RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 5, 29 January 2003, Circulation: 1,023,552 (c) 1998-2003 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ * * * Please see Section 9 below for e-mail addresses and help Do not use your e-mail application's "REPLY TO" option to send a message to RootsWeb Review ======================================================================= In This Issue: 1. News and Notes. (1a. ISTG Announces Irish Maritime News Articles"; 1b. Removing Message Boards from 'My Notifications'; 1c. Tips from Readers: "Crosschecking Census Data" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "Gift Keeps on Giving" 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb 5. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 6. New FreePages and HomePages (personal webpages at RootsWeb) 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Sorting 'em Out: Greats Here; Grands Over There"; "Driving the Spel Chacker Krazy"; "Squirreling Away" 8. Humor: "Your Ancestor Did What?" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Subscription Modification Instructions ====================================================================== 1. News and Notes: ------------------ 1a. The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG), one of the several hosted volunteer projects at RootsWeb, announces the addition of maritime news articles excerpted from Irish newspapers, dating from 1700-1912. These articles have been contributed primarily to ISTG by Dennis Ahern, with some contributions by Cathy Joynt Labath and Alison Causton. The names of ships and surnames mentioned in the articles are indexed. Visit Irish Maritime News Articles by starting here: http://istg.rootsweb.com/newsarticles/ireland1700_1849.html Additional maritime newspaper articles, dating from the 1700s to 1940 and listed by year, ship name, or article subject are available at: http://istg.rootsweb.com/newsarticles/newsarticles.html * * * 1b. Removing Message Boards from 'My Notifications.' Are you getting e- mail that you no longer wish to receive that appears to have been sent from the RootsWeb/Ancestry Message Boards? Don't know how to stop it? The answer depends upon the source of the e-mails. There are three possibilities. 1) If the message body of the e-mails you are receiving begins with the text: "This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list." -- this indicates that a Mailing List and not a Message Board is the actual source of the e-mails. There is no way to stop receiving gatewayed posts from a corresponding Message Board other than to unsubscribe from the list. Mailing List members receive a copy of every message posted to the list, including the gatewayed messages. To unsubscribe from any RootsWeb Mailing List, send a new e-mail to: LISTNAME-L-request@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or LISTNAME-D- request@rootsweb.com (for digest mode) with only the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject and message body. Replace the word LISTNAME with the actual name of the list when you send your request. Once you unsubscribe from a list you will not receive any messages from the list, even those that are not originating from the Message Board gateway. 2) If the e-mails you are receiving contain the subject line: "Message Boards: A reply has been posted to your message." -- this indicates you are receiving the messages because someone has posted a reply within a thread on a Message Board to which you have previously posted a message. It doesn't necessarily mean that the response is to your message directly, although it might be. At the time you post a message on a Message Board you have the option of checking or unchecking a box that says you wish to be notified of any responses. The box is checked by default to indicate you DO wish to be notified, but you may uncheck the box before posting your message -- if you prefer not to be notified of any replies. At present, there is no way to reverse the checking or unchecking of this box once your message is posted to the board other than by viewing the message, clicking on Report Abuse, and requesting that the message be deleted. This option should not be considered lightly, as removing the message usually results in the responses attached to it being removed also, and those messages (as well as yours) may be of genealogical interest to future Message Board visitors. 