I just finished watching the PBS show about Oprah Winfrey's roots. I thought it was exceptionally well done as a story - telling about her life, her parents, and then getting into the real genealogy search for the earlier generations. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. narrated the show and was the teller of "genealogy news" to Oprah.
Her Winfrey line included men who owned land after the Civil War in Mississippi, founded schools for Negroes in the early 1900's, and took part in civil rights activities in the 1960's. Oprah felt a pride in these accomplishments, and rightly so.
Some of the research was done by professional researchers like genealogists Tony Burroughs and Jane Ailes, and historian John Thornton. They showed census records, land mortgages, town records, marriage records and the like to determine relationships. This was the most interesting part of the show for me.
As a genealogist, I wish that they had shown more research than the two family lines back into the 1800's, rather than tell her own life story. The Winfrey line was very well documented and shows what can be done to research back to 1870, and, with some luck, to find a probable slave master in the 1850 and 1860 census. They also found a Lee slave master in the same time period, but they didn't show the details of the ancestry.
The last 15 minutes of the show was about DNA research. They postulated that her matrilineal ancestor came from western Africa (Senegal down to Liberia) or from Angola, based on the known slave trade into South Carolina. Using Oprah's mitochondrial DNA (from the matrilineal line), they found a match with people in Liberia, and Oprah immediately felt a connection to that area.
I'm wondering why they didn't tell us about her father's ancestry. Her father is still alive, and could have provided a DNA sample to allow a similar trace on her patrilineal line. Perhaps there were no close matches, or the matches were inconclusive. Maybe it was simply that they didn't have enough time - one story was told, Oprah is Liberian, that's enough, don't confuse everybody else.
While Oprah thinks that she is Liberian based on the DNA test, the truth is that Liberia represents only one known ancestor out of 64 (6th generation, born perhaps around 1800) or 128 (7th generation, born perhaps around 1770) possible immigrant ancestors (depending on when her slave ancestors came to America). Many more may be Liberian, but some may come from other areas of Africa. Of course, those lines can't be traced unless you can find patrilineal or matrilineal lines through known cousins or other relatives.
Did you see the show? What were your thoughts?
UPDATE: Read Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's review of the companion book at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=968#more-968. There are more details in the book, of course. I had not read Megan's review before I watched the show.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Research Group meeting today
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society has a monthly research group where we discuss genealogy and family history research methods, successes and problems. The usual format is to review genealogy news of the past month, have the attendees describe their research problems or ask questions, then tell success stories and show treasures recently found or obtained.
Today, we changed the format a bit. After the news, we tried to watch one segment from www.RootsTelevision.com on a laptop/projector setup. The system worked well, but the library's wireless signal was weak in the conference room. During the problem discussions, we showed a number of web sites that might help our members find online resources. We will do more of this each month, I think, and hope that the signal problems can be ironed out.
I usually gather the "news" from my own, Eastman's and Meitzler's blogs. I concentrate on new web sites, new databases and library news. I then email it to our members after the meeting so that everyone in the society can benefit from it. One of the web sites was Geni.com, and we found that one of our members had signed up and put his data on the site already.
The problems or questions raised today included:
1) How do I find a family in the 1880 census that is not correctly enumerated or indexed? We discussed using a given name search, with birthplace, birth year, and location (if known), or using wild cards for the given name and surname, on Ancestry.com.
2) What do I do when birth dates in family records conflict with other records? We recommended evaluating all available evidence, and giving more weight to primary information (such as a birth record), or secondary information produced close to the event (such as the first census with the person on it).
3) How do I find Denmark family data and parish records? We suggested visiting Denmark message boards online and checking the LDS FHL Catalog for record availability on microfilm.
4) Where do I look for vital records that are not online? The example was Wisconsin, which has pre-1907 and post-1973 data online, but not 1907 to 1973. We suggested looking at the LDS Research Guide for Wisconsin to determine the availability of records, and visit the Wisconsin USGenWeb page for access information, contact information and cost.
5) How do I find newspaper records in a distant location? We suggested using message boards asking for help, contacting local genealogy societies or libraries, and asking for help at www.raogk.com.
One member shared that my alert in December about Ancestry.com subscriptions at reduced prices led him to subscribe and he found many records as a result.
I shared finding the 1929 daily journal of my great-grandmother, and then I passed it around. One member was born in 1929, and asked what happened on his birthday - not much, they washed! Another member had found a composition book full of family recipes that she passed around.
All in all, it was a good session for our 12 attendees. Using this group, we have increased the research knowledge and critical thinking skills of many of our members.
Does your local society do something like this Research Group? Do you use a wireless hookup to show web sites and databases to help your members solve their problems?
Today, we changed the format a bit. After the news, we tried to watch one segment from www.RootsTelevision.com on a laptop/projector setup. The system worked well, but the library's wireless signal was weak in the conference room. During the problem discussions, we showed a number of web sites that might help our members find online resources. We will do more of this each month, I think, and hope that the signal problems can be ironed out.
