Saturday, October 15, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What Were You Doing in 1995?

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!):

1) Do you recall what you were doing in 1995?  Family, school, work, hobbies, technology, genealogy, vacations, etc?


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

Here's mine:


*  I was age 53 in 1995, with our two daughters out of high school and away at college.  The Bank of Dad was in high gear!  

*  I was still working at Rohr Industries in Chula Vista as an aerospace engineer, and was supervising about 15 engineers as the Chief of Aerodynamics and Thermodynamics.  We analyzed and tested the fluid dynamics, thermal environment and performance of aircraft engine nacelle systems on several contracts - usually one with Pratt & Whitney, one with General Electric, one with Rolls-Royce, one with Airbus, one with McDonnell Douglas, and one with a business jet manufacturer.  Linda was teaching 4th or 5th grade at Montgomery Elementary School in Chula Vista with a class of 30 students.  

*  We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on March 21 with dinner at Peohe's, a Polynesian restaurant in Coronado.  On the following weekend, Lori and Tami co-hosted a wonderful anniversary party.   They banished Mom and Dad from the house so they could decorate and organize the event.  Tami's boyfriend, James, and Lori's boyfriend, David, helped set up, host, and clean up - a great team effort.  About 75 friends and family attended, and a wonderful time was had by all. 

*  During Easter week, we had a second honeymoon to Tahiti.  We stayed on the islands of Papeete and Moorea, with the beach just outside the room.  It was very beautiful, relaxing, and fun.  We did some sightseeing, a little shopping, some snorkeling, and a little canoeing (after flipping over and cooling off!).  

*  For our summer vacation, we took a three week trip through eight Western states in our Dodge Caravan.  The itinerary consisted of:  San Diego - Las Vegas - St. George UT - Salt Lake City UT - Jackson WY - Yellowstone Park - Twin Falls ID - Boise ID - Reno NV - San Francisco - Morro Bay - San Diego.  We stayed with friends in St. George, and enjoyed Sally's guided tour of beautiful Zion National Park.  In Salt Lake City, Randy had two days of research at the Family History Library.  Grand Tetons National Park was awesome;  we took a boat across Jenny Lake and climbed up Cascade Canyon to a waterfall.  Yellowstone National Park was breathtaking;  we saw Old Faithful, many geysers, springs and colorful mudpots, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and Yellowstone Falls.  We also visited Gardiner, Montana, which was  Linda's father's birthplace.  The fire damage in the Park is still highly visible, but nature is gradually renewing the trees.  We enjoyed several ranger programs, especially one on the re-settling of gray wolves within the Park.  In Twin Falls, we stayed with the Reeves family, who showed us the sights of Shoshone Falls and Twin Falls, and worshiped at Paul's church.  We visited the Shangle's in Boise, and had a beautiful ride to McCall, Idaho for sightseeing and shopping.  While in Reno, we took a drive to Virginia City and were amazed by the mines dug in the 19th century.  On the way home, we visited Papa Lee in San Francisco and Lori and Dave in Morro Bay.  It was a long, interesting, and fun trip.

*  In early September, Linda, Randy, and Tami flew to San Jose to enjoy a Leland family celebration of Papa Lee's 84th birthday and Paul's 50th birthday.  Linda was able to see cousins and friends that she had not seen for about 30 years.

*  In my spare time, I was doing genealogy research.  I went to the Family History Center in San Diego every Saturday to look for ancestral information on microfilms, to the Chula Vista Library to see books on the shelf, to Carlsbad Library every two or three months for books and periodicals.  I had two days of fantastic research at the Family History Library while on vacation.  There were no digitized databases yet, although there were indexes on microfiche or in books for census and other records.  I had my family tree in Personal Ancestral File and had found about 80% of what I now have for my ancestral families - all on paper in my 40 linear feet of bookcases in the genealogy cave.  I had enjoyed my time on the Prodigy network in 1992 and 1993, and was connecting to the Internet with a 1200 baud modem to other networks (About.com, Delphi?).

That's my story -thank goodness for the yearly Christmas letters that we sent.  1995 was a very good year!


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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/10/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-what-were.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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 - LETTICE (England to colonial New England)

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 #1485, who is Dorothy LETTICE (1633-1726) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through two generations of this LETTICE 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)


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

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

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

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

184.  Benedict Oatley (1732-1821)
185.  Elizabeth Ladd (1735-1814)

370.  Joseph Ladd (1701-1748)
371.  Lydia Gray (1707-????)

742.  Samuel Gray (1681-1712)
743.  Deborah Church (1677-1772)

1484.  Edward Gray, born before 15 April 1623 in Stapleford Tawney, Essex, England; died June 1681 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2968. John Gray and 2969. Elizabeth Ward.  He married 12 December 1665 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.
1485.  Dorothy Lettice, born before 28 November 1633 in Leighton, Lincolnshire, England; died 30 March 1726 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Edward Gray and Dorothy Lettice are:

*  Edward Gray (1667-1726), married (1) 1690 Mary Smith (1672-1707); (2) 1708 Mary Manchester (1665-1729).
*  Susanna Gray (1668-1727), married 1688 John Cole (1660-1724).
*  Rebecca Gray (1670-????), married 1689 Ephraim Cole (1659-1731).
*  Thomas Gray (1672-1721), married (1) 1694 Anna Little (1673-1706); (2) 1707 Phebe Peckham (1666-1746).
*  Lydia Gray (1678-1771), married 1696 Caleb Loring (1674-1732).
*  Samuel Gray (1681-1712), married 1699 Deborah Church (1677-1772)

2970.  Thomas Lettice, born about 1604 in Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, England; died 25 October 1681 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.  He married about 1627 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.
2971.  Anne LNU, born 1606 in England; died 03 July 1687 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Thomas Lettice and Anne are:
*  Anne Lettice (1628-1687), married 1652 Samuel Jenney (1617-1685).
*  Thomas Lettice (1630-1650).
*  Dorothy Lettice (1633-1726), married (1) 1665 Edward Gray (1623-1681); (2) 1686 Nathaniel Clarke.
*  Elizabeth Lettice (1634-1693), married (1) 1655 William Shurtleff (1624-1666); (2) 1669 Jacob Cooke (1618-1675).

Information about this Lettice family was obtained from:

*  Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, Genealogy of the Wilbour and Browne and Allied Families (Little Compton, R.I. : B.F. Wilbour, 1936)

*  Cooke Family: Descendants and Relatives of Francis Cooke of the Mayflower 1577-1820 (Salem, Mass. : Higginson Book Co., 200?).

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/10/surname-saturday-lettice-england-to.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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, October 14, 2016

Where Oh Where Have My AncestryDNA NADs Gone?

I haven't updated my AncestryDNA results recently on this blog, and I just had a surprise.

Here is the summary page for my AncestryDNA page (two screens):


The number of my Shared Matches has increased to 148, and the number of my 4th cousins or closer has increased to 305.

When I checked this page last week, I had 8 New Ancestor Discoveries (NADs).  Now I have zero.  Granted that none of them were correct.  Where did they go?  Did Ancestry change their algorithm again? Did Ancestry junk this "feature?"  I guess I should be happy that they aren't providing false leads to me.

I now have seven DNA Circles.  The newest one is for Aaron Smith (1765-1841), one of my 4th great-grandfathers.  There are three members in this circle.  I have 9.4 cM in common with one of these matches, but I don't match with the second person, but he matches with the first person also.  We all have Aaron Smith in our Ancestry Member Trees.

So where oh where have my AncestryDNA NADs gone?  Is anyone else missing their NADs?

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Copyright (c) 2016, 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.


New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 14 October 2016

I received this notice via email today from Findmypast:

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New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday


Over 2 million new records are available to search this Findmypast Friday including:



The Ontario Birth Index is comprised of a massive 1.7 million civil registration records. Civil registration in Canada is the responsibility of the individual provinces and territories and did not become a standard practice until the late 1800s.

Each record contains both a transcript and an image of the original document. Each transcript will reveal your ancestor's date of birth, place of birth parent's names and registration details. These records provide a valuable link to the previous generation and images may include additional information such as parents' occupations, where the parents were married, the name of the attending physician, address of residence, where specifically the child was born, and any additional remarks.



New Brunswick Birth and Baptism Index contains over 25,000 transcripts of civil registration records. Each record will include your ancestor's birth year, birth place and parent's names. The records will also provide you with the information you need to order a copy of an official birth certificate through Service New Brunswick at www.snb.ca.



Scotland Monumental Inscriptions Index contains over 227,000 records and covers 209 burial grounds across 14 Scottish counties including the Isle of Skye. In each record, you will be provided with your ancestor's full name (including maiden names), birth year, death year and burial ground.



The Deeds Index 1769 consists of over 1,000 transcripts, each containing an index of the details found in minute books kept by the Court of Session, Scotland's supreme civil court. The collection contains a variety of different types of deeds including, assignations, discharges, bonds, obligations, protests and leases. Each transcript will reveal the type of deed, the date it was recorded and the two parties named in the original court document, their addresses, and occupations.



Containing over 25,000 records, Scotland, Paternity Decrees 1750-1922 allows you to find out your ancestor involved in a paternity dispute that appeared before Scotland's Sheriff Court. These records will help you identify illegitimate ancestors and break down brick walls. You will find cases from jurisdictions across Scotland such as Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Midlothian, Roxburghshire and more.

Each record will reveal the date of birth and sex of the child whose paternity is in question as well as the name, occupation and residence of both the pursuer and defender.



Learn more about your Scottish ancestors with the new pre-1841 Censuses and Population Lists, a collection over 3,500 early census fragments and parish lists from Jedburgh, Greenlaw, Ladykirk, Melrose, Applegarth, and Sibbaldbie. Most of the censuses and parish lists were created by parish Kirk Sessions, the lowest of the church courts in the Presbyterian Church. Until 1845, these courts were responsible for governing the local parish and oversaw parish relief. It was in their interest to keep up-to-date lists of the parish residents, their occupations, and, in some cases, their birth places.

The details recorded in each transcript will vary although most will include a combination of your ancestor's birth place, occupation, address and an archival reference that you can use to access the original material held by the National Records of Scotland.



Over 1,700 records have been added to our collection of Scotland Registers & Records. The new additions include Written Histories of the Highland Clans & Highland Regiments.

Scotland Registers & Records now contains images taken from 22 different publications related to Scottish parishes and families. The records included in this collection are incredibly varied, ranging from parish records, topographical accounts and memorial inscriptions to a 19th century novel and a short history of the Black Watch.

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Copyright (c) 2016, 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.

52 Ancestors - Week 146: #191 Ann (Kenyon?) Kenyon (about 1742-before 1824)

Here is my 52 Ancestors biography for week #146:

Ann Kenyon (about 1742-before 1824) is #191 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandmother, who married #190 John Kenyon (about 1742-1831)  in 1764.


I am descended through:

*  their daughter, 
#95 Nancy Kenyon (1765-1833) who married #94 Joseph Champlin (1758-1850), in 1785.
*  their daughter #47 Amy Champlin (1798-1865) who married #46 Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872)  in 1823. 
*  their daughter #23 Amy Frances Oatley (1826-1864) who married #22 Henry Arnold White (1824-1885) in 1844.
*  their daughter #11 Julie E. White (1848-1913), who married #10 Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) in 1868. 
*  their daughter #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962), who married #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) 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-....)

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



*  Name:                         Ann Kenyon1–2    
*  Sex:                             Female   
   
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
   
 
*  Birth:                           about 1742, Rhode Island, United States   
*  Death:                         before 6 May 1824 (before about age 82), probably Windham, Connecticut, United States  
   
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
   
*  Spouse 1:                 John Kenyon (about 1742-1831)    
*  Marriage 1:              24 April 1764 (about age 22), Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States[2]    
*  Child 1:                   Nancy Kenyon (1765-1833)    
*  Child 2:                   Lewis Kenyon (1767-    )    
*  Child 3:                   Sylvester Kenyon (1769-1838)    
*  Child 4:                   Almy Kenyon (1770-    )    
*  Child 5:                   Abigail Kenyon (1772-    )    
*  Child 6:                   Cynthia Kenyon (1773-    )    
*  Child 7:                   Mary Kenyon (1774-1810)    
*  Child 8:                   John Kenyon (1776-    )    
*  Child 9:                   George Kenyon (1778-1850)    
   
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):  


The parents of Ann Kenyon are not known.  Although the marriage record says her name was Kenyon, it is not known if her maiden surname was Kenyon or not.

A review of the American Kenyons book [2] shows no likely Ann (or Anne or Anna) Kenyon that might have been born in the 1730 to 1750 time frame that might have married John Kenyon in 1764 in Newport, Rhode Island.

A birth date of "about 1742" is estimated based on John Kenyon's birth date - it may be earlier but not much later than 1746.

The Newport, Rhode Island town records include the marriage of John Kenyon and Ann Kenyon, saying[1]:

"KENYON, John, and Ann Kenyon, m. by Rev. Gardiner Thurston, April 24, 1764."

John and Ann (Kenyon) Kenyon had 9 children born between 1765 and 1778, all but the last several were probably born in Richmond, Rhode Island and the last two or three were probably born in Exeter, Rhode Island.

There are no known death or burial records for Ann (Kenyon?) Kenyon in Rhode Island or Connecticut.  She was probably alive in the 1820 U.S. Census.  Her husband died in 1831, having written a will on 6 May 1824 that did not mention his wife.  A death date of "before 6 May 1824" seems appropriate.

5)  SOURCES

1. "Rhode Island, Vital Records Extracts, 1636-1899," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Vol. 04: Newport County: Births, Marriages and Deaths," Marriages, page 42, Ann Kenyon and John Kenyon.


2. Captain Howard N. Kenyon, American Kenyons : History of Kenyons and English connections of American Kenyons, genealogy of the American Kenyons of Rhode Island, miscellaneous Kenyon material (Rutland, Vt. : Tuttle Company, 1935).


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Copyright (c) 2016, 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.

Thursday, October 13, 2016

momondo Announces DNA Journey Winner from 200K Global Submissions

I received this information via email today from Momondo:

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Given your past interest in momondo’s DNA campaign, I wanted to let you know that the global winner of the travel search site’s DNA Journey was announced this morning. 170,378 people joined the competition from all around the world, and winner Manuel Martínez won the chance to map his ancestry by traveling through Europe, Africa and Asia.

The global campaign and its five-minute film, which documented 67 people who took part in the project, generated a huge viral response around the world:

  • 175+ million views of the campaign film “momondo – The DNA Journey”
  • Over 8.3 million social engagements on all social platforms
  • 396 million people reached worldwide

“It is the people you meet on your trip that make you remember a place.”
Manuel Martínez, global winner of momondo – The DNA Journey competition



In April 2016, momondo invited 67 people to take a journey based on their DNA. They were offered to take a DNA test and to have their experiences recorded. 16 of them were portrayed in the film “momondo – The DNA Journey.” As part of this campaign, momondo started a competition and gave people from all over the world the chance to take part in the journey and win one of 500 DNA kits.

Worldwide, a total of 170,378 people joined in and shared how they would open the world through travelling. 500 of these people won a DNA kit and went on to discover their heritage as revealed through their spit sample. By filming themselves reading their DNA results, they entered momondo’s competition to win their own DNA journey. The first prize winner will go on a journey to all the countries found in their DNA, and the second prize will send 17 local winners to one country found in their DNA.  

“Each of our participants had an extraordinary story to tell. But in the end, Manuel Martínez stood out with his self-reflective and moving video. He sees the world with open eyes, and we believe that he is the right person to carry our message with him on his journey. We are happy to announce Manuel as our global winner of The DNA Journey competition,” says Lasse Skole Hansen, spokesperson for momondo.

“I feel so connected to the world,” said Manuel after opening his DNA results live on camera. Born and raised in Mexico, his surname always revealed his European roots and left him wondering about his heritage. Still, the mechanical engineering student says he would have never dreamt of finding out that he is from all over the world and has ancestors of Asian, African, Southern, Eastern and Northern European as well as Native American descent.

“After I sent in my DNA test, I started asking my family about my heritage. I discovered that my background is much more diverse than I originally thought. My father’s ancestors came from a small town in Northern Italy. My mother shares her maiden name with a tiny village in Portugal. It would be interesting to start my journey in these two cities, get to know the culture and find out how the locals live there today. But I am also very excited about travelling to Eastern Europe as well as Africa and Asia!”

When he submitted his video, Manuel was living in Germany, but by the time he won The DNA Journey competition, he had already moved on to Greece. “I am a travel addict. My parents took me on many holidays when I was little, so I fell in love with travelling when I was a kid. From my experience it is the people you meet on your trip that make you remember a place. I always felt the urge to make a difference in this life and would like to be a messenger between people from different cultures.”

Watch the DNA video from Manuel Martínez here.

Facts about “momondo – The DNA Journey”

  • 175+ million views of the campaign film “momondo – The DNA Journey”
  • Over 8.3 million social engagements on all social platforms
  • 396 million people reached worldwide
  • 550+ media clippings and 4.4 billion media impressions
  • 170,378 people joined the competition for “momondo - The DNA Journey”

 


About momondo:
momondo.com is a free, independent and global travel search site that compares billions of prices on flights, hotels and travel deals. momondo has won several awards and is recommended by leading international media organizations such as CNN, The New York Times and The Daily Telegraph. momondo is headquartered in Copenhagen and serves travelers across 35 international markets. momondo’s mobile applications are available for free for iPhone and Android.

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Copyright (c) 2016, 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.