WELDING LINKS: TO OUR MOTHERS, WITH LOVE by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <myravg@prodigy.net> <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~gormleym/> Few genealogists can trace their matrilineal line very far back -- that's the line from your mother to her mother, to her mother's mother and so on. It is difficult research because the surnames change with each generation and fewer records about females exist. However, one woman -- Susanne "Sam" Behling -- decided to do something about this problem. She started a "Notable Women Ancestors" Web site and a newsletter where she gathers and publishes biographical and genealogical information on female ancestors. "All women are notable," Behling says. "There are thousands of women whose roles in history have often been overlooked . . . There are an even greater number of women who, while possibly not contributing anything historically significant, nonetheless managed to lead very interesting lives." The Notable Women Ancestors Web site is located at: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~nwa/> It has a large and growing database. The majority of the pages at this site have been contributed by descendants or relatives of the women. The categories are: adventurers, African Americans, artists, authors, educators, feisty women, firsts, great mothers, aunts and grandmas, health care/humanitarian, heroines, humorous, Native Americans, notorious, pioneers and emigrants, politicians, political wives and suffragists, religious leaders, royalty, survivors, and witches. There is a place where you can add information about your ancestress. At the Notable Women Ancestors Web site you can read about such women as: o Sarah Tuttle, who was prosecuted in New Haven, Connecticut for "sinful dalliance"(publicly exchanging kisses) with a Dutch sailor in 1660. Seven years later Sarah was brutally killed by her brother during a quarrel that turned violent. o Edith Lusetta (Waite) Delaney, who thought her brother inherited the "Mosher Millions." She learned differently at the reading of his will. "Notable Women Ancestors," the quarterly newsletter, is available by annual subscription ($16, check or money order) from the editor, 2500 N.E. McWilliams Rd., #D8, Bremerton, WA 98311. A recent issue includes tips on "Civil War Women: Finding Individual Women in Local, State and Federal Records," information about "Nineteenth-Century Women and Their Secrets," and a biography of "The Unforgettable Cherry Sisters," touted as the "worst-ever" vaudeville act of the 1890s through the 1930s. "Let it be to us, then, the family historians and record-keepers of this generation, to uncover the long-hidden stories of our female ancestors are waiting to tell and to share them with our families, other genealogists, teachers and historians," Behling says. I agree. What could be a more a fitting tribute to our mothers and grandmothers than preserving and sharing information about them and their lives? * * * * * Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists, Vol. 4, No. 19, 7 May 1999. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web page at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~mlnews/index.htm>.