RootsTech Conference Will Broadcast Select Sessions Free Online

RootsTech, a leading family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012, announced today that fourteen of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The second-year conference has attracted over 3,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the fourteen broadcasted sessions and speakers.

Thursday, February 2

8:30-10:00 am MST (10:30 am-12:00 pm EST), Inventing the Future, as a Community (Keynote Address) by Jay L. Verkler

11:00 am-12:00 pm MST (1:00-2:00 pm EST), Do I Trust the Cloud? by D. Joshua Taylor

1:45-2:45 pm MST (3:45-4:45 pm EST), Effective Database Search Tactics by Kory Meyerink

3:00-4:00 pm MST (5:00-6:00 pm EST), Twitter – It’s Not Just “What I Had for Breakfast” Anymore by Thomas MacEntee

4:15-5:15 pm MST (6:15-7:15 pm EST), Eleven Layers of Online Searches by Barbara Renick

Friday, February 3

8:30-9:30 am MST (10:30-11:30 am EST), Exabyte Social Clouds and Other Monstrosities (Keynote Address) by Josh Coates

9:45-10:45 am MST (11:45 am-12:45 pm EST), Publish Your Genealogy Online by Laura G. Prescott

11:00 am-12:00 pm MST (1:00-2:00 pm EST), Optimize Your Site for Search Engines by Robert Gardner

1:45-2:45 pm MST (3:45-4:45 pm EST), Genealogists “Go Mobile” by Sandra Crowly

3:00-4:00 pm MST (5:00-6:00 pm EST), Google’s Toolbar and Genealogy by Dave Barney

Saturday, February 4

8:30-9:30 am MST (10:30-11:30 am EST), Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry (Keynote Address) by Tim Sullivan and Ancestry.com Panel

9:45-10:45 am MST (11:45 am-12:45 pm EST), Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 by Lisa Louise Cooke

11:00 am-12:00 pm MST (1:00-2:00 pm EST), Future of FamilySearch Family Tree by Ron Tanner

1:45-2:45 pm MST (3:45-4:45 pm EST), Privacy in a Collaborative Environment by Noah Tatuk

Who Do You Think You Are? Season Three Video Preview

Who Do You Think You Are? will return for its third season on Friday, February 3 at 8/7c on the NBC network. Twelve more celebrities will trace their ancestors and discover hidden stories from their past. Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jason Sudeikis, Jerome Bettis and Paula Deen will explore their roots in the NBC genealogy show.

The promo for the show has been released and you can view it below.

Beginner Class Post: American County and Town Sources

For the students in my Tuesday night beginner class here are three possible references you might want to consider purchasing to help you pursue county and town record sources.

Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
Available from Amazon.com for $25.50

Red Book - American State, County and Town Sources edited by Alice Eichholz
Available from Amazon.com for $30.88

The Handybook for Genealogists, 11th edition (out of print) by Everton Publishing
10th Edition only available from Amazon.com for $43.40

These are excellent reference books for anyone researching an American genealogy.

Martin Sheen, Reba McEntire, Helen Hunt Among 'Who Do You Think You Are?' Season 3 Cast

The NBC genealogy series returns Feb. 3 with a new group of celebrities exploring their family history. Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen Take a Look Inside Their Family Histories on NBC's Genealogy Alternative Series Produced by Lisa Kudrow.

Viewers can take an up-close and personal look inside the family history of some of today's most beloved and iconic celebrities when NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" returns for its third season on Friday, February 3 (8-9 p.m. ET). The celebrities who star in the series are Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen.

From executive producers Lisa Kudrow ("Friends," "Web Therapy") and Dan Bucatinsky ("Lipstick Jungle," "The Comeback") - through their production company Is or Isn't Entertainment and Shed Media U.S. ("Supernanny," "The Real Housewives of New York City") -- "Who Do You Think You Are?" is an adaptation of the award-winning hit British television documentary series that leads celebrities on a journey of self-discovery as they unearth their family trees that reveal surprising, inspiring and even tragic stories that often are linked to crucial events in American history.

"We're very excited about the stories we have this season. This fantastic group of people we have will take us to countries we haven't visited before which is thrilling and gives us glimpses into crucial details of history that not only shaped their families, but our world," said executive producers Kudrow and Bucatinsky. "This is what we love about this series; it's so enriching for us the viewer, as well as the participants and their families."

From Ireland's freedom fighters to the American Revolutionary War, and from the African nation of Cameroon to Bulgaria, "Who Do You Think You Are?" will reveal the fabric of humanity through everyone's place in history. Each week a different celebrity takes a journey into their family's past, traveling all over the world. While giving viewers an in-depth look into their favorite stars' family tree, each episode will expose surprising facts and life changing encounters that will unlock people's emotions, and show just how connected everyone is not only to the past, but to one another.

Ancestry.com continues in its role as NBC and Shed Media's official partner on the series, helping to provide the exhaustive research used to build each story. "'Who Do You Think You Are?' is such a beautiful showcase for the type of discoveries people can make through family history research," said Josh Hanna, Executive Vice President for Ancestry.com. "We are extremely proud to help produce a program that inspires so many to begin their own journey of discovery and are excited to see it grow more this season."

"Who Do You Think You Are?" is produced by Shed Media U.S. in association with Is or Isn't Entertainment. Alex Graham, Kudrow, Bucatinsky, Jennifer O'Connell and Al Edgington are the executive producers. The unique, award-winning series is based on the popular BBC television documentary series from Wall to Wall Productions, created and executive-produced by Graham.

Ancestral Lines Pairing System: A New Genealogy Numbering System

From our good friend Dick Eastman and the EOGN website:



"Genealogists have invented several different numbering systems over the years to keep track of the individuals in a genealogy. In situations where names are repeated often in a family, a numbering system helps identify the individual of interest. We already have Ahnentafel Numbers, d'Aboville Numbers, Henry Numbers, the Register System, the Dollarhide System, and the NGSQ System. Each assigns numbers, letters, or combinations of numbers and letters to each individual. Now, writing in the American Ancestors web site, Capers W. McDonald has suggested using a new numbering system: the Ancestral Lines Pairing System.

"Quoting from the web site:

"A new ancestral numbering system has been developed that visibly displays component lines and generations of pedigrees in either text or chart formats. This “Ancestral Lines Pairing System” meets essential requirements of being easy to read and understand while maintaining the integrity of its unique indicators, and of recording relationships briefly with as much useful information as possible.

"You can read an abbreviated version of the article at http://www.americanancestors.org/ancestral-lines/ or an expanded PDF version at http://goo.gl/WGUWe.

"My thanks to Bill Bernardy for telling me about this article."

Dear Abby

"I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I can't afford to spend a lot of money to do it.

Any suggestions?"

Van in Texas

======================================================

DEAR VAN:

"Register as a Republican, and run for public office."

Abby

Ancestry Beta Testing a New Viewer

For the students who just finished taking my Internet and Genealogy class this last semester, "I told you so." I told them during the class that some time after the class concluded (this last week) and the end of the year, Ancestry.com would make a major change to their site. It happens everytime I teach this class.

So imagine my shock (NOT!) when I got a notice from the Genealogy Insider blog via the FTM newsletter that Ancestry is now Beta testing a new image viewer.

The interface is similar to the previous viewer, with some new and improved features:

Faster image loading.

Works on more platforms and with more browsers than the previous image viewer, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. Web browser issues were preventing a large portion of Ancestry.com members from using the previous image viewer.

New tools, including rotating an image (handy for census returns with the address written along the side of the page), mirror (flips your record over so you're reading it backward, which I've heard can help with hard-to-read records), and new zoom controls.

Easy installation. Most people won't have to install anything (I didn't), though you might need to install a more recent version of the free Adobe Flash Player.

You can learn more about this by clicking here.

FamilySearch Volunteers to Index 1940 Census

FamilySearch is heading up a volunteer effort to index the 1940 US census when records are released to the public next April. They have created a webpage to recruit volunteers for transcribing the 1940 census, scheduled for release April 2, 2012 (142 days from today).

On April 2, 2012, NARA will provide access to the images of the 1940 United States Federal Census for the first time. Unlike previous census years, images of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be made available as free digital images.

Upon its release, FamilySearch and its partners will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and immediately start indexing these records to make them searchable online for free and open access.

You can get more information on this project by clicking on the FamilySearch 1940 Census Index Volunteer Page link.

2 Million Records Added to U.S. Collections

A broad range of records were added to FamilySearch this week from 20 countries, notably Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, England, Dominican Republic, Germany, Italy, Philippines, and the U.S. The U.S. additions include a variety of records from California, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin (See the full listing of new updates below)

Collection Records Images Comments
Australia, Tasmania, Miscellaneous Records, 1829–1961 0 9,723
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Austria, Carinthia, Military Personnel Records, 1846–1897 0 238,473
New browsable image collection.

Austria, Seigniorial Records, 1537–1888 0 29,522
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Canada, Saskatchewan Provincial Records, 1879–1987 0 57,903
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Chile, Santiago, Cementerio General, 1821–2006 0 65,853
New browsable image collection.

Colombia, Catholic Church Records, 1600–2008 0 9,710
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Dominican Republic, Catholic Church Records, 1590–1955 0 165,106
New browsable image collection.

El Salvador, Catholic Church Records, 1655–1977 0 589,990
New browsable image collection.

England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538–2010 0 11,979
Added browsable images to existing collection.

England, Lancashire, Oldham Cemetery Registers, 1797–2004 0 45,387
New browsable image collection.

England, Warwickshire Parish Registers, 1538–1900 399,299 0
Added new records to existing collection.

Germany, Württemberg, Schwäbisch Hall, Probate Records, 1833–1905 0 21,584
New browsable image collection.

Honduras, Catholic Church Records, 1633–1978 0 37,672
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Hungary Catholic Church Records, 1636–1895 261,188 0
Added new records to existing collection.

Isle of Man, Parish Registers, 1598–1950 410,460 42,054
New index collection.

Italy, Napoli Castellammare di Stabia, Civil Registration (Comune), 1809–1936 6,134
0
Added new records to existing collection.

Italy, Potenza, Lagonegro, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866–1910 0 154,261
Added browsable images to existing collection.

New Zealand, Probate Records, 1878–1960 0 89,600
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Paraguay, Catholic Church Records, 1754–1981 0 303,041
New browsable image collection.

Peru, Catholic Church Records, 1687–1992 0 76,341
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Philippines, Civil Registration (National), 1945–1980 0 265,673
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Slovakia, Church and Synagogue Books, 1592–1910 0 594,660
Added browsable images to existing collection.

Spain, Consular Records of Emigrants, 1808–1960 0 20,978
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S. Social Security Death Index 113,448 0
Added new records to existing collection. Records now current as of 31 Oct 2011.

U.S., California, San Mateo County Records, 1856–1967 0 114,986
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S., California, State Census, 1852 188,578 0
New index collection.

U.S., Illinois, Macon County, Decatur Public Library Collections, 1879–2007 0 64,268
New browsable image collection.

U.S., Indiana, Marriages, 1811–1959 87,711 0
Added new records to existing collection.

U.S., North Carolina, Estate Files, 1663–1917 7,112 130,600
Added new records to existing collection.

U.S., Ohio, Stark County Coroner's Records, 1890–2002 0 39,054
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S., Oregon, Columbia County Records, 1854–1958 0 29,284
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S., Texas Birth Certificates, 1903–1934 422,956 423,803
Added new records to existing collection.

U.S., Texas Deaths, 1977–1986 0 59,536
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S., Texas, Bexar County, San Antonio Cemetery Records, 1893–2007 0 38,892
New browsable image collection.

U.S., Texas, Matagorda County, School Census Records, 1923–1946 0 52,548
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S., Washington State County Naturalization Records, 1850–1982 0 169,740
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S., Wisconsin, Probate Estate Files, 1848–1935 0 179,977
Added browsable images to existing collection.

United States, National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866–1938 165,432 0
Added new records to existing collection.

Venezuela, Civil Registration 0 13,194
Added browsable images to existing collection.

U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates Website

I mentioned in our Thursday night Internet and Genealogy class a website on the Internet where you can search the Journals of the US Senate and House of Representatives for possible mentions of your family members.

Click here for a link to this site

1883 U.S. Government Military Pension List Online

GenealogyBank has announced that it has the five-volume List of Pensioners-1883 online, to help with your family history research. These U.S. federal government military pension records are a valuable genealogy resource actively used by genealogists to trace family lineage.

List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883; giving the name of each pensioner, the cause for which pensioned, the post office address, the rate of pension per month, and the date of original allowance. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1883. Senate Document. Serial Set Vol. No. 2078, Session Vol. No. 5; Report: S.Exec.Doc. 84 pt. 1-5.

The List of Pensioners-1883 lists the pensioners by U.S. state and county. Volume 5 includes the lists of pensioners that lived overseas.

Each military pension record entry gives:
· Name of pensioner
· Pension certificate number
· Date of the original pension
· Reasons why the pensioner received the pension
· The monthly pension payment
· U.S. Post Office where the pensioner receives their mail

Types of military pension records included:
· Veteran disability pension records
· Army pension records
· Navy pension records
· War widows pension records
· War orphans pension records

Genealogy Tip: This is a crucial genealogical resource for identifying pensioners from all American wars still living in 1883 and it pinpoints where they were living—anywhere in the U.S. or around the world. This extensive U.S. military pension list includes pensioners from the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and more—making it easier to trace your veteran ancestors and relatives who received survivor benefits.

Volume One
Connecticut; District of Columbia; Maine; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; Rhode Island; Vermont

Volume Two
New York; Pennsylvania

Volume Three
Illinois; Iowa; Ohio

Volume Four
Alaska; Arizona; California; Colorado; Dakota; Idaho; Indiana; Kansas; Michigan; Minnesota; Montana; Nebraska; Indian Territory (Oklahoma); Nevada; New Mexico; Oregon; Utah; Washington; Wisconsin; Wyoming

Volume Five
Alabama; Arkansas; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maryland; Mississippi; Missouri; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia; West Virginia

Countries of the World, including Hawaii (which was listed as the "Sandwich Islands.") Africa; Austria; Belgium; Brazil; Denmark; England; France; Germany; Ireland; Italy; Madeira Island (Portugal); Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Peru; Romania; Russia; Scotland; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Wales; West Indies; Foreign Address Unknown

You can explore the List of Pensioners-1883 online at GenealogyBank.

Important Changes Made to the Public Death Master File (DMF) and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)

Courtesy of our old friend, Dick Eastman's newsletter at EOGN

Effective 01 November 2011, the Social Security Administration (SSA) changed its policy on what records it will use as source material for adding new entries in the Public Death Master File (DMF) which, in turn, is used to create the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

The Agency decided that it can no longer use state death records to add new entries to the DMF. Furthermore, the SSA will remove approximately 4.2 million records currently on the SSDI because those entries were made based on information from state death records.

You can read a lot more about the new changes in Steve Danko's blog at http://stephendanko.com/blog/15164 as well as from a Fact Sheet from the Social Security Administration’s website at http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/ci/fattach/get/601/

Google Ditches the (+) Search Engine Math Symbol

Just as I put my last syndicated genealogy newspaper column to bed last week, there was a major change made at the Google search engine that conflicted with what I wrote in that column.

Google has changed the way one of their most useful search operators works: The (+) plus symbol operator.

Next time you want to make sure any single word or phrase appears in your search results, wrap it in quotation marks. To get exact results include specific keywords, you used to be able to add the (+) plus symbol operator to the front of a term, such as: +Georgia Atlanta

The search above would tell Google that the word "Georgia" must be on every search result and would ignore pages that don't have that word, such as a page that says, "Atlanta, Texas."

Now, rather than adding the (+) operator, you need to wrap the word or words in quotation marks, such as: "Georgia" Atlanta.

This will now give you the same results as if you had used the plus sign in the old way of searching on Google.

The iPhone: a Scanner in Your Pocket

Another great article courtesy of my friend and fellow ham radio operator Dick Eastman.

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. This article was originally posted on Dick's blog and newsletter at
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/08/the-iphone-a-scanner-in-your-pocket.html

The next time you read a document that contains information about your ancestors, wouldn't it be nice to immediately scan an image of it and email the image to yourself? Even better, how about uploading the image immediately to Dropbox or to MobileMe iDisk? If you own an iPhone, you can do that right now by installing a bit of low-cost software.

Scanner Pro converts your iPhone into a scanner. How well does it perform? Click on the thumbnail-sized image to the right to see a larger picture of a page I scanned today with Scanner Pro on an iPhone 4. The page is from The Book of Dow written by Robert Piercy Dow and published in 1929. I think it is a great image for a cell phone camera! Best of all, I always have the iPhone with me so that means I also carry a scanner with me everywhere I go.

Scanner Pro handles any type of documents ranging from simple one page letters to multipage legal documents. It can add, move, delete pages and even combine pages in landscape and portrait orientations. The program first scans whatever you wish and then displays the image on the iPhone's screen. It even features automatic edge detection and advanced image processing. However, if the automatic edge detection doesn't match your needs, tap anywhere on the screen and manually adjust the crop area. I did that with the book shown above as I wanted only a section of the page, not the entire page.

The program stores all images as industry-standard PDF files. Once stored in your iPhone, the image(s) may be exported to Evernote, to Google Docs, to a photo library (such as MobileMe iDisk, Box.Net, Humyo and any other WebDAV enabled online storage system), or sent to any email address. The image is standard PDF and can be used by any Windows, Macintosh, or Linux computer as well as by many handheld "smartphones."

Multi-page documents can be scanned and processed together as a single batch. For instance, perhaps you wish to scan ten pages from a book. Once scanned, you can export all the pages at once to Evernote, to Google Docs, to a photo library, or to email.

I have only used Scanner Pro for a short time but have fallen in love with it. I will be taking it to every library I visit from now on. In fact, I always take my cell phone with me everywhere. In the past, I would enter a library and then go looking for a photocopy machine. I was always delighted whenever I found such a machine that created digital images. Not all libraries have digital imaging available. Thanks to the new Scanner Pro software, I now have digital imaging capability with me at all times. Not only can I use the iPhone in libraries, but also when visiting a relative.

Of course, Scanner Pro can be used for thousands of non-genealogy purposes as well. This morning, I had to send an email message to my insurance company about the new license plates on the motorhome. I snapped a picture of the license plate using Scanner Pro and sent it as an email message to the insurance agent.

Ever see a "for sale" sign of interest on the bulletin board at the local supermarket? Snap a picture and send it to yourself or perhaps to a friend who may be interested in the item.

I often write articles about new products and I use them for a day or two. Not this time. This one's a keeper! I plan on using Scanner Pro often for a long, long time.

Scanner Pro costs $6.99 and is available in the iPhone App Store or you can learn more about it at http://readdle.com/products/scanner_pro_iphone/

NOTE: Any iPhone can snap a picture of a book or most anything else and send it by email. You don't need Scanner Pro for that. However, Scanner Pro adds convenience, the ability to create PDF files, multi-page documents, automatic page edge detection, and image processing. It also adds the capability to add, move, delete pages and even combine pages in landscape and portrait orientations. You cannot perform those functions with the software included with the iPhone. I'd suggest the program is worth a lot more than $6.99.

My thanks to newsletter reader Claudia Breland for telling me about Scanner Pro.

1940 Census Will be Free on Ancestry.com

Subscription genealogy website Ancestry.com has decided to make the 1940 census images and index—which will be on the site after the 1940 census is opened next year for research—free to search and view through 2013.

That’ll be more than 3.8 million images with 130 million records. Even better, they’ll be indexed by 45 fields, meaning you’ll be able to search on the name, street address, county, state, parents’ birthplaces and more.

The records won’t be on Ancestry.com right when the census is released April 2, 2012, by the National Archives. Ancestry.com’s press release says they’ll commence “streaming onto the website in mid-April 2012.”

The digital images will be accessible free of charge at NARA facilities nationwide through our public access computers as well as on personal computers via the internet.

The 1940 Census will not have a name index when it opens on April 2, 2012. In order to locate someone, you will need to know his or her address and the Census enumeration district in which that address was located.

What can you do now in preparation for the opening of the 1940 Census?

1. Make a list of all the people you want to look for in the 1940 census. Think broadly--ancestors, their siblings, cousins, etc.--anybody to whom you are related.

2.Collect addresses for these people for whom you plan to search.

Sources for addresses include:

City Directories (NARA has original Circa 1940 City Directories for Washington, DC. The Library of Congress holds a large nationwide collection of city directories and many libraries hold local directories.)

The 1930 Census (useful for people who did not move between 1930 and 1940). If you have a person's enumeration district (ED) number from the 1930 Census you can use "The Converting between 1930 and 1940 Census ED1940s in One Step" search utility at http://stevemorse.org/census/ed2040.php?year=1940 to find the equivalent ED for the 1940 Census.

World War II Draft Records (contact the National Archives' Regional Location for the state in which your ancestor lived).

Naturalization Petitions or Declarations of Intent filed close to 1940 (contact the National Archives' Regional Location for the state in which your ancestor lived)

3.Identify the enumeration district (ED) in which each address was located. There are currently several ways to do this:

Search the 1940 Census Maps for Enumeration District Numbers
Go to the Archival Research Catalog (ARC): http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/

Enter 1940 Census maps + the county + the state: 1940 Census maps Sussex Delaware

You can narrow the search by including a town name in the search: 1940 Census maps Sussex Milford Delaware

Note: Not all towns will have individual maps. You may need to look at county maps for some towns. In the search results, click on the map to see a larger version of the map.

More to follow as we get closer to this major genealogical event.

Ancestry.com Post New NARA Civil War Records Online

Blog Editor Note: This digitization of Civil War records is part of a five-year deal with Ancestry.com and NARA. The public will have free access starting April 6 for a week before a paid subscription is required to access the records.

WASHINGTON, DC and PROVO, UT — 04/06/11 — Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM), the world’s largest online family history resource, and the National Archives, today launched millions of newly digitized Civil War records that are now available online for the first time. This effort is part of an ongoing partnership between Ancestry.com and the National Archives to make important historical records more easily available to the American public. Ancestry.com’s entire Civil War Collection of more than 42 million records, including 25 million records from the National Archives, will be free to access for the general public for one week beginning on April 7. Existing members will have immediate access beginning today.

Included are the entire U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865 and the complete 1860 and 1870 Censuses. These Civil War collections are in the National Archives and have been digitized by Ancestry.com to help preserve the original records and provide convenient online access. They now serve as a vital source of information for an estimated 17 million Americans(1) who have an ancestor who fought in the conflict. The entire Civil War Collection can be accessed for free at www.ancestry.com/civilwar150.

The highlight of the Civil War Collection is the newly digitized Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865. These records are among the most popular in the National Archives Civil War holdings and served as a virtual male census for the northern states during the war period. Famous 19th century Americans such as Andrew Carnegie, future President Grover Cleveland, Aaron Montgomery Ward and multiple Rockefellers are all found in these records. Previously only available by request in original form in the Research Room of the National Archives, the public will now be able to easily access these records on Ancestry.com without having to travel to Washington, D.C.

“The significance of these records, which document one of the most important events in American history, cannot be overstated,” said Ken Burns, director and producer of the award-winning documentary THE CIVIL WAR and longtime board member of the Foundation for the National Archives. “I’ve been able to make multiple discoveries about my own great-great-grandfather Abraham Burns through these and other records from the National Archives. I’m excited that more people will now be able to have similar discoveries through Ancestry.com.”

Ancestry.com is providing another special experience in searching for Civil War and National Archive information through the new interactive Military Headstone Archives. Dynamic visuals and multimedia tools will enable users to ‘virtually’ explore the cemeteries of the Civil War’s most famous battlefields at Gettysburg, PA; Sharpsburg (Antietam), MD; Stones River (Murfreesboro), TN; Petersburg, VA; Shiloh, TN and Vicksburg, MS. Users can search for their family’s heroes in Ancestry.com’s unique collection of headstone photographs from 33 national cemeteries in the North and South. The new Military Headstone Archives can also be accessed by visiting: www.ancestry.com/civilwar150

Since 2008, Ancestry.com and the National Archives have worked as partners to make important historical records available to the public as part of a shared commitment to preserving America’s heritage. A key component of this collaboration includes digitizing as many of the original paper National Archives’ Civil War records as possible and publishing those records on Ancestry.com.

“The National Archives continues to be a model for preserving important U.S. history and making those records available to the public,” said Josh Hanna, Executive Vice President for Ancestry.com. “We’re honored that our partnership with the National Archives has made millions of records, including the new Civil War Collection, available to the many Americans who want to learn more about their family history.”

“We are pleased that our partnership with Ancestry.com is making these important records available outside of our research rooms,” said Susan Cummings, National Archives Director of Access Programs. “This is just the first of many series of Civil War records that will be made available online that are scanned from original records, instead of from microfilm in the years to come.”

The expanded Civil War Collection now includes new National Archives records such as:

● U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865: This collection lists all Civil War Draft Registrations. There were four drafts between 1863 and 1865, which included 3,175,055 people in its rolls, although of those, just over 46,000 actually entered into service. Historically, the 1863 draft was one of the most tenuous moments in the Union outside of the battles fought on Northern soil. Most of the concern was due to the draft riots that took place in New York in 1863. These records include more than 630 volumes of registries and are lists of individuals who registered for the draft.

● U.S. Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865: This collection contains indices of compiled military service records for volunteer Union and Confederate soldiers who served with units organized in more than 20 states. The indices also include Confederate soldiers who later served with the Union Army, Union and Confederate soldiers, Generals and staff officers, and other enlisted men not associated with a regiment. Individual records contain both military and personal details useful for locating an ancestor in time and place by tracking his movements during the course of the Civil War.

Other additions to the Civil War Collection include:

Union records

● Kansas Civil War Enlistment Papers
● New York Civil War Muster Rolls
● New York Civil War City Registers

Confederate records

● Alabama Census of Confederate Soldiers
● Confederate Pension Applications from AL, AR, TX and VA
● Georgia Civil War Correspondence
● Register of Officers of the Confederate States Navy

To begin searching The Civil War Collection, current subscribers can visit www.ancestry.com/civilwar and new users can visit www.ancestry.com/civilwar150. For further stories and updates related to Civil War family history research, please follow Ancestry.com on Facebook and Twitter.

About Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOM) is the world’s largest online family history resource, with nearly 1.4 million paying subscribers. More than 6 billion records have been added to the site in the past 14 years. Ancestry users have created more than 20 million family trees containing over 2 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries that help people discover, preserve and share their family history, including its flagship Web site at www.ancestry.com.

About the National Archives

The National Archives and Records Administration, an independent federal agency, is the nation’s record keeper. Founded in 1934, its mission is unique — to serve American democracy by safeguarding and preserving the records of our Government, ensuring that the people can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The National Archives ensures continuing access to the essential documentation of the rights of American citizens and the actions of their government. It supports democracy, promotes civic education, and facilitates historical understanding of our national experience. The National Archives meets a wide range of information needs, among them helping people to trace their families’ history, making it possible for veterans to prove their entitlement to medical and other benefits, and preserving original White House records. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and on the Internet at http://www.archives.gov/.

Blogger Disclosure Statements

I guess I'm the last genealogy blogger on this planet to discover the 2010 FTC regulation requiring bloggers to have a disclosure statements on their blogs.

This afternoon after Thomas MacEntee's live Legacy webinar, while looking at one of his blogs, I discovered to my horror, the new requirement by the FTC (that is the Federal Trade Commission for those of you who do not speak governmentese) to have a an FTC disclosure statement on your blog. If you mention any products, services, etc that charge real money for their stuff you have to have one of these statements posted somewhere on the blog. The fine for not doing so is $11,000 per post.

Now for some of you, including old Bill Gates, that may just be folding money. For the poor like us, that is food on the table. Now while I may not agree with the FTC and this ridiculous intrusion on free speech, I just can't afford that kind of cash to prove a point.

So that we are complaint with the imperial government's regulation, I have added a FTC Disclosure Statement to all of family of blogs that we maintain.

Bottom line, a big Family Roots and Branches "Tango Uniform" to Thomas MacEntee for the head's up. We poor mountain folk here in western NC do appreciate you looking out for us.

To learn more about blogger disclosure issues, go to Why You Need a Blogging Disclosure Statement at Geneabloggers. To get your own disclosure policy statement for your blog (yes, it is free), go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org/.

Do You Recognize the Organization They Belong To?

I have a friend here in the Brasstown area of western North Carolina who passed along the picture above to me and is asking for some help. He (and me) would like to know what fraternal or religious organization these fellows could have belonged to.

