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The Exchange
April 1999
Vol. 1, No. 4
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Table of Contents:
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Comments From The GenExchange
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A quarter of the year is past us and things just keep looking better as each day passes. March was another stellar month, both in the continued growth of page hits the GenExchange receives every month, and because of the opening of the NYGenExchange county web sites for adoption. The growth the GenExchange has achieved is phenomenal! For instance the GenExchange received over 118,000 more page hits than the month prior; and those page hits have been growing every month since last Fall. See our Geeks Corner column for complete statistics.
In addition, as mentioned in the two previous issues of the Exchange, we have begun our long planned project to open county web sites for every state, and to allow those sites to be adopted by others to administer. See last months issue of the Exchange ( http://genexchange.org/gesr/mar1999.php ), and the January 1999 issue of the Journal of Online genealogy ( http://www.onlinegenealogy.com/archive/jan99/on1jan99.htm ) for more detailed information regarding this project. Also information regarding the GenExchange can be found at http://genexchange.org/faq.php , http://genexchange.org/volunteers.php , http://genexchange.org/volunteering.php , and http://genexchange.org/contacts.php .
This month we have a wealth of information and news to pass on. This months crystal ball column focuses on organization of the GenExchange and how the new county/state contacts will affect it. Our Useful Links column this month will focus on online genealogical journals, newsletters, and mailing lists. This months Tips and Tricks column, written by Kathy Then, is especially good and focuses on genealogy in newspapers. And last, but certainly not least, we have a special column regarding new genealogical newsgroups.
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Geeks Corner
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Peer Into The Crystal Ball
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In our last issue we wrote that the GenExchange had been testing new county web sites that would expand the current state GenExchange sites, and that they would soon open to the public. It is with very great pleasure that I am now able to announce the new county web sites have opened to the public in one state-New York-which can be found in the NYGenExchange at http://genexchange.org/ny/. County sites in additional states will be opened at a rate of one or two states per month until all Fifty states have been modified. We may increase the rate of openings as needs arise.
The opening of the new county web sites heralds a new plateau in the GenExchange Project and offers greater participation than ever before. The GenExchange has always been an open community project, but now the GenExchange truly is becoming the Internet researchers project as well. With page hits growing at a rate of 10-20% per month, and data growing at a rate of 3-5MB per week it was very clear that the project had grown beyond what two people alone could administer.
With the opening of the new county sites, the organization of the GenExchange will necessarily change as well. By spreading responsibility for the project across many individuals or groups the GenExchange will become more responsive to the needs of the researcher; and will become more inclusive-both in content and in focus. The sum of one hundred minds and one hundred pairs of hands is greater than the sum on only two-hands and minds-after all!
With that in mind, Joanne and myself will step back as much as possible from the day to day workings of the GenExchange and will fill the role as National Coordinator, developers, and proud parents! The GenExchange Project will assume an organization where the National Coordinator oversees the project as a whole; State Contacts (SC) oversee the respective state; and County Contacts oversee the respective county. As Joanne and myself take more of a background role in the project the State Contacts will step up and assume the responsibilities for day to day tasks, coordinating all aspects of their respective state's projects. It will be the State Contacts (SC) who will predominately run the project as a group.
As more and more county web sites open, the foundation for the project will become the county level. Consequently the County Contacts (CC) will be extremely important in the overall organization. Data will predominately become accessible from the county web sites vice the state web sites, excluding data which pertains to multiple counties or unknown counties. In those cases, that data will remain accessible from the state GenExchange site, and the Unknown County site. With dedicated individuals focusing on areas that interest them specifically we hope to accelerate access to data; accelerate opening of new projects consisting of special data sets; and accelerate our plan to open Country GenExchange sites.
Please visit the NYGenExchange at http://genexchange.org/ny/index.php . If you wish to adopt a NY county, please visit the NY state page . We plan to open Virginia and Iowa for adoption during April, so if you are interested in adopting one of those counties please visit http://genexchange.org/counties.php?state=ia , or http://genexchange.org/counties.php?state=va respectively.
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Genealogical Web Site Of Excellence
April 1999
Bowen Depository
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~kenbowen/
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Every month we have the very distinguished honor of visiting dozens of web sites that are submitted for our award. Every month granting our award for genealogical excellence gets harder as the competition becomes more keen. Sometimes however there is just such a clear cut candidate that one just has to literally sit in awe as you wander through the web site. This month's winner is just such a site. It is our very distinguished and joyous honor to award this month's GenExchange Award for Genealogical Excellence to the Bowen Depository located at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~kenbowen/ .
Ken Bowen has build a beautiful web site replete with every type of data imaginable. A one named study site, the Bowen Depository is at once a pleasurable site to wander, and at which to conduct research. The site utilizes the Rootsweb GenConnect resources for several categories of data, as well as more traditional tables and covers numerous states. One of the unique features of the site is the "Bowen Photo of the Month." Old photo buffs will absolutely cherish those, as well as the prominent placement of the photos on the main page.
Ken truly deserves recognition for his efforts, so please help me in congratulating him on a job well done! He can be reached at
If you wish to nominate a web site for this award, please use the nomination form found at http://genexchange.org/gesr/nominateform.php
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Tips & Tricks
by Kathy Then
NEWSPAPERS AND GENEALOGY
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The most obvious genealogical resources in the newspaper are your obituary/death notices and marriage announcements. Many times after locating a death date for a possible ancestor, I order a microfilm of the local newspaper for that date - even before sending for a death certificate. It is much cheaper and quicker to do this than spend $10 to $15 ( or whatever is the going rate in your area) and wait weeks/months for the certificate of someone not related to you to arrive. Of course, not everyone had an obituary. Let's talk about the difference between obituaries and death notices.
An obituary is an article written by the newspaper staff. There is no charge for this. It is a tribute to a well known person in their community whether in politics or business or just plain longevity. For example -
Feb 2, 1898 NY Times - Mrs. Mary Wortman, said to be the oldest woman in the borough of Bklyn, died on Tuesday evening at the home of Dr. Speer, 728 Carroll St. She was born in Sweet Hollow, L.I. ( now known as Melville ) on Aug 23, 1802, and was therefore in her 96th year.....
Unfortunately, not many of us can claim an ancestor of such prestige. Then, there is the much more common death notice. This was written ( with the help of the funeral home, most likely) and paid for by the next of kin. Back in the days before the telephone, this was the easiest and fastest way to let friends & family know about the death of a loved one. The information in this announcement ranged from something simple -
NY Herald July 1, 1894 - SORGER - M. Elizabeth Sorger, on Saturday morning, June 30, 1894.
to other announcements which were a miniature family tree -
NY Herald Aug. 19, 1848 - On the 18th instant, after a short but severe illness, Andrew B. Finigan, native of the county of Cavan, Ireland. His friends and those of his brothers, Walter and David, and of his brother-in-law, Patrick Murphy, are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, on Sunday afternoon, at 2 o'clock from the residence of his brother-in-law, Peter Hoben, 64 Suffolk St. His remains will be taken to Newtown, LI.
Marriage announcements are also divided into two categories. There are small paragraphs written by the newspaper staff for well known individuals. Then, there are paid notices sent in by the couple to notify friends & family. Occasionally, the notice was in the paper a few days before the event. Usually though, they were posted anywhere from the day after the marriage to several weeks later. So, it does take some hunting. Even these small announcements can be full of information.
NY Herald June 3, 1885 - On June 1, at the Church of the Transfiguration, New York City,by the Rev. G.R. Underhill, William H. Colson, second son of John Colson, Esq. , Beechwood, Winchester, to Mary, second daughter of George Smith, Esq., also of Winchester, England.
A wonderful feature of the these notices was the " Please copy ". Often at the bottom of the notice was written the name of another newspaper, followed by "please copy". This is a very useful tool in locating your ancestor's hometown or the location of other branches of the family. It was a request by the next of kin to have the announcement published in another newspaper to inform out of town relatives/friends.
Other less frequent announcements were for engagements and births and even divorce. But don't stop there. The rest of the paper is full of interesting tidbits of information such as real estate transactions, advertisements for local businesses and plenty of human interest stories. Often wills & other court matters were mentioned - such as lawsuits, guardianship appointments and criminal matters.
NY Herald July 29, 1882 - Five complainants appeared in the Jefferson Market Police Court yesterday against Norman McLeod, the young Scotsman who was arrested for obtaining jewelry under false pretenses. His counsel offered to pay the value of the jewelry if Justice Smith would allow the complaints to be withdrawn.The Justice refused, and held McLeod . McLeod gave his age as 29 years and his residence as #81 Monroe St., Bklyn
Small local papers especially liked to follow the town's social life.
Mid-Island Mail Aug. 7, 1935 - Richard Hambley celebrates 90th Birthday at Coram Family Party Mrs. Carl Holschuh, Mrs. Robert Scharff, Mrs. Raymond Still and son Raymond, were guest of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Hambley on Sunday to celebrate the 90th birthday of Mr. Hambley. Four generations of the Hambley family were present - Mrs. Robert Scharff and Walter Hambley, children; Mrs. Still, Mrs Holschuh & Mrs. Rudy Gottwald, grandchildren; Raymond Still, Suzanne Holschuh and Walter Hambley,Jr, Doris Ann Gottwald, great grandchildren.
It is important that you discover if your newspaper has been indexed. This will make searching for your ancestor much, much easier. Many newspapers' older issues have been indexed. Some like the NY Herald and Bklyn Eagle have marriages and deaths indexed. The Long Islander has a death index. The NY Times has an obituary index as well an every name index.
How to locate your newspaper --- Here are some possibilities :
*First check with the local library in your ancestor's hometown - the reference librarian should be able to give you the name of the newspaper(s) published at that time. Also, ask if the library has a local history collection.
*Have them refer you to the historical society in the area.
*If the paper is still in publication, find out their address and inquire if they have an archive/morgue.
*Discover where the nearest college/university is - many have extensive periodical collections
If, you finally discover the name of the newspaper but no one seems to know where it is -
Each state has compiled a " Union List of Periodicals" - check your library for this book. It will list the periodical holdings of all the libraries in your state. For other states - this book lists periodical holdings in the U.S. - " Gale Directory of Publications & Broadcast Media" (formerly Ayers Directory of Publication), published by Gale Research. For other countries, - this book list periodical holdings around the world - " Urlich's International Periodical Directory compiled by R.R. Bowker
Also : This web site lists the microfilm collections of many State Newspaper Projects : http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/nysnp/projects.htm
Suppose you find it is across the country or just inaccessible -
*Check with your own local library, to see if they can Inter Library Loan (ILL) the microfilm for you.
*If this is not possible, then write to them yourself. Enclose a SASE, with a SPECFIC request to look for a mention of your ancestor's name just after his date of death. or ask for the obituary page of the day after your ancestor died. Do not ask them to do a search, you will probably never hear from them again!
And what if , after all this work, you don't find your ancestor in this paper? You will still have heard the local politicians' speeches, checked the weather forecast, discovered how the economy of his town was faring, observed the social happenings, and best of all, taken a step back in time. This will help make your family tree much more than a collection of names and dates.
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New Genealogical News-Groups
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John Cline of IGA-NET recently posted information regarding private gatewayed mailing lists on the USENET. Mailing lists being the next best resource to raw data I though it important enough to pass this along with John's permission. John is involved in a project to bring genealogical list access to impaired persons and has been involved in genealogy for many years. If you are interested in subscribing to top quality genealogy lists, these are the ones to subscribe to.
These are private newsgroups hosted by RelayNet(tm)and The International Genealogy Association(tm) networks. Postings are filtered and monitored by full-time admins for spam and ads. Messages are kept as long as possible (years) and are searchable. Read Only access is publicly available at news.iga-net.org or http://www.iga-net.org/cgi-bin/iga.exe Posting access can be gained by sending a request to: . News feeds are available to qualified providers. Many of these newsgroups have gatewayed mailing lists (postings to the newsgroup are also sent to the mailing list subscribers and vice versa) which provides an alternative means of accessing the newsgroup postings.
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Useful Links
by Anthony Abby
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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter - http://www.ancestry.com/columns/eastman/index.htm
Richard Eastman produces one of the finest and informative genealogical journals available. Richard is the forum manager for the Compuserv genealogy forums, author, and has been a strong voice in genealogy for many years. Richard's weekly newsletter is the equivalent of Time magazine, Newsweek, and the New York Times all rolled up into one large product-a must read for any genealogy news junkie. Always chock full of highly informative columns concerning web sites, new genealogical products, and special events; this is one newsletter I never neglect to read.
Ancestry.com Daily News - http://www.ancestry.com/dailynews/dailynews.htm
The Ancestry Daily News, edited by Julian Smith is another fine example of essential reading. Juliana's wonderful daily newsletter will always keep you up to date on new web sites, new and important data online, and important genealogical events. The Ancestry Daily News is must read material and highly recommended for anyone who wants to keep tabs about new raw data being added online-and not just at Ancestry.
Journal of Online genealogy - http://www.onlinegenealogy.com
Matthew Helm, of Toolbox fame, and his wife April produce the highly refined and very informative online journal. Differing from the other resources mentioned in this column, the Journal is truly an online genealogical journal. Matthew regularly reviews new products and web sites and offers a very nice genealogy news section (http://www.genealogynews.com) which is also worth keeping your eye on. Matthew has been involved in online genealogy for many years and has yet again brought his ample talents to bear, producing a very informative journal which should be a staple of everyone's genealogy reading. Highly recommended!
Signal - http://www.usigs.org/signal/signal.htm
Brought to you by the fine folks at the United Stated Internet Genealogical Society (USIGS); this bi-weekly genealogy newsletter covers the topics every cyber-genealogist needs to read about and understand. Most recently the Signal has begun to run a multi-column treatise on digital copyrights, and by itself is probably reason enough to check out the journal. Staffed by thoroughly professional and knowledgeable genealogists, the Signal could definitely be categorized as "anticipated reading."
Genealogy Resources on the Internet - http://members.aol.com/johnf14246/gen_mail.html
Genealogy mailing lists are another inestimable resource for online genealogists. In fact, next to raw genealogy web sites, genealogy mailing lists are probably the most important resource online genealogists can access. Finding those mailing lists though, can be a difficult task amongst the millions of web sites online today. John Fuller's Genealogy Resources on the Internet relieves you of that problem, and is your "front door" to thousands of mailing lists. If you are looking for a particular list, or want to advertise your own, John's site should be your first stop. Place this bookmark in your most used section!
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The Lighter Side - Genealogy Humor
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**From book "Everything's Relative" by Eliz. Payne**
If you are interested in jokes in general, you can also subscribe to our Jokes list (Jokes-L) by visiting http://genexchange.org/MailListForm.php#Misc
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Frequently Asked Questions
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The Frequently Asked Questions for the GenExchange cam be found at http://genexchange.org/faq.php . They are regularly updated and contain information regarding how and why the GenExchange was created; how you can get involved in the GenExchange; and who to contact if you have problems, or encounter errors.
The Exchange newsletter will be permanently archived at http://genexchange.org/gesr/archive.php .
Genealogy Exchange & Surname Registry - http://genexchange.org
If you have questions, comments, or would like to submit a guest article to be run in a subsequent issue of the Exchange, please write
Permissions to copy and/or reprint any of these articles is granted provided the statement below is also attached to any redacted material; and the material is not used in any commercial manner.
"This material was originally published in the Exchange, the monthly newsletter of the Genealogy Exchange & Surname Registry ( http://genexchange.org ); and is republished here with permission of either the Exchange, or the author."
Copyright (c) 1996-2002 Genealogy Exchange & Surname Registry, all rights reserved.
Joanne Gruber -
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