I've been trying to figure out the ancestral connections noted in this article on page 1346 in the book History of Walworth County, Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, published the The Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1912. It is available on Google Books here. I have interspersed my comments in [brackets with red type].
"WILLIAM LYMAN SEAVER.
"One of the best known and most successful contractors in Walworth county is William Lyman Seaver, of Walworth, a man who has led an active and useful life in every respect and therefore enjoys the esteem of a wide circle of friends.
"Mr. Seaver was born in Darien, this county, November 24, 1868. He is the son of James E. and Phoebe L. (Dodge) Seaver, the father having come from Darien, New York, in 1839, among the early settlers, being two years old when he came here with his parents, Lyman Hunt Seaver and Sallie (Woodard) Seaver. Lyman Seaver was here a year or two before bringing his family. He probably entered land from the government.
[William Lyman Seaver is the son of James E. and Phoebe L. (Dodge) Seaver.]
[James E. Seaver is the son of Lyman Hunt and Sallie (Woodard) Seaver.]
"The subject grew to manhood on the farm in Darien and lived there until he was married, on March 15, 1896, to Lydia Seaver, daughter of Horace Everett Seaver and Orinda (Lippitt) Seaver. Her father was born in Darien, New York, in 1832, and when about eight years old he came here with his parents, Joseph Warren Seaver and Mary (Long-Hastings) Seaver. Joseph Warren Seaver, Mrs. Seaver's grandfather, and Lyman Hunt Seaver, grandfather of William Lyman Seaver, were brothers. They were sons of William Seaver. The last named was born in 1763 and died-in 1828. He served in the Revolutionary war five different times. The original muster roll at Boston, Massachusetts, shows that he was a private in Colonel Greaton's regiment in the Continental army, and he was detailed as one of the guards at the execution of Major Andre, the British spy. William Seaver was in the sixth generation of the family in America and was educated in this county. The first one came on the ship "Mary and John" in 1634. He was a young Englishman named Robert Seaver, from near London. He landed at Boston and two or three months later married and began farming on ground that is now in the heart of Boston. His son Joshua was the father of Joshua. Jr., born in 1678, the latter a lieutenant in the state militia, and he fought the Indians. He was a weaver by trade, and was a slave holder; he kept a tavern, sold New England rum, and he was a church member. Lieut. Joseph Seaver had a son William, who had a son William, who was a potter, made wooden shoe heels, taught singing school, and was a major in the American army during our war for independence, from Massachusetts. He was very successful as a business man. He was a major in the Bristol county brigade. His son William was in the sixth generation, as mentioned above, the one who guarded Major Andre. He was also in the navy during the Revolution, then followed a seafaring life. He was six feet tall and weighed two hundred pounds, and excelled in athletic feats, at one time defeating the champion wrestler of Vermont. At Arlington, that state, he was captain of the local military company. He is described as a man above the average in intelligence and character. Phoebe L. Dodge, the mother of William Lyman Severance, was the daughter of Josiah and Julia (Long) Dodge. She came from near Darien, New York, coming to Walworth county, Wisconsin, with her parents.
[Lydia Seaver was the daughter of Horace Everett and Orinda (Lippitt) Seaver.]
[Horace Everett Seaver was the son of Joseph Warren and Mary (Long-Hastings) Seaver.]
[Joseph Warren Seaver and Lyman Hunt Seaver were brothers, the sons of William Seaver (1763-1828). He was in the 6th generation of Seaver's in this country. William Seaver served in the Revolutionary War.]
[Robert-1 Seaver came on the "Mary and John" in 1634 and was generation 1.]
[Joshua-2 Seaver was a son of Robert Seaver, and was generation 2.]
[Joshua-3 Seaver (born 1678) was a son of Joshua-2 Seaver, and was generation 3.]
[It is unclear if Joshua-2 or Joshua-3 was the weaver, slaveowner, tavern-keeper, rum seller, and church member.]
[It is unclear (to me) if Joshua-2 or Joshua-3 was the lieutenant in the state militia and fought the Indians. Joshua-3 was too young for King Philip's War, but Joshua-2 was just the right age.]
[William-4 Seaver was a son of Lieut. Joseph Seaver (certainly meaning Joshua-3 here), and is generation 4.]
[William-5 Seaver was a son of William-4 Seaver.]
[Was it William-4 or William-5 that was the potter, made wooden shoes, and was a Major in the Massachusetts militia in the Revolutionary War?]
[William-6 Seaver was a son of William-5 Seaver, and is the father of Lyman Hunt Seaver and Joseph Warren Seaver.]
[Was it William-6, William-5 or William-4 that was the one who guarded Major Andre, served also in the Navy during the Revolution, and was a seafarer after the war.]
[Is William-6 the one who settled in Arlington, VT, weighed 200 pounds, excelled at athletics, and was a captain in the local militia.]
"James Everett Seaver was born at Darien, New York, June 13, 1837. He was a son of Lyman H. and Sarah (Woodard) Seaver, the former born at Arlington, Vermont, October 26, 1796, and the latter was born at Hebron, New York, in April, 1797, and they were married on April 29, 1819. When James E. Seaver was two years old the family came west and located in Darien township, one mile west of the village, the father entering his land from the government. James E. Seaver grew up in Darien township, and on November 16, 1859, he was united in marriage with Phebe Dodge, daughter of Josiah and Julia (Long) Dodge. She was born at Darien, New York, June 20, 1841, and came here with her parents when she was two years old. They also located in Darien township.
"After James E. Seaver was married he and his wife lived in Sharon township about seven years, he having bought a farm there, then moved back to Darien and bought a farm near the village and there he continued to reside until near the end of his life. His death occurred on April 2, 1909, his wife having preceded him to the grave on October 11, 1906. They were the parents of five children, four of whom are living; Josi died when he was eighteen years old; Marcus D. lives at Los Angeles, California; Bertha is the wife of John S. Topping and lives in Delavan; William L. lives in Walworth; Clara M. is the wife of Leander Wright and lives at Los Angeles, California. Joseph Warren Seaver was a member of the state Legislature at one time.
"Orinda Lippitt was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, and came here when two years old with her parents, being among the very first settlers of Darien township. Her parents were Cyrus and Lydia (Bruce) Lippitt. The father came to this county in 1837 and settled in section 35, Darien township. Lydia (Bruce) Lippitt had two brothers, John and William Bruce, who were among the earliest settlers in Darien. Adelai Seaver, sister of Horace Everett Seaver, was one of the three earliest school teachers in Darien township.
"Henry Dodge, the first territorial governor of Wisconsin, was of the same Dodge family as the subject. He was governor in 1836, also in 1845.
"After his marriage the subject of this sketch moved to Richmond, Illinois, where he was manager of a lumber yard until the spring of 1903, when he went to Spring Grove, that state, where he was half owner of a lumber yard, remaining there three or four years. Then he sold out his interests there and took up contracting in concrete work. He moved to Walworth, this county, in October, 1908, and here he has since made his home, continuing contracting in concrete work. He has five children, Lucy, Everett, William, Kenneth and Stuart. He is a member of the Masonic order, both the blue lodge and the chapter."
Isn't this a tremendous family history record? These traditions were handed down over several centuries, and probably were retold thousands of times so that the children remembered them. There are several items in the list above, especially of the family exploits and achievements, that are not written down anywhere else that I've found.
Are the individuals that performed some of the exploits and achievements confusing to you? They are to me. Does it make sense that William-6 Seaver, born in 1763, would be the one to guard Major Andre in 1780, and was also in the Navy? Or was it is father, William-5 or his grandfather, William-4?
Likewise, I'm confused by the exploits of the two Joshua Seaver guys. Was it the father, or the son, that did all those things? Or are all of the family stories put together in one sentence and attributed to one of them?
I'll try to sort these issues out in the next post in this series, based on other resources and my own genealogy database of over 4,000 Seaver persons.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
FamilySearch Standard Finder - Post 2
In FamilySearch Standard Finder - Post 1, I covered the Name, Date and Place tabs in the FamilySearch Standard Finder website. The most useful part of the Standard Finder is the geocoding of almost any place name.
There are two other tabs on the Standard Finder page - the "Preview" tab and the "Resources" tab. I clicked on the "Preview" tab and saw a field to enter a location, so I put [chula vista] in the field:
As you can see, all of the locations with [chula vista] in the Standard Finder database shows in a dropdown list. I clicked on the top one, and saw:
As you can see, there is "standardized text" for my selection. This function is, of course, the basis for the dropdown list in the location field on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot site.
The "Resources" tab opens with (two screens below):
There are two other tabs on the Standard Finder page - the "Preview" tab and the "Resources" tab. I clicked on the "Preview" tab and saw a field to enter a location, so I put [chula vista] in the field:
As you can see, all of the locations with [chula vista] in the Standard Finder database shows in a dropdown list. I clicked on the top one, and saw:
As you can see, there is "standardized text" for my selection. This function is, of course, the basis for the dropdown list in the location field on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot site.
The "Resources" tab opens with (two screens below):
"View maps with clickable links to the holdings of the Family History Library Catalog. There are three options to view the data:
* Google Earth,
* Google Earth,
* Maps.Google.Com,
* ArcReader from ESRI.
* ArcReader from ESRI.
"Google Earth can be downloaded for free from the Google Earth site. Google Earth can display state and county borders. Google Maps does not require any download, just use the import feature of My Maps. Google Maps only displays state borders. ArcReader can be downloaded for free from the ESRI site. It can display state, county and township borders."
At the present time, the links for Google Earth and Google Maps go to Google Earth.
At the present time, the links for Google Earth and Google Maps go to Google Earth.
Click on the "View Sample Screens" and the "Tips and Instructions" links to see what this is supposed to look like. Apparently, there will be links on the displayed map to take users to the Family History Library Catalog for a specific town, county or state.
Why is this Standard Finder important? How will it be used on the soon-to-be-unveiled "New" FamilySearch.org website? We'll discuss that in the next post.
(not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 113: A View Toward Downtown San Diego in the 1900s
I'm posting 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.
I managed to scan about 100 family photographs in the Scanfest in January, and have converted the scanned TIF files to smaller JPGs, cropped and rotated as best I can. Many of these were "new" to my digital photograph collection.
Here is a photograph from the Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:
This is essentially the same view I had every day from about 1947 to 1955 when this room was my bedroom, and from 1955 to 1968 when the sunroom (added on in 1927) was my bedroom. Of course, by then the city had been built up all around this house, but I could still see the taller buildings in downtown San Diego, the end of Point Loma, and more.
I managed to scan about 100 family photographs in the Scanfest in January, and have converted the scanned TIF files to smaller JPGs, cropped and rotated as best I can. Many of these were "new" to my digital photograph collection.
Here is a photograph from the Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:
This is a photograph was taken in the decade of the 1900s, perhaps by Henry Austin Carringer or by my grandfather, Lyle Lawrence Carringer. It was taken from the upstairs room at 2105 30th Street in San Diego. It looks approximately southwest. The corner of 30th and Hawthorn is in the right foreground. The trolley going up 30th Street is in the left foreground. The downtown area of San Diego is in the center background, and the shore of Coronado North Island and a faint outline of the end of Point Loma can be seen in the right background.
This is essentially the same view I had every day from about 1947 to 1955 when this room was my bedroom, and from 1955 to 1968 when the sunroom (added on in 1927) was my bedroom. Of course, by then the city had been built up all around this house, but I could still see the taller buildings in downtown San Diego, the end of Point Loma, and more.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Searching the Rootsweb Mailing List Archives
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Way back in the heady early days of online genealogy, many researchers leaped on the Rootsweb Mailing Lists found these days at http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com. A researcher could (and still can) subscribe to a surname, locality, topic or organization mailing list, and receive each message via email. The emails arrive as either single messages, or in a digest of one or more messages each day.
Did you know that the archives of over 30,000 mailing lists are still available, dating back to them id 1990s? The mailing list archives can be searched by:
* List name and then year and month, in thread format
* The entire archive can be searched at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/search. If you choose the "Advanced Search" tab, then you can search ALL mailing lists in this system (over 36 million messages) by:
** Keywords in the body of the message (and you can use quotes to find specific people)
** Keywords in the Title of the message
** From: put an email address in the field
** List: put in a specific list
** Date: put in a specific date (e.g., 2009, Jun 2009, 21 Jun 2009)
The search results provide a list of matches, and it seems like the highest ranked matches have the keywords grouped.
Some things you can find do using this Archiver site:
* Find a later email address for a submitter. For instance, my email address in 1998 was rjseaver@delphi.com. If someone wanted to contact me, they could search the archives with my name and use, say, 2010 in the Date field, and see a current email address.
* Other researchers working on the same family. I usually search for a combination of the husband's and wife's surnames, e.g. [Carringer Spangler] or search for husband's and wife's full names, e.g., [Martin Carringer Mary Hoax], or a person's full name with a place name, e.g., [thomas dill eastham].
* Posts about specific topics, e.g., [Ireland church records], [Virginia probate records], [reasonably exhaustive search], etc.
* Your own past mailing list posts - what you sent out and/or commented upon. This is a better archive than saving email posts in your email program.
