Ancestry.com Inc. to Acquire Archives.com for $100 Million

The following is a blockbuster announcement from Ancestry.com:

"Simple and Affordable" Fast-Growing Start-up Adds Complementary Offering to Ancestry.com

PROVO, Utah, April 25, 2012 -- Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOM) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Archives.com, a family history website, for approximately $100 million in cash and assumed liabilities.

This transaction will enable Ancestry.com to add a differentiated service targeted to a complementary segment of the growing family history category. In addition, Ancestry.com will welcome a team of talented engineers, digital marketers, and family history innovators into the Ancestry.com fold and also gain access to a proprietary technology platform that has supported Archives.com's rapid growth.

Archives.com is owned and operated by Inflection LLC, a Silicon Valley-based technology company. Since Archives.com's launch in January 2010, the site has rapidly grown to more than 380,000 paying subscribers who pay approximately $39.95 a year. Archives.com offers access to over 2.1 billion historical records, including birth records, obituaries, immigration and passenger lists, historical newspapers, and U.S. and U.K. Censuses.

"Archives.com has built a fantastic and fast-growing business that we think is highly complementary to Ancestry.com's online family history offering," said Tim Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com. "We love their focus on making family history simple and affordable, and we are excited to help the talented Archives.com team continue to grow alongside Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and Family Tree Maker."

"Family history remains a dynamic and growing online category," added Sullivan. "Archives.com's focus is consistent with our mission to help everyone discover, preserve and share their family history, which will help continue our efforts in delivering amazing discoveries to an even broader audience."

Over the past two years, Archives.com has partnered with multiple well-known family history organizations that have helped build out Archives.com robust collection of family history records. Most recently, Archives.com partnered with the U.S. National Archives to provide free digital access to the recently released 1940 U.S. Federal Census.

"We are proud of the experience we've built with Archives.com and believe strongly in its future potential," said Matthew Monahan, CEO and Co-Founder of Inflection. "Combining with Ancestry.com positions Archives.com to best capitalize on that potential, pairing complementary visions of the marketplace and the opportunity. We've long admired Ancestry.com's content and technology and the innovations that the Ancestry.com team continues to bring to market. We're excited to see how this transaction expands the reach of family history to an even larger audience."

Upon completion of the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including expiration of the HSR waiting period, Ancestry.com will continue to operate Archives.com separately retaining its brand and website. Multiple Inflection employees, including key product and engineering executives are expected to join the Ancestry.com team.

About Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than 1.8 million paying subscribers. More than 9 billion records have been added to the site in the past 15 years. Ancestry users have created more than 34 million family trees containing approximately 4 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site, Ancestry.com offers several localized Web sites designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history.

About Archives.com

Archives.com is a leading family history website that makes discovering family history simple and affordable. The company has assembled more than 2.1 billion historical records all in a single location. Archives also partners with other leading family history websites to provide a comprehensive resource for researching your family history. Archives.com is free to try for seven days, allowing anyone to explore the benefits of membership without risk or obligation. For more information and to start discovering your family history, please visit http://www.archives.com/.

About Inflection

Inflection is a Big Data and e-commerce startup headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley. Leveraging its proprietary technology platform, the company has built innovative data services like Archives.com, PeopleSmart.com, and Identity.com. Inflection was founded in 2006 and is backed by tier-one venture capitalists Matrix Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures.

Learning Opportunity: Finding Your Czech/Slovak Roots Coming on March 31.

An all-day seminar for family history researchers with Czech and Slovak ancestry is being sponsored on Saturday, Mar 31, 2012 by the Genealogical Committee, an auxiliary of the Western Reserve Historical Society. It will be held in the Norton Gallery of the Society's History Center at 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 4410.

Seminar leader will be John T. Sabol, who will discuss research methods he has used to find his roots, which are both Czech and Slovak. A Cleveland native, writer, and historian, Sobol has written three books plus several church histories and genealogical articles. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International.

The morning session will consist of two presentations stressing the ultimate goal of finding the locations in the Czech and Slovak Republics where your ancestors came from. Since research in these countries is village-based it is of central importance to know your ancestral village. Once this is known, it opens doors to a number of research avenues.

The afternoon session consists of roundtable discussions about finding your ancestral village. Participants will be able to share their successes and failures in hopes of learning from each other.  Roundtable participants are urged to bring documentation or clues regarding their ancestral origins in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Each discussion group will be moderated by a volunteer from the  Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International (CGSI).

