RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Free Weekly E-zine Vol. 5, No. 22, 29 May 2002, Circulation: 959,580+ (c) 1998-2002 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist RWR-Editor@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ Back issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ Advertising: Scott Brenay sbrenay@myfamilyinc.com RootsWeb Review does not publish or answer genealogical queries, and the editor regrets that she is unable to provide any personal research assistance. Post your queries on all relevant surname and locality message boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ and mailing lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE THIS IS A POST-ONLY MAILING ====================================================================== IN THIS ISSUE 1. Connecting through RootsWeb: "Brickwalls Tumble Down" 2. News and Notes (2a. Message Board Icons; 2b. ISFHWE Contest Winners; 2c. Klez Virus Fools and Entices) 3. Spotlighted Webpages at RootsWeb 4. New User-contributed Databases 5. New Mailing Lists 6. New webpages 7. New FreePages and HomePages (personal webpages at RootsWeb) 8. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "German Surnames"; "Persist, Persist, Persist" 9. Humor: R.I.P. The Sexton and the Stone 10. Submissions Guidelines; Reprint Policy; Subscribe or Unsubscribe Instructions ================================================================ 1. CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Brickwalls Tumble Down By Linda Trammel Haskell haskell1@bellsouth.net I would like to share my story to encourage everyone to take advantage of the websites, message boards, etc. . . . it just might pay off. I set a goal at the beginning of my amateur genealogical search. I wanted to find the descendants of the eight children of my great- grandmother and great-grandfather TRAMMEL. Two of their children died very young and two of their boys went to the Denver, Colorado area and settled. One or two of the other brothers and sisters kept in touch with them for many years. But after those brothers and sisters passed away, no one else kept in touch. So I ran into brickwalls trying to find a descendant of the two brothers who went West. I posted notes on genealogy websites, forums, and message boards. I couldn't find a record of death or in the Social Security Death Index, nothing. I wrote to TRAMMELs all over the place trying to find anyone who might be related to them, but I only got either negative responses or no response at all. And, finally after a little over a year of searching, one morning I had an e-mail from the granddaughter of one of those brothers. She had been directed to the message board. I found out that one reason I couldn't find any descendants was because he had all girls, so there was no son to carry on his surname. They provided me with the information that the other brother never had any children. Anyway, I have connected with a whole new family that we didn't know. My father actually has four first cousins living out West and they have never known that one another existed. We have all been very excited and sharing photos and sharing family tree information. I am hoping to meet all of them this summer. 2. NEWS AND NOTES ----------------- 2a. MESSAGE BOARD ICONS. Have you ever wondered what the icons on the RootsWeb message boards represent? They provide graphical information about the category, subcategory, or board on which they appear. A yellow file folder icon represents a category or subcategory as opposed to a board. Individual boards are housed within categories and subcategories in the message board hierarchy. Boards are represented by sheets of paper icons. The sheets of paper are usually white in color indicating that messages may be posted to the board by the public. If the sheets of paper are yellow it means that particular board is a "read only" board with no public posting. Either an administrator posts the messages to a "read only" board, or it is for announcements only. Many boards are "gatewayed" to corresponding mailing lists. Posts made to a gatewayed board are copied to the list. Gatewayed boards have a yellow envelope icon superimposed over the sheets of paper board icon. They also have a yellow highlighted notice that messages posted on these boards are copied to a corresponding list. Individual messages are marked with a single sheet of paper icon and will also include an additional icon or icons within the message body if they contain one or more attachments. The attachment icon is a box with a colorful swirl inside. To find a Message Board of interest to you look for them by Surname, Locality and/or Topic: Surname Message Boards: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=surnames Locality Message Boards: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=localities Topic Message Boards: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics 2b. WRITING CONTEST WINNERS. Winners of this year's International Society of Family History Writers and Editors' (ISFHWE) Excellence-in- Writing Contest were announced and presented with their awards recently at the National Genealogical Society's Conference (NGS), in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ISFHWE is one of the many genealogical groups whose webpages and mailing lists are hosted by RootsWeb. Pictures of the winners who were present at NGS with links to some of their award-winning articles and columns can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cgc/ngs2002.htm ISFHWE is open to columnists, writers (published and unpublished), editors, and anyone interested in genealogical and family history writing and publication. This organization was founded in 1987 and originally was called the Council of Genealogy Columnists (CGC). In May 2000 the name was formally changed to International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/~cgc/ 2c. KLEZ VIRUS FOOLS AND ENTICES. Genealogists are not the only ones being fooled by this relentless worm, which spoofs (forges) the "From" address. Even the U.S. State Department's e-mail identity was forged by it recently as Klez sent itself to law enforcement and media outlets across the country. Your editor and the RootsWeb HelpDesk have received hundreds of messages lately from researchers fearful that RootsWeb is sending out these worm- infested attachments. Relax. The virus is not coming from RootsWeb or via any RootsWeb mailing list (which do not allow attachments anyway). It is being sent to you privately by the infected computer (often without the owner's knowledge), with a forged "From" e-mail address and with all sorts of subjects lines, which Klez also steals. There are several ways Klez can obtain your e-mail address: --It may be in the sender's address book. --The infected computer may find an unread message from you in someone's inbox. --It may appear on a webpage that is cached on the infected computer. --It may appear in an old e-mail message that is stored on the infected computer. Depending on where Klez finds your e-mail address, it may use the subject line or copy part of a post in an attempt to appear to be a legitimate message. There is nothing your editor, the HelpDesk or anyone at RootsWeb can do to stop this. This mail does not originate with, or pass through, the RootsWeb mail servers. Your best defense is to not open any attachments you receive via e- mail, regardless of who the "From" person appears to be (use the real e-mail address of your friend or family member to inquire if they have sent you something with an attachment); keep your AntiVirus (AV) software up-to-date and use it, and set your AV program to scan all incoming e-mail or if the option is available, not to download infected mail from the server. Read more about Klez and the problems it is causing in an article by Michelle Delio in Wired News, currently available at: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,52765,00.html Reliable information about computer viruses can be found at: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html http://dispatch.mcafee.com/virus_tips.asp?cid=1593 For a free online virus scan: http://housecall.antivirus.com/pc_housecall/ For free antivirus protection: http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.htm 3. SPOTLIGHT ON SOME DISTINCTIVE WEBPAGES AT ROOTSWEB ----------------------------------------------------- CANADIAN MARRIAGES. Ontario, 1869-1917, various counties and mixed years, plus some marriages, 1800-1924 (arranged by county) from sources other than post-1869 civil registration. Searchable and includes a mother's maiden name index. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maryc/thisisit.htm http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maryc/oldies.htm MASSACHUSETTS. Transcription of book "Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth," by William T. Davis, published by A. Williams Company, Boston in 1883. It includes a genealogical record of Plymouth families as well as the 1790 Census of Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. http://www.rootsweb.com/~macplymo/plyalp.html#alpindex 4. NEW FREE USER-CONTRIBUTED DATABASES AT ROOTSWEB --------------------------------------------------- The following user-contributed databases have come online recently (these are name searchable, but not browseable): AUSTRALIA. Greville's Post Office Directory of NSW, Australia--1872 8,032 records; Helen Castle and Kathy Pearson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/aus/ ITALY. Pontremoli District BMD Pre-1910 2240 records; Art Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/italy/ USA Military Records: Deaths aboard the transport ship Antilles, torpedoed by a German submarine, Oct. 17 1917 51 records; Carol Livingstone http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ USA Military Records: Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S. Army Engineer Center Regiment, Engineering R&D Lab, Company R, June 1961 57 records; Peter Halpin http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ USA Newspaper Indexes: People Appearing in photographs in the New York Times August 1-15, 1952; 793 records; Annette B. Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ ALABAMA. Monroe County. Olde Salem Cemetery 123 records; Joyce Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ ARIZONA. Cochise County. Marriage Index 1927-1963 Groom-C 2,128 records; Tommy Stoner http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ ILLINOIS. Cook County. 1950 Our Lady of Peace Grade School, Chicago 86 records; Ken Blake http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Leavenworth County. Leavenworth High School--1921, juniors 94 records; Melissa Andrews http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Leavenworth County. Leavenworth High School--1921, sophomores 113 records; Melissa Andrews http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Leavenworth County. Leavenworth High School--1906, seniors 45 records; Melissa Andrews http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Leavenworth County. Leavenworth High School--1906, underclassmen 239 records; Melissa Andrews http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Leavenworth County. Leavenworth High School--1921, freshmen 201 records; Melissa Andrews http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1968 73 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1969 74 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1970 88 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1971 67 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1972 74 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1973 78 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Washington County. Calais Memorial High School, Class of 1974 102 records; Marilyn Maxwell Strout http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MINNESOTA. Stearns County. Sauk Centre Normal School Class of 1916 16 records; Kal Perry http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MISSOURI. Pulaski County. Korean War--Fort Leonard Wood Hospital Employees, 1954-55; 13 records; Beverly J. Ennis http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ MONTANA. Sweet Grass County. Sweet Grass County High School graduates, 1951-1971 and 1973-1976; 1,172 records; Joan Shurtliff http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK. Monroe County. West High School 1953 alumni list 202 records; Kenneth L. Veneron http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK. Monroe County. West High School 1954 alumni list 188 records; Kenneth L. Veneron http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK. Monroe County. West High School 1955 alumni list 186 records; Kenneth L. Veneron http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK. Monroe County. West High School 1956 alumni list 204 records; Kenneth L. Veneron http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ OREGON. Multnomah County. Jefferson High School, 1932 senior class 299 records; John D. Rees http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ TEXAS. Ellis County. Rutherford Baptist Church, situated between Forrest and Palmer communities; 491 records; Ruth Hasten Walsh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/churchrecords/ WASHINGTON. Lewis County. Centralia High School Class of 1926 226 records; Lynn Maynard http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ 5. NEW WEBPAGES AT ROOTSWEB ---------------------------- 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 next week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ [account name] Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required. To request a free Web account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ CANADA canbrnep -- Berwick Register Newspaper Extracts Project HOLY SEE vatican -- Vatican City POLAND poldolno -- Dolnoslaskie U.S.A. coehs -- Englewood Historical Society (Colorado) gabanks2 -- Banks County, Georgia gafloyd2 -- Floyd County, Georgia gahenry -- Henry County, Georgia ganewton -- Newton County, Georgia garockda -- Rockdale County, Georgia gaunknow -- Unknown County, Georgia gawhitfi -- Whitfield County, Georgia hialhn -- Hawaii state site for American Local History Network iacassgs -- Cass County Genealogical Society (Iowa) kyjessam -- Jessamine County, Kentucky mdstmary -- St. Marys County, Maryland mialger - Alger County, Michigan mibarry - Barry County, Michigan migsic -- Genealogical Society of Isabella County (Michigan) miiron - Iron County, Michigan nchths -- Hugh Torance House and Store, Inc. (North Carolina) okcsc -- Cherokee County - Sequoyah Club (Oklahoma) papip20 -- Pointers in Person Chapter 20 (Pennsylvania) scdacudc -- Dick Anderson Chapter #75, United Daughters of the Confederacy (South Carolina) scnewbe2 -- Newberry County, South Carolina scondc -- Old Newberry District Chapter (South Carolina) txgvcdar -- Guadalupe Victoria Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (Texas) txtssdac -- Texas State Society, Daughters of the American Colonists txwbcsar -- Sons of the American Revolution -- William Barron Chapter (Texas) 6. NEW ROOTSWEB MAILING LISTS ----------------------------- The following are NOT webpages--they are mailing lists. For more information and an index to the more than 24,800 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy mailing lists and the subscribing options, please go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ MAILING LISTS. For an index to more than 24,800 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy mailing lists, visit http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS ANDREINI BARRAS, BENBURY, BLUNDY, BOWDISH CARAT, DESPAIGNE DEYARMIN, DUCONGE, DUESTERBECK EFAW FUNSTON HENGESBACH KLEPPER LARSH MCLAMONT, MULLETT SCHLICKMAN, SCHWINDLING, SHERRON, SHIPPERLEE, SLYTER, SPEARING, SPRUNT, STRATFULL, STROHBECK, SWINDLING VACHON, VIDOR WATTRUS ZYLA NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS CA-SCGS -- Southern California Genealogical Society CRIMEAN-WAR -- The Crimean War (1854-1856) GREEK-SURNAMES -- Greek surnames ITALIAN-SURNAMES -- Italian surnames NEW-ENGLAND-SEAFARERS -- Seafaring community of the New England area of the United States OLD-RUSSIAN -- Deciphering and interpreting written documents in Russian from earliest to most recent 20th-century times PORTUGUESE-SURNAMES -- Portuguese surnames SCANDINAVIAN-SURNAMES -- Scandinavian surnames SPANISH-SURNAMES -- Spanish surnames NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS AUS-QLD-IPSWICH -- Ipswich, Queensland, Australia AUS-QLD-WARWICK -- Warwick, Queensland, Australia DEU-HES-AUERBA -- Auerbach, Hessen, Germany IRL-MAYO-KILKELLY -- Kilkelly, County Mayo Ireland IRL-MAYO-MIDFIELD -- Midfield, County Mayo, Ireland To subscribe or unsubscribe to/from any RootsWeb-hosted mailing list, send a plain text (not HTML) e-mail message with only the word SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the message body to: [name of list]-L-request@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or to: [name of list]-D-request@rootsweb.com (for digest mode) To request a new mailing list: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ 7. NEW PERSONAL FREEPAGES AND HOMEPAGES AT ROOTSWEB --------------------------------------------------- [Note: When your new personal webpages at RootsWeb are up and ready for visitors, please send the URL (address) along with a brief description to: rwr-editor@rootsweb.com -- comments and questions about any of these independently authored webpages should be directed to their respective compilers/webmasters.] AUSTRALIA. Tumbulgum Public School in Northern N.S.W. Contains photographs of students and teachers who attended the school between the years 1890-1960. The site is fully searchable. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tumbulgum/ BLANTERN, GULINO, McCARTHY, and WOLFF. More than 600 entries of about 179 surnames are searchable in Angie Blantern's online family tree, linked from the website http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~annegee/angie.htm CAMPBELL, COX, FARMER, McINTOSH. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jcox/ CANADA. Ontario Birth Registrations -- full transcriptions. This growing site is very much in its infancy, but is updated almost daily. Created to house transcriptions of Ontario birth registrations, it now has a good representation of many Ontario counties and covers the period 1869 to 1908. The site is organized alphabetically by father's surname and can be searched for mother's maiden name. Includes also a link to a work-in progress transcription of the parish registers of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Beaverton, Ontario. This parish served the Irish and French-Canadian families in Ontario County, York County and some areas of Simcoe County. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~births/ CHILVERS. In 1851 in the village of Old Buckenham in Norfolk, England there was a family group of CHILVERS. These pages follow their story. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chilvers FEHR/FAIR. Genealogy research of these and allied families from 1750 --when the immigrant ancestor came to the United States from Germany. Included is a fact and fiction story of his travels to Pennsylvania and into Maryland with his descendants displayed up to the present. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donpaul/ HARVEY, BAILEY. A Family Journal format genealogy including HARVEY, BAILEY, others. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~jcmosher/ HITCHCOCK, NICHOLS, NASH, MEEKS, LEONARD, CLEMENTS, TUTTLE, HAIGHT. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hitchcockhansell/ IRISH SURNAMES. Information on 700 of the most numerous surnames in Ireland. Gaelic form, English variants, septs and branches, territory of origin, distribution and estimated number of bearers in Ireland, frequency in British Isles and in the United States. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~irishsurnames/ KEMNER, POSTMA. Family history information for the KEMNER family of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. POSTMA family history of Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. MYERS family history of Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Other family names: HUYGENS, KUYPERS, CAMERON, DE YOUNG, ROBERTS, and FISHER. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kemner/ McGILLIS FAMILY TREE. McGILLIS and associated families. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pmcgillis/ MOSHER, JOHNSON. A Family Journal format genealogy including MOSHER, ADAMS, SMITH, CARPENTER, JOHNSON, MILLIKAN, BROWN, ANDREWS. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~jcmosher/ NAUGHTON GENEALOGY. NAUGHTONS (of varied spelling) from Ireland, with links to a history of NAUGHTONS in Ireland and to Naughton-related websites and mailing lists: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~naughton/ REINSEL GENEALOGY. Includes the descendants of Henry REINSEL, including those named RANSEL, RENSEL, AND RANSIL, plus related families of the BAUERS, DITZS, CYPHERTS, McGRANAHANS, and McGARRITYS. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~reinsel/ SCOVILL GENEALOGY. Includes a researcher database, pedigrees, and scanned images of the complete book "A Survey of Scovils or Scovills in England and America; Seven Hundred Years of History and Genealogy," including the indexes. Other families and places include: BALLOU from Rhode Island; DUNN from Albermarle County, Virginia; FELSHAW; GARDNER from Scotland; GENTRY from Albermarle County, Virginia; JENSEN from Denmark; STEVENS; and Albemarle County, Virginia http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dollface/GeneralGen.html STARR, BALDOCK. A Family Journal format genealogy including STARR, BALDOCK, CARY, HUFFMAN, others. http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~jcmosher/ VAN SWERINGEN, SUMMERS. Including ALEXANDER, ARCHER, HURFORD, and CEELY. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~vansweringen/ ************************PAID ADVERTISEMENTS************************ The May/June issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE is on the newsstands now or you can obtain a free trial copy by visiting http://www.familychronicle.com/ Articles include "Researching Female Ancestors," "Psychic Roots, Revelations or Rubbish," "Experts Answer 10 Commonest Research Problems," "40 Ways to Document a Death," "Maximum Mileage from the Ellis Island Database," and "Researching Family History Through Court Records" plus many others. Purchase our fastest-selling special ever, "Dating Old Photographs" at $12 including shipping: http://www.familychronicle.com/ * * * Save up to 70% on inkjet cartridges and get FREE shipping too! With Inkjetsavings, you not only save money, but there is no minimum order requirement. (U.S. and Canada only) All products guaranteed. Fast shipping and top rated customer service. 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FROM ROOTSWEB REVIEW'S BOTTOMLESS MAILBAG -------------------------------------------- The Meaning of German Surnames By Walter Kömpel WKoempel@t-online.de MUELLER, ZIEGLER, HÜFNER, RÜTTIGER, KÖMPEL, HEROK, GRÖSCHL, SEITNER, DREIFÜRST, LANG, KURZ, ARNSBERG, as well as OBERBACH, WERBERG, and various thousands of other surnames can be found in Germany. A lot of last names were derived from the person's profession, such as MÜLLER (miller), SCHREINER (carpenter), BAUER (farmer), and so on. Others found their origin in the physical body shape such as LANG (long), KURZ (short) or MAGER (skinny). Also some people are named after our hometown mountains such as AUERSBERG, ARNSBERG, KREUZBERG, PILSTER, and BEILSTEIN. Recently I was looking for small villages in the vicinity in a German telephone CD. I typed the village/town name in (i.e. ALTENFELD; BIRX; BREITENBACH; DETTER; FRANKENHEIM; GERSFELD*(ER); HETTENHAUSEN; KOTHEN; MOTTEN; MUENCHAU; PLATZ; RIEDENBERG*(ER); ROSSBACH; SANDBERG; SCHILDECKER; SCHMALNAUER; SCHMALWASSER; SPARBROD; THALU; VOLKERS; WEISSENBACH UND WERBERG*(ER)) under surname and was so surprised to learn that a lot of people in Germany have the surnames of these villages/towns and mountains in our area. (*variations in parentheses). A few days later I had the opportunity to take a closer look at a six-CD telephone directory of North America and was surprised again to find that in the United States a lot of above mentioned surnames are also found there. [Editor's Note: According to George R. Schweitzer, Ph.D., Sc.D., author and noted genealogical lecturer, more than one-half of U.S. citizens claim to have German ancestors. Of course, figuring out what the name was originally in Germany is a major hurdle for many researchers.] * * * Persist, persist, persist By Milton Rhea MiltnRuby@aol.com My wife's father took off and left her mother penniless with eight children at the peak of the Depression. As you may imagine, they had no desire to find him. However, being a "newbie" genealogist, I thought it would be interesting to find out what happened to that uncaring bum! I went through all the normal steps, but to no avail. There was no one named Martin MIGENDT in the world! Then I got this bright idea: I had some old software with eight million phone numbers on it. They were listed state by state, and I finally found one number in Michigan. I called and talked to a man who was originally from Germany by the name of MIGENDT, but he assured me that there were no other MIGENDTS in America. He was delighted to find that he had a whole raft of relatives in California. He gave me the address of a cousin in Ebersbach, Germany that could understand and write some English. I wrote a letter with what information I had, and sure enough, we received a letter back from this wonderful lady saying that my wife's father ran off to America in 1905. He was her great-uncle. Last year, my wife and I took a tour of Europe and spent two days at a reception with the whole family. I was able to get the family history for several hundreds years back. Two of the relatives are arriving in a couple of days to spend two weeks with us. So you see, persistence does pay off. 9. HUMOR: R.I.P. The Sexton and Stone -------------------------------------- Thanks to Dahlia Wyllarde dahliawyllarde@yahoo.com A sexton in England undertook a project to map all the graves in the churchyard and to create a complete record of the individuals buried there. After years of work and research he had identified all of the stones but one. The stone, flat on the ground and directly behind the old church, bore only the initials H.W.P. The sexton dug through every church record and could find no record of anyone with those initials. One day the plumber was working on the old water pipes in the church and chatting with the sexton who proceeded to tell him with pride about his project and added that he was greatly troubled by the fact that one stone remained unidentified. The plumber asked which stone that might be and the sexton pointed out the flat stone. The plumber smiled and replied that he could solve that mystery since he had placed the stone there himself -- H.W.P. marks the location of the Hot Water Pipe. 10. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES, REPRINT POLICY, SUBSCRIBING HELP ----------------------------------------------------------- We welcome short (500 words or less) articles, stories, or letters for publication in the RootsWeb Review. They should be sent as a plain text e-mail message (no attachments) to: rwr-editor@rootsweb.com We reserve the right to edit all submissions. 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: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 5, No. 21, 22 May 2002 and written by [author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given]. Search/download back issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ If you are unable to successfully subscribe or unsubscribe to any RootsWeb-hosted mailing list, including the RootsWeb Review, or if your e-mail address has changed, please go to: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/addresses/ ========================================================================