Saturday, December 19, 2015

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Pauleen's Christmas Meme

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




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

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

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

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

3)  Be sure to leave a comment on Pauleen's blog post about your entry in this Christmas 2015 Geneameme.  She'll be surprised!

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

THE 2012 CHRISTMAS GENEAMEME (IN 2015)
  1. Do you have any special Xmas traditions in your family?  Just shopping, gifts, Christmas dinner at my grandparents, and then my parents, and then my brothers homes - before my mother died in 2002.  Since then, we either host, or we go to one of our daughters homes and my brother-in-law's home up the California coast (650 miles north), and back.
  2. Is church attendance an important part of your Christmas celebrations and do you go the evening before or on Xmas Day?  Not as a child growing up.  After marriage, we attended Christmas Eve services, ending with lit candles around the outside cross.  I was a wise man for many years in the Christmas pageant at church - not a speaking part!  But not any more - we're usually on the road.
  3. Did/do you or your children/grandchildren believe in Santa?  Of course we did!  Right up until we found the "big" gifts from Santa in my grandparents garage when I was 12.  Our kids did until about age 12, and our four grandchildren (ages 1 to 12) still do (I think, I hope)!  Now I am Santa... HO HO HO!!!
  4. Do you go carolling in your neighbourhood?  Not as a child or young adult.  Our church social group did this for a number of years when we were first married.  I hummed a lot to avoid embarrassing myself (my key is J Flat).
  5. What’s your favourite Christmas music?  I love the traditional hymns and some of the more modern tunes.  One of my favorite memories is singing hymns on Christmas Eve with my grandmother.  
  6. What’s your favourite Christmas carol?  Angels We Have Heard On High.  It lifts my spirit.
  7. Do you have a special Xmas movie/book you like to watch/read?  I watch "A Christmas Story" every year it seems...it is not unlike when I was a boy.  I didn't shoot my own eye, but I got the neighbor boy just below the eye. 
  8. Does your family do individual gifts, gifts for littlies only, Secret Santa (aka Kris Kringle)?  I exchange several gifts with my wife, usually one gift from us to our daughters and son-in-law, and several gifts from us to each of the grandchildren.
  9. Is your main Christmas meal indoors or outdoors, at home or away?  It is always indoors (it is winter in the USA, even in San Diego) and usually at one of my daughters' homes.
  10. What do you eat as your main course for the Christmas meal?  Always roast turkey, usually with stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans or peas.  Then pie.
  11. Do you have a special recipe you use for Xmas?  I don't - I just show up and eat.  Ho ho ho!
  12. Does Christmas pudding feature on the Xmas menu? Is it your recipe or one you inherited?  We've never had Christmas pudding.
  13. Do you have any other special Christmas foods? What are they?  Not really.  Maybe sugar cookies? :)
  14. Do you give home-made food/craft for gifts at Christmas?  No.  We used to be in a social group that would re-gift fruitcakes each year.
  15. Do you return to your family for Xmas or vice versa?  We either host one or both daughters' families or we go to one of them on Christmas Day and the other one before or after Christmas (since they live 400 miles apart, and we're 100 miles from the closest one).
  16. Is your Christmas celebrated differently from your childhood ones? If yes, how does it differ?  Yes, we are much more religious than our parents were.  And we travel more than 10 miles to be with out family.
  17. How do you celebrate Xmas with your friends? Lunch? Pre-Xmas outings? Drop-ins? Sometimes we drop-in or host drop-ins, and my wife has lunch with other friends with a small gift exchange. Our local genealogy society has a "Holiday Luncheon" with a bring-one get-one gift exchange.  I never get anything good.  
  18. Do you decorate your house with lights? A little or a lot?  We used to string lights around the front edge of the house, but I don't go up on the roof any more...so no, we don't any longer.
  19. Is your neighbourhood a “Xmas lights” tour venue?  It's a cul-de-sac, but there are some good light shows on the block.  Our city has several organized light tour blocks that attract drive-bys and walkers.
  20. Does your family attend Carols by Candlelight singalongs/concerts? Where?  We used to, but now it's only the Christmas Eve service at church  (when we are in town) where we have lit candles around the outdoor cross and  sing Silent Night after the service.
  21. Have any of your Christmases been spent camping (unlikely for our northern-hemisphere friends)?  No...
  22. Is Christmas spent at your home, with family or at a holiday venue?  Sometimes, sometimes and no.
  23. Do you have snow for Christmas where you live?  San Diego is very temperate, so I've seen snow twice in my life at sea level.  Our mountains have snow every year, and occasionally at Christmas time.
  24. Do you have a Christmas tree every year?  We used to, and do when we are hosting Christmas for the family.  However, we don't have a tree in most years that we travel to be with the daughters and grandkids.  We don't have one this year.
  25. Is your Christmas tree a live tree (potted/harvested) or an imitation?  Growing up, it was always harvested.  During most of our married life, the tree was harvested, although we had a potted tree several years.  We have an imitation tree now but rarely put it up.  I wonder where it is?
  26. Do you have special Xmas tree decorations?  Linda insists that all of the decorations on our tree are angels...and we have hundreds of angels on flat space around the house.  So yes...
  27. Which is more important to your family, Christmas or Thanksgiving?  Christmas.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-pauleens.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


Surname Saturday - CRISPE (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 #1187 who is Elizabeth CRISPE (1637-1681) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through two generations of this CRISPE 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)


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

36.  Zavhariah Hildreth (1783-1857)
37.  Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)

74.  Josiah Sawtell (1768-1847)
75.  Hannah Smith (1768-1824)

148.  Ephraim Sawtell (1738-1800)
149.  Abigail Stone (1736-1800)

296.  Hezekiah Sawtell (1703-1779)
297.  Joanna Wilson (1701-1786)

592.  Obadiah Sawtell (1648-1741)
593.  Hannah Lawrence (1662-1701)

1186.  George Lawrence, born 1637 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died 21 March 1709 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married 29 September 1657 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
1187.  Elizabeth Crispe, born 08 January 1637 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died 28 May 1681 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of George Lawrence and Elizabeth Crispe are:
*  Elizabeth Lawrence (1659-????), married 1681 Thomas Whitney (1656-????).
*  Judith Lawrence (1660-1713), married 1681 John Stearns (1657-1722).
*  Hannah Lawrence (1662-1707), married 1680 Obadiah Sawtell (1648-1741)
*  John Lawrence (1664-1674).
*  Benjamin Lawrence (1666-1733), married (1) 1689 Mary Clough (1669-1695); (2) 1696 Anna ???? (1668-1716); (3) 1716 Anna Coolidge (1671-1718); (4) 1719 Elizabeth Bennett (1663-1738).
*  Daniel Lawrence (1666-1743), married (1) 1689 Sarah Counts (1670-1694); (2) 1695 Hannah Mason (1665-1721); (3) 1722 Maud Russell (1676-????).
*  George Lawrence (1668-1736), married 1696 Mary Hemenway (1674-1741).
*  Sarah Lawrence (1671-????), married 1691 Thomas Rider (1670-????).
*  Mary Lawrence (1671-????), married (1) 1689 John Earle (????-1704); (2) 1704 Michael Flagg (1651-1711).
*  Martha Lawrence (1680-1708), married 1697 John Dix (1672-1726).
*  Grace Lawrence (1680-1758), married 1698 John Edes (1680-1721).

2374.  Benjamin Crispe, born about 1611 in England; died before 21 December 1683 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married about 1636 in Massachusetts, United States.
2375.  Bridget, born about 1615 in England; died about March 1676 in Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Benjamin Crispe and Bridget are:
*  Elizabeth Crispe (1637-1681), married 1657 George Lawrence (1637-1709).
*  Mary Crispe (1638-1713), married 1657 William Green (1640-1713).
*  Jonathan Crispe (1640-1680).
*  Eleazer Crispe (1642-1726), married 1666 Elizabeth ???? (1644-????).
*  Zachariah Crispe (1644-????)
*  Mehitable Crispe (1646-????).
*  Mercy Crispe (1648-1686), married 1667 Robert Parish (1635-1694).
*  Deliverance Crispe (1650-1694), married 1672 William Longley (1638-1694).

Information about this Crispe family was obtained from:

*  Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), Volume I, pages 493-495.

*   Walter Goodwin Davis, The Ancestry of Sarah Hildreth, 1773-1857, Wife of Annis Spear of Litchfield, Maine (Portland, Me. : Anthoensen Press, 1958), pages 318-321.

*  Frederick C. Warner, "Mary Green and Mercy Parish, Daughters of Benjamin Crispe of Watertown, Mass.," The American Genealogist, Volume 62, number 1 (January 1987), pages 25-27. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/surname-saturday-crispe-england-to.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.



Friday, December 18, 2015

Ancestral Quest Provides Family Tree Maker Users with Path Forward and a $10 Discount

I promised to publish information about desktop genealogy software programs that offers discounts on switching from Family Tree Maker.  I received this information from Gaylon Findlay of Incline Software about his program, Ancestral Quest:

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

Ancestral Quest Provides Family Tree Maker Users with Path Forward and a $10 Discount.

We know that Family Tree Maker (FTM) users were disheartened to learn recently that Ancestry.com will be discontinuing FTM, and even though FTM will continue to function for some time, many FTM users are anxious to explore alternate software. Incline Software invites them to give Ancestral Quest (AQ) a serious look. Here are a few things they should know about AQ:

* Ancestral Quest can easily import their data. You can watch a short video that will guide you through this process here: watch video


* Ancestry.com has previously licensed AQ to be the base of their company product. Prior to acquiring the company that owned FTM, Ancestry.com had licensed AQ and distributed it to millions of their users under the name of Ancestry Family Tree (AFT). Just like AFT, AQ has the option to do background searches on the Ancestry.com databases, and provides links to the results.

* Ancestral Quest has been licensed as the basis for other major family tree software titles that have been used by millions of people, including the Windows versions of Personal Ancestral File (PAF).

* Ancestral Quest is available both for Windows and Mac.

* AQ is easy to use, yet full-featured. Beginners and professionals alike enjoy the simple yet comprehensive options for recording and sharing their family tree information.

* AQ has a unique capability for teams of users to share their data on a private cloud-based system. We call this “Collaboration.”

* AQ was the first family tree product to be certified to share data with FamilySearch, and received an award for the completeness of that offering.

* Ancestral Quest Basics is a free version of AQ. FTM users could download the free AQ Basics, import their FTM data into it, spend some time getting a feel for the screens and reports, and then make a decision about whether to continue using AQ as their FTM replacement – all without any cost.

* Thanks to the efforts of volunteers around the world, AQ is available in many languages other than its native English. These include German, French, Spanish, and many others.

* Until January 31, 2016, you can apply a $10 discount to your upgrade to AQ.

To learn more about Ancestral Quest, the transition from Family Tree Maker, and the $10 discount, please visit this page: www.ancquest.com/ftm.

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



Findmypast Friday New Database Announcements

Every Friday, Findmypast announces their newly added databases, usually with some description and images of the records.  You can see the latest announcements at https://blog.findmypast.com/fridays/.


This week, there are a number of interesting new additions to the record collections:

*  The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record Update Three new issues have been added to the NYG&B Record, the second oldest genealogical journal in the United States. Search or browse to find valuable documentation to aid you in your family history research.

*  New York Researcher UpdateSearch or Browse the 2015 summer and fall issues of the New York Researcher, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society's (NYG&B) quarterly review.

*  American Bible Society CollectionUncover family records of ancestors found inscribed in family bibles. Search or browse this index of over 8,000 names to uncover life events such as births, marriages, and deaths.

*  Dublin Records and RegistersSearch through eight publications of parish records from the Church of Ireland dating from the 1600s up to 1800 to discover baptism, marriage, and burial dates of your ancestors.

*  Suffolk BaptismsDiscover your East Anglian ancestors with an index covering nearly four centuries and find multiple generations of ancestors for your family tree.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/findmypast-friday-new-database.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.



How Building Your Family Tree on Famberry Could Help You Claim an Inheritance

I received this press release from Steve Bardouille of Famberry today.  The concept is interesting!

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

How building your family tree on Famberry could help you claim an inheritance 

London, England (December 18th, 2015)
Famberry (www.famberry.com), the private collaborative family tree builder, is pleased to announce the release of a new innovative Family Tree Buillder with technology to help you claim an unknown inheritance. Building your photo family tree on Famberry has never been easier with new innovative controls, artistic themes that allow you to customize the look of your family tree and a whole host of other features, including; timelines, personal photo albums and messaging. With Famberry, building your family tree and preserving your family history is truly a family activity.
The new family tree builder gives members the chance to claim a real inheritance that could be worth millions. Each day we check your Famberry family tree against the UK unclaimed estates list and notify the relevant family member if we find indications that they may be entitled to an inheritance. Each inheritance could be monetary, possessions or property and could be worth thousands or millions of pounds.
The free new service is provided as part of complete re-write of the popular family tree builder, which also boasts an innovative family photo album, shared family organiser and a private family social network making it an ideal and cost effective place to preserve and share your family history.
“We have worked hard to innovate in the area of family tree building by talking to users to find out what really matters to them. We believe that our family tree builder is the simplest to grasp on the market.” said Steve Bardouille, co-founder of Famberry.
Famberry’s photo album functionality looks set to bring the family album into the 21stcentury. Not only can you store up to 2Gb (that’s thousands of photos) for free; your whole family can collaborate to collate and share their photo albums. Full browser screen display of your photo albums, photo swiping, photo tagging and drag and drop re-ordering of your photos means that you not only store your photos but more importantly you can share them with the people you care about automatically.
Not stopping there, Famberry’s flagship family social network has also been re-imaged to allow families to stay in contact with each other, without worrying about prying eyes. Family members can share messages, photos, videos and documents on their own completely private family social network.
Famberry’s free service has no restrictions on functionality and gives a generous 2Gb of photo space to start you storing your family history with your family. For those who want even more for their families, Famberry has introduced new upgrade options. Members can upgrade to a premium account to share up to 50Gb of space with their family and a whole host of additional features for only $7.99 a month or $77 for a yearly subscription. Professional family historians have the option to store up to 1Tb of photos and build unlimited client and personal family trees on Famberry for only $30.99 per month.
“If you have ever been given a family heirloom, you know how precious it is; full of history and significance. Famberry is your family’s digital heirloom, useful today, but even more precious in the future. Start capturing your family story together with your family today.”
About Famberry
Famberry, based in London, England was started in 2013 by families who were frustrated with the lack of privacy and controls on social networks and wanted a place that their family life could be documented, without being sold or shared with unknown third parties. With award winning customer service, Famberry lets you access your family tree, photos and keep in contact with your family anywhere that you have access to the Internet.

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



52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #127 Sarah (Martin) Putman (1792-1860)

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 #103:

Sarah (Martin) Putman (1792-1860) is #127 on my Ahnentafel list, my 4th great-grandmother, who married #126 John Putman (1785-1863) in 1810.  

I am descended through:

* their daughter #63 Elizabeth Putman (1818-1895) who married #62 Alexander Sovereen  (1814-1907) in 1840, 

*  their daughter, #31 Mary Jane Sovereen (1844-1874) who married #30 James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902) in 1861.
*  their daughter, Gerogianna Kemp (1868-1952) who married #14 Charles Auble (1849-1916) in 1898.
*  their daughter #7 Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977) who married #6 Lyle Lawrence Carringer in 1918.
*  their daughter, #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), who married #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) in 1942.
*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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

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


*  Name:                        Sarah Martin[1]   
*  Alternate Name:        Sarah Putman[2]

*  Sex:                           Female   

*  Father:                      Mulford Martin (1763-    )   
*  Mother:                    Betsey Rolfe (1766-    )   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                        7 March 1792, Woodbridge, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States   
*  Census:                     1 April 1851 (age 59), Middleton, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada[2]
*  Death:                      21 December 1860 (age 68), Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada[1]   
*  Burial:                     after 21 December 1860 (after age 68), Delhi, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada[1]    
  
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse 1:                John Putman (1785-1863)   
*  Marriage 1:             about 1810 (about age 18), probably Seneca, New York, United States[1]   
*  Child 1:                  Peter W. Putman (1812-1882)   
*  Child 2:                  Martin Mulford Putman (1816-1892)   
*  Child 3:                  Isaac Kinnan Putman (1819-    )   
*  Child 4:                  Elizabeth Putman (1818-1895)   
*  Child 5:                  Rebecca Putman (1822-1852)   
*  Child 6:                  Mary Putman (1825-1912)   
*  Child 7:                  Martha Putman (1829-    )   
*  Child 8:                  William C. Putman (1834-1893)   
  
4)  GENERAL NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

The data presented on the Putman family was obtained from Mark Putman, who publishes the Putman Family Bulletin.  One of his publications, "Descendants of David Janse Putman, son of Johannes Pootman of Schenectady, New York," covers the present ancestral line, The John Putman sketch is on pages 57-59.

