CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 20 April on Cloud Computing

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except December) from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the campus of UCSD, University of California, San Diego. See our web page www.cgssd.org  for directions.

The next meeting will be held on Saturday, 20 April 2013 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:

9:00 a.m.: User group: Roots Magic, with Chris Christensen. 

9:00 a.m.:  SIG: Ancestry.com, with Del Ritchhart

10:00 a.m.:  Break

10:20 a.m.:  Announcements followed by program:

Updates on Cloud Genealogy: The Future is Already Here
by Gary Hoffman

This month's genealogy weather report: cloudy with a good chance of preservation and collaboration. Bring your netbook or tablet and see if you can still access your pedigree.

Gary Hoffman has been involved with genealogy since he was a teenager raising pedigreed hogs in Northern California. Following a career in the U.S. Air Force, Gary worked in several high tech companies before coming to San Diego. He helped develop the concepts of the genweb and gendex in the 1990s and most recently has been promoting the idea of cloud genealogy. He currently works at University of California San Diego as the Chief Technology Officer for the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. He is past president of CGSSD and is our current webmaster.

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pines Road, turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any space other than those specifically reserved for UCSD vehicles. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website (click here) for driving directions and a map.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/cgssd-meeting-on-saturday-20-april-on.html

First Look at FamilySearch Family Tree Stories

In addition to the revamp of the FamilySearch website (see FamilySearch Unveils Their New Website Design) and the opening of the Photos feature (see FamilySearch Photos Is Open), FamilySearch added their "Stories" feature to the FamilySearch Family Tree.

I added a story to my great-grandfather's profile on FamilySearch Family Tree today, and it was very easy to do.  Here was my process:

1)  From the Person profile for Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946):

2)  On the line of tabs below the person's name, I clicked on the "Stories" tab:

3)  To "Add Story," I clicked on the green plus sign, and a form opened for input of a Title and the Story:

4)  I entered a title, and then copy/pasted text from my RootsMagic database into the "Write your story here" field:

I could have attached a Photo to this story also.

5)  After adding and editing the title and story, I clicked on the blue "Save" button on the screen above.  The "Attach Stories to ..." page opened:

I have to click on the blue "Attach Stories" button on the screen above in order to get the Story into the FamilySearch Family Tree system.

6)  After I clicked the "Attach Stories" button, clicking on the "Stories" page leads to:

I added the names of the two persons named in the Story to the "People in This Story" box on the right.  Since I have photos of Della and Austin in the Family Tree, their head shots are shown.

7)  This process is very simple and easy to follow.  The key stroke is to click the "Attach Stories" button.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/first-look-at-familysearch-family-tree.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

MyHeritage Releases Family Tree Builder 7.0 - New Features are Sync System and Record Matches

I received this press release from MyHeritage this morning;

MyHeritage releases Family Tree Builder 7.0 to bring the power of the cloud to genealogy software

Updated version of world’s most popular free family history software now syncs with online and mobile, opens new channels for the discovery of historical records and is available for the first time also in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

PROVO, Utah & TEL AVIV, Israel – April 17 2013: MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced the release of Family Tree Builder 7.0, free genealogy software that combines innovative technology with easy-to-use features. The millions of family history enthusiasts and genealogists worldwide using Family Tree Builder to explore, document and showcase their roots, can now synchronize their family tree between different devices and enjoy sophisticated ways of making new discoveries via the cloud.

Family Tree Builder 7.0 is available as a free download from http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder.

Using the new software, users can now optionally synchronize their entire family history between their computer and their online family tree on MyHeritage. This connection of genealogy software to the cloud enables users to access their family history anytime and anywhere. It also enables users to benefit from the renowned network effects of MyHeritage’s huge user community, with advanced matching technologies that automatically search millions of user-contributed family trees from around the world and a database of billions of historical records, to help users make breakthrough discoveries. The new version 7.0 adds new languages to cater to family history fans in the Far East, enjoys a graphical facelift and sports better looks.

“Feature-packed and cloud-powered, Family Tree Builder has become a must-have tool for anyone interested in family history”, said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “We’re proud to be bringing family history to the masses with the most technologically advanced, yet easy-use software for building a family’s digital legacy and preserving it for future generations. By combining helpful family tree tools for charting a family’s course through history, with an advanced sync system and Record Matching technology, new Family Tree Builder 7.0 offers an unbeatable journey to the past.”

New Sync System

All family tree information is synchronized, including photos, videos, audio files, notes, sources, citations and other information, except private information such as DNA markers which never leaves the user’s computer. The family history data can now be privately and securely viewed, edited and expanded from any device - the user’s computer, the user’s online family site on MyHeritage – or via the free MyHeritage mobile apps for iPad, iPhone and Android. Users have full control of who can be granted permission to view or add information. The new sync system also provides a backup of the users’ precious data.

Record Matching technology

Whereas previous versions of Family Tree Builder already enjoyed Smart Matching™ technology, which brought users matches from the millions of user-contributed family trees on MyHeritage, the new version 7.0 is the first to enjoy the company’s successful Record Matching technology, recently praised by well-known genealogy bloggers and opinion leaders James Tanner and Randy Seaver as “magic”.

Record Matching is a discovery-finder and a time-saver. It automatically researches every individual in the user’s family tree and looks for matching historical records with high accuracy. All historical records found are consolidated in one convenient report, which the user can then go over systematically. Record Matching is the world’s first and only technology capable of automatically finding newspaper articles about one’s ancestors.

Additional language capabilities

Family Tree Builder 7.0 has been rewritten to support Unicode, which means that data can be entered in any language and saved accurately as entered. The software has been expanded from 37 to 40 languages, by adding support for the first time for Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese and Korean, as MyHeritage expands its global network into the Far East.

The full range of features in Family Tree Builder is ideal for beginners and professionals alike, and includes photo albums, automatic face detection technology for photo tagging, beautiful family tree charts, poster printing, reports and statistics, interactive maps, support for DNA, automatic consistency checks and much more. The software is based on the Freemium model. It can be downloaded and used for free for building an unlimited-sized tree on one’s computer. Premium features of the software can be unlocked for a one-time purchase and affordable subscriptions are available for online family sites of unlimited capacity and access to premium content.

Family Tree Builder 7.0 is available for Windows. The company is working on adding support also for Mac OS X and this will be available starting with the next version of the software.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is the family history network helping millions of families around the world discover and share their legacy online. Pioneers in making family history a collaborative experience for the entire family, MyHeritage empowers its users with innovative search tools, a massive library of historical content and an international collection of family trees. The site is available in 40 languages. For more information visit www.myheritage.com

The MyHeritage Blog has more information and screen shots of the software in http://blog.myheritage.com/2013/04/new-release-family-tree-builder-7-0/

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/myheritage-releases-family-tree-builder.html

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 252: Devier David Carringer in 1889

I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't Wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

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

This is a photograph of Devier David Carringer, born 19 August 1889 in San Diego, the first son of Henry Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer.  Unfortunately, he died on 10 May 1890.  

This photo is of a baby aged about six months or so - he is alert and responsive, just a beautiful child (aren't they all at this age?).  

I have a remembrance card for Devier that says:

"One less at home, 

The charmed circle broken -- a dear face missed 

day by day from its usual place. 

But cleansed, saved, perfected by grace, 

One more in heaven.

"One less on earth, 

its pain, its sorrow, and its toil to share. 

One less the pilgrim's daily cross to bear. 

One more the crown of the blessed to wear, 

At home in heaven."

I wondered if that was from some sort of book or publication.  I found a longer poem (the above was just two stanzas of a longer poem) on Google Books from 1885 -  in The Home and School Supplement, Volumes 3-4.  My guess is that Della Carringer had this book in her library.

Devier David was named after his two grandfathers, Devier James Smith (1839-1894) and David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902).  

Austin and Della Carringer had one more child, Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), my grandfather.  

The death of Devier David Carringer was a family trauma - according to my grandfather, Austin and Della renounced religion and were humanists the rest of their lives.  This affected Lyle and his daughter, my mother, Betty (Carringer) Seaver in their life outlook also.  They were tolerant of religion, but didn't practice it.

I've often wondered what the Carringer family would have been like if Devier David Carringer had survived childhood, married and had children.  My mother would have had cousins!  I would have had cousins.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-252.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Family Tree Magazine's 40 Best Genealogy Blogs for 2013

Family Tree Magazine's May/June 2013 issue has an article about the 40 Best Genealogy blogs in 2013 - read it here:  http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/Top-40-Genealogy-Blogs-2013.

Author David A. Fryxell provided information about the selection criteria:

"In making this year’s selections, we paid particular attention to that stick-to-itiveness standard. What’s the point of bookmarking a blog or adding it to your RSS feed, after all, if fresh postings are few and far between?

"Quantity doesn’t guarantee quality, of course, so we also looked for those sites that deliver a dividend to readers—whether in the form of timely tech news, essential advice or simply the feeling of sharing a quest to part the curtains of the past. We love blogs packed with information, but we also adore those brimming with the blogger’s personality. Those that manage to achieve both … well, they easily earn a spot in the list you see here."

It's a tough job to pare this list down to only 40, I think.

Genea-Musings was honored in the "Good Advice" category.  I appreciate the honor, and am proud to be recognized along with many of my peers.

The other categories include:  Tech Support; Graveyard Matters; Heritage Help; Shop Talk, and Story Time.

Since there were only 40 selected, many excellent genea-bloggers were left off of the list.  Some of the ones that I would have included on my list are, off the top of my head:

*  Judy G. Russell's The Legal Genealogist.

*  Michele Simmons Lewis's Ancestoring's Ask A Genealogist

*  Kathryn Doyle's California Genealogical Society and Library Blog

*  Michael Hait's Planting the Seeds.

*  Diane Boumenot's  One Rhode Island Family

*  Michael Leclerc's  Mocavo Genealogy Blog

*  CeCe Moore's Your Genetic Genealogist 

*  Caroline M. Pointer's  4YourFamilyStory

*  John D. Reid's Anglo-Celtic Connections

*  Anne Mitchell's Sticky Notes

There are, of course, many more that are deserving, in my humble opinion!  What other genealogy blogs do you think should have made the list based on the author's criteria?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/family-tree-magazines-40-best-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

FamilySearch Unveils Their New Website Design

FamilySearch unveiled their revamped website design today - here is the screen at https://www.familysearch.org:

There are six screens that rotate on the site - for Fan Chart (above), Photos (below), Family Tree, Family Records, Indexing and Live Help.  Each has a link in the image to perform the desired action.

There are only three links to other pages above the image - for "Family Trees," "Photos" and "Search."
Here is the Photos screen:

I clicked on the "Family Tree" link and the new design for the FamilySearch Family Tree

This is the "Pedigree Chart" view - there is a button in the upper left corner for the "Fan Chart" view:

A user can click on a person on the Fan Chart above and the chart will be created for that person.  Here is the chart for Isaac Seaver:

I clicked on the "Search" link at the top of the screen, and the modified screen for the search field appeared:

Scrolling down the screen above, I clicked on the "Browse all Published Collections" link and saw the modified screen for searching all of the record collections available on FamilySearch:

It doesn't appear that the Search page form or the list of record collections have changed much.  The record collection page still lists the collections from 1 to 1,522 (today) with the option to see the "Last Updated" list.

There are buttons at the top of the Record Collection list that leads to "Genealogies," Catalog" and "Books".

So what happened to the Learning Center with the Research Wiki and the Research video courses?  I found them in the "Live Help" screen on the main FamilySearch page:

There are four areas on the "Live Help" screen - "Product Support" (help, FAQs, etc.), "Research Assistance" (by volunteers and experts), "Getting Started" (Beginners articles and videos), and "Learning Center" (research course videos).

Where is the Research Wiki?  I finally found it hiding in the "Research Assistance" area:

I think that the Research Wiki is one of the most important and useful areas of the FamilySearch website.  I bookmarked the Research Wiki page - https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Main_Page.

I believe that new users, and many experienced users, will be really confused by this redesign, but will adapt eventually.

