Great San Diego GS Program today

The San Diego Genealogical Society program today was excellent - the speaker was Leland Fetzer, a retired college professor who has written several books about the San Diego area, including his latest - San Diego County Place Names A to Z (published by Sun Belt Publications, 2005).

Leland is a great speaker - no notes, no overheads, no handouts - just a strong voice and a head full of knowledge about the special place I live.

He gave us a quiz at the start of his talk - 10 questions on place names we should know the answer to - very few people got many of them right.

Leland described the derivation of the names of San Diego County places as like a three-layered cake - the Indian names on the bottom, the Spanish/Mexican names in the middle, and the American names at the top. He gave examples of each, and corrected many false impressions (Tijuana = Aunt Jane? La Jolla = The Jewel? El Monte = The Mountain? etc.) And why are Boulevard, Jesmond Dene, Olivenhain and other places named the way they are?

At the end of the talk, he opened it up for questions and fielded at least 30 requests for information about place names.

All in all, it was an excellent program. SDGS has had outstanding programs all year with a good variety of topics and new speakers.

Free Digital Books (330,000) online

On the APG list, Ray Beere Johnson II reported that there are 330,000 digital texts available, for FREE, for personal download at the http://World Ebook Fair until 4 August. Ray has been downloading a book on ancient Irish historical and genealogical resources (from the CELT collection).

The World Ebook Fair web site says:

Ten times as many eBooks are available from private eBook sources, without the media circus that comes with 100 billion dollar media mavens such as Google. The World eBook Fair has created a library of wide ranging samples of these eBooks, totaling 1/3 million. Here are eBooks from nearly every classic author on the varieties of subjects previously only available through the largest library collections in the world. Now these books are yours for personal use, free of charge, to keep for the rest of your lives.

Click on the "Browse Collection" link and you can see what collections are included. You can use a search engine (the results look like Google results) to find key words in the collection. A search for "genealogy" produced about 1600 hits, not all of which are in our interest. A search for my surname, "seaver" produced 58 hits, at least one of which looks interesting to me.

Please note that the Ebooks here cover a broad field and not just genealogy. Look for books in your other interests (history, politics, literature, art, etc) too.

Thanks to Ray's tip for this good news.

My Presidential Cousins

I posted my relationships to George W. Bush yesterday, so I thought I would list all of my relationships to American Presidents today.

JOHN ADAMS - 4th cousin, 8 times removed
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS - 5th cousin, 7 times removed
FRANKLIN PIERCE - 5th cousin, 7 times removed
MILLARD FILLMORE - 7th cousin, 11 times removed
ABRAHAM LINCOLN - 7th cousin, 4 times removed
ULYSSES S. GRANT - 7th cousi, 5 times removed
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES - 7th cousin, 4 times removed
GROVER CLEVELAND - 7th cousin, 3 times removed
JAMES GARFIELD - 8th cousin, 3 times removed
WILLIAM H. TAFT - 7th cousin, 4 times removed
WARREN G. HARDING - 8th cousin, 2 times removed
CALVIN COOLIDGE - 7th cousin, 3 times removed
HERBERT HOOVER - 8th cousin, 3 times removed
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT - 7th cousin, 4 times removed
RICHARD M. NIXON - 10th cousin
GERALD R. FORD - 10th cousin, once removed
GEORGE H.W. BUSH - 9th cousin
GEORGE W. BUSH - 9th cousin, 2 times removed

I figured these out by comparing my ahnentafel chart to the charts in the book "Ancestors of American Presidents" by Gary Boyd Roberts.

Obviously, having this many Presidential cousins relates to my extensive New England ancestry. Like my relationships to GWB, I share many colonial ancestors with some of the guys above. My New England cousins were impressed by the list.

Reciting these to anyone but genealogists seems to make their eyes glaze over. But it does provide blog content for me.

How about you? Any Presidential cousins? Tell me about them.

The Complete Genealogy Reporter

Are you satisfied with the genealogy reports produced by your genealogy database software? I'm not - I use FamilyTreeMaker and am frustrated by the inability of the program to give me a report that I can edit and still create an index automatically.

Today, I heard about The Complete Genealogy Reporter. This program purports to:

You can now create a comprehensive narrative ancestry report or book with fully cross-referenced texts, notes, media, family tree diagrams, and indices.

The Complete Genealogy Reporter can incorporate all cousins, aunts, uncles, and indirect relationships via marriage or adoption, into a customized document for any individual in your GEDCOM file.

The program uses a GEDCOM file created from your genealogy database using your genealogy program and then writes a report for you based on inputs you provide for different options. The program details, operation and a sample report are shown on the web site. There is support through email with the creator.

You can download the current version of the program for free, but after 30 days you have to register it and pay $24.95 to continue using it. I'm going to try it out and see if it satisfies my needs. I'll tell you about my findings in a few weeks.

Check it out.

A good genealogy day

I really like my Fridays - I usually do genealogy work all day long (or until the baseball game comes on). The local Family History Center was closed this week, so I stayed home and tried to burn down some of my action piles, such as:

1) Added several land records, census records and vital records to my SEAVER surname database.

2) Added several Plymouth Colony families to my DILL database, based on data gleaned from books and journals.

3) Finished transcribing the wills and inventories for some Bristol County MA 17th century ancestors.

4) Updated my list of Ancestry.com databases that I have perused for my SEAVER surname search.

5) Found my info on my relationships to George W. Bush, and blogged about it.

After six hours of this, my butt is sore and my typing fingers are smoking, but I'm happy that I made some progress today. There are still many records to find (very few are online) and add to the databases to prove relationships and complete my research (BG).

I have my own theory of how things get done - Randy's Chunk Principle - if you do a small chunk of work often, you will eventually end up with a lot of information and maybe even complete your project.

My research? You can see it at http://www.genealogy.com/users/s/e/a/Randy-Seaver/ - there are genealogy reports there for my ancestry (in several parts), my Seaver surname database, and other surname databases too. If you find any errors or omissions, or have additions, please let me know!

The President is my cousin, too

There was a recent online article about the Ancestry.com census database being completed, and noting that President George W. Bush and vice-President Dick Cheney are cousins. The common ancestor mentioned was William Fletcher of Chelmsford MA in the 17th cetury. The article is here.

After doing a bit of checking, and finding a database on the Internet with George W. Bush's ancestry here, I figured out that I have the following relationships with President Bush (the generations back are from me):

* Daniel and Mary (Grant) Smith of Watertown MA (10 generations)
* Ebenezer and Mary (Smith) Phillips of Charlestown and Southborough MA (10 generations)
* Thomas and Mehitable (Garnsey) Horton of Rehoboth MA (11 generations)
* John and Eunice (MOusall) Brooks of Woburn MA (11 generations)
* Thomas and Elizabeth (Cole) Pierce of woburn MA (11 generations)
* John and Mary (Gawkroger) Prescott of Lancaster MA (12 generations)
* Ephraim and Mary (Bullen) Clark of Medfield MA (12 generations)
* William and Mabel (Kendall) Reed of Woburn MA (12 generations)
* Anthony and Anne (____) Pierce of Watertown MA (12 generations)
* Samuel and Anne (Sheldon) Walker of Reading MA (12 generations)
* William and Lydia (____) Fletcher of concord MA (12 generations)
* John and Anne (Smith) Moore of Sudbury MA (12 generations)

I think we share several others in earlier generations, but I don't want to bore everybody (BG).

My father's Ahnentafel is here on the Chula Vista Genealogical Society Surname Search database.

By my calculations, George W. Bush is my 8th cousin. Some of my New England cousins were appalled that they were related to the President. Then I told them about all the other Presidents they were related to (that's another blog article) - most are Republicans! They believe me (I think), but are not happy campers. Now I need to work on Dick Cheney's cousinship with me!

Do you think if I write my cousin George and give him advice on running the country that he will listen to me? If I invite him to stay over at my humble abode on his next visit to San Diego, do you think he will accept?

Online Book - Alumni of Harvard College

Janice Farnsworth has done it again -- transcribed a book of really useful information.

You can find The Necrology of the Alumni of Harvard College, 1851-52 to 1862-63 by Joseph Palmer here.

Her comment is:

This work is priceless. A biography of each and every one. Their achievements, marriages, children and deaths. In particular are those Harvard men who served and died in the Civil War. The author writes of their sacrifice, in some cases their dying words. (in one case, dying words were, "Mother - my mother").

The citation for the book is:

Necrology of the Alumni of Harvard College, 1851-52 To 1862-63, By Joseph Palmer Of The Class Of 1820. Boston: Printed By J. Wilson And Son, 15 Water Street, Boston. 1864.

Be advised that the text file is 1.2 mb, and was added to Janice's web site on 6 July 2006.

Janice's web site is http://tfeeney.esmartbiz.com/janice.htm

Massachusetts Vital Records

Massachusetts towns have been recording vital events (births, marriages, deaths) since about 1635. Before 1850, they were in recorded in Town Record books. During the 1930's, as a WPA project, books for many towns were published that captured the VR data up to 1850 - these are usually referred to as the "Tan Books" after the color of the book cover. Many of these books have been digitized and are available at the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) site, on Ancestry.com subscription site, or in private transcription projects (see the USGenWeb county sites for all of the details). Books for some towns not included in the WPA project have been published over the years by NEHGS and other publishers.

In 1841, the State decreed that Births, Marriages and Deaths should be recorded by the towns and lists of each should be sent to the State Secretary each year. The town lists were combined into county books, which are stored at the Massachusetts State Archives. Microfilms of the Indexes of these books, and the page images of the books, are available at the LDS Family History Library, the New England Historic Genealogical Society and other locations. The NEHGS web subscription site has the complete index (1841-1910) and almost all of the images (the list at NEHGS says 1901, but there are some images for later years posted). Ancestry.com also has a few of these indexes available on their subscription site, but no images of the pages.

After 1910, researchers have to go to the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in Dorchester MA either physically or request data via email or online, in order to obtain records.

There are also individuals and firms who will obtain any of these records for a fee.

For some reason, most of this information is not shown on many of the web pages that summarize birth, marriage and death records availability. Some of these VR sites do have links to the Ancestry subscription site, but not many link to the NEHGS subscription site for some reason. Frankly, they should link to both, and also to the private free transcription sites that I've blogged about previously.

Finding Sanborn Maps

One of the challenges that genealogists often face is to find the exact location of the homes of their ancestors. It is easier to find these homes in the 20th century than earlier. City directories and census records often provide the address of your ancestors or relatives, but finding the location of their homes can be difficult, especially in urban areas.

A description of Sanborn Maps is (from the NEHGS NewEnglandAncestors web site):

Sanborn fire insurance maps are the most frequently consulted maps in both public and academic libraries. Sanborn maps are valuable historical tools for urban specialists, social historians, architects, geographers, genealogists, local historians, planners, environmentalists and anyone who wants to learn about the history, growth, and development of American cities, towns, and neighborhoods.

They are large-scale plans containing data that can be used to estimate the potential risk for urban structures. This includes information such as the outline of each building, the size, shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors. The maps also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers. Seven or eight different editions represent some areas.

Sanborn Maps exist for many cities and towns for many years, but they can be difficult to find. Only some can be found online. The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has a collection of Sanborn Maps for 8 Eastern States (New England, NJ, NY) for many cities and towns, and many years.

For instance, my Seaver ancestors lived in Leominster MA for many years. The NEHGS site has maps for 1884, 1891, 1896, 1901, 1906, 1912, 1922, and 1931. I was able to find the ancestral homes at 149 Lancaster Street and 290 Central Street, in addition to the locations of the Horn Supply Sompany and Paton Mfg Company where my grandfather and great-grandfather worked. On the NEHGS site, you can select the "Download Map" tab and get a PDF file that you can magnify until you can read it easily, then move around in the map using the browser slide bars. Finally, you can download the map by doing a "File" "Save As" and putting it on your hard drive where you can find it later.

For San Diego, the San Diego Historical Society has the Sanborn Maps in a large format - to get a copy you have to do a portion at a time on the xerox machine. They were quite useful in finding which buildings were extant in a certain year, and by examining maps for different years I could see the community grow up around my ancestral home on 30th Street.

If you have found addresses of your ancestors or relatives in City Directories or census records, then the Sanborn Maps can easily show you the community that they lived in, and how the community changed over time.

Have you looked for Sanborn Maps of your ancestral places in either digital or paper form? Genealogical societies, historical societies, public libraries and academic libraries are probably your best sources.

Learning Genealogy Web Skills Tutorial

The Internet and the plethora of genealogy research sites can be overwhelming for new researchers.

The best site I've found for introducing many of the "standard" online research sites is the "Research Your Family Tree Tutorial" site. This online tutorial course demonstrates how to use many Internet sites, and allows you to practice using the sites with your own family data.

The Objectives of the course are (from the site):

During this tutorial, you will learn to locate family history information and gather documentation to confirm the accuracy of your information. After successfully completing this tutorial, you will be able to:

** Ask questions that elicit important family history information from knowledgeable relatives.

** Record names, dates, places, and sources on Ancestor Charts and Family Group Sheets.

** Use online databases for locating family history information.

** Use the Google search engine to find Web pages containing information on your ancestors.

** Collect vital records documenting births, marriages, and deaths.

** Locate other documentation about your family such as census records, probate records, church records, and military records.

** Communicate with other researchers gathering information on your surname (last name) or geographic area.

That's quite a set of objectives, isn't it?

The Course Outline is on the left hand margin of the web site - you can click on one of these module topics:

1 - Getting Started (home sources, charts, recording information, citing sources)

2 - Using Online Resources (online databases, search engines and directories)

3 - Gathering Key Records (vital records, census records)

4 - Exploring Further (probate, land, military, newspaper records)

5 - Sharing Information (discussion lists, message boards, software programs)

In each module, you can see a demonstration of what is being taught, and you can practice online with guidance from a step-by-step list on the left side of the screen.

This is an EXCELLENT online tutorial site - and can be perused at the pace of the learner. If you are just starting out in research, or know someone who is just starting, refer them to this site.

For experienced genealogists who are not familiar with the Internet resources, modules 2 through 5 are great to get you up to speed.