Carmen J. Finley, Ph.D., C.G
[NGS/CIG DIGEST, Vol. 18, No. 2
(National Genealogical Society Computer Interest Group, March April 1999), p. 1
Reprinted by permission of Carla Ridenour, Editor.].
It has been three years since the USGenWeb came into being in the Spring of 1996. The
establishment of this system of county-centered online information for family researchers was
first documented in the NGS/CIG DIGEST in the September/October 1997 issue. What has
happened in the intervening time? Many things have happened. At the county level,
coordinators continue to add information and databases and a large majority of them have
mailing lists devoted to their county. Query systems have evolved and developed to the point
that it is possible to search not only nationwide, but worldwide, for queries and other information
that has been posted about surnames of interest. New large-scale projects are being developed;
among them are the Archives, Census, Tombstone, Lineage, and Kidz Projects. One of the most
exciting things is that actual images of primary/original source records are beginning to appear.
County Level Activities
As one might expect, there is wide variation in the quality and amount of information now
available from county to county. There are many excellent sites which grow and develop with
each passing day. However, there are still a few "orphan counties" that need to be adopted and
developed.
Mailing Lists
One of the most exciting developments at the county level is the rapidly growing availability of
mailing lists. Just think of it--a mailing list devoted entirely to the research interests of folks in
a given county. In Augusta County, Virginia, for example, a list established about a year and a
half ago now has approximately 700 members--all of whom have interests in that county! And
there is a search engine on the Augusta County page that will call up all the information on a
given surname since the list began. This writer has found participating in a mailing list to be a
very fast way to get helpful leads. It depends, of course, on the size of the mailing list and the
interests of those on the list at any given time. It may not be possible, because of time
constraints, to join and remain active on many lists, but it is easy to subscribe for a brief period,
unsubscribe, and then go back later as your research needs develop.
Search Engines
Another relatively new development which has become available through Rootsweb, home of
many of the county sites, is a search engine designed for county level use. In other words, the
visitor can enter a surname and find all references to it at that county site. Some county pages
have grown so large that a search engine represents considerable savings in time to find those
things of most interest to any researcher.
Maps
The use of maps is always a welcome addition for the family historian. While many counties
have been using a county map, some are also using township maps, and a few are using plats
which show the actual names and locations of early settlers. One of the most innovative uses of
maps is found is Tom Agan's treatment of the map information provided by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) in Orange County, Indiana. BLM is discussed in further detail in the
section on images below. Tom has taken this information and created colored sections showing
the position of each early patent holder. See:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inorange/toc.htm
and scroll down to "Land."
Following Tom's example, see more BLM maps at Hillsdale County, Michigan, and Howard
County, Indiana, which are being developed by Tracey Morris:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mihillsd/s3-t5s-r1w.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inhoward/sources.html
Excellent use of Township maps can be see at Muskingum County, Ohio, developed by Melanie
Cox:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohmuskin/musktwpmap.htm
Also see Van Buren County, Iowa, coordinated by Rich Lowe:
http://www.netins.net/showcase/vbciowa/vbcgs/maps.htm
And Dickinson County, Kansas, developed by Kathy Welch Heidel:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/kansas/genweb/dickinso/landowners.html
For an example of plats showing early patent holders in the Beverley Patent, 1736, see Augusta
County, Virginia:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaaugust/augusta2.html#maps
Many counties have taken advantage of the offer made by Gold Bug Historic Maps and Software.
Gold Bug has provided about 200 sites with historical maps to post for their county. For
example, see Augusta County showing county boundaries in 1738, 1770, 1776, and 1791:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaaugust/maps.html
Not to mention a wonderful map which unfolds to show the development of America at various
periods from 1650 through 1982, developed by Ed Stephan.
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Animation/us.gif
Photos
Many counties are making good use of photographs. A particularly interesting page has been
developed by Valerie Brown on Rehoboth Church, now in Monroe County, West Virginia. The
First Methodist Church west of the Alleghenies was dedicated in 1786, and she intersperses the
history of this church with photos.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvgreenb/rehoboth.html
Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church, established in 1740 in Augusta County, is another example
of a photo album and early church history.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaaugust/photo.html
Jones County, Iowa, maintained by Richard Harrison, has a "Missing Person" section showing
early photos of persons whose identity is not known.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~iajones/missing/page1.htm
Tracey Morris has made good use of postal cards of early 1900 scenes of Kokomo in Howard
County, Indiana.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inhoward/postcards.html
In Webster County, Kentucky, Carole Palmer has a page devoted to the Providence High School Class of 1924.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~kywebste/prov/senior1.htm
A substantial photo gallery of Orange County people and places has been developed by Tom
Agan in Orange County, Indiana.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inorange/prephoto.htm
Locating Exemplary Sites
It would be impossible to identify all of the superior sites, but there are a couple of ways to get a
good sampling. A USGenWeb Virtual Tour was established last November. Initially set up by
John Schunk, the objectives of the USGenWeb Virtual Tour are to exchange ideas and
information on the design, content, and presentation of USGenWeb county and state sites for
both the tourists and the hosts. Now managed by Darilee Bednar, you can find this site at:
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/sedgwick/virtualtour.html
During the summer of 1998 a number of Palmer Awards were made to evaluate content, overall
presentation, and ease of navigation. This site can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/2240/criteria.html
However, there is one county coordinator whose hands-on approach really deserves mention.
Shari Handley, who is webmaster for Somerset and Wicomico Counties, Maryland, has for two
years organized two special events involving local researchers. In Shari's words:
A county or regional mailing list can be used to create excitement about your county sites, and to
motivate subscribers to donate transcribed records and such. I run the 650+ member
LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS mailing list, and have for the last two years organized a yearly
double event during our one week vacation to the area. One event is what we call our annual
"CemTrek,"and the other is the "Research Jamboree" that takes place at the Nabb Research
Center for DelMarVa History and Culture.
Last year, there were eight CemTrekkers who braved the hot sun, humidity, brambles and
chiggers to transcribe another bunch of cemetery data. Afterwards, we had a wonderful dinner of
the best the Eastern Shore has to offer at the Red Rooster in Wicomico County (Newt Gingrich
ate here!) We had a total blast! Then, the next day, there were about 40 list members who came
to the Nabb Center for the Research Jamboree. Folks came from as far away as the Netherlands
(!), California, Rhode Island, and Michigan for this event, and I expect even more this summer.
When we return from the CemTrek and Research Jamboree, I write a detailed report of both
events for the whole list to read and upload the cemetery data we've transcribed. People seem to
love to read the trip report, and I know they appreciate the data.
The Query Systems
From the very beginning of the USGenWeb project there has been high interest in providing a
place where visitors could post their queries and read those posted by others. In response to the
growing interest and the difficulty in efficiently locating surnames of interest, two systems have
developed to the point where it is now very easy to search these massive databases.
Surname Helper
Created by Patty Lindsay, Surname Helper is a surname searchable database of queries and
surname registrations posted on various genealogy sites. Participating sites include both
USGenWeb and WorldGenWeb sites as well as others. As of January 1999, there was a total of
3,203 sites using this system, of which 2,666 were members of the USGenWeb or
WorldGenWeb systems. When this writer searched for "Finley" on the total system, 328 listings
were returned. In addition to just queries, there was also found a number of biographies,
cemetery, census, death, directory, history, military, newspaper, pension, and will records which
come from the GenConnect system describe next. To access the Surname Helper search engine:
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/surhelp/srchall.html
GenConnect
GenConnect is a query board system where a researcher can post queries and share data. A
query board system is where the responses to an initial query are threaded so they appear together
as a set of information as the data accumulates. Started in December 1997 by Nancy Trice with a
single county in Kentucky, the demand soon spread nationwide and worldwide. There are three
types of boards, (1) those where you can post to and respond to queries, (2) those you can post
to, but queries are not allowed, and (3) boards which are read only boards. Types of boards at
this time, include: Bibles, biographies, deeds, obits, queries, pensions, and wills and as of
January 1999 there were 6,008 boards in use. A global surname search on "Finley" on
GenConnect returned 206 listings. To access this search engine:
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/
Major Projects
The Archives
First of the major large-scale projects to appear was the USGenWeb Archives initiated by Linda
Lewis. Established in July 1996, the goal of the Archives Project is to put public domain records
online so that they are freely accessible to everyone. Included are probate, land, vital, church,
court, military, Bible records, obituaries, and passenger lists among others. There are now two
search engines--one to search by state and the other to search nationwide. To search by state:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ussearch.htm
To search nationwide:
http://searches.rootsweb.com/htdig/search.html
A detailed report on the archives, authored by Linda Lewis, appeared in the January-February
1998 issue of the NGS/CIG DIGEST.
Several sub-projects have originated from the Archives Project, namely the census project and
the tombstone inscriptions project.
Census Project
The USGenWeb Census Project was started in February 1997 with the mission of transcribing all
of the US Federal Censuses. This, of course, is an enormous job and transcribers are busily at
work, but more are needed to extract the census data from the original rolls. The project got off
the ground with about twenty-five people and there are currently more that 500 volunteers at
work. Kay Mason, director of this project, wrote a detailed account which appeared in the
November-December 1998 issue of NGS/CIG DIGEST. The most exciting development is that
the actual census images are also becoming available and eventually the researcher will be able to
read the transcribed version and then look at the actual image to verify the information. Linda
Lewis is responsible for the image version of the census. More on this in the section devoted to
images.
You can view the status of the census transcription project at:
http://www.usgenweb.org/census/
You can view the progress of the census image project at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/cen_img.htm
Keep in mind that, because of its enormity, this is still a fledgling project, so you may not find
your specific county and year of interest. As of now it is not indexed, nor are the transcriptions
linked to their corresponding images, but these sites are well worth watching and re-visiting
often.
Tombstone Inscription Project
The Tombstone Inscription Project, started in March 1997 by Pamela Reid, was originally
designed as "a lasting tribute to our ancestors." Pam's project is organized state-by-state,
cemetery-by-cemetery and she encourages anyone with data to contribute it, or to go read the
stones of any cemetery in their area and contribute the data. The NGS/CIG DIGEST carried her
report as a lead article in the March-April 1998 issue. Check to see if any of your ancestors have
been included; visit her site at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/
The Lineage Project
The Lineage Project provides a place where individuals can list a specific ancestor, give a
minimal amount of information about that person and a way to contact the submitter. It was
created by Megan and Barry Zurawicz as one of the USGenWeb special projects. Coordinator
Sam Sneed and family have volunteered their services for the past year in maintaining
submissions upkeep to the project. Hundreds of researchers weekly, from around the world, e-mail their surnames with accompanying data in hopes of linking others to their personal e-mail
address or home pages that contain additional information.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~lineage/
Kidz Project
The Kidz Project is The USGenWeb Project's resource page for kids. Jen Bawden and Dee Pavey
coordinate this project.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwkidz/
Images Are Beginning to Appear Online
Images of actual documents (primary, original) are beginning to appear online. There are not
many, but the mere fact that someone has the foresight to get them started is significant. Some
are directly a part of the USGenWeb project or a spin-off of the project. Others, mostly from
government agencies, are also beginning to appear and USGenWeb county coordinators are
quick to recognize them and make links available to them.
The Census Project described above is by far the largest USGenWeb sponsored attempt to get
images online. This project has been given a boost by John Schunk of S-K Publications who
produces census images on CD-ROMs. Their offer states:
As each county/year census is completed, a copy of the scanned images will be donated to the
USGenWeb Project for non-commercial display on the World-Wide Web. THUS, YOUR
PURCHASE OF A CD, IN EFFECT, PROVIDES ON-LINE RESEARCHERS EVERYWHERE
WITH ACCESS TO THE COUNTY AND CENSUS YEAR YOU HAVE SELECTED. It's as if
you purchased a book and then donated it to your library or genealogy society--except that, in
this case, it's not a local library or society, but a world-wide library, easily accessible to everyone!
As of this writing, this process is happening for the states of California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
One of the first affiliates of a county page to complete a significant project of online images was done by Angela Ruley and Marilyn Headley. They scanned 1,354 images of Rockbridge County Marriage Bonds (1778-1801). These images were scanned directly from the original marriage bonds located at the Rockbridge County Courthouse in Lexington, Virginia. They are well indexed and other helpful information concerning bonds and consent is included.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/va/rockbridge/license.html
They enjoy a close working relationship with the Rockbridge VAGenWeb site coordinated by
Yvonne James-Henderson at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~varockbr/rock.htm
Ruley provided details of the development of this project in the May/June 1998 issue of
NGS/CIG DIGEST.
The Wilderness Road Regional Museum located in the historic town of Newbern, Pulaski
County, Virginia, started scanning in December 1998. Their collection consists of court records,
and indexes to wills, deeds, marriage, and Bible records. This project is being done by volunteers
at the museum but is facilitated by Mike Gwinn, Pulaski VAGenWeb coordinator. See:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vapulask/wrrm/index.htm
In Spotsylvania County, Virginia, coordinator Barry McGhie has recently launched a project to
reconstruct two early will books covering the period August 1824 through April 1830. Using
recordation dates (the dates documents were ordered by the court to be entered into the will
books) in conjunction with the folios (page numbers) and libers (books) written on many of the
documents, the will books are being reconstructed in the form of digital will books into which
transcripts and images of original documents will be entered. See:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vaspotsy/willbook/wb.htm
Notable efforts are also being made by government agencies and many USGenWeb coordinators
are taking advantage of this by linking to them.
The Library of Virginia has Land Office Patents and Grants images online. These are recorded
copies of those documents by which the Crown (between 1623 and 1774) and the
Commonwealth (from 1779) transferred new land to individual ownership:
http://leo.vsla.edu/collections/help/LO.html
The National Archives and Records Administration Archival Information Locator (NAIL) is a
searchable database that contains information about a wide variety of NARA's holdings across
the country. You can use NAIL to search descriptions for key words or topics and then to retrieve
digital copies of selected textual documents, photographs, maps, and sound recordings. Their
introductory page says, "Although NAIL contains more than 384,200 descriptions and 101,180
digital copies, it represents only a limited portion of NARA's vast holdings." You can see a
sample of recently added data at:
http://www.nara.gov/nara/recdata.html
The Bureau of Land Management, Eastern States, General Land Office provides a database and
images to more than two million Federal land title records for the Eastern Public Land States,
issued between 1820 and 1908. The states included are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois,
Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
This site offers researchers a source of information on the initial transfer of land titles from the
Federal government to individuals in the specified states.
In November 1998 the GLO began expanding this site by including "serial" patent records issued
after June 30, 1908. This also includes records for the western states. More than 1.24 million
"serial" patents will be added to the web site during the next three years.
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/
What Others Say About Us
For over two years this writer has carried an evaluation form on her pages. Here are some of the
comments which have been received:
I appreciate all the lookup help I have gotten, particularly from the people in St. Clair County,
Illinois, and in Scioto County, Ohio. What I find to be most valuable is information that is
placed online for folks to view. For example, the Scott Co., Virginia, page had marriage records
that provided information on several ancestors. At other sites I've found valuable census
information, the online cemetery files at the Scioto Co. Genealogy hotspot are great, and Civil
War rosters have all proved really valuable.
I especially like things like the 'family files' on the Orange Co., Indiana, site-- they also have
cemetery lists and searchable census records! It would be nice if all the county pages could have
their queries set up to be searchable, and if they would all have maps like some of the Virginia
and other pages which show the outline of the county on a state map. Also it's very important to
include information on the history of the county, when it was formed, and from what counties,
etc. On the whole I think the rootsweb/Genweb archives are the best things going in genealogy
today--I live in the Czech Republic and do a lot of research in archives here--without these
county pages and on-line archives I would be completely cut off from doing research on my own
ancestry, though. I'm trying to use some of the ideas of the county pages for my own page on
Southern Quakers-- I've set up a page on the Wrightsboro Monthly Meeting and am trying to
encourage others to do the same for other monthly meetings.
I would like to see more census records. I enjoy any of the pages having to with the Civil War.
Thanks so much for all the information that is being added all the time, I check back to all the
sites occasionally.
I really appreciate your putting this information on-line. Living in a rural area four hours drive
from the nearest substantial library, I often have difficulty finding information. On your web site,
I found ownership maps of Augusta County which will help me confirm inheritance of a son who
was not mentioned in a will. Thanks so much.
I think your sites are wonderful. I don't see how you could improve, except to keep adding more
files to the Archives. These are so great for those who can't get out or don't have access to family
history centers. I really enjoy your area histories. A great deal of that information came from your
sites, or contacts I made on your sites. Do I think you're great? You better believe it!
Carmen, you were one of the first to introduce research material on line with your Chalkley
project. The amount of online databases is really exploding across the system which is making
USGenWeb really valuable. The county mail lists are also a powerful tool. I just joined yours but
am on several of the mail lists in the Northeast.
You're doing a great job--I especially like sites where I can access book texts, as I can here.
Yours is one of the best I have found. I sometimes think that counties are pretty stingy about
what they post--can't understand it, but that's the feeling I get when I visit one and find virtually
nothing that I can get to without having to write, send a check, etc. Your website is very
generous and I appreciate the work I know it takes to maintain something like this. I like it!
You're doing Great! and have come a long way. You can`t move mountains in One Day--and if
you think about it, that's what you all are doing. Patience is what it takes. Thank you, for all that
you are doing and all that you will do.
And on and on!!!
Rootsweb and USGenWeb
The reader may have noticed that many of the URLs above are located at Rootsweb, the Internet's
oldest and largest genealogy site. Founded by husband and wife team Dr. Brian Leverich and
Karen Isaacson, Rootsweb offers free space to any organization that legitimately offers free
genealogical information to the genealogical community. They do, of course, accept donations
and have a graduated set of services which are provided for different fee levels. Never-the-less,
this writer availed herself of their "free" offer to house the Augusta County VAGenWeb site for
well over a year before deciding this was the best thing going since the invention of the postage
stamp. The July-August 1998 issue of NGS/CIG DIGEST carried an article written by Karen
Isaacson which gives the details of their operation.
Is it Payback Time for YOU?
How many of you have received a bundle of information through the USGenWeb system that
takes you back another two, three, four or more generations on one of your family lines? Many
persons probably have, and as a result may have had a surge of that feeling, "How can I ever pay
you back for this?"
Rarely is there ever a way to "pay back" the individual who provided that information, but there
are other ways to express your appreciation to the genealogical community at large. If you have
primary or original documents--Bible records, wills, land, vital or other records--the Archives is
ready to receive them. If you have cemetery records, the Tombstone Inscription Project would
like to have them. If you have old photos, contribute them to the appropriate county. If you
would like to help develop the census records, let the director of that project know. All of these
can be found through one easy address:
http://www.usgenweb.org/
d:\manscripts\NGS\USGenWeb_progress_report