Woodworth Who's Who

There have been numerous inquiries about which Woodworth mail list, reunion group, and web site is which, and what is the function of each. This page sorts them out.

In 1996, there was but one Woodworth mail list group, and that was organized by Sharon Bias out in Sacramento, CA. It consisted of a group interested in Woodworth genealogy, and the mailing was handled by simply adding all of the groups' email addresses in the "TO" or "COPY TO" list. There were no Rootsweb, Google, or Yahoo mail lists as there are now. In 1997, Rootsweb began surname mailing lists, and Sharon Bias converted the simple mailing list to the present Rootsweb Woodworth genealogy mail list or discussion group. Recently, however, we've had new mail lists, web sites, and groups pop up that have introduced some confusion. The following provides clarification of "who's who".

The Rootsweb Woodworth Mail List/Group (est. 1996) is for genealogy and is recognized world wide as the genealogy discussion group for all Woodworths. All queries, posts, and discussions which pertain in whole or in part to Woodworth genealogy should be posted on this group. It's a very friendly and helpful group. This mail lists' archives will be available to the public and Woodworth researcher for as long as there is an LDS church.

This Woodworth web site (est 1997) is for genealogy. This web site went on line in 1997 when it was found there were many surname web sites but no Woodworth site, and so this webmeister put one up. This site is completely independent. It is not affiliated with any other web site, mail list, or reunion group, although it supports them all, and the webmeister is a member of the other Woodworth lists/groups.

Woodworth Family Association, Inc. (or WFA) is for west coast reunions. The WFA was begun by two sisters in the Stockton, CA, area in 1994, and has reunions in even years. Carl Webb was elected president in 2002. Reunions are held at the Jack Tone Arabian Horse Ranch near Stockton. I've attended three reunions (2004, 6, & 10). Their web site is http://wfai.comli.com/

Now it gets confusing. The East Coast Woodworth Families (later renamed Woodworth Families of America) (est. 2005) is for east coast Woodworth reunions. It is, or was until June 2011, a Yahoo list/group that is/was an offshoot of the Rootsweb Woodworth mail list/group, established for the purpose of conducting the business correspondence of Woodworth reunions. Reunion correspondence became quite heavy on the Rootsweb list (see archives) and the Rootsweb list administrator assisted Lowell Woodworth in setting up a separate reunion mail list to handle reunion correspondence. It is imperative that all genealogy correspondence take place on the Rootsweb genealogy mail list. Lowell has assured Sharon Bias and others that genealogy discussions would remain on the Rootsweb genealogy list. All parties fully recognize the criticality of keeping genealogy discussions on the Rootsweb list, as the Yahoo list archives are closed to the public and thus not accessible by researchers, and are subject to disappearing entirely, whereas the Rootsweb archives are as permanent as the LDS church. These "east coast" reunions are four days long, and provides everyone a chance to become well acquainted and have a lot of fun. Everyone is looking forward to the next one.
And here's the confusing part: Lowell announced at the 2011 reunion that that was his last Woodworth reunion, and future Woodworth Family of America reunions would be taken over by Diane Liebert. He planned to shut down his Yahoo "Woodworth Families of America" group web site, and the information thereon would be transferred to either Diane's site or to this web site, or both. But Lowell says he was asked to retain the data and make the data on the Yahoo site available during the transition to the other site(s).
So --- the new east coast Woodworth reunion web site is http://www.woodworthfamily.org, replacing Lowell's previous Woodworth reunion web site, and is hosted by Diane and Dale Liebert. It is a wide open web site that all Woodworths descendants can freely view without passwords and memberships. See http://www.woodworthfamily.org

Woodworth DNA Group at DNA Ancestry.com (est. 2008) is primarily for Woodworth detailed discussion of DNA and DNA displays, as it has some neat bells and whistles for DNA graphics. However, it has capability for socializing, easy picture uploads and display, voice, and can be a supplement for genealogy graphics for the Rootsweb genealogy site. This site has become particularly important due to the role DNA now plays in the advancement in genealogy research. Go ahead and join and give this fun site a try, whether or not you've had or having a DNA test. And by the way, we need more Woodworths to test their DNA at at least the 37 marker level, and particularly we need DNA for English Woodworths and for recent Woodworth arrivals in the US.