11 February 2009, Vol. 12, No. 2

Table of Contents

Using Rootsweb

By Joan Young

Genealogical research entails tracing your blood kin beginning with yourself and working back one generation at a time from what you know to what you seek to learn. If you encounter evidence indicating an ancestor may have been adopted or raised by someone other than the biological parents, this fact can often bring your bloodline research to a screeching halt. It makes matters doubly difficult if you or a parent were adopted, as recent records are more likely to be closed and inaccessible.

While you certainly may want to research the ancestry of adoptive parents or grandparents, many adoptees and those researching adopted ancestors have a desire to learn about their biological heritage. Many adoptees feel a need to learn where they inherited their freckles, blue eyes, or left-handedness. Where do you turn when the usual records are either sealed or apparently non-existent?
 
There are many resources for adoption research but the path to discovery often requires the sagacity of Sherlock Holmes, the persistence of a Pit Bull, and more than a bit of luck. The place to start is within your own family. Until fairly recently, adoption was frequently a family matter and often handled informally with few or no official court records. Talk to elderly relatives who may recall long-forgotten details. Look for papers in the attic, notes on the backs of old photos, family diaries or journals--anything that might offer a clue.
 
Sometimes a child's name change or a revised listing of heirs in a will to include a new child, are the only legal or official clues that a child may have been adopted. Census records sometimes list a child as being an "adopted daughter" regardless of whether court records were ever established to legalize the adoption.
 
In the U.S.A., adoption laws vary from state to state, as do the courts that handle adoption cases. International adoption laws also differ from country to country. So at the top of your agenda you will want to ascertain the location of the birth and adoption. Next, learn the laws and courts having jurisdiction over adoptions in that country or state. Adoptions could have been local or even international in scope. Emigration was sometimes the solution to the problem of orphaned children. Many children from Great Britain were sent to Canada, for example. 

It would be impossible to outline here the laws for every locality and every resource available in the search for birth parents of an adopted ancestor, so the next best thing is to provide links to online resources where you can locate the information.
 
Begin at RootsWeb with RootsWeb Guide Lesson #31

Additional links to resources and registries where birth parents and adoptees can make a connection are found at Cyndi's List.

German-born adoptees may wish to check out Geborener Deutscher (a German-born Adoptees newsletter). Information is available here.

The RootsWeb/Ancestry.com message boards provide special adoption topic boards.  If you wish to make use of the Adoption message boards it is important that you first read the special rules pertaining to posting on these boards in the RootsWeb Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

If your adoption research queries mention people who may possibly be living, or if you are attempting to locate living people, be sensitive to the privacy rights of everyone involved.

Genealogy Tip

By Mary Harrell-Sesniak
"Genealogy is not just a pastime; it's a passion."

Next time you attend a family reunion, you're sure to get acquainted with relatives like your first cousin's children or Grandpa's first cousin. How do you calculate these relationships? Are they cousins or removed cousins?

When someone is a “removed” cousin, it indicates that they were born into a different generation than yourself. So in both of these cases, the individuals would be removed cousins. Your cousin's children were born into the generation after yourself, so they are first cousins once removed. And Grandpa's first cousin was born into his generation, which is two removed from yourself, so he/she would be your first cousin twice removed.

Another way to calculate relationships is to “add for greats” and “subtract for generation spans.” Let me explain.

1. Assuming you are in the same generation as your relative, add one to the number of greats in the common ancestor's title to determine the cousinship.

Since a grandparent has no greats in the title, add 0 + 1 = 1 to determine a 1st cousin relationship.
Since a great-grandparent has 1 great in the title, add 1 + 1 = 2nd cousins.
If you share fourth great-grandparents, then 4 + 1 indicates you are fifth cousins.

Descent from Same Generation
Common Ancestors	# of Greats in Title	Add One	Cousinship
grandparents	0	+ 1 =	1st cousins
Great-grandparents	1	+ 1 =	2nd cousins
2nd great-grandparents	2	+ 1 =	3rd cousins
3rd great-grandparents	3	+ 1 =	4th cousins
4th great-grandparents	4	+ 1 =	5th cousins

2. If you are not in the same generation, calculate using the first method, and subtract “or remove” the difference from the second person. Remember to start with the earliest generation (e.g., Grandpa from the example).

Luckily, most genealogy programs, such as Family Tree Maker, have tools to calculate relationships. Or you may prefer to use generation charts and calculators. Two useful tools are located on the Barren County, Kentucky, GenWeb website, hosted by RootsWeb. These tools come courtesy of T. W. Parker.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kybarren/Resources/Relationship.htm

Connecting

As I was browsing around online one evening, I found another genealogy chart done by someone in Kentucky, with my Smith ancestors on it. I made contact through email, and she turned out to be a cousin. She was the source of the Smith ancestry that I now have posted online. She did her research in Kentucky the old-fashioned, hard way--by hand, on site, in old record books.

One reason I was having such a problem finding anything was that I was looking for “Barney” Smith, which is the name my dad knew his grandfather by. In this woman’s tree I found out that Barney Smith's real name was Gabriel Barney Smith. As I have gained experience I have realized that many times the names our ancestors were known by were not their real, full names. She had a lot more information for me, and I was able to help her too. For instance, I shared a picture of Gabriel Barney Smith with her. As it turned out, he was her great-grandfather too.

This sort of networking helps grow our genealogy trees! Everything I have on our ancestors is posted, and my documentation sources are online at Ancestry.com. So I am very glad to be able to “pass on” the information I got by networking, and please pass it on when you run into another cousin along your genealogy path.

Bottomless Mailbag: Readers Write In

Over the life of my genealogical adventure I have changed my email address many times. How much easier it would have been for me to have a dedicated email address for genealogy only. Since the average adult moves every three to five years, it would be nice to have an email address that followed me everywhere.

Free email is available at Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, etc. and opening an account is a simple process. It just took me 5 minutes to create my new genealogy email account.

I have started using a free program called GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It is very similar to Photoshop. I just recently purchased Beginning GIMP, Second Edition, 2008, by Akkana Peck online. It is 552 pages. There may be persons who would like to try their hand at photo touchups, who cannot afford to buy any software. (I use GIMP for flight simulator scenery designs.) I have some faded black and white photos of my grandfather taken around 1900 I would like to enhance on the computer. Thanks for the article.

A Genealogical Society Connected Us

We found the tombstones of my great-great-grandfather, James Shaw (1782-1853) and his brother, John Shaw (1773-1848), in the Pretty Prairie Cemetery near Battle Ground, Indiana. The tombstones indicated that they were born in Iredell County, North Carolina.  I wrote the genealogical society in Iredell County asking for further information, sending the information I already had on the family. 

They were very nice, but knew of nobody searching my line. I was amazed several years later to receive a letter from a distant member of my family. She had also written the society and was given my name and address. She not only had an old Bible, but has spent considerable time in Warren County, Ohio, and Tippecanoe County, Indiana, researching the Shaw family, as well as collecting Iredell County records. She has been very generous with her information, and the documentation she sent has enabled me to search census and other records that gave a lot more information. I would never have found this lady, and this information that opened many doors, without the assistance of the genealogical society.

Have a story, question, genealogy resource, or tip you'd like to share with RootsWeb Review readers? Send it to Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com.

Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the editor or of RootsWeb.com.

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What's New: Databases, Freepages, and Mailing Lists

None

Submit Your Genealogical Data to a RootsWeb Database.

There are no new/updated freepages by individuals.

If you have a new or substantially revised freepage at RootsWeb and would like to see it mentioned here, send the URL, the title, and a BRIEF description, including major surnames, to Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com.

If your genealogy- or history-related site is located somewhere other than RootsWeb, you can add the link to RootsWeb here.

Request a Freepage (Free Web Account).

CAR = Children of the American Revolution
DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution
SDP = Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims
USGW = US GenWeb

U.S.A.

