Saturday, January 20, 2018

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Two Truths and One Lie

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



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


1)  Let's play the game "Two Truths - One Lie."  Tell three family stories - two must be true, and one must be a lie - an untruth.


2)  Have your readers guess which story was the lie, and their reasons for picking that story.

3)  Share your three stories on your own blog, on Facebook or Google+, or in a Comment on this blog.  Share the link to your stories on this blog, so readers can respond.

4)  After all Comments are in, share the Lie in a Comment on your post.

Here's my three stories:

1)  My 2nd great-grandfather Devier Smith (1839-1894) was adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith in Jefferson County, N.Y.

2)  My 2nd great-grandfather Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) was in the Civil War, and his pension file says he had a bullet wound in his neck.


3)  I may have a step-sibling because my father Fred Seaver (1911-1983) left Massachusetts in 1940 after a failed love affair.  His sisters said the girl was pregnant.

Which one is the lie?  


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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-two-truths.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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 -- LNU (Mary who married Thomas Flagg, England to colonial New England)

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


I am working in the 9th great-grandmothers by Ahnentafel number, and I am up to Ancestor #2071 who is Mary LNU (1619-1702). 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 9th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts.]

My ancestral line back through one generation in this LNU 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)

64. Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)
65. Martha Whitney (1764-1832)

128.  Norman Seaver (1734-1787)
129.  Sarah Read (1736-1809)


258.  Isaac Read (1704-1780)
259.  Experience Willis (1709-1787)

516.  Thomas Read (1678-1755)
517.  Mary Bigelow (1677-1708)

1034.  Samuel Bigelow (1653-1732)
1035.  Mary Flagg (1658-1720)


2070.  Thomas Flagg, born before 06 May 1621 in Hardingham, Norfolk, England; died 06 February 1698 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 4140. Allan Flegg and 4141. Elizabeth Deveroys.  He married about 1640 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
2071.  Mary LNU, born 1619 in Hardingham, Norfolk, England; died 30 December 1702 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Thomas Flagg and Mary are:
*  Gershom Flagg (1641-1690), married 1668 Hannah Leffingwell (1647-1724).
*  John Flagg (1643-1697), married 1670 Mary Gale (1645-????).
*  Bartholomew Flagg (1645-1675).
*  Thomas Flagg (1646-1719), married (1) 1668 Rebecca Dix (1641-1691); (2) 1691 Hannah Dumblin (1655-????).
*  William Flagg (1648-1675).
*  Michael Flagg (1651-1711), married (1) 1674 Mary Bigelow (1649-1704); (2) 1704 Mary Lawrence (1671-????).
*  Eleazer Flagg (1653-1722), married 1676 Deborah LNU (1646-????).
*  Elizabeth Flagg (1655-1729), married 1676 Joshua Bigelow (1655-1745).
Mary Flagg (1658-1720), married 1674 Samuel Bigelow (1653-1732).
*  Rebecca Flagg (1660-1721), married 1679 Stephen Cooke (1647-1738).
*  Benjamin Flagg (1662-1741), married 1690 Experience Child (1670-1757).
*  Allen Flagg (1665-1711), married 1685 Sarah Ball (1666-????).

Information about the Flagg family was obtained from:

*  Norman Gershom Flagg and Lucius C.S. Flagg, Family Records of the Descendants of Gershom Flagg [born 1730] of Lancaster, Massachusetts with other Genealogical Records of The Flagg Family Descended from Thomas Flagg of Watertown, Massachusetts and Including the Flegg Lineage in England (Quincy, Ill. : Cadogan-Hatcher, 1907).

There is some speculation that Mary LNU's name was Marable Underwood, a maid servant to Richard Carver.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/surname-saturday-lnu-mary-who-married.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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, January 19, 2018

Genealogy News Bytes - 19 January 2018


Some of the genealogy news items across my desktop the last three days include:

1)  News Articles:


*   
RootsTech 2018 App Now Available for Download!

*  Have you seen the new merge system? [WikiTree]

 Opening up our prisoner of war collection [UK TNA]

*  Jennifer Holik Releases 4 New World War II Quick Guides

*  Over 79,600 PDF 'certificates' ordered as GRO extends pilot

2)  Record Databases:

*  
New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 19 January 2018

War of 1812 Pension Files on Fold3

*  New Records Include German and Holocaust Records Online

3)  Genealogy Education:


 GeneaWebinars Calendar

 Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for January 2018

*  Archives Skill Building Boot Camp – Saturday, January 20, 2018

*  Upcoming Family Tree Wevniar - Wednesday, 24 January 2018, 11 a.m. PST:  Finding Jamestown Ancestors, by KC Reid

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Finding Thomas' Father: an 18th Century Prince William County Virginia Case Study, by Pam Stone Eagleson

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar: Introducing the Geni World Family Tree, by E. Randol Schoenberg

*  New Member Friday Family Tree Webinar:  Kansas Settlers - Pioneers Settling Prior to 1900, by Beth Foulk

*  The Genealogy Guys Podcast:  #337 - 2018 January 15

*  Ask Maureen Podcast: Episode 12 – RootsTech 2018

*  American Ancestors YouTube Channel:  Hosting an Online Family Reunion

*  Ancestry.com YouTube Channel:  Genealogy Methodology: Who Are These People on This Census

*  BYU Family History Library YouTube Channel:  Introduction to Slovenian Research - Milan Pohontsch

*  DearMYRTLE YouTube Channel:  Genealogy Game Night - 13 Jan 2018

*  DearMYRTLE YouTube Channel:  Mondays with Myrt - 15 Jan 2018

*  DearMYRTLE YouTube Channel:  GenDoc Study Group - Chapter 16

*  DearMYRTLE YouTube Channel:  Albion's Seed Study Group - East Anglia to Massachusetts

*  Family History Fanatics YouTube Channel:  7 Common Genealogy Mistakes - And How to Avoid Them

4)  Bargains:

*  Genealogy Bargains for Friday, January 19,  2018


5)  Neat Stuff:


*  Listen to this tattoo: Woman’s viral video shows waveform ink featuring voicemail from her grandma

*  What can your ancestry tell you about neurological diseases?

Did you miss the last Genealogy News Bytes - 16 January 2018?


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Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 19 January 2018

I received this information from Findmypast today:
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New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday





Does your family have roots in the Bailiwick of Jersey? Explore thousands of Church of England baptism registers from the island of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the English Channel, to uncover dates, locations and the names of both parents.
Search transcripts of Church of England marriages and add new branches to your growing family tree. Marriage registers can reveal the date and location of your ancestor’s marriage as well the names of their parents and in-laws.
Discover the final resting place of your Jersey ancestors with a collection of transcripts covering 17 burial sites across the Island. Records will reveal their birth year, burial date and burial place.
Explore records from Connecticut’s Stonington Cemetery, a 22-acre non-sectarian burial ground founded in 1849. Transcripts will reveal your ancestor’s birth date, death date and burial plot.
Browse through images to discover your ancestor’s name, parents’ names and birth year. This collection has been obtained from the New Jersey State Archives and images are courtesy of Reclaim the Records.
Explore baptism and christening records from the Diocese of Manchester parishes, pertaining mainly to those from the historic county of Lancashire. Both transcripts and images of the original registers are provided. You can discover event dates and places for your ancestor, as well as your ancestor’s parents’ names.
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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary subscription to Findmypast, and have accepted meals and services from Findmypast, as a Findmypast Ambassador.  This has not affected my objectivity relative to Findmypast and its products.


Copyright (c) 2018, 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 210: #289 Dorothy (Prescott) Hildreth (1702-1774) of Westford, Massachusetts

Dorothy (Prescott) Hildreth (1702-1774) is #289 on my Ahnentafel List, my 6th great-grandmother, who married #288 James Hildreth (1698-1761)  in 1721 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their son #144 Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) who married #145 Elizabeth Prescott (1734-1812) in 1753.
*  their son, #72 Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1829) who married #73 Elizabeth Keyes (1759-1793) in 1777.
*  their son, #36 Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857) who married #37 Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857) in 1810.
*  their son, #18 Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) who married #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) in 1852.
*  their daughter #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920)  who married #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) in 1874.
*  their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 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 Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
 
*  Name:                        Dorothy Prescott[1–3]    
*  Alternate Name:        Dorothy Heldreth[4]    
*  Alternate Name:       Dorothy Hildreth[5]    
*  Alternate Name:       Dorothy Prescott Hildreth[6]

*  Sex:                            Female    

*  Father:                       Samuel Prescott (1674-1758)    
* Mother:                      Esther Wheeler (1678-1756)  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Birth:                         1702, Lancaster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[1]    

*  Distribution:             11 December 1758 (about age 56), father's will proved; Acton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4]    

*  Death:                       3 September 1774 (about age 72), Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[5]   \
*  Burial:                      after 3 September 1774 (after about age 72), Fairview Cemetery, Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]    

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Spouse 1:             James Hildreth (1698-1761)   

*  Marriage 1:         20 December 1721 (age 22), intentions; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[2-3]    

*  Child 1:              Oliver Hildreth (1723-1793)    
*  Child 2:              Rebecca Hildreth (1726-1785)    
*  Child 3:              Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784)    
*  Child 4:              Anna Hildreth (1730-    )    
*  Child 5:              Dorothy Hildreth (1733-1735)    
*  Child 6:              Dorothy Hildreth (1736-1782)    
*  Child 7:              Amos Hildreth (1738-1807)    
*  Child 8:              Lucy Hildreth (1742-1763)    
*  Child 9:              Samuel Hildreth (1745-1748)  

4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):    

 Dorothy Prescott was born in 1702 in Lancaster, Massachusetts, to Samuel and Esther (Wheeler) Prescott, the second child of nine children.  The Lancaster, Massachusetts includes a birth record for Dorothy, daughter of Samuel and Esther Prescott in 1702[1].

On 20 December 1721, Dorothy Prescott and James Hildreth filed intentions to marry in Chelmsford, Massachusetts[2-3].  The marriage intentions record in the Chelmsford, Massachusetts vital record book says:

"Hildreth, James and Dorothy Prescot of Concord, int. Dec. 20, 1721."

They had nine children born between 1723 and 1745, all but one of them recorded in the Chelmsford and, after 1730, Westford town records.

Dorothy's father, Samuel Prescott of Acton, wrote his will in 1750 and it was proved in 1758[4].  He bequeathed his land to son Amos Prescott, on the condition that he pay money to each of the other children ("... and to my Daughter Dorothy Heldreth the Sum of three pounds Six shillings and Eight pence..."), and he gave the remainder of his personal estate to his daughters, to be divided equally.

James Hildreth died in 1761, and there was no probate for his estate.  During his last years, he sold most of his land holdings to their sons Zachariah and Amos Hildreth.  It is likely that Dorothy lived with one or more of her children during the last 13 years of her life.

Dorothy (Prescott) Hildreth died on 3 September 1774 in Westford[5], and was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Westford[6].  The gravestone inscription is:

Memento mori
Here lies the body
of                Mrs.
Dorotie Hildreth
wife of Mr. 
James Hildreth
who departed this life
Sep^t 3rd 1774 In
the 75^th Year
of her age

No probate records were found for Dorothy (Prescott) Hildreth in the Middlesex County Probate Records.
 
5)  SOURCES

1. Henry S. Nourse (editor), The Birth, Marriage and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1643-1850 ( Lancaster, Mass. : n.p., 1890), Page 453, Dorothy Prescott entry.

2. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Chelmsford > Births, Marriages, Deaths, page 6 (image 36 of 1719), James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescot marriage intentions entry.

3. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1914), Marriages, page 250, James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescott entry.

4. "Probate Records 1648-1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts),"  886 FHL US/CAN Microfilms, Probate Packet #18,104, Samuel Prescott, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,421,496.

5. Vital Records of Westford, Massachusetts to the Year 1849 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1915), Deaths, page 286, Dorothy Hildreth entry.

6. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Fairview Cemetery, Westford, Mass., Dorothy Prescott Hildreth memorial #35855674.

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NOTE:  Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post 
 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I have extended this theme in 2018 to 260 Ancestors in 260 Weeks.


Copyright (c) 2018, 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, January 18, 2018

Seavers in the News -- Mrs. Nathaniel Seaver Dies in 1912

It's time for another edition of "Seavers in the News" - a semi-regular feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from the Rock Island [Illinois) Argus newspaper dated Tuesday, 9 April 1912
:




The transcription of this article is:

"Mrs. Nathaniel Seaver, who is well remembered in Davenport by the older members of the Unitarian church, died April 5, 1912 at Scituate, Mass.  Mrs. Seaver was the wife of Rev. Nathaniel Seaver, who was the first minister of the Unitarian church, and lived in Davenport for five years, from 1868 to 1872.  She is survived by her husband and three children, Mrs. Slocum of Worcester, Mass.; Mrs. Etta A. Seaver, who was born in Davenport; and William Seaver of New York."

The source citation for this obituary is:

"Davenport, Obituary Record," Rock Island [Illinois) Argus newspaper, 9 April 1912, page 2, column 2, Mrs. Nathaniel Seaver obituary; digital image, Chronicling America  (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ : accessed 18 January 2018).

There are several clues here to identify Mrs. Nathaniel Seaver, who died in Scituate, Mass. on 5 April 1912.  She is the wife of a minister named Nathaniel Seaver; she has three children - Mrs. Slocum, Etta Seaver and William Seaver.

A review of my RootsMagic family tree database easily found Rev. Nathaniel Seaver (1835-1919).  He married Marietta Mills White (1838-1912) in 1865, and they had three children:

*  Florence White Seaver (1867-1955), who married George Albert Slocomb (1857-1938) in 1895, and apparently had no children.

*  Etta Anne Seaver (1869-1934), who did not marry.

*  William Nathanael Seaver (1877-1960), who married Inez Mildred Waite (1893-1974) in 1922, and had three children.

So Mrs. Nathaniel Seaver is Marietta Mills (White) Seaver (1838-1912).  All of the points line up with my database, including Etta being born in Davenport, Iowa.

Rev. Nathaniel Seaver is my 6th cousin 4 times removed.  I corresponded back in the 1990s with one of the children of the son, William Nathanael Seaver.

I sure wish that newspaper obituaries used the full names of persons and not just "Mrs." Somebody.  


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Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

1774 Death Record of Dorothy Hildreth (1702-1774) of Westford, Mass.. --- Post 397 of Treasure Chest Thursday

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - a chance 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 1774 death record in Westford, Massachusetts for Dorothy Hildreth (1702-1774):


 The record for Dorothy Hildreth is near the bottom of the page:


The transcription of this record is:

"[HILDRETH] Dorothy, w[ife]. James, Sept. 3, 1774, in her 75th year. G.R. 1."

The source citation for this record is:

Vital Records of Westford, Massachusetts to the Year 1849 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1915), Deaths, page 286, Dorothy Hildreth entry.

Dorothy Prescott, daughter of Samuel and Esther (Wheeler) Prescott of Lancaster, married James Hildreth in 1721 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and had nine children between 1723 and 1745.  If Dorothy was born in 1702 in Lancaster, Massachusetts (there is no record of the birth), then she would have been in her 73rd year, not her 75th year as on the gravestone.  This record came from the gravestone in Fairview Cemetery in Westford (note the "G.R.1." in the death record - that is associated with Fairview Cemetery).  There is no apparent death entry in the Westford town records).

James Hildreth (1698-1761) and Dorothy (Prescott) Hildreth (1702-1774) are my 6th great-grandparents, through their son Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784).  

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Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

When Did Ancestry.com Last Index Ancestry Member Trees?

Several geneabloggers have complained about Ancestry.com not finding Ancestry Member Tree profiles that don't have "Ancestry Sources" in a Search of Member Trees.  See Ancestry Member Trees, Indexing Rules, Cousin Bait, Source Citations and Me and RootsMagic TreeShare, Ancestry Member Trees, and Source Citations  for my posts.  

We discussed this extensively on this week's Mondays With Myrt discussion, and many of the viewers were not yet aware of the problem.  

1)  Besides the "Ancestry Source" versus "Other Sources" issue, there is another issue with Ancestry Member Trees that needs to be raised.  

Ancestry.com is not indexing Ancestry Member Trees on a regular basis (like weekly or monthly).  

2)  Because of the "Ancestry Source" issue, I have been keeping track of when Ancestry.com indexes the Ancestry Member Trees.

a)  I made my "Randy Seaver's Family Tree - November 2017" tree public on 1 November 2017.  

b)  When I did that, I created 4 "Ancestry Sources" for my 2nd great-grandfather, Isaac Seaver (1823-1901).

c)  I have checked every week since 1 November 2017, and an Ancestry Member Tree search for Isaac Seaver in this specific tree has not been found.

d)  My conclusion is that Ancestry has not indexed their Ancestry Member Trees since before 1 November 2017.

For example - here is the Facts page for the profile of Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) in my Ancestry Member Trees:


As you can see, I have four "Ancestry Sources" attached to this profile.

If "Ancestry Sources" are required for a search result, then this profile should show up in the search results.

3)  As I, and others, have pointed out, "Ancestry Sources" are not the only valid sources available in the genealogy industry and repositories - Ancestry does not have every record ever created.

For the Isaac Seaver profile in my tree, I have 56 "Other Sources" for this profile, many of them from non-Ancestry sources such as vital record certificates, FamilySearch microfilm of original source material, personal photographs, manuscript material, and more..

I currently have over 91,000 sources in this Ancestry Member Tree for over 49,000 profiles, but only 9 of the sources are "Ancestry Sources" resulting from attaching a record on Ancestry.  I created this tree through a TreeShare upload from RootsMagic, and all sources from this process are counted as "Other Sources" by Ancestry, even though many of them refer to Ancestry records.  The same thing happens with a GEDCOM upload - the sources in that Ancestry Member Tree are listed as "Other Sources."

The Ancestry Search engine will not find Ancestry Member Trees profiles with only "Other Sources" unless the user has  attached an Ancestry record to the profiles.

By not counting "Other Sources," Ancestry has limited exposure of my well-sourced tree to other Ancestry subscribers - they won't find my profiles which may provide a clue or a breakthrough for the other Ancestry subscriber.

4)  I request/implore Ancestry.com to:

a)  Perform regular Ancestry Member Tree indexing.  Weekly or monthly at a minimum.

b)  Explain the criteria for indexing of Ancestry Member Trees.  

c)  Change the indexing criteria to include "Other Sources" in Ancestry Member Tree profiles for an Ancestry Member Tree to be indexed.

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Disclosure:  I have always had a fully paid Ancestry.com subscription since 2000.  Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

How Many Genealogy Blogs Do You Read?

Each week, the NEHGS American Ancestors website sends me a weekly newsletter on Wednesday mornings called "The Weekly Genealogist."  The newsletter has a number of sections - Database News, Spotlight, a Survey, Members Respond, Ask a Genealogist, Stories of Interest, Education Opportunities, Sales, etc.  You can subscribe to the email newsletter here.

Last week, the survey question was "How many genealogy blogs do you follow?"  This week's newsletter gives the results:


I was one of the 3,387 responses, and I selected "More than 10."  Why?  Because I have about 1,000 blogs in my Feedly reader, and read an average of 100 to 150 genealogy blog posts every day.  I also selected "I write a genealogy blog."

I was very surprised that only 2% of this newsletter readers read more than 10 genealogy blogs.  That means that only 68 "Weekly Genealogist" newsletter readers who took the survey read 10 blogs or more, and only 52% read any genealogy blog on a regular basis.  6%, or about 200 newsletter readers, read 6 or more genealogy blogs.  I recall that NEHGS has about 25,000 members, so extrapolating the survey response to all of their members would mean that about 500 (2%) read 10 or more genealogy blogs.

It didn't surprise me that only 1% responders currently write a genealogy blog, and another 1% used to write a genealogy blog.

I think that these newsletter readers are fairly typical of American genealogists, and certainly New England genealogists.  Genealogy blogs are not on the radar of 48% of these newsletter readers, but they at least use email and responded to the survey.

My guess is that almost all of the 98% of these newsletter readers have no clue about using a news reader to easily read blogs and news sites.

Which genealogy blogs do you think the 52% who read at least one blog read?  I have my own list, but I'm interested in knowing what my readers read, so please answer these questions in comments:

*  How many genealogy blogs do you read on a regular basis?

*  Do you read them on an RSS reader, in email, or using the blog URL?

*  What are your top three genealogy blogs that provide useful information for your genealogy research?

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Copyright (c) 2018, 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.