ROOTSWEB REVIEW: Genealogical Data Cooperative Weekly News Vol. 1, No. 5, 15 July 1998; Circulation: 195,000+ researchers Copyright (c) 1998 RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG * * * * * RootsWeb Review is e-mailed on Wednesdays to all who make use of the resources provided by RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative. UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS: If you would prefer not to receive future issues of RootsWeb Review, please e-mail: RootsWeb-Review-L-request@rootsweb.com and put ONLY the word "unsubscribe" (omit the quotation marks) in the subject line and in the body of the message. * * * * * CONTENTS: New at RootsWeb; RootsWeb/IIGS Internet Relay Chat (IRC); Connecting through RootsWeb; Geek Speak; New Mailing Lists; New Web Pages; Things to Do Before You Call Technical Support; and Beethoven's Ninth. * * * * * NEW AT ROOTSWEB: RootsWeb is currently caught up on the backlog of creating new accounts. However, if you previously submitted a new account request and have not received your account information, please resubmit. We regret any oversights. To request a Web account please e-mail the information to: accounts@rootsweb.com You are welcome to apply also for locality mailing lists. USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb hosts can have FREE locality lists for the areas they host. (Please ignore the "Sponsors-only" warning on the list request page.) Request these accounts at: * * * Myra asked Brian, "Why should genealogists choose RootsWeb over other outfits offering mailing lists?" Here is Dr. Leverich's response. Our median latencies (time between when we receive a post and when we deliver it to all list subscribers who have servers ready to accept mail) is measured in seconds. Our uptime is very close to 100%, and we almost never lose mail. I don't know anyone who runs lists like we do. The free list sites not only are not in the same league as us, they aren't even playing the same game. Delays and lost mail galore. Some servers don't offer all our features but charge $150 per list per year. We have no advertisements on our Sponsors' lists. We won't sell our subscribers' addresses. We won't exploit our lists in any other commercial way. RootsWeb's lists are generally more flexible than anyone else's. You can have customized welcome letters, you can close or open your own lists, you can have your own taglines, you can have the list name in the subject line, etc. And you can do all those customizations from a reasonably friendly "Listowner's Utility Page." SmartList handles most bounces "automagically," so you don't have the continuing headache of weeding out bad addresses. We probably already have better spam filters (and attachment filters and so on) than most other sites, and with Tim's work we're certainly moving faster than anyone else at improving our defenses. We have searchable archives. We have archives that can be retrieved by e-mail. Soon we will have HTMLized archives. We have mass and we have the megaphone. Create a list at some other servers and you're out in the electronic boonies, and nobody much announces the creation of your list. Create a list at RootsWeb and you show up in , which is where most folks start looking for genealogy lists these days. And you're announced in the RWR, which virtually guarantees that you get a dollop of new subscribers just when you need them to get things going. * * * If you would like to help RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, by becoming a member, sponsor, donor, or patron, please visit: * * * * * INTERNATIONAL INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY INTERNET RELAY CHAT (IRC) . The IIGS IRC service is hosted by RootsWeb and maintained by the IRC team. Set up exclusively for genealogy, the IIGS IRC is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so that genealogists around the world can meet. Do not despair if there aren't many people online. Stay for a while, or check back later. Once you have IRC software installed on your system (available by clicking the link to ), direct your IRC client to: irc.IIGS.org or irc.rootsweb.com port 6667 or port 7000 For a listing of regularly scheduled IIGS IRC sessions, visit . Then select the time zone and click on the "Change to Selected Time Zone" button to display details for the selected time zone. Unless you do this, the schedule you see will be given for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB: We're all encouraged by the success of other researchers, and often another's tale gives us a new idea about how to approach our own research problems. Thanks to those who have shared their stories. Please keep them coming! * * * Marina Dececo wrote on July 2, 1998: I met a cousin through RootsWeb and through him, have met five more cousins and an entire family that my mother didn't know existed. We've been passing information back and forth and filling in the gaps. I'm thrilled and my mother is thrilled. My grandfather was Isaac Hubbard PRESTON who left his home in Branch County, Michigan in 1876 to live with a cousin in Illinois. From