RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 9 February 2005, Vol. 8, No. 6, Circulation: 811,065+ (c) 1998-2005 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ * * * Keep informed about the latest news, new databases, webpages and mailing lists at RootsWeb. Subscribe to the free weekly RootsWeb Review. http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ Search/download past issues of the RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * Is your e-mail address up-to-date at all RootsWeb sources? http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ * * * 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/ RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Editor's Desk: Some Sites Worth Seeing "Tracing African American Ancestry" "Legal Dictionaries Online" 1b. Using RootsWeb: "In Search of African American Roots" 1c. Tips from Readers: "Sharing the Leftovers" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Death Records Provide Clues to the Living" "Leaving Crumbs Along Trails" 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: "Supporting Genealogical Societies" "Creating DVDs on Macs" "'Buried' in Two Places" "Dutch Ship Jumpers" "Finding a Forger Down Under" 8. Humor/Humour: "Genie Film Titles 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Editor's Desk: Some Sites Worth Seeing Tracing African American Ancestry. --NARA's (National Archives and Records Administration) Genealogy Pages: African American Research http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/research_topics/african_american_research.html --Freedmen's Bureau Online: http://www.freedmensbureau.com/ --Africa WorldGenWeb Page: http://www.worldgenweb.org/africa.html --African-Native American History and Genealogy Home Page: http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/ --Afrigeneas: http://www.afrigeneas.com/ --Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System: U.S. Colored Troops: http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/ * * * Legal Dictionaries Online. Need to check a legal dictionary to see what your ancestors were really up to? A favorite of genealogists is Black Law Dictionary--first published in 1891. However, if you can't get to a library to access it, there is some help on the Web at: --Everyone's Legal Dictionary http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/dictionary/wordindex.cfm --Law.com Dictionary http://dictionary.law.com/ --Legal Lexicon's Lyceum http://www.lectlaw.com/def.htm * * * 1b. USING ROOTSWEB: In Search of African American Roots One wintry February evening James ROBINSON decided to rent a DVD (Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) to watch. The weather forecast was for more than a foot of snow, so he decided on the mini- series "Roots." Based on the book by Alex Haley, it first appeared on television in 1977 -- before James was even born. After all, February is Black History month in the U.S. and James figured it would be a good chance to learn about the experiences of his ancestors. He knew the storm could result in his being snowbound long enough to warrant his investment of time in viewing the mini-series as opposed to a shorter movie. There was a strong oral tradition that had been passed down from generation to generation in James' family but until the night he gathered his young family together to watch "Roots," he'd never really considered attempting to supplement the family stories with actual documentation. The family watched the mini-series with intense attention and were deeply moved by what could have been their ancestors' life stories. To say that James was now motivated to learn the facts surrounding his own family history would be an understatement, but he didn't know where to begin. An Internet search brought James to RootsWeb's main page and he noted among the links under GETTING STARTED was one to RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ This looked like it might be a starting point but would there be any special help there for tracing African American roots? James suspected his search would not be an easy one. He knew he might be dealing with finding slave owner names and that he'd be attempting to trace a history when often only first names would have been used by his ancestors. Moreover, James really didn't know how his family had come to use the surname ROBINSON but he wanted to find out. James clicked on a link for African American information in the RootsWeb Guide: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson25.htm He read the text and followed the pertinent links to other sites with information about researching his family history, making note of the unique problems involved in tracing ancestors in this ethnic group. James then set out in search of additional African American research aids at RootsWeb. He checked here: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ for RootsWeb mailing lists of interest and, in addition to the usual surname and locality lists, he found: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Ethnic/FREEDMEN.html FREEDMEN-L is a "mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information regarding slaves who were freed by their owners including related files and data. This includes African American, Native American, Scotch, Irish, and any other slave in the United States." This list interested James in particular since stories passed down in his family indicated that he had an ancestor who was a freed slave from Maryland who had moved north and settled in New Jersey. http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Ethnic/INTERRACIAL-GENEALOGY.html INTERRACIAL-GENEALOGY-L -- this list interested James as there were stories of an intermarriage with an Irish servant girl in New Jersey as well as vague lore concerning possible Native American heritage. James thought perhaps the Interracial-Genealogy list members might be able to guide him in how to investigate the stories. http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Ethnic-African/ Ethnic African includes a wide selection of specific topic lists for African American research and James selected a few relevant lists to which he planned to subscribe and monitor discussion and possibly post a query or two of his own. Next, James checked out the RootsWeb/Ancestry message boards under Topics > Ethnic / Race and found several African American boards: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.ethnic.afam And, also one for Cross Race discussion: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.ethnic.crossrace A visit to RootsWeb's WorldConnect was next on the list of James' sites to explore. http://wc.rootsweb.com/ He decided to do a "keyword" search on the words African American, which would find any submitted family trees with these words in the database title, heading, footing, or homepage title. He also checked the RootsWeb User-Contributed Colored/Black Databases: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/colored/ James knew the above sites were only starting points and that he had plenty of work ahead of him. However, his search for RootsWeb resources had given him some information, plus hints and tips in where to look next in his quest to put real names and faces to his family's roots. * * * 1c. Tips from Readers: Sharing the Leftovers By Kathleen Burgheimer in Arizona, USA My old newspaper leftovers were someone else's treasure. About a month ago my grandmother gave me my grandfather's family tree file. I have been doing the family tree for about three years. Inside were several pictures, documents and a full newspaper page with my great-grandmother's picture with her fellow Spanish War auxiliary women. On the top of the page was a group picture of a children's drama class. I had no knowledge of anyone in the picture. I decided to go through the names one by one hoping to find someone to pass the picture onto. I was down to the last two names, a brother and sister. I was able to find the brother who happened to be living in the same metropolitan area as I. I placed a call to him and explained about the newspaper and the picture. He told me that the picture was indeed of him and his sister as children. I took his address and mailed the newspaper clipping to him. It felt so good to be able to pass something on that meant so much to someone else. I know that I would be so excited to have this happen to me out of the blue. So if you find you have leftovers in your genealogy treasures, pass them on to someone who will no doubt be grateful for your thoughtfulness. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Death Records Provide Clues to the Living By Jean Meaney in South Carolina, USA I was missing my grandmother's only brother's descendants and all who could have told me anything were gone. He had two daughters, I knew their maiden names, but not their married names and puzzled about how to find them for years. One night I looked in the Social Security Death Index (http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/) and found listed both my granduncle and his wife -- now I knew their dates of death and where they died -- in Shreveport, Louisiana. Then it hit me--their obituaries would have been in the local newspaper and the obituaries (usually) list survivors' names. I called the Shreve Memorial Library and the librarian found one obituary (I was glad I had provided two names) and copied it and charged me a dollar for the service. I received the obituary within a few days. I was thrilled to find it listed the married names of their two daughters. The day the letter arrived I looked up the names in the Shreveport White Pages (telephone directory) and found a name that matched and that evening talked with both daughters and got the names of their children and grandchildren for a family book that I am working on. They were so excited to hear from me and are interested in all the many genealogy projects and pictures I have to share with them. This was so simple and yet it took me a long time to think of it so I thought I would share it with others. * * * Leaving Crumbs Along Trails By Joyce Gardner in Illinois, USA My husband and I went to the small town of Chariton in Lucas County, Iowa, to research his great-grandfather Nelson GARDNER and his family. The town -- so small it doesn't even have a Wal-Mart store -- has a wonderful genealogy department in its library, well-staffed and managed. It has a great genealogy club, which we joined. After going through its collections and finding much information, we signed the guestbook and indicating that we were not only researching the GARDNER family, but also his married daughters--Minnie WILTSEY and Ella VAN DYKE. After visiting more family in the area, we arrived home in Chicago several days later to find a letter waiting for us. Descendants of Minnie WILTSEY had been in the Chariton genealogy department the day after we were there and saw our name and address in the guestbook, and realized we were researching the same family. Many phone calls and letters ensued and we arranged to meet in Chariton, Iowa again the following year. The ARMSTRONGS live in Nebraska. When we met in the motel, we recognized Donald ARMSTRONG immediately -- he definitely was a GARDNER descendant. We spent several days together, exchanging files, photos, family stories and doing more research on the GARDNER family. We continue to have a delightful long-distance relationship and only wish we lived closer so we could see each other more often. * * * Do you have an online or other "connecting" story to share? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com ======================== Advertisements ============================ Family Chronicle's April 2005 issue is on newsstands now. Subscribe and get a FREE book*! In this issue: Newspaper Archives: 100 Million Pages Online Now, Online Sources for Irish Ancestry, Dating Military Photographs, The Arthur Hoag Project Part II, Counties: The Backbone of Genealogy, Locating Addresses that No Longer Exist, WWI Draft Cards: A Great Resource, Websites Worth Surfing . . . and much more. SPECIAL limited time offer: Get a FREE copy of our newest book, More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems, a $15 value, with your paid subscription. For complete details visit https://familychronicle.com/rootsweb/freeMBWS.htm * * * GET A FREE RESEARCH ASSESSMENT FROM BRITISH ANCESTORS Looking for ancestors from England or Scotland? All our researchers are located in Britain with access to original records. Let us have the details and we will have one of them give you a FREE research assess- ment. If you commission us to do the work (there's no obligation to do that!) our prices start from $70 US. Learn more about our BRITISH ANCESTORS RESEARCH TOUR IN SALT LAKE CITY! For a free research assessment visit http://www.britishancestors.com/consultrwr/ ====================== End Advertisements ============================== 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 28,800 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BRIMBERRY BURGESS-THOMAS -- Descendants of Thomas Burgess, who settled in Sandwich, Massachusetts (from England in 1637) CIURLIONIS HARRALD, HELKENBERG LEAVELL MOLYNEAUX-DNA -- Discuss the MOLYNEAUX (surname) DNA project NARVERUD PIDDINGTON, PRO POWELL-DNA -- Discuss the POWELL (surname) DNA project SELVA, SPOOR WITHRINGTON NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS UK-79TH-REGIMENT -- Genealogical discussions of those whose ancestors were in the 79th Regiment of Foot (British regiment) NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS POL-RZESZOW -- Rzeszow Province, Poland 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 Tremont (Pennsylvania) Area Historical Society website will be located at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~patahs/ U.S.A. njfmcdar -- Ferror Monte (New Jersey) Chapter DAR patahs -- Tremont (Pennsylvania) Area Historical Society tngfncd -- General Francis Nash (Tennessee) Chapter DAR Key: DAR—Daughters of the American Revolution 5. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages -------------------------------------- Has your website ever been mentioned here or do you have a new, updated, or substantially revised website located at RootsWeb (it will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL)? 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 * * * COULTER-VANCE: Kentucky Families. HILL and ULLIVAN of Whitley County; VANCE, ISENBERG, MAYES, SHAW, COULTER, MOORE, THOMPSON, and ARTERBURN of Barren and Monroe counties. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~j11980d/index.html ILLINOIS. Sons of Spanish-American War Veterans. The Nelson A. Miles Camp No. 610, Sons of Spanish American War Veterans (SSAWV), of Collinsville, announces the chartering of its new camp and the creation of its website. The site provides a brief history of the SSAWV, the organization today, a history of the Illinois Department of United Spanish War Veterans, and a sketch of the Nelson A. Miles Camp No. 61, East St. Louis, Illinois United Spanish War Veterans. Burial on 156 former members are included as well. Includes many photos of members' ancestors. On February 15 the Nelson A. Miles Camp No. 610 will honor the men who served and died aboard the "USS Maine" -- 107 years ago. http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~sunnyann/namilescamp610.html 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. 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. MAINE. Cumberland County. Gorham, Maine Birth Records, Town Reports, 1893-1944; 2,493 records; Brenda Caldwell http://userdb.rootsweb.com/births/ Maine Marriage Records, Town Reports, 1893-1944 3,718 records; Brenda Caldwell http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ MINNESOTA. Blue Earth County. Marriages -- selected records; 26 records; W. G. Van Hemert http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ MONTANA. Sweet Grass County. Big Timber. Volunteer Fire Department Roster, 1904-2004; 489 records; John Becken of the Big Timber VFD http://userdb.rootsweb.com/groups/ NEW JERSEY. Hudson County. West New York. Memorial High School graduates 1922-1924 (formerly West New York High School); 180 records; Mary B. Wilson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ * * * SHARING OPPORTUNITY. Does your alma mater, old military unit, church, parish, province, county or state have material available that you think would be of interest to genealogists and historians? Do you have any compiled lists of names or databases (other than your personal genealogy) that you would like to share and that you think would be of value and interest to others? In most cases, RootsWeb would be proud to host such material. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Supporting Genealogical Societies. By Sara-Jane Gilb I shelf periodicals received from genealogical societies by my genealogical society library. I recently noticed that a central U.S. genealogical society was disbanding. This society had been in existence since 1955 and this was the 45th volume of its quarterly. I was amazed that a society with that number of years of existence could fold. Then I attended my local genealogical society meeting. I noticed the number of attendees had declined to less than half of the attendees from when I first joined the society 15 years ago. At that time I was one of the youngest members. Today I am still one of the youngest members. Societies need the influx of new members to keep them active. Local societies need to be supported. They index obscure local documents, record cemeteries, and answer questions on local genealogy and history. The Internet will not answer all your genealogical questions. Support the local genealogical society and the societies in the areas in which your families lived. These societies will usually do local research for a nominal fee and provide free queries in their quarterlies to members. Don't let another society fold. * * * Creating DVDs on Macs By Frances Roth Ms. Heinrich mentioned in her recent article that she made her DVD of family photos and videos on a PC using the Pinnacle. Not to leave out Mac users, I want to note that what she did can be done with the iLife package, which is included on newer Macs and can be bought separately if it wasn't on the one you have. Another Mac tip (and I think the new iPods may also be able to do this on a PC as well) -- you can mount your iPod on your computer and use it as an external disk (in addition to using it as an MP3 player) to back up your genealogy files. You can also get accessories that will let you use it as a tape recorder and a memory card reader for digital camera (and then copy the recordings and photos directly to you computer). It's kind of your handy, dandy genealogy field trip assistant. Unfortunately the cheaper mini is a bit more limited in its capabilities and I'm not sure what other little boxes out there might also provide similar tools. * * * 'Buried' in Two Places By Kathleen from Ohio, USA I have something I want to share with all genealogists. I started interviewing my grandchildren every six months and it makes a real nice gift for their mother and fathers. However, no one seemed to be to interested in exploring our family tree other than my sister-in-law and me -- and it took us from about 1992 until 1999 to get going. But, the other reason I am writing, is because my mother's sister died in 1992. She lived in Florida and, of course, I took it for granted she was buried in Florida, but I was wrong. My aunt had 11 children, half of them lived in Florida and the others in Ohio. She was cremated and her ashes were buried in two different places. I thought about this and wondered about her great-grandchildren and maybe one of them would get into genealogy and what would they think? Did this happen in the 1800s? What about cremation back then? [Editor's note: It's something researchers should always consider when looking for burial and death information. Modern cremation practice began in England, Germany, and the USA in the 1870s and 1880s.] * * * Dutch Ship Jumpers By Wende Veeder of Atlanta, Georgia About 50 years ago I was told that Simon Volkertse VEEDER (1624-1696) and his brother "jumped ship" in New Amsterdam (New York City) in 1652. I could never find a brother, but have traced the family over the next 350 years. Then in 2004 I located (through an Internet contact) a 1650 contract between Foost Teunis VANNORDEN, a baker in New Netherland and Simon VEEDER who was then living in Holland. So, where in the world did that story come from? In actuality Simon arrived in New Amsterdam aboard the ship "Prince Maurice" in 1652. * * * Finding a Forger Down Under By Jenni Burke I was interested in the researcher finding out about a burglar who was transported in her ancestry. I have been researching for some time my 3-great-grandfather John SAINSBURY (ca 1793-1869) from London, He had edited "Dictionary of Musicians" -- published in 1824 and then had an obsession with Napoleon, culminating in his exhibiting his collection in London in 1843 at the Egyptian Hall which was eventually sold in Sotheby's in 1865. He was a bookseller and clerical agent at Bell's Buildings from 1824 and Red Lion Square from 1830-1848. I knew about his son William Noel SAINSBURY, who was assistant keeper at the Public Record Office in London and who had provided some early help to American historians including George BANCROFT, which was presented at a meeting of the American Antiquarian Society held in Boston 26 April 1893 under the title of "The British Public Record Office and the Materials in it for Early American History." He was also the great-grandfather of Noel Everingham SAINSBURY (1884-?), the writer of boys' adventure stories, including the Bill Bolton Naval Aviation series. However I was frustrated in not being able to find out more about John SAINSBURY or a supposed connection with the SAINTSBURY family, in particular Professor George SAINTSBURY. While trying to establish any links with the SAINTSBURY family as suggested by family lore a chance entry of SAINTSBURY into a search engine on the Web led me to many sites about Professor George SAINTSBURY and the SAINTSBURY winery in California. However an Australian site caught my eye and I loaded the site without looking at the URL I when I suddenly found myself looking at a list of convicts who had been transported to Australia. John Davis SAINTSBURY was listed as a convict on the "Fortune 2." He was transported in 1813 for a period of 14 years for having in his possession a forged bank note. I still remember the astonishment when I realised that I had seen this name in the St. Bride's parish register for 1822 in the baptismal records of two children, Alfred Charles SAINTSBURY and Mary Ann SAINTSBURY. John Davis SAINTSBURY was noted as clerical agent, Bells Buildings -- the same address and occupation of John SAINSBURY, the author of "The Dictionary of Musicians." John Davis SAINTSBURY disappears from the register in 1824 to be replaced by John SAINSBURY, clerical agent, Bells Buildings. I now know positively that they are one and the same for in a report of a civil case reported in "The Times" (27th April 1832), which I found very recently of SMITH v. SAINSBURY, the plaintiff's counsel states that John SAINSBURY is none other than a convicted forger John Davis SAINSBURY who had been transported to New South Wales in 1812. I have since found much more about my convict ancestor and on a recent trip to Australia was able to claim convict ancestry, although John Davis SAINTSBURY was given a free pardon in 1818 and came back to London in 1819 his family having remitted 200 guineas to his account. He was apparently one of few who came back to England. 8. Humor/Humour: Genie Film Titles ---------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Richard Callanan in London, England All-Time Greatest Genealogical Movies International Section: Census and Sensibility A Fiche Called "Wanda to Zelda" Lost in Transcription All About Eve [parents not found] Good Will Hunting -- Wrong Will Finding Honey I Shrunk the Kith Adventures in the Kin Trade Male Baptismal Sponsor III Irish Section Ryan's Daughter [allegedly] Dublin Indemnity The O'Dea Hunter Life of Brian (aka Bryan, Brien, Breen, O'Brian, O'Breen, O'Brien, Ó Bríain, et al) Tipperary Section: I Captured the Cashel Thurles Miserables Citizen Borrisokane 24 Hours from Nenagh Nightmare on Emly Street * * * Found a humorous sign or 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. AdSales Worldwide: Shana Davis, creative@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: 9 February 2005, Vol. 8, No. 6. * * * *