ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 28, 12 July 2000, Circulation: 641,816+ (c) 1998-2000 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS are free, weekly e-zines. Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com Advertising: advertising@rootsweb.com RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ E-Mail Changes: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/FAQ/address.html Data Submission Form: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit.html Check New Databases Often: http://searches.rootsweb.com/ IN THIS ISSUE: o News and Notes at RootsWeb (New Searchable Databases; "Eye on the Internet" Radio Show; Who's Got the Data?; Database Removed; WorldConnect Tip; Shaking Your Family Tree; RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees) o Connecting through RootsWeb o Keeping Genealogy "Free" on the Internet o New Genealogy Mailing Lists o New Genealogy Web Pages o GenConnect o USGenWeb Archives o Letters to the Editors o Humor o Reprint Policy; Back Issues; How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe RootsWeb's WORLDCONNECT contains more than 35.6 million names and new GEDCOMs are added daily. Have you searched WorldConnect lately? Have you uploaded your own GEDCOM? Remember, unlike any other GEDCOM database on the Web, WorldConnect allows you to include references and notes. If a researcher wants to add information or leave word for any reason, he or she can append a message to the file using an exclusive RootsWeb Post-em note. Don't delay; upload today! http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB NEW DATABASES AT ROOTSWEB. RootsWeb thanks all of the individuals and groups who contribute their data to share with the genealogical community. See full list of contributors at http://userdb.rootsweb.com/contributors.html New fully searchable user databases added to RootsWeb in the past week and their contributors are: KENTUCKY MARRIAGE INDEX, 1973-2000; 1,213,864 records Vital Statistics System, Kentucky Department of Health http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ky/marriage/search.cgi MAINE DEATH INDEXES, 1960-1997; 401,960 records, 34,245 surnames Maine Office of Secretary of State, Archives Division http://userdb.rootsweb.com/me/death/search.cgi MISSOURI, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, St. Louis City Directories (DALTON surname); 5,371 records; Regina Negrycz http://userdb.rootsweb.com/citydir/ * * * "EYE ON THE INTERNET" RADIO SHOW. Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG and Rhonda R. McClure are scheduled to be interviewed on Monday, 17 July 2000 between 7:20-7:40 p.m. Central Time on the KRLD 1080/Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas radio show hosted by Katie Pruett. * * * WHO'S GOT THE DATA? Does your state, province, county, parish, or church have a database available that has not yet been placed on RootsWeb and that you think would be of interest to genealogists and historians? Do you have a database that you would like to share that you think would be of value and interest to others? In most cases, RootsWeb would be proud to host them. Please use the new data submission form to tell us about such databases: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit.html Is it a family tree database? If you created a file using popular genealogy software such as Personal Ancestral File (PAF), Family Tree Maker (FTM), Family Origins, The Master Genealogist, Ultimate Family Tree, Sierra's Generations, Kindred Konnections, Legacy, Brother's Keeper, etc., check the program's manual to learn about creating a GEDCOM file from the data. If you can create a GEDCOM (GEDCOM is the acronym for GEnealogical Data COMmunication, the standard format by which genealogical data are transferred from one genealogy program to another), then it is a family tree database and you can share it via WorldConnect at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ Other databases are usually created in the following programs and will have these extensions: Microsoft Access (all years): .mdb .adp .mdw .mda .mde Microsoft Excel: .xls Microsoft Exchange: all Microsoft Outlook: all Microsoft Word (all platforms, all years): .db .ss .mcw Microsoft Works: .wps .wks .wdb .wcm Lotus 1-2-3: .wk* Lotus 1-2-3 (DOS): .wj* Paradox: .db DBASE (any flavor): .dbf ODBC: all Text files: .cvs .tab Word Perfect: .wp * * * DATABASE REMOVED. At the request of Jean T. Gillett jtgillet@jps.net, who wrote on behalf of the Genealogical Association of Sacramento, California, the 1890 Great Register for Sacramento County, California has been removed from RootsWeb. Said Gillett, "A number of years ago we submitted our extraction of the 1890 Great Register for Sacramento County, California for free use on RootsWeb. This project was part of the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA) effort to create a complete collection of the 1890 Great Registers for the state of California. The project has finally been completed and all counties have submitted their data to CSGA. "CSGA has entered into a contract with Heritage Quest to publish the complete collection in hard-copy and CD. To avoid any conflict with the CSGA statewide contract, our Board of Directors has requested that the Sacramento County 1890 Great Register file be removed from RootsWeb." ** PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** Welcome to the MyFamily.com Family! Did you know that you can create a free family Web site at MyFamily.com? MyFamily.com is a great way to keep your family connected online. You can create an online family tree, store your family photos, plan events, share family history, and much, much more. The service is EASY, PRIVATE, and FREE. Visit MyFamily.com today at: http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=text_rootsweb_review * * * "I have looked for over a year for my ancestors and always hit a dead end. The first day I tried Kindred Konnections within 5 minutes I found seven generations and a living cousin. Thank you."--M. Stacy World's Largest Online Pedigree-Linked Archive. Search over a Billion Names http://www.kindredkonnections.com ********************************************* NEW ONLINE GENEALOGICAL LIBRARY http://www.heritagebooks.com/library/ Try It Today! HERITAGE BOOKS, INC. 1540 Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie MD 20715 ********************************************* The July/August issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE is on the newsstands now and is full of articles by top genealogy writers. Articles include "Internet Research Success Stories," "10 Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists," "Using a Palm Pilot Computer as Part of Your Research Kit," "Genealogy Software for the Mac," "Discovering Your Scottish Roots," "A Broader Look at the U.S. Federal Census," "The Origins of Family Names," "Web sites Worth Surfing," Profile of the New England Historic Genealogical Society," and others. Top genealogy columnist Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG writes, "If you haven't discovered FAMILY CHRONICLE, you are in for a treat." You can obtain a free trial copy of FAMILY CHRONICLE by visiting http://www.familychronicle.com/ The June/July issue of HISTORY MAGAZINE is full of social history articles about the conditions that affected the lives of our ancestors. Articles include "Let's Eat, a history of what our ancestors ate," "The Stirrup, considered to be medieval technology's greatest achievement," "The Natchez Trace, a look at an historic route of the Old Southwest," "Costs in New York, the price of goods and services in 1866," "Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin and one of America's great inventors," "The 1900 House, a preview of an interesting new series coming to PBS." Columnist Ann Burton writes, "HISTORY MAGAZINE appeals to people who are curious about the everyday lives that ancestors led." You can obtain a free trial copy of HISTORY MAGAZINE by visiting http://www.history-magazine.com/ ** END PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** WORLDCONNECT TIP: CHANGING YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS Make it easy for your cousins to find you. Update your e-mail address in WorldConnect when you change Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Researchers use WorldConnect daily and many contact the submitters of GEDCOMs of interest to them. If your e-mail address changes and you have not updated it at WorldConnect, you might miss an important connection. Before you leave your old ISP or change your e-mail address, be sure that you have recorded the original user code and password for your account. If you have forgotten your user code and/or password, visit Password Central and have this information sent to you by e-mail *before* your e-mail address changes. Your user code and password will be e-mailed only to the address listed in your database. http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ As soon as possible after your e-mail address has changed, go to the WorldConnect page where you originally submitted your database and type in your original user code and the password for your account. http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igmuser.cgi Select the Standard set-up page to update your e-mail address, which will be found in the box in item #2. Delete the old address and type in the new one. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Upload/Update GEDCOM button to update the e-mail address option without uploading a new GEDCOM. Leave the box blank in item #9 when updating options for your GEDCOM. That way WorldConnect will know to reprocess the current GEDCOM rather than upload a new one. MORE TIPS by Joan at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/ and FAQs at http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help/wchelp.html RootsWeb's WORLDCONNECT SUGGESTION BOARD and help are at http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/gedcom/ RootsWeb's GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES: Using Technology to Dig up Roots http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson3.htm * * * SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE (SYFT). NEW ENGLAND ANCESTORS recently was launched by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), and D. Brenton Simons, editorial director of Newbury Street Press, has been named its executive editor. The bimonthly magazine features outstanding articles, columns and genealogical queries on New England and U.S.A. national topics, ranging from the 17th to the 20thcentury. NEW ENGLAND ANCESTORS succeeds NEXUS as the official newsmagazine of NEHGS and incorporates its former publication, THE COMPUTER GENEALOGIST. Learn more about NEW ENGLAND ANCESTORS in this week's SYFT column, which is posted at http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/curcolumn.htm Myra Vanderpool Gormley's Los Angeles Times Syndicate SYFT columns are archived by subject and can be browsed at http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/ * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES (RWGuide) consists of 30 interactive genealogy lessons, designed with the beginning genealogist and RootsWeb newcomer in mind. http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ (also available in PDF format) You will also find on the RWGuide index page links to special pages. Use the "What is the Meaning of This Name" message board where you may ask about a particular surname or given name, and/ or help others with their questions about names. Are you related to an American president? Look for a possible connection in the ahnentafels posted for every American president. * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. BRIGGS BRICK WALL FALLS by Carl Briggs cbriggs@netscad.net This is another thank you note to Rootsweb.com. and especially a lady named Sandy who sparked a fire on the BRIGGS-L mailing list. As have many others, our Briggs line and family Bible had hit a brick wall in Ohio. My sister and great cousin Ferol had traced back five generations to Jacob BRIGGS, born about 1811 in Clark County, Ohio. We could find no information about his father or family. Then late one night after work I read a notice from one Bobbi Skerry of Sarasota, Florida, who talked of her family of BRIGGS who had moved from West Virginia to Ross and Clark counties in Ohio around the turn of the 20thcentury. The similarity of dates and counties meant to me that they had to be at least neighbors if not blood relatives to our Jacob. She agreed that the similarities looked good, but we could not make a direct connection. She was missing the names of three of the five sons of her ancestor John MARION Sr., whose father Joseph had settled in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Armed with this information, My sister Jo traveled to Clark County, Ohio, where she found land sale records from John MARION Sr. to his five sons: John Jr., Samuel, Eli, Joseph, and Jacob. Suddenly our brick wall had fallen back two more generations from Ohio to what was then Virginia. Now our ancestors are in our backyard. Cousin Ferol and Jo both live in Virginia and since 1930 Ferol has researched BRIGGS families in Virginia that go back as far as the 1600s. All we need to do now is connect them to the West Virginia family. I hope this is an inspiration to others to keep trying and sharing. Our success is your hope. Thank again to Sandy, Bobbi, and RootsWeb. * * * A BENEFIT OF VOLUNTEERING by Lee Nave leenave@earthlink.net I volunteered to do a small cemetery inventory to post at the Tombstone Transcription Project. As a result of my name and e-mail address being on the Web site, I became involved in a woman's quest for information about the father she never knew. I received an e-mail request to take a photo of a tombstone in another cemetery in Kerman, California. Her parents were divorced in El Paso, Texas in 1953 and they did not see their father again. He died in California in 1966 at the age of 44. I took a digital photo and sent it to her, but the story does not end there. I went to the local funeral parlor and they had the funeral record. It told us where her father had worked, so I asked people I know with contacts in the area if they could find someone who might have known him. We did it! Tonight I sent her a phone number of a man who remembers her father. USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project http://www.rootsweb.com/cemetery/ * * * * * KEEPING GENEALOGY FREE ON THE INTERNET by George G. Morgan atl@ahaseminars.com President, Aha! Seminars, Inc. Author of the weekly genealogy column, "Along Those Lines ..." at Ancestry.com and the "Genealogy Tip of the Day" at Emazing.com [This letter was posted earlier this week to the mailing list of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE, formerly the Council of Genealogy Columnists or CGC) and is published here with the author's permission.] . . . As one who is contracted to write a weekly column for MyFamily.com too (not an employee, by the way), *absolutely everyone* I've spoken with from MyFamily.com and Ancestry.com has reaffirmed that nothing will change at RootsWeb. Everything will continue as it has in the past . . . You raised the issue of genealogists' concerns about keeping genealogy free on the Internet. I applaud the fact that RootsWeb has done an exemplary job in this arena for a long time. So have the USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb Projects. However, RootsWeb's case is also an example of how providing a lot of free content and server space can, unfortunately, be a perilous way of doing business. If all I've heard and read is correct, RootsWeb was teetering on the verge of folding. A loss of that magnitude would be staggering for the international genealogical community. The deal with MyFamily.com seems like salvation for RootsWeb, its Web host clients and for everyone who uses it. What many, many genealogists do not understand or fail to comprehend is that it costs lots and lots of money to provide so-called "free" genealogy on the Internet. It costs money to purchase and maintain the computers on which data are stored, to purchase and maintain the telecommunications equipment to facilitate no-wait and non-busy communications access (telephone and data lines, modems, T1 lines, etc.) to data, to pay the rent on a physical location to store, operate and administer the computers and the network, to pay for the utilities (electricity, telephone, heat and air conditioning, water, etc.), to purchase the software and upgrades required to run the computers, process the inquiries we send in from our browsers, administer the data, check links, etc. Genealogists also don't know how many salaries have to be paid to administrators and computer professionals to build and administer the network to keep it running seven days a week, 24 hours a day year-round. It also costs money to pay people to perform data entry and other clerical functions, and to pay the customer service people who help us when we have problems. Genealogists have no concept of how much the databases cost that are added to these so-called "free" sites. Add into that the need for people to sell ad space and work with the advertisers who actually pay *most* of the cost of the running a so-called "free" genealogy online service. Gee, there are a WHOLE LOT of costs there! Considering all these costs, we are certainly fortunate that there are so very many "free" genealogy sites on the Internet. However, there are entities that support the costs of these sites. They include: the LDS Church, which fully funds the FamilySearch site; MyFamily.com/Ancestry.com which does provide a wealth of free databases in addition to its subscription databases (most of which are, by the way, free for the first 10 days after they're introduced); GenForum and genealogy.com; CyndisList (hosted by RootsWeb), AfriGeneas; NARA (paid for by taxpayers); online library catalogs (OPACs) paid for by taxpayers; thousands of commercial genealogy sites supported by advertising; and tens of thousands of personal Web sites supported by individuals who either pay their ISPs for Web- hosting space or include ads on their personal Web pages. The lion's share of genealogical Web sites, however, are in actuality supported almost exclusively by advertising. Yes, I dislike the banner ads at the tops of these Web sites and despise the insidious pop-up ads. However, I realize that it is these advertisers and their ads that pay for *my* and *your* access to these glorious so-called "free" sites. In defense of subscription databases, I am of the opinion that there are some great genealogical ones on the Web and there are some real "bow-wows." I know that when I go to a library, I have to pay to make photocopies; I know that if I go to a courthouse, I have to pay for my transportation fees to get there and maybe for parking too; and I know that sometimes if I want something off a CD-ROM, I may have to buy it. There's a cost to everything, and we should expect to pay for premium materials we find in online databases. Companies such as MyFamily.com, Heritage Quest, Family Tree Maker, Everton's, and other subscription sites actually provide access to their databases at quite reasonable costs, especially considering the HIGH costs of building and maintaining their Web sites (see above). These and others offer some free content and then some other materials for which access is available only to subscribers. Please remember that you can always subscribe for a month and see if it's worthwhile for your own particular research needs. If it's not, you can cancel and probably have spent less than $6 to $10 (and maybe have done all the research you wanted to do anyway)! I know this is the long way of saying that, if genealogists are truly concerned about keeping genealogical information "free" on the Internet, they need to become educated so that they know what they are getting "for free." The information we find on Web sites is little more than secondary source material anyway -- copied or transcribed and much information compiled by amateur researchers. It ALL needs to be verified, right? Genealogists must understand that "free" material is supported, in most cases, by companies and advertisers. In order to retain their "free" access, genealogists must be prepared to endure the ads and to support the advertisers. How can we help our readers understand all of this? This is a controversial topic in many quarters, you can be sure, but the reality is that almost nothing is free. * * * * * 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 Slovakian family history, send your SUBSCRIBE request to: Slovakia-L-request@rootsweb.com NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Albrecht-Johannes (descendants of Johannes and Christine Albrecht of Alsace), Auten Barrientos, Benavides, Bollerman Cuddeback Daneke Gilruth Haddow, Hangstorfer, Hessek Iddenden Kehrwecker, Knibb Metras Newham Paolino, Pflieger Quillin Rezny, Rieboldt, Rowberry, Rummelt Sitlington, Spratling Tolken Vause, Venus NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS AUSTRALIA AUS-VIC-GEN-GROUPS -- communication between genealogical and family history groups in Victoria, Australia RUSSIA RUS-GRIMM -- People from the village of Grimm in Russia SLOVAKIA SLOVAKIA -- Slovakian ancestry or family history SOUTH AFRICA SA-HISTORY -- historical context for South African genealogy U.S.A. KY-7THINF -- Discussion/research on 7th Kentucky Infantry NE-TN -- Northeast Tennessee OTHER NEW MAILING LISTS (ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTERESTS) KEEWETIN -- Cree fur trade family histories in Canada WORLD-OBITS -- submit or request obituaries for anyone, anywhere in the world * * * * * 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 Crow Wing County (Minnesota) Genealogy/Historical Society Web page, go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~mncwcghs/ CANADA onwrbogs -- Waterloo Region Branch Ontario Genealogical Soc. U.S.A. mecwaldo -- Waldoboro, Maine (city) mncwcghs -- Crow Wing County Genealogy/Hist. Soc. (Minnesota) paadwcfh -- A. D. White Center for Regional and Family History (Pennsylvania) tnkin -- Tennessee Kinfolks Project vtcbarna -- Barnard, Vermont (city) SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES BURLET Family Genealogy Home Page. APMANN, BRANDSMA, HAARSMA, MEDLAND, NELSON, PLADSON, PLASTER http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tcbur/indexx.html BYKANTOWICZ, ZMUDZINSKI, BURTON, MCPHERSON, MCFARLAND, GEORGE, STRIPE, WATSON, ANDERSON, FITZ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~taturner/ CONDREN genealogy and other CONDREN pages and links http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~carhart/Condren/ HATCHER Families Resource Center. COOK, HALL, HATCHER, HOLTRY, KUHNS, MILLER, SHEPHERD, TIMBERMAN, ZIMMERMAN. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher/ This site was featured in GATEWAY magazine; the article is at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~nhatcher/hatNel.htm ITALY. Genealogical and historical information about families from the town of Marano Marchesato in the province of Cosenza, region of Calabria, Italy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~marano/index.html TENNESSEE. Northwestern Humphreys County, Tennessee Ancestors Halls Creek and Turkey Creek: Descendants of Lynde LATIMER and James COOLEY, Jr., including HALL, LATIMER, COOLEY, MCGEE, CARTER, PARKER, DURHAM, and FORREST. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~couchiii/index.html TEXAS, Hamilton County, People and Places: Gazetteer; Marriage Records; Vital Statistics; WWII Draft Lotteries; 1937 Registered Voters; more than 1,000 pages of information about schools, churches, post offices, communities, cemeteries, etc. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gazetteer2000/ THUNEN, THUENEN, LINCOLN, BUTLER, BOSCH, TEBBE, BENNETT, CALDWELL http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~thunenj/ * * * * * 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, you can read and post notices to the SOMEBODY'S LINKS board at: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/SomebodysLinks/ (Subscribe by sending e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE to: Somebodys-Links-Newsletter-L-request@rootsweb.com ) * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- THE ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER contains the current USGenWeb Archives submissions from the last week. Back issues of THE ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER are archived at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/ 10 July 2000 issue http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/2000/july/july10.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. Please send to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com I would like to encourage people to be kind if they find an error in someone's GEDCOM. I have spent quite a few years doing research and am glad to share the information I have found with others so they do not have to spend the time, effort, and money I spent to find what I have found on my family. I have tried to be accurate but, unfortunately, because information sometimes varies from source to source, all information is not guaranteed to be error free. In April I received a letter from a woman who was outraged that she had found her great-grandmother's name "misspelled" in my GEDCOM. Her letter informed me that if I could not get my information correct I had no business posting my GEDCOM. I had recently lost my mother and my husband's company was in the midst of being downsized and we were moving across country to take a lower paying job, leaving loved ones behind. Up to that time I had delighted in answering and helping people who had found my GEDCOM, but the pain was too much and I pulled my GEDCOM off the Net for two months. I have since decided that it is unfair to others to make information I have unavailable because of one unkind letter. I would just like to encourage people that if an "error" is found, please point it out kindly and state where the correct information was found. Diane L Mueller dianelm57@juno.com [A misconception rampant among family researchers is that the spelling of a name matters and distinguishes the records of one family from another with certainty. If the reader still labors under this delusion, the veil should be lifted by reading lessons 2 (What's in a Name?) and 8 (Why You Can't Find Your Ancestors) in RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ Eds.] . . . On 6 May 2000 I was doing some research on my father's side of the family in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) at RootsWeb http://ssdi.rootsweb.com What a shock I received when my own father's name appeared on the screen. According to the SSDI, he had died on 6 March 2000. I had to find out more and, once again thanks to RootsWeb, in the Obituary Daily Times http://www.rootsweb.com/~obituary/ I learned the name of the newspaper that had published his obituary and the date it had appeared. I wrote to the newspaper and from it received the name, address, and phone number of the funeral home at which his memorial service had been held. To make a long story short, if it were not for RootsWeb and the free access to information RootsWeb provides, I still would not know that my father died in March of this year. I was never notified of my father's illness, death, or his memorial service. . . RootsWeb's site is really wonderful! Also RootsWeb's continuous updating and additions to the site have been terrific, too. In fact, I have found other information on my mom's side that had been missing for more than 30 years. May your site continue to grow and always be free to all who need or want to do research on their families. May the excellence you have established continue to flourish. Christina Leippe mni2nm@hotmail.com . . . the article on Camilla Parker-Bowles cracked me up! Meow, ladies, and keep up the good work. http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/royal/camilla.htm Sandy Morrison nimblefingers@uswest.net * * * * * HUMOR. Thanks to Jan Babb jbabb914@yahoo.com My granddaughter, Brittany Babb, age 5, asked me one day if I knew when she was "Babb-a-tized." * * * * * 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. 28, 12 July 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/ A paid advertisement in ROOTSWEB REVIEW or MISSING LINKS should not be construed as an endorsement of the product or service. 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