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Subject: [WHITNEY-L] The WRG (Whitney Research Group) and John Lemuel Whitney
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 17:01:43 EST

> Dear Holly:

    > The WRG is the acronym for the Whitney Research Group, a group of over
300
    > people at the moment that are trying to help each other (at no cost)
with
    > finding our common ancestors with the Whitney surname.   We have been
    > existence for over five years in the electronic world of cyberspace,
although
    > a few of us have managed to meet and share material and experiences
while
    > travelling.  I was happy to be one of the first three people that
helped to
    > start the group back sometime in 1994 or 95 -- I can't remember now
when --
    > and it has grown tremendously.

    > These are some of the nicest people around.   They are from all over
the US
    > and Canada and we even have some other members in England and France
and
    > Australia.   Everyone is always kind and no one gets upset or "flames"
anyone
    > else, as sometimes happens on other maillists.   We just try to find
ways to
    > help each other extend and connect our Whitney lines for the benefit of
all.  
    > We have many members who are quite new to the study of genealogy and
need
    > lots of help and guidance, and we have many others who have been doing
it for
    > twenty years and more.   Some are extremely well skilled in high level
    > academic type investigation and are able to provide sources for almost
every
    > fact that they have recorded.   Others are not so careful, but still
have good
    > information and help for the rest of us.

    > We have created a collective web site that is open to the public and
can be
    > accessed by anyone.   Any information there is free for the taking, and
for
    > the most part is pretty high quality, provable stuff.   However,
nothing is
    > guaranteed -- it is up to the reader to decide whether the basis for
the
    > information is properly documented and sourced.   We have: Whitney
extracts
    > from the Vital Records of over 275 MA towns, about 25 in ME, and lots
of
    > other VT, NH and CT data as well.   There are at least four databases
    > available on-line, including three for the descendants of John and
Elinor
    > Whitney who came to Watertown, MA, in 1635  Those three share much
    > information, but each has something that the others don't, and so all
are
    > offered.   There is also another database for the descendants of Henry
    > Whitney, who arrived in Long Island ca 1640 and later moved to Norwalk,
CT.  
    > Another of our people is working on the descendants of a Whitney family
that
    > came into the southern part of the US, specifically Virginia, in the
1730's,
    > having come from Bermuda where they had been since the early 1600's. 
There
    > are archives of all the messages posted on our maillist, and many, many
other
    > resources as well.   The URL that will allow you to go to this website
is:

    > http://www.whitneygen.org/

    > and I invite you to explore it.   At first it might be a bit
overwhelming,
    > there is a lot there, and the best thing is the Search engine that will
allow
    > you to put in any name you are interested in (like John Lemuel
Whitney), and
    > get back a list of all the places on any of the information collections
on
    > the whole website (as well as some others on other web sites) that you
can
    > "click on" to look at to see if there is information there that helps
you.  
    > (Remember, I advised searching for Lemuel Whitney, not just John
Whitney,
    > because the name Lemuel will come up about 1/100th of the amount of
times
    > just the name John will appear.)

    > All you need to do to join the WRG is subscribe to the maillist, and
there is
    > a place on the website to do that, too.   Again, let me assure you that
there
    > is no cost to join, and all the help is free.

    > I hope you join in with us.   We can help you enrich your past by
trying to
    > extend your Whitney lines back to where they connect with others of us,
and
    > when we do, you will enrich the rest of us by showing us another line
of
    > descent that is a part of our family.

    > I hope this wasn't too long, and that I have explained things well and
not
    > just confused you.   I do hope you will join us, and if I can answer
any other
    > questions or help you in any other way, please write to me again.

    > Happy Hunting!

    > Allan E. Green

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