Genealogy Wise social networking website

I've been experimenting in the last day or so with Genealogy Wise, a new dedicated genealogy social networking website. The site has been created by Family Link, the company which owns and operates WorldVitalRecords.com and World History.com. Family Link is also the company behind the popular We're Related application on Facebook which famously duped many Facebook users on April Fool's Day into believing they were related to Barack Obama.

Genealogy Wise is effectively a simplified version of Facebook without all the distractions and, like Facebook, it is completely free of charge. You can have genealogy friends, you can create groups for the surnames you are researching or join groups created by other people. There is a forum for discussions, a blog section for general genealogy musings, and a facility to upload videos.

No official announcement about the launch has yet been published, but word has already started to spread on Facebook and in the Twitterverse and blogosphere. At the time of writing 654 members had signed up and 259 groups had been established, but there is a constant stream of new members and the numbers seem to be increasing exponentially. Many of my fellow members of the Guild of One-Name Studies have been among the early adopters who have rushed to claim ownership of the group for their particular surname before anyone else beats them to the post. I have already set up groups for the surnames Cruwys, Cruse and Kennett. I have also set up another group for the county of Devon. Now I just need you all to come and join my groups. You can find my profile page on Genealogy Wise here.

If the website is to be a useful resource for genealogists the membership will have to reach a critical mass with millions rather than hundreds of users. However, judging by the enthusiasm of everyone who has used the site, I suspect that it won't be too long before that critical mass is achieved as soon as word starts to get out on the genealogy mailing lists and in the press. Although many genealogists now use Facebook there are still some who are wary of the whole idea of social networking. I suspect that a specialised genealogy social networking site will be more appealing. Genealogy Wise will never be a replacement for Facebook but will surely become a useful complementary resource and one which we will be using more and more in the future. I look forward to seeing you there.

British Library Web Archive

I am pleased to advise that this blog has now been accepted by the British Library for inclusion in their web archiving programme. The BL have written to me as follows: "Many thanks for nominating your site. The British Library would like to invite you to participate in our web archiving programme. We select and archive sites to represent aspects of UK documentary heritage and as a result, they will remain available to researchers in the future. The British Library works closely with leading UK institutions to collect and permanently preserve the UK web, and our archive can be seen at www.webarchive.org.uk.

There are benefits to you as a website owner in having your publication archived by the British Library such as having a historical record of your website(s). We aim to develop preservation mechanisms to keep your publication permanently accessible as hardware and software change over time."

Further information about the BL web archive scheme can be found on their FAQs page. If you have any favourite UK websites which you think should be archived you can fill out a nomination form.

Oliver Cruse from Devon to Seattle via Ohio and Ontario

Chris Cruse in America has been in touch concerning the Cruse family of Clovelly. Chris's husband is the great-grandson of Oliver Cruse (born 1833 Langtree, Devon), one of the children of William Cruse and Jane Martin, whose birth is recorded on the Clovelly tapestry.

Oliver Cruse emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1851 when he was just 18 years old. Nothing is known of his time in Ohio but for some reason he only stayed for a few years before moving on to Canada. The first record we have of Oliver's life in Canada is his marriage to Jane Sowton on 6th December 1856 in St Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario. Oliver was a carpenter and joiner and a prominent member of the Independent Order of Foresters.

Oliver and Jane had nine known children:
- Fanny Cruse, born on 12th October 1857 in Elgin County, Ontario. She died on 2nd December 1863 and is buried in Orwell Cemetery, Yarmouth Township, Elgin County.
- Amelia Jane Cruse, born about 1869 probably in Elgin County. She married Joseph Ridgeway Sterling.
- Jenny Cruse, born on 8th October 1862 in Elgin County. She died on 22nd December 1863 and is buried in Orwell Cemetery alongside her sister Fanny.
- William Cruse, born on 10th April 1862 in Ontario. He married Mary Ballow in 1883.
- Frank Sowton Cruse, born on 17th October 1864 in Aylmer, Elgin County. He married Mary Bell Kelly on 1st April 1885 in St Thomas, Elgin County.
- Fanny Cruse, born on 29th January 1867 in Aylmer, Elgin County. She married Gabriel Smart on 5th January 1887 in Elgin County.
- John Cruse, born on 27th July 1870 in Elgin County. He died on 10th August 1870 in Elgin County.
- James Oliver Cruse, born on 23rd September 1875. He married Hattie Laura "Louise" Campbell on 29th December 1897 in Coupeville, Island County, Washington.
- Sidney Earl Cruse, born on 21st April 1879 in St Thomas, Elgin County. He died on 21st February 1880 in St Thomas.

In about 1889 or 1890 Oliver and Jane moved with their children to America where they settled in Seattle, Washington. By the time of the 1910 census they were living at 2213 East Madison Street, Seattle.

Oliver died on 21st March 1917. An obituary was published in the Seattle Post Intelligencer on Saturday March 24, 1917:

VETERAN LODGE MAN, OLD SETTLER, PASSES
ORGANIZED FIRST COAST LODGE OF FORESTERS

Oliver Cruse, Resident of Seattle Since 1890, Dies at Daughter's Home.

