This is the third post in a series about resolving an evidence conflict in my genealogy research. This task is part of applying the Genealogical Proof Standard to genealogy research problems. It's also part of my homework for my ProGen Study Group that I described in Post 1: The Assignment. Post 2: The Evidence identified the Sources I have found for my particular problem and the Evidence contained in each Source to answer the questions:
* What was Devier J. Lamphier Smith birth name?
* What was his birth date?
* What is his birthplace?
Here is my Analysis of each Source and each piece of Evidence (I am repeating the Source citation for clarity in this post):
Source 1: Devier and Abigail (Vaux) Smith Family Bible records, 1805-1946, loose family pages only, first entries made in 1889. Original pages held by Randall J. Seaver, 1154 Via Trieste, Chula Vista CA 91911 in 2009.
Analysis of Source 1:
Source Type: Original (Bible pages with informants handwriting)
Information Type: Secondary (Devier J. Smith birth information written in 1889)
Evidence Type: Direct (provides name and exact date)
Relevance: Very High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: Very High for names and dates (surely Devier J. Smith know his own birth date)
Provenance: Original document kept in Smith > Carringer > Seaver family.
Source 2: 1850 U.S. Census, Dodge County, Wisconsin, Population Schedule, Burnett township, Page 43 (stamped), Dwelling #609, Family #632, Ranslow Smith household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com , : accessed 28 February 2009), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 996.
Analysis of Source 2:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and age)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original > Record Copy (Federal) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 3: 1860 U.S. Census, Dodge County, Wisconsin, Population Schedule, Oak Grove township, Page 745 (penned), Dwelling #704, Family #701, Ranslow Smith household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com , : accessed 28 February 2009), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 1406.
Analysis of Source 3:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and age)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original > Record Copy (Federal) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 4: 1870 U.S. Census, Taylor County, Iowa, Population Schedule, Benton township, Page 13 (penned), Dwelling #207, Family #207, Devier Smith household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com , : accessed 28 February 2009), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 421.
Analysis of Source 4:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and age)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original > Record Copy (Federal) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 5: 1880 U.S. Census, Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Population Schedule, Shannon township, Page 243D (stamped), Dwelling #125, Family #125, D.J. Smith household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com , : accessed 28 February 2009), citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T9, Roll 393.
Analysis of Source 5:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and age)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original > Record Copy (Federal) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 6: 1875 Kansas State Census, Cloud County, Kansas, Population Schedule, Lincoln township, Page 12 (penned), Dwelling #107, Family #107, D.J. Smith household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, : accessed 28 February 2009), citing Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, Roll K-4.
Analysis of Source 6:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and age)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original (State) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 7: 1885 Kansas State Census, Clay County, Kansas, Population Schedule, Clyde township, Page 35 (penned), Dwelling #69, Family #82, D.J. Smith household, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com, : accessed 28 February 2009), citing Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925, Roll K-23.
Analysis of Source 7:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and age)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original (State) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 8: State of Wisconsin, Private & Local Laws Passed by the Legislature of Wisconsin and Acts & Resolves Passed by the Legislature of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, digital image, Wisconsin GenWeb, Name Changes in Wisconsin database, http://www.wigenweb.org/waupaca/Misc/M1.htm, accessed 28 February 2009.
Analysis of Source 8:
Source Type: Derivative (Abstract)
Information Type: Primary (relevant, timely)
Evidence Type: Direct (names person with birth and adoptive names)
Relevance: Very High (directly applies to person)
Credibility: Very High for name (provides birth and adoptive names)
Provenance: Original (Court Record) > Abstract (Book) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 9: Robert T. Ray, compiler, Cemetery Records of Red Willow County, Nebraska, Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society, 197?, 47. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah (978.2843 V3r), 12 January 2009.
Analysis of Source 9:
Source Type: Derivative (Abstract)
Information Type: Secondary (informant unknown, probably son)
Evidence Type: Indirect (provides name and birth year)
Relevance: High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and date (information generally consistent with other sources)
Provenance: Original (Gravestone) > Abstract (Book).
Source 10: Andrew County, Missouri Probate Court, Probate Records, 1841-1918; Index to Probate Records, 1841-1976, Case No. 1074, Smith, Ranslow, page 47, Andrew Count, Missouri, Courthouse, Savannah, Missouri. Family History Library Microfilm 1,006,198, Item 3, accessed on 12 January 2009.
Analysis of Source 10:
Source Type: Derivative (Record Copy, Image Copy)
Information Type: Primary (informant is father, timely)
Evidence Type: Direct (provides birth and adoptive name)
Relevance: Very High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: Very High for name (Court Record attested to by witnesses)
Provenance: Original (Court Record) > Record Copy (Court clerk book) > Image Copy (Microfilm) > Image Copy (Digital).
Source 11: Abigail (Vaux) Smith Family Papers, 1805-1894, loose family pages only, first entries probably made in about 1894. Original pages held by Randall J. Seaver, Chula Vista CA 91911 in 2009.
Analysis of Source 11:
Source Type: Original (pages in informants handwriting)
Information Type: Secondary (all information wirtten probably in 1894)
Evidence Type: Direct (provides name and exact date)
Relevance: Very High (directly applies to problem)
Credibility: High for names and dates (for Devier J. Smith, his wife probably knew his birth date)
Provenance: Original paper document kept in Smith > Carringer > Seaver family.
To summarize:
* Name: It appears that Devier J. Lamphier was adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith and changed his name to Devier J. (AKA D.J. or Devier James) Smith in 1866.
* Birth Date: The Family Bible in Devier J. Smith's own hand says 7 May 1842, and his gravestone says 1842. All census records say 1839-1840, and his wife's notes say 7 May 1839.
* Birth Place: The Ranslow Smith family resided in Henderson, Jefferson County, NY in 1840. All census records but 1885 Kansas State Census say he was born in New York; 1885 Kansas State Census says born in Ohio.
It's an interesting research problem, isn't it? Do you agree with my analysis and evaluation of the sources, information and evidence?
My next post will provide my correlation of the evidence conflicts in the information presented.
My thanks to the commenters in the first two posts - I will pursue each of those research avenues. What other sources might I find to help me resolve the conflicts in evidence noted above?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tombstone Tuesday - Mercy Smith in Medfield MA
Mercy Smith (1772-1850) was one of my 4th-great-grandmothers. I believe that her gravestone stands in Vine Lake Cemetery near the center of Medfield, and is probably next to or near that of her husband, Aaron Smith (1765-1841). I received this photograph from a friend in the early 1990's (thank you, Linda T!):
The stone reads:
Mercy Smith
the wife of
Aaron Smith
died April 13,
died April 13,
1850.
AE 78.
Mercy Plimpton was born 9 September 1772 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, the daughter and fifth (and last) first child of Amos and Mary (Guild) Plimpton. She married Aaron Smith, son of Moses and Patience (Hamant) Smith, on 6 October 1795 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Mercy (Plimpton) Smith died on 13 April 1850 in Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Aaron and Mercy (Plimpton) Smith had eight children - Susanna, Patience, Mary, Alpheus, Lucy, Elizabeth, Nancy and Aaron Smith. Alpheus (1802-1840) is my ancestral connection to Aaron and Mercy.
There are a number of photographs of tombstones standing in Vine Lake Cemetery in Medfield at http://www.gravematter.com/cem-ma-medfield.asp, courtesy of Bill Boyington.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Genealogy Junkie True Confessions Collection
Last Saturday night's funtime was a big hit with at least 17 of my genea-blogging colleagues writing posts about their, um, addiction. Here they are:
* Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings
* Charles Hansen on the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog
* Leah on The Internet Genealogist
* Sheri Bush on TwigTalk
* Delia Furrer on Delia's Genealogy Blog
* M. Diane Rogers on CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'
* Abba-Dad on I Dream of Genea(logy)
* Schelly Talalay Dardashti on Tracing the Tribe:The Jewish Genealogy Blog
* Bill West on West in New England
* Thomas MacEntee on Destination: Austin Family
* Russ Worthington on A Worthington Weblog
* Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog
* Brenda Kay Wolfgram Moore on Day-ly Genealogy Blogposts
* Joan Miller on Luxegen's Genealogy and Family History
* Paula Hinkel on It Just Never Came Up
* Patti Browning on Consanguinity
* Terri O'Connell on Climbing the O'Connell Family Tree
Thank you all for playing, and letting us peek into your genealogy lives.
If I missed you, please let me know and I'll add it to the list. I was smarter this week - I made a list!
There are a number of relatively new genea-bloggers on this list. I have ALL of them on my Bloglines list to read. Are you reading all of them? If not, please pass them some blog-love and enjoy their true confessions.
UPDATED 3/10: Added Patti's post and Terri's post to the list!
* Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings
* Charles Hansen on the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog
* Leah on The Internet Genealogist
* Sheri Bush on TwigTalk
* Delia Furrer on Delia's Genealogy Blog
* M. Diane Rogers on CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'
* Abba-Dad on I Dream of Genea(logy)
* Schelly Talalay Dardashti on Tracing the Tribe:The Jewish Genealogy Blog
* Bill West on West in New England
* Thomas MacEntee on Destination: Austin Family
* Russ Worthington on A Worthington Weblog
* Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog
* Brenda Kay Wolfgram Moore on Day-ly Genealogy Blogposts
* Joan Miller on Luxegen's Genealogy and Family History
* Paula Hinkel on It Just Never Came Up
* Patti Browning on Consanguinity
* Terri O'Connell on Climbing the O'Connell Family Tree
Thank you all for playing, and letting us peek into your genealogy lives.
If I missed you, please let me know and I'll add it to the list. I was smarter this week - I made a list!
There are a number of relatively new genea-bloggers on this list. I have ALL of them on my Bloglines list to read. Are you reading all of them? If not, please pass them some blog-love and enjoy their true confessions.
UPDATED 3/10: Added Patti's post and Terri's post to the list!
Family History Fair Pictures
I posted my experiences at the Escondido Family History Fair on Saturday. I took too few pictures during the lectures and in the Exhibit Hall. Here are some of the ones I took.
Leland Meitzler was the Keynote speaker, and the folks at this FHC made a large banner (maybe 8 x 10 feet?) with his keynote title on it - I couldn't get far enough back to get all of Leland in this picture. The stage in back of Leland had antiques and artifacts displayed by the Escondido South Stake members.
Did you notice that they spelled "genealogy" wrong? :) Leland wore his power black suit with flashy gray shirt and tie all day - very professional! And a big smile, too.
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society had a table in the Exhibit Hall. There was a poster, some handouts on the table and a laptop showing the web site and blog.
The photo above shows John Finch (the current Program and PR chairman) and Gary Brock (the current President and Webmaster).
I took a picture of the San Diego Genealogical Society table too, with three pretty ladies (Joy Walsh, Kaye Boozel, Marna Clemmons) taking names and handing out information:
The SDGS table had a large publicity board, some of the SDGS publications, recent newspaper publicity articles, and a signup list for a free newsletter via email.
The only photo of a speaker in action that I took was of Tom Underhill during his talk about Digital Photographs. He managed to pose in the two seconds between the time I raised the camera and the flash went off.
The screen says "Don't drown in images." Tom's presentations are always lively and fun.
I wish that I had taken pictures of the other genealogy and heritage societies in the Exhibit Hall.
Leland Meitzler was the Keynote speaker, and the folks at this FHC made a large banner (maybe 8 x 10 feet?) with his keynote title on it - I couldn't get far enough back to get all of Leland in this picture. The stage in back of Leland had antiques and artifacts displayed by the Escondido South Stake members.
Did you notice that they spelled "genealogy" wrong? :) Leland wore his power black suit with flashy gray shirt and tie all day - very professional! And a big smile, too.
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society had a table in the Exhibit Hall. There was a poster, some handouts on the table and a laptop showing the web site and blog.
The photo above shows John Finch (the current Program and PR chairman) and Gary Brock (the current President and Webmaster).
I took a picture of the San Diego Genealogical Society table too, with three pretty ladies (Joy Walsh, Kaye Boozel, Marna Clemmons) taking names and handing out information:
The SDGS table had a large publicity board, some of the SDGS publications, recent newspaper publicity articles, and a signup list for a free newsletter via email.The only photo of a speaker in action that I took was of Tom Underhill during his talk about Digital Photographs. He managed to pose in the two seconds between the time I raised the camera and the flash went off.
The screen says "Don't drown in images." Tom's presentations are always lively and fun.
I wish that I had taken pictures of the other genealogy and heritage societies in the Exhibit Hall.
Ancestral Atlas Help offered
I took a look at Ancestral Atlas last week and complained about several features that were missing or didn't work well, including a Help function.
I received this email today from them:
"Dear Customer,
"We've made a couple more changes to the Ancestral Atlas web site to resolve some of the problems some of you may have been experiencing.
"These are:
"* Search Tab. When you now click on the green arrow next to a search result, the list of events at that location that match your search are now displayed. You can go back to the original search results by selecting the Back button.
"* Help pages. We've added a 'Quick Help' page to show you how to add Events and People records and how to perform some basic searching. We're hoping to make this far more comprehensive in the coming days.
