ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 18, 3 May 2000, Circulation: 615,201 (c) 1998-2000 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ Advertising: rrti@rootsweb.com Media Contact: stwalsh@rootsweb.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE from the free weekly genealogy e-zines, ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS, send any e-mail to: rootsweb-review-unsubscribe@rootsweb.com TO SUBSCRIBE, send to rootsweb-review-subscribe@rootsweb.com DONATIONS HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU AND ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options (check or credit card), e-mail info@rootsweb.com or visit http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html 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 (Technical News; RootsWeb in the News; "Shaking Your Family Tree" Column Available at RootsWeb; Ancestors Book-T.V. Series; RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees; RootsWeb Guide GenConnect Boards) o WorldConnect Tip: New Display Options o NARA Reproduction Fee Schedule Proposed Rule -- Comments Invited o Connecting through RootsWeb o New Genealogy Mailing Lists o New Genealogy Web Pages o Celebrate Your Mothers: Tips for Finding Female Ancestors o GenConnect o USGenWeb Archives o Letters to the Editors o Humor o Reprint Policy, Back Issues (search or download) * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB TECHNICAL NEWS. Dr. Brian Leverich announced on 3 May 2000, "We just upgraded our main Internet connection to a premium UUNET DS3. After the dust settles, almost everyone should find the new circuit to be much faster than the old circuit. We have more upgrades in the works . . . Getting bigger and faster all the time." * * * ROOTSWEB IN THE NEWS. RootsWeb is mentioned in "Roots, Online," an article by Lucrezia Cuen for ABC News.com. The story focuses on Americans searching for their roots in other countries, particularly the United Kingdom. [Note: This is a long URL. You will have to type it or cut and paste both lines below into your browser window.] http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/ Genealogy000426_cuen.html * * * SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE COLUMN AVAILABLE AT ROOTSWEB. RootsWeb.com is pleased to bring noted genealogist Myra Vanderpool Gormley's weekly newspaper column, "Shaking Your Family Tree" (SYFT), to the World Wide Web. The column, which has been syndicated by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate since 1985, covers dozens of genealogy-related topics and provides valuable insight and wisdom to help you in your search to find your ancestors. http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/ In this week's SYFT column "Colorful Family Trees Abound," Gormley writes: "Many of the surnames Americans use today had become hereditary ones by the end of the 14th century in England, a little earlier in France, a bit later in Germany and other parts of Europe, and in Ireland long before the Norman invasions. The nickname category provides some of the colorful surnames that may adorn your family tree." * * * ANCESTORS BOOK/TV SERIES. "Ancestors," the highly successful PBS series, returns in June 2000 with a new format and 13 new episodes -- shot on location around the world. The series highlights records that genealogists use such as newspapers, immigration, military and the census. For information about the companion book and a full list of the new televised segments, see http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/notable/tv.htm * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ ROOTSWEB GUIDE GENCONNECT Boards http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/RWGuide/Queries/ http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/RWGuide/Names/ **PAID ADVERTISEMENTS** The May/June issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE previews the new 13-part Ancestors PBS series scheduled to air in June and includes articles "Tracing Your English & Welsh Roots," "Top Research Websites," "25 Tips for Researching at Family History Centers," "Using the Freedom of Information Act," "Tracing Ancestors through Civil War Records," and many others. Learn how to obtain a trial copy by visiting http://www.familychronicle.com. Obtain a trial copy of April/May HISTORY MAGAZINE with articles "Connecting the World: the History of the Telegraph and Telephone," "1910: Highlights of the Decade," "The Country Store," "The 1918 Influenza Pandemic that Killed More People than WWI," "Saffron, the World's Most Expensive Spice," and many others. Find out how you can obtain a trial copy by visiting http://www.history-magazine.com. ***************************************** FREE COMPLETE CATALOG 1300+ BOOKS & CD-ROMS all published by Heritage Books, Inc. Request Catalog #150 1-800-398-7709 or heritagebooks@pipeline.com HERITAGE BOOKS, INC. 1540 Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie MD 20715 ***************************************** Two Sources for Copies of Old Maps ... Bookmark These Sites OLD MAPS OF NEW ENGLAND AND NEW YORK from Historical Ink http://www.oldmapsne.com or http://members.aol.com/oldmapsne Quality reprints are available of maps from towns and villages in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Most are from 1865-1892 and show the family name on each house. Also shown: businesses, schools, churches, post offices, railroad tracks, etc. ($11-$14) OLD MAPS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY TOWNS from Gleason's Old Maps http://www.oldmapsetc.com or http://members.aol.com/oldmapsetc Also a few OH, IN, IL, CA towns. Photocopies only. ($5) **END PAID ADVERTISEMENTS** WORLDCONNECT TIP: NEW DISPLAY OPTIONS FOR WORLDCONNECT Randy Winch, WorldConnect's guru, recently added a "Register Report" format to the display options available. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ For those who already have a GEDCOM on file with WorldConnect four generations will be displayed on the "Register Report" by default. This also is true for new submitters who use the Standard setup page. However, new submitters who choose the Advanced setup page have the option of selecting two to six generations (item #11) to be displayed. The number of generations may be adjusted at any time using the Advanced setup page. Click on the link that says "Register" to produce a descendant-ordered report based upon the individual on whose page you are creating the report. The "Descendancy Chart" display shows an outline with selections ranging from three to 10 generations on the Advanced setup page. A "Pedigree Chart" is available in table (four generations) or text (three to 10 generations) format on the Advanced setup page. WorldConnect's Standard setup page does not specifically include these charts, but it uses the default options of six generations for the "Descendancy Report," and four generations (table format) for the "Pedigree Chart." WorldConnect database owners now may change the password for their accounts. See item #3 on both the Standard and Advanced setup pages. Instructions on changing display options are at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/#change RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project Suggestion Board and help are at http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/gedcom/ There are nearly 30 million names in WorldConnect's database. * * * * * NARA REPRODUCTION FEE SCHEDULE PROPOSED RULE -- COMMENTS INVITED The National Archives and Records Administration published a proposed rule beginning on page 24164 in the April 25, 2000, FEDERAL REGISTER to revise its fee schedule for reproduction of records in its custody. A copy of the proposed rule is also posted on NARA's web site at http://www.nara.gov/nara/fees-pro.html The proposed rule includes proposed changes to fees for self- service copying and the "fixed-fee" orders for certain genealogical records, including military service, pension, census, and passenger arrival records. Please read the proposed rule for further details. Comments must be submitted to the NARA Regulation Comment Desk by June 26, 2000. Nancy Allard, Policy and Planning Staff National Archives and Records Administration April 26, 2000 * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. I have been banging my head against several brick walls -- my great-grandfather, my husband's grandfather, my husband's great- grandfather -- and finally a crack appeared in one of them. One part of the crack was opened by a cousin to whom my father- in-law directed me. She had information on my husband's great- grandfather. This information provided a basis for further searching on RootsWeb. The first thing I found was the Polk County, Florida, page. There was a listing for Civil War pension records. I knew that the individual I was searching for, Daniel McLeod MARSHALL (and it didn't help me that I had his middle name misspelled), had been alive during the "late unpleasantness," and that he had ended up in Lakeland, Florida, so I started looking. I found his name. As indicated on the listing, I sent a check to the state archives of Florida, and recently received 13 pages of pension records, which gave me his regiment, enlistment and discharge dates, dates of birth, marriage, and death, and information on his (turns out to be third) wife. The cousin mentioned above was able to give me some information about all three of Daniel Marshall's wives (and 15 children). Then I blundered across the Barbour County, Alabama, Civil War Honor Roll on RootsWeb. That's where Daniel Marshall enlisted, and where his family lived. I wrote to the Webmistress of that site, suggesting that Daniel be added. She returned mail with the URL of a Web page on Daniel Marshall, maintained by one of his great-grandchildren -- and there is a photograph. I was thrilled. There was also a lot of additional information that I didn't have, and some corrections to prior information. I contacted the great-grandchild who had put up this Web page and found out that she had all the Alabama information, but nothing on the Marshall family after they moved to Florida in 1883. I have a lot of that, what with my father-in-law, the cousin I contacted at his encouragement, and the papers I received from the Florida state archives. It's a match made in genealogical heaven. Karen Rhodes ladyjaguar@earthlink.net (P.S. Now if only someone has information on my husband's grandfather, Andrew Lewis RHODES/RHOADES of Ohio and Florida, and my great-grandfather, Francis Harvey ("Frank") REED of Logansport, Indiana, I'll really be in heaven.) * * * * * MAILING LISTS. For an index to most genealogy mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW MAILING LIST REQUESTS. Please request new mailing lists at http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ 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 surname SCHLOSS, send your SUBSCRIBE message to SCHLOSS-L-request@rootsweb.com NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Baalham, Baumes, Bremsinger, Bretherton Callinan, Calnen, Coppess, Coulbeck, Croker Dubinksy, Duplessis Esherman Fishenden Gantner, Gentner Hoyland Kierce, Kinstley McCamish Magellan Markward, Maynez, Meisenheimer, Musselwhite Latson, Louramore, Lovelock Naney Perhamus, Petzolt, Phay, Prevo Real Salome, Schloss, Silkworth, Skirven, Sztern Tagliapietra, Tideswell, Trzynski Urich Waghalter, Wasielewski, Wiederman, Wieland NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS ENG-KENT-NWKFHS -- North West Kent Family History Society MONMOUTHSHIRE -- Monmouthshire, South Wales, U.K. NJ-NEWARK -- Newark, New Jersey History OTHER CA-CORNISH -- the Cornish in California GENEALOGY-RESEARCH-CLUB -- Helping novice to advanced be better genealogists GENEALOGY-TREASURES -- Discussion of ways to preserve old documents, photos, etc. * * * * * NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Please see the instructions at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi 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. http://www.rootsweb.com/~[account name]. Note that the ~[tilde] before the account name is required. FOR EXAMPLE, to visit the Dumbarton Parish, New Brunswick, Canada Web page, go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~nbdumbar/ CANADA nbclaren -- Clarendon Parish, New Brunswick nbdumbar -- Dumbarton Parish, New Brunswick ENGLAND engmdx -- Middlesex and Greater London U.S.A. iapcilgs -- Pocahontas County, Iowa -- Laurens Gen. Soc. kygreenu -- Greenup County, Kentucky kygreen2 -- Greenup County, Kentucky kywchgs -- Whitley County Historical and Gen. Soc. (Kentucky) nyasuvdm -- Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans, Department of Maine (New York) nchcgs -- Haywood County Gen. Soc., Inc. (North Carolina) paslchs -- Southern Lancaster County Hist. Soc. (Pennsylvania) SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES CHANNEL ISLANDS. Information available about the Channel Islands mailing list, Channel Islands surname interests list, volunteers/lookups, Index to 1849 Map of Jersey, Internet resources/genealogy and additional information. http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/ci.html CHICKASAW AND CHOCTAW FREEDMEN'S CENSUS CARD NUMBERS INDEX by Roll Number -- Scanned images of the COMPLETE FINAL ROLLS INDEX with census card numbers of Freedmen only. COMPLETE 1860 SLAVE SCHEDULE OF INDIAN LANDS (Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee Schedules). PICKENS, ROBERTS, STEVENSON, COLBERT Freedmen Census Cards. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ewyatt/_borders/ COON, WINTERS, HARRIS, DAVIS; Louisiana and Missouri http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coonfamilytree/ DAMOUTH ANCESTORS. DAMOUTH, SWEETMAN, BADOUR, WILEY, HANLAN, DAMOTH, DEMUTH, DAYMOUTH DAMUTH DEMOTH http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~damouth/ DIVINE GUIDANCE -- TRUE GENEALOGY STORIES http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cuzn/ GENEALOGY RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET. Compiled and continuously updated by Chris Gaunt and John Fuller. There is a wealth of genealogy resources on the Internet that can be accessed through mailing lists, USENET newsgroups, anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Gopher, World Wide Web, Telnet, and e-mail. This is an inventory of these resources based on personal investigation and the consolidation of information received from others. Please send your additions/corrections to the mailing list, newsgroup, FTP, and e-mail sections to johnf14246@aol.com http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/internet.html GILBERT and SMITH Family Genealogy. Descendents of John M. GILBERT, Gotleib SCHMIDT/SMITH, William David COX. Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gilbertgen KNOWLES FAMILY FILES. Census, marriage, and mortality indexes http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~knowles/ LUSITANIA. A list of passengers and crew (with biographical data like names, addresses, occupation, why traveling, etc., on some of them) onboard the LUSITANIA the day that it sank, May 7, 1915. A work in progress, it will be updated frequently. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~lusilist/ NICHOLS FAMILY FROM NORTHERN MARYLAND AND SOUTHERN PENNSYLVANIA http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~list/nichols/ SISSON Family Association http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~scismfam/guidelines.htm SOBEK, BAIER/BEIER, BERANEK, BREHLER/BRŽHLER/PRELER, BUSCH, DACHSEL, DANEHL, ECKARD, FAUST, FINKE, FREBEL/FREVEL/FREWEL/ GŽRTNER, GERCK, HELMER, HOMANN, HOSENFELD, JOST, KNAZ, KOLB, KRAFT, KREIS, KREJKA/KREJCI, KRESS, KUDELA, LANG, LEISTER, LINGEMANN, METZ, PFEIL, PLOCK, RIEMENSCHNEIDER, RIZ, SCHAUB, SCHEIBELHUT, SCHMID, SCHNEIDER, SCHRIMPF, SUKUP, TENENBAUM, TESARIK, VON KEITZ, WELS, WINGENFELD, SMOLIKOWSKI, et al.; Alsace, Austria, Czech, German, Polish, Irish http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sobek/ STEWART, CONVERSE, TEDROW, ELY, KAYLOR, ROBISON, et al. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~makaylor/index.html SULSER, SULSAR, SULCER, SULTZER, SULSOR, SULTSER http://sulser.rootsweb.com/ SURNAMES OF EAST KENTUCKY http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kyroots/surnames.html **PAID ADVERTISEMENT** CELEBRATE YOUR MOTHERS: TIPS FOR FINDING FEMALE ANCESTORS by Carol Gunby, Genealogy.com Well, it's spring again, and with Mother's Day on the way in the United States, it seems a good time to explore one of the most common genealogical puzzles -- how to identify your female ancestors and their family lines. Finding the women in your family tree starts pretty simply with mother, grandmothers, and aunts, but often begins to increase in difficulty just a few generations back. Let's examine some possible solutions. START WITH A MAIDEN NAME. One factor that can make it difficult to trace a female ancestor and her line is that women in some countries have traditionally taken their husband's name when they marry. In the United States, in many records such as wills, the wife will only be referred to by her first name. However, there are places to find clues. The marriage certificate itself is the best place to begin - it will likely list the bride's first and last name, and possibly also the names of her parents. If the marriage record is unavailable, you may be able to find her maiden name in vital records, for example in a birth certificate for one of her children. Another tip in relation to children is that many times the mother's maiden name is used for the child's middle name. Be aware of naming patterns like this across generations. For more information on naming patterns, see Donna Przecha's article "The Importance of Given Names" at http://www.genealogy.com/35_donna.html CLUES IN CENSUS RECORDS. Sometimes the hard part isn't finding the maiden name of an ancestor, but finding her at all. Because women haven't had equal rights in regard to things like inheritance and property ownership until relatively recently, finding your great-grandmother named in a land deed or similar document is somewhat rare. This is where census records can be a great help. While U.S. censuses prior to 1850 only list heads of household by name, those in 1850 and after list all members of the family. This is one of the easier ways to find the wife's name if you have already traced the male ancestor. For any U. S. census, a woman who was a widow at the time of the census will likely either be listed as the head of household in her own right, or living with a relative. These are just a few tips for finding the long line of mothers in your family tree. For more detailed information, take a look at another article by Donna Przecha, "Finding Female Ancestors," at http://www.genealogy.com/50_donna.html. **END PAID ADVERTISMENT** 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 http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/surnames/adoptable/ o For the form to request to adopt a GenConnect surname board (the same form is used for surname mailing list requests) http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ 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: Somebodys-Links-Newsletter-L-request@rootsweb.com, you can read and post notices to the GenConnect SOMEBODY'S LINKS board: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/SomebodysLinks/ * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- THE ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER contains the current USGenWeb Archives submissions from the last week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/ 1 May 2000 issue http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/2000/may/may1.htm 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: usgw-archives-announce-l-request@rootsweb.com * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS may be posted to the GenConnect board at http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/RWR-LettersToTheEditor or e-mailed to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com. [27 April 2000; Re "Grafting Family Trees" in RWR 3:17] Your point on fraudulent genealogies is well taken, but it would be hasty to dismiss all genealogies prompted by the frauds. I came across a HYDE genealogy originally done circa 1880, at the time of the HYDE estate fraud/hoax, which lists the immediate ancestry of my ggg-grandfather, who was alive at the time, and presumably knew whereof he spoke. He was born in 1803 in Vermont and other records don't exist, so that data helped me bridge the gap to other HYDEs whose ancestry is well documented and not particularly famous. Jeff Hecht jhecht@world.std.com [28 April 2000; Re "Grafting Family Trees" in RWR 3:17] I want to thank you so much for your article in ROOTSWEB REVIEW regarding estate frauds. I believe that my family was indeed the victim of just such a hoax. Our version was the "Lord Baltimore" family fortune. Copies of correspondence dated about 1915 indicate that all the cousins were being rounded up to get ready to receive their inheritance. Although the story varies somewhat in the various branches of the family, the one constant is that this money was going to come from some land in Maryland -- usually something along the lines of an old land lease given by the Calvert family to the City of Baltimore -- said lease being up after 99 years and millions of dollars to be awarded to the heirs, etc. Although there was no family fortune forthcoming, the hoax did result in a brother and sister, who had been separated as young children in 1880, being reunited. My great-grandmother's niece, Etta Swartz Adkins (daughter of Mary E. Speer) set out to find her baby brother, William, in order to be sure that he received his share of the pie. There may have been no inheritance, but what they received was just as good or better -- they met again after over 35 years and remained close until they died. These estate scams can actually be a valuable research tool. In 1915, there was a flurry of correspondence as all of the cousins set out to notify everyone of the great fortune to be had and those letters have often been saved as part of the family memorabilia. Although I may have located the source of the hoax (I'm hot on the trail), I have found that often these letters were from genuine cousins who were simply trying to spread the "good word." So far, virtually all of the cousins that I have found out of my Hobbs/Speer line have proven to have the Lord Baltimore legend in their families. Therefore, although their intentions may not have been honorable, I am grateful to those who united my cousins 85 years ago -- at least, it does make it easier for me to find them and I am now happily gathering the siblings of my great-great-great-grandmother, Nancy Hobbs -- looks like that is where the "royal" lineage lies. Teri [Posted to the WorldConnect board, 29 April 2000] http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/gedcom/ Thank you so much for the outstanding job you've done in constructing World Connect. I have been posting my files for years here and there online. . . a little on FTM, some from GED2HTML, some GED2WWW, etc. Always tough to get indexed decently in the search engines to be FOUND by anyone, and never a fraction of the features that you provide. I can't believe I didn't find you sooner. . . Carrie Bodensteiner bodenst@kichline.com [30 April 2000] Thanks for all the work you do. This is one of the high points in my day. Most genealogy stuff is stuffy but you keep it alive. Again, thank you. Dougand Jacobs dougandjacobs@usa.net [27 April 2000] I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your "newsletters" by e-mail. I have received a couple of them, and each time I can't wait to read them. What a terrific idea. Each newsletter is filled with so much information. Since receiving them, it has given me a new incentive to go back further and further in time. Thank you for providing this service. I hope I can be a contributor one of these days. Thanks to all. Carol Schatz cschatz@mail.jhmi.edu [Feedback to RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees, 30 April 2000] http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ Thanks for a great resource. I have used many of your lessons personally and wanted to thank each of you Julia, Rhonda, and Myra, and any unnamed helpers you may have had, for the job you all did in putting together such a great resource for all of us amateurs with other jobs who are also looking for our family roots. Edy Seehafer edythes@mscomm.com * * * * * HUMOR. This gurgled up from the editors' mailbog. If the author comes forward to be recognized, we'll be happy to give credit. ROCKET SCIENTIST Scientists at NASA have developed a gun built specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields. British engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made. But when the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurtled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, crashed through the control console, snapped the engineer's backrest in two and embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin. Horrified Britons sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and begged the U.S. scientists for suggestions. NASA's response was just one sentence, "Thaw the chicken." * * * * * 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 [author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given]. Previously published by RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 3, No. 18, 3 May 2000. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/ BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS are fully SEARCHABLE at http://search-rwr.rootsweb.com/ and may be DOWNLOADED from ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/ and ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/mlnews/