Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Essential Tools For Family History Research

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

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

1)  Linda Stufflebean posted "Essential Tools For Today's Genealogical Success" recently, and Teresa Basinska Eckford followed that with her list in "Essential Tools for Genealogists." 

2)  What are your essential tools for doing your genealogy and family history work? Please list five or more of your essential tools so that readers may find tools that may help all of us do our work.

3)  Tell us about your essential tools in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

Here's mine (at the present time, used almost every day):

• Ancestry.com (searchable records, hints, trees, photos), MyHeritage.com (searchable records, hints, trees, photos),   FamilySearch.org (searchable records, trees, memories, hints, books, wiki, calalog),   Findmypast.com (searchable records, hints, trees),   AmericanAncestors.org (searchable records, trees, periodicals),   Find A Grave (searchable records), WikiTree.com (trees), Geni.com (trees), and other websites allow searching their historical record collections to find persons of interest.  
• FamilySearch Full-Text Search finds many previously unsearchable documents (especially deeds, court and other records) that were hiding in the microfilms in the FamilySearch Catalog.  
• Newspapers.com, GenealogyBank.com, OldNews.com and other historical newspaper websites provide family history material that was difficult to find before digitization.
• For DNA matches, I use Pro Tools and ThruLines for AncestryDNA, the Theory of Family Relativity and DNA match triangulation on MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA's Family Finder, and 23andMe's DNA Relatives.  I try to determine the common ancestor of my DNA matches and add the descendants of the cdommon ancestor to my RootsMagic tree IF the line is supported by records.
• RootsMagic genealogy management software keeps all of my genealogy research in one database (names, relationships, events, dates, places, media, notes, sources, etc.).  It permits me to exchange information with my Ancestry Member Tree and the FamilySearch Family Tree.  I can create reports and charts for any person or group of persons that I want.  I also use Legacy Family Tree and Family Tree Maker on occasion for specific tasks.
• Evidence Explained and Your Stripped Bare Guide to Citing & Using History Sources are on my nearby bookcase shelf to help craft source citations for RootsMagic, the online trees, and my blog posts.
• Google Blogger has been my Genea-Musings writing space partner for over 19 years now to write blog posts.  Substack recently became a writing partner and blogging platform. 
• Google Gmail has been my email friend for a long time and I have email archives back to about 2015. 
• Google Search, Images, Maps, Earth, Translate, Books, Drive (and more) provide tools to help me understand locations, translate from one language to another, find digitized out-of-copyright books, and save my work to a cloud drive. I also use Internet Archive frequently foro ut-of-copyright books.
• Feedly has been my news reader for a very long time, and enables me to keep track of 1,000 news feeds for the genealogy industry and the geneablogger world.
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars educates me weekly, and has almost 2,500 webinars now.  It's like having a really good genealogy society without having to go to meetings.
• YouTube educates me with genealogy related videos every week, and now I'm sharing some of my research on my own channel.
• Zoom to host and watch genealogical society meetings, one-to-many meetings, and create my own videos.
• LibreOffice.org provides a FREE desktop office suite for word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, and more.
• The Windows Notepad text app is used to write and save notes, to take formatted text to unformatted text, etc.
• PrintFriendly Chrome Extension can turn a web page into a PDF without ads, or print a web page without ads, in a short period of time.  
• Dan Maloney's Genealogy Assistant Chrome extension adds custom features for Trees and DNA Matches to Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch and other sites.
• Anthropic Claude, OpenAI ChatGPT, X Grok, Google Gemini, Google NotebookLM, Perplexity, Microsoft CoPilot, Meta, and other LLMs and AI tools.  I use them interchangeably to answer questions, to suggest blog topics, to help write family stories and blog posts, to create or enhancing realistic images, to create audio and video overviews of a topic, to transcribe a printed or handwritten page, etc.  They are much more knowledgeable than I am, and are much better creative writers than I am.  It's like having an Einstein sitting next to me in my genealogy cave, or having a Hemingway writing my family stories and ancestor biographies.
• iDrive backup service to backup my desktop computer files every day.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-essential.html

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.com. Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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ABC Biography of #54 Samuel Vaux (1816-1880) of Somerset, New York, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas

 Using the ABC method described in Using Artificial Intelligence In the Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) Process, here is another ancestor biography using the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 AI tool.

1) I wrote genealogical sketches for almost every known ancestor back through 9 generations in blog posts based on 38 years of genealogical research in my 52 Ancestors/Relatives Biographies series. The genealogical sketch for my 3rd great-grandfather, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880), #54 on my Ahnentafel List), including family members, record abstracts and sources, is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 47: #54, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880).

(AI ChatGPT5 image of Vaux family in Wisconsin in 1860)

2) For the Claude AI biography, I attached the PDF of the genealogical sketch for the specific ancestor using the plus (+) icon, and then prompted the AI tool with: "You are an expert genealogist. Please create a biography based on information in the attached file for Samuel Vaux (1816 -1880). Include parents, siblings, spouses and children (with birth and death dates and places). Summarize life events, and add historical facts as appropriate, but do not add or embellish any extra genealogical details. Use section headings. Expand the information in each section to add more details. The tone should be engaging and suitable for family members."

3)  Here is the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 biography:

Samuel Vaux (1816-1880): 

A Life Across Two Continents

Early Life and Family Origins

Samuel Vaux was born on January 14, 1816, in the picturesque market town of South Petherton, Somerset, England. He was baptized less than a month later on February 11, 1816, at the local Parish Church of South Petherton, where the records show his parents as James Vaux (1787-1839) and Mary Palmer (1790-1845).

Samuel grew up as the third son in a bustling household of ten children. His siblings formed a tight-knit family unit that would later emigrate to America. His brothers and sisters included John Palmer Vaux (1810-1874), James Edward Vaux (1812-1871), Anne Vaux (1814-1880), William Vaux (1819-????), George Vaux (1820-1873), Josiah Vaux (1822-1888), Cyrus Vaux (1824-????), Mary Vaux (1826-1828, who died young), and Ernest Vaux (1831-1916).

Growing up in Somerset during the early 19th century, Samuel would have witnessed the tail end of the Napoleonic Wars and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution that was transforming England. South Petherton, with its medieval church and market square, provided a traditional English countryside upbringing that would contrast sharply with the frontier life he would later embrace in America.

Immigration to America

Like many English families seeking better opportunities during the economic uncertainties of the 1830s, the James Vaux family made the momentous decision to emigrate to America. Samuel, accompanied by his parents and five siblings, left Somerset in 1832, sailed from Bristol on the ship Cosmo arriving in New York City on 1 May 1832, and settled in Aurora township Erie County, New York. This was during the great wave of British immigration to America, when thousands of families were drawn by the promise of available land and economic opportunity in the rapidly expanding United States.

Erie County, located in western New York near Buffalo and the Great Lakes, was experiencing significant growth during this period. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 had transformed the region into a major transportation hub, making it an attractive destination for immigrants looking to establish new lives in America.

Marriage and Family Life

Around 1837, when Samuel was 21 years old, he married Mary Ann Underhill, who was 22 and born on March 5, 1815, in Aurora, Erie County, New York. Mary Ann was the daughter of Amos Underhill and Mary Metcalf, representing one of the established American families in the area. Their marriage united an English immigrant with a local New York family, a common pattern of the time that helped newcomers integrate into their adopted communities.

Samuel and Mary Ann established their home in Aurora, Erie County, New York, where they would raise their family over the next fifteen years. Together, they had six children, all born in Aurora between 1839 and 1854:

• Mary Almeda Vaux (born about 1839) married James G. Woodward on November 3, 1861, in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin, three children. Tragically, she died before 1880 in Bedford, Taylor County, Iowa, leaving behind her family.

• Celia Ann Vaux (born May 23, 1842) lived a full life, marrying twice. She first married Milo Redfield on January 8, 1861, in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin, two children; later married Francis Napoleon Munger on April 27, 1872, in Empire Prairie, Andrew County, Missouri, three children. She lived until November 4, 1919, dying in Belleville, Republic County, Kansas.

• Abigail A. "Abbie" Vaux (born October 28, 1844) married Devier James Lamphier Smith on April 4, 1861, in Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, Wisconsin, five children. She would eventually move to California and died on September 11, 1931, in San Diego, where she provided important family information for future generations.

• James P. Vaux (born January 8, 1847) married Mary Alice Patrick around 1877 in Kansas, three children, but eventually returned to his birthplace, dying on December 29, 1902, in Aurora, Erie County, New York.

• Elizabeth B. Vaux (born August 1, 1849) married Samuel Crouch on October 19, 1871, in Andrew County, Missouri, three children, and later moved to California, where she died on May 10, 1931, in Long Beach, Los Angeles County.

• Amos S. Vaux (born 1854) was the youngest child but tragically died of typhoid fever on August 23, 1876, at only 22 years old in Nodaway, Andrew County, Missouri.

Building a Life in New York

Samuel’s father, James Vaux, went back to visit family in South Petherton, Somerset, and died there on 23 July 1839. His mother died in Aurora in 1845.

Samuel proved to be an ambitious and successful farmer in his adopted homeland. On March 29, 1845, he made a significant investment in his future by purchasing 53 acres of land in Aurora, Erie County, from Seth Sprague for $795—a substantial sum that demonstrated his growing prosperity. The property, known as the Sprague farm, was strategically located in the southwest corner of Lot 22, bounded by highways and neighboring farms.

The 1850 census provides a snapshot of the family's comfortable circumstances. Samuel, then 34, was listed as a farmer with $1,166 in real property—indicating considerable success for an immigrant family. The household included Mary Ann, 35, and their four young children: Mary (11), Cele Ann (9), Abigail (5), and Jane (3) [probably son James], with the three oldest girls attending school, showing the family's commitment to education.

By 1853, Samuel's prosperity had grown enough that he sold the Aurora property to Robert Bartlett for $1,500—nearly doubling his initial investment. This profitable sale provided the capital for the family's next adventure westward.

Westward Movement to Wisconsin

Following the pattern of westward migration that characterized 19th-century America, the Samuel Vaux family moved from New York to Burnett township, Dodge County, Wisconsin, before 1854. This relocation placed them in the heart of America's agricultural expansion, where rich prairie soils promised even greater farming opportunities.

Wisconsin was experiencing rapid settlement during this period, with immigrants and eastern families drawn by the Homestead Act and the promise of fertile farmland. The family appeared in the 1855 Wisconsin State Census, and Samuel's name can be found on the 1859 plat map of Section 29 in Burnett township, indicating his establishment as a landowner in the community.

The Wisconsin years were formative for the Vaux children, who came of age during this period. It was here that three of the family's daughters would meet and marry their husbands, with all three weddings taking place in the Dodge County area in 1861.

The Missouri Chapter

In 1869, Samuel and Mary Ann made their final major move, purchasing 40 acres in Andrew County, Missouri, for $2,000. This land purchase, documented in detail in the county deed records, represented the Southeast quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 21 in Township 61 of Range 33. The substantial price paid suggests this was prime agricultural land in a developing area of western Missouri.

The 1870 census found the family well-established in Platte township, Andrew County, Missouri. Samuel, now 51, had accumulated significant wealth with $3,500 in real property and $490 in personal property. The household had grown to include their son-in-law James Woodward and daughter Mary Almeda with their children, representing the multi-generational farming families common in rural America.

Tragedy struck the family during the Missouri years when their youngest son, Amos, died of typhoid fever in 1876 at just 22 years old. This devastating loss occurred in Nodaway, Andrew County, highlighting the health challenges that frontier families faced even in established farming communities.

Final Years and Legacy

On January 31, 1880, Samuel and Mary Ann sold their Missouri land to William H. Bulla for $800, suggesting they were preparing for retirement or another move. The 1880 census found them living with their daughter Abigail and her family in Blue Rapids township, Marshall County, Kansas, where Samuel was listed as 65 years old and "without occupation" -- finally able to rest after decades of farming.

Samuel's life came to an end on October 9, 1880, in Concordia, Cloud County, Kansas, where he was staying with his daughter Abigail. He was laid to rest in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Concordia, where his gravestone bears the simple but dignified inscription recording his birth and death dates.

Historical Context and Significance

Samuel Vaux's life story embodies the great American narrative of the 19th century. Born in the English countryside during the Regency period, he witnessed and participated in the massive demographic shifts that shaped the United States. His journey from Somerset to New York, Wisconsin, Missouri, and finally Kansas mirrors the westward expansion that characterized American development.

His success as an immigrant farmer—accumulating property worth thousands of dollars and raising six children to adulthood—demonstrates the opportunities that drew millions of Europeans to American shores. The detailed records of his land transactions show a man who understood the value of American real estate and used it to build generational wealth for his family.

The geographic spread of his descendants, from California to Kansas to New York, illustrates how one immigrant family helped populate and develop the American continent. Samuel Vaux's legacy lives on through his children and their descendants, who carried his pioneering spirit across the nation and contributed to the building of modern America.

Through his 64 years, Samuel Vaux transformed himself from an English farm boy into an American patriarch, leaving behind not just property and possessions, but a family deeply rooted in the American experience. His story reminds us that the great American story is often written by ordinary people who had the courage to cross an ocean and the determination to build new lives in a new land.

4) A poem and song lyrics to commemorate and celebrate the life of Samuel Vaux can be found in "Samuel's Journey"-- A Family History Poem, Song and Podcast Created by Artificial Intelligence. The song created from the song lyrics can be played in that blog post, and on Suno.com, and below:

5) An Audio Overview (essentially a podcast created by the Google NotebookLM AI tool) discussing the life of Samuel Vaux can be heard here (unfortunately, Blogger won't easily display audio files).  

6)  The Video Overview discussing Samuel Vaux's life created by Google NotebookLM is:

7)  I posted this about Samuel Vaux:  Ask AI: "What Factors Caused Samuel Vaux's Moves From New York to Wisconsin (1854) to Missouri (1868) to Kansas (1878)?" 

8) I edited the Claude biography text to correct minor inconsistencies and errors. Every large language model (LLM) AI tool writes descriptive text much better than I can write. I was an aerospace engineer in my former life, and my research reports and genealogical sketches reflect "just the facts gleaned from my research." The AI tools are very perceptive, insightful and create readable text in seconds, including local and national historical events and social history detail when requested.

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Links to my blog posts about using Artificial Intelligence are on my Randy's AI and Genealogy page. Links to AI information and articles about Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy by other genealogists are on my AI and Genealogy Compendium page.

Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/abc-biography-of-54-samuel-vaux-1816.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 Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. Please note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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Added and Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - Week of 30 August to 5 September 2025

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

As of 5 September 2025, there are 3,413 historical record collections on FamilySearch (a decrease of 0 from last week) on the Signed In screen (and 3,412 on the Signed Out screen).

 The added, deleted, and updated collections this week from FamilySearch (from a list supplied by Marshall Clow):

--- Collections Deleted ---

--- Collections Added ---

--- Collections Updated ---

American Samoa, Census, 1900-1945 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2362048); Index only (53,707 records), no images (was 53,705 records with 0 images), UPDATED 03-Sep-2025
Brazil, Cemetery Records, 1799-2024 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2137269); 4,392,601 indexed records with 150,972 record images (was 4,362,112 records with 150,972 images), UPDATED 04-Sep-2025
Brazil, Foreigner Files, 1653-2022 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000160); 133,095 indexed records with 2,193,013 record images (was 133,095 records with 2,197,101 images), UPDATED 04-Sep-2025
Brazil, São Paulo, Immigration Cards, 1902-1980 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2140223); Browse 4,039,657 Images only, no index (was 0 records with 4,039,657 images), UPDATED 31-Aug-2025
California, Naturalization Records, 1883-1991 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000183); 769,308 indexed records with 735,951 record images (was 769,286 records with 735,956 images), UPDATED 03-Sep-2025

Find a Grave Index (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2221801); 259,367,379 indexed records with 43,063,419 record images (was 259,367,309 records with 49,913,045 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Georgia, Deaths, 1928-1943 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1385727); 553,651 indexed records with 479,987 record images (was 553,236 records with 479,987 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Hawaii, Probate Packet Records, 1814-1917 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3463463); 91,089 indexed records with 87,110 record images (was 91,077 records with 80,643 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Italy, Diocesi di Piazza Armerina, Catholic Church Records, 1553-1964 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000379); 2,167 indexed records with 372 record images (was 1 records with 1,457 images), UPDATED 04-Sep-2025
Italy, Potenza, Melfi, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1861-1929 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1483052); 255,774 indexed records with 558,203 record images (was 254,425 records with 558,203 images), UPDATED 05-Sep-2025

Italy, Ravenna, Ravenna, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1943 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1947700); 608,430 indexed records with 1,759,182 record images (was 603,406 records with 1,759,182 images), UPDATED 05-Sep-2025
Italy, Viterbo, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1870-1943 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2016212); 163,992 indexed records with 936,472 record images (was 144,539 records with 936,472 images), UPDATED 03-Sep-2025
Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1897-1952 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3398454); 653,892 indexed records with 652,895 record images (was 653,887 records with 652,895 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Massachusetts, Suffolk, Boston Crew Lists, 1917-1944 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2173944); 3,661,579 indexed records with 244,420 record images (was 3,598,177 records with 244,420 images), UPDATED 04-Sep-2025
Netherlands, Dutch Military Records, 1813-1924 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4449284); 75,445 indexed records with 17,491 record images (was 144 records with 24 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025

New Jersey, Bride Index, 1930-1938 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2842740); 242,222 indexed records with 3,170 record images (was 241,212 records with 3,168 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Oregon, Marriage Index, 1849-1884; 1991-2006 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3500591); 11,019 indexed records with 30,748 record images (was 10,983 records with 30,747 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Portugal, Setúbal, Catholic Church Records, 1555-1912 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1935451); 1,101,082 indexed records with 829,309 record images (was 1,101,053 records with 829,309 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Registers (Cape Town Archives), 1660-1994 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1478678); 6,113,738 indexed records with 45,728 record images (was 6,113,696 records with 45,728 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Spain, Diocese of Lugo, Catholic Parish Records, 1550-1966 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1583608); 279,948 indexed records with 96,520 record images (was 223,815 records with 96,520 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025

Sweden, Jönköping, Church Records, 1581-1935; index 1633-1860 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1930273); 271,744 indexed records with 721,027 record images (was 159,168 records with 721,027 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Sweden, Norrbotten, Church Records, 1612-1923; index 1658-1860 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1978781); 17,474 indexed records with 131,422 record images (was 6,531 records with 131,422 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Sweden, Stockholm City Archives, Index to Church Records, 1546-1927 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2057674); 1,230,919 indexed records with 73,195 record images (was 1,230,915 records with 79,608 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
Sweden, Västerbotten, Church Records, 1619-1896; index, 1688-1860 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1979430); 378,920 indexed records with 170,304 record images (was 378,737 records with 170,304 images), UPDATED 29-Aug-2025
United States, New England, Petitions for Naturalization, 1787-1906 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2064580); 851,733 indexed records with 954,378 record images (was 851,729 records with 954,378 images), UPDATED 03-Sep-2025

--- Collections with new images ---

Argentina, Buenos Aires, Civil Registration, 1861-2018 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000041); 1 indexed records with 111,655 record images (was 1 records with 111,653 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Argentina, Military Records, 1911-1936 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000280); 1 indexed records with 2,924,946 record images (was 1 records with 2,924,943 images), last updated 31-Oct-2024
Brazil, Maranhão, Civil Registration, 1827-2022 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4469402); 1 indexed records with 905,429 record images (was 1 records with 905,423 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Brazil, Sergipe, Civil Registration, 1866-2021 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4470324); 1 indexed records with 268,803 record images (was 1 records with 268,800 images), last updated 07-Jun-2024
Canada, Border Entry Lists, 1908-1918 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4123954); 939,553 indexed records with 76,737 record images (was 939,553 records with 76,463 images), last updated 15-Jun-2024

Colombia, DAS Civil Registration Alphabetic Cards, 1914-2011 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000074); 1 indexed records with 26,272,982 record images (was 1 records with 26,272,981 images), last updated 25-Nov-2024
England, Middlesex, Parish Registers, 1539-1988 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3734475); 2,010,667 indexed records with 355,638 record images (was 2,010,667 records with 354,833 images), last updated 21-Feb-2025
Italy, Ivrea Diocesi di Ivrea, Catholic Church Records, 1474-1950 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000373); 1 indexed records with 35,873 record images (was 1 records with 35,871 images), last updated 05-Dec-2024
Italy, Torino, Diocese of Torino, Catholic Church Records, 1801-1899 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000113); 1 indexed records with 142,135 record images (was 1 records with 142,133 images), last updated 05-Dec-2024
Mississippi, Voter Registration, 1871-1967 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3308840); 314,601 indexed records with 11,542 record images (was 314,601 records with 11,229 images), last updated 29-Aug-2025

New York, State Death Index, 1880-1956 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2803479); 4,749,222 indexed records with 84,736 record images (was 4,749,222 records with 84,733 images), last updated 14-Jun-2024

--- Collections with images removed ---

England, Hampshire, Parish Registers, 1538-1980 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2556014); 1,853,815 indexed records with 139,614 record images (was 1,853,815 records with 139,717 images), last updated 24-Oct-2024
France, Mayenne, Parish and Civil Registration, 1427-1897 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3657627); 5,403,554 indexed records with 1,387,914 record images (was 5,403,554 records with 1,388,461 images), last updated 15-Jun-2024
Germany, Württemberg, Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Catholic Church Records, 1520-1975 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3499252); 7,261,665 indexed records with 889,539 record images (was 7,261,665 records with 890,412 images), last updated 15-Jun-2024
Italy, Teramo, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1936 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/3006903); 162,822 indexed records with 101,548 record images (was 162,822 records with 111,715 images), last updated 10-Jun-2025
North Carolina, Department of Archives and History, Index to Vital Records, 1800-2000 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2848682); 7,932,115 indexed records with 258,707 record images (was 7,932,115 records with 278,591 images), last updated 08-May-2025

United States, Census, 1950 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4464515); 157,892,854 indexed records with 52,718,627 record images (was 157,892,854 records with 52,719,654 images), last updated 16-Jun-2024
Virginia, Vital Records, 1853-1934 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/4231103); 2,064,686 indexed records with 107,842 record images (was 2,064,686 records with 108,055 images), last updated 09-Jun-2025

--- Collections with new records ---

--- Collections with records removed ---

United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2013 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2860782); 31,807,598 indexed records with 4,918,255 record images (was 31,807,599 records with 4,918,255 images), last updated 13-May-2025
United States, Public Records, 1970-2009 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2199956); Index only (875,601,587 records), no images (was 875,601,640 records with 0 images), last updated 23-Aug-2025
United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/5000290); Index only (413,860,906 records), no images (was 413,860,931 records with 0 images), last updated 22-Jun-2024

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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 
• 25 updated entries
• 18 entries with more or fewer images 
• 3 entries with more or fewer records

The FamilySearch website says there are 3,413 total entries on the list (after signing in). Marshall's list says there are 3,413 (after signing in).  They are definitely in-sync this week.

There are now 4,339  searchable image collections on FamilySearch Full-Text Search this week, an increase of 30 from last week. It is not possible to see which collections are new.

There are now 26,724 browsable image collections on FamilySearch Images this week, a decrease of 3 from last week. It is not possible to see which collections are new.

See previous FamilySearch-related blog posts in   https://www.geneamusings.com/search/label/FamilySearch

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/added-and-updated-familysearch-record.html

Copyright (c) 2025 Randall J. Seaver

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Added and Updated Ancestry.com Record Collections - Week of 30 August to 5 September 2025

 The following genealogy record collections were added to the Ancestry.com Card Catalog page by Date Updated during the period from 30 August to 5 September 2025:

The ADDED and Updated collections include:

• U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current; 181,824,680 indexed records without record images, Updated 9/4/2025. This database contains an index to cemetery and burial details posted on Find a Grave® from the United States. The records are dated between the 1600s and the present.
• Web: UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1576-2024; 9,040,106 indexed records without record images, Updated 9/3/2025. All data in this third-party database was obtained from the source’s website. 
• Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906; 14,051,879 indexed records with record images, Updated 9/3/2025. This database is a collection of city directories for various years and cities in Canada. 
• Colorado, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1868-1990; 296,231 indexed records with record images, Updated 9/3/2025. This database consists of naturalization records for Colorado from U.S. District Courts, as well as from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 
• Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, U.S., Photographs, 1953-1996; 914 indexed records with record images, Updated 9/3/2025. This collection contains photographs of activities, buildings, and people taken at Lincoln University between 1953 and 1996.
• Web: UK and Allied Countries, Index of International Bomber Command Losses, 1936-1966; 161,642 indexed records without record images, Updated 9/3/2025. This is a web-based index of Royal Air Force Bomber Command casualties between 1936 and 1966.
• North Carolina, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800s-current; 127,834,598 indexed records without record images, Updated 9/3/2025. This index allows you to search for your ancestor by name in North Carolina newspapers that are available on Newspapers.com™ from the 1800s to the present.
• U.S., Historical Black Colleges and Universities, Selected School Yearbooks, 1900-2011; 1,355,664 indexed records with record images, ADDED 9/3/2025. This collection contains yearbooks for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from 1900 to 2011.
• Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, U.S., Alumni Directories, 1912-2009; 80,900 indexed records with record images, ADDED 9/3/2025. This collection contains directories for alumni of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, between the years of 1912 and 2009. 
• U.S., Historical Black Colleges and Universities, Selected University Catalogs, 1860-1990; 47,072 indexed records with record images, ADDED 9/3/2025. This collection contains school catalogs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), between the years 1860 and 1990.
• Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935; 16,529,461 indexed records with record images, Updated 8/29/2025. Notarial records are private agreements (contracts), written by official notaries. This collection consists of notarial records for Quebec from the years 1637 to 1935.

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The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at https://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  

By my count, there are 3 NEW record collections ADDED this past week, per the list above.  There are now 33,856 collections available as of 5 September, an INCREASE of 3 from last week.  

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

Disclosure: I pay for an All-Access subscription from Ancestry.com. In past years, Ancestry.com  provided a complimentary All Access subscription, an autosomal DNA test, material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and hosted events and meals that I attended in Salt Lake City.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/added-and-updated-ancestrycom-record.html

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.com. Please note that all Comments are moderated so they may not appear immediately.

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Ask AI: "What Was Life Like for Henry Carringer, Age 13, in 1813 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania?"

The Artificial Intelligence tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, Gemini, Grok, Meta, Grok, 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.

I wondered if the FREE AI tools could provide me with information about a young Pennsylvania boy's  life in Sandy Creek township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  My third great-grandfather, Henry Carringer (1800-1879) was age 13 in 1813.   

1)  I chose to use the responses from free Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 (as of 27 August 2025) today.  

My Prompt was:  Please describe a summer day and a winter day in the life of Henry Carringer (1800-1879) at age 13 on the farm in Sandy Creek township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania in 1813. What household and farm duties did he have? Did he go to school, and what did he learn at school? What games, entertainment and fun did he enjoy?

I uploaded a PDF of my updated Genea-Musings blog post  (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 41: #48 Henry Carringer (1800-1879)) to provide information about Henry and his family to the AI Tool.

(AI-created image from OpenAI ChatGPT5)

2)  The free Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 AI tool responded with:

A Day in the Life of Young Henry Carringer: Summer and Winter, 1813

Sandy Creek Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

A Summer Day - July 1813

Before Dawn - 4:30 AM

Thirteen-year-old Henry stirred in the loft bedroom he shared with his brothers as the first roosters began crowing in the farmyard below. The summer air was already warm, promising another hot day ahead. His father Martin's voice carried up from below: "Boys, time to get moving!" In the German immigrant community of Sandy Creek Township, the day began early, especially during the crucial summer growing season.

Henry quickly pulled on his homespun linen shirt and wool breeches—his everyday work clothes, sturdy and practical. Boys were expected to tend to livestock, split firewood, and repair tools as part of their daily responsibilities. Barefoot on the rough wooden floor, he made his way down the ladder to the main room where his mother Molly was already stirring the banked coals in the fireplace to life.

Morning Chores - 5:00 AM

Henry's first task was milking their three cows, a job he'd been doing since age ten. The milk would be essential for the family's breakfast and for his mother's butter-making later in the day. Women were generally responsible for buttermaking, poultry management, and raising swine, but the children helped with all aspects of farm work. After milking, he drove the cattle to the back pasture, checking the fencing along the way—broken rails could mean lost livestock and ruined crops.

Next came feeding the chickens, pigs, and the family's two horses. The chickens provided eggs for trade as well as food, while the pigs would be slaughtered in the fall. Everything on the farm had a purpose, and thirteen-year-old Henry understood his role in keeping the complex system running smoothly.

Breakfast and Morning Work - 6:30 AM

Breakfast was substantial—corn mush with fresh milk, eggs, and thick slices of bread with butter his mother had churned. The family ate together, with father Martin discussing the day's priorities. July meant hay cutting, and Henry would spend much of his morning helping his older brothers and father in the hayfields.

Using a hand scythe alongside the men, Henry worked in the rhythm that farming demanded—steady, patient work under the climbing sun. The cut hay had to be turned and raked to dry properly before afternoon thunderstorms might threaten. Farmers clearly understood the need for a hard-working wife, and numerous children, to handle the many chores, and Henry took pride in keeping up with his older brothers.

Midday Break and Afternoon - 12:00 PM

The family gathered for dinner (the noon meal) in the shade of the house. Cold buttermilk, bread, cheese, and leftover breakfast mush provided energy for the afternoon's work. Summer afternoons often brought Henry different tasks—weeding the vegetable garden, repairing tools, or helping with the endless fence maintenance that farming required.

One of Henry's regular summer jobs was caring for the family's small orchard, picking early apples and checking for pest damage. The apples would be essential for winter food storage, and come fall, they'd be made into cider and apple butter—a community effort that brought neighboring families together.

Evening and Night - 6:00 PM

As shadows lengthened, Henry returned to evening chores—bringing the cows in for milking, feeding animals, and securing the farmyard for the night. After supper (cold meat, bread, vegetables from the garden), the family might sit outside in the cooling air. Father Martin sometimes told stories of the Revolutionary War, when he served his country, or shared memories of his family.

Before bed, Henry might play simple games with his younger siblings—marbles made from clay, or stick and hoop games in the farmyard. Summer evenings also meant time for whittling, learning to carve useful items like spoons or handles from wood scraps. By 9:00 PM, with only candlelight for illumination, the family settled in for the night, exhausted by the physical demands of farm life but satisfied with the day's accomplishments.

---

A Winter Day - January 1813

Late Dawn - 6:00 AM

Winter mornings came later and colder in western Pennsylvania. Henry woke to frost covering the single window in the loft, his breath visible in the frigid air. The house was cold except near the great fireplace where banked coals provided the only warmth. Getting dressed required courage—pulling on the same wool breeches and shirt, plus a heavy wool jacket his mother had woven and sewn.

The War of 1812 was raging that winter, though it seemed far from Sandy Creek Township. Still, Henry had heard talk of British threats and American victories, adding tension to the already challenging winter season.

Winter Morning Chores - 6:30 AM

Henry's winter morning chores were different but no less demanding. First came breaking ice on the water troughs and hauling fresh water from the well—a task made difficult by frozen ground and icy buckets. The livestock needed extra care in winter; horses required additional hay, and the cows needed shelter from bitter winds.

Milking was particularly challenging in winter—cold hands, cold milk, and animals that preferred to stay in their warm stalls. But the milk was even more crucial in winter when fresh food was scarce. Henry also gathered eggs, though hens laid fewer eggs in the cold months.

Indoor Work and Learning - 8:00 AM

Winter was the season for indoor work and, occasionally, schooling. In rural counties like Mercer, the tight-knit German communities of farmers offered a more utilitarian style of instruction suited to their agrarian lifestyle. While formal schooling was limited in frontier areas like Mercer County, Henry may have attended a subscription school during winter months when farm work was lighter.

When school was available, Henry would have learned basic reading, writing, and arithmetic—what was called "reading, writing, and ciphering." The curriculum focused on practical skills: reading the Bible, writing letters and contracts, and calculating prices and measurements for farming and trade. Education was conducted in English, though German was still spoken at home by many families like the Carringers.

Winter Afternoon Work - 1:00 PM

Afternoons brought indoor tasks essential to farm operation. Henry helped his father repair tools, sharpen blades, and maintain equipment for spring planting. Boys were expected to tend to livestock, split firewood, repair tools, and winter was when much of this maintenance occurred.

Wood splitting was a constant winter chore—the great fireplace consumed enormous amounts of fuel, and Henry worked alongside his brothers to keep several cords of split wood ready. He also learned basic carpentry skills, helping to make or repair furniture, tools, and household items that would be needed come spring.

Winter Evening Entertainment - 5:00 PM

Winter evenings were longer and provided time for activities impossible during busy farming seasons. The family gathered around the fireplace for warmth and light. Henry's mother might spin wool or mend clothes while his father worked on leather repairs or tool maintenance.

Entertainment was simple but meaningful. Father Martin might tell stories—tales from early Pennsylvania, Revolutionary War adventures, or local legends. The family sang hymns and folk songs, often in German. Henry practiced reading from the family Bible, improving skills that would serve him throughout his life.

Simple games provided winter entertainment: checkers played with carved wooden pieces, card games with homemade cards, or storytelling competitions. Henry also learned practical skills like knitting and basic sewing—frontier life required everyone to be versatile.

Education and Skills Development

Whether attending formal school or learning at home, Henry's education focused on practical skills. He learned to read well enough to understand contracts, letters, and religious texts. His arithmetic included measuring land, calculating crop yields, and managing money for trading. Writing meant being able to correspond with distant relatives and conduct business.

More importantly, Henry learned the complex skills of farming: when to plant different crops, how to judge soil quality, animal husbandry, weather prediction, and the hundred small skills that made the difference between prosperity and failure on the frontier. His father Martin, as a Revolutionary War veteran and successful farmer, provided both practical knowledge and examples of American values like independence, hard work, and community cooperation.

---

Character Formation

These daily experiences shaped Henry's character in ways that would influence his entire life. Summer days taught him the value of hard physical work, the importance of timing in agricultural cycles, and the need for cooperation in family enterprises. Winter days developed his patience, learning abilities, and appreciation for family bonds during difficult times.

The balance of work and simple pleasures, responsibility and occasional fun, individual effort and family cooperation created the foundation that would enable Henry to later manage his own large family and successful farming operations. The skills learned at thirteen—livestock care, crop management, tool maintenance, and financial planning—would serve him for the next sixty-six years, through marriage, parenthood, westward migration, and the building of prosperity that characterized his adult life.

By age thirteen, Henry Carringer was already becoming the man who would inherit 150 acres from his father, raise ten children with his wife Sarah, and eventually pioneer new territory in Iowa. The daily rhythms of farm life in 1813 Pennsylvania were creating the character, skills, and values that would define the rest of his remarkable American life.

3)  The Google NotebookLM Audio Overview about this topic is here (unfortunately, Google Blogger does not easily permit including a digital audio file).

The Google NotebookLM Video Overview of this post is below.

4)   I have no easy way to double check on these responses from Claude. I don't have many book resources for the subjects and the locality,  but there are published books available for this time period and general location. The families mentioned are my ancestral families and I have significant information about their lives from the available records, but know nothing about their daily lives.  

5)  As genealogists, we can usually find the 19th century town records, and the later census and vital records, for Pennsylvania families, and we may find occupation, immigration, land and probate records. However, there are books and websites about the daily lives of people in those times.  The AI tools have been pre-trained on historical events, social history, geography, literature and other disciplines so they can provide information for questions like this one, and in recent months have the ability to search the Internet.  

6)  After I read these types of social history summaries, I wish that I could be a time traveler for one day to visit the Carringer family in Pennsylvania and witness their daily lives.  I'm glad that the general lifestyles and occupations are known from historical records and witness accounts.

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Links to my blog posts about using Artificial Intelligence are on my Randy's AI and Genealogy page.  Links to AI information and articles about Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy by other genealogists are on my AI and Genealogy Compendium page.

Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/ask-ai-what-was-life-like-for-henry.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 Twitter, 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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Findmypast Friday: Discover Stories from Somerset and Beyond

  I received this information from Findmypast today:

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There are new baptisms, marriages and burials to explore this week.

This week, we bolstered our parish records collection with 26,273 new additions from the county of Somerset. 288,672 pages also joined our newspaper archive - there are more stories than ever to explore.

Somerset Baptisms

We've added 10,440 new baptism records for Somerset, spanning three centuries.

Somerset Marriages

We've also bolstered our Somerset marriage record collection, with 8,472 new additions.

Somerset Burials

Rounding off this week's trio of parish additions, we've also updated our Somerset Burials collection, with 7,811 records spanning 1500 to the late 1800s.

New pages from Belfast to Bishop's Castle

288,672 pages joined our newspaper collection this week, with 15 new titles and updates to 43 existing publications.

New titles

• Belfast Linen Trade Circular, 1857, 1885
• Bishop’s Castle Advertiser and Clun News, 1901–1918
• Bishop’s Castle Chronicle & Clun Valley Times, 1911
• Bladud, 1885–1887, 1893
• Bridgnorth Beacon and South Shropshire Advertiser, 1852–1854
• Bridgnorth Weekly News, 1856
• Cashel Sentinel, 1889–1896
• Devon Post, 1872–1874, 1878, 1880, 1882–1899, 1901–1910
• Ironbridge Weekly Journal and Borough of Wenlock Advertiser, 1869–1875, 1877–1882
• Midland Sporting News, 1878, 1882
• Oswestry Herald, 1820, 1822
• Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Times, 1863–1864
• Shropshire Mercury, 1840
• The World, 1917–1922
• Whitehaven Herald and Cumberland Advertiser, 1831–1872

Updated titles

• Armagh Guardian, 1880, 1882–1886, 1910–1916, 1918–1919, 1931, 1940, 1943, 1945–1946, 1954–1959
• Banffshire Advertiser, 1920–1923, 1925–1929, 1939–1949, 1960–1969, 1980
• Banffshire Herald, 1919–1969
• Blaydon Courier, 1905–1909, 1920–1928, 1940–1949
• Bridgnorth Journal, 1854–1855, 1857–1863, 1901–1909, 1911–1949, 1951–1952
• Brighton Standard and Fashionable Visitors’ List, 1878, 1880–1881, 1886, 1888–1889
• Cannock Advertiser, 1878–1893, 1897, 1920, 1951–1955
• Coalville Times, 1918–1949, 1952–1961
• Dorset County Chronicle, 1881, 1885, 1892
• Dundee Evening Telegraph, 1993
• Eddowes’s Shrewsbury Journal, 1849–1859, 1872
• Edinburgh Evening Post and Scottish Standard, 1845, 1850–1855, 1857
• Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette, 1872, 1874–1876, 1878–1883
• Farmer’s Gazette and Journal of Practical Horticulture, 1888–1889
• Felixstowe Times, 1963–1965
• Fort-William News, 1899
• Glasgow Citizen, 1846, 1849–1854, 1856–1857, 1859
• Glasgow Constitutional, 1844, 1846–1848, 1850–1851, 1854
• Glasgow Gazette, 1853, 1855–1857, 1860, 1862
• Glasgow Mercantile Advertiser, 1880, 1883–1884, 1887–1891
• Hampshire Chronicle, 1880, 1910, 1912–1918
• Hastings & St. Leonards Advertiser, 1863, 1885, 1888, 1892, 1910, 1915
• Home News for India, China and the Colonies, 1879–1880
• Isle of Man Times, 1896, 1938, 1970–1974
• Kent Herald, 1853–1870
• Kirriemuir Free Press and Angus Advertiser, 1961–1965
• Linlithgowshire Gazette, 1990, 1994–1999
• Ludlow Advertiser, 1893
• Morning Post, 1916–1917
• Munster Express, 1860–1868
• Newport & Market Drayton Advertiser, 1864–1868, 1911, 1927, 1941–1952, 1986–2002, 2004
• Oswestry Advertiser, 1882–1883, 1898, 1912
• Pawnbrokers’ Gazette, 1838, 1840–1849, 1860–1868, 1870–1894, 1929
• Shrewsbury Chronicle, 1950
• Shropshire Star, 1965–1985
• St. Marylebone and Paddington Record, 1920–1925, 1927–1929, 1940–1949
• Torquay Directory and South Devon Journal, 1876–1877, 1881, 1889, 1892, 1913–1918
• Walsall Free Press and General Advertiser, 1883–1895, 1898–1903
• Wellington Journal, 1911, 1965–1966
• Welsh Gazette, 1953, 1960–1964
• Wetherby News, 1999
• Whitby Gazette, 1998
• Wolverhampton Express and Star, 2004

More on this topic:     english records     parish records

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See all of my posts about Findmypast at https://www.geneamusings.com/search/label/FindMyPast

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:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/findmypast-friday-discover-stories-from.html

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.com. Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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