ROOTSWEB REVIEW: Genealogical Data Cooperative News Vol. 1, No. 29, 30 December 1998; Circulation: 244,100+ Copyright (c) 1998 RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG * * * * * CONTENTS. News and Notes from RootsWeb (New Main Web Server Coming Online; Other New Servers Enter Beta Test; Growth at a Glance: RootsWeb 12/96 to 11/98; RootsWeb Welcomes New Staff Member; Help Desk Tips); Geek Speak; Connecting through RootsWeb; Mailing Lists; Web Sites; U.S. Census Transcriptions Uploaded to the USGenWeb Census Archives; Letter to the Editors; Humor; Reprint Policy; Unsubscribe Instructions; Happy New Year! * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB NEW MAIN WEB SERVER COMING ONLINE: RootsWeb will be upgrading its main Web server over the course of the next several days. The new server is actually a "cluster" of machines: a 450 MHz Pentium II main file server, a matched pair of 400 MHz Pentium II Web servers, and a 333 MHz Pentium II FTP server. All the servers run Linux, the free UNIX operating system widely regarded as the best operating system currently in existence. The four machines in total have 118 gigabytes of disk storage (the equivalent of about 59,000,000 printed pages), and more than two gigabytes of superfast synchronous DRAM. The cost of the hardware in the new server cluster was about $20,000, and it will be using the largest part of our Internet bandwidth. That bandwidth costs RootsWeb more than $9,000 each month. You may notice some anomalies and just flat broken parts of RootsWeb as we make the transition to the server cluster. Please be patient during the upgrade. OTHER NEW SERVERS ENTER BETA TEST: RootsWeb has now begun beta testing a new, faster server for GenConnect, Surname Helper, and Query Express. We have also begun testing a new, fast server that will allow genealogists to attach a personal search engine to their Web sites. The two new servers cost RootsWeb about $7,000. The support of RootsWeb's contributors made the addition of these new servers, like all of RootsWeb's facilities, possible. We all owe these folks our thanks. * * * . GROWTH AT A GLANCE: ROOTSWEB 12/96 to 11/98 12/96 12/97 7/98 11/98 Web Hits 3,050,061 20,835,802 50,245,222 63,865,968 HTML 986,273 5,903,137 13,608,736 16,925,491 cgi-bin 505,006 2,903,137 6,879,675 9,529,054 graphics 1,558,782 11,849,905 29,568,584 37,219,830 Messages 26,166,500 90,000,000 99,934,614 119,292,279 Sent to RootsWeb Mailing Lists FTP File 472,838 995,249 1,170,373 Downloads from USGW Archives & ROOTS-L Library Independently 2,975 3,395 Authored Web Sites Hosted by RootsWeb Independently 3,967 4,913 Operated Mailing Lists Hosted by RootsWeb alt.g & s.g 60,000 60,000 Usenet News Articles to Hosts on 3 Continents Total 40,000,000,000 830,304,000,000 Bytes of Outbound Traffic * * * ROOTSWEB WELCOMES NEW STAFF MEMBER. Continuing our ransacking of the HelpDesk, in 1999 Donna Popelish will join the RootsWeb staff, where she will be managing some new mailing lists. * * * HELPDESK TIPS. Do you wonder what a listowner is and what a listowner's responsibilities are? The RootsWeb FAQ "Mailing Lists" includes a section about listowners that explains. Please visit . * * * DONATIONS TO HELP SUPPORT ROOTSWEB ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels/benefits and payment options, please visit: or send e-mail to: . RootsWeb's address is: RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please include your e-mail address on all correspondence and checks.) * * * * * GEEK SPEAK. For those mystified by some of the terms in the "News and Notes" section of this issue, here are a few translations. Synchronous DRAM -- Synchronous Dynamic Random-access Memory -- SDRAM -- A type of memory that can run at much higher speends than conventional Dynamic RAM (DRAM). The speed increase is achieved by synchronizing the memory with the computer's internal clock. BANDWIDTH -- The capacity a network or data connection has for carrying data. It is generally measured in bits per second. For example, the fastest modem that works with a conventional telephone line is 56Kbps, or 56 kilobits per second. ISDN lines, which are popular in some metropolitan areas, run at 128Kbps, almost three times as fast as a 56K modem. Cable modems, which are becoming very widespread, typically run at 384Kbps, seven times as fast as a 56K modem. The T1 lines that connect large Internet sites to the rest of the Net are 1.544Mbps -- 1.544 megabits per second. That's 30 times as fast as a 56K modem. RootsWeb's systems transmit so much data that even a T1 isn't enough -- we need more than seven T1s to accommodate all of our traffic. Ethernet networks, which are used in offices and other intranets, generally operate at 10Mbps, 10 megabits per second. About 180 times as fast as a 56K modem. The fastest Ethernets run at 100Mbps, 1,800 times as fast as 56K. Most of RootsWeb's NOCs use Ethernet internally to exchange data between servers. SERVER -- The control computer on a local-area network (LAN). The role of a server is to "serve" a particular function to the people who use it. That could be, for example, providing e-mail services or providing files on the World Wide Web. The server is usually accompanied by workstations that share the main system's resources. A network may have more than one server and it may be dedicated, meaning its sole purpose is to be the server, or nondedicated, meaning it can be used for basic computing in addition to acting as the server. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. RootsWeb does a terrific job of being a primary research source for hunting down one's ancestors. But, at the same time, it can be a marvelous instrument for reunions of broken families. Here is an example. About six weeks ago I modified my surname entries in the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL) database to include the name YACENDA, a name I had once heard in my childhood as a family to which my only sibling, a sister, had been sent to live and whom I had assumed may have adopted her. We were "throw-away" kids back during the "great" (it wasn't!) depression. My sister, at age eight, and I, four years later, were literally "given away" to other families. The separation occurred on April 29, 1932 when I was four years old. I am now 70 and prayed for reunion almost every day of my life. This Christmas Day, upon returning home from visits with friends and my wife's family, I checked my e-mail as I do several times each day. There was a terse message, which stuck out prominently from all the others: I just visited with my mother over Christmas and heard the story of her being adopted at about eight years old and losing contact with her younger brother about six years old. I was searching for the name Joseph Felt (her brother) and found your information on the Web. She was adopted by Grace and Tom (?) Yacenda. My mother is 75 years old and was raised in New York. Anything sound familiar? Thanks. Well, to make a long story short, the mother was indeed my long-lost sister and we subsequently had a joyous but tearful reunion over the telephone and after 66 years a new part of my life begins with a gift from God, my niece, and RootsWeb. Had I not made the entry change, my newly found niece might have passed right over my entry on the RootsWeb Surname List. NEVER give up your search, and remember that miracles DO happen. Thank you beyond all human capability of expression! Joe Felt Listowner NYERIE-L, and RootsWeb sponsor * * * [12/24/98] My mother's cousin found us through the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL). My mother was adopted and had little hope of finding her real family. She will be meeting her 97-year-old cousin on Sunday. Thanks for your service and help. John Wm. Warman * * * * * 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 an interest in Indian traders and the Overmountain people within and west of the Appalachian Mountains, circa 1700-1775, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: 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 ASHER (includes ASHERT, ASHEARST, AYRSHIRE, and variants) AYERS-NJ (includes AYRES; New Jersey roots only) BERRYHILL BOLISON BROWN-LEONARD (descendants of Leonard Brown, b. ca 1740; of Orange County, Virginia, Caswell County, North Carolina, and Sumner County, Tennessee) BRUTON BYERS (includes all variants) CATHER (includes CATHERS, KETHERS, and variants) COULING COUNTS (includes CUNTZ and KOONTZ) CUTLIP (includes CUTLIPP, CUTLIFF, CUTLIFFE, CUDLIP, CUDLIPP, CUTLETT, and other C341 Soundex names) DEWITT DOLLEY DRENNON (includes DRENNAN and DRENNEN) EBY (descendants of Theodorus Aebi/Durst Eby, the first Eby in North America) FILSON GASPAR (includes variants; especially descendants and ancestors of Francisco Manoel Gaspar of Faial, Azores and Surry, Hancock County, Maine) GENIK (includes GENYK and GENNICK; from Galicia) GERE (ancestors and descendants of Patrick Gere, b.1813 in Ireland, who removed to Syracuse in the early 1840s) HATHCOCK HENKEL (includes variants) HERMAN (includes HERMANN, HERRMAN, HERRMANN, and variants) HIGHTOWER HOMME (includes variants) HUBAND (includes HUBOLT) HUFFMAN JURY KILBY KINNICK (includes KENNICK) LABOYTEAUX (includes LaBERTEAUX, LaBOYTEAU, LaBERTEW, LeBOITEAUX, Le BOYTEULX, BOITEAU(X), and PETUE) LITTLEFORD LAUGHLIN (includes O'LAUGHLIN, MacLAUGHLIN, LOUGHLIN, and variants) MCCLANAHAN (includes McCLENAHAN and McCLENAGHAN) MCCUBBINS (includes MacCUBBIN, MacCUBEIN, MakCUBYN, and MakCUMBYN) MCCUTCHEON MCEWEN (includes MacEWEN, McEWAN, and McEWIN) MEGER MOLSBERRY (includes MALSBURY and variants) MOORHEAD (includes MUIRHEAD, MOOREHEAD, MOREHEAD, and MORHEAD) NORDSTROM (from Sweden) OSTENDARP PARR PAVY (includes variants) REMBERT (includes RAMBERT and variants) ROYAL-SURNAME (surname of ROYAL) RUSSELL-UK (RUSSELL surname in the United Kingdom only) SCHMIDTKE (includes variants) SCOGIN (includes SCOGGIN, SCOGGINS, SCROGGIN, SCROGGINS, SCOGEN, SCOGGEN, and variants) SHEETS (includes SHEETZ, SCHEETS, SCHEETS, and variants) SPANN STOKES STOWE (includes STOW; early in Upper Canada, New York, Ohio and westward) SUDBURY (descendants of Ezekiel Sudbury) TINGSTROM TOWERS VANNORMAN (includes VanAERNAM, VanARLEM, VanARNAM, VanARNEM, VANARNHEM, VanARNON, and VanORMAN) VONFREYMANN (von Freymann from Bauska, Latvia) WARD-KYDAVIESS (Ward families with links to Daviess County, Kentucky) WARFIELD YADON (includes YADEN, YEADON, and variants) NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CANADA ALBERTA -- Alberta Province ENGLAND KENT-ENG -- Kent County SCOTLAND SCT-ISLEOFMULL -- Isle of Mull U.S.A. CAHUMBOL -- Humboldt County, California CAMENDOC -- Mendocino County, California CAPLACER -- Placer County, California CASOLANO -- Solano County, California FLPALMBE -- Palm Beach County, Florida INHUNT -- Huntington County, Indiana KSWASHIN -- Washington County, Kansas KYBOYD -- Boyd County, Kentucky MEANDROS -- Androscoggin County, Maine NDCAVILI -- Cavalier County, North Dakota NVWASHOE -- Washoe County, Nevada WI-MITCHELL-TOWN -- Town of Mitchell, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, and MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS LONGHUNTERS -- Indian traders, and the Overmountain people within and west of the Appalachian Mountains, ca 1700-1775 MIL-PURPLEHEART -- for those researching family members who received the Purple Heart TMG-NORTHTX-USERS -- North Texas users of The Master Genealogist software * * * * * 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 and will work for most. If not, you'll find most of them at USGenWeb or WorldGenWeb . For example, to visit the page for Zacatecas, Mexico, go to: . MEXICO mexzacat -- Zacatecas SCOTLAND sctbutes -- Buteshire U.S.A. cakern -- Kern County, California flcalhou -- Calhoun County, Florida inhuntin -- Huntington County, Indiana MISCELLANEOUS lawpgha -- Winn Parish (LA) Genealogical & Historical Association txfwgs -- Fort Worth (TX) Genealogical Society * * * * * U.S. CENSUS TRANSCRIPTIONS UPLOADED TO USGENWEB CENSUS ARCHIVES . Kay Mason provided this information. ALABAMA. 