I usually gather the "news" from my own, Eastman's and Meitzler's blogs. I concentrate on new web sites, new databases and library news. I then email it to our members after the meeting so that everyone in the society can benefit from it. One of the web sites was Geni.com, and we found that one of our members had signed up and put his data on the site already.
The problems or questions raised today included:
1) How do I find a family in the 1880 census that is not correctly enumerated or indexed? We discussed using a given name search, with birthplace, birth year, and location (if known), or using wild cards for the given name and surname, on Ancestry.com.
2) What do I do when birth dates in family records conflict with other records? We recommended evaluating all available evidence, and giving more weight to primary information (such as a birth record), or secondary information produced close to the event (such as the first census with the person on it).
3) How do I find Denmark family data and parish records? We suggested visiting Denmark message boards online and checking the LDS FHL Catalog for record availability on microfilm.
4) Where do I look for vital records that are not online? The example was Wisconsin, which has pre-1907 and post-1973 data online, but not 1907 to 1973. We suggested looking at the LDS Research Guide for Wisconsin to determine the availability of records, and visit the Wisconsin USGenWeb page for access information, contact information and cost.
5) How do I find newspaper records in a distant location? We suggested using message boards asking for help, contacting local genealogy societies or libraries, and asking for help at www.raogk.com.
One member shared that my alert in December about Ancestry.com subscriptions at reduced prices led him to subscribe and he found many records as a result.
I shared finding the 1929 daily journal of my great-grandmother, and then I passed it around. One member was born in 1929, and asked what happened on his birthday - not much, they washed! Another member had found a composition book full of family recipes that she passed around.
All in all, it was a good session for our 12 attendees. Using this group, we have increased the research knowledge and critical thinking skills of many of our members.
Does your local society do something like this Research Group? Do you use a wireless hookup to show web sites and databases to help your members solve their problems?
Family Storylines offers free research
I received an email yesterday about a free 10 hours of genealogy research to be awarded to one lucky applicant by Family Storylines -- at http://www.familystorylines.com/FTMContest.aspx. Their web site says:
This is a professional genealogy research company trying to get publicity. I have no connection to it other than an attempt at winning the 10 hours of research.
I have so many brick wall ancestors, it's hard to choose. I'll probably pick my Thomas J. Newton, since a solution to his ancestry would unlock a whole one sixteenth of my father's ancestry.
Family Storylines is the premier expert genealogy research company, offering comprehensive genealogy research in more than 30 countries worldwide. Whatever genealogy research assistance you need, we can help! No research requests are too small or too big.
We offer 3 research packages as well as the opportunity to request a free custom research quote if the packages don't meet your specific research needs. This is a great time to take advantage of our research services because we are offering ALL Family Tree Magazine newsletter subscribers 10% OFF any order placed by February 28, 2007! Simply enter code FTM10 during checkout.
We're giving away 10 hours of FREE expert research to one lucky winner who tells us what expert research help they could use! Simply fill out the form below to submit your entry and we'll pick one winner on February 28th. The winner will be notified by email. Thank you for your entry!
This is a professional genealogy research company trying to get publicity. I have no connection to it other than an attempt at winning the 10 hours of research.
I have so many brick wall ancestors, it's hard to choose. I'll probably pick my Thomas J. Newton, since a solution to his ancestry would unlock a whole one sixteenth of my father's ancestry.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Obtaining Civil War Records
I ran across the web site http://www.civilwarrecords.net/ recently and wondered how their fees charged to search for Civil War records (presumably at the National Archives in DC) matched the online ordering system at the Archives at http://www.archives.gov/research/order/orderonline.html.
At the CivilWarRecords site, they charge:
* $30 for a Compiled Military Service Record (CSMR) plus $5 shipping and handling.
* $45 for a Civil War Pension File plus $5 shipping and handling.
* no charge for a unit history if either a CMSR or Pension File are ordered.
* $0.15 per copied page (some pension files may be 50 to 100 pages).
* no charge if the requested files are not found.
The files will be sent within 10 days of the order, according to the web site.
At the National Archives online ordering site - http://www.archives.gov/research/order/orderonline.html - you can click down to a web page where you can order these same records for:
* $17 for a Compiled Military Service File (no additional shipping cost, ships in 60 to 90 days)
* $37 for a Federal Military Pension Applications (no additional shipping cost, ships in 42 to 120 days)
* $14.75 for a Pension Documents Packet (selected 8 pages) from a Federal Military Pension Application.
There are probably other services that will do this research at the Archives and expedite the shipping of the records - I haven't researched any others, frnakly.
