FAQs and PAQs

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Frequently Asked Questions and Possible Asked Questions (FAQs and PAQs)

I thought I’d put up some kind of a page that might answer most questions anyone might have regarding this site and the book.

Q: Does the book “The Complete Loy History, featuring descendants of Martin Loy (to America 1741)” list all early Loy families?
A: No, only descendants of Martin Loy. However, this website is open for any Loy line–in any country of origin. (It seems most will still have roots in Germany.)

Q: Why is the book called “The Complete Loy History” when it doesn’t have all the Loy immigrants?
A: Originally, at time I was working on book in late 1990s, I had hoped all the Loy researchers from other branches could get together with a book on each immigrant ancestor. The result would be a several-volume “Loy Encyclopedia.” The set would be called “The Complete Loy History,” and then subtitled with the immigrant’s name: featuring descendants of ______ Loy. However, just as my own book went to publication, the new technology of internet and GED-COM posting became popular. Most researchers preferred that route rather than the more expensive way of publication in book format. As a result, my publication was the only one that got printed, and it became known by its shortened name “The Complete Loy History.” Ironically, this website seems to have fulfilled my original intention of a Loy “encyclopedia” covering all the immigrants, especially when Loy researchers contribute their URLs for me to place on this site. And now with the popularity of e-books, who knows, someday there might be an e-book version of a “Loy Encyclopedia” after all.

Q: Is the Complete Loy History still in print?
A: No, only 50 copies were printed.

Q: Will there be another printing?
A: At the request of others who are interested in a second edition, I am working on one, that this time will be in PDF and/or other e-book formats. Meanwhile I’m trying to “place” a few stray early 1800s Loys of North Carolina birth, that I know are somehow descended from Martin Loy. (I have a theory how, but not yet proven.) I’m also documenting each Martin Loy descent household from 1790-1940 census, with census transcription for each year applicable. As of today (June 2017) my goal is to have it finished by Fall 2018.

Q: Will living people be listed in the publication?
A: I realize this has been a hot topic lately for modern-day family history publications, especially online GED-COMS, as to whether the compiler should list living people or not. To me, it ruins the fun of genealogy when all I have record of is the dead relatives! After much debate, I finally reached a conclusion. One, there were many who submitted info that have no problem with these issues and WANT to be in the book. Two, nearly all of the other “living” names I have in my records have been gleaned as survivors in obituaries. Obituary info is considered public knowledge upon newspaper publication and “kosher” for genealogy publication. Of course, for privacy, I will not print anyone’s home address, email, or phone number.

Q: Where can I post queries?
A: I used to have one on the first version of this site, which was time-consuming to manually update. It was easier linking to already established boards. However, with better technology, I might be bringing a query board back. There had been several good query boards on the Internet, which in the “aughts” of the 2000s (2000-2009), I had recommended from my site. Now nearly all have been bought out by Ancestry.com. In my first version of FAQs and PAQs, I had mentioned the Loy Genforum, at Genealogy.com, which is under the company of Broderbund (who makes made Familytreemaker): this company was later bought out by Ancestry.com, who discontinued the Familytreemaker software program. The Genforum surname, locale, etc. query boards can still be viewed online, but Ancestry has blocked any changes to the boards, including new postings, replies, or even updating an email address.

Ancestry’s message board can be accessed through the Rootsweb Loy Message Board as well. Whatever is posted on one board shows up on the other, despite the difference in page layout and URL. However, in past few years, I’ve noticed Ancestry will require a subscription just to view user-submitted queries (and family trees), while it’s still free at Rootweb. Posting at either will instantly “gateway” a copy of the message to Rootweb’s LOY mailing list subscribers. In my original FAQs and PAQs, I stated that “I’m the overseer the Loy boards at Ancestry/Rootsweb” and “receive an email copy of every posting on them in addition to the gatewayed email. This makes it easy for me to personally answer some queries if I happen to know anything about the family in question.” However, in recent years, either no one has been posting to Ancestry’s board, or Ancestry no longer uses volunteers to oversee their message boards. I no longer receive email from their mailing surname/regional mailing lists; apparently much fewer people are posting queries in these mailing lists anymore.

Q: Can I submit my GED-COM/family history for you to post on this site?
A: No. HOWEVER, if you have a Loy-descent genealogy website of your own, or an online family tree, let me know the URL and I’ll link it to this site. By linking it instead of uploading it on my server, not only will it insure enough space on this site, but you can freely modify your information without having to go through another person to change it.