Saturday, July 7, 2012

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What is Your d'Aboville Number?



Hello Genea-philes and SNGF-philes - it's Saturday Night, time for lots more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is another genealogy software challenge - are you up to it?

1)  Do you know what a d'Aboville numbering system is?  A clear description of it is in the Encyclopedia of Genealogy here, and on Wikipedia here.  Pretty neat numbering system, isn't it?  

2)  What are your own d'Aboville numbers for your four lines of your grandparents (starting with the first known person in each grandparent's paternal line)?  Your genealogy software program may be able to help you with this (Family Tree Maker 2012, RootsMagic 5 and Legacy Family Tree 7.5 can, but Family Tree Maker 16 and earlier cannot).

3)  Tell us your own d'Aboville numbers for your four grandparent paternal lines in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, in a status line, note or comment on Facebook, or in a Google+ Plus Stream post.

4)  for extra credit, tell us how you figured out your d'Aboville numbers - which program, and the process.


Here's mine:

From Robert Seaver (1608-1683):  1.1.2.1.4.2.4.3.2.1.5.1

From John Richman (1788-1867):  1.5.1.7.5.1

From Martin Carringer (1758-1835):  1.6.2.2.1.1

From Andreas Able (????-1751):  1.4.2.2.2.3.1.1.1


How I did it in RootsMagic 5:

*  Opened RootsMagic, and clicked on the Help button and searched for "d'aboville number."  Read the information.

*  Clicked on the "Reports" menu, chose "Lists," and chose the "Descendant List" item.

*  Chose Robert Seaver (1608-1683) as the "Start person" and myself as the "Descendant." Selected d'Aboville in the "Numbering style" choices.  Made sure I had more than 12 generations selected.

*  Clicked "Create Report" and saw the report. Scrolled down to my name and copied off my d'Aboville number.

Easy, eh?  Now all I have to do is remember it so I can say I'm number 1.1.2.1.4.2.4.3.2.1.5.1 in the Robert Seaver descendants.


I also created a Descendants Report for Robert Seaver using d'Aboville numbers.  It has 920 pages...

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-what-is.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - LNU (Germany > New Jersey)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up  to number 499: Elisabeth LNU  (1731-????). [Note: The 6th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts] 

My ancestral line back to Elisabeth LNU  is:

1. Randall J. Seaver

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


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


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


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


62.  Alexander Sovereign (1814-1907)
63.  Eliza Putman (1820-1895)

124.  Frederick Sovereign (1786-1875)
125.  Mary Jane Hutchison (1792-1868)

248.  Jacob Sovereign (1759-1845)
249.  Elizabeth Pickle (1765-1849)



498.  Henry Pickel, born 15 February 1729 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States; died 05 December 1765 in Oldwick, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States.  He was the son of 996. Johann Balthasar Pickel and 997. Anna Gertrude Reiterin.  He married before 1760 in New Jersey, United States.
499.  Elisabeth, born about 1731 in New Jersey, United States.

Children of Henry Pickel and Elisabeth are:
i. Baltus Pickle, born 1760 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States; died 18 March 1760 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States.
ii. Gertraut Pickle, born about 1762 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States.
iii. Elizabeth Pickle, born 03 November 1764 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States; died 02 January 1849 in Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada; married Jacob Sovereign 01 March 1781 in Oldwick, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States.
iv. Henry Baltus Pickle, born 05 November 1765 in Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States; died 02 November 1833 in Old Trumansburgh, Tompkins, New York, United States; married Maria Schmidt before 1784 in New Jersey, United States; born 1764; died 11 March 1834 in Old Trumansburgh, Tompkins, New York, United States.

I have absolutely no clue who this Elisabeth (--?--) Pickel is, do you?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/surname-saturday-lnu-germany-new-jersey.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Friday, July 6, 2012

Benchmark Numbers for July 2012

I'm still a "numbers guy" and like to try to keep track of various numbers in the genealogy world. So this is a list of genealogy numbers as of 6 July 2012 (see the 1 January 2012 numbers at Benchmark Numbers for 1 January 2012 and the 1 January 2011 numbers at 1 January 2011 Benchmark Numbers):

1) Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com/)

*  about 2.0 million paying subscribers
* 30,722 Databases in the Card Catalog (2012: 30,482; 2011: 30,006)
*  30 million family trees with over 3.2 billion profiles
* 2,107,016,069 persons in Public Member Trees (2012: 1,838,295,985: 2011: 1,263,587,509)
* 527,913,893 persons in Private Member Trees (2012: 448,817,254; 2011: 308,674,051)

2) FamilySearch (www.Familysearch.org )

* 1,217 Historical Record Collections online (2012:  1,000; 2011: 519)
* 67,479 Research Wiki articles (2012: 65,815; 2011: 46,002)
* 396 Research Courses (2012: 252; 2011: 109)
* 82 Community Trees (2012: 67; 2011: 64)

3) Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com/)

*   138 sets of original documents (counted) (2012: 318; 2011: 509)
*   94,468,065 images online (2012: 85,413,046; 2011: 71,731,610)
*  100,974,191 Memorial Pages (2012: 100,036,579)

4) World Vital Records (www.WorldVitalRecords.com)

*  28,705 collections (2012: 28,700)
*  4.6 billion names (2012: 4.2 billion)
* 158 million record images (can't find this now)
*  100 million newspaper pages (NewspaperARCHIVE)

5) Archives.com (http://www.archives.com/)

* 300  databases (2012: 258; 2011: 140)
* 2.189,220,272  records (2012: over 1.5 billion; 2011: 1,158,738,805)

6) GenealogyBank (www.GenealogyBank.com)

* over 6,100 newspapers (2012: over 5,800; 2011: 4,600)
* over 1.23 billion records (2012: 1.0 billion; 2011: 700 million)

7) Rootsweb WorldConnect (www.Rootsweb.Ancestry.com)

* 680,050,563 persons in WorldConnect family trees (2012: 667,438,708; 2011: 630,984,813 )
* 436,338 WorldConnect databases (2012: 434,739; 2011: 430,030)
* 274,797,262  records in FreeBMD database (2012: 266,785,174; 2011: 195,536,463)

8) American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org/)

* almost 3,000 databases

9) MyHeritage (www.MyHeritage.com)

*   Over 63 million members (2012: 61,626,012 Members)
*  Over 23 million Family Trees (2012: 20,920,031; 2011: 16,306,687)
*   Over 1 billion individuals in family trees (2012: 906,702,547; 2011: 645,780,280)

10) Geni.com (www.Geni.com)

*  over 63 million users (2012: 60 million)
* over 100 million profiles in family trees
*  63,197,931 profiles in Geni's World Family Tree (2012: 60,629,166)

11) WeRelate wiki (www.WeRelate.org)

* over 2 million  persons in family tree

12)  WikiTree wiki (www.WikiTree.com)

*  48,000 WikiTreers (2012: 43,000)
*  3.6 million profiles (2012: 2.9 million)

13) Find My Past (www.FindMyPast.co.uk)

* about 750 million family history records (can't find info now)

14) Cyndi's List (www.CyndisList.com)

* 318,866 genealogy links (2012: 309,467; 2011: 291,330)

15) Linkpendium (www.Linkpendium.com)

*  10,025,338 genealogy links (2012: 9,948,990; 2011: 9,239,987)

16)  Find-A-Grave (www.FindAGrave.com:)

*  over 83 million grave records (2012: over 73 million)

17)  Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/:)

*  4,837,331 newspaper pages available (2012: 4,540,417)


18)  Rootsweb/Ancestry Mailing List Archives (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com)

*  38,802,845 messages

19)  Rootsweb/Ancestry Message Boards (http://boards.rootsweb.ancestry.com):

*  Over 17 million posts

I obtained those numbers from publicly available information on the websites. 

There are many free and subscription websites that do not publish easily findable numbers.

What other websites and what other numbers should I be benchmarking? Are some of the numbers wrong? Please tell me in Comments and I will edit the list above!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/benchmark-numbers-for-july-2012.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Follow-Up Friday - Helpful Reader Comments

It's time for another installment of Follow-Up Friday, where I highlight reader comments on my posts and offer my own pithy responses.  Or not.

1)  On Pennsylvania Probate Records on FamilySearch! (posted 27 June 2012):


*  Reader A DC Wonk noted:  "Ok, so what am I missing? When I went to "Browse through 3,197,552 images," the county of Philadelphia is not listed." and then "Sigh . . . so my next big check was going to be something in Wyoming County.  That's not listed either . . ."


*  In response, Lynn Turner AG commented:  "This collection was scanned from microfilm. If a county was microfilmed, but does NOT show up in the digital collection its because the county did not grant digital rights to FamilySearch. Please know that FamilySearch is currently looking at options to communicate collection coverage to users - thanks for your patience."


My comment:  Thank you, Lynn, for the information.  It appears, then, that the fallback is to check the microfilms for the probate record information (if it's available).  I wonder if the collection will be added to in the future.  I hope that A DC Wonk finds the records sought.


2)  On Citing an Unsuccessful Search (posted 29 June 2012):


*  Lynn Palermo asked:  "Great idea Randy, but what about for those who don't blog? Any ideas?"


*  Michelle Goodrum offered:  "For those who don't blog, write up the negative findings anyway and put a copy in your files, genealogy software, etc. Then in your article, research log or anyplace you need to reference, it you can include a citation."

*  Connie Sheets helped:  "There is nothing that prevents a citation from being a sentence, or even a short paragraph. No need to jump through hoops writing up a separate document, whether blog or otherwise, when you can write a "free-form" citation (aka footnote) explaining briefly what database you searched and the search terms you used.  Sometimes we make things a lot more complicated than they need to be."


My comments:  I like Connie's idea, and have done that on occasion.  However, the record search that turned out negative may have been quite extensive (ideally, being a reasonably exhaustive search).  In that case, using a research log list, and/or adding a research note detailing the search terms and results, as Michelle suggested, may be the best a researcher can do.  Writing it up is important, and being able to find it is important.  In my case, I would blog about it and hen be able to cite a published record (such as it is, subject to the vagaries of Internet life!).  I would also put that in my database.


3)  On Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database - Part 2 (posted 26 June 2012):


*  Carl Fields said:  "I'm writing before seeing Part 3. However, I wonder if some families have "folklore" about ancestors who were soldiers, but who do not appear in the CWSS database because they served in state militia units.


"My great-grandfather served in three different Missouri militia units (one after the other -- and all of the Union side). However, his service for only one of them (the Osage County Home Guard) is recorded in the CWSS. Records for the other two appear only in state-level records. I have a memory of once locating a web site with a database of these Missouri militia members, but I was not able to re-find it while composing this comment.

"I would expect there were others who served only in the militia organizations, and who therefore appear only on the state-level records.

"Long after the end of the war, my g-grandfather received a federal discharge (and later a federal pension) because the Osage County Home Guard apparently did something "in support of federal troops". Apparently the other units he served with later did not. My understanding is that less than 50% of the Home Guard units qualified for later pensions (I believe I saw this on a web site put up by the St. Louis public library).

"I do not know if other states had extensive state-level militias that never entered federal service."


*  Bob O'Connor commented:  "Thanks for this information. Is there a way to also find information without having a name to search? I am interested in finding US Colored soldiers who were prisoners during the Civil War. I maintain a data bases that now has 236 names. But in adding to it, I would need another way to search, perhaps a list of colored prisoners for instance.

"I have the most comprehensive list at Andersonville Prison numbering 105 with some information on every single soldier compiled in the book "The US Colored Troops at Andersonville Prison" published by Infinity Publishing in September 2010."


My comments:  Carl and Bob, I didn't write this piece, only published it.  I hope that the author, Kathy Nitsch, sees this post and responds.  

4)  On Live Blogging my Ancestry.com Survey on Hints (posted 5 July 2012):

*  Reader bgwiehle noted:  "Because I don't have an online tree on Ancestry (yet), I don't see (and can't use) the "shaky leaves". However, I do follow up on suggested related records, shown to the far right of many records. And Ancestry does track what I've downloaded and corrected/commented. I wonder if the possible "pushing" of hints would apply to someone like me as well."

My comment:  By definition, they are already "pushing" the hints with the "suggested related records," aren't they?  This also concerns one of my wonderments - are the "suggested related records" tied to what is in my Ancestry Member Tree, and the records attached to it, and are they tied to the trees of other persons with that person?   Since bgwiehle doesn't have an AMT, the answer seems to be "no," but it may be that Ancestry's "suggested related records" may be from attachments to AMTs of other researchers who have the person in their tree.

*  Jacqi Stevens commented:  "I especially value what I can find via historic newspapers, as I'm not just seeking to build a tree, but to get as 3D a picture of my ancestors as possible.  The frustrating thing, however, is that Ancestry.com seems to have geographic gaps in their newspaper collections. There are a number of cities or regions I'm researching for which they do not have any newspapers--or the gaps in their publication distribution precisely (and frustratingly!) match the very dates I need."

My comment:  I understand your frustration.  Ancestry uses, I believe, the NewspaperARCHIVE collection, and therefore the coverage is limited.  There are other online historical newspaper sites, notably GenealogyBank, Chronicling America, etc.  

*  Gerry Sell asked:  "I am confused by this:

"Q: Do you attach records that are suggested to you by Hints, i.e. those shaky green leaves on Ancestry.com?
A: Yes [but not to my genealogy database on Ancestry Member Tree...only to the ancestral, shared database on Ancestry Member Tree]

"What is the distinction between your "genealogy database" on AMT and "the ancestral, shared database" on AMT?  The same confusion arises with respect to the question about the NC death certificate."


My comment:  Sorry to be confusing...I have two major Ancestry Member Trees.  

*  "Randy Seaver's Genealogy Database" includes all of my ancestral research - my own ancestral families, my wife's ancestral families, my one name studies for Seaver, Carringer, Auble, Vaux, Dill, Buck, Remley, McKnew, etc.  I don't attach Hints to this database, but I do use the Hints to find records occasionally.

*  "Seaver-Leland Family Tree" includes only the ancestral families of my wife and myself, back 12 generations.  I have this tree synced to my iPhone, and use it to invite my relatives (brothers, children, cousins) to participate in the tree.  I do attach Hints to this database, and review the record images and copy them to my ancestral files from time to time.  

Thank you to my readers for their helpful comments!  


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Live Blogging my Ancestry.com Survey on Hints

I received an email the other day from Ancestry.com wanting my input on Ancestry.com Hints.  I thought that I would share the questions and my response with my readers:

Q:  How would you describe your level of experience with family history? 
A:  I can help others.

Q:  How would you describe your level of Internet experience?
A:  I’m so good at it that I can help others. [as long as they are not IT folks]

Q:  How long have you been using the Internet to find information for your family tree?
A:  More than 10 years [20 years]

Q:  How long have you been working on your family tree?
A:  More than 10 years [24 years]

Q:  Do you have an online tree on Ancestry.com?
A:  Yes [Several]

Q:  Do you attach records that are suggested to you by Hints, i.e. those shaky green leaves on Ancestry.com?
A:  Yes [but not to my genealogy database on Ancestry Member Tree...only to the ancestral, shared database on Ancestry Member Tree]

Q:  Would you like help in knowing which Hint for a person you should start with?
A:  No [I can figure it out for myself...]

Q:  Would you like suggestions on which person you should work on next in your tree?
A:  Yes [I think I can figure it out, but this might be useful]

Q:  When you attach a record from a shaky leaf, what do you most hope to find? (Put in order of importance.)
A:  
1.  A new generation for my tree; parents I don't know about
2.  New people for my tree other than parents
3.  Military information about my ancestors
4.  Information on where my ancestor lived.
5.  A story about my ancestor
6.  Information about what my ancestor did for a living
7.  Physical description of my ancestor
8.  My ancestor's signature
9.  A photo of my ancestor
10)  Where my ancestors came from; what their ethnic background is.


Q:  When you look for information about your ancestors, do you: (choose all that apply)
A:  Use information provided by Hints; Use information from records I have found; Use information from records not on Ancestry.com

Q:  Do you ever look for information on your ancestors that is not on Ancestry.com?
A:  Yes [What a stupid question!  We all know that Ancestry.com has a limited selection of records...]

Q:  Do you understand how to get the information you find that is not on Ancestry.com  into your tree?
A:  Yes [Enter extracted or transcribed information into Person, Place, Date, Source, Note and Media fields in my genealogy software of choice.  Occasionally update the Ancestry Member Tree via sync or GEDCOM.  It's the same process I use to add Ancestry.com information into my genealogy software.]

Q:  In this Hint for a North Carolina death certificate, would you:
A:  Look at the image before I merge it into my tree [but I wouldn't add it to my genealogy database in AMT]

Q:  In the above Hint would it be helpful to see identified  (choose as many as apply):
A:  Information in the record that is not in your tree; Information that conflicts with what you have in your tree; Information that is the same as is in your tree

Q:  Do you have more than one family tree on Ancestry.com? If so, why?  Select all that apply
A:  I have different sharing settings for one tree vs. another (for example, one tree is public and the other is private); I conduct different types of research activities on one tree vs. another (for example, one tree is strictly for records-based research and the other is for un-sourced information) [I have a number of trees, my shared ancestry database for cousins/siblings/children; my genealogy database; several for research I've done for others; several that I am an editor or contributor or guest on]

Q:  What else would you like to see from Ancestry.com that would help you find information to grow your family tree?
A:  More original source records!  Land deeds, probate records, court records, military pension records, city directories, historical newspapers, etc.

What would you have answered for that last question?  

From this survey, some people might think that Ancestry.com is planning to "push" Hints to the subscriber using either the Ancestry.com message system or the subscriber's email address.  


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver


Finding James Vaux Probate Records in Erie County, New York

I noticed yesterday that Leah, on her Leah's Family Tree blog, provided an excellent tutorial on using the New York Probate Records, 1629-1971 on FamilySearch - see Navigating New York Probate Records on FamilySearch.  I missed this record collection when it was released on 23 June 2012.  

I wanted to find any information on the Vaux family that settled in the late 1830s in Aurora, Erie County, New York.  James and Mary (Palmer) Vaux are my 4th great-grandparents, and their son, Samuel Vaux, married Mary Ann Underhill there.  

In the New York Probate Records, 1629-1971 collection, there are a number of collections for Erie County.  Here is a list of the collections available at present:



There are four sets of records:

*  Estate Index, 1800-1929
*  Letters of administration, 1826-1901
*  Letters of testamentary, 1832-1900
*  Wills and administrations, 1819-1832

In the Estate Index list, I selected the "Estate Index, 1800-1929, Sm-V" collection and tried to find the list for the Vaux surname, by plugging image numbers into the search box.  Here is the top of Image 349:


The first listing on this page is for a James Vaux, in Probate Case Number 23181, filed 30 September 1839.   It notes that there is an entry in the Letters of Administration files, Volume 2, Page 340, and an Inventory filed in 1840.

I went back to the Erie County list of collections, and selected the "Letters of Administration, 1826-1840, Volume 2" collection.  I found Volume 2, Page 340 on Image 690 of 765:



This is the Letter of Administration naming Mary Vaux (wife), James Vaux (James), and John P. Vaux (son)  as the administrators of James Vaux, recently deceased.

Unfortunately, the actual contents of the Probate Case File are not available.  Perhaps they will be added as more records are added to this collection in later volumes of the Wills and Administrations.  

One thing I noticed was that the records in the Estate Files index is that the surnames are not in alphabetical order.  They are in date order for a given letter combination - in the case of Vaux it was VAR through VAY.  All of the VAN names were listed on earlier pages.

I listed all of the Vaux and Underhill entries in the Estate Files list and will check them all to see if I can glean vital information and relationship information from them.  When the Wills and Administration files are available, I will look through them.  Hopefully, the James Vaux records will be found and will help define his family members.

My thanks to Leah for finding the collection and providing an excellent tutorial.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/finding-james-vaux-probate-records-in.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - 1920 U.S. Census Record for Frederick W. Seaver Family

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1920 United States Census record for my grandparents and their family in Leominster, Massachusetts:





A closeup of the Seaver family entry:




The extracted information for the family, residing at 290 Central Street, is:

*  Frederick W. Seaver -- head, rents home, male, white, age 42, married, can read and write, born Massachusetts, father and mother born Massachusetts, can speak English, superintendent in a comb shop, a salaried employee
*  Bessie R. Seaver -- wife, female, white, age 38, married, can read and write, born Connecticut, father born England, mother born Connecticut, can speak English, no occupation
*  Marion F. Seaver -- daughter, female, white, age 18, single, attended school since Sept. 1919, can read and write, born Massachusetts, father born Massachusetts, mother born Connecticut, can speak English, no occupation

*  Evelyn Seaver -- daughter, female, white, age 16, single, attended school since Sept. 1919, can read and write, born Massachusetts, father born Massachusetts, mother born Connecticut, can speak English, no occupation
*  Ruth W. Seaver -- daughter, female, white, age 12, single, attended school since Sept. 1919, can read and write, born Massachusetts, father born Massachusetts, mother born Connecticut, can speak English, no occupation
*  Frederick W. Seaver, Jr. -- son, male, white, age 8, single, attended school since Sept. 1919, can not read and write, born Massachusetts, father born Massachusetts, mother born Connecticut, can speak English, no occupation
*  Edward R. Seaver -- son, male, white, age 6, single, attended school since Sept. 1919, can not read and write, born Massachusetts, father born Massachusetts, mother born Connecticut, can speak English, no occupation  
*  Geraldine Seaver -- daughter, female, white, age 2, single, did not attend public school, cannot read and write, born Massachusetts, father born Massachusetts, mother born Connecticut, cannot speak English


The source citation for the census image is:

1920 United States Federal Census, Worcester County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Leominster, Enumeration District 102, sheet 14A, dwelling #175, family #288, Frederick W. Seaver household; online image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T625, Roll 747.

I consider the 1920 U.S. Census records to be an "Original Source" (because this "family snapshot" in January 1920 is in its first written form); as "Secondary Information" (since we don't know who provided the information - although it was probably Bessie Seaver), and as "Indirect Evidence" for most of the information (the exception being the home address, the names of the children, the birthplaces, and Fred's occupation which were certainly known by the informant).  

The only error I see in this record is the age of Frederick W. Seaver, who was born in October 1876, and was age 43 (not 42) on 1 January 1920.  Fred's wife, Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver usually was known as Bessie rather than as Alma.  

This census record is the only "complete" list of this family (except for the son, Stanley, who died in 1910) with everyone's name spelled and indexed correctly.  

The surprise I have is that my father, Frederick Jr., cannot yet read or write at age 8.  

I knew that the family rented (actually it was provided by the company rent-free, according to my uncle and aunt) at 290 Central Street in Leominster.  Fred Seaver was the superintendent of the comb factory (combs made of celluloid) adjacent to this house.  


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 212: Baby Geraldine Seaver

 I am posting photographs from my family collections for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday (you know me, I can't go wordless!).    

Here is a photograph from the Geraldine Seaver Remley family collection handed down from my aunt in 2007
 after her passing.




Geraldine Seaver was the seventh child of Frederick Walton and Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver, and was born in May, 1917.  The note on the back of this photograph says she is age 18 months in this picture, so it was probably taken in late 1918 in Leominster, Massachusetts.  I have several pictures of Gerry wearing this hair bow over several years.  The original print is significantly damaged, and I cropped some of the damage from this image.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-212-baby.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Eleven Score and Sixteen Years Ago -- Happy Birthday, America!

Eleven score and sixteen years ago our forefathers brought forth a new country...it's our Nation's BIRTHDAY!!






What a magnificent work that Thomas Jefferson penned ... see the text here.




And the Trumbull painting of the presentation of the Declaration to the Continental Congress...





Thank you, gentlemen. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Freedom and liberty are so precious. May our leaders be wise enough to preserve it, and may our citizens be brave enough to defend it.

For the Seaver folks in Chula Vista, today will be a day of rest. Randy will fly home from visiting his daughter and grandsons in Santa Cruz, Linda will pick him up at the airport after lunch with friends, and we will go to church for a picnic with friends after 4 p.m., capped by the fireworks display at 8:30 p.m. over the Country Club grounds - less than a quarter mile away. Big booms.

On the genealogy front, I will read a bit, not work on a presentation, and not do anything to add to my genealogy database.  The fun begins on Thursday, because I still have two new presentations to complete for 14 July and to prepare for my OASIS class on Monday

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

I Don't Go To Conferences All the Time

Marian Pierre-Louis posted How Do Y'all Manage to go to Conferences All the Time?! today, wondering how geneabloggers and their readers go to conferences.

Here are some of my thoughts:

1)  We are retired and are on a fixed income - two pensions and Social Security, with nothing to "tie us down."  Family takes priority - we love to visit with our daughters and grandchildren. 

2)  I have local society commitments as research chair and newsletter editor for CVGS, program summaries for SDGS newsletter, and attend CVGS, SDGS and CGSSD programs when possible.  In addition, I teach a four-session "Beginning Computer Genealogy" class at OASIS (a senior adult education center) three times a year, and speak 8 to 12 times a year around Southern California.  So, I do have some blackout times each month.

3)  We have the time and enough income to take several vacations a year - using perhaps 10% of our income. In general, we agreed to do conference vacations together and enjoy the events, our colleagues, and ourselves.  When there's an opportunity, we plan the conference trips so that we can do research in repositories, visit ancestral areas, and see cousins and friends.  However, our income is not enough to afford every conference or institute, so we plan and choose.

4) There are four major conferences (NGS, FGS, RootsTech, SCGS), many state or regional conferences, and even genealogy cruises that I would love to attend. Then there's the weeklong genealogy institutes (IGHR, NIGR, SLIG, GRIP, etc.) that I have not attended.

5)  The plan each year now is to attend at least two major conferences, and sometimes three, and almost always one of them is the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree because the travel costs are relatively low.  This year, it was RootsTech and then the Legacy Family Tree cruise in Europe.  In 2011, it was SCGS and FGS in Springfield, Illinois, with a trip to Fort Wayne, Michigan, Wisconsin and Chicago.  In 2010, it was SCGS and NGS in Salt Lake City.

6)  As a geneablogger, one of the perks has been to be an official conference blogger, which in the past has included free or reduced registration fees, and sponsored meals, programs and gifts.  Some of these perks may be eliminated in the coming years.  Frankly, the major perk for me is the camaraderie with my geneablogging and industry colleagues.  We have a lot of fun while blogging, talking, eating and drinking together.  There are always laughs, a lot of support, and, um, unplanned fun.  We gravitate to each other, and have a wonderful accepting community that includes spouses, significant others, and friends.

7)  Travel costs can be reduced by making reservations early enough to get discounted rates.  We use Southwest Airlines a lot because it's convenient and goes almost everywhere we want to go, and bags fly free. 

8)  Hotel room costs are the biggest expense for us.  SCGS Jamboree is expensive, so we stay only two or three nights.  NGS and FGS have tried, in recent years, to go to mid-sized cities rather than big metropoli in order to reduce hotel room costs.  Salt Lake City is relatively inexpensive near the FHL.  For those on a budget, sharing a room with 1, 2 or 3 others is an option.  It's not for us.

9)  We typically avoid the evening banquets and sponsored lunches, mainly because of Linda's dietary issues but also due to the cost.  We made an exception at Jamboree this year and enjoyed the Hollywood Gala which is mostly social networking rather than presentation while sitting at a table eating rubber chicken.

10)  Some attendees defray their registration, hotel and travel expenses by making presentations at conferences.  These presentations can then be used at local and regional programs or seminars.  However, there is a significant lead time for applying for and being approved of the speaking gig.  I don't do this, yet...mainly because of the lead time involved.

11)  We avoid car rentals unless we are going off on a research trip, and then it becomes an unavoidable expense to be factored in.

12) Having streaming video, and subsequent access to them, is a way for those who cannot afford the expense of a conference, along with webinars, is the best opportunity for distance learning.  They haven't affected attendance at RootsTech or Jamboree as far as I can tell!   Of course, local programs and seminars are an option also for genealogy education.

So there you have it - why and how we go to conferences.

What about you?  Why and how do you make conferences, and institutes, work for you?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/i-dont-go-to-conferences-all-time.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Check Out the Evidence Explained website

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Check out the content - especially the articles and forums, on Elizabeth Shown Mills www.EvidenceExplained.com website.

Elizabeth Shown Mills is a well-known and highly respected author, editor and professional genealogist in the United States and the entire world.  She recently created a website called Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Source and Citation Usage (www.evidenceexplained.com)  to highlight her book about citing sources from artifacts to cyberspace.


The site has a number of very useful features:

*  The Home Page provides links to eight QuickLesson articles that highlight different aspects of record use, evidence analysis and source citation.

*  The Book Content tab has links to the Foundation chapters, Resource chapters (but not all are hot-linked).

*  The Sample Text Pages tab has some sample Pages from the book.

*  The Sample QuickCheck tab has sample QuickCheck source citation model templates.

*  The Forums tab has links to three separate forums where readers can ask questions and discuss these topics:  Citation Issues; Evidence Analysis Issues; Record Use and Interpretation.  Users have to register and/or login in order to post comments.

Elizabeth also has a Facebook page for Evidence Explained at https://www.facebook.com/evidenceexplained where she posts daily about the record, evidence and source issues.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/07/tuesdays-tip-check-out-evidence.html


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Monday, July 2, 2012

237th Independence Day Graphic from Geni.com

Geni.com makes wonderful graphics for the holidays and special events.  They have this one for the 237th  Independence Day:of the United States (it is the 236th birthday...):

Create your family tree on Geni for free, and connect to the World Family Tree
to find out if you're related to any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Amanuensis Monday - Account Schedules for Nellie Seaver's Estate

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 the final account for the estate of Nellie M. Seaver (1861-1933) of Leominster, Massachusetts.  Nellie was the daughter of Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver, and never married.  Nellie Seaver died 26 June 1933 in Leominster, and her will was filed on 30 June 1933 and allowed 18 July 1933. Her executor was her nephew, Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942), son of her brother Frank Walton Seaver.  I posted the will in 
Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Nellie M. Seaver (1861-1933), and the court approved Account record in 
Amanuensis Monday - Final Account of Nellie Seaver's Estate.

Two schedules in the executor's account were included in the Final Account record, so I will transcribe them here.  Although they are tables in the original, it is difficult to create a table in Blogger, so I'm going to set the amount off by several periods below.  The transcription (with typewritten text underlined) of the two account schedules are:

Schedule A.

1. Amount of person property, according to inventory, 
2.   or Balance of next prior account .......................................................... $10,437.87
3.  Amounts received from income, gain on sale of personal property
4.  1933  over appraised value and from other property, as follows:
5.  July 13.  Interest, Leominster Savings Bank, #8871 ........................................... 30.73
6.  July 15.  Interest, Hudson Savings Bank, #22582 .............................................. 17.86
7.  Aug. 18.  Dividend, Leominster Co-operative Bank ........................................... 20.00
8.  Aug. 18.  Dividend, Leominster Co-operative Bank ........................................... 12.00
9.  Oct. 1.  Interest, Worcester North Savings Institution, #52075 ........................... 21.71
10.
11.  Oct. 16.  Interest, Clinton Savings Bank, Account #40426 ..............................  13.20
12.  Nov. 27. Dividend, Leominster Co-operative Bank .........................................  20.00
13.   1934
14.  Jan. 1.  Interest, Worcester North Savings Institution , #52075 ........................  7.69
15.
16.  Jan. 15.  Interest, Hudson Savings Bank, #22582 ...........................................  18.16
17.  Feb. 28.  Interest, Leominster Savings Bank, #8871 .......................................  31.32
18.  Apr. 1.  Interest, Worcester North Savings Institution, #52075 .......................  7.96
19.
20. ................................................................................................................ $10,638,75


Schedule B.

....... 1933.  Showing payments, charges, losses and distributions.
1.  Aug. 15.  Charles H. Richardson Company, undertakers .............................  410.00
2.  Leominster Hospital ....................................................................................    80.00
3.  Esther Massey, nursing ...............................................................................    40.00
4.  Dr. J.J. Curley, professional services ...........................................................  128.00
5.  Fred W. Boynton, witnessing will ....................................................................  5.00
6.  Unitarian Church Quartette, music at funeral ................................................... 25.00
7.  Reverend George A. Mark, funeral services ................................................... 25.00
8.  Hattie E. Brown, organist at funeral ................................................................ 10.00
9.  Charles W. Rumrill, janitor services at funeral .................................................  5.00
10.  Dr. A.A. Wheeler, professional services ....................................................... 17.00
11.  Aug. 21.  Frederic T. Blanchard, partial distribution .................................... 250.00
12.  Laurence C. Blanchard, partial distribution ................................................. 250.00
13.  Frederick W. Seaver, partial distribution .................................................... 250.00
14.  Harry C. Seaver, final distribution ............................................................... 250.00
15.  Edith J. (Russell) Taylor, final distribution .................................................... 250.00
16.  Aug. 30.  Frank S. Farnsworth, Appraiser ..................................................... 5.00
17.  Oct. 17.  City of Leominster, repairing cemetery lot ...................................... 30.00
18.  Leominster Granite & Marble Works, monument
19.  ... foundation and five markers .................................................................... 350.00
20.  Frederic T. Blanchard, final distribution ....................................................... 750.00
21.  Laurence C. Blanchard, final distribution ..................................................... 750.00
22.  Frederick W. Seaver, final distribution ........................................................ 750.00
23.  Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Income Tax 1931, 1932, 1933 .............   4.16
24.
25.  Nov. 27.  Emma E. Seaver, partial distribution ............................................  300.00
26.  Cathryn Morse, partial distribution .............................................................  300.00
27.  Ida W. Preble, partial distribution ..............................................................  300.00
28.  Alice P. Carpenter, partial distribution .......................................................  300.00
29.  Irene I. Taylor, partial distribution .............................................................  300.00
30.  Nellie M. Emerton, partial distribution .......................................................  300.00
31.  Lillian A. Emerton, partial distribution ........................................................  300.00
.... 1934
32.  Feb. 25.  Frederick W. Seaver, part of fee as executor .............................  175.00
33.  Eleanor Morse, gold piece ...........................................................................  10.00
34.  Cathryn Morse, furniture, clothing and jewelry .............................................  32.25
35.
36.  May 28.  Frederick W. Seaver, balance of fee as executor .........................  35.32
37.
38.  J. Ward Healey, fee as attorney ................................................................ 156.20
39.  J. Ward Healey, disbursements: Register of Probate, entry fee ....................  3.00
40.
41.  Leominster Daily Enterprise, citation ...........................................................  3.50
42.  Certificate of death .....................................................................................  0.25
43.
44.  Emma E. Seaver Estate, final distribution .................................................. 491.16
45.  Cathryn Morse, final distribution .............................................................. 491.16
46.  Ida W. Preble, final distribution ................................................................ 491.16
47.  Alice P. Carpenter, final distribution ......................................................... 491.16
48.  Irene I. Taylor, final distribution ................................................................ 491.16
49.  Lillian A. Emerton, final distribution .......................................................... 491.16
50.  Nellie M. Emerton, final distribution ......................................................... 491.16
51.  Tax on checks ............................................................................................  0.80
52.  Tax on withdrawal of bank account, Clinton Savings Bank ..........................  0.02
........................................................................................................ ______________
............................................................................................................... $ 10,638.75

In the end, Nellie's estate was worth over $8,000 to her heirs.  The executor's fee was over $210, or about 2% of the estate.  

From this list, we can see what a funeral and burial in Leominster, Massachusetts cost in 1933.  

Nellie is buried in Evergreen Cemetery with her father Isaac Seaver, her mother Lucretia T. (Smith) Seaver, her brother Benjamin Seaver, and Isaac's first wife, Juliette (Glazier) Seaver.  

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver