Oct 5, 2017

The news includes:

• MyHeritage introduces its new DNA Match Review Page.
• MyHeritage has recently released more than 14 million Australian birth, baptismal, marriage, burial, and death records from the state of Victoria (1836-1942).
• MyHeritage has redesigned the Help Center at its website and added more than 750 up-to-date help articles and expanded the content.
• RootsMagic announces a new software update. It also announced that the application now works under the new macOS High Sierra operating system.
• RootsMagic reminds users that there are both a video tutorial and a written user reference to help you master the new TreeShare for Ancestry feature.
• Evidentia released an update, version 3.1.5. They have added a new Direct Line (Lineage) Tracker allowing you to record links in a new way. It’s perfect for your work applying for membership to lineage and heritage societies.
• Evidentia has also added a new advanced feature that supports Custom Style Sheets for reports.
• Ancestry’s CEO Tim Sullivan has stepped down and becomes Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors effective 1 October 2017. Howard Hochhauser, the company’s CFO, will assume the interim role of CEO as the company conducts a search for a permanent replacement.
• Findmypast has appointed Tamsin Todd as its new CEO. She takes over from interim CEO Jay Verkler and brings an impressive CV to the position.
• Sue Tolbert, the Executive Director of the Three Rivers Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is stepping down after having reorganized the museum, added a wealth of new historical holdings, developed educational programs and annual cultural events, and expanded the museum’s presence in the region. She is succeeded by Amy Bradshaw, who brings her impressive background experience with several museums in Oklahoma and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• The Association of Professional Genealogists just concluded its annual Professional Management Conference in the Washington, DC, area. Two important awards were made:
  • Meryl Schumacker of Minnesota was the winner of the APG Young Professional Scholarship.
  • APG has established the Laura G. Prescott Award for Exemplary Service to Professional Genealogy. Laura was the first recipient of this new annual award.
• The Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (GEN-FED) has announced that the 2018 Institute will be held July 16-20. Online registration will be held on 24 February 2018 at its website at http://www.gen-fed.org. You can also sign up for email announcements at http://www.gen-fed.org/gen-fed-2018.
• RootsTech 2018 has been expanded to four days, 28 February through 3 March, and it will introduce a new Innovation Showcase.
• Findmypast has added baptisms, marriages, burials, and wills for Lancashire, Herefordshire, new browseable parish registers for Warwickshire, and new records for Gloucestershire. New Connecticut records (1600s-1800s) have been added, along with some UK monumental inscriptions, and several new Irish newspapers.
• Go Ahead Tours and Ancestry have announced that they will partner in a portfolio of guided genealogical tours, including Sicily, Southern Italy, German, and two tours in Ireland. Call Go Ahead at 1-800-242-4686 to learn more and to obtain details about specific tour destinations and learn about what is entailed in each tour.
• FamilySearch has released a new web-based indexing tool that makes the process of indexing and searching much easier. In addition, FamilySearch will hold a Worldwide Indexing Event again this year on 20-22 October 2017.
• Drew shares updates from FamilySearch’s recent records additions.

Moorshead Magazines is the publisher of Your Genealogy Today, Internet Genealogy, and History Magazine. They also publish special books on the Tracing Your Ancestors Series. George discusses three of these publications:

• Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors, written by Christine Woodcock
• Tracing Your Germanic Ancestors, written by Leland K. Meitzler
• Tracing Your Ancestors: Heritage Travel Tips, Tricks & Strategies, written by Lisa A. Alzo and Christine Woodcock

These excellent expert guides and other titles in the series can be ordered at https://your-genealogy-history-store-usa.myshopify.com/collections/tracing-your-ancestors-series.

George reviews the following books in this episode:

The Fabulous Flying Mrs. Miller, by Carol Baxter. This biography of Jessie “Chubbie” Miller, a contemporary aviatrix of Amelia Earhart and other female fliers who hailed from Australia, is an excellent read. The book describes what it was like to engage in air races to set records, get financial endorsements, and earn money in the 1920s and 1930s. The excitement and danger make for an engaging story, but then Chubbie becomes involved in two other news-making events: when she goes missing on a flight, and when she becomes a central figure in a high-profile murder trial. Order the book directly from the publisher, Allen & Unwin in Australia, at https://www.allenandunwin.com. It’s a great read!

English author Nathan Dylan Goodwin continues his excellent series of genealogical crime mysteries with several new titles featuring Morton Farrier, the forensic genealogist.

The Spyglass File focuses research on the case of a woman who was abandoned by her family during the Battle of Britain (1940 and 1941) and wants to trace them. Morton learns about the young English women with fluency in German who were recruited to listen to radio traffic of German fliers in order to anticipate air raid sites and scramble receiving planes. He researches the fliers, the women in the service, and more as he seeks out the elusive Spyglass File and its contents. The mysterious story is a page-turner you’ll find nearly impossible to put down.

The Missing Man continues Farrier’s search to learn more about his biological father from the U.S., track him down, and possibly even meet him. In the source of his research, he discovers some strange family history and some startling criminal activities. This book is a compelling read as piece after piece of the puzzles are uncovered.

Finally, Goodwin has written a Morton Farrier short story titled The Suffragette’s Secret. This is only available as a Kindle e-book. We’ll review this as soon as we’ve had a chance to read it. We also know from his newsletter that Nathan is at work on another forensic genealogist mystery, and he has decided to attend RootsTech 2018. 

Listener email includes:

• Angela just finisher previewing a cookbook titled Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food, written by journalist Simon Thibault. The book is a compilation of Acadian family recipes from the author’s family, photographs, and family stories. It is a tribute to the author’s ancestors and really brought another aspect of their lives to light.
• Jean cites our announcement about the New York State Death Index that we discussed in Episode # 329. Specifically, she addresses the organization of the index. It isn’t always in alphabetical sequence; between 1940 and 1956, the names are organized using Soundex.
• Tom is tracing his biological parents using DNA, and asks if there a program or tool available that could be used to enter names and matches and then perhaps put unknown matches into some kind of order where they might be more usable.
• Liv Birgit in Norway uses Dragon Dictation with both English and Norwegian with quite good success,