Michael John Neill's Rootdig blog has a list of immigration records for the rich and famous at http://www.rootdig.com/ships/famousships/. There are many new listings since Ancestry posted the Immigration Collection.
You can find records for Franklin Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, Adolph Coors and Katharine Hepburn, among others.
Michael also has a list of famous persons in the census records at http://www.rootdig.com/famouscensus.html and in World War I draft registration cards at http://www.rootdig.com/wwi/.
Fun stuff, isn't it?
Monday, November 13, 2006
A Bright Idea for Genealogy for Kids
There is an interesting article in the Charlotte (NC) Eagle World News newspaper today - titled "Carolina Panthers Award Genealogy Grant to Elementary School.". The idea:
Read the whole article.
There may be grant opportunities in many cities and states to do this. It only takes an interested teacher to make it happen, hopefully supported by a local genealogy society.
On Tuesday, November 14, Union Power Cooperative, who sponsors the Bright Ideas education grant program, three Carolina Panther players and Sir Purr, the Panther’s mascots, will pay a surprise visit to Idlewild Elementary in Charlotte, NC, to kickoff Bright Ideas Month and present a $824 Bright Ideas grant for the project “Hunting for Family Treasures.”
The grant will introduce genealogy to second and third graders, and allow students to research information about their family history and present that information to their fellow students. Students will then create their own unique family treasures.
It is a yearlong project that will enable students to engage in a discovery of their family’s history and heritage through such methods as the creation of family trees and the learning and sharing of family stories.
Read the whole article.
There may be grant opportunities in many cities and states to do this. It only takes an interested teacher to make it happen, hopefully supported by a local genealogy society.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
The Gravestone Girls
There was an interesting article in the Worcester (MA) Telegram and Gazette dated 31 October 2006 titled "Gravestone Girls. Tombstone Touches Create Decorative Art From the Macabre." The lead:
The last graph:
Read the whole thing - it's a good article. Bravo to the Girls.
Every day is Halloween for Maggie White and Brenda Sullivan. They spend as much time in cemeteries as they can making beautiful decorative art from gravestone rubbings and castings. They have been working together since they were children growing up in Southboro. When it came time to name their quirky artistic collaboration, the choice was … monumental. They called themselves the Gravestone Girls.
The last graph:
Have the Gravestone Girls met any scary “citizens” of the cemetery, perhaps around Halloween?
“No, but there was one cemetery in Pepperell that was cursed,” White said. They story goes that, back in Colonial times, a Pepperell woman was accused of witchcraft and put to death. Just before she breathed her last she put a hex on the town. “It seemed like she really did from the stones that we read,” White said. Those stones tell a chilling tale. Over the next 20 years or so, people that had been involved with her prosecution or their family members met with tragic endings. One got his head run over by a wagon and a little boy was crushed by falling boards at a lumber mill. “The carving on the top of the stone is just a little person laying down with two boards crossed over him,” Sullivan said. “There was a fire, a drowning, or their children died. There were eight of them and every one of those tragic deaths they attributed to the curse.”
Read the whole thing - it's a good article. Bravo to the Girls.
Collecting Immigration Records
With Ancestry's free access (until 30 November) for their Immigration Collection (records from 1820 to 1960, over 100 ports), I decided it was a good time to collect as many Seaver records as I can.
The Search box on the Immigration Collection page allows the user to choose Exact Searches and specify a year range. I started out with surname SEAVER and years 1900 to 1909, thinking I can do 10 years every night.
From reviewing the records, there is significant data of genealogical interest after about 1915, at least for the major Atlantic ports. Birth dates, birth places, US addresses, etc. are provided.
I chose to use the Save button to save the images on my hard drive (The other options are Print and Share, or write everything down). I set up an Immigration folder on my Seaver surname folder, and saved the images (for example: "1912-NewYork-Thomas Seaver.jpg"). This was pretty easy, and I have about 60 images saved from 1900 to 1915 at present. I will go back and extract genealogical data from them at a later time, and input them to the Seaver database.
