RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 23 March 2005, Vol. 8, No. 12, Circulation: 807,204+ (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/ * * * 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, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: "Taxing Times" 1b. Using RootsWeb: "On the Trail of Germanic Ancestors" 1c. Tips from Readers: "Computer Hints for Geezers" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Alone No Longer..." "Forbearance Pays Off" 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: "Theory of Relativity" "Treating Kin" "Working Around Problem" "Suing for the Family Album" "Another Album Retrieval Plan" 8. Humor/Humour: "It's All in the Genes" 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: Taxing Times The census taker might have missed your ancestors, but the taxman seldom did. Since every property owner of real estate, personal property (such as a horse or carriage), and eligible voters in most areas in the United States appear on some tax rolls, you might find your ancestors in the tax records even when they appear nowhere else. Tax records aid in such genealogical research problems as: --Tracing the moves of families from place to place --Identifying taxpayers of the same name --Finding clues of relationships that resulted from inheritances See: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson11.htm Don't despair if your ancestors never lived in America, the taxman was everywhere and taxed all sorts of items. For example. once upon a time in England our ancestors were taxed for using hair powder. (I'll bet my bewigged ancestors groused about that). "Persons wearing hair-powder to take out a certificate annually, chargeable with a stamp duty of 1l.1s. 1. That from and after May 5, 1795, there shall be raised, levied, collected, and paid throughout Great Britain, unto and for the use of his Majesty, his heirs and successors, the stamp duty following: every person who shall use, or wear any powder, commonly called hair-powder, of whatever materials the same shall be made, shall previously enter his or her name, or place of abode, and take out a certificate annually, as herein mentioned; and that upon every piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, upon which any certificate to any person shall be ingrossed, written, or printed, there shall be charged a stamp duty of one pound one shilling." --from "The Register of the Times" April/May, 1795 http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-law.htm#powder See also: "The Taxman Cometh" http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=8292 and taxing links by locality (includes England, Scotland, Norway, Canada, as well as various locales in the United States): http://www.cyndislist.com/taxes.htm#Locality * * * 1b. USING ROOTSWEB: On the Trail of Germanic Ancestors Trudi WEAVER doesn't mind being called "Trudi," but don't dare call her Gertrude. Trudi's middle name is Wilhelmine and she doesn't like that either. She was named for grandmothers, both of whom died before her birth, but she wishes she had being given a popular name such as Britney or Jenna like her friends. Trudi is in her junior year of high school in Pennsylvania where her family has lived for as long as anyone can remember. Her grades are top notch, but she has little in the way of outside activities to make her college applications appear "well-rounded." Therefore Trudi's adviser suggested that she find some volunteer work to do if she really wants to apply to highly selective colleges, so she began looking for ways to accomplish this. At the Sunny Seasons Retirement Home the staff assured her they were always looking for volunteers to assist with activities for the predominantly elderly residents. Trudi also stopped at the local library (she loves to read), and they told her they could use her to restock shelves and perform other volunteer duties. Trudi dove in almost immediately at the retirement home, creating a "story hour" in the activities room. The "story hour" grew by leaps and bounds as the residents eagerly told family stories from "the old days." One widow in particular, a Mrs. METZGER, caught Trudi's fancy as she told stories about her parents, both of whom had emigrated from Germany with their respective parents when they were quite young. Mrs. METZGER said that she had lost touch with family members in Germany that her parents had corresponded with over the years, and wished she could provide her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with more information about her family history. She regretted not knowing more about their father's ancestry, too. He also was a first-generation American -- a child of German immigrants. She confessed that she had a shoebox full of mostly unlabeled photographs of her family from "the old country" that no one currently living, in America at least, could identify. Mrs. METZGER said she was sure both her parents and her husband's had arrived in New York City at Ellis Island sometime in the 1870s. Mrs. METZGER told Trudi that her maiden name was SICKLER, but that it had been ZIEGLER in Germany and had been changed by the officials when her father arrived at New York harbor -- to make it more American. Mrs. METZGER's mother's name was originally von der LINDT, but later was changed to LIND. She'd been told that this family descended from German royalty. The oral histories began to intrigue Trudi. She figured with her computer knowledge and Internet expertise, she might be able to the amplify the stories and perhaps track down some of the families still in Germany. Trudi knew that Mrs. METZGER had never used a computer and knew nothing about the workings of the Internet. It would probably seem like magic to her if Trudi could use these resources to make contact with the lady's long-lost family members -- possibly even find someone who could identify some of the faces in Mrs. METZGER's photographs. Her Internet search led her to the main RootsWeb page, http://www.rootsweb.com/ and from there found her way to the RootsWeb Guide where she clicked on the link to the page about researching ancestors with Germanic roots : http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson26.htm Many of the folks mentioned that their ancestors had Germanic heritage and Trudi learned from the RootsWeb Guide that, indeed, Germans made up a large ethnic group of immigrants to America. In fact, about one in four Americans has one or more Germanic ancestors and Pennsylvania has an especially large Germanic population. Trudi found this interesting as she was pretty sure her own ancestors were of Germanic origin--if she could trace them back far enough. Clicking on "Immigrants Records" in the index to the RootsWeb Guides, it lead to http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson15.htm where Trudi discovered that Ellis Island could not have been the place of arrival for Mr. and Mrs. METZGER's families. The METZGERs, ZIEGLERs, and von der LINDTs had all supposedly arrived in the 1870s at Ellis Island, but Ellis Island didn't even exist in the 1870s. So where did they land? Like many genealogists before her, suddenly Trudi realized that family history research was going to be a bit more involved than she had originally anticipated. Where would she turn next to find the answers to her questions about where and when Mrs. METZGER's family had arrived in America? What resources can she use in an attempt to connect the nice lady to any of her cousins in Germany? Next week: Trudi Hits Pay Dirt with Surprising Results * * * 1c. Tips from Readers: Computer Hints for Geezers By Ted Pack tedpack@thevision.net We genealogists tend to have more common sense and life experience, but less computer experience, than many computer users. Next to whacking park pigeons with my cane, there's nothing I like better than telling a whippersnapper that his great-grandfather wasn't a colonel in the First Oklahoma Paratroops during the American Civil War. I have to watch it, though; I may need the whippersnapper's help when I get ready to hook up a scanner. There are some basic things everyone who uses a computer should know. Windows 3.1 had a tutorial to teach most of them; now they assume we all know them. If you just started using a computer and you've wondered: -- How to change the text size and font in your Internet browser. -- How to scroll a whole page at a time. -- How to use the URL (web address) to your benefit. -- What is a megabyte (MB)? (And why does your cousin complain when you send him 11 of them in an e-mail message?) Drop by my website. I just added a new section, "Computer Hints for Geezers": http://www.tedpack.org/geezerskills.html 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Alone No Longer... By Sarah Feuerstein http://www.angelfire.com/ne/OtthonIskola/genealogy.html A few years ago I decided to put our genealogical data up on the Internet. The initial goal was to somehow find my husband's cousins on his father's side who emigrated from Transylvania (Hungary/Romania) to South America before the Second World War. The rest of that side of the FEUERSTEIN family was wiped out during the Holocaust; my husband is an only child of a sole survivor. Unfortunately no one yet from the South American branch seems to be interested in genealogy, so we are still waiting... My husband's mother with her two sisters were in hiding in a village during the war, somewhat farther east, where the arrival of the Russian front ensured their survival. They married soon after the end of the war and so "became invisible." As far as they knew the rest of their family, all the SCHONZWEIGS who lived in Oradea and the surrounding areas, have disappeared. But they happily established families, which grew nicely over the years, and eventually they all moved to Israel. Last week we got an e-mail from a woman in Israel saying that she seems to have discovered her great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather on our family tree. After a flurry of exchanges we clarified all the details and the connection has been made. When we talked on the phone tears were flowing as we found out that her father thought of himself as the only survivor of the SCHONZWEIG family, immigrated to Israel, changed his name, married and had her as his only child. Being quite aged, he died when his daughter was still young. Now the daughter, reaching her middle age, was wondering if there are any SCHONZWEIGS at all in the world or if she is completely alone. Just as a test she put the name into Google and, lo and behold, the first thing it brought up was our genealogical data and the names of her ancestors. As a result of our e-mails and phone conversations she now has a decent- size list of third cousins with their children and grandchildren to contact, which she did, and the family is planning a grand get-together in the coming weeks to welcome the lost cousin who is alone no longer... * * * Forbearance Pays Off By Dorothy Francis I posted a message requesting any information about my great- grandmother, Louisa RIDGWAY GREAVES. With no response in more than a year, I was discouraged. Then I got a message from a cousin in Chester, England who had the answers to my questions, which gave me the incentive to continue trying to scale my brick walls. Thank you, RootsWeb. * * * Do you have an online or other "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 28,900 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS AGNEW-DNA -- To discuss AGNEW (surname) DNA projects BERNISH, BURSTON BAILEY-DNA -- To discuss BAILEY (surname) DNA projects BELL-DNA -- To discuss BELL (surname) DNA projects BOZEMAN-DNA -- To discuss BOZEMAN (surname) DNA projects CHIRIGOTIS CARWILE-DNA -- To discuss CARWILE (surname) DNA projects GIROLO, GONDEK JORDAN-DNA -- To discuss JORDAN (surname) DNA projects HELDT, HOLZWARTH KING-DNA -- To discuss KING (surname) DNA projects LAING-SCOTLAND -- Genealogical discussions on the LAING surname from Scotland LOUGHBOROUGH LYNCH-DNA -- To discuss LYNCH (surname) DNA projects MIKALAUSKAS MOZUCH, MUGLER RANNALS, ROEVER NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS GODFREY-LIBRARY-HELP -- Help using the online resources of the Godfrey Memorial Library 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 Georgia Society of Mayflower Descendants' website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~gasmd/ Ireland irllog2 -- County Longford, Ireland U.S.A. gasmd -- Society of Mayflower Descendants (Georgia) gawcaaha -- Walker County (Georgia) African-American Historical and Alumni Association ildar -- Illinois DAR mngoodh2 -- Goodhue County (Minnesota) mnredwo2 -- Redwood County (Minnesota) mnrock2 -- Rock County (Minnesota) mojdcudc: -- Jefferson Davis (Missouri) Chapter UDC motexas -- Texas County (Missouri) msalcorn -- Alcorn County (Mississippi) msgwoldt -- Old Tishomingo County (Mississippi) a special project of the Mississippi GenWeb negraves -- Gravestone Project (Nebraska) txspgs -- South Plains (Texas) Genealogical Society txtta -- Texas Transportation Archives wiscbio -- Sauk County (Wisconsin) Biographies Project Organizations' Abbreviation Key: DAR-Daughters of the American Revolution UDC-United Daughters of the Confederate ======================== Advertisements ============================ BRITISH ANCESTORS RESEARCH TOUR Salt Lake City -- May 2005 Ancestors from England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland? Search the vast British Collection at the world's largest genealogical library--with an accredited genealogist professional helping you at regular intervals -- daily classes -- you would have to travel the length and breadth of Britain to access all the records available under one roof at the library! BRITISH ANCESTORS SAN JOSE AREA SEMINAR Saturday, May 21 -- Sunnyvale, California Live in the SAN JOSE area or able to get there? Attend an entire day of classes on British research topics. 10% EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNT FOR THESE EVENTS! Visit the ANCESTOR SEEKERS website at http://www.ancestorseekers.com/ ====================== End Advertisements ============================== 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 BRENNAN, CLANCY, PETERSON, BURNS and related families from Ireland in the mid-1800s to present time in the United States. Surnames include BRENNAN, CLANCY, O'SULLIVAN, GRACE, CURRAN, DAUGHERTY, PETERSON, BURNS, ALDERDICE, POTTER, DEVOR, CLUGGAGE, and MONTAGUE. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourfamilyhistories/ CARLEY. Carley's Kingdom. Includes CARLEY lines of New England, North Carolina and Virginia with other family connected surnames such as BURDUE, DAIGH, DUNN, GOODWIN, HOAGLAND, PERINE and STITH. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~carley/ COLORADO. Denver. Transcription of the first history written about the City of Denver, Colorado, USA with a "Complete Business Directory" of 1866. It includes an every-name index compiled by the transcriber. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~rocky/1866_History/cover.html COLTON. History of the COLTON Family in the United States with biographies and lineage of the descendants of Quartermaster George Colton of Massachusetts. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coltoninfo/ ENGLAND. Merseyside. Main towns and villages on this website are Bebington, Birkdale, Birkenhead, Bootle, Bromborough, Crosby, Formby, Heswall, Hoylake, Kirkby, Knowsley, Ledsham, Litherland, Liverpool, Moreton, Newton-le-Willows, Port Sunlight, Prenton, Prescot, Rainford, Rainhill, Southport, St. Helens, Thatto Heath, Thornton Hough, Upton, Wallasey, and West Kirby. See BMDs. "Deaths and Inquests," "Murder," "Divorces," "Shipping." 21 January 1899; check out "New Snippets." http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dadds/MERSEYSIDE.index.html ENGLAND. Newspapers at Richard Heaton's Family History Homepage has updated newspaper transcripts and index with another 3,500 names (surnames ABBEY to ZWINGHAM). Principally the coverage is of Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, and Yorkshire. Reports include an account of the uprising on the Albemarle, Admiral Lord Nelson on the Battle of the Nile (with several other Nelson-related references), Moscow burns in 1812, and there is another account of the consequences of an accusation of witchcraft. On a lighter side there is some more Georgian humour with a "Ghost" in Kensington, and an uplifting celebration of a life from an outstanding obituary (the "Uncommon Man"). Click on the "Local Newspaper Index (excluding Windsor and Eton Express)" link near top of the page. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dutillieul/index.html HAAS, DAVENPORT. Includes old Oklahoma-Indian Territory newspaper transcriptions from the 1800s and updated "How To Articles." http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas/ HARRIMAN. Family association of the descendants of Leonard and John HARRIMAN, immigrants to Rowley, Massachusetts, ca. 1638. Includes surname variations such as HERRIMAN, HARIMAN, and HERIMAN. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~harrimanfamassoc/ MARYLAND. Collection of old, unidentified photographs from Frederick County, Maryland and surrounding areas. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tkreh/Frederick/old_photos.htm MATHER. Descendants of the Rev. Richard MATHER (1596-16690. Other surnames include REX, GOULD, SCHAFFNER, SPINDLER, and ELLSWORTH. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mather/ KALLEMEY, NKALLEMIJN. Includes a narrative history and five-generation descendant chart of the KALLEMEY-NKALLEMIJN family that sprang from the 1848 immigration of Jan KALLEMIJN to the Dutch colony at Pella, Marion County, Iowa. Other surnames include ABBINK, BOOT, GOEMAAT, GROOT, JONGELING, KOOIMAN, SOMSEN, and VERWER. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kallemeyn/ PENNSYLVANIA. Lehigh Valley Cemeteries. Photo documentation of cemeteries in the area -- Lehigh and Northampton counties. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lehvalcem/ ROHEL, BACH, BOHM, LOEW. Other surnames include EISLER, BACH, GRUNFELD, WOLF, KARY, KHUNER, WIENER, SPIRA, GRATZ, MORAWETZ, FRIEDMANN, KLIMES, and ROHEL from Austria and Czechoslovakia and Europe, Australia, Israel, and America. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~prohel/index.html#index 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. ALABAMA. Jefferson County. Mount Olive. Odom-Nail Cemetery; 63 records; Anna H. Bullard http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ GEORGIA Pierce County. Aspinwall Cemetery; 18 records; Offerman. Foster Cemetery (partial); 19 records; Wayne County. Big Creek Primitive Baptist Cemetery (partial); 32 records; Ashley Dietrich Murray http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ IOWA Jefferson County. Fairfield. Fairfield High School Class of 1901; 36 records; Carrie White http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ Monona County. Moorhead. Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910 membership directory; 286 records; Carol J. (Amundson) Adams-Ramos http://userdb.rootsweb.com/churchrecords/ KENTUCKY. Calloway County. Murray. Murray State University, Teachers College Class of 1943; 91 records; Marie Goodson Brannon http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MAINE. Cumberland County. Gorham. Deaths from Town Reports, 1893-1944, 3,475 records; Brenda Caldwell http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ NEBRASKA. Greeley County. O'Connor Catholic Cemetery; 614 records; Kathy Sweeney http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ NEW HAMPSHIRE. Grafton County. Haverhill. Deaths from Town Reports, 1887-1901; 576 records; Connie Verratti http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ NEW JERSEY Bergen County. Tenafly. Tenafly High School Class of 1929; 52 records; Tenafly High School Class of 1930; 68 records; Tenafly High School Class of 1931; 87 records; Phillip Nensel http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ Hudson County. Jersey City. William L. Dickinson High School graduates, 1932-1934; 1,560 records; Mary B. Wilson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ SOUTH CAROLINA. Colleton County. Walterboro. Press and Standard newspaper; partial name index, 1902-1909; 2,178 records; Larry Ulmer http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ TENNESSEE Name changes, 1801-1843; 362 records; D. Becker http://userdb.rootsweb.com/courtrecords/ Divorce records, 1796-1850; 405 records; L. Brannan http://userdb.rootsweb.com/divorces/ TEXAS. Gregg County. Longview. Pine Tree High School; Class of 1941; 29 records; Classes of 1938-1939, 61 records; Pat Almquist http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ Hood County. Glenn Cemetery, (partial); 61 records; Audra Morris http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ VERMONT. Caledonia County. Danville. Death index, 1784-1998, 1,381 records; Robert H. Goss http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ WISCONSIN. Milwaukee County. Milwaukee. North Division High School Class of 1929; 172 records; Lana Lee Helm http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Theory of Relativity By Martha Hardcastle Guthrie in Dayton, Ohio, USA I just found out that my cousin, Camilla PARKER-BOWLES, is getting married to some guy named Chuck on April 8. Like many Baton Rougeans, we share my 11th great-grandparents--Jean GUYON and Mathurne ROBIN-BOULE. If you have a BOURG, LEBLANC, LEBERT, ROBICHAUX, DUPUIS, LANDRY or BERNARD in your line, you could be Camilla's cousin, too. For those of you who can't make the nuptials, perhaps you can have a crawfish boil in her honor. Or maybe you were having a crawfish boil anyway. [Author's note: I submitted the above to the Baton Rouge Advocate and it ran March 12 in Smiley Anders' popular column: http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/031205/smi_smiley001.shtml] * * * Treating Kin By Kyla Cromer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA When my doctor found out that I'm interested in genealogy, we discovered that we each have a line from the same Mayflower passenger. She jokingly told me she couldn't treat me since we're related. * * * [Editor's note: Several RootsWeb Review readers responded with advice for Ron Miller about retrieving his "lost" family photo album. Here are some of them.] Working Around Problem By Ray in Sydney, Australia Suggestions for Ron Miller regarding the "lost" family album: 1. Obtain contact details for the person who holds the family album. 2, Drop all ideas of retrieving the album. 3. Instead, contact the person; explain your connection to the album and lifelong interest in the family genealogy and ask if they would mind if you came and made copies -- e.g. by scanning them into your own scanner on-site; or, if they have a scanner, if they would mind scanning both front and backs of each photo for you. 4. Of course, offer to pay any expenses incurred. That way you should not be seen as a grasping family member out to deprive the widow of a treasured possession and you might make a friend of her instead. * * * Suing for the Family Album By Holly Jacob I read the recent RootsWeb Review where it had an article by Ron Miller about a photo album in the hands of a non-relative. I did some research for a lady with almost an identical problem. She took the issue to small claims court. When she filed for small claims she was told to sue for the album or the maximum amount of money small claims would allow since it was something that couldn't be replaced. The lady who had the album thought the whole thing was ridiculous and thought she would win because the album was left at her home and was unclaimed property for years. She was wrong. The judge ordered the album returned to the family. * * * Another Album Retrieval Plan By John Monson I sympathize with Ron MILLER about that album. However, there is a possible way for him to get to see it and perhaps even copy it. Since Ron evidently did not know the cousin's daughter or that the cousin had remarried, he can approach the widow without volunteering the fact that he is in contact with the daughter (stepdaughter). Treat the contact with the widow as someone whom you have become aware of that was married to a man you are researching. Locate copies of obituaries or other records for the cousin that will have the surviving spouse's name and address. Even though the step- daughter knows where she lives, this distances you from the stepdaughter in contacts with the widow. Contact the widow saying that you are researching your cousin who is her deceased husband and that you would like to visit to learn more about him. Say that the visit would be helpful to you as she is likely to have information in his papers, even if she does not know his family very well herself. Do not indicate that you know anything about the album. Do not volunteer that you know anything about his descendants. If you are lucky enough to get invited to visit, go prepared. Take a notebook computer. Take a scanner that will operate with the notebook computer, but leave it in the car. Then if she brings out the album, you can ask permission to scan photos right there in her house. If she does not volunteer the album, ask if she has any photos of him, his parents, or other ancestors. Don't specifically enquire about an album initially. Be very careful. After all, a digital image is better than no image at all! After you get home, you can then send digital images or prints to the cousin's daughter. This way you both may be able to get copies, -- even if you are unable to get the original album. 8. Humor/Humour: It's All in the Genes ---------------------------------------- Thanks to: Don Wolf While researching to fill in my family tree, I uncovered a notebook from a relative's files that provided some key information, such as when my ancestors immigrated to America. Not least among the bits of information were notes about a first family reunion held in 1924. One of the pages provided an accounting of the $1 per family household collected to pay for incidentals related to the reunion. Among the list and expenses were a cigar for each of the senior family men, a ball for the young'uns to play with, penny postcards to announce the event, etc. But, most interesting to me was that slightly more than half, quite a sum for the time, or about $18, was spent on, of all things--ice cream. Immediately upon reading that I exclaimed, "YES, I am related to these fine people!" * * * 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/ If you use a spam-filtering program, in order to receive the RootsWeb Review please make sure that you're allowing e-mail from: newsletter@reply.myfamilyinc.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. The announcement of books and products is provided as a community service and is not an endorsement in any way. 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: 23 March 2005, Vol. 8, No. 12. * * * *