RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine Vol. 7, No. 1, 7 January 2004, Circulation: 923,676+ (c) 1998-2004 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ Do NOT use your "REPLY TO" e-mail option to reach RootsWeb Review Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ Search/download past issues of RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * Search and post messages on all relevant surname, locality, and topic Message Boards and Mailing Lists: Message Boards: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ Mailing Lists: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ Find and share your ancestors: WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ Learn how to trace your family tree: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ =============================================================== =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. Empty Mailbox? 1b. Editor's Desk. "Focusing on a Twig, Branch or Limb" 1c. Tips from Readers: Family Recipes: "Served with Love" 2. Connecting through RootsWeb: "From London to Adelaide and Back" 3. New RootsWeb Mailing Lists 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb 5. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 6. New User-contributed Databases 7. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Changing Search Options in WorldConnect"; "Linking Us Together"; "Name Collecting of Little Value"; "Mega-Trees Needed"; "Purloining Trees"; and "Cracking a Case" 8. Humor/Humour: "Rotten Roots" 9. RWR Reprint and Submissions Guidelines; Archives; Addresses; Subscription Modification Instructions =============================================================== 1. NEWS AND NOTES. 1a. Empty Mailbox? If you subscribe to one or more RootsWeb mailing lists and have reason to suspect that you may not be receiving all of your RootsWeb list mail, how can you find out? Well, before doing anything else, check the HelpDesk notices in the yellow box for announcements about any technical problems with RootsWeb mail involving glitches with RootsWeb list servers or with your ISP. http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ If you don't find the answer to your problem on the HelpDesk page obtain a list of all your subscribed to mailing lists from Password Central by going to this URL: http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ or by clicking on the Passwords Tab found at the top on any RootsWeb page. If Password Central doesn't include all lists to which you should be subscribed, re-subscribe to any lists that are missing from your subscribed lists by sending a new e-mail to: LISTNAME-L- request@rootsweb.com (replacing the word LISTNAME with the actual list name). Put only the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject and message body of your e-mail. Send your request to: LISTNAME-D-request@rootsweb.com if you prefer to subscribe in digest mode. If the list from Password Central indicates that you are subscribed to all of your lists and you are still concerned about non-receipt of mail, your next step is to: --Check the threaded mailing list archives for the list http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ to be sure messages have been posted that you have not received. Type in the mailing list name (without any -L or -D) and click to view an outline of messages to look for those you might have missed. If the threaded archives indicates that messages have been posted to the list that you have not received: --Contact the list administrator at: LISTNAME-admin@rootsweb.com (replace the word LISTNAME with the actual name of the list -- using no -L or -D) to check whether the administrator has received any bounced mail notices for your address and, if so, to learn the reason for them. Whether or not the administrator has received bounces, consider the possibility that spam filtering either by your ISP or personal filters may be the cause of you not receiving list mail. In some instances, spam filters result in your ISP (or your installed application) simply discarding the messages with no notice to you. In other cases, the administrator will have received bounces indicating that the list mail is considered spam. If you determine that spam filters are the problem, check your setups -- if you've installed a spam filter. Or check with your ISP tech support representative, if your ISP has installed the filters. If the problem is with your ISP then its tech support should be able to assist you in resolving the conflict once you explain that you want to receive RootsWeb list mail, and that it is not spam. Not all spam filters function well with the delivery of mailing list messages. Filters that require the sender of a message to register at a website to allow mail to be delivered are generally not compatible with mailing lists. Some filters require mailing list addresses to be added to a Safe List or a special "approved" mailing list section. As for what NOT to do when you suspect non-receipt of mailing list mail: --Do not send repeated messages to the list asking if the list is working or if anyone has received your message. --Do not send "TESTING" messages to a list. For one thing, they often do not get through to the mailing list even when everything is working properly on the list and, if you personally are not receiving list mail for any of the above listed reasons, you will not see the message come through to the list anyway. Follow this list of DOs and DON'Ts and you should soon be back on track receiving all of your mailing list messages from your favorite RootsWeb mailing lists. And, if you find that your favorite list has been inactive of late, liven it up by starting a discussion on a relevant list topic to get things moving again in the new year. * * * 1b. EDITOR'S DESK. Focusing on a Twig, Branch or Limb Some suggestions that might help you reach some of your genealogical goals for 2004: -- Which ancestor do you most want to find? Put him or her down as No. 1 on your "MUST FIND"list. Focus on that individual and find everything -- genealogically and biographically -- you can about him or her. -- Which families do you have the most information on? Research (also known as "the chase") is the fun part of genealogy, but there comes a time when you should compile what you have gathered. You will be surprised to discover how much information you actually have. Go back through the files -- you'll probably find some answers that you've overlooked. Spend some time inputting data into your genealogy software application and put it into a written format others can understand and build upon should you not be around to greet 2005. -- What documentation is needed most? You believe your John is the son of William, but you need more evidence? Focus on what records might exist that could provide this information. Perhaps you need to do some additional search on John's siblings, especially his sisters. Focus on finding and studying the records that most likely will answer the questions instead of hunting hither and yon by surname in databases. -- Which family line do you really want to find this year? Pick one -- only one -- and call it your "family of the year." Splatter the appropriate message boards and mailing lists with queries on this particular family. Update your old queries by adding what you have found since you originally posted. Let the world know about this family -- not just about your ancestor, but all his siblings and the in-laws. There are cousins out there -- find them. -- Resolve to divide your time between research (aka "hunting"), analyzing, and compiling. When less-than-perfect weather keeps you indoors spend some quiet dedicated time analyzing and compiling your research information and posting online. Update your GEDCOMs. Write detailed reports to yourself. Proofread them. You might be surprised at the data inconsistencies and the gaping research holes and other problems that will pop up when exposed to closer scrutiny. Focusing on fewer projects and just a twig, a branch or a limb instead of the whole tree will enable you to accomplish more. The quality of your work will be better also. * * * 1c. TIPS FROM READERS. Family Recipes "In the childhood memories of every good cook, there's a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and a mom." --"Holiday Entertaining" New York, 22 Oct 1984--Barbara Costikyan Served with Love By Charlene Mann charlenemann@yahoo.com My three children and their spouses were thrilled with their presents from me this year. I bought three blank books, made a table of contents on the first few pages and listed all my recipes that I've made in the 47 years of my marriage. Often my children will call and ask for one of my recipes so I thought I'd just give them my entire recipe list. There were plenty of blank pages to put new recipes that I find and send them from time to time. They were so happy that I had handwritten all of them too but anyone could type, print and paste. On some of the blank pages I wrote a few things that weren't recipes -- like a song I have sung to all my children and grandchildren, and my favorite Bible verse and so on. Hope this gives others an idea for a present that will make their children as happy as it did mine. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- >From London to Adelaide and Back By Barbara Randell in Adelaide Australia brandell@cobweb.com.au A couple of weeks ago, I joined the LONDON mailing list of RootsWeb, hoping to break through a brick wall in my Phillips family history. My great-grandfather George died in Australia, and left almost no information about the parents or siblings he left behind in London. I managed to identify a brother and two sisters, and found his father listed as a builder on the youngest sister's marriage certificate. Then I found two brothers and a widowed sister living together in Islington in the 1881 census, and was amazed to find that the sister still owned the house at the time of her death in 1906. I had no success in many attempts to find out more about my great-great- grandparents. But thinking about that house in Salisbury Road, Islington made me wonder. I knew it had been "in the family" for 20 years. I wondered if it had in fact been theirs for more than 20 years. So I asked if any member of the LONDON list could look up that same house in the 1871 census, to tell me who was living there. Within hours, I had a response. Someone sent me a list of the residents of 4 Salisbury Road, but sadly, their name was not PHILLIPS. But within another 24 hours, I had a second response. Someone else had looked at the 1871 records for Salisbury Road, Islington, but had not stopped at Number 4. And he found my family at number 13! Thanks to his persistence and assistance, I now know the name of my great-great-grandmother. I have also found her death date on FreeBDM, and today I discovered that she left a will. I have also learnt the name of one of her sons, which was incorrectly transcribed on the 1881 census. How grateful I am to my new friend on the LONDON list! Now I am waiting to get my hands on my GGGmother's death certificate and will. I wonder what else I'll find out there? This excitement is what keeps me interested in investigating my family history. 