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This is in the nature of a suggested mission statement regarding the Strong
Genealogical Network.� It was originally developed in an attempt to help give some
direction to the Members of the Rootsweb Strong-List and the Strong Genealogy
Network, as we contemplated the future following the death of our initial "list owner", the late Robert T. Strong. It is re-stated here because it sets out some general principles and ideas which may be useful guidance to members of the Strong Genealogical Network, the Rootsweb Strong-List, and others.
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The Strong-List� and Strong Genealogical Network is a major volunteer cooperative,
developed, maintained and managed by it's members... some of whom are able to be
more active than others, but which is open to any level of participation when and
as interested individuals are able to act.
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Some time ago, the late Robert T. "BoB" Strong, Jr., the "founder" of the Strong-List,
indicated his intention to "retire" in order that he might devote his remaining life to his
family and to completion of his work re the Southern Strongs of the United States.� We all
owe a debt of thanks to BoB for his herculean efforts in bringing the Strong-List into being.
Some of us "jumped aboard" early, back in the days when the list was carried on the
Maiser server at the University of Indiana... before the big "server crash", which
caused the termination of the Maiser service and transfer of the list to the Rootsweb
Cooperative. BoB took us through all of that trauma, kept the list going, subscribing and
unsubscribing participants, drawing out "lurkers", giving leadership and direction to the
group. He was one of the "instigators" of the amorphous network of web sites we now
call the "Strong Genealogical Network". Continuously, through generous application of
his inate "Southern Charm" and considerable academic research qualifications, he
helped point us at a general goal of sharing and expanding our knowledge of
Strong/Strange/L'Estrange/Straughn/etc., genealogy.� Unfortunately, BoB died on
Wednesday, January 20, 1999. Now that BoB has left us, we remaining members
of the Strong-List must move on as well.
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It may be helpful to re-examine our goals.� I think there are at least five
goals of the Strong Genealogical Network and members of the Rootsweb
Strong-List:
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1) Free Collection and� dissemination of family history data to all
researchers, putting all information available into the public forum for
discussion, etc.� Any errors can be corrected through group contribution and
work.
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2) Inform descendants about historical family places and sites.
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3) Keep everyone informed about Strong/Strange/L'Estrange, etc., family
history, goals, activities.
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4) Establish a convenient forum and place to discuss and store our various
family history.
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5) Work toward solutions for what is one of the greatest problems facing genealogists
in the Americas and Australia which is how to make the leap back across the ocean,
between what is known on our side of the ocean, and what is available in the British Isles.
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Generally, we face numerous obstacles... Poor or non-existant records, variant name
spellings; illiterate or at least non-communicative ancestors; official disinterest (in the
records) of prior locations; our own ignorance of many nuances of British History
affecting our searches; our lack of knowledge of existing, available
records in the British Isles.... and on and on. What is needed, and what has been
developed in the Strong Genealogy Network, is a coordinated effort at compiling
known data about the origins of immigrants to the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
and elsewhere from the British Isles, which is colated with known or knowable
data about possible points of origins in the homeland. The study needs to be
sensitive to the flow of historical background info affecting the impetus for,
routes of, and means of transportation.
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Much info is out there... and a lot of work has already been done by many persons
and groups.... The Strong Genealogy Network represents an effort to bring it together,
organize the data and information, and to build upon it. In the past, the SFAA has
done a certain amount of work in this regard... but the present attempt is to expand the
focus beyond simply a recounting of the lineages of certain Strongs in America.
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What we have developed is a new, multi-based group, ready to try to track the
various possible lineage sources in Britian, such as:
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1) The Breton-Norman L'Estranges, who can be traced from The Battle of Hastings
through Shropshire, the West Country Triangle, and on to Scotland, The Isle of Man,
and Settlements in the Irish Pale; The Armstrong clan of the Borders region, many of
whom may have changed their name to Strong to avoid hanging or transportation or
whatever, particularily about the time the Plantations in America and Ireland began;
The obvious concentrations of Strongs in certain localities in the IGI... among them,
Dorset, Somerset, Cumberlandshire, Fifeshire, Lancashire... and more.
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2) Detailed Input and analysis from genealogists in Britian who are
knowledgeable about the sources available. Analysis of the various IGI listings
to attempt to compile charts of known family groups in Britain and Ireland;
attention to variations in spelling; again collation of known data about individuals who
immigrated; tracing the schedules over several years of known immigrant
ships... (some are known to have landed passengers in America at
differing dates, and are known to have sailed from Bristol, Liverpool,
and a host of other small outports--- we know some of the detail, can an
analysis fill in the blanks?); a process of elimination of data points
about known individuals; a computerized data base... lots of detail, and
insightful management. Coordinating imput from Britain, Ireland, the
Americas, Australia, and whereever... with an ultimate focus in Britain...
NOT in the areas emigrated to! The areas of immigration are very important,
and much research must yet be done there, however, the research must not
stop with the first immigrant who stepped ashore in a land distant from Britain.
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What we are talking about is huge. It is long range. And it might in the
end be an exercise in futility for many. But, perhaps some useful
genealogical evidence can be gleaned and preserved for some or all who
are interested.
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For some, the loss of records in the U.S. Civil War in the 1860's; the Four Courts fire
in Dublin in 1922; the bombing of England during WW II, or other disasters
probably dooms inquiry concerning the origins of their Strong ancestors to
informed speculation at best. However, they would like to know the history
surrounding the migration of members of the family from Britain to various colonies
and on. Did they get "planted" in Ireland in 1610, or Virginia after 1607, or
Massachusetts after 1620, or Australia after 1820? From Cumbria, or from Bristol,
or where? Or were they soldiers awarded land as pay for service with Cromwell?
Or did they immigrate from Scotland while fleeing the religious persecutions of
Presbyterians by Charles II's ministers? Were George, John and William of
"where ever" brothers, cousins, relatives at all? Who likely went where and
why? What Chain Migration might have happened? Who was named after
whom? What information is available in London that was a copy of something lost in
Dublin? What name changes have evolved through the years? What are the
variant spellings of the surname? More recently, what DNA evidence can be made available and used? Gleanings from any and everywhere. Evaluating the evidence and deciding what weight to give to the various elements, and what conclusions can be made about various issues and hypotheses might be assisted by reference to the Standards of Proof suggested elsewhere in this work.
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Rome was not built in a day, nor can we hope to build the data base we are
talking about in a day... but perhaps we have made a start. The question now
is not how but when?! This question is simply posed in hope of stimulating discussion
and further research and development of the Strong Genealogy Network.
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Back in mid-1997, when we were discussing the idea of creating the Strong
Genealogical Network, there were several points which were developed:
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1) We all have to be willing to share our research and put it out in public
view for comment, critique, and further revision and input from others.
That is part of the time honored "Socratic Method" of education... it is a
system of researching for the true facts by testing theories through
exposure to questioning by others... if the theory stands up under
questioning, it may be accepted until something better comes along.� A
problem with the method is that we all tend to take pride in our research
and theories, and our feelings get bruised in the give and take of
questioning under fire. One of the ways of protecting ourselves is to have
sources and details supporting our theories throroughly documented and
recorded.
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2)� We all need to be willing to disclose information and theories, some of
which are perhaps not fully developed or "ready", in a manner with which we
can feel comfortable.� In an academic setting, "publication" is the manner
traditionally used to expose one's theories... publication in a recognized
periodical or book format.� Many of us have toyed with the thought that we
would like to publish a book presenting what we have developed withour
research.� Modernly, one of the problems with this is the cost of
publication... which must be weighed against the marketability of the "book"
once it is published.� Realistically, the cost probably far out-strips the
market for the publication.� That leaves us all with three alternatives...
(1)� do nothing; (2) publish a book anyway, and bear the cost ourselves, or
(3) share the information with anyone who is interested by whatever other
means are out there... and in our case the means available for use is the
internet.
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Several of the members of the Strong-List have put the above goals and
concepts into action through development of the Strong Genealogical Network.
When first discussed, the initial thought was to try to put together a
central repository for� all data, etc.� William L. "Bill" Strong and others
pointed out that the size of the computer storage needed for such a
centralized approach would be enormous, it would be cost prohibitive, slow
to operate, and require the full time efforts of one or more individuals to
construct and maintain.�
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Bill Strong's suggestion, which has turned out to be the right one, was to decentralize
the concept... create several web sites, each created and maintained by various
individuals, and each with a differing "piece of the pie" to present.� The
decentralized, or distributed Strong Genealogical Network, takes advantage of
available computer storage capacity on servers used by individual members of
the Strong-List (such as BoB Strong's Renaisance Operation (?), or "ro.com")
or supported by advertising, such as Geocities and Tripod.� The cost of the
storage is supported by the individual member, or by the advertisers.� Each
Web Site Manager has responsibility for the content of his/her own site, and
the freedom to manage it anyway he/she wishes... devoting as much or as
little time as they wish... and carrying the expense in time and money as they wish.
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The current Strong Genealogy Network member web sites are listed and
discussed at the SGN Switching Center.
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To become part of the network, a website should satisfy all the following
criteria: a)� the site provides information of value to Strong, Strang, Strange, etc. researchers b)� it is generic, i.e it is not restricted to a single line of Strongs c)� it contains links to all the other sites on the Strong Genealogy Network d)� it does not require a membership or other fee: its use is free | ||
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The Strong Genealogy Network is a COOPERATIVE network.� We are each
operating our respective portions of the network with the understanding and
cooperation of the other members of the network.... and that involves
RESPECT for the work put into their site by each individual.�� Each of us
has worked long and hard to develop our sites, and to build the Network
concept.� The SGN has received numerous compliments for being one of the
best efforts made by any surname list in the Rootsweb Cooperative!� The way
to maintain a high standard is to keep up the degree of cooperation and
respect which has been a hallmark of the development of our network.� The
following guidance is to be adhered to:
1) Since this is a cooperative network of sites, links are encouraged, as is
use of other member's .gif and .jpeg images, where not copywrited or
trademarked.� However, in each instance, acknowledgement of the source is
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The RootsWeb Strong-List is a key component in the operation of the Strong
Genealogical Network.� The RootsWeb concept involves the "Ownership" of the
List by a single individual.� Robert T. "BoB" Strong was the original List
Owner.� Some time ago, Theresa Lang volunteered to replace BoB as List Owner
for RootsWeb purposes; she has since been replaced by Russell Laird. The RootsWeb FAQ "Mailing Lists" includes a section
about listowners that explains their responsibilities and duties. Please visit Mailing Lists
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The Strong-List is Managed by a volunteer manager, or "List Owner", Russell Laird.
The duty of the Manager is primarily to manage daily
administrative details, such as assisting folks to subscribe or
to cancel their subscriptions, especially when they send their
commands to "STRONG-L" rather than to "STRONG-L-request".
This can be done in about 30 minutes per day.� The total
transactions (subscriptions plus cancellations) have been
totaling less than two per day:� about 50 per month.�� Most of
these require no intervention by the Manager.
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In addition to receiving notifications of new subscriptions and
cancelled subscriptions, the Manager also receives all "error
messages", many of which are for "bounced" messages.� Most of
these notices of bounced messages can be immediately deleted
from your message editor/reader with no further action.�
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For example, William L. (Bill) Strong's Internet Service
Privider, "netinc.ca", may be offline, so all of his messages from
the Strong Mail List would be bounced.� In most instances the ISP
does not stay offline from more than a few hours, so the problem
usually resolves itself.� There is no need to try to send copies of the
bounced messages to the persons who did not receive them as the
messages are immediately archived and can be retrieved from the
archives by the person if they so desire.� This could be done by
entering a date into the search criteria, which might look like this
example:� "1 and SEP and 98".� Alternatively a Digest Number
could be entered.
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After an X number of regular messages or a Y number of Digests
are bounced, the person is automatically unsubscribed by the
Rootsweb server.� X and Y are set by the List Owner in a
special Customization (configuration) file on the Rootsweb
server that controls each surname or regional mail list.� An
automated notice should be� sent to the unsubscribed person (but
it will probably bounce, too). The worst that can happen is that
a person is removed from the Strong Mail List prematurely and
must re-subscribe.
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In the past there has been a little difficulty keeping track of
these automated cancellations.� Since such records are no longer
kept, that is no longer a problem.
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Most administrative details can be taken care of online at
Rootsweb, but a password is required to access these utilities.
The Manager will be notified of the password and the URL in
a private message.� After they receive the password they can sign
onto the web site and browse around to familiarize themselves
leisurely so long as they don't reset anything in the Customization
(Configuration) file without consulting with the List Owner.��
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List members should not hesitate to communicate with Russell Laird
about any questions they may have.� Russ additionally operates his
own Laird Mail List, so he is a most experienced List
Owner and/or List Manager.�
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We have accomplished much in the past several years... coming from a "fledgling"
list on the Maiser Server, to more than 200 members on the RootsWeb Server, and several
general purpose Strong Genealogical Network Websites, plus numerous personal
websites maintained by individual members of the List and others.�� We have
made a major step forward in presenting our collective research; and in
providing directions and assistance for members and others who are
interested in Strong/Strange Genealogical Research.�
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The foregoing is a summary attempt to state our present position.� The members
of the Strong-List and the Strong Genealogy Network are encouraged to use this
position paper as a basis for further discussion and development.� I suggest that
we need to: 1)�� develop some coordinated efforts at research of original records which have not yet been "touched". 2)�� continue to improve and expand our existing Strong Genealogical Network. 3)�� encourage individual members to come forward to assume managerial roles for the RootsWeb Strong-List. 4)�� encourage individual members to establish their own websites, sharing their information with the rest of us. 5)�� continue to monitor technological developments which will assist us in improving the network and the research. 6)�� assist members and others in learning about and using and applying computer hardware and software which is available for use in researching and presenting the genealogy involved. 7)�� provide for long-term management and direction of the Strong-List and Strong Genealogical Network. 8) thought should be given to the new genealogist or the new computer owner or both.� Sometimes information can be provided on a repeat basis that a new person can clearly understand, even though it is standard information to the initiated.
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Please consider how YOU can help make this an action plan!� Share your ideas
with us!� Help!
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Respectfully,
David B. "Dave" Strong |
Copyright � 1998, 1999, 2003
David B. Strong. Click for contact information.
