Some of you may find these useful Dick S. Researching surnames: SCHWEISS .. MEIER .. SCHMITT/SCHMIDT .. STADTHER(R) .. MEHLTRATER My Genealogy Site: http://www.harbornet.com/folks/dick/SchweissFamilyHistory.htm The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2002 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. - New Message Board for Newsletter Readers From: Vol. 7 No. 39 - September 30, 2002 **** First article "I have created a new message board for the readers of this newsletter. It provides a place for you to post online messages relating to the articles published this newsletter plus whatever topics you wish to discuss. The new message board has four sections: 1. Articles From The Newsletter - This is a place where you may post questions, offer comments, or dispute the information presented in the newsletter articles. Each article will have a separate "message thread." You may read messages there and post your own comments about these articles for everyone to read. I'd love to see this section grow to become an active forum for all newsletter readers. 2. Subscription Issues - Questions about receiving the newsletter, where to read it online, availability of online archives, etc. 3. This Message Board - Discussions, questions, and suggestions about how to use the message board. 4. Miscellaneous - Well, you always have to have a "miscellaneous" or "all others" section, so I created one. Use it for messages that don't seem to fit into the above three categories. I may add new message sections in the future if usage warrants. I would like to encourage all readers of this newsletter to join in the message board. If you have any questions or comments about the articles posted in this newsletter, I would suggest that you post them on this new message board. Yes, feel free to disagree with me if you so choose. It is an open message board; everyone is welcome. I will be answering many of the messages there, and I suspect that others will add their insights, too. The discussions should benefit everyone. The message board is open to everyone. You may read all the messages without registering. However, to post replies or new messages you will need to complete a short sign-up form. You will be asked for your name and e-mail address. In order to protect your privacy, e-mail addresses are never displayed in the messages you write and are not visible to anyone else on the message board. When posting messages on this board, you can specify to have copies of any possible replies sent to you in e-mail. That way you do not have to keep checking online for possible replies, just read your e-mail. Warning: This is a brand-new message board, so there's not much available yet. Keep checking back occasionally to see what's new. To read the messages on the new message board or to post new messages, go to http://www.RootsForum.com and click on "Message Board." To discuss this story further on the message board for newsletter readers, go to: http://rootsforum.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=c5f330231784a0aa7233eb04 c54c8e25;act=ST;f=1;t=23;r=1;&#top " ****************** AND ****************** - The Ultimate Calendar Web Page "Genealogists often encounter challenges when looking up the dates of events from many years ago. First of all, there's Julian calendar versus Gregorian calendar. Did you know that many people "lost" 11 days in 1752? Next, those researching Scandinavia ancestry often find dates recorded as falling on certain Feast Days with no reference to which day of the month that was. Anyone researching Jewish ancestry soon encounters issues with the Hebrew Calendar. Those with French ancestry may encounter the French Revolutionary Calendar. And then there are Chinese (Lunar), Buddhist, Indian, Persian and even Aztec calendars. (Is anyone researching Aztec ancestry?) The Ultimate Calendar Web Page can help you decipher dates. It can give you history about all of the above calendars and several more, including Baha'i and Moslem. It shows the phases of the moon and also provides a Gregorian to Julian date conversion utility. Heck, this site can even tell you what time it is. The Ultimate Calendar Web Page is available at: http://www.ecben.net/calendar.shtml To discuss this story further on the message board for newsletter readers, go to: http://rootsforum.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?s=c5f330231784a0aa7233eb04 c54c8e25;act=ST;f=1;t=14;r=1;&#top "