RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 10, 5 March 2003, Circulation: 1,015,616+ (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/ * * * Do not send RWR subscription requests and modifications to the editor. Please use the following addresses: RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- adds you to the RWR Mailing List. RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- removes you from the RWR Mailing List. ======================================================================= In This Issue: 1. News and Notes. (1a. "Whittling 'em Down" 1b. Volunteer Appreciation; 1c. "Return to Sender" 1d. Tips From Readers: "Saving Valuable Information"; "Where's the Sources?" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "Doing the Obvious" 3. New Webpages at RootsWeb 4. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 5. New User-contributed Databases 6. New FreePages and HomePages (personal webpages at RootsWeb) 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Crossing Cousins"; "Gene's Jean"; "Nicknames and Food Names"; "A ROYAL Tree"; "Separated by a Common Language"; "Chuck It"; and "Untangling This Web" 8. Humor: Genealogical Signs 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Addresses; Subscription Modification Instructions ====================================================================== 1. News and Notes: ------------------ 1a. WHITTLING 'EM DOWN. You can narrow down the number of "hits" when searching the more than 256 million names in the combined WorldConnect/ Ancestry World Tree database by using WorldConnect's Advanced Search options. At this page: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ click on SEARCH ALL DATABASES. Refine a search that yields too many "hits" by including more information -- add a given name, or place of birth, and/or death (using town, county, state, and/or country as your search term). Birth and death place searches support recognition of the two-letter U.S. state postal abbreviations, as well as the state's full name -- KS or Kansas. Birth year and death year are searchable with a drop-down menu with the selections of: exact, plus or minus 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 years. The latter gives a range to a maximum of 40 years -- 20 years in either direction from the year you are using as your starting point. Also, you may use a wildcard with an exact date search. For example, put 187* in the birth year field to search all years from 1870 through 1879. WorldConnect uses christening dates and/or places automatically if the birth dates and/or places are missing. Burial dates and/or places are substituted in the absence of death dates and/or places. Another option for searches is on the names of the father, mother, and/or spouse. Too many John ANDERSONs to wade through? Add "Gertrude" or "Smith" (his wife's first and/or surname) to narrow it down. Get rid of the LIVING entries by checking the box marked "omit living," which is next to the given-name field. Eliminate matches that contain no data (genealogical information) in the birth, death, and/or marriage place fields -- check the boxes marked "omit blanks." You also can check off the boxes for "Has Descendants," "Has Notes," and/or "Has Sources" to limit "hits" to only those individuals with these fields of information included. However, the more narrow you make the search criteria, the greater the possibility that you might exclude a record of interest because it is not an exact match. You can exclude specific databases (yours or anyone else's) from a search by entering the user code(s) of the database(s) you wish to be excluded in the SKIP DATABASE box. Exclude multiple databases by skipping a single space (no commas or other punctuation) between each user code. Use the UPDATED WITHIN drop-down menu to limit searches to databases that have been uploaded or updated since you last performed a search (the FOREVER selection is used to search all databases). Check back often as new databases are added all the time, and old records are updated daily. Caution: If you constantly use SKIP DATABASE to ignore someone else's database, you might miss an update to their file. MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER. When viewing an entry within your own database or someone else's you can access any matching entries in other WorldConnect/Ancestry World Tree databases, by scrolling way down the page, and clicking on "search WorldConnect." * * * 1b. BEHIND THE SCENES. Since the end of Volunteer Appreciation Month in April, 2002, RootsWeb.com has continued to show its gratitude to volunteers by completing a new spotlight each month. For the month of March, RootsWeb spotlights Kathleen Burnett, who is a great mailing list administrator and website coordinator. Visit our Volunteer Spotlight Page to learn more about Kathleen. * * * 1c. RETURN TO SENDER: ADDRESS UNKNOWN. Sooner or later you are going to find a promising lead about your ancestors on WorldConnect, a Message Board, Mailing List, or on someone's personal website, so you send a quick e-mail note. And, it bounces. If your message was returned because of a full mailbox, or other temporary reasons, try again in a few days. However, if it bounces because the address is longer valid, then what do you do? First, it does no good to contact the HelpDesk or your editor, because RootsWeb does not maintain a database of users' e-mail addresses, and as much as we'd like to, we can't help you with this problem. Most genealogists leave a trail though, so start looking outside the box. Is there a link to the person's homepage or to their family tree at WorldConnect? Check those carefully because there might be an e-mail address there that is different than the one you have. Do they have a guestbook on their homepage? If so, leave them a note. Where might this person have posted? Message Boards? Mailing Lists? What surnames? What localities? Search through the appropriate archives to see if you can find a more recent address for them. If they are working the same family lines you are, they are probably using the same resources. Where have you left a virtual trail? Post a response to any of their old messages in hopes they will see it. Ask others if they know of an up-to-date address for this "lost" cousin. Where applicable, leave a Post-em Note so this person knows you are searching for them. To find Message Boards and Mailing Lists click on the appropriate tab near the top of any RootsWeb page, or at the Home Page: http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * 1d. TIPS FROM READERS. Saving Valuable Information Thanks to: Stephanie Feldman steph_carson@yahoo.com I have another idea for all the wonderful information that has been compiled on a family. This is only for those with a giving spirit, mind you, because your input will soon be long gone in this process. I found a cousin online and he said he had a bunch of photos of the family and he promptly sent me a CD. I was thrilled when I found one of my great-aunts on there that I had never seen! (Tragically, during a move, someone stole a box of all their pictures) I was making a CD for that family and I added a folder with this information in it. A month later I found another cousin from this line, and I sent her a CD, I added my files into a folder and copied the whole thing. She was thrilled because SHE had started the CD and now there was even more in it. Those of you with CD burners, we all know CDs are cheap. What an interesting way of keeping the information going. What wonderful insurance for keeping the information from becoming forever lost. My great-aunt's box of photos is gone, and from a very distant cousin, a copy of a precious wedding photo is found. Start burning those CDs. They're cheaper than paper and more durable! I managed to get about 2000 documents on one and it's only 60¢ (U.S. postage) to mail. Can you imagine what the paper cost would be and the time to copy? * * * Where's the Sources? Thanks to: Woodlief Thomas, Jr. Merriwood@aol.com I have relatively recently begun making use of WorldConnect to enhance my search for information about my ancestors, and, prompted by your excellent tutorials in RootsWeb Review, uploaded my first GEDCOM. For the GEDCOM, I elected to create one for just one family line, rather than upload my entire file. That seemed to be a more manageable choice, both for me and the potential users. From my, so far, limited experience, I have a couple of comments about WorldConnect: First, I am struck by the scarcity of sources and citations with the entries. Among the score or so files I have looked at to date, perhaps two had what I would call really serious lists of sources. In other cases, citations were brief and usually so cryptic that I could not fathom what they meant. Most had no references or sources at all. I realize that people add names to their genealogies on weak or "hearsay" evidence because it gives them a record as a starting point for further research, and their computer genealogy program is where such information gets filed. I have done the same, but I have at least tried to record the source (by which others may evaluate the trust they can put in that entry). In my case, if the individual is a peripheral relative entered only to fill out a picture of the larger family, I may not pursue further proof. Nevertheless, such a name may provide a link to another person researching just that particular leg of the family. Which brings me to my second comment: When I am researching particular surnames, I will choose entries that seem to represent promising links to my family and send e-mails to the submitters, either with a question or suggesting that we correspond. In most cases, I do NOT get any reply whatsoever! In a few cases, the e-mail addresses were no longer valid. I have been surprised at the huge lack of response. When I receive an inquiry from anyone searching their family, I always send a reply, even if it says only, "I have searched my files, and, I am sorry to say, I cannot help you." 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Doing the Obvious --Bob Larkin, of Melbourne Australia Caulfieldlions@hotmail.com I look forward to receiving the RootsWeb Review even though down here in Australia, most of the information is pretty remote to us. I especially enjoy the post where other researchers, discover a long-lost relative or family member. Although I always think that will never happen to me. Or at least I did until last week. I have been trying for some years to locate the relatives of my mother. Her parents died when she was quite young, and she only had vague memories of her aunts and uncles. One aunt married a Mr. BURNSIDE in 1924, but then died during childbirth in 1926. He later remarried and mother lost contact. She knew he worked for a major bank and was "quite high up," but that was all. I wrote to the archives of one of the banks and struck it lucky. They gave me quite a bit of information, but still no contacts. Quite by chance I found an army service record on the Australian War Memorial website that listed his birth place. I had a friend that I had worked with over 20 years ago who had the same surname. I knew his father had a farm in the same area back then, and I thought he might know that family. When I rang him out of the blue (I hadn't seen him for five years) he couldn't believe what I was telling him. He stopped me and told me that the baby I was talking about was his father. He and I were cousins. His grandfather had remarried and wouldn't tell the family about his first wife. Now I am looking forward to introducing them to all their relatives. My mother, who is 82 years old, is delighted that at last she will get to meet her side of the family. Keep up the good work. and don't be afraid of the obvious, even if it does seem impossible. [Editor's Note: See "National Archives of Australia's Family History: Armed Services Personnel Records" website at: http://www.naa.gov.au/the_collection/family_history/armed_services.html and RootsWeb's "General Australia" http://resources.rootsweb.com/world/Australia/General/ RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family Trees, No. 28 provides tips and links for English, Welsh, Australian, New Zealand and South African research. http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson28.htm ] ======================= Paid Advertisements ======================== The March/April issue of FAMILY CHRONICLE magazine is now on the newsstands now or get a free trial copy by visiting http://www.familychronicle.com/rootsweb/ Articles this issue: 10 Ways to Find and Ancestor's Birthplace, Quick Guide to Dating Old Photos, How to Read Difficult Handwriting, The Scottish Clan System, Genealogy and Genetics, Surprising Finds Online, Researching Maritime Canadians, Websites Worth Surfing . . . and more. * * * You may have unclaimed riches that you don't even know about. 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In minutes I have what took hours to find in the archives." (JM, California) Visit: http://www.scottishdocuments.com/ ==================== End of Paid Advertisements ===================== 3. 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 Macon County, Illinois website is located at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmacon/ CANADA nscbgha -- Cape Breton Genealogy and Historical Association (Nova Scotia) U.S.A. canhlduv -- Nancy Hanks Lincoln Tent #5 of Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War (San Diego, San Diego County, California) coapg -- Colorado Chapter Association of Professional Genealogist cocault -- Ault, Weld County, Colorado cocpierc -- Pierce, Weld County, Colorado gaquitma -- Quitman County, Georgia gatchgs -- Taylor County Historical-Genealogical Society, Inc. (Georgia) ilford -- Ford County, Illinois iliroquo -- Iroquois County, Illinois ilmacon -- Macon County, Illinois ilmchenr -- McHenry County, Illinois lacivwar -- Louisiana Involvement in the Civil War mnsctbio -- Scott County, Minnesota Biographies Project msboliva -- Bolivar County, Mississippi mswashin -- Washington County, Mississippi okkingf2 -- Kingfisher County, Oklahoma sckersha -- Kershaw County, South Carolina scorange -- Orangeburg County, South Carolina txdawson -- Dawson County, Texas txglcdar -- General Levi Casey Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Dallas, Dallas County, Texas) txmedina -- Medina County, Texas 4. 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 26,300 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and easy subscribing options, go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS IRL-CORK-MALLOW -- The Poor Law Union of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BOOCOCK, BROITZMAN, BULCOCK BROWN-SCOTLAND -- The BROWN surname in Scotland CORBRIDGE-UK -- The CORBRIDGE surname in the United Kingdom DENTON-ALBERT-LOGAN -- Albert Logan Denton descendants in Jackson and Clay counties, Tennessee and Van Zandt County, Texas ESTWICK HEBBORN, HOZIE HARRIS-AUS -- The HARRIS surname in Australia HARRIS-CA -- The HARRIS surname in California HARRIS-CO -- The HARRIS surname in Colorado HARRIS-FL -- The HARRIS surname in Florida HARRIS-IL -- The HARRIS surname in Illinois HARRIS-LA -- The HARRIS surname in Louisiana HARRIS-MD -- The HARRIS surname in Maryland HARRIS-MI -- The HARRIS surname in Michigan HARRIS-UK -- The HARRIS surname in the United Kingdom HARRIS-WV -- The HARRIS surname in West Virginia HEMPSALL-UK --The HEMPSALL surname in the United Kingdom JARAMILLO KEIG, KESTLE MITCHAM, MUNNERLYN SCHROYER, SEFFKER, SHARTLE, SMATHERS, STELZER SCOTT-NY -- The SCOTT surname in New York State (USA) TRINDER UTHE WINBERRY NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS TXLEGNOTES -- A notification system to let people, societies and organizations know when there are problems relating to records used by Texas genealogists. The list may discuss legal and legislative issues in Texas such as pending legislation, legislative bills, vital records issues and access to open or closed records 5. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ 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 --------------------------------------------- The following databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. ARKANSAS. Greene County. Cemetery Records 1,404 records; Tina Easley http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ ARKANSAS. Sebastian County. Old Union Cemetery 558 records; Eddie Hopper http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ CALIFORNIA. Sonoma County. City of Sonoma Valley Cemetery 747 records; Lori J. Wicks http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ GEORGIA. Columbus County. Fort Benning Officers' Candidate School--1965 144 records; Paula L.Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ KANSAS. Shawnee County. Lincoln Junior High, Topeka, Class of January 29, 1937; 55 records; Eloise Franks http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MICHIGAN. Iron County. Iron River Cemetery 1,599 records; Dale Safford http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ MISSOURI. Jackson County. William Chrisman High School--Class of 1947 306 records; Shirley L. Stanford http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MISSOURI. Jackson County. William Chrisman High School--Class of 1948 268 records; Shirley L. Stanford http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MISSOURI. Jackson County. William Chrisman High School--Class of 1949 342 records; Shirley L. Stanford http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NORTH DAKOTA. McHenry County. Kief City Cemetery 240 records; Karen A. Trzcinski http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ PENNSYLVANIA. Adams County. Salem United Methodist Church Cemetery 248 records; Deb Jones http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ PENNSYLVANIA. Allegheny County. 1900 Census of Western Penitentiary 159 records; Lesa McElwain http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ VIRGINIA. Scott County. 1850 Census 9,349 records; Mary Lou Wardlaw http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ VIRGINIA. Williamsburg. William and Mary College, 1931 190 records; Paula L.Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ WISCONSIN. La Crosse County. Name index to "The History of La Crosse County, 1881." 9,518 records; La Crosse Area Genealogical Society, courtesy of UW-L's Murphy L http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ 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. Northern N.S.W. Fully searchable collection of photographs, many with names, of past students and teachers (1936-1993) at Dungay Public School, Northern N.S.W, Australia. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tumbulgum/dungay/genealogy.htm BILBO, MORGAN. Pertains to Jean Jacques BILBO, his son, John Peter BILBO and their marriages into the MORGAN family. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lydieanderson/jjbilbo.htm CARROLL, GREEN, KIRKLAND, and RICHARDSON. Featuring Archibald CARROLL, Elisha GREEN, John KIRKLAND, and William RICHARDSON families of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gck1/ COLENSO (FOSTER, DRUMMOND and LEEMAN to follow). A look at the lives, times, occupations of my past relatives within their historical context. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~mandx GERMANN GATHERINGS. Researching BATCHELOR, BIRD, CHAPPELL, CHOPE, DAVY, David EDDY, EMERY, FOSTER, GERMANN, JONES, PHILPOTT, SQUIRES, SWITZLER, and WILSON. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~germann/ KINFOLK'S FAMILY FILES. Inter-related family lines for more than 14,000 people and hundreds of surnames. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kinfolks/ MOLYNEUX. International MOLYNEUX Family Association--an all-volunteer, nonprofit family history association researching all variations of MOLYNEUX, MOLINEUX, MULLINAX, MULLINIX, MULLENIX, MULNICKS, MULNO, etc. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~imfa/home.html NEW YORK. Utica City Directory--1854. Partial transcription. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~godwin/utica1854/ PAULINE'S FAMILY HISTORY. Many family surnames of Ontario, Canada, New England USA), the UK, and Germany.Includes: HALL-WARD, FRANZEN- HANENBERG, and JOHNSON-BILLING. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~paulinefranzen/ WISCONSIN. Richland Republican and Observer Index. Name index of those appearing in these and other Richland newspapers. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~djnsl/RepOb/RepObHome.html 7. 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Crossing Cousins I don't know the definition of cross cousins or double cousins, but our family has some "double" relationships. My sister married her son's wife's father, so they are both step-parents and in-laws to these two children and in-laws to each other. The children say this has its advantages, because they don't have to pick which family (hers or his) to go to for holidays, because they are the same. --Wilma J Bacigalupo wilmab2@lycos.com [Editor's Note: Cross cousins are not cranky ones -- necessarily. They are the children of a brother and a sister. Parallel cousins are the children of two brothers or two sisters. Now say two SMITH brothers marry two JONES sisters -- their offspring will be double first cousins. Regular first cousins share only one set of common ancestors, while double first cousins share all lineal and collateral relatives. Also, these SMITH-JONES children would be parallel (or ortho) first cousins. Confused about cousinships and removeds? See the chart available at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/chart_relations.htm * * * Gene's Jean Re: "All in the Family" by Dave Clemens (RWR6:8 19 Feb. 2003): I know of another married couple -- Jean and Gene. Everyone calls them He-Gene and She-Jean. Whatever works. --Sally Goehring goehring@unm.edu * * * Nicknames and Food Names As a further follow-up to Interchanging Names ("Is That You Isabella?" RWR6:7, 12 Feb. 2003), for Scotland the following given names are more or less interchangeable: --Bathia as a variation of Elizabeth which can, of course, also be Elspeth, Elspet, Eliza, Lizzie, Betty, Bettie, Bessie or Bess (and probably a few more besides) --Helen can sometimes be spelled Hellen, but often is transcribed as Ellen (as I know to my cost when trying to find my great-grandmother) or can become Nellie --Isabel (Isobel, Isabella) can sometimes appear, particularly on censuses, as Isa or as Bella Similarly, any female names ending in "- ina" e.g. Georgina can often be just Ina, especially for children --Mary Ann is sometimes Marion and I've seen Margaret (Maggie) and Marjory confused on a census, although they are two quite distinctly different names. Finally, my wife has a Scottish ancestor with the rather uncommon Christian name of Letitia, which one poor census transcriber recorded as "Lettuce"! --Stuart McRae stuartmcrae@hotmail.com * * * A ROYAL Tree I loved the "Lords, Labourers, Crosses, and Hot Bunns" story by Jenny Adolphe. It reminded me immediately of a story my grandmother (Vivienne Cecil SYMES) tells. She was the youngest child by many years of a family of seven girls and one boy who lived in Taranaki, New Zealand. In those days, New Zealand was still regarded as a colony of Britain rather than an independent country in its own right, and most people had a picture of the British King (later the Queen) on the wall in their homes and on the wall of every classroom. One day at school, the teacher asked the class if anyone was related to someone famous. After a few responses from other pupils, my Gran put up her hand and, when asked, replied brightly that she was related to the royal family. The teacher responded, "Don't be silly, you are not related to the royal family." My Gran replied, "I am. I am related to the royal family!" She received a rap over the knuckles with the teacher's ruler for her insolence and for telling lies. She went home crying about such harsh treatment and when her mother heard the story, she had to concede that Gran had indeed told the truth. Although not related to royalty as such, the SYMES family were related to the ROYAL family, Mrs. Royal being a cousin of Gran's mum. Unfortunately, the teacher never saw the funny side of that one! Thanks for continuing to include everyone's stories and snippets in RootsWeb Review -- they really are gems and so enjoyable. --Louise Clark, Tauranga, New Zealand lpclark@clear.net.nz * * * Separated by a Common Language In a recent discussion with U.S. cousins we once again asked the question "why Lowell"? I seem to remember something about a mill which provided immediate employment for relatively unskilled emigrants. Can anyone clarify this please? --Joe Cahill downwest@eircom.net * * * Chuck It Another case of "strangely named relatives" was Uncle Charles. There was my Uncle Charles, my mother's Uncle Charles, and my grandmother's Uncle Charles. This was the way all these men were referred to. My grandmother would say something about "Your Mother's Uncle Charles," rather than my brother Charles, even when referring to something he'd done as a child. I grew up knowing that this was strange, but didn't think much about it until I started doing genealogy. I wondered how people outside our family kept them straight. Then a couple of years ago, it dawned on me -- all three of these men had different last names. Also, all were referred to as Charles, never Charlie or Chuck or any nickname. My grandmother's father Charles and my cousin Charles, as well as his son and grandson, all use their middle name instead of Charles. -- Sharon Folck Howell sshowell@indy.net * * * Untangling This Web Rick Van Dusen replied last week to my recent story (RWR:6:8, 19 Feb. 2003) about my convoluted lines and all my "cousin brothers" and "out- laws" with a suggestion that I should be a product tester for a genealogy software. Boy, would I love that. Most programs do not recognize "step" relationships because they are not "blood" related. Yet these "steps" are a very important part of our lives and need to be reported. My stepfather entered my life when I was four years old. Both he and my father were very present and influential in my life and even after they died. I was my father's only child. My mother married a man who had a son, an only child, nine years older than I. My mother and stepfather had a son, an only child, when I was nine. We were each an "only child" of a particular marriage, but very much a part of each other's lives. Just to complicate matters -- not that I really need much more -- my stepfather married a third time to a woman, (I refer to as my "step-stepmom"), who had a daughter, again an only child. At my stepdad's funeral, there we were -- four "only children" of this wonderful man yet only the two sons were his REAL children. The editor commented on my original story that all my tree needed was some double, parallel and cross cousins. I think I qualify since I missed including a piece of info to the last line: "Then my maternal grandmother married her deceased sister's husband and that made half- siblings, also step-siblings." I should add that they were also first cousins! Please, someone invent a genealogy program for me! --Bev Webb cinnamon38@earthlink.net 8. Humor: Genealogical Signs -------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Herrick M. Drake dragonslair@relia.net "My family tree is full of notholes. It's not him, it's not her, it's not them . . ." "You think you've got problems? How far do you think Adam and Eve got? "Genealogists will date any old thing." "A great many family trees are the result of grafting." 9. Submission Guidelines, Reprint Policy, RWR Archives ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. RootsWeb Review welcomes short (500 words or less) articles, humor, 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 * * * Search/download all back issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.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: Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 6, No. 10, 5 March 2003. * * * *