Saturday, March 1, 2008

CVGS Research Trip to the FHC today

I spent most of the mid-day at the San Diego Family History Center with 12 other CVGS members - some of us car-pooled there from Chula Vista, and several others drove themselves. Three of the attendees were new members from last Wednesday. When it opened at 10 a.m., I gave the "first-timers" a little tour of the facility - microfilms/fiches, CDROMs, reference books, book stacks, computers, and special collections.

None of the attendees had used the FHC computer system since they added the Premium Services - Footnote, WorldVitalRecords, Godfrey, HeritageQuestOnline, KindredKonnections and Ancestry. The access at the FHC is a little tricky so I demonstrated it for those that wanted to use it.

I sat with one of our new members to provide some guidance for her search for information about her ancestors. She has a good start, with family data back to about 1900, so we started in the census records for 1930 hoping to be able to work backwards in time from there. We struck out on her mother's family - she knows where they were in 1925 (her mother's birth) and 1931 (her grandfather's death) in Montana. However, after using every combination and wild card in my bag of census searching tricks, we couldn't find any of them in Montana or the USA. My conclusion was that the family wasn't enumerated. That's too bad, because the grandfather emigrated in about 1920 and married after that. We found several records for someone with the same name and origin in the right place, but we don't think it's her grandfather because other known data doesn't match well. This was very frustrating for both of us, because we didn't make a lot of progress on her line the first time out.

Several of our attendees had a bit more success with their online and book searches. Several of them found useful information in Footnote and WVR, and copied digital images to their flash drives.

I'm going to redouble my efforts to create a "Beginner's Guide" for our new members who don't have much experience in genealogy research. There is a definite need and it will be helpful to those who excitedly join CVGS and want to get started before we can get them in our yearly new members class. The alternative is, of course, to have more new members classes!

We all had an enjoyable four hours at the FHC. Now the new members know where it is and have a little experience on the computer system - that is one reason we take these trips every two months or so to a local repository.

Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 3

This is the third in a series of posts that define what I know about the descendants of my 3rd-great-grandparents, Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. Samuel Vaux emigrated from England and settled in Aurora, Erie County, New York in the 1835-1840 time frame. Their family was defined here.

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Descendants of Celia Ann Vaux

Generation No. 1

1. Celia Ann8 Vaux (Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born May 1842 in Aurora, Erie County, NY. She married (1) Milo Redfield 08 January 1861 in Burnett, Dodge County, WI. He was born About 1836 in probably Jefferson County, NY. She married (2) Francis N. Munger About 1872 in probably Andrew County, MO. He was born July 1845 in WI.

Children of Celia Vaux and Milo Redfield are:
+.... 2 ... i. Nellie Redfield, born 1864 in probably Dodge County, WI; died Bef. 1895 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 3 ... ii. Ada Redfield, born 1865 in probably Dodge County, WI.

Children of Celia Vaux and Francis Munger are:
+ ... 4 ... i. George Francis Munger, born 10 May 1874 in MO.
+ ... 5 ... ii. Amy Munger, born May 1876 in MO; died July 1962 in Prince Georges County, MD (obituary).
+ ... 6 ... iii. Lou M. Munger, born February 1878 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.

Generation No. 2

2. Nellie Redfield (Celia Ann8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 1864 in probably Dodge County, WI, and died before 1895 in Belleville, Republic County, KS. She married Charles Woodward before 1883 in probably Belleville, Republic County, KS. He was born about 1862 in MO.

Children of Nellie Redfield and Charles Woodward are:
...... 7 ... i. Gean Woodward, born about 1883 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 8 ...ii. Ada Woodward, born November 1885 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 9 ...iii. Nellie Woodward, born October 1889 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.

4. George Francis Munger (Celia Ann8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 10 May 1874 in MO. He married Nancy/Nanny M. 1898 in probably Republic County, KS. She was born July 1877 in KS.

Children of George Munger and Nancy/Nanny M. are:
...... 10 ... i. Georgia Munger, born 1901 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 11 ... ii. Callie Munger, born 1902 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 12 ... iii. Frank Munger, born 30 May 1903 in Belleville, Republic County, KS; died 17 November 1990 in Belleville, Republic County, KS (SSDI.
...... 13 ... iv. Cecil Munger, born 09 January 1906 in Belleville, Republic County, KS; died February 1972 in Belleville, Republic County, KS (SSDI.

5. Amy Munger (Celia Ann8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born May 1876 in MO, and died July 1962 in Prince Georges County, MD (obituary). She married Alexander Chalmers Doctor about 1896 in probably Belleville, Republic County, KS. He was born July 1874 in KS, and died 1950.

Children of Amy Munger and Alexander Doctor are:
+ ... 14 ... i. Celia Janet Doctor, born 29 September 1898 in Belleville, Republic County, KS; died February 1970 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS.
...... 15 ... ii. Frank Chalmers Doctor, born 28 November 1900 in Belleville, Republic County, KS; died 08 April 1967 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS. He married Bonnie May Jones; born about 1900.
...... 16 ... iii. Peter Powrie Vaux Doctor, born 07 August 1903 in Belleville, Republic County, KS; died July 1971 in Hyattsville, Prince Georges County, MD (SSDI).
...... 17 ... iv. Amy May Doctor, born 1914 in Belleville, Republic County, KS. She married Earl Lee Rice; born 1901; died 1954.

6. Lou M. Munger (Celia Ann8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born February 1878 in Belleville, Republic County, KS. She married James Doctor about 1895 in probably Belleville, Republic County, KS. He was born October 1875 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.

Children of Lou Munger and James Doctor are:
+ ... 18 ... i. Ellen Frances Doctor, born 17 December 1896 in Belleville, Republic County, KS; died 18 November 1919 in Belleville, Republic County, KS (cemetery).
...... 19 ... ii. Lizzie Doctor, born about 1900 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 20 ... iii. Grace Doctor, born about 1902 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.
...... 21 ... iv. Marguerite Doctor, born about 1904 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.

Generation No. 3

14. Celia Janet Doctor (Amy9 Munger, Celia Ann8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 29 September 1898 in Belleville, Republic County, KS, and died February 1970 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS. She married Lloyd Robert Hershey about 1919 in Belleville, Republic county, KS. He was born 08 July 1899 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS, and died April 1963 in Olathe, Johnson County, KS.

Child of Celia Doctor and Lloyd Hershey is:
...... 22 ... i. Robert Hershey, born 1921 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.

18. Ellen Frances Doctor (Lou M.9 Munger, Celia Ann8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 17 December 1896 in Belleville, Republic County, KS, and died 18 November 1919 in Belleville, Republic County, KS (cemetery). She married Bert Lee Brown 12 December 1917 in Belleville, Republic county, KS. He was born 21 July 1894 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.

Child of Ellen Doctor and Bert Brown is:
...... 23 ... i. Betty Lee Brown, born November 1919 in Belleville, Republic County, KS.


----------------------------------------

My intent is to publish three generation descendants reports for each of the children of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. That will bring information about these families into the 20th century but will not include information on possibly living people (if I can help it). While I have some biographical material gleaned from various sources, including personal correspondence, for many of these families, I'm only going to publish the "bare bones" vital records information about these families.

My purpose in putting these family summaries on this blog is to make my information about these families available for other researchers and distant relatives to find, with the hope that they will contact me and provide even more family information about the families.

If anybody reading this has information on these families, please contact me via email at rjseaverATcox.net and we can correspond and exchange information. If anybody has additions or corrections to my information, I would appreciate hearing from you!

Friday, February 29, 2008

Genealogy Research shines today

The big genealogy news story today was published in the Boston Globe newspaper - titled "Author admits making up memoir of surviving the Holocaust" by David Mehegan. Genealogist Sharon Sergeant, a professional genealogist residing in Waltham MA, and her team played a central role in bringing the truth to light by finding and correlating original source material in Belgian repositories.

DearMYRTLE has an article today about Sharon's efforts, and interviewed Sharon on her 26 February podcast here.

Sharon's web site http://www.ancestralmanor.com/ has a link to Jane Daniel's BESTSELLER! blog (Jane was the publisher of the book) which discusses this case in much detail.

Sharon posted some additional information about this project on the APG mailing list here. Sharon's conclusion reads:

"For everyone, there are the lessons of success with genealogy methodology, as well as the real history we learn when we do genealogy - even when it touches on very difficult subjects. As the rest of the story unfolds, there will be more food for thought no matter what type of genealogical problem we face.

"I often think of my 7th grade science teacher Mr Hopkins and the basics of the 'scientific method' - postulate a theory, plan a test, test the theory, analyze the results, modify the theory and tests, then retest until you have test results that are consistent with the theory."

Read the Globe article, Myrt's blog post, Sharon's web site, her APG post and listen to the podcast. You will be proud of the profession of genealogy as practiced by Sharon Sergeant and her team in this project.

Bravo!!! Extremely well done!! Thank you, Sharon and team! Genealogy research shines today.

"Researching Slaves in the Family" Presentation at CVGS

Margaret Lewis, the President of the San Diego African-American Genealogy Research Group (SDAAGRG), gave a wonderful presentation on "Researching Slaves in the Family" at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society meeting on Wednesday, 27 February, at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library. There were about 45 attendees, including at least 13 guests and visitors.

Margaret's talk centered on two things - the resources that should be considered in a search for slave ancestors and their masters, and examples of some of the records found in her own search for three sets of slave ancestors. The resources included Bible, church, newspapers, court, census, narratives, homestead, Freedman's bureau, Southern claims, military and pension, etc. She told many stories about her ancestral search, some funny, some sad, and one very unique - a slave's recounting of the meeting between General Grant and General Lee under an apple tree the day before the formal surrender at Appomattox courthouse in 1865.

Margaret provided a six page handout that provided significant information content to her presentation.

Listening to her story of searching for records, stories and contacts, it struck me that:

1) Not all of these records are available on the Internet. The census records, Southern Claims and Freedman's Bureau records are available, and many historical newspapers are online. However, many of the documents she showed were obtained through personal contacts, from repositories, or the National Archives.

2) Other than the specific slave records, the record types and repositories are essentially the same that most researchers of any American family would investigate for the 1850 to 1950 time period.

This was a fascinating hour, and it went by quickly due to Margaret's enthusiasm and knowledge about her subject. She answered many questions from the audience about records, social views, slave activities, etc.

My impression was that the attendees came away from this talk knowing more about, and better appreciation of, the difficulties of researching slave ancestry, and admiration for the effort that Margaret has made to find her ancestry in the available documents and records.

Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 2

This is the second in a series of posts that define what I know about the descendants of my 3rd-great-grandparents, Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. Samuel Vaux emigrated from England and settled in Aurora, Erie County, New York in the 1835-1840 time frame.

--------------------------------------

Descendants of Mary A. Vaux

Generation No. 1

1. Mary A. Vaux (Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born About 1839 in Aurora, Erie County, NY. She married James Woodward Bef. 1863 in WI. He was born About 1837 in VT.

Children of Mary Vaux and James Woodward are:
+ ... 2 ... i. Orpha Woodward, born May 1864 in Dodge County, WI.
+ ... 3 ... ii. Mary Woodward, born 09 November 1866 in Dodge County, WI (CA DI); died 11 December 1945 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI).
...... 4 ... iii. Ada Woodward, born About 1868 in Dodge County, WI; died young.

Generation No. 2

2. Orpha Woodward (Mary A.8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born May 1864 in Dodge County, WI. She married Whitfield Needham About 1882 in NE. He was born November 1853 in OH, and died 04 February 1931 in Bloomfield, NE (obituary).

Children of Orpha Woodward and Whitfield Needham are:
......5 ... i. Ada Needham, born July 1885 in NE.
......6 ... ii. Lyndia Needham, born March 1892 in NE.

3. Mary Woodward (Mary A.8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 09 November 1866 in Dodge County, WI (CA DI), and died 11 December 1945 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI). She married Herbert/Bert Gail Dyar 20 November 1884 in NE. He was born 23 May 1858 in WI (CA DI), and died 18 April 1949 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI).

Children of Mary Woodward and Herbert/Bert Dyar are:
+ ... 7 ... i. Verdie Almeda Dyar, born 18 October 1886 in Boone County, NE.
+ ... 8 ... ii. Roy Herbert Dyar, born 11 December 1888 in Boone County, NE; died 24 September 1974 in Waterloo, Black Hawk County, IA (SSDI).
...... 9 ... iii. Chester Gale Dyar, born 18 January 1891 in Boone County, NE; died 29 December 1959 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI). He married Cophine Elizabeth Jones About 1916; born 1893 in IA.
...... 10 ... iv. Vern Roland Dyar, born 01 December 1895 in Boone County, NE (CADI); died 06 July 1958 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI).
...... 11 ... v. Cecil W. Dyar, born 27 August 1901 in Boone County, NE; died 06 October 1964 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI).
...... 12 ... vi. Beulah Woodward Dyar, born 27 March 1907 in Boone County, NE; died June 1979 in Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI). She married Jack C. Ruffin.

Generation No. 3

7. Verdie Almeda Dyar (Mary9 Woodward, Mary A.8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 18 October 1886 in Boone County, NE. She married David Robertson Bef. 1915 in NE. He was born 1875 in NY.

Child of Verdie Dyar and David Robertson is:
...... 13 ... i. Neil Alfred Robertson, born August 1915 in NE.

8. Roy Herbert Dyar (Mary9 Woodward, Mary A.8 Vaux, Samuel7, James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born 11 December 1888 in Boone County, NE, and died 24 September 1974 in Waterloo, Black Hawk County, IA (SSDI). He married (1) Ursula About 1912 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE. She was born 1893 in IL. He married (2) Jessie F. Bowman Bef. 1930 in prob. Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE. She was born About 1886, and died 22 March 1965 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE (newspaper).

Children of Roy Dyar and Ursula are:
...... 14 ... i. Kenneth Dyar, born 1913 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE.
...... 15 ... ii. Dorothy Dyar, born 1916 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE. She married Walter Stolle 14 February 1939 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE (newspaper).
...... 16 ... iii. Charles E. Dyar, born 1923 in Lincoln, Lancaster County, NE. He married JoAnn Waltman 23 August 1946 in Washington, KS (Lincoln newspaper).


------------------------------------------

My intent is to publish three generation descendants reports for each of the children of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. That will bring information about these families into the 20th century but will not include information on possibly living people (if I can help it). While I have some biographical material gleaned from various sources, including personal correspondence, for many of these families, I'm only going to publish the "bare bones" information about these families.

My purpose in putting these family summaries on this blog is to make my information about these families available for other researchers and distant relatives to find, with the hope that they will contact me and provide even more family information about the families.

If anybody reading this has information on these families, please contact me via email at rjseaverATcox.net and we can correspond and exchange information. If anybody has additions or corrections to my information, I would appreciate hearing from you!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Genealogy web site traffic

There are several services that track web site traffic - how many people visit a specific web site in a fixed period of time. I've used www.alexa.com before and have recently used www.quantcast.com to get relative counts of "reach" - the average number of unique visitors in a month, averaged over 6 months.

I input many of my favorite web sites into the Quantcast search box and found the following for US reach (many sites have only US, not world, reach listed):

* www.rootsweb.com - 3,270,147 (#474 in the entire web)
* www.ancestry.com - 2,661,872 (#628 in the entire web)
* www.genealogy.com - 1,200,691
* www.findagrave.com - 987,942
* www.newspaperarchive.com - 956,510

* www.footnote.com - 929,872
* www.familysearch.org - 927,884
* www.ancestorhunt.com - 527,705
* www.worldvitalrecords.com - 445,433
* http://genealogy.about.com - 412,770

* www.onegreatfamily.com - 411,873
* www.genealogytoday.com - 384,784
* www.interment.net - 368,618
* www.accessgenealogy.com - 328,733
* www.distantcousins.com - 278,655

* www.usgennet.org - 272,149
* www.cousinconnect.com - 247,500
* www.cyndislist.com - 238,665
* www.kindredkonnections.com - 211,402
* www.ellisisland.org - 188,262

* www.familytreemaker.com - 159,010
* www.deathindexes.com - 155,347
* www.linkpendium.com - 149,542
* www.census-online.com - 146,666
* www.genealogyinc.com - 145,983

* www.UScensus.org - 145,703
* www.genealogytrails.com - 142,698
* www.longlostpeople.com - 123,136
* www.genealogybank.com - 119,949
* www.jewishgen.org - 112,292

* www.heritagequestonline.com - 102,999
* www.usgenweb.com - 103,187
* www.usgenweb.org - 88,484
* www.familytreedna.com - 82,272
* www.gencircles.com - 76,962

* www.mycinnamontoast.com - 74,535
* www.ancestry.co.uk - 72,033

Based on what I've read on the Quantcast site, the sub-domains are included in these numbers (e.g., Rootsweb has a http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com sub-domain that had a reach of 384,745 - those are included in Rootsweb's numbers above). I did not include these sites which have an audience larger than the genealogy audience:

* www.legacy.com - 4,566,823
* www.loc.gov - 1,855,494
* www.newsbank.com - 1,416,699
* www.archives.gov - 1,127,637

I may have missed some popular genealgoy web sites - tell me which ones you think should be on this list. There are notable absences here - genealogy societies, genealogy libraries, genealogy software, social networking sites, publishers, bloggers, etc. One problem with bloggers is that Quantcast won't provide information for web sites with a slash (/) after the main web site name.

www.alexa.com has a numbered list of genealogy web sites here. It lists sub-domains and is probably based on worldwide reach.

This was fun. One reason to do this exercise occasionally is to find genealogy-oriented web sites that I don't visit so that I can see if I'm missing something.

Ancestry's New Look and Search Capabilities

Kendall Hulet on the Ancestry.com Blog has provided some insights in "Something exciting is in the works" into potential changes coming to the http://www.ancestry.com/ user interface and search capabilities. There is a link in his article to a quick tour of the potential changes and some example screens at http://search.ancestry.com/search/SignUp.aspx. This page notes

"We'll soon be bringing you several enhancements that will make searching on Ancestry a whole lot easier - and more efficient. That means fewer clicks between you and your ancestors. It also means better search results."

They are highlighting Type-ahead tools, Image snapshots, Site-wide search and Contextual research tips. There is also a list of future ideas, including

* Combined record page and image viewer, allowing you to see all of the information at once
* The capability to submit corrections on transcription errors of dates, locations and more
* Search engine enhancements that will return more relevant results and reduce inaccuracies
* Results about the locations and time periods you are searching
* Results that indicate which content you’ve already viewed or saved to your tree


I was invited to have the opportunity to preview these potential changes, test them and to provide feedback about the changes. I'm still doing evaluations based on my own search style and interests. I don't want to comment here about my observations to date, but I am actively sharing them with Kendall Hulet via email and their feedback form.

I applaud Ancestry's effort to obtain feedback from users on improvements and/or enhancements to the web site, data presentation and search capabilities.
I encourage all researchers to take their quick tour (two screens with an example for Abraham Lincoln) and see the changes being considered.

I really like and am very familiar with the search box options, data presentation, layout, search efficiency and speed of the current http://www.ancestry.com/ web site. It appeals to my "engineer's critical eye" for ease of use, minimal mouse clicks, and ordered searching. I usually use the "Exact Search" options rather than "Ranked Searches." I prefer having all matches from each database in one list - I don't like having results mixed together - a census record followed by a military record followed by a birth record, for instance. That's just my search style and preference.

Change is difficult to adapt to for some people. I welcome changes that measurably improve search accuracy, easy-to-understand data presentation, search speed, and that enhance my effectiveness in using a web site.

It may be that http://www.ancestry.com/ will utilize more than one user-interface for searches in order to accommodate users that are comfortable with and appreciate the current web site layout and presentation.

Descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - Post 1

I'm starting a series of posts that define what I know about the descendants of my 3rd-great-grandparents, Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. Samuel Vaux emigrated from England and settled in Aurora, Erie county, New York in the 1835-1840 time frame.

The English Vaux families have been well-defined by research conducted collaboratively by Hanna Nicholas and Liz James in England and Sarah Vaux in the United States. They have an online book manuscript available for Vaux researchers here. Hanna has submitted a Vaux database to the Rootsweb WorldConnect database here. I contributed information gleaned from census and other online information several years ago, and am working on adding more data from more recent online searches.

------------------------------------

1. Samuel Vaux (James6, John5, James4, William3, John2, Thomas1 Vax) was born before 11 February 1816 in South Petherton, Somerset, ENGLAND (christening), son of James Vaux and Mary Palmer, and died after 1880 in perhaps Marshall County, KS. He married Mary Ann Underhill before 1839 in Aurora, Erie County, NY, daughter of Amos Underhill and Mary/Polly Metcalf. She was born about 1815 in Aurora, Erie County, NY, and died after 1880 in perhaps Marshall County, KS.

Children of Samuel Vaux and Mary Underhill are:
2.... i. Mary A. Vaux, born about 1839 in Aurora, Erie County, NY. She married James Woodward before 1863 in WI; born about 1837 in VT.


3... ii. Celia Ann Vaux, born May 1842 in Aurora, Erie County, NY. She married (1) Milo Redfield 08 January 1861 in Burnett, Dodge County, WI; born about 1836 in probably Jefferson County, NY. She married (2) Francis N. Munger about 1872 in probably MO; born July 1845 in WI.

4... iii. Abigail A. Vaux, born 28 October 1844 in Aurora, Erie County, NY (Bible); died 11 September 1931 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA (CA DI). She married Devier James Smith 04 April 1861 in Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, WI (Bible); born 07 May 1839 in Henderson, Jefferson County, NY (Bible); died 01 May 1894 in McCook, Red Willow County, NE (Bible).

5... iv. James P. Vaux, born about 1847 in Aurora, Erie County, NY; died 29 December 1902 in Aurora, Erie County, NY. He married Mary Alice Patrick before 1879 in KS; born about 1856 in OH; died 19 April 1904 in DeKalb, IL.

6 ... v. Elizabeth B. Vaux, born about 1851 in Aurora, Erie County, NY; died 10 May 1931 in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, CA (CA DI). She married Samuel Crouch 19 October 1871 in Andrew County, MO (IGI); born 1841 in ENGLAND; died 18 May 1931 in Long Beach, Los Angeles, CA (CA DI).

7... vi. Amos S. Vaux, born about 1854 in Aurora, Erie County, NY; died 23 August 1876 in Nodaway, Andrew County, MO.

---------------------------------------

My intent is to publish three generation descendants reports for each of the children of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. That will bring information about these families into the 20th century but will not include information on possibly living people. While I have some biographical material gleaned from various sources, including personal correspondence, for many of these families, I'm only going to publish the "bare bones" information about these families.

My purpose in putting these family summaries on this blog is to make my information about these families available for other researchers and distant relatives to find, with the hope that they will contact me and provide even more family information about the families.

If anybody reading this has information on these families, please contact me via email at rjseaverATcox.net and we can correspond and exchange information. If anybody has additions or corrections to my information, I would appreciate hearing from you!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Technology - Hardware, software, web site

The 43rd Carnival of Genealogy topic is Technology. What technology do you most rely on for your genealogy and family history research? Resist the urge to dilute the impact of your 3 choices by mentioning several others you use and appreciate as well. This is an exercise in appraising the technology you use/recommend the most.

1) Select one piece of hardware (besides your computer)

The most useful hardware for my genealogy research, over the 20 years I've pursued elusive ancestors, is the microfilm reader/scanner/printer at the LDS Family History Center. This hardware has morphed over the years from separate machines for the reader and printer, that produced slicky pages that faded over time, to a slick reader/scanner/printer that I can use (and frequently do!) to obtain digital images of original source documents like deeds, probate records, etc. My FHC has a Canon Microfilm Scanner MS-300 hooked to a computer loaded with software that captures the document images.

2) Select one piece of software (besides your Internet browser)

In recent years, the software that I've relied on most has been OpenOffice 2. This FREE software is a suite of programs - a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation program, a database program, and a drawing program. I use the word processor and presentation program all the time, and the spreadsheet occasionally. The beauty of this program suite is that it emulates Microsoft Office products, reads MS Office files and permits saving in MS Office formats.

3) Select one web site/blog (besides your own) that are indispensable to you.

This is the most difficult because there are so many great web sites with genealogy data. I'm going to select the LDS www.FamilySearch.org web site because of the existing databases (Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index, Pedigree Resource File, 1880 US Census, 1881 Canada census, 1881 UK census, and the new ones on the Records Search site) and the site's future offerings. In the future (say, 5 years from now) the New FamilySearch will be indispensable because it will have original records in digital format (digitized from over 2 million microforms) that no other web site will have.

It's unclear if the question encourages citing a web site and a blog - just in case, I'll say that the indispensable blog for me is Dick Eastman's Online Genealogical Newsletter. Dick's news and technology coverage is the best available, and he has enough readers to take the pulse of the genealogy community on controversial issues.

Six word memoirs

Several other genealogy bloggers have noted the recently published book titled "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure" edited by Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith.

Lisa A. Alzo on The Accidental Genealogist blog provides her own six-word memoir and then wrote several more as tributes to some of her ancestors. That's a great idea!

I, being the "joiner" that I seem to be, did this back in December 2006 with "Six-word memoir contest." My own six-word memoir is

"Descendant of obscure American colonial ancestors." - Randy Seaver

Naturally, I sent that in, and it is on page 208 right below the obscure Kate Evans ("Loved a man, then a woman") and above the obscure Jennifer Johnson ("Brainy widowed sexpot raises hell, kids"). Hmm, I guess I'm in good company - Jen sounds like fun, eh? I wonder how many of the more than 1,000 entries used the word "obscure?"

I also posted one on Chris' Genealogue blog --

"Son, husband, father, carpenter, soldier, citizen." - Norman Seaver (1734-1787) of Westminster MA, my 5th great-grandfather.

Taking Lisa's idea, here are some tributes to some of my ancestors:

* "Patience, love, grace, beauty, devotion personified." - for Betty (Carringer) Seaver (1919-2002), my mother.

* "Loving family man, clerk, philatelist, adventurer" - for Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), my grandfather.

* "Bastard son, Revolutionary matross, crippled hero" - for Isaac Buck (1757-1846), my 4th great-grandfather.

* "Innkeeper, inventor, snake oil salesman, speculator" - Devier J. Smith (1839-1894), my 2nd great-grandfather.

How about you - any six-word memoirs to describe yourself or your ancestors? Try it, it's fun. Either put them in your own blog post or in Comments here.

TOC for New England Ancestors - Winter 2008 issue

The Table of Contents for the Winter 2008 issue (Volume 9, Number 1) of New England Ancestors, the member's magazine published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, includes:

FEATURES

* New England Missionaries Abroad: The Allen and Wheeler Families in the Ottoman Empire by Jonathan Conant Page - page 21.

* Lucy Thurston, Missionary Wife by Betty Fallard-Leo - page 26

* Onward Christian Soldiers: Researching New England Missionary Ancestors by Rhonda R. McClure - page 29

* By Faith Alone by Bill Griffeth - page 32

* Zebina the Privateer: Pirate or Patriot? by Barbara Sears McRae - page 35

* "That Merciless Element": Introducing Perished in the Flames: Victims of Deadly Fires in New England Newspapers & Diaries 1675-1830 by Christopher Benedetto - page 38

* An Irish Family Story by Thomas R. Wilcox, Jr. - page 41

COLUMNS

* Computer Genealogist: Google Books and Google Scholar by Michael J. Leclerc - page 43

* Computer Genealogist Spotlight: Immigration Source Online from Harvard University by Connie Reik - page 45

* Genetics & Genealogy: DNA Q&A by Curtis Rogers - page 46

* Manuscripts at NEHGS: Preserving a Family's Legacy: The Thaxter Parks Spencer Collection by Judith Lucey - page 49

* Diaries at NEHGS: The Diary of Martha Ann Kuhn by Robert Shaw - page 51

* Bible Records at NEHGS: The Jesse Ives Bible Record by Robert Shaw - page 55

* Tales From the Courthouse: Drinking with the Drummer by Diane Rapaport - page 57

There are some fascinating missionary tales in this issue, not to mention the Zebina the Privateer article.

I wish I lived in the Boston area. The list of programs at NEHGS is fantastic - more than one per week it seems. And maybe I would make more progress on my elusive New England ancestors!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

"Virginia Gazette" Index and Text online

On one of the message boards, someone provided a link to the Virginia Gazette. It is online at the Colonial Williamsburg web site. The description of this newspaper is:

"One of the Library's most important digital collections is the Virginia Gazette, published weekly in Williamsburg, 1736-1780; the news covered all Virginia and included some information for other colonies, Scotland, England etc. Not all the issues survived, and some have surfaced since they were first reproduced on microfilm in the mid-twentieth century that is the basis for the digital version.

"The earliest Virginia Gazette was printed successively by William Parks, William Hunter, Joseph Royle, Alexander Purdie, Purdie & John Dixon, Dixon & William Hunter Jr., and Dixon & Thomas Nicolson, from August 6(?), 1736, through April 8, 1780, when the paper was moved to Richmond. On May 16, 1766, William Rind established a competing paper under the same title which was printed successively by Rind, Clementina Rind (his widow), and John Pinkney, until February 3, 1778. A third Virginia Gazette was inaugurated by Alexander Purdie on February 3, 1775. After Purdie's death, the paper was printed by John Clarkson & Augustine Davis until December 9, 1780, the last issue located. "

There is a searchable index for topics and surnames to the Virginia Gazette online here. The individual pages can be saved as .JPG files.

The Colonial Williamsburg site also has a Genealogical Research web page here.

What a great resource for colonial Virginia research in the Williamsburg area.

Googling for Mölster data

Nope, I didn't misspell Molster (I did there - it should have the two dots over the o since it is Norwegian) - note that Google asked me "did you mean to search for: Molester family?" Because I posted a note on Genea-Musings back in April 2006 about the Mölster farm near Voss in Norway, I got an email the other day from a fellow in Ohio.

He wrote:

"Steve Shaffer here - an historian from Southern Ohio. I am writing you in regards to the Portsmouth (Ohio) Indian's Head Rock - a historic boulder recovered from the Ohio River late last summer, which is inscribed with many names of pioneer families from Portsmouth. One prominent name on the rock is "C. Molster." The rock is the center of a dispute between Ohio and Kentucky, recently featured on the front page of the New York Times. The city of Portsmouth wants to keep and display the rock, while some in Kentucky insist it is their property and should be returned to the river. This thinking I will not even try to explain. All of the Molsters are gone from Portsmouth, but I am trying to locate some of the ancestors, as they should have a voice in saving the rock from being returned to oblivion. I'm a historian, not a genealogist, so I thought you might be able to provide some advice in tracking these people down. Any pearls of wisdom you can drop will be most appreciated. We're fighting hard to keep this piece of local history out of the river. Thanks in advance."

The New York Times article is here. My correspondent, Steve Shaffer, is quoted quite a bit and there is video of him and the Rock.

I was going outta town the next day, but I invested about 30 minutes trying to find out something about "C. Molster." Here is what I found in my short search:

"What an interesting problem. Unfortunately, I'm leaving town early on Sunday and I can't pursue it in any depth. I was able to go on www.ancestry.com and find a few things. First, I found that there was a Cornelius Molster, age 19, in Portsmouth Ohio in the 1860 census. Then I used Cornelius and Molster to search books and newspapers and I found several items. I have attached three pages (they are graphics .png files):

1) Page 281 of a Scioto County, Ohio history book - the biography of Cornelius Molster is at the bottom of the page in the RH column.
2) Page 282 - the continuation of Cornelius' biography.
3) A newspaper page from the Portsmouth Times in 1894 that lists the pioneers of the town. Cornelius and Henry Molster are listed.

You should be able to find the book at a local library if you want more information about the pioneers other than Corny Molster. I didn't find any mention of the Rock, but I'm sure if I look further I would!

So tell me - how in the world did you pick me to do this exercise? Was it that I mentioned Molster in Norway in a blog post? Or on my genealogy web site? Inquiring minds want to know!!"


I'm not sure they were the requested "pearls of wisdom," but Steve wrote back the next day, saying:

"Sincere thanks for your interest and the information you passed along. I found that five of the surnames carved on the rock were listed as members of the Scioto Co. Pioneer Association. I'm going to contact the Scioto Co. Genealogical Society (just discovered their existence today) to see if I might get that group involved. How I found you - I was surfing and first found the Molsters in Norway blog, which led me to your site. You are welcome to do a posting and I recommend you use the New York Times Tues. Feb. 11th article as your source."

Steve kindly permitted me to use this correspondence as blog information.

Steve is a local historian, and because I took a little time to be curious and helpful he learned something about genealogy and historical resources both online and in repositories.

I learned something about some local history. You know, each community has stories like this one that stirs local, and even national, interest in years past and preservation of artifacts. Some of these stories, and organizations dedicated to preservation or history and artifacts, might make excellent programs at a local genealogical society meeting.

There is a good lesson here - if you blog about something concerning a surname or a place name there is a good chance that someone will contact you out of the blue on a peripheral issue due to a Google match.

So now I'm curious if Cornelius Molster was descended from Norwegian immigrants from the Mölster farm that sits just above Voss in western Norway. My post about our 1999 "Genealogy Vacation in Norway" describes the farm - it's nowe a "living history museum" and one of Linda's ancestral families emigrated from that farm in 1855. I wonder what else I can find out about Corny Molster?

UPDATED 6 PM: Thanks to John Newmark for providing a link to the HTML codes for letters with diacritical marks! Excellent. ö is now in the name of Mölster!

Timeline for African-American Lives 2

One of my CVGS colleagues passed the link for a Timeline for the persons whose ancestry was featured in the PBS program African-American Lives 2. The time line is at http://www.pbs.org:80/wnet/aalives/timeline/index.html

This timeline intersperses historical events with the events covered in the PBS series. I found it interesting and useful to see more details about the ancestry of those featured on the series. There are more links to

* The profiles of the featured persons at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/profiles/index.html. You can see what the researchers found out about each person's ancestry.

* Analyzing the evidence pages are at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/evidence/index.html.

* Short videos for the featured persons can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/videos/index.html

NGS NewsMagazine Table of Contents - Jan-Mar 2008 Issue

The Table of Contents of the January-March 2008 issue (Volume 34, Number 1) of the NGS NewsMagazine, published by the National Genealogical Society, includes the following:

COLUMNS

* Beginning Genealogy: Membership has its benefits: joining a genealogical society by Gary M. Smith and Diana Crisman Smith - page 50.

* Software Review: Ancestral Quest 12 by Barbara Schenck - page 56

* Technology: Virtual push pins by Drew Smith, MLS - page 59. This is about online message boards.

* Writing Family History: Doctoral dissertations - a neglected source by Harold E. Hinds, Jr., PhD - page 62

FEATURES

* On the horizon ... Kansas City by Ann Carter Fleming, CG, CGL - page 10

* The DaVinci code and your genealogy: multiple streams of evidence by Arlene H. Eakle, PhD - page 12

* Finding wives' and daughters' names by Wendy Bebout Elliott, PhD, FUGA - page 17

* Using family possessions to add interest to genealogical research by Charles S. Mason, Jr. - page 22

* The WPA era: a genealogist's bonanza by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG - page 26

* Newspapers, technology, and what they mean to a genealogist by Joan Shurtleff, CG

* Extracting details from Italian civil vital records by June C. DeLallo, CG - page 36

* Welcome home! Witajcie w domu! You are four steps from your Polish village by Cecile Wendt Jensen, CG - page 41

* Homestead records: Cancelled, contested, and relinquished entries by Roberta King - page 46.

There is something for everybody in this issue of the NGS NewsMagazine. I really appreciated the column on joining a genealogical society - lots of good ideas here! The Eakle, Elliott and King articles provide discussion of research techniques and resources. The Stuart-Warren and Shurtleff articles are historical, and interesting.

Monday, February 25, 2008

"Researching Slaves in the Family" at CVGS on 27 February

Hey San Diego area readers -

The next General Meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society will be on Wednesday, 27 February at 12 noon in the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library auditorium (365 F Street, Chula Vista). There will be a short business meeting, with the 2007 Annual Report presented and discussed.

As many of you know, this is Black History Month, and CVGS has arranged for our program speaker to be Margaret Lewis - her topic will be "Researching Slaves in the Family." The synopsis of the talk is:

"Due to the lack of written records, African-American families relied on oral tradition when researching the slaves in their family. While oral history cannot take the place of documented sources, it can provide invaluable clues to family histories, names, relationships, and locations. Slaves were prohibited from participating in any activities that generated records on which genealogical research is based.

"Therefore, oral history can be a curial start to your research. While some ancestral lines can be traced back several generations with relatively little effort, researching slaves in the family can only be discovered after painstaking research. The objective of this presentation is to share slave records, and documented sources to use in your research. I would also like to stress the importance of researching the slave-owners and their families. The information you obtain in researching the slave-owners can help provide invaluable information that will assist in helping research the slaves in your family"

Margaret's CV includes:

"Margaret Lewis is the President, and a founding member of the San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group in San Diego, California. She started her “Ancestral Pursuit” in July of 1995 and her research quickly turned into an exciting journey that has taken her through an historical timeline of some of the most significant events in American History. What’s more important is that her ancestors participated in these events.

"Marti’s love for genealogy is expressed through her many published articles: “A Soldier’s Story”, “My Family Link”, “Time Will Tell” which was revised August 2005, to “He Touched Me”, and “Ancestral Roll Call” a poem summarizing her family heritage. She is also organizing her research materials to publish in a Family History Book to be titled, “Ancestral Pursuit.”

"Marti is currently working with the Daughters of the Union “Nancy Hanks Lincoln Tent #5” Editorial Committee to publish a Heritage Book which will feature their Civil War ancestors’ war stories. She has submitted a revised version, of “A Soldier’s Story” and has added a personal narrative which provides a vivid “on the scene” memoir of her great great grandfather’s life story from 1840 -1922.

"Marti is a compelling and influential voice in the genealogy community and she advocates for the study of Family History. She is known for her boundless enthusiasm, and has provided genealogical presentations, workshops and displays at many San Diego City Schools and conferences throughout the State of California, Nevada and Arizona."

This should be an excellent program. If you can attend this meeting, I'm sure that you will learn a lot about African-American research problems and successes.

Devier David Carringer (1889-1890)

David Devier Carringer was born 19 August 1889, in National City, California to Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer. He was named for his grandfathers - Devier James Smith and David Jackson Carringer.

The San Diego Union announced in the August 24, 1889 edition that:
"Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Carringer rejoice in the arrival of a bright faced boy, who tips the scales at nine pounds."

This picture shows baby Devier at two months of age.



The joy turned to sorrow when Devier suddenly died on May 10, 1890. A remembrance card with gold lettering on a black background is shown below.



The card reads:

"One less at home,
The charmed circle broken -- a dear face missed
day by day from its usual place.
But cleansed, saved, perfected by grace,
One more in heaven.

"One less on earth,
its pain, its sorrow, and its toil to share.
One less the pilgrim's daily cross to bear.
One more the crown of the blessed to wear,
At home in heaven."

The family archives include several letters from the extended Smith family in Kansas and the extended Carringer family in Pennsylvania that try to reassure the family that it was God's will. The death of baby Devier apparently caused Austin Carringer to renounce his Christian faith.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

We're off to Disneyland!

I first went to Disneyland in Anaheim, California in 1955 as an 11-year old with my grandparents. There were the five lands and several rides in each land, but the place is much bigger and more popular 53 years later.

We are driving up on Sunday morning (probably in the rain) and will meet our daughter and her family, including Lolo, who will celebrate her third birthday at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney on Sunday night. We will "do" Disneyland on Sunday and Monday, and will love sharing the experience with a darling little girl.

We are staying two nights at a boutique hotel, which advertises wireless Internet so I should be able to post each day and at least read my email and Bloglines. We'll be back home on Tuesday afternoon and I will resume my heavy regular blogging schedule then. Or not, who knows!

Have a good time while I'm gone - visit the blogs on my blogroll and the posts in the "Best of the Genea-Blogs" post! Or rest - your choice. Come on, you know you can't do without your blogreading fix!

Best of the Genea-Blogs - February 17-23, 2008

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

My criteria are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, address current genealogy issues, personal family history, are funny or are poignant.

I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

* "Anthology of Blogger Poems: 2008 Challenge" by Terry Thornton, editor, on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry captured ALL of the poems (mostly limericks) writeen by and for genealogy bloggers. Excellent!!!

* "Copyright Issues: Photographs" by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig uses his legal mind to assess the issues with using photographs in blogs, articles, books, etc.

* "My Top 15 - Well, Really - Top 16 - Canadian Genealogy Websites, February 2008" by M. Diane Rogers on the Canada Genealogy, or "Jane's Your Aunt" blog. Diane provides a superb list that I have bookmarked for future use and reference.

* "Land Records: What are Metes and Bounds?" by Diane Haddad on the Now What? blog. Diane provides a great summary of this esoteric and difficult, but vital, research topic.

* "Source Centric Prototype" by Dan Lawyer on the Taking Genealogy to the Common Person blog. Dan describes, and shows examples, of how New FamilySearch will be source-centric when displaying information from the LDS databases.

* "Honoring Our Presidents" by Miriam Midkiff on the Ancestories: Stories of My Ancestors blog. Miriam discusses her life experiences with this holiday, and expresses her opinion that the schools should have special programs for this holiday. I agree!

* "A New Way to Share Genealogy?" by Lori Thornton on the Smoky Mountain Family Historian blog. Lori investigates Scribd, describes her findings, and has some recommendations for using it.

* What is Blogging? Why would I want to do it?" by Becky Wiseman on the Kinexxions blog. Becky gave a talk on blogging - this is her narrative for the talk. Excellent!

* "Not Without My Car" by Chery Kinnick on the Nordic Blue blog. Chery describes her fascination with automobiles and describes her "car" family history.

* "Dead Ancestors Soap Opera, Part I" and "Part 2" by Cat on the Genealogy-Digging Up Dirt blog. Cat is transcribing the Civil War Pension File for George Washington Oakley. You get a good idea of the complexity of some of these files from these posts, and how they dealt with multiple wives and widows pensions. Cat is not done - there are more parts coming.

* "On Fried Mush, 'Hommeny,' Grits and Cornbread, Part I" by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry reveals the secrets of Southern corn-based food. Interesting (and appalling?) to this Southern (California) lad. I'm looking forward to Part II, though!

Please go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add the blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read.

Please make a comment to them also - we all appreciate feedback on what we write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!

Letters from home - Post 19

This is the eighteenth letter in the stack of Letters from Home to Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer, residing in the San Diego, California area after 1887. An explanation of the family members and situation is here.

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

Letter from Della (Smith) Carringer to her cousins (unspecified). Undated, although it is probably October 1903. No envelope. The letter is on “Greetings from Southern California” letterhead, with three pictures, copyright 1901 by Edw. H. Mitchell S.F.

San Diego
510 Watkins Ave.

Dear Cousins,


Your good letter recived and I was so surprised to hear of two more boys in the family but I know George is proud now the men always are when it is a boy. I always wanted a girl I think they are just as nice don’t you? Wish I could have had my two boys to raise together. Hope you all can keep yours they are so much company one for the other. But I am thankfull for my one boy. He will be twelve next month. He is doing nicely in school now.

If it is not to much trouble when you write next time give me the childrens ages for I want to set down all of the cousins children and see how big a tree we will be in fifty years from now. Davie was fourty the 15th of this month so that makes the fourth to enter the four tens if Orpha & Nellie had lived. 1 I am the oldest. 2 Orpha next then 3 Nellie & 4 Davie. 5 (Ada dead). 6 Mary Dyar. 7 Matie Smith. 8 (Aggie Smith dead). Then 10 George 9 Myrtle Crouch. 11 Amy. 12 Willie C. 13 Lutie S. (dead). 14 Louie. Bert Vaux 15 (Ralph Crouch dead), 16 Bert Vaux. 17 Guy Vaux dead 19 Callie. I think 18 Gean Woodward was older than Callie but I do not know for shure. You know from there down Myrtle is older than George for I can remember her saying Monkey for Munger when he was a baby. You know from there down this younger generation of cousins.

20 Ada Woodward. 21 Verdie Dyar. 22 Roy Dyar. 24 Nellie Woodward. 23 Devier Carringer. 26. Chester Dyar. 27 Lyle Carringer. 25 Eva Smith. 28 Vern Dyar. 29 Ellen Doctor. 30 Lezzie Doctor. 31 Grace Doctor. 32 Mable Smith. 33 34 Will Cruchs 2 girls. 35 36 37 Amy 2 boys 1 girl. 38 39 40 Geo 2 girls 1 boy. 41 Orpha 1 girl. 18 Grand chil, 23 G Grand chil.

[no further information]


----------------------------------------

This is the last letter to and from the descendants of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux. I will provide a descendants list in a future post so that relationships of all of these people can be shown.

This sheet of paper was probably a rough draft that Della saved after making a copy and sending it to her cousins. Della is wondering about their posterity - she wants to see how big a tree they will have 50 years from now.

510 Watkins Ave. was the first address given to the house that Austin and Della built. Watkins Avenue became Hawthorn Street later, and the house eventually had the address of 2105 30th Street, and after it was moved to them iddle of the block the address became 2115 30th Street.