Have you started using this collection yet? Only 18 more days for FREE!
The Search box on the Immigration Collection page allows the user to choose Exact Searches and specify a year range. I started out with surname SEAVER and years 1900 to 1909, thinking I can do 10 years every night.
From reviewing the records, there is significant data of genealogical interest after about 1915, at least for the major Atlantic ports. Birth dates, birth places, US addresses, etc. are provided.
I chose to use the Save button to save the images on my hard drive (The other options are Print and Share, or write everything down). I set up an Immigration folder on my Seaver surname folder, and saved the images (for example: "1912-NewYork-Thomas Seaver.jpg"). This was pretty easy, and I have about 60 images saved from 1900 to 1915 at present. I will go back and extract genealogical data from them at a later time, and input them to the Seaver database.
Have you started using this collection yet? Only 18 more days for FREE!
Is Genealogy fun for you?
For me, genealogy is fun - I enjoy the challenge of pursuing elusive ancestors and being a detective. I'm having fun doing what I'm doing - serving in my local society, preparing and giving talks occasionally, helping people get started in genealogy and teaching or mentoring them in their research adventure, not to mention my own research.
I had a fairly relaxing day today - went to church, had a meeting of my committee, and got home in time to watch my Chargers come from 28-7 behind to win 49-41 over the Bengals. Great game, if you like offense! Then I took a short nap (I was worn out from rooting for my team - some of you must know what I mean).
Then I came in and read my email and worked a bit on my friend's ancestry - it was fun. I found some more data last night (1860 and 1870 census for the Wells family on HQO - poor Orsavilla Wells had 14 kids! Then her husband died and she raised them all herself). So I entered all that in the database, then looked for spouses for her children in the 1900 census. After that, I tried to add another generation to the Norway side of his family - I found decent data in the LDS IGI and Vital Records Index data. Now I have to input it into the database. Five or six generations is probably enough to give him an idea of his roots.
How about you? Did you get any genealogy fun done today? Tell me about it!
I had a fairly relaxing day today - went to church, had a meeting of my committee, and got home in time to watch my Chargers come from 28-7 behind to win 49-41 over the Bengals. Great game, if you like offense! Then I took a short nap (I was worn out from rooting for my team - some of you must know what I mean).
Then I came in and read my email and worked a bit on my friend's ancestry - it was fun. I found some more data last night (1860 and 1870 census for the Wells family on HQO - poor Orsavilla Wells had 14 kids! Then her husband died and she raised them all herself). So I entered all that in the database, then looked for spouses for her children in the 1900 census. After that, I tried to add another generation to the Norway side of his family - I found decent data in the LDS IGI and Vital Records Index data. Now I have to input it into the database. Five or six generations is probably enough to give him an idea of his roots.
How about you? Did you get any genealogy fun done today? Tell me about it!
Saturday, November 11, 2006
my talk at SDGS today
I gave my "Finding Your Elusive Ancestors in the Census Haystack" presentation today at the San Diego Genealogical Society meeting. We had about 80 in attendance, and they mostly sat with rapt attention (I didn't see anybody nodding off) as I fought through my stack of 60 overheads to bring them pearls of wisdom and shovels of experience.
I did a little survey at the start: everyone had done census research, and most had done it with index books, Soundex cards and microfilm cranking - the "old way." About half had used online resources, but none of them had found "all" of their ancestors in the census.
My main thesis in this talk was that errors inevitably cropped up during the census enumeration and indexing processes - they were done by humans. Consequently, perhaps 15% to 25% of the people in each census were either not enumerated at all, were not enumerated correctly or were not indexed correctly. However, by applying "advanced search techniques" (using combinations of given name, last name, age, birthplace, etc., and using wild cards for the names) in the Ancestry and/or HQO census indexes, perhaps half of the "needles in the haystack" can be found.
I received some feedback from several attendees that they got some good ideas and encouragement for further research in Ancestry's census indexes and images.
One of the members attending had read my blog post from Friday about looking for data on Edward and Elizabeth Simes, and had found their cemetery records online and provided a printout to me at the break. Amazing. I was thankful - it had Elizabeth's maiden name on it!
The sound equipment at the SDGS venue (lavalier mike, receiver and sound board tweaking) is very touchy - it seemed like every time I wandered around in front of the audience that it would buzz a bit, so I tried to stay put and not give everybody an ear jolt. We had one of those when I first turned the mike on - ouch!
This may be the last presentation I do with overheads - I won't miss them! I should be able to use the laptop (my wife's birthday present!) early next year if the society has access to an LCD projector.
I did a little survey at the start: everyone had done census research, and most had done it with index books, Soundex cards and microfilm cranking - the "old way." About half had used online resources, but none of them had found "all" of their ancestors in the census.
My main thesis in this talk was that errors inevitably cropped up during the census enumeration and indexing processes - they were done by humans. Consequently, perhaps 15% to 25% of the people in each census were either not enumerated at all, were not enumerated correctly or were not indexed correctly. However, by applying "advanced search techniques" (using combinations of given name, last name, age, birthplace, etc., and using wild cards for the names) in the Ancestry and/or HQO census indexes, perhaps half of the "needles in the haystack" can be found.
I received some feedback from several attendees that they got some good ideas and encouragement for further research in Ancestry's census indexes and images.
One of the members attending had read my blog post from Friday about looking for data on Edward and Elizabeth Simes, and had found their cemetery records online and provided a printout to me at the break. Amazing. I was thankful - it had Elizabeth's maiden name on it!
The sound equipment at the SDGS venue (lavalier mike, receiver and sound board tweaking) is very touchy - it seemed like every time I wandered around in front of the audience that it would buzz a bit, so I tried to stay put and not give everybody an ear jolt. We had one of those when I first turned the mike on - ouch!
This may be the last presentation I do with overheads - I won't miss them! I should be able to use the laptop (my wife's birthday present!) early next year if the society has access to an LCD projector.
Veterans Day - my heroes
On Veterans Day, we honor those who have served our country and have given their lives so that we can remain free.
My ancestors who have served in the military since the Revolutionary War include:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. World War II
* Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983, my father) served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Halford. The picture is from 1944.
He and my mother are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, on Point Loma overlooking the city and the Pacific Ocean.
--------------------------------
2. World War I
* Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976, my grandfather) served in the United States Marines in San Diego. The picture is from 1917.
----------------------------------------------------------------
3. Civil War -- Isaac Seaver (1823-1901, my great-great-grandfather) of Leominster MA, a blacksmith, served in the Union Army.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4. War of 1812
* James Bell (1777-1836) of Albany NY and later Henderson NY, served in the NY Militia.
* Amos Underhill (1772-1865) of Aurora NY served in the NY Militia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
5. Revolutionary War
* Martin Carringer (1758-1835) of Mercer County PA (RW Pension file)
* Philip Row (1752-1817) of Hunterdon County NJ (RW Pension File)
* Peter Putman (1760-1835) of NJ and Yates County NY (RW Pension file)
* Stephen Feather (17??-1804) of NJ and Westmoreland county PA
* Rudolf spengler (1738-1811) of York County PA
* Philip Jacob King (1738-1792) of York County PA
* Burgess Metcalf (1741-1816) of Piermont NH
* Isaac Buck (1757-1846) of Sterling MA (RevWar Pension File)
* Thomas Dill (1755-1830) of Eastham MA (RW Pension File)
* Joseph Champlin (1758-1850) of S. Kingston RI (RW Pension File)
* Norman Seaver (1734-1787) of Westminster MA
* Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) of Westminster MA
* Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) of Westford MA
* Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1828) of Townsend MA
* Amos Plimpton (1735-1808) of Medfield MA
* David Kirby (1740-1832) of Westport MA
* Joseph Oatley (1756-1815) of S. Kingston RI.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I thank God for these men, the families that nurtured them, the wives that supported them, and the children who learned from them about the importance of service to their country.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
My ancestors who have served in the military since the Revolutionary War include:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1. World War II
* Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983, my father) served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Halford. The picture is from 1944.
He and my mother are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, on Point Loma overlooking the city and the Pacific Ocean.
--------------------------------
2. World War I
* Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976, my grandfather) served in the United States Marines in San Diego. The picture is from 1917.
----------------------------------------------------------------
3. Civil War -- Isaac Seaver (1823-1901, my great-great-grandfather) of Leominster MA, a blacksmith, served in the Union Army.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4. War of 1812
* James Bell (1777-1836) of Albany NY and later Henderson NY, served in the NY Militia.
* Amos Underhill (1772-1865) of Aurora NY served in the NY Militia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
5. Revolutionary War
* Martin Carringer (1758-1835) of Mercer County PA (RW Pension file)
* Philip Row (1752-1817) of Hunterdon County NJ (RW Pension File)
* Peter Putman (1760-1835) of NJ and Yates County NY (RW Pension file)
* Stephen Feather (17??-1804) of NJ and Westmoreland county PA
* Rudolf spengler (1738-1811) of York County PA
* Philip Jacob King (1738-1792) of York County PA
* Burgess Metcalf (1741-1816) of Piermont NH
* Isaac Buck (1757-1846) of Sterling MA (RevWar Pension File)
* Thomas Dill (1755-1830) of Eastham MA (RW Pension File)
* Joseph Champlin (1758-1850) of S. Kingston RI (RW Pension File)
* Norman Seaver (1734-1787) of Westminster MA
* Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) of Westminster MA
* Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) of Westford MA
* Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1828) of Townsend MA
* Amos Plimpton (1735-1808) of Medfield MA
* David Kirby (1740-1832) of Westport MA
* Joseph Oatley (1756-1815) of S. Kingston RI.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I thank God for these men, the families that nurtured them, the wives that supported them, and the children who learned from them about the importance of service to their country.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
Friday, November 10, 2006
The Adams Papers - fascinating!
Janice Farnsworth posted an excerpt from one of John Adams' diaries on the Massachusetts mailing list, and added a link for this particular diary #47 - http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/cfm/doc.cfm?id=D47.
It is fascinating - both in style and content. I had an enjoyable 15 minutes reading sections of his voyage in 1778 from Boston to France and his stay in France conducting state affairs.
The entire set of Adams Family Papers is at http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/, including his diaries, his autobiography and the letters between he and his wife, Abigail.
Isn't the Internet wonderful? Thanks to Janice for the link.
It is fascinating - both in style and content. I had an enjoyable 15 minutes reading sections of his voyage in 1778 from Boston to France and his stay in France conducting state affairs.
The entire set of Adams Family Papers is at http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/, including his diaries, his autobiography and the letters between he and his wife, Abigail.
Isn't the Internet wonderful? Thanks to Janice for the link.
"It's not all on the Internet" Revisited
I've spent most of the day at the FHC and at home researching some surnames for a friend of mine. The families include (all found in the census using Ancestry.com):
* Edward and Elizabeth (--?--) Simes - in Mower County MN in 1900, and Murray County MN in 1910
* Fred and Matilda (--?--) Baldwin - in Fillmore County MN in 1900, and Howard County IA in 1910
* --?-- and Lucretia (--?--) Baldwin - in Fillmore County MN in 1870 and Howard County IA in 1880.
I thought to myself "surely there will be some data online for at least one of these families." Well, my thought was erroneous. There is precious little data on these "salt of the earth" people!
I checked Google, the Rootsweb WorldConnect database, the LDS AF/PRF/IGI databases, the USGenWeb Archives, the USGenWeb sites for the counties, the Genforum and Ancestry message boards (surname and county boards), the Ancestry "One World Tree" database, and the Family Finder search at www.genealogy.com. There was one message board post asking for info on the Baldwin family in Howard County IA.
I didn't search the books on Heritage Quest or Ancestry, nor the other Ancestry databases. There may be some data on these families in those resources.
This is a pretty good example of the maxim that "It's not all on the Internet." Most of us understand this, and are happy to find something on the Internet for the families we are researching.
So, where are the records for these people? They are in the land and probate records in the courthouses, and in family files in the local or regional historical and genealogical societies.
When the LDS church gets their microfilms indexed and linked, then we will be able to find the records on the Internet. Until then we need to do research the old fashioned way - by going there, or by obtaining microfilm from the FHL, or by hiring a local researcher.
At least I was able to extend my friend's known ancestry another generation or two on surnames that he still doesn't know about. I hope that he will be surprised when I give him a genealogy report on Sunday.
* Edward and Elizabeth (--?--) Simes - in Mower County MN in 1900, and Murray County MN in 1910
* Fred and Matilda (--?--) Baldwin - in Fillmore County MN in 1900, and Howard County IA in 1910
* --?-- and Lucretia (--?--) Baldwin - in Fillmore County MN in 1870 and Howard County IA in 1880.
I thought to myself "surely there will be some data online for at least one of these families." Well, my thought was erroneous. There is precious little data on these "salt of the earth" people!
I checked Google, the Rootsweb WorldConnect database, the LDS AF/PRF/IGI databases, the USGenWeb Archives, the USGenWeb sites for the counties, the Genforum and Ancestry message boards (surname and county boards), the Ancestry "One World Tree" database, and the Family Finder search at www.genealogy.com. There was one message board post asking for info on the Baldwin family in Howard County IA.
I didn't search the books on Heritage Quest or Ancestry, nor the other Ancestry databases. There may be some data on these families in those resources.
This is a pretty good example of the maxim that "It's not all on the Internet." Most of us understand this, and are happy to find something on the Internet for the families we are researching.
So, where are the records for these people? They are in the land and probate records in the courthouses, and in family files in the local or regional historical and genealogical societies.
When the LDS church gets their microfilms indexed and linked, then we will be able to find the records on the Internet. Until then we need to do research the old fashioned way - by going there, or by obtaining microfilm from the FHL, or by hiring a local researcher.
At least I was able to extend my friend's known ancestry another generation or two on surnames that he still doesn't know about. I hope that he will be surprised when I give him a genealogy report on Sunday.
Randy to speak at San Diego Gen Society on Saturday
My friend Ken Aitken, on his Genealogy Education blog, says that speakers should advertise their talks at local societies, so ...
San Diego genies - here is your chance to meet the only San Diego area genea-blogger - ME - and hear my stirring presentation about
"Finding Your Elusive Ancestors in the Census Haystack."
The San Diego Genealogical Society meeting is Saturday, 11 November at 12 noon at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd, San Diego, at Jackson Drive).
The publicity for the talk on the SDGS newsletter says:
"Have you found ALL of the census entries for your ancestors? If not, why not? - probably because they were not enumerated or indexed correctly - and they are lost in the haystack of millions of census entries. The chances of finding your elusive ancestors in the census has improved since the days of printed name indexes, Soundex card searches and microfilm cranking at the Archives or FHC.
"This presentation will briefly survey the available census records, discuss the census taking process, examine the change from microfilm to online access to the records, and describe methods to effectively search for your elusive ancvestors using online census indexes and images."
Hope you can make it - please mention this blog post if it convinced you to attend.
San Diego genies - here is your chance to meet the only San Diego area genea-blogger - ME - and hear my stirring presentation about
"Finding Your Elusive Ancestors in the Census Haystack."
The San Diego Genealogical Society meeting is Saturday, 11 November at 12 noon at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd, San Diego, at Jackson Drive).
The publicity for the talk on the SDGS newsletter says:
"Have you found ALL of the census entries for your ancestors? If not, why not? - probably because they were not enumerated or indexed correctly - and they are lost in the haystack of millions of census entries. The chances of finding your elusive ancestors in the census has improved since the days of printed name indexes, Soundex card searches and microfilm cranking at the Archives or FHC.
"This presentation will briefly survey the available census records, discuss the census taking process, examine the change from microfilm to online access to the records, and describe methods to effectively search for your elusive ancvestors using online census indexes and images."
Hope you can make it - please mention this blog post if it convinced you to attend.
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