RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Free Weekly E-zine Vol. 5, No. 20, 15 May 2002, Circulation: 949,549 (c) 1998-2002 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist RWR-Editor@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ RootsWeb Review does not publish or answer genealogical queries, and the editor regrets that she is unable to provide any personal research assistance. Post your queries on all relevant surname and locality message boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ and mailing lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. THIS IS A POST-ONLY MAILING. ====================================================================== IN THIS ISSUE 1. Connecting through RootsWeb: Discovering Choctaw Roots; Seek and Find 2. News and Notes (2a. Utilizing Electronic Sticky Notes; 2b. Spoofing You. 2c. Browsing Along; 2d. New User-contributed Databases; 2e. Spotlighted Webpages: Baptist Roots 3. New Mailing Lists 4. New Webpages 5. New FreePages and HomePages (personal pages at RootsWeb) 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: Fading Fast Reply; High Tech Saves Old Slides; Sharing, Preserving Picture Treasures; A Quarter Won't Buy Nuttin' No More; Following the Naming Trail 7. What's New for Ancestry.com Subscribers; Online Classes 8. Humor: Clam Up 9. Submissions Guidelines; Reprint Policy; Subscribe or Unsubscribe Instructions ================================================================ 1. CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Discovering Choctaw Roots By Katie Kratochvil tkkrato@flash.net When I received the RootsWeb Review 5:19 last week that mentioned the user-contributed database of the Dawes Enrollment cards, it broke down a great big brick wall. We knew my grandmother, Edith CROAN, had Native American heritage from the Choctaw tribe, but neither she nor any of her mother's family ever showed up on a Dawes Roll. Therefore I went to the new data that was in the newsletter and typed STANFIELD, which was my great-grandmother's family and in the STANFIELDs, there were people who actually matched my family! Then I typed in CROAN, which never had pulled up any Native American data, and there they were! My great- grandparents, grandmother and her two siblings. I now know she was 1/32 Choctaw. My grandmother was a remarkable woman. She was an Army nurse in World War I, which was before the Americans had a nursing corps, so she was assigned to the British troop hospital in France. My uncle lent me her scrapbook of photos of her time in the war and it is amazing. Thank you for the service that you provide, I never thought my family tree would get such a great impact from it, but it did. [Editor's note: Any and all information provided in the Native American Dawes enrollment databases (1898-1914) should be verified by obtaining copies of the actual records from the National Archives in Fort Worth: http://www.nara.gov/nara/fortwor.html To fully understand the background and information to be found in the Dawes records, read Kent Carter's outstanding book "The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914." It is available ($19.95) from Ancestry.com, the publisher]: http://shops.ancestry.com/product.asp?productid=1444&Id2=75083 * * * Seek and Find By Lois Schmidt flolois@redred.com I did a search for Maria Elizabeth WIRTH -- my husband's great- grandmother and found a new relative, and on another day, found another distant relative. AMAZING -- thanks to you. 2. NEWS AND NOTES ----------------- 2a. UTILIZING ELECTRONIC STICKY NOTES. While searching at RootsWeb for your ancestors you come across an incorrect date of death for your grandfather in the SSDI (Social Security Death Index): http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ and an incorrect marriage location for your great-grandaunt Matilda in a WorldConnect database http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ -- what can you do? User-submitted data like that found in WorldConnect, as well as information found in government records such as the SSDI, may contain errors of facts and/or spelling variants. After all, there are no flawless records, even though they might be "official" ones. While you cannot have the original material corrected without contacting the WorldConnect database submitter or notifying the Social Security Administration regarding SSDI records, you can alert other researchers who view a specific record that the information in that record is incorrect, incomplete, or differs from what you have. You can present corrected or additional information and provide a means whereby others with an interest in the records you have annotated can contact you. You can accomplish this by adding Post-em Notes -- the RootsWeb equivalent of an electronic "sticky note" to the record you wish to annotate. Post-em Notes can be added to the SSDI records at RootsWeb.com, to its WorldConnect databases, and to many other user- contributed database entries. Here's how: While viewing a record you wish to annotate, click on where the option for user-added notes -- ADD A NOTE or ADD POST-EM NOTE -- appears. The option wording varies depending upon the type of database you are viewing. Select a password of your choice for your Post-em Note, type in your name and e-mail address where requested, fill in the note you wish to post and click on PREVIEW or POST. (If you select PREVIEW first, don't forget to POST it). Creating your own password enables you (and only you) to return at a future date to edit or delete your Post-em Note with one exception -- WorldConnect submitters can remove Post-em Notes others have added to their files by using their database password. That's because WorldConnect submitters have complete control over their files. You can use Password Central http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ to obtain a list of Post-em Notes that you have posted on SSDI and WorldConnect entries. Additionally, WorldConnect submitters can obtain a list of all Post-em Notes attached to their GEDCOMs by marking the WorldConnect box option under OTHER at the bottom of this page. Post-em Notes solve the age-old problem of updating and correcting genealogical information, and they enable researchers to make online connections with others interested in the same family lines. * * * 2b. SPOOFING YOU. Educate yourself about viruses and worms -- they are a constant threat and could destroy your valuable genealogical material. You will not receive any of these varmints from RootsWeb's mailing lists because all posts to them must be in plain text and they can not contain attachments. However, the W32.Klez virus (there are several variants of it) that is causing so many problems lately is able to do so because it is forging (called spoofing) the "From" address by inserting an address it finds on the infected computer and then it sends copies of itself to addresses found in the infected computer's address book. That's why you might be fooled into thinking you received a virus from a RootsWeb mailing list or that a friend has sent you one. Keep your anti-virus software updated, use it, and don't open any e-mail attachments until you have verified that they were actually sent to you by your friends or family members. Be careful out there. You will find accurate information about computer viruses at: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html http://dispatch.mcafee.com/virus_tips.asp?cid=1593 For a free online virus scan: http://housecall.antivirus.com/pc_housecall/ * * * 2c. BROWSING ALONG. Readers sometimes ask: Why can't I just browse through all the names in these user-contributed databases? I'd like to view an entire database all at once. 1) RootsWeb's user-contributed database searchable formats are designed to allow almost anyone to contribute material -- you don't have to have a webpage, know HTML, or have any fancy computer applications in order to share your valuable information with fellow genealogists. See: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/guidelines.html 2) To enable browsing through the larger databases would require the creation of many huge webpages. These pages would take too long to load for many users with slower modem connections. However, contributors may create webpages where they can display their databases for browsing. RootsWeb will then provide the URL link to those pages. 3) The searchable-by-surname format that RootsWeb uses protects our contributors' work from being stolen, misused, and/or sold to others for profit. Did you know that as of 14 May the total number of international records in the user-contributed database area was 4,682,615? For a breakdown by categories, please see: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/userstats.html What might you find in these user-contributed databases? You never know -- perhaps some missing pieces of your family's puzzle. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/regional.html 2d. NEW FREE USER-CONTRIBUTED DATABASES AT ROOTSWEB: The following databases have come online recently (these are name searchable, but not browseable of the entire database): US Military Records: Childress Army Air Field (Texas), Bombardier class 45 1-B; 181 records; David Charlebois http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ US Military Records: WWI, B-Company, 37th Engineers. 66 records; E. C. Shea http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ US Military Records: WWII Class Photo -- Keystone High Speed Radio Operators School, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, 1943 15 records; Terry Carpenter http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ US Passenger Lists: Ferrari DiFabio passenger list 4 records; Laura Marie Thomas http://userdb.rootsweb.com/passenger/ ALABAMA. Covington County. 1840 census 301 records; Tammy Barg http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ ARKANSAS. Johnson County. Johnson County Historical Society Journal 75,536 records; Annita/Wendell Powell http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ CALIFORNIA. Monterey County. ED 12, 1910, federal census; 1,358 records; M Hellam http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ CONNECTICUT. Middlesex County. Clinton Town Records--Deaths 1801-1854. (Clinton split off from Killingworth in about 1832). 92 records; Janece Carter Streig http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ CONNECTICUT. Middlesex County. Clinton Town Records, 1801-1854. (Clinton separated from Killingworth in about 1832). 211 records; Janece Carter Streig http://userdb.rootsweb.com/births/ CONNECTICUT. Middlesex County. Town Records, marriages; Clinton, 1801-1854; 521 records; Janece Carter Strieg http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ ILLINOIS. Cook County. Leo High School, Chicago, Class 1954 238 records; Ken Blake http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ INDIANA. Warren County. 1963 Graduating Class of Williamsport High School; 29 records; Dale Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW JERSEY. Passaic County. 1870 Census, Paterson, Ward 1 2,899 records; Susan Clark http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ OHIO. Clermont County. Loveland High School Class of 1938 41 records; Albert Anton Engebretson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ PENNSYLVANIA. Montgomery County. Norristown High School Class of 1925 87 records; Gerald A. Heebner http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ RootsWeb thanks the individuals and groups who contribute their material to share with the genealogical community. See the full list of contributors and all the categories at http://userdb.rootsweb.com/contributors.html 2e. SPOTLIGHT ON SOME DISTINCTIVE WEBPAGES AT ROOTSWEB. BAPTIST ROOTS? If some of your ancestors were Baptists, you will want to explore this website on Baptist Church History and Genealogy. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~baptist/ 3. NEW ROOTSWEB MAILING LISTS ----------------------------- The following are NOT webpages--they are mailing lists. For more information and an index to the more than 24,800 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy mailing lists and the subscribing options, please go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ To subscribe or unsubscribe to/from any RootsWeb-hosted mailing list, send a plain text (not HTML) e-mail message with only the word SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the message body to: [name of list]-L-request@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or to: [name of list]-D-request@rootsweb.com (for digest mode) To request a new mailing list: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS AILSHIRE BENDICK, BEUSCHER, BEWICK, BILTCLIFF, BUDARZ CHAZARO, CHEZ, COSSITT, CUZNER ELLA, ENKE FLEXMORE GALLUS, GUNDERMAN HALLIBURTON, HICKMOTT, HOHLER, HOOSE KITTELBERGER LATULIP, LILLIQUIST MASSETTI, MCKNEW, MORGANTI NOBRIGA ODDEY, ODDIE, ODO PALK RAYWORTH, RIEFENBERG, ROLLMANN, ROWORTH SCOLTOCK, SEHN, SIVCOSKI, SOFFEL, SPRAGGINS TWARDOWSKI WABER, WISMER ZAMBALDI NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL-INTEREST MAILING LISTS ALLEN-NF -- The ALLEN surname in Newfoundland, Canada DEVINE-CLAN -- Clan Devine GERMAN-NY -- German immigrants to U.S. HALL-ALABAMA -- The HALL surname in Alabama IA-RAILROADS -- Genealogy research of old Iowa railroads and their workers IN-RAILROADS -- Genealogy research of Indiana railroads