Saturday, November 1, 2014

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Signs You Have Genealogy OCD

Hey genea-folks, 
it's Saturday Night again, 

 time for more Genealogy Fun!

 


Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music!) , is to:



1)  Read Michael John Neill's post 10 Signs You Have Genealogy OCD (come on, give Michael some link love) and the comments too (I know it's an old post, we did this in 2011 too!).

2)  Make up any number of sentences that will add to his list of signs that you have Genealogy OCD.  From one to many, no limit!  Be creative!!

3)  Share your ingenuity and humor with us in your own blog post, in Comments to this post, in comments to Michael's post, or in a comment on Google Plus or Facebook.


Here are some of mine:

*  You have every mobile device type (and in some cases, more than one), and every possible genealogy-related app, and they all need to be charged every night and updated regularly.


*  You show off your Ancestry.com app on your smart phone to persons you meet in "real life."  You attach all the new green leaf Hints that show up on your mobile device too.

*  You work in your genealogy management program every day adding the source citations you should have added before you heard of Evidence Explained, plus the new green leaf Hints (on Ancestry) and Record Matches (on MyHeritage) and Record Hints (on FamilySearch).

*  You make an image of every document, paper or website that you search, and find, for your ancestors, and add it to the research log for that person.   

*  You contribute your family tree to every new online family tree system that comes along in hopes of finding cousins with family information.

*  Your family vacations consist of visiting cousins in distant places along with genealogical conferences, seminars and cruises.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-signs-you.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday -- WOODWARD (England to colonial Massachusetts)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  


I am in the 8th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #1057 who is Sarah WOODWARD (1643-1706) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through three generations in this WOODWARD family line is:


1. Randall J. Seaver

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

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

32. Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)
33. Abigail Gates (1797-1869)


66.  Nathan Gates (1767-1830)
67.  Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855)

132.  Simon Gates (1739-1803)
133.  Susannah Reed (1745-1833)

264.  Amos Gates (1706-1783)
265.  Mary Hubbard (1712-1754)

528.  Simon Gates (1667-1752)
529.  Hannah Benjamin (1669-1752)

1056.  Stephen Gates, born about 1634 in Hingham, Norfolk, England; died 09 July 1707 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2112. Stephen Gates and 2113. Ann Neave.  He married about 1664 in probably Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
1057.  Sarah Woodward, born 03 February 1643 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died 21 October 1706 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of Stephen Gates and Sarah Woodward are:
*  Stephen Gates (1665-1732), married 1686 Jemima Benjamin (1666-1700).
*  Simon Gates (1667-1752), married 1688 Hannah Benjamin (1669-1752)
*  Thomas Gates (1669-1726), married 1695 Margaret Geer (1669-1752)
*  Isaac Gates (1673-1748), married (1) 1696 Mercy Benjamin (1676-1716); (2) 1711 Elizabeth Merriam (1673-1755).
*  Nathaniel Gates (1675-1731), married 1700 Mary Gibson (1673-????).
*  Sarah Gates (1679-1724).
*  Rebecca Gates (1682-1754), married 1700 Timothy Gibson (1679-1757).
*  Daniel Gates (1685-1759), married 1714 Anna Eveleth (1684-1759).

2114.  George Woodward, born about 1619 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England; died 31 May 1676 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married before 1641 in probably Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
2115.  Mary Gibson, born about 1625 in England; died 17 August 1658 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 4230. Joseph Gibson.

Children of George Woodward and Mary Gibson are:
*  Mary Woodward (1641-1718), married 1664 John Waite (1639-1691).
*  Sarah Woodward (1643-1706), married 1664 Stephen Gates (1634-1707).
*  Amos Woodward (1644-1679), married 1666 Sarah Patten (1645-1677).
*  Rebecca Woodward (1647-1727), married 1666 Thomas Fisher (1636-1707).
*  John Woodward (1649-1732), married (1) 1673 Rebecca Robbins (1649-1696); (2) 1686 Sarah Bancroft (1652-1723).
*  Susanna Woodward (1651-1676).
*  Daniel Woodward (1653-1713), married (1) 1679 Elizabeth Dana (1662-1702); (2) 1704 Elizabeth Greely.
*  Mary Woodward (1656-1713), married 1676 George Barstow (1652-1726).

4228.  Richard Woodward, born about 1589 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England; died 16 February 1665 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married 16 February 1614 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
4229.  Rose Stewart, born about 1582 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England; died 06 October 1662 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Richard Woodward and Rose Stewart are:
*  George Woodward (1619-1676), married (1) 1641 Mary Gibson (1625-1658); (2) 1659 Elizabeth Hammond (1633-1700).
*  John Woodward (1621-1696), married (1) Mary White (1625-1654); (2) 1656 Abigail Benjamin (1624-1704).
Most of the information on the Woodward family was obtained from the book:

*  Henry Bond, M.D., Family Memorials: Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts (Boston, Mass. : Little, Brown & Co., 1855)

*  Several published vital record books.

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/surname-saturday-woodward-england-to.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Friday, October 31, 2014

Hallowe'en Pranks in San Diego in 1906

I wondered if the local newspaper, The San Diego Union, published anything about Hallowe'en activities about 100 years ago.  fortunately, GenealogyBank has the full run of that newspaper since 1868, so I searched with keywords of [hallowe'en trick] and got 59 matches.

I picked one from 1966 headlined "Hallowe'en Proves Quiet" published on 1 November 1906:


The full article reads:

HALLOWE'EN PROVES QUIET

Good Natured Pranks Rule Throughout this City

Many Social Functions Are Given in Old Time Style

Mischievous youths held high carnival last night all over San Diego and Prankdom reigned supreme.  Mostly the fun was good natured and evoked only smiles from perpetrator and victim, but here and there a pompous gentleman whose top hat had been ruthlessly removed by an invisible string, an immaculate youth who stepped into a carefully prepared mud puddle, or a tired business man who trod on the business end of a hoop, stopped long enough to shake a fist and voice a few un-Christian remarks in the direction of the derisive laugh which came apparently from nowhere.

In a good many quarters of the city, wagon wheels were taken off and suspended with gates, ravaged from the fronts of houses, upon dizzy heights of telegraph-pole eminence.  Changing house and room numbers was a favorite diversion; bicycle racks, barber poles and bulletin boards took unto themselves feet and walked away.

A trick which the small boys played with great success was unscrewing the front on electric bell push buttons, inserting a piece of putty beneath them and screwing the front on again with the result that some bells are still ringing, unless the batteries have become exhausted.  Tick-tacks were rather out of fashion last night, and even the strident horse-fiddle seemed to have outlived its day.  The evening, in the downtown district partook more of the character of a carnival, fancy costumes being in evidence everywhere, especially at Unity hall, where a very successful masquerade ball was given by the Ladies Concert band.  No arrests were reported up to a late hour by the police, and the night is recorded as one of the jolliest and most harmless of Hallowe'en celebrations ever known here.


Hallowe'en Party

 Edith Hoff entertained entertained a score of her young friends at her home at The Keystone last evening, where the sun-parlor was converted into a resort such as witches and other uncanny folk are wont to inhabit.  All lights except those from grinning masks, and from the fire which kept contents of the cauldron at a scathing heat were dispensed with.

Early in the evening the young hostess and her guests, chaperoned by Mesdames Hoff and Owen and Miss Ruby Williams, made a Hallowe'en call on friends in the neighborhoods.

On their return various games were played, among them ducking for apples, Winkum, farmyard and other pastimes traditionally connected with the occasion.

Refreshments followed and they were enjoyed in the big dining room, prettily decorated with red and yellow autumn flowers.

==================================

The kids were sure creative, weren't they?  If someone tried any of those tricks this year, they'd probably be arrested.

I wondered what "Winkum" was - I found a description at http://www.momswhothink.com/birthday-party-games/winkum.html.

My grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer, was age 15 in 1906 - I wonder if he participated in the pranks that were mentioned, or attended Edith's party.  I wonder if my great-grandparents had tricks played on them at their house on the corner of 30th Street and Hawthorn Street.

Have I mentioned recently that I love GenealogyBank? Especially since they added the San Diego newspapers several years ago!!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/halloween-pranks-in-san-diego-in-1906.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - October 23-31, 2014

The following databases were added or updated on Ancestry.com during the period from 23 October to 31 October.  

