South Plains Genealogical Society, Inc.

Genealogy Articles

 
 
After You're Gone: Future Proofing Your Genealogy Research

By: Thomas MacEntee

Try as we might, we really have little control over what will happen to our possessions, even our bodies, after we die. Yes, we can draw up legal documents, we can express our wishes to family members and more; however, there are no guarantees when it comes to these matters. The best we can do is prepare, plan and communicate now.

When it comes to years of genealogy research and material that you have accumulated, what plans have you made to ensure that this legacy does not die with you? In After You’re Gone: Future Proofing Your Genealogy Research, you will find valuable advice on creating a realistic plan to get your “genealogy affairs” in order. Make sure that the next generation of researchers can benefit from your years of hard work and following your passion.

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Gravestone Symbols and Their Meaning

By: Treemily

When doing ancestor research, visiting a cemetery may be a haunting, yet thoughtful experience. Gravestones frequently have other, more symbolic inscriptions on them besides names, dates of birth and death. They all typically signify something, maybe a quality that person possessed, a principle they upheld, or a reference to their religious beliefs. 

 

In this article we’re looking into some of the most popular symbols on gravestones and the meaning behind them. That said, you may find different interpretations of certain symbols due to how varied their purpose is in different cultures.

 

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From Ancestry.com
 
Dear Family Tree Maker™ community,

Since our Family Tree Maker announcement last December, we have continued to actively explore ways to develop and support Family Tree Maker and ensure you have choices to preserve your work in ways that matter to you.

Today, we are pleased to announce two options for desktop software that will work with Ancestry.

Software MacKiev

Software MacKiev, with whom we have a long-standing relationship, is acquiring the Family Tree Maker software line as publisher for both Mac and Windows versions. Software MacKiev has been the developer of Family Tree Maker for Mac for more than six years and is thrilled at the opportunity to publish future versions of Family Tree Maker for Mac and Windows.

This new agreement means you will receive software updates and new versions from Software MacKiev, and have the ability to purchase new versions of Family Tree Maker from Software MacKiev as they are released. You will have continued access to Ancestry Hints, Ancestry searches, and be able to save your tree on Ancestry with Family Tree Maker moving forward.

RootsMagic

We have made an agreement with RootsMagic, a leading genealogy desktop software program publisher, to connect Ancestry with the RootsMagic software by the end of 2016. With this new relationship, RootsMagic can serve as your desktop family tree software, while having access to Ancestry hints, Ancestry searches, and the ability to save your tree on Ancestry.

We have heard your concerns and are working to provide the solutions you requested. These new agreements will make it possible to preserve your work on Ancestry and Family Tree Maker and enable future features and benefits to help you discover your family history. Be assured that Ancestry, in cooperation with Software MacKiev and RootsMagic, will continue to support you as you discover your family history. 

We ask for your patience as we work diligently through all the details to make these solutions available. You can find additional details about these Family Tree Maker partnerships on our blog. We also encourage you to continue to check back on our blog for future updates in the coming months.
 
 
 
Ancestry to Retire Family Tree Maker Software
 

Ancestry is proud to have made a significant investment this year to bring valuable new content and records to the Ancestry site. In 2015, we’ve made 220 million searchable historical records from Mexico available, more than 170 million pages from the largest collection of U.S. will and probate records, among others. We’ve also introduced new features such as Ancestry Academy and major advancements for AncestryDNA.

We remain dedicated to helping people gain new levels of understanding about their lives, and who and what led to them, harnessing the information found in family trees, historical records and genetics. As a company, we’re also continually evaluating ways to focus our efforts to provide the most impact and best product experience for our users through our core offerings.

True to this focus, we’ve taken a hard look at the declining desktop software market and the impact this has on being able to continue to provide product enhancements and support that our users need. With that, we’ve made the decision to stop selling Family Tree Maker as of December 31, 2015.

Our subscription business and website, on the other hand, continue to grow and we are doubling down our efforts to make that experience even better for our Ancestry community.

Ancestry will continue to support current owners of Family Tree Maker at least through January 1, 2017. During this time, all features of the software, including TreeSync™, will continue to work, and Member Services will be available to assist with user questions. We will also address major software bugs that may occur, as well as compatibility updates.

These changes are never easy, but by focusing our efforts, we can concentrate on continuing to build great products for our loyal Ancestry community.

If you have inquiries regarding Family Tree Maker, please reach out to our Member Services team. We’ll also provide updates on our blog as needed leading up to January 1, 2017.

http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/12/08/ancestry-to-retire-family-tree-maker-software/?o_xid=69257&o_lid=69257&o_sch=Email+-+Campaigns

The British Newspaper Archive Adds 240,000 More Newspaper Pages Online
 
The British Newspaper Archive is a partnership project between the British Library and DC Thomson Family History (formerly known as brightsolid online publishing). The project plans to place roughly 40 million pages from historical newspapers online from across the UK and Ireland by 2021. Today, the British Newspaper Archive announced a large addition to the collection: Thousands of historical newspaper pages are added to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) every week, so the coverage keeps getting better and better. In the last month, 240,000 extra pages from 1790-1954 were made searchable. 56 English and Scottish newspaper titles were updated, including the Aberdeen Journal, the Kent & Sussex Courier and the Morpeth Herald.
 
The additions also included three brand new titles:
Dundee, Perth and Forfar1861
Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, covering 1913, 1915 and 1924
•Penny Illustrated Paper, covering 1862-1870 You’ll find more information and a full list of recent additions at http://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2014/06/09/240000-extra-newspaper-pages-now-online.
 
(c) Dick Eastman, "Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter," http://www.eogn.com.