Genea-Musings

Friday, September 23, 2016

52 Ancestors - Week 143: #188 Elijah Champlin (1730-1779)

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 2016 to 156 Ancestors in 156 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #143:

Elijah Champlin (1730-1779) is #188 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandfather, who married #189 Phebe Card (1730-1787) in 1751.

I am descended through:

* their son, #94 Joseph Champlin (1758-1850), who married #95 Nancy Kenyon (1765-1833) in 1785.

* their daughter #47 Amy Champlin (1798-1865) who married #46 Jonathan Oatley (1790-1872) in 1823.

* their daughter #23 Amy Frances Oatley (1826-1864) who married #22 Henry Arnold White (1824-1885) in 1844.

* their daughter #11 Julie E. White (1848-1913), who married #10 Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) in 1868.

* their daughter #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962), who married #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) in 1900.

* their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.

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

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

* Name:   Elijah Champlin[1–4]
* Alternate Name: Elijah Champlain[5]
* Sex: Male

* Father: William Champlin (1687-1778)
* Mother:   Joanna (1700- )

2) INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

* Birth: 1730, probably Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States[1]
* Census:   1774 (about age 44), South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States[3]
* Death: before 19 February 1779 (before about age 49), South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States[1,4]
* Probate:   19 February 1779 (about age 49), will proved ; South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States[4]

3) SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

* Spouse 1: Phoebe Card (1730-1787)
* Marriage 1: 27 November 1751 (about age 21), South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States[1–2,5]

* Child 1: Phoebe Champlin (1752- )
* Child 2:   Elijah Champlin (1756-1825)
* Child 3:   Joseph Champlin (1757-1850)
* Child 4:   William Champlin (1758-1844)
* Child 5:   Mary Champlin (1760-1801)
* Child 6:   Jeffrey Champlin (1761-1837)
* Child 7:   Hannah Champlin (1762-1831)
* Child 8:   Amy Champlin (1764- )
* Child 9:   Anna Champlin (1766- )
* Child 10:   Elizabeth Champlin (1768- )
* Child 11:   Alice Champlin (1770- )

4) NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

The most complete family history is by Robert Champlin of Newmarket, Ontario. He provided a computer file of many of the early Champlin families. Elijah Champlin was the fifth child and fourth son of William Champlin and Joanna Watson, was born about 1730 at South Kingstown, Rhode Island[1].

On November 27, 1751, Elijah married Phoebe Card of South Kingstown in a wedding ceremony performed by Justice Samuel Tefft. Phoebe was the daughter of Job Card and Judith Greenman (born about 1727 and died on February 19, 1787)[1-2.5].

Elijah and Phoebe had eleven children, probably born in Charlestown or South Kingstown[1-2]:

1695. Phoebe (born about 1750)
1689. Jeffrey (born about 1753)
1690. Elijah (born about 1756)
1691. Joseph (born 1758)
1692. William (born 1759)
1693. Mary (born 1760)
1694. Hannah (born about 1762)
1696. Amey (born 1764)
1697. Anna (born 1766)
1698. Elizabeth (born 1768)
1699. Alice (born 1770)

He was appointed an Ensign in the 1st Charlestown Company of the King's County Regiment in May 1760.

On December 10, 1760 William Champlin deeded 120 acres of land in Charlestown to "my son Elijah"[1]

In the 1774 Rhode Island Census, Elijah Champlain was enumerated in South Kingstown, Rhode Island[5]. The household included:

* 3 white males above age 16
* 2 white males below age 16
* 2 white females above age 16
* 4 white females below age 16

The exact date of death and burial location of Elijah Champlin are not known. He died between 14 January 1779 and 19 February 1779 according to his probate records.

Elijah Champlin of South Kingstown died testate, having written a will dated 14 January 1779, which was proved on 19 February 1779[4]. The will reads (some words are difficult to read on the microfilm):

"Be it Remembered that I Elijah Champlin of South Kingstown in the County of Kings County & State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation being sick and weak in body but of a sound disposing mind & memory Thanks be to God and Calling to mind the mortality of mankind & the Time thereof being uncertain Do make and ordain this my last Will & Testament in manner & form following that is to say -

"First and Principally I recommend my soul into the Hands of Almighty God who gave it and my body to the Earth to be buried in a Christian Like manner at the Discretion of my Executors herein after named and touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me I give and bequeath the same as followeth --

"Imprimus I give & bequeath unto my beloved son Elijah Champlin the Feather Bed that he useth to Lodge on, with Bedstead and beddings thereto belonging, except Curtins --

"Item I give unto my said son Elijah Champlin one Gun one ????? ????? ????? one pair of Pistols, he to have his choice of all my Guns ???? ???? &c.

"Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved son Jeffery Champlin one ???? one Cart??? & one pair of pistols his choice next after his brother Elijah.

"Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved son Joseph Champlin one Gun he to have next choice Also I give to my said son Joseph Champlin my broad Cloath Coat now riped up and one new Holland shirt.

"Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved son William Champlin one Gun he to have the next choice Also my Large Coat & one new Holland shirt.

"Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved Daughters Mary Gavot and Phebe Card, one pair of Fire Tongs each.

"Item I give and bequeath unto my beloved Daughter Amey Young the Feather Bed Bedstead & Furniture she useth to Lodge on except the Curtins Also one Iron Kettle Fire Shovel & Tongs and one Puter platter.

"Item I give & bequeath unto each of my beloved Daughters Hannah Champlin Anna Champlin Elizabeth Champlin and Alice Champlin one good decent suit of Cloaths fitting & suitable for them respectively when they shall arrive at their respective age of Eighteen years.

"And as to the rest of my Personal Estate be it of what kind or nature soever I give and bequeath the same to my well beloved Wife Phebe Champlin as well for the payment of all my Just Debts & Funeral Charges as also for the payment of the Legacies herein bequeathed and for her support & the support and maintenance of my four youngest daughters to wit Hannah, Anna, Elizabeth, & Alice, till they shall respectively be able to support themselves, and after that Time what I have herein given to my wife to remain to her own use forever.

"Lastly I hereby nominate and appoint my well beloved wife Phebe Champlin Executrix and my beloved son Elijah Champlin Executor of this my Last Will and Testament revoking and Disannulling all former & other wills by me heretofore made ratifying & Confirming this and no other to be my Last Will & Testament. In Witness whereof I the said Elijah Champlin have hereunto my Hand & seal the fourteenth day of Jany in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy nine.

Signed Sealed Published & Declared
by Mr. Elijah Champlin the Testator to be
his Last Will & Testament
In Presence of Elijah Champlin (seal)
F. Perry
Syrus Babcock"

On ?? March 1779, Freeman Perry and Cyrus Babcock declared that they saw Elijah Champlin, late deceased, sign, seal, publish and declare that the aforementioned instrument to be his last will and testament and that they set their hands as witnesses at the same time in the presence of the testator, and that the testator was of a good sound disposing mind and memory. The will was approved and recorded.

5) SOURCES

1. Robert R. Champlin, Champlin Families in America (Newmarket, Ontario : the author 274 Plymouth Trail, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada L3Y 6G7, bchamplin@rogers.com 2011, provided by email to Randy Seaver), #1134 Elijah Champlin sketch.
2. Maxine Phelps Lines, "Descendants of Richard Card of Newport," Rhode Island Genealogical Register, Volume 3, Number 3 (January 1981) to Volume 4, Number 4 (April 1982), Volume 3, Number 4, Page 307.
3. "Rhode Island Census, 1774," indexed database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), South Kingstown, R.I., Elijah Champlin entry.
4. South Kingston (R.I.) Town Clerk, "Town Council Records, 1704-1943," (South Kingston, R.I.), on 8 microfilm reels, Volume 6, Pages 110-112, on FHL Microfilm 0,931,835.

5. "Rhode Island, Vital Records Extracts, 1636-1899," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Volume 5, Washington County: Births, Marriages, Deaths, South Kingstown Marriages, Page 11 (image 131 of 523), Elijah Champlain and Phebe Card entry.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/52-ancestors-week-143-188-elijah.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.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Status of Land and Probate Records on FamilySearch

The LDS Family History Library has over 2.5 million microfilms of records on every conceivable type of historical record, including land and probate records for almost every county in every state in the United States.

