Saturday, February 13, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Valentine's Day Story



It's Saturday Night - 
time for more Genealogy Fun! 



Valentine's Day is tomorrow (I hope you remembered to shop today!) 

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


1) Recall a memory of a Valentine's Day in your life. Is it the first love of your life? A special day with your lover, spouse or significant other? Do you have a picture of a Valentine's Day event, or a special Valentine that you received, to share?


2) Describe your Valentine's Day memory, activity and/or image in a blog post of your own, a comment to this blog post, a comment/post on Facebook, or a comment/post on Google+.


3) Have fun remembering your special day.

Here's mine:



Flash back to 14 February 1970 - 46 years ago - it's a Saturday night. I'd been dating Linda seriously for about six months and we knew that we were "in love." We'd had a lot of fun, met each other's families, talked about the future, what we want from a marriage, and knew each other pretty well.

We were invited to a Valentine's Day party at Linda's cousin's house in Ocean Beach. I'd met them before, and Sue's husband, Bill, was a funny and raunchy guy - as I thought I was. We go, and meet many of their friends, and I'm introduced as "Linda's good friend, Randy." One of the ladies (Sue's age then - maybe 40ish) corners me and says "How good a friend are you?" giving me a wink and raised eyebrow.

Without a blink, I blurt out "well, I'm proposing to her tonight, but don't tell anybody!" She says "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret" and gave me knowing glances the rest of the night. After we leave the party, she went to Sue and said "Guess what Randy told me" and tells Sue the secret (there's a lesson learned here, eh?).

We didn't go directly home, as I still have to fortify my courage a bit more. We stopped at our favorite bar, King Luis Inn, for a drink and some bar singing (we loved doing this while dating). None of the regulars were there, so I can't blurt out the secret to them. I had talked to my Catholic priest friend, Father Jack, who was visiting San Diego, and had suggested that we meet at the bar, so he is there when we get there. When Linda goes to the ladies room, I tell Father Jack my secret.

Now well fortified and well committed, I carefully drive us to Linda's apartment and we have an appropriate amorous interlude. It's time to exchange Valentine's Day cards and gifts, and I only have a card. She opens my card and inside I've written "Will you be my Valentine ... forever?" She looks at me, now down on my knees, and says "does this mean your proposing to me" and I said "Will you marry me?"

Of course, another appropriate amorous interlude occurred, and I went to my apartment an hour later. We went to the church on Sunday (after about 3 hours sleep!) and talked to the pastor, and asked him if he would marry us on 21 March 1970. He said he would, and we set off on the whirlwind five weeks of preparation and planning that culminated in a 7-day honeymoon in Acapulco, but that's another story.

So Mr. Romantic did a pretty good job of finding an excellent woman to marry, and after 46 years we're still in love and living amicably together. It hasn't been much of a struggle. Life has been good for us with health, work, children, friends, church, hobbies, vacations and now 5 grandchildren. We look forward to spending our 46th anniversary in Las Vegas - making more family history!

We still laugh about 14 February 1970.

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


Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


Surname Saturday - BREWER (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 #1251, but I don't have her name. The next known female ancestor is #1253 who is Sarah BREWER (1659-1723) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through twp generations of this BREWER 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)


18.  Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19.  Sophia Newton (1834-1923)

38.  Thomas J. Newton (1800-????)
39.  Sophia Buck (1797-1882)

78.  Isaac Buck (1757-1846)
79.  Martha Phillips (1757-1820)

156.  Isaac Buck (1732-????)
157.  Mary Richards (1733-????)

312.  Isaac Buck (1706-1780)
313.  Ruth Graves (1711-????)

626.  Thomas Graves (1686-1756)
627.  Ruth Collins (1685-1714)

1252.  Samuel Graves, born 01 October 1655 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died December 1723 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2504. Thomas Graves and 2505. Hannah LNU.  He married 12 March 1678 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
1253.  Sarah Brewer, born before 13 November 1659 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; died December 1723 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of Samuel Graves and Sarah Brewer are:
*  Crispus Graves (1679-1758), married 1704 Rebecca Alley (1683-1765).
*  Hannah Graves (1681-????)
*  Samuel Graves (1684-1752), married (1) 1709 Elizabeth Lewis (1684-1740); (2) 1740 Mary Merrey.
*  Thomas Graves (1686-1756), married (1) 1710 Ruth Collins (1685-1714); (2) Ruth Taylor (1690-1756).
*  Mark Graves (1689-1729), married 1718 Ruth Phillips (1686-1760).
*  William Graves (1692-1756), married 1722 Hannah Todd (1686-????).
*  John Graves (1695-1765), married 1718 Eunice Collins (1697-????).
*  Rebecca Graves (1698-1739), married 1721 Ezekiel Collins (1698-1765).
*  Daniel Graves (1701-1765), married 1723 Martha Coats (1703-????).
*  Nathaniel Graves (1701-1????), married (1) 1727 Lydia Wallis (1706-????); (2) 1743 Elizabeth Nicholson (1723-????).

2506.  Crispus Brewer, born about 1626 in England; died before 10 February 1707 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married about 1652 in probably Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.
2507.  Mary LNU, born 1629 in England; died 03 May 1693 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Crispus Brewer and Mary are:
*  Mary Brewer (1653-1706), married 1674 John Richards (1644-1713).
*  Hannah Brewer (1659-????), married 1681 Samuel Ingolls.
*  Thomas Brewer (1659-1709), married 1682 Elizabeth Graves (1662-????).
*  Sarah Brewer (1659-1723), married 1678 Samuel Graves (1655-1723).
*  Elizabeth Brewer (1660-????), married 1683 John Lewis.
*  Abigail Brewer (1664-1737), married 1693 John Liscom (1707-????).
*  Rebecca Brewer (1667-1701).

Information about this Brewer family was obtained from:

*  Winifred Lovering Holman, "Crispus Brewer of Boston and Lynn, The Essex Genealogist, Volume 19, number 2, May 1999, pages 77-80.

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



Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Searching the New Findmypast U.S. Marriage Collection

Findmypast announced their new U.S. Marriage Collection last week - see Findmypast Announces Largest Online Collection of U.S. Marriages From 1650-2010 (posted 4 February 2016).

I finally had a chance to work in this database today, and like what I see.  I have a Findmypast subscription, so the opening screen may look different from what other users see.  

1)  Here is the home page:



2)  At the bottom of the screen above, the link to "Explore 33 million NEW U.S. marriage records."  I clicked on it to see the search page for this collection:


3)  I entered "seaver" in the surname field, chose no name variants, and the search results included 2,311 entries:


4)  I scrolled down a bit, and found an entry for an Archer W. Seaver who married a Lillian in 1923 in Texas.  I checked my RootsMagic database, and I did not have a marriage date for them, so I clicked on the blue "transcription" icon on the right side of the page, and saw the indexed information:


Archer W. Seaver, age 22, married Lillian Carlson, age 19, on 29 August 1923 in El Paso County, Texas.  Some entries provide the parents names on the record.

5)  There was a blue icon to see the record image on the transcription page, so I clicked on that and saw the marriage license and marriage return:


The marriage license provided the birth date and birth place of both parties, plus signatures.

6)  Not every entry in the U.S. Marriage Collection has an image of a license or return, but they all have a transcription of the indexed information.  

7)  A source citation?  Here is one for this marriage record:

"United States Marriages," indexed database, Findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : accessed 12 February 2016), El Paso County, Texas, Archer W. Seaver and Lillian Carlson marriage entry, 1923; citing original data from El Paso County, Texas vital records, provided on FHL US/CAN Microfilm 25,067.

8)  At present, there are 33 million records in this collection, and eventually it will be 100 million records or more.  There is often more than one entry for a specific marriage.

I have over 2,300 entries just for Seaver alone to mine in this collection.  Some of them are in other record collections on FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, but there are quite a few I haven't seen before.

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



Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


Were Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp the Parents of William Knapp (1775-1856)?

One of my "brick wall ancestors" is William Knapp, born about 1775 in Dutchess County, New York, married Sarah Cutter in about 1804 in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and died 16 June 1856 in Newton, Sussex County, New Jersey.  His death record lists his age as 81 and his birthplace as Dutchess County, N.Y.  He was age 75, born in New York, in the 1850 U.S. Census.  That is all the birth year and birth place information I have.

The books Supplement to the Nicholas Knapp Genealogy by Alfred Averill Knapp (published in 1956) and  Nicholas Knapp Genealogy by Alfred Averill Knapp (published in 1953), lists my William Knapp as the son of Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp, listing his birth date as 1786.

The information about the "parents," Shubel Knapp (1757-1831) and Rebecca Mead (1767-1830), indicates they married in Fairfield County, Connecticut in 1782, according to the book and in several online family trees.  It also appears that Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp died in Fairfield County, Copnnecticut and did not reside in Dutchess County, New York, although the two counties are neighbors.

Needless to say, there seem to be several problems with the information in the books - If William was born in 1775, then Rebecca would be only 8 years old, and it would be 7 years before her marriage to Shubel Knapp.  Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp did have a son, William Knapp (1786-1830), according to the book.



There are 17 Ancestry Member Trees with my William Knapp (1775-1856), and five of them list Shubel Knapp and Rebecca Mead as his parents.  Evidently, they relied on the Nicholas Knapp Genealogy books for their information without looking critically at the dates.

What about other online family trees?

*  FamilySearch Family Tree does not list parents for William Knapp (1775-1856).

*  Geni.com does not list parents for William Knapp (1775-1856).

*  WikiTree.com does not list parents for William Knapp (1775-1856).

*  There are two MyHeritage trees with my William Knapp, and neither has parents named.

*  There are two RootsWeb WorldConnect trees with my William Knapp, and both name Shubel Knapp and Rebecca Mead as the parents.

I have contributed most of the information about William Knapp to FamilySearch Family Tree, Geni and WikiTree profiles for William Knapp.

I think the answer to my question in the blog post title is NO, William Knapp was not the son of Shubel and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp.  I have no clue who his parents were!

It is useful to document these problems in hope that the researchers with William Knapp in their ancestry will see this post and remove the erroneous relationship of William Knapp to Shubael and Rebecca (Mead) Knapp.  I could contact the five Ancestry Member Tree owners about this, but have not done that yet.

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



Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


52 Ancestors - Week 111: #134 Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I am extending this theme in 2016 to 156 Ancestors in 156 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #111:

Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785) is #134 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandfather who married #135 Abigail Pierce (1750-1776) in 1771.


I am descended through:

*  their daughter, 
#67 Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855), who married #66 Nathan Gates (1767-1830), in 1790. 
*  their daughter, #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) who married #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825), in 1817.
*  their son, #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901), who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1852.
*  their son, #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922), who married #9 Hattie Louise Hildreth (1847-1920) in 1874. 
*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married Alma Bessie richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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

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


*  Name:                       Jeremiah Knowlton[1–12]   
*  Sex:                          Male   

*  Father:                      Jeremiah Knowlton (1713-1752)   
*  Mother:                    Sarah Allen (1717-1796)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                      3 March 1745, Concord, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[2]   
*  Deed:                      5 March 1773 (age 28),  Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4]
*  Military:                 3 February 1777 (age 31), Saratoga, New York, United States[7]    
*  Military:                 15 June 1777 (age 32), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]   
*  Military:                 1 August 1778 (age 33), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]
*  Deed:                      24 February 1783 (age 37), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[10]    
*  Deed:                      11 April 1783 (age 38), Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[11]
*  Death:                     11 June 1785 (age 40), Weston, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[12]    
  
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   


*  Spouse 1:               Abigail Peirce (1750-1776)   
*  Marriage:               4 April 1771 (age 26), Waltham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]   

*  Child 1:                  Lydia Knowlton (1773-    )   
*  Child 2:                  Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855)   

*  Spouse 2:               Hannah Goffe (1750-1797)   
*  Marriage 2:            9 September 1776 (age 31), intentions; Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5–6]   
*  Child 3:                  James Knowlton (1778-1782)   
*  Child 4:                  Joseph Knowlton (1780-    )   
*  Child 5:                  James Knowlton (1782-    )   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

 Jeremiah Knowlton was the fourth son and fifth child of Jeremiah and Sarah (Allen) Knowlton, and was born in Concord, Massachusetts.  The birth record in the Concord vital records book says[2]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton, the son of Jeremiah Knowlton and Sarah his wife was
born March 3: 1745."

Jeremiah Knowlton married Abigail Pierce in Waltham on 4 April 1771.  The Waltham vital record book records the marriage as[3]:

"KNOWLTON, Jeremiah of Lexington, and Abigail Pierce, Apr. 4, 1771."

The Lexington vital record book records the marriage as:

"KNOWLTON, Jeremiah of Lex., m., in Waltham, Abigail Pierce, of Waltham, Apr. 4, 1771."

Jeremiah and Abigail (Pierce) Knowlton had two children, Lydia in 1773 and Abigail in 1774, both born  in Lincoln, Massachusetts.  Their mother, Abigail, died on 2 February 1776.

On 5 March 1773, John White of Charlestown sold three tracts of land to Jeremiah Knowlton, cordwainer of Lexington, for 77 pounds lawful money[4].  The three tracts were:

a)  One acre of land in Lincoln, mostly orchards, with a dwelling house and barn; bounded Southerly and Easterly on the highway, about 12 rods, Westerly and Northerly on land of George Farmer. 
b)  40 acres of upland and meadow in the Northerly part of Sudbury and partly in Southerly part of Lincoln, bounded Easterly partly on Iosiah Farrar's land and partly on the highway till it comes to Samuel Farrar's land, Westerly and Northerly on Samuel Farrar's land. 
c)  4 acres of woodland in Sudbury bounded Easterly by land of heirs of Alexander Dummond and Northerly and Southerly on land of Edward Sherman, Westerly on land left for a highway.
Witnesses: Thos. Danforth and James Russell
The deed was signed by John White and his wife Mary White, with Thomas Danforth and James Russell as witnesses.  The deedc was recorded 5 March 1773.

After his first wife, Abigail (Pierce) Knowlton, died in 1776 leaving two small children, Jeremiah Knowlton married, secondly to Hannah Goffe in Lincoln, Massachusetts.  The Lincoln town record book records the event[5-6]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton and Hannah Goffe both
of Lincoln their intention of marriage has been
published in Lincoln according to Law & a Certificet 
given.
Lincoln Sept. the 9th 1776     John Adams Town Clerk"

The book, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, says[1]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton [of Lincoln] was a sergeant in Captain Simon Hunt's company at New York in 1776, and at Saratoga in 1777, and in Captain Francis Brown's company at Rhode Island in 1778."

Volume 9 of the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution book has this entry for Jere. Knowlton[7]:

"KNOWLTON, JERE.  Private, Capt. James Prentiss's co., Col. Samuel Brewer's regt.; pay abstract for travel allowance home, etc., from place of discharge, Saratoga, endorsed "travel from fort Edward;"  240 miles travel allowed said Knowlton; warrant allowed in Council Feb. 3, 1777."

This is likely this Jeremiah Knowlton because of the pay entry in the Lincoln town record book below.

The Lincoln, Massachusetts town records contain a payment record to Jeremiah Knowlton dated 15 June 1777[8]:

"June Do [15th]  By Seventeen Pounds five shillings paid
                       Jeremiah Knowlton for his Service in a       
                      Campaign at New York in the year 1776               
                      and at Saratoga in the year 1777                 17  5  0"

An entry in the book Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution for Jeremiah Knowlton notes[9]:

"KNOWLTON, JEREMIAH.  Private, Capt. Francis Brown's co., Col. McIntosh's regt., Gen. Lovell's brigade; enlisted Aug. 1, 1778, discharged Sept. 11, 1778; service, 1 mo., 14 days, at Rhode Island."

Jeremiah and Hannah (Goffe) Knowlton had three children, James in 1778, Joseph in 1780,and James (again) in 1782, baptized in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

On 24 February 1783, Jeremiah Knowlton, cordwainer of Lincoln, sold land in Lincoln to Seth Badcock, housewright of Lincoln, for 90 pounds[10]. The land in the southwestern part of Lincoln near the dwelling house of Capt. Joseph Adams was one acre, bounded Southerly and Easterly 12 rods on a highway near Miles (?) Bridge, Westerly and Northerly on land of Humphrey Farrar.
Signed: Jeremiah Knowlton and Joanna Knowlton his wife signed the deed with James Adams and Samuel Phip Savage as witnesses.  The deed was recorded: 22 May 1783.

On 11 April 1783, Jeremiah Knowlton of Lincoln, cordwainer, sold land to John Lowell Esq. of Boston for 60 pounds[11]. The land was 40 acres of upland and meadow, partly in Lincoln and partly in Sudbury, bounded Easterly by land of John Lowell and the highway until it comes to Samuel Farrar's land, Westerly and Northerly by Samuel Farrar's land until it comes to a highway, and Southerly on the highway.  Jeremiah Knowlton and Joanna Knowlton signed the deed, with witnesses James Barret and James Adams.  The deed was recorded 15 April 1783.

The family may have moved to Weston, Massachusetts after selling the two properties in Lincoln.  

The death record of Jeremiah Knowlton in the Weston, Massachusetts vital record book says[12]:

"Jeremiah Knowlton, d. June 11, 1785.  His widow, Hannah, and family were removed to Concord."

No gravestone or burial location for Jeremiah Knowlton has been found to date.

There are no probate records for Jeremiah Knowlton in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Probate Court records.

5)  SOURCES

1. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1890)., Volume 2, page 623, Jeremiah Knowlton sketch.

2. George Tolman (compiler), Concord, Massachusetts Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1635-1850 (Concord, Mass. : Committee on Printing, 1894), Page 167, Jeremiah Knowlton birth entry.

3. Vital records of Waltham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New-England Historic Genealogical Society, 1904), Marriages, page 179, Jeremiah Knowlton and Abigail Pierce entry.

4. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Middlesex County, "Deeds 1772-1774, Vol. 74-75," Volume 74, page 138, John White to Jeremiah Knowlton, 1773.

5. Vital Records of Lincoln, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1908), Marriages, page 121, Jeremiah Knowlton and Hannah Goffe, 1776.

6. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Lincoln Marriages, Births, Deaths 1754-1811," page 99 (image 58 of 147), Jeremiah Knowlton and Hannah Goffe marriage entry.

7. Massachusetts, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution (Boston, Mass. : Wright & Potter Printing, 1896-1908), Volume 9, Page 383,  Jere. Knowlton entry, 1777.

8. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Lincoln, Treasurer's Accounts," image 204 of 582, Jeremiah Knowlton, 1777 .

9. Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the War of the Revolution, Volume 9, Page 383,  Jeremiah Knowlton entry, 1778.

10. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org), Middlesex County, "Deeds 1783-1784, Vol. 86," Volume 86, page 64, Jeremiah Knowlton to Seth Badcock, 1783.

11. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org),  Middlesex County, "Deeds 1780-1783, Vol. 82-83," Volume 83, page 448, Jeremiah Knowlton to John Lowell, 1783.


12. Mary Frances Peirce, Town of Weston. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850. Gravestones-, 1703-1900. Church Records, 1709-1825. Appendix and Addenda, Centennial Society (Boston, Mass. : McIncloe Bros., Printers, 1901), page 563, Jeremiah Knowlton entry.


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



Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


Thursday, February 11, 2016

RootsTech 2016 Highlights: What's Coming for Ancestry.com?

I attended the Saturday luncheon sponsored by Ancestry.com at RootsTech 2016, which featured Kendall Hulet, Senior Vice-President of Product and Product Management.  His topic was "Things to Look Forward to on Ancestry in 2016."

The presentation included these topics and information:

1)  "New Ancestry":

*  A "Continue Searching" button will be added
*  Accessibility and customization options for the tree viewer and person pages - we will be able to change colors and themes
*  Simplify and improve accuracy of data entry
*  Drag and drop to add or upload media


2)  New Partnerships:

*  With Software MacKiev to integrate with new Ancestry API
*  With RootsMagic to integrate with new Ancestry API
*  "Sync" your FTM or RootsMagic software tree with Ancestry Member Tree
*  Search Ancestry databases and view Ancestry Hints from FTM and RootsMagic

3)  German Databases:

*  300 million German records published to date, about 400 million by end of 2016
*  State Archive of Berlin, 1874-1945 - 14 million names
*  State Archive of Hessen, 1874-1945 - 11.5 million names
*  German National Directories Project, 1910-1955 - about 500 million records
*  German Lutheran Church Records - over 100 million records

4)  U.S. Wills and Probate Database:

*  Indexes for all 50 states, over 170 million record images.
*  Users will be able to add new names to the index and specify relationships - this is for this specific database and will link the added names to the record images.

5)  Ancestry Mobile Applications

*  Unify the web and app experiences
*  Introducing mobile search
*  Improving media collection and use
*  Ability to take a photo, add audio, and add video


6)  Ancestry Hints

*  More intelligent hinting is necessary - increase precision and recall
*  Anticipate what you want to discover
*  Show what is new or different


7)  AncestryDNA

*  Find matches in more countries - now USA, Canada, UK, Australia
*  Increase ethnicity reference panel from 3,000 to 9,000 persons
*  Ethnicity estimates more accurate, add more ethnicity regions
*  Networks and clusters of matches

There are some very interesting items on the list above - I look forward to seeing them arrive on Ancestry.com over the next year.

I really appreciate that Ancestry.com provides information of this nature.

Readers can also determine some of the "coming soon" databases on the "Recently Added and Updated" page.  They currently list (on the right-hand margin):

*  U.S. Methodist Church Records (January-February 2016) -- We're adding additional Methodist Church records, with information on baptisms and marriages for New Jersey and Indiana.

*  UK Police Gazettes (January 2016) -- These were printed publications used for communication between members of the police force in the United Kingdom between 1812 and 1941 (with gaps in coverage). They include information on wanted criminals, crimes committed, criminals who had been apprehended, deserters, and missing persons.

*  German Vital Records (January-March 2016) -- Look for new collections to be added to the Ancestry collection of German births, marriages, and deaths for several locations. 

*  UK Parish Records (
April 2016) -- Our collection of UK parish registers continues to grow, with records coming in April.



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


Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.