ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 2, No. 33, 18 August 1999, Circulation: 350,544+ (c) 1999 RootsWeb.com, Inc. RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG RootsWeb HelpDesk: CONTENTS. News and Notes at RootsWeb (RootsWeb Adds June 1999 Social Security Death Index (SSDI); RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees, Lesson Ten: SSDI; Support Free Genealogical Data Online; New Community Mailing Lists and Web Pages; How to Suggest a Topic for a New Community Mailing List; Support RootsWeb with a Click); Connecting through RootsWeb; Mailing Lists; Web Pages; USGenWeb Census Project; Letters to the Editors; Tech Humor; Reprint Policy DONATIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED AND HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options, visit or e-mail . RootsWeb's mailing address is: RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please write your e-mail address on correspondence and checks.) * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES AT ROOTSWEB ROOTSWEB ADDS JUNE 1999 SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (SSDI). Now you can access the most recent version of the SSDI at RootsWeb . Accessible fields include first and last names, date of birth, month and year of death, last residence, last benefit, Social Security Number, and the state where it was issued. You can narrow a search to a particular state, country, city or zip code, or to a particular date of birth or death, by using the Advanced Search Feature. When you find a record of interest, you can automatically generate a printer ready letter to the Social Security Administration requesting a photocopy of the actual application for a Social Security Number (Form SS-5-Social Security Number Record Third Party Request for Photocopy). This new database, which is running on two new high-performance servers, is another example of your contributions at work. The more that you contribute, the more free genealogical data RootsWeb can make available to the Internet community of genealogists. * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES. . Lesson 10 is the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). As in the previous lessons (Where to Begin?, What's in a Name?, Using Technology to Dig for Roots, Death Records, Marriage Records, Birth Records, What Is the Question?, Misspeld Knames, and Census Records, there are tips and links to resources at RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet that will be useful for all. . * * * SUPPORT FREE GENEALOGY DATA ONLINE when you buy an Ancestry.com subscription through RootsWeb. Remember, though, RootsWeb will receive credit ONLY if you click through from one of the graphics provided by Ancestry that appears on a RootsWeb page. * * * NEW COMMUNITY MAILING LISTS. New community mailing lists are listed at as soon as they are established. You can subscribe to a list at that page. Autos Community MUSCLE-CARS Collecting Community SPORTS-CARDS Crafts Community BASKETS, NEEDLEWORK Education Community EARLY-ED Family Community ORPHANAGES Garden Community GROWING-HERBS, PERENNIALS Houses Community HOME-ADDITIONS NEW COMMUNITY WEB PAGES Literature BookMarks Web Page * * * HOW TO SUGGEST A TOPIC FOR A NEW COMMUNITY MAILING LIST. If you have an interest you believe deserves a list of its own, if you would be willing to host a list, or if you have a talent you are willing to share, please tell us about it at the New Communities Suggestions-Volunteers Board: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/Communities/Volunteers * * * SUPPORT ROOTSWEB WITH A CLICK. You can support RootsWeb and free genealogy online by going to and clicking on the "Show me commercial banners" option. This activates certain extra commercial banners on Surname Helper, GenConnect, and search-engine pages, which generate revenue for RootsWeb. This in turn enables RootsWeb to obtain the funds for more free genealogical material and to provide better services to online genealogists. Thank you for supporting RootsWeb. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. I have been following the HESSE-L@rootsweb.com list for a long time and have received a lot of good information to help find my KLIPPEL roots. But when I saw talk about "Huldigungseiden and Auswanderererleubnissen" and Virginia told me about an "Ortssippenbuch" and someone else mentioned a "Sippenbuch" and how this information may be kept in the town where my KLIPPEL ancestors came from little did I know what was about to happen. Several of you answered my post when I asked where Ober- Hilbersheim and Bubenheim were. Although they are not in modern day Hesse they were part of the Grand Duchy (Hesse-Darmstadt) in the early 1800s when Johannes Klippel my great-great-grandfather lived there. Don wrote a letter for me in German to send to the four KLIPPELs who still live in Ober-Hilbersheim. Only one had an address in the phone directory. I have yet to receive a reply to that letter. A KLIPPEL cousin in Sweden composed a letter in German to the town of Ober-Hilbersheim that I sent and the next thing I knew the Ortsbrgermeister (Mayor) sent me a letter back with some information on my KLIPPEL family and the addresses of the KLIPPELs that still lived there and he said he could help me with more information about my ancestors if I would send any family history about the KLIPPELs in Ober-Hilbersheim (names, dates, etc.). I sent the information to his e-mail address. It seems they are just finishing a book about the town with many old photos and documents with lots of KLIPPEL information that he shared with me. From not knowing anything about my KLIPPEL roots a year ago to now having church records to the 1600s and civil marriage certificates from the 1800s, etc., and all because those of you reading HESSE-L@rootsweb.com mentioned writing to the town. As for the letter Don wrote for me, I have sent one to each of the KLIPPELs the Mayor named and perhaps will find a cousin or two. Thanks for the idea. It proved invaluable. Denzil J. Klippel * * * I was 12 years old when my dad died in the veterans hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. About 30 years ago I started trying to find out more about him and his family. All I had to start with was what my mother wrote in the Bible and his obituary. She said he was born in Stephenson, Michigan in 1899 and had two brothers and one sister. His family was in northern Michigan and we were in southern Iowa. We had had no contact with his family that I knew of. I wrote for his birth record, death record, and World War I military records at least 10 times each over the years and have a stack of "Sorry, can't find" reports to prove it. In January 1999, I purchased a computer. It is all new to me -- I can barely type, but am eager to learn. I posted on every state and surname board, sent $59 to join Ancestry.com, soon learned to surf the Web, spent more hours than I can count, and met some very helpful people. Several people wrote to tell me where Stephenson, Michigan was and other Stephenson possibilities. On one board I cried, "Where can I get this man's World War I records?" Several people wrote with proper state of Michigan address. I hadn't thought about the state having federal records. Someone in Minnesota wrote with telephone number to call, which I did, and was given another number, and another, and finally a nice lady said "You will have it in a week," and I did. The same week came the World War I records from Michigan. That week I sent my contribution to RootsWeb. Not long after, RootsWeb announced the Classified Ads, For Sale boards. I went promptly to Menominee County, Michigan's For Sale board and wrote to Terri Boucher who was listed there. This was on Saturday, July 31. I have before me a picture of my father in his World War I uniform. Terri remembered an old newspaper tribute to World War I veterans (I get shaky writing about this still). She copied the page and mailed it to me after e-mailing the picture. On the same page was an uncle and someone I think is dad's cousin. She found my grandparents' death certificates, the name of a great-uncle, and a few days later a census for 1900 and 1910 showing 11 children (I had only heard of three). Jens JENSEN (JOHNSON, JOHANESEN) and Amelia PAULSEN came from Denmark in 1882 with five children and four more were born here. Now we get to look for cousins and where in Denmark they came from. Without Terri's help I didn't stand a chance as I had no dates. The picture alone is priceless. Such a few dollars for so much in return. A really special thank you to all you at RootsWeb from a very happy little 70-year-old lady for the work you are doing. Hazel Tarr * * * * * 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 are researching the clans of Ireland, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: . NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BRACKENBURY CHAPMAN-UK (includes CHIPMAN and variants with roots in U.K.) CLEVENSTINE CRUNK CUBBAGE (includes CUBAGE) DICUS DRINKWATER DUNKERTON FERGUSSON FOX-LOUDOUN-VA (descendants of William Fox, ca. 1710-1777, of Loudoun County, Virginia) GARMANY HENDON HOLMBERG HOUT INSKEEP (includes INSKIP) JANUARY (includes JANVIER) JOHNSON-UK (includes JOHNSTON, JOHNSTONE, etc. in the U.K.) KIRKMAN-DESCENDANTS (descendants of George and Elizabeth KIRKMAN of Dorchester County, Maryland) KLIPFEL KRUGH LAFORGE (includes LEFORGE, LEFORGE, LEFURGE, LEFORGEY) LEHENY(includes LEHANY, LEHEANY, LEHANE) MACCOISE MICKLEBERRY MOTHERSHED (includes MOTTERSHED and MOTTERSHEAD) NOLD OZMENT (includes OSMENT) PARRISH-GA-WALKER (PARRISH family of Walker County, Georgia) PELC (includes PELTZ) from Poland PRESLAR surname (can be a variant of PRESLEY) PULLIG RODENHIZER ROTTON SCHWYHART SHILTZ (includes SHILTS, SHIELTZ, and variants) SIFFORD(includes SIEFERT and variants) SOUNDY (includes SOWNDEY, SOUNDIE, and variants) STRICKLING TAWES (includes TAWS, TAWSE, and variants) TINLEY (primarily in Richmond County, Georgia) TWITTY WAXHAM WERKING (includes WORKING, WERKINGER, and WORKINGER) WICKENDEN WINBORNE NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS AUSTRALIA AUS-KOORI -- Australian Aboriginal history and genealogy IRELAND IRL-CLANS -- The Clans of Ireland including their history, genealogy, culture, impact and presence in the world today IRL-LAOIS -- County Laois (Leix -- Queens County) IRL-LOUTH -- County Louth IRL-WESTMEATH -- County Westmeath IRL-WICKLOW -- County Wicklow PHILIPPINES PHILIPPINES -- The Philippines and people of Filipino descent around the world SCOTLAND SCT-ARGYLL -- Argyllshire (pre-1974) U.S.A. ALASKA -- Alaska ARIZONA -- Arizona ARKANSAS -- Arkansas DELAWARE -- Delaware IDAHO -- Idaho IOWA -- Iowa KANSAS -- Kansas KENTUCKY -- Kentucky LOUISIANA -- Louisiana MAINE -- Maine MIBERRIEAREA -- Berrien County Michigan area, including surrounding areas in Michigan and Indiana MINNESOTA -- Minnesota NEVADA -- Nevada NEW-MEXICO - New Mexico NORTH-DAKOTA -- North Dakota OHIO-BIO -- For anyone interested in the Ohio Biographies Project, especially prospective volunteers. This list is not for genealogical queries PA-OBITS -- To share or request obituary lookups of Pennsylvania natives or former residents PA-RIDLEY -- Ridley, Pennyslvania SC-CEMETERY - For discussion of formation of a cemetery preservation society for South Carolina directions, history, and discoveries of cemeteries in South Carolina. SWVA-NETN-SEKY-CHAT - Genealogy in area of Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee; will cover southwest Virginia, northeast Tennessee, and southeast Kentucky UTAH -- Utah NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, AND MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS OLD-ENGLISH -- Deciphering old English documents, both the handwriting and word meanings PAF-4-USERS -- For users of PAF, Version 4 * * * * * 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 Smith County, Tennessee Web page, go to . U.S.A. cootero -- Otero County, Colorado ctcridge -- Ridgefield, Connecticut (city) mafrankl -- Franklin County, Massachusetts mscoahom -- Coahoma County, Mississippi mtsweetg -- Sweet Grass County, Montana njgsnj -- Genealogical Society of New Jersey sdbrooki -- Brookings County, South Dakota tnsmith -- Smith County, Tennessee txebcgs -- East Bell County Genealogical Society (Texas) txspamga -- Spanish American Genealogical Association (Texas) * * * * * USGENWEB CENSUS PROJECT - TRANSCRIPTIONS ALABAMA. 1850 Monroe County Census ARKANSAS. 1850 Franklin County Census FLORIDA. 1850 Hillsborough County Slave Schedule FLORIDA. 1850 Levy County Slave Schedule GEORGIA. 1850 Heard County Census GEORGIA. 1840 Madison County Census IOWA. 1850 Clayton County Census ILLINOIS. 1850 Clark County Census ILLINOIS. 1860 Vermilion County Census (Partial -- Danville Twp.) KENTUCKY. 1860 Butler County Census MASSACHUSETTS. 1900 Berkshire County Census (Partial -- Adams) MARYLAND. 1790 St. Mary's County Census NEBRASKA. 1870 Nuckolls County Census NEBRASKA. 1870 Winnebago County Census NEW JERSEY. 1850 Atlantic County Census NORTH CAROLINA. 1840 Yancey County Census PENNSYLVANIA. 1800 Fayette County Census (Partial -- Georges and Luzerne Twps.) PENNSYLVANIA. 1870 Lycoming County Census (Partial -- Watson) PENNSYLVANIA. 1830 Schuylkill County Census (Partial -- Manheim) WYOMING. 1920 Sweetwater County Census (Partial - Dist. 82, Green River Town) * * * * * 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. * * * In RootsWeb Review, Vol. 2, No. 31, there is in an article by Soren Rasmussen, who cites a resource: GERMANS TO AMERICA: LISTS OF PASSENGERS ARRIVING AT U.S. PORTS, 1850-1872, Ira A. Glazier and P. William Filby, editors. I would like to point out a few things about this index that new researchers should know. 1. It has been published through about 1890 as of this date, not just 1872. 2. It is notoriously incomplete and has great inaccuracies. It is incomplete because the criteria used for inclusion of a ship's passenger list requires that at least 60% (I think that's the number) of the passengers appear to be from Germany. Therefore, it doesn't include ships that may have a mixed ethnic passenger load which is predominantly non-German. This could amount to hundreds of people in the days when ships carried more than 1,000 passengers. If you don't find your ancestor, it does not mean he/she wasn't on that ship, or some other ship. 3. The entries can be greatly inaccurate as regards spelling, probably due to transcriber's difficulty in reading Germanic handwriting. One should look for every conceivable variation of spelling. 4. Sometimes family members are entered in the index and those traveling with them are not. Advice to newcomers -- ALWAYS consult the original passenger lists (available through NARA or a FHC) if you find a likely prospect in the index. NEVER assume that because your relative isn't in this index, he/she arrived here some other way (illegal stowaway on a fishing boat, came via South America, etc.). It can be a quite helpful index, but needs to be treated with caution. Toby Theuner Hekler * * * I tried GENSEEKER when I got last week's RootsWeb Review [2:32]. This was an idle test, and a just ran through some of my more common surnames, one of which, LEDDIN, never turns up very much. This time things were different. LEDDIN still didn't find many items, but one of them was a list of marriages in Monroe County, Michigan for the surname SEITZ. Here I found the marriage record of my great-grandfather, Otto LEDDIN, and his first wife, Marie SIETZ. These people had proved so elusive that I doubted I would ever find any records of her or be able to trace her line any further. I have cousins that have been trying to track Marie SEITZ down for years. Now I know how old she was and where she lived, when she was married, and her father's name. I was yelling and shouting so much my wife thought the computer had crashed. I might never have found this on my own. I'm grateful to those who run RootsWeb, and I'm glad that I can make even a small contribution, as a subscriber. David Rowan * * * While I am not a novice at researching roots, I am a novice at using the Internet to find information. What a godsend! My legs are not what they used to be, and RootsWeb is enabling me to continue my research without walking and climbing. Your RootsWeb Guide lessons are wonderful -- pointing me to links and resources I never knew existed. Many, many thanks. How many lessons are planned? Or in other words, how thick a notebook shall I buy? I'm printing each one and using them as my genealogy Bible. Doris Sheehan sheehan@willex.com [There might be as many as 30 lessons -- possibly less, possibly more. We are delighted that you enjoy RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees . Eds.] * * * * * HUMOR. TALES FROM TECH SUPPORT CUSTOMER: "That will get me connected to the Internet, right?" TECH SUPPORT: "Yeah." CUSTOMER: "And that's the latest version of the Internet, right?" TECH SUPPORT: "Uhh... uh... uh... yeah." * * * * * 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.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 2, No. 33, 18 August 1999. RootsWeb: * * * * * BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW are available for download from . Back issues of MISSING LINKS are available for download from . * * * * * TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS, send e-mail with only SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the message area to: .