RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 44, 29 October 2003, Circulation: 945,459+ (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/ * * * SUBSCRIPTIONS: Do not send any subscription requests or e-mail address changes to the editor. Use these special e-mail addresses: RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- this adds you to the RWR Mailing List. RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- this removes you from the RWR Mailing List. * * * If you need assistance please visit the HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help.cgi Search/download past issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * Search and post messages on all relevant surname, locality, and topic Message Boards and Mailing Lists: Message Boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ Find and share your ancestors: WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ Learn how to trace your family tree: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ =============================================================== =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. Halloween Treats Buried in Lists and Boards; 1b. Editor's Virtual Desk: "From the Pumpkin Patch" 1c. Tips from Readers: "Before They Go Away" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "Bobbing for Ancestors" 3. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb 5. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 6. New User-contributed Databases 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Well Done, Jack (O'Lantern)"; "Is There a Doctor, a Squire, or a Ghoul in the House?" "No Tricks: Show Sources"; "Treats: Joys of Sharing; and "Haints and Haunts: The WRIGHT Way" 8. Humor/Humour: "Low Bridge, Everyone Down" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Addresses; Subscription Modification Instructions =============================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Halloween Treats Buried in Lists and Boards Probably the most overlooked and underused treats at RootsWeb are the mailing lists, which fall under the OTHER category in the list index: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ and the message boards, which are categorized as TOPICS: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics There is no trick about it, these lists and boards are treats in every way. They are not primarily surname- or locality-centered as are the other lists and boards at RootsWeb. And, they may not be the best means of finding your ancestors or where you would turn to begin a search, but they can add new dimensions by bringing life to the names, dates, and places you have found elsewhere. Many TOPICS message boards and OTHER mailing lists are focused upon occupations, race and ethnicity, religions, fraternal organizations, and the stories and folklore that were part of the lives of our forebears. These resources can be used in a couple of ways: --Provide a means of looking for additional information that will aid you in a specific search. For instance, learning about coal mining areas helps to understand the migration patterns of ancestors who worked in that industry. --Provide a resource where you can browse and obtain as much general information as possible on a particular religious group and their practices and beliefs or maybe folklore and traditions and culture to round out and broaden your factual knowledge on any topic--whether it relates to your specific research or not. TOPICS boards and OTHER list archives are great places to do some browsing for general information or to post a query in hopes of learning more about an ethnic group, about tombstone or census data -- any genealogy-related topic you can think of. There's a veritable grab bag of Halloween treats available. Browse or search the TOPICS category boards from the URL (web address) listed above and/or browse any single OTHER list archives by starting here: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ For some appropriate Halloween browsing explore such Message Board categories as: Cemeteries and Tombstones; Crime--Old West, Outlaws, Prisoners, etc., and take a look at Pirates, or investigate Folklore, Legends, and Family Stories -- Ghost Stories and Hallowe'en Haunting Tales (you can add your own favorite stories here). Does a Massachusetts witch hang upon your family tree? See: Salem Witch Trials. For some other topical Halloween flavored mailing lists, examine the archives of: FOLKLORE; GEN-UNSOLVED-MYSTERIES, PSYCHIC-ROOTS, TOMBSTONES, UFO-ROOTS, WITCH-HUNTING, and WITCH-TRIALS. A journey through the archives of the WITCH-TRIALS list yields an interesting link to a website associated with the list: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~witchtrialancestors/ In turn the website leads to a WorldConnect database covering witch trial ancestors compiled by the members of the WITCH-TRIALS list. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=witchtrials The list archives also include posts that remind us of long ago witch trials around the world. One post from October 2002 tells the story of Anna SIMONSDOTTER HACK, born about 1625, also called Tysk-Annika, or German Annika. She was brought to trial on April 28, 1676 and on May 3 was sentenced to death. A final vote by a higher court on July 26 led to the unanimous vote for death by decapitation and burning. Annika was the last person to be executed in Stockholm, Sweden for witchery. A virtual stroll through the Folklore message boards leads to some interesting stories as well. The Pennsylvania Folklore board reveals a an intriguing story of a husband and wife researching their respective ancestors. Their search eventually led them to the same cemetery and to the discovery that their great-great-grandparents are buried side-by- side in the very next graves. Eighty-seven years later the respective offspring of those who rest in the graves were to meet and marry. Now what are the odds of something like this happening? Could there have been forces at work beyond the grave that brought this couple together? You can read their complete story here: [Note: This is a 2-line URL] http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p= topics.folklore.pa&m=1 So whether you are looking to shiver your timbers by reading about some pirates of yore, want to learn about the unfortunate souls who were accused or convicted of witchcraft long ago, or just want to read of attempts to contact the spirits of ancestors who have crossed over to the other side and their possible attempts to contact the living, you can find all sorts of treats like these at RootsWeb. However, since Halloween is the time when witches, ghosts and family skeletons are most likely to wander about, be careful exploring your family tree. And, watch out for things that go bump in the night -- especially in cemeteries. * * * 1d. EDITOR's VIRTUAL DESK. From the Pumpkin Patch. The History Channel.com is featuring "The History of Halloween," which includes ancient origins, modern traditions, and evolution of a holiday. http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/halloween/hallowmas.html Americans will find "The OTHER Tenants at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" interesting and a bit ghostly. http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/halloween/haunts.html * * * Researching in online databases for Irish and Scottish surnames? Watch out for misplaced, inconsistent or improper punctuation such as: O' Hara (space after the apostrophe), O"Hara (double quotes) or O'HARA (with a curly or smart-quote instead of a straight one). Be heedful of the Mcs, Macs, McSpaces, McUnderscores, and McDots, as in: McFADDEN, MACFADDEN, MC FADDEN (space between the C and F), MC_FADDEN [mcunderscore], and MC.FADDEN [McDot]. * * * Can't find your William (any surname)? Try searching for Willaim -- a common typo found in databases, particularly in the census indices. * * * Date Challenged? Here's an easy way to convert between Arabic numbers and Roman numbers and to do some quick date conversions. http://www.guernsey.net/~sgibbs/roman.html * * * 1e. TIPS FROM READERS. Before They Go Away By Tom McNeill Tomcneil@aol.com If you get involved with genealogy and want to start in the right direction -- start with your grandparents if they are still alive. I did not do that because by the time I started doing research in genealogy I was retired and they had all passed away. A lot of information was lost in their passing. I remember the last time I spent some time with my maternal grandmother. She was in her 90s and was visiting my mother. We spent a couple of hours talking in the shade of a tree while she shared some of my beer. She only had about two glasses and said that was enough for a person her age. We talked of many things involving family and memories but we did not talk about what she might have known about the family that was not known by other family members or might be a matter of official record someplace. I did not ask her about many things that I might ask her about today. We do not know where she and my grandfather got married. They were from the same town but my grandfather was in the farm-harvesting business that required constant movement. I wish that I had known to ask about a marriage location and many other things that I did not think about until two years after she died at the age of 103. There are a lot of other questions that I wish I had known to ask about. I found a record of her father-in-law as having been in the Civil War. I queried several aunts and uncles about that and they said no because if he had been a veteran they would have known about it. The State of Illinois has a great record system for veterans and it was able to provide me with a record of my great-grandfather. He entered Union service in February 1865 and deserted in May 1865. So much for family history as the matter was not discussed in the family. This was apparently not held against him as he held a later position as postmaster. There has been a steady process of continuing research and contacts with distant relatives that have resulted in going from having 120 names to more than 9,000 in my genealogy file. I found that many of my ancestors followed the established migration trails from the East to the West. I have found two things that were significant to me -- All of my ancestors came to North America between 1624 and 1845 and I have found only one that might be considered as an outcast. One of my grand- mother's distant cousins was killed in 1861 while riding with William Quantrill during his raids in Missouri and Kansas . . . The loyalties and ideologies of my ancestors were not consistent. There were six families with members who were on both sides in the Civil War and three families with members on both sides in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Since the Civil War they have been on the same side in wars, but politics and religion are matters that are seldom discussed today. Many of the descendants have different opinions. I have learned more about real American history since I retired -- more than I knew before, but I regret that I did not think about asking my grandparents and some of their brothers and sisters a few questions. They probably knew a lot of things that their grandparents had told them. [Editor's Note: See "Oral History Questions" for ideas on what to ask: http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/oralhist.htm Read Richard A. Pence's tips on getting information from relatives in his outstanding article, "Searching Your Family Tree": http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/roots-l/genealog/genealog.fhsearch ] 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Bobbing for Ancestors By Stephanie Carson Feldman steph_carson@yahoo.com My grandfather turned 90 recently and I decided to compile some of my genealogy for him (weddings, births, and special birthdays and anniversaries are a great time to print out genealogy reports and have them bound at your local printing store). He descends from Richard HIGGINS and is the 10th generation in America. Richard was born 1603/1613 so we have a nice 400-year history of the HIGGINS. I decided to put information on each HIGGINS spouse by printing her family chart and then including an article on her immigrant ancestor, which worked well until I got to Jerusha WILKINS. I had only birth records from Lewiston, Maine where she was listed as a child of David and Molly WILKINS. I realized I had no idea who her likely immigrant ancestor was, so I went to WorldConnect and typed in WILKINS, born about 1600 (20-year leeway) and died in Massachusetts. I thought that might get it and sure enough, Bray WILKINS came up. I discovered there was a book on him and it was on HeritageQuestOnline, and I looked at the index and there was Jerusha with parents. Wow! Took me about an hour and I had five generations back with a nice book. I hadn't even meant to do the research. I've decided this might be a good way to go with those elusive people who I have back to the 1700s and I just can't seem to go back further. If you can't go one way, try it another. These genealogy books are fairly easy to do, once you force yourself to STOP and just do it. Genealogy software programs allow you to print charts and reports. Charts make great dividers (use those sticky tabs to make it easier to see, and/or print them on colored cardstock). We also have lots of great articles we've copied, add those. Copy some of those source documents as well. If I can swing it, I also will burn all I have on a CD and add it to the book. Publishing is always an issue, and I believe saving files in PDF (Portable Document Format) might be a good way to go. I'm finding more and more documents saved as .pdf and not .txt (TEXT). You can save all your tabs and pretty fonts and such if the file is in PDF. Thanks for all the great ideas in this newsletter and all the great online resources mentioned. RootsWeb is truly a leader here. Everyone seems to give a little and I would say most of us get it back tenfold, easily. 3. 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 27,300 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ No new mailing lists were created this week ======================= Paid Advertisements ===================== "Get your free credit report and find out what's in it, who put it there, who's looking at it." http://qspace.iplace.com/cobrands/293/default.asp?sc=14626222 * * * FREE "500 Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems" when you subscribe to Family Chronicle. For a limited time, Family Chronicle, the magazine for people research- ing their roots, is offering a great bonus for new subscribers. Subscribe before November 7, 2003 and we'll send you a FREE copy of our newest book, "500 Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems." This beautifully bound, 432-page volume contains more than 500 stories of people who have overcome their genealogy "brickwalls". For more informa- tion about "500 Brickwall Solutions" and to subscribe today, visit https://familychronicle.com/rootsweb/free500.htm =================== End of Paid Advertisements =================== 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 Missouri Schools website can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~moschool/ CANADA nscnecum -- Necum Teuch and Mitchell Bay (communities), Halifax, Nova Scotia, ENGLAND engssxfc -- Sussex Free Census U.S.A. azsmd -- Society of Mayflower Descendants (Arizona) ctmhs -- Meriden (Connecticut) Historical Society kyclay2 -- Clay (Kentucky) County mioghs -- Ogemaw (Michigan) Genealogy and Historical Society mnfscdar -- Fort Snelling (Minnesota) Chapter DAR moschool -- Schools (Missouri) mtlcgs -- Lewis and Clark Genealogy Society (Montana) ohccdar -- Cincinnati (Ohio) Chapter DAR ohdchs -- Delaware County (Ohio) Historical Society tnclaib3 -- Claiborne (Tennessee) County 5. New/Updated Freepages, Homepages, and WorldConnect Uploads ------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ADDERLEY. A family forum where the many branches of the ADDERLEY family and its researchers from around the world can meet, exchange information, and share their research data. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~adderley/ ALLEN, CAMPBELL, STEWART. Jamie ALLEN'S Family Tree. Includes Scottish ancestors back to medieval times (revised/updated). http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jamesdow/ ENGLAND. Sarah HAWKINS Genealogy Site. Parish register and census transcriptions for a number of parishes in South Somerset and other associated information. These parishes include Barrington, Curry Mallet, Curry Rivel, Fivehead, Hambridge, Ilton, Isle Abbotts, Isle Brewers, Kingsbury Episcopi, Pitney, Puckington, Shepton Beauchamp, and Swell. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sarahhawkins/ FRANCE. At the beginning of September the webmaster was on holiday in Honfleur in Normandy, Northern France. Near the hotel she found eight Commonwealth War Graves in the local civil cemetery. She took photos of them, noted the inscriptions and has placed them on the website. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cawthorn/CWG_Honfleur/ FRENCH REFUGEES. Lists of French refugees who received payments from the Royal Bounty in the early 1700s in Great Britain. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~frpayments/Index.htm McGOWAN. Descendants of William McGOWAN, Sr. (ca 1708-1782); contains data on the first five generations of this family -- mainly in North Carolina and Tennessee, but also some in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~jmack/mcgowan/mcgowan.htm MANLEY, MANLY. Looking for males around the world with paternal MANLY/MANLEY lines who are willing to participate in creating a DNA family tree. This project is to establish scientifically common ancestors as well as trace the migration of the various family lines. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chatsol/ PELTON. A one-name study of the PELTON surname. Includes many links to databases, archives, and photos. Families include descendants of John PELTON and Susannah WAY who came to America circa 1630. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cwetzold/pelton/ ROSSITER. Rossiter family from Somerset, England. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~somersetpat/ TURNER. Dedicated to research using DNA to link or to separate TURNER lines and is a study of the TURNER lines that moved West primarily through the Southern states. This project also seeks to confirm suspected relationships and find new ones among the numerous TURNER lines migrating primarily from the Mid-Atlantic region of America during the great early migration periods. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~turnerdna/ 6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ --------------------------------------------- The following user-contributed databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. TEXAS. Cooke County. Submitted by Jack Ware Ables-Shiloh Cemetery; 129 records Barrett Cemetery; 8 records Black Cemetery; 10 records Center Hill Cemetery; 63 records Clark Cemetery; 23 records Miller Cemetery; 8 records Nickle Cemetery; 6 records Oak Grove Cemetery; 726 records Ozment Cemetery; 16 records; Perkins Cemetery, 13 records Union Hill Cemetery; 155 records Ware Cemetery; 6 records Wernell Cemetery; 1 record http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ WISCONSIN. La Crosse; La Crosse County. Submitted by La Crosse Area Genealogical Society Baptisms from Register of Christ Episcopal Church, 1857-1862--79 records; 1862--23 records http://userdb.rootsweb.com/churchrecords/ Marriages from Register of Christ Episcopal Church, 1857-1865--50 records; http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ * * * 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well Done, Jack (O'Lantern) By Richard C. Zieman zieman3@comcast.net I chuckled all the way through Donald Jack MacDonald's "Unwritten Rules" from North of the Border at two in the morning. Just had to add three more rules that we have experienced down here in Colonial Virginia and points west. First, be sure to "Marry Your Mother." Not that your spouse is any blood kin, but somehow you manage to find another Abigail out there in the frontier woods. Your first daughter is Abigail 10, of Thomas 9, of course. The second trick is to forget how old you are 10 years later. Now, I know it was difficult to keep track of the plantation, and you were in constant fear of the Revenuers discovering the mash still, but how could you now be 57 if last time you were an even 50? (No joke, we have this on several occasions). And finally, be sure to marry your first cousin -- the way your parents did. As some may know, The Randolphs of Virginia were infamous for "marrying themselves all over again." You then have the situation where your great-great-grandmother was Amelia 8. Randolph Randolph, of William 6. and Parmelia 7.Oh yes, I forgot, you must change the spellings even of the first names -- nothing to do with the census taker understanding you, you just think it's cute. Of course, you wrote Parmelia on the birth certificate of your daughter. * * * Is there a Doctor, a Squire, or a Ghoul in the House? By Anne Gometz agometz@rhus.com http://www.rhus.com/ To continue the discussion of titles as proper names, this is actually quite common in the United States. All of the following can be found in the 1880 census as male first names: Admiral, Commodore, General, and Colonel. There are many examples of all of these. While some are obviously testimonies to a famous person, e.g. General Jackson or Commodore Decatur, others are just a name. The name Doctor is also quite common. There are even a few Lawyers. I didn't find any Privates though. These names don't seem to be confined to any one section of the country or to any one ethnic group. Perhaps readers in other countries can tell us if this naming pattern occurs elsewhere. One more note on Squire, perhaps the most famous individual by this name was Squire Boone, brother of Daniel Boone (sons of Squire Boone and Sarah Morgan). Here is the website about the Squire Boone Caverns that he discovered: http://www.squireboonecaverns.com/ Just to start a new line of discussion, I've always wondered if the practice of naming children after places was an American innovation. One family I ran across combined both these practices. They were residents of Decatur County, Georgia. The county seat is Bainbridge and both city and county were named after naval heroes. This particular family had a son named Commodore Stephen Decatur and a daughter named Bainbridge Georgia. An older daughter, Piety, provides an example of yet another naming pattern -- using virtues as names * * * No Tricks: Show Sources By David Larson tempmail@myrealbox.com http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~larsonmorgan/ I am like the many others who dread how incorrect assumptions, typos, and the other various mistakes spread uncontrolled and plague many online genealogy databases. It is only understandable that one becomes suspicious of any and all genealogy gleaned from the Internet. In order to combat this justified mistrust, on my family tree website I have resorted to displaying an image of the actual source material, when available, along with the data. Any visitor can then view for them- selves the context of the data which is being presented. Hopefully a level of trust can be restored when the actual source image is staring a person in the face. Care must be taken to when dealing with copyright issues and one should always remember to get permission and give credit where it's due -- something which I continue to work at. And I am more than happy to act quickly on anyone's corrections should I have something misrepresented -- heaven forbid! * * * Treats: Joys of Sharing By Mary Ballard mball10195@aol.com. There has been much discussion about placing research on the Web for others to access. Let me add my two cents worth. I have been doing research for some years now and at first, I was only too eager to add my findings to the available data, but now, it's been a couple of years since I have put anything up -- not because I don't want to share. I'll happily share all I have and although I have spent quite an amount of time doing this research, if the information wasn't available, I wouldn't have been able to find it, in the first place. I think it's ridiculous to claim ownership of any information that's available in the public domain although I know there are some genealogy services that do just that and charge to share. Isn't that the reason we got into genealogy to start with? To find and share our family history. Let me take this opportunity to apologize to any of you misers of family history, if I ever used anything you found first without giving you credit. I've been trying to document everything I use with public records, but I admit there are some parts of my family history that have eluded documentation as yet and there are some auxiliary lines that I haven't had time to thoroughly research, but I can't fathom the mean spirit who would purposely post inaccurate information -- to catch someone? And then what? If anyone uses information from me and the documentation isn't listed, do the check, but please don't worry about giving credit to me. The elation of finally finding an elusive ancestor and the joy of sharing this information with others is my payment and I wouldn't do it but for that. * * * Haints and Haunts: The WRIGHT Way By Linda F. Beebe lindafranksbeebe@juno.com A relative's surname is WRIGHT. Child listed in census as "Just N." Thought this was a census taker's misspelling. Find out from cemetery card child's name is "Just And." The grave marker engraved with name as "Just & Wright." While still laughing at this name, my husband and I came up with several other funny names that would make a statement using the WRIGHT surname. 8. Humor/Humour: Low Bridge, Everybody Down! -------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Alvie L. Davidson, CGRS floridasearch@tampabay.rr.com I obtained a death record for a 31-year-old man who was working for the railroad in Illinois and died as a result of an occupational injury. The cause of death was described as "Skull fracture to frontal and occipital portion of the head when head hit a bridge while man was riding on train engine" The contributory cause was listed as: "Thoughtlessness." 9. Submission Guidelines, Advertising Contacts, Reprint Policy ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ASCII text (please, no attach- ments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS: Ad Sales Operations Mgr. Shana Davis sdavis@myfamilyinc.com U.S. West Coast: Sacha Yenkana syenkana@myfamilyinc.com U.S. East Coast: Dan Arnold darnold@myfamilyinc.com * * * 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. 44, 29 October 2003. * * * *