ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 10, 8 March 2000, Circulation: 404,179+ (c) 1998-2000 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: Advertising: Media Contact: 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 News and Notes at RootsWeb (What's New at RootsWeb?, WorldConnect, Behind the Scenes at RootsWeb, Password Central) o RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees (Poland, Russia, etc.) o Connecting through RootsWeb o New Genealogy Mailing Lists o New Genealogy Web Pages o Spotlight on Ship Passenger Lists o Spotlight on Women o GenConnect o USGenWeb Archives o Letters to the Editors o Humor o Reprint Policy, Back Issues, How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB WHAT'S NEW AT ROOTSWEB? One thing that's new is the revamped "What's New" page, which provides you with a quick and easy way to catch up on significant developments, resources, and services at RootsWeb, especially if you've been away or offline for a week or few. * * * WORLDCONNECT This week's tally of names in WorldConnect's GEDCOM database is 22,360,124. * * * BEHIND THE SCENES AT ROOTSWEB (The following exchange between RootsWeb staffers took place this week beside the cyber-water- cooler and well within note-taking range of your always-alert but only semi-techie editors). Joan: GEDCOMs they submit can serve as complete backups for their genealogy files. It is the perfect backup system since it is stored away from their own computer and their own house (in case of theft or fire) BUT, when the submitters try to remove portions of their data to "protect" the living BEFORE allowing WorldConnect to do its job of cleaning or removing [information about] the living, they also destroy a portion of the database that they could be preserving in case of emergency should they need to download it as a backup to restore their files. Pam: So, in other words, don't "clean the living" from your GEDCOM before uploading it to WorldConnect -- let WorldConnect clean it for you. Right? The "uncleaned" GEDCOM is preserved and a new "cleaned" GEDCOM is used for displaying in WorldConnect, right? Joan: Yep! When people try to "preclean" a GEDCOM, they often end up doing a halfway job and preventing WorldConnect from doing what Randy programmed it to do most efficiently. * * * PASSWORD CENTRAL is FREE for all RootsWeb users. It is your one-stop RootsWeb username/ password reminder place. Go to PasswordCentral if you forget your username or password for your GenConnect boards or the mailing lists you manage; or if you'd like a current list of the mailing lists to which you are subscribed; or need to know on which records in the SSDI or WorldConnect you've left Post-Em messages; or need your username or password for Personalized Mailing List (PML), the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL), or your Web space at RootsWeb; or if you want to find your RootsLink links. **PAID ADVERTISEMENT** The March/April issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE features an article on "Researching Your Irish Roots" by renowned genealogist Angus Baxter. Other articles include, "10 Best Local Library Resources," "Organizing Your Family Records," "How to Choose the Right Genealogy Software," "Why Film Research May Still be Your Best Choice", "Web sites Worth Surfing" and many others. Top genealogy writers have this to say about FAMILY CHRONICLE: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG--"If you haven't discovered FAMILY CHRONICLE you are in for a treat. . ." Dear MYRTLE--". . . this is a must have magazine." Carllene Marek--"FAMILY CHRONICLE is one of the very best genealogical magazines available today." Find out how you can obtain a trial copy by visiting You can now see a complete virtual copy of HISTORY MAGAZINE on our Web site at created in HTML and PDF file formats so that you can read and/or download the articles as they appear in the magazine. Articles include "Life in 1000 A.D.," "History of the Potato, or How a Vegetable Changed the World," "George Armstrong Custer, The Boy General," "Glittering Misery: the Lives of Army Officers' Wives on the Frontier," "An 1860 Dinner for Eight," "Before Electricit . . . What Our Ancestors Did After the Sun Went Down," and many others. Here's what top writers have to say about HISTORY MAGAZINE: Regina Hines--"Articles are written in a style that appeals to the average person rather than the historical scholar." Betty Kirkland--" You shouldn't miss a single issue of this delightful publication." Check out HISTORY MAGAZINE's new Web site-only feature, TODAY IN HISTORY, compiled by history writer Nancy Hendrickson, and find out what historic event happened on this day at **END PAID ADVERTISEMENT** ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES. In addition to brief, interactive online genealogy lessons, you'll find links to resources at RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet. New this week is Lesson 27: Poland, Russia, etc. INDEX TO LESSONS * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. I had a computer crash out of my Reunion genealogy program. Fortunately I was working on my smaller database (derived from my big huge one, which was still intact), but the little one really got trashed; had duplicates of about one-third of my names, one of which would open the person in question, the other would open someone else entirely. I finally solved it by remembering that I had made the GEDCOM to put up on WorldConnect . I just opened a "New" document, imported my own GEDCOM, and presto! A new small database. Of course it didn't have the people I added last week, but I went into my huge database, marked all the ones missing, and imported them into the smaller one. It really scared me for a while, because when I made that smaller database, I had to go into the larger database (which contains tons of collateral people) and mark, one at a time, all the people (out of 21,000) that were to be moved over to the small database of "direct" people. It took me about two days. Hooray for RootsWeb! Francesca Sutton * * * A few weeks ago I submitted my GEDCOM to WorldConnect . I had hoped others would contact me and new family would be found. I have had that happen. However, more importantly, WorldConnect was the backup I needed after my computer completely, totally, absolutely crashed. After getting it up and running again (many hours of sweat and toil later, and only close to tears) I began putting in my software program. Oh, how empty and lonely it looked with not one name instead of nearly 5,000. I then began to insert the numerous floppy disks that I had carefully backed up the program with (my hard drive was wiped clean -- I had nothing). The click and clack of the floppies running were music to my ears. Finally, I inserted the last disk. Within a moment or two a horrible message went up on my monitor. The computer could not read the final disk. I retried several times to no avail. I looked at the little disks that were of no use to me and at my shelves heavy with numerous notebooks stuffed with all of my family research. My fingertips started feeling sore at the thought of the work ahead of me. Suddenly, it occurred to me I could download my family information from the WorldConnect program. I went in and changed information so everything would be available to me. Hitting the download button, I held my breath. A few short minutes later, my genealogy program opened and there was all of my family tree, notes, and documentation. What a gift I had given myself by submitting my family GEDCOM to the WorldConnect program. I certainly had never envisioned using it in this manner. Thank you for having a site where one can upload the information, control what is available to others, yet be able to change those parameters, and know it will not be sold. I am forever in your debt. Thank you. Nancy Hagen * * * Having been introduced to the genealogy bug by my brother-in-law a couple of years ago I have spent quite some time logging all the known family members into my Family Tree Maker files. I recently ran across two items which spurred me on to bigger and better things. One was a letter from my father's cousin which mentioned that her son was living in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and the other was a 1981 picture of some family members I did not even know existed. They were the grandchildren of my grandfather's younger brother. Armed with the little bit of information I had I went on the look through the People Finder and 411 phone directories for Minnesota. Sure enough, there was my cousin listed in the city that I thought he was in. A telephone call to the local directory assistance proved fruitless as he had an unlisted number. The local police department had a Web site so I e-mailed them giving his name, my name and the reason I was trying to contact him and asked if they would please contact him and see if he was interested in communicating with me. Two days later he called and we are now reunited after 40 years of not knowing where the other was. The funny part was that he said he had been wondering what had happened to me just two days before the police contacted him. Is that Fate, or what? As for the unknown cousins, I had so much success finding one cousin I thought I would try again and went looking for Townsends in Minnesota. I found quite a number of them with the right names (which were on the reverse side of the 1981 photograph) and started dialing. After about the sixth call I found one. After talking to his wife for about half an hour I got busy with the information she gave me. Evidently when he got home she said, "Guess who I was talking to?" He said, "Who?" She said, "Your cousin in Canada." He said, "I don't have a cousin in Canada," to which she replied, "You do now." He had not been aware that I existed. We are both excited and sharing family information. After missing an entire generation we have the family back together again. Thanks to the Internet we can now pursue our roots together. Thank you for your site and the information you produce. Wayne Townsend Victoria, British Columbia, Canada **PAID ADVERTISEMENT** HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGIST by Carolyn Earle Billingsley and Desmond Walls Allen. How to find clients, set fees, write research contracts, become certified, specialize in niche markets, and make a living doing what you enjoy. 26 pages. ORGANIZING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY SEARCH, Efficient & Effective Ways to Gather and Protect Your Genealogical Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. Save time, money, and space as you learn to organize everything from filing cabinets to research trips. Learn how to protect family artifacts and develop an effective storage system for CD-ROMs, disks, books, conference materials, microforms, and more. 150 pages. Buy both for the special price of $21.95. Special Ends 15 March. To order, visit With every purchase RootsWeb gets a 10% donation. You can also call to order from the Family Storehouse Sales Department at 1-800-725-5013. **END PAID ADVERTISEMENT** MAILING LISTS. For an index to most genealogy mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit NEW MAILING LIST REQUESTS. 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 interested in the NETHERLANDS, send your SUBSCRIBE message to NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Bickerdyke, Braddom, Brading Carsey, Cerny, Clingen, Curlee Derkacz, Draffen, Drebenstedt Empey, Ermler Fermanis, Fichner Galeano, Glazener, Golchert Haylings, Hesch Immel, Irish-Nicholl (Irish people with surname NICHOLL) Joyal Kangas, Kantner, Kitley Lade, Lepp McCammond, McGarty Mittelstet, Mogdan Nace Pardo Reichter, Roberds Santi, Sedrick, Shewan, Shurtliff, Statzer, Streatfield Tereau, Tauchen, Teckemeyer, Ticossi, Tungate, Twilley Venenga, Vivrett Wathan, Whiffen NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CANADA CAN-ONT-NORTHUMBERLAND ITALY ITALY NETHERLANDS NETHERLANDS U.S.A. CAVALLEJOGS -- Genealogy Society of Vallejo, California GAGSCOUNCIL -- Georgia Genealogical Societies Council KYMAGOFFIN-HISTORY -- Magoffin County, Kentucky Historical Society MASOUTHESSEX -- South Essex, Massachusetts NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, AND MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS DUST-BOWL-ROOTS FHSA -- Family History Society of Arizona FGRGBOARD -- FOX Genealogical Research Group Board **PAID ADVERTISEMENT** **************************************** FREE TWICE-MONTHLY EMAIL NEWSLETTER Dozens of Books & CDs at Publisher-Only Sale Prices in Each Issue Message "subscribe email newsletter" to heritagebooks@pipeline.com HERITAGE BOOKS, INC. 1540 Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie MD 20715 **************************************** **END PAID ADVERTISEMENT** 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 FAROE ISLANDS WORLDGENWEB page, go to AUSTRALIA qldssvg -- South Suburbs Victorian Group (Queensland) qldkshs -- Kilcoy Shire Historical Society (Queensland) FAROE ISLANDS frowgw -- Faroe Islands (WorldGenWeb) NEW ZEALAND nzlnelso -- Nelson and Bays SWEDEN swewgw -- Sweden U.S.A. casyhsmc -- Santa Ynez Historical Society Museum and Carriage House (California) incccpc -- Clark County Cemetery Preservation Committee (Indiana) inmstwnt -- Indiana Most Wanted miafamer -- African American Genealogy (Michigan) njcweeha -- Weehawken, New Jersey (city) tnmarion -- Marion County, Tennessee txbchs -- Burleson County Historical Society (Texas) txstc -- Save Texas Cemeteries SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES BUCH, BULLOCK, CHRIST, EICHELBERGER, FASNACHT, GABLE, JACOBS, RODMAN, TALLEY, TROOP; in Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties, Pennsylvania CHRIST, MOHLER, MOHN, PFAUTZ, MARTIN, KELLER, SENSENIG, OBERHOLTZER, MILLER, ROYER; mostly in Berks, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties, Pennsylvania COON FAMILIES OF EAST CENTRAL INDIANA (COON, KOON, and KUHN families who originally migrated from what is now West Virginia and settled in Hancock and Henry counties, Indiana. Unrelated families with the surname KOONS are also covered) FANNIN COUNTY GENEALOGY SOCIETY (GEORGIA) GILLON (Linlithgow, Glasgow, Clydebank, Scotland); HAY (New Kilpatrick, Scotland); GALBRAITH, MCDIARMID (Islay, Scotland) LONDON FAMILY GENEALOGY. Descendants of John LONDON of Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey OCS CLASS 58B -- history of a USAF commissioning group * * * * * SPOTLIGHT ON SHIP PASSENGER LISTS AT ROOTSWEB IMMIGRANT SHIPS TRANSCRIBERS GUILD (ISTG). Search passenger lists of ships going to and coming from ports all over the world by name of passenger, name of captain, name of ship, port of departure, port of arrival, date of departure, or date of arrival. For information and links to additional resources, see ISTG's excellent "The Compass." THE OLIVE TREE GENEALOGY has organized the passenger lists at its site for ships arriving at ports in the U.S.A. by place of arrival . Searches may also be made by surname or by year of sailing at * * * SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN AT ROOTSWEB NOTABLE WOMEN ANCESTORS. Submit a biography of your own notable woman ancestor and read the articles submitted by others to this fascinating site. For example, you might read a brief biography of the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada, Jennie Kidd GOWANLOCK, who was born on April 21, 1841 in Wooden Mills, Parish of Kelso, Scotland and immigrated to Canada with her parents (Andrew GOWANLOCK and Elizabeth KIDD) in 1847. March is National Women's History Month in the U.S.A. You might like to see how it is being observed by The National Women's History Project.htm * * * * * GENCONNECT. RootsWeb hosts many surname GenConnect boards that are in need of people to maintain them. 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, in addition to submitting a notice for publication in the "Somebody's Links" section of MISSING LINKS or in the SOMEBODY'S LINKS NEWSLETTER (to subscribe, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE to: , you can read and post notices to the GenConnect SOMEBODY'S LINKS board: * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- THE ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER contains the current USGenWeb Archives submissions from the last week. March 6, 2000 issue USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE-L is a read-only mailing list for weekly announcements of new updates and submissions to the USGenWeb Archives. To subscribe, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE in the body of the message to this address: [Some have written to lament the absence of lists of new files and their URLs that used to be published weekly in RWR. They are no longer needed, because The Archives Newsletter publishes that information and it is available to anyone who subscribes to USGW- ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE-L@rootsweb.com or visits the URL given above.] * * * * * Twenty-Year Collection of Genealogy Books and Newsletters for Sale by private owner or at this Web site: * * * * * PEDIGREES ON PARADE. 9 March 2000. In Belgium, March 9 is the festival for furry felines, also known as the Cat Festival, while in England the Crufts Dog Show -- called the world's greatest -- gets underway in Birmingham, West Midlands. Meanwhile, back in America, according to the quirky Spring calendar at it is Panic Day, co-sponsored by the Sky is Falling Committee. * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS may be posted to the GenConnect board at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/RWR-LettersToTheEditor or e-mailed to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com. [This is from a new Sponsor, in response to the thank you/ acknowledgement letter sent by Dr. Leverich when contributions are processed.] I'm almost ashamed to accept your thanks. I have [managed] a mailing list and a GenConnect board for nearly three months. However, it is only recently that I began to see the enormous scope of RootsWeb. I cannot claim that I have gained any great insights into my search, in fact, all I have really done is post information for others. But, I am able to realize that every journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. I am grateful to have RootsWeb's services and I am proud to be a part of it, not only as a sponsor but also as an active participant. Many thanks to you and everyone else who make RootsWeb possible. Deborah McNulty Hughes * * * Enclosed please find my check . . . I decided I've been a "silent user" long enough. So far I've been able to track down my husband's great-great-grandfather on his father's side, as well as my great-great-grandfather on my father's side. Neither one of us knew anything about their lines, so this was a wonderful find for us both. I've enjoyed the various sites you offer, and belong to two surname lists at present, and though my husband and I are in our 70s and have been retired 15 years, I want to do my part to offer what little financial support I can. Thanks so much for everything you offer for genealogists everywhere -- be they experts or, like me, new at the game. Dorothy L. (Hall) Knight * * * For some time now I have been enjoying the many online newsletters and mailing lists. As a result, I've discovered a previously unknown third cousin on my mother's side and a collection of relatives of an aunt on my father's side. I've found helpful people all over the U.S.A. and Canada (I've not looked elsewhere yet) who have guided me in genealogical research and taken time to look up materials in their geographic neighborhoods. RootsWeb is just terrific! I cannot thank you enough for the marvelous discoveries I've made . . . I enclose a check . . . as a small token of my appreciation. Coralie J. Allen, * * * * * HUMOR. Thanks to Rhonda R. McClure for forwarding the following item from the March 1, 2000 "Orange Peel Gazette" (P.O. Box 700792, St. Cloud, FL 34770-0792; 407-892-5556). My father loved to tell those "I-had-it-so-rough-growing-up" stories. And I'm not talking about that "I-had-to-walk-ten- miles-through-snow-to-school" story. No, that was for amateurs. My dad was raised in the Great Depression. He had to carry ice on his back and sell it door-to-door in the dead of winter. He made five cents a year and gladly shared it with 20 other families living together in a one-bathroom house. And once a week they would go out and help people less fortunate than themselves, which to my mind were lepers and dead people. I couldn't figure out who could be less fortunate than my father's family. He had a story for everything. If I complained about homework, I got this one: "When I was a boy, we couldn't afford books. I had to go to the library and copy the entire encyclopedia by hand -- but we couldn't afford paper, so I had to scratch on the back of a sheet of ice and run home before it melted." * * * * * 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. 3, No. 10, 8 March 2000. 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: .