RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 2 August 2006, Vol. 9, No. 31 (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/ * * * ========================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1. 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: NEWS, NOTES, AND SOME SITES WORTH SEEING NEWS: Saskatchewan Homestead Index Soldier's Picture Finds a Home BOOK NOTES: Maine Records on CDs SITES: British Photos; Carte-de-Visite Photographs; Frisco Railroad; Hats; London Sights; Preserving and Protecting Photographs; Jackson County, Illinois Funeral Home 1b. Tips from Readers: Searching Error Produces Success 1c. Using RootsWeb: Utilize Virtual Sticky Notes 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Hanging Onto a Puzzle Piece 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: Appropriately Named for Job Unlocking the Files Y'all Speak Southern? Sifting Through Dirt in Land Records 7. Humor/Humour: Falling and Burying 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ======================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: NEWS, NOTES; SOME SITES WORTH SEEING NEWS: Saskatchewan Homestead Index Thanks to the Global Gazette, Canada's online family history magazine, (http://globalgazette.net/) we learn that the Saskatchewan Homestead Index is online. This is a file locator database to the homestead files at the Saskatchewan Archives. It contains 360,000 references to those men and women who, from 1872 to 1930, under the terms of the Dominion Lands Act, took part in the homestead process in the area now known as Saskatchewan. The Dominion Lands Act of 1872 and its amendments and regulations set policy for how the Department of the Interior was to administer the disposal of western and northern public lands and resources. Homestead land, grants to veterans of the South African War and World War One and the North West Métis Scrip Commissions were some of the programs that came under this Act. The names of those who were involved in these initial land transactions are included in the Saskatchewan Homestead Index. The database may be searched by name, by land location or by additional remarks. For example, about name changes or the name of the legal representative should the applicant have died. Special grants, such as the Métis scrip can also be identified by searching the remarks field. http://www.saskhomesteads.com/search.asp * * * Soldier's Picture Finds a Home Linda Wicksten's quest started with a portrait of an anonymous soldier, drawn by her late father-in-law years before. She vowed to identify him and present it to the soldier or his family. More than seven years and 17,000 e-mails later, the portrait now has a name to go with the face -- Cpl. Tom Roth of Kearney, Neb. -- and Wicksten plans to present the original artwork to Roth's widow, Wilma, in August. "I found him," Wicksten said. "It took me 7 1/2 years, but I found him." Read the full story in the 24 July Reno (Nevada) Gazette-Journal. http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060724/NEWS10/607240334/1002 The search began with s story that was published in "Somebody's Links Newsletter: Genealogical Treasures Found" (Vol. 4, No. 16, 1 June 2002) http://www.petuniapress.com/sl/20020601.txt and a message, with attached photographs, that was placed by Linda Wicksten on the Somebody's Links message board back in 2002. http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/message/rw/topics.researchresources.e-zines.somebodyslinks/4817 And you think your searches have been long and tedious. Hang in there! * * * BOOK NOTES: Maine Records on CDs Kennebunk and Kennebunkport CD 1. Births, Marriage Intentions, Marriages, and Deaths Prior to 1892. 2. Thompson's transcriptions of Baptism, Marriage, and Death records of the First Congregational Church of Kennebunk. ($19.95 postpaid to USA addresses) Wells CD 1. Births, Marriage Intentions, Marriages, and Deaths Prior to 1892 as recorded by the town clerks. 2. Lester Bragdon's transcriptions, which supplement and verify the town clerk's records. ($14.95 postpaid to USA addresses) Check or money order to: L. M. Yerkes, 37 Hummingbird Road, Acton, ME 04001-6629 * * * SOME SITES WORTH SEEING: BRITISH PHOTOS. The BBC.co.uk website has themed collections of family photo with stories. You can search the gallery by keyword. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/your_photos/ CARTE-DE-VISITE PHOTOGRAPHS. These small albumen prints mounted on cards 2.5 by 4 inches were popular and made for decades in countries around the world. They were relatively inexpensive, the format was an international standard, and they could be sent through the mail. http://www.photographymuseum.com/histsw.