Sunday, June 24, 2012

What happened to RRFHA.com?


You all know that Katherine Rawlings quit creating the Rawlin(g)s-Rollin(g)s Family History Association newsletter in 2003 after creating it for 15 years. When she made it known that she would be quitting, I called her for permission to create a website based on the newsletters. She and I had talked about people asking her about a possible website on a couple of occasions. Katherine did not own a computer and did not want one. This all happened when I had retired on disability and was going nuts needing something to do. After receiving Katherine’s permission, I registered the domain RRFHA.com. I even bought a new multi-function printer at that time so that I would have one with a document feeder to speed up scanning the newsletters. When I decided on a format I opted to do a PDF copy of each newsletter so people could print them and have the newsletter just like we received them originally.  I also created an HTML version of each so that they could be searched online. It took me several weeks to have it up and available.

When I first started on this project, I had planned to create a database of all of the names mentioned in the newsletter. I even found software that supported building and maintaining a database and it was affordable.  I started collecting data from the newsletters. I found it challenging and it was going to be a long project for a single person. I confess that I lost interest in it. I had lots of time, but with my physical problems I can’t sit any longer than 20 minutes without a break. I kept losing my place. I also had been diagnosed with hydrocephalus and needed brain surgery. My doctor said it would not affect my memory or intelligence, but I find my attention span is shorter and I struggle over words now.

Over the years a few people have sent me donations to help with the cost of maintaining the domain for the newsletters. The actual cost is much greater than what I have received. I don’t mind paying the cost of keeping the rawlingsrollingshistory.com domain up since I can use its space for other domains that I may want to set up. I have one that is similar to my name that I use to show my family the latest pictures of my grandchildren or my 5 dogs.

I want to spend more time with my own research and family now that I am a grandmother. I have also spent some time examining what I have collected and have made some discoveries. When the 1940 census became available, I found the little piece that told me how my Grandma Mary had become so close to her second husband that he became her second husband. I have been reaching out to my family back in Ohio. That in part is due to a group I belong to on Facebook. We are all current or former residents of Wellsville, Ohio. Through this group I have learned more about the history of the village and the concerns for its future. I have reconnected with family members and friends through this group. In learning more of the history of Wellsville, I discovered how my own family tied into village.

The domain rawlingsrollingshistory.com will primarily be the home of the R/RFHA newsletters. I will also add any information that people send to me. Since that will be part of the rawlingsrollingshistory.com domain it will automatically become searchable. I have another domain that I will be using for my own research that does not include my Rawlings roots.

DO NOT SEND DONATIONS. I am not trying to solicit donations through this blog entry. I am just explaining the changes to rawlingsrollingshistory.com. It will still be here with the newsletters and new submissions. I just wanted to explain how I am setting up the domain to protect the newsletters and still allow me to branch out.

Thank you for your interest and support over the years. Keep submitting any information that you want me to add to rawlingsrollingshistory.com. You can email me at marta@rawlingsrollingshistory.com or mrawlin3@gmail.com.  

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