Genea-Musings

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Public Domain Maps in New York Public Library Collection

Jonathan Crowe, the writer of The Map Room blog, highlighted the New York Public Library Public Domain Documents today. There are over 180,000 documents, and over 21,000 maps in this collection, all available to view online and to download for further review.

The New York Public Library Public Domain Documents page is http://www.nypl.org/research/collections/digital-collections/public-domain:

Searching for "maps" brings up this page - http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?utf8=%E2%9C%93&keywords=map&filters%5Brights%5D=pd#

I reviewed a number of them, and picked an 1843 map of the entire state (with an inset of New York City).

I could zoom in only a bit on the online map, but further down the screen is information for the map and the green buttons to download the map for a range of dots per inch:

I chose the "Original" button, and downloaded the 1843 map to my computer. It was 5,699 kb.

I then opened the map image with my Photo program, and was able to zoom in quite far before it lost resolution. Here is a screen shot of Erie County:

There are a lot of historical maps on the site, and many maps of New York City from colonial to modern times.

This is a tremendous website, and a real boon to New York researchers like me. I did not find any cadastral maps of the counties, which may have farm owner names in each section or town, but I may have missed them in my review of the site.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/public-domain-maps-in-new-york-public.html

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

rootstrust 1.0 to be launched February 2016

I received this press release from RootsTrust several days ago - it's a new desktop family tree program under development:

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rootstrust 1.0 to be launched February 2016

Atavus, Inc. announces that it will be releasing version 1.0 of its advanced, multi-platform genealogy system rootstrust in early February 2016. “Taking on board valuable input from a team of international beta testers over the past twelve months, we have invested another 2000 highly targeted programming hours to refining and improving the program’s functionality. The result is very stable and the import of GEDCOM files from FTM, TMG, and other programs can be achieved with relative ease and speed,” explains Brooke Nelson, founder of Atavus, Inc. and developer of rootstrust. “Formal release is scheduled in Salt Lake City at Rootstech 2016. Please visit us at our booth.”

rootstrust is a software system designed to manage genealogy data. It is one of the few genealogy programs that can be operated on the Windows, Mac OS, and Linux operating systems. It is written in Java and the same program runs on all three operating systems. The database is also independent of the operating system, enabling users to access and preserve genealogy data regardless of the computer they may be working on. The database can be synced with the Cloud.

rootstrust can be downloaded onto Windows, Mac, or Linux PCs or it can be run on a specially formatted USB device to enable full portability of the program and database across computers and operating environments.

Key features of rootstrust include:

Flexibly displays information, allowing users to switch back and forth between 9 data views.
Includes informational files, “how to” videos, and context sensitive help.
Unicode international character set supports most of the world's languages.
Provides advanced tools including relationship calculator, gravestone calculator, Soundex generator, Roman to Arabic numeral converter and 8 exotic date converters.
Documents biomedical information and DNA haplotypes.
Time-saving data entry through event sharing.
Generates a full range of charts and reports.

About Atavus, Inc.: Atavus, based in Sterling, VA, was founded in February 2013 to commercialize rootstrust. The founder, Brooke Nelson, is a veteran software developer and genealogist. Nelson began developing rootstrust for his own use in 1999 to address unmet needs in the market for commercially available genealogy software. His vision was to create a system that provided Unicode support, event sharing, the ability to define relationships between persons that are not relatives, and the facility to link places that are historically related to one another such as New York and New Amsterdam. Most importantly, he wanted to be able to move the program and / or the database and the document and multimedia image files that are linked to the database without permanently breaking the linkages.

Interested persons should visit: www.rootstrust.com

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I visited rootstrust, and read all of the linked pages, especially the 9 views link (http://www.rootstrust.com/9-views.html). Here are three of the 9 Views:

* The Person View:

* The Family View:

* The Ancestor View:

The other Views are:

* Descendant View
* Source View
* Repository View
* File Cabinet View
* Place View
* Venue View

The "Details" page (http://www.rootstrust.com/details.html) has an alphabetical list of program features and capabilities. There are links on this page to 19 demonstration videos on YouTube (see all at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCywq3IEct89-7Fdk8yNAC_w).

I have not downloaded the program for my own evaluation yet. There is a free 30-day trial for the program. The license fee will be $25 until it goes up to $45 in early 2016, according to the website.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/rootstrust-10-to-be-launched-february.html

Treasure Chest Thursday Post 295: Birth Record of Samuel Whitney (1719-1782) in Weston, Mass.

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 1719 birth record of Samuel Whitney (1719-1782) in Weston, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

The birth record is:

The transcription of this record is:

B Samuell Whitney the Son of William Whitney & of Martha his

Wife was Born in Weston the 23'd day of may 1719.

The source citation for this record is:

Mary Frances Peirce, Town of Weston. Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1707-1850. Gravestones-, 1703-1900. Church Records, 1709-1825. Appendix and Addenda, Centennial Society (Boston, Mass. : McIncloe Bros., Printers, 1901), page 10, Samuel Whitney birth entry.

This record and the book is also available on the AmericanAncestors.org website.

Samuel Whitney was the fifth and last child of William Whitney (1683-1720) and Martha Peirce (1681-1759). The births of two other children are on the same page in the Weston vital records book.

Samuel Whitney is my 5th great-grandfather, who married Abigail Fletcher (1720-1783) in Weston, and they had 13 children, including my 4th great-grandmother Martha Whitney (1764-1832) who married Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) in 1783.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/treasure-chest-thursday-post-295-birth.html

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Announcing The 2016 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree & Genetic Genealogy Conferences

I received this press release from the Southern California Genealogical Society and Research Library recently:

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Announcing The 2016 Southern California Genealogy Jamboree & Genetic Genealogy Conferences

The Southern California Genealogical Society announces details for Jamboree 2016 and the 2016 Genetic Genealogy Conferences. Early Bird registration deadline is April 23, 2016. Register today!

For Immediate Release

January 1, 2016 - Burbank, CA

The Southern California Genealogical Society is pleased to announce the 47th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. The conference will be held at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, Burbank, California, Friday through Sunday, June 3-5, 2016. Registration is now open and available on the Jamboree website. You can either complete your registration through the online shopping cart or download the registration form and mail it in.

Jamboree 2016 offers an exceptional educational opportunity for family historians and genealogists of all experience levels. The theme for Jamboree 2016 is "Giving to the Future by Preserving the Past." We welcome all attendees who are interested in genealogy and preserving the past for future generations. Our heritage focus is on German, Eastern European, and African-American research. Topics covered include research methods, analysis and problem solving, organization techniques, family history writing, the use of technology, and more.

Jamboree 2016 will feature:

Over 55 national, regional and local speakers
JamboFREE sessions Friday morning including Beginning Genealogy, Librarians' Boot Camp, Why and How to Become a Professional Genealogist, Using Social Media for Genealogy, and Genealogy & DNA Roundtables
Five specialty workshops (separate fee required)
Free exhibit hall throughout the weekend
Research tours Thursday and Friday
Special activities each day
One-on-one research assistance provided by members of the Southern California Chapter, Association of Professional Genealogists

Back by popular demand, SCGS will hold its fourth Genetic Genealogy Conference, "The Future of the Past: Genetic Genealogy 2016," on Thursday, June 2, 2016. also at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel. This conference provides the opportunity to hear from some of the top leaders in the field of genetic genealogy, with topics suitable for all levels of experience with using DNA for genealogical research. Six intensive workshops will also be offered during this event that will provide an opportunity for in-depth study of genealogical research techniques of interest to a variety of experience levels (additional fee required). The Genetic Genealogy Conference is separate from Jamboree, and separate registration fees apply.

Early Bird registration ends April 23, 2016. Special pricing for 2016 offers a discount to those who register for both Jamboree and "The Future of the Past: Genetic Genealogy 2016" as well as discounts for SCGS members for each event.

Don't forget to make your hotel reservations! The Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel room reservations are now open. Room rates range from $165 to $185 per night. To make your reservations online, visit http://www.tinyurl.com/jambo2016Hotel/, or call directly at 800.736.9712. Be sure to mention the group "SCGS Conference" when making your reservation to get the Jamboree rate and to guarantee your room.

The best way to keep in touch with Jamboree and the Genetic Genealogy Conference is to subscribe to the Jamboree blog, either through RSS feed or by updates sent directly to your email. Information on Jamboree activities and schedule details will be updated regularly on the Jamboree website.

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I look forward to attending the Jamboree for the 9th year in a row.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/announcing-2016-southern-california.html

Meeting Genealogy Folks in January 2009 -- Post 394 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 Seaver/Leland photograph collection:

1) Randy and DearMYRTLE:

In early January 2009, I and a number of other geneabloggers were invited to the first Ancestry.com blogger meeting in Salt Lake City. The week after, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy started and many of the attendees and staff were in Salt Lake City.

I had the pleasure of meeting DearMYRTLE for the first time that weekend.

2) The SLIG faculty and staff have a brunch at one of the hotels on Sunday before SLIG, and DearMYRTLE invited me to come along. Here is a photo of the luncheon table:

The benefit for me was wonderful company, including many of the important people in the genealogy industry, and a nice lunch.

3) That night, there was a Transitional Genealogist Forum/ProGen meetup for dinner, and I took a photograph of Christy Fillerup, Harold Henderson and Angela McGhie:

The photos all tell me these pictures were taken on 11 January 2009. I wrote about this day in Day 4 in SLC - a day of football, food and good company.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/meeting-genealogy-folks-in-january-2009.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Top 10 Genealogy News Items for 2015 - My Take

There were hundreds of genealogy news announcements in 2015. Some of them were outstanding - advanced technology, advanced genealogy research, added new record collections, etc.

The ones that I think are the most significant for my own research are (referring to my own blog posts):

1) Ancestry.com Announces Retirement of Family Tree Maker Software (posted 8 December 2015) -- This was a major surprise and caused a lot of heartburn with Family Tree Maker users.

2) Ancestry.com Adds 170 Million Indexed U.S. Probate Record Images (posted 2 September 2015) -- This major database release was greeted by appreciation, but not all FamilySearch images are indexed yet, and they subsequently removed some probate records due to licensing problems.

3) New Ancestry.com Database: U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 (posted 23 July 2015) -- This new database provides more information for many Social Security applicants, including parents names and alternate names.

4) Records from New York’s Largest Genealogical Organization Now Available to Search at Findmypast (posted 21 September 2015) -- The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record quarterly periodical is now online at Findmypast.

5) MyHeritage Introduces Instant Discoveries to all Users (posted 20 April 2015) -- This feature adds more relatives to your MyHeritage tree based on other MyHeritage trees. This is especially useful for new researchers.

6) Mocavo Has FREE U.S. Census Images Available Forever (posted 22 May 2015) -- There is much to like about a free site with all of the U.S. census indexed and imaged!

7) The "New Ancestry Experience" is Active for USA Users (posted 1 June 2015) -- This opened the "new" Ancestry LifeStory and look and feel of the website to all users. There was lots of negative reaction to this! I also posted All Ancestry.com Customers Forced to Have Only "New Ancestry" Experience (posted 14 December 2015) -- Ancestry closed out the "old" Ancestry screens and all users now have to use "new" Ancestry.

8) HistoryLines Launched This Week - Post 1: First Look (posted 22 April 2015) -- I posted a series on this website that meshes your family history events with historical events.

9) Ancestry Academy Launched Today (posted 16 April 2015) -- This education site has free and pay options for online genealogy and family history educational courses.

10) FamilySearch Relative Finder - Finding Famous (?) Cousins (posted 15 May 2015) -- If you are in the FamilySearch Family Tree, you can find famous cousins on the Relative Finder website.

What other product or resource announcements were significant for you during 2015? Tell me in Comments to this post.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/top-10-genealogy-news-items-for-2015-my.html

GenSoftReviews Announces its Users Choice Awards for 2015

I received this press release from Louis Kessler earlier this week:

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GenSoftReviews Announces its Users Choice Awards for 2015

GenSoftReviews.com is the site users go to rate and review their genealogy software and to find out about other genealogy software to try. The site lists more than 930 programs, and users have contributed over 3,500 ratings and reviews.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 1, 2016

The 7th annual Users Choice Awards have been announced at the GenSoftReviews website based on more than 900 reviews submitted by users during 2015.

33 programs were eligible having a minimum of 10 reviews, at least one review in 2015 and still being sold and supported by the vendor. Of those, 17 programs achieved a user-assigned average score of at least 4.00 out of 5, and were awarded a 2015 GenSoftReviews Top Rated Genealogy Software award.

The Winners include:

8 Windows programs: Evidentia, Ahnenblatt, Family Historian, Clooz, Ancestral Quest, Brother's Keeper, RootsMagic, and Family Tree Builder
2 Mac programs: Heredis for Mac, and Reunion
2 programs built for Windows, Mac and Unix: Evidentia and Familienbande
4 Online programs: Famberry, Genealogie Online, The Next Generation and MyHeritage
1 Handheld program: Heredis for iOS

New to the list of winners for 2015 were Evidentia, Familienbande, Genealogie Online and webtrees.

The top program for 2015 was Evidentia, a source-centric genealogy tool by Ed Thompson, which ended the year with a weighted user rating of 4.96 out of 5 based on 10 reviews. Second was Famberry, an online family tree building social network with 4.91 out of 5. All 8 of Evidentia’s ratings and all 17 of Famberry’s user ratings in 2015 were the maximum 5-stars.

Ahnenblatt dropped from first in 2014 to fifth in 2015 but still retained an excellent score of 4.85 out of 5.

Programs that dropped off the list from 2014 include Genbox Family History, Family Echo, My Great Big Family and Behold.

Five programs have won a Users Choice Award all 7 years since the award was established in 2009. They are The Next Generation, Brother’s Keeper, RootsMagic, Family Tree Builder, and Reunion.

GenSoftReviews uses a time-weighted average score. The weight of every user rating goes down 50% every year, so newer opinions will be better reflected in the average score.

Congratulations go to all the 2015 winners. They are producing a product that their users like. GenSoftReviews hopes all genealogy software developers will use the feedback these reviews provide to improve their programs for their users.

For more information and a complete listing of current and past winners, see the GensoftReviews Users Choice Awards page.

UPDATE:

GenSoftReviews has taken the advice of genealogical technologist Tamura Jones who has suggested that unsupported software be eligible for the Users Choice Awards.

These are, after all, user choices of the software they use, and it is irrelevant of the fact that the software may not be supported or even available. It is only fair that all programs still in use be rated equally against each other.

As a result, there are 6 more programs eligible for the awards and 3 additional award winners, namely Personal Ancestral File (PAF) with a 4.77 out of 5 rating, Ultimate Family Tree (UFT) with a 4.20 out of 5 rating, and Family Tree Maker – up to Version 16 with a 4.11 out of 5 rating.

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About Louis Kessler

Louis Kessler has been a genealogist and a programmer for over 35 years. He developed and maintains the GenSoftReviews site. He is also the author of his own genealogy program known as Behold that can be found at www.beholdgenealogy.com

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/gensoftreviews-announces-its-users.html

Tuesday's Tip - Watch SCGS Webinars Live for FREE

This week's Tuesday's Tip is: Watch the 2016 Webinar Series from the Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) for FREE.

If you are an SCGS member, you can watch them live or at any time after the live presentation. If you are not an SCGS member, you can only watch them live for free.

All SCGS webinars are open to the public and free to attend. Webinars are offered the first Saturday (10:00 a.m. Pacific time) and third Wednesday (6:00 p.m. Pacific time) of each month.

Sign up (remember - it's FREE) by going to the SCGS website page with the 2016 Webinar Series information, http://tinyurl.com/2016-SCGS-Webinars. Click on the links to register for as many webinars as you'd like. A confirmation email will be sent, along with the link to attend the webinar. You can attend the webinars on your computer, or smartphone. If you don't have an internet connection, you can even dial in by phone and listen to the session.

SCGS members never need to worry about missing a webinar. As a benefit of membership, members enjoy access to over 130 archived webinars and select Jamboree sessions to view at their convenience 24/7 on the SCGS website behind the member wall. Visit the SCGS membership web page for more information on this and other valuable membership benefits.

Download the 2016 Jamboree Extension Series Webinar flyer and share it with family, friends and neighbors today!

A list of the dates, times, speakers, presentation subjects and talk description is at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/webinar/jes-index.html

This is an excellent roster of speakers and a diverse listing of topics.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/tuesdays-tip-watch-scgs-webinars-live.html

Monday, January 4, 2016

Season 3 of Finding Your Roots on PBS Starts Tuesday, 5 January 2016

The third season of Henry Louis Gates' "Finding Your Roots" series on PBS starts on Tuesday, 5 January 2016, at 8 p.m. (EST, MST, PST) and 7 p.m. (CST).

The series is described on the web page for the series (http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/about/):

Since the premiere of his groundbreaking series, African American Lives, in 2006 through the first two seasons of Finding Your Roots, noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has unearthed the family histories of influential people helping shape our national identity. Professor Gates utilizes a team of genealogists to reconstruct the paper trail left behind by our ancestors and the world’s leading geneticists to decode our DNA and help us travel thousands of years into the past to discover the origins of our earliest forebears.

The third season of the Finding Your Roots series will continue to explore how diverse racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds challenge many of our long-held national myths. Hosted and written by Gates, this new season will continue to be compelling television, filled with emotional moments that enrich our national discussion on race, ethnicity, and identity.

In this season, Gates traces the ancestral trails of 28 new guests including Maya Rudolph, Richard Branson, Soledad O’Brien, Bill Hader, Julianne Moore, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Senator John McCain, Norman Lear, Shonda Rhimes, and more. Each of their stories illuminates the vast patchwork of ethnicity, race and experience that make up the fabric of America.

There are profiles of some of the personalities at http://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/profiles/.

The schedule appears to be:

1) 5 January 2016:

* Ty Burrell
* Kara Walker
* Donna Brazile

2) 12 January 2016:

* Bill O'Reilly
* Soledad O'Brien
* Bill Maher

3) 19 January 2016

* Shonda Rhimes
* Maya Rudolph
* Keenen Ivory Wayans

4) 26 January 2016:

* Norman Lear
* Bill Hader
* Jimmy Kimmel

The publicity says there are 28 celebrities, including Richard Branson, John McCain and Julianne Moore, who are not on the list above. Perhaps there are more episodes?

The episodes should be interesting!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/season-3-of-finding-your-roots-on-pbs.html

Pre-Order The Evidentia Companion book

I received this press release from Ed Thompson, the creator od Evidentia software, today:

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Evidentia Software is now accepting pre-orders for The Evidentia Companion

(Matthews, NC) January 4, 2016 - Evidentia Software is now accepting pre-orders for the book, The Evidentia Companion. Written by lead designer Ed Thompson, The Evidentia Companion is the perfect complement to the Evidentia desktop application. The software helps users organize their information so it can be used as evidence, then helps users find answers to their research questions.

The book details the 4 tasks that define the Evidentia workflow.

Identify a Source
Catalogue the Source
Analyze Evidence
Write a Conclusion

With over 100 screen shot images, the book helps users become productive with Evidentia as quickly as possible, focusing on the features that support the 4 tasks.

In addition to the book, Evidentia Software is offering The Evidentia Quickstart Guide, a laminated quick sheet that supplements the book by distilling the 4 tasks into 4 pages for quick reference.

Evidentia Software has created the coupon code "PRE-ORDER", which will discount purchases from the website 15%. Bundled discounts are also available.

For more information, or to purchase the book and/or quick start guide, go to http://evidentiasoftware.com/companion.

Edward Thompson
Evidentia Software, LLC
ed@evidentiasoftware.com

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For more information about Evidentia software, see http://evidentiasoftware.com.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/01/pre-order-evidentia-companion-book.html

Pages

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Monday, January 4, 2016