*  NEW  Canada, Soldier Homestead Grant Registers, 1918-1931; 17952 records, added 10/30/2014

*  NEW  England, Queen's Canadian Military Hospital Registers, 1914-1919; 4969 records, added 10/30/2014

*  NEW  New Zealand, Roll of Honour, 1840-1903; 9672 records, added 10/30/2014

*  NEW  New Zealand Expeditionary Force Record of Personal Service, 1914-1918; 11621 records, added 10/30/2014

*  NEW  New Zealand, World War II Appointments, Promotions, Transfers and Resignations, 1939-1945; 85962 records, added 10/30/2014

*  NEW  New Zealand, World War II Ballot Lists, 1940-1945; 346267 records, added 10/30/2014

*  UPDATED  1911 England Census; 33847719 records, updated 10/30/2014

*  UPDATED  U.S., Native American Applications for Enrollment in Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914; 68500 records, updated 10/29/2014

*  NEW  Web: UK, Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Index, 1917-1920; 7010 records, added 10/28/2014

*  UPDATED  Nova Scotia, Canada, Land Petitions, 1765-1800; 11354 records, updated 10/28/2014

*  UPDATED  Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, RMS Titanic Fatality Reports, 1912; 328 records, updated 10/28/2014

*  NEW  Web: UK, Women's Royal Naval Service Index, 1917-1919; 7444 records, added 10/28/2014

*  NEW  London, England, Workhouse Admission and Discharge Records, 1738-1930; 3264526 records, added 10/27/2014

*  UPDATED  Dorset, England, Tithe Apportion and Maps, 1835-1850; 210787 records, updated 10/27/2014

*  NEW  New York, State Census, 1865; 2569140 records, added 10/27/2014

*  UPDATED  Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963; 7051081 records, updated 10/23/2014

The complete list of New or Updated Databases can be seen at  http://www.ancestry.com/cs/reccol/default.


The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at  http://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  There are 32,467 databases available as of today.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/new-or-updated-ancestrycom-databases.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 44: #51 Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" in her blog post Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #44:

Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863) is #51 on my Ahnentafel list, my third great-grandmother.  She married in 1815 to #50 Daniel Spangler (1781-1851).



I am descended through:

*  their daughter, #25 Rebecca Spangler (1831-1901), who married #24, David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902) in 1851.


*  their son, #12 Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946), who married #13 Abbie Ardell "Della" Smith (1862-1944) in 1887.
*  their son, #6 Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), married Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977) in 1918. 
* their daughter, #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), who married Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

 =====================================================

1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                   Elizabeth King[1]    
*  Sex:                      Female   

*  Alternate Name:  Elisabet Konig[4]
*  Alternate Name:  Elizabeth Konig[3,7]
*  Alternate Name   Elizabeth Spangler[2,5–6]

*  Father:                  Philip Jacob Konig (1764-1829)   
*  Mother:                Catherine Ruth (1770-1813)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   


*  Birth:                   5 March 1796, York, York, Pennsylvania, United States[1–4]   
*  Baptism:              2 May 1796 (age 0), Trinity Reformed Church, York, York, Pennsylvania, United States[3-4]
*  Estate Distribution:  3 February 1826 (age 29), will of Philip Jacob King written; York, York, Pennsylvania, United States[5]   
*  Census:               1 June 1850 (age 54), Sandy Creek, Mercer, Pennsylvania, United States[6]
*  Death:                 18 March 1863 (age 67), Conneautville, Crawford, Pennsylvania, United States[2]    
  
3)  SPOUSES AND CHILDREN (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   
*  Spouse 1:            Daniel Spangler (1781-1851)   
*  Marriage 1:         12 March 1815 (age 19), Trinity Reformed Church, York, York, Pennsylvania, United States[2,7]

*  Child 1:               Anna Katrina Spangler (1816-1816)   
*  Child 2:               Anna Maria Spangler (1818-1869)   
*  Child 3:               Henry K. Spangler (1820-1820)   
*  Child 4:               Elizabeth Spangler (1822-1884)   
*  Child 5:               Sarah Elizabeth Spangler (1824-1864)   
*  Child 6:               Dorothea Matilda Spangler (1827-1891)   
*  Child 7:               Helen Spangler (1831-1905)   
*  Child 8:               Rebecca Spangler (1832-1901)   
*  Child 9:               Louisa Spangler (1839-1883)   
*  Child 10:       Margaret Jane Spangler (1841-1871)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

 Elisabeth King/Konig was the daughter of Philip Jacob King/Konig and Catharine Ruth of York, York County, Pennsylvania.  The King family is described in the Kings of York County book.[1] 

