RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 15 June 2005, Vol. 8, No. 24, Circulation: 802,765+ (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 weekly RootsWeb Review. http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ * * * Search and share family trees at WorldConnect: http://wc.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, NOTES, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: "Some Sites Worth Seeing" 1b. Tips from Readers: "Researching Enslaved Ancestors" 1c. Using RootsWeb: "What's in a Name?" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Judging Our Ancestors" 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: "Rewards from Posting" "Post-em Note Leads Back to Cemetery" "Publish or Perish" "Learning the Difference: My Sources Are Not Your Sources" "Death, Taxes, and Memory Lapses" "Saying it With a Southern Accent" "Making Mistakes" "Fishing for the Truth" "Incompatible Foods?" "Milking the Story" 8. Humor/Humour: "Old Fabulists Never Stop" 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: Some Sites Worth Seeing Historyworld. This is a huge, fascinating website with worldwide histories and timelines. http://www.historyworld.net/default.asp World War I: Memories and Diaries. Did your ancestor or relative leave an account or a personal narrative? You might find it here. http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/index.htm * * * The following URLs for these websites were inadvertently omitted in last week's RootsWeb Review. Australia. Australian Medical Pioneers Index (AMPI). http://www.medicalpioneers.com/ Germany. National German Military Grave Registration Service. This database contains the names of more than two million missing and dead German soldiers from World War I and World War II. It is in German. Tips for using: Nachname (surname); Vorname (first name); supplying a date of birth (Geburtsdatum) or death (Todes) is optional. Click on "Suche beginnen" to start a search. You then must register with your name and address to continue the search. On the registration form, the following items are required: Vorname (first name), Nachname (last name), Strasse Nr. (street and number), Land/Plz/Ort (country/postal or ZIP code/city). Click on "Zur Ergebniseite" to continue. On the next screen click "Suchanfrageausführen." http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/content_suche.asp http://www.volksbund.de/graebersuche/ * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS: Researching Enslaved Ancestors By Marco Cystrunk For Afro-Americans, finding facts about family history before 1865 can be challenging, finding the slave-owning family is usually the greatest problem. However the 1870 U.S. census and history books provide important clues in tracing what happen and what records might exist -- somewhere. The following is transcription of my 2g-grandfather's 1870 census household. SANDERS-- Daniel 50 NC Jane 35 MO Lafayette 20 MS Sarah 14 TX Elzira 12 TX John 8 TX Eddy 5 TX Mary 2 TX JONES-- George 20 AL Caledonia 18 MS (Note Caledonia is a daughter of Daniel and Jane) This record implies Daniel was born 1820 in North Carolina. Jane was born 1835 Missouri; they met and married in Mississippi about 1850 had two children and went to Texas with someone between 1852 and 1856. History tells us that many Mississippi farmers came from North Carolina and it also tells us that Missouri was a slave-exporting state. Was Jane sold as a child down the river to a Mississippi farmer? If so, does a bill of sale exist? In searching for a slaveholder I focused on slaveholders who appear on the 1860 Slave Schedule in Upshur County, Texas but do not appear 1850 census in Texas. In addition I looked for owners whose census records showed the family spent time in Mississippi in the correct time period. If I found a family that fit this profile I would then check land records to see if they purchased land in Texas between 1852 and 1856. I have found a family that fits the profile. However, I have yet to find a list of slaves owned to prove my hypothesis. * * * 1c. USING ROOTSWEB: What's in a Name? When Frank and Rita RENO's son, Randy, came home from high school with a long-term homework assignment to research and write a report about his family history neither had a clue where to suggest he start. Sure, they both had a few family records around the house, and their parents, who were still living, probably had a bit more information, but that was it. Frank had never thought much about genealogy. He had assumed the RENO surname could be Italian. He had the dark brown eyes and olive complexion often associated with Italian heritage, but unlike his Italian friends at work Frank had never heard his parents or grand- parents talk about "the old country" or about how and when they had immigrated to America. Rita's maiden name was RAMBO and she too had assumed her surname might be Italian, but like her husband, she had heard no stories about Italy from her family. Rita had asked her parents about their origin when she was a child, but her parents brushed off her questions saying, "Honey, we've always been here." She wasn't exactly sure what that meant. She grew up in a largely Italian neighborhood in South Philadelphia with many friends whose parents or grandparents emigrated from Italy. They all had stories and heirlooms. Many older family members still spoke their native tongue and kept in touch with cousins in Italy. They recited (and prepared) wonderful old family recipes, but Rita had none of these family traditions and that made her all the more curious. Frank and Rita, far removed from their childhood homes, now lived in California. At a loss how to help their son with his assignment, Rita suggested he should search the Internet to try to learn more about the origin of the surnames RENO and RAMBO as well as Rita's mother's maiden name of PHILLIPPI and Frank's mother's maiden name of VANATTA. These surnames sounded like Italian names to Frank and Rita's untrained ears -- isn't it true that surnames ending in a vowel are usually Italian? Can't you usually tell the nationality of a surname by the surname itself? Randy soon returned with printed pages of search results from his initial foray into family history research on the Internet. He'd found quite a few genealogy homepages and a "gazillion" (Randy's word) family history resources on the Internet -- many at a place called, aptly enough, RootsWeb. (http://www.rootsweb.com/) At RootsWeb Surname List (RSL) (http://rsl.rootsweb.com/) Randy discovered he could search for people who had entered data about surnames in their own families along with information about where these surnames originated. He saw a variety of places of origin for the surnames he sought and wondered if any of these people were related to him. However, he soon realized he needed to do a lot more searching on the Internet and would have to gather more information from his parents and grandparents before he could make any real connections. Other links on the main RootsWeb page led Randy to many other programs and websites at RootsWeb. He found many mailing lists (http://lists.rootsweb.com/) that were archived -- archives that he could browse and search. He chose to browse (http://archiver.rootsweb.com/) since he didn't feel he had sufficient information as yet to know what to search. He hoped to find what others had written about their ancestors who shared his surnames. Discovering the message boards at RootsWeb (http://boards.rootsweb.com) Randy found another way to search for family information. While the boards were every-word searchable, they also could be searched by surname only. Searching on the surname only made sense to him because with the name of RENO it was also turning up in search results as a city rather than a surname. RootsWeb's WorldConnect (http://wc.rootsweb.com/) database of already constructed, user-contributed family trees made Randy's eyes pop out. There were millions and millions of names -- many of the trees tracing a specific family back to their country of origin. It was just what Randy was hoping to be able to do. Would he ever be in luck if he could find a connection between his own RENOs, RAMBOs, PHILLIPPI, and VANATTAs and those he found at WorldConnect. After interviewing his grandparents, Randy returns to RootsWeb to do more research and discovers some remarkable and unexpected details about his RENO, RAMBO, PHILLIPPI, and VANATTA ancestors and their origins. The results of his virtual adventures may surprise you, too. Next week: Unmasking Some Ancestors 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Judging Our Ancestors By Donna Smith Grass Several years ago when I visited Germany, I made a personal contact with a very distant cousin through a series of fortunate circumstances. As it turned out her husband was the bürgermeister of the village, and as such had the record books of that parish in their home. The husband, Karl FEIGE, volunteered to go through them to "dig out" all the records that pertained to my family and his wife's. The following items, from various parish records, were found pertaining to my ancestors and relatives. I thought others might find this interesting because of all the information it shows to be available -- if one happens on the right item. It also reveals a bit of the judgmental hostility on the part of the person originally making out the document, which today I find rather amusing. "On 21 January 1827, without proclamation because of carnal violations, fleshly desires and living together, but after they showed a marriage permission form of the highest ordinance gotten from Dukal, the high administrative office in Battenberg on 10 January of this year, and after getting permission of the parents (what a show of hypocrisy), were married in the church of Dexbach. Johannes Mankel, village citizen of Dexbach, born 1803, son of Johannes Mankel, municipal official and miller, is the legitimate son with Anna Katharina, born Mogk of Frohnhausen. Maria Elisabeth, was born 1801, legitimate daughter of Adam Schmidt with Anna Katharina, born Belz. The groom declares that these kids of the bride are the natural children by him: 1. Johannes born 5 day September 1823 2. Luise born 20 day April 1826 This additional writing is valid! Signed: Klingelhöfer, Priest Witnesses: Adam Schmidt the bride's father; Schoolteacher Michel, of here, who besides me the Priest, who performed the wedding ceremony, signed the protocol. Signatures: (of) Johannes Michel (schoolteacher as witness) Adam Schmidt Klingelhöfer, Priest" I am pleased to report that because of my inquiry about the family in Dexbach, Germany, and my visit there, my related bürgermeister decided to put all those parish records on the Internet while he was sorting them out for me. ======================== Advertisements ============================ LOW COST BRITISH RESEARCH SERVICE WITH FREE ASSESSMENTS Need some help with British research? Try British Ancestors, a British company with researchers throughout England and Scotland. 4,000+ clients worldwide have been helped since 1999 with prices starting from just $70 US. Researchers will search the records of your English and Scottish ancestors stored in archives throughout England and Scotland, most of which are unavailable on the Internet. For a FREE! no-obligation research assessment visit http://www.britishancestors.com/consultrwr/ * * * Enter to win a trip to your ancestral home land and research assistance from a professional genealogist from Ancestry.com and TNT. Watch INTO THE WEST, a 6-week television event from TNT -- Executive Producer Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Television. INTO THE WEST explores the struggles, triumphs and heartaches of two families as they journey in search of the American dream. See it every weekend -- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday -- starting Friday, June 10 8/7c on TNT. Click here: http://www.intothewest.com/ ====================== End Advertisements ============================== 3. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- MAILING LISTS. For an index to more than 29,100 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy mailing lists, visit http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS ATHEROLD, AUDEBERT, AVEYARD BAILLIO, BAILLIO, BODERY, BRAYEX COULSTON DEBOURDEAUX GRANNEMAN, GUZMAN HARMENSE, HUNKIN KREISHER, KRIEHN LAFONT, LOISELLE, LUFKIN MATKIN, MCCRIMMON NOBACH, NORGAARD PALLESEN, PENDROY, POISSOT ROBBERTS, RUDDOCKE TETREAULT VANDAL, VEEDER NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS NZ-OBITS -- Obituaries of those in or from New Zealand NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS ESTONIA -- Republic of Estonia 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 Welsh Interest Group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists' website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nzsgwig/ New Zealand nzsgwig -- New Zealand Society of Genealogists Welsh Interest Group U.S.A. altcdar -- Tohopeka Chapter (Alabama) DAR mndlgar -- Minnesota Dept Ladies of the Grand Army Republic ohfairf2 -- Fairfield (Ohio) County wamcgs -- Mason County (Washington) Genealogical Society Organizations' Abbreviation Key: DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution 5. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages -------------------------------------- Can your cousins find your website at RootsWeb? Has it ever been mentioned here or do you have a new, updated, or substantially revised website 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 CANADA. "The Heart of Simcoe County" is a database of all pioneer families of Oro, Medonte, and adjacent townships and communities, in Simcoe County, Ontario. The foundation for this database is the 1861 and 1871 censuses of Oro, Medonte, Vespra and Barrie. Integrated into this foundation is data extracted from subsequent censuses, local history books, marriage registrations (1869-1877), other vital statistics records, the Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register, and monumental transcriptions. http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=simcoe MUDGES AND MORE. A compilation of the descendants of several of Minnesota's early settlers. Surnames include CHASE, DUBOID, FITCH, MUDGE, RIVERS, and STIMART. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mudge2004/ 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. ITALY. Basilicata (region). Province of Potenza. Laurenzana. Marriages 1846-1850. 760 records. Moliterno. Marriages 1866-1910. 4,606 records; Nick Albano http://userdb.rootsweb.com/intl/ Sicily (region). Province of Palermo. Termini Imerese. Marriages 1885-1888. 1,642 records; Linda Neal http://userdb.rootsweb.com/intl/ U.S.A. Passenger Lists: Immigrants from Calabria, Italy; selected records, 1887-1924. 621 records; Susan Mason http://userdb.rootsweb.com/passenger/ VIRGINIA. Alexandria (Independent City). Episcopal High School of Virginia Class of 1923. 6 records; Paula Lucy Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ Tazewell County. Asberrys. Wesley Chapel Sunday School, 1916. 47 records; Paula Lucy Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/groups/ WEST VIRGINIA. Kanawha County. Foster Cemetery. 78 records; Greg Green http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rewards from Posting By Jean Adams I have read so much controversy about posting your genealogy on various websites that I finally had to respond to this issue. Yes, there is a risk of someone "stealing" your information. Yes, mine has been used by others without proper documentation [attribution]. I have offered to help these people with the incorrect information I had, with no response. There are ups and downs to everything. My genealogy is posted on RootsWeb, and because it is, two cousins on my father's side contacted me. I was unaware that anyone on my father's side was even alive. Cindy's mother is still alive, and told me my father's nickname was Jesse. She told me how my father lost his eye and sent me a photo of him. Cindy has gone to the cemetery and provided me with tombstone photos and so much family information. I am thankful to be in contact with her. Another cousin, Jenn, contacted me, stating that my aunt was her grandmother. I remember her father, mother and uncle fondly. I figured if anyone had family photos, it would be her grandmother who would have left them to her father. Her mother looked through their photos and sent me baby photos of my sister, my brother who died in childhood, and my parents taken before I was born. This was a gift worth so much to me. Is it worth posting your genealogy? You betcha. I have gained much more than I could ever lose. * * * Post-em Note Leads Back to Cemetery By Susan Daily I've published my tree to the Internet using RootsWeb's WorldConnect. I did this even though I know half of the data is in horrible shape. I've only recently begun thoroughly documenting all my facts, and this is a painstakingly slow process, since I didn't do it from day one. But because of my choice, I know I will have a safe haven for my excellent data, should a disaster strike my house or computer. I also know that while my data is out there, it could provide information for other researchers who will hopefully contact me, much as your fictional "Rose in the Thorns" researcher did. I did have someone post a note to the name of one of my ancestors. A published genealogy contradicted what I had entered which was that Samuel JAQUES died in 1774, not 1824 as the Post-em noted. An e-mail correspondence between the Post-em submitter and me resulted in my revisiting the cemetery to see if Samuel JAQUES was buried next to his mother, Lydia -- information I hadn't known. Lo and behold, I found a Lydia PEARSON buried next to Samuel, and this information proved to the submitter that my death date was more likely to be correct, and revealed to me that Lydia (PIKE) JAQUES had remarried. In the past, I had ignored the headstone of Lydia PEARSON, but now I had found the final resting place of another ancestor. How thrilling is that? Thanks to RootsWeb and World Connect, this was made possible. * * * Publish or Perish By Kelly Bowles This disagreement spans more than genealogy, such as auto repair, fishing, gardening, and just about anything else which humans do. Very few people have the resources and/or time to do everything perfectly. I am sure that many of the professional genealogists have areas in which they are not proficient. Should other people get "ticked off" because a professional genealogist isn't a gourmet chef? No. I personally know of one genealogist who had no children, spent 40-plus years on genealogy, and her work is setting in boxes unpublished. I am sure her case is not unique. Publish either by books or by websites or else the information you have gathered perishes with you. * * * Learning the Difference: My Sources Are Not Your Sources By Dorian Greenbaum in Massachusetts, USA I have read with interest the comments about sourcing information and lifting GEDCOMS wholesale from databases like WorldConnect. I completely agree that no one "owns" the facts about a person's birth, death or marriage, or even that certain events happened to them during their lives. But what no one has mentioned in the letters I have seen, which sometimes indignantly say that no one "owns the facts" is that often, when people download others' GEDCOMS and incorporate them into their files, they never go through the files to make sure that all they are copying are "facts." So you will see commentary on facts, written by the original provider of the GEDCOM, incorporated into someone else's tree as though they had written it themselves. This, in my opinion, is plagiarism, whether intentional or not, and it arises from laziness or disinclination to really go through the material in someone else's database before you merge and post it in your own. I have no problem with people using facts I have discovered, and I willingly share my sources with anyone who asks. But I do have a problem with people who incorporate my own commentary on my ancestors into their work, and do not acknowledge that it is my commentary, not theirs. I am very careful, when using the work of others, including their commentaries, to acknowledge that it is their commentary that I am quoting, not my own. This is simple courtesy and professionalism. Whether we are amateur genealogists or not, we should try to use professional standards in our work or, at the very least, list [cite] the sources for our "facts" so that other researchers can make up their own minds in weighing the evidence presented. * * * Death, Taxes and Memory Lapses By Joan Shurtliff According to the old adage, the only certain things in life are death and taxes. I would like to add occasional memory lapses to the list. Documentation seems like a pain at times. In addition to being a reminder for me, however, it is an aid and timesaver to others who might be interested in what I am doing now and long after I am gone. Documentation can also give the researcher insights into family members and help make connections. The archivist at the Adams County, Wisconsin Historical Society managed to get a hold of some letters my husband's grandfather wrote to a friend in Wisconsin and shared them with us. In one of the letters dated in the late 1920s, grandfather described an apartment house he owned in Minnesota. We have a number of old houses photos. Who doesn't? But not all were documented. The letter contained an address. On a trip to the area, I found the address and took a picture of the house. One of the pictures was from almost the same spot where one of our old house photos was taken. After almost 80 years the apartment house is still standing. The entire episode gave us a good deal of insight into grandfather -- from the letters, to the apartment house, to the buy and sell deeds for the apartment house. And an old photo was finally identified and documented. * * * Saying it with a Southern Accent By Estelle Corder While reading census in the Dallas, Texas Public Library, I came across the name "Shorelette." Finally I ask Lloyd Bockstruck (the librarian) what was this lady's name. He laughed and said, "You know old Shorelette." Then I realized that name was Charlotte, but in the American South someone pronounced [and spelled] it like most people did at that time. Every time I think of dear old "Shorelette" I laugh once again. * * * Making Mistakes By Alex Adams I use documentation where possible but would give the following warning. The official death records for one of my great-grandfathers and one of his brothers both give their stepmother's name instead of their birth mother. I have verified this from the relevant birth and marriage certificates. The informants in both cases were sons who were miners and may not have had any memory of their first granny. Documents can work but even they can be wrong -- remember that the information is from a human being and is not checked by the registrar. * * * Fishing for the Truth By Betty Durrenberger In "Some Strange Southern (USA) Customs," by Sue Brooks, she asks, "... why they said we couldn't have ice cream after eating fish?" I grew up in Texas, and it was milk (not ice cream) that you weren't supposed to drink when you had fish. Grannie Hillin was the one who used to say it, according to my mother. The families came here from Alabama in the early 1800s, before that, probably Scotland, England and Germany, with a little Cherokee mixed in. I'm hoping someone knows the genesis of this old wives' tale. * * * Incompatible Foods? By Fran Bolton Sue Brook's comments about being told as a child not to eat ice cream after having fish, in "Some Strange Southern Customs", led me to search for the reason. I grew up in Texas and was also taught this by my parents. As an adult, I had read this was an old wives' tale due to the fact that lack of refrigeration was likely to be the cause of people getting sick after eating certain foods, not simply the combination. However, one website does list milk and fish as "incompatible foods." * * * Milking the Story By Grant X This fish-and-milk problem also entered our home in the 1930s, in Fayette County. Pennsylvania. Neither my grandmother nor my mother would allow milk and fish on the same table, claiming we would be poisoned if they were consumed together. I always wondered why, but I was never offered an explanation. I was still wondering about it when I went into the Navy at 18 and saw milk and fish served on Friday. 8. Humor/Humour: Old Fabulists Never Stop --------------------------------------------------- Thanks to N. Schreckengost who claims he found this in an old German cemetery: "Here lies an awful liar, his tales were really trying Death did not reform him, here he is still lying" * * * 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. Ad Sales 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: 15 June 2005, Vol. 8, No. 24. * * * *