Tuesday's Tip - Check Out Ontario Records on FamilySearch

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Look for Ontario ancestral records in the FamilySearch Record Collections.

There are 8 collections for Ontario records in the FamilySearch Record Collections (put "Ontario" in the search box in the upper left-hand corner at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list).

The available collections  include:

*  Ontario Births, 1869-1912 (1,678,809 indexed records)

*  Ontario Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899 (454,979 indexed records)*

*  Ontario Census, 1861 (1,709,804 indexed records)

*  Ontario Deaths, 1869 -1930 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947 (2,050,112 indexed records)

*  Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927 (782,731 indexed records)

*  Ontario Marriages, 1800-1910 (28,441 indexed records)*

*  Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923 (browse images only, no index)

*  Ontario, Toronto Trust Cemeteries, 1826-1935 (57,610 indexed and imaged entries)

The two collections marked with an asterisk (*) are from the LDS International Genealogical index.  

Some of these collections are incomplete and will be added to as digitized records become available.

I have found that the Births, Marriages and Death records are very useful as finding aids for the actual records which are on FHL microfilm and, in some cases, are available on Ancestry.com (with a Canada or a World subscription).  For instance, here is a Birth Record for Alfred Francis Kemp (brother to my great-grandmother) from  Ontario Births, 1869-1912:

The record above provides an FHL microfilm number (US/CAN 1,545,399) for the actual record.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/tuesdays-tip-check-out-ontario-records.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Fixing My Folks in FamilySearch Family Tree - the Plan

I've been adding content to the FamilySearch Family Tree since February 2012 when I gained access to it, but have not devoted a lot of time to it.  I tried to add content back through my second or third great-grandparents using the RootsMagic interface with the FamilySearch Family Tree.

I need to go several more generations back adding persons, adding dates and places, adding sources, and correcting potential errors in the current tree.

I wondered how much work this would be, so I clicked through my part of the FamilySearch Family Tree to see if there are obvious errors past my second great-grandparents.  There seem to be plenty of differences between my research and somebody else's in the Family Tree!  Here are the screen shots of the Tree going back to my 4th great-grandparents (one for each of my second great-grands):

1)  The Seaver-Smith second great-grandparent branch:

I have performed significant "surgery" on the Seaver part of the tree already.  The names and years in the third-and fourth-great-grandparents are correct, except for the wife of Thomas Dill - she should be Hannah Horton.  And I now have birth-death years for that family.

2)  The Hildreth-Newton second great-grandparent branch:

I see two errors in the 4th great-grandparent generation that will require major surgery and discussion:

*  Zachariah Hildreth's (1783-1857) parents are Zachariah Hildreth and Elizabeth Keyes (not Abigail Hart, who was a second wife to the father Zachariah).
*  Hannah Sawtell's (1789-1857) parents should be Josiah Sawtell and Hannah Smith, not Simeon Sawtell and Abigail Cory.

3)  The Richman-Rich second great-grandparent branch:

The Tree has parents for John Richman (1788-1867) that I don't have - the Tree says they are John Richman and Jane Child.  I don't have that information, and I will be really interested to see if there is supporting information for that family.  I have parents for Rebecca Hill also that can be added.

4)  The White-Oatley second great-grandparent branch:

The name "Mary" Champlin (1797-1863) married to Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872) is wrong - it should be Amy Champlin, but it has Amy's parents listed.  Some surgery is necessary here.

5)  The Carringer-Spangler second great-grandparent branch:

In this branch, I have parents for both Sarah Feather and Elizabeth King, so I can add those people fairly easily (until I find duplicates!).

6)  The Lamphear Smith-Vaux second great-grandparent branch:

The Smith Lamphear-Vaux branch looks pretty good - since I don't know Devier Lamphear Smith's birth parents because he was adopted.

7)  The Auble-Knapp second great-grandparent branch:

The Auble-Knapp branch looks pretty good so far.

8)  The Kemp-Sovereen second-great-grandparent branch:

The Kemp-Sovereen branch looks pretty good too.  I can add a surname for Sarah, wife of John Putman.

What to do next:

So there is some major surgery, and probably quite a bit of minor surgery, to be done on my little part of the tree, based on the evidence that I've gleaned over the years from record collections, and the conclusions I've drawn from that evidence.  For each person (and family members) in the tree, I need to:

*  Merge duplicate persons when necessary.
*  Remove erroneous relationships.
*  Clean up duplicate Events for persons.
*  Add Events and Relationships as required (I'll use RootsMagic for this)
*  Add source documents that support my conclusions  (I can use FamilySearch Source Box, but need to be able to add scanned records too - I can't do this now).
*  Add source citations for Events that support my conclusions (this is difficult to do now... I want an automated process using software programs)
*  Add discussion of conclusions when necessary (I need to be disciplined with this)
*  Add research notes for the persons (not yet implemented; I want an automated process to do this)

This may take awhile just for my ancestral families back to the 4th-great-grandparents!  For many of these lines, I have data back to the late 16th century.  I think this will take me awhile just to do my own ancestral families...I'm not about to do anybody else's in the near future!

 How does your little branch on the FamilySearch Family Tree look?  Are all of your ancestors correct back to the 4th great-grandparents?  And are the collateral lines correct?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/fixing-my-folks-in-familysearch-family.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Isaac Learned (1624-1657) of Chelmsford, Mass.

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme several years 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 probate file of Isaac Learned (1624-1657) of Chelmsford, Mass.  Isaac married Mary Stearns (1627-1664) in 1646 in Woburn, Mass. and they had six children:  Mary Learned (1647-????); Hannah Learned (1649-????); William Learned (1650-1684); Sarah Learned (1653-1695); Isaac Learned (1655-1737); Benoni Learned (1657-1738).  Mary (Stearns) Learned married (2) John Burge in 1662, and she died in 1664.

Isaac Learned died intestate in late 1657.  His widow, Mary Learned, and her father Isaac Stearns, were appointed administrators of the estate by the Court on 6 April 1658.  His probate records can be found in Middlesex County [Mass.] Probate Records, Packet 13,855 (original papers accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,416,791, transcriptions by Randy Seaver).

An inventory of the estate of "Isack Larnet of Chelmsford deceased the 7th day of the tenth month 1657" was made on 18 December 1657 by James Blood, James Parker and William Fletcher.  The estate totalled 187 pounds, 18 shillings, 6 pence.   The real estate included a dwelling house upland and meadow (80 pounds).  The personal estate included his apparel, one mare, one colt, three young steers, four cows, one heifer, two oxen, one ewe and two weathers, six young swine, one cart, one harrow, one plow with yokes and chains, one Costlet and Arms, household goods, hay, wheat, corne, beds and bedding, debt due from the estate of Edward Chamberlain (5 pounds 12 shillings 6 pence), and one servant (4 pounds).  The estate was indebted to David Frishall for 2 pounds, 10 shillings.

"Mary the widow of the above named Isake Learnett deceased and Isacke Sternes, her father, appearing before the Court at Cambr: 6 (2mo) 58, attested upon oath that this is a true inventory of the estate of the said Isaake Learned at his descease, according to their present knowledge, and that if any more doth appeare they will discover the same so as to be added here unto."  The Court granted them joint administration of the estate.

A proposal for the division of the estate of "Isacke Lernetts" was made, approved and allowed by the Court on 1 April 1662:

"A proposall for the division of Isacke Learnetts estate as followeth

"vizt.  To his widow 1/3 of the whole to be taken out of the moveables, to his Children the remainder. the eldest sonne having a double porton.

"The children and portions to remayne with their mother, and as they grow of age to be pd their portions.  The House and fences to be kept in repayre at the charge of the incumbant and in such repayre to be delivered to the Children, inevetable causaulty by fire of the Houseing excepted.

Izak  Sterne
his mark
John Burg  Mary  Larned
her mark"

On 1 April 1662, the Court ordered the division of the estate:

"This Court doth order that the Inventory of the estate of Isacke Learnett deceased lately at Chelmsford, be divided between Mary his relict widow, and the children of the said Isacke in manner as followeth, vizt.

"To his widow one third part of the sd estate, and the same to be taken out of the moveables, unto his Children the remainder, the eldest Sonne to have a double portion, and the other Children equally. Also this Court do further order that the said children with their portions do remayne with their mother, and as they grow of age to be payd their portions, the Houses and fences to be kept in repayre at the Charges of the incumbant and in such repayre to be delivered to the Children, inevitable causalty by fire, of the Houseing excepted.

Margin note:  "by age is to be understood 18 for girles 21 for Boyes."

"This Divission of the sd estate, and order of the Court concerning the same is consented unto by the grand father of the sd children, Isacke Sternes of Water Towne and by Mary Learned, the relict of the sd Isacke deceased, and Jno. Burg: who is in treaty of mariage with Her: as by a writeing on file exhibted to this Court under all their Hands doth fully appeare."

On 23 September 1673, the estate was divided:

"To the Honored Court at Cambridge sittinge on ye 7th day of Octob. 1673 23 of 7m 1673
According to order of the Honored County Court at Cambridge sitting April 4th 1671, we whose Names are subscribed have endevored the divission of the Remainder of the Estate of Isaak Lernet deceased Lying in Chelmsford, as followeth, propounded as the Result of or best thought respecting the sd. Concernes:

"Impris  To Wm Lernet, the eldest son:  Two pts of 6, viz. The housen Oarchard, & Houselott Apprised by us 25.10.00
It On sd pte of ye River Meddow, joyning to his house lott  10.00.00
It Three Acres & a halfe Meddow lying in Robbins Hill Meddow - Joyning to Moses Barrons on ye North  07.16.08
Tot.  43.06.08

"Imprs  To Isaak & Benoni Lernet, Two other pts of ye sixe
Thirty Acres of upland & Seaven Acres of Meddow Lying at Greate Tadny  15.00.00
It  Halfe the broken upland in New-field joyning to Samuel Fletchers lott  06.00.00
It  Eighteene Acres of Upland lying in ye pine plaine  09.00.00
A third pte of River Meddow Adjoyning to John Blanchier, South  10.00.00
It  Two Acres of Meddow in Robbins Hill Meddow, adjoyning unto William Lernets Meddow  03.06.08
Tot.  43.06.08

"To Mary, a daughter: now wife to Moses Barron & Sarah Lernet - Two other pts of the sixe
Imps  Halfe the broken up land in the new field, adjoyning to Josias Richardson his lott  06.00.00
It  Eight Acres of upland lying South & west of the Mill highway  12.00.00
It  Six Acres upland adjoyning to River Meddow  04.10.00
It  Farlies Meddow & Round Meddow  08.00.00
It  One third of the River Meddow, Lying betweene the former specified Meddowe of William & Isaak  10.00.00
One Acre & halfe of Robbin Hils Meddow, adjoyning to Thomas Barrets Meddow on north-west  02.16.08
Tot.  43.06.08

"We being not certeyne of the exact quantity of the sayd Robbins Hill Meddow doe intend that if there arise any more meddow of it, then seaven Acres the Residue should be Equally divided to the three ptes.  Further we doe allow equall portions of Towne rights & priviledges unto the sayd three ptes.  We allow to Hannah, a daughter, the wife of Joseph Farwell, in the hands of Moses Barron  03.10.10

"Tho: Henchman William Fletcher."  

If this estate had been divided soon above the death of Isaac Learned, we might not know the names of his children from this probate file.  Because the division occurred in 1673, 15 years after Isaac's death and 10 years after his wife's death, we know the married names of two of his daughters - Mary (Learned) Barron, wife of Moses Barron, and Hannah (Learned) Farwell, and learn that the other four children are alive in 1673.  My ancestry is thorugh both Mary (Learned) Barron and Hannah (Learned) Farwell.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/amanuensis-monday-probate-records-of.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 4 to 10 November 2012

Hundreds of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

*  Ken Chahine Answers My Questions and Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Information about AncestryDNA by CeCe Moore on the Your Genetic Genealogist blog.  More light is shed on the AncestryDNA autosomal test.

*  Serious Genealogical Research with an iPad? (Part 3), and (Part 4) by Ruth Stephens on Ruth's Genealogy Blog.  Ruth continues her series highlighting how she uses her iPad for genealogical research.

*  CROWD SOURCING Anna Jean Bennett - Can You Help? by Diane Beumenot on the One Rhode Island Family blog.  Diane needs research advice and help with this problem - check it out!

*  Mocavo's New Yearbook Collection Not All Really Theirs? by Taneya on Taneya's Genealogy Blog.  Good questions and observations by Taneya, I hope she gets answers.

* Ask Ancestry Anne: My Father Was In the Navy, But Where?  by Anne Mitchell on the Sticky Notes blog.  Anne finds a wealth of records in response to a reader's question.

*  Citing As You Go - What About Email? by Russ Worthington on the Family Tree Maker User blog.  This is an excellent example for citing sources from email messages.

*  The 2012 Georgia Family History Expo, Day One by Valerie Craft on the Begin With 'Craft" blog.  Valerie reports on her Expo experience.

*  Making Find-A-Grave Better by Michele Simmons Lewis on the Ancestoring blog.  Michele reviews how users can improve Find-A-Grave.

*  2012 Georgia Family History Expo - Day 1 and Vendors by Linda McCauley on the Documenting the Details blog.  Linda reports on her Expo experience.

*  Classifying and Evaluating Evidence - Part 1 and Part 2: Learnings by Bart Brenner on the Brenner Genealogy blog.  Bart is applying research, analysis and conclusion techniques learned recently - good job!

These genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week: 

*  Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.

*  Monday Mentionables - October 29 - November 4, 2012 by Cyndi Beane Henry (Texicanwife) on the Mountain Genealogists blog.

*  Monday Recap for November 5, 2012 by Amanda on the Geni Blog.

*  Follow Friday - Fab Finds for November 9, 2012 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Genealogy News Corral, Nov. 5-9 by Beth on the Genealogy Insider blog.

*  From the Blogs, November 9 by Michael Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy blog.

*  Friday Finds - 11/09/12 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.

*  Weekly Genealogy Picks: Nov. 4-10 by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, RSS feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I am currently reading posts from over 1290 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/best-of-genea-blogs-4-to-10-november.html

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Who Is Your 3rd Most Recent Unknown Ancestor

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (where's my Mission Impossible music...drat, lost it), is:

1) Who is your TMRUA - your Third Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the third lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name. 

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don't you scan it again just to see if there's something you have missed? 

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your TMRUA?

4) Tell us about him or her, and your answers to 2) and 3) above, in a blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a comment on Facebook or Google Plus. 

NOTE:  We've done Most Recent Unknown Ancestors before - feel free to work down your list to someone you haven't written about before.

Here's mine:

My Most Recent Unknown Ancestor is #52, the father of my second great-grandfather, Devier James Lamphear Smith. I don't know Devier's father's given name or surname, although I suspect that the surname is Lamphear (Lanphear/Lamphier/Lamfear/Lamphere, etc.).  My Second Most Recent Unknown Ancestor (SMRUA) is #53, the mother of Devier James Lamphear Smith. I have no clue about her name!

My Third Most Recent Unknown Ancestor (TMRUA) is #76, the father of my third great-grandfather, Thomas J. Newton (ca 1795-after 1834).  I suspect that his surname is Newton.

2)  Here is what I know about Thomas J. Newton that may lead me to his parents names and ancestry:

Thomas J. Newton (ca 1795-after 1834) married in about 1832 to Sophia (Buck) Brigham (1797-1882, widow of Lambert Brigham (died 1830).  Thomas J. and Sophia (Buck) (Brigham) Newton had two children, Thomas J. Newton (1832-1915) and Sophia Newton (1834-1923).  The marriage records for the two children say that their father was born in Maine, and that they were born in Cambridge, Vermont (presumably the one in Lamoille County).  

There were two known Newton families in Maine before 1800 -

1)  Nathan and Anna (Brigham) Newton, who moved from Northborough MA in 1794 to Andover, Oxford County, ME.  They had a son Lambert Newton and a daughter Sophia Newton. The Brigham, Lambert and Sophia names coincide with those found in the family of Sophia Newton's mother. In addition, Sophia Buck's first husband was named Lambert Brigham.  The known children of this family appear in the Sudbury MA town records.  Anna (Brigham) Newton died in 1794, and Nathan married Dorothy Wood soon after, and she bore him nine more children, five of whom are in the Andover, Maine town records.

2)  Levi and Elizabeth (Woodward) Newton, who moved from Sutton MA in about 1786 and settled in Dixfield, Oxford County, Maine.  They had seven children between 1770 and 1787, including five sons who had children in Dixfield.  Almost all of the births of the children of the five sons are recorded in the Dixfield town records from 1802 onwards.  One of the sons, Jacob Newton, had a son Thomas J. Newton born in 1808, who died in 1852 in Reading, Massachusetts.  I don't think that this is the Thomas J. Newton that married Sophia (Buck) Brigham before 1832, but it is possible.

Of course, there may be other Newton families in Maine in the 1800 time frame!

I have searched Maine records, Vermont records, Massachusetts records and New Hampshire records (vital records, census, some land and probate records, Newton family books, town histories, etc) for Thomas J. Newton. There is not a clear record for Thomas J. Newton in the 1820, 1830 or 1840 census for Massachusetts, Vermont or Maine.

The Newton Genealogy by Ermina Newton Leonard has been perused for hours, trying to link Thomas J. Newton with a Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts family, with no success.

3)  There is more information about my Thomas J. Newton in Mystery Monday - Thomas J. Newton of Maine (19th century), Using the FAN Club Principle - Thomas J. Newton, Father of Sophia Newton (1834-1923) - Post 1 and - Post 2.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-who-is.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - BENNETT (England > Massachusetts)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  

I am in the 7th great-grandmothers, up to number 537: Mary BENNETT (1686-1717). [Note: The 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through four American generations of this BENNETT family is:

1.  Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

32. Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825)
33. Abigail Gates (1797-1869)

66. Nathan Gates (1767-1830)
67. Abigail Knowlton (1774-1855)

134.  Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1783)
135.  Abigail Pierce (1750-1775)

268.  Jeremiah Knowlton (1713-1752)
269.  Sarah Allen (1717-1796)

536.  Nathaniel Knowlton, born 03 May 1683 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died after February 1760 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 1072. Nathaniel Knowlton and 1073. Deborah Jewett.  He married 21 April 1703 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.

537.  Mary Bennett, born 03 March 1685/86 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died about 1717 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of Nathaniel Knowlton and Mary Bennett are:  Mary Knowlton (1704-1797); William Knowlton (1706-1753); Nathaniel Knowlton (1708-1753); Jeremiah Knowlton (1712-1713); Jeremiah Knowlton (1713-1752).

1074.  Henry Bennett, born 1664 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; died 1739 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married 20 May 1685 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
1075.  Frances Barr, born about 1669 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; She was the daughter of 2150. John Barr and 2151. Mary Smith.

Children of Henry Bennett and Frances Barr are:  Mary Bennett (1686-1717); Frances Bennett (1694-????); Margaret Bennett (1694-????); Joanna Bennett (1701-????); Lucy Bennett (1703-????).

2148.  Henry Bennett, born about 1629 in England; died after October 1707 in probably Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  He married about 1651 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
2149.  Lydia Perkins, born before 03 June 1632 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States; died about 1672 in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 4298. John Perkins and 4299. Judith Gater.

Children of Henry Bennett and Lydia Perkins are:  Jacob Bennett (1651-1686); John Bennett (1655-1675); William Bennett (1657-????); Henry Bennett (1664-1739); Thomas Bennett (1667-1701).

My sources for this information are:

*  John M. Bradbury, "The Bennet Family of Ipswich," New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 29, number 3, (July 1879)

*  Various Massachusetts Town Vital Record books.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/surname-saturday-bennett-england.html

copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Email Source Citation in RootsMagic 5

I am happy to see Russ Worthington back in genealogy and FTM action after the Hurricane Sandy problems - he posted a very helpful blog today about "Citing As You Go - What About Email?" on his Family Tree Maker User blog.

I thought it might be interesting to see how a source citation crafted by the RootsMagic 5 source template might look.  There are three source templates for E-mail messages in RootsMagic 5:

* E-mail message
Private, Personal-E-Mail, writer as lead element
Ref: [E!, p 80]

*  E-mail, personal, privately held, by writer
Private Holdings, Personal E-Mail; writer as lead element; see also Correspondence, personal
Ref: [EE, p 154-155 (Ref: QC-3, p 113)]

*  E-mail, personal, privately held, filed by collection
Private Holdings, Personal-E-Mail, collection as lead element in bibliography; see also Correspondence, personal
Ref: [EE, QC-3, p 113]   

Because my email was a short series, I chose the second source template listed above.

Here is the Source Template screen for one email:

The "Master Source" fields are:

*  Sender
*  Writer's location
*  Writer's e-contact
*  Item type
*  Recipient
*  Researcher
*  Contact data
*  Street address
*  City address
*  Provenance

The "Source Details" fields are:

*  Subject line
*  Record date
*  File
*  Research series
*  Collection
*  Date held

I entered the information that I thought was appropriate, and you can see the Footmnote, Short Footnote and Bibliography citations created using this source template in the screen above.  The Footnote is:

xxxxx Dill, San Diego, Calif., [e-mail for private use], to Randy Seaver, e-mail, 1 May 2012, "Albert Freeman Dill," Local Folders: Surnames: Dill-Horton-Eastham; privately held by Randy Seaver, [e-mail & address for private use], Chula Vista CA 91911, 2012.

The "Master Source" information is in red above, and the "Source Details" in blue.

I also added the text of the email to the Marriage Fact Note for Albert Freeman Dill:

This was instructive and interesting.  The source templates make this pretty easy.

I wasn't sure what to put into the "File" line in the Source Details - I chose my email local folder name.  If I had saved the email to my computer file system, I would have put the file folder name and file name.  If I had printed the email and put it in a paper file folder or surname notebook, I would have added that to the "Research series" or "Collection" fields.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/email-source-citation-in-rootsmagic-5.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

Follow-Up Friday - Helpful and Interesting Reader Comments

It's Friday, time again to review some useful and interesting reader comments on Genea-Musings posts.

1)  On Yearbook Collection FREE on Mocavo (posted 7 November 2012):

*  Anonymous said:  "You are showing 'Mocavo Plus' in your example. This is not free. When I searched various names, I kept getting a chance to upgrade."

*  Katelyn explained:  "Hi! Just to clarify, the Yearbooks collection looks the same for both Mocavo Basic and Mocavo Plus users. In order to see the collection, the site asks that you either log in to your account or create a Mocavo Basic membership, which is completely free and only takes a minute to sign up for. You can view all of Mocavo's content for free with the Mocavo Basic account. Mocavo Plus is a subscription service and offers advanced features such as Advanced Search, Discovery Alerts, Search Re-runs, Smart Trees, Browsing History, and Advanced Document Viewing."

My comments:  Thanks for the comment and the explanation!

2)  On Ancestry.com Has General Land Office Collection (posted 29 October 2012):

*  Norm Prince noted:  "I was thinking that the land office records have been available on the free BLM web site - http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/
for some years now. This has worked for me many times without the need to be an Ancestry subscriber."

*  Geolover said:  "These records have been indexed and available through Ancestry.com since 2008. There was a recent "update" but you can never find out what was amended or added."

*  Connie Sheets commented:  "As best as I can determine, Ancestry's database is not identical to the one at the BLM site. I know I have recently found bounty land records at the BLM site that do not appear in the Ancestry database. They were ones that were somewhat recently added to the BLM site, so it may be that Ancestry has not updated yet."

My comments:  You guys know more about this than I do - thanks for fighting through the Captcha to help us out.

3)  In Follow-Up Friday - Helpful and Interesting Reader Comments (posted 26 October 2012):

*  Geolover noted:  "Randy, you said 'The Ancestry World Trees seem to be gone from the Ancestry record collections.'

No, they are still there. Here is a link to the list of trees on the site:
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=0&db=dbatitles&ctx=%2fMercury%2fPages%2fCardCatListBoolean.aspx&hco=100&f21=42&_F0003A49=1&_F0003A49-int=1#ccat=hc%3D25%26dbSort%3D1%26filter%3D0*42%26
--or go to the Card Catalog and put just Trees in the title for searching.

"It is the AWTs (discontinued for entries about 5 years ago) that were automatically entered in WorldConnect on Rootsweb.com, not current public Ancestry Member Trees. The WorldConnect trees include many others than just the AWTs, which you can detect because the ones originating with the old AWT software show submitter names as numbers ending in a colon in search results.

"Ancestry.com stopped supporting the software for AWTs some years ago. I do not know if special report printing from them is still possible."

My comment:  You're right -they are still there.  I should have said that the Ancestry World Trees don't show up in the Search results...I just checked again, and they do not show in a global search.  Thanks for the explanation.

4)  Some additional comments on Crowd Sourcing Cousin Edith (posted 5 November 2012):

*  Carol Swensen offered:  "Randy - Find A Grave had the following:

Edith M Ott
Birth: Sep. 25, 1903
Death: Oct. 2, 1971 
Burial:
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Glendale
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Plot: Kindly Light, Map B13, Lot 78, Space 5 
Created by: Chris Mills
Record added: Feb 22, 2012
Find A Grave Memorial# 85482261"

*  bgwiehle noted:  "When trying to match former spouses in censuses, watch out for marital status errors. I've found several cases where the couple are no longer living together and one party is enumerated as married and the other as divorced or even single!"

*  Lisa Suzanne Gorrell said:  " I believe DS means 'decline to state.' "

My comments:  Thank you all for the help - our education is never complete, is it?

5)  On WikiTree Announces Automatic Matching (posted 2 November 2012):

*  Saskey said:  "Well, WikiTree gave me about a hundred matches, but each one tells me that I will need to be added as a "Trusted" viewer in order to determine whether it is a match; fortunately I can reject the majority outright as the names do not match, or the geography tells me it is not a match. However, I do not feel inclined to spend a lot of time obtaining "Trusted" status to probably reject a match!"

My comment:  I hope that Chris Whitten or Elyse Doerflinger see this and can address this.  

6)  On Hallowe'en Name Whacking (posted 31 October 2012):

*  John Newmark offered:  "Here's a post of mine from 2007:

http://blog.transylvaniandutch.com/2007/10/friday-five.html "

*  Louis Kessler said:  "No Zombies?  Well, there's Rob Zombie, the singer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Zombie

"I guess no one connects to him on WorldConnect"

My comments:  Check out John's timeless post - good ones!   Is Rob Zombie dead yet?  They don't put living people on WorldConnect.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/follow-up-friday-helpful-and.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

FamilySearch has New Hampshire Town Clerk Records

One of the most recent additions to the FamilySearch Record Collections is the New Hampshire, Town Clerks, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947 (added on 31 October 2012).

I have some real ancestral brick walls in New Hampshire, so I'm hoping that perusing these records will help me identify the parents of Hannah Smith (1767-1827) in Brookline, Hillsborough County, and help me identify Jerusha (--?--) Metcalf's maiden name and parents in Piermont, Grafton County, New Hampshire.

In this post, I'm going to try to find the birth record for Hannah Sawtell (born in Brookline in 1789 to Josiah and Hannah (Smith) Sawtell, one of my third great-grandmothers.

1)  Here is the New Hampshire, Town Clerks, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947  collection  page:

This is a browse-only collection, so I clicked on the "Browse through 402,443 images" link./

2)  The list of New Hampshire Counties in this database is listed:

3)  Since Brookline is in Hillsborough county, I clicked on that county and saw the list of towns:

 4)  I clicked on the link for "Brookline" and saw:

There are four sets of documents for this town.

5)  I selected "Town Records, 1758-1907)" and the first image (out of 167 images) opened:

I browsed as bit away from this page.

6)  On Image 13 (below, penned page 33) is the record for the birth of Hannah Sawtell:

Hannah Sawtell's birth record is in the right-hand page of the image, and it says:

"Hannah Sartell the daughter of Josiah Sartell
and Hannah his wife born November the 6th 1789"

A source citation for this record might be (using the RootsMagic 5 source template for "Website (with multiple databases):"

"New Hampshire Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1636-1947," digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 8 November 2012), Hillsborough County, Brookline Town, "Town Records, 1758-1907," Page 33 (penned), Hannah Sawtell birth entry, 6 November 1789; imaged from FHL US/CAN Film 15,354; citing New Hampshire Town Clerk Records.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/familysearch-has-new-hampshire-town.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver

SDGS 10 November Meeting Features Barbara Renick

The Saturday, November 10th meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society is at 10 a.m. at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Drive, just south of Jackson Drive). 

The featured speaker is Barbara Renick for both sessions:   

 1)  New Tools at FamilySearch - The FamilySearch Catalog:  

FamilySearch has not only designed a new search system for its updated catalog, but the Family History Library Catalog is being renamed the FamilySearch Catalog to reflect its expansion to include links to digital records on-line (from both books and microfilms) and materials available for searching in its 4500+ Family History Libraries/Centers around the world (slowly being added).

According to usage statistics, few researchers plumbed the depths of the old catalog. With its new use of wildcards and filters, the new FamilySearch catalog (still under construction with many features yet to be added) provides even more of a challenge to search effectively.

2)  SNAGIT for Genealogists:  

SNAGIT is a wonderful tool for genealogists. Grab and keep your audience’s attention. SNAGIT gives you all the tools to create engaging images and videos for presentations, feedback, tutorials, training documents, and more. SNAGIT makes communication easier everywhere! That’s why many genealogists are using SNAGIT tools for image and video capture to enhance their presentations and insert digital images into their family history data bases. Snag any image and enhance it with effects or create a quick video of your computer screen. Then share your content instantly with your group, family, or save it for other uses.

Barbara Renick serves as a genealogical computing instructor at the Regional Family History Center in Orange, California. She has taught genealogical computing classes since 1985 and frequently lectures at regional and national conferences. She writes for several genealogy publications and authored Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family's History and Heritage for the National Genealogical Society's 100th Anniversary. She speaks at the SCGS Burbank Jamboree and the National Genealogical Society’s prestigious annual Family History Conference. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/11/sdgs-meeting-features-barbara-renick.html