Saturday, August 14, 2010

SNGF - My Own Place Line

The mission this week for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is to create a Place Line for yourself, or for a person in your ancestry.

Here is mine:

1) Residences:

* 577 Twin Oaks Avenue, Chula Vista CA; 1943-1944; from birth to moving back to my mother's family.

* 2130 Fern Street, San Diego CA; 1944-1945; my mother and I moved in with her parents, Lyle and Emily (Auble) Carringer, when my father went into the Navy until he returned home.

* 2114 Fern Street, San Diego CA; 1945-1946; my family lived in this two bedroom apartment until my brother was born.

* 2116 Fern Street, San Diego CA; 1946-1947; my family moved upstairs into the larger apartment.

* 2119 30th Street, San Diego CA; 1947-1967; my family moved into the upstairs apartment owned by my grandparents on 30th Street. This is the place I remember best.

* 4660 Idaho Street (approximately), San Diego CA; January 1867-July 1967; I moved into my own apartment, then was laid off at work.

* 2119 30th Street, San Diego CA; July 2967-February 1968; I moved back in with my parents, and found another job.

* 907 Turquoise Street (approximately), San Diego CA; February 1968-July 1968; I moved into a beach apartment with my buddy John, who didn't pay his share of the rent.

* 4410 Oregon Street, San Diego CA; July 1968-February 1970; I moved into my own apartment again after splitting up with good buddy John; it was close to Aztec Bowl, where I drank, bowled and hung out with other reprobates)

* 540 C Street, Apt. 10, Chula Vista CA; March 1970-December 1971; I married Linda, and this was our first apartment as a married couple.

* 755 Coleman Court, San Diego CA; December 1971-April 1975; we bought a three-bedroom house on Otay Mesa.

* 1154 Via Trieste, Chula Vista CA; April 1975-present; we sold the Coleman Court house, and bought the Via Trieste house - four bedrooms, cul-de-sac, better schools.

2) Schools

* Brooklyn Elementary School, on block between A Street and Ash Street, and Fern Street and 30th Street in San Diego CA; September 1948-June 1955; I attended Kindergarten through 6th Grade.

* Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School, on southwest corner of Upas Street and Park Boulevard in San Diego CA; September 1955 to June 1958; I attended 7th through 9th grade.

* San Diego High School, on northeast corner or Park Boulevard and Russ Boulevard in San Diego CA; September 1958 to June 1961; I attended 10th through 12th grade.

* San Diego State University, on College Avenue in San Diego CA; September 1861-January 1966; I attended 4.5 years of college and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.

3) Churches

* St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, on College Avenue in San Diego CA; 1950; I was baptized in this church but don't think I ever attended a service there.

* Brooklyn Heights Presbyterian Church, southeast corner of Fir Street and 30th Street; about 1955 to 1958; my brother and I attended Sunday School and youth group off and on for several years.

* Chula Vista Presbyterian Church, 940 Hilltop Drive, Chula Vista CA; February 1970 to present; Linda and I were married here, are members and attend regularly.

4) Employment

* Brooklyn Heights in San Diego CA (area bounded by Fir Street, Fern Street, Date Street, 28th Street); about 1954 to about 1959; my brother and I had a twice-weekly newspaper route with about 100 customers.

* Rough Acres Ranch, Boulevard CA; July 1963 to August 1963; worked for San Diego Chargers as a camp boy for six weeks of training camp. Got free tickets to exhibition games!

* Corner of Shafter Street and Shelter Island Drive in San Diego CA; June 1964-September 1964; I worked for Wagner Aircraft as a summer intern.

* 8225 Center Drive, La Mesa CA; June 1965 to March 1967; worked as a summer intern at Sunrise Aircraft until January 1966, then as an aerodynamics engineer until March 1967 when the company folded and I was laid off.

* Foot of H Street, Chula Vista CA; October 1967 to October 1992; hired by Rohr Aircraft in October 1967 as Aerodynamics engineer.

* 850 Lagoon Drive, Chula Vista CA; October 1992-July 1998; Rohr Inc. office moved to this location in October 1992.

* 850 Lagoon Drive, Chula Vista CA; July 1998 to August 2002; Rohr Inc. acquired by Goodrich Corp. and renamed Goodrich Aerostructures, retired in August 2002 after 35 years at company.

* 850 Lagoon Drive, Chula Vista CA; July 2004 to November 2006; Hired as contract engineer by Adecco Inc. to work at Goodrich Aerostructures office.

That's probably enough.

Why do I want to list all of these places in a place line? If I were famous, I guess someone would want to know that "Randy slept here" or "Randy worked here." Maybe my descendants will want to know where I lived, was educated worshipped, and worked at some point in time.

Now I need to get photographs of each of these places. Unfortunately, at least one church and one workplace don't exist any longer! I'm not sure about Rough Acres Ranch or the apartment houses!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Place Line

Hey there, genea-folks, it's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Do a Place Line. We're all familiar with Timelines - date, location, event, etc. I want you to create a Place Line for your life, or for the life of one of your parents or grandparents - your choice! In that Place Line, tell us the location (address if possible), inclusive dates (if possible), and events. Consider topics like residence, schools, churches, employment, etc.

2) Tell us about it in a blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.

Why do this? Often it is the Places that we remember most, and family stories flow from those memories.

I'm recovering from Grandpa Camp right now, so I'll post a separate blog tonight for my Place Line.

Surname Saturday - KENYON (England > RI)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 95, who is Nancy Kenyon (1765-????), one of my 4th-great-grandparents.

My ancestral line back through six generations of KENYON families 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)

22. Henry Arnold White (1824-1885)
23. Amy Frances Oatley (1826-before 1870)

46. Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872)
47. Amy Champlin (1798-1865)

94. Joseph Champlin, born about 1758 in Charlestown, Washington County, RI, and died 17 June 1850 in South Kingston, Washington County, RI. He was the son of 188. Elijah Champlin and 189. Phoebe Card. He married before 1785 in probably South Kingstown, Washington County, RI.
95. Nancy Kenyon, born About 1765 in Washington County, RI.

Children of Joseph Champlin and Nancy Kenyon were Samuel Champlin (1785-1874); Phoebe Champlin (1788-1879); Mary Champlin (1790-????); Joseph Champlin (1792-1877); Nancy Champlin (1794-1821_; Elizabeth Champlin (1796-????); Amy Champlin (1798-1865); Abigail Champlin (1798-1859); George Hazard Champlin (1799-1865); Frances Gardner Champlin (1800-1880); John Kenyon Champlin (1804-????); Alice Champlin (1808-1876).

