Rootsweb Review

RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine
24 October 2007, Vol. 10, No. 43
(c) 1998-2007 RootsWeb.com, Inc. http://www.rootsweb.com/
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==============================================================
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes
1a. The Generations Network, Inc. Acquired by Spectrum Equity
Investors
1b. Genealogy Books for Sale
1c. Book Notice
2. Using RootsWeb: Tips for Posting a Reply on a Mailing List or
Message Board
3. Connecting Through RootsWeb:
Finding Rosie
4. Bottomless Mailbag:
Old Negatives
Identifying Photographs: Black Light on Faded Ink
RE: Armie Cannon
Counted Twice
Spooky Cemetery Finding
5. New at RootsWeb
5a. New User-contributed Databases
5b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals
5c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States,
and Genealogical/Historical Societies
5d. New Mailing Lists
6. Humor/Humour
7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints

==============================================================
IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Editor's Desk: News and Notes

1a. The Generations Network, Inc. Acquired by Spectrum Equity
Investors

The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com and
RootsWeb.com, was acquired by Spectrum Equity Investors this past
week. Spectrum Equity Investors is a private equity firm focused on
investing in profitable, growing service businesses.

A part of the press release making the announcement reads as follows:

"Investment Will Support and Accelerate Company's Strategic Direction
and Growth Plan.

"PROVO, Utah, October 17 -- The Generations Network, Inc., today
announced that Spectrum Equity Investors will lead an investment of
$300 million to purchase a majority interest in the company. Spectrum,
a private equity firm based in Menlo Park and Boston, has been a
shareholder in The Generations Network since 2003. Following the
transaction, Vic Parker and Ben Spero from Spectrum will serve on the
company's new board of directors, along with Tim Sullivan, President
and CEO of The Generations Network. Additional terms of the
transaction were not disclosed."

The acquisition should be a positive thing for the company and will
not negatively affect any of the great services provided by RootsWeb.

1b. Genealogy Books for Sale

The West Valley Genealogical Society Library in Youngtown, Arizona,
has just listed approximately 130 books for sale on their website. All
these books are in new or like-new condition. New books are added to
this list every few months.

http://www.azwvgs.org/Duplicatebooks1.htm.

1c. Book Notice

Coker Descendants of Francis and Judith nee Bowles
By Brian Coker

Francis and Judith nee Bowles were married 17 June 1781 at St.
Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. This booklet traces
the descendants of Francis and Judith's second son, William, and his
family. They moved to east London in 1805 and operated a very
successful Ships Chandler business. It was operated by the family for
three generations--until the shipping collapse of 1866.

For questions, or to order, send an e-mail to Brian Coker at
cokerrb@ns.sympatico.ca.

Or, write to:

Brian Coker
RR #1 Smiths Cove
Digby County, Nova Scotia, Canada B0S1S0

2. Using RootsWeb

Tips for Posting a Reply on a Mailing List or Message Board
By Joan Young
joan@volunteer.rootsweb.com

We've already discussed tips for posting new messages on mailing lists
and message boards. We've also discussed choosing the appropriate list
or board for posting your message (see "Getting Your Message Across on
Mailing Lists and Message Boards" at
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/1010.txt ).

So now you know everything there is to know about message
board/mailing list etiquette, right? Wrong. Crafting your message and
posting it in the appropriate place is only half the equation;
learning how to reply effectively is the other half.

The following steps will ensure that your reply is helpful and
thorough.

KNOW WHEN TO REPLY
Remember only to reply to a query when you have information that will
be of interest--or if you wish to ask for clarification in order to
provide help. You may also post a reply if you wish to let the poster
and others reading the list/board message know that you are also
researching the same ancestors. Do not send "me too" messages or
messages noting that you don't have information for the poster--unless
you were specifically asked for a lookup.

CONSIDER WHERE YOUR REPLY IS GOING
Most of us click on "Reply" or "Reply All" when we see an interesting
message, but fail to take notice of exactly which address or addresses
are included in the "Send to" field of our e-mail. This often results
in unexpected consequences. Perhaps we intend to send a private reply
to a newfound cousin and our reply contains private information, but
we end up broadcasting it to the world on a public list and have it
permanently saved in the mailing list archives.

Knowing how to direct your replies can differ from mailing list to
mailing list. The list administrators have the option to set lists to
default to "reply to sender" or "reply to list." Also, individual list
posters may have a specific "reply to" address set in their e-mail
program that can override a "reply to list" setting set by a list
administrator. These variances make it absolutely essential that you
check the addresses in the "To" and "CC" fields each and every time
you send a reply. This will prevent the occasional "Oh no" moment--the
moment after you hit "Send" when you realize the e-mail went to
addresses you had not intended to include.

As for message boards, be careful to click on the "Reply" link rather
than starting a new thread and posting a message that is not attached
to the original one. If you make this error the original poster won't
be notified that they have a reply to their query and they may never
see it. Also, your reply may not make much sense to other readers if
it is disconnected from the original query.

QUOTING THE MESSAGE TO WHICH YOU ARE REPLYING
When you are replying to a query on a mailing list you usually want to
include all or part of the query to which you are replying so that the
answer or lookup information you provide will be clear to everyone
reading your message.

When drafting your reply, check to see whether the information you
planned on quoting is included, and also make sure it is clear what is
being quoted from the original and what text you are adding in your
reply. Remember that RootsWeb list messages are all sent through as
plain text, so any HTML indenting or quote marks will not be displayed
when your reply comes through the list.

E-mail programs differ in how they quote text in a reply. Some e-mail
clients automatically quote the entire message and others allow you to
highlight only the text you wish to quote. Some give you a choice in
your mail options.

Don't quote more than is necessary to make your reply clear. Delete
any old taglines and signature files to keep the reply as clean as
possible. If your e-mail program automatically quotes an entire
message but you don't need to quote the entire message, highlight the
text you wish to delete and then hit the backspace or Delete key to
remove the extraneous text. This is especially important if you are
replying to a digest and your e-mail program automatically quotes the
entire digest. Never, under any circumstances, quote an entire digest!
Quote only a single message or part of a message.

KEEPING TO THE TOPIC OF A THREAD
When you post a reply on a mailing list or message board you are
establishing a thread--your reply is attached to the original message.
As a rule this means your reply has the same subject and topic as the
original post. However, quite often as a thread continues and the
topic of discussion begins to wander a bit from the original subject,
it is necessary to change the subject of your reply before sending
your message or hitting "Post" on the message board.

If you are replying to a digest message remember to change the subject
of your reply to indicate the subject matter of the message rather
than the default digest subject line.

If your reply is straying too far from the original topic of the
thread, consider whether it might be more appropriate to begin a new
thread or post a new original message rather than replying within the
existing thread.

Finally, don't panic--just proceed with caution. We've all been
beginners. But we're here to help each other learn the proper RootsWeb
etiquette and to break down our tricky brick walls together.

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3. Connecting Through RootsWeb:

Finding Rosie
By Robin Butler Daviet

In March 2001, I placed the following query on the Ferrier RootsWeb
Message Board:

"Rosannah 'Rosie' Ferrier married Frances 'Andy' Poindexter in 1820 in
Surry County, North Carolina.

"We are seeking her parents and siblings if any. 'Andy' and 'Rosie'
moved to Tennessee to raise their family, near some of his family
members (hers too?). He served in the War of 1812 in the New Orleans
area. Could he have met Rosannah there?

"Any help, suggestions, thoughts, ideas, or information would be
gratefully appreciated. We have been hunting for Rosie's parents for
almost forty years now. Maybe the Internet can finally help speed up
this process and make a seemingly futile search come to a happy
conclusion. Thank you to all who read this and try to help."

In December 2005, I was contacted by a gentleman who was working with
a Ferrier Family Association. Like the Poindexter Descendants
Association, of which I am currently president, their members follow
up on all Ferrier names, documents, notations, gravesites, etc. they
locate while researching their own lines.

During some research in 1976, one of their members had found a Letter
of Administration for the estate of a William Ferrier filed on 39
[sic] January 1799 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. His widow and
the Administrix of his estate was Elizabeth Ferrier. While other
researchers were trying to discover how this William Ferrier connected
to the rest of their family, they located a second document written in
December 1799. It read as follows:

"By the Court

"Come into Court Elizabeth McMahan Mother and next (friend?) of
Rosanna Farrier a minor under the age of fourteen years Orphan
daughter of William Farrier deceased and prayed the Court to appoint
Robert Porter Guardian over the person and Estate of the said Rosanna.
The Court upon consideration appoints the said Robert Porter Guardian
over the person and Estate of the said Rosanna Farrier minor orphan
daughter of the said William Farrier deceased during her minority or
until another Guardian be appointed in his room."

The gentleman who contacted me about my post then sent me photocopies
of these original documents. He also said the Ferrier Family
Association had found documentation of Elizabeth McMahan, along with
her new husband and children, living in North Carolina.

Now I have places and names. The Rosannah "Rosie" Ferrier who appeared
to pop up full grown in North Carolina without any family is no longer
an unattached child. Now our search continues as we work with the
Ferrier Family Association to try and locate William Ferrier's
origins.

4. 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.]
-------------------------------------------------------------

Old Negatives
By DonRheta Margolis
donrheta@embarqmail.com

I read the article in last week's issue concerning the value of old
negatives in genealogy and couldn't agree more.

My mother died three years ago, the day before her eighty-fifth
birthday. While going through her belongings, my sister and I found a
yellowed envelope containing some old negatives.

Just this past year, I came across the envelope again and scanned them
to see if they would be worth developing. Much to my surprise and
delight, one of the photographs was a beautiful picture of her and her
youngest brother when she was approximately sixteen or seventeen. I
was able to determine the time frame from the postmark on the
envelope. I had the pictures developed and sent copies to all my
siblings. The date was 1935 and I was amazed at the quality of the
pictures.

I encourage everyone to check old negatives--you don't know what
treasures you might find.

To read the article titled, "Genealogy Photos," from last week's
Review, visit: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/review/2007/1017.txt
* * *

Identifying Photographs: Black Light on Faded Ink
By Lester T. Gordon II
Carmel, Indiana

I found that someone had affixed masking tape to the back of several
of my ancestors' tintypes with the subjects' names written on the tape
in ballpoint pen. Unfortunately, the ink had faded and was unreadable.

I used a black light and was able to easily read the names. I now know
how some of my great-great-grandparents and their families looked.
Thanks go to the ancestor who took the time to identify the tintypes.
* * *

RE: Armie Cannon
By Joanne Mosley

I read in the past couple issues of the Review about an individual by
the name of Armie Cannon. My girlfriend has four boys. Their names are
Gunner, Storm, Cannon, and Cadence. Needless to say, her husband is a
U.S. Marine.
* * *

Counted Twice
By Mary Steffens

I was researching one of my husband's kin in 1870 Texas. The surname
is often misspelled so I did my usual Soundex search and came up with
two men who fit the description: George Golden, born 1824,
Pennsylvania; and George Goulding, born 1824, Pennsylvania--both were
living in Travis County.

At first, I was having a hard time figuring out which one was the
right one. George Golden was in the 1860 census in the same county,
and in the 1880 census with a new wife and children, still in Travis
County.

After careful examination of both 1870 census documents, I discovered,
based on the dates, that he was enumerated twice: the first time was
with his first wife and children in June 1870 and the second time was
after the death of his wife, with just his children--in October.
Despite the variant spelling of not only the surname but of some of
the children's names, the ages and order of birth were identical. He
was a preacher living in Austin, who kept a farm out of town. The June
census caught him at home in Austin, while the October census placed
him on the farm. I can imagine this was most likely a grieving family
seeking a quieter place.

Conclusion: it is possible to find the same family enumerated more
than once.
* * *

Dead Man in Cemetery
By James S.

I live in Illinois. The other day my husband and I went searching for
one of his relative's graves in a church cemetery.

I was a few feet in front of him when all of a sudden I saw a man
lying on the ground about twenty feet in front of me. I spoke to him
and said, "Sir, sir, are you alright?"

He did not answer, and I was brave enough to go up and touch him. He
was cold. I called to my husband and he went to the church to get
help. Since it was a Saturday afternoon he could not find anyone at
the church.

I ran back to an open gate in the cemetery and headed out into a
residential area. I hollered, "Call the police, there is a dead man in
the cemetery." (Not so unusual--there are lots of dead men in the
cemetery.)

Anyway, the police finally arrived and of course they asked us
questions and examined the body. There was identification on the man.
Come to find out, his pickup was right next to our car in front of the
church and the vehicle had been there since early morning. Also, he
was lying on the ground at his own tombstone and apparently next to
members of his family with the same last name.

The police said the gentleman died of natural causes.

5. New at RootsWeb

5a. New User-contributed Databases at RootsWeb
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/submit/
-------------------------------------------------------------
No New User-contributed Databases at RootsWeb

5b. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals
To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------
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, the title of the website, the name of the
author, and a BRIEF description of the site, including major
surnames, to: Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com
* * *
If your genealogy- or history-related site is located somewhere
other than at RootsWeb.com, you can add the link here:
http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/addlink.html
* * *
No New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Individuals

5c. New/Updated Freepages and Homepages by Counties, States, and
Genealogical/Historical Societies
To Request a Free Web Account: http://accounts.rootsweb.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------
Some of these Web pages might not be accessible yet. 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/~xxxxxx[accountname]
* * *
Note that the ~[tilde] before the Web account name is required.
For example, the Redwood County Historical Society (Minnesota) website
is at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnrchs/
* * *

DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution
USGW = USGenWeb
DAC = Daughters of American Colonists
USD = United States Daughters of 1812

U.S.A.
hicemete -- Hawaii Cemeteries
ilwilli2 -- Williamson County (Illinois) USGW
molcgdrg -- Lost Colony Genealogy and DNA Research Group (Missouri)
nmmckinl -- McKinley County (New Mexico) USGW
nmsando2 -- Sandoval County (New Mexico) USGW
nmsanjua -- San Juan County (New Mexico) USGW
ricemete -- Rhode Island Cemeteries

SCOTLAND
sctselki -- Selkirk County (Scotland)
* * *
5d. New Mailing Lists
To Request a New Mailing List: http://resources.rootsweb.com/adopt/
-------------------------------------------------------------
For information and an index to the more than 30,000 RootsWeb-hosted
genealogy mailing lists and for easy subscribing (joining) options go
to: http://lists.rootsweb.com/

NEW SURNAME MAILING LISTS
BLEWFIELD
BRANDUM
CHAMPENOIS
COWHEY
DRAYER
ENDERT
EVENING
EWERT
FECHLE
GENSKE
GUTHALS
HERMISTON
HUGASIAN
LUETTEN
MCCUGH
MCGANNON
MCQUERTER
MCVAUGH
MELUNGEON-KIN
MESSAGE
SODERMAN
UJLAKI
VARDEN
VIRDEN

NEW REGIONAL MAILING LISTS

No New Regional Mailing Lists

NEW ETHNIC OR SPECIAL INTEREST MAILING LISTS

No New Ethnic or Special Interest Mailing Lists

6. Humor/Humour

While conducting some research recently I came across a household in
the 1880 Wisconsin census. The head of household's occupation was
given as "Easy Living." Living in the same dwelling was his wife, a
servant, and a young woman whose occupation was given as "Easy
Virtue." Hmmm.

--Thanks to Tim Ericson
* * *

Years ago I was doing research at the Family History Library in Salt
Lake City and was having problems copying some data from a book.

The copy machine was near the staff desk and the staff personnel could
see I was having a problem so he just called over, "Hit it." I am an
old, no-longer playing soft-baller and wanting to be sure I heard
correctly, I questioned, "Hit it?" He said, "Yes, hit it (meaning the
print button)," so I reared back and hit the machine with all the
muscle I could muster in my swing.

I told him I had done exactly what he told me to do after we stopped
laughing about the miscommunication. Now that I volunteer at our local
Family History Center I walk over to the copier and work directly with
anyone having difficulty copying. I don't want our copier heading for
first base.

--Thanks to Gladys Tolbert
* * *

Found a funny or "proper name for the job" in old records, or an
amusing entry in census, parish, church, or other records? Send them
to:
Editor-RWR@rootsweb.com. We also welcome other humorous
genealogy-related submissions.

7. Subscriptions, Submissions, Advertising, Reprints
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If you use a spam-filtering program, in order to receive the RootsWeb
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rootswebreview@email.rootsweb.com. The RootsWeb Review is a free
publication of The Generations Network, 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 and please include your full name and e-mail
address in the text.
* * *
ROOTSWEB REVIEW ADVERTISING CONTACTS.
AdSales Worldwide: Tami Deleeuw, tdeleeuw@tgn.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: 24 October 2007, Vol. 10, No. 43.
* * * *

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Rootsweb Review, 24 October 2007, Vol.10, No. 43