1941-1948 San Diego City Directories on Ancestry.com are incomplete

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In some free moments today, I went exploring in the 1941-1948 San Diego City Directories recently added on http://www.ancestry.com/.

I input my father's name, expecting to see entries for each year. Nope. I input my mother's name and expected to see every year. Nope. They were in the 1943-1945 set, but not any others. Hmmm, what's happening here?

You can see what is in each collection by following the links at the top of the Ancestry.com screen. Here is the screen shot for U.S > City Directories > California > San Diego:


It looks like there are directories for 1941-1942, 1943-1945, and 1945-1948. I clicked on the 1941-1942 link, and the first image is:



This Image #1 is page 1230 of the 1941 San Diego City Directory. It is the middle of the Business pages. After these pages come the other county city listings. The last image in this 1941 directory is #215 (I think).

Image #216 is page 5 of the 1942 San Diego City Directory:

The pages up to the last image in this Image Set contain the entire San Diego City Directory (but not the other cities in the county). The last image in this Image Set is #1368, which is page 1198 of the 1942 City Directory - the S listing of street addresses:

Where are the rest of the Street lists and the listings for the other county cities? I went back and clicked on the 1943-1945 set. The first image was of page 881 of the 1943 San Diego City Directory:

Image #1 is the T surname listings of the 1943 San Diego City listings. The 1943 directory ends at Image #899.

The 1944-5 directory starts at Image #903. The last image in this set is #1377, which is page 500 of the San Diego City surnames.

Moving on to the 1945-1948 directory, Image #1 is page 1736 of the Business listings of the 1944-1945 directory. Image #311 is page 2044, the end of the 1944-1945 directory.

Image #312 is page x of the 1947-1948 directory. This image set goes to Image #1344 which is page 1032 (the S Surnames in San Diego City).

It is apparent to me that the San Diego City Directories are woefully incomplete in the current Image Sets. There are "holes" between:

** page 1199 to the end of the 1942 directory.

** page 1 to page 880 of the 1943 directory.

** page 501 to page 1735 of the 1944-1945 directory.

** page 1033 to the end of the 1947-1948 directory.

No wonder I couldn't find my folks in every year! This collection of 1940's City Directories is FAU if they are not complete!

{Rant on]

So WTF happened here? Is this a problem with the microfilms that the Ancestry images were copied and indexed from? Or is it a quality control problem where whole sections of available city directories were ignored? Or were put in some other file that I can't find?

Whatever it is, it needs to either be explained or fixed, preferably the latter. If it cannot be fixed, then the "holes" in the records should be identified and published along with the database explanations so that customers are not mislead into thinking that their family members didn't live where they thought they lived.

Is this only a San Diego problem, or is it endemic to all of the other 1940's era City Directories recently added to the Ancestry.com collection? I urge other bloggers interested in this 1940s-era set of City Directories to do a similar exercise for their area. I'm too POed to do it for another area - it will be NVA for me, anyway.

Why can't an entire City Directory be included in one Image Set? In other words - start with the front cover and end with the back cover, and include all pages in between? None of the San Diego directories I looked at had a front cover or back cover filmed, and didn't have some of the front pages either. This is incomprehensible to me - but then I'm an engineer who tries to think logically and to figure out "how would I do this?"

[I've used some abbreviations above - they are engineer-speak ... email me at rjseaver@cox.net if you want a translation! Maybe we can make my abbreviations a SNGF item? Then your blog could also be PNG at the FHL!] [Rant off]

2009 FamilySearch Developer's Conference Recordings

Several genealogy bloggers wrote about the 2009 FamilySearch Developer's Conference held in Provo, Utah on 11 March 2009. See The Ancestry Insider's collection of posts (not all on the DevCon) and I know that there are others, but I don't recall where I saw them.

The Developer's Conference sessions provided information about the current status and future development of new FamilySearch. There are PowerPoint presentations with the voice-over recordings at the FamilySearch Developer Network site here. The recorded lectures with slides include:

* Conference Kick-off, by Gordon Clarke "The Catalyst for Interconnectivity"

* Standards Authorities API, by Mark Ward

* Cocoa Objective-C (FS-Kit), by Logan Allred

* Catalog API (GenSeek.com), by Brett Stubbs

* Record Search API, by Robert Lee

* Ruby (ruby-fs-api, fs-stack), by Jimmy Zimmerman

* Timeline API, by Tom Welch

* Family Tree API Introduction, by Brian Corrales

* Family Tree Flex Framework and Components, by Tim Cross and Jason Butterfield

* Family Tree "Down and Dirty," by Ryan Heaton

* The Interoperable Citation Exchange (ICE) Initiative, by Robert Raymond

* FS Mapping and FS Research Wiki API, by Scott Hall and Jimmy Zimmerman

There are other presentations, some without slides, some with no audio.

I jumped through several of these presentations (you can click on the Time bar below the slide to advance in the presentation). The one on GenSeek was interesting and provided more detail than I've seen previously. The ICE presentation was all about putting standardized source citations into the FamilySearch databases.

Listener be warned - these are highly technical, "inside computer programming" presentations and may not be interesting to Internet consumers but may be real interesting to programmers.

Lancaster PA Graveyard Rabbit on TV!

Linda Stienstra is the Lancaster, Pennsylvania Graveyard Rabbit. She was interviewed - at a local graveyard - by a Lancaster TV station.

See Linda's blog post here. There is a link to the interview on WGAL-TV.

Well done, Linda! I enjoyed seeing and hearing a fellow Graveyard Rabbit wandering around one of her favorite cemeteries.

Is this the first Graveyard Rabbit interview we've had on TV? If not, who was?

Tombstone Tuesday - Elizabeth (Keyes) Hildreth (1759-1793)

Elizabeth Keyes was born 8 April 1759 in Westford MA, and married Zachariah Hildreth (1754-1828) on 1 September 1777 in Westford MA. She bore nine children between 1778 and 1793 before she died on 6 August 1793 in Townsend MA.

Her gravestone stands in the older portion of Townsend Center Cemetery (on the north side of Highland Street to the east of Townsend Center). My notes refer to it as Old Cemetery. I took this photograph in 1991 on a visit to New England:

The inscription reads:

In memory of

Mrs. Elisabeth Hildreth,

the wife of Capt. Zach. Hildreth,

who died Augt 6th 1793

Aged 34 years & 4 months.

"No more my friends don't weep for me,
I'm gone into eternity,
The way to death you all must tread,
And sleep with me among the dead."

Isn't that beautiful? Is it a standard gravestone statement? I Googled the first line and found only one match - in a list of gravestone epitaphs in The New England Magazine here (dated 1801).

Elizabeth (Keyes) Hildreth was one of my 4th-great-grandmothers. My line from her is:

* Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857), married Hannah Sawtell.

* Edward Hildreth (1831-1899), married Sophia Newton

* Hattie Hildreth (1857-1920), married Frank W. Seaver

* Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942), married Alma Bessie Richmond

* Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983), married Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)

* Randall J. Seaver - moi!

DNA success story - an elusive father

There is an excellent article titled DNA reveals story of dad's disappearance in today's issue of the News & Observer (Raleigh NC area) by Ruth Sheehan.

The gist of the story is the father of John Smithers, now age 82, disappeared when John was a young boy. Some key graphs:

"John Smithers of Raleigh had spent more than six decades looking for clues about the father who abandoned him, his sister and their mother when he was just a baby. The barrel-chested, brash-talking Smithers had something he wanted to give his old man: a fist in the nose.

"At 82, he had about given up on ever learning what happened to James William Smithers. He had long suspected his father got in trouble with the law and fled abroad. Decades ago, it was easy enough to disappear, and Smithers' father had seemingly vanished into thin air.

"On the other side of the world, Lucinda Gray had always wondered what her father's life was like before he moved mysteriously from the United States to Australia. She had spent years just trying to find out his real name.

"In mid-December, Smithers and Gray learned their elusive fathers were one and the same."

Please read the whole thing - there is a second page. It's pretty positive about using DNA tests to discover a common ancestry, but doesn't go into any technical detail about it.

Thanks to reader and ProGen colleague Jeffrey Vaillant for sending this article to me.

CVGS Program on 25 March - "Using Federal Non-Population Census Schedules"

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The next program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealoigical Society is Wednesday, 25 March, at 12 noon in the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library auditorium. Everett Ireland, CG, will present "Using Federal Non-Population Census Schedules."

The program description:

Where does one find non-population schedules and what do they tell us about our ancestors? These are typically referred to as “Occupational Schedule of the Federal Censuses: Agriculture, Industrial and Manufacturing, Mining and Fisheries.” Many of these original schedules from 1850 to 1880 are hard to locate and have been lost or destroyed over the years.

Those remaining are valuable additions to the facts about our ancestor’s lives. In 1918, they were given to State archives, historical societies and universities for preservation. The National Archives has attempted to microfilm as many of as possible to make them available to the public.

The speaker's Curriculum Vitae:

Everett Ireland has been an active genealogist for over 20 years and serves in several genealogical organizations. He is a past member of the Board of Trustees of APG, and currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the NGS. He has lectured at national conferences, and at genealogical society meetings and seminars in Southern California and the Midwest.

Mr. Ireland has published articles and reviews in genealogical publications, both locally and nationally on a variety of topics, including new technology for genealogical research, use of DNA and non-population census schedules.

Professionally, after receiving a degree in Engineering Physics from the U of Michigan, Everett had a career as a government scientist in the field of military command and control systems. He has been a Certified Genealogist since 1993 and specializes in Southern California and Midwest America genealogy.

Please enter the auditorium through the Conference Room off the east library hallway in order to register your attendance, pick up handouts, buy an opportunity drawing ticket, and have a snack. There will be a brief business meeting before the speaker's presentation.

CVGS welcomes guests and visitors to all of its' programs, which are free to the public.

Mystery Monday - Thomas J. Newton of Maine (19th century)

Amy Crooks on her Untangled Family Roots blog suggested a "Madness Monday" meme to discuss those ancestors that drive us crazy - either because of what they did with their lives or because they are so elusive.

Here's one of my elusive ancestors that is so mysterious that I don't know when he was born, when/where he died, and I don't have any records pertaining to his life - only to those that descend from him.

THOMAS J. NEWTON (born Maine ca 1795-1805)

One of my most elusive ancestors is Thomas J. Newton. Based on information from vital records and census records of his children, I believe that he:

* Was born in Maine (probably Oxford County), probably between 1790 and 1810.
* Married Sophia (Buck) Brigham, a widow with two small children, between 1830 and 1835, probably in or near Sterling, Worcester County, MA.
* Probably resided in Cambridge, Lamoille County VT in at least part of the 1833 to 1850 time period.
* Had at least two children with Sophia - Thomas J. Newton (born June 1833?) and Sophia Newton (born Sept 1834?) in Cambridge VT (the marriage records for both of them claim their birthplace as Cambridge VT).
* Either divorced Sophia before 1850 or died before 1862 leaving her a widow (since she married again in 1862).
* Left no census records in his name in 1830, 1840 or 1850 (at least that I can find).

The above is based on this quiver of evidence:

1) Concerning Sophia (Buck) (Brigham) Newton, I have her birth record on 3 May 1797, to Isaac and Martha (Phillips) Buck, in Holden MA VRs, and her death 6 Jan 1882 in Westborough MA (in MA VR 339:452, as Sophia Stone, widow of Jonathan Stone).

2) I have found no record of Sophia Buck's first marriage to Lambert Brigham ca. 1819, except for the Brigham surname book. That book also lists their two children, Augustus Brigham b. ca 1820 and Aurelius Brigham, born ca. 1830. The book says Lambert Brigham died before 1833, as I recall.

3) In the 1850 census, Sophia Newton (age 53, born MA) and her daughter, Sophia Newton (age 15, born VT) resided in Northborough, MA. Thomas J. Newton, a bootmaker, age 17, born VT, resided in West Boylston MA with the Nathan Daggett family.

4) The marriage of Sophia Newton (1834-1923) to Edward Hildreth (on 25 Dec 1852 in Northborough, MA) indicated her age as 18, her birthplace as VT, her father as Thomas J. Newton and no name for her mother.

5) The marriage of Thomas J. Newton, on 23 Nov 1864 in Worcester MA said he was age 32, born in Cambridge VT and his parents were Thomas Newton and Sophia Buck. Census records in 1900 and 1910 in Albany, VT indicated that Thomas Jr. and his wife did not have any natural children. A brief county history book entry for this Thomas J. Newton does not mention his parents, and states that he had two adopted children, so there are apparently no blood relatives in this line.

6) Sophia (Newton) Hildreth's death record (29 September 1923 in Leominster MA) says she was born in Springfield VT, her father is not listed, her mother is listed as (Buck) Newton, and she was age 86-11-15, making her birthdate 14 Sep 1834, if the record is correct.

7) I checked the Worcester County MA Supreme Judicial Court records for divorces while at the FHL in January, and found none for Thomas J. Newton/Sophia (Buck) Newton for the 1834-1850 time period.

I have no original source, primary information or direct evidence that the subject Thomas J. Newton ever existed. All I have are these bits of secondary information as evidence that he existed.

There is one Thomas J. Newton who fits all of my criteria above, but I am not sure that he is the right man:

* He was born in Dixfield, Oxford County, ME to Jacob and Fanny (Parks) Newton in 1808; Thomas was a grandson of Levi Newton who settled in Dixfield before 1800.
* He married Eliza Coffin in 1838 in Dedham MA, and fathered a baby, Thomas J. Newton, in 1848 who died in infancy,
* He was living in Reading MA in the 1850 census, and died there in 1852 (father listed as Jacob Newton).
* There is no probate record for this man.

For this man to be the "right" one, one has to believe that he:

* Married a significantly older woman (he aged 24, she aged 35) with two small children in about 1833.
* Moved her from Sterling MA to Cambridge VT (over 200 miles by road) for some reason.
* Fathered two children by her, then divorced her.
* Married Eliza Coffin in Dedham MA in 1838, and settled in Reading MA, dying there in 1852.
* Named a second son Thomas J. Newton when the first one was still living.

Is that possible? Certainly. Is it certain? No way.

I wondered about the Cambridge, Vermont records. There was a Gershom Newton who resided in Cambridge, Lamoille County VT in the 1800 to 1850 time frame, and died in 1853. His probate record does not mention a Thomas J. Newton or his offspring. The Cambridge town records don't mention a Thomas J. Newton. Gershom Newton was a first cousin of Jacob Newton.

I have researched:

* Vital records (births, marriages, deaths) in MA, VT and ME,
* Probate and land records in Oxford County ME, Lamoille County VT, Middlesex County MA, and Worcester County MA,
* Census records from 1790 to 1920 for ME, MA, NH, VT
* Online databases (IGI, Ancestral File, WorldConnect, Ancestry, etc)

There were two early Newton families in western Maine before 1800. Levi Newton of Dixfield, Oxford County, Maine, and Nathan Newton of Andover, Oxford County, Maine.

Nathan Newton married (1) Anna Brigham, in Marlborough MA, they had three known children, and the family moved to Andover, Oxford County, Maine. Anna died there and Nathan married (2) Dollie Wood and had several more children, including a Lambert Newton. Recall that my Sophia (Buck) Brigham of Southborough, MA, was the widow of Lambert Brigham and married Thomas J. Newton, the subject of this mystery. Notice the names that keep repeating here? That's a clue! The challenge is to connect Lambert Brigham to Anna Brigham, and perhaps that is a family connection for how my Thomas J. Newton "found" my Sophia (Buck) Brigham in about 1833 and married her.

What now? I continue to pick at this problem, but would appreciate counsel, advice, suggestions and wild-assed guesses. Thanks!

My Y-DNA Results - Post 9: Looking for Matches on Ysearch

My daughters gifted me a 20-marker Y-DNA test from The DNA Ancestry Project (http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/) for Christmas. I sent it in via mail in mid-January and checked into it last week and found that my results were available on Genebase.

Here are the earlier posts in this series:

* Post 1: Getting Started on the Genebase web site.
* Post 2: Reading the Markers - seeing my 20 Y-DNA markers for the first time.
* Post 3: GeneBase Family Tree - uploading my family tree to Genebase and showed the results.
* Post 4: GeneBase Possible Matches - looking for other people who might match my Y-DNA markers in the Genebase database.
* Post 5: FamilyTreeDNA Possible Matches - comparing my Y-DNA markers to information in the FamilyTreeDNA site.
* Post 6: Uploading to DNA Ancestry - manually add my markers to DNA Ancestry, and correct them.
* Post 7: DNA Ancestry Possible Matches - checking to see if anybody matches my Y-DNA markers on DNA Ancestry.
* Post 8: Uploading Data to Ysearch - manually added my markers to http://www.ysearch.org/, a free service of FamilyTreeDNA.

In this post, I'm going to look for possible matches in the Y-DNA database at http://www.ysearch.org/. This web site is a free public service of FamilyTreeDNA. At the end of my last post, I had added my 20 Y-DNA markers to http://www.ysearch.org/ and was about to check for matches in the YSearch database. I chose a minimum of 10 common markers with others in the database, and a genetic distance of 1 (meaning one mutation from my markers). I chose these based on my own knowledge (which is not extensive) and I probably could have done a better job of it. I didn't want hundreds of matches, but I didn't want zero or only one match (which might have resulted if I had chosen, say, 20 and 0).

I scrolled down the previous "Enter Search Parameters" page and clicked on the Search button:


The "Search Results" above gave me 16 entries that matched my search criteria. The list provides the user ID, if a pedigree chart is available, the Last Name of the most distant known ancestor, the Origin, the Haplogroup, the test company, the number of markers compared, and the genetic distance from my markers. My test results are the first one on the list.

From the above, we can see that there is nobody in the YSearch.org database that exactly matches 10 or more of my Y-DNA markers.

What to do next? I can compare my Y-DNA markers with any of the persons on this list by clicking on the check box beside the user IDs, or I could use the "Check All" link at the top of the list. I clicked the "Check All" link, and then the "Compare" link as seen below:






The "Research Tools" page came up, with the list of the User IDs to compare in the box already filled in. There's another of those blasted "Captcha" boxes to fill in too (I dislike them...).




The choice above is to create a "Comparative Y-DNA results" or a "Genetic Distance Report." I chose the "Comparative Y-DNA results" and got:




The Y-DNA markers for all 16 match candidates is shown, with the marker numbers across the top. My marker set is the first row. With this information, I can compare my markers with those of others. YSearch does not highlight the differences (which would be an ice touch).

Based on the comparisons, it appears that there is not one particular marker that I differ from the other candidates - the differences occur on many of the 20 Y-markers that I tested, but only one per candidate. I have no idea what that means, other than I don't have any exact matches.

I was curious if there were other persons with Seaver (and variations Sever and Sevier) in the YSearch database. YSearch has a tab on their top menu for "Search by Last Name." I clicked on that tab and this page appeared:




I entered the surnames in the "Search for these last names" box, filled in the blasted Captcha and clicked on the "Search" button:

The "Search by Last Name" page came up with a box showing:

* 1 person with a "Sever" surname in the Y-DNA database but none with "Sever" in the submitted Pedigree charts.

* 0 persons with a "Sevier" surname in the Y-DNA database, but with 10 "Sevier" names in the submitted Pedigree charts

* 1 person with a "Seaver" surname in the Y-DNA database, but with 11 "Seaver" names in the submitted Pedigree charts.

I chose the "11" "Seaver names in the Pedigree charts, and this chart showed up:

These are Pedigree charts with at least one "Seaver" person in their database. I was curious to see somebody else's chart, so I chose the 7th one down the list, clicked that "Show" link, and a pedigree chart for that person appeared:

I had to scroll off to the right to find the Seaver person - Sarah Seaver, daughter of Ebenezer and Sarah (Coolidge) Seaver, is in the 7th generation back from the Y-DNA submitter. YSearch highlights the selected surname in Red, but you may have to search several lines off to the right of the chart (using the "=>" link)to find it.

I went back to the "Research Tools" page and clicked on the "Genetic distance Report" and the lowest Genetic Distance in the YSearch Y-DNA database was GD = 5 for 20 markers, and the lowest for 15 markers was GD = 8. I think it's safe for me to conclude that my Y-DNA profile is fairly unique at this point in time.

The www.Ysearch.org database is very easy to use (except for having to use the blasted Captcha's to go from one page to another many times). Site navigation is almost intuitive, and there are enough leading hints that I didn't get lost. I haven't explored all of the tabs on the top menu yet.

This is as far as I've gotten with this Y-DNA marker study. I will write one more post in order to summarize my results found to date.

LibraryJournal Ratings of Subscription Genealogy Sites

Diane Haddad's recent post on The Genealogy Insider blog led me to the http://www.libraryjournal.com/ E-Reference Ratings for Genealogy institutional subscription web sites.

The site evaluated nine institutional subscription genealogy web sites by rating these seven criteria (with 1 to 4 stars):

* SCOPE -- range and breadth of content
* WRITING -- quality of the writing; consideration of the audience
* DESIGN -- visual appeal; strengths and weakness of the interface
* BELLS & WHISTLES -- inclusion of multimedia files, interactive maps, blogs, and other features
* EASE OF USE -- logic behind the organization; efficiency of the search mechanisms
* LINKING -- cross-searchability with other files; ability to integrate with and link to other products
* VALUE -- value is a relative term, taking into consideration not only cost but myriad related factors. If a product is expensive, does its comprehensiveness and quality warrant the high cost? Are too much time and energy required to find material, given the price? Is it a narrowly defined, inexpensive product that may receive heavy use in a small public library?

Each of the nine web sites was rated on each criteria from 1 star (poor/insufficient) to 4 stars (excellent/comprehensive). See the charts on the LibraryJournal page for the ratings for each subscription site.

The end results on Value were:

4 stars = http://www.ancestry.com/, http://www.footnote.com/, http://www.genealogy.com/, http://www.originsnetwork.com/ and http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/.

3 stars = http://www.familytreeconnection.com/, http://www.genealogybank.com/, http://www.heritagequestonline.com/ and http://www.onegreatfamily.com/ .

It is very difficult to assess "value" to a local or regional library system based on the given criteria. Each of the nine web sites are different in nature - some have only databases, some have only family trees, some have millions of names, some have billions of names, some have sophisticated search algorithms and some use a simple search. Only HeritageQuestOnline offers home access through a library subscription.

A number of other subscription genealogy web sites were not considered. For instance, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (http://www.newenglandancestors.org/), which would probably be a "must" for a northeastern USA library system (Carlsbad Library, one of my local San Diego libraries, offers it in their library). Another library subscription site is the Godfrey Memorial Library (http://www.godfrey.org/).

There are several other British Isles subscription sites with large databases and family trees - such as http://www.findmypast.com/ and http://www.genesreunited.com/.

I am perplexed by the high ratings given to http://www.genealogy.com/. Many of the features noted in the LibraryJournal discussion are free to any user at home or in the library (e.g., the Genforum message boards, the Family Tree Maker reports, etc.). It has nowhere near the database assets that Ancestry, Footnote or WorldVitalRecords have, nor are there daily additions to the collection. I believe that the only database that is not available elsewhere is the World Family Tree collection of submitted GEDCOMs.

My own subjective ratings, based on overall content, search capability, site navigation, and value to me as a genealogist irrespective of cost, are (based on a 1 to 10 star rating):

1. http://www.ancestry.com/ - 9 stars
2. http://www.footnote.com/ - 5 stars
3. http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ - 4 stars
4. http://www.genealogybank.com/ - 3 stars
5. http://www.originsnetwork.com/ - 2 stars
6. http://www.heritagequestonline.com/ - 2 stars
7. http://www.genealogy.com/ - 2 stars
8. http://www.familytreeconnection.com/ - 1 star
9. http://www.onegreatfamily.com/ - 1 star

What about other free and subscription database web sites? I would rate them as:

* http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ - 4 stars
* http://www.godfrey.org/ - 2 stars
* http://www.findmypast.com/ - 3 stars
* http://www.genesreunited.com/ - 2 stars
* http://www.rootsweb.com/ - 4 stars
* http://www.usgwarchives.net/ - 3 stars
* http://www.familysearch.org/ - 5 stars
* http://www.genealogytoday.com/ - 2 stars
* http://www.familytreelegends.com/ - 2 stars
* http://www.accessgenealogy.com/ - 1 star
* http://www.distantcousin.com/ - 1 star

Please note that these are my subjective ratings, based on my experience with the sites. Your opinion may be different, and that's OK.

Each web site has value and may contain that one piece of information that you need to support a fact or prove a relationship.

Obviously, I didn't rate every genealogy database or family tree site on this list. What really great one did I miss? How would your ratings differ from mine?

Best of the Genea-Blogs - March 15-21, 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:

* Kosmix: A new web search tool by Schelly Talalay Dardashti on the Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog. Schelly is, I think, the only genea-blogger to try out this new web search site. Read about her experiences.

* March Madness ~ Graveyard Rabbit Style! by Linda in Lancaster on the Lancaster, Pennsylvania's Graveyard Rabbit blog. Bunny Linda hops over to California, meets up with Bunny Diane, and they go wandering around cemeteries taking pictures of each other and interesting stones. Good work! Linda must have been assigned to the West Regional.

* The Carnival's In Town: 11th Edition - Smile for the Camera: A Carnival of Images: Brothers and Sisters by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. There were 54 submissions to this Carnival - a record, I think for Smile. Take an hour or two and read these great articles about siblings.

* My Genealogy Dream Site? by Chris Staats on the Staats' Place blog. Chris has it all figured out - the dream web site. I think it sounds great, and can hardly wait to see it come to life. Check out the slide show too.

* What we Lost when Life Browser died by Shoebox Genealogy on the Shoebox Genealogy blog. This is an outstanding post about something I really liked in concept, content and format. Read not only the description of Life Browser, but the comments too. nFS has this great tool for collaboration, media and sources and they are not using it. Yet.

* The Dirty Thirties: No Easy Street, Part III by Chery Kinnick on the Nordic Blue blog. This is part of Chery's series on the Depression years and how her grandfather and his family survived it by working on Boulder Dam. These are all great stories well done with lots of supporting research.

* 2nd Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade of Posts! by Lisa on the Small-leaved Shamrock blog. This was, of course, the 12th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. There are about 20 entries in this parade, all of them really green-themed, it seems. Well done, St. Paddy's folks.

* Carnival of Genealogy, 68th Edition by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. This is surely Carnival week! The topic was A Tribute to Women, and 32 posts were submitted. Read them all! Our favorite women were wonderful, weren't they?

* 5th Annual Internatonal Family Tree DNA Conference 2009 by Emily Aulicino on the DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy blog. Emily summarized the FTDNA conference in Houston that she attended, including photos of notables in attendance. Looks like she had a great time!

* FamilySearch Developers Conference: Family Tree and FamilySearch Developers Conference: Family Tree by the Ancestry Insider on The Ancestry Insider blog. More summaries of the two conferences last week by The AI who is really on the inside of nFS.

* Why I continue to attend genealogy conferences by Paula Stuart-Warren on the Paula's Genealogical Eclectica blog. Paula has been on the conference circuit for awhile, and tells us why she continues riding it. I appreciate her summary, and hope that she continues to learn and have fun.

* Why Genealogy is Important to Mormons by Jessica Hall Grayless on the Family History Mysteries blog. Jessica explains some of the LDS mysteries (at least to non-Mormons!) so we can all understand why Mormons do what they do with genealogy.

* Finding 1861–1869 Names of Residents & Civil War Soldiers by Leland Meitzler on the GenealogyBlog. In this first post, Bill Dollarhide summarizes the
jurisdictions in the time period, then covers the records available in all of the states that contain names of residents and soldiers. This is great for the history and for the record summaries. This was originally published in Everton's Genealogical Helper in 2006. I look forward to the other parts.

* Bank Records: Another Resource for Tracing Immigrants by Donna Pointkouski on the What's Past is Prologue blog. Donna explores one of those Ancestry.com databases that kind of snuck in without much fanfare - the Immigrant Bank Records. See Donna's post for an example of what is in these records. Do you have immigrants that might be in them too?

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