Saturday, December 14, 2013

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Pauleen's Christmas Meme

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 
 It's Saturday Night again - 
time for some more Genealogy Fun!!





Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision. Here's your chance to sit on Genea-Santa's lap (virtually) and tell him your Christmas traditions.

Pauleen (Cassmob) who writes the Family history across the seas blog started a Christmas meme last year - see Deck the Halls - 2012 Christmas GeneaMeme.  So we will use that for SNGF this week (since very few readers did it last year!):

1)  Copy and paste the meme questions into your blog or word processor, and then answer the questions.  You could use short statements, long paragraphs or provide a link to one of your earlier posts.

2)  Tell us about your meme answers in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this post, or on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.

3)  Be sure to leave a comment on Pauleen's blog post about your entry in this Christmas 2013 Geneameme.  She'll be surprised!

Here's mine (questions in green, answers in red):

THE 2012 CHRISTMAS GENEAMEME (IN 2013)
  1. Do you have any special Xmas traditions in your family?  Just shopping, gifts, Christmas dinner at my grandparents, and then my parents, and then my brothers homes - before my mother died in 2002.  Since then, we either host, or we go to our daughters' home and my brother-in-law's home up the California coast (650 miles north), and back.
  2. Is church attendance an important part of your Christmas celebrations and do you go the evening before or on Xmas Day?  Not as a child growing up.  After marriage, we attended Christmas Eve services, ending with lit candles around the outside cross.  I was a wise man for many years in the Christmas pageant at church - not a speaking part!  But not any more - we're usually on the road.
  3. Did/do you or your children/grandchildren believe in Santa?  Of course we did!  Right up until we found the "big" gifts from Santa in my grandparents garage when I was 12.  Our kids did until about age 12, and our four grandchildren (ages 5 to 10) still do (I think, I hope)!  Now I am Santa... HO HO HO!!!
  4. Do you go carolling in your neighbourhood?  Not as a child or young adult.  Our church social group did this for a number of years when we were first married.  I hummed a lot to avoid embarrassing myself (my key is J Flat).
  5. What’s your favourite Christmas music?  I love the traditional hymns and some of the more modern tunes.  One of my favorite memories is singing hymns on Christmas Eve with my grandmother.  
  6. What’s your favourite Christmas carol?  Angels We Have Heard On High.  It lifts my spirit.
  7. Do you have a special Xmas movie/book you like to watch/read?  I watch "A Christmas Story" every year it seems...it is not unlike when I was a boy.  I didn't shoot my own erye, but I got the neighbor boy just below the eye. 
  8. Does your family do individual gifts, gifts for littlies only, Secret Santa (aka Kris Kringle)?  I exchange several gifts with my wife, usually one gift from us to our daughters and son-in-law, and several gifts from us to each of the grandchildren.
  9. Is your main Christmas meal indoors or outdoors, at home or away?  It is always indoors (it is winter in the USA, even in San Diego) and usually at one of my daughters' homes.
  10. What do you eat as your main course for the Christmas meal?  Always roast turkey, usually with stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans or peas.  Then pie.
  11. Do you have a special recipe you use for Xmas?  I don't - I just show up and eat.  Ho ho ho!
  12. Does Christmas pudding feature on the Xmas menu? Is it your recipe or one you inherited?  We've never had Christmas pudding.
  13. Do you have any other special Christmas foods? What are they?  Not really.  Maybe sugar cookies? :)
  14. Do you give home-made food/craft for gifts at Christmas?  No.  We used to be in a social group that would re-gift fruitcakes each year.
  15. Do you return to your family for Xmas or vice versa?  We either host one or both daughters' families or we go to one of them on Christmas Day and the other one before or after Christmas (since they live 400 miles apart, and we're 100 miles from the closest one).
  16. Is your Christmas celebrated differently from your childhood ones? If yes, how does it differ?  Yes, we are much more religious than our parents were.  And we travel more than 10 miles to be with out family.
  17. How do you celebrate Xmas with your friends? Lunch? Pre-Xmas outings? Drop-ins?  Sometimes we drop-in or host drop-ins, and my wife has lunch with other friends with a small gift exchange. Our local genealogy society has a "Holiday Luncheon" with a bring-one get-one gift exchange.  I never get anything good.  
  18. Do you decorate your house with lights? A little or a lot?  We used to string lights around the front edge of the house, but I don't go up on the roof any more...so no, we don't any longer.
  19. Is your neighbourhood a “Xmas lights” tour venue?  It's a cul-de-sac, but there are some good light shows on the block.  Our city has several organized light tour blocks that attract drive-bys and walkers.
  20. Does your family attend Carols by Candlelight singalongs/concerts? Where?  We used to, but now it's only the Christmas Eve service at church  (when we are in town) where we have lit candles around the outdoor cross and  sing Silent Night after the service.
  21. Have any of your Christmases been spent camping (unlikely for our northern-hemisphere friends)?  No...
  22. Is Christmas spent at your home, with family or at a holiday venue?  Sometimes, sometimes and no.
  23. Do you have snow for Christmas where you live?  San Diego is very temperate, so I've seen snow twice in my life at sea level.  Our mountains have snow every year, and occasionally at Christmas time.
  24. Do you have a Christmas tree every year?  We used to, and do when we are hosting Christmas for the family.  However, we don't have a tree in most years that we travel to be with the daughters and grandkids.  We don't have one this year.
  25. Is your Christmas tree a live tree (potted/harvested) or an imitation?  Growing up, it was always harvested.  During most of our married life, the tree was harvested, although we had a potted tree several years.  We have an imitation tree now but rarely put it up.  I wonder where it is?
  26. Do you have special Xmas tree decorations?  Linda insists that all of the decorations on our tree are angels...and we have hundreds of angels on flat space around the house.  So yes...
  27. Which is more important to your family, Christmas or Thanksgiving?  Christmas.
The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-pauleens.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - CARR (England to Rhode Island)

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


I am in the 7th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor  #747, who is Hannah CARR (1691-????) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through three generations in this CARR 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)


10.  Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
11.  Julia White (1848-1913)

22.  Henry Arnold White (1824-1885)
23.  Amy Frances Oatley (1826-1864)

46.  Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872)
47.  Amy Champlin (1798-1865)

92.  Joseph Oatley (1756-1815)
93.  Mary Hazard (1765-1857)

186.  Stephen Hazard (1730-1804)
187.  Elizabeth Carpenter (1741-????)

372.  Thomas Hazard (1707-1745)
373.  Hannah Slocum (1710-1737)

746.  Samuel Slocum, born 02 March 1685 in Jamestown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States; died before 04 April 1741 in North Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States.  He was the son of 1492. Ebenezer Slocum and 1493. Mary Thurston.  He married January 1708 in Jamestown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
747.  Hannah Carr, born 13 January 1691 in Jamestown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.

Children of Samuel Slocum and Hannah Carr are:
*  Mary Slocum (1708-1708).
*  Hannah Slocum (1710-1737), married 1727 Thomas Hazard (1707-1745)
*  Samuel Slocum (1711-1775), married 1733 Ann Gould (1714-1746)
*  Ebenezer Slocum (1714-1715)
*  Ebenezer Slocum (1716-????), married 1738 Mary Northup (1722-????)
*  Edward Slocum (1718-1718).

1494.  Edward Carr, born 1666 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States; died 14 October 1711 in Jamestown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.   He married  06 October 1686 in Jamestown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
1495.  Hannah Stanton, born 07 November 1670 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States; died before 01 June 1752 in Jamestown, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.  She was the daughter of 2990. John Stanton and 2991. Mary Harndel.

Children of Edward Carr and Hannah Stanton are:
*  Edward Carr (1689-1748), married 1721 Naomi Barton (1688-1727).
*  Hannah Carr (1691-????), married (1) 1708 Samuel Slocum (1685-1741), (2) 1741 Samuel Watson.
*  Mary Carr (1693-????), married 1714 Isaac Chapman (1689-????)
*  Mercy Carr (1696-1717), married 1718 Thomas Paine (1690-????).
*  Avis Carr (1698-1753), married 1719 Hezekiah gorton (1692-1748).
*  Patience Carr (1701-????), married 1753Robert Westgate (1698-????).
*  James Carr (1703-1791), married Abigail Cary (1703-????).
*  Phebe Carr (1706-????).
*  Sarah Carr (1708-1751), married 1732 Resolved Waterman (1703-1752).

2988.  Caleb Carr, born before 09 December 1616 in London, London, England; died 17 December 1695 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.  He was the son of 5976. Benjamin Carr and 5977. Martha Hardington.  He married before 1654 in probably Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.
2989.  Mercy, born about 1630 in England; died 12 September 1675 in Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.

Children of Caleb Carr and Mercy are:
*  Nicholas Carr (1654-1709), married 1678 Rebecca Nicholson (1656-1703).
*  Mercy Carr (1656-????),
*  Caleb Carr (1657-1700), married 1676 Phillippa Greene (1658-1690).
*  Samuel Carr (1659-1694).
*  Mary Carr (1661-1717), married Thomas Paine (1657-1715).
*  John Carr (1664-1714), married Waite Easton (1668-1725).
*  Edward Carr (1666-1711), married 1686 Hannah Stanton (1670-1752).

Information about these Carr families was obtained from:

Alden G. Beaman, "Lines of Descent from Caleb Carr of Newport," Rhode Island Genealogical Register, Volume 11 (1988), pages 221-230.

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 (Boston, Mass. : 1999-2011), Volume 2, pages 11-16.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/surname-saturday-carr-england-to-rhode.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Friday, December 13, 2013

RootsTech 2014 Schedule is Available - 238 Sessions

I'm all registered, have a hotel reservation, and have airline reservations for the RootsTech 2014 Conference in Salt Lake City from Thursday, February 6 to Saturday, February 8, 2014.  There are 222 different sessions, often with more than 15 sessions in one time slot. 

I went to the RootsTech 2014 website (www.rootstech.org) today to check out the presentation and speaker schedule - it's on https://rootstech.org/schedule-info/session-viewer/#id=RT.


There are filters on the left sidebar on the site for different tracks, including session types, skill level, day, and category.

I clicked on the Category for "Technology" and saw some of the sessions:


There are 222 sessions on the three days of the RootsTech 2014 conference:

*  Thursday - 73 sessions (4 time slots)
*  Friday - 74 sessions (4 time slots)
*  Saturday - 75 sessions (4 time slots)

There are also 16 sessions on Wednesday, 5 February, on the Innovator Summit.

Some of the other links on the web page are for:

*  Keynote Speakers - https://rootstech.org/schedule-info/keynote-speakers/

*  Getting Started - https://rootstech.org/schedule-info/getting-started/

*  Innovator Summit - https://rootstech.org/schedule-info/innovator-summit/

*  Computer Labs - https://rootstech.org/schedule-info/computer-labs/

*  Family Discovery Day for LDS Members - https://rootstech.org/discovery/

*  Events - https://rootstech.org/events/

*  Registration - https://registration.rootstech.org/2014/portal/newreg.ww.  Current pricing is at https://rootstech.org/schedule-info/pass-pricing/

I was happy to note that there will be a panel discussion in the Computer Lab at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Friday on Google Hangouts 101a: The Panelists View by DearMYRTLE (and panelists Russ Worthington, Jenny Lanctot and Barry Kline).  The description of this Computer Lab is:

"Learn from in-person & remote JOINers (panelists) how to produce video blogs, virtual family reunions, and society board meetings using the free Google+ Hangout On Air platform. Instructions for VIEWing on the YouTube side is provided to remote audience members."

I will probably watch this in the Media Center or after I get home from the conference.

The Computer Lab sessions have to be reserved for $10 each on the Registration page.  Several of the labs are already full, but many aren't yet full.

There will be a number of live-streamed sessions from Hall E (I think) that persons around the world can watch online on the three conference days.  I will list those sessions in a later blog post.  This is a tremendous opportunity for thousands of genealogists to watch quality genealogical presentations about many technology related topics.  

I will list the presentation sessions for each day that I might attend - my past history at RootsTech is that I attend very few sessions because of the other activities going on in the Media center, where I will be an Official Blogger.

There's something for all genealogists at RootsTech 2014 - I'm looking forward to being there, seeing geneabloggers, readers and industry representatives, and learning more about this fascinating profession.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/rootstech-2014-schedule-is-available.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Disclosure:  I am an Official Blogger for RootsTech 2014, and have been given a complementary Full Registration for that service.  

Enter a Genealogists.com Slogan Contest and Win $200

I received this in email from D. Barry Sheldon, who is associated with Genealogists.com:

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


Genealogists.com Slogan Contest: Win $200

Would you like an extra $200 for the holidays?  Do you want to demonstrate your creativity?  Genealogists.com is looking for a new slogan to go on their website.

You are invited to submit your top 3 ideas for the best slogan.  The person who submits the winning slogan will be paid $200 and can take pride knowing they submitted the slogan used by Genealogists.com.

At Genealogists.com we have over 300 professional genealogists located in over 600 archives around the world.  We are reshaping the family history industry by providing easy access to local archives and establishing new norms for how research is performed.

We need a catchy slogan that will help people realize what we are all about.  For example:

• Connecting Families Worldwide 
• Researching Around the Globe 
• Finding Families Where'er They May Be
• Uniting Families with their Ancestors

To enter a slogan and for additional information, go to: www.genealogists.com/slogan.  The winner will be chosen by the owners of Genealogists.com on 20 December 2013 and will be announced on our website as well as on this Facebook page. See our contest rules at (www.genealogists.com/slogan/rules.html).  (No purchase necessary.  This contest is sponsored by Genealogists.com only and not by Facebook.)

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

There are many really creative persons in the genealogical community - go for it!  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/enter-genealogistscom-slogan-contest.html

A Source Citation for Anna's Death Record in Voss, Norway

When I wrote Finding Norwegian Church Parish Records in DigitalArkivet Website yesterday, it bothered me that I wasn't able to craft a source citation for this record immediately.  I knew that I should do it immediately, and that I needed to use an Evidence Explained derived source template in my genealogy software.  

My first concern was "Should I use the English or Norwegian language version of the website?"  I realized that it was the same website, and that Google was translating it for me - there is no English language webpage on the site.  Then my question was, "Should I use English in the source citation, or Norwegian?"  I decided to use English for everything except for the website name and the record book name.

Here is the screen from the "Church Records (online image copies)" source template in RootsMagic 6:




I filled in the form fields with the information that I thought was pertinent.  The goal for every source citation is to provide enough information that another researcher can find the record, and to enable other researchers to assess the quality of the source.  In this case, I entered record book identification, the record type, page and record number, and the person's name and farm name.

The resulting source citation for Anna Sjursdtr's death record is:

Footnote:
Voss (Vangen) Parish Church (Voss, Norway), Voss: 1823-1837, Ministerialbok A 12, Deaths and Burials, Page 324, item 93, Anna Sjursdtr of Gjelle; digital images, Artkivverket DigitalArkivet Scanned Church Records (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read : accessed 12 December 2013).

Short Footnote: 
Voss, Hordaland, Norway, Voss: 1823-1837, Ministerialbok A 12, Deaths and Burials, Page 324, item 93, Anna Sjursdtr of Gjelle.

Bibliography: 
Voss (Vangen) Parish Church (Voss, Norway). Ministerialbok, 1709-1926. Digital images. Artkivverket DigitalArkivet Scanned Church Records. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read : 2013. 

Because the RootsMagic 6 source citations crafted using these source templates do not transfer well via GEDCOM into other software programs or online family trees, I usually modify the source citation a bit and make a "Free-form" source citation.  For this source citation: in Footnote format:

Footnote:
Voss (Vangen) Parish Church (Voss, Norway), digital images, Artkivverket DigitalArkivet Scanned Church Records (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read)Voss: 1823-1837, Ministerialbok A 12, Deaths and Burials, Page 324, item 93, Anna Sjursdtr of Gjelle (accessed 12 December 2013).

The only change is the order of the information.  The first part is the "Source" (through "12 December 2013") and the second part is the "Citation Detail" (from "Voss:" through "Gjelle").  Nothing has been lost in the change.

I hope the genealogy source citation minders don't mind...but that will ensure that my source citations will transfer well when I put the database through the GEDCOM mill.

I added the record image URL to a Webtag for Anna Sjursdatter in RootsMagic 6:  http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:NBN:no-a1450-kb20070524640423.jpg.  I also attached the record image to Anna Sjursdatter and tagged it to her death and burial record.

I wonder what the source citations created in templates in Family Tree Maker 2014 and Legacy Family Tree 8 look like?  Maybe I'll check that out also.

It would be interesting to see how a researcher in Norway would cite this record.  Any takers?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/a-source-citation-for-annas-death-in.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Finding Norwegian Church Parish Records in DigitalArkivet Website

I saw the note yesterday in the FamilySearch Library Catalog that some of the Norwegian church parish register books have been digitized and are available at http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read.  I didn't know that...

Being the curious sort, I decided to see what was on the DigitalArkivet website - this is the national Archives of Norway, and they have a wealth of records digitized and online digitized from the original record books.

1)  When I clicked the http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read link, I saw a page in Norwegian:



Fortunately, I use Google Chrome as my browser, and it recognized that the page was in Norwegian and asked me if I wanted the page translated to English.  I said YES... and now when I click the link to get to the page (and other pages too!), it comes up in English:


The page above notes that:

"This is Digitalarkivets service for navigating and displaying scanned church books (such as images). It comes in addition to the service for searching digitaltranscribed sources (textual databases) that Digital Archives has held since 1998.
  • Every choice you make to the left is accomplished by clicking on the corresponding field [>] button or the [Execute] button below the fields. If "Javascript" is enabled in your browser will update automatically happen by choice. [>] Buttons are as unnecessary and disappear after the first election.
  • Election of county provides a new field for selecting the underlying parish / parish / church etc.
  • Election of parish type provides a new field for selecting the underlying list type (baptized, marriages, buried, etc.).
  • Try to avoid using the Back / Back button in your browser! Use either the service's own "back" buttons on the different pages, respectively. [Clear Selection], [Selected] and [Table of Contents Page].
  • Scanned church records must methodically sets used in the same way as the original protocol or microfilm edition: One has to look for the information you will find. It is eg. not possible to search for people in the scanned material.
"We recommend that you read the User Guide and information about services."

I did...

2)  I selected "Hordaland" from the "County" dropdown menu on the left, and then selected "Voss" from the "Parish" menu on the left, and clicked on the "Perform" button, and saw:



There are 23 volumes of records for Voss parish, which includes several sub-parishes in the period before 1855.  They are separated by year ranges, and there is some overlap.  There are three types of books listed - a Ministerialbok, a Klokkerbok, and a Pastorbok.  The Ministerialbok volumes seem to cover the range from 1700 to 1926.

I found and downloaded several pages from these volumes last night (that was so much fun!) and want to share the process with you.

The biggest help was knowing the date of birth, marriage or death.  I collected those back in 1999 when I found most of the names, dates and farm names in the Bygdebok for Voss, and then found records in the church parish records (the Kirkeboker) on microfilm (I know - there are special keyboard symbols, but those don't work in Blogger editor, and I'm too lazy to do it in HTML).

For the persons for whom I know the person's name, their birth, marriage or death date, and the farm name, it is relatively easy to find the actual written record in these volumes on the DigitalArkivet.  Although they are usually in a Gothic hand, are in Norwegian, and use abbreviations, the recording system can be learned fairly quickly.  It took me about an hour to be able to recognize names of events, months, farms and names.

So far, everything I've looked for has been found in the Ministerialbok volumes.  Here is the process I use.

3)  I start on the screen above for Voss (http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?idx_fylke=12&idx_kommune=Voss+prgj&idx_kilde=Alle&idx_periode=&idx_textsearch=&js=j)

My target for this post is Anna Sjursdatter (1772-1826), who married Torger Olsen (1752-1827), and died on 16 August 1826 on Gjelle farm in Voss parish.  She is one of my wife Linda's third great-grandmothers.

I clicked on the Ministerialbok for 1823-1837) and saw this list:


Google Chrome kindly translated labels for the different books - I want the death book that includes 1826, and I found it on the screen above with 321 entries.

Here is the first page for this volume for 1826 death records:


At the top of the page, there are buttons to advance the pages one at a time, 5 at a time, 10 at a time, or 20 at a time.  If a user knows the page number, they can enter it into the page field.  The image can be enlarged in the top area also.  I chose 150% so that I could clearly see the letters.

The columns for the death records are for:  No.; Death date; Burial date; Name; Age; ??????.

Since I knew the date, I could look in the left-hand column and advance to the page with 16 August on it.  Not all of the records are in date order, but most of them are.  Sometimes, the sub-parish names are shown, and sometimes there are whole page sections for them.

5)  I found Anna Sjursdatter's death record on page 324 of this particular set of records.  Here is the page:


 Anna is #93 on the screen above.  Here is a snip of her death record:


So Anna died on 16 August 1826, was buried on 22 August 1826.  The name shown is Anna Sjursdtr, and she was on Gjelle farm.  She was 56 years old.  I don't know what the right-hand column is for.

6)  The DigitalArkivet website makes it easy to download an image of this record.  At the top of the record page is a button for PDF-1 and PDF-2.  When I clicked on PDF-1, I saw:



The PDF file has a nice reference area at the top with the name of the parish, the book number, the record type, the year, the page number on it.  There is also an URL for the specific image. A user can click on the URL and obtain the image file as a .JPG.  

From either the PDF or JPG, the user can go to the File menu, choose "Save As" and save the file.  I usually rename the file so that I can tell which person and event it is for.  For instance for Anna Sjursdatter's death file, my file name is:

AnnaSjursdtr-1826-DeathRecord-Gjelle-VossMinisterialBokA12-side324

I'll try to craft a source citation in another post.  

7)  This website is fantastic.  There are records for hundreds of Norwegian parishes, and thousands of record volumes, online at this site.  Now I can capture digital images of the records that I only noted in a notebook back in 1999 from the FHL microfilm.  I can also create a source and attach the record to a person in my family tree database and share it with the family.  

I know that I'm probably missing some important knowledge in these records (the birth and marriage records have much more text in the record).  Perhaps a kind reader will help me interpret the standard words in these records more accurately.  

The FamilySearch Wiki has an excellent article about Norway Church Records in https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Norway_Church_Records.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/finding-norwegian-church-parish-records.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver



First Look at Legacy Family Tree Version 8.0 - Post 10: Left-to-Right Descendants Chart

Rather than do a comprehensive look step-by-step at Legacy Family Tree Version 8.0 - I did that for Version 7.0, and 8.0 is an improvement on Version 7.0 - I'm going to highlight new (or old) features I find as I work through the program screens.  New or updated features in Legacy Family Tree are listed in Legacy Family Tree 8.0 Now Available.

Today, it's the "Descendant Chart" feature The description of this feature is:


"Now available in left-to-right formatting."

Most of us are familiar with the top-to-bottom descendant chart, which was in previous versions of Legacy Family Tree. I want to check out the left-to-right descendant chart.  

1)  I selected the person for whom I wanted a descendant chart.  Then I clicked on the "Reports" menu item and the "Legacy Charting" button on the icon row:




2)  When I clicked on the "Legacy Charting" button, the Legacy Charting program started, and the window opened to "Select the type of chart to create:"  


I chose the "Standard" "Descendant Chart" - the one on the left of the "Descendant" choices.

3)  I clicked on the "Standard" "Descendant" chart icon, and saw (after selecting five generations and a number of other items in the "Home," "Appearance" and "Title" tabs in Legacy Charting):


The chart above is 5 generations of descendants with Isaac Seaver and his three wives at the top, and each row is another generation of descendants.  A closeup of the top of the chart looks like:


So that is the top-to-bottom Descendant Chart, which measures 161.5 inches wide and 22 inches high (19 x 2 portrait pages).

How can I find the Left-to-Right Descendant Chart?  Back to the "Select the type of chart to create:"


There is another "Standard" "Descendant" chart that shows the left-to-right chart orientation (a detail I missed at the beginning of researching and writing this post!).

I clicked on the "Left-to-Right Descendant Chart" icon and saw:


Now Isaac Seaver and his three wives are on the left of the chart above, which measures 25.5 inches wide and 66 inches high (3 x 6 portrait pages).  Here's a closeup of some of the persons.


For all of the above, I used the "Color" tab settings that existed when I opened the Legacy Charting program.  On the screens above, males have a background color of yellow, and females have a background color of blue.

4)  That doesn't seen "standard" to me, so I opened the "Appearance" menu item, then the "Color" button and the "Color Themes" dropdown box opened.  I picked the "Gender" tab and fixed the "Gender 3" theme to match the standard blue for males and pink for females.  I had to do that by choosing the "Edit Current Chart Colors" area - and ended up with the label "Male Y-DNA" color being pink and the "Female mtDNA" color being blue.  After I clicked on the "Save Color Theme to "Gender 3" link, the chart looks like this now:


The background colors are now correct, but the color labels in the "Color Themes" are incorrect.  I looked at the other two Gender color themes, and they don't reflect standard blue and pink colors either.  

I can't make Legacy Charting get the labels "Male Y-DNA" and "Female mtDNA" right and have the selected colors show up on the chart.  I've tried now several times!

The other thing I thought of was if my gender labels were wrong - but I checked and the males are the correct gender in my database and the females are the correct gender.  

Is this a bug in the Legacy Charting program?  I don't know, but I think it might be.  If it isn't a bug, can someone straighten me out on this before I mess something up more?  I checked the "About Legacy Charting" and it said it was version 8.0.015.101, created 13 November 2013.

5)  The other thing I noticed in the Chart was that the thumbnail images I had for some of the people were not shown on the chart.  As you can see in the first screen in this post, there are thumbnail images for Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver, but they do not show up in the Descendant Charts.  I have no idea why that is.  Another bug?  Or a user error?

6)  I like the Left-to-Right Descendant Chart (18 portrait pages) because it comes out significantly smaller than the Top-to-Bottom Descendant Chart (38 portrait pages).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/first-look-at-legacy-family-tree_12.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 192: Julia (White) Richmond's 1913 Death Certificate

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 Julia (White) Richmond's (1848-1913) death certificate in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut:




I obtained this death certificate by postal mail from the Putnam, Connecticut Town Clerk's office back in the early 1990s.

Here is the transcription of the death certificate (handwritten parts underlined and italic):

State of Connecticut Bureau of Vital Statistics


Medical Certificate of Death

1. Full name of deceased:  Julliet Richmond
2. Primary cause of death:  Cancer of Breast   3. Duration:          
4. Secondary or contributory:                 5. Duration:           
Remarks: [none]

I hereby Certify that I attended the deceased in h er last illness, and that the cause of death was as above stated.
................................ Signature     F. Allowell   
Dated     Oct 2         19 13 ... Address   Putnam     

Undertaker's Certificate Personal and Statistical

1. Full name of deceased:  Julliet Richmond
2. Place of Death:  Putnam Conn.      No. 6 Church     Street       Ward  
3. Number of families in house:   Two           
4. Residence at time of death: Putnam Conn.            
5. Occupation:    Housekeeper      
6. Condition (state whether single, married, divorced or widowed)
7. If wife, or widow, give name of husband:      Thomas Richmond    
8. Date of death -- year: 1913, month:  Oct  day:    1   

9. Date of birth -- year: 1848, month:  Sept  , day:   8    
10. Age:   65  years,     months,  22   days
11. Sex: Female
12. Color: White
13. Birthplace -- Town:   East Killingly __ State or Country:   Conn.  
14. Father's name in full:   Henry White  
15. Father's birthplace: Town:  Don't Know _ State or Country:               
16. Mother's Maiden Name:   Amy Oatley  
17. Mother's birthplace -- Town:  Don't Know _ State or Country:             
18. Place of burial:   Putnam Ct    Cemetery:   Grove St.      
19. Name of informant:   Thos Richmond Address: Putnam      
20. Was body embalmed: yes  . If so name of embalmer: J.E. Rich   License No. 420

Signature of Undertaker: L. E. Smith Address: Putnam Ct.  


The source citation for this death certificate is (using the Death Certificate - Local Level source template in RootsMagic 6):

Julliet Richmond, death certificate (certificate not numbered or dated) (1913), Putnam [Conn.] Registrar of Vital Statistics, Putnam, Connecticut.

This is the only Original Source record that I have that provides Direct Evidence of Julia (White) Richmond's exact birth date, birth place and parents names all in one record.  Being a death certificate, the birth information is Secondary Information, but all of the other evidence I have (marriage record, census records, obituary, etc.) confirm the approximate date, the place and the parents names.

I didn't know that the family resided at 6 Church Street in Putnam, Connecticut at the time of her death.  The cause of death was "Cancer of the Breast."

I just realized that Julia (White) Richmond died just over 100 years ago.  I should have honored her on the 100th anniversary - but I missed seeing the alert from Geni, MyHeritage and other services that I rely upon to learn about these anniversaries (I was on the Legacy cruise at the time).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/12/treasure-chest-thursday-post-192-julia.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver