Our readers regularly send tips and recommendations, which we appreciate immensely. Yesterday Audrey alerted us to Dick Eastman's posting about the free biographical sketches available at GenealogyMagazine.com. Genealogy Magazine's press release indicates more than 1300 biographies are now freely accessible on their website: www.genealogymagazine.com/biographies.html Many of the bios come from "mugbooks" which are volumes of local history and biographies financed through prepublication sales during the late 1800s and early 1900s.  These sketches frequently include extensive genealogical information such as parents' names, maiden names, dates and places of birth, even extended family, etc. Each biography cites its source. Many come from History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (published in 1906) or Two Hundred Clubwomen: Second District Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs, 1953. It would be like winning the lottery to find an ancestor here, but the bios (some with photos) are entertaining nonetheless. Many Scotch and Irish names can be found under "M" - look at the Mcs and the Macs.

You can read the full text of Eastman's blog at:

http://blog.eogn.com/2015/08/13/more-than-1000-biographies-posted-on-genealogymagazine-com/