Planting... Digging... Growing... Climbing... Cultivating and Exploring
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Why You Might Want a Personal Genealogy Blog
Why You Might Want a Personal Genealogy Blog on WordPress
Click here for more of the article below
You probably can find dozens of reasons for creating a blog. In addition, you can probably find dozens of companies that will host a blog for you. Given the choices and the reasons available, trying to decide on the best blog hosting service for you can be an overwhelming decision. How do you find the best one for your use? I will suggest there is no easy answer, but I will suggest that WordPress should be one of the services you evaluate.
NOTE: I will quickly
admit that I am biased. The words you are reading right now are hosted
on a WordPress blog. I have used several different blogging services
over the years to host this newsletter. I switched to WordPress several
years ago and am very happy with the company’s services. I have no plans
to switch to anything else.
There are a number of reasons why a genealogist might want to crate a blog. Here are a few ideas I can think of:
Keep track of your own family history
research and advise your relatives of your progress. If your relatives
are monitoring your progress, it is possible they can contribute
information to your research efforts, especially as they read about
various items you discover. Reading about their ancestors’ lives often
serves as a “memory jogger” for various bits of information they may
have heard or known about years ago. Many of such bits may be new to
you. In some cases, a blog reader who lives near the locations where
your ancestors lived also may be able to perform some “in person”
research for you.
Share your own life experiences. A blog
can be similar to an online diary. Such a blog can be very interesting
to your friends and relatives. Optionally, you can add a password to
your blog so that it can only be read by the people to whom you grant
access.
Genealogical and historical societies
often use blogs to publish society newsletters online, to publicize
upcoming events, to publicize books the society publishes, and to
publicize all sorts of news and events of potential interest to society
members and non-members alike. Some societies even add a “for members
only” section that requires a password to access. A society blog often
is one of the most powerful publicity tools a society can use.
Ethnicity interest groups often use blogs
focused on specific ethnic groups and the genealogies of included
families. Examples include Polish-American groups, African-American
genealogy, Jewish genealogy, Hispanic genealogy, French-Canadian
genealogy, Irish genealogy, German genealogy and more.
Almost all genealogy conferences now use
blogs to publicize events, to distribute updates on speakers and
presentations to be offered, to supply information about hotels and
restaurants in the area, and myriad other reasons.
Archives and libraries often use blogs to
provide news about recent additions to their collections, seminars, and
other events being held by the archive or library, lists of holidays and
other times the library or archive may be closed, solicitations for
donations, and more.
Genealogy industry blogs are very popular.
Almost every company in the genealogy business publishes a blog
containing frequent updates about the latest additions and updates to
the company’s offerings, publicity about future additions and changes,
disseminating FAQs (Frequently-Asked Questions) that many customers ask,
and many other customer support activities. Nearly 40% of US companies
use blogs for marketing purposes. Two-thirds of marketers say their
company blog is “critical” or “important” to their business.
Genealogy industry news: perhaps you want
to compete with Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. (Comment: Come on
in! There’s room for more.)
Friday, August 5, 2016
INSTANTLY Colorize Your Black/White Photos -- FREE
Instantly Colorize Your Black-And-White Photos
Do you have old black-and-white family photographs? A new service on Algorithmia uses a deep learning algorithm to add color to the photos. Yes, it works. The colors may not be perfect but they are almost always better than black-and-white. The service is easy to use and, best of all, is available FREE of charge.
For instance, here is one well-known black-and-white on the left and a computer-enhanced color version on the right. Algorithmia can do the same for your photographs.
To use Algorithmia’s service, your photo must be available online someplace that is accessible by a URL without requiring a password. The photo(s) might be stored as a shared photo in Dropbox, Google Photos, Shutterfly, Flickr, Apple iCloud, Amazon Cloud Drive, your own web site, or most any other online service that stores publicly-visible photographs.
NOTE: If the web site
requires a user name and password to access the
photograph, Algorithmia’s colorizing service will not be able to
retrieve it.
To colorize a photo, go to the Algorithmia service at http://demos.algorithmia.com/colorize-photos/,
paste the URL of a black-and-white image and tap “colorize it.” After a
few seconds of processing, a comparison of the original and colorized
images appears.It seems like Algorithmia’s tool works best with images of faces, simple landscapes, and clear skies. The more complex and cluttered the photograph, the less successful the results.
For instance, here are before-and-after photographs of Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), the inventor of the telegraph, that I colorized by using Algorithmia’s free colorizing service :
Not bad for a photograph of a man who died before color photography was invented!
Note that Algorithmia’s colorizing tool does add a small “watermark” to the lower right corner of every image that is colorized.
You can try this yourself at http://demos.algorithmia.com/colorize-photos/.
Algorithmia’s colorizing tool is available FREE of charge unless you wish to convert thousands of images per month. Pricing information for high-volume users may be found at https://algorithmia.com/pricing.
My thanks to newsletter reader Terry Mulcahy for telling me about Algorithmia’s colorizing tool.
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Why Was the Information Removed from Online?
Why Was the Information Removed from Online?
NOTE: This is a
slightly updated version of an article I published about a year ago. A
couple of newsletter readers have sent messages to me in the past few
days expressing dissatisfaction with records that were available online
but recently have disappeared. I am offering this republished article as
an explanation about why we should not be surprised when that happens. I
will also offer a suggestion as to making sure you keep your own copies
of online records that are valuable to you.
In most cases, information of genealogical value obtained from government agencies, religious groups, museums, genealogy societies, and other organizations is provided under contractual agreements. The contracts specify what information is to provided, how it is to be made available, and what price the web site has to pay to the provider for the records. All contracts also have a defined expiration date, typically 2 years or 3 years or perhaps 5 years after the contract is signed.
When a contract nears expiration, the two parties usually attempt to renegotiate the contract. Sometimes renewal is automatic, but more often it is not. Maybe the information provider (typically an archive) decides they want more money, or maybe they decide they no longer want to supply the data to the online genealogy service. For instance, in the time the information has been available online, the information provider may have learned just how valuable the information really is. The information provider may decide to ask for more money or may even refuse to provide the information any more since the provider may have a NEW plan to create their own web site and offer the same information online on their new site for a fee.
Sure, that stinks for those of us who would like to have the information everywhere; but, it makes sense to most everyone else. I am sure the budget officer at most any state or local government archive thinks it makes sense.
Every contract renegotiation is different, but it is not unusual to agree to disagree. The contract ends, and the web site provider legally MUST remove the information from their web site. The same thing frequently happens to all the other online sites that provide old records online.
Moral of this story: If you find a record online that is valuable to you, SAVE IT NOW! Save it to your hard drive and make a backup copy someplace else as well. If there is no option to save, make a screen shot and save it on your hard drive or some other place where it will last for many years. Just because you can see the record online today does not mean that it will be available tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Join the Nationwide Service Project “Finding the Fallen”
Join the Nationwide Service Project “Finding the Fallen”
Boy Scouts, members of the United States Armed Forces, all genealogists, and the American public are invited to help preserve the memories of our fallen veterans by photographing and logging veteran memorials and headstones throughout the United States. Since I am a veteran of the US military, this project also means a lot to me. I plan to participate. If you have any Boy Scouts in the family, you might want to forward this announcement to them and to their leaders.The following announcement was written by Melany Gardner:
Boy Scouts and members of the United States Armed Forces are invited to participate in a nationwide service project, “Finding the Fallen,”
Saturday, July 30. This service project will help preserve the memories
of our fallen veterans by photographing and logging veteran memorials
and headstones throughout the United States.
Troops, teams and crews are all invited to
participate as volunteers to take photographs or help organize the
local event. Aspiring Eagle Scouts, as approved by their local council
or district, can also apply to lead the local service project. Anyone
wishing to participate in the project can sign up here.
What is the Finding the Fallen Project?
The
men and women of the past sacrificed, and many gave their lives for
their country. This summer, Scouts have the unique opportunity not only
to “help other people at all times,” but to help other people from all
times. Saturday, July 30, 2016 has been designated as the day for
“Finding the Fallen.” We invite you and your troop to do a good turn by
doing your part on this important day.
Boy Scouts, in conjunction with the United
States Armed Forces and BillionGraves, will be honoring the sacrifice
of the brave men and women who have given their lives in defense of our
freedom. You can help honor their sacrifice by ensuring that they are
never forgotten. By joining in the project, you and your troop will
serve these heroes by photographing and logging the GPS locations of the
headstones and markers in our national cemeteries and uploading them to
the BillionGraves.com website using the app on smart phones.