For more information, access the detailed flyer with a registration form by clicking here. 

The Book of Mormon Wins Tony Awards

I was amazed to learn while watching the Tony Awards special on CBS last evening that there was a new musical on Broadway called "The Book of Mormon." I was even more amazed to see the number of awards it garnered during the program, including the big one: Best Musical. “The Book of Mormon” also collected Tony statuettes for original score, book, orchestrations, set design, sound design, lighting, direction and featured actress (Nikki M. James).


Why mention this in a blog about genealogy and family history? It's because the Book of Mormon is a key document in the teachings of The Church of the Latter Day Saints, and the LDS is a major factor in facilitating family history research through its FamilySearch.org arm.


What's the show about? One capsule of the show's storyline says that "The Book of Mormon" centers on two young Mormon missionaries sent off to spread the word in a dangerous part of Uganda. Their tale is told alongside the story of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Latter-day Saints.


“Growing up in Colorado, a lot of our friends were Mormons and we always thought their book would make a great musical,” Parker and Stone said in a statement before the show's opening. “We loved Avenue Q and are having a blast working with Bobby Lopez. Having a show on Broadway is a dream come true for us.”


Based on the body of work of Parker and Stone, it's safe to say--without seeing the show--that it is satirical in nature.


To find out more about the Broadway show, I did some Google research this morning. I learned that it is a collaboration between the creators of the television series "South Park," Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and "Avenue Q" composer Robert Lopez, that it launched at the end of February, and that it has has been playing to mixed, but mostly positive, critical reviews.


I like some musical productions, but I don't think I will pay good money if a touring company ever brings "The Book of Mormon" to Cleveland's Playhouse Square. That reaction is based on the production number from the musical that was included in the three-hour awards program. I simply didn't see--or hear--what leads New York audiences to shell out really big bucks (as much as $200 per seat) to see this show.


As for the LDS Church, the official position statement issued in February was short and sweet: "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

Finding Family on Footnote

I have put the finishing touches on my PowerPoint presenation on "Finding Family on Footnote.com" for the upcoming Tri-C GO Genealogy Seminar at Western Reserve Historical Society on Saturday, 24 Oct. After discussing the features of Footnote.com of interest to NEOhio genealogists, I hope to go online to actually demonstrate typical searches, using databases with information about Clevelanders, such as city directories, naturalizations in the Ninth District Court, and Cleveland Birth returns before 1908.

Hope to see you there.

Complete Program for 2009 Tri-C GO Genealogy Conference

I'm proud to announce that I am a presenter at the upcoming Tri-C GO Seminar. Here is the news release:

On Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, the Cuyahoga County Council of Genealogical Organizations (Tri-C GO) will hold its 2009 all-day Genealogy Seminar at the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio, with the theme of “Finding Your Ancestors Using New and Time-Tested Resources.” A registration form with program details is available at www.wrhs.org (click on Library/Archives and Genealogy Center, then Genealogy).

There will be two presentation tracks in this all-day event with handout materials provided for all lectures.

Track l: Using lime-Tested Research Resources
'Tapping into Archived Courthouse Records"–Dr. Judith Cetina , manager & archivist, Cuyahoga County Archives.
"Get 'Em Talking-Interviewing Relatives for Ancestral Information"–Sunny Morton, writer and lecturer.
"Discovering Archival Collections & Resources"–Ann Sindelar, reference supervisor, WRHS Library.
"Researching in German & Other Ethnic Newspapers"–Jean Hoffrnan, Gertified Genealogist.

Track 2: Using New Research Resources
"Finding Family on Footnote.com"–Wally Huskonen, Certified Genealogist.
"New Approaches to Researching Passenger Lists for Ellis Island and Other Ports of Entry"–Robert Jerin, lecturer, author, travel guide.
"New Resources for Internet Research”–Jann Pflieger, former director, Sandusky Family History Center.
"Googling for Great Grandpa & Other Ancestors"–Wally Huskonen, Certified Genealogist.

The Tri-C GO seminar is organized each year by a committee representing genealogical organizations throughout Cuyahoga County, hence the name Cuyahoga County Council of Genealogical Organizations. The WRHS Genealogical Committee has the lead responsibility for developing and hosting the 2009 program.

