This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/iUI.2ACIB/1934.1.1.1 Message Board Post: This post is an attempt to answer the overwhelming volume of emails I am receiving. I do not mean to be rude in attempting to answer so many emails with one post, I will eventually answer each individual email. I just felt that I at least owed you the courtesy of some form of reply. It also, does not bother me to receive the emails, so please continue, just be aware that I am receiving an extra large volume, in addition to the emails I receive normally, personal and from other boards/lists. I do need to ask that when you email, please include a subject. My anti-spam software automatically deletes messages with no subject. I am having to watch my "delete" file for unread messages, scan them for virus, then read the message. So if anyone has sent me an email with no subject and you do not receive a reply, please re-send it. First, thank all of you that have been so generous to share your work and documentation with me. I really appreciate it. As time allows, I will read all material shared with me. Next for all of those who have asked my assistance, again as time allows, I will search my database for any material I have on the subject that you are requesting assistance with. I will reply to you personally whether I do or do not have any thing that may or may not help you. Please note I do keep files on persons requesting material or information that I do not have at the time they asked for assistance. I go through the files periodically as I gather new information or add to my database. If I have uncovered information, I do contact the individual privately. Please be patient with me, I am in the middle of a project that I have already made a commitment to helping another researcher (different line). After I have completed that, I have several other lengthy projects that I have also made commitments to. Next for all of the emails that have expressed a desire to remain anonymous, I will not divulge what you have said to me confidentially nor will I release your name, if given, or email address. So please do not worry. For the questions regarding what type of software program I used to edit the scanned pages. I have several different photography software programs. I use them all for various projects. My personal favorite is PhotoElf, which I did use to edit the scanned pages. This program is very user friendly. The programmer, Rick is wonderful with personal support if you are having difficulty and can not find a solution within the help portion of the software. I am posting a link to his website that gives a free trial version. http://www.photoelf.com/download/download.shtml I have received numerous emails regarding the origin of the surname "Chandler". Thank you all for sharing your personal opinions and work on the matter. I hope you will share it with other members of the board/list as well. I myself have done some research in that area, not quite as extensive as some research that has been shared with me. Thank you again for sharing. Regarding the emails in my usage of “b. abt.”. First my software will not let me use the term "approximately". So to clarify my usage of “abt.”, I use “abt.” to signify an exact date is not known to me at this time, that the event occurred approximately in the year I posted, giving me an approximate date to do further research. If I do have what I believe to be a reliable source for the year of birth, but the month and day are not known, I just put the year of birth not using “abt”, which is meant that I know the year, but not the month and date. It is my personal opinion that I was very clear, that my research is not complete, that I am still in the process of gathering data, etc. and it will be years before the work is completed. Therefore, I am not going to discuss that issue further. Again if I share something with you, please do your own researches, document, and verify the material. Due to the number of emails that I am receiving regarding the portion I quoted and the origin of the Chandler name, I decided rather than to reply to each individually, I would post a message that will hopefully cover all the emails. I just quoted a portion of the booklet. The booklet is very short, only 17 pages. In a 17-page booklet there is not room to explain in detail the information you are giving/using. This booklet does not have any source information, in some instances it does not even tell the state of the city being referred to. (In my opinion, its purpose was for family members at the reunion, they may have had some special event occurring where the author was kind enough to give them a brief, undocumented accounting of their immediate family history just referencing a brief history of the Chandler name in the introduction. I will let other interested researchers draw their own conclusions after reading the booklet.) It is only an informal publication that was written and printed just for a family reunion, which is printed on the cover of the booklet. The author started his brief sketch (the definition of the word “sketch” should be an indication that it is a general outline ! without full details) with that introduction, from there going into his brief accounting, of the previously referenced in message posts, George Chandler and descendants. Leading me to believe the author has done some research on the Chandler line. That hopefully, if he is not deceased, (based on the fact the booklet was printed in 1968) he will share, including possible documentation and sources for his research. I am sharing the booklet with others that maybe it can be used as a guide or clue to help them in their work. I have tried to emphasize in my previous messages to document and verify everything, including anything that I share with anyone whether it is by message board/list or private email. I am also sharing it because I don't want to deny others possibly interested the opportunity of reading the booklet and to let them know of its existence. I have never seen it referred to previously, it does not mean that it has been referenced to, just that I haven't seen it. I try never to judge other people's work (you never know when someone is judging your own). I do not know what information they had available to them at the time of their work other than listed source information and yes, new information may be uncovered disproving the information they had available to them at the time. Authors of some publications are now deceased, they can not be expected to go back and make corrections when the material disproving their work was not uncovered until after their death. Other authors who have published material and new information has come to light disproving their work, may perhaps feel that it is not necessary to make corrections to the work, that researchers will make their own corrections in what ever the researcher is working on. I do my own research disproving or proving the information based on the information I have available to me at the time. I feel no need to make the author aware of my conclusions; after all it is only my conclusion-someone else may form another conclusion. If I am working with others on a particular project, we do discuss amongst ourselves opinions, theories, hypotheses, etc. I personally feel that people on the board/list are fairly intelligent people, capable of determining the credibility of material without me making a commentary about the validity of the work. Even beginner "amateur" genealogists with no experience, as they gain experience through assistance of other researchers, professional or amateur, plus their own research, will learn how to discern the credibility of material. I also try not to publicly discredit the work of others that possibly might cause another researcher to discard the material as invalid. There may be valid, documented information, along with! the erroneous material and a researcher will have missed an opportunity to perhaps breakdown a "brick wall", or at least make it start crumbling. I also do not want to personally insult the intelligence of other researchers by making commentaries telling them what I have interpreted the material as, which might appear that I am stating that it is fact, which it is not, it is only my personal discernment. I would rather let the individual researcher draw his/her own conclusion. I feel that I have been forced into a very awkward situation causing me to give more explanations than I normally would have to make. I have asked the board administrator for assistance. Whatever the administrator’s decision on this situation is, I will abide by. I am by no means a professional genealogist; I do not charge people for any assistance that I might be able to give, or I am qualified to use that term. If I should happen to have some information that might possibly help someone else, I am more than happy to share. It is not a big secret that I need to keep hidden away for self glorification, knowing that I have information someone else doesn't or an "ace up the sleeve" to bargain with. If I share with others, I expect nothing in return for myself. But I do expect respect and courtesy to the author/s of the material that I am sharing, to please comply to rules regarding copyrighted material, and if the material is used, to list the author/s and his/her material as the source, not me. It is also my discretion as to what material I share and what source information I divulge and with whom I share it with. I probably have a valid reason why I am not disclosing the information or where I obtained it from and do not feel that it is necessary to explain my decision. I also personally feel that we should be considerate of the feelings of other researchers posting their messages/queries to boards/lists and not publicly humiliate them or try to intimidate them. Such negative comments could possibly discourage the person from sharing further information with the board/list. Quite possibly even cause the person to discontinue their work. I feel that this would be a tremendous loss, all family heritage and memories should be preserved. I also feel that you should never "slam a door shut" you never know when you might need assistance or a copy of some documentation. I also feel we should respond more respectfully and try to help each other more, without putting unneccesary stipulations on our assistance. Please remember what it was like when you first started your research, errors made, and above all remember the ones whom where kind enough to try to help you. It is my sincere hope that this board will continue to be used as it is intended, discussing and sharing information freely in a polite, respectable manner. If I feel that I have been in error, I will be the first to apologize. Please remember that I am human. I make mistakes. Document and verify everything I share with you, prove or disprove it by your own research. I do hope this again; very lengthy post covers most of the emails I am receiving on these subjects. If I have missed something I am sure someone will draw my attention to it. Here is to hoping all your brick walls crumble and we all continue sharing and helping others. Barbara Chandler