RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 16 March 2005, Vol. 8, No. 11, Circulation: 811,065+ (c) 1998-2005 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, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: "Ribbons, Laces, and Black Sheep" 1b. Using RootsWeb: "Retrieving and Fetching Your GEDCOMs" 1c. Tips from Readers: "Digging Deeper" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Chance Encounter with a Cousin" "Long-time Family Connections Revealed" 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: "'Respectable' Horse Thief Nearly Hangs" "On the Trail of a Bandit Queen" "Falling Out of Closets" "Retrieving Our Family Album" 8. Humor/Humour: "Goosey, Goosey, Gander" 9. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: Ribbons, Laces, and Black Sheep Ribbons and Laces. Connie Trier writes that "I have been able to access several old family wills and noticed those of my female ancestors usually mention 'ribbons and laces' left to a daughter or a favorite niece. I was familiar with the laces, but I had no idea why someone would want old ribbons. Then I helped a friend clean her mother's basement and in the bottom of an old trunk, tucked in a Bible, I found two of the loveliest pieces of ribbon I've ever seen. I have put them online so anyone who might be interested can take a look: http://www.geocities.com/cvtre/page2.htm * * * Search for Black Sheep Ancestors (if you dare). Find Rattlesnake Dick and other Canadian outlaws, criminals, and bandits (search in Canada's prisons, convicts, and court records): http://blacksheepancestors.com/canada/blacksheep.shtml For Americans ancestors (search in free court, prison, outlaw, execution, and other records; many arranged by state of interest): http://blacksheepancestors.com/usa/ Yo ho ho! Famous pirates and buccaneers such as Captain William Kidd (1645-1701) and others can be found here: http://blacksheepancestors.com/pirates/index.shtml 1b. USING ROOTSWEB: Retrieving and Fetching Your GEDCOMs Did you know that you can retrieve any original unedited previously submitted GEDCOM from WorldConnect at any time? Playing retrieve the ball with Rover, your pet cocker spaniel, can be fun, but retrieving your GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) from WorldConnect http://wc.rootsweb.com/ can be a lifesaver. Retrieving your GEDCOM in no way affects the online database you have uploaded to WorldConnect (it remains in place). You are merely fetching a copy of the exact file you uploaded in the event you need to replace lost data (because computers crash, files become corrupted and other disasters happen to genealogists every day) or would like a copy when working away from home on a laptop or on a friend's computer. To retrieve your previously submitted GEDCOM, start on the main WorldConnect page and click on "Start Here." Type in the original user code and password for your WorldConnect GEDCOM to access the set-up page, then scroll down and click on "Retrieve GEDCOM." If you have forgotten you password and/or user code, you can retrieve those as well from Password Central by clicking on the Password tab on any RootsWeb page or going here: http://passwordcentral.rootsweb.com Retrieving your GEDCOM from WorldConnect is almost as much fun as playing fetch with Rover -- and just as easy. It also provides the perfect off-site backup for your family tree. Seeing double or triple? Take a few extra moments to check how many trees you have online in the combined WorldConnect and Ancestry World Tree database. Since the trees can be seen on both sites there is no reason to place duplicates online. However, unlike at WorldConnect, uploading your file on Ancestry Online Family Tree (OFT) or Ancestry World Tree (AWT) does not replace or update an existing file. Uploading a tree there creates an additional file. Unsure whether you might have duplicate files on WorldConnect, Ancestry World Tree (AWT) and/or Online Family Tree (OFT)? Do a search for a unique name that can be found in your database from the main World- Connect page. The search results should display any duplicate files or duplicate names within a single file. http://wc.rootsweb.com/ For detailed instructions on removing duplicate files uploaded via the Ancestry side, see: "A Time for Pruning." * * * 1c. Tips from Readers: Digging Deeper By Jane Kizer Thomas, Blount County (Tennessee) Historian I found the recent article in the RootsWeb Review about using obituaries interesting. As a volunteer researcher for my local library I often look up an obituary for someone who writes to the library. I have another suggestion about information that might be found in the obituary. It usually gives the name of the funeral home or mortuary that provided burial service. Funeral home records can provide the name of the person who paid them for their services. I found this especially helpful where the decedent was buried in a cemetery outside the immediate area where the decedent resided. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Chance Encounter with a Cousin By Oleta Edwards I have lived and worked in the same city of 89,000 people for 49 years. Ten years ago my sister and I became interested in genealogy and she started compiling all the information on both our maternal and paternal sides of the family. Recently I was at an exercise studio where I have been going for about four years. I seldom see the same people there often, but there was one lady I have talked to occasionally about trivial things. We were chatting one morning and she made some comment about working on her family tree for DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). I asked where her family came from and she said Middletown, Missouri, which is a small hamlet about 60 miles northeast of Columbia, where I live. My ears perked up since that is where my paternal grandmother was born. I asked her what the family name was and she said INGRAM. Now, INGRAM was my grandmother's maiden name. I excitedly told the lady this and said "maybe we are related." She told me who her ancestor was, William, who had moved to Missouri from South Carolina. My grandmother had a great-grandfather named Stephen, and when I mentioned that, she said her William had a brother named Stephen. At this point we exchanged names and laughingly said we were probably cousins. To make a long story somewhat shorter, I hurried home, called my sister who has all the family records and discovered that Joannie and I were cousins, many times removed because my 3g-grandfather Stephen was indeed her William's brother. * * * Long-time Family Connections Revealed By Virgie Morgan I have a best friend I have known for more than 20 years. When Mary saw how wrapped up I was in tracing my family history and saw the success I was having at being able to find my ancestors, she became interested in searching for her ancestors as well. So I began at RootsWeb as I always do and put her maiden name in the search engine. As we were going through the results list she suddenly spotted the names of her grandparents and we entered the database and confirmed that this was her family and e-mailed the woman who owned the database and she was so helpful in sharing her information with us. My friend had not known anything about her father's side of the family and through this cousin we discovered she was able to finally know her father's people. We went as far as we could and I had created a family file for her on my Family Tree Maker program. This happened about four years ago. This past Christmas I was tracing down some of my LIVINGSTON family names in the census records and trying to verifying and document information that I had found on my own ancestors. One particular LIVINGSTON ancestor that I was looking for I finally found in Monroe County, Indiana. I went to the census record and saw that he was a boarder in a house with a couple named WAMPLER. It had been awhile since I had done that search on my friend's family but I knew that her father's family had a line of WAMPLERs in it. I opened up her family file on my computer and sure enough, her WAMPLER family was from the same county in Indiana as my LIVINGSTON family was. Through this discovery I was able to find even more of her family members and afterwards wherever I found a LIVINGSTON family I usually found a WAMPLER family living close by. The thing that makes this so fascinating for us is that we met 20 some years ago through my step- uncle whom she was dating for a short period of time and she has stayed with me and my family off and on for years. And now we have discovered that MY ancestors were staying with HER ancestors long before the two of us came along. What are the chances that descendants of both families would meet and become best friends when we had no real connection to each other that we were aware of? It truly is a small world. And, just shows you never know what you will find when you start researching your family history. * * * Do you have an online or other "connecting" story to share? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com ======================== Advertisements ============================ GET A FREE RESEARCH ASSESSMENT FROM BRITISH ANCESTORS Looking for ancestors from England or Scotland? All our researchers are located in Britain with access to original records. Let us have the details and we will have one of them give you a FREE research assessment. If you commission us to do the work (there's no obligation to do that!) our prices start from $70 US. Learn more about our BRITISH ANCESTORS RESEARCH TOUR IN SALT LAKE CITY! For a free research assessment visit http://www.britishancestors.com/consultrwr/ ====================== End Advertisements ============================== 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 28,900 RootsWeb-hosted genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/ NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS BEACHY CLACHAN CATES-DNA -- Discuss the CATES (surname) DNA project HALL-PA -- Genealogical discussions of HALL families who resided in or passed through Pennsylvania JENNETTE KNISS MACCRA, MACCRE, MACRE, MACREE, MACRIE, MCCRE, MELANATHY, MILUTINOVIC MURRAY-DNA -- Discuss the MURRAY (surname) DNA projects SLONIKER THROCKMORTON-DNA -- Discuss THROCKMORTON (surname) DNA projects NEW ETHNIC AND SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS AUS-NSW-CHURCHES -- Genealogical discussions of churches, chapels and places of worship in New South Wales, Australia with the focus on the period from 1788 to 1900 COLONIAL-CLERGY -- For researching colonial U.S. ancestors who were ministers DEEP-SOUTH-CLERGY -- For researching ancestors who were ministers in the U.S. states of Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida MAC-REUNION -- Software support list for Reunion (Macintosh genealogy software) from user to user MIDATA -- For submitting to the Michigan USGW Archives OH-ACGS -- The Allen County (Ohio) Genealogy Society sharing information regarding its society events, programs, surnames, and family search 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 Lula (Banks County, Georgia) Historical Society website is at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~galhs/ U.S.A. galhs -- Lula (Banks County, Georgia) Historical Society mimcdar -- Muskegon (Michigan) Chapter DAR mnacdar -- Anoka (Minnesota) Chapter DAR moccga -- Camden County (Missouri) Genealogical Association ohesawr -- Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve (Ohio) ormcdar -- Multnomah (Oregon) Chapter DAR Organizations' Abbreviation Key: DAR-Daughters of the American Revolution 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 GERMANY. ROTTWEIL-TUTTLINGEN GENEALOGY. This website (with an accompanying mailing list, DEU-BAD-WUE-ROTTWEIL-TUTTLINGEN-L) is designed for those researching Baden-Württemberg ancestry in the particular region covered by what is currently Rottweil and Tuttlingen (between Stuttgart and the German-Swiss border). Lists names of researchers (on both sides of the Atlantic) as well as which surnames and which towns are being researched. Provides some of the interesting history of the region, which was split between Catholic (Baden) and Lutheran (Württemberg). http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jillaine/rt/ See also: The 1847 Emigration of Schwenningen Citizens to America. This page seeks to document the North American whereabouts of those who emigrated from Schwenningen in 1847, as part of a town-supported effort to help the town's poorest start anew in America. Read the history that led to this subsidized migration as well as review current efforts to connect these families with their descendants. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jillaine/rt/1847Emigration.htm KEMP. Andrew Kemp's Genealogy Page. Researching KEMP, VANDERVEN, MURPHY, DEJONG, WELSH, DETHRIDGE, MOREY, and MCERVALE families, plus online searchable database and genealogy links. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kemp/ 6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb 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. FLORIDA. Brevard County. Cocoa. Cocoa Tribune. Deaths 1950-1954; 759 records; Jim and Bonnie Garmon Cocoa Tribune. Deaths 1960-1966; 1,758 records; Jim and Bonnie Garmon http://userdb.rootsweb.com/obituaries/ ILLINOIS. Cook County. Chicago. Mercy High School Class of 1931; 230 records; Eve Lutz http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ TENNESSEE. Hamilton County. Chattanooga. Chattanooga High School Class of 1931; 185 records; Kamy Rayburn Gamble http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/ * * * 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/ 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]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Respectable' Horse Thief Nearly Hangs By Jeanne Murphey My father-in-law was a respected attorney in Alameda County, California. His father, John Douglass MURPHEY, had been the county clerk of Mono County, California. Later in his career he was a Superior Court judge in Alameda County. And at one time he even ran for the position of a Supreme Court judge for California. His father, John Carpenter MURPHEY, was also a lawyer, and had been a District Court judge for Mono County. John Carpenter MURPHEY had also been a '49er. This story takes place in the 1850s when he was a teamster and before he became a judge. I found it while doing research in the history book for Yolo County, California, 1825-1880. One day John had a wagonload that he was pulling through the area of Cache Creek, when he got stuck. He explored the area and discovered some loose mules in a corral. He harnessed a couple of them and used them to free his wagon. He was in process of returning the mules to the corral when the owners son caught him. It turned out that the owner was a JP (justice of the peace). John was arrested and taken to court, where he was tried without delay. He requested trial by jury, but the justice denied the request. Then John made this statement: "I think the court is prejudiced and an interested party, and not a proper one to try this case. If I can't have a jury trial I demand a change of venue." The story goes on to relate that the justice had every intention of hanging John from a nearby tree. John was saved when another man, who knew both John and the justice, walked into court. He talked to the justice for a long time and finally convinced him to grant the change of venue. In the new court the case was dismissed as it became evident that "Mr. MURPHEY had not taken the stock with felonious intent, and that if he had been let alone 15 minutes longer would have returned them to the corral whence he took them." I was excited when I returned home and related this story to my in-laws. I was amazed that they had never heard the story before. My father-in- law took it all in stride. After all, John Carpenter MURPHEY had survived and went on to have a long list of descendants. Maybe John Carpenter was so knowledgeable because his grandfather, Andrew MURPHEY, had also been a JP back in Ohio. I find it humorous that amongst all these judges that there was one who was almost hanged for being a horse [er, mule] thief. * * * On the Trail of a Bandit Queen By Annabel Schaupner, in Michigan, USA I came across a family legend while researching my 3g-grandmother. Her name was Isabelle BOGLE (born Virginia 1829) and she was the oldest of 11 children. The family moved to Kentucky, Isabelle married Patrick LAVERY, then disappeared from the records after giving birth to a daughter in 1853. She was not found in the 1860 census. Then I discovered a distant cousin descending from one of the BOGLE siblings. She said there was a family rumor (at least within her branch) that Isabelle ran away from home and became the infamous female outlaw Belle STARR. By this time I was quite curious. Could there have been a bandit in the family? All I had to do was research a bit on the Internet. It didn't take long to find enough information to determine there was no way these two could have been the same woman. Belle STARR was born Myra Maybelle SHIRLEY (1848 in Missouri) and later married Sam STARR. She After a colorful life, she was killed in an ambush in 1889 by people she knew, possibly her own son. However, in no way was Belle STARR ever connected to "my" Isabelle. I notified the distant relative and am pleased to say I quashed a rumor that had gone on for many years. [Editor's note: For more on Belle STARR and other personalities, see: http://www.thehistorynet.com/we/blbanditqueenbellestar/index1.html Also check WorldConnect for SHIRLEY, Myra (daughter of John SHIRLEY): http://wc.rootsweb.com/] * * * Falling Out of Closets By Cecelia Smith For years, we had utilized our computer for basic correspondence. Purchasing an upgraded model in 1999, we also bought the Family Tree Maker software and began an unbelievable odyssey. We entered as much information as we could remember, then sought sources to prove that things we overheard as children were truth or fiction. Hoping to verify some names, we pulled a box from the closet that I knew contained a funeral guest book. This particular box, containing "stuff" that belonged to my mother, had been moved around with us for more than 30 years since her passing, and in that time, it had never been opened. Not only did we find the funeral book, but there were other papers hastily tossed into the box when we emptied her home. Among them, was a pay book from World War I that had been her father's. He was widowed, and leaving my mother with relatives, joined the Army in 1917, went off to fight in France, but never talked about his service after that. In the back of the pay book, however, was a citation that honored his extraordinary gallantry. My husband began a three-year effort to have grandpa awarded his Silver Star, Purple Heart, and Victory Medal, posthumously. It also was the beginning of our efforts to record as much family history as possible, and to help other families who were seeking information about their veteran ancestors, who, like grandpa, had stored old records in their personal closets. This past holiday, we presented books to each of our children. They included copies of as many photographs of the ancestors as we could locate, stories we heard as children about these grandparents, our own individual childhood memories, and a chronological diary of our 45 years together. We left blank pages for them to write "the rest of the story". We placed all of the acid-free pages into a three-ring binder photo album, so that items may be inserted from time to time. If other ancestors pop out of the closet, they can be included in the history in their proper places. We expect this might happen, because as recently as last week, we were contacted through a message board entry by a person who has ties to our family and has promised to send us her family tree data. The Internet and RootsWeb have been tremendous assets to our genealogical project, and we thank all who subscribe and contribute. * * * Retrieving Our Family Album By Ron Miller The story of "Tracking Down Family Photo Album" (in the 23 February RootsWeb Review) painfully reminded me of a current situation in my family. A first cousin of my mother's had the family photo album. The album itself was purchased in 1910 and brought together photos from two families -- my great-grandfather's family and his wife, my great- grandmother's family. The photos were all professionally done and some went as far back as the 1860s with the more recent ones from the 1930s. There were pictures of my ancestors who were born in the late 1700s. The large album had close to 100 photos of the extended family at various stages in their lives including christening and wedding photos, multi-generational photos, family photos, single photos, etc. Some of the photos were too large for the album and were tucked between pages. The last time I saw the album was more than 20 years ago when I visited this cousin, but I have vivid memories of it. That cousin recently died. His daughter contacted me because she knew I had been working on the family history for years and felt a need to find out more about her roots. It was great to renew this friendship as we hadn't seen each other since we were children. I asked her if I could get copies of some of the old family photos to incorporated into the history before I sent it out. To my surprise, I learned that she did not have the photo album, but that her father's second wife had it and refused to give it to her. (I don't know if there was ever any "bad blood" between the daughter and the stepmother.) This broke my heart as the second wife has no relationship at all to the album, and in fact this second marriage was late in life for both of them so she had only been "in the family" for a few years and I don't know of any relatives other than the daughter who have met her. Any suggestions for getting this precious part of my history back into the family? 8. Humor/Humour: Goosey, Goosey, Gander ---------------------------------------- Thanks to: Suzie Henderson Who writes, "I wasn't looking for her, but I may have found her. Could this be the author of the famous book of nursery rhymes?" 1880 United States Census Census Place Ingraham, Mills, Iowa Family History Library Film 1254356 NA Film Number T9-0356 Page Number 327B Nick GOOS Self M M W 30 HOLSTEIN Farmer HOLSTEIN --- Hannah GOOS Wife M F W 29 HOLSTEIN HOLSTEIN --- Tellye W. GOOS Dau S F W 6 IA --- --- Fred GOOS Son S M W 4 IA --- --- Mutter GOOS Mother W F W 60 HOLSTEIN HOLSTEIN --- * * * 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. The announcement of books and products is provided as a community service and is not an endorsement in any way. 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. AdSales Worldwide: Shana Davis, creative@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: 16 March 2005, Vol. 8, No. 11. * * * *