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RootsWeb Review, 15 October 2003, Vol. 6, No. 42
RootsWeb Review <RootsWeb-Review-L-request@rootsweb.com> on 10/16/2003
RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine
Vol. 6, No. 42, 15 October 2003, Circulation: 946,041+
(c) 1998-2003 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/

Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist
Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com Search and post messages on all relevant surname, locality, and topic
Message Boards and Mailing Lists: *     *     *
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Do not send any subscription requests or e-mail address
changes to the editor. Use these special e-mail addresses: *     *     *
If you need assistance please visit the HelpDesk: http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/
===============================================================
===============================================================
IN THIS ISSUE: Desk:
“About Dit Names”; 1d. Tips from Readers: “Organizing Genealogy
Files
on the Computer” Subscription Modification Instructions
===============================================================
1. NEWS AND NOTES
1a. Mailing Lists. One of our mailing lists servers (lists2) has been
offline
for maintenance. If you have not been receiving your RootsWeb mail that
is
most likely the reason. Hopefully this server will be up and running
smoothly
soon. The backlog of unprocessed mail will be distributed after it is
brought
back online. Thanks for your patience.

Check the HelpDesk for the latest announcements about this and other
technical matters. *     *     *
1b. SURNAME-SEARCHING POINTERS. Not all search engines are created
equally
due to the nature of the databases they are designed to search, but you
can
get the most out of RootsWeb’s mailing lists, message boards, and World-
Connect by understanding how each works and planning your surname
searches
accordingly.

A recent letter to the editor outlined some of the difficulties the
writer was encountering in searching various databases for the surname
St. John and all of its variations such as St John, StJohn, Saint John,
Saint-John, and Saint-Jean. The writer also mentioned that the surname
is a
French Canadian one that might also appear in the context of a "dit"
[also
called] name such as Guerin dit St. John.

Other multipart surnames such as De la Croix and surnames with prefix
variations such as Obrien, O'Brien, Obrian, and O’Brian as well as the
"Mac/Mc" names, such as McMurray, MacMurray, and Mac Murray, can be
equally
challenging when searching for them on a message board or in mailing
list
archives.

MAILING LISTS: To search RootsWeb’s mailing list archives, start here:
http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl

When searching these mailing lists, be aware that the search engine
considers everything -- periods, apostrophes, hyphens, and even spaces
-- as characters. So any variation in spelling in a posted message will
result in missing a message that might be of interest to you unless you
remember to search all variations.

You can do this by using the Boolean operator OR. For instance: StJohn
OR "Saint John" may be used as your search term to find either variation
of this name. Searching on the term "Saint John" (in quotes) assures
that you do not receive hits for each part of the name. The same holds
true
if you were searching for "de la Croix".

French Canadian dit names may be searched by showing the full phrase in
parentheses to match the full dit name, i.e. "Guerin dit Saint John" or
"Guerin dit St. John" or "Guerin dit St John" or "Guerin dit StJohn".
RootsWeb’s mailing list searches are never case sensitive.

MESSAGE BOARDS: To search RootsWeb's message boards, start here:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/

Make use of the advanced search features by clicking on the link on any
message board page. It is especially important, even though the message
boards have an every-word search, to search on the surname field where
multipart surnames are involved because an every-word search on a name
like Saint John will pick up every reference to Saint OR John as well as
Saint John; whereas, a "surname search" on saint john will pick up ONLY
the surname Saint John. Advanced searches on the surname field can also
pick up correctly entered French Canadian dit names by searching on:
guerin dit st. john, for example.

Doing a general message board search for de la croix will pick up in
descending order (order of relevancy) de la croix, la croix, de, la,
croix -- the parts of the multi-part surname that are shown separated by
spaces. This works, but usually not as successfully as searching on the
specific surname field using an advanced search.

Message board searches for surnames are case sensitive except for all
lower-case searches. Case doesn't matter when posting names -- only when
searching. To achieve the maximum number of hits, always use all lower-
case searches here.

WORLDCONNECT. To search for surnames in WorldConnect, start here:
http://wc.rootsweb.com/

In WorldConnect you have a choice of searching for exact matches, which
take everything into consideration in matching the surname -- including
punctuation and spaces -- or searching using Soundex or Metaphone
matches. These are explained in an earlier issue of RootsWeb Review: POSTING TIPS. When you are posting a query on a mailing list or message
board, or submitting a GEDCOM to WorldConnect, keep in mind the
difficulties other researchers might encounter in searching troublesome
names. It is best to type in these surnames showing all variations of
the spelling used by the ancestors you are researching. If you have
found the name spelled St. John, St.John, and Saint John, list the name
using all three spellings. Take into consideration that the use or non-
use of a space actually constitutes a variation in spelling.

