Dear Listers: Looks like we are back to square one again and it is up to the paying MSN subscribers to exert their pressure on their ISP to resolve the issue in order they may receive the mail they have subscribed to and to receive mail from outside the MSN domain. The number for MSN tech support is 1-800-386-5550 Here's the most recent update I have read. Please understand this message is probably a lot more polite than the frustration level of the situation probably warrants. I am not sure I could have composed one this polite. :) The author is the person that marked it "[censored]", not I. "The current situation with MSN is that we are getting nowhere. If they did release the block on our servers they quickly reimposed it. MSN is still giving out the same variations of excuses to users with the main one being that RootsWeb should contact them. We have done this be telephone and by email, so beyond rolling up at the front door and [censored], there is not much else we can do." I have not pasted the entire message, just the most pertient information. Unless there is some obvious good news, I will not be forwarding any further updates on this subject. And at that, it is not likely as if the situation is truly resolved, there will be no need. Kind Regards, Lauren List Admin, various lists
Marin County Genealogical Society Meeting Lutheran Church 1100 Las Gallinas Avenue San Rafael, CA Wednesday, February 26, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. Tony Hoskins, Librarian for the Genealogy Annex to the Santa Rosa Library will speak on "Genealogical Proof by Circumstantial Evidence: A Case Study" Tony is an experienced lecturer and has delved deeply into his own genealogy. What he has to say may help you with those "brick wall" problems. He will present an actual case study on a Mayflower line: the Washburns of Middletown, Conn., centering around Phoebe Washburn. He will show us how he used her marriage records, her children's birth records, and her death record, along with many hours of research to establish who her parents were. /s/ Stephanie Acree
Hello the Lists: There has been a problem between MSN and Rootsweb for a couple of weeks, in addition to the intermittant hotmail.msn issue. Rootsweb and MSN are working together to find resolution. MSN has just this week acknowledged the issue and hopefully it will soon be resolved. Next week if we are lucky. However, in the meanwhile, it has been reported that many with MSN cannot receive mail from Rootsweb, or in some cases from anyone outside of MSN's domain. Many of the subscribers to the lists at Rootsweb that have an address @msn have "fallen off" the lists. They can view the archives, if they are alert to doing this. However at the present they cannot receive any list mail, nor apparently resubscribe due to the bounces, they just fall off again. Kind Regards, Lauren List Admin various lists
This has been verified. Congratulations to the People of the Great State of Virginia! One can but hope there is not a re-write and second attempt. Happy Trails, Lauren ........................................ http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?ses=031&typ=bil&val=sb818&Submit=Go SB 818 Destruction of will files. Patron - Thomas K. Norment, Jr. (all patrons) ..... notes Another bill? Summary as passed Senate: (all summaries) 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. Full text: 01/08/03 Senate: Presented & ordered printed, prefiled 01/06/03 030795508 02/04/03 Senate: Printed as engrossed 030795508-E Amendments: Senate amendments Status: 01/08/03 Senate: Presented & ordered printed, prefiled 01/06/03 030795508 01/08/03 Senate: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice 01/30/03 Senate: Reported from Courts of Justice w/amds (14-Y 0-N) 02/03/03 Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) 02/03/03 Senate: VOTE: CONST. RDG. DISPENSED R (37-Y 0-N) 02/04/03 Senate: Read second time 02/04/03 Senate: Reading of amendments waived 02/04/03 Senate: Committee amendments agreed to 02/04/03 Senate: Engrossed by Senate as amended 02/04/03 Senate: Printed as engrossed 030795508-E 02/04/03 Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) 02/04/03 Senate: VOTE: (39-Y 0-N) 02/04/03 Senate: Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/04/03 Senate: VOTE: (40-Y 0-N) 02/04/03 Senate: Communicated to House 02/05/03 House: Placed on Calendar 02/05/03 House: Read first time 02/05/03 House: Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice 02/06/03 House: Assigned to C. J. sub-committee: 2 02/17/03 House: Reported from Courts of Justice (12-Y 9-N) 02/18/03 House: Read second time 02/19/03 House: Read third time 02/19/03 House: Defeated by House (15-Y 81-N) 02/19/03 House: VOTE: DEFEATED (15-Y 81-N)
IMMIGRANT SHIPS TRANSCRIBERS GUILD http://istg.rootsweb.com/ By Patty MacFarlane McCormack [email protected] ISTG Founder/Coordinator When I was a young girl, I would sit with my grandmother at the huge oak dining room table on gloomy Saturday afternoons. As the rain trickled down the window panes behind the lace curtains and spilled off the eaves onto the Lily of the Valley planted along the side of the house, we would label the back of old sepia photographs and file yellowed newspaper clippings in a shoebox. Over the years, one shoebox became many. My grandmother died on 2 December 1980, almost two months after my fifth child was born and my mother became the family historian. She continued the shoebox tradition for many years with the help of my three younger sisters and brother, as I was now living in another state. I returned home when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996. With video camera in hand, my two youngest children and I walked the cemeteries in Rome, New York with her. I filmed the tombstones of our ancestors and she spoke, piecing together the history of our lives, holding to her firm belief that we needed to know those who