RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 16 August 2006, Vol. 9, No. 33 (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: Mailing Lists on the Move; Beginner's Workshop at FGS; Early California Population Project; and Finding Females BOOK NOTES: Early Families of Bradford, New Hampshire; The Fales Family: The First Ten Generations in America SITES: Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: American University Presses; Danish Genealogy; UK Censuses. 1b. Tips from Readers: Lexicon May Hold More Than Words WorldCat Best Thing Since Sliced Bread Assumptions: The Bane of Genealogists 1c. Using RootsWeb: Cleaning Out Old Family Trees 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: All DOLLed Up 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb: Moving Day for Lists 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: Wrong State; Wrong Name Stumbling BLOCKs in Iowa Turn Up in Washington Parle vous francais? Nein. Sprachen sie deutsch? Software for U.S. County Boundary Changes Another GOOD Name Crowns by Dr. MOLER BERRY Me Not on the Lone Prairie 7. Humor/Humour: Fine Pickle 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ======================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: NEWS, NOTES; SOME SITES WORTH SEEING NEWS: RootsWeb's mailing lists are moving to new system. See Section 5 below for details. * * * Family History Beginner’s Workshops in Boston Just getting started in family history or have a friend who wants to begin but doesn't know where to start? Join Ancestry.com and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) for the free "Starting Your Family Tree: A Beginner's Workshop," Saturday, 2 September, from 9 to 5 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Enjoy four great workshops taught by Loretto Szucs (co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy), Suzanne Russo Adams, Peter Drinkwater, and David Van Valkenburgh. Learn the basics of family history, including finding and using records, getting organized, and sharing your family history online. "Starting Your Family Tree" is part of the 2006 FGS annual conference, Admission to the beginner’s workshops and the exhibition hall is free. Pre-register online (and receive a gift) http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?1Q,M3,53832539-665d-4cce-90d0-7a966b9f033f or register at the door. * * * The Early California Population Project (ECPP) is a comprehensive database of the sacramental registers -- the baptismal, marriage, and death records -- from California's 21 missions. For the first time ever, scholars and the general public alike can access a database that delves into the historical records documenting the lives of some 110,000 Californians between 1769 and 1850, the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens announced recently. The database can withstand queries and sorts of more than 230 fields, which include general categories such as the names of the individuals as well as specific data such as ethnicity, cause of death, and military status. All Spanish spellings and abbreviations have been preserved, although field names are in English. For best results examine the "sample search" and "search tips" before you begin a search. http://www.huntington.org/ * * * Finding Females In areas whose legal systems derive from the English common law -- such as the United States, much of Canada, and the United Kingdom -- a name change usually does not require legal action, because a person can choose to be known by any name (except with intent to defraud) without taking any legal action. In many jurisdictions whose legal systems derive from the civil law -- such as France, Spain, the province of Quebec, and the state of Louisiana -- however, the default position is for a woman's "legal name" to remain the same throughout life. Women there who wish to change their names legally usually must apply to do so via the same formal procedure as any other citizen who wishes to change a name. When searching ship passenger lists, especially for your Italian, Dutch and French female ancestors, look under their maiden names. That's how they may be recorded even though they were married at the time. * * * BOOK NOTES: "Early Families of Bradford, New Hampshire," compiled by Sherry Gould and Kathy Beals, is a fully documented and indexed book. It is almost 600 pages and was published recently by the Bradford Historical Society. It is available in hardbound ($60) or softbound ($40) versions, Add $6 for shipping and handling. Order from Bradford Historical Society, P.O. Box 551, Bradford NH 03221. "The Fales Family: The First Ten Generations in America," is by John Thomas Fales. The book, published in 2005, represents 20 years research into the descendants of James FALES and Anne BROCK who were married in Dedham, Massachusetts 28 May 1655. This hardback contains 495 pages and lists more than 1,600 families -- all descended from this couple. While all 150 copies of the first printing have been sold, many genealogy libraries and historical societies have copies. Higginson Book Company of Salem, Massachusetts will be offering reprints. Contact the author via the Fales Family Association website: http://fales.org/ * * * SOME SITES WORTH SEEING: Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth: Each national page collates Internet links about the nation's military history in about 16 categories. The biography and regiments sections are of especial interest to genealogists. http://www.regiments.org/nations/ Looking for good books -- especially on American historical subjects that might pertain to your families? Don't neglect the American University Presses. http://aaupnet.org/membership/directory.html#list Danish Genealogy. For people who don't speak Danish http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ednkcen/danish_census_faq.html UK Censuses. Help with census of the United Kingdom http://www.rootsweb.com/~dnkcen/FAQ/uk-census.html * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS: Lexicon May Hold More Than Words By Lorene Frigaard in Anaconda, Montana For those of us who seek old family Bibles in hopes of finding notations made of births, deaths, marriages, etc., don't overlook your "old family dictionary." My mother, who had only an eighth grade education, was somewhat of a wordsmith and definitely was not one to have a Bible taking up space in her house -- but she did have an old dictionary wherein she noted, in the back of the book on a blank page, all the priceless family data that got me started on my genealogy journey. So, take a peek at those old outdated dictionaries you might be considering useless and ready for the trash bin. Not only are these old books an excellent resource for checking on words and definitions that may be omitted in present-day dictionaries, but they may hold the secret to your family's mysteries. * * * WorldCat: Best Thing Since Sliced Bread By Dale Talkington For the kind of FUN hobby work that I do, Google and the brand-new beta WorldCat have become my most important aids to research. Google is easily accessed, but WorldCat's locations of 1.3 billion items in 10,000 libraries around the world previously have been available only through institutional access. It's become available to the public here and now. It's FREE and simple to use. Just type in a book name or author and it shows which library holds that book. http://www.worldcat.org/ Try it -- you will like it! * * * Assumptions: The Bane of Genealogists By Bonnie Grimmius I'm in the process of proving lineage to my Civil War Grandfather to be submitted to the Indiana Genealogical Society. Three pieces of vital evidence are required for each person and death certificates in Iowa are $15 each, but I was willing to pay the price. My great-grandparents divorced in 1898 and they lived and died in separate counties. I assumed I knew where they lived as I have visited their gravesites and I assumed their deaths would be recorded in that county. I went to Benton County, where my grandmother is buried, and learned her death was not recorded there. So off to the Iowa County courthouse to acquire grandfather's, only to learn his death was not recorded there. Back home, I went to the census and learned they were both living in neighboring counties, rather than the county where they are buried. So, off to the other county courthouses only to learn that neither of their deaths had been recorded with the state! As disappointing as this was, it was a valuable learning experience for me as this clarified information my aunt has passed on regarding this family. * * * 1c. USING ROOTSWEB: Cleaning Out Old Family Trees How you delete a tree depends on where you uploaded the tree to begin with -- whether it was uploaded to RootsWeb's WorldConnect or Ancestry World Tree/Online Family Tree. There are three articles from past issues of the RootsWeb Review that explain in detail how to remove your trees no matter where you submitted them: A Time for Pruning: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/20040211.txt Clean Up Your Online Trees: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/20030101.txt Keeping Track of your Trees: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/20030820.txt * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * For a limited time, RootsWeb Review readers can now subscribe to Internet Genealogy for a special rate of $22 for one year -- a saving of $6 off the regular $28 rate. Visit http://internet-genealogy.com/ to subscribe today! Also, download a complete, FREE issue of Internet Genealogy! This issue is available only online. It contains the same great features and articles that you would find in our printed edition such as: German Research using the Internet; a case study on Madison Davis; City Directories online; Remarkable Research Resources; Forensic Genealogy and much more. Download this Extra Issue from: http://internet-genealogy.com/ * * * REQUEST A SEARCH FOR YOUR ANCESTORS AT THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY ANCESTOR SEEKERS researchers at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City will search this vast collection for your ancestors from the USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Italy. If you commission the work (there's no obligation to do that!) prices start from $52 (US). For a FREE! initial e-mail consultation visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/research/rwr/ Join us OCTOBER 23-27 for our Sixth Salt Lake City Research Trip -- the ideal genealogy vacation! Call TOLL-FREE at 877-896-0974 (9-6 MST) or visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/rwr/ * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * 2. CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB: All DOLLed Up By Pat Friedman Hartung My great-grandmother, Maria Josefa DOLL, arrived in New York with her father and mother and siblings in December 1860 from Baden aboard the Zurich. Of course, it was too late to appear on the 1860 U.S. census. On the 1880 census I was able to find her then married to Nicholas LUX and using the Americanized version of her name, Josephine. They were living in a town south of Buffalo, New York. And I found them again in the 1900 enumeration. My search continued for the 1870 census and any subsequent ones. Of course, there are no surviving records from the 1890 census, and since she died in 1922, I only had the 1870, 1910 and 1920 records to search. I know she lived in the same family homestead her entire married life, so why couldn't I find her? Sometimes you just have to search manually in each record until the name pops out at you. Thankfully the town was small. I finally found her on the 1920 census as head of household (after her husband passed away), listed as Josephine LEX. After many months of searching, I found her listed as Josephine DOLL on the 1870 census as a domestic servant, single, in the same town she would eventually live in as a married woman. But where was she in 1910 and 1920? I searched every record, line by line in the town where the family lived, but to no avail. Finally, after connecting with another DOLL researcher who turned out to be a descendant of Josephine's sister, I had a hunch. I began checking the Buffalo city records, using names of various family members who might be sharing housing. Bingo. There she was -- listed as Josephine LUSE and as head of household. This time she was caring for her ill daughter's children and several of her own adult children. My brick wall finally came down! She appears in the records as: 1860--ship record Maria Josefa DOLL 1870--census Josephine DOLL 1880--census Josephine LUX 1900--census Josephine LUX 1910--census Josephine LUSE 1920--census Josephine LEX It just goes to show you that they ARE out there -- you just have to decipher bad handwriting and think outside the box. * * * 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/ DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Washington. June 1920. Death records; 50 records; Paula Lucy Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ VIRGINIA. Arlington County. Arlington National Cemetery; selected burial entries; 38 records; Sharon Pulsipher and Allen Wheatley http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ WISCONSIN, Sheboygan County. Plymouth. Mission House College 1924 alumni list; 31 records; Alan Conroy 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 HANDLEY, HANLEY. A genealogy of Samuel HANDLEY, of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky and Edgar County, Illinois, and his descendants. Surnames include: MASSEY, CLAPP, RIPPLE, HYDEN, and CRAIG. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dkstaub/handley/index.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] ITALY itaccapo -- Caposele (town/city) itacmont -- Monte San Giacomo (town/city) itacvalv -- Valva (town/city) U.S.A. midcdar -- Dunes (Michigan) Chapter DAR mirthrs -- Richmond Township Historical Research Society (Michigan) nyascdar -- Anna Smith Strong (New York) Chapter DAR pawpcdar -- William Penn (Pennsylvania) Chapter DAR vagbcdar -- Great Bridge (Virginia) Chapter DAR vagreene -- Greene County (Virginia) Key: DAR -- Daughters of the American Revolution * * * 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 were created this week. MOVING DAY FOR LISTS The RootsWeb.com mailing lists are moving to a new list management system. However, all the lists won't be updated at once. It will take about two weeks to complete the process. Additional information about the update and a current schedule can be found at http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/migrate_sched.html How will it affect you? Your current subscription(s) will transfer automatically to the new system so there will be no need to re-subscribe to your list(s). However, because the sending and receiving of list e- mail will be handled by a new system, you may notice a few changes to your list(s). Digest subscribers will notice a small difference in the layout, volume and issue numbers of the list digests. The "-L" is being dropped from the "official" list name. This means the "from" address your mailing list e-mails come from will be different -- ListName@rootsweb.com vs. the current ListName-L@rootsweb.com. You may have to adjust your spam filters or put the new address on your "accept" list to prevent messages from being caught in your "junk" folders. The tools that list administrators use to manage their lists are changing also. If you are a list admin, you will be contacted in a separate e-mail with more details and a link to a tutorial. RootsWeb appreciates your patience during this transition and hopes that the mailing lists will continue to be a valuable tool in your genealogy research. 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wrong State; Wrong Name By Jim Hopper This find fits with your census stories and with the locations with the same-name stories. I have been able to find most of my family and my wife's family in the various census data but not her Uncle Earnest COOK and Aunt Ada (MOURER) COOK in 1920. My wife always said look in Worland, Wyoming but I didn't find them there. A few days ago I entered the uncle's name in a census search engine along with the census year 1920 for any state. Earnest COOK and Ada (MOURER) COOK were living in Worland, Lincoln County, Montana in 1920! I had previously looked for them by entering the name of her son from a previous marriage in the search engine. When I found them I saw why Donald RYAN had never shown up. He was shown as Donald COOK. * * * Stumbling BLOCKs in Iowa Turn Up in Washington By R. Kunce My BLOCH (later BLOCK) family was from Saurenhorn and Ziegelried, Schüpfen commune, Canton de Berne, Switzerland. Our line goes back to 1500s. when they start keeping records there. My grandfather and great-grandfather and their families came over to America in 1872. Their name was listed as BLOCK on the SS Atlantic ship log. When they came over they went to Scott County, Iowa before settling in Danville, Vermillion County, Illinois and some on to Richland County, Illinois. I had always wondered who was in Scott County, Iowa and why did they go there first? My father also said that my great-grandfather’s daughter Anne Marie BLOCH as came over 10 years before them to Scott County, Iowa and later married a Christopher BARCHE there -- a Civil War veteran -- then moved to Richland County, Illinois. This added to the mystery. Did she travel alone? And why did she go there? Surely friends or family were there. I found a lot of BLOCHs and BLOCKs in the Scott County, Iowa area, but no connection known. I also received some data from Switzerland that my great-grandfather’s Jacob BLOCH's nephew and two sisters also came to America. I learned from the Iowa census that this Jacob BLOCH, a Civil War veteran, was his nephew. He and his two sisters settled in Scott County, Iowa in the 1860s- 1870s. One sister -- Anne Marie BLOCH -- is still a mystery. Jacob and Anne Marie BLOCH were found in the 1870 census living with sister Anne Barbara BLOCH TIEMEYER and husband Henry TIEMEYER in Hickory County, Iowa with a daughter Lizzie. By 1880 Jacob BLOCH was in Wilton, Muscatine County, Iowa alone (never married). He died in January 1881. I found Henry TIEMEYER, now a widower, in 1880 Blue Grass, Scott County, Iowa. I was downhearted wondering what had happened to the three ladies -- Anne Marie, Anne Barbara, and Eliza TIEMEYER, the daughter) Jacob BLOCH hadn't married, so was this the end of that family's line? My Jacob BLOCK had gone to visit them around 1872. Had they all died before 1881? My heart got lighter when I found a Lizzie TIEMEYER, age 19 years, a servant, in the 1880 census of Davenport, Scott County, Iowa. She was alive! Then I found an Elizabeth TIEMEYER who had married a C. F. LUDKING on 11 February 1881. But there was nothing after that on C. F. Ludking and family. I thought I had lost that family for good. I decided to start looking for LUDKINGs in the past census in Iowa and found Charles F. and his siblings and parents in the same area of Iowa, than no more information there. Then as luck would have it, while doing a search in Ancestry.com for Charles’s father (being a odd name of Jochim LUDKING) I found him in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington State. There with him was "Lizzie!" What a great daughter-in-law Lizzie (or Eliza or Anne Elizabeth) TIEMEYER LUDKING was. Her husband Charles had died leaving her with two daughters -- Rosa and Millie. Elizabeth had remarried to a William LAFRENZ by 1910 and I found them living together in Spokane, Washington -- ex-father-in-law and all. I would have lost her trail at the remarriage because I would not have known where to look. But due to her love for her ex-father-in-law, I found her new surname and now have most of her family's data. I thought this was a streak of good luck and a miracle. * * * Parle vous francais? Nein. Sprachen sie deutsch? By Ernest Rysso in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA Your article on the names of a parish changing in Alsace-Lorraine, due to German or French influences should be taken a step further, as I can share with you what happened in our research. Algrange (now in France) was the parish of my great-grandparents. In the German civil records, their names were John Peter HORGER and his bride Catherine ESTES. In the French church records in the same village, their names were listed as Jean-Pierre HOLGER and Catherine OEGEST. We were able to assure a match by the listing of their first three children (John, Marie, and Elizabeth) born there before they immigrated to America. This hobby is certainly informative and interesting! * * * Software for U.S. County Boundary Changes By Dean Hettenbach Last week's RootsWeb Review contains several references to difficulties in locating records when borders change or are reorganized. I should like to mention a software program called AniMap, which shows outlines of counties in the states during their periods of growth from inception to final boundaries. Name changes of counties are also addressed. For a better description of this product, please check the website at http://www.rootsmagic.com/animap.htm I have found AniMap to be a helpful assist in locating U.S. records. * * * Another GOOD Name By Roy Hurlstone in Australia I had a pastor at my church whose name was GOODPASTOR. Talk about the right man for the job -- what about the right name! * * * Crowns by Dr. MOLER By Lois Volence in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania When I lived in South Dakota some years ago, my dentist's name was Dr. MOLER. A cousin in Minnesota goes to Dr. HURT when she needs medical care. And in the Reading area there is a florist called Groh FLOWERS and a veterinarian named Dr. OSTRICH * * * BERRY Me Not on the Lone Prairie By Jeanne Park A funeral home several miles from us is: Berry O. Waddy Funeral Home. Of course, that leads to: Berry O. Waddy Will bury yo' body! 7. Humor/Humour: Fine Pickle ------------------------------- Thanks to: By Kim Self Hughes While searching through death certificates at a local research facility, I ran across a DILL entry that caught my eye. DILL is not one of my direct lines, but there are a few who intermarried with my FARLEY line. The man's name was William D. DILL. His father was shown as Aaron DILL and his mother was Mary PICKLE. I'm sure that he was glad they didn't hyphenate his last name! * * * 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: 16 August 2006, Vol. 9, No. 33. * * * *