If you are preparing a genealogy file for the submission of a GEDCOM to
WorldConnect, make use of whatever fields are offered in your genealogy
program for recording alternate spellings of the surname so that all of
these are recorded.

If you are posting to a message board make use of the surname box to
record multipart surnames and those with variations as follows using a
comma to separate each surname: Saint John, St. John, St.John, StJohn,
Saint-John, de la Cruz, O'Brien, Obrien, McMurray, MacMurray, Mac
Murray . It is most important that these multipart surnames be recorded
in the surname box and not just within the message body to enable
searchers to find them more easily.

FINDING LISTS AND BOARDS. If you are looking for a surname mailing list
or message board for a difficult surname keep in mind that mailing
lists for a Saint-something surname are usually named STJOHN, STLOUIS
(no spaces), although there are a few lists where the Saint names are
shown with a hyphen, such as the ST-LAURENT list. You can check the
mailing list index for all variations of a surname at: Once you have found a mailing list for your surname, its description
usually indicates the variations of the name covered such as: DELOACH --
DeLOACH surname and variations (e.g., DeLoache, DeLoatch, DeLoch,
D'Loatche), OCONNELL -- O'Connell surname and all variations (e.g.
O'Connell, Connell, Conel, Connelly, Connall, O'Conail), or MCCLEERY --
the McCleery surname and variations (e.g., Clery, Cleery, Cleary,
Claree, Clarey, Cleare, Clearey, Clary, McCleary, McClary, MacCleary,
MacCleery, O'Cleary, O'Cleery).

While it is usually easier to locate a message board using the FIND A
BOARD search box in the case of multipart surnames or those that include
punctuation, you may find it easier to navigate to them using the index
pages starting here:   http://boards.rootsweb.com/

Begin with the first letter of a surname, then the first two letters,
and finally the first three letters where you will find the list of all
boards that start with the three-letter combination. You will find names
listed alphabetically in the following manner: Obrian, O'Brian, Obriant,
Obrien, O'brien.

Names that begin with two letters and a space will be listed under the
first two letters rather than the first three, such as: St. John or St
Vincent. Punctuation such as a period is ignored and is not treated as a
letter. Message board names such as StJohn or StJean, which do not
include a space after the initial two letters, are indexed under the
first three letters of the name alphabetically. Stjean and Stjohn are
indexed under stj while St. and St (space) names are indexed under st
only. Same for: De La Croix and De la cruz, which are indexed under de
only. DeLaCroix and Delacruz are indexed under del. Message board names
that do not contain periods are indexed before those that do. This means
that St Vincent will appear before St. John (the first with no period
and the second with a period).

If you use the FIND A BOARD search box to locate a multipart or
punctuated surname boards remember that searches using this box are NOT
case sensitive. You may need to search for all variations of a surname
to find a specific board. The FIND A BOARD search box will return hits
for partial matches on multipart surnames where spaces are included in
the name.

These tips are provided to help you at RootsWeb. However, you may
encounter different surname-searching challenges on the Web and in other
databases. But, don't let a little thing like the difference between a
Mc, Mac, and a space come between you and finding your ancestors.

*     *     *
1b. ITEMS FROM THE EDITOR'S VIRTUAL DESK. About Dit Names
QUESTION. While reading last week's issue, one writer mentioned dit
names used by the French-Canadians with their surnames. I have found
several dit names in my own ancestry and it so confusing. What exactly
does it mean?

ANSWER. A dit name was the practice of adopting an alternative surname.
It was extremely common in Quebec. The term DIT is a form of the word
DIRE [to say] and can be loosely translated as "that is to say" or
"called."

Dit names sometimes followed the family through the generations, but
their use was sometimes inconsistent. Some families always used the dit
name in combination with the original surnames, while others used it
only occasionally. In many cases the dit name eventually replaced the
original surname completely.

Consult René Jetté's "Dictionnaire genealogique des familles du Québec”
and Msgr Cyprien Tanguay's "Dictionnaire genealogique des familles
canadiennes” (Volume 7) for lists connecting French-Canadian names with
their possible dit names and other variants. An excellent book for
French-Canadian researchers is "French-Canadian Sources: A Guide for
Genealogists." It was published last year by Ancestry.com *     *     *
1d. TIPS FROM READERS.
Organizing Genealogy Files on the Computer In addition to my genealogy software, I have a folder named GENEALOGY
set up in My Documents. Since My Documents opens up by default when I go
to save something, the GENEALOGY folder is easy to locate. Some of the
things that I save to my GENEALOGY folder are e-mail, data that I have
copied off of the Web, and census indexes and images.

Within my GENEALOGY folder, there are folders for every surname that I
research. Within a surname folder, I have subfolders that contain a
year's worth of my correspondence. In addition, if I receive a lot of
correspondence from one person, I have a subfolder with that person's
name on it. The subfolders keep me from having to browse myriad files
when I search for a particular file. Here is an example of my HOOPPELL
surname file: GENEALOGY/Hooppell/2001/2002/2003/Mabel correspondence.

2. Connecting Through RootsWeb. Thanks for sharing your stories.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pass the Roots, Please This is just a general discussion topic I want to toss out there -- do
you research with an end result in view (writing a family book, etc.)
and then plan to pack it all up? Or do you research your family with the
hope of passing it on someday to a next-generation researcher? Any idea
yet who that will be?

A year ago I was in a quandary. My wife had asked me, "When are you
going to write the book?" It bothered me. When indeed? I find I love the
hunt so much I'm not in that big a hurry to summarize any of my
research.

Oh, I dash off a report to a family member who calls, suddenly
interested for one reason or other, or to answer a query from a possible
cousin and my genealogy software program could generate a number of
family books on our lines, but her question bothered me. Am I frittering
away huge chunks of free time searching for long-gone family that will
ultimately end up in a big blue dumpster? Was genealogy nothing more
than another type of "ball card collecting" hobby?

Let's see, I have a Eugene Tracy, he had a heckuva season in 1876, got
elected mayor of Podunk, and he's a family all-star. I got his birth
card and his marriage card. All I need to complete the set is his
"Tombstone Topper."

Whatever your beliefs, I think there has to be a higher power that keeps
an eye out for these small crises of doubt, when one wonders if there is
any point to some of things held most dear. My answer came in a visit
from my granddaughter, Kirstie. She lives a few hours away. She's a
young
lady now; I realized that the moment she stepped out of her parents' car
for a two-week visit this summer. My gosh, another generation nearly
grown.

That night, after my daughter and son-in-law drove off for their respite
from "teen terror" I retreated to my genealogy room to get a bit of
research done. That is one nice thing about the kids growing up --
suddenly you have "specialty" rooms. Aimee's (Kirstie's mom) bedroom had
become my genealogy room and our dining room table had again become the
place we eat dinner without dodging chairs around piles of paper and
file boxes.

I was engrossed in a census search on Ancestry.com, cussing its stupid
indexing under my breath, when I realized Kirstie was standing behind
me. Figuring she wanted to play "Teenagers' Dungeon of Doom" or some
such thing, I offered her the computer. She sat down, but called me back
when I started to leave. "Show me how you do that."

When I realized she meant search Ancestry, I showed her how it worked
and she started searching for her grandparents on her dad's side. I
explained privacy rules and how she'd need to go farther back because
her dad's parents were born after 1930.

"We're going to have to call your dad and find out his grandparents'
names," I explained. I called my son-in-law on their cell phone as they
were driving home -- probably scaring the tarnation out of them. I
explained the situation and John told me his grandparents were named
David and Madeline Bennington--from Loveland, Ohio.

He wasn't sure when they were born but I did some calculations and
figured they were probably born around the turn of the century --
perfect for my granddaughter's first foray into census research. Five
minutes later she found them and was shrieking in delight, as if we
just made the highest score in the history of some video game.

I don't know how all this happened. Maybe there really is a genealogy
gene. It bypassed my daughter (who always thought genealogy's best
purpose was keeping dad preoccupied while she raided the refrigerator
with one of her always-starving boyfriends) and hit my granddaughter
square between the brain cells.

It was the best two weeks of my life. Kirstie and I went to the
Mid-Continent Library in Independence, Missouri, and I showed her how to
search the microfilms and the 'fiche cabinets (she'd get me laughing
because she never asked to go with me to the library -- she'd tell her
Granma, "Granddad and I are going fiching today") and my gosh, my
granddaughter loves books. Thank You! ONE in my family has my love of
books.

I cheated at first; giving her research assignments I already knew were
there but as the days wore on I began giving her a few toughies. She is
a dedicated researcher. Younger eyes don't tire nearly as fast. And I
forgot how much fun it is to run out of the library at noon and grab a
Dairy Queen [soft ice cream].

When it was time for her to go back to her parents it was the first time
I didn't joke with Aimee and David that "the nice thing about being a
grandparent is you get to send them home when it's time." It was way too
soon for me. And now there is a new sign above my computer station. It
says simply "The Genealogy Library of Chuck and Dixie Elledge and
Kirstie Marie Healey."

I don't need to write a book. I've helped create an historian.

3. New Mailing Lists at RootsWeb
Request a New Mailing List:  http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
For more information and an index to the more than 27,300
RootsWeb-hosted
genealogy Mailing Lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go
to: 4. New Webpages at RootsWeb
To Request a Free Web Account:  http://accounts.rootsweb.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------
Some of these pages might not yet be accessible. They are created by
volunteers, so if one that interests you isn't up yet, please check
again in a few days or next week. Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required.
Example: The Southwest Virginia Historical Preservation Cooperative
website
can be found at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaswvhpc/
U.S.A.
mnccscd -- Captain Comfort Starr (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mncrocd -- Captain Robert Orr (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnfccdar -- Ft. Chanyaska (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnffcdar -- Fergus Falls (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mngdlcd -- Greysolon du Lhut (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mngjkcd -- Gen. James Knapp (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnjecdar -- Josiah Edson (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnjpcdar -- John Prescott (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnmscdar -- Maria Sanford (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnnhcdar -- Nathan Hale (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnocdar -- Okabena (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnrccdar -- Red Cedar (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnrpccd -- Ruth Peabody Curtis (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnwcdar -- Willmar (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
mnwcdar2 -- Wenonah (Minnesota) Chapter DAR
oracdar -- Astoria (Oregon) Chapter DAR
txdc6udc -- Dallas Chap 6 (Texas) United Daughters of the Confederate
txjdcdar -- Jane Douglas (Texas) Chapter DAR
vaswvhpc -- Southwest Virginia Historical Preservation Cooperative

5. New/Updated Freepages, Homepages, and WorldConnect Uploads
-------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Comments and questions about any of these independently authored
webpages should be directed to their respective compilers/webmasters.
When your new, updated, or substantially revised personal pages located
at RootsWeb (they will have "freepages" or "homepages" in the URL) are
up and ready for visitors, please send the URL (Web address), along with
a brief description, including the major pertinent surnames and what is
available on your site, to:   Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com

AUSTRALIA. Northern N.S.W. Fingal Head Public School Genealogy Site.
This
site contains photographs of students and students from 1913-1994. Many
of
the photographs have names and the site is fully searchable. The site is
an
ongoing student project. DURRANT. John DURRANT was born in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, England in
1837, baptised as a Mormon in 1858 and set off for America in 1861. He
settled in American Fork. Utah and by 1870 had three wives -- Jemima
HENSON, Elizabeth Jane GINGER, and Kezia KEYS. In 1887, while serving
his
first of two jail sentences for unlawful cohabitation, he wrote the
history of his life, which is contained on this website. USS NEVADA. History of all ships named Nevada; includes a list of all
departments located on a battleship in 1932-1935 era; 1934 Navy and
Marine officers and crew on board the USS Nevada, includes their rank;
1921-1934 All-Navy champs (boxing and wrestling) including ship they
were
on. Picture of boot camp graduating class, April 1932, San Diego,
California; 1932 picture of Machinist School graduates, Norfolk,
Virginia.
1933; Harbor Day Committee's list, San Francisco, California; and
many pictures of the ship, boot camp, machinist school and the Panama
Canal Zone area. ======================= Paid Advertisements ========================

CHRISTMAS CARDS JUST LIKE GRANDMA USED TO SEND

Remember the beautiful Victorian Christmas cards grandma used to send?
Mabelle's Post has reproduced them for you. Regularly $12 per pack of
15, now just $10 for RootsWeb Review subscribers through 10/31/03 at:
http://www.mabellespost.com/rootsweb.html

=================== End of Paid Advertisements =====================

6. New User-Contributed Databases at RootsWeb
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/
----------------------------------------------
The following user-contributed databases have come online recently.
They are searchable, but not browseable.

U.S.A.
Obituaries: Obituaries Listed in the Washington Post, June 1943
29 records; Paula L Delosh
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/obituaries/
CALIFORNIA.
Orange County. Marriage Index, 1889-1905;
5,040 records; Kevin Currin
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/marriages/
IOWA. Wapello County. Eldon. Iowa Deaths, 1855-1999;
2,104 records; Bill Hansen
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/deaths/

MAINE. Washington County. Dennysville. Lower Dennysville Cemetery;
27 records; Patty Borges for the Maine Old Cemetery Association
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/cemeteries/

MINNESOTA.
Chisago County. North Branch Home Guards, World War I;
68 records; Charles Deutsch
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/
Patriotic Speakers Bureau, World War I;
87 records; Charles Deutsch
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/groups/
MONTANA.
Gallatin County. Manhattan. Manhattan High School Class of 1936;
21 records; Dustin Baer
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/alumni/
OHIO. Ashtabula County. Conneaut. "Railroading in Conneaut, Ohio"
99 records; Donald Pitts
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/bookindexes/

VIRGINIA. Roster of assorted military personnel culled from newspapers
and miscellaneous resources;
314 records; Paula L Delosh
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/

WISCONSIN.
Adams County. Civil War Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883;
57 records; Eric Borreson
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/military/
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].
----------------------------------------------------------------------
With an English Accent A recent article talked about the many spellings of the surname "St.
John".
I wonder if the author realizes that this name in England is pronounced
SIN-
JIN. This pronunciation could lead to a plethora of additional spelling
variants in civil and church records.

*     *     *
Term of Respect Re the inquiry about "esquire" — in my younger years (1940s and 1950s)
this
title was often written after a man's name as a mark of respect, rather
than
Mr. in front of the name.

My English-Scottish aunt after I reached a certain age (I think it was
18
years) put "esquire" after my name on the envelope when she wrote me
letters.
We corresponded frequently. In this case, it more or less meant
"gentleman" —
nothing to do with aristocracy or the law.

*     *     *
Fixing Mistakes There has been a lot of discussion pro and con regarding those who post
the genealogy findings of others on the Internet without first getting
their permission. Some of that bad feeling could be avoided, I think, if
only we were able to fix mistakes.

I ran into it again when visiting a so-called genealogy site I hadn't
seen before. There was a piece of my family tree which, from the
information given, I knew for certain originally came from me and
probably
posted by a distant cousin. My grandmother's name was spelled Nari
instead of
the correct spelling of Mari and there was another misspelling in the
brief
information found on that site.

Viewers were advised that they must subscribe to a membership in order
to access the complete family tree. (One even had to become a member to
leave a note about the tree). Now, I would be happy to provide this
information free to any family member requesting it. But there they are
selling it, with all its errors.

In the past I had found these same misspellings on a different genealogy
site. Too many places have sprung up that apparently are just stealing
information from the others and probably adding their own errors in
the process.

During that same Internet search I found a website tied to our local
Family History Center's online death certificate information. When the
center first posted this information I contacted them to say that they
had misspelled the name of my father's brother (it's Cano not Gano), and
that for another brother they ought to recheck their death date as he
obviously was not buried before he died. Their response was that the
software, which had been developed for them, didn't have any provision
for fixing mistakes. So Gano he is, forever and ever.

Some errors out there are worse -- for example, my father was NOT
married to
his sister! And, I knew someone who actually added fictitious members to
her
family tree in hopes of catching a relative who she suspected of
"stealing"
her work and posting it to the Internet.

Unless more attention is paid to finding a way to complain about or
correct
wrong online information, the end result will be that we can't trust any
of
it at all. And to those who think they have the right to make money from
my
research -- you might at least get it straight.

8. Humor/Humour: Pardon My Fumes
---------------------------------
Thanks to: Sonny Vanderpool   sonnyvdp@logantele.com

While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage.
The
owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor because attached to
the
back of the carriage was a hand-printed sign that read:

"Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass.
Caution: Do not step in the exhaust."

9. Submission Guidelines, Advertising Contacts, Reprint Policy
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The RootsWeb Review does not publish or answer genealogical queries, and
the editor regrets that she is unable to provide any personal research
assistance or advice. RootsWeb Review welcomes short (500 words or less)
articles, humor, stories, or letters, and reserves the right to edit all
submissions. All mail sent to the RootsWeb Review editor is considered
to be for publication -- send in plain ASCII text (please, no attach-
ments) to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com
*     *     *
ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS: *     *     *
Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless
specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for
non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice
appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb
Review: Vol. 6, No. 42, 15 October 2003.

Easy citation: highlight, copy, and paste the following into your wordprocessor:
RootsWeb Review, 15 October 2003, Vol. 6, No. 42 10/16/2003: [Posted by RootsWeb Review <RootsWeb-Review-L-request@rootsweb.com>]

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