ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 39, 27 September 2000, Circulation: 690,393+ (c) 1998-2000 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ 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/ Ancestry.com: http://ancestry.com/help/support/main.htm Data Submission Form: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit.html New Databases (check often): http://searches.rootsweb.com/ IN THIS ISSUE o News and Notes from RootsWeb (New Searchable Databases; Who Has the Data?; WorldConnect Tip; FreeBMD Milestone; Archive CD Books Project; KentuckyGenWeb Project Press; Shaking Your Family Tree; RWGuide to Tracing Family Trees; Surveys) 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 nearly 43 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 Special thanks go this week to repeat contributor Lucy Nuttall vlhindex@r67.net , whose "Australian Indexes to Local History Books" database put the number of user-contributed* records over the two million mark. It's especially fitting this week that an Australian won the gold. [*"User-contributed" does not include U.S. state vital records or other purchased data sets.] AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN INDEXES TO LOCAL HISTORY BOOKS 10,764 records; Lucy Nuttall http://userdb.rootsweb.com/aus/ CANADA, ONTARIO. Deaths 1869-1928, surname JOHNSON 4,459 records; Dave Johnson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/canada/ ENGLAND, CORNWALL. Index to 1841 British Census of St. Hilary and Marazion; 3,649 records; Al Kline http://userdb.rootsweb.com/uki/ U.S.A. ARKANSAS, HEMPSTEAD COUNTY. HUCKABEE Cemetery 355 records; Suzanne Rosenbaum http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ IOWA, KOSSUTH COUNTY. LuVerne High School alumni 1894-1914 144 records; Philip K. Blumer http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MASSACHUSETTS, BARNSTABLE COUNTY. Cemetery of West Barnstable 1,327 records; Kevin P. Murphy http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ MINNESOTA. 1920 Census Index, surnames WOOD, WOODS 2,183 records; Galen Schroeder http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ NEBRASKA, HITCHCOCK COUNTY, Cornell Precinct. Index to "Cornell of Yesteryear"; 2,048 records; Vance A. Bailey http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ NEW YORK. Selected Births. CROWLEY and related surnames 27 records; Veronica Meier http://userdb.rootsweb.com/births/ NEW YORK. Selected Deaths. CROWLEY and related surnames 257 records; Veronica Meier http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ NEW YORK. Selected Marriages. CROWLEY and related surnames 147 records; Veronica Meier http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ NEW YORK. GENESEE COUNTY. EVERGREEN HILLS Cemetery 4,362 records; Leilani Spring http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ PENNSYLVANIA, POTTER COUNTY. 1860 Census 11,392 records; Sheri D. Graves http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ * * * 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 * * * WORLDCONNECT TIP: Files, We Get Files . . . Not long ago on the WorldConnect Suggestions Board http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/gedcom WorldConnect programmer Randy Winch noted: "I'm noticing many failed uploads . . . [where] a user uploaded a file that wasn't a valid GEDCOM file." Randy further noted: "I have hundreds of copies of FTM.exe and PAF.exe and who knows how many .FTW files just setting there taking up space." WorldConnect can only accept files uploaded in a valid GEDCOM format. While it is not the file extension but the contents of the file that determines whether your family tree is in a valid GEDCOM format, the vast majority of GEDCOM files WILL have the file extension .GED The one exception would be if you were sending your genealogy file as a zipped file (compressed file). In that case, be sure that the file you have selected to "zip" is a valid GEDCOM file and not in .FTW, .PAF, or another format. To create a GEDCOM open your genealogy file -- the one in which you input your family tree information. Use the manual that came with your program or read the RootsWeb HelpDesk FAQs for creating a GEDCOM using the most popular software programs: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help/wc2.html Pay close attention to the name your genealogy program is creating for the GEDCOM file. You will either be asked to name the file or accept your program's default name as well as the location where the GEDCOM will reside on your computer. Jot down the actual file location (path) -- such as C:\FTW\filename.GED If you already have your GEDCOM file created but you can't remember where it is located on your computer, see WorldConnect Tip #1 to help you locate the file on your computer: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/tip-01.html More WorldConnect Tips http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/ RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees, Using technology to dig up roots http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson3.htm * * * FreeBMD (England and Wales). http://FreeBMD.RootsWeb.com/ The FreeBMD Project's database has reached the three million entries milestone. Congratulations to all the volunteers. FreeBMD co-Leader, Camilla Gemmingen von Massenbach, reports that some volunteers have been sending out fiche (often bought especially), printing hard copy, and sending that out to transcribers, while others have been involved with the scanning. Fifteen quarters of marriage entries scanned by Darryl Bonk, in Canada, have been uploaded. Von Massenbach reports further that Ancestry will be scanning the film it has bought for the project and that the first six films have arrived at FreeBMD's base in London. Bonk and Ancestry between them have provided more than four million entries, which now are waiting to be transcribed. Meanwhile, back in London, volunteers have been helping scan entries using the scanner bought for the project by RootsWeb. FreeBMD thanks David Marshall, Mark and Chris Pepall, Colin Tuckley, and Jo-Maree Courtney for their help, and asks that anyone else who would like to help with the scanning in London please contact FreeBMD. Finally, FreeBMD thanks Elinor Wood and Allan Raymond, coordinators of new volunteers and syndicates, respectively. * * * THE ARCHIVE CD BOOKS PROJECT. Reproduction of Old Books on CD. http://www.archivecdbooks.com/books/index.htm Project founder Rod Neep reports that this new project has begun to capture people's imaginations and that he's happily snowed under as a result. The following brief description of how the project works is taken from information posted at the Web site. The old books for the project are lent to the project, and those doing the lending gain something. Sometimes Neep buys books that are usually given away (to organizations that lend books to the project) when the project has finished with them. The CD books are sold at a reasonable price and funds from the proceeds of CD sales buy more books for the project, or pay for books loaned by County Record Offices, museums, local studies libraries, etc. People who purchase the CDs continue to be involved, because it is they who volunteer to do the indexing of these books, and when completed, the indexes are put up on the project Web pages for anyone to download for free. Neep makes those indexes available in a way that they integrate with the CD. Click on a name on the index, and it goes to the relevant book page on the CD. Those are the basics. The project is self-funding and the more books that the project produces on CD, the more it grows. For detailed information, please visit the project's Web pages. * * * KENTUCKYGenWeb Project and several Kentucky county sites were recently featured in an article reprinted at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/press/20000926.html * * * SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE (SYFT). "Fraternally Yours," deals with fraternal orders and organizations, their records, and where to look for them. 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) http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ City Directories and Newspapers http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson20.htm * * * Visit www.Ancestry.com the #1 Source for Family History Online * * * SURVEYS. From time to time, we will be sending surveys to a few RootsWeb users chosen at random, because it will help us improve the features on RootsWeb. The surveys are completely anonymous and used for statistical purposes only. ** PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** WOW! A new record at FAMILY CHRONICLE is causing us embarrassment. Due to RootsWeb subscriber requests for trial issues, we are completely out of our Sept/Oct Internet Special issue and cannot handle any further trial requests. This issue is available on newsstands. Recent requests, and those made now will be sent our Nov/Dec issue that is currently being printed. The Nov/Dec issue carries such features as "State Censuses," "Railroad Records," "Getting Past the Brickwall," "Reading the Omens," and many others. For your FREE trial copy visit http://www.familychronicle.com/ ************************************************ FREE SAMPLE ISSUE OF "HERITAGE BOOKS NEWS" Includes 50-60 new books & CD-ROMs at publisher's introductory discount prices and a COMPLETE CATALOG of 1,400+ BOOKS & CD-ROMS all published by Heritage Books Inc. Visit http://www.heritagebooks.com/catalog_request.htm and fill out the online form or call 1-800-398-7709 HERITAGE BOOKS, INC. 1540 Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie MD 20715 ************************************************ The August/September issue of HISTORY MAGAZINE 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/ ** END PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. ROOTSWEB GIVES AGAIN by Joe Felt joensun@gte.net In December 1998, you will remember, I was found by my lost sister's family after 66 years of separation. The reconnection occurred as a result of my surname entries into the RootsWeb Surname List http://rsl.rootsweb.com/ and a chance browse thereof by her daughter looking for my name. Well, this time it was my "FELT Family Search" Web site, sitting there patiently waiting, hosted on RootsWeb's homepages, that was the vehicle for a first-time connection with previously unknown