Saturday, October 15, 2011

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Ancestors GeneaMeme

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Hello, genea-world!  It's Saturday Night (in the USA!) -- time for some worldwide Genealogy Fun!

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

1)  Participate in the Ancestors GeneaMeme created by Jill Ball on the Geniaus blog.

2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note, or in a Google+ Stream item.

Thank you to Jill for the SNGF idea!  Jill is collecting Ancestors MeGeneaMeme entries too.

The rules, and the Meme list, is given below in my response.

Here's mine:

The Rules:

The list should be annotated in the following manner:

Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item


The Meme:
 
 
Which of these apply to you?

1.  Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents (from memory...)
2.  Can name over 50 direct ancestors (from memory, easier on paper...)
3.  Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents
4.  Have an ancestor who was married more than three times (Rev. Stephen Bachiler is one...)
5.  Have an ancestor who was a bigamist (not found one yet)

6.  Met all four of my grandparents (did not meet my paternal grandfather, Frederick W. Seaver, who died in 1942)
7.  Met one or more of my great-grandparents (only Gerogia Kemp Auble, who died when I was 9)
8.  Named a child after an ancestor (gave first daughter middle name of "Lee" after her grandfather - not my ancestor)
9.  Bear an ancestor's given name/s (actually, I have a Randall Grosvenor in the 15th century - does that count?)
10.  Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland (probably 90% of my ancestral lines go back to the British Isles)

11.  Have an ancestor from Asia (perhaps Genghis Khan, but I have no known link)
12.  Have an ancestor from Continental Europe
13.  Have an ancestor from Africa (well, not in the last 100 generations or so...)
14.  Have an ancestor who was an agricultural labourer (in the US and UK)
15.  Have an ancestor who had large land holdings (what's large?  Larger than 40 acres?  Yep.  Larger than 640 acres?  Probably.)

16.  Have an ancestor who was a holy man - minister, priest, rabbi (Jonathan Oatley in Killingly CT in 19th century, several more in 17th century)
17.  Have an ancestor who was a midwife (unsure)
18.  Have an ancestor who was an author (unsure)
19.  Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones (many Smiths, no Murphys, only one Jones line)
20.  Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng (defintrely not!)

21.  Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
22.  Have an ancestor with a forename beginnining with Z (three generations of Zachariah Hildreths, and a Zechariah Barber)
23.  Have an ancestor born on 25th December
24.  Have an ancestor born on New Year's Day
25.  Have blue blood in your family lines (supposedly if Royal Descendants book is right)

26.  Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
27.  Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth (nope, one great-grandparent born in Canada is the last one born in another country)
28.  Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century (all but 3 or 4 of my 32 3rd great-grandparents
29.  Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier (quite a few)
30.  Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents (Austin Carringer, Della smith, Georgia Kemp, Frank Seaver, Thomas Richmond)

31.  Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X (probably, but not that I know of)
32.  Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university (back in the 17th century??)
33. Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offence (several are in Sex in Middlesex book)
34.  Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime (logic says someone in 12 generations must have been, not sure about this one)
35.  Have shared an ancestor's story online or in a magazine (probably in Genea-Musings...)

36.  Have published a family history online or in print (two books self=published and shared with faily)
37.  Have visited an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries (several in New England, and the Ranslow Smith Inn in Wisconsin)
38.  Still have an ancestor's home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family (not in the family...the Ranslow Smith Inn in Wisconsin would qualify if I'd bought it)
39.  Have a family bible from the 19th Century (have Bible pages for births, marriages, deaths, but not the Bible)
40.  Have a pre-19th century family bible

Surname Saturday - YOUNG (England > Plymouth Colony)

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It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 283, who is Ruth YOUNG (1688-????), one of my 6th-great-grandparents. [Note: The 6th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts]

My ancestral line back through three generations of YOUNG  families is:

1. Randall J. Seaver

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

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

34. Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840)
35. Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869)

70. Thomas Dill (1755-after 1830)
71. Hannah Horton (1761-1797)

140. Thomas Dill (1708-1761)
141. Mehitable Brown (1714-1758)

282.  Samuel Brown was born about 1686 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. He died on 3 May 1739 at the age of 53 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. Samuel Brown were married on 21 October 1708 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.
283.  Ruth Young was born in 1688 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. She died on 28 September 1768 at the age of 80 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.

Samuel Brown and Ruth Young had the following children:  Abigail Brown (1709-????); Samuel Brown (1711-1713); Samuel Brown (1713-1738); Mehitable Brown (1714-1758); Ruth Brown (1716-1794);

576.  John Young was born on 16 November 1649 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. He died 7 April 1692 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. John Young married 16 November 1669 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States:

577.  Ruth Cole was born on 15 April 1651 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. She died after 20 November 1735 at the age of 84 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.

John Young and Ruth Cole had the following children: Mercy Young (1671-1753); Benjamin Young (1673-1734); Jonathan Young (1675-1755); Israel Young (1683-????); Ruth Young (1688-????); Barnabas Young (1690-1772); Jane Young (1691-????); Abigail Young (1694-1781).

1152.  John Young was born about 1624 in England. He died on 28 January 1690/1 at the age of 67 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States. John Young married 13 December 1648 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.
1153.  Abigail Howland was born about 1629 in probably Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. She died on 7 April 1692 at the age of 63 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.

John Young and Abigail Howland had the following children:  John Young (1649-1692); Joseph Young (1651-1651); Joseph Young (1654-1722); Nathaniel Young (1656-1706); Mary Young (1658-????); Abigail Young (1660-1715); David Young (1662-1745); Lydia Young (1664-????); Robert Young (1667-1742); Henry Young (1669-1670); Henry Young (1672-1706).

I know that there is a series of articles in the Mayflower Descendant, Volume 54 and following, but I have not yet captured those documents, or the documents they cite, yet.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Follow-Up Friday - Is there a limit on Media files in Family Tree Maker?

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Judy commented in my post Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 4: Census Source Citation Comparison:

"Like you, I download the census (or other documents) files and attach them to a person. I currently use FTM 2011 but may upgrade to 2012. Can you comment on the “bogging down” of the program that attaching a lot of files causes. Is there any limit to the amount of media you can import? How does RootsMagic 4 compare to FTM in this regard? "

I don't think that there's any limit to the number of media items you can import - other than your computer hard drive capacity.  Since FTM 2011 and other modern programs only create a text link to your document files (on your computer), there is not a problem with file size caused by media items.  That wasn't the case with FTM 16 and earlier - the media items were included in the database file itself, which bloated the file size and slowed down loading the database. 

FTM 2011 and 2012 are slow at start up for me, and during program operation - I think it's because of the number of persons, notes, sources, etc. that are in the database.  I wait more than 30 seconds now for FTM 2012 to start up because I have over 40,000 persons in my database, and have only a few media items. 

RootsMagic 4 opens quickly (with the same number of persons, notes, sources, etc. in the database) - within five seconds. 

Follow Friday - Weekend Genealogy Fun

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Here are my recommendations for some Genealogy Fun this weekend:

1) Listen to Geneabloggers Radio tonight (Friday night, 10 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. CT, 8 p.m. MT and 7 p.m. PT) hosted by Thomas MacEntee. This week's topic is "Bring Out Your Dead! Cemeteries and Genealogy."The special guests include:

Brett Atlas and Scott Kroeger, founders of RestingSpot.com, a unique combination of mobile and web technologies you can use to preserve the legacy of loved ones for generations to come;
Lisa Swanson Ellam of The Faces of My Family blog, who is trained in the art of cemetery preservation and tombstone restoration. Wait until you hear Lisa’s recent story about a restoration project – talk about genealogical serendipity!

2) Listen to the FGS Radio - My Society show on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, 1 p.m. CT, 12 noon MT, 11 a.m. PT) hosted by Thomas MacEntee this week. The topic is  "Flip-Pal™ Mobile Scanner and Your Genealogy Society." The special guest is:

*   Walt Grady of Couragent, Inc., the innovative maker of the Flip-Pal™ Mobile Scanner. We’ll discuss how the Flip-Pal scanner can be used to not only help digitize your society’s holding but also to increase your society’s membership or bring in additional income.

In addition, we’ll be highlighting FGS member society, German Genealogy Group in our weekly Society Spotlight feature.
3) Check out the recent Webinars on:

*   Exploring FamilyLink.com and WorldVitalRecords.com by their founder, Paul Allen. (Legacy Family Tree)
* "Newspapers for Genealogists: Using GenealogyBank.com to document every day of your ancestors' lives" with Tom Kemp. (Legacy Family Tree)
* "Organizng for Success" with Karen Clifford (Legacy Family Tree)
* "The Power of DNA in Unlocking Family Relationships," with Ugo Perugo (Legacy Family Tree)
* "Leveraging the Power of "We": a Watershed Event in Discovering Where to Find Your Ancestors (Research Wiki, Research Courses, and FamilySearch Forums)," with Michael Ritchey (Legacy Family Tree).

* RootsMagic Webinars (all free) available at http://www.rootsmagic.com/Webinars/

* National Genealogical Society (NGS) Videos (some are free to view) at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/videos_online

* Thomas MacEntee's Explorinar on Easy Website Creation (free to view).
* Thomas MacEntee's Explorinar on Evernote - Easy Note Taking UPDATED (free to view)

4) Respond to my Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge, posted on www.geneamusings.com soon after 12 noon Pacific time (that's 1900 GMT for those who understand time zones).

5) Go to a local genealogical society program. I'm not going to the CGSSD meeting on Saturday because I will be out of town.

6) Go to a local or close repository with genealogy and family history material. Do some research in traditional resources or order FamilySearch microfilms online with original source records.

7) do some online research in the latest record collections at FamilySearch (free, https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list), Ancestry ($$, http://www.ancestry.com/cs/reccol/default), Fold3 ($$, www.fold3.com), WorldVitalRecords ($$, www.WorldVitalRecords.com), American Ancestors ($$, www.AmericanAncestors.org), GenealogyBank ($$, www.GenealogyBank.com), etc.

8) Add material (names, dates, places, notes, images, sources, etc.) to your genealogy software program. I still have three inches of paper collected from my vacation, and will try to enter some of it into my database this weekend.

9) Spend time with your family doing fun things.  I'm off to Santa Cruz on Thursday to spend the weekend with my daughter and two grandsons.  I'll try really hard to make some good family history!

10) Go to a local cemetery and clean stones, take gravestone pictures, or transcribe epitaphs for your local society, for Find-a-Grave, or a similar online service.

Whatever you decide, please tell us about your genealogy endeavors on a social network or in a blog post. You never know when your experiences may stimulate or encourage others to do useful genealogy work.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 Compendium

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This post is my list of the posts written in the Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 series, including several posts leading up to the series:

Family Tree Maker 2012 TreeSync - Differences Between Online and Desktop Trees (26 September 2011)

Family Tree Maker 2012 TreeSync - Questions Answered (27 September 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 1: Loading and Syncing (5 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 2: Syncing Both Ways (6 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 3: Syncing an Existing Ancestry Member Tree (10 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 4: Census Source Citation Comparison (11 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 5: Importing and Exporting Media Files with GEDCOM (12 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 6: Understanding Media Items (13 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 7: More GEDCOM Trials (17 October 2011)

Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 8: Receiving and Installing a GEDCOM File (18 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 9: The "Ahnentafel Report" (24 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 10: Making an Ancestral Family Book - Part 1 (25 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 11: Making an Ancestral Family Book - Part 2 (26 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 12: How Big a Book Can It Make? (27 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 13: Making a Direct-Line Descendants Chart (28 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 14: Making Descendant Charts (31 October 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 15: Creating an Ancestor Name List Report (1 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 16: Creating a Timeline Report (2 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 17: Creating a Vital Record Certificate Source Citation (3 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 18: Creating a Vital Record Register Source Citation (4 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 19: Creating U.S. Census Source Citations (7 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 20: Using a Generic Source Citation Template (8 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 21: Creating a Cemetery Grave Marker Source (9 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 22: Creating a Civil War Pension File Source (10 November 2011)

Follow-Up Friday - Responses to Family Tree Maker 2012 Series Comments (11 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 23: Using an Existing Source Title (14 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 24: Adding a Media Item (15 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 25: Doing a Web Search -Case 1 (17 November 2011)

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 26: Doing a Web Search - Case 1 - Attaching an Image (18 November 2011)

There are many threads on the Family Tree Maker Software Message Board about Family Tree Maker 2012 features and problems - see http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.software.famtreemaker/mb.ashx?dc=50.

Russ Worthington on his FTM User blog has written many blog posts about Family tree Maker 2012, including some of the above topics.

I will try to keep this list updated.

Last update: 18 November 2011

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 6: Understanding Media Items

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In comments on Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 5: Importing and Exporting Media Files with GEDCOM, genea-bloggers Russ Worthington (Family Tree Maker User) and Caroline Gurney (Caro's Family Chronicles), have been trying to educate me on Media items and how they work with FTM 2012. 

Caroline noted:

"Randy, A GEDCOM file only includes the file pathways for the media, not the media themselves. In your first example, the GEDCOM contained the filepaths for the two media, which were presumably somewhere on your computer. So when you opened the GEDCOM in FTM 2012, the program was able to find the media from the filepaths..."

Yes, for the first example in my post (call it "Scenario 1" - read a GEDCOM into FTM 2012), the Media items were in my computer file folders.  They were also in my computer file folders for the second example (call it "Scenario 2" - sync an existing AMT into FTM 2012).  But when I created a GEDCOM file in FTM 2012 from the "Scenario 2" database, and tried to include the Media item links, the Media item links that should have been there were not included when I imported that GEDCOM into FTM 2012 - and not in the Media workspace or the /Family Tree Maker/"New Database 2"/Media computer file.

Russ noted:

"Since you can open any GEDCOM file in a word processing program or another genealogy program, there will be NO media files in that GEDCOM file.  This just gets the DATA from one place to another. The GEDCOM 5.5.1 and FTM2012's version of a GEDCOM only adds LINKS to the images that are in FTM2012.  Oh, this is the same from any other of the Genealogy Programs that I have tested in this specific area. GEDCOM = NO Media / Image files.

"What has to happen if you want Images in that "new" created from a GEDCOM is to get the Media files from one place to another or one program to another.  FTM2012 has the Find Missing Media option, and / or the CTRL+F5 option, but IF those media files are NOT on the SAME computer, the CTRL+F2 won't find the media files.

So, and maybe this is the mis-understanding here, and I'll blog about it shortly, is to package up those Media Files and transport them to the other PC, other user. Bundle that Media Folder into a ZIP file might work. But those media files must be sent to the other PC, or other User.  Just watch the Upload or Download to Ancestry.com. With FTM2011, we could download the Family Tree Maker "friendly" files from that AMT. That is a two step process. Data then Media. That happens now in FTM2012, Data then Media.  Getting the Media to another PC, another Program has to follow the same process.

"I think you will find that Roots Magic does the same thing. Create a GEDCOM from RM4, and look at the GEDCOM file. Are there any IMAGES in that GEDCOM? Don't think so. But, you WILL find, if my memory serves me correct, Links to those images, just like FTM2012."


Russ is right here - there are only links to Media items in files on my computer in a GEDCOM file, not the Media items themselves.  A user will have to transfer the Media files to any other computer or another user in order to share them.

From the above conversation (which I greatly appreciate), my conclusions are:

* Scenario 1: When a GEDCOM file, created by another program or online database, is imported into FTM 2012, then the images of the Media are included in the FTM 2012 Media workspace, are put into the /Family Tree Maker/"Scenario 1"/Media file folder on my computer, and links to those Media files are included for the Person(s) and Facts involved in the FTM database. If this FTM 2012 file is exported to a NEW Ancestry Member Tree, the Media images are included in the Ancestry Member Tree.

*  Scenario 2:  When an existing Ancestry Member Tree is synced to FTM 2012, the images of the attached Media in the AMT are included in the FTM 2012 Media workspace, are put into the /Family Tree Maker/"Scenario 2"/Media file folder on my computer, and links to those Media files are included for the Person(s) and Facts involved in the FTM database.  The source citations created by Ancestry.com for their historical records are also synced with FTM 2012.

* When I create a GEDCOM file in FTM 2012, my assumption is that any Media links associated with selected Persons and Facts included in the FTM 2012 database should be included in the GEDCOM file. 

*  When I created a GEDCOM file in FTM 2012 from the Scenario 1 database, and then imported that GEDCOM file back into FTM 2012 (I could have used another program), the links to the Media items were included  the Scenario 1 database and are in the /Family Tree Maker/"Scenario 1"/Media file folder on my computer. 

*  However, when I created a GEDCOM file in FTM 2012 from the Scenario 2 database, and then imported that GEDCOM file back into FTM 2012 (I could have used another program), there were no links to the Media items in the Scenario 2 database and no Media files in the /Family Tree Maker/"Scenario 2"/Media file folder.

*  If a user creates a GEDCOM file using FTM 2012 (or any other program) that includes Media file links to files on the user's computer, and then transmits that GEDCOM file to another computer (his own or someone else's), the user will have to send the Media file folder contents to that other computer.  If the link text to the Media files do not reflect the file folder names on the receiving computer, then the links will have to be changed, or the Media will have to be properly linked to the Persons or Facts.

It's clear as mud, eh?  I know that this is complicated and sort of "Inside Family Tree Maker" stuff, but it's imperative that all of us understand what is happening.  I've published material about this that may be erroneous and I want to get it right.  I hope that others will try this test and tell us about their results.  Please comment here.

Treasure Chest Thursday - the 1876 Leland/Natvig Marriage Record

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It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to display another treasure from my digital files of ancestral families.

This week, it is a page from (copied at the Norwegian-American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library in Madison, Wisconsin):

Vesterheim Genealogical Center, Koshkonong Church Records, East West & Liberty Churches, Marriage and Deaths Records, 1844-1987 (Madison, Wis.). Notebook at Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library , page 1186.


The first record on the page is this marriage:

"May 30, 1876
Torger Sjursen Leland; 26; Koshkonong; Sjur T. Leland & Britha Olsdatter
Anna Ellingsdatter; 23; ......; Elling Erikson & Anna Ellingsdtr
Liberty; Sjur T. Leland & Elling Eriksen"

The format here is:

First line:  Date
Second line:  Husband's name, age, place, parent's names
Third line: Wife's name, age, no place, parent's names
Fourth line: Church name, witnesses.

The records in this book were transcribed and printed from the original church records in Norwegian. 

I think it's interesting that Torger and his father were using the Leland name in 1876, but Britha still used her patronymic, and Anna and her parents used their patronymic, but by the 1880 census, they were using Natvig as a surname.

The two fathers were the witnesses to this marriage at the Liberty Lutheran Church in the town of Deerfield in Dane County, Wisconsin.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

CGSSD Mini-Fair on Saturday, 15 October 2011

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The next meeting of the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego will be held on 15 Oct 2011 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

MINI-FAIR
Two sessions and two topics per session
No user groups or SIGS this month.

9:00 - SESSION 1:
A. "Using Google Earth to Map Your Ancestor's Home." Part one of a two-part workshop conducted by Anne Miller and David Armstrong. Participants are required to bring a laptop computer and to download Google Earth  prior to the workshop (free at http://earth.google.com). You are also encouraged to practice the navigation tools prior to the sessions. Fee (covers Sessions 1A and 2A): $10; $15 at the door. This workshop is limited to 30 people. Only 7 slots remain. The registration form can be downloaded at http://www.cgssd.org/Google_Earth_Registration.docx.
David J. Armstrong is a professional genealogist specializing in combining historical records with technology in order to enhance our understanding of ancestors' lives. David’s background as a leader in math and computer education has served him well in his genealogical endeavors. He is a member of NGS, APG, and numerous regional and local genealogical societies. Anne J. Miller, Ph.D. is a professional genealogist, an historian, and a psychologist specializing in combining genealogical and historical resources to provide a better understanding of people. Anne does genealogical and historical research for others and gives presentations. She has published in both genealogical and historical journals.

B. "Tips on Great Family History Gifts for Special Occasions." Del Ritchhart has been giving framed family trees, photo books, family history books and other items for several years to his children and grandchildren for special events in their lives. Del is the immediate past President of CGSSD and has spoken to our group previously on other topics. He will demonstrate and talk about these various gifts that he has created using on-line Shutterfly, Kodak, COSTCO, and Ancestry programs. With Christmas only a few months away you might get some excellent ideas for family gifts.

10:00 - Break, refreshments.
10:20 - SESSION 2:
A. "Using Google Earth to Map Your Ancestor's Home." Part two of the two-part workshop conducted by Anne Miller and David Armstrong.

B. "Family Finder DNA Testing." Corlee Morris will discuss a genetic genealogy product offered since early 2010 by Family Tree DNA, called “Family Finder.” It is one of only a very few autosomal genetic genealogy tests available to consumers. This test detects any linked blocks of DNA that indicate a common ancestor with other testers. The number and size of these linked blocks is used to determine how recently or closely two people are related. If you are related within five generations (3rd or more recent cousins) then Family Finder is almost sure to detect your relationship. How this test differs from the normal Y-Chromosome or Mitochondrial tests that we are more familiar with will be covered. Attendees who have taken the test and received results are encouraged to share their experience. Corlee is a past president of CGSSD and has been leading our DNA Special Interest Group discussions for the past three years.

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pines Road, turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any space other than those specifically reserved for UCSD vehicles. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website 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.

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 5: Importing and Exporting Media Files with GEDCOM

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When I uploaded my RootsMagic 4 database, using GEDCOM, to Family Tree Maker 2012, I was happy to note that the Media that I had attached to several persons (mainly head shots, but also several records) were imported into Family Tree Maker 2012. 

1)  Here's the proof (I could show you the GEDCOM file, but this is more visual):

Here is the Media workspace in FTM 2012 for this database:


I chose Torger Sjursen Leland in the index, and saw his Person page:


There are two Media items attached to two Facts. 

I created a GEDCOM file for two generations of this family (just to make it easier and faster to work with), including Torger Leland, and made sure I had the two Media boxes checked):


The resulting GEDCOM file, when opened in FTM 2012, includes the two Media items, as shown below:


I thought to myself, "Self, that's wonderful, FTM 2012 also transfers Media files using GEDCOM."

2)  But wait!  What about Media downloaded from an Ancestry Member Tree?

I decided to do the same exercise using the database downloaded from Ancestry.com, which had 37 Media items (all attached items or uploaded from my computer files in the Ancestry Member Tree before syncing it with FTM 2012). 

The Media workspace for this database looks like:


The Person page for Frank Walton Seaver is shown below, and it has several Media items included:


I created a GEDCOM file for two generations that included Frank Seaver, checked the two boxes about Media items:


However, when I opened this GEDCOM file in FTM 2012, it includes no media items:



Not even the pictures I had uploaded to Ancestry.com from my computer files are included in the FTM 2012 file created by the GEDCOM process. 

I thought that I had made a mistake, so I did a similar sequence two more times just to make sure that the above happens.  Every time! 

 That made me say to myself:  "Whoa!  What happened here?  Is this Ancestry protecting any image downloaded from Ancestry Member Trees?"

That's the logical conclusion, isn't it?  Perhaps a Family Tree Maker developer wants to comment or explain why Media items are not transmitted in a GEDCOM file created by FTM 2012.

Update 4:30 p.m.":  Caroline Gurney, in Comments, noted:

"Randy, A GEDCOM file only includes the file pathways for the media, not the media themselves. In your first example, the GEDCOM contained the filepaths for the two media, which were presumably somewhere on your computer. So when you opened the GEDCOM in FTM 2012, the program was able to find the media from the filepaths. In your second example, the media files were presumably on the Ancestry server and so could not be found on your computer. That is why you need to use the built in Sync process in FTM 2012 to sync your data between your Ancestry tree and FTM 2012 on your desktop. Don't use GEDCOM. "

Thank you, Caroline, for this - it helps to understand what's happening.  However, the media files from the Ancestry historical records are included in the Media file folder on my computer and could be linked, but FTM 2012 does not link them for some reason in a GEDCOM file.  Here is the Media file for the starting database:


tHere are 37 images in this file residing on my computer.  I don't understand why they are not included in the GEDCOM file, unless they were purposefully or erroneously excluded by the creators of FTM 2012.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 174: The Four-Mile House in 1930

...
I've been posting old family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but now I want to post some current photographs. This is not a wordless posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

On Day 10 of the Seaver Family History Mystery Tour four weeks ago, I just barely made it to the Dodge County (Wisconsin) Historical Society in Beaver Dam before it closed.  The visit was recommended by Anita, the librarian at Beaver Dam Community Library, and it yielded one of the "prizes" of the trip:


This print from the original in the historical society archives is of the Four-Mile Inn as it stood in Rolling Prairie in 1930.  The typed caption below the picture says:

"Four-Mile House, Built in 1853 by Raslow Smith, Rolling Prairie,
and operated as a "Stage Coach Tavern" for service between Water-
town & Fox Lake before the R.R. came through.  S.W. corner Water-
town Plank Road (now County I) and Town Line Road just north of
now Rolling Prairie.
Stage changed horses here and for a time stopped for Noon Meal.
[rest cut off]"

This was a three story building with a basement.  The curator at Old World Wisconsin told me that the public rooms were on the first floor, the bedrooms were on the second floor, and the third floor was used as a dance hall in later years.  

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 4: Census Source Citation Comparison

...
Family Tree Maker 2012 has a set of Source Templates created based on Elizabeth Shown Mills's book, Evidence! Explained.  I want to explore some of those in this post, but I also want to compare them with sources downloaded from the synchronized Ancestry Member Tree.  In my post Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 2: Syncing Both Ways on last Friday, I stated that:

"However, my earlier conclusion that I really want to download record images to my computer and attach them to persons and facts in my genealogy software database, rather than attach them to persons in my Ancestry Member Tree, is still operative. Why?

"1) Because I don't want the poorly crafted Ancestry.com source citations in my software database when I have my beautifully crafted source citations :) in my software database already."

I want to illustrate my concern here with examples for the 1920 United States Census, including using the Family Tree Maker 2012 source templates.   Here is the Person screen for my grandfather, Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)  from the database I synced between FTM 2012 and the Ancestry Member Tree last week:


1)  There is a Source for the "Residence" Fact in 1920 that was obtained in the Ancestry Member Tree by attaching the census record to this person.  The "Edit Source Citation" screen (obtained on the "Sources" tab by clicking the "Edit" icon on the right-hand panel) for the "Source" tab looks like this:


The "Reference Note" tab provides this source citation:

"Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 on roll 323 (Chicago C), Ancestry.com, http://www.Ancestry.com, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leominster Ward 3, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_747; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 102; Image: 252.. Birth date: abt 1878
Birth place: Massachusetts
Residence date: 1920
Residence place: Leominster Ward 3, Worcester, Massachusetts."

2)  I created a source citation for a "Census" Fact using the "Population Schedule - United States, 1880-1930 (by Census Year" Source Template provided in FTM 2012.  The resulting "Edit Source Citation" and the "Source" tab looks like this:


The "Reference Note" tab provides this source citation:

"1920 U.S. census, population schedule, NARA microfilm publication T625, Roll 747, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Leominster Ward 3, Supervisor District 3, Enumeration District 102, Page 125, Sheet 14A, dwelling #175, family #288, Frederick W. Seaver household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com)."

3)  I created a source citation for a "Census" Fact using the "Population Schedule - United States, 1880-1930 (by Census Year and Location)" Source Template provided in FTM 2012. The resulting "Edit Source Citation" and the "Source" tab looks like this:


The "Reference Note" tab provides this source citation:

"1920 U.S. census, population schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Leominster Ward 3, Supervisor District 3, Enumeration District 102, Page 125, Sheet 14A, dwelling #175, family #288, Frederick W. Seaver household; NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 747; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com)."
4)  I created my own free-form source citation in RootsMagic for the 1920 U.S. Census for this person, and this citation was imported into FTM 2012 via the GEDCOM file. The resulting "Edit Source Citation" and the "Source" tab looks like this:



The "Reference Note" tab provides this source citation:

"1920 United States Census, Population Schedule, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Leominster, Supervisor District 3, Enumeration District 102, Page 125, Sheet 14A, dwelling #175, family #288, Frederick W. Seaver household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 21 March 2008), citing National Archives Microfilm Series T625, Roll 747."

5)  Some conclusions and comments (based on my desire to have Evidence! Explained quality source citations, and to minimize how much editing I have to do to make them that way):

*  The source citation generated by the Ancestry Member Tree (item 1 above) contains the correct master source information, but has no citation details about the dwelling number, family number, person's name, etc. It contains information about the person's estimated birth year  and birth place.  The source citation format does not follow the Evidence! Explained guidelines.

*  The source citation generated by the FTM 2012 source template for "Population Schedule - United States, 1880-1930 (by Census Year)" (item 2 above) puts the NARA publication number into the master source.  A user has to add the Roll number and all of the specific citation detail information.  This format is almost Evidence! Explained format - the difference is the NARA publication and roll number are at the end of the citation detail in the book.  This citation template could be used for all 1920 U.S. Census citations, which is a time saver.

*  The source citation generated by the FTM 2012 source template for "Population Schedule - United States, 1880-1930 (by Census Year and Location)" (item 3 above) is close to Evidence! Explained format.  The master source information includes the state, county and the NARA publication and roll numbers..  A user has to add all of the specific citation detail information.  The detail information about the database provider is provided after the citation detail.  A different master source will have to be created for each county and NARA roll number, which is not a time saver.

*  The source citation created by me using a Free-Form citation format for the 1920 U.S. Census population schedule requires the user to input all of the source citation detail (including the database provider, and NARA publication and roll numbers), but is exactly (well, as best I can) the Evidence! Explained format. 



*  When I imported my GEDCOM file (created in RootsMagic 4) into Family Tree Maker 2012, all of the source citations imported cleanly without mangling as free-form citations (i.e., not using a specified source template), with one exception:  The italicized titles of books, periodicals and database providers (as defined in Evidence! Explained), were imported with the <i> tag before and after the italicized text. 

*  My overall conclusion is that Family Tree Maker 2012 has made significant strides in getting source citation templates close to Evidence! Explained format, but the results are imperfect.

*  The more important conclusion is that the source citations created for an attached record in an Ancestry Member Tree leave a lot to be desired.  When a user attaches a document image in the Ancestry.com collection to their Ancestry Member Tree, the poorly-crafted source citation is added to the tree also.  By syncing to FTM 2012, that poorly-crafted source gets downloaded to FTM 2012 database.  Some people may not care and just want the document image - that's fine for them.  I want well-crafted source citations along with the attached document image - that's why I download the document images to my computer files and attach them manually to my genealogy database.

The above is why I'm going to continue using RootsMagic 4 to add content to my database, and to continue to create free-form source citations that can be GEDCOMed into any other database fairly well.

Tombstone Tuesday - Anna and Torger Leland in Deerfield, Wisconsin

...
On our Midwest Family History Mystery Tour, we stopped at the St. Paul's Liberty Lutheran Church in Deerfield, Dane County, Wisconsin on 17 September. Linda has at least three ancestors buried here.  I posted a picture of the cemetery and Severt T. Leland's gravestone last week in Tombstone Tuesday - Severt T. Leland (1804-1889) of Deerfield WI.

The other two ancestors of Linda's in this cemetery are Torger Sjurson Leland (1850-1933) and Anna (Ellingsdatter Natvig) Leland (1853-1911):



I walked almost the entire cemetery before I found their stone.  I knew it was there because it is on Find-a-Grave, so I kept looking.  It was at the far right, near the back fence, of the cemetery that surrounds the church on three sides.  Here's a photo looking from the gravestone area back toward the church:


That's their stone in the foreground, slightly higher than the stone of Frank Leland (Torger and Anna's son) right next to them.

Monday, October 10, 2011

My picture is in the newspaper

...
I mentioned in my posts Day 10 of the Seaver Family History Mystery Tour and Visiting the Beaver Dam (Wisconsin) Community Library that I was at this library when a reporter was there to profile Anita Streich, one of the library employees. 

The newspaper article, In My Shoes: Librarian loves helping instill love of learning, is in the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen newspaper dated 29 September 2011, and is by Amanda Lutey.
 
The reporter took a picture of Anita and myself - it is below:



I was probably explaining to her about the Ranslow Smith Four-Mile Inn that was built in Rolling Prairie, or about finding the Mary Smith gravesite in Burnett.  Anita was very patient with me, and probably knew that Amanda was taking her picture.  I had no clue!  At least my shirt was pretty much tucked in and my zipper secured. 

Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 3: Syncing an Existing Ancestry Member Tree

...
In a comment to my post Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 2: Syncing Both Ways, on 6 October, reader Geolover asked:

"You began with importing a GEDCOM (generated by a different program) into FTM2012.  I suspect that most users would like to begin with existing AMTs (having photos and stories attached) and synchronize through FTM2012.

"However, synchronization is not possible without having a copy of some sort of the tree in FTM2012 on the desktop.  So how about trying a different tree with attached images and other files: download to FTM2012 as an FTM file, not a GEDCOM, and see how you like the results, and how well it synchs.

"Can you synchronize between the downloaded AMT in FTM2012, and the existing AMT without uploading the FTM2012-filtered genealogical compilation back to Ancestry.com?"


That is an excellent question, and I'm happy to work through the results. 

1)  I decided to use the "Randy Seaver's Genealogy Database" tree on Ancestry.com as the test vehicle for this challenge (my recollection is that this tree was uploaded in late 2009, so it is not my current tree).  While I had previously uploaded five family photographs to this tree, I had not attached any document images to the tree that were linked to Ancestry.com documents.  Therefore, before I worked on this tree, I easily attached 32 historical records to people in my tree.  I stayed away from other Ancestry Member Trees though. 

2)  I opened Family Tree Maker 2012 to the "Plan" workspace, and selected "New Tree:"


3)  The screen above shows all of the Ancestry Member Trees that I currently have on Ancestry, including "Randy Seaver's Genealogy Database."  I selected that database on the screen above, and clicked on the "Request Download" button in the "Action" column.  A window opened for me to specify the different download options I desired:


4)  I entered a file name for the FTM 2012 file, and selected to manually synchronize (as opposed to automatically synchronize) the FTM2012 file with the AMT tree.

When I clicked on "Continue," the Ancestry Member Tree downloaded to Family Tree Maker 2012.  There are over 38,000 persons in this tree.  The download to FTM2012 took almost three hours (but the media processing was not yet completed), and when I came back two more hours later, I captured the screen below:


In the screen above, the middle panel "Online Access Via Ancestry" says that the files are "In Sync."  The statistics for the database are in the left-hand panel. 

6)  Geolover asked me to comment on "see how you like the results"  Here are some screens from the "People" workspace for this FTM2012 database.  First, the Person summary for my grandfather, Frederick Walton Seaver (with his name highlighted):


From the screen above, you can see that there are check marks for Media attached to several of the Facts on the Fact list.  Five Media image icons are shown in the right-hand panel also. 

The most important thing, to me, noted on the screen above is that the Person Notes (bottom panel, below the Fact list) does not have paragraph breaks.  The Notes in my Ancestry Member Tree has quite a few paragraph breaks, so this is a significant problem, in my humble opinion.  It's probably easily fixable in the next FTM release...

7)  Next, I clicked the Media tab in the bottom panel, and the images for the five "Attached" records in the Ancestry Member Tree are there (with Frederick's name highlighted):



8)  When I click on the "Birth" Fact, then the screen below appeared:


The screen shows seven sources for the Birth Fact, with six media items.  However, with the "Media" tab clicked on the lower panel, none of the Media items are listed for the Birth Fact.  I don't understand why that is.   It seems to me to be a logical expectation that the Media for a Fact should show up in the lower panel when a Fact is highlighted.  If I click on one of the Sources for the Birth Fact, and click on the "Edit Source Citation" icon, and then the "Media" tab, the Media item sourced does appear.

9)  What about all of the Media attached to my Ancestry Member Tree?  I clicked on the "Media" workspace button and saw:


There are 37 images on the screen above, and five of them are images I had previously uploaded to Ancestry from my computer files.  The other 32 are images of records that I attached to the tree in Ancestry.com before I downloaded the AMT to FTM2012.  An eagle eye observer will note that one image, the 11th in the screen above, did not download completely, so I'll have to delete it, and go re-attach it next time I synchronize. 

The important thing to notice for the Media is that the images of the documents attached, obtained from Ancestry.com historical records, are downloaded to my computer and put into the Family Tree Maker Media file folder on my computer.  This is different from downloads using GEDCOM or directly into earlier FTM versions - the user gets the images, not just sources and links.

10)  Geolover also asked me to comment on "how well it synchs."  My answer is that it appears to synch well, although it seems to take a long time on medium sized databases like mine.  I don't know how well it will sync with thousands of media items attached to an Ancestry Member Tree - users might have to be real patient.  There are some issues with Notes and incomplete media items, as I noted above.  It works, and i'm sure that Family Tree Maker developers will continue to make it work better over the next few years.

11)  What else do you want to know about?  I have some comments on FTM2012 about reading GEDCOMs, source citations, media, and notes, and will share them in future posts.

Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Thomas Pierce (1584-1667) of Charlestown 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 Thomas Pierce (1584-1666) of Charlestown in Massachusetts Bay Colony.  He married Elizabeth --?-- (1595-1667) in about 1610 in England, and they had seven children John Pierce (1610-????); Thomas Pierce (1617-1683); Elizabeth Pierce (1619-1692); Robert Pierce (1621-1706); Persis Pierce (1626-1683); Mary Pierce (1628-1703) and Samuel Pierce (1630-1678). 

Thomas Peirce died testate in Charlestown. His will was dated 7 November 1665, and was proved 22 March 1666/7. His probate file is in Middlesex County Probate Records, Probate Packet #17,583 (accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,421,491), and includes a will and inventory. The records are also transcribed in the book Middlesex County Records of Probate and Administration, March 1660/61 - December 1670, compiled by Robert H. Rodgers, published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, 2001). The will reads:

"Cambridge in New England. november 7th 1665.

"I Thomas Peirce of Charlestowne, aged about eighty and two yeares, being throw the goodnes of the Lord of sound Judgement and memory and in some measure of bodily health do ordaine, and hereby declare my last Will and Testament in manner and forme following, vizt. my Soul which I do beleive is immortall I do desire humbly and believeingly to resigne it unto the father of Spirits, who gave it to mee, and to committ both body and soul unto the everlasting mercyes of God, the father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost. my body I desire it may be decently interred at the discretion of my loveing wife whome I do ordaine and make sole Excecutrix of this my Will, and for my outward estate wherewith the Lord hath graciously blessed mee, I do dispose thereof as followeth, vizt. to Harvard Colledge Twenty shillings to be payd within one yeare after my decease. To Mary Bridge, and Elizabeth Teffs, two of my Grand Children now dwelling with mee I do give 10 pounds a peece, to be payd by my Excecutrix as soone as shee can with convenience, but not to be compellable thereto for and dureing two years after my decease.

"The residue of my estate my just debts and funerall expences being first payd, I do give and bequeath unto my loveing wife Elizabeth, To have and to hold the same dureing her life, and at her pleasure to be helpfull to any of my Children as shee shall see meet in her discretion by giveding or lending to them any part thereof: and before her decease, I do give her power to make her will, and by the same to bequeath any part thereof by gift or legacy, as shee shall see meet, and after her decease such part thereof as shall be by her unexpended, and not disposed of by her before her decease. I do will and bequeath the same in manner following vizt. To all my Grand Children I do give ten groates a peece, and the remainder to be equally divided among my Children, my will is that the younger shall have equall with the eldest, I haveing formerly done for them according to my ability: finally I do nomminate my loveing friends, Mr Ri. Russell and Mr Thomas Danforth, and my sonne John Peirce overseers of this my will, by whose advice and consent of them or the more part of them I do give my Excecutrix full power to settle all my lands on such of my sonnes, as shall approve themselves in the feare of God, and duty to their aged mother, and on such conditions as they shall see meet. also I do nomminate Leift. Randall Nicholls to be added to my overseers above named, provided alwayes it is my declared will that my Excecutrix shall not alienate or dispose of any of my lands so as to deprive all my sonnes of the same, but I do give her power by the advice of my overseers as above is expressed to dispose of the whole to any one of my sonnes according to her discretion, but not to divide the same into parcells. In witnes whereof I do hereunto sett my hand and seale the day and yeare first above written.

"Sealed and declared by Thomas
Peirce above named, to be his   ......................................... Thomas Peirce [seal]
last will and testament
Before us
Jno. Shearman
Thomas Danforth
Jno. Marritt"

The widow deposed to the inventory on 22 March 1666/7, age 71 years. The real estate included the dwelling house with barn and out housing, with yards and orchards, all on a two acre lot (60 pounds); 12 acres of Great Lot (48 pounds); 8 acres in the Common Field (32 pounds); 6 acres of pasture land (20 pounds); 10 acres of marsh (30 pounds); 5 cow commons (30 pounds); a wood lot on Mystick Side (2 pounds), and 3 acres of rye seed and plowing land (1 pound, 10 shillings). The total estate was apprised at 413 pounds, 5 shillings.

Teffs (daughter of Peter and Mary (Pierce) Tufts, his wife, Elizabeth (age 71), and his oldest son, John Pierce.  It's too bad that the list of grandchildren is not included in the probate packet!  They were each to receive ten "groats" - according to Wikipedia, a groat in the 1660s was worth four pence.  transylvaniandutch.blogspot.com

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 2 to 8 October 2011

......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:


Social Networks: Our ancestors had them by Caroline Pointer as a guest post on the MyHeritage Blog.  What?  Social Networks didn't start with message boards and mailing lists and websites?  Excellent points here...and I love the ANCESTOR acronym! 

Is It a Bad Time to Become a Professional Genealogist? by Marian Pierre-Louis on Marian's Roots and Rambles blog.  Marian asks the question, and receives many good responses in Comments.

Working In the Garden of Genealogy: Farmers or Field Hands? by Mel Wolfgang on the Mnemosyne's Magic Mirror blog.  Mel has interesting commentary about the genealogy marketplace in response to Marian's post. 

Who’s Driving This Bus? – The Image, Industry and Future of Genealogy Is In YOUR Hands! by GeneaLady on the Just Folks blog.  Here is a well-presented response to Marian's questions. 

A Look at a Cash Entry Land File - The Summary by Michelle Goodrum on The Turning of Generations blog.  Michelle has this summary of her excellent series - if you are interested in land records, please read it and learn from it.

Carnival of Genealogy, 110th Edition by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog.  Thirteen geneabloggers contributed to this carnival on the theme of Which type of tree best represents your family history?

FamilySearch Surpasses Ancestry.com? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr. AI summarizes a David Ouimette presentation at FGS about FamilySearch imaging and indexing numbers.

Scientists Discover Virus Responsible for Genea-Skankery by Kerry Scott on the Clue Wagon blog.  All I can say is that Kerry is gifted...and funny!  We have a new word for the genea-dictionary too.

Basic Resources for Canadian Research by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com blog.  This is a great beginner's guide for Canadian research.

Meeting Bloggers I've Not Met Before by Barbara Poole on the Life from the Roots blog.  Barbara meets a bunch of genealogists at NEHGS off of the Legacy cruise - and has pictures to prove it.

Open source community: model for improved citations by Pat Richley-Erickson on DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog.  Pat summarizes the reason for and potential for the Open Source citation model at www.SourceTemplates.org

Skeletons in the Closet: Do You Let Them Out? by Susan Farrell Bankhead on Susan's Genealogy Blog.  An interesting and challenging question - and rich food for genea-blogging!

Lost in London - 1: Why is London such a problem?, Lost in London - 2: Research strategies, Lost in London - 3: Helpful websites, and Lost in London - 4: Tracing an ordinary London family  by Caroline Gurney on the Caro's Family Chronicles blog.  This is a superb short series summarizing London research! 

Isn’t an Ahnentafel all about Who the Parents Are? by Barbara Mathews on The Demanding Genealogist blog.  Barbara provides excellent examples of a professional genealogist at work.  The Tom Jones session sounds really interesting.

Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:

Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.

Monday's Link Roundup by Dan Curtis on the Dan Curtis ~ Professional Personal Historian blog,.

Links, 10.3.11 by Liz Haigney Lynch on The Ancestral Genealogist blog.

Genealogy Round Up, October 6 by Megan Smolenyak on Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog. 

Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.

Follow Friday Gems - 10-07-11 by Deb Ruth on the Adventures in Genealogy blog.

Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.

Genealogy News Corral, October 3-7 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.

Best Bytes for the Week of October 7, 2011 by Elizabeth O'Neal on the Little Bytes of Life blog.

Week In Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs 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 1060 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.