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Aug. 18, 2005



Several of you responded to our Aug. 4 E-mail Update article about the new Castle Garden passenger database by heaping praise on CastleGarden.org (http://www.castlegarden.org): "The new site is wonderful; I found five family members," writes one person. We also got some questions about using the site; see our answers below.

In the July 7 E-mail Update newsletter (read it at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter/archive.html), we told you about the British National Archives' database of soldiers who defended Britain in the Battle of Trafalgar. Family Tree Magazine contributor Megan Smolenyak dropped us a note to point out you can find non-Briton ancestors who fought for His Majesty at Trafalgar. An advanced search with America as the birthplace produces a list of 361 Americans who served. "It's quite an international group," Smolenyak says. "Just playing with the database, I found a bunch of Swedes and even a Pole."

—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.
   

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New Edition
MyFamily.com has released a new version of its Family Tree Maker software (which, by the way, isn't affiliated with Family Tree Magazine or the E-mail Update newsletter). Family Tree Maker 2006 is the second update produced by Los Angeles-based Encore, MyFamily.com's software partner since it broke up with Broderbund early in 2004. New features include:
  • Compatibility with Ancestry.com (http://www.
    ancestry.com    ). Family Tree Maker already performed automatic searches of subscription databases on MyFamily.com-owned Ancestry.com. Now you can merge Ancestry.com records with any individual in your records, and link records stored in Family Tree Maker 2006 to related records on Ancestry.com. You'll need an Ancestry.com subscription to take advantage of these features.
  • Source management. A Source Usage Report shows you all the sources associated with a fact or person. You can connect a citation to multiple facts with the new Copy and Paste feature.
  • Charts. A new Charting Companion utility increases your options for formatting and coloring pedigree charts.
  • Navigation. Create bookmarks to individuals or jump to someone in your Editing History list of the 30 most recently edited people.
  • Extra information. The program serves up facts about your family surname, such as its meaning, where it occurs and common occupations of people who share it—these facts are the same type that pop up when you search Ancestry.com.

You can whet your software appetite by downloading a free, limited-feature Family Tree Maker Starter Edition http://www.familytreemaker.com/download/starter.aspx that searches Ancestry.com and gives you family and pedigree views. MyFamily.com is hoping you'll order the entree—the full version of Family Tree Maker 2006 costs $29.95; you also can get it with instructional DVDs for $49.95. You'll pay $19.95 to upgrade from Family Tree Maker 2005.


Read All About Washington Territory
Pioneer ancestors are hard to trace into the unsettled frontier, where they had limited opportunities to leave records. The Washington State Library makes researching pioneers easier with its online database of three early newspapers:

  • The Columbian, Washington territory's first newspaper, which was published weekly in Olympia (available in the library's database from Sept. 11, 1852 to Nov. 26, 1853)
  • The Walla Walla Statesman weekly (available Oct. 20, 1865 through Dec. 27, 1867)
  • The Washington Pioneer, another Olympia weekly (availble December 1853 to January 1854)

Go to http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/newspapers.aspx to search the papers on a keyword, ancestor's surname or place. (Full-text searches aren't available.) Click on Personal Name Search to find a first and last name—but remember that the paper may have used just last names and maybe a first initial. Scroll to the bottom of the search page to select a newspaper or get search tips.

You'll need the DjVu plug-in to read the articles; it's available for free download at http://www.lizardtech.com/download/dl_options.php?page=plugins.


Storming the Castle
You have questions about the new CastleGarden.org online database, which debuted Aug. 1 at http://www.castlegarden.org, and we have answers. (To read our Aug. 5 E-mail Update article on the site's launch, go to http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter/archive.html.):

Q. Why is the far-right column in the results chart cut off?
A. This happens to some users because the chart has a fixed width that's too wide for their screens. First, pull open your Internet browser window as wide as you can. If that doesn't work, try reducing the text size under the browser's View menu.

Q. If you have more than one page of search results, how do you advance to the next page?
A. You'll find the page indicator, which says something like
Pages << 1 of 36 >>, above the top right corner of the results chart. Click the double arrows to view the next or previous page of results.

Q. How can I sort the results?
A. Click a column heading to sort the results by the contents of that column. A red arrow appears next to the column heading you chose; click the arrow to change the order from alphabetical to reverse alphabetical (or numerical to reverse numerical, if you choose the Age or Arrived column). As long as you don't quit your Internet browser, the site will sort your next search the same way.

Q. Are there any ways to get more search flexibility—and avoid tedious searches on surname spelling variations?
A. Yes and yes. Stephen P. Morse, a webmaster who designs search utlities for popular online databases, wasted no time in creating a portal to the names at CastleGarden.org. Morse's utility, located
at http://www.stevemorse.org (scroll down and click Castle Garden Passengers), has a few advantages over CastleGarden.org's search engine:

  • You can search on a range of birth years and ages at time of arrival.
  • Rather than searching on a name and arrival year, then narrowing results by variables such as country of origin, ship name and occupation; you can search on all the variables at once.
Morse's site also lets you browse names in alphabetical order—helpful for catching spelling variations and mistranscriptions. Click Castle Garden Browser to select a letter of the alphabet or, in your passenger search results, click on a person's passenger ID number (in the last column).




Finding Your Roots Online Free Books Online
As you know, old books and county histories often include juicy details that help in your ancestral search. Unfortunately, these volumes can be difficult to locate and often aren't available through interlibrary loan because of their age. But now, you can search an online collection of these volumes from your home computer.

Continue reading at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/current.html.

Nancy Hendrickson is the author of Finding Your Roots Online, on sale now at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/
store/display.asp?id=70583. Browse past AncestorNews columns at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/previous.html.


Be first to check out these new articles on our Web site:





Down to Business
Q. My great-great grandmother owned a variety store, but we have only approximate dates (1880s through the 1940s) and we're not sure where in Massachusetts the store was located. What records are available to learn more about the business?

A. First, make an educated guess where your great-great-grandmother lived. Ask relatives and examine family papers for clues. If you come up empty, search a census database such as Ancestry.com's
(http://www.ancestry.com) or HeritageQuest Online's (http://www.heritagequestonline.com; available free at subscribing libraries). Then consult these records:

City directories: Published in the late 1800s and early 1900s for most cities and towns, these listings of businesses and residents resemble today's telephone books. Large public libraries often carry printed or microfilmed directories for nearby areas and major cities across the country.

Court records: Your ancestor probably had to pay taxes on her property and obtain a business license. Use a reference book such as The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists (Family Tree Books, $29.99) to learn the location of court records from her town and era—good bets are the courthouse or state archives. And do a place search of the Family History Library's online catalog (http://www.familysearch.org; click the Library tab). You can borrow microfilmed records to view at your local branch Family History Center.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: These detailed maps helped insurance agents decide how likely a property was to catch fire. Look for them at large libraries, such as the Boston Public Library (http://www.bpl.org), which has microfilmed Sanborn maps from Massachusetts from the late 19th century to the 1990s. Also see Harvard's Frances Loeb Library Web site at http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/library/resources/pathfinders/maps.html#sanborn.

County or town histories and historical newspapers: A long-standing business such as your ancestor's may have been written up in a newspaper or book about the area. She may have advertised, too. Check for these records at the local library and historical society, and in the Family History Library online catalog.
—Diane Haddad

Diane Haddad is editor of the Family Tree Magazine E-Mail Update newsletter.

Read more Q&A with the experts at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/previous.html.


Identifying Family Photographs Boy or Girl?
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 to tell whether your old photos show little boys or little girls—since moms used to dress them similarly, it can be harder than you think.

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.


Cincinnati, Ohio
Tony Burroughs
Aug. 27
History and Genealogy Presentations
Topics:

  • Locating Sleepy Hollow: Or Anywhere Else Your Ancestor Lived
  • Voices of Freedom: African-American Soldiers in the Civil War
For more information, go to http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org or call (513) 369-6905.


Salt Lake City

Sept. 6-10
Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
Topics:

  • Understanding Publishing Contracts
  • Before You Publish: What Every Genealogists Needs to Know About Copyright
  • Interpreting American Tombstone Art and Symbols
  • Primetime's 20/20 Dateline: Sharon Carmack Interviews the World's Oldest Living Genealogist, Ole Smirnoff Bernatelli (Utah Genealogical Society Luncheon, with James W. Warren)

James W. Warren
Topics:
  • Ancestors Hanging on Your Family Tree: Using Court and Institutional Records
  • The Most Priceless Heritage: Practical Family Health History
  • Strategies for Researching Your Localities
For more information, go to http://www.fgs.org.




Stay current with America's genealogical resources. Get the all-new 5th Edition of THE GENEALOGIST'S ADDRESS BOOK, now available as a book or CD 
http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.asp?afid=&ID=427
http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.asp?afid=&ID=7427

Build a lasting bridge to your historic past! WW2 Connections will research your WWll ancestor and create a personalized profile so that you and future generations can understand the role they played in liberating the world. Visit us today at www.WW2Connections.com  or call (973) 770-0250

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

GenSmarts Automated Genealogy Research - finds missed research opportunities.  Free trial at http://www.GenSmarts.com/ftmagDeals.asp



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August 2005 Issue

August 2005 Family Tree Magazine

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