190. John Kenyon, born about 1742 in Richmond, Washington County, RI; died July 1831 in Sterling, Windham County, CT. He married 1764 in probably Newport, Newport County, RI.
191. Anna, born about 1742 in RI; died before in probably Windham County, CT.

Children of John Kenyon and Anna are: Nancy Kenyon (1765-????); Lewis Kenyon (1767-????); Sylvester Kenyon (1769-1838); Almy Kenyon (1770-????); Abigail Kenyon (1772-????); Cynthia Kenyon (1773-????); Mary Kenyon (1774-1810); John Kenyon (1776-????); George Kenyon (1778-1834).

380. Sylvester Kenyon, born 07 April 1710 in Kingstown, Washington County, RI; died 03 May 1800 in Voluntown, New London County, CT. He married 07 April 1740 in North Kingstown, Washington County, RI.
381. Anna Barber, born 08 October 1717 in North Kingstown, Washington County, RI; died after 1800 in Sterling, Windham County, CT. She was the daughter of 762. Moses Barber and 763. Susanna West/Wast.

Children of Sylvester Kenyon and Anna Barber are: Giles Kenyon (1740-????); Sylvester Kenyon (1741-1838); John Kenyon (1742-1831); Abigail Kenyon (1744-????); Paul Kenyon (1746-????); Moses Kenyon (1750-1824).

760. John Kenyon, born about 1682 in Rhode Island; died before 27 February 1734/35 in Westerly, Washington County, RI. He married July 1704 in North Kingstown, Washington County, RI.
761. Elizabeth Remington, born about 1685 in Kingstown, Washington County, RI; died before 05 October 1747 in Richmond, Washington County, RI. She was the daughter of 1522. John Remington and 1523. Abigail Richmond.

Children of John Kenyon and Elizabeth Remington are: John Kenyon (1706-1747); Thomas Kenyon (1708-1778); Sylvester Kenyon (1710-1800); George Kenyon (1712-1796); Sarah Kenyon (1715-1803); Mary Kenyon (1717-????); Elizabeth Kenyon (1720-1778); Samuel Kenyon (1722-1747); Abigail Kenyon (1724-1746); Benedict Kenyon (1727-1807);

CORRECTION: See the UPDATE below, I have modified the information for the family of John Kenyon below:

1520. John Kenyon, born about 1657, died before 26 June 1732 in Westerly, Washington County, RI. He married about 1678.
1521. --?-- Mumford, died in Westerly, Washington County, RI.

Children of John Kenyon and --?-- Mumford are: John Kenyon (1679-1681); John Kenyon (1682-1735); Sarah Kenyon (1683-1721); Jonathan Kenyon (1687-1687); Enoch Kenyon (1688-1781); James Kenyon (1690-1774); David Kenyon (1693-1772); Jonathan Kenyon (1695-1767); Joseph Kenyon (1697-1766); Samuel Kenyon (1699-1724).

CORRECTION: James and Esther (Smith) Kenyon are not the parents of John Kenyon (1657-1732) - see the UPDATE at the bottom of this post:

3040. James Kenyon, born 1633 of Droyleston, Manchester, Lancashire, ENGLAND. He married 02 May 1654 in Oldham, Lancashire, ENGLAND.
3041. Esther Smith, born 1633 in Oldham, Lancashire, ENGLAND. She was the daughter of 6082. John Smith and 6083. Sarah Sherman.

Children of James Kenyon and Esther Smith are: John Kenyon (1655-1732); James Kenyon (1657-1724); Mary Kenyon (1660-????).
END OF CORRECTION

One published history of the Rhode Island Kenyon family was American Kenyons ... by Howard N. Kenyon, which got some of the families in rural Rhode Island mixed up, especially my 380. Sylvester Kenyon and his son 190. John Kenyon's families. The Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Book 3, George Soule by Anne Harding seems to have found more accurate information, and is what I'm using. I discussed the family and John's wife's name here.

CORRECTION: The paragraph below is also affected by the UPDATE below:

Some resources list the wife of 1520. John Kenyon (1655-1732) as Hannah Mumford. However, several of John Kenyon's children were born to an Anna in Lancashire while the assumed Hannah Mumford was apparently born in RI. He may have married a Hannah Mumford after the English-born wife died.

Are there any Kenyon cousins reading this? I have lost contact with some of the knowledgeable Kenyon cousins that have worked hard to correct the American Kenyons book. Please contact me at rjseaver@cox.net if you wish to correspond.

UPDATED 16 August: Martin Hollick noted in Comments that "In a series of articles in TAG in 2003-4 the Kenyons' English origins were disproved. 1521. becomes [blank] Mumford, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Sherman) Mumford. And 1520 is the end of the line. It's my book which you have."

Martin's excellent book is New Englanders in the 1600's, A Guide to Genealogical Research Published Between 1980 and 2005, Boston, Massachusetts, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006. The entry in Martin's book noted:

"KENYON, JOHN, b. ca. 1657, d. Westerly, R.I., 1732. TAG 78:222-27, 79:207-8 (revision of English origins and early generations)."

I have edited my post above to reflect the revisions noted in the two articles from The American Genealogist periodical. I will have more to say about my research on this family in a later post.

Thank you to Martin Hollick for providing the latest scholarly information about the early Kenyon families. I really dislike to be wrong on any of my genealogical information, but I know that my research, and my database, are very imperfect! All errors are my own, and I appreciate readers that help me find ancestral family information.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Hiram Abiathur Knapp (1841-1927)

I posted the 30th wedding annniversary announcement of Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Knapp, residing in Riverside, California in the 1890 to 1910 time period in Treasure Chest Thursday - A 30th Wedding Anniversary. Then yesterday, I posted the Sawtelle Veterans Home record for Hiram A. Knapp, which summarized his military service, his domestic situation, his residence at the Home, and his death date.

From those, and other sources, I've been able to piece together quite a bit of information about Hiram Abiathur Knapp and his family, including (I had some of this in my genealogy database already!):

Hiram Abiathur Knapp was born on 2 February 1841, probably in Addison County, Vermont, the son of Nathaniel and Betsey (Dartt) Knapp. The Nathaniel Knapp family was not found in the 1850 U.S. Census in Vermont, but was found in the 1860 U.S. Census in Richfield township, Adams County, Wisconsin.

Hiram married Almira Louisa Carringer on 21 March 1862, probably in Adams County, Wisconsin. Irene was born 11 January 1843 in Essex County, New York, the daughter of William Carringer and Irene Churchill. In the 1860 U.S. census, the William Carringer family resided in Chester township, Adams County, Wisconsin.

Hiram and Irene (Churchill) Knapp had four children - Ida Louisa Knapp (1863-????), Edith Irene Knapp (1868-????); William Nathaniel Knapp (1875-????); Elwin H.S. Knapp (1883-????).

Hiram A. Knapp enlisted in Company I of the First Minnesota Infantry on 6 April 1865 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and was mustered out on 14 July 1865 at Fort Snelling. He filed for an Invalid Pension on 1 August 1904 and again on 14 March 1907. His Application Number is 1,332,012 and his Certificate Number is 1,095,467 (Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, compiled 1949 - 1949, documenting the period 1861 - 1942; original information on National Archives Publication M289, Roll 251, image of card accessed on http://www.footnote.com/).

The Hiram Knapp family was not found in the 1870 United States Census records.

In the 1880 US Census, this family resided in Owatonna township, Steele County, Minnesota (1880 US Census for Minnesota, population schedule, Steele County, Enumeration District 245, Page 70B, Lines 14-18, National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 635). The household included:

* Hiram A. Knapp - white, male, age 39, married, a stone mason, born VT, parents born VT/VT
* A. Louisa Knapp - white, female, age 37, wife, married, keeping house, born PA, parents born PA/VT
* Ida L. Knapp - white, female, age 17, daughter, single, at school, born WI, parents born VT/PA
* Ede J. Knapp - white, female, age 12, daughter, single, at school, born MN, parents born Vt/PA
* Willie M. Knapp - white, male, age 5, son, single, at school, born MN, parents born VT/PA

In the 1900 US census this family resided at 154 North Park Avenue in Riverside Precinct 5, Riverside County, California. The household included (1900 US Census for California, population schedule, Riverside County, Enumeration District 209, Page 12B, Dwelling #230, Family #241, National Archives Microfilm Series T623, Roll 96):

* Hyram A. Knapp - head, white, male, born Feb 1841, age 59, married, born VT, parents born VT/VT, a bricklayer, owns home with mortgage
* Almira L. Knapp - wife, white, female, born Jan 1843, age 57, married, for 28 years, 4 children born, 4 living, born PA, parents born PA/VT
* Ellwin H.S. Knapp - son, white, male, born Feb 1883, age 17, single, born MN, parents born VT/PA, a student

In the 1910 US census this family resided at 1364 Creek Side Riverside Ward 2, Riverside County, California. The household included (1910 US Census for California, population schedule, Riverside County, Enumeration District 75, Page 9A, Dwelling #211, Family #227, National Archives Microfilm Series T624, Roll 91):

* Hyram A. Knapp - head, white, male, age 69, widowed, born VT, parents born NY/VT, has own income
* Elwin H. Knapp - son, white, male, age 28, single, born MN, parents born VT/PA, a bookkeeper

In the 1920 US census this family resided at 144 North Lime, in Riverside Ward 1, Riverside County, California. The household included (1920 US Census for California, population schedule, Riverside County, Enumeration District 114, Page 9B, Dwelling #15, Family #16, National Archives Microfilm Series T625, Roll 125):

* Elwin H.S. Knapp - head, male, white, age 36, married, born MN, parents born VT/MN, a manager
* C. Pearl Knapp - wife, female, white, age 29, married, born MI, parents born MI/MI
* Beverly E. Knapp - son, male, white, age 1-11/12, single, born CA, parents born MN/MI
* Hiram A. Knapp - father, white, male, age 79, widowed, born VT, parents born VT/VT

Hiram Knapp is also listed as residing in the Ida Labert household iat 961 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles Assembly district 62, Los Angeles County, California. The household included (1920 US Census for California, population schedule, Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Assembly District 62, Enumeration District 141, Page 11A, Dwelling #35, Family #36, National Archives Microfilm Series T625, Roll 105):

* Ida K. Lambert -- head, female, white, age 60, married, born New York, parents born VT/PA
* Emerson E. Lambert -- son, male, white, age 21, single, born California, parents born WI/NY, a teller, works in a bank
* Hiram Knapp -- father, male, white, age 80, widowed, born Vermont, parents born VT/VT.

Information in the California Death Index (1905-1929) and the Sawtelle Veterans Home record indicate that Hiram A. Knapp died 1 August 1927 in Los Angeles, California.

All of this information provides the answers to my two questions in my post about the 30th wedding anniversary:

1) When was this anniversary celebration held? According to the data, it was held in March, 1892 - 30 years after the marriage of Hiram A. Knapp and Almira Louisa Carringer.

2) How is Henry Austin Carringer related to Hiram A. Knapp?

Here is the line back for Almira Louisa (Carringer):

* Almira Louisa Carringer (1843-????)
* William Carringer (1816-1900) and Irene Churchill (1813-1899)
* Jacob Carringer (1785-1865) and Elizabeth --?-- (1785-1868)
* Martin Carringer (1758-1835) and Mary Hoax (1768-1850).

The line for Henry Austin Carringer (my great-grandfather) is:

* Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946)
* David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902) and Rebecca Spangler (1831-1901)
* Henry Carringer (1800-1881) and Sarah Feather (1804-1848).
* Martin Carringer (1758-1835 and Mary Hoax (1768-1850).

Therefore, Henry Austin Carringer and Almira Louisa (Carringer) Knapp were second cousins - the Most Recent Common Ancestors being their great-grandparents, Martin Carringer and Mary Hoax. Hiram A. Knapp was the husband of Austin Carringer's second cousin.

I have some names and dates for some of the people in the next two generations of descendants of Hiram and Almira Knapp. Perhaps this information will be helpful to them if they do a search for Hiram Abiathur Knapp or Almira Louisa Carringer.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Chula Vista Genealogical Society Highlights

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society has been busy all summer with more meetings and program than we've ever had.

Recent posts on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog include:

* CVGS Research Group Review - 14 July 2010 posted 15 July

* 50% Off Footnote.com subscription for CVGS Members posted 17 July

* New or Updated Record Databases - July 2010 posted 19 July

* Weekender Program - Sunday, 25 July on FamilySearch.org posted 21 July

* CVGS Program on 28 July: "Vital Records" by Susi Pentico posted 26 July

* CVGS Program Summary - "Vital Records" by Susi Pentico posted 29 July

* Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - August 2010 posted 2 August

* Class on Five Generation Pedigree Charts posted 9 August

* August 2010 Edition of CVGS Newsletter is available posted 10 August

The August 2010 issue of the CVGS Newsletter has the first news of the CVGS Fall Seminar on 2 October, featuring speakers Jean Wilcox Hibben and Alfredo Pena.

For more information about any CVGS program, please contact Barbara I (619-477-4140 or baribai@cox.net).

Treasure Chest Thursday - a Veteran's Home Record

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to show and tell a document or artifact from my genealogy research and family history.

Two weeks ago, I posted the 30th wedding anniversary article for Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Knapp in Riverside, California. I wondered what had happened to Mr. and Mrs. Knapp, and I found quite a bit of information online. One of the items I found online on Ancestry.com was this record from the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938 collection:




Hiram A. Knapp's entry in this collection is the right-hand side of the image. He was in the Sawtelle Veterans Home, admitted for the first time in 1913. Here is all of the information gleaned from this record:

* Name: Hiram A. Knapp
* MILITARY HISTORY
** Time and Place of Each Enlistment: Apr. 6, 1865, Ft. Snelling, Minn.
** Rank: P[rivate]
** Company and Regiment: F, 1st Minn. Inf.
* Time and Place of Discharge: Julky 14, 1865, Ft. Snelling, Minn.
* Cause of discharge: Mustered out
** Disabilities When Admitted to the Home: Defective hearing. Stye. Castrophic Cardiac Dilatation. Gen On good [own good?]

* DOMESTIC HISTORY
** Where Born: Vermont
** Age: 72
** Height: 5'8"
** Complexion: Light
** Color of eyes: Blue
** Color of Hair: Grey
** Read and Write: yes
** Religion: Prot[estant]
** Occupation: Contractor
** Married or Single: Wid[owed]
** Name and Address of Nearest Relative: Son. E.H.S. Knapp, 341 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, Cal.

* HOME HISTORY
** Rate of Pension: $18 [1913]
** Rate of Pension: $?? [1918]
** Rate of Pension: $50 [1923]
** Rate of Pension: $72 [1925]
** Date of Admission, Re-Admission and Transfer: Adm. Dec 9, '13
** Date of Admission, Re-Admission and Transfer: ReAd. NW. 19-11-'17 [1917]
** Date of Admission, Re-Admission and Transfer: Dis. OR NW. 14-4-'18 [1918]
** Date of Admission, Re-Admission and Transfer: ReAd. OB 8 Mar. 1920 [1920]
** Date of Admission, Re-Admission and Transfer: ReAd OB June 2, 1923 [1923]
** Date of Admission, Re-Admission and Transfer: ReAdm PB June 18 '25
** Condition of Re-Admission: [no entries]
** Date of Discharge and Transfer: June 27, '17 [1917]
** Date of Discharge and Transfer: 26-1-'21 [1921]
** Date of Discharge and Transfer: Nov. 22 '23 [1923]
** Cause of Discharge: O.R. [own request?]
** Cause of Discharge: O.R. [own request?]
** Cause of Discharge: O.R. [own request?]
** Date of Death: Aug 1st 1927
** Cause of Death: Senile, Psychosis, Arterio Sclerosis

* GENERAL REMARKS
** Admission Paper: 1
** Certificate of Service: 1
** Pension Certificate: 1,095,467
** Cash: $6.20
** Personal, Appraised at: .85 ch[ange]
** How Disposed of: To Ellwin H.S. Knapp son, 341 New Magnolia Ave., Riverside, Calif.
** Location of Grave and Remarks: Body removed to Riverside, Calif.

There is a lot of useful information on this Veteran's Home record, isn't there? A death date, a cause of death, a next of kin, a military pension certificate number, military service enlistment and discharge dates and places, a physical description when admitted, etc.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

SDGS Program on Saturday - 14 August - Chris Hansen Speaking

The San Diego Genealogical Society meeting on Saturday, 14 August starts at 12 noon at St. Andrews Lutheran Charch (8350 Lake Murray Blvd, near Jackson Drive in San Diego).

Chris Hansen will make two presentations:

12 noon -- "U.S. Military Records and Uniforms"

1:30 p.m. -- "U.S. Migration Patterns: Colonial Times Through World War II"

The program descriptions are (from the August 2010 SDGS Newsletter):

"As genealogists, we frequently find family photos we cannot identify or determine the time period, some of which have military uniforms. The U.S. Military Uniforms and Records presentation will help us identify U.S. military uniforms used for the past two centuries as 42 million Americans served in our armed services. Websites to help us discover information foro ur military ancestors will be discussed. Discover which census has specific questions aboutm ilitary service and where to request compiled service records.

"Do you know the root causes of migration in the United States? Learn how religious, economic, social, technological and international events affected the lives of our ancestors and transportation methods aided their migration in pursuit of a better life.

"Chris Hansen, a member of the Orange County Genealogical Society and immediate past Vice President-Programs has led the Computer-Assisted Genealogy Special Interest Group."

In addition, the RootsMagic user group and the second of four "Beginning Genealogy" classes, on Census Records, will be held at 10 a.m.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 115: Edgar's Matchbox Mansion

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.

I managed to scan about 100 family photographs in the Scanfest in January, and have converted the scanned TIF files to smaller JPGs, cropped and rotated as best I can. Many of these were "new" to my digital photograph collection.

Here is a photograph from the Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:


The information on the back of this card stock indicates that this is a model of a mansion created from matchboxes by Edgar Carringer in about 1896.

Harvey Edgar Carringer (1852-1946) was the brother of Henry Austin Carringer, my great-grandfather. Harvey Edgar and Henry Austin Carringer were sons of David Jackson and Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer. Uncle Edgar never married.or had known children. He lived separately from Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer, but often worked for them doing handyman jobs to earn money to pay his rent or bills.

I don't know if this is a model of an actual mansion, or if it is just something built by Edgar to pass his time and hone his skills. In 1896, when it was purportedly made, Edgar Carringer was probably still living in Boulder, Colorado with his parents.

I don't recall ever seeing this "work of art," and I don't know if it still exists. My guess is that it has been lost to the ravages of time or the trash bin.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

May God bless Terry Thornton

My friend, Terry Thornton, died yesterday. I never met him in person, but I felt like he was a close cousin. He certainly was a "brother in genea-blogging" and I enjoyed his writing immensely. Especially the stories from the Hill Country. His life experiences as a child and as an adult were completely different from mine, and by sharing his stories he opened my world view a bit more. In addition to his Hill Country of Monroe County blog (and successor blogs), Terry started The Graveyard Rabbit blogging community and contributed many articles and stories to genealogy carnivals and footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed online magazine.

For a beautiful tribute, a picture of Terry and a poem, please see footnoteMaven's post R.I.P Father Rabbit on The Graveyard Rabbit blog.

There has been some discussion recently about using genealogy and family history blogging to tell family stories and local stories so that generations to come can learn from them and share them with their families. Terry's blog posts, newspaper articles and work with the Itawamba Historical Society and all of the cemeteries in northeastern Mississippi will, hopefully, live on in the genealogy cyber-world. It might behoove one or more of the local societies in Mississippi to create a Terry Thornton story archive and put it on their shelves and distribute it to interested repositories.

Linda and I almost had a chance to visit with Terry and Betty (he called her "Sweetie" - I completely understand!) last summer at the time of the FGS Conference in Little Rock. Unfortunately, they both had health issues at that time and we had to change our plans. I was really looking forward to sitting on the porch, listening to stories, walking down the lanes in the evening, and enjoying the company of Terry and Betty.

I sincerely hope that the Geneabloggers group can create some sort of event or remembrance in order to honor Terry appropriately.

Rest in peace, my friend, and may God bless your family with fond memories, many humorous stories about you, and a legacy of education, story-telling and writing.

Uploading a GEDCOM File to the WeRelate.org Wiki - Post 2

...
In the first post, I uploaded a GEDCOM file with 1,775 persons to the http://www.werelate.org/ genealogy family tree Wiki. The process went very smoothly. However, I needed to take some actions before my GEDCOM information would be integrated into the family tree on the WeRelate genealogy wiki.

After using the "Add" menu "Upload GEDCOM" item page, and naming and uploading the GEDCOM file, I had a page with nine tabs across the top. I showed the "Overview" tab in the last post. The "People" tab had a list of people in my GEDCOM with any persons with a "Matched Page" already in the WeRelate family tree.

The third tab is "Families" which lists the husband, wife, marriage date and a possible matching family already in the system, as shown below:



That screen allowed me to "Exclude" any family that the system thinks is a possible match to my family, but I think that it is not a match. If I click the "Exclude" box, then a new Family Page will be created for the family. I didn't check any boxes, mainly due to ignorance at this point in time.

The fourth tab is "Warnings" where WeRelate.org tells me that there is a possible problem or error in my data. There were 71 of these warnings - such as "child births are less than nine months apart," "Birth of [name] occurred before marriage," "missing gender," "death is after burial," "husband was less than 16 years old when [name] was born," "wife was more than 50 years old when [name] was born," etc. All of these reasons are very plausible and helpful!

Here is the "Warnings" screen:


In order to continue with the upload, I had to at least look at each warning by clicking on it and checking the information and editing it if I wanted to. I chose not to edit any information, but I had to click on every warning message.

The fifth tab is "Places" as shown below:

The above screen lists every place in my GEDCOM file, and notes if there is a matched place in the WeRelate.org system. Many of my place names have the word "County" in them, use state abbreviations, and don't have "United States" in them. The matched "Places" names are in the format of "Town, County, State, Country" (e.g., Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States). When my GEDCOM is added to the WeRelate.org family tree, my Place names will be changed to the matched Place names. However, any new Place names will not be changed since there are no matched Place names in the WeRelate system.
At the bottom of each tab screen is an explanation of how to use this information. In this case, the method to create standardized new Places in the WeRelate.org system format is provided. The explanation says that doing this task is optional - I don't have to do it in order to have my GEDCOM data added to the WeRelate family tree. I should have gone through this list and changed my unmatched Place names. I didn't do that due to ignorance.

The sixth tab is "Sources."


This tab is like the Places tab - the sources in my GEDCOM file are listed and any Matching Sources are listed. The explanation area at the bottom of the page explains how to match my GEDCOM sources to the Community Sources already in the WeRelate system. I should have gone through this list and changed my unmatched Source names. I didn't do that due to ignorance.

The seventh tab is "Family Matches" and is the most important tab, and the most confusing tab, in the process to adding the GEDCOM to the WeRelate family tree. There is a list of each family listing husband, wife, marriage date, distance (from what? - perhaps the youngest person in the GEDCOM file?) and the Matching Family information. If I have looked at a matching family and taken action to combine them or keep them separate, then that family is not bolded. If I have not looked at a given family on my list, that family is bolded. In order to progress to the import of my GEDCOM into the WeRelate family tree, I have to look at each "Family Match" and decide if they match an existing family in the WeRelate family tree or not.

Here is the top of my "Family Matches" tab screen:



In the screen above, I have clicked on the family of William Hawkins and Elizabeth Arnold in my GEDCOM file. There is a family with those names already in the WeRelate family tree, so the system asks me to compare my information with the matching information and decide if this is the same family, and the same family members. If so, I can check the box for my data to merge it into the existing WeRelate family tree data. A handy "Tip" box is shown on the screen above - it tells me how to do this task correctly. I'm not sure that I did them right.

In order to progress to importing my GEDCOM file, I have to make this decision for every "Family Match" on this list. I had 170 "Family Matches" to resolve and it took a long time. I may have made some mistakes.

The eighth tab is "Updates" which I didn't click on.

The ninth tab is "Import" which I gladly clicked on and saw this screen:



It says that my GEDCOM file will be reviewed by a WeRelate administrator before it will be imported, especially if there are a lot of warnings and families listed as "not a match." I clicked on the "Ready to Import" button.

Later that night, a message showed up on my Talk Page (My Relate > Talk Page) that said:
"The pages from your GEDCOM have been generated successfully. You may now:
o
launch the Family Tree Explorer to navigate your tree
o
view your network -- If you matched families in your GEDCOM to existing families, find out to which other WeRelate users you are related.
o
view related pages not in your tree -- If you matched families in your GEDCOM to existing families, find out which people you are now related to that you can add to your tree (takes awhile to display for large trees).
o
view a searchable list of the pages in your tree -- The searchable list will be available about an hour after your tree has been imported."

The bottom of my Talk Page is shown below:




I was happy that my GEDCOM had been imported into the WeRelate family tree. However, an hour later the bottom message (in the screen above) appeared, saying:

"Please pay more attention when you load your data [8 May 2010]
You just created duplicate pages for children of
Family:Francis Cooke and Hester Mahieu (1) that already existed, duplicate parents for Person:Hester Mahieu (1) (and less well specified parents) that already existed, and created a duplicate child for Family:Joseph Holley and Rose Allen (1) that already existed. Just because a page has different data than you do, doesn't mean your page isn't the same person, especially when dates are only estimated with the precision of "Abt.". It means that you and the existing page disagree, which is usually because one of the disagreeing parties hasn't had a chance to see the definitive sources for that subject yet. Given that all these pages are very old families from which many people descend, and that several people have contributed to the existing page, it is usually prudent to leave it as is, and if, after thoughtful review, your sources still convince you that the page is wrong, to start a discussion, or manually edit it (in which case you would cite your source so others may be made aware of it). --Jrich 13:26, 8 May 2010 (EDT)

I must have made the mistake of not clicking the box and did not match the family in the "Family Matches" list. Oops. The administrator apparently did this for me, and sent this message telling me what the problem is and how to fix it myself.

This is actually an excellent feature - and an absolutely necessary feature for an interconnected family tree.

Everything in the WeRelate.org family tree system is very well thought out, and has been developed over several years (the system is still in Beta). Quite a bit of the problem areas can, and should, be addressed by the submitter of the GEDCOM data. However, the administrators are necessary to check the GEDCOM file data, to keep the system running smoothly, and to ensure consistency in the submitted data, especially for notes, places and sources.

In retrospect, I should have reviewed the importing process more closely so that my GEDCOM file had better notes, places and sources.

We'll look at the Tutorials in the next post (which I should have reviewed earlier, I think!).

Monday, August 9, 2010

Check Out British-Genealogy.com

I saw a tweet this afternoon about the http://www.british-genealogy.com/ website, so thought I would take a look. Here's the colorful home page:



What struck my eye was the word "FREE" in the middle of the page. The top of the page says:

"British-Genealogy.com is dedicated to assisting people with their British family history research.

"Everything here is FREE!"

There are link further down the page for "Resources" - the first page looks like this:

There are links to descriptions of the different types of genealogy resources that can be used to identify and research British ancestors.

The second major link is to the Forums - there are hundreds of topics organized by major topic, and thousands of threads and posts:


The links in the left-hand sidebar take you a number of different pages. One that interested me was the Beginner's Guide page, shown here:



This site seems to be mainly an educational and collaboration website. You can learn about resources, methods of analysis, and also have conversations on the forums about different topics or specific family research problems. All-in-all, it looks like a good site to put into the UK-Ireland Favorites for when you need it.

And it's one of the prettier and vibrant-looking genealogy websites, don't you think?

Uploading a GEDCOM to the WeRelate Wiki - Post 1

I demonstrated how to search the FREE http://www.werelate.org/ genealogy wiki in my posts Searching the WeRelate.org Wiki - Post 1 and Post 2.

How did all of that information get in the http://www.werelate.org/ database in a wiki format? In almost every case, the contributors uploaded a GEDCOM file to the website.

In order to make my "Wikis for Genealogy" presentation in May, I uploaded a GEDCOM to WeRelate to see how the system worked. When I click on the "Add" menu button on the Home page, I could click on the "Import GEDCOM" link, as shown below:


The "Import GEDCOM" page looks like this (Note that all screen images from now on are from May 2010, before WeRelate changed their page formats. However, the information on the pages appears to be the same as in May.):


There is a lot of helpful information on this page. for instance, the Instructions say:

"GEDCOM's containing up to 5,000 people can be uploaded."

"Pages for the people, families, and sources in your GEDCOM will be added to your tree. (Living people are
handled specially.) A message will appear on your talk page when your GEDCOM has finished importing, usually in about an hour. "

The "Important! Please read..." section says:

"Towards a Single Tree. WeRelate is different from most family tree websites. By contributing to WeRelate you are helping to create a single, unified family tree with one page for each person that combines the best information from all contributors."

"Quality of Content & Participation. Ultimately, we seek pages that are well documented with strong sources; therefore you are strongly encouraged to include source information in your
uploaded GEDCOM. "

"Uploaded GEDCOMs that contain no dates will not be accepted."

I browsed my computer files, found my GEDCOM file that I wanted to upload, created a name for my file as "richmond" and entered them into the fields on the upper left of the page above, and clicked on "Import GEDCOM."

After a few minutes, I saw this screen:


The screen said that the upload of my file was successful, and would be available in 10 to 30 minutes for importing into my "richmond" file.

Sure enough, after about 30 minutes, this screen appeared - it has nine tabs across the top. On this "Overview" tab, the text told me to click on each one tab in order, and follow the directions:



I also had the option to click on the "Return to WeRelate" button and finish my review of the imported data later, or to "Remove this GEDCOM" if I wanted to not have it included in the WeRelate database.

The "Overview" tab also provides a summary of the imported data. My "richmond" file has:

* People: 1775/0/0 : to be imported / matched / excluded
* Families: 294 / 0 /0 : to be imported / matched / excluded
* Warnings: 0 / 71 : read / unread
* Places: 465 / 107 : matched / unmatched
* Sources: 96 / 0 /0 : to be imported / matched / excluded
* Family Matches: 0 / 0 / 170 : matched / not matched / undecided
* GEDCOM updates: 0 / 0 : made / not made

This table tells me that the information in my GEDCOM has not been imported into the WeRelate.org database yet. Apparently, I have to work through the nine tabs at the top of this page. There are Warnings to be read, and Undecided family matches to be resolved.

I clicked on the second tab for "People" and saw a long list of the People in my GEDCOM file. I did not have to perform any actions for this tab.

In the next post, I will investigate some of the other tabs, and try to deal with the Warnings and the undecided Family Matches.

Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Stephen Hazard (1665-1727)

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

My subject today is the probate records of Stephen Hazard (1665-1727) of South Kingstoqwn, Washington county, Rhode Island, the son of Robert Hazard and Mary Brownell. He married Elizabeth Helme (1677-1727) in 1695, and they had nine children.

Stephen Hazard, yeoman of South Kingstown, died testate, having written a will dated 19 September 1727, which was proved 9 October 1727. The will reads (transcribed from the South Kingstown Probate and Town Council Records, Volume 2, Pages 78-87, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,931,833, a clerk's copy):

"In the name of God amen. The Ninteenth day of September Anno Domini 1727. Stephen Hassard of South Kingstown In his Majesty's Colony of Rhode Island and providence plantation in New England yeoman, being weak of body but of perfect mind and Memory thanks be given unto God therefore. Calling into mind the mortality of My Body and Knowing that it is appointed for all Men once to die, do make and ordaine this my last Will and Testament - that is to say principally and first of all I give and Recommend my Soul unto the Hands of god that gave it, and my body I do Recommend to the Earth to be buried in a decent Christian buriall, at the Discretions of my Executors hereafter Named - and as touching Such Worldly Estate wherewith it hath Pleased god to bless me with in this Life, I give Demise and dispose of the Same in the Manner and forme Following Viz.

"Imprimus. I give unto my well beloved Son Stephen Hassard Whome I Likewise Constitute make and Ordain my Executor of this my Last will and Testament a Certain parcel of Land where I now live in point Judah Neck in South Kingstown in the Colony afore Said by my Estimation one hundred and fifty acres, Bounded as followeth viz; Easterly on the Salt Sea Southerly on land in the occupation of Nathaniel Niles Westerly on Land belonging to the Heirs of Jeffrey Champlin of Said town Deceased Northerly on a Stone Wall that Runs from the Sea a Cross my homestead Meadow Westerly and So as the sd Wall Ranges across my homestead Pasture with all the housing thereon to him his heirs and assignes for ever. Provided my sd Son Stephen Hassard pay unto my Son Samuel Hassard fifty pounds and my Daughter Hannah Mumford fifty pounds within one year after my Decease out of his own Estate in Lew of Said Land.

"Item. I also give to my Said Son Stephen Hassard fifty acres of land in the Northwest Corner of my sd Homestead farme bounded Southerly on Said Land Belonging to the heirs of the sd Jeffry Champlin Deceased Westerly on Land belonging to George Hassard Junr Northerly on Land in the Occupation of William Robinson Easterly on the Remaining part of my said Homestead farm which said fifty acres of Land I gave to my Said Son Stephen Hassard his heirs and assigns for ever he paying to the Colony when Said Land Lies Mortgaged to the Colony for.

"Item. I give to my well beloved Son Robert Hassard whom I Likewise Constitute make and Ordain My Last will and Testament a certain parcell of Land being the Remaining part of my homestead farm where I now live in point Judah Neck in South Kingstown aforesd bounded Easterly partly on the Salt Sea and partly on land in the occupation of Danll McCoone Southerly partly on the afore Mentioned Stone wall and partly on Land belonging to the Heirs of the said Jeffrey Champlin Deceased Westerly partly on the Land belonging to the heirs of the sd Jeffrey Champlin Deceased and partly on the afore Mentioned fifty acres given to my said Son Stephen Hassard, and Northerly partly on land in the Occupation of William Robinson and partly on Land in the Occupation of Danll McCoone to him his heirs and assigns for ever provided he pay unto my Son Samuel Hassard one hundred and fifty pounds Out of his own estate in Lew thereof in one year after my Decease.

"Item. I give to my Said Son Robt Hassard my Negro man Servant Called Long Jo: to him his heirs and assigns for ever.

"Item. I give to my well Beloved Son Samuel Hassard a Certain parcell of Land Scituate Lying and being in North Kingstown in the Colony aforesd Called Middleport Neck containing by Estimation Two hundred acres be it more or Less butted and bounded as followeth - Northerly on the Salt water Bay Easterly on the Salt water partly and partly on a beach, southerly on the Salt water partly and partly on the Mill River Westerly on the Land in the Occupation of John Pender to him his heirs and assigns for Ever also I give unto my said Son Samuel Hassard a Certain parcell of Land in sd town bounded Northerly on a brook Called and Known by the Name of Cousinses Brook Easterly on Land Late of Thomas Eldred Deceased Southerly on Capt. Benoni Sweet's Land and Westerly on a highway on Country Roade to him his heirs and assignes for ever.

"Item. I also give to my said Son Samuel Hassard the one half of my Meadow and Pasture Land which I have on the gual (?) Island Lying in the Point Judah ponds in South Kingstown aforesd Called by the name of Mumford's Island being the Westernmost part of my said right on said Island Bounded Northerly and Westerly on the Salt water Easterly on the Remaining part of my said Land on said Island Southerly partly on the Land of Jahleel Bunton Esqr and partly on the Salt water to him his heirs and assigns for ever.

"Item. I give to my beloved son Thomas Hassard a Certain parcell of Land lying and being in sd North Kingstown Containing by Estimation three hundred Acres be it more or less bounded Northerly partly on Coles harbor so called and partly on Samuel Slocumbs Land and the Mill pond and partly on a Driftway and Thomas Places Land Easterly on sd Coles harbor Southerly on William Coles Land partly and partly on Land late of Thomas Eldredes Decesed and partly on the said Cousinses Brook Westerly partly on the Country Roade and partly on the said Thomas Places Land to him his heirs and assignes for ever.

"Item. I also give to my son Thomas Hassard all my Remaining part of my Said Land Lying in said Mumford's Island (so called) being the Easternmost half of said Land on the Said Island bounded Northerly and Easterly on the Salt Water Southerly on Land belonging to Jahleel Bunton Esqr westerly on the halfe part before given to my Said Son Samuel Hassard to him his heirs and assigns for ever.

"Item. I also give to my well beloved Son Samuel Hassard My Negro man Servant Called Short Jo: and my Negro woman Servt Called Megg to him his heirs and assigns for ever.

"Item. I also give to my well beloved Son Thomas Hassard my Negro Boy Servt called Jeffery to him his heirs and assigns for ever.

"Item. I give to my well beloved Daughter Hannah Mumford Two hundred and fifty pounds in Money to be paid by My Executor out of my Moveable Estate within one year after my Decese.

"Item. I give to my well beloved Daughter Susannah Perry two Hundred and fifty pounds in money to be paid by my Executor within one year after my Decease.

"Item. I give to my well beloved Daughter Elisabeth Hassard Six hundred pounds in Money to be paid by my Executors within one year after my Decease.

"Item. I give to my well beloved Daughter Sarah Hassard Six hundred pounds in Money to be paid by my Executors out of my Moveable Estate when she shall attaine to the age of Eighteen years or Day of Marriage wch shall first happen.

"Also my will is that the Legacies given by me to my two Daughters Susannah Perry and my Daughter Elizabeth Hassard be paid out of my Moveable Estate and also hereby utterly Disallow Revoke And Disannul all and every other former Testament wills Legacies and bequeaths and Executors by me in any wise before Named willed and bequeathed, Ratifying and Confirming this and no other to be my Last will and Testament. In Witness where of I have hereunto Set my hand and Seale the Day and yeare above written. Also my will is that my Son Robert Hassard pay to the Colony what that part of the land herein Given to him Lies Mortgaged to the Colony for. Signed Sealed published pronounced and Declared by the said Stephen Hassard as his Last will and Testament in the presence of us the Subscribers
-------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Hassard (seal)
John Browning
Samll Mott
George Hassard Junr"

The witnesses appeared before the Court on 9 October 1727 and declared under oath that Stephen Hassard Esqr of South Kingstown deceased signed, sealed, published, pronounced and declared this to be his last will and testament, and according to the best of their understanding that he was in a sound and disposing mind and memory and that they signed the will as witnesses in his presence.

An inventory of the extensive moveable estate of Stephen Hassard Esqr late of South Kingstown in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation was taken on the 3rd day of November 1727 by Dannll Macknoon, Robert Hassard and George Hassard Junr. The inventory was apprized at 2,760 pounds, 18 shillings. The inventory included:

* Wearing apparel - 40 pounds, 12 shillings
* Paper money - 67 pounds
* Silver money (3 ounces 2 grains) - 2 pounds, 8 shillings
* Bonds for which the money is due on the next December 20th - 322 pounds
* Several other bonds - 142 pounds, 15 shillings
* Book debts - 126 pounds, 19 shillings, 1 pence
* Money due by noted under hand - 40 pounds, 2 shillings
* A Negro man servant named Jo: - 100 pounds
* A Negro woman slave named Megg - 80 pounds
* a Negro boy slave called Jeffery - 85 pounds


Kitchen ware, furniture, foodstuffs, supplies, livestock (swine, cattle, horse, oxen, sheep and lambs), fowl, were also itemized over five pages of items.

On 13 November 1727, the Court requested the executors to return to the Court after 12 months and provide a true account of their administration of the estate of Stephen Hassard late of Kingstown deceased.

No other probate records were found.

It seems like Stephen Hazard's wife, Elizabeth, had died before he wrote his will.

He bequeaths land to sons Stephen, Robert, Samuel and Thomas. He bequeathed money to daughters Hannah Mumford, Susannah Perry, Elizabeth Hazard and Sarah Hazard. These are the eight living children of Stephen and Elizabeth (Helme) Hazard.

One of the peculiar things about Rhode Island probate records is they don't list real estate in the inventories. Stephen Hazard disposed of his real estate through his will. I wonder why there is the disparity in the amounts willed to the married daughters (250 pounds) and the unmarried daughters (600 pounds)? Perhaps he had given land to the husbands of the married daughters previously. A search for land records might reveal this.

Stephen Hazard was one of my "richest" ancestors. Some of his personal property were at least four slaves (although only three are listed in the inventory), and they were highly valued. I wonder what happened to them? I also wonder what 2,760 pounds is worth in 2010 money?

Thomas Hazard, the third eldest living son of Stephen and Elizabeth (Helme) Hazard, was my ancestor, and received 300 acres of land in North Kingstown. Thomas Hazard (1707-1741) married Hannah Slocum (1710-1737) in 1727, and they had only one child, Stephen Hazard (1730-1804) who lived on the North Kingstown property. Now I know why they moved to North Kingstown.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 1-7 August 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:

* My New Way of Doing Research by Barbara Poole on the Life From the Roots blog. Barbara is enjoying her online contacts and sharing her successes with us.

* Walk Down The Aisle With Shades' Wedding Issue edited by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. This issue of the premier online genealogy magazine is excellent! Well done!

* A Genealogy Blog Primer – Updated by Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog. Thomas updated his primer, and provides links to the PDF version and to the slide show version. Excellent!

* Life in a cloud: You CAN do it, but SHOULD you? by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. Pat is living in several places at once it seems, and has found easy ways to use technology to keep all of her files up-to-date. An interesting post!

* Using Genome-Wide SNP Scans to Explore Your Genetic Heritage and A Review of Family Tree DNA’s Family Finder – Part II by Blaine Bettinger on The Genetic Genealogist blog. Blaine's articles are excellent tutorials on autosomal testing for genealogy purposes, and answered some questions about the medical aspect also.

* A Letter Home From War (Amanuensis Monday) and Thoughts on 'A Letter Home From War' by Valerie Craft on the Begin with 'Craft' blog. Valerie posted a fascinating Civil War letter home and then analyzed it. What a wonderful find, and excellent analysis too!

* Carnival of Genealogy, 96th Edition edited by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. The topic for this monthly carnival was "Scrapbook Your Family History" and there were 18 submissions, and the feature post was Cindy's John & Margaret McCann Bellew Family Scrapbook posted at Everything's Relative - Researching Your Family History.

* How to Make Your Story “Work” by the writer of the Memoir Maker blog. I really liked these tips on writing a good story, and hope you do too. I wish I could do this better!

* Wiki Thoughts by Taneya Koonce on Taneya's Genealogy Blog. Taneya looks at the FamilySearch Research Wiki, and several other wikis, and describes her "likes."

* Identifying Revolutionary War Era Parents by Kathleen Brandt on the a3Genealogy blog. Kathleen provides a neat, concise five places to look to solve this common research problem.

* More On Timelines by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog. Julie has more ideas about timelines and has some interesting graphics.

Other "Best of..." weekly pick posts are here:

* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John also links to several other weekly pick posts.

* Follow Friday: 6 August 2010 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog. Greta's picks are often different from my own.

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 660 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.