1850 Baldwin County ALABAMA. 1830 Washington County ARIZONA. 1880 Sharp County (Lebanon and Strawberry Townships) GEORGIA. 1850 Washington County -- corrected files GEORGIA. 1860 Wayne County -- corrected files ILLINOIS. 1820 Gallatin County ILLINOIS. 1840 Perry County KANSAS. 1860 Madison County MINNESOTA. 1900 Nobles County -- Town of Adrian MISSISSIPPI. 1850 Bolivar County MISSOURI. 1870 Lewis County -- Town of Canton MISSOURI. 1870 Lewis County (partial) Twp 62 Range 6, Twp 63 Range 6, Twp 62 Range 7 NEBRASKA. 1870 Cedar County NORTH CAROLINA. 1810 Stokes County OHIO. 1850 Williams County TEXAS. 1850 Medina County - corrected files * * * * * LETTER TO THE EDITORS. I recently responded to a RootsWeb Review article by mentioning the omission of some names from the SSDI and referring to the Railroad Retirement Board. I received many comments on the subject and wish to thank all those who e-mailed me with information. One message asked how to access the SSDI. While I have visited Family History Centers many times and used their computerized SSDI, I have also used Banner Blue's two CDs and Ancestry's online SSDI. My favorite version is the Family History Center's. I had bookmarked the Social Security Administration's Web Page some time ago, so I decided to explore it again. The following FAQs surprised me. The two SSA FAQs can be found at . QUOTE Q. Is Social Security's Death Index available online? A. The "Social Security Death Index" to which you refer is not a record of the Social Security Administration. We believe that this "index" was created by a recipient of the Death Master File. Q. Does SSA make its Death Master File available online for the purposes of genealogical research? A. No. SSA maintains a record of approximately 55 million deaths reported to us called the Death Master file in a tape format which is not searchable by the public. It is available to the public for sale through the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information Service and consists of 17 magnetic reels of tape. The price ranges from $1,500 for a onetime order of the entire DMF, 1937 to present, to $6,000 for the entire file with quarterly updates. NTIS can be reached at 703-487-4650. NTIS does sell the tape to certain genealogical services which have indexed the database on CD-ROM disk. Contact companies that sell genealogical software for more information. END OF QUOTE Who is the originator or owner of the SSDI? I had thought it was the Social Security Administration. John Burfiend * * * * * HUMOR. Thanks to Carma M. Brown for passing this along to us. Heredity: A Genealogy Poem by Grandpa Tucker I saw a duck the other day. It had the feet of my Aunt Faye. Then it walked, was heading South. It waddled like my Uncle Ralph. And when it turned, I must propose, Its bill was formed like Aunt Jane's nose. I thought, "Oh, no! It's just my luck, Someday I'll look just like a duck!" I sobbed to Mom about my fears, And she said, "Honey, dry your tears. You look like me, so walk with pride. Those folks are all from Daddy's side." * * * * * 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. 29, 30 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: and put ONLY the word "unsubscribe" (omit the quotation marks) in the subject line and in the body of the message. * * * 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 * * * * * 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. * * * * * HAPPY NEW YEAR! As the old year ends and the new one begins, let us resolve to be kind to each other. In the coming days, we will meet many people who are new to genealogical research, new to the Internet, or new to both. Patience and a kind word don't cost much, yet yield great dividends for the community and ourselves. ____