What do you want genealogy software to do for you?

Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog posted this question last night in his "What Do You Wish Genealogy Software Did?"

Almost all genealogists and family historians use one form of genealogy database software or another, and most of them serve the simple purpose of showing names, dates, places, and relationships with facts, research notes, source citations, charts, reports, books, web site creation, etc. The most recent programs include maps, timelines, and web search capabilities. I posted "Genealogy Roftware Reviews" here last week.

As I've stated before, I currently use FamilyTreeMaker 16. I am frustrated by "small" things that happen in FTM 16. The list I put on Mark's blog in a comment include:

1) Do everything FamilyTreeMaker 16 does and lots more.
2) Create an ahnentafel list (just ancestors names, dates, places, no children, in a list) - FTM 16 doesn’t do this.
3) Create Time Lines with important events for user-selected people in the database - FTM 16 doesn't do this.
4) Create Word Processor editable pages with field codes embedded for a name index and TOC - FTM 16 doesn't do this (it creates it in PDF format).

Unfortunately, I have found that I am not a visionary. My strengths are researching, testing, analysis and discussion, not trying to figure out the next nifty geewhiz gimcrackery (I'm not calling anything currently used on genealogy software as 'gimcrackery,' I just wanted to use the word on my blog to get more hits! I could have used 'gewgaw' too). When the nifty features in software appear, I appreciate them, figure them out and use them.

What Mark is doing is called "Listening to the Voice of the Customer (VOC)." It is a vital part of marketing any new product. A company that does this well usually produces a superior product out of the box. A company that continues to listen to the VOC and continues to continually improve their product will have a very successful product. Naturally, I don't know if Mark or his company is creating a new product...

I encourage all of my readers to think about what they would like to have in their genealogy software that isn't in their present software or isn't done well in their present software. Then go to Mark's post and add to the list - add your Voice to the din that might create a new product. If nothing else, Mark can always pass it to the next software company trying to create The Mother of all Genealogy Databases.

"We're Related" on Facebook.com

The WorldVitalRecords blog had a post yesterday about their http://www.facebook.com/ application called We're Related. The application is described as:

"In less than three months since it was introduced, We‘re Related, a Facebook application created by Provo based FamilyLink.com, has become the #1 social application for families, out of more than 11,000 applications, with more than 2 million users.

"We‘re Related allows people to create and share their family tree, connect with members of their living families, and find relatives on Facebook. Since October, nearly 700,000 family trees have been built or uploaded and thousands of photos and family documents are being uploaded to individual Ancestor Pages."

I've tried several genealogy "social network" sites and have been unimpressed by the "family tree" aspects of them - they just don't seem useful to me yet. I decided to try this particular one today.

You have to register at http://www.facebook.com/. After registration, you can Search for the "We're Related" application and add the application to your Facebook list of applications.

In We're Related, you can then upload your GEDCOM file. My first try failed because I signed up for Facebook as "Randy Seaver" while my GEDCOM has "Randall Seaver" for my name. They give you that hint before you try the GEDCOM upload, but somebody didn't read it! Alas, after about two minutes, the 20,000 person GEDCOM upload timed out on me - twice. No reason was given. I had this happen to me when I tried FamilyLink also.

As with all social networks, you can invite friends and relatives to create a Facebook account and contribute to the family tree (assuming you can upload one). You are limited to 20 relatives a day by Facebook. I haven't tried that yet.

There are also several genealogy groups on Facebook - each group has a message board and members can upload pictures, videos or files for sharing. I will try to browse this as time permits.

I'm disappointed that my GEDCOM didn't upload and have no clue as to how to find out why. I sent a message to the We're Related Help Desk (the Help button on the page is at the lower right hand corner) and expect an email reply.

Has anyone else joined Facebook, been successful with We're Related, or had a problem uploading their GEDCOM?

UPDATE 7:45 PM: I had a response to my Help desk query. They said:

"Right now the app still has a hard time uploading very large GedComs. This has to do with response time between our servers and Facebook's servers. If our servers are working to upload anything (such as a GedCom) and Facebook's servers do not get a response within a set and rather short amount of time, then the whole thing will time-out and you'll get an error page. We are working on this and trying to make the communication go faster so that Facebook's servers don't give up on us. If you would like, you can email the GedCom to me and I will have one of our developers upload it for you."

This was from the We're Related side - I appreciate the quick response and explicit information. I could make another GEDCOM I guess with more limited information and see if it will upload say 2,000 names instead of 20,000 names. But the whole purpose of the test is to see what happens with any size file so that others can know that their database will upload also. In other words, I go through all of the pain so you don't have to.

The Elusive Russell Smith - Post 3

In Post 1, I summarized the information I gathered recently about Russell Smith (born RI ca 1775), who married Esther --?--, and had at least three children, Ranslow Smith (1805->1870), Lyman Smith (1807-1889) and George Smith (1812-1876). The family history information from Old World Wisconsin, derived from obituaries for Lyman and George Smith, says that Russell Smith was born in Rhode Island, settled in Oneida County NY, and then settled in Jefferson County, New York in about 1800.

In Post 2, I summarized the sparse evidence from Jefferson County, New York for Russell Smith residing in that county, where the three purported sons first settled and started their families. The only information I found about Russell Smith in Jefferson County was a mention in a history book of an 1800 residence in or near Adams township, as recounted in Post 1.

The basic question I have is - is the Russell Smith, son of David Smith of Lee town in Oneida County NY, the same Russell Smith who settled in Jefferson County NY for some period of time?

Looking carefully at the "Gazetteer and Business Directory of Oneida County, New York for 1869, published in 1869, page 96 says in the Lee town description "... The first settlement was commenced at Delta in 1790, by two brothers, Stephen and Reuben Shelton. At that time, there was no house between them and Fort Stanwix. Other early settlers in this vicinity were David Smith, Daniel Spinning, Stephen and Nicholas Salisbury..."

In the book "Our County and Its People" about Oneida County NY in the Lee town section, there is this on page 461: "...David Smith and his sons, David and Russell, came to the Mohawk country, near Delta, described by a writer of that time as 'away up the Mohawk country beyond Fort Stanwix, inhabited only by bears, wovles and Indians.' David Smith Jr. built a saw mill there soon after ..."

On page 462, there is this tantalizing bit of information: "...The Sheldons, Smiths, Wheelocks and Salisburys emigrated from the state of Rhode Island..." The sons of Edward Salisbury named on this page are Nicholas, Edward S., Enon, Alexander, Lodowick, De Estaing and Smith Salisbury.

In the 1810 US Census for Jefferson County NY, there are 37 Smith households in the county, including David Smith in Adams township (also Asa, Chauncey, Ezekiel, Isaac, Isaac, John and Solomon Smith). There are three Salisbury households in Ellisburgh (just southwest of Adams) - Edward, De Estaing and Viol (looks like Nial or Nick to me) Salisbury. Coincidence? There were no Wheelock or Sheldon households in the southern part of Jefferson County.

The David Smith Jr. who lived in Oneida County erected a saw mill in 1791/2, and the David Smith who settled in Adams in Jefferson County also erected a saw mill. Coincidence? This David Smith died in 1844, aged 73 (so born in 1771).

My working hypothesis is that Russell Smith, the father of Ranslow Smith) and David Smith Jr. of Oneida and Jefferson Counties, are brothers born in Rhode Island, and are the sons of David Smith also born in Rhode Island in a place where there were Wheelock, Sheldon and Salisbury families.

I am still a long way from proving any relationship of Russell Smith with any of the Smith's in either Oneida or Jefferson Counties, but so far I have no conflicting evidence. My big problem is that I have very little corroborating evidence! The Jefferson County books mention that Oneida County was one of the places where large numbers of Jefferson County settlers migrated from - it was in the same area of New York and up the road only 40 or 50 miles.

I need to do more research in Oneida County - perhaps there is a will or deed by the elder David Smith that names some or all of his children. I should also look for wills or deeds of other people that might identify a Russell Smith that married their daughter. There are more rocks to turn over, I think.

Taking this study the next step, I now know that the Smith, Sheldon, Salisbury and Wheelock families probably came from Rhode Island. My hope is that I can identify a town in Rhode Island from whence they came, and thereby find town records that will identify Smith family members and relationships in that place.

I'm also thinking about Russell's wife, Esther, whose maiden name I don't know. I'm willing to bet that her maiden name is that of one of the early settlers of Delta and Western (including Lee, formed in 1811) in Oneida County - perhaps Wheelock, Sheldon, Salisbury, Elmer, Rudd, Spinning, Crittenden, etc.

If anybody has good ideas for further research, I would appreciate knowing them!

Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) and Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

One set of my great-grandparents were Frank and Hattie (Hildreth) Seaver who resided in Leominster, Massachusetts for many years. I don't have a clear picture of Frank Seaver. The only picture I have of Frank Seaver is this group photograph in front of the house at 149 Lancaster Street, taken in about 1907.


The photograph includes Sophia (Newton) Hildreth (seated) the widow of Edward Hildreth; Frank (second male from left standing) and Hattie (Hildreth) Seaver (seated on left); Frederick and Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (third and fourth standing from the left); Harry Seaver (standing on left); and the three children of Fred and Bessie Seaver - Marion, Evelyn and Stanley (standing in front on the left).

I do have a good picture of Hattie (Hildreth) Seaver in her later years, as shown below, obtained from Marion (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill, one of Hattie's granddaughters. Hattie had red hair, which has been passed to several females in later generations.





Frank Walton9 Seaver (Isaac8, Benjamin7, Benjamin6, Norman5, Robert4, Joseph3, Shubael2, Robert1) was born 06 June 1852 in Medfield, Norfolk County, MA (MA VR 64.198), and died 27 November 1922 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR). He married Hattie Louise Hildreth 14 December 1874 in Keene, Cheshire County, NH (VR), daughter of Edward Hildreth and Sophia Newton. She was born 28 November 1857 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA (MA VR 107.232), and died 29 November 1920 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR).

In the 1880 U.S. Census, the Frank W. Seaver family resided in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts (National Archives Microfilm Series T9, Roll 565, Page 525, dwelling # 354, family #436, line 15). The family included

* Frank W. Seaver -- white, male, age 27, married, works in a comb shop, born MA, parents born MA/MA
* Hattie S. Seaver -- white, female, age 22, wife, married, keeping house, born MA, parents born MA/MA
* Frederick W. Seaver -- white, male, age 3, son, single, born MA, parents born MA/MA.

In the 1900 U.S. Census, the Frank Seaver family resided at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The Seaver family was renting the house (1900 U.S. Census for Massachusetts, National Archives Microfilm Series T623, Roll 692, Page 264, Enumeration District 1645, sheet 16, line 44). The family included

* Frank W. Seaver -- head of household, white, male, born June 1852, age 47, married 26 years, born MA, parents born MA, a teamster, rents home
* Hattie L. Seaver -- wife, white, female, born Nov 1856, age 43, married 26 years, mother of 3 children, 2 living, born MA, father born MA, mother born VT
* Fred W. Seaver -- son, white, male, born February 1876, age 24, single, born MA, parents born PA a painter of combs
* Harry C. Seaver -- son, white, male, born March 1885, age 15, single, born MA, parents born MA, a painter of combs
* Sophia Hildreth -- mother-in-law, white, female, born September 1835, age 64, widow, mother of 1 child, 1 living, born MA, father born ME, mother born MA

In the 1910 U.S. census, the Frank W. Seaver family resided at 146 Lancaster Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts (1910 US Census for Massachusetts, National Archives Microfilm Series T624, Roll 629, Page 100, Enumeration District 1772, Sheet 13B, dwelling #149, family #257, line 96). The family included

* Sophia Hildreth -- head of household, female, white, age 73, widow, mother of 2 children, 1 living, born VT, father and mother born MA, speaks English, no occupation, can read and write, owns the home, free of mortgage
* Frank W. Seaver -- son-in-law, male, white, age 57, married once, 35 years, born MA, father and mother born MA, speaks English, foreman, works in horn supply, a worker, reads and writes
* Hattie L. Seaver -- daughter, female, white, age 52, married once, 35 years, mother of 3 children, 2 living, born MA, father born MA, mother born VT, speaks English, can read and write
* Harry C. Seaver -- son, male, white, age 25, single, born MA, father and mother born MA, speaks English, laborer, works in comb shop, a worker, can read and write

In the 1920 U.S. census, the Frank Seaver family resided at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts (1920 US Census for Massachusetts, National Archives Microfilm Series T625, Roll 747, Page 116, Supervisor District 3, Enumeration District 102, Sheet 5B, dwelling #68, family #132, line 7). The family included

* Frank W. Seaver -- head of household, male, white, age 66, married, born MA, father born MA, mother born MA, an assistant superintendent at a horn shop, a salaried worker, owns home free of mortgage, able to read, write, and speak English
* Hattie L. Seaver -- wife, female, white, age 62, married, born MA, father born MA, mother born VT, no occupation, able to read, write and speak English
* Harry C. Seaver -- son, male, white, age 34, single, born MA, father born MA, mother born MA, a button turner in a button shop, a wage worker, able to read, write and speak English
* Sophia Hildreth -- mother-in-law, female, white, age 82, widow, born VT, father born MA, mother born MA, retired, able to read, write and speak English
Family stories about Frank Seaver include that he was a dapper, handsome man, and had black curly hair and brown eyes, and looked like his mother, Lucretia Smith. He was about 5'10" tall. He was jolly and full of fun, but liked to drink beer, and smoked a pipe. They had a large home at 149 Lancaster St in Leominster with a wonderful garden, fruit trees, a barn in which they used to keep a horse and buggy, and raised bantam chickens. Frank was a manager of the Leominster Horned Goods Company, and died of a stroke at age 70 while at his work.

Frank W. Seaver died intestate, and his probate records are in Worcester County Probate Records, Probate Packet B-81,100 (viewed at Worcester County Court House, in Worcester, Massachusetts). The petition for administration was filed by J. Ward Healey on 6 September 1923. The heirs were listed as son Frederick W. Seaver and son Harry C. Seaver, both of Leominster, who assented to the petition. A $2,000 bond was posted by J. Ward Healey, Frederick W. Seaver and Harry C. Seaver. An inventory was taken 10 September 1923 by the administrator, finding a personal estate of $321.15 and real property valued at $1,200. The property was a one third interest as tenant in common in a two family dwelling house, farm and 10,890 square feet of land, all at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, MA, free from Mortgage.

The estate of Frank's mother-in-law, Sophia (Newton) Hildreth was probated before the probate of Frank Seaver. The estate of Frank's wife, Hattie (Hildreth) Seaver, was probated after Frank's estate was probated.

Frank Seaver died of a stroke, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster with his wife.

Hattie L. Seaver died intestate before her mother and her husband, and her estate was probated simultaneously with that of her husband (Worcester County Probate Records, Probate Packet B-81,101, reviewed at Worcester County Court House, Worcester, Massachusetts). J. Ward Healey petitioned the court to be named administrator of her estate on 6 September 1923. The heirs included husband Frank W. Seaver (who has since died), son Frederick W. Seaver and son Harry C. Seaver, both of Leominster.

An inventory was taken by J. Ward Healey on 10 September 1923 and found $33.10 in personal estate and $2,825 in real estate. The latter was the two family dwelling house at 149 Lancaster Street in Leominster, including a barn and 10,890 square feet of land. Bond of $4,000 was posted on 7 September 1923 by J. Ward Healey, Frederick W. Seaver and Frank C. Seaver.

The real estate was sold on 31 October 1923 for $6,000. The land is described as "land owned by the heirs of Edward Hildreth, Leominster, Mass." by Wm. P. Ray, C.E. It was on the southwesterly side of Lancaster Street, containing 19,317 square feet of land.

The final account of the estate of Hattie L. Seaver was submitted by J. Ward Healey on 10 December 1923, and approved by the court on 8 September 1924. The estate of $6,546.99 was distributed:

* To Harry C. Seaver, $2,700 in cash as his partial distributive share, including a $1,600 payment to Merchants National Bank which was borrowed by him.

* To Frederick W. Seaver, $2,700 in cash as his partial distributive share.

* The furniture was divided by Harry C. and Frederick W. Seaver.

$150 To the City of Leominster for perpetual care of the cemetery lots of Edward Hildreth and Frank W. Seaver.

$55 to Leominster Granite and Marble Works for gravestones, and $294 to Chas. H. Richardson, undertakers.

The balance went to the administrator for taxes, repairs on the house, insurance, and probate costs.

Hattie (Hildreth) Seaver died of stomach cancer, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Leominster, Massachusetts with her husband.

Children of Frank Seaver and Hattie Hildreth are:
i. Frederick Walton10 Seaver, born 09 October 1876 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (MA VR 279.311); died 13 March 1942 in Lawrence, Essex County, MA (VR). He married Alma Bessie Richmond 21 June 1900 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR); born 16 February 1882 in Killingly, Windham County, CT (VR); died 29 June 1962 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR).


ii. Harry Clifton Seaver, born 31 March 1885 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (MA VR 360.330); died 22 May 1951 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR). He married Rose Anna Noel About 1940 in prob. Leominster, Worcester County, MA; born 15 April 1897 in Nashua, Hillsborough County, NH; died 24 April 1948 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR).


iii. Howard Edward Seaver, born 08 August 1893 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR); died 10 April 1900 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA (VR).

The only descendants of Frank and Hattie (Hildreth) Seaver are through their son, Frederick Walton Seaver.

Definition of a ________ Genealogist

There has been a fascinating discussion on the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) mailing list trying to define the different types of genealogists. Dee Dee King's first post was here and the discussion has raged over several days and nearly 100 posts as the APG list members (which includes many professionals, speakers, writers, and researchers) struggle to define, and then wordsmith, what and who they are.

Carolyn Earle Billingsley grabbed the ball early on and created the first "boilerplate" list of genealogist definitions. The definitions have coalesced and Carolyn's most recent post is here (dated 7 January) with the latest updated definitions. This has been an excellent exercise in consensus decision making that has included over 20 people. The discussion has been civil, rational, enlightening and at times humorous.

The latest definitions include:

** A genealogist is one who studies the past and present of individual families and the kinship links among those families. Practitioners of genealogy may focus entirely on their own family, or they may pursue genealogy as either a profession or a scholarly field.

** A professional genealogist is one who earns part or all of their livelihood from the practice of some aspect of genealogy.

** A board-certified genealogist is one who has earned the credential Certified Genealogist (CG) from the Board for Certification of Genealogists www.bcgcertification.org through a rigorous examination that includes peer review of his or her written work. The credential designates the practitioner as someone who has met the rigorous standards of that field for knowledge and competence in core knowledge of source materials, record interpretation, research methodology, evidence analysis,and genealogical writing. (see also Certified Genealogist)

** A forensic genealogist is one qualified through a combination of education, training and work experience to be employed or retained by attorneys, law offices, estates, courts, corporations, governmental agencies or other entities to perform genealogical work in legal issues as an independent third-party researcher, analyst, reporter and witness.

** A genetic genealogist is someone who uses DNA analysis and genealogical research to enhance knowledge about kinship ties.

There are several other definitions still in work.

There has been extensive discussion about "amateur" vs. "professional," about what "forensic genealogists" do, and about "genetic genealogists" do.

Why does it matter? The fact is that those in the profession of genealogy research need to act like and be treated like professionals in other disciplines - they need to be educated, be unbiased, be thorough, be honest and truthful, and be respected. Some professions are licensed to practice after extensive education, training, experience and examination - doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc. Other professions require levels of education, training and experience and are treated as experts in their field - professors, teachers, engineers, software, plumbers, etc. without being examined or licensed. Genealogists need standards to be treated as professionals in their discipline.

I want to thank the APG list members for this discussion and their efforts to further the genealogy profession and avocation.

What am I? I am a genealogist - it's the only one that fits my perception of my skills and status. I also consider myself a family historian, but that seems to be included within the genealogist definition. I am not a professional genealogist because I don't derive any of my income from my genealogy work, although I have been paid a bit for my work by societies, friends and colleagues to cover expenses. I have considered pursuing certification by the Board for Certification of Genealogists, but haven't started the application process. I have also considered joining the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), but haven't done that either. Anyone can join APG as long as they will sign the Code of Ethics and pay the membership fee ($65 per year for USA residents).

Do you agree with these definitions? If not, I urge you to join in the discussion on the APG list.

UPDATED 12 January, 8 AM: Carolyn Earle Billingsley has updated the list of definitions - you can see the latest update (dated 10 January) here.

Winter in San Diego - Memories

Miriam Midkiff on her Ancestories 2: Stories of Me for My Descendants blog has added a new prompt - WINTER. I promised myself that I would write about all of her prompts so that my memories would be available for my progeny to read until time immemorial. My hardy and hearty readers will read it before them! So here goes:

1) What has been your attitude toward winter? Is it "the weather outside is frightful" or "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"?

It has always been "We need the rain, I hope it comes during the night" and "Will it ever snow again in San Diego? Maybe this year!" and "On a clear day, you can see forever." Besides, it's football playoff season followed by baseball spring training.

2) What are or were your favorite outdoor winter activities? Some ideas to jog your memory include sledding, skiing, skating, snowshoeing, snowball fights, or making snowmen. Where did you go to do these activities? Did you ever have an accident participating in any of the more active sports?

On warm winter days, we would sometimes go to the beach, make sand castles, watch the waves, hunt for neat shells and watch the birds skitter across the wet sand. On cold and clear winter days, we kids would go for a brisk walk ... to the neighbor, to the park or maybe to the zoo. On rainy days, we kids would stay inside and work with our stamp and coin collections, and play with our electric train.

Sledding? Skiing? Skating? Snowball fights? Making snowmen? Those don't compute for a San Diego kid - never done them in San Diego. Several times when I was a youth, the church group took us to the mountains for play in the snow - sliding on trash can lids or cardboard and snowball fights. Fun. Wet. Cold.

3) What are or were your favorite indoor winter activities? Did you play board games or cards, listen to the radio or watch TV, do puzzles or needlework, read books and magazines, or write letters, journals, or stories?

As a kid, we played lots of board games and card games, and did puzzles. There was no radio or TV programs worth dealing with - I know I read a lot of books.

4) What do you remember about winter clothing in your childhood? Do you have any stories to tell about long johns, snow suits or snow pants, a favorite or unfavorite pair of boots? Did you wear a pair of mittens with a string connecting them around your neck?

Well, in San Diego we usually wore long pants in the winter and a light jacket over our shirt on most days. When it rained, we sometimes wore a poncho and a rain hat. My wife bought me long johns early in our marriage and I don't think I've worn them yet. I do keep gloves and a stocking cap in my trench coat which is wadded up in the trunk of my car. I haven't worn it for several years.

5) Did anyone ever make you hats, scarves, mittens or sweaters to wear? Were they knitted or crocheted?

Nobody made us anything - it was all store bought. We had mittens and sweaters and stocking caps, but no scarves.

6) What were your favorite winter foods or drinks? Some ideas include soups, stews, casseroles, hot chocolate, tea, or hot buttered rum.

I love soup, stew, casseroles and hot chocolate. Those are winter foods? I don't drink coffee or tea or hot liquor drinks. I love macaroni and cheese, steak, ice cream and chocolate.

7) How about the cold? Did you ever get frostbite? Did you ever take a dare and stick your tongue on something metal? Was your bedroom cold at night in the winter? How did you stay warm at night...with an electric blanket, a bedwarming pan, or hot potatoes at the foot of your bed under the covers?

I've never come close to frostbite, except on the cruise ship in College Fjord in Alaska in August, which probably doesn't count as winter. It was 35 F, with a stiff wind and a fine mist. My forehead (no cap) had a layer of frost.

Why would I stick my tongue on something metal? Probably has germs...

My folks left the wall heater on low overnight when it was cold, and we have always had central heating in our houses. No electric blanket, or warming pan (huh?), or hot potatoes (huh?). Just socks and another blanket.

8) What big storms or hard winters do you have memories or stories of?

I posted a whole blog about Snow in San Diego here. That's what I remember!

9) If you lived in areas that get little to no snow during the winter, what are or were your winters like? Windy and rainy? Warm or hot? Did you wish for snow, or were you glad you didn't get any? If it did occasionally snow, did the bad weather shut down your community? Do you remember the first time you saw snow? What did you think of it?

Yep, that's us! Little or no snow. Some or little rain. In San Diego, winter days vary greatly - rainy, cloudy without rain, partly cloudy, sunny, sometimes windy. Occasionally, we get Santa Ana winds with warm or cold temperatures - it depends how far north the high pressure area is over the Great Basin. When it is clear overnight, it can get down to freezing - once or twice each year. For instance, today the high was 60 F, last night the low was 50 F, the record high was 83 F in 2006, the record low was 28 F in 1913. We typically get an average of 10 inches of rain between October and April. Two years ago, we had 20 inches with no fires and lots of greenery. Last year it was less than 3 inches and the brush dried out and over 500 square miles of the county burned. This year we are at normal levels, which is good - too much rain and the burn areas will slide down the hills, too little and the rest of the county will burn next year.

10) Do you remember stories from your parents, grandparents, or other family members or old timers of big storms or hard winters of the past?

I do remember my father saying he never wanted to see snow again - he had shoveled too much of it in Massachusetts as a youth and young adult (he came to San Diego in the winter of 1940 and never went back). I never heard stories about storms or hard winters from my Massachusetts grandmother- I only met her once, and it was summer. My grandmother spent 12 years in Chicago, but I don't recall hearing anything from her. My grandfather was born and raised and lived his life in San Diego where we had only the occasional cold spell.

My Aunt Gerry talked about sledding down the hill in Leominster right into the middle of Central Street, but that was in the 1920's. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask weather questions of my father, uncle and aunts. Drat.

11) Do you have any photos of your ancestors outdoors in the winter, or of their homes or automobiles covered with snow? What about photos of ancestral horses and sleighs?

Nope, no photos of snow, sleighs or ancestral horses (of course, I don't have a horse in my ancestry, does anyone besides Mr. Ed?).

You will be amazed to know that the two places that I've been the coldest are Orlando, Florida and Laa Vegas, Nevada. In January 1982, I was in Orlando for an engineering convention and stayed with my Aunt Gerry for a weekend. This was the weekend that the Chargers lost 27-7 to Cincinnati in - 27 F wind chill and QB Dan Fouts got frostbite in his fingers trying to throw the rock. The temp in Orlando was 20 F and the wind was blowing. Then, in the early 90s we took Tami's travel softball team to Las Vegas for a post-Christmas tournament. We had to play in 15 F weather - the girls wore mittens under their ball gloves and wore several layers under their jerseys. Coach Randy was out there in the 3rd base coaches box in his polyester pants and team windbreaker. Cool. We won! I've been in Yosemite, Portland, Topeka and Boston in the winter when it was cold with snow in the air and on the ground, but it was always warmer than 20 F.

Now I can hear many of my readers and fellow genea-bloggers laughing out loud and saying "Boy howdy, that Randy has sure missed out on a major part of life because he didn't live where there was more than one season." And I probably have missed out on many boring days inside trying to stay warm and dry, many walks or rides to school in the cold and flakes, many snowball fights, some ice skating crashes, some sledding mishaps and the like. I've never had to drive with tire chains or snow tires.

My best memory of winter in San Diego is during a Santa Ana several years ago. It was crystal clear, and we went out to the end of Point Loma and could see 100 miles to the north and 50 miles to the east. There were snow capped mountains out there - from Mount Baldy above Ontario (we can see just the top of it due to the Earth's curvature), to Mount San Jacinto above Palm Springs, to Mounts Palomar, Cuyamaca and Laguna in San Diego County. Majestic. Awe inspiring. Breathtakingly beautiful. I will try to go take a picture from this spot the next time these conditions present themselves. From the ocean, to the city, to the mountains white with snow ... I love San Diego winters.

Pennsylvania Historical Records Access

Like many researchers, I have run up against the extremely difficult process of obtaining Pennsylvania death records. They are available only to direct descendants and you have to prove the relationship. If you don't know the death year and death location, the process becomes quite expensive ($34 for a 10-year search).

The People for Better Pennsylvania Historical Records Access (PaHR-Access) web site provides an excellent discussion about the present access problems and makes reasonable recommendations (essentially, open death records 50 years or older) to the state. There are sample letters for constituents to write to their state legislators and the governor.

The PaHR-Access web site describes the organization:

"PaHR-Access (People for Better Pennsylvania Historical Records Access) is strictly a grassroots organization started in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania in August of 2007. It was first known as People for Better Access to Pennsylvania Historical Records (PBAPHR). The name change took place in early November 2007 to allow for a more pronounceable acronym (i.e. par-access).

"We are merely people who want to literally have better access to Pennsylvania's historical records. Our main concern is the restricted state death certificates. There are no membership dues merely the willingness to help in this effort. PaHR-Access is not affiliated with any political, institutional or religious organization."

Some have argued that having a death index and access to death certificates will cause an increase in identity theft. The PaHR-Access folks refute that argument in the discussion, and say that:

"The Social Security Death Master File (with names, dates, places and numbers, and better known as the Social Security Death Index), which is updated quarterly, is an online identity verification database used to thwart identity theft and fraud. We understand government agencies, banks, insurance and credit card companies use it all the time to verify deaths and to stop the misuse of a deceased person's Social Security number. Expanding our proposed database to include all of Pennsylvania's death records (but with the same limited public access as outlined above) could be used in a similar manner by law enforcement and government agencies. The Division of Vital Records would itself be able to fill requests using the expanded database.

"Having a database of Pennsylvania's death certificates would actually be in accordance with Federal Law 108-458, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Social Security Administration and others, to award grants to States to assist them in computerizing their birth and death records, to develop the capability to match birth and death records within and among States, and to note the fact of death on birth certificates of deceased persons. This is done to stop a person from misusing the birth certificate of a deceased person."

If you are a Pennsylvania resident or researcher, please consider writing one or more letters to support this rational proposal to open Pennsylvania death records.

Where were my ancestors in 1908?

Lisa on her blog 100 Years in America posted about "Where was your family in 1908?" the other day. Her post discusses what happened in 1908, where her ancestors lived, and a comparison of how people lived then. She challenged other genea-bloggers to write about their families also.

My ancestors that were living in 1908 included:

1) My grandparents Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942) and Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) probably resided at 116 Lawrence Street in Fitchburg (picture included here). They had children Marion (born 1901), Evelyn (born 1903), Stanley (born 1905) and Ruth (born 1907). My father, Frederick, was still a gleam in the mind of my grandparents, and would be born in this house. The 1910 census shows them living in this house, which they owned with a mortgage. They had moved from the Hildreth home (see below) in Leominster in 1905 and moved back to Leominster in about 1912.

2) My great-great-grandmother Sophia (Newton) Hildreth (1834-1923) resided at 149 Lancaster Street, with her son-in-law Frank Seaver (1852-1922), her daughter, Hattie Hildreth (1857-1920) and grandson Harry C. Seaver (1885-1951). Sophia's husband, Edward Hildreth, died in 1899 in Leominster. The house is included here, and the family had resided here since at least 1870.

3) My great-grandparents Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922) and Hattie L. Hildreth (1857-1920) resided in the Hildreth home at 149 Lancaster Street. I have a wonderful picture of the Hildreth house with the family in front of it and will post it sometime soon - it's the only picture I have of Frank Seaver and Sophia (Newton) Hildreth.

4) My great-grandparents Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) and Julia White (1848-1913) probably resided in Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut. The 1910 census does not list the house address of the rented house. All of their children were out of the house by 1910. They had resided in Leominster MA in 1900 and for several years before - most of their children were married there.

5) My great-great-grandparents James Richmond (1821-1912) and Hannah Rich (1824-1911) resided at 1 Richmond Road in Putnam, Windham County, Connecticut. The household included their son John Richmond (age 44), daughter-in-law Mary Richmond (age 41), grandson Thomas H.M. (age 7) and daughter Louisa (age 57). This was a dairy farm that was obtained in the late 1860's and was worked into the 1980's by their son and grandson.

6) My great-grandparents Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946) and Abbie Ardell (Della) Smith (1862-1944) resided at 3002 Hawthorn Street in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. Son Lyle L. Carringer (my grandfather) (1911-1976), brother Harvey E. Carringer (1952-1946), and mother-in-law Abbie Smith (1844-1931) also lived in the house. This is the same house that was at 2105 30th Street in 1920 and 2115 30th Street in 1930, and the house shown here.

7) My great-great-grandmother Abigail (Vaux) Smith (1844-1931), the widow of Devier J. Smith, resided with her daughter's family at 3002 Hawthorn Street in San Diego.

8) My great-grandparents Charles Auble (1849-1916) and Georgianna Kemp (1968-1951) resided in Chicago with their daughter, my grandmother Emily Kemp Carringer (1899-1977). In the 1900 census, they resided at 515 West Adams Street, and in the 1910 census they resided at 611 North 70th Street in the 32nd Ward of Chicago. In the 1910 City Directory for Chicago, they resided at 611 West 76th Street in Chicago.

This exercise has shown me that I haven't posted biographies about several of these ancestors on Genea-Musings, or posted some of my early pictures of these people. I will do that in the coming weeks.

Lisa's post finished with a brief paragraph about life in 1908. I posted a longer article, obtained from an unknown email correspondent, about life in 1907 - see it here for more context. Interesting, eh?

Best of the Genea-blogs: 30 December 2007 to 5 January 2008

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

My criteria are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy, or are funny and/or poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or my own posts (hopefully, others will do that!).

* "2007 In Review" by Dick Eastman on the Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter blog. Dick highlights the important events that occurred in genealogy in 2007. The comments have additional highlights.

* "10 Biggest Genealogy News Stories of 2007" by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog. Diane has a somewhat different take than Dick Eastman - I like her list better.

* "Top 10 Genealogy Blogs and Podcasts for 2007" by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog. Mark lists his favorites - do you agree with them? Genea-Musings made the list at #9 - thanks, Mark!

* "The Greatest Genealogy Find Ever" by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig tells about his best-ever find, and challenges the rest of us to discuss ours. I did, did you?

* "Walksheds in the Hill Country" by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry describes a very logical idea about placement of country stores in rural areas. I found this fascinating.

* "Who Was D.B. Cooper?" and "More on the D.B. Cooper Case" by Tim Agazio on the Genealogy Reviews Online blog. Tim summarizes the recent activity in this case.

* "Four Stone Hearth #31: Silver Screen Edition" by Tim Abbott at the Walking the Berkshires blog. This is a Carnival for Anthropology and Archaeology - two disciplines that tie into ancient genealogy well!

* "One of my Great Geneaology Finds: My Cousin Chaya the Commie" by Howard Wolinski at the Gen-erocity blog. I am intrigued by researching in other countries, especially those formerly behind the Iron Curtain. Read Howard's Avotanyu article too - lots of interesting details!

* "New Year's Eve ..." by G. on the how to survive suburban life blog. This is hilarious. I wish I could write funny stuff like this about my grandchildren.

* "Grandpa's Final Resting Place, Part 1" and "Part 2" by Terry Snyder on the Desktop Genealogist blog. Terry tells about tracking down her grandfather's second family and his burial location.

* "Where was Your Family in 1908?" by Lisa on the 100 Years in America blog. Here is another blog challenge for genea-bloggers - post about where your family was in 1908. The Smithsonian article is a keeper, and Lisa's story is great.

* "Have You or Someone Else Sub-primed Your Genealogy?" by Arlene Eakle on the Arlene H. Eakle blog. Arlene makes excellent points about clerk errors, indexes, original records and evaluating evidence. I look forward to hearing her speak next Saturday here in San Diego.

* "To Tell the Genealogical Truth" by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. This is a late entrant, just under the Saturday night wire. Craig gives some excellent lessons about census records from his research. It's not done yet.

Did I miss a great genealogy post? Tell me!

Searching for Living People - should I be doing this?

Over the years, we have received several queries from people searching for living people - relatives, classmates or friends. I posted about one search last year that was successful - I was able to connect a lady with her father's half-siblings.

Recently, another query came in from a fellow looking for his elementary school classmate from the early 1960's in San Diego. He knew her name (Deborah Turner), her brother's name (Blake), and he thought he knew the father's given name (Robert Turner) [note: all names are fictitious here]. He wanted to contact her for personal reasons.

I charged off into the different California vital records databases, and then the http://www.411.com/ and the Ancestry PeopleSearch databases, and was able to come up with:

* The birth dates of three Turner children, including Deborah, Blake and their sister Susan.

* Marriage dates and spouses names for Deborah and Susan.

* Birth dates and names of the children of Deborah and Susan.

* Lots of deed records for Deborah and her husband John in San Diego County, the string of which ended in about 1995. Did they move? Die? Stop dealing in real estate?

* A phone number and address for one of Susan's sons in San Diego.

* A probable phone number and address for Blake in Palm Springs.

* A MySpace page and some newspaper articles for Deborah's daughter.

* A Google search for Deborah with either Turner or her married name was fruitless - the name is too common, and there was the possibility of a re-marriage.

* A Google, Ancestry and 411.com for Robert Turner was fruitless - too many hits, and I didn't know if they were still alive.

At this point, I passed everything to my client, and he called Susan's son. He verified that Aunt Deborah was still in the San Diego area, but he didn't know where, and said that his Turner grandparents were still alive. He was going to see Deborah at Thanksgiving, and would pass the message to her to contact my correspondent by phone.

Nothing was heard for several weeks, so I suggested trying to track down the parents by obtaining Deborah's birth certificate. I did that, and found that their names were Charles (not Robert) and Edna Turner. I quickly found them living in San Diego, with a phone number and address, and sent that information off to my correspondent.

My correspondent telephoned them, and they remembered him from 40 years ago, and put him in touch with Deborah. They have talked now, and he found out that she is a widow. My correspondent will be coming to San Diego soon to see her. He wants to meet me too. He gave our society a donation for my services.

During this process, I was a bit leery of digging too deep in anything except public records. Even with that limitation, I fear that I (or my society) could be liable for damages if this turns out to be a stalking case. I'm wondering now if I should refuse to take cases like this in the future.

What do you think? I would appreciate comments about this situation. Have you had a similar experience? How did it turn out? What are my risks here? Should I even blog about it using fictitious names as above?

UPDATED: 6 PM - I edited the paragraphs above a bit for better understanding. Jasia and Terry have made cogent comments - see the comments below. There are also several blog posts referring to my dilemma - thank you all for your comments.