MISSING LINKS: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists Vol. 3, No. 49, 4 December 1998; Circulation: 15,600+ Copyright (c) 1996-98 Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley Editor-at-Fault: Julia M. Case Co-Editor-to-Blame: Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG * * * * * WELDING LINKS: THE WRITE WAY: SCRAPBOOKS AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG Have some children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews on your holiday gift lists? Instead of video games, movies, and toys, consider scrapbooks, often packaged with kits. "Scrapbooking" is the hot new way of updating an old hobby. New products enable you to create elaborate books using clip art, photos, stories, material scraps, stickers and memorabilia. However, scrapbooks can be more than fancy albums. Include stories about the children to teach them that what they said and did are as important as how they look, and that they are part of the family's history. THE ART OF WRITING SCRAPBOOK STORIES, by Janice T. Dixon, Ph.D., includes page layout ideas, archival tips, and "make-it- easy" writing tips. Color examples show how stories, photographs and scrapbooking products can be combined to make scrapbooks attractive and fun to read. The 25-page 8 1/2x11" book (item number A0110) is available ($12.45 postpaid) from Heritage Quest, P.O. Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329; 1-800-760-2455; on the Web: . ### We genealogists often get so busy chasing ancestors that we neglect to create family and personal histories. Furthermore, writing is difficult for many people. Perhaps the reason your grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles haven't written down any stories is because they do not know how, but don't want to admit it. What about your autobiography? Don't you wish your great- grandmother had left a written record for you? FAMILY FOCUSED: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WRITING YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND FAMILY HISTORY, by Janice T. Dixon, Ph.D., takes you by the hand and leads you back into your own life, showing you how to put it on paper so that future generations will see you as a real person. Divided into five sections the book covers: o Writing Your Personal History o Writing Your Family History o Photographs, the Images for our Words; Genealogy, the Organizer o Writing Diaries, Personal Letters, Family Newsletters o Polishing and Publishing Personal and Family History The Appendix includes "Memory Joggers" -- one of the best compilations I've seen. FAMILY FOCUSED makes a great gift. Treat yourself to a copy also. This 350-page book (item number A0109) is available ($24.45 postpaid) from Heritage Quest, P.O. Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011- 0329; 1-800-760-2455; on the Web * * * * * REVOLUTIONARY WAR LINKS: BRITISH COMMISSION ON LOYALIST CLAIMS. Harold Davey advises he sent the message about the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, and the Chesney Loyalists (ML 3:43, 23 Oct 1998, "Search for Journals and Biographies" by Linda Morgan) to William P. Deary, a historian who specializes in the Revolutionary War and who provided the following additional information. ### In addition to all the information already known about Alexander Chesney, there is some additional information about him in a very important source, possibly overlooked up to now, the records of the post-war British Commission on Loyalist Claims. The decisive summary (calendared) record of those files was not published until 1984. It is called BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LOYALISTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. It was compiled by Gregory Palmer, then Director of the British Library (Meckler Publishing, LC Call #E277 P24 1984). Chesney's file, summarized on p. 150, reads: "Lived at Broad River in the Ninety Six District of South Carolina. Immigrated to America from Ireland in 1772. Chesney joined the British Army in 1780 and was taken prisoner at the Battle of King's Mountain in October of that year; he served with the Americans against the Indians. He returned to Ireland in 1782 and was appointed to a minor Government Office at 20 pounds sterling per annum. Chesney estimated his losses at 1,564 pounds sterling and received 394. Although the dates of immigration are inconsistent, he is probably the Alexander Chesney noted in Sabine." Lorenzo Sabine published the very first BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LOYALISTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION in 1847 and revised it once in 1864. Sabine wrote without access to the Commission's primary source records which were not even definitively indexed until recent years by the University of Florida Press. The Commission's records are available on microfilm at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. I have made extensive use of those records tracking down British spies and defectors. For Alexander Chesney, Palmer cites records AO [Audit Office] 12/99/219 which probably is an executive summary of his submission including the Commission's findings and recommendation for monetary award. A second record cited by Palmer is AO12/109/100, which I recognize as a long run of tabular sheets which records and confirms by date that payment was made. Although Palmer does not specifically cite any records in the AO13 series (because they do not lend themselves to summarization), it is very likely that such records exist and if so they are well worth examining. Typically they contain back up documentation submitted in support of the individual's claim. In the case of spies and defectors, it is only in the AO 13 series that one finds the actual testimonials from British generals officer certifying to the fact that the claimant indeed performed such services. Although nothing suggests that Chesney was a spy, his AO 13 file may contain no end of useful material -- proof of his losses, testimonials from other who knew him, etc. -- the very warp and woof of family history. The Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress is open to the public and the specialists who work there are very helpful. Ask them to direct you to the Revolutionary War part of their hard copy reference collection (collocated with the reading room and microfilm readers). The Collection includes Palmer and Sabine along with the two thin volumes of the University of Florida index (Vol I: for AO 12 and Vol. 2 for AO 13). The Index to the AO 12 points you to the file and page although Palmer's pagination, keyed to the handwritten original numbers, varies slightly from the numbers imprinted on the frames years later when the collection was originally filmed. The index to AO 13 points you to the "bundle" but not to the page which means that you have to scroll through the hard-to-read entries which are usually (but not always) is alpha order in the bundle. After arming yourself with all the index entries, go to the reference desk and ask the specialists to walk you through the microfilm holdings for "Great Britain Audit Office." You should be able to identify all the relevant reels very quickly. * * * * * VIRTUAL BOUQUETS: From Elizabeth Kaspar . Last fall I made my first trip to the Harrodsburg (Kentucky) Historical Society, hoping to find information there that was not available years earlier when my mother was searching. There I found a wonderful genealogical library, but an even greater find was a volunteer, Mrs. Alma Ray Ison, who has been offering her services there for many years. She is a virtual walking encyclopedia of genealogical information. When I mentioned the name Baker, she rattled off information about the family. She did the same for other "walk-ins" that day, too. She pulled files for me and gave me most valuable tips, but her most astounding feat was yet to come. She asked if I were related to Mrs. Edith Baker Kaspar, my late mother, who was in Harrodsburg doing research in the late 1940s and early 1950s. That night, Mrs. Ison called to read me her correspondence with my mother that she had kept all these years! I recommend that anyone conducting research on Kentucky ancestors visit the Harrodsburg Historical Society -- and hope that is the day that Mrs. Ison will be there. * * * * * WEB LINKS: ALASKA. McKinley Foothills B&B, Trapper Creek, Alaska. CANADA. Prince Edward Island. The Island Register. GALICIA, BOHEMIA, VIENNA. New books. in english language in deutscher Sprache IMMIGRANT SHIPS TRANSCRIPTIONS GUILD. IRELAND. The Parish of Outeragh, County Tipperary, Ireland, , contains a transcription of all entries in Griffith's Primary Valuation, the Tithe Applotment Books, and the Tithe Defaulters Index for the small parish of Outeragh. There is also a link to the original parish map created for Griffith's. This information is posted as part of a study of the residents of Outeragh Parish to determine how many of them emigrated together to southeast Michigan in the 19th century. IRELAND. Publications on Irish genealogy. MISSOURI 1860 SLAVE SCHEDULES. OREGON OBITUARIES. Current obituaries from "The Oregonian" PAST CONNECTIONS. Searchable database for people who have found or are looking for old Bibles, funeral cards, slave papers, marriage certificate, picture postcards with names and dates, etc. PIG LATIN WEB PAGE CONVERTER. VIRGINIA. Library of Virginia Digital Library New Releases. A recent press release from Jean Marie Taylor, Digital Library Programs, Collection Management Services Division, The Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219 announces new online document images available for several electronic indexes as follows: VIRGINIA REVOLUTIONARY WAR BOUNTY WARRANTS VIRGINIA REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONS VIRGINIA REVOLUTIONARY WAR REJECTED CLAIMS DUNMORE'S WAR (1774) S. BASSETT FRENCH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES (19th c. Virginian, who compiled notes on prominent Virginians for a planned biographical dictionary). CONFEDERATE DISABILITY APPLICATIONS. (24,000 digitized images of applications for 6,000 individuals. Fully searchable.) GUIDE TO VIRGINIA LOCAL COURT RECORDS ON MICROFILM. (No longer requires a TIFF image viewer; contains many listings from the post-1865 period.) * * * * * NATIONAL ARCHIVES LINKS. NARA MICROFILM PUBLICATIONS. From Claire Prechtel-Kluskens, Archivist/Genealogy Specialist, Archives I Research Room Services Branch (NWCCR1), National Archives, Washington, DC 20408 . The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) announces the availability of six new microfilm publications: A3361, Register of Citizen (1943-1947) and Alien (1936-1949) Arrivals by Aircraft at San Francisco, California. 2 rolls. 16mm. M1504, Manifests of Alien Arrivals at San Luis, Arizona, July 24, 1929-December 1952. 2 rolls. 16mm. M1766, Alphabetical Card Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Fort Hancock, Texas, 1924-1954. 2 rolls. 16mm. M1768, Alphabetical Card Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Fabens, Texas, July 1924-1954. 7 rolls. 16mm. M1770, Indexes and Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Rio Grande City, Texas, November 1908-May 1955. 6 rolls. 16mm. M1851, Index and Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Progreso/Thayer, Texas, October 1928-May 1955. 6 rolls. 16mm. National Archives Microfilm Publications can be purchased for $34 per roll. Credit card orders are accepted. Call 1-800-234-8861. Specify microfilm publication number and roll number(s). Call for information regarding institutional purchase orders. * * * * * SUCCESSFUL LINKS: THE CROOKED PICTURE by Vicki Breeze When I bought my home a few years ago, my mother gave me a wonderful gift -- a box of framed family photos. The pictures were of my mother, her brother, her mother and father, her grandparents, her great-aunt, and her great-great-grandmother (a woman I had called "monkey face" for years, but now know by her rightful name of Laura Hines Streeter Gore). All the pictures were familiar, as my mother shared them with me repeatedly throughout my childhood. My mother, my sister and I would crawl into my mother's bed and delve into the past while examining the treasures my mother held dear to her heart. I attribute my interest in family research to these trips to the past. I had always thought the piano covered with family photos on the television show "Family" was a wonderful idea. But since I don't own a piano, I decided the walls of my dining room would be just fine. It has been great having these windows to the past to look at and inspire me to continue researching. I know this may sound odd, but all the photos seemed to be happy except one. My uncle Vic's picture never stayed straight. I could straighten the frame once a week and it would just go crooked again. I don't mean just a slight slant, but severely crooked. I thought for years that he was restless because he had died a year before I was born leaving a wife and three year old son. But I found out a month ago that I was wrong. During a trip in October my mother visited with her sister-in-law Shirley (Vic's widow) and her grandniece Victoria (Vic's granddaughter). Victoria mentioned an interest in family research, which my mother relayed to me. Excited to share my research with an interested family member, I decided to give Victoria not only a written printout of her family, but a photographic one as well. I went through my dining room taking pictures off the wall and out of their frames, getting a group together to take to the color copier place, when I came to the picture of Vic that was always crooked. When I took Vic's picture down and turned the frame over to remove the back, I saw a name written in pencil on the wood of the frame. It said "Hiram Gore father of Sarah C. Gore Streeter." I about flipped. That was my 4th-great-grandfather. I couldn't believe that this frame had once had a picture of my 4th-great- grandfather in it. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad, so I continued taking the back off of the frame. When I lifted the back off, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, because there behind Vic's picture, safely tucked in his frame, was a picture of Hiram Gore. Since this frame was part of a matching set, I immediately took the second frame down and examined it. The second frame had handwriting also, it said "Laura Sabin Gore." I wasted no time taking the back off and found, nestled safely behind a picture of my mother, a picture of Laura Sabin Gore, my 4th-great-grandmother. Not only was finding the picture of her a thrill, the extra bonus was finding her maiden name. The pictures of my mom and uncle Vic are now in new frames and Hiram and Laura are happy to be properly displayed in their rightful frames. I know this because the pictures have stayed straight since the day they were rehung. Not even a slight slant. Oh, Victoria loved her book. And I can't thank her enough for having shown an interest in her past. * * * * * LETTERS TO THE EDITORS: I read with much interest the story of the family Bible that finally found its way home ["RootsWeb Review" 1:25, 3 Dec 1998]. I, too, have been successful in returning several old items to family members (an autograph book from 1897 filled with names, dates and the location where each person lived who had signed the book and also a wedding album complete with photos, dress fabric and trim samples, honeymoon keepsakes, beautiful German postcards, etc.). I was able to find a daughter of the couple still living and in her 90s. She was thrilled to have the wedding album back in the family. I have, for years, had a beautifully framed death memorial certificate (about 9x14) for a MARY OFFENBAKER b. 4-11-1864 [presumably 11 April 1864]. If there is a family member who can prove the connection to her, I will be glad to return it for what I paid for it (cost was minimal) and the cost of shipping. I have been fortunate enough to have some familiy items returned and I know how excited I was to have them back in the family. Judy Strickland * * * * * DESMOND WALLS ALLEN PRESS RELEASE: Thanks to the positive thoughts of the genealogical community and the efforts of some great doctors, I'm headed toward recovery from the leukemia (AML) I was diagnosed with in late February. I nearly died a few times, wanted to die a few times, and know more than anyone wants to know about hospitals, chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies, surgery, medicine, and nurses' pedigrees. I lost a third of myself (never wish to lose weight via an "easy" way). I have only enough energy for a few hours' work a day, but thanks to my sister and George, my romantic interest of the last 28 years, my book business is fine. Unfortunately, my immediate future doesn't include any trips to conferences or speaking engagements. I did finish "First Steps in Genealogy" for F&W Publications, thanks to help from Leslie Smith Collier in Dallas. I'm getting better every day and know those elusive ancestors are still out there, so I'll be back on the chase soon. I appreciate every tacky greeting card, off-color joke, postcard, and ancestor story that everyone sent. They all helped. See you soon. Desmond. * * * * * PSYCHIC LINKS: FROM THE FILES OF THE PSYCHIC GENEALOGIST. Q: How do I find and retrieve a downloaded file? [signed] Stumped A: Dear Stumped: The best way to retrieve a file that has been sent to you is to use a Golden Retriever. "Wait!" you may be saying, "Golden Retrievers are hunting dogs!" Before you get too caught up in the finer points of Golden Retriever history, consider ... these dogs were bred to stand by the side of their person, and fetch objects (usually some hapless, formerly live, waterfowl) that the dog's person is unable to obtain for himself. Does this not sound like the perfect sort of a dog for your file problem? I thought so! The steps for retrieving your file are as follows: 1. Find a Golden Retriever 2. Show it the e-mail message that has a file attached 3. Explain the workings of the mouse. This may take a little patience, as Goldens tend to wag a lot and the dog may not be totally focused on your instructions on proper mouse usage. 4. Wait until the dog has mastered the use of the mouse. 5. Point to the file you want the dog to retrieve, and in a firm but kind voice say, "Fetch it!" 6. Be sure to praise and reward the dog once he's retrieved the file for you. Once you've got the file "in hand" (so to speak), bring in the nearest cat to unpack and install it for you. Hope this helps! Deadly, Psychic Genealogist * * * * * HUMOROUS LINKS: From Elizabeth A. Kaspar The Definition of Genealogy: Chasing your own tale. * * * * * MISSING LINKS is available gratis to anyone who has an internet e-mail address. If you have friends or family members who are interested in genealogical research, please let them know about MISSING LINKS and that all they need to do to receive it is send an e-mail message to and include ONLY the world SUBSCRIBE in the subject and in the body of the message. BACK ISSUES OF MISSING LINKS are available for download from the MISSING LINKS ARCHIVES at . We are grateful to ROOTSWEB GENEALOGICAL DATA COOPERATIVE for generously hosting MISSING LINKS. * * * * * PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from MISSING LINKS is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED (1) The reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes. (2) This notice must appear at the end of the article: Written by . Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links: A Weekly Newsletter for Genealogists, Vol. 3, No. 49, 4 December 1998. Please visit the MISSING LINKS Web page at . * * * * * PRODIGY CLASSIC: Join your editors, co-moderators of the Prodigy Classic Genealogy Interest Group, on Prodigy Classic where you can enjoy the Genealogy Bulletin Board, BB Archives, Genealogy File Library, Genealogy Chat Area, Genealogy Web Page, and Web access using Prodigy Classic's Web browser, by accepting a lovely free trial of Prodigy Classic. Download Prodigy Classic software for Windows at . PRODIGY CLASSIC CHAT LINKS: Saturday chat sessions are UNHOSTED. All times given are Eastern Standard Time. Evening sessions start at 10 p.m. unless otherwise indicated. For sessions not scheduled in a particular room, the first person to arrive may choose the meeting room. Sat 12/05 NEW ENGLAND Research (3 p.m. in the Parlor) NY/NJ/PA Research (3 p.m. in the Root Cellar) DEL/MD/VA/WV Research (4 p.m. in the Family Room) SOUTHERN STATES Research (4 p.m. in the Attic) ENGLISH Research (5 p.m. in the Parlor) GERMAN Research (5 p.m. in the Family Room) IRISH Research (8 p.m. in the Root Cellar) ITALIAN Research (8 p.m. in the Attic) WEST COAST Research (9 p.m. in the Parlor) MIDWEST Research (9 p.m. in the Root Cellar) AFRICAN-AMERICAN Research (9 p.m. in the Family Room) NATIVE-AMERICAN Research (9 p.m. in the Attic) Sun 12/06 ADOPTION Research/GENERAL (Joan Brink) Mon 12/07 GENERAL/BEGINNING Genealogy (Myra/Julie) Tue 12/08 NEWBIES CHAT HOUR (Pat Hohne 9 p.m.) Tue 12/08 CA/BEGINNING/GENERAL Genealogy (Margaret Posehn) Wed 12/09 NEW ENGLAND/GENERAL Genealogy (Linda Edelstein) Thu 12/10 MISSING PERSONS/FIND OLD FRIENDS (Alvie Davidson) Fri 12/11 TGIF; GENERAL/BEGINNING Genealogy (Julie/Myra) * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS: If you have a delightful, amusing, amazing, cautionary, or otherwise wonderful and educational tale of genealogical research (from anywhere in the world) that you would like to share with the readers of MISSING LINKS in the "SUCCESSFUL LINKS" section of the newsletter, or if you would like to recognize a particularly helpful librarian, archivist, town or county clerk with a "VIRTUAL BOUQUET," or if you have a nomination for "ALL-TIME WORST GENEALOGICAL DISASTER MOVIE," please send your story for consideration for publication to Julie_Case@prodigy.com.