Les- will you please forward to WVGen-L There are advantages to being part of the Federation of Gen. Societies. 1. The advantage of being part of the FGS is that the FGS have been aggressive in keeping the records open to the public instead of being locked up by the paranoids. With our inclusion, the FGS can increase the strength of political muscle via not only the Societies but also The USGenWeb Project and the reach going into the hundreds of thousand researchers/visitors to The USGenWeb Project. (2,500+ volunteers in whole The USGenWeb Project, not to mention the reach out to 100,000+ researchers/visitors) 2. The objective of the FGS is to help the societies, groups, etc with education in management, record-keeping, protecting access to records, etc. 3. The biggest advantage is that the CCs can be educated to be better presenters, speakers, lecturers, manage the sites better, even local fairs or workshops much more effective. These first 2 are main goals of the FGS. We've had threats to close access to public records in last 2-3 years. The FGS have been there to fight off the threat through the Societies, Associations and Organizations. Because I went to every CC to contact for the booth, I ran into many of the CCs at the FGS, members of various Societies and organizations. Darilee and Mike talked a lot with the APGs who visited. They're ones with the gold lettered black ribbon "APG". We had gold lettered red ribbons "Exhibitor" Some of those attendees have at least 5 to 10 horizontal ribbons Society Officer (blue metallic on white) Delegate (silver on blue) APG (gold on black) ICAPGen (several colors on white) Exhibitor (gold on red) FGS Officer (yellow on blue) There are other ribbons I can't remember NSDAR and NSSAR are members but they had no booths there. W. David Samuelsen, Chair of The USGenWeb Project - FGS 2005 Convention booth -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.23/99 - Release Date: 9/12/2005

Suzanne Shephard (by way of Lesley Shockey ) wrote: > > > Representatives of the USGW attended a conference this past weekend > hosted by the Federation of Genealogy Societies (http://www.fgs.org/) > During the course of this meeting, the representatives of the FGS > approached two of our Board members and extended an invitation for the > USGW to join their organization. > > The two members of our Board felt this invitation required a timely > decision. They emailed the Advisory Board and requested feedback, > however, only two or three AB members replied in the length of time > observed (probably due to the weekend).So the two Board members decided > to accept the invitation and applied for membership. Another USGenWeb > member anonymously donated the $110.00 membership fee. > > I am asking for your feedback on this issue as your representative to > the Board. At this point, the membership can be ratified by the board, > or withdrawn. > > Please let me know your thoughts on this issue and whether you would or > would not like to see the USGW become a voting member of this organization. NO! I think this is an invitation is disaster, and I WOULD NOT LIKE the USGW to be part of the FGS on any basis whatsoever. Cheryl cc WVHampsh

Representatives of the USGW attended a conference this past weekend hosted by the Federation of Genealogy Societies (http://www.fgs.org/) During the course of this meeting, the representatives of the FGS approached two of our Board members and extended an invitation for the USGW to join their organization. The two members of our Board felt this invitation required a timely decision. They emailed the Advisory Board and requested feedback, however, only two or three AB members replied in the length of time observed (probably due to the weekend).So the two Board members decided to accept the invitation and applied for membership. Another USGenWeb member anonymously donated the $110.00 membership fee. I am asking for your feedback on this issue as your representative to the Board. At this point, the membership can be ratified by the board, or withdrawn. Please let me know your thoughts on this issue and whether you would or would not like to see the USGW become a voting member of this organization. Thank you, Suzanne Shephard SEMA CC Representative

**Please forward to all applicable USGenWeb Project lists** The Election Committee has been directed by the Advisory Board to conduct a Special Election to fill the seat of Special Projects Representative. A two week period of registration is now open and will conclude this evening, September 12, 2005 at 11:59 pm EST. http://www.usgwelections.org/register1.asp The nomination period will be September 14, 2005 - September 21, 2005. In the near future, more information about nominating candidates, including a nomination form, and the election will be forwarded to the USGenWeb Project lists. Tina S. Vickery, Chair USGenWeb Project Election Committee http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/ cc: Linda Haas-Davenport, National Coordinator for posting to Board-L. Linda Haas Davenport NC USGenWeb Project homepage: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas MarionCoAR: http://www.rootsweb.com/~armarion/ TulsaCoOK: http://www.rootsweb.com/~oktulsa2

WV / McDowell / 1870 Dist/Twp/City Complete-index Transcribed by Connie Burkett Proofread by Marsha Thompson http://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/wv/mcdowell/1870/ 2 index files Index linked to image files: http://www.us-census.org/image-index/wv/mcdowell/1870/

Looking for someone interested in being a county coordinator for Auglaize county, OHGenWeb to take over for David Koester who wishes to retire. Can you please post this to your lists? Thanks! Sandy Quinn OHGenWeb State Coordinator http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohgenweb

Hello WVGenWeb CCs, This evening I received an email from a user who had found seven bad links to County Genealogy and Historical Society pages. I would greatly appreciate it if any of you would let me know when a page changes their URL. I was able to find working URLs for these by visiting the various county pages. Thanks in advance for any help. Les

WV / Lincoln / 1900 (Partial) Dist/Twp/City ED:45 Laurel Hill District Transcribed by Dottie Henderson Proofread by not yet http://ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/wv/lincoln/1900/ ed45- (2 files) 12 index files _partial.txt

I'm posting this message prior to opening Board-L and calling the first meeting of the 2005-2006 Advisory Board to order. I am doing this because I want to let everyone know that I want to try a new approach to our meetings and I am asking each of you to please read the following with an open mind. The Bylaws of our Project state: (ARTICLE VI: DUTIES/QUALIFICATIONS OF ADVISORY BOARD, Section 1) " The Advisory Board shall perform the duties prescribed by these Bylaws, and by accepted parliamentary procedures". Parliamentary Procedures are designed for face-to-face meetings, meetings of short duration and meetings held at, usually, preset standard intervals. At this time the two most widely accepted standards of parliamentary procedures are: Robert's Rules of Order and Alice Sturgis, however neither of these include substantial guidelines for meetings held on-line, although Robert's Rules of Order Revision 10 does add several additions that address on-line meetings. Since the Advisory Board "meetings" run continuously 24-7, 365 days a year it is impossible to govern our meetings under the same guidelines that are designed for face to face meetings of a defined length of time and not have problems. This is not a failure on the part of any Advisory Board or any individual member it is an inherent problem with the fact that no Parliamentary Procedures are yet available for our way of meeting. I was always taught that an effective meeting is one where the participants feel good about themselves and the group, willingly and openly share their ideas and concerns, work together constructively and positively and leave the meeting feeling fulfilled and glad to be part of the group. It seems to me that not many of our past Advisory Board meetings met that criteria. But there is a possible solution and I want to attempt that solution this year. Many boards hold informal meetings - meetings where members are free to discuss issues (more than one at a time), do brainstorming, throw out ideas, decide something will or will not work, withdraw an idea, and have some fun to relieve the stress. In other words much like a chat room. There are no requirements to be sure that every word, idea or point of discussion is acceptable under parliamentary procedure. Many informal meetings use something called consensus, which is nothing more than the people in an informal meeting arriving at a decision on an issue that everyone can live with and feeling that the decision is the best decision possible. Once an item has been agreed to under consensus a formal meeting will be convened, where parliamentary procedures can be followed. Motions, voting and formal announcements will take place in a formal meeting and since an issue will have been thoroughly discussed and the wording of a motion informally agreed on there should not be a lot of lengthy discussion in a formal meeting. Formal meetings will last no longer than is necessary to take care announcements, motions, etc. I have asked for a list to use for the informal meetings. Open and archived and all members can sub in read-only mode as they now do with Board-L. That will make it easier for people to remember where they are. With the majority of the discussion handled in an informal setting the volume of messages on Board-L will decrease so that being subbed to two lists shouldn't result in many more messages than Board-L by itself. This is a very different approach than the advisory board meetings of the past and I've been told by several people that this approach will not work. I've been told that the members of the AB will refuse to participate in any such "unofficial" activity. I've been told that some of the more vocal members of this project will be quick to ridicule and sneer at ideas that pop up in a brainstorming session so no one will advance an idea. Well, perhaps those people are right, but we will never know if we don't try. I have a lot of faith in the basic good nature of the members of the AB and their sincere desire to make this Project a better place (and a more fun place) to be. I also believe that the majority of the membership that pays any attention to the AB or what goes on at the national level would like to see a group who is trying to work together, trying to arrive at the best possible solution and one where squabbles and in-fighting are left behind. However, I have been proved wrong before - so if the nay sayers are correct and my whole idea of trying to provide a way for our AB members to work together as a team falls flat of its face then we can go back to the "usual" way. All that I'm asking of everyone is to give my idea a try. The last AB closed with hard feelings on many fronts. I want to put that behind us and I most sincerely ask that you please let the 2005-2006 Advisory Board members take their seats, feel their way through these first days and see if my idea will work. Will everyone give this a 60 day trial? Thank you very much. Linda Haas Davenport NC USGenWeb Project homepage: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas MarionCoAR: http://www.rootsweb.com/~armarion/ TulsaCoOK: http://www.rootsweb.com/~oktulsa2 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.18/88 - Release Date: 9/1/2005

************** Please forward to project lists ******************** We are now looking for volunteers to serve on the Grievance Procedures Committee, responsible for developing a new set of procedures and policies for the handling of mediation and grievances within the USGenWeb Project. No fewer than 5, and up to 7 non-Advisory Board members from the USGenWeb Project membership (including special projects) will be chosen, as specified in Motion 05-13. Upon completion of a draft of the procedures and policies, the committee will present their recommendation to the full Advisory Board for a vote on their acceptance. If you are interested in serving on this committee, contact Angie Rayfield at angie@inmyattic.com or Jan Cortez at janacortez@charter.net. Please send the following information: 1. Your name 2. Your position(s) within USGenWeb 3. The URL(s) of the site(s) for item #2 4. Your email address 5. Your reasons for wishing to serve on the committee, along with any special skills or training you bring to the task. Thank you, Jan Cortez Angie Rayfield Grievance Procedures Committee USGenWeb Project Advisory Board

**Please forward to all appropriate Project lists.** To all USGenWeb Project members: Due to the passage of the Bylaw amendment the USGenWeb Project Election Committee has been directed to conduct a special election to fill the new Special Projects Representative seat. The Registration period is now open for this Special Election and will continue through Monday, September 12, 2005. The registration period is open to all USGenWeb Project members, but only members with a role in one or more of the USGenWeb Project Special Projects will be eligible to cast votes in this special election. If you were a member of USGenWeb on or before 1 February 2004 and your name was submitted to the EC by your State or Special Project leadership, you were automatically registered. If you are unsure of your registration status, you may ask your area EC Representative, or you may submit a Registration form. Voter Registration: If you are currently registered but do not wish to receive a voting password, or if you leave the USGenweb Project entirely, please contact an EC representative to have your name removed from the registered list. To learn who to contact on the EC, go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/current.html The EC has an online registration form: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/register.html Please bookmark the EC website for the latest Election and Registration news: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/ ***Registration information is confidential to the Election Committee, and will not be shared with Project leadership or other members. It is used only to send voting passwords. Do not depend on your SC or other project leadership to see that you are registered, or that appropriate changes are made. Thank you, The USGenWeb Election Committee cc: Shari Handley, National Coordinator

**Please forward to all appropriate USGenWeb Project lists** The USGenWeb Project Election Committee has posted the results of the complete 2005 National Election and Runoff Election. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/national-2005/2005-results.html The Election Committee wishes to thank all those that participated in the process. Sincerely, Tina S. Vickery, Chair USGenWeb Project Election Committee http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/ cc: Shari Handley, National Coordinator for posting to Board-L.

**Please forward to all USGenWeb Project lists.** National Coordinator. 8/31/2006. Davenport 247 ( 58.255%) Hall 177 ( 41.745%) 424 (100.000%) 424 votes cast. The USGenWeb Election Committee declares Linda Davenport the winner. Representative at Large. 8/31/2007. St. Clair 260 ( 61.905%) Mills 160 ( 38.095%) 420 (100.000%) 420 votes cast. The USGenWeb Election Committee declares Mike St. Clair the winner. Northeast/North Central Region. County Coordinator Representative. 8/31/2007. Scism 67 ( 54.032%) Sweeney 57 ( 45.968%) 124 (100.000%) 124 votes cast. The USGenWeb Election Committee declares Jeff Scism the winner. Northwest/Plains Region. State Coordinator Representative. 8/31/2007. Maynez 5 ( 55.556%) Mendenhall 4 ( 44.444%) 9 (100.000%) 9 votes cast. The USGenWeb Election Committee declares Sundee Maynez the winner. Southeast/Mid-Atlantic Region. County Coordinator Representative. 8/31/2007. Shepard 105 ( 62.500%) Smoot 63 ( 37.500%) 168 (100.000%) 168 votes cast. The USGenWeb Election Committee declares Suzanne Shepard the winner. Southwest/South Central Region. County Coordinator Representative. 8/31/2007. Wood 72 ( 53.333%) Holt 63 ( 46.667%) 135 (100.000%) 135 votes cast. The USGenWeb Election Committee declares Bettie Wood the winner. The USGenWeb Project Election Committee wishes to thank all who have participated and extends a very special thank you to Larry Stephens. Sincerely, Tina S. Vickery, Chair of the USGenWeb Project Election Committee cc: Shari Handley, for posting on Board-L@rootsweb.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.15/82 - Release Date: 8/25/2005

