ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 3, No. 22, 31 May 2000, Circulation: 613,261+ (c) 1998-2000 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ Advertising: rrti@rootsweb.com Media Contact: stwalsh@rootsweb.com IN THIS ISSUE: o News and Notes at RootsWeb (New Searchable Databases at RootsWeb -- California Birth Index, California Death Index; Louisa County, Iowa Cemetery Records; Kentucky Civil War Rosters; FreeBMD (England and Wales); RootsWeb in the News; WorldConnect Tip: Shaking Your Family Tree; RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees) o Connecting through RootsWeb o New Genealogy Mailing Lists o New Genealogy Web Pages o GenConnect o USGenWeb Archives o Letters to the Editors o Humor o Reprint Policy; Back Issues; How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe DONATIONS HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU AND ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED. For details about support levels, benefits, and payment options (check or credit card), e-mail info@rootsweb.com or visit http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html 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.) * * * * * NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB NEW DATABASES AT ROOTSWEB. Four new free and fully searchable databases were added to RootsWeb in the past week. o CALIFORNIA BIRTH INDEX (1905-1995) has 24,596,236 public records with 984,961 surnames http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/birth/search.cgi o CALIFORNIA DEATH INDEX (1940-1995) contains 9,366,786 public records with 498,701 surnames http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi o LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA CEMETERY LISTINGS. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/IA/Louisa/ o KENTUCKY CIVIL WAR ROSTERS http://userdb.rootsweb.com/rosters/ * * * FreeBMD (ENGLAND AND WALES) FIGHTS BACK; HITS TWO MILLION. Belying its motto ("BMD is innocent. FreeBMD."), on 31 May 2000 FreeBMD hit another milestone when entries were uploaded to the searchable database bringing the total to 2,009,196 from 366 contributors worldwide. Congratulations! To search the FreeBMD database or to obtain more information about the project, including how you can help, go to http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/ * * * ROOTSWEB IN THE NEWS. RootsWeb's World War I Civilian Draft Registration database http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/ was chosen by Family Tree Magazine http://www.familytreemagazine.com its "Site of the Day" on 27 May 2000. * * * WORLDCONNECT TIP: CONTACTING THE GEDCOM SUBMITTER While searching WorldConnect http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ you find an entry for your ancestor in someone else's GEDCOM. You wish to contact the submitter to share additional information, correct an error, or perhaps just touch base. What is the best way to accomplish this? At the top of every page of a file there is a link to the e-mail address of the database owner. Click on the link to send a note. In addition, you can add a Post-em directly to the entry of interest. If the GEDCOM owner has selected this option, she will be notified by e-mail when a Post-em is added to her file. See http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/#postem/ Make certain that your ancestors are presented as you want them to be -- submit your GEDCOM to WORLDCONNECT. Find WORLDCONNECT TIPS at http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/tips/ and FAQs at http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/help/wchelp.html RootsWeb's WORLDCONNECT SUGGESTION BOARD and help are at http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/gedcom/ The WORLDCONNECT database now contains about 32 million names. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ * * * SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE (SYFT). Myra Vanderpool Gormley's Los Angeles Times Syndicate genealogy columns are browsable at RootsWeb at http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/ Read this week's column, "New and old books on CD-ROM," at http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/curcolumn.htm * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ 30 interactive genealogy lessons with links to resources at RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet. Not just for beginners. The index page has links to Notable Kin and other special pages. **PAID ADVERTISEMENTS** UK AND IRISH RESEARCH SUDDENLY GOT A LOT EASIER! If you have ancestors from England, Ireland, Scotland, or Wales then you need to know about the