RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 29 December 2004, Vol. 7, No. 52, Circulation: 816,285+ (c) 1998-2004 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/ * * * Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ * * * Keep informed about the latest news, new databases, webpages and mailing lists at RootsWeb. Subscribe to the free weekly RootsWeb Review. http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ Search/download past issues of the RootsWeb Review: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ * * * Is your e-mail address up-to-date at all RootsWeb sources? http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com/ * * * Search and share family trees: WorldConnect: http://wc.rootsweb.com/ Learn how to find your ancestors: http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/ Post and read 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/ RootsWeb HelpDesk: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Editor's Desk: A Site Worth Seeing: "Find Your 'Fortune' Online" 1b. Tips from Readers: "Digging Deeper" 1c. Using RootsWeb: "Message Board Admins Serve Important Functions" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Unbroken Circle" "A Brush with Fate at a Plantation" 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: "Internet Opens Virtual Doors" "'Born at Sea' Legend Doesn't Always Wash" "Bless the True Genealogists, Every One" 8. Humor/Humour: "More Than Kissing Cousins" 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS AND NOTES 1a. Editor's Desk: A Site Worth Seeing: Find Your 'Fortune' Online There's an Internet site that contains a database of names of those who have money due them by various states. This happens, typically, when bank accounts are dormant for an extended period of time or when there are unclaimed paychecks, money from wills, etc. After a period of time this money is turned over to the state where it stays until the rightful person claims it [or the legal time to hold it expires]. Visit National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Click on "Find Property" link at the top left of that page. Then select the state desired. If you lived in several states, try them all. Instructions for obtaining the unclaimed property varies from state to state. Read the rules carefully. Good luck. http://www.unclaimed.org/mainframe.asp?VisitorType=owner * * * 1b. Tips from Readers: Digging Deeper By Dennis Brooke Some people hit the so-called brick wall while searching for their ancestors. However, David McDONALD of northern Georgia ran into a real one. For more than two years he posted on many sites asking for help. Finally, one person, Marlitta PERKINS heard his plea, but was unable to do anything other than to post her request on her website. It was in a discussion group that I first encountered Marlitta and heard her strange story. A new piece of history was about to be discovered and a genealogical dream come true. An excellent source of information on the American Civil War comes from the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, commonly referred to as the OR. According to the OR's Series 2, Volume 7, pages 1161-1162 the following is what happened at Camp Chase [Ohio] on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24, 1864) "On the night of the 24th instant the bodies of six deceased prisoners were stolen from the grave-yard attached to camp where prisoners only are buried. I arrested the perpetrators of this outrage and referred the matter to General Hooker and was by him directed to turn the prisoners and papers over to the prosecuting attorney of this county, which I have done. Respectfully referred to the Commissary-General of Prisoners."--W. P. Richardson. And on November 30th 1864 the newspaper, the "Crisis," confirmed the macabre event. "Body Snatchers" "It has been discovered that an organized band of body snatchers, resurrectionists, exists in this city, whose practice it is to rob the graves at Camp Chase of dead bodies which are shipped to the medical college at Cleveland for dissection. Dr. Flowers of this city is said to the leader in this business, and he was arrested in company with one or two less respectable assistants, last week, by the Post Commander at Camp Chase. The parties were discharged upon their parole, to appear at such time as the military authorities designate. There is a State law by which the robbing of graves is pronounced a high crime punishable by imprisonment in the Penitentiary. It is understood that twelve bodies were exhumed last week. Dr.,Flowers' excuses has action on the ground that "subjects were needed at the Cleveland Medical College and that the bodies were those of rebels, who were fit for nothing but dissection!" And then the "Columbus Gazette" yet again confirmed the story with a little different version. Body Snatching" "Considerable talk has been occasioned in this city this week, by the arrest, by the Military authorities at Camp Chase, of sundry persons from this city and Cleveland, Ohio, who had been engaged in digging up bodies of deceased rebels from the grave yard in that vicinity. This was done for the purpose of procuring subjects for the Cleveland Medical College. It is alleged that about a dozen bodies have been thus procured. The parties were released on their parole to appear at such time as the Military authorities shall designate. At the time of the arrest, it is stated, Dr. Flowers, of this city, was along with the parties arrested; but it is claimed