Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Your Genealogy Goals for 2024

 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)  What are your genealogy goals for 2024?  Consider genealogy research, education, organizing, service, writing, and whatever else you care to share.

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

Here's mine:

Many of these are continuations from my 2023 goals - I don't seem to ever completely finish a task!

1)  Write weekly "52 Ancestors" and/or "52 Relatives" genealogical sketches, and to add them to my Ancestry Member Tree and to the FamilySearch Family Tree life stories.

2)  Write weekly "Amanuensis Monday" and "Seavers in the News" posts for Seaver persons in my database, and add the record transcriptions to profiles in my family tree.

3)  Research descendants of my 4th great-grandparents, mainly to support finding lines to my DNA matches.  Write 6-generation reports for lines that are nearly complete.

4)  Search Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, Findmypast and American Ancestors for new information to add relationships, events, names, dates, places, sources, images and notes to the profiles in my RootsMagic family tree.  

5)  Create PDF ancestry reports for ancestral families of myself and my second great-grandparents, plus descendant reports for key surname groups, using genealogy software and put them on Scribd (I last did this in 2012).  Do it for my wife's ancestry also.  

6)  Publish the StoryWorth book that I have written 40 stories for and gift them to my daughters and grandchildren.  Write stories for another StoryWorth book compiling some of my "Wordless Wednesday" blog posts.

7)  Work on the photograph collections on the computer, and do enhancement and colorization using MyHeritage and Ancestry photo tools as necessary.  Share not-seen-before photos on "Wordless Wednesday" blog posts.  Add more family photos to my RootsMagic family tree and FamilySearch Family Tree profiles.

8)  Chase more autosomal DNA matches to find common ancestors when possible using AncestryDNA ThruLines, MyHeritage ToFRs, and my "skeleton tree" on Ancestry.  

9)  Make more photograph slide shows for myself, Linda, my parents, and my grandparents, including photographs and records to tell their stories.  Narrate Zoom videos of the slide shows and share them on my YouTube channel with my family members.

10)  Investigate the best uses of artificial intelligence to create historical biographies of myself and my ancestors.  

11)  Serve the Chula Vista Genealogical Society on the Board of Directors as newsletter editor and Research/DNA chair, organize and present monthly Research Group and DNA Interest Group meetings on Zoom, and attend and contribute to the in-person education group meetings.

12)  Watch more Family Tree Webinars and YouTube videos, attend CVGS, SDGS and WAGS program Zoom meetings, and attend RootsTech 2024 virtually, in order to keep up-to-date with research techniques, and new genealogy industry features.

Only 12 goals, and they are all achievable if I find the time to do them over the next 12 months.  I hope for a B grade at best, but I will try!

Notice I didn't put clearing out the paper from the genealogy cave, attending a conference in-person, or some other impossible at this time goal.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-your.html

Copyright (c) 2024, 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.

How Did I Do With My 2023 Genealogy-Related Goals?

 I posted Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- What Are Your 2023 Genealogy Goals on 7 January 2023 with hopes of finally meeting at least one of my stated goals in 2023 before being distracted by bright shiny genealogy features.

How did I do?  I'll give myself a grade for the year after reviewing the goals and whatever accomplishments I achieved.

The stated 2023 goals (in green) and the 2023 accomplishments (in red) are:

1)  Keep writing the "52 Ancestors" genealogical sketches.  I will need to decide later in the year if I want to continue this into the 8th great-grandparent ancestors (there are over 400 known ancestors in this generation, so it may take 8 years to complete this generation, and I'm unsure if I'll live that long).  Then add the sketches to FamilySearch Family Tree profiles.

2023 accomplishments:  I wrote 42 more 52 Ancestors genealogical sketches and got up to 7th great-grandfather #1004 on my ahnentafel list.  I have more to do in the 4th to 7th great-grandparents list but I need to do more research on some of them.  I'm going to hold off on the 8th great-grandfathers for the time being.  I added quite a few of the sketches to the FamilySearch Family Tree profiles as Life Stories.  Grade:  B

2)  Keep writing the "Amanuensis Monday" posts transcriptions, mainly of probate records.  I've done probate records of many of my ancestors, and this year have branched out to non-ancestor Seaver persons in Massachusetts.  I may go for other New England states, or New York, next, based on FamilySearch or Ancestry images.  Then, add the transcriptions to the profiles in my RootsMagic database.

2023 accomplishments:  I wrote 50 more Amanuensis Monday posts, mainly probate records of ancestors or Seaver people in New England, New York and Pennsylvania.  Grade:  A-minus

3)  Continue to "collect" records for descendants of my 4th great-grandparents.  This is mainly for DNA match purposes.  Also, continue to create 6 generation descendants report using RootsMagic and post them on Genea-Musings.  

2023 accomplishments:  I slacked off a bit in researching the descendants of my 44th great-grandparents, but still added over 1,500 persons to my family tree, many of them descendants of my 4th great-grandparents.   I posted 8 new 6 generation descendants reports on Genea-Musings, bringing the total to 16 out of 32 possible reports.  Grade:  B

4)  Continue to use Ancestry Record Hints, MyHeritage Record Matches, FamilySearch Research Hints, to find records for profiles in my RootsMagic database, especially for newly added persons.

2023 accomplishments:  I don't know how many record hints/matches I added throughout the year, but I tried to add information from hints/matches every week.  It didn't help that Ancestry deleted all of my record hints from my tree and started adding them for profiles with new information.  It didn't help that I deleted my old MyHeritage tree and added a new updated tree to MyHeritage which wiped out all of my record matches and the system has added matches for about 10% of my tree profiles since April.  Grade: C

5)  Gather family photos into one file folder and standardize photo captions with name, date, place, event information.  

2023 accomplishments:  I had my family photographs scattered all over my computer file folders.  I copied as many as I could find from the surname file folders to the "My Pictures" file folders (I have major family photo folders for Seaver, Richmond, Carringer/Auble and Leland/Schaffner surnames).  I also have family photos by year since 1999 in separate file folders in "My Pictures."  In addition, I scanned over 500 photographs from my photo albums on my bookshelves and loose photographs from bags in my piles of stuff.  Many of these were scanned by the Reimagine mobile app and colorized with the MyHeritage tools and saved in MyHeritage Photos.  Grade:  B

6)  Complete one year's worth of family stories using StoryWorth and publish a book with them for my children and grandchildren.

2023 accomplishments:  The StoryWorth writing went well for several months.  I ended up writing 37 stories for the book, including some photos, and I have edited the stories twice now.  I have not completed the bookmaking process.  Grade:  C

7)  Continue chasing DNA matches, especially on Ancestry and MyHeritage, to find the common ancestors for me and each match.  I need to do more "skeleton" trees to solve relationships with more matches without a ThruLine or a Theory of Family Relativity.  

2023 accomplishments:  I have kept up with the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  I write notes for many of the new matches if I research them.  For those that I can identify a common ancestor, and a paper trail back to the common ancestor, I add the paper trail families to my RootsMagic family tree.  I made very few (less than 5?) "skeleton" trees for DNA matches with very small trees and didn't solve any (?) mysteries by doing that.  Grade:  C

My conclusion:  It was a fairly successful year achieving my 2023 goals!!  At least I worked on all of them, and graded out with at least a C grade on all of them.  Overall - I think a B-minus.  

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/01/how-did-i-do-with-my-2023-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 24 December 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Wrote a genealogical sketch for my great-grandaunt Elizabeth Lucinda (Seaver) Blanchard (1859-1914) of Leominster, Massachusetts and National City, California for my new 52 Relatives theme series.

2)  Transcribed the 1896 Will of Phoebe S. Seaver (1814-1899) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the Amanuensis Monday theme.  

3)  Worked on creating more biographies using an artificial intelligence site.  More on that next week.

4)  Edited quite a few of my 37 StoryWorth stories/memories and put them in some semblance of order for the book.  The book won't be in time for Christmas.  

5)  Reorganized some of my computer file folders for Photos and CVGS on my computer.  Moved many files from my Downloads folder to the appropriate folder in my Ancestor Files, CVGS, or my Photos folders.  

6)  AncestryDNA now has 44,576 DNA matches (up 61 from 17 December) for me today, with three new ThruLines, but they are all wrong IMHO.  I added Notes to 3 new ThruLine Matches.    MyHeritageDNA now has 12,003 DNA matches (up 15 from 17 December) for me, with no new  Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

7)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 9 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 50,209 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 42).  

8) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 71,820 persons in my RootsMagic family tree (up 49), and 146,400 source citations (up 6).  Resolved 265 Ancestry Hints. TreeShared no new and updated profiles with my Ancestry tree.  My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 14,877 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  

9) Wrote 18 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Sunday through Saturday), of which two were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Ancestry.com Introduces ProTools for an Additional Fee with over 210 views.  Genea-Musings had about 27,300 page views last week.  

10)  Real life:  This is week 198 since COVID restrictions started.   I visited Linda every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. She seems to be recovering from the broken arm fairly well - she has several more weeks to go.  Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.  Walked several days on the block and talked to several neighbors.  Wrapped the Christmas gifts for Linda and Tami's family.  I'm still reading John Sandford's book Ocean Prey.  I watched the Chargers game on Saturday night, and they lost to Buffalo, so now 5-10 on the season.  Watched some NFL football on Sunday.  It was a pretty quiet week!

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/12/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-24.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. 

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.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 26 November 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Wrote a genealogical sketch for my paternal grandfather Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942).  I started the 52 Ancestors theme with my great-grandparents, and need to write sketches for my grandparents also.

2)  Transcribed the 1865 Will of Benjamin F. Seaver (1820-1866) of Essex County, New Jersey for the Amanuensis Monday theme.  

3)  Wrote about ten genealogical sketches for siblings of my father and my paternal grandfather with all events and source citations to add to my RootsMagic and online family trees, but have not posted them yet.  I wondered whether to do long or short sketches in Rabbit Holes With Randy -- Sketches for Relatives in my Family Tree.

4)  Wrote six Storyworth articles, mainly based on past blog posts, for the upcoming book.  I now have about 40 stories for the book about my life and have started getting them into a rational order.

5)  Made a photo album on my Ancestry Member Tree for my mother and for my father, uploading more photographs from my collection to reflect their lives in pictures.  I updated the file names, dates, and descriptions of the photos.  The Ancestry sort by date doesn't work perfectly.  I need to do this for my grandparents too.

6)  AncestryDNA now has 44,418 DNA matches (up 27 from 19 November) for me today, with one new ThruLines.  I added Notes to 6 matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,960 DNA matches (up 14 from 19 November) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

7)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 9 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 50,057 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 4).  

8) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 71,663 persons in my RootsMagic family tree (up 13), and 146,373 source citations (up 41).  Resolved 317 Ancestry Hints. TreeShared no new and updated profiles with my Ancestry tree.  My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 13,757 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  

9) Wrote 16 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Sunday through Saturday), of which two were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Memories of the Decade of Your Choice with over 257 views.  Genea-Musings had about 16,200 page views last week.  

10)  Real life:  This is week 194 since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda almost every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. Went shopping on Monday and Friday.  Went to Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter Tami's home in Huntington Beach on Thursday.  Walked almost every day on the block and talked to several neighbors.  Finished reading Michael Connelly's The Law of Innocence, and started Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Deserter's Tale.   My SDSU football Aztecs beat Fresno State on Saturday (finished 4-8), the basketball Aztecs won two games, and the Chargers lost on Sunday to the Ravens 20-10 (so now 4-7).  Watched some college football on Saturday and NFL football on Sunday.  

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/11/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-26.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. 

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.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 14 May 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Hosted and moderated the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Special Meeting on Zoom on Wednesday with Mark Olsen presenting "Introduction to Family Tree Maker" with about 62 in attendance.  

2)  Attended the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) program meeting on Saturday, with Michael Lacopo presenting two talks on German research.

3)   Wrote a genealogical sketch for #759 Mary (Weeden) Greenman (c1673-1743) of Westerly and South Kingstown, Rhode Island for the 52 Ancestors series on Friday.  I've written 479 of these sketches for my ancestors.

4)  Transcribed the two page 1828 will of Shubael Seaver (1773-1828) of Swanzey, New Hampshire for the Amanuensis Monday series.

5)  Wrote one more StoryWorth article of my memories - "Do You Know Any Family Secrets?"  I now have 29 stories for my book.

6) AncestryDNA now has 43,195 DNA matches (up 45 from 7 May) for me today, with no new ThruLines.   I added 4 Notes to my new matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,365 DNA matches (up 14 from 7 May) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

7)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 9 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 49,488 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 49).  

8) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 71,042 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 48), and 145,983  source citations (up 30). I TreeShared 133 new or modified profiles with my Ancestry Member Tree, and I resolved 622 Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 177,600 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  

9) Wrote 14 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Monday through Sunday), of which none were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Treasures In the Closet - My Mother's Childhood Scrapbook and Art Portfolio with over 101 views.  Genea-Musings had about 8,810 views last week.  

10)  Real life:  This is week 166 (over three years!) since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.   Went to See's Candy on Tuesday for peanut brittle for Mother's Day for Linda. I'm still sorting out stuff from the closet and the genealogy cave - save, toss or donate.  The backyard weedwacking is about 90% done now, but the weeds are still growing.  Walked every day on the block and talked to several neighbors.  I am almost finished reading The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham.  The Padres season continued, and I watched all of the games this past week.  They are 19-22 so far (1-5 this past week) and in third place. 

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/05/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-14-may.html

Copyright (c) 2023, 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.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 7 May 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Attended the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Board Meeting on Zoom on Wednesday, and reported on the Newsletter, Research Group and DNA Interest Group.

2)  Wrote, edited and published (via email) the May 2023 edition of the CVGS Family History Gazette newsletter.  

3)   Wrote a genealogical sketch for #758 Thomas Greenman (c1669-1728) of Newport, Westerly and South Kingstown, Rhode Island for the 52 Ancestors series on Friday.  I've written 478 of these sketches for my ancestors.

4)  Transcribed the two page 1899 Will of Charles C. Seaver of Harrisville, New Hampshire for the Amanuensis Monday series.

5)  Wrote two more StoryWorth articles of my memories - "The Last Trip" and "Vacations."  I now have 28 stories for my book.

6) AncestryDNA now has 43,150 DNA matches (up 63 from 30 April) for me today, with no new ThruLines.   I added 2 Notes to my new matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,351 DNA matches (up 11 from 30 April) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

7)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 9 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 49,439 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 17).  

8) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 70,994 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 18), and 145,953  source citations (up 9). I TreeShared no new or modified profiles with my Ancestry Member Tree, and I resolved 292 Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 177,382 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  

9) Wrote 16 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Monday through Sunday), of which two were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Genealogy Education Bytes - Week of 27 April to 3 May 2023 with over 100 views.  Genea-Musings had about 10,400 views last week.  

10)  Real life:  This is week 165 (over three years!) since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.   Went to the library on Thursday and.  I'm still sorting out stuff from the closet - save, toss or donate.  The backyard weedwacking is about 75% done now.  Walked every day on the block and talked to several neighbors.  I finished reading Three Days to Live by James Patterson, and started The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham.  The Padres season continued, and I watched all of the games this past week.  They are 18-17 so far (3-3 this past week) and in third place. 

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/05/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-7-may.html

Copyright (c) 2023, 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.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 19 March 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Hosted and moderated the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) DNA Interest Group Meeting on Wednesday in a Zoom meeting.  I reported on Ancestry's DNA Compare, MyHeritage's cM Explainer, the RootsTech DNA On-Demand talks, and my 23andMe family tree feature.  In the second hour, member Sam Seat worked through one of his DNA mysteries.

2)  Wrote a genealogical sketch for #749 Elizabeth (Tefft) Carpenter (a1683-b1750) of Rehoboth, Massachusetts and South Kingstown, Rhode Island  for the 52 Ancestors series. This is my 472nd ancestor sketch. 

3)  Transcribed the 4 page 1868 Will of James N. Sever (1793-1869) of Kingston, Massachusetts for the Amanuensis Monday series.

4)  Watched more RootsTech 2023 On-Demand videos and saved more syllabus articles.

5)  Wrote one more family story using StoryWorth - "What Game Did You Play With Your Parents?"

6) AncestryDNA now has 42,666 DNA matches (up 93 from 12 March) for me today, with no new ThruLines.   I added 3 Notes to my new matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,195 DNA matches (up 17 from 12 March) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

7)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 9 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 49,312 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 21).  

8) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 70,839 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 21), and 145,860  source citations (up 27). I TreeShared 0 new or modified profiles with my Ancestry Member Tree, and I resolved 329 Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 176,453 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  I resolved no MyHeritage Record Matches but I work on them occasionally.  

9) Wrote 16 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Monday through Sunday), of which two were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 5 to 11 March 2023 with over 230 views.  Genea-Musings had about 17,100 views last week.  

10)  Real life:  This is week 158 (over three years!) since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.  I'm still reading the Iris Johansen book The Bullet.  Watched the Aztecs two games in the NCAA tournament, and they won both.  Watched parts of many other games.  Watched parts of several Padres spring training games too - the season starts in 11 days.   

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/03/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-19.html

Copyright (c) 2023, 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.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 26 February 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Hosted the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) General Meeting on Wednesday in a Zoom meeting.  Cyndi Ingle was the program speaker on "Smarter Searching; Refining Search Parameters for Genealogists."  The Annual society meeting followed the speaker.

2)  Wrote a genealogical sketch for #746 Samuel Slocum (1684-1741) of Jamestown and North Kingstown, Rhode Island for the 52 Ancestors series. This is my 469th ancestor sketch. 

3)  Transcribed the 1870 will of Jane A.E. Sever (1805-1871) of Plymouth, Massachusetts for the Amanuensis Monday series.

4)  Added two more family stories in StoryWorth,  I have written 21 stories so far.  

5)  Completed my RootsTech 2023 "My Playlist" - the videos I want to watch virtually on and after 2 March.

6)  Worked on the "Relatives at RootsTech 2023" feature, checking the relationship information for my list of over 45,000 "Relatives."  Wrote Relatives at RootsTech 2023.

7)  Updated the 23andMe Family Tree and added more ancestors to it to make it correct for the DNA matches that 23andMe provided for the tree.

8) AncestryDNA now has 42,359 DNA matches (up 79 from 20 February) for me today, with two new ThruLines.   I added 3 Notes to my new matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,138 DNA matches (up 14 from 20 February) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

9)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 8 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 49,208 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 56).  

10) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 70,724 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 72), and 145,770  source citations (up 61). I TreeShared 103 new or modified profiles with my Ancestry Member Tree, and I resolved 515  Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 176,184 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  I resolved no MyHeritage Record Matches but I work on them occasionally.  

11) Wrote 18 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Sunday through Saturday), of which four were a press release. The most viewed post last week was MyHeritage at RootsTech 2023 with over 169 views.  Genea-Musings had about 14,000 views last week.  

12)  Real life:  This is week 155 since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.  Finished  a Mitch Rapp book, Oath of Loyalty.  Watched the Padres spring training game on Sunday.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/02/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-26.html

Copyright (c) 2023, 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.

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 13 February 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Hosted and moderated the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Research Group Meeting on Wednesday in a Zoom meeting.  I reported on the Storied platform; FamilySearch home page layout; Finding Your Roots; RootsTech 2023 registration, Calendar and handouts and On-Demand videos; helping my grandson with an immigration interview; StoryWorth; and my Top 20 online genealogy websites.

2)  Attended the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) Program Meeting present by Sarah Hoyt.  Sarah's talks were "What Happened to Uncle Walter? Evidence Analysis and Correlation Uncover a Man’s Dual Identities." and "'Her Sixth Matrimonial Venture:' Tracing Women's Multiple Marriages."

3)  Attended the SDGS Family Tree Maker special class on Thursday hosted by Colin Whitney. Mark Olsen of Family Tree Maker described the features of the software program.

4)  Wrote a genealogical sketch for #744 7th great-grandfather Stephen Hazard (1665-1727) of North and South Kingstown, Rhode Island for the 52 Ancestors series.  This is my 467th ancestor sketch.

5)  Transcribed an 1856 administrator's account in the probate file for single woman Susan Seaver (1823-1853) of Taunton, Massachusetts for the Amanuensis Monday series.

6)  Added one more family story in StoryWorth, including biographies of my maternal grandparents. I have written 18 stories so far.  

7)  Obtained and installed Family Tree Maker 2019, and it failed to import my RootsMagic GEDCOM, so I downloaded my big Ancestry Member Tree.  

8) AncestryDNA now has 42,082 DNA matches (up 131 from 6 February) for me today, with one new ThruLines.   I added one Note to my matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,093 DNA matches (up 29 from 6 February) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

9)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 8 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 49,061 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 52).  

10) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 70,536 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 26), and 145,669  source citations (up 29). I TreeShared 60 new or modified profiles with my Ancestry Member Tree, and I resolved 573  Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 175,970 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  I resolved no MyHeritage Record Matches but I work on them occasionally.  

11) Wrote 14 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Sunday through Saturday), of which two were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Family Tree Maker 2019 Version 24.1 - Free Update with over  238 views.  Genea-Musings had about 14,600 views last week.  

12)  Real life:  This is week 153 since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda every day.  Linda is at a memory care and skilled nursing facility in Chula Vista 7 miles from home. Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.  Finished the David Baldacci book, A Gambling Man and am reading a C.J. Box book, Shadows Reel. Watched a San Diego State basketball game and the Super Bowl.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/02/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-13.html

Copyright (c) 2023, 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.

Rabbit Holes With Randy - Telling Family Stories in Storyworth

This week's Rabbit Hole is the ongoing task to write life and family stories about myself and my family. My daughter gave me a subscription to Storyworth for Christmas, and I have been writing stories in it ever since.  The goal is to publish a book with my life stories for my children and grandchildren, and maybe even great-grandchildren, to read.  Stories can be written from a list of questions in Storyworth, by request of my daughters, or of my own choosing.

The basic book costs $99 for up to 480 pages with a color cover and black and white inside pages.  Photos can be added to each story.  There are additional costs for color inside pages.  Additional copies of a book can be made for an added cost.  

So far, I have written 16 stories - some that my daughters suggested and some that I've written, mostly based on some of my blog posts.  To date, the 16 stories I've written in 39 days produced 105 pages, so I have about 60 stories to go before I hit the 480 page limit.

1)  Here is my home page for Storyworth:

2)  Here is a list of my daughters' suggested questions (Storyworth puts these at the top of the question list):

3)  Some of the questions generated by StoryWorth are shown below:

The list is pretty long!

4)  Here is a list of my stories to date (two screens):

I can change the order of my stories by dragging and dropping them on the list above.

5)  Here is my first story:

Note that I can "Edit Title," "Edit Story" or "Delete Story" anytime before printing the book.

6)  When I click on "Edit Story" I can type into the editing space and/or add a photo.

The editing tools are pretty primitive - the font type an size or fixed, there is no bolding, italicizing, changing fonts, using colored fonts, etc.

7)  So this is one of my Rabbit Holes for the year.  I may move the Life Stories of my parents and grandparents into another StoryWorth book at some time so that I can add more memories and isolate the biographies into a separate book.  

I love this concept because I can write what and when I want to, and the end result is a printed book that will pass on at least some of my stories and memories.  I already know that my stories are too long!!

I'm trying to do at least two stories a week but sometimes life intervenes.  I had to buy more carrots this week!

How are you passing on your life stories and memories?  Tell me in Comments!

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/02/rabbit-holes-with-randy-telling-family.html

Copyright (c) 2023, 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.