Rockdale County GaArchives History .....Rockdale County Genealogical Society-Newsletter February 2007 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Larry C. Knowles http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00012.html#0002854 March 16, 2009, 5:00 pm JEANS & GENES Rockdale County Genealogical Society Publication-February 2007 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 11, 2007 Meeting The Rockdale County Genealogical Society will be back at the Nancy Guinn Memorial Library for our meeting on Feb. 11, 2007, after several months of using the Latter Day Saints Church while the library was closed on Sundays. Our speaker will be Judge Lillis Brown, the probate judge of Rockdale County. The public is invited. There is no attendance fee; however, donations are accepted. It will be good to get back into our old routine. While we are grateful to the Church of the Latter Day Saints for the use of their facilities, there is no place like home. The library has been our home for over ten years. The new board of directors has been working to get the year 2007 off to a good start. The program committee has begun putting together a slate of speakers to keep our interest high. Anyone having an idea for a program should give input to the chairman. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Library Visitors List Names Researched Edmund A. Bator, 3432 Stratfield Dr., Atlanta, Ga. 30319. Researching Zachry Erik Johnson, Lilburn , Ga. No names given. Jim Alexander, Conyers, Ga. Researching Alexander. Louisa Hays, 533 1st Ave. NW, Arab, Al 35016. Researching Taylor & Marsh. Willie G. Green, P. O. Box 762, Lithonia, Ga. 30058. Researching Green. Mary B. Nakhleh, 2220 Sandpiper ct., South, West Lakeyette, IN 47906. Researching Bird, Moon and Campbell. Donald Freeman, 223 South Broad St., Bowman, Ga. 30624-1939. No names given. Bonnie Lashley, Winder, Ga. No names Given. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some Thoughts On On-Line Research I’m new to the list so I might be repeating something that has already been done, or this is the wrong list for, but I would love to share good sites for researching genealogy. My favorite research site to get gedcom files is at: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi Newest discovery for Civil war information: http://dlxs.richmond.edu/d/ddr/ It is the Richmond newspaper that published throughout the Civil War and has a searchable data base and reproductions of the actual pages. Is anyone interested?? Paulette Smith “Paulette Smith” Most GEDCOM files from RootsWeb are next to worthless as they have either no sources or the only sources are other gedcoms (which usually have no sources). RootsWeb would do the world a favor if it deleted every Gedcom with no sources or other gedcoms for sources. What would be left would at least serve as a somewhat usable cluefinder to actual sourced information. It would also serve to discourage name collectors and focus on actual genealogical research. “the_verminator@comcast.net” It’s true that there’s a lot of complete rubbish in WC, and even the best work tends to be poorly sourced (in part due to inherent limitations in the GEDCOM format). But about the fastest way to make progress on a new line or for a new client is to consult WC. If you find nothing at all, that’s interesting in its own right. If you find something, approach every asserted fact (even sourced facts) with skepticism and independently prove or disprove it. If you can’t prove or disprove a fact, ask the author of the GEDCOM why they believe the fact to be true. Occasionally you’ll find a family bible or other non-public source this way that would have been difficult or impossible to unearth by other means. Cheers, B. --Dr. Brian Leverich Continued on page 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion of Family Trees Online Has anyone noticed lately that when looking at family trees on Ancestry that a growing number of them do not have a contact name, only “unknown” at the top of the page. This really makes it difficult to identify sources, connect with the contributor or verify that the info is correct. I for one would like to complain about it, but not sure where to send the complaint. - Lois Heath Lois- The unknown trees are the ones that were added to One World Tree from the old old World Family Tree CDs. The contact info is private on those CDs and, therefore, also on the CDs. I know many of the trees on those old CDs are also included in WorldConnect--so you might search there for the same surnames and you may well find the submitter listed there. Joan JYoung6180@aol.com Good grief! Have you given no thought to the many WorldConnect submitters who later pass away but leave instructions with their heirs that their family tree is to be left online as a help to future researchers who may want to add to it or correct an error? Errors can be corrected via Post-em Notes and additions can be uploaded in your own trees. I personally helped some submitters who knew they had a terminal illness or who were about to go into a nursing home and lose Internet access (and the ability to keep their tree updated) forever. But they didn’t want their life’s work to be lost or not be available to provide others with a starting point for the future. When a friend of mine learned she had only a month to live with terminal brain cancer she worked for those last few weeks (as long as she was able) to get her most recent GEDCOM uploaded to WorldConnect and it was her last wish that no one ever remove it. Joan JYoung6180@aol.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Judy Bond Reports on the Cemetery Project Our Cemetery Project is almost done. We only have about 3 cemeteries to survey. I have found some more family cemeteries that weren’t surveyed in the past. Help would be appreciated if you know of others that haven't been done. Don Sailors and I hope that in late 2007 Rockdale County will have its first Cemetery DVD/CD on the market. What a joy it will be to see this in our new Special Collections Room. Judy Bond 770-922-4902. The Rockdale County Genealogical Society sincerely appreciates the efforts which Judy and Don Sailors have made toward resurveying all of the Rockdale Cemeteries. This work should bring the listings to current status. Some of the cemeteries have not been surveyed since the thirties. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - The Centenarians of Rockdale County No list of the centenarians of Rockdale County would be complete without beginning with the name of Miss Layona Glenn, the renowned missionary and newspaper woman. She was born on March 8, 1866, and died on March 20, 1972. She spent forty years in Brazil and established an orphanage there. She received commendations and awards from the presidents of two nations. She was recognized as the oldest living newspaper columnist. Mr. Mercer Hull was a banker in Conyers. He was born on October 16, 1883, and lived until July 19, 1984. He was a Vice President of the Bank of Conyers under Mr. Tharpe Baldwin, the president of the bank, whose widow, Sara Sue Baldwin, also lived to be one-hundred years of age. Mr. Hull became a Vice President of the Bank of Rockdale when the Bank of Rockdale merged with the Bank of Conyers. Clemmin W. Wilson was a life-long bachelor. He was born on Sept. 7, 1882, and died on January 22, 1986. He farmed for a living. Laura E. (Thompkins) Adams was a school teacher at Milstead. A black woman; she was born in Elberton, Elbert County on May 10, 1877. She lived until Feb. 10, 1981, and was buried in the Old Conyers Cemetery. Elizabeth Bryant Swann was born in 1822 and died in 1922 according to the research of her grandson, Norman. The dates were derived from the census information. Granny Lou Whitley was born on June 12, 1866, and died on Sept. 7, 1969. She was buried in the Bethel Church Cemetery in north Rockdale. Perlina Wells was born in May, 1865 and died Aug. 29, 1979. A black woman; she is buried in the Oakland Cemetery on South Main Street in Conyers. These dates indicate that she was 114 years of age. Emma Hamilton was born in 1857 and died in 1972. She is buried in the old Conyers Cemetery. She was indicated to be 115 years old. The dates were taken from her tombstone. Mrs. Anna Reagans was born Mar. 7, 1860, and died May 30, 1960. She is buried on the old Conyers Cemetery. H. L. Almand was born Nov. 23, 1879 and died in 1981. He is buried in the Almand Cemetery. There are a number of individuals who were reported to have lived to be 100: Tom Whatley, Ed Farmer, Nola Lucas(Peek), Al Veal, Gerturde Smith, Rev. Buhler, James Will Cowan who was mayor of Conyers from 1934 to 1937, Lon Flanagan, and Ruth Farmer. There is no information available in the Nancy Quinn Library regarding them. Hopefully, we will add information when the new cemetery listing is available. Mrs. Allie Jo Kent who recently died should be added. Anyone knowing of a centenarian who should be added please let us know. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Latter-Day Church Hours We would like to post our hours of operation at the Family History Library in your monthly newsletter. The hours are: Tuesday: 10:00am-2:00pm, 7:00-9:00pm Wednesday: 10:00am-2:00pm, 7:00-9:00pm Thursday: 10:00am-2:00pm Others times available by appointment by calling 770-785-9888. Thank you, Chris We must thank the Latter-Day Saints Church for the generous use of their facilities during the time when the Nancy Guinn Library was not available to us. They really came to our rescue. The only other site which was easily available to us would have been quite expensive. Our meager treasury would not have been adequate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Continuation of Thoughts of On-Line Research) I was so glad to see a response from Dr. Brian Leverich regarding the genealogies posted to WC and other similar sites. Long ago when I started my research, tracing ancestry was very difficult. I was lucky to get a good start for my husband’s family because both his grandmothers and his mother were savers of family documents & letters. After their deaths, no one else in the family wanted that “old junk” (or the two Bibles with entries for several generations of births, deaths & marriages) so I took it. I wasn’t so fortunate with my own family. All four of my grandparents died long before I was born, and the only information they left were names and dates & some places of birth as far back as my great-grandparents. For you kids: in pre-internet times, most census records, county history books, land, birth, death & marriage records, etc. were available only in each separate locality. Extensive genealogy libraries were few and far between. Research required a lot of correspondence, phone calls, and time, or travel and money. Census records were not indexed. Old county records were often in some dusty storage place. If you sent for information, the response might take weeks. Just finding a library with a book you wanted was almost impossible. I look upon the Gedcoms, & all other posted genealogy information, not as places to find a ready-made family tree, complete with sources, but as a tool. Finding a new name, place or branch for one of my surnames very often leads me to new sources and a lot of new information, now verified. After we retired in 1982 (I’m 87) my late husband and I traveled the U.S. for four years to do research in the towns where all of his and my known ancestors had lived. I am a librarian, and like to think I’m a pretty capable researcher. I was satisfied that I had found just about everything possible in the sources available during those years. As soon as it became possible I expanded my search to the internet. Rootsweb was the site that outshined them all in those early days --a free service where we could look for other people researching the same families. I like to think the mission continues with WC. I had at least four “brick walls” that I could never have penetrated without the genealogies I found posted there, and the on-line cousins I contacted. Most people who post on-line have no intent to deceive, and welcome corrections [documented, I hope]. For those of you who resent having their hard-won data re-posted by someone else: Why are you posting things you don’t want passed on? My on-line cousins have been very generous with me, and I am only too happy to “pay it forward”. When I send my data to a cousin I include all the sources and notes. As a librarian I have no problem giving others information I have located or confirmed. In return I often receive new information not available from any other source. Virginia“Virginia Beck” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - JEANS & GENES is a publication of the Rockdale County Genealogical Society. % Nancy Guinn Library, 864 Green St. SW Conyers, Ga. 30012 President: Norman Swann V. President: Bill Freese Treasurer: Ellen Trainer Secretary: Jane Conn Program Chairman: Claudine Jackson Membership Chairman: Jenel Ship Trip Coordinator: Ann Walker Board Member: Bertha Little Newsletter: Marion T. Farmer 1500 A. Pine Log Rd NE Conyers, GA. 30012 mtf@mindspring.com http://mtf.home.mindspring.com _______________________________________________ Additional comments: This back issue of the Rockdale County Genealogical Society newsletter has been copied with permission from the personal website of editor, Marion Farmer, as his website is nearing capacity. For simplicity the few photos or graphics have not been included here. Websites previously linked from Marion’s site will not be operative here. Sites that are still active may be found by entering their listed URLs. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/rockdale/history/other/rockdale86nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/gafiles/ File size: 14.7 Kb