that he had no connection with the matter further than to show the location of the burying ground. So great is the repugnance of the community to body snatching, that few will be found ready to justify the invasion of even a rebel's grave. Our Military authorities should see to it that the practice is stopped." And another Columbus newspaper, the Ohio Statesman," verified the story: "Resurrectionists" "It seems that a systematic exhuming of the dead bodies of rebel prisoners buried at Camp Chase, has been going on for some time past, in order to supply a Medical College at Cleveland with subjects for dissection. An agent of the College from Cleveland it is said has been in the city for some time, engaged in forwarding this business, through the aid of such persons as he could enlist in the service. Among others, Dr. Flowers of this city, is charged with being a principal actor in the affair. The Doctor, we understand, was arrested on Friday night by the military authorities, and taken to Camp Chase, and released on giving bail for his appearance on a future day." Through microfilm from NARA [National Archives and Records Administration] I was able to find out who exactly was dug up and who was reinterred. The five soldiers whose bodies were sold to the medical college dissection room in Cleveland were: --Hiram BLAND of Georgia --Jonathan LINDLEY of Georgia (David MCDONALD's ancestor) --John W. LESTER of Tennessee --A. J. HENSLEY of Virginia --Thomas STEPHENS of Louisiana Curtis HOOKS was also dug up, but his body was returned to the cemetery and buried in a different row and grave. These five above soldiers did NOT have tombstones or bodies at the Camp Chase Cemetery. Next year a special event in Columbus, Ohio will be held for those missing Confederate soldiers. The Camp Chase body snatcher was one Dr. Joab R. FLOWERS. He was never convicted of the crime and after the war he was even elected to the Columbus City Council. Prior to the Camp Chase Cemetery the Southern men were buried at the local City Cemetery in Columbus on Livingston Avenue After the war many of those Confederates were moved to Camp Chase Cemetery. As a city councilmen in Ward 3, Dr. FLOWERS wanted the Livingston Avenue cemetery moved. And so it was. Was Dr. FLOWERS covering up his tracks? Early indications say yes. There are at least 20 other people who were buried at Livingston Cemetery who died as prisoners while at Camp Chase. Many of them were political prisoners and not soldiers. However these people would present one heck of a brick wall for someone doing genealogy. I have found their dates of death and areas of the country where they were from. To genealogists they just seem to vanish into midair. Many of them were arrested by federal [Union] authorities for aiding the Confederacy and sent to Camp Chase prison where they died. Other Civil War prisons also had political prisoners and hopefully one of these days hundreds of brick walls may be able to tumble. And, it all started with one man -- David McDONALD -- wanting to know what had happened to his ancestor. * * * 1c. Using RootsWeb: Message Board Admins Serve Important Functions After Laura Robinson Leader gained some experience in the administration of RootsWeb mailing lists, she gave a great deal of thought to ways in which she could increase the resources available to her and also to her list subscribers. She knew that some of her subscribed lists allowed messages to come through to the lists through a process known as the message board gateway -- in fact, her RAIL surname list was already gatewayed to the RAIL surname message board when she adopted it. She started here: http://boards.rootsweb.com/ and checked out all the information available about message boards at RootsWeb/Ancestry. She learned when she visited the RAIL message board that it had a link on the board saying Become An Admin. Hmmm ... Laura decided to look into what would be involved to become the admin for the board to coordinate it with the RAIL mailing list. She learned that board admin duties are not time-consuming and they require no special tools or knowledge other than e-mail and Internet access, and the willingness to maintain the message board. Maintaining a message board can be worked into even Laura's busy schedule because she can visit the board whenever time permits. Responsibilities of a message board administrator include ensuring that contact information is kept current and accessible to users to reflect a valid working e-mail address on the board's Links & Announcement page. (Once someone adopts a message board by clicking on the Become An Admin link and subsequently being approved as the admin, the link changes to a Links & Announcements link with contact information for the board admin when clicked.) As a board administrator, Laura would be expected to review new messages posted on the board to ensure they do not violate the rules set forth for posting and to remove any that are in violation. She would be responsible for removing a message when requested by the poster and could move misplaced messages to a more appropriate board or to a new location within the current board. She could edit the surname field, message subject, and message classification -- for the purpose of preserving board integrity and to ensure proper indexing and search- ability. She could also take the lead in discussion on a board where possible, assist users with searching and posting, and promote interest in using the board. Laura decides this sounds like a good idea -- she can easily maintain the RAIL board because she already reads each new message posted to that board as it comes through the gateway to the list. So, making sure she is logged in on the board (a requirement for requesting to become an admin) she clicks on the Become An Admin link displayed on board. She then awaits the confirmation e-mail declaring that she is now officially the admin of record. Laura learns that, as the administrator of a message board, she can obtain assistance, if needed, in performing her administrative responsibilities by posting her questions on the Boards Admins message board which is gatewayed to the corresponding BOARDS-ADMINS-L mailing list: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=topics.rw.admin.badmin Laura decides to subscribe to the BOARDS-ADMINS-L@rootsweb.com mailing list so that she can also post and read list messages. The above- mentioned mailing list and message board are for the use of message board administrators only. Laura checks to see if there are other existing boards she'd like to adopt. She learns there is no list of adoptable boards, only a list of adoptable mailing lists. She needs to visit a board and look for the link on the board that states: Become An Admin. Only adoptable boards have this link. Laura has an idea for a subject for a message board that doesn't currently exist that she would like to see created. Her LEADER, RAIL, and ROBINSON ancestors all seem to have been connected through their occupation. They were all tanners by trade, possibly in business together, and Laura thinks it might be helpful to pursue this aspect by requesting a new message board (and possibly a mailing list to accompany it) for the discussion of tanners as an occupation. Laura clicks on the Request New Board link at the bottom left corner of the message board page she is on to request a new board be created. She checks the "I would like to administer this board" option since she wants to serve as the administrator for the new board she is requesting, making sure she is logged in under the account she wants to use as an administrator for the new board. New board creation requests may be submitted for Surnames (last names), Localities, and Genealogical Research Topics. Surname requests must be for a single surname only (which is the reason Laura knows she can't request that a new board be created to go along with her mailing list for the specialized discussion among the descendants of John Robinson of Virginia--the ROBINSON surname board serves the needs of all ROBINSON researchers). Localities must be countries, states, provinces, departments, shires, or counties/parishes or similar. Genealogical Research Topics must be specific subjects that would be of interest to many researchers. Laura and the group of researchers with whom she is working are now quite happy as they feel they have more complete resources, and are able to reach a wider audience, in pursuing their goals in breaking down the many brick walls they face. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Unbroken Circle By Kay Armstrong Many years ago I was unsure if I wanted to spend a lot of money on a computer. A friend had bought a new one and offered me the use of her old one. I visited a few genealogy sites and was hooked! I had begun researching my family in 1976 following the death of two elderly relatives. Without a computer, the paperwork had become overwhelming and I had stopped researching. I found the RootsWeb Surname List and searched for my great- grandmother's maiden name -- RAPER. My dad was raised by his grandmother after the death of his mother and I had a lot of information on this family. To my surprise I found a link that seemed to be my family. The information said the family moved from Tennessee to Texas to Indian Territory. I e-mailed the person researching the family and it was several days before I heard anything. Betty MERLE responded to my e-mail and said she had been searching for me for several years because several family members told her she needed to talk to me. We exchanged several e-mails and discovered we were second cousins once removed (2C1R). Betty sent me a link to a website she had started following the first RAPER reunion in Madisonville, [Monroe County] Tennessee I explored the site and found a link to several photos. I waited for my very slow dial- up connection to reveal the photo and screamed. My dad had already gone to bed and I pounded on the door. I yelled that Aunt Tildy and Uncle Bane were on the computer and he had to come look. He had remembered his great-aunts and uncles visiting his grandmother and was very excited to see their photos on the Internet (not that he knew what the Internet was!). Betty organized another reunion in Tennessee and I went by myself. My dad did not feel like traveling all the way from Texas to Tennessee. We had agreed to meet at Hardee's [restaurant] the first morning for a cemetery tour. I watched several people come in and finally decided which group to approach. Imagine going up to a stranger and asking "Are you a RAPER?" I guessed right and we had a wonderful time. Betty and two third cousins, Janie and Carl, all stayed at the same motel and we really bonded. We stayed up all night sharing stories, letters and photos. After the reunion, we explored churches where our 2-great-grandfather had preached and we visited more cemeteries. Tired, but happy, we stopped at a cafeteria and were entertained by a group singing old-time gospel hymns. When they sang "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" we all looked at each other with a smile and tears in our eyes. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day. We've been able to trace our ancestry back to Henry RAPER who died in 1654 in North Yorkshire, England. We've all stayed in contact via phone and e-mail over the years. Betty and I have visited each other several times after that first meeting. She interviewed my father the summer before he died. Betty and I visited Janie also and we were all saddened to learn that Carl passed away earlier this year. I guess you could say the circle will never be broken. * * * A Brush with Fate at a Plantation http://www.destrehanplantation.org/history.htm By Terry Henderson In November, my father and I traveled to New Orleans from St. Louis to attend the fall festival at the Destrehan Plantation. We had been there before and knew that one of our ancestors, Stephen Henderson, had married into the Destrehan family and had, at one time, owned the plantation. The festival was being held Friday through Sunday. We arrived in New Orleans on Friday and planned to do research at the city library on Friday and Saturday before visiting the plantation on Sunday. After a full day of research on Friday at the library we decided to move our visit to the plantation to Saturday. We arrived early and spent the day roaming around the grounds, visiting the booths and decided to take another tour of the plantation itself. At the conclusion of the tour, they took us downstairs to a room where they house an actual letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Destrehans. We had been in the room a short time when we heard another man tell the guide that he was a descendant of Stephen HENDERSON. The guide didn't have a lot of time to listen to his story, so I walked over to his side and said, "I do." I explained that we too were descendents of Stephen HENDERSON and would love to see what he had. He had original pictures and even a small book outlining his family tree. I recognized many connections and knew it was all authentic. We spent the next two and one-half hours comparing notes. I've met a new cousin through fate. We hadn't even planned to be at the plantation at that time. And to spend the whole day there and just happen to be in the same room at the same time was more than we could possibly imagine. We're glad we met Archie there and look forward to exchanging more information with him. * * * Do you have an online or other "connecting" story to share? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com 3. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Brand-new mailing lists can be found under OTHER/MISCELLANEOUS until moved to their proper categories. For information and an index to the more than 28,600 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS NABER PAUSTIAN, PIRANT, PROKOPOVICH SCHLICHTING, SCHNELLENBERGERX, SEYKOSKI WARNING 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------- Some of these webpages 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. For example, the Morristown (New Jersey) Chapter DAR website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njmcdar/ U.S.A. madar -- Massachusetts DAR (state site) njmcdar -- Morristown (New Jersey) Chapter DAR txbbcudc -- Buffalo Bayou (Texas) Chapter UDC wvkanaw2 -- Kanawha County (West Virginia) Key: APG—Association of Professional Genealogists DAR—Daughters of the American Revolution DRT—Daughters of the Republic of Texas OGS—Ohio Genealogical Society SUV—Sons of Union Veterans (American Civil War) USD—Daughters of the War of 1812 UDC—United Daughters of Confederacy (Confederate States of America) 5. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages -------------------------------------- Has your website ever been mentioned here or do you have a new, updated, or substantially revised website located at RootsWeb (it will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL)? 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 * * * BUCK, SMITH. Pertains to BUCK family that was in Pennsylvania in 1755 and migrated to Tennessee and Illinois, and a SMITH line found in Madison County, New York, that migrated to Wisconsin. Includes some ancillary lines. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~johnbuckjr/ http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=johnbuckjr KIEFFER. Genealogical research notes on descendants of George Kieffer, who was born in 1789 in Pennsylvania. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kieffer/ OHIO. The history of aviation in the Ohio Valley. This site is the beginning of a history of aviation between the years 1918 and 1938. Its objective is to chronicle the events and the names of the pilots and their planes that landed at the former federal airport (Langin Field) at Moundsville, as well as provide some genealogical information. http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvmarsha/tomjames/tomjames.htm 6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb ---------------------------------------------- SHARING OPPORTUNITY. Does your alma mater, old military unit, church, parish, province, county or state have material available that you think would be of interest to genealogists and historians? Do you have any compiled lists of names or databases (other than your personal genealogy) that you would like to share and that you think would be of value and interest to others? In most cases, RootsWeb would be proud to host such material. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ The following databases have come online recently. They are searchable, but not browseable. Search: To look for specific data or occurrence of text in a file. Browse: To view the entire contents of a file or a group of files. IDAHO. Payette County. Declaration and Naturalizations, 1918-1929; 46 records; Patty Theurer for the Payette County Historical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/naturalization/ NEW YORK. Genesee County. Batavia. Daily News, 1928; 8,248 records; Leilani Spring, Volunteer of the Genesee County Historian's office http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ NORTH CAROLINA. Pitt County. Bethel. Bethel Cemetery; 1,709 records; Annette Roebuck http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet Opens Virtual Doors By Marcelle Sommers Aldredge I was fortunate to have a number of resources available to me in the form of books to trace my family lineage. However, I wanted to find the "current" family ties of my great-grandfather. He was one of 10 children and I had never heard anything about the other nine. Neither had my father or his siblings. I decided to write to every SOMMERS I could find in the New Jersey area that sounded like it could fit. I explained my story, and one person wrote back, stating that she was the widow of the son of one of the 10 I was seeking. She filled in many blanks when we met and led me to other branches for the other nine. To make a long story short, I have filled in all 10 children, their children and many great-grandchildren as well -- to the present. I will admit that it took about 10 years to do this, but I have so many distant relatives that refer to me as their "cousin" now. It's fun! Hang in there -- without the Internet, I don't think this would have happened. * * * 'Born at Sea' Legend Doesn't Always Wash By Patricia S. Smith in Brooklyn, New York, USA I, too, had a great-grandfather "born on the ocean" as his parents were coming to the United States in 1847. He made sure to include it in his biography in a county history published about 1910. When I hired a genealogist who goes to Germany regularly, I asked her to see what she could find. She found, parents, a daughter and four who died in infancy. No Edward. A year later she went back to the church (in what had been East Germany) and there she found the record -- born June 18, 1847, making him about 11 months when the family sailed from Bremen on 4 July 1848. The ship's manifest had given his age as nine months. This was (is) a tale dear to the hearts of all the descendants. One cousin absolutely refuses to believe our search, saying the birth at sea was true "because grandpa said so." I have never understood why his sister who was about seven when they emigrated never saw fit to stop the story. Of course, she might have, but we never heard it. And then there are his Civil War wounds . . . * * * Bless the True Genealogists, Every One! By Jackie Carter I have spent years doing research a little bit at a time. I did some research on my husband's family and found his great-grandfather. I then added this to my online family chart. Just a couple of days ago I was contacted by a wonderful gentleman who in his own research helps others. Well, one thing lead to another and he has put me in touch with a very special woman. This woman had a friend who had a Bible and not knowing the people in it she was going to throw it in the trash. This woman asked her friend if she could have it. This Bible turns out to be my husband's great-grandfather's. This very special woman has carried this bible around for 29 years! And offered to send it to us. We could not have gotten a better Christmas gift. Thanks to all the wonderful people who share what they know just out of the kindness of your hearts. You are the true angels who brings joy to our lives and renew my faith in my fellowman. 8. Humor/Humour: More Than Kissing Cousins ------------------------------------------ Thanks to: Dave Arasmith in Kansas, USA Last Memorial Day weekend, my fiancé accompanied my folks and me as we decorated family graves in numerous cemeteries a single county. At each cemetery I would explain to her what the relationship was, "These are my grandparents, my great-aunt, great-grandparents," etc. At the last cemetery, I explained, "These are my great-great-grand- parents. As it happens, William and Sarah were also second cousins to each other." My fiancé's reply, "Cousins? Did they have children?" * * * Found a humorous sign or entry in census, parish, church, etc. records? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints ----------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTIONS. To manage your e-mail communications (i.e. to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, or to sign up for others), visit our newsletter management center any time at: http://newsletters.rootsweb.com/ The RootsWeb Review is a free publication of MyFamily.com, Inc., 360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT, 84604 * * * 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 (please, no attachments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com * * * ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS. Ad Sales Operations Mgr. Shana Davis sdavis@myfamilyinc.com U.S. Worldwide Sales: Sacha Yenkana syenkana@myfamilyinc.com * * * REPRINTS. 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: 29 December 2004, Vol. 7, No. 52. * * * *