The following are recommended reads for this weekend.
1. The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS highlights a "Story of Interest" this week from Smithsonian.com about the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University in California and a project to preserve a million war letters. You can read the article here.
2. Much as we all know that we should back-up our genealogy files, it is instructive and a good reminder tool to read the frequent stories and blog posts about the failure to back-up. This week Russell Worthington of Family Tree Maker User blog shares his experience with a version of FTM when he discovered that his source citations were gone. It is a back-up caution tale, but "Cousin Russ" also explains his plan for rectifying the situation. You can read the original post here and then read his updates as he posts them.
3. With Halloween occurring this past week, there was a plethora of posts on the subject. Janice Brown of Cow Hampshire: New Hampshire's History Blog posted "An 1873 New Hampshire Halloween" that describes the Scottish Halloween tradition of Hallowmas. Janice also helpfully appends an explanation of "Halloween Sports and Customs" that appeared in an 1885 volume of Harper's Young People Magazine. You can read the post and addendum here.
4. For those of us who like to use our devices until they are worn out or we are forced by the technology giants to update/renew or die, Apple has been publicizing a warning regarding older iPads and iPhones (those from 2012 or earlier). Genealogy's Star author James Tanner obligingly posted a good explanation of the notice with helpful instructions. If you think this warning might affect you and you do not want to lose the ability to connect to the internet on an affected device, you better read the post here. You have to act before midnight UTC on November 3rd (meaning midnight tonight)! Mr. Tanner also has a new series called "Photography basics for Genealogists" that is interesting and useful. You can read the first installment here and then check out Part 2 from this past week here.
5. Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, had a post this week that illustrates a few lessons. Her primary point for the post was to give an example of why one should always consider local jurisdiction laws a valuable research tool. Another implicit lesson could be the need for caution in accepting indexing transcriptions when the transcription is unfamiliar and the handwriting is not easily read by you. Judy's example is an index transcription of a woman's occupation as a "Public Shafter." The handwriting and spelling leave much to be desired, but to me it clearly did not say "Public Shafter." In fact it looked to me like the handwriting was three words not two. See what you think before reading down to the ultimate reveal in the comments (with which I agreed) and keep this one in mind next time you come across indexing transcriptions that just do not look right. Read the post here.
6. Did you know that you can have your immigrant ancestors' names carved into the Ellis Island Wall of Honor? I did not know that this was possible until I read a post by Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog this week. There is a cost associated with ordering an ancestor's name to be carved into the wall and, as Marian informs us, there are only five panels left in the memorial wall. If you have immigrant ancestors, you might want to read Marian's post here.
7. This week Barbara Poole of Life From the Roots blog celebrated 10 years of blogging, 30 years of doing genealogy, and 50 years of life with her travel companion, genealogy partner, and husband. Read about these ongoing adventures here.
8. And finally, reminders for two annual November events by genealogy bloggers. Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy is also the originator of the Honor Roll Project to gather the names from all war memorials and honor rolls to be put into a searchable database. Read about the project and an explanation of how to take part by going to Heather's notice posted here. There is just over a week left to participate in the Veteran's Day posts. Bill West of West in New England blog hosts an annual genealogy poetry challenge. You can read about how to participate by going here. Bill posts the submissions on Thanksgiving Day (November 28th this year), but he needs your submission by on or by November 21st!
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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew
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