The Family Tree
By Terence L. Day
Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. He welcomes e-mail at genealogy@moscow.com, or regular mail in care of the Tri-City Herald City newsroom, P.O. Box 2608, Tri-Cities, WA 99302-2608.
Web site a connection to genealogical treasure trove
This story was published Nov. 8, 1998
In the 1950s, the Kingston Trio sang about Charlie, a man who went for a ride on a train and couldn't get off. Every day his wife went to the station handed him a sandwich as the train went rumbling through.
Some genealogists are in danger of experiencing a similar fate as they ride the World Wide Web in search of their ancestors.
Genealogy long has been pursued by going to libraries and courthouses. But now, we do a great deal of it without leaving home - thanks to computers, the Internet and the World Wide Web.
Although in its infancy, on-line genealogical research fast is making inroads into the old-fashioned kind of research amid the dust mites and the mildew on old books and records.
Most on-line researchers quickly find Cyndi's List of Genealogical Sites on the Internet. I heartily recommend Cyndi's List, but I must caution that you could end up a cyber-Charlie, unable to get off the Internet. Cyndi has been featured in Time Magazine and USA Today, and has appeared on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and CNET TV. Her site claims more than 31,300 links to other on-line genealogical sites, which are categorized and cross-referenced in more than 90 categories.
No, I haven't visited them all.
No, I never will.
That isn't the point. The point is to let Cyndi help you find the sites that will further your research. At Cyndi's home page, you'll find Internet links from A to W, or to be precise, from the Arcadian, Cajun and Creole page to the Wills and Probate page. If you have traced your ancestry back to the one who immigrated from overseas, you may want to visit Cyndi's Ships, Passenger Lists & Immigration page. You will find it at www.CyndisList.com/ships.htm
While perusing Cyndi's lists, I found the Immigrant Ships Transcriber's Guild page at iigs.rootsweb.com/immships/ by first logging on to the International Internet Genealogical Society's home page at www.iigs.org
For the uninitiated, or neophytes, this is one of the fascina tions of the World Wide Web; almost every site points you to other sites. This is why you may never log off as you relentlessly pursue links to other sites.
You can almost get lost on the the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild page alone. It organizes passenger lists by century, from the 1600s through the 1900s, by ship, by port of departure, by port of entry, and by surname of the immigrant. So, if you heard that your ancestor arrived on the SS Bolivia you will find him, or her, listed on the guild's passenger list for that ship, arriving in New York from Glasgow, Scotland, on Sept. 24, 1878.
This growing service to on-line genealogists is coordinated by Patty MacFarlane Prather who sends copies of passenger lists to volunteers who dutifully type them into their computers and send completed lists to Patty, who uploads them to the Web page where you can find them. Regardless of who your ancestors were or where they originated, Cyndi's list has valuable resource links for your on-line search. You will find Cyndi on the World Wide Web at www.CyndisList.com