RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 16, 16 April 2003, Circulation: 998,749+ (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 any subscription requests and modifications to the editor. See Section 9 for guidelines, instructions, and contacts ================================================================= In This Issue: 1. News and Notes. (1a. Volunteer Stories; 1b. RootsWeb Lapel Pins; 1c. Turning Message Board Notifications On and Off; 1d. Tips from Readers: "Nameless Faces" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "Fragments of the Past" 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: "Putting Our Ears On"; "Merging GEDCOMS Makes Mess"; "Changing Their Names"; "Online Hypocrisy"; "Fooling the Spammers"; "Perpetuating Ignorance"; "Relying on Reliable Information"; "BCG's Genealogical Proof Standard" 8. Humor: "Foenetiks" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Addresses; Subscription Modification Instructions; Advertising Contacts ================================================================== 1a. News and Notes. As part of RootsWeb's Volunteer Appreciation Month, we are sharing the success stories that many of our users have experienced because of a volunteer. We have received many great examples, and have included one below. Keep reading to see a great example of the wonderful things that can happen as others lend their services. The following story was submitted by Lora Zatarain. "I would like to acknowledge and praise Doris Geiger for the great services she has done for me. Originally Doris took gravestone photos for me in DuBois Cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan for my 3rd-great- grandfather, his wife, daughter, and sons. "Recently I learned that another son of my 3rd-great-grandfather donated the post office box that was used by his father to the Kimball House Historical Museum, and it is on display. Doris hurried down to the museum, took photos of the relic, e-mailed them to me the same day, and said she would get the originals in the mail to me the next day. I offered to reimburse Doris for her time and expenses ... she asked only for postage stamps that she can use to mail others her research. What a gal! I really found a gem. Big thank you again, Doris." * * * 1b. RootsWeb.com once relied on donations from its loyal users for survival. Although it is now funded by MyFamily.com, many users ask how they can show their support for the site. We are pleased to announce that RootsWeb.com users can now show their support by purchasing a "I Support RootsWeb" lapel pin. Quantities of this inexpensive pin are limited. Click here to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?sourceID=6493&targetID=4497 * * * 1c. MESSAGE BOARDS NOTIFICATIONS. If you are researching extensively within a given geographic area or for several specific surnames, you probably find yourself checking the Message Boards regularly. Here's a couple of ways to make these visits quick and efficient. 1. Sign up to be notified directly in a daily digest-format e-mail of all new messages posted to Message Boards of your choosing -- customized to your research needs. To make use of this feature you must be a registered user and be logged in on the Message Boards. For detailed information about registering and logging in and why this is important, see this previous RootsWeb Review: ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/20020807.txt Once you are registered and logged in, go to the board(s) you wish to include in your daily personalized MY NOTIFICATIONS e-mail and click on the link on the board that says ADD BOARD TO NOTIFICATIONS. You will receive notifications that include links (URLs) to take you directly to a new message on the board. 2. Another way to check quickly on favorite Message Boards is to login, go to a board, and click on the link to ADD TO FAVORITES. Repeat this process for all the boards you wish to check regularly. Then, each time you wish to check the favorite boards, login and click on MY FAVORITES and click on any or all of the clickable links provided there for your quick access to each board. Note: The ADD TO FAVORITES and MY FAVORITES links only appear when you are logged in. You can change the default board display from THREAD COLLAPSED to DATE EXPANDED and you can scan the full text of each new message on a board. Click on the message subject to access the actual message -- if you wish to reply to it. Hit your browser's BACK button to return to your MY FAVORITES list. When or if your research focus changes, or you need to eliminate the board notifications for any reason, here's what you need to do: To remove a Message Board from MY NOTIFICATIONS, go to the Message Boards and while logged in under the same account you used when you added the board to your notifications click on the MY NOTIFICATIONS link on any board. Then click on the word REMOVE beside the listing for the board whose notifications you wish to eliminate. On boards with long titles, it may be necessary to scroll horizontally in order to see the REMOVE option. * * * 1d. TIPS FROM READERS. Nameless Faces Thanks to: Dale Harman daleharman@sympatico.ca of Cobourg, Ontario, Canada I have come across many people who have old photographs but no information about them. The pictures should be treasures, but have little value unless the people in them are identified. Here is what I always suggest: 1. Photocopy the pictures so that there is space to write on the photocopies. 2. Keep the first set of photocopies to use as originals to minimize any damage and then store your photographs away again. 3. Number the pictures on the photocopies. 4. Make copies of your original photocopies and mail them to your relatives but keep the original photocopies handy. 5. Ask them to mark up the photocopies and send them back or to describe them by number. (The first method works best, but some people will want to keep the photocopies.) 6. Ask if they recognize the people, place, occasion, and or the approximate date as that can provide valuable clues. Often old family photographs are divided up between children and grandchildren. Some other relative might have a similar photograph that is labelled or may recognize someone in one of your photographs. Follow up with a phone call. When you talk to someone they can tell you what photograph number they are looking at. If you offer copies of the original photographs for a reasonable cost or free you are more likely to get a positive response. You may be offering a treasure to someone else and in return be gaining a treasure yourself. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Fragments of the Past --Lainee Denton elaine_dee@hotmail.com> My parents were divorced when I was less than a year old. As a result, I never knew my father. In 1987, I tried to contact him. I called the telephone operator asking for phone numbers of DENTONs in a small town in Missouri. The only one was an unlisted number, so I asked the operator to call that number and have them call me. In that first phone call, I learned my father died in 1973 (just two weeks before my birthday) and that my grandmother had died just three weeks before I tried to call. Double blow! However, I obtained the names of several relatives to call, but let's just say it wasn't a warm welcome to the family. That put me off doing genealogy for quite a number of years. I picked it back up in January 2000, posting what little I knew of my father. A little over a month later I got a reply from a cousin of my father and tons of info. She ended the reply with "... and your birthday must be 29 August." I was on top of the world. That first year in August I got a birthday card from her saying "I couldn't let another year go by without sending you a card and wishing you a happy birthday." Thank you, RootsWeb, for being there and helping to connect families and for helping to make new friends. ======================= Paid Advertisements ======================== NO-FIND NO-FEE OFFER FROM BRITISH ANCESTORS "This is the connection I was searching for -- thank you so much!" (PG, Alberta). Birth and marriage certificates from England and Scotland ordered daily. Our UK-based researchers provide low cost searches. We find your British ancestors or you pay nothing and we accept payment in your own currency! Visit http://www.britishancestors.com today for a FREE! e-mail consultation. * * * Get a FREE issue of Reader's Digest! See why over 20 million Americans love to read tales of inspiration, cutting edge entertainment, valuable medical advice and so much more! https://www.rd.com/rd1/ms/6em/issue_billonly.jsp?trkid=Ancestryletter ==================== 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 Gulf County, Florida website is located at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flgulf/ CANADA qccoteno -- Cote-Nord, Quebec nscbg -- Cape Breton Genealogy, Nova Scotia U.S.A. flgulf -- Gulf County, Florida inmcdar -- Metamonong Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Winamac, Pulaski County, Indiana) msctdar -- Chief Tishomingo Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Iuka, Tishomingo County, Mississippi) nccabar2 -- Cabarrus County, North Carolina ohwarren -- Warren County, Ohio 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 26,500 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and easy subscribing options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ No new Mailing Lists were created this week. 5. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Who Has the Data? Does your state, province, county, parish, church, old military unit, or alma mater have 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/ ---------------------------------- The following databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. FLORIDA. Okaloosa County. Niceville City Directory extractions; selected entries; 26 records; Margaret M. Harris for the Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County http://userdb.rootsweb.com/citydir/ MISSISSIPPI. Mississippi Marriage Index data extractions; 330 records; Raymond Montgomery http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ PENNSYLVANIA. Luzerne County. 1870 Census, Dunmore Borough; 4,311 records; Alaine Keisling http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ VERMONT. Caledonia County. Palmer Cemetery 30 records; Barnet Historical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ VERMONT. Caledonia County. Stevens Cemetery 151 records; Barnet Historical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ VIRGINIA. Various schools' alumni, 1903-1927 127 records; Paula L. Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ U.S.A. Newspaper Indexes: Extraction of 1958 Okaloosa (Florida) News Journal, Pages 1-4A; 29 records; Margaret M. Harris for the Genealogical Society of Okaloosa County http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ 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 CANADA. The 1891 census for the Township of Innisfil in the County of Simcoe, Ontario, Canada is now at: [Note: This is a 2-line URL] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~innisfil/ 1891%20innisfil%20census/index.html CANADIAN GENEALOGY CORNER. Links to Canadian genealogy sites in every province in Canada to help those researching Canadian roots. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~canada/ COUSINS 4 US. Includes family trees, database, pictures, notes, diaries, and documents for the families of LEE, WHEELER, WEBB, STUBBLEFIELD, NELSON, LONG, SHATTUCK, BRUCE, WOOLWINE, and SHINN. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cousins4us/ ITALY. Santo Ippolito Genealogical Society -- dedicated to preserving the history of the American immigrants from the town of Santo Ippolito, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy, and the loved ones they left behind in search of the American dream. Santo Ippolito is located in southern Italy in the Province of Calabria, near Cosenza. Families emigrated from this small town to the United States -- mainly Michigan. Some of the surnames include: BELSITO, BONOFIGLIO, BOZZO, CARUSO, CASTELLANI, COSCARELLA/COSCARELLI/CASCARELLI, DELUCA, DEROSE, DIONISIO /DIONISE, FABIANO/FABBIANO, FATA, FALCONE, LAMACCHIA, LAVORATA, MARAZITA, QUINTIERI, SPADAFORA, SPADAFORE, SPAGNUOLO/SPANIOLO, TIGNANELLI, and TRICOCI. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~santoippolito/ PANGBURN LETTERS. "The Pangburn Letters" have been published two times a year since 1985 and contain PANGBURN/PANGBORN/PANGMAN genealogy submitted by researchers throughout North America. Currently they are being transcribed and made searchable by a small group of volunteers and placed online at: [Note: This is a 2-line URL]: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ricksgenealogy/ pangburn_letters.htm TMG/UFT DIRECTORY PAGE. Pages dealing with The Master Genealogist and Ultimate Family Tree genealogy software. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cwolfram/tmguft.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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Putting Our Ears On I have an interesting family by any definition of the term, but one ancestor in particular has been a headache for decades. My 2g- grandfather was the actual immigrant. In Germany he was named Johann Christlieb DIETZMANN, but in America he became John C. DIETZMAN. Being well-to-do, by the standards of the day, he was able to bring his family along, including my great-grandfather, who was born in Germany. For reasons known only to my ancestors, (perhaps a streak of insanity in the line?) they gave him "the name from hell." He was born Traugott Glaubagott Fuchtegott DIETZMAN. He is most often found as "Trouket" DIETZMAN, sometimes changed to "Trucott." In one U.S. census he is listed as "Henry" and in another as "Frank" (best readings) but the uncommon names of his wife and children allow us to trace him, anyway. But on the death certificate of his youngest child (by his first wife) the decedent's father's name is given as "Crockett" DIETZMAN. Some people have further incorrectly extrapolated the name and list him, based on this wrong datum, as David Crockett DIETZMAN. Whatever was "going around" at the time of his birth, he wasn't totally alone. His mother's maiden name was OBENAUF, and in his generation there was also a Traugott Glaubagott Fuchtegott OBENAUF to keep him company. The ultimate advice is, don't even accept so-called PRIMARY sources at face value. --W. Dale Dietzman daled73@earthlink.net [Editor's Note. Even original primary sources can contain errors. On the death certificate cited, the date of death is probably accurate, but the rest of the information on that document is only as accurate as the person's knowledge who provided it, and it is most likely secondary at best. The name of the father of the decedent might have been accurate originally, but was transcribed incorrectly on the death certificate form. Researchers should not worry about name spellings and learn to "hear" names. See this excellent article on the subject: "Do You Ear what I Ear?" by Michael John Neill: http://www.ancestry.com/dailynews/07_27_99.htm?rc=locale%7E&us=0#3 * * * Merging GEDCOMS Makes Mess In the 2 April RootsWeb Review, Sharon Zur ("Tree Hoarding: The Other Leaf") was reasonably upset that someone had merged her GEDCOM file. Reading it reminded me of my pain when this happened to me. However, there is a twist. I am guilty of doing the same thing. I have been working on our family genealogy for years before it became a national hobby. When the Familysearch.org site became available I thought it was a wonderful service. I was anxious to preserve and share the work I have done. Previously, I had been working with a person who was also working on one of my lines. Together we climbed a "brick wall." That person also sent me his GEDCOM file. It was large and contained much information that was of no relation to me. Mistake No. 1: Using a computer was a fairly new venture for me. When I sent in my work, it kept coming back saying it had to be in a certain format. I kept resending. Each time it was going in and now it is embarrassing to me how many times it is repeated. Mistake No. 2: Overanxious to preserve files. You cannot imagine my sorrow when my correspondent e-mailed me, irate that I had submitted his work! Until then I did not realize that his file was merged with mine. Please, anyone who is thinking of sending your files to that site, be aware that the information is put on a CD. You can make no changes once it is there. --Donna isem@cimtel.net * * * Changing Their Names When my great-grandfather brought his family from Norway to Minnesota in 1890, he went to work as a farmhand for another Norwegian immigrant. Both were named Hendrick Hendricksen. The boss did not think this was a good idea, so he thought one of them should change his name. It was not, of course, the boss who changed his. That is how my Norwegian great- grandfather, Hendrick Hendricksen, acquired an English name -- Henry Harrison. My grandfather, the eldest son, had his first name changed too. By the time he told me the story, he could chuckle about it. I don't know how his father, who had been a man of some prominence in his home town in Norway before his business burned down, felt about being forced to change his name. A friend's grandfather (according to a family story), was a Russian immigrant about 1900, with one of those long names Americans pride themselves on not being able to pronounce. The immigration official asked him his name and wrinkled his nose at all the syllables. "Wouldn't you like a nice new American name for your new American life?" he asked. The Russian had no idea, of course, what an American name would sound like. But, he was wise. "What's your name?" he asked. "Thompson," came the reply, with some pride. "Then I'll be Thompson," the immigrant said proudly. The immigration official wrote it down. --Doris Waggoner doriswaggoner@juno.com [Editor's Note: Many American families have such legends about the "immigrant official" or someone at Ellis Island changing their names. They are great stories, but American name-change stories seldom prove to be 100 percent accurate. Here's what really happened at Ellis Island: The majority of passengers were detailed on the ship's manifest before the vessel left the port of departure. The purser or ship's officer was familiar with the name and ethnicity of the many passengers who typically used the port, and the ship visited the port several times each year. The captain and the medical officer swore affidavits to the accuracy of each group of lists, with one to 30 people in a group. On arrival in the port of New York, the U. S. inspectors boarded each vessel and examined the manifest and tickets of all classes of passengers. For those passengers taken to Ellis Island, immigration officials reviewed the questions and answers with each person. The inspectors developed systems to prevent the misspelling of names. To handle difficult names, interpreters were on hand who could understand more than 30 languages from Albanian to Yiddish . . . See RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Finding Ancestors: "Why You Can't Find Them": http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/lesson8.htm Also see "Name Change Stories" and some of the reasons for the "incorrect" names that immigrants used at: http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/NAMES.htm [Note: This is a 2-line URL] http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/ NameEssay.html * * * Online Hypocrisy It seems the height of hypocrisy to me to use other people's pages at RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet, then to refuse to share your resulting tree. If you wish to refuse to use the Web for genealogy and stick strictly to libraries, cemeteries. and government offices, fine. Otherwise, you owe it to your sources to pass the good deed along by posting what YOU know/think you know. The only "payment" we online amateur genealogists receive is more data from other researchers. However, when I posted my website (not on RootsWeb), to my horror I found that posting my e-mail address (a necessity in genealogy) resulted in spam engines grabbing my address and selling it to porn sites and other spammers. DO NOT POST CONTRIBUTORS' E-MAIL ADDRESSES. One way around this is to substitute "at" for the @ symbol, or to use one of e- mail address