RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 6, No. 30, 23 July 2003, Circulation: 980,968+ (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/ * * * Find your ancestors: Post genealogical queries on all relevant surname, locality, and topic message boards and mailing lists: Message Boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ * * * If you wish to reach the RootsWeb Review, DO NOT use your e-mail's "REPLY TO" option. Instead write to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Do not send any subscription/e-mail changes/requests to the editor See Section 9 below for RWR subscription guidelines and instructions ============================================================== In This Issue: 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. "Putting Your Ancestors in Their Places" 1b. MAILING LISTS: "What Do You Mean My Message's Rejected?" 1c. TIPS FROM READERS: "Handling Mailing Lists" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "Rose Maria, Are You There?" 3. New Webpages at RootsWeb 4. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 5. New User-contributed Databases 6. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Finding Help for Cemetery Projects"; "Preserving Gravestones/Tombstones/Markers"; "A Collapsing Pedigree and Convoluted Connections" 8. Humor/Humour: "Your Ancestors Were Named WHAT?" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Addresses; Subscription Modification Instructions =============================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. Putting Your Ancestors in Their Places By Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Don't you just love it when you find what you think might be your "missing piece" to the genealogy puzzle and it says: Igor IPSTONE, b. 3 Jul 1868 in NO/Andoy, Hangues and his wife, Irmengarde (no maiden name given, of course) was born in BU/Kongsberg? Or a hot lead in WorldConnect leads you to a tree that suggests your Igor was actually born in 1858 in Trellech, Mon. -- now where in the world is that? Well, Igor's American descendants who settled in localities you post as: Atlanta, Fulton, GA or Redland, Cher. Nat., IT, are just as confusing to our Australian, British and European cousins. Cut out the abbreviations. Saving a few keystrokes is counterproductive to genealogical researching. Message Boards, Mailing Lists and World- Connect are international in scope. Take the time to spell out the localities and give complete ones, including the country, so there is no guessing or confusion. We have enough problems trying to sort out which of the 26 Jefferson counties in America is meant when Cousin Ida forgets to include the state with her information, and which of the several places by the name Michelbach in Germany did your gateway ancestor emigrate from? Please include more than just a village/town with a country (especially a country that didn't exist at the time your ancestors left it) in the GEDCOM that you upload to WorldConnect and when you post a query on a Message Board or Mailing List. Don't assume everyone is American or is fluent in English -- our branches are entwined around the globe -- thanks to our wandering ancestors. Not getting responses from your Mailing List and Message Board queries? Go back and look at your posts -- do your subjects lines stand out from the others or do they say generic things like "looking for IPSTONES"? If you're posting on the IPSTONE board, pray tell, who else would you be looking for? Put in names, dates (circa or estimated years are OK) and places in the subject line and in your messages. Don't be lazy and just hit REPLY to someone else's message about trying to find IPSTONES in Norway or Ohio, especially if yours are in Wales or California. The general rule about recording localities (places) is to start from the smallest and go to largest: village/town, then county/parish, then province/state, and finally the country. If you know only the town or city in which a genealogical event occurred, consult a gazetteer to find the name of the county, parish, province, etc. that it is in. When you know the U.S. town, but not the county, type in the name of town and state here: http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/townco.cgi Put the U.S. county's name and leave the state's name blank and you will get a list of the states with a county by that name. http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/county.cgi Can't figure out some country or regional abbreviations? Check here: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/codes/codes1.html Lost in the British Isles? Here is its country and county codes: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/Regions/Codes.html Looking for Maps, Gazetteers & Geographical Information? http://www.cyndislist.com/maps.htm Stumbled over an abbreviation you can't find the answer to? Check "Abbreviations Found in Genealogy" here: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/abbrev.html See also Dictionaries & Glossaries on Cyndi's List: http://www.cyndislist.com/diction.htm Now where was I updating that jillion-name GEDCOM with all the abbreviations and no country listed? Oh yeah, I was working on the "IPSTONES." * * * 1b. MAILING LISTS. What Do You Mean My Message's Rejected? You are hot on the trail of your most troublesome ancestor, your great-grandfather, Clarence THROTTLEBOTTOM. You have recently made a breakthrough when Auntie Hildegarde LONGKEEPER found ancient newspaper clippings stored away in her attic indicating that Clarence (Hildegarde's grandfather) spent the better part of his adult years traveling in the theatre in the United Kingdom and the United States, performing as a ventriloquist. There was even a list of some of the theatres where he performed in one of the clippings. In light of your new discovery, you subscribe to the THEATRICAL- ANCESTORS-L@rootsweb.com list and plan to post your first query. Now you know, at least, why great-granddad was impossible to pinpoint on the 1870 and 1880 American censuses. You spend some time composing your query and give it an informative subject line. Eagerly you click the SEND NOW button and wait for your message to appear on the list. But, instead of receiving your list copy of your masterpiece message, you receive a form letter from RootsWeb Staff instead. The e-mail tells you that your message was not posted to the list because you sent it in HTML format and not plain text -- whatever the heck that means. Picky, picky, picky. The message looked just fine to you with all of the surnames in bold print and your special THROTTLEBOTTOM "family crest" stationery as the backdrop. You used a fancy font to get everyone's attention and you even included an attachment with a scan of one of the newspaper clippings. Aha! This is where you made your mistakes. The fancy font, stationery, bold print, and attachment each contributed to the failure of your message to make it through to the list. RootsWeb Mailing List messages are limited to plain text messages and no attachments. Plain text enables researchers using a wide variety of e-mail programs to read the messages no matter if their computer, operating system, and/or e-mail program are not capable of handling the most recent bells and whistles. The refusal to accept attachments on the lists also helps to prevent the spread of e-mail viruses and worms. For these reasons, messages intended for posting on a RootsWeb Mailing List must be sent as plain text (no HTML--hypertext markup language or RTF -- rich text formatting), and without attachments. If you attempt to send a message to a RootsWeb Mailing List in an unacceptable format you will receive a help message explaining the plain text requirement as happened in your case. If you are not sure how to make certain you are sending your list message in a plain text format, instructions for the most widely used e-mail programs can be found here: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/listadmins/plaintext.html HINT: If you would really like to place that scanned image of that ancient newspaper clipping where others can view it, head for the RootsWeb/Ancestry Message Boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ and navigate to an appropriate surname, locality, or topic Message Board where posted messages may include graphic attachments. A message about your great-grandfather, the theatrical ventriloquist, would be quite suitable for the Topic Board for Theatre located under Occupations. [Note: The following is a 2-line URL; copy and paste all of it into your browser] http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p= topics.occupations.theater To show everyone you are no dummy like the one used by great-granddad, the ventriloquist, once you have posted your message on the board and uploaded your attachment to it, make note of the URL (address) where your message and attachment may be viewed and copy that URL into the message you send to the Mailing List. * * * 1c. TIPS FROM READERS: Handling Mailing Lists Thanks to: Pat Bell PatJBell@aol.com Let me commend you most highly for your clear and precise instructions [RWR6:25, 9 July]. on how to manage one's list subscriptions (I sub- scribe to a slew of lists and I've seen time and again plaintive pleas of "unsubscribe me from this list" from people who don't have a clue). One other suggestion to add to your very good list. I keep a folder on my computer that has to do solely with list subscriptions, and there I keep the instructions for all of them. For those who don't have so many lists and who may do as I do -- keep all my RootsWeb Reviews in their own folder (I store them in Word, rather than in the AOL e-mail format I get them in) with the instructions in a separate file with them. The older Macs (OS 9 and lower) have the capability of color-coding files and folders, and this is a good way to highlight particular files. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Rose Maria, Are You There? By Rose Richards rosiandrick@yahoo.com Some children have imaginary friends. Some people are born twins. Some teenagers think there is another "them" in an alternate universe leading another life in a different dimension, like a shadow. But I've a friend, a twin, an alternate me of a not-dissimilar kind. Since I was a little girl I've heard the story that another baby was born in the same Army hospital on the same day with the same name as mine -- Rose Maria. They say she was a Mexican baby. Maybe her father was a Sergeant Sanchez, Private Rivera, or Captain Garcia Marquez. So, imagine the two of us saying in unison: Hello, my name is Rose Maria; I was born at Fort Campbell Kentucky on Halloween in 1954. Throughout my life, I have wondered about the other Rose Maria. In second grade, did you too wear a brown dress with a crocheted collar? Were you plagued with people calling you "Rosemary" and "Rosemarie" and finally ask to be called "just Rose"? Did you work on the high school newspaper like I did? Are you a mother to children I did not have? Do you crave corn chips? Like staying in hotels? Do you watch old movies? Have a cat? I have done genealogy research on my family, but I don't know how to search for a baby with just a first and middle name. Besides, what if you are dead? What if it was a misunderstanding