3. 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 27,700 RootsWeb- hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BELOE, BENFORD, BRUECKMANN ELCOMBE FRASHIER GEICK, GEILE, GENSEMER, GRANDBOIS, GULLOCK HEENAN, HEVING KRAHMER MARREN, MCCARRICK, MCGING, MCLEROY ODDBOY PATZEK VAN-WORMER -- The VAN WORMER surname WEHLING ZANE NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS CHE-AARGAU -- the Swiss canton of Aargau CHE-APPENZELL -- The Swiss cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden CHE-FRIBOURG -- The Swiss canton of Fribourg CHE-GENEVA -- The Swiss canton of Geneva CHE-GLARUS -- The Swiss canton of Glarus CHE-JURA -- The Swiss canton of Jura CHE-SCHWYZ -- The Swiss canton of Schwyz CHE-ZUG -- The Swiss canton of Zug 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. United States tnbchs -- Bedford County (Tennessee) Historical Society 5. New/Updated Freepages, Homepages, and WorldConnect Uploads ------------------------------------------------------------- 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 NEW MEXICO. Pertains to southeastern New Mexico history and cemeteries with pictures; has the complete Loving and the old Lookout cemeteries with pictures and a documentary about the vanished community of Lookout. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~snmhistory/index/index.htm U.S.A. CEMETERIES. Cemetery Listings: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Includes tombstone pictures/photos for Arkansas (Benton and Carroll counties); Colorado (Pueblo County); Kansas (Reno and Wilson counties); Missouri (Barry, Jasper, McDonald, and Phelps counties ); and Oklahoma (Alfalfa, Dewey, and Major counties). [Note: This is a 2-line URL; copy and paste carefully:] http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~our21familytree/Cemeteries/ Cemetery%20listings%20page.html ======================= Paid Advertisements ======================== NO-FIND NO-FEE OFFER FROM BRITISH ANCESTORS "I never thought I could obtain so much information at so little cost"--(JB, Connecticut) UK-based researchers will search British archives for birth and marriage records of your English and Scottish ancestors (1813-1950). Also census, church, and other records. In most cases we can offer a NO-FIND NO-FEE service -- we find your ancestors or you pay nothing! For a FREE e-mail consultation, visit http://www.britishancestors.com/rwr/ * * * .Learn How To Trace Your European Roots Are you confused about how to find family records in Europe? Want to know why the "Family Tree Guidebook" is the best guide for ANYONE tracing their roots in Europe? Follow this link to find out how this book can help you. http://www.genealogy4free.com/roots_review.html =================== End of Paid Advertisements ===================== 6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ---------------------------------------------- No new databases added this week. 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Changing Search Options in WorldConnect By G. David Thayer gdthayer@proaxis.com In the last RWR (6:53, 12-31-03) Karen Collignon-Foley complained in "Compiling the Biggest GEDCOM" about GEDCOMs with huge numbers of individuals and practically no sources, etc. I also have noticed this, and here is what I do about it: I check the boxes on the WorldConnect search screen that are labelled "Has Notes" and "Has Sources." This eliminates almost all of the "junk" databases, of which there are quite a few. It doesn't cure the problem, but it does circumvent it. * * * Linking Us Together By Kathy Bonnell kbonnell@jasper.k12.ga.us http://wc.rootsweb.com/~kbonnell As part of the guilty group of owners of fairly large databases, I felt compelled to share why I have compiled a large database. I never intended to have a big database; I'm certainly not interested in winning any prizes and I'm sorry my database has grown so large, but it just grew one person at a time. My initial problem was that I think I have an expanded sense of family. I feel that the maternal line is just as important as the paternal lines. I think all children should be included in the family, not just the person I'm descended from, and that aunts, uncles and cousins should be part of the family too. But my growth problems became severe when I started researching my great-grandmother’s line. She came from Bartenbach, Germany and the Germans kept superb records back to the 1500s.German church records include birth, death and marriage records, but they also have family books or family registers. Family books were begun in 1808 and were compiled by the pastors of the individual towns from the birth, death and marriage records. (They are technically not primary sources, but are generally quite accurate and are certainly a guide to where to look for the original church records.) There is one page for each family that lived in the village. The page looks somewhat like our modern family group records. Besides birth, death and marriage information, some pastors would note occupations, cause of death, migration to other towns, emigration to various countries, illegitimate children and an occasional homily on the character of the deceased. A gold mine of information when compared to the scanty American records that we spend hours looking for! After a few years of researching each paternal and maternal line to the end of the records in various villages, I realized that I was going through the same records time and time again looking for different lines. I figured it would save time just to start at the beginning of the records in the 1550s and compile my own family book. I started with the town of Schlat and went through each birth record, assigning each child to a family. Then I inputted the families into my database. (I only input a family if I can find an existing connection; however, since almost everyone is related, I can usually input at least 90% of the families that lived in a village.) When I calculate my relationship to someone in Schlat, the computer usually gives the message -- has only calculated the first 100 relationships -- my surname may not be same, but I certainly feel that we are family. After that project I took a break and started inputting families from the family books since the pastors had already done the hard work of compilation. To date, I have inputted about 40 villages. I'm constantly adding and correcting information. My database is not perfect, but I feel like I'm making information available that would otherwise be sitting on dusty shelf in Germany or in a white microfilm box in Salt Lake City (at the Family History Library). I've added families from a variety of sources -- the Vital Records Index for Western Europe, the Ancestral File, GEDCOMs and e-mails from individuals, the WorldConnect Project, Ortsippenbuchs, or webpages on the Internet. As I include families, I try to initially evaluate the quality of the information and sources. I too have added families only to later delete lines that seem to have too little documentation. The documentation for each family is found under the names of the parents and I leave it up to interested parties to check the veracity of the information. (My source documentation has evolved with the development of genealogy software and personal experience; when I first started, there wasn't a screen for sources. Some of my early documentation is still found in the notes section because I haven't fully converted all sources yet.) The end result of 15 years of work has been a large database, but big does not necessarily equal bad. I may be a compulsive collector of people, but I've tried to consistently document the sources of information. If I had wanted a REALLY big database I could have added every name I came across, however I have chosen to only add families when I can find an existing connection to someone already in my database. If I live long enough, I want to add every family that I can that lived in that part of Germany during the last 400 years. I want to document in a concrete fashion that we are literally brothers and sisters in a small world. * * * Name Collecting of Little Value By Marcia Farina majorville@aol.com In last week's RootsWeb Review, Karen Collignon-Foley commented on WorldConnect databases that seem to be little more than collected names: erroneous, not updated, no sources. I second Karen's opinion. In fact, I'm applauding wildly. There is no value to name collecting, unless one wants to pursue it for the "gee whiz" factor only, and that is of value ONLY to the collector. This practice is a dubious use of RootsWeb's resources and consumes the time of the bona fide researcher. When either at a standstill or hoping to confirm something I suspect, I've sometimes attempted to find an individual in WorldConnect data- bases and have been confronted with repetition after repetition of identical information, oftentimes incorrect and which, apparently, was merely copied, since a token amount of research would have presented some fact-based detail. A few times I've written to the owners requesting further information. With a bare handful of exceptions, the responses were rote: "I don't know anything about that person." Recently I viewed a database and spent several extra minutes in complete disbelief. The owner's citations for entry after entry consisted solely of the similarly error-ridden website on which he had found the informa- tion (one which I avoid like the plague) and wide-ranging estimated dates. I found it hard to believe that someone would spend the time to cite these meaningless details, although perhaps I should have been grateful. It certainly put a spotlight on the fact that this was a database of little value. The upshot is that I only search WorldConnect databases as a last resort and have chosen to not upload my data into one. Along with the dedicated researchers who have so generously shared their information with me, I make every effort to present factual data with something to support it. The resulting Freepages website is fluid, constantly under revision and chock-full of sources. I don't wish to see our first attempts, typos or other occasional missteps replicated and proliferated ad nauseam. At the risk of sounding unfriendly and harsh, I wish the name collectors would realize (1) that finding a name and date on the Web does not make it true; (2) that simply repeating that name and date is not helpful and does not offer any value; and (3) instead of spending time just adding to their databases, use that time beneficially: dig up something that will really help other researchers. * * * Mega-Trees Needed By Crystal A. Bingham kinchaser@juno.com I am not one of those with 50,000- or 90,000-person trees, but I appreciate those who have those numbers. Yes, there are errors, but there will always be errors (I'm dealing with a big case of that now, but it's still better than not having any information). I too abhor the lack of referencing. Even the reference of "information given by so-and- so" is better than none, gives a place from which to begin and by which each of us can "credit" all the kind folks who give us their work. No, it's not a race to see who has the largest file. Has anyone ever said so to you? If so, they're missing the fun of genie-hunting. The PURPOSE is to show family links, show how we all, at some point, tie with others. I may not need their entire tree, or even most of it. BUT I have several relatives whom we've been unable to make that next backward link. I PRAY that one of these mega-tree folks includes information on any of my "orphaned" relatives. I will shout hallelujah. I call those folks "kitchen-sink genealogists." As in everyone-and-the- kitchen-sink. I'm of that variety too. I keep lists of folks with the same surname in the same location as mine and post that info to boards and lists so to help others as I have been helped. PLEASE put those people back in your trees. Even without documentation the information of your proven folks (lineage, locations, migration routes, etc.) gives others a place to look, to seek, to prove. One person's "shirttail" relative may be your, or my long-sought direct ancestor. We need mega-tree folks. All we can get. * * * Purloining Trees By Joan Glanz Rimmon JoanGR@aol.com I want to applaud Ms. Foley for her attitude about these GEDCOM compilers. I, for that very reason have not put my tree on the World Family Tree. But someone got my information from another source and has actually copyrighted it. And I can't even get in touch with him. E-mails to him are disregarded. It is most frustrating. I hope we can do something about this. * * * Cracking a Case By George Findley george_findley@hotmail.com On compiling the biggest GEDCOM I agree and disagree with Karen. I agree we all know that there are some people that place a GEDCOM up that have downloaded most of their information from others and knowing nothing about the people in it only that they tie-in with their family, then when someone writes them, tries to get a mistake corrected it turns out to be a waste of time. I disagree that only people that have 50,000 entries and up are guilty of this action as there is one I know of that has less then 10,000 and when you write to him there is no reply. There was one person that wrote to five of us that had his family in (their databases) and said he had some corrections that needed to be made, but I was the only one that answered him -- so I got the correction with addition information. I'm a retired person that has a GEDCOM that has 42,000 and I'm not after numbers. I do the genealogy as a hobby and yes, I'm an amateur, but have fun doing it. I try to update my GEDCOM every two weeks and generally early Monday morning so it stays up on the weekend and will be ready by the next weekend. I disagree on removing part of a GEDCOM because they think they will never work on that part again -- if it was worth putting in, in the first place then it is worth keeping it in. On this I do have some of this type in my GEDCOM, but there has been people write thanking me for the information as one person took the location I had for a person and went there and found information he had been looking for. Until he found the information I had he did not know this relation had ever been there and for this information we received a very big "thank you" -- what better pay can you get? When I began I took the information two of my aunts had from where they had started the family tree (doing it the hard way via letter writing) and was only interested in my direct family lines. However, after I placed my GEDCOM online I changed and started adding others that people sent me that had ties to my family. After all I was asking for help with my tree so I wanted to help others, too. I do provide the name of the person who furnishes the information unless asked not to. The way I feel about people that upload a GEDCOM is no matter what size it is, those that will not make corrections have a problem we who correct ours don't have. However, the ones that never answer, make the changes, or work with others to find information will never get the rewards as the one below, which I just received. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You've 'cracked the case' on one of my most frustrating puzzles -- and with a primary source, too! I hope that I can return the favor one day or pass it along to another of us enthusiasts." 8. Humor/Humour: Rotten Roots ---------------------------------------------------- Your family tree may have tree rot. Check with your local nursery for appropriate treatment. 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 attach- ments) 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 * * * SUBSCRIPTIONS: Do not send any subscription requests or e-mail address changes to the editor. Please use these special e-mail addresses: RWR-on@rootsweb.com -- this adds you to the RWR Mailing List. RWR-off@rootsweb.com -- this 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. 7, No. 1, 7 January 2004. * * * *