ROOTSWEB REVIEW: Genealogical Data Cooperative Weekly News Vol. 1, No. 12, 2 September 1998; Circulation: 206,200+ Copyright (c) 1998 RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG * * * * * CONTENTS: News from RootsWeb; Connecting through RootsWeb; Geek Speak; Mailing Lists; Web Sites; Behind the Scenes at RootsWeb: Excerpts from the Staff Diary; Writing Genealogical Correspondence; Humor; Reprint Policy; Authors' Guidelines; Unsubscribe Instructions NEWS FROM ROOTSWEB ROOTSWEB NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT: As you'll read in the next article, use of RootsWeb grew again in August. Genealogists made 57,000,000 requests to our Web servers and exchanged 103,000,000 pieces of e-mail using our list servers. Genealogists downloaded more than a million files from the USGenWeb Archives and other FTP sites. This continued growth in load is straining both our main Web server and our main list server, and both desperately need to be upgraded so we can continue adding new Websites and mailing lists. If you haven't become a RootsWeb Member yet, your support now would be most appreciated. Details of how you can join can be found at: Note that you can now JOIN BY FAX, as well as by mail or by using your credit card and our secure Web server. Thanks to all those who already have become Members, Sponsors, Donors, and Patrons, and a special thanks to Palladium Interactive and Ultimate Family Tree. RootsWeb wouldn't exist without your support. AUGUST 1998 ROOTSWEB STATISTICS. Dr. Leverich reports in summary: During August, use of RootsWeb's services grew on average about 15%. Details follow: o 3,078 independently-authored Websites are hosted by RootsWeb. o 57,294,189 total Web hits: - 15,545,371 were HTML pages. - 8,116,870 were cgi-bin database searches and such. - 33,435,089 were graphics (GIFs, JPEGs, etc). o 1,161,830 FTP file downloads from the USGenWeb Archives and the ROOTS-L Library. o 4,186 independently-operated mailing lists are hosted by RootsWeb. o 103,079,174 pieces of e-mail to our mailing list subscribers. o 60,000 alt.g and s.g.* Usenet News articles distributed to hosts on three continents. o 926,726,400,000 bytes of genealogical information shipped in total (next month we may break 1 Terabyte!). ROOTSWEB OFFERS TWO NEW SERVICES. RootsWeb Sponsors and Donors can now buy two new services through RootsWeb. For our Sponsors, we are now offering personal Web space on our "Homepages" server. The cost is extremely low, and reflects RootsWeb's actual cost in providing the space. Details are available at: For our Donors, we'll be starting a new program called "Donors-Plus" that, for a modest additional cost, allows you to both have Web space (to which you are already entitled) and also your own domain name at RootsWeb. Then your URL will appear as simply: .rootsweb.com/> where can be whatever you choose. Donors with RootsWeb Web experience (USGenWeb counties, etc.) can write to to become beta testers. Within the next few weeks, we'll be allowing any interested Donor to upgrade their membership to Donor-Plus and have their own domain names. * * * TOP TEN UPLOADS TO THE USGENWEB ARCHIVES (DIGITAL LIBRARY). Linda Lewis writes: "The USGenWeb Archives , although only two years old, will soon have one Gigabyte of raw data online, freely accessible to researchers. These files have been transcribed and submitted by volunteers who believe in sharing genealogy data with others. Volunteers of the USGenWeb Archives Census Project in the last week have uploaded complete transcriptions of the following county census records: (1) 1810 - Pendleton County KY; (2) 1810 - Kings County NY; (3) 1830 - Henry County IN; (4) 1840 - Ohio County KY; (5) 1850 - Crawford County AR; (6) 1850 - Clark County IA; (7) 1850 - Iowa County IA; (8) 1850 - Ripley County MO; (9) 1850 - Wayne County MS; (10) 1870 - Carbon County WY; (11) 1870 - Lycoming County PA; and (12) 1870 - Coleman County TX." That was the top 12. We got carried away. More than 10 MILLION birth, marriage, death, and census records are in the USGenWeb Archives. The Archives file managers upload dozens of record sets each day, so visit often. * * * Pam Carey Durstock reports "the entire GenConnect system will be upgraded starting at midnight on Sat., 5 Sep 1998. This will require that we shut the system down. Downtime is estimated to be 8 hours max." DO NOT SPAM LISTS WITH THIS NOTICE. * * * ROOTSWEB HELPDESK: For answers to your questions about RootsWeb, visit the HelpDesk at: * * * * * CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB: Thanks for sharing your stories. * * * A couple of years ago I responded to a query in a RootsWeb list from a Mary in the U.S. who was looking for a passenger list for a ship which had entered New Zealand (where I was born). I was going to the library the next week and offered to do a look-up for her. So she gave me some details, and a little bell started ringing. The name was very familiar. So I quickly e-mailed the details to my mother in New Zealand and she passed them on to her elderly father. Turns out Mary's uncle and my grandfather had been next-door neighbours when granddad was a kid. Mary and granddad struck up a friendship by letter, and he was able to identify people in old photographs for her. And Mary was able to provide information for the local museum regarding what had happened to the former residents of the area after they left for America. Unfortunately my beloved grandfather died on Boxing Day last year, aged 80. I e-mailed Mary, and she sent my mother a lovely card. Thank you, RootsWeb, for helping my grandfather reminisce in his final years, and for helping Mary contact one of the last few people who could have helped fill in her "jigsaw." Christine Abela, Melbourne, Australia * * * I would like to share how the internet has reunited a part of our family that we never thought we'd find. If it hadn't been for the Internet and the wonderful people that I've corresponded with because of it, I would probably never have found them, and the way that things ultimately worked out borders on the miraculous. When my mother was two years old her parents split up and she never saw her father again. This was before the days of child support enforcement; there were no birthday or Christmas cards and no letters. They heard rumors that he moved to Vermont, remarried and had several more children, but they knew nothing. They eventually lost contact with everyone: grandparents, aunts, and uncles. So, I have been on a double mission since I started working on my family's genealogy, the first being to record our roots and the second to help my mom and aunt find out more about their lost family. When I posted my inquiry to the Northeast Roots Mailing list, a very nice man who lives in the town where mom was born actually went into the town clerk's office and did some lookups for me. Through him I discovered where my grandfather was living when his father died and from there I was able to find out the name of his county of residence. I sent e- mail to the USGenWeb Project coordinator for that county asking if she could find out the names and birthdates I needed, never expecting more than that. I was disappointed when she wrote back saying she didn't feel comfortable dealing with contemporary families, but she did give me the address of a professional genealogist, an older gentleman, who lived in a neighboring town. He didn't have Internet access, or even a computer, so I had to write via snail mail and explain my situation. It seemed like it took forever. When he replied, he said that he didn't need to do any research to answer my questions. Not only was he familiar with that family, but also he had lived in an apartment upstairs from them for quite a while and was a good friend! About a month later my mom's brother Robert called to introduce himself and the following summer my mom and aunt finally, after more than 60 years, got to meet the brothers and sisters they never knew they had. Martha J. Loss * * * I started using RootsWeb one year ago this month. I met two cousins who lived within 50 miles of me. Until this time I never knew any of my cousins because my father was in the service and we traveled a lot. I decided that RootsWeb was a great place and so I joined. Then I discovered that I could have two mail lists. I started the MadduxCousins-L@rootsweb.com in March of this year with the three of us. It is August and we now have more 100 cousins via snailmail and MadduxCousins-L. Those on the list share the addresses of those who are not on the internet. 95% of us are descendants of Alexander Maddox b. 1613, arrived Virginia in 1635. We also have a Web page and we are sharing information abundantly. Does it work? You bet it does. Patricia Caster * * * * * GEEK SPEAK: Allyson Douglas writes: "Just a note to remind you that the "ohnosecond" is not a singular phenomenon. It is directly related to "class room brain freeze" suffered by high school and college students throughout the world. Have pity on the poor souls who suffer from both." * * * * * MAILING LIST REQUESTS: USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb hosts may have FREE locality mailing lists for the areas they host and for that purpose may ignore the "Sponsors-only" warning on the list request page. Please request new mailing lists at: * * * 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 Hessian soldiers mailing list, send your SUBSCRIBE message to: AMREV-HESSIANS-L-request@rootsweb.com For an index to most user mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit . (PLEASE NOTE: Although all of the new mailing lists mentioned in RootsWeb Review are "live," it might be a few days before they appear on the ~maillist site.) NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS: AILSTOCK (includes AYLESTOCK and ALESTOCK) APPLE ASHWORTH AUGER (includes AUGUR, AUGIER, AUDGER, AUNGER, AGAR, ODGER, ANGIER, AUGIER, ANGER, ELGER, ALGER, etc.) BALMER (from Switzerland to Indiana to Washington State) BIAS (includes BYAS, BYUS, BYARS) BLATTENBERGER (includes PLATTENBERGER, PLATTENBURG, BLATTENBERGER) BRAND BROTZMAN (includes BRUTZMAN, PRUTZMAN, PROTTSMAN, BROTZMAN) BURGETT (includes BURGET, BURGETTE, BURGERT, etc.) CAPSTACK (includes CAPSTICK) CHARITY COLBURN (includes COBURN) CRANFORD CRUMLEY CUNDIFF DEVASIER GAMEL GIBBONS (includes BIGGINS, GIBENS, etc.) HACKWORTH (includes HACKWORTHE) HOBAN (includes HOBEN, HOBIN, HOOBAN, HOWBANE, HUBAN, etc.) HOFF (includes HUFF, HOUGH, etc.) LIVERMORE LOOKINGBILL (includes LUCKENBELL) METHVIN (includes METHVEN, etc.) MITCHELL NEVEU NEWMAN OGLESBY OVERBAUGH (includes OBERBACH) PHELAN SAINT SOULE ST-ARNAUD (includes ST. ARNOU, ST. ARNOULD, ST. ARNOUD, ST. ARNAUX, ST. ARNAULT) STITES TRUAX (includes TRUEX, TRUEAX, TRUAXE, DU TRIEUX, etc.) WEDERELL (only WEDERELL) WERTZ (includes WERTS, WURTZ, etc.) WILAND (includes WILANT, WEYLAND, WEYLANT, WYLAND, WYAND, WEYAND, WIANT, and WIAND) WORKS NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS IRELAND IRL-ANTRIM -- County Antrim SCOTLAND ORKNEY -- Orkney Islands SCT-FIFE -- Fife WALES Wales-CC -- WorldGenWeb County Coordinators for Wales U.S.A. ALCONECU -- Conecuh County, Alabama ALESCAMB -- Escambia County, Alabama ARSEARCY -- Searcy County, Arkansas CTFAIRFI -- Fairfield County,Connecticut GATROUP -- Troup County, Georgia IAHAMILT -- Hamilton County, Iowa IAOSCEOL -- Osceola County, Iowa INWELLS -- Wells County, Indiana KSJACKSO -- Jackson County, Kansas KYLEWIS -- Lewis County, Kentucky MILAPEER -- Lapeer County, Michigan MIOAKLAN -- Oakland County, Michigan MOKNOX -- Knox County, Missouri MSNESHOB -- Neshoba County, Mississippi NCBATH -- Bath County, North Carolina NCPAMLIC -- Pamlico County, North Carolina NCPASQUO -- Pasquotank County, North Carolina NJMERCER -- Mercer County, New Jersey NYWARREN -- Warren County, New York OKOKMULG -- Okmulgee County, Oklahoma OKWOODWA -- Woodward County, Oklahoma PAUNION -- Union County, Pennsylvania TXVICTOR -- Victoria County, Texas NEW MAILING LISTS (ETHNIC, GENERAL INTEREST, MISCELLANEOUS) AMREV-HESSIANS -- Hessian soldiers (German auxiliary troops employed by King George III of England) who remained in America after the American Revolution APG -- Association of Professional Genealogists Clooz -- Users of the "Clooz" software program Down-Home-Chatter -- History and culture of southeast Kentucky: KSARCHIVE -- Submitting items to the USGenWeb Kansas Archives (not a discussion list) * * * * * WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. To request a Web account please e-mail the information to: accounts@rootsweb.com * * * NEW WEB SITES: AYRSHIRE PAGE BENDER JENNINGS AND ASSOCIATED FAMILIES BROYLES/BRILES CAROLE PALMER'S PERSONAL GENEALOGY RECORDS CLAN SCOTT SOCIETY, INC. CLENDINEN FAMILY CORNISH-L VOLUNTEER LOOK-UP LIBRARY DAVID & DENISE HULL DILLARD FAMILY ASSOC. FAMILY TIES FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE GALLIMAUFRY HARNEDS OF AMERICA, The HELMAN FAMILY HEPBURN FAMILY HOMESITE OF DAVID L SNOW INDEX/GENEAL'Y DEPOSITORY KAY MASON'S HOME PAGE KEN HOLLINGSWORTH'S GEN. MADDUX COUSINS MEL'S FAMILY TREE NADINE'S FAMILY HISTORY OUR PLACE IN TIME PHANTOM3, GONFISHN, B-BALLMAN, TABBYCAT AND FISHKILLR'S WEB PAGE PIGLET'S GENEALOGY PAGES RITA STANFIER MAGGARD'S NUTTIN' EXCITIN' WEB PAGE SCOTTISH PAGE SHIRLEY HORNBECK'S THIS AND THAT GENEALOGY TIPS WELCOME TO SUE'S WORLD * * * * * BEHIND THE SCENES AT ROOTSWEB: EXCERPTS FROM THE STAFF DIARY 2 Sep 1998 (Dr. Leverich) There's an awesome thunderstorm in Bakersfield, and DataCourse lost power long enough that they blew through their battery reserves. They *just* got power back, but it may be a while until bak-12 fscks and comes back. I may be launching for Bakersfield with one of our generators and some of our power conditioning gear before long, just for safety. Julie and Myra, we may have to delay the RWR. Losing DataCourse means we lost some of the outbound bandwidth the RWR consumes. We're holding the RWR and ROOTS-L digests and a few other odds and ends until the site is full up again. * * * * * WRITING GENEALOGICAL CORRESPONDENCE by Doug Smith, Senior Producer Palladium Interactive, Inc. Like many hobbyists I learned good research habits by making mistakes or achieving success. Letter writing was no different. The responses to my first letters were embarrassing. The clerks who read my letters found them unclear or lacking in important information required to locate the record. After more than a few returned requests I did my best to follow these simple rules: * Determine the correct address for the agency that can provide a certified copy of an official record. * Always know the correct cost of the record or search you want. Send the payment in an acceptable form. I always send payment in the form of a money order. Virtually everyone accepts money orders since they are as good as cash. * When I anticipate writing lots of letters to a specific area I purchase a phone book for that town or county. * Be specific about the record you ask for and always include enough information about the person in the record you expect to find. When you send for a birth record, also mention the mother's maiden name and the father's name as well as any dates or places that might be used to confirm the identity of a person. * Provide as much information as you can on one page. The longer the letter the less likely you are to get a good response. * Be neat. Make sure your letter is easy to read. * Keep in mind that official records are not kept primarily for genealogical purposes. Registrars are busy with the work of the courts and other public agencies. * Don't write with a chip on your shoulder. An angry, pushy, or demanding attitude gets you nothing. Look at it this way: in most cases you will be writing for information where you don't pay taxes. The fee you pay for the record probably doesn't cover the entire cost of the search. Your success depends on how well you write the letter and in the quality of the information you supply. An angry letter is going to get very little notice. Angry letters can also ruin the next search for the next family historian who mails a request to that same clerk. * Always send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with each request. I do this even if the cost of the record should include return postage. Things have improved a lot since I started in the 1980s. The Palladium Interactive Records Requester is an excellent genealogical utility for creating and tracking my correspondence. It contains many of the addresses you will need for vital record searches in the U.S. and abroad. (Records Requester comes with default letters in 13 languages.) You can edit letters that the program creates to reflect your writing style, and even keep copies of the letters for later review. The handy correspondence log in the product not only tracks the letters it creates, it lets me log all my correspondence. For sure, I'll never write the same letter twice. My correspondence is clearer and includes all the important information. * * * * * HUMOR: MORE NOTES ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH SPEAKERS Keith Goodway <106355.2032@compuserve.com> writes: "In RootsWeb Review, Vol. 1, No. 11, Dennis Thornton wrote about the Potteries (Stoke-on-Trent) accent. The Potteries are made up of six towns, stretching over a distance of six miles, from Tunstall in the north to Neck End (Longton) in the south. I have been told by older inhabitants, who have lived here all their lives, that they used to be able to tell which of the towns a person came from by his accent, because there were differences in spite of their closeness to one another. I have lived here for 40 years, but I cannot detect the differences, although they are probably not as pronounced now, because of movement between the towns." * * * * * PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from ROOTSWEB REVIEW is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; (2) full credit is given to RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative and the author involved, in a notice crediting RootsWeb Review (volume, number, publication date, and the address of RootsWeb's main Web page at and the author (name, e-mail address, and URL, if applicable)). AUTHORS MUST ADVISE THE EDITORS AT THE TIME OF SUBMISSION OF AN ARTICLE for consideration for publication in ROOTSWEB REVIEW if their special permission to reprint is required. ROOTSWEB REVIEW ARCHIVES: Back issues of RootsWeb Review may be downloaded from UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS: To unsubscribe from RootsWeb Review, please e-mail: and put ONLY the word "unsubscribe" (omit the quotation marks) in the subject line and in the body of the message. YOUR EDS. ARE UNABLE TO RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR RESEARCH HELP ____ Julia M. Case, Co-editor of "Missing Links" and "RootsWeb Review" To subscribe, put ONLY the word "subscribe" (omit quotation marks) in subject and body of message and e-mail to the address(es) above. Visit RootsWeb at: