FAQ: queries, good and bad. version 1.1 (revised March 28, 1997) added suggestion to include spouse's name in Subject: put surnames in all capitals in text of queries The following examples are based on real queries received by the moderators. Names have been changed to avoid embarrassment. Thanks to Kathleen Much, J.P. Gilliver, John Cartmell, and Jean Masco for contributions and suggestions. 1. bad Subject: LEGGETT anyone? Can anyone tell me anything about the Leggett family? This is the genealogical equivalent of placing an ad in the newspaper's classified section that says, "Used car for sale. Please call for make, model, condition, and asking price." You might get a response, but don't count on it. The idea is to encourage people to reply. They are more likely to do so if they recognize your family as related to people they have researched. Include some details about when and where your family lived. Always include: Name Place Date and put them in the subject line. If you don't know exact dates, estimate. It's a good idea to include the name of a spouse, too. As John Cartmell, former editor of the North Cheshire Family History Society's journal, puts it, "I have found the most useful link for strangers to pick up is the marriage; two surnames coming together at a given time and place are the best indicators that this could be of interest to you. It even makes the SMITHs interesting." For example: 1. better Subject: LEGGETT Rufus / LOUCKS Belle; Columbus, KS,USA; 1860-1940 My great-grandfather Rufus LEGGETT died in Columbus, Kansas when my mother was a little girl, sometime in the 1930's. She thinks he was in his 70's then, maybe somewhat younger. His wife's name was Belle LOUCKS. I'm looking for information on when and where he was born, as well as his parents. 1. bad (variation) What's the history of the LEGGETT surname? If you're interested in learning about your ancestors, this question is essentially the same as the previous one. See the hints above. If you want to know about the origins of the name itself, rather than look for details about specific ancestors, the newsgroup soc.genealogy.misc is a good place to ask this type of question. A good reference work for many American family names is Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges, "A Dictionary of Surnames" (Oxford U. Press, 1988). Despite its concentration on English names, it has many continental-origin surnames because they are now found in England. Patrick is slowly working on a Dictionary of American Surnames, which will have about 75,000 entries (all names borne by more than 100 families in the U.S. as of 1989, when the database was closed). It may be published in a year or two. Further references may be found in a library catalog under Names-Etymology. 2. bad Subject: ZAHM; anywhere; anytime Interested in ANY information about anyone named Zahm, worldwide. This message does have a subject line that follows the FAQ guidelines. Unfortunately, it's no more informative than bad example #1. If you're just starting to research your own family, contacting everyone with that name will soon overwhelm you, and isn't likely to help you find your immediate ancestry. Even if you think your name is extremely rare, there are probably lots of people that share it with you. Please refer to example #1. If you really are interested in making a comprehensive collection of all the Zahms, tell us enough about your project to encourage other genealogists to contribute their research: 2. better Subject: ZAHM/SAUM; anywhere; anytime I'm studying the ZAHM family worldwide. I've traced my own line to villages in Lorraine, France near the German border in the 1700-1828 timeframe. I have information on branches of the family in IN, IL, KS, OH, NY, VA, as well as Lorraine and Saarland. Interested in contacting any other members of the family to share information. 3. bad Subject: CROUCH; OH,USA; anytime I'm looking for information on my father's side of the family. He is an only child and his father died when I was 10. There are no family members to get any information. Can anyone tell me about the Crouches? A little bit better than the above examples, but you have valuable clues that you're not sharing with us. Your grandfather died when you were 10. This gives you the date of his death. But remember, by internet, we have no idea if your age is closer to 15 or to 95. We have to guess grandpa died someplace between 5 and 85 years ago. Since most men have children between the ages of 20 and 50, we can guess that he was probably between 50 and 110 years old when he died. He might have been born anywhere from 55 to 195 years ago! So tell us his name, tell us the year he died, and make an estimate of his age so we can tell about when he was born. 3. better Subject: CROUCH / NIXON; OH,USA; 1840-1930 I'm looking for information about my grandfather, William CROUCH. He died in Columbus, OH in the late 1920's. We think he was in his late 80's then. His wife was Eliza NIXON, who died before him. My Dad, James CROUCH, was his only son, born in Columbus, OH about 1892. I'm interested in finding William CROUCH's wife and parents. Now you've given us enough clues that someone might recognize the family, or point you to the right resources for the time and place so you can learn more about the family. 4. bad Subject: SMITH/JONES/WASHINGTON/LEE/DENZEL/WINDSOR; ENG>OH,USA; 1600- Have information on these families: Smith in England 17th century Jones in Virginia by 1800 moved to Ohio 1850's Washington in New York colonial times ... etc This article gives a cluttered subject line that's hard to understand. Use a separate article for each surname, and give us more details, as in example 1. Thousands of people will look at your subject line to decide whether to read the message - make it count. Take the time to tell something about your research and your questions - and put it in a readable format so readers will want to help you. 5. bad Subject: NEEDLEMAN - starting out I want to learn more about my Needleman family. How do I get started? To get tips on how to get started in genealogical research, start reading the group soc.genealogy.methods. Also check out the FAQ files posted in the soc.genealogy groups, and the Roots-l library at: http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/filelist.html Organize the information you already have, and post informative queries in soc.genealogy.surnames following the examples above. Happy Hunting! Bill Mills, moderator soc.genealogy.surnames/GENNAM-L Copyright 1996, 1997 William Mills.