RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 16 June 2004, Vol. 7, No. 24, Circulation: 838,091+ (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/ * * * =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. RootsWeb's Mailing Lists -- Gone Fishing? 1b. Editor's Desk: Some Sites Worth Seeing-- "Exploring American West with Lewis and Clark" "Wales on the Web" 1c. Tips from Readers: "Markers Without Remains" "Soundex Limitations" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "The Generosity of Genealogists" 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 "GPS Coordinate Systems" "Lost Family Bibles" "Using RAOGK for Obituary Searches" "Multiple Baptisms in the Highlands" "Praising Napoleon's System" "Researching Ancestors in Scotland" "Tough Germanic Roots" "Unusual Circumstances Aid Australian Family History Research" "Story Behind the Story" "What a Difference One Letter Makes" 8. Humor/Humour: "Golden Door and Titles, Too" 9. Submissions, Subscriptions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. RootsWeb Mailing Lists -- Gone Fishing? "Summertime and the livin' is easy" is how the familiar song from "Porgy and Bess" goes. For RootsWeb users in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is nearly here and that often brings with it vacations (holidays), long weekend fishing trips, beach house visits or trips to the cabin in the mountains. All of which means time away from genealogical research, time away from your computer and your e-mail. What should you do when you are going to be away temporarily from your RootsWeb mailing lists? Depending upon the length of time you will be away, the capacity of your mailbox, and the activity level of the lists to which you subscribe; you may choose either to remain subscribed to the lists and catch up on your mail when you return or unsubscribe (especially from the busiest high- volume lists) and re-subscribe when you get home. RootsWeb list software does not have a temporary "NO-MAIL" setting. However, unsubscribing and re-subscribing is easy and will accomplish the purpose. If you choose to unsubscribe from all, or just some, RootsWeb mailing lists during your vacation, first check Password Central to verify to which lists you are subscribed. http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ Once you obtain a list of your subscribed lists, address a new e-mail message to the list "request" addresses for the lists from which you wish to unsub. The "request" address is used to send your command or instructions that can either unsubscribe or subscribe you from a list. The format for addressing a message to the request address is: LISTNAME-L-request@rootsweb.com --if you are subscribed in mail mode (receiving every individual message list members send to the list) or LISTNAME-D-request@rootsweb.com --if you are subscribed in digest mode (receiving list messages lumped together in digest format). Replace the generic word LISTNAME above with the actual name of the list. For instance, if you wish to unsubscribe from the SMITH surname list and you are subscribed in mail mode, send your request to: SMITH-L-request@rootsweb.com or SMITH-D-request@rootsweb.com to unsubscribe from the digests. Be sure to put the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject and message body of your e-mail and don't include any other text. If you wish to unsubscribe from more than one list at the same time, you can show multiple "request" addresses in the SEND TO box of your e-mail with the addresses separated by a comma just as you would if you were sending an e-mail to several individuals at one time. Keep a record of the mailing list names for the lists from which you have unsubbed so that you can easily address a new e-mail to the same list request addresses when you return with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject and message body to get back on the lists you temporarily left. Note: Never send a REPLY e-mail to subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, a list -- always send a NEW e-mail. Upon your return from summer fun, you can browse the archives of your mailing lists to catch up on the messages you missed. Start here: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ Type in the name of the list you wish to browse and then select the month and year to view an outline of the messages you wish to read. Next, click to view any or all individual messages. So, if the fish are biting this summer or the seashore looks inviting, leave the laptop at home and don't worry about the "the big one" getting away because you are not home to view responses to your genealogical research queries. You can catch up with mailing list messages when you return. * * * 1b. EDITOR'S DESK. Some Sites Worth Seeing "Exploring the American West with Lewis And Clark." For each day of the Lewis and Clark expedition 200 years ago, this website provides a summary of what the expedition did on that day and a summary of other events that happened concurrently in American history. http://www.lewisandclarkandwhatelse.com/lewis_and_clark_what_else/ "Wales on the Web." This is an access point for a great deal of Wales- related information: http://www.walesontheweb.org/ Were some of your Welsh ancestors mariners? Search this online index of 20,000 Welsh merchant masters, mates and engineers who were active from 1800 to 1945. http://www.welshmariners.org.uk/index.php For links to many other Welsh genealogical resources try: http://www.walesontheweb.org/cayw/index/en/929/all * * * 1c. TIPS FROM READERS Markers Without Remains By Susan Hopkins In response to the RWR article of April 28, "Ashes to Ashes" -- I have been told, by a friend, who is a professional genealogist, that one can have a cemetery marker, with data on it, even when no remains are buried there. The term for this is cenotaph. [Editor's note: The word comes from the French cenotaphe, which is from Old French, from Latin cenotaphium, from Greek kenotaphion, meaning an empty tomb.] Interestingly, a few days ago, at a cemetery where some of my husband's ancestors are buried, I was re-photographing a large pillar with eight family names from the 1800s on it. It is surrounded by eight small stones with initials matching the names on the large stone. The panel of names on one side has the word cenotaph at the top. * * * Soundex Limitations By Diane Arsenault in Canada I recently encountered a problem -- and learned a valuable lesson while searching the 1930 U.S. federal census for Earl HUFFMAN and his family. Earl and his wife, Camilla, were, according to family history, living in Montville Township, Medina County, Ohio in that year, so they should have been easy to find using the online search at ancestry.com. Not so. A basic search using the exact spelling (Earl HUFFMAN) and the state, county and township returned zero results. So, I used the Soundex search, again using the state, county and township. Still no results. I widened the search (still using Soundex) by eliminating the township field. Still no results. Then I eliminated the county and did a state- wide search. No results. Countrywide -- nothing. Needless to say, I was perplexed. I attempted to search for his wife's name -- again with no results. I started over, this time entering no surname at all and just searching for anyone named Earl in Ohio, Median, Montville. There were 291 of them. I viewed each page of results looking for anything -- any clue. And there it was: Earl KAUFFMAN. Upon viewing the actual census image, I discovered this was indeed Earl HUFFMAN, with his wife and children. Based on the enumerator's hand- writing it was easy to see how the indexer could mistake the "H" for a "K." However, the Soundex search would never have picked up on this particular error. [Editor's Note: The Soundex code consists of a letter (always the first letter of the surname) and three numbers. While Huffman and Kauffman both have the numerical coding of 155 their Soundex codes are H155 and K155. Therefore, if the first letter of the surname is written incorrectly or misread, it can be a major search problem. See http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson9.htm -- RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees for additional tips on this subject.] Another problem I recently ran into was when I was looking for the surname NICKLAW or NICKELAW. Not having any luck, I decided to try the Soundex search -- again, no results. I finally found this individual (again using the first-name only search) -- found him as NICHOLAS. The Soundex code for NICKLAW and NICHOLAS are different -- so again, the search engine would never have found them. This family was of French- Canadian origins, so the name NICHOLAS if pronounced with a heavy French accent would indeed sound like NICKELAW or NICKLAW, which is the spelling they eventually ended up using. Deciphering old handwriting can be difficult enough, but when using search engines, we also need to visualize what an official's handwriting might look like to someone else transcribing the record decades later. For instance, I've seen "Ds" that look like "S," and "Ss" that look like "G," and so on. It's simply not enough to consider alternate spellings such as HUFFMAN, HOFFMAN, HOPHMAN, etc.). 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. The Generosity of Genealogists By Sue Richart in Chewelah, Washington, USA To the Ted PACKs of the world, thank you. Some of them helped "Betty in Massachusetts," who in turn helped me. You see, Betty wanted to help others as she has been helped, so she answered my query about McGAFFIGANS. She provided the contacts for children of the Peter McGAFFIGAN who stayed with my great-grandparents when he immigrated to the U.S., which gave me the county and townland in Ireland that my great-grandmother came from. However, Betty did more than find McGAFFIGANS for me, she also photo- graphed the tombstones in two different towns of a totally different line of ancestors, the NELSONs, breaking down yet another barrier. She wouldn't take compensation, because she was returning the favor others had done for her. To those that help others "just because" -- thank you! 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 AWBREY COCHANE DIPKO HAVERSON HAMMICK-ENGLAND -- The HAMMICK surname in England KURASH MERLOCK OFF RACHELS, ROAKE, ROLLETT NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS AZ-SCVGS -- The Sun City Vistoso Genealogical Society (Arizona) 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 Arizona American History and Genealogy Project (AHGP) website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~azahgp/ U.S.A. azahgp -- Arizona (AHGP) State Page cocuster -- Custer County (Colorado) fllwcdar -- Lake Worth (Florida) Chapter DAR flmtlduv -- Mary Todd Lincoln (Florida) Chapter DUV gabenhi2 -- Ben Hill County (Georgia) gacolum2 -- Columbia County (Georgia) gairwin -- Irwin County (Georgia) galinco2 -- Lincoln County (Georgia) gapauld2 -- Paulding County (Georgia) gasteph2 -- Stephens County (Georgia) hiahgp -- Hawaii (AHGP) State Page inadams -- Adams County (Indiana) inblackf -- Blackford County (Indiana) kyflemi2 -- Fleming County (Kentucky) moray2 -- Ray County (Missouri) nhrockin -- Rockingham County (New Hampshire) orasdcd -- Abigail Scott Duniway (Oregon) Chapter DAR 5. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages -------------------------------------- CANADA. Ontario. Obituaries--"Where every little obit helps." Providing obituaries to genealogists and helping those without access to microfilms. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~janjones/ObitsHome.htm MICHIGAN. Lenawee County. Historical Society Museum has early history of the county, including information about pioneers, leaders, industries, and the Ohio-Michigan War. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~keller/museum/work/ O'BRIEN, PERRY. The O'BRIEN family from Limerick (Ireland); the PERRY family from Harwell, England, and their Australian descendants. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~djobrien/ SAMMI'S PAGE. A personal genealogy page focusing mainly on the Midlands region of England and Victoria, Australia. Surnames include: SWINBOURNE/ SWINBURNE, SEAL, TONGUE, HOY, TAYLOR, RIGBY, FINCK, WHITEHOUSE, JOBBER, and SIMPSON. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~slhoy/ U.S. CIVIL WAR RECORDS ONLINE. Website with links to the Civil War rosters, documents, and records available on this site. Click on "Civil War Records." http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sassytazzy/ 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 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. ITALY. Castelforte (Lazio/Latina) births 1860-1908 -- Di Viccaro, Vecchio surnames 131 records; Carole V. Beringer http://userdb.rootsweb.com/italy/ U.S.A. Military Records: United States Army personnel, reported 3 July 1916 in the Washington, D.C. Post (newspaper); 38 records; Paula Lucy Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ NEW YORK. Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie City Directories, 1843-1897 -- Jacocks, Jacox, Jaycocks, and Jaycox surnames; 185 records; Susan Jaycox http://userdb.rootsweb.com/citydir/ TEXAS. Bexar County. San Antonio. Express News (newspaper); death notices, September 2003-February 2004; 298 records; Valeri Schrauth http://userdb.rootsweb.com/obituaries/ 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GPS Coordinate Systems By Bill Porter A few tips about coordinate systems for waypoints are in order for those contemplating using a portable GPS unit in their family history research may be useful. Geographic coordinates (standard latitude and longitude) are as precise as any other coordinate system, but are not terribly user friendly on the ground. It is very hard to estimate distance using degrees minutes and seconds for the general user. It is true that online resources such as http://www.topozone.com/ will accept the input and show you an under- lying map or photo, but pacing off a cemetery by this method is not easy. I generally use the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinate system when recording my waypoints. The system records coordinates in feet allowing easy ground navigation and distance estimation. It is universal and will work anywhere in the world. Just remember to record the datum (like NAD83) with your coordinates in N (northing) and E (easting). This is very important! Without knowing the precise reference datum used to record the waypoint, another unit will not be able to accurately recover the position you thought you were giving them. Also helpful is the UTM Zone Number, shown by the GPS unit. If the Zone Number is not readily available from your display, then be certain to record the U.S. state and county for each coordinate you plan to share. A solid format for recording the data and sharing with others would look something like this: Coordinates: North -- 5432123; East -- 654321 Datum: NAD83 UTM Zone: 15 County: Lincoln State: Any State Please share all this data with others so they can find your spot too. * * * Lost Family Bibles By Janice Mullen Jansohn in Florida The letter from Bruce Hobson about his large family Bible that was given away really spoke to me. It is amazing how we often receive wonderful help from strangers, and then have the opposite experience from family members. I have a similar Bible to the one mentioned and my husband found it (again) a few days ago. We hadn't seen it since our last move eight years ago. I found the family marriage, birth and death records on several pages between the Old and New Testaments, and was so excited and than realized that my father had made a photocopy of those same pages many years ago and I do have those also. I'm sure the Bible is over a hundred years old, and I have no idea who wrote most of the original records, because I remember my grandparents' handwriting, and it was not theirs. What I wanted to emphasize is that copying the pages many years ago, as my father did, had no bad effect on the pages, and the Bible itself has had no particular special care. Could the owner of the Bible be con- vinced that taking a picture would have no bad effect? Or could even written copies be made? I have just re-copied my pages and will print them out to give to other family members, because a couple death notices that appeared in newspapers do not show up clearly in the old photocopy. Photocopies could also probably be made with fast film that wouldn't even require a flash. Just a few suggestions, but hopefully Bruce might eventually get a copy of his lost Bible. * * * Using RAOGK for Obituary Searches By Jelayne Tena in Seattle, Washington, USA I want to add another option to the many listed in a recent RootsWeb Review about finding others to help in locating obituaries from far away places (at least far away enough that you can't look for it yourself). I have personally used (and volunteered with) the RAOGK -- Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness site http://www.raogk.org/ wherever I have lived over the past give years (Seattle, Boise, and Austin). It's a great central location to find cooperative individuals who can look up obituaries, take tombstone pictures, etc. The service is free and when fulfilling a request myself, all I have ever asked in return is that the receiving individual signs up to return the favor to someone else. Imagine how much more research we could all complete if we helped someone unable to visit our area themselves. Rock on RAOGK! * * * Multiple Baptisms in the Highlands By Tina Glen-Riddell Another reason for several children of a family being baptised together was due to the remoteness of their home. I think of the Highlands of Scotland and one family in particular that my uncle told me of. He had spent many years in genealogy research of our area. This family lived deep in the hills many miles from the nearest church and for some time there was not a minister for the church either. When a new appointee heard of the family and that not one of the several children had been baptised he had word sent demanding they should all be presented at church the next Sunday. The father sent word back that he had not enough clothes for all the children to be presentable in church at once so could not come. The minister was not going to let them escape his attentions and set off to baptise them at home. The older ones watched as the minister put liberal amounts of water over the baby's head. They were not at all impressed and one said to the other in Gaelic that he, the minister, referred to with a rude word, had better not think he would do the same to them. They were all well soaked before the minister left. * * * Praising Napoleon's System By Scott Johnson in Canada Regarding "Doing the Math" in a recent RootsWeb Review: "Sacred to the memory / of / Isaac JONES / born September 21st 1791 / at 20 minutes past 8 o'clock A.M. / Died February 21st 1847 / aged 29,146,960 minutes. / Jane his wife / born July 5th 1778 / Died [blank] / aged [blank] minutes." I couldn't resist doing the calculations to see if they were correct -- mostly to find out whether or not the person who calculated it knew to include the leap days. Whomever it was who did the calculations must have been well educated, as the age in minutes actually does include the 13 leap days that occurred during Isaac's lifetime! In case anyone is interested, based on the information given on the gravestone, Isaac Jones died at exactly 7 a.m. on the date indicated. As a side note, how lucky the descendants of this couple (if there are any) are to have this additional information given that few records from that early time period in the British Isles, Canada, or the USA are that precise -- as opposed to those of us who are fortunate enough to have post-Napoleonic ancestors (from the countries conquered by him), where the times of birth, death, and marriage were recorded from that time period forward. In fact, I was born on the 150th birthday of one of my Belgian ancestors, whose time of birth was recorded on his birth record in 1823. Based on our times of birth, the exact age difference between us is 150 years, four hours, and 47 minutes. Ah, if only Napoleon had conquered the British Isles, Canada, and the USA. * * * Researching Ancestors in Scotland By David Druiett in Bright's Grove, Ontario, Canada My wife and I are vacationing this July in Scotland. For a day or two I would like to visit the town of Huntly, Aberdeenshire, where my great- great-grandfather was born. In your past articles, have you a story on how one should approach researching ancestors in the town I am going to be vacationing in? I have done much research here at home, but I would like to get the most out of actually visiting the place. [Editor's Note: RootsWeb's locality mailing lists and message boards are great resources for obtaining this type of information.] http://boards.rootsweb.com/ http://lists.rootsweb.com/ * * * Tough Germanic Roots By "JR" Binkley I often read that our ancestors were lucky to make it to age 45, but I haven't found that true of the Pennsylvania Dutch I've been researching. The deaths occurred among young children, with a few in the teen years, and among young women in childbirth, usually within the first three or four births. A few adult men died in their 30s or 40s of accidents. But the majority of my Pennsylvania Dutch folks who reached adulthood in the 1700s, including those who had been born in Europe in the late 1600s, lived as long as we do today. My ancestors show up dying in their 70s, 80s, and 90s -- without modern medicine. * * * Unusual Circumstances Aid Australian Family History Research By "Collen R" in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia A recent article told of the efforts being made to recover a family Bible. Several years ago, in Australia a program called First Families 2001 was initiated to celebrate 100 years of the Commonwealth of Australia and following my entry of part of our family history I received an e-mail from a stranger. He had his ancestor's family Bible, and the first entries were: "James Mackie born in Forres 1815 was married in Nairn to Ann Gordon 20th November 1841. William Alexander Gordon their son was born 23 Dec 1843 and baptised 9 January 1844 and departed this life 6 February 1844 -- and James John Gordon born the 7th baptised 25th July 1845 --" The other family records begin at this point. I have a copy of the page. I find it wonderful the assistance we researchers can receive from most unusual circumstances. * * * Story Behind the Story By Mary Beth Norton There's a New England 17th-century name that many think is Biblical in origin, but it really wasn't: The son of John WINTHROP Jr., Waitstill WINTHROP, known as Wait, was given that name by his mother, who was angry that when he was born she was "still waiting" for her husband's return from a long absence (as she explained to him in a letter). * * * What a Difference One Letter Makes By Laurie Dunham http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~teeterkinmy/ While searching for my "grama" Ophelia May ROBACKER, who was born in 1892 in Sandusky, Ohio and married Clinton Elsworth BLACK in 1912 in Oregon City Oregon, where she died of pneumonia in 1919 at age 26 -- leaving a husband and three motherless children, I really had to hang in there. All the records showed her as Ophelia Fay BLOCK and I ran into problems trying to get her death certificate Thanks to a wonderful volunteer who believed in me and found the grave- site and told me to persist in getting the Oregon archives to send me the right certificate. When I wrote for the certificate, I noted that I was looking for a Mrs. BLACK -- not a Mrs. BLOCK. Success. Now I have photos of her gravesite, her death certificate, and her marriage date. 8. Humor/Humour: Golden Door and Titles, Too --------------------------------------------- While being processed through immigration at Ellis Island a fellow from the Emerald Isle was asked, "What's your name?" "Sean O'Kelly." "You should say 'sir,'" the official told him. "All right!" said the Irishman. "Sir Sean O'Kelly." 9. Submissions, Subscriptions, Advertising, Reprints ----------------------------------------------------- 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/ * * * SUBSCRIPTIONS. 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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: 16 June 2004, Vol. 7, No. 24. * * * 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/ * * * *