Greetings: I have been entrusted with the RootsWeb mailing list for the GARDNER surname. I am also the admin for VTGEN, VTCALEDO, VTLAMOIL, VTORANGE, VTWINDSO, MANORFOL, FELCH, FORBUSH, HARTWELL, HULBERT, LAMSON, LOWER, NELSON, ROUSSEAU, and RUSSEAU, so a few of you may recognize most of this message (likely the longest one you will ever get from me). The position is voluntary, with no qualifications and not many onerous duties. I have been quite pleased with the way that Millie was handling the list, and am very sorry that she found it necessary to give it up. With the conviction that GARDNER-L has been and will be what its members make of it, I intend to administer with a light touch. You will of course want to know what that *means*: 1. Each list has its own look and feel, to which the members become accustomed. I intend to change very little without a reason, and if it's visible to the subscribers I am likely to ask for opinions even then. I welcome suggestions for improvement. You will note in the next few days, however, the addition of "taglines" which I hope you find useful and interesting. 2. There are some exceptions to my "light touch" approach. One is "Rootsweb's Common-Sense Acceptable Use Policy" at: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/aup.html Another is that virus alerts, scam alerts, and all such are forbidden. If you have just discovered proof of the virus which will end the Internet -- tell ME, *off list*. Let the other listmembers get some genealogy done in the last few days left to us. 3. Continue being polite. You may contradict any *idea* expressed on this list as vigorously as you like, if your language is cordial and non-personal and you are not disrupting the list as a whole. 4. Praise publicly, complain privately. Except to provide evidence correcting statements of fact, all criticism of others or their messages should be sent to me. Another exception: if I should happen to say something you *like* as admin, don't clutter up the list with the e-mail equivalent of the Parliamentary "Hear, Hear!" 5. The list is about the GARDNER surname, and is hosted by the largest and oldest genealogy site on the 'net. So there is a reasonable expectation that messages will have some connection with GARDNER genealogy, history, and family doings. What that means is for the most part left up to you, the list subscribers. Information on related spellings, such as GARDENER, are welcome as they might relate to GARDNER. 6. An intolerance for irrelevancies and an inability to filter out unneeded information are not positive traits in genealogists. Please accept slightly off-topic messages, the opinions of others, expressive signature blocks, and the like, with good grace; or if you can't manage that, with silence. 7. Newbies are my friends. A newbie I haven't met has the key to that elusive ancestor I have agonized over for decades. Please don't insult or patronize my friends on this list. 8. I am, like most of us, an amateur genealogist with GARDNER ancestry, specifically the GARDNERs from Erskine Parish, Scotland, who as part of the Scotch American Company settled in Ryegate, (now) Vermont in 1773. I am not the most knowledgeable genealogist on this list, but I do enjoy helping those who know more than I do to help others. 9. I am very pleased that the "reject file" (banned users list) is empty. I will do everything in my power to keep it that way. Darrell Admin for VTGEN, VTCALEDO, VTLAMOIL, VTORANGE, VTWINDSO, MANORFOL, F.ELCH, F.ORBUSH, G.ARDNER, H.ARTWELL, H.ULBERT, L.AMSON, L.OWER, N.ELSON, R.OUSSEAU, R.USSEAU -- [email protected]

Darrell, nice note,good rules, thanks for accepting the responsibility. k

I have not heard of the Scots American Company. Can't yet prove it by documentation, but think my kin came from Paisley, Scotland probably by way of the Ulster plantation. Where can I find resources on the Scots American Company? Thank you for administering this site it is a great resource. My first use turned up a second cousin whom I didn't know existed and had all the info I could digest in a year. Nancy

At 08:51 AM 6/7/01 -0500, Nancy Hunter wrote: >I have not heard of the Scots American Company. Can't yet prove it by >documentation, but think my kin came from Paisley, Scotland probably by way >of the Ulster plantation. Where can I find resources on the Scots American >Company? >Thank you for administering this site it is a great resource. My first use >turned up a second cousin whom I didn't know existed and had all the info I >could digest in a year. > >Nancy Hi, Nancy: The following is adapted from "History of Ryegate, Vermont". My other main sources for my GARDNER ancestry are Wells' "History of Newbury, Vermont", census records, and the town records of Ryegate and Newbury. Also, note that it is *NOT* "Scots American" but "Scotch American". That is what they called it, and don't get me started on the (supposed) distinction between "Scotch" and "Scots". Robert Burns called the people of Scotland "the Scotch" and he's a good enough authority for me <grin>. Before the Revolution, associations were formed in various parts of Scotland to purchase land in America, and there form communities whose members were previously acquainted. Sometimes these associations were assisted by some nobleman or wealthy merchant, but generally they were joint stock companies, in which the "adventurers" took shares. Such an association was organized at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, Scotland, on 5 February 1773. "William Neilson and John Walker, farmers, and Hugh Gardner, smith, all in Glenshinnock" were among the 137 signers of the "Bond of Association" of the Scotch-American Company which settled Ryegate, Vermont. Because Inchinnan was chosen as its meeting place, the association is often called the "Inchinnan Company", to distinguish it from other Scotch colonies in America (including the one which settled Barnet). Their impact did not fade quickly. In 1913 a prominent clergyman declared "that the only parts of Scotland he had ever visited were Ryegate and Barnet [Vermont]". Caledonia, the Vermont county which includes Ryegate and Barnet, was given the ancient name for Scotland. But there was no nostalgia among these Scots toward the regime of George III. Although tories (Loyalists) made a great deal of trouble in neighboring Newbury, there is not one recorded as being from Ryegate. Hugh was a prominent citizen of the town, long a justice of the peace, and an elder in the Reformed Presbyterian church. Darrell Darrell A. Martin a native Vermonter currently in exile in Addison, Illinois [email protected]