15 April 2009 by Libbi.

My friend DearMYRTLE is always looking for ways to help people do genealogy better, faster and with the best results. To that end, she has started a new blog at  http://blog.internet-genealogy.com/

Six days a week she will quote and discuss material in these   Moorshead Magazines, Ltd.:

* Family Chronicle http://www.familychronicle.com
* History Magazine http://www.history-magazine.com
* Internet Genealogy http://www.internet-genealogy.com
* Discovering Family History http://www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com

And, the “comments” feature is turned on the blog so that you can respond and interact with her. She still has her other blogs, too:

Teach Genealogy

and DearMyrtle at

http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/ and

http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/dearmyrtles_genealogy_blog/

Be sure to bookmark them!

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14 April 2009 by Libbi.

Credit for this blog goes to Susie Spencer, who sent it to me in an email! 

For those of you who research family history in Kentucky, the following facts might give some dimension to your genealogy.   And for those of you who don’t, YOU might also find this interesting.
Today’s history lesson:

* The bloodiest civil war battle was fought in Perryville, Kentucky.

*The first town in the United States to be named for the first president   was Washington, Ky. It was named in 1780.

*1792 - Kentucky was the first state on the western frontier to join the   Union *In the War of 1812 more than half of all Americans killed in   action were Kentuckians.

*1816 - (first promoted) Mammoth Cave, with 336+ miles of mapped   passages, is the world’s longest cave. It is 379 feet deep and contains   at least 5 levels of passages. It’s second only to Niagara Falls as the   most popular tourist attraction in the US. It became a National Park on   July 1, 1941.

*The first American performance of a Beethoven symphony was in Lexington   in 1817.

*Begun in 1819 the first commercial oil well was on the  Cumberland River   in McCreary County.

*Kentucky is the state where both Abraham Lincoln, President of the   Union, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, were born. They   were born less than one hundred miles and one year apart.

*1856 - The first enamel bathtub was made in Louisville

*In 1873, Louisville druggist John Colgan invented something that you can   find in any just about every grocery store in the world, chewing gum.

*1883 - The first electric light bulb was shown in Louisville. Thomas   Alva Edison introduced his invention to crowds at the Southern   Exposition.

*1887 - Mother’s Day was first observed in Henderson by teacher Mary S.   Wilson. It became a national holiday in 1916.

*The radio was invented by a Kentuckian named Nathan B. Stubblefield of   Murray in 1892. It was three years before Marconi made his claim to the   invention.

*Pike County the world’s largest producer of coal is famous for the
Hatfield-McCoy feud, an Appalachian vendetta that lasted from the Civil   War to the 1890s.

*1893 - ‘Happy Birthday to You’, probably the most sung song in the   world, was written by two Louisville sisters - Mildred and Patricia Hill.

*Late 19th century - Bibb lettuce was first cultivated by Jack Bibb in   Frankfort, Kentucky

*1896 - The first (known) set of all male quintuplets was born in
Paducah.

*Carrie Nation the spokesperson against rum, tobacco, pornography, and   corsets was born near Lancaster in Garrard County.

1926 - A Hot Brown is a hot sandwich originally created at the Brown   Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, by Fred K. Schmidt.

*.1934 - Cheeseburgers were first tasted at Kaelin’s Restaurant in
Louisville.

*1937 - The first Wigwam Village Motel, with units in the shape of a   ‘teepee’, was built by Frank A. Redford in Cave City .

*  The “Old Fashion” drink was created in Louisville KY

*The world’s largest baseball bat, a full one hundred twenty (120) feet   tall and weighing 68,000 pounds, can be seen at the Louisville Slugger   Museum in Louisville (Jefferson Co.).

*Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured only in Bowling Green.

*Covington (St. Mary’s Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption) is home to   the world’s largest hand blown stained glass window in existence. It   measures an astounding 24 feet by 67 feet and contains 117 different   figures.

*The world’s largest crucifix, standing at sixty feet tall, is in Bardstown (Nelson Co.).

*Fort Knox holds more than $6 billion worth of gold - the largest amount   stored anywhere in the world.

*The JIF plant in Lexington is the world’s largest peanut butter
producing facility.

*Kentucky has more resort parks than any other state in the nation.

*Middlesboro is the only United States city built inside a meteor crater.

*Newport is home to The World Peace Bell, the world’s largest
free-swinging bell.

*Pikeville annually leads the nation (per capita) in consumption of   Pepsi-Cola.

*Post-It Notes are made exclusively in Cynthiana, Ky.

*Shaker Village (Pleasant Hill) is the largest historic community of its   kind in the U.S.

*Christian County is ‘wet’, while Bourbon County is ‘dry’.  (’wet ’sells   liquor; ‘dry’ does not)

*Barren County has the most fertile land in the state.

*Lake Cumberland has more miles of shoreline than the state of Florida.

*Kentucky is best known for its beautiful blue grass.

*Cumberland is the only waterfall in the world to regularly display a   Moonbow. It is located just southwest of Corbin.

*Thunder Over Louisville is the opening ceremony for the Kentucky Derby   Festival and is the world’s largest fireworks display.

*The only monument south of the Ohio River dedicated to Union Soldiers   who died in the Civil War is located in Vanceburg.

*High Bridge located near Nicholasville is the highest railroad bridge    over navigable water in the United States.

*The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington has 82 stained-glass windows including the world’s largest hand-blown one. The   window measures 24 feet wide by 67 feet high and depicts the Council of  Ephesus with 134 life-sized figures.

*The Lost River Cave and Valley Bowling Green includes a cave with the shortest and deepest underground river in the world. It contains the largest cave opening east of the Mississippi.

*The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first Saturday in May.

*Kentucky is the horse capitol of the world.

*Mohammed Ali, The Greatest and most recognized face in the world was born in Louisville, KY.

*There are only three things that matter in the state of Kentucky -
Bourbon, Basketball, and Horseracing.

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13 April 2009 by Libbi.

On a personal note: My mother never joined the DAR because of the 1939 incident, even though she was able to prove Revolutionary War ancestry. She just didn’t want to belong to a “snob” group (her word). She was proud of the “plain old folks” in our ancestry. However, I do believe that the DAR has changed for the better since then, even to the point of celebrating our newest, naturalized citizens. The following press release shows this.

WASHINGTON, April 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is truly honored to celebrate the life, the talent and the legacy of world-renowned soprano Marian Anderson on this 70th anniversary of her historic concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
On April 12, 2009, the DAR will join with the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and others in paying tribute to Marian Anderson and the momentous 1939 event in a concert at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert will take place at 3:00 p.m. and features musical performances by Denyce Graves, Sweet Honey in the Rock and the Chicago Children’s Choir. The concert will conclude with a naturalization ceremony. DAR is delighted to be hosting a reception at its National Headquarters for those involved with the tribute concert and the newly-naturalized citizens. We thank the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission for allowing us the opportunity to join in the celebration of this important event.
The DAR deeply regrets that Marian Anderson was not given the opportunity to perform her 1939 Easter concert in Constitution Hall because of her race. Today, however, we join with all Americans in paying tribute to her memory and commemorating such a pivotal event in the struggle for racial equality.
DAR welcomed Marian Anderson to Constitution Hall on a number of occasions soon after 1939, including a benefit concert for war relief in 1943. It is also meaningful to us that Ms. Anderson chose Constitution Hall as the place to launch her farewell American tour in 1964. The DAR presented Ms. Anderson with the DAR Centennial Medallion in 1992 which recognizes women who gave outstanding service to the nation. In 2005, DAR was privileged to host the dedication ceremony of the Marian Anderson commemorative stamp at the invitation of the United States Postal Service and Ms. Anderson’s family.
Today, Constitution Hall is a venue used by numerous, diverse groups who bring major entertainment to Washington, D.C. DAR enthusiastically welcomes all women into membership who can trace their lineage to someone who contributed to American Independence, and encourages and celebrates diversity, not only in the organization, but also in our country.
For more information on the DAR and Marian Anderson, please visit the DAR public Web site at www.dar.org/mariananderson.
Source: Daughters of the American Revolution

CONTACT: Bren Landon of DAR, +1-202-572-0563, blandon@dar.org
Web Site: http://www.dar.org/
 
 
To see more releases from Daughters of the American Revolution, Click Here
 
 
This company’s web site http://www.dar.org
 

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10 April 2009 by Libbi.

There are many new, upcoming, and completed indexing projects to report in this update. There are 12 new projects (see Current Projects chart below). These include three Belgian and two Argentina projects. The New York 1892 State Census project will be of great interest to many people. FamilySearch could not do all of these great initiatives without the great time and effort contributed by so many terrific volunteers. Thank you for your continued support.Current FamilySearch Indexing Projects, Record Language, and Percent Completion

(*This percentage refers to a specific portion of a larger project.) 

Current FamilySearch Partner Projects

(*These percentages refer to a specific portion of a larger project.) 

Upcoming Indexing ProjectsLook for the following projects coming in the near future (Note: These projects are currently being created. Dates when indexing is scheduled to begin will vary.)·         Arkansas Marriages VI·         Arkansas Marriages VII·         Australia, Bounty Immigrants, 1824-1842·         Australia, Greenwich, Genealogical Records ·         Austria, Vienna Population Cards·         Brazil, Pernambuco Civil Register 1900-1920·         Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Marriages 1900-10·         Canada, British Columbia Birth 1854-1903·         Canada, British Columbia Marriages·         Chicago Archdiocese Cemetery Records 1 (1864-1989)·         Czech, Litomerice Church Records - Part 1 1552-1905·         Freedmen Marriages ·         Germany, Baden Church Books 1810-1869·         Germany, Mecklenburg 1890 Census·         Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates 1·         Indiana, Allen County Marriages 1811-1959·         Jamaica, Trelawny Births ·         Peru, Lima Civil Register Index 1910-1930 

Recently Completed Projects(Note: Recently completed projects have been removed from the available online indexing batches and will now go through a final completion check process in preparation for future publication.)·         Argentina 1869 Census–Cordoba y San Luis·         Arkansas Marriages III·         Michigan–1920 US Federal Census·         Nayarit–Censo de Mexico de 1930·         New Brunswick 1871 Census·         New Hampshire–1920 US Federal Census·         New Jersey–1920 US Federal Census·         Nova Scotia–1871 Census·         Ontario–1861 Census·         Rhode Island 1915 State Census·         UK – Cheshire Parish Registers part 1 

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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9 April 2009 by Libbi.

One whole year, I’ve been at this, thanks to the urging of my friend DearMYRTLE.

I’ve learned a lot in that year.  I hope you have, too!

Posted in Genealogy | Print | 5 Comments »

8 April 2009 by Libbi.

Social Networking for Genealogists by Drew Smith is a handy guide to making interaction on the Web work for you as a family historian.

The author is well-qualified to guide you through the maze of  RSS feeds, virtual worlds and genealogy-specific social networks. Drew Smith, MLS, is an academic librarian with the University of South Florida in Tampa. An expert in digital genealogy, with a lifelong interest in family history research, he is Director of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and President of the Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa. He is also a regular contributor to Digital Genealogist magazine and is co-host of the weekly Genealogy Guys Podcast.

The best part of online genealogy has always been the interaction with other family historians, professional and amateur, that you find online. Prior to this decade, that meant mainly  message boards and mailing lists.  Now, blogs, wikis, podcasts,  and even genealogy-specific social networks add depth and breadth to the experience of collaborating with genealogists all over the world.

Smith defines and describes all the social networking services that are now available online and highlights how these services can be used by genealogists to share information, photos, and videos with family, friends, and other researchers. Each chapter guides you through a unique category of social networking services using genealogy-related examples.  Then, at the end of each chapter, he gives you specific steps to get involved with such services to help you launch yourself into the realms of cyberspace without getting hopelessly lost. 

Details:

Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Company

Format: Paper

Pages: 129 pp.

Published: 2009

Price: $18.95

ISBN: 9780806317953

Item #: GPC5446

Posted in Bookshelf, Genealogy Sites, News, Genealogy, Genealogy Online | Print | 3 Comments »

7 April 2009 by Libbi.

Salt Lake City, Utah, April 6, 2009 — ProGenealogists, Inc., announced today that it has identified 50 of the most popular genealogy websites, creating an important and useful tool for everyone interested in their family and heritage. As the study’s author, Kory Meyerink, Vice-President at ProGenealogists, explained that today’s online genealogists face thousands of websites and millions of web pages that might contain information about their ancestors. “They can’t search them all, so we wanted to help by creating a list of the most visited sites, understanding that if thousands of other family researchers found a site to be useful, all researchers should know about such sites and check them out,” said Meyerink.

The study was designed in a manner similar to the popular “places rated” lists that appear regularly in the media. By ranking the websites on different criteria, and then averaging those rankings, a consensus list of the most popular sites emerges. In addition to popular and well-known Alexa.com, the other companies, whose rankings are all based on different criteria, used in this study were Compete.com, Quantcast.com and Ranking.com.

The challenge was not in developing a ranking system, but in coming up with the list of genealogy websites in the first place. Most such lists are “personal preferences” and are incomplete. The major genealogy portals, such as Cyndi’s List and Linkpendium are links to individual web pages, not to entire websites. Studying various link lists as well as the “similar” websites as referenced on the traffic measuring companies, Meyerink developed a list of more than 300 websites specifically oriented to family history enthusiasts. Government and other websites whose primary users are include people other than genealogists are not part of the ranking. “It would be like comparing cars and boats,” claimed Meyerink, “they have a similar function, but serve different audiences.”

“The list reveals some interesting aspects of online genealogy,” said Natalie Cottrill, President and CEO of ProGenealogists. “The presence of five data-rich sites among the first seven is expected. The increase in popularity of social networking sites like Geni.com and MyHeritage.com makes sense, too, because it reflects current Internet trends.” One of the largest data sites, Ancestry.com, is a subscription based site and is currently number one. With nine subscription sites in the top 50, it’s clear that people are willing to invest in their heritage. Several special focus sites are popular, including several devoted to cemetery and census information. To see the complete list of 2009’s 50 most popular genealogy sites, go to http://www.progenealogists.com/top50genealogy2009.htm.

Because the popularity of genealogy blog websites is not accurately measured by traffic, ProGenealogists has also released a list of twenty-five of the most popular genealogy blogs. Meyerink explained that “many people read blog entries through RSS feeds and other means and seldom actually visit the blog’s website. Therefore, we used Technorati’s system of ranking blogs to identify the most popular genealogy blogs.” For the list of top genealogy blogs, see http://www.progenealogists.com/top25blogs2009.htm.

ABOUT PROGENEALOGISTS, INC. - ProGenealogists, Inc. is a consortium of professional genealogists who specialize in genealogical, forensic, and family history research. The firm, in business for over 10 years, services thousands of professional, government, media, and individual clients worldwide. ProGenealogists, Inc. assists clients in several countries using its network of over 725 U.S. and International agents.  In addition to conducting excellent research for families throughout the world, they’ve published numerous articles and research tools on their award winning website, www.progenealogists.com,  including their Genealogy Sleuth page with its hundreds of links to data-rich web pages, including vital records sites for all 50 U.S. states, at http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm.

END

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6 April 2009 by Libbi.

• DNA solved a genealogy mystery for two people, one in the US, one in Australia.
  
• “An expert speaking at the Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University Saturday said while DNA is a useful, new tool for researchers, it’s also limited.” says the Mormon Times.
• “Utah-based GeneTree has launched a Web site that allows people who are related, according to genetic testing, to find one another and share family histories and mementos. ” says the Salt Lake Tribune. 
  
• “In Revisiting Anne Marie: How an Amerindian Woman of Seventeenth-Century Nova Scotia and a DNA Match Redefine American Heritage, Marie Rundquist shows how a single, Native American DNA test proved her documented French-European lineage invalid, calling an American heritage into question” says a Newswire press release.
  
• “People, says Mr al Matroushi, “don’t want to lose their history, and drawing up family trees is one of the oldest ways of preserving your past” says the National, a news outlet in Abu Dhabi.
• The Marion Public Library is pleased to bring Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak to Marion for a one-day seminar, Using DNA in Genealogy Research, on May 30 at Ivy Tech Community College.

Hi Matt!

Posted in DNA, News | Print | 2 Comments »

2 April 2009 by Libbi.

All day yesterday, my friends on Facebook were laughing or growling about this April Fools’ joke….Of course my father always said that mathematically, everyone on earth has to be related somehow….not enough ancestors to go around once you go back a thousand years or so…..

PROVO, Utah, April 2 /PRNewswire/ — Nearly 19 million people woke up this April Fool’s morning with an email from We’re Related, a service of FamilyLink.com, Inc., informing them that President Barack Obama confirmed them as a cousin on the We’re Related application on Facebook Platform. The landing page included a family tree of Obama, complete with the recipient’s name and photo at the bottom, connected with Obama.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090402/SF93446)

“I am looking at snow in Seattle & I am a Barack’s cousin on April Fool’s day. I have been fooled by God & the president,” posted one We’re Related user.

The April Fool’s joke resulted in We’re Related’s biggest day ever, with five times more traffic than average. At 6 a.m., more than 137,000 people had visited the application. By 10 a.m., We’re Related had more than 500,000 unique visitors, with the numbers still climbing (3 million visitors by the afternoon). The overwhelming response validates the interest people have in discovering new family relationships (especially notable ones)!

“Our traffic has skyrocketed to 5 times our normal traffic. Hundreds of thousands of people are visiting the application per hour. Plus we have become a trending topic on Twitter,” said Jason McGowan, chief social officer, FamilyLink.com, Inc. and developer of We’re Related. “I am ecstatic that it has been so successful, with so many positive comments about the joke.”

We’re Related is the fourth most popular application on Facebook Platform, and the number one social application for families, with an audience of 34 million people who have defined nearly 200 million family relationships using the application. We’re Related helps individuals stay in touch with their families by connecting them to their possible relatives, and also through photo sharing, news feed, birthday reminders, gifts, and more. The email sent this morning mimics the typical relative confirmation emails sent by FamilyLink.com, Inc. to its We’re Related customers.

Thousands of people have put their comments about the joke on Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and other Internet sites. Reactions relating to this so-called association with President Obama range from extreme excitement to anger.

For example, since the email went out, many have expressed crushes they have on President Obama:

“Whew!!! I’m glad Barack Obama is not my cousin cause I have a major crush on him.”

Many We’re Related users hoped this new relationship with Obama would give them privileges:

“We’re related to Obama. So I guess I’m going to college after all.”

“Barack Obama confirmed you as a cousin on We’re Related (from Friendface) I thought this was real. Lincoln bedroom, here we come.”

Some individuals have stated their disdain for being related to the President:

“For the record: I am not Barack Obama’s cousin no matter what Facebook says.”

Since the joke, some individuals have begun to question their family relationship:

“Just got this email from Facebook; “Michael, Barack Obama confirmed you as a cousin on We’re Related” …. uhhh Mom????”

We’re Related is a free application on Facebook and can be installed here: http://apps.facebook.com/we_r_related.

Read the process of the We’re Related April Fool’s joke.

Read more tweets posted about Barack and the cousin relationship.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.

FamilyLink.com, Inc. is the leading social networking company for families globally. It was formed in 2006 by original founding executives of Ancestry.com and MyFamily.com. The company operates several genealogy web sites and has popular applications on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Hi5, and Friendster. The company’s We’re Related application is currently the third most popular application on Facebook and has helped users define more than 150 million family relationships. FamilyLink.com, Inc. also operates the AdMazing ad network that represents more than 200 million monthly impressions on high traffic family history and heritage sites. Genealogy partners include Everton, brightsolid, Statute of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Genealogical Publishing Company, FindAGrave.com, Godfrey Memorial Library, and FamilySearch.

Website: http://www.familylink.com/

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1 April 2009 by Libbi.

It’s our wedding anniversary. Yep. April 1.

When we got engaged, my mother said not to consider planning a wedding while my father’s mother was still living in their house. She had become an invalid after a stroke and needed constant care, and got that care from my mother.

So. I had to get married over my grandmother’s dead body. In a sense.

When GrandPowell died in November 1977, the Mother of the Bride  then put forth more conditions: No weddings in the holiday season (she had been Mother of the Groom at Thanksgiving and Christmas for my brothers’ weddings a few years before). Not in January or February either, the weather would be too bad. And of course, no weddings in Lent.

“All right, Mother,” I said over the phone to her from my tiny apartment in Shelbyville, KY. “Book the church for the first Saturday after Easter 1978. If the church is not available, book Monte Sano State Park. I WILL get married this spring!”

And thus, on April 1, 1978, we were wed at the Church of the Nativity, in Huntsville, Alabama, where I had been baptised and confirmed.

This Mother’s Day, consider gathering the wedding stories of your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. How was the proposal made, and where? How was the date chosen?  The site? The wedding party? This is all good stuff to know!

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