Saturday, March 29, 2014

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - If You Could Take It with You

It's Saturday Night - 
time for more Genealogy Fun! 



Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:


1)  Bill West wrote a blog post, If You Could Take It with You, on his West in New England blog that highlighted a post on Facebook by author CJ Cherryh, which asked:

"A thought question, based on an observation about expectations of the afterlife: the ancient Egyptians envisioned the afterlife as a continuance of their lives, and tried to 'pack' for their future, acquiring charms and items that they could take with them, assuring their association with certain persons, and certain pleasures of life. They spent their lives figuring out what they really truly wanted to have. ----So what would you pack for the afterlife, if you could?"

3)  Tell us what you would pack for the afterlife, if you could.

4)  Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a status or comment on Facebook, or in Google Plus Stream post.


My list:

*  Pictures of my life, and my family (parents, siblings, wife, children, grandchildren), and my ancestors too.  [In what format?  Paper? Digital?  How would I protect them?]

*  An ancestor name list that I could check off as I meet them.  

*  A digital voice recorder to record stories of my ancestors [Assuming chargers will be available]

*  A digital copy of my family tree. [Assuming that it could be read on some device...]

*  My memoirs.

*  A San Diego, Then and Now book.  

*  My Padres jacket, #43 Seaver Padres jersey, Padres cap, Chargers sweatshirt, and Chargers Bolt cap.

*  My grandfather's magnifying glass and drafting tools.

*  My slide rule, HP-35 calculator, iPhone and Google Glass device [planning ahead, and assuming that chargers will be available.  The iPhone would have my music and family photos.  Note to self:  need to keep these up-to-date].

*  My glasses.  My Chargers blanket.  

*  The script from my memorial service with memories of my friends and family.

*  A transcript of the comments from Facebook friends concerning my demise.

I'm sure that I'll think of more as time goes on.  

Thank you, Bill West and CJ Cherryh, for the inspiration.

The URL Fr this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-if-you.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Surname Saturday - WHITE (England to colonial Massachusetts)

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 #889, who is Lydia WHITE (1686-????)
.   [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through four generations in this WHITE family line is:

1.  Randall J. Seaver (1943-living)

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


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

12.  Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946)
13.  Abbey Ardell Smith (1862-1944)

26.  Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1884)
27.  Abigail A. Vaux (1844-1931)

54.  Samuel Vaux (1814-1880)
55.  Mary Ann Underhill (1816-1883)

110.  Amos Underhill (1772-1865)
111.  Mary Metcalf (1780-1855)


222.  Burgess Metcalf (1741-1816)
223.  Jerusha --?-- (1750-1817)

444.  Michael Metcalf (1706-1771)
445.  Melatiah Hamant (1704-1751)

888.  Michael Metcalf, born 10 October 1680 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 05 March 1761 in Keene, Cheshire, New Hampshire, United States.  He was the son of 1776. Michael Metcalf and 1777. Elizabeth Bowers.  He married 21 March 1705 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.
889.  Lydia White, born 10 May 1686 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Michael Metcalf and Lydia White are:
*  Michael Metcalf (1706-1771), married 1728 Melatiah Hamant (1704-1751)
*  John Metcalf (1709-1791), married 1733 Tamar Daniels (1714-????)
*  Joseph Metcalf (1714-1759),. married 1739 Deborah Adams (1716-????).
*  Jonathan Metcalf (1716-????), married (1) 1733 Hannah smith (1712-1744); (2) 1742 Mary Adams (1722-????).
*  Elizabeth Metcalf (1718-1758), married 1737 Gideon Ellis (1714-1800).
*  Lydia Metcalf (1721-????), married 1747 Hopestill Lovell (1711-1776).

1778.  Joseph White, born 17 December 1662 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 28 August 1757 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.  He married 31 May 1681 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.
1779.  Lydia Copeland, born 31 March 1661 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 08 May 1727 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 3558. Laurence Copeland and 3559. Lydia Townsend.

Children of Joseph White and Lydia Copeland are:
*  Joseph White (1683-1737), married 1711 Prudence Smith (1691-1784)
*  Lydia White (1686-????), married 1705 Michael Metcalf (1706-1771).
*  Thomas White (1688-????), married 1710 Deborah Reed (1696-1750).
*  Hannah White (1691-1761), married 1711 Moses Aldrich (1690-1761).
*  Mary White (1692-????).
*  Abigail White (1693-1720), married 1712 John Thompson (1689-1760).
*  William White (1697-????), married 1721 Elizabeth Thayer (1695-????).
*  Benjamin White (1701-1741), married 1720 Mary Thayer (1701-????).

3556.  Joseph White, born about 1636 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 23 March 1706 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.  He married 19 September 1660 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
3557.  Lydia Rogers, born 27 March 1642 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died after 04 December 1704 in Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 7114. John Rogers and 7115. Judith.

Children of Joseph White and Lydia Rogers are:
*  Joseph White (1661-1662).
*  Joseph White (1662-1757), married 1691 Lydia Copeland (1661-1727)
*  Lydia White (1662-1696), married 1681 Samuel Cook (1659-1752).
*  Thomas White (1665-1748), married 1687 Mehitabel Thornton (1665-1704)
*  Samuel White (1666-1760), married 1687 Ann Bingley (1670-1738)
*  John White (1668-1725), married 1719 Sarah (1670-????).
*  Ebenezer White (1670-1726).
*  Mary White (1674-1758), married (1) 1691 Ebenezer Hill (1664-1734); (2) 1742 Seth Chapin (1668-1746).
*  Ann White (1678-1743), married 1698 William Trask (1674-1746).
*  Experience White (1680-1769), married 1702 Ephraim Millard (1676-1769).
*  Hannah White (1681-????), married 1701 Samuel Warfield (1673-1752).

7112.  Thomas White, born about 1599 in England; died before 28 August 1678 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.  He married about 1635.
7113.  Unknown

Children of Thomas White and Unknown are:
*  Joseph White (1636-1706), married 1660 Lydia Rogers (1642-1704)
*  Hannah White (1638-????), married 1659 John Baxter (1639-1719).
*  Samuel White (1642-1699), married 1666 Mary Dyer (1641-1716).
*  Thomas White (1644-q706), married 1670 Mary (1640-????).
*  Ebenezer White (1649-1703), married 1670 Hannah Phillips (1654-1727).

Resources used to define these families include:

(1)  George Walter Chamberlain, Early Families of Weymouth, Massachusetts, (Baltimore, Md. : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1984), Page 731 and on.

(2)  C.S. Williams, Descendants of Thomas White of Weymouth MA, 1630-1907 (New York, 1907).

(3)   Dean Crawford Smith, edited by Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908, Part I: The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton (1817-1879) (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996), pages 492-515.

(4) Robert Charles Anderson, George E. Sanborn, Jr., Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 (Boston Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society,2000-2011), Volume VII, pages 339-342.

(5)  Janet Ireland Delorey, "Thomas White (4) of Mendon and Uxbridge Mass," The American Genealogist, Vol. 67, no. 3, April 1992, pp 90 ff.

(6)  Massachusetts Town Vital Record Books.

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


Friday, March 28, 2014

Now Where Did I Get That Name? I Got Lucky! Mocavo Helped

I know that I found some record in the distant past that had the middle name of my second great-grandfather, Henry Arnold White (1824-1885) of Killingly, Connecticut.  I did not create a source citation years ago when I found it.  Now I need a source citation.

I reviewed all of the papers in my White surname book.  I reviewed all of the records I have for Henry A. White in hopes that there was a mention of his middle name.  Nope.  Frustrated, I did a search on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org.  No luck.  The only records I found were my own family trees.  A Google Books search and a Google Web search didn't find much beyond my own blog posts.

Now I was really frustrated, so I gave up.

I went onto Mocavo.com and started working with their new search tools.  I entered some of my names, and after awhile thought "it won't hurt to try Henry White here too."  So I entered First name = henry, Last name = white, and Keyword = killingly, as shown below:


There were 72 results.  I quickly looked at the page snippet images that are 10 to a page, and there on number 68 of 72 was the prize:

The paragraph in Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity (Volume 4) by Ellery Bicknell Crane, in a sketch for William Henry Buck, starts:

"Mr. Buck married, January 12, 1868, Ellen Frances White, daughter of Henry Arnold and Amy Frances (Oatley) White, of East Killingly, Connecticut..."

I may have found that book several years ago online when I was searching for information on William Henry Buck.  Or found it in a library.

There is a book on Google Books with William Henry Buck mentioned - and I found it when I searched for [william henry buck killingly].  The match was at the top of the list.  When I searched for ["william henry buck" killingly] the match was not found, because the names were not consecutive words.

Then I realized that what is on Google Books is Volume 1 of the work by Crane.  The sketch is for Edgar Eugene Buck, who was a brother of William Henry Buck!  The parents of Ellen White are not mentioned.  Perhaps Volume 4 is not on Google Books?

With a search string of [henry arnold white killingly], a match was not found on the first ten screens when I searched Google Books.  The words weren't exactly in that order but they were in one sentence of one paragraph.  A search of Google Books using the first 8 words of the title reveals that only Volume 1 is available and out of copyright, and there are two other books with the same title that are recent reprints for Volumes 1 and 3.

A search for this volume on WorldCat.org reveals that there is a San Diego area college library which holds all volumes, but I've never been there.  The Family History Library in Salt Lake City also has it, among 70 others.

But there it was on Mocavo.  Hooray!!  Now I have a source citation for the name Henry Arnold White for my second great-grandfather, not to mention for the family of William Henry Buck.

I downloaded the page from the book, and crafted a source citation for the record:

Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of Worcester county, Massachusetts, with a history of Worcester society of antiquity (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1907), Volume 4, page 388, William Henry Buck sketch; digital images, Mocavo (http://www.mocavo.com : accessed 28 March 2014).

There are several lessons here:

1)  Google Books doesn't have every out of copyright book in its library.

2)  Sometimes searches for a word string in quote marks doesn't pay off.

3)  Persistence pays off big time.

4)  You have to broaden the search when you can't find results in the biggest and most used online genealogy databases.

5)  It really helps to be lucky!  In this case, I have a Mocavo gold subscription, and was persistent enough to find the needle in the haystack.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/now-where-did-i-get-that-name-i-got.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Disclosure:  I have a complimentary Mocavo Gold account, which I really appreciate.  I am ecstatic that I was able to find this record using Mocavo, because it looks like it is not otherwise on the Internet.



Helping Out the Police Investigator

I had a phone call yesterday from a police investigator in Ohio, asking for obituary lookups for a couple - let's call them Mr. and Mrs. "Olson" (I'm going to discuss this using fictitious names to "protect the innocent").  The investigator had a death date for both Mr. (in 2007) and Mrs. Olson (in 1987) and thought they had resided in Chula Vista, the city where I reside.  He had obtained my name from the Chula Vista library.  He emailed me with the information he had at my request so that I could ensure accuracy and "officialize" the interaction.

I didn't think to ask why he wanted the obituaries.  My thought was that he might be looking for next-of-kin for some reason - perhaps criminal, civil, or probate reasons.

What would you search first?  Here was my research stream:

1)  Since he wanted obituaries, I checked GenealogyBank first.  It has the San Diego local newspapers from 1868 to the present time.  I tried different surname spellings, different keywords, different year ranges, etc. and could not find any matches for either Mr. or Mrs. Olson, even though I had an exact death date.

2)  I checked the San Diego Union-Tribune (www.utsandiego.com) Archives also, since I am a subscriber to the print edition.  I didn't find anything there either.

3)  I checked the Ancestry.com NewspaperARCHIVE also and had no useful results.

4)  Since I had a death date for both Mr. and Mrs. Olson, I was able to find entries in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) on Ancestry.com and obtained birth dates.  The SSDI entry for Mrs. Olson indicated that the last benefit was sent to Chula Vista, so that's a clue.  The SSDI entry for Mr. Olson indicated that the last benefit was sent to Oceanside, a city about 45 miles north of Chula Vista.  I recommended that the detective contact an Oceanside local library for help with an obituary.

5)  I checked Google for both names and death years, thinking that it might provide a short circuit to an online obituary.  It didn't.

6)  On Ancestry.com, I checked for Mr. Olson now that I knew a birth date and death date.  I found two entries in the 1993-1994 time frame for him in Chula Vista.  Now I knew that he had lived in Chula Vista.

7)  A search on Ancestry for Mrs. Olson's name and death date found a California Death Index entry that said she was born in Ohio, and gave her maiden surname and her mother's maiden surname.  It also found a burial at the local National Cemetery.  A suggested record gave me a U.S. Veteran's Gravestone application that indicated she was interred 9 years after her death.  I suggested that the investigator contact the cemetery for more information.

8)  Knowing Mrs. Olson's maiden surname, I search for possible children in the California Birth Index on Ancestry, and was rewarded with four children born in San Diego County in the 1949-1955 time period.  A search for them resulted in marriage records for the two daughters, but not the two sons.  So we know the married surnames for the daughters and their husbands' names, assuming there were no divorces and remarriages.

9)  A search for each child's name revealed that one of the sons resided in 1990 at one of the addresses in Chula Vista that Mr. Olson resided at in 1993.  That sort of increased my confidence that things were coming together.

10)  A search on www.411.com found one of the sons and the husband of one of the daughters residing in Chula Vista with addresses and phone numbers.  On www.Veromi.net, the listing for the son in Chula Vista names Mr. and Mrs. Olson as possible relatives.

11)  I searched for Mrs. Olson using her maiden name on Ancestry.com and found her birth family but not much else besides 1920 to 1940 census records and the burial records, including one on Find A Grave.  I searched for Mr. Olson too and only found census records, the military enlistment and the Public Records Index entries.  There was no Find A Grave entry for him.  There were no Public Member Trees for Mr. Olson with his birth year or Mrs. Olson with her maiden name and birth year.

12)  I could check the San Diego City Directories if necessary online or at the library, or search the Chula Vista local newspaper at the library to find an obituary for Mrs. Olson, and offered to do that if necessary.

All of this took about two hours to perform, and I was able to forward it to the investigator within five hours of his email request.  What I found should enable him to be able to contact some of the next-of-kin for whatever purpose he wants to pursue.  

Some people may ask - how does the issue of privacy affect this study?  It really doesn't, since I've used publicly available and searchable databases (either free or on subscription or at a public library) to obtain everything above.  A police or licensed private investigator has access to more advanced search engines and databases (see CVGS Program Review - "Finding the Living, and Maybe the Dead" for examples).

What other resources would you have used?  Have you done investigations like this for the police?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/helping-out-police-investigator.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver


52 Ancestors, Week 13: #20 James Richman/Richmond (1821-1912) of Putnam, Conn.

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #13:

James Richman/Richmond (1821-1912) is #20 on my Ahnentafel List, and is my 2nd great-grandfather. He married #21 Hannah Rich (1824-1911) in 1845.



 I am descended through:

*  their son, #10 Thomas Richmond (1948-1917), who married 1868 #11 Julia E. White (1848-1913);
*  their daughter, #5 
Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) who married 1900 #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942);
* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married 1942 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002);
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)


To create this post, I made an Individual Summary report in RootsMagic 6, then saved it into an RTF file.  I then copied and pasted the Person, the Individual Fact List, the Marriages/Children, the General Notes, and the Source Citations into this blog post.  Unfortunately, the source citations superscripts did not survive this process as superscripts, so I put them in brackets in the Individual Facts list below, and without brackets in the Source Citation list.  I have images of many of these records, but have not included them in this blog post due to the length of the post.  Many of them have been transcribed or shown in Amanuensis Monday and Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

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


1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):


*  Name:                 James Richman [1–4, 6]   
*  Sex:                    Male   
*  Father:               John Richman (1788-1867) [1, 5]
*  Mother:             Ann Marshman (1784-1856) [1, 5]
*  Alternate Name:  James Richmond [5, 7-13]   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
   
*  Birth:                 22 April 1821, Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [5]   
*  Baptism:            6 May 1821 (age 0), St. Michael's Church; Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [3]
*  Census:             31 March 1841 (age 19), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [4] 
*  Census:             31 March 1851 (age 29), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [2]
*  Occupation:      31 March 1851 (age 29), coal merchant labourer; Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [3]   
*  Immigration:    22 October 1855 (age 34), Ship Calhoun, from Liverpool, New York, New York, New York, United States [6]
*  Census:             1 April 1860 (age 38), Burrillville, Providence, Rhode Island, United States [7]
*  Occupation:      1 June 1860 (age 39), farm laborer; Burrillville, Providence, Rhode Island, United States [7]
*  Census:            1 April 1870 (age 48), Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [8] 
*  Occupation:     1 June 1870 (age 49), works in a woolen mill; Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [8]    
*  Census:            1 June 1880 (age 59), Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [9]
*  Occupation:     1 June 1880 (age 59), farmer; Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [9] 
*  Census:            1 April 1900 (age 78), Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [10]  
*  Occupation:     1 April 1900 (age 78), farmer; Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [10]
*  Description:     1903 (about age 82), Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [11] 
*  Census:            1 April 1910 (age 88), Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [12] 
*  Occupation:     1 April 1910 (age 88), farmer on home farm; Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [12]
*  Death:             20 December 1912 (age 91), of pneumonia and grippe; Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [5]
*  Burial:             after 20 December 1912 (after age 91), Grove Street Cemetery, Putnam, Windham, Connecticut, United States [13]

3)  MARRIAGES AND CHILDREN  (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

*  Spouse 1.:        Hannah Rich (1824-1911) [1]
*  Marriage 1:      7 September 1845 (age 24), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [1]

*  Child 1:           Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
*  Child 2:           James Richmond (1849-1929)    
*  Child 3:           Ann Richman (1851-1853)   
*  Child 4:           Louisa Richmond (1853-1940)   
*  Child 5:           Elizabeth Ann Richmond (1854-1931)   
*  Child 6:           Emma Richmond (1856-1921)   
*  Child 7:           Hannah Rebecca Richmond (1859-1947)   
*  Child 8:           John Henry Richmond (1865-1947)   
*  Child 9:           Charles Edwin Richmond (1866-1951)   

4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets): 

James Richmond's death certificate says that his birth date was 22 April 1921 in England, with parents John Richmond and Ann Marshman [5]. 

The baptism of James Richman on 6 May 1821, son of John (weaver and laborer) and Ann Richman was found in the Hilperton church parish records [3].

In the 1841 Census for Wiltshire, the John Richman family resided on Marsh Lane in Hilperton Marsh.  The household included [4]:

*   John Richman Senior - age 52, male, a coal hauler, born Wiltshire
*   Ann Richman - age 59, female, a weaver, born Wiltshire
*  Elizabeth Richman - age 30, female, a weaver, born Wiltshire
*  James Richman - age 20, male, Ag Lab, born Wiltshire

The marriage record for James Richman and Hannah Rich in the Hilperton parish church records provide this information [1]:

*  1845.  Marriage solemnized by banns in the parish of Hilperton in the County of Wilts.
*  No. 69
*  When Married:  September 4th
*  Name and Surname:  James Richman;  Hannah Rich
*  Age:  Full age;  20
*  Condition:  Bachelor; Spinster
*  Rank or Profession:  Labourer;  Weaver
*  Residence at Time of Marriage:  Hilperton;  Hilperton
*  Father's Name and surname:  John Richman;  John Rich
*  Rank or Profession of Father:  Labourer;  Weaver
*  Married in the Parish Church according to the ceremonies of the Church of England by me Wm Talman
*  This marriage was solemnized between us:  James Richman /s/;  Hannah Rich /m/
*  In the presence of us, James Carpenter /s/;  Ann Richman /s/

In the 1851 Census for Wiltshire, the James Richman family resided in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England.  The household included [2]:

*   James Richman -- husband, age 29, coal merchant laborer, born Marsh
*  Hannah Richman -- wife, age 25, woolen weaver, born Marsh
*  Thomas Richman -- son, age 2, born Marsh
*  James Richman -- son, age 1, born Marsh

James Richman (age 34, origin England) and Samuel Richman (age 21, probably Samuel Rich, James' brother-in-law) were passengers on the ship Calhoun out of Liverpool, England, arriving in New York on 22 October 1855 [6].

The family started using the surname of Richmond after migrating to the United States in 1855/6.


In the 1860 US census, the James Richmond family resided in Burrillville, Providence County, Rhode Island.  The household included [7]:

*   James Richmond -- age 38, male, white, farm laborer, born England
*  Hannah Richmond -- age 36, female, born England
*  Thomas Richmond -- age 12, male, born England, attended school
*  James Richmond -- age 10, male, born England, attended school
*  Louisa Richmond -- age 8, female, born England, attended school
*  Elizabeth A. Richmond -- age 5, female, born England, attended school
*  Emma Richmond -- age 6, female, born England, attended school
*  Hannah R. Richmond -- age 2, female, born RI.

In the 1870 US census, the James Richmond family resided in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut in the house of George Whitford.  The household included [8]:

*  James Richmond -- age 49, male, works for woolen mill, born England
*  Anna Richmond -- age 45, female, keeping house, born England
*  Louisa Richmond -- age 17, female, works in woolen mill, born England
*  Elizabeth Richmond -- age 15, female, works in woolen mill, born England
*  Emma Richmond -- age 13, female, works in woolen mill, born England
*  Rebeca Richmond -- age 11, female, born RI, attended school
*  John Richmond -- age 5, male, born RI, attended school
*  Charles Richmond -- age 3, male, born CT

In the 1880 U.S. census, the James Richmond family resided in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut.  The family included [9]:

*  James Richmond -- white, male, age 59, father, married, born England, farmer, father and mother born in England
*  Anna Richmond -- white, female, age 55, mother, married, born England, keeping house, father and mother born England
*  Louisa Richmond -- white, female, age 27, daughter, single, at home, born England, parents born England
*  Emma Richmond -- white, female, age 27, daughter, single, works in woolen mill, born England, parents born England
*  John Richmond -- white, male, age 15, son, single, at home, attended school, born RI, parents born England
*  Charles Richmond -- white, male, age 13, son, single, at home, attended school, born CT, parents born England

In the 1900 US census, the James Richmond family resided in the outlying district (with no street names)  in Putnam town in Windham County, Connecticut.  The family included [10]:

*   James Richmond -- head, white, male, born April 1821, age 79, married 55 years, born England, father and mother born England, emigrated in 1855, resident 45 years in the US, alien, a farmer
*  Hannah Richmond -- wife, white, female, born Apr 1825, age 75, married 55 years, 9 children, 8 living, born England, father and mother born England, emigrated in 1856, resident 44 years
*  John H. Richmond -- son, white, male, born May 1865, age 35, married 9 years, born RI, father and mother born England, a farm laborer
*  Mary A. Richmond -- daughter-in-law, white, female, born August 1866, age 33, married 9 years, 0 children, born England, father and mother born England, emigrated in 1881, resident 19 years
*  Louisa Richmond -- daughter, white, female, born Oct 1852, age 47, single, born England, father and mother born England, emigrated in 1855, resident 45 years

A biography of James Richmond is provided in the book Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties.  The specific article was titled Arthur Lucius Fitts, but it included the biography of James Richmond, who was the father of Emma Richmond, wife of Arthur Fitts.  The Richmond portion of the article reads [11]:

"James Richmond, father of Mrs. Fitts, was born in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England April 8, 1821, a son of John and Ann (Marshman) Richmond.  John Richmond was a farmer and laborer, and lived in Hilperton where both he and his wife died.  His children were as follows:  Elizabeth, the deceased wife of Thomas Hogan, a soldier in the English Army and a resident of Hilperton, England;  Sarah, the deceased wife of James Thompson, of Hilperton;  John, a seafaring man who married Maria Matthews, and died in Hilperton;  Ann, the widow of John Hall, and resident of Hilperton; James and Thomas, who was a twin and died at the age of twenty one.

"James Richmond was reared to the hard and unsatisfactory work of farming on a small scale, and his youth afforded scant opportunity for educational training.  Nevertheless, he possessed a keen desire for knowledge, and improved such chances as came his way, by observation and reading.  His first intimacy with books was acquired at Sunday School, and his alphabet was learned from a copy made by a friend.  At the present time he is an unusually well informed and intelligent man, no opportunity having escaped him to add to his store of useful and interesting information.  As a young man he found employment for a short time in Cardiff, Wales, but barring this limited experience, he lived on the home farm until his marriage.  For the first ten years thereafter he kept house in Hilperton, and from his wages as a laborer managed to save.  In 1855 he boarded a sailing vessel at Liverpool, and upon arriving in New York went directly to his destination in Pascoag, R.I. where he had friends to welcome him.  He was accompanied by his wife's brother, Samuel Rich, and they landed in New York October 21, 1855, after a month's voyage.  Mr. Richmond had very little money in his pocket, but his hopes were high, and he soon found work in a woolen mill in Pascoag, where he saved his wages, and made considerable headway.  On November 12, 1856, he was joined by his wife and five children, they having been on the ocean for six weeks and two days.


"For about ten years Mr. Richmond was employed in Burrillville, and in March 1866, he began work in the woolen mill of Michael Moriarty at Putnam, Conn. where he remained until 1870 as manager of the engine. The LaFayette Reynolds woolen mills at Windsor, Conn. employed his services as engineer until the destruction of the plant and the following year he returned to Putnam, where he purchased his present farm from Nathaniel Battey.  He is engaged in general farming, in which he has achieved success.  Mr. Richmond is respected by all who know him, and he is regarded as a substantial member of the agricultural community of Putnam.


"While living in his native town of Hilperton, England, Mr. Richmond married, Sept. 7, 1845, Hannah Rich, born April 14, 1825, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Hill) Rich.  Of this union there have been born nine children:  Thomas, a boss carder of Elmville, Conn., who married Juliette White;  James, a boss designer in the woolen mill in Stroudsburg, Pa., who married Sarah Bigwood;  Ann, deceased in infancy;  Louise, unmarried and living with her father;  Elizabeth Ann, wife of Abram Sykes of Putnam;  Emma now Mrs. Fitts;  Hannah Rebecca, married first to Frank N. Smith and afterward to Edmund A. Hoyle, and now a widow residing at Worcester, Mass.; John Henry, who married Mary Ann Ramsey, is a farmer managing his father's farm; and Charles Edward, an expert mechanic of Hartford, who married Lavinia Gurten.


"James Richmond, above mentioned, is an expert in his line, as is evidenced by the fact that he had charge of the famous feat of making a suit of clothes in six hours and four minutes.  In the hands of a tailor supplied with materials this might not seem an impossible undertaking, but in this instance the wool was taken from the back of the sheep and placed on the back of the wearer in the shape of a finished suit, within the specified time of six hours and two minutes."


While visiting Hilperton in Wiltshire in 1993, Randy Seaver talked to the vestryman of the Hilperton church, Mr. Potts.  He recalled that he had searched for information on James Richman for another researcher -- Chester and Barbara Richmond of Washington state.  He reviewed his information, and told Randy Seaver that "James Richman had been accused of stealing coal on the Avon and Kennett Canal, but was found innocent of the crime.  However, he felt his reputation was besmirched, and left Hilperton for America.


In the 1910 US Census, this family resided at 1 Richmond Road in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut.  The household included [12]:

*  James Richmond -- head of household, male, white, age 89, married 64 years, born England, parents born England, immigrated 1855, naturalized, a farmer, works on home farm, owns farm with a mortgage
*  Hanna Richmond - wife, female, white, age 85, married 64 years, 9 children born, 7 living, born England, parents born England, immigrated in 1855
*  John H. Richmond -- son, male, white, age 44, married 19 years, born England, parents born England, immigrated 1883
*  Mary A. Richmond -- daughter, female, white, age 41, married 19 years, 1 child born, 1 living, born RI, parents born England, farmer, works on home farm
*  Louisa Richmond -- daughter, female, white, age 58, single, born England, parents born England, immigrated 1886,
*  Thomas H.M. Richmond -- grandson (?), male, white, age 7, single, born CT, father born England, mother born RI, attended school

The death certificate for James Richmond in Putnam, Connecticut indicated that he was widowed, a farmer, died 20 December 1912 in Putnam at age 91 years, 7 months, 18 days, his birth date was 22 April 1821 in England, his father's name was John Richmond, born in England, his mother's name was Ann Marshman, born in England, he was buried at Grove Street Cemetery in Putnam, he was embalmed, the cause of death was pneumonia and la grippe, and the informant was Thomas Richmond [5].

James and Hannah (Rich) Richmond are interred in the Grove Street Cemetery in Putnam, Connecticut.  The gravestone has this inscription [13]:

JAMES RICHMAN
1821-1912
HANNAH RICHMAN
1825-1911

5)  SOURCES:

1. Church of England, Parish Church of Hilperton (Wiltshire, England), Bishop's Transcripts, 1622-1880, "Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1837-1880," FHL BRITISH Microfilm 1,279,404, Item 15, Marriages, Page 35, No. 69, James Richman and Hannah Rich entry.

2. 1851 England and Wales Census, Wiltshire, Hilperton [parish], District 257, Folio 254 recto, Page 21, household 88, James Richman household; digital image, FindMyPast.com (http://www.findmypast.com : accessed July 2012), citing The Natonial Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, Public Record Office HO 107/1840.

3. Church of England, Parish Church of Hilperton (Wiltshire, England), Bishop's Transcripts, 1622-1880, "Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1813-1838," FHL BRITISH Microfilm 1,279,404, Item 14, Baptisms, Item #252, James Richman, son of John and Ann.

4. 1841 England, Wales and Scotland Census, Wiltshire, Hilperton [parish], Folio 24, Page 9 (printed), Lines 7-10, John Richman household; digital image, FindMyPast.com (www.findmypast.com : accessed 27 July 2012); citing The Natonal Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, Public Record Office HO 107/1182/2.

5. Putnam, Connecticut, Certificate of Death, James Richmond, 20 December 1912; Registrar of Vital Statistics, Putnam, Ct. (certificate not dated).

6. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, digital image, Ancestry.com , : accessed 8 July 2010), image 477 of 565, Line 23, James Richman entry; citing List Number 1037 of National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, Roll 157; Ship Calhoun out of Liverpool, Daniel H. Truman master, arrived New York on 22 October 1855.

7. 1860 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Providence County, Rhode Island, Burrillville town, Page 45, Dwelling #679, Family #740, James Richmond family, online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 1205.

8. 1870 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Windham County, Connecticut, Putnam town: Page 563, Dwelling #376, Family #669, James Richmond family; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 117.

9. 1880 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Windham County, Connecticut, Putnam town: Page 605B, Dwelling #43, Family #51, James Richmond family, online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, Roll 110.

10. 1900 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Windham County, Connecticut, Putnam town; ED 522, Sheet 2A, Lines 79-83, James Richmond household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T623, Roll 15.

11. Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties, two volumes, (Chicago Ill. : J.H. Beers & Company, 1903), Volume II, pages 1130-1131, Arthur Lucius Fitts sketch.

12. 1910 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Windham County, Connecticut, Putnam; ED 581, Page 106, Dwelling #148, Family #186, James Richmond family;  online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T624, Roll 144.

13. Grove Street Cemetery (Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut, United States), James Richmond; Randall J. Seaver, September 1990.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/52-ancestors-week-13-20-james.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Mocavo Celebrates New Features and 300,000 Databases

Mocavo announced today, in the post Celebrating 300,000 Databases with New Features by Cliff Shaw, that:



*  Thanks to your support, free genealogy continues to gain a significant foothold in the family history community. One database at a time, we’ve brought more than 300,000 databases online to help you discover your story for free.

*  Today, I’m excited to announce that you now have the power to prioritize your search notifications. Simply select your favorite search terms and we’ll email you results based on those priorities, helping you make discoveries faster than ever.

*  As we continue to add millions of potential matches to our search engine, we want to provide different ways to quickly browse your results. Exclusively for Mocavo Gold members, you can find new search result displays under the Results & Summary Search Tabs. With so many new displays to choose from, making new discoveries has never been easier!

*  With Full Image View, you’ll see the full image of each record on your results page. You can view up to ten results and we will highlight your search terms so you can easily identify where they appear within the image.

*  Don’t have time to view the entire page, but still want some contextual info? Try out the new Tile View. Revealing a smaller image than the full page view, you’ll be able to quickly browse all results without losing any necessary contextual details.

*  Summary Search View allows you to group your results by category and database title, making it a breeze to target the databases that spark your interest, and quickly avoid those that are irrelevant to your research.

The blog post has more information with examples to demonstrate how the new features work.

I'm happy to see the additional search and presentation capabilities.

I've struggled to keep up with all of the new databases and how to access only the latest additions.  I think doing it every month or two is the best method, but then I need to remember when I last checked them.  I guess some sort of cheat sheet or search log is the answer.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/03/mocavo-celebrates-new-features-and.html



Should I Add My Own Family Stories to my Ancestry Member Tree?

I have a quandary - other Ancestry.com Member Trees keep sprouting "Stories" that I've written, and then they are "attached" to a number of other Ancestry Member Trees.  What should I do? 

 Some possible responses:

*  Engage those persons who have "written" my stories and ask for them to remove them because they have violated my copyright protection.

*  Engage those persons and request that they ask permission to use it and to add "reprinted by permission of Randy Seaver" after permission is given.

*  Just let it go and be happy folks are reading my posts and website.

*  Write my own "Stories" and attach them to my tree people with appropriate copyright notices and permission to attach to other trees.  

I try to share my research using my blog posts and web pages because I think that sharing and collaboration is the best way to interact with other researchers.  I really don't want to ask other searchers to remove my material from their trees, as long as my copyright notice is included in the "Story."

Here are some examples:

1)  For one of my Ancestry Member Trees, I clicked on the "View people with hints" link and saw:


On the screen above, I clicked on the "Story" link and the top of the list is shown above.

2)  Further down the list is a "Story" for David Auble (1817-1894), my second great-grandfather.  Here is the "Story" for him (two screens):



This "Story" was excerpted from my webpage (see http://www.genealogy.com/users/s/e/a/Randy-Seaver/FILE/0021page.html) as shown below:


Exactly the same words.  I have a copyright notice on the top of the page.

The "Story" was posted by the other searcher in 2008, and I tried to engage them in 2012 writing a Comment at the bottom of the "Story" page, saying:

"Are you a cousin? I published the above on my web site where, apparently, you found it and copied it into a Public Member Story here.
Are you a descendant of David Auble? He is one of my second great-grandfathers, through his son Charles Auble. Can we share information? Please email me at rjseaver@cox.net and we can start a conversation."
I have heard nothing back, and this AMT owner has not accessed Ancestry for over a year.

Some may argue that there is nothing copyrightable on that portion of my web page - that what was copied is a listing of Facts and nothing more. That's accurate, I think, for this specific example. But the larger report that includes this one portion might also be considered an "Authored Work" created from several sources of information and synthesized into a genealogy report at a specific time and place. Fair use in including only a portion of the larger work could be argued in the case above, also.

3) There are other "Stories" in other Ancestry Member Trees where the owner has copied Surname Saturday posts, will transcriptions, etc. into the "Story," and have included the copyright notice. Here's an example:


That is posted online at http://www.geneamusings.com/2010/11/amanuensis-monday-ebenezer-phillips.html. The title and first two paragraphs of the blog post was not included. The only attribution is my name at the bottom which was included when the searcher copied it.

There are instances where these "Stories" have been added to 10 to 20 other Ancestry Member Trees.

4) To be fair, I have had instances where AMT owners have asked my permission to copy and paste my work into their "Stories" for their AMT. In every case, I have granted permission.

5) I'm thinking seriously about writing my own "Stories" for specific people that contain my own work, especially those that would include my will and deed transcriptions. I have a lot of time invested in those transcriptions. I would include a link to the original blog post, and add a copyright notice and note that "Permission is granted to use this information for non-commercial use as long as you include '(c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver, originally published on <URL>.' "  

I especially like Dick Eastman's copyright policy which is summarized at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/copyrights-and-other-lega.html.

5) What do you do to maintain some control over your own written material? Have you found your material on other Ancestry Member Trees, in WikiTree notes, or on websites?


Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver