==================================================================== "SCOTTISH DIRECTORIES," by Sherry Irvine, B.A., CGRS, FSA (Scot) ==================================================================== Lists and databases are nothing new; it is the way the information is stored and presented that has changed. Directories can be described as early databases because they are collections of names and associated facts; they list merchants, manufacturers, traders, professional people, justices, and the landed classes. People either paid to be included or paid to purchase the volumes. Directories were an early form of advertising, telling businesses about other businesses and informing those with purchasing power who was providing supplies and services. Scotland before 1900 was not a consumer society and most people had little or no disposable income. In other words, directories list very limited numbers of people before the 1850s, and although more people are in the post office directories of the late Victorian period, this is far from being anything like the coverage of the census enumerations. This immediately brings up a question of the value of directories at a time when indexes to Scottish census returns are not far from being completed. Why consult directories? The answer lies in dates and availability. Census returns happened at ten-year intervals, 1841, 1851 and so on, up to the most recent one available, 1901. Directories, on the other hand, were printed more frequently, eventually annually, especially in the large cities. Also, directories begin much earlier than the first nominal census return of 1841 and records of civil registration in 1855. Researchers in Scotland have access to valuation rolls, which survive completely from 1855, but those living elsewhere have very limited access (there are a few in the Family History Library). In Scotland directories can be used to find locations and occupations either between census returns or before government records begin. If you stop and think about it, you realize that there can be long periods when an individual does not appear in vital records; for example, between early adulthood and marriage or between the birth of the last child and death. Following an ancestor through directories can tell you whether or not he remained in the same area over the years or changed his occupation. You might learn that he died and his wife assumed the management of the business. As you may have gathered by now, I am suggesting that directories are widely accessible. In Scotland, they are in libraries and archives. For genealogists living elsewhere, they can be found in the Family History Library, and they can be found online. The Family History Library collection includes a long run of Glasgow directories from 1787 to 1886 as well as directories for other cities and counties, or for all of Scotland. They have many directories available that are later than 1830. Using the CD-ROM version of the catalog, with its keyword search capabilities, the words Scotland Directory produced 98 results of which half were trade and post office directories. The most effective search is by place; do this three times using Scotland, the county name and the town in turn. Online, you can search all pre-1830 Scottish directories within the Ancestry subscription databases under the title "UK and US Directories and Lists 1680-1830." You need to experiment with the search tool because it is searching all the items in this database and it does not work to try and single out these entries by using 'directory' as a keyword. I found the most effective way to find what I wanted was to enter a surname or a full name and to use the county name in the location field. Before beginning a search in the database look at the list of the contents. The list is available on the database main page at: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?sourceid=4717&targetid=4367 The search box is at the top of the page and a detailed description begins just below it. Places represented are a mix of counties and towns: Aberdeen, Angus, Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Greenock, Paisley, Renfrewshire. Many of these titles include listings for other places and you will be able to find what these are when reading the descriptions of the items in which individual entries appear. Directories remain a useful research tool for Scottish research, especially in populated areas before civil registration and census returns. Their usefulness is enhanced by the fact that a significant proportion are widely available and that large block of these can be searched in database form. ____________________________________________________________________ Sherry Irvine, CGRSsm, FSA Scot is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English and Scottish family history. She is the author of "Your English Ancestry" (2nd ed, 1998) and "Your Scottish Ancestry" (1997) and a regular contributor to several journals including "Genealogical Computing." Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University. She teaches online for the family history program of Vermont College and has lectured at conferences in Canada, the United States, and Australia. She is president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. ____________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News"

Dear Members of the Marin County Genealogical Society: When I wrote on this topic earlier, I asked for someone to post which offices are still in need of a candidate. My apologies to Esther and the Board-- I did not notice that on the back of the Meeting Notice there was the following message from President, Esther Kooiman: ....................... " Attention: Members For the first time in memory, we are missing candidates for the upcoming election of officers: President Second Vice President (program) Secretary Publicity and Hospitality. If these positions are not filled, there will be an incomplete governing board for MCGS and the future of the Society is in doubt. If you want your Society to continue, then you need to step forward and volunteer. Note our by-laws do allow positions to be shared. Please call Esther Kooiman* or Susan Trumbull*" ................... * I have not included Esther and Susan's telephone numbers in this post. Members will find them on the inside jacket of their Kin Tracer. At minimum, someone must come forward to fill the offices of President and 2nd Vice President. The office of Secretary is also one that needs filling, however, the others are a must fill. Publicity Chair and Hospitality Chair are appointments, not elected positions. Having been on the board previously, I know how difficult it becomes when faced with nominations and elections to find sufficient persons to come forward to fill the offices. However, now the Society is at a crucial stage with no one coming forward to "man the helm." If there is not a 2nd Vice President to plan the programs, there will not be any to offer. If you think you might want to try this out, Susan Trumbull, Emily Wilson and I have all held the position of (First Vice President) Program Chair and any one of us can give you pointers. It is not that difficult a job. One can plan all the presentations for the coming year in fairly short order. Then all that is left to do is to attend the meetings and follow up with the speakers -- provide directions, etc. Publicity chair is an important position in the Society. It does take a bit of time and doing, however, it is not an extremely difficult job. You either attend the Board meetings or be in contact to obtain the announcements to include in the meeting notice and the information for upcoming meetings. Information regarding the meetings is faxed to a list of local newspapers, perhaps emailed to others and perhaps to other Societies to include in their announcements. Stephanie can provide the latest version of what is included in this position. She has been doing a great job. Hospitality ensures that there are refreshments at each meeting - perhaps a bit more -- I am unsure if this position now also includes greeting folks at the sign in table. However, all it takes is a little bit of time and a friendly face. Which of you is ready to come forth? Are you prepared to see the Society to not see its 27th Anniversary? If no one comes forth, this may be the outcome. I would hope not, but an organization cannot continue if it does not have officers. There needs to be some effort put back in to the organization by the membership. It may be your turn. Give it some thought. The General Meeting is next Wednesday. It would be great to hear that the Board can announce a full slate of officers and go on with the election at the Annual General Meeting in April. All of the Officers terms end in May. I find that the more one puts into an organization, the more one gets out of it. I found my experience in leadership and volunteering with the Society to be very enriching. At minimum, I got to know the majority of the Society personally. There are many fine folk among us. Sincerely, Lauren Lauren M. Boyd Past President [2 terms] Past 1st Vice President - program chair [3 terms] Past Web Master, Chair web committee Founder, Past Librarian, CD Rom Research Library Founding Member, Computer Interest Group Marin County Genealogical Society List Administrator, [email protected]

Dear Listers: Apparently some of you did not understand that the messages were an UPDATE of the message you received when joining the list. I have recently updated the text of the welcome messages and forwarded that text to the list in order that you all have a current copy. I sent a copy for each mode to the list. Your subscription to the list has not changed in anyway. You have not been subscribed yet again or to a different version. Sincerely, Lauren List Admin

Dear Members of the Marin County Genealogical Society: I received my meeting notice this morning and it mentions there are still vacancies to be filled for the Society's upcoming elections. However, it does not mention which offices are in need of filling. Can someone please post which offices are still in need of a candidate? It is vital to any organization to have Officers and Board members rotate in and out of office, to give others an opportunity to be part of Leadership of the organization and to keep it viable. Many of the current officers have served their term and perhaps have served prior terms. Some have decided it is time to move on and let others have their turn. Others have obligations that preclude them from continuing on the Board as an Officer. Those of you that may be thinking that you might *someday* become more involved in the Society by participating as an Officer might consider that *now* would be a good time to come forward. Being on the board can be a rewarding experience. I am sure that the Nominating Committee would be pleased to hear from you. Also -- if you know of another member that may be qualified to serve as an Officer, please do recommend them to the Nominating Committee. It is important to the Organization to have others step forward. The Bylaws, as last ammended, do make room for sharing an office. It is possible, for example, to have Co-Secretaries. Please consider sharing office, if you have limited time but might otherwise be interested. As a California not-for profit Corporation with IRS 501(c)3 standing, it is important for the Society to have as many offices as possible filled in the next election. Sincerely, Lauren M. Boyd Past President Past 1st Vice President, Program Chair Marin County Genealogical Society

Welcome to the MarinGenSoc mailing list! You are currently subscribed in "digest mode", which means that several postings made to MarinGenSoc will be consolidated together and sent to you as a single large message. The directions on how to change to mail mode (where you receive every message as a separate e-mail) are given below. Please be sure to save this message for your future reference. This mailing list is established for those who are interested in corresponding with, or learning about the activities of, the Marin County [California]Genealogical Society. Activities of The Society and meeting announcements will be posted to the list. This is also a place for discussions of genealogy in general. Society members on the list will have knowledge they can share regarding genealogy in Marin County; however, queries that require record look-ups are to be referred to the Society's research committee members. Other appropriate topics are genealogically related humor postings (we all need a break from the ancestor search!) and software discussions. The Society's web site will be found at http://www.maringensoc.org Enjoy yourself! Be patient with those just learning, be it how to post to the list or how to do genealogy. NO flames! If you have a problem with someone on the list, send them a private post. If that does not resolve your issue, send me a private message at my listowner/administrator address: [email protected] Remember you have free use of your delete key, use it as frequently as needed for unwanted messages that you don't care to read! : ) Do not send e-mail messages to this mailing list for which the topic is inappropriate. If your purpose in joining this list is to sell products, unsubscribe now. The listowner will not tolerate spam. If you are responding to a message posted earlier, please do not leave the message attached. If you must quote the other message, please keep it to the minimum amount of information to make your response understood. Everyone that is subscribed to the list will have already received a copy of the earlier message. Be careful to not keep the entire digest attached. Please check your subject line to be sure it is in agreement with the topic of your post. This is especially helpful when a discussion evolves through several generations of messages and no longer reflects the original posting. Please be sure the subject line does not refer to the Digest # and date as those not receiving mail in the digest mode do not share that point of reference. They may overlook your message as not pertaining to them. Those that do subscribe to the digest mode will also find this a useless point of reference. Please turn off your HTML or RTF (rich text format)coding and any automatic signature lines before posting to this list. Do not send attachments (attached files) of any sort to this mailing list. This includes URL shortcuts, v-cards, GEDCOM files, zipped files, and any other type of attachment. Do not send graphics to this mailing list. The server does not like them. Please keep signature lines to four lines or less. Do not include the names you may be researching in your signature lines as it will result in others getting a false positive result when searching on surnames. When they come to your message they will find that it does not respond to their query in any manner, except that you have listed the name. This makes searching more time consuming and frustrating than it need be. Under no circumstances is there to be posting of copyright protected data, such as found on the CD ROM Rearch Disks published by the various software companies, such as Broderbund or Palladium. If in doubt, check the software agreement that came with your software. I recognize this is usually done in a spirit of helpfulness, but I cannot allow it to occur on this list. Do not cross-post messages to multiple mailing lists on the "To:" line or the "Cc:" line of the e-mail message. Do not send messages that warn of viruses. Most are hoaxes. The folks that send them out take advantage of people new to the internet to spread their phoney messages. If you need to check to see if the message you received is valid you can visit: * Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability at <http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html> * Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at <http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html> * McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List at <http://www.mcafee.com/support/hoax.html> * Dr. Solomons Hoax Page at <http://www.drsolomons.com/vircen/hoax.html> * The Urban Legends Web Site at <http://www.urbanlegends.com> * Urban Legends Reference Pages at <http://www.snopes.com> * Datafellows Hoax Warnings at <http://www.Europe.Datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm> 1. How to unsubscribe. Send a message to [email protected] that contains (in the body of the message) the command unsubscribe and no additional text. 2. How to subscribe. Whatever you just did worked, or you'd not be getting this message. But for future reference (for instance, if your subscription is cancelled for whatever reason and you want to resubscribe), just send the command "subscribe" to [email protected] 3. How to change to mail mode (each posting is sent to you as a separate e-mail). There are two steps. First, send the command "unsubscribe" to [email protected] to discontinue digest mode. Second, send the command "subscribe" to [email protected] to start receiving individual messages. 4. How to change to NOMAIL mode. There is no formal NOMAIL mode. All you have to do is follow the directions above and unsubscribe when you want the messages to stop, and then when you want them to start again, simply subscribe again. 5. If you'd like to post a message so everyone on the mailing list receives it, just send it to [email protected] It will then be sent on to everyone in both mail and digest mode. You don't need to send it explicitly to both. Please do check your "cc" list to be sure you are not sending the message to both. If the person is subscribed to this list and you send your reply to the list, they will see it. Also, if you really only mean to reply to them personally, checking to see if the list is on the "send to" or "cc" before pushing the button to release your message can save you from, perhaps, an embarrassing moment! If you need assistance, contact me at this address: [email protected] Happy Trails, Lauren M. Boyd Listowner/Administrator [email protected]

Welcome to the MarinGenSoc mailing list! You are currently subscribed in "mail mode", which means that you will receive every posting made to MarinGenSoc as a separate e-mail. The directions on how to change to digest mode are given below. Please be sure to save this message for your future reference. This mailing list is established for those who are interested in corresponding with, or learning about the activities of, the Marin County [California]Genealogical Society. Activities of The Society and meeting announcements will be posted to the list. This is also a place for discussions of genealogy in general. Society members on the list will have knowledge they can share regarding genealogy in Marin County; however, queries that require record look-ups are to be referred to the Society's research committee members. Other appropriate topics are genealogically related humor postings (we all need a break from the ancestor search!) and software discussions. The Society's web site will be found at http://www.maringensoc.org Enjoy yourself! Be patient with those just learning, be it how to post to the list or how to do genealogy. NO flames! If you have a problem with someone on the list, send them a private post. If that does not resolve your issue, send me a private message at my listowner/administrator address: [email protected] Remember you have free use of your delete key, use it as frequently as needed for unwanted messages that you don't care to read! : ) Do not send e-mail messages to this mailing list for which the topic is inappropriate. If your purpose in joining this list is to sell products, unsubscribe now. The listowner will not tolerate spam. If you are responding to a message posted earlier, please do not leave the message attached. If you must quote the other message, please keep it to the minimum amount of information to make your response understood. Everyone that is subscribed to the list will have already received a copy of the earlier message. Please check your subject line to be sure it is in agreement with the topic of your post. This is especially helpful when a discussion evolves through several generations of messages and no longer reflects the original posting. Please turn off your HTML or RTF (rich text format)coding and any automatic signature lines before posting to this list. Do not send attachments (attached files) of any sort to this mailing list. This includes URL shortcuts, v-cards, GEDCOM files, zipped files, and any other type of attachment. Do not send graphics to this mailing list. The server does not like them. Please keep signature lines to four lines or less. Do not include the names you may be researching in your signature lines as it will result in others getting a false positive result when searching on surnames. When they come to your message they will find that it does not respond to their query in any manner, except that you have listed the name. This makes searching more time consuming and frustrating than it need be. Under no circumstances is there to be posting of copyright protected data, such as found on the CD ROM Rearch Disks published by the various software companies, such as Broderbund or Palladium. If in doubt, check the software agreement that came with your software. I recognize this is usually done in a spirit of helpfulness, but I cannot allow it to occur on this list. Do not cross-post messages to multiple mailing lists on the "To:" line or the "Cc:" line of the e-mail message. Do not send messages that warn of viruses. Most are hoaxes. The folks that send them out take advantage of people new to the internet to spread their phoney messages. If you need to check to see if the message you received is valid you can visit: * Department of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability at <http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html> * Symantec Anti Virus Research Center at <http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html> * McAfee Associates Virus Hoax List at <http://www.mcafee.com/support/hoax.html> * Dr. Solomons Hoax Page at <http://www.drsolomons.com/vircen/hoax.html> * The Urban Legends Web Site at <http://www.urbanlegends.com> * Urban Legends Reference Pages at <http://www.snopes.com> * Datafellows Hoax Warnings at <http://www.Europe.Datafellows.com/news/hoax.htm> 1. How to unsubscribe. Send a message to [email protected] that contains (in the body of the message) the command unsubscribe and no additional text. 2. How to subscribe. Whatever you just did worked, or you'd not be getting this message. But for future reference (for instance, if your subscription is cancelled for whatever reason and you want to resubscribe), just send the command "subscribe" to [email protected] 3. How to change to digest mode (several postings are combined and sent to you together as a single large message). There are two steps. First, send the command "unsubscribe" to [email protected] to discontinue mail mode. Second, send the command "subscribe" to [email protected] to start receiving digests. 4. How to change to NOMAIL mode. There is no formal NOMAIL mode. All you have to do is follow the directions above and unsubscribe when you want the messages to stop, and then when you want them to start again, simply subscribe again. 5. If you'd like to post a message so everyone on the mailing list receives it, just send it to [email protected] It will then be sent on to everyone in both mail and digest mode. You don't need to send it explicitly to both. Please do check your "cc" list to be sure you are not sending the message to both. If the person is subscribed to this list and you send your reply to the list, they will see it. Also, if you really only mean to reply to them personally, checking to see if the list is on the "send to" or "cc" before pushing the button to release your message can save you from, perhaps, an embarrassing moment! If you need assistance, contact me at this address: [email protected] Happy Trails, Lauren M. Boyd Listowner/Administrator [email protected]

MCGS General Meeting Wednesday, March 26, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. Lutheran Church, 1100 Las Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael Video-Tape: Debateable Lands - In Search of the Border Reivers A video tape will be shown about the Border Reivers -- medieval families living along the England-Scotland border. It was said of the Border Reivers that "if Jesus Christ was amongst them, they would deceive him." They were murderers, arsonists, kidnappers and protection racketeers. They added words such as "blackmail" and "bereaved" to the language. Yet, in a fashion, they were also honorable men. Come and find out if any of the surnames you are researching are among the most notorious Border Reiver surnames. A slate of candidates for the Board was to be presented; however nominees have not been found for several positions, forcing a postponement of presentation of the slate.

Dear Listers: It seems I am experiencing a bit of difficulty. The outline is as follows: In depth demonstration and discussion of: --Mailing lists -- effective query/subject line --Bulletin boards -- effective query/subject line --Gateways --Archives and how to use them more effectively --A brief behind the scenes look at Administration and Volunteering --A sure fire way to eliminate the ad pop-ups from displaying while viewing the bulletin boards. The notes may not be available in advance, but will be available for download later for reference. I will print copies if unable to get them uploaded in time for the meeting. I prefer that the attendees not be bogged down with note taking. I am looking forward to seein you this afternoon. Happy Trails, Lauren John Deadman wrote: > > > MCGS-CIG > > PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING > > Thursday, 20 March 2003 01:00 to 3:00 PM > Marin Community Foundation > Redwood Room > 5 Hamilton Landing-Suite 200 > Novato, CA > > Lauren Boyd will make a presentation as follows: > > "How to Make the Best Use of Rootsweb Resources"-An overview of what is > available "for free" > In depth demonstration and discussion of: > --Mailing list, bulletin boards -Gateways-Archives and how to use them more > effectively-A brief behind the scenes look at Administration and > Volunteering-A sure fire way to eliminate the ad pop-ups from displaying > while viewing the bulletin boards- > > Lecture outline and notes will be available for download and printout prior > to meeting. > > Please note that this class will be a "hands on" session so bring your > notebook computers. The facility has network connections available for us > to use - both wired and wireless - and a broadband connection to the > Internet! If you have a network card, bring a cable to connect to their > switch. If you have a wireless network card, bring it so we can use their > network. > > > DIRECTIONS: > > Going North: > a) Going north on Highway 101, take the Hamilton Field/Nave Dr. Exit. Veer > right at the end of the exit ramp and follow Nave Drive going north, > parallel to 101. Take a right at Main Gate Road, which leads into Hamilton > (At Crescent, Main Gate Road becomes Palm Drive.) > b) Continue until you reach the Arts Center, then bear right onto South > Palm Drive. Take South Palm Drive to the end, turn right onto Hangar > Avenue, and take an immediate left into the parking lot. MCG is in Hangar > 5, at 5 Hamilton Landing. The entrance is down the pathway between Hangar > 5 and Hangar 6. > > Going south: > Going south on Highway 101, take the Bel Marin Keys/Hamilton Field Exit. At > the end of the exit ramp, take a right onto Ignacio Blvd. After crossing > the freeway, take an immediate right onto Nave Drive. Take a left onto Main > Gate Road, which leads into Hamilton. (At Cresent , Main Gate Road becomes > Palm Drive) Then follow directions "b" above. > > Contact John Deadman ([email protected]) or Gene Pennington > ([email protected]) if you need directions to the meeting location or need > more information. > > > --- John Deadman > --- [email protected] > --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet. > > > ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== > When did you last back up your data? Make sure you back up frequently > in the event you have a difficulty with your computer, you will have > less work to reconstruct.

Dear Listers: I recently have received private mail from one of the subscribers on one of the lists that I administer. Her comments and story is one that I, sadly, have heard before. Her information shared privately in the spirit of cooperative genealogy was found "plastered" on the Inernet. Errors and all --- and in this case with her name attached to it. She is a dedicated genealogist that is constantly researching primary records trying to improve the accuracy of the information she has so far uncovered in her genealogy and that of her surnames known lines. Her situation reminded me that it has been a while since I have touched on this subject with fellow list members. It is over due. With the advent of the Internet, there are many, many more people discovering the joys of Genealogy. In their enthusiasm they go about collecting all the dead relatives they can. Unfortunately, in many cases, the only guidance they have benefit of is more closely related to how to work their computer, write and receive email and access the world wide web than what a seasoned genealogist would share in "training" a new genealogical researcher. There is definitely an element missing. Please visit: http://www.iigs.org/newsletter/9904news/ethics.htm.en and read Barbara Brown's article "Restoring Ethics to Genealogy". Although written in 1999, its content is still timely. It is a short article and well worth your time. Bookmark the site. You will find yourself looking for this article in future to pass on to others. Band together in a cooperative effort to ensure the genealogy of all of our lines is as well researched and well documented as possible. Do not accept the practice of junk genealogy. Help others new to this "hobby" to learn the ropes and not further add to the compound errors so often pervading genealogy done via the Internet. Kind Regards, Lauren Boyd List Admin

===================================================================== GEORGE G. MORGAN: "ALONG THOSE LINES . . ." "Planning Your Genealogy Vacation on the Internet, Part Two" ===================================================================== In last week's "Along Those Lines . . ." column, I discussed how to start planning your genealogical vacation using the Internet as a primary resource. In particular, I provided a number of sites you can visit and a lot of examples of structured searches you can conduct using your browser and your favorite search engine. Let's continue the exploration this week of the optimum ways to plan the physical part of your trip: airline reservations, maps, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and other logistical arrangements. MAPPING YOUR TRIP Every genealogist knows the importance of maps. Having good maps for your genealogy vacation is imperative, regardless of where you travel. Certainly you should invest in a good, contemporary atlas for planning purposes. If you are a member of the American Automobile Association (AAA), your membership entitles you to free maps as well as their driving route instructions (TripTiks). Remember that AAA has more than just state maps. They offer maps of the entire world, and these often include detailed maps of counties, provinces, parishes, cantons, cities, towns, and villages. You can learn more about AAA at http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode and current members can access AAA services online. You also can subscribe to Rand-McNally's online service for $34.95 if you want store-quality, downloadable maps. There are other valuable member benefits, including discounts on purchases, personalized trip plans, and hotel and car rental discounts. Their website at http://www.randmcnally.com contains details. ViaMichelin is another excellent resource, especially for European map information. Their site at http://www.viamichelin.com is a great starting point for trip planning overseas, as well as purchasing their high-quality maps. And what about the online mapping programs? There are any number of websites that can provide driving instructions. These include Yahoo! Maps (http://maps.yahoo.com ), MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com ), Maps.com at http://www.maps.com, MapBlast at http://www.mapblast.com, and a few more. Even America Online and MSN offer such facilities. The problem with these maps is that they are not always great. They sometimes do not include newer addresses. The driving directions they provide may be indirect or even incorrect routes. If you use one of these, be sure to double-check the directions with another online program. You'll be surprised at the differences. If you're using a handheld computer, or Personal Data Assistant (PDA), there are programs you can buy to install on your desktop computer which produce driving directions and maps for your handheld. While Rand-McNally's printed maps and atlases are excellent, their software for the Palm OS PDA has many errors and omissions. You might want to move into the high-tech land of a Global Positioning System (GPS) device and associated software. These units use satellite signals to track your physical position on the earth. Using street address software, you can trace a route to a given location by following the directions. One major advantage of a GPS system is that you can use other online facilities such as the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Name Information Server (USGS GNIS) website at: http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form to locate specific places, including their latitude and longitude, and plot this into your GPS system. You can then lead yourself to that location. Of special interest to you at the USGS site is the ability to search an area such as a state and county by feature type, such as cemetery. You can obtain a search results list, select the item you want to see, obtain the latitude and longitude of the site, and even view and print a topographical map for use on your trip. The latitude and longitude should be convertible to GPS coordinates, depending on the GPS unit and software you have. TRAVEL RESERVATIONS ONLINE Travel can be expensive, and you certainly want to use the power of the Internet to comparison shop your options. In last week's column, I talked about using a search engine to find a lot of places. You certainly can use a commercial travel agent to help you with bookings of all sort, or use your AAA membership to use their travel service. However, let's talk about a few options in locating travel rates that can be accomplished using a search engine. AIRLINES-If you don't know the Web address of your favorite airline, simply enter it into the search engine as follows: "united airlines" "southwest airlines" "delta air" Once at the website, you can explore the reservations options, rates, times, and equipment. Once you have that information in hand, then start searching some of the online travel groups. Notable among these are: --- Orbitz at http://www.orbitz.com --- Travelocity at http://www.travelocity.com --- Expedia at http://www.expedia.com America Online subscribers have access to AOL Travel at AOL keyword: travel, a service provided through Travelocity. If you want to take a chance on locating a deeply discounted plane fare, you can try Priceline.com (http://tickets.priceline.com ). Remember, though, that you may not always get what you want at the best price there, but it's sometimes worth a try. CAR RENTALS-Again, a search engine can help you locate Hertz, Budget, Avis, and other automobile rental companies. You also can get deals through Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, Priceline.com, and others online. HOTELS AND MOTELS-You can certainly spend anything you want on hotel accommodations, and it is wise to check several different chains in an area for the best price in the location in which you wish to stay. Sometimes there are significant differences. For example, last week in Bonita Springs, Florida, I checked several hotel chains for prices on a king/non-smoking room. The rate at the Comfort Inn was $94; the Holiday Inn Express was $106; the Best Western was $102, and the Hilton was $269. I chose the Holiday Inn Express because it is a newer hotel, it was closer to where I planned to visit, and there were more restaurant choices in the area. Of course, you will make your reservations based on your own criteria. Another site for checking hotels is 1-800-USA Hotels (http://www.1800usahotels.com ), where you can compare rates and features in one location. Finally, let me share with you one of my favorite Internet information sites. It is The Internet 800 Directory (http://inter800.com/search.htm ). Here you can enter the item for which you want to search, and a list of companies with their toll- free 800 numbers will be displayed. You can even narrow your search to a specific state. OTHER LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS As I discussed in last week's column, you can locate specific places, such as libraries, archives, churches, and other places you want to conduct research, using your browser and a favorite search engine. And don't forget people and business search facilities on the Internet. There are the white pages and yellow pages on the Internet that you can locate using a search engine, and I described search terms last week to accomplish this. I hope this week's and last week's columns prove helpful to you for planning your own genealogy vacation trip. The exercises in using a search engine can certainly help you become a more effective searcher on the Internet. They also will help you work more efficiently in your advance planning and get more out of your trip. Have a great time planning, and an even greater time on the trip! Happy planning! George __________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News" & George Morgan

===================================================================== GEORGE G. MORGAN: "ALONG THOSE LINES . . ." "Planning Your Genealogy Vacation on the Internet, Part I" ===================================================================== Good weather is coming. (Trust me on this one!) Summer, too, is just around the corner and the prospect of a great vacation. If you're like me, almost every vacation I take has some focus on genealogical research. At the very least, I visit every library I can fit into the schedule because I never know where that next important clue will be found. The Internet has made planning a trip, especially a family history vacation, a lot easier. In this and next week's "Along Those Lines . . ." columns, let's explore some of the ways you can start planning your own summer genealogy vacation. DECIDING ON THE LOCATION Most of my vacations are planned with a destination and goal in mind. Perhaps it's a trip to visit family or a planned family reunion. Sometimes I'm attending a meeting or a conference. And still other times I may just want to make a sightseeing tour to places of general or historical interest. Whatever the reason, I know I can always incorporate some genealogical research into the schedule. Once I know the places I want to visit, I can then start organizing to plan the research I might want to accomplish. That means gathering information from my database and from files, and rereading what I have (and don't have) on specific persons who lived in the area. Knowing that I can't always answer all the questions and find documentation on all the facts I want to prove, it's important to set some goals. --- Who will I research? --- What information do I want to find? --- What document types might satisfy my queries? --- When, where, and why were those documents created? --- Where are the documents likely to be found now? --- How can I gain access to those documents and other materials? --- What other places do I want to visit? I review the list of persons I want to research-and who realistically I can research in the time available to me on the trip. Based on those decisions, I then prepare a list of what information I want to find, and in what format it might exist. I next have to consider where these materials may have been generated, and by what governmental or private entity. Then I have to determine where those materials might be found today: a courthouse, a health department, a vital statistics bureau, a public records office, a church, in a library or archives, in the possession of a genealogical or historical society, in a private collection, or in other place. My next step is then to prepare a list of likely locations where the documents may be located, and then my Internet research can begin. LOCATING PLACES ONLINE It is essential to organize yourself before you leave the house, and it is never too early to begin. Based on the information you've compiled and the list of information and materials you wish to locate, you want to locate and make contact with these places in advance. For example, you want to determine where they are physically located, what their hours of operation are, what can be found in their holdings, whether you need to make an appointment in advance to access the material or to speak with the resident expert, whether you need a researcher ID, and what costs there might be for copies. Remember that summer operating hours for some facilities may be different than at other times of the year. Materials you might want to use may be stored off-site and may require an advance request to gain you access. The worst possible situation would be one where the materials you want to see are out for microfilming, binding, repair, or on loan to another facility. It is always wise to make contact in advance. Information on websites is not always up to date, and you don't want to waste a visit. The following are some of the types of facilities that you might want to visit on your trip, and methods for accessing their websites. LIBRARIES - Visit Library Spot at http://www.libraryspot.com/libraries. This site includes links to websites for public and academic libraries, state libraries, government libraries, presidential libraries, and others. NATIONAL ARCHIVES - The National Archives and Records Administration in the U.S. can be accessed at http://www.archives.gov and there you can locate information about each NARA Branch. The Library and Archives of Canada can be accessed at http://www.archives.ca. To locate other national archives in other countries, use your favorite Internet search engine and type the name of the country followed by a + and the phrase "national archive" in quotation marks as shown below. (Note: Always use the singular archive rather than the plural archives; you have a better chance of making a match. Also, always type your search in lower case.) scotland + "national archive" STATE LIBRARIES OR ARCHIVES - The same search strategy holds true for state, regional, and territorial libraries or archives. Type the name of the entity first and enclose it in quotation marks to make it an 'exact phrase' if there are multiple words in the name. Follow this with a + character and either the exact phrase in quotation marks "state library" or the term archive (and not archives). Here are some examples. ohio + "state library" "new south wales" + archive OTHER ARCHIVAL HOLDINGS - If you are aware of another archive or are seeking the possibility of one for a specific type of resource, structure a search such as those that follow. To locate an archive of materials concerning railroads in North Carolina, you might type the following in your browser. archive + railroad + "north carolina" LOCATING GOVERNMENT OFFICES - An easy way to locate government offices is to determine the geographical area, such as a state name or a county name, and then enter a structured search in your browser. Here are some examples. "alachua county" + florida This might yield a general county page. You could further narrow your search to fewer and more specific Web pages by using searches such as those shown in the next examples. "alachua county" + florida + court "alachua county" + florida + "probate court" "alachua county" + florida + "health department" LOCATING ENTITIES IN A SPECIFIC PLACE - You may want to locate information about an organization in a specific places. For example, perhaps you want to locate all websites for or about Baptist churches in Plains, Georgia. You might type the following in your browser. "baptist church" + plains + Georgia Bear in mind that not every entity may have a website. Therefore, you will want to use the online telephone resources to help locate organizations, companies, and people. One of my favorite resources is one called The Ultimates (http://www.theultimates.com ). Here you can choose from White Pages for individuals, Yellow Pages for businesses and organizations, a Trip Planner, and more. A search of the Yellow Pages here under just the first tool, Infospace, using NAME baptist, CATEGORY church, CITY plains, and STATE yielded five (5) Baptist churches I could contact. Of course there are other people and business search facilities on the Internet. For example, there is the Yahoo! People Search at http://people.yahoo.com and the Yahoo! Yellow Pages (http://yp.yahoo.com ), as well as other sites like WhoWhere? (http://www.whowhere.lycos.com ), Switchboard.com (http://www.switchboard.com ), and any number of other resources. You can find others by enter one of the following text in your browser. "white pages" "yellow pages" You can even add the + character and specify a country, as in the examples below. "white pages" + germany "yellow pages" + singapore GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES - Genealogical and historical societies can provide a great deal of guidance in your research, and a visit to one while on your trip may open many new research doors. Few, however, can afford to be staffed and open for extended hours. You will want to make contact in advance to learn what materials they might have in their possession and/or if there are persons who could meet with you and provide guidance about the coverage area and their collection. Certainly you can use your browser to search for a society in a given area, as in the following example. nebraska + "genealogical society" "new mexico" + "santa fe" + "genealogical society" tampa + "historical society" Please note, though, that not all societies use such logical naming patterns. The easiest place to locate the most genealogical societies in the U.S. is at the Ancestry.com/Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Society Hall site at http://www.familyhistory.com/societyhall/main.asp. Here you can search by society name or keyword, by city, by state/province, and/or by ZIP code. You will probably still have to use your browser to locate historical societies, and you may also want to substitute the exact phrase "family history" for the word genealogical to catch all possible matches. Still, this is an effective use of your advance research preparation. START RESEARCHING NOW As you've seen in the examples above, there really are effective ways to begin your planning now for an upcoming genealogical vacation. Let me encourage you in the coming week to practice with the samples I've given you in this column. Then, try to structure some searches specific to your own research goals. In next week's column, we'll discuss the use of online catalogs and we'll explore the optimum ways to plan the physical part of your trip: airline reservations, maps, hotel accommodations, car rentals, and other logistical arrangements. The Internet has made advance planning of vacations and visits to research venues very simple. All you need is a little advance organization, some logical thought, and the knowledge of how to effectively use your Internet browser. Get started now, and I'll see you here next week. Happy hunting! George __________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News" & George Morgan

===================================================================== NEHGS TO CO-PUBLISH "SETTLERS OF THE BEEKMAN PATENT" SERIES ===================================================================== The New England Historic Genealogical Society is proud to announce an agreement with author Frank J. Doherty to co-publish upcoming volumes of his authoritative series on the settlers of Dutchess County, New York, "The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, Dutchess County, New York: An Historical and Genealogical Study of All the 18th Century Settlers in the Patent." In addition to publishing future installments of this series in book form, NEHGS will also be offering previously published volumes as searchable databases on its website, http://www.NewEnglandAncestors.org NEHGS Executive Director Ralph J. Crandall says, "This important project is comparable to other major genealogical compendia NEHGS has undertaken such as the Great Migration Study Project and The Search for Missing Friends book series." The Settlers of the Beekman Patent contains data on over thirteen hundred families who settled in the Beekman Patent, an original land grant given to Col. Henry Beekman in 1697 by the English Crown and the second largest patent in present-day Dutchess County. Many emigrants from New England lived in and passed through the Beekman Patent on their way west. Others, such as the Palatines and Quakers (almost all from New England), were early settlers and remained for several generations or more. The area of study includes the towns of Beekman, Dover, LaGrange (part), Pawling (including Quaker Hill), and Union Vale. The first volume of the series was published in 1990, and included all early information available on the Patent-the lease system, precinct (town) records, road dedications, the rent wars, over three hundred pages of local Revolutionary War data, and more. This installment also contains previously undiscovered Revolutionary War muster rolls for four of the of nine companies of minutemen in Dutchess County as well as important information found in the two newspapers that were published in the county during the Revolution. Subsequent volumes of Settlers of the Beekman Patent contain detailed family histories of the eighteenth-century residents of the Patent, many of which were drawn from sources previously unavailable to family historians, such as the original lease records of Henry Beekman and original daybooks and over sixty ledgers from early Dutchess County stores. Beginning with Volume 4 (1997), the author has included all reference to the Beekman Patent family names found in New York State Probate up through 1830-1840. Mr. Doherty expects to publish six to eight more volumes before the series is completed. Compiler and author Frank J. Doherty has researched the settlers of the Beekman Patent for over thirty years and is considered the foremost expert on these families. He began his research after he purchased property in the town of LaGrange in Dutchess County and became interested in the history of the area. His research includes all eighteenth-century records from Dutchess County courts, probate, cemeteries, churches, stores, leases, tax lists, military, census, and other documents pertaining to the area. Volumes 1-6 of this series are currently available in both book form and on CD from NEHGS and from the author at his website, www.beekmansettlers.com, which also offers individual family chapters. Publishing dates for the new volumes of the series and the online databases will be announced at a later time. For further information, contact Lynn Betlock, NEHGS director of marketing, at 1-617-226-1210, fax 617-624-0325, e-mail [email protected], or visit our website at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org. The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest genealogical society in the country. For over 155 years, NEHGS has helped new and experienced researchers trace their heritage in New England and around the world. NEHGS has more than 20,000 members worldwide. For more information about NEHGS, please visit www.NewEnglandAncestors.org. ............... Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News"

===================================================================== "ROOTSWORKS: ELECTRONIC ORGANIZATION," by Beau Sharbrough ===================================================================== How do you answer these questions? --- How many e-mails do you receive each week? Do you typically plan to organize them later, but then never get around to it? --- How many image files have you scanned? How much time do you spend trying to find one of them? --- How many times have you tried to organize your genealogy office the way that some columnist or expert suggested, and then abandoned it after a couple of weeks because it wasn't worth the trouble? WHAT IS ELECTRONIC ORGANIZATION? Our goal is simple. It's to be able to keep track of records. Accomplishing that goal requires that we go through two steps: making decisions (once), and acting on them (over and over). Step One: Decisions. You have to decide, for each record that you receive, what is its right place at this time. It might arrive by postal mail, e-mail, or from a website. Define the categories, and define how you'll handle them. Sometimes it helps to "start with the end in mind." Just clear your mind and imagine how your organized office might work, and how you might expect letters, e-mails, and other documents to flow through. You have to commit to the concept. A goal without a scheduled completion date is just a dream. Many of us have been dreaming about getting organized someday. If that works for you, stick with it. Otherwise, be ready to write a date next to your goals, and to try to finish by that time. And be realistic - Rome wasn't built in a day. Step Two: Action. A lot of us start off with a quick decision and a flurry of action that lasts between half an hour and two weeks. Then we start taking short cuts and the next thing we know, we have a plan that we haven't acted on in months. The organization of records, once so real, has evaporated into a theoretical organization, and when we talk about it to others, we sound like our parents. Start off simply. You can always make your office information flow diagram more complicated. Then commit yourself to the project. Organization isn't in your papers. It's in you. It's your commitment to yourself to be consistent. Electronic organization is the ongoing implementation of decisions that you make to help you keep track of things. COMPUTER FILING We're talking, for starters, about organizing your desktop and your e-mail. Windows users face a difficult choice: Use the "Desktop" or "My Documents" as the main method of filing. If I could make a suggestion, you might consider using the Desktop to "queue" records until you act on them ("queue" is a French word meaning "a stack of papers I plan to get around to later"). At that time, you can choose to delete them, or file them permanently in My Documents. This approach mirrors our approach to dealing with paper records -- we queue them, act on them, and then either dispose of them or put them away for future reference. Whichever method you use, you'll need to create some "nested folders" -- folders inside folders -- for storing the records. This is something that you wouldn't do with manila folders. That would be hard to work with. There are several approaches in folder organization, but they generally are variations of mixing functions (correspondence, scanning), families (the wife's, the husband's), and record types (census, wills, land records). Some people make a folder for each family that they are working on, and within that folder, they make one for each record type. Others make folders for each record type (mail, web pages, census, etc.) and put folders for families inside them. The great thing about personal computing is that you get to choose what works best for you. Whatever you choose, stick to it and next year, you'll be able to find the record you file today. Renew your commitment to creating and maintaining order. Folder structure is helpful, but naming files is another important source of organization. If you adopt a "naming convention" for your records, and use it consistently, you can use computer searches for documents. One area where many computer novices miss this chance is in naming photos and scanned documents. Your scanner might suggest that you name a file "untitled1.jpg." Please don't do this. If you include the names of the persons, places, and dates in the file name, you can search on those words later. E-MAIL FILING If you do a Google search on "e-mail organization" you will find a lot of variations on a simple theme. Create a folder structure that has meaning to you, and use the filing capabilities of your e-mail program to put your mail into the appropriate folder. To that theme I would add a couple of suggestions: 1) You're gonna have to file some e-mail manually. Set aside time to file your e-mail just like you set aside time to file your paper documents. 2) Consider variations on the spelling of folders, to push certain topics to the top and bottom. You might name a folder "A-Smith Leads" instead of "Smith Leads" to get it to the top of the list, for example. WHAT'S THE DOWN SIDE? Organization takes energy. It also takes time. Some people can be too organized, and they spend time, money, and energy on folders and labels and filing and plastic trays and rubbermaid tubs and it turns out to be more than they can justify. What is this basis for justification? It's the amount of time you spend looking for records that you've already handled. If you spend more than you save, you've gone too far. Let's keep this in perspective. Filing isn't rocket science. It's often drudgery. But it beats looking for previously filed records. WHERE'S THE GENEALOGICAL TIE-IN? Each genealogist, whether amateur or professional, is running a research office. Sometimes the office is one cardboard box, or what my kids call "a bag of dead Sharbroughs." Researchers are constantly collecting records to help them reconstruct the lives of historic persons. And excuse me if this doesn't apply to you, but they generally manage their records badly. They can't tell you what book or film roll the copied pages came from. They can't tell you where or when they saw the record. One of the most important products of our research is the communication to others of how to independently review the evidence we saw. Personally, I'm frustrated when someone tells me that a certain fact is, "On the Web. Look it up." I'm a skeptic. WHAT ELSE? One of the most useful approaches to genealogy research that I have seen is the maintenance of logs: correspondence logs, research logs, document inventories, and the like. If you file your e-mail and documents consistently, the computer file timestamps will produce these logs for you. At the RootsWorks site, I've included examples of some popular filing methods, and I invite you to further discussion of the topic at the RootsWorks Forums (also described below). There are also some links to other sites that contribute to the discussion of organization. In summary, I'm sure that you realize that organization isn't something you are, it's something you do. Repeatedly. ....................... http://www.rootsworks.com/forums http://www.rootsworks.com ......................... Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries Reprinted by permission from "Ancestry Daily News"

MCGS-CIG PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING Thursday, 20 March 2003 01:00 to 3:00 PM Marin Community Foundation Redwood Room 5 Hamilton Landing-Suite 200 Novato, CA Lauren Boyd will make a presentation as follows: "How to Make the Best Use of Rootsweb Resources"-An overview of what is available "for free" In depth demonstration and discussion of: --Mailing list, bulletin boards -Gateways-Archives and how to use them more effectively-A brief behind the scenes look at Administration and Volunteering-A sure fire way to eliminate the ad pop-ups from displaying while viewing the bulletin boards- Lecture outline and notes will be available for download and printout prior to meeting. Please note that this class will be a "hands on" session so bring your notebook computers. The facility has network connections available for us to use - both wired and wireless - and a broadband connection to the Internet! If you have a network card, bring a cable to connect to their switch. If you have a wireless network card, bring it so we can use their network. DIRECTIONS: Going North: a) Going north on Highway 101, take the Hamilton Field/Nave Dr. Exit. Veer right at the end of the exit ramp and follow Nave Drive going north, parallel to 101. Take a right at Main Gate Road, which leads into Hamilton (At Crescent, Main Gate Road becomes Palm Drive.) b) Continue until you reach the Arts Center, then bear right onto South Palm Drive. Take South Palm Drive to the end, turn right onto Hangar Avenue, and take an immediate left into the parking lot. MCG is in Hangar 5, at 5 Hamilton Landing. The entrance is down the pathway between Hangar 5 and Hangar 6. Going south: Going south on Highway 101, take the Bel Marin Keys/Hamilton Field Exit. At the end of the exit ramp, take a right onto Ignacio Blvd. After crossing the freeway, take an immediate right onto Nave Drive. Take a left onto Main Gate Road, which leads into Hamilton. (At Cresent , Main Gate Road becomes Palm Drive) Then follow directions "b" above. Contact John Deadman ([email protected]) or Gene Pennington ([email protected]) if you need directions to the meeting location or need more information. --- John Deadman --- [email protected] --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.

Dear Listers: I just received word that Burkes has just added the first draft of their Free A-Z guide at http://www.burkes-peerage.net/sites/common/sitepages/reindex.asp This is a *free* resource which will be expanded over time, but aims to help people find information, definitions and links on a host of terms related to British history, society and tradition. I have taken a peek and found it to be useful and informative. Check with your local library to see if they have subscribed to the Burkes site. This may afford you another way to view more in depth information that requires a password. If your library has not signed up for this subscription, and if you feel it would be useful to the genealogists and historians in your neck of the woods, you might ask them to look into it. The advantage to their getting the online suhscription for their patrons is that it does not take up any shelf space. In my county, shelf space is an issue. Happy Trails, Lauren List Admin

Dear Marinites: I thought this meeting notice for Napa's Society would be of interest to some of you. Happy Trails, Lauren -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [SCGS-L] Napa Valley Society speaker Resent-Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 11:57:27 -0700 Resent-From: [email protected] Date: Sat, 01 Mar 2003 11:03:00 -0800 From: Jonelle Ellis Russell <[email protected]> To: [email protected] The Napa Valley Genealogical and Biographical Society is thrilled to announce Rebecca Bellís presentation at our next General Meeting at the Napa Senior Center on March 20, 2003 at 7:30PM. Rebecca was an Emmy Award winning Whitehouse, network (NBC) and war correspondent (covered 8 Presidents and the current Pope plus being the only person to have worked for both of the "singing cowboys", Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Currently, Rebecca Bell is a practicing psycho therapist in the Napa Valley. The Napa Valley Genealogical Society would like you to come join us for her fascinating lecture at the Napa Senior Center, 1500 Jefferson St. , Napa, Ca. (707)252-2252 for information

Well, folks, I just broke one of my own rules. Also check these items out for yourself before sending them on. One of the biggest mistakes 'genealogists' can make is to over react based on unverified information. By doing so Legislators will not take us seriously when we need them to! Thank your Lauren for doing my job for me. DO NOT BOMBARD THE VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATERS WITH LETTERS/FAX/EMAIL, Please. On Fri, 28 Feb 2003 10:37:30 -0800, Lauren Boyd <[email protected]> wrote: To all: A visit to the site will inform you that SB818 was soundly defeated a couple of weeks ago. Happy Trails, Lauren Boyd Iris Jones wrote: > > FYI - Virginia Researchers > > Doesn't Virginia have a Statewide Organizations? > > Where is the Virginia State Library and/or Archive? > > On Thu, 27 Feb 2003 17:52:11 -0800, Helen M Crisman > <[email protected]> wrote: > > The following received from John Hedger at NARA: > Helen > ----------------- > > "VIRGINIA SENATE BILL 818-E2-80-94-DESTRUCTION OF WILL FILES. <snip> -- Iris Carter Jones President: Genealogical & Historical Council of Sacramento Valley

To all: A visit to the site will inform you that SB818 was soundly defeated a couple of weeks ago. Happy Trails, Lauren Iris Jones wrote: > > FYI - Virginia Researchers > > Doesn't Virginia have a Statewide Organizations? > > Where is the Virginia State Library and/or Archive? > > On Thu, 27 Feb 2003 17:52:11 -0800, Helen M Crisman > <[email protected]> wrote: > > The following received from John Hedger at NARA: > Helen > ----------------- > > "VIRGINIA SENATE BILL 818-E2-80-94-DESTRUCTION OF WILL FILES. <snip>

> >The old genealogy scam is back. www.genseekers.com <http://www.genseekers.com/> > >Behind the password protection are links to the free >genealogy on-line. There is no content of their own. > >In order to get the "5-day free trial" you have to >surrender a credit card or bank account number. You >have to cancel within 5 days or you get dinged. Guess >what? The cancellation e-mail bounces. Does this >surprise you? > >One person who recently fell for the come-on had >his/her account dinged not once, but twice. > >It is time to remind folks on your state and county >mailing lists about these scoundrels. It has been a >couple of years since we have mentioned this. > >Permission is granted to pass this on. > ==== CA-SACRAMENTO-EVENTS Mailing List ==== How to unsubscribe. Send a message to [email protected] that contains (in the body of the message) the command unsubscribe and no additional text. ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

FYI - Virginia Researchers Doesn't Virginia have a Statewide Organizations? Where is the Virginia State Library and/or Archive? On Thu, 27 Feb 2003 17:52:11 -0800, Helen M Crisman <[email protected]> wrote: The following received from John Hedger at NARA: Helen ----------------- "VIRGINIA SENATE BILL 818-E2-80-94-DESTRUCTION OF WILL FILES. January 31, 2003 Virginia Senate Bill 818 Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after it is no longer of any value and after it has been microfilmed. The BILL has been reported out of committee. VA Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr. of Williamsburg is the only patron. The description of the VA Bill reads as follows: "Destruction of will files. Allows the clerk to destroy a will's file along with the original will after 5 years have passed since probate or recordation and allows destruction of originals of instruments which have been recorded and remained unretrieved by the recording party after 6 months, if the documents are no longer of any value and have been microfilmed." Go to Virginia General Assembly ( or http://legis.state.va.us/ ) and type "SB818" (without quotes) in the search box at the top right. You'll get the description and status. This is the web site for the VA General Assembly, http://www.alz-nca.org/vapolicy/assembly.asp -- Iris Carter Jones President: Genealogical & Historical Council of Sacramento Valley