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genealogy
I've written previously about my genealogy web site. The site uses PhpGedView, an open source application, to manage the server side genealogy content.
PhpGedView, like other CMSs, has a user interface that supports data entry; however, in the case of genealogical data, entering data online is very tedious when there are more than a few updates to apply. Until recently, I did the data entry and updating locally using a commercial application called Family Tree Maker. I then exported the updated information to a GEDCOM file and uploaded the file to PhpGedView.
This procedure worked well for me until my recent acquisition of a new desktop PC running Windows Vista. It was no big surprise to find out that my ancient version of Family Tree Maker was not compatible with Vista and I needed to either update it or find an alternative way to do my local genealogy content management.
Prologue
It was a dark and stormy night many years ago...and a small boy gazed in wonderment at the eerie glow of the burning slag dumps along the banks of the heavily polluted Monongahela River as it flowed Northward towards its terminus at the then "Steel Capital of the World." As he pondered the future, little did he realize that he would eventually become a small cog in the machinery of onrushing technology....
Listen to the theme from Ken Burns' The Civil War
George Washington Gibson (1841 - 1929)
Private, Company D, 79th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
George Washington Gibson was my Great-Grandfather and, among other things, a Civil War veteran. He enlisted in Captain McBride's Company of the 79th PA Volunteer Infantry at Monongahela City, PA on September 7, 1861 for "three years or the duration of the war."
Captain McBride's Company later became Company D, 79th Pennsylvania Infantry.
The regiment was formed in Lancaster County, PA. Company D was the only company in the 79th Pennsylvania Infantry recruited in Washington County, PA. All other companies were originally made up of men from Lancaster County.
The records show George was 20 years old at the time; however, there is some uncertainty as to his exact age since the family Bible recording his birth was destroyed during a flood.
On of 23 August 2008, the contents of this page was moved to HR's Genealogy Portal which contains much more detailed information about our genealogy. The portal contains a number of different views of the GEDCOM file content, has the ability to search for individuals and families, and can generate a number of genealogy charts and reports.
I've always had an interest in Genealogy, and have a web site about my family's roots. Until about six months ago, I updated this information locally on my PC using one of the popular commercial genealogy software packages and then uploaded the output of a subset of the available reports to my web site via FTP. However, I always thought it would be a lot more useful to both me and the folks who visited my site if I could have the ability to generate a more comprehensive set of reports dynamically via a web browser interface.
