The following came from the President of the USGenNet, the organization that houses the Scott Co, TN Website. They house many, but not all, of the Tennesse Counties that are part of the TNGenWeb including our neighbor -- Morgan Co, TN. If you can help, please do. "The fact is that USGenNet is not receiving the funds necessary to keep us online. The new year is only a few short weeks away, and thus far, USGenNet only has funds to keep us online through the month of April. "Unless we receive a lot more in donations, USGenNet will go offline on May 1, 2004 and none of your websites will be visible on the Internet, although the contents of your sites will remain safe on the USGenNet server. When the money runs out, we will be forced to disconnect our server. . "USGenNet is a 501(c)(3) corporation, which means all donations are tax-deductible like any other charitable contribution. The same holds true if you wish to make a donation toward a gift membership for a family member or friend. (All who donate $20 or more in a Membership year are automatically Supporting Members and donations of $100 or more are Sustaining Members. Sustaining Members have voting rights and are eligible to serve on USGenNet's Board of Directors.) "USGenNet does not have the luxuries available to web hosts that are owned or subsidized by for-profit, commercial companies. We cannot obtain loans to pay our daily operating expenses, operate "in the red" or opt for commercial advertisements. "Simply put, USGenNet remains online only as long as we can pay the costs of being online. When the money is gone, USGenNet's websites will be gone too, and that could happen as soon as May 1st. "Every one of you, regardless of how much or how little money you have, can do something positive that will help us meet our needs. If you cannot make a donation yourself, you can encourage others to do so. You can spread the word that USGenNet is a true nonprofit, committed to freely accessible historical and genealogical data; that we have no commercial backers and no advertising banners and are dependent on donations, which are all tax-deductible. You can encourage the people who visit your sites and find your sites useful to show their appreciation for your efforts by making a donation to USGenNet and helping keep the data freely available online. "I am adding this type of plea to all my websites, right at the top where it's sure to be noticed. It says "Help Keep This Site Online!" and then goes into a plea and includes a link to the section of our main page where it details how to send donations. I know others have been working on similar types of things, and if any of you would like to share what you've done, feel free to share your ideas here. "Another way to help is to check with your employer. Many employers will provide matching funds for charity work their employees do and maybe your employer has such a plan available. Three of our account holders have already found such plans. An easy place to find out if your employer offers this is on this site: http://www.hepdevelopment.com/smu/ "USGenNet is the first and only truly nonprofit web hosting service for sites with historical-genealogical content, and we've survived for more than five years. We managed to buy a new server when our old one failed because our account holders and friends rallied around to help. "I truly believe that if we all work together, we can overcome this latest difficulty as well." Ginger Cisewski President, USGenNet.Org If you are interested in helping the USGenNet organization, and ultimately, your Scott Co, TN website, then please visit the USGenNet website and make a donation -- as much or as little as you can afford -- every little bit helps. Scroll a bit over half way down the page to the "Buck Stops Here" to see how you can help out. http://www.usgennet.org ...tim west... Scott Co, TN Coordinator for the TNGenWeb Project http://www.tngenweb.org/scott

Thank you Tim! I sent my money this morning through paypal. I had no idea they were in such trouble! Question for you... I had to stop my genealogy "hobby" about 6 years ago due to life being crazy hahahha I thought when my website went down (you had a lot of links to it) that I sent all my marcum, sexton, chambers "stuff" to you for the scott county site. ??? I could be wrong... Do you want it? Thanks, Brenda Sauer-Strobel -------Original Message------- From: TNSCOTT-L@rootsweb.com Date: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 10:41:15 PM To: TNSCOTT-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [TNSCOTT] Serious Problems Ahead for USGenNet -- Scott Co, TN Website Host The following came from the President of the USGenNet, the organization that houses the Scott Co, TN Website. They house many, but not all, of the Tennesse Counties that are part of the TNGenWeb including our neighbor -- Morgan Co, TN. If you can help, please do. "The fact is that USGenNet is not receiving the funds necessary to keep us online. The new year is only a few short weeks away, and thus far, USGenNet only has funds to keep us online through the month of April. "Unless we receive a lot more in donations, USGenNet will go offline on May 1, 2004 and none of your websites will be visible on the Internet, although the contents of your sites will remain safe on the USGenNet server. When the money runs out, we will be forced to disconnect our server. . "USGenNet is a 501(c)(3) corporation, which means all donations are tax-deductible like any other charitable contribution. The same holds true if you wish to make a donation toward a gift membership for a family member or friend. (All who donate $20 or more in a Membership year are automatically Supporting Members and donations of $100 or more are Sustaining Members. Sustaining Members have voting rights and are eligible to serve on USGenNet's Board of Directors.) "USGenNet does not have the luxuries available to web hosts that are owned or subsidized by for-profit, commercial companies. We cannot obtain loans to pay our daily operating expenses, operate "in the red" or opt for commercial advertisements. "Simply put, USGenNet remains online only as long as we can pay the costs of being online. When the money is gone, USGenNet's websites will be gone too, and that could happen as soon as May 1st. "Every one of you, regardless of how much or how little money you have, can do something positive that will help us meet our needs. If you cannot make a donation yourself, you can encourage others to do so. You can spread the word that USGenNet is a true nonprofit, committed to freely accessible historical and genealogical data; that we have no commercial backers and no advertising banners and are dependent on donations, which are all tax-deductible. You can encourage the people who visit your sites and find your sites useful to show their appreciation for your efforts by making a donation to USGenNet and helping keep the data freely available online. "I am adding this type of plea to all my websites, right at the top where it's sure to be noticed. It says "Help Keep This Site Online!" and then goes into a plea and includes a link to the section of our main page where it details how to send donations. I know others have been working on similar types of things, and if any of you would like to share what you've done, feel free to share your ideas here. "Another way to help is to check with your employer. Many employers will provide matching funds for charity work their employees do and maybe your employer has such a plan available. Three of our account holders have already found such plans. An easy place to find out if your employer offers this is on this site: http://www.hepdevelopment.com/smu/ "USGenNet is the first and only truly nonprofit web hosting service for sites with historical-genealogical content, and we've survived for more than five years. We managed to buy a new server when our old one failed because our account holders and friends rallied around to help. "I truly believe that if we all work together, we can overcome this latest difficulty as well." Ginger Cisewski President, USGenNet.Org If you are interested in helping the USGenNet organization, and ultimately, your Scott Co, TN website, then please visit the USGenNet website and make a donation -- as much or as little as you can afford -- every little bit helps. Scroll a bit over half way down the page to the "Buck Stops Here" to see how you can help out. http://www.usgennet.org ....tim west... Scott Co, TN Coordinator for the TNGenWeb Project http://www.tngenweb.org/scott ==== TNSCOTT Mailing List ==== Rae Davis-Smith List Administrator raedavissm@mindspring.com ============================== 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 .