging Deeper with Familiar Genealogical Tools," a day-long workshop featuring Bill Dollarhide of Heritage Quest on April 15 in Chicago. Details are available at: http://www.newberry.org/nl/genealogy/L3gfriends.html

The Martin County Genealogical Society will hold its annual all-day seminar on Tuesday, 25 April, 2000 in Stuart, Florida. Researching in Ireland will be the topic. Shane MacAteer and Dr. Brian Traynor of the Ulster Historical Foundation of Belfast, Ireland will be the featured speakers. Details are available from: rshep70683@aol.com

The Coffey Cousins' Convention will be held April 27-29, 2000 in Sanford, FL. Details can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/6233/convention.html

The Nicolas Martiau (1591 - 1657) Tribute - If your 17th century ancestry contains any of the following family names, you may qualify for membership of the Nicolas Martiau Descendant Association: Chisman, Condon, Fuller, Gwynn, Heape, Jacquelin, Lewis, Monfort, Nelson, Reade, Rootes, Scar(s)brooke, Smith, Throckmorton, Tompkins, Warner, Washington, Watlington, or Wills. The Association will hold its 3rd Tribute on April 28 - 30, 2000 in Williamsburg, VA. Details are available from: FDuthie@aol.com

ROOTS XVI, the 16th annual all-day seminar sponsored by The Genealogy Workshop of the Huntington Historical Society, Huntington, New York, will be held April 29, 2000. For information, send an e-mail to: wchamber@suffolk.lib.ny.us

The Monmouth County Genealogy Society will host a Civil War Day at the Fort Monmouth facility on 29 April 2000 featuring speakers, war games, and other activities. For information, contact: beahive@aol.com.

*The Northern Arizona Genealogical Society will present their Annual Spring Seminar 2000 on April 29, 2000 in Prescott, AZ. Featured speaker will be Mary McCampbell Bell. Details are available at: http://surnames.com/nags/SEMINAR.htm

*The British Isles Genealogical Society of Wisconsin and Illinois (BIGWILL) will hold two lectures in Richmond, Illinois on 29 April 2000 (Saturday). The lectures are by Kyle Betit: "Irish Genealogy in the Third Millenium: What's New and What's Coming ," along with "Sources & Strategies for Finding Irish Origins." For information, contact: caknigge@yahoo.com

The David Families of France, Louisiana and Canada Reunion will be held April 30, 2000 in Welsh, Louisiana. For further details see: http://www.angelfire.com/or/davidlegacy/index.html

*The Irish Genealogical Society of Wisconsin will hold a lecture on 1 May 2000 in Milwaukee. The topic will be "Determining Your Place of Origin in Ireland" by Kyle Betit. Details are available at: http://www.execpc.com/~igsw

The United Polish Genealogical Societies will hold its biennial conference UPGS 2000, Polish Genealogy in the Next Century, on May 5 though 8. Speakers and topics include; George Ott - Getting the Most Out of U.S. Research in Salt Lake City; Gregg Legutki - Genealogy on the Internet; Jan Zaleski - Strategies for Determining Ancestral Polish Villages; Jan Zaleski - An Overview of Gazetteers Useful to Polish Researchers; Brian Lenius - Galician Record Keeping: Parish Registers and Unusual Types of Records and Brian Lenius - Accessing Galician Genealogical Records. Announcement and the registration form are available at: http://feefhs.org/pol/pgsca/con2000.html and http://feefhs.org/pol/pgsca/regform.html

The Alabama Genealogical Society, Inc. will hold its annual spring seminar on May 6, 2000 in Birmingham, Alabama. Leslie Smith Collier will be the lecturer. Details are available from: jylhardy@bellsouth.net or saralindsey@juno.com

The May 6, 2000 New Brunswick Genealogical Society, South Eastern Branch’s Lecture Series will feature "The Internet and Genealogy. Mailing Lists, News groups and E-mail" by Stan Balch and "The World Wide Web and Search Engines, How to Make Them Work for You" by Ron Messenger. Details about this Moncton, New Brunswick meeting are available from: rgmess@nbnet.nb.ca

*The Runkle Family Association will meet May 6, 2000 in Mt. Airy, NJ. The Association is dedicated to the preservation of the history of the Runkles, particularly the Adam Runkle line from Hunterdon County, NJ. Further information and directions to the meeting can be obtained from: j.b.duffy@worldnet.att.net

*The Irish Genealogical Society International will hold their Quarterly Meeting and Three-Part Seminar in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 6, 2000. Speaker will be Kyle Betit, speaking on: Irish Estate Records, What's New in Irish Research and Finding Your Ancestor in Ontario and Quebec. For information, contact: blmkerry@pclink.com

*The Southern California Genealogical Society will hold JAMBOREE 2000, its 31st annual genealogical exhibition, on Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7, in Pasadena, California. For more details, including a schedule of speakers and classes, please visit the Society’s website at: http://www.scgsgenealogy.com

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 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 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. 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

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 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 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 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/

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.

*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

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/

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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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