Footnote.com for Historians, Genealogists and Many Others
There's a new player on the genealogy field, and their launch this week announced a partnership with the foremost resource in the United States. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration announced a major new initiative to scan millions of historical documents and to make them available online. The documents will appeal to many different interests: genealogists, historians, re-enactors, railroad enthusiasts, aviation historians, and many, many others. Approximately 4.5 million pages are available at launch, and millions more historical documents will be digitized and placed online each year.
The project is being launched in a partnership with a commercial firm called Footnote, Inc. The company's new web site went "live" at noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, January 10. I have spent some time using Footnote's new service and thought I would describe my experiences.
Perhaps I should start with a bit of introduction. I suspect that many newsletter readers have never heard of Footnote, Inc. and may wonder, "Who is this new company that is going to digitize millions of National Archives records? Can they really make it happen?"
In fact, Footnote, Inc. has been in business for years under the name iArchives, Inc., and has been involved in numerous genealogical and history-related high-tech projects. The company has been a contractor to several commercial and non-profit organizations, but its own corporate name has rarely been in the spotlight. The company has extensive experience in high-volume scanning of old records.
About a year ago iArchives decided to launch its own product. While preparing for the launch of its huge new database, the company also changed its name to Footnote, Inc., to better reflect the collaborative model of its new business. NOTE:
Moultrie Creek on 24 Nov 08March 13, 1998 Letters to the Editor St. Augustine.com Soldiers are honored Editor: As a member of the General W.W. Loring Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans, I would like to thank Mr. G.L. Wilson for his kind comments concerning our recent black heritage ceremony in which we honored black soldiers, both Union and Confederate from St. Augustine. To set the record straight as to who was honored, I would like to state that at our ceremony we honored two black Confederate and seven black Union soldiers who are buried in San Lorenzo Cemetery. There are other black Union soldiers buried at various sites around the county. We placed a rose and the appropriate flag, Confederate or United States, on each soldiers grave. Those present found it to be quite a moving ceremony. Union soldiers honored were: # Pvt. Josua Hagerman, 34th U.S. Colored Infantry # Sgt. Richard Hernandez, 8th U.S. Colored Infantry # Pvt. Toby Mongen, 21st U.S. Colored Infantry # Cpl. David Twine, 33rd U.S. Colored Infantry # Cpl. William Vandyke, 33rd U.S. Colored Infantry # Musician John William Welters, 33rd U.S. Colored Infantry # Cpl. Thomas William, 21st U.S. Colored Infantry Confederate soldiers honored were: # Musicians Emanuel Osburn and Anthony T. Welters, 3rd Florida Infantry There are two other known black Confederates from St. Johns County, however we have been unable to locate their graves. These men are: Pvt. Issac Papino, 3rd Florida Infantry Pvt. Tony Fontane, 3rd Florida Infantry If anyone knows the location of the graves of these two men, I would appreciate hearing from you so that we can properly mark their graves and honor these soldiers of the South. William D. Chisolm Heritage Officer General W.W. Loring Camp 1316 Sons of Confederate Veterans St. Augustine
