FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROVO, UTAH – December 19, 2006 – MyFamily.com, Inc., the leading online network for connecting families across distance and time, today announced that it is changing its name to The Generations Network, Inc., effective immediately. The company will continue to serve families online through its portfolio of leading brands and websites.

Ancestry.com, Ancestry.co.uk, Rootsweb.com, and Genealogy.com together form the No. 1 network of family history websites in both the United States and United Kingdom; Ancestry’s OneWorldTreeSM is the world’s largest online family tree. Continue reading →

Posted This Week:

• Meyers Gazetteer of the German Empire (in German)–Free
• England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index: 1837–1983–Free (Updated)
• England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837–1983–Free (Updated)
• England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837–1983–Free (Updated)
• Social Security Death Index (SSDI), updated through November 2006 
• View a list of all new and updated databases
• Learn more about what’s new at Ancestry.com
• Search the Ancestry.com Card Catalog
  

It’s been a while since I have lived “at home.” I still have a subscription to my hometown weekly newspaper. Frankly, it gets read more quickly than the local newspaper printed in the town where I work. It is a great way to keep up on the local happenings, particularly who died, who got married, and who reproduced. And every so often the editor prints a “letter to the editor” from someone looking for relatives who used to live in the county where I was born and raised.

Of course, large metropolitan daily papers will not publish such notices, but a smaller, weekly newspaper just might. A letter briefly (very briefly) outlining your family member who used to live in the area may reach the attention of relatives or others who may know of your family. These people might not be genealogists or family historians per se, but upon seeing your letter it might jog their memory and one may contact you. The best part of all is the cost:
only a postage stamp and the time to create an actual letter (some papers might accept e-mail, but paper mail is less likely to get lost in an inbox).

Google searches, online yellow pages, and USGenWeb sites are great places to learn of such newspapers. And you can always post a message to the genealogy bulletin boards at RootsWeb to ask what newspapers are published and read in your area of interest.

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Genealogy vs. Family Stories
Believe it or not, the word “genealogy” may intimidate, scare, confuse, or just plain irk some people. They may associate it with snobbery or the old stereotype of trying to show descent from famous people, or worse, an invasion of family privacy.

The word genealogy can be also be interpreted to mean “family talk” (see the Oxford English Dictionary for details). And that’s what I say when visiting, writing, or calling a family member. I never use the word genealogy; instead I say I want to hear them talk about the old family stories.

When visiting, I find taking notes or making an audio tape right from the beginning can be uncomfortable. So if something important comes up, I say “Oh, I never heard that, let me jot that down,” and pull out an old crumpled envelope and a pencil stub. I quickly jot down the fact, and while I am at it, any other mental notes I have made.

Sure I have an audio recorder, digital camera, video camera, GPS, computer, maps, and a subscription to Ancestry.com–but to my family, I am a family story collector, not a genealogist.

Bruce Miller
Cos Cob, CT Continue reading →

The year was 1794 and the French Revolution, now five years old, was in its bloodiest phase–the Reign of Terror. It began with the execution of Marie Antoinette and a string of thousands of others followed. Anyone critical to the ruling faction was beheaded with the recently invented guillotine. The leader of ruling party, Maximilien Robespierre claimed, “Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible.” However, his advocation of the Reign of Terror led to his demise in July 1794. Members of the National Convention turned against him, fearful they too would become victims, and he met the guillotine on 28 July 1794.

Besides fighting among themselves, the French were also doing battle with much of Europe in what are known as the French Revolutionary Wars. Alliances against France made the previous year led to battles with Spain, Britain, Austria, and Prussia in 1794.

Across the Atlantic, Americans were also fighting amongst themselves. In 1791, the newly formed American government had imposed an excise tax on whiskey and other spirits. The tax was very unpopular in far western areas because it hit the smaller stills particularly hard. This, and dissatisfaction with representation in the government, led to the Whiskey Rebellion. In these rural areas, excise tax collectors were threatened and in some cases, tarred and feathered, or worse. President George Washington called in federal troops to put down the violence in western Pennsylvania and twenty participants were arrested and brought to trial, but none were found guilty. Continue reading →