Members of the subscription genealogy Web site Ancestry.com are being greeted with a brand-new homepage when they log in for the first time since the change launched last week. According to Ancestry.com, the new page "combines the best of the old homepage with all of the personalized features and tools formerly in the MyAncestry tab." By combining the old homepage with the MyAncestry tab, Ancestry.com says they have reduced the number of clicks it takes researchers to access the features they use most. Like most changes, however, what is good for some is not so good for others.

For me, personally, for example, the new homepage design pushes the search box down the page to the point where I now have to scroll down to fully access it on my laptop which requires an extra click for me now - more, not less. Since search is the primary reason I maintain a subscription to Ancestry.com, the search box is what I want at the top of my homepage. That may not be the case for others, however.

There are things I do like about the new Ancestry homepage. The layout and design is pleasing and I especially like the Quick Links (including the prominently displayed Ancestry Card Catalog) which makes it easy to find a particular database. What I would like to see, however (and something I honestly expect from any of today's "2.0" Web sites) is a homepage that I can customize to meet my needs. Users should be able to select from a list of "widgets" those items that they use most, and place them in the locations which make the most sense for their work habits.

I did try the "Tell Us What You Think" feature, and found the survey to be more of a general Ancestry.com user survey than specifically geared to feedback on the new homepage. There was a general comments box at the end, however, where I shared my thoughts.

Users of the popular genealogy software RootsMagic have been patiently waiting for version 4 to come out for quite some time now - hoping that the long delay since version 3 means that something new and exciting is in store. Well, according to Bruce Buzbee, the president of RootsMagic (who has made ever effort to "conceal my identity" as he "shares secrets from deep within the company"), RootsMagic 4 is coming, and will "be our biggest upgrade ever." He's joined the blogging world with his RootsMagic Insider blog - where hopefully we'll soon learn more about the much-talked-about release of RootsMagic 4.

I had high hopes of locating my husband's cousin (twice removed), Leslie Archibald Powell, in the new Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificates database at Ancestry.com and was a bit disappointed not to find him there. A photo of him would have been so nice! Yet there are many such resources for locating WWI-era aviator ancestors (especially those who flew in the military), so I have been able to learn quite a bit about my husband's pioneering relative over in England.

I say pioneering because those aviators who flew the skies during World War I were just that - brave, independent, not afraid to try something new... The first powered, piloted flight in history (Orville Wright, 17 December 1903) had taken place just about a decade earlier, and it lasted just 12 short seconds! The year 1909 marked the world's first military airplane (Signal Corps Airplane No. 1). It's hard to believe that just a few short years after that, miltary aviators were flying across the skies of Europe during WWI.

Leslie Archibald Powell was one of many such earlier aviators, serving in the British Royal Flying Corps in England during WWI. According to the Aerodrome (cool- a photo has been added since the last time I visited the site!), he was awarded the Military Cross in Sep 1917 for "distinguished and meritorious service in battle." His actions, which prompted the award, appeared in the London Gazette:

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on several occasions in attacking enemy aircraft in superior numbers at close range, destroying some and driving down others out of control. He has also done excellent work on photographic reconnaissances, and has, in every instance, displayed the greatest gallantry and splendid offensive spirit."

--Supplement to the London Gazette, 9 January 1918

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One thing that many beginning genealogists don't realize is just how much family history can be discovered at home - in the attic, in the back of a closet, stuffed in a drawer... It doesn't seem possible after 20+ years of researching my family history, but my grandmothers are still finding little treasures to share with me; everything from funeral cards to old family photos.

No matter how much family history is hidden in our homes, most of us can never hope to find something as magnificent as the four centuries worth of documents recently uncovered in the attic of a Maryland plantation. The Emory family that lived there were obviously pack rats - Family bibles from the 18th century (complete with handwritten genealogies) and an original War of 1812 muster roll were discovered alongside bills for laundry and political campaign posters. There are also financial records (including bills of sale for slaves), maps, war accounts, family letters, and even a lock of hair from a letter dated Valentine's Day 1801. What an amazing find!

The family letters also bring the Civil War to life in a very realistic way, according to the AP article; as with many families living in the states that straddled the area between the plantation economy of the south and the industrial north, the allegiances of the Emory family were torn. They owned slaves, but some also signed an 1832 petition to the Maryland legislature calling for a gradual abolition of slavery. Two sons also fought in the Civil War - one for the Union and one for the Confederacy.

Archaeological students from nearby Washington College have been excavating the grounds of the former Poplar Grove plantation for several years, but only recently discovered the treasures mouldering away in the attic and outbuildings. For the curious, they are documenting their work and discoveries on a new blog - Poplar Grove Project.

It's almost enough to make me start knocking on doors of every house my ancestor ever lived in to ask if I can take a peek at their attic ;-)