Monday Genea-Pourri - 10 December 2018

Here is a summary of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week:

1)  Attended the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Board of Directors meeting, and reported on the newsletter, research group and DNA interest group meetings.

2)  Wrote, edited and published the 10-page CVGS Newsletter for December 2018.  Emailed it to about 90 members and snail mailed it to 14 members.  Highlights included the Annual Holiday Luncheon, and summaries for the 28 November Program, the 1 December Workshop, the 14 November Research Group and the 21 November DNA Interest Group.

3)  Transcribed another deed for Amanuensis Monday - 1828 Deed of Stow and Levi Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth in Townsend, Mass. I need to download more of these deeds from the 1835 to 1859 time frame.

4)  Found several Kenyon ancestors' entries in the Richmond, R.I. Town Records on FamilySearch digital microfilm, including Elizabeth Kenyon's 1747 probate inventory.  There are still records to find in this record set.  

5)  Watched  Ins and Outs of Indexes: Keys to Unlocking County and State Records by Mary Kircher Roddy on FamilyTreeWebinars, plus several YouTube videos.  

6)  Participated in today's Mondays with Myrt webinar.  The panel discussed the MyHeritage deadline (12/15) for DNA uploads for free analysis tools, the NERGC conference in April 2018 in Manchester, NH, the 2019 Ohio Genealogical Society conference, the WikiTree Scan-a-Thom in January, Ed Thompson's Facebook question about phone photos with glare and skew, the Genea-Santa wish list and viewer comments, Living DNA erhnicity, and Russ's Family Tree Maker Users blog posts.

7) There were several sessions working in RootsMagic to update FamilySearch Family Tree profiles for Seaver families and other database families, with occasional additions to the RootsMagic profiles. I have matched 27,957 of my persons with FSFT.  I continue to use Web Hints from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and sources to my RootsMagic profiles.  I now have 51,622 persons in my RootsMagic file, and 98,757 source citations.   I TreeShared four times during the last week (about 320 profiles), and resolved about 700 Ancestry Hints.  I've fallen behind on the Ancestry Record Hints with 87,008 waiting to be resolved, but I work on them weekly.

8)  Have 312 Shared Ancestors on my AncestryDNA list (I had 311 last week), 1050 4th cousins or closer (I had 1031 last week), and 935 pages (over 46,750 matches with at least 6 cM) (was 929 pages last week) of  matches.  I have 23 DNA Circles (was 23 last week).  I have 17 matches that are third cousins or closer (was 17 last week), and 105 matches with 34 cM (0.5%) or more (was 104 last week).  My highest match has 779 cM (11.5%), and is one of my known first cousins.

9)  Have 5,190 DNA Matches on MyHeritage (up from 5,140 last week) with at least 8 cM (0.12%), with 36 matches with more than 34 cM (0.5%) or more (was 35 last week).  I have three close relatives, including a first cousin once removed, and two first cousins twice removed.  The highest DNA match is 512 cM (7.1%). 

10)  Have 1,016 DNA Relatives on 23andMe (I had 1013 last week) who share at least 0.10% (7 cM) with me.  The two closest relatives are third cousins.  Of these, only 4 share 1.0% or more (was 3 last week), and 54 share 0.50% or more (was 53 last week), with the highest match being 1.54%. My highest match is an adoptee.  I struggle to find out anything about most of these testers.

11)  Have 2,875 autosomal DNA Matches on FamilyTreeDNA (up from 2,867 last week) who share 0.25% (18 cM) or more, with the highest match being 96 cM (1.42%).  I have 12 who share at least 1.0% (68 cM) with me, and 1,547 who share at least 0.50% (34 cM) or more (was 1,542 last  week) with me.

12) Wrote 18 Genea-Musings blog posts last week, of which two were press releases.  The most popular post last week was Where Am I Saving My Digitized Family Photos? with over 241 views.  

13)  Started work on the Christmas letter, Christmas cards, and online Christmas shopping. 

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

The URL for this post is:  

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.

Google Maps with complete county lines and ZIP Codes; now also search using your current location

I received this information from Randy Majors, who has updated his website and added more features to his geographic search engines:

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

You can now search using your current location on all randymajors.com Google Maps mapping tools (in addition to searching by place, address, etc.):

*  County Lines on Google Maps (covers U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland)

*  Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps

*  ZIP Codes on Google Maps

Latest write-up here: https://www.randymajors.com/2018/12/now-use-your-current-location-on-all.html

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

Great stuff!  Thank you, Randy!

I searched for Dodge County, Wisconsin on the Historical U.S. County Boundary Maps site for "Cemeteries" (from dropdown menu) in 1880:

You can zoom in or out using Ctrl + Scroll on Windows computers.

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

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2018/12/google-maps-with-complete-county-lines.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.

Amanuensis Monday - 1828 Deed of Stow and Levi Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth in Townsend, Mass.

This week's document for Amanuensis Monday is the 1824 deed of Samuel Stone Junior of Townsend, Massachusetts to Zachariah Hildreth of Townsend in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts Land Records: 

[Volume 326, pages 554-555]:

[Volume 326, pages 556-557]

The transcription of this deed is:

[Volume 326, page 555, starts at bottom of right-hand page][in right-hand margin]

S. Hildreth &al to Z. Hildreth
[in body of page]

Know all men by these presents that we Stow Hildreth and Levi
Hildreth both of Townsend in the County of Middlesex and
Commonwealth of Massachusetts yeomen in consideration of two
thousand dollars paid by Zachariah Hildreth of said Townsend
gentleman the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge do

[Volume 326, page 556]

hereby give grant sell and convey unto the said Zachariah Hil-
dreth his heirs and assigns forever a certain farm situate south-
erly of the meeting house in said Townsend and on babery
hill  so called with all the buildings on said premises for
the quantites and quality reference being had to the deed by me
this day conveyed to the said Stow and Levi the bounds and
descriptions will fully appear meaning to convey all which
I conveyed to the said Stow and Levi in my deed aforesaid.
To have and to hold the afore granted premises to the same Zachariah
Hildreth his heirs and assigns to his and their use and behoof
forever.  And We for ourselves our heirs executors and adminis-
trators do covenant with the said Zachariah Hildreth his heirs
and assigns that we are lawfully seized in fee of the afore
granted premises that they are free of all encumbrances thatwe have good right to sell and convey the same to the said
Zachariah Hildreth to hold as aforesaid, and that we for
ourselves our heirs executors and administrators will warrant
and defend the same to the said Zachariah Hildreth his
heirs and assigns forever against the lawful claims and
demands of all persons.  Provided nevertheless that if the
said Stow Hildreth and Levi Hildreth their heirs executors and
administrators pay or cause to be paid fulfilled and satisfied
to the said Zachariah Hildreth his heirs executors admin-
istrators or assigns a certain bond bearing even date of these
presents fully ?????? care of the said Zachariah and Abigail wife
of the said Zachariah then this deed and also a certain bond
aforesaid bearing even date with these presents given by the said
Stow and Levi to the same Zachariah Hildreth to perform the
same at the times aforesaid shall both be void and otherwise shall
remain in full force.  In witness whereof we the said Stow
Hildreth and Levi Hildreth have hereunto set our hands
and seals this twelfth day of February in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and twenty eight.
Signed Sealed and delivered           }  Stow Hildreth  {seal}
in presence of us                              }   Levi Hildreth   {seal}
Aaron Keyes                                   }   Middlesex Ss February 11, 1828
Sarah Jepson                                  }  then the above named Stow Hildreth
The ????? ??????? before Signing  }  and Levi Hildreth acknowledged
the above instrument to be their free act and deed Before
me Aaron Keyes J. Peace
Middlesex Ss November 13, 1833. Received and Recorded by
                                                                           ?.?. Stone  Reg^r.

The source citation for this recorded deed is:

"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 2 December 2018), Middlesex County, "Deeds, 1833, Vol. 326," Volume 326, pages 555-556 (image 291-292 of 305), Deed of Stow Hildreth and Levi Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, executed 12 February 1828, recorded 13 November 1833.

The grantee of this deed is Zachariah Hildreth Sr. (1754-1828), "Gentleman."  The grantors, Stow Hildreth and Levi Hildreth, are two sons of Zachariah and Abigail (Hart) Hildreth.  Apparently, Zacharish Hildreth Sr. had given or sold this land to Stow and Levi Hildreth in an earlier deed.  In this deed, a bond is mentioned for the care of Zachariah and Abigail Hildreth and the bond will be void as long as the care is provided.  Zachariah essentially bought the care of he and his wife for $2000.  No time limit is provided in the deed.  Zachariah died on 16 March 1829 and Abigail died on 24 November 1846.  

"Stow" Hildreth is certainly Jonathan Stowe Hildreth (1803-1863) who was born in Townsend to Zachariah and Abigail (Hart) Hildreth.  Levi Hildreth (1808-1885) was the youngest son of Zachariah and Abigail (Hart) Hildreth.  

Some words in the deed were very difficult to decipher due to the handwriting and the ink density.  I used question marks to indicate the difficult words.  Perhaps readers can decipher them by comparison to other deeds or better knowledge of the legal terms.

Zachariah Hildreth Sr. (1754-1829) is my fourth great-grandfather, who married (1) Elizabeth Keyes (1759-1793) in 1777, and (2) Abigail Hart (1769-1846) in 1794.  I am descended through son  Zachariah Hildreth Jr. (1783-1857) who married Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857).

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

NOTE:  Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent  TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday."  John offers this definition for "amanuensis:" 

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2018/12/amanuensis-monday-1828-deed-of-stow-and.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.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 2 to 8 December 2018

Dozens of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for daily blog prompts or meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

*  As We Write the Rules ... by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.

* Comments on the Future of Online Trees by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.

*  Using Pre-1850 Records to Find an Ancestor's Children by Lisa Lisson on the Are You My Cousin? blog.

*  Automatic Clustering from Genetic Affairs by Kitty Cooper on Kitty Cooper's Blog.

*  There Are Other Trees Out There by Jacqi Stevens on the A Family Tapestry blog.

*  AutoClustering by Genetic Affairs by Roberta Estes on the DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy blog.

*  Do ONE Simple Thing to Save Your Genealogy by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog.

*  Genealogy 101:  Transcribing Genealogy Records by Gena Philbert-Ortega on the GenealogyBank blog.

*  Context is Key: Understnading the Record Within the Record Collection by Sue McNelly on the Kindred Past blog.

*  Research in Online Trees by Tony Proctor on the Parallax View blog.

*  3 Ways to Prove Your Family Tree is Correct by DiAnn Iamarino on the Fortify Your Family Tree blog.

*  A Genealogist's Development by David Allen Lambert on the Vita Brevis blog.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

*  Friday's Family History Finds by Linda Stufflebean on the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.

*  Bonus Edition: Friday's Family History Finds by Linda Stufflebean on the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.

*  Friday Fossicking -- 30th Nov. - 7th Dec. 2018 by Crissouli on the That Moment in Time blog.

* This Week's Creme de la Creme -- December 8, 2018  by Gail Dever on the Genealogy a la Carte blog.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another RSS feed, or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 900 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

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

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2018/12/best-of-genea-blogs-2-to-8-december-2018.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.

Added and Updated Ancestry.com Record Collections - Week of 2 to 8 December 2018

The following record collections were listed on the Recently Added and Updated Collections list on Ancestry.com during the period from 2 to 8 December 2018:  

The record collections added or updated since last week include:

As you can see, none were listed for the specified week.  This is the second week in a row that nothing was listed as ADDED or Updated.  The last ADDED collection was on 6 November.  The last UPDATED Collection was on 8 November.

The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at    http://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  

By my count, there were 0 NEW collections ADDED this past week, per the list above.  There are now 32,673 collections available as of 8 December, an increase of  0 from last week.   

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

Disclosure:  I have 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.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2018/12/added-and-updated-ancestrycom-record_9.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.

Added or Updated Record Collections at FamilySearch.org - Week of 2 to 8 December 2018

I am trying to keep up with the new and updated record collections at   FamilySearch   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list) every week.

As of 8 December 2018, there were 2,408 record collections on FamilySearch (an increase of 5 from last week):

The added or updated collections are (as Marshall provided them):

--- Collections Added   ---

*  Washington, World War I Veteran's Compensation Fund Application Records, 1921-1925  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1878898); 28,350 indexed records with 28,350 record images, ADDED 5 Dec 2018

*  Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2968238); 134,761 indexed records with 134,761 record images, ADDED 7 Dec 2018

*  Mississippi, World War I Army Veterans, Master alphabetical index, 1917-1918  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3010079); 53,093 indexed records with 53,093 record images, ADDED 7 Dec 2018

*  Ireland Census, 1911 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2854327); 4,385,217 indexed records with 4,385,217 record images, ADDED 7 Dec 2018

*  Alabama, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2865018); 102,611 indexed records with 102,611 record images, ADDED 7 Dec 2018

--- Collections Updated ---

*  Peru, Áncash, Civil Registration, 1888-2005 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2114425); 498,471 indexed records with 903,067 record images (was 381,845 records with 903,067 images), Updated 7 Dec 2018

*  Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Books, 1867-1868 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2739725); 182,111 indexed records with 49,808 record images (was 174,149 records with 47,629 images), Updated 5 Dec 2018

*  Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2531337); 944,320 indexed records with 475,273 record images (was 944,310 records with 475,273 images), Updated 4 Dec 2018

*  England, Northamptonshire, Non-conformist Records, 1840-1894 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2806100); Index only (72,085 records), no images (was 71,723 records with 0 images), Updated 6 Dec 2018

*  Ukraine, Kiev Confession Lists, 1741-1918 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2290980); 379,071 indexed records with 40,448 record images (was 310,347 records with 40,448 images), Updated 4 Dec 2018

*  England, Warwickshire, Parish Registers, 1535-1963 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1462403); 2,851,869 indexed records with 113,093 record images (was 2,852,007 records with 113,093 images), Updated 5 Dec 2018

*  Costa Rica, Civil Registration, 1823-1975 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1925429); 4,356,999 indexed records with 404,718 record images (was 4,356,999 records with 404,718 images), Updated 5 Dec 2018

*  England and Wales Census, 1911 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1921547); 36,354,828 indexed records with 36,354,828 record images (was 36,354,828 records with 36,354,828 images), Updated 6 Dec 2018

*  Connecticut Marriages, 1640-1939 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2448940); 83,765 indexed records with 6,906 record images (was 84,538 records with 6,906 images), Updated 1 Dec 2018

*  West Virginia Will Books, 1756-1971 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1909099); 264,637 indexed records with 325,731 record images (was 264,625 records with 325,731 images), Updated 6 Dec 2018

*  Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1536925); 3,817,626 indexed records with 108,704 record images (was 3,817,626 records with 108,704 images), Updated 6 Dec 2018

*  United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2333694); 34,168,489 indexed records with 46,885,712 record images (was 34,168,489 records with 46,885,712 images), Updated 7 Dec 2018

*  Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1410397); 3,390,232 indexed records with 1,259,299 record images (was 3,357,922 records with 1,259,299 images), Updated 3 Dec 2018

*  Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Civil Registration, 1829-2012 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1582573); 1,249,333 indexed records with 5,100,470 record images (was 1,249,333 records with 5,100,470 images), Updated 4 Dec 2018

*  Georgia Deaths, 1914-1927 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1320969); 305,880 indexed records with 336,900 record images (was 305,880 records with 336,900 images), Updated 4 Dec 2018

*  United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2968245); Index only (3,170,620 records), no images (was 71,035 records with 0 images), Updated 5 Dec 2018

--- Collections with new images ---

*  Arizona, Gila County, Cemetery Records, 1927-1994 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2816842); 3,498 indexed records with 657 record images (was 3,498 records with 0 images),  30 Nov 2018

--- Collections with new records ---

*  West Virginia Births, 1853-1930 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1417341); 1,046,880 indexed records with 1,289,392 record images (was 957,597 records with 1,289,392 images),  25 Sep 2012

*  West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1417434); 2,224,130 indexed records with 2,407,998 record images (was 2,059,018 records with 2,407,998 images),  14 Sep 2018

*  West Virginia Births and Christenings, 1853-1928 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1708695); Index only (409,190 records), no images (was 373,824 records with 0 images),  25 Sep 2012

*  West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408729); 1,670,895 indexed records with 2,663,044 record images (was 1,654,244 records with 2,663,044 images),  29 Nov 2018

*  Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1674736); Index only (560,286 records), no images (was 559,513 records with 0 images),  30 Nov 2018

--- Collections with records removed ---

*  California Marriage Index, 1960-1985 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1949339); Index only (4,879,212 records), no images (was 4,879,213 records with 0 images),  6 Dec 2011

*  California Birth Index, 1905-1995 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2001879); Index only (24,589,496 records), no images (was 24,589,497 records with 0 images),  1 Mar 2012

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

In order to select a specific record collection on FamilySearch, go to  https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and use the "Filter by collection name" feature in the upper left-hand corner and use keywords (e.g. "church england") to find collections with those keywords.

My friend, Marshall, has come up with a way to determine which collections are ADDED, DELETED or UPDATED.  Thanks to Marshall for helping me out here!

Each one of the collections listed above has a Research Wiki page (use the "Learn more" link).  It would be very useful if the Wiki page for each collection listed the dates for when the collection was added as a new collection and the dates for major updates also.

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

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2018/12/added-or-updated-record-collections-at_8.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.