brand-new service at http://www.bigfamily.co.uk Here you can order birth, marriage and death certificates directly online. If you need local research -- parish records, wills, trade directories or even a complete pedigree, our database gives you easy access to a comprehensive network of experienced researchers in all areas. Go directly to http://www.bigfamily.co.uk/ResReq.htm , enter the information you have and the research you require, and we'll get back to you with a free quote. We use the finest secure card payments system to ensure your online dealings are both easy and safe so there are NO CURRENCY CONVERSION COSTS. We look forward to hearing from you soon. DO YOU HAVE SCOTTISH ROOTS? We can supply your own Clan's Badge or Coat of Arms in a beautifully made shield or frame. These are available in various styles and are made in Scotland by Heraldic Woodcarvers who hold appointments from The Lord Lyon King of Arms and The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. View these at http://www.shopscotland.net/ShopFront/Category.asp?CatID=3&Page=1 http://www.shopscotland.net/ShopFront/Category.asp?CatID=3&Page=1 If you would like to find your Clan and Tartan then use our database of more than 2,000 Scottish names and more than 300 online tartan samples. Clan & Tartan Finder http://www.shopscotland.net/Tartan-Clan.asp Best Wishes from all at ShopScotland * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW Subscriber's Special -- Limited Time Offer! Looking for a great way to preserve your family history? Two companies are offering FREE S&H through June 9th on Family Tree Albums. Use Keycode: C2284 for http://www.LightImpressionsDirect.com/FamilyTreeAlbum Mention ROOTSWEB REVIEW in comments field for http://www.CenturyPhoto.com/FamilyTreeAlbum FREE SHIPPING won't show online but will be credited. * * * Just one of the tips in our FAMILY CHRONICLE article "25 Tips for Researching at Family History Centers" could help you with a breakthrough. Our article "Second Ancestors TV Series" outlines the 13 episodes in a new PBS TV series so that you can plan to see those episodes of most interest to your research. FAMILY CHRONICLE is your gateway to Research Resources, Top Web Sites, How to Articles, Research Techniques, Questions and Answers, Software Reviews and a host of other genealogy items dedicated to making your family roots research more effective. Find out how you can obtain a trial copy by visiting http://www.familychronicle.com If you've ever wondered how your ancestors lived and coped with life then HISTORY MAGAZINE is the only popular magazine that will allow you to understand the social conditions affecting their lives better. Articles like "The Country Store," "1910 -- Highlights of the Decade," "History of the Telephone and Telegraph," "Chicago in 1880," "The 1918 Influenza Pandemic that Killed More People than WWI," "The Blacksmith," and many more. Find out how you can obtain a trial copy by visiting http://www.history-magazine.com FAMILY CHRONICLE would like to have your story on how you solved a difficult "brick wall" problem, to be published in a special publication later this year. All contributors will receive two free copies of the publication by sending your "brick wall" story to ronwilder@familychronicle.com ****************************************** NEW ON-LINE GENEALOGICAL LIBRARY http://www.heritagebooks.com/library/ Try It Today! HERITAGE BOOKS, INC. 1540 Pointer Ridge Place, Bowie MD 20715 ****************************************** ** END PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. CADI ONLINE: SOME MISSING PEOPLE AND ONE LONG-LOST FOUND by Cornelia Warner fenenga@mminternet.com When I heard from someone on the NorCal list that the California Death Index was online, I went to work immediately as I have many cousins, some who were descendants of California pioneers (John PEYTON and Mary Jane COLLINS), some who came much later (1900s, Joseph Franklin CROSS and Lela BOULTON, his cousin Lucille Marie CROSS and her husband William Corbett BERNARD and possibly their cousin Richard J. CROSS, the son of Joseph Napolean CROSS and possibly a Miss KEENER -- it is the CROSSes who are not in the index. I don't know about the COLLINS and PEYTONs, as most of what I know is pre-1940). I was disappointed to find that many people for whom I already have the death date and city/town of death did not appear on the index, although I tried every method to find them, but pleased that I was able to find the deaths of several people with extremely common names whom I could not find before the CADI went online. Finally, just to see what would happen, I searched for my extremely