Site Closure.
6 September 2010 - 10:47:07am

This site will be taken offline on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

The server the site runs on will be upgrading critical software which will cause the current version of this site to no longer function.

I have no had time to make any updates or fix any of the issues currently affecting the site. The software update which will occur will require a complete rebuild of the site in order to function as it has in the past.

While I realize this site has been of great value to some users, I just no longer have the time to spend rebuilding the entire site.

I thank you all for your contributions over the years and best of luck with your continuing searches.

If anyone has a background in web development, HTML, PHP, has an interest in learning, I'm willing to allow someone to take over the site and do what they can with it. If interested, please let me know.

I thank you all again, and hope you understand.

Marc Thomas

User Accounts and email.
27 October 2007 - 8:28:20am

As I mentioned last week, I have sent an email to all users currently in the system, verified or not. Although I said last week that users I had not heard from would be dropped in 30 days, I've changed this to 15. I consider that plenty of time to respond, or not, with your desires and it works out better for me.

I also mentioned the potential for email addresses in the email. Anyone who may be interested in a ‎(yourname)‎@newton-families.org address should contact me and I will provide information on how it works, what it includes, and other details. Whether I go ahead with this or not depends on the level of interest among other things.

I also mentioned last week that I was starting to go through my files and folders in an attempt to catch up on things. This has turned out to be more of a task than I thought. My "Genealogy" folder currently holds 1.14GB's of data spread out among 2,426 folders and over 26,000 files. This doesn't include the email attachments filling up my inbox. If, over the course of the last several months, you are one of the wonderfully helpful people that has sent me some information, first, thank you, second, should you not see your information reflected on the site, please let me know. Sometimes a poke in the right direction is all I need.

I may not get to update again for a week or so, as my "regular" job has decided they need me 10 hours a day, six days a week for at least the next couple weeks....starting at 4:00AM :‎(

Thanks again, and keep checking back.
Marc‎

Fall Cleaning.
20 October 2007 - 8:46:52am

As I sort through the piles of emails, odd scraps of paper and various nooks and crannies of the site, I continue to find more and more that needs my attention.

One of the areas that will be dealt with is registered users to this site. There are currently 53 users who have registered to gain access to all the information contained herein. However, there are 15 users who have never verified their information by following the instruction in the email that was sent to them upon registering. Some as far back as a year ago, some as recently as last week.

While I recognize, that in the beginning, things might not have always worked as planned, that the verification email may not have been sent at all, surely had those users attempted to log in, would have realized an issue and contacted me.

Having said that, I will send an email to all 53 users currently in the system asking them to contact me if they wish to remain registered users of this site. Thirty days after that, I shall remove those I have not heard from.

It should also be noted that this is one of the only times I will email all users at once. I'm not interested in filling peoples Inbox with "spam". Generally, if I have something of interest to say, I say it here.


Another item that will be included in the email is something I've been considering for some time and wish to know whether it may be of interest to current or future users of Newton Families. I'll mention it here, and again later on in another post. I have the ability to offer email address to anyone who wishes to have a @newton-families.org address. My dilemma is if there should be a fee for this service. While I do incur costs associated with the maintaining of the site, it not a lot and generally accept it as the price of my "hobby". I feel I don't need to ask a fee, in fact, I'm not, just trying to judge what would be appropriate. I'll post more details of the potential email options in a later post.

Thanks again, and stay tuned for more.
Marc

Summer's End
29 September 2007 - 10:19:14am

Well, Summer has come to an end, and with the start of Fall come the start of the time of year I spend the most time on Genealogy and this site.

I've received quite a bit of information from Newton descendants over the Summer, and will be working to compile that info and add it to the site.

Due to low use, and a rather large amount of spam attempts, I am closing open registration to the Forum. While all users registering to the forum require my approval, several unsavory individuals attempt to register anyway so that they may spam their various websites selling everything from "Viagra" to some rather vile XXX sites. Should anyone wish to register for a forum account, please email me and I will be happy to add you manually. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause anyone.

It's going to take me a couple weeks to get caught up and pick up where I left off, so bear with me and stayed tuned.

Thanks,
Marc

A Note About Privacy.
12 April 2007 - 10:25:59am

Like many sites on the Internet today, I use the services of a web statistics company. This web counter consists of a small piece of Java embedded within the pages of the site. This allows me to keep track of how many visitors the site gets as well as some other useful information such as what type of browser is in use. In no way is personal information recorded or any other information regarding your browsing habits, or sites visited.

It has recently come to my attention that my current web counter provider has made a significant policy change. This change involves the use of a tracking cookie from a well known advertiser. This cookie allows the advertiser to track sites you visit and target ads based on your past browsing history. While this is not uncommon, many sites today use this method to better tune it's advertising, it is unacceptable for this site.

I'm currently searching for a new web counter and will be removing the offending code from all parts of the site today.

I have also posted this in the forum for any discussion or questions that may arise. And as always, anyone is free to email me at any time with any questions.

Thanks,
Marc

BIG Update
2 March 2007 - 8:54:47am

Another update, and this time it's a big one. We are now up over 7000 individuals, with more than 3700 Newtons.

I've spent a great deal of time on this update, but it should be noted, as always, errors are possible. I've done my best to eliminate duplicate individuals, however there still may be a few. As this information comes from several family trees found on several sites on the internet, I can't personally verify all the information. I know there are some errors, and more than a few questions.

With that in mind, I'd like to ask anyone with a family represented here to share their family info. Take a close look at your Newton Family here on the site and compare it with what you may have. Please let me know if something doesn't match up. I plan on spending some time clearing up some of the errors and as many of the questions as I can. Keep an eye on the Forums, as I'll be posting more often there with questions I have.

I've had several pictures sent to me of the graves of several early Newtons. While the site has a method of including images with an individuals information, unfortunately, it doesn't work as well as it should. I'll be working on this as well and will keep you updated. Should you have Newton Family photos to share, please feel free to let me know.

As I said, keep an eye on the Forums for more updates.

Thanks,
Marc

Rev. Roger Newton Added
15 February 2007 - 10:31:48am

I've updated the site once again.

This update was a large one and mostly involves the family of Rev. Roger Newton of Abt. 1610 England.

I also made some small changes to the site. While these may not be noticeable, they should help with a few small issues I've been having.

I'm currently working on an update to the Links page. If anyone has some useful links to share, please let me know.

Thanks,
Marc

Family Update
8 February 2007 - 12:13:47pm

I've updated the database once again.

Most of the information in this update is on the descendants of Rev. Francis Newton with additional descendants of his son Rufus. Special thanks to John Newton for sharing his work and his Newton Family Tree.

I'm currently working on an update to include the Family of the Rev, Roger Newton of Abt. 1610 England. Anyone with any information on this line is encouraged to share so that it may be included in the next update.

It should be noted, that with this update, the database now includes over 3000 individuals, 1181 of which are Newton's. It's entirely possible the next update could put us over 5000 individuals and 2500 Newton's. Working with multiple files, containing several duplicate individuals is time consuming. I do my best reduce the number of duplicates, but I'm sure a few slip by. Future updates will involve more time and effort and may it may be longer between updates. Anyone who would like to volunteer, please let me know.

Thanks again to John for his help in adding to the site.

Marc

New Lines Added.
5 February 2007 - 1:50:36pm

I've updated the database once again. This update includes two new family lines.

The first is the family of Henry Newton b. 1854 in Louisiana.

The second are some of the descendants of Robert W. Newton Probably of Upstate New York born about 1795-1805.

Anyone with more information on these families is encouraged to contact me.

Thanks,
Marc

Site Update
4 February 2007 - 9:45:07am

I've updated the family file to the latest version I have. This version further reduces the number of duplicate individuals and cleans up more of the data. As always, if anyone notices any errors, please let me know.

I'm currently working on a couple different Newton lines to add to the database. I'll post more information on these lines when I upload the file.

I would also like to remind everyone that should you wish to include any information about your Newton family, please don't hesitate to let me know.


Thanks,
Marc

Back into the swing..
31 January 2007 - 3:48:39pm

Well, I know it's been awhile. I've been pretty busy with other matters, which I hope are done with for now.

Couple things:

The forums have been the target of several spam attempts lately. Earlier I had turned on administrator approval for new users, however, without more info from each user, I have no way of knowing if the user is legitimate or just a spammer looking for a place to hawk his warez. So I am requesting any new user who register to send me an email at marc@newton-families.org. All I need is your username and maybe what family line your interested in. This will assure I don't delete your account as a spammer.

I'm about to go through the user list list and delete any users that appear less that genuine. Should your account be one of these, please follow the above and re-register. Sorry about the trouble should your account be deleted.


Family File Update:

Wow, where to start. HA, see, I don't know where I left off it's been so long. I'll start refreshing my memory this week and looking at what data I have. Expect an update by this weekend.

Thanks again,

Marc

Happy Holidays
23 December 2006 - 9:45:47am

I've put off updating the database until after the Holidays. I'm sure I'm not the only one busy this time of year.

I wish everyone the best this Holiday Season.

Marc

Site work.
18 December 2006 - 10:00:19am

Edit:
Looks like I'm done, and everything works. If you find any links that do not work, please let me know.

I'll be working on some server-side settings today. The site may be unavailable at times, but these times should be brief.

Thanks for you patience.

Marc

Update
12 December 2006 - 6:25:22pm

It was pointed out to me today that there are several individuals marked "Private" on the site. PhpGedView has several built-in privacy functions to protect the information of the living. While registered users who are logged in can see the information, guests to the site cannot. I have changed this to show many more facts to the public. While some information is still marked as "Private", it's isn't as restrictive as it was. Hope this helps. If you have any questions about privacy of information on the site, please don't hesitate to ask.

I should have another update to the family file in a few days. I've gone through almost all the 2000 names and corrected spelling errors and other errors such as format.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Thanks,
Marc

William R. Newton's Ancestors Remain......
7 December 2006 - 8:52:05am

....a Mystery.

I spent 4 hours at the History room of the Patten Free Library yesterday looking for information on William. While I did confirm a few dates and pick up some tidbits here and there, nothing of real value was found.

