New Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker 2011 Introduces More Than 100 Enhancements to Software

No. 1 Selling Family Tree Software Offers Simplicity and Depth for Recording Family Histories

PROVO, Utah, August 31, 2010 – Ancestry.com today announced the release of Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker® 2011, an improved version of the world’s No. 1 selling family history software.

For the last 20 years, Family Tree Maker has provided tools that make it easy to build family trees, record memories and organize family photos. Family Tree Maker also enables users to capture stories, and attach videos and audio clips in a way that will help them easily capture and share the story of their ancestors both on-and offline.

“Family Tree Maker 2011 delivers significant improvements on many fronts.  By incorporating changes recommended by a diverse base of novice and experienced family researchers, we have arrived at what we believe to be our best release yet,” said Eric Shoup, Senior Vice President of Product at Ancestry.com. “With the recent surge in interest in family history, Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker have an important role to play in creating new family historians.”

Without leaving Family Tree Maker, users can search the robust collection of family history records on Ancestry.com and simply incorporate matching results directly into their tree. Family Tree Maker 2011 automatically searches Ancestry.com for historical documents about the individuals in the user’s family tree when connected to the Internet. Family Tree Maker 2011 comes with either a free trial or subscription to Ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com Family Tree Maker makes it easier than ever to discover your family story, preserve your legacy and share your unique heritage. Of the more than one hundred enhancements added to the software, the following are some of the new and improved features found in Family Tree Maker 2011:

• Smart Stories™ – Ready to start on an ancestor’s story? The Smart Story editor makes it easy to drag and drop text and photos from your tree into story pages that will update automatically when you make changes to your tree.
• More Complete and Relevant Timelines – Find and add more events to your ancestors' lives. Add, edit and delete your own historical events and apply historical events by time and geography.
• New and Improved Charts – Enjoy four new fan chart styles. Enhance charts with backgrounds, borders and embellishments. And use fonts you can change based on fact type.
• Improved Integration with Ancestry.com – Ancestry.com has millions of members all over the world. Now you can find out if any of them are searching for your ancestors by viewing Member Connect activity on your home page, plus links to related message boards and new messages in your inbox. You'll also enjoy faster uploading and downloading of your tree.
• New Media Management Tools - Drag and drop, cut and paste, and even categorize multiple items at the same time. You'll also find a new tool that will help you locate missing media files.
• Enhanced Reports – Enhanced ancestor and descendant reports, added a surname report and allowed you to sort custom reports, plus you can now save and reuse report settings.

Family Tree Maker 2011 will include either a printed or electronic Companion Guide to help users quickly master the simple and even advanced tasks. The Companion Guide will come with easy-to-understand screenshots of the software.

Family Tree Maker 2011 is now available to purchase online at http://www.familytreemaker.com/ starting at $39.95. The program is also set to be released in select retail stores.

Internet access required for all Web integration.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than one million paying subscribers. The company has digitized and put online more than 5 billion records over the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created over 18 million family trees containing nearly 1.8 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com Launches the Largest Searchable Online Yearbook Collection

Ancestry.com Launches the Largest Searchable Online Yearbook Collection that Includes Photos of Will Smith, Sandra Bullock and Betty White

World’s Largest Family History Website Adds 58 Million New Yearbook Records

PROVO, UTAH – August 27, 2010 – Ancestry.com today launched millions of records that now make up the largest searchable collection of yearbooks available online. Along with Ancestry.com’s existing collections, there are now more than 60 million yearbook records available in the site’s U.S. School Yearbook collection, which also includes class and candid photos of famous celebrities.

The 10,000 yearbooks included in the new U.S. School Yearbook collection feature yearbooks from high schools, junior highs, academies, colleges, and universities—military, public, parochial, and private—from almost every state in the United States spanning 1875-1988.

“The new U.S. School Yearbook collection just made starting your family history even easier by adding an entirely new dimension to your research,” said Christopher Tracy, Senior Vice President of Global Content at Ancestry.com. “Yearbooks contain graduation and candid photos, which add insight into an ancestor’s extracurricular activities in school. Along with our ever-expanding database of billions of other historical records, the U.S. School Yearbook collection will help people discover the deeper details about their ancestors that they would not have otherwise been able to find.”

What can be found in an old yearbook? Perhaps you will find a photo of your great grandfather or even a famous classmate. Like Ancestry.com that discovered the Academy Award-winner, Sandra Bullock, at her high school homecoming dance was already fighting off men – or in this case a young man – trying to steal a kiss on the dance floor, or a teenage Will Smith tackling science class before he ventured off to be the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Below are more details on the new celebrity photos found in the U.S. School Yearbook collection. In addition to their official yearbook photos, many of today’s biggest stars were captured in their school activities exhibiting the dynamism that later brought them to fame and fortune.

• Sandra Bullock – “To be a varsity cheerleader, the girls had to sacrifice a lot of time, money and energy,” appeared in the 1982 Washington-Lee High School yearbook story on the Arlington, Virginia Varsity Cheerleaders, which included Academy Award-winner Sandra Bullock. Bullock had no shortage of energy since Ancestry.com also discovered her high school photos from the Thespian Honor Society and the German Honor Society. Of course she still had time to attend the Homecoming Dance where her dancing partner was captured trying to steal a kiss.
• Betty White - The Emmy Award-winning actress is experiencing a career comeback after a Facebook campaign landed her a gig as the most popular guest host on this past season of “Saturday Night Live”. Along with her newly discovered popularity, White’s fans can now share her newly discovered high school photo from Beverly Hills High School in 1936.
• Will Smith – The Overbrook High School yearbook photo of top international box-office star and Academy Award nominee, Will Smith, shows he was once a high school student perplexed by science, in 1986 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before he was a ‘man in black.’
• Alec Baldwin – Alexander Baldwin was no high school activity slouch at Alfred G. Berner High School in Massapequa, New York. In 1976, he served as Class President, and was a member of the youth council, drama club, the student activities council, the lacrosse and football teams.
• Brad Pitt – Academy Award-nominee and Angelina Jolie’s significant other exercised his creativity in high school as a member of the 1981-82 Kickapoo High School Student Council in Springfield, Missouri. This newly discovered photo finds Pitt creating the decorations for the school’s “Chief Ceremonial.”
• Nicolas Cage – A very young Nicolas Coppola is pictured in his Beverly Hills High School 1979 yearbook official picture looking quite serious hiding any glimpse to the versatile star’s great sense of humor.
• Jay Leno – The “Tonight Show” host was recognized early on by his classmates who named him the “funniest” in this candid photo of Leno in his Loyola Academy (Andover, Massachusetts) 1966 yearbook. Also noted next to his class yearbook photo, Leno listed his possible future career as “retired millionaire.”
• Matt Lauer - The popular "Today" show anchor revealed his secret to success as a broadcast journalist, who often has to ask tough questions, in the quote he selected by English writer William Hazlitt that ran under his official 1975 Greenwich High School (Connecticut) yearbook photo, "He will never make true friends who is afraid of making enemies.”

The entire yearbook collection will be available on Ancestry.com to existing members or through a 14-day free trial for new members.

For anyone interested in discovering their ancestors in the yearbook collection, visit www.ancestry.com/yearbook to search the full collection of 60 million records.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than one million paying subscribers. More than 5 billion records have been added to the site in the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created more than 18 million family trees containing over 1.8 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

Ancestry.com and NBC Team Up for a Second Season of "Who Do You Think You Are?"

World's Largest Family History Web Site Continues Sponsorship of Critically Acclaimed TV Series That Takes a Personal Look at Celebrity Family Histories

PROVO, Utah, August 25, 2010 – Ancestry.com is pleased to announce it has extended its relationship with NBC for the second season of the “Who Do You Think You Are?” television series.

Ancestry.com worked with NBC on the first season of “Who Do You Think You Are?” that debuted in March 2010. The company provided important family history research for the show, including tracing the roots of the seven celebrities featured, and collaborated with NBC to promote the series. Each episode took one celebrity on an emotional, and often times soul-searching journey to discover the lives of family members who came before them.

“It is remarkable to work on this series with the leader in the online family history category, Ancestry.com,” said Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming & Production at NBC Universal. “A show of this caliber takes a lot of research and ground work to make the celebrities stories come to life. With the valued collaboration of Ancestry.com, we’ve been able to tell seven amazing stories in the first season, and look forward to even greater family history discoveries to be uncovered in season two.”

“We are excited to continue working with NBC on this series,” said Josh Hanna, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Marketing for Ancestry.com. “The first season of the show has truly elevated awareness around the family history category and we couldn’t be more pleased to be an integral part of a television series that brings excitement to the discoveries people can make when researching their ancestral roots.”

“Who Do You Think You Are?” is produced by Wall to Wall Entertainment in collaboration with Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky for their production company, Is or Isn’t Entertainment. NBC has announced the show will air in the 2010-11 season.

About Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than one million paying subscribers. More than 5 billion records have been added to the site in the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created more than 18 million family trees containing over 1.8 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

Thomas MacEntee Featured Speaker at Annual EWGS October Workshop

The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society presents its annual October Workshop Saturday, October 2, 2010 at the Spokane Public Library, 906 W. Main, 1st Floor Meeting Rooms in Spokane, Washington. Noted genealogy blogger, writer, and lecturer Thomas MacEntee will be our featured speaker. His presentations include:

• Facebook for Genealogists
• Become a Genealogy Blog User
• Building a Genealogy Blog
• Google Docs for Beginners

Thomas specializes in educating the “non-techie” crowd on various types of technology in a friendly and non-threatening environment.

Cost will be $20 for EWGS members or $25 for non-members, which includes a choice of three box lunches from Apple Spice Junction for pre-registered attendees. A special presentation, "Building a Research Toolbox," will be held for EWGS members only on Friday evening, October 1 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM, in the same location. A registration form can be downloaded here.

Check in will be at 8:30 AM Saturday and the workshop will be held from 9:00 AM through 3:30 PM. A lunch break will take place from 11:45 AM to 1:15 PM. Paid parking is available across the street in River Park Square. For more information, contact Miriam Robbins Midkiff.

August 2010 Scanfest

Scanfest is Coming!

The August 2010 Scanfest will take place here at AnceStories next Sunday, August 29th, from 11 AM to 2 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.

What is Scanfest? It's a time when geneabloggers, family historians, and family archivists meet online here at this blog to chat while they scan their precious family document and photos. Why? Because, quite honestly, scanning is time-consuming and boring!

Scanfest is a great time to "meet" other genealogists, ask questions about scanning and preservation, and get the kick in the pants we all need on starting those massive scanning projects that just seem too overwhelming to begin.

To get started, you need to know the basics about scanning:

1. Don't use commercial glass cleaners (i.e. Windex) or paper towels to clean your scanner's glass plate. Use a soft, clean cloth, preferably microfiber. If you must use a liquid, use water sprayed directly onto the cloth  and make sure to let the plate dry thoroughly before placing photos or documents on it.

2. Wear cotton gloves (available at many art and/or photography supply shops) when handling photos and old documents.

3. Don't slide the photos around on the glass plate. Place them exactly where you want them. Photos should NEVER be scanned by a scanner that feeds the document through the machine, but ALWAYS on a flat-bed scanner.

4. Set your scanner to scan at no smaller than 300 dpi (dots per inch). Many experts recommend 600 dpi for photographs.

5. Photographs should ALWAYS be scanned and saved as .tif files. Use "Save As" to reformat the .tif file to a .jpg file for restoration and touchups, emailing, or uploading to an online photo album. ALWAYS retain the original scan as a .tif file.

6. Documents can be scanned as .pdf files or .tif files.

7. When you are done scanning your photos, don't put them back in those nasty "magnetic" photo albums. Place them in archival safe albums or boxes found at websites such as Archival Products or Archival Suppliers. Do NOT store any newsprint (articles, obituaries, etc.) with the photos. The acid from the newspaper will eventually destroy the photograph.

Now about the chatting part of Scanfest:

We will be using Cover It Live, a live blogging format that you access right here at AnceStories.

On Sunday at 11 AM, PDT, come right here to AnceStories and you'll see the CoverItLive live blog/forum in the top post. It's not really a "chat room," per se, it's more like a live forum and anyone visiting this site can read and see what is happening in the forum.

You will not need to download any software.

Up to 25 individuals can be invited to be Producers. Producers are participants who have the extra capability of sharing photos, links, and other media within the forum (great for sharing the photos you're scanning!). You must have Internet Explorer 6.0+ or Firefox 2.0+ to be a Producer.

We can also have up to 25 other Participants who can comment freely in our conversation, but will not be able to share media. You can have any kind of browser to be a Participant.

In addition, any other readers of this blog can drop on by and view/read what is happening at Scanfest. If the 25 Participant spaces are full, those readers will not be able to comment, unless someone else drops out.

Confused? Have questions? Go to CoverItLive and check out 6. Try It Now to see live blogs in action or 7. Demos to see videos demonstrating how to use CIT (especially the ones titled "How do my readers watch my Live Blog?" and "Adding Panelists and Producers").

If you would like to be a Producer, please e-mail me no later than Saturday, August 28th at 4 PM, PDT and I'll send you an invitation. Preference will given to previous Scanfesters. You must set up an account (free!) ahead of time to be a Producer. This account will be good for all future Scanfests. You can do some practices ahead of time by going to My Account and clicking on the link under Practice your live blogging. Again, you must have IE 6.0+ or Firefox 2.0+ to be a Panelist.

As a Producer, Participant or simply a reader, if you would like an e-mail reminder for Scanfest, fill out the form below and choose the time frame for which you would like to be reminded (if you're reading this through Google Reader, Bloglines, or some other RSS feed reader, you will need to go to my blog and view this post there to see and utilize the form).

It really is easier than it sounds, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all there and getting some scanning done!

52 Weeks of Online American Digital Archives and Databases: Montana

This is the 27th post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.

 
3DFlags.com

Museum of the Rockies - http://www.montana.edu/wwwmor/photoarc/ - "a preservation and research collection of historical photography from the Northern Rockies Region of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. The Archive collects and preserves photographs from the late 1860's to the 1980's that document the people, places, industry, and events of the region."