Frankly, a list of all of the main FamilySearch links should appear on every page in a sidebar or link farm - I would put links for Home Page, Record Search, Record Collections, Library Catalog, FamilySearch Centers, Research Wiki, Research Courses, Getting Started, Research Assistance, Genealogies, Family Tree, Volunteers, Blog, etc. in a list so that navigation to each one of those pages can be made easily.  At least put them on the Home Page so that a user can navigate back to the Home Page quickly (by clicking on the FamilySearch logo) and then navigate to where they want to go next.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/familysearch-unveils-their-new-website.html

copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Ancestry International Marriage Records are Free from April 16 to 21

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Use Ancestry.com to find international marriage records for FREE from April 16th to April 21st.

The URL for the free access is http://www.ancestry.com/cs/us/family-marriages and the searcher needs to be a registered user (but not a subscriber) to Ancestry.com.

I wondered just what was included, so I entered just the surname Richman into the Last Name field, and added "Wiltshire, England" to the Event location field.  The results:

The search found 16,521 matches in hundreds of databases - not just databases for England.  There are matches for historical newspapers, Pennsylvania Town and Church Records, Nevada marriages, and many more.  There are some databases with matches that are specifically for England, including the "Wiltshire, England, Marriages, 15378-1837" database - that was the one I really wanted:

There are 354 matches in the Wiltshire database, but as you can see, only the matched name is shown on the list - the date, location and spouse's name are not shown.  I found that was the case on all of the English databases I checked (I have only a US subscription, not a world subscription).

I clicked on one of the matches, and was taken to the subscription offer page.

Hopefully, this is just a mistake made by the programmers who didn't include the Wiltshire, England, Marriages database in the FREE International marriage collection.  What are the odds that I would pick - first link I clicked - one database that was not included?

I did check several other English marriage databases on the list and was able to see the record summary page, and the actual record image when available, on those other databases.

It is apparent to me that putting a location in the search fields on the special Marriages page (first screen image above) does not limit the matches to that location.  If I edit the search from the Search matches screen (second screen image above), the Location filter does work well.

Lastly, I noticed that there is a special price for the World Explorer Membership on the screen above - $16.95 for an annual subscription - that's $203.40, which is a significant reduction from the standard $299.40.  When I clicked through to the subscription payment page, the price was $199.

This free International Marriage Records deal would be great for U.S. researchers with significant European ancestry who have not started researching in, or have not captured record images from, the European country databases.  Go for it!

I'm going to use it for Canadian marriage records for my Seaver, Kemp, Sovereen, Hutchinson and other Loyalist family surnames.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/tuesdays-tip-ancestry-international.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

FamilySearch Photos Is Open

I think that FamilySearch Photos is open to everyone now - I tried it today (https://familysearch.org/photos/) and was able to access it with my FamilySearch account (I'm not an LDS church member).

After putting in my account information, I saw:

The directions on the screen say:

*  Drag and drop or click to add family photos here.
*  We support .jpg and .png up to 5 mb.

I clicked on the large green plus sign, and was able to add a number of photographs from my computer files. I stopped after uploading seven of them, and further down the page saw:

The directions (in green background) say:

*  Now that you have uploaded your photos, you can start identifying who is in the photos by tagging them.  Start by clicking on the photos below.

I clicked on the first photo above.  The photo loaded, and a "Screening in process" banner appeared across the photo:

The direction in the gray box said "Click on the photo to tag people."  I did:

I typed in the full name of the person in this photo in the blank space - my grandfather, Lyle Lawrence Carringer.  There is a circle for the face (placed by FamilySearch, but you can drag the corners to make the circle larger, or you can drag the image to center it on the face.

I clicked on the "Details" icon on the right side of the screen, and added a description to the photo:

As you can see, the photo size, photo file name, and FamilySearch user name were displayed.

I don't know how long it will take to complete the screening.  After about one hour, the screening banner is still in place.

I went back to the first screen and clicked on "My Photos" and saw:

So there are the seven photos that I uploaded.  I clicked on the first one:

I need to link the picture to a person in the FamilySearch Family Tree.  I clicked on the "Link to Family Tree" link and the popup box said "Once this person is linked to Family Tree, photos will appear on the person's details page for everyone to see."

I clicked on the blue "Search" button on the screen above, and the search page in FamilySearch Family Tree opened:

I filled in enough information for the person so that the existing profile in the Family Tree would be found:

My grandfather, Lyle Lawrence Carringer was the top match, and I clicked on the blue "Select" button on the right to add the photos to his profile.  The photos appeared again, and I clicked on the "View Family tree" ilink and opened his profile in the Family Tree:

The number of Photos is shown as two, and the first one is shown in the thumbnail view to the left of his name.  The key is to click on the blue "Select" button!

This process is fairly cumbersome - lots of clicking and verifying, but I guess that it's necessary on a website.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/familysearch-photos-is-open.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

The Samuel Vaux Death Date Evidence Conflict - is it Resolved?

I posted How Can I Resolve This Evidence Conflict? on 27 March 2013, noting that the Find A Grave memorial for Samuel Vaux said his death date was in 1880, but the Pleasant Hill (Concordia, Kansas) cemetery card on an FHL microfilm said 1890.

I received a number of suggestions on my blog post and I want to share them, since all of them are rational and helpful, including:

*  Nanakat offered:  "Have you contacted Judy Mayfield, the person credited with creating the Find a Grave information? There's a link on her name, so it might be possible to contact her and find out what she knows. She may even have seen the headstone."

*  Rita A. said:  "I would go to Chronicaling American Newspapers or other newspaper sources and try both years to get an obituary. I would go with the card over find-a-grave but everybody makes mistakes."

*  Susan Park commented:  "Even though the probate records aren't on micro film you could still call--on the telephone--the county court and ask them to help you. In some of the less populated Kansas counties you can get great help this way. I once listened to a clerk climb a step ladder to retrieve the box that held the probate file I wanted. She came back and said, "Got it!" just like that."

*  Sharon helped:  "Pleasant Hill is the city cemetery for Concordia. Here is their website.  
http://www.concordiaks.org/public_works/cemetery.html

"You can search their info using Cemetery P-Z. Both Vaux are listed, but only Mary Ann has a death date. The plot was owned by D J. Smith. You could call the office there and see if there is additional info in their records.'

*  Lisa Gorrell said:  "It is quite possible that the Find-a-Grave transcriber entered the date incorrectly and it's just a typo."

*  Marshall commented:  "I suspect that you'll get a picture from a local FindAGrave volunteer once the snow melts.  (I'm waiting for a couple photo requests for Roland, Manitoba - which I expect someone will fill before, say, June).  Calling the cemetery sounds like a good idea, too."

*  Colleen Pasquale offered:  "Randy, I am a Find A Grave member. I have never looked at grave cards or other records. I just walk the cemetery, find & photograph tombstones. Most of the cemeteries have no 'office' of any kind in sight."

*  Rootsonomy helped:  "'It's on the shelf at the FHL, and also available on microfiche. I'll add this to the To-Do list for my next FHL visit!'  Why wait until you are in SLC again. The research firm Rootsonomy provides lookups of film, fiche, books, and magazines at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Get the result via email in 2 days.  Submit requests via www.facebook.com/RootsonomyGenealogy and clicking the button "Request Research or a Lookup".  Or at: http://goo.gl/MlzYC

*  Angela Craft noted:  "Unfortunately not all of the memorials on Find A rave are put together by cemetery walkers/researchers. I have found some are put in by people who are researching someone who they "know" is buried at such and such a place and they add in the information they have without mentioning any source citations at all.  I always call the cemetery and see what they have on file the check other sources for backup."

So what did I do?  I did check the Concordia cemetery website that Sharon mentioned - and it has more information from the cemetery - especially the plot owner (D.J. Smith was the husband of Abbie (Vaux) smith, daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux).  Lutie Smith, a child of Devier and Abbie (Vaux) Smith, is also buried in this plot.

Other than that, I waited until I got a response from my request for photographs of the gravestones, if there are gravestones.  

I received an email yesterday from Find A Grave - volunteer SJ Oregon had taken photos of the gravestones and added them to the Find A Grave site.  Here is a screen shot of the Find A Grave page for Samuel Vaux:

There are pictures of the Samuel Vaux side of the stone, of Mary A.'s side of the stone (shown on her memorial) and of the front of the stone that says "Father and Mother."

The photo of Samuel's  side of the stone has this inscription for his birth and death date:

"Born 

Jan. 14, 1816

Died

Oct. 9, 1880"

The gravestone says he died in 1880.  Case closed, right?  Um, probably not, but it is a piece of evidence not previously entered into the record.  Having a picture of the gravestone is more conclusive to me than a text entry on the Find A Grave memorial page.  How did the cemetery card get the 1890 death date?  I don't know, but either a clerical error when gathering information or a typing error when put on the card is possible.

I'm going to keep 1880 in my database for Samuel Vaux's death year, but I'm going to note the evidence conflict in the Death note so that if someone else runs across the conflict they might see how I found more evidence.

I still need to search for a Samuel (or Mary Ann Vaux) probate file in Cloud County probate court records.  That may be more conclusive and resolve my evidence conflict.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/04/the-samuel-vaux-death-date-evidence.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Henry Tucker (1619-1694) of Dartmouth, Mass.

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a 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 probate file of Henry Tucker (1619-1694) of Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.  He married Martha --?-- in 1651, and they had children:  

*  Abraham Tucker (1653-1725)
*  John Tucker (1656-1751)
*  Martha Tucker (1659-????)
*  Hannah Tucker (1662-1702), married Nathaniel Slocum
*  James Tucker (1665-1689)
*  Mary Tucker (1668-????), married Samuel Perry
*  Sarah Tucker (1674-????), married Joseph Hoxie

Henry Tucker of Dartmouth died testate on 21 April 1694 in Dartmouth.  There are several entries in the Bristol County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records (1687-1916, Volume 1, Pages 53-54, 85-87 and 123-124, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,461,882, and transcribed or summarized by Randy Seaver), including:

The last will and testament of Henry Tucker of Dartmouth was dated 1 March 1693/4 and was proved in Bristol Probate Court on 4 July 1694 (Volume 1, Page 85).  The will reads:

"The Last Will and Testament of Henry Tucker of the town of Dartmoth in the County of Bristoll in New England being of Sound mind & perfect memory First I Desire my Soule may returne to god who gave it me & Rest with him for ever.  And that all my Just Debts & funerall charges be faithfuly & Truely Discharged and payed.  As to the Settling o& Dispose of my Temporall Estate I give & order as followeth:

"Item I give unto my loveing wiff Martha Tucker twelve pounds a yeare and to be payed yearly Dureing her Life together with one feather Bed and what cloathing doth belong thereunto by my executor hereafter named or his Assignes to be Duely payed as aforesaid.

"Item  I give to my Daughter Sarah Tucker three score pound in as much as she hath had no portion yet.

"Item  I Give to my Son Abraham Tucker thirty pounds in money or Cattle to be payed in six months time after my Decease.

"Item  I give to my Grand Child Henry Tucker son of Abraham Tucker aforesaid the one half of all my lands both upland & meadows Divided & Undivided when he comes to the age of one & Twenty years thro. I have Given to the aforesaid Henry Tucker and his heirs & assignes for ever and if my above said wife Lives after he comerth to the age of Twenty one years then he shall not posess the aforesaid Land here given as aforesaid Untill her Decease.  Item I give to my aforesd Henry Tucker Twenty pounds when he cometh of age then to be payed to the aforesd because I have given him no part of my Houseing nor orchard.

"Item  I give to my son Abraham Tucker his four Daughters which his first wife Mary Tucker bore unto him: fortty pounds to be payed to them when they come to Sixteen years of age.

"Ittem  I give to Mary Tucker Ten pounds.  Ittem I give to Patience Tucker Ten pounds. Ittem  I give to Martha Tucker Ten pounds.  Ittem: I give to Abigaile Tucker Ten pounds.  The above named Mary Patience Martha and Abigaile are the four daughters that my son Abrahams first wife bore to him but if any one or more of the said Daughters Dye before they come to age, then their Legacies shall be equally divided by the survivors.

"Ittem  I give to my Son in Law  Nathaniel Slocum Twenty pounds to be payed in money or goods.  Ittem  to Samuel Perry my son in law Twenty pounds I give and it to be payed in money in six months after my Decease.

"Itytem I give to the Church in Christ and people of god in Some Called Quakers on Road Island five pounds.  All the Rest and Residue of my personall estate Houseing Goods Lands of what Nature & quallities so ever yt now is or hereafter shall be I give unto my well beloved son John Tucker & his heirs and assignes for ever.  And Doe hereby make name appoint ordain & Constitute him my said Son John Tucker my sole Executor of this my Last Will & Testament In wittness hereto I have sett my hand and seale the First Day of the first month 1693.

"Signed & sealed in ..................................................... Henry Tucker  (seal)
the presence of
John Aspin
Thomas Briggs
Eliazer Smith"

On 3 July 1694, the witnesses, all of Dartmouth, made oath that they were present when Henry Tucker signed, sealed and declared that the written instrument was his last will and testament and that he was of a disposing mind to the best of their knowledge when he died.

An inventory of the estate of Henry Tucker, late of Dartmouth, was taken by Jonathan Russell and Thomas Briggs.  The estate totaled 362 pounds, 9 shillings, 2 pence.  The personal estate consisted of wearing apparel, household furniture, kitchen stuff, two Bibles, livestock, money in hand, debts due, etc.  John Tucker exhibited the inventory to the Court and it was accepted on 5 July 1694 (Volume 1, Page 87).

The account of John Tucker, Executor of the last will and testament of Henry Tucker late of Dartmouth was submitted on 2 July 1695 to the Probate Court, and was approved on 3 July 1695.  The legacies paid by John Tucker were to Sarah Tucker (60 pounds), Sarah Hoxssee (20 pounds), Nathaniel Slocum (20 pounds), Samuel Perry (20 pounds), Abraham Tucker (30 pounds) and John Easton of Newport in behalf of a society called Quakers for the use of the society (5 pounds);  the total disbursed was 135 pounds (Volume 1, Page 123).

On 4 March 1694, Sarah Hoxssee of Sandwich deposed that she had received her legacy from her brother John Tucker, with Sarah and her husband Joseph Hoxssee signing (Volume 1, Page 123).  Nathaniel Slocum, of Shoresberry in Monmouth County in East New Jersey, deposed on 12 March 1695 that he had received his portion (Volume 1, Page 123).  Samuel Perry of Sandwich deposed on 4 March 1694/5 that he had received his legacy (Volume 1, Page 124).  Abraham Tucker of Dartmouth deposed on 1 July 1695 that he had received his legacy (Volume 1, Page 124).  Walter Clarke, John Easton, Jacob Mott, Daniel Gould and John Gould, in behalf of all the people called Quakers, certified on 27 August 1695 that they had received the legacy in the will of Henry Tucker (Volume 1, Page 124).  All of these depositions were recorded by the Probate Court on 3 July 1695, except for the Quaker certification which was entered on 17 July 1697.

Mary Tucker, daughter of Abraham Tucker, deposed on 13 November 1700 that she received her ten pounds in lawful money from the estate of her grandfather, Henry Tucker.  Abraham Tucker and Hannah Tucker were witnesses (Volume 1, Page 53).  Patience Tucker, daughter of Abraham Tucker, did the same on 4 May 1705, with Amos White, Joseph Woodall and Meribah Slocum as witnesses (Volume 1, Page 53).  Henry Tucker of Dartmouth, son of Abraham Tucker, deposed on 4 April 1702 that he had received his portion (Volume 1, Page 54).  Martha Tucker of Dartmouth, daughter of Abraham Tucker, deposed on 30 April 1708 that she has received her portion (Volume 1, Page 54).  Abigail Tucker of Dartmouth, daughter of Abraham Tucker, deposed on 7 September 1708 (Volume 1, Page 54).  All were entered into the Court records on 11 November 1708.

Henry Tucker names two sons and three daughters (or their husbands) in his will.  He also bequeaths money or land to five of son Abraham's children by Abraham's first wife, Mary (Slocum) Tucker.

My descent from Henry and Martha (--?--) Tucker is through son Abraham Tucker and his second wife, Hannah Mott, through their daughter Content Tucker (1695-1738) who married Benjamin Wing.

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Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver