Saturday, December 22, 2007

FamilySearch Labs have been busy

While many genea-bloggers have been writing about their memories, the talented web site creators at FamilySearch Labs - http://labs.familysearch.org/ - have been adding new capabilities to their web site.

I posted two weeks ago about the current databases offered at the FamilySearch Record Search site - my post is here.

The features being added on the Labs site include:

1) Family Tree -- The FamilySearch Family Tree is our effort to take the great things we learned from the Pedigree Viewer and the Life Browser and combine them into a more full-featured application. Our second whack at the Family Tree updates the person page and adds an event map. Use the interactive pedigree viewer to see and navigate a tree and drill down on individuals.

Currently this prototype can only be accessed by those who already have a login for new FamilySearch. We hope to have a demo account available soon.
Read more about the Family Tree on the
Labs blog.

2) Standard Finder -- With Standard Finder you can search for a standardized name, date or place based on your input. The Standard Finder will present the standards that will be used in future releases of new FamilySearch. Come and try out your historical and current entries and understand how the system will interpret your input. Use filtered results to see what we think the best match would be or uncheck filtered results to see all the possible standards. Then send us feedback on how the system can do better. Find out more on the Labs blog.

3) Research Wiki -- The FamilySearch Research Wiki forms a community of research experts and interested genealogists that share up to date information on how to research sources for information about your ancestors. The larger the community the more useful the data is, so come and be a part. Read more about the Family Tree on the Labs blog.

4) FamilySearch Labs recently updated the look and feel, and the search capability, of the Record Search databases. See this Labs Blog post for more details.

All of those look like they will be really useful once all of the pieces are put together.

* The Family Tree may be an ambitious attempt to put all family tree type data into one big tree structure.

* The Standard Finder will provide standards for place names, dates and names in the Family Tree.

* The Research Wiki will provide information about genealogy and family history research by location and topic - essentially an online tutorial that incorporates the information in the LDS Research Outlines.

* The Record Search will provide access to the records being indexed and digitized in the FamilySearch Indexing Project.

I am really impressed by the collaborative process being used in all of the FamilySearch projects. They are rolling out demonstrations, then trial versions, and then improved versions of each of their projects. A commercial company probably would not do this in such a public way.

As researchers - "customers" and "consumers" of FamilySearch if you will, we need to stay abreast of what the New FamilySearch operation is doing, especially as new databases come online.

Day 2 - Christmas Sweetheart Memories

On the 2nd day of Christmas
My true love spoils me
With so many Christmas gifts.

1) Do you have a special memory of a first Christmas present from a sweetheart?

I have no clue what the first Christmas present from Linda was in 1969. I do know that we made a commitment to each other about that time, and that was the greatest gift I could have received. We married in March 1970.

2) How did you spend your first Christmas together?

We didn't. Linda flew up to San Francisco to be with her parents, brother and other relatives for Christmas. I probably took her to the airport on the 23rd or 24th, and I'm sure that I welcomed her back several days after Christmas.

In the literal sense, our first Christmas together (1970) was probably spent in San Francisco at her parents house on 47th Avenue in the Sunset District. I had been there several times before. It was one of those row houses ("little boxes on the hillside") that was essentially 24 by 24 with two stories - living above, garage below. They had added a room (again probably 24 by 24) on both stories - the upper room was her parents' bedroom, the lower room was the party room. When we visited, we got to sleep in the second bedroom with a foldout bed. I guess her brother slept in the living room on a couch.

Christmas there was different - with several elderly family members coming to dinner and close neighbors dropping by. The atmosphere was celebretory, everyone seemed happy to see everyone else, liquor flowed freely, and the gifts were forgettable. But the family feeling was always there. The most special person was Linda's grandmother - called "Oo Hoo" (yep - you guessed it, when Linda was a child, when they arrived at the door, her aunt would call out "Yoo hoo" and "Oo Hoo" would come to greet everybody. The name stuck - everybody used it). In 1970, she was age 86 and had attended our wedding and just beamed when her granddaughter married this nice young engineer man from San Diego with some hair. Paul and I would go fetch the elderly aunts, another elderly distant cousin and her husband would come also, and a widow from down the street who was her parents good friend.

As the years went on, we alternated celebrating Christmas in San Francisco and San Diego. When the girls came along, we kept this tradition well into the 1980's.

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Ancestry and FHL/FHC - what does it mean?

Every time I go on a trip and am unable to post anything, or even read my email, something important happens in the world of genealogy. I left on Wednesday morning, and didn't log back on until Friday morning (my story is here) - and discovered that:

1) www.Ancestry.com will be available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake city and at 13 large Family History Centers, including San Diego. The story is at http://tgn.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=116.

This announcement raises a number of questions in my mind - perhaps we will learn some answers before I leave on my next trip (hint - next Wednesday for two days):

* Will the databases available at the FHL/FHCs be the same as the databases that were available before 1 April? As I recall, that was a special set of databases and didn't have some of the databases that were available with a private Ancestry subscription. Will it be Ancestry Library Edition (which has even fewer databases available)? Or will it be the Ancestry US or World editions?

* Will the access at FHCs be expanded past the first 13 listed in the announcement? I certainly hope so...

* What financial arrangements were made to make this happen? Did the LDS pay for these licenses, or did Ancestry provide them free, or for access to other databases available now or in the future from the FHL?

The net effect here is a win-win for everyone involved, I think:

* The individual genealogy researcher in SLC or the 13 cities can access Ancestry databases at the FHL/FHCs.

* The FHL and FHCs will certainly have more patrons that can access Ancestry while taking advantage of the other research opportunities at the FHL/FHCs.

* TGN/Ancestry will get a shot of good will and appreciation from current and potential customers.

2) Ancestry also announced that they will discontinue the "Online Family Tree" (OFT) database as of March 2008 and transfer all of that information to an "Ancestry Member Tree" (AMT) format. There are comparisons of OFT and AMT features in the announcement. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions are here.

This, of course, raises a question:

* What in the world is "Online Family Tree?" As an Ancestry subscriber, when I search Family Trees I get matches from "Public Member Trees," "Private Member Trees," "One World Tree" and "Ancestry World Tree." I'm pretty sure that "Ancestry Member Trees" are the "Public Member" and "Private Member" trees. Is "One World Tree" the to-be-discontinued "Online Family Tree" database? Or is "Ancestry World Tree" also part of the "Online Family Tree" database? I'm confused, and I thought I had been paying attention.

Did Ancestry just squander all of the Christmas good will from 1) above by announcing this and thereby angering people who have submitted "Online Family Tree" information There will always be some people that are dead set against any changes, and some of them wrote comments on the Ancestry blog. Ouch.

3) Ancestry announced that they have improved the Member Family Trees presentation. Frankly, I don't see any improvements other than perhaps some color on the Family Group Sheet. It is very difficult to move around in the Member Trees - I would like to be able to see descendants reports and ahnentafel reports similar to Ancestry World Tree databases.

4) Ancestry announced that the Learning Center has been modified. When you click on "Learning Center" now you get Megan Smolenyak in a video that takes a while to load. There are many more choices to click on and get lost in on the first screen. You have to click on the "Keep Learning" button to find the library of online articles and newsletters. If you click on the "Keep Learning" button, you can see more choices, and the "Search" box is now on the left of the screen in real small print - that's the only way to find articles about the topic you want to learn about.

All of the bells and whistles are wonderful - but the most useful (for me and my colleagues) feature is the article archive and the search capability. The search results seem to be much more focused than they were previously, and that's good. Waiting for 150 to 200 items (not the links to the articles) to download is a pain in the butt, though - and I can't figure out what is downloading - the artwork and article summaries are already showing when the download starts.

5) My thanks to the Ancestry Insider for doing all of the hard work on these announcements.

Day 3 - The Christmas Letter

On the 3rd day of Christmas,
our true friends sent to us
a Christmas letter to enjoy.

This is a "grab bag" post - a topic that helps me remember Christmases past.

When I was a boy, the highlight for Christmas (well, other than the visit to Santa, the dinner at Dorothy's, and the gifts under the tree) was the box of gifts from the people in Massachusetts that I didn't know - my grandmother Seaver, my aunt Janet and uncle Ed, and my cousins Peter and Joanie. My dad always told stories about he and Ed's exploits when they were teenagers, and so I thought I knew all about them. Not really - that was 30 years before, and now they were upright citizens of Leominster.

The box came, and out tumbled the gifts - usually two each, and they weren't much in retrospect - small toys, games, and books, but it always impressed me that someone so far away would send us gifts. Of course, my parents sent a box back East also, but I didn't know that.

In many years, along with the gifts came the typewritten "letter" telling us about their year. I have several of these and have copied them for my cousins who were thrilled to receive them.

Linda and I have been sending a Christmas letter since the girls were small - probably since 1983 or so, when I had my first IBM computer. I typed it up on the computer and printed it on the dot-matrix printer - painfully slow and nearly illegible, if you recall! As the technology improved, the letter did too, and by 1990 we were printing them on pre-printed decorative letter stock, and now there are pictures. I suppose that, in an email version, I could embed videos too, if I had some.

We print and send about 120 copies of the current letter to family and friends. I try to described the highlights of the year -- the vacations, the places visited, the special activities at work, church or community, the status of the girls and something about the grandkids. Of course, genealogy plays a large part in my paragraph, and I list my web site and blogs(but I doubt that anyone visits them!). If anybody wants an email copy of this years letter, please let me know at rjseaver(at)cox.net.

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Genea-musings on the road

Blogging may be light for the next week or so.

I'm off on Wednesday - flying to San Jose to visit my daughter and grandsons in Santa Cruz. Their computer is on the blink, so I may not be able to post from there.

On Thursday the 20th, we're driving the 520 miles to San Diego. We hope to arrive in the late evening. Therefore, I may not post anything until Friday the 21st.

The weekend will be busy with two active little boys buzzing around, plus shopping and going places with them and their mom.

