For $subst('Recip.EmailAddr') July 7, 2005 Congratulations to the winners of our August 2005 Family Tree Magazine quiz. The sharpest-eyed, most lightning-fast-fingered E-mail Update readers are Debbie Griner, Sherri Boston and Joyce Conklin. Each of these ladies wins a copy of the Family Tree Sourcebook, a special issue of Family Tree Magazine available on newsstands and FamilyTreeMagazine.com July 19. See the quiz questions in the June 23 E-mail Update at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter/archive.html. The answers are: In the 101 Best Undiscovered Web Sites article, http://www.rootsweb.com/~ssghs/pullman.htm links you to records of 200,000 Pullman Car Works employees. If you're searching Ancestry.com's Castle Garden passenger lists but don't know the passenger's arrival year, type a question mark (?) in place of unknown numbers in the year. The Homestead Act of 1862 let men claim 160 acres in Kansas (and other states) if they'd cultivate it for five years. In her Destination: Yesterday story on historical re-enactments, Nancy Hendrickson reported “defarbing” is what re-enactors call the process of removing traces of modern life from lving history events. GEDCOM is an acronym for GEnealogicial Data COMmunications. Thanks for playing, everyone! Keep your eyes peeled for more quizzes—and opportunities to win genealogical goodies. —Diane Haddad, Newsletter Editor ftmnews-editor@fwpubs.com P.S. Make sure you don't miss a single issue of your E-mail Update! Add our address (familytree-newsletter@fwpubs.com) to your email-address book—your software will recognize the Update as an e-mail you want to read. Canada's 11th-hour Census Bill Tease Out Trafalgar Ancestors Hope for Historical Records Register Early and Save AncestorNews: Kentucky Land Records Tip of the Week: Know Your History Worthwhile Web Sites Identifying Family Photographs: Tell a Story Speakers' Schedule Advertiser Special Offers Canada's 11th-hour Census Bill After a harrowing ride through Canada's House of Commons, the bill that will let Canadians access 1911 census records has become law. The impending legislative recess almost prevented the required third reading of bill S-18, which would've killed the legislation. But June 28 the House unanimously approved a member's proposal that the bill be deemed to have passed its third reading. That authorizes the immediate release of the 1911 census; the public can see other 20th-century censuses 92 years after they were taken. Starting in 2006, Canadians filling out census forms will need to give consent for their census information to be released 92 years later. The Jewish genealogical publisher Avotaynu (http://www.avotaynu.com) reported in its newsletter that Library and Archives of Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.ca) has already scanned 1911 census records and plans to put them online ASAP. Before S-18 passed, Statistics Canada (an agency akin to the US Census Bureau) had refused to release 1911 and later censuses, claiming that Canadians of the day were promised their information would remain secret. Family historians have fought since 1998 to see the records. See the E-mail Update article at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter/5_12_2005.htm#2 for more on Canada's census struggle. Tease Out Trafalgar Ancestors The National Archives of Britain has posted a database of all who fought for His Majesty in the Battle of Trafalgar—the 1805 victory over France and Spain that thwarted Napoleon's plans to invade Britain. The database at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors lists names of the 18,000-plus men who served in Viscount Horatio Nelson's Royal Navy fleet, and in some cases, their service histories and biographical details. (Those details are still being added.) You can search by surname, or do an advanced search by first name, age, birthplace, ship's name, rating and rank. According to the archives, Britain's Royal Navy employed about 110,000 individuals in 1805—that means if your ancestor served at the time, there's roughly a one-in-six chance he was in the Battle of Trafalgar. The information in the database comes from ships' musters, certificates of service, biographies, applications to enter Greenwich Hospital, and officers' examination passing certificates and responses to an 1817 survey. Hope for Historical Records There's hope for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), threatened with de facto extinction by a line item in the president's proposed 2006 budget that eliminates its funding. The NHPRC is an arm of The National Archives and Records Administration that makes grants for preserving and publishing historical records. (See our report in the May 26 E-Mail Update newsletter for more on NHPRC.) Kathleen D. Roe, presdent of the Council of State Historical Records Coordinators (CSHRC), says the House of representatives has approved $7.5 million in NHPRC funds. "We are very pleased that a reasonable restoration has been approved by the House," Roe says. "In particular, we are incredibly pleased to see the coalescing of archivists, genealogists and historians who came together to make this happen." More than 10,000 people signed an electronic petition, and 1,000 sent letters to Congressional representatives, urging them to fund NHPRC. Next, CSHRC must convince the Senate to add NHPRC funds to the budget bill. The Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and HUD and the Senate Appropriations Committee will act July 12 and 14, respectively. You can help by contacting your senator; see http://www.savearchives.org for details. Register Early and Save Don't miss the July 15 early registration deadline for Midwestern Roots, one of the country's largest state genealogical conferences, this Aug. 19 and 20 in Indianapolis. You'll save $30 on registration for the two-day event; single-day attendees save, too. Visit genealogical exhibitors and choose from more than 30 presentations covering topics such as finding female ancestors, using census substitutes, discovering family food traditions and locating baptismal records. For more information, see http://www.indianahistory.org/midwesternroots. Kentucky Land Records Because I've been hunting down Kentucky Hendricksons for a very long time, I was thrilled to discover a series of free, searchable Kentucky land records online. These records date from Revolutionary War Warrants to later patents. If you find your ancestor in one of these databases (lucky you!), you can download an image of the record or print it for your own records. Continue reading at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/current.html. In this biweekly, Web-exclusive column, contributing editor Nancy Hendrickson points to new and helpful ways to do your computer-related research. Hendrickson is the author of Finding Your Roots Online, on sale now at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/store/display.asp?id=70583. Browse the archive of her AncestorNews columns at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/previous.html. Know Your History This week's tip comes from Jeri Taylor of Morehead, Ky.: It's important to look at the history of an area where your ancestors settled. I've been tracking my ancestors in Eastern Kentucky, and I'm discovering many of the men served in the same units during the Revolutionary War. They became friends, and when they received their land grants, moved their families to the same areas. Later, their children often married neighbors. I often find research clues while looking at family names in the areas my ancestors lived. Do you have a great idea for discovering, preserving or celebrating family history? E-mail us your tip at ftmnews-editor@fwpubs.com with "TIP OF THE WEEK" in the subject line. If we publish it, you'll win a free copy of Digitizing Your Family History by Rhonda McClure, also available for purchase online at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/store/display.asp?id=70660. Overwhelmed by the number of family history-related Web sites popping up? FamilyTreeMagazine.com sorts through them all—whew!—to bring you only the very best. We recently recommended the following as Sites of the Week: • I Hear America Singing http://www.loc.gov/ihas Discover the stories behind patriotic songs such as Anchors Aweigh, Yankee Doodle and This Land Was Made for You and Me. • Maryland State Archives Census Indexes http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/refserv/html/censussearch.html Search Maryland's 1776, 1778, 1870 and 1880 censuses by date, first name, last name and county. • A Very Grave Matter http://www.gravematter.com Looking for ancestors buried in New England cemeteries? Click the name and location of a cemetery to find a list of people buried there, along with gravestone information. • Finding New York Passenger Arrival Records 1820-1957 http://home.att.net/~germanroots/ellisisland/nypassengers.html This comprehensive guide leads you to finding aids for New York passenger lists, including books, microfilm, CDs and online databases. Tell a Story Expert photo historian Maureen A. Taylor helps readers analyze old family pictures in her Web-exclusive column Identifying Family Photographs. This week, she explains how a little research lets you tell a story about almost any photo. http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/current.htm. If you have a family photo mystery for Taylor to solve, check out our Submission Guidelines at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/photohelp.htm. Las Vegas July 10-15 International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Sharon DeBartolo Carmack Topics: Finding Your Ellis Island Ancestors Painless Organization Cryptic Clues in the Bone Yard James W. Warren Topics: Growing a Society Writing Your Family History in Small Manageable Pieces WPA Inventories: Road Maps to Record Treasures For more information, see the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Web site at www.iajgs.org. Lufkin, Texas Emily Anne Croom July 22-23 Angelina College Genealogy Conference Topics: The Old Dominion: Researching Virginia Ancestors The Territorial Papers of the United States: the Southern States Genealogy in the Urban South Sifting Through the Ashes: Research in "Burned Counties" For more information, go to http://www.angelina.edu/genealogy.htm. Save time and money!  Make your own family cookbook, reunion book, memorial programs, wedding stationery & more. http://family-heritage-templates.com?familytree Genealogy Hotel Rates in Salt Lake-You will love the genealogy rates at the Holiday Inn-Downtown along with the free shuttles to & from the Family History Library.   www.holiday-inn.com/slc-downtown RootsMagic Genealogy Software - "An excellent choice for any genealogist" says Family Tree Magazine. Get a free trial copy at http://www.RootsMagic.com UNIQUE SCANDINAVIAN HERITAGE TOURS Visit ancestral villages, parish churches, archives, connect with family.  Fluent guides and genealogy experts included.  www.scandgen.com Get Family Tree Magazine back issues at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/mags. Explore Family Tree Magazine E-mail Update past issues at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter/archive.html. Get free Family Tree News Service articles for your genealogy newsletter or Web site at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ftns-subscribe.asp. Sponsor This Newsletter For information on sponsoring this newsletter or to receive a rate card, e-mail kworkman@longshoremedia.com You have received this e-mail because you expressed interest in receiving updates about genealogy and genealogy products from Family Tree Magazine and Betterway Books by e-mail. Thanks for your subscription! You are currently subscribed as $subst('Recip.EmailAddr') To unsubscribe, send a blank message to $subst('email.unsub') To change the address we send messages to, click here: http://fwpubs.sparklist.com/read/my_account/?forum=familytree To receive the text-only version of the newsletter, unsubscribe using the directions above, then subscribe to the text-only list by sending a blank email to join-familytree-text@fwpubs.sparklist.com. Questions? To ensure a timely response to your questions concerning magazine subscriptions or other general help, please see www.familytreemagazine.com/contactus.html Please only reply to this message with newsletter-specific questions. Entire Contents Copyright© 2005 F+W Publications, Inc. 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236 All Rights Reserved August 2005 Issue Table of Contents Subscribe Now!