Genea-Musings

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Seavers in the News - Mrs. Iva B. Seaver Dies in Unity, Maine in 1955

It's time for another edition of "Seavers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from The Bangor [Maine] Daily News newspaper dated 29 June 1955:

The transcription of the article is:

"MRS. IVA B. SEAVER

"UNITY, June 28 -- Mrs. Iva B. Seaver, 61, died Monday evening.

"She was born in Troy, June 21, 1894, the daughter of Israel and Abbie (Carlton) Sone. For the past three years she had resided in Unity. Previous to that, she had lived in Troy.

"Mrs. Seaver is survived by two sons, Arthur and George Seaver of Unity; four daughters, Mrs. Bernice Howe, Mrs. Rita Sanborn, Mrs. Ruth Parson, all of Troy, and Mrs. Beatrice Gower of Benton; two sisters, Mrs. Ethel Hillman, Unity, Mrs. Annie Durgan, West Harpswell; 20 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, one niece and one nephew.

"The remains are at the Donald H. Shorey Funeral Chapel, where friends may call Thursday from 2 to 4 o'clock and from 7 to 8 o'clock.

"Funeral services will be held Friday at 10 o'clock at the Troy Corner Church, the Rev. Lloyd Jewett of Unity officiating.

"Burial will be in the Rogers Cemetery."

The source citation is:

"Mrs. Iva B. Seaver," The Bangor [Me.] Daily News newspaper, Wednesday, 29 June 1955, page 21, column 2, Iva B. Seaver obituary; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 11 August 2021).

This obituary provides the married name, death date and place, birth date and place, parents names, children's names and siblings names, plus limited information about her residences.

Iva Belle Stone (1894-1955) was born on 2 June 1894 in Troy, Waldo County, Maine, the daughter of Israel and Abbie (Carlton) Stone. She died 27 June 1955 in Unity, Maine. She married Irvin Heber Seaver (1891-1941) on 21 September 1913 in Waldo County, Maine. They had seven children:

* Edith Seaver (1914-1940).

* Bernice G. Seaver (1918-1989), married 1934 Willis E. Howe (1912-2005).

* Beatrice Goldia Seaver (1919-1973), married Paul Emil Beauchemin (1914-2000).

* Reta Belle Seaver (1925-1990), married (1) 1941 Merton A Bennett (1919-1985); (2) 1946 William D. Sanborn (1927-1987); (3) 1965 Lorrie N. Gerry (1936-2012).

* Arthur Andrew Seaver (1927-1997), married 1948 Betty Jean Boudreau (1929-2016).

* Ruth Ellen Seaver (1928-2005), married William Roscoe Parsons (1915-1991).

* George I. Seaver (1930-1978), married Mary E. Garnett (1928-2010).

I am an 8th cousin two times removed to Heber Irvin Seaver. Our common Seaver ancestor is my 9th great-grandfather Robert Seaver (1608-1683) of Roxbury, Massachusetts.

There are over 10,000 Seaver "stories" in my family tree - and this was one of them. Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes a person has a large family and a sparse obituary I am glad that I can honor Iva B. (Stone) Seaver today.

You never know when a descendant or relative will find this blog post and learn something about their ancestors or relatives, or will provide more information about them to me.

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Disclosure: I have a complimentary subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/seavers-in-news-mrs-iva-b-seaver-dies.html

Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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

Treasure Chest Thursday -- 1692 Marriage Record of Edward Herrington and Mary Ocington in Watertown, Mass.

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - a chance 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 1692 Marriage entry for Edward Herrington and Mary Ocington in the Torrey's Marriages in New England book:
The marriage entry is the 1st fin the 1692 listings"

The transcription of this record is:

"Edward Herrington and Mary Ocington wer married the: 30: day of March [1692]"

The source citation for this record is:

Watertown Records, Comprising the First and Second Book of Town Proceedings, with the Land Grants and Possessions. etc. (Watertown, Mass. : Watertown Historical Society, 1894), "Births, Marriages, and Deaths," Volume 1, page 65 of 66, Edward Herrington and Mary Ocington marriage, 30 March 1692.

This is an entry in a published Watertown town record book. It is a Derivative Source with Primary Information and Direct Evidence of the marriage of Edward Herrington to Mary Ocington on 30 March 1692. It was transcribed from an original Watertown town record book. The original source page could not be found in the "Massachusetts Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988" collection on Ancestry.com.

Edward Harrington (1669-1736) married Mary Ockington (1669-1725) in 1692 in Watertown, Massachusetts Bay Colony. They had nine children between 1693 and 1711, all recorded in Watertown.

Edward and Mary (Ockington) Harrington are my 7th great-grandparents, through their daughter Mary Harrington (1693-1774) who married Joseph Grout (1683-1758) in 1717.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/treasure-chest-thursday-1692-marriage.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, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Over One Million Pages of Historical British Newspapers Free to Explore Online

I received this from Findmypast today:

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Discover history as it happened

Over one million pages of historical British newspapers free to explore online

158 historical newspapers spanning 1720 to 1880 now free to search and explore on both Findmypast.co.uk and britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Over 3.7 million pages to be made free to access by 2025 following the renewal of Findmypast and the British Library’s long-term partnership

Digitised and published online as part of four special British Library projects, many of the titles included have been specifically chosen to help researchers shed new light on diverse and previously underrepresented communities and their histories

Readers can discover contemporary reports on the struggles of the poor and working class, the daily lives of England’s mining communities, the evils of slavery, the campaign to end them and much more

Following the renewal of their long-term partnership, leading family history brand Findmypast and The British Library have pledged to make millions of historical newspaper pages free to view online.

As of today, over one million pages are now free to search and explore on both the British Newspaper Archive and Findmypast websites which will be expanded by more than 2.7 million additional free pages over the next four years.

Originally launched in 2011, Findmypast and the British Library’s partnership has delivered the most significant mass digitisation of newspapers the UK has ever seen. The British Newspaper Archive and Findmypast sites are currently home to more than 44 million fully searchable pages from over a thousand regional, national and specialty titles dating from 2009 all the way back to 1699. Its ever-expanding digital catalogue covers every corner of the British Isles as well as a number of former British territories including Canada, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Barbados and Jamaica.

Previously, this vast cultural treasure was held entirely in hard copy and microfilm, necessitating travel and hours of painstaking manual research for anyone wishing to explore its contents. Now anyone, anywhere in the world, can uncover millions of articles across hundreds of titles in just a few simple clicks.

There are currently 158 free titles on offer, dating from 1720 to 1880 and covering a diverse array of histories, locations and topics. The newspapers selected were digitized as part of four special British Library projects, including;

19th Century Newspapers: a project funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee and the British Library’s first major newspaper digitisation programme

Heritage Made Digital newspapers: an ongoing project to transform digital access to rare and early newspapers, focusing on newspapers in a poor or unfit condition

Living with Machines: another ongoing project, jointly led by the Library and the Alan Turing Institute, which has been digitising selected UK regional newspapers as part of a major study of the British industrial age and using artificial intelligence tools to undertake new kinds of historical enquiry.

The Endangered Archives Programme: a project that facilitates the digitisation of archives around the world that are in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration

Many of the titles included have been specifically chosen to help researchers shed new light on diverse and previously underrepresented communities and their histories. Highlights from the free-to-view collection include;

The Barbadian (1822-1861) – a fascinating Caribbean publication that covers the transition of Barbados from the colonial, pre-modern to the modern era, including the Emancipation (1834), and the end of the apprenticeship system (1838)

The British Emancipator (1837-1840) – an anti-slavery newspaper which fought for the abolition of the system of apprenticeship, which was put into place after slavery was abolished in the British Colonies

British Miner and General Newsman (1862-1867) – a journal devoted to working miners, which went through a number of titles including The Miner, The Workman’s Advocate and The Commonwealth

Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register (1803-1836) – a famous and hugely information rich vehicle for the ideas and opinions of the great nineteenth-century radical William Cobbett

The Examiner (1808-1880) – a leading radical weekly, edited by Leigh Hunt, with contributors including William Hazlitt, John Keats and Percy Shelley

Illustrated Sporting and Theatrical News (1862-1870) – a lively, visually rich newspaper covering a wide range of sports and theatrical events, with many fine illustrations

The Jamaica Mercury and Kingston Weekly Advertiser (1779-1840) – a West Indies newspaper notorious for its slavery advertisements, later known as The Royal Gazette of Jamaica

The Lady’s Newspaper and Pictorial Times (1847-1863) - one of the earliest newspapers produced for an exclusively female audience

The Morning Herald (1800-1869) – founded on 1780, a national daily that for a number of years rivalled The Times in importance

The Poor Man’s Guardian (1831-1835) - the most successful and influential of the radical unstamped (and thus illegal) newspapers of the early 1830s

The Sun (1801-1871) – a daily evening national newspaper, founded in 1792, originally with pro-government and anti-French revolutionary stance, before changing to advocate liberal and free trade principles

By providing free access to key areas of this unparalleled resource, Findmypast and the British Library are offering the public unique opportunities to uncover the stories behind historical events both great and small, as they happened; transforming their understanding of both the past and the present. This detail-rich archive sees the lives of ordinary people played out in print. Readers can discover contemporary reports on the struggles of the poor and working class, the daily lives of England’s mining communities, the evils of slavery, the campaign to end them and much more.

As well as providing free access, Findmypast’s use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and machine learning also means researching these historically significant titles is truly accessible to all, allowing users to search billions of lines of printed text by name, date, keyword or phrase, all from the comfort of their own home.

Tamsin Todd, CEO of Findmypast said: "The growth of the British Newspaper Archive over the last decade has enabled social and family historians around the world see history through the eyes of communities as they experienced it. We are delighted to have extended our partnership with the British Library, combining their unrivalled cultural archives with Findmypast’s technology and digitisation expertise so that everyone can now search and find inspiration in this rich and diverse collection."

Luke McKernan, British Library Lead Curator, News and Moving Image, said: “Our partnership with Findmypast has enabled us to transform access to the incredibly diverse collection of newspapers in our care, offering historical insight into the lives of ordinary people from communities across the British Isles and beyond. Today, we are very excited to make one million pages available online which our audiences can enjoy for free, wherever they are in the world.”

Anyone wishing to explore these titles and their contents will still need to register a free account with either Findmypast or the British Newspaper Archive before accessing, though no charge will be made for their use. Options to filter searches by “Free Access” titles only are available on both sites.

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Disclosure: I have a complimentary subscription to Findmypast, and have accepted meals and services from Findmypast, as a Findmypast Ambassador. This has not affected my objectivity relative to Findmypast and its products.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/over-one-million-pages-of-historical.html

Our Grandhound Walter -- Post 680 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I can't help it, I can't do a wordless post! This is one of my favorite photographs:

This is Walter, one of my favorite animals in my life. He is a basset hound that daughter Tami and her husband got in about 1998 early in their marriage. This photo was taken in about December 2000, probably at their home in Long Beach.

Walter was so lovable, and so slobbery, and so great a dog. He loved to eat, to go on walks, to sniff everything along the way, go to the dog park, and have his belly rubbed. Everybody was his friend. When they lived in Long Beach, they would go for walks every day on Second Avenue and Walter was a real chick magnet. Every young lady wanted to pet him and he enjoyed every minute of it.

Tami joined the local Basset Hound Rescue and wrote a column called "Walter's Whimsies" for years in their newsletter that was hilarious and creative. They even marched in a Rose Parade as I recall (hmmm, maybe it was a local parade?).

Unfortunately, Walter developed cancer later in life and was lost to the family. He was our first grandhound, and our best grandhound.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/our-grandhound-walter-post-680-of-not.html

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Free BCG Webinar on 17 August: "Standards for Genealogical Documentation" by Tom Jones

I received this information over the weekend from the Board For Certification of genealogists:

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FREE BCG-SPONSORED WEBINAR

“Standards for Genealogical Documentation”
by Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, FASG, FNGS, FUGA

Tuesday, August 17, 2021, 8:00 p.m. EDT

Genealogy Standards spells out eight documentation standards, which give genealogists guidance for documenting genealogical writing. They also provide guidance for citation content, while allowing flexibility in the sequencing and structuring of citations supporting genealogical statements. This presentation will review the standards and provide examples of applying their principles.

BCG’s next free monthly webinar in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars is “Standards for Genealogical Documentation” by Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, FASG, FNGS, FUGA. This webinar airs Tuesday, August 17, 2021, at 8:00 p.m. eastern daylight time (EDT).

Tom Jones is an award-winning genealogical researcher, writer, editor, and educator. He co-edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly in 2003 through 2018, and he is the author of the textbooks Mastering Genealogical Proof and Mastering Genealogical Documentation. He has been certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists since 1994. A professor emeritus at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Tom teaches genealogical research methods at week-long genealogy institutes. He also speaks at national, regional, and local seminars in the United States and internationally, and he writes frequently on genealogical evidence, proof, and problem solving.

When you register before August 17 on our partner Legacy Family Tree Webinars website (http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=6090), you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Anyone with schedule conflicts may access the webinar at no charge for one week after the broadcast on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

“We are pleased to present these high-quality educational webinars,” said President LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG, CGL. “The Board for Certification of Genealogists promotes public confidence in genealogy by supporting uniform standards of competence. We strive to provide educational opportunities to family historians of all levels of experience.”

Following the free period for this webinar, BCG receives a small commission if you view this or any BCG webinar by clicking our affiliate link: http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=2619. For access to all BCG webinars, see the BCG Library at Legacy Family Tree Webinars (http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=2619).

To see the full list of BCG-sponsored webinars for 2021, visit the BCG blog SpringBoard at https://bcgcertification.org/bcg-2021-free-webinars. For additional resources for genealogical education, please visit the BCG Learning Center (https://bcgcertification.org/learning).

Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, FUGA
BCG News Release Coordinator

The words Certified Genealogist and its acronym, CG, are a registered certification mark, and the designations Certified Genealogical Lecturer and its acronym, CGL, are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/free-bcg-webinar-on-17-august-standards.html

Carringers in the News -- Martin Carringer Dies in 1906 in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania

It's time for another edition of "Carringers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Carringer (my mother's maiden surname) that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from The Conneautville [Penn.] Courier newspaper dated 18 July 1906:

The transcription of this article is:

"Martin Carringer, one of the oldest and most respected residents of Cambridge Springs, died at his home in that place on Wednesday of last week, aged 87 years. He was a veteran of the civil war; postmaster for two terms, and engaged in the mercantile business during nearly half a centry of his active life. He leaves three children."

The source citation is:

"Martin Carringer," The Conneautville [Penn.] Courier newspaper, death notice, Wednesday, 16 July 1906, page 1, column 8, Martin Carringer death notice; Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 9 August 2021).

This death notice provides a location, an age at death, an implied death date, and some life highlights, but does not provided information about his spouse or three children.

Martin Carringer (1818-1906) was born 24 January 1818 in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, the son of Johann Jacob and Elizabeth (--?--) Carringer. He died 11 July 1906 in Cambridge Springs, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. He married Mary C. Rowley (1820-1895) on 15 September 1842 in Vienna, Trumbull County, Ohio. They had three children:

* Orpha Leora Carringer (1843-1922), married 1860 Daniel Erastus Burt (1835-1908).

* Hudson E. Carringer (1846-1924), married 1873 Jennie E. Skiff (1840-1903).

* Harriet Ada Carringer (1849-1940), married 1880 William Henry Harrison Ostrander (1842-1909).

I am a second cousin three times removed to Martin Carringer. Our common ancestors are my 4th great-grandparents Martin Carringer (1758-1835) and Maria Magdalena Hoax (1768-1851).

There are hundreds of Carringer "stories" in my family tree - and this was one of them. Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes a person serves his country, has a long life in a quiet place, and has a short death notice. I am glad that I can honor Martin Carringer today.

You never know when a descendant or relative will find this blog post and learn something about their ancestors or relatives, or will provide more information about them to me.

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Disclosure: I have a complimentary subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/carringers-in-news-martin-carringer.html

Monday, August 9, 2021

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 9 August 2021

Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.

1) Hosted the Chula vista Genealogical Society Board Meeting and reported on my activities for the month. Wrote, edited and published the August 2021 issue of the "Family History Gazette" - the CVGS monthly newsletter.
2) Attended the San Diego Genealogical Society DNA Interest Group meeting on Saturday, which featured Kathy Fernandes presenting "Shared Matching Methodology."

3) Participated in Mondays With Myrt today and contributed little. We discussed the Census Genie series, the British Newspaper Archive, my Seaver deeds in Worcester County, Mass., the Ancestry T&C issue, online family trees, and DNA matches.

4) Wrote a genealogy biography of #613 7th great-grandmother Susannah (Hagar) Grout (1653-1731) of Watertown, Mass. for 52 Ancestors on Friday.

5) Transcribed a deed record in Amanuensis Monday -- 1818 Deed of Heman Ray Selling 1.5 acres of land in Westminster, Mass to Benjamin Sever.

6) AncestryDNA added 67 new DNA matches this past week, with no new ThruLines and MyHeritage added 24 new DNA matches. Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe. Added Notes to 5 more AncestryDNA matches with cM values, relationships and known shared ancestors, and added 0 ThruLines to RootsMagic.

7) There were several sessions working in the RootsMagic software program to match with and update FamilySearch Family Tree profiles for Seaver families and my ancestral families, with occasional additions to the RootsMagic profiles. I have matched 43,649 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 136).

8) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 64,782 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 130), and 140,753 source citations (up 352). I TreeShared with my Ancestry Member Tree two times the past week updating 269 profiles, and I resolved 646 Ancestry Hints. I've fallen behind on the Ancestry Record Hints with 155,293 to be resolved, but I work on them almost daily.

9) Wrote 17 Genea-Musings blog posts the past week, of which four were a press release. The most viewed post the past week was Ancestry.com and Your Ancestry Member Tree with over 1541 views.

10) I am still fine here at the Genea-cave, hunkered down and not going out much after Week 73 of COVID-19 isolation. Linda is at a memory care and skilled nursing facility in Chula Vista 7 miles from home and I visit her for an hour every day. The bills for the medical care continue to come in. The Padres season continues, and the Padres are now 64-49 (3-2 the past week). I went to the grocery store on Monday and Friday. Other than that, it was stay-at-home on the computer doing (mainly) genealogy, plus eating, sleeping, laundry, cleaning, cooking, and a little yard work.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-9.html

Amanuensis Monday -- 1818 Deed of Heman Ray Selling 1.5 Acres of Land in Westminster, Massachusetts to Benjamin Sever

This week's document for transcription is the 1818 land deed record for Heman Ray, yeoman of Westminster acting as guardian for five minor children, selling 1.5 acres of land in Westminster, Massachusetts to Benjamin Sever, yeoman of Gardner, Massachusetts for $32:

[Worcester County, Mass. Deeds - Volume 246, Pages 48-49]:

[Worcester County, Mass. Deeds - Volume 246, Pages 50-51]:

The transcription of this deed is (starting near the bottom of page 48 (left-hand page of first image):

[Volume 246, page 48]

Know all men by these presents, that I Heman Ray of West-

minster in the County of Worcester Yeoman and Guardian of Mar-

tha Sever, Silas sever, Isaac Sever, Rozilla Sever and Mary Jane

Sever, Minors, Children of Benjamin Sever late of said Westminster

deceased, intestate, by an order o the Supreme Judicial Court

begun and holden at Worcester within and for said county of Wor-

cester on the fourth Teusday of September last past was licensed

and duly empowered to sell and pass deeds to convey the whole of

[Volume 246, page 49]

said minors real estate, the proceeds thereof to be put out and secured

to said minors, on Interest for their benefit, and whereas I the said

Ray having given thirty days public notice of the intended sale

by posting up advertisements in said Westminster, Princeton and

Worcester, on the twenty fourth day of October last past, that the follow-

ing described real estate of said Minors would be sold to the highest

bidder on the premises, on the twenty sixth day of November then

next following at nine of the clock in the fore-noon, and having

first given bonds, and taken the oath by law in such cases required

did on the said sixth day of November, pursuant to the license

and notice aforesaid, sell at public vendue the following descri-

bed tract of land, being a part of the real estate of said minors

to Samuel Whitney of said Westminster for the sum of thirty

two dollars he being the highest bidder therefor who has refused to

give security and take a deed therefor, and I have bargained the

premises to Benjamin Sever of Gardner in said county yeoman

for the same sum of thirty two Dollars, as it was struck off to said

Whitney, as highest bidder therefor, as follows, to wit, beginning

at the corner of Pearson Cowee's land, and land which I this

day as Guardian conveyed to said Benjamin Sever, at a stake

& stones, thence South eight nine degrees West eleven rods and

twelve links by land of said Cowee to a stake and stones, then

South fifty seven degrees West seven rods and seven links by land of

John Jackson to a stake and stones, thence North two and a half

degrees West by land of Daniel Howe seven rods and six links to

a stake and stones, thence North eighty seven and a half degrees

East by land of John Jackson till it comes to the land which I this

day conveyed to said Benjamin Sever as Guardian, thence turning

and running Westerly on the said Benjamin Sever's land, which I

this day conveyed as Guardian as aforesaid till it comes to the

bound first mentioned, containing about one and a half acre

being the same ^land^ which the intestate purchased of one Josiah Ken-

dall. Therefore know ye, that I Heman Ray aforesaid, guar-

dian as aforesaid, by virtue of the power and authority in me

vested by the said Supreme Judicial Court as aforesaid and in

consideration of the aforesaid sum of thirty two dollars to me

paid by he said Benjamin Sever, the Receipt whereof I do

hereby acknowledge, do hereby release and forever quit-claim

to him the said Benjamin Sever, his Heirs and Assigns all the

right, title, interest and claim I have as Guardian, as aforesaid

to the tract of land herein above mentioned and described, or

however the same is reputed to be bounded. To have and to hold

the afore-quitclaimed premises, with all the privileges

[Volume 246, page 50]

appurtenances to the same belonging to him the said Benjamin

Sever, his Heirs and Assigns forever, to his and their Use and Behoof

forever. And I the said Ray, guardian as aforesaid do hereby cov-

enant with the said Benjamin his Heirs and Assigns, that I gave

thirty days public notice of the said intended sale as aforesaid, that

I gave bonds and took the oath by law required, previous to the sale

and that it was necessary it should be sold for the purposes afore-

said. In witness whereof I the said Heman Ray Guardian

as aforesaid have hereunto set my hand and seal this fourteenth

day of January in the Year of our Lord one thousand eight

hundred and eighteen. Heman Ray Guardian {seal}

Signed, Sealed & delivered } Worcester ss January 14 1818

in presence of us } Then the above-named Heman

W'm Penniman } Ray personally acknowledged the above

Ethan Sever } Instrument by him subscribed to be his fee

act and Deed. Alex'd Dusting Justice of the Peace

Rec'd July 5 1825 Ent'd & Ex'd By Art's Ward Reg'r

The source citations for this land record is:

"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 8 August 2021), Worcester County, "Deeds 1825-1826, vol. 246-247," Volume 246, Pages 48-50 (images 44-45 of 720), deed of Heman Ray to Benjamin Sever, executed 14 January 1818, recorded 5 July 1825; citing original records in County Courthouses, and on FHL Microfilms.

This deed is for a 1.5 acre parcel of land in Westminster which was part of the real property set off to the five minor children of Benjamin Seaver (1857-1816). Heman Ray was appointed guardian of the five minor children and ordered to sell the land to the highest bidder. The highest bidder was Samuel Whitney (probably a relative of Martha Whitney, wife of the deceased Benjamin Seaver and mother of Benjamin Seaver, the five minor children, and other children). However, Samuel Whitney declined to buy the land, and the guardian Heman Ray bargained to sell it to Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) for $32.

Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) of Westminster, Massachusetts married Martha Whitney Seaver (1764-1832) in 1783, and they had ten children between 1784 and 1812. The other deed referenced in the above deed was transcribed in Amanuensis Monday -- 1818 Deed of Heman Ray to Benjamin Sever (1791-1825) in Gardner, Massachusetts.

Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) married Abigail Gates (1797-1869) in 1817 and died intestate on 25 May 1825 in Westminster, and the present deed was recorded on 5 July 1825 after his death.

Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) and Martha Whitney (1764-1832) are my 4th great-grandparents, and Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) and Abigail Gates (1797-1867) are my 3rd great-grandparents through their son Isaac Seaver (1823-1901).

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NOTE: Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday." John offers this definition for "amanuensis:"

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

Read other transcriptions for my ancestors in Amanuensis Monday Posts.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/amanuensis-monday-1818-deed-of-heman.html

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 1 to 7 August 2021

Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for daily blog prompts or meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

* Episode 386 – Talkin’ DNA: Stories From The Spit, Jonny Perl Talks DNA Painter by Ryan B. on Extreme Genes.

* Using Newspaper Resources for Family History Research by Wayne Shepheard on Discover Genealogy.

* Susan Richardson Abbott - Part 1 - 1829-1866 and Part 2 - 1867-1907 by Kristin Cleage on Finding Eliza.

* Works Project Administration & Genealogy: Federal Art Project by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

* What Do You Think You Are? by DiAnn Iamarino on Fortify Your Family Tree.

* Meet Margaret by Jacqi Stevens on A Family Tapestry.

* I Found My Best Friend's Birth Father Thanks to MyHeritage by Jane Nicholson on MyHeritage Blog.

* One Big Change at Ancestry and Ancestry Retreats by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist.

* In 28 Days, Ancestry CAN DO ANYTHING THEY WANT With Every Image In Your Tree by Roberta Estes on DNAeXplained -- Genetic Genealogy.

* 6 Tips For Selecting DNA Matches to Paint in DNA Painter by Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz on From Shepherds and Shoemakers.

* Improvements to the Online Family Tree at MyHeritage by Esther on MyHeritage Blog.

* Deleting Photos Instead of Adding To My Family Trees by Marian B. Wood on Climbing My Family Tree.

* Panic by Marcia Philbrick on Heartland Genealogy.

* The Molehill and the Mountain by Leah Larkin on The DNA Geek.

* Easy Ways You Can Share Your Genealogy Beyond an Ancestry Tree by Amy Johnson Crow on Amy Johnson Crow.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

* Friday's Family History Finds by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

* Friday Fossicking 6th Aug 2021 by Crissouili on That Moment In Time.

* This Week's Creme de la Creme - August 7, 2021 by Gail Dever on Genealogy a la Carte,

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add the blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another RSS feed, or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I currently am reading posts from over 900 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/best-of-genea-blogs-week-of-1-to-7.html

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Newspaper Headlines On Your Birth Date

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:

It's Saturday Night again -

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):

1) What was your own birth date?

2) Find a newspaper from your hometown, or a nearby larger town or city, that was published on that date. What was the major headline on page 1 of that issue of the newspaper?

3) Share your headline with us in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook post.

NOTE: For those who don't have access to digital newspapers behind a subscription wall, find FREE digital newspapers using Kenneth Marks The Ancestor Hunt website at - https://theancestorhunt.com/newspapers.html

4) Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook. Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog post on this post.

Here's mine:

My birth date is 23 October 1943 in National City, California (a San Diego suburb).

I knew that GenealogyBank had San Diego newspapers for that time period, so I searched for page one of that edition of the San Diego Union newspaper and easily found it:

The top headlines are:

* Jap Subs Reported Off Coast; Planes Destroy Jungle Defenses

* Trainmen Turn Back Strike

* Tax Structure Streamlined by House Group

* Capitalist Dies in L.A. Hotel

* Russians Slay 1500 Germans at Melitopol

And below the image above:

* Super Flat Tops Loom

* Americans Gain Four Miles In Push to Join Eighth Army

* Berlin Charges Kidnapping Plot

* Big Allied Convoy in Mediterranean

* etc.

The page 1 news articles were half war related and half everything else - local, national and world.

There was a lot more news on page 1 in 1943 than there is in 2021!

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2021/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-newspaper.html