Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Early 19th Century Photographs - a Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Video

Olive Tree Genealogy has added a new video about early 19th century photographs! You can watch it on Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel. If you have some old photos and are interested in learning more about them you should have a peek.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cemetery Walking With Olive Tree Genealogy

The Olive Tree Genealogy You Tube channel is growing by the day. Yesterday's video was a Cemetery in Stockton California. The Olive Tree Genealogy You Tube channel now has almost 50 Cemetery videos online.

See Olive Tree Genealogy Blog for a list of the current Cemetery Walks 

Friday, November 25, 2011

Press Release: MyHeritage acquires FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com t

MyHeritage acquires FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com to enter US market
Significant move into US and addition of historical content mark major evolution for world's most popular online family network
PROVO, Utah & LONDON, UK & TEL AVIV, Israel-- MyHeritage, the most popular family network on the web, announced today the acquisition of FamilyLink.com, Inc., maker of the family history content sites FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com. This is MyHeritage's seventh and largest acquisition since 2007. The purchase marks a significant move into the US market commercially and operationally, and will boost MyHeritage’s offering to families with the addition of a vast database of more than 3 billion historical records. With offices and staff in Europe, Australia and Israel, MyHeritage will now be adding its first US-based office in Utah, the home of FamilyLink.com and often cited as the family history capital of the world.

 “We are delighted to join forces with the talented FamilyLink team in Provo to deliver meaningful value to families across the world,” says MyHeritage CEO and Founder Gilad Japhet. “Combining close to one billion family tree profiles on MyHeritage with FamilyLink's massive library of historical data delivers a perfect one-stop-shop for families looking to discover and share their family history".

Founded in 2006, both FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com are subscription services  which provide access to a huge database of historical content, covering several billion individuals within census, birth, marriage and death records, as well as the web’s largest archive of historical newspapers. This content will deliver new insights and value to the 60 million people who have signed up on MyHeritage in 38 different languages, creating more than 900 million profiles in 21 million family trees. When brought together under the MyHeritage umbrella, the company’s innovative Smart Matching technology will automatically match any of the new historical data to the relevant users' ancestors and relatives within the family trees.

“Our team of family history veterans couldn't be more excited about joining forces with MyHeritage”, said FamilyLink.com CEO Paul Brockbank. “This acquisition creates new horizons in exploring family history. People will receive the opportunity to search the most comprehensive historical content sources and make exciting new discoveries; share this information with their close family and save it into their family tree. Combined under the leadership of MyHeritage, the service will continue to flourish and add more value to millions of families”.

MyHeritage Founder and CEO Gilad Japhet adds: “The establishment of a US base for MyHeritage in Utah, the international center for genealogical research, is an important milestone in our growth and brings about an exciting opportunity for the company and the families we serve. MyHeritage provides the perfect service to collect the family’s treasured archive to share and keep for future generations in a setting that is friendly and secure – and now we're excited to top this off with vast amounts of content that will add more color and life to family trees. Through our powerful search engine and automatic Smart Matching technology we'll find your mother's yearbook, your great-grandfather's will and your ancestor's immigration record, leaving you with the time to marvel at, enjoy and share your family heritage. We'll do that on a massive, global scale, as we live in a world that is smaller and more tightly connected than ever before”.

This is the latest in a series of strategic purchases by MyHeritage since 2007 which have included Pearl Street Software, makers of GenCircles.com and the Family Tree Legends software; free family tree backup service BackupMyTree.com; European family social network market leader OSN (Verwandt) GmbH; Dutch family network ZOOOF; British family network Kindo.com and Polish family network Bliscy.pl.

The majority of the FamilyLink.com employees will join MyHeritage, based out of the company’s new US office in Provo, Utah: bringing the benefit of their collective expertise within the family history and North American genealogy market. The CEO of FamilyLink.com, Paul Brockbank, previously CEO of Logoworks and GM of Hewlett Packard Web Print Solutions, will play a key role in supporting the transition over the coming months and will later join the MyHeritage advisory board. FamilyLink.com founder Paul Allen, previously a co-founder of Ancestry.com, and FamilyLink.com's "We're Related" Facebook application, will not be part of the merger with MyHeritage. 

In the short-term, MyHeritage will continue to operate the two sites FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com, with the intention of achieving full integration within MyHeritage in 2012. With immediate effect and for an introductory period, loyal subscribers and users of MyHeritage will be entitled to discounts of up to 50% on FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com subscriptions, and vice versa.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Press Release: Archives.com Partners with Family Tree DNA to Offer DNA Testing

Archives.com Partners with Family Tree DNA to Offer DNA Testing

DNA Tests Available Through Archives.com for the First Time Providing Access to the World’s Largest Genetic Genealogy Database

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 22, 2011 -- Archives.com,
a website devoted to making family history simple and affordable,
announces another exciting way users can explore their family heritage.
Archives.com has partnered with Family Tree DNA ,
the world leader in genetic genealogy, to enable users to purchase DNA
tests through its website for the first time. These are being offered at
up to 30 percent off the regular price for a limited time. Archives
recognizes that DNA testing plays a critical role in family history
research, and is glad to offer a simple, convenient way for  users to
get started with genetic genealogy.

The growing field of genetic genealogy utilizes science to tell us more
about our ancestors, and maternal and paternal lineages. Family Tree DNA
can help researchers to verify known connections or uncover previously
unknown ethnic ties with the world’s largest genetic genealogy database
of over 350 thousand records, several times larger than the nearest
competitor. Archives.com now offers three types of DNA tests: the
Y-chromosome DNA test to trace paternal lines and surname matches; the
mitochondrial DNA test to determine maternal line matches; and the
Family Finder test kit, which tests autosomal DNA to reveal ethnic
percentages and trace genes across maternal and paternal lines.

Archives Director of Product Joe Godfrey commented, “Genetic genealogy is an
extremely exciting field. We’ve been interested in integrating DNA
testing into Archives.com for some time, and I’m glad we are working
with Family Tree DNA, the world’s largest genetic genealogy database, to
make this happen. This initial integration will give users the ability
to find historical records and start exploring their genetic genealogy
all in one place. In the future, we intend to provide users with more
robust tools and resources that will enhance the experience even
further.”

Family Tree DNA VP of Operations Max Blankfeld noted, “We are thrilled to
partner with Archives.com, a website we know will play an important role
in the future of online family history research. Archives.com provides a
genuine alternative to the more expensive websites out there. Easy
access to DNA testing will allow Archives.com users to explore this
important facet of genealogy research.”

Archives looks forward to collaborating closely with Family Tree DNA , the
community, and project managers, to provide the best integrated
experience between the two websites possible. Also Archives encourages
people to take advantage of the limited time discount on DNA tests found
on Archives.com.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Depleted Texas Lakes Expose Ghost Towns, Graves

Johnny C. Parks died two days before his first birthday more than a century ago. His grave slipped from sight along with the rest of the tiny town of Bluffton when Lake Buchanan was filled 55 years later

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/20/as-drought-continues-depleted-texas-lakes-expose-ghost-towns-graves/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews#ixzz1eO2UtEwP

Thursday, November 10, 2011

RootsTech Free Registration Giveaway! By Olive Tree Genealogy

The Olive Tree Genealogy
is giving away a free RootsTech Free Registration. If you haven't heard about RootsTech, it's an amazing Genealogy-Technology Conference in Salt Lake City Utah.

If you want a chance to win go to The Olive Tree Blog

Monday, November 07, 2011

Olive Tree Genealogy More Cemetery Walk Videos

The Olive Tree Genealogy has added more Cemetery Walk videos. This is just a few of what she has online.

Cemetery Walk: St Paul Cemetery Oakville Missouri

Cemetery Walk: Hillsdale United Church Cemetery Ontario

Cemetery Walk: Cochrane Catholic Cemetery Ontario Canada

Cemetery Walk: Uxbridge Cemetery Ontario Canada

Cemetery Walk: Trinity United Church Cemetery Beeton Ontario

Cemetery Walk: St. Paul's Anglican Cemetery, Melancthon Twp, Dufferin Co. Ontario

Cemetery Walk: Waubaushene Protestant Cemetery, Waubaushene Ontario

Cemetery Walk: Genier Catholic Cemetery, Cochrane Ontario

Cemetery Walk: Farnham Cemetery, Arkell Ontario

Cemetery Walk: St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery (NEW ONE) Orillia Ontario

Cemetery Walk: Donegal Cemetery, Perth County Ontario

Cemetery Walk: Price's Corners Cemetery. Dufferin Co. Ontario

If you want to have a look at all the great Cemetery Walk videos try
Olive Tree Genealogy You Tube Channel

Thursday, November 03, 2011

The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been uncovered in the west Highlands of Scotland

The site, at Ardnamurchan, is thought to be more than 1,000 years old.
Artefacts buried alongside the Viking in his boat suggest he was a high-ranking warrior.