ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 2, No. 47, 24 November 1999, Circulation: 372,188+ (c) 1999 RootsWeb.com, Inc. RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG RootsWeb HelpDesk: Advertising: Public Relations/Press: DONATIONS HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU AND ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options (check or credit card), e-mail or visit . Mailing address: RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please write your e-mail address on all correspondence and checks.) * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE: o Announcements from the CEO o Thanksgiving Cards from RootsWeb o RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees o FreeBMD Project (England and Wales) o Communities Mailing Lists and Web Pages o Mailing Lists o Web Pages o GenConnect o USGenWeb Archives o USGenWeb Census Project o Letters to the Editors o Reprint Policy, Back Issues, How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CEO, by Robert R. Tillman o NEW AND IMPROVED PERSONALIZED MAILING LIST. ROOTSWEB's THANKSGIVING GIFT TO CONTRIBUTORS. Two weeks ago RootsWeb announced the beta test of a major new contributor benefit, the RootsWeb Personalized Mailing List (PML). This feature allows a RootsWeb contributor to enter multiple complex search terms and receive by e-mail notification each day of ANY new post that matches these search terms on ANY of RootsWeb's almost 15,000 archived mailing lists. Now this notification feature works with ANY of RootsWeb's almost 140,000 message boards AND with the RootsWeb Surname List, which contains more than 763,000 surname entries by 80,000 Net genealogists. Literally tens of thousands of new posts accumulate on RootsWeb on a given day, any of which might lead to a breakthrough in your research. Never again miss that important post on a mailing list to which you have not subscribed, on a message board that you have neglected to check, or on the RootsWeb Surname List. RootsWeb contributors at the $24/year level and above are invited to beta test this new feature at . If you wish to become a RootsWeb contributor or wish to upgrade your membership to the $24/year level, please visit . o BRIAN's BAD HAIR DAY, OR MURPHY WAS AN OPTIMIST. Some days are just flat awful. At about 5 o'clock on Thursday morning (18 November 1999), Brian Leverich was awakened by a report that the RootsWeb site was down. A disk drive had failed on the primary RootsWeb server, causing most of the site to be inaccessible. The RootsWeb network operations team replaced this drive and rebuilt the RAID array (a multiple hour process) but was then faced with another problem. Servers have identifying numbers (called IP numbers) exactly like telephone lines have telephone numbers. For reasons that may be associated with the first problem, the primary RootsWeb server and a secondary server thought that they had the same IP number, resulting in electronic head buttin. The team correctly diagnosed and fixed this problem. When it rains, it pours. A third problem appeared. RootsWeb's communications provider had problem in its network, which again took down the site. This was the killer problem of the day. The team reacted by implementing a software workaround that returned the RootsWeb site to the network. I think that they all deserve medals. I have never seen a group of people react more professionally in a crisis. I am proud to be working with them. o 6.7 MILLION NAMES ON ROOTSWEB WORLDCONNECT PROJECT. UPLOAD YOUR GEDCOM OVER THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY. As of today, RootsWeb users have uploaded more than 6.7 million names of their ancestors to the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project. Search the names already uploaded and/or upload your own GEDCOM at . o BECOME A ROOTSWEB PUBLIC RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE. TELL THE WORLD ABOUT THE ROOTSWEB WORLDCONNECT PROJECT. The more GEDCOMs that are uploaded to the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project, the more useful it becomes for all of us. Please send the WorldConnect Project press release (located at ) to your friends and family who have an interest in genealogy. Please also ask your local genealogy or historical society, newspaper, radio station, television station, genealogy columnist, or reporter with whom you have a personal acquaintance to cover the WorldConnect Project. o SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX UPDATED FOR OCTOBER 1999. NOW INCLUDES 62,391,543 NAMES. We have just received and implemented the October 1999 update to the Social Security Death Index. We regret to say that 132,345 more people died in October. (Randy Winch was heard to mutter that if people would just stop dying, he would not have to update the SSDI each month. But then again, as we had him working on his birthday, he has a right to be grumpy.) You can access the Social Security Death Index at . Please remember that you can use the exclusive Post-Em feature to add a note to the record of any individual in the SSDI, correcting an entry or leaving a message for anyone else searching for the same ancestor. o ROOTSWEB CONTINUES BETA TEST OF NEW ONLINE WEB PAGE EDITOR ON FREEPAGES. Now you can beta test the RootsWeb Web Page Editor at . As always, please be patient with us during the beta test period and provide us with the feedback necessary to improve and finalize this new feature on the Web Page Editor message board at . o 3,717 FULFILLED FREEPAGES REQUESTS. As of today, RootsWeb has fulfilled 3,717 requests for unlimited free Web space. To get your free unlimited Web space, please visit . FREEPAGES Directoryy (users' pages at FREEPAGES) . * * * CARDS AT ROOTSWEB THANKSGIVING CARDS SITE is up and running at . Send free cards to online family and friends today! * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES is not just for beginning genealogists or those new to RootsWeb. Everyone can find new and useful information in all of the lessons at . For example, among the links in Lesson 18, FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS is one to the Grave Markers Acronym Page of the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG) that contains an alphabetical listing of acronyms found on grave markers with links to the Web sites of some of the named organizations . This information might contain the very clue you need to break down the brick wall blocking your research. Lesson 19, HERALDRY FOR GENEALOGISTS, just went up last night at and consists of historical background, explanations of key terms, links to relevant Web sites, a word about items offered for sale in modern times, and a suggested reading and reference list. * ADVERTISEMENTS * SOMETHING FOR NOTHING? Get 300 personalized address labels FREE from iPrint.com! Pay only $1.45 for shipping within the U.S. Limited-time offer. First-time customers only. Click below to get started: . * * * Find out why FAMILY CHRONICLE is by far the fastest growing genealogy publication. Visit to see sample features and find out how you can receive a FREE trial copy with no obligation (some conditions apply). * * * CLASSMATES.COM. Remember the prom, the big game, opening night, or band camp? Who did you have a crush on? What was your favorite class? The best memories get even better when you share them with friends. Find your old high school friends on ClassMates.com, your 24-hour, 7-days-a-week online class reunion. * * * * * FreeBMD PROJECT NEWS UPDATE by Camilla Gemmingen von Massenbach FreeBMD co-Leader We hold a weekly IRC (Internet Relay Chat) meeting for discussion of all matters related to FreeBMD. Note that this coincides with a general UK and Ireland discussion on the same server. E-mail us, or see the FreeBMD list archives for details. The database has passed the 450,000 mark and we're easily on target for 500,000 before year end. Thank you for all your efforts and keep those entries coming in. Five entries or 5,000 entries, they will all help us reach our aim. You can watch the progress by looking at the graphs, linked from the main FreeBMD page . SpeedBMD, the data entry program written by Peter Cox with help from Chris Lloyd, the rest of the New Zealand syndicate and others, is available on the FreeBMD Web site. This program is proving extremely popular with transcribers and is reported to increase the speed of transcription radically. See . Saving the most exciting news for last, our latest acquisition is also going to increase the transcription rate. RootsWeb.com , which already supports FreeBMD with server facilities, has provided a specialised film and fiche reading scanner. We are now able to provide scans to those who have no other access to the source indexes. FreeBMD has volunteer transcribers who are just itching to start work, but who haven't been able to get hold of the Indexes to transcribe from. They will now be able to start work whether they are in Alaska or in Abergavenny, Birmingham or Bratislava, California or Croatia. The coordinator is standing by to help manage and allocate the scanned images. RootsWeb deserves a standing ovation for this extremely generous move which furthers the important aim of giving free access to source data on the Internet. * * * * * NEW MAILING LISTS IN COMMUNITIES. Communities mailing lists and Web pages are listed at as soon as they are established. You can subscribe to a list at that page. To learn which communities lists are up for adoption, visit: . Computers Community IRC-USERS Health Community DEPRESSION-L Houses Community REAL-ESTATE School-alumni Community CO-DURANGO-HS-L, MO-KIRKSVILLE-HS-L NEW WEB PAGES IN COMMUNITIES * * * * * MAILING LISTS. For an index to most user mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit . NEW MAILING LIST REQUESTS. Please request new mailing lists at: TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from any RootsWeb-hosted 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, to discuss the surname ENTREKIN, send a SUBSCRIBE message to: . NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BEDSOLE (includes BEDSAUL and BEDSOL) CLAYCOMB CULLINAN (includes CULLEN) DUIMSTRA ENGELBRECHT ENTREKIN NOACH SPURGIN STOCKINGER NEW ETHNIC, SPECIAL INTEREST, AND MISCELLANEOUS MAILING LISTS AHSGR-MPAC-COMMITTEE -- American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) Membership and Chapter development committee. FAMILY-ORIGINS -- For those using Family Origins software who have questions or suggestions which are above the topics allowed on the FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS mailing list, i.e., questions or suggestions beyond software-specific issues including associated topics that remain relevant to the use of Family Origins software and related genealogy projects. * * * * * NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Please see the instructions at . 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. . Note that the ~[tilde] before the account name is required. FOR EXAMPLE, to visit the Palestine Web page, go to . CANADA bckfhs -- Kitimat Family History Society (British Columbia) CARIBBEAN atgwgw -- Antigua and Barbuda ISRAEL isrpales -- Palestine U.S.A. caacbiog -- Alameda County, California Biography Project idsrhc -- Snake River Historical Center (Idaho) kylgs -- Louisville Genealogical Society (Kentucky) nchrha -- Haw River Historical Association (North Carolina) nnyacgs -- Northern New York American-Canadian Gen. Society pacahs -- Conestoga Area Historical Society (Pennsylvania) scberkel -- Berkeley County, South Carolina tnhancoc -- Hancock County, Tennessee * * * * * GENCONNECT. RootsWeb hosts more than 60,000 surname GenConnect boards that are in need of people to maintain them. Visit: o For a complete list of adoptable GenConnect surname boards o For the form to request to adopt a GenConnect surname board (the same form is used for surname mailing list requests) Have you found a genealogical treasure, such as a photo album or an old Bible containing a completed family record page, that you would like to see reunited with its family? If so, you may post a notice about it on the SOMEBODY'S LINKS GenConnect board at . * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- TRANSCRIPTIONS [Note: All material between a set of angle brackets is a part of the URL. In the case of a URL that is longer than one line, it will be necessary for you either to cut and paste the full URL or to type it carefully into your browser.] COLORADO. Bent County. Las Animas Cemetery records COLORADO. Bent County World War II Memorial COLORADO. Boulder County. 1881 Deed ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/co/boulder/land/culvgood.txt COLORADO. Cheyenne County. 1913 LARIAT (HS yearbook) ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/co/cheyenne/misc/1913ads.txt GEORGIA. 1820 Washington County Census GEORGIA. 1870 Washington County Census (Partial) ILLINOIS. 1860 Ogle County Census (Partial) MARYLAND. 1790 St. Mary's County Census MICHIGAN. 1880 Iosco County Census (Partial) MISSOURI. 1910 Butler County Census (Partial) NORTH DAKOTA. Richland County, Wahpeton. Funeral home records OHIO. Allen County. Pioneer Marriages updated OHIO. Allen County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Ashland County. Biographies OHIO. Ashtabula County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Belmont County. Marriages OHIO. Belmont County. Wills OHIO. Brown County. Biographies updated OHIO. Butler County. Biographies updated OHIO. Butler County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Champaign County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Champaign County. Probate OHIO. Clark County. Biographies updated OHIO. Clark County. Obituaries OHIO. Columbiana County. Deaths updated OHIO. Columbiana County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Cuyahoga County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Darke County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Franklin County. Biographies updated OHIO. Geauga County. Chardon Township Cemeteries OHIO. Geauga County. Montville Township Cemeteries OHIO. Hamilton County. Biographies updated OHIO. Hamilton County. Signers of a petition in July 1799, Territory North West of the Ohio River ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/hamilton/deeds/nw1799.txt OHIO. Highland County. Biographies updated OHIO. Huron County. Wills OHIO. Lucas County. Cemeteries updated OHIO. Lucas County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Mahoning County. Biographies updated ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/mahoning/bios/ OHIO. Mahoning County History (completed) OHIO. Military -- Unreturning Brave (World War I) OHIO. Medina County. Biographies updated OHIO. Muskingum County. Biographies updated OHIO. Muskingum County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Muskingum County. Wills updated OHIO. Richland County. Biographies OHIO. Stark County. Biographies updated OHIO. Stark County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Summit County. History updated OHIO. Summit County. Obituaries updated OHIO. Trumbull County. Biographies updated OHIO. Williams County. NEIDHARDT/MELBERN Cemetery PENNSYLVANIA. 1850 York County Census (Partial) SOUTH DAKOTA. Hand County School Records SOUTH DAKOTA. Hyde County School Records TENNESSEE. 1850 Warren County Census/Census Images Index WASHINGTON. Lewis County Cemeteries Page WASHINGTON. Lewis County. St. Urban Catholic Cemetery ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/wa/lewis/cemetery/sturban.txt * * * * * USGENWEB CENSUS PROJECT -- TRANSCRIPTIONS FLORIDA. 1850 Leon County Census ILLINOIS. 1860 Vermilion County Census (Blount Twp) IOWA. 1880 Palo Alto County Census (Village of Emmetsburg) IOWA. 1870 Pottawattamie County Census (Kane Twp, 3rd. Ward. Council Bluffs P.O.) MICHIGAN. 1870 Marquette County Census MISSISSIPPI. 1850 Tippah County Census MISSOURI. 1910 Butler County Census (Ash Hill, Beaver Dam, and Blackriver Twps) PENNSYLVANIA. 1790 Allegheny County Census (Pitt Twp) PENNSYLVANIA. 1850 Schuykill County Census (Porter Twp) PENNSYLVANIA. 1850 York County Census (Partial - Spring Garden) PENNSYLVANIA. 1830 Somerset County Census (Conemaugh Twp) VIRGINIA. 1850 Barbour County Census (Partial - Dist. 5) WEST VIRGINIA. 1890 Hardy County Special Schedule Union Veterans WISCONSIN. 1860 Door County Census (Chambers Isl., Gibralter, and Washington Isl. Twps) WISCONSIN. 1880 Door County Census (Baileys Harbor; Egg Harbor) * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS may be posted to the GenConnect board at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/RWR-LettersToTheEditor or sent to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com. SO, HOW GOOD IS THE NEW PERSONALIZED MAILING LIST (PML)? Ellen Seebacher provides this example. Vee Housman, with whom I've occasionally swapped stories about WITMERs in Niagara County, New York, sent a note to PADUTCH-LIFE: As I mention below, even though the message doesn't have any thing to do with our PA-Dutch ancestors, you might want to consider its value in how you might put together the pieces of the lives of your other family members from just an obscure newspaper article and the aid of an encyclopedia. The article contained a transcription of a sermon delivered at the funeral of a Youngstown, New York, man who'd died in Colorado. I have no interest in Youngstown or Colorado, and would never have had time to subscribe to PADUTCH-LIFE (where the message was essentially off-topic anyway). I'd simply entered "Niagara County" in the PML search terms, since I was curious about what might turn up. I wasn't even searching for Niagara County GLOVERs . . . as I hadn't expected to turn anything up; they're too elusive. But the sermon in question was delivered by Elder William GLOVER, my Canadian immigrant. Ellen, awed Ellen, it boggles my mind! You RootsWeb guys are traveling at warp speed and it's all that I can do to keep up with all the marvelous things you're doing. It's like I want to make the world stop for a week or two and just sit down and investigate everything that RootsWeb has to offer. In fact, it just isn't fair! :-D I can't absorb it as fast as you're putting it out! Vee * * * * * 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: Written by . Previously published by RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 2, No. 47, 24 November 1999. RootsWeb: BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW may be read online or downloaded from . TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS, send e-mail with only SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the message area to: . * ADVERTISEMENTS * PERSI 1999 now on sale for $25 off the normal price. Get your copy today of this valuable research tool. Give this CD-ROM to your favorite family history library or as a Christmas gift to your family and friends. PERSI 1999 is the top choice of all serious researchers. Now you can have over 27 volumes of information at your fingertips. The CD will tell you where to look in every article, publication or book. Limited number of copies at this special price of $74.95 with $3.95 in shipping. THE HANDY BOOK FOR GENEALOGISTS -- never offered before. This book is a wonderful resource of full-color maps for every state and over 15 different countries. Included are historic trail maps. With over 400 fact-filled pages, you will use this reference book over and over. Normally priced at $34.95, we have a limited number of copies for only $29.95 with $5.95 shipping. Place your order for either of these books on the secure site at , or call the FamilyStoreHouse Sales Department at 1-800-725-5013 and mention RootsWeb. FamilyStoreHouse will donate 10% of the sales proceeds to RootsWeb. If you purchase both PERSI 1999 and THE HANDY BOOK FOR GENEALOGISTS, we will pay the shipping cost, but you will have to call 1-800-725-5013 and mention RootsWeb to get free shipping. * * * ANCESTRY.COM TOPS 500 MILLION RECORD MARK Now you can access more than 500 million records in over 1800 databases at Ancestry.com. We know your success depends on connecting you to your heritage. That's why we're adding at least one new database every weekday to our massive collection. Some of our most popular databases include: American Genealogical-Biographical Index, Biography Database, 1680-1830, Periodical Source Index (PERSI), Genealogical Library Master Catalog, UMI Obituaries, Census Indexes 1790-1870, Civil War Research Database, and the Early American Marriages database. Go to today to search over 500 million records and see for yourself why over 113,000 people have subscribed to Ancestry.com 's service. * * * * * HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Don't miss the illustrated version of the classic Thanksgiving tale, "Don's Mom and the Turkey" at .