Ghotes Inc

Purpose of Ghotes

GHOTES is a group of folks who share an interest in the GENEALOGY AND HISTORY OF THE EASTERN SHORE of Virginia. A few goats slip over the fence into MD occasionally, and that's okay with us. Their ancestors did it first.

GHOTES MEMBERS COMMUNICATE VIA A SMALL NON-PUBLIC MAILLIST. We send messages to a central server that, in turn, distributes the message to all of the ghotes members. Messages are usually about genealogical information. We ask questions of the group and answer ones that we can. Sometimes questions of history or place or custom or event are asked or information shared. We have also added a new Forum Section to this web site, which is also designed to post questions and answers. The forum is open to everyone who visits the web site.

SHARING is a key value that ghotes members, also known as goats or ghotes themselves. Members are expected to ask for help and give some in return. Some of our ghotes are experienced genealogists, and we have several members who have developed very large bases of information. Others are rather new to the field. These less experienced genealogists, who temporarily may be, or think they are, limited in their own information resources, are expected to comment on general issues as well as to volunteer to help with look-ups, data entry, or other activities. Even new genealogists have information that is valuable to others. An old letter, family bible page, or photo can be very informative and highly prized.

Since the ghotes maillist took shape, late last year, members have found many a cousin--live ones--in the group. This is been an unexpected reward that our cousins seem to enjoy tremendously. And ghotes certainly don't seem to think of themselves merely as subscribers to an internet maillist.

New Items

"Barbara Cox, the Olde Ghotes, and the Ghotes Mail List Members"