The tradeoff between using a paid researcher or using the Archives online ordering system is time versus money (isn't it always!). A service record and a 50 page pension file will cost $92.50 using the researcher, but you get it within 10 days. Using the Archives, you pay $54 but you have to wait 6 to 16 weeks. Your choice, depending on need and patience-tolerance!
If you don't have this information, I highly recommend that you obtain it - the pension file may be chock full of interesting data about your soldier's life. The service record, combined with the unit history, will tell you when and where your soldier served.
For more information on finding online Civil War records, see Joe's http://www.militaryindexes.com/civilwar/ web site. Joe also has a web site for how to order Civil War pension records at http://www.genealogybranches.com/civilwar/.
At the CivilWarRecords site, they charge:
* $30 for a Compiled Military Service Record (CSMR) plus $5 shipping and handling.
* $45 for a Civil War Pension File plus $5 shipping and handling.
* no charge for a unit history if either a CMSR or Pension File are ordered.
* $0.15 per copied page (some pension files may be 50 to 100 pages).
* no charge if the requested files are not found.
The files will be sent within 10 days of the order, according to the web site.
At the National Archives online ordering site - http://www.archives.gov/research/order/orderonline.html - you can click down to a web page where you can order these same records for:
* $17 for a Compiled Military Service File (no additional shipping cost, ships in 60 to 90 days)
* $37 for a Federal Military Pension Applications (no additional shipping cost, ships in 42 to 120 days)
* $14.75 for a Pension Documents Packet (selected 8 pages) from a Federal Military Pension Application.
There are probably other services that will do this research at the Archives and expedite the shipping of the records - I haven't researched any others, frnakly.
The tradeoff between using a paid researcher or using the Archives online ordering system is time versus money (isn't it always!). A service record and a 50 page pension file will cost $92.50 using the researcher, but you get it within 10 days. Using the Archives, you pay $54 but you have to wait 6 to 16 weeks. Your choice, depending on need and patience-tolerance!
If you don't have this information, I highly recommend that you obtain it - the pension file may be chock full of interesting data about your soldier's life. The service record, combined with the unit history, will tell you when and where your soldier served.
For more information on finding online Civil War records, see Joe's http://www.militaryindexes.com/civilwar/ web site. Joe also has a web site for how to order Civil War pension records at http://www.genealogybranches.com/civilwar/.
www.GenealogyLinks.net and www.SuperSurnameSearch.com
While looking for search engines and online data that would help me find more information on my very elusive Robert Leroy Thompson (1880 TN - 1965 NC) target, I found the genealogy portal site http://www.genealogylinks.net/.
This portal site is extremely well organized, and the links are to many free and subscription databases. There are links by Region (US, Canada, UK and Ireland, Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand), and then additional resources, which include Marriage Records, Global Databases, Surname sites, and Free Genealogy Search Engines.
I clicked on most of them, but the real good link is the Free Genealogy Search Engines link, which leads you to http://www.surnamesupersearch.com/. At that site, there are links to 15 collections of links based either on record type or locality. I especially liked the Cemetery Search which has links to the free cemetery web sites like Interment.net, the subscription web sites like Ancestry.com, and the free Rootsweb.com and USGenweb.org archives.
If you are stymied with your research using other portals, try these sites - you may be surprised!
This portal site is extremely well organized, and the links are to many free and subscription databases. There are links by Region (US, Canada, UK and Ireland, Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand), and then additional resources, which include Marriage Records, Global Databases, Surname sites, and Free Genealogy Search Engines.
I clicked on most of them, but the real good link is the Free Genealogy Search Engines link, which leads you to http://www.surnamesupersearch.com/. At that site, there are links to 15 collections of links based either on record type or locality. I especially liked the Cemetery Search which has links to the free cemetery web sites like Interment.net, the subscription web sites like Ancestry.com, and the free Rootsweb.com and USGenweb.org archives.
If you are stymied with your research using other portals, try these sites - you may be surprised!
Carringer family pictures
In my "Della's Journal" series, the setting is the house at 2115/2119 30th Street in San Diego. The original house picture from about 1900 is here.
I wanted to post the picture of the remodelled house which was moved to the middle of the block on the east side of 30th Street. The picture below is from about 1929, the time of the diary. The two-story house in the front of the picture is the 2115/2119 flats. As you can see, the original house has had a full second story added on. The entry for 2115, which is where Della and Austin lived, is on the south side of the building (the side facing to the right). I grew up in the upstairs flat at 2119.
In the background on the right is the two-story building standing at 2114/2116 Fern Street that were rentals and provided income to the family. The Lyle Carringer family house was also on Fern Street just to the left of the two-story flats, but not in the picture.
I can't find a good family group picture from the 1929 time. The picture below is of the family group in about 1920, when my mother, Betty, was a baby. From the left, the photo shows Georgianna (Kemp) Auble (a widow, born 1868), an unknown cousin (Mary Morgan?), Della (Smith) Carringer (seated, born 1862, holding the cat), Edgar Carringer (born 1857, unmarried), Emily (Auble) Carringer (born 1899), Austin Carringer (seated, born 1853, holding Betty), Lyle Carringer (born 1891) and Abigail (Vaux) Smith (seated, a widow, born 1844). They are posed in front of the original one-story house at 2105 30th Street.
In 1929, Georgianna Auble (Mrs. Auble") is age 60, Della Carringer is age 65, Austin Carringer ("A") is age 76 and Abigail Smith ("Ma") is 85.
I wanted to post the picture of the remodelled house which was moved to the middle of the block on the east side of 30th Street. The picture below is from about 1929, the time of the diary. The two-story house in the front of the picture is the 2115/2119 flats. As you can see, the original house has had a full second story added on. The entry for 2115, which is where Della and Austin lived, is on the south side of the building (the side facing to the right). I grew up in the upstairs flat at 2119.
In the background on the right is the two-story building standing at 2114/2116 Fern Street that were rentals and provided income to the family. The Lyle Carringer family house was also on Fern Street just to the left of the two-story flats, but not in the picture.
I can't find a good family group picture from the 1929 time. The picture below is of the family group in about 1920, when my mother, Betty, was a baby. From the left, the photo shows Georgianna (Kemp) Auble (a widow, born 1868), an unknown cousin (Mary Morgan?), Della (Smith) Carringer (seated, born 1862, holding the cat), Edgar Carringer (born 1857, unmarried), Emily (Auble) Carringer (born 1899), Austin Carringer (seated, born 1853, holding Betty), Lyle Carringer (born 1891) and Abigail (Vaux) Smith (seated, a widow, born 1844). They are posed in front of the original one-story house at 2105 30th Street.
In 1929, Georgianna Auble (Mrs. Auble") is age 60, Della Carringer is age 65, Austin Carringer ("A") is age 76 and Abigail Smith ("Ma") is 85.
A Genea-blog treasure hunt
At the web site http://www.fuelmyblog.com/ a blogger can occupy one square (50 pixels by 50 pixels) of a 25 by 25 matrix. It's free (at least for now) to sign up and fill out the information needed to show a graphic depicting your blog. Each square has an address (for example, (5,10) denotes 5 squares from the left, 10 squares down from the top). Put your mouse over a square and you can read what was submitted by the occupier of the square.
I have a square there, using my blog picture. Can you find my beaming face on the matrix? If so, tell me the square "address."
There are at least two other genealogy blogs posted there - can you find them?
There are still open spaces - why don't you sign up? And tell us about it so we can find you on the matrix. If enough genea-bloggers signed up, we could demand our own matrix and be able to see all of the genea-bloggers on one web page.
My guess is that the purpose of this web site is to create hits for the creator and to provide exposure for the blogs that put their picture on the site. You can click on each square and go to the blog to read it.
I have a square there, using my blog picture. Can you find my beaming face on the matrix? If so, tell me the square "address."
There are at least two other genealogy blogs posted there - can you find them?
There are still open spaces - why don't you sign up? And tell us about it so we can find you on the matrix. If enough genea-bloggers signed up, we could demand our own matrix and be able to see all of the genea-bloggers on one web page.
My guess is that the purpose of this web site is to create hits for the creator and to provide exposure for the blogs that put their picture on the site. You can click on each square and go to the blog to read it.
Monday, January 22, 2007
They've been Tagged...
Well, the tagging game has done pretty well. I thought I would keep a scorecard here and see who has played:
Susan Kitchens started the Genea-tagging at http://www.2020hindsight.org/2006/12/20/five-things-you-should-know-about-me/
Jasia at http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2007/01/jasia-revealed.html
Chris Dunham at http://www.genealogue.com/2007/01/five-things-you-should-know-about-me.html
Steve Danko at http://stephendanko.com/blog/2007/01/21/ive-been-tagged/
Lee Anders at http://www.geneaholic.com/2007/01/21/5-things-about-lee/
Randy Seaver at http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/2007/01/randy-revealed.html
James Curley posted his list as a comment at Steve Danko's post
Juliana Smith at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=963#more-963
Dear Myrtle at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2007/01/5-things-youll-wish-you-didnt-know.html
Michael John Neill at http://www.rootdig.com/2007/01/tagged.html
George G. Morgan at http://ahaseminars.livejournal.com/11353.html
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak at http://www.rootstelevision.com/blogs/megans-rootsworld/2007/01/things_youll_wish_you_didnt_kn.html
Kimberly Powell at http://genealogy.about.com/b/a/255918.htm
Maureen Taylor at http://photodetective.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-youre-it.html
Drew Smith at http://drewsmith-genealogy.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it.html
Miriam Midkiff at http://ancestories1.blogspot.com/2007/01/things-you-didnt-know-about-miriam.html
Apple at http://appledoesntfallfar2.blogspot.com/2007/01/playing-tag.html
Leland Meitzler at http://genealogyblog.com/general/ive-been-tagged-5801
Janice Brown at http://cowhampshire.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2007/1/23/2670411.html
David at http://oakvilleblackwalnut.blogspot.com/2007/01/lee-got-me.html
JDR at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2007/01/genealogy-community.html
Sharon Elliott at http://back-track.blogspot.com/2007/01/only-things-about-me-you-didnt-know.html
Denise Olsen (Moultrie Creek) at http://www.moultriecreek.net/family/2007/01/another_use_for.html
Rick Crume (The Internet Guy) at http://www.rootstelevision.com/blogs/the-internet-guy/2007/01/five_things_you_didnt_know_about_me.html
Og at http://www.rootstelevision.com/blogs/ogblog/2007/01/og_likes_playing_games.html
Craig Manson at http://geneablogie.blogspot.com/2007/01/five-things.html
Joe Beine at http://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/origin-of-wee-monster-genealogy-website.html (but he lists only one item - it's a good one)
Lorine Schulze at http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it-heres-5-things-you-may-or-may.html and http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it-continued.html
David Lambert at http://davidlambertblog.com/?p=85
Canterbury5 (he doesn't want us to know his real name) at http://www.yourbrotherkings.com/?p=175
Katie at http://begatchat.com/archives/2007/01/5_unknown_thing_1.html
Lisa Alzo at http://theaccidentalgenealogist.blogspot.com/2007/01/ive-been-tagged.html
Dana Huff at http://genealogy.danahuff.net/?p=159
Becky Wiseman at http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2007/01/i-wasnt-tagged-but-here-are-5-things.html
David Bowles at http://westwardsagas.com/blog/?p=59
Brian Massey at http://ancestorsatrest.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it-5-things-you-may-not-want-to.html
Sally Jacobs at http://practicalarchivist.blogspot.com/2007/01/5-things-you-dont-know-about-me.html
Illya D'Addezio at http://illya.daddezio.com/2007/01/friendly-game-of-tag.html
Cameron at http://empty-nest.contentquake.com/2007/01/28/miriam’s-tag/
Bobbie at http://genealogyetc.blogspot.com/2007/01/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-me.html
Marty Weil at http://ephemera.typepad.com/ephemera/2007/01/5_things_about_.html
41 have played and been found so far. If you know of others who have responded, please let me know and I'll add them to my list. My email is rjseaver(at)cox.net.
Are there some on that list that you haven't visited? One of the purposes of this tagging exercise is to get to know each other a bit more and perhaps find common interests other than genealogy. Please click on the links above and get to know all the wonderful genea-bloggers who provide content for the online genealogy world, and were brave enough to share their hidden talents, experiences or knowledge with the rest of us.
If everyone plays, we should run out of genea-bloggers to tag in several more days. I figured that 5 rounds would be 781 blogs, but that assumed everyone would play (and that all genea-bloggers are active).
Should this be a carnival of genealogy topic? It's probably too late!
UPDATES: Will likely be morning and evening for the next few days. Check back often! Last update: Tuesday, 30 January, 11:00 AM PST
Susan Kitchens started the Genea-tagging at http://www.2020hindsight.org/2006/12/20/five-things-you-should-know-about-me/
Jasia at http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2007/01/jasia-revealed.html
Chris Dunham at http://www.genealogue.com/2007/01/five-things-you-should-know-about-me.html
Steve Danko at http://stephendanko.com/blog/2007/01/21/ive-been-tagged/
Lee Anders at http://www.geneaholic.com/2007/01/21/5-things-about-lee/
Randy Seaver at http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/2007/01/randy-revealed.html
James Curley posted his list as a comment at Steve Danko's post
Juliana Smith at http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=963#more-963
Dear Myrtle at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2007/01/5-things-youll-wish-you-didnt-know.html
Michael John Neill at http://www.rootdig.com/2007/01/tagged.html
George G. Morgan at http://ahaseminars.livejournal.com/11353.html
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak at http://www.rootstelevision.com/blogs/megans-rootsworld/2007/01/things_youll_wish_you_didnt_kn.html
Kimberly Powell at http://genealogy.about.com/b/a/255918.htm
Maureen Taylor at http://photodetective.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-youre-it.html
Drew Smith at http://drewsmith-genealogy.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it.html
Miriam Midkiff at http://ancestories1.blogspot.com/2007/01/things-you-didnt-know-about-miriam.html
Apple at http://appledoesntfallfar2.blogspot.com/2007/01/playing-tag.html
Leland Meitzler at http://genealogyblog.com/general/ive-been-tagged-5801
Janice Brown at http://cowhampshire.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2007/1/23/2670411.html
David at http://oakvilleblackwalnut.blogspot.com/2007/01/lee-got-me.html
JDR at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2007/01/genealogy-community.html
Sharon Elliott at http://back-track.blogspot.com/2007/01/only-things-about-me-you-didnt-know.html
Denise Olsen (Moultrie Creek) at http://www.moultriecreek.net/family/2007/01/another_use_for.html
Rick Crume (The Internet Guy) at http://www.rootstelevision.com/blogs/the-internet-guy/2007/01/five_things_you_didnt_know_about_me.html
Og at http://www.rootstelevision.com/blogs/ogblog/2007/01/og_likes_playing_games.html
Craig Manson at http://geneablogie.blogspot.com/2007/01/five-things.html
Joe Beine at http://genrootsblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/origin-of-wee-monster-genealogy-website.html (but he lists only one item - it's a good one)
Lorine Schulze at http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it-heres-5-things-you-may-or-may.html and http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it-continued.html
David Lambert at http://davidlambertblog.com/?p=85
Canterbury5 (he doesn't want us to know his real name) at http://www.yourbrotherkings.com/?p=175
Katie at http://begatchat.com/archives/2007/01/5_unknown_thing_1.html
Lisa Alzo at http://theaccidentalgenealogist.blogspot.com/2007/01/ive-been-tagged.html
Dana Huff at http://genealogy.danahuff.net/?p=159
Becky Wiseman at http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2007/01/i-wasnt-tagged-but-here-are-5-things.html
David Bowles at http://westwardsagas.com/blog/?p=59
Brian Massey at http://ancestorsatrest.blogspot.com/2007/01/tag-im-it-5-things-you-may-not-want-to.html
Sally Jacobs at http://practicalarchivist.blogspot.com/2007/01/5-things-you-dont-know-about-me.html
Illya D'Addezio at http://illya.daddezio.com/2007/01/friendly-game-of-tag.html
Cameron at http://empty-nest.contentquake.com/2007/01/28/miriam’s-tag/
Bobbie at http://genealogyetc.blogspot.com/2007/01/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-me.html
Marty Weil at http://ephemera.typepad.com/ephemera/2007/01/5_things_about_.html
41 have played and been found so far. If you know of others who have responded, please let me know and I'll add them to my list. My email is rjseaver(at)cox.net.
Are there some on that list that you haven't visited? One of the purposes of this tagging exercise is to get to know each other a bit more and perhaps find common interests other than genealogy. Please click on the links above and get to know all the wonderful genea-bloggers who provide content for the online genealogy world, and were brave enough to share their hidden talents, experiences or knowledge with the rest of us.
If everyone plays, we should run out of genea-bloggers to tag in several more days. I figured that 5 rounds would be 781 blogs, but that assumed everyone would play (and that all genea-bloggers are active).
Should this be a carnival of genealogy topic? It's probably too late!
UPDATES: Will likely be morning and evening for the next few days. Check back often! Last update: Tuesday, 30 January, 11:00 AM PST
Della's Journal - Week 4 (January 22-28, 1929)
This is Installment 4 of the Journal of Della (Smith) Carringer, my great-grandmother, who resided at 2115 30th Street in San Diego in 1929. The "players" and "setting" are described here. Last week's Journal entry is here.
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Tuesday, January 22, pleasant but cool: Mr. Nolan Pd. rent. I worked in yd pulling weeds. Ma washed. I called on Mrs. Sorrenson & Mrs. Jones in PM. Miss Setchel wrote she had to pay $45 per week. Thompsons fire place caught fire. Letter from Aunt L[ibbie] card from Gene Williams he got work on relatives place Mr. Miller.
Wednesday, January 23, cool: I went to town Pd water bills, Gas. A's razor blades 18 sharpened for 55 c[ents]. Sent my lodge dues 4.77 for Jan Feb & Mar.
Thursday, January 24: Letter from Mary. I embroidered a towel for Emily [that] Betty & I expected to get done before she was sick.
Friday, January 25, cool & sunny: We washed curtains in the kitchen. I ironed them put up two pair will wash wall before putting one up by stove. Betty promoted to 5A. She made her a pocket book to put in the larger one she had made to carry her school work in. We washed rugs in bathroom. Ruth and Louie her one hour were on way home.
Saturday, January 26, cool and sunny: Ed over. A[ustin] home all day had 1/2 day finishes extra he worked on ? marks refueler. He cut up last of trees. Went to town & got chair bottom. Ed washed & sandpapered four chairs ready for painting. Rose & Louise came to spend part of day. She brought pears, beets, radishes and a grape pie. Geo. came after her at 4 P.M. Barret's (wife) got hurt in a st[reet] car accident so that she had to have her foot taken off. She had her baby in its buggy with her but it did not get hurt.
Sunday, January 27, cloudy & cool: Lyle's went to country. We stayed in all day. Mrs. Jones went to Paradise Val[ley] to see her sister. I embroidered an apron.
Monday, January 28, warmer, cloudy: Ma washed a few things. I worked out trimmed asparagriu fern. Changed mail box. Ma helped me in afternoon. Mrs. A.[uble] took wood into garage to be sawed up. Letter from Ella Stanton they expect to go back to Boulder in Feb 7. Eva will go with them take a vacation of three weeks come back on Santa Fe R.R. did not say a word about Earl. Mr. Stanton had to be back in Colorado he is Inspector of fruits. Betty has two new dresses one green & one with white. Josephine Hughes got hurt in auto accid[ent].
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There was some excitement in the neighborhood - the street car, that ran right up the middle of 30th Street, nipped Mrs. Barrett who lost a foot but saved her baby. Amazing -- I wonder if it made the newspaper? I wonder if my mother would have remembered it?
I have a letter from an Ella from 1889 about the loss of Austin and Della's first son, Devier. I wonder if this is the same Ella? I wonder who Ella Stanton is? I think Eva is Della's niece - the daughter of her brother, David Devier Smith (who died in 1920). Betty is my mother, daughter of Lyle and Emily, aged 10 in 1929, and in 5th grade (she got promoted at mid-year!). Lyle's family lived at 2130 Fern Street on the same block as Austin and Della.
There are so many cryptic thoughts in this journal! I'm going to collect some of the renters names and check them against the city directories.
I'll try to find a picture of these people and post it sometime soon. I posted a picture in April of the original house taken about 1900. I'll have to post a picture of the remodelled two-story house sometime soon.
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Tuesday, January 22, pleasant but cool: Mr. Nolan Pd. rent. I worked in yd pulling weeds. Ma washed. I called on Mrs. Sorrenson & Mrs. Jones in PM. Miss Setchel wrote she had to pay $45 per week. Thompsons fire place caught fire. Letter from Aunt L[ibbie] card from Gene Williams he got work on relatives place Mr. Miller.
Wednesday, January 23, cool: I went to town Pd water bills, Gas. A's razor blades 18 sharpened for 55 c[ents]. Sent my lodge dues 4.77 for Jan Feb & Mar.
Thursday, January 24: Letter from Mary. I embroidered a towel for Emily [that] Betty & I expected to get done before she was sick.
Friday, January 25, cool & sunny: We washed curtains in the kitchen. I ironed them put up two pair will wash wall before putting one up by stove. Betty promoted to 5A. She made her a pocket book to put in the larger one she had made to carry her school work in. We washed rugs in bathroom. Ruth and Louie her one hour were on way home.
Saturday, January 26, cool and sunny: Ed over. A[ustin] home all day had 1/2 day finishes extra he worked on ? marks refueler. He cut up last of trees. Went to town & got chair bottom. Ed washed & sandpapered four chairs ready for painting. Rose & Louise came to spend part of day. She brought pears, beets, radishes and a grape pie. Geo. came after her at 4 P.M. Barret's (wife) got hurt in a st[reet] car accident so that she had to have her foot taken off. She had her baby in its buggy with her but it did not get hurt.
Sunday, January 27, cloudy & cool: Lyle's went to country. We stayed in all day. Mrs. Jones went to Paradise Val[ley] to see her sister. I embroidered an apron.
Monday, January 28, warmer, cloudy: Ma washed a few things. I worked out trimmed asparagriu fern. Changed mail box. Ma helped me in afternoon. Mrs. A.[uble] took wood into garage to be sawed up. Letter from Ella Stanton they expect to go back to Boulder in Feb 7. Eva will go with them take a vacation of three weeks come back on Santa Fe R.R. did not say a word about Earl. Mr. Stanton had to be back in Colorado he is Inspector of fruits. Betty has two new dresses one green & one with white. Josephine Hughes got hurt in auto accid[ent].
------------------------------------------------------
There was some excitement in the neighborhood - the street car, that ran right up the middle of 30th Street, nipped Mrs. Barrett who lost a foot but saved her baby. Amazing -- I wonder if it made the newspaper? I wonder if my mother would have remembered it?
I have a letter from an Ella from 1889 about the loss of Austin and Della's first son, Devier. I wonder if this is the same Ella? I wonder who Ella Stanton is? I think Eva is Della's niece - the daughter of her brother, David Devier Smith (who died in 1920). Betty is my mother, daughter of Lyle and Emily, aged 10 in 1929, and in 5th grade (she got promoted at mid-year!). Lyle's family lived at 2130 Fern Street on the same block as Austin and Della.
There are so many cryptic thoughts in this journal! I'm going to collect some of the renters names and check them against the city directories.
I'll try to find a picture of these people and post it sometime soon. I posted a picture in April of the original house taken about 1900. I'll have to post a picture of the remodelled two-story house sometime soon.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
What about Geni.com?
When the www.Geni.com site was announced last week, I admit to being underwhelmed and negative initially. Dick Eastman blogged about it, but only really shared the press release. There were some comments about how the site would not accept GEDCOMs, would have only hearsay evidence, was too slow, etc. Tim Agazio blogged about his experiences inputting data and thought he liked the concept and that it might work out OK, but perhaps it was not for real genealogy buffs.
Other comments have noted that it is intended to be a "social networking" site not unlike MySpace and other sites, and not a genealogy site.
After visiting the site and reading some of the information, and watching the short "How it works" presentation, www.Geni.com appears to be a "family networking" site that is comparable to the www.MyFamily.com, where family members have a private web site to share stories, photos, family trees, birthdays, etc.
But www.Geni.com isn't exactly MyFamily - the heart of it is really the family member personal data input by the people in the family. Geni says that they will keep all personal data private, and that is probably the key question in everybody's minds, or it should be.
Some of you are probably wondering what Geni looks like and how it works. Here's what their Help web page says:
Their About Us page says:
If you put email addresses of your family into the database, then those people get an invitation to join and enter their family data, and over time many people in an extended family group might share information - like photos, biographies, letters, family Bible transcriptions, etc. The kicker here is that only the family members in a group can see the information - nobody else can see it unless they are invited by a group member. And it is free.
Thinking about it, I realized this is not a bad thing - if Geni can get family members to learn about their extended family, and perhaps become interested in family history, then it's probably a good thing.
Obviously, the promoters of Geni think it will be successful - they will sell advertising and much of it will probably be genealogy-related - software, subscriptions, societies, etc. My guess is that the target market is the 18 to 25 age group - the ones really into technology, blogging, IMing, web cams, personal pages and the like. They may bring their parents and grandparents into it as a family effort, and that will probably be all to the good - intergenerational communication.
There may be a payoff for genealogy societies here - some of these people who sign up, enter data, are intrigued by the family connections, photos or documents, and enjoy their family group may become interested in genealogy research and join local societies.
I haven't decided to sign up yet - I thought I'd wait to be invited by someone. All of my extended family knows that I pursue genealogy and family history, so I'm waiting to see if anybody else starts something. How about you - have you signed up yet? If so, why? If not, why not?
Other comments have noted that it is intended to be a "social networking" site not unlike MySpace and other sites, and not a genealogy site.
After visiting the site and reading some of the information, and watching the short "How it works" presentation, www.Geni.com appears to be a "family networking" site that is comparable to the www.MyFamily.com, where family members have a private web site to share stories, photos, family trees, birthdays, etc.
But www.Geni.com isn't exactly MyFamily - the heart of it is really the family member personal data input by the people in the family. Geni says that they will keep all personal data private, and that is probably the key question in everybody's minds, or it should be.
Some of you are probably wondering what Geni looks like and how it works. Here's what their Help web page says:
Geni is a website that allows families to collaboratively build their family tree. Family members can then use the tree to learn more about each other, share knowledge about common ancestors and relatives, and stay in touch with each other.
Their About Us page says:
Geni is a unique approach to solving the problem of genealogy, which is the question of how everyone is related. Geni lets you create a family tree through our fun simple interface.
When you add a relative's email address, he or she will be invited to join your tree. That relative can then add other relatives, and so on. Your tree will continue to grow as relatives invite other relatives.
Each family member has a profile which can be viewed by clicking their name in the tree. This helps family members learn more about each other and stay in touch.
Family members can also share information and work together to build profiles for common ancestors.
Geni is a private network. Only the people in your tree can see your tree and your profile. Geni will not share your personal information with third parties.
If you put email addresses of your family into the database, then those people get an invitation to join and enter their family data, and over time many people in an extended family group might share information - like photos, biographies, letters, family Bible transcriptions, etc. The kicker here is that only the family members in a group can see the information - nobody else can see it unless they are invited by a group member. And it is free.
Thinking about it, I realized this is not a bad thing - if Geni can get family members to learn about their extended family, and perhaps become interested in family history, then it's probably a good thing.
Obviously, the promoters of Geni think it will be successful - they will sell advertising and much of it will probably be genealogy-related - software, subscriptions, societies, etc. My guess is that the target market is the 18 to 25 age group - the ones really into technology, blogging, IMing, web cams, personal pages and the like. They may bring their parents and grandparents into it as a family effort, and that will probably be all to the good - intergenerational communication.
There may be a payoff for genealogy societies here - some of these people who sign up, enter data, are intrigued by the family connections, photos or documents, and enjoy their family group may become interested in genealogy research and join local societies.
I haven't decided to sign up yet - I thought I'd wait to be invited by someone. All of my extended family knows that I pursue genealogy and family history, so I'm waiting to see if anybody else starts something. How about you - have you signed up yet? If so, why? If not, why not?
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