RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 27 October 2004, Vol. 7, No. 43, Circulation: 827,414+ (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/ Search/download past issues of the RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Editor's Desk: Some Spooky Sites to See 1b. Tips from Readers: "Don't Trust Cemetery Transcriptions" "Identifying Photos" 1c. Adventures Online: "Oops! A Spot of Tarnish on a Sterling Tree" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Genealogy Search Leads Around the World and to BBC-TV" "Hooking up with a Live One" 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: "Looking Beyond the Index" "Learning How to Cite Sources" "Keeping a Promise" 8. Humor/Humour: "Just Dying to Get In" 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. EDITOR'S DESK. Some Spooky Sites to See From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties And things that go bump in the night Good Lord, deliver us! --A Cornish Prayer Ghost Stories at Camelot International: The Tower of London http://www.camelotintl.com/tower_site/ghost/index.html "Most Aussies unwittingly have Halloween customs deep within their rattling bones."-- http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/halloween.html Haunted Cemeteries in America: http://www.prairieghosts.com/grave_ghosts.html Halloween: http://www.marvelcreations.com/halloween.html Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.salemwitchtrials.com/halloween.htm * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS Don't Trust Cemetery Transcriptions By Joyce Hambleton Whitten It has taken years to find even the smallest pieces of information on my great-great-grandparents, Andrew and Mary (MILLS) SCOTT, they emigrated from Ireland, possibly before 1836, to Ontario, Canada and finally to Huron County, Michigan in 1880. A few years ago someone was kind enough to check the transcription of the Lakeview Cemetery in Rubicon Township, Huron County, Michigan for Andrew SCOTT. I was delighted when they found him giving me a death date of 5 September 1888. But, where oh where, was his wife Mary? Could she have gone back to Ontario or possibly on to Saskatchewan with another daughter? I now live in northeast Arkansas and was unable to travel for several years because we were caring for both our mothers. Sadly we lost my mother-in-law at age 97 in July. During a recent trip to Michigan, I had the opportunity to visit the cemetery. (Several persons on the MIHURON-L@rootsweb.com provided me with directions to the cemetery). A few minutes after visiting the Port Hope cemetery where Andrew and Mary's daughter, Margaret A. (SCOTT) HAMBLETON (my great-grandmother) is buried I was standing in front of Andrew SCOTT's grave. So many things ran through my mind, such as how many years had it been since a relative had stood there? There were unmarked graves on either side of Andrew's stone and as I stood there bemoaning the whereabouts of Mary I stepped to the right of the stone. And there inscribed on that side of the stone was Mary -- she died 8 March 1891, age 77 years. Thank goodness for the index because without it I would never have found Andrew, but it still pays to look at the original -- just in case someone missed something. * * * Identifying Photos By Becca Gilliland Porter When writing people's names on the back of photos I like to hold the photo up to a light with the back of the photo facing toward you. Find the person in the photo and write their name on the back. That way there is no mistake as to who is who for future generations. Then add any other important information, such as date, place, and occasion wherever there is a blank spot. * * * Have you solved a pesky research problem? Share it with the RootsWeb Review readers. Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * 1c. Adventures Online: Oops! A Spot of Tarnish on a Sterling Tree When Susan Sterling created her genealogy homepage on RootsWeb's Freepages, she learned from the members of the FREEPAGES-HELP mailing list that she could add a guestbook (provided by RootsWeb) to her page. This provides visitors to her site, including cousins and other interested researchers of her family lines, a way to leave messages. http://resources.rootsweb.com/~guestbook/ She also learned RootsWeb provides counters. Placed on the webpage, these help keep track of the number of visitors being attracted to the site. http://counter.rootsweb.com/Counter.html Susan thought these were wonderful ideas and promptly added both to her Freepages site. Each day she faithfully checked her empty guestbook and puzzled over the unchanging numbers on her counter. Why was the world, or at least that small segment of the world who Susan figured would be interested in her family research, not beating a path to her door? Susan was sure once her website was listed in the Freepages genealogy directory index that fellow researchers would begin to visit her page. That didn't appear to be happening -- what could be the problem? A check in the freepages index reveals her new website is not listed under Sterling, where she thought it should be. Her "My Sterling Family Mementos" page can't be found. So, Susan asks the helpful folks on the FREEPAGES-HELP list what could possibly be the cause of this oversight. The reply is that Freepages genealogy sites are indexed according to whatever appears in the html title tags -- not what is the actual text of a heading on the webpage. So because Susan had added the word "my" at the beginning of the title in the html tags, it caused her page to be improperly indexed under the M listings! Susan edits the html TITLE tags so they read: Sterling, Geist, Dement, Hornblower, Rothchild and Allied Families. She also changes the text on her first page to reflect this better name for her website. Within a short time the counter on her page indicates that visitors are finding her site. She checks her guestbook regularly and discovers that an increasing number of newfound cousins are leaving messages expressing interest in great-grandmother Martha GEIST's diary. Other unrelated researchers have found family members' tombstones included in the cemetery photos and inscriptions she posted. Susan lives in the State of Ohio, U.S.A., near the small cemetery she walked and for which she transcribed the records. Before long, she begins to realize what an impact her genealogical deed of kindness in posting her cemetery information has on those who live too far away to visit, read inscriptions, and photograph the graves of their ancestors. She has guest book entries from family history researchers in states as far away as Oregon and Washington and even a lengthy note from a lady named Maude (DEMENT) BRINEGAR who lives in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. Maude tells Susan that she is a descendant of great-grandfather August DEMENT's brother Claude, and explains in detail that Claude settled first in Chicago, Illinois where family stories have it that he was at least indirectly involved with an organized crime network. When things got too hot in Chicago, Claude and wife Lilly (BUNTING) DEMENT headed north to Canada, where they sought refuge from the prying eyes of U.S. lawmen. There Claude and Lilly started a new life with Claude taking a job mining salt in a nearby mine. Imagine that! How many times have we heard the expression "working in the salt mines" -- but Susan thought that probably few of us actually have a salt miner (or organized crime connections for that matter) hanging on their family tree (figuratively speaking, of course). Everything was starting to mesh; Susan was starting to reap the rewards of all of her hard work in first researching, then creating, her family tree and website. Her extra effort in posting a few messages on mailing lists and message boards for her surnames and localities was also bringing a few cousins to her site and some of them had fascinating information connected to her family history. Susan found that genealogical research on the Internet is a two-way street -- you learn from others when you share your research with them. And then one morning Susan's happy little world is set on end when she checks her e-mail and finds an angry message from Rupert RAKESTRAW of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Rupert RAKESTRAW is the direct descendant of Jeremiah RAKESTRAW, the illegitimate son of Lucretia SHADEWELL and Nigel RAKESTRAW who was spirited off to Australia those many years ago by Nigel and Lucretia's sister, Portia SHADEWELL. Portia was later to become Portia RAKESTRAW, through her subsequent marriage to Nigel, Rupert informs Susan. However, Rupert had not known that his ancestor, Jeremiah RAKESTRAW, wasn't the biological child of Nigel and Portia and he is none too happy, to say the least, about Susan digging up family skeletons long buried (and best left that way in Rupert's opinion). Uh, oh. How's Susan going to handle this unexpected response? Check back next week to see how she deals with Rupert's complaint and some other unanticipated responses to the information in her STERLING family tree. Next week: Trying to Put the Shine Back on the STERLING Tree 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Genealogy Search Leads Around the World and to BBC-TV By Alison O'Donnell Back in December 1999 and October 2000 the story of the search for my grandmother's real identity -- "Nina: A Mystery" and "Nina: The Sequel" appeared in "Missing Links." http://www.petuniapress.com/ml/19991229.txt http://www.petuniapress.com/ml/20001018.txt Readers were extremely interested because of the global connections of the tale: China, Britain, Ireland and America. I received a huge response from readers at the time. Nina Leigh was a beautiful singer married to a man who still remains a mystery (Walter James Leigh), although we have recently made a few small breakthroughs at National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Nina concealed the fact that she had a husband and two children when she and my grandfather fell in love. He was Major P.S.G. O'Donnell. He had a public career as a conductor and director of music in the Royal Marines and the BBC Military Band. He also traveled with the Prince of Wales on several royal tours in 1919-21. Since then I have written a song (I am also a singer) about my grandmother called "Mother of Pearl" and have written two-thirds of a book about her, which is also a personal memoir and an account of my genealogical research. BBC-Four (television) has just finished making a half-hour documentary about my search for my grandmother's origins. It is part of a series of 10 due to air in October, in tandem with BBC-Two's series, which will feature a number of celebrities tracing their family trees. It includes interviews with two of Nina's daughters, some of the grandchildren descended from the first marriage and, of course, myself. It shows how we conducted some of our research and how my finding the first family affected us all. It features some music connected with Nina and a wonderful array of photographs from the early part of the 20th century. Something in Walters' behaviour or actions caused Nina to leave him. The BBC arranged for a DNA test to be carried out on his surviving daughter, which is included in the film. This was done at DNA Print Genomics in Florida. The result has shown that she is a quarter "East Asian," which probably means that Walter had one Chinese parent and one American parent, which we have long suspected. On Nina's return to England her father disowned her and took her children into his own care. Ultimately she was forced to make the terrible decision of choosing one family over another. She chose the latter because she loved my grandfather, had four children with him, and because she feared exposure as a bigamist. This would have destroyed both families and the careers of her husband and his two brothers, all three being composers and conductors. Of course, the story does not end there. Needless to say we are still hot on the trail of Walter's origins and his demise. Readers may wish to tune in to the programme, which will be broadcast on November 16 at 10 p.m. on BBC-Four. The series is entitled "Family Ties" and this film will be No. 6, entitled "Mother of Pearl." http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/ * * * Connecting with a Live One By Anne Bryant Yes, I have a connecting story with a great ending. I found a family tree online with my paternal line in it. This listing contained one sibling I did not have and had never heard of. I contacted the source listed and he responded with the e-mail address of the person from whom he had obtained that information. I e-mailed that person and she responded immediately. Turns out we are indeed cousins and live in the same city. We got together and in the process of reviewing her information on the ancestor of my father and her mother, we discovered we are also related via her father and my mother. We have since become "research buddies" who tromp around cemeteries and search the state archives together. The information about the missing sibling of my ancestor was a nice find, but the live cousin was a great find! * * * Do you have an online "connecting" story to share? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com 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 28,500 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BOUGHTER CORBIN-DNA -- Discussing CORBIN surname DNA projects DRAKE-ENG-USA -- Genealogical discussions on the DRAKE surname emigrating from England to the USA FAUGHNAN GOODY, GRANFIELD HEAD-DNA -- Discussing HEAD surname DNA projects IVEY-DNA -- Discussing IVEY surname DNA projects JUBB LOYD MACRA, MINOGUE VANSWEARINGEN NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS BLUEJACKET -- Find ancestors of a Native American named "Bluejacket," who, as story tells, might actually have been a white man GERMAN-GENEALOGY -- Genealogical research assistance throughout Germany (bilingual) IRISH-DNA -- Discussing results of Irish DNA projects UK-COALMINERS -- Genealogical discussions of our ancestors who have worked in the coal mines in the United Kingdom 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 Vineyard Trails (California) Chapter DAR website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cavtcdar/ England engsjdar -- St. James Chapter DAR U.S.A. cavtcdar -- Vineyard Trails (California) Chapter DAR mdevwudc -- E. V. White No. 1360 (Maryland) UDC misgs -- Saginaw (Michigan) Genealogy Society njcccdar -- Church and Cannon (New Jersey) Chapter DAR vaodcdar -- Old Dominion (Virginia) Chapter DAR Key: DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution USD = US Daughters of the War of 1812 5. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages -------------------------------------- Do you have a new, updated, or substantially revised website located at RootsWeb (it will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL)? 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 BALL. Y Chromosome DNA Study of families of this name worldwide with ancestry from the United Kingdom and Eire. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scperkins/BallDNA.html CARMACK CONNECTIONS. Focused on the CARMACK DNA Project, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~carmack/ CREEKMORE, CRICKMER, CRICKMAY. Y Chromosome DNA Study of families of this name worldwide with ancestry from the United Kingdom and Eire. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scperkins/CreekmoreDNA.html NEW HAMPSHIRE CEMETERIES. A collection of gravestone photographs from cemeteries in central New Hampshire. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nhcemeteries/ MANNING, MANNON, MANON, MANNEN, MANEN, MANNIN, MANIN. Y Chromosome DNA Study of families of this name worldwide with ancestry from the United Kingdom and Eire. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scperkins/ManningDNA.html PARKINS, PERKINS. Y Chromosome DNA Study of families of this name worldwide with ancestry from the United Kingdom and Eire. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scperkins/PerkinsDNA.html SWAIN, SWAINE, SWAYN, SWAYNE. Y Chromosome DNA Study of families of this name worldwide with ancestry from the United Kingdom and Eire. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~scperkins/SwainDNA.html 6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb ---------------------------------------------- The following databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. Search: To look for specific data or occurrence of text in a file. Browse: To view the entire contents of a file or a group of files. CALIFORNIA. Amador County. "History of Amador County, California," Patron Directory, Township No. 5; 6 records; Lori Wicks http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ Solano and Napa counties. "History of Solano and Napa Counties, California," Volume 2; 470 records; Lori J. Wicks http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ Noteworthy Names in California History 9 records; Lori Wicks http://userdb.rootsweb.com/groups/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Washington. Central High School and Business High School graduates, February 1914; 77 records; Paula Lucy Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ FLORIDA. Hillsborough County. Tampa. Jefferson High School faculty and students, 1962; 1,224 records; Ruth Shaw http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ ILLINOIS. Cook County. 1905 Chicago City Directory, (Zakrzewski through Zander); 112 records; 1906 Chicago City Directory (Zalen through Zanzow); 120 records; Marilyn Krzus http://userdb.rootsweb.com/citydir/ KANSAS. Lyon County. Admire. Admire Northern Star index, 1912-1917; 4,005 records; Robert and Lois Hodge for Flint Hills Genealogical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ Emporia. Emporia Globe Newspaper index, 1886-1887; 5,463 records; Robert and Lois Hodge, for Flint Hills Genealogical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ KENTUCKY. Harlan County. Selected marriages, 1818-1929, 322 records; Leslie County. Selected Marriages 1879-1927, 54 records; Perry County. Selected Marriages 1823-1931, 44 records; Gloria Kay Vandiver Inman http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ MINNESOTA. Stearns County. Kimball. Kimball High School Class of 1943; 30 records; Debbie Blaske http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK. New York County. New York City. Naturalization record of Charles G. Bohnen, 1906; 1 record; Jennifer Scholz http://userdb.rootsweb.com/naturalization/ Onondaga County. Skaneateles. 1860 federal census; 3,730 records; Jim Dougherty; indexed by Mary Megan http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ Schoharie County. Richmondville. Methodist Episcopal Church, Class Records 1867-1892; 1,667 records; Mary K. Phillips http://userdb.rootsweb.com/churchrecords/ NORTH CAROLINA. Watauga County. Bible of Della Mae Lewis Combs; 13 records; Carla Stancil Townsend http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ U.S.A. Births, 1872-1900, compiled from World War I Draft Registration Cards of Fulton County, Pennsylvania; 1,529 records; Scott L. Byrd http://userdb.rootsweb.com/births/ 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking Beyond the Index By Juli Risener Morgan I gave a nod of recognition when I read the headline of Theresa Wheeler Snell's submission to RootsWeb Review, "Don't Trust an Index." I, too, have learned to look beyond the index, particularly for census records, and have found folks that had formerly "disappeared" from family trees. My first discovered instance of index shortcomings came while I was looking for RISENER or RISNER family members in Arkansas in 1870. I was trying to locate where my great-great-grandmother, Charlotte RISENER, had gone after her husband died. Charlotte was not in the index of the 1870 Arkansas census, and, believe me, I tried any and all spelling variations of RISENER, and there are plenty. But, still, no Charlotte or her children. It seemed that after the 1860 Van Buren County, Arkansas census she'd dropped off the face of the earth. Her youngest son, my great-grandfather, showed up again in 1900 married to his first wife, but his mother was nowhere to be found. Several years later I was looking at the 1870 Van Buren County, Arkansas census microfilm for another family. I had a bit of time on my hands, so I started at the beginning of the county and started reading each and every entry. Lo and behold, I found Charlotte at last! She was still in Van Buren County, listed as Charlotte RISNER, widow, with her two sons and a girl named Nancy CARROLL living in the home. I was so elated by this find that I decided to read the 1870 Jackson County, Arkansas census, another county where RISENERs tended to get "lost." In household No. 1, I found young Caleb RISNER, son of George Henry RISENER and Mary PARSONS, living with a Frances PARSONS. Caleb had, until then, been listed as "died in infancy" on all the researchers' family records. Neither Charlotte nor Caleb are anywhere on the census index, so I'm really glad I had the extra time to give to reading the census film that day. I've learned to go ahead and search the county census film even if my target isn't listed in the index. They may be just sitting there, waiting to be found! * * * Learning How to Cite Sources By Beth Motsenbocker In response to those who are hurt because others get credit for their work, I would like to speak for those who are new to the field. When I first put information on a computer program, I was asked if I wanted to save it to the Web. I clicked "yes" and later found that it was published under my name, without credits. Every bit of it except what was my personal knowledge (without documentation) had been acquired from someone else. When I started, I did not know how to credit my sources. If you run across one of my family trees somewhere, please be assured that it is all "stolen" from someone else who worked hard to find it and all I did was push a button without realizing accepted protocol. I am appreciative of those who are willing and able to invest their time, resources, energy, and knowledge so that people like me who are not able to purchase documentation, travel, etc. can enjoy learning about family history. * * * Keeping a Promise By Doris Waggoner in Seattle Here's a puzzle my father left me. He had a collection passed down in the family of material mostly belonging to his great-grandfather, who had been a Methodist missionary to Liberia. It included great-grandpa's family Bible, which had the family statistics, his mother's New Testament with her children's birthdates, a journal he wrote on the way home from Liberia, an obituary he wrote for his first wife, who died in Liberia, various letters, a photo album, etc. My father made me "custodian" of this material when he knew that he was dying and knew I wanted to write a book on his great-grandfather. The only condition was that when I extract all the useful information from it, I must give it all to a single repository. I already know this is a problem. The Methodist Archives wants the Methodist-related material. But they won't take anything else. I could give it all to the genealogical society in the small town where he lived the last 30 years of his life, but then Methodist researchers would never find it. Has anyone else run into this problem? What advice do you have? So far I'm still using it, so I have time to make a decision. My father has died, so he won't know what I do, but I'd like to honor the spirit of my promise to him if possible. 8. Humor/Humour: Just Dying to Get In ------------------------------------- Thanks to: Kay Fiveash A sign at the entrance of a cemetery, says: NO OUTLET * * * Found a humorous entry in census, parish, church, etc. records? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ----------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTIONS. To manage your e-mail communications (i.e. to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, or to sign up for others), visit our newsletter management center any time at: http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ The RootsWeb Review is a free publication of MyFamily.com, Inc., 360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT, 84604 * * * 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 * * * 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: 27 October 2004, Vol. 7, No. 43. * * * *