Genealogy Insider - Celebrity Roots

Genealogy News Corral: October 12-16

Diane — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:49:28 GMT

Here are some of the news items we've rounded up this week:

I read an interesting post on the Archives Next blog about NARA’s record digitization agreements with firms such as Footnote and Ancestry.com. The blogger outlines possible good, bad and ugly outcomes when NARA is finally legally able to post online the record images obtained through contracts with third parties.

Pedigree database subscription site OneGreatFamily ($59.95 per year) plans to improve its search function by installing the Perfect Search Database Search Appliance from Perfect Search Corp. Each week, OneGreatFamily makes more than 18.8 trillion comparisons of names, dates and other details in members’ family trees, says CEO Alan Eaton. The new search tool should increase searching capability, improve indexing, and to deliver results faster.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has added several genealogical journals to its online subscription ($75 per year): Besides its own New England Historical and Genealogical Register, they are The American Genealogist, The Connecticut Nutmegger, New Netherland Connections and The Virginia Genealogist.

Also from NEHGS: Fellow actors, Boston natives, best buddies and People magazine sexiest men alive Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are 10th cousins once removed. Their common ancestor is William Knowlton of Ipswich, Mass., a bricklayer who died in 1655. Read the full story in the Boston Herald.

Family Tree Magazine Plus members can read our article about Matt Damon’s roots—including his link to Ralph Waldo Emerson—here.

Allen County Library Digitizes Abe Lincoln's Life

Diane — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:12:46 GMT

Staff at one of genealogy’s best-known libraries are digitizing some extra-special records.

Last December, the Indiana State Museum and the Allen County (Ind.) Public Library—whose Genealogy Center is the largest public library genealogy collection in the United States—got word they’d receive the 230,000-piece collection of Fort Wayne’s Lincoln Museum. That museum closed in June, 2008.

Abraham Lincoln lived with his family in Perry (now Spencer) County, Ind., from 1816 to 1830. (The home site is a national memorial.)

The Indiana organizations were selected to receive the collection over a formidable-sounding coalition consisting of the Library of Congress, National Museum of American History, Ford’s Theatre and President Lincoln’s Cottage.

The Allen County library's on-site digital capability helped keep the collection in Fort Wayne, according to a News Sentinel article.

The library will house manuscripts, books, photographs, maps, pamphlets and periodicals from the collection, including genealogical materials on the Lincoln and Hanks (Abraham Lincoln's maternal line) families and Mary Todd Lincoln's “insanity file” (in 1875, she was briefly committed to an asylum). More than 20,000 items will be digitized.

You can view 75 images from the collection on the Allen County library's web site. Library staff also also will dig up historical research so online searchers can get the story behind each item.

Artifacts, such as Lincoln’s wallet and the chair in which he posed for many photos, are at the Indiana State Museum. You'll see some displayed in two Lincoln exhibits to open next year on Feb. 12 (Lincoln’s birthday).

Think you're related to Lincoln or another US first family? Check out our list of books on presidential genealogy.

Michelle Obama's Slave Ancestry Video

Allison — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:40:18 GMT

As we reported earlier, our friend and professional genealogist Megan Smolenyak appeared on CBS' Early Show this morning to talk about Michelle Obama's slave ancestry.

Though perhaps not unique among slave descendants, the stories Smolenyak uncovered about Obama's ancestors Melvinia and Delphus are certainly interesting. Here's the video of the CBS interview:

Genealogist Finds Michelle Obama's Slave Ancestor

Grace — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:36:44 GMT

Family Tree Magazine contributor Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and The New York Times have uncovered documents revealing first lady Michelle Obama's great-great-great-grandmother, a slave named Melvinia. Through probate records, photographs and local histories, the sleuths have pieced together a picture of the life of Melvinia, who labored on farms in Georgia and South Carolina, and her first son, Dolphus—Obama's great-great-grandfather—who became a carpenter and owned his own business in Birmingham, Ala.

The story is absolutely fascinating. You can learn more about it in The New York Times, in ABC's news report, and make sure you watch the below video from Roots Television.

Genealogy News Corral: August 17-21

Diane — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:13:47 GMT

We rounded up these items for this week's news corral:

FamilySearch and Svensk Arkivinformation (part of the National Archives of Sweden) are starting a huge project to create a free online index to 418 million names in Swedish parish registers of births, christenings, marriages and burials. Volunteers will index registers from the start of recordkeeping (between 1608 and 1686, depending on the parish) through 1860.

StoryCorps will bring its mobile oral history recording booth to the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference that starts Sept. 2 in Little Rock, Ark. See the FGS blog for details on booking a time slot and preparing to tell your story.

Heritage Travel, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is launching a free online travel community called Gozaic with several “circles” for those interested in history-related travel. Those include Civil War Buffs, Abraham Lincoln, Family Heritage Travel, Journeys into Hidden America and others. Visit the pre-launch site to learn more.

On a celebrity baby blog this week, actor/producer Lisa Kudrow describes her next project as “a genealogy series in which we take stars to their ancestral landmarks ... different countries and places where they see documents and they see homes or buildings or things that have to do with their family.” (Scroll to the bottom of the post to see the full statement.)

Maybe the postponed US version of “Who Do You Think You Are?” will see the light of our TV screens. (Last we heard, it didn’t make NBC’s fall lineup, but might show up as a mid-season replacement.)

US "Who Do You Think You Are?" Will Premiere This Fall (Unless It Won't)

Diane — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:38:29 GMT

NBC's genealogy-reality TV series "Who Do You Think You Are?" will now premiere this fall, according to Genealogy Gems blogger and podcast host Lisa Louise Cooke.

Reports about the show surfaced last year (we covered it in the September 2008 Family Tree Magazine). Genealogists were thrilled when it was finally scheduled to begin in April, but the premiere was postponed. Let's hope this new date sticks.

The US version of "Who Do You Think You Are?", hosted by Lisa Kudrow of "Friends" fame, is based on Britain's successful show of the same name, which traces celebrities' family trees.

NBC's Web site for the show also says the network has partnered with Ancestry.com to produce a microsite where users can start their own family trees and learn more about the featured celebrities' trees.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" Moves Again

Diane — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:30:39 GMT

Our post about the debut of NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" celebrity-reality-genealogy TV series sparked some commentary on what humankind needs more: Another reality show or a hole in our heads.

Looks like you'll have more time to decide whether to watch (or be swayed by the success of the British show of the same name). Lisa Louise Cooke at Genealogy Gems reports the show's debut has been pushed back from April 20 to sometime during the summer. Learn more on the Genealogy Gems blog.

Logging Lincoln's Life

Diane — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:48:09 GMT

A plethora of parties are planned to honor the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth Feb. 12. (That’s also the 82nd anniversary of my grandma’s birth and the ninth anniversary of my nephew’s birth, so I’ll have to divvy up my celebrating.)

Go to the Lincoln Bicentennial Web site to find local observances, get facts on the 16th president’s life and download the text of his speeches and letters.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) plans a live Webcast reading of the Gettysburg Address on the big day. Log on to listen, plan a research trip, and search the Boys in Blue database naming 7,000 Illinois Civil War soldiers whose photos are at ALPLM and other libraries.

The National Archives in Washington, DC, will display the original Emancipation Proclamation Feb. 12 to 16. An Abe-themed family day is Feb. 7.

Historical records site Footnote is showcasing its Abraham Lincoln "person page" with a timeline, stories and digitized photos and articles (including a reward poster seeking assassin John Wilkes Booth and accomplices John H. Surrat and David C. Harold).

Think you’re related to Lincoln? See his family tree on Genealogy.com.

Rumors persist that Thomas Lincoln wasn’t Abraham’s biological father. They’re addressed in Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes and Confabulations Associated With Our Greatest President by Edward Steers Jr. (University Press of Kentucky), available for preview through Google Books. Link to it from our Google library.

You may be a cousin and not know it—supposedly, Abraham Lincoln kept quiet about his family because he believed his mother was born out of wedlock. No one's found records to prove or disprove his suspicions. But maybe he didn't have to worry so much: the fact we're celebrating 200 years later shows actions speak louder than ancestry.

Genealogy Reality Show Set for April Premiere

Diane — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:46:59 GMT

A genealogy-reality TV show-in-production we highlighted in the September 2008 Family Tree Magazine has a premiere date: April 20 at 8 p.m., according to the Hollywood Reporter. It'll air on Mondays.

Modeled after Britain’s successful “Who Do You Think You Are” series, the show will have professional genealogists tracing the roots of celebrities including Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon.

See a description on NBC’s Web site.

Climbing Down Santa's Tree

Grace — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:14:25 GMT

Cryptozoologists (people who study animals whose existence has not been proven) have traced the evolution of Santa Claus back to his ur-grandfather, Wildman. Santa Claus belongs to the Winterman branch of the family; Reindeer come from the Myth branch; Snow Queens and Elves are two branches of the Folklore crew. Click here to see the whole family tree.

In Case You're Wondering (Genealogy FAQs)

Diane — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:48:05 GMT

At Family Tree Magazine, we hear many of the same family tree-related questions over and over. I thought I’d answer a few of them here.

You’ll find even more FAQs (and the answers) on our Web site.

Q. How am I related to … [insert description of relative]?

A. It depends who’s the most-recent shared ancestor between you and the relative in question, and how many generations lie between each of you and that ancestor. Find an explanation here and a chart to help you figure it all out here.

Q. We’ve always heard we’re related to [fill in the famous name—John Brown, Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln are common ones]. How do we know for sure?

A. Lots of families have stories like this, and they’re not all true. To find out about yours, carefully research your family tree using reliable sources. You’ll also need to find the family tree of the person you might be related to (link to several famous trees here) and compare the trees to find people common to both.

Q. Why can't I find my ancestor on the Ellis Island Web site?

A. Ellis Island, open from 1892 through 1924, was the busiest US port of immigration, but it wasn't the only one. Cities all along the coasts received immigrants, including Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Galveston, San Francisco and others. Your ancestor may have arrived at one of these ports, or before Ellis Island opened, or overland from Canada or Mexico. See a list of ports and existing records for each on the National Archives Web site.

Q. My daughter learned she and her fiancé share an ancestor. Can they still marry?

A. It’s common for spouses to share an ancestor somewhere back in time—in fact, all states allow marriage between second or more-distant cousins. See a summary of state laws governing cousin marriages at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Famillion Touts Celebrity Connections

Diane — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:42:11 GMT

Another free genealogy social networking site called Famillion has been in the news. It’s headquartered in Israel (as is MyHeritage, which recently purchased Pearl Street Software).

Famillion, which has family tree building capabilities, photo albums and profile pages, says its Tree Merging Technology will locate overlaps in trees and suggest relationships (this sounds similar to the SmartMatching feature in Pearl Street’s languishing GenCircles pedigree database).

Famillion also just announced a GEDCOM upload to ease the job of entering family information.

The site looks slick and its “connect the world” tagline is noble, but the webmasters seem drawn to hyperbole. The About window says “You might… find connections to the world's Albert Einsteins, Madonnas and Bill Gates. You may find yourself chatting with Angelina Jolie.”

Somehow I think Angie’s a little too busy with Brad, Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh and Pax to chat me up online.

That claim and the celebrity photos on the home page smack of a too-obvious attempt to capitalize on America’s Hollywood obsession. The same could be said of MyHeritage and its celebrity lookalike photo search, though that site redeems itself with downloadable genealogy software and a search engine.

On the plus side, maybe non-genies will come to these sites looking for celebrity connections and get hooked on exploring their own mere-mortal family histories.

Meanwhile, we’ll research celebrity roots if we think they commingle with our own, but we’re too busy climbing brick walls to be genealogical paparazzi.