Genea-Musings

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Once in awhile, a genealogy blogger posts something so absolutely fantastic that I have to devote a whole blog post to it.

Go read - right now - Amy Coffin's post  If Genealogy Ran Hollywood on the We Tree Genealogy Blog.

Laugh, cry until tears run down your face, then share it with your genealogy friends. 

I tried to capture this theme in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Genealogy TV Show last year, and there were several excellent ideas for TV shows about genealogy.

Well done, Amy!  It really brightened my day (which was bogged down in presentation and syllabus preparation).   

Labels: Genealogy Fun, SNGF

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The "Relationship Finder" on WikiTree was announced yesterday - see the press release here.

I have uplaoded a limited tree to WikiTree, so I was curious toi see how the Relationship Finder worked.  It was not obvious, so I emailed Chris Whitten about it, and he pointed out the little arrow icon next to a person's name in the "Profile Private View" tab for a person in your own family tree on WikiTree.  I think that this is the only place that has the icon.

Here are some screens that show how to use the Relationship Finder in your own tree, or between two specific persons in the entire WikiTree system:

1)  I navigated to the Private Profile page for my uncle Milo Hildreth (1824-1893) in WikiTree (I am the profile manager for Uncle Milo), and saw:


Within the large yellow frame, the name Milo Hildreth is in the upper left-hand corner.  There are presently five small icons just to the right of Milo Hildreth's name - these icons create reports, including an Ancestor Pedigree Chart (a pedigree icon), an Ancestor Ahnentafel List (a list icon), a Printer-Friendly Tree (a printer icon), a Wikid Shareable Tree (a tree in a yellow square icon), and now the Relationship Finder (an icon with two arrows pointing at each other).

2)  I clicked on the Relationship Finder icon (the two arrows pointing at each other) and saw:



The Relationship Finder noted that "Randall Jeffrey is the second great-grand-nephew of Milo" Hildreth.  It then described how it found the relationship, saying:

To calculate this, we searched for the first ancestor shared by both Milo Hildreth and Randall Jeffrey Seaver.


Randall Jeffrey is the son of Frederick Walton Seaver.


That is a very readable and useful chart for users to determine relationships within family structures, with helpful information about common ancestors, deeper ancestry, half-relationships, relationships by marriage, and number of ancestors.

4)  If you want to calculate the relationship between any two persons in the WikiTree, you can do it using the form at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship:



To use this form, you need to know the Person Identity Number of the two persons - for my test case, Milo is Hildreth-61 and I am Seaver-15.  I entered those into the form, and received the same result.

There are some limitations to using this Relationship Finder:

*  The Relationship Finder provides results for only ten generations (according to the "Deeper Ancestry" paragraph in the Explanation).

*  While a Registered WikiTreer can use the Relationship Finder from the Profile Private View tab, a non-registered searcher cannot do that.  They can, however, use the Find a Relationship form to find the relationship between two persons in the WikiTree.

Chris Whitten just emailed me that "I just added a "What's New" section to everyone's Navigation Home Page. http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Home"  Chris is really helpful and responsive!

The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/using-relationship-finder-on-wikitree.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.

Labels: Family Trees, Online resources, WikiTree

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In her post The Top 5 Books on My Bookshelf  on the Marian's Roots and Rambles blog, Marian Pierre-Louis listed the genealogy reference books that she uses the most.

I thought that I would list the Top 10 books that I consult regularly and consider the most important  (I have no clue of the order):

*  Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence! Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2007.

*  Elizabeth Shown Mills (editor), Professional Genealogy, Baltimore Md: Genealogical Publishing company, 2001.

* Helen F.M. Leary (editor), North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History, Raleigh NC: North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996.

*  Val D. Greenwood, The Researchers Guide to American Genealogy, 3rd Edition, Baltimore Md: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000.

*  Christine Rose, Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, San Jose,Calif.: CR Publications, 2009.

*  Christine Rose, Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures, San Jose Calif.: CR Publications, 2004.

*  Kathleen W. Hinckley, Your Guide to the Federal Census for Genealogists, Researchers and Family Historians, Cincinnati Ohio: Betterway Books, 2002.

*  E. Wade Hone, Land and Property Research in the United States, Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1997.

*  Loretto Dennis Szucs, They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins, Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1996.

*  Meredith B. Colket, Jr., Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe 1607-1657, Cleveland Ohio: General court of the Order of the Founders and Patriots of America, 1975.

*  Martin E. Hollick, New Englanders in the 1600s: A Guide to Genealogical Research Published Between 1980 and 2005, Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006.

*  Marcia Wiswall Lindberg, Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research, 3rd Edition, Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1993.

*  George K. Schweitzer, Pennsylvania Genealogical Research, Knoxville, Tenn: G.K. Schweitzer, 1986.

*  William Dollarhide, Census Substitutes and State Census Records, Volume 1 - Eastern States and Volume 2, Western States, Bountiful, Utah: Family Roots Publishing Company, 2008.

*  William Dollarhide, Genealogical Resources of the Civil war Era: Online and Published Military or civilian Name Lists, 1861-1869, and Post-War Veteran Lists, Bountiful, Utah: Family Roots Publishing Company, 2009.

Hmm, that's fifteen, not ten.  I have not listed all 100 or so genealogy-oriented books that I have on my bookshelf, on my computer hard drive, or in my Google Books reading list.

 I did not list surname books, locality books for specific towns or counties, or books for European research. I have a major interest in colonial New England. The one that may surprise is the North Carolina book by Leary, which includes an excellent summary of general genealogical research in many topics.

I do not have some important books for general or New England genealogical research - for instance, I don't have a general Military Records or Passenger List book on my bookshelf, and I don't have The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1633 and The Great Migration, 1634-1635 series that provide authoritative family sketches of early New England families.  I do have access to those books, and many others at my local libraries.

What is on your bookshelf?  What books do you suggest that I add to my bookshelf?

The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/whats-on-my-bookshelf.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.

Labels: Genealogy Books, genealogy education

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One of the comments on the APG Public List that I mentioned in Who Should Be On the Family Tree? today was that "the-husband-of-the-mother-is-not-the-father-of-child" percentage may be about 10%."

I believe that the intent of the writer was historical data - from colonial times to modern times, or at least into the 20th century.

In a subsequent reply, V.C. Tinney replied:

"It seems to be a very complicated issue.  There is no easy answer. Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) graph shows:  Births, where the mother's marital status at the time of birth is other than married. This resource has data going back to 1999, which can be shown various ways."

I went to the site and made this chart using the options there:



The chart shows that many of the countries in Europe, for the time period 1999 to 2010, have a share of "live births outside of marriage" much higher than 10%, with Iceland leading the way with 64% and Estonia with 59%.  Some countries in Europe did not provide data.

This trend in live births outside of marriage obviously complicates the family tree, as discussed in my earlierp ost.

There are some studies published about earlier European births - for instance, the Catholic Encyclopedia page for Illegitmacy shows the percentage to be 1% to 15% in the 1880 to 1905 time period, with many countries in the 1% to 5% range. 

A graph in the CDC report  Changing Patterns of Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States shows the growth of non-marital childbearing from 1940 onwards.  In 1940, the percentage was about 4%, in 1980 it was 18%, and in 2007 it was 40%.

What about colonial times up into the 20th century?  The FAQS page on Bastardy says:

"The rate of extramarital births during the sixteenth century is generally perceived to be quite high, but it later sank during the age of absolutism. It is stipulated that only 2 to 3 percent of all births in the mid-1700s were extramarital, but a century later numbers hovered between 7 and 11 percent in the Nordic countries and around 7 percent in France and England. Certain countries and regions had higher figures; in Iceland more than 14 percent of all births occurred outside of marriage, and in the Basque Country the illegitimacy rate was exceptionally high. The following century or so, from the 1840s to 1960, witnessed a new decline of illegitimate births, particularly conspicuous around the turn of the century. Regional differences, however, were still to be found."

and:

"In America it has been claimed that illegitimate births during colonial times were relatively rare, and that the ratio remained low at the beginning of the twentieth century."

Other web pages make similar statements.

It appears that the "live births outside of marriage" for colonial times up until the mid-20th century in the USA was in the 3% to 4% range.

Does anyone have valid statistical data for "share of live births outside of marriage" for colonial times and the pre-1950 United States? 

Note that this is a quick literature review and not an exhaustive search for absolutely correct and vetted statistics.

One comment:  A review of the Y-DNA matches might reveal some interesting facts.  One question might be "does a given male Y-DNA line match surnames with other male Y-DNA lines."  Of course, the Y-DNA matches are cumulative through many generations, so the potential errors can add up.  A 3% rate over 10 generations might result in a 30% "error rate" if every generation was a live birth outside of marriage. 

The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/live-births-outside-of-marriage-colonial.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.

Labels: genetics, Online resources, Vital Records

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The July meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) is Saturday, 9 July at 10 a.m. at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd., near Jackson Drive). 

The program speaker is Paula A. Sassi, a Certified Master Graphologist, who will present:

*  What Was Great Grandpa Really Like?

Genealogy helps locate and track ancestors, but how do you gain insight into their true personalities including how they thought, processed feelings and interacted with others?  Paula will show you how handwriting analysis can be applied to the research and study of ancestors.  By analyzing old documents, records and letters, you can discover what great grandpa or other people in your family were really like.  From colonial times to the present, you can discern personality and behavior from the strokes of writing no matter what period or heritage of the person.

*  Handwriting and History

Handwriting analysis gives a glimpse of the past through antique handwritten books, letters and documents.  By exploring these samples, you will achieve an insight into what handwriting can reveal about bygone eras.  From paupers to presidents, the personality of writers becomes evident from the words they wrote and the letter formations they used.  Examples of old hotel directories with famous signatures, an 1890 Mayor's Docket from the City of Waco, Texas, letters from Civil War and WWII, autograph books, and other unique memorabilia.  Take a trip back in time to experience history in a whole new way and find out information the history books never told you.

In between the two sessions will be the Annual Ice Cream Social with cones or sundaes. 

There will be SDGS announcements before each presentation, and an opportunity drawing.

Labels: genealogy societies, Handwriting, SDGS

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The New York Times published "Who's On the Family Tree? Now It's Complicated" yesterday (note, the article may disappear soon) describing modern family structures that include blended families, surrogate mothers, sperm donors, adoptions, etc.

So just who should be included in our genealogy and family history research?  Several genea-bloggers discussed this in June - see my post More Thoughts on "Scientific" and "Traditional" Genealogy and linked posts to other writers for the discussion. 

