I sure hope you all think this story is funny....I am new to the genealogy field..Here I am 64 and didn't much care where I came from when I was younger... any way, a couple of weeks into tracing my family, I discovered Rootsweb., then I found their mailing list catagory.. Now with my new-found interest in my family, I found I was very much interested in how names came to be what they are now.. for instance, most evidence points to the fact that my surname of Jay has undergone several changes...most of them before departing for American shores..but even here it was changed from Joy to Jay.I havn't been satisfied about the "cutesy, maybe this is the reason" answers I've found so far. AS my search widened, the more curious I got and I started searching for info on the basic origin of surnames and what they originally meant..most of the leads I followed ended in someone wanting to sell me the information on a fancy scroll or to send me a copy of my so-called Coat of Arms(spelling?)..while at the same time stating somewhere that this is not to be taken as absolute proof that the information is the right information... WELL, I can do that much on my own by searching the internet and have the fun of discovery. Maybe you are all ahead of me already!!! So, I was looking for groups that study and discuss and maybe share information on Family Origins!!!!!! With me yet??? I find this group called FAMILY-ORIGINS and I think, BINGO, just the group I'm looking for and so I subscribe..but I subscribe to the digest and my computer picks up all the messages as attachments and wipes them out..so I don't get an introductory letter, maybe I would have realized and maybe my brain just needed time to work around the obvious...I even admit that the term USERS should have given me a clue..but in my persuit of a goal, I sometimes "jump" before I "reason". So, here goes. I don't use Family Origins...I have no doubt that it is great software and I may even invest in it when I can...I even admit that the price is very reasonable but not for me right now. The Family Tree software I'm using now happens to belong to my brother. He brought it to me when he decided that I had much more time to do the reaearch than he did. I also have the Ancestry.com free version and I may wind up using it and filing out my brothers forms on the other, mainly because I don't want to be completely dependant and left empty when said brother wants his software back. So, after making such a fuss about my not getting through so I could start getting the posts and after so many people sending me emails advising me what to do,( I hope I sent a Thank You note to everyone, if I missed someone, please forgive, as you can see, my brain doesn't always fire on all cylinders) I guess that I don't really belong on this list..and I was so looking forward to finding out the "real" origins of all those family names. Later Goldie Goldie Williams in Aurora,Mo. in the USA, Proud American [email protected] http://pages.ivillage.com/gswms/goldiesveryownwwwindow http://pages.ivillage.com/gswms/goldiesenchantedrealm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Proud to be a "Sockee" http://www.gsolfot.com Keeper & Frequent User of the Virtual Soapbox P.I.ABC, for the Ancient & Honourable Emerald GSOLFOT Club --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- check out [email protected] if you love little castles Lady Goldie,Wise Woman of the Forest,Healer of the Realm Researching names JAY,THOMAS, FLETCHALL,LONG,PARVIN,RAINEY,NEYDA --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.381 / Virus Database: 214 - Release Date: 8/2/02

Hi Goldie Stay with this list as you can learn a lot here,I became passionate about genealogy in 1970 and I need to tell you there is no known cure,I turn 63 in January,suffered a massive stroke 4 years ago which made my entire left side immobile ( I was left handed) Thank God for genealogy because it gives my life purpose. for any searches I have found http://www.google.com/ one of the very best.,just click on the above line and it will take you to a really great search engine I can find every place on the web I have my stuff just by typing in the word purplevw,also I will be sending you a digest copy of another Rootsweb list called [email protected] Dumb questions allowed...After over 32 years at it, I still ask them believe me! Your sister in Genealogy SANDRA TYLER DUNCAN Sacramento,CA http://www.gencircles.com/users/purplevw1/1/ http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm all my mail scanned by Norton Below is the only place that will accept attachments [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Goldie Williams" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 10:11 AM Subject: Re: [FO] Innovations in Family Origins

I read your message and decided that I do not have to tell you that you misinterpreted the name of this mailing list. You are not the first that has done this. But Maybe I can help you anyway. I went to GOOGLE and searched for "surname origins genealogy" and got a listing of 72,700 hits in 0.29 seconds. the first ten or twenty are usually the most relevant. Find the Google search page at: http://www.google.com/search? Good luck, and if you decide on Family Origins, or RootsMate, come back and join our mail list again. http://www.formalsoft.com/index.htm http://www.rootsmate.com/ Alfred D. Eller Help for Windows beginners: http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~adelr/index.htm ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Goldie Williams" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 12:11 PM Subject: Re: [FO] Innovations in Family Origins > I sure hope you all think this story is funny....I am new to the genealogy field..Here I am 64 and didn't much care where I came from when I was younger... any way, a couple of weeks into tracing my family, I discovered Rootsweb., then I found their mailing list catagory.. ==== SNIP ====