Sarah Martin was born on 7 March 1792 in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, the daughter and third child of Mulford and Betsey (Rolfe) Martin.  I don't have a source for the birth date.  She was age 58 in the 1851 Census of Upper Canada (so born in 1792 or 1793)[2] and "in her 68th year" on her gravestone in December 1860 (so likely born in 1792 or 1793)[1].

Sarah Martin married John Putman in about 1810, probably in Seneca County, New York, where the Peter Putman family had moved[1].

John and Sarah Putman moved to Steuben County, New York between 1810 and 1820.  Their eight children were probably born in Wayne Town, Steuben County, New York between 1812 and 1834[1].

The John Putman family seems to have lived in the "Houck Neighborhood," a couple of miles northwest of the Village of Wayne, New York.  The Town of Wayne was noted for its pine lumber, and large rafts of lumber were float from Mud Lake below the Village of Wayne, down Mud Creek to the Susquehanna that loggers built between 1810 and 1830 and floated down Mud Creek to the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, and Maryland[1].

About 1834, John Putman, with his brother Isaac Kinnan Putman, moved his family to Fredericksburg (later called Delhi), Norfolk County, Ontario, named after Frederick Sovereign, an early settler.  John Putman may have followed the lumber trade from Steuben County, New York to Norfolk County, Ontario, since many of John's sons were lumber men. John Putman and Isaac Kinnan Putman pledged an oath of allegiance to Canada, recorded in Norfolk County in 1842[1]

The 1851 Census of Canada West provides this information about the Mulford M. Putman household residing in Middleton, Norfolk County, Ontario[2]:

*  Mulford M. Putman - an Inn Keeper, born in State New York, Religion is Baptist, Residence is Middleton, age 37, male
*  Elizabeth Putman - a Land Lady, born in State New York, Religion is Baptist, Residence is  Middleton, age 36, female
*  Malvina M. Putman - born in Norwich CU [Canada Upper], Religion is Baptist, Residence is Middleton, age 14, female
*  John W. Putman - born in Charlotteville CU, Religion is Baptist, Residence is Middleton, age 11, male
*  Josephine Putman - born in Windham CU, Religion is Baptist, Residence is Middleton, age 8, female
*  Helen M. Putman - born in P?????? CU, Religion is Baptist, Residence in Middleton, age 5, female
*  John Putman - born in State Jersey, Religion is Baptist, Residence is Middleton, age 64, male
*  Sarah Putman - born in State New Jersey, Religion is Baptist, Residence is Middleton, age 58, female.

Sarah Putman died in Delhi, Norfolk County, Ontario 21 December 1860 in her 68th year[1].  John Putman died in Delhi 10 May 1863 at the age of 78. Both were buried in the Middle Township Cemetery, but when the cemetery was sold in about 1970 to build a store, their gravestones were moved a short distance to the Delhi Cemetery.  The inscription on the gravestone for Sarah and John "Putnam" in Delhi Cemetery says[1]:

                    Sarah                             John Putnam
                    wife of 
               John Putnam                           died
                     died                              May 10 1863
               Dec 21 1860                            in his
                   in her                              78th year
                68th Year
 
5)  SOURCES

1. Mark R. Putnam, "David Janse Pottman, Also Known as David Potman and Putman," The Putman Family Bulletin (http://www.putmanfamily.org/ : accessed 22 January 2015), John Putman sketch, pages 57-59.


2. Census of 1851, Norfolk County, Canada West, District 25, Subdistrict 225, Middleton township, Page 5 (stamped), Lines 2 to 9, Mulford M. Putman household; digital image, Library and Archives Canada (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1851/Pages/1851.aspx  : accessed 10 March 2013); Library and Archives Canada Microfilm C-11741.

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

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-127-sarah.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.