Shirley, Any book that is beyond the time limitation for copyright law is free and available for anyone to copy, transcribe, publish and/or post to the internet. What would not be ok is to copy someone else's transcription of the same book and publish it yourself, as if you did the work. Facts about ancestors are not trying to be copyrighted, the compiled package of facts is. Anyone is free to do the research work themselves and publish as they wish. It may sound like a broken record, but if you want to publish in any medium - go to the original source - like every good author, reporter, scholar or genealogist.