RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 4, 22 January 2003, Circulation: 1,024,411+ (c) 1998-2003 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ * * * Please see Section 9 below for e-mail addresses and help Do not use your e-mail application's "REPLY TO" option to send a message to RootsWeb Review ======================================================================= In This Issue: 1. News and Notes. (1a.Message Board Magic; 1b. Tips from Readers: "Saving for the Nuts" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "When You Least Expect It" 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb 5. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 6. New FreePages and HomePages (personal webpages at RootsWeb) 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Parles Vous, Tante?"; "Synonymously Yours"; "Fighting a Losing Battle"; "Solving the Problem"; and "Using a Dictionary" 8. Humor: "Your Ancestor Was a What?" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Subscription Modification Instructions ====================================================================== 1. News and Notes: ------------------ 1a. MESSAGE BOARDS MAGIC. You don't have to be a wizard like Harry Potter to find a Message Board: No magic wand is required to search (use the FIND A BOARD search box) or browse (navigate through the board indexes) and no Quidditch-style flying broomstick is needed to arrive at the Message Board of your choice. To search for a Message Board start at either RootsWeb or Ancestry: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ or at http://boards.ancestry.com/ or click on the MESSAGE BOARDS tab near the top of any RootsWeb or Ancestry page. Type the name of the board you wish to locate into the FIND A BOARD box. Select the SOUNDEX option if you are searching for a surname board and are unsure of the spelling or are interested in variant spellings of the surname. FIND A BOARD searches are all case insensitive -- it doesn't matter whether you type: Wolfe, WOLFE, or wolfe. Browse/navigate to a board of interest. Message boards are divided into categories (designated by yellow file folder icons), which are further broken down into subcategories in what is a nested hierarchy of folders. Designated by sheets of papers icons, the boards are divided into three main categories: Surnames, Localities, and Genealogical Research Topics. The Surnames are arranged thereunder alphabetically. Localities start with continents or subcontinents, then countries, and subsequently to states or provinces, counties, and their equivalents. Genealogical Research Topics are listed by such subjects as ethnic/race, military, adoption, religions/religious, etc. You can get to a Message Board by following category and subcategory folders, clicking on them until you reach the desired one. You can always identify where you are in the Message Board hierarchy by looking at the yellow bar above the file folders that shows the path to the page you are presently viewing. For example: Boards -- Localities -- North America -- United States -- States -- Ohio. Clicking on any category or subcategory on the yellow bar returns you to that specific category/subcategory. If you click on MESSAGE BOARDS above the search box in the upper-left portion of the page, it returns you to the main page of either the Ancestry.com or RootsWeb.com Message Boards -- depending upon your entry point. Clicking on LOGIN/LOG OUT in the upper-right corner allows you to login to use Message Board features that require registration/logging in, such as setting up such options as MY NOTIFICATIONS, MY FAVORITES, REPORT ABUSE, or BECOME AN ADMIN. From any page you can access links to: REQUEST NEW BOARD, VIEW MESSAGE BOARD RULES, MESSAGE BOARD FAQs, and/or MESSAGE BOARD HELP. Once you are on a specific Message Board, the LIST BOARDS link will always return you to the main index page so that you can navigate to other Message Boards. There is also a FIND A BOARD search box at the bottom of each page. Use the search box on a Message Board to search the specific board you are viewing or to search all Message Boards (the default is to search all boards). View a Message Board in either THREAD or DATE and in COLLAPSED or EXPANDED display modes. The best way to understand how these work is to experiment by clicking on each options and watch what happens. Messages are displayed 25 to a page and the navigation options are NEXT or PREVIOUS. If you have selected the THREAD COLLAPSED or EXPANDED display mode you will be given the additional navigation option of jumping to the NEXT or PREVIOUS THREAD. To view a specific message if you already know the message number, use the board's URL, followed by &m= (insert the message number after the last equal sign). In this example below, the message number is 506. [This is a two-line URL]: http://boards.ancestry.com/ mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=topics.religious.quaker.quaker-roots&m=506 The VIEW MESSAGE TYPE option allows you to display all messages (all queries and all data types) or to view only one specific data type (such as obituaries, deeds, etc.).Once you select a setting it will remain in place for the length of your browser session -- unless you change it. While viewing a specific message, click LIST MESSAGES to return to the starting page of the Message Board itself. Clicking on an author's name (that's the name of person who posts messages on the boards) enables you to view all other messages posted by that individual. Now you should be able to zoom around the Message Boards faster than you can say abracadabra because navigating them doesn't require any magic tools, charms or potions. * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS. "Saving for the Nuts" Thanks to: Dave Van Doren dvandore@neo.rr.com In response to "Technology to the Rescue" by John W. Grace in RWR 6:2 (8 January): Scanning everything perhaps is a good way to go for the near term. However, with the speed of technological changes these days, how long will it be before even CDs will not be accessible to new equipment, and old equipment will not last forever? Will your great- grandchildren be able to read those electronic records? We have decided to commit all our records and photos (after scanning, if necessary) to good quality, acid-free paper, stored in good plastic boxes. These records should last a couple of centuries, assuming they do not get lost or thrown out, and do not require continual upgrading of the wherewithal (hardware and software) to read them. However, the major downside to this is how to arrange for orderly upgrading of these records? That I leave to the next generation of genealogical nuts. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- When You Least Expect It By Betty Bryan eolin@mindspring.com I have read some wonderful inspiring stories in your Reviews, but didn't think it would happen in my lifetime to me. After what happened recently I won't give up hope because a dream had come true for me, after nearly 50 years of waiting. For years, too many to mention, I have searched for a cousin I knew had been adopted. Talk about researching ancestors, it's is more difficult at times to find the living. I had posted on every Message Board I could, and she was one on the top 11 MOST WANTED online site, but not even a nibble. I had checked with neighbors where I remembered her living, high schools where she might have gone, possible classmates that might recognize her from a description, in so many records that I lost track of what all I had done and would try again. I have short-term memory loss from a brain injury. Anyone that knew the real facts are now deceased. My own siblings seemed to have nearly forgotten, but I never would let them. They couldn't help me at all and remembered less than I, and most of them are older. One of my aunts who married into the family made comment to me at her 75th birthday, that she could tell me plenty. Not thinking that was the time and the look in her eye, I decided to wait until another time. Wrong choice. Life keeps changing and though she lived to be in her 90s, I never did have that discussion with her. I think I was afraid I would learn more than I wanted to know. She was the sweetest of women, and I had never seen that look before, and it scared me. Some of that is another story or skeleton in the closet. Anyway, I subscribe to the RootsWeb WOOLEY Mailing List and others, too. I opened my mail recently and found someone looking for her mom's father. His name appeared to be that of my uncle's. It was. I was so excited, I couldn't get the address correct to reply. When I did, I sent it in the wrong format and had to redo it again. What a hoot I was. Then being afraid it would take too long, I sent an e-mail to the one that posted to the list. Wrong address there and I had to do it again as it was returned. I was all thumbs. Excited doesn't express the feelings I was having -- and crying. It had been so many years, we had been totally separated from seeing each other when my cousin was getting to the age of understanding what adoption meant. Only my mom kept in contact with her, and I never saw this cousin again. She was the closest I ever had to a sister. There were five years between us, and I remember her well. I couldn't reach her at first though her daughter sent me the phone number--the daughter called her instead and I wasn't able to get through. I tried so long. Out of nowhere this message came, the girl that posted it made it sound at first like her mom was deceased, talking about going through papers. I feared the worse, but got the best. She wrote to me saying, "gosh that was easy." She should have been on this end. Literally years trying to find her . . . I only ask my Maker to help me to deal with His Will. I've been so blessed for so much in my life -- even the brain injuries have given me time to learn to do this and search for my roots. I thank my daughter for encouraging me to do a family tree she wants, which has been a great therapy for me. Keeps what brain I have left active and trying to do better. My daughter and I knew, with her busy schedule, I would never be able to tell her all the memories in my mind. Over my childhood years, my mom mentioned surnames only of those that were supposed to be related. She gave me no given names, dates, location, or kinship; let alone telling me nothing of which side of the family they were related -- dad or her. After years of this, I began to think mom played a name game of her own. No one could be related to so many different names! Woe be unto anyone who fails to realize how many ancestors and relatives you gain each generation you go back. I can't imagine ever getting finished in my lifetime. You can bet that list I made before I started will go to my family to let them search for those I can't find. At least, they will have some information from which to work. So when you least expect it, be ready, it may not be Candid Camera (the old American television show), but it will feel like you made "Queen For a Day" (another old radio and TV show). Opps! Showing my age again. I recommend what my mom did. There was always something I can remember that would be associated with another surname she gave. (That and the good memory of which mine used to be.) That will be the rough part for my family. They won't have a clue to the names as I learned them. My mom delivered this child. Don't give up, if I can find someone after two brain injuries, the possibility is there for others. Just keep your eyes open and try. I'll talk with my cousin soon. Her family is trying to find family they have never known. Have I got a surprise for them! 3. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ --------------------------------------------- The following datasets have come online recently (these are name searchable, but they are not browseable): AUSTRALIA. Ryerson Index Additions Nov. 27th-Jan. 16th 17,619 records; John Graham, for the Sydney DPS http://userdb.rootsweb.com/aus/ ENGLAND. Ted Wildy's UK Marriage Witness Index 172,404 records; Faye Guthrie http://userdb.rootsweb.com/uki/ ITALY. Italian Births 1809-1889 Alberona, Foggia 350 records; C. Giambattista http://userdb.rootsweb.com/italy/ U.S.A.: Book Indexes: History of Nebraska (Chapter on York County), 1882 631 records; York County Historical Association http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ ALABAMA. Conecuh County. Green Cemetery 12 records; Robert Bellamy http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ CALIFORNIA. Santa Cruz County. Watsonville High School, 1918 Manzanitas; 556 records; Janece Carter Streig for the Pajaro Valley Historical Association http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MINNESOTA. Dakota County. 1938 South St. Paul High School 372 records; Steve Spanovich http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MISSOURI. Barry County. Mineral Springs Cemetery 276 records; K.D. Held http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ MISSISSIPPI. Mississippi Marriage Index, 1870-1925, Table 8; 160 records; Raymond Montgomery http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ NEW YORK, Monroe County. West High School, Rochester--1946 Alumni, with deaths to 01/01/03; 221 records; Bob Greeley--compiler, Jack Lamphier--publisher http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ PENNSYLVANIA. Berks County. Zion M.E. Church Headstones, Robeson Township; 76 records; Douglas H. Good http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ * * * Who Has the Data? Does your state, province, county, parish, church, old military unit, or alma mater have material with a few names or thousands of names available that you think would be of interest to genealogists and historians? Do you have a list of names or a database that you think would be of value and interest to others? In most cases, RootsWeb would be proud to host it. Such user databases are other than your family tree since family trees can be posted at WorldConnect: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ See the guidelines, tutorial and examples of data formats for user- contributed data. Large or small files are welcome. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/guidelines.html Please use this submission form: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Some of these pages might not yet be accessible. They are created by volunteers, so if one that interests you isn't up yet, please check again in a few days or next week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~[accountname] Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required. Example: The Cross County, Arkansas website is located at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~arcross/ ANADA nbcknowl -- Knowlesville, New Brunswick ENGLAND engtags -- The Archive Group of Sandwell (Borough of Sandwell in the English Midlands) U.S.A. altdcdar -- Tristan DeLuna Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama) arcross - Cross County, Arkansas caetcdar -- El Toyon Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Stockton, San Joaquin County, California) flbaghs -- Brandon Area Genealogical and Historical Society (Brandon, Hillsborough County, Florida) gadawso2 -- Dawson County, Georgia mecwood -- Woodstock, Oxford County, Maine meefcdar -- Eunice Farnsworth Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Skowhegan, Somerset County, Maine) ncwayne2 -- Wayne County, North Carolina nymwcdar -- Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (New York, New York) okhcgs -- Harmon County Genealogical Society (Oklahoma) orspmhs -- St. Paul Mission Historical Society (St. Paul, Marion County, Oregon) txbander -- Bandera County, Texas txbexar2 -- Bexar County, Texas txblanco -- Blanco County, Texas txcallah -- Callahan County, Texas txedward -- Edwards County, Texas txhoward -- Howard County, Texas txloving -- Loving County, Texas txmitche -- Mitchell County, Texas txmotley -- Motley County, Texas txreeves -- Reeves County, Texas txsutton -- Sutton County, Texas vawtcdar -- William Taylor Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Lunenburg and Brunswick counties of Virginia) 5. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- For more information and an index to the more than 26,100 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and easy subscribing options, go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BLANKINSHIP, BRENDEL, BURGMAN CAPLENA, CLAEYS, COLLIGAN DERN ELTER FARMERY, FLEISSIG GRUENDER HILLGNER, HIPPE, HUXLEY INSCOE LAMPERT RABOURN, RADECK, RAYBORN, REDCAY, RUMKE SUESSMANN WIESNES, WUENDISCH YOAKUM NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS AUS-WA-NEWSPAPER-EXTRACTS -- Listing of newspaper articles in Western Australia and concerning Western Australia CHILDRESS-DNA -- The Childress DNA Genealogy Project NICKLES-MA -- The NICKLES surname in Massachusetts OK-GEN-SOC -- Oklahoma Genealogical Society companion webpage: http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgs/ QUEBEC-HESSIANS -- The settlement of Hessian soldiers in the Canadian province of Quebec after the American Revolution TMG-KC-USERS -- The Roots Users (The Master Genealogist) Group in Kansas City, Missouri UK-AGOS -- The Friends of Sandwell Archive, known as The Archive Group of Sandwell NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CANDOCANAL -- Unique genealogy research area C & O Canal, encompassing parts of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia ENG-CHS-ODD-RODE -- The area on Cheshire/Staffordshire border known as Odd Rode ENG-YKS-BRADFORD -- Bradford, Yorkshire, England (and surrounding area) To subscribe or unsubscribe to/from any RootsWeb-hosted Mailing List, send a plain text e-mail message with only the word SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the message body and the subject line to: [name of list]-L-request@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or to: [name of list]-D-request@rootsweb.com (for digest mode) 6. New Personal Freepages and Homepages at RootsWeb ---------------------------------------------------- Note: Comments and questions about any of these independently authored webpages should be directed to their respective compilers/webmasters. When your new, updated, or substantially revised personal pages located at RootsWeb (they will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL) are up and ready for visitors, please send the URL (Web address), along with a brief description, including the major pertinent surnames and what is available on your site, to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com ADAMS GENEALOGY. Surnames: ADAMS, CALLENDER, GRAY, PURCHASE, SEEMAN, SEEMANN, VAN BROCKLIN, and RYDER. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~karensfamilyfiles/Adams/ BLACKBURN RESEARCH SITE. Lists those who are searching for their BLACKBURN ancestors and a short list of those ancestors. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blackburn/blackburn.html CLEMENS FAMILY: Photos, tombstones, family tree family photos covering the CLEMENS, DODGE and some BOWMAN families, mainly from Kent County, Michigan. Tombstone pictures from Salfords, Towamencin, and Skippack cemeteries of Pennsylvania and Blain, Gaines, Holy Corners of Kent County, Michigan. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~clemens/ ENGLAND. CORNWALL. St. Allen and Withiel Online Parish Resources website has been expanded to include material and look-ups for the parish of St. Allen. Also included for the whole of Cornwall is an "Index to Cornwall Archdeaconry Court Records," covering: Defamations Records, 1722-1847; Divorce and Alimony Records, 1737-1789; Marriage Contracts Records, 1739-1750; and Church Rates Records, 1672-1835 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~blanchec/ ENGLAND. NORTHAMPTON. Website with many Northampton church photos is now online and available for viewing at: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cmahoney/ GENEALOGY AND HISTORY LIBRARY LINKS: This site provides links to domestic, international, and surname links that include surname-related information. There's cemetery, ports, railroads, Native American, state flags/symbols, clan information, and a place to post surnames that you are seeking. The site also includes original content via an "Events Calendar," monthly newsletter, "Genealogical Tools," and a "Recommended Reading" list. The interactive page provides additional sources. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genealogylinks/ INDIANA. PIONEERS OF HANCOCK COUNTY. Transcription of a series of articles from the "Greenfield Republican" newspaper The articles were called "Our Pioneer Sketches," and the author interviewed people living in the county in 1891 who were at least 80 years old, and wrote up their life stories. Pamela Lynch has created and uploaded a GEDCOM file and filled in as many of each person's relatives that she could from the article.The article itself appears in the notes section. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=pioneers LAIR, HINTON. Descendants of Andrew LAIR and Ruth HINTON. Surnames: DeBOLT, DEBORD, DOLL, GRAVES, HINTON, LAIR, LITTLE, AND NICKESON. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~karensfamilyfiles/Lair/ McKEMIE, DAVIDSON, DORRIE, HOUSTON, RAIFORD, PEARSON, JAHODO, and DOUGHERTY GENEALOGY. Variants of the McKEMIE namem, including McKAMEY, MAKEMIE, and McKEMY. Other surnames: HAUSNER, DOUGHERTY, ABERNATHY, CASPER. Also transcribed records (wills, court records, etc.). http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mckemie/ NICKERSON/NICKESON FAMILY WEBSITE. Pertinent surnames: NICKERSON, NICKESON, BUSBY, COBLE, LAIR, HAMBLIN, and BANGS. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~karensfamilyfiles/Nickeson/ PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN PIONEERS. Directory of Online Passenger Lists. Passenger lists of the ships carrying German immigrants to Philadelphia, 1727-1808. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pagermanpioneers/ ROBERSON-MASSEY FAMILY HISTORY. Also includes surnames: CARRIER, HARRIS, FOLEY, MAYBERRY, MIDDLEBROOKS, PAUL, SCHWARTZ, SPRINGER, and TRAIL. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jensfamilytree/ WELLARD. Researching the WELLARD name around the world. Includes photos, certificates, transcriptions and indexes to BDMs in NSW Australia. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kcunningham/ ======================= Paid Advertisements ======================== Ring in the New Year with digital prints of your favorite family photos. Act today and save 15% on your first order of $20 or more. Plus Free Shipping. Resolve to spend more time with your loved ones. From Ofoto, a Kodak company. http://click.atdmt.com/FSF/go/myfmkofo00300009fsf/direct/01/ * * * Explore Your World! Join the Discovery Channel Book Club. The Discovery Channel Book Club is your definitive source for the greatest books and videos on the planet from weird creatures to cool technology, space exploration to ancient civilizations. Explore Your World! Choose 3 books for 99˘ plus a FREE tote. Click for details. http://mocda.com/1/c/169129/83602/235201/235201 * * * Click here for a chance to win a 42" Plasma Television! http://mocda.com/1/c/169129/87025/235201/235201 ==================== End of Paid Advertisements ===================== 7. From RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag [Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the editor or of RootsWeb.com]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Parles Vous, Tante? On the "great" versus "grand" issue, I've heard both applied to my grandmother's sisters and my other grandmother's brothers, both of whom lived practically next door to me. While Eva (ROYLE) CHISHOLM was referred to on a daily basis as "Aunt Eve" by both me and half the valley (there is such as thing as being refereed to as "aunt" as a mark of respect, too), my parents would tell me she was my Great-Aunt Eve. I've since started calling the great-aunts as grand-aunts as it made more sense. And, it seems to be the more modern way of saying it. There are historical (and regional) differences in how we perceive and describe relationships. And, as genealogists we need to understand the terminology used in different areas. After all, many of our sources are not modern genealogists and online databases, but old records in which things will be written as the authors saw them. No one is going to go back there and tell to be consistent. It's like learning a foreign language. You don't learn French to teach them English. You learn the French language and customs to be able to communicate with French speakers and have a much better time when visiting Paris. Just as you learn the customs and language of different areas of the country or the world or of history to have a better time researching there. --Rowan Chisholm rainslie@nwlink.com * * * Synonymously Yours John A. McCall in RWR:6:3 (15 January) suggests that "grand" is a better term for the siblings of one's grandparents than "great." Logically, his case is hard to argue with. But current usage seems to go against him. My Encarta 2001 dictionary has this definition of great- aunt: "an aunt of somebody’s father or mother. Also called grandaunt." Under grandaunt it says "see great-aunt." So the two terms are (now) interchangeable and can be considered synonymous, although "great-aunt" would seem to have the edge nowadays. --G. David Thayer gdthayer@proaxis.com * * * Fighting a Losing Battle My sister, when in her 80s, referred to herself as a "great aunt" to my grandchildren. My "great aunts" (born in the mid- to late-1800s) always referred to themselves that way. I never even heard the term "grand aunt" until very recent years and suspect the whole thing must either be regional or modern. In any event, I associate "grand aunt" with "grahnd- ohnt," rather than to "grate-ant," as it should be. Those who try to apply logic to how words are used are fighting a losing battle. --Jim McMillen jimmcmillen@earthlink.net * * * Solving the Problem How about my friend's solution: Rather than being called "Great-Aunt Barbara", she prefers "Aunt Barbara, the Great"! --Sue Dufour sdufour@skyenet.net * * * Using a Dictionary In RWR:5:52 (25 Dec. 2002) "DrB" elaborated on the usage of "cousin." However, I am compelled to correct the first statement: "1. The role of a dictionary is to report how people do use language, not to prescribe how people should use language . . ." This should sound like nonsense. Why do libraries have them in the reference section? Surely we know well enough HOW words are used (and misused) just from talking to others. If a dictionary's purpose is not to prescribe how words should be used, where then do we find this knowledge? For instance, I wanted to know how "distinguish" and "differentiate" are related -- so I used a dictionary. --Michael P. Klinosky mpk2@enter.net * * * [Editor's Note: The great- vs. grand- aunts and uncles terminology debate continues with each convinced that he or she is correct in their choice of what they call the siblings of their grandparents. But the underlying issue is not a rhetorical question about whether we call our female parent, "Mum," "Mother," or "Mama." As the Internet shrinks our globe and we exchange information with cousins around the world, genealogical terms need standards in order that we may all understand recorded kinships. Regardless of the titles or terms of endearment you use for specific relatives, see what your genealogical software says -- if it offers a relationship calculator -- that the brother or sister of your grandfather or grandmother is to you. Also look closely at the many online Genealogy Relationship Charts. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/chart.htm http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/relation.htm http://www.heirsearch.com/table.htm For an article on a related (pun intended) subject, see "Cousin Removal!" by Michael John Neill: http://www.ancestry.com/library/print/news/articles/2856.htm ] 8. Humor: "Your Ancestor Was a What?" --------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Jenny McKay of Brisbane Australia lyall1@optusnet.com.au I too have been intrigued by some of the occupations I have seen listed in the 1881 U.K. (United Kingdom) census. It seems that back then, everybody was very proud of what they did and even if one was not working, it was the done thing to write what would be your normal occupation followed by the word unemployed or retired. Some of the occupations I have wondered at are: --"engine driver--stationary" -- That job's going nowhere. --"carriage straightener" -- Certainly wouldn't be needed by the above. --"timekeeper in a gun factory" -- You wouldn't want to be late clocking in there, would you? 9. Submission Guidelines, Reprint Policy, RWR Archives, Subscriptions ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The RootsWeb Review does not publish or answer genealogical queries, and the editor regrets that she is unable to provide any personal research assistance or advice. RootsWeb Review welcomes short (500 words or less) articles, humor, stories, or letters, and reserves the right to edit all submissions. All mail sent to the RootsWeb Review editor is considered to be for publication; send in plain text (no html, stationery, or attachments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * Search/download all back issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * Do not send RWR subscription requests and modifications to the editor. Please use the following RWR addresses: RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- adds you to the RWR Mailing List. RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- removes you from the RWR Mailing List. * * * 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. 6, No. 4, 22 January 2003. * * * *