and you never existed? Do I want to find out? Rose Maria, I am in Minneapolis and just want to say that you are in my thoughts. Are you happy? Are you well? Rose Maria, are you there? ======================= Paid Advertisements ======================== What better way to celebrate your family, than locating and claiming your lost family fortune? You may have an insurance policy or inheritance that may be unclaimed. The Foundmoney CEO and Web site was featured on the "Oprah" show and has been helping thousands of families just like you since 1993. Find out instantly http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=3164&sourceid=1188 * * * Ancestry Members Special Free pack of 6"x4" Premium Glossy Photo Paper with any order http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4680&sourceid=7108 Print out your family photos for less. Save up to 80% on black and color inkjet cartridges, plus, get a pack of premium glossy photo paper -- a $7.99 value -- FREE with your order. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4680&sourceid=7108 ==================== 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 Yuma County, Arizona website can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~azyuma/ AUSTRALIA nswbmfhs -- Blue Mountains Family History Society (New South Wales) IRELAND irlnews -- Ireland Newspaper Transcriptions (pre-1930) U.S.A. armjgdar -- Major Jacob Gray Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (Jacksonville, Pulaski County, Arkansas) azapache -- Apache County, Arizona azcochis -- Cochise County, Arizona azgila -- Gila County, Arizona azmojave -- Mojave County, Arizona aznavajo -- Navajo County, Arizona azpinal -- Pinal County, Arizona azyavapa -- Yavapai County, Arizona azyuma -- Yuma County, Arizona kysuvcw -- Kentucky Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War mamidnws -- Middlesex County, Massachusetts Newspaper Transcriptions neasc -- Nebraska Ancestor Sharing Center nyphotos -- New York Photos Project scpcdac -- Piedmont Chapter, Daughters of the American Colonists (Piedmont, Anderson County, South Carolina) txfhpl -- Forney Historic Preservation League (Forney, Kaufman County, Texas) utphotos -- Utah Photos Project 4. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following are Mailing Lists, not websites. For more information and an index to the more than 27,000 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and easy subscribing options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BERGSTRESSER, BEVIERE COMMET, CROTS DAVISON-DUR-NBL -- The DAVISON surname Durham and Northumberland (England) FRITCHMAN GARASCIA, GISEL HIDAY HEDGPETH-DNA -- DNA genealogical discussion group for the HEDGPETH surname HILLS-ENG -- The HILLS surname in England JONES-JAMES-MADISON -- Descendants of James Madison Jones (born 1851 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana) LAMPTON MCLAURIN RAASCH, RAGG, REGG SCHINNERLING, SCHOENWEISS, SCHWERIN, SHRAWDER, SPRESS, STUHLINGER WOODING NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS ENG-LAN-BOLTON -- Bolton, Lancashire, England IRL-WEX-ENNISCORTHY -- Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland 5. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The following user-contributed databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. ENGLAND North West Durham Irish names, 1851 Census 3,173 records; Terry Arthur and Michael Fitzpatrick http://userdb.rootsweb.com/uki/ U.S.A. Military Records: 3515th Ordinance Medium Automotive Maintenance Company Roster--World War II 141 records; Lu Ann Barber http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/ ARKANSAS Sebastian County. Selected Marriage Records, McCLENDON surname; 16 records; Isha McClendon-Covin http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ CALIFORNIA Los Angeles County Marriage Index, 1873-1880 3,536 records; Kevin Currin http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/ FLORIDA Dade County. Edison Senior High School, Class of 1936, Miami; 222 records; Elizabeth Newkerk http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ ILLINOIS McLean County. Empire Township High School, 1926-1929, Le Roy; 140 records; McLean County. Empire Township High School, 1878-1903 (excluding 1885 and 1894); Le Roy; 166 records; E. Kerley and Carol Holman http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ MICHIGAN Iron County. Rosehill Cemetery, Beechwood; 367 records; Dale Safford http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ NEW JERSEY Passaic County. Eastside High School Alumni, January 1929, Paterson; 150 records; Passaic County.Eastside High School Alumni, June 1933, Paterson; 213 records; Passaic County. Eastside High School Alumni, January 1960, Paterson; 263 records; Barbara Leckstein http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ NEW YORK Otsego County. "History of Otsego County, New York, 1740-1878"; 812 records; Karen Cuccinello http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/ Brooklyn (Kings County) 8th Grade Graduates of Lexington School (P.S. 170), 1930; 159 records; Sheila McKisic http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ 1850 New York State Census, HENRY surname 767 records; Elizabeth Jay Davis http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ PENNYSLVANIA Adams County. St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church Cemetery, Cashtown; 703 records; Deb Jones http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ VIRGINIA Fredericksburg. College Heights Training School and Fredericksburg High School Alumni Listings, 1936; 69 records; Paula L. Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ Fredericksburg. 1924 Fredericksburg Gun Club and 1910 Officers of Myrtle Lodge, #50, I.O.O.F. 16 records; Paula L. Delosh http://userdb.rootsweb.com/groups/ 6. New/Updated 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 BATH/BATHE. This site has been updated with more individuals and coats- of-arms associated with the BATH/BATHE families of England and Ireland. The focus is on the medieval connections from the 12th to the late 14th century, with contemporary and near contemporary sources. Many other medieval surnames are mentioned including a list of the High Sheriffs of Devonshire and a 1275 Inquisition Post Mortem. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bathonia/BaHm.htm MOODY. Research on Moody families of Chatham and Randolph counties North Carolina from the late-18th century through mid-19th century, featuring the family of William Moody (1740-1818) and allied families. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~netex/wmmoody.index.htm 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Finding Help for Cemetery Projects By Grace Baer gebaer_60@yahoo.com I just completed this week judging 4-H "Family Treasure Hunt" projects for our local county fair. One of the participants took it upon herself as part of her project to map and read the cemetery where her ancestors are buried. So don't forget the 4-H clubs when looking for help, you just might find someone willing to do some good work. http://www.4h-usa.org/ * * * Preserving Gravestones/Tombstones/Markers By Billie Jean Reese JumpinBeej@aol.com RootsWeb has a great Mailing List -- TOMBSTONE-L (see link below) -- that has been around for a long time. It has some wonderful people on the list who are very helpful in all phases of preservation of a cemetery. Several on the list are professional preservationists. There is so much to learn about cleaners and how some chemicals will destroy the older stones quickly and the newer ones will also get into the stone and harm them. When in doubt use only water and a soft-bristle brush, as this does not harm; it will take a little longer, but the stone will last. Rubbings on old stones will cause the stone to slough off. A good website for information on this subject is "Saving Graves" at: http://www.savinggraves.com/ Before you start cleaning stones, please get some professional help. Stone carvers and mortuary stone businesses are not always where to obtain the best information about saving and preserving gravestones. That has been mentioned on the TOMBSTONE list also. Its archives have good info that can be researched and printed out. As a member of that list I've learned much in respect to what is needed to do and not to do in the way of reading, preserving, maintaining grave sites and stones. http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/TOMBSTONES.html * * * A Collapsing Pedigree and Convoluted Connections By Daniel H. Williams DWILL12@entergy.com I read with interest the article in the June 18 RootsWeb Review entitled "Untangling Convoluted Connection." Several months ago I had a similar experience. I posted a query on the Leon County, Texas, message board about my 2g-grandmother Columbia GRAHAM, looking for the identification of her parents. I received a reply from a fellow named Joe GORE in California who, it turned out, shares this 2g-grandmother though through a different husband. As we continued to communicate we realized that Columbia GRAHAM was not all that we shared. Without explaining the details, suffice it to say that Joe is my third cousin and my fourth cousin through his father, he is my fifth cousin once removed through his mother and, though this doesn't make us close relatives, his grandmother's sister married my great-grandfather's first cousin. Sounds like a redneck joke, but it is true. Since my uncle married his own second cousin once removed (2C1R), my paternal grandparents were third cousins to each other and my paternal grandfather's parents were third cousins to each other, maybe I am a redneck! It also turns out that my father, a minister, baptized Joe's grandmother and aunt. Joe's mother grew up down the rural road from my father. Even more serendipitous was the fact that Joe's daughter and her family live 10 minutes from where I work in Arkansas. We recently met during one of his visits with his daughter and had a good family visit despite the fact that we had never seen each other before. Genealogy is not just data, it is family. 8. Humor/Humour: Your Ancestors Were Named WHAT? -------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Joan Burton djoanburton@hotmail.com I was a SINGER (maiden name) for 19 years. My mother was a MANN until she married a SINGER. Her father was A. (Amos) MANN, who could always be found to finish a prayer. He married a CATT, and yes, there was a Tom CATT in the family line. There are always lots of interesting results after typing these names into a search engine. 9. Submission Guidelines, Advertising Contacts, Reprint Policy ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ASCII text (please, no attachments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * 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 * * * 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. 30, 23 July 2003. * * * SUBSCRIPTIONS: Do not send any subscription requests/changes to the editor. We have special e-mail addresses exclusively for this purpose. Send only subscription requests to: RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- this removes you from the RWR Mailing List. RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- this adds you to the RWR Mailing List. * * * *