Family Search Update of Records from Austria, Brazil, Italy, South Africa & USA

FamilySearch Adds More Than 3.2 Million Indexed Records and Images to Collections from Austria, Brazil, Italy, South Africa, and the United States

FamilySearch has added more than 3.2 million indexed records and images from Austria, BillionGraves, Brazil, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the United States.

Notable collection updates include the 1,157,399 images from the Brazil, São Paulo, Immigration Cards, 1902–1980, collection, the 324,226 images from the newSouth Africa, Eastern Cape, Estate Files, 1962–2004 and South Africa, Western Cape, Estate Files, 1966–2004, collections, and the 71,367 indexed records from the U.S., Minnesota, Naturalization Card Index, 1930–1988, collection 

Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Big News! MyHeritage and FamilySearch Partnership Announcement

TEL AVIV, Israel & SALT LAKE CITY, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

MyHeritage, the popular online family history network, and FamilySearch.org announced today the signing and commencement of a strategic partnership that forges a new path for the family history industry.

Under this multi-year partnership, MyHeritage will provide FamilySearch with access to its powerful technologies and FamilySearch will share billions of global historical records and family tree profiles spanning hundreds of years with MyHeritage. This will help millions of MyHeritage and FamilySearch users discover even more about their family history.

“For more than a hundred years, FamilySearch has been dedicated to working with the world’s archives to preserve their records for future generations”

FamilySearch will provide MyHeritage with more than 2 billion records from its global historic record collections and its online Family Tree. These records will be added to SuperSearch, MyHeritage’s search engine for historical records, and will be matched with family trees on MyHeritage using its matching technologies.

MyHeritage users will gain access to an unprecedented boost of historical records and family tree profiles, which are key to researching and reconstructing their family histories. This reinforces MyHeritage's position as an international market leader, with gigantic assets of family trees and records, which are the most globally diverse in the industry.

FamilySearch members will benefit from MyHeritage's unique technologies which automate family history discoveries. Smart Matching™ automatically finds connections between user-contributed family trees and Record Matching automatically locates historical records relevant to any person in the family tree. By receiving accurate matches between FamilySearch’s Family Tree profiles and historical record collections, such as birth, death, census, and immigration documents, FamilySearch members will be able to more effectively grow their family trees in size and in depth and add conclusions supported by historical records.

“For more than a hundred years, FamilySearch has been dedicated to working with the world’s archives to preserve their records for future generations” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “Their massive undertaking has made family history more accessible to everyone. This partnership highlights MyHeritage’s technology leadership and our firm commitment to adding historical records on a massive global scale, accelerating our vision of helping families everywhere explore and share their legacy online. We look forward to a fruitful future working hand in hand with our friends at FamilySearch.”

“FamilySearch values collaborative partnerships that enable more people, in more places, to discover their family history” said Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch. “MyHeritage is an innovative company that has a fast growing, global online audience. We are excited to commence this partnership which enables FamilySearch to better serve the global family history community.”

YouWho - New Genealogy Website Sounds Intriguing!

YouWho.com sounds intriguing! It's a new Genealogy startup website co-founded by two former Ancestry.com executives. The premise is that YouWho gathers old photographs, both from outright purchases and from visitor uploads to the site. 

Through facial recognition software and visitors' tagging of individuals in the photos, YouWho will find descendants. Their slogan is "YouWho will show you who you are"

YouWho plans to allow visitors to upload documents, photographs and other memorabilia to the site. It can be public or private and according to a YouWho video, users can also sell copies.

The tagline is YouWho will “show you who you are.”
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/10/ancestry-com-execs-to-launch-new-genealogy-startup-youwho-exclusive/#kCYxhiwFBAF9DRwR.99

The tagline is YouWho will “show you who you are.”
Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/10/ancestry-com-execs-to-launch-new-genealogy-startup-youwho-exclusive/#kCYxhiwFBAF9DRwR.99

That sounds great, I mean we'd all love to be tracked down and told there's a photo or letter online of one of our ancestors but that's a tall order! We'll just have to wait and see.  Olive Tree Genealogy will keep you posted when there is anything new to report. I just registered online for my home page on the site. I'm certainly intrigued even though their welcome popup was a little "cute" for my taste! 

Meantime why not visit my Lost Faces website where I have published almost 3000 photographs from the mid 1800s. Some are identified, some are not but you may find an ancestor or two there.

There are also letters on my site Past Voices so pop over there too and see if you can find an ancestor's letter in the collection.

Update Family Search Indexed Records & Images

FamilySearch Adds More Than 9.5 Million Indexed Records and Images to Collections from Argentina, BillionGraves, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and the United States

FamilySearch has recently added more than 9.5 million indexed records and images from Argentina, BillionGraves, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 2,399,826 images from the new Denmark, Church Records, 1484-1941, collection, the 1,734,150 indexed records and images from the Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922, collection, and the 2,171,641 images from the new Italy, Campobasso, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1918, collection.

 Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.
Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world’s historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org.
 
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Uh-Oh I Hear Cries of "The Sky is Falling!"

Here we go again. Yesterday the big news came out that Ancestry.com has purchased Find A Grave. And so it began... the nay-sayers jumped in immediately with cries of Ancestry Is An Evil Beast and Now The Site Will Not be Free.

But did those who were bemoaning this news read the Press Release from Ancestry.com? It clearly states they will keep the site free (just as they did for Rootsweb)

Jim Tipton, founder and owner of Find A Grave, had his own words of reassurance regarding the buyout.

Let's look at a couple of good things from this buyout:

1. Ancestry has much more money and resources to put into the site to expand it even more. This is a GOOD THING for genealogists

2. Jim Tipton is the founder and leader behind Find A Grave. Unless he left specific instructions and he knew someone who had the programming skills to continue with it if anything happened to him, the site could easily disappear. Now it has a more permanent home

3. The site was growing rapidly and becoming difficult to maintain. Now it has a huge team of skilled individuals ready and willing to tackle various technical aspects of running such a large site. 

We won't know how the buyout will affect Find A Grave until some time has passed. So let's just be patient, think positively, and wait to see. Oh yeah - and read the announcements from those involved!

Let's not all run around screaming "Run Chicken Little, the sky is falling!"

Cyndislist.com Files Lawsuit Against MyGenShare.com

CyndisList.com has filed a lawsuit against MyGenShare.com. The plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) are listed as

Plaintiffs:	Cyndi's List  and Cynthia Howells
Defendants:	Mygenshare.com and Barry J Ewell

 The suit is listed as Intellectual Property - Copyrights. For a brief summary of the case see Justia.com Dockets & Filings

A search for Cause 17:101 as listed on Justia provides information on this specific section of Copyright from Cornell University Law School

Cyndi started her website in 1996, the same year I started Olive Tree Genealogy  and we've been friends since that time. Copyright is a serious issue online and I'm certain the genealogy community will be following Cyndi's case with great interest.

As stated by Michael J. Neil on his blog post at RootDig.com Cyndi will not be responding to questions about this lawsuit.

Free Access on Ancestry for Four Days

Olive Tree Genealogy received the following good news from Ancestry.com this morning. They are opening some collections for free access from today (December 26) for the next four days!

Below are  30 collections that will be opened up for free between December 26-29^th. This represents more than 300 million select records from collections added or updated in 2012.

To access these free records, visit Ancestry.com/2012

* 1940 United States Federal Census
* Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1954
* Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1957
* California, Railroad Employment Records, 1862-1937
* Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922
* Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980
* Galveston, Texas, Jewish Immigration Records, 1901-1917
* Lancashire, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1911
* Lancashire, England, Deaths and Burials, 1813-1986
* Lancashire, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936
* London, England, School Admissions and Discharges, 1840-1911
* Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
* New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842
* New South Wales, Australia, Police Gazettes, 1854-1930
* New York, Naturalization Records, 1897-1944
* New York, State Census, 1892
* New Zealand, Maori Land Claims, 1858-1980
* Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985
* Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Immigration Records, Special Boards of Inquiry, 1893-1909
* U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958
* U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962
* U.S., Buffalo Soldiers, Returns From Regular Army Cavalry Regiments, 1866-1916
* U.S., Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960
* U.S., Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958
* U.S., Records of Aliens Pre-Examined in Canada, 1922-1954
* U.S., World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948
* UK and Ireland, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927
* United States, Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1820-1873 and 1893-1959
* War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815
* Washington, Marriage Records, 1865-2004

To access these free records, visit Ancestry.com/2012

ANCESTRY.COM LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE NEWSPAPERS.COM

Online Newspaper Web Site Offers a High-Quality Collection of Digitized and Completely Searchable U.S. Newspapers Dating Back Centuries 

(PROVO, Utah) – November 29, 2012 – Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM), the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced the launch of Newspapers.com, a powerful and affordable new web site designed to offer a historically rich collection of more than 800 U.S. newspapers dating from the late 1700s into the early 2000s.  

Comprising more than 25 million pages, Newspapers.com offers a trove of historical and present-day newspapers ranging from the New York Times to treasured small town and local newspapers throughout the United States. 

Interested users will find centuries of amazing news articles and photos now captured online when browsing hundreds of years of breaking news headlines, searching for information about an ancestor or reading how the media addressed moments in history like the day Charles A. Lindbergh flew over the Atlantic, the opening of Disneyland or news from the fronts during World War I and World War II.

“We’re extremely excited about the launch of Newspapers.com because it offers historical value for people of all ages and areas of interest,” said Brian Hansen, General Manager of Newspapers.com. “Searching newspapers is like searching the Facebook footprint of the past. Not only can you find information on births, marriages and deaths, but you can also get a glimpse into what life was like during a specific era. We hope our users have fun making their own discoveries in this great newspaper collection that will continue to grow over time.”

The search capabilities on Newspapers.com are specifically designed for newspapers enabling users to easily search by keywords, location, time period and newspaper name. From the 1784 Newport Mercury newspaper to a 2009 edition of The Gettysburg Times, users may find old advertisements or job listings, laugh at comics, retrieve family history clues or learn about famous events through the eyes and words of the time period.

The user experience is also enhanced by an image viewer that serves up crisp, high-quality images of the newspapers. Once discovered, newspaper images can easily be clipped, saved and shared via social outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+.  

Within this growing newspaper collection are a myriad photos and stories that provide unique perspective on history. Examples include:

·        Abraham Lincoln – Abraham Lincoln’s death is noted as “Our Great Loss” in the April 16, 1865 edition of the New York Times

·        Interesting People – The first baby picture of John Jacob Astor VI, whose father perished on the Titanic, is posted among other photos including one of Andrew Carnegie in the 1914 New York Times section labeled “Interesting People Seen Through the Camera’s Eye”

·        Price Changes – See how costs have changed over time, for example the New York Times cost one cent back in 1852, a paper that today costs $2.50 for its weekday edition

·        Marilyn Monroe – A Parade article featuring an exclusive interview with Marilyn Monroe in 1952 talked about how the famous actress saw herself

·        Man on the Moon – In 1969, the first U.S. astronaut on the moon as highlighted in the Iowa Estherville Daily News

·        St. Valentine’s Day Massacre – The day after the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day massacre in Chicago, articles all across America followed the story including The Daily Independent

Newspapers.com provides an affordable glimpse into the past with a yearly subscription rate of $79.95 for subscribers and $39.95 for Ancestry.com or Fold3 members. Newspapers.com also offers a 7-day free trial 

 

BIg News Coming at 4 pm Today!

Hi everyone! Something very exciting is happening in the genealogy world but I can't tell you about it yet.

Stay tuned for the exciting genealogy announcement coming today at 4 pm EST. It's s biggie and you can read about it here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog at 4 pm today EST.

Ancestry.com Acquires 1000Memories

(PROVO, Utah) – Oct. 3, 2012 – Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM), the world’s largest online family history resource, announced today it has acquired 1000memories Inc., the San Francisco-based startup that has been focused on helping people digitize and share the estimated 1.7 trillion paper photos stored in their albums, attics, and shoeboxes.

Founded in 2010, 1000memories’ mission has been to help families and friends preserve their personal memories and share those memories with others. 1000memories will provide Ancestry.com members a compelling new way to share their family history discoveries with friends and family as well as scan and add their old photos to their family trees. It also brings an innovative team to the Ancestry.com family to advance Ancestry.com members’ abilities to share the past with others.

The 1000memories acquisition also brings with it the popular ShoeBox app that turns mobile phones into photo scanners providing an easy way to digitize, save, and share photos online or on-the-go. With more than 500,000 downloads since its launch, the ShoeBox app has become a popular way for people to get their old photos out of their shoeboxes and into the cloud.

To mark today’s announcement, 1000memories has launched a new version of ShoeBox for iOS, enabling Ancestry.com members to post photos directly to their forebears’ profiles on Ancestry.com. This is the first step in a broader plan that will see tighter integration of the two services in the coming months.

“1000memories has built a popular way for people to capture and share their memories,” said Eric Shoup, Executive Vice President of Product for Ancestry.com. “The addition of the 1000memories team, their website and the Shoebox mobile app provides a powerful boost to Ancestry.com’s mission of empowering our users to discover, preserve, and share their family histories.”

“We began with the idea that the web provides an amazing vehicle for capturing and sharing the memories we hold most precious,” said Rudy Adler, cofounder of 1000memories. “We’re excited to expand our reach to Ancestry.com’s millions of users and help them share and preserve their family stories in a beautiful way.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Ancestry.com does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial guidance as issued in connection with its second quarter earnings release on July 25, 2012. It’s expected that all 1000memories employees will join Ancestry.com effective immediately.

FindMyPast.com Offers Bargain on Global Records

FINDMYPAST.COM LAUNCH OFFERS BIG BARGAIN ON GLOBAL RECORDS TO FIRST SUBSCRIBERS

“Pioneer Offer” Provides World Subscription at a 75 Percent Discount;
$4.95 per Month Instead of $20.83 per Month

LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2012 - Findmypast.com, a British-owned family history website, is marking its launch into the U.S. genealogy market on July 24 by offering its first customers a world subscription at a 75 percent discount – just $4.95 per month.

This introductory price point will give access to not just a wealth of US census and vital records but also a vast overseas collection. The latter includes almost 1,000 unique British, Irish and Australian record collections, some of which contain up to 30 million records in a single collection. Findmypast.com is offering a limited number of these introductory-rate subscriptions on a “first come, first served” basis.

“The genealogy community knows $4.95 per month for these records is a steal,” says Brian Speckart, marketing manager of North America for findmypast.com and brightsolid online publishing, its parent company. “We want those new to family history searching to understand the weight of this offer before it’s over.

A 12-month World Subscription to findmypast.com will normally cost $20.83 per month or $249.95 year – but customers who are quick enough to secure the “Pioneer Offer” will get one for just $4.95 per month or $59.95 per year.

Findmypast.com is the new US addition to a global network of findmypast websites – it joins existing findmypast sites in the UK, Ireland and Australia. It has recruited a separate US team, based in a new office in Venice, California. It is also a participant in the 1940 US Census Community Project, which is currently indexing the 1940 US Census, for viewing on findmypast.com.

For more information on other subscription and payment options, visit findmypast.com.