Saturday, April 9, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Three More Ancestry Questions

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

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



Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) My friend and colleague Linda Stufflebean posted J
UST FOR FUN – 4 X 6 = 24 FAMILY TREE QUESTIONS on her blog last week, and I thought we could answer half of the questions last week and half this week.

2)  Here are the last three questions:

*  
Name four places on my ancestral home bucket list I’d like to visit:

*  What are the four most unusual surnames in your family tree?

*  Which four brick walls would you most like to smash through?

3)  Answer each of the questions based on your own ancestors, not the collateral lines.  If you didn't answer the first three questions, you can include them this week.

4)  Share your answers with us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this post, in a Facebook post or a Google+ post.  Please provide a link to your response if you can.

Here's mine:


4)  Name four places on my ancestral home bucket list I’d like to visit:

*  South Petherton, Somerset, England where my Vaux, Palmer, and other families resided before 1830.
*  Bolton-le-Moor and Chorley in Lancashire, England where Linda's Whittle and Morley families resided before 1840.
*  Hunterdon County, New Jersey where my Able, Row, Trimmer, and Pickle families resided before 1800.
*  Norfolk County, Ontario where my Kemp, Sovereen, Hutchinson, and Putman families resided before 1880.

5)  What are the four most unusual surnames in your family tree?

*  Pickel/Pickle in New Jersey and Ontario
*  Dill in Massachusetts (Barnstable County)
*  Fish in Massachusetts (Bristol County)
*  Blossom in Netherlamds and New Jersey (Middlesex County)

6)  Which four brick walls would you most like to smash through?

*  Thomas Newton (ca 1800-????) - a total mystery, only one record found in Mass., probably born in Maine, married to Sophia (Buck) Brigham probably in Worcester County, Massachusetts, perhaps died in Lamoille County, Vermont.   Or not.

*  William Knapp (1775-1856) - born in Dutchess County, N.Y., married in Middlesex County N.J. to Sarah Cutter, died in Sussex County, N.J.  Lots of records, but no clue as to parents.

*  John Kemp (1723-1795) - no parents known, from "Merriland," married in Schenectady N.Y. to Anna Van Vorst, died in Lennox and Addington County, Ontario.  I think he was an Englsih soldier during French and Indian War.

*  Hannah Smith (1768-1827) - no parents known, born in Hillsborough County, N.H., married there, died in Townsend, Mass.  Married to Josiah Sawtell.  Parents may be Joshua Smith and Hannah Baldwin of Raby.

*  I have many more brickwalls.


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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 - GILES (England to colonial New England)

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 #1271, who is Mary GILES (1635-????) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through two generations of this GILES 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)

158.  John Phillips (1722-????)
159.  Hannah Brown (1725?-1770?)

316.  Ebenezer Phillips (1695-1746)
317.  Mary Smith (1698-1746?)

634.  John Smith (1647-1706)
635.  Ruth Cutler (1668-1758)

1270.  Thomas Cutler, born before 03 April 1633 in Norfolk, England; died 07 December 1683 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2540. John Cutler and 2541. Mary.  He married 19 March 1660 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
1271.  Mary Giles, born about 1635 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Thomas Cutler and Mary Giles are:
*  Thomas Cutler (1660-1732), married (1) 1681 Hannah (1662-????); (2) 1685 Elizabeth Felch (1666-????).
*  Mary  Cutler (1663-????), married 1684 Nathaniel Smith (1659-????).
*  Sarah Cutler (1666-1748), married 1688 William Eustis (1660-1737).
*  Ruth Cutler (1668-1758), married (1) 1693 John Smith (1647-1706); (2) 1706 Thomas Upham.
*  David Cutler (1670-1710), married 1700 Abigail Flagg (1681-1768).
*  Jonathan Cutler (1677-1721), married 1717 Abigail Gail (1687-1726).

2542.  Edward Giles, born about 1600 in England; died before 1680 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married about 1635 in probably Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
2543.  Bridget, born about 1600 in probably Kent, England; died before 30 November 1680 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Edward Giles and Bridget are:
*  Mary Giles (1635-????), married (1) Thomas Cutler (1633-1683); (2) 1684 Matthew Smith.
*  Mehitable Giles (1637-1697), married (1) 1659 John Collins (1631-1677); (2) 1678 Jeremiah Butman (1631-1694).
*  Remember Giles (1639-????), married (1) 1659 Henry Moses (1635-1685).
*  Eleazer Giles (1640-1726), married (1) 1665 Sarah More; (2) 1677 Elizabeth Bishop (1652-1733).
*  John Giles (1645-1715), married 1679 Elizabeth Galley (1643-1703).

Information about this Giles family was obtained from:

Robert Charles Anderson (editor), The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 (Boston : NEHGS, 1995), Volume II, pages 764-766, Edward Giles sketch.

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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, April 8, 2016

Kenyatta Berry is Presenter at Saturday Banquet at SCGS Genealogy Jamboree

I received this press release from the Southern California Genealogical Society this week:

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Kenyatta Berry of PBS' Genealogy Roadshow to Serve as Guest Presenter at Southern California Genealogy Jamboree for Saturday Evening Banquet in Burbank, CA


April 6, 2016 – Burbank, CA - The Southern California Genealogical Society is proud to announce Kenyatta D. Berry, a genealogist and host on PBS' Genealogy Roadshow, as the guest presenter at the Saturday night banquet of the 47th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, to be held June 4th at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, in Burbank, California.

Kenyatta is a genealogist, businesswoman and lawyer with more than fifteen years’ experience in genealogical research and writing.  A native of Detroit, Ms. Berry began her genealogical journey while in law school and studying at the State Library of Michigan in Lansing. She is the Past President of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and on the Council of the Corporation for the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston. A frequent lecturer and writer, her area of focus is African American and slave ancestral research. 

Kenyatta will present "Kenyatta D. Berry: Secrets from PBS' Genealogy Roadshow" offering attendees a unique look into the behind-the-scenes research that creates this successful TV production and sharing never-before-seen footage from the upcoming season of Genealogy Roadshow.
Held each June, the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree is a three-day conference for family historians and genealogists. Jamboree 2016 celebrates “Giving to the Future by Preserving the Past.” and offers an exceptional educational opportunity for all experience levels. The Jamboree banquet is a separate event and is not included in Jamboree registration. Attendees who wish to attend must purchase tickets. The public is welcome to participate and purchase individual tickets for this event.

Early Bird registration ends April 23, 2016. Special pricing for 2016 offers discounts for SCGS members for each event. To register, visit www.genealogyjamboree.com or call the SCGS library at (818) 843-7247 during operating hours.

About Genealogy Roadshow

The third season of Genealogy Roadshow premieres May 17, 2016, 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and follows a diverse cast of participants on an emotional journey, using history and science to uncover fascinating family stories. Each individual’s past links to a larger community history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of America. This season’s programs feature participants from Los Angeles to Boston who want to explore genealogical mysteries. 

About the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS)

The Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) exists to foster interest in family history and genealogy, preserve genealogical materials, and provide instruction in accepted and effective research techniques. Founded in 1964, the Society provides services for genealogists and family historians who are local to Burbank, California, as well as those who live at a distance. The Society business office houses a Family Research Library with over 40,000 volumes including 6,000 family histories. The Southern California Genealogical Society is a volunteer 501 (c)(3) organization. Both SCGS and Jamboree are managed and staffed wholly by volunteers.

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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 119: #142 Nathaniel Horton (1721-1771)

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 #119:

Nathaniel Horton (1721-1771) is #142 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandfather who married #143 Eunice Snow (1722-1816) in 1742.


I am descended through:

*  their daughter 
#71 Hannah Horton (1761-1797) who married #70 Thomas Dill (1755-1838) in 1782. 
*  their daughter, #35 Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869) who married #34 Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840) in 1826.
*  their daughter, #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884), who married #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) 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-....)

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


*  Name:                      Nathaniel Horton[1–5]   
*  Alternate Name:      Nathanel Horting[6]    
*  Alternate Name:      Nathanel Horten[6]    

*  Sex:                          Male   

*  Father:                      Samuel Horton (1686-1778)   
*  Mother:                    Hannah Atwood (1686-1771)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                        24 February 1720/1, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[1–2]
*  Death:                       about 1771 (about age 50) Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[5]    
*  Burial:                     about 1771 (about age 50), Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[5]    
  
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse 1:                 Eunice Snow (1722-1816)   
*  Marriage 1:              10 April 1742 (age 21), intentions; Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[3–4]   
*  List of Children:      1743–1763 (about age 22–about 42), Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States[6]
*  Child 1:                    Elnathan Horton (1743-    )   
*  Child 2:                    Nathaniel Horton (1746-    )   
*  Child 3:                    Obadiah Horton (1747-    )   
*  Child 4:                    William Horton (1750-    )   
*  Child 5:                    Elizabeth Horton (1753-1813)   
*  Child 6:                    James Horton (1755-    )   
*  Child 7:                    Eunice Horton (1757-1819)   
*  Child 8:                    Jabez Horton (1759-1759)   
*  Child 9:                    Hannah Horton (1761-1797)   
*  Child 10:                  Anne Horton (1763-    )   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

The birth record for Nathaniel Horton, son of Samuel and Hannah (Atwood) Horton is in the Eastham town records.  He was the 3rd of 8 children recorded.  The record says[1-2]:

"nathaniel horton Son of Samuel and hannah horton was born february 24 : 1720/21"

The marriage intentions record of Nathaniel Horton and Eunice Snow is recorded in the Eastham town records as[3-4]:

"April the 10 : 1742 then entered Intentions of Nathaniel Horton & Eunic Snow both of Eastham to proseed in Marriage."

Nathaniel and Eunice (Snow) Horton had ten children, and all were recorded in the Eastham town records.  The record says[6]:

"Elnathan Horting Son of Nathanael ^and Unis^ Horting was born at Eastham on the 11'th day of june 1743 Nathanael Horting Son of Nathanael ^and Unis^ Horting was born at Eastham on the 2'd day of fabruary 1745  William Horting son of Nathael and Eunice Horting was Born in Eastham the 11'th ^of April^ 1750  Elisabeth Horting Daughter of Nathanel and Eunice horting was Borne in Eastham march the 1'th 1753  James Horting Son of Nathanel and Eunice Horting as Born in Eastham November the 8'th 1755  Eunice Horting Daughter of Nathanel and Eunice Horting was Born in Eastham febuary the 24'th 1757  Jabez Horting Son of Nathanel and Eunice Horting was Borne in Eastham June the 7th 1759 and Died the 19 day of July 1759 Nathaniel Horten son of Nathaniel & Eunice horten was born in Eastham february the 2 day 1746                       Obediah horten Son of Nathaniel & Eunice horten was born in Eastham Oct ^30 day 1747^  Hanah horten daughter of nathel & Eunice horten was born in Eastham April the 26 day 1761   Anne Horten Daughter of Nathanel and Eunice horten was Born in Eastham 28 day December 1763"

There is no death record for Nathaniel Horton.  He certainly died before 24 December 1771, when his widow Eunice married Robert Snow in Eastham.  Nathaniel's last child was born in December 1763.

He was buried in Cove Burying Ground in Eastham.  The Find A Grave memorial says he died in 1771[5].

There are no probate records for Nathaniel Horton.

5)  SOURCES
 
1. George Ernest Bowman, The Mayflower Descendant (Boston, Mass. : General Society of Mayflower Descendants), Volume 5, "Eastham and Orleans Vital Records," page 195, Nathaniel Horton birth entry.

2. Col. Leonard H. Smith, Jr. and Norma H. Smith, Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans (Baltimore, Md. : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1993), page 18, Nathaniel Horton birth entry.

3. "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001," digital images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 25 March 2016), Barnstable County, Eastham, Orleans, "Births, marriages, deaths, 1701-1796," page 230 (image 113 of 126), marriage intentions record of Nathaniel Horton and Eunice Snow, 1742; citing original data from Massachusetts town clerk records (on FHL US/CAN microfilms).

4. Col. Leonard H. Smith, Jr. and Norma H. Smith, Vital Records of the Towns of Eastham and Orleans, page 150, Nathaniel Horton and Unis Snow marriage intentions.

5. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Mass, Nathaniel Horton memorial # 74077658.

6. "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001,"  FamilySearch (accessed 25 March 2016), Barnstable County, Eastham, Orleans, "Births, marriages, deaths, 1701-1796," page 84 (image 52 of 126), birth records of Nathaniel and Eunice Horton, 1743-1783; citing original data from Massachusetts town clerk records (on FHL US/CAN microfilms).


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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, April 7, 2016

MyHeritage Book Matching Payoff: William Rufus Seaver (1822-1898) Life Sketch

I spent some time today trying to figure out my best research practices for the MyHeritage Book Matches, and I had a quick payoff.

I think that it is easiest to focus on one person at a time for the Book Matches.  I tried using the Book Matches on the Record Match list, but with over 20,000 of them, most of them were for people in my MyHeritage tree who are not my ancestors or really persons of much interest.  When I started searching for specific people in the "Compilation of Published Sources" collection on MyHeritage, I had useful results.

I started searching for some of my distant Seaver cousins.  For instance, here is my search for William Rufus Seaver (1822-1898) in this collection of over 447,000 books and other published sources.

1)  In the search fields for the name, I entered First and Middle Names = "William Rufus" and Last Name = "Seaver", and I added a Keyword = 'Montreal."  I also made all fields "Exact":


2)  After clicking the "Search" button, I received 12 matches:


3)  Down the list a bit was a match for "The Congregational Churches Yearbook, 1899" with a short life sketch for William Rufus Seaver (three screens shown, no overlap):

The match includes a snippet of the text, followed by the image of the page from the book, the source information, and then the OCR text rendition of the page.  I highlighted the paragraph for William Rufus Seaver.

I could have captured the book page image by right-clicking the image and saving it as a JPG file.

4)  I copied the OCR text rendition to determine how good the OCR rendition was.  Here is the copied text:

"Seaver, William Rufus, son of Heman and Sarah C. (Rice) Seaver, was
born in Montreal, 1822, July 11. For years in business. Ordained, Smyrna,
Mich., 1869, March 31; acting pastor, Sedalia, Mo., 1870-2; Muskegon, Mich.,
1872-9; St. Joseph, Mo., 1880-1; Traverse City, Mich., 1882-6; Pontiac,
1886-90; Saugatuck and Douglas, 1891-4; without charge, and acting pastor
of Presbyterian church, Ellsworth, Kan., after. Married, 1842, April 26, I^ehltable,
 daughter of Linus aud Betsey (Bond) Homer, of Brlmfleld, Mass. Of
five children, two daughters and two sons living, one of the latter being Rev.
Charles H. Seaver. Died of meningeal apoplexy, 1898. Sept. 22, aged 76
years, 2 months, and 11 days."

The OCR requires minimal editing.  I added it to my Notes for William Rufus Seaver in RootsMagic along with attribution of the source.

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The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/04/myheritage-book-match-payoff-william.html

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.


MyHeritage Releases Exclusive Book Matching Technology for Family History

I received this press release today from MyHeritage:

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MyHeritage Releases Exclusive Book Matching Technology for Family History

MyHeritage users to automatically receive relevant excerpts from digitized books that reveal information about their ancestors and relatives




TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah, April 7, 2016 — MyHeritage, the fastest-growing destination for discovering, preserving and sharing family history, has launched today a revolutionary addition to its suite of technologies: Book Matching. This innovation automatically researches users' family trees in historical books with high precision.

In April 2012 MyHeritage launched SuperSearch™, a search engine for historical records, which has since then grown to include 6.6 billion historical records, including birth, marriage, death and census records. By implementing its vision of enhancing genealogy with technology, MyHeritage then developed a line of unique and sophisticated technologies that automatically match the records from the search engine to the 32 million family trees uploaded by its users.

In December 2015, MyHeritage expanded its data collections to include digitized historical books, with an initial corpus of 150,000 books of high genealogical value. This collection was tripled last week to 450,000 books with 91 million pages. With a team of more than 50 dedicated curators, MyHeritage aims to add hundreds of millions of pages of digitized books to the collection each year.

As of today, MyHeritage users will receive matches between profiles in their family trees and the books from this collection. The Book Matching technology analyzes the book texts semantically, understanding complex narrative that describes people, and matches it to the 2 billion individuals in MyHeritage family trees with extremely high accuracy. This breakthrough technology is the first of its kind, and is exclusive to MyHeritage.

Book Matching has produced more than 80 million matches, and this number will continue to grow as the collection grows and as the family trees on MyHeritage continue to expand. Book Matching is currently available for English books, and the technology is being enhanced to cover additional languages. In addition, de-duplication technology is being added in the next few weeks to remove duplicate books that have been scanned and OCRed more than once by different sources.

“No one has ever done this before," said MyHeritage Chief Technology Officer, Sagi Bashari. “Our Book Matching technology reads hundreds of thousands of books for you, every hour, comparing them to your family tree and pointing you to relevant excerpts about your ancestors with almost no false positives. MyHeritage is the first to offer full semantic text analysis in this way, and the genealogical breakthroughs speak for themselves. You will be amazed at the value of books for your research."

“I've personally seen what this new technology can do, using my own family tree,” said blogger and lifelong genealogist Leland Meitzler. “It found well over 500 books with information on my family, most of which I'd never seen before. All kinds of ancestors and relatives can now be added to my tree! To say that this new search technology changes everything would be an   overstatement,  but  not by much.

Genealogist James Tanner said: “This advanced technology from MyHeritage opens up a whole new world of research possibilities that were almost completely unavailable in the past. I have always valued the content of the older genealogy books because the people who wrote them were contemporaries with my ancestors. Being able to search these books on a large scale will change the way most of us have been doing genealogy and our attitude towards the books that have been there all along but were not searchable.”

Dick Eastman, of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, summed up MyHeritage’s latest innovation: "MyHeritage Book Matching is like having a huge library at your fingertips, with a twist; there is a magical librarian who tells you exactly which books have information about your ancestors."

Book Matches are available at www.myheritage.com and are generated automatically for any family tree built on the website or imported into it. A Data subscription is required to view Book Matches.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is the world's fastest-growing destination for discovering, preserving and sharing family history. As technology thought leaders, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s accessible and instantly rewarding. Its global user community enjoys access to a massive library of historical records, the most internationally diverse collection of family trees and ground­breaking search and matching technologies. Trusted by millions of families, MyHeritage provides an easy way to share family stories, past and present, and treasure them for generations to come. MyHeritage is available in 42 languages. www.myheritage.com

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I was shown a demonstration of this Book Matching technology while at RootsTech 2016 in February.  I was asked for a quote for the press release and offered:

"Book Matches are to Books for persons in my tree as Record Matches are to records.  They found 17,000 matches in the book collection for me while I lived my life.  This will be more genealogy fun to find interesting family details in obscure works."

That didn't make the press release!  Oh well.  

I wrote about finding Record Matches for the available books in Where Did 17,132 More MyHeritage Record Matches Come From? Published Books! (26 February 2016).

And now I have 20,753 matches in the "Compilation of Published Sources" record collection on MyHeritage, from over 450,000 books.  More genealogy fun to come!

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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.