RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 16 January 2008, Vol. 11, No. 03 (c) 1998-2008 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Having trouble reading this newsletter? The online version is available at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2008/0116.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. Ancestry Publishing Looking for Unique Jobs 1b. Website Worth Looking At: ExpertLinks: English Family History and Genealogy 1c. Book Notice 2. Using RootsWeb: Revisiting Brick Walls 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Harrison or Hinton? 4. Bottomless Mailbag: British Telephone Directories and Passenger Lists SCAR Organization and Websites A Spelling Lesson 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. Ancestry Publishing Looking for Unique Jobs Ancestry Publishing is interested in gathering information about your ancestors who had unique jobs. If you have an ancestor who had a truly bizarre job and whose job showed up on a record, please e-mail your name and contact information, your ancestor's name, his or her strange job, and the record it shows up in to books@ancestry.com. Ancestry Publishing has published "The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy," "Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources," "Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records," "The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker," and more. www.ancestrystore.com 1b. Website Worth Looking At: ExpertLinks: English Family History and Genealogy Price and Associates, Inc., a team of professional genealogists in Salt Lake City, has produced an exhaustive list of 500+ English websites useful for researching your English ancestors. You can view Expert Links here: http://www.pricegen.com/english_genealogy.html To learn more about Price and Associates, Inc., and its professional services, visit www.pricegen.com. 1c. Book Notice Hall Family History: Descendants of Ancient and Medieval Kings Through Connecting Families By Wanda Ware DeGidio wdegidio@cox.net This book traces the de Aula and later Hall family along their journey from medieval times to Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England, and later to Rhode Island, New York, Virginia, and other parts of the United States. It includes source documents, photos, and an in-depth lineage section showing the descendants of John Hall and William Hall of Newport, Rhode Island. Total Pages: 274 Cost: $25.00 for paperback and $45.00 for hardback (includes shipping). Available only at http://www.hallfamilyname.com Click here to see a photo of the book: http://members.cox.net/wdegidio/Hall/HallBook.htm 2. Using RootsWeb: Revisiting Brick Walls (Following Through with My New Year's Resolutions), Part I By Joan Young joan@volunteer.rootsweb.com Last time I wrote about my genealogical resolutions for the New Year, one of which was revisiting brick walls. Since then I have carefully reviewed all the data I've gathered over the years for my brick-wall ancestors. Let's take a look at one of my long-standing brick-wall ancestors, Abraham ROBINSON. I'll review what I already know and where I picked up my RE-search. WHAT I HOPE TO LEARN I want to learn when and where Abraham was born and identify his parents. I would also like to obtain a complete list of his children. WHAT I KNOW I know that Abraham ROBINSON married Prudence [--?--], that they had a son named James ROBINSON born about 1781 in Gloucester County, New Jersey, and that they had a son (my second great-grandfather), Joseph ROBINSON, born about 1785 in Salem County, New Jersey. In 1778, Abraham was taxed in Salem County on 133 acres and farm animals. He was also taxed in various other years in both Gloucester and Salem counties. In 1793, Abraham appears on the militia census in Salem County. I've found no evidence of land records for Abraham in Salem or Gloucester County. Abraham ROBINSON died intestate (having made no valid will) in 1802 in Salem County, New Jersey. Administration of his estate was granted to John SMITH, Esq. An inventory was made and a fellow bondsman was Joshua SMITH. The inventory of Abraham's estate included furniture and other household items, plus items suggesting Abraham was a farmer. The administrators of the estate "affirmed" in the Quaker manner. Joseph ROBINSON "affirmed" in 1822 as administrator of the estate of his grandmother, Sarah (THOMPSON) DUNN THOMPSON. Both of Abraham's known sons, Joseph and James, are buried in the Salem Friends Cemetery. Joseph married a Quaker woman, Rebecca DUNN. Joseph and James are not found in Quaker records. Abraham and Prudence are also not listed in any area Quaker records. There were two other local Abraham ROBINSONs who were contemporaries of my Abraham. Abraham ROBINSON of Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, is found in some Salem (and other) Quaker records. The third Abraham ROBINSON lived and died in Cumberland County, New Jersey. There are parallels between Abraham ROBINSON of Delaware and my Abraham suggesting a possible link between the two men. The will of Lydia (RIDGWAY) FOGG, widow of Holme FOGG of Salem County, shows that she left her entire estate to my second great-grandfather, Joseph ROBINSON, "with whom I dwell," and made him sole executor. NEW SEARCHES The first thing I did was conduct searches on RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Web for information that may not have been available when I put this elusive ancestor aside a few years ago. My first stop was the Quaker Corner, a volunteer website hosted by RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/index.htm Next I searched the USGenWeb Archives using the new global search engine located here: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsearchengine.html Then I searched the RootsWeb mailing lists for any messages posted about my ancestors since I last researched. By using the advanced search feature (on the Advanced tab), I could search all the mailing lists at once or limit my search to the QUAKER-ROOTS mailing list, the ROBINSON surname mailing list, or the NJSALEM mailing list. To limit a search to one of those lists I simply added the list names to the "List" field. I also used the "Date" field to narrow my searches in the mailing lists. I added "2006" or "2007" (without quotes) in the "Date" field to find relevant messages posted during those years. http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search I also searched the RootsWeb message boards using the Advanced Search link. I refined my search to more recently posted messages by using the "Posted Within" drop-down menu. http://boards.rootsweb.com/ I checked WorldConnect for any new trees that included Abraham ROBINSON and, once again, I used the Advanced Search link. However, I also searched on the main WorldConnect page for trees that included all of the surnames I know to be connected to this family. To perform a multiple surname search, scroll down to the box that says "or -- find a database by surname(s)." http://wc.rootsweb.com/ I performed a general search using Google, searched Ancestry.com, and also checked for new listings at FamilySearch.org. I looked for new ROBINSON and Salem County, New Jersey, links here: http://www.linkpendium.com http://www.cyndislist.com Next time we'll see where I went from there and what I learned as I revisited my brick-wall research. * * * * * * * * * * 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 plan and quotation visit http://www.ancestorseekers.com/research/ For help from professional genealogists in England or Scotland visit http://www.britishancestors.com/research/ Or join us 13-18 April for our TENTH SALT LAKE CITY RESEARCH TRIP--the dream genealogy vacation! * * * * * * * * * * End of Advertisements * * * * * * * 3. Connecting Through RootsWeb: Harrison or Hinton? By Nina Osterlye In the 1980s I went to Little Rock, Arkansas, from California with my two young children to visit my mother's paternal aunt (her father's sister), who helped raise her after her father disappeared. When I returned home, my great-aunt sent me a three-page, typed history of her own grandfather and the whole family. She started it out by saying, "This is the story of William Harrison Branson." Great-Aunt Lottie started my curiosity into our family history. As I searched, I discovered that my great-great-grandfather's name was really William Hinton Branson and he had been buried on his farm near Harrison, Arkansas. My great-aunt was still alive (she didn't die until age 103!) when I found out that William had been given the middle name of Hinton after his own great-grandmother, Sarah Hinton, who was born in the 1700s in North Carolina. This alone was a goldmine of information. Then I found out that Sarah was a direct descendant of Sir John Hinton of the "Virginia Colony" in England, which founded Jamestown, Virginia. I have found other minor errors in the three-page document that Aunt Lottie hand-typed for me in 1981 at the age of eighty, but by and large it has proved very accurate or led me to the correct information. I will be forever grateful to Aunt Lottie for all her time, effort, and phone calls, which helped me to put down on paper whatever kith and kin she could remember. She lived to be thankful for my curiosity and a whole world of relationships I found that went back to the founding of the first settlement in America. She had no idea about these connections either. We all know the importance of documentation, but we need to remember that before documentation comes communication. Tell your children and grandchildren what you know and remember even if you cannot prove it. Write it out in longhand or on an old Underwood like Lottie did. Someone will correct your errors someday and they may find pearls in those errors. 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.] ------------------------------------------------------------- British Telephone Directories and Passenger Lists By Ian Sheppard, UK Your readers may or may not know that over the last year Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.com have introduced respectively the ability to search UK telephone directories (1880 to 1984 at the time of writing), and passenger lists (1890 to 1939). The latter is advertised as being available through 1960 but this is not currently available. I mention this because I had hitherto not made much use of these record types. Telephones in the UK were by no means universal in the 1920s and 1930s, and after World War II demand increased but there were long waiting lists to get a phone. However, recently my negative view was changed somewhat for the better by the discovery of a relation who had hitherto "disappeared" after the 1901 England census. I was able to trace someone with her name and initials from the 1920s to 1970. But was this the correct someone? The passenger lists revealed that about every two or three years she departed UK by sea, presumably for a holiday. The lists gave her name, sometimes just with initials, but also occasionally in full, plus her age and her address. Putting all these together gave me a very full history of her life in a period not well covered by other sources, and also (by her disappearance from the telephone directories) a fair idea of when she died. * * * SCAR Organization and Websites By Nancy Lindroth, Augusta, Georgia I was raised in New Jersey and most of what I knew about the American Revolution, I learned in History class--Lexington and Concord, Trenton, and Valley Forge. I don't recall learning anything about the "Southern Campaign." Many years later I moved to South Carolina and while working in the tourism industry, learned that there were more Revolutionary War battles and skirmishes fought in South Carolina than in any other state. (North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia also had their fair share.) While researching a soldier who had served in Maryland (Sergeant Hugh McMillan, wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs), I encountered a group of people collecting and disseminating published and unpublished information about the Southern Campaign. One of their projects is a website entitled "The Southern Campaign of the American Revolution" [SCAR], where they publish a quarterly magazine-type newsletter that includes scholarly articles about battles, leaders, pensions, ongoing research, and maps; letters to the editor; a calendar of events; and so forth. If your ancestor fought in the South during the American Revolution, you need to visit this site: http://www.southerncampaign.org In addition to the newsletters, you can access an amazing collection of information via their links. My two favorites are the following: 1. A pension site by Will Graves, who has transcribed and posted more than 2,000 Revolutionary War pensions: http://www.southerncampaign.org/pen/ 2. "Revolutionary War Gazetteer and Pensions," by John Robertson: http://jrshelby.com/sc-links/gaz/index.htm Will and John welcome submissions of your transcribed pensions if the soldier in any way participated in the Southern Campaign. John also welcomes additional information about the battles identified in his Gazetteer. Cornwallis may have surrendered at Yorktown on 19 October 1781, but many of the American troops did not leave Charlestown/Charleston/ James Island, South Carolina, until June and July of 1783. I have found very little in print about these troops. Your pension contributions may enable me and other Southern Campaign researchers to access thousands of valuable firsthand accounts so that the full Revolutionary War story can be told. Independence was won in the South by men from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and the mountains of what is now Tennessee and Kentucky. And what they endured was equal to or may have been worse than the winter at Valley Forge. Please share these sites with your genealogical organization and have them included in their newsletters so that as many people as possible know they exist. Who knows, perhaps I'll meet you on SCAR's upcoming cruise highlighting Revolutionary War activities in the Caribbean. * * * A Spelling Lesson By Richard S. Taylor While researching my wife's family history, I ran across the name Listen Langley. I had never heard of the first name Listen, but that is what many members of the family called him. A journey to Grayson County, Kentucky, where he was from, and a search through many records revealed serious confusion about what his name was. Variations of the name were as follows: Celestianus (1840 census) Celistimas (1841 will) Celistims (1850 census) Celistenus (1860 census) Listen (1872 deed) Ediston (1899 deed) Elistin (1899 deed) Listen (1900 deed) Eliston (1902 deed) The situation became a little clearer when I checked records at a local Catholic church. The name "Celestinus" appeared in an entry written all in Latin. It seems that is the latinized version of Celestine, the name of several Catholic popes before the year 1300. The priest probably suggested the name--not necessarily a good one for parents who were illiterate or close to it! 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. TENNESSEE. Crockett County. Thomas Williams Cemetery. 89 records. Cristie Sanders Wright. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ TENNESSEE. Crockett County. Cox Chapel Church of Christ Cemetery. 162 records. Cristie Sanders Wright. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ TENNESSEE. Crockett County. Nance Church of Christ Cemetery. 119 records. Cristie Sanders Wright. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ TEXAS. Wichita County. Electra Star-News Obituaries, 2007. 98 records. Jane Engbrock. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/obituaries/ 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 * * * No New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals 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 Aurora Genealogy Society (Colorado) website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~coags/ * * * USGW = USGenWeb UDC = United Daughters of the Confederacy CD = Colonial Dames 17th Century SCV = Sons of Confederate Veterans U.S.A. coags -- Aurora Genealogy Society (Colorado) ilcmcdar -- Cahokia Mound (Illinois) Chapter DAR ilhenry2 -- Henry County (Illinois) USGW mispabc -- St. Philip Archives of Battle Creek (Michigan) mosulli2 -- Sullivan County (Missouri) nvjjfccd -- Judith Jefferson Farrar (Nevada) Chapter CD orccfhs -- Clackamas County Family History Society (Oregon) tnapsscv -- A.P. Stewart (Tennessee) Camp SCV tnpdcudc -- Peter Daughter (Tennessee) Chapter UDC wvtbcdar -- Ye Towne of Bath (West Virginia) Chapter DAR 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 CAROLLA GUADAGNA HELBACH KORTRIGHT MARIN MASSHEDER MCCALLA MCCULLA MCKIDDY MCNEFF MCQUILLER PETHYBRIDGE SIRBAUGH TERUEL VENGHAUS WALLA NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS IONIAN-ISLANDS-BRITISH -- This mailing list is for researching the Ionian Islands. The Ionian Islands were under British rule for fifty years. NEW ETHNIC OR SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS USCW-VICKSBURG -- This is a mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in those who fought at Vicksburg during the U.S. Civil War. 6. Humor/Humour In response to last week's "Humor/Humour" section, in which someone wrote in that they had a great-niece and great-nephew who called their grandmothers "Grammy Near" and "Grammy Far" because of their locations, I wanted to mention that the children of a friend of mine had a "Dirt Road Grammy." Apparently she lived on a dirt road. --Thanks to Marilyn Strout, Maine * * * My grandchildren named me "Tall Grandma" as I am 5'8". They called their maternal grandmother, who was 4'10", "Short Grandma." Because I am also a very "large" woman, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the name distinctions were discussed! --Thanks to Rosie Fuller 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: 16 January 2008, Vol. 11, No. 3. * * * *