Blogger Exonerates SSDI

Kevin Poulsen at Threat Level reports on a case where someone used the SSDI to steal identities.

Tracy June Kirkland, 42, allegedly used Rootsweb.com to find the names, Social Security numbers and dates-of-birth of people who, shall we say, had no further need for their consumer credit lines. She then "would randomly call various credit card companies to determine if the deceased individual had an … account," according to the 15-count indictment (.pdf) filed in federal court in Los Angeles Tuesday.

She'd then persuade the issuer to change the mailing address for the dead victim to one of her many rented mail drops in Orange and Riverside counties, and in some cases she'd add her own name as an authorized user of the card, prosecutors say.

At least 100 of the dearly departed were allegedly used in the scheme, which prosecutors say began in October, 2005 and continued until last month.

Poulsen went to the trouble of actually asking folks at the SSA and Rootsweb how the SSDI works—unlike the MSM journalists I wrote about here, here, and here. He found that the fault in the Kirkland case lies not with the SSDI itself, but with the lenders who didn't use it correctly. In the words of Rootsweb spokesman Mike Ward, "The reason the Social Security Administration has it out there is to prevent fraud, and when it's used to perpetrate fraud it's because not all the checks and balances were in place on the financial institution's end."

Miriam Makes News

Congrats to Miriam for spilling the beans to a Spokesman-Review reporter. The article even includes a family recipe for soup.

Her most infamous ancestor was old Uzza, who was hanged in 1850 for murdering his second wife by putting arsenic in her soup, and it was later discovered that he had also struck a death blow to his own son.

I'm envious. I wish more of my ancestors had shown that kind of initiative.

Steve's Colorful Family History

I've always thought that World War I happened in black-and-white, but Steve Danko has proved me wrong.

Now I can't help but wonder what color the original census schedules are. Chartreuse?

Fertilize Your Family Tree

Don't miss The Ancestry Insider's latest news on the Nervous Green Duck. Mighty oaks from little duck droppings grow.

Appealing Ancestors

Craig Manson has announced a most excellent new venture: the Historical Appellate Review Project.

You've heard the story that Great-Uncle Festus was a no-good horse thief. But was he really? Did he get a fair trial? Did he have a good lawyer or even a lawyer at all? Can his name be cleared all these decades later? We might be able to help!

HARP, the Historical Appellate Review Project, is dedicated to setting the record straight. Using state-of-the-art genealogical and legal research procedures, HARP will investigate your family's alleged black sheep and let you know if their names might be cleared! In certain cases, we even may be able to go to court and get the official record changed!

Find out if we can lift the cloud of doubt and suspicion from your ancestors!

There's even a special deal for "GeneaBloggers"!

If Craig wants this to succeed, he should start calling himself "The Hammer".

Bringing Down a Website in One Step

The Ancestry Insider explains this morning how even a well-intentioned effort to make genealogical data more accessible can step on the toes of other webmasters. (I would add that Mr. Morse offers a tutorial on how to subvert his own well-intentioned efforts.)

Law and ethics have a hard time keeping pace with technology. Some of you old-timers might recall the Genealogy Message Searcher. That was a tool at GenCircles that cached and searched messages from the Ancestry.com and GenForum boards simultaneously, but was shut down in 2002 over concerns that it violated Genealogy.com's new terms of service. With the help of Google, I just created The New Genealogy Message Searcher in about two minutes. Granted, it's not nearly as functional or comprehensive as the original, and doesn't provide links to cached copies, but... Wait, are those lawyers from Utah I hear outside my door?

Former Princess Not a Pauper

Fellow blogger Demetrius Clark of Your Brother Kings noticed an error in an article about his relatives published in the Port Huron, Michigan, Times Herald. His correction appeared in Sunday's edition.

Eber Brock Ward's daughter, Clara, became something of a celebrity after her 1890 marriage to a Belgian prince. In my article, I repeated the often-told story that Clara died penniless after squandering her father's immense fortune.

Not so, Clark assures me.

"This was initially reported after her death, but turned out to merely be the end some people thought she had coming, given the life she led," he wrote. "According to a New York Times article from Dec. 23, 1916, she left an estate of well over a million dollars. It was, perhaps, only a portion of what she started out with, but she was far from poor, especially in those times." [Link]

And what a life she led.

Genealogy Blogger to Appear on PBS

Genealogy blogger George Geder is featured in an article in today's Santa Fe New Mexican, and will appear on next week's episode of History Detectives.

George Geder said the story began when a total stranger, Angelo Scarloto of Etters, Pa., bought a vintage photograph at an antique shop.

It depicts 26 men in their 50s or older, wearing medals from the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal association of Union soldiers. Two men are black; the other 24 are white.

Civil War buff Scarloto “was curious about that because, given the tenor of the times, he thought it unusual for these two African Americans to be in this photograph,” Geder said. [Link]

If I ever appear on PBS, I hope it's on This Old House. I'm going to name my first child Norm, even if it's a girl.

I'm Scared of Cotton Swabs, Too

I spent some time this evening catching up with my two favorite genetic genealogy bloggers. An interview with Blaine Bettinger was posted yesterday at Eye on DNA. And Megan Smolenyak called in to Science Friday on June 22 to explain that men are big babies when it comes to extracting DNA with needles.

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600 Genealogy Blogs Found

The number of sites categorized at the Genealogy Blog Finder reached 600 tonight. (The footnoteMaven's Genealogy Bloggers' Quilt may someday fill the screen.) Here are some quick highlights:

A couple of familiar websites now have companion blogs: Cyndi's List and Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. Look also for blogs from upstarts like Geni and soon-to-be upstarts like Family Pursuit.

I'm enjoying the transcribed diaries and letters that are popping up on the Web, on blogs like Grandma's Diary, Letters from Home - 1952, and A Burch Tree.

Miriam's AnceStories2: Stories of Me for My Descendants has weekly prompts for the family historian who needs prompting. Some of us need more than prompting. A cattle prod might prove effective.

My ancestors probably crossed paths with and owed money to those of Bill Ives (Ives Family History Blog) and Bill West (West in New England). The least I can do is mention their blogs.

Blogging without an audience is like talking to oneself incessantly—a practice that could get one committed to a hospital in the country. So let's make sure these newcomers get some visitors, and save their loved ones the long drive.

Etherington in the Ether

Paul Etherington (who has never been seen in the same room as Thomas Hamburger, Jr.) was featured on Monday's BBC radio program Tracing Your Roots. Until it's archived, you can listen to the interview here (Paul's segment begins five minutes in).

Paul Etherington’s family history research took a sudden intercontinental leap when he came across an inscription in a Yorkshire graveyard describing an ancestor’s son as “now in Port Natal.” Following the trail to South Africa, Paul discovered a whole new branch on the family tree and an extended family stretching across the world.

The World's Oldest Blogger

107-year-old Olive Riley is a great-great-grandmother and a blogger. Here's how her first post at The Life of Riley, dated Feb. 16, began:

Good Morning everyone. My name is Olive Riley. I live in Australia near Sydney. I was born in Broken Hill on Oct. 20th 1899. Broken Hill is a mining town, far away in the centre of Australia. My Friend, Mike, has arranged this blog for me. He is doing the typing and I am telling the stories. He thinks it’s a good idea to tell what’s going on. He already made a film about me a few years back and people liked that, so they might like this blog too, he says. We’ll see. [Link, via OhmyNews]

A Nasty Case of Genealogitis

Pat of A Journey into the Past spent some time in the hospital recently and, good family historian that she is, couldn't pass up the opportunity to poke around a little.

I was born here at Roxborough Hospital along with all my other siblings. My three uncles, Billy, Jack and Gene were also born here but Roxborough stopped delivering babies about 8 years ago and today the old labor/delivery/nursery/maternity ward are used for storage. Of course, we just had to walk through here and do a little research in the process. Hey, why waste a hospital admission when you can do a little research. [Link]

An Open Letter to Lee

Congratulations on deciding not to become "one of them." Because you are clearly not one of them; you are one of us. One of the millions of us—amateurs and professionals alike—who practice genealogy because we love genealogy, and who share our experience and research because we want others to share in our passion.

Don't let those professional genealogists who only "fight for the right to be included" define the profession. It's not hard to find others who fight for what is truly right: open and equal access for all. The impulse to exclude is found in every profession, and is always repugnant. It certainly should be stamped out in genealogy—a field in which every human being with ancestors ought to have an interest.

Unlike you, I've never considered becoming a professional genealogist. Those people on the APG list who would bicker over the placement of commas in citations would become apoplectic if they ever saw my footnotes. They would turn blue and die if they ever saw my filing cabinet. But I am proud to call myself an "unprofessional genealogist." (I'm thinking of having business cards printed up.) If anyone asks for my help, I give it without warranty, and it generally meets with their approval. I can see the advantages of becoming certified, but I've never had need of those advantages.

I understand your reluctance to be associated with anyone who seeks to deprive the average genealogist of needed resources. But don't deprive the genealogical community of your advice, experience, and good humor. Those are needed as well.

Ambitions Without Ambition

Sweet Knees is the blog of a woman who wants very much to make a career of genealogy. I think we were separated at birth.

[Jan. 13] If I could be a paid genealogist, I would. In a heart beat. (I'd do it for free! Shhh.)

[Jan. 29] God, why am I such a mess? A bundle of contradicting feelings.

Laziness, apathy, boredom, wanting to do something that I probably can't make money at (professional genealogist). Wanting to write a book, but not doing it.

What is wrong with me????

Why can't I DO things?

I too would be a paid genealogist if I could do it for free. I'd feel guilty charging for something so enjoyable—like I was robbing my clients of the enjoyment that comes of doing the work on one's own. I'd never make it as a gigolo.

A Genealogist's Special Jeans

Like me, Steve Danko was tagged by Jasia. His fifth fact about himself has us all intrigued.

5. My blue jeans were on display at the Smithsonian Institution (The National Museum of American History) in Washington, DC from 1985-2006. They are now in storage while the museum undergoes renovation.

I visited the NMAH a couple of times in that period, and don't remember seeing Steve's jeans. Perhaps I would remember if they had been worn by a bearded woman breastfeeding.