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/speak/cartesdevisite.html FRISCO RAILROAD. The Saint Louis-San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the Frisco, was a major employer in the mid-20th century. Its employee registration cards have been released and are searchable. They date from about 1940 forward for many years. They include the employee's name, address, occupation, birth date and place, race, sex, and names of parents (including the maiden name of the mother). The Employee Magazine (1902-1935) is also available in PDF and may contain valuable information about an ancestor or relative who worked for the Frisco. http://thelibrary.org/lochist/frisco/frisco.cfm HATS. You may be able to date some old photographs by studying the hats worn. A picture gallery of all kinds of hat styles is online. See "Hats in Art History" and "Hats by Category" (style) for fun and education. http://www.villagehatshop.com/hats_categories.html LONDON SIGHTS. London's libraries, museums, and archives possess a treasure house of modern and historic photographs of the city. The PhotoLondon website highlights and promotes these collections. The site also provides background information on photography in London. http://www.photolondon.org.uk/ PRESERVING AND PROTECTING PHOTOGRAPHS. Whether you're the caretaker of a treasured family album or a collector who has searched out the classics of photography, it is important to preserve and protect the images you value. American Museum of Photography provides information about what to do and what to avoid. http://www.photographymuseum.com/archival.html U.S.A. ILLINOIS. Pettett Funeral Home in Murphysboro, Jackson County, Illinois has added a genealogy section to its website that lists alphabetically the names of clients served at the Meyer, Denny, and Pettett funeral homes from 24 June 1929 to the present. The funeral home will accept e-mail requests for genealogical information on any of the deceased individuals listed. Specific instructions are on the website. http://pettettfuneralhome.com/our_facilities.html * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS: Searching Error Produces Success By Peter Dobson My search for my great-grandmother's parents began with the 1881 English census. Mary Anne LOWE was living with her widowed mother, Selina, both born and living in Hunslet, Yorkshire. The only other clue was her marriage where her father was named as William LOWE (dead). I searched all the records I could find, which should have given a result as I live locally and had access to all local records, but I had hit brick wall. Then a few years later I made a fortunate mistake when searching the English census on the Ancestry.com site. I put William LOWE in the first-name search and it came up with a William Lowe NIXON married to Selina with son, Alfred (4 months old) living in Hunslet in 1851. I then went to the registry office and got his birth certificate. This gave his father as William Lowe NIXON and mother as Selina LEACH. I then started to search for the marriage of these two and found them under the names William Lowe NICKSON and Selina LEECH. I also found that Mary Anne was born in County Durham when William was working there. * * * 1c. USING ROOTSWEB: Utilize Virtual Sticky Notes The average person does quite a bit of communicating through the use of sticky notes. You know -- those ubiquitous, usually yellow, notepads, which you can stick on the kitchen countertop, on your refrigerator door, on the dining room table, on the edges of your computer monitor, or inside a book as you make notes on what you have read or what pages you need to copy. Many people have a sticky note pad near the telephone so they can take a message for others. Sticky notes are also a way of recording informa- tion temporarily so that we can transmit it to someone else or so that we, ourselves, won't forget. RootsWeb's WorldConnect (http://wc.rootsweb.com/) and other databases throughout RootsWeb such as User-contributed Databases: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/regional.html and RootsWeb's SSDI http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ offer an option to attach a Post-em Note or User-Added Note. The notes are RootsWeb's equivalent of the sticky notes you use in your daily life. When you find an entry of interest in WorldConnect use a Post-em Note to introduce yourself to the database owner and let him (and the world) know how you are connected to the individual upon whose entry you are "sticking" your note. Also, use Post-em Notes to make a temporary notation of a correction or addition to a record in your own databases so that you will remember to make the correction or add the new information for your next updated GEDCOM. You may also incorporate corrections and additions offered by others via Post-em Notes to your database. RootsWeb's SSDI and User-contributed Databases offer the Post-em Note option so that you may attach notes to individuals you find in the database to whom you have a connection or for whom you have additional information you wish to share. You can even use a Post-em Note in the hope that others who find this record in a search will contact you. This can be an excellent means of establishing contact with lost or unknown family members. Here's how to go about adding a Post-em Note: While viewing a record you wish to annotate, click on the link that says -- ADD A NOTE or ADD POST- EM NOTE. The wording varies depending upon the type of database you are viewing. Create (make up) a password of your choice for your Post-em Note, type in your name and e-mail address where requested. Fill in the note you wish to post and click on PREVIEW or POST. (If you select PREVIEW first, don't forget to POST it). Creating your own password enables you (and only you) to return at a future date to edit or delete your Post-em Note with one exception -- WorldConnect submitters can remove Post-em Notes others have added to their files by using their database password. That's because World- Connect submitters have complete control over their files and anything that might be attached to them. You can use Password Central (http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/) to obtain a list of Post-em Notes that you have posted on SSDI and WorldConnect entries. Additionally, WorldConnect submitters can obtain a list of all Post-em Notes attached to their GEDCOMs by marking the WorldConnect box option under OTHER at the bottom of this page. You can also obtain a list of Post-em Notes you have added at the new RootsWeb registration site: http://myaccount.rootsweb.com/ Communicate with others -- make additions and corrections via the electronic version of the same sticky notes you use everyday at home. Post-em Notes and User-Added Notes offer this convenience at the click of your mouse. * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * ANCESTOR SEEKERS SIXTH SALT LAKE CITY RESEARCH TRIP -- THE IDEAL GENEALOGY VACATION! OCTOBER 22-27, 2006 Join others from throughout the USA and Canada for the ideal genealogy vacation. Spend a whole week at the Family History Library, accessing the world's largest collection of genealogical records with help and advice from accredited genealogist professionals. Opening social, theater trip, and sightseeing tours! "Thank you all for such a wonderful experience." (Marsha, Iowa) Call TOLL-FREE at 877-896-0974 (9-6 MST) or visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/rwr/ * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * 2. CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB: Hanging Onto a Puzzle Piece By Sherry Gorman in Garland, Texas, USA Doing research on my maiden name (McRIGHT) since the mid-1970s, I kept running across the same woman's name in various records. Since the surname I was researching was relatively uncommon, with just a couple of varied spellings (McWRIGHT, McCREIGHT, McCRIGHT) and the fact that she was in the same Texas vicinity (Rains and Wood counties) as my ancestors, I felt sure she was family, but just could not connect her. Every time I ran across a record for her I notated it and filed it away for the future chance of connecting it (her given name was also quite distinctive). About 10 years ago I posted some queries on various websites and waited for the responses. I got a few in the beginning, which led me to various new branches of my research. I had been researching three brothers, one who died young and not much was known and the other two who both married several times and had acquired various families of birth children, stepchildren and adopted children. One of the two living brothers had a niece and nephew living with him on a census record who were the children of the brother who had died young. Through my query postings and responses, I was able to connect with various members of these branches of the family. One day, about three years ago, I got a response to my query, asking if I had any informa- tion on their grandmother, who had died young, leaving two small girls who had been raised by an aunt and uncle of their stepfather. When she mentioned her grandmother's name, my radar alerted immediately. It was the same uncommon name as the woman I had been collecting records on for years -- assuming that she must be connected to my lineage. I placed a phone call to her immediately. I had to get answers. In the ensuing conversation, she mentioned her mother and aunt talking about an uncle -- their mother's brother. His name was the same as the name of the nephew listed on the census record of one of the two remaining brothers that I knew was in my line. It turned out that the name I had been running across was the oldest sister of the three children of the brother who had died young. She had married at about age 13 instead of going to live with her uncle, who had her younger brother and sister. This woman went on to have two children and died young, leaving the girls to be raised by a stepfather who did not want them, so he gave them to his sister, who also did not want them. The woman I was talking to on the phone told me that all they knew of their grandmother was what their mother and aunt could remember from being small girls, shuffled from relation to relation. They had no knowledge of their heritage. By the end of that first conversation, they had found their family and I had connected the puzzle pieces I had been collecting over the years. So many questions were answered for us both, but I was elated to be able to give this woman and her siblings information about their past. In the end they got more data than I did, but I received answers, too and gathering a new family was more important than who got the most. I sent them copies of my research after adding their additional material, along with copies of pictures. If you find a name that keeps coming up in the areas you are searching, make notes and keep them. Some day you might just find the spot that needs that missing piece of the puzzle. God bless the Internet! * * * 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 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/ GEORGIA. Berrien County. Nashville High. 1929 and 1930 graduates; 40 records; Becky Taylor http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ 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 HAGGERTY-LAVERTY-COSTELLO-JOYCE families with narratives and pictures of their trek during the early- to mid-19th century from counties Armagh, Donegal, and Mayo in Ireland to Canada and the USA. Also included are the collateral families of: ABBOTT, ABERNATHY, BOYLE, BROWN, CURTIS, DAY, DENNING, DIBLEE, DONOVAN, DOUARIN, DOWER, ELLIOT, FAHEY, FIORANI, GEB, GREY, GURNEY, HASKELL, HANSON, HIBERT, HODGES, KILEY, KELLY, LANGAN, LEE, LYNCH, McGUIRE, McKENNEY, McKINNON, MULLAHY, RUSH, ROURKE, SHARKEY, SMITH, SPENCER, and more. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ed1009/ MICHIGAN GENEALOGY. The homepage of Jolene Kelly Pillars. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jkpillars/genealogy.htm 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/~xxxxxx [accountname] AUSTRALIA ausefhs -- Esperance Family History Center SCOTLAND sctjhs -- Jedforest Historical Society U.S.A. azbvcdar -- Buckeye Valley (Arizona) Chapter DAR ilccghs -- Cass County Genealogical and Historical Society (Illinois) inusd -- State Society (Indiana) USD ksusd -- State Society (Kansas) USD mowhs -- Wildwood Historical Society (Missouri) pausd -- State Society (Pennsylvania) USD Key: DAR--Daughters of the American Revolution USD--National Society United States Daughters of 1812 * * * 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 29,800 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ No new mailing lists. 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Appropriately Named for Job By Bob Clark I have twice run into a certain human-resources recruiter with the surname BIGGERSTAFF. I first met him at a company that I was interviewing with, later he came to work for a different company where I was employed, and, of course, I remembered him by his appropriate name. * * * Unlocking the Files By Lora Pallatto In a recent newsletter Sherman Watkins noted that he was unable to get cooperation from the North Texas State Hospital regarding records about a relative. The appropriate county or the State of Texas ought to have records of who is buried at the North Texas State Hospital. Check the local library for cemetery listings (there might be a book of them there). And check the burial and/or death records for the city where the hospital is located. Everyone gets a death certificate, particularly if he or she was in state custody at the time of death. Also check the probate records for the appropriate county. If a person is committed to a hospital, it is a legal act and that will be recorded, either by the state or the county or the city or town where the person lived at the time of the commitment. If none of these helps, try the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Any newspaper reporter can assist you in figuring out how to file a request. You may have to pay for photocopying costs, but records of the state of Texas are public records -- and though you may be barred from seeing medical records, you ought to be able to access whatever records are public, which should include commitment papers and burial records. [Editor's note. The FOIA pertains to U.S. government records. However, each state has laws pertaining to access to its government records. A sample TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT request letter can be found at: http://www.foift.org/pialetter.html] * * * Y'all Speak Southern? By Ann Gleason Today I was looking for information about my 4th-great-grandmother's family. One of her brothers was a probate judge in Alabama. I found him on the 1860 census and it listed his occupation as LOGGER. I guess the census taker thought this sounded like LAWYER. Anyway, I got a chuckle out of it. * * * Sifting Through Dirt in Land Records By Lori McLeod Wilke http://www.geocities.com/dillysdillys/AngusMcLeodII.htm I remember vividly a trip to South Carolina with my family -- the memory includes standing on a bridge looking at the Mill Pond property where my father had spent his childhood summers. He was explaining to me that his grandfather had not owned this property but rented it after the Civil War. I asked about the land our family had owned and was told that it had gone out of the family when a McLEOD widow had left it to her second husband. Many years later I became interested in genealogy and was able to speak to those who researched before me. Interestingly, the story of the loss of our family land showed some bitterness and was still passed down through the years. Sensing this bitterness, I became curious about what the real situation had been, but for years was unable to learn the truth. Two years ago during my annual research trip to South Carolina I found several land deeds in which my great-great-grandmother was purchasing property. Not taking the time to read anything other than names and witnesses, I quickly made copies of these deeds for later reading. I was surprised to read later that on one of them that grandmother Harriet had purchased 110 acres at public auction in 1880 from the estate of Angus McLEOD, her brother-in-law who had died in 1864 during the War between the States. Also revealed was the fact that the sale was taking place due to an 1867 lawsuit that had been filed by the estate against the widow of Angus and her second husband. I had stumbled onto a record that could lead me to the truth of the family stories and why there was such bitterness. I had found the estate file for Angus during the previous years' research trip but had had no information about a lawsuit. It was a year later before I was able to return to South Carolina and search for the lawsuit. It had not been indexed or copied as had many other records, so finding it meant going through drawers of the actual documents that pertained to it. This in itself was exciting but when we found the case, we were over the moon. Returning home, I spent hours with a magnifying glass going over what remained of the lawsuit and to my delight I found the truth of that old family tale. Angus McLEOD and his wife, Eliza, lived on what is believed to have been the original homestead property of Alexander MacLEOD, our immigrant ancestor. Angus inherited that land upon his mother's death around 1835. He and Eliza lived as neighbors of his first cousin, Annie McLEOD and her husband Col. BOYKIN. As stated earlier, Angus had perished in the War between the States but, his first cousin, Annie, had also died during the war while her husband was a prisoner of the Yankees. Col. BOYKIN returned home after being pardoned to find his wife dead as well as his neighbor and cousin by marriage. Within six months of the end of the war, Eliza found that Angus' estate was bankrupt and the executor of the estate was forced to sell all of the land but that legally hers by dower law. [See dower rights: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/deathrec.htm] Other than the land and an empty house and outbuildings, she was destitute. She and Col. BOYKIN were married a few months later. During the insolvency proceedings, the land was divided one-third to Eliza and two-thirds to the executor who was to sell the land to pay off the debts of the estate. Col. BOYKIN purchased the two-thirds from the executor and absorbed it into his holdings. Unfortunately, the land that had been of high value before the war, of lesser value during it, was, after the war, sold for less than six cents an acre and did not cover the debts that were suddenly coming out of the woodwork. Within a few months, the executor filed the lawsuit to force the BOYKINs and others to pay their debts to the estate in order that he could pay off the other debtors. It was obvious from the records that he was forced to do so because his own assets were being attacked by the debtors of the McLEOD estate. Unfortunately, the decree which would have proven the claims of those who filed for payment from the estate was missing from the file, but the order for the sale of the dower lands of Eliza McLEOD BOYKIN after her death in 1880 was included -- hence the deed in which I found my great-great-grandmother purchasing Eliza's dower lands on the courthouse steps! Was my family's bitterness about the "loss" of the estate justified? The facts don't seem to bear out the bitterness they held against Col. BOYKIN. At the very least it is my belief, after learning all of this, that Col. BOYKIN married the destitute widow of his cousin by marriage and long-time neighbor and that he did so in kindness. I have learned the "rest of the story" told to me so many years ago that although more than 200 acres of the family land was "lost" to the second husband of a widowed McLEOD, it was not stolen by that husband through the apathy or ill-will of Angus McLEOD's wife. It was lost, as was many a Southern family's land, due to the aftermath of a cruel war and the effects it had on Southern finances. The house, the outbuildings and 100 acres of our original homestead, gone out of family hands in 1867 had returned to the family in 1880, and was held for another 15 years before finally being sold in 1895. 7. Humor/Humour: Falling and Burying --------------------------------- Thanks to Peter F. Wells who relates: While going through some New Hampshire death records, my eye fell on the given cause of death for one elderly man. The stated cause was "falling apart." [Editor's note: We can relate to that.] Thanks to Lois Hickey who reports: The name of our local funeral home is Berryman -- it was actually the name of the previous owner, but fits the job. * * * Found a "proper name for the job" or humorous sign, amusing entries in census, parish, church, etc. records? Send them to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com 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 and please include your full name and e-mail address in the text. * * * 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: 2 August 2006, Vol. 9, No. 31. * * * *