Thursday, January 7, 2010
Navigating the Ancestry.com Census Databases
I've always felt like a ship waiting to go through the locks on a canal when I've wanted to "go back" to a former screen, or to another database, on Ancestry.com. I really hate using the "Back" button and waiting for the next page to load, and it's even worse when there are four "Back" button clicks.
I wrote about relieving some of my "Ancestry Frustration Level" in my post about using Michael John Neill's quick links here. That works fine if you want to go from one database to another -for example, from the 1930 census to the 1920 census.
I think I've finally figured out my "best practice" to navigate within a census Results list, or to quickly go to a database for another census year. Perhaps this is old hat to many of my readers, but if it helps someone else relieve their "Ancestry.com Frustration Level," then it is worth the bandwidth.
My "best practice" way stays within the Ancestry.com system and uses the same number of mouse clicks as using Michael Neill's web page. The "key" to this way is to customize your Ancestry.com Home Page so that the Record Collections box is at the top right (so you don't have to scroll down the Home Page) - beside the Search Fields, as shown below:
Clicking on the orange "Search" button at the bottom of the Search Field (and I wish there was one on the top of the Search field...) takes me to the list of "Search Results" for my search parameters:
If I wanted to "Go Back" to do another search in this census, I can use my "Back" button once (left arrow) on my URL line, or I can scroll or use the "End" key to go to the Search fields at the bottom of this screen; I prefer the latter because it is one less page load! If I wanted to "Go Back" to work in another census, I can click my "Back" button two times to get to the "Home" Page, or click once on the "Home" tab on the Ancestry menu line. I prefer the latter! Note that if you click on the "Search" tab on the Ancestry menu line, you cannot easily change to another database.
I wrote about relieving some of my "Ancestry Frustration Level" in my post about using Michael John Neill's quick links here. That works fine if you want to go from one database to another -for example, from the 1930 census to the 1920 census.
I think I've finally figured out my "best practice" to navigate within a census Results list, or to quickly go to a database for another census year. Perhaps this is old hat to many of my readers, but if it helps someone else relieve their "Ancestry.com Frustration Level," then it is worth the bandwidth.
My "best practice" way stays within the Ancestry.com system and uses the same number of mouse clicks as using Michael Neill's web page. The "key" to this way is to customize your Ancestry.com Home Page so that the Record Collections box is at the top right (so you don't have to scroll down the Home Page) - beside the Search Fields, as shown below:
If you want to change to another census database, or to another database collection, all you have to do is click on the "Home" tab if it is shown on the Ancestry.com screen. Note that in all of these examples, I'm using the "Old Search" screens, which is still my user preference, and Internet Explorer 7 for this demo, so your experience may vary.
If I choose the 1930 US Census, from the link in the Record Collection box above, I can enter a name in the search field - I chose Last Name = "Seaver" and checked "Exact matches" (I almost always use Exact Matches too... a user preference):
Clicking on the orange "Search" button at the bottom of the Search Field (and I wish there was one on the top of the Search field...) takes me to the list of "Search Results" for my search parameters:
If I wanted to "Go Back" to do another search in this census, I can use my "Back" button once (left arrow) on my URL line, or I can scroll or use the "End" key to go to the Search fields at the bottom of this screen; I prefer the latter because it is one less page load! If I wanted to "Go Back" to work in another census, I can click my "Back" button two times to get to the "Home" Page, or click once on the "Home" tab on the Ancestry menu line. I prefer the latter! Note that if you click on the "Search" tab on the Ancestry menu line, you cannot easily change to another database.
If I choose one of the matches on the Search Results list above, I can click on the "View Record" link beside the name and see the Ancestry Record for the selected person. I scrolled down the list and selected Barbara C. Leaver, hit "View Record" and the Ancestry Record appeared:
Again, if I want to "Go Back" to the "Search Results" list, I can click the "Back" arrow once to select another person from the list or scroll to the bottom of that page to change the Search parameters; if I want to "Go Back" to work in another census, I can click my "Back" button three times or click once on the "Home" tab on the Ancestry menu line (but not the "Search" button on the Ancestry menu line).
Again, if I want to "Go Back" to the "Search Results" list, I can click the "Back" arrow once to select another person from the list or scroll to the bottom of that page to change the Search parameters; if I want to "Go Back" to work in another census, I can click my "Back" button three times or click once on the "Home" tab on the Ancestry menu line (but not the "Search" button on the Ancestry menu line).
If I want to see the actual Census record for my selected person, then I can click on the "View image" link on the screen above. Here is the 1930 census screen for the family with Barbara C. Leaver:
Note that there is now no "Home" or "Search" tab on the Ancestry menu. If I wanted to "Go Back" to work in another census, I can click my "Back" button four times or click once on the "Ancestry.com" link at the top of the page (which takes me to the "Home" page). If I want to do another search within this census, I have to click my "Back" button two times to get to the "Search Results" page and enter new information into the search fields, or click "Back" three times to get to the Search field screen.
Note that there is now no "Home" or "Search" tab on the Ancestry menu. If I wanted to "Go Back" to work in another census, I can click my "Back" button four times or click once on the "Ancestry.com" link at the top of the page (which takes me to the "Home" page). If I want to do another search within this census, I have to click my "Back" button two times to get to the "Search Results" page and enter new information into the search fields, or click "Back" three times to get to the Search field screen.
There is a slightly faster way (you still need two clicks, but you avoid one or more page loads), and that is to go to the little down-arrow next to the "Forward" button on your URL line and click on it. Here is what I see (note the dropdown menu in the upper left corner of the screen):
I can then select any previous web page in the list - if I want to modify my search, I can pick the one two pages down the list, or three pages down the list to get to the starting Search fields. If I want to go to the Home page, I can pick the one four pages down the list (as highlighted in the screen above). That's only two clicks and one page load, so it saves some time. Frankly, doing these things make me feel more efficient when I navigate the Ancestry.com web pages.
I can then select any previous web page in the list - if I want to modify my search, I can pick the one two pages down the list, or three pages down the list to get to the starting Search fields. If I want to go to the Home page, I can pick the one four pages down the list (as highlighted in the screen above). That's only two clicks and one page load, so it saves some time. Frankly, doing these things make me feel more efficient when I navigate the Ancestry.com web pages.
Some of these tips work on other websites and databases, but the details will be somewhat different.
What little navigation tricks or tips do you have for navigating Ancestry.com? This old dog is always willing to learn new tricks!
Labels: Ancestry.com, Online resources, Research techniques, Research tips
Who Is Mr. Seaver? - Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, I introduced the family history mystery presented to me by an email correspondent. Before I answered my correspondent the first time, I managed to find a reference to Euphemia Seaver, widow of L.B. Seaver, in an 1899 Los Angeles City Directory.
I sent the census and City Directory information to Marilyn, and she responded with more family information:
"To tell you how the Seaver name came into being with Frank. Louise (Mary Louise, but she always went by Louise or Louisa, you know how names were) married a man named Alfred McQueen about 1878 and had Frank about a year later. They had a very bitter divorce. She first moved into a rooming house and then moved in with her mother and step-father who was the Seaver who we are trying to trace. Little Frank was a toddler and became known as the 'little boy in the Seaver house.' Later the neighbors called him 'the little Seaver boy.' When he entered school Louise McQueen (who later married James Atchison) enrolled him as Frank Seaver because she so hated Al McQueen who had had nothing to do with them. (I found him on the 1880 census back living with his parents.) So on the 1880 census Louise was a McQueen and so was Frank. Then of course there is no 1890 census and it really messes things up doesn't it? Like you I couldn't find Euphemia as either a Marshall or a Seaver on the 1880 census. I don't know why. I never knew her to live anywhere but California. So the Seaver name with my cousins is a 'taken' name."
Ah, there are a wealth of clues in that information!!! Thank you, Marilyn. She found them in the 1880 census. Family information often provides more information than any census or directory record, especially about family stories and relationships -- if they are recounted and handed down accurately.
1) Back to the 1880 U.S. Census - I found that the E.L. Siever family resided at 157 Seventh in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California (1880 U.S. Census, San Francisco County, California, San Francisco District 143, Page 364D, dwelling #76, Family #91, lines 3-6, accessed on http://www.ancestry.com/, citing National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 76):
* E.L. Siever - white, female, age 39, a lodger, married, born Scotland, parents born Scotland/Scotland
* Louisa McQueen - white, female, age 22, a lodger, married, born California, parents born Massachusetts/Scotland
* Harry Siever - white, male, age 17, lodger, single, an apprentice machinist, born California, parents born Massachusetts/Scotland
* Frank McQueen - white, male, age 1, single, born California, parents born California/California
Is "E.L. Siever" really Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver, wife of L.B. Seaver? Everything in this census record matches what Marilyn told me, except for the name of Harry Siever. He should be Harry Marshall, right? Unfortunately, since they are lodgers in this census, there are no relationships given. The data also match the 1900 to 1920 census data I reported in Part 1, except for the surname of Frank McQueen, which was Seaver.
My opinion is that Harry was listed as a Siever because the enumerator asked E.L., or somebody in the family: "who is in this family." E.L. may well have said "there's my daughter Louisa McQueen, my son Harry, and Louisa's little boy, Frank." Note also that the birthplace of Louisa and Harry's father is listed as "Massachusetts." Perhaps they asked Euphemia where her husband was born?
But where is L.B. Seaver? Completely missing from the 1880 census - at least I cannot find him!
2) What about the 1870 US census? I did find "L.B. Seever" resided in Bullionville, Lincoln County, Nevada. The listing showed (1870 U.S. Census, Lincoln County, Nevada, Bullion Ville township, Page 180, line 7, accessed on http://www.ancestry.com/, citing National Archives Microfilm Series M593, Roll 834):
* L.B. Seever, age 35, male, white, a laborer, $100 in real property, $500 in personal property, born MA.
There is now more information about L.B. Seaver - born about 1835 in Massachusetts. That's helpful for other searches. Still don't find him in 1880! Had he died by then? However, Euphemia is listed as "married" not "widow" in the 1880 census.
I have been unable to find any census record for William and Euphemia Marshall, or their children Louisa and Henry/Harry Marshall.
3) In the 1860 U.S. Census, the Marshall family resided in Big Bar, El Dorado County, California (Page 754, Dwelling #1027, family #1499, accessed on http://www.ancestry.com/, citing NARA Microfilm M653, Roll 58). The household included:
* M. Marshall - age 32, male, a miner, born Scotland
* Euphemia Marshall - age 19, female, house keeper, born Scotland
* Mary Louisa Marshall - age ??, female, born California
* Minnie Marshall - age 17, female, born Scotland
* Joseph Marshall - age 13, male, born Scotland
* Robert Marshall - age 20, male, miner, born Scotland
4) I still don't have any records that show L.B. Seaver residing with Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver, do I? And what is L.B. Seaver's first and middle names?
