The next Carnival of Genealogy is about Surnames! The instructions were:
"Pick a surname on your tree and tell us about it. What are it's ethnic origins? Has it morphed over time as your family has used it? (or at Ellis Island ;-) What does it mean? Is it common or rare? What are the common misspellings? Any famous people or places with your surname?"
OK - here we go for SEAVER.
1. Ethnic Origins - there seem to be several opinions here - English, Germanic, Gaelic, Roman, French, Nordic.
2. Has it Morphed over Time? Probably - the spelling has changed as families branched off and clerks wrote it differently.
3. What Does it Mean? - Well, it depends on the ethnic origin!
* English: from the medieval personal name Sefare, a continuation of an unattested Old English female name, S?faru, composed of the elements s? ‘sea’ + faru ‘journey’. This name has also been established in Ireland since the early 17th century. (Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press)
* Gaelic: Saibher, rich; (An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import; Arthur, William, M.A.; New York, NY: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & CO., 1857.)
* French - Sever, local, a town in France (in Normandy). (Ibid).
* Roman - Severus - "stern" in Latin. The name Severus was borne by several early saints.
* Germanic - from "Siebmacher" meaning "sieve maker."
My Seaver heritage is most likely English or Gaelic. A rich seafarer? I wish!
4. Is it Common or Rare? - Yes, both. It was fairly common in New England in the 19th century - almost every town had a family with the name. It's relatively rare now - it was #8,167 in the 1990 census if you believe the statistics (I don't - see here).
5) What Are the Common Misspellings? - Seaver, Sever, Siever, Seiver, Siver, Sevier, Seavers, Severs, Seever, Seeber, etc.
6) Any Famous People or Places with the Surname? -- Actually, not too many.
* The most famous Seaver person is probably George Thomas Seaver, the Hall of Fame basball pitcher known as Tom Seaver, now a broadcaster. He's my cousin.
* The TV series "Growing Pains" was about a fictional Seaver family - mom, dad, 4 kids, pets, etc.
* Pepperdine University in has a "Seaver College" named after an alumnus - inventor Frank R. Seaver, who mentioned Pepperdine in his will. However, it was his widow, Blanche E. Seaver who gave large donations which enabled the school to expand into Malibu in 1971. In 1975, the Malibu campus was named the Frank R. Seaver College, and it has become the flagship undergraduate school of the University.
* The most prolific published genealogy person with the Seaver surname is probably Jesse Montgomery Seaver, who wrote a slew of rotten surname books in the 1920s, and apparently went to jail for taking people's money without delivering promised books.
That's probably much more than anyone cares to know about the Seaver surname - never fear, I can always use this musing in my Seaver Family Journal newsletter at Christmas for the relatives!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Surname Origins and Meanings
The next Carnival of Genealogy is about Surnames -their origin, famous people or places, etc. So I went looking for web sites to help me with my English SEAVER surname. Here is what I found from a simple Google search - and perhaps they will help you find what your surname means also!
* Glossary of Last Name Meanings and Origins at www.About.com
* Name History and Origin Search Engine at www.Ancestry.com (free)
* Origin of Surnames article by Kathi Reid at www.SearchForAncestors.com
* Last Name Meanings at www.Last-Names.net
* Names Encyclopedia at www.Namespedia.com
* Surnames, Family Names, Meanings of Names at www.SurnameGuide.com
* Last Name Meaning and Family Coats of Arms at www.TheTreeMaker.com
* Behind The Name - Etymology and History of Surnames at www.BehindTheName.com
* Coats of Arms, Family Name Origins and Surname Meanings at www.NameSeekers.co.uk
* Coats of Arms and Surname Histories at www.houseofnames.com
You get the idea. There are specialist sites for surnames from each country or ethnic group if you can't find anything in the above list. For example, just Google [ surname meaning china ] if you want Chinese surname meanings.
Now on to finding out what the surname SEAVER means! Maybe I'll find a useful coat of arms too!
* Glossary of Last Name Meanings and Origins at www.About.com
* Name History and Origin Search Engine at www.Ancestry.com (free)
* Origin of Surnames article by Kathi Reid at www.SearchForAncestors.com
* Last Name Meanings at www.Last-Names.net
* Names Encyclopedia at www.Namespedia.com
* Surnames, Family Names, Meanings of Names at www.SurnameGuide.com
* Last Name Meaning and Family Coats of Arms at www.TheTreeMaker.com
* Behind The Name - Etymology and History of Surnames at www.BehindTheName.com
* Coats of Arms, Family Name Origins and Surname Meanings at www.NameSeekers.co.uk
* Coats of Arms and Surname Histories at www.houseofnames.com
You get the idea. There are specialist sites for surnames from each country or ethnic group if you can't find anything in the above list. For example, just Google [ surname meaning china ] if you want Chinese surname meanings.
Now on to finding out what the surname SEAVER means! Maybe I'll find a useful coat of arms too!
Genealogy Web Sites You'll Never See
One of the real gems I read in the latest Family Tree Magazine was a list of the "Top 10 Genealogy Web Sites You'll Never See." This was a sidebar in the listing of the 101 "Top of the Worldwide Web" article.
The editors claimed that it was a product of "a few too many vending machine coffees and way too much procrastinating on the more important aspects of editing a family history magazine..." My guess is that they just have very fertile minds and way too much time on their hands.
Here are my three favorites from their list of 10:
* SloppyUnverifiedGEDCOMs.com
* Mindy's List: A Directory of Genealogy Sites That Don't Link to Ancestry.com
* UglyAncestors.com: A Photo-Sharing Site
You get the idea - create a web site name that is funny, not likely to be created and genealogy related. Since I don't drink coffee or edit anything (obviously!), I can think of a few sites.
MY SUGGESTIONS:
* MyGenealogySocietyDisenfranchisedMe.com -- dissident society members complain - they don't know what's good for them.
* UniversalGenWeb: Mars -- where's Art Bell when we need him?
* GenealogyHoneys.com -- pinup pictures of genealogy authors, bloggers and researchers.
* GenealogyOfMyPetFrog.com -- 47 generations, completely filled out - back to Kermit! I'm jealous!
* GrillYourMother-in-Law.com - Getting family information is sometimes difficult!
* TheLastGenerationOf GenealogySoftware.com - not until everyone is finished!
* Geneaholic.com - I've owned this for 5 months and have not done a thing with it. At least I have a blog named The Geneaholic. Arggh.
* Lolo's Grandpa's Time-Wasting Blog -- hmmm, how did this get on the list?
CONTRIBUTIONS BY READERS:
* Felicia submitted a bunch of them:
** DescendentsoftheSpaceShipMayflower.Com
** GrapefruitGenealogy.com - or How old is my grapefruit anyway?
** FeliciasAncestorsTheWHOLEstory.com
** FINISHEDAGenealogyStory.com
* Bill West added BirthmarkConnections.com -- if your birthmark looks like mine,we may be related!!!
* Jimmy suggested AncestorsExhumed.com -- Want to know what your ancestors look like today? For only $5.00, we will dig 'em up and send you a high quality digital photograph. All exhumations performed with utmost dignity & decorum. Remember our guarantee - we put 'em back the way we find 'em. He promises a T-shirt soon!
* John came up with RelatedToGreatness.com -- You too can be Related to Greatness. For $10 we will connect your family to the famous person of your choice on OneWorldTree. With the following exceptions: Elvis Presley: $15; Amelia Earhart: $20; Queen Elizabeth: $25. For special combinations, inquire for prices. Nothing is impossible: Lucille Ball can be your mother, and Desi Arnaz can be your son at the same time!
* My son-in-law James suggested GraveBook.com - a social networking site for dead ancestors - they can exchange stories and laughs while you try to find their resting places.
* Miriam wondered about GenealogyHoneys.com - "Honey" can be male or female, you know - even sweet. Whatever lights your inner bear (ask Winnie the Pooh)!
Thanks, everybody, for participating. Frankly, I think that there is a good possdibility that we WILL see web sites with these names.
CONCLUSION:
I know that my readers can be really creative, and so I invite you to make up some web site names and put them in the Comments below and I'll promote them into this post. Or create your own blog post with the story behind your web site we will never see. Come on - let's have some fun - give it your best shot. What else is there to do on a lazy summer weekend?
Keep them coming!
UPDATED last on 7/15 10:30 PM.
The editors claimed that it was a product of "a few too many vending machine coffees and way too much procrastinating on the more important aspects of editing a family history magazine..." My guess is that they just have very fertile minds and way too much time on their hands.
Here are my three favorites from their list of 10:
* SloppyUnverifiedGEDCOMs.com
* Mindy's List: A Directory of Genealogy Sites That Don't Link to Ancestry.com
* UglyAncestors.com: A Photo-Sharing Site
You get the idea - create a web site name that is funny, not likely to be created and genealogy related. Since I don't drink coffee or edit anything (obviously!), I can think of a few sites.
MY SUGGESTIONS:
* MyGenealogySocietyDisenfranchisedMe.com -- dissident society members complain - they don't know what's good for them.
* UniversalGenWeb: Mars -- where's Art Bell when we need him?
* GenealogyHoneys.com -- pinup pictures of genealogy authors, bloggers and researchers.
* GenealogyOfMyPetFrog.com -- 47 generations, completely filled out - back to Kermit! I'm jealous!
* GrillYourMother-in-Law.com - Getting family information is sometimes difficult!
* TheLastGenerationOf GenealogySoftware.com - not until everyone is finished!
* Geneaholic.com - I've owned this for 5 months and have not done a thing with it. At least I have a blog named The Geneaholic. Arggh.
* Lolo's Grandpa's Time-Wasting Blog -- hmmm, how did this get on the list?
CONTRIBUTIONS BY READERS:
* Felicia submitted a bunch of them:
** DescendentsoftheSpaceShipMayflower.Com
** GrapefruitGenealogy.com - or How old is my grapefruit anyway?
** FeliciasAncestorsTheWHOLEstory.com
** FINISHEDAGenealogyStory.com
* Bill West added BirthmarkConnections.com -- if your birthmark looks like mine,we may be related!!!
* Jimmy suggested AncestorsExhumed.com -- Want to know what your ancestors look like today? For only $5.00, we will dig 'em up and send you a high quality digital photograph. All exhumations performed with utmost dignity & decorum. Remember our guarantee - we put 'em back the way we find 'em. He promises a T-shirt soon!
* John came up with RelatedToGreatness.com -- You too can be Related to Greatness. For $10 we will connect your family to the famous person of your choice on OneWorldTree. With the following exceptions: Elvis Presley: $15; Amelia Earhart: $20; Queen Elizabeth: $25. For special combinations, inquire for prices. Nothing is impossible: Lucille Ball can be your mother, and Desi Arnaz can be your son at the same time!
* My son-in-law James suggested GraveBook.com - a social networking site for dead ancestors - they can exchange stories and laughs while you try to find their resting places.
* Miriam wondered about GenealogyHoneys.com - "Honey" can be male or female, you know - even sweet. Whatever lights your inner bear (ask Winnie the Pooh)!
Thanks, everybody, for participating. Frankly, I think that there is a good possdibility that we WILL see web sites with these names.
CONCLUSION:
I know that my readers can be really creative, and so I invite you to make up some web site names and put them in the Comments below and I'll promote them into this post. Or create your own blog post with the story behind your web site we will never see. Come on - let's have some fun - give it your best shot. What else is there to do on a lazy summer weekend?
Keep them coming!
UPDATED last on 7/15 10:30 PM.
Friday, July 13, 2007
California Marriage and Divorce Indexes on Ancestry
The California Marriage Index (1960-1984) and California Divorce Index (1966-1984) are now available on the www.Ancestry.com commercial database service.
The 1960-1984 California Marriage Index (4.8 marriages) is the Brides Index (alphabetical on the Bride column) and contains in columns (left to right):
* Groom surname
* Groom first name
* Groom middle initial
* Bride surname
* Bride first name
* Bride middle initial
* Age of Groom
* Age of Bride
* Marriage County Number
* Marriage Month
* Marriage Day
* Marriage Year
* Registrar County Number
* Registrar Certificate Number
* State Registration Number
The online index at Ancestry.com is helpful in that you can search for either the bride or the groom, and the Ancestry index provides the County name (that corresponds to the County Number). There is a link so that you can see the image of the actual California Index with all of the above data.
This 1960-1984 Brides Index has been online at www.vitalsearch-ca.com for some time, until recently. Now it is a Premium Search item behind a subscription wall. They also had marriage records from 1949 to 1959 until recently - that too is behind a subscription wall now. The 1960-1984 Groom Index and Bride Index are also available on microfiche at many Family History Centers.
The 1966-1984 California Divorce Index (over 3.5 million divorces) is alphabetical by Groom's Name and contains columns (left to right):
* Groom Last Name
* Groom First Name
* Groom Middle Initial
* Bride First Name
* Bride Middle Initial
* Type (I don't know what this means)
* County of Dissolution Number
* Dissolution Month
* Dissolution Day
* Dissolution Year
* County Case Number
* State File Number
I have not seen this Divorce Index before.
Having these indexes online will facilitate 20th century research somewhat. Obviously, it would be wonderful to have ALL marriages and divorces online, but we'll have to wait for that, I think!
The 1960-1984 California Marriage Index (4.8 marriages) is the Brides Index (alphabetical on the Bride column) and contains in columns (left to right):
* Groom surname
* Groom first name
* Groom middle initial
* Bride surname
* Bride first name
* Bride middle initial
* Age of Groom
* Age of Bride
* Marriage County Number
* Marriage Month
* Marriage Day
* Marriage Year
* Registrar County Number
* Registrar Certificate Number
* State Registration Number
The online index at Ancestry.com is helpful in that you can search for either the bride or the groom, and the Ancestry index provides the County name (that corresponds to the County Number). There is a link so that you can see the image of the actual California Index with all of the above data.
This 1960-1984 Brides Index has been online at www.vitalsearch-ca.com for some time, until recently. Now it is a Premium Search item behind a subscription wall. They also had marriage records from 1949 to 1959 until recently - that too is behind a subscription wall now. The 1960-1984 Groom Index and Bride Index are also available on microfiche at many Family History Centers.
The 1966-1984 California Divorce Index (over 3.5 million divorces) is alphabetical by Groom's Name and contains columns (left to right):
* Groom Last Name
* Groom First Name
* Groom Middle Initial
* Bride First Name
* Bride Middle Initial
* Type (I don't know what this means)
* County of Dissolution Number
* Dissolution Month
* Dissolution Day
* Dissolution Year
* County Case Number
* State File Number
I have not seen this Divorce Index before.
Having these indexes online will facilitate 20th century research somewhat. Obviously, it would be wonderful to have ALL marriages and divorces online, but we'll have to wait for that, I think!
Family Tree Magazine - September 2007 issue
The September 2007 issue of Family Tree Magazine came the other day, and I have been reading the articles and the advertisements. The Table of Contents is here. Note that there are a few "web extras" available on this page - information that is not in the print magazine. One of the nice things about the web site is that they provide a PDF of the links found in the print magazine.
The articles that I particularly enjoyed included:
* Top of the World Wide Web by David A. Fryxell - 101 web resources that are the pinnacle of online genealogy. It includes 4 blogs - Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, Family Matters, The Genealogue and The Practical Archivist.
* Tools of the Trade by Allison Stacy - 21 essential resources for building your family tree. This is a list of things you need - charts, binders, storage, computer, Internet, library card, books, atlas, camera, society membership, and more.
* Record Highs (and Lows) by David A. Fryxell - he ranks the give most- and least-researchable European ancestries, with advice for pursuing research in Europe.
The advertisements always intrigue me - there are full page ads for www.FindMyPast.com, www.PedigreeSoft.com, RootsMagic software, www.WritersOnlineWorkshops.com, the book "You Don't Have to be Famous, How to Write Your Life Story" by Steve Zousmer (F+W Publications), Personal Historian, and www.GenSmarts.com.
I always enjoy this magazine, and appreciate the Family Tree Magazine Forum at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forum/category-view.asp.
The articles that I particularly enjoyed included:
* Top of the World Wide Web by David A. Fryxell - 101 web resources that are the pinnacle of online genealogy. It includes 4 blogs - Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, Family Matters, The Genealogue and The Practical Archivist.
* Tools of the Trade by Allison Stacy - 21 essential resources for building your family tree. This is a list of things you need - charts, binders, storage, computer, Internet, library card, books, atlas, camera, society membership, and more.
* Record Highs (and Lows) by David A. Fryxell - he ranks the give most- and least-researchable European ancestries, with advice for pursuing research in Europe.
The advertisements always intrigue me - there are full page ads for www.FindMyPast.com, www.PedigreeSoft.com, RootsMagic software, www.WritersOnlineWorkshops.com, the book "You Don't Have to be Famous, How to Write Your Life Story" by Steve Zousmer (F+W Publications), Personal Historian, and www.GenSmarts.com.
I always enjoy this magazine, and appreciate the Family Tree Magazine Forum at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forum/category-view.asp.
SDGS Meeting on Saturday
Hey, San Diego area readers - come to the San Diego Genealogical Society meeting on Saturday, July 14th at 12 noon. The meeting is at St. Andrews Lutheran Church 8350 Lake Murray Blvd (at Jackson Drive) in San Diego.
The program is threefold:
1. "The Flags of Our Forefathers," by Carl Dustin, will display and discuss nine of our country's most historical and unusual flags dating from 1686 to 1864. How many can you recall? Come and learn some of the little known facts of history and our flags. It should be fun and most educational.
2. ICE CREAM Social - $1 a scoop, 25 cents per topping. Be sure to bring the children, grandchildren neighborhood kids, etc. as it will be fun for all (and who doesn't like ice cream?).
3) After the ice cream, we will have a special presentation by board member Mary Card. Her topic, "Timber, The Midwest Gold Rush" will discuss the history, culture, impact and legends surrounding the logging and lumber industry in Great Lakes area that really had a nation-wide influence. This will be of particular interest for anyone with Michigan or Wisconsin ancestors.
I plan to attend this meeting after visiting the Family History Center in the morning to order microfilms and to check on the availability of the partner databases on the FHC computers.
If I survive the ice cream blitz, I'll report on this meeting on Saturday afternoon.
The program is threefold:
1. "The Flags of Our Forefathers," by Carl Dustin, will display and discuss nine of our country's most historical and unusual flags dating from 1686 to 1864. How many can you recall? Come and learn some of the little known facts of history and our flags. It should be fun and most educational.
2. ICE CREAM Social - $1 a scoop, 25 cents per topping. Be sure to bring the children, grandchildren neighborhood kids, etc. as it will be fun for all (and who doesn't like ice cream?).
3) After the ice cream, we will have a special presentation by board member Mary Card. Her topic, "Timber, The Midwest Gold Rush" will discuss the history, culture, impact and legends surrounding the logging and lumber industry in Great Lakes area that really had a nation-wide influence. This will be of particular interest for anyone with Michigan or Wisconsin ancestors.
I plan to attend this meeting after visiting the Family History Center in the morning to order microfilms and to check on the availability of the partner databases on the FHC computers.
If I survive the ice cream blitz, I'll report on this meeting on Saturday afternoon.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Win a copy of "Evidence Explained ..."
The genealogy world awaits the publication of a new "Bible" -- the book Evidence Explained - Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Baltimore, GPC, 2007). The book is offered for sale for $49.95 plus shipping and handling at the BCG site here.
If you order the book, you can receive a refund of the price if you enter their contest to see how many books are sold at the FGS Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana over three days in August 2007. The person who guesses the closest to the number of books sold will be the winner.
I'm afraid that when I read this book that I'll find out that all of my source citations for about 30,000 people in my database will now be wrong -- correcting them is not something I look forward to! I'm still trying to bring them up to the standard of Mills' earlier book Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian.
If you order the book, you can receive a refund of the price if you enter their contest to see how many books are sold at the FGS Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana over three days in August 2007. The person who guesses the closest to the number of books sold will be the winner.
I'm afraid that when I read this book that I'll find out that all of my source citations for about 30,000 people in my database will now be wrong -- correcting them is not something I look forward to! I'm still trying to bring them up to the standard of Mills' earlier book Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian.
NEHGS Email Newsletter
I receive a number of email newsletters from genealogy societies, commercial companies, book publishers and other organizations.
One of the best weekly email newsletters is from the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The email newsletter usually has timely announcements about new databases at NEHGS, book announcements, research news and tips, an article on other repository holdings, a research problem solution, NEHGS meetings and classes, etc.
Receiving the email newsletter does not require you to be an NEHGS member. You can see an archive of the email newsletters here. Just click on the link for the year at the top of the page.
Unfortunately, the link above does not cover the archive for the year 2007 yet due to an oversight on their part. If you want to see the 2007 archives, go here.
If you want to join NEHGS, and have the benefit of the excellent NEHG Register journal and fine New England Ancestors magazine, plus the online databases, you can join here.
Please note that I am an NEHGS member, but no one asked me to write this - I just thought someone might like to receive the email newsletter!
One of the best weekly email newsletters is from the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The email newsletter usually has timely announcements about new databases at NEHGS, book announcements, research news and tips, an article on other repository holdings, a research problem solution, NEHGS meetings and classes, etc.
Receiving the email newsletter does not require you to be an NEHGS member. You can see an archive of the email newsletters here. Just click on the link for the year at the top of the page.
Unfortunately, the link above does not cover the archive for the year 2007 yet due to an oversight on their part. If you want to see the 2007 archives, go here.
If you want to join NEHGS, and have the benefit of the excellent NEHG Register journal and fine New England Ancestors magazine, plus the online databases, you can join here.
Please note that I am an NEHGS member, but no one asked me to write this - I just thought someone might like to receive the email newsletter!
Will of Nathaniel Horton (1730-1819) - Part 3
I posted the first part of the will of Nathaniel Horton (1730-1819) of Foster RI here, and the second part (the best part, I thought) is here.
This is the third part of the will - plus the codicil which nicely defines the burial place of his parents.
================================
"Item. I give Devise and Bequeath to my Beloved Wife Sarah Horton the use occupation & Improvement of the Whole of my Real Estate During her Naturall Life, and also as her absolute and improvement Property and Estate one third part of any Personal Estate of Every Kind, to be set off and assigned to her Before any Division thereof to be made Between my Children as aforesaid, and I also Give to her the use and improvement of the said two thirds of my indoors household moveable goods During the turm of her Natural Life, which after her Decease I have Given to my six Daughters as aforesaid.
"Lastly I Constitute and Appoint my said Beloved Wife Sarah Horton, and my son Nathaniel Horton Jr. joint Executors of this my Last Will and Testament, thereby annulling & Revoking all former or other Wills and Testaments by me at any time heretofore mad, Ratifying & Confirming and Declaring this and No other as or for my Last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal this Eight Day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred & fourteen and in the 38th year of the Independence of the United States of America.
.............................................................. his
............................................. Nathaniel X Horton (seal)
.............................................................mark
"Signed sealed Published and Declared
by the said Nathaniel Horton as & for his
Last Will and Testament in the presence
of us who at his Request & in his presence
& in the presence of Each other have
subscribed our Names hereto as Witnesses
James Durfey Asa Ballou Theodor Foster
"A Codicil to the Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Horton Senr of Foster in the County of Providence & State of Rhode Island .... on this Seventh Day of August in the Year of Our Lord 1817.
"Whereas on the 8th Day of February AD 1814, I the said Nathaniel Horton did make my Said Will and Testament baring Date on that Day Which Was Witnessed by James Durfey, Asa Ballou and Theodore Foster I Do therefore hereby Ratify and Establish the same as my Last Will & Testament With the following small alterations (viz) in addition to what I have therein given to my faithful & Beloved Wife, Sarah Horton, I Do now hereby give and Bequeath to her all the silver money of Every kind Which shall Belong to me in my Possession at my Decease and shall then be in my Possession to be paid to her & to Become her own absolute Dispoasable Property Imediently from and after my Decease - and Whereas there is on the Land of Theodor Foster Esqr. a Privilege Reserved to my self and heirs, of a small Buring place two Rods square, on the East side of the Foster & Glocester app??? way so Called, Where my Deceased Father and Mother, and some of their Descendants are Bured and Whereas it hath been porposed by the said Theodore Foster to make an addition to the said Buring Place for the use of him self his heirs or assigns on the Easterly & Southerly sides of this said two Rods Square Resarved as afore said for the family of Which I am Descended, I Do therefore hereby order & Direct that my Executor shall make and Direct four Rods of Good stone Wall Equal in Goodness to that which shall be made & Erected by the said Foster his heirs or assigns for fencing in the said old Buring Place, that to be made by my Executor to be Erected on the Northerly & Easterly sides of said Buring Place and to be Done as soon as Conveniently may be after the said Theodore Foster his heirs or assigns shall have made the Wall for fencing in the said additional Buring Place the Expense of making the said four Rods of Wall to be paid by my Executor out of my Whole Estate - and I Do hereby make & Declare this Codicil Contained on this half & part of paper as above Expressed to be part and Parcel of my Last Will and Testament.
"In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the Day & year as above Written.
...................................................................his
................................................. Nathaniel X Horton (seal)
..................................................................mark
"Signed sealed Published & Declared
by the said Nathaniel Horton Senr
as part and Parcel of his Last Will
and Testament & signed by us at his
Request & in his presence & in the
presence of Each other Who have hereunto
set our Names as Witnesses unto
- Peter Sprague Gardner Horton Theodore Foster"
=============================
I like that when Nathaniel dated this will in 1814, he added "...and in the 38th year of the Independence of the United States of America."
I wonder if the graveyard in Foster is still standing and accessible? I guess I'll try and find out the next time we go to New England.
This is the third part of the will - plus the codicil which nicely defines the burial place of his parents.
================================
"Item. I give Devise and Bequeath to my Beloved Wife Sarah Horton the use occupation & Improvement of the Whole of my Real Estate During her Naturall Life, and also as her absolute and improvement Property and Estate one third part of any Personal Estate of Every Kind, to be set off and assigned to her Before any Division thereof to be made Between my Children as aforesaid, and I also Give to her the use and improvement of the said two thirds of my indoors household moveable goods During the turm of her Natural Life, which after her Decease I have Given to my six Daughters as aforesaid.
"Lastly I Constitute and Appoint my said Beloved Wife Sarah Horton, and my son Nathaniel Horton Jr. joint Executors of this my Last Will and Testament, thereby annulling & Revoking all former or other Wills and Testaments by me at any time heretofore mad, Ratifying & Confirming and Declaring this and No other as or for my Last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal this Eight Day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred & fourteen and in the 38th year of the Independence of the United States of America.
.............................................................. his
............................................. Nathaniel X Horton (seal)
.............................................................mark
"Signed sealed Published and Declared
by the said Nathaniel Horton as & for his
Last Will and Testament in the presence
of us who at his Request & in his presence
& in the presence of Each other have
subscribed our Names hereto as Witnesses
James Durfey Asa Ballou Theodor Foster
"A Codicil to the Last Will and Testament of Nathaniel Horton Senr of Foster in the County of Providence & State of Rhode Island .... on this Seventh Day of August in the Year of Our Lord 1817.
"Whereas on the 8th Day of February AD 1814, I the said Nathaniel Horton did make my Said Will and Testament baring Date on that Day Which Was Witnessed by James Durfey, Asa Ballou and Theodore Foster I Do therefore hereby Ratify and Establish the same as my Last Will & Testament With the following small alterations (viz) in addition to what I have therein given to my faithful & Beloved Wife, Sarah Horton, I Do now hereby give and Bequeath to her all the silver money of Every kind Which shall Belong to me in my Possession at my Decease and shall then be in my Possession to be paid to her & to Become her own absolute Dispoasable Property Imediently from and after my Decease - and Whereas there is on the Land of Theodor Foster Esqr. a Privilege Reserved to my self and heirs, of a small Buring place two Rods square, on the East side of the Foster & Glocester app??? way so Called, Where my Deceased Father and Mother, and some of their Descendants are Bured and Whereas it hath been porposed by the said Theodore Foster to make an addition to the said Buring Place for the use of him self his heirs or assigns on the Easterly & Southerly sides of this said two Rods Square Resarved as afore said for the family of Which I am Descended, I Do therefore hereby order & Direct that my Executor shall make and Direct four Rods of Good stone Wall Equal in Goodness to that which shall be made & Erected by the said Foster his heirs or assigns for fencing in the said old Buring Place, that to be made by my Executor to be Erected on the Northerly & Easterly sides of said Buring Place and to be Done as soon as Conveniently may be after the said Theodore Foster his heirs or assigns shall have made the Wall for fencing in the said additional Buring Place the Expense of making the said four Rods of Wall to be paid by my Executor out of my Whole Estate - and I Do hereby make & Declare this Codicil Contained on this half & part of paper as above Expressed to be part and Parcel of my Last Will and Testament.
"In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the Day & year as above Written.
...................................................................his
................................................. Nathaniel X Horton (seal)
..................................................................mark
"Signed sealed Published & Declared
by the said Nathaniel Horton Senr
as part and Parcel of his Last Will
and Testament & signed by us at his
Request & in his presence & in the
presence of Each other Who have hereunto
set our Names as Witnesses unto
- Peter Sprague Gardner Horton Theodore Foster"
=============================
I like that when Nathaniel dated this will in 1814, he added "...and in the 38th year of the Independence of the United States of America."
I wonder if the graveyard in Foster is still standing and accessible? I guess I'll try and find out the next time we go to New England.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Happier than a pig in s***
In my humble opinion - there's nothing more fun for a genealogist than to research for hours and find lots of useful data - he's happier than a pig in slop - a big grin on his face and a satisfied feeling. Sometimes I think I could do this all day and night - and I have today for about 8 hours - except for the memorial service for a friend this morning, a short nap, dinner and tending the garden tonight (since there's no baseball game). I did sneak in a blog post too.
This started a month ago when my wife was talking to one of her best friends up in Idaho - and the friend asked "could Randy research my family for me?" She told Linda her parents names and I put the sheet on my paper stack.
I found it last night buried in the stack, and thought "well, I guess I'd better see if I can find anything." Ten working hours later, I have her father's line pretty well in hand back four generations. Her mother had a fairly common name, so I need to ask her the names of her maternal grandparents names - I hope she knows!
This was all done online in Ancestry.com, SSDI, Rootsweb WorldConnect, LDS FamilySearch, Google, and the message boards. I still need to check the mailing lists for the surnames and localities. Of course, all of the data is tentative until proven, but I have some solid leads from good sources.
I have a computer folder with images of 16 census records, several Wisconsin marriages, Washington births and deaths, and SSDI records. My stack of paper for this project is around 40 sheets right now, including a WorldConnect ahnentafel report and several FamilySearch entries. I have about half of the paper file in an FTM database.
While we all know that ALL data is not on the Internet YET, there is now enough to do this survey phase fairly quickly.
I may not post for awhile :) Back to the genealogy trough of data ...
This started a month ago when my wife was talking to one of her best friends up in Idaho - and the friend asked "could Randy research my family for me?" She told Linda her parents names and I put the sheet on my paper stack.
I found it last night buried in the stack, and thought "well, I guess I'd better see if I can find anything." Ten working hours later, I have her father's line pretty well in hand back four generations. Her mother had a fairly common name, so I need to ask her the names of her maternal grandparents names - I hope she knows!
This was all done online in Ancestry.com, SSDI, Rootsweb WorldConnect, LDS FamilySearch, Google, and the message boards. I still need to check the mailing lists for the surnames and localities. Of course, all of the data is tentative until proven, but I have some solid leads from good sources.
I have a computer folder with images of 16 census records, several Wisconsin marriages, Washington births and deaths, and SSDI records. My stack of paper for this project is around 40 sheets right now, including a WorldConnect ahnentafel report and several FamilySearch entries. I have about half of the paper file in an FTM database.
While we all know that ALL data is not on the Internet YET, there is now enough to do this survey phase fairly quickly.
I may not post for awhile :) Back to the genealogy trough of data ...
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