British Royals Website

During our Mondays With Myrt discussion yesterday (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTM5jnC0-eg), Billy Wallace in Scotland commented that their was a website with information about the British Royal family - www.britroyals.com.  I checked it out and really enjoyed reading through the site.  Note that this is not the official website for the royal family.

Here's what I saw:  the home page:

The chart in the middle caught my eye immediately.  The graphic rotates - at the time I took the screen shot above it was for the House of Normandy:

A reader can click on a link for the next "House of" at the bottom of the graphic. Or click on the "Previous Tree" or "Next Tree" at the top of the graphic.

The graphics start with the House of Wessex with Alfred the Great (849-899), and end with the House of Windsor and Queen Elizabeth II.

There are thumbnail graphics for many of the persons in the trees, especially the Kings and Queens.  I clicked on the graphic for King John and saw (two screens):

Each biography for one of these persons includes a summary, a life sketch, and a Timeline.

I think that this is a pretty good resource for readers interested in the British royal family.  I am interested, since I think they are my cousins!  The biography pages seem well written, but I cannot judge the accuracy of them.  There may be other resources for this information.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 273: Birth Record of John Underhill (1745-1816) in Chester, N.H.

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the  1745 birth record of John Underhill (1745-1816), son of John Underhill and Joanna Healey, in Chester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

The extracted information from this record is:

*  Child's name:  John Underhill

*  Date of Birth:  June 20th 1745

*  Sex:  M[ale]

*  Father's name:  John Underhill

*  Mother's Name:  Joanna Helay

*  Clerk's name:  Cyrus F. Marston

*  Town name:  Chester, N.H.

*  Date of record:  October 31, 1905

*  Reference:  Vol. 1 Page 115

The source citation for this record is:

"New Hampshire Birth Records, Early to 1900," indexed database with digital image, FamilySearch International (http://FamilySearch.org), John Underhill, born 1745, entry; from FHL microfilm 1,001,149;  citing New Hampshire Registrar of Vital Statistics, Concord, N.H., "Index to births, early to 1900." 

This record was copied by the Chester, New Hampshire town clerk in 1905 to a vital records card that was submitted to the New Hampshire vital statistics office in Concord.  The original record is in Volume 1, page 115 of the Chester town record book, which is not available on FamilySearch or Ancestry.com.  It is available on FHL microfilm 1,001,049.

John Underhill is my 5th great-grandfather who married Hannah Colby (1745-????) in about 1767, and they had six children between 1770 and 1779, including my 4th great-grandfather, Amos Underhill (1772-1865). 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/treasure-chest-thursday-post-273-birth.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Answers from everyStory to my Questions and Comments

I wrote everyStory, a Cloud-Based Story-Sharing Platform, Launches Open Beta on 21 July 2015 and Adding and Tagging Photos in everyStory, a Cloud-Based Story-Sharing Platform on 24 July 2015, and raised some questions and made comments about features I liked and did not see yet.

I have had some email exchanges with everyStory principals and have received their input concerning my questions and comments:

Q1:  I’m guessing the audio has to come from a mobile app on an iPad. What about an iPhone, since I don’t have an iPad?

A1:  Correct. The audio is only available on the iPad and currently isn’t available on the iPhone. everyStory is currently in open-Beta phase and will be available on iPhones in September.

Q2:  I do have an Android tablet – is that in the works also? 

A2:  Yes, it is in the works and will be available within the next coming months.

Q3:  Who can see my album? 

A3:   Users who you share the photos and stories with are able to view the photos in a private sharing environment.

Q4:    How do I invite family members to see them? 

A4:   Users are invited to join groups through a share code and are able to record their own special memories and share with others via an email invite.

Q5:   Can I download my photos? 

A5:   Yes, you can download your photos. There are three ways to import photo to the tool such as from a computer, iOS photo album or scan physical photos directly into the app using a device camera.

Q6:  Is everyStory currently available as a mobile app only for the iPad?

A6:  iOS / iPad: we are currently iPad only.  We chose the iPad as our first test platform because of the larger form factor.  iPhone is coming in September along with a revamp of our UI based on beta tester feedback.

Q7:   Will there be a "Choose Files" option?

A7:   “drop" vs "choose files" in the web upload screen:  well you got me, that’s a bug.  I’ve fixed it in the test branch 

Q8:  Why do I have to re-open the "Add Photos" window every time after I've uploaded some photos and want to add more photos?

A8:  uploading more pictures after the first upload: this is a bug as well, we fixed it about 3 days ago (still pending QA before it gets live)

Q9:   Will there be a Tagging or Caption option that includes something more than name, date, location - like an Event description? 

A9:  tagging: the ipad app allows for separate tags for people, location, date and subject. the web site currently assumes all tags are for people.  Its on the list of improvements to add the other tag types and improve the dialog, but hasn’t been done yet.

Q10:  I didn't ask about a Delete tag...

A10:   on a related note, we also have the “delete tag” feature in the queue, so you will be able to clean up tags that you don’t want.

Q11:  "Will the tag/caption show when the photo is highlighted full screen?"

A11:  event tags: like I said there is a ‘subject’ tag, as a catch all for any other information you may want to search by. I have a “christmas” tag, for example.  In the big September release we are also adding “albums” under groups as an additional organization tool

Q12:  Is there a way to re-order the photos so that they can be in chronological order?

A12:  photo reordering inside albums will be in iPhone and iPad in September.  The web will honor those orders, but reordering on the web will lag behind the mobile devices for a couple of weeks.

I want to thank Lydia and Dave at everyStory for answering my questions very quickly with sufficient detail so that I could understand the answers.  I appreciate their enthusiasm and dedication to their product.

The bottom line for me is this:  I think everyStory is probably going to be a significant feature-laden story-telling and photo-saving desktop/laptop program and iOS/Android mobile app in the near future.  It is still in Beta development and some features and mobile platforms have not been incorporated yet.  I'm going to show patience and look forward to the product when it becomes a production application.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/answers-from-everystory-to-my-questions.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

CVGS August 1st Saturday Workshop: "RootsMagic Genealogy Software"

The Saturday, August 1st Workshop at Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road in Bonita, California) is in the Community Room from 1 p.m. To 4 p.m.  

The workshop will be on “RootsMagic Genealogy Software,” led by Randy Seaver.  

RootsMagic is currently in Version 7.0.6.0, and can be used to build a family tree to include names, dates, places, relationships, notes, sources, media, and more.   RootsMagic can be used on both Windows and Mac computers.  See www.rootsmagic.com for more information about the program.  Please bring your laptop computer with RootsMagic installed if possible. 

RootsMagic can also interact with the FamilySearch Family Tree to add content to the Family Tree from RootsMagic or to add content to RootsMagic from Family Tree.  As of 31 July, users must have the latest version 7.0.6.0 in order to interact with the FamilySearch Family Tree.

The topics and demonstrations planned include:

*  Quick overview of Menus, Views and Help function.

* Starting a new tree – basic steps to enter or edit names, relationships, events, dates, places, notes, etc.

* Adding source citations – Evidence Explained source templates

* Adding Media and tagging them to persons and events

* FamilySearch Family Tree Interface – how to access and add/edit information to or from the FamilySearch Family Tree.

* Web Search feature – adding more sites and searching.

* Web Hints for MyHeritage and FamilySearch records

* Your questions about RootsMagic 7.

This is a FREE program sponsored by the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (see www.cvgenealogy.org).  All are welcome. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/cvgs-august-1st-saturday-workshop.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Megan Smolenyak on the 2008 TMG Cruise -- Post 371 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I'm posting old (and sometimes new) family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here is one of the most precious (to me) images from my Seaver/Carringer family collection:

I'm sorry this is fuzzy...but it's one of my favorite photographs!  I finally got to meet Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak on The Master Genealogist Cruise in October 2008, sailing from New York to Puerto Rico.

