Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

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Plus Edition Newsletter Sent

To all Plus Edition subscribers:

The weekly Plus Edition newsletter was sent to your e-mail address a few minutes ago. It should have arrived by now. If you have not yet seen it in your in-box, check your spam folder. If it is not there, please contact your e-mail provider to see why it was blocked. (That happens often, especially to AOL, Comcast, cox.net and sbcglobal.net customers.)

If printed, this week's Plus Edition is 51 pages! (Whew!)

If you have any questions, please contact me at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy//contact-us.html.

Here are the articles in this week's Plus Edition newsletter:

(+) Along Those Lines By George G. Morgan: Timelines of Your Ancestors

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by George G. Morgan.

Context is everything. Placing your ancestor into geographical and historical context is one of the most important means of understanding him or her better. Like us, our ancestors and their families did not live in a void. They were aware of local, national, and international news. Even several centuries ago, news that arrived with incoming ships quickly spread throughout the American colonies.

Netbook Computers for $129.99 to $219.99

I have become a big fan of "netbook" computers. These laptop computers are about the size of a VHS videotape, typically weighing two pounds or less. They have screens as small as seven inches although the fancier and more expensive ones may have ten or eleven-inch screens. The keyboards typically are less than full size as well. Almost all of them include built-in wi-fi wireless networking, and most include web cams. Best of all, most of them sell for $250 to $400 – a steal, in my opinion.

I bought my first netbook computer about a year and a half ago and have since carried it to New Zealand, England, and all over the U.S. as well as on two cruise ships. That little Asus Eee computer has served me well. I don't use it much when at home, but it became my favorite computer to take traveling. I now leave the 6.5-pound Windows laptop at home. I have connected to the Internet from hotel rooms, airport lounges, and cruise ships. While traveling, I have sent and received e-mail, surfed the web, written newsletter articles,  posted those articles, and made a number of international phone calls via Skype. When in New Zealand, I called home free of charge most every day, using Skype on that tiny netbook computer. Not bad for a computer that slips into an overcoat pocket!

Destroying a 1500-Year-Old Indian Mound to Build a Sam's Club

Sam's Club, a division of retail giant Wal-Mart, wants to build a new store in Oxford, Alabama and has purchased a site for a new store. The location of the store isn't much of a problem but the company wants to use a nearby 1500-year-old Indian mound as "fill" for the construction site.

The mound is the largest known structure of its kind in the state. Workers hired by the city carried dirt away from the site this week. The move has angered American Indians and others.

Historians and Genealogists Are Furious as The National Archives at Kew Cuts Opening Hours and Expert Jobs

In the 8 June 2009 newsletter, I speculated as to what sort of news would be announced as a rather mysterious meeting notice had been published by The National Archives of Great Britain. That article is still available at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/06/changes-at-the-national-archives-at-kew.html.

The meetings were held and now we know the news. Sadly, the news is not good.

How Genealogists use Social Networking

Gena Philibert Ortega has written an interesting article about social networking for genealogists. She, and three guest authors, describe their successes with this new generation of web development that is all about collaboration and communication.

You can read the article in the WorldVitalRecords.com newsletter at http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/news/Volume3Issue41/?page=feature.

The GenSeeker Project

The following announcement was written by FamilyLink.com, Inc.:

The GenSeeker Project [is] a unique initiative, recruiting traveling family researchers as "GenSeekers" to introduce local communities throughout the U.S. to GenSeek, a social media website devoted to the monumental task of digitizing and sharing family histories found in small towns.

The Generations Project - A New Cable Television Genealogy Program

John Searcy stood wide-eyed in front of a TV camera on Thursday at the Manatee County (Florida) Agricultural Museum, learning about his family’s past and his heritage.

The Indiana resident traveled through Palmetto with a TV crew at his side as he learned about his great-grandfather — his namesake — and the mysteries behind a man he grew up knowing very little about. His experience was being filmed for a new cable TV series called “The Generations Project.”

MacFamilyTree 5.6 with new Virtual Tree and overhauled Media Library

The following announcement was written by Synium Software:

MacFamilyTree 5.6 has just been released and as always, the update brings a plethora of new features. By introducing a novelty in the genealogy market, the Virtual Tree, one year ago we revolutionized the way you approach all the branches of your family tree. Now, with version 5.6, this unique feature has been rebuilt incorporating several customer requests. Navigate through the three-dimensional representation of your family data and dive into your family history.

ProQuest Announces ProQuest® African American Heritage

ProQuest has announced a new African American genealogy offering. I was especially interested to note that it includes partnerships with AfriGeneas and Genealogical Publishing Company.

Keep in mind that ProQuest is available only through participating libraries. Please contact your nearest public library and ask if they subscribe or if there are other libraries ion the area that subscribe to ProQuest. If so, you will will normally be able to obtain free access to these resources.

The following announcement was written by ProQuest:

Groundbreaking new resource exclusively devoted to African American genealogy

Bing Versus Google

Microsoft recently released a new search engine called Bing. I have used it a few times and have been impressed. It seems to work well although I am not yet convinced that it is any better than Google. Lots of discussions have appeared online, questioning which is the better search engine: Bing or Google. Now you can decide for yourself.

Lincoln County (Mississippi) Historical and Genealogical Society to Obtain a New Home

The Temple B'nai Shalom in Brookhaven, Mississippi probably is about to be donated to the Lincoln County Historical and Genealogical Society. Let's stress the word "probably." For one thing, funding could be a problem.

(+) Low-Cost and No-Cost Programs You Want for Your Macintosh

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

So you just unwrapped your shiny new Mac and are now beginning to learn the new operating system? Congratulations! I suspect you will come to enjoy the new system that doesn't crash or lock up on you and doesn't have all those security issues.

However, once you get beyond the basics, you will find there are a number of applications that are "missing,” or perhaps some of the programs included with the Macintosh are a bit simplistic and you would like to find something better. Here is my list of suggestions of low-cost and free additions that every Mac user should have.

TalkingScot is Alive

TalkingScot is (or was) a very popular web site for those researching Scottish ancestry. The site went offline abruptly but the TalkingScot Administration Group wants everyone to know that the problem is only temporary.

The following was written a few minutes ago by the TalkingScot Administration Group:

MyTwoCensus.com

Run by a team of professional political journalists, MyTwoCensus.com is the non-partisan watchdog of the 2010 Census. You won't find any information here about your family tree, but it makes for interesting reading. The web site is a blog that focuses on mis-management and the government's inability to spend $13 billion of taxpayer's money in an efficient manner.

MyTwoCensus.com may not contain genealogy information today, but it describes the processes by which data is being collected for future use by your descendants who want to learn about you!

Edmonton's Photo Archives are now Online

The city of Edmonton, Alberta has placed more than 10,000 photos from the city archives online. The collection is expected to grow to more than 25,000 photographs. The most requested photo in the archives collection depicts a train parked on the Low Level Bridge during the flood of 1915 to keep the bridge from being swept away. The outline of the Hotel Macdonald can be made out faintly in the background.

A 1947 photo of the Golden Bears football team that includes former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed is an example of how photos can inadvertently become pieces of history.

Cemetery Workers Accused of Digging Up Graves, Reselling Plots

A sad story on CNN describes apparently illegal actions by cemetery workers in Alsip, Illinois, 20 miles south of Chicago. The crime was reported by the cemetery owners who became suspicious. At least four cemetery workers have been accused of digging up graves, dumping bodies, reselling the burial plots, and pocketing the cash.

(+) From Lloyd's Library by Lloyd Bockstruck: Georgia Resources for Pickens County and Savannah

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Lloyd Bockstruck.

The last of the thirteen original colonies, Georgia, did not witness a population boom until after the Revolutionary War. On the eve of the war, the colony obtained its first cession of land from the Indians. Post independence, Georgia sought to exploit her primary asset and bring prosperity by more sessions of land from the Indians. She enticed settlers to the state by luring them with a series of land lotteries. Participants had to have resided in the state three years before these lotteries, so even the losers were prone to stay since they had already settled into their communities.

Help Wanted: A Town Archivist for Wilbraham

Wilbraham, Massachusetts is looking for a town archivist. The  position that has been vacant since longtime town archivist Coralie M. Gray died in 2007.

The town archivist serves as a coordinator between local agencies which have care of historical materials and documents, such as the town clerk, the Wilbraham Public Library, the Atheneum Society and the Historical Commission.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast LIVE at 2009 FGS Conference

The following announcement was written by The Genealogy Guys:

The Genealogy Guys Podcast, a service of Aha! Seminars, Inc., announces its participation at the 2009 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Little Rock, AR, September 2-5, 2009.

The Genealogy Guys Podcast is the longest running weekly genealogy podcast in the world, with thousands of regular listeners around the globe. Co-hosts George G. Morgan and Drew Smith share news, interviews, book reviews, listener email, and more in their one-hour recording, available for free at http://genealogyguys.com and iTunes, and through RSS subscription.

Social Security Numbers: a Non-Issue

I have written before about the security of the Social Security Death Index and its use as a very effective tool to combat identity theft. Now several newsletter readers have written and have referred to a string of articles that have appeared in the past few days claiming that researchers have "cracked the code to Social Security Numbers" and can now guess your Social Security Number, or SSN.

A close examination of the articles show that the articles are VERY misleading. Let me use a stronger term: they are hogwash. I have a still stronger term in mind, but this is a family newsletter.

Video Interview: Andrew Wait of Ancestry.com

One of the things I love about attending genealogy conferences is the experts that you meet there. Indeed, there are all sorts of genealogy experts, DNA experts, and senior executives from companies in the genealogy business. At the recent Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, I had a chance to meet and talk with Andrew Wait, senior vice-president at Ancestry.com. He worked in the Ancestry.com booth, talking with conference attendees.

I had a chance to pull Andrew to one side for a few minutes and we got in front of a television camera being operated by a Roots Television cameraman. I asked a few questions and Andrew offered insights into the company's latest offerings, including Expert Connect, as well as a new collaborative network that is yet unannounced and unnamed.

Google Announces Chrome OS

This is great news for a few genealogy software vendors. Indeed, it might be good news for all computer-using genealogists.

For years, many people have speculated that Google would introduce a new operating system to compete with Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Google has now confirmed those predictions: the new Chrome operating system will appear in beta later this year, and new "netbook" computers based on that operating system will be available for sale about a year from now. They are expected to be very low-cost.

13,000 Names of Guillotine Execution Victims Added to Ancestry.ca

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.ca:

•  Collection includes original images of records of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Robespierre
•  Oldest victim was 92, youngest only 14

(Toronto, July 8, 2009) – In time for Bastille Day, Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, today released a unique online collection of more than 13,000 names of individuals who were executed in connection with the French Revolution between 1792 and 1796.

FamViewer for the iPhone

The following is the second in a series of reviews of all the genealogy applications for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

You can carry your genealogy database with you wherever you take your iPhone or iPod Touch. I find that having my genealogy database with me at all times is very useful, whether I am looking at old records at the courthouse, talking with a newly found friend at a genealogy conference, or talking with a distant cousin. The iPhone weighs less than five ounces and yet holds detailed information about thousands of ancestors, siblings, descendants, and extended families.

FamViewer allows you to view genealogy database files on your iPhone. The program is a "file viewer." It allows you to carry your genealogy database in a pocket or purse and to use it to view all your genealogy information. It works in conjunction with all modern genealogy programs designed for desktop or laptop computers; you enter the information into the desktop/laptop genealogy program, export the data as a GEDCOM file, copy that file to the iPhone, and then import it into FamViewer. Because FamViewer works with GEDCOM files, the program will work in conjunction with any modern genealogy program for Macintosh, Windows, or Linux.

Kirtas Offers Digitized Books

I have written about the Kirtas Technologies book scanner, which can scan up to 2400 pages per hour. Yes, that device scans one page every one and a third seconds. Place a book into the device, press a button or two, and then walk away. You can return a few minutes later to find the entire book has been scanned and the data stored on the attached Windows PC. You don't even need to cut the bindings of the book as the device turns the pages and makes images as needed. You can see my pictures of this $120,000 book scanner in operation at http://blog.eogn.com/photos/ala2007/kirtasbookscanner1.html and at http://blog.eogn.com/photos/ala2007/kirtasbookscanner2.html. 

Kirtas (pronounced KEER-tass) Technologies apparently isn't content to just make the scanners; the company also makes many out-of-print and out-of-copyright books available to customers, including a number of genealogy books. You can download a book to your computer's hard drive and read it there or even print pages from the book on your local printer. Another option is to have the entire book printed "on demand" and have it shipped to you.

Tougher Controls Sought For DNA Ancestry Testing

As the popularity of take-home DNA kits to trace ancestry or calculate the risk for serious medical conditions grows, there is an increasingly critical need for federal oversight of "direct-to consumer" genetic testing, as well as of the use of DNA samples for research, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and several other academic institutions.

Canadian Headstone Photo Project

The mission of the Canadian Headstone Photo Project is to capture digital images of  headstones of our ancestors. As decades pass -- many stones are becoming harder, if not impossible, to read the inscriptions they originally contained. By archiving the images, the web site's owners hope to save these important records and also assist researchers using this valuable resource.

Ex-Genealogical Society Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

The former treasurer of the Licking County (Ohio) Genealogical Society was given a community control sentence that won’t end until she makes full restitution of money she embezzled. Karen L. Ray, 68, pleaded guilty to fifth-degree felony theft in Common Pleas Judge Jon Spahr’s courtroom Monday.

She also made the first of potentially more than 40 $100 payments to the Licking County Genealogical Society to repay what she stole over 16 months beginning June 2007.

A Video Interview of Dear Myrtle

I recently had a chance to sit down and interview a long-time friend. Pat Richley is better known in the genealogy community as "Dear Myrtle." She is a prolific author, blogger, and lecturer.

Roots Television recorded our conversation and has now made it available on RootsTelevision.com.

Pat has been writing blogs since 1995. Her writing has now grown to three separate blogs. She records audio "podcasts," performs online training, writes about genealogy on Second Life, and writes about articles published in several magazines. She also writes about "unusual sources" of genealogy information, such as searching the U.S. Patent database for information about ancestors. She has a strong focus on topics of interest to genealogy newcomers.

Pocket Cemetery: a Virtual Graveyard for the iPhone

The web site for Pocket Cemetery states, "Pocket Cemetery Is A Virtual Heaven For The iPhone." From what I can tell, Pocket Cemetery apparently is the world's first personal graveyard for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.

"Personal graveyard?" What's that?

Ontario Online Searchable Names Index

The Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has just updated its online finding aid to include 1,014,600 names to assist genealogists in finding their ancestors in Hasting, Prince Edward and Northumberland Counties, Ontario. This was one of the first areas settled by United Empire Loyalists in 1784.

The Generations Network Becomes Ancestry.com

The company recently known as The Generations Network has been through a long and somewhat circuitous existence. The company started out as Ancestry Publishing, a small publisher of genealogy books. Soon after launching its first web site, the corporate name was changed to Ancestry.com. Since then, the company has changed its corporate name about once every 2 or 3 years. This has been good business for some sign painter in Provo, Utah: frequently updating the sign on the front of the building.

Company officials have announced still ANOTHER name change: this time they are reverting back to Ancestry.com.

ProQuest Announces an All-New Search Platform

The following announcement was written by ProQuest:

ProQuest’s All-New Platform Will Redefine Search Experience

Single-point access to ProQuest® content will enable users to discover more, dig deeper, and organize data in new ways

July 6, 2009 (Ann Arbor, Mich.) – ProQuest is leveraging its extensive research of end-users, librarians and faculty  search behaviors to drive the creation of an all-new platform that will redefine the search experience for library users around the world.   Available in 2010, the new platform will transform the company’s highly-regarded platforms into one unified search experience, providing access to a broad range of resources, content, and services that only ProQuest offers.   The ProQuest®, CSA Illumina®, and selected Chadwyck-Healey™ products will be available on the new platform at launch, and all ProQuest products will migrate to the new platform over time.

Plus Edition Newsletter Sent

To all Plus Edition subscribers:

The weekly Plus Edition newsletter was sent to your e-mail address a few minutes ago. It should have arrived by now. If you have not yet seen it in your in-box, check your spam folder. If it is not there, please contact your e-mail provider to see why it was blocked. (That happens often, especially to AOL, Comcast, cox.net and sbcglobal.net customers.)

If printed, this week's Plus Edition is 49 pages! (Whew!)

If you have any questions, please contact me at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy//contact-us.html.

Here are the articles in this week's Plus Edition newsletter:

(+) Your Genealogy Data on a Jump Drive

The following is a Plus Edition article, written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

Jump Drives are a wonderful invention. Also sometimes called thumb drives, flash drives, USB drives, memory sticks, or any of several other names,, these devices are roughly the size of a tube of lipstick or even smaller and can store a phenomenal amount of data.

Jump drives with as much as four gigabytes of storage are available in many places for less than $10 (see http://www.rootsbooks.com/shop.php?i=B000NWVAFO for one example). That is six or seven times the data storage capacity of a CD-ROM disk. Even better, up to 32 gigabytes of storage are available at increasing prices. Indeed, 64-gigabyte and 128-gigabyte jump drives are beginning to appear in the marketplace, although at prices higher than what most of us care to pay. Of course, that won't last long; prices on all jump drives continue to fall like a rock.

Free Genealogy Resources at Your Nearest FamilySearch Center

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormons), has gathered a huge amount of genealogical information.  Their Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah is the largest such facility in the world, with millions of books and  microfilmed records, as well as many on microfiche.  There is no fee for searching any of the records available in the library.  They are completely FREE for anyone to search. 

Of course, not everyone lives near Salt Lake City, or can afford the time and money to travel there. For most of us, we can use a nearby "catalog office" that allows us to access most of the same information that is in Salt Lake City.

Revolutionary Roots

Did your ancestors fight in the American Revolution 233 years ago? Thousands of men answered the call to arms in 1776. These thousands probably have many millions of descendants today. Many Americans can find a Revolutionary War veteran in the family tree if they expend a bit of time and effort. Luckily, there are a number of online and offline sources to help you in that search.

Finding Revolutionary ancestors isn’t much different than finding anyone else in your family tree. You always start with yourself and then work your way back, one generation at a time. You can search the online databases as well as the traditional resources, such as census records, vital records, and especially, Revolutionary War pension applications. However, you should be aware of several unique sources of records that contain information about Revolutionary War soldiers.

One excellent tutorial to read is "Finding Your Patriot: Basic Sources for Starting Revolutionary War Research" by Curt B. Witcher, available on Ancestry.com (without subscription) at: http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/1561.asp.

Nothing Lives Forever, Especially Newspapers

I always assumed that newspaper articles had an infinite lifetime. Anything printed in today's newspaper would be stored for some time in the newspaper's archives department as well as at local libraries. Eventually, those papers would be microfilmed and therefore preserved forever. Well, I once thought it was forever.

The world is changing.

APG Award Nominations Due July 10

The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG):

APG will be awarding its third "Professional Achievement Award" at the Professional Management Conference, Little Rock, Arkansas, September 2, 2009.  Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG received the award in 2007; and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking received it in 2008.

Call for Recommendations - APG Board of Directors

The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG):

Call for Recommendations for Nominations for APG Board Positions and Nominating Committee that take effect 1 January 2010.

Deadline for Recommendations: Postmarked or e-mailed by 1 August 2009.

Executive Committee for Two Year Terms for 2010-2011
       President
       Vice President
       Secretary
       Treasurer

Video Interview: Paula Hinkel at Jamboree 2009

In the latest Roots Television interview, Matthew Poe talks with Paula Hinkel, conference co-chair, about the 2009 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

Paula and her associates recently produced the largest genealogy conference in the western United States and, indeed, one of the biggest in the country. The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree attracted more than 1,500 attendees and offered more than  100 lectures. In this interview , Paula tells how to organize a large conference that attracts a large attendance. She especially focused on electronic advertising.

(+) From Lloyd's Library by Lloyd Bockstruck: Tapping the U.S. Serial Set

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Lloyd Bockstruck.

One of the often overlooked sources for genealogical research is the U.S. Serial Set. It began as a 38-volume set known as the American State Papers. Records were arranged by subject in ten separate series. The more useful ones for tracking ancestors are Military Affairs, Naval Affairs, Public Lands, and Claims. Some of the series, notably the latter two, have been reprinted and improved with an every-name index. Although one can never eliminate in what context an ancestor might appear, the private claims from ordinary citizens are the richest sources for genealogical mining. Genealogists prefer nominal indexes to such records as their first choice and topical indexes as their second.

Preventing Identity Theft with the SSDI

Identity theft is a major concern these days, as it should be. Many legislators seem to think that the problem can be solved by locking up all the birth, marriage, and death records, which, of course, has an impact on genealogists. The legislators apparently have never checked with the security experts who deal with identity theft every day, however. The security experts report that public domain records of birth, marriage, and death are rarely used by identity thieves. Instead, the thieves have easier methods.

First, most ID theft begins at home. A high percentage of identity theft is perpetrated by someone who is personally acquainted with the victim and often is related to the victim. The Better Business Bureau found half of identity thieves caught in 2004 were family members, friends, in-home employees, or neighbors of their victims.

Next, almost no identity theft occurs because of Internet searches. In fact, frequent use of the Internet by consumers can REDUCE identity theft. Javelin Strategy & Research conducted a study by interviewing identity theft victims. The company found that most instances of identity fraud occur through traditional channels and are paper-based, not Internet-based.

Rare Copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence Found

An original first print of the United States Declaration of Independence has been discovered gathering dust after nearly 250 years. The poster size proclamation, which is in perfect condition and is said to be worth about $8 million, is one of only 26 surviving initial copies of the document that changed the course of history.

The interesting thing is that this copy was found in The National Archives. That's NOT the National Archives and Records Administration in the United States. Instead, this copy was found in The National Archives of Great Britain in Kew, West London! Apparently, this copy has been there since 1776 or shortly thereafter.

Tukufu Zuberi at the Genealogy Jamboree

Last weekend I had a chance to interview Tukufu Zuberi, the keynote speaker at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. Dr. Zuberi is one of the four hosts on History Detectives, a popular program on PBS. In this interview, he talks about the program and he also ties genealogy and history together in a very personal way.

The folks at Roots Television kindly videotaped the interview and have now made it available online. You can watch the interview right now at http://www.rootstelevision.com/index.html?bcpid=7225568001&bclid=240119644&bctid=28247555001 or by clicking on the image below.

(+) Casefile Clues: Getting Occupational and Spousal Clues from an Estate

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Michael John Neill.

Estate records can do more than tell us an ancestor died and how his property was settled. They can provide clues to an ancestor’s occupation, marital status of his heirs, and much more. Many times what the record tells us is not explicitly stated. We have to look a little deeper. In this column we return to an estate that was looked at earlier in Casefile Clues. Our previous reference to the estate of Peter Bieger in 1850s Illinois focused on his two minor children. We now return to that record to see what additional clues it provided about Peter and his family.

Fairfax (VA) Genealogical Society Call for Papers

The following announcement was written by the Fairfax Genealogical Society:

The Fairfax Genealogical Society is accepting proposals for its General Meetings, Education Classes, Fall Fair, and Spring Conference for 2010-2011. All events are held in Fairfax County which is in northern Virginia, just west of Washington, D.C. Please see the complete Calls for Papers at www.fxgs.org/callforpapers.htm for the exact details and dates. All submissions must be received between 01 July and 01 October 2009.

FamilySearch Record Search Update: 12 New Collections Added--7 International

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

1 July 2009

Twelve new collections were added to the FamilySearch Record Search pilot this week. International collections were added for Argentina, Australia, Mexico, Netherlands, and Spain. New United States collections were added for Delaware, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Utah. Happy searching!

These collections can be searched for free at the FamilySearch.org Record Search pilot (click Search Records, and then click Record Search pilot).

FamilySearch Indexing Update: Czech Republic, South Africa, Mexico, and Deutschland Projects Added

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

Overview

Indexers waiting for projects from the Czech Republic, Baden, Germany, or South Africa can now get busy. New indexing projects added this week are:

• Czech Republic, Litomerice Kirchenbücher, 1552–1905 [Part 1]
• Deutschland, Baden—Kirchenbücher, 1810-1869
• Mexico DF Registros Parroquiales, 1886–1933 [Part 1]
• South Africa, Cape Province Dutch Reformed Church, 1660–1970
• U.S., Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1916–1922 [Part 2]
• U.S., Massachusetts Marriages, 1896–1897
• U.S., Minnesota 1885 State Census

 (See the chart below for a complete list and current status of all indexing projects).