Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your Genea-Bucket List

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

Knowing that a "Bucket List" is a wish list of things to do before death:

1)  What is on your Genealogy Bucket List?  What research locations do you want to visit?  Are there genea-people that you want to meet and share with?  What do you want to accomplish with your genealogy research?  List a minimum of three items - more if you want!

2)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own (please give me a link in Comments), a comment to this post in Comments, a status line or comment on Facebook, or a Google+ Stream post.

Think big!  Have fun!  Life is short - do genealogy first!  

Here's mine:

1)  The ancestral family history place that I want to visit is South Petherton, Somerset, England.  My VAUX family came from there in about 1840, immigrating to Erie County, New York.  I've been fortunate that several Vaux cousins have done quite a bit of research there and have defined the ancestral families very well.  But there's no substitute for walking in places that you ancestors walked, worshipped and are buried.

2)  I need to visit the New England Historic Genealogical Society again.  I last visited there in 1997 (I think!) and have found many more New England ancestors since then.  I especially want to delve into the manuscript collection.  I want to discuss my Thomas Newton and Hannah Smith brick wall problems with the experts.  

3)  I want to publish books about my ancestors (either digital or paper) for my children, grandchildren, brothers and cousins.  I've done two limited editions myself, but they are out-of-date now.  I also want to publish photo albums (probably digital) for my family.  

4)  I would like to go to every national and regional genealogy conference held during one calendar year.  In the process, I'd like to visit every major regional and national genealogy repository in the same year.  This would be like visiting every major league ballpark in a season.  I'm not sure that I can afford this, and my wife might not approve, but, hey, it's a wish list!  

Okay, I showed you mine, now show me yours! 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your-genea.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - MAVERICK (England to colonial Massachusetts)

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

I am in the 8th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #1031 who is Sarah MAVERICK (1659-1723) [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through three generations in this MAVERICK family line is:

1. Randall J. Seaver

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)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

32. Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)
33. Abigail Gates (1797-1869)

64. Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)
65. Martha Whitney (1764-1832)

128.  Norman Seaver (1734-1787)
129.  Sarah Read (1736-1809)

256. Robert Seaver (1702-1752)
257.  Eunice Rayment (1707-1772)

514.  Samuel Rayment (1679-1723)
515.  Eunice Norman (1686-1743)

1030.  John Norman, born about 1660 in Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died after 25 February 1709 in Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2060. Richard Norman and 2061. Margaret Flint.  He married 10 November 1683 in Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
1031.  Sarah Maverick, born about 1659 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died before 1723 in probably Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of John Norman and Sarah Maverick are:
*  Richard Norman (1684-1724).
*  Margaret Norman (1685-1685).
*  Eunice Norman (1686-1743), married (1) 1704 Samuel Rayment (1679-1723), married (2) 1730 Joseph Morgan.
*  Moses Norman (1687-1731), married 1716 Anne Bulfinch (1690-1746).
*  John Norman (1690-1696).
*  Sarah Norman (1693-????), married 1718 John Broughton (1692-????).
*  Benjamin Norman (1694-1699).
*  John Norman (1696-1725), married 1720 Mary Coes (1699-????).
*  Benjamin Norman (1699-????)
*  Jonathan Norman (1701-1724).
*  Elizabeth Norman (1706-1770), married (1) 1725 William Edgell (1700-1739); married (2) 1739 Isaac Howe (1686-1764).

2062.  Moses Maverick, born before 03 November 1611 in South Huish, Devon, England; died 28 January 1686 in Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married  22 October 1656 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.
2063.  Eunice, born about 1628 in England; died after 05 December 1698 in probably Marblehead, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Moses Maverick and Eunice are:
*  Mary Maverick (1657-1695), married 1681 Archibald Ferguson (1649-1727).
*  Sarah Maverick (1659-1723), married 1683 John Norman (1660-1709).
*  Moses Maverick (1660-1685).
*  Aaron Maverick (1663-1685).

2124.  John Maverick, born before 28 December 1578 in Awliscombe, Devon, England; died 03 February 1636 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 4248. Peter Mavericke and 4249. Dorothy Tucke.  He married 28 October 1600 in Islington, Devon, England.
2125.  Mary Gye, born about 1580 in Sandford, Devon, England; died after 1666 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 4250. Robert Gye and 4251. Grace Dowrish.

Children of John Maverick and Mary Gye are:
*  Samuel Maverick (1602-1676), married 1630 Amias Cole (1597-1670).
*  Elias Maverick (1604-1684), married 1633 Anna Harris (1613-1697).
*  Mary Maverick (1606-1607).
*  Aaron Maverick (1608-????)
*  Mary Maverick (1610-1652), married 1635 James Parker (1606-1652).
*  Moses Maverick (1611-1686), married (1) 1635 Remember Allerton (1614-1655); married (2) 1656 Eunice --?-- (1628-1698).
*  Abigail Maverick (1614-1644), married 1640 John Manning (1610-????).
*  Antipas Maverick (1619-1678), married 1644 Katherine.
*  John Maverick (1621-????), married 1649  .Jane Andrewes (1625-????).

The sources for these Maverick families include:

Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633 (Boston, NEHGS, 1995), Volume II, pages 1241-1243.

Miss Elizabeth French, "Genealogical Research in England", New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 69 (April 1915), page 146.

William Prescott Greenlaw, "John Maverick and Some of His Descendants", New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 96 (July 1942), pages 232-241; Vol. 96 (Oct. 1942), pages 358-366.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/surname-saturday-maverick-england-to.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

FGS Conference Online Registration Ends August 19th

This press release was sent from the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2014 FGS CONFERENCE ONLINE REGISTRATION ENDS AUGUST 19

“Gone to Texas” – A Conference for the Nation’s Genealogists

August 15, 2014 – Austin, TX.  Online registration for the 2014 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference, scheduled 27-30 August 2014 in San Antonio, Texas, ends Tuesday, August 19. Register athttp://www.fgsconference.org/registration.  This year’s conference theme is “Gone to Texas,” and the local hosts are the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society (SAGHS) and the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS).

Pre-registering for the conference gives you access to some great benefits. Those who have already registered for the conference still have time to purchase tickets to the conference "extras."

Only attendees who preregister for the conference can:

• Access the conference syllabus online prior to the conference.
• Guarantee a spot in the "extra" conference events (on-site tickets may be available to events if they have not sold out):
• ​Add on ​13 luncheons over the 4 conference days.
• ​Register for ​ 10  workshops over 3 days.   ​(​Workshops are filling up quickly but there are still a few spaces remaining.​)​
• Wednesday Night at the Institute of Texan Cultures on August 27​th​, hosted by the the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society and the Texas State Genealogical Society.
• ​Friday evening's "Night in Old San Antonio" at La Villita is sold out.​

You can also purchase extra tickets (except for workshops) for your non-genealogy spouses or friends who traveled with you to the conference.

Visit https://www.fgsconference.org/registration/ to register or add "extras" today. We hope to see you in San Antonio,August 27-30.

Learn More and Stay Connected

Like FGS at:  https://www.facebook.com/FGSgenealogy

Follow FGS on Twitter at https://twitter.com/fgsgenealogy and hashtag #FGS2014.

Visit San Antonio at http://visitsanantonio.com/

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS FORUM magazine (filled with articles for the family history community), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org.

#####

Contact:           

Federation of Genealogical Societies

PO Box 200940, Austin, TX 78720-0940

phone: +1 (888) 347-1500, fax: +1 (866) 347-1350

marketing@fgs.org

Crafting a Source Citation for a Photograph (Scanned Image)

While I was writing my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 33: #40 John Richman (1788-1867) post last night, I realized that I needed to craft a source citation for the photograph of John Richman and the story accompanying it.  

The rule I've learned is to cite the record that you have, or researched and found, in its present media form; not the original record - not the "source of the source" - although the "source of the source" could be included as a provenance statement.

The photograph image I have is a digital image (scanned by myself in about 2001) of a photocopy provided to me in 1993 by Barbara Richmond by postal mail.  Barbara obtained the first photocopy from Roma Challis, my fourth cousin, a resident of Hilperton and 3rd great-granddaughter of John Richman, in about 1985.  The original photograph is, apparently, an ambrotype cased image, handed down over the years by the Richman family in Hilperton,  that was in Roma's possession before she died several years ago.  I corresponded with Roma for several years from 1993 to about 2005.

My first challenge was to decide on which source template in RootsMagic 6 to select.  There were two excellent candidates - the "Photo, Portrait, Private, scanned" template (from Evidence Explained, paragraph 3.37) or the "Artifact, Family, Photographed (privately held)" template (from Evidence Explained, paragraph 3:38).  The former was for a scanned image of an artifact.  The latter seemed to be for a physical artifact that someone had in their possession (if I didn't have a photograph and scanned image, I might have chosen this one).  

I chose the first source template mentioned - the "Photo, Portrait, Private, scanned" template.

Here is an image of the "Master Source" fields filled in with my information:

I named the master source with a unique name.  Note that there are no fields for the "Source Details."  

The resulting source citation elements are:

Footnote: John Richman (1788-1867), Ambrotype Cased Photograph, taken in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England, in about 1865; digital image, photocopy of original, scanned in 2001 by Randy Seaver; privately held by Roma Challis (1922-2010), [address for private use], Hilperton, Wiltshire, England. Seated, elderly, white-haired man wearing period clothing and top hat. Provenance is Douglas Richman family in Hilperton to Roma Challis; unknown location in 2014.

Short Footnote: John Richman (1788-1867), digital image, in collection of Randall J. Seaver, 2014.

Bibliography: (1788-1867), John Richman. Ambrotype Cased Photograph, taken in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England, about 1865. Digital image. Privately held by Roma Challis (1922-2010), [Address for private use], Hilperton, Wiltshire, England. Digital image in collection of Randall J. Seaver, 2014.

I also created a "Description" Fact to put into John Richman's (1788-1867) timeline with a "Fact Note" for the story about the photograph and the image subject, and I then cited it with this source citation.  Lastly, I tagged the Media item (the digital image of the photograph) to the "Description" Fact in RootsMagic 6.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/crafting-source-citation-for-photograph.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 33: #40 John Richman (1788-1867)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" in her blog post Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  Here is my ancestor biography for week #33:

NOTE:  This post was edited to reflect John Richman's parents.]

John Richman (1788-1867) is #40 on my Ahnentafel list, my third great-grandfather.  He married in 1811 to #41 Ann Marshman (1784-1856).  

I am descended through:

*  their son, #20 James Richman (1821-1912), who married #21 Hannah Rich (1824-1911).
*  their son, #10 Thomas Richmond (1848-1917), who married #11 Julia E. White (1848-1913)

*  their daughter, #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962), who married #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), 

* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), in 1942.

*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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

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

*  Name:                      John Richman [1–5]    
*  Sex:                           Male [1-4]  

*  Father:                     John Richman (1744-1808)

*  Mother:                    Mary Parsons (1750-1802) 
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL FACTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                        about 1788, Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [2]
*  Census:                     31 March 1841 (about age 53), Hilperton Marsh Road, Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [2]
*  Census:                    31 March 1851 (about age 63), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [3]
*  Census:                    31 March 1861 (about age 73), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [4]
*  Death:                      before 26 April 1867 (before about age 79), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [5]   
*  Burial:                     26 April 1867 (about age 79), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [5]
  
1)  SPOUSES AND CHILDREN: (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse #1:               Ann Marshman (1784-1856)   
*  Marriage #1:             8 February 1811 (about age 23), Hilperton, Wiltshire, England [1]

*  Child #1:                  Elizabeth Richman (1811-    )   
*  Child #2:                  Sarah Richman (1814-    )   
*  Child #3:                  John Richman (1816-1884)   
*  Child #4:                  Ann Richman (1818-    )   
*  Child #5:                  James Richman (1821-1912)   
*  Child #6:                  Thomas Richman (1823-1844)   
*  Child #7:                  Mary Richman (1823-1825)   
*  Child #8:                  Mary Richman (1825-1825)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

The parentage of John Richman is probably John and Mary (Parsons) Richman of Hilperton in Wiltshire.   From census records, his approximate birth date is between 1788 (age 52 in the 1841 census, age 72 in the 1861 census, and age 79 in 1867 on burial record) and 1792 (age 59 in the 1851 census).  There are no baptisms of a John Richman found in the Hilperton church records in the period 1779 to 1795.  However, the church records are fairly sparse during this time.  Searches were also made for Trowbridge and several other nearby parishes during this time period without finding a John Richman born between 1788 and 1792.

If English naming practice traditions were followed (first son after father's father, first daughter after mother's mother), then the parents of John Richman were John and Elizabeth Richman.  However, one can't be sure that the practices were followed.

However, there is a baptism of a "John Rich" on 27 September 1789 in Hilperton, the child of John and Mary (--?--) Rich.  The Richman family occasionally used the surname "Rich."

The first record of John Richman is at his marriage by banns to Ann Marshman on 8 February 1811 in Hilperton, in the presence of Thomas Marshman.  The Hilperton Parish Register Bishop's Transcripts say they were married by J. Ballies with the mark of X for John and Ann, with witness Thomas Marshman in the presence of Richard Hiscock. [1]

The baptisms of the children of John and Ann (Marshman) Richman are in the Hilperton church records during 1814 to 1825, with John Richman listed as a weaver and/or a laborer.

In the 1841 Census for Wiltshire, the John Richman family resided on Marsh Lane in Hilperton Marsh.[2]  The household included:

*   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

There was a second family in the same dwelling:

*  John Richman Junior - age 25, male, Ag Lab, born Wiltshire
*  Mariah Richman - age 25, female, weaver, born Wiltshire
*  Elizabeth Richman - age 5, female, born Wiltshire
*  James Richman - age 3, male, born Wiltshire
*  David Richman - age 9 months, male, born Wiltshire

In the 1851 Census for Wiltshire, the John Richman family resided in Hilperton Marsh, Wiltshire, England.[3]  The household included:

*   John Richman - husband, age 59, butcher, born Hilperton, Wiltshire
*  Ann Richman - wife, age 67, born Devizes
*  Elizabeth Richman - daughter, age 38, weaver, born Hilperton
*  Mary Richman - granddaughter age 8, born Hilperton
*  Rosa Richman - granddaughter, age 3, scholar, born Bath, Somerset

In the 1861 Census for Wiltshire, John Richman (age 72, a widower, a pauper, born in Hilperton, Wiltshire) resided in Hilperton Marsh with his granddaughter, Rosa Tompson (age 13, a servant, born Bath, Somerset).[4]

A copy of a picture purporting to be John Richman was provided by Russell Richmond of Putnam, Connecticut, and also by Barbara Richmond of Washington state, which had been provided to Barbara by Roma Challis (a descendant of John Richman) of Hilperton in 1985.  The picture shows a seated, white haired older male with a top hat.[6]  Roma Challis showed the Ambrotype picture (common in the 1850's and 1860's)  to the Wiltshire Family History Society several years ago, and one of the members, who was an expert in period clothing, said:  

"He is wearing a traditional Wiltshire smock, his neckerchief would most likely have been red and his hat was fashionable about 50 years before the picture was done, so he probably had it for years, but kept it for Sunday best.  I think you will find he was a farmer as well as a butcher.  The smock he is wearing was made in Keevil, a village about four miles from Hilperton."

John Richman died 26 April 1867 in Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, and was buried in St. Michael's Church in Hilperton, listed as "age 79."[5]
 
6)  SOURCES

1. Church of England, Parish Church of Hilperton (Wiltshire, England), Bishop's Transcripts, 1622-1880, "Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, 1748-1812",  accessed on lFHL BRITISH microfilm 1,279,404, Item 13, Marriages, 1811, John Richman and Ann Marshman entry.

2. 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 National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, Public Record Office HO 107/1182/2.

3. 1851 England and Wales Census,  digital image. Wiltshire, Hilperton [parish], District 257, Folio 267 recto, household 196, John Richman household;  digital image, FindMyPast.com (http://www.findmypast.com : accessed 27 July 2012), citing The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, Public Record Office HO 107/1840.

4. 1861 England and Wales Census, Wiltshire, Hilperton [parish], District 7, Folio 17, page 27, household 154, John Richman household; digital image, FindMyPast.com (http://www.findmypast.com : accessed 27 July 2012), citing The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, Public Record Office RG09/1295.

5. Church of England, Parish Church of Hilperton (Wiltshire, England), Bishop's Transcripts, 1622-1880, Item 15: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1837-1880; accessed on FHL microfilm BRITISH 1,279,404, Burials, Page 14 (penned), 1867, No. 105, John Richman entry.

6.  John Richman (1788-1867) , Ambrotype Cased Photograph, taken in Hilperton, Wiltshire, England, about 1865; digital image, Photocopy of original scanned in 2001; privately held by Roma Challis, [address for private use], Hilperton, Wiltshire, England. Seated, elderly, white-haired man wearing period clothing and top hat. Richman family in Hilperton to Roma Challis; unknown location in 2014.

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

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-33-40.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Thomas Asks: When Did You Get Your First Computer

In his recent blog post IBM PC Debuts - A Walk Down Memory Lane, Thomas MacEntee asks:

"So when did you get your first personal computer? Was it an IBM PC? An Apple? Perhaps a Commodore 64 or an Osborne? What programs did you run? And what about genealogy . . . what was the first program you used for tracing your family history and keeping track of information?"

I had watched with envy all of the advertisements in the magazines, and on television, when the IBM PC was introduced in 1981.  We did not have personal computers at work - we were still in the card punch, card box, computer center era of IBM 370 computers, programming in FORTRAN, to do our aerospace engineering work.  I could hardly wait to start programming in BASIC at home!

My brother-in-law, Paul, worked for a computer equipment company, Photo and sound up in San Francisco.  They had an office in San Diego, so in (I think) February 1983 I bought an IBM PC with all of 64 kilobits of memory and two 360 kb floppy 5-1/4 inch drives, and MS-DOS was the operating system.  It had a separate green-print monitor, and I got a dot-matrix printer also.  It cost over $3,000.  We set it up in the spare bedroom where it shared my big oak desk with my communication radio set and the big loop antenna, reel-to-reel tape recorder, etc.  

I wrote letters on it using a word processor (I never used Wordstar) called EasyWriter, which saved files in a proprietary format.  I also got a BASIC programming language disc and easily learned the syntax, since I was an expert programmer in FORTRAN.  I used it for my radio listening, writing programs to analyze signal strengths, great-circle routes, etc. associated with radio wave propagation.

Genealogy research started for me in early 1988, and I made good use of my IBM PC.  In about 1990, I managed to get a 300-baud modem to hook up into the telephone, and started connecting to bulletin boards for genealogy.  Eventually, in about 1992, I signed up for the Prodigy network and was off and running with their message boards.  That was great fun - I would spend the whole evening writing and answering queries on my New England and Pennsylvania families.  Eventually, Prodigy started charging more, and I went to other bulletin board systems like Delphi and others.

I think that I got the Personal Ancestral File (PAF) family tree program in 1989 or so, and started building a family tree database.  That was much better than the paper charts that I always had to revise or rewrite, but I still printed out a lot of things.  

That initial IBM PC lasted until 1994, when I bought a no-name PC system from a local company at a computer show with the 80386 processor, a hard drive, a 5-1/4 inch floppy drive, and a 3-1/2 inch floppy drive.  This system was much faster with more memory, used Windows 3.1, but I had to use the Microsoft Works word processor.  I managed to transfer all of my genealogy material to the new system, except for the word processing files.  The EasyWriter files could be printed out but could not read by another program.  

I was actually way ahead of the PC curve relative to the computer systems at my work.  We didn't get our own personal computer on our desks, with email and Microsoft Office programs until 1998.  Before that, we did have a shared PC for ten people or more by the early 1990s.  This was because the work we did was still on the mainframe computers (we had a VAX 11-780 by the mid-1980s) and did our programming and writing text on that system on shared computer terminals.  We still had secretaries who typed formal reports and letters into the late 1990s.  

I had that IBM PC for a long time and it didn't fail on me.  I think I threw it in a trash bin piece by piece in 1994.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/thomas-asks-when-did-you-get-your-first.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Valerie Bertinelli is My Cousin

I watched Who Do You Think You Are? last night, the Valerie Bertinelli episode.  In the show Valerie finds that her mother, and Valerie herself, are descended from Edward I "Longshanks," King of England (1239-1307).

The royal descents from European royalty have been documented fairly well in a series of books over the last two centuries, including:

Gary Boyd Roberts, The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States, Who Were Themselves Notable or left Descendants Notable in American History, (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004).

I have several "gateway ancestors" in this book that lead back to English royalty, and thence to European royalty, including:

*  Olive Welby (1604-1692) of Massachusetts, who married Henry Farwell (1605-1670)

*  Mary Gye (1580-1666) of Massachusetts, who married John Maverick (1578-1638)

*  Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) of Massachusetts, who married Dorothy Yorke (1582-1643)

*  Edward FitzRandolph  (1607-1675) of Massachusetts and New Jersey, who married Elizabeth Blossom (1620-1713)

These lines are documented in the Gary Boyd Roberts book, which references several other books that provide more information.  In addition, the FamilySearch Community Trees website has Olive Welby in two of the Community Trees:

*  Europe: Royal and Noble Houses of Europe

*  British Isles: Peerage, Baronetage, and Landed Gentry Families with Extended Lineage

The information in these trees is extensively documented with sources to published books on royalty, nobility, peerage, etc.

I had some of this information already in my own RootsMagic database because my relatives were fascinated by the relationships.  Just like Valerie Bertinelli was!  I admit that I am also fascinated and happy to know that a very small - probably 1 Centi-Morgan or less! - part of my DNA could be traced to English royalty.

I added some data to my database today to get back to Edward I, and found that he is my 22nd great-grandfather, assuming that the research done by Roberts and the other researchers is correct, and that my research from Olive Welby is correct.

Here is my descent from Edward I "Longshanks," King of England, created in RootsMagic 6 with a Relationships Report (over five pages):

:

I really need a fancy calligraphy scroll, like on Ancestry.com, for things like this.  Maybe it would impress my brothers, wife, cousins, daughters and grandchildren.

So, it appears that Valerie Bertinelli is my 23rd cousin, once or twice removed.  I wonder if she wants to come to our next family reunion?  I hope that my cousins on Facebook see this post too!

As many other researchers have noted, nearly everyone with a significant colonial American ancestry, and nearly everyone in England with a significant English ancestry, are descended from English and European royalty.  The challenge is, of course, to get your own research back to the "gateway ancestors" who have been extensively researched by scholars.

There are several "universal" family trees available - including Geni.com, WikiTree and FamilySearch Family Tree - do they reflect the lines of descent that are in the published books?  I hope so!  I haven't checked this particular line, or my other lines, yet.

Perhaps A. J. Jacobs is my cousin through this connection.

Are you my cousin based on descent from the Edwards?  If so, please let me know in a comment to this post.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/valerie-bertinelli-is-my-cousin.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 227: Frederick Sovereen Household in 1861 Canada West Census

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 1861 Canada West Census record for my 4th great-grandparents, Frederick and Mary Jane (Hutchinson) Sovereen in Windham township, Norfolk County, Canada West:

The Frederick Sovereen household snippet is:

The information extracted from this census record is:

*  Frederick Sovereen - a farmer, born in U.S.A., Baptist religion, age 75, male, married, one male family member in household, one female family member in household, lives in a Frame house with 1-1/2 stories, and two families in the house.

*  Jane Sovereen - born in New Brunswick, Baptist religion, age 70, female, married.

The second family in the house is that of his granddaughter, Mary Catherine (Smith) Carlyle (age 26), married to John Carlyle (age 33, born in England), and their two children, Frederick Carlyle (age 7) and James Carlyle (age 2).

The source citation for this record found on the Library and Archives Canada website is:

Census of Canada, 1861, Canada West, Norfolk District, Windham sub-district, Page 76, Lines 12-13, Frederick Sovereen household ; digital image, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1861/index-e.html : accessed 23 August 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada Microfilm C-1053.

By this date, all four of the children of Frederick and Mary Jane (Hutchinson) Sovereen are in homes of their own in nearby townships.  

I am descended through their son, Alexander Sovereen (1814-1907), who married Eliza Putman  (1820-1895) in 1840.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/treasure-chest-thursday-post-227.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 16 August: "Crafting Great Source Citations"

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

The next meeting will be held on 16 August 2014 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

 9:00 AM:  User groups: Roots Magic, with Randy Seaver; Macintosh, with Dona Ritchie

10:00 AM:  Break, refreshments

10:20 AM:  Announcements followed up program:

"Crafting Great Source Citations"
by Randy Seaver

We all know that we should cite our sources, but it's hard to remember what goes first, what to include, punctuation, and more. Then the Internet came along and it's really complicated now. This presentation will cover source citation guides for genealogy, using content provider source citations, and using source citation templates in genealogy software programs, to cite our sources.

      

Randy Seaver is a native San Diegan. His ancestry is mainly colonial New England and Upper Atlantic, with some colonial German, French and Dutch forebears, and several 19th-century English immigrants. He has been pursuing his elusive ancestors since 1988, and has been online since 1992.

Randy is a former President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society and is currently the newsletter editor and research chair. He speaks to southern California societies, libraries and groups, and teaches "Beginning Computer Genealogy" adult classes at OASIS. He is a member of NGS, NEHGS, SCGS, SDGS, CGSSD and CVGS. Randy blogs daily about genealogy subjects at Genea-Musings (www.geneamusings.com) and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe (http://CVGenCafe.blogspot.com).

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:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/08/cgssd-meeting-on-saturday-16-august.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver