Dear Cousins On the List: I have been working on reorganizing -- no, make that organizing (!) the website. After moving the pages three times and trying to re-establish links each time it's gotten very disorganized, and many links don't work, which is frustrating. Also, I have discovered that I need to re-format many pages themselves to make them easier to view and the texts more readable. I have started with an Index, for which I have A-B finished. So, I'm working on it; please be patient. http://freepages.history.rootsweb/~amxroads/NDX.index.html I've put up Chronology, and will be putting up a similar page on how to make your own databases from lists you either set up yourself or copy from data available on the internet. The first Chronology is at http://freepages.history.rootsweb/~amxroads/Chron/17cent.html and the first database instruction will be at http://freepages.history.rootsweb/~amxroads/Howdata/index.html List/database making is a very effective way to analyze your information genealogically. I suggest you begin by using the how-to lists I've given and then progress to anything you have on hand already in your files. Much easier than typing everything into a database software, although this is necessary with a lot of information. Practice with the provided lists, next try utilizing info you've collected, and then go to the final state of using printed information you want to analyze. We have to learn to crawl before we walk. Most "researchers" are running over the internet before they crawl over it. As we all know, this has produced disastrous results in Genealogy Land. Last week I had to defend some of my copyrighted material which was presented on a Surname organization webpage as though I, and my copyrighted material was part of their research effort. No acknowledgement was given to me as the author, nor was any recognition made of the years it has taken to establish quality of information they so blithely usurped as though it was their own. PLEASE PLEASE pay careful attention to the rights of others when you copy anything. There is a BIG, not a fine line/distinction between copying a public domain list of names, for example, and copying the page that has been published on the internet, or in a printed work. Most authors, as well as the copyright laws recognize that copying a few pages from something on the internet or a printed work does nothing to harm their exclusive work. This is permissible under the "fair use," rules of copyrighted material. However, presenting the thing in it's entirety without acknowledgement, or permission, or as if it was your own, is plagiarism, and is highly illegal. Also, be sure to include sources as well as references. This is both out of respect for others' work as well as for your own purposes when you come back to it several years later and wonder where in the world it came from! Have some goal in mind when making a chronology. What do you want to learn from it? If you only include one surname, will you learn anything beyond what you already know? Sometimes a one name surname chronology can reveal absurdities in attributed parentage, but mostly, if you aren't incorporating information surrounding a single family, you will not progress in any significant way. The chronology I've set up reflects various influences on the first immigrations to America in the mid 17th century. Once I taught a genealogy class on this topic using Albrecht Durer's "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," because, condensed, the influences of 17th Century immigration can be summed up with that work. Death, War, Pestilence and Famine were the factors that sent most immigrants to the New World, and Religion dissention and war lay behind most of those. Works like the ones I've included of Durer and the Brughel attempted to portray the conditions. Brughel the Elder, in particular painted works that shows us a great deal about ordinary lives of our ancestors. You can gain much insight while composing a chronology of this type. When designing a more individualized chronology remember to stick to facts. Don't put down when you "think" someone was born. Rely on documented facts to establish the timeline. I believe in the case of Abraham "The Trader" Pennington, a whole generation has been lost because a timeline for his has been so difficult to establish. Since his children, and their children bear the same names, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate their identities. A proper chronology can help enormously with this, but need as much data as can be dug up. Comparisons can't be done if you simply rearrange what you've worked with for years. Bring in new information about allied and kinship families, and blend this with locality information that will help you iclarify and interpret what your documents mean. I have several other pages aaaaalllllmost finished! One that I've finalized is about some of my Pennington cousins. I hope you enjoy them. http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~amxroads/Ptncousins/index.html Love, Your Cousin, Carolyn