RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Monthly E-zine 11 March2009, Vol. 12, No. 3 (c) 1998-2009 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Having trouble reading this newsletter? The online version is available at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2009/0311.txt or http://ftp.rootsweb.ancestry.com/pub/review/2009/0311.html * * * ROOTSWEB HELPDESK: Check here for frequently asked questions about RootsWeb: http://rootsweb.custhelp.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 SPOTLIGHT: Know someone who has gone above and beyond in the service of RootsWeb? Nominate them for recognition on our Volunteer Spotlight page: http://bigfile.rootsweb.com/vols/ * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ARCHIVES: Check here for previous editions: http://rwr.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Using RootsWeb What's on a Death Certificate? 2. Genealogy Tip Translating and Deciphering Documents 3. Connecting Keep Writing and Calling 4. Bottomless Mailbag: Readers Write In Email Address A Good Samaritan A Late Starter 5. What's New: Databases, Freepages, and Mailing Lists 5a. New User-contributed Databases 5b. New/Updated Freepages by Individuals 5c. New/Updated Freepages by Counties, States, and Genealogical/Historical Societies 5d. New Mailing Lists 6. You Found It She Really Was Anticipation You Should 7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, and Reprints ============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Using RootsWeb What's on a Death Certificate? By Mary Harrell-Sesniak maryh@volunteer.rootsweb.com "Genealogy is not just a pastime; it's a passion." When requesting death certificates, you may be surprised by the "depth or dearth" of information recorded. Death certificates were not always required and were rare before the late 1800s. Early information is reconstructed from a variety of sources--manuscript books, civil registrations, cemetery records, parish records, etc. Town clerks or recorders issue certificates from available information, which often lacks genealogical details, such as a surviving spouse, parentage, cause of death, and burial location. This example from 1810 shows Seth Wilder, Jr.'s death in Cummington, Massachusetts, and little else. When ordered in 1965, a similar death certificate would typically include parental names, birth places, and occupation, which were all left blank on the 1913 form. See image at http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090301DC%20Wilder%20Seth%20Jr.jpg Until recently, each location, whether it be a country, state, county, or city, followed its own format. In 1961, the State of New York furnished this numbered certificate for Rev. Zerah T. Hoyt, certifying his death in Saratoga Springs on August 29, 1901. See image at http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090302DC%20Hoyt%20Zerah%20T.jpg In 1917, Duval County, Florida required an address, age at death, informant, and place of burial or removal. In the case of John Thomas Wilder, who died on January 31, the informant was his second wife, Dora (Lee) Wilder, recorded only as Mrs. John T. Wilder. The document noted he was returned to Chattanooga, but did not specify the cemetery, which was Forest Hills. See image at http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090303DC%20Wilder%20John%20Thomas.jpg Death certificates evolved over time and now display more than thirty details, including military service, social security number, and education. (See Form PHS-T-003 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/std-dcrt.pdf.) 1. Decedent's name 2. Sex 3. Date of death 4. Social Security Number 5. Age 6. Birthplace 7. U.S. Armed Forces? 8. Place of death 9. Marital status 10. Surviving spouse (if wife, give maiden name) 11. Occupation 12. Residence 13. Hispanic origin? 14. Race 15. Education 16. Father 17. Mother 18. Informant's name / address 19. Method / place of disposition 20. Signature / license of funeral service 21. Name and address of facility 22. Signature, pronouncing physician, and date signed 23. Time of death 24. Date death pronounced 25. Referred to medical examiner / coroner? 26. Diseases, injuries, or complications that caused death 27. Autopsy? 28. Manner of death 29. Date, time, description and place, if injury 30. Certifier or certifying physician, license, date, and signature 31. Name / address of who completed cause 32. Registrar's signature 33. Date filed But wouldn't it be nice if in the next generation of death certificates, genealogical data was expanded? I, for one, would like to see surviving children, number of marriages, living and recorded will data, and the relationship of the informant to the decedent! Pitfalls and Tips 1. A death certificate is not primary proof for a decedent's birth or parentage, so seek confirming documents. Remember items "recorded" at the time of the death, such as the date and cause, are primary sources, but those "reported" later by an informant are secondary. 2. To determine the veracity of the reported items, identify the informant. The closer the familial relationship, the more likely the accuracy. 3. If parentage is not identified, cross reference with a sibling. Granville Harrell's mother was not identified on his certificate, but it was on his brother William's. See images at http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090304DC%20Harrell%20Granville.jpg and http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090305DC%20Harrell%20William%20H.jpg 4. If a female informant's surname differs from the decedent's, she may be a married daughter. 5. Adoptive parents can be erroneously indicated as birth parents. The parents of Edgar Hanks Evans, nee Edmund Hanks, were reported as George T. Evans and Mary Robertson Evans, whereas his birth parents were Jesse Turner Hanks and Mary Jane Olmsted. See images at http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090306DC%20Evans%20Edgar%20Hanks.jpg and http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090307Adoption%20Evans%20Edmund%20-%20Edgar%20Hanks.jpg 6. Cross reference causes of death with current terms. Shaking palsy, for example, may indicate Parkinson's disease. (See RootsWeb's Medical Genealogy Mailing List for tips.) 7. Burials may be recorded by a town name, and not a cemetery, and since town names change, do your homework. 8. When ordering death certificates, you can save time by using a service, but you can save money by ordering directly from a registrar. 9. Some states centralize ordering at the state level and others at the locality where the death occurred. If a county name changed, verify before sending money to the wrong location, as refunds may not be issued. 10. Collect certificates as soon as possible, as costs are increasing and privacy laws may affect your right to order. Some excellent sources for finding death records and information are: 1. RootsWeb's Death Records Database at http://userdb.rootsweb.ancestry.com/deaths/. This has a variety of search options, and readers are welcome to contribute their research via a text file or Excel database. 2. Ancestry.com at www.Ancestry.com, a subscription service with multiple indexes to death records and some original death certificates. 3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), which has a free pilot website at http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start and their main site at www.familysearch.org. The pilot includes original, digitized records, while the main site has links to family trees and records stored at family history centers around the country. 4. England and Wales's Free BMD (Birth/Marriage/Death) database at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/, which is part of the FreeUKGen family. This database includes an index to many of the death records kept by the English and Welsh governments since 1837. 5. Search engines or Google Books at http://books.google.com/. See image at http://c.mfcreative.com/email/newsletters/rootswebreview/03112009/20090308Article%20-%20Death%20Certs%20Google%20Books.jpg * * * * * * * * * * 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 of records from the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Ireland, England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and other European countries. Friendly service, affordable prices. For a no-obligation research assessment visit AncestorSeekers.com. Or join us 30 AUGUST - 4 SEPTEMBER for our 13th Salt Lake City Research Trip - the dream genealogy vacation! * * * * * * National Genealogical Society Family History Conference 13-16 May 2009 Raleigh, North Carolina Don't miss the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference, Raleigh, NC, 13-16 May 2009. 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ONLINE TRANSLATION PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES One of the oldest and most popular online translation services is Babel Fish: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ Google also offers a translation service from and into many languages: http://translate.google.com/ A translation program such as those found at Babel Fish or Google will most likely not provide a perfect translation of the text you input, especially where slang is involved or where the text may include misspellings or obsolete terminology. These programs may, however, be sufficient to offer a clue to the meaning of an e-mail you have received from a potential cousin or the subject matter of a document. RootsWeb/Ancestry.com has a message board where you can ask for help with a translation: http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.researchresources.translators/mb.ashx. Experienced translators may be able to assist in situations where the online translation programs are not sufficient. DECIPHERING OLD SCRIPT AND HANDWRITING Old script (for example, old German script), foreign language vital records, church registers in Latin, or merely old handwriting styles with lettering that differs from today's writing can be a challenge. Scan the document and post it on a Web page or message board. The RootsWeb/Ancestry.com message boards (http://boards.rootsweb.com/) allow uploading scanned documents and images as attachments. Post your query and attachment on a message board with a topic relevant to your document. Subscribe to a RootsWeb mailing list (http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/) where the subject matter of your translation or interpretation request is pertinent. Post a message with a link to the attachment and query on the message board. List members with experience in reading these documents can view them and render an opinion as to the wording and meaning. 3. Connecting Keep Writing and Calling By Patricia Rankin I had been searching for 15 years for my great great grandfather, John Courtenay, who had arrived in America as a child with his father and stepmother between 1803 and 1813. They went to the English Prairie settlement in White Co, Illinois. I finally found them on a 1820 census. Yipee!. I had heard that they lived at one time in a place called Belgrade, IL, so I wrote to the state and asked where I could find this town. Finally heard that the town was defunct, but was actually located in Pope County during the time they would have been there. GREAT. I wrote to Pope County and received information on the town but NO information was found on the COURTENAY family. I would call or write to the County several times a year for about 15 years. After all the years I had called and written, one day, out of the blue, I received a phone call. Am I the person who had been calling and writing and was I still looking for family information. YES, YES, YES! I was told they had a minor flood in the basement of the old Golconda, Pope County courthouse and had found boxes and boxes of old documents that had never been put into their system. Well, I finally got family information. In those boxes they found a license to marry for my great great grandmother Miranda FISKE and John Courtenay (Courtney) in 1823. And who should be marrying them but her father, Abraham FISKE, a Justice of the Peace. They also had the original handwritten Last Will and Testament for John H. Courtenay, the father of John, dated 1824. In those wonderful boxes were other town and county records. Abraham Fiske's father Robert Fiske was listed in several of the records, along with John Courtney, as Supervisors of Roads and as witnesses in several matters. Robert Fiske and John H. Courtenay both died in 1824, but I have not yet found grave sites for either one. I will keep digging. This just goes to show you, that eventually you will find some small measure of information. Keep writing and calling. YOU NEVER KNOW what might happen. 4. Bottomless Mailbag: Readers Write In [Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the editor or of RootsWeb.com.] ------------------------------------------------------------- Email Address In last month's RootsWeb Review, Connie Trier recommended using free web-based email services for your genealogical email so that should she move her email address would not change. Beware: My Hotmail address was cancelled when it was inactive for 30 days. With such a rigorous requirement, you may shortly find yourself cancelled and someone else getting your e-mail address. Before you make this decision, check with the providers to determine what their terms are. Judy, in the Pacific Northwest * * * A Good Samaritan While working in the Family History Library in Topeka, Kansas, I received a telephone call from a gentleman in California stating that he was not able to secure any help from anyone in our town and wondered if I might help him. He said he was born in either March or April in 1953 and that he knew his fathers name but not his mother's. He had been given to another couple when he was four years old, with the request that his name not be changed. He wished to find the date of his birth. I told him to call back the following Saturday, since this is was only day that I work, and I would try to have some information for him. At the public library newspaper files I spent about 15 minutes scanning the pages in the newspaper files and found his father's name with the birth date. However, at that time, births were only reported with a Mr & Mrs and the name of the husband as having a child. Then I went to the Social Security Death Index to try to locate his father who he had heard had gone west. I found four possibilities for him listed in his state and not very far from where he lived. He thanked me very much and was grateful to have his accurate birth date. I also told him to contact someone at those addresses or the neighbors and he might find someone that had a connection to him. Sadly, I have to say that I did not hear back from him, but what a feeling to know I was able to help someone so far away. Patsy R. Finley, Burlingame, Kansas * * * A Late Starter If someone had told me 20 years I would be doing genealogy research, I would have said, Yeah Right. One of my Mother's cousins was updating their family history in 1998, which inspired me to start on my Father's family. One of my biggest finds was the military pay/pension records on my great-grandfather who fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. Later, my Father and I visited the cemetery where great grandpa is buried and found his grave. This provided closure on one of the aspects of my project. RootsWeb and many others have been of great assistance to me in this endeavor. My greatest satisfaction was being able to produce information for my Father prior to his death last year. I still have much to learn, but what a wonderful way to learn. Becky Wilson 5. What's New: Databases, Freepages, and Mailing Lists 5a. New User-contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ------------------------------------------------------------- None Submit Your Genealogical Data to a RootsWeb Database at http://userdb.rootsweb.ancestry.com/submit/. 5b. New/Updated Freepages by Individuals To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ History Connection, http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~historyconnection/ is a web site for biographies, obituaries, books, newspapers, schools, cemeteries, photos and historical articles from Peoria and Stark Counties in Illinois, and Fond du Lac County in Wisconsin. 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: http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/addlink.html * * * 5c. New/Updated Freepages 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 Georgia/South Carolina Department of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War website is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~gasuvcw/ * * * ALHN = American Local History Network CAR = Children of the American Revolution DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution U.S.A. almcgs - Marion County (AL) Genealogical Society azpinal2 - Pinal County (AZ) cacalav - Family Roots, a genealogy group in Calaveras Co., CA cttpcdar - Trumbull-Porter Chapter (CT) DAR gaccaahm - Coweta County (GA) African American Heritage Museum gaharal3 - Haralson County Chap (GA) ALHN ilahgp - AHGP State Site (Illinois) inahgp - AHGP State Site (Indiana) insvhs - St. Vincent de Paul (IN) Historical Society mdhrscar - Hungerford Resolves Society (MD) CAR nyerie2 - Erie County (NY) personal site nyjw1812 - Lt. Colonel John E. Wool Chap (NY) Sons of War of 1812 mdnandar - Manticoke Chap (MD) DAR ohbrgen - Black River (OH) Genealogists okclcdar - Creek Lands Chapter (OK) DAR orhhsm - Huntington (OR) Historical Society Museum tnfahps - Friends of the Archives Historical and Preservation Society (TN) txcem - Texas Cemetery Transcriptions and Images txscw - Society of Colonial Wars (TX) wvtadar - Trans-Allegheny Chapter (WV) DAR INTERNATIONAL ausvmddhs - Mount Dandenong and District (Victoria, Australia) Historical Society bcacma - Alberni Clayoquot Metis Association (British Columbia) englpcopc - Little Petherick (Cornwall, England) Online Parish Clerk sctkkdfc - Kirkcudbrightshire (Scotland) FreeCen Project uklancs - Lancashire (England) Look Up Exchange ukderby - Derbyshire (England) Look Up Exchange wlsponths - Pontnewynydd (Wales) History Society 5d. New Mailing Lists To Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ------------------------------------------------------------- To find or subscribe to a mailing list, or to search archived posts to more than 30,000 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy mailing lists, go to http://lists.rootsweb.com/. NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS GILDING GRUIN HAINDL INICO KERRY KMAN KNEEFEL LATNEY LIMESAND MACAMAUX MACINDOE MCEUARY MCMURRER MCPHETRIDGE MCQUANY NITE NORD RUTSAY STEINMUELLER WINSLETT YANNAYON NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS UNITED-KINGDOM NEW ETHNIC OR SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS APG-NEW-ENGLAND - A mailing list for the discussion and sharing of information regarding the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG) and its activities. AUS-NEWSPAPERS-DIGITALIZATION-PROJECT - This mailing list is for use of the Australian Newspapers Digitalization Project an important new genealogical and historical resource that is digitizing all Historic Australian Newspapers, 1803 to 1954. A discussion list for people who are transcribing, ENG-MIDDLESEX-CRIMINALS - A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in people who were convicted criminals in MIDDLESEX County, England. VA-FALLING-RIVER-GROUP-DNA - A mailing list to bring together all surnames that fall under the Falling River Group around Campbell County, VA. Unique to the plague of 1800's surviving orphans names were changed after adoption. WOODNUTT-DNA - This mailing list is for the discussion and sharing of information regarding the Y-chromosome DNA project currently being done for the Woodnutt surname and variations (e.g., Woodnut, Woodnett, Woodnoth) worldwide. 6. You Found It She Really Was While searching through Ancestry.com's index of original death records for Kentucky (1852-1953), I found the parents for Elizabeth Penn listed as: father: Ben Sinclair -- mother: "Shewasa Griffith". Thinking "Shewasa" was rather odd for a first name, I brought up the original record and it really read "she was a" Griffith. * * * Anticipation "When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather...NOT screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car!" Found at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cochran/leafingaround.htm Amy Wilson * * * You Should In 1930 Otta B Weaver was living in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. He was an editor, but perhaps he wasn't happy with that job?? His name really was Otta, he was also listed in the voters registration. Connie Trier * * * 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. 7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, and 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 editor is considered to be for publication--send 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: Kathryn Davidson, kdavidson@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 March 2009, Vol. 12, No. 3. * * *