Montana Historical Society Online Resources - http://montanahistoricalsociety.org/ - in partnership with the State of Montana, this page links to the Montana Memory Project (see below), the Montana History Wiki, the Montana Place Names Companion Website, African-Americans in Montana Heritage Resources, an index to Montana: The Magazine of Western History, and more

Montana Memory Project - Montana's Digital Library and Archives - http://cdm15018.contentdm.oclc.org/ - highlights are historic photographs, documents, and architectural drawings; county histories; yearbooks; livestock brands; veterans lists; state prisons records; newspapers; Native Americans; WWII letters; and interviews

Northwest Digital Archives - http://nwda.wsulibs.wsu.edu/index.shtml - "provides access to descriptions of primary sources in the Northwestern United States, including correspondence, diaries, or photographs. Digital reproductions of primary sources are available in some cases."

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Brigham Young University (Idaho) Special Collections and Family History - http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/index.cfm - Includes the Western States Marriage Index which contains many Montana marriages from as early as 1864 to as recently as 2008, depending on the county.

Little Big Horn College Library - http://lib.lbhc.cc.mt.us/ - from this page you can find Tribal Histories Online, a Place Names Database (compiled Crow place names and the narratives associated with them), and the college archives, which include an image archive search.

Montana State University-Billings Library Special Collections - http://www.msubillings.edu/library/Speccoll/Speccoll.htm - samples from the special collections are available online in this simple website. Most information is centered around finding aids, but the Dudley White Collection has a link to Montana in Black and White, with fascinating "then and now" photos comparing black and white historical photos with current color ones of locations in Montana.

Montana State University Libraries Digital Collections - http://www.lib.montana.edu/digital/index.php - highlights are two photograph collections. The Thomas Brook Collection is "photographs of southwest Montana’s people and places during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in and around the Twin Bridges area of Madison and Beaverhead Counties." The James Willard Schultz Collection "cover(s) Montana’s Native American people and places in and around Browning, Montana and Glacier National Park during the early 20th century." There is also a full-text retrieval of MSU's theses and dissertations.

Montana State University - Northern Vande Bogart Library - Special Collections and Archives - http://www.msun.edu/infotech/library/archives.htm - Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains is the only online collection available. Is is a searchable online photograph database of historic images of Native Americans, their way of life, and their art.

University of Montana-Missoula - Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library - Digital Collections - http://www.lib.umt.edu/node/3 - includes American Indian Ledger Art, photo archives, regional and historic maps, plus a link to the Northwest Digital Archives (see link above)

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D'Arcy McNickle Library - Digital CharKoosta News - http://skclibrary.skc.edu/?q=node/8 - digitized issues of a publication of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, started in November 1956 and continued through five decades; digitization covers the years 1956-1961 and 1971-1988.

Parmly Billings Library - Genealogy - http://ci.billings.mt.us/index.aspx?NID=389 - vital statistics  include "notations on births, deaths, business licenses and other records as reported in the Billings Gazette 1882-1901"; city directories

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Check out my Montana Online Historical Directories and my Montana Online Historical Newspapers pages.

52 Weeks of Online American Digital Archives and Databases: Missouri

This is the 26th post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.

3DFlags.com

Missouri Digital Heritage - http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ - if this one site was the only link in this post, it would be treasure enough! They don't call Missouri the "Show Me" state for nothing, and here's what Missouri has got to show you: birth, marriage, death, church and cemetery records and family papers; maps; newspapers; military records and resources; postcards, photographs; county and municipal records; Native American, African American, immigrant groups; agriculture; transportation; city directories; books and diaries; government and political records, and much, much more!

Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center - http://www.mohistory.org/lrc-home/ - genealogy name, place, and address index; digital collections include Photographs and Prints; Library; Maps; Manuscripts and Archives; Richard A. Gephart Collection; Richard A. Gephart Video Collection; MHM Press Publications; Museum Collections; and the Civil War

State Historical Society of Missouri - http://shs.umsystem.edu/index.shtml - archived issues of Missouri Historical Review, Civil War in Missouri collection (letters, diaries, newspaper articles), Civil War Books, One-Room Schoolhouse and other oral history projects, newspaper index, Famous Missourians, Messages and Proclamations of Missouri Governors

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Missouri State University Digital Collections - http://digitalcollections.missouristate.edu/ - highlights include two Frisco collections of railroad ephemera and images, several African-American collections, the Copenhaver Collection (milling industry in Springfield), Greene County Aerial Photography, and a War Memorial Album (photographs and biographies of 93 students and alumni who lost their lives in World Wars I and II and the Korean Conflict).

Saint Louis University Libraries Digital Collections and Exhibits - http://libraries.slu.edu/archives/digcoll/digitalcoll.html - St. Louis Civil War Digitization Project, WEW Radio Collection (first radio station west of the Mississippi River), Spiritual Journeys (early Jesuitica exhibit), and the Ravenna Mosaics Company

Southeast Missouri State University Special Collections and Archives - http://library.semo.edu/archives/index.htm - Online Exhibits include Women's Literary and Social Clubs of Cape Girardeau and Woman Authors of Southeast Missouri. It appears they will eventually have digital collections at this site as well.

Truman State University - Pickler Memorial Library - Special Collections and Archives - http://library.truman.edu/scpublications/publications.asp - University Archives contain finding aids and indexes, biographies, history and tradtions, alumni and student rosters, and veterans memorials. Electronic Collections contain the Chariton Collector, "a semi-annual journal of northeast Missouri history and folklore published by the Local History Classes of Kirksville High School in the 1980s."

University of Missouri Archives - Digital Collections - http://muarchives.missouri.edu/digcoll.html - yearbooks; university-related magazines; histories of various U of M departments, schools, and colleges; lists of graduate school degrees conferred; plat books; Sanborn Fire Insurance maps; and more. These collections can also be accessed through the University of Missouri Special Collections portal here: http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/specialcollections/digital.htm

University of Missouri Digital Library - http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/ - includes 20 text collections and 23 image collections from 15 libraries around the state; of note are Civil War collections, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, yearbooks, postcards, photographs, platbooks, sheet music, and historic newspapers

University of Missouri Kansas City - LaBudde Special Collections - Digital Projects - http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col-digital-projects - images documenting railroads, jazz and other musicians, political personalities, Native Americans, and Victorian studio portraits; also  presidential speeches, sheet music, radio, diaries, Civil War and other letters, newspapers, maps

Washington University Libraries Department of Special Collections - Digital Exhibitions and Images - http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/exhibits/ - highlights include photography collections, 17th Century cartographic printing from the Netherlands, Women Artists, a ribbons map of the Mississippi River from 1866, and various medieval collections of art and literature

Washington University Libraries Department of Special Collections - Film and Media Archive - Digital Resources - http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/filmandmedia/digital.html - Eyes on the Prize interviews: "a 14-part series which was originally released in two parts in 1985 and 1988. This series, which debuted on PBS stations, is considered to be the definitive documentary on the Civil Rights Movement." Highlight includes an interview with Rosa Parks.

