Fred looks at another worthless SPAM!

This is what I call the "Knights of the Roundtable" SPAM. This SPAM
promotes a SPAMvertised web site for an outfit called "Hall of Names International,"
a company supposedly engaged in top rung genealogical research. (of course, one
would wonder why such a "top rung" company would SPAMvertise via relay rape of
a Japanese mail server) "Hall of Names" claims they can practically trace your
family history back to the bronze age and that they might have "already" researched
your family history. They will also provide you with a "handsome" representation
of your family's earliest known "coat of arms."

"Give us your huddled masses," was intoned when masses of immigrants passed through
Ellis Island, and other points along both seaboards in the 19th and early 20th
century. Our forebears came here because they were kicked out of their old country,
suffered religious or political persecution, or simply thought opportunities were
better on this side of the pond. Few of us, if any, have any knights, dukes, or
earls in our past. If we did, we'd still be in the old country. Our forebears were
largely the lowest rungs of the 3rd Estate and our family histories have been lost
to the ravages of time, bellum, and lousy record keeping. No "knights in shining armour"
in the past for those coming off the boat. "Hall of Names" would like you to think
that we all have illustrious histories filled with a rich mosaic of nobility.
That simply isn't the case despite "Hall of Names" and their bogus claims.

The "earliest known coat of arms" they'll will send you will be a fraud. Being
of humble origins, our families were NEVER granted arms. Also arms are granted
to INDIVIDUALS and NOT (emphasis added) to families. The rules regarding Heraldry
are complex and beyond the scope of this article, as are the rules regarding
enoblement. There are many excellant resources regarding both subjects available
on the net. The $14.95 you send "Hall of Names" will only produce fraudulent arms
and a totally bogus family history. They'll probably liven it up a bit by saying
one of your ancestors was the "2nd Earl of Wybridge," who was noted for his skill
with the mace at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Probably EVERYONE foolish enough
to send $14.95 to these SPAMmers has the "2nd Earl" in their family history.

Visiting the "Hall of Names" site can be hilarious. Entering any of the surnames
they have indexed generates this "amazing" reponse about your illustrious family
history and all the dukes, earls, and barons you have in your ancestry and all the
battles they fought in. Most of the surnames they have indexed are common ones like
smith or jones. I tried the name "Cooper," and it came back with the same spew about
the famous "Cooper" nobility and how important "Coopers" were in forging European
history. But a cooper is someone who makes barrels. I doubt there were very many
barrel-making knights, dukes, and earls. Actually the name "Cooper" evolved from
efforts to make tax collection more efficient. Back in the days of yore, most people
simply had a name like "John," "Jack," "Anne," or "Susan." Common people didn't
have surnames. This caused a problem for tax collectors because there might be more than one person in a village with the same name. So sorting people by
occupation was an obvious response. So if the village barrel-maker was Jack,
on the tax rolls, he became "Jack the cooper." If there was another Jack in the village who was a blacksmith, he became "Jack the smith." All this made for more
efficient tax collection because the tax collectors could differentiate between
the various "Jacks" in a village. Eventually this evolved into "Jack the cooper"
becoming "Jack Cooper" or "Jack the smith" becoming "Jack Smith." The end result
being that there were a LOT of "Jack Coopers" and "Jack Smiths" that were totally
unrelated to one another. Eventually many of the descendants of all the various
Jack Coopers and Jack Smiths got on boats and came to North America. So today,
we have countless thousands of Coopers and Smiths all across North America most
of whom are unrelated to one another. "Hall of Names" would have you believe that
all Coopers and Smiths have a common ancestry related to each surname. All "Hall
of Names" is a contrived genealogy for these surnames, because most of us who
share a common surname are not related to each other. Every village in the old
country had its barrel maker, so there are a lot of totally unrelated Coopers
floating around these days and if I was a Cooper, I doubt there ever was a "3rd
Viscount Cooper" who was instrumental in the defeat of the Spanish Armada by
swinging into the rigging of the lead galleon with a cutlass clinched firmly in
his teeth, slashing the halyards, leaving the ship dead in the water to be dispatched
to Davy Jones' locker by a broadside from an English ship of the line. Shiver 'me
timbers, but in all reality my "Cooper" forebears were off doing what they knew
best, namely making making barrels. Sorry Hall of Names.

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From: 32C9Av7Sj@msn.com
Message-Id: <199805131510.AAA18379@netsrv.tobunken.go.jp>
DATE: 13 May 98 8:12:50 AM
SUBJECT: Discover Your Family History - Rated "Cool Site of the Week"
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Status: U

Discover Your Family History - Rated "Cool Site of the Week"

Come visit our website at, http://209.67.53.232/culture1.htm
(if the above link is busy please use...)
http://207.93.198.221/culture1.htm

Now you can fill in the missing pieces of this puzzle. Join the satisfied multitudes
who have discovered their complete Family Surname History.

All Nationalities. It's easy. Just key your last name into our online index,
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Read a sample history, plus - FREE Coat of Arms keychain with your family's most
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is 11 x 17", approximately 1700 words. It is beautifully ILLUMINATED by your most
ancient Coat of Arms in full authentic Heraldic Colors. Over 500 URLs on family and
heraldic history.

Please come visit our website at, http://209.67.53.232/culture1.htm
(if the above link is busy please use...)
http://207.93.198.221/culture1.htm

Hall of Names International Inc.
1-888-My-Roots (1-888-697-6687)

For questions regarding our service, use the contact information in this letter.
The return email address does not respond to incoming email. If you are not interested
in this offer, you can be removed from our mailing list by sending an email to:
samuelsonh@usa.net Simply send it and your email address will be automatically
removed from our mailing list.