ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 34, 23 August 2000, Circulation: 666,966+ (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: sbrenay@myfamilyinc.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 New Databases (check often): http://searches.rootsweb.com/ IN THIS ISSUE: o News and Notes at RootsWeb (New Searchable Databases; Who Has the Data?; In the News; World War II: The Greatest Generation; RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees; Shaking Your Family Tree; WorldConnect Tip) o Connecting through RootsWeb 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 40.2 million names and new GEDCOMs are added daily. Search WorldConnect and upload your own GEDCOM(s) to http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB NEW SEARCHABLE DATABASES AT ROOTSWEB. RootsWeb thanks all of the individuals and groups who contribute their data to share with the genealogical community. See the full list of contributors at http://userdb.rootsweb.com/contributors.html AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. Local History Book Indexes 48,707 records; Lucy Nuttall http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ LOUISIANA, CLAIBORNE PARISH. Adkins Cemetery 169 records; Jerry Gallagher http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ NEW YORK, GENESEE and WYOMING COUNTIES. Five cemeteries. 2,725 records; Leilani Spring http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ * * * WHO HAS 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 data submission form to tell us about such databases: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit.html * * * IN THE NEWS MyFamily.com was featured at length in the first segment of the second hour of the CBS "Early Show" on Tuesday, 22 August 2000. * * * WORLD WAR II ended 55 years ago this month. Read stories posted by others about World War II and other wars, post biographies and letters, and maybe find an old military buddy on RootsWeb. The Greatest Generation: World War II Stories http://www.rootsweb.com/WWII Link to many other military resources on the Internet from http://www.rootsweb.com/WWII/militarylinks.html * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES (RWGuide). Military service and pension records are rich resources for genealogical research. Learn what you might expect to discover in them and find links to resources worldwide and for the U.S.A. at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson13.htm (worldwide) http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson14.htm (U.S.A.) * * * RootsWeb has various mailing lists with military-related subjects, including: GREATWAR -- intended to help those researching the genealogy and service records of family members who served in the armed services during World War I (1914-1919) and the history of the units and organizations in which they served. WARBRIDES -- putting World War II war brides and their children in touch with others to share reminiscences WORLDWAR2 -- intended to help those researching the genealogy and service records of family members who served in the armed services during World War II (1939-1945) and the history of the units and organizations in which they served. For additional lists on this topic and how to subscribe, see http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Military/ * * * WORLDCONNECT TIP: ACCESSING ADVANCED SEARCH FEATURES Q. I just went to do my weekly search of WorldConnect and found I no longer have the option to search only the last seven days. Am I missing something here or is that option no longer available? URL http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ A. The main WorldConnect page contains a simple search box for easy access to WorldConnect Global Search and allows for typing in a name and clicking for a "one-step" easy search option. To access the more advanced search options of Global Search, click on the button to "Search All Databases." WorldConnect Global Search may also be accessed directly: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi More WorldConnect Tips http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/ WorldConnect Suggestion Board and Help http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/gedcom/ WorldConnect Search FAQs http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/FAQ/wcsearch1.html RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees: USING TECHNOLOGY TO DIG UP ROOTS. Pop in for explanations of some terms (GEDCOM, Ahnentafel), genealogy software options, and more. http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson3.htm * * * SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE (SYFT). Why do so many of the early photographs of our ancestors show them with fixed, blank stares, stiff positions, and few smiles? For the answer, see this week's SYFT column: 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/ ** PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** **************************************** FREE COMPLETE CATALOG 1,300+ 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 **************************************** Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the No. 1 Source for Family History Online. Search more than 600 MILLION NAMES and trace your family tree today. Go to: www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11GL * * * The July/August issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE is full of articles by top genealogy writers. Articles include "Internet Research Success Stories," "Web sites Worth Surfing," "10 Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists," "Discovering Your Scottish Roots," "Using a Palm Pilot Computer as Part of Your Research Kit," A Broader Look at the U.S. Federal Census," "The Origins of Family Names," "How to Handle Foster Children," "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 August/September issue of HISTORY MAGAZINE is on the newsstands now and is full of social history articles about the conditions that affected the lives of our ancestors. Articles include "The California Gold Rush," "Development of Photography," "The Underground Railroad," "History of the Insurance Business," "Highlights of the 1690s Decade," "Poliomyelitis, the Rise and Fall of an Epidemic," "Wigs, once a Fashion Rage," and many others. Columnist Ann Burton writes, "HISTORY MAGAZINE appeals to people who are curious about the everyday events that affected the lives of their ancestors." You can obtain a free trial copy of HISTORY MAGAZINE by visiting http://www.history-magazine.com * * * "I have just spent the last few hours on Kindred Konnections and have found loads of info on 3 family lines. Thanks so much for this site." G. Blanton. Search over a Billion names. Find pedigrees, submitters, notes. http://www.kindredkonnections.com * * * FREE US MAPS show changing US boundaries 1790-1870. Interesting and informative and a $15 value in bookstores. See nine maps at http://www.censusmicrofilm.com/fedcens.htm Site is updated weekly. For all RootsWeb users, get a FREE electronic Federal Census Catalog (with search engine) and two FREE microfilm take-up spools. Buy four census microfilms @ $12.95 and get one FREE, e-commerce & express mail available. Buy the lowest priced new microfilm readers @ $480. Use a Soundex Converter and Catalog to 60,000 Soundex microfilms. Census services include census index and Soundex searches, census page copies or e-mailed digital images. This is a Web site worth surfing. Librarians will want to view our selection of Canon microfilm reader printers, used but like new. These are must see, must bookmark Web sites. You'll like em. See also http://www.microfilmreader.com ** END PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. 183-YEAR-OLD FAMILY BIBLE by Dell and Carolyn Nelson dellnelson@bigfoot.com or dlnelsonco@msn.com We have the original family Bible of John H. VANDYKE, my great- great-grandfather, with the handwritten notation "The property of J. H. Vandyke the year of our Lord 1818." This is how we came into possession of this Bible. Early in the 1950s, Bert and Ethel Dawson found and purchased this Bible in a Goodwill store in Independence, Missouri. Though not connected to this family, they recognized that it would be a treasure to the proper Vandyke descendant, and certainly it should not be destroyed or lost for all time. So, for almost 50 years they have preserved it, while trying on many occasions to locate a living descendant of John H. Vandyke. In June 2000, a friend of the Dawsons, who is an experienced genealogist, placed a notice on the RootsWeb Van Dyke list, stating that "a neighbor" was seeking information on this family and listed the names recorded in the Bible. We were notified of the posting and quickly replied, sending our direct-line connection to J. H. Vandyke and the persons listed. After additional e-mail correspondence with the friend who posted the message, we furnished a complete printout of our information on the known ancestors of John H. Vandyke, down through my generation. The friend then printed out the history and presented it to the Dawsons, who were excited to learn that they had finally located a direct descendant. In a surprise telephone call on 4 July 2000 from Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, we were told that it had been their desire for many years to reunite this Bible with the proper family, and that we had been selected to receive the Bible as a gift. Additionally, the Dawsons were planning a trip for a reunion of their own MCCOY (of the HATFIELD-MCCOY) family and suggested that they would detour several hundred miles to our city in order to meet us and personally present the Bible. This they did on 31 July 2000. Two local television stations and one newspaper recorded the event. For a direct link to the newspaper story, go to www.swtimes.com/archive/2000/August/14/features/netbible.html For all Van Dyke family members or researchers in this line, we will be pleased to furnish photocopies of the Bible entries. Just send us a self-addressed #10 envelope with 55 cents postage. Of course, we would appreciate receiving copies (either hard copies or by e-mail attachments or GEDCOMs) of your Van Dyke family information. Our postal address is Dell & Carolyn Nelson, 5333 South Y Circle, Fort Smith, AR 72903. Here is our best interpretation of a few of the earliest handwritten entries: The property of J. H. Vandyke the year of our Lord 1818. Marriages. John H. Vandyke Was Married to Miss Pheba Martin February 28th AD 1816 Births. John H. Vandyke was Born July 28th 1791 Pheba Vandyke was Born August 28th 1784 * * * * * 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 your ancestors were on the stage, send a SUBSCRIBE request to: THEATRICAL-ANCESTORS-L-request@rootsweb.com NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Airov, Arant, Aurand Bayes, Bennett-UK, Bergey, Birong, Burklow Campbell-Irish, Chadbourne, Chapates, Coldbeck Dahlstrom, Drost, Duley Ellis-Indian (Native Americans with the surname ELLIS) Faurot, Finson Gales, Gurtler Holmen Kenndey, Klauk Loughrey Mankins, Marconi, Massicot Mellows, Moane, Myres McDonald-Cumberland-Nova-Scotia -- McDonald family from the Wallace area of Nova Scotia, who emigrated from Scotland circa 1806 Onstine Peto, Pickup Redgrove, Roseboom, Rowney Schaefers, Shryock, Smith-Scottish, Stansborough, Steels Torbett VanDoesburg, VanHaarlem Wright-Indian (Native Americans with the surname WRIGHT) NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS AUSTRALIA AUS-NSW-CENTRAL-COAST -- central coast of New South Wales ENGLAND ENG-LANCASHIRE-HURST -- Hurst, Lancashire NORTHERN-ENGLAND -- Mixed genealogy, culture and trivia list for the entire north of England UK-NORTHWEST -- Northwest part of England (Cumberland, Lancashire, and Westmorland) GERMANY (DEUTSCHLAND) DEU-BAYERN -- Bavaria INDONESIA INDONESIA -- associated with the IndonesiaGenWeb Project IRELAND IRL-CONNAUGHT -- IrelandGenWeb, Province Connaught, Ireland ITALY ITA-LUCCA -- Lucca, Italy genealogy users group NORTHERN IRELAND NIR-ANTRIM -- NorthernIrelandGenWeb, County Antrim NIR-TYRONE -- NorthernIrelandGenWeb, County Tyrone SPAIN (ESPANA) ESP-GALICIA -- Galician links and family research U.S.A. GA-OGEECHEE -- Ogeechee River region of Georgia NORTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY -- genealogical research in North Central Kentucky area OKLCGS -- Logan County Genealogical Society (Oklahoma) SC-DISSENTERS -- religious dissenters in colonial South Carolina (1680-1781) TX-CEMETERIES -- locating and preserving historical information about Texas cemeteries WALES WLS-SWANSEA -- Swansea in Wales ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS AHSGR-CONVENTION -- For planning conventions of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) BAVARIAN-ANCESTORS -- various aspects of Bavarian ancestry THEATRICAL-ANCESTORS -- ancestors in any type of theatrical or film work * * * * * NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Please see the instructions at http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ 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 Web page for Pakistan, go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~pakwgw/ ASIA brnwgw -- Brunei' Darussalam (WorldGenWeb) mdvwgw -- Republic of Maldives (WorldGenWeb) mngwgw -- Mongolian People's Republic (WorldGenWeb) myswgw -- Malaysia (WorldGenWeb) pakwgw -- Pakistan (WorldGenWeb) FRANCE fracorsi -- Corsica JAPAN jpnfukuo - Fukuoka jpnkumam - Kumamoto U.S.A. arbcgs -- Boone County Genealogical Society (Arkansas) iadckcgs -- Dubuque County-Key City Genealogical Society (Iowa) idfremon -- Fremont County, Idaho meobbfha -- Old Broad Bay Family History Association (Maine) nysuffol -- Suffolk County, New York ohcarcgs -- Carroll County Genealogical Society (Ohio) ohmccogs -- Monroe County Chapter of the Ohio Gen. Society scsaluda -- Saluda County, South Carolina txbrisco -- Briscoe County, Texas SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. Local History Book Indexes (searchable) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nuttall/vlhindex.htm CZECH. For those searching for family in the former Czech lands of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, including the border regions between the present day Czech Republic and Germany, Poland, Slovakia, and Austria, historically known as the Czech Crown Lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Between 1918 and 1989 this region was also the western part of Czechoslovakia. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~elainetmaddox/ TENNESSEE [N.B.: The next two URLs both are on two lines.] LATIMER Cemetery, Turkey Creek in Humphreys County. Descendants of Lynde LATIMER, including MCGEE, DURHAM, COOLEY. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~couchiii/ latimercem.html COOLEY Cemetery, Halls Creek. Descendants of James COOLEY. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~couchiii/ cooleycemetery.html ZIMMERMAN-ROTH-HEINLE Reunion. For descendants of these families who came to America from the Odessa area of southern Russia. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dewey/ * * * * * 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/ * * * * * 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/ 21 August 2000 issue http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/2000/aug/aug21.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 as plain text e-mail messages (no attachments or html) to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com Thank you so much for the California Birth and Death Indexes. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/birth/search.cgi http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi I found birth records of my cousins that I don't see anymore and am having trouble connecting to, but most of all I have records and more limbs of mysterious family members, such as my paternal grandparents and great-grandparents. This has been a wonderful search engine. Vivian Chavez Tanis wildflower001@hotmail.com * * * I simply want to say a very big thank you to the staff at RootsWeb. You have added so much to my life by making it possible to do genealogy research from home. Every day I am amazed and grateful to have so much genealogy opening up through technology and through increased awareness/interest in families everywhere. I began my own travels into genealogy about 65 years ago. My mother was an avid family historian. She taught school all week, and then on weekends we would go to the library. As soon as I could read, she would give me "assignments" to find this name or that one in books and other media. Progress was terribly slow, certainly by today's standards, but that is how we did it "in the olden days." She wrote letters to her extended family from earliest childhood and saved many of the responses detailing activities and relationships. She became fast friends with cousins she never met. When she died, I inherited trunks filled with letters, notes and photographs. I can't begin to say how grateful I am for her decades of devotion to family research. Some days I muse about how thrilled she would be with the accessibility we enjoy today because of technology. So you can understand why I am so grateful for the unlimited accessibility that RootsWeb has made possible. Through mail lists I have found cousins and other researchers that I would never have encountered any other way. So, dear folks, a really big thank you for all your work. God bless and keep you every one. LaHonda Jo Morgan morganet@televar.com * * * Many thanks for the addition of the California Death Index http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi I have been trying to find my grandfather's brothers for years, Albert, Ralph, and Francis BEE. Their mother's obituary in 1927 listed Albert and Ralph living in Oakland, California and I had searched that area but nothing every materialized. Today (17 August 2000) I searched your records online and was so surprised to find Albert Washington BEE, my grandfather's brother, in the California records. With all the links I am able to get concrete information about what happened to him. Beverly Thornton bevt@inwave.com * * * I have just read (in RootsWeb Review, Vol. 3, No. 33) about the confusion between the list intended for the U.K. county of Essex, and one for the surname ESSEX. The same thing happens with the list for the county of Wiltshire and that for the surname WILTSHIRE. As several county and other place-names are also used as surnames (Lancashire, York, Kent, Hull, Stirling, Hastings, Ashford, Stafford, are just a few UK names of places which are also surnames) I wonder if there could be a way of naming the lists so that there can be no confusion? Would County-Essex-UK-L and Surname-ESSEX-L be suitable? This would have two characteristics which would hopefully ensure that messages get to the appropriate list -- the words "County" and "Surname" at the beginning, and also the generally-accepted upper-case letters for a surname, and lower case (apart from the initial letter) for the place name.. . . This could save so much frustration, both for people who mistakenly address a question to the wrong list, then wonder why they don't get a reply, and for other subscribers who are on what is for them the correct list, but receive messages intended for another list. (I have only been on the WILTSHIRE surname list for a short while, but I have found that most of the messages which appear on it are to do with the county of Wiltshire). David Lamb, Devon, UK davidlamb@members.shines.net [We cannot say it would not have been possible, only that no scheme that foresaw and took into account all possibilities was devised early in the game. Now, with many thousands of active mailing lists in which the better part of a million people are involved, reorganizing the lists is out of the question. In the excellent example of the continuing confusion concerning lists named with the word "Essex," it turns out that MAESSEX-L is the name of the list for Essex County, Massachusetts, ESSEX-ROOTS-L is for something entirely different but related to Essex County, Massachusetts, ESSEX-L is for the surname ESSEX, and ESSEX-UK-L is for the county of Essex in England. There are others. Follow the links at http://lists.rootsweb.com/ for descriptions of all RootsWeb-hosted genealogy mailing lists. Eds.] * * * * * HUMOR. This was in the editors' mailbag, source unknown. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that we all believe that we are above-average drivers. * * * * * 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. 34, 23 August 2000. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/ BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS are fully SEARCHABLE. Search all or download a specific issue by following the links at http://www.rootsweb.com/~review/e-zine.html 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 ** PAID ADVERTISEMENT ** RESEARCHING WITH THE 1900 CENSUS By Elizabeth Lieber www.genealogy.com The U.S. Census can be an extremely important tool in your genealogy research. The 1900 census, in particular, can fill in gaps created by the destruction of almost the entire 1890 census. (The 1890 census was destroyed by a fire in the Commerce Department building on January 21, 1921 and, while not all of the schedules were destroyed, most were so badly damaged that Congress authorized their disposal.) The 1900 census provides unique information that had not previously been recorded. In particular, it is the only available census that details the month and year of birth for every person listed. It is also the only one to note the number of years a couple had been married, the number of children a woman had borne, and the number of those children still living. You'll also learn whether the family home or farm was rented or owned and, if owned, if the property was mortgaged. One of the unique features of this census, however, involves the collection of information on an immigrant's arrival in the United States. According to the Census Bureau, the foreign-born population of the United States increased from 2.2 million to 14.2 million between 1850 and 1930. While the 1850 census was the first to note an individual's nationality, the 1900 census was the first to note how long an immigrant had been in the United States and whether that person was naturalized. With this important information you'll be able to determine the time period within which to search for information about your family in their homeland. -- See printable reproductions of the form filled out by a 1900 census-taker: * Page 1 (http://www.genealogy.com/00000079.html) * Page 2 (http://www.genealogy.com/00000080.html) TIPS FOR RESEARCHING WITH THE CENSUS 1. Census Enumerators and Spelling The most common method for recording names was to spell phonetically (or, by sound). The way a name appears in the census depends on how the name was pronounced, how the enumerator heard it, and how he or she interpreted it on paper. Enumerators (especially those who were relatively uneducated) mixed guesswork with phonetic sounds to record what they heard. This was especially true when recording names of nationalities different than their own. It was not at all unusual to have, for example, an Englishman enumerating German names, Italian names, and Slavic names. When searching the census, remember that lack of familiarity with different accents and spellings often resulted in creative spelling. 2. Data Mistakes Many enumerators traveled far distances, so when they came to a dwelling where no one was home, they might have inquired of the neighbors, who probably provided answers based on educated guesses or hearsay about birthplaces and ages. 3. Name Changes Newer immigrants who eventually Anglicized their names may be listed in early census records by their given names. For example, a Scandinavian ancestor immigrant you know as "Peter" may be recorded as "Pers;" a Frenchman you know as "William" may be recorded as "Guillaume;" and a Russian you know as "John" may have been recorded as "Ivan." LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CENSUS * Let an experienced genealogist fill you in on the "Secrets of the Census." (http://www.genealogy.com/13_secrt.html) * Learn the types of information collected by each census. (http://www.genealogy.com/13_every.html) * See printable reproductions of census-taker forms, 1790-1920. (Great for filling in information as you research with census records.) (http://www.genealogy.com/00000061.html) * How to research with European census records. (http://www.genealogy.com/tip17.html)