Megan made a presentation on Annie Moore on 28 October 2008 in the "alternative" theater - the night club bar (whatever it was called).  It was a terrible place to have a genealogy presentation because it was so spread out, the tables were round, and the screen was small.  I took my wife Linda so she could hear the story.  She wore her "I'm with the Sexy Genealogist" shirt.  Megan did an outstanding job.

Later in the day, Linda was having fun in the pool in the sunshine:

That's her in the water with her arms spread out, probably talking to someone sitting on the edge of the pool.  

Being a genealogist on a Caribbean cruise is such a hardship...

This was on the Master Genealogist Cruise from New York City to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with stops in St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Thomas (Virgin Islands) and San Juan.  We did tours in all of the places.  You can read more detail about each day in my blog posts  for the week -   see  http://www.geneamusings.com/2008_10_26_archive.html.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/megan-smolenyak-on-2008-tmg-cruise-post.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

More Ancestry.com Record Hints for my Ancestry Member Tree

I wrote Ancestry Green Leaf Hints Keep Sprouting in my Ancestry Member Tree on 15 December 2014.   On that date, my Hints List said there were:

*  All Hints:  39,479
*  People with Hints:  6,629
*  Records:  29,735
*  Photos:  2,980
*  Stories:  531
*  Member Trees:  6,233

The Hints list today is:

Today I have (with the change in parentheses):

*  All Hints:  41,812 (+ 2,323)
*  People with Hints:  7,805 (+1,176)
*  Records:  31,205 (+ 1,870)
*  Photos:  3,320 (+340)
*  Stories:  530 (-1)

*  Member Trees:  6,757 (+ 524)

I have not been lazy about adding or ignoring these Hints to my database.  I'm just behind!  I keep daily records of my Record Hints so that I can determine how many Ancestry adds, on average, each day.  

Since 15 December 2014, I have accepted or ignored 1,844 Hints.  I also caused the Hints system to add 1,418 Hints by expanding the scope of my Ancestry Member Tree.  

Ancestry added 3,314 Record Hints during the 225 days since 15 December 2014.  That's an average of 14.7 Hints added per day.  But they didn't add Hints every day,.  There were some days when no Hints were added, and some days when the number of Hints was reduced for some reason (perhaps a database was removed from the Hint count?).  There were some days when a high number of Hints were added, such as 27 June 2015 when 431 Hints were added; on 8 June 2015, 658 Hints were added; on 21 April 2015, 265 Hints were added.  Take away those three "big Hint" days, and the average number comes down to 8.8 Hints added per day.

I need to work harder on accepting and rejecting Hints.  I have 31,205 Hints to go.  As I go through them, I judge if I should add the information to my RootsMagic database or not.  If it is a Hint based on an actual record (vital, census, military, church, cemetery, etc.) then I add the event, content and source to my RootsMagic database.  If it is an index that I don't want to use (e.g., the Millennial File), or that doesn't have an actual record (e.g., a Find A Grave entry without a burial place), then I just ignore the Hint.

Obviously, I have to accept or reject about 100 Hints a day just to keep up with the seemingly automatic addition of Hints.  Even if I use information from only 20% of the Hints offered (which is about what my average is, I think), that takes an hour or so to add the information to the RootsMagic database.  

I added this Ancestry Member Tree in July 2014, so after one year the Ancestry Hint system has found Hints for at least 7,800 persons in my tree, and probably more since when I accept or reject all of the Hints for a person, the number of persons should reduce by one.  

I love the Hints that Ancestry.com offers!  It reduces the search process.  I find it easier to use the Hints added than to search for each person in my database.  Of course, a Search might find more records, since the Ancestry.com Hints sample only the top 10% (by record count) of the databases available.  That's over 3,300 databases though!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/more-ancestrycom-record-hints-for-my.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds -- July 2015: James Vaux Death Notice in British Newspapers

I am participating in the Crestleaf.com "12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds" contest - see the blog post Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds Challenge for details.