Many of Bath's vital record were lost in a fire in 1890. Bath did have several Newspapers at the time which proved to be the most helpful resource. However, the limited and volunteer created database of those newspapers is incomplete. Reference was found to some information that may have been useful, but were unable to locate in the paper sourced in the database. When I return, I will continue to search in hopes of finding more.

What I did learn:
William R. Did die in Bath. Either on the 19th or 20th of November, 1864.
He did lie about his age when he enlisted in the Civil War. The cut-off age for volunteers was 45, enlistment records show him as being 44. All mention of his death list him as 52, confirming he was born in 1812.
Cause of death is listed as "Chron Diarrhea".
Several dates for children were confirmed and I will be updating this information soon.

Keep watching for more updates.
Marc

Research Trip and Site Update.
3 December 2006 - 9:33:11am

I've updated the family file again, reducing the number of duplicate individuals. If anyone should see any errors, please let me know. This information comes from a multitude of sources, and I can't verify it all.

One day this week, I plan to make a visit to the Sagadahoc History & Genealogy Room at the Patten Free Library in Bath, Maine. For those of us descended from William R. Newton, this should add to the information we have on him. Hopefully this will lead to his ancestors and a connection to one of the other Newton Clans.

I'm also looking for more information on William Herbert Newton, ‎(William A.; William R.)‎ William, or "Herbert" was born March 1874 in Bowdoinham Maine and died in 1917. He married Annie L. Cres‎(s)‎ey 22 Oct 1904. They have several children, all of which I'm having trouble tracking down. If you have any info on this family, please let me know.

Thanks,
Marc

Family File Update and New Visitors.
29 November 2006 - 2:10:42pm

I've recently updated the family file, bringing the number of individuals to 2198, up from 1897. Most of these additions are to the Richard of England line of Newton's.

EDIT: It should be noted that there are SEVERAL duplicate individuals. These were not merged with any of the programs I use because so much information is different. Until I get more information that matches, these duplicates will remain. Another reason it's important to share your information. Marc

There have been several visitors to the site lately. Part of this can be attributed to the site beginning to show up in the major search engines. If you are a new visitor to the site, Welcome. If you are searching for someone and don't find them, please be sure to check back. I'm constantly updating information and families as I get new information. So bookmark the site and check back often.

I'm going to start posting some requests to the Forum for family information and some guidelines on how best to submit it. Even if you don't think you have any new information, please consider sharing your information. Even the addition of a single person can make a huge difference. The additional sources also make a big difference when verifying connections.

Thanks for visiting,
Marc

Happy Thanksgiving.
23 November 2006 - 8:30:54am

May you and your families have a good Thanksgiving.

I've spent the last few days going through some of the data here on the site. I've been going through and correcting place name spellings and formats. I've also been correcting any errors in names I find along the way. This has resulted in a couple more Newtons being added to the list. These were entered incorrectly and did not appear in the proper listing of names. I'll continue to go through the data as time allows.

Have a great Holiday and enjoy.

Marc

Forums active.
20 November 2006 - 7:30:11am

Thanks to the great folks in the OpenForum at Arstechnica.com, I've got the menu link to the forums working. Feel free to register and start posting. Let me know if there are any issues.

I think I'm done messing with the site for awhile. I think it looks good and everything works‎(I think)‎. Now it's time to start working with some of the data on the site. I'll spend the next few days going through what is here and cleaning it up. I would ask that if anyone has additional information on any of the families represented here to please share that information. If you are unsure of the best or fastest way to do that drop me an email and we can work out something.

As always, if there are any questions or comments, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks,
Marc

Newton Families Forum.
19 November 2006 - 12:49:31pm

I've added a forum to discuss Newton Family lines, this site, and whatever else might come up. I'm still working on adding a link to this page to the forum, but not having much luck. In the mean time, the forum can be accessed by going to www.newton-families.org/forum

If anyone has any suggestions about the forum such as additional forums or other comments, please feel free to let me know.

Marc

Update
18 November 2006 - 11:52:45am

I'm currently working on a forum and attempting to add a link to the menu bar at the top. As I've said in the past, I'm not a web designer. So be aware that things are likely to break before I get it right. So if you see a mess of errors, hang tight, only takes me a few moments to undo whatever mess I made.

Please be patient and check back often.

Thanks,
Marc

Moving Forward.
15 November 2006 - 8:12:55am

Well, this new host has already surpassed it's predecessor by remaining online for two solid days in a row. Even better is I haven't broke anything too badly yet....yet. One of the things I am NOT is a web designer.

I've decided to keep only the combined families database online. It's less work for me and seems like it would also be less confusing for some. The software is powerful enough to handle searching and displaying a single family from the database while maintaining separation between unrelated individuals.

Now that everything is rebuilt and running smoothly, I'll spend some time cleaning up some of the data and adding in some information that has been aquired since I began this project.

As always, should there be any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Marc

Site Update
14 November 2006 - 12:51:44pm

Still working out a few things, but every works as it should...or at least I hope it does.

More later,
Marc