rare maiden name, FENENGA, and was not surprised to find my parents and paternal grandparents, but what was Jacob doing here? He is supposed to be in South Dakota. Well, I admit to a bit of addle-headedness due to a fever from some sort of bug, but when it finally sank in which Jacob I had found, I let out a whoop and ran from the room (I know, I'm a terrible patient) saying "I found him, I found him!" Why such excitement over one individual? When Jacob was about 19 (circa 1900), he had a falling out with his father, Jacob Oelsen FENENGA, Sr., over whether horses who had been worked all week should also be worked on Sunday. Two stubborn Friesians (Friesland is the parish next to Groningen, in the northern tip of the Netherlands), neither willing to see the other's point of view. Jacob, Jr. left, and we know because he kept in touch with one sister, that he spent time in the Yukon during the Alaskan Gold Rush and probably worked on the whaling ships in Washington, lived in Seattle and worked as a clerk in a general store. But what of the family story that he had disappeared after visiting his sister in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1926, with what then was a fortune of $2,600 or $26,000 (my memory slips as to which it was), never to be seen again. What visions of intrigue this brought. So where was he between 1926 and 1944? Perhaps he was in San Diego all along. He died before I was born, and long before my grandfather, his half nephew died in 1982, but within driving distance -- and we never knew until tonight, when I typed only our rare surname into the search engine. For at least 10 years this missing member of the family has eluded us, and today RootsWeb has brought him home. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to finally find my missing great- great-uncle. It has meant a lot to me to find him. I think he wanted to be found, but it wasn't easy. Something drew me, whether inspiration or imagination, I can't say, but he is home. SERENDIPITY OR PERSISTENCE? by David Arasmith arasdn@midusa.net For quite a while now I have enjoyed the ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS mailings. When things get busy they sit in my in box for weeks, occasionally, until I can spend a couple of hours reading them all. Such was the case today. Each reading (my favorite locations have been Successful Links, WorldConnect and Humor), I find myself reminded of my own "serendipitous" occasions. But many times, I realize, it wasn't serendipity, but persistence. Two recent occasions come immediately to mind. In 1998, my son and I traveled to a small county seat in Kentucky. Having arrived after closing time for the courthouse, I went to the public library. Nowhere could I find their genealogy section (a male won't ask for directions, huh?) so I finally checked at the front desk. The librarian said: "The society is defunct, but there are some files here behind the counter. Here's the list." I found my ancestor's surname in the list twice, checked both files out, then had to go outside to yell my delight in finding my ancestor's pedigree and relatives in one of the files, placed in the library more than 20 years before. The next day I verified quite a bit of it at the courthouse through wills and land records. After 150 years we finally knew Mary Jane ELKIN's pedigree. My mother was really tickled, to put it mildly, it was her side of the family. Moral: Guys, ask for directions. Persistence in locating the files behind the counter paid off. Just this week, persistence paid off again. In the 1960s we had a letter that was very vague about whose parents were whose. It seemed to indicate that Alvin ARRASMITH and Emily STOWERS were parents of William Vachel ARRASMITH, my great-great-grandfather, but was confusing about how Sarah Herndon ARRASMITH, his wife, fit into the letter. In the mid-1970s it was proven that William Vachel's parents were actually John ARRASMITH and Lydia DILLMAN. We all assumed the 1960 letter was in error and the search then began for Sarah HERNDON's parents; but for 20 years, her HERNDON parents couldn't be found. Her marriage license called her Sarah Ellen ARRASMITH, but there again we figured the clerk knew William's sister and wrote it down wrong. A distant cousin, Jesse DAY, was writing all of this up, so I proceeded on other branches. After his death, his work was published with Sarah HERNDON's parents still unknown. In it was included a picture of Sarah's brother's family, but only the children's given names were listed; there were no names for her brother and his wife. Then early this year, thanks to RootsWeb, I was contacted by another distant