My most fascinating family find for June 2015 was:  Finding the death notice, and a residence in 1831, for my 4th great-grandfather, James Vaux (1787-1839) in the British Newspapers collection on Findmypast.com.

There were two newspaper articles for the death of James Vaux on 23 July 1839; one of them was from the Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser newspaper, dated 31 July 1839:

The death notice says:  "On the 23rd instant, at South Petherton, of a paralytic seizure, Mr. James Vaux, aged 52, who has left a wife and eight children in America."

That provided the death date, death location, a cause of death, and information about his family.  

Another result from the search of this collection was the auction of land on which James Vaux resided in South Petherton, Somerset in the Sherborne Mercury newspaper, dated 2 January 1832, mentions James Vaux:

The transcription of this record is:

"TO BE SOLD, IN FEE, BY AUCTION,
By Mr. CHAFFEY, at the Crown Inn, in South Pe-
therton, in the county of Somerset, on TUESDAY, the
10th day of JANUARY next, at five o'clock in the af-
ternoon, on the conditions to be then produced.
THE following valuable PREMISES, in
Lots, viz. ---
1. -- A Dwelling House, Garden, and Outhouses, situ-
ate at South Petherton.
2. -- An Orchard, called Kealand Orchard, also situate
at South Petherton, and containing by estimation 4 acres
(more or less).
N.B.  The above-mentioned Lots are in the occupation
of Mr. Samuel Vaux.
3. -- A Close of Arable, called Holefaxen, containing
by estimation 6 acres (more or less), situate at South
Petherton aforesaid, and now in the occupation of Mr.
James Vaux.
The Occupiers will shew their respective Lots and the
further particulars applications may be made to Mr.
NICHOLETTS, Attorney at Law, South Petherton.
Dated 13th December 1831."

This article indicates that Samuel and James Vaux were residing ("occupation of") on this land and the land was to be sold for some reason (as part of an estate settlement, perhaps bankruptcy of the owner, or to sell the land for profit).  James Vaux migrated to America on 1 May 1832 aboard the ship Cosmo out of Bristol.

The full story was posted on 12 June 2015 in  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/06/james-vaux-articles-in-british.html

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/crestleafcoms-12-months-of-fascinating_28.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Tuesday's Tip: Fold3.com has War of 1812 Pension Files Through M Surnames for FREE

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  The War of 1812 Pension Files are being digitized and put online at Fold3.com, and they are FREE to Use

A user needs a guest account on Fold3.com in order to access the War of 1812 Pension Files.  Not every Pension File has been digitized yet, but they have them for the A to M surnames for most states.  These are the actual pension file records, not just an index.

The process to find them is fairly simple:

1)  On the Fold3.com home page, click on the "War of 1812" category link on the left-hand side of the screen, and the list of Publications for the War of 1812 category will open:

There are quite a few FREE collections in the War of 1812 category!

2)  I chose the "War of 1812 Pension Files" and the list of states opened, and I chose Massachusetts.  The list of surname letters for Massachusetts appeared and I chose "B."  That opened the list of surnames beginning with B:

3)  I chose the "Buck" surname, and the list of pension files for Buck appeared - there were two, Elisha Buck and Isaac Buck:

 I chose the "Isaac Buck" file, and the thumbnail images appeared for this file:

4) I clicked on the first image, and saw the first image of the file for Isaac Buck:

I can use the left and right arrows to navigate to the previous or next images.  I can save the images to my hard drive.

From this file, I was able to obtain the marriage date and place for the marriage of Isaac Buck and Percy Stevens (I didn't know Percy's maiden name, either), the birth and death dates of Isaac, and more.  This file has 26 images.

5)  These War of 1812 pension files are being digitized and put online for free access through donations to the War of 1812 Pension Digitization Project - see /http://preservethepensions.org/.  There are about 360,000 images already digitized, but that is only 50% of the task.  If you donate $20, that will digitize about 40 pages, but Ancestry.com will match your donation and digitize 40 more pages.

If you have War of 1812 soldiers in your ancestry, this is an excellent opportunity to find their pension file if it exists, and to glean information about the soldier, his family, and his service.

I know of only one War of 1812 soldier in my ancestry - Amos Underhill in New York, so I have to wait until they get through the U surnames.  I have found the Pension File for Isaac Lanfear of Jefferson County, New York, and have reviewed it, but did not see any information about my Devier J. Lamphear Smith in it.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/tuesdays-tip-fold3com-has-war-of-1812.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

CVGS Program on Wednesday, 29 July 2015: "The History of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition"

WEDNESDAY, July 29th GENERAL MEETING

from 12:30 p.m. To 2:30 p.m.

At Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road, Bonita, CA) in the Community Room

Program Speaker: Gabe Selak on 

“The History of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition”

     Gabe Selak is the Public Programs Manager for the San Diego History Center (http://www.sandiegohistory.org/).  Hailing from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Gabe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education-Social Sciences with a concentration in History from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  

     Gabe has nearly 20 years of museum education experience.  Previous to moving to San Diego, Gabe worked at two world renown historical museums: Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum dedicated to telling the story of the English colonists known familiarly as the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indigenous Peoples whose land they settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts; and Historic New England, formerly known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities or SPNEA, headquartered in Boston.  

     Upon arriving in San Diego, Gabe was initially a monorail driver at the San Diego Zoo’s (then Wild Animal Park ) today’s Safari Park, before moving on to the Coronado Historical Association’s Coronado Museum of History and Art.  Today, Gabe continues his love of history and passion for teaching at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, where he produces a number of public programs.  In addition, he manages the interpretation program at the Center’s  historic museums including the Junipero Serra Museum and San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.

This is a FREE local history program of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society.  There will be a short business meeting before the speaker program.  All are welcome.  There will be snacks and drinks provided by the Society before and after the program. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/cvgs-program-on-wednesday-29-july-2015.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

New or Updated Record Collections at FamilySearch.org - July 19-25, 2015

I'm trying to keep up with the new and updated record collections at FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list).  

As of 25 July 2015, there were 2,019 record collections on FamilySearch (an increase of 1 from last week):

The new or updated collections are:


* France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Censuses, 1872 and 1886; 247,943 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 23 Jul 2015

* Utah, Obituaries from Utah Newspapers, 1850-2005; 117,822 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 23 Jul 2015

* Philippines, Civil Registration (Local), 1888-1984; 11,684 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 22 Jul 2015

* Peru, La Libertad, Civil Registration, 1903-1998; 342,315 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 22 Jul 2015

* Mexico Baptisms, 1560-1950; 35,347,694 indexed records without images, last added or updated 22 Jul 2015

* Mexico Deaths, 1680-1940; 297,279 indexed records without images, last added or updated 21 Jul 2015

* Mexico Marriages, 1570-1950; 6,041,090 indexed records without images, last added or updated 21 Jul 2015

* Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947; 2,050,112 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 21 Jul 2015

* Japan Passenger Lists, 1893-1941; 94,842 indexed records without images, last added or updated 21 Jul 2015

* Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950; 2,310,900 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 21 Jul 2015

* Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957; 1,412,065 indexed records without images, last added or updated 21 Jul 2015

* Denmark Deeds and Mortgages, 1572-1928; Browse Images only, no indexed records, last added or updated 20 Jul 2015

* Jamaica, Civil Registration, 1880-1999; 3,778,173 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 20 Jul 2015

*  Zimbabwe, Death notices, 1904-1976; 291,391 indexed records with record images, last added or updated 20 Jul 2015

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell which collections are brand new and which ones are updated.  The asterisk they use is for "Recently added or updated."  I am particularly interested in new collections, for the obvious reasons.

In order to select a specific collection, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and use the "Filter by collection name" feature in the upper left-hand corner.

Each one of the collections listed above has a Research Wiki page (use the "Learn more" link).  It would be very useful if the Wiki page for each collection listed the dates for when the collection was added as a new collection and the dates for major updates also.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/07/new-or-updated-record-collections-at_27.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.