came before us. Like an unbroken link, she with me as I came into the world and I at her side as she left it, the torch was passed to me in July of 1998. I returned to my home in Colorado with boxes of our treasured past and a burning desire to discover even more. I sought out information on the Internet which was not there and soon knew the frustration of so many others on the same quest. That same year, in honor of my grandmother and my mother, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild was born on September 16th, the week of both their birthdays. We seek to help you know the brave souls who dared to cross the sea, how and why they came, what they may have endured to get here and how they are a part of the tapestry of your life. The threads of your tapestry are many; some dance with brilliant colors, others are dark and frayed, yet every thread contributes to its beauty. In present day, precious threads of my tapestry include a wonderful man, six children and eleven grandchildren, with number twelve about to enter the design in March.] The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild ("ISTG" or "the Guild") has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1998. The original group of 16 volunteers has grown to 500 volunteers who span the globe. They all hold dear the philosophy that the search for records of our ancestors' immigration should be easier than it has been in the past. The mind-numbing work of searching through microfilmed passenger lists can take a toll on just about anyone. Many people do not have a facility nearby, many lack the good eyesight it requires, and many are nearly housebound for one reason or another. Now volunteers decipher and transcribe passenger lists which then are uploaded to the ISTG Web site. The Guild now has its own microfilm reader/copier and a small, but steadily expanding, library of films from which to work. Lists are copied and mailed to the volunteers, who work with a buddy to assure the best possible transcription. Volumes 1-5 each contain 1,000 transcribed passenger lists and Volume 6 is working its way toward another thousand as new lists are added several times each week. The index in each volume has a search engine at the bottom of the page and the entire ISTG Web site is easily searched by using it. Each volume also can be searched manually by name of ship, port of departure, port of arrival, name of passenger, or captain's name. The search by surname option recently has been expanded to include the full names of each passenger and their number on the passenger list. This helps researchers identify parents with children of the same name, and having the passenger number available makes the data easy to locate on the list. We also include in the full name search any and all possibilities the transcriber notes when a name on the microfilm is difficult to read or in doubt. For example, you will find several variations of a passenger name to allow for phonetic spelling or difficulty in communicating, and also the name of friends or relatives the passenger intends to join as well as the name of the nearest living relative in the country left behind (included on many of the passenger lists in the late 1800s). The name of the relative further assists the researcher because it reveals who in the family had already arrived, who remained at home, and where that home was. Other passenger list projects linked from the ISTG Web page are: The Bremen Project; 1889 Austria, Poland and Galicia Immigrants; Irish to Argentina; WW II Refugees to Australia; 1901-1903 Ships Project; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 1851-1872. A recent addition to ISTG are maritime news article excerpts from Irish newspapers from 1700 to 1912, contributed primarily by Dennis Ahern, with some contributions by Cathy Joynt and Alison Causton. The names of ships and surnames mentioned in the articles are indexed. Please visit Ships News of the Past. Under General News you will find a wealth of information contributed by Barbara Anderson. The articles are from the ROMAN CITIZEN newspaper, Rome, Oneida County, New York. ISTG wishes to thank these contributors publicly for their generous donation to the ISTG Maritime News Project. I think we all enjoy looking at the old photographs that have been passed down for many generations. You can submit photos of your ancestors and view those submitted by others by checking out Immigrant Pictures. You'll also find nautical poems and other musings, the 1820 Act re: Passenger Lists and ISTG's stupendous THE COMPASS. THE COMPASS is a guide to assist in the search for immigrant- related information and its aim is to provide the best and most up-to-date information available with special emphasis on passenger lists, ships, ship images and descriptions, emigrant and ethnic databases, and resources such as archives, libraries and museums online and offline. There are in-depth descriptions of each site, and some, due to the extensive amount of information, are listed under more than one topic. Many ports of entry in the United States and other countries tell a story. THE COMPASS offers letters and diaries written by immigrants and published articles about their experiences. Information is provided about specific ships and shipwrecks, some rescues but many whose fate is unknown. There are lists of sites on the Internet with passenger lists, regardless of the number of passengers on any given list. With each site you are given the ship's name, the port and date of departure, and the port and date of arrival, if known. If you find something that sounds like a possible connection, you can use the link to that site where you will find the actual list. You don't have to go through a number of links to get to a list, only to discover that the list you are looking at not only is from the wrong country but also perhaps the wrong century. The ISTG COMPASS tries to simplify your immigrant research, which often can be a confusing and overwhelming task. Thousands of hours have gone into this area of ISTG and we hope you will find it helpful. Maintaining a free access site such as ISTG requires some financial support. By purchasing items from links in the ISTG Mall you can contribute to the continuation of the ISTG project. A small percentage of each sale resulting from the link on the ISTG site is paid to ISTG to help cover expenses. Items in the ISTG Mall include maritime books, genealogy books, posters, audio/video, and many other miscellaneous items. [Editor's Note: This item caught my eye: "SHE CAPTAINS: HEROINES AND HELLIONS OF THE SEA, by Joan Durett. This maritime history chronicles the lives and exploits of warrior women who sailed the seas from the times of the Greeks and Romans up to the 19th century."] If you find an ancestor on a ship on ISTG and would like your ancestor's name to be linked to your e-mail address or Web page, please submit information about the passenger, where settled, children, and even a photo if you have one, along with the name of the ship and date of arrival. This information should be sent to Sheila Tate [email protected] , Production Coordinator. Also let the transcriber know that their hard work has benefited you by clicking on their name, found at the bottom of the manifest. ................................................. Reprinted with permission. Previously published in MISSING LINKS,Vol. 8, No. 7, 16 February 2003 http://www.petuniapress.com
Dear Listers: I received this message in tonight's mail. I generally do not participate in online or email petitions as they are usually worthless. However, this one seems to be an exception to the rule. It will actually be delivered by February 28, 2003. I have added my name to the list. I encourage you to follow the link, read the petition and consider adding your name to the list. Also consider spreading the word. Regards, Lauren List Admin Various Lists @Rootsweb.com .......................................................... Florida needs our help to preserve their State Library and Archives. The state historical and genealogical organizations have acted quickly to request help from around the country (and even the world) If you would like to sign a petition opposing Gov. Jeb Bush's closing of the Florida State Library, please go to the following web site http://www.floridahistory.info/petition/
To the List: I generally blow off online petitions as they are generally worthless. However, in this instance, I have added my name to the list. This is a valid, well handled petition that will actually be delivered. During my term as President of the Society we lost our space in the County Library to house our genealogical collection. We know first hand how frustrating and painful it is to have a library close. With Proposition 13, many years ago, we experienced how budget cuts affect our ability to access our local libraries to the extent we once had been able. I can only imagine what it would be like to suffer the closure of an entire State Library System. There must be a better way to balance a budget. Please visit the web site that Iris has posted and consider adding your name to the list. And consider doing your part to spread the word. Regards, Lauren Boyd List Admin MarinGenSoc-L Past President Marin County Genealogical Society Iris Jones wrote: > > On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 17:01:38 -0800, "Pamela Dallas" > <[email protected]> wrote: > > Florida needs our help to preserve their State Library and Archives. > > The state historical and genealogical organizations have acted quickly > to > request help from around the country (and even the world) > > If you would like to sign a petition opposing Gov. Jeb Bush's closing > of the > Florida State Library, please go to the following web site > http://www.floridahistory.info/petition/ > > ============================== > 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 > > ==== 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 > > -- > Iris Carter Jones > President: > Genealogical & Historical Council of Sacramento Valley > > ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== > Need to contact the List Admin? Use the address > [email protected]
On Wed, 12 Feb 2003 17:01:38 -0800, "Pamela Dallas" <[email protected]> wrote: Florida needs our help to preserve their State Library and Archives. The state historical and genealogical organizations have acted quickly to request help from around the country (and even the world) If you would like to sign a petition opposing Gov. Jeb Bush's closing of the Florida State Library, please go to the following web site http://www.floridahistory.info/petition/ ============================== 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 ==== 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 -- Iris Carter Jones President: Genealogical & Historical Council of Sacramento Valley
=================================================================== "MAKING COPIES," by Michael John Neill =================================================================== Genealogists make thousands of photocopies each day. One of the most popular spots at any large genealogical library is the photocopy area. However, making copies effectively is more than just seeing how many sheets of paper can be used in an afternoon. Organizing and documenting sources as copies are made will save significant amounts of time later. Even those who use scanners to "copy" material from books and other library materials need to include adequate documentation as they scan material into their computer. The importance of documenting while researching was driven home to me at a recent seminar. An attendee approached me and indicated that upon returning home this attendee had realized a "great find" in the research notebook. The problem was that this attendee had stopped at several courthouses while on their trip and made notes that did not include what court case the information had been taken from. I'd like "Ancestry Daily News" readers to benefit from this experience. DOCUMENTATION WHILE PHOTOCOPYING Photocopy the title page of a book to make a quick citation. Make certain to include the following information on the copy of the title page, if it is not on the actual title page itself: --- Book title (the title page should have it, but one never knows) --- Author --- Date and place of publication --- Publisher --- Where you located book (not absolutely necessary, but helpful). --- Call number (again not absolutely necessary). Use the back of the photocopy to take brief research notes in pencil. Add bibliographic information on the title page if necessary. Also, use this sheet to record negative research results so you don't make the mistake of researching the same thing later on. WATCH THE COPIES The cliché is true: haste makes waste. Before making copies, check the machine's page orientation and paper size so the original material can be aligned appropriately. Also look at your photocopies as they come out of the machine to make certain there are no problems (like white streaks due to low toner). If the machine has reduction capabilities, consider copying each page at 95% of the original size. Of course, the print will be a little smaller. Reducing the paper size will reduce the chance that you cut off items in the extreme margin of the page. CITATION FOR UNPUBLISHED LOCAL RECORDS By their very nature, unpublished records typically have no title page. In some cases the title of the document will be written on the outside of the document itself, potentially along with a filing date and a reference indicating where the document was recorded. For documentation purposes, it is easiest to simply photocopy this information from the outside of the document itself (similar to the title page for a book). If the document has no title, that can be indicated. In some cases it may be obvious from the text of the record what it is. Sample Titles --- Will of John Rucker --- Divorce Petition of Barbara and Conrad Haase --- Final Estate Report for the estate of Bernard Dirks In early records, this citation may be as simple as the title of the record book and the page number (look on the spine and front cover of the book for the title of the record book). For some materials, the record may actually be a packet of loose papers or a series of pages. In the second example above, this record is: Haase versus Haase, Divorce case filed November 1872, Circuit Court Case file box 231. In the third example it may be: Estate of Bernard Dirks, Probate Case File 801. Also, include the office or court that created the records and the current location of the records as a part of your "on the fly" citation. Remember: Your citation should get you back to that same document if that need should ever arise. Creating "on the fly" citations with the intent of "getting back to the document" will serve the researcher well. These citations made in the field need not be made in precise bibliographic form, but they should contain the same amount of detail. SOURCE LINKING Keeping track of sources is important and it is essential that if a number of separate sources are being used that the sources be tracked as the copies are being made--not after you have left the research facility. A stack of loose papers can easily be dropped, resulting in an unorganized mess, hours of wasted time, and the occasional use of colorful language. Pages from different books might not look as "different" as you think once they have been intermingled. LINKING EACH PAGE TO SOURCE I directly link each photocopy to the specific source from which it was obtained very shortly after the copies are made. A "code" is assigned to each source. In unpublished records, I generally considered a source to be a specific document with a record or a case file. For example a source could be a will from a packet of estate papers, an accounting of the payments from an executor, or a bill of complaint in a court case file. On the back of the first page copied from this record, I pencil in a rough citation for the document. Then, the code for the record is listed along with the page number 1. On the back of each of the remaining page from this record, I record this same code and the page's respective number. Then, I can easily sort the pages if they are later mixed up. AN EXAMPLE As an example, I copied several pages from a court case file in the 1870s. Three records were copied: the petition of the complainant, the master's report, and the judge's decision. Each of these documents was quite lengthy and full of legal verbiage. On the back of the Petition of the Complainant from this case, I wrote the following: Petition of Complaint, file date, Johann Habben vs. Antje J Fecht etal., case file number, Hancock County Circuit Court Records. I also wrote PC H v. F, page 1 on the back of the first page. Codes PC HvF 2, PC HvF 3, etc. were written on the back of subsequent pages. A similar reference structure was used for the master's report and the judge's decision. Since the same person apparently wrote two of these documents, this worked particularly well. CAN'T READ IT When making copies, avoid the temptation to write directly on the front of the copy itself, especially the part of the copy that includes the original document. If you later make a copy of that copy will you (or someone else?) be able to tell what was on the original document and what someone added later? Comments in the margin are easier to distinguish from the original, but can still be confusing. Instead, make comments regarding illegible items on the back of the document or on an attached piece of paper. PLAN AHEAD Pre-planning and organizing your research goals before you leave home will also help you document as the research is actually done and give you more time to do research at the remote facility. I print out book citations from the library's online card catalog while preparing for my trip. I only put one book on each sheet of paper. Then, I make research plans for each book on its sheet. While at the library, I can use these sheets to keep track of what I do and spend even less time writing and copying book titles while at the library (since I have the library's citation for the book, I don't even need to copy the title page). USING A DIGITAL CAMERA OR SCANNER? If the facility allows the use of these items, consider adapting these suggestions to the creation of your digital images. The use of folders and file names can work wonders to organize your material as you scan them. Dumping everything into one big folder is not the best approach. ................................ (Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.) Reprinted with permission from "Ancestry Daily News"
=================================================================== FREE ACCESS TO "SLAVE NARRATIVES" DATABASE =================================================================== For African Americans, piecing together their family history can present unique challenges. A lack of credible documentation can hamper what should be a rich experience. In celebration of Black History Month, Ancestry.com has announced that it is offering free access to the "Slave Narratives" database. (The "Slave Narratives" are part of the U.S. Records Collection subscription normally priced at $79.95 per year.) The "Slave Narratives" collection contains over 20,000 pages of type- scripted interviews with more than 3,500 former slaves, collected over a ten-year period, from 1929 to 1939. This database provides a poignant picture of what it was like to live as a slave in the American South. The interviews, written exactly as they were dictated, mention tens of thousands of people. This rare information is an essential source of history, culture, and folklore. Many of the narratives are also very rich in family history data, often identifying ages, places of residence and birth, and names of spouses, children, siblings, and parents. Along with the life story and details of family relationships of the individuals interviewed, the series contains insights into slave folklore, poetry, songs, recipes and even ghost stories. People interviewed share details about everything from oral traditions to unique medicines employed by those in slavery. Multiple first-hand accounts are given of historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Booker T. Washington. This one-of-a-kind collection is also available for purchase on CD ROM from Ancestry.com. Other resources available from Ancestry.com include the book, "Finding Your African American Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide," by David Thackery: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P2166 Along with the "Slave Narratives" database and CD-ROM (http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1950 ), the Ancestry.com site also contains articles and links to additional sources of information on African-American history and genealogy. For these articles and more, visit the Ancestry.com (free) Library at: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?sourceid=831&targetid=171 ............................................................ Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.) Reprinted with permission from "Ancestry Daily News"
==================================================================== HELP SAVE THE FLORIDA STATE LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES ==================================================================== The Florida State Genealogical Society has uploaded a brand new website with the society's response to the Florida Governor Jeb Bush's plan to eliminate the State Library. It includes up-to-date information and can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~flsgs/statelib.html Time is very important to the people of Florida and across the U.S. Every library in Florida will be affected by this, as will any library outside of Florida that requests an interlibrary loan from Florida. We are desperately trying to save our State Library and Archives and we must have your help. E-mail, call, or fax every legislator. Go to the meetings in Tallahassee. Pass this e-mail on to everyone immediately. Pam Cooper President, Florida State Genealogical Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~flsgs/ FGS/FSGS 2003 Conference Co-Chair http://www.fgs.org Chair, Librarians Serving Genealogists http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/genealib/ (Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.) Reprinted by permsission "Ancestry Daily News"
Dear Listers: February 11, 2003 This was forwarded to me in my morning mail. As one never knows where listers are researching, or for that matter where we may find we next need to delve, issues of this type seem to require wide spread posting to reach the affected audiences. Before posting to other lists, be sure to run it past the List Admin first -- some may deem it inappropriate to a particular list. Kind Regards, Lauren Boyd List Admin ............................................................ Found on the Oregon [email protected] February 10, 2003 previously posted on the [email protected] list January 10, 2003 RE: Bill 818 Honorable Delegates of The Virginia General Assembly: It is my understanding that the Virginia Senate has voted to allow destruction of Wills and related papers once they are microfilmed, and that this is being done as a result of complaints by the Metro Clerks Association in the larger jurisdictions of northern Virginia in an effort to save filing and storage space. This legislation, if passed, will result in more space for your clerks and a total destruction of the primary certiification required in order to establish the authenticity of one's ancestry. Wills tell a history of family relationships, and many of them document the history and values of generations that are not covered in history books. In the great state of Virginia, the history of this country truly began with the early colonists. Four hundred years ago, my ancestors, the Bruces, Lakes, Riddles and Carpenters landed on Virginia soil and subsequently began building Churches, businesses, ships, schools and establishing commerce which enabled Virginia and other states to grow and become what they are today. Their Wills are filed in your archives and these documents tell us how our forefathers dealt with everyday issues as well as how progressive their thinking was on issues of women's rights, distribution of property, and their value of tangible and intangible assets. In my own family, I have discovered that long before an Amendment was passed giving women the right to own property, my forefathers thought enough of their brides to allow them to manage the land and holdings and make important decisions. As a genealogist, I have reviewed both microfilm and actual wills. Microfilm is only as good as the person operating the machinery--even in products offered for sale such as Census Records, Indices, etc., we find blank pages. In the case of Census Records, the actual documents still exist, and one is still able to obtain actual records; however, if the legislation before you is passed, our descendants will not enjoy the same recourse. As more and more people become involved in tracing their roots, I can tell you it is a powerful realization to handle a document that an ancestor eight or nine generations' ago drafted and signed. It is tangible proof that our past is very much as important as our future, and in many respects, our actions today are derived from the spirit of these noble, hardworking, selfless individuals who came to this country seeking a better life with very little knowledge of the hardships that the New World held for them. They were bold and adventurous, and because of them, we enjoy a democratic form of government, wonderful cities and fields ripe with the fruits of our labors. We live in a society that is finally beginning to understand the necessity for connecting with its roots. It is such a refreshing thing to read the genealogy websites and find that young people as well as older people are taking an interest in their respective history. Virginia is really the beginning of most of America's history and even though many of us are transplanted to other parts of this country or in foreign lands, our roots are deeply planted in Virgnia soil. My ancestors are buried in Virginia, their blood was shed for Virginia, and I feel very connected to them and their service. It is extraordinary that a government body would even consider destroying such valued documents, particularly when you have so many fine and capable resources available to you. Family History Centers, Historical Societies, and libraries seem like natural repositories for these documents. Microfilming them will allow you to retain copies for your files, but the actual documents which most of us require in order to prove and certify our ancestory would be in a safe place and available for those of us seeking specific historical and family information from them. It baffles me that the Virginia Archives in Richmond are unable to maintain control of the Wills, but if this is truly the case, please consider one of the suggested alternatives rather than burning them. I don't want my children and grandchildren to think of their ancestry as being disposable by an Act of the General Assembly. I want them to know and feel the emotional connection of their ancestors and what their ancestors through many, many generations did to ensure their continued presence on this fine earth. Thank you - Judy Neu Springwater, NY 14560-9723
My original message re the Feb. meeting also stated the March meeting at the Marin Community Foudation would be held on March 13 th. I goofed, the correct date is Mar 20th. (never send an important message when your 4 year old grandson is climbing all over you and saying "come on Grandpa - I want to use Paint!" John --- John Deadman --- [email protected] --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
Seeking information on a Miss Lillian Corvino who was born in New York in 1901, grew up in San Francisco, and died in San Rafael on February 11, 1984. Her father, Lelio Corvino, was a major investor who assisted A.P. Giannini open the Bank of Italy in S.F. in 1904. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you... Linda __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
Gene Pennington will give us some suggestions and helpful comments on how to organize our data (including storage options such as types of drives & formats). This presentation should generate a good discussion as there are many ways to organize data. We are looking forward to your comments and suggestions. Gene and I will also bring you up to date on our recent visit to the Marin Community Foundation and our review of their facilities which are available to us. Talk about "state of the art"! We are enthusiastic to say the least. Unfortunately, due to lack of insurance on the part of MCGS, the facilities will only be available to us Monday thru Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. To give you a chance to take a look at and evaluate the facilities , we have tentatively scheduled the March meeting and reserved the facilities at MCF for 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, Thursday March 13th. Please try to attend this Feb. meeting as there is much to discuss. If you are unable to attend and wish to make any comments or offer any suggestions, please send them to either Gene or me. --- John Deadman --- [email protected] --- EarthLink: The #1 provider of the Real Internet.
Dear Listers: For those of you that have California research, take heart! You can still access birth records online. Visit: http://www.publicrecordfinder.com/vitalrecrds.html and click through to: http://www.vitalsearch-ca.com/gen/ca/_vitals/cabirthm.htm Visiting: http://www.publicrecordfinder.com/vitalrecrds.html will also bring you to links for Texas & Kentucky birth records as well as many other types of public records. It's worth the peek! Go take a look. Got information to share with fellow list members? POST IT HERE. Happy Trails, Lauren
===================================================================== "ROOTSWORKS: DIGITAL CAMERA NUMBERS," by Beau Sharbrough ===================================================================== I've seen a picture of the future. Or at least, the future of a picture. I'm speaking of digital images. When I wrote recently that digital cameras don't have the resolution of scanned images, I was absolutely inundated with e-mail from digital camera owners who made several great points. Some repositories prefer that you use a camera without a flash to make copies of documents (others insist on a copying fee and disallow the use of cameras). Also, some documents and photos are bound, and can't be scanned easily. Another benefit is that the camera goes to the cemetery as easily as the courthouse. It's also possible to photograph images and heirlooms in the homes of family members, which would be difficult if not impossible to scan. Some said that it's very easy to take a picture of the image they view in the microfilm readers. And many users said that they didn't care what the resolution numbers are; they like the pictures. You'd think I used the wrong fork at the FGS banquet; there was such a din. If there's one piece of generic technology that is revolutionizing family history, it's the digital camera. They're easier to use than PCs, and they are already performing a vital role in research. At the same time, they represent a maddening mathematical monster. Today, I'd like to talk about what the numbers mean. Next time, I'll talk about what some of the features are, and how people use them in genealogy. I won't tell you which one to buy, but I can tell you that you will have one soon--if you don't already. Back in June 2000, Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens wrote in "Genealogical Computing" magazine that she had recently paid almost $1,000 for a Nikon CoolPix 990 camera. At that time, a good digital camera was something that only a few wealthy genealogists could afford. Times have changed. That same camera can be found on the net, new, for about half that price today. Many other good cameras cost less. Not enough less for me to afford one, but a man can hope. The falling price of the camera isn't the only reason to buy a digital camera. Many of the uses of digital cameras can be duplicated with ordinary 35mm SLR cameras using film. However, a genealogist will incur the film and the developing and printing costs for every image she takes with a film camera, and one can capture digital images using media that is much less expensive than film. If you take a lot of pictures, you can save some money by "going digital." You won't have to scan the images to get them into your computer, either. It's not a total bed of roses, though-printing photos is still a relatively costly proposition. There are many factors in considering a digital camera, so to simplify, I suggest that for a genealogist, the important factors are: --- Software. What will you do with the pictures after you get them on your computer? --- Deleting. Sometimes you want to delete pictures from your camera to make room for more. --- Connecting. What kind of cable and port do you need to connect the camera to your PC? --- Price. You want to have enough money leftover to drive to the courthouse, cemetery, or reunion after you pay for it. --- Memory. How many pictures can you take at a time? --- Format. Sure, a lot of these cameras make JPG images. But can you get a TIFF file if you want one? --- Resolution. How many megapixels do I need, and what in the world is a megapixel anyway? A lot is better than a little, but you can't get a lot of everything on this list. You have to make some compromises. For that reason, I think that the choice of a particular digital camera is more personal than most tech buys. There's not just chocolate and vanilla, there's pistachio, and guacamole. Pictures created by digital cameras aren't like a typical painting. The pictures are created by a collection of millions of tiny dots, like something painted by a pointillist painter that's about one inch tall. If you can get the dots small enough, and close enough together, it looks like a straight line to the eye, and not a bunch of dots. Let's talk about those dots. BY THE NUMBERS The number you hear most often is the image resolution, in "megapixels." A pixel is a picture element-a single dot. It has a red, blue, and green component, as well as a light/dark measurement. Put it all together and you have one color pixel-a string of 1s and 0s between 36 and 48 numbers long. Fortunately, you don't have to be up on this to take a picture. A "One megapixel" camera produces an image that measures 1,280 dots across, and 960 dots high. On your screen, at 72 pixel-per-inch resolution, it looks as big as a poster. On a printer, at 600 dots- per-inch resolution, it looks like a wallet-sized photo. The following table shows several resolutions: Megapixels Dots across Dots high Total Pixels 1 1280 960 1,228,800 2 1600 1200 1,920,000 3 2048 1536 3,145,728 5 2560 1920 4,915,200 This leads to the obvious question: How many dots is enough? I think it's a bit like asking Rockefeller how much money it takes to make a man happy: "Just a little bit more." But let's be realistic, too. How much real estate does this resolution represent? If you are holding a 4x6 photo about 15" in front of your face, you are seeing approximately 2.5 million pixels. If you scanned it at fax fine resolution (about 200x200), it would only be 960,000 pixels. Make that picture an 8x10, however, and the number balloons to over 8 million pixels. The same size fax would be 3,200,000 pixels. In plain English-if you want to photograph an 8x10 document with the quality that you would expect from a regular film photo, you're going to need at least an 8-megapixel digital camera. I haven't seen any for sale yet, by the way. If you want to use a 3-megapixel unit, you can get an image of an 8x10 that is the same resolution as a fine fax. Fax images still look a lot worse than these images-they are black and white images and these are color-faxes have black spots in the middle of white areas that make them look like they've been Xeroxed too many times. There are examples of a birth certificate, both scanned and photographed, on the RootsWorks site (http://www.rootsworks.com/digicams ) so that you can judge for yourself how much resolution you think you need. Another thing that can confuse people is the zoom number. There are two kinds of zoom numbers-optical and digital. Most genealogists don't want to use digital zoom, but most are willing to pay something extra for a 3x optical zoom. The "3x" means that the image appears three times as close-10 feet instead of 30 feet, for example. In the next RootsWorks column, we'll cover memory types and some genealogical considerations. In the meantime, check out the RootsWorks Forums where you add to this discussion or ask more questions: http://www.rootsworks.com/forums (Copyright 1998-2003, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.) Reprinted with permission from "Ancestry Daily News"
In addition to Indiana, VA just passed legislation, and I heard something about Ohio too! Sheesh! Cathy Gowdy
Sorry all, in my haste, I forgot to change the subject header to my first attempt to get this message to you... Jana -----Original Message----- From: Jana Black [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 2:42 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: [MarinGenSoc] Book Review: Your Guide to Cemetery Research Hi all, It was brought to my attention this AM that that Indiana has a Bill pending to restrict access to records in the state. The Indiana Gen Soc has written a Resolution against the Bill and the information can be read here: http://www.indgensoc.org/HB1540.html. Apparently tonight www.DearMYRTLE.com is doing a show on the topic! Here is the info: "If the increasing trend towards closure of public records throughout the country is of concern to you, be sure to tune in to the DearMYRTLE internet radio show discussing the topic TONIGHT by visiting www.DearMYRTLE.com and call the show 1-877-638-7234 between 9-10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in US." Below is the post relating details of the show and a post Myrtle received regarding proposed legislation now in Indiana, following on the heals of the one that came up and passed in the VA House the other day. There's another one proposed in Missouri: http://www.house.state.mo.us/bills03/member/mem115.htm It's not too late to stop either of these bills if everyone takes action. While protecting ourselves against identity theft is essential, both the VA bill (http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/VAALBEMA/) (text of VA bill attached at end of this post) and the IN bill (http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/INHENRY/2003-02) http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2003/IN/IN1540.1.html are very poorly written and ambiguous, giving up much more than is necessary for reasonable and adequate protection of privacy against identity theft. IMO, we all need to gather as a nationwide group of genealogists and pay attention to this kind of legislation, similar to what was passed last year in CA. We all know that we end up searching pretty much every state in the union looking for our kin, so Bills like this affect us all! "Protecting people against identity theft" is a politically correct notion right now, but Legislators are not researchers. Frankly, my personal experience in writing CA legislators was that they were far more interested in paying attention to how their votes would affect popular perception of them for upcoming voting days than they were in informing themselves regarding the difference between what would truly compromise one's identity and what merely makes a researchers job even harder. Perhaps if we all tune in tonight, we can begin to educate the pubic regarding the differences! The time to stop such serious restrictions is BEFORE the laws are enacted, not later. Please help spread the word about this critical matter; tune into www.DearMYRTLE.com tonight from 9-10 p.m. EST US; and contact the legislators of any state considering such legislation to make it clear that you are against it for very good reasons. Jana Black
Hi all, It was brought to my attention this AM that that Indiana has a Bill pending to restrict access to records in the state. The Indiana Gen Soc has written a Resolution against the Bill and the information can be read here: http://www.indgensoc.org/HB1540.html. Apparently tonight www.DearMYRTLE.com is doing a show on the topic! Here is the info: "If the increasing trend towards closure of public records throughout the country is of concern to you, be sure to tune in to the DearMYRTLE internet radio show discussing the topic TONIGHT by visiting www.DearMYRTLE.com and call the show 1-877-638-7234 between 9-10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in US." Below is the post relating details of the show and a post Myrtle received regarding proposed legislation now in Indiana, following on the heals of the one that came up and passed in the VA House the other day. There's another one proposed in Missouri: http://www.house.state.mo.us/bills03/member/mem115.htm It's not too late to stop either of these bills if everyone takes action. While protecting ourselves against identity theft is essential, both the VA bill (http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/VAALBEMA/) (text of VA bill attached at end of this post) and the IN bill (http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/INHENRY/2003-02) http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2003/IN/IN1540.1.html are very poorly written and ambiguous, giving up much more than is necessary for reasonable and adequate protection of privacy against identity theft. IMO, we all need to gather as a nationwide group of genealogists and pay attention to this kind of legislation, similar to what was passed last year in CA. We all know that we end up searching pretty much every state in the union looking for our kin, so Bills like this affect us all! "Protecting people against identity theft" is a politically correct notion right now, but Legislators are not researchers. Frankly, my personal experience in writing CA legislators was that they were far more interested in paying attention to how their votes would affect popular perception of them for upcoming voting days than they were in informing themselves regarding the difference between what would truly compromise one's identity and what merely makes a researchers job even harder. Perhaps if we all tune in tonight, we can begin to educate the pubic regarding the differences! The time to stop such serious restrictions is BEFORE the laws are enacted, not later. Please help spread the word about this critical matter; tune into www.DearMYRTLE.com tonight from 9-10 p.m. EST US; and contact the legislators of any state considering such legislation to make it clear that you are against it for very good reasons. Jana Black