3) If the e-mails you are receiving have the subject line: "Message Boards: My Notifications" -- this means that you have, at some point, logged in using your Ancestry account, visited a specific Message Board, and clicked on ADD BOARD TO NOTIFICATIONS. The ONLY way to remove the board from MY NOTIFICATIONS after having added it is for you to login, click on MY NOTIFICATIONS, scroll to the right side of the page, and click on the REMOVE link opposite the Message Board name you wish to remove from MY NOTIFICATIONS. If you are receiving notifications for a Message Board but when you click on MY NOTIFICATIONS you do not see the board listed, this indicates that you probably have multiple Ancestry accounts. To learn about your accounts, logout of your current account and then click on LOGIN. Next click on FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD. Send for all account information under all e-mail addresses for which you can currently receive mail. When you receive the list of all accounts, login under each one and click on MY NOTIFICATIONS until you find the one which lists the board you wish to remove. If you have accounts under e-mail addresses for which you can no longer receive mail, contact Ancestry Customer Support to have all account information mailed to you -- list each e-mail address that might have had an account associated with it. Ancestry Customer Support is at: http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php? Once again, when you receive this account information, login under *each* account; click on MY NOTIFICATIONS until you find the one or ones you wish to remove. * * * 1c. TIPS FROM READERS. Crosschecking Census Data Thanks to: John Hewes jahrn@hotmail.com One of my favorite places to obtain genealogical data is from census documents. I've been involved in genealogy long enough to know that there are many errors to be found in census documents. Recently, while researching the Texas family of Samuel George McMAINS, I found the family in the 1900 Dimmit County census. The last name was misspelled (McMAHON), and at least one of the first names was as well. I've grown accustomed to such errors, and didn't think twice about it. I was just glad to have found the names of Samuel's children, as I did not have them in my database. The youngest child was recorded as Fannie McMAHON, daughter, born August 1897, two years of age. The following week, I located a reference book entitled, "Dimmit County Mesquite Roots" (Tidwell, L. K.). I located an entry in the book referring to Samuel and his family, and was quite surprised when I discovered that "Fannie," was actually named "Sammy," and was a SON of Samuel, not a daughter. To confirm this new information, I went to the 1910 Dimmit County census. Lo and behold, there was an entry for Samuel G. McMAINS, son, born 1897. Obviously either in copying, or enumerating, the 1900 census taker made a big mistake. I've learned my lesson. Now, I always attempt to confirm census data by viewing census records from as many years as possible. [Editor's note: Please send your tips to Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com -- additional information about census records can be found in RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees. http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson9.htm Also see Cyndi's List: "Census Related Sites Worldwide" http://www.cyndislist.com/census2.htm A couple of articles on this subject are: "Clues in the 1881 British Census Index," by Robin Chalmers http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/1047.asp "The Basics of Using Federal Census Records," by George C. Morgan http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/columns/george/1259.asp ] 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Gift Keeps on Giving --Susan Buce buce@gorge.net I'm still getting e-mails dribbling in regarding my "Christmas Eve Gift" tradition story (RWR:5:51, 18 December 2002), but at last count, I had 140 messages about it. One woman sent me the following: . . . "I ran across this today and immediately thought of you. I'm reading the diary of the daughter of Robert E. Lee. The book is GROWING UP IN THE 1850s: THE JOURNAL OF AGNES LEE. In her entry for January 1, 1853, she says, 'I must describe my Christmas holidays. Well twenty mins. before five Manda rushed in and caught me [with] "Christmas gift."' A footnote speculates that Manda was a daughter of one of the house servants. So we know the tradition is at least that old -- and very Southern!" Thanks once again for publishing my note in your newsletter. It's been a great deal of fun reading the replies. I have the e-mails published on my website in the section called "The Knick-Knack Drawer" at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~buce/ 3. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ --------------------------------------------- The following datasets have come online recently (these are name searchable, but they are not browseable): CALIFORNIA. Santa Cruz County. Watsonville High School, June 1920 Manzanita; 239 records; Janece Carter Streig for the Pajaro Valley Historical Association. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ CALIFORNIA, Santa Cruz County. Watsonville High School, June, 1921 Manzanita; 215 records; Janece Carter Streig for the Pajaro Valley Historical Association. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ CALIFORNIA, Santa Cruz County. Watsonville High School, June, 1924 Manzanita; 262 records; Janece Carter Streig for the Pajaro Valley Historical Association. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ INDIANA. Montgomery County. Alumni Alamo High School 1910-1924; 79 records; Dale E Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ INDIANA. Montgomery County. Alumni List, Alamo High School, 1925-1967; 471 records; Dale Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ INDIANA. Warren County. Alumni, Williamsport High School, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960-1962, 1966, 1970; 236 records; Dale Smith http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Atchison County. Effingham High School, 1934 Senior Class; 41 records; Jo Ann Peterson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Atchison County. Effingham High School, 1937 Senior Class; 51 records; Jo Ann Peterson http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MASSACHUSETTS. Middlesex County. Malden High School, 1933, Malden; 294 records; Jim Halpin http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MICHIGAN. Macomb County. St. Mary, List of Deceased 1876-1976; 1,720 records; Coryne Forest http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/ MONTANA. Missoula County. 1933 University of Montana, Missoula; 164 records; Mary Woody West http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEBRASKA. York County. 1890-91 Gazetteers; 3,781 records; York County Historical Association http://userdb.rootsweb.com/atlas_gazetteer/ OKLAHOMA. Cleveland County. Moore Cemetery, Moore; 2,983 records; Jim Woodruff http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ PENNSYLVANIA. Luzerne County. 1860 Census, Providence Township; 4,086 records; Alaine Keisling http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ TEXAS. Gonzales County. Nixon Cemetery List; 1,716 records; Evelyn Wicke http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ * * * Does your state, province, county, parish, church, old military unit, or alma mater have some material with a few names or thousands of names available that you think would be of interest to genealogists and historians? Do you have a list of names or a database that you think would be of value and interest to others? In most cases, RootsWeb would be proud to host it. Such user databases are other than your family tree since family trees can be posted at WorldConnect: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ See the guidelines, tutorial and examples of data formats for user- contributed data. Large or small files are welcome. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/guidelines.html Please use this submission form: http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Some of these pages might not yet be accessible. They are created by volunteers, so if one that interests you isn't up yet, please check again in a few days or next week. http://www.rootsweb.com/~[accountname] Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required. Example: The Peru, Oxford County, Maine website is located at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mecperu/ CANADA ontemisk -- County of Temiskaming, Ontario U.S.A. alhchg -- Henry County Historical Group (Alabama) aludc -- Alabama Division, United Daughters of the Confederacy gacarrol -- Carroll County, Georgia gacrimin -- Criminal Records for the State of Georgia ilfvgs -- Fox Valley Genealogical Society (DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties in Illinois) kybath -- Bath County, Kentucky laredriv -- Red River Parish, Louisiana mabccmsg -- Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Bristol County Chapter mecperu -- Peru, Oxford County, Maine micparsh -- Parshallville, Livingston County, Michigan moholt -- Holt County, Missouri ncbeaufo -- Beaufort County, North Carolina ohwhs -- Wayne Historical Society (Ashtabula County, Ohio) tnlake -- Lake County, Tennessee wispags -- Stevens Point Area Genealogy Society (Portage County, Wisconsin) 5. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- For more information and an index to the more than 26,200 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and easy subscribing options, go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BASE, BOLITHO, BOREY, BRAZO, BUSKEY, BUTCHART, BUTHMAN CALOWITCH, CALOWITS, CHEVERS, CIERESZEWSKI, COGLE, COPPARD, CORKER, CORNPLANTER, CRUTTENDEN DETHAYE, DICKEL GATTIS, GEOFFREY, GLAD GOODHALL-UK -- The GOODHALL surname in the United Kingdom GURR-UK -- The GURR surname in the United Kingdom HEFFKEN, HERTZLER, HOWKINS, HUGGANS IGNACZ, IGNATKO JEWSON, JOSENHANS KAPERNICK, KOSIC, KOSITCH, KOSZICS, KOSZTKA LAMING, LESNIAK, LONGMIRE MANNIX, MCPEEK, MEANEY MCKAY-ELKENNY -- Descendents of Elkenny McKay MIDDLETON-FETTERCAIRN-DESCENDANTS -- Descendants of William Middleton of Fettercairn (1700-1760) NEWBILL OGARA PITCHFORTH PATTENDEN-UK -- The PATTENDEN surname in the United Kingdom RAINIER SALLUST, SANCHO, SCHWINN, SHEVERS, SPLETTER, STAITE, STEIDEL, STELTERMANN SARGENT-ENG -- The SARGENT surname in England TENKELY, TREVERTON VUKALOVICH, VUKALOVITS WIBORG NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS TRAILS-OF-TEARS -- The Trails of Tears, especially relating to the Cherokees NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS NOR-OPPLAND -- Oppland, Norway 6. New Personal Freepages and Homepages at RootsWeb ---------------------------------------------------- Note: Comments and questions about any of these independently authored webpages should be directed to their respective compilers/webmasters. When your new, updated, or substantially revised personal pages located at RootsWeb (they will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL) are up and ready for visitors, please send the URL (Web address), along with a brief description, including the major pertinent surnames and what is available on your site, to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com AUSTRALIA. Our Ancestors Now Call Australia Home: Surnames: OATEY, JURY, MULLETT, ELLIS, MICHELL, BEAGLEHOLE, HOLMES, da FONTE, and KEATING. Database of passenger lists to South Australia (1836-1860s) in progress. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dicummings/ CANADA. The primary item is a series of pages containing scanned pages of a booklet commemorating a reunion of Walker's School, a one- room schoolhouse in West Zorra township, Oxford County, Ontario. The pages contain class photos from 1869 to 1966 and there is an index of people included in the photos. There is also a listing of descendants of Thomas BLACKMAN. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pryde/ CALIFORNIA. Southern California Obituaries. The site provides step-by- step guidance to those looking for obituaries in Southern California. At present, the counties included on the site are Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, San Bernardino, and San Diego, with Santa Barbara and Kern counties to be added soon. Also include lists of more than 400 public and academic libraries, genealogical and historical societies, and newspaper publishers who might have newspapers in their collections. Another list is a catalog of the newspapers held at these repositories. At present there are listings for about 20 libraries, and the list is growing daily. Website users can search online for a newspaper that might carry an obituary, find a repository that has that newspaper, review the library's lookup policies, and request a lookup. While the resource lists are targeted to Southern California, the tips and suggestions are useful and appropriate for anyone doing obituary searches in the United States. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~socalobituaries/ FAMILIES ACROSS TIME. Includes a link to the author's World Connect file, some photographs (1850-1952), and a partial (underway) transcription of Harpers Cemetery in Jefferson County, West Virginia. Surnames and localities include: Yorkshire, England (to America before 1870): MOORE, CALVERT, BOOTH, and Samuel STEAD; Belfast, Ireland (to America ca 1862-1870): Thomas SELBY; Poland (to America before 1920): GOLEMBIEWSKI); Germany: FOX, AUCH, and MAURER; and from Llanelly, Carmarthen, Wales to Connecticut: William BOWEN and Sarah JONES. http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~familiesacrosstime/ HOFFMAN, HAFNER, BOTTGER, FAWCETT, O'CALLAGHAN, HAUSELMAN, FLICK, and VOLTZ (FOLTZ) families of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The author's HOFFMAN and BOTTGER ancestors emigrated from Hattenbach, Hersfeld, Hesse; HAFNER from Wellendingen, Württemberg; O'CALLAGHAN from Dublin, Ireland; FAWCETT from County Durham, England; and HAUSELMAN from Lotzwil, Berne Switzerland. Also included is information on more than 1,000 HOFFMANs from Cuyahoga County -- unrelated to the author. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hoffmanetal/ IRELAND and SCOTLAND: Bob's Genealogy. This site includes or will include data (BDM) for the surnames: GRIFFITH, McBREARTY, BROGAN, MARTIN, DUNNE, NORTON, CARLIN, McGARRIGLE, GRIFFIN, and McAFEE. The main areas of research are Ireland: Donegal, Leinster, Queens/Leix/Laois; and Scotland: Glasgow, Bathgate. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hiflyte/ ======================= Paid Advertisements ======================== Put your Treasured Memories In A Striking Award-Winning Digital Album FlipAlbum is a complete hassle-free photo album software. It creates automatically, a 3D page-flipping album for any occasion. [This is a 2-line URL]: http://www.flipalbum.com/ims/clickthru/ ?x=a_mf1&y=a_mf1&y=http://www.flipalbum.com/ims/c/c1/ * * * Explore Your World! Join the Discovery Channel Book Club. The Discovery Channel Book Club is your definitive source for the greatest books and videos on the planet from weird creatures to cool technology, space exploration to ancient civilizations. Explore Your World! 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From RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag [Editor's note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the editor or of RootsWeb.com]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorting 'em Out: Greats Here; Grands Over There I have no idea of the history of the use of the terms "Great" or "Grand" describing one's status as an aunt or uncle. However, it is my understanding the terms are not interchangeable. Aunts/uncles from the paternal side are "Great." Aunts/uncles from the maternal side are "Grand." As my only brother has no children, I will never be a "great aunt." I will remain a "grand aunt" to my sisters' children. And great-grandaunt to her grandchildren. Had my brother had children and in turn grandchildren, I would be a great-great-aunt to those children. --Lauren Boyd confido@ix.netcom.com * * * Driving the Spel Chacker Krazy 'Ere, wot be this Jim McMillen chap writin 'bout, where 'e says stuff like "grahnd-ohnt" and "grate-ant". Be 'e troyin to teach us 'ow to speak praper or summat? Seems like 'e bin readin they books 'bout Lord Peter Wimsey or sumone, where Lord P. seems to 'ave great-aunts. Besides, 'is spellin's a bit wrong, 'cos it's praper said Arnt, not ant. Ants is emmets, wot lives in ant-hills, I hope they be your relatives, not mine. Emmets is also they furren wisitors wot comes down to Cornwall from up in England. Probably "grand-aunt" is sumone tryin to be a bit posh or summat 'cos they bin great-aunts for all of my sixty yers. If it be a regional difference then that be good, 'cos they local differences be wot makes us all diffrent and interestin. --Colyn Blundell colun.blundell@btinternet.com * * * Squirreling Away Dave Van Doren means well when he advises against using the computer and/or other digital means to save records that we collect in our genealogical pursuits. There is one problem, however, that he fails to address -- and it is a problem that every library and archives already faces. It is how you find the space to keep all the paper records that you produce by Dave's method. If he has a solution, I hope he will publicize it widely (or set up a business to produce and market it). --George L. Trigg GeorgeLTrigg@alum.wustl.edu 8. Humor: "Your Ancestor Did What? --------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Terry Carpenter diluvius@yahoo.com Referencing the humorous census entries researchers have discovered, I have one to share. In the 1900 census of Prentiss County, Mississippi, (E.D. 95, p. 250B; image no. 40), the occupation of the family's 10- year-old son, Boone CARPENTER, is listed by the enumerator as "going in the creek." 9. Submission Guidelines, Reprint Policy, RWR Archives, Subscriptions ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The RootsWeb Review welcomes short (500 words or less) articles, humor, tips, stories, or letters, and reserves the right to edit all submissions. All mail sent to the RootsWeb Review editor is considered to be for publication; send in plain text (no html, stationery, or attachments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com The RootsWeb Review does not publish or answer genealogical queries, and the editor regrets that she is unable to provide any personal research assistance or advice. * * * Search/download all back issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * Do not send RWR subscription requests and modifications to the editor. Please use the following RWR addresses: RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- adds you to the RWR Mailing List. RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- removes you from the RWR Mailing List. * * * 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: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 6, No. 5, 29 January 2003. * * * *