there, he moved to California in 1882 to further his education. He did return to Michigan two or three times, as I have recently found out. He had left a 10-page handwritten manuscript which is what lead me to his people in Michigan. As it turns out, my great-great-great-grandfather, John Preston, settled in Blissfield, Lenawee County, Michigan between 1823 and 1825, having come from Vermont. I have also learned much more about my great-grandfather, who was a circuit preacher. My mother was unaware of this family and had never known her grandfather since he died before she was born. My grandfather was 58 years old when she was born and may not have been up to traveling in later life. I had a query in RootsWeb and shortly after I posted it, a cousin replied to it. He lead me to other cousins with whom I've been able to exchange information. There has been a Preston reunion held in Michigan continuously since 1890, all descendants of John Preston. I am going to attend that reunion in July and meet my new-found cousins! I have also met another (further removed) cousin from an earlier generation of the family. She has been sharing information with me about my great-great-great-great-grandfather. I also subscribe to several mailing lists for various surnames and counties. They have proven to be very informative and I have made some good contacts from them. * * * Bonnie Bunce wrote: "I enjoyed reading about others' success using RootsWeb to connect to other family researchers, and thought I'd share Dora Smith's and my story." A few months ago I did a search on the RSL list for the surname CHAMBERS, which I knew to be the married surname of a woman I thought was possibly a sister of my great-great-grandfather, Jesse Osborn KENNEDY. A number of Chambers researchers turned up in the search including Dora Smith, so I sent her and a couple of the others an e-mail message asking who were the parents of my Jesse Osborn Kennedy, and saying I thought he might be related to Matilda (Kennedy) Chambers, whose name I had found in the book, Delaware Bible Records, Vol. 3, by Donald Virdin, which also stated she was the daughter of James and Catherine (DeHaven) Kennedy. I had learned from earlier correspondence with the DeHaven Club in Texas that the Club only knew of two daughters born to James and Catherine (DeHaven) Kennedy, Mary and Matilda, and they didn't know of any other children, but they didn't rule out the possibility that there were others. Dora didn't know if Jesse was a brother of Matilda, but it turned out Dora was a descendant of a sister of Catherine (DeHaven) Kennedy, so it looked like we were fourth cousins, but we still needed proof. Dora and I exchanged email, and I mentioned to her that I had seen a book at the Denver Public Library that listed the probate records for different counties in Pennsylvania, and that this book indicated our mutual ancestors, Jesse and Mary Magdalene (Pluck) DeHaven, had probate records, so we split the work: I wrote for copies of the probate records from Chester County Archives, and Dora wrote for information on the Kennedy surname from the Chester County Historical Society, and both of us hit paydirt. I got copies of the will of Jesse DeHaven and the intestate probate record for his wife, which I copied and sent to Dora. And, the historical society sent her copies of numerous newspaper clippings. Among them were several references to my Jesse O. Kennedy in West Chester, Chester Co., Pennsylvania, one announcing the celebration of his 85th birthday in April, 1906, and several notices a couple of months later of his death, which gave some information about his life including the fact that he was the last of the seven children of James and Catherine (DeHaven) Kennedy to pass away, so I did have the proof I was seeking, but got some additional puzzles too, like who were the other unknown four siblings of my Jesse O. Kennedy, and did any of his siblings or children go with him when he went to live in Carlyle, Illinois some time between 1865-70 and 1887, after which on account of failing health he returned to Pennsylvania? Also, what were the full names of the spouses of four of his daughters and 1 son? I have learned the names of the spouses of two daughters, since one was my great-grandmother and another is mentioned in his obituary because Jesse was living with one of his daughters and son-in-law at the time of his death. So there's still more work to be done. I guess the moral is: don't overlook the collateral family names. You can find new information some times by taking sidetracks. We're both still working on learning more about the family; Dora is trying to track down the church records of the church Catherine (DeHaven) Kennedy was said to be a member of in Jesse's obituary, i.e. Old School Baptist Church in Mill Creek Hundred in Delaware, and I'm trying to learn more about the family while they were living in Carlyle, Illinois. since I'm pretty certain some of Jesse's children accompanied him there, and possibly at least one brother. We've been enjoying our discoveries immensely, and in the process learning much about the religious