Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- How Many Degrees of Separation

It's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun! 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1)  Find an ancestral line that atretches back to the time of the US Revolutionary War (1775-1783), about 240 years. Define your person-to-person connection (the person actually met the next person on the list) back to a historical figure from that time (doesn't have to be famous).

2) Tell us about it on your blog, in a note or comment on Facebook, or in a comment on this post.

Here's mine (from my Carringer line):

1) I (1943-????) knew well my maternal grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976).

2) Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976, my grandfather) knew his paternal grandfather, David Jackson Carringer (1823-1901)

3) David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902, my 2nd great-grandfather) knew his paternal grandfather, Martin Carringer (1758-1835).

4) Martin Carringer (1758-1835, my 4th great-grandfather) served in the Revolutionary War in the Pennsylvania 8th Battalion of the Continental Army that wintered at Valley Forge. Surely he saw, and perhaps met, General George Washington. 

So I have three degrees of separation from an ancestor that "knew" George Washington and four degrees of separation to George Washington.

Hmm, I wonder how many degrees of separation I have to someone on the Mayflower?

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-how-many.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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 - WARREN (England to colonial Massachusetts)

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

I am working in the 9th great-grandmothers by Ahnentafel number, and I am up to  Ancestor #2069 who is Mary WARREN (1624-1691). [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 9th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts.]

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

1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

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

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

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

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

258.  Isaac Read (1704-1780)
259.  Experience Willis (1709-1787)

516.  Thomas Read (1678-1755)
517.  Mary Bigelow (1677-1708)

1034.  Samuel Bigelow (1653-1732)
1035.  Mary Flagg (1658-1720)

2068.  John Bigelow, born before 16 February 1617 in Wrentham, Suffolk, England; died 14 July 1703 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 4136. Randall Baguley and 4137. Jane LNU.  He married 30 October 1642 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
2069.  Mary Warren, born before 12 September 1624 in Nayland, Suffolk, England; died 19 October 1691 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of John Bigelow and Mary Warren are:
*  John Bigelow (1643-1684), married (1) 1664 Rebecca Olmsted (1647-????); (2) 1675 Sarah Wheat (1649-????).
*  Jonathan Bigelow (1646-1711), married (1) 1671 Rebecca Shepard (1650-1686); (2) 1686 Mary Olcott (1664-1697); (3) 1710 Mary Benton (1655-1752).
*  Mary Bigelow (1649-1704), married 1674 Michael Flagg (1651-1711).
*  Daniel Bigelow (1650-1715), married 1688 Abial Pratt (1658-????).
*  Samuel Bigelow (1653-1732), married 1674 Mary Flagg (1658-1720).
*  Joshua Bigelow (1655-1745), married 1676 Elizabeth Flagg (1655-1729).
*  Elizabeth Bigelow (1657-1694), married 1676 John Stearns (1654-1728).
*  Sarah Bigelow (1659-1694), married 1679 Isaac Learned (1655-1737).
*  James Bigelow (1660-1728), married (1) 1687 Patience Brown (1669-1693); (2) 1693 Elizabeth Child (1670-1707); (3) 1708 Joanna Erickson (1663-1729).
*  Martha Bigelow (1662-1728), married 1684 Obadiah Wood (1659-????).
*  Abigail Bigelow (1664-1754), married 1684 Benjamin Harrington (1662-1754).
*  Hannah Bigelow (1666-1666).
*  male Bigelow (1667-1667.

4138.  John Warren, born before 01 August 1585 in Nayland, Suffolk, England; died 13 December 1667 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 8276. John Warren and 8277. Elizabeth Scarlett.  He married before 1615 in Suffolk, England.
4139.  Margaret LNU, born about 1587 in England; died 06 November 1662 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.

Children of John Warren and Margaret are:
*  Mary Warren (1615-1622).
*  Elizabeth Warren (1618-1622).
*  Sarah Warren (1620-1621).
*  John Warren (1622-1703), married 1667 Micael Jennison (1640-1713).
*  Mary Warren (1624-1691), married 1642 John Bigelow (1617-1703)
*  Daniel Warren (1627-1707), married 1650 Mary Barron (1631-1716).
*  Elizabeth Warren (1629-1691), married 1654 James Knapp (1626-1700).

Information about the John Warren family of Watertown was obtained from:

*  Dean Crawford Smith, edited by Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908, Part I: The Ancestry of Warren Francis Kempton (1817-1879) (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996), pages 463-490.

*  John Brooks Threlfall, 50 Great Migration Colonists to New England (Madison, Wis.: published by author, 1990), pages 479-494.

*  Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volume III (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), pages 1932-1934.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/surname-saturday-warren-england-to.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

Genealogy News Bytes - 12 January 2018

Some of the genealogy news items across my desktop the last three days include:

1)  News Articles:

*   IGHR 2018 registration tomorrow

*  The Genealogist previews its 2018 releases

*  Galway Genetic Genealogy Conference, Saturday 5 May

*  FamilySearch 2017 Genealogy Highlights

*  NGS Awards Deadline is 31 January 2018

*  Major Updates and Improvements to MyHeritage DNA Matching

*  Natalia Lafourcade Speaking at RootsTech 2018

2)  Record Databases:

*  New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 12 January 2018

*  12 Jan 2018 – New Genealogy Record Releases & Updates

*  Mayflower Ancestors and More in New Genealogy Records Online

3)  Genealogy Education:

*  GeneaWebinars Calendar

*  Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for January 2018

*  FamilyTreeDNA, FamilySearch, and 2018 Brick Wall Webinars

*  Family History Fanatics eConference - 19 January 2018

*  Archives Skill Building Boot Camp – Saturday, January 20, 2018

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Tuesday, 16 January 2017, 11 a.m.:  Genealogy for Beginners: Start Your Online Family Tree, by Daniel Horowitz

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Tuesday, 16 January 2017, 5 p.m.:  Finding Thomas' Father: an 18th Century Prince William County Virginia Case Study, by Pam Stone Eagleson

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Wednesday, 17 January 2017, 11 a.m.: Introducing the Geni World Family Tree, by E. Randol Schoenberg

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Quality, Time and Completion: Developing a Research Plan (Part One), by J. Mark Lowe.

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Quality, Time and Completion: Developing a Research Plan (Part Two), by J. Mark Lowe.

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar  Full Circle: Tracing the Descendants of a Slaveholding Ancestor, by Nicka Smith

*  Genealogy Gems Podcast: Episode 213

*  Nicka Sewell-Smith YouTube Channel:  BlackProGen LIVE! Ep 48: "How I Did It" Part 1

*  Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel:  Class Preview: Time Travel Technology

*  Ancestral Findings YouTube Channel:  AF-160: A Review of Stories from Ipswich

*  BYU Family History Library YouTube Channel:  The Family History Guide Revisited by Rayanne Melick

*  DearMYRTLE YouTube Channel:  GenDoc Study Group 15

*  Family History Fanatics YouTube Channel:  How to Find Your Ancestor's Wills and Probate Files
4)  Bargains:

*  Genealogy Bargains for Friday, January 12,  2018

5)  Neat Stuff:

*  Genetics Rewrites the History of Early America—And, Maybe, the Field of Archaeology

*  Two families separated by one argument and 100 years

Did you miss the last Genealogy News Bytes - 9 January 2018?

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/genealogy-bews-bytes-12-january-2018.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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, 12 January 2018

I received this information from Findmypast today:

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New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday

There are over 1.7 million new records available to search this Findmypast Friday, including;

South Carolina, Will Transcripts 1782-1866

Search this index of more than 181,000 will transcripts from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History website. These records will allow you to discover the date of the will, the location of the will, a description of the document and the names of the individuals mentioned in it.

South Carolina, Plats for State Land Grants 1784-1868

Did your South Carolina ancestors receive a state land grant? In the United States, a plat plan is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Search this index of over 254,000 records to find out when they received their grant, the location of the land and names of others mentioned in the document.

South Carolina, Legislative Papers 1782-1929

Search this collection of over 228,000 records to find out whether your ancestors appeared in Legislative Papers from South Carolina. These transcripts will reveal the type of document their name appeared in, the nature of the document, its date and the names of any other individuals recorded.

South Carolina, Criminal Court Records

Explore criminal court records from South Carolina covering the years 1769 to 1944 to uncover the black sheep hiding in your family tree. Transcripts will include the year, location, document type and description as well as the names of others mentioned in the court document.

South Carolina, Records of Confederate Veterans 1909 – 1973

Find out whether your ancestor fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War with this index of lists and pension applications pertaining to Confederate veterans from South Carolina.

Norfolk Monumental Inscriptions 1600-1900's Image Browse

Browse through more than 14,000 transcriptions of monumental inscriptions captured from 260 parishes across Norfolk. A monumental inscription can reveal your ancestor's residence, death date, age at death, and burial location.

Lancashire, Oldham Cemetery Registers 1797-2004 Image Browse

Browse more than 45,000 records taken from cemetery registers covering Chadderton, Crompton, Failsworth, Greenacres, Hollinwood, Lees, and Royton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. The registers will reveal your ancestor's age, residence, date of death, and place of burial.

Wiltshire parish baptisms index 1538-1917

Over 613,000 records have been added to our collection of Wiltshire parish baptisms. Whilst the registers are for Church of England parishes, most other denominations also used the Anglican parishes for registration purposes, with the exception of Quaker and Jewish records. Transcriptions were created by both Findmypast and Wiltshire Family History Society. Each record contains a transcription created from either an original parish registers or bishop's transcript. The information varies, but most will include a combination of your ancestor's birth date, baptism date, parish and parents' names.

Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions 1485-2014

Over 3,000 records covering burial sites in Twickenham and Uxbridge have been added to our collection of Monumental Inscriptions. Each record includes a transcript with a varying amount of information. Most of the transcripts include full name, age, birth year, death year, dedication, location and monument type. You may also see notes on the inscription including the names of others buried in that plot or more specific details regarding their age and date of death.

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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary subscription to Findmypast, and have accepted meals and services from Findmypast, as a Findmypast Ambassador.  This has not affected my objectivity relative to Findmypast and its products.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/new-records-available-to-search-this_12.html

Copyright (c) 2017, 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 209: #288 James Hildreth (1698-1761) of Westford, Massachusetts

James Hildreth (1698-1761)  is #288 on my Ahnentafel List, my 6th great-grandfather, who married #289 Dorothy Prescott (1702-1774) in 1721 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their son #144 Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) who married #145 Elizabeth Prescott (1734-1812) in 1753.

*  their son, #72 Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1829) who married #73 Elizabeth Keyes (1759-1793) in 1777.

*  their son, #36 Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857) who married #37 Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857) in 1810.

*  their son, #18 Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) who married #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) in 1852.

*  their daughter #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920)  who married #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) in 1874.

*  their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 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 Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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

 

*   Name:                         James Hildreth[1–21]    

*  Sex:                             Male    

*  Father:                        Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731)    

*  Mother:                      Anna Moore (1666-1760)  

2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*   Birth:                        23 December 1698, Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2]    

*  Deed:                        7 January 1720 (age 21), common land received from town; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]    

*  Deed:                        11 August 1724 (age 25), received 7 parcels of land from father; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]    

*  Distribution:             12 April 1731 (age 32), father's will proved; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7]    

*  Tax List:                  29 October 1731 (age 32), tax assessment; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]    

*  Deed:                      17 September 1744 (age 45), bought 45 acres of land in Westford for 320 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]    

*  Deed:                      30 November 1744 (age 45), bought 8.5 acres in Westford for 32 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[10]    

*  Deed:                      28 February 1752 (age 53), sold 30 acres in Westford for 106 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[11]   

*  Guardianship:        28 June 1755 (age 56), Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[12]

*  Deed:                     13 January 1758 (age 59), sold 14 acres in Westford for 100 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[13]    

*  Deed:                     27 May 1760 (age 61), bought 8 acres in Westford for 76 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[14]    

*  Deed:                     7 November 1760 (age 61), sold 107 acres in Westford for 400 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[15]    

*  Deed:                    28 November 1760 (age 61), sold 7 acres in Westford for 40 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[16]    

*  Deed:                    21 January 1761 (age 62), sold 12 acres in Westford for 30 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[17]    

*  Deed:                    23 January 1761 (age 62), sold land in Westford for 30 pounds; Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[18]    

*  Death:                   25 February 1761 (age 62), Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[19–20]    

*  Burial:                  after 25 February 1761 (after age 62), Fairview Cemetery, Westford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[21]  

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Souse 1:               Dorothy Prescott (1702-1774)    

*  Marriage 1:         20 December 1721 (age 22), intentions; Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]    

*  Child 1:              Oliver Hildreth (1723-1793)    

*  Child 2:              Rebecca Hildreth (1726-1785)    

*  Child 3:              Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784)    

*  Child 4:              Anna Hildreth (1730-    )    

*  Child 5:              Dorothy Hildreth (1733-1735)    

*  Child 6:              Dorothy Hildreth (1736-1782)    

*  Child 7:              Amos Hildreth (1738-1807)    

*  Child 8:              Lucy Hildreth (1742-1763)    

*  Child 9:              Samuel Hildreth (1745-1748)  

4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):    

James Hildreth was born 23 December 1698 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, the sixth child (of 11) and sixth son of Ephraim and Anna (Moore) Hildreth[1-2].  

On 7 January 1720, the town of Chelmsford laid out 2.5 acres of land in the town common to James Hildreth and Ephraim Hildreth on the rights of James Parker and Ephraim Hildreth, Sr.[3]

James Hildreth married Dorothy Prescott, with intentions recorded on 20 December 1721 in Chelmsford[4-5].  They had nine children recorded in Chelmsford and Westford between 1723 and 1745.

On 11 August 1724, Ephraim Hildreth of Chelmsford, husbandman, gave land in Chelmsford to his son James Hildreth, husbandman of Chelmsford, for personal affection and good will.  There were 7 parcels of land, totaling 25.5 acres, all near James Hildreth's house.  The deed was recorded 24 February 1726[6]

The town of Westford was set off from a part of Chelmsford town in 1729, and that James Hildreth did not "move" his physical homestead from one town to the other.  The town records before 1729 reflect that he paid taxes in Chelmsford before 1729, and in Westford after 1730[8].

The father of James Hildreth, Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731), died on 5 April 1731.  He wrote his will on 5 March 1731, and it was proved on 12 April 1731[7].  Son James Hildreth was bequeathed "... all the lands that I gave to him by a deed of gift and allso a seventh part of my waring apparriel and a seventh part of my oxen and husbandtre tools for his full portion of my estate."

On 17 September 1744, Mary Merriam, widow of Isaac Merriam, and their children, sold 45 acres of land in Westford to James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, for 320 pounds old tenor.  The land was the 24th lot in the 1st division, bounded by a highway, north by land of Benjamin Brooks, west and south by land of Daniel Adams, and east by the highway.  The deed was recorded 20 June 1749[9].

On 30 November 1744, James Burn of Westford, husbandman, sold land in Westford to James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 32 pounds.  The land was 8.5 acres on Flat Hill, bounded by land of James Hildreth, and defined by stakes, stones and trees.  The deed was recorded 20 June 1760 [10].

On 28 February 1752, James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Zachariah Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 106 pounds lawful money.  There were three tracts totalling 30 acres.  The first tract was 14 acres located on the west side of Tadmuck Hill, bounded by stakes, stones, and trees.  The second tract was Pine Land in the General Field, bounded by stakes, stones, trees, and north by Timothy Fletcher's land.  The third tract was meadow and meadow bottom on the west side of Beaver Brook, bounded north  by Thomas Dutton's meadow, the brook, southeast by Hadley's meadow, and east by upland.  The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[11].

On 28 June 1755, a letter was written by Willard Hall of Westford to the Judge of Probate of Middlexex County requesting a guardian be put over James Hildreth "who is sometimes quarrelsome, mischievous and the neighbors will no longer suffer him at large. Someone is needed to take care that he will not eat out his estate and ruin the family who are at present in very good circumstances." It was requested that his wife or eldest son be appointed guardian[12].  There is no other record in the Probate records for this case.  It is unknown if a guardian was appointed to protect James Hildreth and his estate.

On 13 January 1758, James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Zachariah Hildreth, husbnadman of Westford, for 100 pounds lawful money.  The land was four pieces of land near Tadmuck Hill totalling 13 and 3/4 acres.  The first tract was 7 and 3/4 acres bounded east and south by land of Benjamin Carver, and west and north by land of Willard Hall.  The second tract was 5 acres bounded northeast by land formerly Benjamin Robbins, and east, west and south by land of Zachariah Hildreth.  The third piece was one half ace bounded on the south side by James Hildreth's field, and bounded by land formerly owned by Benjamin Robbins.  The fourth piece was one half acre, and was at the east end of Zachariah Hildreth's land, bounded on Sagatee Meadow, and stakes and stones, and trees.  The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[13].

On 27 May 1760, Deliverance Smith, gentleman of Westford, sold land in Westford to James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, for 76 pounds, 13 shillings and 4 pence lawful money.  The land was 8 acres near Rattlesnake Hill, bounded southwest by land of James Hildreth, south by a wall, northeast by land of James Hildreth and Nathan Procter, and north  by James Hildreth's land.  The deed was recorded 29 May 1760[14].

On 7 November 1760, James Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Amos Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 400 pounds. The sale included two tracts.  The first tract was 100 acres of the homestead, bounded west by land of Phinehas Hildreth, southwest by land of Ephraim Hildreth, northwest by land of Ephraim Hildreth, southwest by land of Ephraim Hildreth, southeast by land of Barns and Smith, east by land of John Abbott, Ephraim Hildreth Sr., northeast by wall and land of Zachariah Hildreth and Nathan Procter, and north by the highway.  The second tract was 7 acres near the homestead of Gershom Fletcher, bounded east by Groton Road, north by land of Samuel Parker, west by Dutton's Meadow, and south by land of Samuel Parker.  The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[15].

On 28 November 1760, James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, sold land in Westford to Zachariah Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 40 pounds lawful money.  The land was 7 acres in Westford near the dwelling house of Zachariah Hildreth, bounded north, west and south by a stone wall, and east by a fence.  The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[16].

On 21 January 1761, James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, sold land in Westford to Zachariah Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 30 pounds lawful money.  There were two pieces of land.  The first was 8 acres of land on the north side of the highway from the dwelling house to the meeting house, bounded east by Timothy Fletcher's land, east and north on Lt. Pollard's land, west on Timothy Fletcher Sr's land, and south by the highway.  The second piece was 4 acres on the south side of the highway, and was bounded north by Mr. Hall's land, south by Zachariah Hildreth's land, and northwest by the highway[17].

On 23 January 1761, James Hildreth, yeoman of Westford, sold land in Westford to his son, Amos Hildreth, husbandman of Westford, for 30 pounds.  No acreage was given for this tract, which was bounded south by the highway from the dwelling house to the meeting house, west and north by Dutton's land and Timothy Fletcher Sr's land, and east by Zachariah Hildreth's land.  The deed was recorded 31 March 1761[18].

James Hildreth died 25 February 1761 in Westford, Massachusetts[19-20].  He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Westford[21].  The gravestone inscription is:

"Here lies ye body of

Mr. James Hildreth

who departed this life

Feberuary the 26^th 1761

in the 63^d year

of his age"

There is no probate record for the estate of James Hildreth or his wife, Dorothy in the Middlesex County Probate Records.  It is probable that in his later years he sold all of his property to his sons Amos and Zachariah Hildreth in order to support himself before his death, and his wife after his death, and that the widow Dorothy lived with one or more of her children after James's death.

5)  SOURCES

 

1. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Chelmsford Town Land and Vital Records, page 330 (image 183 of 230), James Hildreth birth entry.

2. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1914), Births, page 79, James Heldreth entry, 1698.

3. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org), Middlesex County, Volume 22, page 391, town of Chelmsford to James and Ephraim Hildreth, recorded 14 November 1723.

4. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, Chelmsford > Births, Marriages, Deaths, page 6 (image 36 of 1719), James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescot marriage intentions entry.

5. Town of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Vital Records of Chelmsford, Massachusetts to the Year 1850, Marriages, page 250, James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescott entry.

6. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 25, page 580, Ephraim Hildreth to James Hildreth, recorded 24 February 1726.

7. "Probate Records 1648-1924 (Middlesex County, Massachusetts)," FamilySearch, 886 FHL US/CAN Microfilms,  Packet #11,316, Ephraim Hildreth, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,397,093.

8. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, Westford > Town Records, page 45 (image 34 of 778), James Hildreth tax assessment.

9. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 49, page 8, Mary Merriam et al to James Hildreth, recorded 20 June 1749.

10. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 57, page 350, James Burn to James Hildreth, recorded 20 June 1760.

11. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 323, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.

12. "Middlesex County, MA: Probate Papers, 1648-1871," digital image, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org), Probate Packet 11,299, James Hildreth, 1755, request for guardianship letter.

13. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 325, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.

14. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 57, page 351, Deliverance Smith to James Hildreth, recorded 29 May 1760.

15. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 320, James Hildreth to Amos Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.

16. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 326, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.

17. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 327, James Hildreth to Zachariah Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.

18. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, Middlesex County, Volume 58, page 322, James Hildreth to Amos Hildreth, recorded 31 March 1761.

19. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, Westford > Births, Marriages and Deaths, Page 91 (image 52 of 1750), James Hildreth death entry.

20. Vital Records of Westford, Massachusetts to the Year 1849 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1915), Deaths, page 287, James Hildreth entry, 1761.

21. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), Fairview Cemetery, Westford, Mass., James Hildreth memorial #36075092.

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NOTE:  Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post 

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I have extended this theme in 2018 to 260 Ancestors in 260 Weeks.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/52-ancestors-week-209-288-james.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

MyHeritageDNA Now Has a Chromosome Browser

As I was reviewing genealogy blogs this afternoon, I read Thomas MacEntee's post "MyHeritage DNA Free Chromosome Browser" on his Genealogy Bargains blog.

UPDATE:  The MyHeritage Blog post "Major Updates and Improvements to MyHeritage DNA Matching" was posted at 12:30 p.m. PST with more information.

I uploaded my raw DNA file from 23andMe to MyHeritageDNA last year, and have over 2,000 DNA matches on MyHeritageDNA at this time.

I will use my closest match as the example in this blog post (Note that I have blanked out names of other persons).  I have this close match in my tree and I know this person is my first cousin, twice removed.

1)  Here is my "Review DNA Match" information with my first cousin twice removed:

I share 2.5% (183.6 cM) of my DNA with my first cousin twice removed, in 9 segments, with the largest segment of 39.4 cM.

2)  The next item down this "Review DNA Matches" page is "Shared Matches" - testers who match myself and my cousin on our common DNA segments:

There are ten of these "Shared DNA Matches."

3)  The next chart down the page is "Shared Ethnicities:"

This chart shows that my cousin has a significant Irish, Scotland and Wales ancestry, a significant Scandinavia ancestry, and a significant East European ancestry.  I don't have any of those ethnicities, according to MyHeritageDNA.  This matches my knowledge of my cousin's family tree.

4)  Further down the "Review DNA Match" page is the chromosome browser:

The portions of the 22 chromosomes where my cousin and I have identical DNA segments are shown in lavender.  Although we share only 2.5% of the total, several of the segments are relatively large.

5)  The largest segment is on Chromosome 9, with 39,42 cM.  I ran my mouse over that large segment and saw more information about this segment:

In the upper right-hand corner of the image above is "Advanced options," where I can download all of the chromosome information on all of the matching segments.

6)  I am not sure how much of the "Review DNA Match" screen is new - my guess is that the new feature is the Chromosome browser.  This is an important feature that puts MyHeritageDNA analysis on an even technology field with the other major DNA test/analysis companies.

7)  I know that my cousin is a descendant of my grandparents, Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) and Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962), who resided in Massachusetts.  My cousin's grandfather is my first cousin.  

What this chromosome browser can be used for is to identify segments on the chromosomes that pertain to one or the other of my grandparents and their respective parents, etc.

If there is another DNA match on my list with a DNA segment within one of the segments in my cousin's segments, that means that they are descended from ancestors of one of my grandparents, although it may not be from one of my grandparents.

8)  Other DNA testing and analysis companies that provide Chromosome browsers include FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, and GEDMatch (and probably others I don't use).  At this point in time, AncestryDNA does not provide a Chromosome browser for some reason.  I, and everybody else, wishes that they would!  AncestryDNA testers can download their raw data and upload it to FamilyTreeDNA (for a free), to MyHeritageDNA (free) and to GEDMatch (free), and then see matches to testers on those sites.

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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary MyHeritage Data and Tree subscription, and have received material considerations from MyHeritage over the past eight years.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/myheritagedna-has-chromosome-browser.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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.

FamilySearch 2017 Genealogy Highlights

I received this information from FamilySearch today:

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FamilySearch 2017 Genealogy Highlights

Salt Lake City, Utah (11 January 2018), FamilySearch online visitors made millions of personal family discoveries in 2017. The nonprofit family history giant published hundreds of millions of free historical records online in 2017 and experienced significant growth in its mobile app customer base. It's all part of FamilySearch's purpose to help individuals discover more about themselves by learning more about their ancestry roots. These are just some of the impressive highlights from FamilySearch's 2017 year in review. (Easily find and share this announcement with downloadable infographics in the FamilySearch Newsroom.)

Family Tree Upgrades

FamilySearch’s Family Tree encourages family collaboration. In 2017, more than 27 million new ancestors were added, 3.7 million through mobile devices. Over 1.2 billion people are now in the FamilySearch Family Tree. An updated user-to-user messaging feature simplifies collaboration with others doing research on common ancestors. System upgrades now enable users to merge duplicate records of large or highly common family lines.

Adding family photos, stories, documents, and audio files is easier to do, and the process is now mobile device friendly. There is very little functionality now on the website that cannot be done on the Family Tree mobile app. It's an extremely robust, free application—and with no advertising, a popular attribute of nonprofit FamilySearch's product offerings. Customers are now able to add photos to their family tree directly from Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google. Users contributed 2.4 million memories in 2017.

Patrons can now also identify their relationships to people in the growing, collaborative Family Tree in a single click using a new relationship feature. (See “View My Relationship” under names of relations on your home page.)

The dynamic records hints feature is faster and more accurate. Hints originate from weekly additions to historic record collections online that can then be accepted as rich supporting sources to ancestors in users’ trees. Since the Hints feature appeared on the Family Tree in 2014, 2.5 billion hints are now available on Family Tree, including 450 million added in 2017. Approximately 160 million sources were added to user trees from accepted hints in 2017—7 million performed through the mobile app. A total of more than 633 million hints have been accepted since the feature’s launch.

Access to New Historical Records

Successful family history discoveries are fueled by a person’s ability to easily and quickly search for ancestors by name in historical records online. FamilySearch added 283 million free searchable names for a total of 5.9 billion names. It also added over 340 million images of historic records and books online. You can search the new records at FamilySearch.org. The unindexed images can be searched in the Catalog and Historic Records Collections.

FamilySearch discontinued its 80-year era of historic records access to usher in a new, digital model (See FamilySearch Digital Records Access Replacing Microfilm). The goal of FamilySearch is to digitize all the records within its capacity and make them available when possible. A portion of the hundreds of millions of images FamilySearch captures yearly will not be accessible for decades due to privacy laws or other limitations. For example, FamilySearch is currently digitizing census records in Africa that are scheduled to be destroyed by the record custodian in the very near future, even though privacy laws will not permit FamilySearch to publish them for another 75 years. In addition, FamilySearch has only published 13 million of its 40 million Chinese record images that have been collected since 1978. This is not a matter of privacy laws but because of the limited number of people who have the necessary expertise to catalog the records.

Receiving and Giving Help

FamilySearch support volunteers donated 3.4 million hours of service in 2017, resolving over 1 million patron inquiries. More than 320,000 online volunteer indexers contributed another staggering 8.3 million hours to make 283 million new historical records freely accessible.

Dozens of free video courses were added to the FamilySearch Learning Center. Almost 100,000 helpful how-to articles are also now available through the FamilySearch Wiki.

Discovery Experiences

A new discovery center in St. George, Utah, and the Discover Experiences at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City were opened. Over 5.6 million visitors frequented these facilities and the 5,058 FamilySearch family history centers worldwide (98 new).

Online, FamilySearch had 134 million visitors in 2017, an increase of 10 percent. The top 10 countries for new patron accounts were the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, the Philippines, and Italy.

FamilySearch hosted RootsTech 2017, the largest world-wide family history technology conference, which attracted 26,000 attendees, with 23,000 Family Discovery Day attendees and over 100,000 online views of broadcasted content. Special guests included LaVar Burton, Liz Wiseman, the Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, and Oscar Hammerstein the III.

Family Memories

Fun or fond memories are what keep family connections vibrant. If you don’t believe us, just look at the great success of Disney Pixar’s Coco. Photos and stories are what endear us the most to our ancestors—and 22.7 million stories were added to FamilySearch Memories in 2017.

FamilySearch’s free mobile apps—Family Tree and Memories—now enable users to freely attach and save photos and stories (audio and text) to individuals in their FamilySearch Family Tree, add other information, and receive notifications when others add content to shared ancestors.

Two fun new features introduced are Map Your Ancestors, which creates a map of locations where events took place in the life of ancestors in your FamilySearch family tree, and Relatives Around Me, which allows you to see if and how you are related to others around you who are using the feature.

Users can now record stories of relatives with a new mobile audio recording feature and save the audio files directly to the memories gallery on FamilySearch. The memories feature now includes contributor information, so participants can message each other. It can also create a map of locations where events took place in the life of an ancestor as recorded on FamilySearch Family Tree.

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NOTE:  I will update my Genealogy Industry Benchmark Numbers for 2018 with this information.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/01/familysearch-2017-genealogy-highlights.html

Copyright (c) 2018, 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.