and their workers NOVA-SCOTIA-SEAFARERS -- Province of Nova Scotia (Canada) as it pertains to the seafaring community and their ships NYDUTCH -- Dutch-born ancestor that immigrated to New York State, USA NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS BARBADOS -- Barbados BARBUDA -- Barbuda Island (Caribbean) ITA-BASILICATA -- Region of Basilicata, Italy ITA-CALABRIA -- Region of Calabria, Italy ITA-EMILIA-ROMAGNA -- Region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy ITA-FRIULI-VENEZIA-GIULIA -- Region of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Italy ITA-LAZIO -- Region of Lazio, Italy ITA-MOLISE -- Region of Molise, Italy ITA-TOSCANA -- Region of Toscana, Italy ITA-TRENTINO-ALTO-ADIGE -- Region of Trentino-Alto-Adige, Italy ITA-UMBRIA -- Region of Umbria, Italy ITA-VALLE-AOSTA -- Region of Valle d'Aosta, Italy ITA-VENETO -- Region of Veneto, Italy 4. NEW WEBPAGES AT ROOTSWEB ---------------------------- 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 next week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ [account name] Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required. To request a free Web account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ POLAND polpodka -- Podkarpackie U.S.A. iltahsm -- Tampico Area Historical Society and Museum (Illinois) micfores -- Forest, Michigan (township) ncomchs -- Olde Mecklenburg County Heritage Society (North Carolina) njbcgc -- Burlington County Genealogy Club (New Jersey) nmcdajc -- Colonial Dames XVII Century, Anneke Jans Chapter, New Mexico nvbcmha -- Boulder City Museum and Historical Association (Nevada) ohputnam -- Putnam County, Ohio tnduvcw -- Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 (Tennessee) txcastro -- Castro County, Texas txfisher -- Fisher County, Texas txhays -- Hays County, Texas txhousto -- Houston County, Texas txkarnes -- Karnes County, Texas txkent -- Kent County, Texas txlampas -- Lampasas County, Texas txmarion -- Marion County, Texas txmaveri -- Maverick County, Texas txnolan -- Nolan County, Texas wawcgs -- Whitman County Genealogical Society (Washington) wawhitma -- Whitman County, Washington 5. NEW PERSONAL FREEPAGES AND HOMEPAGES AT ROOTSWEB --------------------------------------------------- [Note: When your new personal webpages at RootsWeb are up and ready for visitors, please send the URL (address) along with a brief description to: rwr-editor@rootsweb.com -- comments and questions about any of these independently authored webpages should be directed to their respective compilers/webmasters.] FAIRCHILD. INK FOR BLOOD: THE DAVID FAIRCHILD FAMILY. History and family tree of David FAIRCHILD, printer and part of the 1849 Gold Rush. His sons were early settlers in Nevada. A fascinating snapshot of a family as recorded in newspapers of the time. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nvlander/Fairchild/ink.html GRINOLDS. Descendants of Matthew GRINOLDS and Dorcas RICHMOND and deals with the genealogy of the GRINOLDS family. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~grinolds/ HARDY, HARRIS, FERGUSON, WEBB, ORCHARD. Genealogy research of the following families: HARDY, HARRIS, WEBB, ELEY, and connecting families of Virginia and North Carolina who removed to southwest Arkansas and Texas; FERGUSON, of Virginia, migrated to Missouri and thence to Texas and Louisiana; ORCHARD of England, New York and South Carolina. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~thehardyparty/ JOHNSON, WADE, HARRIES, CONNOR, FAUNCH, and ANGEL from West Ham, Poplar, Middlesex, and Essex (England). Also LAMBERT, LEGGETT, RENDER, PULLEN, APPLEBY, PUGH, TANNAS, and STEVENS/STEPHENS from Fulham, Croydon, Surrey, and Middlesex. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kpjohnsonsfamily/ RYAN-STEVENSON FAMILY OF AUSTRALIA, IRELAND AND ENGLAND. A repository for family lines, history, and legends. Surnames also include: ASHTON, BIRCHALL, BYRNES, EGAN, FRANCIS, GLADMAN, GREEN, HAWKS, MORRIS, NEWBY, PARRY, TAYLOR, VAN LAWICK, WILLIAMS, and WINDLEY http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chery/ ************************PAID ADVERTISEMENTS************************ Your Best Family Memories... Are they still setting in a box on your closet shelf? ... or in relative's photo albums across the country? Want to do something REALLY meaningful for Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary? ...Beautifully memorialize the loss of a child or other loved one? We can help your family gather and display your best memories in a professionally designed, original fine art montage that will last forever. Then, we can print and frame lithographs, to share those memories. CLICK HERE to see how we turn your photos into a Paint My Family montage. http://www.paintmyfamily.com/paintmyfamily/index.html * * * The May/June issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE is on the newsstands now or you can obtain a free trial copy by visiting http://www.familychronicle.com/ Articles include "Researching Female Ancestors," "Psychic Roots, Revelations or Rubbish," "Experts Answer 10 Commonest Research Problems," "40 Ways to Document a Death," "Maximum Mileage from the Ellis Island Database," and "Researching Family History Through Court Records" plus many others. Purchase our fastest-selling special ever, "Dating Old Photographs" at $12 including shipping: http://www.familychronicle.com/ * * * Four books slashed by 25-30% through 5/23/02 at http://www.genealogical.com/ INTERNATIONAL VITAL RECORDS HANDBOOK (4th Ed.) http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=3148 GENEALOGIST'S ADDRESS BOOK http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=427 CYNDI'S LIST OF GENEALOGY SITES ON THE INTERNET (2 Vols. 2nd Ed.) http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=2932 NETTING YOUR ANCESTORS http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=2931 Save $100s on the cost of books with our CDs on the Deep South: THE DEEP SOUTH: GENEALOGICAL RECORDS OF ALABAMA, ARKANSAS, AND MISSISSIPPI http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=7527 EARLY LOUISIANA SETTLERS http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=7525 EARLY TEXAS SETTLERS, 1700s-1800s http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.cfm?ID=7514 Visit GENEALOGY WAREHOUSE, where all books are discounted at least 40%! http://www.genealogical.com/warehouse.cfm * * * Examine a complete free issue of HISTORY MAGAZINE online and see articles like "The 1580s a Volatile Decade," "Volcanoes, Eruptions that Changed the World," "Bicycles, History of Two-Wheeled Vehicles," "The History of Early Navigation," "Domesday Book, England's Greatest Medieval Record," "History of the Circus in America," and many others at http://www.history-magazine.com/ * * * "They Laughed When I Told Them That They Could Do Most of Their Genealogy Work at Home in Their Pajamas ... But When I Started to Reveal the Secrets of Pajama Genealogy, the Room Got Very Quiet -- Except For the Sound of Furious Scribbling As They Started Taking Notes ..." For in-depth info, read the PAJAMA GENEALOGY REPORT: http://amberskyline.com/pajama/ Or, to get the Pajama Report by e-mail. Send e-mail to robert@amberskyline.attbbs.net and say: "Send Free Pajama Report." http://amberskyline.com/pajama/ * * * Save up to 70% on inkjet cartridges and get FREE Shipping too! With Inkjetsavings, you not only save money, but there is no minimum order requirement. (US and Canada only) All products guaranteed. Fast shipping and top rated customer service. Prices are always lower than the big office supply stores. http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?inkjetsavings+bv2YyH+index.html * * * NO-FIND NO-FEE OFFER FROM BRITISH ANCESTORS BRITISH ANCESTORS have taken the risk out of engaging professional researchers with their amazing NO-FIND NO-FEE offer. Researchers throughout England and Scotland will search birth, marriage, death, census and church records for your ancestors (1800 to 1950) and will make no charge if your ancestors are not found! They also provide FREE e-mail consultations and a new CERTIFICATE ORDERING SERVICE! http://www.britishancestors.com **********************END OF PAID ADVERTISEMENTS********************** 6. FROM ROOTSWEB REVIEW'S BOTTOMLESS MAILBAG -------------------------------------------- Fading Fast Reply (RWR 5:18 1 May 2002) By Heidi Collins jhcollin@gte.net I received 153 responses to my RootsWeb letter asking how to preserve old slides. The responses came from as far away as Scotland. After I curled up into a ball and chattered to the carpet for awhile (just kidding, I'm tremendously appreciative for all the responses), Thanks to all who took time to respond, some in very technical detail with graphics and website addresses, even. This is very valuable information for me and one of the grandparents with the "bajiliions" of slides might be recruiting a teenage cousin of mine for "scanning manpower" after hearing these suggestions. Oh, the record for most slides owned by one family (according to one person who wrote me) is 9,000! A y caramba! One writer offered me this advice for scanning pleasure: "Have fun, don't make it a job." Excellent point. And another sent me a second e- mail, which was probably the best advice I received: "Oh, I did forget one thing: make sure no one knows you're home, take the phone off the hook, put a note on the doorbell saying "out of order,"and put the dog outside." * * * High Tech Saves Old Slides By Sandy Parrish n3kpn8crd@earthlink.net My husband has done a wonderful job of "saving" our old slides. He just projects the slide, takes a picture with our new digital camera, then loads it into the computer, and if need be, "cleans" up the image. Now we can print the individual picture, or put them all on a compact disc. Many of the pictures on our website http://www.kenparrish.com/ are copies of slides -- check it out. * * * Sharing, Preserving Picture Treasures By Kenneth Larsen kennlar@hotmail.com In regard to "Fading Fast" (RWR 5:18 1 May 2002) whose family has boxes of slides she wants to preserve. HP makes a Photosmart S20 photo scanner that takes 35mm slides, negative strips, and photos. My mother had about 500 slides which she thankfully stored in a metal slide holder. They've been protected from the light and from acidic materials. She meticulously labeled almost every slide. Some of the slides are 50 years old! Thanks to her forethought in labeling the slides, I now have addresses of the homes we lived in when I was a child (we were in the military and moved quite a bit). I also have pictures and names of many of the people in my parents' lives. With the photo scanner, I've been able to make high resolution of some of the slides with people in them to print later. The high resolution scan lets me zoom in on some unknown person in an unlabeled slide to try and figure out who they might be in another slide. I haven't had a slide projector for years so finally seeing the slides again has been so satisfying. Plus, I've been able to share some of the pictures with relatives. In fact, as soon as I'm done, I'm making a CD for my siblings so they have all the pictures, too. Right now, I've organized my slides on my hard disk by year. Under each year, I've made folders for the different places we lived. I haven't taken the time to name each slide other than the default name the S20 software gives it. That's next. The scanning can be time consuming. But by setting aside an hour here and there, I've been making steady progress. On the HP web site, the Photosmart s20 scanner is listed for about $500. Ms. Collins' 35 boxes of slides would cost well over that if done by a commercial service, I'm sure. And doing it myself has enhanced the joy of discovery and putting together the puzzles of the past. * * * A Quarter Won't Buy Nuttin' No More By: Barbara Allen Matthews carolyn@prismnet.com http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~bamsdragon/ Family reunions are a great place to pick up on all the latest gossip in the family, and hear about some of the things your relatives did as kids. You know things your parents never told you about or might like to forget. There are some people in each family who can keep an audience sitting there for hours. Painting a story with words so vividly that you could actually see it happening. I've been told that my grandfather, Joseph Preston Matthews was one such person. They say that grandpa knew hundreds of stories about the family, and could keep an audience laughing for hours on end. Others have stories buried deep inside their minds, and with those you might have to do a little digging to get them to bring it out. My dad is one of those. He definitely didn't inherited the storyteller's gene in our family. Though once you gave him a name, and prodded him a little, he could usually come up with something. The problem was in getting him started. Can you say "pulling teeth." But some of the best stories I remember come from my Aunt Reta. Give her a name and she could come up with a story dealing with just about anyone in our family. One such story Aunt Reta told me was about my grandmother, a quarter, and a trip to the butcher. The cost of living has always been a bother to people throughout life. My aunt told me a story one time about Grandma Viola giving her a quarter (25-cent piece) and asking her and my father to go down to the local butcher shop one day to get six pork chops for their evening meal. Six pork chops for a QUARTER! Can you imagine that? Today you're lucky to get one pork chop for less than a dollar and a half. However, lucky was something on that day Aunt Reta was not, and as she and my father walked home after leaving the butcher shop, she wondered how she was going to tell her mother, that night someone in the family was going to go to bed a little hungrier then usual. Seems that old cost-of-living bug had reared its ugly head. For inside the bag she carried home from the butcher that day, there was not the six pork chops she and my father had been sent to buy. No. Inside the bag there were only five pork chops. It seemed that even back then a quarter didn't buy what it used to. * * * Following the Naming Trail By Bobbi Dodge gnrdodge@txucom.net For years I have searched for more information on my ancestor, John DICKS, b. ca 1760, will proved 30 March 1830 in Freeport, Washington Township, Harrison/Tuscarawas [sic] County, Ohio. I had the names of his children because of his will and further research for their spouses. But since his wife predeceased him, I did not even have her first name. I knew from census records that his daughter Rachel (my grandmother) born 1802, was born in Pennsylvania. Because of this, I had a sneaking suspicion that John was descended from the Quaker Peter DICKS family from Chester County, Pennsylvania. I finally decided to turn to RootsWeb for help in finding John DICKS' wife. I typed in "John Dicks" and knew hundreds would show up on WorldConnect. I then refined the search to Pennsylvania and started looking for the particular time period. Soon I found John DICKS and Sarah. Scrolling down some more, I found John DICKS and Sarah HARLAN. The key was their daughter Sarah who married James McGREW. I knew I had hit pay dirt knowing Sarah was a sister of my Rachel. I have been unable to find Sarah's parents since the one perfect family for her birth time period of ca 1762 says their daughter Sarah died early! However, the name of HARLAN has tremendous significance in this DICKS family. 1) John DICKS and Sarah HARLAN named their first son Harlan DICKS; he apparently died young. 2) Their daughter Rachel DICKS born ca 1802, married Laban PARKS in Tuscarawas County, Ohio in 1819 and they named a son born in 1828 Harlan PARKS. 3) Laban PARKS and Rachel DICKS had a daughter (my grandmother) Matilda PARKS who was born in 1835 in La Grange County Indiana; she married Joseph Whipple ELDRIDGE in 1856 and they named their first son born in 1858 -- Harlan Doty ELDRIDGE. I had never known that HARLAN was a family name until now. It would be great to trace Sarah HARLAN'S ancestry and someday it will happen. Thanks to all who submit to RootsWeb. You are such a help to those of us searching our ancestry. 7. WHAT'S NEW FOR ANCESTRY.COM SUBSCRIBERS ------------------------------------------ To expand its product offering beyond the borders of the United States, Ancestry.com recently launched a new subscription that caters to users in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Acting as an extension of Ancestry.com, Ancestry.co.uk offers users access to 75 million records such as the Pallot Marriage and Baptismal Indexes, Parish and Probate Records, and the Civil Registration Index. In addition to the searchable databases, the site also provides localized content to help family historians with UKI-specific research issues. With the added convenience of a site specialized for the United Kingdom, Ancestry.co.uk is the ultimate resource for accelerating your family history research. Sign up today. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?sourceid=1380&targetid=3575 * * * LESSONS ONLINE: ENGLISH FAMILY TREES. Starts May 16, 2002 ($29.95). Learn how to research your English ancestry with Janet Reakes, who teaches genealogy basics and covers such topics as English parish records, unique surname spellings, church records, and lost records. http://www.myfamily.com/isapi.dll?c=home&htx=training%2FgenClass&class=3 8. HUMOR: Clam Up -------------------------------------- Thanks to Nancy Hoyt Nhoyt2@aol.com My great-uncle Ai Plummer dug clams in Scarborough, Maine and sold them to a fish market in Boston. They were bought by weight so Uncle Ai decided to soak them overnight (to make them heavier) before sending them to Boston. He received a disgruntled note from the fish market man saying he could buy water cheaper in Boston! 9. 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