Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Genealogy Database Statistics

Hey genea-folks, 

it's Saturday Night again, 

 time for more Genealogy Fun!

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

1)  If you have your family tree research in a Genealogy Management Program (GMP), whether a computer software program or an online family tree, figure out how to find how many persons, places, sources, etc. are in your database (hint:  the Help button is your friend!)

2)  Tell us which GMP you use, and how many persons, places, sources, etc. are in your database(s) today in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook status or Google+ stream comment.

Here's mine:

I use RootsMagic 6 at present for my Genealogy Management Program of choice.  In File > Properties this window popped up:

The information in this window says my current database has:

*  People: 41,699
*  Families:  16,640
*  Events: 121,157
*  Alternate names: 160
*  Places: 6,474
*  Sources: 902
*  Citations: 41,301
*  Repositories: 73
*  To-do tasks: 110
*  Multimedia items: 409
*  Multimedia links: 1,301
*  Addresses: 1
*  Correspondence: 0

If I do this in other programs, the process is:

*  Family Tree Maker 16 (and earlier):  Tools > Family File Statistics
*  Family Tree Maker 2008 (and later):  in "Plan" Workspace, click "More" button
*  Legacy Family Tree 7: Help > General Information

*  Ancestry Member Tree:  Select your tree, then click on "Tree Pages," and select "Tree Overview."

While I use each of these programs, the only program file that is "up-to-date" is my RootsMagic 6 database.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - WAGET (England? > colonial Massachusetts)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  

I am in the 7th great-grandmothers, I'm up to number 601, but that line is bare because I don't know the parents of #75, Hannah Smith (1768-1827).  So that wipes out the numbers from 600 to 623.  Ancestor #625 is Esther WAGET (1677-1748) [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through one American generations of this WAGET family line is:

1.  Randall J. Seaver (1943-living)

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)

18.  Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19.  Sophia Newton (1834-1923)

38.  Thomas J. Newton (ca 1800 - ????)
39.  Sophia Buck (1797-1882)

78.  Isaac Buck (1757-1847)
79.  Martha Phillips (1757-????)

156.  Isaac Buck (1732-????)
157.  Mary Richards (1733-????)

312.  Isaac Buck (1706-1780)
313.  Ruth Graves (1710-????)

624.  Ephraim Buck, born 13 July 1676 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died January 1720/21 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 4. Ephraim Buck and 5. Sarah Brooks.  He married 01 December 1696 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
625.  Esther Waget, born about 1677 in Massachusetts, United States; died before 19 December 1748 in Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Ephraim Buck and Esther Waget are:

i. Sarah Buck, born 08 September 1697 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; married William Fisk 22 May 1729 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; born About 1695 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
ii. Hester Buck, born 15 April 1700 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; 
iii. Ephraim Buck, born 11 October 1702 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died 07 April 1789 in Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; married (1) Abigail Pierce 26 July 1726 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; born 17 May 1706 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died before 1728 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; married (2) Mary Wood 09 May 1728 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; born 1705 in Massachusetts, United States; died 31 July 1794 in Wilmington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
iv. Susanna Buck, born 08 July 1705 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; married Ebenezer Fisk 10 January 1728/29 in Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; born 15 August 1703 in Wenham, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died August 1737 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
v. Isaac Buck, born about 1706 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died 19 May 1780 in Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; married Ruth Graves 03 December 1729 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

That's all I know about my very short WAGET line.  I don't know her birth date, her parents names, or any siblings.  

A search on Ancestry.com for Waget or Waggett or any other W*g*t name between 1650 and 1700 reveals only her marriage date/place to Ephraim Buck.  She was probably a resident of Woburn in 1696 when she married, but there are no other W*g*t persons in the Woburn vital records.  

A search on FamilySearch for Waget or Waggett or any other W*g*t name between 1650 and 1700 reveals only the 1696 marriage.

A search on American Ancestors for Waget or Waggett or any other W*g*t name between 1650 and 1700 reveals only the 1696 marriage and two births in Boston of children of Thomas and Susanna Wagget in 1670 and 1673, and one daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Wagget in 1688.  

The latter provides some glimmer of hope - Esther Waget birth year of about 1677 is in the time span that Thomas Waggett was in Boston.  I haven't looked any further.  A search in Suffolk County and Middlesex County for Waget/Waggett land and probate records might be helpful.

If there are any researchers reading this who share Esther Waget as an ancestor, or who has found more information about her parentage, or has research suggestions, please let me know in a comment on this blog post.

The URL for this post is:

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Review: "Tracing Your Female Ancestors" Special Magazine

While at the National Genealogical Society 2013 Conference in Las Vegas, I visited the Moorshead Publishing (Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle and History Magazine) exhibit.  Ed and Rick are great genealogy friends, and gifted me with a copy of one of their excellent special magazines - "Tracing Your Female Ancestors," written by Gena Philibert Ortega.

The publicity for this magazine says:

"Internet Genealogy and Family Chronicle are pleased to present Tracing Your Female Ancestors, a new, 68-page special issue compiled by Gena Philibert-Ortega, a regular contributor Family Chronicle and Internet Genealogy, and the author of From the Family Kitchen: Discover Your Food Heritage and Preserve Favorite Recipes. Gena provides readers with a comprehensive collection of tips and strategies for locating female ancestors in a variety of different sources — both common and not-so-common."

The Table of Contents for this 68 page special magazine is:

*  page 6 - Introduction
*  page 10 - Finding Your Pre-1850 Female Ancestors
*  page 13 - Online Sources
*  page 20 - Women's Clubs
*  page 22 - Tracing Your African-American Female Ancestors

*  page 27 - Jane S. Chatham Case Study
*  page 31 - Women and Divorce 
*  page 37 - Women's Work
*  page 40 - Secret Lives of Women
*  page 45 - Manuscript Collections 

*  page 49 - University Library Sources
*  page 52 - Women in Photos
*  page 54 - Women and the Vote
*  page 57 - Women in the Civil War
*  page 62 - Grandma Was an Alien?
*  page 65 - Writing Their Story

Each of these articles discusses the topic in general and specific terms, and often provide lists of  online or repository records with very useful information.  

The "Tracing Your Female Ancestors" special magazine can be ordered here for $9.95 (US) plus $4.50 shipping (PDF download is $8.50).  Other magazines and books can be ordered through their Book Store.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/review-tracing-your-female-ancestors.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Disclosure:  I was provided a copy of this special magazine and was asked to review it.  The gift does not affect my objective evaluation of this magazine.

Sources Can Now Be Interchanged Between RootsMagic 6 and FamilySearch Family Tree

I'm away from home in Santa  Cruz with my daughter and grandsons, but I couldn't resist trying out the new Source interchange in RootsMagic 6 and FamilySearch Family Tree.  I've been waiting for this!

The RootsMagic blog posted RootsMagic becomes Only Software Certified to Collaborate and Share with FamilySearch Family Tree today, so I thought I would try it out.  I had to update my RootsMagic program to Version 6.2.0.0 before I could work with the sources.  

For my grandfather, Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), I clicked the icon next to his name on the Family View to open the FamilySearch Person Tools window.

The "Sources" link is on the line just below the person's name in this window.  It is on the same line with "Find matches," "Share data," "Discussions" and "Changes."

IIt shows that I have seven sources already added to My FamilySearch person - because I added them using the source box several months ago.  However, I have more sources in my RootsMagic program than in the FamilySearch person.  So I want to add some of the sources that I have that help identify my grandfather and connect the sources to the unsourced events in FamilySearch.

I clicked on the "Sources" link:

The Sources for my RootsMagic person are listed in the left-hand column and the sources for the FamilySearch person are listed in the right-hand column.  Some of the sources are the same, but I have more for my RootsMagic person, including his death certificate that documents his death date and place.

In order to add a source from RootsMagic to FamilySearch, I need to check the box beside the desired source.  I checked the "Lawrence Mass. VR Certificate" source in the RootsMagic list, and the "What do you want to do with this RootsMagic source?" window opened, as shown below:

On the screen above, I selected the "Death" fact from the list.  The only Facts that can be tagged are Name, Gender, Birth, Christening, Death and Burial.  I picked "Death."  When I clicked on the "OK" button, the "Attach Source" window opened and demanded that I type in a "Reason to attach source:"

I typed the reason in as shown above and clicked on the "Attach" button.  The Source was attached to my FamilySearch person, with a notation that it is for the Death fact.

I went in and added the same source for the Birth fact also, and also the Birth certificate I have for his Birth.

Now, what do the sources look like on the FamilySearch Family Tree for Frederick Walton Seaver:

As you can see, the three sources I added are included in the "Sources" section of Family Tree.  The source citations are exactly as I wrote them in RootsMagic (and now I see an error.  Drat!).  

When I look up on the "Vital Information" I can see the tagged items for both the Birth and Death information, including the Lawrence Death Certificate:

From what I can tell, this process works simply and efficiently. On the right-hand side of the screen above, you can see the Changes made tonight to add the Sources.  I should upload the document image to the "Photos" section of the Family Tree.  I could add a "Story" to transcribe the death certificate information.  

There are other choices that can be made using the "Sources" link and perhaps we'll explore more later on.  For instance, there may be records on FamilySearch for this person that I can attach to his Profile, and I can then add them to RootsMagic without typing them.  

This is just a first look at the Source interchange between RootsMagic 6 and FamilySearch Family Tree.  It works, and I'm really happy to be able to make it work the first time and, so far, every time.  

The next item that I hope will be integrated into this interchange is Person Notes, Research Notes, and Fact Notes.  Hopefully, RootsMagic and FamilySearch will enable interchanging of images also, and tagging of images to Facts.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/sources-can-now-be-inrterchanged.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - 1840 U.S. Census Record for Jonathan Oatley Household

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 1840 United States Census record for Jonathan Oatley (one of my 3rd great-grandfathers) in Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut:

The Jonathan Oatley household information:

The extracted information for the Jonathan Oatley household (with my educated guess as to the names of the family members, assuming that they are all from the Jonathan Oatley family):

*  Male, aged 10 to 15 [son, Benedict (born 1825)]
*  Male, aged 10 to 15 [son, Jonathan (born 1828)]
*  Male, aged 15 to 20 [son, either Lorenzo (born 1821) or Stephen (born 1822)]
*  Male, aged 15 to 20 [son, William (born 1824)]
*  Male, aged 20 to 30 [son, either John (born 1815) or Joseph (born 1816)]
*  Male, aged 40 to 50 [husband, Jonathan, born 1790)]
*  Female, aged 0 to 5 [daughter, Olive (born 1836)]
*  Female, aged 5 to 10 [daughter, Hannah (born 1832)]
*  Female, aged 5 to 10 [daughter, Mary (born 1831)]
*  Female, aged 10 to 15 [daughter, Amy (born 1826)]
*  Female, aged 20 to 30 [daughter, either Almira (born 1817) or Nancy (born 1818)]
*  Female, aged 40 to 50  [wife, Amy, born 1797)]

There are 12 living children for the Jonathan and Amy (Champlin) Oatley family in 1840, but several had married before 1840 (John, Joseph and Nancy) and may have their own entry in the 1840 census.  

The source citation for this entry (census date 1 June 1840) is:

1840 United States Federal Census, Windham County, Connecticut, population schedule, Killingly town; Page 165 (penned), Jonathan Oatley household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M704, Roll 32.

Some readers may wonder "why post pre-1850 U.S. census records - you can't be sure who is in the household."  That's true, but it can still provide some clues to the age of the head of household, and tracking a household through the years may indicate family additions or subtractions, plus narrowing the location of the residence by using the neighbors.  This is especially useful for same-name problems in a community.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/treasure-chest-thursday-1840-us-census.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 22 June: "Backing Up Your Genealogy Data" Webinar

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except for this June due to graduation, and December) from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the campus of UCSD, University of California, San Diego. See the web page www.cgssd.org  for directions.

The next meeting will be held on Saturday, 22 June 2013 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

9:00 - SIG: DNA Genealogy with Corlee Morris

9:00 - Discussion Group: “Best Practices in using Cloud Genealogy Applications,” moderator TBA

10:00 - Break

10:20 - Announcements followed by program: 

                                 Backing Up Your Genealogy Data - Live Webinar

by Thomas MacEntee

Have you ever experienced a data loss when it comes to your genealogy research? Not yet? Well if not, have you prepared for what might happen if your hard drive fails? What if your laptop is lost or stolen? Learn the basics of backing up all your genealogy data including identifying data. Learn common backup methods and how to use free online programs, such as DropBox, Google Docs, Picasa and more, to help you make sure your data will always be available! This will be a live webinar coming from Thomas’s base in Chicago directly to our facility.

Thomas MacEntee is a genealogist specializing in the use of technology and social media to improve genealogical research and as a means of interacting with others in the family history community. Utilizing over 25 years of experience in the information technology field, Thomas writes and lectures on the many ways blogs, Facebook and Twitter can be leveraged to add new dimensions to the genealogy experience. As the creator of GeneaBloggers he has organized and engaged a community of over 2,000 bloggers to document their own journeys in the search for ancestors.

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 (click here) for driving directions and a map.

The URL for this post is:

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 261: Marcia, Emily, Bess and Dorothy At My Parents Wedding

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

Here is a photograph from the Seaver/Richmond family photograph collection passed to me by my cousin Laura in 2008: 

The persons in this photograph are (from the left):

*  Marcia Chamberlain, daughter of Marshall and Dorothy (Taylor) Chamberlain
*  Emily (Richmond) Taylor, wife of George Taylor and mother of Dorothy (Taylor) Chamberlain
*  Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver, sister of Emily (Richmond) Taylor
*  Dorothy (Taylor) Chamberlain, daughter of Emily, wife of Marshall Chamberlain, and mother of Marcia.

I believe that this picture was taken on 12 July 1942 in San Diego on the occasion of the wedding of Frederick Walton Seaver and Betty Virginia Carringer (my parents).  Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver is the mother of my father, and was in San Diego for the wedding.  I think that Marcia was a bridesmaid in the wedding.

I don't know the setting for this picture - it may be at the All Saints Episcopal Church in San Diego.

My thanks to cousin Laura for sending this picture, and many others, to me, and for permitting me to display them.

 The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

This Week 's Genealogical Eclectica

I receive blog posts and other items in Google Reader, email, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and some of them have links of interest.  Here are some of the "genealogical eclectica" that's recently crossed my desk - news I want you to know about:

*  Billion Graves has added Family Tree Connect - a way to add a source citation to the FamilySearch Family Tree.  I can see more record providers doing this for family trees on FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, etc.

*  The May issue of the Going In-Depth online magazine is available at http://issuu.com/indepthgen/docs/draft-2013-05_idg_going_in-depth#embed.  I couldn't get the embed code to work.

*  Michael Leclerc has some news items that he found interesting and informative - see News Stories of Interest to Genealogists, June 14, 2013.

*  Have you seen the map of rivers of the US?  Check out Jonathan Crowe's blog post, Map of All American Rivers, and click the map.  You can find some closeups on the Flickr site:

*  The first Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group video is available on DearMYRTLE's YouTube Channel - see http://www.youtube.com/user/DearMYRTLE.  This panel discussion covers Chapter 1 of the new Thomas W. Jones book.  Chapter 1 discusson is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP3ijzg0Qcg

*  Check out Susan Petersen's new blog, The Organized Genealogist.  This looks promising, but I have a room full of paper!

*  Do you read Carol Steven's blog, Reflections From the Fence?  She is currently posting about touring California - this post about the San Juan Bautista Mission is fascinating!

I may make this a regular weekly post so that I can collect items of interest to me, and perhaps to you, rather than write a post for each one.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/this-week-s-genealogical-eclectica.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Massachusetts Vital Records (1600-1850) Project

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Find Massachusetts Vital Records (1600-1850) "tan book" page images at the Massachusetts Vital Records Project site (http://ma-vitalrecords.org/).

The Vital Records (births, marriages, deaths) of many Massachusetts towns prior to 1850 have been published over the years, based on transcriptions or extractions from the handwritten Town Clerk records.  These are usually called the "tan books" because the covers of the books are mostly tan colored.  In general, the vital records in the "tan books" are in alphabetical order, rather than in the order recorded by the town clerks.  Hence, the "tan books" are very useful as "finding aids."

The Massachusetts Vital Records Project  (managed by John Slaughter) has imaged many of the "tan books" that are not copyright protected, and provided them online for free.  Here is a view of the home page for the Massachusetts Vital Records Project:

There is a link for directions on How To Use the site:

The "How To Use" page describes the indicators used to define what information is available, plus the different formats used for the images or transcriptions.  Read the "How To Use" page first!

Clicking on the "Towns" link in the top menu opens the list of Massachusetts Counties, and clicking on a County name opens the list of Towns in that County.  I clicked on "Worcester" County in the screen below:

The different colors and indicators are explained in the "How To Use" page.  There are records for this many Towns in these Counties:

*  Barnstable - 2
*  Berkshire - 15
*  Bristol - 8
*  Dukes - 3
*  Essex - 29
*  Franklin - 12
*  Hampden - 6
*  Hampshire - 3
*  Middlesex - 43
*  Nantucket - 1
*  Norfolk - 8
*  Plymouth - 14
*  Suffolk - 0
*  Worcester - 49

That totals 193 Towns that have been imaged or transcribed to date on this site.  That's a phenomenal achievement by John Slaughter and his project members.

Clicking on "Westminster" and finding the Birth page for my Seaver/Sever family shows the page:

There is another very helpful feature - the "Surnames: link on the main menu.  That opens a "Surname Index" with ranges of surnames in alphabetical order:

I clicked on the "Searl-Sharton" link and saw:

For each surname, the user can see which towns and counties have entries for the surname in the Births, Marriages and Deaths sections of the town books.

While these "tan books" are derivative sources, they are extremely useful as "finding aids."  I use them all the time as I add content and sources to my database, which has tens of thousands of vital records from Massachusetts.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/tuesdays-tip-massachusetts-vital.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Book Review: "Kinship - It's All Relative" by Jackie Smith Arnold

Kinship, degrees, consanguinity, removed!  Who is your kin?  Your family?  Who can't you legally marry? Are you confused, perplexed or even bored when it comes to determining the closeness of your relatives?  Do you care?  Genealogists do, and the laws of each state do.  You should too!

Jackie smith Arnold, Kinship - It's all Relative," Enlarged Second Edition, (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2012), 144 pages, $14.95 (soft cover). ISBN:  9780806319537
Item #: GPC178

The publicity for this book says:

We pursue it as a hobby and search for it in the most out-of-the-way places, yet few of us actually know very much about kinship. For instance, do you know the degree of blood relationship between yourself and your first cousins? Between third cousins and second cousins once removed? Do you know anything at all about the removes? Do you understand the difference between a great-aunt and a grand-aunt? Or between a cousin-german and a cater cousin? And what about double first cousins? If you’re a little vague about any of this, then this book is for you. It explains everything there is to know about kinship: about agnate and cognate kinship, collateral and fictive kinship, the kinship connection of orphans, foundlings, foster children, and adopted children. Everything!

The expanded second edition of Kinship already featured new chapters on the subjects of marriage, names, and wills, as well as an expanded treatment of subjects such as degrees of consanguinity and ways to calculate blood relationships; and it had a new glossary, bibliography, and an index.

Now we have a new Enlarged Second Edition with a unique chapter on the role of same-sex marriage as it impacts genealogy and family history, placing same-sex marriage in the context of history, law, religion, and the changing culture of the modern family. This is a timely and fascinating topic in itself, stirring passions on all sides by redefining the concept of family as we know it. And as public opinion hardens or changes, so, too, does the law, and perhaps the most impressive part of this new chapter is the state-by-state breakdown of current law pertaining to same-sex marriage. Now you can tell in an instant what the laws are in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with the understanding that such laws are constantly evolving.

This book costs $14.95 plus $5.50 shipping costs from Genealogical Publishing.  You can order it here.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/book-review-kinship-its-all-relative-by.html

Disclosure: Genealogical.com contacted me recently and asked me to provide a review of this book. They mailed me a review copy for my personal use as remuneration for this review. 

Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of John Cooke (1607-1695)

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 probate file of John Cooke (1607-1695) of Dartmouth, Massachusetts.  He married Sarah Warren (1614-????) in 1634 in Plymouth.  They had five children:

*  Sarah Cooke (1635-1713), married 1652 Arthur Hathaway (1630-1711)
*  Elizabeth Cooke (1644-1715), married 1661 Daniel Wilcox (1622-1702)
*  Hester Cooke (1650-1672), married 1667 Thomas Taber (1646-1730)
*  Mary Cooke (1652-1714), married 1667 Philip Taber (1646-1693)
*  Mercy Cooke (1656-1733), married 1682 Stephen West (1654-1748).

John Cooke died testate, having dated his will 9 November 1694, and it was proved on 16 April 1696 (Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Records, Volume 1, Page 139, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,461,882, transcribed by Randy Seaver).  The will reads:

"The Last will and Testament of John Cook of the town of Dartmouth in the County of Bristoll:  I being weake of Body but of sound and Perfect memory, have Disposed of my Estate which God hath been pleased to bestow upon me in manner following. that is to say In the first place I give to my Son in law Arthur Hathaway & his wife Sarah my Daughter all my land in the point at or Near the Burying place in Dartmouth the which I bought of John Russell to them their heires and Assignes for Ever:  And also I give unto my Son in-law Stephen west and his wife Mercey my Daughter one full Third part of a whole Share of lands in the Township of Dartmouth with all my houseing and Orchards thereunto belonging: with all the priviledges & appur=ces belonging to the same to them their heires & Assignes for ever. They to possess the same after the Decease of my wife Sarah. Allso I give unto Jonathan Delano one Third part of a share of meadow Caled the Freemens Meadow Lyeing within the Township of Rochester to him his heires & assignes for Ever: Allso I give to my Grandson Thomas Taber my little Island Caled & Known by the Name of Ram Island Lying in Cushnat River in Dartmouth with one third part of my Share of Meadow Called the Freemens Meadow Lyeing in the Township of Rochester to him his heires & assignee for Ever. and I give to my said Grand son my Gun & sword. Allso I give to my Grand Daughter Hester Perry One feather Bed & Bolster, All the Rest & Residue of Estate Goods & Chattles of what Sort or Kind so ever I Give & bequeath to my Loveing wife Sarah to use & Dispose of the same as she shall see good. And I make my said wife Sole Executrix of this my Last will & Testament: In witness whereof I the said John Cooke have hereunto sett my hand & seale this Ninth Day of November 1694 in the presence of

"Aaron Savory O his mark ................................ John Cooke (seal)
Thomas Taber"

"memorandum that on the 16th of Aprill 1696
Then appeared Aaron Savory & Thomas Taber
both of Dartmouth, Before John Saffin Esqr
Judge of Probate of wills &ca and made Oath
that they were present & did see John Cooke
late of Dartmouth Decd Signe seale & publish
this Instrument to be his last will & testiment
and yt he was of a Disposeing mind when he so did
to the best of their apprehensions

"John Cary Registr  Jno Saffin

"Thus Entered & Engrosed may the: 8th 1696 By Jno Cary Registr
December the 7 th 1696

"A true Inventory of the Estate Goods & Chattels of John Cooke late of Dartmouth Deceased was taken by Aurther Hathaway and Thomas Tabar on 10 April 1696.  The inventory included:

"Imp-s: all the houseing and land at .....................................................200-00-00
his Cattle of all sorts................................................................. .......020-00-00
In Silver money................................................................. ...............025-04-00
his wearing apparel at ...................................................................... 007-10-00
the Bed & Beding at ...................................................................... ..019-10-00
for severall Remnants of Now Cloath..................................................002-05-00
for Pueter & Tin Vessels............................................................... ....001-05-00
one Warming Pann ...................................................................... ....000-12-00
two Bibles & Six other Books ...........................................................002-00-00
two Iron pots one Iron Kettle & two old skillets....................................002-00-00
five Bushels of Corn ...................................................................... ...000-15-00
for linnen yarn & flax teere ................................................................001-06 -00
half a dozen of Spoons .....................................................................000-02-00
two Chains & Plow Irons with severall old Iron Tools at ........................001-10-00
Due in Debts ...................................................................... .............008-00-00
one Gun a Sword & Powder & Bullets ...............................................001-10-00
one pare of Andirons two brammils ...................................................001-10-00
two Chests one Table & a Settle ......................................................002-00-00
for lunber of all sorts at ....................................................................003-00-00
---------------
Taken by us the Day & year first above written ................................ 299-19-00"

On 10 April 1696, widow Sarah Cooke made an oath to the inventory before Seth Pope, Justice of the Peace.  The Probate Court ordered that the inventory be recorded on 16 April 1696, and it was entered into the Court records on 19 May 1696.

The will mentions wife Sarah; son-in-law Arthur Hathaway and his wife Sarah his daughter; son-in-law Stephen West and his wife Mercy his daughter; Jonathan Delano; grandson Thomas Taber; and granddaughter Hester Perry.  There is no mention of daughters Elizabeth (Cooke) Wilcox, or Mary (Cooke) Taber, although the latter apparently lived until after John Cooke's death.

My ancestry is through Sarah Cooke who married Arthur Hathaway.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/amanuensis-monday-probate-records-of_17.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 9 to 15 June 2013

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 daily blog prompts or 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:

*  What Can You Find In a Rhode Island Newspaper by Diane Boumenot on the One Rhode Island Family blog.  Diane watched a streaming video presentation and instantly applied her newfound knowledge.

*  Shades The Magazine - Golden Rule Days by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog.  We've missed Shades, I'm so happy there's a new issue!  Another Penelope dreadful article is included.

*  IGHR Day One, IGHR Day Two,  IGHR Day Three,  IGHR Day Four, IGHR Day Five (Final Full Day)  by Jenny Lanctot on Are My Roots Showing? blog.

*  IGHR 2013 - Day 1,  IGHR 2013 - Day 2, IGHR 2013 - Day 3, IGHR 2013 - Day 4  and IGHR 2013 - Day 5 by Cinnamon Collins on the (Mis)Adventures of a Genealogists blog.

*  The Future of Online Genealogy by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James noted that the ASG world of genealogy is almost totally separate from the online world of genealogy - will the twain ever meet?

*  Does Genealogy Have a Future?  Don't Ask a Journalist by Harold Henderson on the Midwestern Microhistory blog.  Harold discusses the recent Laura June article on TheVerge.

*  The First Ever Independent Genetic Genealogy Conference Was a Smashing Success by CeCe Moore on the Your Genetic Genealogist blog.  CeCe summarizes this one-day conference at Burbank last week.  Excellent photos, too.

*  A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody by footnoteMaven on the footnoteMaven blog.  Our dazzling friend, writer and photo maven is back with a great story about her mother.

*  Thinking About Genealogy by Bart Brenner on the Brenner Genealogy blog.  Bart's thinking about how he thinks, and trying to use Evidentia to help him.

These genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week:

*  Monday Recap for June 10, 2013 by Amanda on the Geni Blog.

*  Follow Friday - Favorites for June 14, 2013 by Heather Kuhn Roelker on the Leaves For Trees blog.
*  Upfront Mini Bytes by Diane Richard on the Upfront with NGS blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for June 14, 2013 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

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

*  Friday Finds - 06/14/13 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity (June 15, 2013) by John D. Tew on the Filiopietism Prism blog.

*  A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs by Dawn Watson on the Digging in the Roots blog.

Readers are encouraged 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 1350 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/best-of-genea-blogs-9-to-15-june-2013.html

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver 

Happy Fathers Day! Great quotes...

This is my 40th Father's Day!  Here are some great quotes about Fathers:

Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance. ~Ruth E. Renkel

It is much easier to become a father than to be one. ~Kent Nerburn

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. ~Mark Twain

Father! – to God himself we cannot give a holier name. ~William Wordsworth

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me. ~Jim Valvano

What a father says to his children is not heard by the world, but it will be heard for posterity. ~ Jean Paul Richter

Father taught us that opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand. I think we all act on that principle; on the basic human impulse that makes a man want to make the best of what’s in him and what’s been given him. ~Laurence Rockefeller

One father is worth more than a hundred schoolmasters. ~George Herbert

My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection. ~Sigmund Freud

My father always told me, “Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” ~Jim Fox

If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right. ~Bill Cosby

A man’s worth is measured by how he parents his children. What he gives them, what he keeps away from them, the lessons he teaches and the lessons he allows them to learn on their own. ~Lisa Rogers

You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love. You have to deserve your father’s. He’s more particular. ~Robert Frost

It is easy for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. ~Pope John XXIII

Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow. ~Reed Markham

That is the thankless position of the father in the family-the provider for all, and the enemy of all. ~August Strindberg 

The fundamental defect of fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them. ~Bertrand Russell

The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get. ~Tim Russert

Dad taught me everything I know. Unfortunately, he didn’t teach me everything he knows. ~Al Unser, Jr.

It is a wise father that knows his own child. ~William Shakespeare

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again. ~Enid Bagnold

Why are men reluctant to become fathers? They aren’t through being children. ~Cindy Garner

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong. ~Charles Wadsworth

Every dad, if he takes time out of his busy life to reflect upon his fatherhood, can learn ways to become an even better dad. ~Jack Baker

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope. ~Bill Cosby

The father is always a Republican toward his son, and his mother’s always a Democrat.” ~Robert Frost

The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, ‘Daddy, I need to ask you something,’ he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan. ~Garrison Keillor

Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards. ~Robert Orben 

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. ~Johann Schiller

It doesn’t matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was. ~Anne Sexton

A father is a man who expects his son to be as good a man as he meant to be. ~Frank A. Clark

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. ~Rev. Theodore Hesburgh

Love and fear. Everything the father of a family says must inspire one or the other. ~Joseph Joubert

Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes. ~Gloria Naylor

At a time of reproductive freedom for women, fatherhood must be more than a matter of DNA. A man must choose to be a father in the same way that a woman chooses to be a mother. ~Mel Feit

A man knows he is growing old because he begins to look like his father. ~Gabriel Garcia Marquez

To support mother and father, to cherish wife and children, and to have a simple livelihood; this is the greatest blessing. ~BuddhaAren't those great quotes? Thank you to Maddie Ruud, who wrote Meaningful Quotes for Fathers & Fatherhood, for the list.

Here are three of mine:

A father's job is to give his children Roots and Wings. I'm trying!   ~ Randy Seaver

A father's Bank of Dad is always open, but it's usually wisdom, advice, and approval, and not money. ~ Randy Seaver

A father's legacy is the memories his children his children have of him - not his work, not his play, but how he loved them, nurtured them and supported them ~ Randy Seaver

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/06/happy-fathers-day-great-quotes.html