Saturday, October 16, 2010

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Who's to Blame?

Hey geneaphiles - it's Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun for all Genea-Musing readers.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (and we need more of you to do this, otherwise it may end...), is to:

1)  Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog.  She asks these questions:

*  Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?

*  Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?

*  Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?

*  If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.

2)  Write your responses on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a note or comment on Facebook. 
 
Here's mine:
 
*  My first reaction to the first question was Alex Haley, the author of Roots.  I read the book in the early 1980s and thought that genealogy research was something that I could do well because of my aerospace engineering and fluid dynamics research background. 
 
In 1982, my father wanted to go back to his home town of Leominster, Massachusetts (he left in 1940) to see it one last time, but he came down with cancer and could not make the trip.  Linda and I took the kids back to New England and had a wonderful time with family and friends.  I made a one-hour tape recording with my uncle Ed Seaver about the family, and his life, which was funny, poignant and informational.
 
It wasn't until 1988 that I started doing serious research, and I've been working on it ever since.
 
*  My father's oldest sister, Marion, was a schoolteacher, and for her typing class she had the students type sections from a local history book.  For her part, she typed out the Seaver family genealogy from the Westminster, Massachusetts history book and passed it to the family members in the 1940s.  It provided an excellent starting point for my research, although it was really only one surname.
 
*  There was no child's project on genealogy that I recall.
 
*  Thank you, Alex Haley for stimulating interest in genealogy throughout the USA, and to my Smith/Auble/Carringer ancestors that saved four generations of photographs and documents that lead back to English, French, German and Dutch ancestry; and to my father for having such an interesting New England, and English ancestry.  It keeps me going day-in and day-out - I feel like the Energizer Genea-Bunny sometimes.
 
Thank you, Brenda, for providing the idea for this week's SNGF!

Surname Saturday - DAFOE (Switzerland > NewYork > Ontario)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 121, who is the Mary Dafoe (ca 1776-ca 1851), one of my 4th-great-grandparents.

My ancestral line back through five generations of DAFOE (and variants) families is:

1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

6. Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)
7. Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977)

14. Charles Auble (1849-1916)
15. Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952)

30.  James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902)
31.  Mary Jane Sovereen (1840-1874)

60.  Abraham James Kemp (1795 - ca 1891)
61.  Sarah Sephrona Fletcher (1802-1 ca 1861)

120. John Kemp, born About 1768 in Schenectady, Schenectady County, NY; died Aft. April 1861 in probably Cramahe, Northumberland County, Ontario, CANADA. He was the son of 240. John Kemp and 241. Anna Van Vorst. He married 26 January 1795 in Fredericksburgh, Lennox and Addington County, Ontario, CANADA.

121. Mary Dafoe, born about 1776 in VT; died before 1851 in probably Cramahe, Northumberland County, Ontario, CANADA.

Children of John Kemp and Mary Dafoe are:  Abraham James Kemp (1795-ca 1881); Nancy Anna Kemp (1797-1874); John Cook Kemp (1800-1887); Jacob Kemp (1802-1887; George Kemp (1806-????); Elizabeth Kemp (1806-????); James A. Kemp (1807-1891); Lucy Kemp (1809-????); Mary Kemp (1812-1912).

242. Abraham Dafoe, born before 11 May 1755 in Albany, Albany County, NY; died 1815 in Fredericksburgh, Lennox and Addlington County, Ontario.  He married about 1775 in NY.
243. Katreen Diamond, born about 1755 in NY. She was the daughter of 486. John Diamond and 487. Christiana Loyst.

Children of Abraham Dafoe and Katreen Diamond are: Mary Dafoe (ca 1776-ca 1851); female Dafoe (1780-1784); Jacob Dafoe (1784-????); Elizabeth Dafoe (1786-1861); George Dafoe (1788-1887); Lucy Dafoe (1791-????);

484.  Johann Ernst Dafoe, born about 1726 in NY; died 1784 in St. Jean, Quebec. . He married 01 February 1748/49 in Germantown, Dutchess County, NY.
485. Maria Keller, born 27 March 1729 in Loonenburg, Greene County, NY; died 12 August 1789 in Fredericksburgh, Lennox and Addlington County, Ontario. She was the daughter of 970. Conrad Keller and 971. Maria Barbara Proper.

Children of Johann Dafoe and Maria Keller are:  George Dafoe (1749-1777); Conradt Dafoe (1753-1853); Abraham Dafoe (1755-1815); John Dafoe (1758-????); Jacob Dafoe (1761-ca 1792); Maria Dafoe (1763-????); Michael Dafoe (1766-ca 1860); Daniel Dafoe (1769-????).

968. Abraham Defoe, born about 1703 in Switzerland; died before 1753 in NY. He married about 1723 in probably Dutchess County, NY.
969. Maria Catharina Reiffenberger, born about 1710 in Germany; died in St. Jean, Quebec. She was the daughter of 1938. Johann Georg Reiffenberger and 1939. Maria Elisabetha Deiken.

Children of Abraham Defoe and Maria Reiffenberger are:  Johann Ernst Dafoe (1726-1784); Johann Jurgen Dafoe (1727-ca 1788); Daniel Dafoe (1731-????); Johannes Teunis Dafoe (1733-????); Maria Elisabetha Dafoe (1735-????); Anna Margaretha Dafoe (1738-????); Eva Dafoe (1740-1815); Elisabetha Dafoe (1742-????); Abraham Dafoe (1745-????).

1836. Daniel Thevou, born about 1665 in Missy, Vaud, Switzerland, died 1717 in NY. He married before 1700 in  Switzerland.
1837. Marianne Delcour, born about 1669 in Switzerland, died before June 1710 at sea (?).

Children of Daniel Thevou and Marianne Delcour are:  Maria Anna Dafoe (1700-ca 1762);  Abraham Dafoe (ca 1703-ca 1753).

The family of Daniel Thevou (Dafoe) was in the book: Henry Z. Jones, Jr. The Palatine Families of New York, 1985.  Information about later families was obtained from several WorldConnect databases posted on http://wc.rootsweb.com/ by Annie Meyer , Cheryl Taber and others.  I have done no original research on any of these families.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Off to Salt Lake City next week - what should I do?

Everybody's first answer is probably "Go to the Family History Library!"   That's a given, and I've scheduled Friday for that.

This is a three-night trip - I get there Wednesday afternoon (and hope to have some FHL time that afternoon/evening).  If somebody would like to meet for dinner somewhere near the FHL, please email me at rjseaver@cox.net.  By the way, I'm staying at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City.

Thursday is dedicated to meetings with a significant genealogy provider.  More on that next week. 

Friday is my full day at the Family History Library.  If anybody would like to meet for dinner, please email me!  I know that there is a conference at the Radisson Hotel. 

Saturday is my travel day back to San Diego. 

My tentative plans for research at the Family History Library include:

*  Search for Whittle, Morley, Mansley, Bury, and other names in Lancashire record sources (parish registers, poor law, churchwardens records, etc.)

*  Search for records from the California Gold Country for the Whittles and descendants.

*  Search Hilperton, Wiltshire record sources form ore information about my Richman, Rich, Marshman, Hill and other ancestral families.

*  Search for entries in Damages in New Jersey films from the Civil War.  I recently found an index online with several of my ancestors listed.

*  Search in Oxford County, Maine records for my elusive Thomas J. Newton.

*  Search for more info in Jefferson County, New York for potential Lamphear parents of my adopted Devier J. Lamphear Smith.

*  That's what I've thought of so far.  If I run out of things to do, I'll write blog posts on the computers at the FHL! 

Before I go, I need to update the genealogy database on my USB drive with RootsMagic-To-Go, add the latest material to my laptop files and the flash drive, and create enough space for record images on the USB drive. 

I may even run into some San Diego Genealogical Society folks during my visit - the society will make their annual visit to Salt Lake City next week. 

Why I use several software programs

This week's Open Thread Thursday topic at Geneabloggers is Running Multiple Genealogy Software Programs.  Several society colleagues and readers have asked about my use and experience with genealogy software programs, and asked for my recommendations, so I want to address the issue.  The prompts in the Open Thread Thursday post are:

1)  Which genealogy software program do you use and why?

2) If you use more than one program, list them and tell us why you use more than one program.

I currently have Family Tree Maker 16, Family Tree Maker 2010, RootsMagic 4, Legacy Family Tree 7 and Family Tree Builder 4 on my computer running Windows XP. 

I am still using Family Tree Maker 16 as my primary program - the one that I use to enter and edit names, dates, places, notes, sources, etc.  I am trying to add and improve my source citations in my database with 39,500 names.  I occasionally make a GEDCOM file so that I can keep the databases in the other programs up-to-date.  I find that Family Tree Maker 16 is the easiest program to use to add and edit information, probably because I have over 12 years experience in it.

I have Family Tree Maker 2010, Legacy 7, RootsMagic 4 and Family Tree Builder 4 in order to stay up-to-date with the modern commercial software.  They all essentially do the same basic tasks, but each has unique features.  And some present unique features and problems for me. 

For instance, Family Tree Maker 2010 is the only program that can upload a file directly into Ancestry.com (instead of a GEDCOM file).  FTM 2010 still cannot perform a simple task of making an Ancestor List (some call it an Ahnentafel List - with just names, dates, places of ancestors in ancestral chart order - 1 through N).  FTM 2010 takes over one minute to start up on my computer, while the others take seconds.

Legacy Family Tree 7 and RootsMagic 4 are more graphical and produce more types and nicer charts and reports with better formatting options.  But some of their reports include facts and information that I don't want included in the reports.  FTM 16 produces great narrative reports in a format I really like.

Family Tree Builder 4 produces terrible genealogy reports.

 I teach a senior adult class on Beginning Computer Genealogy three times a year and recommend starting with the free Legacy Family Tree Standard Edition and/or the free RootsMagic Essentials programs.  The price is right and if the students want to continue in their research, they will probably upgrade to the full-featured version. 

I also have family trees posted on Ancestry Member Trees, MyHeritage, GeneaNet, Geni and several other sites.  These are used as "cousin bait" - in case other researchers search and find one of my ancestral families, they can contact me.

3)  How do you “sync” multiple programs? Do you simply enter the data more than one time? Do you export data from one program and import into another?

I avoid adding media or changing any data in any program or online tree except for FTM 16.  It is a waste of my time.  I upload the latest GEDCOM file, created by FTM 16, into the other programs from time to time.
The latest versions of RootsMagic 4 and Legacy Family Tree 7 (and I don't know about FTM 2011) will permit synchronization of family information with new FamilySearch Family Tree, which is currently available only to LDS church members.

Ancestry.com has a stated goal of being able to synchronize information between Family Tree Maker and Ancestry Member Trees, but it is not yet able to perform this operation.  A user can upload an FTM 2010 file into a new Member Tree on Ancestry (but that tree does not replace one already there, which means the earlier tree should be deleted), and can download an Ancestry Member Tree into a new FTM 2010 file (which could be merged into an existing FTM 2010 file, but I wouldn't take that chance!).

4)  What do you think about the inter-changeability of data between genealogy software programs? Do you fear data loss if you export your data and import into a different program? What improvements would you like software makers to make?

The ideal would be if each software program could read the native file from all of the other software programs.  For instance, RootsMagic 4 reads native files from RootsMagic 3 and earlier, FTM 16 and earlier, Legacy (including Version 7?  I don't know), PAF, Family Origins, and GEDCOM files.   Legacy Family Tree 7 reads native files from earlier Legacy versions, Personal Ancestral File, Ancestral Quest, and GEDCOM files. 

One of my reasons for importing a native file or a GEDCOM file into all of the programs is to determine if there is data loss.  For instance, I recently imported my FTM 16 file into FTM 2010, RootsMagic and Legacy.  The names, dates, places, notes all imported well, but I found that some of the source  information (which I'm working really hard on) did not come across completely.  I will write about that in another post.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Whittle/Mansley/Morley Baptisms in Parish Register Records

I spent several hours at the San Diego Family History Center today looking through the Parish Registers for Bolton-le-Moors and Chorley in Lancashire, England.  I ordered three microfilms at the FHC three weeks ago, and two of them came in a week later.  The research targets were the christenings of Rachel Morley in 1821 in Bolton, and Alexander Whittle in 1818, Alexander Whittle in 1774 and Margaret Mansley in 1777 in Chorley. 

I thought my readers would like to see what these records look like in their original form.  The microfilm images below were scanned into digital images on a Microfilm Reader/Scanner and the image files were copied to my USB drive, then transferred to my computer hard drive at home.

1)  The christenings of Leah Morley and Rachel Morley was found in the Parish Registers for St. Peter's, Bolton-le-Moors, 1587-1838; Baptisms, 1817-1827 - FHL BRITISH Film 0,559,177, page 239:



Information in this record includes (for both Leah and Rachel, 2nd and 3rd entries from the bottom):

*  Christening date: 25 December 1821
*  Child's Christian Name:  Leah; Rachel, dau. of
*  Parent's Christian/Surname: Jane Morley
*  Abode: Little Bolton
*  Quality, Trade or Profession: Widow
*  By Whom the ceremony was performed: H.Richardson, Lecturer

Note that no father is named, only that Jane Morley was a widow.  There is no clear indication of illegitimacy here.

2)  The christening of Alexander Whittle (the future husband of Rachel Morley) was found in the Parish Registers for St. Laurence's Church, Chorley, 1653-1947; Births, baptisms, marriages, burials, 1653-1921; Baptisms, 1813-1827, FHL BRITISH Film 0,093,703, Page 178:


The information in this record includes (second from bottom of image above):

*  When baptized: 4 January 1818
*  Number: 1422
*  Child's Christian Name: Alexander, son of
* Parent's Christian/Surname:  Alexander and Margaret Whittle
*  Abode:  unreadable, looks like Wheldon or similar
*  Quality, Trade or Profession: Labourer
*  By Whom the ceremony was performed:  R.H.

3)  The christening of Alexander Whittle (the future father of Alexander Whittle) was found in the Parish Registers for St. Laurence's Church, Chorley, 1653-1947; Births, baptisms, marriages, burials, 1653-1921; Mixed Records, 1694-1812, FHL BRITISH Film 0,093,703, no page number (Births and Christenings, and Burials, are in approximate calendar order):


Near the bottom of the page, the third line below "Christenings, 1774") is the notation for:

Jan[uary]y 7, Alexander, s.[on] of John and Mary Whittle

4)  The christening of Margaret Mansley (the future mother of Alexander Whittle) was found in the Parish Registers for St. Laurence's Church, Chorley, 1653-1947; Births, baptisms, marriages, burials, 1653-1921; Mixed Records, 1694-1812, FHL BRITISH Film 0,093,703, no page number (Births and Christenings, and Burials, are in approximate calendar order):


Near the bottom of the top page, the second line above "Christenings, 1777") is the notation for:


* Oct[obe]r 5, Margaret, D[aughter]. Robert & Ann Mansley
I gathered a few more christenings of these families, and a few burials, but no marriages were on these two microfilms for this date range.  I will follow up on this later.
 
I easily found these records because other researchers have indexed the names, places and dates for researchers like me, and have put those indexes in the LDS International Genealogical Index (on microfiche, then on www.familysearch.org, and now on the FamilySearch Beta website), then on the Internet at Lancashire Online Parish Clerks website.
 
The volume of records on all of the parish registers (Christenings, Marriages, Burials) of England is enormous - tens of millions of entries from 1538 to 1837, and many parishes have records extending into the 20th century despite Civil Registration, which started in July, 1837.   There are often typewritten transcripts or abstracts of these records in local English libraries, and some of these are available on FHL microfilm also.
 
The handwriting for the records before the standard forms were mandated in about 1813 is often unreadable, or in Latin, the register pages are often damaged or missing, and yet there is this rich treasury of parish records.  They are not perfect or complete, but they are what is available. 
 
Every researcher with English ancestry before 1837 needs to learn to use these records either in the online indexes or the microfilm images of the original records.   In the future (hopefully within five more years), the FamilySearch Imaging and Indexing project will bring these page images to the Internet so that researchers can search them from home or at the FamilySearch Centers around the world.

Family Tree Tab on FamilySearch Beta - Historical Records

One of the three major Search tabs on the FamilySearch Beta site is the Family Tree tab - with a Basic Search (shown below) or an Advanced Search tab:


I put "Zachariah Hildreth" in the search fields to see what turned up.  Here is the results page:



There are two sets of records here - "Trees" which lead the searcher to entries in the Ancestral File (this will probably be how a user gets into the New FamilySearch Family Tree in the future) and "Historical Records." 

In the "Historical Records" section it provides links to three records, and a link for "All 1464 results."  I clicked on "All 1464 results" to see what they found in the available historical records:


The list of historical record matches is in the center panel of the page, displaying 20 at a time.  The record collection that holds the record is shown below the person's name.  Over on the left sidebar, there is a list of categories with the number of records found in each category.  For instance, "Census & Lists" has 115 matches.   A user can click on the category and see only those records. 

From the list of matches, the user can click on the little down arrow to the far right of the name and see a "Quick Look" of the indexed information about that person - as shown below:



I really like that "Quick Look" feature - it is a time saver because the user can analyze the indexed data and decide if that is the record desired.  However, if the user wants to see the fully indexed record, they need to click on the name of the person:



The record above has  more useful information than the "Quick Look" index information - including the FHL Microfilm number, the image number, a link to the record image (if available), and the capability to save the record image.

This particular record has an image available, so I clicked the "View Image" link and saw the Massachusetts Death record in 1910 for one of Zachariah Hildreth's children, Elizabeth (Hildreth) Chaffin:



Why was this particular record found in the search for Zachariah Hildreth?  Because he was listed as the father of Elizabeth in this record, and the FamilySearch Indexing project indexed the parents names. 

For Massachusetts researchers, this is a tremendous research benefit.  In my case, I have the birth records of many siblings of my direct ancestors but do not have marriage or death records for them because it was difficult to search the Massachusetts record indexes on microfilm (first a film of the index to get a volume and page number, then a film for the specific record, and scroll through hundreds of pages) and then on the NEHGS website (with only the name, date and town indexed).  A caveat here - the Massachusetts Birth, Marriage and Death collections on FamilySearch are not yet complete.

If the search produces too many results, then the user can click on the "Advanced Search" link and add more detail in order to narrow the search.  If I were searching for Elizabeth Chaffin, and knew her husband's name, I could add the spouse's name.  If I were searching for Elizabeth's birth record, I could add one or both parents, or her birth date and birth place, if known. 


Treasure Chest Thursday - U.S. Navy Discharge Certificate

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to show-and-tell another document or artifact that defines some of my family history. 

Here is my father's Honorable discharge certificate that I recently found in a notebook on my bookshelf hiding behind my boxes of other paper.  I scanned it at the 26 September Scanfest.



The front of the certificate notes that:

"This is to certify that _Frederick Walton Seaver_ a _Mailman Third Class, USNR_
is Honorably Discharged from the _U.S. Naval Personnel Separation Center, U.S. Naval Base, T.I., San Pedro, Calif._
and from the Naval Service of the United States
this _6th_ day of _February 1946_
This certificate is awarded as a Testimonial of Fidelity and Obedience
/signed/ W.L. Gottenberg"

The back of this certificate indicates that Frederick Walton Seaver entered active service on 26 August 1944, lists his birth date and birth place, notes his service as with:

"*  FPO, San Francisco, Calif., Flt Pool
*  USS Halford"

and under Remarks, notes:

"Asiatic Pacific Area
American Area
Victory Medal WW 2"

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Thomas MacEntee Joins 2010 Salt Lake Christmas Tour

I received this press release from my genea-blogging colleague, Leland Meitzler.  This looks like a great Salt Lake City tour!

THOMAS MACENTEE JOINS 2010 SALT LAKE CHRISTMAS TOUR

Featured Speaker To Offer Technology Education for Genealogists

October 13, 2010 – Bountiful, Utah: The 2010 Salt Lake Christmas Tour – an annual genealogy event in its 26th year and celebrating its 25th anniversary – is pleased to announce that noted genealogist and technology educator Thomas MacEntee will be joining in the holiday fun as its featured speaker. The Tour takes place beginning Sunday, December 5, 2010 and runs through Saturday, December 11, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Over a five-day period, MacEntee will offer eight different presentations covering various aspects of genealogy and how technology and social media can be used to expand the genealogy experience. Topics include “Building a Research Toolbox,” “Facebook for Genealogists,” “Build a Genealogy Blog,” and “Twitter: It Isn’t Just ‘What I Had For Breakfast’ Anymore.”

The Salt Lake Christmas Tour ( www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com ) is an annual event attracting genealogists and family historians and is renowned for the genealogy research success of its attendees, many of whom come back year after year. The Tour provides the highest ratio of professional researchers to attendees of any genealogy research tour utilizing the Family History Library located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Throughout 2010, Thomas MacEntee has been covering the United States and Canada presenting technology education to genealogists and family historians in an easy-to-learn format. All presentations demonstrate applications such as Facebook and Twitter in real time and include cheat sheets and other handy reference materials.

Leland Meitzler, of Family Roots Publishing Company and owner/organizer of the Salt Lake Christmas Tour, says “we think that this year’s Tour not only offers an excellent research opportunity at the Family History Library but also provides a way to increase your technology knowledge especially as it pertains to genealogy. Thomas has a way of making technology approachable no matter what your computer skills.”

Register before October 31, 2010 to take advantage of special savings and to reserve your space on the Salt Lake Christmas Tour. Not only will you be amazed at the progress you can make in your genealogy research, but you’ll do so in good company and be able to witness the sights and sounds of Christmas in Salt Lake City.

About Thomas MacEntee

As a genealogist specializing in the use of technology and social media to improve genealogical research and to interact with others in the family history community, Thomas MacEntee relies upon his 25 years of experience in the information technology field. And as the creator of GeneaBloggers.com, he has organized and engaged a community of over 1,300 bloggers to document their own journeys in the search for ancestors.

Thomas shares his knowledge of technology and experience as a genealogist with others through various forms of social media and speaking engagements. Through his business High-Definition Genealogy, he provides consulting services in the genealogy industry covering such areas as market research, education, technology and more.

Thomas MacEntee is available nationwide for presentations and classes focusing on social media and technology as a way to assist genealogists and genealogical societies.

About the Salt Lake Christmas Tour

The Salt Lake Christmas Tour specializes in professionally assisted genealogy research at the world-famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Now in its 26th year and celebrating its 25th anniversary, the tour is renowned for the high success-rate of its attendees, due in part to the outstanding professional to attendee ratio. Hosted by Leland K. Meitzler, Patty Meitzler, Donna Potter Phillips, and Bill Balter, the 2010 tour promises to be one of the best ever! For more information and registration, see: www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com.

Leland K. Meitzler
Publisher
Family Roots Publishing Co.
PO Box 830
Bountiful, Utah 84011
email: Lmeitzler@gmail.com
Phone: 801-992-3705
Cell Phone: 801-949-7259
Fax: 815-642-0103
www.facebook.com/leland.meitzler
twitterL @Lmeitzler
www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com
www.GenealogyBlog.com
www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com

SDGS 9 October Seminar - Part 2: Footnote.com

The first part of this summary was in SDGS 9 October Seminar Summary - Part 1: National Archives

In the afternoon sessions, Peter Drinkwater of Footnote.com demonstrated the holdings and capabilities of http://www.footnote.com/, a commercial website with historical documents digitized and indexed. A subscriber (retail $79.95 yearly subscription, with a special conference price at http://go.footnote.com/conference/) can access 70 million documents – including Census records, Vital records, Military records, State papers, Naturalization records, Historic Newspapers, City Directories, FBI files and many more. For instance. the site has the full file for all of the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Files. It has a number of big city directories up to 1923 (but not San Diego), and several long runs of some historical newspapers, such as the San Francisco Chronicle. The directories and newspapers are indexed using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and every name is not indexed.

Registered users can search the Footnote.com holdings for free, but the user must be a subscriber to see the document images. There are several free databases such as the Pennsylvania Archives and the Social Security Death Index.

\Peter recommended clicking on the “Take a Tour” link on the home page to familiarize yourself with the website and the holdings. There are a number of Projects on the site that access specific record groups – examples are Civil War, World War II, Viet Nam Wall, the Holocaust, Black History, etc.

The user can search for keywords or for a specific name from the home page. The user can also Browse the collections, drilling down to a specific collection or database before searching for a name. This is especially useful in the City Directories and Historic Newspapers where a specific year, and even page, can be searched. In the Search results, the user can refine the search by choosing one of the other indexed parameters (e.g., state, county, age, birthplace, etc.) in order to find a specific record. The search supports wild card use for names and Boolean searches.

When the user selects an image to view, the Footnote Image Viewer is used to manipulate the image (zoom, rotate, full screen) and navigation from one page to another uses left and right arrows and a filmstrip at the bottom of the image. Source information about every image can be obtained using a menu tab. The user can share (via email), download (to his computer), print out, comment on the image, annotate the image, connect to other people, or spotlight the image to all Footnote users.

While Footnote.com has no family trees online, registered users can create Footnote Pages for any number of persons. Footnote.com permits the user to select a person in the 1930 Census, the Social Security Death Index or the World War II Army Enlistment Records and add content to the Footnote Page for that person. Vital records, life stories, family photographs, documents, links to web sites and more items can be included in Footnote Pages. They are free for a registered user to create and to access, and show up in a Google search for the person’s name.

The day ended with the opportunity drawings for a book, software and two Footnote.com subscriptions.

This was an educational and rewarding day for the genealogy researchers in attendance. Everybody understands better the breadth and depth of the records at the National Archives, and how to access them either online or at a NARA branch. Footnote.com, since they are partnered with NARA, is one of the best online sites to find the fraction of NARA records that have been digitized.

CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 16 October

This was received from Linda Hervig of CGSSD:

The next meeting of the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) is Saturday, October 16, 2010.

PARKING NOTICE: Parking will be free. The previously announced charge for parking has been postponed until January 2011.

CGSSD hosts the annual mini-fair at this meeting. User groups will not meet. The schedule for the meeting is as follows:

9:00 - Session 1. “A Journey to Citizenship" by Aidan Barrett. Aidan was born in Ireland but moved to South Africa in 1966 at age 22. He moved to San Diego in 1986, where he has his own insurance brokerage business. He became a U.S. citizen in 1995. Since then he has given this speech to various groups include Rotary, Daughters of the American Revolution and the Navy, and was the keynote speaker at a swearing in ceremony of about 1200 new citizens and their families.

10:15 - Break, refreshments.

10:35 - Session 2. Choice of two classes:

A: “PC Computer Security--So What’s Changed?” by Gene Powell. Security considerations will be reviewed with some emphasis on the latest version of MS Windows 7. He will discuss the User Access Control and how that is supposed to make you more secure, and give an update on Antivirus software suites and how they are evolving. He will also address how software updates affect security and problems associated with working in the cloud with special emphasis on hazards in social networking sites such as YouTtube and Facebook.

Gene is a retired naval officer with many years of computer and photographic experience. He is currently retired and describes himself as a "Senior Computer Geek," spending time building and repairing desktop computers. He also reviews and tests various new software offerings for compatibility with different operating systems. He currently has software running on Windows 7 X64, Windows 7 X32, and Windows XP home on a dual Pentium PC desktop computer. He has presented programs to CGSSD on the subject of digital imaging and has run hands-on sessions with flatbed and slide scanners. He has also presented a program on computer security. He is a member of the Legacy users group and is webmaster for the www.powellancestors.com website. He also provides photographs for the COMPUGEN.

B: “An Overview of Geni.com and Other Tools For Stimulating Your Family’s Interest in Genealogy” (also known as “How to get rid of those Glazed Over Eyes!”) by Del Ritchhart. Del created a family tree on Geni.com. After seeded the tree with about 250 people he then began inviting various relatives to join and contribute. Today he has about 650 people on the tree, almost all of whom have been added by other family members, many of whom he did not know existed, and have been invited to join through a chain of “cousin” contacts. In addition to discussing several other tools; Del will be talking about and showing examples of great “supplemental gifts” that he has been giving to his grandchildren for special events to stimulate their interest in family history.

Del is currently the president of CGSSD and has spoken to us about making DVDs, and Planning Trips to Salt Lake FHL and Allen County Public Library; he also has addressed the Family Tree Maker User’s Group and the Ancestry.com Special Interest Group. He is a retired Naval Aviator and retired executive with Lockheed Martin Corporation.

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pine Road turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any A, B, or S space. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website http://www.cgssd.org/; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website http://irps.ucsd.edu/about/how-to-find-us.htm for driving directions and a map.

Obama, Palin, Limbaugh, Reid, Coulter, oh my...

I watched the brief segment on ABC's Good Morning, America today that featured Anastasia Tyler from Ancestry.com and Leslie Albrecht Huber, author of The Journey Takers.  My hope was that the segment would be about Leslie's book, or about immigration to America, but no...it was about ... wait for it ... strange political bedfellows!  Anastasia had about 20 seconds, Leslie had about ten...but they made genealogy research look good on TV! 

The segment was about the latest article about President Obama's relationships, this time to Sarah Palin and to Rush Limbaugh.  Obama and Palin are 10th cousins through a common ancestor named John Smith, a pastor and early settler in 17th-century Massachusetts. Obama is related to Smith through his mother, as is Palin.  Rush Limbaugh, is also a 10th cousin of the president — one time removed — through a common ancestor named Richmond Terrell, who was a large landowner in Virginia in the 17th century.  Rush Limbaugh led off his program this morning highlighting his brief mention in the article, and denigrating "some genealogy company").

The article also noted that Palin is distant cousins with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter, through John Lathrop, who was exiled to the United States from England for being a pastor of an illegal independent church.

You can see outlines of some of these ancestries on William Addams Reitwiesner's website, http://www.wargs.com/:
 
Barack Obama
 
Sarah Palin
 
Rush Limbaugh - I don't see Rush's relationship to Richmond Terrell here - Ancestry.com must have extended his ancestry back.
 
Ann Coulter - I don't see Ann's relationship to John Lathrop here - Ancestry.com must have extended her ancestry back to find it.
 
I hope that Ancestry.com will publish more about the ancestral lines than just the statements they've made in the news article. 
 
Ancestry.com has a feature in the One World Tree database to find relationships of a specific person in a tree to famous people.  Unfortunately, new trees cannot be added to One world Tree, and my own tree is not there, although parts of it are there.  I don't see a similar capability in Ancestry Member Trees, but it would be nice to have!
 
For the record, I am related to Barach Obama (see Yep, Barack Obama is my cousin!), to Sarah Palin (see Sarah Palin is my cousin too!) and Mitt Romney (see Cousinhood to Mitt Romney), not to mention George W. Bush (hmmm, I haven't posted this yet - cool, some blog fodder!).

Updated 7 PM: corrected Mr. R's first name, thanks Martin.  Brain fart, I fear.  Never know when they pop out... the perils of blogging without a content editor!

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 124: Lyle Carringer at age 3

I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.


Here is a photograph from the Carringer/Smith family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:



This is a tintype photograph of my grandfather, Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), taken in about 1895 when Lyle was age 3, in San Diego, California.
 
I posted a similar, but different, photo of Lyle at about this same age in Family Photographs - Post 21: Young Lyle.  The hair style is significantly different, but the boots are the same, and perhaps it is the same outfit.  This photograph is posed, but you cannot see the surroundings. 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Leslie Albrecht Huber is on Good Morning, America (ABC) on Wednesday

Leslie Albrecht Huber, the author of The Journey Takers, a book about her ancestor's journeys to America, and her own journey pursuing the ancestors, will be on the ABC morning show Good Morning, America at approximately 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning, 13 October.

Tune in to see Leslie dazzle the hosts with her genealogy knowledge and family stories. 

You can read my review of Leslie's book in Book Review: The Journey Takers, by Leslie Albrecht Huber.

You can see an online video of Leslie describing her book here on the FamilySearch Beta site.

I'm looking forward to watching Leslie's interview.  Blogging may be delayed tomorrow morning!

SDGS 9 October Seminar Summary - Part 1: National Archives

The October 9th San Diego Genealogical Society Seminar at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mission Valley (in San Diego) promised presentations on “Hidden Treasures in the National Archives and How to Find Them.” Kerry Bartels, a NARA Archives Specialist at the Riverside Branch of the National Archives (23123 Cajalco Road, Perris CA 92570, 951-956-2000) delivered on that promise in two morning sessions.

Peter Drinkwater, an employee of Footnote.com (a commercial Linden, Utah company that has partnered with NARA to provide digitized images and indexes of NARA material) discussed using www.Footnote.com to find digitized documents on their website in two afternoon sessions.

Kerry Bartels stated that he became a genealogist before he was an Archivist, so he understands the need for documents. His goal at his NARA branch is to make the Archives useful to genealogists. He noted that each regional branch holds original records from the region and has microfilms for records from other regions. Some statistics about the Archives:

• 10 billion paper documents (57 times around the Earth at the equator)
• 20 million photos
• 200,000 data files
• 30 to 40 billion electronic files

He stated that there are more than 3,000 microfilm publications (about 1.5% of all data files), and only 475 data files are digitized and available on their website. Genealogists use only about 5% of the NARA records, and most researchers don’t know that the other records exist.

The Archives website has a Genealogy Gateway page (www.archives.gov/genealogy/) that links to all of the services available for genealogical research. The “Big 5” resources are Census, Military, Land, Immigration and Naturalization records, but the Archives has many more databases available.

A Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States is available in book format (check local libraries), or information can be obtained on specific topics at http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/. The Records Catalog is organized in five levels:

• Record Group (e.g., RG85 is the Immigration and Naturalization Service)
• Administrative Sub-Group (e.g. 85.3 - Passenger Arrival Records, 1882-1957)
• Record Series (e.g. 85.3.1 - Passenger arrival lists by ship)
• File Folder (e.g., John Johnson in the Record Series)
• Item Number (a paper in John Johnson’s file folder)

The items in the file folders may be on microfilm, and may be digitized, but almost all Archived records are not on microfilm or digitized. Each item and file folder has an ARC Identifier Number.

The Online Research Tools and Finding aids page is at (http://www.archives.gov/research/tools/) on the Genealogy Gateway. Kerry demonstrated using the Microfilm Catalog, the Archival Research Catalog (ARC, descriptions of NARA’s nationwide holdings), and the Access to Archival Data (AAD, indexed information on the Archives website). The microfilms available from digitization partners such as Ancestry.com and Footnote.com are listed at http://www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners.html.

The audience learned quite a bit from Kerry Bartels presentation, performed entirely on the Internet using the NARA website to show capabilities, including finding and displaying the examples in the syllabus. The 22 page syllabus included images of his examples.

My major takeaway from the morning presentations was that there are many hidden gems in the National Archives holdings, and that very few researchers know about them.  However, the system for finding and accessing specific records is very complex.

Kerry Bartels can be reached via email at the National Archives - Riverside Branch at riverside.archives@nara.gov.

FamilySearch Beta has a new look - Post 3: Getting Started

In the first post of this series last week, I noted that the FamilySearch Beta site looked different. Over on the right-hand side of the home page are images for the "Getting Started," "How To" and "FamilySearch Centers:"



When you click on the "Getting Started" image or link, you are taken to this page:



This page has three main areas - the "View famous records," "Print your family tree" and "Step-by-Step Videos" (coming soon). 
 
The "View famous records" link leads to a series of web pages for several famous people - the one I picked was Irving Berlin, which looked like this (two screens):
 


Isn't that interesting?  A "Life Sketch" (you can read more by clicking on the "Read more" link) and some record images (a passport application, and 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records).

Is this a glimpse of "Life Sketches" for every person in the soon-to-be-accessible FamilySearch Family Tree?  Will registered FamilySearch users (not necessarily LDS church members) be able to edit and contribute to these pages?  Or will FamilySearch use Footnote Pages, or something similar, to permit any researcher to contribute events, notes, documents, images and links?

The "Print Your Family Tree" area has six background images for pedigree charts.  When you click on one of them, you get a PDF file (3 to 5 mb size) that you can print out and fill in four generations by hand. 

The "Step-by-step videos" area says "Coming soon" - perhaps they will tie these videos into a step-by-step genealogy research series.

Tuesday's Tip - It Isn't All on the Internet!

This week's Tuesday Tip is:

It's not all on the Internet!




We all "know" that this poster is true, but many researchers are seduced by the record images and indexes available on the Internet.  The availability of records on the Internet has significantly reduced the time it takes to find some useful records of our ancestors (from weeks to hours), and to take an ancestral line back many generations into history (with online family trees).  Often, a searcher (not a researcher at this point) does only the Internet search, and then does it again and again, and thinks they are done with their family tree.  What is lost due to this easy access is the "analysis" and "critical thinking" time involved in deciding if the record pertains to the persons being searched, and what other records might be found to add to the knowledge base for that person. 

The fact is that only about 5% of all genealogical records (according to Gordon Clarke of FamilySearch) are available on the Internet in some format, and the number may be much lower - who knows how many pieces of paper are in national archives, state archives, libraries, genealogical and historical society files, etc.  Ancestry.com claims to have about 4 billion records (individuals, not images?), and the LDS Family History Library has about 2.5 million microfilms and about 1 million microfiches with record images (perhaps 2 to 3 billion record images?). 

At the San Diego Genealogical Society Seminar on Saturday, Kerry Bartels of the National Archives at Riverside noted that NARA has over 10 billion paper documents in 200,000 databases.  He spread his arms wide and said that if that represents all NARA records, then held his hands about four inches apart and said that represents the records that have been microfilmed (3,000 data sets microfilmed - about 1.5%) and then held his fingers about a half-inch apart and said that represents the records imaged and indexed by the FHL, Ancestry, Footnote and others.  He estimated that genealogists use only about 5% of all available records.

The takeaway here is that serious genealogists and family historians need to search in ALL of the records, not just online.  That includes records on paper, on microfilm or microfiche, in digital indexes and images, and on websites. 

The "Iceberg" poster above is exactly right - only a small percentage of records are on the Internet in some format, and the records that are not imaged and indexed are in libraries, courthouses, and archives. 

Monday, October 11, 2010

"Becoming an Excellent Genealogist" - ICAPGEN Conference 22-23 October 2010

The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGEN) is holding a two-day Family History conference in Salt Lake City at the Downtown Radisson Hotel (215 West South Temple) on 22 and 23 October 2010.

A poster with the announcement is below:




More information can be obtianed from the ICAPGEN website at http://www.icapgen.org/.  The Registration form is at http://www.icapgen.org/icapgen/catalog/icapgenconf2010.  The Conference program is here.
Registration includes two full days of conference classes, a printed syllabus, a plated luncheon both days, vendor booth access, and time for networking. The Family History Library is pleased to announce that the library will remain open until 11:00 p.m. on Friday, October 22, 2010, so that you can combine research time with conference attendance!

FamilySearch Beta has a new look - Part 2: Learning Resources

In the first post of this series last week, I noted that the FamilySearch Beta site looked different.  Over on the right-hand side of the home page are images for the Getting Started, How To and FamilySearch Centers:


I want to check out the "How-To" section, which was called "Learning Resources" in the press release last week.  The press release noted that:

"The learning resources section has been redesigned to try and make it easier to access the tremendous content created by FamilySearch and a community of volunteers. You can quickly search over 40,000 articles containing a wealth of knowledge about how to do research or where to find records all around the world. You can also add your own knowledge by updating an article or creating a new article. We’ve also added over 100 online courses dealing with a range of topics from Beginning English Research to Reading Russian Records. Watch these courses online to learn to research or improve your genealogy skills."

I clicked on the "How-To" image on the home page and saw:





While the information above implies that there is a link to the FamilySearch Research Wiki on the "Learning Resources" page, I could not find any link to the Wiki on the page. They will probably add the link soon.  [See the Update below]

This Learning Resources page (actually "Research Courses") provides the list of over 100 learning videos about many facets of genealogy.  The major topics are shown in the right side-bar, and the sub-topics are alphabetical in the main screen, divided by major topic.

For instance, here is a screen capture of the video "The Journey-Takers" by Leslie Albrecht Huber that provides a narrative and presentation about her recent book of the same title:



There are quite a few newly added videos on this "Learning Resources" page, including:

English Lesson 3: Reading Secretary Hand Documents  (35 minutes)
Italian Lesson 2: Italian Words and Phrases (25 minutes)
Italian Lesson 3: Reading Italian Records (35 minutes)
Polish Lesson 3: Reading Polish Records (30 minutes)
Portuguese Lesson 3: Reading Portuguese Documents (25 minutes)
Scandinavian Gothic Lesson 3: Reading Scandinavian Records (30 minutes)
Spanish Lesson 3: Reading Spanish Records (30 minutes)

The lessons above are audio only with slides, with no actual video of the presenters.  The videos below show both the presenters speaking and the slide presentation.

African American Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress (29 minutes, by Ahmed Johnson)
The Journey Takers (53 minutes, by Leslie Albrecht Huber, sponsored by Leslie Albrecht Huber)
The Library of Congress: Pursuing Your Family in the National Library (48 minutes, by James P. Sweany, sponsored by the Library of Congress)
A Key to Success: Your Online Presence (by D. Joshua Taylor, from APG Professional Management Conference, August 2010)
Choosing the Best Continuing Education Opportunities (by Elissa Scalise Powell, from APG Professional Management Conference, August 2010)
Expand Your Revenue: Produce and Sell Your Lectures in Video Format (by Donna M. Moughty, from APG Professional Management Conference, August 2010)
Get Published in Magazines! (by Leslie Albrecht Huber, from APG Professional Management Conference, August 2010)
Niche Planning and Marketing (by Paula Stuart-Warren, from APG Professional Management Conference, August 2010)

The videos from the Association of Professional Genealogists' Professional Management Conference in August 2010 provide a free view of how professionals work in the genealogy world today.  There are also videos from the 2009 APG PMC on this Learning Resources page. 

A beginning genealogist can learn many of the tricks of the genealogical trade by reading and watching all of the videos on this page.  A transitional genealogist could spend hours learning from the masters here!

UPDATED 12 October:  Reader Geolover corrected my statement about the link to the FamilySearch Research Wiki - the link to the Research Wiki is the Learn menu item at the top of each FamilySearch Beta page.  However, the press release highlighted the "Learning Resources" area on the home page, which I took to be the "How To" image and link, which led to the Research Courses page higlhighted in this blog post. 

Amanuensis Monday - Will of Joseph Richards (1703-1748) of Southborough MA

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:


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

The subject today is the probate file of Joseph Richards (1703-1748) of Southborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, one of my 6th great-grandfathers.

Joseph Richards died testate, and his probate records are in Worcester County Probate Records, Probate Docket #50,155. The will reads (transcribed from Worcester County [MA] Probate Records, Volume 3, Page 29, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,856,275):

"In the Name of God Amen the Twelfth Day of March AD 1747/8. I Joseph richards of Southborough in the County of worcester within his majestys province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England yeoman, being under Indisposition of Body but of Perfect mind and memory Thanks be Given unto god. Therefore Calling unto mind the mortality of my Body and Knowing that it is appointed for all men once to Dye do make and ordain this my Last will and Testament that is to say principally & First of all I Give and Recommend my Soul into the hands of God that gave it and my Body I recommend to the Earth to be Burried in Decent Christian Burrial at the Discretion of my Executor, Nothing Doubting but at the General Resurrection I Shall Receive the Same again by the mighty Power of God and as Touching Such Worldly Goods & Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to Bless me in this Life I Give Demise and Dispose of ye Same in the Following manner and form --

"Imprimis I Give & Bequeath to Mary my Dearly Beloved wife the whole of all of any moveable Estate after all my Debts & Funeral Charges are paid of all Sorts both ye Indoor and outdoor moveables Including all my Creatures of all sorts and I also Give her the whole Benefit & Improvement of all my Lands untill my Son Joseph Richards arive to the age of Twenty one years and her Lawfull Right of Thirds in the same Dureing Life or as She and they to whom the said Land herein Given Shall agree.

"Secondly I Give to my Son William Richards the Full half part of all my Lands & Buildings as they shall appear to be mine by Record he yeilding to his mother the use and Benifit of the Said Lands as aforesaid and paying Fifty pounds a peice to Each of his Brothers and Sisters as they arive at the age of Twenty one years old Tenor at the same Value it is at the Day of This Date and No Division of said Lands to be made untill the Time that said Joseph will be Twenty one years of age, the said Brothers & Sisters to whom the said Fifty pounds a peice is to be paid as aforesaid is Mary Eben-r Martha John Hannah and Esther.

"Thirdly I Give to my Son Joseph Richards the other half part of all my said Lands and Buildings for him and his said Brother William to Divide when the said Joseph shall be Twenty one years old always yielding to his said Mother her Right of Thirds in the Same Dureing her Life as aforesaid and the said Joseph Shall pay to Each of Their said Brothers and Sisters as they Come to Twenty one Years of age Fifty pounds a peice old Tenor at the Same Value it is at the Day of the Date hereof.

"Fourthly I Give to my Daughter Mary one hundred pounds old Tenor of the Present Value to be paid her in Equal proportion by my said son William Richards and Joseph Richards when the said Mary is Twenty one years old as aforesaid.

"Fifthly I Give to my Son Eben-r Richards to be paid to him when he Comes to be Twenty one years of age by my said Sons William and Joseph the Sum of one hundred pounds old Tenor at ye Present Value in Equal proportion from them as aforesaid.

"Sixthly I Give to my Daughter Martha when she comes to be Twenty one years old one hundred pounds old Tenor of the Present Value to be paid her by her said Brothers William and Joseph in Equal proportion from them as aforesaid.

"Seventhly I Give to my Son John Richards one hundred pounds to be paid to him when he Comes to be Twenty one years old, old Tenor of the Present Value to be paid to him then by said William and Joseph in Equal proportion from them as aforesaid.

"Eightly I Give to my Daughter Hannah Richards one hundred pounds old Tenor of this Present to be paid to her when she comes to be Twenty one years old by my said Sons William and Joseph in Equal proportion by them as aforesaid.

"Ninethly I Give to my Daughter Esther Richards one hundred pounds old Tenor of the Present Value to be paid to her the said Esther when she Comes to be Twenty one years old by her two said Brothers William and Joseph in Equal proportion by them as aforesaid.

"Tenthly I do hereby Constitute Make and Ordain Mr. Thomas Graves of said Southborough in the County and province aforesaid yeoman my Sole Executor of this my Last will and Testament and I do hereby Utterly Disalow Revoke & Disanul all and Every other Former Testaments wills Legacies and Bequests and Executors by me in any ways Beforenamed Willed and Bequeathed Ratifying and Confirming this an no other to be my Last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal the Day and year before written.
................................................................................  Joseph Richards (seal)
"Signed Sealed published pronounced and Declared
by the said Joseph Richards as his Last Will and
Testament in the presence of us the Subscribers
Caleb Witherbee
John Amsden
Samuel Lyscom"

The will was proved by the Court at Worcester on 16 August 1748, with Caleb Witherbee and Samuel Lyscom appearing and making a solemn oath that they saw Joseph Richards the Testator sign and seal the will and heard him at that time that it was his Last will and testament. However, Thomas Graves declined the executorship of the estate, and Mary Richards, the widow, was appointed administratrix of the estate.

Joseph Richards died relatively young, and in the prime of his life.  He named all eight of his children in his will, and bequeathed a significant amount of money to the six children who did not receive the family homestead. 

Thomas Graves declined the executorship of this will for some reason.  He is almost certainly the one born in 1686 in Lynn, died in 1756 in Southborough) who married (1) Ruth Collins (1685-1715) and (2) Ruth Taylor (????-1756), and had a daughter Ruth Graves (1710-????), who married Isaac Buck (1706-1780).  Isaac and Ruth (Graves) Buck had a son, Isaac Buck (ca 1732-????) who impregnated Mary Richards (1733-????) and had Isaac Buck (1757-1846) out of wedlock.  Mary Richards is one of my 5th great-grandmothers.

I have no idea what happened to this estate after the will was proved.  I need to check the Worcester County probate records further (the records available on microfilm are probate clerk copies, and each paper is in a different volume and page).  Land records may also indicate what happened to the land willed to Joseph and William Richards.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 3-9 October 2010

Hundreds 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 the genealogy carnivals, or other 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:

Carnival of Genealogy, 98th Edition edited  by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog.  There were 14 entries in this monthly Carnival - the theme was Document analysis.  The featured post was Greta Koehl's post From the Will to the Estate Packet - Part 1 posted at Greta's Genealogy Bog.

Schedule Time for Analysis After Your Research Trip by Marian Pierre-Louis on the Roots and Rambles blog.  Marian shares great ideas for analyzing the results you found during your research trip.

Shades the Magazine - Memento Mori Issue - 2010 by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog.  This 110 page online magazine about Death images is fantastic.

Best State Websites for Genealogy by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.   This article from the December issue of Family Tree Magazine is free, and lists 75 useful state archives sites.

If You Really Knew Me... by Ruth on the last2cu blog.  This touching and sad story is about Ruth's life experiences with bullying, and is meant to encourage people to watch the MTV show by this name.

*   Brick Wall Ancestor? Go AROUND or OVER! by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on The Olive Tree Genealogy blog.  Lorine's husband solved two ancestral puzzles the old fashioned way - by thinking about them and finding information where he hadn't looked before.

Reflections - A Successful Speaking Engagement by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog.  Thomas recounts his thoughts about why his EWGS seminar in Spokane was so good - it's more than the speaker!

Sixty Million Acres! by Harold Henderson on the Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog.   Harold provides an interesting summary of a book about pre-Civil War public lands.

Family Tree Friday: Building Your Family Tree with Military and civilian Personnel Records by Theresa Fitzgerald on the NARAtions blog.  This post provides examples of records available at NARA and NPRC that are not available online.

*  Where are we today with FamilySearch online? by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  This is an excellent summary of the history of FamilySearch.org and what is currently available, plus the potential plans for the site.

Other weekly "Best of..." genealogy blog posts include: 

* Follow Friday: 8 October 2010 by Greta Koehl on the Greta's Genealogy Bog blog. Greta's weekly reader picks are often different from mine and John's.

* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John highlights blog posts, carnivals, press releases and more, plus he links to several other weekly pick posts.

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Google Reader, 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 680 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.