ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 2, No. 39, 29 September 1999, Circulation: 361,643+ (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: DONATIONS HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU AND ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options (check or credit card), e-mail or visit . Mailing address: RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please write your e-mail address on all correspondence and checks.) * * * * * CONTENTS. News and Notes at RootsWeb (RootsWeb Home Pages Load Faster; RootsWeb in the News; SSDI Post-Ems; RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees; New Communities Mailing Lists and Web Pages); Connecting through RootsWeb; Mailing Lists; Web Pages; GenConnect; USGenWeb Archives Project; Letters to the Editors; Humor; Reprint Policy; How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES AT ROOTSWEB LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE CEO ROOTSWEB HOME PAGES LOAD FASTER. If you logged onto RootsWeb this week, you may have noticed that RootsWeb pages are loading significantly faster. The reason for this speed increase is that we have replaced our old World Wide Web server with a new machine that is three to six times faster. For those of you interested in the technical details, this new World Wide Web server is a dual Pentium III-500 megahertz machine with one gigabyte of fast error-correcting SDRAM memory, 28 gigabytes of ultrawide system disks, and user storage on 144 GB of ultrawide LVD SCSI disks configured on dual SCSI busses in a RAID-5 array. It can handle more than 30 Web hits per second without even measuring a significant load, and we expect it can handle more than 100 hits per second. This new server is yet another example of your contributions at work. If you want to help us upgrade more of RootsWeb's infrastructure, please contribute at . * * * ROOTSWEB IN THE NEWS. The RootsWeb Surname List (RSL) is the subject of an article by Carl Kirton that appears in the "Features" section of the 27 September 1999 issue of NET4TV VOICE at . By the same author, "So I Married My Cousin" deals with calculating relationships and appears in the same issue at . The cover story of the 20 September 1999 issue of MACLEAN'S: CANADA'S WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE, pp. 42-49, is "The Search for Roots," by John Nicol and Mark Nichols. RootsWeb is among the genealogy sites mentioned in the section "Building a Family Tree." Maclean's Web site at provides access to news, stories, and profiles of the current issue and parts of previous issues. Its subscribers have access to a searchable archives of issues from the last six months. * * * SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (SSDI). Use POST-EMs to attach a message to any of the more than 61 million records in the SSDI at RootsWeb. You might leave a note so other researchers can find you, provide background information on an individual, or note a correction to a record. POST-EMs were developed by RootsWeb's own Randy Winch and are a RootsWeb exclusive. * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES. For an interactive orientation to genealogical research with links to resources at RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet, visit RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees at . * * * NEW COMMUNITIES MAILING LISTS. New communities mailing lists are listed at as soon as they are established. You can subscribe to a list at that page. To learn which new communities lists are up for adoption, visit: . Arts Community PASTELS Crafts Community STAMPING Cultures Community GERMAN-FOOD Dance Community SQUARE-DANCE Folklore Community VAMPIRES Health Community MEMORY-LOSS, STOP-SMOKING History Community AFRICAN-HISTORY, MEXICAN-HISTORY Hobbies Community JUGGLING Sports Community ROLLERJAM Theatre Community COMMUNITY-THEATRE NEW COMMUNITIES WEB PAGES Arts Community Collecting Community Crafts Community Dance Community Family Community * ADVERTISEMENT * CLOOZ 2.0 -- Feel disorganized? Choose Clooz 2.0, an electronic filing cabinet especially designed for genealogical records. This single CD provides you with a convenient method to organize most all the things you could not organize by ordinary programs. File and later associate or analyze census records, directories, photos, and documents of all types. Easily create and maintain databases. Edit, archive, and import. Special price is $35.95. As usual, when you buy from , RootsWeb receives a 10% donation. Order on the secure site at or call 1-800-725-5013. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. Thank you for updating your Social Security Death Index (SSDI) search . When I saw the notice that those pages had been updated, I entered my great-grandfather BOYER's Social Security Number. I then printed the request to the Social Security Administration for a photocopy of his application and included my $7 check. Less than a month later, I received the photocopy. It confirmed his birth place and gave his father's name and mother's full maiden name. In addition, The Association of American BOYERS provided me with a printout of possible BOYERS that could be connected. There is now much more research and confirmation to be done. I am proud to become a sponsor of RootsWeb. Thanks again! Tim Boyer, Springfield, Virginia * * * I am the county coordinator for the Dutchess County, NYGenWeb pages. The following story was recently sent to me by Virginia Buechele, a volunteer and frequent contributor to the pages. Lynn Brandvold A dear friend's mother was a WOLVEN. I recently noticed and printed some WOLVEN obituaries posted to the Dutchess County, New York GenWeb Obits board by Jeanne Garde and gave them to my friend. I also contacted Jeanne and she referred me to Beth and Bob VRBKA for further information. The VRBKAs sent me a 238-page document by e-mail attachment, that I downloaded and printed. It was loaded with documentation and interesting tidbits and insight into many of the individuals included. I can only imagine the amount of time that went into that effort and will be forever grateful to them for their willingness to share it. This information took the WOLVEN line back to the late 1600s in Germany. My friend was absolutely thrilled. Today my friend and I went to Saugerties, New York and found the house her 3rd-great- grandfather built in 1816 which still stands and is well taken care of. My friend, age 70, and her mother, who is now 89, had passed this house several times all throughout their lives, not knowing it had belonged to one of their ancestors. I was quite thrilled myself to be able to help my friend make this new discovery which was referenced in the information given me through the connection I made that was given me by Jeanne, who posted the WOLVEN obituaries [to the GenConnect Obits board maintaiined by the Dutchess County NYGenWeb coordinator]. Virgina Buechele * * * Like many family historians, I try to collect as much material as possible about my family. I was fortunate in that my grandmother is still living but like many older relatives she often doesn't remember the details that I am interested in. I knew that in her younger years she had traveled to Europe and Germany and visited her father's cousins who still lived there. Of course, she didn't remember their names now 60 years later nor did she know how they were related. During one of my visits with her my uncle was present and said, "You know we have home movies of that trip to Germany." My heart jumped at the thought of being able to see movies of family from Germany in the 1930s. After much delay, I finally received the 16 mm movies and located a projector to play them on. I transferred them to videotape myself, added period music, and eventually showed them to my grandmother. By then she was 91 years old with failing eyesight and hearing. She enjoyed watching the movies but the images did not evoke any memories of the people she had visited as I had hoped. The turning point came when I noticed one scene in the movies where the cameraman (presumably my grandfather) focused on a building in the Bavarian town of Sulzbach. There was a sign above the door of this building with a name on it. I took the original film and had the frame enlarged to see that the sign read "Georg Forster, Elektrotechnisches Installation Gesch,ft." Roughly translated this means Georg Forster, Electrical Installation Shop. I knew that the name Forster was in my family and that they came from Sulzbach. I wondered if there was any way to contact them today. I found out about an Internet telephone book on one of the mailing lists that I subscribe to and located a book for Germany. I searched for the name Forster in the town of Sulzbach and found a listing for "Georg Forster, Beruf: Elektro-Mstr.,Branche: Elektroninstallationen." My heart jumped again because the similarities between this current listing and the 1931 movie frame were too close for coincidence. The next day I had a letter in the mail to the address listed and within three weeks I received a response confirming that Georg Forster was indeed a relative. Actually, Georg was no longer alive and the firm had been taken over by his grandson. His wife was very interested in establishing contact and his cousin sent me a group photograph taken the same day as the old movie. All of the German family were labeled and the date of the photograph was June 14, 1931. An uncle, the last surviving person in the photograph, says he remembers the day it was taken when "family visited from America." After a few letters and exchanges of more photographs we now use e-mail to stay in touch on a regular basis. Of course, re-establishing contact would have been possible without the Internet but it sure made the search a whole lot easier. John H. Hallman * * * In March 1999 I did not know the name of my great-great- grandfather, who was a Sergeant in the Civil War. His children had been placed in the Randolph, New York Children's home. All family records had been lost. One query posted to a county GenConnect board gave me not only his name but also a copy of a letter he had written to his brother from a hospital in Virginia near the Manassas battlefield. Using RootsWeb and many contacts with cousins later, in September 1999 the Captain from Forestville, New York and the local historian, Millie, actually searched for his grave in Mayville, New York. The Captain sent me photos from his digital camera that are now posted on my family history Web site. You see, my great-great-grandfather, William ORCUTT, was also Lucille Ball's great-grandfather. His children placed in the children's home near Jamestown had run away one night. My great-grandfather Fred ORCUTT had taken his twin sister Flora Belle, Henry, Edward, and Carrie with him that night and started a new life. Flora Belle married a HUNT and had a child named Desiree, who married Henry BALL. Lucile was the child of this union. My father and his brothers grew up with their cousin Lucy and we already had all our information from Fred Orcutt to the present, but this site enabled us to go back to 1612 and the William Orcutt who came to America after his brother was imprisoned in the Tower of London for supporting King Charles. Thank you so much! This would not have been possible without the contacts I have made at RootsWeb. Penelope Lee Orcutt-HIll * * * * * 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 surname CRAZY, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: . NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS ALDY ALWINE (includes ALLWEIN, ALLWINE, ALWIN, and variants) CRAZY-SURNAME DRAGONETTE HUBLEY IACOVELLI KEMPTHORNE (includes KEMPTHORN) PANTOZZI PRECIADO * * * * * 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 Okinawa, Japan Web page, go to . CANADA nbstjohn -- Saint John County, New Brunswick JAPAN jpnokina -- Okinawa U.S.A. counknow -- Unknown County, Colorado flmadiso -- Madison County, Florida illscgr -- LaSalle County Genealogical Records (Illinois) mosmd -- Society of Mayflower Descendant-Missouri nconhgs -- Old New Hanover Genealogical Soc. (North Carolina) tnwayne -- Wayne County, Tennessee usphoto -- Unknown Photos Project * * * * * GENCONNECT. RootsWeb hosts more than 60,000 surname GenConnect boards that are in need of people to maintain them. Visit: o For a complete list of adoptable GenConnect surname boards o For the form to request to adopt a GenConnect surname board (the same form is used for surname mailing list requests) * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- CENSUS IMAGES ONLINE ARKANSAS. 1860 Mississippi County Census CALIFORNIA. 1850 Yolo County Census COLORADO. 1910 Rio Blanco County Census COLORADO. 1920 Rio Blanco County Census KENTUCKY. 1860 Whitley County Census KENTUCKY. 1820 Allen County Census KENTUCKY. 1830 Allen County Census KENTUCKY. 1840 Allen County Census KENTUCKY. 1850 Allen County Census LOUISIANA. 1820 Concordia Parish Census LOUISIANA. 1850 St. Martin Parish Census MISSOURI. 1830 Callaway County Census MISSOURI. 1840 Callaway County Census TENNESSEE. 1850 Warren County Census TEXAS. 1860 Fannin County Census VIRGINIA. 1840 Page County Census USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- OTHER SUBMISSIONS (N.B. Some 2-line URLs) COLORADO. "Cheyenne County History" index to Family Histories COLORADO. City/County of Denver, 1937 Skinner Jr. High Graduates ILLINOIS. Crawford County 1820 Federal Census Transcription KENTUCKY. 1870 Lawrence County Census KENTUCKY. 1880 Lawrence County Census KENTUCKY. Lawrence County Births 1852-1860, 1874-1878, 1902-1907 KENTUCKY. Lawrence County Deaths 1852-1860, 1874-1878, 1902-1907 KENTUCKY FOOTSTEPS MAILING LIST DIGESTS NORTH DAKOTA. 1900 Foster County Census NORTH DAKOTA. Stark County Marriage book transcriptions OHIO. Hocking County. Haynes Cemetery revised and additions OHIO. Hocking County. Karshner Cemetery OKLAHOMA. Applications to the Dawes Commission for membership in the Cherokee Nation * * * * * 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. When I wrote, my thoughts were along the lines of thanking you and people like you who work so hard to keep RootsWeb and the like wonderful tools for the extension of search for information [RWR 2:38]. . . My mail is overflowing with letters of "thanks," "a story," "request for help," and some wanting to help me further my own search. . . Now I face another situation. How to answer the hundreds of letters prompted by the article? This I will attempt to do, but would you be so kind as to publish this letter of heartfelt thanks? I am in tears at the stories, and that my letter would have such an effect on so many people. God works in mysterious ways, and people respond. P.J. Mathon * * * For the most part I agree with the comments made by Dean DeBolt in his "Genealogical Treasures -- A Commentary" [RWR 2:38]. As an archivist, librarian, and historian, I certainly encourage anyone to try and preserve and make accessible scrapbooks, photo albums, individual photographs, diaries, etc. that they find in flea markets, antique, or junk stores. I do not, however, necessarily agree that your first criterion for choosing a repository should be its ability to fully catalogue that item on an online service such as OCLC or RLIN. I work in a small museum library and archives. Our first priority is the collection of materials related to our mission, the preservation of those materials and making those materials as accessible to the public as is possible given our limited resources. I would like nothing more than to be able to catalogue our collections onto a service such as RLIN or OCLC but it is financially impossible. Membership in these services costs many thousands of dollars a year. Too often the professional staff of large college, university or public libraries and archives do not have a clue as to what it costs their institutions to be a part of OCLC or RLIN -- it is a service they have free access to but it is not a free service. I encourage my patrons to consider donating their collections to an institution that is dedicated to the subject matter of the collection, somewhere the collection will be appreciated and used and not just warehoused as yet another acquisition. If I am interested in the history of or family from a certain locale, I will be more likely to inquire at the local library or historical society than the nearest institution that might have an online catalogue. At my institution our collections are catalogued, the archival and photograph collections as well as the books. Anyone can call, write or e-mail me to see what we might have in our holdings. Eventually, our catalogue and finding guides will be available on-line -- not through OCLC or RLIN -- but through our Web page, but that will have to wait until needed funds are available. Not everyone has the monetary resources that a university does -- but that certainly does not mean we do not give the same -- if not a higher -- level of care to the preservation, conservation, and cataloguing for access to every item that comes into our collections. I find it a disturbing thought that someone might choose to throw something away or resell it to an antiques dealer, simply because using Mr. DeBolt as their guide, their local historical society or library may not be online at this time and it is too much of a bother to try and find another repository that fits that criterion. Our first priority should be preservation of the item(s) and the willingness of the repository to make that item(s) as publicly accessible as is possible. It is also my responsibility as an archivist and a librarian to direct potential donors to the best repository for their collections. That may be our institution, the local historical society or library, another museum or even an institution in another state. I join with Mr. DeBolt in encouraging people to continue to save people's histories from the the oblivion of the garbage dump and applaud those who make a concerted effort to return these items to family members. I also join in encouraging people who fail to find family members for these pieces to seriously consider donating these items to institutions that can make good use of them. But to make online cataloguing a key point deciding what institution deserves these collections is I think, selling short the dedication of those of us who work in non-OCLC or RLIN institutions to the preservation of our history and the sharing of that information with the public. Christina Stopka Librarian/Archivist,Texas Ranger Research Center Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum P.O. Box 2570, Waco, TX 76702-2570 * * * * * HUMOR. Thanks to Louis R. Mills , Sebastopol, California, U.S.A.; SO MANY RELATIVES True story: A woman at my local Family History Center told us she had spent a great deal of time accumulating lists of all her suspected relatives on an island off Alaska, all Innuit Indians. They all had the same surname, UNK, and she asked the librarians for help sorting out relationships. She was embarrassed, but had a good laugh, when one of the librarians pointed out that UNK meant "unknown." * * * * * 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. 39, 29 September 1999. RootsWeb: BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW may be read online or downloaded from . TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS, send e-mail with only SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the message area to: .