ROOTSWEB REVIEW: Genealogical Data Cooperative News Vol. 2, No. 23, 9 June 1999. Circulation: 312,330+ (C) 1998-1999 RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG DONATIONS TO HELP SUPPORT ROOTSWEB ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options, 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.) * * * * * CONTENTS. News and Notes at RootsWeb; Everton's Genealogical Helper (advertisement); RootsWeb Facts and Figures; Connecting through RootsWeb; Mailing Lists; Web Pages; USGenWeb Archives Project; Letters to the Editors; Humor; Reprint Policy * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES AT ROOTSWEB U.S. COUNTY RESOURCES. Your contribution dollars at work. RootsWeb's U.S. County Resources clusters were launched on 9 June 1999, bringing together all resources at RootsWeb for all U.S. counties. 3,098 U.S. county cluster pages (linking to 1,954 county Web sites) 3,098 calendars and guestbooks created 1,214 mailing lists created 15,038 GenConnect boards As with all of RootsWeb's county resources, we will be placing these resources at the disposal of USGenWeb volunteers (and later any interested volunteers) who may want to administer them and incorporate them into their Web sites. * * * VOLUNTARY, ANONYMOUS ROOTSWEB AUDIENCE PROFILER SURVEY. We hate surveys. They are intrusive, boring, and a general pain. Nevertheless, we need your help on this one. We are trying to sell banner advertising on the RootsWeb site so that we can use the advertising revenue to support the growth of RootsWeb and to keep genealogy data free. If we can tell our advertisers who you are, not individually but statistically, we can sell more advertising and charge higher advertising rates. By completing this survey you contribute financially to RootsWeb just as if you had made a donation. This survey is voluntary and anonymous. We do not ask for your name or for any other identifying information. If you choose to participate, please answer truthfully. We want the data to be accurate. We will post the survey results on the RootsWeb site in approximately two weeks. Visit to participate. Thank you for your help. * * * THE OLD GREER COUNTY PAGE OF THE TWIN TERRITORIES, OK/IT GENWEB , a part of the USGenWeb Project was recently recognized as one of the best educational resources on the Web when it became a featured site in StudyWeb, reports the Guthrie Public Library's Richard Orand Cheek, Greer County, Oklahoma Territory Webmaster. * * * ROOTSWEB REPORT ON TALKSPOT. Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, gives the "RootsWeb Report" on "Generations -- Find Your Roots" between 1600 and 1800 Pacific Daylight Time (2300 to 0100 GMT). On 12 June 1999, the guest will be Henry Weincek, author of THE HAIRSTONS: AN AMERICAN FAMILY IN BLACK AND WHITE, which documents the lineage of descendants of a clan of plantation owners and their slaves. * * * ROOTSWEB ANONYMOUS AGE SURVEY RESULTS. Here are RootsWeb's anonymous age survey results after two weeks. A total of 6,304 RootsWeb users have responded: less than 20 -- 21; 20-29 -- 186; 30-39 -- 594; 40-49 -- 1,172; 50-59 -- 1,927; 60-69 -- 1,477; 70-79 -- 823; 80-89 -- 92; 90-99 -- 5; 100-109 -- 2; 110-119 -- 0; and 120 and counting -- 3. To participate in this anonymous survey, visit . * * * * * Advertisement THE ROLE OF PRINT MAGAZINES IN AN INTERNET-LINKED WORLD by Lee Everton Everton's Genealogical Helper Newspapers had been around for centuries when a new form of printing burst on the scene in the late 19th century. Combining the timeliness of newspapers with the durability of books, magazines filled a niche for those who wanted new information that they could refer to repeatedly and something that would keep them informed today as well as next month and next year. At first glance, the World Wide Web appears poised to grab that niche away from today's traditional magazines. Web sites can be updated quickly, and some have indeed been around for years. However, there are three problems that still plague Web-based magazines. The first is durability. Many Web sites disappear daily, and even the ones that endure seem to change both their appearance and structure, making it difficult to reread an article that appeared weeks, months, or years, ago. The second problem is ease of access. It is still easier to grab a magazine from your bookshelf or coffee table than it is to boot up your computer, dial in to your ISP, connect to a site from your list of Bookmarks or Favorites (or type in the manually), and then hunt for the article online. Portability (or lack thereof) is the third problem. Being able to carry a copy of the article with you as you research in the library, cemetery, or courthouse is important to many researchers. Smaller computers promise to make this possible in the future, but that's just a high-tech talk right now. The premier print magazine for family historians for the past 52 years has been Everton's Genealogical Helper. Now, those who use the databases, mailing lists, Web pages and other resources of RootsWeb can help Everton's assist RootsWeb and have the world's largest genealogy magazine delivered to their door. Simply subscribe to Everton's Genealogical Helper magazine at or call 1-800-443-6325 (1-800-4-GENEALOGY. Be sure to say that you are subscribing to help RootsWeb. RootsWeb will receive a portion of each subscription to help keep its valuable benefits available to you. At the same time, you will be able to augment your online experience by reading Everton's Genealogical Helper's articles, written by experts in genealogical research, plus tips on computer and Internet use -- all designed to help you succeed in your quest to learn your family's history. * * * * * ROOTSWEB FACTS AND FIGURES Dear RootsWeb Users, On May 14, 1999, I was honored to join RootsWeb as its President and CEO. Below are facts and figures about RootsWeb which I would like to share with you. I believe that these numbers speak for themselves. We at RootsWeb thank the RootsWeb community for its support. Sincerely, Robert R. Tillman, President and CEO 1. REVENUE 1999 Year 1996 1997 1998 (to 4/30/99) ------ ------ ------- ------- Donations $12,035 $54,560 $293,350 $223,782 Advertising Revenue -- -- 135,000 60,000 ------ ------ ------- ------- Total Revenue $12,035 $54,560 $428,350 $283,782 ====== ====== ======= ======= The revenue numbers above are from inception through April 30, 1999. We estimate that revenue for May 1999 exceeded $115,000, although we are awaiting a final accounting. Based on this estimate of May 1999 revenue, RootsWeb received less than $900,000 from all sources from inception through May 31, 1999. The cash influx in May 1999 enabled RootsWeb to add seven new servers (some of them replacing slower machines), at a cost of about $10,000 each, and to introduce surname resource clusters. These May 1999 equipment expenses are not reflected in the table of expenses below. On April 30, 1999, RootsWeb had $44,864 in cash, which was substantially less than one month's operating expenses. 2. DONATIONS, PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS (6/1/98 - 5/31/99) Number of Donations About 21,000 Average Donation About $30 % of 305,000 Mailing List and RSL Users About 6.9% % of 1,000,000 Monthly Web Users About 2.1% 3. TRAFFIC We calculate traffic statistics manually. For some months, we did not make the calculation, owing to lack of resources. Page Views E-mails RootsWeb Review (started 6/17/98) Dec 1996 1,491,279 26,166,500 Feb 1997 3,351,962 29,592,650 Mar 1997 4,293,250 38,943,420 Jun 1997 5,117,457 33,631,756 Sep 1997 6,240,530 Dec 1997 8,814,646 90,000,000 Jan 1998 11,883,262 88,649,000 Feb 1998 12,048,208 82,150,000 Jul 1998 20,488,411 99,934,614 195,914 Aug 1998 23,662,241 103,079,174 203,582 Oct 1998 25,360,788 117,570,146 224,208 Nov 1998 26,646,148 119,282,279 233,669 Jan 1999 35,553,320 154,184,249 256,739 Mar 1999 46,011,287 163,035,217 283,939 Apr 1999 291,877 May 1999 304,731 To place this traffic in perspective, RootsWeb generates about the same number of page views as the Internet Movie Database and processes almost half the number of daily e-mails of OneList . We estimate that RootsWeb services about one million unique visitors per month. There exist sites comparable to RootsWeb that have raised and spent between $10 and $50 million to date. Ancestry.com raised $12.3 million in December 1998 and has spent a substantial portion of this amount. 4. EXPENSES (1/1/96 - 4/30/99) The following expense numbers are approximate, as they have been reconstructed primarily from the joint income tax returns of Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson. Through the end of May 1999, RootsWeb operated as a sole proprietorship. The expenses cited below are actual cash outflows (i.e., including amounts usually capitalized and not including depreciation). Therefore, these expenses cannot be used to calculate an accounting profit or loss. RootsWeb spent the following amounts from inception through April 30, 1999. Note that income taxes resulted from equipment expenditures being capitalized and spread over five years for tax purposes. Outside services include co-location of RootsWeb's 30+ servers at Concentric Networks in Los Angeles and at a small network operations center in Pine Mountain Club, California. Expenses (1/1/96 - 4/30/99) Amount Percent Staff and Outside Services $282,701 35.31% Equipment and Furniture 166,067 20.74 Internet Connections 100,529 12.56 Brian Leverich/Karen Isaacson** 53,646 6.70 Replacements 47,775 5.97 Taxes and Licenses 35,419 4.42 Unreimbursed Expenses (estimated) 20,000 2.50 Office Supplies 19,777 2.47 Credit Card Discount (3% of charges) 11,925 1.49 Auto Mileage 10,198 1.27 Legal and Accounting 9,081 1.13 Travel and Entertainment 8,285 1.03 Space Rental 6,573 .82 Repairs and Maintenance 6,213 .78 Telephone 4,269 .53 Utilities 3,067 .38 Supplies 2,671 .33 Benefits 2,650 .33 Interest (Loan) 2,336 .29 Software 1,711 .21 Books 1,675 .21 Interest (Credit Card) 1,026 .13 Dues and Subscriptions 750 .09 Payroll Tax Expense 612 .08 Insurance 551 .07 Conference Registration 467 .06 Miscellaneous 270 .03 Bank Charges 255 .03 Postage and Freight 22 .00 -------- ------- Total (1/1/96 - 4/30/99) $800,521 100.00% ======== ======= ** This number is the total amount of money paid to Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson by RootsWeb in the last three years, four months for living expenses and for additional income tax payments necessitated by the Internal Revenue Service's five year equipment depreciation schedule. 5. FOUNDERS Prior to founding RootsWeb, Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson worked as senior researchers at the RAND Corporation, a leading government funded research organization. Brian has a Ph.D. and Karen has completed almost all work toward a Ph.D. Salaries at RAND, as at most government funded research organizations, are substantially lower than their commercial equivalents. Benefits include health insurance and a pension plan. In early 1996, when Brian resigned from the RAND Corporation, his annualized salary was about $85,000. In July of 1998, when Karen resigned from the RAND Corporation, her annualized salary was about $75,000. My conservative estimate of Brian and Karen's fair market value in the commercial sector, in terms of annualized salary and benefits, is about $120,000 per year each. Brian has worked full- time on RootsWeb since its inception in early 1996. Karen has worked half-time on RootsWeb since early 1996 and full time from mid 1998 onward. (Half-time is defined as 50 hours per week. Full-time is defined as 80 hours per week.) If Brian and Karen left RootsWeb today, they could receive far higher compensation than cited above from any of the numerous venture capital funded Internet startups. (How many teams have built one of the top 200 traffic Web sites?) Based on the above assumptions, Brian and Karen would have earned a total of $645,000 from inception through April 30, 1999 had they worked in the commercial sector. They actually received $54,000 during this three year, four month period, which they used to pay their living expenses. If spread equally during this period, this $54,000 equals less than $1,350 per month for both Brian and Karen combined. By my estimate, Brian and Karen have thus provided almost $600,000 in uncompensated labor to the RootsWeb community from January 1, 1996 through April 30, 1999. 6. STAFF Apart from Brian, Karen, and myself, there exist 17 full- and part-time RootsWeb staff members. All work very long hours, seven days per week, at far below market compensation. Most of these staff members pay for their own equipment and work space. We have not been able to value in monetary terms the time and energy donated by staff to the RootsWeb community. We know, however, that without them, RootsWeb simply would not exist. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. WHAT PRICE THIS PEARL? I have been working on my DUSHANE/ DESCHENES family line for 20 years. I have been on the Internet only since January of 1998. I did the usual posting of surnames to RootsWeb and USGenWeb lists; had some success with the Cook County, Illinois and Wisconsin lists. At the end of 1998, I became a donor to RootsWeb in appreciation. But 1999 has been a real breakthrough year due to meeting "cousin" Mel Koenigs through those surname postings and sharing our information and questions. From a chance remark he made about an old obituary, I went on to find where a missing great-great-aunt, Marguerite DUSHANE LAFLEUR THOMSON, had lived in Weston County, Wyoming. By posting one of the surnames, VAN BUREN, from that information, I was contacted by the VAN BUREN family historian who put me into contact with the granddaughter of my Marguerite, Pearl SENATE FLEMING, who is 83 years young and a lively family historian for THOMSON and LAFLEUR families. We spoke on the telephone, exchanged information and copies of photographs, and currently are working on settling some longstanding questions. I gave her the DESCHENES information past her grandmother, and she gave me her grandmother's information on down to today. I am following up on several leads to learn more in the U.S. and Canada. As usual, RootsWeb is providing me with information at the click of a mouse! Kelly Ward, Schoolcraft, Michigan Proud Donor to ROOTSWEB '99 * * * * * MAILING LISTS. For an index to most user mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit . IF YOU DO NOT HAVE WEB ACCESS but would like to know if a RootsWeb-hosted mailing list exists for a particular surname, send a SUBSCRIBE request in accordance with the instructions below, filling in the desired surname where the example shows [name of list]. If the list exists, you will receive confirmation that your address has been added to the list. If the list does not exist, your message will bounce back to you with a message advising there is no such address. Try alternate spellings. 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 "Contributors only" warning on the list request page. Please request new mailing lists at: TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from any RootsWeb-hosted 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 interest in Evangelical and/or Reformed Lutheran genealogy and history, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: . NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BACKSTER BACSTER BURDUE (includes BARDUE, BARDEAU, B630, and variants) CARAKER COCKCROFT DIEGEL FORQUERAN GRODNO HERSHELMAN (includes HERSCHELMAN, HERSCHELMANN, HIRSCHELMANN, HESSELMAN, HOERSCHELMANN, and variants) JURIN KNEBEL (includes KNOEBEL, KNABEL, and variants) LOFTHOUSE MENDEL MULLICA STIGERS (includes STAGGERS) TAUNTON (includes TANTON, TONTON, and variants) TEVIS VANBARKELO (includes BARKELO, BARKALOO, BARKULO, BORCKELLOO, VAN BARKELOO, VAN BURKLEO, and variants) NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS AUSTRALIA AUS-VIC-BELLARINE-PENINSULA -- Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria CANADA QBC-MONTREAL -- Montreal, Quebec U.S.A. COLOGAN -- Logan County, Colorado MAHAMPSH -- Hampshire County, Massachusetts MIINGHAM -- Ingham County, Michigan MNBENTON -- Benton County, Minnesota NCMADISO -- Madison County, North Carolina NCPERSON -- Person County, North Carolina NDMCLEAN -- McLean County, North Dakota SCCHARLE -- Charleston County, South Carolina TNLOUDON -- Loudon County, Tennessee WAFERRY -- Ferry County, Washington NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, AND MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS ALIAS-AKA -- Given names or surnames that have been changed, primarily without leaving any legal record; absolutely no adoptions prior to 1890 EKYORIGINS -- Origins of early Eastern Kentucky families LA-LGHS -- Genealogy in Louisiana for Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society (LGHS) members and guests LA-LGHS-BOARD -- For LGHS board members only LUTHERAN-ROOTS -- Lutherans, both Evangelical and Reformed RESEARCH-TRIP -- Researchers share research trip tips and logistics, resources and accommodations THE-ROAD -- The genealogy of the Scottish/Palatine [German] ethnic mix along the traditional "Philadelphia Road" in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and related data * * * * * 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. FOR EXAMPLE, to visit the Tasmania, Australia Web page, go to . AUSTRALIA austas -- Tasmania CANADA qclabell -- Labelle, Quebec onthunde -- Thunder Bay, Ontario onsudbur -- Sudbury, Ontario ENGLAND engbrk -- Berkshire PACIFICGENWEB gumwgw -- Guam fjiwgw -- Fiji tonwgw -- Tonga U.S.A. akags -- Anchorage Genealogical Society (Alaska) cacolusa -- Colusa County, California camarin -- Marin County, California cayuba -- Yuba County, California gawalton -- Walton County, Georgia latensas -- Tensas Parish, Louisiana ohcths -- Coleraine Township Historical Society (Ohio) mnottert -- Otter Tail County, Minnesota nhcoos -- Coos County, New Hampshire nhhillsb -- Hillsborough County, New Hampshire tnmadiso -- Madison County, Tennessee tnmcnair -- McNairy County, Tennessee wvcstarv -- Star Valley (city), West Virginia * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- SUBMISSIONS IN THE PAST WEEK [N.B.: Some of these URLs are longer than one line. All of the material between angle brackets is part of the URL. If a URL is not clickable, make sure the closing angle bracket is not highlighted. If it is, add a blank space before it.] GEORGIA -- MAPS. Georgia Digital Maps Library KENTUCKY. Bell County, Updated Cemeteries KENTUCKY. Estill County KENTUCKY. Lawrence County. Listings of births 1852-1907 KENTUCKY. Lawrence County. Listings of deaths 1852-1907 KENTUCKY. Lawrence County. Listings of marriages 1852-1907 KENTUCKY. Muhlenberg County. Updated Cemeteries KENTUCKY. Pulaski County. Listings of births 1852-1859 KENTUCKY. Pulaski County. Listings for deaths 1852-1859 KENTUCKY. Pulaski County. Listings for marriages 1852-1859 KENTUCKY. Trimble County. Added Obituaries LOUISIANA -- MAPS. Louisiana Digital Map Library NORTH DAKOTA. Pembina County. 1893 plat maps . OHIO. Allen County Updated OHIO. Stark County Updated WASHINGTON -- MAPS. Washington Digital Map Library * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS may be posted to the GenConnect board at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/RWR-LettersToTheEditor or sent to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com. My name is Lynne Humphries-Russ. I grew up with the name spelled HUMPHRIES. Because of a RootsWeb mailing list, I was able to find my family's information on a census in England, the first time I have been able to get them back across the Big Pond. And wouldn't you know, I was wrong all those times I said I probably wasn't related because someone else spelled it HUMPHREYS. Thanks to RootsWeb, I now have a clearer perspective on my family and what they did when they entered this country. For one thing, their name changed. Lynne Humphries-Russ Ellicott City, Maryland I look forward each week to reading RootsWeb Review. I have connected with many families by contacting people through mailing lists with my surnames. I am collecting cousins by the dozens. Now, inasmuch as I do not at present have Web access, I am pleased to learn I can now use e-mail to search your RootsWeb Surname List (RSL) and find more cousins! Ruth E. Hill Raleigh, North Carolina [Ed.: To search the RSL by e-mail, write a message with the surnames of interest listed one per line in the body of the message, and e-mail it to .] * * * * * HUMOR: It's so hot in Texas the potatoes cook underground so all you have to do for lunch is pull one out and add butter and salt. * * * * * PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from ROOTSWEB REVIEW is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: Written by Previously published by RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, RootsWeb Review, Vol. 2, No. 23, 9 June 1999. Please visit RootsWeb's main Web page at . TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) to: .