The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) have a Public Mailing List (see Archives here) and have been addressing the Times article over the past two days.  There are several threads in the July 2011 posts.  Some of the interesting and challenging posts include:

*  Michelle Kemper has three present-day examples
*  Ray Beere Johnson suggests "Cultural," "Biological/Medical" and "Legal" definitions
*  Jacqueline Wilson notes that, as an adoptee, she is prohibited from joining some lineage groups (e.g., DAR) on her adoptive parents lines
*  Gayle A. Livecchia thinks the DAR rule is disgusting and discriminatory.
*  Joan Young explains that the DAR membership is based on blood lineal descent.
*  John Wiley notes the "the-husband-of-the-mother-is-not-the-father-of-child" percentage may be about 10%

The discussion continues - I selected some of them above, please read all of the threads in the Archives for content and context.

Some of the discussion on the APG list went into an "inclusive" vs. "exclusive" argument about rules and membership criteria (gee, just like the current American cultural discussions, eh?), but done in a civil manner (good, the APGen list has rules too!). 

I like Ray Beere Johnson's categories of "family types" (my interpretation):

1.  "Cultural" (or "Emotional," "Private" or "Social") -- those in a "family" structure (married, unmarried, adoptive, same sex, sperm bank, surrogate, etc.)

2.  "Genetic" (or "Biological") -- those with DNA from the provider of the sperm and the egg.

3.  "Legal" --  those specified in a legal document (e.g., birth record, marriage record, adoptive, probate, deed, etc.)

My opinion:  I think that every genealogical researcher should know the differences between those three categories, accept them as such, and perform whatever research they choose to follow.  Genealogy software and online trees should be inclusive and permit identification of the correct relationships and permit reports and charts to reflect what the user desires.  Genealogists who enter data on forms, into software and family trees, or books, articles, manuscripts and websites should be truthful, but sensitive about "family secrets" and information about living people.  Private groups can create whatever rules they want to, and people can choose to apply or not. 

What say you?  Do you agree with the three categories above?  How would you better describe them, or categorize them? 

Isn't it interesting how a human interest story about two children who are step-siblings and cousins can lead to the genealogical community discussing the broader issue?

The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/who-should-be-on-family-tree.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.

UPDATED:  Edited and added some terms in my definitions. 

Labels: APG, DNA, genealogy education, Genealogy Industry, Genealogy proof standard, genetics, Lineage Societies, musings, Online resources

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


This photograph is of the house at 767 14th Street in San Diego in the 1915 time period (known from city directories).  Charles and Georgianna (Kemp) Auble lived here with their daughter, Emily Kemp Auble (my grandmother), from about 1912 until 1916, when Charles died after falling down stairs (indoors or outside?  I don't know). 

There is a sign in the yard to the right of the house that says "Painting Decorating" and there is a sign on the side of the house, facing the street on the right, next to the door) saying "Furniture Shop" and more words that are not decipherable from the picture scan.  Charles Auble (1849-1916) was a painter and a decorator.

The house must have had two floors - the main living area above a workshop or basement.

I had a loose print of a similar picture about 20 years ago and cannot find that photograph, but I have a photocopy of that photo.  The photograph above was scanned from the photograph album of Bessie (Auble) Pentecost, the niece of Charles Auble, who gave the album to Emily (Auble) Carringer at some time during her life.  There are quite a few photographs of my Auble and Carringer families in this album, and many more of the Pentecost family.

If I have my address correct, this house was on the southeast corner of 14th Street and F Street, facing west.  There is a fireplug on the corner, next to the telephone or electric pole.  A quick of Google Maps shows that the house and phone pole is no longer there, but there is still a fireplug!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-160.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.

Labels: Auble Family, My genealogy research, photographs, Wordless Wednesday

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I asked several questions in my post Uploading My Tree to Mocavo.com and received answers to them recently.  The Questions (adapted by me) and Answers are:

Q:  Will I receive emails for every person in my database (I have 41,000)?  How often?
A.  You'll begin receiving emails in 2-3 weeks. We'll send you 1 email daily or weekly (your choice) with a few people chosen from your tree. By no means will you receive 41,000 emails! :)

Thank you to Richard and Cliff for answering my questions.  I'm off now to Delete my first two uploaded databases!

Note:  The Mocavo blog just posted Family Tree Upload and Contest for iPad 2, which is a summary of the tree uploading process and the news that a FREE iPad2 will be given to one person on 15 July 2011 who has uploaded a tree.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/some-mocavocom-answers-about-uploading.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than an RSS or similar feed), then they have stolen my work.

Labels: Family Trees, Mocavo, Online resources

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Michael John Neill posted a challenge his Casefile Clues blog on Saturday - in Win a Year of Casefile Clues--Find Dale Evans in 1930 - can you find Dale Evans in the 1930 U.S. Census?  He provided links to two online websites with biographical data - Wikipedia and Internet Movie Database .

From those sites, a reader can learn that Dale Evans was born Lucille Wood Smith, born in Uvalde, Texas; had her name changed by her parents in infancy to Frances Octavia Smith, married Thomas F. Fox at age 14, had a son Thomas F. Fox at age 15, divorced him in 1929, married August Wayne Johns shortly after, and divorced him in 1935.

I decided to search for Frances Octavia (Smith) (Fox) Johns in the 1930 census - how hard could that be?  I figured that she was listed with Mr. Johns and her son, Thomas Fox.

I struck out searching for given name = "Franc*" or "Oct*" or "Fan*" with last name = "Fox" or "John*" and a birthdate = "1911" plus/minus "2" years and birthplace = "Texas."  Deleting the birthplace of Texas didn't help either, nor did expanding the search to "1911" plus/minus "5" years. 

I decided to search for given name = "Tho*" and last name = "Fox" with a birth year = "1928" plus/minus '2" years.  That gave me 48 matches, including the last one:

1930 United States Census, Cobb County, Georgia, population schedule, Marietta Ward 5 (Militia District 698), ED 15, Page 6B, Dwelling #145, Family #161, Thomas S. Smith household; online database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T626, Roll 347.

The summary of the information (residence at 300 Lemon Street, enumerated on 9 April 1930):

*  Thomas S. Smith - head, rents home for $11/month, no radio, male, white, age 23, married, "N" for age first married, did not attend school in last year, can read and write English, born South Carolina, father born south Carolina, mother born South Carolina, a laborer, works in a furniture factory.
*  Octavia F. Smith - wife, female, white, age 21, married, first at age 19, did not attend school in last year, can read and write English, born Georgia, father born Georgia, mother born Georgia, no occupation.
*  Thomas Smith - son, male, white, age 1-6/12, single, did not attend school in last year, can read and write English, born Georgia, father born South Carolina, mother born Georgia, no occupation.

Why did this entry come up when I searched for the son, Thomas Fox?  Because user "beverlyleach75" had entered an alternate name into the Ancestry.com database for the son - noting that he was  "Fox, Sr. rather than Smith" and that "Frances Octavia Smith Fox later became Dale Evans who married Roy Rogers, Sr."

 How does this happen in the census?  Why is Frances Octavia (Smith) (Fox) Johns using her maiden name after two marriages, listing her supposed husband and son her maiden name, giving the wrong age and birthplace, and wrong age married? 

My analysis is that she was escaping to Georgia from wherever (some people think it was Memphis, Tennessee) with her son, and gave the false information to the census enumerator.  I can imagine this conversation between Frances and the enumerator:

Enumerator: "What's your name"
Frances:  "Octavia Smith."
Enumerator: "Do you have a husband?" 
Frances: "Yes, his name is Thomas."
Enumerator: "Do you have children?"
Frances: "Yes, one son, Thomas."
etc.

Most researchers know that census enumerators are under no requirement to question the answers or to prove anything.  Their job was to count people, their relationships, gender, race, age, birthplace, occupation, etc. 

Therefore, the husband and son were named Smith also.  I've seen occasional entries like that in my experience, as I'm sure you have, where the census taker assigns a surname to the whole family that is wrong. 

The scenario above makes some sense, and would have been much more difficult to find if there had not been the "Alternate Name."  A 1930 census search for first name = "tho*" with birthdate = 1928 plus/minus 2 years, father = "tho*" and mother = "franc*" yielded 162 matches, but not the right one.  A search with mother = "Oct*" yielded five matches including the one above.  Because Octavia was such a rare name, it could have been found. 

It turns out that there is another probable entry for Thomas and Frances Fox in the 1930 US census.  There are 643 entries for a match with given name = "franc*" and last name = "fox."

One of them is in Memphis, Tennessee (residence at  41 Bellevue Street, enumerated on 3 April 1930):

1930 United States Census, Shelby County, Tennessee, population schedule, Memphis Ward 19, ED 71, Page 13B, Dwelling #195, Family #250, Tommy Fox household; online database, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T626, Roll 2275.

*  Tommy Fox - head
*  Frances fox - wife

The entries are crossed out.  There is no other data about them, and the son Thomas is not listed.  The Ancestry name index lists them, but the index below the image on the Ancestry.com Record Image page does not list them.  Is this Frances Octavia (Smith) Fox?  Why are the entries crossed out?  Did they move away before the enumerator came by, but someone said that they resided there and when the enumerator returned they had moved away?  I don't know!

However, note that six families below this entry in Memphis is a family headed by Wayne E. Jones, age 23, with a wife and two children?  Is that August Wayne Johns?  I don't know, it might be. 

There is a birth certificate record for Lucille Wood Smith, born 30 October 1912 in Uvalde, Uvalde, Texas, daughter of T. Hillman Smith and Bettie Sue wood (accessed on the Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1934 collection at www.familysearch.org).  This entry is not in the Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981 collections on www.familysearch.org. 

What about August Wayne Johns?  Where was he in the 1930 census?  Was that him in Memphis enumerated on the same page as the Fox family?  I don't think so - there is an August W. Johns, age 21 born in Mississippi, living as a boarder in Memphis Ward 25 in the household of James E. League.  My guess is that he's the guy. 

When were Frances and August married, and where?  Since she was listed as both Fox and Smith in the two entries above, were they married by April 1930?  Franly, I doubt it, because the August W. Johns in Memphis is listed as single in the census record.

This case illustrates that there are many people "hiding" in the census records - with wrong names, relationships, ages, etc.  Many persons were not enumerated in each census (my guess is about 10% in 1930), for whatever reason.  A researcher cannot take anything for granted. 

Michael John Neill awarded a one-year subscription to myself (since I found the Georgia entry first) and to the person that found the Memphis entry first.  Thank you, Michael!

Michael has other contests for a free year of his excellent Casefile Clues newsletter - see the list (with links) of these contests at Open Contests for a Free Year.

Labels: Census Records, Online resources

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This week's Tuesday's Tip is to: Check the holdings - both online and in repositories - of the State Archive, State Library and State Historical Society where your ancestors resided.

Most researchers understand that "it isn't all on the Internet," and "it isn't all at the Family History Library," and "it isn't all at [insert your favorite repository here]". 

Just like the National Archives, which collects Federal records from all United States government agencies, State Archives collect records from state governments, and often from county or city governments withing the state.  State Libraries and Historical Societies collect items that pertain to their state and its inhabitants - like family history books, city and county books, maps, manuscripts, paper collections, etc.

Most State Archives, State Libraries and State Historical Societies have an online catalog to help researchers find holdings of interest.

You can search for the website of the state archive or state library or state historical society of interest using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo. etc.).  You can use the excellent list at http://www.ohiohistory.org/textonly/links/arch_hs.html to click to the state archive or historical society of interest.

As an example, the Maryland State Archives has a section devoted to "Family Historians."  On that web page, there are links for researchers to determine:

*  How to Obtain Copies of Records
*  What We Have
*  Beginner's Guide to Research
*  Guide to Family History Research
*  How to Find Specific Records (Guide to Government Records • Special Collections • Library • Mdlandrec.net • Plats.net • MDVitalrec.net • Archives of Maryland)
*  Online Genealogy Workshops
*  Genealogy Topics

A Maryland researcher could spend hours going through these materials online, and if they have the opportunity, could spend days working at the State Archives finding unpublished material that is not available at any other repository.

Go forth and research at State Archives, State Libraries and State Historical Societies - you'll be glad that you did!

Labels: genealogy resources, Online resources, State Archives, Tuesday's Tip

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Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a 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."

The subject today is the letter from James H. Dill to the United States government inquiring if he is eligible for Bounty Land as a result of Thomas Dill's Revolutionary War service.  The  letter of inquiry is included in Thomas Dill's Revolutionary War Pension File (image 9 of the Thomas Dill file in the Footnote.com collection from National Archives Microfilm Publication M804):



The transcription of this letter is (punctuation interpreted as best possible):

New York, Augt 22. 1836

Dr Sir.

An answer to my Inquiry if I was Entitled to Bounty Land or other Emolument as the Surviving Son of Thomas Dill of Massachusetts a Revolutionary Soldier.

My Father I think Recd a Pension in 1830, or near that time, for several years - he died at a very advanced age and left no Widow.

Will you Please inform me as to the rules of the department to which I am to apply In case I have a claim as the Heir of Thomas Dill, also, what Evidence will be necessary to Establish my Claim, and oblige Sir

Your obt Servt

James H. Dill

Ja S. Cole Esq.

This letter is to James S. Cole, Esquire, who I believe worked for the agency that administered Revolutionary War Pensions in the 1836 time period.  The letter is in the hand of the inquirer - James H. Dill, and is a very distinctive hand.  You can see, on the image, that he put his quill down at the end of almost every word!

The document above provides an original source document, with secondary information, and direct evidence that James H. Dill is the son of Thomas Dill of Eastham, who served in the Revolutionary War and received a pension.

Who is James H. Dill besides the son of Thomas Dill (his birth is recorded in the Eastham, Massachusetts Town Records)?  As I mentioned in Amanuensis Monday - Insolvency Sale of Land of Alpheus B. Smith, a James H. Dill purchased the land of Alpheus Smith (1798-1840) in Medfield, and the widow's dower, at auction in 1840. 

Alpheus Smith's widow was Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith (1794-1869), and I believe, but have not yet proven to my satisfaction yet, that Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith was the daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Horton) Dill, and sister to James H. Dill.

I've also found other records for James H. Dill in James H. Dill in the Vital and Census Records and James H. Dill in Newspaper, Cemetery and Book Records, and I believe that the information pertains to the same person as the son in the Thomas Dill pension file and the Alpheus Smith probate file.

Labels: Amanuensis Monday, Dill Family, Military records, My genealogy research

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I am posting my list of ancestral Revolutionary War soldiers in order to honor them for their service:

Labels: Holidays, My genealogy research, Revolutionary War

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Eleven score and fifteen years ago our forefathers brought forth a new country...it's our Nation's BIRTHDAY!!

Labels: Holidays

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I last listed the new or updated collections on the FamilySearch Historical Collections website on 2 June, when there were 633 collections on the list. Since then, these Historical Record Collections have been added to make a total of 665 collections as of today

Germany, Pomerania Church Records, 1544-1945, new collection, added 1 Jul 2011, browse images only
Mississippi Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892, 1908-195, new collection, added 29 Jun 2011, browse images only
Tennessee Probate Court Books, 1795-1927, new collection, added 29 Jun 2011, browse images only

Poland, Roman Catholic Church Books, 1600-1950, new collection, added 28 Jun 2011, 1,002,155 records
Czech Republic, Třeboň, Nobility Seignorial records, 1664-1698, new collection, added 27 Jun 2011, browse images only
Mexico, Oaxaca, Catholic Church Records, new collection, added 27 Jun 2011, browse images only
Czech Republic, Land Records 1450-1850, new collection, added 27 Jun 2011, browse images only

North Carolina, County Records, 1833-1970, new collection, added 27 Jun 2011, browse images only
Ohio, Montgomery County, Probate Estate Files, 1857-1900, new collection, added 27 Jun 2011, browse images only
Maine, State Archive Collections, new collection, added 27 Jun 2011, browse images only
Washington State, Army National Guard Records, 1880-1947, new collection, added 24 Jun 2011, browse images only

Utah, Davis County Records, 1869-1920, new collection, added 24 Jun 2011, browse images only
England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-1900, new collection, added 24 Jun 2011, browse images only
Ohio, Cuyahoga County Records, new collection, added 23 Jun 2011, browse images only
Switzerland, Vaud Terrier Records, 1234-1798, new collection, added 22 Jun 2011, browse images only

Louisiana, Second Registration Draft Cards, compiled 1948-1959, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011, browse images only
Mexico, Yucatan, Catholic Church Records, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011, browse images only
Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Estate Files, 1686-1881, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011, browse images only
Spain, Municipal Records, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011,20,068 records

England, Northumberland, Miscellaneous Records, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011, browse images only
Wales, Glamorgan Marriages, 1837-1922, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011, 58,798 records
Italy, Waldensian Evangelical Church Records, new collection, added 20 Jun 2011, browse images only
Tennessee Probate Court Files, 1795-1927, new collection, added 19 Jun 2011, browse images only

Florida, Key West Passenger Lists, 1898-1920, new collection, added 10 Jun 2011, browse images only
New York, New York, Index to Passenger Lists, 1820-1846, new collection, added 10 Jun 2011, browse images only
Hawaii, Honolulu Index to Passengers, Not Including Filipinos, 1900-1952, new collection, added 10 Jun 2011, browse images only
England and Wales Census, 1911, new collection, added 8 Jun 2011, 36,354,828 records

Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959, new collection, added 3 Jun 2011, 1,160,821 records

There are 37 items on the list above, but only 32 newly added databases since 2 June, so I have some updated ones that I didn't catch. Oh well! I will update the list as I receive information about the new databases.

Labels: FamilySearch, genealogy resources, Online resources

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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:
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* Bent Handles by Greg Ross on the Futility Closet blog.  I know, this isn't a genealogy blog per se, but this list of humorous real names is priceless.

*  The Estate of John Rupert :: Goods and Chattels, The Estate of John Rupert :: Bill of Sale, and The Estate of John Rupert :: Widows Allowance, The Estate of John Rupert :: The First “Final Account”, The Estate of John Rupert :: The final “Final Account”   by Becky Wiseman on the kinexxions blog.  Becky continues her review of the probate records for John Rupert.  This series is an excellent lesson in finding, transcribing and analyzing an estate packet.

*  The Other Side of Serendipity in Family Research, Part 1 and Part 2 by Patsy Hendrickson on the
FamilySearch.org - Indexing, Records, Resources blog.  Patsy has a list of 46 examples of solid research activity that prompted a serendipitous find.  In other words, luck is the result of intent.

*  Part O - The Browning Progenitor Question by Patti Browning on the Consanguinity blog.  Patti posted something in 2001, gets help from another researcher, and now has more clues.  Sometimes it takes time... and luck.

*  Information or data? Facts or Evidence? and We must begin with doubt  by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James continues his series on evidence, proof and the elements of the GPS.  There is wisdom and experience here.

*  A Newbie's View of the National Archives - Those Places Thursday by Susan on the Nolichucky Roots blog.  Susan went to the Archives in DC and has advice for others making the trip.

*  A Cool Genealogy Thing Happened When I was Bored and A Chance Genealogy Revelation by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  Lorine was bored for only a short time, then was off researching for hours.  Lucky gal!  You know, good things happen to those that search!

*  Resource for Finding Females and More on Finding Females by Susan Farrell Bankhead on Susan's Genealogy Blog.  Excellent suggestions from Susan to catch those elusive females.

*  The Difficulty of Obtaining Vital Records in Pennsylvania by Sarah B. on the GeneApprentice blog.  Sarah describes the requirements, process, and problems with obtaining vital records in Pennsylvvania.

*  Veterans’ Burials – Researching Applications for Government Headstones by Carolyn Barkley on the GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com blog.  Finding the headstone is just the first step - there are government records associated with veteran burials.

*  Open Discussion Weekend: Non-blogging Genealogists by Susan Petersen on the Long Lost Relatives.net blog.  Susan wants to know if geneabloggers hang out with other bloggers, or with non-bloggers?  Take a minute and tell her.

*  My Struggle with Legacy Family Tree Sourcing – part 1 and Part 2 by Janis Tomko on the Janis' Genealogy blog.  Janis analyzes how Legacy Family Tree does source citations, and explains lumpers and splitters.  I'm a lumper too.

*  Genealogy Success Team - Week Seven by Jenny Lanctot on the Are My Roots Showing? blog.  Jenny and Laura are challenging each other every week to pursue and complete goals and objectives.  It's working.  Might be an excellent example for others to follow!

*  Naming Patterns and your Genealogy by Arlene Eakle on the Arlene H. Eakle's Genealogy Blog.  Arlene has so much experience and knowledge - it's great that she shares it with us.  I learned al ot from this post! 

*  Genealogy Without Proof is Mythology by Tamura Jones on the Modern Software Experience blog.  Where did the aphorism originate?  Tamura dissects the online and published record, and finds the answer.  Excellent detective work.

Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:
 
*  Monday's Link Roundup by Dan Curtis on the Dan Curtis - Professional Personal Historian blog.

*  Monday Recap for June 27th, 2011 by Grant Brunner on the Geni.com blog.

*  Genealogy Round Up, June 30 by Megan Smolenyak on the Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog.

*  Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.

*  Follow Friday Newsletter: 1 July 2011 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog blog.

*  Genealogy News Corral, June 27-July 1 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.

*  Week in Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, RSS 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 950 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

Updated 4 July:  a reader recommended Tamura Jones's post in email, and I had missed it, so I added it today.

The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/best-of-genea-blogs-26-june-to-2-july.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.

Labels: BestofGeneaBlogs, genealogy blogs

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Are you ready for Saturday Night, and more Genealogy Fun??  I hope so!

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

Knowing that a "Bucket List" is a wish list of things to do before death:

1)  What is on your Genealogy Bucket List?  What research locations do you want to visit?  Are there genea-people that you want to meet and share with?  What do you want to accomplish with your genealogy research?  List a minimum of three items - more if you want!

2)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own (please give me a link in Comments), a comment to this post in Comments, or a status line or comment on Facebook.

Think big!  Have fun!  Life is short - do genealogy first! 

Here's mine:

1)  I really want to visit Wisconsin.  The Ranslow Smith Four Mile Inn is a restored building at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle. Devier Smith grew up in dodge county, Wisconsin, and I need to check newspapers there.  My wife's Leland family migrated from Norway to Dane County, Wisconsin, and I want to visit their old church and look for homesteads there, in addition to visiting the Wisconsin Historical Society.  All of this is planned for our September trip to the FGS Conference in Springfield, Illinois.

2)  I also want to visit the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  This is on the itinerary for September also.

3)  I want to publish books (either digital or paper) for my children, grandchildren, brothers and cousins.  I've done two limited editions myself, but they are out-of-date now.  I also want to publish photo albums (probably digital) for my family. 

4)  I would like to go to every national and regional genealogy conference held during one calendar year.  In the process, I'd like to visit every major regional and national genealogy repository in the same year.  This would be like visiting every major league ballpark in a season.  I'm not sure that I can afford this, and my wife might not approve, but, hey, it's a wish list! 

Okay, I showed you mine, now show me yours!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your-genea.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.

Labels: genealogy education, Genealogy Fun, musings, SNGF

...It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 253, who is Sarah KINNAN (1761-1841), another of my 5th-great-grandmothers. [Note: The 5th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back to Sarah Kinnan and to the first known Kinnan ancestor is:

1. Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-....)

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

6. Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)
7. Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977)

14. Charles Auble (1849-1916)
15. Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952)

30. James Abram Kemp (1831-1902)
31. Mary Jane Sovereen (1841-1874)

62. Alexander Sovereen (1814-1907)
63. Eliza Putman (1820-1895)

126.  John Putman (1785-1863)
127.  Sarah Martin (1792-1860

252.  Peter Victorse Putman, born about 1760 in probably Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 03 October 1835 in Barrington, Yates, New York, United States. He was the son of 504. Victor Davidse Putman and 505. Margaret Wieser. He married 20 March 1780 in Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States.
253. Sarah Kinnan, born June 1761 in Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 22 November 1841 in Springwater, Livingston, New York, United States. 

Children of Peter Putman and Sarah Kinnan are:

*  Victor Putman, born 26 October 1782 in Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 21 May 1845 in Canadice, Ontario, New York, United States; married Elizabeth Kline before 1809 in Probably Sussex, New Jersey, United States; born 20 January 1791 in Hurley, Ulster, New York, United States; died 04 May 1862 in Canadice, Ontario, New York, United States.
*    John Putman, born before 27 September 1785 in Walpack, Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 10 May 1863 in Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; married Sarah Martin about 1810 in probably Seneca, New York, United States.
*  Peter Putman, born 1788 in probably Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 21 September 1855 in Springwater, Livingston, New York, United States; married Margaret Saunders about 1812 in New York, United States; born about 1788 in Pennsylvania, United States; died 1855 in Springwater, Livingston, New York, United States.
*  David Putman, born about 1790 in probably Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died before 1855.
*  Isaac Kinnan Putman, born about 1797 in Probably Sussex, New Jersey, United States; married Charlotte; born 1803 in New York, United States.

506. John Kinnan, born about 1736 in New Jersey, United States, died 1784 in Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States. He married before 1756 in New Jersey, United States.
507. Martha Morrison, born about 1739 in New Jersey, United States.

Children of John Kinnan and Martha Morrison are:

*  John Kinnan, born 1756 in Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 12 June 1809 in Sandyston, Sussex, New Jersey, United States.
*  Sarah Kinnan, born June 1761 in Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States; died 22 November 1841 in Springwater, Livingston, New York, United States; married Peter Victorse Putman 20 March 1780 in Wantage, Sussex, New Jersey, United States.
*  Mary Kinnan, born about 1765 in New Jersey, United States; married Isaac Bedell.

I don't have any original source material for this surname.  Mark Putman has done work on this family, and thinks that the John Kinnan family data above is correct.  There may have been at least one more daughter who married Cornelius Atherton, who administered the intestate estate of John Kinnan in 1784 in Wantage, New Jersey.

The surname KINNAN may be CANNON, CANNAN, CANAAN, etc.

The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/067surname-saturday-kinnan-nj.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.

Labels: My genealogy research, Surname Saturday

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Ancestry.com added U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 to their collection on 29 June 2011.  There is FREE access to this collection through 4 July, per the email received from Ancestry.com, which describes the collection as:

"The Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications let you trace generations of ancestors in a single document, showing your lineage back 235 years to the Revolutionary War.

This weekend, get free access to more than 145,000 applications and 1.2 million records and discover if your forefathers were founding fathers — or other patriots who fought for America’s independence."

I had to go look for Seaver folks, and found quite a few.  I captured some of the images (there is no Save button on this collection right now, and a right-mouse click doesn't work, so I used the Windows Snipping Tool - the images are fuzzy below, sorry).  Here's one of the Seaver-related applications: (3 images)




The particular application above is from the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) - I think that there are different forms for different states and different years. 

The application above has four pages - the first page is the right-hand page of the first image, the second and third pages are the two pages in the second image, and the fourth page is the left-hand page in the third image. 

The information on this particular application include:

*  Page 1 -- name of the applicant, name of the Revolutionary War soldier, SAR approvals, and dates for the application, approval and certificate.
*  Page 2 -- the specific line of the SAR applicant back to the RevWar soldier, including names of spouses, birth, death and marriage dates and places, and signature of the applicant.
*  Page 3 -- the ancestor's service in the Revolutionary War
*  Page 4 -- maiden name of applicant's wife, children and grandchildren of the applicant, published sources, and signature of the applicant.

Other forms that I've seen in the collection don't have the names of the wife, children and grandchildren.

Now to methodically go through this collection for my ancestral families and determine if someone who sent in an application knows more than I do about my families. 

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/sar-membership-applications-on.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than an RSS or similar feed), then they have stolen my work.

Labels: Ancestry.com, Lineage Societies, Military records, Online resources

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The www.MyHeritage.com online family tree provides a Person Profile for each person in my tree.  I wondered what was included in this Person Profile, and how to Edit or Add to it.

1)  On my MyHeritage website, I clicked on the "Family tree" Tab and the "Tree" link in order to navigate to a specific person in my tree.  I chose Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) (of course!), found him in the tree and clicked on his box in the tree:


The summary for Isaac Seaver appeared on the left of the screen. 

2)  I clicked the blue "View Profile" button next to Isaac's picture on the left side of the screen:


Isaac Seaver's information came up, including his vital records, his relationships (birth family, spouses, children), education, work, favorites, contact information, personal info, and source citations, and biography.

3)  I clicked on the "Edit Profile" link on the left side just below Isaac's picture and saw:


The "Essentials" screen for Isaac Seaver opened - it has birth, death and burial (and could have additional names, baptism and cause of death information if it was available) dates and places.  The site manager can edit this information, but cannot see the Source, edit or add a Source on this screen.

The other screens for the person are listed on the left-hand side of the screen.

4)  Next on the list of Person Profile screens is the "Family" screen:


The screen above lists the Parents and relationship to the parents, the Spouse(s) and relationship, with the marriage date and place, with a field for witnesses.  The site manager can add, edit or delete marriage information on this screen.  However, there is no listing of the children with each spouse on this page.  I would have thought that the Children would be shown on this screen with a link to them.  They are on the Person Profile screen (#2 above).

5) The next item on the Profile list is "Biography":


The Biography information reflects the Notes included in the GEDCOM file or typed/copied into the field on this screen.  In my case, I have extensive notes for many persons in the GEDCOM that I uploaded to MyHeritage.  I noted that all of my paragraph breaks are missing in the Biography page above.  It appears that MyHeritage does not recognize the GEDCOM tags that create a paragraph break.  I refuse to go through thousands of people to fix the Biographies.

6)  Next on the list of Profile screens are Contact Information, Work, Education, Favorites, and Personal Info.  I don't have any information in those fields, so I'll skip them.

Next is the "Source Citations" screen:



On the screen above, I could use an Existing citation or Add a new source citation.  If I wanted to use an existing citation, I could click the down arrow on the right of the Source field, and choose from existing sources:


Alternatively, if I click on the "Add new source" link to the right of the down arrow, I could add a new master source (shown below):


There are fields in the MyHeritage master source for Source title, Abbreviation, Author, Publisher, Agency, and Description, with a link to add an image of the source.

If a site manager selects an existing source or adds a new source, they can then add citation text, a page number or URL, a confidence level, and a date for the specific source citation.

8)  The last item on the Profile list is "All Facts":




This is the screen where all of the Facts associated with the person (e.g., birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial, census, military, immigration, occupation, etc.) are listed, along with the source citations for those Facts.  Description fields are available for some Facts to add additional information.  Place names can be typed in or selected from an existing place list.  There is a type-ahead function for the existing place names.  Residence, physical description and favorites are not edited on this screen.

Additional Notes (but not the Biography) and sources can be added on this screen.  If the site manager wants to use an existing master source, they can select it here.  If they want to Add a new master source, they can do it here.  In either case, they can add the citation information and attach an image.

Frankly, I'm not sure that I understand why the "Source citations" screen exists on the Person Profile pages.  The function is duplicated in the "All Facts" screen.  The logical thing for me is to change the "All Facts" to read "Source citations" because they apply to the Person in the Profile. 

If a user has a lot of master source citations (I have over 600), the dropdown menu to select the right one is cumbersome to use - the alphabetical listing of the sources is long, and all the sources that start with a quote mark are at the top of the list.

These Person Profile screens are logical to use whether adding or editing information.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/07/looking-at-myheritage-person-profiles.html

(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than an RSS or similar feed), then they have stolen my work.

Labels: MyHeritage.com, Online resources, Source Citation