ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 2, No. 42, 20 October 1999, Circulation: 365,196+ (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.) * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE: o Murphy Romps through RootsWeb o Announcements from the CEO (Free Pages, WorldConnect, Social Security Death Index August and September 1999 Updates) o RootsWeb's Online Lesson 17: Church Records o RootsWeb in the News o Communities New Mailing Lists and Web Pages o Connecting through RootsWeb o Mailing Lists o Web Pages o GenConnect o USGenWeb Census Project o Letters to the Editors o Humor o Reprint Policy, Back Issues, How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES AT ROOTSWEB UFO BRINGS BRIEF FROM BRIAN. The epistle from Dr. Brian Leverich, brief and cryptic, served as a reminder that life is not perfect. In part it read, "Tue, 19 Oct 1999 09:32:53 . . . this morning a semi-trailer truck took out the high-voltage power lines across I-5 and everything within 20 miles of [a RootsWeb NOC] is without power." The full moon is nigh. * * * ANNNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CEO by Robert R. Tillman o 1,768 FREE PAGES REQUESTS RECEIVED AND FULFILLED. As of 20 October 1999, the second week of the beta test of RootsWeb's Free Pages, we have received and fulfilled 1,768 requests for unlimited free Web space at RootsWeb. We strongly encourage all of you, particularly genealogy and historical societies, to move your Web sites to RootsWeb. Please tell your friends. To see the complete Free Pages announcement, please click on . Please remember that ONE Free Pages account can accommodate MULTIPLE Web sites, each of which can be located in a different section of RootsWeb. You can change or remove completely your Free Pages Web site at any time and RootsWeb will never burn it onto a CD-ROM or charge others to access it. FREEPAGES Directory (users' pages at FREEPAGES): o 2,227,126 NAMES ON ROOTSWEB WORLDCONNECT PROJECT AFTER FIRST WEEK OF BETA TEST. As of 20 October 1999, RootsWeb users have uploaded more than two million names to the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project. Many users have told us that the upload software used in the WorldConnect project is by far the fastest and most fully featured of its kind. You can search the names already uploaded or upload you own GEDCOM at: . You have full control over your GEDCOM at RootsWeb. You can change or remove it completely at any time and RootsWeb will never burn it onto a CD-ROM or charge others to access it. o ROOTSWEB WILL NOW ACCEPT GEDCOMs ON REMOVABLE MEDIA. If you are having trouble uploading your GEDCOM for any reason, please feel free to send it to us on a floppy disk or ZIP drive disk to: RootsWeb WorldConnect Project, 1001 Tower Way, #120, Bakersfield, CA 93309. We will upload it for you and send you notification by e-mail of your account name and password. Our default display choice will be to remove the names of everyone in your GEDCOM who was born within the past 100 years. Thereafter, you can change the viewing options at any time by going to . Please remember to enclose your e-mail address with your disk or we will have no way to notify you of your account name and password. Please also note that we will destroy the disks we receive after uploading the GEDCOMs contained on such disks. o SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX UPDATED FOR AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 1999. NOW INCLUDES 62,259,198 NAMES. RootsWeb's implementation of the Social Security Death Index now includes full updates for August and September 1999. As you may recall, the previous August update included no entries (deaths), only corrected entries. We received a corrected August 1999 update at the same time that we received the regular September 1999 update. Both are now included. Please remember to use RootsWeb's Post-Ems to correct entries you know are in error or to leave a note for other researchers. You can access the Social Security Death Index at . * * * ROOTSWEB IN THE NEWS. RootsWeb is mentioned in: o PCNOVICE/Smart Computing's "Guide to the Web" (Vol. 7, Issue 11, pp. 110-111) in the Hobbies and Special Interest section; o Margot Hornblower's "A Thirst for Connection" that appears in the Fall/Winter 1999 issue of BEST CHOICES magazine. The listing is included under General (most comprehensive) Web sites. Hornblower's article was adapted from TIME magazine; and o TEEN MAGAZINE, November 1999 issue, p. 98, in an Internet column called "Pixelle's World." * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES, Lesson 17, CHURCH RECORDS: . All RootsWeb Guide interactive genealogy lessons are available in HTML and PDF formats. Visit the RootsWeb Guide index page at: . * * * "DearMYRTLE" MOVES TO ROOTSWEB. DearMYRTLE, a seven-days-per- week genealogy column, began in 1995 and until this year was available only to AOL subscribers. In 1999 the column was made available also on Myrt's personal Web site. On 15 October 1999, DearMYRTLE moved her pages to a new Web site at RootsWeb . Says Myrt, "[t]hanks to the wonderful folks at RootsWeb.com, I'll now have the space to provide graphic examples to amplify discussions of genealogy resources. . . Having more space will allow [me] to go forward with plans for multimedia how-to lessons and expansion of the Family Heirlooms Archives Project." * * * * * COMMUNITIES MAILING LISTS. Communities mailing lists are listed at as soon as they are established. You can subscribe to a list at that page. To learn which communities lists are up for adoption, visit: . Arts Community SCULPTURE Books Community WINNIE-THE-POOH Computers Community NETSCAPE Crafts Community FLINT-KNAPPING Dance Community BALLET Events Community WAR-ZONES Food Community CROCKPOTS, MICROWAVE-COOKING, OUTDOOR-GRILLING Health Community SLEEP Living Community SELF-IMPROVEMENT Outdoors Community BOW-HUNTING, GUN-HUNTING Religions Community COMPARATIVE Travel Community BED-AND-BREAKFAST, LAS-VEGAS Work Community RURAL-STEWARDS NEW WEB PAGES IN COMMUNITIES: * ADVERTISEMENT * GREAT GIFTS FOR GENEALOGISTS! Hattie's Clothesline offers coffee mugs, mousepads, totebags, T-shirts, and sweatshirts designed just for family historians -- perfect holiday gifts. Now through 31 December 1999, buy one, get one at half price. Call 800-673-1344 or visit today. * ADVERTISEMENT * Did you see the PBS series ANCESTORS? Get the entire 10-episode series in VHS format. This is the first national PBS broadcast series about how to do effective genealogy and family history. It contains powerful stories of those who have done successful research as well as practical instruction on how viewers should do their own research. With this 10-Video set, we are also offering a paperback instruction manual and the third paperback: CAPTURING THE PAST: HOW TO PREPARE AND CONDUCT AN ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW. You can buy all three this week for $99.95. Additional complete sets are available for $89.95. Great holiday gifts for any family. Order on the secure site at , or call the FamilyStoreHouse Sales Department at 1-800-725-5013 and mention RootsWeb. FamilyStoreHouse will donate 10% of the sales proceeds to RootsWeb. WATER AND WARMTH EMERGENCY KIT -- a package FamilyStoreHouse has put together to provide for those essentials in an emergency or camping. Included in this kit are an extra-warm fleece sleeping bag, a light-weight water filter, and enough water/wind proof matches to keep you warm for several days. At just $42.95 you save more than 20% off the individual prices, and it is affordable enough to have one for each family member. Order on the secure site at or call the FamilyStoreHouse Sales Department at 1-800-725-5013 and mention RootsWeb. FamilyStoreHouse will donate 10% of the sales proceeds to RootsWeb. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. As a way to keep me busy (I am now handicapped), my older sister had me start doing the family tree. Our list of family members was only about 20 (we are adopted), but using your resources, I have added more than 200 names. I found cousins and one other very special person -- a brother. He was using your site and came across my message posted December 1999, which only stated that I was looking for information about my grandparents. Noticing that we were from the same state, he e-mailed me late August. After four days of e-mailing back and forth and talking on the telephone, we had come to the conclusion that we were related. Three weeks later I made a trip back to my home state and got the necessary information confirming we were indeed brother and sister. A week ago, we met for the first time in 48 years and the reunion was awesome. You made this possible and I want to thank you. Anonymous * * * * * 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, to discuss Family Treasures software, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: . NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BARD BELSHAM LOWRANCE (includes LORENTZ and LORANCE) MAYFIELD-CHAT (where MAYFIELD subscribers can chat leaving the MAYFIELD-L mailing list to concentrate on genealogy) MCDANIEL-BRITTAIN (descendants of Albrittain MCDANIEL) MINCEY (includes MINCY) QUESTED REISWIG (includes RISEWICK, RICEWICK, REISWICK, REISWICH, REISSWICK, REISSWICH, REISSWIG, REISZWIG, REUSWIG, REUSSWIG) SELLARDS (ancestors and descendants of Hezikiah SELLARDS, father of Indian captive Jenny [SELLARDS] Wiley) SOUFFRONT TREMBATH WEIKERT WILEY-JENNY (history and genealogy of Indian captive and pioneer heroine, Jenny [Sellards] WILEY) WORTLEY NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS GADATA -- To submit data files to Georgia USGenWeb Archives NCGEN-CENSUS -- USGenWeb Archives mailing list for census transcription volunteers working in North Carolina USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE -- weekly announcement only listing new updates and submissions to the USGenWeb Archives WAGEN-CEM -- USGenWeb Archives mailing list for cemetery transcription volunteers working in Washington WAGEN-CENSUS -- USGW Archives mailing list for census transcription volunteers working in Washington NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, AND MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS FAMILY-TREASURES (for those using the family history software "Family Treasures") WICOCOMICO-NATION (for descendants of Wicocomico Indian Nation) * * * * * 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 Nebraska Newspaper Project Web page, go to . CANADA ondur -- Durham County, Ontario onnbl -- Northumberland County, Ontario onvic -- Victoria County, Ontario U.S.A. arpcahs -- Pike County Archives and Historical Society (Arkansas) gauhs -- Upson Historical Society (Georgia) kypoc -- People of Color (Kentucky) mimanist -- Manistee County, Michigan mircgs -- Roscommon County Genealogical Society (Michigan) moccl -- Christian County Library (Missouri) nenews -- Nebraska Newspaper Project njpchsgc -- Passaic County Historical Society Genealogical Club (New Jersey) ohcdcwgm -- Camp Dennison Civil War Grounds and Museum (Ohio) okgarfi2 -- Garfield County, Oklahoma (2) oktgs -- Tulsa Genealogical Society (Oklahoma) scccscgs -- Columbia Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society tnscv33 -- Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 33 txhunt -- Hunt County, Texas txsmhcgs -- San Marcos/Hays County Genealogical Society (Texas) utcubangs -- Cuban Genealogical Society (Utah) vascvgs -- South Central Virginia Genealogical Society walcgs -- Lewis County Genealogical Society (Washington) wioneida -- Oneida County, Wisconsin wivernon -- Vernon County, Wisconsin wivilas -- Vilas County, Wisconsin * * * * * 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) Have you found a genealogical treasure, such as a photo album or an old Bible containing a completed family record page, that you would like to see reunited with its family? If so, you may post a notice about it on the SOMEBODY'S LINKS GenConnect board at . * * * * * USGENWEB CENSUS PROJECT -- TRANSCRIPTIONS ARKANSAS. 1830 Conway County Federal Census GEORGIA. 1830 Washington County Federal Census ILLINOIS. 1820 Crawford County Federal Census ILLINOIS. 1860 Ogle County Federal Census (Marion & Scott Twps.) ILLINOIS. 1830 Pike County Federal Census ILLINOIS. 1860 Vermilion County Federal Census (Carroll Twp.) INDIANA. 1850 DeKalb County Federal Census (Fairfield Twp.) LOUISIANA. 1810 Orleans Parish Federal Census (New Orleans) MASSACHUETTS. 1900 Berkshire County Federal Census (Adams) MASSACHUETTS. 1910 Worcester County Federal Census (Leominster) MARYLAND. 1790 Caroline County Federal Census MISSISSIPPI. 1840 Lawrence County Federal Census MISSISSIPPI. 1850 Marion County Federal Census OHIO. 1850 Fulton County Federal Census OHIO. 1850 Henry County Federal Census OHIO. 1870 Medina County Federal Census PENNSYLVANIA. 1850 Carbon County Federal Census PENNSYLVANIA. 1800 Fayette County Federal Census (Saltlick Twp.) PENNSYLVANIA. 1830 Schuykill County Federal Census (Wayne) TENNESSEE. 1850 Jefferson County Federal Census (13th dist.) TENNESSEE. 1830 McNairy County Federal Census TEXAS. 1850 Jackson County Federal Census TEXAS. 1880 Lee County Federal Census VIRGINIA. 1850 Fauquier County Federal Census (Partial) VIRGINIA. 1820 Middlesex County Federal Census * * * * * 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. THANK YOU for the free Web site. THANK YOU for the digest and list. THANK YOU for putting up with complaints, gripes by the impatient and rude. THANK YOU for not canceling this project because of the ingrates. THANK YOU for your help and the help and constructive advice by others on the list. I've wanted to put my information only on RootsWeb and I can't believe my good luck that you have given me a site. I've been sitting here watching the fireworks and mayhem. I'll get mine up and rolling soon, in large part due to the advice and work of others. THANK YOU. [The foregoing message was posted to on 13 October 1999 by Anita Palmer .] * * * I stumbled onto the "Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness" Web site and within a few hours and several e-mails one of the volunteers from Anderson County, Texas was able to locate and take photos of a great-great- Uncle's grave and family tombstones. We had been searching for more than two years. This kind person even went so far as to send a death certificate and funeral record. My "Random Act" in turn was provide a color copy of a family Coat of Arms (suitable for framing) to someone researching another family surname. Thank you for this wonderful Web site. Estelle * * * These are a few of the comments posted over the past week to RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project suggestion board at . This has to be the greatest resource for genealogy yet. Within the first half hour of uploading my own GEDCOM I found someone else's with my name in it. I sent him a message and by evening had a call from him (turns out he lives across town from me). Steven Howard, Wellington, New Zealand Thank you RootsWeb for this brilliant brilliant GEDCOM project! It's the best genealogy resource I've seen to date on the Internet! Especially in terms of its format and opportunity to exchange information. Thank you so much. Mike Rayside Just uploaded 11 MB+ GEDCOM. Expected to take most of the day as I've got an antique 75MHz 'pooter with 28.8 modem. Took only about 45 min! GREAT! God bless you, one and all... Bob Manning Wow! This is fantastic! I just uploaded a small sample GEDCOM to test it out, as well as testing the surname searches, and your system just blows me away. You handle sources very nicely and automatically! The system response is just amazingly fast. Congratulations all around Dennis * * * May I add to the discussion from across "The Pond," on the views expressed by regarding the use of place names in genealogy lists, etc.? The great thing about electronic mail is that it is international and I can send this message from my home in HW Bucks directly to RootsWeb. . . Many of the old European place names were adopted by immigrants, helping them to feel at home in their new country. Once I was told "Oh, he died in London" -- and, of course, I assumed it to be London, England rather than London, Ontario. Confusion all around! So may I add a plea for full place names with state and country when it may not be clear to everyone on the list? And HW Bucks? Oh, that's High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK! Valerie Elliott * * * Canada's code is CAN. I believe the International Standards Organization (ISO) standard is three letters for countries: USA, DEU, POL, with a few exceptions (UK) and two for states/ provinces: WA, CA, ON, QC. . . Bob Gillis * * * I couldn't help noticing your frequent references to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Web site [at RootsWeb] -- a fascinating document. Not only might it help me in further genealogical research, but it may help me with my various creative writing projects (picking names for characters that match their background and time period). Yet it has a fatal flaw, no pun intended. (Well, maybe.) One day I started wondering exactly how far back the SSDI records went, so I typed in a few dates (birth = 1880, birth = 1890, etc.) and was startled to find the SSDI had records on people who were born as far back as 1800! But then I noticed something, specifically the record of one Margara MORALES. She was born in December 1800 and died in September 1987. Doesn't this strike you as odd? This can mean only one of two things: (1) Ms. MORALES lived to be 186 years old (Puh-leaze.) OR (2) There's been a data error. A big one. So I checked the other dates for people born in 1800. A few of them seemed semi-reasonable (born 1800, died 1902), but most were not (for example, born 1800, died 1979). I think someone at the Social Security Administration should know about this. So I'm thinking of compiling a database of potentially false records for eventual transmission to the SSA's central office in Baltimore, not just for the benefit of fellow RootsWeb members ("Hey, Ma! Did you know great-great-aunt Rena lived to be 179 years old?") but also for the SSA itself. Is this advisable? And do you think anyone out there would be willing to assist m? Fourteen people here, 33 people there -- the finished database may reach behemoth proportions! Vladimir ENLOW * * * * * HUMOR: Thanks to Pam Henry . My face in the mirror Isn't wrinkled or drawn. My house isn't dirty The cobwebs are gone. My garden looks lovely And so does my lawn. I think I might never Put my glasses back on. * ADVERTISEMENT * NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCIAL PROBATE RECORDS, 1635-1771 is now on CD-ROM. This CD contains electronic image reprints of nine volumes of early New Hampshire probate records. These volumes were originally published (1907-1941) as volumes 31-39 of the NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCIAL AND STATE PAPERS. They contain complete transcripts of all wills and abstracts of all other papers in the probate files, and cover all estates settled in the province down to 1771. Each volume has a human-generated name and place index. The user sees the works just as they were originally published, and they look and function like "real" books. Electronic "bookmarks" make it easy to move through the books, and from book to book. The required Adobe Acrobat Reader is provided free on the CD for Windows and Macintosh systems. 1999, 5,907 pp., Cat#: R1163, $40. Sale price $32 (plus shipping) until 29 October 1999. Order from: Heritage Books, Inc. 1-800-398-7709 ext. 27; 9-5 Eastern. * ADVERTISEMENT * "Kindred Konnections has to be the best Web site I have come across. I have found more of my family tree here in two days than in several years of research." B. Peltier. Over 374 Million Names -- World's Largest. * * * * * 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. 42, 20 October 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: .