Escondido (CA) Family History Fair is Saturday, 3 March

The annual Escondido Family History Fair 2012 is this Saturday, 3 March, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  It will be at the Escondido California LDS Stake (2255 Felicita Road).

The theme is "Through Today's Technology: A Gift to Your Future."  Kendall Jefferson from Ancestry.com is the Keynote speaker.  

This is the only multi-track, multi-speaker seminar in San Diego county this year, and it is free to attend.  There is a $13 charge for the syllabus and a $9 charge for a box lunch.  Attendees had to register by mail by 15 February.

The schedule of speakers and topics is on the Registration Form.  You can see the Presenter backgrounds and the Class Descriptions on the site.  There is an Exhibit Hall for displays by local genealogical, historical and heritage societies, but no sales can occur on site.  

I will be presenting these classes:  

10:10 a.m.:  Wikis for Genealogy Collaboration - What is a wiki, and why do I care? A wiki is a website that permits easy creation and editing of interlinked web pages using a markup language or WYSIWYG text editor. Wiki software is used to create collaborative and community websites, corporate intranets and knowledge management systems. In this presentation, Randy will show some of the currently available wikis for genealogy that permit collaboration on genealogy information and family trees. The benefits and drawbacks of contributing to, and participating in, collaborative efforts will be discussed.

11:20 a.m.  Genealogy Blogging – What? When? Why? Where? How? - What is blogging about genealogy all about? Randy will tell all, with examples of genealogy blogs, and a basic how-to of starting one and writing one for you to share your family history and genealogy knowledge with the world.

If those topics interest you, then I hope you attend my classes.  Please stop by the Chula Vista Genealogical Society exhibit, or catch me in a classroom, to say hello.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/escondido-ca-family-history-fair-is.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 194: My Junior High Graduation

 I am posting photographs from my family collections for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday (you know me, I can't go wordless!).    

Here is a small photograph from the Seaver/Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:  

This photograph was taken in June 1958 on the occasion of my graduation from Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School.  It was taken on the patio just to the south of the apartment house at 2114 Fern Street.  That is the 2115-2119 30th Street apartment (we lived in 2119) in the background.  

From the left, the persons in the photo are my mother (Betty Virgina (Carringer) Seaver in her beautiful suit, pearls and snappy hat), me (in the snazzy suit, bow tie and butch wax haircut), my brother Scott (aged almost 3) in front of me, and my father (Frederick Walton Seaver, staring off into the haze, obviously totally bored by it all, or distracted by an airplane).  Oh, yes, Rootie-Toot-Toot, the family cat, is brushing against my mother's leg (I just noticed that!).  

I don't know for sure who took this picture.  My guess is that it was my grandfather, but I don't know.  My brother, Stanley, is not in the picture because he was probably at school.  

As you can tell, at age 14, I was not a really tall young man yet.  I think I was probably 4 foot 10 inches at the time.  My mother was 5 feet 4 inches tall, and my father was 6 feet, 2 inches tall.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-194-my.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Trying to be an Evidenced-Based Researcher- Does This Work?

After all of the discussion recently about Conclusion-based and Evidenced-Based research (see More on Conclusion-Based and Evidence-Based Genealogy), I decided to try adding as much information as possible to one of my "brick-wall ancestors."

For this work, I used RootsMagic 5 and added all of the alternate names and alternate birth assertions that I have found in my research for Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1894), one of my second great-grandfathers.  I was curious to see how this information would be shown by RootsMagic 5 and listed in a number of reports.

1)  Here is my RootsMagic 5 screen for the Devier Smith family  in the Family View:

As you can see, only one Birth assertion, one Marriage assertion, and one Death assertion is entered for Devier and his wife, Abigail (Vaux) Smith (1844-1931).


2)  Double clicking on Devier's name opens the Edit Person for him.  The list of Facts (assertions) is in date order, and Alternate Names are listed at the bottom.

For each Fact (assertion) listed, I have one or more source citations based on the research I have performed for Devier.  I have added several source comments and Fact notes, in addition to having a long Person Notes section.


3)  Here is the first page of the Family Group Sheet created by RootsMagic 5 for Devier J. Smith:

For the Family Group Sheet, the user seems to have no control over which Facts (assertions) are printed out.  As you can see, source citation numbers are assigned for the Facts, and I chose to add them as Endnotes at the end of the report.  The Family Group Sheet includes information for the children, and the Person notes for Devier and his wife.


4)  An Individual Summary for Devier J. Smith is similar in content to the Family Group Sheet, except for the list of children is minimized.  The Person Notes for Devier and the source citations for the Facts (assertions) are included.

5)  A Narrative Report for the Ancestors of Devier J. Smith contains similar information, but in a narrative format, as shown below:

I've added the narrative from the above report for Devier J. Smith, but not the Person Notes, below so that my readers can see how RootsMagic creates this report, followed by the source citations.  I have not found any way to suppress the alternate assertions in RootsMagic.  Note that while the source citation numbers are superscripted in the actual reports, they did not copy that way here.  I don't know how to do that on blogger, so I'll put them in (parentheses).

 Devier James Lamphier Smith(1) was reported to be born in 1838–1839 in New York, United States.(2–5) He was reported to be born in 1839–1840 in New York, United States.(6–7) He was reported to be born in 1839 in Jefferson, New York, United States.(8) Devier was born on 7 May 1839 in Henderson, Jefferson, New York, United States.(9) 

The birth date of Devier James Lamphier Smith was most likely 7 May 1839.  The date of 7 May is given only in the Smith Family Bible (in Devier's hand) and the Abbie (Vaux) Smith's notes listing the family birth, marriage and death information.  The obituary for Devier J. Smith says May without a day.

The year of birth was probably 1839.  The Smith Family Bible, in Devier's hand, says 1842.  The newspaper obituary and gravestone record say 1842, but were probably derived, by Devier's son, from the Smith Family Bible.  Abbie (Vaux) Smith's  list says 1839, as does the 1889 newspaper article about Devier J. Smith.  All six census records imply a birth year between 1838 and 1840.  No other records imply a birth year of 1842. 

He was reported to be born in May 1842 in Dodge, Wisconsin, United States.(10) He was reported to be born on 7 May 1842 in Henderson, Jefferson, New York, United States.(11) Devier was adopted before 1843 in Jefferson, New York, United States.(12) He died on 1 May 1894 at the age of 54 in McCook, Red Willow, Nebraska, United States.(10–11,13) He was buried after 1 May 1894 at McCook Cemetery in McCook, Red Willow, Nebraska, United States.(14) 

Devier was also known as D.J. Smith.(2–3,6,8,14) He was also known as Devier J. Smith.(4,10–11) He was also known as Devier Lamphier.(12,15) Based on the available personal, public and government records, this person was born with the name Devier James Lamphere, probably in Jefferson County, New York.  His birth parents have not been identified to date.  He may have been adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith before 1848, when the Smith family moved to Dodge County, Wisconsin.

The source citations are:

1. Conclusion drawn from available evidence. Ranslow Smith's will names him as Devere J. Lamphere alias Devere J. Smith.  The Wisconsin name change record names him as Devier Lamphier changing his name to Devier J. Smith.  Several newspaper articles give his name as Devier J. Smith or D.J. Smith.  Census records from 1850 to 1885 consistently name him as Devier Smith or D.J. Smith.  The 1885 United States Patent lists his name as Devier James Smith.  His wife's list of family names lists him as Diver James Smith.  My conclusion is that he was named Devier James Lamphier at birth, and his name was changed by an Act of the Wisconsin Legislature to Devier J. (for James) Smith in 1866.

. 2. "1880 United States Federal Census," Population Schedule, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Shannon township: Page 243D, dwelling #125, family #125, D.J. Smith household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, Roll 393. D.J. Smith is age 41, born in New York.

3. "1885 Census, Kansas State Census Schedule," Online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing original data at Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kansas., Clyde township, Clay County, Kansas, page 35, line 10, citing Kansas State Historical Society Microfilm K-23. D.J. Smith is age 46, born in New York.

4. "1860 United States Federal Census," Population Schedule, Dodge County, Wisconsin, Oak Grove; Page 745, Dwelling #704, Family #701, Ranslow smith household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 1406. Devier Smith was age 21, born in New York.

5. "1850 United States Federal Census," Population Schedule, Dodge County, Wisconsin, Burnett; Page 43, Line 36, Ranslow smith household, online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 996. Devier Smith was age 11, born in New York.

6. "1870 United States Federal Census," Population Schedule, Taylor County, Iowa, Benton township: Page 13, dwelling #207, family #207, D.J. Smith household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Series M593, Roll 421. D.J. Smith is age 30, born in New York.

7. "1875 Kansas State Census Census, Population Schedule," Online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), original data at Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kans.), Lincoln township, Cloud County, Kansas, page 12, line 38, citing Kansas State Microfilm reel K-4. D.J. Smith is age 35, born in New York.

8. "D.J. Smith," Wano [Kansas] Plain Dealer newspaper, ca. 1889; newspaper clipping in Della Smith Carringer's scrapbook. "D.J. Smith was born in 1839 in Jefferson County, New York."

9. Smith/Carringer Family Correspondence (Loose Letters, 1888–1902), originals privately held by Randall J. Seaver, [address for private use], Chula Vista CA 91911, 1988 (great grandson). Family letters to and from Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, and Della (Smith) Carringer.  Abigail (Vaux) Smith list of family births and deaths.

10. "McCook [Neb.] Times-Democrat,"  Online database, Early McCook Newspapers, Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society (http://www.swsgs.org/~swngs/newspaper/1894_democrat.htm), D.J. Smith, obituary, 1894, no date, no page number.

11. unknown, Devier J. Smith, 1889-1920, Devier J. Smith Family Bible [loose pages of Birth, Marriages, Death and Note Pages] (no publication information).

12. Andrew County, Missouri Probate Records, 1841-1918, on 14 FHL US/CAN microfilms, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; original records in Andrew County, Missouri, courthouse., Volume A, 1842-1888, Pages 360-365, court clerk's transcription, will of Ranslow Smith, accessed on FHL US/CAN Microfilm 1,006,205.

13. Smith/Carringer Family Correspondence, Abbie (Vaux) Smith list of family births, marriages and deaths.

14. Robert T. Ray, Cemetery Records for Red Willow County, Nebraska (N.p.: Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society, 197-). entry for D. J. Smith, 1842-1894 Cemetery #1 (Memorial Park, McCook).

15. Wisconsin Legislature, Enrolled Acts, Resolutions, and Memorials, 1836-1943, Series 188 (259 Volumes), Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, Madison, Wis., Box 80, Senate Journal No. 2, January-March 1866, Devier Lamphier name change to Devier J. Smith, 21 March 1866.

 I put my conclusion about Devier's name in a Source Note (number 1).  I also discussed the birth year conclusion in a Birth Fact Note (in Green).  Note that the Facts (assertions) are listed in order, and that any Fact Note is printed after the Fact.  I edited the paragraphs a bit to help readability.

Is this the way someone using RootsMagic 5 should do Evidenced-based genealogy research?  I'm curious to see how Family Tree Maker 2012 and Legacy Family Tree deal with this type of data entry (assuming I've done it correctly).

Congratulations to anyone who read through this tome... please be gentle with source citation comments!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/trying-to-be-evidenced-based-researcher.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

No Such Thing as a Useless Post ...

One of the major unspoken rules of blogging seems to be:

There's No Such Thing as a Useless Post - it can always be used, and cited, as a Bad Example.

Such is, apparently, the case with my last post, Making a List of Persons Alive in the 1940 US Census, in which I tried to make a list of persons using RootsMagic 5.  Soon after I whined about how the program wouldn't make the list that I wanted, there was a comment from the RootsMagician, Bruce Buzbee, saying:

"Go to the select screen as before, then:
1) "Mark group", then "Ancestors of highlighted person", then select the ancestors you want
2) Then "Unmark group", then "Select by data fields". On the criteria screen, do:
Birth date > is before > 1840
OR
Birth date > is after > 1940
OR
Death date > is before > 1941"

That is very logical, and matches pretty much what I tried several times.  

Okay ... I tried that, and got an 875 page report.  For some reason, it doesn't work for me!  My database has 41,465 persons in it and for some reason doing EXACTLY what Bruce told me to do doesn't work.  It may be in the selection of "Ancestors and collateral lines" in the "Ancestors of highlighted person" group.

So I started over, doing this:

1)  Mark everyone in my database.
2)  Unmark using the following criteria:

*  Death date >  is before > 1940
*  or Birth date > is after > 1940
*  or Birth date > is before > 1840

I get 162 pages with that selection (about 6,000 persons).   They all seem to meet my criteria.  

The difference here is that, at Bruce's suggestion, I used the "OR" operator instead of the "AND" operator.  

Thank you to Bruce for his patience, and I appreciate that my readers understand that I sometimes write without a safety net here.

Hmm, I could just delete the text of the earlier post and hide the evidence, eh?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/no-such-thing-as-useless-post.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Making a List of Persons Alive in the 1940 US Census

In order to prepare for the 1940 U.S. Census to be released by the National Archives on 2 April 2012, it is a good idea to determine the persons in your database that might be included in the 1940 Census.


Ruth Stephens, on her Ruth's Genealogy blog, in My 1940 Census Wish List, did this yesterday in RootsMagic 5 but didn't show her steps.


Russ Worthington, on his Family Tree Maker Users blog, in Are You Ready for the 1940 Census, did this today in Family Tree Maker 2012 showing all of his steps in the process.

In this post, I'm going to show my steps in the same process using RootsMagic 5. I had a problem, though.  I wasn't smart enough (or the program won't do it...) to figure out how to select a set of persons and then apply the filters.  Ideally, what I want to do is:

1)  Select all of my ancestral families (say back 7 generations) including their collateral lines.

2)  Filter out those that were born before, say, 1840.

3)  Filter out those that died before 1941.

4)  Filter out those that were born after 1940.

I could do the first step using the "Mark Group" filter, but couldn't use the "Unmark Group" to find the ones that satisfied the last three steps.  

The process I eventually used was to consider the entire database and apply steps 2) 3) and 4) to the entire database.

Here are some screen shots for this:

1)  In RootsMagic 5, I went to Reports (top menu line) and selected Custom Reports.  The Custom Report box opened:

On the Custom Report screen (above), I clicked on the "New" button and defined four Custom Report columns - for Name, Spouse Name, Birth Date and Death Date.  

2)  I hit OK, gave the Report a name, and then clicked on the Report name (left-hand column of the Custom Report screen) and in the "People to Include" dropdown menu, chose "Select from list."  

3)  That opened the "Select People" screen, and I clicked on the "Mark Group" list.  

4)  On the dropdown menu, I picked "Select people by data fields":

On the "Search for Information" screen, I created three filters:

*  Birth date is after 1840
*  and Birth date is before 1941
*  and Death date is after 1940

5)  I clicked on the "OK" button and after several seconds saw that I had 1731 people in my database that fit my filter criteria:

6)  After clicking "OK," I then selected "Generate Report" on the "Custom Report" screen and saw my 40 page report:

You may be wondering:

*  Why I added the Spouse's name to the report:  Because females are listed in this report by their maiden name, and I couldn't figure out how to get a married name in 1940 into the report.  The report lists all of the spouses.  An embellishment might be to add the marriage year also.  

*  Are names of persons outside of the USA are included?  They are in my list above.  A filter for "and Birth place contains United States" works, and reduces the list to 1429 persons.  But it then excludes any person not born in the United States.

*  Does the file you created include persons who might be dead in 1940 for whom you don't know the death date?  No, because I specified I had to have a death date after 1940.  I tried changing the death filter to "and death date is blank" and I got 4472 persons.  

*  Does the file you created contain persons who might have died after 1940 for whom you don't have a death date.  No, it doesn't, because I specified I had to have a death date after 1940.  A solution for these last two problems might be to eliminate the death year filter altogether.  That resulted in a file with 8144 persons, including many for whom I have a death date before 1940.  

*  Does your file include persons not related to you?  Yes, it does, because I "collect" families with the Seaver, Carringer, Auble, Vaux, Buck and Dill surnames.  I will need those for my 1940 searches.

One solution for the first search is to create a new RootsMagic file for only the persons I want - the ancestral families and their descendants, say for the past 7 generations.  I could create a database for only descendants of my fourth great-grandparents to solve this.

Unfortunately, there is no magic formula here for finding "Who was in the 1940 U.S. Census."  Searches like this make my brain hurt...the software does exactly what you tell it to do - not what you want it to do.  

If readers have suggestions for how to do the first search (mark a group of persons, then unmark using filters) I would love to have them.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/making-list-of-persons-alive-in-1940-us.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Use Find-A-Grave for Cemetery Records

This week's Tuesday's Tip is to:  Use the Find-A-Grave website (www.findagrave.com) to find information about deceased persons.

This one seems so obvious to many researchers, doesn't it?  The Find-A-Grave site has over 76 million memorials on it now, and is growing at a fast rate - up to a million additions per month.  To search the site, the user has to click on the "Search 76 million grave records" link in the right-hand column.  


The user can search by name (first, middle, last), by location (country, state, county) or by memorial number.  Searches can be filtered by birth date, death date or date added to the database (up to 90 days).


First names can be partial (e.g., "will" finds "william," "willard," "willis," etc) but last names have to be exact.  No wild card characters are permitted.


The list of matches for a name search provides the name, the birth and death dates, the cemetery name (linked) and cemetery location.  There is a gravestone icon if a gravestone photo is attached to the person, and a flower icon if another photo is attached to it.  The actual inscription on the stone is provided in many memorials.  Sometimes there are links to memorials for other family members.  Occasionally, an obituary from a newspaper is provided.


To find all of the persons with the same surname, click on the cemetery name and then search for the surname.  


Find-A-Grave is, in my opinion, the best site for finding birth and death dates for persons born before vital record reporting was required in many states.  


I have been "mining" Seaver persons on Find-A-Grave for my database.  For the "seaver" surname, there are currently 1,652 memorials on Find-A-Grave.  I've gone through the first 400 entries so far (through the first names starting with A through D), but I've been checking each cemetery in the process, so I have collected 50% to 60% of the Seaver entries so far.   


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/tuesdays-tip-use-find-grave-for.html


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver.

I'm On It, But Not In It.

No, it's not a riddle.  It's the 1940 United States Census.  I am not old enough to be IN the census listings (I'll be in the 1950 Census, though when it's released in April 2022).

But I'm ON the case for Indexing the 1940 United States census.  I signed up to do FamilySearch Indexing on Saturday, and have indexed about 8 pages of the 1871 England and Wales Census.

I signed up to be a 1940 Census Blog Ambassador also on the www.the1940census.com website too.

If you want to be a 1940 census blog ambassador, please go to the site and sign up, receive the acceptance email, and go from there.

I will write more about the people I hope to find in the 1940 U.S. Census in the coming weeks.  There are only 35 days until we will be able to access the images on the National Archives website (http://1940census.archives.gov).  That site has this short video about the 1940 U.S. Census:





Enjoy!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/im-on-it-but-not-in-it.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

More on Conclusion-Based and Evidence-Based Genealogy

Following up the discussion last week about this topic, I recommend interested readers to check out these blog posts:

1)  Michael Hait on his Planting the Seeds blog:

*  What is a conclusion? -- this posted started the present round, and there are many excellent comments.  Michael noted that:

"If you accept that every fact is a conclusion, then it should follow that every fact is subject to the Genealogical Proof Standard, and all that it entails."

*  Simple and complex genealogical conclusions -- here is a model for when to perform a proof argument.  Michael says:

"A simple conclusion is a straightforward statement of indisputable fact.

"A complex conclusion, by contrast, is a conclusion based on a proof summary or a proof argument."

I like the definitions!  

2)  Tim Forsythe on his Ancestors Now blog:

*  Evidence-based Genealogy vs. Conclusion-based Genealogy -- Tim defines the terms and discusses his Evidence-based practices.  Tim notes:

"Evidence-based genealogists (EBGs), like myself, don’t add claims to their database unless there is some evidence to support the claim. Generally this evidence comes in the form of sources. EBGs will add their sources and claims as soon as they become available, all times being relative. This approach will lead to multiple and duplicate claims for individuals even for claims which are considered single-occurrence-events (SOEs), such as a birth date or a death date. Obviously, these claims cannot all be factual, but, since EBGs are not focused on a conclusion model, this is not an obstacle.

"Conclusion-based genealogists (CBGs), which make up the bulk, take a different approach. They gather all their sources together of a period of time, and when they feel comfortable with making a conclusion based on the sum of their data, they will enter only those claims for which they have made conclusions, into their database with their supporting sources. Using this approach, the database will usually not contain multiple claims for SOEs."

*  In Where To File Your Well Thought Out Genealogy Conclusions -- Tim has a fascinating example of embedding a document into a genealogy database.  He says:

"I couldn’t agree more. Although I would propose that that full report that you painstakingly developed should remain with the data it analyzes rather than be separated from it, only to be lost among your files. Have you SEEN my files!"

*  Certainty Assessments -- Tim categorizes the certainty of his evidence using ten criteria.  He notes:

"Genealogy, fundamentally, is nothing more than a set of claims made by sources about individuals. Certainty assessments are used to rank those claims by their likelihood of certainty. Ancestors Now supports 10 levels of certainty assessment. "

The list is helpful to me, and the discussion, because it assigns a logical quantity, but it is still subjective.  

I found Tim Forsythe's examples of a person profile in http://ancestorsnow.com/tree/tjforsythe/profile_I128.php (from his comment on Russ's post) and his source-based evidence in http://ancestorsnow.com/tree/tjforsythe/sources_S51.php#claims.I greatly admire Tim's work - read his entire site and add his blog to your blog reader.

3)  Russ Worthington wrote When to enter data into your Genealogy Software? on his A Worthington Weblog blog.  This has lots of excellent observations and comments.

I said before that I was a "Conclusion-based genealogist" because I want to fill in as many fields as I can in my genealogy management program, adding one or more source citations to these conclusions.  However, I am making the effort to collect as much evidence as possible as I research, with sources noted.   When I have evidence conflicts, I try to write about each piece of evidence, provide the source, and its quality, in my General Notes, and describe my conclusions (whether simple or complex). That way, it "goes along" with my GEDCOM file (I'm really not sure that Research Notes or a Research Log gets transferred in a GEDCOM file between all of the programs or online trees that I frequent.  note to self:  Investigate this!).  When there are evidence conflicts, I haven't yet figured out how to cite all of the evidence into the genealogy management program, other than as an "Alternate Fact" in the programs I use.  

I hope that a reader, or another genealogy blogger, will describe in some detail their process for entering data into their genealogy management program in an "Evidence-based" way.  I'm curious about it, and I'm sure that many of my readers are also curious about the process.  

Thank you to Michael, Tim, Russ and the commenters for adding to this discussion.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/more-on-conclusion-based-and-evidence.html  

Copyright (c) Randall j. Seaver, 2012.

Amanuensis Monday - Deed of Elizabeth H. Smith to Lucy Butterfield in Medfield in 1841.

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is the deed for land in Medfield, Massachusetts sold by Elizabeth H. Smith, widow of Alpheus B. Smith  (1802-1840) to Lucy Butterfield.  This deed is in:

Norfolk County (Massachusetts) Register of Deeds, "Land Records - Deeds, 1793-1890," Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, on 373 microfilm reels.  Volume 139, Page 109 (accessed on FHL US/CAN Microfilm 841833), Deed, Elizabeth H. Smith to Lucy Butterfield, dated 18 August 1841.

The transcription of the deed is (handwritten portions in italics):

Smith to Butterfield [in margin]

Know all men by these Presents that I Elizabeth H. Smith of Medfield in the County of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, widow, in consideration of one hundred Dollars, to be paid by Lucy Butterfield of Dedham in said County of Norfolk the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge have remised, released and forever quitclaimed and do for myself and my heirs by these presents, remise, release and forever quit claim unto the said Lucy Butterfield her heirs and assigns all my right title and interest to Dower in my late husbands estate as set off by Order of the Court of Probate, consisting of a house and barn with about three quarters of an acre of land and bounded northerly and easterly on land of the heirs of Elisha Clark Southwardly on the sold to said Lucy and Westwardly on the road leading from Medfield to Walpole.  

To Have and to Hold the afore mentioned premises, with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging to her the said Lucy Butterfield her heirs and assigns forever: so that neither I the said Elizabeth H. Smith nor my heirs or any other person or persons claiming from or under me or them or in the name right or stead of me or them, shall or will by any way or means have claim or demand any right or title to the aforesaid premises, or their appurtenances, or to any part or parcel thereof forever.

In witness whereof, I the said Elizabeth H. Smith have hereunto set my hand and seal this Eighteenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty one. 
                 her
Elizabeth H. Smith {seal}
                mark

Signed sealed and delivered in presence of us Hinsdale Fisher 

Norfolk SS, Sept. 23 1842.  Then the above named Elizabeth H. Smith and acknowledged the above instrument to be her free act and deed before me.  Jona. P. Bishop Just of Peace, 

Jany 2 1843. Recd: Entered & Examined, By Enos Foord, Reg.

In this deed, Elizabeth H. Smith, widow of Alpheus B. Smith sells her portion (her widow's third of the property) to Lucy Butterfield.  The next deed in the record book, at the bottom of this page, sells the remainder of the estate.  I will transcribe that deed next week.

Last week I posted Amanuensis Monday - Deed of Alpheus B. Smith to Simeon Richardson in Medfield in 1834.  I believe that the land sold in 1834 was adjacent to the land sold in 1841 to Lucy Butterfield.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/amanuensis-monday-deed-of-elizabeth-h.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

CVGS Program on Wednesday, 29 February: Key Moments in Chula Vista History

The February program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) will feature Dr. Steven E. Schoenherr speaking on "Key Moments in Chula Vista History."


The program will be held on Wednesday, 29 February, at 12 noon in the Auditorium at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street, Chula Vista).  There will be a short business meeting prior to the presentation.


The program will focus at "Key Moments in Chula Vista History" from the city's origin in the 1886 vision of Col. Dickinson to the city's great leap in size with the 1985 Montgomery annexation.  Dr. Schoenherr recently authored the book Chula Vista Centennial: A Century of People and Progress to celebrate Chula Vista's Centennial.


Dr. Steven E. Schoenherr was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and earned his B.A. in History at Indiana University and his Ph.D. in History at the University of Delaware. He moved to San Diego in 1977 and taught in the Department of History at the University of San Diego from 1977 to 2007.


Schoenherr wrote his dissertation on Stephen Early, FDR's press secretary, and has written articles on Bing Crosby, Jane Addams, and the transistor radio; another project was a web page for the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the History of Sound Recording. He also produced a DVD history of the National Security Agency for Spyfest '03, a DVD set of films and images for the Hearst Symposium '05, and a DVD collection of Universal Newsreels from 1929 to 1967, including a 6-disc set on the World War II era.


Some of Dr. Schoenherr's publications have been multimedia productions, including video documentaries on San Diego's Gaslamp District and the Villa Montezuma; his World War II Seminar at the University of San Diego involved teams of students and produced the World War II Timeline website.


Now retired, Schoenherr recently co-authored a book on the history of Bonita for Arcadia's “Images of America” series. His article on “National City In Pictures” was published in the Journal of San Diego History, Summer 2008.


If you have a copy of Dr. Schoenherr's book, he will be happy to autograph it for you.  If you wish to purchase a copy of the Chula Vista Centennial book, please bring your checkbook.


Please note that entry to the Auditorium will be ONLY through the main doors off of the South entrance to the Library.  There will be no entry through the Conference Room door off of the East entrance to the library.


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/cvgs-program-on-wednesday-29-february.html


Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012