Genea-Musings

Friday, April 14, 2017

Latest News on Family Tree Maker 2017 Release

The Family Tree Maker Support page at has this FTM 2017 Update, dated Friday, 14 April, 11:30 a.m. MDT:

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ARE WE THERE YET?

What a difference a week can make. With help from Ancestry, a small army of beta testers, and the advanced report system that our engineers built last weekend, we are closing in on the stubborn issues that were in the way of successful syncing. "Are we there yet?” No, not yet, kids. But we’re getting close.

BETA RESULTS ARE IN

A record 5,500 beta testers with a range of tree sizes and media content tested a series of four builds this week with improving results for each one. In the latest round, successful syncing was reported by 89% of beta testers with all but the largest trees. Of course that needs to be 100%, but we’re pretty pleased with the ground covered thus far.

GATHERING DATA

The advanced report generation system that I described in the last update was put into all beta builds this week, and we have so far received more than 30,000 diagnostic reports all sent automatically from beta testers. Our engineers have written scripts to analyze them, and we have reported our findings of where the syncing was getting off track to Ancestry.

GETTING IT RIGHT

So how do we get from here to release? We will get a series of adjustments today from Ancestry and more as they roll out early next week. And in parallel we are making the corresponding changes on our side. Then back into beta testing and we keep going until we at or above 98% successful syncing and all other systems “go". Then we’ll release.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING NOW

It’s perfectly safe to continue working on your trees. We recommend working on your FTM tree if possible since you can make complete backups with media. But if your most up to date tree is on Ancestry, that’s fine too. Ancestry continues to help by providing all but sync services, so you can continue your research with Ancestry hints, search and merge.

AN OPTION FOR THE ANXIOUS

If you have a pressing need to sync, please consider signing up for beta testing. Yesterday, for example, a genealogist who needed to post trees made in Family Tree Maker for her clients joined the beta program, and in half an hour had posted all her trees and was back in business. To become a beta tester, just go to www.familytreemaker.com to sign up.

GETTING SUPPORT

Please read the FAQ’s on our support site (support.familytreemaker.com). That will help a lot. Our Live Chat is open all weekend as usual, but with extended hours. We don’t close down for the night until the last person in line is helped. We can’t help you with syncing your older versions but we are open to assist beta testers and all regular FTM users alike.

NEXT STEPS

We will be working through the weekend to be ready on our side for Monday updates from Ancestry. We do not have a release date yet, and do not plan to provide one until we are ready to release, which could be at any time. Could it be in a few days? Sure. Could it still be another two weeks? It’s possible. When we know, you will too. Stay tuned.

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Disclosure: I am a paid Family Tree Maker subscriber and have received no material considerations from Software MacKiev.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/latest-news-on-family-tree-maker-2017.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.

This Week's We're Related Relationships - 14 April 2017

I received 6 new cousin relationships on the We're Related mobile app over the last two weeks, which is based on Ancestry Member Trees. The new relationships, and my initial evaluation of them, are:

1) Matt Wright -- Facebook friend, 7th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Mary Hubbard (1712-1754).

My line back to Mary Hubbard, wife of Amos Gates, is through her son, Simon Gates (1739-1809). Matt's line is through Isaac Gates (1746-1831). I have Isaac Gates as a son of Amos and Mary (Hubbard) Gates. My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

2) Bonnie Cosgrove - Facebook friend, 8th cousin 2x removed, common ancestor is Isaac Graves (1620-1677).

My line to Isaac Graves goes through Samuel Graves (1655-1723); my documented line says that this Samuel Graves is the son of Thomas Graves (1620-1697) and Hannah (1623-1665) of Lynn, Mass. So I think that the app has my line wrong. Bonnie's line goes through John Graves (1664-1746) of Hatfield, Mass. My judgment is that this relationship is Unlikely.

3) Matthew Deighton -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Catharina Meyer (1689-1755).

My line to Catharina Meyer goes through my 2nd great-grandfather Devier James Lamphear Smith (1839-1894), who was adopted. My tree reflects the adoptive family lines, not the biological lines. Therefore, my judgment is that this relationship is Wrong.

4) Pam Cooper -- Facebook friend, 8th cousin 1x removed, common ancestor is Abraham Tucker (1653-1723).

My line to Abraham Tucker goes through his daughter Content Tucker (1695-1738) who married Benjamin Wing. Pam's line goes through Abraham's daughter Mary Tucker (1684-1769), who married Joseph Russell. My judgment is that this relationship is Very Likely.

5) Cyndi Henry -- Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is William Terrell (1659-1743).

My line to William Terrell goes back to his purported son, John Terrell (1680-1748), who was born and died in Somerset, England. The William Terrell (1659-1743) was an immigrant from England to Virginia, and he apparently did not have a son John born in 1680. So the app added one more generation to my confirmed line. I did not search on Cyndi's line. My judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely.

6) Regina De Leon -- Facebook friend, 9th cousin, common ancestor is William Terrell (1659-1743).

See my discussion above on Cyndi Henry. I did not search on Regina's line. My judgment is that this relationship is Highly Unlikely.

My count is up to 211 famous or Facebook cousins provided by the app. This week, my judgment is that 2 of the 6 cousin relationships are Likely or better.

The app may be right -- I don't know for sure -- and I can't really find out because the app provides no source material to back up their assertions. If there was authoritative information for my end-of-line ancestors, I would add it. None of the "Unlikely" or "Wrong" relationships have been convincing to me yet.

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The URL for this post is:

New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 14 April 2017

I received this information from Findmypast today:

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New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday

There are over 1.1 million new records available to search this Findmypast Friday including;

British Columbia Estate Files Browse 1859-1949

British Columbia Estate Files contains over 783,000 records that allow you to delve through probate estate files pertaining to the judicial districts of British Columbia; the County Court and the Supreme Court. Probate estate records are a valuable resource for family history research, providing vital details such as dates, names, and locations to help grow your family tree. Included in this collection is a probate index for the district of Vancouver, sorted alphabetically by last name.

This collection is browse only. There are no transcripts. To find your ancestor, you will need to browse through the images. You can narrow results by year, document, court, and district. The amount of information you will discover may vary but most will reveal the deceased’s rank or profession, the date, location and cause of their death, when it was registered, the name of their physician, the signature, description, and residence of informant and any additional remarks. In some instances, full probate records may be available, including details of next of kin and the deceased’s estate. Estate details may involve an inventory and valuation list. Additional biographical information may also be recorded such as occupations.

Britain, missing beneficiaries and unclaimed estates 1910

Did your ancestor leave behind a significant estate or inherit a fortune from a distant relative? Britain, missing beneficiaries and unclaimed estates contains over 500 records from Dougal’s Index Register to Next of Kin, Heirs at Law and Cases of Unclaimed Money Advertisements from 1910. The publication looks specifically at properties or estates registered in chancery court, which have gone unclaimed because a deceased person did not create a will or did not have any known descendants.

The book comprises lists of titles of causes in courts, index of names found in newspapers related to unclaimed estates, and stories of those individuals who were lucky enough to discover that they had inherited a handsome fortune from a person unknown to them.

The lists only provide an individual’s first and last name. It was the reader’s responsibility to apply to the publisher for the full advertisement at the cost of £1. The publisher claimed that this list has the means of giving a person the information necessary to recover money or property they otherwise would have never heard of.

Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts 1600-1812 Browse

Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts 1600-1812 Image Browse allows you to delve through 51 volumes of Archdeacon’s transcripts in their entirety. The collection contains over 76,000 records of baptisms, marriages and burials covering 32 parishes across the county.

Archdeacon’s transcripts are copies of parish registers that were sent to the archdeacon. Prior to 1812, all copies of registers were sent to the archdeacon. After 1812, the copies were sent to the bishop and became known as the bishop’s transcripts.

Norfolk Bishop's Transcripts 1687-1901 Browse

Browse through 123 volumes of images of original bishop’s transcripts from Norfolk Record Office to uncover details of baptisms, marriages and burials. Bishop’s transcripts are a valuable resource, especially in cases where original parish register were damaged or destroyed.

The bishop’s transcripts are copies of original Norfolk parish registers. It was the responsibility of each parish to create copies of their registers to be sent to the bishop. The collection contains over 210,000 individual records.

Sussex Burials

Search over 2,000 new additions to our collection of Sussex burials to reveal your ancestor’s burial date, where they are buried and, in some cases, additional notes that may reveal their marital status, occupation, residence or relatives’ names.

The new additions cover the parish of Northiam in the valley of the River Rothe and consist of transcripts created by the Hastings & Rother Family History Society. The entire collection now more than 509,000 records, covers 237 parishes across the county and dates back as far as 1530.

Sussex Monumental Inscriptions

Over 2,000 additional records from the parishes of Herstmonceux & Friston have been added to our collection of Sussex Monumental Inscriptions.

Each record includes a transcript that will list the deceased’s birth year, age at death, death year, burial location, the number of individuals buried in that plot, details of the inscription on their headstone or memorial and the reference number. Inscriptions often reference other family members and close relatives were occasionally buried together.

British Newspapers

Over 48,000 new articles and two brand new titles have been added to our collection of historic British newspapers this month. This month’s new titles are The Shipping & Mercantile Gazette and The Rutland Echo & Leicestershire Advertiser.

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Disclosure: I have a complimentary subscription from Findmypast.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/new-records-available-to-search-this_14.html

52 Ancestors - Week 171: #248 Jacob Zavering/Sovereign (1759-1851) of New Jersey and Ontario

Here is my 52 Ancestors biography for week #171:

Jacob Zavering/Sovereign (1759-1851) is #248 on my Ahnentafel List, my 5th great-grandfather, who married #249 Elisabeth Bikel/Pickel (1764-1849) in 1781, in Oldwick, New Jersey.

I am descended through:

* their son, #124 Frederick Sovereign (1786-1875), who married #125 Mary Jane Hutchison (1792-1868) in 1810.

* their son, #62 Alexander Sovereen (1814-1907), who married #63 Elizabeth Putman (1818-1895) in 1840.

* their daughter, #31 Mary Jane Sovereen (1840-1874), who married #30 James Abraham Kemp (1831-1902) in 1861.

* their daughter #15 Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952) who married #14 Charles Auble (1849-1916), in 1898.

* their daughter #7 Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977) who married #6 Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976) 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: Jacob Sovereign[1]

* Alternate Name: Jacob Zavering[2]

* Sex: Male

* Father: Frederick Zavering (1711-1805)

* Mother: Anna Waldruff (1715-1768)

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

* Birth: about 1759, Schooley's Mountain, Morris, New Jersey, United States

* Death: about 1851 (about age 92), Charlotteville, Norfolk, Ontario, Canada

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

* Spouse 1: Elisabeth Pickle (1764-1849)

* Marriage 1: 1 March 1781 (about age 22), Oldwick, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States[2]

* Child 1: male Sovereign (1782-1785)

* Child 2: Elisabeth Sovereign (1783-1850)

* Child 3: Frederick Sovereign (1786-1875)

* Child 4: Henry Baltis Sovereign (1787-1878)

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

Jacob Zavering/Sovereign/Sovereen was born in Morris County, New Jersey in about 1759, the second child and second son of Frederick Zofrin/Zavering/Sovereign and Anna Waldruff. Some online family trees and derivative sources say his birth date was 6 November 1759 in Schooley's Mountain, New Jersey.

On 1 March 1781, Jacob Zavering married Elizabeth Bikel [Pickel] in Zion Lutheran Church in Oldwick, New Jersey[2]. They had four children in New Jersey between 1782 and 1787 - an unnamed son who died at age 3, Elizabeth, Fredcerick and Henry Baltis Sovereign.

A description of the life of Jacob Sovereign is provided in Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement by E.A. Owen, published in Toronto in 1898[1]. This book describes the settling and building of Norfolk County, Ontario, mostly by Loyalist immigrants from the United States. The section on Jacob (pages 137-139) is entitled "Jake Sovereign, the Pioneer Tavern-Keeper" and reads:

"About a hundred years ago, Jacob Sovereign, one of eight German-American brothers who came to Long Point settlement before the present dying century was born, built a log cabin on a ridge in the unbroken forest that crosses east and west the front part of Lot 14, in the 6th concession of Charlotteville. Here with his brave New Jersey wife -- formerly Miss Elizabeth Pickle -- and his three children, the eldest of whom, Frederick was only twelve years old, was planted one of the main branches of the great Sovereign family -- a family now widely scattered over the American continent by the many transplantings of a century.

"If the story of Norfolk's development during this first century of its history were written in detail from the time the sharp 'click' of the settler's axe first broke the long and awful stillness down to the present time, what a wonderful tale it would be! We can see in our imagination these primitive log cabins, one here on the shady bank of a babbling brook, and one there on the sunny side of a chestnut ridge, and all intervening space covered with a dark and forbidding forest; and around the cabin door and underneath the wide spreading branches, we see little bare-footed and bare-headed children skipping about. What of the life in these lonely cabins? The days were full of toil, and the nights, oh, how long and dark, and full of strange, startling sounds for young mothers and timid children. If the veil were lifted, what fears, hopes -- eye, and tears -- would be revealed in the inner life of those rude dwellings in the struggle to meet the crying demands of the hour, and in planning for the unknown future! We shall never know the full meaning of such a life; we can only catch a faint glimpse of it through our imaginations. We never saw the brave old pioneer fathers and mothers who erected the first log cabins in Norfolk, but we distinctly remember the bent forms of our grandfathers, and the wrinkled, saintly faces of our grandmothers; and they were the little tots that gambolled around those first cabin doors, and sometimes cried for bread when there was no bread for them. But we have no more space in this sketch for our imaginations.

"After Jacob Sovereign had effected a clearing and made a start in the world, he made his home into a tavern and kept it for several years. It was one of old Charlotteville's first taverns, and the rough-and-ready settlers who used to gather at 'Jake Savreen's tavern' and spin yarns and crack jokes before the big open-mouthed fire-place have long since passed away. The old sand ridge remains, but the people who occupy it at present live in another world and know nothing of the old scenes enacted there so many years ago, or the conditions of life that prevailed at that time. Many a funny story was told at this old tavern, inspired by copious drafts of 'Uncle Jake's grog'; and sometimes our grandfathers exhausted their fund of good humor by indulging too freely in pioneer 'bitters,' and then the curtain would drop on the funny part, and the spectators would witness something more tragical. As resort to the old game of fisticuffs was the usual way of settling all disputes in our grandfathers' days; and the fellow who could wield his fists the most effectively was considered the most convincing disputant in all argumentative controversies -- political, religious, or otherwise.

"Jacob Sovereign lived to a good old age, and left two sons -- Frederick and Henry; and one daughter, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was married her father told her he would give her a span of horses and a wagon if she had a family of twenty children. She came within two of it."

The death date of Jacob Sovereign is not known. Some derivative sources or authored works say 1845, others say 10 August 1851, probably in Charlotteville in Windham Township, Norfolk County, Ontario. He may be buried in Delhi Cemetery in Windham Township.

5) SOURCES

1. E.A. Owen, Pioneer Sketches of Long Point Settlement (Toronto, Ont. : William Briggs, 1898), pages 137-139, Jacob Sovereign biography.

2. Norman C. Wittwer and D. A. Sinclair, "Marriage Records of the Zion Lutheran Church at Oldwick," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, Volume 40, page 10, Jacob Zavering and Elisabeth Bikel entry.

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NOTE: 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 have extended this theme in 2017 to 208 Ancestors in 208 Weeks.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/52-ancestors-week-171-248-jacob.html

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Legacy's Family Tree Webinars is Free April 14th through 16th

Over at Legacy News, Geoff Rasmussen announced that all 500 webinars in the Family Tree Webinars library will be FREE to view, without registration, for this weekend (Friday, April 14 to Sunday, April 16).

This is a fantastic genealogical education opportunity.

Geoff has also posted How to Choose From 500 Classes on the Legacy News blog to help you navigate the website.

Just go to www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com and select the "Webinar Library" link and select a class.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/legacys-family-tree-webinars-is-free.html

Seavers in the News-- Obituary for Alforetta (Bloss) Seaver in Watertown, N.Y.

It's time for the next issue of "Seavers in the News" - an irregular feature of Genea-Musings that helps me find interesting and informative details about the lives of persons named Seaver.

Here is the obituary of Alforetta K. (Bloss) Seaver published on 27 April 1955 in the Syracuse (New York) Herald Journal newspaper on page 3:

The transcription of this obituary is:

"Funeral Tomorrow for Mrs. Seaver

WATERTOWN -- Mrs. Alforetta K. Bloss, 81, widow of George H. Seaver, died at her home, 1111 Franklin st., yesterday of heart attack.

"She is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Martin H. Casselamnn, of Watertown, and Mrs. George Woods, of St. Regis Falls; two brothers, Walter and Chester Bloss of Parishville.

"Mrs. Seaver was born at Parishville. She was married to Mr. Seaver at Massena May 16, 1902. They came to Watertown from Faust 43 years ago. Mr. Seaver, a machinist for the New York Central, died in 1941.

"The funeral will be tomorrow 1:30 P.M. from the Northam and Fox Funeral Home, the Rev. Thomas J. Carlisle, pastor of Stone Street Presbyterian Church, officiating. Burial will be in Parishville."

The source citation for this obituary is:

"Funeral Tomorrow for Mrs. Seaver," Syracuse [N.Y.] Herald-Journal, 27 April 1955, page 3, column 4, obituary; indexed database and digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2017).

Information gleaned from this obituary include (with my commentary in brackets):

* Alforetta K. Bloss was the widow of George H. Seaver. [Was she married to a Bloss when she died?]
* She was 81 years of age.
* She died "yesterday" [26 April 1955?] at her home, 1111 Franklin Street [in Watertown?]
* She died of a heart attack.
* She has two living sisters and two living brothers named Bloss.
* She was born in Parishville [New York].
* She married George H. Seaver on 16 May 1902 in Massena [N.Y.] [but I have a record that says it was 16 April 1912 in Utica, N.Y.]
* They came to Watertown 43 years ago [in 1912?]
* George H. Seaver was a machinist on the New York Central railroad, and died in 1941.

I easily found George Horace Seaver (1876-1941) in my RootsMagic family tree database, married to Alfaretta K. Blass (1874-1955) on 16 April 1912 in Utica. George Horace Seaver is my 3rd cousin 4 times removed.

I think that there are several errors in this obituary. My guess is that one of her siblings was the informant for this obituary, since she is not referred to as Alforetta K. Seaver for some reason. They may have erred on the marriage date - it's off by 9 years and 11 months. Therefore, it's very likely that her maiden name was Bloss, not Blass as the marriage record indicates.

I found Alfaretta in the following records on Ancestry.com:

* 1880 U.S. Census as Alferetta Bloss in Parishville, N.Y.
* 1900 U.S. Census as Alferetta Bless in Parishville, N.Y.
* 1910 U.S. Census as Alforetta D. Sever in Altamont, N.Y.
* New York County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936 - two as Alfaretta K. Bloss and one as Alfaretta K. Blass, all in Utica in 1912.
* 1920 U.S. Census as Alfaretta Seaver in Watertown, N.Y.
* 1925 New York State Census as Alforetta Seaver in Watertown, N.Y.
* 1930 U.S. Census as Alfaretta K. Seaver in Watertown, N.Y.
* U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 as Alforetta Seaver in the 1917, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1935, and 1944 directories for Watertown, N.Y.

Were they married twice - once in 1902 and again in 1912? I don't know - I have the 1912 record.

I don't see any indication of children - the obituary does not mention any, and the census records do not show any.

I did not have Alfaretta's death date or death place, her cause of death, her siblings, George's date of death or occupation, or their residence in Watertown. Those Facts can be added to the database using this newspaper article as the source.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/seavers-in-news-mrs-alforetta-seaver.html

1735 Birth Record of Amos Plimpton (1735-1808) of Medfield, Mass. - Post #360 of Treasure Chest Thursday

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 1735 birth record of Amose Plimton, son of John Plimton and Abigail Fisher in the vital record book of Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.

The entry for Amose Plimton:

The source citation for this birth record is:

Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1903), Births, page 84, Amose Plimton entry.

Amos Plimpton was the second child (of five) and second son of John Plimpton (1708-1756) and Abigail Fisher (1711-1785), who married in Medfield, Massachusetts in 1731.

Amos Plimpton married Mary Guild (1735-1800) in 1756 in Walpole, and had five children. They are my fifth great-grandparents. Their daughter, Mercy Plimpton (1772-1850) married Aaron Smith (1765-1841) in 1795, and had eight children.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/1735-birth-record-of-amos-plimpton-1735.html

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

My "Improved" FamilyTreeDNA Ethnicity Estimates

FamilyTreeDNA recently improved their ethnicity estimates, based on user's autosomal DNA test results.

1) After signing into FamilyTreeDNA, I clicked on the myOrigins button on the home page. My myOrigins page looks like this:

I have 96% European ancestry and the rest are Trace Results. I clicked on the European category and saw two colored areas in Europe:

This indicates that I have:

* 90% British Isles
* 6% Southeast Europe

I clicked the "Trace Results" line and saw:

This indicated that I also have:

* < 2% Finland
* < 2% Oceania
* < 2% North and Central America
* < 2% West Middle East.

I clicked on the "Show All" link below the Ethnicity estimates to see:

2) I saved the earlier Ethnicity estimate from earlier this month, before the change in the estimates, and it was:

The previous ethnicity estimate was:

* 45% Scandinavia
* 32% Western and Central Europe
* 19% Southern Europe
* 4% British Isles

Look at the differences between the old and the new FTDNA ethnicity estimates:

* British Isles goes from 4% to 90%
* Southern Europe goes from 19% to 6%
* Scandinavia goes from 45% to 0%
* Western and Central Europe goes from 32% to 0%.

3) So how does the FTDNA ethnicity estimate match the estimates from other DNA test companies?

a) My AncestryDNA ethnicity estimate is:

* 66% Europe West
* 18% Ireland
* 9% Great Britain
* 3% Scandinavia
* 1% Italy/Greece
* < 1% Iberia
* < 1% America
* < 1% Pacific Islander

b) My 23andMe ethnicity estimate is:

* 47.9% British and Irish
* 26.0% French and German
* 2.0% Scandinavian
* 21.0% Broadly Northwestern European
* 1.3% Broadly Southern European
* 1.1% Broadly European
* 0.4% Native-American
* 0.1% Broadly East Asian and Native-American
* 0.1% North African
* < 0.1% Unassigned

This is really baffling to me. How can the ethnicity estimates be so different from the three largest autosomal DNA test and analysis organizations? The answer must be the "reference populations" used by each company.

c) As I've stated before, my "paper trail" ethnicity estimate is, based on residences about 500 years ago, is:

* ~ 65% British Isles (almost all England)
* ~ 34% Western Europe (Germany, France, Netherlands)
* < 1% Scandinavia
* < 1% Native-American (probably in Quebec).

Of course, 500 years ago is not 2,000 years ago. No doubt several significant populations populated the British Isles.

4) My opinion, which probably doesn't have much value, is that the new FamilyTreeDNA ethnicity estimate is the most inaccurate of all of them, and that the 23andMe estimate is the most accurate of all of them, and comports fairly closely to my "paper trail" ethnicity estimate.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/my-improved-familytreedna-ethnicity.html

Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

2012 Legacy Cruise - Part 3: Post 459 of (No t So) Wordless Wednesday

Linda and I enjoyed the Legacy Family Cruise in May 2012 from Oslo to Le Havre to Cherbourg to Dublin to Liverpool to Edinburgh and back to Oslo. I took some photos with my camera (not cell phone), including these from our visit to Paris on Day 3 (Monday, 14 May 2012, continuing from last week):

After lunch at Chez Jenny, it was off to drive past Notre Dame on the bus, then over to the Left Bank, stopping at Invalides, and then to the Seine River near the Eiffel Tower.

We boarded a river boat for a one hour sail on the Seine – up past Ile de France and back. We sat in the middle, so I was able to take pictures on both sides, especially of Notre Dame.

After debarking, Linda did some shopping for postcards, and I went across to the Eiffel Tower and took some pictures.

When I came back, we bought ice creams and enjoyed them before boarding the bus at 6 p.m. for the ride back to Le Havre. After 8 hours on the bus, we were tired of sitting.

We got to the ship at about 8:45 p.m. and went up to the Windjammer Café for a quick dinner. Then to the cabin and to bed at 10 p.m. just as the ship departed for Cherbourg.

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The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/04/2012-legacy-cruise-part-3-post-459-of.html

Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Responses to Kinship Report Post - Family Tree Maker Can Do It!

I had several helpful responses to my post Dear Randy: Can I Make a Kinship Report in RootsMagic? (posted 4 April 2017).

1) In email, Bob Bryan said:

"This came up recently in our user group meeting. The results you would like can be had but a couple of more steps are required.

Generate the report
Save as an .rtf file
Copy and past into Excel spread sheet
Then, sort on the relationship"

2) In email, Doug Greenhill said:

"Best I got in Family Tree Maker was to:

Start with SelfKinship ReportSelected IndividualsChoose AncestorsSet Number of Generations such as 3Check Include Ancestors' Descendants. Generations 3Click OKCheck Sort by Kinship"

3) In comments, Lois Wilson offered:

"You can create a report similar to what you are wanting using Legacy Family Tree and Microsoft Excel. I have set up a post with instructions: Creating a relationship report using Legacy Family Tree and Microsoft Excel"

4) Gaylon Findlay of Incline Software, maker of Ancestral Quest family tree software, provided a three-page report on how to do this. It uses a Custom Report in AQ. If you want a copy of it, please contact me.

Thank you, Bob, Doug, Lois and Gaylon!

I used to be able to use spreadsheets well, but I have only LibreOffice Calc (not Microsoft Excel) and cannot figure out how to make it do what I want it to do using the RootsMagic Kinship List in RTF format.

I tried to use Family Tree Maker 2014.1 and succeeded using Doug's script! I used the Relationship Reports > Kinship Report, and picked Ancestors > Selected Individuals > Set Number of Generations = 6 and Include Ancestors Descendants = 10. I got 4,482 individuals.

When I clicked on "Sort by Kinship" I received a 129 page report sorted by Kinship Civil relationship metric order, with the closest persons listed first. Here is an image of one page of the report:

I figured I could Save that Report, and then go in and edit it to identify specific groups, like 4th cousins. I clicked the "Save" icon at the top right, and I think the file saved, but I couldn't figure out where it was saved, and I can't find them in my Family Tree Maker file directories. Drat.

Well, Family Tree Maker worked well for this task. Thank you, Doug!! This is one reason I have three software programs on my desktop computer - one of them usually can do what I want to do without additional steps! As always, figuring out the steps is the biggest problem.

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