The Genealogy Guys Podcast #243 - 2012 November 4

The news includes: Ancestry.com agrees to a $1.6 billion buyout by Permira Advisors LLP. The governor and secretary of state of Georgia have announced that funding for the Georgia State Archives has been reinstated for the remainder of this fiscal year. FamilySearch continues to digitize and index millions of records and The Guys give an update. FamilySearch has been recognized for its "continued dedication and support" of African-American family history at the 2nd International Black Genealogy Summit held in Salt Lake City on October 18-20, 2012. WikiTree has announced the release of "MatchBot", a new automated matching tool. Origins.net has announced the addition of the first 25 of 176 Irish directories to its service. The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) has announced its new Board of Trustees, and additions of a one-hour video about certification and testimonials to its website. Listener email includes: Mac tells us that he was able to obtain records from the U.S. Veterans Administration's Freedom of Information Office for an ancestor who was a Spanish-American War veteran. They conducted a BIRLS (Beneficiary Information and Records Locator Search). Doug discusses Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK). Sharon tells us that the search for Ellen Chance (discussed on a previous episode) should have included both Ancestry.com and findmypast for both passenger lists and departure records. Brad asks for advice about his large genealogy publishing project. Jane shares information about Merchant Marine records, and particularly about a list published by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Dennis discusses Reunion 9 and MacFamilyTree. Helen asks about possible resources for tracing an ancestor who may have been slain by Native Americans in Iowa in 1858.