My other daughter and her family will come on Monday for two nights, so this will be a real busy time for all of us! Linda and I are going to stay at our friends house for two nights so the kids can have our bed. We should get some decent sleep that way!

Then on the day after Christmas, my daughter and I are driving back to Santa Cruz, loaded down with Christmas gifts. I'll fly home on Thursday the 27th. Whew.

I should be back to regular blogging about the time to do my New Year's resolutions!

Census Records - who appears most often redux

Well, when I posted my last one in this meme, I only considered the males in my line. On my way home today it struck me - Abigail (Vaux) Smith appeared in all of the Federal Census years from 1850 to 1930 (except for 1860, and we don't have the 1890 entry). Here is her list:

1850 -- In the 1850 census, the Samuel Vaux family resided in Aurora township, Erie County, New York (National Archives Microfilm Series M432, Roll 498, Page 103, Line 12, dwelling #1589, family #1605). The family included:
* Samuel Vaux, age 34, male, a farmer, $1166 in real property, born England
* Mary Ann Vaux, age 35, female, born NY
* Mary Vaux, age 11, female, born NY, attends school
* Cele Ann Vaux, age 9, female, born NY, attends school
* Abagail Vaux, age 5, female, born NY, attends school
* Jane Vaux, age 3, female, born NY

1860 -- I have not been able to find Abigail Vaux, or her family, in the 1860 census, although I believe that the family resided in Dodge County, Wisconsin. Abigail Vaux married Devier J. Smith in Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, Wisconsin, on 4 April 1861.

1870 -- In the 1870 US Census, this family resided in Benton township, Taylor County, Iowa (National Archives Microfilm Series M593, Roll 421, Page 13, dwelling #207, family #207). The family included:
* Devier Smith -- age 30, male, white, a farmer, $10,000 in real property, $800 in personal property, born New York
* Abbie Smith -- age 26, female, white, keeping house, born NY
* Della Smith -- age 8, female, white, at home, born WI, attended school
* David Smith -- age 6, male, white, at home, born WI, attended school
* Mary Smith -- age 4, female, white, at home, born WI

1875 -- In the 1875 Kansas State Census, this family resided in Lincoln township, Cloud County, Kansas (1875 Kansas State Census. Microfilm reel K-4, page 12, line 38. Kansas State Historical Society). The household included:
* D.J. Smith - age 35, male, white, livery and sale stable, $750 in real property, $1155 in personal property, born NY, moved from MO
* Abbie A. Smith - age 30, female, white, milliner, $340 in personal property, born NY, moved from MO
* D A Smith - age 13, female, white, born WI, moved from MO
* D.D. Smith - age 11, male, white, born WI, moved from MO
* M A Smith - age 8, female, white, born MO, moved from WI

1880 - In the 1880 US census, there are two entries for this family. The D.J. Smith family was listed in Shannon township, Pottawatomie County, Kansas (National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 393, Page 243D, dwelling #125, family #125). The household included:
* D.J. Smith -- white, male, age 41, married, no occupation, born NY, father and mother born NY
* Abba A. Smith -- white, female, age 37, wife, married, keeping house, born NY, father born England, mother born NY
* David D. Smith -- white, male, age 16, son, single, born WI, father and mother born NY
* Mami Smith -- white, female, age 14, daughter, single, born WI, father and mother born NY
* E. Kearnes -- white, male, age 21, single, born IA
* Jos. P. Vaux -- white, male, age 35, brother-in-law, single, born NY, father born England, mother born NY

1880 - Abagail A. Smith headed a family listed in Blue Rapids township, Marshall County, Kansas (National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 388, Page 205C, dwelling #57, family #65). The household included:
* Abagail A. Smith -- white, female, age 36, married, keeps house, born NY, father born England, mother born NY
* Della Smith -- white, female, age 18, daughter, single, at home, born WI, father and mother born NY
* Mary A. Smith -- white, female, age 14, daughter, single, born WI, father and mother born NY
* Samuel Vaux -- white, male, age 65, father-in-law, married, without occupation, born England, father and mother born England
* Mary A. Vaux -- white, female, age 65, mother, married, without occupation, born NY father born VT, mother born NH
* Orpha Woodward -- white, female, age 17, niece, single, at home, born WI, father born VT, mother born NY.
1885 - In the 1885 Kansas State Census, this family resided in Clyde township, Clay County, Kansas (1885 Kansas State Census. Microfilm reel K-23, page 35, line 10. Kansas State Historical Society). The household included:
* D.J. Smith - age 46, male, white, married, a speculator, born Ohio, moved from WI
* Abby A. Smith - age 41, female, white, married, born NY, moved from WI
* Della Smith - age 23, female, white, a music teacher, born WI, moved from WI
* D.D. Smith - age 21, male, white, a livery keeper, born WI, moved from WI
* Matie Smith - age 18, female, white, a music teacher, born WI, moved from WI

1900 - In the 1900 U.S. census, this family resided on Watkins Avenue in San Diego city, San Diego county, California [National Archives Microfilm Series T623, Roll 99, Page 172, ED 194, Sheet 19A, Line 43]. The household included:
* Henry A. Carringer -- head of household, white, male, born Nov 1853, age 46, married 12 years, born PA, parents born PA, a carpenter, owns house with a mortgage
* Della A. Carringer -- wife, white, female, born Apr 1862, age 38, married 12 years, 2 children born, 1 living, born WI, parents born NY
* Lyle L. Carringer -- son, white, male, born Nov 1891, age 8, single, born CA, father born PA, mother born WI
* Abby A. Smith -- mother-in-law, white, female, born Oct 1844, age 55, widow, 2 children born, 2 living, born NY, father born England, mother born New England

1910 -- In the 1910 US Census, this family resided on Hawthorne Street in the 4th Ward of San Diego, San Diego County, California [National Archives Microfilm Series T624, Roll 94, page 182, ED 150, Sheet ??, Line 1]. The family included:
* Henry A. Carringer -- head of household, male, white, age 58, first marriage, married 22 years, born PA, parents born PA, a carpenter, does general work, owns house free of mortgage
* Della A. Carringer -- wife, female, white, age 50, first marriage, married 22 years, 2 children born, 1 living, born WI, parents born NY
* Lyle L. Carringer -- son, male, white, age 18, single, born CA, father born PA, mother born WI
* Harvey Carringer -- brother, male, white, age 59, single, born PA, parents born PA, own income
* Abby A. Smith -- mother-in-law, female, white, age ??, widowed, 5 children born, 3 living, born NY, father born England, mother born NY, own income

1920 -- In the 1920 US census, this family resided at 2105 30th Street in San Diego city, San Diego County, California [National Archives Microfilm Series T625, Roll 131, Page 225, ED 285 sheet 5B, line 65, taken 8 Jan 1920]. The family included:
* Henry A. Carringer -- head, male, white, age 66, married, born in PA, parents born in PA, a cabinet-maker, works in a furniture store, owns home with a mortgage
* Della A. Carringer -- wife, female, white, age 57, married, born in WI, parents born in NY
* Abbie A. Smith -- mother-in-law, female, white, age 75, widow, born in NY, father born in England, mother born in NY
* Mary S. Griffin -- a boarder, female, white, age 45, single, born MI, father born DE, mother born NY, a piano music teacher.

1930 -- In the 1930 U.S. Census, this family resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego city, San Diego County, California (National Archives Microfilm Series T626, Roll 192, ED 116, Sheet 1A, line 8). The household included:
* Henry A. Carringer -- head, owns home, worth $5,000, owns radio set, male, white, age 76, married, first at age 34, able to read/write, born PA, parents born PA/PA, able to speak English, an aviation mechanician, works at Army Air Services, employed
* Della A. Carringer -- wife, female, white, age 67, married, first at age 25, able to read/write, born WI, parents born NY/NY, able to speak English, no occupation
* Abbie A. Smith -- mother-in-law, female, white, age 85, widowed, able to read/write, born NY, parents born England/NY, able to speak English, no occupation.

Abigail A. (Vaux) Smith died in San Diego on 11 September 1931.

Day 4 - Christmas Music

On the 4th Day of Christmas
My true love sang to me,
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
(in J-sharp, but with spirit!)

1) What songs did your family listen to during Christmas?

When I was a boy, we sang the traditional carols at school - Joy to the World, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Away in a Manger, Deck the Halls, The First Noel, Oh Come All Ye Faithful come to mind. So, as a child, I knew the tunes and the first stanza of each.

These came in handy on Christmas Eve when we stayed at my grandparents house - she would come into the bedroom (no doubt my parents and grandfather were putting stuff together in the garage or living room) and we would sing together for quite a while before going to bed hoping that sugar plums would dance in our heads (a sugar plum? I'm sure I hoped for dreams of toys and fun things).

I don't remember my parents singing Christmas carols, or popular Christmas songs, in the home.

After I was married and the girls came along, our house was filled with Christmas carols because they were always practicing for the King's Kids performances in church. We would often sing some carols and popular songs just before bed with them.

2) Did you ever go caroling?

As a boy, I never went caroling. Sing in public, who, me? Mr. J-sharp? Nope.

As a parent, we went several times with our kids as part of the church couples group. We usually got a list of shut-in families from the church office and would go around singing to them. Now, there is a yearly Christmas Carol event on a Sunday before Christmas (it was two Sundays ago - I didn't go, but Linda did).

3) Did you have a favorite song?

I think my favorite traditional Christmas carols are "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World." Of the newer carols, I love "Angels We Have Heard on High."

Of the popular Christmas songs, my tastes range from Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," "Winter Wonderland" and "Silver Bells" to Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and Elmo's "Grandma Got Run over By a Reindeer." I like the "12 Days of Christmas" parodies too - see and hear them here (I've been waiting to slip that in somewhere).

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.

Day 5 - Christmas and Deceased Relatives

On the 5th Day of Christmas
My true love said "I'm sad,
Let's go see your mom and dad."

1) Did your family visit the cemetery at Christmas?

I have specific memories of, as a boy, going with my mother and her parents to put flowers on the wall to honor Georgia Auble, and Austin and Della Carringer, at the Cypress View mausoleum. I think it was at Christmas. My grandparents were very close to their parents, having lived with them, or next door to them, nearly all their lives.

I think I took my mother (since she didn't drive) to Cypress View after her parents died for several years at Christmas. I don't recall going to my father's grave at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at Christmas time, although we went occasionally when we had Seaver family visitors.

2) How did your family honor deceased family members at Christmas?

We have never had shrines or anything like that for our deceased relatives. There are pictures on the walls of them.

At the Christmas Day dinner, I usually lead a family prayer and specifically mention those that have gone before, and name them by name (I only go back to my grandparents! It would be a really long prayer otherwise).

I had hoped to gather thumb sized face photos of as many ancestors as possible from my collection of photographs and get them put onto Christmas tree ornaments but that project was put on hold. If I did that, then I could put the photos in my online Family Trees too.

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Santa comes early - what a gift!

I've been a good genea-blogger this year, Santa, and thank you so much for my early surprise!

I posted last year about an ancestral home in Dodge County, Wisconsin - here and here. An inn (hotel) was built by my 3rd-great-grandfather, Ranslow Smith (Della (Smith) Carringer's grandfather) in the 1850's in Burnett township in Dodge County, Wisconsin. From an email correspondent, I learned that this inn had been preserved and transferred to Old World Wisconsin (OWW - located in southeastern Wisconsin) as part of a living history display.

After contacting OWW, I received an email saying that the inn was there, had been preserved and refurbished to 1870 conditions, and we have a report describing the inn's history. And, by the way, Ranslow Smith's parents were Russell and Esther Smith. The latter was great news for me! The report was promised forthwith, and I waited several months before contacting them again when it didn't arrive even sixthwith. I emailed the fellow several more times over the last year, and received the report in the mail yesterday. It was worth the wait!

The report is titled "The Four-Mile House of Rolling Prairie, Dodge Co., Wisconsin: A Village Hotel in Transition," by Allen F. Johnson, April 30, 1983. This is a report of over 80 pages with contents:

* Introduction -- page i

* Biographical History of the Ranslow Smith Family - I -- page 1

* Biographical History of the Peter Worthy Family - II -- page 24

* A Smalltown Hotel of 1870, and its Evolution as a Type - III -- page 42

* A Historical Overview of Rolling Prairie, Wisconsin, 1841-1890 - IV -- page 61

* Nineteenth Century English Immigration and Settlement in Wisconsin - V -- page 70.

They sent along pages 1 through page 23, then pages 42 through 60, but this beggar can't be a chooser, can he? It's free, and someone has done a lot of work to find out the history of this old house.

The report reads like a college student's term paper, but is probably not a Master's thesis. It has footnotes that provide sources and additional information. There is a recommended reading section at the end of Section IV. The information provided by OWW said that they commissioned to have this report written. My guess is that they commissioned reports for all of the buildings that they brought to Old World Wisconsin.

I will write several more posts about this over the next weeks because the details are interesting (at least to me, perhaps to you), we can all learn from reports like these that may be found in local repositories, and we can all learn from the sources used to compile this type of family and house history document.

I'm still reading it carefully ... I'll be back later!

The New Millenium! - Carnival of Genealogy #38 is posted

The 38th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted by Jasia on her Creative Gene blog - the post is here.

The theme for this edition is The New Millennium: What were you up to? How did you prepare for the New Year 2000? GeneaBloggers write about their memories of the turn of the century and the turn of the millennium. Take some time out from your holiday happenings and see what these folks were doing. 14 intrepid genea-bloggers could remember what they were doing when the year 2000 came along.

I did not participate in this Carnival - I couldn't remember anything special about the event in my life, and some of the posts I read covered some of my thoughts.

The theme for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: New Year's Resolutions. As the year winds to a close in the next couple weeks it's a good time to review the progress made in our genealogy research and to make a plan for next year. So what did you accomplish last year and what road blocks did you encounter? What are your research goals for next year and how do you resolve to attain them? Write 'em up and submit your blog articles to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is January 1, 2008.

Day 6 - Christmas Shopping

On the 6th Day of Christmas,
My true love "ordered" me
To go out and buy some jewelry.

1) How did your family handle Christmas shopping?

When I was growing up, I think my mother did all of the Christmas shopping for all of her boys (three sons and a hubby). I hope (but I don't know!) that my father shopped for my mother - I really don't have a memory of gifts that she received. We usually had gifts made at school for mom and dad.

When I became a teenager, I went shopping with my mother to get gifts for my brothers and my father. I also shopped for my mother - but I don't remember any gifts I bought. I do remember one year, when I was probably in college, that I bought a new mailbox for mom and dad - I was so proud of this practical gift. I got some strange looks that year.

Linda now does most of the Christmas shopping for family and friends, including our daughters, their hubbies and kids. I tag along sometimes for consultation. She spoils me with gifts - always including chocolate (for my semi-yearglass figure - fully expanded, needing suspenders, yea verily, the sands of time have not been kind), white socks, printer ink cartridges, and some clothes - necessities.

My only real shopping task is to shop for my Angel Linda. It's a big job, but someone has to do it. I got her a laptop computer last year (I got it early), and a digital camcorder two years ago. These did not excite her, since she doesn't know how to use them yet. I try to buy nice clothes for her - essentially blouses, sweaters, pants. Her favorite colors are aqua, green, blue, purple, and red. She likes fancy things, but not items that have to be dry-cleaned. She sometimes buys things for herself and hands them to me to wrap for her. Jewelry is a must each year - and sometimes she tells me what she would like - last year it was a Tiffany silver bracelet that she wears a lot. Gold earrings, bracelets, necklaces (but most are not long enough or are too fragile) with angel charms or figurines are prized. It is a challenge each year to find something new and different.

2) Did anyone finish early or did anyone start on Christmas Eve?

I always finish early - at least before Christmas Day. Linda usually starts before Thanksgiving, and usually has things well in hand by a week before Christmas. I'm still shopping this year...

Linda's brother is famous for waiting until Christmas Eve to shop. There were years that he and I would go out shopping on the 24th to find gifts for his sister, his dad, his girlfriend, etc.

3) What are the highlights of shopping for you (an added question)?

The first highlight is finding a real special gift for Linda that will make her face light up and earn me a big hug and kiss, even a leer.

The second highlight is watching the little kids sitting on Santa's lap in the little house on the mall walk. I stopped yesterday and watched for about ten minutes while four kids talked to Santa. One cried the whole time, one was scared to death and wanted to get away, but two sat there and talked to him and hugged him at the end. Most of the kids are dressed up, and so are the moms accompanying them. I like watching the Santa helpers too...

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Della's Journal - Week 51 (December 17-23,1929)

This is Installment 51 of the Journal of Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944), my great-grandmother, who resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego in 1929.

The "players" and "setting" are described here. Pictures of some of the players are here. Last week's Journal entry is here.

Here is Week 51 -

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Tuesday, December 17: We made some candy. Washed.

Wednesday, December 18 (warm): Sewed some. Jessie & Fred & Hazel here to Lunch. Fixed them a box for Xmas, they brought Ma & I something & Hazel for Betty. I have not looked at them.

Thursday, December 19 (warm): Packed candy bars made some more candy. Got some Xmas cards. Last day of school for two weeks, Betty was in a play. election on City Charter, our Precinct 113 voted Yes-36, No-70, City No-14,999, Yes-8,661 [difference] 6,338.

Friday, December 20 (warmest day in years on this date): Ma washed her hair. I worked on cards, cut out cushion for Rose, and Xmas things.

Saturday, December 21 (warm): Gave Gilbert poinsettias & Mrs. Paden. Ed over, cut lawn, A[ustin] & Ed put cut leaves off Palm.

Sunday, December 22 (warm): Ma & I went to see Mrs. Putnam, got home ten min[utes] of 4 P.M. Austin watered and put a little manure on fruit trees on West. Miss Thoren went N for Xmas.

Monday, December 23 (warm): We worked on Xmas things. I took box up to University P.O. sent to Kimball's, sent Xmas cards.

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This was a warm week in 1929 - high temps probably in the 70's and 80's. Della is all wrapped up in Christmas things.

One more week for this Journal! I don't know what I'll do without it!

Census Records - who appears most often?

We have a meme going about census records - let me add another challenge to the meme. Who is your ancestor that appears most often in Census records?

I think mine is probably Henry Austin Carringer (1853 - 1946), who I've found in every available Federal census from 1860 to 1930, and I'm sure he is in the 1940 census as well.

Here is where he resided in each year:

1860 -- In the 1860 U.S. census, Henry A. Caringer (age 7, born PA, attended school) was son of David J. Caringer (age 31, born PA) and his wife Rebecca Caringer (age 28, born PA) and sibling of brother Harvy E. Caringer (age 9, born PA), and sister Epha E. Caringer (age 2, born PA). The family resided in Columbus City, Louisa County, Iowa (National Archives Microfilm Series M653, Roll 331, Page 857, house #558, family #558).

1870 -- In the 1870 US census, Henry A. Carenngtr (age 16, born PA, attended school) was son of D. Carenngtr (age 40, born PA) and Rebeca Carenngtr (age 38, born PA), and brother of Harvy Carenngtr (age 18, born PA) and Effie Carenngtr (age ??, born PA). The family resided in Jackson township in Washington County, Iowa (National Archives Microfilm Series M593, Roll 424, Page 131, house #49, family #49).

1880 -- In the 1880 US Census, Henry A. Carringer (age 26, born PA, millwright and carpenter) was son of D.J. Carringer (age 51, born PA) and Rebecca Carringer (age 48, born PA) and brother of Harvey E. Carringer (age 28, born PA). The family resided in Boulder, Boulder County, Colorado (National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 89, Page 525B, Line 15, page 525B).

1890 -- not found. In 1890, Henry A. Carringer and his wife Della resided in San Diego City, perhaps at a house at 16th and H Street (now Market Street) - they were listed there in the 1891 City Directory.

1900 -- In the 1900 U.S. census, Henry A. Carringer (age 46, born Nov 1853 in PA, a carpenter) was head-of-household with wife Della A. Carringer (age 38, born Apr 1862 in WI), son Lyle L. Carringer (age 8, born Nov 1891 in CA), and mother-in-law Abby A. Smith (age 55, born Aug 1844 in NY). They resided on Watkins Avenue in San Diego city, San Diego County, California (National Archives Microfilm Series T623, Roll 99, Page 172, ED 194, Sheet 19A, Line 43).

1910 -- In the 1910 U.S. census, Henry A. Carringer (age 48, born in PA, a carpenter) was head-of-household with wife Della A. Carringer (age 50, born in WI), son Lyle L. Carringer (age 18, born CA), brother Harvey Carringer (age 59, born in PA) and mother-in-law Abby A. Smith (age ??, born in NY). The family resided on Hawthorne Street in the 4th Ward of San Diego, San Diego County, California (National Archives Microfilm Series T624, Roll 94, page 182, ED 150, Sheet ??, Line 1).

1920 -- In the 1920 U.S. census, Henry A. Carringer (age 66, born in PA, a cabinet-maker) was head-of-household with wife Della A. Carringer (age 57, born in WI), and mother-in-law Abby A. Smith (age 77, born in NY). The family resided at 2105 30th Street in San Diego city, San Diego County, California (National Archives Microfilm Series T625, Roll 131, Page 225, ED 285 sheet 5B, line 65, taken 8 Jan 1920).

1930 -- In the 1930 U.S. census, Henry A. Carringer (age 76, born in PA, an aviation mechanic) was head-of-household with wife Della A. Carringer (age 67, born in WI), and mother-in-law Abbie A. Smith (age 85, born in NY). The family resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego city, San Diego County, California (National Archives Microfilm Series T626, Roll 192, Sheet 1A, ED 116, line 8, taken 2 April 1930).

1940 -- not available. I'm very sure that Henry A. Carringer (age 86) and wife Della A. (age 77) resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego, California.

I checked for State Census records for Iowa and Colorado, but didn't find Henry in any of them.

Throughout these records, he is listed as Henry A. Carringer (with spelling variations on the surname) - not "Austin" as Della calls him throughout their married life.

Interestingly, they lived in the same house in San Diego from the 1900 through the 1940 census - the street name changed from Watkins Street (in 1900) to Hawthorn Street (by 1910), the address changed to 2105 30th Street (by 1920, but the house didn't move) and the house moved from the corner to the middle of the block (hence 2115 30th) by the 1930 census.

Day 7 - Christmas Stockings

On the 7th Day of Christmas,
my true love said to me
"You'd better fill that up for me!"

1) Did you have a stocking?

Every year ... from childhood to now.

2) Where did you hang it?

When I was a kid, my parents hung it by my grandparents chimney - probably on the firescreen.

Since we've had our own home, the stocking is hung from a nail in the beam over the fireplace.

3) What did you get in it?

When I was a kid, I received little toys, fruit, gum, candy, etc.

As a married adult, the stocking has candy (lots of candy!), socks, small gifts, and sometimes a charcoal briquette (the proverbial lump of coal in San Diego).

My favorite candies are See's Peppermints, orange slices, Hershey kisses, gum drops, M&Ms, etc. All of this makes me a really "sweet-lovin'" guy. And adds several pounds each year, but hey, I'm in shape (pear is a shape, right?).

Linda sometimes gets jewelry, lipstick, nail clippers, and candy in her stocking. She used to get panty-hose (hey, a stocking in a stocking, right?) and sexy panties, but she won't let me shop for those any more.

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Where was I when census were taken?

Miriam has started a meme titled "Where Were You During the Censuses?" on her Ancestories blog, and has answered the question for herself and her husband so far. Tim Agazio had posted earlier on his Genealogy Reviews Online blog about his Census Avoidance through the years and wondered if his descendants will be upset at him.

I'll play -- here is my location in the Federal Census years and my memories of these events:

* 1950 - I was 6 years old, living with my parents Frederick W. (age 38, born MA) and Betty C. Seaver (age 30, born CA) at 2119 30th Street in San Diego, California. My brother Stanley (age 3) was also in the household. I don't know if my parents filled out the census form or not - we'll see in 2022, I guess!

* 1960 - I was 16 years old, a high school student, living with my parents, my brother Stan and my brother Scott (age 4) at 2119 30th Street in San Diego. I don't know if my parents filled out the census form or not - we'll see in 2032, I guess!

* 1970 - I was 26 years old, an aerospace engineer, living with my new wife, Linda at 540 "C" Street, Apartment 10, in Chula Vista, California. I don't recall if we filled out the census form.

* 1980 - I was 36 years old, an aerospace engineer, residing with my wife Linda and our two daughters, Lori and Tami, at 1154 Via Trieste in Chula Vista, California. I vaguely remember filling out the census form and sending it in.

* 1990 - I was 46 years old, an aerospace engineer, residing with my wife Linda and our two daughters, Lori and Tami, at 1154 Via Trieste in Chula Vista, California. I vaguely remember filling out the census form and sending it in. This was the first census after I starting my genealogy research.

* 2000 - I was 56 years old, an aerospace engineer, residing with my wife Linda at 1154 Via Trieste in Chula Vista, California. I remember filling out the census short-form and sending it in. I almost cheated and put our two daughters in the household, but then thought better of it since their descendants would have been really confused by it after 2072.

That's it - nothing monumental there. It might be more interesting to trace our family lines this way through all the census records.

Frankly, the census records provide only a snapshot at specific times of a family's circumstances - relatives, residence, employment, wealth, etc. A "family history" based on family recollections by a number of family members is probably the best way to determine the family circumstances. Unfortunately, very few of us have these for own parents and grandparents, let alone their ancestors. That is one reason I've been transcribing Della's Journal - it's real people living real lives, and writing a few sentences each day.

UPDATE 12/17: John Newmark noted that "census" was a "supine" Latin noun (I'm confused by grammar) and that the Latin plural was also "census." Therefore, I've modified the post title to reflect proper grammar.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - December 9-15, 2007

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week. My criteria are pretty simple - I like posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, or are funny and/or poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or my own posts (hopefully, others will do that!).

* "Web-Based Applications for Genealogy" on the Ozarks Genealogical Society blog. The society had a presentation covering The Next Generation of Genealogy site-Building software and http://www.geni.com/.

* "How has Technology Affected Your Family History" by Larry Lehmer at the Passing It On blog. Larry discusses this subject with reference to how changes in technology may have affected how families interacted with each other.

* "Problems, problems everywhere" by Cyndi Howells on the Cyndi's List blog. Cyndi has had many problems recently with her computers, her web site and asks for patience.

* "Free Unlimited On-Line Image Storage" by Lee Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee has also had computer problems, but found that http://www.footnote.com/ will allow free online storage of photographs. I checked, and Lee has uploaded many of his! This is a good idea.

* "Gourds and More Gourds" by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. This article was fascinating to me - Terry and his wife collect and hand-painted gourds - there are many pictures. Southern country life is so different from Southern California life...

* "Wikipedia - Part I: Using Wikipedia In Research" and "Wikipedia - Part II: Editing Wikipedia" by John Newmark at the Transylvania Dutch blog. John's posts describe how he uses Wikipedia to obtain information and evaluate sources, and how he contributes to it. Excellent work.

* "Undocumented Chaos" by Michael John Neill on the Rootdig.com blog. This excellent article explores potential reasons for changes in family structure, for family migration to another area, and why families lost contact with relatives.

* "What Happened to My Family" by Brenda Joyce Jerome on the Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog. Brenda's article discusses and investigates family stories - and wonders if this one was made up or true.

* "The Buttonhook of Rebecca Catherine (Snook) Westaby" by Miriam Midkiff at the Ancestories: The Stories of my Ancestors blog. This post intrigued me because of the life story about this woman that Miriam has gathered. The buttonhook was interesting too - I've never seen one or thought about one.

It was an interesting list this week - I didn't link to any of the Christmas Advent Memories posts - Thomas MacEntee is doing that here.

Day 8 - Christmas Church Services

On the 8th Day of Christmas,
my true love reminded me
Of the reason for the season.

1) Did your family attend religious services together during the Christmas season?

As a child, my family did not attend any religious services. Neither of my parents had a religious tradition, although we boys were baptized. My brother Stan and I attended the Presbyterian church two blocks down 30th Street when we were young teens, but I don't recall Christmas traditions.

Linda and I married in and joined the Chula Vista Presbyterian Church in 1970, and have been members, and have served as elder and deacon, ever since. We have always attended religious services at Christmas, and participated in them as I noted in the Arts post.

When the girls were young, we would usually attend the Family Christmas Eve service (usually at 6 or 7 PM) with the Christmas Story and Christmas carols (and sometimes I was a wise man in a tableau). After the girls left home, we usually attended either the family service or the late evening communion service which was more solemn.

Now that our girls have families, we are not always at home - usually we are at one of their homes to celebrate Christmas. We will be home this year, with our daughters' families with us, so we hope to get to church after the Chargers game that night.

2) What were the customs and traditions involved?

The really outstanding (literally, as you'll understand!) tradition, in my mind, is the parade of parishioners with lighted candles proceeding, after the service, from the sanctuary outside to gather around the cross, and singing Silent Night until everyone has gathered around the cross. Initially, the cross was in the patio next to the sanctuary, but now it's down in the parking lot in the center of a traffic circle. It is usually cold (for Chula Vista, that means the 40s or 50s) on Christmas Eve, but rarely wet, so everybody is in their Christmas finery and coats. After the song ends, the pastor gives a benediction, and everybody hugs and wishes "Merry Christmas" to their friends and colleagues. It is a solemn, mystical and inspirational end to the evening. It is usually the highlight to my Christmas season... well, except for the excitement of Christmas Day watching the little ones discover gifts and trying them out.

This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.