After the photographs are uploaded, you,
along with many other volunteers, will have the opportunity to
transcribe the records. Once completed, these records will be accessible
to the public via BillionGraves.com and other genealogical sites for
free. The free BillionGraves GPS app will guide anyone to these
gravesites, allowing those who have fallen to be found. The general
public will be able to add photos, obituaries, histories and other
tributes to the various records as they wish, thus ensuring these
veterans are never forgotten.
This is a great way to complete
requirement #7 for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge or
requirement #2 for the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge. Many Boy
Scouts have used this as their Eagle Scout project. BillionGraves
provides great resources to ensure a positive leadership experience for
the Eagle Scout. For more information for aspiring Eagle Scouts, go here.
How to Get Started?
- Decide today to help honor these brave men and women Saturday, July 30, 2016 and sign up here. BillionGraves.com will send you more information on how to plan and carry out your project.
- Choose a local veteran memorial or cemetery. If selecting a cemetery in Utah, check that the cemetery hasn’t already been logged here.
- Be prepared to organize, plan or participate in “Finding the Fallen” at the local cemetery July 30th.
- Transcribe the photographed headstones.
For questions about the “Finding the Fallen” project, contact BillionGraves at eagle@billiongraves.com.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
FREE LIVE Streaming CLasses from SCGS June 3 through June 5
Jamboree 2016: Registration Now Open for FREE Jamboree Live Streaming
To Register for the FREE STREAMING CLASSES FRIDAY THRU SUNDAY FOR THE SO CALIFORNIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, GO TO http://streaming.webcastandbeyond.com/jamboree/
The schedule for
the FREE live streaming
from the 47th
Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree.
We are very grateful to our Diamond Sponsor, Ancestry, which is underwriting the cost of the Jamboree live stream. With their support, SCGS is able to bring you 14 hours of high-quality family history education absolutely free. Handouts will be provided with each session.
The live-streamed sessions from Jamboree are listed below. Session descriptions, speaker bios, suggested experience levels and schedule details are available on the Jamboree website. Times Below have been converted from PDT to CDT (2 hours ahead)
Friday, June 3
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. FR008 German Immigrant Waves: Contrasts and Sources by James M.Beidler
4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. FR018 Problems and Pitfalls of a “Reasonably Shallow” Search by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG®, CGL®
6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. FR027 Tracking Migrations and More: The Records of Old Settler Organizations by Paula Stuart- Warren, CG®, FMGS, FUGA
7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. FR035 Principles of Effective Evidence Analysis by George Goodloe Morgan
Saturday, June 4
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. SA009 Getting Started with Eastern European Research by Lisa A. Alzo, MFA
12:00 noon. - 1:00 p.m. SA018 Be Your Own Digital Archivist: Preserve Your Research by Cyndi Ingle
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. SA022 German Names: Their Origins, Meaning and Distribution by C. Fritz Juengling, PhD, AG®
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. SA032 Using Military Pension Files to Fill Gaps in Family History by J. H. Fonkert, CG®
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. SA037 Maximizing Your Use of Evidence by Thomas Wright Jones, PhD, CG®, CGL®, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. SA052 German Genealogy on the Internet: Beyond the Basics by Michael D. Lacopo, DVM
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. SA009 Getting Started with Eastern European Research by Lisa A. Alzo, MFA
12:00 noon. - 1:00 p.m. SA018 Be Your Own Digital Archivist: Preserve Your Research by Cyndi Ingle
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. SA022 German Names: Their Origins, Meaning and Distribution by C. Fritz Juengling, PhD, AG®
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. SA032 Using Military Pension Files to Fill Gaps in Family History by J. H. Fonkert, CG®
5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. SA037 Maximizing Your Use of Evidence by Thomas Wright Jones, PhD, CG®, CGL®, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. SA052 German Genealogy on the Internet: Beyond the Basics by Michael D. Lacopo, DVM
Sunday, June 5
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. SU009 The Firelands, the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Ohio Territory by Peggy Clements Lauritzen, AG®
12:00 noon. - 1:00 pm SU010 Avoiding Shiny Penny Syndrome with Your Genealogy by Tessa Ann Keough
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. SU027 All Aboard: Staying on Track with Your Research by Barbara M. Randall
4 pm - 5 p.m. SU031 U. S. Passport Applications by Debbie Mieszala, CG®
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. SU009 The Firelands, the Connecticut Western Reserve and the Ohio Territory by Peggy Clements Lauritzen, AG®
12:00 noon. - 1:00 pm SU010 Avoiding Shiny Penny Syndrome with Your Genealogy by Tessa Ann Keough
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. SU027 All Aboard: Staying on Track with Your Research by Barbara M. Randall
4 pm - 5 p.m. SU031 U. S. Passport Applications by Debbie Mieszala, CG®
If you can't watch a session in
real-time as it is being live streamed, you will be able to watch it at
your convenience before July 5, 2016, on the live stream website (not to be confused with the SCGS
website and the Extension Series Webinar archives available for SCGS members).
Registration for the pay-per-view and free Jamboree sessions will remain open through July 5, 2016 when the special archive will close.
Registration for the pay-per-view and free Jamboree sessions will remain open through July 5, 2016 when the special archive will close.
· Each registration will
generate a confirmation email containing your username (email) and
automatically generated password.
· Jamboree live streaming is FREE and available to the
public, but viewers need to register. Preferably in advance.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
I Have My Tree Back to Adam--do you really?
“I Have My Family Tree Back to Adam and Eve”
This is another bit of fiction that needs to be wiped out. I have often heard people (I won’t call them “genealogists”) at various times make the claim they have traced their family tree back to Adam and Eve. Of course, the “documentation” is always sketchy.Robert C. Gunderson was a Senior Royalty Research Specialist, of the Church Genealogical Department, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). He was an expert in medieval genealogy and started the Royalty Identification Unit in 1972. He passed away in 2003. However, before his death, Gunderson once was asked if such research was possible. He replied:
“The simplest answer is No. Let me
explain. In thirty-five years of genealogical research, I have yet to
see a pedigree back to Adam that can be documented. By assignment, I
have reviewed hundreds of pedigrees over the years. I have not found one
where each connection on the pedigree can be justified by evidence from
contemporary documents. In my opinion it is not even possible to verify
historically a connected European pedigree earlier than the time of the
Merovingian Kings (c. a.d. 450–a.d. 752).
“Every pedigree I have seen which
attempts to bridge the gap between that time and the biblical pedigree
appears to be based on questionable tradition, or at worst, plain
fabrication. Generally these pedigrees offer no evidence as to the
origin of the information, or they cite a vague source.”
Both Gunderson and Weil agreed: European royal pedigrees cannot be verified before the 500s A.D.
To learn more, read:
Family Trees: A History of Genealogy in America.
By François Weil. Published by Harvard University Press, Online
bookstore; 2013. ISBN 9780674045835. 320 pp. Indexes. Hardcover. $27.95 •
£20.95 • €25.20. http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674045835 or available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook or as in a hardcover book at http://goo.gl/12RlV4.
Friday, May 13, 2016
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is Still Available! by Dick Eastman
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is Still Available!
For the entire article and comments, please visit https://blog.eogn.com/2016/05/12/the-social-security-death-index-ssdi-is-still-available/
The
Social Security Death Index (often called the SSDI) is a valuable tool
for genealogists. It lists deceased people within the United States.
When first created, the SSDI only listed those people who were receiving
Social Security benefit payments at the time of death. However, as the
years went by, the database was expanded to include ALMOST ALL DEATHS, whether receiving benefits or not.The Social Security Administration (SSA) Death Master File (DMF) contains more than 80 million records of deaths that have been reported to SSA. This file includes the following information on each deceased person, as applicable: name, date of birth, date of death, state or country of residence (prior to Mar 1988), and ZIP code of last residence.
Due to false concerns over identity theft, the Social Security Administration stopped releasing updates to the SSDI a few years ago. A few web sites that previously had made the SSDI available online have since deleted the records from their web sites. Now many genealogists believe the SSDI is no longer available.
Not true! The SSDI hasn’t been “lost.” It is still available in several places today, and you can search it online.
In fact, the Social Security Administration has stopped issuing UPDATES to the Death Master File. However, the original database, current through January 2011, remains in the public domain and is still available online from a number of web sites. Later deaths are not publicly listed, however.
NOTE #1: Genealogists
have always referred to this database of deceased persons as the “SSDI.”
However, employees of the Social Security Administration and many
others call it the Death Master File, or DMF. The reason for the
discrepancy in names appears to be confusion with another service of the
Social Security Administration.
If you mention “the SSDI” to an employee
of the Social Security Administration, he or she will probably think you
are referring to Social Security Disability Insurance, something that
is unrelated to the Death Master File except that both are available
from the Social Security Administration. When talking with
non-genealogists, you probably should always refer to this database as
the “Death Master File.”
NOTE #2: In most cases,
only the first ten letters of each individual’s first name are shown in
the SSDI. For instance, the name “Christopher” is abbreviated as
“Christophe”. Also, middle initials are shown, but complete middle names
are not recorded in the database. The search rules will vary from one
web site to another. I find it best to only enter the first ten letters
of longer names. That seems to always work. Entering all the letters of
first names with more than ten letters sometimes results in a “not
found” error on some web sites although not on others. When in doubt,
use only ten letters.
NOTE #3: Not all the
online databases will display all the available information about the
person listed in the SSDI. You may have to try several online services
in order to find what you seek.
NOTE #4: Information about geographic allocation of Social Security numbers can be found at http://www.ssa.gov/employer/stateweb.htm. Keep in mind that Social Security Numbers used to be assigned by the location where the Number was ISSUED, not by the place of birth of the individual.
I suggest you access the Social Security Death Index (Death Master File) at any of the following:
MyHeritage: https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10002/us-social-security-death-index-ssdi
Steve Morse’s One Step Genealogy: http://www.stevemorse.org/ssdi/ssdi.html
FamilySearch: https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1202535
Ancestry: http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693
(Ancestry allows anyone to view a short version of the record, but
viewing all the details requires a subscription to Ancestry.com.)
GenealogyBank: http://www.genealogybank.com/explore/ssdi/all (You must be a paid subscriber of GenealogyBank to view the details of each record.)
American Ancestors operated by the New England Historic Genealogical Society: http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/social-security-death-index/about/
(That page states, “Access to the SSDI is FREE to all who visit
AmericanAncestors.org.” However, you must either register for a FREE
guest account or pay for a subscription to view your SSDI search
results.
WorldVitalRecords.com: http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=ssdiall&affpid=1022 (Requires an account with WorldVitalReords.com. However, a FREE 7-day trial account is available.)
NOTE: Also included in the WorldVitalRecords.com version of the SSDI is See Neighbors
which is a list of those persons who died during the same year and in
the same zip code as the deceased who is being searched. Finally, when a
residence at death is included in a listing, a geo-coded Google Map is
included with the place where the person died and their nearest
cemeteries.
… and probably some other places as well.
You also can download the entire SSDI record set yourself at http://ssdmf.info/download.html although that is the 30 November 2011 edition. No later records are available.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
75 Best Websites for US State Genealogy Research in 2015
75 Best Websites for US State Genealogy Research in 2015
(Family Tree magazine Online)
11/9/2015
Any way you slice it, these 75 top state-focused websites
are must-visits for tracing your ancestors across the United States.
Click here to see these 75 top websites for all 50 states!
South Dakota
South Dakota Birth RecordsThis index holds information from more than 275,000 records of South Dakota births that occurred at least 100 years ago, including many delayed birth certificates that were issued for people born before statewide registration began in 1905.
South Dakota State Historical Society
Find your ancestors in the Mount Rushmore State with the help of these
indexes to naturalizations, cemetery records, the 1905 state census and
biographies, plus a transcript of the 1885 census of Civil War veterans.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
U.S. National Archives Launches History Hub
U.S. National Archives has Recently Launched a History Hub
The National Archives and Records Administration has recently launched a FREE History Hub, an online research support community, where members of the public can ask questions about research at NARA. The new site is a pilot for the next 6 months, and hopefully will be fully funded after that time. However, there is no guarantee of that.There’s a dedicated Genealogy section in the History Hub. To access it, go to https://historyhub.archives.gov/welcome and register for an account, and then you can contribute in any way that you’d like!
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