Genea-Musings

Monday, July 22, 2019

Family Tree Magazine (U.S.) Purchased by Yankee Publications

I received this information via email yesterday:

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Yankee Publishing Acquires Family Tree Magazine

Dublin, NH (July 19, 2019) -- Yankee Publishing Inc. (YPI), publisher of Yankee, The Old Farmer’s
Almanac, and New Hampshire magazine, announced its acquisition of Family Tree magazine from F+W Media.

“We’re pleased to welcome Family Tree to YPI’s family of products,” said President and CEO Jamie
Trowbridge. “Family Tree fits well with our suite of brands, both in terms of content and business
strategy. We’re excited to take this step to continue YPI’s growth as an independent media company.”

Family Tree – with its print magazine, website, online classes and conferences, and web store – serves a passionate audience of genealogy enthusiasts. Interest in genealogy is surging in America, with over 20 million Americans having had their DNA tested by the four leading commercial ancestry and health databases, according to industry estimates.

"Yankee Publishing has a great vision for Family Tree," said Andrew Koch, editor of the magazine. "As part of YPI, we'll continue bringing the best genealogy advice and resources to our readers so they can discover their ancestors and connect to their roots."

The editorial offices of Family Tree will remain in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. The other functions of the business will be managed by YPI staff at its headquarters in Dublin, New Hampshire.

About Yankee Publishing Inc.

Based in Dublin, New Hampshire, Yankee Publishing Inc. (YPI) is a family-owned, independent
publisher of magazines, websites, books, calendars and other periodicals including Yankee: New
England’s Magazine, which was founded in 1935. YPI also owns the nation’s oldest continuously
produced periodical, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and subsidiary McLean Communications, which
publishes New Hampshire magazine and other publications about New Hampshire.

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Copyright (c) 2019, 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.

Amanuensis Monday -- 1811 Deed of Nathan Gates to Jabez Fairbank in Gardner, Massachusetts

This week's document for Amanuensis Monday is the 1811 deed of Nathan Gates selling land to Jabez Fairbank in Gardner, Massachusetts in the Worcester County, Massachusetts Land Records:

[Volume 180, pages 562-563]

[Volume 180, pages 564-565]

The transcription of this deed is:

[page 563, near top of right-hand page]

[in left margin]

Gates Nathan
to
Jabez Fairbank

[body of text]

Know all men by these presents that I Nathan Gates of
Gardner in the County of Worcester & Commonwealth of Massachusetts yeoman
in consideration of one thousand dollars paid me by Jabez Fairbank
of said Gardner Labourer the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge do
hereby give grant sell and convey unto the said Jabez Fairbank his heirs
and assigns a certain tract of land lying and being in the Southeasterly
part of Gardner aforesaid containing sixty acres be the same more or less
and is bounded as follows viz begining at the Northeasterly corner of said
land at a stake & stones thence westerly to a stake & stones being the South
west corner of John Miles's land thence Northerly to heap of stones the Southeast
corner of land of the said Gates sold to the said Miles thence westerly to a
heap of stones on the line of the Edgell land so called thence southerly to a
stake and stones in the bend of the wall near a well thence Southerly to a
stake & stones about a rod and half west of the run thence Southerly to a heap
of stones and stump thence westerly to a stake & stones at the road thence East-
erly bounding on said road to a stake and stones thence Southerly across
said road to a heap of stones near the roots of a tree thence easterly across
said road to a heap of stones in the fence thence Southeasterly bounding on said
road to a heap of stones the corner of Aaron Woods land thence North 76-1/4°] East
25 rods 3 links to a heap of stones thence south 61-1/2° East 18 rods to a heap of
stones thence North 44-1/4° East 15 rods to a hemlock thence 16-1/2° East
16 rods and 20 links to a stake and stones then North 63° East 9 rods to a heap
of stones thence Northerly 43 rods to a stake and stones thence Northerly
to a hemlock tree marked being the corner of fourth division lands
thence a straight line to the bounds first mentioned with the build-
ings thereon standing said land the greater part under improvement
and is all the land that said Gates owns in said Town the road through
said land is not here conveyed any thing in this deed to the contrary not-
withstanding.
To have and to hold the same with all the priv-
ileges ad appurtenances thereto belonging to the said Jabez Fairbank
heirs and assigns to his and their use and behoof forever and I do
covenant with the said Jabez Fairbank his heirs and assigns that
I am lawfully seized in fee of the premises that they are free of all incum-

[page 564]

and that I will warrant and defend the same to the said Jabez
Fairbank his heirs and assigns forever against the lawful claims
and demands of all persons. In witness whereof I the said Nathan
Gates have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty eighth day
of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and eleven. Nathan Gates {seal}
Signed Sealed &Deliv^d in presence of us Abigail Gates {seal}
Aaron Wood }
Merari Spaulding } Worcester ss Gardner August 28 1811 Nathan Gates
Abigail Gates } acknowledged this deed to be his free act
before me Aaron Wood Jus Peace
Rec^d Sept^r 3^d 1811. Ent^d & Exam^d pr Dan^l Clap Reg.

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 13 January 2015), Worcester County, "Deeds, 1811, Vol. 180-181," Volume 180, pages 563-564 (images 307-308 of 692), Deed of Nathan Gates to Jabez Fairbank, executed 28 August 1811, recorded 3 September 1811.

In this deed, Nathan Gates, yeoman of Gardner, sold a 60 acre tract of land in southeastern Gardner to Jabez Fairbank of Gardner for 1,000 dollars. The land with buildings was all the land Nathan Gates owned in Gardner at the time.

Nathan Gates (1767-1830), who married Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855) in 1790, is my 4th great-grandfather. I am descended from their daughter, Abigail Gates (1797-1867) who married Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) in 1817.

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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."

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Sunday, July 21, 2019

Ancestry to Discontinue We're Related Mobile App

I received this information from Ancestry.com via email two days ago:

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At Ancestry®, we are committed to offering you the best possible experience to empower your journey of discovery. To do this, we frequently evaluate our products, tools and apps to ensure they are providing the most value to our customers. Sometimes this means discontinuing functionality to make way for other exciting, new innovations.

As of August 1st, 2019 the Friends feature in the We’re Related app will no longer be available and as of August 15, 2019 the app will be discontinued fully. Starting on that day, the app will no longer load when opened and you won't be able to access information in the app.

Thank you for being part of the Ancestry family and helping us learn and continually improve our products. We look forward to sharing new features and exciting updates with you soon.

For additional assistance, please visit https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Discontinuing-the-We-re-Related-App.

Thank you for your continued support!

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Randy's Note: I wondered if this might happen once we started getting reports that the mobile app wasn't in the Google Play or Apple App Store any longer.

Although I had some problems with it listing wrong ancestors of mine, I liked the app because it was pretty good family bait and blog fodder. I loved telling my grandkids and daughters that they were related to Barack Obama, Abraham Lincoln, Paul McCartney, Henry Thoreau, Cate Blanchett, and many others.

As we've discussed before, I believe that the BIG Ancestry tree was used for their longevity study the We're Related app, and the AncestryDNA ThruLines, and may be used again for some other feature. Or it could be junked. Maybe Ancestry will tell us one of these days!

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:

Copyright (c) 2019, 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.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 14 to 20 July 2019

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:

* Annual Review of The Rules of Genealogy: A New Rule is Added by James Tanner on Genealogy's Star.

* Researching Scandinavia: What Records Are Available? by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

*  Evidence Analysis Explained Part II: Evaluating Genealogy Information by Robert on Legacy Tree Genealogists.

* Proof Summaries by Michelle Norris on Vita Brevis.

* Pondering the Leap by Jacqi Stevens on A Family Tapestry.

* Q&A -- Lesser Used Records for Research in the Netherlands by Yvette Hoitink on Dutch Genealogy.

* Resources for Learning About Genetic Genealogy by Nicole Dyer on Family Locket.

* Am, I Making Genealogical Progress? by Marian B. Wood on Climbing My Family Tree.

* Concepts: What Are NPEs and MPEs? by Roberta Estes on DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy.

* Family History and Getting Things Done by Diana Elder on Family Locket.

* If These Books Could Talk by Carol Petranek on Spartan Roots.

* One Giant Leap by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist.

*  July 19, 1969; The Eagle has Landed – 52 Ancestors #247 by Roberta Estes on DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

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

*  Friday Fossicking 19th July 2019 by Crissouli on That Moment in Time.

* This Week's Creme de la Creme -- July 20, 2019  by Gail Dever on Genealogy a la Carte,

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 currently am 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.

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The URL for this post is:
Copyright (c) 2019, 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.

Added and Updated Ancestry.com Record Collections - Week of 14 to 20 July 2019

The following record collections were listed on the Ancestry Card Catalog list on Ancestry.com during the period from 14 to 20 July 2019:

The ADDED and Updated record collections are:

* Maine, Federal Naturalization Records, 1787-1991; indexed database with record images, Updated 7/17/2019

* 1871 England Census; indexed database with record images, Updated 7/15/2019

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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 32,674 collections available as of 20 July, an increase of 0 from last week.

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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:

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.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Added and Updated Record Collections at FamilySearch.org - Week of 14 to 20 July 2019

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 20 July 2019, there were 2,526 historical record collections on FamilySearch (an increase of 3 from last week):

The added or updated collections are:

Nova Scotia Marriages, 1864-1918137,945Jul 20, 2019

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Cemetery Records, 1845 - 196024,384Jul 20, 2019

United States Deceased Physician File (AMA), 1864-1968172,756Jul 20, 2019

Peru, Cemetery Records, 1912-201369,334Jul 20, 2019

New Jersey, Essex County, Superintendent of Soldiers' Burials, 1776-19793,495Jul 20, 2019

Oregon, Oregon State Archives, Marriage Records, 1906-1968Browse ImagesJul 20, 2019

England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-18981,038,942Jul 20, 2019

United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-201434,153,319Jul 20, 2019

California, Oakland, Mountain View Cemetery Records, 1857-1973129,058Jul 19, 2019

United States Census, 1940134,827,283Jul 19, 2019

New Jersey, Death Index, 1901-190392,907Jul 19, 2019

Texas, Bexar County, San Antonio Cemetery Records, 1893-200759,760Jul 18, 2019

Belgium, Namur, Civil Registration, 1800-1912230,370Jul 18, 2019

France, Births and Baptisms, 1546-18965,343,894Jul 18, 2019

England and Wales Census, 191136,354,828Jul 17, 2019

Georgia Deaths, 1928-1942553,236Jul 17, 2019

France, Brittany, Church and Civil Records, 1521-18962,427,746Jul 17, 2019

Scotland Census, 18713,349,414Jul 17, 2019

France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Censuses, 1872 and 1886247,943Jul 17, 2019

Pennsylvania, Huntingdon County, Delayed Birth Records, 1800-19354,921Jul 17, 2019

United States Census, 187040,350,163Jul 16, 2019

New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-19737,348,915Jul 16, 2019

Michigan, Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records45,478Jul 15, 2019

Nova Scotia Births, 1864-1877218,587Jul 14, 2019

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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.

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.

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ellen's Questions Part 4

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) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her Hound on the Hunt blog three weeks ago - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June).

2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 16 to 20 tonight (we did 1 through 5 three weeks ago, questions 6 through 10 two weeks ago, and questions 11 through 15 last week)

3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.

Here's mine:

16)  If you’re into DNA which would you say you work on more? Genealogy or DNA? Or about the same?

I definitely work more on Genealogy than DNA. I am actively researching descendants of my 4th great-grandparents, and spend more time on searching, data entry and blogging than looking at DNA matches. I do add the ancestral lines of some of my DNA matches into the RootsMagic tree.

17)  Do you think that your genealogy is ever really done?

No, I think my genealogy will never be completely finished. At least back to, say the 1600 time frame. I have so many unknown parents of ancestors and it sure seems like there are no records for many of those ancestors. I'm trying, though!

18)  Did you ever search an ancestor’s name on the internet and you were surprised at what you found?

Yes, all the time this happens. A birth record, a baptism record, a marriage record (or two or three), death record, burial record, a photo, a military record, a passenger record, a name change record, probate record, deeds, etc. It only takes one clue to set off the search for more.

19)   Do you ever feel like your ancestors are nudging you in the right direction in your research?

I really haven't felt a nudge one way or another. I haven't had a dream where someone says "go to this place and find a surprise..." I have walked into a cemetery and quickly found an ancestor I was seeking, but she was right on the main path into the cemetery.

20) If you could give one piece of advice to someone new to genealogy, what would you tell them?

Only one? How limiting. Please, please, please, cite your sources so that you can find the record again, someone else can find the record, or someone can evaluate your evidence and conclusions for each event for a person.

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Surname Saturday -- DRAPER (England to colonial Massachusetts)

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 #2323 who is Mary DRAPER (1625-1697). [Note: the more recent ancestral families have been covered in earlier posts.]

My ancestral line back through one generation in this DRAPER 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)

36. Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857)
37. Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)

72. Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1829)
73. Elizabeth Keyes (1759-1793)

144. Zachariah Hildreth (1724-1784)
145. Elizabeth Prescott (1734-1812)

290. Jonas Prescott (1704-1784)
291. Elizabeth Harwood (1701-1739)

580. Jonas Prescott (1678-1750)
581. Thankful Wheeler (1682-1716)

1160. Jonas Prescott (1648-1723)
1161. Mary Loker (1653-1735)

2322. John Loker, born about 1608 in Probably Bures St. Mary, Suffolk, England; died 1653 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. He was the son of 4644. Henry Loker and 4645. Elizabeth LNU. He married about 1650 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
2323. Mary Draper, born bout 1625 in England; died after 1697 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of John Loker and Mary Draper are:
* John Loker (1650-1719), married 1673 Sarah Rice (1655-1703).
* Mary Loker (1653-1736), married 1672 Jonas Prescott (1648-1723).

The family and biography of the Loker family has been researched by:

* Joan S. Guilford, The Ancestry of Dr. J.P. Guilford: Volume 1 (N.p. : Sheridan Psychological Services, Inc., 1990).

* Douglas Richardson, "The Riddlesdale Alias Loker Family of Bures Saint Mary, England and Sudbury Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 143, No. 4, pages 325-331.

The birth information for Mary Draper is not available, but her name is mentioned in the two Loker works noted above.

I have done no original research for these Loker or Draper families.

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Monday, July 22, 2019

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Saturday, July 20, 2019