obfuscation sites to code the address so the spam engines can't find it. Give credit to your source, but don't fill up his or her mailbox with spam in the process! --Jane Leavell littlecalamity@yahoo.com * * * Fooling the Spammers In short, addresses on websites are the single largest cause of spam, and there IS an easy way to "disguise" them from spammer's spiders, and still allow people to click on the "mailto" links. See" "Why Am I getting all this Spam?" http://www.cdt.org/speech/spam/030319spamreport.shtml I have my e-mail address in clickable form on all my webpages, but get very little spam per day -- maybe five or 10. I use this site to encode the addresses: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cyrs/CharacterTest.htm --Valorie Zimmerman valoriez@zimres.net * * * Perpetuating Ignorance I know of two cases where researchers spent 50 years working on their family history. One was my Aunt Wilma. When they died, one unexpectedly, no one in their immediate family wanted the material. In both cases, it was sheer luck that it all didn't get pitched. Now years later, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these people want to take up the search. In the case of my Aunt Wilma, I put her stuff out on RootswWeb. In the past five years I have made contacts with half a dozen researchers and distant relatives as a result. Before I did it, it was the same as if Wilma had never done a thing. Since then she has jump-started a lot of folks. Information not shared is the same as information lost. And, the failure to share what you know is the same as perpetuating ignorance. --Scott Troutman smtroutman@cox.net * * * Relying on Reliable Information Whilst agreeing with the general position that one should treat information from the Internet, the IGI, census transcriptions, etc. as merely guides to original sources, we must not forget that even those original sources aren't guaranteed to be 100% factually accurate either. Most of the information on certificates and censuses is only as reliable as the informant was, or chose to be. We've all been thrown into confusion at one time or another by an age at marriage on a marriage certificate not tying up with other "facts," so we should treat all such information with appropriate caution. Indeed, far from dismissing information gained from individuals as unworthy of the title "source," this might be the only way to get to the truth in some instances. Great-aunt Agatha may be the only one who knows who Uncle Arthur's father really was -- regardless of what his mother told the Registrar of Births, or what he told the minister who married him. So, please don't dismiss such information lightly, and don't believe all that you read -- wherever you read it. --John Everson johneverson@saracenhouse.freeserve.co.uk [Editor's Note: See "Reliable Information--Whatever the Source: The Key to Sound Research," by Donn Devine, CG, CGI (Ancestry Magazine, Jan./Feb. 2001). http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/3657.asp and "Building a Case When No Record 'Proves' a Point," by Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGl, FASG (Ancestry Magazine, March/April 1998 http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/803.asp ] * * * In response to the many letters to the editor on the subject, here is the Genealogical Proof Standard by the BCG. (Board for Certification of Genealogists. THE BCG GENEALOGICAL STANDARDS MANUAL (Orem, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2000), pp.1-2 1. Conduct a reasonably exhaustive search for all information that is or may be pertinent to the identity, relationship, event, or situation in question. 2. Collect and include in the compilation a complete, accurate citation to the source or sources of each item of information used. 3. Analyze and correlate the collected information to assess its quality as evidence. 4. Resolve any conflicts cause by items of evidence that contradict each other or are contrary to a proposed (hypothetical) solution to the question. 5. Arrive at a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion. 8. Humor: Foenetiks -------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Norece Embody billembody@att.net Who reports: "I recently received a 1903 death certificate. The cause of death was listed as 'New Monia.'" 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/ Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ Message Boards: http://boards.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. 16, 16 April 2003. * * * SUBSCRIPTIONS: Do not send any subscription requests to the editor. Here are the e-mail addresses to use if you wish to leave or join the RootsWeb Review's mailing list: RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- this removes you from the RWR Mailing List. RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- this adds you to the RWR Mailing List. * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS: Ad Sales Operations Mgr. Shana Davis sdavis@myfamilyinc.com U.S. West Coast: Sacha Yenkana syenkana@myfamilyinc.com U.S. East Coast: Dan Arnold darnold@myfamilyinc.com * * * *