Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

This Newsletter is Sponsored by Footnote, Inc.

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Civil War Widows' Pension Records
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New Method To Revolutionize DNA Sequencing

A new article in the Foresight Institute's web site describes a new method of DNA sequencing. The article is quite technical so I will leave it to others to describe the "3000 ZMWs (waveguides)" and other techniques used. What caught my eye is a claim that "Company founder Stephen Turner estimates that such a chip would be able to sequence an entire human genome in under half an hour to 99.999 per cent accuracy for under $1000."

The Day the Music Died

A bit of history died last week. The last company in America to produce player piano music has ceased production of the paper rolls. QRS Music Technologies halted production of player piano rolls 108 years after the company was founded in Chicago. Some of the machinery that was shut down last week had been built in the 1880s.

To be sure, this is not the end of automated music: the company continues to make digitized and computerized player-piano technology that runs on CDs. The company’s fortunes in recent years have been tied to Pianomation, the digitized player-piano system that can be retrofitted on most acoustic pianos. QRS also pre-installs the system on some of its own Story and Clark grand pianos.

FamilySearch Indexing Update

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

5 January 2008

New International Projects/Two New Languages

Several new international projects were added to the list of active FamilySearch indexing projects (see chart below). There is now a need for volunteers with an interest in or knowledge of the new Norwegian and Russian records—Norway 1875 Census and Ukraine Kyiv 1840–1842.

The indexing program’s interfaces have not been translated into Norwegian and Russian yet; however, the instructions for the Ukrainian project are available in Russian and English.

FamilySearch Record Search Update: 4 million new records added

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

FamilySearch added about 4 million new records to its Record Search pilot over the holidays.  Patrons will find records from Brazil, Hungary, Czech Republic, Southern Bohemia, Třeboň, West Virginia, and the much anticipated Indian Territory records from the 1900 U.S. Census.  See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

Who Do You Think You Are? Live! 2009

Perhaps the world's largest gathering of genealogists, history buffs, and military re-enactors,  along with more than 200 exhibitors, will be held in a few weeks in London. The Who Do You Think You Are? Live! 2009 event will be the third annual exhibit and promises to be even better than the first two.

If you have been to either of the first two Who Do You Think You Are? Live! events, you already know what it will be like. However, be aware of the date change this year: instead of being held on the May Day bank holiday weekend as before, the 2009 event will be held much earlier: February 27 through March 1. This year's event will again be held in the Olympia National Hall, London.

(+) Who’s Afraid of Land Records? - Part III - by George G. Morgan

NOTE: Part #1 and Part #2 of this series of articles are both still available at http://plus.eogn.com.

The last two weeks’ columns have addressed land and property records research in the United States. The last column of this three-part series will focus on several helpful methodologies for locating a chain of property ownership, interpreting the contents of deeds, and mining some of the clues found in these wonderful documents.

Tracking Down the Land and Property Records

Your research will initially involve locating the actual indexes and records before you can begin trying to access and work with them.

Use of Digital Camera for Genealogy

You can read an interesting "thread" of messages in the EOGN Forum right now concerning the use of digital cameras for genealogy purposes. I was especially interested in A. R. Wilson's detailed description on how to obtain high quality pictures and also with JGR's and John R.'s comments about how they take photographs of documents and then process them with a free OCR program, converting them to text.

New in this Newsletter: Share This

You may notice something new at the end of each article on this newsletter's web site at www.eogn.com: a link that is labeled "Share This." This new link gives you an easy way to send an article to a friend or post it to your own blog or Facebook account or elsewhere.

This new piece of software allows you to share articles from this newsletter with your friends via e-mail or to post it to your own blog (Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Typepad, Blogger, etc.) or to post it to any of the popular social networking sites (MySpace, LinkedIn, Digg, Google Bookmarks, etc.)

Close Spellings Count Toward Matches

Sharon Tate Moody has published an article in the Tampa Bay Online web site that should be required reading for all beginning genealogists. She writes:

Genealogy is all about names. We find most records through surnames, and then narrow the search with given names. But too many of us search only for the perfect match. Close counts not only in horseshoes but also in heritage hunting.

