52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 91: #111 Mary (Metcalf) Underhill (1780-1855)

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I am extending this theme in 2015 to 104 Ancestors in 104 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #91:

Mary "Polly" Metcalf (1780-1855) is #111 on my Ahnentafel list, my 4th great-grandmother, who married #110 Amos Underhill (1772-1865) in 1801.

  

I am descended through:

* their daughter, #55 Mary Ann Underhill (1815-1883) who married #54 Samuel Vaux (1816-1880) in 1839.
*  their daughter, #27 Abigail A. Vaux (1844-1931), who married #26 Devier James Lamphear Smith (1839-1894) in 1861.*  their daughter #13 Abbie Ardell "Della" Smith (1862-1944), who married #12 Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946),  in 1887.
*  their son, #6 Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), who married #7 Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977) in 1918.
*  their daughter, #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002), who married #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) in 1942.

*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Name:                       Mary "Polly" Metcalf[1–2]   

*  Alternate Name:       Polly Medcalf[6]    
*  Alternate Name:      Mary Underhill[3–5]  

*  Sex:                          Female   

*  Father:                     Capt. Burgess Metcalf (1741-1816)    
*  Mother:                   Jerusha  (1750-1817)   
  
2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Birth:                       about 1780 Piermont, Grafton, New Hampshire, United States[1]   
*  Census:                   1 June 1850 (about age 70), Aurora, Erie, New York, United States[3]   
*  Census:                   1 June 1855 (about age 75), Aurora, Erie, New York, United States[4]
*  Death:                     15 October 1855 (about age 75), Aurora, Erie, New York, United States[5]
*  Burial:                    after 15 October 1855 (after about age 75), East Aurora Cemetery, East Aurora, Erie, New York, United States[5]
  
3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):
  
*  Spouse 1:               Amos Underhill (1772-1865)   
*  Marriage:              25 March 1801 (about age 21), Piermont, Grafton, New Hampshire, United States[1,6]

*  Child 1:                 Cyrus Metcalf Underhill (1804-1841)   
*  Child 2:                 Rev. James Pierce Underhill (1809-1884)   
*  Child 3:                 Almeda Underhill (1813-1859)   
*  Child 4:                 Mary Ann Underhill (1815-1883)   
*  Child 5:                 Frederick Underhill (1820-1820)   
  
4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

Two books provided information for the Amos and Mary (Metcalf) Underhill family:

*  Josephine C. Frost, editor, Underhill Genealogy,  Volume IV (n.p. : Underhill Society of America, 1932).[1]

*  W. Bronson Taylor,  Amos Underhill, 1832-1914 (Middle Grove, New York : the author, 1968).[2]

There is no birth record for Mary "Polly" Metcalf, daughter of Burgess and Jerusha (--?--) Metcalf of Piermont, Grafton County, New Hampshire.  Burgess Metcalf of Piermont was the only Metcalf head of household in the 1790 and 1800 U.S. Census records in Grafton County, New Hampshire, and had a female of the correct age group to be Mary..  

The approximate birth date of "about 1780" is supported by her age of 69 in the 1850 U.S. Census and the age of 74 in the 1855 New York State Census.  If she was born in 1780, then she was about age 21 when she married Amos Underhill in 1801 in Piermont. 

The Piermont [Grafton County, New Hampshire] town record of the marriage of Amos Underhill and Polly Medcalf says[6]:   

"March 20th, 1801, Mr. Amos Underhill & Polly Medcalf both of Piermont, were joined in Marriage this day by me, Thomas Russell Justice Peace"

Amos and Polly Underhill had five children in the years between 1804 and 1820, four of whom lived to adulthood, married and had children.

In 1811, the family resided in Haverhill, Grafton County, New Hampshire.  They left in a sledge or pung drawn by oxen and settled in Aurora, Niagara County, New York in 1811.  The homestead was first near the end of present-day Underhill Road, and later was on Underhill Road.[1]  

Amos Underhill served in the War of 1812 as a Private under Captain James J. Stevens in Colonel Warren's Company of the 48th Regiment of the New York Militia.[1] 

When the British crossed the Niagara River in December 1813, the Militia was called out.  Every free man was a member of the Militia, and each took his rifle and powder, horn and bullet pouch, and a blanket if they had one, and rushed to Buffalo.[1]

After Amos left, Mary carefully hid her dishes in the well.  She checked the load in her own rifle.  By nightfall she had the oxen yoked to the long sledge or pung.  They were backed into the lean-to on the side of the cabin and tied with feed before them.  She filled the box of the sledge with hay and put her sons to sleep in it. Through the long cold night she watched and waited with her rifle within reach.  She could hear the roar of the cannon and see the glow of fire against the sky.  In the first gray glimmer of dawn, she saw a man coming on the road.  He turned out to be a neighbor who told her that the town had been captured and burned, and that her husband had probably been captured or killed.  She knew the man was more excitable than reliable, so she waited longer.  Soon an Indian appeared, who told her the British had captured the town and burned all but seven houses, but they had retreated beyond the Niagara River.  He said her husband would be home before nightfall.[1]

In the 1850 United States census, the Amos Underhill household was enumerated in Aurora, Erie County, New York[3].  The household included:

*  Amos Underhill -  age 75, a farmer, real estate valued $1,300, born in Massachusetts
*  Mary Underhill- age 69, born in New Hampshire.  
*  Deloss Underhill - age 17, a farmer, born in New York, attends school
*  Don Carlos Underhill - age 14, born in New York, attends school.

Deloss and Don Carlos are sons of Cyrus Metcalf Underhill, who was deceased.

In the 1855 New York State Census, Amos Underhill was enumerated in Aurora, Erie County, New York[4].  The household included:

*  Amos Underhill - age 80, male, born in New Hampshire, married, lived in town 43 years, no occupation, a native voter, owns land
*  Mary Underhill - age 74, female, wife, born in New Hampshire, married, lived in town 43 years
*  Delos Underhill - age 21, male, grandson, born Erie County, married, lived in town 21 years, a native voter
*  James Underhill - age 23, male, grandson, born Madison County, married, lived in town 11 years
*  Casper Archer - age 16, male, servant, born in Germany, lived in town 6/12 years, a laborer, an alien

Mary Underhill died on 15 October 1855, and was buried in the East Aurora Cemetery in East Aurora, Erie County, New York[5].  Her gravestone has this inscription:

Mary 

Wife of 

Amos Underhill

Died

Oct. 15, 1855

5)  SOURCES
 
1. Josephine C Frost, Underhill Genealogy, Volume 4 (N.p.: Myron C. Taylor, in the interests of the Underhill Society of America, 1932).

2. W. Bronson Taylor, Amos Underhill, 1832-1914 ( Middle Grove, N.Y. : the author, 1968).

3. 1850 United States Federal Census, Erie County, New York, Aurora Township: Page 102B (stamped), Dwelling #1581, Family #1587, Amos Underhill household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 498.

4. New York, Erie County Census 1855, 1865, 1875, Aurora town: Page 52 (penned), Amos Underhill household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing original data at Hamburg [N.Y.] Historical Society.

5. Jim Tipton, indexed database, Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com), East Aurora Cemetery (East Aurora, N.Y.), Mary Underhill memorial # 43497188.

6. “New Hampshire Marriage Records, 1637 to 1947,” online database, FamilySearch (http://www.FamilySearch.org), Piermont, Amos Underhill and Polly Medcalf entry;  citing “Marriage Records.” New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Concord. FHL microfilm.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-91-111.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.

Pondering Merging Two Trees in RootsMagic

We attended a surprise wedding in the Bay Area last weekend - it was supposed to be my brother-in-law Paul's 70th birthday party, but he and his longtime partner Deb decided to get married after 23 years of living and loving together.  It was a fun and beautiful event, complete with renewing contact with several cousins.  Now I have another sister-in-law!

I have done a fair amount of research on Deb's ancestry, as I have on Paul's ancestry (because it is my wife's ancestry and the ancestry of my children and grandchildren), and now I have the challenge of "should I merge Deb's tree with Randy's and Paul's tree?"

I think the answer is YES!  But Deb's tree is in Family Tree Maker 2014 synced with an Ancestry Member Tree, while my tree is in RootsMagic 7.

I made a GEDCOM of Deb's tree (548 persons), and imported it into a separate RootsMagic 7 file.  Then I used the "Search and Replace" function in RootsMagic to change all of the place names with "USA" to "United States" so that it's compatible with my RootsMagic tree file.

Next, I need to standardize all of the place names - many of the entries were obtained from using Ancestry Hints and the place names that were attached are not standardize - some have the word "County" in them, and many place names did not have a state or country.  I'm in the middle of doing this.  When I'm done, I will go through the place list to find the ones I missed.

Finally, there are the sources.  They are mostly from Ancestry.com, and therefore are not Evidence Explained quality, or even close to it.  I will have to work with those trying to get them into the appropriate source citation formats as time goes by.

I think I'll delay the actual merge process in RootsMagic 7 until I get the place names done, and then work on the sources using the citations I already have for many of the records.  I need to mull and ponder this task some more.

I wonder what I've missed?  I haven't done this for awhile!

This is fun!  But it's going to be some work too.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/pondering-merging-two-trees-in.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.

Searching the NYG&B Record Collection on Findmypast

I posted Records from New York’s Largest Genealogical Organization Now Available to Search at Findmypast on Monday, 21 September, and noted that "This is a significant addition for Findmypast that makes these important New York records available to non NYGBS members. "

One of the databases of interest to me is the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record periodical collection.  The NYG&B Record is a quarterly and has been published since 1867.  The URL for this collection on Findmypast is:  http://search.findmypast.com/search-world-Records/the-new-york-genealogical-and-biographical-record.  Note that you do have to be a Findmypast subscriber to access these records (NYG&B members can now access Findmypast as part of their NYG&B subscription).

On the NYG&B Record collection search page, I entered the name of an ancestor in the search fields:

Since the collection covers 1867 to 2015, I decided to limit the search above to 1940 to 2015 by entering a publication year of "1980" and selecting "+/-40 years" in the "Give or Take" dropdown menu.  I can then use 1900 +/- 40 years to search the first half of the collection.  A searcher will have to do this for more common names.

I clicked on the blue "Search the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record" button and saw:

There are four matches in the NYG&B Record published between 1940 and 2015.  I clicked on the second match on the list, and saw a page from an article "The Crocheron Family of Staten Island."  Jacques Poillon married into that family:

There are four blue buttons above the article, for:

*  Previous page
*  Next page
*  Download Document
*  Back to Search Results

There are image tools at the bottom right of the document to:

*  Go full screen
*  Zoom into the full width of the document in the window
*  Zoom out
*  Zoom in
*  Save the page
*  Print the page

I clicked on the "Download Document" button and the screen showed the page and I could Save the page as a PDF file:

The "Save" button on the third screen does the same thing by opening another window tab.

Here is the page in the Adobe Reader program:

This system works fine.  I downlaoded the nine pages of the article, renamed the separate PDF files, and put them in my Crocheron surname file folder.

The user has to be careful in the names entered into the Search fields.  I entered "Jacque" with "Name variants" checked, and received no matches.  When I entered "Jacques" with "name variants" checked, I received the four matches above.

Note also that names may be misspelled in a document and indexed as spelled - use the name variants check box to find name spelling variants.

Findmypast provides a source box on the left side of each match page.  Here is the one for the page above:

While this is not Evidence Explained quality source citation, it does contain most of the elements required.  Here is a source citation for this article:

Charlotte Megill Hix, "The Crocheron Family of Staten Island," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Volume 111, Issue 1 (January 1980), pages 31-39, digital image, Findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : accessed 24 September 2015).

There is also a way to browse the NYG&B Record collection - I will describe that process in a future blog post.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/searching-nygbr-collection-on-findmypast.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.

Treasure Chest Thursday -- Post 281: Birth Record of Lydia Copeland (1661-1727) in Boston, Massachusetts

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  birth record of Lydia Copeland (1661-1727), daughter of Laurence and Lydia (Townsend) Copeland), in Boston, Massachusetts:

The specific birth record for Lydia Copeland is:

The transcription of this record is:

Lydia Copeland the daughter of Laurence Copeland & Lyddia his wife borne 31 3^mo 1661

The source citation for this record is:

Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 24 September 2014), "Boston, Births, Marriages and Deaths," no page number (image 358 of 60705), Lydia Copeland birth entry; citing original data from Massachusetts town and city clerk records in Jay and Delene Holbrook, Massachusetts Vital and Town Records (Provo, Utah : Holbrook Research Institute), Microfiche collection.

The date is interesting - the 31st day of the 3rd month of 1661 was almost certainly 31 May 1661, not 31 March 1661, since they were using the Julian calendar wherein March was the first month.  

Ancestry.com has two different documents for this record - the one above is probably the original record, while the second document is a transcription of the first record done in a neat hand, likely in the 1800s.  

Ancestry has four matches for these two records, and the four dates given are:

*  31 May 1661 (document 1)

*  31 May 1661 (document 2)

*  31 March 1661 (document 1)

*  31 July 1661 (document 2 - although the record is very clear saying 3rd month!).

Lydia Copeland (1661-1727) married Joseph White (1662-1757) in about 1681, and had eight children between 1683 and 1701 in Mendon, Massachusetts.  She died in Mendon on 8 May 1727.  Joseph and Lydia (Copeland) White are my 8th great-grandparents.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/treasure-chest-thursday-post-281-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.

"Repositories" Discussion on TGF Mailing List

There has been an interesting discussion on the Transitional Genealogists Forum (TGF) mailing list over the last two days - sparked by this post by Jim Thornhill on "Repositories."

One of Jim's questions was:

"My question is, ... am I depending too much on the internet?"

There are answers from a number of well-known and really smart genealogists, including:

1)  Ann Gillespie noted:  "I've seen estimates that 5-10% of the existing documents are online. Since I spend a lot of time in DC at NARA and the Library of Congress, I have no trouble at all believing those estimates."

2)  Karen Packard Rhodes added:  "Having used the Florida State Archives, Library of Congress and the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, Spain, I can second every word in favor of archives. And, yes, only a tiny bit so far of documents are available online." 

3)  Harold Henderson said: "I don't know how to verify percentage claims, and some older references may emphasize physical repositories more than they would if written now, but there is essential material both places. Let's run down the list of ten "commonly used sources." In each case, other  folks on this list may correct or add my top-of-the-head take on them."

Read Harold's list!

4)  Patricia Hobbs offered:  "When you have done a lot of research in repositories such as courthouses, you realize just how little is online. I would recommend taking some of your families ... and going to at least a couple of courthouses and see for yourself."

5)  Elissa Scalise Powell noted:  "if you want to grow your business past the generalist stage you will need to solve tough problems for which all the 'low hanging fruit' has already been plucked from the Internet. You will have to know the resources in repositories around you so that your clients will be paying for your expertise and locality - not your ability to type into a search engine. As you transition into a specialist you will learn more and more about how the repositories can serve you."

Elissa offered a lot more - read it all!

6)  Phyllis Garratt commented:  "Only a tiny fraction of a percentage of records and photos and manuscripts are online and they can be a goldmine of very personal and brick-wall-breaking information. I've found files full of letters written to the US from family back in Germany, never before seen photos of ancestors from the 1800's, and scrapbooks full of ephemera related to the life of the person I'm researching. And these are not famous people. There is a treasure trove of information out there just waiting to be discovered but you have to go there to find it."

7)  Melissa Barker noted:  "I am the archivist for the Houston County, Tennessee Archives. I can tell you that we have 3 rooms full of original records and only 5% of them have been microfilmed and I would estimate only 1% of them are online in index form or image form. That leaves a lot of our records only located in our archives. We are a small county in Tennessee and so we don't have as many records as other counties but I also know that there are much larger counties here in Tennessee that have the same percentages of available records online. We even have counties that don't even have an archives and their records are just sitting in storage an no one is doing anything with them."

8)  Sheila Benedict offered:  "I can check for vital records, order some online but not all. I cannot get most legal files online and that is fine. Getting out of the office and going to a repository is not only a vital part of what I do, it is also invigorating and reasserts why I love this business. When I need some documents I cannot travel to get, that is when I ask colleagues in other areas of the country or places overseas to retrieve the document(s) for me. "

9)  Claudia Breland summarized:  "In my work as a professional genealogist, I am very often requesting research from other genealogists across the country to get records that are not online."

10)  Judy noted:  "I will only emphasize that exploration of repositories can turn up quite unexpected and useful items that can help distinguish families and same-named persons."

As you can see, Jim received lots of excellent advice from excellent researchers and archivists.  Please read the entire thread of responses to get the full benefit of the answers offered - all are on point and meant to be helpful.

This mailing list is one of the very best places to ask a question about almost anything genealogically related - resources, methodology, business practices, etc.  An honest question will get honest and factual answers from a number of experienced professionals willing to share their knowledge and expertise.

 The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/repositories-discussion-on-tgf-mailing.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 England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) Announces Publication of The Great Migration Directory

I received this press release yesterday:

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The Latest Work in a Series of Early American Genealogical Resources by Anderson Is One of the Most Important to Be Published on New England

Study Estimates 95% of All People in New England Enumerated in First U.S. Census Trace Their Ancestry to Great Migration Immigrants

September 22, 2015—Boston, Massachusetts—New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has announced the publication and release of the latest work by Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Directory, Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640: A Concise Compendium. A nationally celebrated scholar of early American immigration, history, and genealogy, Anderson has served as Director of NEHGS’s Great Migration Study Project since its beginning in 1985.

This new publication from NEHGS, in a series of works documenting the Great Migration, is a complete survey of all individuals known to have come to New England during the Great Migration period, 1620–1640. Because previous works focused on the migration through 1635, this new work covers individuals not included in previous Great Migration compendia. Each entry provides critical data, including identification of the head of each household, English or European origin (if known), date of migration, principal residences in New England, and the best available sources of information for the subject. The product of decades of painstaking research,The Great Migration Directory is one of the most important genealogical sources ever published for New England.

Under the leadership of Robert Charles Anderson, the Great Migration Study Project has aimed to compile authoritative genealogical and biographical accounts of every person who settled in New England between 1620 and 1640. The project has produced important findings on migration patterns, early records, life in seventeenth-century New England, and more. A number of volumes of research have been published by NEHGS throughout the life of the project—segmenting immigrants and their profiles by arrival date or other category. This new publication—for the first time—brings the names of all immigrants together into a single volume. 

The Great Migration is the term used for the movement of Europeans, mostly English men, women, and children, to New England between the sailing of the Mayflower in 1620 and the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1640. During that period, according to Anderson’s research, about 20,000 immigrants crossed the Atlantic—approximately 4,500 families—most of them between 1634 and 1640. Anderson noted, “It has been estimated that of all the people who were in the 1790 Census in New England, 160 years later, 95% traced their ancestry to the people who came in that 20-year period.” In twelve volumes published over the last two decades, the Great Migration Study Project has presented detailed genealogical and biographical sketches for nearly half of these immigrants, covering the years from 1620 to 1635.

Anderson explained, “This new volume, The Great Migration Directory, takes a different approach from previous work, providing concise entries for all immigrant families for the entirety of the Great Migration, from 1620 to 1640. Each entry contains the best treatment of that immigrant in the secondary literature, providing citations which provide evidence for the statements made in the entry.”

NEHGS Publishing Director Penny Stratton stated, “Perhaps what makes this new publication so valuable to researchers is the methodology to tighten the accuracy of the list of those included in the directory, employing a three-step process, which he thoroughly details in this text.” Over the years, other authors of genealogies have erroneously deduced that certain individuals immigrated during the Great Migration. Referring to those inaccuracies, Stratton continued, “Anderson’s work in The Great Migration Directory includes only those for whom clear evidence exists of their arrival by 1640.”

The Great Migration Directory, Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640: A Concise Compendium is available through The Bookstore at NEHGS, with easy access through the website of New England Historic Genealogical Society at AmericanAncestors.org/store. (490 pp., $64.95)

About Robert Charles Anderson

Robert Charles Anderson, Director of the Great Migration Study Project at NEHGS, was educated as a biochemist and served in the United States Army in electronics intelligence. In 1972 he discovered his early New England ancestry and thereafter devoted his time and energies to genealogical research. He published his first genealogical article in 1976, and about the same time began to plan for what eventually became the Great Migration Study Project. In 1983 he received a master’s degree in colonial American history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Anderson was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 1978 and has served as Secretary and President of that organization. He became a Contributing Editor of The American Genealogist in 1979, Associate Editor in 1985, and Coeditor in 1993. He has been an editorial consultant to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register since 1989 and is also on the editorial board of the Mayflower Descendant. As Director of the Great Migration Study Project, Anderson edits the Great Migration Newsletter and is the principal author of all publications arising from the project. In 2015, Anderson was given the Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources by the National Genealogical Society (NGS) for his 2014 book Elements of Genealogical Analysis also published by NEHGS.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/new-england-historic-genealogical.html

Geneablogger Dinner at SCGS Jamboree 2009 -- Post 379 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 am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here are some of the most precious (to me) images from my Geneabloggers genealogy collection:

At the 2009 SCGS Genealogy Jamboree, we had the first official Geneabloggers dinner, organized by Thomas MacEntee.  This was pretty successful, and everybody was taking pictures.  Here are some of mine:

1)  On one side of this table are Ruth Himan (looking at her camera), Shelly Talalay Dardashti, Lisa Louise Cooke, and Lacey Cooke.

2)  Thomas MacEntee and George Arvanites were smiling for the camera:

3)  Kathryn Doyle and Denise Levenick were really happy about something, with footnoteMaven looking on:

4)  There was a "Draw your family tree from scratch" contest at this Geneabloggers dinner - and Sheri Fenley won:

Or maybe she was the only one brave enough to show hers off and I managed to photograph it.  I'm sure Fenley will tell me.

 The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/geneablogger-dinner-at-scgs-jamboree_23.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.

RootsPoint Announces the Fondo Colonial Archive Image Collection

I received this press release today from Fondo and the Hispanic Heritage Project:

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Genealogy website RootsPoint announces the Fondo Colonial archive image collection for 

One-of-a-kind collection of 17th-19th century archival records available for free

HENDERSON, NV—(September 22, 2015)– Genealogy website RootsPoint.com, in collaboration 
with the Hispanic Heritage Project, announced today free access to the Fondo Colonial collection from the Archivo Históricos Municipal de Hidalgo del Parral (Parral Archive). The browsable collection of more than 77,500 digitized images available on the RootsPoint website spans the period between 1611 and 1821 and contains civil colonial records of the Province of Nueva Viscaya. Today, this area consists of the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, Sinaloa and part of Coahuila, Mexico. Images include records of the government, finance and treasury, church, militia, notaries and protocols.

“The Fondo Colonial represents the written culture of Hispanic America through the last few  centuries,” commented Carlos Yturralde of the Hispanic Heritage Project. “Within it, one gets a  sense, not only of the daily goings-on within the Spanish colonies, the marriages, the commerce and the births and deaths, but one also catches glimpses of the evolution of Hispanic ways of life transforming into what they are today.” Yturralde also added that the Fondo Colonial helps 
individuals see the past and the present become one through the documents, and gain a stronger and deeper sense of who they are.

The Fondo Colonial collection is one of the most important archival collections in North America  with its records pertaining to the history of the people of Spain, Mexico, the southwestern United States, and the many indigenous nations of the region. Digitization of additional records is ongoing, promising to preserve these one-of-a-kind archival records for generations of researchers. More information about the collection can be found on the Fondo Colonial collection webpage on RootsPoint.

About RootsPoint

RootsPoint is an online community for genealogical/family history information and resources. The RootsPoint website features the 1940 United States Federal Census and the 1841- 1901 UK Census as well as additional collections including histories, military, and immigration records. 

RootsPoint’s GenMall provides a one-stop shop for genealogy books and resources. 
Visit us at: http://www.rootspoint.com
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rootspoint
Follow us on Twitter: @RootsPoint

About Hispanic Heritage Project

Founded in 1992, the Hispanic Heritage Project began as part of the Friends of the Escondido  (California) Public Library to raise funds for purchasing books on the Spanish Colonial Period for  the Library’s Pioneer Room. Through fundraising and organizing efforts the Project has expanded its work to make available online Hispanic historical documents to researchers. The Project supports digitization and access efforts for Mexican archives by supplying equipment and funds. Much needed resources allow repositories to preserve and digitize materials ensuring their availability to researchers worldwide. Repositories the Project has assisted include the Hidalgo de Parral municipal archive, the Parral Diocese Archive, the parish of San Bartolome in Valle de Allende, the Institute of Historical Investigations at the University of Juarez in Durango, and the Historical Archive of Colima. Efforts to digitize archival records and make them available for free to researchers continues with the help of donations and sponsorships. Information about the Hispanic Heritage Project’s work and publications can be found on their website http://www.hh-p.org/home.html.

Contact

RootsPoint
info@rootspoint.com
801-906-9517

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/rootspoint-announces-fondo-colonial.html

Crestleaf.com’s 12 Months of Fascinating Family Finds -- September 2015: Probate Records of John Underhill (1721-1793) of Chester, N.H.

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 from August 2015 was:  Finding the probate records for John Underhill (1721-1793) of Chester, New Hampshire.  I wrote about finding the records in Down the Rabbit Hole - Finding the Estate Papers of John Underhill (1721-1793) of Chester, N.H. on 25 August 2015.

I transcribed the will of John Underhill in Amanuensis Monday - Post #283: 1785 Will of John Underhill (1721-1793) of Chester, N.H. posted on 31 August 2015.  

In this will, John Underhill does not name his spouse, Joanna (Healey) Underhill (1718-1809), but does name nine of his ten children and one grandchild.  Five daughters are listed by name - Betty Buswell (who married Samuel Buswell in 1764), Molly Pearce (who married James Pierce in 1765), Sarah Underhill (who married Moses Greenough in 1789), and Joanna Presson (who married Moses Preston in 1784).  He also named five sons - John, Moses, David, Samuel and Jeremiah Underhill.

I am descended from sixth great-grandparents John and Joanna (Healey) Underhill through their son John Underhill (1745-1816) and his wife, Hannah Colby.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/09/crestleafcoms-12-months-of-fascinating.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.