Saturday, August 11, 2012

Genealogy Fun with the SNGF Genea-Lympics - Week 3

The Saturday Night Genealogy Fun(SNGF) Genea-lympics ARE ON...a friendly competition (mainly against myself...) - see Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF Genealympics I,  Week 2 and Week 3 for details, how to compete, etc.  See Announcing the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games! for the 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games events and medals.  It is not necessary to post only on a Saturday or to complete everything in one evening or one week. This can be an effort over two weeks.

1)  Here is my competition flag:




2)  I committed two weeks ago to several long term events.  Here are my results in those events:


a.  In the "Go Back and Cite Your Sources" event (see definition in Announcing the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games !), I started the event with 29,178 source citations.  As of today, I have 29,375 Source citations, which is good for a Platinum Medal!

b.  In the "Organize Your Research" event (see definition in Announcing the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games !), I performed these tasks:

* Copied, then labelled more than 20 digital files (of scanned documents) from my Scan 2012 file folder into my Ancestor Files>Surname>FamilyName>Documents file folders.

*  Copied, then labelled more than 20 digital photographs from my Old Pictures file folder into my Ancestor Files>Surname>FamilyName>Photographs file folders.

*  Created over 280 Events in my genealogy database since 31 July 2012.

These three achievements earned me a Gold Medal.

c.  In the "Research Plan" event (see definition in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF Genealympics I), I completed only one Research Plan:

*  See Research Summary - Joshua Smith of Brookline, NH.  However, it is not really a research plan, is it?  I just realized that!  So I did not qualify for a medal.  Now I'm glad I didn't do five of them...

3)  From this week's three new Events (see Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF Genealympics- Week 3), here are my entries:

a.  In the "1940 U.S. Census Race" event, I have found the Virgil Carringer family in previous work.  I will post the medal winners in a separate post.  I will not compete in this event.

b.  In the "Online Person Search for Facts" event, I have found all of those items (except one!) in previous work, and will not compete in this event.

c.  In the "Genealogy Book Collection" event, I don't have The Source, Red Book, or Carmack's Organizing book, so I have 12 out of the 15.  The Source and Red Book are on the Ancestry.com Family History Wiki so I have online access to them, but I don't "own" them.  Therefore, I earned a Diamond Medal.

4)  So the Medal Count for this week is:

1 Gold
1 Diamond
1 Platinum.

5)  The Medal count for the three weeks is:

0 Bronze
1 Silver
4 Gold
3 Diamond
2 Platinum

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/genealogy-fun-with-sngf-genea-lympics_11.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF Genealympics- Week 3

It's Saturday Night again, time for lots more Genealogy Fun, but also the 2012 Summer Olympics are on all day for 2 more days!!! 


Long time  readers of Genea-Musings and other genea-blogs will recall the 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games, created by Thomas MacEntee, Kathryn Doyle and Miriam Midkiff - see the competition categories here.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to COMPETE in the 2012 SNGF Genealympics. Your effort can extend until Sunday, 12 August. 

For these 2012 SNGF Genealympics, the motto is "Research, Cite, Analyze, Resolve, Conclude!"  


Competitors can:

1)  Perform one or more of the challenges outlined in Announcing the Summer 2008 Genea-Blogger Group Games!  Same medal levels.

2)  Perform one or more challenges outlined below (created by me on the spur of the moment here!): 


a)  See the 28 July post - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF  - Genealympics I - compete in any or all of the events described. 


b)  See the 4 August post - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - the SNGF Genealympics, Week 2 - compete in any or all of the additional events described.

c)  New Event:  1940 Census Search Race:  Search for the family of Virgil Carringer (age 26, born TN), wife Evelyn (age 31, born OK), and daughter Marie (age 4, born CA).  

*  Email me at rjseaver@cox.net with your findings, including a complete source citation.
*  First correct one submitted gets the Platinum, second gets the Diamond, third gets the Gold, fourth gets the Silver and fifth gets the Bronze.  Others get experience searching census records and creating source citations.
*  Winners announced on Sunday, 12 August.

d)  New Event:  Online Person Search for Facts:  Search for information about Jane (Whittle) McKnew, who married Elijah Pickrell McKnew.  Find Facts for:

*  Her birth date and birth place
*  Her parents names
*  Her marriage date and place
*  The names of all 11 of her children 
*  Her entry in the 1860 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1870 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1880 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1900 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her entry in the 1910 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her name in the 1920 U.S. census - name, age, location, head of household
*  Her death date and place

Provide some sort of source citation for each Fact in order to qualify for a medal.

Medal Awards:

*  Bronze - 2 of the 11 Facts
*  Silver - 4 of the 11 Facts
*  Gold - 6 of the 11 Facts
*  Diamond - 8 of the 11 Facts
*  Platinum - 10 of the 11 Facts

e)  New Event:  Genealogy Book Collection:  Which of these books do you have on your genealogy bookshelf (or in PDF format on your computer)?

*  Professional Genealogy, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills
*  Evidence! Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills
*  The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, any edition
*  Red Book: American State, County and Town Resources, edited by Alice Eichholz
*  Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, by Val Greenwood
*  Who Do You Think You Are? by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
*  Courthouse Research for Family Historians, by Christine Rose
*  They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins, by Loretto Dennis Szucs
*  Your Guide to the Federal Census, by Kathleen W. Hinckley
*  Land & Property Research in the United States, by E. Wade Hone
*  The Sleuth Book for Genealogists, by Emily Anne Croom
*  Google Your Family Tree, by Daniel M. Lynch
*  Producing a Quality Family History, by Patricia Law Hatcher
*  Organizing Your Family History Search, by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
*  BCG Genealogical Standards Manual

I realize that those are "American-centric."  Sorry!

Medal Awards:

*  Bronze:  5 of the 15 above
*  Silver:  7 of the 15 above
*  Gold:  9 of the 15 above
*  Diamond: 11 of the 15 above
*  Platinum: 13 of the 15 above

NOTE:  This is supposed to be a fun competition, and is based on your word and honor.  No drug tests, no judges.  The intent is to inspire you to do more research, cite more sources, analyze more data, etc.  Bonus points awarded for excellence in humor and style!

3)  Whatever you choose to compete in, please tell us about it in your own blog posts, in Facebook Status posts, in Google+ Stream posts, or as a comment to this post.  You don't have to post your status or accomplishments on a Saturday Night!  Any time is fine! You have until Sunday, 12 August to compete and achieve your medal levels.

I will post mine later tonight!

The URL for this post is: 
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-sngf_11.html 

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - CAMPBELL (???? > New Jersey)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  I am up to number 511: Sarah Campbell (1746-1838). [Note: The 6th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].  This completes my 6th Great-Grandmothers!

My ancestral line back to Sarah Campbell and perhaps her father 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) 


126.  John Putman (1785-1863)
127.  Sarah Martin (1792-1860) 

254.  Mulford Martin (1763-????)
255.  Betsey Rolfe (1766-????)

510.  Ephraim Rolfe, born 1743 in probably Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died 27 May 1818 in Ithaca, Tompkins, New York, United States.  He was the son of 1020. Jonathan Rolph and 1021. Hester.  He married  about 1762 in probably Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States.
511.  Sarah Campbell, born about 1745 in Pennsylvania, United States; died 14 September 1838 in Ithaca, Tompkins, New York, United States.  

Children of Ephraim Rolfe and Sarah Campbell are:
i. Mercy Rolfe, born 1763 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; married Daniel Taylor; born in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States.
ii. Betsey Rolfe, born 1766 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; married Mulford Martin about 1788 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States.
iii. Phoebe Rolfe, born 1766 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; married Timothy Rose; born in New York, United States.
iv. Mary Rolfe, born 1769 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; married Daniel Leavens.
v. Robert Rolfe, born 1771 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; married Alcha Burlew before 1793 in probably Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States.
vi. Jonathan Rolfe, born 17 April 1773 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died 03 March 1851 in Enfield, Tompkins, New York, United States; married Susannah Ellison 30 May 1799 in Cheesequake, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; born 10 April 1771 in Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died 14 May 1840 in Enfield, Tompkins, New York, United States.
vii. Samuel Rolfe, born 18 February 1775 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died 16 November 1845 in Enfield, Tompkins, New York, United States; married Hannah Ellison 14 July 1799 in Cheesequake, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; born 04 January 1779 in Cheesequake, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died 25 October 1857 in Enfield, Tompkins, New York, United States.
viii. Jemima Rolfe, born 1778 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died 03 October 1848 in Yorkville, Racine, Wisconsin, United States; married Aaron Bennett; born about 1770; died about 1830.
ix. Ann Rolfe, born 1783 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; died about 1793 in Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States.

1022.  Robert Campbell, born about 1720 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Child of Robert Campbell is:
i. Sarah Campbell, born 1746 in Pennsylvania, United States; died 14 September 1838 in Ithaca, Tompkins, New York, United States; married Ephraim Rolfe about 1762 in probably Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States.

I have absolutely no other information about Robert Campbell, his parents, his siblings, his spouse's name, or any other children.  There seems to be no other information about him or the Internet in records, family trees, or web pages.  

To make matters worse, this is my own mitochondrial DNA (matrilineal) line.  My mitochondrial DNA test indicated Ireland or the British Isles.  Campbell certainly fits!  

If anyone has information about Robert Campbell, please contact me at rjseaver@cox.net.  

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Friday, August 10, 2012

Finding My Folks In the 1940 U.S. Census - Post 4: the Leland Line

In my previous posts, I found some of my Seaver, Richmond and Carringer family members in the 1940 U.S.Census on Ancestry.com, but not all of them.  My grandmother was missing, as was my uncle Edward R. Seaver.  See Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com - Post 1: Seaver LineFinding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com - Post 2: Richmond Line, and Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. census - Post 3: The Carringer Line.

In this post, I'm going to look for my wife's Leland relatives.  Her parents, Leo Severt Leland (1911-2002) and Edna May Schaffner (1913-1979) had siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins.  I made a list of the Leland (and related) relatives to search for in the 1940 U.S. Census.  I'll do the Schaffner relations in the next post.  Here is my list, and what I found: 


1)  Leo S. Leland (1911-2002, Linda's father) and his wife Edna Leland (1913-1979, Linda's mother) resided at 1295 Irving Street, Apartment 12, in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California.  



Leo went by Lee all of his life, and is enumerated as Lee.  There are no enumeration or indexing errors in this entry.

2)  Severt Oliver Leland (1878-1940, Linda's grandfather) and his wife Amelia Anna (Brocke) Leland  (1884-1975, Linda's grandmother) were said to be residing in San Francisco, at 1287 37th Avenue,  at the time of the 1940 U.S. Census.  I managed to find them ONLY by searching the ED - see my post 1940 U.S. Census Lessons Learned - Read the Whole ED.  Here is the snippet from the image:



As you can see, the family surname was enumerated as Sebert rather than Leland.  I would have found this in an index search only by searching for a first name of the wife or daughters.  These are 5 enumerator errors (assuming that Amelia provided the correct information!).

3)  Sigmond Virag (1905-1981) and his wife (Evelyn (Leland) Virag (1905-1991, Linda's aunt) resided at 1038 Santiago Street in San Francisco with their two children.  



There are no enumeration or indexing errors in this entry.

4)  Harold Leland (1908-1996, Linda's uncle) and his wife, Frances (Provenzano) Leland (1906-1989) resided at 270 Chenery Street in San Francisco with their daughter.



There are no enumeration or indexing errors in this entry as far as I can tell, except the ages for Harold and Frances are several years off.  

5)  Edwin M. Leland (1877-1966, brother of Severt) and Louise (Waite) Leland (1886-1972) resided in Moses Lake, Grant County, Washington with their daughter and son-in-law.  



There are no enumeration or indexing errors in this entry as far as I can tell.

6)  Theodore Leland (1883-1964, brother of Severt) and his son Edwin, son George and George's wife resided in the Central Park Tourist Camp in Belgrade, Gallatin County, Montana.  Theodore is divorced.



I don't see any enumeration errors, but Theodore was indexed on Ancestry as "Theodor."  I think that I would have indexed him as "Theodore."

7)  Mabelle E. (Leland) McKenzie (1885-1973, sister of Severt) and her husband George S. McKenzie (1873-1944)  resided on Pentz Road in Kimshew, Butte County, California.



Mabelle is enumerated as "Mabel" and the surnames are enumerated as "MacKenzie" rather than "McKenzie."  I'm going to count these as two enumeration errors, assuming Mabel told the enumerator how to spell the names.  Or she didn't ...

8)  Lewis F. Leland (1887-1947, brother of Severt) and his wife Florence (1889-????) were not found in the 1940 U.s. Census despite using all of my search tricks.  Florence may have died by 1940, I don't know.  Lewis died in 1947 in San Francisco.  

I will count this as 1 missed person.

9)  Arthur H. Leland (1890-1976, brother of Severt), wife Mary Malvina (Whitley) Leland (1893-1979), and their daughter Beverly resided in Okanogan, Okanogan County, Washington.  



Arthur is enumerated and indexed as "A.H. and Mary Malvina is enumerated as "Vina."  These are not enumerator errors, but informant errors.

10)  Anna Ruth (Leland) Krall (1893-1988, sister of Severt) and her husband Edwin Krall (1893-1983) resided in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on Lamont Avenue (no address).  



The enumerator listed them as "Kroll" rather than "Krall."  These are two enumerator or informant errors.

The tally for this set of 1940 US Census records on Ancestry.com are:

*  13 correctly enumerated and indexed
*  2 missing from the census (or I can't find them)
*  9 erroneous enumeration entries
*  1 erroneous index entry
 

The URL for this post is:  
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/finding-my-folks-in-1940-us-census-post_10.html 

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Follow-Up Friday - Helpful and Interesting Reader Comments

It';s Friday, time for more helpful and interesting reader comments to the previous week's Genea-Musings posts.  And my responses, when appropriate:

1)  On Source Citations Created by Ancestry.com Mobile App (2 August 2012):

*  Kendall Hulet (of Ancestry.com) said:  "Thanks for this feedback, Randy - we're looking into it."

My comment:  Great, thanks, Kendall.  My experience in recent years is that Ancestry has been fairly responsive to squeaky wheels like me on issues pertaining to their products.

2)  On Tuesday's Tip - Use ArchiveGrid to Find Archival Collections (7 August 2012):

*  Celia Lewis asked:  "am I right that this site is only open to subscriptions by organizations, libraries, societies, etc.? Searching it was interesting, found a few relevant items... Well worth the effort."

*  Gena Ortega helpfully responded:  "The beta version of Archive Grid is open to everyone. Just access it at http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/  It's a wonderful source."

My comment:  Thank you Gena for the explanation.  I got the tip from Gena, of course!  This is only a finding aid, of course.  You have to access the specific archive wherever it is located.  

3)  On The Value of a One-Name Study (7 August 2012):

*  Gerald noted:  " Interesting blog. I wondered if you are aware of the SEAVER people in Gloucestershire, England? Here is a link to post 1837 BDM.  http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/MainMenu.aspx "

*  Corinne noted:  " Great to see reference to the Guild of One-Name Studies. Its been a wonderful resource to me for my own surname study (SENNETT). I've found the whole one-name study thing incredibly interesting and I'd strongly encourage other people who want to broaden their research beyond their own families to start one-name studies and register them with the Guild. "


*  Michelle aka patientgenie commented:  " I joined the Guild Of One Name Studies,, known as the GOONS, last year. I am not ready to register a ONS aka a surname as yet, but have to say the members have such a huge depth and breadth of knowledge it is well worth joining for that reason alone.  BTW I cannot see your surname in the register? Do hope you are planning to register it. "

My comments:  I had several emails encouraging, and challenging, me to join the Guild - thank you all for your concern and recommendations.  In reading over the website, I realized that I don't do some of the tasks that I should be doing - like collecting every bit of information on the surname.  I will consider joining.

Gerald, I didn't know about the Gloucestershire Seaver families - I'll have to explore them.  My Seaver immigrant was in 1634, so they are, at best, distant cousins.  

4)  On Will there be a Family Tree Maker 2013? (9 August 2012):

*  Kevin Doyle suggested:  " I would love them to unify the features and release dates of the PC and Mac software. "

*  Rosemary suggested:  " I would like them to address the handling of large databases, the memory leaks and the generally abysmal speed of the report publishing features. None of these is a trivial undertaking. "

*  Donna Hague Wendt suggested:  " I would like to be able to switch and use married names for females in the Index without having to go to TOOLS --> OPTIONS --> NAMES/DATES/PLACES --> then Check the box "Use Married Names for Females". Seems to me that choice ought to be available right at the index on the People view where you can SORT various was to see people in the index. Or maybe just a little box at the top in the green Index bar?"

*  James Aylard responded to Donna's suggestion:  " Regarding Donna Hague Wendt's comment, I will say that there is a way to do what you are asking, at least as I understand what you are asking. When you are on the Person tab of the People module, and if you click the Index button (or press F2) to open the Index, and then click on the Options... button in the upper right of the Index screen, there is a checkbox labeled "Use married names for females". In my experience, the resulting sorting can be a bit buggy, especially if you later uncheck the "Use married names for females" checkbox. I've found that I need to close and reopen the Index list to get the sorting back the way it should be after switching back out of the "married names" mode. "

*  Kerry Scott opined:  " Well, if Ancestry.com is for sale (as has widely been reported), they're probably holding off to see who their new overlords will be. Those new owners might want to have a say in how that product is developed and marketed. "

*  Geolover observed:  " Since it took Ancestry.com quite a while to work out bugs in the program and in its vaunted interface with Ancestry Member Trees, perhaps development of a new product in addition to the FTM patches and AMT adjustments just ate too many resources.  During some of that time there were also server-functioning problems that may have been related to a combination of 1940 US Census activity and FTM2012 user activity. "

*  James Aylard also observed:  " Does memory serve me right, or was the public beta test of FTM 2012 an exception to Ancestry's typical mum's rule of thumb? My sense was that the TreeSync feature required a larger pool of testers to shake out the lion's share of bugs prior to commercial release.

"I respect Kerry's judgment that a pending sale might have an influence on Ancestry's current behavior. But I would also bet that Ancestry has been developing a revised version of FTM ever since it released FTM 2012 last year, and that such a revised product is being or has already been beta tested internally. Ancestry's standard practice is to refresh FTM every year, sprinkling it with just enough marketable "enhancements" to justify a Gregorian goosing and a fresh new coat of paint. Family Tree Maker is a key conduit to what I presume is Ancestry's biggest money maker, the Ancestry.com web site. If Ancestry is seeking a buyer, I would think the image of a vibrant company actively enhancing its underlying value would make it a far more attractive prospect.

"In that light, I can imagine that Ancestry might tap the brakes a bit on an FTM update if it believed that doing so made sense from a packaging and marketing standpoint, and that such a change was imminent. I would be surprised, however, if we don't see a Family Tree Maker 2013 well before Christmas, regardless of which corporate logo appears on the box.

"If you think I sound cynical, then I plead guilty. Yes, I think that Ancestry.com is probably the most commercially savvy genealogy biz out there. But I'm not so cynical that I dislike either Family Tree Maker or Ancestry.com. In fact, I pony up for an Ancestry.com membership annually, and for FTM about every other year. I have my gripes, but I don't let them spoil the love."

*  John Lemley said:  " Family Tree Maker 2013 should be what all FTMs should have been from the very beginning - identical to Ancestry's online trees. Anything else has been and is baffling to me. "

My comments:  This post was the comment "winner" for the week!  Thank you all for the information.  I hope that the Family Tree Maker developers read them and use them accordingly.

Kerry, Geolover and James Aylard have interesting analyses, and they may well be right.  

John, my view is that Family Tree Maker (and all mature genealogy software) does so much more than any online tree does, and does it faster, with more options and capabilities, especially in navigation, source citations, reports, and charts.  FTM 2012 TreeSync to Ancestry Member Trees is really the first real synchronization we've had.  FamilySearch Family Tree synchronization with software programs is also available for specific persons, but not for whole databases.  My preference, at present,  is still to work in the genealogy software program and sync with the online trees.

Thank you to all of my readers for their comments... Let me leave you with one that didn't make the public list, but got caught in the Spam filter for some reason:

"Wow! marvelous blog lаyout! Ηoω long have you been blogging foг? you make blоggÑ–ng look eаsу. Тhe oveгall lоok of your web site is magnifÑ–cent, aÑ• ωell as the cοntent! Have a look at my weblog ; A1 Paper "

I have no response except, Thanks A1 for taking the time to tell me that.  Please move on to another blog to waste your time on.  I do read my spam comments because sometimes a "real" comment gets stuck there - James Aylard's very useful comment was there today when I checked and I marked it "Not spam."  


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Will there be a Family Tree Maker 2013?

By this time last year, the Family Tree Maker 2012 Beta testing was underway and the TreeSync feature was the challenge for the developers of Family Tree Maker software.

It's early August, and new versions of Family Tree Maker have usually been announced by this time in the calendar year.  But I've heard absolutely nothing about a 2013 version of Family Tree Maker.  The www.FamilyTreeMaker.com website has nothing on it mentioning a 2013 version:


There are two message board threads with Family Tree Maker 2013 in the title:

*  Family Tree Maker 2013 (started 17 July 2012)

*  Family Tree Maker 2013 Wishlist (started 23 September 2011)

I spent some time reading those threads today, and saw nothing really new or revolutionary as it relates to FTM 2012.  I also did a search on the Internet for Family Tree Maker 2013 and found no real information about it.

Perhaps Ancestry.com is going to announce it at the FGS Conference in Birmingham - we'll have to watch for it.

So, inquiring minds want to know:

1)  Will there be a Family Tree Maker 2013?

2)  If so, what are the new features that would justify purchasing it?

3)  If so, will there be a Beta testing period for potential users?

4)  What new capabilities would you like to see in an FTM 2013?  Please tell me in comments!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/will-there-be-family-tree-maker-2013.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. census - Post 3: The Carringer Line

In my previous posts, I found some of my Seaver and Richmond family members in the 1940 U.S. Census, but not all of them.  My grandmother was missing, as was my uncle Edward R. Seaver.  See Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com - Post 1: Seaver Line and Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com - Post 2: Richmond Line.

In this post, I'm going to look for my Carringer relatives.  My maternal grandparents, Lyle (1891-1976) and Emily (Auble) Carringer (1899-1977) were only children, but had some aunts, uncles and cousins.  I made a list of the Carringer (and related) relatives to search for in the 1940 U.S. Census.  Here is my list, and what I found:

1)  Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976, my grandfather), Emily (Auble) Carringer (1899-1977, my grandmother) Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002, my mother) and Georgia K. Auble (1868-1952, Emily's mother) resided at 2130 Fern Street in San Diego, San Diego County, California.  



Betty was enumerated as Betty Z, not Betty V. for some reason!

2)  Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946, Lyle's father) and his wife Abbie Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944, Lyle's mother) resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego, San Diego, California.  



3)  Harvey E. Carringer (1852-1946, Austin's brother) resided at 9292 'A' Avenue in National city, San Diego County, California.



The enumerator misspelled Harvey's first name as "Harvy."

4)  Leava (Smith) (Smith) DeFrance (1866-1958, former wife of Della's brother David, widow of Joseph DeFrance) resided at 1645 5th Avenue in San Diego, San Diego County, California.



She was indexed as "Leana De France" - I think this is an Ancestry indexing error.

5)  Maybelle (Smith) Milner (1902-1964, daughter of David Smith, divorced from John Milner) resided at 2212-1/2 Logan Avenue in San Diego, San Diego County, California with her two children, June and Louis.

These three entries are indexed as "Milnes" rather than "Milner."  Magnifying the image reveals, to me, an "r" at the end of the name, not an "s."  I classify these three items as an Ancestry indexing error.  

There are a number of more distant cousins to Lyle Carringer and Emily Auble that resided in the Los Angeles area, but I'm not going to search for them at this time.

The tally for this set of 1940 US Census records on Ancestry.com are:

*  5 correctly enumerated and indexed
*  0 missing from the census (or I can't find them)
*  2 erroneous enumeration
*  4 erroneous index entry


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/finding-my-folks-in-1940-us-census-post.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - 1870 U.S. Census Record for Isaac 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 1870 United States Census record for my great-great-grandparents, Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver, and their family in Leominster, Massachusetts: 



The Isaac Seaver family is the last four lines on the first page, and the first two lines of the second page.  
Here's a closeup view of the Isaac Seaver family entry:



The extracted information for the family, residing in Leominster, taken on 14 June 1870, is:


*  Isaac Seaver -- age 46, male, white, works in a fork shop, $2000 in real property, $1500 in personal property, born Mass. 


*  Lucretia Seaver -- age 42, female, white, keeping house, born Mass.

*  Frank W. Seaver - age 18, male, white, attends school, born Mass.

*  Benjamin Seaver - age 16, male, white, attends school, born Mass.

*  Elizabeth Seaver - age 11, female, white, attends school, born Mass.


*  Nellie Seaver -- age 8, female, attends school, born Mass.

The source citation for this image is:



1870 United States Federal Census, Worcester County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Leominster: page 284 (stamped), dwelling #398, family #526, Isaac Seaver household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 March 2010); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 654.

By 1870, Isaac and Lucretia's family was complete - this is the only record I have with all of their children listed. 


There is nothing obviously wrong for the Isaac Seaver family entry in the 1870 U.S. Census.  Unfortunately, there is no address provided for the Isaac Seaver residence.  I think it was probably 7 Cedar Street, but I don't know for sure.  


One of the benefits of doing a post like this is that I get to double-check the elements of the source citation.  I noticed that the place name in my RootsMagic 5 database was Westminster for the Fact, and in the citation, rather than Leominster, and I had a punctuation error in the citation detail.  Fixed!



Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

SDGS Meeting on Saturday, 11 August Features Kerry Bartels

The San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) meeting is on Saturday, August 11 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd., San Diego, at Jackson Drive).  

The August Meeting Speaker will be  Kerry Bartels, Archivist of the National Archives.

 Kerry Bartels has spoken to us before and was excellently received as a speaker, a genealogist, and archivist. Mr. Bartel’s two-hour presentation on the topic of "Military Service Records at the National Archives" will include records of genealogical interest and documenting military service of individuals for the entire history of the United States.

Distinction will be made between service as a volunteer or as a regular, and  differences in records based on branch of service, enlisted men as opposed to  officers, and time of service. Some of the subjects to be covered include compiled military service records, pension files,  bounty land applications, photographs, draft records, grave markers, field and unit reports, troopship manifests, court martial-records, national homes for the disabled, prisoners of war, unit histories, and unit rosters.

Kerry is an Archives Specialist at the National Archives at Riverside in southern California. He has long experience as an archivist and genealogist. He has been a professional archivist since 1977 and has worked in historical societies, libraries, museums, universities, state archives, and now at the National Archives. He has extensive experience with county, state, and Federal records as well as private manuscripts of individuals and records of private organizations. Over the years, he has used many oral histories in his research and has administered a state micrographics laboratory and a state conservation laboratory among other specialties. He has been a genealogical practitioner since 1962 and has done extensive research in the United States and Canada as well as many nations in Europe.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/sdgs-meeting-on-saturday-11-august.html


Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com - Post 2: Richmond Line

In my previous post, I found some of my Seaver family members in the 1940 U.S. Census, but not all of them.  My grandmother was missing, as was my uncle Edward R. Seaver.  See Finding My Folks in the 1940 U.S. Census on Ancestry.com.

In this post, I'm going to look for my Richmond relatives.  My grandmother, Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) had a number of siblings, and aunts, uncles and cousins.  I made a list of the Richmond relatives to search for in the 1940 U.S. Census.  Here is my list, and what I found:

1)  Grace (Richmond) Shaw (1876-1963, sister to Alma Richmond), a widow, resided in Fitchburg, Worcester County, Massachusetts at 103 Walton Street. [1 correct]



2)  Fred R. Shaw (1909-1967, son of Grace (Richmond) Shaw), resided with his wife and daughter at 13 Tremont Street in Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts: [3 correct]


3)  Emily (Richmond) Taylor (1879-1966) resided with her husband, George, her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter at 4601 Terrace Drive in San Diego, San Diego County, California.  



Emily's last name was indexed as "Tayler" rather than "Taylor."  That is what the enumerator wrote! [4 correct, 1 enumeration error]

4)  William B. "Bud" Richmond (1909-2003, nephew of Alma Richmond) was not found in the 1940 U.s. Census on Ancestry.com, despite using all of my search tricks.  He should be residing in Santa Barbara, California.  I searched all of California.  I did find his mother, Jessie (Brown) (Richmond) Marcy residing in Santa Barbara with her husband, Charles. [2 correct, 1 missing]

5)  Earle R. Pickford (1890-1972, Alma Richmond's nephew) resided at 41 East Washington in Rutland, Rutland County, Vermont with his wife and daughter. [3 correct]



6)  Henry W. Pickford (1895-1987, Alma Richmond's nephew) resided at 129 Walnut Street in Clinton, Worcester County, Massachusetts with his wife and son. [3 correct]



7)  Alice (Corey) Richmond (1885-1979, Alma Richmond's sister-in-law) resided at 41 Arlington Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts with her sister Nellie Corey (indexed as "Cosey"). [1 correct, 1 indexing error]




8)  Hannah (Richmond) Smith (1859-1947, born in R.I., aunt of Alma Richmond), married or a widow of Frank Smith, was not found in the 1940 U.S. Census.  She may have another married name. [I won't count this one]

9)  John Henry Richmond (1865-1947, born in R.I., uncle of Alma Richmond) and his wife Mary A. (Ramsey) Richmond (1866-1954, born in England) could not be found in the 1940 U.S. Census, despite using all of my search tricks in all states.  They resided all of their adult life in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut. [2 missing]

10)  Thomas H.M. Richmond (1902-1987, born in Conn., cousin of Alma Richmond) and his wife Helen (1904-1999) and their four sons could not be found in the 1940 U.S. Census, despite using all of my search tricks in all states.  They resided all of their adult life in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut.  [6 missing]

The totals are:

*  17 correctly enumerated and indexed
*  9 missing from the census (or I can't find them)
*  1 erroneous enumeration
*  1 erroneous index entry

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/08/finding-my-folks-in-1940-us-census-on_8.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver