RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 4 January 2006, Vol. 9, No. 1 (c) 1998-2006 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ ROOTSWEB HELPDESK: Check here for announcements: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ * * * For best results, when contacting the RootsWeb HelpDesk, provide information about your computer (PC or Macintosh), its operating system (Windows 2000, XP, Mac OSX, etc.) and your Web browser and its version. If the question pertains to something you have found on a RootsWeb site, please include the URL [that's the Web address; starts with http://]. http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/form1.html * * * ============================================================ IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND/OR SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: SSDI Updated; Enhancements at RootsWeb Sites Worth Seeing: Library of Congress 1b. Tips from Readers: "I Don't Know What You Said, But I Know What I Heard" 1c. Using RootsWeb: "Setting Up That Shiny New Computer" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "We're All Ears!" 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Photographing Church Records" "Spreading Branches Sideways" "Perplexed Ancestors" "More Ways to Confuse Us" "Living for Centuries -- Vicariously" 7. Humor/Humour: "Relative Stew" 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =========================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND SOME SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: SSDI Updated; Enhancements at RootsWeb SSDI UPDATED. RootsWeb offers access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), which includes deaths records through November 2005. This free database contains several important bits of information on the more 76,409,059 persons whose deaths are on file with the U.S.'s Social Security Administration (SSA), including: social security number, date of issuance, state of issuance, date of birth, date of death, and last address of record. The SSDI is created from the SSA's Death Master File. It is a database of people whose deaths were reported to the SSA beginning about 1962. The SSA Death Master File and SSDI are used by leading U.S. government, financial, investigative, credit-reporting organization, medical research, and other industries to verify identity as well as to prevent fraud -- and to comply with the U.S. Patriot Act. http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson10.htm ENHANCEMENTS AT ROOTSWEB. WorldConnect trees now show christening dates (where provided).Example: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=REG&db=anniejanewilson&id=I1 Freepages have a fresh look with new headers and footers. http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~pasher/ * * * SOME SITES WORTH SEEING: Thanks to Mary Greene. The U.S. Library of Congress has a wonderful online exhibit of high- quality color photos from 1939-1943. Most are reproduced from slides. Someone out there may discover a new find in their searches. Although I didn't, it was fun looking through them. The link is: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/boundforglory/glory-exhibit.html * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS I Don't Know What You Said, But I Know What I Heard By James Pylant info@genealogymagazine.com Jim LaLone's "Speaking Same Language with Different Accents" in a recent RootsWeb Review about the young lady frustrated with Mr. LaLone's misunderstanding of "Jane Austin" as "Gino Stein," reminded me of a similar experience some years ago. While helping friends look for their ancestor's military records at the National Archives, I found the microfilm contained merely an image of one document -- the jacket for the military papers. No other information was given, only the soldier's name. We were obviously overlooking something, so I asked a staff member for help. I explained the problem, that the frame on the microfilm contained only the jacket with "JOHN GUERRANT" written across it. She looked confused, and asked me to repeat that again -- and again. She shook her head in disbelief. "You mean it actually read JUNGLE ROT?!" My friends covered their mouths to keep from laughing out loud. "No, no! J-O-H-N G-U-E-R-R-A-N-T," I explained. The lady buried her face in her hands, laughing so hard she nearly cried. Was it my accent or the staff member's hearing? I am not sure, but after that my friends and I nicknamed their ancestor "Jungle Rot." Gary Toms and I co-authored, "Surnames Sound a Challenge for Genealogists," which includes a lengthy list of surnames where the spelling does not necessarily match the pronunciation. An update of this list is in the works, and RootsWeb Review readers are invited to submit surnames that they've encountered where the sound differs from the spelling. See: http://www.genealogymagazine.com/surnames.html * * * 1c. USING ROOTSWEB: Setting Up That Shiny New Computer If we could peek inside many homes around the world today we'd see a lot of new computers freshly unwrapped from their packing cartons. Included are an array of new cable modems, wireless routers, DSL modems, and gift cards -- promising the bearer broadband access for the coming year. One of those homes is Debbie DENGLER's in California, USA. Today we find her poring over her "Broadband for Beginners" book and scratching her head -- trying to figure out what plugs into what and where to place all the new hardware on her computer desk. In addition to sorting out all the wires and setting up the wireless connections--Debbie is also trying to decide what to do about the resources she uses for her genealogical research online. She is now faced with updating her e-mail address on her numerous RootsWeb mailing list subscriptions and message board posts (not to mention the fact that she also serves as an administrator for a few lists and boards). She also has a website on RootsWeb's Freepages, two GEDCOMs on WorldConnect, a listing in the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL), a subscription to the RootsWeb Review, and several Post-em notes on others' WorldConnect trees. Debbie decides to tackle one item at a time and begins on the RootsWeb Homepage (http://www.rootsweb.com/) by clicking on the link under the HELP heading for address changes, which takes her to: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/addresses/ The instructions are pretty clear-cut for mailing lists. Send a new e- mail to LISTNAME-L-request@rootsweb.com from your old e-mail address (while it is still active, of course) to unsubscribe from each list. Substitute the actual list name for the generic word LISTNAME. If subscribed in Digest mode, send the request to LISTNAME-D- request@rootsweb.com instead. However, Debbie can't remember the names of all the lists, so she requests them from Password Central by clicking on the PASSWORDS tab at the top of any RootsWeb webpage. When her new e-mail address is active, she re-subscribes to lists, from the new address. She also updates her list administrator address for the lists she admins by clicking on the link for that purpose on her list tools pages and changing the admin address accordingly for each . The RootsWeb/Ancestry message boards work differently. Since Debbie has been a registered message board user (and admin) and has been using the same account and logging in each time she has posted on the boards, all she has to do to globally update her address (including updating her existing old posts on the boards) is to login and click on My Profile and update her address information there. Since Debbie uses this same account as admin for her boards, this will also accomplish updating her admin address for the Links & Announcements contact pages of her adminned boards. She uses the standard Links & Announcements pages and hasn't customized them, so they will update automatically when she updates My Profile. Debbie also updates her e-mail address at: --ROOTSWEB REVIEW SUBSCRIPTION: http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ --RSL: At http://rsl.rootsweb.com/ click on the link to "Add or Edit your Surnames." Click on "Edit existing researcher data, including e- mail address." --WORLDCONNECT and POST-EM NOTES. She obtains complete information from Password Central for her user accounts at WorldConnect and the Post-ems she's created while the old e-mail address is still able to receive mail. Then she accesses each one using the applicable usercodes and passwords. --FREEPAGES. Debbie edits her personal website to reflect her new e-mail address. She also sends an e-mail notice of the address change to: accounts@rootsweb.com. Debbie remembers that all the cookies will need to be reset on the new computer--cookies such as the one that lets her click on her user name and remembers her password to log-in as board admin. Happy that she has everything at RootsWeb updated and having satisfied her craving for a few remaining holiday cookies (of the non-virtual variety), she turns her attention back to the one remaining dangling cable in the DENGLER living room and decides it must not have been important anyway. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "We're All Ears!" Tell us how you made an online connection in 2005. Have you found a special cousin? A photograph of your great-grandparents? Solved a missing link that enabled you to take your roots back to Charlemagne? Did you leap over some brick walls or cleverly figure out where your grandmother was hiding in a census? Do tell! Dazzle us with your brilliant sleuthing or uncanny luck. We're all ears. Send your tales of genealogical adventure to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com ========================== Advertisement ============================ BOOK NOTES: LUCKY STARS AND GOLD BARS: ONE SOLDIER. FOUR HUNDRED LETTERS, by Karen Sladek. A historical look at World War II through the eyes of one soldier. The author is the daughter of the letter-writing GI, Lt. Lyle Sladek and the book provides a historical collection of letters, photos, and documents that not only recount the hard days of fighting and the long, lonely nights away from home, but they also helped to give the author a new glimpse into her father. Written with youthful energy and a deep patriotic commitment, Sladek's WWII letters were posted from 35 states, five continents, and three theaters of war to his parents back home on the South Dakota farm. Sladek's poignant correspondence presents a living history and tribute that honors the contributions of a nation and reveals the sacrifices of the "Greatest Generation." LUCKY STARS AND GOLD BARS (522 pages) is available for about $32.95 at http://www.luckystarsandgoldbars.com/ or through Amazon.com or your local bookseller. * * * GET HELP WITH YOUR BRITISH GENEALOGY British Ancestors, a British company with researchers throughout England and Scotland has helped more than 4,500 satisfied clients worldwide since 1999. 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. Friendly service, affordable prices and free research assessments. For a FREE, no-obligation research assessment, visit http://www.britishancestors.com/consultrw/ ====================== End Advertisement ============================== 3. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ---------------------------------------------- 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/ 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. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Washington. Alumni list for Washington College of Law, 1910; 15 records; Paula Lucy Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MASSACHUSETTS. Sias (surname) in Massachusetts Marriage Register Index, 1841-1910; 115 records; Phil Gauthier http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ NORTH CAROLINA. Bladen County. Abigail Guyton gravesite; 1 record; Shannon Walters Young http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ PENNSYLVANIA. Free Blacks in Pennsylvania, 1790 census; 455 records; Constance Cole http://userdb.rootsweb.com/colored/ 4. 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 (its Web address), along with a brief description, including the major pertinent surnames and what is available on your site, to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com ENGLISH AND IRISH NEWSPAPERS: Updated with 19 newspapers added, 1713-1833. Includes London (London Gazette, 1713 and 1728; St. James' Chronicle, 1775; Whitehall, 1747), Suffolk (Ipswich Journal, 1811), Wiltshire (Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette, 1833, Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 1782, 1819, 1827), Somerset (Bath Journal, 1773), Gloucester- shire (Bristol Journal, 1775), Ireland (Public Gazetteer, 1758, and Freeman's Journal, 1826) The webmaster, Richard HEATON's earliest Black Briton (John SWEET) appears in the 1713 London Gazette; Hans SLOANE appears in 1728 London Gazette, and there's a mention to John ROCQUE (Map-maker) in an advert in the Public Gazetteer for his brother-in-law Mr. SCALLE. The St. James' Chronicle mentions General GAGE at Boston in 1775 and finally Bunker Hill is mentioned briefly in the Bristol Journal in 1775. The index is accessed through the page below : http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dutillieul/index.html Use the Freefind search box to locate references Webpages, then use Ctrl-F to locate the precise reference (as most pages -- being complete newspapers -- take some time to read through). 5. New 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] U.S.A. canvigrc -- Northern Valley Indian Genealogical Resource Center (California) ilpchs -- Putnam County Historical Society (Illinois) kybell4 -- Bell County (Kentucky) kylksli3 -- Leslie County (Kentucky) kywhitl2 -- Whitley County (Kentucky) orotcdar -- Oregon Trail (Oregon) Chapter DAR vavssdac -- Virginia State Society DAC DAC--Daughters of the American Colonies DAR--Daughters of the American Revolution 6. 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Photographing Church Records By Valeria Nichols Thank you for another great year of newsletters. I would like to remind people that your church and many other groups have great records that most are willing to let you take digital snapshots of the older materials. Perhaps you could give them a CD of the information digitally preserved and hopefully they will allow you to post the information on RootsWeb. Be sure to take picture of the cover of the book title page, etc. * * * Spreading Branches Sideways By Mary Calderbank Happy New Year to everyone at RootsWeb.com and thanks for all your hard work, it is really appreciated. I was amazed to read in last week's RootsWeb Review that anyone might think they had completed their family history. I would be upset if I thought that there was nothing else to research. I must admit on my husband's direct line I have more or less gone back as far as possible, but I must be able to spread the branches sideways. Because I am very busy I don't spend as much time as I need to on the research and often only start again when a family member gives me a push, but on those days when I can't find inspiration to do anything else it is a wonderful way to spend a day. My only sad moment was when a distant relative in America died before I found the information that we had both been searching for, I would have loved to be able to tell her that I had found our Richard CALDERBANK born ca 1710 (actually in 1712). Still I expect she already had the info by then! * * * Perplexed Ancestors By Dave Ireton The item "Hiding Under a Middle Name" prompted me to write. I find that in the early 1900s in certain families, the middle name was the one that was used on a daily basis In my father's case, he wasn't certain which was his first name and which was his middle name, so he had documents listing his middle name as his first name and his first name as his second name. It was about the first generation when middle names had become commonplace for the ordinary people. Is it possible that when the surname was listed first, people felt that the first name should be listed last? * * * More Ways to Confuse Us By Danny O'Dea In my research I have discovered that, in my family at least, the person's middle name is most often their confirmation name even if they were given a middle name at baptism [christening]. My grandfather was baptised John COLIN but was known as JOHN A. as his confirmation name was Aloysius. His brother was baptised William McAllister, but went by William Augustine -- his confirmation name. * * * Living for Centuries -- Vicariously By J.P. Sherman I stopped to visit my elderly parents, who were still in good enough health to maintain their own home. My first order of business was to share my latest genealogy findings with my mother who always enjoyed listening to details of our family history. My nearly 90-year-old father, an unassuming man from the "old school," looked up from the game of solitaire he was playing and remarked to me, "Why do you bother with that genealogy stuff? Those people are all dead and gone." "Well," I replied, nodding to the cards he had laid out on the table before him, "it doesn't have all the intrinsic value of a good game of solitaire, but I like it. He thought for a moment and then said, "No, really, why do you bother with it? "I'll tell you why," I answered. "With all that you learn in the process -- the history, the greater perspective on life and all, it's like you get to live three hundred years -- but without all the aches and pains." My father reflected on my answer for a moment and then remarked (apparently satisfied with the reason given for my genealogical passion), "You know, I'll bet that would be interesting!" 7. Humor/Humour: Relative Stew --------------------------- Found a humorous sign or entry in census, parish, church, etc. records? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * Thanks to: Chuck King in Albers, Illinois, USA A long time ago I was telling my 10-year-old son about genealogy and showing him some of the obituaries of folks from our family. One entry said John King died of consumption. My son gasped and said, "You mean somebody ate him?" 8. 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: 4 January 2006, Vol. 9, No. 1. * * * *