RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 27 December 2006, Vol. 9, No. 52 (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/2006/1227.txt http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ ========================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1. 1a. Editor's Desk: News and Some Sites Worth Seeing; Notes, News: Editor Retires Sites: Vintage New Year's Postcards; Historical Directories; Stones of Faith; German Life; USGenWeb FGS Project Book Notes: Dickson, Baker, and Irish Immigrants of the Emigrant Savings Bank 1b. Tips from Readers: Watching Out for Name Switchers Weighing the Genealogical Consequences 1c. Using RootsWeb: Being Successful in Genealogy 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: In a PECK of Trouble Old Newspaper Item Provides the Link Canada Breakthrough 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: No More Brickwalls (humor) Pudding, Pie and Custard, too! Put Your Thinking Caps On What I Wasn't Looking for This Time 7. Humor/Humour: Also a Dead-end 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ======================================================= IN THIS ISSUE: 1a. Editor's Desk: News, Notes; Some Sites Worth Seeing NEWS. Editor Retires This is my last RootsWeb Review as the editor. It seems like only yesterday the first e-zine rolled off the virtual press back on 17 June 1998. How the time flies when you are having fun. And, it has been fun. Thank you for your stories, the humor, the pats and even the pans. I'm riding off into the sunset of retirement where I plan to spend my time tracking down those elusive characters that belong in my family tree. Might have to do some major pruning, too. As the old year ends and the new one begins, let us resolve to be kind to each other. In the coming year we will meet many people who are new to genealogical research, new to RootsWeb, new to the Internet, or new to all. Patience and a kind word don't cost much, yet yield great dividends for the community and ourselves. And, you never know who might have that family Bible that will solve your genealogical conundrum. Happy new year to all and may 2007 be the year you find your ancestors and smash through or leap over those brick walls. * * * SOME SITES WORTH SEEING. Vintage New Year's Postcards http://www.twogatos.com/vintage/newyear/index.htm Historical Directories -- a digital library of local and trade directories for England and Wales from 1750 to 1919. http://www.historicaldirectories.org/ Stones of Faith: Pennsylvania Germans and Their Gravestones http://www.pagstones.com/pgs_stone_overview.page.html German Life: A bi-monthly magazine written for all interested in the diversity of German culture, past and present, and in the various ways that North America has been shaped by its German element. The magazine is dedicated to solid reporting on cultural, historical, social, and political events. http://www.germanlife.com/ In the current issue read an excerpt from "Victory at Yorktown -- Hessian Views of the Aftermath," by Robert A. Selig. http://www.germanlife.com/CurrentEditon/index.html Its archives contain generous samples of articles, many of them of interest to genealogists, such as "Family Research: German Surnames in Genealogy," by James M. Beidler. http://www.germanlife.com/Archives/2006/0606-01.html USGenWeb Family Group Sheet Project -- Search and submit http://www.rootsweb.com/~usfgs/ * * * BOOK NOTES: Dickson, Baker, and Irish Immigrants DESCENDANTS OF SIMON DICKSON. Claire F. Sullivan, Ph.D., has spent the past decade pulling together just about any significant information pertaining to the DICKSON family. The outcome is a hardbound volume containing more than 600 pages. A total of 959 family units and more than 6,000 descendents are identified with footnotes listed at the bottom of each page. The fact that there are 1,050 footnotes speaks well of the time-consuming research that has gone into the book. Documentation such as copies of wills, obituaries, maps, death certificates, photographs, etc., have been inserted among the various family descriptions making this a thorough description of the DICKSON family during the past 350 years. For additional information regarding the book or to purchase it, contact the author (cdsullivan_8@msn.com). BAKER. Descendants of William Baker, Jr. (d. 1702, Concord, Massachusetts). Years of BAKER family data are assembled for present and future researchers. Generic facts are first brought together, then English history is reviewed up to the 17th century setting the stage for William BAKER's 1660 removal to America. Each century thereafter is examined as the family migrates from Concord, Massachusetts to Littleton, to Phillipston, and on into the present. The hardcover book is fully indexed with 200 surnames and 200 BAKER forenames mentioned. Among the former are BURTON, COCHRAN, CONANT, COOLIDGE, CULLINGTON, DUTTON, FISKE, FRENCH, HADLEY, HAGER/HAGAR, JEFTS, JOHNSON, KNOWLTON, LADUKE/LeDUC, LOMBARD, SOLOMON, STUART, and WAITE. Its 500 pages include 23 illustrations, plus 16 special-interest appendices. Sources are given throughout. The price is $42, which includes $7 shipping and handling costs. Contact: SilasBaker@aol.com IRISH IMMIGRANTS. "The Irish Immigrants of the Emigrant Savings Bank" (volume 11) is a collection of data taken from the Emigrant Bank's ledgers ca 1850. This volume contains 5,000 depositors' names, along with any relatives they listed (more than 10,000 names). There is a index for the depositors as well as one for the relatives. All the indices are cross-indexed with any other accounts that may be connected to the depositor. There are photos of bank personnel, sample pages of the actual ledgers, and a wealth of personal family information. Many of the depositors couldn't sign their name, so the original ledgers (Test Books) were used to identify a depositor in case of a lost, stolen or damaged passbook. The bank would ask questions relating to that account. This is a limited edition with only 300 copies printed. More information listed at http://EISBirish.com/ * * * 1b. Tips from Readers: Watching Out for Name Switchers By Karen Isaacson in California, USA One of your readers mentioned a great-grandfather, who switched his middle and last names. Something else researchers should watch for are record keepers (either contemporary or subsequent indexers) who switch names, due either to confusion or to good intentions. I have an upmty-enth uncle whose name is West PAUL. But I find him recorded almost as often as Paul WEST. One of those would be boatloads easier to research, if only it had been left alone. * * * Weighing the Genealogical Consequences By Susan Hopkins in Urbana, Illinois, USA With more and more people using only cell phones and getting rid of land lines, these folks disappear from phone directories. A number of times I've looked up possible descendants of an ancestor by using obituaries to tell me where they might be and what their last names are. But if they disappear from directories and they are not actively looking for the data I have to share, I can't find them. So many times that "cousin," though very distant genealogically, has photos or other family records that can help break down a brick wall, or contribute pieces of a puzzle. There are other reasons not to get rid of your land line. Telephone lines carry their own power. In widespread power outages, such as have happened this winter already in Illinois and Washington state, or in other natural disasters, the phone lines may or may not be down as well, but you can be sure that your cell phone's battery is going to run out of juice with slim options for recharging. The power to the cell phone towers may well be out also. So, if you are considering dropping your land line completely, think about not only the consequences in disaster preparedness, but also the genealogical consequences. 1c. Using RootsWeb: Being Successful in Genealogy By Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG The greatest treasure of RootsWeb is its community -- the people who share their genealogical knowledge, expertise and information about their families. Success in compiling your family tree and learning more about your progenitors will come when you share your information. Give and you will get back a hundred-fold. Post and re-post messages on the appropriate surname and locality mailing lists and message boards. Don't be just a taker always asking for help or more information. Be a giver -- share those bits and pieces of information that you find. It may be just the tidbit or clue that someone else needs. Share your tree by uploading a GEDCOM to WorldConnect. Not perfect? Not complete? Don't worry about it. Do the best you can. You can update it continually. Besides, I think I shall never see a completed family tree. In your family tree -- off on some obscure (to you) branch -- may be my missing limb and vice versa. Keeping the information locked up in our computers or in paper files is foolish. We don't know what tomorrow holds but most of us never get around to publishing the complete history of our family. Working with cousins and "genie" friends to find, compile and check out information on your multi-branched tree will provide you with delectation and a pride of accomplishment. Don't waste your time and efforts pointing out errors and omissions you encounter or complaining about unimportant things, such as name spellings. Do the best you can with your own tree -- not all of us have the same research or compilation skills and we are all newbies at some point. Most of us do our best and continue to learn as we progress in this fascinating avocation. Continue to hone your skills so you can compile a family history that your descendants will be proud of -- make it much more than a laundry list of names, dates and begats. Remember we do not own our ancestors or the genealogical information about them. Facts can not be copyrighted by anyone, so relax and share with your cousins and don't whine if someone uses your information and neglects to credit you properly. Focus on your major genealogical goals for 2007, graciously share your data, and good luck with your research. * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * 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! * * * Have you thought about your health? We have. Join AARP Today. Join AARP today to belong to a network of 37 million people with the same interest at heart: getting the most out of life. Anyone over 50 can get all the great benefits of membership in AARP for only $12.50 a year. Plus, free membership for your spouse or partner! Some of our benefits include AARP The Magazine, access to AARP-sponsored insurance plans, access to the AARP Legal Assistance Network, opportunities to volunteer in your community, and much more. At AARP, we work on the issues that matter to you. Get the latest information on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, economic security and health care. Our goal is to deliver value to our members through information, advocacy and service. Click here to join AARP today! http://www.aarp.org/sk/membership.html?keycode=M5PAA9 * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: In a PECK of Trouble By Nina Northrop For years I have been searching for my Sally PECK -- so many PECKS! I even located "The PECK Pioneers," who research just PECKS, and report and write books about them, but they had no record of my Sally. I rejoined Ancestry.com this year as their $400-a-year subscription fee had come down and I discovered its "World Tree." I did not find my Sally under her name, but entered hers and her husband's name and there she was! I suspect that that PECK family did not deal with message boards, etc. as they already had their info clear back to Adam, with the help of the Latter-day Saints' records and the Bible, through English kings, French royalty and including Helen of Troy! Fun, if one doesn't take it too seriously. Another stumbling block on my Sally was that her grandfather, her father, and her brother were all Josephs and I learned that "Joseph PECK" went back even before that. So many years, so many hours, so many Josephs, and there she was! Lesson, don't give up! Thank you RootsWeb for the many times you have come through for me. * * * Old Newspaper Item Provides the Link By Charles Bibbins I am building a record of the BIBBINS family in the U.S. While I have been able to connect a substantial number of people to the "main" line, I still have quite a few unconnected branches. One of these was headed by Clinton BIBBINS (born 1866) who lived in Watertown, South Dakota. I recently worked my way through the old newspaper files in Ancestry.com looking for BIBBINS. In the social column of a Perry, Iowa paper I read that Clint BIBBINS from Watertown South Dakota was visiting his brother Matt (in Perry). Bingo! I knew where Matt (aka Madison) fit in so now Clint and his family are in the main line, too. * * * Canada Breakthrough By Darlene A. Petersen-Armstrong I was thrilled on my birthday in November to "find" my mother’s grandfather with both of his parents and a brother in Canada West, Oxford, Norwich census of 1851 -- newly online through Ancestry.com. I have used RootsWeb and subscribed to Ancestry for many years. The family I found in the Canadian census is one that has eluded me for more than 30 years. I had discovered through my great-grandfather’s death record that his father’s name was Alvin WARREN and mother was Sarah THOMAS. All three were recorded as born in New York state. They do not seem to be in New York in 1850. Merritt lists birth in Canada in 1880 census. By 1880 census Sarah is in Iowa as a widow living with son Marcellus (my great-grandfather). Marcellus' wife Nellie's half nephew, Curtis MUSSER, is in the household. Nearby in 1880, were two other families my mother thought were siblings of Marcellus, Merritt and possibly Merian, though she though his name was Delbert. The two brothers were born in Canada, but I had not found which province or county even though I wrote many queries. A couple of years ago I found that Merritt married a girl from New Brunswick, Annie M. CONNICK. This fit with my own grandfather’s name Merritt Connick WARREN. This led me to search the New Brunswick data for my WARREN family to no avail. Next door to Annie CONNICK WARREN is Hannah CONNICK LEACH’s family. I have written to other researchers with my good news. I am still trying to find someone who has access to later Canadian censuses. I think the family began to leave Canada by 1865, but I have only found Merritt in Iowa in 1870. * * * 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. ARKANSAS, Yell County. 1880 U.S. census; 327 records; Benjamin F. Pannell http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ INDIANA, Jefferson County. 1850 U.S. census; 510 records; B. Pannell http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ 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 ANCESTRAL IMAGES PAGE OF PATRICIA CRAIG JOHNSON. The major surnames are CRAIG, CARY, Van BUSKIRK, and WINDLE. Other surnames include: CASEY, SANFORD, THOMPSON, GOULDEN, FORREST, JENSEN, WICKHAM, McKELVEY, SMITH, EVELYN, SANKEY, FRIZZELL, JOHNSON and JOHNSTON. http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~patrician/ JERRY W. MURPHY'S HOMEPAGE: Many surnames and includes some Wayne County, Tennessee information also. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jwmurphy/ * * * 5. New at RootsWeb To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- No new webpages were created this week. * * * 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/ SURNAMES: Baumhardt, Buttner Cackler, Cuneio Dauler Hollon Jaskot Krynock Liddiard, Lincicome McGuinn, Muma Pulvermacher Rutley, Rutyna Schlecht, Shookman, Sowersby, Startt, Suda, Sudasch Vieten Walthour * * * 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No More Brickwalls (humor) By Alva L. Van Houten (Butchvh@aol.com) There are a lot of people who talk about their "brickwalls." That is the point where the usual research will not take a person back any further on a family line. It is really hard for me understand why someone would have such a thing as a brickwall. When I get to where I cannot go back any further on a line, I use a unique solution. I just make it up! When I make it up, I create my own sources to cite also. Why not? If you are going to use something that you do not know if it is good research, you might as well be making it up! I recently had a line that petered out in early 1800s New York state. I called on my special genealogical construction tool and extended this line the easy way. The next generation became Peter D. out Van Duzen and his wife Petrina (D. out Van Duzen). As sources I made up some Dutch Reformed Church Records and a probate of Peter's from Orange County, New York that was totally imaginary. See it is easy to do genealogy! I am also thinking about making up a Bible record to support these records and maybe extend the family still further by giving parents' names for Peter and Petrina. Then there is the case of my Hungarian grandfather. I spent years agonizing over not finding the town he was from in Hungary. Finally I decided to almost make it up. What I did was pick the name of a town in Hungary that I liked the sound of. I went into Catholic Church records for that town and found the male birthdate that was closest to the birthdate for my grandfather. I made him my grandfather in Hungary (see I do not always make it up) and researched this person's family as my grandfather's family. Who cares? No one will check this out in the original records and my grandfather changed his name in the U.S. anyway. By doing this I took my Hungarian lines back four generations and also found all the maternal lines. To those of you who shudder in horror at the preceding, is this any worse than using unsupported, unresearched materials that you have no idea of its accuracy? Heck no, and it is more fun. This way you can connect your lines to all sorts of famous and important persons. Using this genealogical tool I have connections to most of the royalty in Europe and the Holy Land. I have U.S. presidents, important soldiers, famous inventors and scientists, many Mayflower settlers and just about anyone you can think of is in my tree. If I have missed someone that I should have included, could you please e-mail me at myfamoustree@ioweu1.com? I really would like to make sure that I have included at least a sampling of all the possibilities of famous personages in my tree. Thank you. * * * Pudding, Pie and Custard, too! By Colin Ward My great-grandparents were Reuben and Sarah Ann BRISTOW (she formerly COSTER). My cousin and I have shared the work/expense over the years so it was she who applied for the birth certificate of one of our great- aunts, Louisa Jane BRISTOW who was born 1883 at Northolt, Middlesex, England. My cousin Barbara was most indignant when she received the "Copy Birth Certificate" and phoned the registrar to complain only to be told (correctly) that what was on the original could not be altered. It had probably never been noticed as in England lots of mothers buy the vastly cheaper abbreviated certificate. Sarah Ann BRISTOW would have had a very rural accent so when she said "she was formerly COSTER" the registrar wrote "formerly CUSTARD"! * * * Put Your Thinking Caps On By Linda Scott Many people who do family research on the Internet have become sloppy in regard to what they put into their files and records. Some are so consumed with finding that previous generation that they often throw common sense out the window. They do not take the time to "put on their thinking caps." The following is just one example that I ran across recently. As I was looking for the ancestry of a Daniel COLE, father of at least two children: Ruth Chase COLE and John COLE, I found many entries on WorldConnect that made absolutely no sense. Many had his date of birth as 1614 and his birthplace as Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts. Obviously this cannot be accurate, as that area was not colonized until after the Mayflower landed in November 1620. Continuing on I found that many of these same listings had Daniel COLE's father listed as Job or Jacob COLE with a birth year of 1605. This is totally impossible as he would have been only nine years old at the birth of Daniel. They also list Daniel's mother as Rebecca COLLIER with a birthdate of 10 Jan 1614/1615. How ludicrous that she would have become a mother before she was even one year old. It gets even more ridiculous when you go back even one more generation to find that some of these very same listings have Daniel's grandparents listed as James COLE, b. about 1584 and Rebecca COLLIER, b. 10 January 1614/1615. Yes, that's what they have, Job or Jacob COLE, b. 1605 was born to a woman (Rebecca COLLIER) who was not even born yet and then he married her while she was still an infant so that she could give birth to a son Daniel COLE before she was even a year old, in a place that was not even colonized yet. A lot of these entries list for their sources Ancestral File, LDS Church or FTW. I am sure that if these "researchers" had taken the time to think first, they would have realized that these sources could not possibly be accurate. There are many more examples just like this one. It is so very frustrating to see fellow researchers blindly accepting and perpetuating blatant errors, when they could so easily be stopped in their tracks if only we would "PUT ON OUR THINKING CAPS" first. Ask yourselves this simple question, "Does this information make sense?" If the answer is "NO," then stop right there; do not add it to your files. Now, I am not suggesting that just because information makes sense that it must be true. We still have the responsibility of verifying and proving that our information is accurate. Let's all work together to make genealogy even more fun for everyone rather than more frustrating. * * * What I Wasn't Looking for This Time By Judy Ragan in Simi Valley, California For more than 40 years I have been accumulating a lot of information about my ancestors. At one point my aunt asked me if I was ever going to publish what I had. This year I decided I would attempt to make a book of all her ancestors that I have found. It was very involved trying to print it to paper from my software without repeating any one person's information as I can take her back 11 generations. The many surnames were fresh in my mind when, one evening, I decided to take a break and do some Internet research. We had dispelled my husband's family story that he was descended from John Quincy ADAMS and was really descended from a brother of John Q's great-grandfather. I decided I'd like to get the exact lineage down on paper so I went on a search of Henry ADAMS, 1583-1646 -- my husband's ancestor. There were numerous websites that had information about him as his descendants include several presidents and well-known personalities and I happily searched several of them. One site was the 13 generations of U.S. Vice President, Dick CHENEY, and out of curiosity I entered the site. While I was scrolling down the generations (13 generations means over 1,000 grandparents) looking for Henry ADAMS' name I was jolted by the name SATTSWELL flashing by. Among the other grandparents listed in this 8th generation were EMERSONS, DAYS, MOSES PENGRY (not a common name), WEBSTER, FROE and CLEMENTS. All of these names were the ancestors I had been working with for the past week while doing my aunt's ancestral charts. It hit me like a brick wall -- my husband and I both descend from Henry ADAMS. The next day I happily spent a couple hours putting the lineages on paper so the descendancy can easily be seen. Not only did I find my husband's lineage to John Q. ADAMS, but I found something I would never have gone looking for. It just proves that you should always follow your curiosity because you never know where it will take you. * * * 7. Humor/Humour: Also a Dead-end --------------------------------- Thanks to: ReJwcewe who spotted this: When you first drive into a cemetery near Gardiner, Montana a big cemetery marker has the word WELCOME. * * * 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: 27 December 2006, Vol. 9, No. 52 * * * *