Genealogy Path

The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

Here is a trick for anyone who uses Google’s Gmail service:

Here’s a method of creating unlimited virtual addresses to make it easier to sort mail and identify spam. For example, you can create a separate email address for each account you establish with an online merchant, such as amazon or ebay or ancestry.com. It even works for this newsletter. As long as you set up a “catchall” address with your email provider, all of these will be forwarded to your main account, and you can use your email client to sort and filter these as you see fit.

You can do this with Gmail, without having to pay to set up your own domain or deal with mail servers. Just add a plus sign and any text you want after your address but prior to the “at sign.” Gmail will ignore anything from the plus sign forward and send the message to your normal Gmail account. You can then use Gmail’s filters to sort your mail based on these suffixes.

Let’s create a few examples. First, let’s assume that your e-mail address is myname@gmail.com.

Substitute your real Gmail address in place of myname@gmail.com.

You might be suspicious that some merchants are sharing your e-mail address with others, such as giving your address to spammers. You can create “special addresses” for each merchant: you might create myname+ancestry@gmail.com and use that address only when signing up for Ancestry.com services. In a similar manner, you might create myname+facebook@gmail.com when signing up for Facebook. You could sign up with Twitter by using an e-mail address of myname+twitter@gmail.com.

That’s all there is to it: in front of the “at sign” simply insert a plus sign followed by anything you want (no spaces or “funny punctuation.”)

You will receive the e-mail in your normal Gmail account, as always. However, when you receive a “spammy” message, you will know how they got your e-mail address. You can see that the message was sent to myname+facebook@gmail.com which reveals that the sender obtained your e-mail address from Facebook.

You can also invoke Gmail’s filters to create a new rule to automatically move all future incoming messages sent to that full address to the Trash.

Simple… and it works.

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A civil war hero, a pirate, an African tribe, or an Indian Princess all of these people of the past could be in your family tree. For those who know all about where their family comes from or has a written history, you are very lucky. The truth is, that most people only have an idea of where their ancestors came from and don’t know much about any of them. Knowing where your ancestors came from and who they were is a great way to help you learn more about your family tree and some of the hereditary conditions that you might face later in life. No matter if you are interested in genealogy or not, then the time has never been better for you to search out your long-lost ancestors. Due to the popularity of genealogy sites on the Internet, you can find all your ancestors and family without leaving your home.

Before the Internet, people who wanted to research genealogy had to go down to the library and spend hours upon hours of sifting through old microfiche forms and old newspapers to find traces of their ancestors and family tree. They would listen to the stories that their parents and grandparents told and then see if they could find any trace of those people in death records, birth records, and land records. It was a long and tedious process that most gave up on pretty fast.

But, now, you can search out your family tree from generations past by sitting at home in your spare time. There are thousands of great websites out there who can help you search through millions of databases that will help you find your relatives, no matter where they are or where they came from. You can search through: the death records, birth records, land records, marriage records, ship logs, immigration logs, and even through personal records that have been kept by millions of people. These great searches can turn those long hours of work into a few short minutes to find every branch in your family tree.

Some sites are free, and some are pay sites, so you should look at each one carefully before agreeing to any type of fee. You need to know if they are free, and if not, do they charge per search or as a monthly membership fee. So, it doesn’t matter how much you do or don’t spend on these sites if you are finding the information that you need. If you find that you cannot get any information, you can always email their support department for help or tips on what you might be doing wrong. Most of these web sites offer great email support to help you find your whole family tree.

So, if you want to know about your past, the best way to do it is to get into genealogy and seek out your ancestors. Search around several different Internet sites and see what you can find, no matter what, you will always find something interesting that you didn’t know before. Who knows, you might find a long-lost member of royalty or a great hero in your past!

Jerry Cahill authors articles related to personal family trees. He publishes an interesting website on family genealogy related topics at: http://www.familygenealogytreesite.com/

Tags: family research, genealogy research, online research, research
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Date: Saturday, 6 June
Location: Sanducci’s Restaurant, River Edge Lecture Topic: New Bridge Landing, 1954-1956 - Never Before Seen Photos of the Historic Demarest House move and Wonderland!

There is a luncheon and the event does have a registration fee. See their
website: for more information or send email to: mailto:contactBCHS@bergencountyhistory.org

Tags: bergen county historical society, events, historical society, meetings
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The Will/Grudy Genealogical Society will be hosting a workshop on Saturday, April 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday, April 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Coal City Public Library, 85 N. Garfield St.
The workshop will teach how to locate your ancestors by using the library, internet, state and federal agencies, other genealogy societies and cemeteries.
This is a two day program. Come to either date or both for each day will consist of new information. The cost is $15 per person for one or both days. Registation deadline is April 13.

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Join Guest Speaker Beverly Yackel at the HCGS monthly meeting, March 14th, 2009. Ms Yackel will be presenting “Getting Organized”, something that all need help with sooner or later! The meeting will start promptly at 11:00 am at the Secaucus Public Library, www.secaucus.bccls.org for directions. Refreshments will be served.

Tags: genealogical societies, genealogy, Hudson County Genealogical Society, societies
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The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

The great-grandson of Apache warrior Geronimo argues in a lawsuit that a secretive society at Yale University holds the remains of his great-grandfather. Geronimo was buried in Oklahoma, but some say a secret society absconded with his remains.

Harlyn Geronimo has sued Yale and the society — the Order of Skull and Bones — to try to recover the remains. “I think what would be important is that the remains of Geronimo be with his ancestors,” he said.

Skull and Bones, a collegiate society that’s been around since 1832, includes alumni such as former President George W. Bush and his grandfather, Prescott Bush.

In 1990, a federal law was passed to protect Native Americans’ rights to their family member’s remains. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act addresses the rights of lineal descendants, Indian tribes and native Hawaiian organizations to Native American human remains as well as cultural objects.

You can read more at: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/02/26/geronimo.remains/index.html.

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On Feb 14 the Star Ledger newspaper ran an article with the following headline “Cash-strapped NJ Historical Society to slash hours, staffing.” As of 2/16, the Historical Society has eliminated its public hours in a “cost-cutting measure” that impacts genealogists in and out of NJ. Some staff members are being indefinitely furloughed, as well, to further cut their expenses.

They plan to continue their educational programs - including some lecture series and much of their children’s programming. My understanding is that some access to the Historical Society “by appointment” will continue to be available. It is unclear (at least to me) whether or not this will include access to their library. I hope it will - but if you’re planning a trip to the Newark area this spring or summer - better call ahead to find out…

(If you are planning a trip and hope to use the library - please be sure to explore their online information and catalog ahead of time. That way, if things need to be brought in from their off site storage you might be able to get it on your first visit and you will be able to make better use of the limited time you will have there.)

The society’s phone number listed in the article is 973-596-8500. Their website is: www.jerseyhistory.org

Tags: historical, historical society, new jersey historical society, njhs, societies
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The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

The Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War is expanding its national office and museum in Springfield, Illinois. The organization, whose members are all direct female descendants of Union Civil War veterans, recently bought an updated, 2,800 square-foot “American foursquare” home next to the Daughters’ museum and office at Walnut and Governor streets.

The 1898 home will be converted into research, library and special exhibit space, as well as quarters for organization trustees visiting Springfield. A children’s room is also planned.

You can read more at http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1056821763/Daughters-of-Union-Veterans-expanding-headquarters-museum.

Tags: civil war, museum, organization, organizations, veterans
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The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

Kasia Grycza is a professional genealogist who lives in Poland. She is an expert in Polish, Austrian, and Russian genealogy. In this interview, Kasia offers some hints on how to get started in genealogy research in Poland and other Eastern European countries

Roots Television kindly recorded our conversation and has now made that video available at: http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences3.php?bctid=11909038001&bclid=10538975001. You might also want to look at Kasia’s web site at http://www.discovering-roots.pl.

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The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.
If you are in or near northern Florida this weekend, you might want to stop in at the seminar sponsored by the Tallahassee Genealogical Society. In fact, I’ll be there. That’s because I am making several presentations to this group.

The Seminar actually starts on Friday with a Research Day in the Florida State Archives. That will be held from 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. (February 20, 2009) at the R. A. Gray Building of the Florida State Archives, 500 S. Bronough Street, Tallahassee. The day will begin with an archives tour at 9:30 a.m. Society members will be on hand all day to help beginning researchers.

On Saturday, February 21, we all move to St. John’s Episcopal Church, Tallahassee where I will offer the following presentations:

Photographing Old or Delicate Documents and Photography
Genealogy searches on Google
Tombstone Photography
Where is Genealogy Software Headed?
Those who registered in advance will be served lunch. Tickets will be available at the door but although anyone purchasing tickets the morning of the event may need to go elsewhere for lunch.

Details may be found at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~fltgs.

Tags: Seminar, Tallahassee, Tallahassee Genealogical Society
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