ROOTSWEB'S GUIDE TO TRACING FAMILY TREES <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/>. Do you know the difference between direct evidence and indirect evidence? What is a primary source and why does it matter? Lesson 12: Creating Worthwhile Genealogies -- Evidence, Sources, Citation, and Documentation. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson12.htm>.

Online Lyman Chalkley's CHRONICLES OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH SETTLEMENT IN VIRGINIA: EXTRACTED FROM THE ORIGINAL COURT RECORDS OF AUGUSTA COUNTY 1745-1800, is now completed. This three-volume series with more than 1,600 pages of extracts from early court records is completed. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~chalkley/>. I have looked through all 3 volumes for the surname FERGUS and there are no listings. This may save you the same effort. You may wish to search for other surnames. Happy (re)searching, Cynthia

>From Ancestry.com <<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>> ======================================================= One problem researchers frequently run across in browsing old documents is out-of-date terminology. Below are some resources that may help interpret these antiquated terms. OneLook Dictionaries http://www.onelook.com/ Searches 560 dictionaries. Wide variety includes medical, historical, computer, names, grave terminology--You name it! Sam's Genealogy Home page http://genweb.net/~samcasey/index.shtml This site includes pages with Genealogy Terms, Genealogy Abbreviations, Colonial Occupations, and Colonial Diseases. The Gene Pool, by Joanne T. Rabun http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/ This site includes a section on "Phraseology" with several helpful (and some entertaining) pages. The Olive Tree--Index to Tools & Tips http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/indextip.htm Many helpful pages here including: Old Handwriting, Glossary of Diseases, Obsolete Occupations, Graven Images, and Definitions of Early Immigrants. Online Dictionaries, Glossaries and Encyclopedias http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/~baum/hyperref.html Huge collection of links to a wide variety of resources

>From Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3598.htm State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois), Obituaries, 1993-1999 Headline: OBITUARIES Publication Date: August 09, 1996 Source: The State Journal-Register Springfield, IL Page: 12 Subjects: Region: Illinois Obituary: HAVANA -- James R. Fergus, 53, of Havana died Tuesday in York, Pa. Survivors: a daughter, Judy Ross of Bertram, Texas; a son, James Robert Fergus of Lewistown; four grandchildren; mother, Erma Towery of Havana; a brother, Ralph Fergus of Canton; two sisters, Shirley Juliano of Chicago and JoAnn Shore of Havana; and fiancee, Marjorie Thrower of Lewistown. Graveside services: 2 p.m. Friday, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Havana. Hurley Funeral Home in Havana is in charge of arrangements. Betty L. Beck

I have encountered an anomaly that is closely related to the example of Abraham Lincoln's occupation being read as "sawyer" rather than "lawyer". Some of my ancestors bear the surname LINGLE, and I was having a difficult time tracing them through census records. By accident, I found an entry for my ggf, Paul LINGLE, that did not appear in the index. On investigation, I found that it was indexed, but as SINGLE. I have since found many other cases. The Soundex does not help when the initial letter is misread. Anyone researching surnames beginning with either S or L should consider this. I suspect that other combinations, such as F and T, might have similar problems. Gary Vincent ______________________ This is very true. The misinterpretation of handwriting can be a major stumbling block for many researchers. According to "The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy," edited by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking, (Chapter 5, Research in Census Records, by Loretto Szucs): "Frequently, names are actually included in an index but cannot be found because they are misspelled to the extent that they are unrecognizable. Some surnames have been incorrectly alphabetized when indexers could not decipher even the first letter of a surname. In some handwriting styles, the letter L resembles an S; thus, the handwritten surname Lee might become See in an index. Handwriting styles have caused indexing problems when certain similar-appearing letters have been confused, including: T and F J, G, and Y I and J K and R O and Q P and R U and W" There is a good Web page with some excellent examples of the changes in handwriting over the years at: http://www.firstct.com/fv/oldhand.html And if you're working with writing from the seventeenth century or before, "The Written Word" at: http://members.aol.com/ottoxxx/script.htm, has some beautiful examples of early printing, manuscripts, woodcuts, calligraphy, and paleography. There is also a section on Latin with "5,000 Latin Words Defined," Small Common Words," and "Some Latin Phrases for study" that may be helpful for those researching records that were recorded in Latin.

http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3945.htm North Carolina Will Abstracts, 1760-1800 the North Carolina Wills F page 198 1799 FERGUS, JOHN; John, McRee, Ann; Bruff, James.

Announcing the FERGUS and variations (but not Ferguson) "Family Group Sheet". Please visit the website below and under the Table of Contents please find "Family Group Sheet". Carefully fill in family group sheets for your family - yes, the whole family please as far back as you can go and as wide as you can go . . . living persons will be listed ONLY with permission and no date of birth or place of birth, only the month and year and state. Please do not give permission for another family member unless you have asked! Bill Richards, webmaster, and I do have at least a year's worth of data to input to the website already, but it is important for us to continue to gather information. Please be patient and do not expect to see your submissions posted immediately. We donate hours of time to this project and do it in our "spare" time. Bill has received the "Fergus Family History" data of approximately 5,000 descendants of Francis Fergus and is posting them, a most laborious project as the format received is not the format for our website. Please have the utmost patience if you find errors as we will be making spelling/numerical corrections as we go along. . . do e-mail me if you discover one. Also, as we list family names we would welcome that you "claim" them if you wish to be the contact person for that information, otherwise Earl Crosby will be listed for the "Fergus Family History" listings. I intend to claim my direct lineage so that people will contact me directly regarding the line. How I wish that we could get the information on the website more quickly, but this is an ongoing process. Do take a look about to see how it is progressing and revisit from time to time, remembering to use your "Refresh" button upon each new visit. When filling out the FGS (Family Group Sheet) please use the subject line to list the surname in capitals, a comma, then given (first) name of the Fergus relative. There is an area to write additional comments or information at the bottom of the form, so do scroll to the bottom. EXAMPLE of FGS form: FGS: FERGUS, Helen Hortense FERGUS Research Worldwide website http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~fergus00/ ^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.

http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3174.htm The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Volume 155 page 298 [p.298] Miss Rachael Alexander Mccarrell. DAR ID Number: 154920 Born in Waynesboro, Pa. Descendant of Thomas McClelland, as follows: 1. Thomas C. McCarrell (b. 1856) m. 1880 Matilda Warrick (b. 1856). 2. Alexander McCarrell (1817-81) m. 1842 Martha McLain (1818-80). 3. William McLain (b. 1779) m. 1811 Margaret McClelland (b. 1787). 4. Thomas McClelland m. Mary FERGUS. Thomas McClelland received a pension for service as private in the Pennsylvania and North Carolina troops under Colonels Porter, Harkley and Davison; also served with Washington's Dragoons. He was born, 1757, in Ireland; died in Washington, Pa.

http://www.ancestry.com/ancestry/search/3174.htm The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Volume 57 Mrs. Isabella Groves Walker. DAR ID Number: 56702 Born in Habersham County, Ga. Wife of C. M. Walker, M. D. Descendant of Stephen Groves. Daughter of William Walton Turner and Henrietta Lucas Woods, his wife. Granddaughter of Benjamin F. Woods and Eliza Groves, his wife. Gr-granddaughter of Samuel Groves and Rachel FERGUS, his wife. Gr-gr-granddaughter of Stephen Groves and Isabella Weakly, his wife. Stephen Groves (1740-1839) was placed on the pension roll of Madison County, Ga., 1834, for service as private, Pennsylvania militia. He was born in England; died in Madison County, Ga.

Hi . . . I got this from another list and thought I would pass it on: > > > Prior to the US's entry into WW1 (approx. 1917-1918) every male > between the age of 18 and 40 was required to register for the draft. The > information found on the card was provided by the individual himself. > The registration cards vary in information depending on the individual > draft board. But by and large the cards include: The full name of the > person (this means first, full middle name, any additional middle names > and last name); the current address of the man; his age; his birthdate > (some include his place of birth); whether he is a US citizen or a > naturalized citizen (some ask if his father was a naturalized citizen > and his father's race); his race; his occupation; where he is employed > (name of employer); address or location of employment; name and address > of his next of kin; some cards ask if the man is married or single and > how many people he supports. The card is signed by the draftee. On the > back of the card his physical description is noted: Height is broken > down by short, medium, tall although some cards give the actual height > in feet and inches; Build by slim, medium, stout although some cards > list actual weight along with the build; color of eyes and hair; any > deformities or injuries are listed (such as one arm missing, blind in > one eye, etc); the name and address of the draft board and the date. > When these original cards were transferred to the East Pointe NARA > branch the LDS spent about 3 years microfilming these cards. There are > hundreds and hundreds of boxes and the LDS opened one box at a time and > filmed them - in state order. However, within each state the cards were > filed by draft board, not by county or by draftee. This makes the > searching of the microfilm difficult to say the least. The good news is > that the Friends of the National Archives took each box after it was > filmed (and checked) and sorted all of these thousands and thousands of > cards into - state and then COUNTY order and then in alphabetical order > by surname and put then in new boxes. The Friends deserve all the kudos > we can give them for this monstrous task. So ... rather than spending > hours and hours searching the LDS microfilm you can order copies of the > original cards from NARA. if you know the county your ancestor lived in > between 1917-1918. And BTW - Ancestry.com lists WW1 Draft cards in > their searchable data bases, however I know for a fact that there are 22 > cards for the surname WHITE found in McIntosh Co, OK and Ancestry only > gave me 4 of them so don't depend on that site. I was told yesterday > that some reps from Ancestry had visited the archives a couple of weeks > ago to talk about filming the cards, took one look at the hundreds and > hundreds of boxes and simply left. For copies: Send a letter requesting > copy(s) to: NARA > Southeast Region > 1557 St. Joseph Ave > East Point, GA 30344 > In your letter be sure to say you want copy(s) of the WWI Draft > application Cards. Include the name of your ancestor and his race, the > state and the county. If you want copies of ALL of the cards with a > given surname, ask them the cost of the copies and send a SASE for them > to let you know the copying cost. In your letter be sure and say you > want a copy of the FRONT and BACK of the card. Be sure to send a SASE > for the return of you copies. The cost for the copy is 50 cents - 25 > cents for the back and 25 cents for the front. If you only want one copy > send a buck and say the difference is to be given to the Friends of the > Archives, because after all they did all this wonderful hard work for > you <VBG> > And feel free to pass this on to any of the lists you are on. > > Lori Shirley bernardf@intrstar.net

- U.K. Public Record Office To Put Catalogue Online The Public Record Office (PRO) is about to put its entire catalogue on to the web. A prototype system is already available, and the PRO hopes the full catalogue, which describes its entire archive of 8 million documents, will be online by the end of the year. Once the catalogue is online, the PRO hopes to begin placing many of its most-popular documents online, including William Shakespeare's will, Guy Fawkes's confession, and the crew and passenger list of the Titanic. The catalogued collection spans documents ranging from the Domesday book, compiled in 1086, to the present day and includes all central-government files. According to Anne Crawford of the PRO, the system initially will allow users to search all of the documents' descriptions online. "Putting 8 million documents on the web is just too big a task," she says. "So we're making the catalogue available, which includes the location of the file and a brief description of it. This allows users to see what we have. "We will also allow them to order a document online so that when they come to Kew their documents are ready and waiting. We hope this will save a lot of wasted journeys." Currently, researchers must either visit Kew in person to check the availability of a document or commission somebody to do the research. According to Crawford, more than two-thirds of the archive's users are family historians who often travel to Kew from another country. "We are a great resource for academics, but we also get a lot of interest from individuals. With 8 million records, which include a lot of census data, we are probably one of the best resources in the world for individuals tracing their family history. We found that almost all our visitors had access to the net at home or work so it made sense for us to try to offer some access to our records over the net." The PRO also plans to put census data online. Crawford said, "One of the first things we will put online in its entirety is the 1901 census; we are currently preparing this for 2001. However, we want to get the catalogue online first, then we can track which documents are the most popular and put those online." To see the prototype catalogue system, look at: http://www.pro.gov.uk ------------------ This article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 1999 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author.

In response to Shirley Fergus' announcement I have extracted the 618 FERGUS listings into 2 NotePad files. If there is anyone who would like to have these please e-mail me. Remember this would follow the FERGUS surname only, generally the male lineage. The SSDI online, most recent release June 1999 containing 61,664,927 records can be found: http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

Thought I would let you know that RootsWeb now has the SSDI online, it is the most recent release June 1999 containing 61,664,927 records. http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi Shirley bernardf@intrstar.net

Is anyone related to the KERR/FERGUS families? If so, please contact me. I transcribed this information from a large memorial stone (approximately 3'x6') which is installed flat in the ground at the Cappagh Church of Ireland Cemetery. There is no recording of burial of the FERGUYS in the Cappagh Record Books held in the Rectory. The stone reads: Erected by William Kerr of Terraquin in memory of his uncles: James FERGEY died 21 October 1864, aged 66 years (he would have been born 1798) John FERGEY died 23 Febrary 1865, aged 63 years (he would have been born in 1802) Andrew FERGEY died 16 October 1867, aged 88 years (he would have been born in 1779 - and could have been the father to James or John listed above) ------------------ I would appreciate any help. There are KERR people buried in Donaghanie Graveyard (Interdenominational) between Omagh and Beragh, Co Tyrone. Additional KERR gravestones are in the Drumragh Graveyard, Old Section which is both Protestant and Roman Catholic. Two Roman Catholic cemeteries also have KERR gravestones - one is St. Mary's in Killyclogher and the other is St. Mary's in Knockmoyle. All of these are within a 5-mile radius of the county town of Omagh, Co Tyrone - now in Northern Ireland, but still Ireland when these people lived there. Any assistance would be appreicated with this brick wall! ---------------------- William Kerr is interred in the Church of Ireland Cappagh Cemetery. I have a photo of the large upright tombstone. It reads: William Kerr of Terraquin died 10 March 1890, aged 55 years His wife Elizabeth Kerr died 9 February 1903 So, William would have been born in 1835. I believe that his mother was a FERGEY based on the memorial stone above. And, I wonder if she was Margaret (Fergey) Kerr, born 1812, wife of Thomas Kerr. These are just guesses, not facts. Best regards, Cynthia Russell Traverse City, Michigan

Here is information on a FERGUS family from Co Mayo - is anyone related to this family? If you have information on this family please post to me directly. Children of one family - I believe that the grandfather to this family was James FERGUS, b. Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, died 1971, but, I do not know the name of the the father or mother, but here are the siblings: 1. Mary 2. Ann Teresa (Teri) b. 1941, married Ted McGuiness 3. Peggy b. 1942, married Gerard Sloyne 4. Tom b. 1944, married Ann Bohan - now live in Co Galway daughter Anna b. Sept 18, 1973 5. Lena, b. 1947, married John Brennan 6. Sheila b. 1949, married Michael Deegan 7. Frank b. 1950, lives in Dromore West, Co Sligo 8. Murdach b. 1953, married Ireen O'Dea 9. Malachy b. August 28, 1956, married Bernie McCaffrey son Declan, daughter Claire - live in Dublin

Is anyone related to: FERGUS, James Thomas Corcullen, Keenagh, Co Mayo died Nov 29, 1977, age 89

I have this information from a grave in Co Mayo - is anyone related? FERGUS, Annie died March 1, 1941, age 62 husband John son Patrick, died April 23, 1993

I gathered this information from Mary FERGUS of Crossmolina, Co Mayo - is anyone on this list related to any of these? If so, please continue this thread and post to the list. FERGUS, Ferdinand b. ca 1850-1860 - 1933 FERGUS, Edward Francis b. ca 1880 - d. 1922 FERGUS, Farry J. d. 1905 FERGUS, Edward Patrick b. 1916 - d. 1991 FERGUS, Maisie (daughter) d. 1995

Just a reminder to point your browser to http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ Where you will find this info - and can click on each lesson - there's always something new to learn: Index to the Lessons Lesson 1 Where to begin? Lesson 2 What's in a name? Lesson 3 Using technology to dig up roots Lesson 4 Vital Records: Death, Tombstones and Cemeteries Lesson 5 Vital Records: Marriage Records and Evidence Lesson 6 Vital Records: Birth Records Lesson 7 What is the Question? Lesson 8 Misspeld Knames: A Commun Probblem for Reeserchors and Why U Can't Find Your Ancestors Lesson 9 Census Records: Soundexes, Indexes and Finding Aids Lesson 10 Exploring the SSDI (Social Security Death Index)

NOAH'S ARK ENCOUNTERS THE MAYFLOWER by W. Robert Chapman <rchapman@mail.cc.trincoll.edu> In my job as a reference librarian I frequently encounter people who are searching for their family roots. One thing I've noticed is that most of these amateur genealogists say they are descended from a single ancestor. "My people came over on the Mayflower," the researcher might say, seemingly oblivious to the enormity of such a claim. "All of your ancestors?" one might reasonably ask. Not likely. The Mayflower wasn't big enough. An aircraft carrier might not hold all of one's 17th-century ancestors. If I were to try to fit in all of the people from whom I'm directly descended who were alive in 1620, I'd need an ark that could hold 512 pairs of eighth great-grandparents. And only a handful is likely to have the surname CHAPMAN. What they really mean is that they are searching for a single ancestral line. Often it is the researcher's paternal line, or they are trying to prove their lineage in order to qualify for membership in a hereditary society. Having done such a narrow search, the person can now confidently claim to being descended solely from something like the ancient and noble house of St. Swithins in the Swamp. The fact that one is also descended from grave robbers, muleskinners, or librarians seems irrelevant once one has qualified to join the Sons of [fill in the blank]. In fact, the researcher has only scratched the surface of his or her ancestral research. We are descended from a lot more people than most of us can imagine. That shouldn't be all that surprising when you consider that ancestry is exponential. You start with two parents, each of whom also had two parents (now we're up to four ancestors), etc. Five generations back, each of us is descended from eight pairs of second great-grandparents (sixteen lines). Each of us is 10 generations removed from 256 pairs of seventh great-grandparents. By the time we are 15 generations removed, we are descended from 16,384 couples. Twenty generations back each of us theoretically can trace our ancestries to 524,288 sets of seventeenth great-grandparents (that's 1,048,576 lines). What does this all mean? For the statistically inclined, it is likely that each of us could be related to a lot of strangers, possibly including the folks next door or the person we took to the high school prom (giving new meaning to the term "kissing cousins"). The likelihood of being at least distantly related to a neighbor greatly increases with each generation as we spin off new branches, particularly in societies that -- unlike the American -- were relatively stable and homogeneous, such as 15th-century England, 17th-century New England, and 19th-century South Carolina, areas where many of my ancestors lived. Folks in such areas tended to marry neighbors and cousins. Family trees work both upward and downward. If going back 16 generations means that one is descended from 32,768 people, think how many descendants each of those ancestors has. In researching only one line from my wife's family, I have uncovered more than 1,500 people descended either by blood or marriage from a 16th-century Englishman. Assuming he is representative of most heads of Elizabethan English families, multiply those 1,500 descendants by the 32,768 people representing 13 generations, and one is faced with the possibility of being related to more than 49 million people. Using that arithmetic, one could easily be related to a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, or that cute young thing you've been working up the courage to ask out on a date. So if you were wondering why we tend to marry people who look and act a lot like ourselves, this might offer at least a partial explanation. Maybe now the term "family of mankind" makes a bit more sense. [W. Robert Chapman is a reference librarian at the Hartford Public Library.]