Beginning March 2nd, 2020 the Mailing Lists functionality on RootsWeb will be discontinued. Users will no longer be able to send outgoing emails or accept incoming emails. Additionally, administration tools will no longer be available to list administrators and mailing lists will be put into an archival state.
Administrators may save the emails in their list prior to March 2nd. After that, mailing list archives will remain available and searchable on RootsWeb
UK-based researchers will search British archives for birth and marriage
records of your English and Scottish ancestors (1813-1950). Also census,
church and other records. In most cases we can offer a NO-FIND NO-FEE
service -- we find your ancestors or you pay nothing! For a FREE e-mail
consultation visit www.britishancestors.comhttp://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=774&sourceid=1028
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Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless
specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for
non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice
appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb
Review: Vol. 6, No. 36, 3 September 2003.
Your Grandpa Fought in WHAT War?
By Ted Pack tedpack(a)thevision.net
Late at night, after a day of giving my clients advice they don't take
and an evening of giving my teens advice they won't even listen to, I
sometimes surf the genealogy bulletin/message boards looking for people
who might be willing to take a bit of well-intentioned counsel.
A surprising number of newcomers assume that telling the world a person
was "my grandfather" pins his birth date down accurately enough to let
other people help them. That isn't always the case. Last night my mother
came to our house for barbecued salmon. Her grandfather, George Waterman
CADY, fought in the Civil War. He was born in 1837, rode with the 10th
Missouri Cavalry (Union) and moved to Kansas after the war. He got off
to a slow start; he married in 1881 at the age of 44. My grandmother
came along in 1892, when he was 55. She gave birth to my mother. Without
giving away details of a living person and a dear woman, let us just say
she gets a discount in some restaurants if she eats dinner before 6 p.m.
She uses the Internet, and, as I said, her grandfather fought in the
Civil War.
At the same table, passing the lemon dill butter, was my son. His de-
tails are private too, but a year or two ago we could get him a discount
by ordering off the "Under 12" menu. He uses the Internet; his grand-
father fought in the Korean War -- 86 years after Appomattox. Quite
a spread.
Ours is a rare family due to my great-grandfather CADY marrying so late,
but consider this -- most people have their children between the ages of
20 and 40. Genealogy buffs on the Internet can be anywhere from say 20
to 70 years old -- just to keep the numbers even. If you are now 20 and
the oldest child of the oldest child, your grandparents could have been
born (20 + 20 + 20) 60 years ago, in 1943. If you are now 70 and the
youngest child of the youngest child, your grandparents could have been
born (70 + 40 + 40) 150 years ago, in 1853.
So, if you are posting a query about your grandfather, please -- give
the rest of us a clue; at least tell us which war he fought in.
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Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless
specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for
non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice
appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb
Review: Vol. 6, No. 36, 3 September 2003.
Knock, Knock...Anybody There?
Have you ever posted a query on a RootsWeb mailing list and ended up
thinking that you are playing genealogical solitaire -- that no one out
there has any information or suggestions for you, or that you are the
only one left on the planet who is researching your family? Been
disappointed because you didn't receive a response from anyone -- not
even a suggestion about where you might look to find the information?
Take a fresh look at what you posted to the mailing list. Lack of a
response to a query often says more about the query itself than it does
about those who might potentially read and respond to it.
First, consider the topic of the mailing list on which you posted your
message -- is the topic one for which the subscribers might be expected
to have a connection to your query? Is it a mailing list on which you
might expect to find some experts to point you in the right direction or
provide you with a lookup for the data you are seeking? Don't expect the
list members on PAALLEGH-L (Allegheny County, Pennsylvania) to know the
location of a town in Germany, provide you with New Orleans ship arrival
information, or to check a tax list in Georgia for you.
Don't look for the SMITH mailing list subscribers to answer a question
about the JONES family unless you have clearly stated the connection
between your JONESes and the SMITH surname. Always direct your query to
the mailing list best suited for the surname, locality, or topic about
which you are asking.
Next, let's examine the subject you have chosen. Um, what do you mean
you left the subject blank so that everyone would be curious and read
your query? It just doesn't work that way in this busy world where
everyone wants her or his answers yesterday. Even the most diligent and
attentive cousins might hit the delete key if your message doesn't grab
their attention at first glance with an informative subject. Putting a
request for HELP!!!!!! and lots of exclamation points in the subject
line won't win you any genealogical friends or get your query read
either.
Informative subjects should be brief but include name of the individual
you seek and when and where the person or family lived. "Looking for
parents of George HICKENLOOPER -- born 1790 in Virginia" for example. If
there is sufficient space include what information you wish to learn
about the subject of your query as in this example.
It is possible that lack of a subject could even result in your query
being rerouted to the list administrator rather than being posted to the
list -- are you sure you saw your query come through to the list? If
you are unsure,check the mailing list browseable archives:
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/
Type in the name of the list (with no -L or -D on the end) and click on
the current month and year to check for your message.
Now, look at the information you included in the text of your message.
While it may be true that being concise is a virtue, when posting a
query, your message must also be informative, clearly worded, and
precise as to the question you are asking or data for which you are
looking. Don't leave the list members in suspense. If you simply wrote
"I'm looking for the parents of my g-g-g-grandfather George HICKENLOOPER
without providing sufficient information for your potential cousins to
recognize whether or not your George and his parents might be included
in their files, or whether they have a book or other resource that might
help you, they will not reply.
If mailing list members do not understand your query -- at a glance --
and can't figure out what you are asking, chances are good that they
will simply move on and delete your message, possibly shaking their
heads while doing so.
On the other hand, don't write a book when posting your initial query.
Most people are not going to take more than a minute to review and
consider whether your message is of interest to them or if they can help
you. Save the extraneous details, which are not directly pertinent to
your query, such as how George could still read without glasses when he
died at age 97, for follow-up discussions with other interested
researchers after you have received the initial responses.
What you do want to include in your initial query, in addition to WHO,
WHEN, and WHERE, is a brief explanation of what you already know and
what you are hoping to learn. For example, you might state: "George
HICKENLOOPER was born in 1790 in Rockingham County, Virginia, and
married Mary LINGENFELTER in Virginia in 1819, based on church and
census records that I found for this couple in Fairfield County, Ohio
where they settled by 1820 when their first child was baptized there in
the Lutheran Church. I'm trying to learn the identity of George's
parents, who are my brick wall."
A query such as this might draw the interest of mailing list members who
have books on Lutheran marriages in Virginia or other information for
the years you have listed, provided, of course, you posted it to
VAROCKIN-L (Rockingham County, Virginia) and not to OHFAIRFI-L
(Fairfield County, Ohio) mailing list.
If you don't know specific dates, include a general time frame to assist
those who might be able to help you. Put yourself in the place of the
person on the receiving end of your query. Consider what information
the readers will need to know to ascertain whether they can help you.
Don't put yourself in the position of knocking on the door and finding
no one on the other side to answer. Carefully consider the subject and
text of your query as well as the subject of the mailing list to which
you are posting your message, before you click that SEND button.
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Permission to reprint articles from RootsWeb Review is granted unless
specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for
non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice
appears at the end of the article: Previously published in RootsWeb
Review: Vol. 6, No. 36, 3 September 2003.