RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 25 October 2006, Vol. 9, No. 43 (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/ * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ARCHIVES: Current and previous editions: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2006/1025.txt http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ ========================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1. 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: NEWS, NOTES, AND SOME SITES WORTH SEEING NEWS: RootsWeb Newsroom Blog Opens BOOK NOTES: Australian CDs SITES: Minnesota's Iron Range Research Center 1b. Tips from Readers: Searching for Wives 1c. Finding My Southern Roots 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Finding My Southern Roots 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: Registering Great-grandpa--Finally 7. Humor/Humour: Birds on the Rooftop 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ======================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: NEWS, NOTES; SOME SITES WORTH SEEING NEWS: RootsWeb Newsroom Blog Opens The RootsWeb Newsroom blog enables the RootsWeb staff to tell you about new and upcoming tools, features, fixes and changes. However, we will continue to post maintenance announcements to the HelpDesk. This blog or online journal lets you comment on each article to tell us what you think of new features or changes. Comments must be on-topic and adhere to the Community Guidelines or they will be deleted. http://blogs.rootsweb.com/newsroom/ * * * BOOK NOTES: AUSTRALIA. CDs. Yea and Alexandra Regions of North East Victoria. Yea Cemetery. Burial Register and Headstone Inscriptions, 1860-Dec. 2005. Includes photographs of all headstones. (Double CD) Marysville Cemetery. Burial Register and Headstone Inscriptions 1868-Dec. 2005. Includes photographs of all headstones. Alexandra and Yea Anglican Baptisms. Baptisms for St. Luke's, (Yea) and St. John's (Alexandra), 1868-1930. St. Luke's Anglican Church (Yea), burial registers. 1926-2005 includes some burial for other denominations. Gold Mining Sites in the Kilmore-Alexandra-Yea regions. Includes maps and mine locations and gold produced. A comprehensive CD, which names hundreds of miners with registrars' reports and photos. Anglican Marriages within the districts and parishes of Alexandra and Yea, 1859-1949. Includes parish copy of marriage certificate (St. John's Alexandra, Christ Church Marysville, St. Paul's Eildon Weir, St. Paul's Kanumbra, St. Thomas Buxton, St. Albans Thornton, and St. Luke's Yea ) For prices (in Australian dollars) plus postage and handling costs contact Alan Thorley via e-mail at: alanthor@netlink.com.au * * * SOME SITES WORTH SEEING: IRRC (Iron Range Research Center in Minnesota) has an online index of about 1.5 million names. Minnesota focused, but has material several from Upper Midwest states also. http://www.ironrangeresearchcenter.org/ * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS: Searching for Wives By Charles E. Templer in Overland Park, Kansas, USA I noticed that someone gave you a good example of the FamilySearch.org index of the 1880 census being unreliable at times. The same is true of Ancestry.com's indexes and part of why I don't understand folks who want to rely on the indexes without looking at the original census record. The example I have is of wives being indexed but not their husbands. If I can't find a husband in the 1880 census I switch to search for the wife and will often find her and thus a link to the husband and the page of the census that I can look at and make my own transcription. Another item of interest in a recent RootsWeb Review was the one about having trouble finding a gravestone. Our TEMPLER Family has a similar story. One of my cousins was trying to locate our great-grandmother's grave in the cemetery in Garden City (Finney County) Kansas while on their way to Colorado for a vacation. After searching for quite a while, they were unable to locate it and decided to go on down the road. When they went to get into the car, they noticed their daughter had lost a shoe so they went back into the cemetery to find it. It was found -- on the gravestone of our great- grandmother! * * * 1c. USING ROOTSWEB: A Haunting We Will Go At this time of year in the U.S. when the neighborhood ghosts and goblins appear on doorsteps shouting "Trick or Treat" we tend to turn our thoughts to the supernatural--otherworldly spirits, haunted houses, scary tales and the like. You may be surprised to learn that your ancestors likely believed in the supernatural and quite possibly were superstitious. Many ethnic groups and regional communities passed along tales of supernatural happenings and superstitious practices from generation to generation. If your ancestors were among the Pennsylvania Dutch ethnic group they may have visited a Powwow doctor or believed in special healing powers. They may have placed hex signs on their barn walls to ward off evil spirits, and they may even have nailed a horse shoe above the entrance to their houses for good luck. The horse shoe had to face upward so that your luck would not run out. Other ethnic groups believed in the Evil Eye, special powers possessed by a seventh son of a seventh son, or supernatural powers passing to babies who were "born with a veil." Individuals were branded as "witches" and "warlocks" and spoken of in hushed tones and some even put on trial or burned at the stake as a result. As children many of us have been told stories passed along by older family members who may have wanted to impart their advice and family wisdom to the younger generation. Never eat fish and drink milk at the same time you may have been told or you may have heard that if you spill salt you must toss some of that salt over your left shoulder or you are sure to have bad luck. Breaking a mirror, of course, means seven years of bad luck. You can read about many of the superstitions and supernatural influences on the lives of your ancestors by searching and browsing RootsWeb mailing lists and message boards devoted to these topics. You can find folklore message boards here: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.folklore Folklore and witch-related mailing lists can be found here: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/WITCH-HUNTING.html http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/WITCH-TRIALS.html http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/FOLKLORE.html Searching or browsing these lists or boards, you can read about the Bell Witch, Headless Hannah, various and sundry haunted houses, prisons, cemeteries, battlefields, and even coal mines. Superstitions are explained that were passed down in the posters' families (and maybe yours as well). U.S. Civil War ghosts predominate in areas where battles were fought. Ghost stories surrounding murders and other events in history can also be found on the boards and in the list archives. Dreams and omens and their meanings as perceived by our ancestors are also discussed. You can read about the lady in the long black veil or about haunted castles of Scotland and elsewhere in Europe. Or maybe your interests lie in reading about ancestors who spoke from the grave or ancestors who helped their descendants find them. You can also read about strange unexpected phone calls that helped to solve research dilemmas. Were there otherworldly factors coming into play? You can read the stories and decide for yourself. Perhaps, you might have a story or two of your own to add to the discussion. If so, the Psychic-Roots list may be of interest. http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/PSYCHIC- ROOTS.html Whether you are merely looking to pass some time during the Halloween season reading a few scary stories or you are looking to gain a better understanding of how your ancestors felt about supernatural occurrences; the RootsWeb mailing list archives and message boards have many tricks and treats waiting for you to discover them. * * * * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * * * * 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, Holland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Italy. If you commission the work (there's no obligation to do that!) prices start from $55 (US). For a FREE! initial e-mail consultation visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/research/rwr/ For help in finding ancestors from England or Scotland request a FREE e-mail assessment from http://www.britishancestors.com/ or join us February 18-23 for our Seventh Salt Lake City Research Trip -- the ideal genealogy vacation! * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisement * * * * * * * * * * 2. CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB: Finding My Southern Roots By Katherine Heichler (Abadie) in Adell Wisconsin We grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and had heard from my parents that they met while my dad was in the Army just before World War II. I had also heard my dad lived in Chicago with his mother and father and was an only child. and that he had grown up with very few relatives. I could remember my father's mother coming to visit us while my dad was overseas during the war and I have pictures of her holding me and some others of her visits. I remember my parents going to her funeral as well as my dad's father's funeral in the early 1950s. During the past few years of my father's life, he began talking about being raised by his grandparents in Reserve [St. John the Baptist Parish] Louisiana. I was so amazed at hearing this. Every chance I had would ask him about this and why he had never told us before. He began telling me that his mother was one of 10 children. Asked him where they were and why we never met them. (I just thought they lived too far away.) He began telling me the most fascinating stories and giving me the names of all his aunts and uncles, who they married and names of their children. He told me of who is grandparents were and their families. Since we were raised most of our lives without grand- parents, aunts, uncles, or cousins, this was like a fairy tale. In 1996 my sister decided to have a party to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. For the occasion, she spent over a year working on my mother's family tree to give each one of us a copy. We couldn't wait to see it. It was about 10 pages. We eagerly read it. Later the question came up why there was nothing on our father's side. There were just the names of his mother and father and his grandparents on his mother's side. Again I just figured it was because mother's family was from Germany and Denmark and all had settled in the Milwaukee area and that dad's family was too far away. From this party on I was so hooked on genealogy. How could I not know more about my father and his family? Before long it was the only thing I could think of. Every year my husband and I go to Chicago in January to the gift show. So I told my husband I was going to the courthouse while we were there and get the death certificates of my father's mother and dad and begin with his help to put his family tree together. One of our older daughters and her husband were with us. It was bitter cold and very windy when we all walked about six blocks to the courthouse. I made out the paperwork, received the two death certificates and paid for them. I was so excited to have them finally. It was the day that changed my life forever. Suddenly while reading them, I began to feel faint! My husband and daughter came to me and asked me what was wrong. There, on both certificates among other information it stated: "Race -- Negro." My mind went blank and I was sure this was a mistake! How could this be? My father and family were white! My husband and my daughter took the papers and looked to see what was wrong with me. We all stood there saying nothing until finally they both put their arms around me and said "It really doesn't matter, it's OK -- it doesn't change anything." After arriving home in northern Wisconsin, I spent days just looking over these papers. Now I had a million questions and no one to ask. I began to think that if my father wanted me to know, he would have told me. I finally thought that if I needed to know, it was up to me to find out how this could be. Some friends told me about RootsWeb and Ancestry for my newfound genealogy adventure. I could not find anything. Then I came upon the Message Boards and I began putting all the information my father had given me on it. Since his mother was one of 10 children, I was sure these names would sooner or later be read by someone and they could then contact me. At the same time, my father was telling me more and more about the names, times and dates of the family he so clearly loved and meant so much to him. The more I asked, the more he told me. He had such fond memories of so many people that he had never talked about before. He knew the dates, places and names of his ancestors and I would always have a notebook with me. He was just beaming when I would write down everything he said. I began entering everything down on a newly purchased "Family Tree Maker" software One day as I was going out the door, he stopped me and said "my grandparents, who raised me when I was very young are buried at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Reserve." It was where they had all attended church. As time went on my father and I grew closer than ever. I began to understand how he lived and grew to love his family without ever knowing it. It was then that I thought maybe I could show him the death certificates of his parents and he could tell me how that could be. It took me forever to get the courage to ask him. We had become so close and I didn't want to hurt him. When I finally decided how to talk to him about what I found, I got a call that he had fallen, bumped his head and was having brain surgery. He never fully recovered and a month later on 19 December 1999 he passed away. We all got together on Christmas Eve and all I could think of was, "Why didn't I ask him about this sooner?" In the summer of 2000, I told my husband I was going to New Orleans to find my father's family -- just going to check into a hotel, pick up a phone book and call anyone with the names my father had given me. I was going to the library, courthouse and anywhere else I could to find them. My husband said he would go with me. My father's birthday was 19 November 1912. So I made all the arrangements to go and be there on his first birthday away from us. I put the tickets on my dresser and then continued to search the Message Boards. It was about July of 2000 when a young woman contacted me. She said she had read all my messages and was a good friend of one of the families I had mentioned. She said she was an attorney in Atlanta and her love was genealogy. She had been working on the genealogy of this family for over a year and a half and wanted to know if I wanted it. She also wanted to know if it was all right if the family called me. I was just ecstatic! She had all the genealogy of both of the grandparents who had raised my dad. She had it back to the late 1700s. One of my new cousins called one night and we talked for about three hours. I told her I had already purchased tickets for New Orleans and was planning to come. She was so excited. We wondered how and why this was happening now. She said we wouldn't have to look through the phone book now. We laughed and talked some more -- as though we had always known each other. She said she would pick us up at the train station and that we shouldn't worry about anything. She and her family would have a party in Reserve for us with as many of the family that could come that day. She said she would plan our week there for us. She later called back and said she was having a Mass said at St. Peter's in Reserve on my father's birthday and we would all go together. We arrived in New Orleans and my cousin was there waiting for us with open arms. We hugged for a long time. The feelings were overwhelming. I told her I felt like I was "coming home" even though I had never been there. She said I was. The next day we drove up river to Reserve where there was so many family members there we couldn't believe it. They were all outside to meet us. "Grandma" was out in front. "Grandma" was raised with my father on their grandparents' farm. They were raised like brother and sister although they were first cousins. She was 89 years old and in tears. I had bought her a bouquet of flowers and went to give them to her. With outstretched arms she came to me and said, "If ya'll accept us, we would love to have you." We hugged and cried for a long time. Then the party began. The food was unbelievable. Everyone had cooked this wonderful Creole food and got together for us. Most of them had brought their family albums along. We spent the day looking through albums and listening to the most wonderful family stories and memories. Through the week we visited cemeteries and more cousins. Everywhere we went they knew of Edward's daughter. He had written and called every one of them all of his life. I saw hundreds of pictures and on the back of everyone of them was who they were and the date -- in my father's handwriting! They told me that when he and his parents left to live in Chicago in the 1930s, you didn't tell anyone you were of Creole heritage. And that is why his family left his Creole family and began a new life. They told me of the placage relationship between the great-great-grandfather and his slave. Great-great-grandfather was a white plantation owner and had a wife and children. When his wife passed away he began a relationship with a mulatto slave he loved and they had 11 children together. My father's grandfather was one of these children. The same was true of my father's grandmother. The family only spoke French Creole when my father lived with them. When his family moved him north to Chicago, they had to send him back to Louisiana as he spoke no English. A few years later they came to get him again and he was put into a school where he learned English. I have gone back to Louisiana every year since then and always look so forward every year to "going home" and enjoying my wonderful Creole family that I have fallen so deeply in love with. Three years ago, a cousin in Chicago called me and said that someone on the Message Board is looking for you. Couldn't believe it! How wonderful I thought, here we go again, but I couldn't imagine having any more great-aunts, great-uncles or cousins. On the message board was a woman from Louisiana who had just discovered that her great-grandfather not only had her family but later had a Creole family, too. She was from one of the children of his wife. She wanted a descendant from either of the families to contact her. And so I did. We exchanged genealogy and family pictures. She was amazed at my father being white and his family too. She said they were Creole and how could this be? I said that I remember wondering the same thing but now I understood. We have written each other ever since. We have in fact become as close as sisters. Two years ago, having never met her, she asked me to come down to Lafayette, stay with her and attend a three day Cajun Festival. Now I don't fly however when a cousin calls but I never thought of it, just booked a ticket on the flight that would get me there on time and left. Had the most wonderful time with her and her husband and family for four days. This year, she flew up to Wisconsin for 10 days with a girlfriend and we had the time of our lives. She said she couldn't imagine having a better time anywhere else like it. She can't wait to come back next year and I can't wait to go to her place next fall for Cajun Fest once again. We have so much in common and are so much alike. We are planning a trip to go up the river road together and stop at all the courthouses and cemeteries on the way. (Both of our families started out in St. James Parish and then moved to St. John the Baptist Parish and then some went on to New Orleans.) Two years ago on Christmas Eve I received another e-mail. This one was the first I had ever heard from my father's paternal side. This side was my brick wall. She said she had read all of my postings and was sure we were family. She asked if I knew that my dad's family was Creole. I told her I knew and that it was not important -- the important thing was that she was family. She was delighted. So last year, my granddaughter and I flew to New Orleans to visit as much family as we could and were picked up at the airport by our newfound cousins once again. Our family there said they wanted us to spend as much time as we needed with our new cousins and they would be there for us when we had time to spend with them. They took us to visit more "new" cousins and took us to a cemetery that I would have never found on my own to visit the graves of my family. This was incredible. For the past seven years I have been searching for this side of my father's family and here we were together standing at the graves of my father's father's family. They took us to the old neighborhood and told us who lived in each house and how they were related. They had a letter from my dad, dated 1970 which they had always kept. They had written him here in Wisconsin asking him about the genealogy of his father's family and what he knew. I learned that even though my father had started a new family in Wisconsin, he was the family genealogist of all of his family in New Orleans and Louisiana. He had written them back with a four-page letter of some of the history of his father's family. In the letter he gave the names and dates that no one else knew. They gave me a copy of this letter. While I was there for this 10-day family reunion, the other cousins wanted to meet the new ones too. And then my cousin from Lafayette asked if she could come to New Orleans, stay with us and just be there to see how it was to meet with so many new cousins along with the cousins I had meet in recent years. Since she was a cousin and these were her cousins too. And so she did. It was truly the most fascinating, happy, unbelievable, historic event. There we were both white and Creole and all cousins meeting together to get to know each other. We all agreed that this was no small miracle. We were all sure that our ancestors had to have something to do with this huge family meeting. For me, I will never be the same person because of this all. It has made my life rich with blessings untold! Thank you so much for being there and especially for your Message Boards. * * * What's your story? 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/ ---------------------------------------------- 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. FLORIDA: Baker County; Florida births; 169 records; Bill Spalding for Florida Genealogical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/births/ GEORGIA. Berrien County. Nashville High graduates; 71 records; Becky Taylor http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MISSOURI. Jackson County. Deaths Kansas City Times, 12 July 1954; 36 records; Carrie White http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ NEW YORK. Erie County. The Buffalo Courier; 157 records; Don W. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ VIRGINIA. Halifax County. Alumni lists; 94 records; Paula Lucy Delosh 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 * * * If your genealogical or historical related site is located somewhere other than at RootsWeb.com, you can add the link here: http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/addlink.html * * * GEORGIA. Marietta National Cemetery. Here rest the remains of 10,172 officers and soldiers who died in defence of the Union 1861 to 1865. Photos of headstones at the graves. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gnut/mnc.html POWER. Central location for the POWER, POWERS, PAOR, POOR, POORE, and DE LA PAOR surname (and their variants) DNA and history project. Also includes a large quantity of PDF books and documents pertaining to these surnames. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dnapower/ U.S. MILITARY. 464th Bomb Group. General Order No. 3507; The Second Unit Citation of the 464th Bomb Group (H) of the 15th AAF 55th Bomb Wing that served in Italy during World War II. http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~gregkrenzelok/generalorder3507.h tml * * * 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] U.S.A. gahart3 -- Hart County (Georgia) iajdcdar -- Julien Dubuque (Iowa) Chapter DAR ilknoxce -- Knox County Cemeteries (Illinois) lafog -- Friends of Genealogy (Louisiana) ormwcduv -- Mary Walker (Oregon) Chapter DUVCW Key: DAR -- Daughters of the American Revolution DUVCW -- Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War * * * 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Registering Great-grandpa--Finally By Norma Vella in Australia Twenty years ago when I first started my family history my father's cousin (who is still alive at 93) told me great-grandma had bought the family to Australia as great-grandpa had died. So for many years I searched the shipping to find out when they came here though according to grandpa's death certificate he was eight years old when he came here. But I still could not find anything on them. In the end I just put it aside, then went on to my mother's family. One day I was looking at mixed records at the library amongst which were hospital records from Ballarat. As family came from around there I just looked for names I knew and lo and behold I found both great-grandma and great-grandpa had been in the hospital. The records told me when they were admitted and I realised that great-grandpa had died there. I quickly photocopied the page and went home. I had looked at the death records here but he was not on them, so I then rang the cemetery--yes, he was buried there. So I then decided to check shipping records again only using a different spelling that I had not used before. Instead of BECKHURST it was spelt BUCKHURST. At last I found them although it has taken nearly 20 years but you never know where you will get a clue. Great-grandpa death is now registered -- I took all of the hospital and cemetery records to the registry office and it registered his death -- 111 years later. * * * 7. Humor/Humour: Birds on the Rooftop ---------------------------------- Thanks to: Karyl Hubbard Many years ago as a young teen, I chuckled when I found an article mentioning that Mrs. Willis STORK had just become president of the local Planned Parenthood branch. That started a lifelong fascination with names -- especially the ones that fit the job and the ones that adults saddled their poor offspring with. * * * 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: 25 October 2006, Vol. 9, No. 43. * * * *