----- Original Message ----- From: 'Greg Matthews' <dialzero@bellsouth.net> To: <varoots@rootsweb.com>, <va-southside@rootsweb.com>, <scsaluda@rootsweb.com>, <sc-old96@rootsweb.com>, <sc-genealogy@rootsweb.com>, <nchalifa@rootsweb.com>, <scedgefi@rootsweb.com> Sent: Fri Jul 6 0:48 Subject: Fwd: [NCHALIFA] How to use Google to create powerful genealogy searches Rootsweb just added a new GOOGLE listserv for discussion of search techniques using google.com. I just made a large post on there that I thought I would share with the other lists I belong to. You will be surprised at some of the results you get with these search techniques. I use them practically every day when I'm researching. I know a lot of people have no idea of the power of google search techniques. A while back I started my own list of helpful google operators with examples of them. So, to hopefully get this list started I thought I would share them. Feel free to cross-post this to other lists if you like. You go to google and type the commands into the search box to use them. Alternately, if you have the google toolbar you can type the commands in the toolbox search box. 1) How to search for sites that link back to another site: example: Let's say you've found a great web site for your Smythe family research. Let's say that site is called www.smythefamily.com. There might be other people out there who also like that site and have linked back to it, and maybe you've never seen that other site. The command to find that other site is: link:www.smythe.com This will give you a list of any sites that google has indexed that link to www.smythe.com. 2) How to search for sites that are similar to another site: This technique is the same as if you clicked the "Similar pages" link on a list of returned results from a standard google search. What it will do is show you sites that cover material that is similar to the site you are interested in. For the example I'll use my own Mat(t) hews genealogy site: related:www.bluntrazor.com If you used this command you would get a short list of sites that google says are related to or similar to my site. 3) How to restrict a google search to a single web site or domain: We all use google or similar search pages to find things related to our genealogy research, but how often do we get TONS and TONS of results that are of no interest to us? A lot. Wouldn't it be really useful if you could restrict a search to a single web site? Let's say you only want to search rootsweb (sure they have search links for everything, but I don't think they have a single search to look at everything at once) or you only want to search the forums at genealogy.com. There are several different ways to search for different things so I'll show all the ones that come to mind with examples for each: The first again uses my web site to search for the surname "Pace": site:bluntrazor.com Pace The search returns 11 results and the search box on my site returns 12 so google does pretty good with that one (always remember that google can only return results for pages that it has indexed and there is no guarantee that it has indexed every single page on a web site.) Let's take that a little further and search for a man named Thomas Pace. Most people would put Thomas Pace in quote marks " " and you can certainly do that with your search, eg. site:bluntrazor.com "Thomas Pace", but I find it easier to use a google shortcut: site:bluntrazor.com Thomas.Pace Saves us a keystroke doing that. I find this search method really helpful when searching the forums at genealogy.com since they don't seem to have a global forum search. To use the command there you would do this: site:genforum.genealogy.com Thomas.Pace This turns up results for Thomas Pace on boards other than the Pace family forum. Keep in mind that this search will only return results for "Thomas Pace" together and not "Thomas or Pace" seperately. I've found that in general google does NOT have all of the genforums indexed, but you should get results from different forums that will hopefully give you an idea of some new places to look. What if you wanted to search for more than one surname from a single site? To do that we use what is called the "pipe" character: | . This key will be found most likely above your ENTER key. To search for two different names, eg. Isaac OR James from my site you would use: site:bluntrazor.com Isaac | James (alternately you could do site:bluntrazor.com Isaac OR James but the "OR" must be capitalized) this gives us a list of pages where EITHER of those names appear. Finally, if you want pages that include both Isaac and James on the same page, but not together (not as a single name "Isaac James") you would do: site:bluntrazor.com Isaac and James For some reason google tells me I don't need to use the word and, but I always get fewer results if I don't use it. 4) How to get results from pages with a specific name in the web site title: When I first saw this operator I was a little sceptical of it's usefulness, but when I used it I was surprised. A web page's title is the text you find at the top of your browser in the blue bar. I think part of the usefulness of this method is that it is a way to further narrow down a search. Let's say you were looking for pages on Charles City County (Virginia). If you just googled Charles City county you get over a half million results, but if you set the search to only those pages with Charles City County in the title of the page it cuts that number down to just over 5,000 (still a lot, but better than a half million). To use this technique you do this: intitle:Charles.City.County Returns from the above are going to have Charles City County in that exact order in the title (see below if you don't want the words necessarily in that order) If you were searching for a very unique surname this could prove helpful: intitle:Blackwelder Blackwelder is my mother's maiden name and everyone with the surname is related without question. Remember, any words put into a web page's title are going to be important as the site is generally specifically about whatever the title says. If you wanted Charles City County to appear in the title, but not necessarily in that order you would do this: allintitle:Charles City County allintitle will catch variations such as a web page title "County of Charles City". Curiously, allintitle only returns 505 results versus the broader intitle:Charles.City.County which gives 5,000 results. So, it pays to try it both ways. 5) How to get results from pages with a specific name in the web site url (address): This one might seem like it's splitting hairs with intitle, but I always get interesting results when I use it. Again, let's say we are looking for Charles City County. To search for sites that have that county in the ADDRESS of the web site we use: inurl:Charles.City.County Again, this gives returns with the exact phrase Charles City County. I just used this one and found a site I had not come across before on 17th century Charles City County that did not appear when used the intitle command on it. Alternately you could use: allinurl: Charles City County to get addresses that don't have the words necessarily in that exact order. Another method with this operator is: inurl:Blackwelder Isaac which returns results that have "Blackwelder" in the url and "Isaac" somewhere in the web page (NOT in the url). 6) How to mix operators It is possible to mix any of the above operators, but generally I don't as I find I get decent results without having to do that. But, let's say you wanted to search only a specific site for Blackwelder in the title of any of the web pages: intitle:Blackwelder site:edu This will returns results with sites that have Blackwelder in the title of the web page, _BUT_ it will only search web sites that end in .edu (this would be colleges and other schools, no .com or .org or dot anything else but .edu). I'm not sure why you'd want to do this with a genealogy search, but if you do that's how it's done. Other combinations using any of the above are possible also. Believe it or not, I learned the majority of this by watching a video of a college kid on youtube showing how to illegally download music from google :) Good luck to all with your searches. I have been pleasantly surprised with a lot of the results I've gotten using these techniques and I know you will be also. Greg Matthews ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NCHALIFA- request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

HELP! The attached document is too late for my resources. Does anyone claim this family and can help George with the origin (county) of the document? I can't find any reference to it in the Bladen County Heritage book. Thank you for your help. Dee All lookup requests will be permanently archived on the Bladen County Genweb site. For a detailed bibliography on the reference sources used for lookups refer to this Link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncbladen/lookups.htm _____ From: George and/or Anne [mailto:factoid@ix.netcom.com] Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 5:51 PM To: Dee Thompson Subject: Another request from George S. Afternoon, Dee - Attached is a small part of a typescript I received today from Janice Smith. I think if I could find the case, with appropriate citations, it might prove that William G. Smith (my ancestor) is a son of Samuel (Stucky) Smith. How will we find it? Thanks for this, and again for all your help. Have a fine evening. George

If there's a web page out there that you can no longer find, you can always view the history of that page via this link. Where it says "WayBackMachine", insert the address and click "Take Me Back". http://www.archive.org/index.php

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: bensons412 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.4/mb.ashx Message Board Post: everyone bare with me Levi Lewis Benson had 2 children by his first wife # 1 Lucy A. Benson, William Henry's older sister it was not L R in John's household I went to fast did not see it plainly stated f in the house hold. Doug Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: bensons412 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: That would have been L R Benson my g grandfather in hts house his father was William Henry Benson who died in Ala. 1865 William Henry was John oldest 1/2 brother ther father was Levi lewis Benson wife # 1 Mary Adkins wife # 2 Mary McKeithan, daughter of Duncan McKeithan this is John's mother. Doug Benson Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: bensons412 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.1.1.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Harry and my grandfather Okey Newkirk Benson were brothers I have always been told there father my g grandfather Lewis robert (Bob)Benson owened the store and he was the Post Master for sure.More on it would be grate Doug Benson Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tomkingM52223 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: The dates of the tombstone inscriptions for this Samuel A. Benson must be an error in reading. There are NO Samuel Benson's on any census 1850-1880 except the one age 48 in 1850. More likely years are 1806 and 1856, since Elizabeth is shown as a widow after that on censuses. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tomkingM52223 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: George Washington Benson, brother of John Matthew Benson, was the oldest living NC veteran of the Civil War, dying in Charlotte in 1948, at 103 yrs old. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

Tom, My Mother is Viola Elkins Butler, dau. of Frank and Flossie Masters Elkins. Their land holdings were between Clarkton and Whiteville on near the Western Prong. I would like to know about your Elkins line and will share what I have. Regards, Butch Butler Charleston, SC

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: quincygm Surnames: Benson Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.1.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Harry Benson and his wife Rosa Lee had a general store in Emerson, located in Whites Creek Township in Bladen County. It was located between NC Highway 211 and the railroad. Harry Benson worked for the railroad. I believe that they are buried at White Plains Presbyterian Church Cemetery between Emerson and Lisbon in Whites Creek Township in Bladen County. I grew up in Emerson, and Mrs. Benson was our next door neighbor. Harry Benson died in the early 1950's from T.B. Tom Elkins Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: imahoot21 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/977.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: ann coddington was the daughter of ann mckonky and ? coddington of new jersey.......based on ann's male children's names, her father's name could have been John, Thomas, or James......hope this helps...... Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Mimi1957 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1716.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hi Linda: I think we my have a connection, via Fields & Edwards lines maybe more. Please contact me and lets compare notes. Toodles Mimi Spencer-Lester Great-Great-Great Granddaughter of Thompson Fields and Polly Mary Edwards-Fields Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tomkingM52223 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Since Bertha, her mother, brother and grandfather are on the 1920 census in Evergreen, Tatum, Columbus Co., NC, if Bertha ever did marry, it was probably there. The census was taken on 2 Jan 1920 so if she had a son born 28 Sep 1920, he must have been conceived within days of the census, most likely a New Years Eve party. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MaryA_Brennan Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: the 1814 Archibold but I only have wife Elizabeth born in 1813 by 1850 census.and 3 children Doyle? b abt1834, Margery b. abt1840 and William W. b abt 1841(My husbands gg grandfather)William married Anna Eliza Peterson and I have 6 children listed. Laura C born 1870 married David S. Benson( son of Samuel(1802) and Elizabeth Ann Boswell. Laura was David's 2nd wife his 1st was Sarah Ann Grimsley according to his obit between these 2 marriages he had 9 children but only 3 lived at the time of his death. One being my husbands grandmother, Bretha. She either never married or divorced or left her husband before she gave birth to her son. She swore that the child would never know his father because he had pushed her down some steps when she was pregant. To this day we do not know who my husbands grandfather was. His father was born James Edward Benson on 28 Sept.1920 in Charleston,SC but he changed his name and his mothers to Brennan before he applied for his ss card. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tomking|M52223 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2.1.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: This Archibald couldn't have had many children. He was single on the 1860 census at age 19, enlisted at age 20 in 1861 and was killed at Gettysburg 2 Jul 1865. Is it possible you mean the older Archibald bc1814 that had wives Elizabeth and Sarah? Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MaryA_Brennan Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Thanks for helping clear that up a bit. With so many Bensons in NC and so many of the court house records having been destroyed by fire. It's hard to get them straight. My husbands lines are Archibold Benson and Elizabeth(don't have her maiden name) and Samuel Benson and Elizabeth Ann Boswell. Mary Summerville,SC Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tomking|M52223 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: The William Benson named as a son is my 3G-grandfather. His age on the 1850 census in Marion Co., GA is 58 which places his birth c1792, not 1801. I have letters written by Francis Benson Jr to William's son calling himself Uncle Frank, telling about various family members. There is a deed in Onslow Co., NC c1806 naming the three Bigford daughters and the three Benson sons with Samuel Bigford, Attorney of Bladen County. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: MaryA_Brennan Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Most of the info I have came from "Some Benson KInsmen with Memoirs" compiled by Norman Benson 1982. I copied a good bit of it from the columbus County Public Library in Whiteville,NC. On page 100 it list William Benson 1801ca., according to that book he is brothers of David 1806,who married Anna Watson, brother Thomas with a ? after him, brother Samuel 1802 who married Elizabeth Boswell(this is my husbands line). I did not make a copy of this but I wrote down: Bladen County,NC; Abstract of Deeds;Wolume III(contains all of Deed Books 8 & 10;1980 Coulumbus County Library, Whiteville,NC pg 54 #332: 9 Jan 1836 Heirs of Francis Benson,dec'd William Benson Samuel Benson David Benson Sarah Benson Susanna Benson Rebecca Benson Council Benson Thomas Benson Also copied from that same book 7 Sept. 1822 Francis Benson to my son William Benson pg 14 #86 wit. Samuel Bigford. I copied these about 2001 or 2002 before I knew that getting a printed copy of that page and the front page of the book was a most for genealogist. I had just started doing research. I want to go back to Whiteville and the surrending area to do more research and locate another cemetery that I was not able to find at that time. I now have better directions on how to get there. Mary Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: tomking|M52223 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.bladen/1505.2.1.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I don't think Levi was a brother of the others since he was not mentioned in the separation of land deeds of Francis Benson Sr c1836. Who is the William born c1801? Have no record of a William Benson in Bladen born about that time, nor of any Dowey until much later. Children of Francis Benson Sr & Sarah Bigford were William (moved to GA bef 1850), Susannah, Thomas, Samuel, David, Rebecca, Lucy, James, John and Francis Jr. Archibald was the son of Mary Ann & David Benson, possibly a brother of Francis Benson Sr. Brothers Thomas, John & Francis Benson married sisters Lucy, Elizabeth and Sarah Bigford sometime in the 1780's. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

>From Book # 114 First, Allen Cameron and his three sons, Archie, Dougald, and James, left Scotland in 1791 and arrived in Wilmington, NC in August of that year. Daughter Margaret stayed in Scotland and another daughter, Nancy, was born in Bladen County (Baker's Creek) where the family settled in 1792. Next, can you give me any dates or locations for David Neill Cameron and his wife? My Cameron books aren't indexed. Finally, did you check the Bladen County archives. I have done a number of lookups on the Camerons and they will be archived in their entirety. Dee All lookup requests will be permanently archived on the Bladen County Genweb site. For a detailed bibliography on the reference sources used for lookups refer to this Link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncbladen/lookups.htm _____ From: Ruth Cameron [mailto:rcameron7@msn.com] Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 8:27 PM To: Dee Thompson Subject: Help with Cameron Research Hey, Dee! Thank you for your kind consideration. I am very interested in the discussion you included in your last email, but I don't see any link to get there. You also were kind enough to ask how you could help with my Cameron research ... Is it possible you can tell me where to find ANY information on Martha Louisa Smith Cameron (g/grandmother), wife of David Neill Cameron? I have looked everywhere I could think of and haven't found much of anything at all. One other thing: Records show that Allen Cameron left Scotland, August 12, 1774. They also show that his son James was born in Scotland, 1786 -- 12 years AFTER Allen sailed for America. I am thoroughly confused (and it doesn't take a whole lot) and wonder if maybe James might have been Allen't brother??? Any help you may offer will be deeply appreciated! In the Shadow of His Wings, Ruth _____ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com