William Jewell College Digitization Projects - http://campus.jewell.edu/academics/curry/library/digital/default.html - memoirs of the college's first female graduate (1920), cookbook, yearbooks, alumni magazines, histories of the college

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Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City - http://www.blackarchives.org/collections - the photo collections are categorized as so: 18th and Vine, Arts and Culture, Civil Rights, Education, Children, Events, Franklin Collection, Military, Places, Politics and Government, Religion, Sports, and Women

Cape Girardeau County Archive Center - Cape Girardeau County Archive Center - http://www.capecounty.us/ArchiveCenter/Archive%20Center.aspx - lists of county cemeteries (but no transcriptions); lists of military personal from the county; 1803 census; helpful links

Carnegie Public Library - Genealogy - http://carnegie.lib.mo.us/index.php/genealogy - cemetery transcriptions, Gentry County images (links to their Flickr account), 1877 Gentry County Atlas, Gentry County Funeral Cards

Cass County Historical Society - http://www.casscountyhistoricalsociety.org/ - obituaries, veterans

City of St. Louis - Gatewood Gardens Cemetery Database - http://stlouis.missouri.org/development/realestate/cemetery/

Concordia Historical Institute - Archives and Manuscripts Collections Searchable Database - http://chi.lcms.org/collections/search.asp - "...one of the world's largest repositories of information on Lutheranism in North America. With over 1,400 individual collections and more than 2.6 million documents, the archives and manuscript holdings document American Lutheran history from the 19th century 'Old Lutheran' immigration movements to the present."

Greene County Archives - Index to Coroner's Record Books, 1875-1972 - http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/records/cortoc.htm

Greene County Recorder Marriage Record Search - http://www.greenecountymo.org/recorder/marrsearch.php

Harry S. Truman Library and Museum - http://www.trumanlibrary.org/library.htm - photo database, sound recordings, finding aids for papers, oral histories, Truman's 1947 diary, Truman genealogy, Truman's calendar, cartoon collection, trivia, and much more

Jackson County Marriage Records Search - http://records.jacksongov.org/search.asp?cabinet=marriage

Jackson County Probate Records Search - http://www.16thcircuit.org/Depts/PRB/prb_inquiry.asp

Jefferson County Library - Genealogy - http://www.jeffersoncountylibrary.org/genealogy-services - newspaper index, browsable or searchable

Kansas City Public Library - Missouri Valley Special Collections Digital Gallery - http://www.kchistory.org/ - collections include Advertising Cards, Aerial Views, Askren Photograph collection (buildings, parks, streets, events, etc.), Assorted Images (ecletic collection of people and places), Autochromes, Biographies, Building Profiles, Business Buildings, Churches, Coon-Sanders Nighthawks Orchestra, Education, Eldridge Slides of Kansas City, Family Collections, Guadalupe Center Photographs (settlement house for Mexican immigrants), Guerrillas and Outlaws, Hargrave Photo Collection (accident sites), Journal-Post Photographs, Landmarks Commission, Maps, Music-Dance-Theater, Native American and Western Photograph Collection, Nelly Don (clothing designer), 1951 KC Flood, Nineteenth-Century Kansas City, Photographs (General Collection), Postcards, Sanborn Maps, South Central Business Association, Transportation, Willis Castle Memorial Photographs (Superintendent of Markets and Broadway Bridge, 1974-1977), and the Local History Index

McDonald County Library Genealogy and History - http://www.librarymail.org/genehist/index.html - obituary index, listing of cemeteries, downloadable county history, Jesse James Movie Digital Archive Project, county history digitization project (could not get latter item to load at this time)

Mid-Continent Public Library - Midwest Genealogy Center - http://www.mymcpl.org/genealogy - lists of area libraries, researchers, and societies; topical guides; free charts and forms

St. Charles City-County Library District Local History and Genealogy - http://www.win.org/library/services/lhgen/cinmenu.htm - from this page one can choose Digital Resources (historical images and county biography) or Local Databases (postcards, cemetery, news clippings, county assessor's property database, local maps,  and newspaper index)

St. Charles County Historical Society - http://www.scchs.org/index.html - historical photos; searchable indexes (includes plat maps; obits; circuit court records; wills; marriage records and WWII marriages; burials/removal permits; naturalizations; probate records; church memberships, baptisms, and records; guardian books; 1876 state census index; stillbirth records; land and property records; and more)

St. Louis County Library Special Collections Department - http://www.slcl.org/branches/hq/sc/ - links to multiple online genealogical and historical indexes and databases (books, newspapers, vital records, cemeteries, obituaries, church records, naturalization, military), the St. Louis Genealogical Society, extremely informative and useful research guides and finding aids, and "The St. Louis City & County Split of 1876 & How It Affects Research in St. Louis." Very effective and easy-to-use site.

St. Louis Genealogical Society - Resources - St. Louis Records - http://www.stlgs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36&Itemid=45 - indexes include ethnic communities, maps, neighborhoods, societies, local censuses, court records, fire and police records, immigration, land and property, military, pot offices, probate, taxation, hospitals, orphanages, schools, births and baptisms, burials, deaths, family Bibles, marriages, medical, obituaries, directories, newspapers, photo collections, surname collections, and various religious records from several faiths and denominations

St. Louis Public Library Premier Library Sources - http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/library.htm - Indexes, lists, and biographies to materials in the following subjects: African-American resources; Louisiana Purchase Expo of 1904; women; magazines and newspapers; obituaries; government; military; and St. Louis biography, virtual exhibits, history, neighborhood, suburbs, and streets, and photograph collections.

Springfield-Greene County Library District - Local History - http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/ - Check out the local history articles in the main column on this webpage. Then visit Collections in the left-hand menu for links to  the Civil War, newspaper indexes, Greene County histories, and historical periodicals, as well as more links to collections off site. Back at the home page, click on Genealogy or Missouri and Ozarks in the right-hand menu for links to digitized collections on the site and links to other helpful resources at other sites. Digitized collections include Greene County Records (abstracts and indexes of a number of court and other records), photos, Black Families of the Ozarks, a gazetteer, historical postcards, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway collection, historical markers, ethnic life stories, and much more.

Vernon County Historical Society Bushwacker Museum - Probate Search - http://www.bushwhacker.org/probatesearch1/bushwhackertable1_list.php

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Check out my Missouri Online Historical Directories and my Missouri Online Historical Newspapers pages.

NEHGS Launches New Website

AmericanAncestors.org reflects organization's expanding national collection and resources

Boston, MA - August 19, 2010 - D. Brenton Simons, President and CEO of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), today announced the launch of AmericanAncestors.org, the organization's new website that will serve as the home of its growing regional and national genealogical resources. AmericanAncestors.org will contain all of the Society's New England and New York content, features, articles, and resources, as well as weekly updates and databases in a variety of regional and ethnic specialties, such as sources for mid-Atlantic, Irish, and African American research.

AmericanAncestors.org provides online access to some of the most important research tools and resources available, and includes a new image viewer, faster navigation and search results time, and more unique content. This expanded scope allows greater opportunity for NEHGS to bring unique content to its members and the public while establishing new and beneficial collaborations with likeminded non-profit organizations and important commercial entities.

Simons said, "This website marks a transformative experience in our 165-year history, the first genealogical society founded in America. It represents the next major step ahead as we continue to expand our resources." Simons added, "AmericanAncestors.org is a new, dynamic platform from which we will grow in our position as a leader in American genealogy and as the nation's largest genealogical society."

Simons also said that NEHGS remains committed to its core strength, namely New England genealogical scholarship. "New England will always be our greatest strength and primary focus, as well as our cherished institutional name. We have much New England material to bring to the public and the new website will add 25 million additional New England names to search."

NEHGS Board Chairman, Eric B. Schultz, said, "AmericanAncestors.org will help family historians of all levels have a much better understanding of our core assets and resources. We are proud of the fact that NEHGS has worked to define genealogy in America, and this site will help advance our important national mission."

Among other things, AmericanAncestors.org will provide:

• More exclusive content: more unique, searchable, highly vetted materials for New England, New York, and other regions added weekly
• Enhanced search engine: an all-new, true "master search" that will search across all databases and other web-based content, with faster results and easier navigation
• Personal research profile: a social networking feature for NEHGS members to develop an online profile and input family research information, and even share them with others
• Improved images: a state-of-the-art new image viewer that will provide easier saving, and viewing of images and data
• Timely information: more news on our homepage and an enhanced blog "The Daily Genealogist" will bring our weekly electronic newsletter to the next level with stories and helpful research tips

In addition, NEHGS is inviting people to sign up for the NEHGS "Guest User" program. This free registration gives anyone access to the popular weekly news stories as well as special access to a variety of databases, resources, articles, and other tools to help with their research. More information can be found on the NEHGS website at www.AmericanAncestors.org.

The Society's "American Ancestors" identity was announced earlier this year, when its quarterly member magazine was rebranded American Ancestors: New England, New York, and Beyond. In October 2009, NEHGS began publishing American Ancestors Journal, an annual supplement to its quarterly journal, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

The Great Fire of 1910 Centennial Events and Articles

This month marks the centennial of the Great Fire of 1910 which swept over the Inland Northwest leaving devastation in its wake. To get an idea of the magnitude of this fire, imagine 10,000 new Forest Service workers and 4,000 troops (sent by President Taft) fighting a fire across three states. "Despite their efforts, the fire burned three million acres in two days, killed nearly 100 people, and burned several towns to the ground. It is believed to be the largest fire in recorded U.S. history." [from the Spokane Public Library website]

I wrote about my husband's ancestors' experience last October in my post, The Martin Family and the Great Fire of 1910. My local paper, the Spokesman-Review, has recently been publishing a series of fascinating articles about the fire. If you go to this link, you will see that currently there are 19 articles, three photo galleries, a video, an audio file, and a blog post published at their website that are tagged with the 1910 Fire label.

Additionally, area museums are showcasing exhibits about how the fire affected local communities (see list here) and the Forest Service also has some ceremonies and exhibits as well. Spokane Is Reading is bringing prize-winning author Timothy Egan (known especially for his book on the Depression, The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl) to Spokane on October 7th to speak for free on his newest book, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America.

Last, and certainly not least, fellow Inland Northwest geneablogger and friend Amy Crooks has been writing about her family's summer adventures on her blog, Untangled Family Roots. The following articles touch on places they visited that commemorate the Big Burn:

• Tombstone Tuesday: A Grave in the Wilderness
• Route of the Hiawatha

Feature Update: Tennessee Page on FamilySearch Research Wiki

Summary

The Tennessee page on the FamilySearch Research Wiki has recently been updated and now includes a wealth of new information and resources to help people find their ancestors in the Volunteer State. The link for this revised page is: http://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Tennessee

Background

The FamilySearch Research Wiki is a free resource created by the genealogy community. The core content for the Tennessee page was contributed by the expert researchers at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. The page also includes tips and research advice from local experts.

The Wiki staff is currently working on updating all of the state pages; Tennessee is one of the first because the 2010 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference will be held in Knoxville August 18 to 21. For more information about the FGS conference, please visit: http://www.fgs.org/2010conference/index.php .

Page Highlights

• A clickable county map on the main page
• Easy navigation at the bottom of each page
• How to find Tennessee sources in archives, libraries, in print, and online
• Information on substitute sources when records are lost
• Local lists of published family histories
• Links to published Tennessee county tax lists
• Audio files of locals pronouncing Tennessee county names
• Contact information for volunteers who will look up information in local resources

Quotes 

“These pages are beautiful and contain a wealth of valuable information.”

 --Charles Reeves Jr., Cartographer and TNGenWeb County Coordinatorfor Bedford, Clay, Jackson, and Putnam Counties

“We’ve pulled together Family History Library staff and local experts to create outstanding research guides for Tennessee genealogists. The web 2.0 format allows new information to be added as soon as it becomes available, unlike printed guides, where updates wait until the next edition. If you were to print all 154 Tennessee Wiki county, topic, and archive guides found on this site, and bind it into a book, this Tennessee genealogy encyclopedia would be more than 1000 pages long."

--Nathan W. Murphy, MA, AG, Tennessee Wiki Project Team Leader

Wordless Wednesday: Rebecca (HEWITT) and Isaac LUKE

Rebecca (Hewitt) and Isaac Luke. Probably Avon Twp., Bon Homme Co., South Dakota. 1908. Copy privately held by Miriam Robbins Midkiff, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Spokane, Washington. 2010.

Online Genealogy Classes Available in Spokane Area

If you live in the Spokane area, I would like to invite you to take one or more of my Online Genealogy Classes, available through the Community Colleges of Spokane's Institute for Extended Learning.

The first class is "Finding Your Ancestors in Online Vital and Cemetery Records" (Course L207) and will explain what vital and cemetery records are, why they are useful to family historians, and where to find them on site and online at both free and subscription websites. This class will be held Tuesday, October 5th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at the CenterPlace campus, 2426 N. Discovery Way, Spokane Valley, Washingon.

The second class will be "Finding Your Ancestors in American Military Records" (Course L204). Is there a veteran in your family tree or a family story that an ancestor served in the Civil or Revolutionary War? This class will teach you how to locate military records from the present to the American colonial period, and will be held Tuesday, October 26th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, also at the CenterPlace campus.

For both classes, it's important to have a working understanding of the Internet as well as an e-mail address. You may register for either course by calling the IEL at (509) 279-6030 or (800) 845-3324; you can also register online by going to the course webpages here (vital/cemetery) or here (military).

Who Do You Think You Are? Reruns Showing Friday Nights

I apologize for this late notice; these episodes are also available to watch online at the NBC website here.

Four encore episodes of NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? series will be shown Friday evenings beginning August 13 at 8/7c PM. The episodes will feature Lisa Kudrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Emmitt Smith and Brooke Shields.

180,000 new Chelsea Pensioner Records Now Available at Findmypast.co.uk

180,000 NEW CHELSEA PENSIONERS SERVICE RECORDS GO ONLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME AT FINDMYPAST.CO.UK

• Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1854 now available to search online
• In-depth and colourful insight into the lives of ordinary ranking soldiers
• Records include servicemen born in the UK and throughout the world, including India and Jamaica

Leading family history website findmypast.co.uk has added a further 180,000 records to the Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records collection currently available online. The new additions comprise the service records of men pensioned out of the British Army between 1760 and 1854. The update means the collection now totals over four million full colour images of the service records of almost 700,000 soldiers pensioned out of the British Army between 1760 and 1900. Findmypast.co.uk has been working in association with The National Archives and in partnership with FamilySearch for nearly two years to scan, transcribe and publish online these records.

Many of the soldiers listed will have served in some of Britain’s most significant wars, including the Battle of Waterloo (1815), the Crimean (1853 – 1856) and both Boer Wars (1899 – 1902). Each individual soldier’s record consists of a bundle of a minimum of four pages, full of fascinating personal details, and could even be up to 20 pages long.

The details that can be found in these records are invaluable to family and military historians, providing a rich and colourful story of our ancestors’ lives, with a level of detail that is hard to find in any other historical records. Among the information included in these documents are the soldier’s date and place of birth, name and address of next of kin, height, hair and eye colour, distinguishing features such as tattoos, rank and regiment, occupation before joining the army, medical history and countries where, and dates when, the soldier served.

The records not only relate to servicemen born in the UK, but also throughout the world, with many soldiers born in India and even the Caribbean. These records are also invaluable to Irish, Scottish and Commonwealth researchers, as many men joined the British Army from these countries throughout the centuries.

The records list only those soldiers who either completed their full service in the army or who were wounded and pensioned out of the army. The records do not include those killed in action or army deserters or officers. The connection with 'Chelsea Pensioners' is that the pensions were administered through The Royal Hospital at Chelsea. The great majority of pensioned soldiers were out-pensioners and did not reside at the Hospital itself.

Debra Chatfield of findmypast.co.uk said: “The Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records are a rich resource for family historians. For each soldier you’ll find a minimum of four pages of information, including a physical description and even details of other family members, such as their dates of baptism and marriage. These fascinating records enable you to find out so much about your soldier ancestors, including what they looked like, long before the invention of photography.”

NGS Online Interview Series: Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA

NGS is proud to announce the presentation to our members of the newest in the NGS Online Interview Series:

Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA

Arguably the most influential genealogist of our time, Elizabeth Shown Mills was for many years, with her late husband, Gary B. Mills, Ph.D., the editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.  She edited Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians and authored Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace as well as many other works valued by genealogists.

The video provides an opportunity to meet Elizabeth “up close and personal” as she shares her thoughts on our work and her own personal experiences as a researcher in these five short features:

• Genealogy Is History, Up Close and Personal
• The Importance of NGS
• Family Traditions: My Choctaw Princess
• We Are All Cousins
• The Search

Now showing for Members Only:

• Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA
• David E Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA
• Willis H. White, CG

Also showing:

• Thomas Adams, 2009 Rubincam Youth Award Winner
• Helen F. M. Leary, CG (emeritus), FASG, FNGS
• Paths to Your Past
• American Genealogy: Home Study Course
• NGS Conferences-What to Expect

Log in and go to NGS Videos http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/ngs_videos

Coming attractions:

• Thomas  H. Jones, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA
• Leslie Anderson, MSLS, Alexandria Library
• National Archives and Records Administration
• Laura DeGrazia, CG

The NGS Online Interview Series was produced by the award winning team Kate Geis and Allen Moore.

FamilySearch News: New RootsTech Conference to Bring Technologists Face-to-face with Genealogists

SALT LAKE CITY­—Technologists and genealogists from around the world will gather at the first annual RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 10-12, 2011. The new conference, hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by leading genealogical organizations, aims to bring technologists and genealogists together to help deepen understanding of current technologies and discover new ideas in applying technology to genealogy.  Learn more at rootstech.familysearch.org.

“When the users and creators of technology come together, innovation occurs,” said Jay Verkler, president and CEO of FamilySearch. “The RootsTech Conference will accelerate that innovation through panels, discussion groups, and interactive demonstrations.”

Josh Taylor, Director of Education and Programs for the New England Historic Genealogical Society, says the time is right for such a conference. 

“The collection of technologies present at the last National Genealogical Society Conference in Salt Lake City was so impressive that we see a need and opportunity for a strong annual technology genealogy conference to pursue solutions for the unique challenges facing genealogists,” Taylor said.

The RootsTech Conference is designed to foster innovation by bringing technology users and creators together in a meaningful way. Thousands of genealogists who use technology in pursuit of one of the most popular hobbies in the world will discover how new and emerging technologies can improve and simplify their activities. Genealogists will be treated to technology prototype demonstrations, interactive workshops, and opportunities to test innovative new product and service concepts. Technology providers will get the opportunity to demonstrate product concepts face-to-face to their customer—the family history enthusiast—and better understand their needs.

“Technology is driving a revolution in family history,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com. “We’re excited to participate in the RootsTech Conference, and we see it as a great chance to explore with genealogists how technology can help them even more in the future.”

The RootsTech 2011 conference will be hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by Ancestry.com, New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Brigham Young University, and other leaders in the genealogy community.

“Brigham Young University is pleased to participate in this conference, which brings together the Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy and the Family History Technology Workshop under the same umbrella. We think this creates a new and unique national forum for genealogists, software developers, and researchers to move genealogy forward,” said Christophe Giraude-Carrier, Associate Chair and Associate Professor of the Department of Computer Science at Brigham Young University.

Technology creators will discover new and existing technologies and techniques to help their development practices and also see how they can be applied to the unique discipline of genealogy. Anticipated themes for the conference include: using social networking to collaborate as families and societies, data backup and digital preservation, using multimedia, records and media digitization, how to use cloud computing to deploy reliable, scalable systems, handwriting recognition and automated transcription, mobile computing devices and applications, GPS mapping, and much more.

Surname Saturday: KIMBALL

 My KIMBALL line ends with my paternal great-grandfather's mother, Mary May KIMBALL, and so far, can only be traced back two generations. I believe this line ties into the family tree of Richard KIMBALL, who emigrated in 1634 from Suffolk, England to Watertown, Massachusetts. However, I have not actively pursued this line to prove my theory.

The name is frequently spelled KIMBLE and KIMBELL, and once in a great while, CAMPBELL.

Stories and History:

Ahnentafel #68 - William KIMBALL (c. 1806 - 1879) - born in Vermont, he married Amanda WESTBROOK c. 1834 in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. The first four of their eleven children were born in Ohio between 1835 and 1841. In 1843, he removed to Kalamazoo Co., Michigan, where he resided in Pavillion Township. Ten years later, he removed again with his wife and children to Dayton Twp., Newaygo Co., Michigan, where he lived for the rest of his life and where he probably died (his death did not get recorded, but I have a copy of his will). Three of his sons served in and survived the Civil War.

Ahnentafel #34 - Benjamin Henry KIMBALL (1845 - 1924) - frequently went by "Henry"; I have outlined a sketch of his life here for my Civil War Soldiers and Sailors series.

Ahnentafel #17 - Mary May KIMBALL, a.k.a. Lula WEAVER (1873 - 1950) - when her mother died either in childbirth with her or shortly after, Mary was raised by her maternal aunt. I have written a detailed AnceStory for her on my website here.

More about the KIMBALL family:

1. Online database (I update this at least once a month): KIMBALL ancestors and relatives (no info on living persons available)

2. Some KIMBALL obituaries

3. Posts about KIMBALL ancestors and relatives on this blog

4. Some scanned KIMBALL photos and documents

My KIMBALL immigration trail:

VT > Cuyahoga Co., OH > Kalamazoo Co., MI > Newaygo Co., MI > Muskegon Co., MI > Ottawa Co., MI > AK > Stevens Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA

Wordless Wednesday: The John M. HOEKSTRA Family, 1944

Left to right: Ruth Lillian (Hoesktra) Valk, Lillian Fern (Strong) Hoekstra, John Martin Hoekstra, Mary Louise Hoekstra, and Hope Mildred Hoekstra. 2710 Forest Grove, S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1944. Original privately held by Kathy Birnell, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Wellington,Kansas. 2007.

A Sad Day

I woke up this morning, poured myself a cup of coffee, grabbed my netbook and crawled back in bed to read the blogs and news, completely unsuspecting that tragedy would hit twice and personal this morning: former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was killed in a small aircraft crash near Dillingham, Alaska; and genealogy blogger Terry Thornton, known best for his blog "Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi" has passed.

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I don't believe I ever met Senator Stevens, but I grew up with him being a part of my life, sitting in the background, if you will. I was born and lived in Alaska until I was twelve, and as constituents, my family regularly received congressional updates from the senator as well as our other political representatives. I remember they would come in white envelopes with the return address in blue ink and a small bust of Stevens embossed with his signature "Ted F. Stevens" in the upper left hand corner. My parents were supporters of him and he did a lot of good for Alaska in the nation's capital. Additionally, we had a personal connection as well. My granduncle's widow, Mary E. [--?--] ERWIN SHORES, was one of his secretaries in D.C. She had been married to my paternal grandmother's biological brother, and although Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary were separated at the time of his early death, Aunt Mary and my grandmother remained close. In 1970, when I was three years old, we visited my extended family in Michigan in a trip from Alaska. From the Grand Rapids area, my parents and I took a road trip to D.C. with my paternal grandparents. Some of my earliest memories include seeing the Capitol lit up at night while driving by, as well as playing with Aunt Mary's little dog in her home.

Over the past few years, I've been trying to find out more about Aunt Mary. My grandmother has Alzheimer's, so I cannot turn to her for answers. I believe Mary was a Michigan girl who married my granduncle James Erwin. After his death, she married Michael Shore. I have tried to find death information on Aunt Mary and Uncle Mike, but without knowing more details, I can't distinguish them in the lists of Mary Shores and Michael Shores in the Social Security Death Index. Looking for their obituaries online has proved fruitless. A couple of years ago, I considered writing Senator Steven's office for assistance, but that was in the middle of his corruption scandal and federal trial (which further cements in my mind my opinion that lifetime political careers should be banned, no matter what the party or how effective a leader one is). Just a couple of weeks ago, I came across annual Congressional reports of various senators' and congressmen/women's staff and salaries; some staff had small biographies, and although I found Mary E. Shore listed several times with her salary as a secretarial staff member for Stevens, I could not find a biography.

All these thoughts flew together as I read the news about Stevens possibly being in a crash. I well remember the news of the crash he survived in 1978 that claimed several people's lives, including his wife Ann's. You don't grow up in Alaska without knowing someone that has died in an aircraft crash or has drowned. My parents lost some good friends whose helicopter flew into the side of a mountain during poor visibility, and one of my best friends survived a shipwreck and a subsequent month stranded on an island in the coldest winter in Alaska in 70 years...at 12 years old. So when I hear this story on the news, my heart goes out to the friends and family members of the people who were in that plane...that has got to be one of the most frightening ways to go.

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The other sad news is that genealogy blogger William Terrance "Terry" Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi and other popular genealogy blogs passed yesterday. His cousin, Lori Thornton of Smoky Mountain Family Historian, and good friend the footnoteMaven who also writes for The Graveyard Rabbit (of which Terry was a founder) have some moving tributes on their blogs.

I never had a chance to meet Terry, but for several years we corresponded regularly by email. He featured a number of my posts on his weekly column "Harvest from the Blog Garden," and I did have an opportunity to speak with him on Skype once or twice while a group of us were batting around an idea of a genealogical bloggers' society (which eventually became The Geneabloggers Group).

To quote Ralph Fletcher: "Artists develop a love for the feel for their tools, the smell and texture of clay, wood, or paint. Writers are no different. Writers love words." Terry was a true writer, and he had a wonderful gift. He will be missed.

52 Weeks of Online American Digital Archives and Databases: Mississippi

This is the 25th post in a weekly series of Online American Digital Archives and Databases found for free at state, county, municipal, college and university history, library, and archive websites, as well as public and private library and museum sites, and historical and genealogical society sites.

3DFlags.com

Mississippi Department of Archives and History - http://mdah.state.ms.us/ - Mississippi History Newsletter; links to museums and historic sites; digital archives include many photograph and postcard collections, the Anti-Slavery Alphabet, historical maps, Jefferson Davis Estate papers, and oral history interviews

Mississippi Digital Library - http://www.msdiglib.org/cdm4/browse_mdl.php - collaborative digital effort composed by Beauvoir: The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, Delta State University, First Regional Library, Gulf Park College for Women, Jackson State University, Katrina Research Center, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Mississippi State University, Tougaloo College, University of Mississippi, and University of Southern Mississippi.

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Delta State University Archives and Museum Oral History Collections - http://www.deltastate.edu/pages/1203.asp - a variety of transcribed oral histories (Chinese, Civil Rights, Delta Black Farmers, DSU, Delta Food, Italian, German POW, Historical Neighborhoods, Jewish, and WWII)

Mississippi State University Libraries Special Collections - Digital Collections - http://library.msstate.edu/specialcollections/digitalcollections.asp - University Archives photo collection ("span the history of the University, and depict campus life, buildings, organizations and athletic events over the years"); CHARM (The Consortium for the History of Agricultural and Rural Mississippi) which "provides access to documents and artifacts that chronicle the history of agriculture, forestry, and rural life in Mississippi."

University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast - Katrina Research Center Digital Archives - http://www.usm.edu/katrina/digital-archives.php - "consists of still images documenting the Gulf Coast prior to Hurricane Katrina and the destruction following the storm"

University of Southern Mississippi Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage - http://www.usm.edu/oralhistory/index.php - contains a topical and alphabetical index of the collection, with links to the podcasts at http://www.mississippimoments.org/

University of Southern Mississippi Digital Collections - http://digilib.usm.edu/index.php - http://digilib.usm.edu/index.php - cartoons, civil rights, children's books and literature (including H.A. and Margret Rey [Curious George] and Kate Greenaway), historical manuscripts and photographs, oral history, rare books, Southern Miss History, and the university art museum

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Adams County Circuit Clerk's Office - http://www.deltacomputersystems.com/MS/MS01/INDEX.HTML - databases for circuit court cases, marriage licenses, and judgement rolls

Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life - http://www.isjl.org/ - oral history, Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities (presents "a history of every congregation and significant Jewish community in the South")

Hancock County Historical Society - http://www.hancockcountyhistoricalsociety.com/reference/reference.htm - cemetery indexes, census records, Catholic church records, marriage index, divorce index, obituary index

Harrison County Online Services - http://co.harrison.ms.us/services/ - judgement rolls, land records, marriage database

Itawamba Historical Society - http://www.itawambahistory.org/index.html - sample Itawamba Settlers Quarterly Membership Magazine and surname index; online archives include early deeds, stock mark books, town photographs, church directory and historical sketch, chancery index, every-name index, grand jury pension list, Fulton Southern Herald Digital Images, maps, photos, directories, cemetery gallery, yearbooks, church minutes, marriage records, research guides, tax lists, censuses, civil war records, property and court records, probate records, biographical records, and much more

Lauderdale County Department of Archives and History Online Bookshelf - http://www.kithandkinofthesouth.org/the-book-shelf.html - surname books in .pdf form, census and marriage records, circuit court and miscellaneous court files indexes

Lincoln-Lawrence-Franklin Regional Library Genealogy and History Indexes - http://www.llf.lib.ms.us/webpage_4.htm - John Holly Williams Archives (200 digitized photos and wedding photo index); cemetery records; funeral home index; obituary indexes; early Lincoln County newspaper indexes; oral histories; and book reviews

Pike County Online Indexes - http://www.co.pike.ms.us/mllinkquerym.html - marriage licenses (see left-hand menu for links to judgement rolls, property links, deeds and other indexes)

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Check out my Mississippi Online Historical Directories

Wordless Wednesday: John S. and Nancy Amanda (CROTHERS) PHELPS

John S. and Nancy Amanda (Crothers) Phelps. Probably Bengal Twp., Clinton Co., Michigan. C. 1887. Copy privately held by Miriam Robbins Midkiff, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Spokane, Washington. 2010.

August Calendar of Events Posted

The August 2010 Calendar of Events has been posted here in its regular spot at 2:00 AM, PDT on August 1. My apologies for this late posting. Note that by now the August 2010 Edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival, the 3rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies, and the Wedding Issue of Shades the Magazine have already been published! Also, Thomas reminds us to back up our data at his Data Backup Day post. Lots of great reading here, folks!

Catch all these articles, as well as due dates for future carnivals, Scanfest, and information on celebrating holidays, heritage, and history in August, here at the August 2010 Calendar of Events!

Win $250 in Genealogy Gear and Other Special Offers

Family Tree Magazine is holding a Genealogy Giveaway Sweepstakes throughout the month of August:

Would you like to win $250 in genealogy books, CDs and DVDs? Who wouldn't! Enter our Genealogy Giveaway Sweepstakes by Aug. 31, 2010, and you could be the big winner.

In fact, you can enter every day, so bookmark win.familytreemagazine.com and try your luck. We'll announce the randomly selected winner in early September. Note: You must be a US resident 18 or older to enter.

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University Products is extending its special offer (see details midway through this post):

...I have heard from a good number of our customers requesting an extension to our July 31st expiration date as many people are either on vacation or just returning.
    
For this reason, we are extending the 20% discount offer (discount code WCC123) through August 15, 2010; but by prior agreement the Apple products promotion must end July 31st....(For clarity sake, the terms and conditions follow).
    
Again, I thank you for your continued support of our company.  We appreciate your business and hope this two-week extension will allow more customers time to take advantage of the savings.
    
Sincerely,

Scott E. Magoon, President

TERMS & CONDITIONS

If you choose to Save Yourself 20%:
- 20% Discount is only available on orders of $100 or more and is calculated before shipping, handling, and any applicable taxes or duties.
- 20% Discount cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions or applied to any order(s) placed before 6/14/2010.
- 20% Discount coupon code WCC123 can be used repeatedly between 6/14/2010 and midnight EST 8/15/2010.
- 20% Discount is calculated automatically within our website shopping cart after you've entered the coupon code at checkout.

If you choose to Reward Yourself with an Apple:
- Orders between $400-$799 eligible for one iPod Shuffle® (just enter coupon code WCCSHF at checkout)
- Orders between $800-$1,499 eligible for one iPod Nano® (coupon code WCCNAN)
- Orders between $1,500-$2,499 eligible for one iPod Touch® (coupon code WCCTCH)
- Orders over $2,500 eligible for one iPad™ (coupon code WCCPAD)
- This promotion cannot be combined with any other promotion and can be used only once between 6/14/2010 and midnight EST 7/31/2010.
- This promotion only applies to new website originated orders placed during the eligible period.
- The product that your order qualifies you for will be calculated against one single order - not the sum of multiple orders placed throughout the period of eligibility.
- Please note: After applying the coupon code, our website will show a discount of $.01!  Don't worry, we'll make sure you get the right Apple product!
- Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of the Apple product which will ship separately from and after your order ships.
- Returned or canceled orders will be credited less the retail value of the Apple product received as part of this promotion.
- University Products is not responsible for typographical errors or omissions - promotion is offered in good faith but we reserve the right to cancel, amend or limit  the promotion at any time.

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Moo.com is running a special on postcards. Here's a great way to share ancestral photos, or make up gift packs for Christmas gifts:

How was your holiday? Whether you've just come back or you're about to head off, you'll soon have lots of photos to share. So why not share them for real? Use MOO to make your own personalised Postcards...

Upload your photos and get 15% off a pack of MOO Postcards until August 15th with this code: 9MW4J4

Send them to friends and family - and if you have one spare, MOO too! We always love to hear from you.

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And now's the time of year to stock up on office supplies and electronics for your genealogy organization and storage. Check out Amazon.com for great deals!

August 2010 Calendar of Events

If the twenty-fourth of August it be fair and clear,
Then hope for a prosperous autumn that year.

Holidays, History, and Heritage

National Back to School Month (United States).

Holiday Month (many European countries)

August 1: Anniversary of the 1st U.S. Federal Census
Swiss National Day

August 6: National Salvadoran-American Day (United States)

August 7: Purple Heart Day (United States)

August 7 - 9: Twins Day in Twinsburg, Ohio
(Do twins run in your family?)

August 9: Singapore Independence Day

August 10: Ecuador Independence Day

August 11: Ramadan begins

August 14: Pakistan Independence Day

August 15: Korea Independence Day
India Independence Day

August 17: Indonesia Independence Day

August 21: Hawaii Statehood Day

August 25: Uruguay Independence Day

August 31: Malaysia Independence Day


Do any of the above events feature in or affect your heritage, culture, or family history?

Carnivals and Other Blogging Events

Need help? Read my post, "How to Submit a Post to a Carnival", here.

Posted August 1 - the August 2010 Edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - Favorite Season

Posted August 1 - the Wedding Issue of Shades of the Departed

Posted August 2 - the 3rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies - Uniquely Us!

Posted August 4 - the 96th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Scrapbooking Your Family History

Due August 20 - the 9th Edition of the Festival of Postcards - Locomotion

Due August 22 - the 21st Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture - Irish Stories
Note: This Carnival is on sabbatical and will be published in November 2010.

Posted August 31 - the September 2010 Edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - A Local Celebrity in Our Midst

Heads up! Submissions for the 4th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies (Genealogical Societies of Facebook) will be due September 7th. Also The Genealogy and Family History Blogger's Almanac is on vacation through August.

August 1 - Data Backup Day

Read Data Backup Day by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers.

Genealogy Television Shows
(check your local listings for accurate local airing times and reruns)

The Generations Project
Monday Nights at 8 PM on BYU-TV
August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

Who Do You Think You Are?
Friday Nights at 8 PM on NBC
August 13 - Lisa Kudrow (repeat)
August 20 - Sarah Jessica Parker (repeat)
August 27 - Emmitt Smith (repeat)

Scanfest:
Sunday, August 29th, 11 AM - 2 PM, Pacific Daylight Time
Read it here.

Go here to learn how to join Scanfest and our group of chatting, scanning family archivists, historians, and bloggers!

Go here to add the above deadlines and dates to your Google Calendar, courtesy of Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.


August creates as she slumbers,
replete and satisfied.
--Joseph Wood Krutch