New Graphical Search Engine

I was catching up on some old email when I stumbled upon this. I'm worried that I may be showing my geekiness by getting excited over a search engine, but I really like this. The display of the search results, for me anyway, makes it a much quicker and easier process to see if the "hit" is really what you are looking for. I just have to share it and encourage you to check it out!

The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

SearchMe.com is a new search engine that is available as a public beta test. It shows a lot of promise. SearchMe's graphical display of web pages is quite similar to Macintosh and iPod displays: you can "flip" through the pages. Finding relevant web pages usually is faster in SearchMe.com than in traditional search engines such as Google or Yahoo. This is especially true when the pages have lots of graphics or contain sophisticated visual layouts. The results are difficult to describe in words but you will understand within seconds after making your first search.

Enter a search term into the search box, and then use the scroll bar at the bottom to view the found pages.

Try it. It's free. It is also in beta right now, so you might stumble over a bug or two: http://www.SearchMe.com.

President's Message

Summertime greetings to everyone! I hope this newsletter finds everyone healthy, happy and not missing the snow too much.

First, I’m happy to report that our first all-day workshop was a great success! All the comments I heard were very positive. Diane Rapaport presented a great session on researching in courthouse records and we were able to work with a variety of real-life documents. The best part of the day was hearing some of the great tales Diane has been able to render from court documents, educating us on why we should not exclude court records from our research, and inspiring us to tackle this valuable resource.

And then, let me say it’s been a busy few weeks as I’ve traveled around talking to a few different groups. It was while I was giving a few tips to a Genealogy for Kids workshop that Penobscot County Genealogical held in conjunction with the Bangor Public Library that I was reminded of the willingness of genealogists to share. I was encouraging our audience to connect with researchers and ask questions, that genealogists are a very helpful bunch. Take advantage of that – ask the how-to questions, let people know who you are researching. I related the story of Tootie Bennett contacting me to let me know that the trunk of my Revolutionary War Mower ancestor was at the Monson Historical Society. And the more recent contact by Paula Toothaker that she had discovered a box of Mower research and documents at the Family History Library here in Bangor – a box full of family letters and what appears to be pages ripped from the family bible of my great-great-grandparents.

I think we’ve probably all been helped by a number of people along our research journeys. It is with this thought that the “Award of Excellence in Genealogical Service” came to be. If you’ve been helped or inspired by someone who went way out of their way to assist you, now is the time to nominate them for a little recognition. I think we all know one of the unsung heroes who have shown a commitment to selflessly volunteer in one way or another to make others’ research easier. Why not take a minute to nominate them for the 2008 award? You can learn more about the MGS awards at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~megs/awards.htm.

Take care of this little piece of business, register for the 2008 conference to be held September 20th, and then go ahead and enjoy the summer!

Dale

The President's Message appears in the quarterly Newsletter of the Maine Genealogical Society. If you are not a member, visit www.rootsweb.com/~megs to learn about how to join.

Everton's Genealogical Helper Adds New Online Edition

The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com.

The following announcement was written by Everton’s Genealogical Helper: New Online Edition of Everton’s Genealogical Helper will debut July 1. Subscribe today for only $10.00.

LOGAN, Utah, June 12, 2008. Genealogy Online, Inc., publisher of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, today announced the publication of the Genealogical Helper in an Online Edition. The Online Edition is an identical copy of the 176-page paper edition – complete with hotlinks to the hundreds of website addresses found therein.

Launch Date – The new Online Edition will launch on July 1 – simultaneous with the home delivery and newsstand date of the paper edition of the July-August issue.

Free Access – Subscribers to the traditional Genealogical Helper will have 100% FREE online access to the magazine – with no extra fees whatsoever. See http://www.everton.com for sign-up information.
Online Edition subscriptions – Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will sell for just $12.00 per year. That is only $2 per issue. And it’s only $10.00 for subscriptions made before July 1 at http://www.everton.com or phone 1-800-443-6325.

Net Family History – An important feature of Everton’s Genealogical Helper is the magazine within a magazine entitled Net Family History. New information specific to using the Internet for genealogy is always found in this portion of the bimonthly publication. Extensive website reviews are always located here, as well as articles dealing with Internet-related activities.

Why an online edition? – Every issue of Everton’s Genealogical Helper now contains hundreds of website addresses. The Internet is where some of the most exciting genealogical resource advances are taking place, so it’s required that information about these resources be disseminated to the Helper’s thousands of readers in every issue. Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will allow readers to go from their paper edition to the hotlinked Online Edition and access any of the websites with just a keystroke or two – no more typing in those lengthy website addresses! The Online Edition offers more than just the links found in the magazine – it is the entire magazine itself!

Format & hosting – Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Online Edition, will be in pdf format, readable by anyone, with any computer running an Adobe Acrobat Reader (Available at Adobe.com as a FREE download.) The Online Edition will be hosted by FamilyLink.com, Inc.

Why subscribe to the Genealogical Helper? – Subscribe to have access to the Helper’s how-to & historical articles, Net Family History (see above), genealogical sharing, extensive book and CD-ROM reviews & announcements, queries, the most complete event calendar available anywhere, and hundreds of ads detailing new products and services. In addition to these day-to-day features, you will also have access to the NEW updated, hotlinked Directory of Genealogical and Historical Societies – to be published in the Sept/Oct and Nov-Dec issues! Edited by Leland K. Meitzler, the Helper is guaranteed to help you extend your lines and fill in those blanks in your family tree.

WHAT A DEAL! – Your cost for a full subscription (the paper magazine & online access both) is less than 3 cents per page – delivered to your home, and now accessible online. Subscribe to the Online Edition alone for just over a penny a page! Subscribe by July 1 and it’s less than a penny per page!

Subscribe NOW at: http://www.everton.com or phone 800-443-6325.
*************
About Genealogy Online, Inc.
Genealogy Online, dba Everton Publishers, is the publisher of Everton’s Genealogical Helper, now in its 62nd year of helping genealogists find their ancestors. Genealogy Online, Inc. also publishes the Handybook for Genealogists, 11th edition, a top-selling guidebook for family historians. Their website is found at: http://www.everton.com. Also see: http//www.GenealogyBlog.com.

Vital Records of Canaan, Maine

Maine Genealogical Society Special Publication No. 55 will be available in mid-July 2008! The Vital Records of Canaan, Maine has been compiled by Sally Furber Nelson.

Canaan is a small town in Somerset County, about eight miles east of Skowhegan. The town was settled in 1770 and incorporated on June 18, 1788. At that time it included all of what is now Skowhegan. Thus, many of the early records include families important not only to Canaan but to Skowhegan. These records contain all the births, marriage intentions, marriages and deaths recorded in the town record books prior to 1892. All records have been transcribed verbatim with no attempt made to correct obvious misspellings.

528 pages, 21, 865 entry Every Name Index, hard cover. 2008.

The book sells for $60.95, but MGS members pay only $50.95! For more info or to place an order, please visit Picton Press, official publisher of Maine Genealogical Society Special Publications at http://www.pictonpress.com/.

Membership number required to receive the MGS member discount.

Roxanne discusses The Maine Genealogist

MGS friend Roxanne Moore Saucier is very well known to those of us in Maine who subscribe to the Bangor Daily News. Her Family Ties column has been a mainstay for many years. For those afar, you can keep in touch with Roxanne by following her columns at the newspaper's website: http://www.bangornews.com/.

Her 02 June 2008 column, "Genealogy journal has perspective on ancestors," discusses the content of the current issue of The Maine Genealogist, our quarterly journal.

You can read Roxanne's comments by clicking on the following web address: http://bangornews.com/news/t/lifestyle.aspx?articleid=165075&zoneid=30.

We recommend bookmarking Roxanne - her weekly column appears every Monday!

Daniel Robinson / Sarah Simonton

We were glad to hear recently from MGS member Jane Owens as she was renewing her dues. She writes that her ancestors that were from Maine were Robinson/Simonton, Barrett/Mathews.

She is currently working on a family history book which will include the surnames mentioned. She is having trouble locating Daniel Robinson’s parents. He was born in Maine in 1810 and married Sarah J. Simonton, daughter of James and Lucky Haskell Simonton of Portland, Maine.

Any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated.

Jane's e-mail is mouge63@cox.net.

Jane E. Owens
3390 E. Torrey Pines Lane
Chandler, AZ. 85249

Susan Kelly / Kelley

MGS Member Lynda Fournier is looking for info on Susan Kelly/Kelley, b. 26 Jun 1842, dau. of Isaac and Mary Kelly/Kelley of Limerick, Maine. Susan m. Ira Libby Emery, 10 Apr 1863.

She would like to find where she and her parents are buried.

Lynda's e-mail address is tlfouhar@roadrunner.com.

Julia (Ross) Lufkin from Rangeley, Maine

MGS Member Stephanie Lufkin Gross writes in hope someone out there can help her.

"I am on a quest to find a picture of my grandmother, my father’s mother, who died when he was two. He doesn’t remember how she looked, and has never had a picture of her. She was a Ross from Rangeley, and I know that there are a number of Ross’s still there but I don’t know how to contact them. Her name was Julia Ross and she married Henry Lufkin. I am hoping that someone might have a clear picture of her and would be willing to give it to us for my father’s sake. What would be even more terrific is if someone has a wedding portrait of the two of them. My father is in his 80’s now so you see there is a bit of a concern to find one soon. I have been looking for some time."

Thank you for any help you can give me on this.

Stephanie's e-mail is slg2007@verizon.net.

Charles and Frances O. Young

MGS Member Ron Fortier is looking for the parents of Charles and Frances O. ( ???) Young, who with children Phonnie E. and Nate H. appeared in 1880 USC - Lewiston, Maine.

Any info or ties appreciated.

Ron's e-mail is ron.fortier@verizon.net.

Member Website: Gen-nections

MGS Member Pam Stone Eagleson has written in with her website "Gen-nections."

Pam offers a Maine-based genealogical and historical research service.

You can visit her website at http://home.roadrunner.com/~peagleson.

The Maine Genealogist - May 2008

Joseph C. Anderson II, FASG, Editor of The Maine Genealogist reports:

"With the publication deadline for the next issue of The Maine Genealogist always seeming to loom around the corner, I am deeply grateful to our authors who have contributed a steady stream of well-researched and interesting articles to share with our readers. Special mention must be made of Leslie Dow Sanders, who for years has provided this journal with many valuable Bible records and other family sources. Leslie has an uncanny ability for locating these items in all sorts of places, including the Internet, used book stores, and auction sites such as eBay. By publishing these records in the journal, we are preserving precious - and often fragile - family information, which may not be available anywhere else."

What interesting articles can be found in this quarter's issue?

Samuel Cates of Falmouth and Harrington, Maine: A Review of Current Knowledge and Discussion of His Parentage By Brent M. Owen, Wilfred A. Cote, and Frank C. Morrone.

The Parentage of Young Booker of Bowdoin and Gardiner, Maine By Priscilla Blount.

Jacob Waldron Swett Bible Record Contributed by Leslie Dow Sanders, along with a genealogical summary of the Jacob Waldron Swett family of Georgetown and Arrowsic, Maine.

Portland, Maine, Marriage Intentions, Volume 4, 1814-1837, Copied by Joseph C. Anderson, II, FASG.

The Maine Genealogist is published quarterly. For more information, visit our website at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~megs.

Catholic Cemetery Online Databases

Great news for those researching Catholic ancestry thanks to some devoted individuals undertaking this extensive project!

Catholic cemetery managers in the Portland Diocese have long realized an increased interest in genealogy as well as an increase in family or friends trying to locate a long lost loved one.

In an effort to make your search easier and more convenient, the Maine Catholic Cemetery Committee, with the support of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, has developed this user friendly database to assist in your search.

There are 65 Catholic cemeteries in the diocese, and it will take time before all recorded burials in our cemeteries are converted to electronic files so they can be made available to you. This is the information that is currently available. Additions and updates will be ongoing so please be patient and check their site again and again.

To visit, go to http://www.portlanddiocese.net/genealogy_main.php.

"Here Rests in Honored Glory" features Maine soldier

Master Sergeant Gary I. Gordon of Lincoln, Maine, the Delta Force sniper who gave his life to save Michael Durant when Durant's Black Hawk helicopter was shot down over Mogadishu, Somalia, dreamed of writing writing children's stories and was devoted to his wife and two kids.

Author Andrew DeKever, a U.S. Army major who has published a book of Medal of Honor recipient biographies, entitled "Here Rests in Honored Glory" writes that one of those featured is Gary Gordon of Lincoln, who received the Medal posthumously for his service in Somalia.

From the preface of the book:
"Gary Gordon's selfless actions and personal sacrifice, the sacrifice of each of the heroes chronicled in this work, and the sacrifices of countless others throughout our nation's history, can never be repaid, only honored. In researching each of these heroes and capturing the details of each of their lives, Andrew has done just that. I now understand not just what Gary Gordon did, but who he was. I can appreciate what drove him to serve in the Special Forces units he volunteered for and what drove him without hesitation to sacrifice his life for my crew. Through this work, Andrew has honored Gary and all of these men, their families, and their comrades. By helping us all understand the people behind these incredible stories, he's done this nation a great service."
—Michael J. Durant Chief Warrant Officer 4, U.S. Army (Ret.)

For more information, please go to the Merriam Press website at www.merriam-press.com.

Note: All of the author's royalties from this book will be donated to Chapter 23 of the Disabled American Veterans in Michigan City, Indiana, which is named in the honor of Daniel Bruce.

Dennison/Denison Family of Cutler, Maine

MGS Member Brent Owen is seeking location of and contact for genealogical records of Arlene Dennison in connection with research on John Denison, d. poss. Machias or East Machias, Dec. 1810, and his children.

His email is brentmowen@sbcglobal.net.

Daniel Frank Robinson

MGS Member Jane Owens is looking for parents of Daniel Frank Robinson b. 1810 ME perhaps in the Falmouth, Westbrook, Portland area. His son Clinton A. Robinson b. 1837 ME. Family lore has it that our Robinsons were in the ship building or related occupations. Daniel Robinson m. Sarah J. Simonton dau. of James Simonton who was a shipwright. Could John Robinson of Portland, ME in the 1840 census as a "navigator" be Daniel Frank Robinson's father?

Jane Owens
3390 E. Torrey Pines Lane
Chandler, AZ 85249
mouge63@cox.net

2008 Conference Registration Form Now Available

Maine Genealogical Society invites you to be a part of our exciting 2008 annual conference. We are proud to have developed a reputation for the outstanding quality of our conferences and the 2008 conference promises to be just as awesome! The details can all be discovered at our conference website at www.maineroots.org.

To download and print the conference flyer and registration form, visit http://www.maineroots.org/2008conferenceflyer.pdf.

Make plans to attend now and we'll see you in September!

James Poulin

MGS Member William Cates is researching James Poulin b. abt. 1854 Canada. According to family may have married a woman of Native American Indian descent. Shown living with his son Elmer – 1930 US Census for Waterville, Maine. Elmer was born 5 June 1898 in Vassalboro, Maine (Draft card). Other then Elmer’s birth I can find no trace of the family before 1930.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

William's email address is ancestry@eagleswind.com.

Family Tree Magazine Announces New Podcast

Hear about the best genealogy tools and tips directly from Family Tree Magazine's editors and experts! Tune in to the Family Tree Magazine Podcast for a 30-minute dose of genealogy education and fun. I

n this monthly online radio show, host Lisa Louise Cooke—creator of the popular Genealogy Gems podcast—takes you behind the scenes to learn more about the topics covered in the magazine. Each episode features interviews with genealogy experts and Family Tree Magazine editors on using genealogy Web sites, records and resources. Plus, editor Allison Stacy gives you sneak previews on upcoming issues and managing editor Diane Haddad delivers the scoop on the latest genealogy news.

Listening is easy! To learn more or to listen to the podcast, visit http://www.familytreemagazine.com/podcast/.

2008 Award of Excellence in Genealogical Service - Call for Nominations

We're looking for nominations! This is the time to help recognize that unsung genealogical hero who has contributed to your research success.

This award shall be presented to an individual in recognition of outstanding volunteer service to the field of genealogy in and related to the State of Maine through, but not limited to:
volunteer work to genealogical organizations and/or local libraries; efforts making genealogical and historical information more accessible to researchers (transcription of vital and other genealogical records, or publication of genealogical research either in print or electronic media);
education (through lectures and participation in presenting workshops);
maintaining genealogical website(s); and promotion of genealogy.

Nominations shall indicate qualifying service and contain biographical and other pertinent information. The person making the nomination must be member in good standing with Maine Genealogical Society.

MGS Members may download the nomination form at our main website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~megs/nomination.pdf.

You can read about our 2007 winner, Thelma Eye Brooks, at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~megs/award_genealogical_service.htm.

June Genealogical Events

Here's what's happening genealogically around the state for June:

June 7, 2008
Greater Portland Chapter of MGS
Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Your Shaker Ancestors presented by Linda Aaskov

June 7, 2008
Taconnett Falls Chapter of MGS
Winslow, Maine
Annual Plant Sale

June 8, 2008
Pejepscot Genealogical Society
Brunswick, Maine
Black Sheep and Family Secrets
Member Participation - Bring Your Stories!

June 14, 2008
Taconnett Falls Chapter of MGS
Winslow, Maine
Annual Genealogy Fair

June 18, 2008
Penobscot County Genealogical Society
Bangor, Maine
Annual Cookout