Greetings Fellow Family History Sleuths,

I’ve got a lot of travel coming up so I’ve decided to pop into your mailboxes a little early this month. With a bit of luck, I’ll be meeting some of you this weekend when I head to Pensacola, Florida to spend a day doing – what else? – talking genealogy!

For those in the U.S., don’t forget to pester your relatives with lots of family history questions this Thanksgiving, but do it before the post-turkey stupor kicks in! And take lots of multi-generational photos! Your descendants will appreciate it!

See you in December!

September 2013 Seton Shields Genealogy Grant Awarded

September's grant recipient is Kim Ostermyer of The Wyoming Room (an extension of the Sheridan (Wyoming) Fulmer Public Library). The room is a substantial research facility and unique in the region, serving historians, genealogists and the local municipality. The funds have been designated to acquire a portable scanner and scanner mouse which will be used to digitize and catalog Sheridan, Wyoming City directories. Using OCR software, the images will then be placed in a searchable engine to assist researchers in locating specific information about residents and businesses.

Back to top^

Cause of Death Pedigree

OK, this is definitely twisted, but I blame it on Judy Russell, who in turn blames it on Nathan Murphy.

At any rate, this is a cause of death pedigree for my family back through my great-grandparents. I really should do another generation because I know I'd hit the era of consumption, Bright's disease, and other ailments that slightly befuddle us today, but I'll leave it at this for the moment.

So of 13 deaths, there are five from cancer (never the same kind twice), five from heart/cardiac conditions (mostly heart attacks), a pair of stroke/hemorrhage passings, and one murder. At least some of the cancers were environmentally caused, and since I'm not, say, a smoker or coal miner, I can see what the odds suggest for me when my time comes. They say knowledge is power. It's also a little scary sometimes. Maybe I should back up another generation so I can at least reassure myself that typhus and cholera aren't in my future.

Back to top^

Genealogy Round Up, November 4

One Virginia Family, Six Generations Of Daughters

Manhattan's Forgotten Graveyards, Under Public Parks, Famous Hotels and Supermarkets

Back to top^

Genealogy Round Up, October 28

Unfortunately from around the world: Eerie Cemeteries Left to Nature (PHOTOS)

Seriously? Genealogists don't need no stinkin' website - we already know how! Find Out If Someone Died In Your House

Cool! Digital Family Tree Magazine available! Sign me up!

A Chat with Jim Piddock about HBO's Binge-worthy Family Tree

Back to top^

Genealogy Round Up, October 21

Cool! "Retirees" buying indie bookstores! This is the kind of trend I like to see. As indie bookstores hang in, owning one becomes the new fantasy career.

Well, I can't afford to buy a castle to celebrate my Irish ancestry, but at least I have friends with one (Turin Castle Mayo!) Rich Americans Snap Up Irish Castles for Love and Discounts NYTimes.com.

Wow, FamilySearch is partnering with everyone these days. MyHeritage and now...DC Thomson Family History (formerly Brightsolid) & FamilySearch.org to make billions of records available.

Who knew? Russia has (or at least, had) its own version of "Who Do You Think You Are?" featuring Russian celebs.

Proof Time Travel Is Possible - Gets a little more convincing toward the end.

Back to top^

Genealogy Round Up, October 14

Thanks a million to the wonderful team at Legacy Family Tree (Geoff, Tanya, Dave, Pegi, Ken, Diane, Christy, and everyone else) and the almost 400 genealogical cruisers for an amazing two weeks in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and at sea! Brian and I had a blast!

Cool article in October's CostCo Connection (p. 100 if you have the hard copy!). Delighted to be interviewed. Am a long-time customer of CostCo's so it was a kick!

Wrong message to send during The Gathering. Irish Roots via @IrishTimes

Back to top^

Upcoming Events

If you plan to be near any of the events where I'll be speaking, I would love to meet you. It's always a kick for me when folks mention that they read this newsletter, my blog, Huffington Post or whatever, so don't be shy about introducing yourself!

For more information on these events, please see my Events Calendar. And if you're interested in scheduling me, just click here.

• November 9, 2013 - Pensacola, FL - West Florida Genealogical Society - "Right Annie, Wrong Annie," "Trace Your Roots with DNA," "Find That Obituary! Online Newspaper Research" and "Honoring Our Ancestors"

Back to top^