1) Land Records on FamilySearch

There are land records for only four states (Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Washington, and some individual counties for other states) on FamilySearch, and they are all browsable collections (meaning there is no index for them). Those collections are waypointed by counties and then by record book titles. The grantor and grantee indexes are part of the digitized collections, are can be used to find individual deeds for a specific person.

Why aren't there statewide, or even individual county, land record collections on FamilySearch in browsable collections? Those records are very useful, and we know they have the microfilm images. Perhaps they need approval from the individual counties or states to digitize them and publish them on FamilySearch. Are there projects to digitize and index those land records - especially the grantor and grantee indexes that provide information for individual records? I hope so - the indexes are name-rich, while the actual deeds are not that name-rich, although having an index of the witnesses and neighbors mentioned in a deed would be very useful.

2) Probate Records on FamilySearch:

The situation is better for Probate Records. There are statewide (or individual county) probate or estate record collections on FamilySearch for 31 states the last time I checked. These are not indexed, but are browsable. They are usually waypointed by county, and then by the probate record book titles. They can be efficiently used by finding index entries in the probate indexes that define either/and an estate file name or entries in the probate court clerk record books.

Why aren't there statewide (or individual county) digitized probate record collections on FamilySearch in browsable collections for the other states? These records are very useful to researchers, and we know they have the microfilm images.

We know that there are statewide collections of probate record images, taken from the microfilms, because they provided statewide collections to Ancestry.com back in 2013, and Ancestry indexed them (albeit poorly) and put them online as statewide databases in September 2015.

3) My view has been that "many 'brick wall' problems will be solved once land and probate records are available to researchers in digitized record collections."

I appreciate that we have so much digitized now, but there is so much more almost there. I'm just impatient, I guess.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/land-and-probate-records-on-familysearch.html

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

2016 International Genetic Genealogy Conference is in San Diego, October 22-23

I didn't receive an email or press release about this until today (from J. Paul Hawthorne), but it is important for Genetic and San Diego area genealogists:

The 2016 International Genetic Genealogy Conference is coming to San Diego! i4GG was last held in Washington D.C. in 2014 and they have chosen beautiful San Diego as their next conference destination.

The conference will be held at the Sheraton Mission Valley Hotel on October 22-23, 2016. They have a block of rooms set aside at a discounted rate for attendees if you are from out of town. This will be the most genetic genealogist group assembled in San Diego ever! You truly don't want to miss this historic event.

Please visit the official website here for the complete info and schedule.

Early registration ends today, 22 September - the prices go up on 23 September.

The speaker schedule is:

Saturday (22 October 2016):

9:00 – 10:00 — Keynote: The Power of DNA, CeCe Moore

Track One

10:30 – 11:30 — Evaluating a Genealogical Conclusion including DNA, Blaine Bettinger

11:45 – 12:45 — Using the Tools at GEDmatch to Find Relatives, Kitty Cooper

2:00 – 3:00 — Getting Started with AncestryDNA, Michelle Trostler

3:15 – 4:15 — Digging Deeper with Autosomal DNA, CeCe Moore

4:30 – 5:30 — Searching for Our Most Distant (Paternal) Ancestors in Cameroon – Y Haplogroup A00, Thomas Krahn

Track Two

10:30 – 11:30 — Basics of Utilizing DNA in Unknown Parentage Search, CeCe Moore

11:45 – 12:45 — Mirror Trees Explained, Carol Rolnick

2:00 – 3:00 — How To Use the X chromosome in Family and Origins Searches, Kathy Johnston

3:15 – 4:15 — DNA and the Aftermath of Uncovered Family Secrets, Blaine Bettinger

4:30 – 5:30 — Cold Case Solved: Autosomal DNA Analysis Reveals Lisa Jensen’s Real Identity, Barbara Rae -Venter and Junel Davidsen

Sunday (23 October):

9:00 – 10:00 — Keynote: The Science Fiction Future of Genetic Genealogy, Blaine Bettinger

10:15 – 11:15 — Exploring Ethnicity Estimates, CeCe Moore

Track One

11:45 – 12:45 — DNA Analytics: Using Databases and Spreadsheets to Find Family, Kathleen Fernandes

2:00 – 3:00 — Advanced Third Party Tools, Blaine Bettinger

3:15 – 4:15 — Genetic Genealogy Case Studies, CeCe Moore

4:30 – 5:30 — Ancestry discoveries with 23andMe , Afton Vechery

Track Two

11:45 – 12:45 — When Your Tree Is a Banyan: Coping with Endogamy in Genetic Genealogy, Leah LaPerle Larkin

2:00 – 3:00 — Tracing the Tribe with DNA, Schelly Talalay Dardashti

3:15 – 4:15 — Family Tree DNA, Strength in Numbers: Advancing Your Research Through Group Projects, Janine Cloud

4:30 – 5:30 — Practical Applications for mtDNA Testing, CeCe Moore

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/2016-international-genetic-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 332: 1757 Marriage Record for Elijah Champlin and Phebe Card

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 1757 marriage record of Elijah Champlin and Phebe Card in South Kingstown, Rhode Island:

The snippet for the Champlin-Card marriage is:

The transcription of the record is:

CHAMPLAIN, Elijah, of Charlestown, and Phebe Card, of south Kingstown; by Samuel Tefft, Justice, Nov. 27, 1751.

The source citation for this record is:

"Rhode Island, Vital Records Extracts, 1636-1899," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), Volume 5, Washington County: Births, Marriages, Deaths, South Kingstown -- Marriages, Page 11 (image 131 of 523), Elijah Champlain and Phebe Card entry.

This is Primary Information extracted from the South Kingstown town records, and the book is a Derivative Source with Direct Evidence.

Elijah and Phebe (Card) Champlin are my 5th great-grandparents, through their son Joseph Champlin (1757-185) and his wife Nancy Kenyon (1765-1833).

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The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

My Father's Newspaper Obituary

I was looking through the Seaver obituaries in the San Diego newspapers on GenealogyBank, and ran across my father's obituary from 28 May 1983. When I checked my family files and my RootsMagic database, I found that I had not found or transcribed the obituary previously.

Here is the obituary snipped from the newspaper page:

The transcription of this obituary is:

Frederick W. Seaver

Frederick W. Seaver, 71, a longtime local insurance agent, died Thursday in the Sharp Cabrillo Hospital.

Services will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday in All Souls Episcopal Church of Point Loma, with burial in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Mr. Seaver, a native of Massachusetts, moved to this area in 1940. He served in the Navy postal service during World War II and then worked as an agent for the Prudential Insurance Co. of America for 25 years.

He was involved in the North Park Little League and the Pioneer Pony League for more than 20 years and was active in the San Diego Bowling Association.

Survivors include his wife, Betty, three sons, Randall, Stanley and Scott, all of San Diego, four granddaughters, three sisters, and one brother.

The family suggests contributions to the local chapter of the American Cancer Society.

The source citation for this obituary is:

"Frederick W. Seaver," obituary, San Diego [CA] Union, 28 May 1983, page 6-B, column 5; online index and digital image, GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 21 September 2016), Historical Obituaries in Newspaper Archives, 1690-2010 collection.

I can't believe that I had not found it, saved it, sourced it or transcribed it. Now I have!

Now I wonder what other obituaries of my close family that I have not found or transcribed.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/my-fathers-newspaper-obituary.html

BCG's Free Day of Quality Education to be Broadcast Online Through Legacy

I received this information from Cari Taplin via email yesterday:

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Top genealogists Pamela Boyer Sayre, Elizabeth Shown Mills, Ann Staley, Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, David McDonald, and Judy Russell will present six one-hour lectures held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Friday, 7 October 2016 between 9 AM and 5 PM mountain U.S. time.

The lectures are free and open to the public (registration is not required), sponsored by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Most will also be broadcast online (free registration is required, see below). The board is an independent certifying body and author of the updated 2014 Genealogy Standards.

Times (Mountain U.S. time), topics, and speakers:

9:00 AM - "Enough is Enough. Or Is It?" Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL

10:15 AM - "FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta." Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL

11:30 AM - "Black Sheep Ancestors and Their Records." Ann Staley, CG, CGL

1:30 PM - "Bringing Life to Our Ancestors: Manuscript Collections." Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG

2:45 PM - "Document Transcription & Analysis: A Workshop." David McDonald, CG

4:00 PM - "When Worlds Collide: Resolving Conflicting Evidence." Judy G. Russell, CG, CGL

“Whether you stop in for the lectures or join online, you will learn more about how to apply good methodology to your family research,” said President Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG. “The Board for Certification of Genealogists strives to foster public confidence in genealogy by promoting an attainable, uniform standard of competence and ethics. Educating all family historians of every level is part of this mission.”

For questions or more information contact office@BCGcertification.org.

Register for the Online Broadcasts

Five of the six classes will be broadcast online by BCG's webinar partner, Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/BCG to sign up individually (free), or click here to sign up for multiple classes at once.

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NOTE: The "click here" link in the last paragraph was not available in the email.

David McDonald's workshop will not be included in the webinar series.

This is, I think, an excellent opportunity for genealogists to receive top-notch genealogy education from world-renowned speakers. And it's FREE to watch live!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/bcgs-free-day-of-quality-education-to.html

SCGS Jamboree 2011 Genea-Fun Part 5 -- Post 431 for (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.

At the 2011 SCGS Jamboree in Burbank, there were a lot of geneabloggers and we had a ton of fun. It's been great fun scrolling through my photos of this three-day event and laughing and remembering everything we experienced.

The next event on the crowded Geneabloggers agenda at the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree was the Pinata Party on Saturday night. This was an informal "come if you can" event with some planning and no guest list. I think that Sheri Fenley and Donna Pointkouski dreamed this up, and went out and bought a pinata in the form of a Parrot which they named Peter.

Being in a very respected and sedate mainline hotel, the issue became where could the assembled parrot lovers whack Peter, whoop it up, and reap the largesse of his innards. A site between the two hotel towers was chosen opposite the main swimming pool, and after ten p.m., the Peter whacking party assembled. Ron Arons provided a rope and a length of PVC pipe, and Sheri Fenley hung Peter from the overhang slat. Peter was wearing his hula skirt. Some photos from my camera:

1) The photo below shows Donna Pointkouski (with the Peter whacker) and Sheri Fenley (in the red fuzzy footie), and someone hiding behind Peter (I think it's Donna Wendt), getting ready:

Several erstwhile geneabloggers took their whacks, but Peter's thick skin resisted them. It fell to Dan Lynch to take a really big whack and relieve Peter of his goodies. Dan obviously knew how to do this! The rest of us whooped and hollered and woke somebody up on the 8th floor of the hotel.

2) Here are Sheri and Donna scooping up the largesse from the recently demised Peter the Parrot:

3) After the Peter whacking job, we took pictures in the walkway. Here is the group of Geneabloggers that "dressed up" in their PJs for the party (from left to right): Terri O'Connell (standing, in pink), Diana Ritchie (standing), Joan Miller (seated, in gray and black), Linda Seaver (standing in white t-shirt, an honorary genea-blogger), Elyse Doerflinger (seated, in green top), Randy Seaver (standing, in white t-shirt), Donna Pointkouski (seated, in purple top), Sheri Fenley (on ground, in red footie), Steven Danko (in black and white PJs), Kim Von Aspern (seated, in light blue PJs), Heather Rojo (standing on right), and the recently whacked Peter on the right:

4) The genea-parazzi were out in force while taking the picture above. I see Steve Morse, Ron Arons, Lisa Alzo, Donna Wendt, Vincent Rojo and Caroline Pointer taking photos, and that's Susan Kitchens on the right trying to escape from the photo::

This evening was really fun - a bonding experience if you will. The normally shy Thomas MacEntee sat on the sidelines with a look of amazement and amusement on his face, no doubt thinking "what hath Thomas wrought!"

5) On Sunday morning, we were greeted by a wonderful box of doughnuts and a reserved sign for geneabloggers on the Blogger Island table in the hallway. I think I had two of these for breakfast:

Well, that's about all I have from the 2011 SCGS Genealogy Jamboree.

Of all of the Jamborees I've attended since 2008, this was the most fun and had the highest geneablogger attendance. There were even two "Blogger Summits" on the program, and I was on one panel.

Now I have to find more photos to share next week from another fun genealogy event!

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/scgs-jamboree-2011-genea-fun-part-5.html

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

How Accurate Are Ancestry.com Hints?

This is a question that I am asked occasionally by genealogy colleagues and blog readers. I had a little free time today (hey, I'm retired, I can do anything I want all day long - um, except for when I can't, of course), so I decided to take a look at my Hints in my "big" tree with over 42,900 persons in it.

Here is the top of my Hints page for this Ancestry Member Tree:

Today, I have:

* 47,874 ALL Hints
* 33,625 RECORDS Hints
* 5,198 PHOTOS Hints
* 547 STORIES Hints
* 8,504 MEMBER TREES Hints

I usually just look at the RECORDS hints. I get somewhere between 20 and 50 RECORDS Hints every day on this tree - for seemingly random persons in this tree. I try to keep track of how many are added each day or so. For instance, the last time I checked on 18 September, I had 33,523 RECORDS Hints, so I'm up 102 in the two days since then. That is pretty typical. When I checked the list on 31 August, I had 33,033 RECORDS Hints (but I have resolved 445 Hints since then), so that is 937 RECORDS Hints added since 31 August, or about 47 per day.

Today, I methodically went through the first 20 pages of the RECORDS Hints - that's 400 Hints. I tried to judge if the Hint was for the specific person in my database, or was not, or might have been but I can't draw a conclusion. For these 400 Hints, my judgment said that:

* 347 - YES, they were for the specific person (86.75%)
* 39 - NO, they were not for the specific person (9.75%)
* 21 - MAYBE, perhaps the specific person (5.25%).

This is a pretty small sample, but the results indicate that over 85% of the RECORDS Hints in my Ancestry Member Tree are for the specific person cited. If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said 80% to 90% were for the specific tree persons.

Sometimes, the Hints are very helpful. for instance, the first person at the top of the screen above is Sarah E. Holbrook (1839-????), who married Joseph Warren Dill (1836-????) in 1872 in Massachusetts. The 15 Hints for her include records for her birth, her three marriages, and some census records. I did not have her first marriage in 1855 in my database - now I do! I did not have her third marriage in my database - now I do. How do I know these records apply to the same person? All three of the marriage records name her parents as Enos and Matilda Holbrook.

I am often amazed that the Ancestry Hints system can find some of the females with multiple marriages, especially when I have only one marriage in my database. Other amazements are how the Ancestry Hints can find interesting name spellings and attribute them to the right tree person.

It is important to note that these Ancestry Member Tree Hints are derived from a limited set of all of the Ancestry.com databases - I've heard the top 10% of all databases listed by record count. There are 32,720 databases in the Ancestry Card Catalog - so 10% is 3,272 databases. #3272 today has 17,517 records, so the 10% covers a lot of records. Researchers should always do a search for a person to find the matches that are not picked up by the Hints engine.

I will do this study again when more Hints are piled up in this tree. Only by expanding the number of Hints evaluated can a better accuracy percentage be calculated. I hope to get up to 2,000 Hints the next time I do this study.

Are you surprised by the (YES) accuracy percentage, or by the NO percentage? What percentage do you think are accurate in your Ancestry Member Tree? What about on MyHeritage and FamilySearch?

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/how-accurate-are-ancestrycom-hints.html

Popular RootsTech Event Open for Registration

I received this press release from RootsTech last week:

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Popular RootsTech Event Open for Registration

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA (September 15, 2016)—FamilySearch International has announced that registration to RootsTech 2017 is now open. RootsTech is an annual family history and technology conference where guests of all ages are inspired to discover, preserve, and share their family roots, heritage, and stories across generations—past, present, and future. In 2016 the event attracted more than 28,000 attendees in-person from all 50 US states and 30+ countries. RootsTech 2017 will be held February 8–11 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The popular Innovator Summit and free Family Discovery Day are also open for registration. The website for registration is RootsTech.org.

The 4-day conference will offer attendees a full lineup of inspiring and well-known keynote speakers, over 200 informative sessions, including hands-on computer labs taught by industry professionals and leaders, interactive activities and helpful exhibitors in the expo hall, and entertaining evening events, all designed to inspire and empower personal family discoveries. Early bird discount pricing is available for a limited time on 4-day passes at just $159 and $189 for the RootsTech plus Innovator Summit pass. Passes for the Getting Started track start at $49 for a single day and $69 for a limited 3-day pass. All passes include access to the popular expo hall and morning keynote sessions.

Starting off the 4-day RootsTech conference is the Innovator Summit, a unique 1-day conference designed for serious entrepreneurs, developers, and innovators interested in giving their creative ideas traction in a growing multi-billion-dollar industry. The event also offers attendees the opportunity to interact and connect with industry influencers, executives, and investors. The Summit will include a morning general session (the keynote speaker will be announced soon), over 20 classes, the Innovator Showdown semi-finals, and more. Innovator Summit ONLY passes are available at the discount price of $99.

Along with the Innovator Summit, the Innovator Showdown returns to RootsTech with $100,000 in prizes. Innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world and from any industry are invited to compete with their latest products or services that enable individuals to discover, preserve, and share their personal and family stories, memories, or ancestral connections. The top 5 finalists will be invited to present their product or service on the main RootsTech stage before a panel of judges and a live audience on Friday, February 10, just after the morning keynote session.

Registration for Family Discovery Day is also now open. The event takes place on Saturday, February 11, 2017, and is designed for families and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This free and fun 1-day event includes inspiring messages from Church leaders, engaging classes for families, youth, and young single adults, and evening entertainment to inspire and help families and members discover, preserve, and share their family connections. Family Discovery Day attendees will also have access to all the interactive activities and exhibitors found in the RootsTech expo hall. Event details, including speakers and classes, will be made available soon at RootsTech.org. Registration is required.

About RootsTech

RootsTech, held February 8–11, 2017, and hosted by FamilySearch, is the largest global family history event in the world! The sixth annual conference—celebrating families across generations—is the perfect place to discover and share your family's stories and connections through technology.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/popular-rootstech-event-open-for.html

Treasure Chest Tuesday -- 1910 U.S. Census for the Torger Leland Household in Deerfield, Dane County, Wisconsin

Yes, I know it's supposed to be Treasure Chest Thursday, but I can't help it - I want to share some of the records that I (and others) have found in my/their repository and online searches for my ancestral families.

This week the treasure is the 1910 United States Federal Census record for the Torger Leland household in Deerfield, Dane County, Wisconsin:

The Leland family information:

The extracted information about the family:

* T. H. Leland - head, male, white, age 59, first marriage, married 34 years, born Nor[way], father born Nor[way], mother born Nor[way], immigrated in 1857, Naturalized citizen, can speak English, a Foreman, works in Tobacco warehouse, able to read and write, owns home with a mortgage.
* Annie Leland - wife, female, white, age 56, first marriage, married 34 years, 10 children born, 7 children living, born Nor[way], father born Nor[way], mother born Nor[way], immigrated in 1865, can speak English, no occupation, can read and write
* Mabel Leland - daughter, female, white, age 24, single, born Wisconsin, father born Nor[way], mother born Nor[way], can speak English, a Teacher, can read and write
* Arthur Leland - son, male, white, age 19, single, born Wisconsin, father born Nor[way], mother born Nor[way], can speak English, a baggage man, works in Ry station, can read and write
* Ruth Leland - daughter, female, white, age 16, single, born Wisconsin, father born Nor[way], mother born Nor[way], can speak English, no occupation, can read and write, attended school.

The source citation for this record is:

1910 United States Federal Census, Dane County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Deerfield township, Enumeration District 49, Page 7B (stamped), Dwelling #21A, Family #21A, T.H. Leland household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T624, Roll 1708.

The Torger Leland family resided in Deerfield in the 1910 U.S. census, and only three of their 7 living children were residing with their parents. All of the age and birthplace information, are correct.

The immigration information shows that Torger Leland came to the USA as a boy in 1857, and that Anna (Natvig) Leland came to the USA in 1867. Torger has an entry in the naturalization column.

Torger and Anna (Natvig) Leland were my wife Linda's great-grandparents. She is descended through their son Severt Oliver Leland (1878-1940), who married Amelia Anna Brocke (1884-1975) in 1904.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/09/treasure-chest-tuesday-1910-us-census.html