Saturday, March 26, 2011

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!

4)  Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

NOTE:  If you can't figure out how to do this in your GMP, use the Help button and search for "count persons" then follow directions. 

Here's mine:

I'm going to use RootsMagic 4 because that's where I'm doing my current additions, deletions and editing and is my most up-to-date collection.  In RootsMagic 4, go to Reports, then Lists and scroll down to "Surname Statistics List."  I then chose "Frequency of Surnames" from the list presented.

That took about 20 seconds and I have a 118 page list!  I didn't count every one of them - there are 117 pages with 47 names per page, plus the last page has 31.  That's a grand total of 5,530 surnames in my database with 39,740 persons.  The top 10 are, with birth date ranges:

*  SEAVER - 4,021 persons, from 1608 to 2010
*  BUCK - 651 persons, from 1585 to 1965
*  SMITH - 612 persons, from 1525 to 2005
*  VAUX - 515 persons, from 1620 to 2006
*  FITZ RANDOLPH - 498 persons, from 1565 to 1884

*  DILL - 439 persons, from 1652 to 1982
*  RICHMAN - 351 persons, from 1622 to 1985
*  NEWTON - 308 persons, from 1690 to 1997
*  CHAMPLIN - 306 persons, from 1618 to 1903
*  CULVER - 287 persons from 1700 to 1970

I have 167 Mary's without a surname, and 147 Elizabeth's without a surname, and 127 persons without any name at all (there's a blank line for this one!).

Of course, if I added up all the persons without a surname, my LNU's are probably the biggest group on the list.

Surname Saturday - RITTER (Germany > Pennsylvania)

...
It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 193,  who is the mother of #96 Martin Carringer, whose name I don't have a clue about!  Number 195 is the mother of # 97 Mary Hoax, who I ave no clue about.  #197 is the wife of #98 Stephen Feather, whose name I don't know (another FNU LNU).  #199 is the mother of the wife of #98 Cornelius Feather, who is another FNU LNU.  Finally, #201 is Maria Magdalena RITTER (about 1706 - about 1784), another of my 5th-great-grandmothers. [Note: The 5th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts] 

My ancestral line back to Maria Magdalena RITTER is:

1.  Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-....)

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

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

12.  Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946)
13.  Abbie Ardell "Della" Smith (1862-1944)

24.  David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902)
25.  Rebecca Spangler (1832-1901)

50.  John Daniel Spangler (1781-1851)
51.  Elizabeth King (1796-1863)

100.  Rudolf Spangler (1738-1811)
101.  Maria Dorothea Dinkel (1748-1835)

200.   Johann Balthazar Spengler, born 29 November 1706 in Weyler, Hilsbach, Rhine, Germany; died 1765 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of 400. Hans Rudolf Spengler and 401. Marie Saeger. He married 29 April 1732 in Weyler, Hilsbach, Rhine, Germany.
201. Maria Magdalena Ritter, born about 1706 in Germany; died about 1784 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.

Children of Johann Baltzer Spengler and Maria Magdalena Ritter are:

i. George Spengler, born 20 March 1732 in Weyler, Hilsbach, Rhine, Germany; died 02 October 1810 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Anna Maria Schultz; born 03 June 1735; died 22 January 1803 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
ii. Juliana Spengler, born 25 October 1734 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 1770 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Johann Frantz Wilhelm Bickle 12 December 1757 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; born 25 October 1734 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 1770 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
iii. Johann Baltzer Spengler, born 16 April 1735 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 01 August 1798 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Christina Messerschmidt; born February 1741; died 24 August 1821 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
iv. Michael Spengler, born about 1737 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died August 1793 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Margaret Dinkel; born 23 December 1760 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 01 April 1822 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
v. Rudolf Spangler, born 08 August 1738 in Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States; died 05 August 1811 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Maria Dorothea Dinkel 01 January 1767 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
vi. Elizabeth Spengler, born 1740 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 25 November 1825 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Francis Koontz 05 November 1764 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States; born about
vii. Daniel Spengler, born about 1742 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 1783 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Mary Elizabeth Leightner 29 December 1765 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
viii. John Spengler, born 29 June 1747 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 11 October 1796 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Margaret Beard 1777 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; born 01 September 1753 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 01 September 1845 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.

All I know about the Spangler families and their wives came from the book:

Edward W. Spangler, The Annals of the Families of Caspar, Henry, Baltzer and George Spengler, who settled in York County, respectively, in 1729, 1732, 1732, and 1751 : with biographical and historical sketches, and memorabilia of contemporaneous local events (York, Pennsylvania : York Daily Publishing Company, 1896).

Friday, March 25, 2011

NEHGS AmericanAncestors.org has a FREE Guest Account

I'm not sure that I remember that the New England Historic Genealogical Society offered a FREE guest account in the past, but I received an email from NEHGS today saying that the one I have is expiring by the end of the month.  Note that I also have a fully paid NEHGS membership that includes access to the full set of online collections on the www.AmericanAncestors.org website.

I wondered - what does the FREE guest account include?  Here is the home page for the www.AmericanAncestors.org site:


In the very top line, above the American Ancestors banner, is a link for "Free Account."  I clicked on the  link:


There is a large "Register Now" link at the bottom of this page.

The "Free Account" page lists the following benefits of registering:

10 Free Databases - see list below
Online Genealogist - David Allen Lambert's regular column
American Ancestors Magazine - only a search for articles, and selected articles from earlier publications
The NEHGS Library Catalog
Educational Resources - Getting Started, Online Seminars, and Articles

The Ten Free Databases page shows (two screens):




The ten free databases are:

*  Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850
*  Social Security Death Index, to Feb. 201
New England Ancestors Magazine
*  Search for Missing Friends: Irish Immigrant Advertisements, 1831-1920
*  Index of Revolutionary War Pensioners
*  New York Wills, 1626-1836
*  Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati
*  Gloucester, MA: Burials
*  Ware, MA Families

I do note that many of these free databases are available on other free or commercial database providers, but you have to search for them.  The Webinars and articles offered in the Learning Center are free to access without a free account.

If any of these databases might be helpful to you, then a free account at www.AmericanAncestors.org might help you with your research.  After awhile, the free account will expire and you will be asked to join NEHGS ($79.95 per year, includes the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (a quarterly peer-reviewed journal) and American Ancestors magazine (five issues per year), plus access to all of their online databases.

Exploring Wikitree - Post 9: Another Search for Matches

Previous posts in this series are in the summary post The Exploring WikiTree Compendium.

One of the possible uses of any online family tree system is that it be searchable for potential common   ancestors submitted by the registered users of the website.  A successful search may result in communication and collaboration between researchers to the (hopefully) mutual benefit of all involved. 

In Post 8, I mentioned that I had not found any potential matches in the WikiTree system to my profiles, but I searched manually, and only casually, using the Search fields at the top of the WikiTree page.

There is another way to search for Matches:  On the user's "NavPage," there is a link to search for potential matches.  Here's my NavPage:



The link to the "Search for Matches to see if your tree overlaps with others" feature is just above the small To-Do list box which is just above the images I've uploaded at the bottom of the screen above.  I clicked on the link and saw the "Find Possible Matches" screen:



On this screen, I entered the surname "white" in the field.  The Note says: "This search tool is brand new. It will return many 'false positives,' i.e. suggest matches that are incorrect. We will be releasing improvements to the matching system soon."

Fair enough, at least it searches the WikiTree system.  Here are the results for White (two screens shown, but six pages for White):




At the bottom of each page is a button to "Look for more matches."  This Search feature seems to take every person with the White surname in my tree and finds persons with the same given name and surname in all of the trees on WikiTree.  The matches include my own WikiTree entries that do not match exactly.  The information provided for each potential match includes:

*  Name
*  Birth date
*  Death date
*  Profile manager (with a link)
*  "Merge" link

There are colored buttons next to the names.  I've seen open, green and red so far.  I don't know exactly what they mean.  Logic indicates that red would mean "definitely not a match" and green would mean "a potential match."  There must be some algorithm in play here.

I did find one possible match - for Lydia White born 10 May 1686.   I wonder why this match, which has the name and birth date correct, isn't highlighted with some sort of "exact match" button?  Perhaps it's because the birthplaces and the death dates didn't match.  Here is the profile for my Lydia White:


Here is the profile for the found Lydia White:


I requested to be on the Trusted List for this Lydia White.  If I am accepted, then I can merge my profile with the matching profile.  Collaboration!  It works, if people play in that sandbox.

Since I did not have ancestors of my Lydia White in the GEDCOM I uploaded (but I do have them in my database), I may upload a small GEDCOM to cover this line in order to help this researcher.

One thing I noticed when I was going through the Profiles for the "end-of-line" ancestors in my WikiTree, like Lydia White, is that the siblings are listed but not the parents.  Which means if I upload a new GEDCOM for, say, the ancestors of Lydia White, I will have to merge the two Lydia White Profiles that I've uploaded, and probably will have to merge the siblings also.  It may be easier to upload a GEDCOM with the parents, without their children, and then connect my Child to the Parent.  We'll see how this works out!

The Genealogism Blog Collection

I' ve been remiss in collecting all of the Genealogisms submitted last week during the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by bloggers, Facebookers, emailers and commenters.  Here are the blog posts written:

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Contribute to the Genealogisms Dictionary by Randy Seaver on the Genea-Musings blog.

Saturday Night Genealogy Genealogisms by Tina Sansone on the Gtownma's Genealogy blog.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Genealogisms! by Daniel Dillman on the Indiana Dillmans blog.

SNGF: Common Genealogy Terms Defined by Chris Staats on the Staat's Place blog.

Genealogisms by Caroline Gurney on Caro's Family Chronicles.

Genea-Dipity – a.k.a. Lucky Finds & Unusual Coincidences – Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by Sherry Stocking Kline on the Family Tree Writer blog.

Some Geneanonsense by Bill West on the West in New England blog.

I haven't listed blog comments or email comments yet - I'll add them to the list of Genealogisms when I get it finished.

For the historical record, Chris Dunham (author of The Genealogue) coined the word "genealogisms" and provided a fine list in 2005 in Genealogisms.  These are classics!

If I missed some blog posts with Genealogisms, please let me know via comments or email (rjseaver@cox.net) and I'll add them to the list.  I started this list on Sunday and never updated it after that.

Last updated: 27 March 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Testing DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Paper Organization System

I've taken the liberty to post about my Genealogy Cave before - see A look at the Genea-Cave and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - show us your Genealogy Space, even with pictures!  The situation is worse now, since I keep finding more useful papers, receiving more magazines, and haven't done any real filing (other than making the piles taller) for a long time.

I decided that I need to organize my paper files and my computer files with a better system, while doing the necessary filing into notebooks and folders.  In the process, I can clean out some of the detritus in my notebooks, such as printouts from the LDS Ancestral File from the early 1990s. 

But what system to use?  I recalled that DearMYRTLE published a series of articles called "Getting Organized" back in 2009, so I went looking for them.  I found five articles for the months of January through May 2009, respectively.  They are still online at:

 http://www.dearmyrtle.com/09/JanuaryOrganizationChecklist.pdf

While they don't exclusively deal with paper file organization, they do address it in some detail.  What I like about Ol' Myrt's system is that:

*  Having a Surname Notebook for each surname (or perhaps a small group of surnames) keeps all of the useful information about an ancestral line together in one place.  I can put a research log, a pedigree chart, family group sheets, BMD records, Bible pages, narrative reports, photographs, document images, newspaper articles, correspondence, research notes, and reference papers (handwritten notes, book chapters, periodical articles, webpage printouts, etc.) all in one location so that I can pick it off the shelf when I want it. 

*  Ol' Myrt recommends keeping all information about a specific family together.  For example, a family section in the Notebook might include the Family Group Sheet with the research notes, the birth, marriage and death records, the Bible pages, the family photographs, newspaper articles, etc. in approximately that order.  All of that would be in one Tab, with the special things like certificates, newspaper articles and photographs in sheet protectors. 

*  I like the idea of having a pedigree chart and a narrative report (e.g., Descendants of the earliest known Ancestor with that surname) in the front of the report, perhaps including the document images and photographs, from a  genealogy software program or a word processing document.  The correspondence, research notes and reference papers would be in the back of the Notebook after the information for the earliest family.

*  Information about collateral lines of the surname (i.e., not the ancestral line) could be filed in a separate Tab, or even in a separate Notebook (or in several notebooks).  I have information for a number of One-Name studies that I keep in separate notebooks.  I am not a slave to an organization system!

*  In a perfect research world, all of the information in the Notebook would be included in the "Genealogy Management program" (software or online family tree) in the Facts and Notes, including source citations and document/photograph images.  I am painfully aware that my research world is very imperfect!

*  DearMYRTLE says in her "Getting Organized" articles that her system will (paraphrased):

"... make the Surname notebook read like a Coffee Table book. Everything that you need is in the book in family order from most recent to oldest known ancestral family for that surname. Having everything together makes it easier to photocopy or scan the material for a family member or researcher. If you ever write a book, you have everything in one notebook. If you die, all of your research on that family is well organized."

Well!  That certainly sounds good.  How hard can this be?  I found a spare notebook, and created a Surname notebook for the Auble family.  I printed out the Family Group Sheets, a pedigree chart and a Descendants report from the first known AUBLE ancestor in my line - six generations (the narrative report was 48 pages, since this is one of my One-Name studies).  I put all of that in the AUBLE Notebook separated by tabs.  Today, I found my Auble research  notebook in the bookcase, weeded out some extraneous papers, and took all of the papers that directly pertain to my six families and put them in the "right places" in the Notebook.  Next, I found the birth, death and marriage certificates and other records I have for my Charles Auble family, and put them behind the Charles Auble FGS.  Lastly, I put the research papers in the back of the Notebook under the Supporting Documents tab.

I haven't printed out the Census and other record images that I have in my computer files, but I will.  I haven't collected all of the photographs yet on the computer, but I will.  There are likely more in the "Big Box of Family Photos" sitting on a file cabinet top under three feet of more stuff, and I need to find them and scan the ones that I don't have digital images of.

I'm aware that, using this process, I created quite a bit more paper to add to the Notebook, but if I want it to read like a Coffee Table book, I need to do that.  

One of the immediate fall outs from this exercise on the Auble family was that I found all of the source material that I need to use to source the assertions in my Genealogy Management program.  I spent an enjoyable hour today (have I mentioned that entering sources is one of my genea-pleasures now?) entering sources from one of the resources that are now in the Auble Surname Book.

I'm not "married" to this filing system yet - and I've modified it a bit for my own use, but I like it quite a bit, and want to "test it" before I fully commit to it.  Thank you, beautiful and wise DearMYRTLE! 

I may discuss the changes I've made to my computer file organization system sometime later.  For now, I need to create some more Surname notebooks so that I can refine the system before I go through hundreds of ancestral surnames.

UPDATED: 7 pm. to edit some text.

Exploring Tpstry - Post 1: Getting Started

What is Tpstry? 

"Tpstry is a place to discover and share not only past family memories, but also the new memories made everyday."



The About Us page at http://www.tpstry.com/ says:

"As we, the Tpstry founders, got older, we began to realize that we wanted to know more about many of our relatives who had already passed away. We wanted to know what they were like as kids, who were there favorite entertainers, what jobs had they worked at. Unfortunately we couldn't talk directly to them, but we could talk to our other living relatives who knew them. By using the combined knowledge of our living relatives, we could learn so much more about our deceased relatives. Since we had already missed our chance with our deceased relatives, we didn't want to miss our chance with our living relatives. So we could ask them the same questions and learn even more about everyone in our family.

"Thus, Tpstry was born as a place to discover and share not only past family memories, but also the new memories made everyday."

After reading today's press release, I decided to go explore Tpstry.  I registered - it was easy.  I even get a free web site (http://www.tpstry.com/site/s/seaver).  Is Tpstry free?  Yes and no - there is a free Basic Plan and a Premium Plan (coming soon).  The Basic Plan includes:
  • Create multiple families
  • Invite others to join your family
  • Add unlimited number of people, places and events
  • Upload unlimited number of images
  • View family information in a Timeline format
  • Unique family URL
Once I registered, I was provided a page with a number of questions on it, such as:

*  What is Randy Seaver's gender?
*  What is Randy Seaver's eye color?
*  What is Randy Seaver's hair color?
*  What is Randy Seaver's birthday?
*  Who is Randy Seaver's father?
*  What is Randy Seaver's birthday?

And so on.  The questions seem endless.  Once you identify a father and a mother, then the system starts asking questions about the other persons. 

I noticed that I would fill in the blank, and then move to the next question, and the same question would appear later on in the list.  The user has to click on the "ANSWER" button to register the answer!  If you don't know the answer, or don't want to answer the question, you can click on the "Does not apply" link in the answer box.  The question boxes look like this:


I answered lots of questions, first about myself, and then about other ancestors.  I did not add any siblings, but I could and the questions would eventually ask who the father and mother are.  After adding 17 persons (all ancestors), and answering 131 questions to date, I decided to see what "My Website" looked like:




There are tabs for People, Places, Events, Images and Timelines to click on.  The People tab shows a list of the people that I've entered to date:



I clicked on the link for Alma Bessie Richmond and saw:



From this page, I cannot answer more questions about this person.  Apparently, I have to wait until Tpstry asks me the questions that I have answers for.  Oh well.

In order to answer all of the questions to date, I had to have my RootsMagic database  open to check the dates and places that I don't have in my memory bank.

I was perturbed by the need to give answers more than once to some questions; by the questions about the last name of persons that I had entered with a full name; by the questions asking what city or state a place was in when I had entered a city and state; and by the limited set of questions.  I understand that they want the users to submit memories, but nobody had a car before 1900, very few people know what color hair or eyes their grandparents had, or where and how they were engaged.  The questions about employment assume that a person worked for a business, which wasn't the case, in general, before 1900. 

I can see potential for the Tpstry website if the question set is expanded and there are answers to some of my questions, such as:

*  How do I edit the answers?  I made some mistakes, and need to change the answers.

*  How do I answer a question after I've clicked on "Does not apply?"

*  How do I call up more questions about a specific person?  It's a lot easier to answer questions about specific persons using the information for that person in my genealogy database.

*  What are Events?  I've entered quite a few birth, marriage and death dates and they don't show up in the Events list.

*  Is there a Stories element, where users can type in stories, or is all of the information based on the answers to the questions?

*  Will Tpstry incorporate a GEDCOM upload?  Of unlimited size, or limited size?  What data will be imported?

Tpstry wants users to invite their family members to help add to the vital data, to answer more questions about persons, to share their images, and to share their stories.

There is a lot more to Tpstry, and I'll try to point some of them out in later posts.

Tpstry.com and GenealogyFreelancers.com Partner Up

...

This press release was posted today at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/03/prweb5195014.htm and also at the GeneaPress site (http://www.geneapress.com/2011/03/tpstrycom-and-genealogyfreelancerscom.html).

Tpstry.com and GenealogyFreelancers.com Partner to Make Family History Research Easier

Family history research projects on GenealogyFreelancers.com get a boost by using Tpstry.com to gather information.

Grand Rapids, MI and Nashville, TN (PRWEB) March 24, 2011

GenealogyFreelancers.com, which connects people seeking family history research with professional genealogists, and Tpstry.com, a website taking a unique approach to gathering family memories, announced today their partnership to make researching family history easier.

“One of the hardest steps for professional genealogists doing research projects is gathering all known information about a family at the beginning of the project,” says Deborah Irwin, CEO of IRBO, Inc., GenealogyFreelancers.com’s parent company. “Tpstry’s unique approach to gathering family memories provides a quick, easy way to gather all known family information in one place.”

While Tpstry.com’s main focus is to collect stories behind family memories, it also collects basic family history information such as names, parentage, birth dates, death dates and marriages. To assist researchers, Tpstry will soon be rolling out the ability to export family information as a GEDCOM file—a standard file format which allows different genealogy software programs to talk to one another. This basic family information gives researchers at GenealogyFreelancers.com a head start when investigating a family’s past.
“Tpstry uses family members and relatives as sources to answer family history questions,” says Matt Johnston, Founder and President of Tpstry. “If a question goes back a few generations, relatives often don’t know the answers. This is where a professional researcher, such as those found at GenealogyFreelancers.com, is very valuable.”

Users seeking help with a family research project can post a project prospectus at http://www.genealogyfreelancers.com and start entering known family information at http://www.tpstry.com for free.

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

This is an interesting partnership - a Family Stories provider (Tpstry.com) and a genealogy research provider (GenealogyFreelancers.com).  It makes a lot of sense to me!  Especially for persons just starting in genealogy that have not done any family history research of their own, and don't have the time to start, but want to write down their family stories and then are curious about what can be found about earlier generations. 

I haven't tried Tpstry.com yet, and I probably should take a look at it.  There are too many websites these days, and not enough Genea-Musings time! 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Isaac's Death Record

...
It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to share one of the documents or artifacts in my family history collection.  In many previous posts, I have displayed documents from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Seaver, my second great-grandfather. 

I received the complete Civil War Pension File for Isaac Seaver on 3 January - see my post My Christmas Present Came Today - Oh Boy! - and it has 81 pages in the file.  Some of them have little or no information on them. 
The compendium of previous posts for this Pension File is in Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Compendium of Posts.

This week I'm posting the "death certificate" from Leominster, Massachusetts submitted by the widow to the Pension Bureau, which is on page 65 of the Pension File received from NARA (plus the reverse of this paper, which is page 66 in the file):



The transcription of the "Transcript from the Records of Deaths" from the Leominster  Town Clerk's Office is (blanks filled in are italicized and underlined):

LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS
TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE RECORDS OF DEATHS.
Leominster, March 27, 1901

I hereby certify that the death of Isaac Seaver 3rd is recorded on the Records
of the Town of Leominster, Mass., Vol. 15 Page 132 as follows:

Name of Deceased,  Isaac Seaver 3rd
Residence:  Leominster, Mass.
Date of death, March 12 - 1901
Name of Husband, _________________ [blank]
Age, 77 years 4 months 26 days
Place of Death, Leominster, Mass.
Sex,  Male
Married, Single or widowed, Married
Occupation, Blacksmith
Birthplace, Westminster, Mass.
Father's Name, Benjamin Seaver
Mother's Maiden Name, Abigail Gates
Disease, or Cause of Death, Cancer of Stomach
Place of Interment, Leominster, Mass. Evergreen Cemetery
Birthplace of Father, Westminster, Mass.
Birthplace of Mother, Gardner, ""

A true copy  Attest:  Charles A. Joslin Town Clerk
On this 29th day of March, 1901, personally appeared the above
named Charles A. Joslin, clerk of the Town of Leominster, and made oath that the above statement
subscribed by him is true.
Before me, T. Lothrop, Justice of the Peace.

The transcription of the reverse side of the above record is:

Acts of June 27, 1890 and May 9, 1900
Claim No. 738,086
----------------------
Claim of
Alvina M. Seaver
widow of
Isaac Seaver, 3d
Co H 4th Regt Mass Vol H.A.
---------------------
Proof of Death
Soldier
---------------------

---------------------
Filed by
CHARLES W. KENDALL
239-1/2 Main St.,
Fitchburg, Mass.
---------------------

It appears, from the reverse side of the certificate, that Alvina's attorney, Charles Kendall, sent this death record into the Pension Bureau to be added to the file.  It was probably one of the tasks he, as the attorney for the claim, was tasked to do to earn his fee.

All of the information above seems correct, except for:  The age at death of 77 years, 4 months, 26 days on 12 March 1901 translates to a birth date of 14 October 1823, whereas Isaac's "official" birth date from Westminster, Mass. records is 16 October 1823.  The difference is probably caused by an error by the clerk, or told to the clerk by the informant (probably the widow, Alvina Seaver), or by someone making a calculation that assumed February (the month before the March death date) had 30 days.  It's a small point, but sometimes this type of information is all that a researcher has to calculate a birth date. 

As a result of checking for Isaac's birth date, I found that I do not have an image of an Isaac Seaver birth record (neither a "certificate" or a town clerk's record) in my computer files.  I do have an image of Isaac's death record in the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910 from the AmericanAncestors site, but it is an old one and very blurry when magnified to a readable size.  More items to add to my to-do list!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Exploring WikiTree Compendium

I want to collect all of my Exploring WikiTree posts in a compendium and update it as I add posts.  Hopefully these posts will help other researchers starting out on WikiTree.

Exploring WikiTree - Post 1: Getting Started (posted 10 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree - Post 2: Navigating the Tree (posted 11 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree- Post 3: Viewing a Person Page (posted 14 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree- Post 4: Editing a Person Page (posted 15 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree - Post 5: Adding Photos (posted 16 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree - Post 6: Privacy Levels (posted 18 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree - Post 7: Adding Family Tree Widgets to your blog or website (posted 22 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree - Post 8: Searching for Common Ancestors (posted 23 March 2011)

Exploring Wikitree - Post 9: Another Search for Matches (posted 25 March 2011)

Some Comments from Chris Whitten on my Exploring WikiTree posts (posted 28 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree -- Post 10: Merging Two Profiles (posted 29 March 2011)

Exploring WikiTree- Post 11: A Better Way to Merge Profiles (posted 31 March 2011)

Last Updated:  1 April 2011

Exploring WikiTree - Post 8: Searching for Common Ancestors

Previous posts in this series are in the summary post The Exploring WikiTree Compendium.

One of the possible uses of any online family tree system is that it be searchable for potential common   ancestors submitted by the registered users of the website.  A successful search may result in communication and collaboration between researchers to the (hopefully) mutual benefit of all involved. 

In WikiTree, which has just over one million profiles, I have found no direct matches with any of my 2,900-plus profiles.  That doesn't surprise me too much, seeing as how I didn't include any person past ten generations of my ancestry, and did not include spouses of the siblings of my ancestors.  However, I have many lines that extend beyond ten generations, especially in colonial New England, so I have found some common ancestors in WikiTree, but I don't have my own Profile for them, and am not on any Trusted Lists yet. 

So how do I Search?  And what can I do if I find one of my ancestors in the WikiTree?  Here is what I did today:

1)  There is a Search box at the very top of most of the WikiTree pages in the very top line on the page - the Search Box has "First Name" and "Last Name" fields.  Here is the screen shot:




The Search fields are just above my picture next to my name.  I entered First Name = "peregrine" and Last Name = "white," who is one of my ancestors (but not in my WikiTree database yet).

2)  I clicked on the "Search" button and was rewarded with a list of six matches:


There are three matches for the Peregrine White who was born aboard the Mayflower in November 1620 to William and Susanna (--?--) White. 

3)  The only match that listed parents of Peregrine White was the third one down the list - here is the Profile for Peregrine White from this submitter:


Because this Profile is "Open" (the default privacy level for subjects that died more than 200 years ago, and the Privacy was not changed by the Profile Manager), I can see all of the information submitted for this Profile.  If I want to discuss the information with the Profile Manager, I can type something into the "Public Bulletin Board" on the right of the screen above.  The message can have up to 800 characters.

4)  I clicked back to the Profile for Peregrine White's father, William White, and noted the information about William White, including the sources used by the Profile Manager.  I have some problems with some of this information, so I wrote a message in the "Public Bulletin board," suggesting that the Profile Manager check the Mayflower Families book for William White:



I believe that the WikiTree system sent the Profile Manager an email message with my message, but I don't think that it sent me a copy.  We'll see! 

5)  In order for me to collaborate with this Profile Manager, I need to request to be on the "Trusted List" for each Profile that I'm interested in.  Down at the bottom of the Profile, just above the "Memories About..." section is a link:

 "[For full editing rights, request to join William "Mayflower Compact"'s Trusted List.]

I clicked on the link and saw:



I filled in the form and sent it off to the Profile Manager.  I received a message at the top of the Profile saying that a message was sent to the Profile Manager asking him to add me to the "Trusted List."  I actually asked to be added to several of his persons that are not in my WikiTree.

Some comments about this process:

1)  When WikiTree has many more Profiles, it may be an onerous task to search for a match.  An "Advanced Search" that adds at least a birth year and birth place, a death year and death place, and a spouse's name is advised.  I received 57 matches when I searched for "william white" and it didn't show the particular one above for some reason (perhaps the "Mayflower Compact" middle name was confusing? 

2)  A "Search" page that has the different Search fields may be better for searchers looking for ancestral families.  also, a list of the Searches conducted by the WikiTree user would be very helpful.

3)  I struggled to find the "Trusted List" link - I even had to use the Edit Find to find it.  A link up near the top of the page would be more noticeable, and therefore used, IMHO. 

4)  The "Public Discussion Board" works well - easy and fast.  Does the Profile Manager get an email message?  Does the commenter? 

5)  The "Trusted List" request also is easy and fast. 

I'm curious to see how the collaboration process works! 

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 145: The Lyle Carringer House in 1922

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 Seaver//Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:




This is a photograph of the house and garage at 2130 Fern Street in San Diego built by Lyle and Emily (Auble) Carringer in 1920 on the same block as the house that Lyle grew up in at 2105 30th Street.  In the photo above, the entry steps and front door face the street.  You can see another view of the front entry steps in Wordly Wednesday: Family Photographs - Post 69: The First Boy Friend?

The current house is shown in the last image in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your ancestral home.  The entry way faces south now, and the side of the house facing the street is protected by a wall.

How do I know when this photograph was taken?  My best clue is the little girl on the tricycle - which I showed also in a close-up view Family Photographs - Post 65: Betty's Trike.  That's my mother, Betty Virginia Carringer at about age 3, making it 1922 or 1923.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

States My Ancestors Lived In

Here is a map of the USA showing the States that my ancestors lived in:


States my ancestors lived in
Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com
http://bighugelabs.com/map.php

This was generated at http://www.bighugelabs.com/.  The user can select the World, the USA, Europe, Asia, Middle East, South America, or Africa. You just click on the boxes and it shows the states for the subject you select.

My wife's ancestors lived in these states:

States Linda's ancestors lived in
Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com
http://bighugelabs.com/map.php

Thank you to Becky Jamison for the example on her Grace and Glory blog.  The first "find" on this today was Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog, I think.

Exploring WikiTree - Post 7: Adding Family Tree Widgets to your blog or website

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WikiTree just announced that their Family Tree Widgets are being officially released today.  You can read the press release at GeneaPress here. 

The WikiTree "Embeddable Family Tree Widgets" page has much more information.

Here is an example from my own tree (note: tree doesn't show in RSS readers):






This is wonderfully easy to do:

1)  Read the Embeddable Family Tree Widget page for the directions and the choices of tree types and background types. 

2)  The page provides embeddable HTML code that you have to put into your blog post or web page.  Copy it from the WikiTree page and paste it into your blog page or web page (you will probably have to be in the HTML mode to do this - I did using "old" Blogger; then click back to "Compose" and the image is there!).

3)  Go to your own WikiTree (yes, you have to have a WikiTree account and family tree to do this!) and select the person you want to be #1 in your tree.  Select that profile in your tree, and note the URL at the top of your browser.  It should be something like "Seaver-27" - that's what my father's ID number is in the WikiTree system. 

4)  In the HTML code that you pasted into your blog post or web site, modify the first line from "Sample-7" to the WikiTree Profile ID number - in my case, I made it "Seaver-27" so my father would be #1 in the tree.

5)  Be sure to leave the "/2" in the HTML code - that tells WikiTree which tree type to select from the database!

I think this is really cool!  Thank you, WikiTree!  I can see many uses for this in trying to entice my extended family to participate online - I can add them to my family newsletters as images.

Here's another one for my great-great-grandfather, Isaac Seaver (note: tree doesn't show in RSS readers):





On this last one, the pedigree lines should be wider so that it is obviously a tree and not just some names on the image.  Once you get back before 1850 or so, pictures are usually not available to use.
Do my readers understand why I've been writing about WikiTree?  Once I saw these widgets about two weeks ago, I knew that I had to have them.

See DearMYRTLE's post Those WikiTree Widgets are officially out of beta  for more information, and links to posts showing her widgets.

UPDATED 1:45 p.m.:  I noted that the tree image doesn't show up in my Google Reader, and may not show up in any RSS reader because it is HTML.  I'm hopeful that it will show up in  the email feed. I'm not an expert in this - you can probably tell!

Tuesday's Tip - use Arphax FREE Surname search engine

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This week's Tuesday Tip is to:  use the FREE Arphax surname search engine to find early settlers with your selected surname on Federal Land plat maps. 

The Arphax Publishing website description is:

"Welcome to the home of two critically acclaimed book-series: the Family Maps series of Land Patent Books and the Texas Land Survey Maps series. Our books are published county by county, state by state, for original settlers whose purchases are indexed either in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management database (www.glorecords.blm.gov/) or the Texas General Land Office database (www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/landgrant.html). These are one-of-a-kind, customized maps and books created by attorney, software engineer, and family historian, Gregory A. Boyd.

"For the first time, you can locate your ancestor's Federal or Texas land purchase by simply finding them in one of our indexes, which direct you to a map of first-land-owners. And now you can learn who your ancestors' neighbors were or the history of settlement in area of interest to you! The Family Maps and Texas Land Survey Maps books are a helpful visual reference tool that make your landowner and parcel-boundary research easier than ever."


These plat maps usually show the first owner of the land bought from or awarded by the Federal governement, or purchased in Texas.  They currently have 23 states covered.  Go to their home page to see if they have the state and county you are interested in.

How do you know that there is a family with your surname in a particular county or state?  You use their FREE surname search page (click on the "Info" button):



The FREE surname search box is in the top right corner of the screen above.  I entered "Seaver" in the search field and clicked on "Surname Search" and it gave me 11 matches:


These matches provide only the County, State and Title of the map book with the name on it.  The red "Go" button takes you to a page where you can buy the book.  Note that it doesn't tell you the name of the person on the map, or the range/township/section to look on the map, but it does provide you with a clue that someone by that surname was a first settler in that county and state.

What can you do with this information?  You have two choices: 

1)  Print it out, or save it to a file on your computer hard drive, and take it with you to a repository that has the Arphax books you need to see on the shelf.

2)  Buy the book, either as an individual or as a part of a local genealogical society.

This method doesn't work well for a common surname - there are over 500 entries for Smith, over 500 for Brown, over 500 for Johnson, etc.  However, for a fairly uncommon name like Seaver (11 matches), Vaux (2 matches), Carringer (0 matches), Auble (2 matches, it works pretty well.  Those are manageable numbers.  You never know what you will find!

My thanks to Barbara Renick for sharing this FREE surname search site at the CGSSD meeting on Saturday.

UPDATE 3/23:  Reader Connie Moretti  suggested:

"Because it is a list of first owners, and you've been led to the county, you can use that information at the Bureau of Land Management site and find all the "good" information.

"I love Arphax books but use http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/  all the time...."
 
Thank you, Connie!  I should have pointed that out.

Monday, March 21, 2011

William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - Was it Ever Solved?

Last Tuesday, I posted "A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria.  The newspaper article about his murder on 6 July 1821 was lurid, but what happened after that?  On Thursday, I wrote William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - a Reward Offered - by the President of the United States, and three mayors.  The William Seaver's Murder in 1821 - A Jailhouse Confession post on Friday seemed to solve the case.  But did it?  Was Van Orden tried and convicted?  Was the reward paid to an informant?  Inquiring minds want to know! 

Unfortunately, I could find no more news articles in the available online newspaper websites about the case, perhaps because the online historical newspaper sites have only spotty coverage through the years following 1821.

While diligently searching, I managed to find an article published 7 December 1874 in the Alexandria Gazette newspaper (accessed on GenealogyBank (www.genealogybank.com).  The article transcription is long, but interesting:

"WILLIAM SEAVER'S MURDER

"In the meeting of the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants of Washington, held in that city on Wednesday night, reference was made to a murder that created intense excitement in this city at the time of its occurrence.  The Washington Republican, in alluding to the subject, says:

"The discussion in the Society of the Oldest Inhabitants relative to the murder of William Seaver, in 1821, at a point on the Alexandria and Washington turnpike, alongside the turnpike or near the stopping point, now called Fort Runyon, recalls the fact that no thoroughly reliable account of that murder has ever been made, and in the fifty years which have intervened, it has never been discovered, notwithstanding the rewards offered, by whom the murder was committed.  Some twenty years ago a sailor died at the Marine hospital, near Norfolk, who, it is alleged, confessed that many years before, he could not remember the date, he started, after his discharge from the navy yard, at Washington, with a shipmate, to walk to Alexandria, and that on the road he met a man from whom they attempted to take some articles of value, and on being resisted they killed him.

"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run.  The only well authenticated facts are that a peddler named William Seaver, having missed the packet boat then running from Alexandria to Georgetown, left Alexandria on the evening of July 5, 1821, to walk to Washington, and that he was never seen alive after he passed out of town.  Traces of blood were found on the road, near Roach's Spring, and the whole population of the neighborhood, assisted by many persons from Washington and Georgetown, turned out to search for the body.  They cut down all the undergrowth for half a mile, and at last discovered the body under a culvert in a stream near by.  A gambling haunt at the spring, near by, was soon after set on fire and burned to the ground, and several persons were arrested on suspicion, but the murderer was never brought to justice."

"A similar case of murder, without detection, occurred about a mile from the same point in the March of Gen. Pierce's inauguration.  The body of a white man, with his throat cut from ear to ear, was discovered a few days after the inauguration, on the tow path of the Alexandria canal, near Arlington.  The body was brought and exposed to public view in the rail yard.  Among those who saw it was a leading citizen, President of one of the city's fire companies, who recognized the body as that of his wife's uncle, a resident of Charles county, Md.  The lady, when brought to identify the corpse, exclaimed that it was her uncle, and fainted; but when a messenger dispatched to give his family information of the murder reached the house, the supposed murdered man was sitting at the table enjoying a hearty meal.

"A photograph of the dead man was taken by Mr. Grubb, of Alexandria, and the mangled body hid from sight under the clods of the valley; but some two years afterwards a gentleman from Pennsylvania, whose father had been missing at the time of Pierce's inauguration, came to Alexandria in search of information as to this murder, with a view of ascertaining if the murdered man was not his brother.  In this search he called at the newspaper offices at Alexandria, and was carried to Mr. Grubb.  Upon seeing the photograph he recognized it as that of his brother; but he, too, was mistaken, for the brother returned within a year after this recognition.

"if 'murder will out' it is a long time getting to light in these cases."

Isn't that a fascinating account of unsolved murders near where William Seaver was murdered.  There is significantly more detail about the circumstances of the murder and the search for his body.  There is also information about two other murders, and two more confessions!  And one more, likely still, unidentified body. 

The biggest clue in this article is the second paragraph: 

"A romantic account of the murder and its reasons was published in the Alexandria Gazette in 1866, derived, it was said, from a confession made in Central America and sent to a member of the Spanish American Legation at Washington -- The murdered man was there stated to be an old man, who, just before the late war, made his home in a cave near Four Mile Run."

Was that the William Seaver murder?  If so, at least two facts are wrong - William Seaver was not an "old man" - he was more like 39 years old, and he didn't "make his home in a cave."  What about this account?  And why was it called "a romantic account?"

Apparently, Mr. Van Orden was not convicted of the murder of William Seaver, and was released.  The reward money was not given to an informant, and this is a 53-year old "cold case" in Alexandria.  At least those questions have been answered, assuming that the memories of the oldest inhabitants of Washington remembered it correctly in 1874.

We'll take a look at it in the next installment of this dreadful, and seemingly unending, murder mystery story.

Amanuensis Monday - "...still go on Wasting and Embezzling..."

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Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a 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 an agreement made by Christopher Champlin and his second wife, Elizabeth (--?--) (Davol) Champlin with respect to relieving bondsmen of their responsibility defined by the will of Elizabeth's first husband, William Davol. 

On 21 August 1722, Christopher Champlin and his second wife, Elizabeth (--?--), widow of William  Danell, made an agreement.  It reads (transcribed from "Westerly (Rhode Island) Town Council and Probate Records, 1699-1888," Volume 2, Pages 74-5, on FHL Microfilm 0,930,805, very difficult to read):

"To all Christian people to whome these presents shall come Know ye that whereas there is a Legacy Given to Elizabeth Champlin wife to Christopher Champlin Senr who was formerly Relict to Mr. William Danell deceased & he being of the town of Westerly in his Majesties Colony of Rhoad Island and Providence Plantations in New England (Viz.)

"Twenty Pounds mony twenty Loads of wood & the keeping of four Cretures ?? ?????? and yearly and every year during the whole course of her naturall life to be paid by the Son William Danel of sd Town & Colony as may appear by the last Will & Testament of the sd William Danel deceased who did make by sd last Will make and ordain William Danel her son an Executor to sd Last Will and testament and upon probation of sd will before the town Counsel of the town of Westerly the sd Councel did Require Bond of sd Danel with two sureties for his ??? Administration and performance of sd will & In Compliance with the sd Request Samuel Clark and Christopher Champlin Junr Both of the said town and Colony were both bound with the sd William Danel unto the aforesd Counsel as may appear by their Bond of two thousand pounds Currant mony of New England which is upon Record for the due performance of sd will the Bond haves date March the thirteenth day in the year one thousand seven hundred and Eighteen Coming nineteen & for the Better Securing the sd Sureties or bondsmen Clark and Champlin their Estates Heirs & Succesers which is altogether Requisite and needfull by Reason that it ????? Evident that the aforesd William Danel hath ??paid a Great part of his Estate & doth Still go on Wasting & Embezzling of the same Reference being had to the above written precept and Every Article & Clause yrof ???? of one Sd Elizabeth Champlin having Considered the Difficulty that may arise to said Bondsmen by ???? [an unreadable line inserted] of these presents for Ever Exhonorate Requit and Discharge the aforesd Samuel Clark and Christopher Champlin Jr and their heirs Executors and admr for Ever of and from all and Every part and parcel of the Legacy of twenty pounds mony twenty Loads of wood and keeping of four Cretures that is to say I do for Ever Requitt and Discharge the sd Clark and Champlin their heirs and Succesors from all that hath been due unto me by the above mentioned will from the begining of the world to the Date of these presence and from the Date of these presents to the end of the world. I the Sd Christopher Champlin Senr do by these presents allow and confirm all the above writen premises and in token and Confirmation that this is our lone and voluntary act and deed we have hereunto Sett our hands and seales this twenty first day of August Annoq Domini 1722.
Signed Sealed and Delivered his
in the presents of us  .................................... Christopher CC Champlin (seal)
Edward Greenman mark
Robert Austin her
Joanna Champlin  ........................................ Elizabeth EC Champlin  (seal)
G Davisson mark


"Mr. Christopher Champlin and Mrs. Elizabeth Champlin the Subscribing both presents appeared in Westerly this 29 Day of August 1722 and acknowledged the above writen instrument to be their voluntary act and deed before me, Joseph Stanton, Justice."

This document seems to describe Elizabeth's son, William Davol (called "Danell" throughout the document) who was required, by his father's will, to provide 20 pounds, 20 loads of wood, and the keeping of four creatures every year until his mother's death.  Christopher Champlin, Junior (son of the Christopher Champlin who married the widow Elizabeth) and Samuel Clark posted bond to ensure that William Davol's wishes were carried out.  But Elizabeth's son, William Davol, apparently has been wasting and embezzling the estate, and his mother (and her husband, father of one of the bondsmen) decided that she would agree to relieve the bondsmen of their responsibilities.  Elizabeth is probably saving her step-son some money and time by agreeing to this release, not knowing how her son will end up.

Was there a period anywhere in that second paragraph until the very end?  I didn't see one, or a logical break for one.  Perhaps there was one or more periods in the unreadable parts!

There is one interesting line in this document that I've never seen before:  "from the begining of the world to the Date of these presence and from the Date of these presents to the end of the world."  Isn't that interesting?

A researcher can sure find interesting, and sometimes unreadable, things in town council and probate records, eh?

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 13 to 19 March 2011

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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:

My Tangent – Preparing A Document/Indenture For Transcription and Genealogy Research  by Jim Smith on A Genealogy Hunt blog.  Jim is doing yeoman work trying to find his Smith family ancestors - I don't envy this task.  But he's steadily working through the records on Grenada.  Check out this post for his process of preparing records so that he can efficiently use them and show them.  I'm impressed!

Review: Comparing Scans on the FlipPal and Epson V500  by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog.  An interesting and useful comparison for typical family photographs.

Will My Genealogy Records Survive Me? by Lee R. Drew on the FamHist blog.  Lee has great suggestions to preserve your family history records. 

RootsTech: A Replacement for Genealogy Conferences? by Anne Roach on the TechnoGenealogist blog.  Anne was the FamilySearch leader of RootsTech 2011, and has some questions for genealogists and technologists.

Using Land Records to Solve Genealogical Problems - Part 3 by Michelle Goodrum on The Turning of Generations blog.  This is a continuation of Michelle's excellent series on land records.

March-April Shades by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog.  The topic is Photographs in Politics in this issue.  Is there a better online historical photo magazine available today?  This one is FREE, well-written, fascinating and beautiful.

Great Grandma was a Full Blooded Cherokee Princess - Now What????  by Roberta Estes on the Historical Melungeons, Native Americans, Appalachians blog.   Not so fast - there are some caveats here, and some links to more information.

GenPerfect–My Ideal Genealogy Software and More GenPefect by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog.  Mark lays a marker full of new ideas on software - who will be the first to adopt them?  Read the comments too!

WikiTree: 5 generation updatable pedigree widget BETA by Pat Richley-Erickson on the DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog.  Ol' MYRT is exploring in WikiTree also, and has great news!

Genealogical Standards – Building Blocks of the Profession by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com blog.  This is a road map for becoming a skilled and trusted genealogist.

Protecting Your Blog by Kathy Reed on the Family Matters blog. Kathy has found a neat way to make quality printed books from her blog posts.  I love it!  Good work.

Sorting Saturday - Document & Record log by Heather Kuhn Roelker on the Leaves for Trees blog.  Heather has a very useful Excel form to document her searches for a particular family.  I love forms!

My Foray into Geni.com by Taneya Koonce on Taneya's Genealogy Blog.   Taneya stated her likes and dislikes on using her Geni.com family tree, and compared the site to other online family tree sites.

Several other genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts this week, including:

Follow Friday: This Week's Favs by Jen on the Climbing Your Family Tree blog.

Follow Friday - Around the Blogosphere - March 17, 2011 by Susan Petersen on the Long Lost Relatives.net blog.

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 850 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.