RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 7, No. 18, 5 May 2004, Circulation: 839,791+ (c) 1998-2004 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ * * * Search and share family trees: WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ Learn how to find your ancestors: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ Post and read 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/ =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. RootsWeb Message Boards: What's in a Name? 1b. Editor's Desk: "Recipes, RW Symposium, Isle of Canes" 1c. Tips from Readers: "Plausibility Factor of 'Ancient' Mothers" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Putting Tree Puzzles Together" 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: "Examining an Enigma"; "Tales from Wales: Old Woman and the Shoes"; "Negative Negative Results"; "Erasing a Family History"; "Hunting Down the Swamp Fox"; and "Leaving Tangible Evidence" 8. Humor/Humour: "Family Secrets" 9. Submission Guidelines, Subscriptions, Advertising, Reprint Policy ======================================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. RootsWeb Message Boards: What's in a Name? Most genealogists know that being able to search for a surname (last name) using various Internet search engines can lead to new discoveries in their research. However, not all surnames are equal when it comes to finding them in a typical every-word search. If you are searching a database for the surname EISENHOWER or HEFFLEFINGER you are likely to find references to these "words" only as surnames because they are not words in common usage as anything other than a surname. But, if you are looking for your ancestors with surnames such as FIELD, HILL, COUSIN, JULY, COFFEE, ROSE, or IRELAND you will be faced with search results listing your surnames as common words, places, beverages, flowers, relationships, and months of the year. As a result, searches of databases where a specific surname field is included can make your research a whole lot easier and more productive. The RootsWeb/Ancestry message boards are one such resource where a surname field can be searched using the advanced search link found on the boards. http://boards.rootsweb.com/ (Click on advanced search to access the special search features including surname field ONLY searches.) The results obtained in a search will be only as good as the entries you and others have made in the SURNAME BOX when posting a new message or reply on the message boards. When posting a message list only the surnames that are included in the message in the SURNAME BOX. Do NOT include any surnames that are not listed in the message. The SURNAME BOX is not to be used for indicating all the surnames you are researching -- it is ONLY for listing surnames that are included in the specific message so that these surnames can be properly indexed by the global board search engine. Inclusion of difficult surnames -- those that have a usage other than as a surname -- is especially important. The search engine can only properly index SURNAMES and only those listed one at a time and separated by a comma followed by a space. You are creating a "comma delimited" list/database, which the search engine can interpret for indexing purposes. List the surnames as follows: Jackson, Jones, Rose, Smith, Schmidt, Van Allen, VanAllen, Cousin, Field, Hill, James. Case in not important in how you list the surnames in the box, but it is a factor in how your show search criteria when searching this field. Surname searches on the message boards are case sensitive except for all lower-case searches. Therefore, all lower-case searches will yield the greatest number of "hits" on the message boards. Note that where a surname, such as VANALLEN/VANALLEN, can be found in your research with and without a space; or like SMITH/SCHMIDT, where you have found both a German and English version of the name, list both versions, but separated by a comma and NOT with a slash or hyphen or any other punctuation. Otherwise the search engine cannot index correctly. The only time a hyphen should be used is when you are listing an actual hyphenated surname, but never when you are trying to show a marriage between a SMITH and a JONES. The surnames above include the name JAMES, which is a surname in this instance and not a given (first) name. Listing this surname in the SURNAME BOX helps to isolate it as being a surname making the "hit" more significant to someone researching this surname. List ONLY surnames in the SURNAME BOX -- never given names, dates, places, or extraneous comments such as "and many more" or "etc." The SURNAME BOX is ONLY for the surnames included in your message body and/or subject, and nothing else. Other explanatory information may be included in your message text and/or subject line, but not in the SURNAME BOX. So, while a ROSE by any other name may smell just as sweet, if you are searching for the surname ROSE on the RootsWeb message boards, the capability of isolating ROSE as a surname and not a thorny flower, can be just the fertilizer you need. It can help your genealogical garden grow and bloom. * * * 1b. EDITOR'S DESK. Recipes, RW Symposium, Isle of Canes 17TH-CENTURY ENGLISH RECIPES. If you're just dying to learn how to stretch sheep's guts for sausages and/or to make a foole -- not of yourself, but rather a popular dish of cream, eggs and wine -- you'll enjoy this website: http://www.godecookery.com/engrec/engrec.html FEEDING AMERICA: THE HISTORIC AMERICAN COOKBOOK PROJECT. Created by the Michigan State University Library and the MSU Museum, here's a search- able collection of America's most influential cookbooks of the 19th and 20th centuries. http://digital.lib.msu.edu/cookbooks/ * * * ROOTSWEB SYMPOSIUM: Building a Worldwide Community. Open to all RootsWeb users, contributors and volunteers. You're invited to join some of the RootsWeb staff and volunteers at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 22, Room 1003 in the Activity Center at the National Genealogical Conference in Sacramento, California. Stop by and say hello and share your research stories and experiences -- and provide feedback on ways RootsWeb can better serve you. Conference details: http://www.eshow2000.com/ngs/ * * * "Isle of Canes," a novel by eminent genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills, is the epic account of a multiracial family in Louisiana that, over four generations and more than 150 years, rose from the chains of slavery to rule the Isle of Canes. A popular lecturer, author of numerous works on generational history, and past president of the American Society of Genealogists, she recently retired as editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly to devote her time to writing. http://shops.ancestry.com/product.asp?productid=3810&sourceid=10886 Stop by to meet the author on 20 May and get your copy of "Isle of Canes" signed while you're attending the NGS conference. http://www.isleofcanes.com/ * * * 1c. TIPS FROM READERS: Plausibility Factor Ancient Mothers: Possible, but not Likely By Gregg Bonner of Michigan I have noticed that many people who publish genealogical material do not bother to test whether the information is plausible. This is usually due to a lack of event-date association. When precise dates are not known people often neglect to enter any date information at all. However, if the author had entered even the broadest of possible date ranges for the events in question, then he would recognize that the sequence as a whole is not plausible for ANY set of particular dates he might pose as a possibility. Once the date ranges were given, it would become clear that to make the line possible, one person would have to live to be well over 100, or else another person would have to be a grandfather at age 25, or else some other equally unlikely occasion would need occur. The problem with many such pedigrees is that they are maintained under the argument that they are possible, and no effort is made to see that they are also plausible. One of the greatest classes of offenders is the "ancient mother" syndrome. Women really do not give birth to children in their 50s, excepting extraordinarily rare instances. To illustrate my point, I take data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 1998 Natality Statistics. These figures show that among the nearly four million live births in the United States in 1998, only about 160 of them were to women aged 50 and above. This represents approximately 0.004% of live child births. The oldest age category given is age 54, for which there were six live births. To make the point more vivid, compare to the five live births to mothers aged 10. Continuing the theme, there were 19 live child births to mothers aged 53, compared to 23 born to mothers aged 11. In sum, the total of live births to mothers aged 50 or more is LESS than the number of live births to mothers aged 12 or younger. Please note also that these data include all manner of modern fertility treatments that would not have been available to our ancestors. I have had many people tell me that it is relatively common for women to have children in their mid-50s, only to proceed to point out several cases from their own database. These, however, are not cases of bona fide live child births to women aged 50 and greater -- these are rather simply errors. In a database of 25,000 persons, you can expect a grand total of approximately one person to have been born to a mother aged 50 or more. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Putting Tree Puzzles Together By Faye Shaw in Florida All year my husband and I had been searching for bits and pieces of the MYERS family tree. But, we did not have much to show for all our trips and hunts. Our MYERS Cousins Reunion is held the last Saturday in March each year and I just knew we wouldn't have any great finds to share with the cousins. One evening in early February I went into RootsWeb again to see if any new information had come in from others about the MYERS. I found two sources, one who lives in Tampa, Florida, and the other who lives in Griffin, Georgia. I immediately e-mailed both and told them I had seen their information on the MYERS family and that was my family I was researching. The lady in Tampa knew who the MYERS married and she shared where two of them are buried -- one in Ocala, Marion County, Florida and the other one in Melrose, which is in Alachua County. Several things happened the morning we were going to drive to Ocala for the hunt, so it was later than we usually leave when we are going on a "hunting trip." Just before we left I checked my e-mail again, and I had a reply from Griffin, Georgia. Bingo! She knew the name of the cemetery we needed to find. So when we got to Ocala and went to the funeral home although person there didn't know exactly where the Romeo Cemetery was he called someone he knew who lived in that little community and he gave us the directions, which if we had not had we would never have found it as it was not marked in any way. As we drove into the cemetery I immediately saw a big tombstone with the name MYERS on it. We took pictures of all the stones -- we didn't know who all of them were, but figured they were related because they were all buried in a row. Before we left a car pulled in and a lady and her son (we found out later) were walking around looking at the same area where the MYERS were. Bingo again! We learned that her aunt married into the MYERS family, so she was able to tell us how all the ones buried there were related. She also wanted my name and address and e-mail so she could contact one of the daughters of the MYERS that I am related to. By the time we got home late that afternoon I had an e-mail from that daughter. I called her immediately and the next day I talked to one of her brothers and he knew where the father of their father was buried. Soon we made another trip and found that burial site in a little country cemetery in the community of Rochelle in Alachua County. I invited all of them to our reunion and we had six of the new cousins from Ocala attend. It was such a thrill to meet them and it felt as if we already knew each other. Their great-grandfather is a brother to my great-grandfather. This opens up another whole family line that we knew nothing about until February. If we had left early that morning we would have missed getting the name of the cemetery and if we had left immediately after taking the pictures rather than walking around looking at the other names on the tombstones, we would have missed the lady who knew the connections, and if she had not gotten in touch with the daughter I would not have found these wonderful cousins so quickly. The funny thing about this we lived in Alachua County for 30 years and had no idea we had living and dead kin in that county and the adjoining county. Thanks to RootsWeb our tree keeps growing. 3. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Brand-new mailing lists can be found under OTHER/MISCELLANEOUS until moved to their proper categories. For information and an index to the more than 28,100 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BEAUTICOVER CORKWELL DETHLOFF DIDLAKE GONYOU HOEGLER JARRELLS KLEINDIENST PASCHETAG PHIMISTER RITZROW ROO RUMMANS SWEEM VALENTIN NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS CAN-QC-OBITS -- Obituaries from Quebec, Canada newspapers or obituaries regarding Quebec residents NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS ITA-SAMBUCA-DI-SICILIA -- Sambuca di Sicilia, Italy (previously known as Sambuca Zabut, Italy) 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Some of these webpages 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. For example, the Monroe County, Kentucky website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kymonro2/ U.S.A. gaudc2170 -- Colonel Thomas Hardeman, Jr. Chapter #2170 (Georgia)-- United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) iapage2 -- Page County (Iowa) kymonro2 -- Monroe County (Kentucky) tnscar -- Society Children of American Revolutionary War 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 HALL, SILVA, WILHITE, LEDBETTER, ODGERS, FOSTER, SCHROEBEL, COLZEY, DEWITT, and related lines. HALL--Oklahoma, Choctaw Nation, New Mexico, Arizona, California; WILHITE--Germany, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas; SILVA--Pico, Azores, Alameda, California; AVILA--Sao Jorge, Azores, Alameda, California; LEDBETTER--Alabama, Florida, Texas; CHAMBERS--Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California; ODGERS-- Cornwall, England, California; SCHROEBEL--South Carolina, Alabama, California; COLZEY--South Carolina, Alabama, California; MERCER-- Lancashire,England, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, California. Includes family photos, pedigree, notes, and genealogical information. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kelliesconnections/ RAMSEY/RAMSAY. DNA project with details of how to join and display of the results of testing as they are received. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ramsey/indexDNA.html VERMONT NORTHEAST KINGDOM GENEALOGY. Berlin, Washington County. Marriages, 1791-1876 from the town clerk's office. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nekg3/files/marriage_berlin.htm Danville, Caledonia County. Death Notices from the North Star newspaper, 1856-1859. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nekg3/files/north_star_deaths_1856-59.htm 6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ---------------------------------------------- The following databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. U.S.A. Multiple states, various counties. Selected marriages culled from newspapers and county records; 208 records; Cheryl Harris http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ CALIFORNIA. Monterey County. 1860-1910 deeds; HUDSON, DEHART, BURLAND. and WHITE surnames; 136 records; Janece Carter Streig http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deeds/ NORTH CAROLINA. Macon County. Selected marriages, 1879-1907; KEY surname, 14 records; P. Key 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Examining an Enigma By Peter Schuck Re: "Rattling Skeletons" [RWR 17 March], probably horsethief-less, I do have progenitors whose actions one can only describe as vile. Though Philipp RUDOLPH's misdeeds don't quite reach this category, his descend- ants have known of him as a black sheep--for good reason, but perhaps not for one particular cause which had always been ascribed to him. Orphaned at 14, RUDOLPH left his Württemberger hometown in 1866, evidently under reputable circumstances, and ultimately settled in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a trained cobbler, but there's no evidence he practiced this trade stateside. Perhaps given his stature -- purportedly 6'6" -- story has it he served awhile as a St. Louis County sheriff's deputy. But the occupation which apparently employed him over the remainder of his life was a teamster's, driving beer wagons for one or more of St. Louis' breweries; reportedly, he could easily heft full kegs off the wagon onto his shoulders. By about 1875, he had wed Anna WELSCH, a fellow Württemberger. They had three children (1876-79). The previous narratives came down to my generation from RUDOLPH's children. They also told stories how their father was a drunkard, coming home soused, beating their mother. It was this alleged behavior which, they contended, ultimately drove their mother to suicide at the family's residence on 8 October 1881. Anna was about 28 years old. Ten days later, Philipp placed his young in an orphanage, never to see them again. They wouldn't forgive RUDOLPH for his supposed complicity in their mother's death, as well as for abandonment. I didn't know Anna's exact death date, just the approximate ages of her children when it occurred. With this information I turned to official sources, uncovering first an orphanage record, then a police-informed death certificate, which neither confirmed or denied the children's stated allegation. Later I took the precise date to the St. Louis Public Library and located two 1881 dailies whose reporters covered the event. The coverage per coroner's inquest told a different story. It related testimony of a neighbor, Catherine RATERMANN, who had spoken with Anna following her self-poisoning and after what all perceived to have been successful treatment by a physician whom RUDOLPH quickly called to the scene. The neighbor indicated a letter had arrived from Germany which may have communicated Anna's mother's death. RATERMANN asked, had her husband been unkind? Anna replied, "No." Philipp testified that he had given her all his money. In the event, whether she had made a second attempt or simply relapsed, Anna died that evening from poisoning. Whom to believe? The children or the witnesses? The question lingers. Anna's children continued to hear grapevine-told tales concerning their father throughout the years. One indicated he remarried, siring another child by this woman; however, she evidently left him for his dissolute ways. RUDOLPH died about 1897, reportedly in the street around the corner from his employer. His eldest visited his neighbors thereafter. They told how he had befriended the local children, this despite his treatment of his own. Maybe RUDOLPH's children were right after all. * * * Tales from Wales: Old Woman and the Shoes By Jill and Mike Hurst My grandmother (née CHAMBERS) born 1880 in Ebbw Vale [southeast Wales] insisted she could remember her grandmother CHAMBERS coming to visit in a carriage from Hay-on-Wye in Breconshire. She would bring each of her eight grandchildren a pair of shoes. As the said grandmother was found to be living in Merthyr Tydfil in the 1851, 1861,1871, and 1881 censuses and married to a baker (father also a baker), this appeared to be just one of those stories. But the 1891 census for Hay told a different tale. There she was large as life: Catherine, retired confectioner, still years younger than she should be, living with her daughter Kate. Kate had lived at 29 Castle Street, Hay, with her sister and brother-in-law, James and Mary Ann MICHAEL. James was, of course, a master bootmaker! The moral in this tale? There may well be a grain of truth in your family legend. Or a strip of leather. On a recent visit to the shop, I was able explain to the proprietor the reason he had found so many strips of leather under the floor at the back of the establishment during recent refurbishment. * * * Negative Negative Results By Bob Kuehn Sorry, "Dan from AOL" ("More on Scanning Negatives," RWR 28 April) but your advice could produce "negative" results. Those who use a traditional flatbed scanner to scan film negatives or slides will be disappointed, because negatives require a different technique than one would use for scanning the average photo. A flatbed scanner works on the principle of light reflection. When a photo is scanned, light is reflected off the photo and onto the scanner's CCD (charge-coupled device) sensor. Film negatives, however, are translucent and are meant to be seen with light passing through them. When you simply scan a negative on a traditional flatbed scanner, the image produced will be dark and of poorer quality. To obtain the best image from a negative, either buy a dedicated film scanner or get a film attachment for the flatbed scanner. * * * Erasing a Family History By Thomas E. Smith in Taiwan I was very moved by Kaye Powell's "Examining Family Health Trees" [RWR 28 April]. Her situation is quite similar to that of a close friend of mine, a retired professor of Chinese who is now well into his 80s. He has a daughter who has been institutionalized her entire adult life for schizophrenia. My friend came from a wealthy East Coast family that included some prominent people -- a president of Princeton University, a U.S. Secretary of State, leading industrialists, and so on. After serving in China during World War II, he became fascinated with the place, so after the war he began studying Chinese in one of the Ivy League schools. He married his Chinese teacher, a woman who had come from one of China's wealthiest families. However, his mother was vehemently opposed to the marriage--prejudice, basically. Thus, when my friend's daughter starting having problems, his mother pinned the blame on the young woman's having "mixed blood" from a "degenerate race." This continued for years and years, until finally his mother died. At her funeral service, my friend spotted a few relatives whom he hadn't seen before. "Who are these fellows?" he asked. "Oh, these are your uncles--your mom's brothers," he was told. He hadn't known at all of their existence -- because they too had schizophrenia, but the family thought it such a shame that they had kept the matter secret all those years. His new-found uncles had been allowed to leave the asylum to attend their sister's funeral, as long as someone was keeping watch on them. Later on he found out that there were many other cousins and people in his family history who had been similarly "erased" because of it. * * * Hunting Down the Swamp Fox By Cathy Berger When my younger sister was born 76 years ago, she was named Marion. I was told that we were descended, or perhaps I was told we were related to the Swamp Fox. And I was proud. In my genealogical research, I have found many of my mother's cousins, back three, four, five, six generations, male and female named Francis or Frances Marion, or just Marion. Add to this that everything my mother told me about her ancestors I have been able to prove as true. But, General Francis Marion (aka the Swamp Fox) of American Revolutionary War fame, had no children. His will left everything to his sister's son who was named for him -- if he would drop her surname and be known only as Francis Marion II. The nephew did, I was told. All of this was in South Carolina. My mother's family is all found in Maryland and Delaware, and I have traced most of them back to the 1600s, though one great-great-grand- father did spend some time in Exeter County, Virginia before 1800. And I can find absolutely no possibility of a link to THE Francis Marion. Anyone have any suggestions? [Editor's Note: Francis MARION (1732-1795) was the son of Gabriel MARION and Esther CORDES, of Huguenot ancestry, according to some published genealogies. Perhaps the connection is through a female line or via a marriage of one of his siblings]. * * * Leaving Tangible Evidence By Kitty McLaughlin Regarding "Ashes to Ashes" by Marea Bass, I have to say I agree with her. Both my husband and I are being cremated, but we already have our stones at the cemetery so there will be something tangible left behind. While I was researching my husband's family, I found the cemetery where his family was buried. There are three plots with no headstones. We know some members of his family are buried in one of the plots because of old newspaper articles, but there are no stones and they may have been too poor to purchase them. I spoke to the director of the funeral home in this town and he told me that a headstone sometimes is the only piece of solid evidence that some people will ever find to indicate that the one they are researching was here on earth. 8. Humor/Humour: Family Secrets ------------------------------- Thanks to: John Grant FROM THE INEVITABLE LAW BOOK OF GENEALOGY: After years of painstaking research when you finally solve the mystery of the skeleton in the closet, your tight-lipped spinster aunt will sniff, "Well, I could have told you all that!" 9. Submission Guidelines, Changes, 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 TEXT (please, no attachments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Search/download past issues of the RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS. Ad Sales Operations Mgr. Shana Davis sdavis@myfamilyinc.com U.S., WorldWide Sales: Sacha Yenkana syenkana@myfamilyinc.com * * * REPRINTS. 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. 7, No. 18, 5 May 2004. * * * *