• allccdar — Lily of the Cahaba Chapter (AL) DAR
• azepcdar — El Presidio Chapter (AZ) DAR
• ctcanton — Canton (CT) USGW
• mdgmcdar — Goshen Mills Chapter (MD) DAR
• meyorkgs — York County (Maine) Genealogical Society
• msnrcdar — Norvell Robertson Chapter (MS) DAR
• njgrecem — Greenlawn Cemetery, Monmouth County (NJ)
• orarf — American Renaissance Foundation (OR)
• pafscar — Francis Slocum Society (PA) CAR
• txakgs — Atascocit-Kingwood (TX) Genealogical Society
• txgracem — Lost and Found (TX) Cemetery Preservation
• txkerrgs — Kerrville (TX) Genealogical Society
• txsdp — Texas Branch of SDP
• vabedgs — Bedford Genealogical Society of Virginia

International

• deupcdar — Palatinate Chapter (Germany) DAR
• nzwlsfhs — Wales, New Zealand, Family History Society

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.
www.rootsweb.com/~xxxxxx

Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required.
For example, the El Presidio Chapter (AZ) DAR website is at
http://www.rootsweb.com/~azepcdar/

Request a Freepage (Free Web Account).

New Mailing Lists

New Surname Mailing Lists

• ARDIS 
• BEZODIS 
• CHEPAL 
• DAMANIA 
• DHANESH 
• GRENVILLE 
• HEERINGA 
• LOCHBAUM 
• MALINAUSKAS 
• MACGEORGE 
• MACKINNIS 
• MCCOREY 
• MCCORVEY 
• MCINGVALE 
• MCINTEAR 
• MCVITTY 
• NORBURY 
• PENSYL 
• RIDDLEFORD 
• SCHOENEKASE 
• SHAKESBURY 
• TUCKFIELD 
• WALLERSON 
• ZAYADIN 

New Regional Mailing Lists

• None

New Ethnic or Special Interest Mailing Lists

• 1911-CENSUS-HELP — A mailing list for people that need help understanding and reading the 1911 census records, covering the census areas of England and Wales in the United Kindom.

• AUS-VIC-ADOPTIONS — A list for adopted persons in Victoria, Australia to share information and resources. Also for those whose lives have been touched by the adoption process in Victoria, Australia.

• FARRIS-DNA — A mailing list for discussing information regarding Y-chromosome DNA testing that is currently being done for the FARRIS surname and variations.

• MOHAWK-INDIAN-TRIBE — This list is for all who are interested in finding their Mohawk Indian family connections and learning about the history of the Mohawk Indian Tribe.

• MARION-DNA — The MARION-DNA mailing list is for sharing information regarding the DNA project for the Marion surname and its variations (e.g., Marien, Marrion, Marrien, Maryion) worldwide.

To find or subscribe to a mailing list, or to search archived posts to more than 30,000 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy mailing lists, go here.

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The Darkroom

My great-great-grandparents, William Taylor Jordan and Hannah Jane Winn Jordan, were married for a little over 50 years. This photo was taken in Nebraska in 1910, after their 50th anniversary, when most of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren came to celebrate with them. I wish I could identify the rest of the people in the photograph..

For a chance to see your ancestor's photo in the RootsWeb Review, send it to Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com. Make sure to include your name and a brief description of the photograph.

You Found It

This is regarding a shut-in list in a church. My husband was a new pastor and was warned that his lay leader was a jokester. While reading the list of shut-ins during the prayer time, my husband saw the name "Lemon Fresh."  Thinking the jokester added it, he skipped praying for Lemon. After the service, the son of Lemon approached the new pastor to question why he omitted his dad from the prayer.

While looking at microfilm of Gloucestershire record books, I came across a page with inky cat foot prints "walking" across the page! The cat is long gone but his footprints live on forever.

July 1995, my mother, then in her mid-80s, joined my two sisters and myself as we searched the death index, and then the actual death certificates, in the county courthouse in Appleton, Wisconsin. Mom started chuckling as she read the entries as to cause of death. She was especially amused by "runaway corner" and showed it to us sisters. We chuckled and as we did, an elderly gentlemen, a volunteer, came to tell us we needed to be quiet or leave. We explained what we were laughing at and he said it was not funny. When stagecoaches were traveling fast and came up against a sharp turn in the road, or where they needed to make a turn at an intersection, sometimes the stagecoach or wagon would tip over and passengers would be killed. Suddenly, it was no longer a funny situation!

Found a funny name or humorous tidbit in old records, or an amusing entry in census, parish, church, or other records? Send these and other genealogy-related humor/humour items to Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com.

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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.

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2. the following notice appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 11 February 2009, Vol. 12, No. 2