RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 09 May 2007, Vol. 10, No. 19 (c) 1998-2007 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Having trouble reading this newsletter? The online version is available at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0509.txt * * * ROOTSWEB HELPDESK: Check here for site maintenance announcements: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ * * * ROOTSWEB NEWSROOM: Check here for the latest RootsWeb news: http://blogs.rootsweb.com/newsroom/ * * * ROOTSWEB STORE: Check here for the latest in genealogy books, software, photos, and more: http://www.therootswebstore.com/ * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ARCHIVES: Check here for previous editions: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes 1a. Watch Out for Fraud 1b. FAMILIA General Meeting: A Mexican-American Barrio History Symposium 1c. Book Notices (2) 1d. Using RootsWeb: Mother's Day at RootsWeb 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Breaking the Brick Wall 3. Bottomless Mailbag: Changing Your Address on the Mailing Lists Archival Quality CDs Cut Off without a Shilling Look-ups on the DAR Message Board 4. New at RootsWeb 4a. New User-contributed Databases 4b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals 4c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies 4d. New Mailing Lists 5. Humor/Humour 6. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes 1a. Watch Out for Fraud With your help, the mailing list and message board administrators on RootsWeb do a good job of catching spam and keeping it out of your RootsWeb communications. However, I recently received an e-mail from an individual who had been contacted off the boards and solicited for what she thought was an obvious scam. The potential scammer said that she was looking for a distant relative of someone who had recently passed away and left an inheritance that would go unclaimed unless she could find a relative. This is a common type of e-mail fraud; if the victim bites, the scam artist often asks to get personal account information in order to wire the victim the purported inheritance. Or the scammer sends a bogus check or money order and asks for a portion of money in return. By the time the victim and bank discover the first check was a fraud, the victim has already given away a significant portion of real money. Since fraud on the Internet is so commonplace nowadays, it is good to keep yourself educated on what fraud looks like and how to avoid it. I conducted a quick search on the Web and found a few helpful sites on avoiding and reporting fraud. Take a few minutes to browse through them: Too Good to Be True--United States This site is sponsored by the United States Postal Service, the FBI, and other U.S. organizations. It identifies common types of fraud, gives contact information for filing a complaint about fraud, and provides other helpful links. http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/index.aspx Reporting Economic Crime On-Line--Canada Sponsored by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, this site provides a centralized place for Canadians to report any fraud, traditional or Internet-based. Complaints are directed to the appropriate agencies. Links and articles on fraud education are also included. http://www.recol.ca/ Advice Guide--UK This PDF, authored by the Citizens Advice Bureau, identifies common Internet scams and provides useful links for keeping up-to-date on the latest scams, reporting abuses, and more. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/i_fraud_on_the_internet.pdf Also, if you see spam or something suspicious on a message board, please report it by clicking the "Report Abuse" link. If you see something suspicious on a mailing list, please notify the list administrator. 1b. FAMILIA General Meeting: A Mexican-American Barrio History Symposium FAMILIA, a research organization dedicated to discovering and preserving the history of Mexican-American and Mexican ancestors, is holding a symposium on 12 May 2007 at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, California. Various Mexican-American historical associations from throughout southern California will gather to address the need to collect and preserve Mexican-American local history. For more information call: (714) 687-0390 or e-mail: grajedam1@aol.com You can also visit the FAMILIA website at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cafara/index.html 1c. Book Notices (2) From the Banat to North Dakota--A History of the German-Hungarian Pioneers in Western North Dakota By David Dreyer Recently published by the North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, this volume recounts the chronicle of German-Hungarian home settlers in Stark, Hettinger, Morton and Dunn counties. The core of the book consists of first person accounts written by the original home settlers, and is supplemented by two diaries and the translations of selected articles from the local North Dakota German language newspapers. For more information, or to purchase the book for $19.95 plus shipping, go to the publisher's website at: http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/heiraas/ndirs/publications.htm * * * LICKISS Families and English Ancestors Researched, compiled, and edited by Mildred L. Henschel This book traces the LICKISS family lines and several related surnames from England. These surnames include BALL, BOLAND, BREWER, BULLARD, FOX, FRENCH, FROST, GATES, MELLEN, RIDDLESDALE, HANCOCK, MOORE, RICE, SMITH, SOUTHWORTH, TOWNE, WHALE, and WEBSTER. The book includes family pictures (some in color), records, obituaries, maps, and much more. It is 8.5 x 11 inches, 278 pages, has a laminated soft cover, is spiral bound, and includes an index. The price is $45.00 plus $3.50 shipping/handling. To place an order, contact: Mrs. Mildred L. Henschel 835 Valentine Dr. Dubuque IA 52003-0211 Milhenschel@yahoo.com 1d. Using RootsWeb: Mother's Day at RootsWeb By Mary Harrell-Sesniak Genealogy is all about our forbears, and who better to honor than our mothers. Many countries around the world will celebrate Mother's Day this month. In the United States, the origins of this holiday stem back to Anna Jarvis in 1908. As a child, Anna frequently heard her mother, Ann Marie (Reeves) Jarvis, dream about the need to establish a memorial for mothers. Mrs. Jarvis died on 9 May 1905, and on the first anniversary of her passing, her daughter began work towards fulfilling her mother's request. The first year, she reviewed her mother's accomplishments. The second year, a memorial service was held in her mother's honor, and on 10 May 1908 Anna helped establish the first official Mother's Day. The celebration was held in Taylor County, West Virginia, where the International Mother's Day Shrine was established in 1962. Taylor County has a delightful RootsWeb site where they have published the complete story of Mother's Day, including Jarvis family biographies, and information about the shrine and the carnation, the universal Mother's Day symbol. Please visit their site at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvtaylor/jarvis.htm Mother's Day is also about greeting cards, and "Cards by Maggie" is a RootsWeb-sponsored page that features electronic cards for holidays, including Mother's Day. Maggie, or Margaret Stewart-Zimmerman, knows her way around RootsWeb, and her homepage has links to her favorite genealogy sites, as well as an "About RootsWeb Resources" link. http://postcards.rootsweb.com/. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maggieoh/mindex.html If you want culinary ideas for Mother's Day, visit the Homespun-Country Kitchen page and look up their Mother's Day recipes. In addition to a Mother's Day recipe for breakfast in bed, there are a variety of yummy temptations such as Cappuccino Cakes, blueberry muffins, and a breakfast parfait. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~homespun/ http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~homespun/mdrecipes.html Another special RootsWeb site, "Mom's Library," is dedicated to just one mother, Rita Lace. It was formed many years ago as a result of the GenealogyChatFriends (GCF) group at Yahoo. GCF quickly became a popular genealogy group and now has a membership of more than 1,200. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gcf2000/ Rita Lace was one of the founders and her son, Kent, is webmaster. When I asked him whom to credit for the site, he proved to be modest and responded, "I would ask that you cite the entire club membership as opposed to a single individual or a group of individuals." He also asked that special recognition go to Marie, who is known as "marieclassof86" on the board. She was an early contributor and acts as a webmaster monitor. Keeping up a free website is no easy task. Kent struggles with the job, but is to be commended. The group has added a variety of wonderful items pertaining to genealogy. The Education page has lessons pertaining to website design, and the Topic Specific page features links pertaining to emigration, photography, Native American genealogy, and more. One of my favorites is the Terminology page. Not only can you learn about name etymology, land surveying, and United Kingdom genealogical terms, but there are links to outside pages as well. One link takes you to "Marie Beckman's Genealogy Homepage:" http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rmbeckman/ Some of her many projects feature early medical terms used in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, early occupations, and even tracing the Three Stooges through the census records. Now that is a way to make genealogy fun! http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rmbeckman/occupations.html The occupations listing proves that old terms have taken on whole new meanings. Duffers are no longer peddlers, hackers are no longer hoe makers, and websters are no longer loom operators. Some terms such as lavender (1) would be nice to revitalize, particularly when doing the household laundry. And as you start baking those tasty homespun-county kitchen recipes, perhaps you'll wonder if you have a baxter (2) in your ancestry. Now it's time for me to return to my keyboard to get on with my work as a bluestocking (3), but hopefully not as a scribbler (4). Happy Mother's Day to all RootsWeb Review mothers (regardless of when you celebrate it), and especially to my own mother, Meg Stevens. (1) - washerwomen; (2) - baker; (3) - female writer; (4) - worthless author * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * GET HELP WITH YOUR BRITISH GENEALOGY BRITISH ANCESTORS will search the records of your English and Scottish ancestors stored in archives throughout England and Scotland, most of which are unavailable on the Internet. Friendly service, affordable prices. For a no-obligation research assessment visit http://www.britishancestors.com/ For help from professional genealogists in finding ancestors from the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, or Europe visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/research/rwr/ Or join us June or October for our EIGHTH/NINTH SALT LAKE CITY RESEARCH TRIP--the ideal genealogy vacation! * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Breaking the Brick Wall By Jim Ver Heule Some three years ago, after working more than forty-five years on my family tree, I decided to write someone in my country of origin (the Netherlands) and ask for help. This was a big step for me as I was brought up to believe that time, (mine and anyone else's) is a valuable commodity; there usually isn't enough of it. I was told growing up not to bother people for things because they are busy. I carried this idea into my adult life and my search for my family. As a result I got almost nowhere in my attempts to make the leap across the Atlantic from Michigan to the Netherlands. One day I became so frustrated that I picked a name at random, someone who had helped dozens of others according to RootsWeb message boards, and sent him a query. I was not expecting a reply, at least not in the form that I received it. He not only identified my great-grandfather, but he corrected the spelling of my great-grandmother's maiden name. For close to fifty years I had been looking for a Maria Bier in the Netherlands when, in fact, her name was Maria de Heer. This kind man also sent me a copy of my great-grandfather's birth certificate. (In the Netherlands that is a necessity, as the recorded date is the date of the christening.) On my own, I have now found four generations of my family in the Netherlands. This is no easy feat when you consider that the majority of sites are still in Dutch. The good thing about tracing your origins to European countries is that they have birth, marriage, and death records that go back as far as the early 1600s. Granted, quite a few are not online yet, but they will be. Just keep checking back from month to month. Other records, such as census records, tax records, land ownership records, deeds, wills, and so forth go back another thousand years. So, listers, don't be afraid of offending someone--you may prevent fifty wasted years of what could have been valuable research. Ask for help, in a polite manner. Then, do what I have been doing: give back. Every month I go through the Netherlands message board looking for someone who sounds like he or she is in the same boat I was, and at the very least I give that person a list of sites to look through. Also, don't forget to immediately write your benefactor and thank him or her. It's only polite, and you owe a debt of gratitude to him or her. 3. 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.] ------------------------------------------------------------- Changing Your Address on the Mailing Lists By Judith Horton In response to your Editor's Desk article 2 May 2007, on posting updated e-mail addresses to the lists, I wished to tell my experience just this past week. I wasn't trying to change my address, but I wanted to make sure I had the most current address for someone that posted in about 1999. Fortunately, the genealogist's name was included in the original post, so I searched for messages by him using the new Archiver search engine. I was lucky enough to find messages posted in the past few months, with a completely different e-mail address attached. I have yet to hear from him, but kudos on the search engine that could help me with this. To read last week's article on posting updated e-mail addresses to the lists, visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0502.txt * * * Archival Quality CDs By Martin Prokop Knoxville, TN I recently read an article in "Popular Mechanics" about the problems with archiving data and just wanted to pass this on. My experience with CDs has not been good. I have had a CD-RW fail in two months time and CD-Rs in less than two years. This article refers to "archive quality" CD-Rs that are produced by Kodak and Memorex. They are unique in that they both use 24k gold rather than dyes as the main component. Supposedly they are to be "viable" for 300 years. They are expensive at $15.00 for a five pack, but worth every penny if they truly last. * * * Cut Off without a Shilling By Sandra J. Smith Your last Review contained an interesting article about reasons for a certain bequest in wills. Here in England one often finds in old wills that a child or children are given just a shilling, whereas younger siblings receive far greater amounts and a share of the personal estate. At first reading it would appear that parental displeasure was the cause for the miserly amount--and it is almost always a shilling. However, the truth is that the receivers of the shilling had already received their inheritance, but the parent wanted to ensure that these children were acknowledged as theirs. To be "cut off without a shilling" is/was a very common expression here in England and it reflects the shame of NOT being recognised as a child of the testator--the ultimate insult. To read the comments from last week's Bottomless Mailbag on reasons for receiving a scanty inheritance, visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0502.txt * * * Look-ups on the DAR Message Board By Glenda Thompson DAR Vice Chairperson, VIS Com. Patriot Index Project --Message Boards Do you think you might have an ancestor who served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-83)? Would you like to know whether your ancestor is listed with the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) in the "Patriot Index?" A helpful group of organized DAR VIS volunteers monitor the RootsWeb DAR message board every day and welcome look-up requests. The DAR message board was created specifically for this purpose, and volunteers have a certain day each month to answer any look-up requests posted. When posting, include your Revolutionary War-era ancestor's first and last name, spouse's name (if known), dates of birth and death, and state of residence. You need not be interested in joining the NSDAR to request a lookup. 4. New at RootsWeb 4a. 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. Genesee County. Batavia "Daily News," January- December 2006. 10,059 records. Leilani Spring. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ SOUTH DAKOTA. Butte County. Pineslope Cemetery, Belle Fourche. 4,868 records. Tri-State Genealogy Society, Belle Fourche, South Dakota. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ SOUTH DAKOTA. Butte County. St Paul's Catholic Cemetery, Belle Fourche. 557 records. Tri-State Genealogical Society, Belle Fourche, South Dakota. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ 4b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- 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, the title of the website, the name of the author, and a BRIEF description of the site, including major surnames, 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 * * * No New/Updated Freepages or Homepages by Individuals 4c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Some of these Web pages 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] * * * Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required. For example, the River Patriots (New York) Chapter DAR website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ nyrpcdar / * * * DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution U.S.A. caphm2--Pittsburg Historical Museum (California) iagsvg--Iowa Genealogical Society Veterans Group kymcceme--McCreary County (Kentucky) Cemeteries msarcdar--Amite River (Mississippi) Chapter DAR nyrpcdar--River Patriots (New York) Chapter DAR 4d. New Mailing Lists To 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/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BRITAIN HABENS NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS ITA-SICILY-CINISI -- The focus of this list is to share genealogy information with those that are researching Cinisi, Province of Palermo, in Sicily. NEW ETHNIC OR SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS No New Ethnic or Special Interest Mailing lists 5. Humor/Humour When checking the 1850 census for an ancestor, I, as usual, checked the neighbors for familiar names or occupations that would give me a clue to the neighborhood character. The household next to my ancestor had an eleven-year-old child, whose occupation was listed as "snake killer." --Anonymous * * * In the 1920s my grandfather bought two cemeteries across the street from each other in Seattle and put them together under the name of Evergreen Washelli. Since then four generations of our family have worked on the property. The earlier generations worked under the grounds superintendent, whose name was Mr. Graves, and the man in charge of the greenhouses, whose name was Mr. Greengrass. --Thanks to Lou Daly * * * 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. We also welcome other humorous genealogy-related submissionns. 6. 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: rootswebreview@email.rootsweb.com The RootsWeb Review is a free publication of The Generations Network, 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: Tami Deleeuw, tdeleeuw@tgn.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: 09 May 2007, Vol. 10, No. 19. * * * *