first and second cousins. It was a spur-of-the-moment surname entry into a Web search engine by one of them that shed the light which has finally removed a depressing shadow from my life. Finding my sister did not totally disperse it since she remembers almost nothing of our childhood or family. For most of my 72 years I have lived with a subliminal sense of loneliness from having only minimal knowledge of my birth family and its members. I described its power to one of my new relatives as a dark cloud of perpetual lack of fulfillment living with you, a painful companion when one has seen, throughout life, examples of the intrinsic worth of families which maintain connected loving and caring groups, who want and fulfill each other. Because of the gifts of family that RootsWeb has made possible, I now have many living relatives. I feel complete at last and know that I am truly blessed. RootsWeb seems to have a magical power for fulfilling one of our most basic human needs: family. God bless you all for giving so much! * * * FINDING GRANDFATHER by Berill Michelsen berill@ts.co.nz My grandfather, Svend MICHELSEN, who was born in Denmark on 14 February 1895, went to the U.S.A. in the 1920s and we never knew what had happened to him. My father, the eldest of his four children, never knew him. I decided to start looking as I knew he had gone to America. When I began, I had no idea of his date or place of birth in Denmark, only that he had lived in Odense. I started going to our local genealogy center here in Nelson, New Zealand. After many searches I decided to subscribe to RootsWeb and found him in the U.S.A.'s Social Security Death Index (SSDI) http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ I sent for his 1975 death certificate and then advertised in Monroe, Washington, the town named on it. In response, I got a letter from a man whose mother had been married to Svend MICHELSEN in the last four years of his life and wrote to tell me a little about my grandfather. He had been a maintenance man at Johnson and Johnson Co. somewhere in Washington state, and now I am keen to know if he had other family in the U.S.A. We obtained some photos of him and these were sent to his children, my aunts, who for the first time saw a photo of their father and heard good things about him, which brought much joy. * * * * * 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 CHESTERFIELD, send a SUBSCRIBE request to CHESTERFIELD-L-request@rootsweb.com NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Aulick Bettison, Bignall, Billinghurst, Blews, Bloodough, Bocook, Bouillion, Boutot, Brinkworth, Byington Carfrae, Chesterfield Dach, Debruler, Dench, Drouillard Ferley Grisetti Harclerode, Hinote, Hohl Ianson Johnson-George (descendants of George Bedford JOHNSON), Jonckheere, Jones-Journeys (transcribers of JONES-JOURNEYS) Lebrun, Leibfried, Lemery, Leveillee, Lindau, Loyer Mayerl, McCorristin, McCumber, Mike, Montgomery-Peter (descendants of Peter MONTGOMERY of Maryland) Nealis, Nevarez, Noot Parra, Pattyn, Peairs Rork, Rusher, Russeau Schirf, Seelke, Shorey, Sidery, Siebe, Smith-ID, Solman, Sparnon, Stinespring Wilson-UK NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA-CEMETERIES IRELAND IRELAND-CEMETERIES SCOTLAND SCOTLAND-CEMETERIES U.S.A. Working lists in the form AK-CENSUS, KY-CENSUS, etc., for all 50 states for the use of the state census transcribers WALES WLS-USK-WYE-VALLEY (for people researching family history between the River Usk and River Wye, Monmouthshire, Wales) ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS ITCHEROK (OKGenWeb Cherokee Nation Indian Territory) * * * * * 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 Floyd County, Iowa go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~iafloyd/ CANADA qclns -- Lower North Shore, Quebec qcpontia -- Pontiac County, Quebec U.S.A. gahchs -- Haralson County Historical Society (Georgia) iafloyd -- Floyd County, Iowa lajeffda -- Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana mdprince -- Prince George's County, Maryland ohacgs -- Adams County Genealogical Society (Ohio) orfwshc -- Fort W. S. Harney Chapter, Oregon State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution scgscdc -- South Carolina Genealogical Society, Chesterfield District Chapter tngrain2 -- Grainger County, Tennessee SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES ANDERTON. The ANDERTONs of Lancashire, and North West England Genealogy and Local History Site. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~anderton/ DARLENE'S GENEALOGY PAGE. Mainly families of Bonaventure County, Quebec and Restigouche counties, New Brunswick, Canada. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~darmay/index.htm ENGLISH PARISH REGISTERS. Reference pages giving insight into the things that English parish registers contain during different periods. Excellent background information for those researching English ancestors. Written and compiled by Rod Neep. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~engregisters/indexf.htm IDAHO. Idaho Falls Personal Ancestral File (PAF) Users Group. Information on the activities, classes, and meetings of the group, whose goal is to help people in southeastern Idaho use PAF and other programs to record their family history. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ifpafuserrs/ IMPSON. Choctaw genealogy. Choctaw Indian families IMPSON, ANDERSON, FLETCHER, FOLSOM, CARNES, MURPHEY, McCLURE, SUMTER, HAMPTON, and JONES; and the 1885 Choctaw Nation (now Oklahoma) census of Atoka, Blue, Boktoklo, Cedar, Jack Forks, Kiamitia, Skullyville and Towson counties. Authentic Choctaw artwork. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~impson/ McCOY. McCOY records from all over the U.S.A. -- marriage, death, census, wills, book excerpts, and photographs. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mcoy/ PARISH REGISTERS (U.K.). In its early stage, the goal of this ambitious project is to transcribe every U.K. parish register and make the transcriptions available on these pages. At the moment there are transcriptions or partial transcriptions of five registers of parishes in Hampshire, England and one in Somerset, England. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pinks/ or http://www.parishregisters.co.uk * * * * * 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 www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/ 25 September 2000 issue www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/2000/sept/sept25.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 * * * In a misguided effort to "clean up" my hard drive, I inadvertently deleted my primary family genealogy file. I had a floppy backup, but it was not up to date. It only included approximately 2,286 of more than 3,000 individuals. However, in April 2000, I had submitted my entire GEDCOM to WorldConnect http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ When I realized what I had done, I immediately contacted RootsWeb's HelpDesk http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com, and almost just as immediately got a response from Bridgett (#63325). Now, I do not know whether "Bridgett #63325" is a real person, or an automated in-house name, but it doesn't really matter. She told me exactly how to retrieve my GEDCOM in the original form submitted, and I was able to restore my files with no problem. Bridget and WorldConnect saved the day. Had I not submitted my file for the use of others (and for my own back up) I would p robably have lost more than 700 individuals in my database, and it is not likely that I ever would have gotten them all back. What a small price to pay for insurance. Actually there was and is NO cost. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ed Crump, Jr., Alexandria, Louisiana kb5cx@speedgate.net * * * I wrote you several weeks ago that because of the California Death Index http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi I found a long-lost (to me) brother of my grandfather, Albert Washington BEE, who died in 1955 at the Veterans Hospital in Los Angeles County, California. I received his death certificate today [20 Sept 2000] and this will lead to further research, clues -- he was widowed, etc. Also, thanks to RootsWeb and Ancestry.com, I found a half brother for whom I was looking and a branch of the BEE family, the FORDs from Bradford County, Pennsylvania. I feel like I have gone to Genealogists' Heaven. Beverly Thornton bevt@inwave.com * * * What a great Web site. I sat down yesterday morning [19 Sept 2000] and used RootsWeb and one other site and found my husband's birth father. He was given up for adoption way back in 1969 and had lunch with his father today. Thank you. Rebecca Clark ABBY4CAT@aol.com * * * This a special thank you to everyone at RootsWeb for ROOTSWEB REVIEW, the databases, and the free RootsWeb Web sites. I have been using the information for several years and was a proud sponsor of RootsWeb starting a year ago. I really look forward to the various articles and listing of new sites and material. One of the best features is keeping us informed of opportunities that become available for us to submit stories on our family and ancestors. Recent examples are: IN SEARCH OF OUR ANCESTORS: 101 STORIES, and CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE VETERAN'S SOUL and LOVE STORIES FROM WORLD WAR II. My family is filled with colorful individuals, each with an interesting story waiting to be told. I have found it a wonderful experience to do greater research on these ancestors -- enough to write their stories, even if they only cover one aspect of their lives. Keep up the good work. Alice L. Luckhardt gregl@adelphia.net * * * * * HUMOR. Thanks to Denise Shelton dshelton@home.com who called to our attention this item submitted by June M. Butler that appeared in the September 2000 issue of THE READER'S DIGEST. While I was working for a photo-finishing company, we received a reprint order for an old black-and-white photograph of a man milking a cow. The man was sitting behind the cow, and all that was visible of him were his legs and feet. A note accompanying the order read: "This is the only picture I have of my great-grandfather. Please move the cow so I can see what he looked like." * * * * * 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. 39, 27 September 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