Digging Up the Past Together

NOTE: This is an update to an article I wrote many years ago. It has had some new information added and several new links to new web pages have also been added. Many genealogy records are indexed by a high-tech algorithm called the Soundex Code. Well, it was “high tech” in 1918 when Robert Russell invented it. In a nutshell, Soundex Codes provide a means of identifying words – especially names -- by the way they sound. They were used extensively by the U.S. Work Projects Administration (WPA) crews working in the 1930s to organize Federal Census data from 1880... Dick Eastman

I am amazed. Several days ago I announced that there would again be a dinner for EOGN readers following the close of the FGS Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. The restaurant is limiting us to 35 seats. In order to give everyone a chance to obtain a reservation, I announced six days in advance that reservations could be made beginning at 12 noon Eastern time on Saturday, August 14. The reservation system went live at 12 noon today. The dinner was sold out in six minutes! A "waitlist" is now available at the same address: http://eognknoxville.eventbrite.com Event Registration Online for EOGN... Dick Eastman

Last week I wrote about Families, a brand-new program from TelGen Limited for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad that imports its data from Legacy Family Tree for Windows. Yesterday, I reported the program had been temporarily withdrawn from Apple's App Store. Today, Geoff Rasmussen reports, "This morning they announced that version 1.1 is now available from Apple's App Store." Thanks Geoff! Families is available at the Apple App store for $14.99. For more information, look at www.telgen.co.uk/families or read my original article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/08/families-an-iphone-application-that-works-with-legacy-family-tree-for-windows.html Dick Eastman

Several newsletter readers have recently stated, "I wish someone would write a genealogy application for the Android operating system." Well, someone did last year. In fact, I wrote about it on October 19, 2009 newsletter at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/10/familybee-a-genealogy-viewer-for-the-google-android-phone.html. FamilyBee was originally a genealogy program for the Google Android Phone. However, the program has since been improved and now runs on all Android-based phones, such as the Droid, Evo, and Backflip. According to the program's web site: Family Bee is a full-featured robust family tree browser. It allows you to view information about families and individuals stored in GEDCOM genealogy files. Whether... Dick Eastman

A major announcement was made today of a brand-new genealogy technology conference to be held next February 10 through 12. It is expected to attract genealogy software developers, technology providers, technology writers, technology users, and many others, probably from all over the world. The RootsTech Conference will be hosted by FamilySearch in Salt Lake City and also will be sponsored by Ancestry.com, New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Brigham Young University, and other leaders in the genealogy community. The following announcement was written by FamilySearch: New RootsTech Conference to Bring Technologists Face-to-face with Genealogists SALT LAKE CITY —Technologists and genealogists... Dick Eastman

The Alex Haley House Museum and Interpretive Center was dedicated today in the tiny town of Henning, Tennessee, 45 minutes north of Memphis. Visitors can now research their own roots at the Interpretative Center. Originally known as the Palmer House, this ten-room, bungalow style home was constructed in 1918 and 1919 by Will E. Palmer, Alex Haley's maternal grandfather. From 1921 to 1929, and during some subsequent summers, Alex Haley lived here with his grandparents, Will and Cynthia Palmer. The front porch was often the place where young Alex heard the oral accounts of family history, including stories of Kunta... Dick Eastman

Here's another sad commentary of our society. The KAKE web site has a story about recent vandalism at the Beulah Cemetery in Colby. One hundred sixty-eight headstones were toppled. Some of the headstones suffered damage while others only needed to be reset. Damages are estimated at $25,000 but could climb as high as $100,000. Those with family buried at the Beulah Cemetery is being asked to contact their insurance company. Anyone with information about the crime is being asked to call the Colby Police Department at (785) 460-4460. Dick Eastman

Last week I wrote about Families, a brand-new program from TelGen Limited for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad that imports its data from Legacy Family Tree for Windows. The program has now been temporarily withdrawn from Apple's App Store. As stated on the TelGen Limited web site at http://www.telgen.co.uk/families/: Please note that as a result of a serious usage error reported by a number of users but not discovered during beta testing, TelGen has temporarily withdrawn Families from sale on the App Store. We will resume sales as soon as this problem is rectified. Dick Eastman

Ancestry.co.uk has recently added England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941 to its online collection of records. This is a major resource for genealogists. This collection contains summaries (not the actual documents) of the vast majority of probate cases in England and Wales between 1861 and 1941. It effectively forms an index to wills and probate records for this period. The records were created by the Probate Registry, which took control of proving wills and administrations in 1858. Before this, four different types of ecclesiastical (church) courts dealt with these cases. A Principal Probate Registry was... Dick Eastman

Using the Newberry Library for Genealogy Research

When: Monday, August 16, 7:00 pm
Where: Beach Park Village Hall, 11270 Wadsworth Rd., Beach Park
Who: Matt Rutherford
More information: http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilzgs/zgsmeeting.html

The Newberry Library is one of Chicago's genealogy research treasures. This one-hour session surveys the Newberry's genealogy collections and explains how to use the library. Matt Rutherford, Curator of Genealogy and Local History, demonstrates how to use the online catalog and finding aids to prepare in advance for a visit to the library.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. This article has nothing to do with genealogy. However, it describes a bargain that I found a few weeks ago and have been enjoying ever since. I thought I would share this with others. If you are looking only for hard-core genealogy or history news, you might want to skip this article.Would you like to obtain free telephone service? Most people will quickly answer, "Yes." I should quickly explain two things: INCOMING calls are free. The monthly service is free, and you can receive hundreds or... Dick Eastman

British Pathe has digitized and released archive films dating back to the 1920s. Archivists are hoping that people will explore the Pathe collection online and help them document the films more fully, with names and places featured in the pictures. Some of the other stories that were covered in Somerset include a father and son building model trams in their back garden and hippies holding a "love-in" at a park in Bath. The films are free to watch on Pathe's website, and give an insight into life in Somerset. If you have any information on any of the films you... Dick Eastman

The New York Times has an interesting article about creating online memories of loved ones and raising money for projects, foundations or charities. 1000Memories, a company that lets people create online memories for lost loved ones. The company lets users create a simple, yet informative, page for people to come and remember a loved one. The main page launches with just the person’s name and a giant picture of them provided by the creator of the page. The projects option is one of the more fascinating aspects of 1000Memories and plays an important role. Creators of a page can start... Dick Eastman

As part of its upcoming Fall 2010 conference - You Have Family; You Have History - on Saturday, October 23, 2010 in Peoria, IL, the Illinois State Genealogical Society is holding an Essay Contest open to all Illinois students ages 12-15. Students can choose one of the following topics:

• The Story of My Family Connection to (Historical Event)
• Why My Family Settled in (Geographic Area)
• The Immigration Story of My (Ancestor)

First prize is $50, and two honorable mentions of $25 each will be awarded. The deadline for entries is September 20th. The entry form and other details can be found on the Illinois State Genealogical Society's blog at: Normal 0 http://ilgensoc.blogspot.com/2010/08/genealogy-essay-contest-calling-all.html

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. Part #1 of this article is available at: http://eogn.com/wp/?p=10807 while Part #2 is available at http://eogn.com/wp/?p=10941 The Third Method of Making PDF Files Searchable In the past two weeks I have described easy, but expensive, methods of converting non-searchable PDF files to searchable PDFs. This week I will describe a third solution that is free of charge and also works on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux. However, be warned that this free solution is technically complicated and also may require additional hardware that you might already own.... Dick Eastman

The growth of railroad lines played a major role in the lives of our ancestors, whether they worked on or for the railroad; lived in the towns and farms along the routes; rode the trains; or purchased goods transported by rail.

The Chicago Burlington and Quincy, for example, employed thousands, settled entire regions with immigrants from the eastern states and Europe, fostered and connected agricultural and city economies, encouraged tourism to scenic western sites, spurred the growth of urban centers, most notably Chicago, and introduced the Zephyrs, the world's first diesel-electric stainless steel passenger trains.

To celebrate the CBxamp;Q's history, noted depression-era documentary photographers Esther Bubley and Russell Lee, were hired to take thousands of photographs of the people, industries, farms, and towns along the Burlington Route. Only a few of these images were used in the resulting book, Granger Country. The current Newberry Spotlight exhibition draws from the unpublished photographs, as well as documents, artifacts, and rare printed materials from the massive CBxamp;Q Archives in the library.

Come and visit the exhibit for a glimpse of Daily Life along the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The exhibit runs from August 10 - October 16, 2010. More information is available on the exhibit webpage. A digital collection of some of the photographs is also available.