groups that our ancestors were members of. According to family stories passed down in my family as well as other branches of the DeHaven line, the DeHavens were Huguenots, French Protestants, and Dora has uncovered evidence that our earliest DeHavens were members of a group called the Waldensians in 15th-century France. * * * Jim Kessler wrote on July 3: For a long time I was at a dead end about my paternal great- great-grandmother, Marianna COURTADE, with the only clue being a marriage record from 1836, which didn't really clear up a disagreement on how to spell her last name. A little over a year ago someone saw my posting and, through several intermediaries hooked me up to a cousin in Ohio who had lost track of Marianna after her marriage. I now have hundreds of new cousins in the U.S. but also have new relatives in the Alsace with a history back to 1620. This spring, I was located by Bev in Michigan who is researching my KENNEDY roots. She immediately put me into contact with a cousin in my town, and more recently to a second cousin in Mississippi. Last week I received an e-mail from a third cousin in Florida who has been corresponding with a mutual cousin in Tennessee who is doing a GANDY genealogy book. "How sweet it is" that we each have information the others are missing. RootsWeb deserves no small amount of credit for hooking us up! * * * * * GEEK SPEAK: The Jargon Dictionary: Terms: The B Terms: boxen boxen /bok'sn/ /pl.n./ [by analogy with VAXen] Fanciful plural of box often encountered in the phrase `Unix boxen', used to describe commodity Unix hardware. The connotation is that any two Unix boxen are interchangeable. * * * * * THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU CALL TECHNICAL SUPPORT by Stan Carman, Technical Support Manager Palladium Interactive, Inc. Using computers for genealogical research has become the standard for many researchers. It is not uncommon for researchers to enter their finds on a laptop at the library and then import the information into the desktop at home. This works just fine until something goes wrong. What do you do next? Years of research could be hanging in the balance. Before you make that call to Technical Support, here are some things that you can try. The most important thing that any software manufacturer will tell you is to make frequent backups of your work. Keeping multiple copies of a backup also provides more insurance, as magnetic media do not last forever. One should not rely on a single set of floppies, zip disk, or tape for backups. When problems arise, always check the manual for help. For example, the Ultimate Family Tree manual has a section covering common error messages and what the corrective action would be. A visit to the software publisher's Web site also may provide quick solutions to minor problems. Most sites provide not only sections on frequently asked questions (FAQ) but some, like , also provide searchable knowledge bases that may hold the answer. You may also find that message boards and newsgroups offer help. Yet another great source of assistance is a local computer enthusiast club, or, better yet, a computer genealogy user group. Within such groups you'll find others who share your interests. Members of these groups probably have had the same or similar problems and might be able to help you. Are you still unable to find a solution to your problem? The call to technical support is the next step. Here are some pointers to make that call flow smoothly. These suggestions will assist the technician in finding a solution to your problem. 1. Be ready at your computer when you make the call. This will enable the support technician to talk you through a potential solution. 2. Be prepared with some basic information. The support technician will need to know the product you are calling about as well as its version, the operating system you use (Macintosh, Windows), and the amount of memory you have on your computer. 3. If you've received a specific error, have available the exact message that you received including additional details on what functions you were using immediately prior to receiving it. 4. Be prepared to inform the technician whether (a) you can make the error happen at will, (b) it happened once, or (c) it seems to happen only after a certain set of circumstances. When technical issues do arise, the most important thing to remember is that help is right around the corner. An answer to your particular problem is most probably within reach. * * * Palladium Interactive needs your help. Your opinion counts. Please take a moment to take our survey at: http://www.macroinc.com/palladium/survey/survey.cgi?source=tester * * * * * MAILING LISTS: To subscribe or unsubscribe from any RootsWeb mailing list, send an e-mail message with only the word SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the subject and the body of the message to [name of list]-L-request@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or to [name of list]-D-request@rootsweb.com (for digest mode). For example, if you wish to be added to the mailing list for Decatur County, Georgia, send your SUBSCRIBE message to: GADECATU-L-request@rootsweb.com For an index to most user mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit * * * NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS: ACKER ALBRITTON (includes ALBRITON) BRADEN BROOKSHIRE BURDICK CHAMBLEE (includes CHAMLEE, CHAMBLEY, SHAMBLEE, SHAMBLY, SHAMLY) COLE (includes COAL, KOHL, etc.) CROSS DELAUDER (includes DELATTER, DELATTRE, etc.) DORAN GIST (includes GUEST, GUESS, GISS, GASS) HEMOND (and variants) HOBACK ICENOGLE (includes EISENNAGEL) JACOBS KEECH (includes KEACH, KETCH, etc.) KILE LUFSEY (and variants) LUMBLEY (includes LUMLEY, LUMBEY, LUMLY) MCNEILLY MICHAEL MINIER (includes MANIER, MINEGAR, MYNHIER) MOHICKOR MULLIS NISWONGER RADER RASURE (includes RAZOR, RASOR) SLATON SNOWDON (includes SNOWDEN) SOUCY (and variants) STACKHOUSE SWINFORD TROBAUGH URBAN VanGUNDY WINTON NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CANADA ONTARIO -- Ontario, CANADA ENGLAND SOG-UK -- The Society of Genealogists of England SOG-NEWS -- News of the Society of Genealogists of England U.S.A. COCONEJO-- Conejo County, CO COMINERA -- Mineral County, CO COMONTEZ -- Montezuma County, CO COSAGUAC -- Saguache County, CO COYUMA -- Yuma County, CO FLBRADFO -- Bradford County, FL GADECATU -- Decatur County, GA IDPOWER -- Power County, ID KYADAIR -- Adair County, KY KYROCKCA -- Rockcastle County, KY MIBERRIE -- Berrien County, MI MICASS -- Cass County, MI MIKENT -- Kent County, MI MIVANBUR -- Van Buren County, MI MOCARTER -- Carter County, MO MOHICKOR -- Hickory County, MO MOREYNOL -- Reynolds County, MO MORIPLEY -- Ripley County, MO MOSHANNO -- Shannon County, MO NCCOLUMB -- Columbus County, NC NCHYDE -- Hyde County, NC NCJOHNST -- Johnston County, NC NCMARTIN -- Martin County, NC NCSAMPSO -- Sampson County, NC NYSTEUBE -- Steuben County, NY PALYCOMI -- Lycoming County, PA TNBLEDSO -- Bledsoe County, TN (Cumberland and Sesquatchie) TNRHEA -- Rhea County, TN (and Meigs) TXCORYEL -- Coryell County, TX NEW MAILING LISTS (SPECIAL INTERESTS) ACWBLUE -- A list for genealogists and historians researching the Northern division of the American Civil War VAWBTSVETS -- Virginia Veterans of the War Between the States * * * * * NEW WEB SITES: Some of these might not yet be accessible. If one that interests you isn't up yet, please check again in a few days or a week. > (the ~ [tilde] before the name is required) will work for most of the following. If not, you will find most of them at the USGenWeb Project or the WorldGenWeb Project . For example, if you wish to visit the Laurentides Region, Quebec, Canada Web site, visit: CANADA onperth -- Ontario Perth County onyork -- Ontario York County ondonner -- Ontario Donner County qclauren -- Quebec Laurentides Region qcoutaou -- Quebec Outaouais Region casags -- Sloughhouse Area Genealogy Society U.S.A. azmarico -- Maricopa County, AZ casags -- Sloughhouse (Sacramento County, CA) Area Gen. Soc. ilgrundy -- Grundy County, IL inkosciu -- Kosclusko County, IN kyallen -- Allen County, KY meacton -- Acton (town in York County), ME modallas -- Dallas County, MO mowebste -- Webster County, MO mohickor -- Hickory County, MO mowright -- Wright County, MO ncbuncom -- Buncombe County, NC nmsandov -- Sandoval County, NM ncgenweb -- Genweb, NC ohcagg -- Computer Aided Genealogy Group, Ohio ohgcgg -- Greater Cleveland Genealogy Group, Ohio okmayes -- Mayes County, OK orlgs -- Lebanon [Linn County, OR] Genealogical Society sdturner -- Turner County, SD tnbenton -- Benton County, TN tntipton -- Tipton County, TN vatazewe -- Tazewell County, VA vawhs -- Warren [Warren County, VA] Heritage Society wasgs -- Washington State Genealogial Society waogs -- Olympia, WA Genealogical Society wvmonong -- Monongalia County, WV * * * * * HUMOR: Thanks to Pat Calloway for sharing this story. BEETHOVEN'S NINTH A tourist in Vienna is going through a graveyard and all of a sudden he hears some music. No one is around, so he starts searching for the source. He finally locates the origin and finds it is coming from a grave with a headstone that reads: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770- 1827. Then he realizes that the music is the Ninth Symphony and it is being played backward! Puzzled, he leaves the graveyard and persuades a friend to return with him. By the time they arrive back at the grave, the music has changed. This time it is the Seventh Symphony, but like the previous piece, it is being played backward. Curious, the men agree to consult a music scholar. When they return with the expert, the Fifth Symphony is playing, again backward. The expert notices that the symphonies are being played in the reverse order in which they were composed, the 9th, then the 7th, then the 5th. By the next day the word has spread and a throng has gathered around the grave. They are all listening to the Second Symphony being played backward. Just then the graveyard's caretaker ambles up to the group. Someone in the crowd asks him if he has an explanation for the music. "Don't you get it?" the caretaker said. "He's decomposing!" * * * * * *WE ARE UNABLE TO ANSWER E-MAIL REQUESTS FOR RESEARCH ASSISTANCE