RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 11 July 2007, Vol. 10, No. 28 (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/2007/0711.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. Looking for a Genealogy Blog? 1b. TinyUrl.com 1c. Book Notice (1) 2. Using RootsWeb: Volunteering to Administer a List or Board 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: I Thought I Had a Brother 4. Bottomless Mailbag: A Visitation from God Effective Queries for Newbies Native American Research Receives a Boost 5. New at RootsWeb 5a. New User-contributed Databases 5b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals 5c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies 5d. New Mailing Lists 6. Humor/Humour 7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes 1a. Looking for a Genealogy Blog? Try the Genealogy Blog Finder. Are you familiar with blogs? Blogs (short for web logs) are websites where individuals or organizations provide ongoing commentary about topics like politics, local news, or, yes, genealogy. If you are looking for a good genealogy blog to keep you informed of all the latest genealogy news, try the Genealogy Blog Finder. It lists hundreds of genealogy-related blogs, all organized by topics, so you can find blogs on cemeteries, specific locations (like a blog on genealogical happenings in a certain county or state), genealogy humor, and more. Blogs are a great way to keep up-to-date on what is happening in the world of family history. http://blogfinder.genealogue.com/ By the way, two very popular genealogy blogs are: 1. Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter: http://blog.eogn.com/ 2. Everton Publisher's Blog: http://genealogyblog.com/ 1b. TinyUrl.com Are you tired of e-mailing people long urls, which often get broken? A free site called TinyUrl.com lets you enter a long url and receive a short one to use in its place. So instead of e-mailing someone this: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?ovi=1&mqma p.x=300&mqmap.y=75&mapdata=%252bKZmeiIh6N%252bI gpXRP3bylMaN0O4z8OOUkZWYe7NRH6ldDN96YFTIUmSH3Q6 OzE5XVqcuc5zb%252fY5wy1MZwTnT2pu%252bNMjOjsHjvN lygTRMzqazPStrN%252f1YzA0oWEWLwkHdhVHeG9sG6cMrf XNJKHY6fML4o6Nb0SeQm75ET9jAjKelrmqBCNta%252bsKC 9n8jslz%252fo188N4g3BvAJYuzx8J8r%252f1fPFWkPYg% 252bT9Su5KoQ9YpNSj%252bmo0h0aEK%252bofj3f6vCP You can e-mail them this: http://tinyurl.com/6 Try it here: Tinyurl.com 1c. Book Notice (1) Nicholas Strayer of Chanceford and Berkeley By Glenda S. Strayer This book includes eight generations of Nicholas STRAYER's descendents, from 1749 through the 1930s, who lived in Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, and other areas both east and west. Major surnames include: STRAYER, AMENDT, STALEY, SEIBERT, GUINN, O'BURN, OTT, CURRY, HAWKINS, SIVERLING, NICHOLS, BARNES, SILVERTHORNE, WOOTTEN, and BEVANS. Self-published on CD; Acrobat Reader 7.0 PDF compatible; can be read on disk or printed out. Pages with index: 572 ISBN: 1-4243-2868-3 ISBN-13: 978-1-4243-2868-0 Price: $32.95, shipping included. Order from: oolong@dragonbbs.com Glenda S. Strayer 3535 Sanita Ct Columbus, Ohio 43204-1299 2. Using RootsWeb: Becoming a Volunteer Administrator for Mailing Lists and Message Boards By Joan Young joan@volunteer.rootsweb.com Over the years, the growth of RootsWeb has largely been due to the work of volunteers. There are no volunteers more important and helpful to RootsWeb users than the thousands of mailing list and message board administrators. Volunteer administrators contribute their time, judgment, and expertise to ensure that lists and boards function properly. Have you ever given thought to stepping forward and adopting an "orphan" mailing list or message board of interest to you? If so, here are some considerations to help you decide whether or not it is something you want to do. ADMINISTERING A MAILING LIST A. Responsibilities: All you need to be an administrator for a mailing list is Internet access and the ability to send and receive e-mails. Some of the responsibilities of administering a mailing list include the following: 1. Removing bad addresses, which cause bounce notices 2. Monitoring posts 3. Prompting discussion when it is in a lull 4. Assisting users with problems, when possible For a full list of responsibilities, visit: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/listadmins/duties.html B. Finding a List to Administer: If you want to administer a list, but don't know which lists are available, start by looking at the lists you already subscribe to. If one of them needs an administrator, it will have a tagline saying that it is adoptable. A list of adoptable mailing lists can be found here. Surnames: http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/adoptable/ U.S.A. Counties: http://resources.rootsweb.com/USA/adoptable/ Miscellaneous (all others): http://resources.rootsweb.com/misc/adoptable/ If all of the lists you subscribe to already have administrators, think of a genealogy-related subject that you are interested in but that isn't presently covered by an existing list, and request that it be created. Of course, if you request the creation of a new list you must be willing to serve as an administrator of the list. C. Getting Help If you would like to start out slowly, ask an experienced administrator if they would add you as an assistant so that you can get a feel for the responsibilities involved. You can also learn from other administrators by subscribing to the administrator support mailing lists and asking questions there. The two primary administrator support mailing lists are LISTOWNERS@rootsweb.com and NEWBIE-LISTOWNER@rootsweb.com. LISTOWNERS@rootsweb.com is the primary support list. Only those who are officially serving in the capacity of list administrator can subscribe to this list. NEWBIE-LISTOWNER@rootsweb.com is a list for peer-to-peer support for new list administrators who need to ask the most basic questions without feeling embarrassed. For this reason, the Newbie list is not archived. Even if you are merely considering becoming a list administrator, you may subscribe to the NEWBIE-LISTOWNER list to discuss your concerns before taking the plunge. MESSAGE BOARDS A. Responsibilities All that you need to serve as administrator of a message board is a willingness to review posts and ensure they do not violate message board guidelines. Board administrators have tools to delete posts that are not appropriate for the RootsWeb/Ancestry genealogy boards and move posts that belong elsewhere to the appropriate board. You will also have to edit surname entries, subject lines, and classifications of posts. Administrators are required to maintain a current e-mail address on their Board Information page so that board users may contact them if they need assistance. The duties of a board administrator are spelled out here: http://boards.rootsweb.com/admin/admininfo.aspx B. Finding a Message Board to Administer: If a board needs an administrator you will see a "Volunteer to Admin" link in the box on the right-hand side of the board homepage. When you request that a new board be made, you can also volunteer to serve as an administrator. The request form for a new board includes a checkbox that says, "I would like to administer this board." Click it if you would like to be the administrator. Remember, however, that unlike with mailing lists, you can request a new board without having to serve as the administrator. C. Getting Help Peer-to-peer support for board administrators is offered on a message board: http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.rw.admin.badmin/mb.ashx Support is also offered on the corresponding, gatewayed mailing list: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/RootsWeb_Support/BOARDS-ADMINS.html CONCLUSION If you have never volunteered to serve as a mailing list or board administrator, the prospect of doing so might seem a bit daunting. However, many who step up later say that serving as an administrator helped them to more effectively conduct and enjoy their own research. So don't be afraid to dive in; while helping others you will also find that you help yourself. * * * * * * * * * * Advertisements * * * * * * * * * * REQUEST A SEARCH FOR YOUR ANCESTORS AT THE WORLD'S LARGEST GENEALOGICAL LIBRARY ANCESTOR SEEKERS researchers at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City will search this vast collection for your ancestors from the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, or Europe. Friendly service, affordable prices. For a no-obligation research assessment visit: http://www.ancestorseekers.com/research.rwr/ For help from professional genealogists in England or Scotland visit: http://www.britishancestors.com/ Or join us 30 September-5 October for our NINTH SALT LAKE CITY RESEARCH TRIP--the ideal genealogy vacation! * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: I Thought I Had a Brother By Claudia McCabe Crystal Beach, FL My mother's parents immigrated to America (Boston to be exact), from Ireland. My mother was born in Boston in 1927. When she was just two years old, her parents were tragically killed in a car accident. She was adopted and grew up in a nice, well-to-do family. Every now and then she'd say, "You know, I thought I had a brother, but I was so young. . . ." Fast forward to 2007. My husband and I were going to Ireland for our anniversary, so I wanted to do a little research and try to find out more about my mother's natural family. There's not much to go on. My mother's birth certificate says: "Father, Thomas F. Morrissey, occupation-laborer, birthplace Ireland. Mother, Anna Glavin, birthplace Ireland." I have always kept my eye on the Morrissey message board, but there are more than 500 messages. How do you sort through that? Thomas Morrissey is as common as John Smith. However, I recently did a search for Glavin on the Morrissey board; there were about seven hits. One said the sender was looking for her father-in-law's family. She wrote, "The birth certificate states the parents' names as Thomas Morrissey, birthplace Ireland, occupation-- laborer; Mother, Anna Glavin, Ireland. Dennis (my father-in-law) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 15, 1928." The date is almost one year to the day after my mother's birthday. Chills ran through me. I read it again and again and again. "Oh my word, I found him," I thought. I put a reply message on the board, but that original message was from 2000. Fortunately, however, through the miracle of the Web I was able to find the woman that posted the message, and I called her. Sure enough, I had located my mother's brother. Unfortunately he died in 1985 and my mother has Alzheimer's, so neither will ever know of the other. But, I still feel this is a success story because I found family we didn't know we had. We also found a genetic medical condition in our family we didn't know of. We've all yet to meet, but we have exchanged pictures and someday we'll have a reunion and get to know our "new" cousins. 4. 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.] ------------------------------------------------------------- We all know how important location is to genealogy. How have maps helped you make breakthroughs? What resources--online or otherwise--have you used to locate maps? What other techniques have you used to put your family on the map? A Visitation from God By Anker Simonsen Germany Two weeks ago in the "Humor/Interesting Find" section of the newsletter, Graham Down wrote that he found the cause of death for someone in a record listed as "visitation of God." English isn't my native language, so I may be totally wrong, but I think the meaning of "visitation" may have had a different meaning. In my native language of Danish the word visitation (imported from French/medieval Latin) is still in use describing the process at the emergency room when persons with injuries or suddenly occurring maladies are transferred to the appropriate wards. It's also used to describe the process by which elderly people are accepted for nursing homes. The meaning of visitation, then, is more along the lines of selection/selecting, rather than an actual visit as English speakers think of it now. In my point of view it fits very well that an ardent Christian may have described the cause of death for someone as being selected/chosen by God. In obituaries in Danish the phrase "kaldt hjem til Gud" is often used and it means being called home to God--or visitated (not visited) by God. Not so humourous an explanation I admit, but perhaps a little more accurate. To see the issue of the Review in discussion, visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/0627.txt * * * Effective Queries for Newbies By Wally Caviness I recently have gotten several queries from my various surnames lineages. All they list is the name of the person they are looking for. I have replied to the people and asked them to supply more information on the people they are asking others to help them find. The information should include: 1. Date and location of birth 2. Date and location of death 3. Social Security numbers 4. Whether they served in any armed conflict: Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, etc. 5. Whether they had any brothers, sisters, aunts, or uncles 6. Nationality 7. Any other information that would help others in assisting the person seeking help finding their ancestor I hope this helps the many new people that are getting into finding their family roots. * * * Native American Research Receives a Boost Anonymous Since you asked readers to write in about their Native American heritage a few weeks ago, I thought I would write in and let readers know about a new resource for doing Native American research. Ancestry.com just put the U.S. Indian Census Schedules, 1885-1940 online. These have always been a useful resource for people researching their Native American roots, but until now you had to access them through NARA or a local family history center. By putting them online, Ancestry has now made them much more accessible. One of the best things about these censuses--which were taken on Indian reservations--is that they occurred every year. In some ways that makes them much more useful than the U.S. federal censuses, which were only taken every ten years. So if you have Native American ancestry make sure to check out this collection. If you don't have an Ancestry.com subscription, find a friend or library that does, or try a free three-day subscription. 5. New at RootsWeb 5a. 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 MEXICO. Roosevelt County. Eastern New Mexico College, 1944 Sophomore Class. 43 records. Susan Jaycox. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW MEXICO. Roosevelt County. Eastern New Mexico College, 1944 Freshman Class. 122 records. Susan Jaycox. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NORTH DAKOTA. McLean County. A Partial Reading of the Butte City Cemetery. 109 records. Karen A Trzcinski and Adeline Reis. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ 5b. 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 genealogy- or history-related site is located somewhere other than at RootsWeb.com, you can add the link here: http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/addlink.html * * * OUR MATERNAL AND PATERNAL ANCESTORS: 350 YEARS OF HISTORY IN AMERICA. Features three separate family sub-sites as follows: (1) DELLINGER, KNECHT, PFEFFER, SILAR and allied families; (2) BOZARTH, PEIFFER, QUIGLEY, RHUBART and allied families; (3) MORELAND, MCVICKER, PINNELL, SCRUGGS and allied families. View new and updated Web pages added between 1 April 2007 and 30 June 2007 at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tqpeiffer/ * * * 5c. 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 be accessible yet. 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 Wakulla Genealogy Group (Florida) website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flwgg/ * * * U.S.A. flwgg -- Wakulla Genealogy Group (Florida) mimcgg -- Macomb County Genealogy Group (Michigan) njowdar -- Old Whitehouse Gen. Frelinghuysen Col. Lowery (New Jersey) Chapter DAR wvnchgs -- Nicholas County Historical and Genealogical Society (West Virginia) Australia qldingle -- Inglewood, Queensland (Australia) WGW qldlrdfh -- Logan River and Districts Family History Society, Queensland (Australia) qldstant -- Stanthorpe, Queensland (Australia) WGW Canada onjgd -- Jewish Genealogy Database (Ontario, Canada) 5d. 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 BARTOSEK DAVIS-UK, DREANY McTAGUE PRESTRIDGE (includes PRESTIDGE, PRESTIGE, PRESTRIGE, PRESTAGE) SETLEY, STERRY NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS ITA-ABRUZZO-CHIETI -- For the discussion of genealogy, research and history of the Chieti Province, Abruzzo, Italy (Provincia di Chieti). NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS QUAKER-BRITISH-ISLES -- Quaker ancestors and family history in the United Kingdom and Ireland. 6. Humor/Humour Several of my relatives had their funeral services arranged by the funeral director John Deady in Philadelphia. --Thanks to Eileen Sullivan * * * There was a recent article in my local newspaper concerning the Santa Maria Inn in Santa Maria, California. They had two popular men serving as bartenders in the Tap Room, by the names of Ira GIN and Angel BOURBON. --Thanks to Edna M. Billings * * * Found a funny or "proper name for the job" in old records, or an amusing entry in census, parish, church, or other records? Send them to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com. We also welcome other humorous genealogy-related submissions. 7. 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. Ad Sales 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: 11 July 2007, Vol. 10, No. 28. * * * *