RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 29 November 2006, Vol. 9, No. 48 (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/2006/1129.txt http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ ========================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1. 1a. Editor's Desk: News and Some Sites Worth Seeing; Notes, News: Eureka! Digging for Gold Sites: Gold Rush Related Book Notes: Award-winning Family History 1b. Tips from Readers: Understanding England's Strange Burial Customs 1c. Using RootsWeb: Preventing Identity Theft Does Not Mean Hiding Your Ancestors 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Smashing Brick Walls on the Rock Passing the Italian Sauce What's Your Story? 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: Untangling the Rosas Baptizing Illegitimate Children Setting the Record Straight Echoes from World War II Interviewing Great-grandpa Checking Original Sources 7. Humor/Humour: Honesty in Reporting 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ======================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1a. Editor's Desk: News, Notes; Some Sites Worth Seeing NEWS. Eureka! Digging for Gold. Decade by decade new mining excitements promised opportunities to strike it rich in the U.S. -- in California in 1849, and then at Gold Hill, Colorado (then Nebraska Territory), 1859; Virginia City, Nevada Territory, 1860; Orofino, Idaho (then Oregon Territory) 1861; Virginia City, Montana [then Idaho Territory], 1863; Deadwood, South Dakota, [then Dakota Territory] 1876; Tombstone, Arizona [then Arizona Territory], 1877; Cripple Creek, Colorado, 1892; and Nome, Alaska Territory, 1899. These were places where our ancestors and relatives might have gone. Some of them made a fortune in a few weeks or months. However, many returned home broke -- or never returned at all. If you have ancestors or family members who just seemed to have disappeared particularly in the 1850s or 1860s. Have you considered the possibility that they went to find their fortune in the gold fields? Read Shirley Gage Hodges' article at: http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazsh/gazsh-0014.htm Many went to the gold fields of Australia in this time period. Learn more about the Australian Gold Rush at: http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/goldrush/ Can't find your ancestors in ca 1900? Look northward to Canada and Alaska. Your ancestors might have participated in the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada or have gone to Nome, Alaska Territory. * * * SOME SITES WORTH SEEING. Gold Rush! California's Untold Stories http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/ Gold Rush Sesquicentennial http://www.calgoldrush.com/series1_main.html Trails to the California Gold Rush http://www.over-land.com/trgold.html California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900 From the Library of Congress' American Memory Project http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbhome.html Early California History: An Overview From the Library of Congress' American Memory Project http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/cbhtml/cbintro.html Klondike Gold Rush http://www.touryukon.com/Goldrush.asp Canadian Heroes of the Klondike Gold Rush http://yukonalaska.com/klondike/byprovince.html Cyndi's List: Mining and Miners http://www.cyndislist.com/mining.htm * * * BOOK NOTES: Award-winning Family History The 2006 Donald Lines Jacobus Award has been presented to Richard H. Benson for "The Read Family of Salem, Massachusetts." This book is an excellent example of what the careful family historian can produce. It is scholarly, yet at the same time reader-friendly account of descendants of Thomas Read, who was at Salem in 1636, for five generations. It then continues with separate sections on two of the descendants and on two probably unrelated men named William Read/Reed. The Jacobus Award was established in 1972 to encourage sound scholarship in genealogical writing. It is presented to a model genealogical work published within the previous five years. The Fellows of the American Society of Genealogists (FASG) nominate books that have come to their attention, often through reviews in genealogical journals, and at their annual meeting each year choose one to recommend as a good example that potential authors might emulate. A list of books receiving the award in previous years appears on the ASG website, (http://www.fasg.org/). If you are planning to publish your own research, especially as a compiled genealogy or family history, study the format and content of several of these works. Published by the Newbury Street Press of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in 2005, "The Read Family" is 388 pages and is available for $40. To order see http://www.pictonpress.com/ which handles such sales for NEHGS. * * * 1b. Tips from Readers: Understanding England's Strange Burial Customs By John. R. Chapman (http://www.jaydax.co.uk/genlinks/) Over the years I've come across some strange burial register entries in England. Here's a selection "1608. Anne Brasse buryed at midnyght 26 June" "1618. Wm pillye wif was bur the 7 Nov at nyght butt wher I can not tell." "1639. Frances George buried the 11th September at night but by whome it is unknone." These entries, taken from the parish register of Stokesley, North Yorkshire, indicate that the corpse buried was probably a Roman Catholic and, as such, was not entitled to be buried in the churchyard. The burial service would have been conducted by the Roman Catholic priest by stealth at night. "1573. Tho. Maule fd hunge on a tree by ye wayeside after a druncken fitte April 3. Crowners Queste in churche porche April 5. Same nighte at midd nighte burried at ye nighest crosse roades wi a stake yn him, manie peopple frome Manesfeilde." This entry from the parish register of Pleasley, Derbyshire, shows the treatment given to suicides. They were not allowed to be buried in the churchyard. An inquest was held on the death in the church porch The use of the stake (reminiscent of vampires) and crossroads was to prevent the corpse from being taken over by an evil spirit, since it could not be buried on hallowed ground. "1659. Aug. 30. Humphrey Dakin, buried about 2 of the clock in the night, fearing an arrest." This one, from Alstonfield, Staffordhire parish register, records this unusual hour of burial since it was feared that the creditors of Dakin would seize his corpse and prevent his burial until their debts had been paid. There was no legal basis for this process but the practice was common. August 1-1680. Anne Harrison of Elwick in the parish of Hart was buried in the parish churchyard of Hart. August ye 8th 1680 Mary Harrison and Elizabeth Harrison of Elwick did duly make before ye worshipfull John Huthorpe Mayor of Hartlepool that the corpse of Ann Harison was at ye time of burial neither wound nor wrapt in any other material but in sheepes wool only According to a late Act of parliament This entry from Hart in the county of Durham reflects the 1678 an act passed making it compulsory for all corpses to be buried in a shroud made of wool only. This was to encourage the wool trade. An affidavit was to be made and recorded that this had been carried out. This was not a popular law since the poor could ill afford the shroud. Some corpses were buried wrapped in hay or sweet flowers which was felt an acceptable way for the poor to get around the act. Coffins incidentally were not used for burials until after 1797 by any other than the rich. The corpse would be transported to the graveside in a parish coffin and removed from it at the grave. * * * 1c. Using RootsWeb: Preventing Identity Theft Does Not Mean Hiding Your Ancestors Does your genealogical information on the Internet pose a security risk for the so-called identify theft problem? The simple answer is no. While we all need to be cautious about revealing too much personal information about ourselves and our living family members on the Internet (and elsewhere) the most common sources of identity theft are those we encounter in our daily lives. In a recent New York Times article by John Leland, it is noted that this crime often begins at home with more half of the victims revealing that the ID thief was a family member, a friend, a neighbor or an in- home employee. Some genealogists mistakenly believe that if thieves learn their birth date and their mother's maiden name it poses a risk. It does not. The ID thieves need such key pieces of information as your Social Security and driver's license numbers to obtain credit, merchandise and services in your name or to gain access to your bank account, credit accounts, utilities records and other sources of personal information. If you still use your mother's maiden name as a password at your bank or financial institution, change it. How do thieves get information? According to Identify Theft Resource Center (http://www.idthefcenter.org/) --They go through your trashcan, looking for straight cut or unshredded papers. --They steal your mail or your wallet. --They listen in on conversations you have in public. --They trick you into giving them the information over the telephone or by e-mail. --They buy the information either on the Internet or from someone who might have stolen it. --They steal it from a loan or credit application form you filled out or from the files at a hospital, bank, school or business that you deal with. --They may have obtained it from dumpsters outside of such companies. --They get it from your computer, especially those without firewalls. --In about half of the cases they are a friend or relative or someone who works for you who has access to your personal information. Be on the alert for unsolicited electronic mail messages in which your Social Security Number and other personal information are requested. Many report having received e-mail messages that appear to be from their ISP (Internet Service Provider), for example AOL, or from a U.S. government agency like the Internal Revenue Service. The message typically states that the company or agency is updating its records and that it needs certain information from you, such as Social Security number. NEVER respond to such messages. Even though they appear to be official, these messages and/or websites are a scam. No reputable company or government agency sends unsolicited e-mail messages to individuals in which sensitive personal data is sought in this manner. What about the SSDI (Social Security Death Index)? Social Security numbers are never re-used, so when a person dies, their number is no longer usable by living persons because it is attached to the deceased person. A major way of preventing identify fraud is by methodically running financial, credit, payment and other applications against the Social Security Administration's Death Master File (known commercially as the SSDI) -- thus the financial community, insurance companies, security firms and state and local governments are better able to identify and prevent identity fraud. Moreover, the USA Patriot Act requires an effort to verify the identity of customers, including procedures to verify customer identity and maintaining records of information used to do so. Learn more about how to protect yourself from identity theft at: U.S. Federal Trade Commission: Your National Resource for Identity Theft http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ Reducing the Risk of Identity Theft: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17-it.htm 8 Tips to Avoid Identify Theft http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/yourlife/Articles/a2004-01-28-8tips.html Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identify Theft http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm Recognizing phishing scams and fraudulent e-mails: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/email/phishing.mspx How Not to Get Hooked by a 'Phishing' Scam http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt127.htm Remember that ID thieves need more than your name, birthdate, e-mail address or your mother's maiden name to steal your identity. Your GEDCOM and other genealogical information about your deceased ancestors on the Internet do not pose a threat of identity theft. Thieves want your Social Security, credit card, and/or bank numbers to do their dastardly deeds -- not your family tree. * * * * * * * * * * 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: Smashing Brick Walls on the Rock By Hugh Buckle in Sydney, Australia For years I was unable to find my grandfather's place of birth. I had inherited from him a family tree with names and dates of his immediate family, including his date of birth, but in all my searches I could not find him in the St. Catherine's index (British births, deaths and marriages) nor in any of the Forces, Chaplains Returns or births at sea, nor in any British census around the time of his birth. A complete blank. I had found everyone else he mentioned, but not him. Family lore had it that he may have been born in Malta or Gibraltar as his father was in the Royal Engineers, but again no record online at all that I could find (I am doing my research from Australia). Then my wife and I took a bus tour of Europe finishing up with a week in a holiday resort on the Spanish Mediterranean coast near Malaga. Here was a chance to do some sleuthing in person. We took the local bus to Gibraltar and enquired at the terminus where we might find the Registry office. It turns out that it was in Secretary's Lane -- most appropriate -- and we duly fronted up at the counter. The office was small and gave the impression of handling only recent events. However, having come so far, we though we would at least give it a try. I explained to the kind lady what I was trying to find and asked where I might find such records. She just asked "What name and what date of birth?" then turned to a card file behind her, picked out a card and asked, "Is that him?" Well, you could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather. Here we were expecting the run around to lots of offices in Gibraltar and being told, "Sorry we are only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 and 12 and the gentleman who looks after ancient family records is on holiday until next week -- can you come back then?" She was so helpful. She organised someone to make out a copy of the birth certificate there and then. The typist was just about to go to lunch but stayed back just for us. It took me longer to find a bank to get the necessary fee in sterling or Gib pounds ("sorry we don't take Euros or credit cards!") than it did to prepare the certificate. We returned to the resort in triumph to share our luck with our traveling companions feeling on top of the world. A lesson to learn from this is that there may be a clue amongst your family stories, no matter how unlikely. If all else fails, listen to them and follow them up when you can. You never know what you might find. * * * Passing the Italian Sauce By Beth Shutts in Hamden, Connecticut, USA Recently at a family dinner, over meatballs and ravioli, we were discussing Joe DODD, the man who married Great-aunt Til. It suddenly dawned on me that DODD was not an Italian name. I've been searching for this couple in the 1930 census since the indexes became available. One more time I went to Ancestry.com and searched for Joseph DODD. I found a World War I draft registration card that was a possible match. Upon close inspection I saw that the surname DATO had been crossed out and DODD written in. Armed with this new information I was able to locate our Joe DODD in the 1920 census with his DATO family. I still haven't found him married to Aunt Til in 1930 though -- one small step at a time. * * * What's your story? Have you made a big breakthrough in 2006? Did you leap over some brick walls or cleverly figure out where your grandmother was hiding in a census? Do tell! Has some kind soul provided you with help or information about your family? Dazzle us with your brilliant sleuthing or uncanny luck. We're all ears. Send your tales of online genealogical adventure (short ones preferred) 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. NEW YORK. Erie County. The Buffalo Courier; (partial index); December 1891; 2,595 records; Don White http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ VIRGINIA. Spotsylvania County. Alumni lists; 15 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 * * * AUSMUS. Ausmus Family Pioneers -- from Germany to Tennessee. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~eda70/Index.html * * * 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] BOLIVIA Bolwgw -- Bolivia Research U.S.A. alcccdar -- Chief Colbert (Alabama) Chapter DAR kyscgs -- Scott County Genealogical Society (Kentucky) ortcdar -- Tualatin (Oregon) Chapter DAR Key: DAR--Daughters of the American Revolution * * * New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- For information and an index to the more than 30,000 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ No new mailing lists were created this past week. * * * 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Untangling the Rosas By Helen Shaw Robert Docker wrote on November 22 of his discovery in the 1910 census that his grandfather had been married twice, both times to a woman named Rosa. He also commented that records showed Grandpa and Rosa had had a child every year up to 1886 and then there was a pause. I would suggest that this may be when Rosa #1 died and Rosa #2 appeared. A check of the 1900 and 1910 census columns noting the number of children a woman had had and the number of children still living may reveal more information about the two Rosas. Also the columns on how long the couple had been married. This latter information can be combined with the ages of the children in the household to determine which were children of the wife. * * * Baptizing Illegitimate Children By John Van Essen in Fridley, Minnesota, USA Home page: http://www.tc.umn.edu/~vanes002/ In last week's RootsWeb Review, Robert Docker wrote, "Catholic church rules were and are, no baptism without proof of marriage." He is mistaken. Perhaps there were individual priests or parishes with such a mean-spirited, misguided rule, but "illegitimate" children were, indeed, baptized. After all, it's not their fault! My grandmother was such a child. Her 1897 baptismal record, in Latin, referred to her as "filia illegitima" and her mother had to name the "patria putativo." This was very fortunate, genealogically, since her mother (and members of her family) never revealed to my grandmother the identity of her biological father. * * * Setting the Record Straight By Sister Maureen J. Chicoine In item posted in latest newsletter Robert Docker states that the Catholic church required and still requires a marriage record for parents in order to baptize a child. This is incorrect (I work in a Catholic church). While I can't answer for requirements in the 18th and 19th centuries I have see many records of children in that period who were baptized without benefit of marriage of their parents during my own research. (they sometimes are in the register under mother's last name or under unknown or illegitimate) But I can say that right now, it is NOT a church requirement that the parents marry before their child is baptized. Individual priests may certainly encourage the marriage since they want to be assured the child will get a religious upbringing but canon (church) law does not require it. * * * Echoes from World War II By Charlie Brown in Hendersonville, North Carolina It began with a "Letter to the Editor" in the Hendersonville Times- News 3 September 2006, headlined, "Son of Soldier Seeking Family." The letter described the search for his father by an Englishman born in 1945 to an American GI and his English wife. The letter told of their marriage and her mother's efforts to destroy the union, intercepting the letters between the two after he was sent to Europe after D-Day. The young man grew up not knowing his true father and only a letter from the father to his aunt, which he obtained after her death, gave him the first clues to his heritage. Since the letter to our paper gave some additional information, and a plea for help, I decided that a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness would let me do a bit of exploration on local sources. Dr. Thompson, who had asked for local support, said that their information was that the father was from the Hendersonville area. Several telephone calls and a visit to our local genealogical and historical society determined that no one of the proper name had lived or had died in western North Carolina. My first report to Dr. Thompson suggested that, since I was not being too successful here, that he try to get a copy of the individual's birth certificate, or a marriage license, or similar documentation. His e-mail back to me provided the clue that broke down that brick wall. The marriage certificate for the soldier and his English wife gave his name (different from that originally stated in the letter) and his home address in Greensboro, North Carolina -- some distance from Hendersonville. Armed with this information, I tested the Internet with the new name and the names of his parents. BINGO! The databases at Ancestry.com gave me his death record (1980), his birth record (1914), his military draft record, his parents' death information, and several confirming census records. It also, unfortunately, revealed an existing marriage, and a son, born around the time he was drafted into the Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As a further check, the Henderson County Library obtained for me the microfilms of the Greensboro News for 1980 and in less than half an hour, I found the father's obituary, which listed names of wife, children (including the one born in 1942) and siblings' names and residences. As a sometime student of history, who was of an inquisitive age in the 1940s, I can't think that this story is unique (I am sure more than one child was born in Europe during World War II and its aftermath as they say, "on the wrong side of the blanket." My own family line goes back many generations to an illegitimate daughter of an English king. What the Englishman decides to do with this information is up to him -- my interest has been in the pursuit of knowledge and helping someone settle some long-worrying issues. * * * Interviewing Great-grandpa By Mary Downing Mahan This year I found an interview that was published in the Pike County, Ohio newspaper, The Waverly News, in 1870. The paper did old-timers interviews. How thrilled I was to find an interview of my 4th-great- grandpa, Benjamin LEWIS (1800-1873). It was seven pages long. It was like he came up out of the grave and talked with me. * * * Checking Original Sources By Graham Hoddinott in the UK Patricia Lovell's letter "A DICKENS of a Search" in last week's newsletter pointing out inaccuracies in the IGI, reminded me of my own experience 25 years ago when researching the HELCKE family (of Birmingham, England and the Channel Islands). Looking in the LDS (Mormon) CFI (Computer File Index) I found entries for Catherina HELCKE, Elizabeth HELCKE and Maria HELCKE -- all baptised at Coleshill, Warwickshire on 29 February 1776. Several months later I was able to examine the original baptismal register only to find Maria Catherina Elizabeth HELCKE, the daughter of Caspar and Mary HELCKE -- just the one child. There could be no doubt that only a single child was involved, since in the burials register the burial of Mary Catherina Elizabeth HELCKE, aged 2 years, appeared on 12 March 1778. * * * 7. Humor/Humour: Honesty in Reporting -------------------------------------- Thanks to: Karen Pritchett, who writes: While trolling through the Michigan death index for the late 1800s, I found the following record: Name: Thomas BRITTON Date of death: 22-Dec-1884 Place of death: Detroit Sex: Male Race: White Marital Status: Single Age: 31 Cause of Death: Shot Birthplace: New York Occupation: CROOK (yes, it was all in caps in the record) Parents were unknown. * * * And, thanks to: Sharon Fowler who discovered the young can be old and vice versa. In the 1850 census for District 12, Callaway County, Missouri, are the following entries: Household 77/77: Benjamin YOUNG, age 61 Household 78/78: Benjamin OLD, age 37 * * * Found a funny or "proper name for the job" in old records or an amusing entry 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. 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: 29 November 2006, Vol. 9, No. 48. * * * *