Free DAR Patriot lookup service available
The Daughter of the American Revolution records are among the most valuable genealogical resources available. The DAR Patriot Index contains names of Revolutionary patriots, both men and women, whose service (between 1775 and 1783) has been established by the National DAR Society. Information available may include: dates and places of birth and death, name(s) of wife/wives or husband(s), rank, type of service, and the state where the patriot lived or served. If pension papers are known to exist, that fact will be included. If you are interested in knowing if your ancestor is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary Patriot, find out at: http://www.dar.org/cigbin/natsociety/pi_lookup.cfm.
Source: Kishwaukee Genealogists Newsletter, P O Box 5503, Rockford, IL 61125.

Researching Mayflower ancestors?
If you are researching ancestors who may have arrived in New England on the Mayflower, take a look at Caleb Johnson's Mayflower Wed Pages. The web address is http://www.mayflowerhistory.com. The site has the ship's passenger list from the 1620 voyage, with some biographical and genealogical information for each passenger. The site also includes documents concerning the ship itself; some wills and estate inventories of the original Pilgrims; full test of some Pilgrim writings; historical documentaries; genealogical and social resources; links to museums and archives containing information about the Plymouth Colony; as well as a list of professional researchers to hire.

Our thanks for this information to Kith and Kin, Volume 20, via Gems of Genealogy, Bay Area Genealogical Society, and Kishwaukee Genealogists Newsletter, P O Box 5503, Rockford, IL 61125.

Genealogical Seminar planned for Lake Havasu City, Arizona
The tenth annual Genealogical Seminar, sponsored by the Lake Havasu Genealogical Society, Inc., will be held Saturday March 13, 2004. Registration will be at 8 AM with the program from 9 AM to 3:30 PM. The seminar site will be Mountain View M.H.P. Clubhouse, 2635 Anita Avenue, Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Topics to be presented are Vital Records; Emigration, Immigration and Naturalization Records; Note Taking and Citations; and Love's Labour's Lost - Finding Female Ancestry. Early registration deadline is March 5th.

For more information, contact Lake Havasu Genealogical Society, Inc., 1208 McCulloch Blvd. S., Lake Havasu City, AZ 86406-8963.

25th Arkansas Scottish Festival set for April
Now's the time to begin lining up your Scottish Festivals, and the 25th Arkansas festival is one not to miss. The event will be held April 23-25, 2004 at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas. The festival will move to the heart of the campus this year, so you can reconnect with your Scottish roots and explore the latest additions to the campus physical plant, including Lyon's new Derby Center for Science and Mathematics. Deadline to reserve your space is March 19th.

For more information, contact Gina Garrett at GGarrett@lyon.edu or phone 870-698-4624. You could also register online by visiting www.lyon.edu and click on "Scottish Heritage."

Join the Lyon College Pipe Band in New York City
Have you ever dreamed of marching with the Lyon College Pipes and Drums? Wondered at the excitement of April in New York? Plan to join the Pipes and Drums and see them perform in the Tartan Day Parade down New York's Sixth Avenue on April 3rd. The band, along with other alumni and friends, will represent Lyon College, Batesville, and Arkansas in the parade.

If you'd be interested in more information, contact Gina Garrett, Chair, Arkansas Scottish Festival Clans, at GGarrett@lyon.edu or phone 870-698-4624.

XV Ulster-American Heritage Symposium coming in June 2004 in Northern Ireland
The Fifteenth Ulster-American Heritage Symposium will be held at the Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh, Northern Ireland from Wednesday, June 23, 2004 through Saturday, June 26, 2004. The theme will be Changing Ways of Thinking about Emigration from Ulster. This biennial symposium is always a major event in the Scotch-Irish world.

Since 1976, this symposium has met every two years, alternating between Ulster and the United States. Its purpose is to encourage scholarly study and public awareness of the historical connections between the two countries, including the Scotch-Irish heritage. Its approach is interdisciplinary, and includes history, language and literature, archaeology, folklife, religion, and music.

One of the keynote speakers will be the world-famous linguist Professor Michael Montgomery, who is an active member of the South Carolina Chapter of the Scotch-Irish Society of the USA. Other speakers will include many whose names are familiar to readers of the Journal of Scotch-Irish Studies.

A preliminary program is now available. This indicates that one of the Symnposium days will be spent at the Institute for Ulster Scots Studies at Magee College, Londonderry. There will be a guided tour of historic sites, including the celebrated walls. There will be opportunities for independent sight-seeing, both before and after the presentations at Magee College.

Anyone interested in attending the Symposium should contact the organizer, Dr. Brian Lambkin, Director of the Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster American Folk Park brian.lambkin@uafp.co.uk and ask to be put on the mailing list.

The Clan MacLeod Society, through the Dunvegan Foundation, has established three scholarships at St. Thomas Episcopal School in Houston, Texas, i.e., piping, drumming and the Harry M. McLeod Dance Scholarship. The recipients for 2003 are Zach Goodrick, drummer; Carla Gardner, dancer; and Harry Isensee, piper. These young people are receiving their training from some of the best teachers available. Gordon Sampson and Michael Cusack are the Band Directors. Donna McPhee Cusack and Diane McPhee Krugh teach dancing. Also pictured are Douglas Beaton, Regional Vice President of the South Central Region of the Clan MacLeod Society, and Gloria McLeod, Publicist for the Society. The Clan MacLeod Society is privileged to be associated with such fine talent.

Clan Johnston/e in America elects new officers for new year
Jeffrey Johnstone, FSA Scot, of Rochester, New York, has been elected president of Clan Johnston/e in America. Jeff takes over from Arthur Johnston, FSA Scot, who retired after serving the clan society in this capacity for the past seven years. Arthur will remain on the Council as past president, and will continue in his role of Chief Commissioner to Lord Annandale in North America.

Also elected was a new vice president-east, Bartlett Johnston of Underhill, Vermont. Bartlett filled the spot left vacant after Jeffrey Johnstone's appointment as president. The elections took place at the clan's annual general meeting held in conjunction with the Stone Mountain Games this past October.

One of the most important announcements made during the meeting was the new classification of Clan Johnston/e in American as an tax exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Service's Section 501(c)(3). As a charitable organization, gifts made to the organization are now deductible for income, gift and tax purposes.

Clan Johnston/e's next event is the much anticipated International Gathering to be held in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland in June 2004. The event will feature a luncheon and tour at the home of the Clan's Chief, The Right Honourable The Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, Patrick Andrew Wentworth Hope Johnstone of Annandale and of That Ilk, and hosted by the Earl and Lady Annandale.

It was also agreed that the 2004 Annual General Meeting would be held in Estes Park, Colorado, September 10, 11 and 12, in conjunction with the Longs Peak Scottish/Irish Highland Festival, one of the premier games of the country. Clan Headquarters will be The Inn at Estes Park.

For full information, contact billyet@juno.com.

What's a Squire?
from Christine M. Burton thehoyan@bellsouth.net
Question: A friend and I had a discussion about the title "Esquire." Both of us read somewhere that the title "Esquire" before a name meant that a person was a lawyer. I am a reader. I'll read anything. If I can't find a good book, I'll resort to reading cereal box and canned good labels, but what I really like are classics, such as David Copperfield and Tale of Two Cities.

I also enjoy a well-written "who done it" especially one by a British author (they seem to have made of the genre a science). In all those novels, I have continually met fictional "esquires" and never got the impression that any of them were lawyers. The impression I got was that they were men of importance in their communities, but not royalty.

My friend expressed the opinion that the title of "esquire" may be one applied only to American lawyers. Could you or some of your readers shed some light on this? I've found several "esquires" in my family tree and if they were lawyers it's news to me, but then, just their names amounts to "news to me."

Answer: Esquire was "the title given to any owner of a large tract of land. It was also the title given to a Justice of the Peace, but as nearly every lawyer in Colonial America at one time became a J.P., the title ultimately devolved on all lawyers. The word was originally squire from the Latin scutarius - 'shield-bearer'." (Richard M. Lederer, Jr., Colonial American English; Essex, Connecticut: A Verbatim Book, 1985, page 80).

However, like with so many things we learn in genealogy, there are other meanings, so one must take the time and locality into consideration for how this term might apply in a particular situation. For example, esquire also:

* Refers to a man or boy who is a member of the gentry in England ranking directly below a knight.
* Is used as an honorific usually in its abbreviated form, especially after the name of an attorney or a consular officer: John Doe, Esq.
* Used in medieval times for a candidate for knighthood who served a knight as an attendant and a shield bearer.
* Refers to an English country gentleman; a squire, (archaic) - from the Middle English esquier, from the French escuier.

Black's Law Dictionary points that the term esquire, as used in the United States, is different from its usage in English law. It says: "In English law, a title of dignity next above gentleman, and below knight. Also a title of office given to sheriffs, sergeants and barristers at law, justices of the peace, and others. In United States, title commonly appended after name of attorney; e.g., John J. Jones, Esquire."

Published in RootsWeb Review, October 8, 2003, and Larimer County Genealogical Society Newsletter, P O Box 9502, Fort Collins, CO 80525.

Signs you have a bad computer
1. Lower corner of screen has "Etch A Sketch" on it.
2. You have to pedal it.
3. The manual contains only one sentence: "Good Luck."
4. Only chip inside is a Dorito.
5. When you turn it on, all the dogs in the neighborhood start howling.
6. You catch a cold virus from it.
7. While running, it emits awful calliope music.
8. It cybersucks.
Source: Rickey Roots & Revels, Stanton M. Rickey, 235 15th Street, NE, Salem, OR 97301-4228

David J. H. Sinclair was born in Glasgow, Scotland, September 18, 1930. He passed away on September 22, 1003. Donald was a Bay Area resident for 45 years. He was the devoted and loving husband of Mary Frances Sinclair of San Rafael, California; father of Maureen Sinclair of Atlanta, Georgia, and Andrew (Amy) Sinclair of Novato, California; and brother of Gloria (Woody) Atwood of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Donald had a great love of people and travel, and was very active in many social and philanthropic organizations, including the St. Andrew's Society of San Francisco, Clan Sinclair Association, Marines Square Club, Sons in Retirement, British Benevolent Society, Masonic Lodge of San Francisco, and the Marin Irish-American Club.

He brought life and joy into any party. He was well respected and loved by all who knew him and will be greatly missed for so many reasons, not the least of which was his great sense of humor and his famous rendering of Robert Burns' Address to A Haggis.

Illinois researchers have a new site
A new website for Illinois researchers, part of the Illinois Secretary of State site, has the original surveys for over 500,000 original land entries in Illinois. Locate at http://landplats.ilsos.net/Flash/FTP_Illinois.html, the Public Domain Database link will open a window where you can search the Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales by name.

Thanks to Nuggets from Paradise, November 2003, and The Tipsheet, Foothills Genealogical Society, P O Box 150382, Lakewood, CO 80215-0382.

Texas researchers have a database
The Texas General Land Office offers a searchable database of their land grant collection. The Land Grants of Texas tell the story of the settlement and early history of Texas. The database currently has 442,716 records. The URL is http://www.glo.state.tx.us/. The title is GLO/Archives and Records/Land Grand Collection.

Source: From Nuggets from Paradise, November 2003, and The Tipsheet, Foothills Genealogical Society, P O Box 150382, Lakewood, CO 80215-0382.

Royalty is in the Crawfords blood
The Crawfords of Saltoun in Aberdeen-shire were introduced to "the Royals" as kin in the 1900's. Local lore has the Crawfords getting their lands as a reward for helping Robert the Bruce remove the Comyns from Inveriochy Castle. It is said that Bruce's claim to the throne rested as much on his Crawford grandmother's rights as his male Norman inheritance. His grandmother's sister was also said to be the mother of William Wallace. So it would appear that William Wallace and Robert the Bruce were first cousins once removed!

Our thanks for this article to Bannockburn, newsletter of Family of Bruce Society in America, 90 Chestnut Street, Bristol, NH 03222.

Here's some interesting links for your review
Harvard Law Library:
www.law.harvard.edu/library
According to LA newsletter they have old English documents dating from 1170 to 1888, consisting of deeds, manor rolls, chancery writs, etc. Recommended by Martha E. Reamy.

Portuguese Paleography:
http://www.pacifier.com/~kcardoz/paleography/paleography_01.html
Including spelling, abbreviations and common names.
The Stories & Genealogies of Maui: Na Mo`olelo o Na Mo`okua`uhau o Maui
http://www.hookele.com/mookuauhau/
Well done Hawaiian genealogy site.
Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States:
http://www.charlemagne.org/
Middle Ages Biographies:
http://www.historylink101.com/middle_ages_europe/middle_ages_biography.htm
Source: Ke Ku`auhau newsletter, Honolulu County Genealogical Society, P O Box 235039, Honolulu, Hawaii 96823-3500.

Munro descendents are needed for surname project
Frustrated by a brick wall due to records long ago burned in a courthouse fire, or just simply lost over time? For those of Munro descent, consider participating in the Munro Surname Project with Family Tree-DNA to find answers. If interested in more information, please contact Margaret Bardin at mbardin@ghg.net or DeAnn Monroe Steely at dsteely@yahoo.com.

ROBERTSON, ROBERT. Where might our ROBERTSON families coming early to North Carolina from Scotland have settled? Could it have been the East Coast or Cape Fear area? My grandfather ROBERT ROBERTSON, born c1833, was probably the youngest of a large family of boys. No other member of this large family is known. According to census records, ROBERT's parents too were born in North Carolina. ROBERT and CATHERINE GARBER married September 3, 1859, Douglas County, Illinois. Six sons were born in Douglas County, Illinois and in Indiana before the family settled in southeast Colorado where ROBERT died April 8, 1905. Any help would be very much appreciated. Mabel I. Robison, 2235 Juntura Court, So., Salem, OR 97302-2222, phone 53-589-9567.

Virginia Genealogical Society Conference meets in April
The Virginia Genealogical Society will hold its annual Spring Conference on Saturday, April 17, 2004 at the Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia. The conference theme will be Methodology: The Foundation of Good Genealogy.

The conference registration table opens at 8:15 AM, and the main programs starts at 9 AM. The conference will present three separate lectures: handwriting and transcription, abstracting, and documentation, and feature practical hands-on sessions afterward. All portions will be conducted by three nationally known speakers, Dorothy Boyd-Rush, Marti Hiatt, and Barbara Vines Little. Vendors of books, software, forms and other material will be available all day.

For more information, contact Virginia Genealogical Society, Spring Conference, 5001, West Broad Street, Suite 115, Richmond, VA 23230-3023.

Arizona biographical database available
Searching for persons in works not specifically about them has always been especially challenging. Years ago, librarians kept lists, but these lists were very difficult to update. The transference of paper lists to an online database is a major step forward, as it allows not only easy public access but also gives the staff the ability to add, subtract or update entries.

The History and Archives Division of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records has now made its Arizona Biographical Database available on its website at http://www.lib.az.us/archives/. You can access the database directly by going to http://www.lib.az.us/bio/index.cfm. From there you can search by surname, given name or both. One is also allowed to search by city or dates, but these are less reliable, as not all records have entries in these fields. If one is not certain of the spelling of a surname, he may use the Browse feature and select the first letter of the surname.

The entries in our biographical database refer to persons in our collection of books, newspaper articles, periodicals, obituaries and vertical files. This is not a complete listing of the names of people who appear in our records nor does this list include all the records in which an individual may appear. This list is being constantly updated. For additional help, you may contact the Archives staff at: http://archives.lib.az.us/email.asp.

>From the AzGAB Newsletter, September 2003, published by the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board, PO Box 5641, Mesa, AZ 85211-5641.

The Federal Writers' Project materials found in larger collection
The Federal Writers' Project materials in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division are part of a larger collection titled The US Work Progress Administration Federal Writers' Project and Historical Records Survey. The holdings from Federal Writers' Project span the years 1889-1942 and cover a wide range of topics and subprojects. Altogether, the Federal Writers' holdings number approximately 300,000 items and consist of correspondence, memoranda, field reports, notes, graphs, charts, preliminary and corrected drafts of essays, oral testimony, folklore, miscellaneous administrative and miscellaneous other material.

Well over one-half of the materials in this record group pertain to the American Guide, the sobriquet for the critically acclaimed state guides. The remainder of the material reflects other areas of interest. A collection of rural and urban folklore; first-person narratives (called life histories); studies of social customs of various ethnic groups, and much more.

Researchers should note that the American Memory collection presented here is a coherent portion of the Library's larger Federal Writers' series and the WPA collection. It includes the life histories and corollary documents assembled by the Folklore Project within the Federal Writers' effort.

For more information visit http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/wpahome.html.

Thanks to Nuggets from Paradise, December 2003, published by the Paradise Genealogical Society, Inc., PO Box 460, Paradise, CA 95967-0460.

Index to final rolls of citizens and freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory (Dawes) available online
The index to the final rolls of citizens and freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory (Dawes) is now available online! This is the index to the names of individuals entitled to enrollment on the rolls of the various tribes comprising the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory, Oklahoma.

The index entries are arranged by tribe and thereunder by enrollment category (Cherokee By Blood, Cherokee Minor, Cherokee Freedmen, etc.). The entries for each enrollment category are arranged alphabetically by surname. (It should always be noted that the surname entries are not always in strict alphabetical order.) Each index entry gives an enrollee's name and final roll number. After a person's enrollment category and final roll number have been determined, the final rolls can be searched to discover the enrollee's census card number. URL:
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/arc/wwii/army_aaf_honor_list/table_of_contents.html.

Source: Nuggets from Paradise, published by the Paradise Genealogical Society, Inc., PO Box 460, Paradise, CA 95967-0460.

Website available for deaths of U.S. citizens in foreign countries
From the earliest days of the republic, one of the duties of U.S. consular officers was to report to the Department of State the names of U.S. citizens who died within their consular districts. These death reports commonly provide acceptable documentation in the English language for causes in which satisfactory proof of an American death might be very difficult to obtain in any other form. URL
http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealgy/research_topics/american_deaths_overseas.html.
Our thanks for this information to Nuggets from Paradise, published by the Paradise Genealogical Society, Inc., PO Box 460, Paradise, CA 95967-0460.

Dr. R. Quinn Pugh, President of the Scottish Heritage Society of Southeast Georgia, welcomes the Reverend and Mrs. Julian Ward as the 99th and 100th members of the society.  The Society has just made Family Tree editor, Beth Gay, an honorary member of the society.