Tag: genealogy (Page 1 of 5)

‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server: Installing the Webtrees Software

July 17, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

⬅️ Previous post: Getting online with LAMP and No-IP

Installing Webtrees • Installing ‘intl’ and preparing the data folder • Creating the MariaDB database • Tweaking the default PHP configuration • Troubleshooting SELinux errors • What’s next for the server?

Now that I have a server machine running Linux and a LAMP stack accessible via the internet, I’m ready to install the Webtrees software. Debugging the SELinux permission errors took some time, and got much easier once I learned how properly troubleshoot. Here’s what I went through to get it running. Continue reading

‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server: My machine and Operating System

June 21, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

⬅ Previous Post: 2020 Summer Project #1: ‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server

My server computer • The Gentoo Linux operating system • Installing Gentoo • Hardening Gentoo with SELinux • Hardening other Linux distros • Next on the agenda

Of course the first step in running Webtrees on a home server is to choose the machine and operating system. While it is certainly possible to launch a web server from my regular desktop (and I have in fact done this), a better idea is to set up a machine dedicated to this purpose.

2020 Summer Project #1: ‘Webtrees’ on a Home Server

June 20, 2020 / tim / 0 Comments

The summer of 2020 is upon us. I just wrapped up my second year of teaching math full time for the School District of Philadelphia. In the wake of nationwide coronavirus business closures, I find myself without summer employment for the first time in about a quarter-century. ? That means it’s GeNeALoGy TiMe once again!!! ??

One project I’ve had on the back burner for the last decade or so is re-launching a family history website on a home server.

52 Ancestors, No. 31: Charles J. Butera, Tribute to A Fallen Soldier

May 28, 2018 / tim / 0 Comments

CharlesButera

I’ve let my 52 Ancestors series lapse. Hard to believe I left off four whole years ago, but here we are. I ought to pick it up again. I’ve received messages from at least three distant relatives who contacted me after finding mutual relatives on my blog. Continue reading

The Majesty of Side-Lit Gravestones

September 27, 2015 / tim / 1 Comment

“The biggest improvement in my photos since I learned to take the lens cap off.” ~ ajmexico

The next big thing, not only in my own genealogy, but also for the genealogical research services that I will begin to offer this fall, will be gravestone photos lit from the side by an off-camera flash. I’m hard pressed to imagine a better method for photographing gravestones. This method produces higher contrast without recourse to smearing foreign substances onto the fragile monuments with grubby hands. No chalk, no flour, just pure white light. Continue reading

Another Splendid Event: The 9th Annual Bucks County Ancestry Fair

September 26, 2015 / tim / 1 Comment

Attending the 9th Annual Bucks County Ancestry Fair last week was a joy. No surprise there, as last year’s fair was similarly enjoyable. This year’s fair, however, drew a larger crowd at a larger venue: Bucks County Community College, in Newtown. Many thanks to Jeff Sipler, Chris Roberts, and the rest of the crew at the Bucks County Genealogical Society for putting on the event. Continue reading

Vindicating an Ancestor: My Recent Visit to the National Archives of Philadelphia

August 23, 2015 / tim / 0 Comments

Liar, liar. Pants on fire.

The newspapers at FultonHistory.com have a way of busting my bubble. Just when I get to thinking about how clean all of my perfect ancestors’ hands were, along comes a FultonHistory.com article to sully them. I call it “The Bad News Report”. So far, the bad news has been that an ancestor of mine hit somebody with a car. To date, I believe the investigations have found no fault, but it’s still unfortunate to read.

My most recent Fulton discovery turned up something a little more criminally culpable. “William P. Harrison,” an article from the first day of March, 1898, stated, “pleaded guilty to a fraud in a pension matter,” and was sentenced to one year in prison by “Judge Butler”.

My grandmother’s great-grandfather was named William P. Harrison, who served honorably in the Civil War before marrying his wife, Harriet, and fathering five children with her. He worked as a car inspector for the Pennsylvania Rail Road for most of his adult life. To the best of my knowledge, William was a model American citizen. Continue reading

Tutorial: How I prepare my newspaper articles for genealogy

August 7, 2015 / tim / 0 Comments

I’ve got new tutorial video up today. In this one, I basically ramble as I prepare a newspaper article for presentation in my genealogy. When researching on such sites as Chronicling America and Fulton History, I like to download the full page containing the relevant article. I then crop out the relevant article and make that the first page of a PDF file. I leave the full page as the second page of the PDF file, but I highlight the relevant portions. If, as in this case, only a small portion of an article is relevant, I’ll make faux tears in it to show that I’ve skipped some of the article. The software I’m using here is the GIMP image editor and the PDF Split and Merge document editor. Although I’m using Linux in this video, the software is available for all platforms. Enjoy!

Photo Restorations by Tim G. to table the Bucks County Ancestry Fair

August 3, 2015 / tim / 0 Comments

It is with great pleasure that I announce my attendance at the upcoming 9th Annual Bucks County Ancestry Fair! This will be my second fair, albeit this time at it’s new location at the Bucks County Community College. I had a splendid at last year’s fair, and I look forward to doing the same this September. I will have my scanner with me again, so bring a small photo or two from your collection that is in need of repair! I will scan your photos at the fair and repair them over the following few weeks. First come, first served! I’ve also got a door prize this time around: Two free repairs via e-mail for the lucky winner! For further information about the Bucks County Ancestry Fair, visit the event web site at ancestryfair.org. I look forward to meeting you and your ancestors!

Tutorials: Upgrading GRAMPS on Debian Jessie

June 14, 2015 / tim / 0 Comments

I made a new video this week: How to upgrade GRAMPS on Debian Jessie. More accurately, I’m narrating the upgrading of GRAMPS on my own computer. Some aspects of this upgrade, such as the directories when I store my exports, will be unique to my computer, but hopefully you will get the gist.

The video is long, and probably could have been shorter. But hey, I was enjoying myself. Note also that the command I used to uninstall the previous version of GRAMPS was not written correctly on the instruction card. The correct command for me was: