Saturday, February 21, 2015

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Four Degrees of Ancestral Separation

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


For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

1)  Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with four degrees of separation?  That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor, who knew another ancestor, who knew another ancestor."  When was that fourth ancestor born?

NOTE:  If you cannot go back that far, then use the third ancestor, or even the second ancestor.


2)  Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, in a status line on Facebook or a stream post on Google Plus.


Here are several of mine:

A)  My Seaver/Richmond/White/Kirby line:   


1)  Me (born 1943) met my paternal grandmother Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (1882-1962, once in 1959. 
2)  Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) was daughter of Thomas Richmond (1848-1917))  knew her grandfather, Henry Arnold White (1824-1885); 
3) Henry Arnold White (1824-1885) probably met his great-grandfather, David Kirby (1740-1832) (Henry's father was Jonathan White (1806-1850), whose mother was Sybil Kirby (1764-1848), whose father was David Kirby (1740-1832)); 
4)  David Kirby (1740-1832) surely knew his paternal grandfather, Robert Kirby (1674-1757).

B)  A Seaver/Gates/Reed line:


1)  Me (born 1943) met my paternal grandmother Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (1882-1962), once in 1959. 
2)  Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) married Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) in 1900, and surely met Frederick's grandfather, Isaac Seaver (1823-1901).
3)  Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) surely knew his maternal great-grandmother Susanna (Reed) Gates (1745-1833)
4)  Susanna (Reed) Gates (1745-1833) surely knew her great-grandfather George Reed (1660-1756).

 C)  My Carringer/Spangler/Dunckel line:  

1)  Me (born 1943) - my maternal great grandfather, Henry Austin Carringer held me when I was a baby.  
2) Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946), son of David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902) and Rebecca Spangler (1832-1901),  surely met his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1863). 3)  Elizabeth (King) Spangler (1796-1853) certainly met her husband's grandmother, Maria Dorothea (Dinkel) Spangler (1748-1835) (Elizabeth's father was John Daniel Spangler (1781-1851), whose parents were Rudolf Spangler (1738-1791) 
4)  Maria Dorothea (Dinkel) Spangler (1748-1835); Maria Dorothea (Dinkel) Spangler (1748-1835) probably met her grandfather, Johann Daniel Dunckel (1680-1753).

D)  My Carringer/Smith/Vaux/Underhill/Ambrose line:  


1)  Me (born 1943) - was held by my great-grandmother, (1) Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944) (I don't remember it, of course!).  
2) Della Smith (1862-1944, born in Wisconsin), daughter of Abigail Vaux (1844-1931), granddaughter of Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux (1815-1883) may have met her great-grandfather, Amos Underhill (1772-1865, died in New York), but I doubt it!   
3)  Amos Underhill (1772-1865) certainly met his grandparents, John Underhill (1721-1793) and Joanna Healey (1718-1809) (through their son John Underhill (1745-1816));  
4)  John Underhill (1721-1793) (through mother Elizabeth (Ambrose) Underhill (1698-1782) and grandfather Nathaniel Ambrose (1677-1745)) met his great-grandfather, Henry Ambrose (1649-1724).

So I can connect, with four degrees of separation, back to a man born in 1649 (but one of the links likely did not "meet" his great-grandchild) - over 360 years!  For the requirement that they actually met, I can get back to a person born in 1660. 


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-four.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Surname Saturday - FENNE (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 #1091 who is  Alicia FENNE (1619-1710) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through one generations in this FENNE 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)

34. Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840)
35. Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869)


68.  Aaron Smith (1765-1841)
69.  Mercy Plimpton (1772-1850)

136.  Moses Smith (1732-1806)
137.  Patience Hamant (1735-1780)

272.  Henry Smith (1680-1743)
273.  Ruth Barber (1696-????)

544.  Samuel Smith (1641-1691)
545.  Sarah Clark (1651-1704)

1090.  Joseph Clarke, born before 11 April 1613 in Banham, Norfolk, England; died 06 January 1684 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2180. Thomas Clarke and 2181. Mary Canne.  He married 15 April 1640 in Banham, Norfolk, England.
1091.  Alicia Fenne, born about 1619 in England; died 17 March 1710 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Joseph Clarke and Alicia Fenne are:
*  Joseph Clark, born 27 July 1642 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 04 September 1702 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married Mary Allen 25 June 1663 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born 11 December 1641 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 05 May 1702 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
*  Benjamin Clark, born 09 February 1644 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 01 December 1724 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married Dorcas Morse 19 November 1665 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born 24 August 1645 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 14 July 1725 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
*  Ephraim Clark, born 04 February 1646 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died about 1699 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married Mary Bullen 06 March 1669 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born 20 July 1642 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 31 December 1726 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
*  Daniel Clark, born 29 September 1647 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 07 April 1676 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
*  Mary Clark, born 12 March 1649 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died before 1732 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married Jonathan Boyden 26 September 1673 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born 20 February 1652 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 30 May 1732 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
*  Sarah Clark, born 20 February 1651 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 20 May 1704 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married (1) John Bowers 07 January 1673 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married (2) Samuel Smith 22 February 1677 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.
*  John Clark, born 28 October 1652 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 14 December 1720 in Medway, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married Mary Sheffield 09 January 1680 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born 14 January 1653 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died in  .
*  Nathaniel Clark, born 06 October 1658 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 11 July 1733 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married Experience Hinsdale 26 March 1704 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born July 1679 in Hatfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States; died 03 February 1754 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.

*  Rebecca Clark, born 16 August 1660 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; died 17 February 1740 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; married John Richardson 01 May 1679 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States; born about 1650 in Wells, York, Maine, United States; died 29 May 1697 in Medway, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.

The only reference I've seen for this Alice Fenne is:

*  Christopher Gleason Clark, "The English Ancestry of Joseph Clark (1613-1683) of Dedham and Medfield, Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 152, Number 1 (January 1998), pages 3-23, page 18, Alice Fenne entry

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Friday, February 20, 2015

Connecting to A.J. Jacobs on WikiTree

When my reader asked me in email ""I want to connect to A.J. Jacobs and the Global Family Tree.  How do I do this using Geni.com?", I responded with an email that said "you also should consider using WikiTree, because it is a universal tree which is free to use and will accept a GEDCOM file."

The connection process is fairly simple, after registering to use WikiTree:

1)  Create a GEDCOM file either by downloading an online family tree (e.g., from Ancestry.com) or in your genealogy software program (e.g., RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, Reunion, etc.).

2)  You should limit your GEDCOM file to about 2,000 persons because WikiTree prepares a GEDMatches report that compares your person profiles with profiles already in WikiTree.  You will have to accept or reject all of the potential matches identified by WikiTree before your data can be added to WikiTree.  There are guidelines for importing the GEDCOM in Before importing a GEDCOM.

3)  Upload your GEDCOM file to WikiTree - see the Upload GEDCOM page for information.  

4)  That will generate your GEDMatches report, in which you will have to accept or reject all of the potential matches.  After that is completed, then you can Import your profiles.  There are guidelines for working on your GEDMatches.

I described this matching process in Adding Early Seaver Generations to the WikiTree Shared Tree.  It works well, but it takes some time to accomplish.

5)  Then you can use the Relationship Calculator and find your relationship to A.J. Jacobs or other persons.  You need to know your own WikiTree ID (mine is Seaver-15).  I described this process in WikiTree's "100 Degrees of AJ" Tool and Relationship Calculator.

6)  Using the "100 Degrees of AJ" tool, I created the chart showing my relationship:



So there are 24 degrees of separation, and the connection goes through A.J.'s mother's uncle's daughter's husband back in time to Abigail Whitney and her sister Martha Whitney (my ancestor).

This doesn't tell me the relationship...so I used the Relationship Finder for AJ (Jacobs-2987) and me (Seaver-15) and got:



It says that "we could not find a blood relationship between AJ Jacobs and Randy Seaver."  I knew that from before.

It does note that there may be a relationship by marriage or adoption, or a connection deeper in history than 25 generations, or AJ or I may have an incomplete tree.

7)  Using WikiTree to find relationships to famous persons, including A.J. Jacobs, has several advantages over Geni.com, ,including that it is free to use and a GEDCOM file can be imported to WikiTree.  The only real disadvantages is that the number of profiles on WikiTree is limited to about 10 million persons, and you cannot upload a large GEDCOM file.  

8)  Of course, the careful researcher will remember that WikiTree profiles are submitted by a number of researchers, and the names, vital records and relationships may be wrong, and that collaboration doesn't necessarily result in a better profile.    

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/connecting-to-aj-jacobs-on-wikitree.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver



Generasi.me Does Interactive Family Timelines

I took some time today to look over the RootsTech 2015 Innovator Challenge submissions page because I wondered if there were other submissions that might work with the FamilySearch Family Tree.

One suvmission that caught my eye was Generasi.me - a site that "replays the timeline of your ancestors' lives."  I liked the color too (you know, a "bright shiny object" attracts my attention).


I watched the short submission video, and it looked pretty cool - it works with the FamilySearch Family Tree, and shows me which relatives of an ancestor are alive in a given year.

I decided to try it out, so I signed in with my FamilySearch credentials, and it opened with me in the center column.  There are five columns - grandparents, parents, siblings, children and grandchildren:


I navigated back in time to Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) and the program showed me Isaac, starting in 1823 (the year is on the right-hand margin):


In 1823, three of Isaac's four grandparents, his two parents, and two siblings were alive (they are shown with a beige background, meaning they are alive), and it shows their ages.

I advanced the timeline (by scrolling down) to the year 1860, and now Isaac's family starts to appear:


In 1860, his four grandparents have died, his mother is still alive, three of his siblings are alive, his first wife has died, and his other two wives are alive, and he has four children alive, but no grandchildren yet.

Advancing the year to 1880, Isaac starts to have grandchildren:


In the year 1900, Isaac is the last of his generation, with his third wife, has four of his five children alive, and has seven grandchildren alive:


Of course, the presentation depends on accurate data for persons in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

I like the concept - a user can quickly determine which family members are alive in a specific year.

Generasi did not make the semi-final selections, perhaps because it worked with the FamilySearch Family Tree and has limited appeal for investors because there is no real opportunity to turn it into a profitable business.  But it is a neat idea and a cool application!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/generasime-does-interactive-family.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Connecting to A.J. Jacobs on Geni.com - Post 2

In Connecting to A.J. Jacobs on Geni.com - Post 1, I started a new Geni.com tree in an effort to see how difficult it is to find connections to A.J. Jacobs.

I received information from Amanda Tantisalidchai of Geni.com providing this information:

"Thanks for your post on how to connect to A.J. Jacobs on Geni. Your post actually comes at a very interesting time. We've recently been working on making it free for users to view and request to merge any matches that will connect them into the World Family Tree. We've been doing this on a trial basis since early December, with trees that had such matches at that time. We're now extending that privilege to new trees as well.

"As for the Tree Matches that failed to show up in your example, please allow me to clarify. All users are alerted when new Tree Matches are found. We have recently rewritten our process for finding and storing Geni Tree Matches and are in the process of refreshing matches across the entire system. Currently, matches are running a few days behind, but once we're done refreshing the entire Geni database, they should once again appear almost instantaneously. We have manually refreshed the matches in your test tree, which has now surfaced the matches on your grandparents. This, along with the newly-free matches, means you can now view and request the merges on your grandparents to join the World Family Tree.

"Geni's collaborative community of users and Curators are constantly helping people get connect to the World Family Tree everyday. For those looking for more information on how to connect with AJ on Geni, we have set up a Global Family Reunion project (http://www.geni.com/projects/Global-Family-Reunion/17884). We also have a quick tool for users to discover their connection to AJ here http://www.geni.com/aj. "

Subsequently, Amanda also offered that "all users can use the relationship calculator to see how they are related to others."  That's great!

Thank you to Amanda for the information, and for the "help" in refreshing he matches in my test tree.

After I received the email above, I logged into my "test" Basic account and looked for the "Merge Center" in the "Research" tab on my Geni home page:



 I clicked on the "Merge Center" item and the Merge Center page came up.  It listed four matches that had "Tree Matches" (the blue background icon):


I clicked on the Tree Match for my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer, and the Tree Match information appeared:


I clicked on the "Compare profiles" in the right-hand column, and was asked "Are these profiles the same person?"



They are the same person, so I want to merge them.  I clicked on the blue "Yes, request to merge" button at the bottom of the screen above.

Last night, I logged into my "real" Geni.com Pro account and accepted the merge request, and merged my grandfather on that tree with my grandfather in the "test" tree.  I could have merged my grandmother, mother and father also, but I haven't done that yet.

I logged onto my "test" tree again today, and my home page said that my "real" tree owner had merged the request from the "test" tree:



I clicked on the "Tree" link in the top menu, and see that my "test" tree now has 283 people in it (only some are shown below):


However, because I did not request a merge with the other three persons on the Tree Match list, the tree is somewhat mixed up with two entries for my parents and my grandmother.  I need to fix that! I should have requested a merge of all four when I had the chance.

So it appears that, once duplicate profiles are found by the Geni.com matching system, a request to merge the duplicate profiles can be made to the profile owner, and once the merge is approved and consummated, the profile is merged and the Geni World Tree persons connected to that person appear on the person's tree.  

As noted in the first post, the user needs to add enough generations of ancestors so that the Geni matching system finds duplicate profiles, and then the requested and approved merge will add persons to the tree.  The merge approval seems to rely on the profile owner, who may not respond immediately to a request.  

This is somewhat complicated, but it works.  It would be easier if my "test" tree had a Pro account.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/connecting-to-aj-jacobs-on-genicom-post.html

copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 60: #67, Abigail (Knowlton) Gates (1774-1855)

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.  I am extending this theme in 2015 to 104 Ancestors in 104 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #59:

 Abigail (Knowlton) Gates (1774-1855)  is #67 on my Ahnentafel list, my 4th great-grandmother. She married in 1790  to #66 Nathan Gates (1767-1830).


I am descended through:

*  their daughter 
#33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) who married  #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825),  in 1817.
*  their son, #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901), who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1852.
*  their son, #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922), who married #9 Hattie Louise Hildreth (1847-1920) in 1874. 
*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.
* 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:                      Abigail Knowlton1–4
*  Alternate Name:      Abigail Gates7–8    
*  Sex:                          Female   

*  Father:                     Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785)   
*  Mother:                   Abigail Peirce (1750-1776)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                      21 January 1774, Lincoln, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1,5]
*  Miscellaneous:       1791–1813 (about age 17–about 39), Gardner, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[6]
*  Census:                  1 June 1850 (age 76), Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[7]
*  Death:                    28 January 1855 (age 81), of old age and palsy; Gardner, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[8]
   
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  
  
*  Spouse 1:                Nathan Gates (1767-1830)   
*  Marriage Intentions:  7 May 1790 (age 16), Gardner, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[2]
*  Marriage:                17 June 1790 (age 16), Westminster, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[3-4]

*  Child 1:                   Nathan Gates (1791-1865)   
*  Child 2:                   Jeremiah Gates (1792-1801)   
*  Child 3:                   Abel Gates (1793-1870)   
*  Child 4:                   Asaph Gates (1794-1859)   
*  Child 5:                   Luke Gates (1796-1796)   
*  Child 6:                   Abigail Gates (1797-1867)   
*  Child 7:                   Luther Gates (1798-1847)   
*  Child 8:                   Amos Gates (1799-1883)   
*  Child 9:                   Susannah Gates (1801-1881)   
*  Child 10:                 female Gates (1803-1803)   
*  Child 11:                 Lucinda Gates (1805-1835)   
*  Child 12:                 Clarissa Gates (1806-1868)   
*  Child 13:                 Jeremiah Knowlton Gates (1808-1845)   
*  Child 14:                 James Eliot Gates (1810-1875)   
*  Child 15:                 Benjamin Adderson Gates (1813-1850)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

The Lincoln, Massachusetts town record book lists the birth of Abigail Knowlton[1]:

"Abigail Knowlton daughter of Jeremiah Knowlton & Abigail Knowlton his wife was born the 21 day of January 1774."

The Lincoln, Massachusetts vital records book lists the birth of Abigail Knowlton[5]:

"KNOWLTON, Abigal, d. Jeremiah and Abigail, Jan. 21, 1774"

Her mother died in 1776.  Jeremiah was a Revolutionary War soldier, and married Hannah Goffe on 9 September 1778 in Lincoln.  He died in 1785 in Lincoln.

Abigail's residence after the death of her mother is unknown - she may have been given a guardian (although I have found no record of one), or went to live with a relative of one of her parents.  

The next record available is the intentions to marry in Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts on 9 May 1790[2]:

"Nathan Gates of Gardner and Abigail Knowlton of Westminster wear Entered May 9th 1790."

The marriage to Nathan Gates occurred in Westminster on 17 June 1790.[3-4] The Westminster, Massachusetts Vital Record book lists the marriage as:

"GATES, Nathan and Abigail Knowlton, June 17, 1790."

The Gardner town records provide this information about the Nathan and Abigail [Knowlton] Gates family[6]:

"Nathan Gates and Abagail his wife Record of their children:

BIRTHS
Nathan Born April 13^th 1791
Jeremiah Born March 21^st 1792
Abel Born July 10^th 1793
Asaph Born Dec^m 7^th 1794
Luke Born Feb^u 14^th 1796
Abigail Born Feb 24^th 1797
Luther Born April 5^th 1798
Amos Born No^v 6^th 1799
Susanna was born Feb^r 17- 1801
an infant girl born Feb^r 8^th 1803
Lucinda Born March 9^th 1805
Clarissa Born May 25-d 1806
Jeremiah Knolton Born Sept 28- 1808
James Eliot Born June 11- 1810
Benj Adderson born Feb^r 26- 1813
DEATHS
Luke Died May 21^st 1796
an infant girl Died Feb^r 12^th 1803 "

In the 1850 U.S. census, the Asaph Gates household resided in Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts[7].  The household included:

*  Asaph Gates - age 55, male, a farmer, $600 in real property, born Massachusetts
*  Rachael Gates - age 56, female, born Massachusetts
*  Abigail Gates - age 78, female, born Massachusetts
*  Harriet Gates - age 16, female, born Massachusetts.

The transcription of the death record for Abigail (Knowlton) Gates in the Massachusetts vital records is[8]:

"No.:  4
Date of Death:  Jany 28th 1855
Name and Surname:  Abigail Gates
Age, Years, Months, Days: 83 - 1 - 7
Place of Death:  Gardner
Disease or Cause of Death: Old Age & Palsy
Sex and Condition:   Widow
Occupation:  
Place of birth:  Chelmsford
Name Parents: Widow of Nathan Gates"

The age at death from this record calculates to 21 January 1772, which conflicts with the birth record in Lincoln of 21 January 1774.  

The most conclusive evidence that Abigail (Knowlton) Gates was the daughter of Jeremiah and Abigail (Pierce) Knowlton, born on 21 January 1774 in Lincoln, is that calculated birth date at death - 21 January.  Apparently, Abigail married at age 16, and claimed 1772 as a birth year for all of her married life.

The burial location of Abigail (Knowlton) Gates has not been found to date.

There are no probate records for Abigail (Knowlton) Gates in the Worcester County Probate Court records.

5)  SOURCES 
 
[1]. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Lincoln Births, Marriages and Deaths," page 97 (penned) (image 226 of 1092), Abigail Knowlton entry.

[2]. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, "Gardner, Publishments," page 2 (image 2 of 45), Nathan Gates and Abigial Knowlton intentions.

[3]. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, "Westminster, Court Records, with Births, Marriages and Deaths," page 282 (penned, image 146 of 177), Nathan Gates and Abigail Knolton entry.

[4]. Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Westminster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Worcester, Mass.: F.P. Rice, 1908), Marriages, page 142: Nathan Gates and Abigail Knowlton entry.

[5]. Vital Records of Lincoln, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1908).

[6]. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, "Gardner Births, Marriages and Deaths," page 33 (stamped, image 26 of 779), Births and deaths of children of Nathan and Abigail Gates.

[7]. 1850 United States Federal Census, Worcester County, Massachusetts, Westminster, Page 62B, Dwelling #243, Family #294, Asaph Gates household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 340.

[8]. "Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1915," indexed database and digital images,  New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org), Deaths: Volume 95, Page 117, Westminster, 1855; Abigail Gates entry.

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

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-60-67.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver


Thursday, February 19, 2015

Dear Randy: How Can I Make a Calendar in Family Tree Maker 2014?

My colleague Sondra sent me a Dear Randy note this morning, wanting to do the challenge in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your Ancestors or Cousins Born on Your Birth Date (posted 7 February 2015) using Family Tree Maker 2014.

After updating my Family Tree Maker 2014 program this morning (to Version 1345), which took some time to convert the database (why is this the only software program that requires this after a major release?), I figured it out:

1)  From any screen, select the "Publish" Workspace:



2)  Choose "Other" from the "Publication Types" in the left margin.  The "Calendar Report" is listed in the center panel:


3)  I clicked on the "Calendar Report" and it opened.  There are icons at the top of the right-hand panel.  I clicked on the "Calendar Options" icon and was able to check "Births" and uncheck "Marriages" and Deaths.  I also looked critically at the other options too:



4)  After clicking "OK" there were choices in the right-hand panel for:

*  Immediate Family
*  Extended Family
*  All Individuals
*  Selected Individuals

I selected "Selected Individuals" and the "Filter Individuals" screen opened.  I wanted all of my Ancestors, so I clicked on the "Ancestors >" button and the "Ancestors" screen opened.  I chose 15 generations of ancestors to include, "Include all parents" and "Include all spouses" plus "Include ancestors descendants" with 1 generation to get siblings of my ancestors.


I clicked "OK" and saw the persons in my database that satisfied the Filter criteria:


There were 2641 in my database.

5)  I clicked "OK" on the screen above, and the Calendar was created - it took several seconds.  There are 12 months in the calendar, with persons names on their birth date with their ages in 2015:


As you can see, none of my ancestors or their siblings have their birthday on my birthday, 23 October.

6)  If I want to "Print" the Calendar, I can click on the "Print" button at the top right of the page above.  If I want to "Share" the Calendar, in PDF, RTF or CSV format, I can click on the "Share" button on the top right of the page above.  I selected "Export to PDF" and opened it in my PDF reader:



7)  I did a Calendar for 4 generations of Ancestors and 7 generations of descendants of Ancestors, and had 556 selected persons.  That provided a good calendar with births, marriages and deaths for my close relations - third cousins and closer - pretty much what I would want for a calendar to save and use.  The background colors are blue for births, pink for marriages, and gray for deaths:


I even found the cousin who has my birth date!

8)  This works well, but you have to pay attention to the Calendar Options.  I had several false starts and using the Calendar Options made it all make sense.

You also should do Births, Marriages and Deaths separately if you select a lot of persons.  The Births and Deaths calendar date space lists only 5-7 persons, and the Marriages calendar date lists only 3 marriages, and they do it alphabetically.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/02/dear-randy-how-can-i-make-calendar-in.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver