Family Photographs - Post 55:- The Matthias Loucks Family

I'm posting old family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

This photograph is from my grandfather's photo album that I scanned during Scanfest in January:

The note on the back of the photograph indicates that this photo was taken at Christmas 1916. The setting is the Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer house at 2105 30th Street in San Diego (from the palm tree and the porch decoration seen in other photographs in this collection).

The people in this photograph are members of the Matthis Loucks family that lived in Oregon in this time period. I think that the persons in the photograph are:

* Matthias (Tice) Loucks (1846-1918), a native of Canada, died in Los Angeles.

* Harriet (Vaux) Loucks (1849-1924), the daughter of James and Harriet (Taylor) Vaux, and the first cousin of Abigail (Vaux) Smith, the mother of Della (Smith) Carringer.

* I think that the man in the cap is Wano Glenn Loucks (1886-1945), son of Matthias and Harriet (Vaux) Loucks), but I'm not sure. It might be his brother, Warren Tice Loucks (1889-1965) or his brother-in-law, Dallas Stubbs, husband of Blanche (Loucks) Stubbs.

* I think that the young girl is either Blanch P. Stubbs (born 1903) or Maude Stubbs (born 1906), daughters of Dallas and Blanche (Loucks) Stubbs. It may also be Thelma Loucks (born 1909), daughter of Wano and Bessie (--?--) Loucks.

* I don't know who the young man is - he may be Paul Stubbs (born 1899), the son of Wano and Bessie (--?--) Loucks, but he looks too young to be age 17.

If someone descended from this Loucks family can identify these persons, I would appreciate it! I have several more group photos of them with some of the Smith and Carringer families.

Lookee here! - a Genea-Blogger map!

I was reading my Twitter list this morning and saw the re-tweet by GeneaBloggers (Thomas MacEntee) that said:

"geneabloggers RT @genseek: Look what I found! A cool map of recent genealogy blogging. #genealogy blog finder http://bit.ly/cBJWT"

I clicked on the link, which went to Chris Dunham's Genealogy Blog Finder page and clicked on the Who's Blogging Where link and lookee what I saw:


The map shows which of the 1,348 genealogy blogs (the current number in the Blog Finder) have posted Today (red marker), Yesterday (Blue marker) or earlier (Yellow marker).

If you click on one of the markers, you can see which blog is located in that location.

The blog map is refreshed every 30 minutes or so! Great job, Chris!

SCGS Genealogy Jamboree news

Paula Hinkel posted this on some of the mailing lists yesterday...

The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree will be held Friday through Sunday, June 26 through 28, 2009, at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in Burbank, California.

Here's a reminder that the Early-Bird registration closes at the end of the day May 15, 2009. Don't miss out on this opportunity to save. And you definitely don't want to miss this conference! Registrations are running very strong and we expect a great turnout. The registration cost is one of the best bargains in genealogy today. Register online at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/ and follow all the Jamboree details and updates at http://www.genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com/.

This year's Jamboree features:

- focus on British Isles ancestry - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales
- focus on DNA- ethnic courses for Eastern European, Italian, African American ancestors

Jamboree speakers include 60 top-notch professionals, including:

- David Rencher, AG, CG, FUGA, FIGRS, CGO of FamilySearch
- Andrew Wait, Sr. VP and General Manager, Ancestry.com
- Tony Burroughs, FUGA
- Maureen A. Taylor
- DearMYRTLE
- Feargal O'Donnell from the Irish Family History Foundation
- Tukufu Zuberi, Ph.D., of the PBS series History Detectives
- Dozens and dozens of others - check the website!

Free sessions on Friday morning include:

- Tour of SCGS Research Library with transportation provided
- Beginning Genealogy
- Advanced Beginning Genealogy
- Genealogy Librarians' Boot Camp
- Family History Kids' Camp

Special events

- "Son of Blogger" - Blogger panel discussion with a star-studded panel
- Friday night banquet featuring Tukufu Zuberi, Ph.D., of the PBS series History Detectives
- Effective Society Management breakfast on Saturday
- "The Art of Mourning" Sunday morning
- Facebook Friends face-to-face get-together Saturday afternoon
- It's a Small World round-table discussions for research "across the pond"
- Saturday evening "Humor Among the Journal Pages" with David Rencher

Collaborations with several leading organizations including

- Ancestry.com
- FamilySearch.org
- New England Historic Genealogical Society
- British Isles Family History Society - USA
- Creative Continuum
- Generation Maps
- National Genealogical Society
- Family Tree DNA
- World Vital Records
- California State Genealogical Alliance
- Salt Lake Plaza Hotel
- GenealogyBank

Register today!!! Don't miss this outstanding conference.

I sent my Jamboree registration in through the San Diego Genealogical Society which is sponsoring a train trip from San Diego up on Friday and back on Sunday to the Jamboree. We drove last year and missed all of the great conversation on the train!

While I am not on the Blogger panel this year, I will attend the Blogger Panel session and I urge all genea-bloggers at the Jamboree to attend, be supportive and ask questions of the panel (assuming they're brave enough to take questions!). I hope that the panel asks all genea-bloggers in attendance to identify themselves and their blogs. If you are there, please stick around afterwards so that we can get a group picture of the biggest meetup of genea-bloggers so far. We had about 15 last year all in one place, but not everyone was in the picture. The big question I have is "will we have to modify the face of The Ancestry Insider to keep him anonymous?"

I noticed that there is a Facebook Friends meetup scheduled for Saturday afternoon - cool! That may double as a genea-blogger meetup since many genea-bloggers are also on Facebook.

UPDATED: In a comment, Paula noted that "One of the primary reasons for registering early is to get a FREE copy of the 400-page printed syllabus as well as a CD version. Those who register after May 15 will receive only the CD for free, and can buy the printed syllabus for $15 while quantities last."

Thanks, Paula!

Using LiveRoots.com - Post 2

I took a look at http://www.liveroots.com/ the other day - see Using LiveRoots.com - Post 1.

I wanted to do a surname search to see if there are Lanphear/Lamphere/etc. resources that I've missed in my search for the parents of Devier J. Lamphear alias Smith. I put the "Lanphear" surname in the Search box on the LiveRoots Search page:


I clicked on "Search" and received some Surname Results, some Resource Results, including some Partner site results (two screens):

I was interested in what was found on the Family History Library Catalog site, so I clicked on that link:

I was also interested in the Genealogy Bank results:

And I was interested in the World Vital Records results:

There are some really neat things about the LiveRoots.com web site:

1) It is really easy to use - put a name or keyword in the box and click Search.

2) The Searches are really fast - this search took 0.6 seconds to work, although it did not provide a link to every bit of information about the search term in the partner sites. I like FAST!

3) This search engine is getting to be an excellent one-stop shop for researchers needing to look at many web sites for an elusive surname or keyword.

What would I like it to have? I'd like it to search for a given name and a surname, and I'd like it to use wild cards. I don't want much, eh? My guess is that such a request would slow the process down quite a bit, but it would sure be useful, and helpful.

I complained back in January that surname results from http://www.rootsweb.com/ did not show up in the list of resources found by LiveRoots. It still doesn't, even though LiveRoots has links to the Rootsweb databases (found by searching for "Rootsweb Records").

Because results for at least one significant web site doesn't show up in the list, I have no idea if results from other web sites also don't show up.

The Major Collections are listed here. It would be good if the date they were added to the site search capability was available so that a user could see what s/he might havem issed before.

Ancestry Quirks - Arkansas Database Content Errors

I received an email from Ben Walker, who commented that the Arkansas Marriages, 1933-1939 database on http://www.ancestry.com/ has a problem with missing images and erroneous page numbers of results.

Ben was looking for McElfresh marriages, and when he input the name in the Search box for the database:


Six results appear - three males and three females:



When you click on one of the males, and then click on the record image, you get page 194 of 488:




This page does not have McElfresh on it. It starts with the MURPEY surname and ends with the MURPHY surname.

I did a little sleuthing and found that the "M" surname pages on the site include:

* page 1 - starts with MAAS
* page 107 - has MAULDIN as the last name on the page
* page 108 - has MOORE as the first name on the page
* page 213 - has MZRTINA as the last name on the page
* page 214 - has MCGLOTHIN as the first name on the page
* page 275 - has MEIERS as the last name on the page
* pages 276-488 - the "Error Processing Request" message comes up.

Looking at the information above, it's apparent to me that there are pages missing between MAULDIN and MCGLOTHIN and between MEIERS and MOORE. In addition, the pages have been scrambled somehow.

Further testing showed that the indexes are probably correct - for instance, McElfresh is probably on Page 194 IF the page images were complete and in alphabetical order.

I sent a "Report an Image Problem" to Ancestry.com, but it doesn't permit a written comment - I could only choose "unreadable," "wrong" or "missing" image. Frankly, some of them are unreadable, some of them are wrong, and many of them are missing in this database, at least in the "M" pages. I could only choose one, so I chose "Missing image."

This is not an Indexing or Search problem - the problem is the Content - the images are incomplete and out of order. Perhaps the Content people at Ancestry.com will see this blog post and take steps to correct the problems.

German court upholds ban on lengthy last names

Today's San Diego Union-Tribune has an interesting article titled "German high court upholds ban on lengthy last names" by the New York Times News Service. Key graphs include:

Germany takes a highly regimented approach to naming. Children's names must be approved by local authorities, and there is a reference work, the “International Handbook of Forenames,” to guide them.

Juergen Udolph, a University of Leipzig professor and head of the information center there that provides certificates of approval for names that have not yet made the official list, said that “the state has a responsibility to protect people from idiotic forenames.”

The most notable case that tested the law was:

The Constitutional Court ruled in 2004 to limit the number of forenames a child could have, capping at five the number a mother could give her son – to whom she had attempted to bequeath the 12-part “Chenekwahow Tecumseh Migiskau Kioma Ernesto Inti Prithibi Pathar Chajara Majim Henriko Alessandro” – to protect the child.

Interesting, isn't it?

Is this the reason that this fellow emigrated from Germany (according to this site)?

(First and "middle" names)
Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvim John Kenneth Loyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor Willian Xerxes Yancy Zeus
(Last name)Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffvoralternwarengewissenhaftschafer-swesenchafewarenwholgepflegeundsorgfaltigkeitbeschutzenvonangereifen-duchihrraubgiriigfeindewelchevorralternzwolftausendjahresvorandieer-scheinenbanderersteerdeemmeshedrraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprung-vonkraftgestartseinlangefahrthinzwischensternartigraumaufdersuchenach-diesternwelshegehabtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinder-neurassevanverstandigmenshlichkeittkonntevortpflanzenundsicherfreunan-lebenslamdlichfreudeundruhemitnichteinfurchtvorangreifenvonander-erintlligentgeschopfsvonhinzwischensternartigraum
Senior

I have two thoughts about the long name above:

* Who would name their child something like that? The "Senior" implies that there is a child named that also.

* How did the kid ever remember all of it? Especially "Irvim" and "Yancy?"

I wonder if this is a real name? It is not on the US Passport 1795-1925 files on Ancestry.com.

AncestralAtlas.com has GEDCOM capability now

I received an intriguing email today from AncestralAtlas.com - it said:

"Good news for your fingertips... No more typing – just upload your GEDCOM data!Mapping and sharing your family history is now even easier with our new GEDCOM upload facility. Upload your data, confirm its location, and you’re done."

I described my trials and travails at http://www.ancestralatlas.com/ in my posts Ancestral Atlas: Post 1 - First Look, Ancestral Atlas - Post 2: Events and People, and Ancestral Atlas Help offered in early March, and recommended at that time that a GEDCOM upload was required.

So I tried it again today after receiving the email. I remembered my username and password, so logging in was easy, and the user home page looks like this:


The five people that I entered with some difficulty back in March are listed on the left margin. There is a button to "Upload GEDCOM" in the top menu row, so I clicked on it:




The upload box says "We currently only allow one GEDCOM file to be loaded into your profile at one time."

I found the 23,000 person GEDCOM file in my computer files, and clicked on the "Upload Now" button. After 3.5 minutes, the system told me that there was an error and my GEDCOM wasn't uploaded.

I'm guessing that the file was too large (8.6 mb), but the system gave me no clue.

Being somewhat resourceful, I have a GEDCOM file of my last eight generations of ancestors that I used for Geni.com some time ago so I tried that (3,120 persons, only 1.3 mb), and after about 15 seconds it worked.

The box says: "Your GEDCOM file has been uploaded successfully, and is queued for processing. We will send you an email as soon as your data has been loaded into Ancestral Atlas."

That's encouraging to hear, I guess. When it is loaded, I will come back and see what it looks like.

This application has a good future, I think, if it can be made user friendly and informative. I'm curious to see what other information it provides besides the maps.

Using LiveRoots.com - Post 1

I visited www.LiveRoots.com in early January in my post Checking in on LiveRoots.com. The site continues to add more resources that it accesses in response to search criteria.

Using a Search Engine like www.LiveRoots.com can serve as a "one-stop shop" for busy genealogists, but only if the "one-stop shop" has access to a large variety of resources. My judgment is that LiveRoots reached the critical mass of accessed databases some time ago.

In my opinion, it has become a "must-use" site for persons seeking surname and locality information. I thought that I would demonstrate how I use the site.

Here is the home page screen:


There are links on the home page for Search, Discover, and Learn More. The Learn More link provides the Getting Started page with useful information about how to use the site:

The Discover link provides a list of Recent Discoveries - that is information that has recently been added to the LiveRoots content list:

The Search link provides a Search box for surnames or keywords. The site says: "... will access two key resources: the Live Roots catalog and the Live Roots index. The results we be presented under the headings Surname Results and Resource Results. "

In the next post, I will do a surname search.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - May 3-9, 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:

* What Attracted Our Ancestors to the New World by Dick Eastman on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter blog. Dick has a wealth of experience and knowledge and I appreciate it when he writes original work like this for his readers.

* Browning v. Beck, Pt. 2 - Another Charge Is Added by Patti Browning on the Consanguinity blog. What an interesting case! Patti takes us through some court records that talk about Trespass on the Case. Good sleuthing here!

* More Genealogy Research Aids by Lee Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee has some useful technology tips about Google News Timeline and using Google Earth to create fly-throughs of historical sites.

* Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - May 2009 by Julie Cahill Tarr on The Graveyard Rabbit blog. There are five entries in this monthly carnival with the theme of cemetery preservation.

* Scanning My Women Wearing Glasses And What I've Learned by footnoteMaven on the Shades of the Departed blog. fM has excellent advice for scanners of photographs - read the list and follow it!

* Ancestry.com (TGN) Town Hall Webinar - From My Viewpoint - May 2009 by M. Diane Rogers on the CanadaGenealogy, or "Jane's Your Aunt" blog. Diane sat in on the Ancestry.com webinar this past week and comments on it. Perceptive, they seem spot on. Good job!

* New site features coming to Ancestry.com by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI also attended the Ancestry.com webinar and snagged some screen shots of several of the new features, including the new People Pages.

* Family Reaction to Genealogy by Tina Sansone on the Gtownma Genealogy blog. Tina has an interesting take on the subject - good discussion and photos too.

* Family Curator Visits NEHGS Spring Research Getaway 2009, Part 2: Consulting with the Experts by Denise on The Family Curator blog. Denise's second report about her NEHGS visit describes her consultations with resident experts at NEHGS. This event is on my genealogy "bucket" list!

* I'm baking for the Sale at Itawamba Historical Society by Terry Thornton on the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. Terry shares his bread baking secrets with the rest of the drooling world in a series of posts complete with pictures of each stage of the process. I wish I could smell and taste the results!

* United States Veteran Burial Places by Gena Philibert Ortega on the Gena's Genealogy blog. Gena provides descriptions and links to military veteran burial places.

* The Census Explained by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig posts a newspaper article about census taking for the 1890 census. Good catch! Fascinating!

* What Family History Terms Are People Searching For? by Sean Sexton on the Sean on Family History blog. Sean has a bit of fun with the "type ahead" feature on Google. Try it - interesting.

* Genealogy Questions Answered in 6 Minutes by Dan Lawyer on the Taking Genealogy to the Common Person blog. Dan uses Twitter and Facebook to get a genealogy question answered quickly. This demonstrates the power of online social networking.

* World's Oldest Mom, age 110 - over 1,000 descendants by Tom Kemp on the GenealogyBank - The Official Blog. Tom finds a newspaper article from 1915 that tells of this Louisiana woman married at age 13 with over 1,000 descendants. Amazing story. I'll bet she couldn't remember the names of all those descendants. Can you imagine how many cards she would have to send out every week?

* Happy Mother's Day! ~ Before I was a Mom by Cheryl Fleming Palmer on the Heritage Happens blog. Cheryl's post is the best Mother's Day ode to motherhood I've read this week. Thanks for sharing, Cheryl!

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.
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Happy Mother's Day!!

To all the mothers I know, have known and will know in the future - a virtual bouquet:

There's a vase with red roses, just like this one, on our kitchen counter for the mother of my daughters and she will be treated to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Our two daughters are "chips off the beautiful block" and are wonderful mothers to their children. The acorns don't fall far from the tree, I think!

My mother was so good - I wrote about her two years ago on Mother's Day in My Tribute to Mom - Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver.

I've been really blessed in my life.