Saturday, February 15, 2025

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Did Your Grandparents Know Their Grandparents?

 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. 

1)  Marie Cooke Beckman on her blog, MarieB's Genealogy Blog--Southeastern USA, asked and answered this question, and it is right up the SNGF alley:  Did your grandparents know their grandparents?  Thank you for the idea, Marie!

2) Tell us about your grandparents and their grandparents in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Here's mine:

1)  My paternal grandparents were Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) and Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962).
  • Frederick Walton Seaver's paternal grandparents were Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) and Lucretia Smith (1828-1884).  He lived across the street from Isaac Seaver until Isaac died in 1901.  He knew Lucretia only as a child who died when he was 8 years old.  
  • Frederick's maternal grandparents were Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) and Sophia Newton (1834-1923).  He lived with them until he was married in 1900 and then lived near them until thier deaths in Leominster, Massachusetts.. 
  • Alma Bessie Richmond's paternal grandparents were James Richmond (1821-1912) and Hannah Rich (1824-1911).  Bessie knew them both all of her life up until their deaths.
  • Bessie's maternal grandparents were Henry White (1824-1885) and Amy Oatley(1826-1864).   She certainly did not know her grandmother, but she certianly met her grandfather as a very young child because they lived in close proximity in Killingly, Connecticut.
Frederick Walton Seaver knew three of his four grandparents, and Alma Bessie Richmond knew three of her four grandparents.

2)  My maternal grandparents were Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976) and Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977).  
  • Lyle Lawrence Carringer's paternal grandparents were David Jackson "D.J." Carringer (1828-1902) and Rebecca Spangler (1832-1901).  He first met them as a 4 year old traveling to Boulder, Colorado with his mother, and then knew them, as a young boy of age 8 to 11, during the last years of their lives after they moved to San Diego in 1898.
  • Lyle's maternal grandparents were Devier J. "D.J." Smith (1839-1894) and Abigail A. Vaux (1844-1931).  I don't think he ever met Devier Smith but I know that Abigail Vaux lived with or lived nearby Lyle's family in San Diego from 1891 to 1931.
  • Emily Kemp Auble's paternal grandparents were David Auble (1817-1894) and Sarah A. Knapp (1818-1904), who resdied in Terre Haute, Indiana.  She did not meet her grandfather, who died 5 years before she was born, but she may have met her grandmother as a young child although they lived in different cities in Illinois.
  • Emily's maternal grandparents were James Abram Kemp (1831-1901) and Mary Jane Sovereen (1840-1874), who lived all of their lives in Norfolk county, Ontario.  I don't think Emily ever met her maternal grandfather and her maternal grandmother died 25 years before Emily was born.  
Lyle Lawrence Carringer knew three of his four grandparents, and Emily Kemp Auble might have known one of her grandparents. 

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Copyright (c) 2025, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.comNote that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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Ask AI: "Please Create a Summary Of the Life of Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1894) ..." From a RootsMagic Timeline, and then "Include Important Events..."

The Artificial Intelligence tools (like ChatGPT4, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Meta, CoPilot, GenSpark, DeepSeek, and Perplexity) can provide much useful and nearly instant information about subjects in a concise format, especially when they have been pre-trained on a large volume of information about the subjects.

1)  I wondered if the FREE AI tools could provide me with a genealogical sketch and social history for my second great-grandfather Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1894), based on the timeline events, relationships, dates, places, and notes in his RootsMagic profile.


(image from family collection)

I created a timeline in RootsMagic for Devier, including events for his parents, spouse and children.  By adding descriptive notes for each event on the RootsMagic "Person" screen, those notes appear on the timeline. 

I saved the timeline in a Notepad text file and edited it a bit.  I eliminated source citations from the Timeline file.  Then I saved the text file so that I could copy it into the AI tools.  

2)  Here is my prompt for this task:    Please create a summary of the life of Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1894) that includes the information below.  The information is in a list of events with text of age, date, notes (sometimes missing) and place.  Here is the information:     TIMELINE LIST FOR DEVIER JAMES LAMPHIER SMITH (1839-1894) ... (many lines of information!)

3)  The ChatGPT4 response to the request was pretty good, but left out the fifth child for some reason.  So I asked ChatGPT4 to add that child, and it incorporated him into the genealogical sketch.  

Then I asked ChatGPT4 to tell me:  What important events occurred in the places he resided during the times he resided in those places?

The ChatGPT4 response was pretty good, and it asked me if I wanted that information integrated into Devier's profile.  I said "yes, please."  

Here is the modified response from ChatGPT4:

Devier James Lamphier Smith was born on May 7, 1839, in Jefferson County, New York, to unknown parents, though one was likely a Lanfear. Around 1840, he was adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith and lived with them in Henderson, New York. By 1843, the family moved to Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, Wisconsin, where he remained until after his marriage.

In the 1850 Census, Devier was recorded as an 11-year-old male born in New York, residing in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin. By 1860, he was a 21-year-old farm laborer in Oak Grove, Wisconsin, with $1,232 in personal property.

On April 4, 1861, Devier married Abigail A. Vaux in Rolling Prairie, Wisconsin. They had five children: Abbey Ardelle (1862), Devier David (1863), Mary Ann (1866), Agnes Bell (1868), and Lucian H. (1875), who passed away in 1878. Agnes Bell also passed away in 1870. During this period, Devier was a farmer and hotel keeper in Rolling Prairie. In 1866, he legally changed his name from Devier Lamphier to Devier J. Smith through an act of the Wisconsin Senate.

By 1867, the family moved to Bedford, Taylor County, Iowa, where Devier engaged in farming, land speculation, and horse trading. He acquired and sold several parcels of land between 1867 and 1873. During this period, Iowa was experiencing post-Civil War economic growth, with expanding railroads and increasing settlement due to the Homestead Act. After his father Ranslow Smith died in 1873 in Andrew County, Missouri, Devier settled his father's estate before relocating to Concordia, Cloud County, Kansas, in 1874, where he became a liveryman, farmer, and cattle trader. Kansas was recovering from the 1874 Grasshopper Plague, and the cattle industry was booming, making it a prime location for his business. The 1875 Kansas Census recorded him in Lincoln township, Cloud County, working in the livery and sale stable business.

In 1885, Devier moved his family to McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska, purchasing land for a livery stable. McCook had been founded just a few years earlier as a railroad town along the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, making it a strategic location for trade and business ventures. The 1885 state Census recorded him as a foreman in McCook and a speculator in Clyde, Cloud County, Kansas. During this time, his daughter Abbey Ardelle married Henry Austin Carringer (1887), his son Devier David married Leava A. Smith (1889), and his daughter Mary Ann married George Miles Chenery (1889). Devier also patented 160 acres of land in Cheyenne County, Kansas, in 1889 and 1890.

Devier continued his real estate and business ventures in McCook, Nebraska, until his death on May 1, 1894. This period saw the economic impact of the Panic of 1893, which affected land speculation and business. He was buried in McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska, leaving behind a legacy of entrepreneurship and land speculation across multiple states.

4)  This genealogical sketch is very different from my earlier genealogical sketchIt summarizes events rather than providing detailed information about each event.  It is appropriate for a broad view of Devier's life and times that I might add to a book or compendium for my family to read about their relatives or ancestors, with a photo, and perhaps a poem and/or song (heh heh!). 

The descriptive notes I added to each event on the RootsMagic "Person" page helped to add significant detail to the genealogical sketch created by ChatGPT4.

If I had provided the information in Devier's newspaper article summary, the deeds and patents that I summarized, his obituary and perhaps his Bible entry, there would be more human interest involved in the sketch.  I can take the ChatGPT4 sketch above and add those elements to an improved sketch.  I may see if ChatGPT4 can do that for me. 

However, my goal here was to see if the RootsMagic timeline with descriptive notes would work to create a genealogical sketch, and if I could weave social history into the sketch.  I think it worked very well.

I did ask the same questions of Claude Sonnet 3.5, X Grok 2, Google Gemini Flash, and Perplexity, but I thought ChatGPT4 did the best job of this task.

5)   NOTE:  The free ChatGPT4 tool works differently now.  If the user wants additional information added, the prompt window is on the left-hand side of the screen, and the response in the right-hand part of the screen is modified to include the information that the user wanted included.  Earlier responses are not shown on the list on the right-hand side of the screen in the AI tool.  On the screen, I can see all of my prompts on the left-hand side and then only the final product of the response on the right-hand side. 

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

My blog posts, and those of other genealogists, using Artificial Intelligence tools are on my AI and Genealogy Compendium page.

Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/02/ask-ai-please-create-summary-of-life-of.html

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 X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.

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Added and Updated FamilySearch Historical Record Collections - Week of 8 to 14 February 2025

 Each week, genealogy record collections are added and updated to FamilySearch and listed on the Historical Record Collection list at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list.

As of 14 February 2025, there are 3,491 historical record collections on FamilySearch (a decrease  of 5 from last week) if you are signed into FamilySearch.

If you are not signed into Family Search, there are 3,417 collections (an increase of 0 from last week:


I don't know why there is a difference.  

The added, deleted, new and updated collections this week from FamilySearch (not signed in!) are:

--- Collections Deleted ---

--- Collections Added   ---

--- Collections Updated ---

Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records, 1635-2017     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1972912); 2,763,902 indexed records with 978,396 record images (was 2,761,144 records with 978,396 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Argentina, Santiago del Estero, Catholic Church Records, 1581-1961      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1974197); 172,707 indexed records with 102,368 record images (was 172,180 records with 102,368 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Belgium, Antwerp, Civil Registration, 1588-1953 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2138481); 1,161,293 indexed records with 3,208,709 record images (was 1,161,174 records with 3,208,709 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Belgium, Namur, Civil Registration, 1800-1912   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2138511); 930,962 indexed records with 372,768 record images (was 930,958 records with 372,768 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Bolivia, Catholic Church Records, 1566-2020     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1922463); 9,714,579 indexed records with 1,649,601 record images (was 9,671,943 records with 1,649,601 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025

Brazil, Cemetery Records, 1799-2024     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2137269); 1,423,691 indexed records with 150,972 record images (was 1,386,766 records with 150,972 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Brazil, Minas Gerais, Civil Registration, 1820-2021     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3479702); 970,229 indexed records with 403,661 record images (was 970,044 records with 403,549 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Brazil, Pará, Civil Registration, 1815-2013     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4473609); 635,913 indexed records with 183,938 record images (was 634,454 records with 183,460 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Civil Registration, 1810-2022        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3741255); 1,845,447 indexed records with 933,529 record images (was 1,845,441 records with 933,525 images), UPDATED 07-Feb-2025
Colombia, Catholic Church Records, 1576-2019    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1726975); 27,705,257 indexed records with 12,659,776 record images (was 27,620,638 records with 12,659,776 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025

Costa Rica, Catholic Church Records, 1595-2022  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1460016); 4,504,259 indexed records with 962,203 record images (was 4,393,884 records with 962,203 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Ecuador, Catholic Church Records, 1565-2023     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1923402); 6,159,566 indexed records with 1,454,787 record images (was 6,159,540 records with 1,454,787 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
El Salvador, Catholic Church Records, 1655-1977 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1919582); 3,008,503 indexed records with 592,191 record images (was 2,973,332 records with 592,191 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
England and Wales, Census, 1891 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1865747); 29,048,399 indexed records with 1,281,665 record images (was 29,048,399 records with 1,281,665 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
England, Cheshire, School Records, 1796-1950    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1583609); Index only (360,230 records), no images (was 388,462 records with 0 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025

Find a Grave Index      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2221801); 253,580,299 indexed records with 253,580,299 record images (was 252,226,292 records with 252,226,292 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Wuppertal, Civil Registration, 1810-1930       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000010); 262,136 indexed records with 243,800 record images (was 261,453 records with 243,259 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Guadeloupe, Civil Registration Records, 1792-1872       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4293709); 16,004 indexed records with 4,628 record images (was 14,904 records with 4,093 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Guatemala, Guatemala, Civil Registration, 1874-2008     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2075150); 4,669,660 indexed records with 1,486 record images (was 4,644,144 records with 1,486 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Civil Registration, 1796-2008 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2451045); 1,040,510 indexed records with 17,993 record images (was 1,014,988 records with 17,993 images), UPDATED 07-Feb-2025

Haiti, Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, Catholic Church Records, 1866-2017        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4279947); 197,290 indexed records with 37,723 record images (was 165,664 records with 29,268 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Honduras, Catholic Church Records, 1633-1978    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1823595); 1,877,597 indexed records with 425,330 record images (was 1,875,560 records with 425,330 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895-1980  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1452460); 13,348,637 indexed records with 5,864,285 record images (was 13,331,492 records with 5,864,285 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
India, Catholic Church Records, 1751-2014       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4491581); 14,101,436 indexed records with 616,588 record images (was 13,473,226 records with 358,806 images), UPDATED 08-Feb-2025
India, Hindu Pilgrimage Records, 1194-2015      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1867930); Browse 1,518,440 Images only, no index (was 0 records with 1,518,440 images), UPDATED 08-Feb-2025

Indonesia, Civil Registration, 1806-1997        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000168); 201,143 indexed records with 842,003 record images (was 121,945 records with 361,460 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740-1900   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2820100); 8,325,665 indexed records with 282,092 record images (was 8,319,164 records with 294,362 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Italy, Como, Como, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1929    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2043815); Browse 1,475,606 Images only, no index (was 0 records with 1,475,606 images), UPDATED 11-Feb-2025
Italy, Genova, Chiavari, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1941      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1482818); 71,742 indexed records with 650,745 record images (was 69,179 records with 650,745 images), UPDATED 07-Feb-2025
Italy, Rovigo, Rovigo, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1871-1937        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1482864); 714,070 indexed records with 1,082,856 record images (was 683,546 records with 1,082,856 images), UPDATED 09-Feb-2025

Italy, Treviso, Treviso, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1871-1941      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1947831); 58,007 indexed records with 427,232 record images (was 58,006 records with 427,232 images), UPDATED 07-Feb-2025
Kiribati, Vital Records, 1890-1991      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3756784); 171,460 indexed records with 27,987 record images (was 171,460 records with 28,287 images), UPDATED 09-Feb-2025
Louisiana, New Orleans, Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels, 1807-1860 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2822773); 115,507 indexed records with 14,748 record images (was 115,467 records with 14,746 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Louisiana, Orleans and St. Tammany, Voter Registration Records, 1867-1949       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3326775); 3,127,368 indexed records with 1,248,424 record images (was 3,127,182 records with 1,248,448 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Luxembourg, Census Records, 1843-1900   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2037957); 4,077,006 indexed records with 1,115,931 record images (was 4,076,895 records with 1,115,931 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025

Martinique, Church Records, 1662-1847   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4316497); 24,483 indexed records with 1,964 record images (was 19,185 records with 3,480 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Martinique, Civil Registration Records, 1766-1874       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4316501); 19,648 indexed records with 6,344 record images (was 11,377 records with 3,415 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Mexico, Michoacán, Catholic Church Records, 1555-1996   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1883388); 6,250,308 indexed records with 5,283,986 record images (was 6,250,211 records with 5,283,986 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2060668); 7,729,173 indexed records with 2,513,517 record images (was 7,729,052 records with 2,513,517 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
New Zealand, Cemetery Transcriptions, 1840-1981 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2780088); 488,301 indexed records with 22,729 record images (was 488,261 records with 22,727 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025

Oregon, Naturalization Records, 1859-1991       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4279955); 80,934 indexed records with 63,294 record images (was 80,928 records with 63,288 images), UPDATED 09-Feb-2025
Papua New Guinea, Vital Records, 1867-2000      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2114430); 489,772 indexed records with 421,306 record images (was 488,146 records with 421,263 images), UPDATED 09-Feb-2025
Pennsylvania, Cemetery Records, ca. 1700-ca. 1950       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3743478); 807,554 indexed records with 122,268 record images (was 807,554 records with 122,268 images), UPDATED 12-Feb-2025
Peru, Arequipa, Catholic Church Records, 1660-2020      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4447275); 204,008 indexed records with 248,298 record images (was 100,243 records with 136,275 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Peru, Catholic Church Records, 1556-2023        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1877097); 22,742,546 indexed records with 4,192,353 record images (was 22,562,808 records with 4,192,353 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025

Philippines Civil Registration (National), 1945-1996    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1852584); 4,198,512 indexed records with 20,274,621 record images (was 4,161,090 records with 20,274,621 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Spain, Madrid, Municipal Census Records, 1910-1945      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000004); 1,777,197 indexed records with 688,113 record images (was 1,777,197 records with 688,113 images), UPDATED 13-Feb-2025
Sri Lanka, Civil Registration, 1768-1990        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2209866); 13,878,242 indexed records with 13,769,440 record images (was 13,202,145 records with 13,080,617 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025
Uruguay, Civil Registration, 1879-2020  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1837849); Index only (1,699,149 records), no images (was 1,680,297 records with 0 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Venezuela, Catholic Church Records, 1577-2022   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1951777); 20,507,493 indexed records with 1,899,876 record images (was 20,503,519 records with 1,899,876 images), UPDATED 10-Feb-2025

Venezuela, Civil Registration, 1843-2021        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1823609); 1,309,106 indexed records with 586,312 record images (was 1,297,309 records with 586,312 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025
Virginia, Vital Records, 1715-1912      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4149585); 1,869,787 indexed records with 89,661 record images (was 1,855,185 records with 91,620 images), UPDATED 14-Feb-2025

--- Collections with new images ---

Argentina, Buenos Aires, Civil Registration, 1861-2018  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000041); 1 indexed records with 104,918 record images (was 1 records with 104,910 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Argentina, Military Records, 1911-1936  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000280); 1 indexed records with 1,042,480 record images (was 1 records with 1,042,473 images), last updated 31-Oct-2024
Brazil, Alagoas, Civil Registration, 1876-2023  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4469403); 1 indexed records with 206,397 record images (was 1 records with 205,935 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Brazil, Maranhão, Civil Registration, 1827-2022 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4469402); 1 indexed records with 135,445 record images (was 1 records with 135,158 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Colombia, DAS Civil Registration Alphabetic Cards, 1914-2011    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000074); 1 indexed records with 15,909,377 record images (was 1 records with 15,907,681 images), last updated 25-Nov-2024

Delaware, Wills and Deeds, ca. 1700s-2017       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3157973); 1 indexed records with 85 record images (was 1 records with 1 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Iceland, Church Census, 1744-1965       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2697871); 1,875,482 indexed records with 49,332 record images (was 1,875,482 records with 49,301 images), last updated 19-Nov-2024
Massachusetts, Naturalization Index, 1906-1966  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1834334); 388,086 indexed records with 388,086 record images (was 388,086 records with 380,146 images), last updated 09-Nov-2010
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members (Worldwide), 1836-1970       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3714676); 1,287,067 indexed records with 88,066 record images (was 1,287,067 records with 87,931 images), last updated 22-Jan-2025
Virginia, Wills and Deeds, ca. 1700s-2017       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3158846); 1 indexed records with 2,641 record images (was 1 records with 2,636 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024

--- Collections with images removed ---

Arizona, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1854310); 1,173 indexed records with 853 record images (was 1,173 records with 1,173 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
California, San Diego, Naturalization Index, 1868-1958  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1840471); 22,506 indexed records with 22,444 record images (was 22,506 records with 22,506 images), last updated 28-Apr-2021
Canada, Census, 1931    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000196); 2,466,494 indexed records with 2,462,121 record images (was 2,466,494 records with 2,462,489 images), last updated 16-Jun-2024
Dakota Territory, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932393); 4,693 indexed records with 3,317 record images (was 4,693 records with 4,693 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Delaware, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932394); 179,813 indexed records with 6,546 record images (was 179,813 records with 179,813 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012

England and Wales, Census, 1901 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1888129); 34,138,955 indexed records with 9,756,405 record images (was 34,138,955 records with 34,138,955 images), last updated 21-May-2019
England and Wales, Census, 1911 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1921547); 36,354,828 indexed records with 8,516,868 record images (was 36,354,828 records with 36,354,828 images), last updated 01-Aug-2019
Florida, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932369); 285,975 indexed records with 83,445 record images (was 285,975 records with 285,975 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
France, Marne, Census, 1876     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4316511); 144,863 indexed records with 240 record images (was 144,863 records with 2,756 images), last updated 28-Oct-2024
French Polynesia, Civil Registration, 1780-1999 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2549721); 136,915 indexed records with 494,322 record images (was 136,915 records with 499,447 images), last updated 14-Jan-2025

Georgia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932370); 1,776,643 indexed records with 861,996 record images (was 1,776,643 records with 1,776,643 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Hawaii, Probate Packet Records, 1814-1917       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3463463); 72,896 indexed records with 66,439 record images (was 72,896 records with 70,627 images), last updated 10-Jan-2025
Idaho, Bingham, County Records, 1885-1948       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2841010); 200,799 indexed records with 6,983 record images (was 200,799 records with 10,099 images), last updated 19-Dec-2024
Ireland, Census, 1901   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1626180); 4,379,702 indexed records with 943,182 record images (was 4,379,702 records with 4,379,702 images), last updated 11-Mar-2022
Kentucky, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932398); 1,256,188 indexed records with 880,228 record images (was 1,256,188 records with 1,256,188 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012

Louisiana, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932372); 778,925 indexed records with 556,967 record images (was 778,925 records with 778,925 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Louisiana, Eastern District Naturalization Petitions, 1838-1861 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1854308); 1,450 indexed records with 1,449 record images (was 1,450 records with 1,450 images), last updated 13-Jun-2024
Maryland, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932373); 43,508 indexed records with 30,618 record images (was 43,508 records with 43,508 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Maryland, Naturalization Petitions, 1906-1931   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1854313); 45,165 indexed records with 31,202 record images (was 45,165 records with 45,165 images), last updated 06-Mar-2013
Mississippi, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932375); 1,269,794 indexed records with 895,767 record images (was 1,269,794 records with 1,269,794 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012

Missouri, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932374); 348,259 indexed records with 248,389 record images (was 348,259 records with 348,259 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Missouri, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932408); 2,099,748 indexed records with 1,466,966 record images (was 2,099,748 records with 2,099,748 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
New York, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932388); 60,000 indexed records with 41,450 record images (was 60,000 records with 60,000 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
New York, Eastern District Naturalization Petitions, Index, 1865-1957   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1840491); 675,035 indexed records with 651,196 record images (was 675,035 records with 675,035 images), last updated 08-Oct-2020
New York, Southern District Index to Petitions for Naturalization, 1824-1941    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1840501); 462,441 indexed records with 462,294 record images (was 462,441 records with 462,441 images), last updated 29-May-2024

New York, Southern District Naturalization Index, 1917-1950     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1840493); 560,546 indexed records with 387,261 record images (was 560,546 records with 560,546 images), last updated 26-Feb-2013
New York, Western District, Naturalization Index, 1907-1966     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1854307); 89,554 indexed records with 89,549 record images (was 89,554 records with 89,554 images), last updated 20-Aug-2019
North Carolina, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932376); 1,773,886 indexed records with 1,244,110 record images (was 1,773,886 records with 1,773,886 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Oklahoma, Applications for Enrollment to the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914   (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1852353); 882,272 indexed records with 876,303 record images (was 882,272 records with 882,272 images), last updated 08-Nov-2010
South Carolina, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1849624); 1,195,302 indexed records with 839,541 record images (was 1,195,302 records with 1,195,302 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012

South Carolina, Naturalization Records, 1885-1955       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000228); 10,332 indexed records with 7,081 record images (was 10,332 records with 7,120 images), last updated 06-Feb-2025
Tennessee, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932378); 1,117,605 indexed records with 792,401 record images (was 1,117,605 records with 1,117,605 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
Texas, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932381); 956,501 indexed records with 679,561 record images (was 956,501 records with 956,501 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990        (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3754697); 64,961,936 indexed records with 937,023 record images (was 64,961,936 records with 950,241 images), last updated 20-Dec-2024
United States, Census, 1950     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4464515); 52,785,233 indexed records with 52,637,294 record images (was 52,785,233 records with 52,638,769 images), last updated 16-Jun-2024

United States, Civil War Records of Confederate Nonregiment Soldiers, 1861-1865 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932377); 498,640 indexed records with 351,073 record images (was 498,640 records with 498,640 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
United States, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932383); 275,550 indexed records with 197,055 record images (was 275,550 records with 275,550 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
United States, Civil War Unfiled Papers of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932387); 924,845 indexed records with 915,516 record images (was 924,845 records with 924,845 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012
United States, Revolutionary War Compiled Service Records, 1775-1783    (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1849623); 1,997,022 indexed records with 1,994,417 record images (was 1,997,022 records with 1,997,022 images), last updated 15-Sep-2010
United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007     (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000016); 63,700,494 indexed records with 47,407,993 record images (was 63,700,494 records with 63,700,484 images), last updated 12-Feb-2023

Virginia, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1932382); 2,252,877 indexed records with 1,583,736 record images (was 2,252,877 records with 2,252,877 images), last updated 20-Apr-2012

--- Collections with new records ---

--- Collections with records removed ---


California, Birth Index, 1905-1995      (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2001879); Index only (24,589,424 records), no images (was 24,589,425 records with 0 images), last updated 01-Mar-2012
England and Wales, Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008  (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2285338); Index only (132,174,249 records), no images (was 132,174,250 records with 0 images), last updated 02-Oct-2014
England and Wales, Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2285732); Index only (95,810,882 records), no images (was 95,810,883 records with 0 images), last updated 09-Oct-2014
Peru, Lima, Civil Registration, 1683-1998       (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1430936); 5,786,048 indexed records with 4,403,080 record images (was 5,786,049 records with 4,403,080 images), last updated 07-Nov-2024

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

My friend and SDGS colleague, Marshall, has come up with a way to determine which collections are ADDED, DELETED or UPDATED, and to alphabetize the entries in each category. Thanks to Marshall for helping me out here!

Marshall notes that there are:

*  0 removed entries
*  0 added entries 
*  52 updated entries
*  55 entries with more or fewer images and/or records

The FamilySearch website says there are 3417 total entries on the list (without signing in). Marshall's list says there are 3417 (without signing in).  They are in-sync.

In order to select a specific record collection on FamilySearch, go to   https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and use the "Filter by collection name" feature in the upper left-hand corner and use keywords (e.g. "church england") to find collections with those keywords.

Each of the collections listed above has a Research Wiki page (use the "Learn more" link). It would be very useful if the Wiki page for each collection listed the dates for when the collection was added as a new collection and the dates for major updates also.

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Copyright (c) 2025 Randall J. Seaver

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