Saturday, December 10, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your 2016 Dear Genea-Santa Letter

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

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



(Photo courtesy of footnoteMaven)


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 genealogy-oriented wish list:

1) Write your Genea-Santa letter. Have you been a good genealogy girl or boy? What genealogy-oriented items are on your Christmas wish list? They could be family history items, technology items, or things that you want to pursue in your ancestral quest.

2) Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google Stream post.

Here's mine:

Dear Genea-Santa,

I tried so hard to be a good genea-boy this year. I worked hard speaking all over Southern California and teaching at OASIS, serving my local societies, editing and writing my society newsletter and over 900 blog posts, participating in some Hangouts On Air, attending two genealogy conferences and several all-day seminars, watching webinars, and helping several friends and colleagues with their research. In addition, I have added more names, facts, media and (especially) sources to my database.  

Thank you for last year's gifts - a 2016 calendar with the grandkids photos; that was great ... but you didn't bring me the other things I asked for.   Was I a bad genea-boy, or maybe you thought I had enough, or you were out of the other things.  I'll ask for them again!

I  still BELIEVE!!!!! Come on, Santa, all I want for Christmas in 2016 are:

*  A genea-robot that can work 24 hours a day on writing my blog posts and getting my genea-piles organized - that is so boring and there is so much to do ... but a robot would not have to sleep or eat, drive Miss Linda or spend time with her (I promise!).  Maybe I could even train it to write quality Find A Grave and census source citations.  Or search Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch for new ancestral records.

*  A Newspapers.com subscription would be appreciated!

*  That Ancestry reduces their many indexing mistakes, and provides all of their source citations to Evidence Explained standards.

*  That FamilySearch releases Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey digitized deed files.  Also, that they make adding Hint information to person profiles easier.

*  That Findmypast will find more than 139 Hints for my 46,000 person database (stuck since June), and will make their online trees searchable.

*  That the desktop genealogy software programs will synchronize with the online family trees at Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Findmypast without losing any information.

*  That FamilySearch fixes the FamilySearch Family Tree problems with duplicate individuals in the years before 1750.  

*  That AncestryDNA provides a chromosome browser so we can triangulate matches better.

*  A solid lead on the ancestry of:  William Knapp (1775-1856), Thomas J. Newton (ca 1800-ca 1840), Devier James Lamphear Smith (1839-1894), Martin Carringer (1758-1835),  and Hannah Smith (1768-1827) would be welcome too!  

*  Good health for my family and all of my genealogy friends and their families.

Thank you, Genea-Santa, for listening to my pleas. I will leave a nice personal meat-lovers pizza in the freezer for you (you can heat it in the kitchen microwave), a rosy red apple and some delicious chocolate chip cookies on the fireplace hearth, and some eggnog (in the refrigerator) for you on Christmas Eve just in case you need fortification. You can get a yummy Dove chocolate ice cream bar out of the freezer if you'd like. Nothing's too good for Genea-Santa - mi casa es su casa!  

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/12/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your-2016.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 - GEREADY (Netherlands to colonial Rhode Island)

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 #1501, who is Mary GEREADY (1654-1722) 
[Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through two generations of this GEREADY 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)

186.  Stephen Hazard (1730-1804)
187.  Elizabeth Carpenter (1741-????)

374.  Daniel Carpenter (1712-1784)
375.  Renewed Smith (1717-1766)

750.  Ephraim Smith (1675-1733)
751.  Margaret Pearce (1689-????)

1500.  Jeremiah Smith, born about 1648 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, United States; died before 11 April 1720 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.  He was the son of 3000. John Smith and 3001. Margaret.  He married 02 January 1672 in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, United States.
1501.  Mary Gereardy, born 11 October 1654 in New York, New York, United States; died 1722 in Portsmouth, Newport, Rhode Island, United States.

Children of Jeremiah Smith and Mary Gereardy are:
*  John Smith (1673-????).
*  Ephraim Smith (1675-1733), married 1710 Margaret Pearce (1689-????).
*  Sarah Smith (1678-1765), married 1698 Jeremiah Hazard (1675-1768).
*  Mary Smith (1680-1709), married 1702 John Congdon (1674-1743).
*  Deliverance Smith (1684-1715), married 1700 Robert Reynolds (1676-1715).

3002.  Jan Gereardy, born about 1623 in probably Netherlands; died about 1718 in Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States.  He was the son of 6004. Phillip Gereardy and 6005. Marie Pollet.  He married about 1650 in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, United States.
3003.  Renewed Sweet, born about 1625 in Modbury, Devon, England; died after 1684 in Rhode Island, United States.  She was the daughter of 6006. John Sweet and 6007. Mary Perriam.

Children of Jan Gereardy and Renewed Sweet are:
*  Phillis Geready (1652-1729), married 1672 John Smith (1646-1730).
*  Mary Geready (1654-1722), married 1672 Jeremiah Smith (1648-1720).
*  John Geready (1656-????).

Information about the Geready family was obtained from:

*  Lois Stewart, "James Sweet of Rhode Island: A New Mystery," The American Genealogist, Volume 53, No. 1 (January 1977), pages 28-30.


*  J.K. Loren, "Newell, Eisendrath, Rosenberg, Witmondt, Waag, Stanley, Guyon, Moatti, Bitoun, Le Baut," website, Rootsweb WorldConnect (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/), Jan (John) Geready profile.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/12/surname-saturday-geready-netherlands-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, December 9, 2016

This Week's We're Related Relationships, 9 December 2016

I have received 9 new cousin relationships on the We're Related mobile app this week, which is based on Ancestry Member Trees.  The new relationships, and my initial evaluation of them, are:

1)  Jimmy Carter - U.S. President, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Jonathan Prescott (1646-1721).




My line to Jonathan Prescott through Samuel Prescott (1674-1758) in eastern Massachusetts is well documented.  The Carter line back to Jonathan Prescott goes through Pennsylvania and to Sarah Prescott (1680-1770), who is not in my tree as a daughter of Jonathan Prescott.  My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

2)  Sue Fitzpatrick - Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Joseph White (1640-1706).

My line back to Joseph White is through son Joseph White (1662-1757) in Massachusetts.  Sue's line is through daughter Mary White (1674-1758), who is in my database married to Evenezer Hill.  I judge this relationship to be Probable.

3)  Kyle Betit - Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Simon Gates (1666-1752).

My line back to Simon Gates is through son Amos Gates (1706-1783).  Kyle's line is through daughter Elizabeth Gates (1701-1741), who married a Wheeler.  I have her in my database married to Thomas Wheeler.  I judge this relationship as Probable.

4)  Jim Morrison - Musician, 9th cousin, common ancestor is Mary French (1624-1697).



The app says that Mary French is the mother of my ancestor Samuel Smith (1641-1691) of eastern Massachusetts.  My Samuel Smith (1641-1691) is the son of Henry and Elizabeth --?--.  Morrison's line is through a daughter Elizabeth Smith (1665-1767) who married a Crawford.  There is an Elizabeth Smith who married David Crawford, but they were both born and lived in virginia.  I judge this relationship to be Wrong.

5)  Franklin Pierce - U.S. President, 4th cousin 5x removed, common ancestor is William Fletcher (1618-1677).



My line to William Fletcher is through Samuel Fletcher (1652-1723), while Pierce's line is through son William Fletcher.  My judgment is that this relationship is Probable.

6)  Concetta Phillipps - Facebook friend, 8th cousin, common ancestor is Conrad Keller (1695-1742).

My line to Conrad Keller is through daughter Marytje Keller (1729-1789), while Concetta's line is through Christian Keller (1726-1790).  I judge thisd relationship as Probable.

7)  Laura Prescott - Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is John Freeman (1626-1719).



My line to John Freeman goes through Bennet Freeman (1671-1716), while Laura's line goes through daughter Hannah Freeman (1644-1744) who married John Mayo.  I judge this relationship to be Probable.

8)  Charles Darwin - Scientist, 6th cousin 5x removed, common ancestor is Thomas Healey (1588-1652).



I have Thomas Healey in my database as the father of William Healey, but with no other children.  Darwin's line goes through a daughter Mary Healey who marries a Darwin and has a son William Darwin (1620-1675).  So Thomas Healey was 32 when his grandson was married?  Possible, but Unlikely.  I judge this relationship to be Unlikely.

9)  B.F. Skinner - Author, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Elizabeth --?-- (1625-1693).



Elizabeth --?-- was the wife of Richard Hildreth (1605-1693), and my line is through their son Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731).  Skinner's line is through Mary Vaughan (1660-1727) who married a Washburn.  Several Ancestry Member Trees show that Mary Vaughan is the daughter of George Vaughan and Elizabeth Hinchman.  I judge this relationship to be Unlikely.

My count is up to 87 famous or Facebook cousins.  

I will say it again:  My biggest problem with this We're Related app is that it thinks it knows my ancestral lines better than I do, and adds one to three generations to some of my end-of-line ancestors.  They may be right, I don't know, and I can't really find out because they provide no source material to back up their assertions.  If there was authoritative information for my end-of-line ancestors, I would add it.  None of the additions have been convincing to me yet.



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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.

Comparison of Database Matches by Record Providers - Seaver Surname

I wondered how different the number of matches are for a given surname and different genealogy databases for different record providers.

*  I picked Surname = Seaver (exact match)

*  I picked five U.S. census databases, the World War I Draft Registration database, the Social Security Death Index database, Family Trees, All Databases and All U.S. Databases.

*  I used Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch as record providers to find the results.

Here is my table of results for 9 December 2016:

COMPARISON OF DATABASE MATCHES BY RECORD PROVIDER
FOR “SEAVER” SURNAME (Exact Search) - 9 December 2016
Database
Ancestry
MyHeritage
Findmypast
FamilySearch
1850 U.S. Census
1049
840
854
846
1880 U.S. Census
1624
1535
1534
1528
1900 U.S. Census
2086
1734
1734
1734
1920 U.S. Census
2247
1910
1910
1911
1940 U.S. Census
1737
1761
2003
2003
WW I Draft Reg.
418
405
296
405
Soc. Sec. Death 
1439
1422
1327
1421
All Databases
407627
170870
32070
66538
All U.S. Databases
379247
118505
23110
63654
Family Trees
95804
14188
???
> 2500

Some observations:

*  Ancestry.com consistently has more matches than the other three record providers.  I think that this is because Ancestry has corrections and additions in their database indexes, while the other three providers do not.  The exception is the 1940 U.S. Census for some reason (although I think Ancestry did their own indexing, MyHeritage did their own indexing, and FamilySearch did their own indexing on this database).

*  FamilySearch and Findmypast have almost identical numbers for the census records, but not for the World War I Draft Registrations and Social Security Death Index. I think Findmypast got the census database indexes from FamilySearch.

*  FamilySearch and MyHeritage have almost identical numbers for all of the databases, except for the 1940 U.S. Census.  I think MyHeritage got the indexes for the seven databases from FamilySearch.

*  Ancestry has significantly more records than the other three record providers, by a wide margin.  

*  The FamilySearch number for Family Trees is only for the FamilySearch Family Tree, a shared tree as opposed to isolated trees on Ancestry and MyHeritage.  Findmypast does not search in family trees to date (although my tree has over 4,500 Seaver persons.

*  These results are for the surname Seaver, which is very much an English surname.  Your surname, or any other surname, might provide different results.  I may do this study for some of my other surnames.

I didn't use other census years just to keep the study manageable.

What other databases are on all four record providers?  I'm sure that England and Wales census records are on all four.  I couldn't match the New York passenger lists on the four record providers.

I will update this study occasionally to see if there is significant growth in the numbers on the four record providers.  

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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.