Sanders
Siftings
an exchange of
Sanders/Saunders family research
Early
map of
Northern Alabama, nineteenth
century home of the Sanders ancestors of Don E. Schaefer
A
Brief History of Sanders
Siftings
 |
Back in late 1994 and
early
1995 when email was something quite new and
most correspondence between family history sleuths was handled by the U
S mail, I had several people with whom I was exchanging Sanders
information. Some of you may remember the very slow computers and
modem connections from those early years. But on that early Internet I
was finding new Sanders or Saunders searchers in addition to
the ones I had found the old traditional way. I had a small
"network" going and was looking to expand it. My initial
idea was to get a network operating that would connect Sanders
researchers both OFF and ON the Internet to exchange
information. I discovered a
couple of Sanders newsletters but they were poorly done and I knew
I could do better. I was a subscriber to two very good surname
newsletters, one for Francisco and another for McKinley. So, I
knew what good surname newsletters should look like. |
I had just retired from the
University of Arkansas where I had been
preparing publications with a Macintosh computer. I had a Mac and the
same publications software (QuarkXpress) at home. My first
edition in April of 1995 was only four pages. The remaining
56 issues over the next 14 years were all eight pages. After
getting each issue printed -- I folded, inserted, stamped, and mailed
each one. I maintained the mailing list on my computer and
addressed each envelope on my laserprinter.
The list continued to grow. I found e-mail addresses of
individuals who were researching Sanders or Saunders and let them know
that I would mail them a complimentary issue of Sanders Siftings
(with an order blank to subscribe). I posted the same offer on
many lists on the Internet. I never asked anyone to subscribe
until they had seen what Sanders Siftings looked like. My
subscriber list continued to grow and within a few years I had more
than 200 subscribers. And it took more time to get each
issue in the mail.
I had many sources of copy. Number one was queries from any
researcher, subscriber or not. Since I insisted on having a U.S.
mailing address (and an e-mail address, if they had one) with
each query, I mailed a complimentary of that issue with a
subscribing form to non-subscribers. Also, I wanted longer
articles of prominent Sanders or Saunders, excerpts from Sanders
histories, and various stories of unusual things uncovered during
hunting for Sanders ancestors. Many good articles came from
subscribers. Others were found on the Internet, in family
histories, or in libraries. Often one published article would bring
more information on the subject from another reader. More than
once there would be differing views from readers and back-and-forth
articles would follow in subsequent issues.
I must confess that I personally like genealogical publications
that are indexed. But I drew a line there. My laziness
said, "That's too much work." But you can use your computer to search
each issue in
Adobe Acrobat.
Ironically, the influence of connecting with family history buffs on
the Internet, and wanting to connect them with other researchers--that
got this surname newsletter started--had much to do with the
demise of the publication. More and more of my subscribers
were finding it much easier to do all of their genealogy work on
the Internet. The subscription list was shrinking. And I was
hearing from my wife that my work on Sanders
Siftings was interfering
with our
plans for the trips that we both wanted to take. I gave in to her
desires and also knew that the subscriber list was not what it had
been. I put out the last issue in April of 2009. We made many
wonderful trips and I'm glad we did. My wife passed away in May
of 2012.
I hate that so many people now researching their family history do it
solely on their computer without leaving home. But I can't
stop them. They will find information that will excite them and
make
many
enthusiastic to do more research. I only hope that someone can guide
them to places where they can verify their findings from more reliable
sources.
---Don E.
Schaefer,
Fayetteville,
Arkansas, January 2013
Sanders Siftings was published from April 1995 until April 2009, four
issues per year (January, April, July, October) at Fayetteville,
Arkansas. In
order to open the individual issues, you will need
Adobe Reader or a similar PDF program. If the
program is not available on your computer, you can
download it by clicking on the icon below. Some of these files are very
large and may take take quite a while to download over a slow
connection.
All issues of Sanders Siftings reproduced
at this site are provided solely for use of individuals
researching their family history. This work remains the
intellectual
property of Donald E. Schaefer or of the individual authors and
copyright holders of included material. Copying and distribution
for
profit or for commercial use, whether in print or through electronic
means, is prohibited by copyright law. Opinions
expressed in
the articles, inquiries, and postings in the journal were those of
the individual authors at the time of writing and may not
necessarily
reflect their opinion today, nor the present consensus
of researchers regarding a particular Sanders line.
| No. 1,
April 1995 |
No.15,
Oct. 1998 |
No.29,
April 2002 |
No.43,
Oct. 2005 |
| No. 2, July 1995 |
No.16,
Jan. 1999 |
No.30, July 2002 |
No.44, Jan. 2006 |
| No. 3,
Oct. 1995 |
No.17,
April 1999 |
No.31, Oct. 2002 |
No.45,
April 2006 |
| No. 4, Jan. 1996 |
No.18, July 1999 |
No.32, Jan. 2003 |
No.46, July 2006 |
| No. 5,
April 1996 |
No.19, Oct. 1999 |
No.33,
April 2003 |
No.47,
Oct. 2006 |
| No. 6,
July 1996 |
No.20, Jan. 2000 |
No.34, July 2003 |
No.48,Jan. 2007 |
| No. 7,
Oct. 1996 |
No.21,
April 2000 |
No.35, Oct. 2003 |
No.49,
April 2007 |
| No. 8,
Jan. 1997 |
No.22, July 2000 |
No.36, Jan. 2004 |
No.50, July 2007 |
| No. 9,
April 1997 |
No.23, Oct. 2000 |
No.37,
April 2004 |
No.51, Oct. 2007 |
| No.10,
July 1997 |
No.24, Jan. 2001 |
No.38, July 2004 |
No.52, Jan. 2008 |
| No.11, Oct. 1997 |
No.25,
April 2001 |
No.39, Oct. 2004 |
No.53,
April 2008 |
| No.12,
Jan. 1998 |
No.26, July 2001 |
No.40, Jan. 2005 |
No.54, July 2008 |
| No.13,
April 1998 |
No.27, Oct 2001 |
No.41,
April 2005 |
No.55, Oct. 2008 |
| No.14,
July 1998 |
No.28, Jan. 2002 |
No.42, July 2005 |
No.56, Jan. 2009 |
|
No.57,
April 2009 |
|
|
|
|
Files concerning Sanders genealogy that are
available at this Web
site:
Moses
Sanders of Franklin County, Georgia, who died 29 March 1817 (pdf
files of the work of Elden Hurst of Salt Lake City)
The
Sanders Family of Anson/Montgomery County, North Carolina
1757-1810 (an article by Jim Sanders of Ojai, California)
The
Sanders of Stafford, Loudoun, and Fairfax in Virginia 1739-1783
(an article by Jim Sanders)
Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Century Montgomery County Original Land Grants (a
map by Joe Thompson of Raleigh, North Carolina)
Barbara
Radcliffe Rogers' Research on the Descendants of Isaac Sanders
(1817-after 1880) and Calvin Newton Sanders (1874-1957)
Sanders
Siftings, an exchange of
Sanders/Saunders family research, edited by Don E. Schaefer
Sanders
of Old Tishomingo County, Mississippi(John
Sanders and Abby Robins,
Moses Marion Sanders and Cynthia Bruton)
Biographical
Sketches, Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery and related families
Other files, articles, and pictures: Sanders
of Randolph
and Montgomery
--Gary
B. Sanders
Antique
map of Alabama Indian cession provided by RootsWeb.
Other graphics from the freeware collection of Cari
Buziak.