"* Marriage Events. When you add a marriage event between 2 people, 'partner' relationships are now automatically created if they didn't exist already.
"* User Forum. We've set up a temporary forum at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ancestral_atlas - please join to view the latest messages or discussions regarding the site and its functionality.
"Please let us know of any other problems you may have by email to support@ancestralatlas.com.
"Ancestral Atlas is still in beta and all suggestions are gratefully received - we want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.
"Yours Faithfully,The Ancestral Atlas Team"
That's a fairly impressive response to the complaints of users and testers like myself. I appreciate it. I'll have to go back in and see how much easier it is to use.
I received this email today from them:
"Dear Customer,
"We've made a couple more changes to the Ancestral Atlas web site to resolve some of the problems some of you may have been experiencing.
"These are:
"* Search Tab. When you now click on the green arrow next to a search result, the list of events at that location that match your search are now displayed. You can go back to the original search results by selecting the Back button.
"* Help pages. We've added a 'Quick Help' page to show you how to add Events and People records and how to perform some basic searching. We're hoping to make this far more comprehensive in the coming days.
"* Marriage Events. When you add a marriage event between 2 people, 'partner' relationships are now automatically created if they didn't exist already.
"* User Forum. We've set up a temporary forum at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ancestral_atlas - please join to view the latest messages or discussions regarding the site and its functionality.
"Please let us know of any other problems you may have by email to support@ancestralatlas.com.
"Ancestral Atlas is still in beta and all suggestions are gratefully received - we want to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.
"Yours Faithfully,The Ancestral Atlas Team"
That's a fairly impressive response to the complaints of users and testers like myself. I appreciate it. I'll have to go back in and see how much easier it is to use.
My Y-DNA results! - Post 1: Getting Started
....
My daughters gifted me a Y-DNA test from The DNA Ancestry Project (http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/) for Christmas. I sent it in via mail in mid-January and had not heard anything back from them. I realized today that it should probably be done, and I had not provided an email address or any contact information other than a street address. I found the box with the CDROM (which I have not loaded) and the small user guide which told me where to go and what to do, including the Username and Password I need to use to login.
So I went in to http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/ today to see what I could find out. I thought my readers might be interested in the process with this company, which uses GeneTrack Biolabs and http://www.genebase.com/.
Here is the DNA Ancestry Project screen.
I clicked on the "Log In" link to get started. I had to input my login username and password provided on the test box. That worked, and I added some information to my profile. When I was done, I clicked on the Home tab in the top menu and was greeted by:
OK, where's my Y-DNA test markers? The Genebase site really wants to help me understand what it's all about - the page has Notifications, Updates to my page, Learning Center, What's New, and more. The left sidebar has lots of links for me to try and the right sidebar wants me to upgrade to more markers and other DNA tests.
I had a hard time figuring out what to do next - I tried clicking on the Announcements link and got lost. I clicked on the "My Raw DNA Data" link in the left sidebar and got lost. read somewhere that I should click on the "My Orders" link in the left sidebar, so I did:
This page told me that my Y-DNA test was completed and the results are available. I clicked on the link "Completed, view results" and got the "Explore Your Ancestry" page (two screens):
My daughters gifted me a Y-DNA test from The DNA Ancestry Project (http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/) for Christmas. I sent it in via mail in mid-January and had not heard anything back from them. I realized today that it should probably be done, and I had not provided an email address or any contact information other than a street address. I found the box with the CDROM (which I have not loaded) and the small user guide which told me where to go and what to do, including the Username and Password I need to use to login.
So I went in to http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/ today to see what I could find out. I thought my readers might be interested in the process with this company, which uses GeneTrack Biolabs and http://www.genebase.com/.
Here is the DNA Ancestry Project screen.
I clicked on the "Log In" link to get started. I had to input my login username and password provided on the test box. That worked, and I added some information to my profile. When I was done, I clicked on the Home tab in the top menu and was greeted by:
OK, where's my Y-DNA test markers? The Genebase site really wants to help me understand what it's all about - the page has Notifications, Updates to my page, Learning Center, What's New, and more. The left sidebar has lots of links for me to try and the right sidebar wants me to upgrade to more markers and other DNA tests.
I had a hard time figuring out what to do next - I tried clicking on the Announcements link and got lost. I clicked on the "My Raw DNA Data" link in the left sidebar and got lost. read somewhere that I should click on the "My Orders" link in the left sidebar, so I did:
This page told me that my Y-DNA test was completed and the results are available. I clicked on the link "Completed, view results" and got the "Explore Your Ancestry" page (two screens):
This page has sections for View Maternal Ancestry, View Paternal Ancestry, Recommended Tutorials, and Recommended Tests.
I'm going to click on the "View Y-DNA" link under Paternal Ancestry next. That should provide the details of my Y-DNA 20-marker test results. From the first Genebase page, it looks like I am in Haplogroup Group R. I'm not surprised! Already, they want me to upgrade to the Subclade R test.
The Genebase site provides the opportunity to upload a GEDCOM file so that they can have my entire researched ancestry just in case someone else matches me somehow. It looks like I can add the mitochondrial DNA results I received in September for GeneTree.
I need to learn more about what all of this means, and see how I can input my Y-DNA and mtDNA data on other DNA web sites. There are many more features on the Genebase site that I need to explore, also.
I'm confused about just who DNA Ancestry Project and Genebase are connected to. I'll have to do more research on them (frankly, when I sent the swabs in I thought it was to GeneTree!). Should I load up the CDROM on my computer? What will it do for me? I'm really not sure, other than provide a shortcut on my Windows screen and link to Genebase.
Was all of the above helpful to anybody? Should I publish my Y-DNA matches on my blog, or keep them private? Any advice? Thanks!
Brothers, Sisters, Cousins, Kids
I've searched high and low through all of my family photographs from four generations and found several photographs showing all of the brothers and sisters in a family, including:
* Family Photographs - Post 22:The Boys - this is how I remember my childhood in the 1950s. We three had a wonderful childhood playing in the house, park, the block, the streets.
* All dressed up - this photograph is of the young Thomas Richmond family, taken in about 1885. Thomas and Julia (White) Richmond were my great-grandparents.
* Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) and Julia White (1848-1913) - this photograph is of the older Thomas Richmond family, taken in the late 1890's.
* Family Photographs - Post 3: James Richman Family, 1885 - this photograph is of the older James and Hannah (Rich) Richman family, taken in about 1885. James and Hannah were my great-great-grandparents.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my father with all of his siblings that survived childhood. I have my father with one sibling or another, and pictures of several of his siblings, but not one of all six of them in one picture.
My mother was an only child, and her parents were only children, so I don't have a sibling picture for them.
Perhaps the best, and I think the happiest, picture of five of my father's Seaver siblings is the one shown below, which also includes three complete sets of siblings in the next generation.
* Family Photographs - Post 22:The Boys - this is how I remember my childhood in the 1950s. We three had a wonderful childhood playing in the house, park, the block, the streets.
* All dressed up - this photograph is of the young Thomas Richmond family, taken in about 1885. Thomas and Julia (White) Richmond were my great-grandparents.
* Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) and Julia White (1848-1913) - this photograph is of the older Thomas Richmond family, taken in the late 1890's.
* Family Photographs - Post 3: James Richman Family, 1885 - this photograph is of the older James and Hannah (Rich) Richman family, taken in about 1885. James and Hannah were my great-great-grandparents.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my father with all of his siblings that survived childhood. I have my father with one sibling or another, and pictures of several of his siblings, but not one of all six of them in one picture.
My mother was an only child, and her parents were only children, so I don't have a sibling picture for them.
Perhaps the best, and I think the happiest, picture of five of my father's Seaver siblings is the one shown below, which also includes three complete sets of siblings in the next generation.
I hesitate to try to identify all of them from memory. I will do them by family groups (identified by back, middle and front row, from the left):
* Frederick W. Seaver family - wife Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (middle row, 4th from left), daughter Geraldine Seaver (back row, first from left), daughter Marion (Seaver) Braithwaite (middle row, second from left), daughter Evelyn (Seaver) Wood (middle row, third from left), daughter Ruth (Seaver) Fischer (middle row, fifth from left), son Edward R. Seaver (back row, sixth from left). They are all of my father's living siblings. Note that the father of this family is deceased.
* Walter H. Wood family - husband Walter H. Wood (back row, third from left), wife Evelyn (Seaver) Wood (middle row, third from left), daughter Virginia (Wood) Soule (middle row, sixth from left, holding baby), son Jack Wood (back row, second from left), son Walter H. Wood (front, first on left).
* Edward R. Seaver family - husband Edward R. Seaver (back row, sixth from left), wife Janet (Roukes) Seaver (back row, seventh from left), son Peter Seaver (front, third from left), daughter Joan Seaver (middle, far right, held by Virginia Soule).
* Bowers A. Fischer family - husband Bowers Fischer (back row, fourth from left), wife Ruth (Seaver) Fischer (middle row, fifth from left), daughter Judy Fischer (front row, far right), and daughter Barbara Fischer (front row, fourth from left).
Others in this picture include Grace (Richmond) Shaw (sister of Alma Bessie Seaver, middle row, first on left), Lewis Soule (husband of Virginia (Wood) Soule, back row, fifth from left), Nancy Braithwaite (front row, second from left).
Isn't this a great picture? There are five of the six children and eight of the eleven grandchildren of Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver in this picture.
This family got together occasionally in big groups like this when they all lived in eastern New England. It was taken in the 1947 time frame.
One of my regrets in life is that I didn't get to participate in this family until I was a young man. We were in San Diego and they were in New England where it snowed in the winter, was hot in the summer, and everybody went on picnics and outings and saw their aunts, uncles and cousins. I've met all of my first eight first cousins, and most of their children and grandchildren now, and am close with several of them through visits and letters/email/phone calls. I enjoy being with each of them - they are warm, positive, successful and fun people. My Nana Bess would be proud of all of us!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
FREE 7 Days Trial Offer to Newspaper ARCHIVE
My colleague Susi alerted me to this offer - the NewspaperARCHIVE online newspaper database site is offering a seven day FREE trial subscription to their database. The page says:
"NewspaperARCHIVE provides a comfortable and safe environment, with easy-to-use tools for fast searching and browsing. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by name, keyword and date, making it easy for you to quickly explore historical events or your own family history.
"Our free 7-day-trial allows you to experience all the benefits of a full member; search though millions of our newspaper pages and discover your past at NewspaperARCHIVE.
"Membership includes:
* Access: Discover more than 95 million pages in the world’s largest online newspaper archive
* Articles: Billions of birth notices, death notices, and the lives in between
* Search: Powerful search tools to find exactly what you are looking for
* Tools: Easily organize your research with our viewing, save and print tools
* Updates: We’re adding more than 25 million pages this year… watch the value of your membership grow"
Not mentioned on the web site is that: The membership can be cancelled at any time during the first seven days, and will convert to a monthly membership if not cancelled. The user will have to input a credit card number in order to use the free trial.
This is an excellent opportunity to search for newspaper articles in this database, but beware of the automatic monthly renewal on your credit card.
"NewspaperARCHIVE provides a comfortable and safe environment, with easy-to-use tools for fast searching and browsing. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by name, keyword and date, making it easy for you to quickly explore historical events or your own family history.
"Our free 7-day-trial allows you to experience all the benefits of a full member; search though millions of our newspaper pages and discover your past at NewspaperARCHIVE.
"Membership includes:
* Access: Discover more than 95 million pages in the world’s largest online newspaper archive
* Articles: Billions of birth notices, death notices, and the lives in between
* Search: Powerful search tools to find exactly what you are looking for
* Tools: Easily organize your research with our viewing, save and print tools
* Updates: We’re adding more than 25 million pages this year… watch the value of your membership grow"
Not mentioned on the web site is that: The membership can be cancelled at any time during the first seven days, and will convert to a monthly membership if not cancelled. The user will have to input a credit card number in order to use the free trial.
This is an excellent opportunity to search for newspaper articles in this database, but beware of the automatic monthly renewal on your credit card.
Best of the Genea-Blogs - March 1-7, 2009
Several hundred genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - March 2009 by Julie Cahill Tarr on The Graveyard Rabbit blog. There are 23 posts by 22 Graveyard Rabbits on the topic of Exceptional Finds. This is the first edition of this carnival.
* Thank You by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. The Shades blog is one year old, and is one of the finest examples of an online genealogy e-zine there is. Congratulations to footnoteMaven for her fine collection of authors and articles.
* Two Wrongs Never Made One Right by JoLyn on the Uphill Both Ways blog. JoLyn tells a wonderful story about her grandparents reaching out to German prisoners after World War II. Check out JoLyn's About page for a terrific tribute to her elders and siblings and all of their family history efforts.
* St. George Expo Report Report by the Ancestry Insider on The Ancestry Insider blog. Here is a summary of the A.I.'s activities in St. George last weekend. And a picture of the top of his head...the most we've seen of his face since, well, January.
* Report from the St. George Family History Conference by Janet Hovorka on The Chart Chick blog. Janet's report on the St. George conference is from the vendor perspective. Janet always seems to have fun at conferences, and I'm glad the business part of it was good for them too.
* Ancestors on Facebook? by Donna Pointkouski on the What's Past Is Prologue blog. What a great idea! Donna put an interesting wonderment into practice - see conversations with her great-grandparents on Facebook. Be sure to click on the picture and magnify it. I wish I had a scorecard to know the players.
* A Light That Still Shines! by Msteri River on the Heritage Happens... blog. Msteri pens an interesting treatise about the history of lights, and describes visiting the world's longest burning light bulb. With pictures.
* America at last: Ilona's arrival at Ellis Island, 1909 by Lisa on the 100 Years in America blog. Lisa tells the story of her great-grandmother's entry into America at Ellis Island, on the 100th anniversary of that important event in her family's history. Absolutely beautiful work!
* 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog. Thomas hosted the latest Carnival of Genealogy which had the topic of "Nobody's Fool." There are 12 entries in this carnival. The topic for the next COG will be "A Tribute to Women," with a deadline of 15 March.
* ThinkGenealogy Innovator Award #3 by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog. Mark awards Footnote.com the ThinkGenealogy Innovator Award for their transformational innovation of user annotations on document images. It's well deserved. This should be the model for all database companies that offer document images.
* The Census Birth Date Calculator by Sean Sexton on the Sean on Family History blog. Sean has created a calculator to determine birth date ranges from census records. Check it out!
* 10 Things I really like about genealogy by Elizabeth Powell Crowe on the Crowe's Nest by Elizabeth Powell Crowe blog. Libbi's list includes names, dead people, living people, and herself. I like her list.
* Finally Get Organized - March 2009 Checklist by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog. Ol' Myrt is laid up a bit and has been blogging up a storm this week. Here is her third organization list for researchers to use wisely.
* The Dirty Thirties: No Easy Street, Part II by Chery Kinnick on the Nordic Blue blog. Chery continues her story about her grandparents lives in the Depression 1930's. Another wonderful family history story.
* Who Do You Think You Are? Conference 2009: Building Bridges by Emily Aulicino on the DNA-GeneAlem's Genetic Genealogy blog. Emily attended the WDYTYA? Live! conference in London and writes about her experiences there. Looks like she had fun and worked hard.
* Memories of St. George 2009 by Kathryn Lake Hogan on the LOOKING4ANCESTORS blog. Kathryn describes her time at the Family History Expo last weekend. Sounds like she, and her husband, had a great time.
* Historical Societies and Online Groups by Amy Crooks on the Untangled Family Roots blog. Amy is working in four online volunteer groups to bring interesting and useful information to the genealogy world. Nice work!
* Organizing as you Research by Gena Philibert Ortega on the Gena's Genealogy blog. Gena has useful ideas about ways to get organized and stay organized as we pursue our research.
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - March 2009 by Julie Cahill Tarr on The Graveyard Rabbit blog. There are 23 posts by 22 Graveyard Rabbits on the topic of Exceptional Finds. This is the first edition of this carnival.
* Thank You by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. The Shades blog is one year old, and is one of the finest examples of an online genealogy e-zine there is. Congratulations to footnoteMaven for her fine collection of authors and articles.
* Two Wrongs Never Made One Right by JoLyn on the Uphill Both Ways blog. JoLyn tells a wonderful story about her grandparents reaching out to German prisoners after World War II. Check out JoLyn's About page for a terrific tribute to her elders and siblings and all of their family history efforts.
* St. George Expo Report Report by the Ancestry Insider on The Ancestry Insider blog. Here is a summary of the A.I.'s activities in St. George last weekend. And a picture of the top of his head...the most we've seen of his face since, well, January.
* Report from the St. George Family History Conference by Janet Hovorka on The Chart Chick blog. Janet's report on the St. George conference is from the vendor perspective. Janet always seems to have fun at conferences, and I'm glad the business part of it was good for them too.
* Ancestors on Facebook? by Donna Pointkouski on the What's Past Is Prologue blog. What a great idea! Donna put an interesting wonderment into practice - see conversations with her great-grandparents on Facebook. Be sure to click on the picture and magnify it. I wish I had a scorecard to know the players.
* A Light That Still Shines! by Msteri River on the Heritage Happens... blog. Msteri pens an interesting treatise about the history of lights, and describes visiting the world's longest burning light bulb. With pictures.
* America at last: Ilona's arrival at Ellis Island, 1909 by Lisa on the 100 Years in America blog. Lisa tells the story of her great-grandmother's entry into America at Ellis Island, on the 100th anniversary of that important event in her family's history. Absolutely beautiful work!
* 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog. Thomas hosted the latest Carnival of Genealogy which had the topic of "Nobody's Fool." There are 12 entries in this carnival. The topic for the next COG will be "A Tribute to Women," with a deadline of 15 March.
* ThinkGenealogy Innovator Award #3 by Mark Tucker on the ThinkGenealogy blog. Mark awards Footnote.com the ThinkGenealogy Innovator Award for their transformational innovation of user annotations on document images. It's well deserved. This should be the model for all database companies that offer document images.
* The Census Birth Date Calculator by Sean Sexton on the Sean on Family History blog. Sean has created a calculator to determine birth date ranges from census records. Check it out!
* 10 Things I really like about genealogy by Elizabeth Powell Crowe on the Crowe's Nest by Elizabeth Powell Crowe blog. Libbi's list includes names, dead people, living people, and herself. I like her list.
* Finally Get Organized - March 2009 Checklist by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog. Ol' Myrt is laid up a bit and has been blogging up a storm this week. Here is her third organization list for researchers to use wisely.
* The Dirty Thirties: No Easy Street, Part II by Chery Kinnick on the Nordic Blue blog. Chery continues her story about her grandparents lives in the Depression 1930's. Another wonderful family history story.
* Who Do You Think You Are? Conference 2009: Building Bridges by Emily Aulicino on the DNA-GeneAlem's Genetic Genealogy blog. Emily attended the WDYTYA? Live! conference in London and writes about her experiences there. Looks like she had fun and worked hard.
* Memories of St. George 2009 by Kathryn Lake Hogan on the LOOKING4ANCESTORS blog. Kathryn describes her time at the Family History Expo last weekend. Sounds like she, and her husband, had a great time.
* Historical Societies and Online Groups by Amy Crooks on the Untangled Family Roots blog. Amy is working in four online volunteer groups to bring interesting and useful information to the genealogy world. Nice work!
* Organizing as you Research by Gena Philibert Ortega on the Gena's Genealogy blog. Gena has useful ideas about ways to get organized and stay organized as we pursue our research.
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
"Genealogy Web Sites You Can Use" Talk on Tuesday 3/10 in Carlsbad
The North San Diego County Genealogical Society (NSDCGS) has asked me to present "Genealogy Web Sites You Can Use" at their Computer Oriented Genealogy Group (COGG) meeting on Tuesday, 10 March, at 10 a.m. in the Carlsbad City Council Chambers (1200 Carlsbad Village Drive, Carlsbad CA 92008).
Talk Synopsis:
The Internet has thousands of web sites that allow you to search for genealogy news, data records and family trees. Which ones are the “best” for you? Which ones have real records and good data? This presentation will cover hundreds of sites with useful records and provide links by genealogy record type.
Curriculum Vitae:
Randy Seaver is a 5th generation San Diegan, and has been pursuing his elusive ancestors for over 20 years. His ancestry is mainly English, German and Dutch in colonial New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ontario, with some 19th-century English immigrants. Randy has been on the Internet since 1993, has self-published two family history books about his family history, and currently writes daily about his own research and genealogy news on the Genea-Musings blog (www.geneamusings.com). He is an SDGS, CVGS, CGSSD, NEHGS and NGS member, and has been President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society for the past two years.
If you have a free morning on Tuesday and can make it to Carlsbad, come see my presentation. If you have the chance, please introduce yourself to me as a Genea-Musings reader. I'd love to meet you!
Talk Synopsis:
The Internet has thousands of web sites that allow you to search for genealogy news, data records and family trees. Which ones are the “best” for you? Which ones have real records and good data? This presentation will cover hundreds of sites with useful records and provide links by genealogy record type.
Curriculum Vitae:
Randy Seaver is a 5th generation San Diegan, and has been pursuing his elusive ancestors for over 20 years. His ancestry is mainly English, German and Dutch in colonial New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ontario, with some 19th-century English immigrants. Randy has been on the Internet since 1993, has self-published two family history books about his family history, and currently writes daily about his own research and genealogy news on the Genea-Musings blog (www.geneamusings.com). He is an SDGS, CVGS, CGSSD, NEHGS and NGS member, and has been President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society for the past two years.
If you have a free morning on Tuesday and can make it to Carlsbad, come see my presentation. If you have the chance, please introduce yourself to me as a Genea-Musings reader. I'd love to meet you!
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