cousin. During the course of our correspondence she pointed out to me that Sarah Ellen (ARRASMITH) BALLARD could not have been daughter of Alvin ARRASMITH, due to ages, but sister to William Vachel instead. Going though hard copies of notes verified her conclusion; but then who did the daughter of Alvin marry? Finally, back to the vague 1960 letter, where I started suspecting that Sarah, daughter of Alvin, married William, son of John. The ages and locations were right, and cross-referencing showed they would have been second cousins, John and Alvin being first cousins. This week (May 2000) I traveled to Illinois courthouses. Persistence in the face of a circuit court clerk's resistance ("That file is clear in the basement!") produced some wills, but they were for Alvin ARRASMITH's parents. On to the recorder's office, where help was immediately forthcoming. In the deed records was Alvin ARRASMITH's will, which specifically named Sarah H. ARRASMITH as his daughter. The 1863 date was after Sarah's marriage in 1852. This seemed proof enough, but I went to the public library anyway. I asked directions this time (I can be taught) where I found some county histories. In one, from 1877, was a J. W. ARASMITH (son of Alvin) with a listing of his children up to 1877. The list was an exact match of the one in Jesse DAY's research, previously believed to be a HERNDON family, except for the children born after 1877. Sarah Herndon ARRASMITH, daughter of Alvin ARRASMITH and Emily STOWERS, married her second cousin, William Vachel ARRASMITH, son of John ARRASMITH and Lydia DILLMAN. Combining all the hints and clues and documents throughout 150 years gave me another moral: Persistence in the face of vague clues and bureaucratic reluctance solves problems. Plus, as fantastic as electronic data and communications are, the final proof is often buried in the courthouse. I doubt, though, that I could have finally come to this conclusion without the fact that RootsWeb, via mailing lists and the WorldConnect Project, put me in contact with distant relatives, all of whom supplied clues and advice. In the 30+ years I've been tracing ancestors, RootsWeb's work has made more difference in available information than I ever dreamed. Thanks to all of the staff for your efforts and the options you present and create. * * * * * MAILING LISTS. For an index to most genealogy mailing lists hosted by RootsWeb, visit http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW MAILING LIST REQUESTS. Please request new mailing lists at http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ 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, if you are interested in the surname KENTNER, send your SUBSCRIBE request to KENTNER-L-request@rootsweb.com NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Anselmo Barrus, Bendzala, Bevys, Burbage Chestney, Coggan, Cyples Dabbadie, Daggy, Dusch Feyock Giid Hampshire, Heinkle Jess Kentner Lascola, Licausi, LeValley Marcellino, Merlina, Messino Ollerton, Orser Peterssen Ryland Sarlls, Satariano Zachman NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CANADA CAN-BC-OBITS -- for posting daily obituaries only from the province of BRITISH COLUMBIA ITALY ITA-FROSINONE -- Emigrants from Frosinone, Lazio, Italy centering on San Danato-Alvito NETHERLANDS NL-NOORD-HOLLAND -- Genealogy in the Province of Noord-Holland, Netherlands U.K. UK-ULVERSTON-FHS -- Ulverston Heritage Centre's family and local history group OTHER NEW MAILING LISTS CHICKASAW -- Chickasaw Native American ancestry, and discussion of the Chickasaw Nation * * * * * NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Please see the instructions at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi 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. http://www.rootsweb.com/~[account name]. Note that the ~[tilde] before the account name is required. FOR EXAMPLE, to visit the Barnstable County, Massachusetts Web page, go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~mabarnst/ CANADA nsmoserr -- Moser River, Nova Scotia ENGLAND engarc -- Ancestral Rescue Club (Staffordshire) englin -- Lincolnshire U.S.A. flgatsaa -- Gilmore Academy Training School Alumni Association, Inc. (first African American school in Jackson County, Florida) iledgar -- Edgar County, Illinois kyschs -- Simpson County Historical Society (Kentucky) mabarnst -- Barnstable County, Massachusetts mabtpgs -- Boston to Providence Gen. Soc. (Massachusetts) milenawe -- Lenawee County, Michigan monemgs -- Northeast Missouri Genealogical Society msichs -- Itawamba County Historical Society (Mississippi) nhnhhs -- New Hampton Historical Society (New Hampshire) txbosqu2 -- Bosque County, Texas SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES AMSDEN. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~amsden/ Ken BULLEN's Genealogy HOME(R) Page. BULLEN, PENFOLD, BROOKER, GENGE, CAMPBELL, PURDIE, and ROBINSON from Australia, England, Ireland or Scotland. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~qzoo/ CINNAMON, CINNAMOND, RILEY, WATTS, MCGAUGHEY, CATLETT, GOODLETT, GIVENS/GIBBENS, PINKSTON in Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Colorado http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cinnamon/IndexC.html DUNCAN GENEALOGY: SCOTLAND TO AMERICA. James DUNCAN emigrated from Scotland to Lanark County, Ontario, Canada in 1830s; married Jane PURDON. Related surnames: MCQUAT, SIM, REID, MILLAR, CRAWFORD, MCLEAN, AY http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~purdon/Duncan.htm ERNEST ALMA GROVER FAMILY ASSOCIATION. GROVER, GARNER, COLE, JENKINS, FIELD. All families were early LDS, and crossed on the Mormon Trail to Utah between 1847 and 1856. Later generations settled in Idaho. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ellieb/grover.htm HAMLIN FAMILY. Dedicated to descendants of William "Bill" HAMLIN (or HAMBLIN) and Delilah HENDERSON. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hamlin/ LEE FAMILY. Genealogical reference for LEE and BAKER family ancestors includes records since early 1500s on BAKER, CLARKE, COCHRAN, DAVIS, DODGE, HARRIS, LAMBERT, LANDING, LEE, MCCALL, and other families in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada; Burke County, Georgia; and Avon Park, Florida. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~smleeusa/default.htm NORMAN FAMILY OF LINCOLN COUNTY, GEORGIA. Descendants of William NORMAN of Virginia, who migrated to Lincoln County, Georgia after the Revolutionary War; grandson of Isaac NORMAN, son of Joseph NORMAN. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lincolncountynormans PURDON GENEALOGY: SCOTLAND TO AMERICA. Robert PURDON with wife Jane FERGUSON and family emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland to Lanark County, Ontario, Canada in 1821. Related surnames: DUNCAN, LOCKHART, O'NEIL. Check Web page for descendants. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~purdon/ SCOVILL GENEALOGY. Scanned book: A SURVEY OF SCOVELLS OR SCOVILES IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA: SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS OF HISTORY AND GENEALOGY http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dollface/ STANLEY, MATTHEWS, WARNER, FALVEY, REED, MIDDLETON, RILEY. STANLEY family of Dublin, Ireland and its migration to the southern U.S.A. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourpage/ WALLNER and COURTOT FAMILY TREES. WALLNER, COURTOT, CROCKER, SCHAEFER, KOEHLER, SCHERTZ, DALRYMPLE, FANCHER, HUCH, HOFFELDER. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wallner * * * * * GENCONNECT. RootsWeb hosts many surname GenConnect boards that are in need of people to maintain them. o For a complete list of adoptable GenConnect surname boards http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/surnames/adoptable/ o For the form to request to adopt a GenConnect surname board (the same form is used for surname mailing list requests) http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ 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, in addition to submitting a notice for publication in the "Somebody's Links" section of MISSING LINKS or in the SOMEBODY'S LINKS NEWSLETTER (to subscribe, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE to: Somebodys-Links-Newsletter-L-request@rootsweb.com, you can read and post notices to the GenConnect SOMEBODY'S LINKS board: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/SomebodysLinks/ * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- THE ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER contains the current USGenWeb Archives submissions from the last week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/ 29 May 2000 issue http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/2000/may/may29.htm USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE-L is a read-only mailing list for weekly announcements of new updates and submissions to the USGenWeb Archives. To subscribe, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE in the body of the message to this address: usgw-archives-announce-l-request@rootsweb.com * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS may be posted to the GenConnect board at http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/RWR-LettersToTheEditor or e-mailed to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com. * * * [Posted 30 May 2000 to http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ ] Dear RootsWeb, I have been looking for my relatives for years and thanks to you folks I found them in the Texas death records [http://userdb.rootsweb.com/tx/death/search.cgi ] . . . Keep up the good work. Many thanks! Gloria Griffitts griff522@yahoo.com * * * Please allow me to add to Jennifer SUTTON's and Sara GREDLER's letters [RWR 3:20, 3:21]. . . I had a strong interest in genealogy when I was in the third grade -- not quite 9 years old. I was full of questions that my parents couldn't answer. They say I drove them crazy, but I blame my teacher's captivating history lessons for sparking my interests. I had only two living grandparents at that time, and my maternal granddad, James ATKINSON, admitted early on that his memory was like a sieve -- so, I shadowed my paternal grandmother, Emily (MOREAU) HALLIWELL every chance I had. I think she liked the attention. She did some searching for old photographs, letters, and such -- but where those treasures got to when she died four years later, I have no idea. At 12, I thought my interest in genealogy would wane when Emily died, but instead it grew. I located and read genealogical magazines and books at the public library and eventually found a genealogy interest group that met there once a month. At the meeting amidst many smiles, I stated what I knew about the families I was researching, which I thought wasn't much. By the end of that meeting, a couple introduced themselves as distant cousins from a common Irish great-grandmother and later supplied a copy of their research to add to mine. Like Jennifer and Sara, I had setbacks. Many federally run libraries and archives would not allow an unaccompanied minor into their premises, so I had a long wait. I was 19 when my grandfather died, and I thought all my avenues to the past were gone forever; that's when I met granddad's younger sister, Lenore, about whom no one had known. Lenore and her daughter, June, opened up a wealth of information . . . Now, I . . . [have] three small sons of my own (aged eight, six, and four years) and I introduced them to this "contagion" before any of them could walk. Just [a few weekends ago], we went to visit . . . my mother . . . and together went to the cemetery where our Irish ancestors were buried more than 180 years ago. The stones were covered in mud and overgrowth, which spoiled my idea of photographing them. Seeing my disappointment, my mother made easy work of the greenery and began to wash the first stone with her bottled water. Watching their grandmother, Davis and Michael got an idea. They rushed back to the van and returned with their waterguns. Ready, aim, FIRE! It worked very well, so well that my youngest son, Tommy, fetched his watergun and together the three of them washed the other stones. Reloading the guns wasn't a problem [because] tapped waterlines were dotted along the cemetery routes. Impressed with the results, I photographed all the stones but one that was weather beaten [and remained] impossible to make out. The words were raised rather than engraved on the bleached-white marker, but I wasn't worried. Using one of the boys' crayons and an old paper grocery bag (that was carefully ripped open along its seams), Tommy enjoyed "colouring" (rubbing) the stone onto the paper. We couldn't make out all the inscription, but got the dates at least. When my sons are old enough, and if they still have an interest in genealogy, I'll take them to the archives and libraries. I won't turn away the additional help. Right now, they look forward to playing "Watergun Wash" in the cemeteries, again. Keyley Hobbes, Kingston, Ontario, Canada hobbes@kos.net * * * * * HUMOR FULL NAME: what you call your child when you're mad at him. * * * * * 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 [author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given]. Previously published by RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 3, No. 22, 31 May 2000. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/ BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS are fully SEARCHABLE at http://search-rwr.rootsweb.com/ and may be DOWNLOADED from ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/ and ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/mlnews/ TO UNSUBSCRIBE from the free weekly genealogy e-zines, ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS, send any e-mail to: rootsweb-review-unsubscribe@rootsweb.com TO SUBSCRIBE, send to rootsweb-review-subscribe@rootsweb.com