copied... From: RootsWeb Review <RootsWeb-Review-L-request@rootsweb.com> To: RootsWeb-Review-L@rootsweb.com Subject: RootsWeb Review, Vol. 5, No. 12, 20 March 2002 Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Free Weekly E-zine Vol. 5, No. 12, 20 March 2002, Circulation: 933,001 This is a post-only mailing. Editor: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, Certified Genealogist  RWR-Editor@rootsweb.com Certification: http://www.bcgcertification.org/certification/ All back issues of RootsWeb Review can be searched and downloaded at:                   http://e-zine.rootsweb.com/ ================================ IN THIS ISSUE       1. Connecting through RootsWeb: Leaping Across the Big Pond;     Serendipity Strikes Again       2. News and Notes (2a. RSL Reaches a Milestone;     2b. Yearbooks and Rosters; 2c. New User-contributed Databases;     2d. Spotlighted Web Pages: Some Grave Matters)       3. New Mailing Lists       4. New Web Pages       5. New FreePages and HomePages       6. RootsWeb Review's Bottomless Mailbag: Want Fries with That?       7. Virtual Bouquet for Floridian Jim Powell Virtual Bouquet for Floridian Jim Powell By Sheila Casper from Fairbanks, Alaska   Casperfamily@mosquitonet.com I want to acknowledge and honor Jim Powell for the major contribution he has made to Internet genealogy and family history research. Powell is the coordinator for the FLGENWEB counties of Alachua, Bradford, and Gilchrist counties. In addition he is the Florida assistant state coordinator for FLGENWEB. And, if this was not enough. he changed careers and became the "Ancient Records" coordinator and webmaster of Alachua County, Florida: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flalachu/ His real talent is in motivating people. He has amassed an army of Alachua County, Florida volunteers from all over the United States who have transcribed thousands of pages of documents. Most of these records were unavailable for research, even at the county courthouse, until Powell, with the valuable assistance of the Clerk of the Court, J. K. "Buddy" Irby, made the major commitment of getting the records scanned and online. Some of the Alachua County, Florida records that Powell has scanned, posted, and encouraged volunteers to transcribe (or transcribed himself) include: --Indexed, transcribed, and posted the 1850 and 1860 census. --Maps. --Located old settlements and posted their histories. --Transcribed and posted Deed Books A and B. These are some of the very earliest records of the area. He also made an index for five of the early deed books, and volunteers are transcribing the pages. --Coordinated many volunteers who transcribed the DAR cemetery survey. --Scanned and placed online all marriage record books (1837-1923). Coordinated volunteers to transcribe these records so that they would   be searchable. --Scanned and placed online many, many probate files from the earliest times. These probate files are incredibly detailed and are valuable for genealogists and history buffs alike. He created a very user friendly template so that transcription is easier. Volunteers have transcribed many of these images so that they can be searched. --Transcribed the county's first County Commission Book. --Scanned and placed online delayed birth certificates books, bill of sale books, and mortgage books. The above records are all easily searchable thanks to the great search engines Powell has created. As I have researched my HAGUE, LIPSEY, and TIDWELL families in Alachua County, Florida I have gained much insight into their lives from 1825 on. The probate file on my ancestor, John HAGUE or HECK contains about 50 pages. I have learned so much about this family through these records. And, since it was filed under HAGEN, it is doubtful that I would have found it at all if it had not been for Jim Powell. Every time he finds another "HAGUE sighting" he e-mails me. I know he does this for many other researchers. He has my undying gratitude for his service to me and, indeed, everyone researching in Alachua County, Florida.