The WRHS website provides driving directions to the University Circle location. The registration fee includes parking in the WRHS parking lot. For information, call Stacy Murry at 216-851-7768.

Learning about Military Records Is Focus of the OGS Fall Seminar on Oct. 3

There is still time to register for the Ohio Genealogical Society Fall Conference on military records on Saturday, Oct. 3. The society has lined up three speakers who know their subjects well. I have heard them speak before.

Eric Johnson, Lois Lambert, and Marjorie Waterfield will be the keynote speakers at the Ohio Genealogical Society’s Fall Seminar on “Researching Military Records in Ohio”. Visitors are welcome to join the group at the Kehoe Center for Advanced Learning at North Central State College, Shelby Campus, on Saturday, October 3rd.

Eric Johnson, an expert on the War of 1812 in Ohio, is a major contributor of articles on the subject to several Ohio publications.

Lois Lambert has won numerous awards on her Civil War regimental histories – on the 33rd OVI and the 91st OVI.

Marjorie Waterfield is a colorful speaker and author on many topics and will be addressing the group on researching soldiers of the Spanish American War along with World Wars I and II.

Sessions begin at 9:30 AM and last all day with a post-conference reception at the Ohio Genealogical Society Library in Mansfield from 4:00-8:00 PM. Registration for the event is $35.00 for non-members ($30.00 for OGS members paying by Oct. 1st). Reservations may be made by calling OGS at 419-756-7294, online at www.ogs.org/fallseminar.php, or by sending payment to the Ohio Genealogical Society, 713 S Main St, Mansfield OH 44907.

WRHS Genealogy Center Seminar: Land, Maps, and Migration Patterns

In an upcoming Western Reserve Historical Society Genealogical Institute class, John Dailey will present an intermediate level class on “Land, Maps, and Migration Patterns.” A retired surveyor, John brings his wealth of professional experience to his presentations, as well as a deep interest in the history of our region.

The 3-hr class is at noon on 26 Sep at WRHS, 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. Ph: (216) 721-5722

John is a member of the WRHS Genealogical Committee, an auxiliary of WRHS organized to promote genealogy and family history research.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to take advantage of John's knowledge, as I will be attending the bimonthly OGS Board meeting that day.

Ohio Genealogical Society Schedules Groundbreaking for Its New Library on 29 May

The Ohio Genealogical Society will break ground for its new library and headquarters in Bellville, Ohio, on Friday, May 29 at 10:30 a.m.

For several years, OGS has been raising funds to build a library designed to facilitate genealogical research by its members and visitors, and to assure preservation of irreplaceable records of interest to genealogists. The new library building with floor space of 18,000 square feet will be built from the ground up to accomplish those purposes. The start of construction coincides with the society’s 50th anniversary.

The building site is about 5 miles from the existing library and headquarters building at 713 South Main Street in Mansfield. That building had been used as a furniture store before the society purchased it in 1997.

The 8-acre building site on the outskirts of Bellville was donated to OGS in 1997 by James and Marjorie Gorman. The property is located 2 miles north of Bellville on SR 97.

Following the groundbreaking ceremony at the building site, OGS members and guests will move to the nearby Deer Ridge Golf Club, 900 Comfort Plaza Dr., for a reception and remarks by society representatives and state and local officials.

Members and guests who plan to attend the reception are asked to make a reservation with the Society by calling 419-756-7294. Attendance will be limited to 175 persons.

OGS is the nation’s largest state genealogical society with more than 5,000 members from Ohio and elsewhere. The society has more than 90 chapters throughout the state.

Learn Ways to Share Your Family History

Have you wondered how you can share some of the results of your family history research with cousins and other relatives? On Saturday, Apr 25, at the Western Reserve Historical Society a panel of experts will provide you with some answers in a seminar entitled "Out of the Showbox! Sharing Your Family History." Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The panel will discuss a variety of ways to share information about ancestors and relationships, favorite memories, photos, and even recipes. In addition, a wide variety of examples of books, family newsletters, websites, scrapbooks, and audio-visuals will be on display for your consideration.

The fee for the all-day seminar is $30 to cover refreshments and handouts. Registration is required. For more information and to download a registration form, go to www.wrhs.org and click on Library, then Genealogy, and scroll down to 2009 Genealogical Committee Seminar Schedule. The form is in PDF format. Or contact Nancy Leinweber at 440-205-1942 or nanbwl@juno.com.