CONFESSIONS OF A WORLDCONNECT ADDICT
by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG <rwr-editors(a)rootsweb.com>
Being a lark has its advantages for those of us who explore Web
looking for virtual footprints of our ancestors. In the dawn's
early light, while I have my first cup of coffee, I like to
explore RootsWeb's WorldConnect to see if any of my cousins have
uploaded or updated their GEDCOMs.
<
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/>
No matter how many years you have been researching your family
tree, there is nothing like the thrill of finding a brand-new
link -- discovering the maiden name of your great-great-whatever-
grandmother or learning that the reason you can't find your
Kelly family in Kentucky records after 1860 is that they moved
to Arkansas. There the husband of your ancestor got into a fight
with his brother-in-law and the family feud escalated into
something so ugly that one part of the family rode off into the
sunset, so to speak, and wound up in California. Who would have
thought to look for them out there?
The other day I found a cousin who has the 1831 Bible of our
common ancestors, listing the names of all the couple's children
and, get this, the names of their spouses. What a lovely way to
start the day.
Genealogy is most rewarding when it is shared. This was brought
home to me again recently as I discovered someone had uploaded
their GEDCOM and had one of my Vanderpool ancestors listed but
with only three children. I smiled, dug (electronically) in my
files and sent the lady information about the other seven
children and the direct line back nine more generations.
An old colleague of mine (the friendship is old, not us) wrote
to me recently about another matter we were working on together
and mentioned how fascinating this "genealogy stuff" must be and
how he knew nothing about his mother's people, who were
supposedly early settlers of Kentucky, but that "someday" he was
going to do some research on them. I went to WORLDCONNECT and
typed in the surname of interest (it was a rare one, thank
goodness) and up popped a couple of references. I copied the
information, along with the name and e-mail address of the
gentleman who had posted the material, and sent it to my
colleague. He scorched the electronic mail lines letting me know
that this was his family and how excited he was to find he had a
cousin doing some research.
Of course, the downside of finding all this wonderful
information is I have to verify it and then update my own files
and upload more of my GEDCOMs. While some genealogists hesitate
to post their GEDCOMS, expressing fears that someone will
"steal" their ancestors or the results of their hard work, I am
not concerned. I don't own these ancestors of mine, and while I
have spent many years researching my many families, I have
decided I prefer to share. I trust my cousins will give me
credit, where it is due, and be gentle regarding my errors. I
also hope they will take the time to contact me and exchange
additional information. On the other hand, if some people just
want to grab a bunch of names to make their databases larger,
that's OK too. However, for those who want to steal some of my
ancestors, let me give you the list of those you are welcome to
take.
(c) 1998-2000
RootsWeb.com, Inc. <
http://www.rootsweb.com/>
RootsWeb.com, Inc., P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798
Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
<RWR-Editors(a)rootsweb.com>
Melissa T. Alexander
ma.da(a)gte.net
Edmonds, WA USA