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RootsWeb Review, Vol. 2, No. 39

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Julie Case

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Sep 29, 1999, 3:00:00 AM9/29/99

ROOTSWEB REVIEW: RootsWeb's Genealogy News
Vol. 2, No. 39, 29 September 1999, Circulation: 361,643+
(c) 1999 RootsWeb.com, Inc. <http://www.rootsweb.com/>
RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798

Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
<RWR-E...@rootsweb.com>

RootsWeb HelpDesk: <http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/>

DONATIONS HELP ROOTSWEB HELP YOU AND ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
For details about support levels, benefits, and payment
options (check or credit card), e-mail <in...@rootsweb.com> or
visit <http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html>.
Mailing address: RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier
Park, CA 93222-6798. (Please write your e-mail address on all
correspondence and checks.)

* * * * *

CONTENTS. News and Notes at RootsWeb (RootsWeb Home Pages
Load Faster; RootsWeb in the News; SSDI Post-Ems; RootsWeb's
Guide to Tracing Family Trees; New Communities Mailing Lists
and Web Pages); Connecting through RootsWeb; Mailing Lists;
Web Pages; GenConnect; USGenWeb Archives Project; Letters to
the Editors; Humor; Reprint Policy; How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

* * * * *

NEWS AND NOTES AT ROOTSWEB

LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE CEO

ROOTSWEB HOME PAGES LOAD FASTER. If you logged onto RootsWeb
this week, you may have noticed that RootsWeb pages are loading
significantly faster. The reason for this speed increase is that
we have replaced our old World Wide Web server with a new
machine that is three to six times faster. For those of you
interested in the technical details, this new World Wide Web
server is a dual Pentium III-500 megahertz machine with one
gigabyte of fast error-correcting SDRAM memory, 28 gigabytes of
ultrawide system disks, and user storage on 144 GB of ultrawide
LVD SCSI disks configured on dual SCSI busses in a RAID-5 array.
It can handle more than 30 Web hits per second without even
measuring a significant load, and we expect it can handle more
than 100 hits per second. This new server is yet another example
of your contributions at work. If you want to help us upgrade
more of RootsWeb's infrastructure, please contribute at
<http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html> .

* * *

ROOTSWEB IN THE NEWS. The RootsWeb Surname List (RSL)
<http://rsl.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/rslsql.cgi> is the subject of
an article by Carl Kirton that appears in the "Features"
section of the 27 September 1999 issue of NET4TV VOICE at
<http://www.net4tv.com/voice/story.cfm?StoryID=1492>.
By the same author, "So I Married My Cousin" deals with
calculating relationships and appears in the same issue at
<http://www.net4tv.com/voice/story.cfm?StoryID=1460>.

The cover story of the 20 September 1999 issue of MACLEAN'S:
CANADA'S WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE, pp. 42-49, is "The Search for
Roots," by John Nicol and Mark Nichols. RootsWeb is among the
genealogy sites mentioned in the section "Building a Family
Tree." Maclean's Web site at <http://www.macleans.ca/> provides
access to news, stories, and profiles of the current issue and
parts of previous issues. Its subscribers have access to a
searchable archives of issues from the last six months.

* * *

SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (SSDI). Use POST-EMs to attach a
message to any of the more than 61 million records in the SSDI
at RootsWeb. You might leave a note so other researchers can
find you, provide background information on an individual, or
note a correction to a record. POST-EMs were developed by
RootsWeb's own Randy Winch and are a RootsWeb exclusive.
<http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi>

* * *

ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES. For an interactive
orientation to genealogical research with links to resources at
RootsWeb and elsewhere on the Internet, visit RootsWeb's Guide
to Tracing Family Trees at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/>.

* * *

NEW COMMUNITIES MAILING LISTS. New communities mailing lists are
listed at <http://communities.rootsweb.com/> as soon as they
are established. You can subscribe to a list at that page.
To learn which new communities lists are up for adoption, visit:
<http://communities.rootsweb.com/adopt.html>.

Arts Community PASTELS
Crafts Community STAMPING
Cultures Community GERMAN-FOOD
Dance Community SQUARE-DANCE
Folklore Community VAMPIRES
Health Community MEMORY-LOSS, STOP-SMOKING
History Community AFRICAN-HISTORY, MEXICAN-HISTORY
Hobbies Community JUGGLING
Sports Community ROLLERJAM
Theatre Community COMMUNITY-THEATRE

NEW COMMUNITIES WEB PAGES
Arts Community
<http://arts.rootsweb.com/~painting/>
Collecting Community
<http://www.collecting.rootsweb.com/~beanbag-toys/>
<http://www.collecting.rootsweb.com/~teddy-bears/>
Crafts Community
<http://www.crafts.rootsweb.com/~baskets/>
<http://www.crafts.rootsweb.com/~quilting/>
Dance Community <http://www.dance.rootsweb.com/>
Family Community <http://www.family.rootsweb.com/>

* ADVERTISEMENT *

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filing cabinet especially designed for genealogical records.
This single CD provides you with a convenient method to organize
most all the things you could not organize by ordinary programs.
File and later associate or analyze census records, directories,
photos, and documents of all types. Easily create and maintain
databases. Edit, archive, and import. Special price is $35.95.
As usual, when you buy from <http://www.familystorehouse.com>,
RootsWeb receives a 10% donation. Order on the secure site at
<http://www.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/fshstore/> or call
1-800-725-5013.

* * * * *

CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories.

Thank you for updating your Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
search <http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi>.
When I saw the notice that those pages had been updated, I
entered my great-grandfather BOYER's Social Security Number.
I then printed the request to the Social Security Administration
for a photocopy of his application and included my $7 check.

Less than a month later, I received the photocopy. It confirmed
his birth place and gave his father's name and mother's full
maiden name. In addition, The Association of American BOYERS
<http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Oaks/1341/> provided me with
a printout of possible BOYERS that could be connected. There is
now much more research and confirmation to be done. I am proud to
become a sponsor of RootsWeb. Thanks again!
Tim Boyer, Springfield, Virginia <TBo...@icfconsulting.com>
<http://members.fcac.org/~twinkee/Index.htm>

* * *

I am the county coordinator for the Dutchess County, NYGenWeb
pages. The following story was recently sent to me by Virginia
Buechele, a volunteer and frequent contributor to the pages.

Lynn Brandvold <ly...@gis.nmt.edu>
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~nydutche/>

A dear friend's mother was a WOLVEN. I recently noticed and
printed some WOLVEN obituaries posted to the Dutchess County,
New York GenWeb Obits board by Jeanne Garde and gave them to my
friend. I also contacted Jeanne and she referred me to Beth and
Bob VRBKA for further information. The VRBKAs sent me a 238-page
document by e-mail attachment, that I downloaded and printed. It
was loaded with documentation and interesting tidbits and
insight into many of the individuals included. I can only
imagine the amount of time that went into that effort and will
be forever grateful to them for their willingness to share it.
This information took the WOLVEN line back to the late 1600s in
Germany. My friend was absolutely thrilled. Today my friend and
I went to Saugerties, New York and found the house her 3rd-great-
grandfather built in 1816 which still stands and is well taken
care of. My friend, age 70, and her mother, who is now 89, had
passed this house several times all throughout their lives, not
knowing it had belonged to one of their ancestors. I was quite
thrilled myself to be able to help my friend make this new
discovery which was referenced in the information given me
through the connection I made that was given me by Jeanne, who
posted the WOLVEN obituaries [to the GenConnect Obits board
maintaiined by the Dutchess County NYGenWeb coordinator].
Virgina Buechele <ginny...@worldnet.att.net>

* * *

Like many family historians, I try to collect as much material
as possible about my family. I was fortunate in that my
grandmother is still living but like many older relatives she
often doesn't remember the details that I am interested in. I
knew that in her younger years she had traveled to Europe and
Germany and visited her father's cousins who still lived there.
Of course, she didn't remember their names now 60 years later
nor did she know how they were related. During one of my visits
with her my uncle was present and said, "You know we have home
movies of that trip to Germany." My heart jumped at the thought
of being able to see movies of family from Germany in the 1930s.
After much delay, I finally received the 16 mm movies and
located a projector to play them on. I transferred them to
videotape myself, added period music, and eventually showed them
to my grandmother. By then she was 91 years old with failing
eyesight and hearing. She enjoyed watching the movies but the
images did not evoke any memories of the people she had visited
as I had hoped.

The turning point came when I noticed one scene in the movies
where the cameraman (presumably my grandfather) focused on a
building in the Bavarian town of Sulzbach. There was a sign
above the door of this building with a name on it. I took the
original film and had the frame enlarged to see that the sign
read "Georg Forster, Elektrotechnisches Installation Gesch,ft."
Roughly translated this means Georg Forster, Electrical
Installation Shop. I knew that the name Forster was in my
family and that they came from Sulzbach. I wondered if there
was any way to contact them today. I found out about an Internet
telephone book on one of the mailing lists that I subscribe to
and located a book for Germany. I searched for the name Forster
in the town of Sulzbach and found a listing for "Georg Forster,
Beruf: Elektro-Mstr.,Branche: Elektroninstallationen." My heart
jumped again because the similarities between this current
listing and the 1931 movie frame were too close for coincidence.

The next day I had a letter in the mail to the address listed
and within three weeks I received a response confirming that
Georg Forster was indeed a relative. Actually, Georg was no
longer alive and the firm had been taken over by his grandson.
His wife was very interested in establishing contact and his
cousin sent me a group photograph taken the same day as the old
movie. All of the German family were labeled and the date of
the photograph was June 14, 1931. An uncle, the last surviving
person in the photograph, says he remembers the day it was taken
when "family visited from America." After a few letters and
exchanges of more photographs we now use e-mail to stay in touch
on a regular basis. Of course, re-establishing contact would
have been possible without the Internet but it sure made the
search a whole lot easier.
John H. Hallman <JOHNHH...@prodigy.net>

* * *

In March 1999 I did not know the name of my great-great-
grandfather, who was a Sergeant in the Civil War. His children
had been placed in the Randolph, New York Children's home. All
family records had been lost. One query posted to a county
GenConnect board gave me not only his name but also a copy of
a letter he had written to his brother from a hospital in
Virginia near the Manassas battlefield. Using RootsWeb and many
contacts with cousins later, in September 1999 the Captain from
Forestville, New York and the local historian, Millie, actually
searched for his grave in Mayville, New York. The Captain sent
me photos from his digital camera that are now posted on my
family history Web site. You see, my great-great-grandfather,
William ORCUTT, was also Lucille Ball's great-grandfather. His
children placed in the children's home near Jamestown had run
away one night. My great-grandfather Fred ORCUTT had taken his
twin sister Flora Belle, Henry, Edward, and Carrie with him
that night and started a new life. Flora Belle married a HUNT
and had a child named Desiree, who married Henry BALL. Lucile
was the child of this union. My father and his brothers grew up
with their cousin Lucy and we already had all our information
from Fred Orcutt to the present, but this site enabled us to go
back to 1612 and the William Orcutt who came to America after
his brother was imprisoned in the Tower of London for supporting
King Charles. Thank you so much! This would not have been
possible without the contacts I have made at RootsWeb.
Penelope Lee Orcutt-HIll <jg...@webtv.net>

* * * * *

MAILING LISTS. For an index to most user mailing lists hosted by
RootsWeb, visit <http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist/>.

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE WEB ACCESS but would like to know if a
RootsWeb-hosted mailing list exists for a particular surname,
send a SUBSCRIBE request in accordance with the instructions
below, filling in the desired surname where the example shows
[name of list]. If the list exists, you will receive confirmation
that your address has been added to the list. If the list does
not exist, your message will bounce back to you with a message
advising there is no such address. Try alternate spellings.

NEW MAILING LIST REQUESTS. USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb hosts may
have FREE locality mailing lists for the areas they host and for
that purpose may ignore the "Contributors only" warning on the
list request page. Please request new mailing lists at:
<http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/members/listrequest.html>

TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from any RootsWeb-hosted mailing
list, send an e-mail message with only the word SUBSCRIBE
(or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the subject and the body of the message to
[name of list]-L-re...@rootsweb.com (for mail mode) or to
[name of list]-D-re...@rootsweb.com (for digest mode). FOR
EXAMPLE, if you are researching the surname CRAZY, send a
SUBSCRIBE message to: <CRAZY-SURNA...@rootsweb.com>.

NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS
ALDY
ALWINE (includes ALLWEIN, ALLWINE, ALWIN, and variants)
CRAZY-SURNAME
DRAGONETTE
HUBLEY
IACOVELLI
KEMPTHORNE (includes KEMPTHORN)
PANTOZZI
PRECIADO

* * * * *

NEW WEB ACCOUNT REQUESTS. Please see the instructions at
<http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi>.

NEW WEB SITES. Some of these might not yet be accessible. If one
that interests you isn't up yet, please check again in a few days
or a week. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~[account name]>. Note that
the ~[tilde] before the account name is required. FOR EXAMPLE, to
visit the Okinawa, Japan Web page, go to
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~jpnokina/>.

CANADA
nbstjohn -- Saint John County, New Brunswick
JAPAN
jpnokina -- Okinawa
U.S.A.
counknow -- Unknown County, Colorado
flmadiso -- Madison County, Florida
illscgr -- LaSalle County Genealogical Records (Illinois)
mosmd -- Society of Mayflower Descendant-Missouri
nconhgs -- Old New Hanover Genealogical Soc. (North Carolina)
tnwayne -- Wayne County, Tennessee
usphoto -- Unknown Photos Project

* * * * *

GENCONNECT. RootsWeb hosts more than 60,000 surname GenConnect
boards that are in need of people to maintain them. Visit:
o For a complete list of adoptable GenConnect surname boards
<http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/surnames/adoptable/>
o For the form to request to adopt a GenConnect surname board
(the same form is used for surname mailing list requests)
<http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/sponsors.html>

* * * * *

USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- CENSUS IMAGES ONLINE

USGENWEB ARCHIVES -- OTHER SUBMISSIONS (N.B. Some 2-line URLs)

COLORADO. "Cheyenne County History" index to Family Histories
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/co/cheyenne/history/
famhist.txt>
COLORADO. City/County of Denver, 1937 Skinner Jr. High Graduates
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/co/denver/schools/dps/
skin1937.txt>
ILLINOIS. Crawford County 1820 Federal Census Transcription
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/il/crawford/census/1820/
1820fed.txt>
KENTUCKY. 1870 Lawrence County Census
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/lawrence/census/1870/>
KENTUCKY. 1880 Lawrence County Census
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/lawrence/census/1880/>
KENTUCKY. Lawrence County Births 1852-1860, 1874-1878, 1902-1907
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/lawrence/vitals/births/>
KENTUCKY. Lawrence County Deaths 1852-1860, 1874-1878, 1902-1907
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/lawrence/vitals/deaths/>
KENTUCKY FOOTSTEPS MAILING LIST DIGESTS
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/ky-footsteps/1999d/>
NORTH DAKOTA. 1900 Foster County Census
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nd/foster/cen1900.html>
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/nd/foster/census/1900/>
NORTH DAKOTA. Stark County Marriage book transcriptions
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/nd/stark/marriage/>
OHIO. Hocking County. Haynes Cemetery revised and additions
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/hocking/cemeteries/
haynes.txt>
OHIO. Hocking County. Karshner Cemetery
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/oh/hocking/cemeteries/
karshner.txt>
OKLAHOMA. Applications to the Dawes Commission for membership in
the Cherokee Nation
<ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ok/nations/cherokee/court/
dawes/>

* * * * *

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS may be posted to the GenConnect board at
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/RWR-LettersToTheEditor
or sent to RWR-E...@rootsweb.com.

When I wrote, my thoughts were along the lines of thanking
you and people like you who work so hard to keep RootsWeb and
the like wonderful tools for the extension of search for
information [RWR 2:38]. . . My mail is overflowing with letters
of "thanks," "a story," "request for help," and some wanting to
help me further my own search. . . Now I face another situation.
How to answer the hundreds of letters prompted by the article?
This I will attempt to do, but would you be so kind as to
publish this letter of heartfelt thanks? I am in tears at the
stories, and that my letter would have such an effect on so many
people. God works in mysterious ways, and people respond.
P.J. Mathon <Secu...@aol.com>

* * *

For the most part I agree with the comments made by Dean DeBolt
in his "Genealogical Treasures -- A Commentary" [RWR 2:38]. As
an archivist, librarian, and historian, I certainly encourage
anyone to try and preserve and make accessible scrapbooks, photo
albums, individual photographs, diaries, etc. that they find in
flea markets, antique, or junk stores. I do not, however,
necessarily agree that your first criterion for choosing a
repository should be its ability to fully catalogue that item on
an online service such as OCLC or RLIN.

I work in a small museum library and archives. Our first
priority is the collection of materials related to our mission,
the preservation of those materials and making those materials
as accessible to the public as is possible given our limited
resources. I would like nothing more than to be able to
catalogue our collections onto a service such as RLIN or OCLC
but it is financially impossible. Membership in these services
costs many thousands of dollars a year. Too often the
professional staff of large college, university or public
libraries and archives do not have a clue as to what it costs
their institutions to be a part of OCLC or RLIN -- it is a
service they have free access to but it is not a free service.

I encourage my patrons to consider donating their collections
to an institution that is dedicated to the subject matter of
the collection, somewhere the collection will be appreciated
and used and not just warehoused as yet another acquisition. If
I am interested in the history of or family from a certain
locale, I will be more likely to inquire at the local library or
historical society than the nearest institution that might have
an online catalogue.

At my institution our collections are catalogued, the archival
and photograph collections as well as the books. Anyone can
call, write or e-mail me to see what we might have in our
holdings. Eventually, our catalogue and finding guides will be
available on-line -- not through OCLC or RLIN -- but through our
Web page, but that will have to wait until needed funds are
available. Not everyone has the monetary resources that a
university does -- but that certainly does not mean we do not
give the same -- if not a higher -- level of care to the
preservation, conservation, and cataloguing for access to every
item that comes into our collections.

I find it a disturbing thought that someone might choose to
throw something away or resell it to an antiques dealer, simply
because using Mr. DeBolt as their guide, their local historical
society or library may not be online at this time and it is too
much of a bother to try and find another repository that fits
that criterion. Our first priority should be preservation of the
item(s) and the willingness of the repository to make that
item(s) as publicly accessible as is possible. It is also my
responsibility as an archivist and a librarian to direct
potential donors to the best repository for their collections.
That may be our institution, the local historical society or
library, another museum or even an institution in another state.

I join with Mr. DeBolt in encouraging people to continue to save
people's histories from the the oblivion of the garbage dump and
applaud those who make a concerted effort to return these items
to family members. I also join in encouraging people who fail to
find family members for these pieces to seriously consider
donating these items to institutions that can make good use of
them. But to make online cataloguing a key point deciding what
institution deserves these collections is I think, selling short
the dedication of those of us who work in non-OCLC or RLIN
institutions to the preservation of our history and the sharing
of that information with the public.

Christina Stopka <tr...@eramp.net>
Librarian/Archivist,Texas Ranger Research Center
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
P.O. Box 2570, Waco, TX 76702-2570
<http://www.texasranger.org/>

* * * * *

HUMOR. Thanks to Louis R. Mills <lanc...@ap.net>, Sebastopol,
California, U.S.A.; <http://users.ap.net/~lancelot/gen/>

SO MANY RELATIVES

True story: A woman at my local Family History Center told us
she had spent a great deal of time accumulating lists of all her
suspected relatives on an island off Alaska, all Innuit Indians.
They all had the same surname, UNK, and she asked the librarians
for help sorting out relationships. She was embarrassed, but had
a good laugh, when one of the librarians pointed out that UNK
meant "unknown."

* * * * *

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:
Written by <author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if
given>. Previously published by RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb
Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 2, No. 39, 29 September
1999. RootsWeb: <http://www.rootsweb.com/>

BACK ISSUES OF ROOTSWEB REVIEW may be read online or downloaded
from <ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/>.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE from ROOTSWEB REVIEW and MISSING
LINKS, send e-mail with only SUBSCRIBE (or UNSUBSCRIBE) in the
message area to: <Rootsweb-Rev...@rootsweb.com>.

____
Julia M. Case <Julie...@rootsweb.com>
Co-editor, RootsWeb Review
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~review/>
Editor-at-Fault, Missing Links
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/>
Send e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in message body
to: rootsweb-re...@rootsweb.com
Co-author, RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing Family
Trees <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/>
RootsWeb.com, Inc.
P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798
<http://www.rootsweb.com/>

==============================
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