Oliver Cruse, a resident of Seattle since 1890, died Wednesday at the home of his daughter, Mrs. A. J. Sterling, 1226 East Madison street, and will be buried Saturday at 2:30 o'clock from the parlors of Johnson & Hamilton, at Broadway and Union. Services will be in charge of the Masonic order, Interment will follow at Washelli.

Mr. Cruse was born in Bideford, England in 1833. He came to this country when he was 16, locating in Cleveland, O[hio]. Later, he moved to St. Thomas, Ont. Where he remained until he came to Seattle.

In this city Mr. Cruse became state organizer for the Independent Order of Foresters, continuing for fifteen years. He had the distinction of organizing the first court of the order on the Pacific coast. He then took charge of his son William's office, and remained actively at work until stricken with paralysis last November.

Besides his widow, he leaves two daughters and three sons, Mrs. A.J. Sterling, Mrs. G. Smart, Frank and William, of this city, and James O. of Pasedena, Cal.; four grandchildren Mrs. Climmie E. Hill and James O. Sterling of Seattle; E.R. Sterling, Port Huron, Mich., Fred Cruse of Detroit, and eight great grandchildren.

The writer of the newspaper article seems to have had a little trouble with his mathematics as Oliver would have been 18 in 1852 not 16! Oliver's wife Jane lived for just nine months after her husband's death dying on 4th Dec 1917 in Seattle.

Chris has managed to trace some of the descendants of Oliver and Jane, but there are still a few gaps and we would be delighted to hear from anyone who is related to these families.

Family Tree DNA sale extended

The Family Tree DNA summer sale has been extended for a further week and will now end on 30th June 2009. If you've been away on holiday and missed the sale you will now have a chance to place an order. The offer is only available through surname and geographical projects such as my Cruwys/Cruse DNA Project and my Devon DNA Project. I have also recently set up a new DNA project for the Kennett surname. Please help to spread the word.

If anyone wants advice on deciding which project to join to qualify for the special promotional price do get in touch. I've copied below for information the relevant details from the e-mail I received from Family Tree DNA.

Dear Group Administrator,

In the last few days we have received several e-mails from group administrators asking us to extend our "Unparalleled 50% Promotional Discount" Y-DNA37+mtDNA for $119 (the regular project price is $248 – a reduction of more than 50%!!), as many people are only now becoming aware of the promotion.

We have decided, therefore, to extend it until June 30th, 2009. Kits must be paid by July 7, 2009.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Max Blankfeld
Vice-President, Operations and Marketing
http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com

DNA news

Family Tree DNA have announced a special summer promotion for a limited period starting today and ending on 24th June 2009. They are offering a combined Y-DNA 37-marker test and mtDNA HVR1 test for the bargain price of $119 (approximately £74). The normal project price for a 37-marker Y-DNA test is $149 (£93), and the normal project price for the two tests combined is $248 (£154). FTDNA are therefore in effect offering the Y-DNA test at a discounted price and throwing in a free mtDNA test. If you have been considering participating in the Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA Project and have been put off by the price, now is the ideal opportunity to buy a kit at this very special price. Note too that the pound/dollar exchange rate is currently much more favourable than it has been in recent months for those of us in the UK.

In addition to my Cruwys/Cruse/Crewes DNA Project I have also recently set up a new project for the English county of Devon. Further details about the Devon DNA Project can be found here. If you have friends or relatives with roots in Devon it would be much appreciated if you could encourage them to join this new project.

If you are interested in testing a different surname and you don't have Devon ancestry, Family Tree DNA now have over 5,400 surname projects, so there is a good chance that your friends or relatives will find that their surname is already represented. If not, then to take advantage of the special promotion they should join one of the geographical projects. There are projects for Hampshire, East Anglia, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There is also a catch-all project for the British Isles. You can find a full listing here.

If you do not yet understand how DNA testing works then I recommend that you read my short article from the Berkshire Family Historian which can be found online here.

I have copied below the letter from FTDNA with full details of the special promotion.

Dear Family Tree DNA Group Administrator,

Last summer we offered a pricing special that was the most successful offering of its kind in our company’s history.

Many project administrators strongly supported our recruitment efforts and both their projects and our database grew significantly.

This year we will offer an early summer special with an unparalleled promotional discount.

Offer summary:

• Y-DNA37+mtDNA for $119. (The regular project price is $248 – a reduction of more than 50%!!)
• The promotion will begin on June 9, 2009 and will end on June 24, 2009
• Kits ordered in this sale must be paid for by June 30, 2009

This is your new members’ opportunity to skip past the Y-DNA12 and Y-DNA25 tests and get the best Y-DNA Genealogical test on the market in addition to an mtDNA test for an extremely reduced price!

I should also mention that according to one of our competitors’ method of counting markers our 37-marker test could also be called a "41-marker test" as we do test and report markers 464e, 464f, 464g, and DYS19b. Though we test them, it is very rare that individuals have results for these markers. Therefore, by our conservative counting method, our competitor's "33-marker test" is actually a "29-marker test". We mention this to make sure that you understand the difference between these tests and are able to compare "apples to apples".

So... I hope that with this promotion your project can gain many new members.

As always, that you for your continued support.

Max Blankfeld
Vice-President, Operations and Marketing
http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com
"History Unearthed Daily"

If you have any questions about my DNA projects or DNA testing in general do please get in touch.