New FGS President Appointed

The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:

Federation of Genealogical Societies President J. Mark Lowe Resigns; Vice President of Administration Pat Oxley Becomes FGS President

AUSTIN, Texas – Saturday, January 3, 2009 – The Federation of Genealogical Societies today announced the resignation of its President, J. Mark Lowe, effective immediately. Mr. Lowe, who was elected to the position of President in the 2008 FGS elections, resigned due to personal reasons. In accordance with the Bylaws of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, Vice President of Administration Pat Oxley has assumed the presidency of FGS.

MyBlood - A Genealogy Program for Windows and Macintosh

MyBlood is a brand new genealogy program from Belgium. It is so new that it is not even in beta test yet. The latest available version is referred to as Alpha 2.1.

The program has several unique features. First of all, it is available in two versions: Windows and Macintosh. There aren't many genealogy programs that can make that statement! Next, it is multi-lingual. English, French, and Dutch versions are available today and the program includes a Translator Tool to help you translate everything in the application. You can modify the program to create a new language if your preferred language is not yet available. All reports are also translatable. MyBlood encourages people to share their language files, and will put them on the MyBlood web-site and forum for further use.

EOGN Forum

The EOGN Forum has evolved into a rather impressive discussion board since it was created in October. It now sees many new messages per day covering a wide variety of genealogy-related topics. It is a place where newsletter readers will tackle your questions on a wide range of genealogy-related subjects.

The EOGN Discussion Forum is available FREE of charge to everyone. In fact, everyone may read messages in the forum without registering. However, in order to post a new message or to reply to an existing message, you must register first. Registration is free, and you are never asked for a credit card number. As always, I will never share your registration information with any vendors. You will not be spammed because of participation in the EOGN Forum.

2 Million Documented Descendants

Now THIS is a family tree! On New Year's day, the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee (CGCC) announced that it is "closing the book" and is now sending the fifth update of Confucius' family tree to the printers. The new publication will contain more than two million documented descendants of the Chinese philosopher who was born in 551 B.C.

(+) RSS and Newsreaders Explained

Your paperboy just got smarter. This article will tell you how to read more information on the Internet in a shorter period of time. In short, you can use the Internet without all the clutter.

I used to spend 2 or 3 hours per day visiting specific web sites over and over in an attempt to find new information. I regularly visited CNN.com looking for news, weather.com looking for the latest weather forecast for my home town, various stock market web sites, and, of course, genealogy sites looking for information about a variety of topics.

Today I can accomplish the same thing within a very few minutes instead of spending hours searching for elusive information.

Stacks at NY Public Library are Temporarily Closed

The central stacks in the Humanities and Social Sciences section of the the 42nd Street New York City Public Library are closed while the library works on a project related to the façade restoration. 65% of the General Research Material is not available, including the Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy.

Family Tree Builder 3

The following announcement was written by MyHeritage:

MyHeritage Makes Family History Research Easier With Launch Of Family Tree Builder 3

New software makes it easier to automatically find long lost relatives, publish content to MyHeritage.com, and print your family tree on one page

Tel Aviv, Israel – January 2, 2009 – MyHeritage, one of the world’s most popular family Web sites, today announced the launch of Family Tree Builder 3, a powerful software program that MyHeritage members can download and use to build family trees, research family history and add content like photos and videos.

"Google Your Family Tree" to be Featured on Television Show

Dan Lynch has written an excellent book called "Google Your Family Tree." I wrote about it a few weeks ago at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/12/google-your-fam.html. Now the book is to be featured on a local television program in Connecticut.

(+) Manuscript Collections by Lloyd Bockstruck

Manuscript collections are underutilized in genealogical research. Most of them were created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by genealogists who specialized in a locality. Because of  the widespread availability of research guides and on-line finding aids, manuscript collections deserve to be used much more than they are.

Upcoming Events

The Upcoming Events section of this newsletter is published as a newsletter article once per month, usually in the first week of the month. However, you can also view the latest list of events at any time by clicking on "Upcoming Events" in the Navigation menu near the upper right corner of the page at http://www.eogn.com.

Each event is listed with the name, location and dates. Click on the name to see the details, including a link to the event's web page or to an e-mail address of someone who will provide still more information. The EOGN list of Upcoming Events is also available as an RSS newsfeed at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/eogns_calendar.rss.

If you would like to have your event added to this list, please send the information to meetings@eogn.com. We will publish the name of the event, the city and state/province/country where it is to be held, a very brief description and a web page URL or e-mail address to be used to obtain full details.

NOTE: We compile the list once a month. If you wait until the last minute to send the notice of your event, it might not make it into this month's listings.

Read the Plus Edition Newsletter Online

Every week I send a copy of the Plus Edition of this newsletter via e-mail to every Plus Edition subscriber. The e-mail is usually sent on Sunday evenings although occasionally it may be delayed a day or two when I am traveling.

The biggest headache of sending all those Plus Edition newsletters is spam filters. The newsletters are sent via bulk mail. Quite a few e-mail providers will delete large bulk mail messages, such as the Plus Edition newsletter. Some of them do not even place it in a spam folder; they simply delete it completely without leaving a trace.

I estimate that perhaps 10% of the e-mail newsletters never get delivered. Judging by recent feedback from subscribers, I also suspect that percentage is increasing.

Civil War Letters Given to Michigan Archives

A Grand Haven, Michigan man has donated one of the nation's largest collections of Civil War-era letters to the state archives. State Archivist Mark Harvey says the collection consists of correspondence between Wallace Ewing's great-grandparents sent from 1856 through 1865.

Boston University Launches New Certificate Program in Genealogical Research

The following announcement was written by Boston University:

Outstanding faculty at Boston University teaches the Genealogical Proof Standard® in the new Ancestral Research and Genealogy Certificate Program. Classes will be held on Saturdays over a 14-week period starting January 17, 2009. To learn more about the Genealogical Research Certificate Program at Boston University, visit http://professional.bu.edu/cpe/Genealogy.asp.

Boston, MA - December 30, 2008 -- Boston University's Metropolitan College has announced the January 17 launch of its new Certificate in Genealogical Research, offered by the University's Center for Professional Education.

Michael John Neill to Write for EOGN

I am immensely pleased to announce that Michael John Neill has agreed to contribute articles to Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (EOGN). Starting today, his articles will appear more or less weekly in the Plus Edition of this newsletter.

Many people will recognize Michael John Neill's name; he has been writing genealogy-related articles for a number of magazines and web sites for twenty years. Michael has been actively involved in genealogical research since the age of thirteen and has been writing about his family history experiences for a variety of publications. He has a master's degree in mathematics, is on the faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois, and was on the faculty of the former Genealogical Institute of Mid-America. Michael has lectured at NGS, FGS, and numerous local and regional conferences. He is one-half Ostfriesen by ancestry and also descends from numerous families from the middle colonies and the upper South. His children have nineteenth century ancestors from several countries and ethnic regions, including England, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and Belgium, and French-Canadians in Quebec. Michael is particularly interested in studying chains of migration for individuals sharing a common culture or ethnic heritage.

(+) In Context by Michael John Neill

Genealogists usually look at records decades after the events have taken place. Even when we are fortunate enough to view a document in the location where it was recorded, we are looking at it years after it has been created and with an entirely different perspective from the individual who gave the information for the record. As a result, there are times when it is very easy to fail to view a document in the context in which it was created, in its historical, geographical, political, and cultural setting. To view a document with the appropriate background is not always easy. But failure to maintain a perspective may at the very least cause us to miss cues. At the very worst, it may cause us to make incorrect interpretations.

NIST Guides Genetic Genealogy Labs Toward Improved Accuracy

Anyone who has watched crime dramas on TV knows that forensic scientists can use DNA "profiling" to identify people from evidence gathered at a crime scene, establish a paternity link or help free an innocent person who has been wrongly jailed. A lesser known but rapidly growing application of DNA profiling is tracing a person's paternal ancestry - a process known as genetic genealogy. The laboratories performing this testing often differ in their results, making data comparison between labs difficult and casting doubt on reported genetic matches. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently published a paper* with recommendations for genealogy testing that they hope will improve the accuracy and reliability of the product.

You can read more at the Medical News Today web site at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/134099.php.

AFFHO Congress 2009

A major genealogy conference will commence in two and a half weeks. If you can be there, I think you will enjoy it immensely. I will quickly mention that the conference is being held in Auckland, New Zealand. That's very convenient for a few readers of this newsletter although I suspect the majority of subscribers will be unable to attend. However, if you can make, it, I bet you will not regret it!

The Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations is sponsoring a five-day conference to be held at Kings College, Auckland. The local host is the New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Inc. The location at Kings College sounds great. Not only is it well-equipped with lecture halls for all the presentations, but attendees are invited to stay in moderately-priced accommodations on campus, including a choice of single rooms, twin rooms or dormitories. Most of the rooms also have kitchenettes. I wish more genealogy conferences could be held at colleges and universities. I have been to a couple such conferences in Canada and have always been impressed at the first-class results provided at a modest price.

The Orphan Trains

From the 1850s through the 1920s, New York City was teeming with tens of thousands of homeless and orphaned children. To survive, these so-called "street urchins" resorted to begging, stealing, or forming gangs to commit violence. Some children worked in factories and slept in doorways or flophouses. The children roamed the streets and slums with little or no hope of a successful future. Their numbers were stunningly large; an estimated 30,000 children were homeless in New York City in the 1850s.

Charles Loring Brace, the founder of The Children's Aid Society, believed that there was a way to change the futures of these children. By removing youngsters from the poverty and debauchery of the city streets and placing them in morally upright farm families, he thought they would have a chance to escape a lifetime of suffering.

(+) Who’s Afraid of Land Records? - Part II - by George G. Morgan

Last week’s column was the first in a three-part series concerning land and property records. In it, I discussed a little background of United States land records, explained some very basic land transfer terminology related to working with these records, and provided a glossary of common U.S. property terms that you are likely to encounter in your research.

Land and property records are among the most numerous records in existence, and they can be a rich source of genealogical information, about both the property and the family. They are unique and therefore require some preliminary understanding of their purpose and content before you can glean the most from them. Like census schedules, wills, and passenger lists, land and property records are simply another format with which you need to become familiar.

This week’s column will discuss the land measurement systems, and how to locate  common land and property documents.

Public Asked to Identify Relatives Shown in Old El Paso Photographs

A photographer who chronicled life in the southwest captured the images but we don't know who all those people are who posed for the pictures. You may have the answer.

"[Construction] workers found a number of boxes of old negatives in a storage area when they were wrecking out the inside of the building and they took them to the pawn shop and asked whether they were worth anything," said Claudia Rivers of University of Texas El Paso's Special Collections.

Some 50,000 negatives photos are now part of a special collection at the University of Texas at El Paso. They're from a photography studio that for 70 years captured life on the border.

VHS Is Dead

This newsletter often talks about new or emerging technologies. Perhaps it is time to note the death of another technology that nearly all of us have used in the past.

In case you haven't heard, VHS videotape is dead.

Nobody manufactures VHS videotapes anymore. The major chain stores, such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, stopped selling VHS recorders and players some years ago. Not long after, the manufacturers of videotapes stopped manufacturing them, due to a lack of sales outlets and a lack of sales.

A New Life Online for Rare Publications

The following is a quote from the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette:

Deep in the catacombs of the Allen County Library, in a darkened room, 10 black-cloaked “scribes” quietly pore over yellowed texts:

• “The History of Natrona County, Wyoming, 1888-1922.”
• “Cornwall Parish Registers, Marriages, 1853-1913.”
• “Fort Wayne, Indiana, City Directory, 1864-1865.”

But these scribes aren’t people – they’re state-of-the-art scanning machines from non-profit Internet Archive, the library basement’s out-of-sight secret. The basement lab will play a vital role in digitizing the former Lincoln Museum collection for public access.

Readers' Comments Are Now Available as an RSS Newsfeed

Many newsletter readers use RSS newsreaders to quickly and easily retrieve the articles in this newsletter. Newsreaders are computer programs that automatically retrieve information from web sites that support the RSS standard and then store the information on a user's computer. Information available in RSS format includes this newsletter's articles as well as news, weather forecasts, stock market information, airline arrival times, UPS shipping information, and much more.

RSS provides a faster and easier method of having the latest information available from as many sites as the user wishes to monitor, including new articles published at this newsletter's web site at http://www.eogn.com.

For an explanation of RSS and of RSS newsreaders, see my earlier “What Can RSS Do For You?” article at: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2005/12/rss_explained.html.

A couple of weeks ago I added something new to www.eogn.com: RSS newsfeeds of the comments that others post to the various articles published here. I have been testing it and everything seems to work well. I think now is the time to announce the service.

(+) Pennsylvania’s First Germans and Their Borough - From Lloyd's Library by Lloyd Bockstruck

Unlike England with its College of Arms, the United States has no governmental agency to maintain pedigrees of our nation’s families. Since we do not, we have to rely upon the nation’s hereditary societies for doing so.

It was in 1895 that a group of gentlemen met to organize the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania. The criterion for membership was a descent from a colonist, male or female, who settled in any British colony which became part of the United States of America prior to 1700. One of its goals was to collect, preserve, and publish records and documents relating to the early history of Pennsylvania. Just nine years after its founding, the society published Records of the Court of New Castle on Delaware 1676-1681. Six more volumes of court records followed.

The seventh volume of court records of Pennsylvania and Delaware has recently been released, and it completes the century-long commitment of the society.

Holiday Greetings

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry and happy holiday season. May peace and joy be with you this season and throughout the coming year.

New Blog Supports "Basics of Genealogy Reference"

Jack Simpson is well known in genealogy circles. He is the Curator of Local and Family History at the Newberry Library in Chicago and is a recognized genealogy expert. He also teaches Genealogy 101, an online course, through the American Library Association. He also recently released a book, Basics of Genealogy Reference. Now Jack has created a blog that will supplement the book with new material as it becomes available.

What To Do With All Those Christmas Cards

Diana Lynn Tibert has published a great article in the Kings County (New Brunswick) Record about Christmas cards, She writes, "Yes, Christmas cards are significant to genealogy research." She then goes on to describe her method of tracking "almost every known address for family members regardless if I send them a card. I always buy a large book, so it will last 20 years or more."

You can read this interesting article at http://kingscorecord.canadaeast.com/news/article/519815.

Turn Off Your Television!

Warning: this article contains personal opinions.

A brief mention in Dear Myrtle's blog (http://blog.dearmyrtle.com) caught my eye. It was a one-paragraph "pointer" to an article on CNet, entitled "Ditch Satellite TV for Online Alternatives and Save." The James family canceled their satellite dish TV package and replaced it with a media center PC, a fast broadband connection, and a Netflix account. They now save $93 a month.

James said she and her husband were spending $115 a month for their Dish satellite service, which gave them about 250 channels of programming. But when she sat down and listed what she and her husband actually watched, she discovered that they only viewed about 25 of those channels.

"I just couldn't justify watching only 10 percent of the channels I was paying for," she said. "I would have felt a lot better about keeping the satellite service if I could have thrown out the extra channels and only paid for the channels we watched. It's just like buying a whole loaf of bread and only eating two slices—such a waste."

Geni Adds New Holiday Calendar, Pro Features

Geni, the online genealogy and social networking site run by ex-PayPal cofounder David Sacks, has rolled out two new features. According to the firm in an announcement to users Friday, it has added popular holidays to its calendar, and also added new virtual gifts for those holidays which can be sent to family.

National Heraldic Register Proposed in Ireland

A Bill has been introduced in Seanad Éireann (Irish Senate) by Senator Alex White that aims to establish a sound legislative basis for all Grants of Arms made by the Chief Heralds of Ireland from 1943 and to provide for related matters. The National Library last year stopped the Office of the Chief Herald from making any further awards of arms due to concerns that it had no legal powers to do so. (See my earlier article at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/10/irish-coats-of-.html.)

Irish Roots: New Genealogical Records Available Online

The following was written by Library and Archives Canada:

(Ottawa) December 22, 2008 — Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce that its partner, the National Archives of Ireland, has launched the next important phase of an online census research tool for the Irish counties of Antrim, Kerry, and Down for 1911. The census records for all counties for 1911 and for 1901 will be made available online throughout 2009.

(+) Who’s Afraid of Land Records? Part I by George G. Morgan

Land and property records are among the most interesting documentary evidence available to genealogists. They potentially contain a wealth of genealogical information, or they may present clues to other people’s information. They also are among the most numerous records available. Unfortunately, many genealogy researchers are afraid of the prospect of working with these records. They may be put off by the legal terminology, the measurement systems used, and the prospect of tracing ownership of a piece of property. They fail to take the time to learn about them and how to work with them. However, as with any other record type, some advance study of the topic, the time period, and the location will prepare you for your research.

This week I am starting a three-part series concerning United States land and property records. The series will address the following topics:

Are Newspapers Doomed?

History is happening before our eyes. The New Yorker published an article by James Surowiecki which speculates that newspapers may soon disappear. Indeed, the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy last week. Surowiecki says that others will soon follow. The Miami Herald and the San Diego Union-Tribune are reportedly on the selling block, while lawmakers in Connecticut are trying to keep two newspapers there afloat. Even the New York Times Company has slashed its dividend and announced that it would borrow against its headquarters to avoid cash-flow problems.

(+) Boolean for Beginners

Search engines can be a genealogist's best friend. If someone has already posted information online about an ancestor you seek, there is an excellent chance that the search engines know about that information and can find it for you.

As good as the search engines are, many would-be users are frustrated when trying to find information. The complaint I hear most often is "I tried to find it but Google returned too many pages. I couldn't find what I was looking for!"

Backups: A Testimonial

I have written several times about the need to make frequent backups of your data. That's true for all computer users but especially true for genealogists. We often spend hundreds of hours and a significant amount of money collecting data. It's a shame to lose all that when your hard drive crashes.

Reminder: all hard drives will crash sooner or later.

I'm delighted to report a great success story. Newsletter reader Eileen Souza sent the following message.

Dick, I can't thank you enough for your article on backing up to an online service, particularly www.mozyhome.com. This was the best $4.95 per month that I have ever spent.

New Imprint to Publish Canadian Genealogy Books

Dundurn Press and the Ontario Genealogical Society have announced the creation of a joint imprint to publish books on Canadian genealogy.  The imprint, to be called OGS Dundurn, will be governed by representatives from both organizations.  OGS will be responsible for finding authors, receiving manuscripts, and initial screening.  Dundurn will be responsible for editing, design, and production.  Both organizations will be responsible for marketing: OGS within the genealogical community, Dundurn to bookstores.

FamilySearch Update for 19 December 2008: 15 Million New Records Added

FamilySearch added over 15 million new indexed records to its Record Search pilot—all from the 1850 and 1870 U.S. Censuses. The records are linked to the digital images of the originals. The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

My Holiday Gift to You: Free Access to This Week's Plus Edition

In celebration of the holiday season, I'm taking a few days off and am leaving the front door unlocked. I'd like to let many more people see the Plus Edition newsletter and to simultaneously publicize the differences between the two editions.

Form now through Christmas Day, everyone has full access to this week's Plus Edition newsletter.

To read the December 15 edition of the Plus Edition, go to http://plus.eogn.com and click on "Christmas Special: Free access to the 15 December Plus Edition" in the menus on the left side of the page.

Ex-archivist Gets 4 Years in Prison

The former archivist at The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia who stole thousands of museum documents and sold them on the Internet was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison.

Lester F. Weber sold at least 3,500 documents — from collections he was supposed to oversee — on eBay under his wife's name. The items included everything from brochures and boarding passes for old ships to a lawsuit against the company that owned the Titanic.

Florida State Census Collection Now Available Online

The following was written by The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com:

PROVO, Utah -- According to historical documents available as part of Ancestry.com's new Florida State Census Collection, actress Faye Dunaway, famous for her performances in "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Mommie Dearest," was a four-year-old living with her parents and brother in Florida in 1945 and NASCAR co-founder William France, Sr., was already in the car business by 1935, listed as a mechanic living in Daytona. Now others with Florida roots can make discoveries about their own relatives. Ancestry.com, the world's largest online resource for family history, has digitized and indexed the 1867, 1875, 1935 and 1945 Florida state censuses, which contain more than 3.8 million names and 75,000 original images. This is the first time these censuses have been indexed, making the information easily available and searchable online.

New Quebec City Passenger Lists Index 1865-1900 Database Now Online

The following announcement is from Library and Archives Canada: