Fredericksburg, VA Genealogy – Two steps forward, one step back

We returned from our week in Connecticut ready to develop a website for the Fredericksburg Regional Genealogical Society (FRGS).  We made this decision following the September meeting when the plea for website help remained unheeded.

I researched the best (and affordable) website development software for MAC.  Since we would be paying for this ourselves we had to keep the cost within reason. I found that SandVox was highly rated and at a reasonable price.

We purchased and downloaded the software, and what fun we had all day yesterday designing and populating the site.  It was no wonder I had a slight headache last night. I just couldn’t let it go – I kept thinking of additional information to put on the site that might be helpful to Virginia genealogy researchers.

We applied for a FRGSVA@gmail.com account and that is now live.  I started a blog on the website – such fun!!

We then applied to Rootsweb for hosting space. That was easy, and the return message was that it would take three to five days for a response. 

Actually, it was only about three hours when we had a message back from Rootsweb with our User Name and path into their server.  Although we should have waited until morning … we couldn’t help ourselves. We had to see if we could get the site up and running. What a thrill that would be after all this time!!

We carefully put in the path as designated.  Clicked continue and watched the screen populate with the ftp connection.  Ah, it is wonderful when it works.

NOT.  Error message.  We retyped the password, carefully checked the ID, tried different variations.  Same message.

Finally, crestfallen, we wrote to Rootsweb explaining the problem. We also wrote to SandVox.  SandVox immediately replied with helpful information, but it looks like the problem is at Rootsweb.  The files are uploaded successfully, but the download from Rootsweb fails. 

And so we wait …   

Heritage Center Fredericksburg, Virginia

A universal truth is that you can always learn something at genealogy meetings.  So when we packed up our notebooks last night and headed to the monthly genealogy club meeting my husband turned to me and said, “You won’t have to take any notes tonight.”  The reason was that he was giving the presentation, “Making Sense of the Census,” a presentation I had heard many times before.  I am glad I didn’t heed that advice, because one always learns something at genealogy meetings.

During the business meeting one gentleman presented a conundrum. He had recently met with an older woman who had a large trunk full of family papers.  Her main concern was getting some money for them.  He brought this situation to the club hoping for some alternative propositions.  Unfortunately the only one he had told her, donate the family papers to the Heritage Center, was the only and best option the club could suggest.

Heritage Center. We have been here a year and I had never heard of this organization. 

The Central Rappahannock Heritage Center is located in downtown Fredericksburg and its mission is to preserve historical papers and photographs for the following counties: Caroline, Stafford, King George, Spotsylvania and the City of Fredericksburg.  It is the largest regional archives in the state of Virginia.

You can bet my next stop is the Heritage Center to see what they have and maybe check out their volunteer opportunities.