Twice now, I've received e-mail from a lady who recites two printed pages of statements. There's not a ? anywhere on the document. The floor is now open for suggestions on what it is she wants I should do about it? (G) Cheryl

Les, a few days back I bcc'd you on a reply and your copy bounced back as undeliverable. This is to verify I've got the right addy -- LShockey@citynet.net -- and/or to solicit a newer one if someone has one. Thanks. Cheryl

For those of you that tried to vote this morning - an error on my part prevented voting from working. I've fixed that and it should work now. Sorry for the confusion. Larry V. Stephens Office of Risk Management 812-855-9758 stephenL@indiana.edu No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.6/69 - Release Date: 8/11/2005

**Please forward to all appropriate USGenWeb Project lists** The difficulties with the USGenWeb Project 2005 National Run-off Election forms have been corrected. If you not received a password, please contact your Election Committee representative or Tina Vickery, tsvickery@adelphia.net as soon as possible. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/current.html Information about the candidates can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/national-2005/candidates-index.html We encourage all to participate in the USGenWeb Project 2005 Run-off Election! Sincerely, Tina S. Vickery, Chair USGenWeb Project Election Committee http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/

**Please forward to all appropriate USGenWeb Project lists** The Election Committee has become aware that there is an issue with the National Voting form. We will update the Project as soon as the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience. The Election Committee apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused. Sincerely, Tina S. Vickery, Chair USGenWeb Project Election Committee http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/

**Please forward to all appropriate USGenWeb Project lists** The Election Committee have the preparations for the Run-off USGenWeb Project 2005 National Election almost complete. Passwords will be mailed over the next few days to all registered voters in the USGenWeb Project. Voting will begin August 11, 2005 (12:01 am) and will end August 25, 2005 (11:59 pm) CST. Information about the candidates can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/national-2005/candidates-index.html We encourage all to participate in the USGenWeb Project 2005 Run-off Election! Sincerely, Tina S. Vickery, Chair USGenWeb Project Election Committee http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwelections/ cc: Shari Handley for posting to Board-L@rootsweb.com -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.0/63 - Release Date: 8/3/2005

Would you please forward this email to your State list? Thanks, Suzanne Shephard SEMA candidate Hello again,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> For the second time in about as many months, I am asking for your vote to place me in the SEMA CC Rep position! My undying thanks to all those CCs who voted and helped me get this far <g> but with only a 5.641% difference between my opponent, Fred Smoot and myself, we are down to “crunch-time”! I want to represent my fellow coordinators on this Advisory Board and use my many years of working as a CC volunteer to make sure our focus is on the true backbone of this organization, the County Coordinators of the USGenWeb. I believe in honesty, integrity, communication and fairness and I feel that I can make a difference by bringing these qualities to the table of USGenWeb. I firmly believe that we need to get back to the basic premise of this project and that the county coordinators are, in fact, the backbone of the USGenWeb. We have strayed away from the fact that the CCs in this project are volunteers. We do this because we love genealogy. And we have allowed this project to become more like a business led by a small group instead of being led by the coordinators that make the project possible! These are the qualities and promises that I will bring to the position of SEMA CC Representative, if elected. I will always listen and weight the concerns of my fellow CCs in any decision that I make. I know you can’t please everyone but I will try to make fair and workable decisions that will hopefully, benefit the CCs in the SEMA region. If you have any questions regarding my candidacy or personal information, please contact me at <mailto:syshephard@charter.net>syshephard@charter.net You have the privilege and the right to make your personal choice for the position of SEMA CC Rep. Make your voice heard in the USGenWeb…Please Vote!! Thank you, Suzanne Yelton Shephard No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.9.8/61 - Release Date: 8/1/2005