ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News Vol. 4, No. 13, 28 March 2001, Circulation: 797,848+ (c) 1998-2001 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS are free, weekly e-zines Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com Advertising: sbrenay@myfamilyinc.com RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ Data Submission Form: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit.html New Databases (check often): http://searches.rootsweb.com/ IN THIS ISSUE o News and Notes from RootsWeb (Searchable Databases at RootsWeb; Who Has the Data?; SSDI Update; April Fool's Day Postcards from RootsWeb; Women's History Month; Shaking Your Family Tree; RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees; Before You Begin Spring Cleaning; WorldConnect) 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 RootsWeb's WORLDCONNECT contains nearly 62 million entries and new GEDCOMs are added daily. Search WorldConnect and upload your own GEDCOM(s) to http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ NEWS AND NOTES FROM ROOTSWEB SEARCHABLE DATABASES AT ROOTSWEB. RootsWeb thanks all of the individuals and groups who contribute their data to share with the genealogical community. See the full list of contributors at http://userdb.rootsweb.com/contributors.html FLORIDA, Bay County, Panama City. Oakland Cemetery 700 records; Dan and Janet Steadham http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ MARYLAND, Prince George's County. RIDGEWAYs [surname] buried in St. Barnabas Cemetery; 22 records; Donna M. Cator http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ MASSACHUSETTS, Barnstable County, Sandwich. Spring Hill Cemetery 221 records; Kevin P. Murphy http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ NEW MEXICO, Lea County. Antioch Church Cemetery 127 records; Ginger Byrum http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ OHIO, Wyandot County. Cemeteries 1,500 records; Kristina L. Kuhn http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ PENNSYLVANIA, Northampton County, Williams Township. Raubsville Cemetery; 200 records; Carol Eddleman http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ TEXAS, Bexar County, San Antonio. Zion Lutheran Church of Helotes Cemetery Inscriptions; 900 records; Gerald Dalum http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ UTAH, Garfield County. Cemetery Records (11 cemeteries) 1,700 records; Suzanne Dodge http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ WISCONSIN, Clark County. United Church of Christ (3 cemeteries) 550 records; Stan and Janet Schwarze http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ * * * WHO HAS THE DATA? Does your state, province, county, parish, or church have a database available that has not yet been placed on RootsWeb and that you think would be of interest to genealogists and historians? Do you have a database other than your personal family tree (personal genealogies are best posted at WorldConnect http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ ) that you would like to share that you think would be of value and interest to others? In most cases, RootsWeb would be proud to host them. Please use the data submission form to tell us about such databases: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit.html * * * SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (SSDI) UPDATE. The February 2001 SSDI Update is in place. 258,643 new records were added and the new total is 65,529,625. See http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ * * * MARCH IS WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH. RootsWeb takes a genealogical and biographical look at Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the beloved "Little House" books for children. http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/notable/laura.htm * * * POSTCARDS AT ROOTSWEB. Send free electronic greetings to online family and friends from http://postcards.rootsweb.com/ Cards are available for all occasions and most holidays. APRIL FOOL'S DAY CARDS: http://postcards.rootsweb.com/fool.htm * * * SHAKING YOUR FAMILY TREE (SYFT) by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG. The Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants updates its venerable journal, the "Mayflower Descendant." Learn more about it and other sources for those researching "Mayflower" lines in this week's SYFT column at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/curcolumn.htm SYFT columns are archived by subject and can be browsed at http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/syft/ * * * ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES (RWGuide) http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ Creating Worthwhile Genealogies: Evidence, Sources and Citation http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson12.htm * * * BEFORE YOU BEGIN SPRING CLEANING, read "Working Without a Net," by Juliana Smith, editor of the ANCESTRY DAILY NEWS and author of THE ANCESTRY FAMILY HISTORIAN'S ADDRESS BOOK, in which she makes a strong case for backing up your computer files and describes her own multi-layered back-up systems. Smith concludes with the observation: "As with many organizational tasks, backing up your data can be at best a tedious extra step, but it is an important one. If you think backing up is tedious, try recreating all your files and re-entering all of your data!" An archive of Juliana Smith's Monday columns, "The Family History Compass," are available on the Ancestry.com site at: www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/compass/d_p_1_archive.asp * * * WORLDCONNECT: DUPLICATION OF INFORMATION AND MISINFORMATION Q. What is the appropriate forum for comments on WorldConnect? A. Comments and suggestions may be made on the WorldConnect Suggestions board at http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/gc/gedcom/ Q. Very many of the entries now duplicate each other and it can be hard to discover which, if any, contain useful source information. I've put in a Post-em for one entry where my file has much more detail, but I wonder if there is any way of grouping what look like multiple entries for the same person. A. WorldConnect is comprised of GEDCOMs (family trees) placed in a central location at RootsWeb by thousands of submitters. All of the files are made searchable by a global search engine. Many WorldConnect family trees contain entries that duplicate, contradict, and supplement one another. When a submitter uploads a file to WorldConnect, he is creating an individual Web site where he may display the results of his own research. He is not contributing information to one master database. RootsWeb does not judge the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the research results reflected in those GEDCOMs. Entries from different files cannot be combined. The information is all there, just as each submitter uploaded it. Evaluation of that information is left to the discretion of researchers. Compare the data and reach your own conclusions. Add Post-em notes with information or comments. Upload your own GEDCOM to WorldConnect. 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Go to: http://www.ancestry.com/search/io/about/main.htm ** END PAID ADVERTISEMENTS ** CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. TRAVELING CIRCUS by Kit Cutting jernkit@lon.imag.net I received a box of photos from my cousin Pat in New York. She had inherited the photos and could not place the faces to our MERRIAM relatives. We are having a reunion in July so the plan is to see if any one is recognized. In the box were two circus photos. One was the sharp-shooting family of Captain A. H. BOGARDUS. The other was of Eli BOWEN and his family. Eli has no legs in the picture, only feet. He is in a formal pose with his wife, four sons, and a goat. These were probably purchased at a circus by a relative. I didn't know what to do with the photos. On RootsWeb there came a new circus mailing list, so I joined [CIRCUS-FOLK-L-request@rootsweb.com] and sent a query. I got tons of interesting circus stories. Tonight [27 March 2001] a relative of Eli BOWEN e-mailed me from Missouri. She said "Eli BOWEN (from Ohio) is related to my New York and Michigan BOWEN relatives. He was in the Barnum and Bailey Circus. I would like to have the photo. I knew he had sons but never knew he had four." I am sending the photo to her. The photo may travel farther than Eli did: from New York to Ontario to Missouri. Thanks, RootsWeb. * * * LOST BRANCH RE-GRAFTED by Carolyn Branch Leonard Buffalo234@aol.com Phillip Kendall PARSONS, born 30 April 1922, Elkhart, Morton County, Kansas, son of W. J. PARSONS and Goldia Maybelle Eugenia PECK, had been missing and presumed dead since January 1957. On 13 February 2001, my brother Curt BRANCH found the following information in an online death index: SS# 525-34-8017 Phillip K. PARSONS born 30 Apr 1922 died 18 Feb 1996. Curt called me to verify the birth date and I looked to see what information there might be in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) at RootsWeb http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ I found the same entry and learned further that PARSONS' last Social Security payment was sent to an address in San Bernadino, California, his Social Security card was issued in New Mexico before 1951, and his parents were listed as unknown. I ordered a copy of the original Social Security application and wrote to the RootsWeb mailing list for San Bernardino County asking whether anyone could give me further information. A volunteer looked up the death certificate and sent me the information, including the address of the person who received the remains after the body was cremated. My list contact is now searching for an obituary. The death certificate mentioned Uncle Pete's military service and his usual occupation of clerk, gave his birthplace as Kansas and his parents as "unknown." It all fit. A call to the person in Cortez, Colorado who received the remains after cremation convinced me that we had found our long- lost uncle. After 40 years, this mystery was cleared up within a couple of weeks thanks to the help from RootsWeb. * * * A FATHER LOST, A FATHER FOUND by Cindy Binks cbinks@global.co.za Greenhills, Randfontein, South Africa I am writing to say "three cheers" and a big thank you to RootsWeb and to all who offer their kind service at "Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness" http://raogk.rootsweb.com/. I have been a subscriber to ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS for two years. The "success" letters from so many people describing their utter joy and happiness in locating lost or unknown relatives via RootsWeb have been an inspiration to me to persevere with my searches and try to break down my solid and stubborn brick wall. To date, I have not had any personal breakthroughs, but I have, through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness and a very kind, conscientious and caring lady, Dawn TEBBUTT, been able to help a young man who had lost contact with his English father nearly 16 years ago. After I had found out that his father had passed away in January 2000 and that he was buried at Doddington Road Cemetery, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, I asked Dawn if she would look up his burial place and take a photo or two of the tombstone and inscription. Within a few days, she mailed me the wonderful news that she had found his final resting place in a beautiful and peaceful memorial garden at the cemetery and had taken lovely photos of the white marble tombstone with gold lettering as well as photos of the memorial garden and main cemetery entrance. Through Dawn and so many others who offer their free time and assistance, I was able to give a young man something of his late father. Thanks to all and RootsWeb for helping me to help him. * * * TWO VIEWS OF A SMALL MIRACLE by Dorothy Strange stranges@intrepid.net [The author's notice concerning the Bible mentioned below was published almost a year ago in SOMEBODY'S LINKS, Vol. 2, No. 7, 31 March 2000. Eds.] The most wonderful thing has just happened with the help of RootsWeb. I had been searching for the ADAMS, WHATLEY, HESTER, and GRANDFIELD families as I have a Bible with their family records. In the last two days I have heard from John R. GRANDFIELD, who was the last entry in the Bible. He is thrilled to find the records as he did not know of the existence of the Bible. In 1958 my employer, the owner of transfer and storage company, gave the Bible to me because of my interest in old books. We had searched our records for years hoping to find one of the names listed in the Bible so that we might return it to its owner. After making contact with Grandfield, it turns out that his family had placed their furnishing in storage and later, in 1944, had them shipped to California. The Bible had been left in the packing material where our warehouseman found it. We will prepare the Bible, which weighs about 15 pounds or so, for shipment to him in Fairbanks, Alaska. I am so pleased to have made this connection, otherwise their history might have been lost forever. That Bible has been on the move. Its owners were from Alabama and moved to Texas where it was lost. My husband and I have lived in Wisconsin, Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and now West Virginia. Its trip "home" will be to Alaska. Thank you for this opportunity to make the connection. by John R. Grandfield 103300.2304@compuserve.com I have been reading your newsletter stories of people helping each other with difficult searches and notes about found items for a long time. I never thought it could happen to me. I got an e-mail notice that I had a message on a surname board last week. A total stranger was asking if I existed and had relatives named ADAMS and WHATLEY. Since I do have relations with those names, I answered and asked the who and what questions. It turned out that "Jenny" had seen a notice in SOMEBODY'S LINKS: Genealogical Treasures Found about a Bible found in Fort Worth. Texas that, among other names, had my complete name and correct birth date in it. How she made the connection I still don't know. I pulled up SOMEBODY'S LINKS, Vol. 2, No. 7, dated 31 March 2000 ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/somebody/ and there the notice was, the second one on the page. Dorothy Strange, who had the Bible, described the volume and the names that were in it. They were all my mother's ancestors. Of course, I fired off an e-mail asking for a copy of the family page if possible. The answer I received blew me away - she had had the Bible since 1958 and would send me the whole thing if I would pay the shipping. Now I have RootsWeb and two total strangers to thank somehow for a family document that I didn't even know existed. All of my grandparents on both sides died before I was born, so the information I have is second or third hand. * * * OYEZ! by Marilyn Willette mwillette@i-rocket.net I don't know who of you believe in divine intervention but I sure do! My father got me started doing the family genealogy in 1977. We have overcome hurdle after hurdle, but one problem really had me stumped. I had searched everywhere, I thought, for DETLOR and LOSEE. I had put a posting on RootsWeb to no avail. After four years with no answer I was ready to give up, and then my dad got sick and passed away and I put everything on the shelf -- just for a while. I picked it up again after a year and still could not find any trace of those elusive DETLOR and LOSEE family members. One day in frustration I looked up to the sky and shook my fist and said, "OK, now you are in a position to know. Can't you help me out a little bit?" I felt kind of stupid talking to nobody (?) but I just felt I had to yell at someone. That very night when I got home from work I had an e-mail from someone who had seen my DETLOR and LOSEE posting. She asked me a few questions, which I answered, and she replied by return post that her great-grandfather and my great-grandmother were brother and sister. We have since exchanged many posts and I hope one day we will meet. Thank you so much, RootsWeb. * * * * * MAILING LISTS. For an index to the more than 21,000 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy mailing lists, 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 a RootsWeb-hosted mailing list, send e-mail 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 Selkirkshire, Scotland, e-mail your request to SCT-SELKIRK-L-request@rootsweb.com NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS, GENCONNECT BOARDS, AND CLUSTERS Achor Bizgia, Bouck, Boyatt Chada, Coolbaugh Dague, Dawartz Erps Freshour, Frint Gutlick Hackstock, Haydon-MO, Heislen, Hildersley, Hinchliffe-UK, Huddle Inglehart Kilbride Laessig, Lockmiller, Luellwitz McCreight, McManigal, McRedmond Maurath, Mindek Noetling Orgel, Outzen Parliman, Peninger, Pizan, Porreca, Potmesil, Poyer Rumsby Schifferdecker, Soliday, Suwalki Thomson-Samuel (descendants of Samuel THOMSON, 1691-1753) Vantassell Widbur Yearicks NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CANADA CAN-QC-LOWER-NORTH-SHORE -- Lower North Shore, Quebec ENGLAND ENG-KENT-NWKFHS-COMP -- North West Kent Family History Society Computing Queries ML ENG-LANCS-PRESTON -- Preston, Lancashire ITALY ITA-CATANZARO -- Catanzaro, Calabria SCOTLAND SCT-BERWICK -- Berwickshire SCT-ROXBURGH -- Roxburghshire SCT-SELKIRK -- Selkirkshire U.S.A. TX-ROCKDALE-JEWISH-CEM -- Jewish Cemetery, Rockdale, Milam County, Texas ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS FRISCO-RR -- ancestors who worked for the Frisco Railroad PGS-MN -- Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota VIOLIN-MAKERS -- ancestors who were luthiers (makers of violins, guitars, and the like) * * * * * 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 Web page for Liberia, go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~libwgw/ AFRICA lbrwgw -- Liberia (WorldGenWeb Project) AUSTRALIA ausdps -- Perth Dead Persons Society U.S.A. ardrew -- Drew County, Arkansas flpgs -- Pinellas Genealogy Society, Inc. (Florida) inscgs -- Starke County Genealogical Society of Indiana, Inc. kycaldwe -- Caldwell County, Kentucky mdaahgsb -- Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc., Baltimore Chapter (Maryland) cobroomf -- Broomfield County, Colorado SOME NEW HOMEPAGES AND FREEPAGES CANOTE. Descendants of John CANOTE and his wife Rosanna, who settled in Missouri and in Illinois during the first half of the 19th century and before that the family lived in Madison County, Kentucky, Augusta County, Virginia, and Washington County, Maryland. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~pzebe/Canote/WC_TOC.htm FRISCO RAILROAD PAPERS and 400+ employee records, maps, pictures, and other railroad links. The page is dedicated "to the human, not the iron." Link to family genealogy page that includes VIEREGGE, VEREGGE, VIERECK from Dannenberg, Gusborn, Quickborn, GERMANY; also KENDEL, CARMICHAEL, CARTER, LEMON, WEGMAN, CRUMASEL, DAVIS. Link to another page that includes YATES, THOMPSON, WALKER, WILSON, GREGG, COWDEN, DOKE, BARCLAY, KNIGHT, RODERICK, PIERCE, BRYAN, COFER, WILSON, ROBININSON, STAFORD, et al. from Harrodsburg, Kew York and branching out to Polk and Dallas counties, Missouri. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~veregge/index.html ROBRAHN. The ROBRAHNs were bakers in northwest Mecklenburg, Germany from the mid-1600s to the early 1900s. The family descends from Matthias ROBRAHN of Rehna and his wife, Anna PRUESSE. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~pzebe/Robrahn/WC_TOC.htm VIRTUAL VINTAGE IMAGE. A brief tutorial on using digital image editing to restore images of vintage photos. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wflawrence/ NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Go to: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ * * * * * 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/ * * * * * USGENWEB ARCHIVES. THE ARCHIVES NEWSLETTER contains the USGenWeb Archives submissions during the last week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsletter/index.htm USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE is a read-only mailing list for weekly announcements of updates and submissions to the USGenWeb Archives. To subscribe, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE to USGW-ARCHIVES-ANNOUNCE-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com Please send submissions to Maggie at arc_rwr@yahoo.com DAILY-UPLOADS-L is a read-only mailing list that announces every file uploaded or changed in the USGenWeb Archives. To subscribe, send e-mail that says only SUBSCRIBE to DAILY-UPLOADS-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS. Please send letters and all submissions as plain text e-mail messages (no attachments or html) to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com Thanks for all of your energy and time helping others achieve what would take years or even a lifetime if we had to do it ourselves. What happiness the Internet can provide to those of us who think we have no family left! In late 2000 I was surfing a genealogy site and just before signing off decided to see about a family name (rather an uncommon name at that). The name was that of my grandfather's stepfather. There were two messages, even though I had occasionally checked out the name and previously found nothing. One of the messages was from the grandson of my grandfather's half brother. Neither of us had known the other existed. I immediately contacted him, and we have been in touch almost daily since then. We have shared photos, information, and personal articles that belonged to the other person's grandparent. Since we share the same great- grandmother, we have been able to feel like our family circle is now complete. We look forward to meeting face to face someday soon. To all of you who tend to give up -- keep searching. You might receive a happy gift as I have. PengwenR@aol.com Gi-day mates in Canada, US, United Kingdom and good old Aussie (Australia). We talk funny down here so all of you tell us. We don't say knickers, bloomers or panties, we call them briefs or underwear. Does that sound strange to yous all? Not me. I am one fair dinkum sheila from OZ. Cheerio , See ya. June Russell ruspar@in.com.au I have been looking for someone for 12 years. I have two boxes of family treasures that belong to her. I tried every avenue I could find, including "Somebody's Links." Several people who read my letter there sent messages with suggestions. As a last resort, I wrote to the Social Security Administration (SSA) last year. After several months SSA had not found her, but told me if I could find more clues, it would try again. I dug in the boxes and got more information and sent it back to the SSA in February. Last week I got a call from a very happy and emotional young lady who has been searching for her roots for many years. [N.B.: Read RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees, Guide 10: SSDI (U.S. Social Security Death Index) & Railroad Retirement Board Records http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson10.htm and try every other avenue of research before as a last resort using the following information. Eds.] In case you need another avenue to search, here is the address: ATTN MOD 12 ET UNIT DESK Social Security Administration Wilkes Barre Data Operations Center 1150 E. Mountain Dr Rm 264 Wilkes Barre Pa 18702-7997 Take a tip from me -- don't ever give up! Gladys J. May clmgjm@livingston.net * * * * * HUMOR. Thanks to Dennis D. Berg dberg@isplist.bc.ca who wrote: "Reading the humour section in [a recent "RootsWeb Review"] reminded me of one I read many years ago that went like this": Ruth rode on my motorbike, Directly back of me, I hit a bump at sixty-five, And rode on ruthlessly. Author Unknown. * * * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS do not publish queries and the editors regret that they are unable to provide research assistance. You can subscribe to the relevant surname and locality mailing lists http://lists.rootsweb.com/ and then post queries to them. You can search all of RootsWeb's resources by starting at RootsWeb's main page http://www.rootsweb.com/. Search WorldConnect frequently, as new material is added daily (WorldConnect now contains nearly 62 million entries). AN ARTICLE, STORY, OR LETTER SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION FOR PUBLICATION IN ROOTSWEB REVIEW OR MISSING LINKS should be sent as a plain text e-mail message to rwr-editors@rootsweb.com 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. 4, No. 13, 28 March 2001. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/ BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS are fully SEARCHABLE. Search all or download a specific issue by following the links at http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ 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 to ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING LINKS, e-mail: rootsweb-review-subscribe@rootsweb.com