* Select a specific list, and read it month by month rather than subscribing to it via email. For instance, I browse the Dodge County, Wisconsin (WIDODGE-L) and Jefferson County, New York (NYJEFFER-L) mailing lists occasionally rather than subscribe to them.
You can find a specific mailing list by searching on the http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com page - put some keywords in the "Find a mailing list" field.
This Mailing List Archive is especially useful when you are starting the survey part of a genealogy search - you're trying to find what other researchers have found.
Way back in the heady early days of online genealogy, many researchers leaped on the Rootsweb Mailing Lists found these days at http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com. A researcher could (and still can) subscribe to a surname, locality, topic or organization mailing list, and receive each message via email. The emails arrive as either single messages, or in a digest of one or more messages each day.
Did you know that the archives of over 30,000 mailing lists are still available, dating back to them id 1990s? The mailing list archives can be searched by:
* List name and then year and month, in thread format
* The entire archive can be searched at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/search. If you choose the "Advanced Search" tab, then you can search ALL mailing lists in this system (over 36 million messages) by:
** Keywords in the body of the message (and you can use quotes to find specific people)
** Keywords in the Title of the message
** From: put an email address in the field
** List: put in a specific list
** Date: put in a specific date (e.g., 2009, Jun 2009, 21 Jun 2009)
The search results provide a list of matches, and it seems like the highest ranked matches have the keywords grouped.
Some things you can find do using this Archiver site:
* Find a later email address for a submitter. For instance, my email address in 1998 was rjseaver@delphi.com. If someone wanted to contact me, they could search the archives with my name and use, say, 2010 in the Date field, and see a current email address.
* Other researchers working on the same family. I usually search for a combination of the husband's and wife's surnames, e.g. [Carringer Spangler] or search for husband's and wife's full names, e.g., [Martin Carringer Mary Hoax], or a person's full name with a place name, e.g., [thomas dill eastham].
* Posts about specific topics, e.g., [Ireland church records], [Virginia probate records], [reasonably exhaustive search], etc.
* Your own past mailing list posts - what you sent out and/or commented upon. This is a better archive than saving email posts in your email program.
* Select a specific list, and read it month by month rather than subscribing to it via email. For instance, I browse the Dodge County, Wisconsin (WIDODGE-L) and Jefferson County, New York (NYJEFFER-L) mailing lists occasionally rather than subscribe to them.
You can find a specific mailing list by searching on the http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com page - put some keywords in the "Find a mailing list" field.
This Mailing List Archive is especially useful when you are starting the survey part of a genealogy search - you're trying to find what other researchers have found.
FamilySearch Standard Finder - Post 1
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One of the projects on the FamilySearch Labs site is the Standard Finder. The Labs site describes it as:
"With Standard Finder you can search for a standardized name, date or place based on your input. The Standard Finder will present the standards that will be used in future releases of new FamilySearch. Come and try out your historical and current entries and understand how the system will interpret your input. Use filtered results to see what we think the best match would be or uncheck filtered results to see all the possible standards. Then send us feedback on how the system can do better."
There are five tabs on the Standard Finder site - for Name, Date, Place, Preview and Resources. In this post, we'll look at the first three tabs.
On the "Name" tab, I entered my surname "seaver" and saw:
The site provides variant spellings for the surname, apparently gleaned from some unknown list. A different list appears for "seaver" as a first name.
The "Date" tab provides some logical information. After some experimentation, I entered "3/5/1659" in the search field and saw:
The site said that the date was ambiguous - either 5 March 1659 or 3 May 1659. However, it didn't say that it was 5 March 1658/1659 or 5 March 1659/1660 which is what I expected to cover the double-date created by the Julian calendar issue.
The "Place" tab permits the user to type in a place name. I chose to put in "wano, kansas" since I've heard that Wano is a ghost town. Will it find it? Here is the result:
This screen has several links. There is one for the Place Name (Wano township > Cheyenne > Kansas > United States), one for the Geo Code (39.69028 N, 101.8125 W(, and one for the Identification Number (439087).
One of the projects on the FamilySearch Labs site is the Standard Finder. The Labs site describes it as:
"With Standard Finder you can search for a standardized name, date or place based on your input. The Standard Finder will present the standards that will be used in future releases of new FamilySearch. Come and try out your historical and current entries and understand how the system will interpret your input. Use filtered results to see what we think the best match would be or uncheck filtered results to see all the possible standards. Then send us feedback on how the system can do better."
There are five tabs on the Standard Finder site - for Name, Date, Place, Preview and Resources. In this post, we'll look at the first three tabs.
On the "Name" tab, I entered my surname "seaver" and saw:
The site provides variant spellings for the surname, apparently gleaned from some unknown list. A different list appears for "seaver" as a first name.
The "Date" tab provides some logical information. After some experimentation, I entered "3/5/1659" in the search field and saw:
The site said that the date was ambiguous - either 5 March 1659 or 3 May 1659. However, it didn't say that it was 5 March 1658/1659 or 5 March 1659/1660 which is what I expected to cover the double-date created by the Julian calendar issue.
The "Place" tab permits the user to type in a place name. I chose to put in "wano, kansas" since I've heard that Wano is a ghost town. Will it find it? Here is the result:
This screen has several links. There is one for the Place Name (Wano township > Cheyenne > Kansas > United States), one for the Geo Code (39.69028 N, 101.8125 W(, and one for the Identification Number (439087).
I clicked on the Place Name and saw:
There are 13 items on this list, mainly churches and cemeteries, plus the town of Saint Francis.
There are 13 items on this list, mainly churches and cemeteries, plus the town of Saint Francis.
Clicking on the Geo code link brings up a Google map of the area with a stickpin locating Wano township.
The user can manipulate the Google map to zoom in or out, change to a satellite map or a hybrid map, etc. The map is much smaller than the Google map that you can use at http://maps.google.com . This is an excellent resource for finding the latitude and longitude of a place.
The user can manipulate the Google map to zoom in or out, change to a satellite map or a hybrid map, etc. The map is much smaller than the Google map that you can use at http://maps.google.com . This is an excellent resource for finding the latitude and longitude of a place.
Why did FamilySearch create this Standard Finder tool? They are using the standard name, date and place entries for the rest of the new and improved FamilySearch web site - including the Record Search Pilot site, the FamilySearch Beta site and the new FamilySearch Family Tree site.
We'll look at the Preview and Resources tabs in the next post.
Tombstone Tuesday - Oral Love (1900-1951)
It's Tombstone Tuesday, and I'm posting posting "interesting" photographs of gravestones and monuments from my photo collection, since I've run out of photos of tombstones of my own ancestors or relatives.
This gravestone commemorates Oral Love, born in 1900 and died in 1951.
This gravestone commemorates Oral Love, born in 1900 and died in 1951.
I do not know where this gravestone is located. A Google search, a Find-A-Grave search, a USGenWeb Archives search, and an Interment.net search does not list this stone.
There are at least three other gravestones for Oral Love posted on the Internet -
Does anyone know where this particular gravestone for Oral Love lies?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Whew! Back to the future?
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My genealogy pursuits seem to rotate between genealogy speaking and teaching, my own family history research and database management, and doing research for others.
In the past three months, the focus has been on the first item - the speaking and teaching. I counted it up, and I've done the following since May:
* Teach Genealogy 101 Workshop for Chula Vista Genealogical Society (4 two-hour sessions, new presentations and handouts).
* Present "Wikis for Genealogy" at Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) (one-hour, new presentation and handout)
* Present "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" at San Diego Jewish Genealogical Society (SDJGS) (1.5 hour, significantly revised presentation and handout)
* Teach "Beginning Computer Genealogy Class at OASIS in San Diego (4 two-hour sessions, revised presentations and handouts)
* Talk on Blogger Panel #1 at SCGS Genealogy Jamboree (Q&A session, no handout)
* Present "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" at Chula Vista Genealogical Society (1.5 hour, slightly revised presentation and handout)
* Present "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" at Corona Genealogical Society (1.5 hour, slightly revised presentation and handout)
* Present "Finding Your Elusive Ancestor: Doing a Reasonably Exhaustive Search" at Genealogical Society of North Orange County California (GSNOCC) (1 hour, significantly revised presentation and handout)
* Present "Using the Old and New FamilySearch.org" at Chula Vista Genealogical Society (2 hours, new presentation and handout).
Fifteen speaking efforts in about ten weeks. It's been fun, but tiring, and the preparation has really cut into my blogging time and my personal research time. I have nothing on the speaking/teaching calendar until October when I do the OASIS class again. Or until somebody else asks me!
For the next two months, I'm going to try to do more work in my genealogy database - fixing my source citations, eliminating duplicate persons, combining duplicate places, etc. I will also try to find more information for some of my ancestral families for which I have nothing in my Research Notes - I may have material to enter from my paper collections (if I can find them). I'm looking at my bookcases of research notebooks and thinking that I can probably triage many of them - weed out the useless papers, review the useful pages and enter material into my Notes, and integrate the papers in the "to be filed" piles into the notebooks.
I also need to start going to the Family History Center more often. I've been exactly "zero" times so far this year - that's embarrassing! There are plenty of microfilms that can be ordered, reviewed and images captured therefrom - just need to get off the keyboard and into the Mercury and tool up the freeway to the FHC.
My one-name studies of Seaver, Carringer, Auble, Buck and Dill have sort of been ignored for the past several years - and there are many new databases just waiting to be mined for information about these families. Doing that is "fun" work and I'm going to try to do more of it, but I need a "plan" to make sure I check the available databases once.
Then there is the research work for other persons. I have several projects on hold and hope to be able to finish them in the next few months.
Of course, Grandpa Camp with grandson Lucas is in August, and we expect to see the grandgirls once or twice each month, and we will probably go up to the Bay area in September to see the grandboys and Linda's brother's family.
My genealogy pursuits seem to rotate between genealogy speaking and teaching, my own family history research and database management, and doing research for others.
In the past three months, the focus has been on the first item - the speaking and teaching. I counted it up, and I've done the following since May:
* Teach Genealogy 101 Workshop for Chula Vista Genealogical Society (4 two-hour sessions, new presentations and handouts).
* Present "Wikis for Genealogy" at Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) (one-hour, new presentation and handout)
* Present "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" at San Diego Jewish Genealogical Society (SDJGS) (1.5 hour, significantly revised presentation and handout)
* Teach "Beginning Computer Genealogy Class at OASIS in San Diego (4 two-hour sessions, revised presentations and handouts)
* Talk on Blogger Panel #1 at SCGS Genealogy Jamboree (Q&A session, no handout)
* Present "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" at Chula Vista Genealogical Society (1.5 hour, slightly revised presentation and handout)
* Present "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" at Corona Genealogical Society (1.5 hour, slightly revised presentation and handout)
* Present "Finding Your Elusive Ancestor: Doing a Reasonably Exhaustive Search" at Genealogical Society of North Orange County California (GSNOCC) (1 hour, significantly revised presentation and handout)
* Present "Using the Old and New FamilySearch.org" at Chula Vista Genealogical Society (2 hours, new presentation and handout).
Fifteen speaking efforts in about ten weeks. It's been fun, but tiring, and the preparation has really cut into my blogging time and my personal research time. I have nothing on the speaking/teaching calendar until October when I do the OASIS class again. Or until somebody else asks me!
For the next two months, I'm going to try to do more work in my genealogy database - fixing my source citations, eliminating duplicate persons, combining duplicate places, etc. I will also try to find more information for some of my ancestral families for which I have nothing in my Research Notes - I may have material to enter from my paper collections (if I can find them). I'm looking at my bookcases of research notebooks and thinking that I can probably triage many of them - weed out the useless papers, review the useful pages and enter material into my Notes, and integrate the papers in the "to be filed" piles into the notebooks.
I also need to start going to the Family History Center more often. I've been exactly "zero" times so far this year - that's embarrassing! There are plenty of microfilms that can be ordered, reviewed and images captured therefrom - just need to get off the keyboard and into the Mercury and tool up the freeway to the FHC.
My one-name studies of Seaver, Carringer, Auble, Buck and Dill have sort of been ignored for the past several years - and there are many new databases just waiting to be mined for information about these families. Doing that is "fun" work and I'm going to try to do more of it, but I need a "plan" to make sure I check the available databases once.
Then there is the research work for other persons. I have several projects on hold and hope to be able to finish them in the next few months.
Of course, Grandpa Camp with grandson Lucas is in August, and we expect to see the grandgirls once or twice each month, and we will probably go up to the Bay area in September to see the grandboys and Linda's brother's family.
CVGS Program on 28 July - Susi Pentico on "Vital Records"
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The July program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society is on Wednesday, 28 July at 12 noon in the auditorium of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in downtown Chula Vista).
After a brief business meeting, the program speaker will by CVGS member Susi Pentico on "Vital Records and Where You May Find Them."
The program description includes:
Do you really know what is a Vital Record?
This presentation will be filled with some of the very “normal” places to find Vital Records. It will also provide some neat tips on some unconventional places to find information and will share some unconventional methods used to find vital records.
Susi Pentico has been a genealogy speaker for the Chula Vista Genealogical Society for more than ten years. She has given talks throughout the county over the past seven years and has been a research specialist for over fifteen years online, working previously with the old Golden Gate Forum, and with two other online genealogy sites that are no more. She currently co-hosts a class on www.GenealogyWise.com with old friend Rita Ely regarding Vital Records. They have done this for three plus years, but only recently moved to Genealogywise.com. Susi has been researching her ancestry since she was about 20 years old.
This program is free for all to attend. Please enter the auditorium through the Library Conference Room to sign in, pick up the program and presentation handout, have a drink and a snack, and chat with other genealogists. More information about this program, or about CVGS in general, please contact Barbara at 619-477-4140 or baribai@cox.net.
The July program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society is on Wednesday, 28 July at 12 noon in the auditorium of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in downtown Chula Vista).
After a brief business meeting, the program speaker will by CVGS member Susi Pentico on "Vital Records and Where You May Find Them."
The program description includes:
Do you really know what is a Vital Record?
This presentation will be filled with some of the very “normal” places to find Vital Records. It will also provide some neat tips on some unconventional places to find information and will share some unconventional methods used to find vital records.
Susi Pentico has been a genealogy speaker for the Chula Vista Genealogical Society for more than ten years. She has given talks throughout the county over the past seven years and has been a research specialist for over fifteen years online, working previously with the old Golden Gate Forum, and with two other online genealogy sites that are no more. She currently co-hosts a class on www.GenealogyWise.com with old friend Rita Ely regarding Vital Records. They have done this for three plus years, but only recently moved to Genealogywise.com. Susi has been researching her ancestry since she was about 20 years old.
This program is free for all to attend. Please enter the auditorium through the Library Conference Room to sign in, pick up the program and presentation handout, have a drink and a snack, and chat with other genealogists. More information about this program, or about CVGS in general, please contact Barbara at 619-477-4140 or baribai@cox.net.
Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784)
...
Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:
"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
My subject today is the probate records of Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) of Westford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Zacharish married Elizabeth Prescott (1734-1812) in 1753 and they had twelve children between 1754 and 1775.
Zachariah Hildreth died testate, and his probate records are in Middlesex County [MA] Probate Records, Packet #11,391 (accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,397,093). The will reads:
"In the name of God, Amen. The ninth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one.
"I, Zachariah Hildreth of the town of Westford in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Gentleman, being sick and weak in body but of a sound disposing mind, Thanks be given to God. Therefore, calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that this appointed to all men once to die, do ordain and make this my last will and testament, that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul to God that gave it, hoping thro' the merits and my Saviour Jesus Christ to have full and free pardon of all my sins and to inherit everlasting life; and my Body I commit to the Earth to be decently buried.
"And as touching such worldly estate wherwith it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow upon me and bless me within this worldly life, I give devise and dispose of in the following manner and form, viz:
"Imprimus, I will and order that all my just Debts, Funeral and Probate charges shall be paid and discharged in convenient time after my decease by my Executors hereafter named.
"Item, I will and bequeath to my beloved wife Elizabeth two cows and one heifer such as she shall choose out of my stock of cows after my decease and one swine, two sheep and two lambs, also two Feather Beds and Beding, and the one half of my household furniture and also the one third part of all my possessions that I shall die ... and possessed of to be by her my said wife freely possessed of to enjoyed and to be at her own dispose forever.
"I will to my beloved wife Elisabeth the use and improvement of my Clock and Case of drawers and the one half of my dwelling house thro'out and half the cellar with the Liberty of using the well and laying wood near the House for her conveniency, also the use and improvement of half the Barn and a small enclosed piece of grass ground lying behind my said barn with liberty of passing and repassing to and from my said barn; and the use of a ... and my pannel and third part of my liquor mill, also the use and improvement of my Causeway piece of land on all my fore side piece, so called, and my pasture and other land lying at or on Clay pit Hill so called, also one acre of wood lying near my Blodget's place so called, and the one half of my plough land lying on the pine plain so called, and the one third part of my pond lot so called. Also the use of a pair of oxen and husbandry tools so far as is necessary for the improvement of the land aforesaid in a Good and proper manner and for her comfort and good conveniency, the improvement and use of which to be by her my beloved. But after the decease of my said wife or if she shall marry then I will that the premises aforesaid that I have willed her the use and improvement of be divided, apportioned and settled among my four sons, namely Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse and my six daughters namely Elizabeth, Esther, Lucy, Ruth, Ede and Hitty in the same form and manner as the Residue of my estate is to be divided among them as shall in this last will and testament hereafter be set forth and willed.
"Item. I will to my son Zachariah to his heirs and assigns forever five shillings lawful silver money to be paid in one year after my decease by my Executors hereafter named.
"Item. I will to my daughter Hannah five pounds lawfull silver money to be at her own dispose forever to be paid in one year after my decease by my Executors hereafter named and the reason I give them my son Zachariah and daughter Hannah no more is because I have given them portions out of my estate already.
"I will to my son Timothy his heirs and assigns forever my yoke of oxen ... riding that was... my beloved wife be not debarred the use of oxen...her improvement as aforesaid.
"Item. I will to my daughter Hitty and her heirs and assigns forever at three years ... with her Mother till she shall ... to the age of eighteen years except she should marry before that age ... which time she is to receive the same or its value.
"Item. I will and bequeath to my sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse to their heirs and assigns all land lying and being in Townsend in the said county of Middlesex with all the appurtenances to ... sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse equally and freely possessed and enjoy forever. Also I will to my said sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse all my wearing apparel to be equally divided among them and by them to be freely enjoyed forever.
"Item. I will and bequeath to my Sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse and to my daughters Elisabeth, Esther, Lucy, Ruth, Ede and Hitty to their heirs and assigns forever all the residue of my Estate of all sorts both real moveable and personal that is mine in possession or reversion that I have not herein otherwise particularly disposed of and except as herein excepted to be by these my said sons and daughters freely possessed and enjoyed forever. That is I will that each of my sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse shall have two parts and that each of my said daughters Elisabeth, Esther, Lucy, Ruth, Ede and Hitty shall have one part the same to be ascertained and determined by a just appraisal. ... nevertheless I reserve to my son Timothy the use and privilege of holding the residue of my lands and other real moveable and personal estate as aforesaid providing that he my said son Timothy shall pay to my sons James, Jonas and Jesse their particular parts when they shall arrive to the age of twenty one years, from time to time as they come to that age without interest providing that the first of said legacies be not paid till one year after my decease except sickness or misfortunes shall make it necessary that the whole or part should be paid sooner and further providing that he my son Timothy shall pay to each of ... my last mentioned six daughters as shall be of the age of eighteen years at my decease the one half of their particular part as aforesaid within one year after my decease without interest and the other half part within two years after my decease without interest excepting that sickness or misfortune or their marrying should make it necessary that the whole or part should be paid sooner. And also pay to the others of my last mentioned six daughters that shall not be of the age of eighteen years at my decease their particular part or portions as aforesaid when or as they shall each arrive to the age of eighteen years without interest providing that may or any of them do not arrive to that age untill two years after my decease excepting that sickness misfortune or marrying so make it necessary that the whole or part hereof should be paid sooner, ... encourage the paying out of the legacies aforesaid, and to prevent many ... in my lands and real estate ... as aforesaid. I will that if ... profits, increase of the bequeathed residue of my estate as aforesaid are not sufficient to defray the publick and necessary taxes shall be assessed on said estate at any time in ... till the expiration of the ... in which the last legacy of my last mentioned four sons and six daughters becomes payable, so that the real estate as aforesaid shall be broke in upon for payment, that then in such case each of my last mentioned four sons and six daughters are each to bear their particular proportion thereof according to ... each own part for that purpose. I will that part... four sons and six daughters who shall ... of their said part previous to the expiration of said . ... shall at the receiving thereof give an obligation to ... his or her proportion of legacy in case the real estate shall be broke in upon for the payment of taxes as aforesaid.
"I will that in case my son Timothy shall decline to hold the land and refuse to pay out as before said, the particular legacies that then my son James shall have the liberty and privilege of holding the land and paying the legacies to all intents and purposes that my son Timothy has reserved for him in this my last will and testament. But if both my sons Timothy and James shall refuse... with cash or to hold the land and pay the legacies as aforesaid that then I will my residue of estate as aforesaid shall be divided and set off to my said mentioned four sons and six daughters as near or may be in the same proportion form and manner as is in this will before set forth namely the sons to have two parts and the daughters one part.
"And I will likewise appoint constitute make and ordain Asaph Fletcher of Westford aforesaid physician and my said son Timothy to be my only executors of this my last will and testament.
"And I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments wills and legacies bequests and executors by me many ways before this time named willed and bequested, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this day and year herein before written."
............................................................................ Zechariah Hildreth
"Signed sealed pronounced and declared by the said Zachariah Hildreth as his last will and testament in presence of us the subscribers."
Oliver Sterns,
Peter Hildreth,
Jonathan Hildreth
The inventory of the estate of Zachariah Hildreth was taken 25 July 1785 by a committee of Jonas Prescott, John Abbotsam and Joseph Jewett. Personal property totaled 181 pounds, 7 shillings, and 1 pence, and the real estate was valued at 582 pounds, 13 shillings. It was sworn to by Timothy Hildreth on 21 September 1785.
Timothy Hildreth provided his account of the payments from the estate as follows on 22 September 1790:
"Balance of his former accounts 22 Sept 1790 ..................... L 49:19:00
"cash paid and services rendered as follows:
to Doctor Charles Proctor ................................................ L 1:07:06
paid Thomas Brown ........................................................ 29:15:00
John Robins ...................................................................... 1:06:05
William Whiteing ............................................................ 25:00:00
Samuel Richardson ............................................................ 0:12:00
Ede Hildreth ................................................................... 30:00:00
Jonas Hildreth ................................................................ 51:00:00
Ruth Hildreth ................................................................. 25:00:00
paid to Joshua Reed, guardian of Jesse and Hitty Hildreth 76:00:00
---------------------------------------------------------------------- L 286:19:11
To examaning attorney and recording of this account .... 0:08:06
--------------------------------------------------------------------- L 287:08:05
There are quite a few parts of the will that were not decipherable - those parts are denoted by ellipses ( ... ).
Zachariah Hildreth died with a number of young children, and he tried to provide for them in his will, and it appears that the executor, Timothy Hildreth, tried to distribute the estate according to his father's will. It appears that a son's portion was 51 pounds and a daughter's portion was 25 pounds (Zachariah willed each son a double portion and each daughter a single portion). There are payments to William Whiting (the husband of daughter Lucy Hildreth, 25 pounds), daughter Ede Hildreth (30 pounds), son Jonas Hildreth (51 pounds) and Ruth Hildreth (25 pounds), and the guardian of Jesse Hildreth (51 pounds) and Hitty Hildreth (25 pounds). In addition, 29 pounds was given to Thomas Brown, who was the husband of daughter Esther Hildreth. That accounts for payments to seven of the children. Son Zachariah Hildreth and daughter Hannah (married to another Timothy Hildreth) were given their portions previously. That leaves Timothy himself, son James Hildreth (who died in 1789 before Timothy distributed the estate), and daughter Elizabeth Hildreth (who married Samuel Richardson) without a specific distribution. Samuel Richardson appears on the list of cash paid above - perhaps he borrowed against his wife's portion over the years and the 12 shillings paid off her portion.
Deed records may disclose the location of the family farm and the other properties owned by Zachariah Hildreth. They may also disclose if the real estate was broken up as part of the distribution or if Timothy stayed on the farm, and if his mother stayed on the farm until her death in 1812.
Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:
"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
My subject today is the probate records of Zachariah Hildreth (1728-1784) of Westford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Zacharish married Elizabeth Prescott (1734-1812) in 1753 and they had twelve children between 1754 and 1775.
Zachariah Hildreth died testate, and his probate records are in Middlesex County [MA] Probate Records, Packet #11,391 (accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,397,093). The will reads:
"In the name of God, Amen. The ninth day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty one.
"I, Zachariah Hildreth of the town of Westford in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Gentleman, being sick and weak in body but of a sound disposing mind, Thanks be given to God. Therefore, calling to mind the mortality of my body and knowing that this appointed to all men once to die, do ordain and make this my last will and testament, that is to say principally and first of all I give and recommend my soul to God that gave it, hoping thro' the merits and my Saviour Jesus Christ to have full and free pardon of all my sins and to inherit everlasting life; and my Body I commit to the Earth to be decently buried.
"And as touching such worldly estate wherwith it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow upon me and bless me within this worldly life, I give devise and dispose of in the following manner and form, viz:
"Imprimus, I will and order that all my just Debts, Funeral and Probate charges shall be paid and discharged in convenient time after my decease by my Executors hereafter named.
"Item, I will and bequeath to my beloved wife Elizabeth two cows and one heifer such as she shall choose out of my stock of cows after my decease and one swine, two sheep and two lambs, also two Feather Beds and Beding, and the one half of my household furniture and also the one third part of all my possessions that I shall die ... and possessed of to be by her my said wife freely possessed of to enjoyed and to be at her own dispose forever.
"I will to my beloved wife Elisabeth the use and improvement of my Clock and Case of drawers and the one half of my dwelling house thro'out and half the cellar with the Liberty of using the well and laying wood near the House for her conveniency, also the use and improvement of half the Barn and a small enclosed piece of grass ground lying behind my said barn with liberty of passing and repassing to and from my said barn; and the use of a ... and my pannel and third part of my liquor mill, also the use and improvement of my Causeway piece of land on all my fore side piece, so called, and my pasture and other land lying at or on Clay pit Hill so called, also one acre of wood lying near my Blodget's place so called, and the one half of my plough land lying on the pine plain so called, and the one third part of my pond lot so called. Also the use of a pair of oxen and husbandry tools so far as is necessary for the improvement of the land aforesaid in a Good and proper manner and for her comfort and good conveniency, the improvement and use of which to be by her my beloved. But after the decease of my said wife or if she shall marry then I will that the premises aforesaid that I have willed her the use and improvement of be divided, apportioned and settled among my four sons, namely Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse and my six daughters namely Elizabeth, Esther, Lucy, Ruth, Ede and Hitty in the same form and manner as the Residue of my estate is to be divided among them as shall in this last will and testament hereafter be set forth and willed.
"Item. I will to my son Zachariah to his heirs and assigns forever five shillings lawful silver money to be paid in one year after my decease by my Executors hereafter named.
"Item. I will to my daughter Hannah five pounds lawfull silver money to be at her own dispose forever to be paid in one year after my decease by my Executors hereafter named and the reason I give them my son Zachariah and daughter Hannah no more is because I have given them portions out of my estate already.
"I will to my son Timothy his heirs and assigns forever my yoke of oxen ... riding that was... my beloved wife be not debarred the use of oxen...her improvement as aforesaid.
"Item. I will to my daughter Hitty and her heirs and assigns forever at three years ... with her Mother till she shall ... to the age of eighteen years except she should marry before that age ... which time she is to receive the same or its value.
"Item. I will and bequeath to my sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse to their heirs and assigns all land lying and being in Townsend in the said county of Middlesex with all the appurtenances to ... sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse equally and freely possessed and enjoy forever. Also I will to my said sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse all my wearing apparel to be equally divided among them and by them to be freely enjoyed forever.
"Item. I will and bequeath to my Sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse and to my daughters Elisabeth, Esther, Lucy, Ruth, Ede and Hitty to their heirs and assigns forever all the residue of my Estate of all sorts both real moveable and personal that is mine in possession or reversion that I have not herein otherwise particularly disposed of and except as herein excepted to be by these my said sons and daughters freely possessed and enjoyed forever. That is I will that each of my sons Timothy, James, Jonas and Jesse shall have two parts and that each of my said daughters Elisabeth, Esther, Lucy, Ruth, Ede and Hitty shall have one part the same to be ascertained and determined by a just appraisal. ... nevertheless I reserve to my son Timothy the use and privilege of holding the residue of my lands and other real moveable and personal estate as aforesaid providing that he my said son Timothy shall pay to my sons James, Jonas and Jesse their particular parts when they shall arrive to the age of twenty one years, from time to time as they come to that age without interest providing that the first of said legacies be not paid till one year after my decease except sickness or misfortunes shall make it necessary that the whole or part should be paid sooner and further providing that he my son Timothy shall pay to each of ... my last mentioned six daughters as shall be of the age of eighteen years at my decease the one half of their particular part as aforesaid within one year after my decease without interest and the other half part within two years after my decease without interest excepting that sickness or misfortune or their marrying should make it necessary that the whole or part should be paid sooner. And also pay to the others of my last mentioned six daughters that shall not be of the age of eighteen years at my decease their particular part or portions as aforesaid when or as they shall each arrive to the age of eighteen years without interest providing that may or any of them do not arrive to that age untill two years after my decease excepting that sickness misfortune or marrying so make it necessary that the whole or part hereof should be paid sooner, ... encourage the paying out of the legacies aforesaid, and to prevent many ... in my lands and real estate ... as aforesaid. I will that if ... profits, increase of the bequeathed residue of my estate as aforesaid are not sufficient to defray the publick and necessary taxes shall be assessed on said estate at any time in ... till the expiration of the ... in which the last legacy of my last mentioned four sons and six daughters becomes payable, so that the real estate as aforesaid shall be broke in upon for payment, that then in such case each of my last mentioned four sons and six daughters are each to bear their particular proportion thereof according to ... each own part for that purpose. I will that part... four sons and six daughters who shall ... of their said part previous to the expiration of said . ... shall at the receiving thereof give an obligation to ... his or her proportion of legacy in case the real estate shall be broke in upon for the payment of taxes as aforesaid.
"I will that in case my son Timothy shall decline to hold the land and refuse to pay out as before said, the particular legacies that then my son James shall have the liberty and privilege of holding the land and paying the legacies to all intents and purposes that my son Timothy has reserved for him in this my last will and testament. But if both my sons Timothy and James shall refuse... with cash or to hold the land and pay the legacies as aforesaid that then I will my residue of estate as aforesaid shall be divided and set off to my said mentioned four sons and six daughters as near or may be in the same proportion form and manner as is in this will before set forth namely the sons to have two parts and the daughters one part.
"And I will likewise appoint constitute make and ordain Asaph Fletcher of Westford aforesaid physician and my said son Timothy to be my only executors of this my last will and testament.
"And I do hereby utterly disallow, revoke and disannul all and every other former testaments wills and legacies bequests and executors by me many ways before this time named willed and bequested, ratifying and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this day and year herein before written."
............................................................................ Zechariah Hildreth
"Signed sealed pronounced and declared by the said Zachariah Hildreth as his last will and testament in presence of us the subscribers."
Oliver Sterns,
Peter Hildreth,
Jonathan Hildreth
The inventory of the estate of Zachariah Hildreth was taken 25 July 1785 by a committee of Jonas Prescott, John Abbotsam and Joseph Jewett. Personal property totaled 181 pounds, 7 shillings, and 1 pence, and the real estate was valued at 582 pounds, 13 shillings. It was sworn to by Timothy Hildreth on 21 September 1785.
Timothy Hildreth provided his account of the payments from the estate as follows on 22 September 1790:
"Balance of his former accounts 22 Sept 1790 ..................... L 49:19:00
"cash paid and services rendered as follows:
to Doctor Charles Proctor ................................................ L 1:07:06
paid Thomas Brown ........................................................ 29:15:00
John Robins ...................................................................... 1:06:05
William Whiteing ............................................................ 25:00:00
Samuel Richardson ............................................................ 0:12:00
Ede Hildreth ................................................................... 30:00:00
Jonas Hildreth ................................................................ 51:00:00
Ruth Hildreth ................................................................. 25:00:00
paid to Joshua Reed, guardian of Jesse and Hitty Hildreth 76:00:00
---------------------------------------------------------------------- L 286:19:11
To examaning attorney and recording of this account .... 0:08:06
--------------------------------------------------------------------- L 287:08:05
There are quite a few parts of the will that were not decipherable - those parts are denoted by ellipses ( ... ).
Zachariah Hildreth died with a number of young children, and he tried to provide for them in his will, and it appears that the executor, Timothy Hildreth, tried to distribute the estate according to his father's will. It appears that a son's portion was 51 pounds and a daughter's portion was 25 pounds (Zachariah willed each son a double portion and each daughter a single portion). There are payments to William Whiting (the husband of daughter Lucy Hildreth, 25 pounds), daughter Ede Hildreth (30 pounds), son Jonas Hildreth (51 pounds) and Ruth Hildreth (25 pounds), and the guardian of Jesse Hildreth (51 pounds) and Hitty Hildreth (25 pounds). In addition, 29 pounds was given to Thomas Brown, who was the husband of daughter Esther Hildreth. That accounts for payments to seven of the children. Son Zachariah Hildreth and daughter Hannah (married to another Timothy Hildreth) were given their portions previously. That leaves Timothy himself, son James Hildreth (who died in 1789 before Timothy distributed the estate), and daughter Elizabeth Hildreth (who married Samuel Richardson) without a specific distribution. Samuel Richardson appears on the list of cash paid above - perhaps he borrowed against his wife's portion over the years and the 12 shillings paid off her portion.
Deed records may disclose the location of the family farm and the other properties owned by Zachariah Hildreth. They may also disclose if the real estate was broken up as part of the distribution or if Timothy stayed on the farm, and if his mother stayed on the farm until her death in 1812.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Best of the Genea-Blogs - 18-24 July 2010
...
Hundreds of 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:
* Four Tried and True Systems for Organizing Genealogy Research by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog. Denise provides links to several file organization systems - good advice for the paper stackers and packrats like me.
* Quantum Genealogy by Daniel Hubbard on the Personal Past Meditations - A Genealogical Blog. Daniel has deep thoughts and interesting parallels of genealogy with quantum mechanics.
* Whirlwind Family Connections - My Big Fat Genealogy Adventure by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog. Greta found a cousin and much more through Footnote.com. This adventure has barely begun - road trip!
* John Drake of Windsor, Conn. Redux by Martin Hollick on The Slovak Yankee blog. Martin objectively addresses a commenter's erroneous information. This is a great example of doing it civilly and logically. This type of work has to be done by all of us.
* Docu-Challenge: Charles W. Player death certificate by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. It's great to see Pat doing what she does best - teach and blog! This is an instructive challenge for readers - what are your responses? Make a comment and perhaps win the Greenwood book. Pat has a pretty new blog look too - I love it!
* Genealogical Confidence Game by JT on the filioagnostic blog. JT describes something that all researchers need to be aware of if they are researching "famous" surnames. He does a fine job of debunking a Sir Francis Drake fantasy civilly and logically. Bravo!
* Can You Do Genealogy Without Technology? by Shauna Hicks on the Shauna Hicks Historical Enterprises blog. Interesting question posed by Shauna. She tried! It's possible, but we sure do like our toys, don't we?
* "Hey, Can you Give Me the Family Genealogy?" by Polly Kimmitt on the Pollyblog blog. Polly wants to share her research at the family reunion, and shares her plans for getting information from the relatives.
* Additional “Best” Free Websites for 2010 by Kory Meyerink on The ProGenealogists (R)Genealogy Blog. Kory has suggestions for researchers to add to the Family Tree Magazine list.
* Genealogy Treasure Hunt by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. Lorine has more good ideas (read her other ones too!) for involving children in genealogy. I can hardly wait to start with my grandkids (without their moms knowing about it, of course!).
* The genealogy video game by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. An interesting conversation reported by James - is this how most people view online family tree data? I hope not - if so, we are doomed!
Other "Best of..." weekly pick posts are here:
* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John also links to other weekly pick posts.
* Follow Friday: 23 July 2010 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog.
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! I am currently reading posts from over 650 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
Hundreds of 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:
* Four Tried and True Systems for Organizing Genealogy Research by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog. Denise provides links to several file organization systems - good advice for the paper stackers and packrats like me.
* Quantum Genealogy by Daniel Hubbard on the Personal Past Meditations - A Genealogical Blog. Daniel has deep thoughts and interesting parallels of genealogy with quantum mechanics.
* Whirlwind Family Connections - My Big Fat Genealogy Adventure by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog. Greta found a cousin and much more through Footnote.com. This adventure has barely begun - road trip!
* John Drake of Windsor, Conn. Redux by Martin Hollick on The Slovak Yankee blog. Martin objectively addresses a commenter's erroneous information. This is a great example of doing it civilly and logically. This type of work has to be done by all of us.
* Docu-Challenge: Charles W. Player death certificate by Pat Richley on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. It's great to see Pat doing what she does best - teach and blog! This is an instructive challenge for readers - what are your responses? Make a comment and perhaps win the Greenwood book. Pat has a pretty new blog look too - I love it!
* Genealogical Confidence Game by JT on the filioagnostic blog. JT describes something that all researchers need to be aware of if they are researching "famous" surnames. He does a fine job of debunking a Sir Francis Drake fantasy civilly and logically. Bravo!
* Can You Do Genealogy Without Technology? by Shauna Hicks on the Shauna Hicks Historical Enterprises blog. Interesting question posed by Shauna. She tried! It's possible, but we sure do like our toys, don't we?
* "Hey, Can you Give Me the Family Genealogy?" by Polly Kimmitt on the Pollyblog blog. Polly wants to share her research at the family reunion, and shares her plans for getting information from the relatives.
* Additional “Best” Free Websites for 2010 by Kory Meyerink on The ProGenealogists (R)Genealogy Blog. Kory has suggestions for researchers to add to the Family Tree Magazine list.
* Genealogy Treasure Hunt by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. Lorine has more good ideas (read her other ones too!) for involving children in genealogy. I can hardly wait to start with my grandkids (without their moms knowing about it, of course!).
* The genealogy video game by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. An interesting conversation reported by James - is this how most people view online family tree data? I hope not - if so, we are doomed!
Other "Best of..." weekly pick posts are here:
* Weekly Genealogy Picks by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog. John also links to other weekly pick posts.
* Follow Friday: 23 July 2010 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog.
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! I am currently reading posts from over 650 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
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