Hi List, I am looking for information on Noah, Hannah, and Cary Prickett. They were there in the 1850-1860. Thanks!

I'm trying to find where Ebenezer Rice NH>NY>IN married Esther Shepard (?) CT>NH>?NY>IN. Ebenezer - b NH 1772 d IN 1833, Esther - b CT 1778 d IN 1748. A We're also interested in these related women: Alice Scothorn 1856 -1879, Harriet Cooperider 1821 - 1899, Elizabeth Cline - 1817 - ?, and Viola Rawlings 1844 - 1897. All of these good folks lived in or near Scott County for most of their lives. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Sending thanks from the Pacific Northwest, Pat

am trying to join the list but don't think I've had any luck. My 1st request was returned because the mailer could not be found. If this is it, please sign me up. [email protected]

CAIN, Michael, b. approx. 1898 in Ireland wife -- Catherine or Mary PINCKNEY migrated from Ireland about 1847 children: 2. Patrick Cain (b. Abt. 1838-Ireland) 2. Elizabeth Cain (b. Abt. 1842-Ireland) 2. James Cain (b. Abt. 1842-Ireland) 2. Thomas Cain (b. 24 Jun 1844 -- Dublin, Ireland; d. 22 Feb 1912-Burlingame,Osage Co., KS) 2. Maria Cain (b. Abt. 1851-Indiana) 2. Michael Cain (b. Abt. 1853-Indiana) I am trying to determine if Michael CAIN is actually an ancestor of mine. I contacted the Indiana Archives a while back and have not yet heard from them, but it hasn't been that long. Valerie Williams

Searching for Pierson/Pearson in Scott Co., IN area. Michael, Shadrach, Barton Mary

Hi List, Looking for information on Francis Marion Sutton. Born in April 1850 or 1852 not sure which. He married Mary Ellen Barnett, she also was born in Indiana. Do these two sound familiar to anyone out there? Thanks for your time. Darlene in Missouri Researching: Sutton, Barnett, Prickett, Lael, Deckard, Lafayette, Roberts, Klein, Schroeder, Schneider, Gann, Bost

Hi All, My Name Mary --In VA Looking death info and maybe burial place of JOHN WRIGLEY b1817 IN and wife FannyWalker Wrigley B1816 N C Lived in Abington , Married Wayne Co In 1837 Thanks for any help Mary

Let's have a ROLL CALL, beginning now Saturday,Aug 18 2000 and ending NEXT Sunday Aug 27 2000 that is one whole week!! PLEASE include the STATE(s) and GIVEN NAME for the ancestor you are hunting IN THE SUBJECT LINE, and give more information about your ancestors - including dates and migration and spouses' surnames - in the message part of your post, so that you can get maximum benefit from this roll call. Please assist with any of the ROLL CALL posts that you possibly can - if we all focus together these next few days, we can maximize our efforts for the benefit of all of us. PLEASE, DO NOT send any of these posts to me. Send them to the list. PLEASE, DO NOT just send a list of surnames, place something to get results. Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

Looking for information on David T. Stark Lexington, IN.(census 1850) any and all information on David T. Stark would be greatly appreciated. I think that this is Philip M. Stark's father and I am trying to trace the sir side of this family(Philip). Thank you, Larry L. Stark

I would like to encourage all new subscribers to the list to access the archives for our list to see what you may have missed. The link is: http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl then type in just the name of the list. On the next page the year you are searching and the topic you are looking for. Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

This seems to be a fairly basic tool for researching. I myself, must confess that I don't use it as much as I should and I don't rely completely on it either. There are persons who rely mainly on it for their research. I think I have just found too many errors or exclusions in the census for my taste. I am a skeptical person which in most cases helps in research. If I find an error in a piece, I am usually looking for another and it also casts doubt on the rest of the file,piece or article. Throws it all into question. Although the census was started in 1790 and continues every 10 years to measure the density and geographic distributing of people, there are some things you should remember about the census. You must be very careful when using census records, however. They can be at once informative and helpful, as well as misleading or downright incorrect. There are four things you should always remember when working with census records: 1. Census records' content is only as good as the person who enumerated the people and recorded the information. Your ancestral family may have been the victim of a lazy or uncommitted enumerator. The enumerator may have been tired and may not have wanted to trudge down the road to your great-grandfather's farm or up five flights of stairs in your urban great-grandfather's apartment building. Instead, he may have asked a neighbor, "Hey, do you know the people who live there?" If the answer was yes, the enumerator might have then asked this person (and not a member of your ancestor's family) all the questions required to complete the schedule form. 2. Census records' contents are only as good as the person who provided the information. Even if the census enumerator visited the family, he may have been greeted by a child or other family member, or even a servant, who wasn't the best source for providing the information. As a result, the data may be incorrect. 3. People were seldom counted twice, but many were not counted at all. Enumerators sometimes missed homes, people were sometimes away, some people avoided being counted, and some refused outright to participate. 4. Census enumerators recopied their work onto fresh forms and, in some censuses, made copies for state, county, and/or local governments too. During the transcription process, errors may have been made. A birth date or an age miscopied, a ditto mark (or the abbreviation "do" or "dto") used in the wrong place, an incorrect state of birth—all these errors can conspire to point you in the wrong direction. I have found persons who are listed with nicknames instead of given names, persons who even though I know alot of the spelling was phonetic I have no idea how they arrive at certain combinations. People who aged 14-20 years in 10 years, and in certain counties in KY I have found notices on a web page stating that during a certain time frame, the taking of the census was delegated to certain officials who felt it was just too much work and they didn't do it. I couldn't believe this upon first reading it, but it is true. So those census are just not there. There is one tip though if you do use the census records alot. Also copy down the 6 households on either side of the ancestor you are searching. I know, Why? Don't you have enough to do? Because families often lived adjacent to or near other family members, such as parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, etc. This will save you a trip back to the library.If this is your main medium of research you should gain the most possible from your efforts. Alot of persons use the census for finding ancestors, and in many cases there not listed. For those persons who depend on the census, then the lack of an ancestor says to them that they weren't there. In this case, for my line anyway, this would confirm what I have thought all along.... I was dropped here from an alien universe, because if my ancestors weren't there, then I couldn't be here. Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

Have any of you ever re-read a book? You mysteriously see a sentence or paragraph that even though you KNOW you have read this book before, you don't recall seeing this particular piece. I myself do this quite frequently. I find that in many instances, Genealogy is better the second time around, or what I like to refer to as "served as a Leftover". This week I have been using for updating my files, placing all the odds and ends on my floppys onto the file or somewhere else. Also I have been sorting and organizing my filing system. Just last night I was looking through a file on my husband's line. I am stuck on one man and you all know the story. The man is an alien or an island. No parents, no marriage locale, no previous history. He is my true jigsaw puzzle, all info has been piecemeal, and I am being generous with that descriptive. But still, he is one of my most addictive searches. I looked at the file last night for what seemed like forever, and of course it just stared back. Then, I saw it. What someone had sent me well over a year ago and I had looked at a dozen times and put away, never being able to either accept or discard anything. The census record listed his mother in law in the household in 1850 and she was only 5 years older then the son inlaw. Which is not that unusual, except it made her 8 years old when she had her daughter!! Another piece someone had sent me complete with documentation,this man was in the military. I was so excited to get this break.Until I noticed that the man was 71 at the start of the Civil War and 73 at the time of induction, I know they made allowances at the end but I still don't think they were taking them that old. I had never noticed these items before and just kept putting them back away. Sometimes you just don't notice this stuff at face value, it takes many times of viewing to find errors or bonuses. The same is true for items I pull from mailing lists that seem to be of a connection, and appear a really great find. Countless times as I get ready to put these onto floppys or zips I look at it and wonder, "why on earth did I keep this"? Finding I either already had it or connects not even remotely. We all have mounds of piles of papers and data we are saving. Could our gold mine be in one of those? Could we find that piece of info we have been searching for hidden within pages we have stored away? I always do. Last night, I found a birthplace of someone on a marriage application that I thought I had pretty well covered for info. I knew the birthplace was on there, but it was in a different county then I had previously beat to death searching for her parents. So when you get discouraged, go back through your papers, you might just find out you had the info all the time. Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

Hello Terry: I really enjoyed the article on the 5th Grade. I noticed the name of Samuel Amick. As this name appears on the newspaper article I am trying to locate about the Philomen Phillips family reunion. The story would have been in the first week of September 1914 in some newspaper. Could it have been the Banner? Any help you could lend me would be appreciated. SEE BELOW The following is an article that appeared in an Indiana newspaper around the time period of 1913-1917. We have not been able to locate the source of this article and sure would like to as it would be of a great help in our search for our family roots. As noted by the story about the Kish Army, my best guess would be the first week of September 1914, as "Sunday, August 30" would have been in 1914. "HEADLINE" PHILLIPS REUNION The Descendants of Philemon Phillips and Alexander Wilson Met Sunday The Phillips reunion was held at the home of Milton Phillips in Indianapolis Sunday, August 30th. The day being an ideal one the relatives with beaming faces from all directions to the number of 53 had gathered. Milt and Emma had looked forward to this day for almost a year and so had everything in tip top order having stretched a large canvas in the yard. Under this stood a long table groaning with all the good things which were possible to cook and there was fried chicken and then more fried chicken which the hungry crowd did certainly enjoy. After eating of the good things to their hears content, Milt opened a big freezer of ice cream and it is needless to say what happened then. Those present were: S.M. Phillips of Victor, Colorado, Harry Phillips and wife, Charles Phillips, James Barnes, wife and daughter of Scott country, Alfred Stout of Dupont, Wood and Paul Phillips, and Julia Ogdon and children of Columbus, James and Clarence Phillips and their families of Brown township, Mellvile Phillips and wife, John Waters and wife, Ed Watts and wife of Pittsboro, Iva Bell and daughter, Samuel Amick and wife, of Brownsburg, F.B. Hopkins and family of Clayton, George Peak, wife and son Raymond, Almet Wilson, Albert Wilstec and family, Omer Delong and family and Charles Tinsley and family. After the dinner hour the time was spent in music, singing and a general good time. Mrs. Samuel Amick read an interesting paper which she had prepared on the descendants of the Wilson and Phillips families, which will publish in next week's issue for the benefit of those who were not present. The crowd then began to leave for their respective homes hoping to meet again a year from that day at the tome of Ed Watts in [rest of article is missing]. "NEXT HEADLINE" KISH ARMY GETS READY Britain Requests United States Cure For England's Interests Mike Phillips Lee's Summit, Missouri http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/users/p/h/i/Michael-L-Phillips/

Can anyone tell me the hours of the Scott Co. library? I have been trying since last Thursday to reach them and no one will answer.I also would like to know if the Historical Society has a library. All of the links on their web site are broken. Thank you! Marcia Gettelfinger

Hello! I am going to post this once again, in case there is someone who will take mercy on me! I am looking for the parents of James Blocher b. abt 1823 IN and Margaret Spiller b. abt. 1825 IN m. June 13,1844. Is there anyone who could look up the marriage record and see if their parents names are listed? I surely would appreciate it! Thank you! Marcia Gettelfinger

Have you ever given thought to what will happen to all the mountains of research after you are no longer,"guardian of the files"? There are I grant you several options -at the same time there are many problems with each one: 1.Children--Which one? many times there seems to be no real interest on the part of any of your children. 2.Grandchildren--This is great, but if they are very young now, who knows if this will be of interest to them later. 3.Library/Archival Holdings--This would be a useful thing to do, which one? what family line? >From my personal point of view, which is really all I can give you right now-- Even though, I know it wasn't really the way it was, it seems as if during my childhood I was drug into and walked through every cemetery in about 3 states, mostly Indiana. Didn't seem to have any real connection to me, these people had been dead quite some time. At ages 10-14 you always seem to have many more important things to do then walk through cemeteries, especially on vacation. Then there were the libraries, and the xerox machines. This was a little more interesting, although not much. Due to dire family illness, the genealogy was shelved for years, I married, had children and divorced. Then...I got it, the "bug". I knew it was there and I could get it at anytime, but really didn't think I would. There are no known vaccines for it, no instant cures, and to my knowledge no telethons raising money to cure the "bug". I started researching, now I could better comprehend the desire to roam the cemeteries, hang out at the libraries, talk in that strange language of: census,immigration, ship lists,I had to read obituaries,possibilities, speculations. My children (grown now) find it strange that mom actually not only takes photos of gravestones, she SAVES them. I find it odd that sometimes I can, given a name, regardless of time frame have recall of parents,dates,deaths. But bring me to the present and well, you all know...... What does this all have to do with who to leave your files to? Don't always assume that your children WON'T be interested at a future date. When I got the "bug" nobody had been prodding me it just "happened". I have three children. One would like the info,although as he puts it "you already have everything done, but I'd like to read it". One thinks its neat, but I can tell "really" doesn't want control of it. Then, there is the other child.. Most recently he has decided to borrow my familytreemaker and install it. He has asked for help and suggestions, he doesn't always have time to "get into it", BUT the "bug" is there, he has been bitten or he wouldn't be at the point he is. It is I grant you a tough decision as to who to leave the info to. I would like to make a copy for each of the children and for the grandchildren. But that still isn't the same as who will carry on the search. I would hate to see all the research just be read and not furthered. Of course you may all have comtemporaries who are also working on the family history and you feel that they understand the importance and the value of the research. But, of course you realize especially if they are older that in most likelihood they will be gone before you are. For me, the library is not an option as I don't wish for it to just sit there. I want it furthered. My suggestion, for what it is worth-- Look to the child of yours who had the most questions growing up, was the most curious, never could quite accept the reasoning "just because".The one who always dug just a little further into the why,how and where then all the other children in the area. My bet is this will be the child who later, has that desire to know. Who won't accept, "it was because it was." Everyone who is researching knows that it takes a certain amount of just not being able to accept everything they are told.Sure leave a copy to your grandchildren and to your children, but there is an inherent difference in a copy of the family history and your files. But then, as a final note, maybe I will be the first to have to have two burial plots. One will be for me and the other will have a stone saying "Her Files". We all know true genealogists never reach the end, after all once you leave this world, how are you going to ask all those questions,(wherever you are) without your files.......... Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time" -----Original Message----- From: judith jones [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2000 9:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [INSCOTT] A Matter of Some Levity I have a few I would like to add: 1. Don't trust your relatives' memory. People often remember what they want to even if it isn't true. 2. Don't trust the names given you by relatives. My grandmother not only reversed the first names of her grandfather's, but she did it on my great grandfather's death certificate making it worthless. 3. Don't jump to conclusions just because a name seems right. Make sure the dates and place match as well. Lots of people had the same names and with no middle name, you could be presueing a line different than your ancestoral one. 4. Be patient and if possible take a second job to pay for all the records you will have to request. Judith Jones [email protected] Debbie Jennings wrote: > Just for a matter of levity, but seriously folks this describes some of my > feelings toward my records of ancestors. > I kiddingly think my ancestors were a bunch of arsonists burning every court > house in every place they lived in!! > I particularly love the fourth and fifth one. > Enjoy > <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > As genealogists, we are notorious for poking fun at ourselves. We joke about > our obsession with family history, our computer addiction, and about the > ploys our ancestors may have used to avoid our searches. But sometimes there > is a grain of truth hidden in these jokes, and if we really think about > them, we may discover a way around these truths. > > 1.My ancestors . . . > > (A) Must have swum across because I can't find them in any immigration > records. > (B) Were deposited here by aliens. > (C) Were abducted by aliens. > > So many times when we feel we have searched every record type, we may > believe there is a grain of truth in this joke, but it might just be that we > are looking in the wrong location. > > For instance, if you have an ancestor who you have found record of in New > York City, you might be tempted to assume that he came into the country > through the Port of New York or Ellis Island. But your searches of New York > City or Ellis Island immigration records may be in vain. Knowing the history > of the area can help. Historically speaking, in some cases, it was cheaper > and more convenient to enter the United States via Canada and the St. > Lawrence; in fact, around 1850 it was actually encouraged. > > 2**The page of microfilm where your ancestor's name appears is unreadable > and appears to have been filmed after a five-martini lunch. > > While it may be that the original filming of the document is the reason it > is unreadable, many microform copies are made from other microfilms and they > may be several “generations” removed from the original. For this reason, a > copy in one repository may be of better or worse quality than a copy in > another repository. Make a note of the film and page number, and when you > have the opportunity to visit another repository that has that film, you > might want to do a quick check to see if you have better luck there. > > 3.**The documentation you seek was . . . > > (A) Onboard the Titanic. > (B) Burned in a courthouse fire. > (C) Eaten by a dog. > > This is unfortunately often the truth. Records are often destroyed in fires, > floods, or natural disasters. > > After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, most of the city's records were lost. > Many people had to reconstruct records in order to get their lives back in > order. Millions of records had to be re-recorded to prove land ownership, > citizenship status, or other life events. For this reason, a search of court > records in later years can often yield substantial results. > > 4.**The courthouse clerk who holds your grandfather's naturalization papers > has just been insulted by another genealogist. > > This can all too often be the truth, and for this reason it is very > important for us to always be polite to the keepers of the records we seek, > no matter how frustrated we become. But sometimes we can change bad > impressions with a smile, a kind word, or a simple act of kindness. We will > catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. > > 5.**You work for years to find the missing link in your family history. When > you finally find it and tell your family, Uncle George says, "Oh, I knew > that!" > > This underlines the importance of interviewing all living family members > (I've tried interviewing the dead ones, but they don't always respond!). > Even if you had interviewed Uncle George, though, did you ask the right > questions? Many times those not familiar with genealogy may not realize the > significance of these tidbits. Let him know what exactly what information > will help you. > > Did you let him know what information you have? Sometimes by showing him a > chart or a brief summary of what you know, he may be able to help you fill > in the blanks. > > Have you kept him up to date with new information you have found? Sometimes > new information will help to jog his memory and bring to light new > information. > > 6.**You have finally located the marriage record for the John Smith in your > family, and you find that his wife's maiden name is Smith too. > > 7.**You know you are a genealogy addict when your dining room table has been > transformed into an office and the table has been pushed into a corner to > make more room for your files. > > Hey, who's been peeking in my window?! > > Debbie Jennings > [email protected] > "Following the footprints through time" > > ============================== > Search ALL of RootsWeb's mailing lists in real time. > RootsWeb's Personalized Mailing Lists: > http://pml.rootsweb.com/

Just for a matter of levity, but seriously folks this describes some of my feelings toward my records of ancestors. I kiddingly think my ancestors were a bunch of arsonists burning every court house in every place they lived in!! I particularly love the fourth and fifth one. Enjoy <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> As genealogists, we are notorious for poking fun at ourselves. We joke about our obsession with family history, our computer addiction, and about the ploys our ancestors may have used to avoid our searches. But sometimes there is a grain of truth hidden in these jokes, and if we really think about them, we may discover a way around these truths. 1.My ancestors . . . (A) Must have swum across because I can't find them in any immigration records. (B) Were deposited here by aliens. (C) Were abducted by aliens. So many times when we feel we have searched every record type, we may believe there is a grain of truth in this joke, but it might just be that we are looking in the wrong location. For instance, if you have an ancestor who you have found record of in New York City, you might be tempted to assume that he came into the country through the Port of New York or Ellis Island. But your searches of New York City or Ellis Island immigration records may be in vain. Knowing the history of the area can help. Historically speaking, in some cases, it was cheaper and more convenient to enter the United States via Canada and the St. Lawrence; in fact, around 1850 it was actually encouraged. 2**The page of microfilm where your ancestor's name appears is unreadable and appears to have been filmed after a five-martini lunch. While it may be that the original filming of the document is the reason it is unreadable, many microform copies are made from other microfilms and they may be several “generations” removed from the original. For this reason, a copy in one repository may be of better or worse quality than a copy in another repository. Make a note of the film and page number, and when you have the opportunity to visit another repository that has that film, you might want to do a quick check to see if you have better luck there. 3.**The documentation you seek was . . . (A) Onboard the Titanic. (B) Burned in a courthouse fire. (C) Eaten by a dog. This is unfortunately often the truth. Records are often destroyed in fires, floods, or natural disasters. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, most of the city's records were lost. Many people had to reconstruct records in order to get their lives back in order. Millions of records had to be re-recorded to prove land ownership, citizenship status, or other life events. For this reason, a search of court records in later years can often yield substantial results. 4.**The courthouse clerk who holds your grandfather's naturalization papers has just been insulted by another genealogist. This can all too often be the truth, and for this reason it is very important for us to always be polite to the keepers of the records we seek, no matter how frustrated we become. But sometimes we can change bad impressions with a smile, a kind word, or a simple act of kindness. We will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. 5.**You work for years to find the missing link in your family history. When you finally find it and tell your family, Uncle George says, "Oh, I knew that!" This underlines the importance of interviewing all living family members (I've tried interviewing the dead ones, but they don't always respond!). Even if you had interviewed Uncle George, though, did you ask the right questions? Many times those not familiar with genealogy may not realize the significance of these tidbits. Let him know what exactly what information will help you. Did you let him know what information you have? Sometimes by showing him a chart or a brief summary of what you know, he may be able to help you fill in the blanks. Have you kept him up to date with new information you have found? Sometimes new information will help to jog his memory and bring to light new information. 6.**You have finally located the marriage record for the John Smith in your family, and you find that his wife's maiden name is Smith too. 7.**You know you are a genealogy addict when your dining room table has been transformed into an office and the table has been pushed into a corner to make more room for your files. Hey, who's been peeking in my window?! Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

This is a topic that most persons don't understand completely. If genealogists have a flaw, and I am not saying we do, of course. But that flaw would be the unremitting thought that,"this could be the info with the gold mine!!" So many of us are so very excited and anxious upon recieving info,even though we know we should we don't really always STOP and really look at that attachment before opening.You may not want to admit it even to yourself but we have all been guilty of it. Most mailing lists frown on the Virus Warnings type of posts and mainly because alot of these are Hoaxes. But in this series of tips, I think it is very pertinent and essential. I would like to say that in all fairness, some persons passing along viruses are totally unaware of the situation.I try my best to watch for it on the list and unsub anyone who is passing them along.(Their request for subbing usually will carry some warning.) I would also like to stress that I have seen many times that persons WITH updated virus scans and protections have still incurred damaging through some glitch in the system, so some of the alert is up to us.I found the following piece on the Ancestry.com site and it seems to me to be the best explanation of the how and why. There are also links to sites for virus protection.This is not to dissuade any of you from exchanging files, just to info about the types not to accept. @-------->--------->-------------<-----------<[email protected] Genealogists are great at exchanging information with one another. We mail photocopies back and forth, take photographs of cemetery markers, post information on message boards, exchange e-mail, and even send extracts from our computerized genealogy databases on disk or as attachments to e-mail messages. Despite all these good intentions, sometimes our exchange of electronic information carries a little 'bonus' as well--a computer virus. Imagine your horror at having all your years of computerized family history research destroyed in just a few moments by a computer virus. If you consider the time, energy and love that has gone into your research, I can't think of anything that would make you more heartsick than losing all of that effort in one fell swoop. WHAT IS A VIRUS?? A computer virus is generally defined as a program, which replicates and transmits itself from one computer to another. Viruses are created by people with a variety of motives, from the novice programmer who wants to prove his/her mettle to the outright cyber-terrorist wishing to wreak malicious destruction on computer users and their equipment. Some viruses act as soon as they are introduced into your computer, while others lurk until a specified date and time before activating themselves. Some viruses are benign, more of an annoyance than anything else. Others, however, may do irreparable damage by corrupting programs or deleting files. In a worst case scenario, a virus may reformat your hard disk, destroying all of your programs and data, and then go beyond that, altering the essential system code on the BIOS chip on your computer's motherboard. In that case, there is little hope for your computer other than to replace the motherboard and/or BIOS chip and then reinstall every program again. And hopefully you backed up your essential data. Otherwise you will have lost all your valuable data -- including all your computerized genealogical research materials -- forever! HOW ARE VIRUSES TRANSMITTED? What you must first understand is that computer viruses are executable programs, and their file name extensions are most often .exe (for executable program). Others are .com (command files) and, occasionally, .ovl (overlay files). UNDERSTAND TOO THAT THEY ARE NOT TEXT FILES -- those with a file extension of .txt in their name. THEY ARE ALSO NOT GRAPHIC FILES such as those with file extensions of .gif, .jpg, .bmp, .tif, or .tiff, and a variety of other graphics format files. Computer viruses can be transmitted between computers in several ways, all of which allow the executable files to be introduced and to run on your computer. There are literally thousands of viruses floating around in cyberspace, all acting a little differently. 1. A friend, colleague, or fellow researcher may provide you with a disk with documents or files on it. You may place this in your computer's floppy drive (A:) and copy the files to your hard disk. If there was a boot sector virus on the disk, one that affects your system's start-up files, you just introduced it to your computer. The next time you try to start your computer, you're dead. 2. Perhaps you didn't copy the files. Instead, perhaps you opened a GEDCOM file from your A: drive. There isn't a problem -- yet. However, you turn off your computer, leaving the disk in the floppy drive. If there's a boot sector virus there, the next time you turn on your computer, it tries to start itself with system files on the floppy disk in the A: drive. It then reads the virus and introduces it to the computer. 3. You have been exchanging E-mail with someone about your surname and they agree to share their GEDCOM file. When you receive the E-mail with the file attached., you notice the file is named JONES.EXE. You download the file to your hard disk and open it. Surprise! There's a file-infecting virus inside, and it may start working immediately to alter or destroy files on your computer. 4. Another person sends you a file that they tell you is compressed in a .ZIP format. ZIP files can consist of one or more files that have been compressed to eliminate spaces and therefore improve storage and transfer time. You download the file, but unfortunately this JOHNSON.ZIP file also contains a self-extracting facility that immediately starts the virus (that was also included in the little package) and devastation is on its way. 5. Another researcher sends you a Microsoft Word document as an attachment to an e-mail. At first glance, it looks great. The file is named WILSON.DOC and you download and store it on your hard disk. When you go to open it, a box is displayed asking you whether you want to Enable Macros or Open Without Enabling Macros. You select 'Enable Macros' and someone has just hit you with a virus, one that uses an advanced feature of MS-Word to run a set of program instructions that can wreak havoc on your computer. All of these are pretty scary. Not only can these scenarios happen, some viruses combine multiple techniques and attack in multiple ways. Some even hide in your computer's memory (RAM) or alter themselves in size and rename themselves to avoid detection. HOW WILL MY COMPUTER STAY VIRUS FREE? While there are many ways to catch a virus, there are a number of ways and places you will not contract a computer virus. 1. Prepackaged software sold in retail stores or from reputable locations on the Internet will not have viruses. If you go to a store and consider purchasing prepackaged software that has been opened and is on sale for a bargain price, think again. The person who returned the merchandise may have infected the software, on purpose or unintentionally. 2. Software and data files that you find at reliable genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com, the Genealogy Forum on America Online, CompuServe, and Prodigy, and some other sites are rigidly checked for viruses. You can download these files with confidence that they have been screened and that any viruses have been eradicated. 3. Files attached to e-mail that are text type files, bearing file names with the extension of .txt, are not executable programs and are therefore not viruses. HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF The most effective way to protect yourself against viruses is to know your source. Be careful about accepting disks and files from strangers, and be wary about where on the Internet you download files. Second, purchase and use a reputable anti-virus software program and check every single file you introduce to your computer, regardless of its location. The major software packages on the market are McAfee's VirusScan (http://www.mcafee.com/), Dr. Solomon's Anti-Viral Tool Kit (http://www.drsolomon.com/), and Symantec's Norton Anti-Virus (http://www.symantec.com/). A good anti-virus software package will detect different types of viruses, alert you to their presence, delete them and/or try to clean infected files. Make sure you obtain frequent updates/upgrades from these companies' Web sites or periodically purchase new versions of their software. With hundreds of new viruses discovered annually, you cannot afford to be lackadaisical on this subject. Third, make an emergency boot disk. In the event that a virus infects your system, you will be able to bypass the infected or damaged system files and restart your computer. See your computer manual or Windows 95/98 Help files for instructions. It's easy! Last but not least, back up all your important data on a regular basis. If a virus destroyed your genealogical research information stored on your computer, you would probably never be able to recreate it all. Invest a few minutes regularly to back up your data and you might save yourself many months of reconstruction and reentry of data. Be Prepared! Now that you understand what a virus is and what one can do to your computer, make certain you are prepared against this insidious form of cyber-terrorism. Invest the time to learn more about viruses, purchase and use anti-virus software, know your sources, be vigilant in your virus-checking routine, and regularly back up your data. This is another important way to preserve your family history. Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"

Non--Connecting Files I had always just hung onto pieces of info that "never quite fit in" although it seemed as if they should have. I now have a floppy on Non-Connecting and use it as follows: If I receive something that seems as if it fits but there are a few generations missing, or it sounds correct but not enough to place in my family file. I stick these in the Non Connecting and with some frequency I go through it to see if anything fits yet. You would be surprised at something that seemingly didn't fit last week or last month now fits. I began doing this as the result of saying way too many times,"I had something on that, now where did I put it?" So now I save things JUST IN CASE. If it still doesn't fit after a reasonable amount of time of I recheck it and it really doesn't fit after all I discard it. I do try to make sure I have past the point on a line that the questionable info would cover. Maybe this isn't the best of systems but it saves loosing items that later become useful. Don't misunderstand I don't do all my research on floppys, I do also maintain a notebook of Family sheets,pedigrees,etc. I want just one more back up if I were to loose all on the computer. Debbie Jennings [email protected] "Following the footprints through time"