The birth and baptism record of Elizabeth Konig in the Trinity Reformed Church (York, Penn.) records[3.4] says (translated from German to English):

Birth:  Mr 5 1796
Baptism:  My 2 1796
Child:  Elizabeth
Parents:  Jacob Konig & Catharine  

The Trinity Reformed Church (York, Penn.) record book notes the marriage of Elizabeth to Daniel Spangler:[2,7]

Mr 12 1815  Daniel Spengler - Elizabeth Koenig

After her marriage to Daniel Spangler on 12 March 1815 in York, the family moved to Winchester, Virginia. In 1829 they located in Sandy Creek township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth's father, Philip Jacob King, died in 1829 in York, Pennsylvania, and in his 1826 will he directed his son George to pay Elizabeth a share of his estate:[5]

"...to be paid as follows, one thousand dollars part thereof to be paid to each of them immediately after my decease and to pay the Interest of one thousand dollars yearly to my daughter Elizabeth intermarried with Daniel Spangler during her natural life the first payment to be made in one year after my decease and at and immediately after her death the said sum of one thousand dollars, the principal, to be paid to her children sh-are and share alike..."

Daniel and Elizabeth (Koenig/King) Spangler had ten children, born between 1816 and 1841, as listed in the Spangler book,[2] and eight of them survived to adulthood and are listed in Daniel's probate records in 1851.

In the 1850 US census, the Daniel Spangler family resided in Sandy Creek township in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and was enumerated just after the Henry Carringer family.[6]  The household included:

*  Daniel Spangler, age 68, male, a farmer, real property worth $1500, born PA
*  Elizabeth Spangler, age 54, female, born PA
*  Rebecca Spangler, age 18, female, born PA, attended school
*  Loiza Spangler, age 12, female, born PA, attended school
*  Margaret Spangler, age 11, female, born PA, attended school
*  George Con (?), age 11, male, born PA, attended school
*  Matilda McKight, age 23, female, born VA
*  Elliott McKight, age 28, male, laborer, born PA

I have found no death record or burial record for Elizabeth.  The Spangler surname book[2] says:

"Elizabeth, his wife, was born March 5, 1796, died March 18, 1863, in Conneautville, Pa."
 
5)  SOURCES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

1. Richard Shue, The Kings of York County: Pioneers, Patriots and Papermakers (York, Penn. : the author, n.d.), Part III, page 7.

2. Edward W. Spangler, The Annals of the Families of Caspar, Henry, Baltzer and George Spengler Who Settled in York County Respectively in 1729, 1732, 1732 and 1751, with Biographical and Historical Sketches, and Memorabilia of Contemporaneous Local Events (York, Penn. : n.p., 1896), page 191, John Daniel Spangler sketch.

3. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), York County, York town, "Trinity Reformed Church (United Church of Christ)" typescript, unnumbered page, image 55, Elizabeth Konig baptism entry, 2 May 1796.

4. Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images,  Ancestry.com  (http://www.ancestry.com),  York County, York town, "Trinity United Church of Christ" manuscript (in German), unnumbered page, 1796, image 37, Elisabet Konig baptism entry, 2 May 1796.

5. "Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683-1994," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org), York County, “Wills, 1818-1833, vol. O-Q,” Volume Q, Philip Jacob King will, on pages 136-141 (images 638 to 640 of 846).

6. 1850 United States Federal Census, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Sandy Creek township, Page 312, dwelling #854, family #901, Daniel Spangler household, online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 796.


7. Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images,  Ancestry.com  (http://www.ancestry.com), York County, York town, "Trinity Reformed Church (United Church of Christ)" typescript, page 331 (image 275), Daniel Spengler and Elizabeth Koenig marriage entry, 12 March 1815.

=================================

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Hallowe'en Names Revisited

There are a number of families in the Rootsweb WorldConnect database at  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/  that have surnames connected to Hallowe'en. For instance:

1) The GHOST surname - there are 558 entries, including the descendants of Philip Ghost of Westmoreland County PA - see 6 generations here. It looks like at least one GHOST from this family is still living.






2) The GOBLIN surname - there are 59 entries. It looks like there are no real GOBLIN family trees - only isolated GOBLIN women who married men with other surnames.

3) The SKELETON surname - there are 455 entries but few trees with many generations. Methinks these are mostly misspelled SKELTON people (72,374).

4) The FRANKENSTEIN surname - There are 1,442 entries, and most of them are of German origin. One family that settled in Rochester NY is here. There is one Frank N. Stein here.

5) The WITCH surname - there are 144 entries, but no long family lines in the database. Some of those listed were accused of witchcraft.

6) The PUMPKIN surname - there are 77 entries, but no long family lines.  There are 390 entries for a given name of PUMPKIN.

7) The HAUNT surname - there are only 6 entries, none with a family line.  There are 5 persons with the first name of HAUNT.

8) The SPOOK surname - there are 34 entries, and only one with a three generation family. There are 428entries for people with a given name of Spook and 29 for the first name of Spooky (at least one dog!)

9) The GHOUL surname - there are 47 entries.

10) The JACKO surname has 362 entries, and there are 101 entries with a given name of Jacko..

11) The LANTERN surname has 319 entries. But there are no people named Jack O. Lantern.

12) There are 269 CAT surname entries and 11,821 CATT entries. There is one Black Cat name, which died in 2006 in Uncle Brick's barn..

13) There are 22 SCARY surname entries - many of them still living. There are 87 entries for a given name of Scary.

14) There are 73 DRACULA surname entries, many of them are related to The Count. There are 56 entries for a given name of DRACULA.

15) There are 544 CEMETERY entries, some of them the name of actual cemetery databases.

16)  There are 4,794 GRAVE surname entries, and 334,333 GRAVES surname entries.

17)  There are 157,428 entries for the surname COFFIN.

18) There are 2,438 MONSTER entries. No Monster Mash, though (there are 3,193 surname entries for MASH). There are no "Boris Pickett" persons, but there are 15 entries for BOBBY PICKETT.

19) There are 899 SKULL surname entries.

20) There are 101 SPIRIT entries. There are 3 entries for a Holy Spirit with a spouse named Mary, with a child.

21) There are 587,453 surname entries for WEBB, but only 6 entries for "Spider WEBB" (all nicknames)

22) There are 213 entries for SCREECH surname. And 51 entries for a given name or nickname of Screech.

23) There are 6 entries for HALLOWEEN surname - even a Mary Halloween.  There are 125 given name entries for HALLOWEEN (including maiden names).

24) There are no VAMPIRE surname entries, and 2 given name entries.

25) There are 20,539 BROOM surname entries.

26) There are 127 BAT surname entries, 18,297 BATT surname entries and 11,746 BATTY surname entries.  There are 797 entries for BATTY as a given name.

27) There are no ZOMBIE surname entries or given name entries. Whew!

28)  There are 58,360 entries for the surname BLOOD.

29)  The surname DEATH has 11,767 entries.

30)  The 
TRICK surname has 4,019 surname entries and TREAT surname has 66,461 entries!  There are 52 given name entries for Tricky, but no Tricky Treat.

31)  he surname WARLOCK has 76 entries, but there are 43 given name entries 

32)  There are 3 surname entries for WEREWOLF, both married to the same Lucky guy!

33)  There are 407 surname entries for BOO, and 783 given name entries for BOO.

Enough!! What other Hallowe'en oriented surnames can you think of? Are they in WorldConnect?

Happy Hallowe'en!! Trick or Treat? 
Ancestry.com published a press release back in 2006 with Hallowe'en census entries - see the list here.

The Ancestry.com blog published some entries from death records in Who would name their daughter Halloween? Just check the records.

John D. Reid posted some Hallowe'en names and occupations  in Halloween fun from Ancestry.ca in 2009.

Craig Manson posted Halloween Census Whacking in 2009 for some of the names above.

Chris Dunham did some Census Whacking on Hallowe'en names in Censuswhacking for Halloween in 2005.

Did I miss a post on Hallowe'en names?  If so, please tell me and I'll add it to my list.


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/halloween-names-revisited.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Thursday, October 30, 2014

When and Where Did Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863) Die or Be Buried?

I've been working on my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks biography for Friday - this week it is #51 Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863), wife of Daniel Spangler (1781-1851).

The Spangler surname book (Edward W. Spangler, The Annals of the Families of Caspar, Henry, Baltzer and George Spengler Who Settled in York County Respectively in 1729, 1732, 1732 and 1751, with Biographical and Historical Sketches, and Memorabilia of Contemporaneous Local Events (York, Penn. : n.p., 1896), page 191) says this about Elizabeth:

"Elizabeth, his wife, was born March 5, 1796, died March 18, 1863, in Conneautville, Pa."

There's a clue!  It gives me a death date and place.  But it's a surname book based on information collected over time and is, generally, without sources.

I've looked in online databases, and historical newspaper websites, and have not found an actual record that defines the death and/or burial of Elizabeth (King) Spangler.

I Googled "Conneautville Cemetery" and found a set of burial records at http://cvahs.org/cem/conn/. The page for "Snyder to Spencer" is:


Hmmm.  That shows an "Elizabeth Spaigler" not Spangler, with a death date of 18 March 1883.  Not 1863. The death date (18 March) matches, but the death year is 20 years different. That's quite a coincidence - similar name, same location, same day of the year.  It also says she was age 56, so the age at death is 11 years different.

Is that "my" Elizabeth (King) Spangler?  I don't know.

I looked at Find A Grave and found essentially the same information for "Elizabeth Spangler:"



However, there is no gravestone photograph.  Where did this information come from?  Did someone walk the cemetery and note the inscriptions, or did they use a cemetery index compiled by someone many years ago.

Is the gravestone still standing, and is it readable?  I don't know.  I requested a gravestone photograph of the Elizabeth Spangler stone to see if this is my third great-grandmother.  I'll report back if and when I get a response!

I asked myself why was Elizabeth buried in Conneautville in Crawford County, Pennsylvania when her husband, Daniel Spangler, died in 1851 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.   The answer to my question is, I think this:  Two of her daughters, Louisa (Spangler) Power (1839-1883) and Helen (Spangler) Brown (1831-1905) resided in Conneautville from the 1850s until their deaths.  After Daniel died, Elizabeth probably went to live with one of her daughters.

Daniel Spangler (1781-1851) is reported to be buried in Sheakleyville Cemetery in Sandy Creek, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  However, that cemetery on Find A Grave is reported to be 88% photographed, but there is no listing for Daniel Spangler.  I made a photograph request there also, hoping that there is a gravestone and/or a cemetery record.  I'll report back if and when I receive a response.

So I've struck out on both of these 3rd great-grandparents for now!  But there's a mystery, a significant coincidence, and therefore hope...

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/when-and-where-did-elizabeth-king.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Demonstrating Adding Ancestry.com Hints in a Specific Database to my RootsMagic Database

I have written several blog posts in the last month about finding record hints in a specific Ancestry.com database for persons in my Ancestry Member Tree - see Finding Record Hints for Persons in a Specific Database on Ancestry.com (posted 15 October 2014) and More on Finding Record Hints for a Specific Database on Ancestry.com (posted 17 October 2014).

Last night (29 October 2014), on the Wacky Wednesday Hangout On Air (hosted by DearMYRTLE), I demonstrated the process I use to "mine" a specific database on Ancestry.com and add information from that database to my RootsMagic 6 family tree database.  The YouTube video is at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmY0QPSahQw&list=UUZlX5znu6d7CCz6xobwMXOA.  You can watch it here also:



During the video, I demonstrated the following:

*  Finding your Ancestry Member Tree number (needed to find records in a database for persons in your Ancestry Member Tree)
*  Finding the Database ID number for the Ancestry.com database you wish to "mine."  In this case, it was the 1940 U.S. Census (dbid=2442)
*  Modifying the example URL for your own Ancestry Member Tree number and Ancestry Database ID  number.
*  Viewing the list of the matches in the target database, and getting to the record image for the selected record.
*  Saving the file to my computer files, and renaming the file.
*  Accessing the Ancestry source citation information for the selected record.

*  For the person in the Ancestry record, finding the person in my RootsMagic database, and opening the Edit Person screen.
*  Adding a Census event for the 1940 U.S. census, using the place name from the Ancestry.com record.  Adding the street address to the Census event.
*  Adding a source citation for the census event using the location, ED number, page number, and roll number from the Ancestry source citation, and the dwelling number and head of household name, to the source citation created in RootsMagic.  Memorizing the source citation so I can use it for other Facts and Persons in the census record.
*  Adding the saved record image as a Media item to the target person in my RootsMagic database, and tagging it to the Census event.
*  Adding an Occupation event and description in RootsMagic, using the record information and Pasting the memorized source citation from the Census event.
*  Adding the Census event for other persons in the census record and Pasting the memorized source citation.

*  Saving the Ancestry.com record image to my Ancestry Member Tree.  

One item I did not demonstrate (because I forgot to do it!) was to add a Note to the Census event in RootsMagic that abstracts the information in the census record for the family.  I could have added other information from the Census record as additional Events in RootsMagic - like the Residence in 1935, the gender, approximate birth year and birth place, the education level, the household income, etc. to the Edit Person screen for each person in the household.   I usually add those items to the Event Note abstract for the head of household rather than create separate events and duplicate the Event Notes for each person in the household.

During the demonstration and in the discussion following, I made several other points;

*  Your Ancestry Member Tree needs to be "mature" - you have to give Ancestry.com time to find all of the Hints for the persons in your Tree.  My experience is that Ancestry.com adds 5 to 20 Hints each day to my tree added in July 2014 (the one I used for the demonstration).  I don't think the process is finished!

*  A user can enrich (or seed, or enhance, or drive, or tease, or stimulate) their Hint list by going into my Ancestry Member Tree in the "Family" view and selecting specific persons (say a 3rd great-grandparent), thereby seeing their descendants.  Ancestry will find Hints almost immediately for those persons in their databases (not only the 1940 U.S. Census).  I did that recently for a number of Seaver, Carringer, Auble and Vaux folks) and was rewarded with hundreds more Hints for the 1940 Census (and other databases also).

*  The Ancestry.com database of interest needs to be "mature."  If Ancestry just added the database to their collections, not all of the Hints from that database will be immediately added for persons in my Ancestry Member Tree.

*  I have found that almost all matches provided to persons in my Ancestry Member Tree in the 1940 U.S. Census database were accurate - perhaps 1 to 2% applied to another person with the same name.

*  One of the most useful results from this capability is that married daughters and remarried widows may show up in the Hint list with their spouses and other family members.  That provides not only the relevant census data, but an Ancestry.com census record can be used to provide "Suggested Records" for those persons that may provide more information about their lives -  census records, vital records, burial records, directory records , newspaper records, etc.

I have several reasons for "mining" specific databases, including:

*  I haven't added Census record events, and their source citations, to every relevant person in my database.  I've concentrated on my ancestors, but not the siblings of my ancestors, or their spouses, or the parents of the spouses.

*  It enables me to systematically add children or siblings of the target persons.

*  It is much easier for me to add events and source citations from one database at a time.  I can get into a rhythm of abstracting information, adding source citations, etc.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/10/demonstrating-adding-ancestrycom-hints.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 238: Henry Austin Carringer's 1888 Great Register of Voters Entry

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1888-1892 Great Register of Voters entry in San Diego County for Henry A. Carringer (1853-1946), my great-grandfather:


The left-hand page is above.  The right-hand page:


The entry for Henry A. Carringer (left-hand page only):


The data extracted from this entry:

*  No. 491
*  Name:  Henry A. Carringer
*  Age:  35
*  Country of Nativity:  Penn[sylvania]
*  Occupation:  Carpenter
*  Local Residence:  National [township]
*  Naturalized:  [no information]
*  Date of Registration:  August 9, 1888
*  Sworn:  Sworn
*  Cancellation:  [no information]

The source citation for this entry is (using the Evidence Explained template for "Court Record Books, local (archived off-site)"):

San Diego County, Great Register of Voters, 1888-1892, no page number, No. 491, Henry A. Carringer entry, 9 August 1888; accessed at San Diego Central Library, San Diego, Calif.

Note:  There was not a specific source template for a "Voter Register" in the RootsMagic source template list, so I used a template for something similar - "Court Record Books, local (archived off-site)." 

Henry Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer arrived in San Diego in October 1887, and settled first in National township (now National City) just south of San Diego city.  Austin worked on the railway terminus that was located in National City.   

I found this document last week when I visited the San Diego Central Library and specifically asked for the Great Register of Voters for this time period. These were apparently created for each four-year election period.  I also asked to see other Great Registers up through 1920, and they had some of them, but only for San Diego County entries.  Austin and Della moved into San Diego city by 1894, and therefore the library did not have the specific Great Registers.  I was especially interested to see how early Della Carringer registered to vote.  Perhaps the San Diego Historical Society has the registers I want.


copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver