I'm Presenting at Orange County Genealogical Society on Saturday, 7 April

I will be making two presentations at the Orange County, California, Genealogical Society (OCCGS) meeting on Saturday, 7 April, starting at 11 a.m.  The OCCGS meeting is  in meeting room C & D at the Huntington Beach Central Library, 7111 Talbert Ave. Huntington Beach,  California.  The general meeting starts at 10 a.m., with the first speaker presentation at 11 a.m. and the second speaker presentation at 12:30 p.m.

The summary for the two presentations are:

1)  “Finding Your Elusive Ancestor:  The Genealogical Proof Standard, and Doing a Reasonably Exhaustive Search”

 Are you familiar with the five elements of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)?   It deals with information, sources, evidence, analysis and proof, and was developed by the Board for Certification of  Genealogists (BCG).  It is the "standard" methodology for professionals proving assertions of genealogical facts.  In this presentation, Randy Seaver will describe the processes used to work with the GPS, especially the first element of the GPS, "to do a reasonably exhaustive search." He will take a whirlwind tour through traditional and online resources that should be included in a search, and discuss his favorite search strategies and techniques.

2)  “Finding My Elusive Ancestor:  Devier J. Smith Case Study

 In this presentation, Randy Seaver will describe his Case Study of his favorite elusive ancestor, Devier J. Smith, that illustrates the concepts of the GPS, and doing a Reasonably Exhaustive Search.

If you have some free time on Saturday, I would love to meet you at the OCCGS meeting in Huntington Beach!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/im-presenting-at-orange-county-genealogical.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - Carringer 1940 US Census Page

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to reveal another gem in my treasure chest of genealogy and family history.

This week's treasure is the 1940 United States Census page with my mother, grandparents, and three of my great-grandparents on the page.

This is Sheet 16-B in Enumeration district 62-63A in San Diego city, San Diego County, California (accessed on www.ancestry.com).

1)  Lines 51 and 52 provide information about my great-grandparents, Henry Austin and Abbie Della Carringer, who resided at 2115 30th Street (dwelling #426, home owned, worth $5000):

The information for them includes:

*  Henry Austin Carringer - Head of household, male, white, age 87, married, 6 years of school, born Pennsylvania, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, Unable to work, occupation is millwright, mechanic, and Industry is US Army (Retired), earned $1060 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.

*  Abbie Della Carringer (provided information) - Wife, female, white, age 78, married, 4 years of high school, born Wisconsin, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, did Housework, occupation is housewife, industry is runs home, earned $0 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.

2)  Lines 70 to 73 provide information about my mother, my grandparents, and another great-grandmother, who resided at 2130 Fern Street (dwelling #444, home owned, worth $6000):





The information for them includes:

*  Lyle L. Carringer - Head of household, male, white, age 48, married, 4 years of high school, born California, lived in same house in 1935, worked the last week of March 1940, occupation is office clerk, Industry is Retail Dep[artmen]t Store, worked 52 weeks in 1939, earned $1475 in 1939, did not make over $50 in other income.

*  Emily K. Carringer (provided information) - Wife, female, white, age 41, married, attended school in March 1940, 3 years of high school, born Illinois, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, had a job, occupation is clerical & saleslady, Industry is Retail Dep[artmen]t Store, worked 52 weeks in 1939, earned $269 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.

*  Betty Z. Carringer - Daughter, female, white, age 20, single, attended school in March 1940, 4 years of college, born California, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940,  in School, occupation is student art clerk, Industry is College, worked 6 weeks in 1939, earned $100 in 1939, made over $50 in other income.

*  Georgia K. Auble - Mother in law, female, white, age 71, widowed, 4 years of high school, born Ontario, Naturalized citizen, lived in same house in 1935, did not work the last week of March 1940, did Housework, occupation is housewife, Industry is own home, earned $0 in 1939,  made over $50 in other income.

The only obvious error I see in this information is my mother's middle initial - it should be V rather than Z.  How did that happen?  :Probably an enumerator error hearing it - V sounds like Z.

The census enumerator noted the occupation and industry provided by the informant, but someone crossed out the "non-standard" information.  The codes OA and NP were written on these lines by the enumerator, and then crossed out by someone.

The really interesting information is the home values, the education levels, the occupations, and the income.  In addition I did not know that Georgia Auble was a naturalized citizen - perhaps it was by marriage to Charles Auble in 1898.

My source citation for the Henry Carringer household is:

"1940 United States Federal Census," San Diego County, California,  population schedule, San Diego: Enumeration District 62-63A, Sheet 16-B, Dwelling #426, Henry Austin Carringer household; online images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 April 2012), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T627, Roll  451.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/treasure-chest-thursday-carringer-1940.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

1940 U.S. Census Release Infographic

I just received this Infographic about the 1940 U.S. Census release from Archives.com:




It seems like a massive task, doesn't it?

Thanks to Julie Hill of Archives.com for the Infographic.

Recent Genealogy Webinars Available Online

There are a number of webinars on genealogical topics currently available for free on the Internet.  There are others available for a price - either on CD or online for a fee.  The current offerings from the last month include:

1)  RootsMagic (www.rootsmagic.com/webinars/) are all FREE to view:

*  1940 U.S. Census Webinars (2 April, and 3 April so far, more to come) - see http://www.rootsmagic.com/Webinars/1940Census/

2)  Legacy Family Tree (www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp):

*  Navigating the 1940 U.S. census by Thomas MacEntee (on CD for a fee)

*  Navigating the new Census Tools in Legacy Family Tree by Geoff Rasmussen (free to view indefinitely)

*  DNA Research for Genealogists: Beyond the Basics by Ugo Perego (free to view until 2 May, then on a CD for a fee)

*  Obituaries: Clues to Look For. Tips for making sure you get the full benefit from an obituary notice by Tom Kemp (free to view indefinitely).

*  Digital Writing Tools for Genealogists by Lisa Alzo (free to view until 10 April 2012, then on a CD for a fee).

*  The Pursuit from Genealogy Hobbyist to Professional by John Kitzmiller and Claire Brisson-Banks (free to view indefinitely)

3)  Michael John Neill has a number of recorded webinars listed at http://rootdig.blogspot.com/2012/04/updated-list-of-recorded-webinars.html.  His offerings all can be downloaded for a fee (typically $8 each).  The recent topics include The 1940 census, the Genealogical Proof Standard for the Non-Professional, Proving Benjamin, Female Ancestors, The Probate Process - An Overview, Using Fold3.com, and many more.
You can see which webinars are upcoming on the GeneaWebinars site - see the Calendar at http://blog.geneawebinars.com/p/calendar.html

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/recent-genealogy-webinars-available.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

1940 Census Scorekeepers

There are several genealogy bloggers keeping score on the 1940 United States Census imaging and indexing efforts.

*  The Ancestry Insider (http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com) has a daily list of the imaging progress by state for each image provider.  See #1940Census Status Update for 3 April 2012 for yesterday's status.


*  Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog is keeping a scorecard also by image provider - see 1940 Census Status Update: Where to Find Records for the State You Need for today's summary.


1)  The Census Image provider status, as of 10 a.m. PDT today, is:


*  MyHeritage.com has images for all of the states and territories available at http://www.myheritage.com/1940census.  The user has to provide the State and Enumeration District in order to browse, save or print the images.

*  The National Archives/Archives.com has images for all of the states and territories available at http://1940census.archives.gov.  The user has to provide the State and Enumeration District in order to browse, save or print the images.

*  Ancestry.com  has images for 30 states and territories (out of 57) available at http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2442.  The user has to provide the State and Enumeration District in order to browse, save or print the images.

*  FamilySearch.org has images for 8 states and territories (out of 57) (Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia) available at https://www.familysearch.org/1940census/.  The user has to provide the State and County and then pick the Enumeration District in order to browse, save or print the images.

2)  The Census Indexing provider status, as of 10 a.m. PDT today, is:

*  MyHeritage.com has an index for Bristol County in Rhode Island (see http://www.myheritage.com/1940census)

*  FamilySearch.org is working on indexes for the 8 states with images available  and for 2 more states (Louisiana, Mississippi) (from list of FamilySearch Indexing batches available to index).  You can see the indexing progress by clicking on the State at  https://www.familysearch.org/1940census/.

*  Ancestry.com has not reported any Indexing statistics.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/1940-census-scorekeepers.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 199: Dad's Favorite Females

 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: 

The persons in this photograph are (from left), Betty V. (Carringer) Seaver (my mother), Frederick W. Seaver (my father) and Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (my paternal grandmother, Fred's mother).  At this time, Betty was age 39, Fred was age 47, and Bess was age 76.


This picture was taken in the summer of 1958 when my grandmother, her daughter (Evelyn (Seaver) Wood), Evelyn's husband (Walter H. Wood) and Evelyn's granddaughter (Diana) visited San Diego.  The setting was in the back yard of the Marshall and Dorothy (Taylor) Chamberlain home at 4601 Terrace Drive in San Diego.  Dorothy was the daughter of Emily (Richmond) Taylor, Alma Bessie's sister.


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-199.html


Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

My Father in the 1940 U.S. Census

I used the www.MyHeritage.com/1940census FREE website to find the 1940 United States Census image of my father, Frederick W. Seaver.  Here is the image:

The source citation for this image is:

"1940 United States Federal Census (Images)," Worcester County, Massachusetts, population schedule, Leominster: Enumeration District 14-160, Sheet 6-B, Household Number 113, Bowers A. Fisher household; online images, MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com, accessed 3 April 2012), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T627, Roll 1651.

My father, Frederick W. Seaver, is on line 47, a brother-in-law to the head-of-household, Bowers A. Fisher (actually Fischer).  Frederick is male, white, age 28, single, not in school, completed 1 year of college.  He was born Massachusetts, and resided in the same place in 1935.  He was at work the last week of march, worked 40 hours the last week of March, with an occupation is a Loan Bank Corp, in the Investigator industry.  He worked 50 weeks during 1939, and earned $1500 in 1939.

The Bowers A. Fisher family resided at 918 Main Street in Leominster; the home is worth $5800.  He was on line 44, the head of household, male, white, age 33, married, not in school, completed 4 years of college.  He was born in Massachusetts, and resided in the same place in 1935.  He was at work the last week of March, and worked 33 hours that week with an occupation of Banker, in the Savings Bank industry.  He worked 50 weeks during 1939, and earned $1700 in 1939.

Ruth S. Fisher was on line 45, Wife, female, white, age 32, married, not in school, completed 4 years of college.  She was born in Massachusetts, and resided in the same place in 1935.  She was not at work the last week of March, and was engaged in housework that week.  Her occupation was Housework in the Housekeeping industry.  She worked 0 weeks during 1939, and earned $0 in 1939, but made over $50 income from other than salary and wages.

Judith Fisher, on line 46, Daughter, female, white, age 5, single, not in school, born in Massachusetts and resided in the same place in 1935.

The family story has always been that my father lived with his sister, Ruth (Seaver) Fischer, during 1940 and did odd jobs around the home for room and board.  This record seems to indicate that the story has a factual basis.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/my-father-in-1940-us-census.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Steve Morse 1940 Census Site Takes You to NARA Census Images

I hope that you are all using the Steve Morse Unified 1940 Census ED Finder (http://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html) to find Enumeration Districts where your target families lived in the 1940 Census time.  My process is to:

1)  Find the address in a 1940-era City Directory (Ancestry.com has many!), family paper, or other resource.

2)  Check Google Maps (maps.google.com) to identify the block with that address (note the cross streets and back street).  If you cannot find the address on Google Maps, then use the NARA Enumeration District Maps.

3)  Use the Steve Morse Unified 1940 Census ED Finder to obtain the Enumeration District number.

4)  Once the Enumeration District is identified by number, you can click on the ED number on the Steve Morse site to go directly to the set of Enumeration district images on the National Archives 1940 Census site.

I just did this for my wife's parents in San Francisco:

After finding their address in a 1940 San Francisco Voter Registration directory on Ancestry.com (1295 15th Avenue), I looked on Google Maps and found the address.  The cross streets are Lincoln Way, Irving, and the back street is 16th Avenue.

Here is the Steve Morse Unified 1940 Census ED Finder page with the data filled in (two screens, some overlap):

The Steve Morse website found the ED;  it is 38-377 in San Francisco.  If I click on the "More Details" button, I can find the Roll Number for this ED.

On the Morse site, as shown above, the ED number is a hot link (in blue, underlined).  There are three radio buttons in the box just below the ED number.  They are for "1940 Census Pages;" "1940 ED Description;" or "1940 Streets in ED."  I left the "1940 census Pages" clicked, and clicked on the ED Number.  The link took me to the first page of the Enumeration District images on the NARA 1940 Census website (but the URL is still on the Morse site):

From this page, I can browse through the specific page (scroll up/down, scroll right/left), print, or download the page image (or the ED set of images).  I can advance to the next or previous page, or to a specific image.  Here is what I found on the 3rd image:

I don't see a way to zoom in or out on this image, or from within the Steve Morse site.

I get a BONUS!  EUREKA!  Edna Leland, my wife's mother, is on Line 29 on this form, which was a Sampling line on this form.

Joel Weintraub mentioned this feature at our CVGS program meeting last Wednesday, and again last night on DearMYRTLE's webinar.   This was my first chance to use it!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/steve-morse-1940-census-site-takes-you.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Interesting Infographic Compares 1940 and 2010 Census Information

I received this infographic about the 1940 and 2010 Census from Muhammed Saleem today:


Via: Home Insurance Guide

MyHeritage 1940 Census Site Problems?

Are there problems on the MyHeritage 1940 U.s. Census site (http://www.myheritage.com/1940census).


After I posted Using the MyHeritage 1940 U.S. Census Images last hour, I went back to do more searching.  Here is the screen I saw:

The Zoom icons and the left and right Page arrows have disappeared from the top of the image.

Without those page navigation tools, the site is useless.

Two Genea-Musings readers have emailed me about this also.  Refreshing the site doesn't work.  Reloading the site doesn't work.

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

UPDATED:  Looks like the problem is fixed as of 11 a.m. PDT today.