ROOTSWEB REVIEW: Genealogical Data Cooperative News Vol. 1, No. 25, 2 December 1998; Circulation: 237,500+ Copyright (c) 1998 RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG * * * * * CONTENTS. News and Notes from RootsWeb (Membership Benefits Increased; Gift Memberships Available; November Statistics; Cyndi's List; HelpDesk Tips); Connecting through RootsWeb; Mailing Lists; Web Sites; USGenWeb Archives; GenConnect Boards; Letters to the Editors; Virginia Records (Part 2); Humor; Reprint Policy; Unsubscribe Instructions * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB ROOTSWEB MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCREASED. This new benefits schedule reflects changes made based on your suggestions. -- MEMBERS ($12 per year) may now request the creation of one genealogical mailing list and one GenConnect Surname Board. -- SPONSORS ($24 per year), in addition to the two mailing lists that have been included in the past, may also request the creation of two GenConnect Surname Boards. -- SPONSORS PLUS ($50 or $75 per year) may pay instead in installments ($10 or $15 every other month) and, in addition to space for a genealogical Web site and mailing lists, may also request the creation of four or six GenConnect Surname Boards. -- DONORS ($100 per year) may pay instead in installments of $10 per month. They also may have additional GenConnect Surname Boards. -- DONORS PLUS ($250 per year or $25 per month), in addition to all the Donor benefits, may request a rootsweb.com domain name, such as smith-family.rootsweb.com or wilson.rootsweb.com. See for more details, or send a message to . RootsWeb's mailing address is: RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. * * * GIFT MEMBERSHIPS. Just in time for the holidays, RootsWeb gift memberships are now available. Always appropriate, perfect for every genealogist on your list, and less expensive than dinner out for four, a RootsWeb gift membership at the Sponsor Plus level would provide your friends or family members with a home on the Web. For about the price of a two-pound box of drugstore chocolates, you might thank your paperboy for crushing your petunias by introducing him to the fun of exploring history and solving mysteries with the gift of a basic RootsWeb membership. * * * ROOTSWEB IN NOVEMBER -- 63,000,000 Hits and 119,000,000 E-mails HOW BIG IS BIG? Mediametrix rates RootsWeb in its "Media Metrix 500" of the 500 most popular Web sites on the Internet: . Cyndi's List , which is hosted by RootsWeb, is also independently ranked among the top 500 Web sites. Ziff-Davis, publisher of many computer magazines, just interviewed RootsWeb as one of its Top 100 sites on the Internet. Amazing what the genealogical community has built. Here are detailed statistics on RootsWeb's November operations: o 3,395 independently authored Web sites hosted by RootsWeb. o 63,865,968 total Web hits: - 16,925,491 were HTML pages. - 9,529,054 were cgi-bin database searches and such. - 37,219,820 were graphics (GIFs, JPEGs, etc.). o 1,170,373 file downloads from the USGenWeb Archives and the ROOTS-L Library. o 4,913 independently operated RootsWeb-hosted mailing lists. o 119,292,279 pieces of e-mail shipped to our mailing lists. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible. * * * CYNDI'S LIST OF GENEALOGY SITES ON THE INTERNET, , a categorized and cross-indexed listing of more than 38,000 links to genealogy and family history sites on the Internet, is provided as a free resource by Cyndi Howells and is hosted under its own domain name by RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative . Three features were added recently: (1) "New" and "Updated" graphics appear next to links which recently have been added or updated, (2) "What's New" pages will be the temporary home for newly submitted links until they are permanently categorized by Cyndi. This means that new links will be available from the Cyndi's List "What's New" page within 24 hours from the time they were submitted. (3) Daily posts to the CyndisList Mailing List will indicate which of the nearly 300 Web pages comprising Cyndi's List have had links added or updated in the past 24 hours. Please see subscription instructions for CyndisList Mailing List: * * * HELPDESK TIPS. Confused by the > marks in the migration field of the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL)? Learn their meaning and more about searching in the RSL by reviewing the RootsWeb HelpDesk's FAQ on the RSL. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB: Thanks for sharing your stories. Thanks to William Ward , who forwarded the following story posted by a subscriber to his PASS-L list. ### My cousin, Debbie MORGAN of Comanche, Oklahoma, received e-mail through our PASS-L mailing list from Sue Blumenberg , who had purchased a Bible from Lewis Auction Barn in Sanitaria Springs, New York. The Bible had belonged to Peter PASS, born England, married to Percilla EASTHAM. She was born in Preston, England in 1826. They settled in/near Candor, New York. Sue offered the Bible to anyone with family connections for her cost plus shipping. Debbie, the eternal optimist in family research, was successful in purchasing the Bible and within two weeks had it in her possession. Immediately after reading the information inside the Bible, she determined it belonged to a PASS line other than hers, and decided to send out the information contained in the Bible to the PASS-L Mailing List. She checked her e-mail the following day and Debbie Pass Bayham from Canada had sent her a message that the Peter PASS bible is "owned" by Sarah Pass Hall who said in her reply, "I can't believe it, this is our famly Bible and no one could ever seem to find out what happened to it. All of these people are our relatives. I can't contain myself and I just want to cry! Had to call my sister Barbara. Peter and Priscilla are my great-great grandparents. Thomas my grandfather. I have their pictures hanging on my walls. My father is the Richard Allen Pass born Mar. 1899. Please, we would really like to have it returned to the bosom of the family. Want to reimburse Sue for the price of her wonderful purchase and of course pay for postage fees to mail home finally. Also to thank her. I live in Owego, New York, 10 miles south of the Candor family homestead. My sister and I are also the historians for the Pass and EASTHAM family reunions. The Rev. Thomas and Nancy Eastham are Priscilla's parents. Just had the 102nd Eastham reunion in Aug. Wish everyone could be so blessed . . . !" Arrangements were made over the next few messages and the Peter PASS Bible arrived "home" by mid-October, 1998. * * * A note of thanks to all who make the RootsWeb mailing lists possible. I subscribe to the St. Louis, Missouri list and recently posted a request looking for great-grandpa William Marvin MARTIN born about 1885, in Florida or Alabama, worked for the Funsten Nut and Fruit Company and divorced from great-grandma Frances CAMPBELL Martin before 1922. My mother never meet her grandfather and had only heard a few snips of stories about him. She thought that he lived in St. Louis or East St. Louis after the divorce. It wasn't long after I posted the note that another researcher sent a reply stating that her great-aunt Ida's second husband was a William M. Martin born about 1885 in Florida and that he and Ida had two children. She dug up a photo of this man and the addresses of his children. I quickly snail-mailed "the children" and within the week I had a phone call from the son. His first comment was, "well you found the right Martins!" We spoke for more than an hour and, as it turns out, his sister had the family tree back several generations. The children had known that they had an older half- brother but had never met him. It was as though they had part of the story about Frances and William and we had the other part. My mother, almost in shock over this exciting news, had to find out for herself. She phoned her new-found uncle and immediately knew that we had found the right MARTINs. As I read the articles about folks finding missing cousins and ancestors, it seems too good to be true -- until it happens to you. We have been looking under every rock for more than 12 years for great-grandpa and we found him. Thanks! Pat Ray Scheele * * * * * MAILING LISTS: To subscribe or unsubscribe from any RootsWeb mailing list, send an e-mail message with only the word SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the subject and the body of the message to [name of list]-L-request@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or to [name of list]-D-request@rootsweb.com (for digest mode). For example, if you have interests in Lancaster County, Virginia research, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: VALANCAS-L-request@rootsweb.com For an index to most user mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit . NEW MAILING LIST REQUESTS. USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb hosts may have FREE locality mailing lists for the areas they host and for that purpose may ignore the "Sponsors-only" warning on the list request page. Please request new mailing lists at: NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BARGELT FLEAGLE (includes FLAGLE, FLIEGEL, FLUEGEL) JESTER LOWDEN (includes LOUDOUN, LOUDEN, LOWDOUN; surname originated in Ayrshire, Scotland) LUNT-TAYLOR (LUNT-TAYLOR family) MALEY (includes MALLEY, MALY, MAYLEY, MEALEY, MEALY, MAILEY) MARKER (includes MAERCKER, MERKER) MCGUIGAN MUMFORD (includes MUNFORD, MONFORT, MOMPHARD) RIGSBY TRABUE (includes related families) YOUNKER (includes YONKER, YUNKER) NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS IRELAND IRL-BEARA -- ancestors from the Beara Peninsula U.S.A. AZYUMACO -- Yuma County, Arizona CAKERN -- Kern County, California CAMONTER -- Monterey County, California CASANMAT -- San Mateo County, California COHUERFA -- Huerfano County, Colorado COJEFFER -- Jefferson County, Colorado COWELD -- Weld County, Colorado GACLARKE -- Clarke County, Georgia GAMONROE -- Monroe County, Georgia GARICHMO -- Richmond County, Georgia MIGENESE -- Genesee County, Michigan MOCAMDEN -- Camden County, Missouri MOLEWIS -- Lewis County, Missouri NDCASS -- Cass County, North Dakota NDPIERCE -- Pierce County, North Dakota NDRICHLA -- Richland County, North Dakota NDTRAILL -- Traill County, North Dakota NECHEYEN -- Cheyenne County, Nebraska NECLAY -- Clay County, Nebraska NEDEUEL -- Deuel County, Nebraska NEGARFIE -- Garfield County, Nebraska NEGOSPER -- Gosper County, Nebraska OKCARTER -- Carter County, Oklahoma SCYORK -- York County, South Carolina TNSMITH -- Smith County, Tennessee VALANCAS -- Lancaster County, Virginia WVGILMER -- Gilmer County, West Virginia NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, and MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS NCGENWEB-DISCUSS -- Secondary discussion list for the North Carolina USGenWeb Project USGW-NE -- USGW Elections committee, NE region vote collectors USGW-NW -- USGW Elections committee, NW/Plains region vote collectors USGW-SE -- USGW Elections committee, SE Region vote collectors USGW-SW -- USGW Elections committee, SW Region vote collectors * * * * * NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Please see the instructions at . NEW WEB SITES. Some of these might not yet be accessible. If one that interests you isn't up yet, please check again in a few days or a week. (note that the ~[tilde] before the account name is required) will work for most. If not, you'll find most of them at USGenWeb or WorldGenWeb . For example, to visit the Cadiz, Spain Web site, go to: . CANADA cangwkid -- CanadaGenWeb Kids SPAIN espcadiz -- Cadiz, Spain USA albiog -- Alabama Biographies Project colincol -- Lincoln County, Colorado ctcguilf -- City of Guilford (New Haven Co.), Connecticut gaccgs -- Cobb County (Georgia) Genealogical Society gaglasco -- Glascock County, Georgia gaharals -- Haralson County, Georgia lawebste -- Webster Parish, Louisiana macandov -- City of Andover (Essex Co.), Massachusetts mimackin -- Mackinac County, Michigan mosccgs -- St. Charles County (Missouri) Genealogical Society nhcnashu -- City of Nashua, New Hampshire njburlin -- Burlington County, New Jersey ohccgs -- Crawford County (Ohio) Genealogical Society pacquema -- Quemahoning Township (Somerset Co.), Pennsylvania sdcampbe -- Campbell County, South Dakota wasigs -- Sno-Isle (Washington) Genealogical Society wibayfie -- Bayfield County, Wisconsin * * * * * RECENT UPLOADS TO THE USGENWEB ARCHIVES . Linda Lewis provided this information. ALASKA. Anchorage Memorial Park & Angelus Memorial Park TEXAS. Erath County, Texas Appeal Newspapers (1899 and 1900) WISCONSIN. 1860 Brown County Census Index WISCONSIN. 72 ship lists for Wisconsin residents USGenWeb Archives CENSUS PROJECT IMAGES: INDIANA. 1870 Pike County IOWA. 1880 Sac County MICHIGAN. 1850 Ionia County MISSOURI. 1850 Holt County OHIO. 1850 Darke County RHODE ISLAND. 1860 Newport County TENNESSEE. 1870 Obion County The state managers of the USGenWeb Archives have a friendly competition going to see which state can get the most data uploaded by the end of each month. Joy Fisher, the assistant project coordinator and archivist for South Dakota, has been leading the pack for over a year, and set the pace for the other state archivists. Recently, Jan Craven and the Louisiana archivists have taken the lead with 77 megabytes of data. As of November 29, 1998, the top 10 states by megabytes of data are: LA (77), SD (71), AR (69), KY (61), TX (50), PA (50), VA (48), IL (47), FL (44), and IN (44). Categories (with number of megabytes) of data stored in the Archives include: Miscellaneous (364), Census (197), Wills (19), Vital Records (71), Biographies (55), Deeds (44), Cemeteries (163), Churches (8), Court Records (14), Bible Records (3), Military Records (59), Newspapers (10), Obituaries (25), Tax Lists (1), and History (19) * * * * * NEW GENCONNECT BOARDS: Link to GenConnect Fun Facts at . Pam Carey provided the following information. 96 new GenConnect boards were activated 11/22 to 11/28, as follows: ACWRoots 2 AmerRev 1 Canada 8 FamilyAssoc 1 USA Al 2 Fl 2 Ga 13 Ia 1 Id 1 Ky 2 Mi 6 Mo 7 Mt 2 NC 4 Ne 1 Oh 1 Ok 1 Pa 2 Tn 19 Tx 2 WV 7 * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS New to this wonderful machine, I printed today's message [RWR 1:22]. The history was very interesting. Hearing of RootsWeb's beginning was heartwarming, something from home I guess. How different things are today. We remember a TV program which previewed the Seattle World's Fair, 1960 I believe. They talked about an oven that would cook a potato in 10 minutes. We watched with fascination and then commented, "Not in our lifetime!" Thank goodness there are dreamers. BJF * * * * * VIRGINIA RECORDS (Part Two of Two) by Brian Mavrogeorge, Director of Genealogy Initiatives Palladium Interactive Ultimate Family Tree Next, I would check the federal census records for 1810 (partial), 1820 through 1880 (1890 was lost in a fire), and 1900-1920. The Mortality Schedule for 1850 is also indexed. The colonial land patents are one of the most important sources to check in part because for many burned counties they are among the few records available. There are several printed abstracts of land patents. Especially check Nell Marion Nugent's "Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants," 3 vols. (1934; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983). This series covers the years 1623-1732. The Virginia Genealogical Society picked up where Nugent left off and to date has published Volumes IV, V, and VI of "Cavaliers and Pioneers," bringing the series to 1762. Although probate records are kept at the county level, there is a printed index by Clayton Torrence, "Virginia Wills and Administrations, 1632-1800" (1930; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990). Caution: there are concerns about the completeness of the index. For early periods, check the records of The Virginia Company of London (1607-1624) and the records of colonial Virginia's Council and Great Court. A good place to look for guidance on sources is the Library of Virginia, which houses the Virginia archives. Be sure to check its Web site at . This is a "must read" site for Virginia researchers. It is fortunate that many genealogists have taken a personal interest in Virginia records and have done excellent work in abstracting, compiling, and indexing the state's records. They, along with publications like "The William and Mary College Quarterly," "Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine," and "The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography," have published many collections of Virginia records. You can find most of these periodicals and "Swem's Index" at many major libraries. A final tip of the hat to one of those dedicated Virginia genealogists, Mary McCampbell Bell, who wouldn't let me get away with using the excuse "my Greek records weren't available because the invading horde destroyed them" any more than "my Virginia ancestors' marriage can't be traced because the Yankees burned the courthouse." With her sweet smile she would simply say, "Oh, so you didn't find the marriage banns either?" * * * * * HUMOR: Thanks to James F. Fleming , who wrote: "Thought you might enjoy this little newspaper clipping a relative forwarded to me. Sorry, I don't know the source." AMEN A mother was teaching her three-year-old the Lord's Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime she repeated it after her mother. One night she said she was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word . . . right up to the end. "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us some e-mail. Amen." * * * * * MISSING LINKS: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists, edited and published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, is a free e-zine usually distributed on Fridays. Back issues are available for download from . To subscribe to MISSING LINKS, send an e-mail message that says only SUBSCRIBE to: Missing-Links-L-request@rootsweb.com * * * * * PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from ROOTSWEB REVIEW is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED (1) The reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes. (2) This notice must appear at the end of the article: Written by Previously published by RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, RootsWeb Review, Vol. 1, No. 25, 2 December 1998. You may visit RootsWeb's main Web page at . * * * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW is e-mailed on Wednesdays to all RootsWeb Members, subscribers to RootsWeb-hosted mailing lists, submitters to the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL), and other RootsWeb users. DOWNLOAD BACK ISSUES FROM . UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS: If you would prefer not to receive future issues of RootsWeb Review, please e-mail: RootsWeb-Review-L-request@rootsweb.com and put ONLY the word "unsubscribe" (omit the quotation marks) in the subject line and in the body of the message. * * * * * PLEASE NOTE: The editors of ROOTSWEB REVIEW, the staff of RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, and the HelpDesk volunteers are unable to respond to requests for genealogical research help. ____