from RootsWeb Review, 5 January 2005

Mailing Lists: More Than Names and Places

If you are like most genealogists you search by surnames and localities.
While RootsWeb offers thousands of mailing lists on these topics, there
are some excellent mailing lists pertaining to other categories, such as
how to operate and get the most out of your genealogy software.

Among the popular genealogy software programs with mailing lists devoted to
them are: AFT (Ancestry Family Tree), BK (Brother's Keeper), FTM (Family
Tree Maker), LEGACY, PAF (Personal Ancestral File; various versions),
ROOTSMAGIC, and TMG (The Master Genealogist), plus various other
software-related topics available. Check them out here http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Software/


============0

Using RootsWeb: Address Changes: Getting Up-to-Date

It is often said that it is a woman's prerogative to change her mind but
Philip Flexmore can give most women a run for their money when it comes
to making changes. Phil has had five different e-mail addresses in the
past year!

The first change wasn't by choice -- his small local ISP (Internet
Service Provider) was bought out by a large national company and his e-
mail address changed as a result. Since the ISP was good about
forwarding mail temporarily from the old to new address, Phil wasn't
overly meticulous at the time in updating his address with all of
his correspondents.

However, Phil soon decided that the new provider was not to his liking
and he switched to another company--hence another e-mail address change.
Then, midyear, Phil purchased a new computer and received six months
free with yet another service provider necessitating yet another change
of e-mail address. The final blow came at Christmastime when Phil's
wife surprised him with a super-fast cable modem and broadband service.
Yet another e-mail address change!

The situation wouldn't be so bad if all Phil needed to do was to notify
a few friends in his address book of his current e-mail address. But,
Phil is a family history researcher and has placed his various and
sundry e-mail addresses in many places around the Internet in hopes of
being contacted by cousins and others with information on the ancestors
for whom he is looking.

Additionally, Phil has used (and is still using) many RootsWeb resources
and he just assumed (oh, no!) that RootsWeb would know about his address
changes automatically. Not so. RootsWeb does not keep track of its
users' e-mail addresses and has no magical tool to locate a new address
for someone. So, if someone is trying to contact Phil with several
generations of "newly discovered" ancestors, they are probably hitting a
dead end and giving up when the e-mails are returned as "user unknown."
someone is looking for you with lots of information to share. Is your e-
mail address current on all the RootsWeb resources? For instructions in
updating your address, see: http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/addresses/

==============0

* * *
Seeing Double in Colorado
By David C Abernathy

My father Charles and Uncle Harold were counted twice in the 1930 Rio
Grande County, Colorado census. It appears that both a SPENCER and a
WALLACE household had them for roomers.

Since this is a very small town in the mountains of Colorado I know that
there were not two people with the same names, plus the wives' names
match correctly. This is just an example how the records were and still
today are not very accurate.

* * *
Shotgun Wedding -- Perhaps?
By David W. Coffey

My 3-great-grandfather, Golson Wilson COFFEY, obviously had a strange
sense of humor. In 1860 he granted permission for his 16-year-old son,
(my 2-great-grandfather), William F. COFFEY, to marry.

Here is the transcription of the record as recorded in the book "Russell
County, Kentucky Marriage Records, 1826-1860," compiled by Mrs. Carol
Sanders:

"William F. Coffey and Elizabeth A. Brown, daughter of Harvey Brown of
Russell Co., married on 2 Jan. 1860 at the home of her father in the
presence of John W. Coffey and William Coffey, signed M. W. Wilson.
Bond signed William (X) Coffey and Napolean B. Brown.

Consent as follows: Jan 2, 1860 authoriase [sic] the clerk of the
court to isue [sic] a death warnt [sic] to William Coffey.
Signed G.W. (X) Coffey"

* * *
Hilarious Names Upon Our Trees
By Mike Knoll

Contributor Denny Shirer did not say if the people named Hilarious in
the censuses were enumerated by the same person, but I wonder if the
name was not the result of the census enumerator's misunderstanding of
Hieronymous, a fairly common German given name, way back when.

* * *
Ancient Roots of Hilarious Name
By Bill Hansen

I was amused (no pun intended) on the forename Hilarious and its
variations (Hilarus/Hilarious) mentioned in a recent RootsWeb Review.
The only persons I have found with that forename are of either Swiss or
German origin. The name is derived from St. Hilarius, a native of
Sardinia, who was elected Pope in 461 and died 28 Feb. 468. The name
appears to be prominent in both German and Swiss families due to the
works of another saint, St. Fridolin. Fridolin or a variation is a name
is also a semi-common forename in Switzerland and lower Germany. I have
several ancestors of Swiss origin who were named either Hilarius or
Fridolin.

According to Catholic text, St. Fridolin, was founder of the Monastery
of Säckingen, Baden, in the sixth century. In accordance with a
later tradition, St. Fridolin is venerated as the first Irish missionary
who labored among the Alamanni on the Upper Rhine [an ecclesiastical
province that included the Archdiocese of Freiburg and the suffragan
Dioceses of Fulda, Mainz, Limburg, and Rottenburg] in the time of the
Merovingians. Fridolin (or Fridold) belonged to a noble family in
Ireland and at first labored as a missionary in his native land.
Afterwards crossing to France, he came to Poitiers, where in answer to a
vision, he sought the relics of St. Hilarius, and built a church for
their reception. See: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06303c.htm

* * *
Greek, Latin, and Mythological Names
By Frank Grenfell

Denny Shirer's article about the given name "Hilarious" is less
surprising if one realises that it comes straight from Greek and means
Cheerful. The modern version is, of course, Hilary.

In the 19th century names were often chosen for their meaning, many
taken from Greek or Latin, or classical mythology, or the Old Testament.
For instance, Agatha and Ophelia are Greek for Good and Help. Many of
them sound very dated these days, while others are still in common use
-- Andrew and Margaret mean Manly and Pearl.

The seventh, eighth and ninth sons of a large family, and cousins of
mine, were respectively Robert Septimus, Francis Octavius and
Riversdale Nonus, taken from the Latin numbers. Sadly Robert died at
Omdurman, Sudan in 1898 at the age of 23, and both Francis and
Riversdale in World War I, Francis receiving the Victoria Cross --
Britain's highest military honour.

* * *
Finding a Few NUTTY Ones on the Family Tree
By James Blair

In reference to: "Hilarious (et al)," I have one, I am descended from
Isabelle Grant NUTTY, the wife of my great-grandfather, Thomas H. BLAIR.
During my research I met a lot of NUTTY people.

==============00

visit our newsletter management center any time at:

The RootsWeb Review is a free publication of MyFamily.com, Inc.,
360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT, 84604


REPRINTS. 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: 5 January 2005, Vol. 8, No. 1