What to Expect from FamilySearch in 2022

 I received this from FamilySearch today:

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What to Expect from FamilySearch in 2022

Making personal family discoveries while volunteering online

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Consumers love a sneak peek at the fun products and features planned for the upcoming year. Consumers in the expanding family history market are no different, and FamilySearch loves giving them something to enable more personal family connections. In 2022, FamilySearch will introduce a marriage of artificial intelligence and crowdsourcing that is sure to deliver millions of inspiring family discoveries for years to come; plus some fun, new international tree features.

FamilySearch Crowdsourcing

Hundreds of thousands of online volunteers have produced nearly 2 billion searchable online records since 2007 using FamilySearch crowdsourcing technology. The result of these efforts are free, highly searchable name indexes that enable anyone to instantly find information about an ancestor at FamilySearch.org.

The challenge of late has been how to create these searchable name indexes as fast as FamilySearch is digitizing the world’s historical family history records. Part of the answer is engaging more online volunteers. To do this, FamilySearch is offering new mobile technology and personalizing the experience so more volunteers can contribute in ways that are personally relevant to them.

“What if online volunteers could conveniently participate using their mobile phones? What if the records they help make more discoverable online were relevant to their personal family tree? What if meaningful contributions only took a few minutes to complete? What if the experience was in the volunteer’s native language? Those are some of the unique benefits of upcoming upgrades to the online volunteer experience. We are merging the lines between volunteering and making personal family history discoveries,” said Ian James, a FamilySearch product manager.

This is the vision for the new online volunteer experience and integrated mobile app FamilySearch will unveil at RootsTech Connect 2022. FamilySearch believes these new experiences, expanding volunteer involvement globally, along with more technological capabilities under development, will exponentially increase access to the world’s historical records and enable millions more personal family discoveries.

Online volunteers have already made invaluable collections like the 1790 to 1940 US Censuses freely searchable online. Imagine what they will do with projects like the 1950 US Census and many more historical records collections from patrons’ homelands using FamilySearch’s new online volunteer experiences!

FamilySearch Handwriting Recognition Artificial Intelligence

FamilySearch works with archives all over the world to help digitally preserve and expand online access to their genealogical records. In 2022, FamilySearch will be unveiling some exciting developments utilizing handwriting recognition artificial intelligence and records access technology to make impressive additions to the number of searchable ancestor names found in genealogical records at FamilySearch.org.

These emerging technologies will enable FamilySearch to make ancestral information hidden in its billions of digital images of historical records more discoverable—in a fraction of the time currently required.

“We’ve been implementing our new records access technologies in Spanish-speaking countries for the past year. We are very pleased with the results. We’ve been able to produce in one year what would have otherwise taken us a hundred years to do with previous technology. We are excited to unveil it at RootsTech 2022 along with our expansion plans,” said John Alexander, a FamilySearch product manager for the emerging technology.

Alexander said the new handwriting recognition technology, coupled with the new online volunteer experiences and integration with a patron’s FamilySearch Family Tree, will dramatically increase personal discoveries and access to the world’s records.

FamilySearch Asian Pedigree Feature

A continual focus of FamilySearch is to help meet the needs of its growing base of international customers. In 2022 FamilySearch will deliver a new family tree visualization and documentation tool for its patrons with Asian ancestry. The Asian pedigree or “First Ancestor View” in the FamilySearch Family Tree will better reflect the record-keeping traditions and processes of Asian cultures that view their ancestors in a “top-down tree” perspective.

“Asia is an exciting segment for us,” said Mitch Wasden, a FamilySearch outreach manager. “We want to give people around the world the tools they need to help them to collaboratively create the ‘Family Tree of Humankind.’ This feature will give people with Asian ancestry a FamilySearch.org tree-building experience equal to those in other areas of the world.”

Africa and Middle East Family Tree Experience



FamilySearch teams have been spending time in Africa and the Middle East getting to understand these cultures and their needs. For example, individual families in these regions may not be accustomed to documenting, visualizing, and sharing their family relations in the context of a “tree.” FamilySearch is delivering a new experience in 2022 tailored to patrons from Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East to artistically preserve and illustrate their family history in a variety of beautiful printable keepsakes. It will be offered through a mobile and web app that requires very little bandwidth or phone storage memory. Learn more, follow, and share these Family Tree initiatives at FamilySearch.org/Africa and FamilySearch.org/MENA (Middle East and North Africa).

Discover your ancestors for free today at FamilySearch.org.

Register for RootsTech Connect 2022 (March 3–5) for free and be the first to learn more about these new FamilySearch features.

                       ==============================================

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/what-to-expect-from-familysearch-in-2022.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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.

52 Ancestors - Week 416: #152 Moses Brigham (1723-1769) of Westborough, Massachusetts

Moses Brigham (1723-1769)  is #152 on my Ahnentafel  List, my 5th great-grandfather, who married #153 Mehitable Grout (1725-1795) in 1749 in Westborough, Worcester County,  Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

* their son, #76 Phinehas Brigham (1755-1802), who married #77 Lydia Batherick (1752-1795) in 1779.
* their son, #38 Lambert Brigham (1794-1834) who married #39 Sophia Buck (1797-1882) in 1817.
* their daughter #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) who married #18 Edward Hildreth (1831-1899) in 1852.

* their daughter #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) who married #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) in 1874.

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

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

* their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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

*  Name:                       Moses Brigham[1–7]

*  Sex:                          Male

*  Father:                     Nathan Brigham (1693-1784)

*  Mother:                   Dinah Rice (1693-1725)

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

*  Birth:                      2 January 1722/3, Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2,7]

*  Deed:                     7 February 1754 (age 32), Given two parcels in Westborough by father Nathan Brigham for love and affection; Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[4]

*  Deed:                     7 June 1756 (age 34), Bought 5 acres of land in Westborough from his father Nathan Brigham for 5 pounds; Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[5]

*  Death:                    3 December 1769 (age 47), Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[1,7]

*  Burial:                    after 3 December 1769 (after age 47), Memorial Cemetery, Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[7]

*  Probate:                  1 January 1770 (age 47), administration granted on intestate estate; Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[6]

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

*  Spouse 1:                Mehitable Grout (1725-1795)

*  Marriage 1:             2 May 1749 (age 26), Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[1,3]

*  Child 1:                  Sarah Brigham 1751-1827

*  Child 2:                  Moses Brigham 1753-1814

*  Child 3:                  Phinehas Brigham 1755-1802

*  Child 4:                  Mehitable Brigham 1758-1844

*  Child 5:                  Ebenezer Brigham 1761-1839

*  Child 6:                  Mary Brigham 1764-1846

*  Child 7:                  Joseph Brigham 1766-1837

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

Moses Brigham was born 2 January 1722/3 in Marlborough, Massachusetts Bay, the first son and third child of Nathan and Dinah (Rice) Brigham[1-2,7].  The family lived in Marlborough and then Southborough, and Nathan had land in Westborough.  Moses was the only son from this marriage, and his mother died in 1725.  Nathan married two more times.

Moses married Mehitable Grout (1726-1795) on 2 May 1749 in Westborough[1,3]. She was the daughter of Joseph and Mary (Harrington) Grout of Westborough. They had seven children:

*  Sarah Brigham (1751-1827), married 1772 Jonathan Forbes (1746-1805).

*  Moses Brigham (1753-1814), married (1) 1781 Wealthy Johnson (1757-1790); (2) 1792 Lucinda Tiffany (1761-1819).

*  Phinehas Brigham (1755-1802), married (1) 1779 Lydia Batherick (1752-1795); (2) 1796 Hannah Jackson (1754-????).

*  Mehitable Brigham (1758-1844), married 1776 John Fay (1748-1837).

*  Ebenezer Brigham (1761-1839), married 1782 Judith Hazleton (1761-1852).

*  Mary Brigham (1764-1846), married1793 Amasa Braman (1760-1830).

*  Joseph Brigham (1766-1837), married 1795 Sarah Woods (1776-1806).

On 7 February 1754, Nathan Brigham, gentleman of Southborough, sold two parcels of  land in Westborough to his well and beloved son Moses Brigham, yeoman of Westborough, for parental love and affection[4].  The first parcel was 60 acres in Westborough, bounded westerly by land of Joseph Grout, northerly by Benjamin and Jeduthun Fay, and southerly by Eaton Farm.  The second parcel was 10 acres of swamp and meadow land in Westborough bounded westerly by Jeduthun Fay, then on Elizabeth River, and land of Francis Whipple.  The deed was witnessed by Edmund Brigham and Hezekiah Ward, and was recorded on 23 August 1754.

This land was given to Moses as his birthright, since the other sons of Nathan were by his second wife.  

On 7 June 1756, Nathan Brigham, gentleman of Southborough, sold a parcel of  land in Westborough to his son Moses Brigham, husbandman of Westborough, for 16 pounds lawful money[5].  The  parcel was 5 acres of meadow and upland in Westborough, bounded southerly by a highway,  heirs of Hezekiah Tomlin, and land of Jonas Brigham, and easterly by the River.  The deed was witnessed by Edward Baker and Joseph Baker, and was recorded on 22 September 1756.

The Brigham Family history book [1] has this information about Moses Brigham:

"The house which he occupied is the one now standing on East Main street, owned by George A. Ferguson [in 1907].  This, more than a hundred and twenty-five years ago, had received the usual addition for the married son's accommodation.  The immense chimney with three flues is of brick, which was manufactured very early in the young town's history, from the "clay lands" in Marlboro, Southboro, and Northboro.  This house was built by Moses Brigham, and here he brought his bride, Mehetabel.  She was a member of the Grout family, and her wooing by young Brigham caused many heart-burnings and wild frenzies of jealousy to the daughter of his stepmother.  One evening, when she knew that he planned to ride over to see Mehetabel, she slipped out to the stable and hamstrung Selim, his favorite horse.

"Moses Brigham lived here until his death; then his son-in-law, Jonathan Forbes, took possession of the north end, and the widowed Mehetabel lived in the south end.  It remained in the possession of the Forbes family until 1870.  It has the usual curiosities of the carpentry of those days, one of the doors -- that from the sitting-room to the kitchen -- having dim heart-shaped panes of glass set in the upper half." -- The Hundredth Town.

He was a surveyor in Westborough in 1757, and a tythingman in 1760, and a constable in 1762[1].

Moses died at age 46 on 3 December 1769 in Westborough, Massachusetts[7], leaving a wife and seven children ages 3 to 18.  He was buried in what is now Memorial Cemetery in Westborough, and his gravestone inscription says:

"Mr. Moses

Brigham died

Dec. 3'd 1769

in the 47'th

Year of his Age."

The intestate estate file for Moses Brigham is in Estate File 7,407 in the Worcester County Probate Court[6].  There was no will, only the administratrix account, an inventory, and the order to distribute the real property.

The widow Mehitable Brigham was granted administration on her husband's estate on 1 January 1770, and posted a bond of 500 pounds with Jonathan Grout (perhaps Mehitable's brother or uncle).  An inventory of the real and personal estate was taken by 15 January 1770, which totaled 783 pounds.  Mehitable's widow's thirds included the personal estate after debts were paid, and a portion of the real estate, including one third of the house.  

Each child had a guardian or legal representative named for them to protect their interest in their father's estate.  Son Moses Brigham's guardian was his uncle, Jonathan Grout.  Son Levi and daughter Sarah's guardian was their uncle Levi Brigham.  The mother, Mehitable Brigham, was the guardian for the younger children.  In the record above, daughter Sarah (born 18 April 1751) had attained adulthood by 23 June 1772, and married on 2 July 1772, which may have prompted the account. 

The court waited until the eldest son, Moses Brigham, turned 21 years old, and then in 1774 ordered the real estate split between the widow and the children, and after the appraisal, the son Moses Brigham was to pay his siblings 49 pounds each as their share and he would own the children's portion of the real estate.

Some of the transcribed useful records include:

a)  The account of administratrix Mehitable Brigham was allowed on 8 June 1772.  It says:

*  Worcester ss the further account of Mehitable Brigham adm'xon y'e estate of her Late Husband Moses Brigham Late of Westb'o in said County Dec'd

The said accountant Chargeth herself with y'e Personal Estate & Ballance of her account settled & allowed y'e 8'th June 1772.

y'e sum of                                                                     213 :  7 :   10

And prays allowance as follows: viz't 

Pd for Commission settling of my thirds                                 2 :   6

To y'e Committee for their time                                             14 :   0

Supporting them                                                                       8 :   0

Allowing Recording their Report                                             7 :   0

I pray allowances for y'e Provisions apprised used & For y'e support of y'e family 

Provision apprised used for y'e support of y'e family      29 :  19 :   6

4 fat hogs apprised used for y'e family                              7 :  15 :   6

Sole & upper Leather used for shoes for y'e family          2 :  15 :   6

To Drawing allowing & Register of this act & a copy                     6 

Sum:                                                                                 42 :   8 :   0

Remain:                                                                        £170 : 19 : 10

Error Excepted pr Mehetabel Brigham 

*  Worcester July 4: 1772 Mehetable Brigham abovesaid appeared & made oath to y'e truth of y'e above accountant Before me John Chandler Judge Probate

*  Worcester ss July 13: 1772 I having Examined y'e above account (and y'e Guardians of y'e Children having signified to me that they ^have no objection^ to y'e above allowance) I do allow thereof y'e Ballance in her hands being £170 : 19 : 10 one third thereof belongs to her as her thirds being £56 : 19 : 11 y'e Ballance Remaining being £113 : 19: 11 which I order that she pay to the dec'd Children their Guardians or Legal Representatives saving to y'e Eldest son a Double share a single share being nearest £14:5/ 

John Chandler Judge Probate

Worcester ss Recorded with y'e Records of Wills for County

pr Clerk Chandler Reg.

*  I Jonathan Grout Guardian of Moses Brigham Late of Westborough Dec'd and Levi Brigham Guardian of Phinehas Brigham a son of said Dec'd and Sarah Brigham a daughter of said dec'd hereby Consent that when s'd dec'ds Widdow shall settle her administration account we shant object to her having all y'e Provisions that was apprised allowed to her for y'e support of the family as also y'e Improvement of y'e Real Estate for y'e Years 1770 & 1771 June 23: 1772.

b)  The real estate of Moses Brigham was appraised on 6 July 1774:

To the Honourable John Chandler Esq'r in Worcester

We the Subscribers being a Committee appointed by your Honor to apprise the Real Estate in Lands whereof Moses Brigham Late of Westborough deceased died Seized of Exclusive of the widow's Thirds haveing Performed that service and in our opinion the Childrens Shares is worth Four Hundred Pounds Lawfull money Exclusive of the widow's Thirds and the whole Farm Contains by our Estimation one Hundred and Thirty acres be the same more or less but the Deed of said Lands does not mention so many acres said Lands are Situate Lying and being in Westb'o aforesaid and are buted and bounded as followeth (viz) begining at the Southwest Corner of said Land at a Stake & Stones by the Land of Nath'a Whitney & it being a Corner of the widows thirds then Runing Northerly a Strait Line by the widows thirds till it comes to the Country Road Crosing s'd Road Beginning at a Stake & Stones at said Road and runs Northerly to a corner of a Stone wall thence by s'd wall northerly to a stake & stones thence North to a stake & stones about nine rods then Turning Northeasterly and runs to a stake & stones at the North-side of the Barn then Turning Southerly through the Barn at the East side of y'e Barn flower to a stake and heap of stones about two rods south of the Barn and all west of the Barn flower is y'e Childrens part and the Lenter and Scaffold over it; on the south side of the Bay in the East End of the Barn and y'e widow is to have Liberty to bring in her Hay & thrack her grain in s'd flower from thence to the Country Road afore the Barn then Crosing s'd Road to a stake & stones thence Easterly & runing By y'e widows thirds to a small walnut Tree marked by the Land of Capt. Benj'a Fay then Turning Southerly by s'd Benj'a Fay Land a Strait Line till it comes to the Land of Nathaniel Whitney Then Turning Westerly by s'd Whitney Land to the Bounds first mentioned and also another piece of Land Bounded as followeth )viz( Begining at a stake and stones at the Southeast Corner & By the Land of En'? Jaduthan Fay & By the County road thence runing westerly By s'd ^Road^ to a stake and stones which is a Corner of the widows thirds & called her wood Lot then Turning northerly & by s'd wood Lot to a maple tree marked then Turning westerly & runing by s'd wood Lot to the Land of Benj'a Fay then Turning and runing northerly by s'd Benj'a Fay land to a stake & stones then Turning Easterly by s'd Benj'a Fay and Jaduthan Fays Land thence Easterly By s'd Jaduthan Fays Land to a heap of stones then Turning Southerly by s'd Jaduthan Fay Land to the first mentioned Bounds of this peace of Land; another peace of Land Containing about Eighteen acres and is upland Swamp and meadow & Touches the Last mentioned peace of Land Begining ^at the^ northeasterly ^Corner^ of the Last mentioned ^Peace of Land^ at a stake & stones thence runing Northerly By the Land of Jaduthan Fay to a river Called Elsabeth River then Turning as he River runs till it Comes to the Land of Francis Whipple Esq'r thence by said Whipple Land till it comes to Land of Benj'a Fay thence by said Benj'a Fay till it comes to a Corner ^which is a heap of stones^ then Turning westerly & runing By s'd Benj'a Fays Land till it Comes to Land now possessed by Jaduthan Fay till it Comes to the Bounds first mentioned of this peace. The Childrens shares in the House is the north front room & all the Back rooms & sellers under them and all above the Lower and the widow and the Children have Liberty ^to^ pa ss up Chamber & Down Seller and the Common Land Left around the House is for the Benefitt of the widows thirds & the Children Shares from a stake & heap of stones at the Road thence By the well & so round the House to the Road at the north End of the House according to the Bound mentioned in the Widows thirds.

And we are of the opinion that the Lands which we have apprised is not Conveniant for more than one Settlement.

Westborough July y'e 6, 1774                                Jon'a Bond                                                                                                                                                      Joseph Baker 

                                                                               Stephen Maynard

c)  On 10 October 1774, the Probate court ordered the administratrix to distribute the estate to the heirs.  The record says:

To all People unto whom these Presents shall come: 

John Chandler Esq. Judge of the Probate of Wills, &c. in the County of Worcester within the Province of the Massachusetts-Bay, in New England, sendeth Greeting.

Know ye, That pursuant to to Acts or Laws of the said Province, relating to the Settlement or Distribution of the Estates of Intestates, and the Direction, Power and Authority to me therein given, I do hereby Order and Assign unto  Moses Brigham  Eldest son of Moses Brigham Late of Westborough, In said County, Yeoman Dec'd.

All those Pieces and Parcels of Land, with the Buildings and Appurtenances thereon and thereunto belonging, being y'e Whole of y'e Real Estate of said dec'd Except the Widdows Dower & Scituate In said Westborough and the same is particularly set forth and described in the Return of the Commissioners by me appointed and sworn for the Apprisal thereof, and by them valued at  four hundred Pounds  (as by the Return of the said Commissioners into the Registry of Probate for the said County of Worcester  may appear) TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the hereby ordered and assigned Land and Premises, with the Members and Appurtenances thereof unto  him  the before-named  Moses Brigham and to  his  Heirs and Assigns forever.

PROVIDED he the said Moses Brigham his Heirs, Executors, or Administrators, shall and do well and truly pay, or cause to be paid unto the rest of the before-named deceased's Children, their legal Representatives, or Guardians, the several Sums of Money hereafter in this my Decree to them respectively ordered to be paid, together with the Interest for their respective Sums or Portions, after the Rate of ???  Pounds per Cent. per Annum, to commence on and from the  fifteenth  Day of  July   Anno Domini   1774  and both Principal and Interest to be paid (if demanded) on or before the tenth   Day of  October  which will be in the Year  of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and  Seventy five.

ACCORDINGLY I Order the before-named Assignee Moses Brigham his Heirs, &c. in the first place to pay and clear the Charges relating to this Settlement, amounting in the whole to  two pounds ten shillings.

Then to pay  unto his  sister ^Sarah^ Forbes Wife of Jonathan Forbes or her Legal Representative the sum of forty nine pounds thirteen Shillings & nine pence half penny Lawful money In one Year with Lawful Interest ^for the same^ from y'e fifteenth day of July Last.  To his Brothers ^& Sisters vizt^ Phinehas Brigham Ebenezer Brigham Joseph Brigham Mehetable Brigham and Mary Brigham their Guardians or Legal Representatives Each the Sum of forty nine pound thirteen shillings & nine pence half pence.

       2: 10: 0 [charges]

     49: 13: 9  [sister Sarah Forbes]  

     49: 13: 9 [brother Phinehas Brigham]

     49: 13: 9 [brother Ebenezer Brigham]

     49: 13: 9 [brother Joseph Brigham]

     49: 13: 9 [sister Mehetable Brigham]

     49: 13: 9 [sister Mary Brigham]

     99:  7: 6 [eldest son Moses Brigham]

 £400:  0: 0

In like Money, Manner, and with the Interest before-mentioned.  all which aforesaid Sums, with the Share of said Assignee, amount to the apprized Value of the  two thirds of said dec'd Estate and (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) make each Child's Share therein to be agreeable to the Direction of the Law.

PROVIDED also, in case all or any Part of the hereby assigned Land and Premises shall be legally evicted from the above-named Assignee, Moses Brigham his  Heirs, Executors, Administrators or Assigns, that then the rest of the aforesaid deceased's Children, their Heirs, &c. (Sharers in this division) shall refund their rateable Parts, with Law Charges.  In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and the Seal of the Probate Office for the County aforesaid, the   tenth   Day of   October   Anno Domini One Thousand Seven Hundred and   Seventy four   and in the   fourteenth   Year of His Majesty's Reign.  John Chandler, Worcester. Recorded with y'e Records of Wills ???? County      

5.  SOURCES

1. W. I. Tyler Brigham (Emma E. Brigham, editor), The History of the Brigham Family, A Record of Several Thousand Descendants of Thomas Brigham the Emigrant, 1603-1653 (New York City : The Grafton Press, 1907), page 183, #69 Moses Brigham family sketch.

2. Franklin P. Rice (editor), Vital Records of Marlborough, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849  (Boston, Mass. : Franklin P. Rice ,1908), Births, page 44, Moses Brigham entry, 2 January 1722/3.

3. Systematic History Fund, Vital Records of Westborough, Massachusetts to the end of year 1849 (Worcester, Mass. : Franklin P. Rice, 1903), Marriages, page 131, Moses Brigham and Mehitable Grout entry.

4. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 27 January 2022), Worcester County > Deeds, 1754-1756, Vol. 35-36, Volume 35, page A245, Deed of Nathan Brigham to Moses Brigham, executed 7 February 1754, recorded 23 August 1754.

5. "Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," digital images, FamilySearch, accessed 27 January 2022), Worcester County > Deeds, 1756-1758, Vol. 37-38, Volume 38, page 100, Deed of Nathan Brigham to Moses Brigham, executed 7 June 1756, recorded 22 September 1756.

6. Worcester County, Massachusetts, Probate case files, Probate Packet 7 407 (32 pages) intestate estate of Moses Brigham of Westborough, 1770; "Worcester County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1731-1881," digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org: accessed 15 March 2020).

7. Find A Grave, indexed database and digital image, (http://www.findagrave.com), Memorial Cemetery, Westborough, Mass., Moses Brigham memorial #63339042.

NOTE:  This genealogical sketch is out of Ahnentafel order because I found new information linking Sophia Newton to her birth father, Lambert Brigham.  

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NOTE: In 2014, Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog. I have extended this theme in 2021 for an eighth year to 416 Ancestors in 416 Weeks. The (incomplete) list of 52 Ancestors biographies from my great-grandparents to the 7th great-grandparents (in work) is in https://www.geneamusings.com/p/ancestor-biographies.html.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/52-ancestors-week-416-152-moses-brigham.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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.

Ancestry® Will Apply Handwriting Recognition Technology to Create a Searchable 1950 U.S. Census Index

 The Ancestry.com Corporate Blog has released information today about the United States 1950 Census in   Ancestry® to Apply Handwriting Recognition Artificial Intelligence to Create a Searchable Index of the 1950 U.S. Census,  

The good news is:

"The 1950 U.S. Census is set to be released to the public in early April. With handwriting recognition technology, what previously took years to index, now will only take weeks. Ancestry anticipates the indexing of the 1950 Census to be completed and available on Ancestry.com this summer, with states released in real time upon completion."

and:

"Ancestry developed machine learning algorithms to power our proprietary AI handwriting recognition technology. Ancestry created AI software that reads handwriting from historical documents and transcribes the data, enabling our community to easily and quickly search historical records. The technology uses a unique and iterative blend of machine and human evaluation which is based on an Ancestry-developed confidence score framework."

Finally:

"Ancestry and FamilySearch volunteers are partnering to evaluate the handwriting recognition extraction and ensure a complete and accurate index. Those interested in volunteering to help should visit familysearch.org/1950Census to learn more.  Keep an eye out for additional details around the 1950s U.S. Census and the AI handwriting recognition technology at RootsTech 2022. To register, go to www.RootsTech.org." 

Read the whole thing.  This looks exciting.  After the 1950 U.S. Census, what will they index next with this technology?  

There is no bad news in this.  It looks like we may have an index created by the Ancestry handwriting recognition technology available by summer 2022, with states released as they are completed.

Noe that this answers several of the questions I asked on Tuesday in Information About 1950 U.S. Census Indexing Efforts. 

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Disclosure: I receive a complimentary all-access subscription from Ancestry.com, for which I am thankful. Ancestry.com has provided material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/ancestry-will-apply-handwriting.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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.

Seavers in the News -- Edward Seaver (1878-1962) Dies in Duxbury, Mass. in 1962

 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 The Boston [Mass.] Globe newspaper dated 7 November 1962:

The transcription of the article is:

"Private Services on Monday for Edward Seaver

"Private services will be held for Edward Seaver, 83, former chairman of the Needham School Committee who died Monday at his home on King Caesar rd., Duxbury.

"  Mr. Seaver was in charge of installation of Needham's first sewer system, and he was a member of the Dwight School building committee.  He was founder of the Needham Taxpayers' Assn.

"He was born in Roxbury, lived in Needham 30 years before moving to Duxbury.

"He was a 1901 graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was one of the designers of the first steam turbine while working for the Westinghouse Corp. in Pittsburgh.

"He leaves a wife Grace (Whitmore); and a son, Russell W. Seaver, both of Duxbury."

The source citation is:

"Private Services on Monday for Edward Seaver" The Boston [Mass.] Globe newspaper, Wednesday, 7 November 1962, page 23, column 8, Edward Seaver obituary; Newspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 27 January 2022).

This obituary provides the name, age, birthplace, spouse's name, child name, death date and place, education, an occupation, places of work, a residence, accomplishments, and some association information.  

Edward Seaver (1878-1962) was born 18 November 1878 in Boston, Mass., the son of Edward and Mary Kate (Russell) Seaver.  He married Grace Ambrose Whitmore (1881-1966) on 11 June 1907 in Boston.  They had two children:

*  Russell Whitmore Seaver (1908-1988), married (1) 1935 Jane Elizabeth Bell (1916-1980); (2) 1942 Alice Virginia Dadmun (1911-1993).

*  Margaret E. Seaver (1911-1911).

Edward Seaver (1878-1962) is my 6th cousin 4x removed.  Our common Seaver ancestor is my 9th great-grandfather Robert Seaver (1608-1683).

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 accomplished good things for his community.  I am glad that I can honor Edward 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/2022/01/seavers-in-news-edward-seaver-1878-1962.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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 -- Gravestone Record of Moses Brigham (1723-1769) in Westborough, Massachusetts

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 gravestone record for Moses Brigham (1723-1769) of Westborough, Massachusetts Bay:

The inscription on the gravestone is:

"Mr. Moses

Brigham died

Dec. 3'd 1769

in the 47'th

Year of his Age."

The source citation for the Moses Brigham burial record on Find A Grave is:

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63339042/moses-brigham : accessed 26 January 2022), memorial page for Moses Brigham (2 Jan 1722–3 Dec 1769), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63339042, citing Memorial Cemetery, Westborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by Andy Macdonald (contributor 47287042) .

This is the only death record I have found for Moses Brigham.  His death is not in the Westborough Vital Records book.

   

Moses Brigham(1723-1769) married Mehitable Grout (1726-1795) on 2 May 1749 in Westborough, Massachusetts Bay.  They are my 5th great-grandparents, through their son Phinehas Brigham (1755-1802) who married Lydia Batherick (1752-1795) in 1779.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/treasure-chest-thursday-gravestone.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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.

World Champion Boxer Samuel Azumah Nelson is a RootsTech Connect 2022 Keynote Speaker

 I received this from FamilySearch today:

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“We Are One People” Says 3-Time World Champion Boxer Samuel Azumah Nelson

Ghanaian Hall of Famer’s RootsTech 2022 Story Packs a Punch

 

 

26 January 2022, Accra, Ghana—Boxing is a sport that demands grit and determination, but those characteristics don’t appear from nowhere. Just ask Africa’s greatest boxing legend, Samuel Azumah Nelson and a RootsTech 2022 keynote speaker (3–5 March 2022). He credits his ancestors for endowing him with the qualities that carried him to 3 featherweight world championships and a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

 

“I need to show you where my courage and determination to succeed came from” he declared. “I am a proud Ghanaian with a Tabon DNA, power, and spirit. You must be interested in your family history and to live the values it represents.”

 

There’s a lot behind the Tabon affiliation that is a major part of Azumah’s story for attendees of RootsTech 2022 (March 3–5, 2022). The Tabon people were former slaves in Brazil. With the abolishment of slavery in the late 1800s, 7 families banded together and made their way back to the homelands from which their ancestors had been taken. The Asuman family, who later changed their name to Nelson, were among the leaders of the group. 

 

Register for free at RootsTech.org to watch Samuel Azumah Nelson on the main stage 3–5 March 2022

 

Rather than being ostracized as outsiders, the group was welcomed and sheltered by the ruling tribes, and they soon set about establishing new lives as tailors, architects, and farmers. But earning a living was difficult, and poverty remains a familiar companion in much of Ghana to this day. 

 

“Zoom Zoom,” as Azumah is affectionately nicknamed, was pressed into labor at an early age, forgoing formal education to help provide for his family, including his parents and 5 siblings. On the main stage at RootsTech 2022, a free online event, he will tell the fascinating tale about how he rose from those humble beginnings in total obscurity to the pinnacle of his chosen sport, including the story of a fateful encounter he had as a young boy with a man who was holding a pair of boxing shoes.

 

Despite his global fame, Azumah still clings to his family roots. “Even with our different genealogy, we are part of the global family,” he said. “If only we can remind ourselves that regardless of political affiliation, race, tribe, gender, country, and faith, we all belong to ONE BIG FAMILY OF GOD, I believe the world will be a beautiful place to live in.”

 

To enjoy more of Azumah’s powerful story, register today for free at RootsTech.org, and join the virtual event March 3–5, 2022! 

RootsTech Connect 2022

You can register now for RootsTech Connect 2022, which will be held on 3–5 March 2022, on RootsTech's website. RootsTech Connect is a free, virtual event that includes access to all speakers, classes, and additional resources. You can also check out videos from last year's RootsTech Connect by going to their website.

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Disclosure:  I am a RootsTech Influencer (used to be called Ambassador) and will be publishing information about RootsTech 2022 before and throughout the conference.  I receive no remuneration for this activity. 

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/received-this-from-familysearch-today.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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.

Rabbit Holes With Randy - Updating my DNA Match Lists

 There are too many rabbit holes - and not enough time to deal with them.  Every day another genealogy bunny pops up and I want to play with it.

This past week, I spent a lot of time updating my DNA Match spreadsheets for AncestryDNA and MyHeritageDNA.  I have charts for FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe matches also, but I haven't updated them in over a year.  Another rabbit hole for another time.  All of them are important, but the features of each company are different. 

1)  I keep track of the number of my AncestryDNA and MyHeritage matches.  Today I have 38,671 AncestryDNA matches, of which only 1,712 share 20 cM or more with me.  I have 453 ThruLines also (but some are wrong - maybe about 10 of them).  How do I know how many ThruLines I have?  I've tried counting them one by one and lose track.  

Greg Clarke developed a way to take AncestryDNA matches and put the information in a Google Drive spreadsheet.  I wrote about that in March 2021.  So I downloaded Greg's spreadsheet again (from   https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z4i7v1), and noted that he is up to version 1.09.  The first sheet looks like this, and has directions:

I followed the directions (made a copy, copied the AncestryDNA match data for "Common Ancestors," and went to the "Newest - Recognize btn with LIVE links) sheet, and followed directions there.  On the "Newest" worksheet I pasted the copied match data into cell A6 and the spreadsheet quickly filled in:

The beauty of this spreadsheet is that I can now count the number of the DNA matches, plus look for matches for which I don't have a Note.  This is a pretty neat spreadsheet.  I haven't color coded it yet for a specific grandparent's ancestral line.  The first entry was on row 3, and last entry was on Row 455, so I have 453 ThruLines denoted as "Common Ancestors."  I found no match on this list without a Note about the potential common ancestor or whether I have the DNA match person's line back to the Common Ancestor in my RootsMagic family tree.  Note that I could have done this for my 1,712 "Close matches" also, or a Tagged group, etc.  The spreadsheet has a limit of 1,400 entries, as I recall.

2)  Over the past five years, I have tried to keep a hand-created spreadsheet of my AncestryDNA matches, and updated it sporadically.  Here is the top of that list, which includes all of my top DNA matches down to about 40 cMs (87 high-value matches):

Note that I have added the known relationship (if known), the most recent common ancestors, and whether the matches have a tree, a ThruLine, are in RootsMagic, are in GEDmatch, are in FTDNA, are in 23andMe, are in MyHeritageDNA, are in DNAPainter, and I add Matching segment information if I know it.  Unfortunately, AncestryDNA does not have a chromosome browser, but the other four companies do so it's important to know which other system my AncestryDNA matches are in.

Why the green color?  Here is my spreadsheet further down the list:  

The green color is for my Richmond/White lines, the blue color is for my Seaver/Hildreth lines, the pink for my Carringer/Smith lines, and the orange for my Kemp/Auble lines.  I have several blue lines further down the list.

3)  Then it was on to the MyHeritageDNA matches spreadsheet:

Again, I've used the color coding for the four sets of great-grandparents, but don't have nearly the same number of DNA matches (10,254 today), and I know the common ancestors for only a few of them (I have 15 Theory of Family Relativity matches, which are similar to Ancestry's ThruLines).  On this spreadsheet, I'm adding the cM value, start and end points for each shared segment with me from the chromosome browser.  At this time, I go down to 36 cM on this spreadsheet, and have 37 high-value entries.

Please note that I have hidden the identifying information for my DNA matches in all of the above charts. 

4)  All in all, this took about eight hours during the past two weeks.  It's well worth my time.  If I do this more consistently, and update the FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe matches spreadsheets, I should have a better handle on my high-value DNA matches.  

Where are my carrots to give me energy to complete all of these tasks?  Time for a snack!

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2022/01/rabbit-holes-with-randy-updating-my-dna.html

Copyright (c) 2022, 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.