Ancestry® Will Apply Handwriting Recognition Technology to Create a Searchable 1950 U.S. Census Index

 The Ancestry.com Corporate Blog has released information today about the United States 1950 Census in   Ancestry® to Apply Handwriting Recognition Artificial Intelligence to Create a Searchable Index of the 1950 U.S. Census,  

The good news is:

"The 1950 U.S. Census is set to be released to the public in early April. With handwriting recognition technology, what previously took years to index, now will only take weeks. Ancestry anticipates the indexing of the 1950 Census to be completed and available on Ancestry.com this summer, with states released in real time upon completion."

and:

"Ancestry developed machine learning algorithms to power our proprietary AI handwriting recognition technology. Ancestry created AI software that reads handwriting from historical documents and transcribes the data, enabling our community to easily and quickly search historical records. The technology uses a unique and iterative blend of machine and human evaluation which is based on an Ancestry-developed confidence score framework."

Finally:

"Ancestry and FamilySearch volunteers are partnering to evaluate the handwriting recognition extraction and ensure a complete and accurate index. Those interested in volunteering to help should visit familysearch.org/1950Census to learn more.  Keep an eye out for additional details around the 1950s U.S. Census and the AI handwriting recognition technology at RootsTech 2022. To register, go to www.RootsTech.org." 

Read the whole thing.  This looks exciting.  After the 1950 U.S. Census, what will they index next with this technology?  

There is no bad news in this.  It looks like we may have an index created by the Ancestry handwriting recognition technology available by summer 2022, with states released as they are completed.

Noe that this answers several of the questions I asked on Tuesday in Information About 1950 U.S. Census Indexing Efforts. 

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Disclosure: I receive a complimentary all-access subscription from Ancestry.com, for which I am thankful. 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.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2022, Randall J. Seaver

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Seavers in the News -- Edward Seaver (1878-1962) Dies in Duxbury, Mass. in 1962

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

This week's entry is from the The Boston [Mass.] Globe newspaper dated 7 November 1962:

The transcription of the article is:

"Private Services on Monday for Edward Seaver

"Private services will be held for Edward Seaver, 83, former chairman of the Needham School Committee who died Monday at his home on King Caesar rd., Duxbury.

"  Mr. Seaver was in charge of installation of Needham's first sewer system, and he was a member of the Dwight School building committee.  He was founder of the Needham Taxpayers' Assn.

"He was born in Roxbury, lived in Needham 30 years before moving to Duxbury.

"He was a 1901 graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was one of the designers of the first steam turbine while working for the Westinghouse Corp. in Pittsburgh.

"He leaves a wife Grace (Whitmore); and a son, Russell W. Seaver, both of Duxbury."

The source citation is:

"Private Services on Monday for Edward Seaver" The Boston [Mass.] Globe newspaper, Wednesday, 7 November 1962, page 23, column 8, Edward Seaver obituary; Newspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 27 January 2022).

This obituary provides the name, age, birthplace, spouse's name, child name, death date and place, education, an occupation, places of work, a residence, accomplishments, and some association information.  

Edward Seaver (1878-1962) was born 18 November 1878 in Boston, Mass., the son of Edward and Mary Kate (Russell) Seaver.  He married Grace Ambrose Whitmore (1881-1966) on 11 June 1907 in Boston.  They had two children:

*  Russell Whitmore Seaver (1908-1988), married (1) 1935 Jane Elizabeth Bell (1916-1980); (2) 1942 Alice Virginia Dadmun (1911-1993).

*  Margaret E. Seaver (1911-1911).

Edward Seaver (1878-1962) is my 6th cousin 4x removed.  Our common Seaver ancestor is my 9th great-grandfather Robert Seaver (1608-1683).

There are over 10,000 Seaver "stories" in my family tree - and this was one of them.   Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes a person accomplished good things for his community.  I am glad that I can honor Edward Seaver today.  

You never know when a descendant or relative will find this blog post and learn something about their ancestors or relatives, or will provide more information about them to me.

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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2022, 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,  or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Treasure Chest Thursday -- Gravestone Record of Moses Brigham (1723-1769) in Westborough, Massachusetts

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 gravestone record for Moses Brigham (1723-1769) of Westborough, Massachusetts Bay:

The inscription on the gravestone is:

"Mr. Moses

Brigham died

Dec. 3'd 1769

in the 47'th

Year of his Age."

The source citation for the Moses Brigham burial record on Find A Grave is:

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63339042/moses-brigham : accessed 26 January 2022), memorial page for Moses Brigham (2 Jan 1722–3 Dec 1769), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63339042, citing Memorial Cemetery, Westborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Andy Macdonald (contributor 47287042) .

This is the only death record I have found for Moses Brigham.  His death is not in the Westborough Vital Records book.

   

Moses Brigham(1723-1769) married Mehitable Grout (1726-1795) on 2 May 1749 in Westborough, Massachusetts Bay.  They are my 5th great-grandparents, through their son Phinehas Brigham (1755-1802) who married Lydia Batherick (1752-1795) in 1779.

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The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2022, Randall J. Seaver

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World Champion Boxer Samuel Azumah Nelson is a RootsTech Connect 2022 Keynote Speaker

 I received this from FamilySearch today:

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“We Are One People” Says 3-Time World Champion Boxer Samuel Azumah Nelson

Ghanaian Hall of Famer’s RootsTech 2022 Story Packs a Punch

 

 

26 January 2022, Accra, Ghana—Boxing is a sport that demands grit and determination, but those characteristics don’t appear from nowhere. Just ask Africa’s greatest boxing legend, Samuel Azumah Nelson and a RootsTech 2022 keynote speaker (3–5 March 2022). He credits his ancestors for endowing him with the qualities that carried him to 3 featherweight world championships and a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

 

“I need to show you where my courage and determination to succeed came from” he declared. “I am a proud Ghanaian with a Tabon DNA, power, and spirit. You must be interested in your family history and to live the values it represents.”

 

There’s a lot behind the Tabon affiliation that is a major part of Azumah’s story for attendees of RootsTech 2022 (March 3–5, 2022). The Tabon people were former slaves in Brazil. With the abolishment of slavery in the late 1800s, 7 families banded together and made their way back to the homelands from which their ancestors had been taken. The Asuman family, who later changed their name to Nelson, were among the leaders of the group. 

 

Register for free at RootsTech.org to watch Samuel Azumah Nelson on the main stage 3–5 March 2022

 

Rather than being ostracized as outsiders, the group was welcomed and sheltered by the ruling tribes, and they soon set about establishing new lives as tailors, architects, and farmers. But earning a living was difficult, and poverty remains a familiar companion in much of Ghana to this day. 

 

“Zoom Zoom,” as Azumah is affectionately nicknamed, was pressed into labor at an early age, forgoing formal education to help provide for his family, including his parents and 5 siblings. On the main stage at RootsTech 2022, a free online event, he will tell the fascinating tale about how he rose from those humble beginnings in total obscurity to the pinnacle of his chosen sport, including the story of a fateful encounter he had as a young boy with a man who was holding a pair of boxing shoes.

 

Despite his global fame, Azumah still clings to his family roots. “Even with our different genealogy, we are part of the global family,” he said. “If only we can remind ourselves that regardless of political affiliation, race, tribe, gender, country, and faith, we all belong to ONE BIG FAMILY OF GOD, I believe the world will be a beautiful place to live in.”

 

To enjoy more of Azumah’s powerful story, register today for free at RootsTech.org, and join the virtual event March 3–5, 2022! 

RootsTech Connect 2022

You can register now for RootsTech Connect 2022, which will be held on 3–5 March 2022, on RootsTech's website. RootsTech Connect is a free, virtual event that includes access to all speakers, classes, and additional resources. You can also check out videos from last year's RootsTech Connect by going to their website.

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Disclosure:  I am a RootsTech Influencer (used to be called Ambassador) and will be publishing information about RootsTech 2022 before and throughout the conference.  I receive no remuneration for this activity. 

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/received-this-from-familysearch-today.html

Copyright (c) 2022, Randall J. Seaver

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Rabbit Holes With Randy - Updating my DNA Match Lists

 There are too many rabbit holes - and not enough time to deal with them.  Every day another genealogy bunny pops up and I want to play with it.

This past week, I spent a lot of time updating my DNA Match spreadsheets for AncestryDNA and MyHeritageDNA.  I have charts for FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe matches also, but I haven't updated them in over a year.  Another rabbit hole for another time.  All of them are important, but the features of each company are different. 

1)  I keep track of the number of my AncestryDNA and MyHeritage matches.  Today I have 38,671 AncestryDNA matches, of which only 1,712 share 20 cM or more with me.  I have 453 ThruLines also (but some are wrong - maybe about 10 of them).  How do I know how many ThruLines I have?  I've tried counting them one by one and lose track.  

Greg Clarke developed a way to take AncestryDNA matches and put the information in a Google Drive spreadsheet.  I wrote about that in March 2021.  So I downloaded Greg's spreadsheet again (from   https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z4i7v1), and noted that he is up to version 1.09.  The first sheet looks like this, and has directions:

I followed the directions (made a copy, copied the AncestryDNA match data for "Common Ancestors," and went to the "Newest - Recognize btn with LIVE links) sheet, and followed directions there.  On the "Newest" worksheet I pasted the copied match data into cell A6 and the spreadsheet quickly filled in:

The beauty of this spreadsheet is that I can now count the number of the DNA matches, plus look for matches for which I don't have a Note.  This is a pretty neat spreadsheet.  I haven't color coded it yet for a specific grandparent's ancestral line.  The first entry was on row 3, and last entry was on Row 455, so I have 453 ThruLines denoted as "Common Ancestors."  I found no match on this list without a Note about the potential common ancestor or whether I have the DNA match person's line back to the Common Ancestor in my RootsMagic family tree.  Note that I could have done this for my 1,712 "Close matches" also, or a Tagged group, etc.  The spreadsheet has a limit of 1,400 entries, as I recall.

2)  Over the past five years, I have tried to keep a hand-created spreadsheet of my AncestryDNA matches, and updated it sporadically.  Here is the top of that list, which includes all of my top DNA matches down to about 40 cMs (87 high-value matches):

Note that I have added the known relationship (if known), the most recent common ancestors, and whether the matches have a tree, a ThruLine, are in RootsMagic, are in GEDmatch, are in FTDNA, are in 23andMe, are in MyHeritageDNA, are in DNAPainter, and I add Matching segment information if I know it.  Unfortunately, AncestryDNA does not have a chromosome browser, but the other four companies do so it's important to know which other system my AncestryDNA matches are in.

Why the green color?  Here is my spreadsheet further down the list:  

The green color is for my Richmond/White lines, the blue color is for my Seaver/Hildreth lines, the pink for my Carringer/Smith lines, and the orange for my Kemp/Auble lines.  I have several blue lines further down the list.

3)  Then it was on to the MyHeritageDNA matches spreadsheet:

Again, I've used the color coding for the four sets of great-grandparents, but don't have nearly the same number of DNA matches (10,254 today), and I know the common ancestors for only a few of them (I have 15 Theory of Family Relativity matches, which are similar to Ancestry's ThruLines).  On this spreadsheet, I'm adding the cM value, start and end points for each shared segment with me from the chromosome browser.  At this time, I go down to 36 cM on this spreadsheet, and have 37 high-value entries.

Please note that I have hidden the identifying information for my DNA matches in all of the above charts. 

4)  All in all, this took about eight hours during the past two weeks.  It's well worth my time.  If I do this more consistently, and update the FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe matches spreadsheets, I should have a better handle on my high-value DNA matches.  

Where are my carrots to give me energy to complete all of these tasks?  Time for a snack!

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/rabbit-holes-with-randy-updating-my-dna.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Grandson Lucas' First Steps in 2004 -- Post 704 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

 I can't help it, I can't do a wordless post! This is one of my favorite photographs: 

In early September 2004, we drove north to the San Francisco Bay area to celebrate the first birthday of our first grandchild, Lucas, in the Santa Cruz area.  We finally made it to Petaluma, where the father of my grandson Lucas is from, and we visited his family there.  In the afternoon, we went to the shopping mall, and we saw Lucas take his first steps.  In the photo above, his father is in back of him, and Linda is in the checkered pants.  I took the photo.  He is so proud of himself!!!  This was so much fun to see.  When we went back to the house, he toddled all over the place.

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Note:  The photo is on the website - click the URL below.  Feedly isn't showing my images now.

The URL for this post is:   https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/grandson-lucas-first-steps-in-2004-post.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Information About 1950 U.S. Census Indexing Efforts

 Thanks to Joel Weintraub on Facebook for pointing me to this article on the LDS365 blog -- 1950 U.S. Census Data Coming April 2022.

One of the paragraphs introduces the 1950 U.S. Census Community Project:

"Upon its release, the 1950 U.S. Census Community Project, a joint initiative between FamilySearch, Ancestry, and other leading genealogy societies and organizations, will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and to create a comprehensive index that will be searchable online."

Another paragraph describes how this will work:

"Supported by genealogy giants Ancestry and FamilySearch, along with local and national genealogy and historical organizations, this project will rally hundreds of thousands of volunteers to publish a high-quality, searchable online index of every name in the census.

"Rather than starting from scratch, volunteers will review Ancestry’s computer-generated index using groundbreaking handwriting recognition and cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies. This human review will verify that the data is accurate and complete. Volunteers can visit  FamilySearch.org/1950census to review their own family’s information and then review other records to refine the index before publication."

Joel opined on Facebook:

"It looks to me (but could be wrong) that they will not show their preliminary name index until it has been proofed by humans." 

Read the whole thing.  Thank you to Joel Weintraub for keeping close tabs on this endeavor.

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My comments:  

*  Do we know if the National Archives OCRed index will be available on the 1950 U.S. Census website on 1 April 2022?

*  Do we know when FamilySearch, Ancestry.com and other commercial sites will have the census images available online?  

*  I can't imagine that the volunteer effort to check the OCRed index will be done in one day or one week, especially if it is double (or triple) checked.  Perhaps one month?  We will see.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/more-information-about-1950-us-census.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. 

Genealogy News and Education Bytes -- Tuesday, 25 January 2022

Welcome to Genealogy News and Education Bytes, posted on Tuesday afternoon and Friday afternoon, where we try to highlight the most important genealogy and family history news and education items that came across our desktop since the last issue.    

1)  News Articles:

*  1950 U.S. Census Data Coming April 2022

*  Improved Color Restoration for Photos on MyHeritage

*  Twile is closing on 31 January 2022

*  Woman Contacted by Husband's 'Love Child' Seeks Advice Online

2)  New or Updated Record Collections:

*  Added and Updated FamilySearch.org Record Collections - Week of 15 to 21 January 2022

*  Added and Updated Ancestry.com Record Collections - Week of 15 through 21 January 2022

*  Online Indexes for Death Records, Cemeteries and Obituaries (USA) - Newest Additions and Updates

3)  Genealogy Education -- Conferences and Institutes

*  Conference Keeper Calendar

*  RootsTech Connect 2022 - 3-5 March 2022 (Virtual) 

*  THE Genealogy Show Spring Event (April 1-3, 2022) (Virtual)

*  NGS 2022 Family History Conference - May 24-28, 2022 (In-Person!)

4)  Genealogy Education - Seminars, Webinars and Online Classes (times are US Pacific):

*  Conference Keeper Calendar

*  Family History Library Webinar Calendar for January 2022

*  MyHeritage Online Events for December & January

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Tuesday, 25 January, 11 a.m.:  New Records on MyHeritage, by Mike Mansfield.

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Wednesday, 26 January, 11 a.m.:  An Introduction to Tracing your Greek Ancestry, by Gregory Kontos

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Mexican Catholic Parish Records, Part I: Baptisms, Confirmations & Burials, by Colleen Robledo Greene.

5)  Genealogy Education - Podcasts/Radio Shows:

*  Research Like a Pro:  RLP 185: Revisiting Timelines and Analysis Again

*  Extreme Genes:  Episode 407 - DNA Plus Records = Amazement! Plus, Turning An Heirloom Into A Local Resource

*  The Photo Detective:  Episode 164: Taking Care of Your Home Movies with Becca Bender

*  Ancestral Findings:  AF-573: Fun Genealogy Projects to Kids #4 | Ancestral Findings Podcast

*  Ancestral Findings:  AF-574: A Closer Look at Immigration Records #1 | Ancestral Findings Podcast

6)  Genealogy Videos (YouTube and Facebook):

*  BYU Family History Library:  Connect and Collaborate in the FamilySearch Community - Kathryn Grant (13 January 2022)

*  Daniel's Genealogy:  My Reaction to my WikiTree Challenge Reveal!

*  Family History Fanatics:  Can You Understand Your DNA Without Genealogy Research? | Family History Fanatics Live

*  Family History Fanatics: Finding Female Ancestors by Searching For Her Children - Genealogy Tips

*  Genealogy TV:  Hard to Read Census Records: Solved - Tiny Tip Tuesday

*  Genealogy With Amy Johnson Crow:  View Negatives with Your iPhone or iPad - No App Required!

*  MyHeritage:  Ask The Expert - New French Records

*  The Family history Guide:  TFHG - Researching Records in Scotland

*  WikiTree:  WikiTree LiveCast - 22 January 2022

7)  Did you miss the last post in this series -  Genealogy News and Education Bytes - 21 January 2022?

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/genealogy-news-and-education-bytes_0564764011.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Carringers in the News -- 1944 Obituary of Della A. Carringer in San Diego, California

 It's time for another edition of "Carringers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Carringer (my mother's maiden surname) that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from the San Diego [Calif.] Union newspaper dated 4 January 1944:

The transcription of the article is:

"Della A. Carringer

"After living 46 years at the same address - 2115 Thirtieth st., Mrs. Della A. Carringer, 81, died in her home Saturday.  She and her husband, Henry A., celebrated their golden wedding in 1937.  Funeral services will be conducted in the Benbough Funeral parlors at 2 tomorrow afternoon under auspices of the Neighbors of Woodcraft.  Cremation will follow.

"Mrs. Carringer. a native of Wapan, Wis., had resided here 55 years.  Besides her widower, she leaves a son, Lyle L., of San Diego; a granddaughter Mrs. F.W. Seaver jr., and a great-grandson, Randall Jeffery Seaver, both of Chula Vista."

The source citation is:

"Della A. Carringer," San Diego [Calif.] Union newspaper, Tuesday, 4 January 1944, page 6B, column 1, Della A. Carringer obituary;   GenealogyBank, Obituaries (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 24 January 2022).

I made the newspaper again.  My maternal grandfather's mother, Della A. (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944) died less than three months after my birth.  I am sure that she held me and talked to me.  I wish she had lived longer so I had some memories of her.  I do have some ephemera and artifacts from her life.  She was a very accomplished and philosophical woman, and I wish they had given many more details of her life.

This obituary indicates that they lived in their home - the first floor of the house I grew up in - since 1897 or 1898  46 years.  They built the two-story house, moved the house about 60 feet north and added a second residence on the second floor in about 1928, furnished it (Henry was a master carpenter), had a horse, gardens and berry patches, and much more.  She handled all of the real estate transactions, paid the bills, ran the household, was a musician, and first voted in the 1908 election.  She kept in touch with her friends, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, and I have an 1880's scrapbook and a 1929 diary of hers, plus several letters.

There are hundreds of Carringer "stories" in my family tree - and this was one of them. Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes a newspaper article provides more detail about your very close family.  I am glad that I can honor my great-grandmother, Della A. (Smith) Carringer, today.

You never know when a descendant or relative will find this blog post and learn something about their ancestors or relatives, or will provide more information about them to me.

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Disclosure: I have a paid subscription to GenealogyBank.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/carringers-in-news-1944-obituary-of.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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,  or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.