RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine 12 October 2005, Vol. 8, No. 41 (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/ * * * RootsWeb HelpDesk http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ * * * =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. Editor's Desk: "Play Ball! Are There Athletes on Your Family Tree?" "Helping the HelpDesk" "Around and About: Genealogical and Historical Societies" 1b. Tips from Readers: "Sharing Our Collections" 1c. Using RootsWeb: "Exploring Cemeteries on a Stormy Night" 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb: "Looking for John" 3. New User-contributed Databases 4. New/Updated FreePages and HomePages 5. New at RootsWeb 6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: "Safeguarding Family Treasures" "Dropping and Adding H's" "Hearing Names" "Retrieving Data on Thermal Paper" "Crotchets with Online Communications" "Understanding Marital Issues" "Killing Causes" "Watch Out for Comets" "Avoid Cannibals" 7. Humor/Humour: "Secrets in a Diary" 8. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints =============================================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. NEWS, NOTES, AND SITES WORTH SEEING 1a. EDITOR'S DESK: PLAY BALL! Are There Athletes on Your Family Tree? America's baseball game is believed to have its roots in a British game called rounders or four-old-cat. "We Are the Champions!" offers a history of the sport in the U.S. and some early baseball pictures at the Library of Congress website: http://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/apr03/champions.html For more about baseball's roots, see: http://www.chaosmedia.com/Rounders/Rounders.html http://www.19cbaseball.com/fieldDiagrams.html Subscribers to Ancestry.com can access the Professional Baseball Players, 1876-2004, index to genealogical and biographical information about more than 15,000 professional baseball players. Many of those who played between 1887 and 1938 have images associated with them, showing either a photograph or a baseball card. http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=8666&ti=0 * * * HELPING THE HELP DESK Thank you for your patience during recent technical problems. Always check the announcements in the yellow box at the HelpDesk before asking for assistance. http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ For best results, when contacting the RootsWeb HelpDesk, provide information about your computer (PC or Macintosh), its operating system (such as Windows 2000, XP, Mac OSX, Linux or Unix) and your Web browser and its version (such as Internet Explorer [IE6], Netscape 8, Mosaic, Opera, Mozilla, Firefox, or Safari). http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/form1.html * * * AROUND AND ABOUT: GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORIAL SOCIETIES --California Society Promotes Local Genealogy Interest The Solano County (California) Genealogical Society formed in 1981 to promote local interest and research in genealogy and history. The 165- member society has since catalogued and indexed 4,000 print items and 150 reels of microfilm. The society runs a public library on the top floor of Vacaville's nearly century-old Town Hall. The library's collection emphasizes Solano County, but has more than 4,000 books from all over the United States and the world. http://www.rootsweb.com/~cascgsi/ --New York: Rochester City Directories Online The Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County (New York) announces the availability of its early city directories online. Currently all directories through the 1850s are online; later 19th century books are in the final stages of being prepared; and the entire collection of directories up to 1930 has been digitized and is in process. They are printable and downloadable PDF files. http://www.libraryweb.org/rochcitydir/citydirectories.html --American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) This international organization collects, preserves, and disseminates information related to the history, cultural heritage, and genealogy of Germanic settlers in the Russian Empire and their descendants. http://www.ahsgr.org/ * * * 1b. TIPS FROM READERS Sharing Our Collections By Richard Elmer Johnson I keep a good file of my research and then I keep an UNIDENTIFIED file of the names of people that I'm not quite sure of. While looking through some church records for example, I have compiled entire families of unrelated people with names that are in the lines I am looking for. There are also family members in here, but I am not sure how they fit into what family group (mostly children) as I am not sure which parents they belong to. A lot of times children are buried in an uncle's plot, as I have found many of these. Sending these unidentified files to the various mailings and message boards will help fellow researchers perhaps to connect to these families. I never throw away any information I collect just for this fact of helping someone else. * * * 1c. USING ROOTSWEB: Exploring Cemeteries on a Stormy Night [Editor's note: The names are fictitious, but research tips and resources are real.] It was the proverbial dark and stormy night with a cold autumn wind howling. Gnarled old tree branches tapped against windowpanes and cast eerie shadows that sent a shudder through the creaky Victorian-era house. Thunder roared in the distance producing an atmosphere reminiscent of every scary movie that has ever brought a scream to your throat. It was on such a night that Fiona FOGG decided the time was perfect for doing a little cemetery research for her family history project. Sounds strange doing cemetery research on a spooky stormy autumn evening? Not at all, when you consider that Fiona isn't about to don galoshes and rain slicker, carry a wooden stake (in the event vampires might be lurking) while clutching a flashlight in her one free hand and go prowling in cemeteries for the family information she craves. Instead Fiona -- in her warm fleece sweatsuit and comfy slippers, with a cup of steaming hot spiced cider at her side and a warm fire glowing in the fireplace -- is going to sit down at her computer. She is going to travel among the various cemetery databases and websites looking for her information with only her pumpkin patch screensaver as a reminder that this is the season of ghosts and goblins. Fiona begins her virtual journey by searching the cemetery databases located in RootsWeb's User-contributed Database program at http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ She soon learns that she can search the RootsWeb cemetery database using surname only or she is able to narrow down her search by looking for a surname and given name. She can also add location to her search criteria by selecting a state or county from the drop-down menu on the search form. At least one item--surname, first name, or location must be selected for the search. The only search not permitted is first-name only searches. Fiona learns she can search for her grandaunt's cemetery listing even though she doesn't know her married name. She only knows she was named for this grandaunt, Fiona, but that is all. She knows her paternal great-grandparents emigrated from England and settled in Genesee County, New York, USA, and that Fiona is most likely buried there. Searching on the first name Fiona (an uncommon given name in America) with the location specified as Genesee County, New York she is able to find her Fiona, married name BATZ, and to verify that she has the correct person by also locating other family members in the same cemetery. One branch of Fiona's mother's family removed to Indiana and lived at various times in Parke, Fountain, and Warren counties. A search of the cemetery database for her mother's German GEIST family in Indiana turns up a few promising hits. Fiona's black sheep uncle had moved to Kenai, Alaska and she is even able to locate his tombstone listing in the Kenai City Cemetery. What luck! Of course, since the RootsWeb user-contributed databases only include whatever data has been submitted by volunteers you may not find everyone (or even anyone) you are looking for, but it is a good place to start. When Fiona exhausted the information found in the User Databases, she decided to visit the main RootsWeb page and check out the various volunteer projects. She examines the cemetery photos database at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemphoto/Cemetery_Photos.html Next, Fiona turns her attention to the USGenWeb project at http://www.usgenweb.org/ and checks state and county pages for the project to see what cemetery links might be found on each site. She also spies a link on the USGenWeb page to "Projects" and reads about the Tombstone Project: http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/ Having gathered a bit more information from the above sites as well as investigating other links leading from USGenWeb county pages, Fiona turns to cemetery transcriptions housed in the USGenWeb Archives for her locations of interest. At this point, Fiona hears the clock striking midnight and realizes she is up way past her normal bedtime. As she prepares to shut down her computer for the night, she casts a glance outside and notices that the storm has passed and the full moon is now casting its light on the previously gloomy landscape beyond the window. Fiona smiles and sips the last of her now tepid cider and contemplates just how much light she has been able to shed on previously unknown family information in this one evening of research with her virtual cemetery tour. She has spanned countless miles, didn't spend a penny on gas and she didn't even get her feet wet -- or encounter any things that go bump in the night. 2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for John By Robyn Dowd in California, USA I subscribe to ancestry.com and was trying to find John KEGLEY on the 1920 U.S. Census, but somehow he just wasn't there. I knew that he was either in Iowa or Nebraska, but in the past census records, KEGLEY had been spelled differently. I was at my wit's end trying different spellings when I just thought, "What the heck -- I'm going to search on 'John.'" I know. What was I thinking? Well, by using the advanced search with only the name "John" and putting in his birth state and his parents' birth states, there he was! I won't tell on the census taker for the surname's spelling that he came up with. * * * Scenes in a Cemetery By Janet Pierson Evertsen In mid-September, my daughter, daughter-in-law, and Makayla, my 19- month-old granddaughter, made the trip with me from Michigan to Illinois. I was asked by the Crystal Lake (Illinois) Historical Society to portray my father's mother -- Emma SIMONSON PIERSON -- in its fourth "Cemetery Walk." Emma emigrated from Sweden in 1887 at age 17; she died in 1924 -- 20 years before I was born. As we set up my vignette, Makayla stayed close by, carrying "dankey" (her soft, pink blanket). She ignored the headstones of my grandfather Andrew and his sister Sigrid. But I was so touched to see her carefully arrange "dankey" in front of my great-grandmother Bengta's headstone and lean back against the stone. I assured my daughter that Bengta would love it; she spoiled my father to death and he never stopped telling stories about her. Makayla then moved to Emma's grave. I got chills when I turned around and saw that she had once again carefully arranged "dankey" and laid down right on top of Emma's grave, curled up with "dankey" -- eyes closed. Emma didn't live to see any of her grandchildren, but my parents' firstborn, a stillborn son, is buried in his great-grandmother Emma's grave. Now Makayla, Emma's great-great-granddaughter, was resting there too. There are so many stories about our ancestors helping us find them in unexplainable ways. This time our world connected itself to the past for all to see. ======================== Advertisements ============================ FINDING YOUR IRISH ANCESTORS: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE, by David Ouimette, 192 pages, 8 1/2" x 11," softbound, $14.95. "Finding Your Irish Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide" will help you trace your Irish roots back to the Emerald Isle and find the many Irish family history records that have become available in recent years, including birth, marriage, and death records, church records, census records, and land records. Explore the best family history sources in Ireland and discover the best online and offline resources for searching Irish heritage. http://shops.ancestry.com/product.asp?productid=4252&shopid=0 GRANDMA'S MEMORY BOOK Your life is full of rich stories waiting to be told and "Grandma's Memory Book" is a way to help you share those treasured memories with the ones you love. The book is a series of questions that prompt you to share the information essential for your children and grandchildren to know more about their heritage. The questions are arranged in chronological order from childhood and adolescence to marriage and retirement. You'll also find pages to list your parents' and grand- parents' names so your grandchildren will know even more about who they are and where they came from. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=20529&key=P3820 WHO ARE YOUR ANCESTORS? Ancestry.com--the No. 1 source for family tree discovery online--puts nearly 2 billion names at your fingertips and provides you access to the most comprehensive online family history resources available. Start your free two-week trial today! http://www.ancestry.com/s20529/t5121/rd.ashx ====================== End Advertisements ============================== 3. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/ ---------------------------------------------- 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. ALASKA. Kenai Peninsula Borough. Homer. Hickerson Memorial Cemetery; 410 records. Kasilof. Kasilof Small Boat Harbor Cemetery; 6 records. Kenai. Heavenly Meadows (Doyle) Cemetery; 7 records. Seldovia. Hillside Cemetery; 14 records. Seward. Jesse Lee Home Cemetery; 23 records. Totem Tracers Genealogical Society http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/ NEW YORK. Genesee County. Batavia. Batavia "Daily News," 1936-1937; 8,347 records; Leilani Spring, volunteer of the Genesee County Historian. http://userdb.rootsweb.com/news/ 4. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages -------------------------------------- Can your cousins find your website at RootsWeb? Has it ever been mentioned here or do you have a new, updated, or substantially revised website at RootsWeb (it will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL)? Send the URL (its Web address), along with a brief description, including the major pertinent surnames and what is available on your site, to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com CHRISTMAN, CLARKE, CLEVELAND, DAVIDSON, DAVIES, DEIBEL, HATCH, HICKMAN, HOLTON, HOOPER, HOWARD, HUMPHREY, ISENMINGER, McCONOUGHEY, MONTGOMERY, MEISTER, PEARSON, PLUMMER, PORTER, RAKESTRAW, REES, SELLEN, SHRAKE, SKEEN, SMITH, STAGGERS/STIGER, STALEY, TOMLINSON, TRITTON, VON FOSSEN, WINDERS, BAKER, BECKER, GRAEF, GRAFF, JOHNS, JOHANNES, ADDIS, BAKER, BARNHART, BUFFINGTON, COLLINS, DeHART, JORDAN, LIVINGSTON, MOSSMAN, PERRY, WHYDE, WILSON, and YOHO. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~billjohns/ DREWIS, DRAVIS, DREWES, DEGELAU, MUELLER, MILLER, MÜLLER, STROEMER, STRÖMER, KUHRT, POOCK, MOEHLING, MÖHLING, HAGEN (USA: Iowa, Michigan, Cook County, Illinois; Germany and Canada). SCHULZ, DIEKMANN, DIECKMANN, SCHUCHHARDT, SIGLIN, ROHLFS (USA: Iowa, Nebraska; Germany). PAPACH, HENDRICKSON, JACOBSON, HENSON (Czechoslovakia, Norway, USA: Iowa). PALMETTO, FLLEOPARD (USA: Wisconsin, Iowa; Canada, England, and France). ABELARDO, MEDINA, GARRIDO (Philippines, Guam, Samoa; USA: Florida, California). http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~drewis/ OHIO. Licking County-area genealogy, connections, and links. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~billjohns/LCOC/LCOC1.htm 5. New 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] TURKEY turmersi -- Mersin U.S.A. akjunbor -- Juneau Borough (Alaska) copgs -- Parker Genealogical Society (Douglas County, Colorado) mahhs -- Hanson Historical Society (Plymouth County, Massachusetts) micshs -- Cedar Springs Historical Society (Kent County, Michigan) mnlmcdar -- Lake Minnetonka (Minnesota) Chapter DAR mnscrvcdar -- Saint Croix River Valley (Minnesota) Chapter DAR mojchs -- Jefferson County Historical Society (Missouri) ncccc -- Currituck County Cemeteries (North Carolina) nhcoos -- Coos County (New Hampshire) njhunte2 -- Hunterdon County (New Jersey) okokhs -- Oklahoma Historical Society (Oklahoma) vafauqu2 -- Fauquier County Cemeteries (Virginia) vanswfd -- National Society of Washington Family Descendants (Virginia) DAR--Daughters of the American Revolution 6. 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Safeguarding Family Treasures By Lila Rose So often, too often, I read following catastrophes that people have lost some of their most treasured possessions -- their family histories and especially photographs. There is such a simple solution to this problem. For the price of a few family outings to the pizza parlor, all these treasures can be saved and kept safe. I rent a large safe-deposit box at my local bank. I have a large box because I want to keep safe several rare books and the cost is $100 per year for this box. Besides the books included are my university diplomas, all my photo negatives, many CDs, which back up all of my genealogy correspondence, and all photos that no longer have negatives. One doesn't even need a scanner to backup old photographs. You can now get "photocopies" of any picture or document at Wal-Mart, etc. Our local superstore has a machine that for less than a quarter for each copy will reproduce anything you want to save, and you can even edit it, enlarge or reduce it and perform many other "fixes" to suit your needs. There are, of course, other places that offer this service. I am happy with the quality of these photo reproductions; they are not like photocopies but look exactly like your picture or document. I put a lot of other treasures inside my $100-a-year safe-deposit box. If I want to save more money, I can spend $50 or even less for a smaller box, which will still hold a lot of stuff. I can't think of too many other places where items can be as well protected for the price. * * * Dropping and Adding H's By John Parfitt in Bristol, England Doesn't sound like Cockney to me. The reference you quote (Wikipedia) confirms my observation that dropping an "h" is more characteristic of Cockney speech than putting in an intrusive one. The old music-hall song "I'm 'enery the Eighth I am" is always sung in what is intended to be a Cockney accent. For those unfamiliar with it, it goes on: 'enery the Eighth I am I am, I got married to the widder next door She'd been married seven times before, Every one was an 'enery Never had a Willie or a John... ... and here my 74-year-old memory stops. [Editor's note: A Web search turns up the rest:] I'm Henery the Eighth, I am! Henery the Eighth I am! I am! I got married to the widow next door, She'd been married seven times before. Every one was a Henery She wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam I'm her eighth old man named Henery Henery the Eighth I am. The 1910 song lyrics by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston can be found at: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/I'm_Henery_the_Eighth,_I_Am * * * Hearing Names By Jan Nelson in Yuma, Arizona, USA In the 1870 U.S. federal census for Yreka, Siskiyou County, California is the PYLE family who had listed at the bottom of their family a single name: Chenley, 25, M C, cook, birth place China Once again an intrepid census taker wrote what he heard -- Chenley -- instead of Lee, Chen, who held the position of cook in that household. * * * Retrieving Data on Thermal Paper By Alice Syman in Saint Augustine, Florida, USA I have some old files containing faxes on that old fax [thermal] paper that eventually fades. I heard that there was some type of light that would restore them, but couldn't find out the name and probably couldn't have afforded it anyway. I wondered, what is it that restores them -- light or heat or a combination of both and possibly with something else. I turned on a burner on my gas stove and began running the paper, print side down, back and forth over the flame. When I saw a strip of paper turning dark I looked and eureka! I could read almost every word of the print, typed and handwritten. A miracle. I was able to send an adopted person information about his adoption that he had lost long ago. This has to be done slowly and carefully and the flame shouldn't be too high because one can get a nasty burn. I placed the restored copies in clear sheets. How long they will be legible, I don't know. But they'll last at least until one can transcribe the information from them. I sent this bit of info to many other researchers. To date none have said they knew about it already. I would be interested to know from your readers if I was just way behind the times on this valuable (to me) secret. * * * Crotchets with Online Communications By Ed Maul 1. Redundant e-mail -- a thank-you to the entire [mailing] list and not to the person. 2. Using all small letters instead of proper English -- just lazy and sloppy. 3. Subject of no use as to what is in the message, Bah! 4. Writing too much instead of carefully crafting your message to get a response. Think of the audience -- you have the blink of an eye for someone to read your verbiage. Delete is very quick. 5. Don't send two questions in one message -- send separately for a response. * * * Understanding Marital Issues By Jacqueline Davis in San Antonio, Texas, USA Concerning the family legend of American Indian ancestry, a problem is marriage laws. In many places in the U.S., at many times, it was against the law for people of different "races" to marry. Therefore, consider the census taker visiting your ancestors in the outback of Alabama, Georgia, or the Carolinas, and the husband said, "Yes, my wife is White." Would you be the one to say, "No, your wife is Indian" and imply that they weren't legally married and that all those nice, strapping young men helping on the farm were bastards? This holds true for any marriage combination -- White, Black, Mulatto or Indian. Best way to handle it -- the wife becomes the same "race" as her husband. * * * Killing Causes By Charlotte Broun In response to Steven Weyand Folkers "Paralysis of the Heart" (last week's RootsWeb Review) I have the following from a death certificate Honoria Francis Kelly -- died 20 July 1899 in Bundarra, NSW, Australia, aged 51 years. Cause of Death: "Strangulation of the lungs." Yes -- that'd kill you. * * * Watch Out for Comets By Carol Becker Witze in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA While researching my BECKER family ancestors in the Browning Genealogy, Evansville, Indiana Area Obituary Search, (http://browning.evcpl.lib.in.us/) I came upon the following: Becker, Fred E., age 60, died 5/18/10. Fell dead while gazing at Halley's comet; too much for his heart. * * * Avoid Cannibals By Molly Ford in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA While helping a sister-in-law, who had no family history experience, search through cemetery records, we came upon the death record of one of her ancestors. The information said that he had died of consumption. My sister-in-law fell back in her chair, her mouth fell open and she unbelievably ask, "You mean, someone ate him?" 7. Humor/Humour: Secrets in a Diary ----------------------------------- Thanks to: Peri Muhich of Camas, Washington, USA Ralph A. Wadsworth was a licensed embalmer for undertaker Holman and Pace, of Oregon City, Oregon. I recently came across a small diary he kept of work performed for them between October 1926 and April 1928. Near the back of the book he had written the following: Laura (this was Ralph's wife's name) 5 1/2 or 6 shoe Brassiere 34 Dress 16 Hat 23 Laura's birthday July 11 We can hope that he recorded this information in his diary so that he would have it handy for purchasing gifts for his wife -- not for any need that might be related to his profession. * * * Found a humorous sign or entry in census, parish, church, etc. records? Send to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com 8. 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/ If you use a spam-filtering program, in order to receive the RootsWeb Review please make sure that you're allowing e-mail from: newsletter@reply.myfamilyinc.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. Ad Sales 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: 12 October 2005, Vol. 8, No. 41. * * * *