My best guess is this photo was taken sometime between 1900-1910, may have been taken in northern Georgia (Towns or Union County) or in Delta County, Texas.

My best guess is that these fellows belong to a IOOF (Independent Order of Odd fellows) lodge, but I am not 100% sure of it.

So if you have some insight and can help ID the organization that they belonged to, contact me at our email address teakpub at brmemc dot com. I do appreciate any and all input on this blog post.

Mocavo.com Launches as World’s Largest Free Genealogy Search Engine

Industry breakthrough provides instant search results for billions of names, dates and places worldwide

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mocavo.com™ (http://www.mocavo.com), a free search engine geared toward genealogists and people interested in learning more about their family history, launches today. Mocavo.com enables the search of more than 50 billion words - including billions of names, dates and places, all within fractions of a second. Mocavo.com fills an important industry need by providing the first large-scale, free search engine for family history research. Coupled with the speed and accuracy by which search results are produced, Mocavo.com represents a major technological breakthrough within the genealogy world.

Mocavo.com has already been met with critical acclaim by several industry experts. Dick Eastman, writer of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and a top blogger in the field, wrote, “All my future genealogy searches will start on Mocavo.com. I've been using the site for a while during its testing and have been very impressed. I suspect you will always have better luck searching for your own surnames of interest on Mocavo.com than on any other search engine.”

Randy Seaver, writer of the popular Genea-Musings blog, said, “Mocavo.com promises to be a genealogist's dream - a search engine focused on free online genealogy resources." Mr. Eastman’s and Mr. Seaver’s full reviews can be found at http://www.eogn.com and http://www.geneamusings.com, respectively.

Starting today, the general public can use Mocavo.com for free. Visitors to www.mocavo.com are simply required to type in the names of interest and click on Search. All related results from industry sources such as genealogy message boards, family trees, state and local historical societies, the Library of Congress, National Archives, Ellis Island, Find A Grave, the Internet Archive, various U.S. state archives, and many tens of thousands of genealogy sites built by individuals will be displayed. Similar to other search engines, Mocavo.com honors site owners by linking directly to their content.

Cliff Shaw, founder and CEO of Mocavo Inc., identifies the current trouble for genealogists and the solution that Mocavo.com provides, “Genealogy has always had the problem of information and potential clues being spread across thousands of disparate web sites and sources. Imagine a world where you have all of the Web’s free genealogy content at your fingertips within seconds. That is Mocavo.com.”

“Mocavo.com has the capacity to index every single piece of free genealogy content found anywhere on the web, and will be growing by leaps and bounds in the coming months,” said Mr. Shaw. “We expect Mocavo.com to shortly offer all of the web’s free genealogy information, searchable and accessible to all – something that has never been done before. It’s set to become the go-to search engine for every family history enthusiast.”

Mocavo Inc. is the brainchild of Cliff Shaw. Mr. Shaw is well known in the industry, having created four successful companies and many innovative technologies, including Smart Matching™, the most successful ancestor-matching algorithm. He created GenForum 14 years ago and it quickly grew to become the number one community for genealogists (now owned by Ancestry.com® (NASDAQ:ACOM)). In the early 2000’s, Mr. Shaw launched GenCircles and Family Tree Legends, becoming the number two family tree publishing site and number two family tree software package respectively (both are now owned by MyHeritage.com). More recently, Mr. Shaw launched the well-received BackupMyTree.com, the industry’s only automatic tree backup solution.

About Mocavo Inc.

Mocavo Inc. operates the world’s largest free genealogy search engine, Mocavo.com, giving genealogists access to the best free genealogy content on the web including billions of names, dates and places. Founded by industry veteran Cliff Shaw, and backed by prominent angel investor, David Cohen, (founder and CEO of TechStars), Mocavo.com seeks to index and make searchable all of the world’s free genealogy information. While Mocavo.com discovers new sites every day, some of the existing sites searchable on Mocavo.com include genealogy message boards, family trees, state and local historical societies, the Library of Congress, National Archives, Ellis Island, Find A Grave, the Internet Archive, various U.S. state archives, and many tens of thousands of genealogy sites built by individuals. For further information, visit http://www.mocavo.com.