WELCOME

Welcome to the first issue of the quarterly online newsletter supplement to "Self Portraits: The Self Family NetLetter," the Website dedicated to Self family research at http://www.selfroots.com.

You are receiving this newsletter because you were kind enough to join "Self Seekers: The Self Family Association" and to donate money that will be used primarily to contact Self cousins who are not online but who would like to exchange information. We appreciate all of your contributions, large and small, and we hope you will continue to support our page, our surname list, and this newsletter.

If you do not wish to receive this electronic publication, please take a moment to e-mail us.

=============================================================================

HOW TO VIEW THIS NEWSLETTER

This newsletter is formatted as an html ("Web") page. It has been uploaded to our Server but cannot be accessed by a link from our site. Please keep the original e-mail message that contains the URL for this page. You may want to place the URL in your list of Bookmarks or Favorites or print it out for future reference. If you misplace the URL, please contact us and we will gladly send it again.

=============================================================================

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Contributions of stories, articles, humor, census or any vital records, reviews of books or genealogy software, or brief outlines of your Self ancestry will be considered for publication in this newsletter. You don't have to be a professional author--just be yourSelf!! Our cousins want to get to know you and share in your work and experiences.

We would also like to have your gedcom. We will add your information to our database. With your permission, we will also list and distribute your gedcom on request (but only with your permission). Please send us gedcoms so that we can start a library that will help others. If you've already submitted one, kindly re-send so that we will have the latest information.

We have a Self Surname Mailing List!! We need you to join and express yourSelf. You may have heard the names of other cousins from us in our e-mail messages--now you can have the chance to meet them online. It's FREE--so please go to our site and get the subscription instructions--they're easy to follow, and the more people who join the list, the more fun and information we will share.

We actually have several County Mailing Lists. They are: Erath County, TX; King County, TX; Union County, GA; Towns County, GA; and Clay County, NC. The instructions for subscribing to these lists are also on the main page of our site.

Our family has now grown to include two USGenWeb sites that complement our Mailing Lists: please take time to visit King County, TX and Clay County, NC. Following the links on the main page of our site will also take you to the Union County, GA webpage hosted by cousin Keith and the Erath County, TX webpage hosted by Janice and Annette, our cousins in spirit.

============================================================================

HOW WE FOUND OUR COUSINS

We've been looking for Tim's great uncle for many years. He was the last of four children, born after his own father died from complications to scurvy contracted during his service in the Civil War. When grown, he and his brother and two sisters scattered. Tim's great grandfather lived in Towns County, GA and later moved his family to Erath County, TX so that his wife could be closer to her mother (who had married his uncle). But his great uncle chose to go to Knoxville, TN where he married Malinda Jane ("Jennie") Luttrell. We knew that much, and we had several children listed on the page of an old Bible that was copied and sent to us. After that, we lost his trail entirely.

This spring, we decided to concentrate on finding our Self. We had been told by a cousin in Alaska that this relative had gone to Washington State. So we spent a lot of time cranking microfilm for the counties available at our local LDS and posting queries on the USGenWeb "unknown" county Web site. Our real breakthrough came when we went to the National Archives in Laguna Niguel, CA. First we verified that our relative had indeed been in Knox County, TN in the 1900 Census. He was there, along with his wife Jennie, and several children that agreed with the names we had. But he was not there in the 1910 Census.

Our next step was to refer to the Soundex for Washington State, and sure enough, we found him in the 1910 Census, along with another surprise. We had been looking for him under his given name--William Andrew Jackson Self. He had been called "William" in the Census records compiled during his childhood. And in 1900, he was William A. J. Self of Knoxville, TN. But in Pasco, Franklin County, Washington in 1910, he had become Andrew J. Selph.

We were so excited!! The first thing we did was to look up the name "Selph" in "Switchboard" (http://www.switchboard.com) on the Web and see if we could find some potential cousins listed in Pasco, WA. We found our cousin, Paul, and he referred us to his sister, Judy. They had been looking for us for a long time, too. Recently, we added our Selph cousin, Cindy, to our close correspondents.

We weren't surprised by William becoming Andrew. Sometimes we laugh as we wonder why Selfs ever bothered to give first names to their children since most of them went by their middle names. We were curious about the change of name to "Selph," though. We later learned that Andrew's daughter, Zoa, a school teacher who worked very hard to get an education and helped support her family at the same time, believed the alternate spelling to be "more refined."

Andrew Selph died in 1920. We believe that his brother, Tim's great grandfather, may not have known that Andrew had passed away; and George himSelf died five years later. That they remembered each other with love is evident in the names of their children: George Washington Self named his oldest son Robert Andrew, and Andrew Selph had a son named George.

The cause of Andrew Selph's death was third degree burns received when he rescued two fellow paper mill workers from an imminent fall into a vat of hot liquid. He died a hero. We are very proud to be related to him and to have located our Selph cousins who have inherited his intelligence, good humor, and kindness.

Have you had a similar experience in finding a long-lost ancestor? Please share it with us by submitting your story to us.

=============================================================================

SELF SHELF

There are many interesting books and documents written by Selfs. Most of these are out of print now, but they can still be viewed on microfilm/microfiche at your local LDS Family History Center.

One most interesting roll of film is "The Awdry Collection : Extracts from Wiltshire Registers, vol. 5." We discovered its existence in the LDS Family History Center on their CD that lists all the items in the Salt Lake City LDS Library.

The film number is HRP 51887, and it can be obtained through your local LDS FHC.

The Awdry Collection isn't really a book or even a manuscript. Rather, it's a collage of documents, letters, and even scraps of paper--both typewritten and in handwriting--relating to certain families of interest to Col. Awdry. One of these families is the Selfs. Apparently his sister married into the Self family, but that may not be the only interest he had in our surname. The actual collection resides in the Wiltshire Archaealogical and Natural History Society.

What's exciting about this roll of film is that it presents much information on the Selfs of Wiltshire where Olde Robert Selfe is believed to have been born. There are mentions of Self(e)s going back to medieval times as well as notes and charts on the family of Isaac Selfe, "the wealthie clothier."

The downside to this is that the film is especially difficult to read. Even with the best lens available at our Hemet LDS Family History Center, we could not make out much of it. So we decided to print out copies of the pages to take home and digest. Strangely, the pages appeared quite readable on the reader/printer (which, because of demand, is not available as a full-time reader for library patrons). When they printed out, though, the background was dark, and the text was either black or a blurry white.

If you decide to order this film for yourSelf, maybe your Center will have an even stronger lens. If so, we would certainly appreciate copies of the wealth of information to be found there.

And, if you know about a good book written by or about members of the Self family, please submit a brief review to us. You don't have to be a great writer--just be willing to tell other researchers the positive and negative aspects of the book so that they will know what they'll get before they order a copy for themSelfs.

=============================================================================

COMPUTERS AND SOFTWARE

Do you have a favorite genealogy program? We'd like to know what it is, what you really like about it, and anything you'd like to change.

We get lots of e-mail asking what program we recommend, and there is no better person qualified to reply than an actual user.

Barbara's favorite genealogy software is Microsoft Word. Does that surprise you? Because she did genealogy work in her teens using the old-fashioned typewriter, she can just envision things better when viewed in the word processor.

Word processors can't import/export gedcoms, so beware that this is a definite limitation. But did you know that you can READ a gedcom without genealogy software? You can read it in your word processor. Here's how:

1. Take a small gedcom you received from a friend, or make a mini-database of your own, just, say, for yourSelf, your parents, and your kids. 2. Make sure you export your gedcome to a .ged format (i.e., the filename ends with the extension .ged) or that the test file you received is in .ged format. 3. Now, go to a good word processor such as Microsoft Word-- you can use a text editor such as Notepad, but only for very small gedcoms--text editors have a limit on the amount of information they can receive in a file 4. Open the .ged file as plain text 5. Notice the format of the resulting display. Everything will be in plain English, but there are little @ marks all over the place. They look like this:
@I1@ [Individual #1]
with stuff in between, mostly understandable relating to birth/death dates, occupation, etc.
@S10@ [Family #10]
@C6@ [Family #6]
In this example, Individual #1 in your database was born into Family #6 and then married and started family #10. There may be slight variations, and names will replace the word "Individual." The word "Family #--" above do not appear in a real gedcom; they are for explanation only. Brackets do not appear, and there may be zeroes before the number (i.e., @I001@) which must be retained if you are using the "Find" option in your word processor 6. These entries will continue with no blank lines between them. The individuals will appear in the order in which they were input into your genealogy program. 7. After awhile, you will stop seeing each new entry beginning with @I---@ and begin to see a different kind of listing:
@F10@
@I1@
@I2@
@I23@
@I24@
@I25@
@I156@
Marriage date: June 22, 1985 (the marriage date is optional) In this example, The Individual #1 (in step 5 above) started his own family, Family #10. This correlates to the @S10@ in step 5, above. He married Individual #2 and had children, Individuals #23, 24, 25, and the latest baby, #156. 8. This may sound very complicated, but it's actually pretty easy. By going back and forth from the beginning list of individuals to their families at the end of the gedcom file, you should be able to follow the lines. Of course, writing it down or having another word processing document open to receive the information always helps.

Future topics--Scanning photographs, Distributing files, Reviews of software--what would you like to see and/or contribute to in this space? Tell us!!

=============================================================================

GENEALOGY COURSES

If you're new to genealogy, you might want to consider taking a free course offered by your local LDS Family History Center, sometimes in conjunction with a community college in your area. While there is a concentration on using the FHC, you also get basic information on how to keep records, fill in charts, read old documents, follow migration paths--all very interesting.

We took such a course this summer. Before you wonder why we did so, given that family history is "what we do," let us explain that our view of genealogy is necessarily quite different from yours. You want to find your ancestors. Some of them are Selfs, and some have other surnames, and you have lots of resources to investigate, both paper and electronic--and don't forget Grandma's memories, too. We are surname-specific in our research--which amounts to wanting to find all the Self ancestors of all Selfs and all their descendants of any surname. Your research begins with you and goes back in time; ours begins with the first known ancestor (Olde Robert Selfe--and, we wish, further back into England) and goes forward to the present.

By taking the course at our local San Jacinto College extension in Lake Elsinore, with our terrific instructor, Gene Cheney, we got to see what genealogy is like from your perspective. This has, we hope, helped us to relate better to what you're trying to accomplish. Mr. Cheney was very gracious in allowing us to speak to the class about Web-based research during one of the sessions so that our classmates could, in turn, view genealogy from our perspective.

Everyone, regardless of experience, can benefit from this type of course. And, once you complete it after approximately 5 weekly meetings, your instructor may offer an advanced course as well.

=============================================================================

SOME RECORDS FROM VIRGINIA

Found in the Northumberland County, VA Census of 1850--their ages have been translated into rough estimates of birth date.

Elizabeth Self 1770

Mary Self 1830 (living with) Daniel Lewis 1837

Thomas Self 1820
Lucy 1826
William 1842
Addison 1844
John 1846
Elizabeth 1849

Found in the Westmoreland County, VA Census of 1850--their ages have been translated into rough estimtes of birth date.

Stephen Self 1834
Living with Robert Beale 1817
Elizabeth 1827
Maria S. 1845
Cornelia E. 1847
Henrietta 1849

Peter S. Self 1806
Susan 1818
William F. L. 1839
Lydia A. 1844
Peter L. 1849
Francis 1836
Mary 1842

Mary Self 1802
Mary 1828
Moses 1838
Virginia 1849
Living with John and Benjamin Middleton

Walter (or Matthew) Self 1815
Lucy 1823
Susan F. 1846
Compton S. 1848
Virginia A. 1849

Stephen Self 1815
Eliza 1813
Samuel 1834
Elizabeth 1836
Fleet 1838
Sarah 1840
Stephen 1842
Levi 1844

George Self 1817
Louisa 1799

Robert Self 1819
Jane 1828
Robert W. 1848
Mary A. 1849

Samuel Self 1817
Eliza 1818
Jane 1848
Frances 1848
Elizabeth 1849
Hiram 1840

Moses Self 1805
Sarah 1809
Mary A. 1832
Lucrecia 1837
John 1838
Elizabeth 1842

Robert Self 1844
Living with William and Julia Cary

NOTE: Is anyone interested in copying Selfs from Census records in an area that has never been done? Just let us know!!

=============================================================================

GEORGIA SOUNDEX--1900

BALDWIN COUNTY

SELF, Lige b. Jan. 1865

BERRIEN COUNTY

SELF, James b. Oct. 1853
Susan b. Nov. 1866
Wright b. Feb. 1888
Leonard b. 1891
Pearl b. Apr. 1892
Mattie b. May 1895
Serafe b. Aug. 1897

BIBB COUNTY

SELF, Charlie B. b. Sep. 1868
Ella C. b. July 1873
Ruth A. b. June 1893
Howard J. b. July 1895
Ella L. b. Oct. 1897
Ethel F. b. Oct. 1900
All of the above were living with Ella C. Self's father, Robert P. Jarrett

BROOKS COUNTY

SELPH, Charlie b. May 1865
Ida b. Aug. 1875
Walter W. b. Feb. 1895
Ida May b. Apr. 1897
Nettie S. b. Aug. 1899

SELPH, James J. b. 1844
James b. 1871
MITCHELL, George b. 1874
Lucy (Selph) b. May 1873
James W. b. Jan. 1895
Jackson b. June 1896
George b. Oct. 1899

SELPH, Jesse M. b. June 1854
Esther b. Apr. 1859 in NC
Bettie b. Jan. 1895
Burie b. Jan. 1887
Jesse b. Nov. 1898

BURKE COUNTY

SELF, Henry b. Apr. 1878 Servant of Albert Brown

CAMPBELL COUNTY

SELF, Elijah b. Feb. 1867
Annie (maiden name possibly Jackson) b. Feb. 1872
Lonnie b. Aug. 1889
Malcolm b. Mar. 1892
Ollie b. May 1896
Viola b. Apr. 1898

CATOOSA COUNTY

SELF, Elizabeth b. July 1830 in SC

SELF, Emily A. (Simpson) b. July 1856
Living with brother, John M. Simpson

CHEROKEE COUNTY

SELF, Afred B. b. Dec. 1858
Mary A. b. Mar. 1857
Nancy L. b. Feb. 1875
Rufus P. b. Feb. 1880
Henry T. b. Sep. 1885
Martha C. b. Feb. 1888
David A. b. May 1890
William A. b. Mar. 1892
Mamie D. b. Nov. 1893
Ida M. b. Feb. 1897

SELF, Nancy M. b. Oct. 1825 in SC
Living with daughter, Nancy Garner, b. Oct. 1852
and grandson, James M. Garner, b. May 1882

CLARKE COUNTY

SELF, Howard b. Jan. 1847
Mollie b. Nov. 1848

COLQUITT COUNTY

SELF, Irena b. July 1880

SELF, James b. Feb. 1870
Mary F. b. July 1876
Jimmie M. b. Mar. 1896

CUMMING COUNTY

SELF, John S. b. Oct. 1876
Winnie b. Mar. 1875
Beulah b. Feb. 1896

NOT ALL SELFS IN THE ABOVE COUNTIES HAVE BEEN LISTED YET
TO BE CONTINUED...

=============================================================================

SELFS IN SPACE

What would you like to see here? This space is reserved for any topic of interest to Self cousins. Express YourSelf!!

=============================================================================

Back to Menu

Go to Index

Go to Self Portraits