Stay tuned - he was hiding in plain sight, all I had to do was find the right information sources.
I sent the census and City Directory information to Marilyn, and she responded with more family information:
"To tell you how the Seaver name came into being with Frank. Louise (Mary Louise, but she always went by Louise or Louisa, you know how names were) married a man named Alfred McQueen about 1878 and had Frank about a year later. They had a very bitter divorce. She first moved into a rooming house and then moved in with her mother and step-father who was the Seaver who we are trying to trace. Little Frank was a toddler and became known as the 'little boy in the Seaver house.' Later the neighbors called him 'the little Seaver boy.' When he entered school Louise McQueen (who later married James Atchison) enrolled him as Frank Seaver because she so hated Al McQueen who had had nothing to do with them. (I found him on the 1880 census back living with his parents.) So on the 1880 census Louise was a McQueen and so was Frank. Then of course there is no 1890 census and it really messes things up doesn't it? Like you I couldn't find Euphemia as either a Marshall or a Seaver on the 1880 census. I don't know why. I never knew her to live anywhere but California. So the Seaver name with my cousins is a 'taken' name."
Ah, there are a wealth of clues in that information!!! Thank you, Marilyn. She found them in the 1880 census. Family information often provides more information than any census or directory record, especially about family stories and relationships -- if they are recounted and handed down accurately.
1) Back to the 1880 U.S. Census - I found that the E.L. Siever family resided at 157 Seventh in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California (1880 U.S. Census, San Francisco County, California, San Francisco District 143, Page 364D, dwelling #76, Family #91, lines 3-6, accessed on http://www.ancestry.com/, citing National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 76):
* E.L. Siever - white, female, age 39, a lodger, married, born Scotland, parents born Scotland/Scotland
* Louisa McQueen - white, female, age 22, a lodger, married, born California, parents born Massachusetts/Scotland
* Harry Siever - white, male, age 17, lodger, single, an apprentice machinist, born California, parents born Massachusetts/Scotland
* Frank McQueen - white, male, age 1, single, born California, parents born California/California
Is "E.L. Siever" really Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver, wife of L.B. Seaver? Everything in this census record matches what Marilyn told me, except for the name of Harry Siever. He should be Harry Marshall, right? Unfortunately, since they are lodgers in this census, there are no relationships given. The data also match the 1900 to 1920 census data I reported in Part 1, except for the surname of Frank McQueen, which was Seaver.
My opinion is that Harry was listed as a Siever because the enumerator asked E.L., or somebody in the family: "who is in this family." E.L. may well have said "there's my daughter Louisa McQueen, my son Harry, and Louisa's little boy, Frank." Note also that the birthplace of Louisa and Harry's father is listed as "Massachusetts." Perhaps they asked Euphemia where her husband was born?
But where is L.B. Seaver? Completely missing from the 1880 census - at least I cannot find him!
2) What about the 1870 US census? I did find "L.B. Seever" resided in Bullionville, Lincoln County, Nevada. The listing showed (1870 U.S. Census, Lincoln County, Nevada, Bullion Ville township, Page 180, line 7, accessed on http://www.ancestry.com/, citing National Archives Microfilm Series M593, Roll 834):
* L.B. Seever, age 35, male, white, a laborer, $100 in real property, $500 in personal property, born MA.
There is now more information about L.B. Seaver - born about 1835 in Massachusetts. That's helpful for other searches. Still don't find him in 1880! Had he died by then? However, Euphemia is listed as "married" not "widow" in the 1880 census.
I have been unable to find any census record for William and Euphemia Marshall, or their children Louisa and Henry/Harry Marshall.
3) In the 1860 U.S. Census, the Marshall family resided in Big Bar, El Dorado County, California (Page 754, Dwelling #1027, family #1499, accessed on http://www.ancestry.com/, citing NARA Microfilm M653, Roll 58). The household included:
* M. Marshall - age 32, male, a miner, born Scotland
* Euphemia Marshall - age 19, female, house keeper, born Scotland
* Mary Louisa Marshall - age ??, female, born California
* Minnie Marshall - age 17, female, born Scotland
* Joseph Marshall - age 13, male, born Scotland
* Robert Marshall - age 20, male, miner, born Scotland
4) I still don't have any records that show L.B. Seaver residing with Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver, do I? And what is L.B. Seaver's first and middle names?
Stay tuned - he was hiding in plain sight, all I had to do was find the right information sources.
Labels: genealogy resources, Online resources, Seaver Research
Treasure Chest Thursday - A Calling Card
It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to open the musty old trunk and see what priceless memorabilia is hiding down below, or within, the bigger items. [Actually, I don't have a "musty old trunk" - I have a large cardboard box with all kinds of stuff in it, handed down from my great-grandparents to my grandparents to my mother to me.]
One of the "bigger items" was a county history book that has family items pasted on the pages. I've scanned some of the pages and then cropped some of the items. Here is an interesting calling card from the 1880's:
One of the "bigger items" was a county history book that has family items pasted on the pages. I've scanned some of the pages and then cropped some of the items. Here is an interesting calling card from the 1880's:
D.J. Smith (1839-1894) is my second great-grandfather, husband of Abbie (Vaux) Smith and father of my great grandmother, Della (Smith) Carringer. I've written extensively about D.J. Smith (Devier J. Smith, born Devier J. Lamphear) on this blog, since he is one of the ancestors that I have a treasure trove of memorabilia for, and has a mysterious parentage.
The card above identifies him as D.J. Smith of Concordia, Kansas, a member of an organization "Commandery No. 20, Clay Center." From other information, I know that Devier Smith resided in Cloud County, Kansas in the 1880 to 1885 time period.
What is that symbol in the upper left hand corner of the card? It says "In Hoc Signo Vinses." What does that mean, and whose symbol does it represent?
I Googled the saying and found that it means "By this sign thou shalt conquer" and was used by Knights Templar organizations and by Freemasonry organizations.
The Knights Templar entry states that:
"Predominantly in the United States the Knights Templar is the final order joined in the York Rite. Unlike other Masonic bodies which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religion, membership in the Knights Templar is open only to Christian Masons who have completed their Royal Arch and in some jurisdictions their Cryptic Degrees.[3]
"A local Knights Templar division is called a Commandery and operates under a state level Grand Commandery as well as The Grand Encampment of the United States. This is unique among Masonic bodies as most report to the state level alone."
I am woefully ignorant about these organizations, so these articles are helpful to my understanding.
The image I have above was taken from a photocopy of the page in the book. My guess is that the triangular area in the upper left corner was a red color. I'll have to check the actual card pasted into the book.
Until now, I was unaware that Devier J. Lamphear Smith was a member of any fraternal organization. This is one more little bit of "family history" to add to his biography! It's a nice Treasure Chest item!
Labels: Family Stories, My genealogy research, Treasure Chest Thursday
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Article Archives at NewEnglandAncestors.org
I'm sure that many New England researchers are aware of the Article Archives at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) website http://www.newenglandancestors.org/, but I wasn't, even though I've been a member for more than 20 years.
While the databases on the NEHGS site are members-only, the Articles page in the Databases & Research category is FREE to everybody. The Articles page has links to collections of articles for:
* African American Family History
* Bible Records
* Canadian Family History
* Computer Genealogist
* Ethnic Research
* Family Health Histories
* Genealogy and Technology
* Genetics\DNA Research
* Getting Started in Genealogy
* Hot Topics
* Immigrants to New England: 1634 - 1635
* Manuscript Collections
* Mayflower Research
* Military Research
* NEXUS Archives
* Passenger Lists
* Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources
The list of all of the available articles - about 500 of them - is in the Articles Archive, in order of publication on the website.
There is a treasure trove of useful genealogical information here - from sketches of Pilgrim Village Ancestors (Plymouth colonists in The Great Migration Begins book series), articles from NEHGS publications like NEXUS and The Computer Genealogist, to how-to articles for different geographical areas, and much more.
My attention was drawn to it today by an article in the NEHGS eNews email newsletter in my Inbox this afternoon. The article mentioned was a 77 page article (more than half of it are sources and bibliography) titled "A Line from John Guild of Dedham to Wrentham, Massachusetts, and Beyond," by Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CGSM, FASG. John Guild is one of my immigrant ancestors, and this article provides excellent biographical information on him and one line of his descendants (not my specific line, unfortunately!) - much better than the Guild book published in 1887.
If you have New England ancestry, be sure to browse through this collection.
While the databases on the NEHGS site are members-only, the Articles page in the Databases & Research category is FREE to everybody. The Articles page has links to collections of articles for:
* African American Family History
* Bible Records
* Canadian Family History
* Computer Genealogist
* Ethnic Research
* Family Health Histories
* Genealogy and Technology
* Genetics\DNA Research
* Getting Started in Genealogy
* Hot Topics
* Immigrants to New England: 1634 - 1635
* Manuscript Collections
* Mayflower Research
* Military Research
* NEXUS Archives
* Passenger Lists
* Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources
The list of all of the available articles - about 500 of them - is in the Articles Archive, in order of publication on the website.
There is a treasure trove of useful genealogical information here - from sketches of Pilgrim Village Ancestors (Plymouth colonists in The Great Migration Begins book series), articles from NEHGS publications like NEXUS and The Computer Genealogist, to how-to articles for different geographical areas, and much more.
My attention was drawn to it today by an article in the NEHGS eNews email newsletter in my Inbox this afternoon. The article mentioned was a 77 page article (more than half of it are sources and bibliography) titled "A Line from John Guild of Dedham to Wrentham, Massachusetts, and Beyond," by Helen Schatvet Ullmann, CGSM, FASG. John Guild is one of my immigrant ancestors, and this article provides excellent biographical information on him and one line of his descendants (not my specific line, unfortunately!) - much better than the Guild book published in 1887.
If you have New England ancestry, be sure to browse through this collection.
Labels: genealogy education, NEHGS, Online resources
Who is Mr. Seaver? - Part 1
Everyone loves a good family history mystery, and occasionally I get a question via email asking for help with a Seaver mystery. Here is part of an email from Marilyn that I received several months ago:
"Sir, seeing the Seaver name on the computer interests us. One of our family married a Seaver in the 1800s (probably in the late 1870s). The name isn't common and we haven't been able to trace him or where he came from. He married a widow Euphemia (maiden name Kirk, born in Scotland and 1st married name Marshall, her first husband also from Scotland. Her first husband was lost on a ship going around the horn.) Her daughter came to live with them when she was divorced and brought her little son to live with them too. In time her son's name was changed to Seaver so that branch has been Seavers since then, but no one knows who the man's name is that it came from. Obviously he helped raise the child. I saw the LONG detailed list you have on the computer and can't get over how many Seavers there are. Do you have any idea how we could trace this unknown Seaver in our family?"
Aha - a mystery Seaver. Is the husband of Euphemia in my Seaver database posted in an Ancestry Member Tree or on my website? I looked in my database, and did not see a Euphemia married to a Seaver, so I probably don't have information about her, or her marriage, in my database.
Marilyn had provided some names, but few dates or places. The name "Euphemia" really stood out for me. Where could I find Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver? I started with the census records in 1920:
1) In the 1920 census, this family resided at 517 Ashbury Street in Assembly District 27 in San Francisco, California (Sheet 10A, ED 332, NARA Microfilm T625, Roll 142). The household included:
* James R. Atchison - head of household, male, white, age 59, married, born Illinois, father born Pennsylvania, mother born Ireland, an engineer, works in construction, rents home
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, female, white, age 58, married, born California, parents born Scotland
* Euphemia L. Seaver - mother-in-law, female, white, age 77, widow, born Scotland, parents born Scotland.
This is probably the Euphemia I'm looking for, and there is her daughter Louise married to an Atchison. Let's look in 1910:
2) In the 1910 census, this family resided at 519 Ashbury Street in Assembly District 37 of San Francisco, SF County, California (Sheet 10A, ED 176, NARA Microfilm T624, Roll 99). The household included:
* James R. Atchison - head of household, male, white, age 47, first marriage, married for 19 years, born Illinois, father born Scotland, mother born Ireland.
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, female, white, age 47, second marriage, married 19 years, 1 child born, 1 child living, born California, father born Scotland, mother born Ireland
* Euphemia L. Seaver - mother-in-law, female, white, age 67, widowed, 4 children born, 1 child living, born Scotland, parents born Scotland, immigrated in 1857.
More clues here - including the number of children, and how long Louise has been married to Mr. Atchison - they married in about 1891. Going back ten more years:
3) In the 1900 U.S. Census, this family resided at 836 East 6th Street in Ward 7 of Los Angeles city, Los Angeles County, California (Sheet 3A, ED 64, NARA Microfilm T623, Roll 90). The household included:
* James R. Atchison - head of household, white, male, born Jun 1860, age 39, married, for 10 years, born Illinois, father born PA, mother born ??, an engineer, works in a powerhouse, owns home with a mortgage.
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, white, female, born Feb 1861, age 39, married, for 10 years, 1 child born, 1 child living, born California, father and mother born in Scotland
* Frank L. Seaver - step-son, white, male, born Oct 1878, age 21, single, born CA, father and mother born CA, a machinist
* Euphemia Seaver - mother-in-law, white, female, born Mar 1843, age 57, a widow, 4 children born, 2 children living, born Scotland, father and mother born Scotland.
There is Frank L. Seaver, listed as a step-son of James Atchison - if that is correct, then Frank is the son of Louise, not of Euphemia. Birth months and years for all of them too, which can be useful in later searches. And the Atchisons married in about 1890, which corroborates the approximate 1910 date.
4) In the 1880 U.S. Census, I found no matches for a Euphemia as a Marshall or a Seaver, or Louise as a Marshall or a Seaver, or Frank as a Seaver or a Marshall. So now I'm stuck - where was Euphemia? Was she married by 1880? Is she listed with a first name that I cannot find? Is she living with her daughter and grandson? Do they have a surname other than Seaver or Marshall?
5) I put "Euphemia Seaver" in the Ancestry.com search box, and found the Los Angeles City Directories available on http://www.ancestry.com/:
* 1899: Euphemia Seaver (widow L.B.), resident 836 East 6th St.
* 1899: Frank L. Seaver, machinist, Fulton Engineering, resident 836 East 6th St.
Aha - the first real clue! Euphemia Seaver was perhaps the widow of L.B. Seaver. Finally, a clue to a first and middle name. My Seaver database had one person with initials L.B. that might be Euphemia's late husband - a man named Loren B. Seaver, born in July 1848 in Vermont, but he had a wife Aranna and five children in the 1880 to 1910 census records, and resided in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont in the 1900 census (Page 164, ED 53, Sheet 4, Line 45, NARA Microfilm T623, Roll 1690). So - that couldn't be the L.B. that married Euphemia, unless he had two families on opposite sides of the country in the 1870 to 1900 time frame. Of course, my database had many males with first names starting with L born around the 1840 time frame - was L.B. Seaver one of them?
Now, this is a series, so please don't go running off to the census and other records to try to help me out here. There are a few more clues as to the identity of L.B. Seaver, and Marilyn has some interesting stories to tell - so stick around and enjoy the ride.
"Sir, seeing the Seaver name on the computer interests us. One of our family married a Seaver in the 1800s (probably in the late 1870s). The name isn't common and we haven't been able to trace him or where he came from. He married a widow Euphemia (maiden name Kirk, born in Scotland and 1st married name Marshall, her first husband also from Scotland. Her first husband was lost on a ship going around the horn.) Her daughter came to live with them when she was divorced and brought her little son to live with them too. In time her son's name was changed to Seaver so that branch has been Seavers since then, but no one knows who the man's name is that it came from. Obviously he helped raise the child. I saw the LONG detailed list you have on the computer and can't get over how many Seavers there are. Do you have any idea how we could trace this unknown Seaver in our family?"
Aha - a mystery Seaver. Is the husband of Euphemia in my Seaver database posted in an Ancestry Member Tree or on my website? I looked in my database, and did not see a Euphemia married to a Seaver, so I probably don't have information about her, or her marriage, in my database.
Marilyn had provided some names, but few dates or places. The name "Euphemia" really stood out for me. Where could I find Euphemia (Kirk) (Marshall) Seaver? I started with the census records in 1920:
1) In the 1920 census, this family resided at 517 Ashbury Street in Assembly District 27 in San Francisco, California (Sheet 10A, ED 332, NARA Microfilm T625, Roll 142). The household included:
* James R. Atchison - head of household, male, white, age 59, married, born Illinois, father born Pennsylvania, mother born Ireland, an engineer, works in construction, rents home
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, female, white, age 58, married, born California, parents born Scotland
* Euphemia L. Seaver - mother-in-law, female, white, age 77, widow, born Scotland, parents born Scotland.
This is probably the Euphemia I'm looking for, and there is her daughter Louise married to an Atchison. Let's look in 1910:
2) In the 1910 census, this family resided at 519 Ashbury Street in Assembly District 37 of San Francisco, SF County, California (Sheet 10A, ED 176, NARA Microfilm T624, Roll 99). The household included:
* James R. Atchison - head of household, male, white, age 47, first marriage, married for 19 years, born Illinois, father born Scotland, mother born Ireland.
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, female, white, age 47, second marriage, married 19 years, 1 child born, 1 child living, born California, father born Scotland, mother born Ireland
* Euphemia L. Seaver - mother-in-law, female, white, age 67, widowed, 4 children born, 1 child living, born Scotland, parents born Scotland, immigrated in 1857.
More clues here - including the number of children, and how long Louise has been married to Mr. Atchison - they married in about 1891. Going back ten more years:
3) In the 1900 U.S. Census, this family resided at 836 East 6th Street in Ward 7 of Los Angeles city, Los Angeles County, California (Sheet 3A, ED 64, NARA Microfilm T623, Roll 90). The household included:
* James R. Atchison - head of household, white, male, born Jun 1860, age 39, married, for 10 years, born Illinois, father born PA, mother born ??, an engineer, works in a powerhouse, owns home with a mortgage.
* Louise M. Atchison - wife of head, white, female, born Feb 1861, age 39, married, for 10 years, 1 child born, 1 child living, born California, father and mother born in Scotland
* Frank L. Seaver - step-son, white, male, born Oct 1878, age 21, single, born CA, father and mother born CA, a machinist
* Euphemia Seaver - mother-in-law, white, female, born Mar 1843, age 57, a widow, 4 children born, 2 children living, born Scotland, father and mother born Scotland.
There is Frank L. Seaver, listed as a step-son of James Atchison - if that is correct, then Frank is the son of Louise, not of Euphemia. Birth months and years for all of them too, which can be useful in later searches. And the Atchisons married in about 1890, which corroborates the approximate 1910 date.
4) In the 1880 U.S. Census, I found no matches for a Euphemia as a Marshall or a Seaver, or Louise as a Marshall or a Seaver, or Frank as a Seaver or a Marshall. So now I'm stuck - where was Euphemia? Was she married by 1880? Is she listed with a first name that I cannot find? Is she living with her daughter and grandson? Do they have a surname other than Seaver or Marshall?
5) I put "Euphemia Seaver" in the Ancestry.com search box, and found the Los Angeles City Directories available on http://www.ancestry.com/:
* 1899: Euphemia Seaver (widow L.B.), resident 836 East 6th St.
* 1899: Frank L. Seaver, machinist, Fulton Engineering, resident 836 East 6th St.
Aha - the first real clue! Euphemia Seaver was perhaps the widow of L.B. Seaver. Finally, a clue to a first and middle name. My Seaver database had one person with initials L.B. that might be Euphemia's late husband - a man named Loren B. Seaver, born in July 1848 in Vermont, but he had a wife Aranna and five children in the 1880 to 1910 census records, and resided in St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, Vermont in the 1900 census (Page 164, ED 53, Sheet 4, Line 45, NARA Microfilm T623, Roll 1690). So - that couldn't be the L.B. that married Euphemia, unless he had two families on opposite sides of the country in the 1870 to 1900 time frame. Of course, my database had many males with first names starting with L born around the 1840 time frame - was L.B. Seaver one of them?
Now, this is a series, so please don't go running off to the census and other records to try to help me out here. There are a few more clues as to the identity of L.B. Seaver, and Marilyn has some interesting stories to tell - so stick around and enjoy the ride.
Labels: My genealogy research, Online resources, Research techniques, Seaver Research
Genea-Musings Statistics for 2009 - Post 2
I posted Genea-Musings Statistics for 2009 - Post 1 yesterday with charts and numbers for visits, page views and RSS subscribers of this blog.
What did all of those visitors and readers read online? Google Analytics keeps a record of the web pages that the visitors to the URL www.geneamusings.com looked at. The 20 most "popular" blog pages, based on all page views, were:
1. www.geneamusings.com - 70,494 views (29.4% of all page views)
2. World records for number of children (posted 21 July 2006) - 5,474 views
3. John Tyler's Grandson is still alive! (posted 20 February 2007) - 1,876 views
4. How rare is your personality type? (posted 20 June 2007) - 1,853 views
5. Make Your Own Gravestone (posted 29 July 2007) - 1,750 views
6. Electronic Genealogy Magazine Publication (posted 22 April 2009) - 1,661 views
7. Family Tree Maker 2010 software - what? when? (posted 11 July 2009) - 1,448 views
8. Tombstone Tuesday - Nathaniel Grigsby (posted 19 May 2009 ) - 1,117 views
9. Are imaging services missing NARA records? (posted 5 January 2009) - 1,081 views
10. Family Tree Maker 2010 <=> Ancestry Member Tree Synchronization (posted 1 August 2009) - 1,029 views
11. More on Ancestry.com and MyLife.com (posted 20 March 2009) - 907 views
12. FTM 2009 Source Citations - First Look (posted 5 February 2009) - 882 views
13. Online Historical Directories (posted 27 October 2009) - 787 views
14. My mtDNA is in the K Haplogroup (posted 30 September 2008) - 775 views
15. Family tree tattoos? (posted 10 January 2007) - 709 views
16. Searching Online for Genealogy Data (posted 18 May 2009) - 606 views
17. Ancestry and MyLife Public Records Index (posted 18 March 2009) - 592 views
18. Unindexed Databases on Ancestry.com (posted 4 May 2009) - 571 views
19. Was Daniel Boone an Ancestor of Pat Boone? (posted 31 August 2007) - 550 views
20. Working in RootsMagic 4 - Summary of Posts (posted 27 April 2009) - 549 views
Six of these top 20 pages are "oldies but goodies" (numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 15 and 19) - posts that people find by using a search engine. The others are more recent posts, and the traffic for most of them peaks right after they are posted and dies down quickly.
For example, if you check the first graph on Post 1, you see that the most visits and page views occurred on 24 April 2009 (767 visits, 1,272 page views). The post Electronic Genealogy Magazine Publication had 602 visits on that day after the post was highlighted by Dick Eastman.
The key to getting high blog post visits and page views is to be linked to by another genealogy blogger, mentioned by a magazine article, or be listed in a Google Alert.
Like I said in an earlier post - I'm a "numbers guy."
What did all of those visitors and readers read online? Google Analytics keeps a record of the web pages that the visitors to the URL www.geneamusings.com looked at. The 20 most "popular" blog pages, based on all page views, were:
1. www.geneamusings.com - 70,494 views (29.4% of all page views)
2. World records for number of children (posted 21 July 2006) - 5,474 views
3. John Tyler's Grandson is still alive! (posted 20 February 2007) - 1,876 views
4. How rare is your personality type? (posted 20 June 2007) - 1,853 views
5. Make Your Own Gravestone (posted 29 July 2007) - 1,750 views
6. Electronic Genealogy Magazine Publication (posted 22 April 2009) - 1,661 views
7. Family Tree Maker 2010 software - what? when? (posted 11 July 2009) - 1,448 views
8. Tombstone Tuesday - Nathaniel Grigsby (posted 19 May 2009 ) - 1,117 views
9. Are imaging services missing NARA records? (posted 5 January 2009) - 1,081 views
10. Family Tree Maker 2010 <=> Ancestry Member Tree Synchronization (posted 1 August 2009) - 1,029 views
11. More on Ancestry.com and MyLife.com (posted 20 March 2009) - 907 views
12. FTM 2009 Source Citations - First Look (posted 5 February 2009) - 882 views
13. Online Historical Directories (posted 27 October 2009) - 787 views
14. My mtDNA is in the K Haplogroup (posted 30 September 2008) - 775 views
15. Family tree tattoos? (posted 10 January 2007) - 709 views
16. Searching Online for Genealogy Data (posted 18 May 2009) - 606 views
17. Ancestry and MyLife Public Records Index (posted 18 March 2009) - 592 views
18. Unindexed Databases on Ancestry.com (posted 4 May 2009) - 571 views
19. Was Daniel Boone an Ancestor of Pat Boone? (posted 31 August 2007) - 550 views
20. Working in RootsMagic 4 - Summary of Posts (posted 27 April 2009) - 549 views
Six of these top 20 pages are "oldies but goodies" (numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 15 and 19) - posts that people find by using a search engine. The others are more recent posts, and the traffic for most of them peaks right after they are posted and dies down quickly.
For example, if you check the first graph on Post 1, you see that the most visits and page views occurred on 24 April 2009 (767 visits, 1,272 page views). The post Electronic Genealogy Magazine Publication had 602 visits on that day after the post was highlighted by Dick Eastman.
The key to getting high blog post visits and page views is to be linked to by another genealogy blogger, mentioned by a magazine article, or be listed in a Google Alert.
Like I said in an earlier post - I'm a "numbers guy."
Labels: genealogy blogs, Online resources, Search Engines
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs Post 87: In the Garden
I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.
Here is a photograph from the Seaver family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:
Here is a photograph from the Seaver family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:
This photograph was taken in about 1945, probably by my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer. It was taken in the backyard garden area, perhaps in the greenhouse, of 2130 Fern Street in San Diego, where my grandparents lived. My grandmother, Emily (Auble) Carringer, was an accomplished horticulturalist and flower arranger during her lifetime.
Who is the little boy with a very cool looking chapeau? Well, that's little Randy Seaver toddling around smelling flowers and looking for bugs to watch. Isn't that a really great hat? I wonder where it went?
The backyard and greenhouse was a wonderful place for a little boy to play. It was safe and enclosed (the block I grew up on was between two busy streets), had a variety of things to watch and do (several ponds and bird baths, lots of plants and bushes to check out, plenty of bugs to catch, torture and release, birds to watch, and several cats to chase and pet.
Labels: Family Stories, photographs
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Does Ancestry World Tree = WorldConnect Project?
Some people are surprised when I tell them that the Ancestry World Trees (which are FREE to view on Ancestry.com for registered users) and the WorldConnect Project database on Rootsweb (which are FREE for anybody, no registration required) are the same database.
But are they exactly the same database? I wondered about that, when I noticed different totals of persons in the two different databases last night. Here is the screen shot from the Ancestry World Tree page in the Card Catalog:
Off to the WorldConnect Project database at Rootsweb - here's the start page:
The page above says that there are "More than 575 million names on file." Hmmm, that's different from the Ancestry World Tree number - I thought that they were the exact same database. I entered "Smith" in the Last Name field above to see how many Smith surname entries there are in the WorldConnect Project database.
Here is the search result for the "Smith" last name:
The screen above says that there are 4,617,751 entries for the Smith surname. That's the same exact number as were in the Ancestry World Tree. How could the two databases NOT be the same?
I did the same experiment with three other surnames, and got the exact same number for each in both the Ancestry World Tree database and the WorldConnect Project database on Rootsweb. So the numbers in the two databases are the same.
How many records are really in the two databases? The last screen above probably provides the right answer: 601,084,936 (it's above the search results just under the words "Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project Global Search").
Why don't the two WorldConnect Project numbers agree? Probably because the 575 million number is on a static web page, while the 601 million number is on a dynamic web page. Someone has to physically change the 575 million number, and they do occasionally.
So why don't the Ancestry World Tree and WorldConnect Project person numbers agree? Same reason - someone has to make a physically action to change the number in the Family Tree table on the Ancestry.com Card Catalog page. Those record numbers must not be "dynamic" - meaning they change automatically when records are added.
So my curiosity is satisfied to some extent, although the consistency issue is there again.
How many family trees are in the Ancestry World Trees? The answer is shown on the WorldConnect Project page: 425,369. The average family tree size in the WorldConnect Project/Ancestry World Tree database is 1,413 persons. That's more than 10 times the average family tree size in the Ancestry Member Tree databases (assuming that the number on the Ancestry.com Corporate page were correct - 1.1 billion records, 11 million tree).
Why do I care about this? Besides being a "numbers guy?" Well, the WorldConnect Project family tree collection is one of the most versatile family tree databases available, it's free, and it has a lot of people in the database. If the contributor of a database included notes and sources in their uploaded database, then those notes and sources are readable. Any user can obtain an Ahnentafel Report, Register Report, or Descendants List from a WorldConnect database. Yes - they are compiled family trees and many of them have erroneous data, and poor or no sources, but some of them are excellent records of ancestral research and can be used with the "it's a clue, but verify the information" proviso. When I have a new ancestor to search for, the WorldConnect Project is the first place I look for clues to parentage and lineage.
I find that the WorldConnect Project is much easier to use and seems much faster than Ancestry World Tree. I do wish that WorldConnect Project would return a list of more than 20 matches at a time, but perhaps that's why it's faster!
So the answer to my "Does Ancestry World Tree = WorldConnect Project?" is YES!
But are they exactly the same database? I wondered about that, when I noticed different totals of persons in the two different databases last night. Here is the screen shot from the Ancestry World Tree page in the Card Catalog:
The Ancestry World Tree is listed with 467,671,004 records. The page says:
"The Ancestry World Tree contains nearly 400 million names in family trees submitted by our users. The Ancestry World Tree is the largest collection of its kind on the Internet. "
Another set of numbers that don't match.
I decided to see how many Smiths were in this database, and found:
Okay - now I have two points for comparison.
Off to the WorldConnect Project database at Rootsweb - here's the start page:
The page above says that there are "More than 575 million names on file." Hmmm, that's different from the Ancestry World Tree number - I thought that they were the exact same database. I entered "Smith" in the Last Name field above to see how many Smith surname entries there are in the WorldConnect Project database.
Here is the search result for the "Smith" last name:
The screen above says that there are 4,617,751 entries for the Smith surname. That's the same exact number as were in the Ancestry World Tree. How could the two databases NOT be the same?
I did the same experiment with three other surnames, and got the exact same number for each in both the Ancestry World Tree database and the WorldConnect Project database on Rootsweb. So the numbers in the two databases are the same.
How many records are really in the two databases? The last screen above probably provides the right answer: 601,084,936 (it's above the search results just under the words "Rootsweb's WorldConnect Project Global Search").
Why don't the two WorldConnect Project numbers agree? Probably because the 575 million number is on a static web page, while the 601 million number is on a dynamic web page. Someone has to physically change the 575 million number, and they do occasionally.
So why don't the Ancestry World Tree and WorldConnect Project person numbers agree? Same reason - someone has to make a physically action to change the number in the Family Tree table on the Ancestry.com Card Catalog page. Those record numbers must not be "dynamic" - meaning they change automatically when records are added.
So my curiosity is satisfied to some extent, although the consistency issue is there again.
How many family trees are in the Ancestry World Trees? The answer is shown on the WorldConnect Project page: 425,369. The average family tree size in the WorldConnect Project/Ancestry World Tree database is 1,413 persons. That's more than 10 times the average family tree size in the Ancestry Member Tree databases (assuming that the number on the Ancestry.com Corporate page were correct - 1.1 billion records, 11 million tree).
Why do I care about this? Besides being a "numbers guy?" Well, the WorldConnect Project family tree collection is one of the most versatile family tree databases available, it's free, and it has a lot of people in the database. If the contributor of a database included notes and sources in their uploaded database, then those notes and sources are readable. Any user can obtain an Ahnentafel Report, Register Report, or Descendants List from a WorldConnect database. Yes - they are compiled family trees and many of them have erroneous data, and poor or no sources, but some of them are excellent records of ancestral research and can be used with the "it's a clue, but verify the information" proviso. When I have a new ancestor to search for, the WorldConnect Project is the first place I look for clues to parentage and lineage.
I find that the WorldConnect Project is much easier to use and seems much faster than Ancestry World Tree. I do wish that WorldConnect Project would return a list of more than 20 matches at a time, but perhaps that's why it's faster!
So the answer to my "Does Ancestry World Tree = WorldConnect Project?" is YES!
Labels: Ancestry.com, Family Trees, Online resources, Rootsweb.com
Genea-Musings Statistics for 2009 - Post 1
Being a "numbers guy," I can't resist checking out my blog statistics - number of visitors, page views, readers, etc. I use three services for this, Sitemeter, StatCounter and Google Analytics. They all give somewhat different numbers.
So how many readers does Genea-Musings have? It's really hard to tell! Here is the StatCounter report for Page Loads, Unique Visitors and Returning Visitors to the web site URL for 2009:
From the above graph, it appears that there were, on average, about 150 unique visitors, about 350 returning visitors, and about 750 page views every day.
How does that compare to years past? Here is the same graph from January 2007 to December 2009 - three years worth of data:
The Google Analytic statistics say:
So how many readers does Genea-Musings have? It's really hard to tell! Here is the StatCounter report for Page Loads, Unique Visitors and Returning Visitors to the web site URL for 2009:
From the above graph, it appears that there were, on average, about 150 unique visitors, about 350 returning visitors, and about 750 page views every day.
How does that compare to years past? Here is the same graph from January 2007 to December 2009 - three years worth of data:
From these two graphs, the attentive reader can see that 2008 was a year of significant growth for Genea-Musings visitors and page views, and 2009 was a year of limited growth in visitors and page views.
Here is the same graph from Google Analytics for 2009 with Visits (blue line, right scale) and Page Views (orange line, left scale):
The Google Analytic statistics say:
*Total Number of Visits = 152,942 (average of 419 per day)
* Total Number of Page Views = 240,247 (average of 658 per day)
* Number of Unique Visitors = 84,112 (average of 230 per day).
Where do these people come from? The top 5 countries of visits come from:
* USA = 123,103 (80.5%
* Canada = 8,756 (5.7%)
* United Kingdom = 7,495 (4.9%)
* Australia - 2,658 (1.7%)
* (not set) - 864 (0.6%)
Of course, these numbers only measure those readers who click on a bookmark/favorite or a link on a web page or email to reach www.GeneaMusings.com. They don't measure the people who read this blog in an RSS feed. The numbers of persons subscribing to RSS feeds for this blog include:
* Google Reader = 103 (from my Blogger Dashboard page)
* Feedburner = 402 (today's counter) - many of these via email
* Bloglines = 144 (sum of six different feeds)
However, these don't include persons who read the blog on Facebook and other social media that publish posts on their site with my permission - I have over 600 "Friends" on Facebook, and some of them read my blog posts there without going to the URL or an RSS feed. Then there are the unauthorized copies of my posts on spam blogs...
The best estimate I can make is that an average of about 900 to 1,000 persons read Genea-Musings every day. Interestingly, the number who visit the URL is only 25 to 30% of that total.
I will post more information about the most popular blog posts during 2009, and the most popular search terms, in another post.
THANK YOU to all of you for reading my ramblings and musings. I try to stay on top of the genealogy news while performing my own research, furthering my genealogy education, and enjoying life. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own, based on my knowledge, experience, and the analysis tools at my disposal.
Labels: genealogy blogs, My genealogy research
Tamura Jones' GeneAwards 2009
I am late in recognizing Tamura Jones' genealogy industry awards that he posted in GeneAwards 2009 on 30 December 2009 on his Modern Software Experience website.
These awards are important for the genealogy industry - they recognize accomplishments and provide an incentive to improve genealogy products.
Tamura's outlook is a bit different from many others in the genealogy industry - he seems to be objective and offers praise and constructive criticisms based on his technology background and research skills. I greatly respect his opinions and appreciate the efforts he makes to evaluate genealogy software, websites and products.
Tamura awarded the GeneAwards 2009 to:
*** Best Genealogy Product of 2009: RootsMagic 4
*** Best New Genealogy Product of 2009: 1911 Census
.......honourable mention: MyBlood
*** Best Genealogy Organisation of 2009: Footnote
*** Most Surprising Product of 2009: GenealogyCloud
*** Most Improved Product of 2009: RootsMagic
.......honourable mention: Behold
*** Worst Genealogy Product of 2009: MyHeritage Family Tree Builder 4.0
.......dishonourable mention: USA Surgeon General's My Family Health Portrait
*** Worst Genealogy Organisation of 2009: MyHeritage
.......dishonourable mention: Geni.com
.......dishonourable mention: FamilySearch
.......dishonourable mention: FamilyLink
*** Vapourware 2009: GenSeek
Tamura has discussion of each award and the reasons for naming the recipients - read them at http://www.tamurajones.net/GeneAwards2009.xhtmll.
He also awarded GeneaBlog Awards for 2009 here.
Note that Tamura Jones's website cannot be read by Internet Explorer browser users without a special fix (which I cannot find on his site now).
These awards are important for the genealogy industry - they recognize accomplishments and provide an incentive to improve genealogy products.
Tamura's outlook is a bit different from many others in the genealogy industry - he seems to be objective and offers praise and constructive criticisms based on his technology background and research skills. I greatly respect his opinions and appreciate the efforts he makes to evaluate genealogy software, websites and products.
Tamura awarded the GeneAwards 2009 to:
*** Best Genealogy Product of 2009: RootsMagic 4
*** Best New Genealogy Product of 2009: 1911 Census
.......honourable mention: MyBlood
*** Best Genealogy Organisation of 2009: Footnote
*** Most Surprising Product of 2009: GenealogyCloud
*** Most Improved Product of 2009: RootsMagic
.......honourable mention: Behold
*** Worst Genealogy Product of 2009: MyHeritage Family Tree Builder 4.0
.......dishonourable mention: USA Surgeon General's My Family Health Portrait
*** Worst Genealogy Organisation of 2009: MyHeritage
.......dishonourable mention: Geni.com
.......dishonourable mention: FamilySearch
.......dishonourable mention: FamilyLink
*** Vapourware 2009: GenSeek
Tamura has discussion of each award and the reasons for naming the recipients - read them at http://www.tamurajones.net/GeneAwards2009.xhtmll.
He also awarded GeneaBlog Awards for 2009 here.
Note that Tamura Jones's website cannot be read by Internet Explorer browser users without a special fix (which I cannot find on his site now).
Labels: Genealogy Industry, genealogy software, Online resources
How Many People are in Ancestry.com Member Trees?
I'm a "numbers" kind of guy - I love to know "how many," "how much," and "what's the most" or other types of numerical questions.
I was surprised tonight to look at the list Ancestry.com Family Tree databases in their Card Catalog and see the entries for:
* Public Member Trees -- Record Count - 128,050
* Private Member Trees -- Record Count = 38,904
Huh? My recollection was that there were almost 1 billion names in these Member Tree databases submitted by diligent genealogists in order to share their family trees with other ancestor-hungry researchers.
Hmmm, I wonder how many there are of the top names in almost any database. I put "Smith" in the Last Name field of the Public Member Tree search box:
And saw that there were over 4 million "Smith" entries in the Public Member Tree database:
I put "John" in the First Name field of the Public Member Tree search box, and found that there were over 44 million in the database:
So there are at least 44 million, and probably closer to 800 million, persons in the Public Member Trees, and likely about 30% of that number in the Private Member Trees. The About Ancestry.com corporate information page says "Over the past three years, our registered users have created over 11 million family trees containing more than 1.1 billion profiles."
I was surprised tonight to look at the list Ancestry.com Family Tree databases in their Card Catalog and see the entries for:
* Public Member Trees -- Record Count - 128,050
* Private Member Trees -- Record Count = 38,904
Huh? My recollection was that there were almost 1 billion names in these Member Tree databases submitted by diligent genealogists in order to share their family trees with other ancestor-hungry researchers.
Hmmm, I wonder how many there are of the top names in almost any database. I put "Smith" in the Last Name field of the Public Member Tree search box:
And saw that there were over 4 million "Smith" entries in the Public Member Tree database:
I put "John" in the First Name field of the Public Member Tree search box, and found that there were over 44 million in the database:
So there are at least 44 million, and probably closer to 800 million, persons in the Public Member Trees, and likely about 30% of that number in the Private Member Trees. The About Ancestry.com corporate information page says "Over the past three years, our registered users have created over 11 million family trees containing more than 1.1 billion profiles."
How does Ancestry.com come up with the "Record Count" values? Are they the number of Family Trees in the Member Trees system? Not likely, since they claim over 11 million trees. Are they the number of "profiles" in the Member Trees system (can't be, can it? Stupid question)? Is Ancestry.com trying to hide the fact that the Member Trees system is one of, if not the largest, family tree system on the Internet? Frankly, that's makes no sense.
Just what is Ancestry.com counting, and why are the numbers so low for these two databases?
One more numbers question - 1.1 billion profiles, 11 million family trees - so the average number of profiles in a Member Tree is only 100? For this genealogist with an extensively researched family tree (over 38,000 persons) - that doesn't compute either. But it may be that there are millions of Ancestry Member Trees with just two to ten profiles and they are "invisible" to those of us that use the database regularly.
Is all of this really important? In the larger picture - NO. They are "just numbers" but they don't make sense to this "numbers guy." But there is a consistency issue here - if "Records" = "Profiles" for the Member Trees (and they apparently do for the other family tree databases on the list), then the numbers should be about 700 times higher!
Is all of this really important? In the larger picture - NO. They are "just numbers" but they don't make sense to this "numbers guy." But there is a consistency issue here - if "Records" = "Profiles" for the Member Trees (and they apparently do for the other family tree databases on the list), then the numbers should be about 700 times higher!
Labels: Ancestry.com, Family Trees, Online resources
Monday, January 4, 2010
Teachable Moments in "Doing a Reasonably Exhaustive Search"
I received this information via email from reader Richard Aurand Sherer (whom I met at the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree last year), and he encouraged me to share it with you:
"I ran across something interesting during my research today and thought that, of all the bloggers I read, you might be the best one to share it with. I was researching a William Folckemmer and found his Civil War pension record at both Ancestry.com and Footnote.com. I've combined the two images into a collage, so you can see what I saw:
"The take-away from this is that researchers shouldn't be satisfied with just one source but need to keep looking for confirming evidence. That's a point that's often made, but it might be helpful to have a clear illustration like this to drive it home."
Thank you, Richard, for the excellent lesson in "doing a reasonably exhaustive search." The actual Civil War pension file will have all of that information and more, and should be obtained if this is an ancestral family. Unfortunately, these Civil War pension files have not been microfilmed or digitized yet, although Footnote.com is working on a small number of them with a longer term goal of digitizing and indexing all of them.
I was curious about the two databases, so I went and looked at the database citations and descriptions:
* http://www.ancestry.com/: National Archives and Records Administration. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 544 rolls.
Description: This database is an index to and images of pension cards of Civil War veterans in the United States. Each record includes the veteran's name and state in which he, or his dependents, filed the application. The digitized image of the index card itself, contains additional information on the individual, such as unit of service, date of filing, and application and certificate numbers for the pension case file housed at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C.
* http://www.footnote.com/: Publication Number: T289. Publication Title: Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900. Publisher: NARA
Short Description: NARA T289. Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
So there are two different record collections of essentially the same persons but with somewhat different information. There are other teachable moments here - no genealogy database provider has every database in their collection, and not every NARA database has been microfilmed.
While I have only one Civil War veteran with a pension file in my ancestry (Isaac Seaver), I do quite a bit of database mining on my ongoing one-name studies (Seaver, Dill, Auble, Carringer, Vaux). This is an excellent tip for me!
"I ran across something interesting during my research today and thought that, of all the bloggers I read, you might be the best one to share it with. I was researching a William Folckemmer and found his Civil War pension record at both Ancestry.com and Footnote.com. I've combined the two images into a collage, so you can see what I saw:
"The Ancestry.com record contains the pensioner's wife/widow's name and two file dates. The Footnote.com image does not show the widow's name, but does show the pensioner's death date at the bottom. Both were useful to me: I had early found the 1880 census record for William with his wife, Ann, so the Ancestry.com record confirmed that this probably was the right William. But I didn't know William's death date, so the Footnote.com record was also extremely valuable.
"The take-away from this is that researchers shouldn't be satisfied with just one source but need to keep looking for confirming evidence. That's a point that's often made, but it might be helpful to have a clear illustration like this to drive it home."
Thank you, Richard, for the excellent lesson in "doing a reasonably exhaustive search." The actual Civil War pension file will have all of that information and more, and should be obtained if this is an ancestral family. Unfortunately, these Civil War pension files have not been microfilmed or digitized yet, although Footnote.com is working on a small number of them with a longer term goal of digitizing and indexing all of them.
I was curious about the two databases, so I went and looked at the database citations and descriptions:
* http://www.ancestry.com/: National Archives and Records Administration. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 544 rolls.
Description: This database is an index to and images of pension cards of Civil War veterans in the United States. Each record includes the veteran's name and state in which he, or his dependents, filed the application. The digitized image of the index card itself, contains additional information on the individual, such as unit of service, date of filing, and application and certificate numbers for the pension case file housed at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C.
* http://www.footnote.com/: Publication Number: T289. Publication Title: Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900. Publisher: NARA
Short Description: NARA T289. Pension applications for service in the US Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
So there are two different record collections of essentially the same persons but with somewhat different information. There are other teachable moments here - no genealogy database provider has every database in their collection, and not every NARA database has been microfilmed.
While I have only one Civil War veteran with a pension file in my ancestry (Isaac Seaver), I do quite a bit of database mining on my ongoing one-name studies (Seaver, Dill, Auble, Carringer, Vaux). This is an excellent tip for me!
Labels: Military records, Research techniques, Research tips
Ancestry.com adds Wild Card Search Flexibility
Anne Mitchell posted Ancestry Search: Improved Wildcard flexibility on the Ancestry.com blog today.
Researchers can now use the "*" (up to six letters) and "?" (for one letter) wild cards anywhere in the name fields. The rules include:
* Now you can put a wildcard first, such as *son or ?atthew to catch all of those crazy spellings and variations that our ancestors came up with.
* Either the first or last character must be a non-wildcard character. For example, Han* and *son are okay, but not *anso*
* Names must contain at least three non-wildcard characters. For example, Ha*n is okay, but not Ha*
Read all of Anne's post for more examples and contribute your own to the comments on the post.
This is an excellent improvement to the Ancestry.com search capability. Of course, it won't find those hopelessly mangled names, or the hopelessly messed-up indexed entries, but it will help!
Researchers can now use the "*" (up to six letters) and "?" (for one letter) wild cards anywhere in the name fields. The rules include:
* Now you can put a wildcard first, such as *son or ?atthew to catch all of those crazy spellings and variations that our ancestors came up with.
* Either the first or last character must be a non-wildcard character. For example, Han* and *son are okay, but not *anso*
* Names must contain at least three non-wildcard characters. For example, Ha*n is okay, but not Ha*
Read all of Anne's post for more examples and contribute your own to the comments on the post.
This is an excellent improvement to the Ancestry.com search capability. Of course, it won't find those hopelessly mangled names, or the hopelessly messed-up indexed entries, but it will help!
Labels: Ancestry.com, Search Engines
Genealogy Software Reviews - and Awards
I received this email yesterday from Louis Kessler, who owns the www.GenSoftReviews.com web site and is creating a new genealogy software program called Behold. Louis passed this information along about his web site and the User Choice Awards for genealogy software:
---------------------------
Winnipeg, Manitoba -- January 2, 2010 -- GenSoftReviews is a website that allows users of genealogy software to rate and review the programs they've used or tried. This allows others who are looking for programs to better compare and select software that will help them.The site is located at: www.gensoftreviews.com
After just over a year of operation, 509 reviews have been submitted to GenSoftReviews. These include reviews of genealogy software for Windows, Mac, Unix, handheld and online programs. Many of these are full-featured programs to enter all your genealogy data, while some are GEDCOM utilities, website builders and other programs useful for genealogy.
The site collects ratings in five categories: Whether you enjoy using it, if you use it often, if it has easy input, useful output, and an overall rating. Then you can write a short review and list the program's biggest pro and biggest con.
Based on user ratings, all the programs with a user rating of 4 or more out of 5 and at least 10 reviews are being awarded a GenSoftReviews Users Choice Award.
The 2009 winners, ordered by highest rating are: RootsMagic, Legacy, The Next Generation, Brother's Keeper, Personal Ancestral File, Reunion, Family Tree Builder and GRAMPS. Complete results can be found at: www.gensoftreviews.com/awards.htm
"The Genealogy community has really been making great use of the GenSoftReviews site. It's a great place to check out what others think of the program you're interested in before you buy" says Louis Kessler who developed and maintains the site. The Genealogy Software Review site is free to use and does not require registration.
###About Louis Kessler: Louis Kessler has been a genealogist and programmer for over 30 years. He has published newspaper articles on genealogy, given presentations on genealogy, and is Past President of a regional Heritage Center. He is the developer of the genealogy program known as Behold that can be found at www.beholdgenealogy.com.
Contact Information -- Louis Kessler, 111 Wallingford Cres., Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3P 1L5; phone: (204) 488-2858; homep: www.lkessler.com; email: lkessler@lkessler.com
------------------------
Hmmm. Where is Family Tree Maker? There are many negative comments on the site about FTM since 2008. Are these negative comments warranted, or are they a backlash against Family Tree Maker (and Ancestry.com) because they modified the popular Family Tree Maker (up to Version 16)?
Also, I noted that there are very few (two?) reviews of RootsMagic since Version 4 was released early in 2009.
Thank you to Louis for the information, and I am glad to pass it along to my readers. Please go read the reviews from users at www.GenSoftReviews.com, and make some comments of your own if the spirit moves you.
---------------------------
Winnipeg, Manitoba -- January 2, 2010 -- GenSoftReviews is a website that allows users of genealogy software to rate and review the programs they've used or tried. This allows others who are looking for programs to better compare and select software that will help them.The site is located at: www.gensoftreviews.com
After just over a year of operation, 509 reviews have been submitted to GenSoftReviews. These include reviews of genealogy software for Windows, Mac, Unix, handheld and online programs. Many of these are full-featured programs to enter all your genealogy data, while some are GEDCOM utilities, website builders and other programs useful for genealogy.
The site collects ratings in five categories: Whether you enjoy using it, if you use it often, if it has easy input, useful output, and an overall rating. Then you can write a short review and list the program's biggest pro and biggest con.
Based on user ratings, all the programs with a user rating of 4 or more out of 5 and at least 10 reviews are being awarded a GenSoftReviews Users Choice Award.
The 2009 winners, ordered by highest rating are: RootsMagic, Legacy, The Next Generation, Brother's Keeper, Personal Ancestral File, Reunion, Family Tree Builder and GRAMPS. Complete results can be found at: www.gensoftreviews.com/awards.htm
"The Genealogy community has really been making great use of the GenSoftReviews site. It's a great place to check out what others think of the program you're interested in before you buy" says Louis Kessler who developed and maintains the site. The Genealogy Software Review site is free to use and does not require registration.
###About Louis Kessler: Louis Kessler has been a genealogist and programmer for over 30 years. He has published newspaper articles on genealogy, given presentations on genealogy, and is Past President of a regional Heritage Center. He is the developer of the genealogy program known as Behold that can be found at www.beholdgenealogy.com.
Contact Information -- Louis Kessler, 111 Wallingford Cres., Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3P 1L5; phone: (204) 488-2858; homep: www.lkessler.com; email: lkessler@lkessler.com
------------------------
Hmmm. Where is Family Tree Maker? There are many negative comments on the site about FTM since 2008. Are these negative comments warranted, or are they a backlash against Family Tree Maker (and Ancestry.com) because they modified the popular Family Tree Maker (up to Version 16)?
Also, I noted that there are very few (two?) reviews of RootsMagic since Version 4 was released early in 2009.
Thank you to Louis for the information, and I am glad to pass it along to my readers. Please go read the reviews from users at www.GenSoftReviews.com, and make some comments of your own if the spirit moves you.
Labels: Genealogy Industry, genealogy software
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Best of the Genea-Blogs - 27 December 2009 to 2 January 2010
Hundreds of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* Year in Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John lists 18 of his 2009 blog posts that he thinks readers will find informative and entertaining. They are!
* The Genealogical Proof Standard, step 1, The Genealogical Proof Standard, step 2 and The Genealogical Proof Standard, step 3 by Jen on the Shaw Genealogy blog. Jen is giving a talk on GPS and shares some of her information with us.
* NFS News: Media Event Excludes Online Community? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI not only laments the media problem, but discussed NFS release to non-LDS members and evaluated NFS with his GMM (Genealogical Maturity Model) - it didn't do well. Read the comments too - they are illuminating.
* Privacy, Identity Theft and Genealogy -- More on Identity Theft and Privacy, Identity Theft and Genealogy -- How real is this concern? by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James finished up his series on this topic by discussing how much risk there is to genealogists with online databases. Not much. Good!
* Business and Occupational Records by Gena Philibert Ortega on the WorldVitalRecords Blog. Gena presents a great list of online and traditional resources for these records.
* Census "view maps" links no good, Ancestry.com? by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. Ol' MYRT finds a problem with the Ancestry.com map function - it points to the county as if it's a city or town. Well done, MYRT - this slipped past everyone else!
* The Debate About Certification, etc.: The Courtroom Argument Concludes by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig's fictional, yet intriguing, courtroom drama about certification of genealogists continues - stay tuned! I think this would be a great script for presentation at genealogical societies and conferences.
* Why You Don’t Cite Sources (and How You Should) by Katrina McQuarrie on the Kick-Ass Genealogy blog. Katrina covers why you should, why you don't and her Pirate's code guidelines.
* 9 Genealogy Predictions for 2009 Reviewed by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog. Mark made predictions for 2009 in December 2008, and gave himself a 3.5 out of 9 on them. This is hard to do...I learned something just by reading his evaluations and appreciate the effort!
* Technology in genealogical research has its place by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James presents some rules concerning genealogists using technology. Well said.
* Top 10 genealogy news stories of 2009 by John D. Reid on the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog. John's list concentrates on his English and Canadian interests, but for those items it is an excellent list.
* Treasure Chest Thursday - December 31, 2009 by Texicanwife on the Mountain Genealogist blog. Her treasure is her husband - read this beautiful tribute to him and what he means to her. We all come through life, into relationships and to genealogy via different routes, don't we?
* Graveyard Rabbits Carnival – January 2010 Edition by Julie Cahill Tarr on The Graveyard Rabbit blog. The theme for this carnival is "The Final Resting Place" and there are nine entries.
* New Year's Genealogical Wishes by Martin Hollick on The Slovak Yankee blog. Martin has a wish list of records to be found online - I agree!
* How To Do Cuyahoga County, OH Deed Research In Your Pajamas, Part 1: Finding the Deeds You Need and How To Do Cuyahoga County, OH Deed Research In Your Pajamas, Part 2: View, Save, and Print by Chris Staats on the Staats Place blog. Chris does a superb job of walking the reader through the new Cuyahoga County Deeds online.
* A Year In Review 2009. by Terri Kallio on The Ties That Bind blog. Check out Terri's video and her music playlist. What a beautiful thing to do to remember the year.
* Weekly Rewind by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. Apple's weekly summary of her reading and research.
* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John's weekly summary of genealogy and technology.
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 570 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems. Especially this past week - with the holidays I read through my blog list hurriedly and may have missed your great post.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
UPDATED 5 p.m. Added Jen's Shaw Genealogy GPS articles to the list after Jen kindly told me about them in comments - also added Shaw Genealogy to my blog list - sometimes I need help!
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* Year in Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John lists 18 of his 2009 blog posts that he thinks readers will find informative and entertaining. They are!
* The Genealogical Proof Standard, step 1, The Genealogical Proof Standard, step 2 and The Genealogical Proof Standard, step 3 by Jen on the Shaw Genealogy blog. Jen is giving a talk on GPS and shares some of her information with us.
* NFS News: Media Event Excludes Online Community? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI not only laments the media problem, but discussed NFS release to non-LDS members and evaluated NFS with his GMM (Genealogical Maturity Model) - it didn't do well. Read the comments too - they are illuminating.
* Privacy, Identity Theft and Genealogy -- More on Identity Theft and Privacy, Identity Theft and Genealogy -- How real is this concern? by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James finished up his series on this topic by discussing how much risk there is to genealogists with online databases. Not much. Good!
* Business and Occupational Records by Gena Philibert Ortega on the WorldVitalRecords Blog. Gena presents a great list of online and traditional resources for these records.
* Census "view maps" links no good, Ancestry.com? by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. Ol' MYRT finds a problem with the Ancestry.com map function - it points to the county as if it's a city or town. Well done, MYRT - this slipped past everyone else!
* The Debate About Certification, etc.: The Courtroom Argument Concludes by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig's fictional, yet intriguing, courtroom drama about certification of genealogists continues - stay tuned! I think this would be a great script for presentation at genealogical societies and conferences.
* Why You Don’t Cite Sources (and How You Should) by Katrina McQuarrie on the Kick-Ass Genealogy blog. Katrina covers why you should, why you don't and her Pirate's code guidelines.
* 9 Genealogy Predictions for 2009 Reviewed by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog. Mark made predictions for 2009 in December 2008, and gave himself a 3.5 out of 9 on them. This is hard to do...I learned something just by reading his evaluations and appreciate the effort!
* Technology in genealogical research has its place by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James presents some rules concerning genealogists using technology. Well said.
* Top 10 genealogy news stories of 2009 by John D. Reid on the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog. John's list concentrates on his English and Canadian interests, but for those items it is an excellent list.
* Treasure Chest Thursday - December 31, 2009 by Texicanwife on the Mountain Genealogist blog. Her treasure is her husband - read this beautiful tribute to him and what he means to her. We all come through life, into relationships and to genealogy via different routes, don't we?
* Graveyard Rabbits Carnival – January 2010 Edition by Julie Cahill Tarr on The Graveyard Rabbit blog. The theme for this carnival is "The Final Resting Place" and there are nine entries.
* New Year's Genealogical Wishes by Martin Hollick on The Slovak Yankee blog. Martin has a wish list of records to be found online - I agree!
* How To Do Cuyahoga County, OH Deed Research In Your Pajamas, Part 1: Finding the Deeds You Need and How To Do Cuyahoga County, OH Deed Research In Your Pajamas, Part 2: View, Save, and Print by Chris Staats on the Staats Place blog. Chris does a superb job of walking the reader through the new Cuyahoga County Deeds online.
* A Year In Review 2009. by Terri Kallio on The Ties That Bind blog. Check out Terri's video and her music playlist. What a beautiful thing to do to remember the year.
* Weekly Rewind by Apple on the Apple's Tree blog. Apple's weekly summary of her reading and research.
* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John's weekly summary of genealogy and technology.
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 570 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems. Especially this past week - with the holidays I read through my blog list hurriedly and may have missed your great post.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
UPDATED 5 p.m. Added Jen's Shaw Genealogy GPS articles to the list after Jen kindly told me about them in comments - also added Shaw Genealogy to my blog list - sometimes I need help!
Labels: BestofGeneaBlogs, genealogy blogs
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Best of Genea-Musings for 2009
I have nominated the following posts as my "Best of Genea-Musings for 2009" based on my own subjective criteria. I tried to pick only three or four posts from each month so that it is a manageable list (but included posts in a series).
January 2009:
June 2009:
* Canadian Census Records, Canada Census Indexes at FamilySearch Record Search, Finding 1851 Canada Census Images - Post 1, Post 2, and Post 3
* "Genealogy in the Cloud" Program Summary - Part 1, Part 2
* SCGS Jamboree Highlights - Friday - Post 1, Saturday - Day 2, Tweeting the Blogger Summit, Day 3 - a Day of Rest?, Pictures
July 2009:
* My Interview with Lisa Louise Cooke at Jamboree and More SCGS Genealogy Jamboree Audio/Video
* My Favorite FREE Genealogy Resources
* Are there standards for names in family trees? and Standardizing names in family trees
* Are you ready to embrace these changes?
August 2009:
* 18 April 1906 - San Francisco - They Were There!, Same house, 103 years later? and Same house, 103 years later? Revisited
* GenSeek on Facebook Application is Available
September 2009:
* Bridging the Internet vs. Traditional Genealogy Gap
* Day 0 at the FGS Conference, Day 1a, Day 1b, Day 2a, Day 2b, Day 3, Day 4
* Download record images ... don't link to them
* Using Google Earth to find land location in the Public Land Survey System States
October 2009:
* Updated List of Unindexed Ancestry.com Databases
* AB 130 Signed Into Law - California Vital Records Access
* Genealogy and Family Tree Patents
* Obtaining my 43-Marker Y-DNA Test Results and Finding Potential Y-DNA Matches - Post 1: GeneTree
November 2009:
* San Francisco Funeral Home Records and More San Francisco Treats
* SDGS Ancestry.com Family History Seminar Highlights
* Using the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) and Using the DAR GRS - Ancestors and Descendants
* Canadian County Atlas Project - Wonderful! and Kemp and Sovereen Lands in Norfolk County, Ontario
December 2009:
* Are There Errors in the Social Security Death Index?
* Found a Family Home on Google...
* OurTimeLines.com works great!
* Grading my Progress on 2009 Goals and Objectives
Whew! That's 81 of them - out of about 1,013 posts for the entire year! But many of the 81 are part of a series (I didn't list the 25 individual posts for the RootsMagic 4 review - just the summary post).
I can't parse them any further. Frankly, I don't remember writing some of them - I look at some of the posts on that list and think "hmmm, that was pretty good!" Other posts, not on the list above, are repeats from previous years. I found that I said essentially the same thing at different times of the year.
Which is your favorite post on that list (or in all of Genea-Musings for 2009)? And why?
January 2009:
* Day 1 in Salt Lake City, Day 2a, Day 2b, Day 2c, Day 3, Day 4 (visit to Ancestry.com)
* Checking out the Family History Library - Post 1, Post 2
* Papers, Images, Indexes and Searches
* Are imaging services missing NARA records? and More on Originals, Images and Indexes
* A Tale of Two Genealogy Companies
February 2009:
* I Use the Internet for Genealogy Research by...
* Use Google Language Tools to aid Hispanic Research
March 2009:* My Y-DNA Results - Post 1: Getting Started, Post 2: Reading the Markers, Post 3: GeneBase Family Tree, Post 4: GeneBase Possible Matches, Post 5: FamilyTreeDNA Possible Matches, Post 6: Uploading to DNA Ancestry, Post 7: DNA Ancestry Possible Matches , Post 8: Uploading Data to Ysearch Post 9: Looking for Matches on Ysearch
* What is the Value of Genealogy 2.0 Technology?
* Is MyLife.com useful to genealogists?
April 2009:
* Who's Talkin' about you? Or me? Or something you care about?
* Working in RootsMagic 4 - Summary of Posts
* Adding Quality Source Citations to Genealogy Software Through Technology
* Happy Dance, Ah-ha, Eureka, Geneagasm Moments
May 2009:
* Using LiveRoots.com - Post 1, Post 2
* Searching Online for Genealogy Data
* First Look at WorldHistory.com - Post 1, Post 2 and Post 3
June 2009:
* Canadian Census Records, Canada Census Indexes at FamilySearch Record Search, Finding 1851 Canada Census Images - Post 1, Post 2, and Post 3
* "Genealogy in the Cloud" Program Summary - Part 1, Part 2
* SCGS Jamboree Highlights - Friday - Post 1, Saturday - Day 2, Tweeting the Blogger Summit, Day 3 - a Day of Rest?, Pictures
July 2009:
* My Interview with Lisa Louise Cooke at Jamboree and More SCGS Genealogy Jamboree Audio/Video
* My Favorite FREE Genealogy Resources
* Are there standards for names in family trees? and Standardizing names in family trees
* Are you ready to embrace these changes?
August 2009:
* 18 April 1906 - San Francisco - They Were There!, Same house, 103 years later? and Same house, 103 years later? Revisited
* GenSeek on Facebook Application is Available
September 2009:
* Bridging the Internet vs. Traditional Genealogy Gap
* Day 0 at the FGS Conference, Day 1a, Day 1b, Day 2a, Day 2b, Day 3, Day 4
* Download record images ... don't link to them
* Using Google Earth to find land location in the Public Land Survey System States
October 2009:
* Updated List of Unindexed Ancestry.com Databases
* AB 130 Signed Into Law - California Vital Records Access
* Genealogy and Family Tree Patents
* Obtaining my 43-Marker Y-DNA Test Results and Finding Potential Y-DNA Matches - Post 1: GeneTree
November 2009:
* San Francisco Funeral Home Records and More San Francisco Treats
* SDGS Ancestry.com Family History Seminar Highlights
* Using the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) and Using the DAR GRS - Ancestors and Descendants
* Canadian County Atlas Project - Wonderful! and Kemp and Sovereen Lands in Norfolk County, Ontario
December 2009:
* Are There Errors in the Social Security Death Index?
* Found a Family Home on Google...
* OurTimeLines.com works great!
* Grading my Progress on 2009 Goals and Objectives
Whew! That's 81 of them - out of about 1,013 posts for the entire year! But many of the 81 are part of a series (I didn't list the 25 individual posts for the RootsMagic 4 review - just the summary post).
I can't parse them any further. Frankly, I don't remember writing some of them - I look at some of the posts on that list and think "hmmm, that was pretty good!" Other posts, not on the list above, are repeats from previous years. I found that I said essentially the same thing at different times of the year.
Which is your favorite post on that list (or in all of Genea-Musings for 2009)? And why?
Labels: BestofGeneaBlogs, genealogy blogs, musings
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Best 2009 Genealogy Moment
Hey, it's Saturday Night - time for some Genealogy Fun!! I know - you had a great time on New Year's Eve, and are just recovering from the holidays, so we'll keep this one pretty easy.
Here is your assignment, if you choose to accept it (frankly, I've noticed that SNGF participation has dropped off in the last month - why? Too much eggnog? Too much work? What?):
1) "What was your best Genealogy Moment during 2009?" This could be a research find, a fabulous trip, a found family treasure, etc. Your choice!
2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, a comment to this blog post, or a comment to the Twitter or Facebook status line for this post.
Here's mine:
I posted Top Ten Genealogy Moments in 2009 on Wednesday, and my #1 Genealogy Moment was:
1. Attending the "Bloggers day" at Ancestry.com in Provo, Utah in January (Day 1, Day 2a, Day 2b, Day 2c, Day 3, Day 4), including the tours, the dinners, and the meetings with Ancestry.com staff and executives, and having fun with the SLIG planners. I really appreciated the invitation (not being one of the "elite" in genealogy circles) and the opportunity to become acquainted with the company and the staff.
The Ancestry.com people and visit were great, but the longlasting memory is of meeting some of my TGSG and ProGen colleagues and many other genealogists - who were on the FGS Board, were the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) planners, or were attending SLIG. I especially loved meeting Pat Richley, who picked Dick Eastman and I up on Thursday night and shared dinner with us and several other "genealogy goddesses." On Sunday, Pat and the SLIG folks invited me to a wonderful brunch at my hotel and I had a great time meeting and sharing with a lot of really neat people! On Sunday night, I went to dinner with the TGSG group organized by Christy Fillerup. Meeting other genealogists is one of the best experiences I have, and I encourage every reader to go to conferences or seminars and meet people. You never know who might be a distant ocusin!
Here is your assignment, if you choose to accept it (frankly, I've noticed that SNGF participation has dropped off in the last month - why? Too much eggnog? Too much work? What?):
1) "What was your best Genealogy Moment during 2009?" This could be a research find, a fabulous trip, a found family treasure, etc. Your choice!
2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, a comment to this blog post, or a comment to the Twitter or Facebook status line for this post.
Here's mine:
I posted Top Ten Genealogy Moments in 2009 on Wednesday, and my #1 Genealogy Moment was:
1. Attending the "Bloggers day" at Ancestry.com in Provo, Utah in January (Day 1, Day 2a, Day 2b, Day 2c, Day 3, Day 4), including the tours, the dinners, and the meetings with Ancestry.com staff and executives, and having fun with the SLIG planners. I really appreciated the invitation (not being one of the "elite" in genealogy circles) and the opportunity to become acquainted with the company and the staff.
The Ancestry.com people and visit were great, but the longlasting memory is of meeting some of my TGSG and ProGen colleagues and many other genealogists - who were on the FGS Board, were the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) planners, or were attending SLIG. I especially loved meeting Pat Richley, who picked Dick Eastman and I up on Thursday night and shared dinner with us and several other "genealogy goddesses." On Sunday, Pat and the SLIG folks invited me to a wonderful brunch at my hotel and I had a great time meeting and sharing with a lot of really neat people! On Sunday night, I went to dinner with the TGSG group organized by Christy Fillerup. Meeting other genealogists is one of the best experiences I have, and I encourage every reader to go to conferences or seminars and meet people. You never know who might be a distant ocusin!
Labels: genealogy blogs, SNGF
Surname Saturday - RICH
On Surname Saturdays, I am posting family lines from my own ancestry. I am doing this in Ahnentafel order, and am up to number #21, who is Hannah Rich (1824-1911).
My ancestry back to John Rich (1793-1868) is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)
4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
10. Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
11. Julia White (1848-1913)
20. James Richman (1821-1912)
21. Hannah Rich, born 14 April 1824 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 07 August 1911 in Putnam, Windham County, CT. She married 07 September 1845 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
42. John Rich, born About 1793 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 06 June 1868 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND. He married 14 February 1815 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
43. Rebecca Hill, born before 25 April 1790 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 07 March 1862 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND. She was the daughter of 6. John Hill and 7. Ann Warren. Children of John Rich and Rebecca Hill are:
............ i. Ann Rich, born before 07 June 1818 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 20 December 1882 in Minock, Woodford, IL; married James Gaisford 25 March 1836 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; born October 1819 in ENGLAND; died 21 April 1905 in Minock, Woodford, IL;
............ ii. James Rich, born before 23 June 1818 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ iii. John Rich, born before 22 November 1818 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ iv. William Rich, born before 09 December 1821 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 14 April 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ v. John Rich, born before 15 August 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married Lydia Scott 23 December 1838 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ vi. Jesse Rich, born before 18 August 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 04 December 1871 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married Jane Rose 18 June 1849 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; born About 1824 in Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 26 April 1906 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
.... 21 .. vii. Hannah Rich, born 14 April 1824 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 07 August 1911 in Putnam, Windham County, CT; married James Richman/Richmond 07 September 1845 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ viii. Emma Rich, born before 25 March 1827 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ ix. Elizabeth Rich, born About 1828 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married James Carpenter 07 March 1847 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ x. William Rich, born before 11 March 1830 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 06 April 1914 in Putnam, Windham, CT; married Caroline Linzey 09 June 1851 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; born 16 April 1832 in ENGLAND; died 28 March 1904 in Putnam, Windham, CT.
............ xi. Samuel Rich, born before 28 February 1833 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married Annie D. before. 1864 in RI; born 1835 in CT; died 25 August 1917 in Pomfret, Windham, CT.
I have been unable to determine the parents of John Rich. If there are any Rich cousins reading this with more information, I would appreciate hearing from you via email at rjseaver@cox.net.
My ancestry back to John Rich (1793-1868) is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)
4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
10. Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
11. Julia White (1848-1913)
20. James Richman (1821-1912)
21. Hannah Rich, born 14 April 1824 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 07 August 1911 in Putnam, Windham County, CT. She married 07 September 1845 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
42. John Rich, born About 1793 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 06 June 1868 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND. He married 14 February 1815 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
43. Rebecca Hill, born before 25 April 1790 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 07 March 1862 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND. She was the daughter of 6. John Hill and 7. Ann Warren. Children of John Rich and Rebecca Hill are:
............ i. Ann Rich, born before 07 June 1818 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 20 December 1882 in Minock, Woodford, IL; married James Gaisford 25 March 1836 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; born October 1819 in ENGLAND; died 21 April 1905 in Minock, Woodford, IL;
............ ii. James Rich, born before 23 June 1818 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ iii. John Rich, born before 22 November 1818 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ iv. William Rich, born before 09 December 1821 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 14 April 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ v. John Rich, born before 15 August 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married Lydia Scott 23 December 1838 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ vi. Jesse Rich, born before 18 August 1822 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died before 04 December 1871 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married Jane Rose 18 June 1849 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; born About 1824 in Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 26 April 1906 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
.... 21 .. vii. Hannah Rich, born 14 April 1824 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 07 August 1911 in Putnam, Windham County, CT; married James Richman/Richmond 07 September 1845 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ viii. Emma Rich, born before 25 March 1827 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ ix. Elizabeth Rich, born About 1828 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married James Carpenter 07 March 1847 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND.
............ x. William Rich, born before 11 March 1830 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; died 06 April 1914 in Putnam, Windham, CT; married Caroline Linzey 09 June 1851 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; born 16 April 1832 in ENGLAND; died 28 March 1904 in Putnam, Windham, CT.
............ xi. Samuel Rich, born before 28 February 1833 in Hilperton, Wiltshire, ENGLAND; married Annie D. before. 1864 in RI; born 1835 in CT; died 25 August 1917 in Pomfret, Windham, CT.
I have been unable to determine the parents of John Rich. If there are any Rich cousins reading this with more information, I would appreciate hearing from you via email at rjseaver@cox.net.
Labels: My genealogy research, Surname Saturday, Surnames
