(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 136: Lyle Carringer Family in about 1924

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.

Here is a photograph from the Seaver//Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:

This family photograph was taken in about 1924, based on the apparent age of the little girl, who is my mother, Betty Virginia Carringer.  Her parents are also shown - Lyle and Emily (Auble) Carringer.  And the family dog, Rex. 

I don't know exactly where this picture was taken - my best guess is at a greenhouse in Balboa Park in San Diego.  One of Emily's interests was flower arrangements, and they may have been on a Sunday outing to the park, which was less than two miles away from their home.

James H. Dill in Newspaper, Cemetery and Book Records

Continuing my online research (see James H. Dill in the Vital and Census Records) looking for clues of the life of James H. Dill, perhaps a brother of my Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith, I checked the online historical newspapers, cemetery records, and did a Google Books search.  Here are some of the results:

1)  Newspaper articles:

a)  From the Boston Daily Advertiser, dated 16 October 1822 (on http://www.genealogybank.com/):

"For Gibraltar and Malage, The stanch sailing fast brig CARAVAN, James H. Dill master, having three quarters of her cargo engaged, and loading, will be despatched immediately.  for freight or passage, aplly to LEMUEL POP, Jr. or THO'S THAXTER, State street.  N.B. A gentleman will go out in the brig and take charge of any business entrusted to his care."

b)  From The National Advocate [New York City?], Monday, 19 July 1824, in "List of Letters Remaining in the Post-Office  on the 15th Day of July" (in 19th Century U.S. Newspapers" on http://www.americanancestors.org/):

"Capt. James H. Dill"

b)  From the Spectator [New York], dated 20 March 1827:

"MELANCHOLY SHIPWRECK
Extract of a letter from Capt. James H. Dill, late master of big Potomac, of boston.
--ST. CRUZ, Tenerife, Nov. 20, 1826
--Sir: I am sorry to have to announce to you the unfortunate loss of the Potomac.  When we had performed our quarantine, and discharged our cargo that we had to Grand Canary, we came directly to this place, and were waiting here to obtain license from the government to take passengers, for within a few months an order has been sent out here, froim the King, preventing all foreign vessel from taking natives of these islands away; consequently we kept the vessel here to to wait the result of an interest with the government, to go on with the expedition, and finally, a few days previous to the loss of the vessel, we succeeded, and had taken in a large quantity of stores, &c for the passengers; and, the day before we were ready to sail for Lanzaretto, there came on one of the most tremendous hurricanes that the oldest inhabitants remember to have witnessed in these islands.  Notwithstanding it came on very suddenly, and right on shore, I had got off a chain cable and anchor, from the shore, before the communication to the vessel became impracticable, -- but the storm raged with increasing fury, every vessel parted, and went on to the beach, one after another, the wind hauling every fifteen minutes, so that no vessel could ride a strain on more than one cable, till at length my small bower parted, and the chain was let go, and a scope veered out -- the sea was very bad, the boats all washed away, the vessel was unable to bear so hard labour, and leaked very badly; still, every thing was done to keep her free, and to save her, but all in vain -- at half past 9, the best bower parted, and the chain and anchor would not bring her up, and she was dashed against the rocks, and in five minutes nothing was to be seen of the Potomac but some small pieces afloat in the surf; and with her my mate and cook shared the same fate; the rest, some made their escape by throwing themselves from the yards and rigging on to the rocks, and some were thrown up by the sea on to the rocks, with broken arms and legs; and I have scarcely recovered yet sufficiently to write you a description of the shocking scene.  The general destruction in all the islands, has not left a vessel that we can procure.
[The Potomac was to take her passengers to Lanzaretto and proceed to Monte Video.]"

There are many articles about a James H. Dill in New York City during the 1830 to 1850 time frame who was appointed by the Governor of New York to several offices there, including a Notary Public and Commissioner of Deeds for Kings County.  I am unsure if this is the same person as the Ship Captain.  I don't think that it is, the 1840 U.S. Census shows a James H. Dill residing in Brooklyn, Kings County, NY with several children.  The 1850 census shows a James Dill age 58 in Southfield, Richmond County, NY married to an Eliza Dill with four children. 

2)  Cemetery Records

I went on to Find-A-Grave and input James Dill and New Jersey in the search fields, and was rewarded with :

a)  James H. Dill
Birth: 1796 Massachusetts, USA
Death: 1862
husband of Ruth T. Dill
father of Mary Elizabeth Burnet
Burial: Hillside Cemetewry, Madison, Morris County, New Jersey, USA

b)  Ruth T. Dill
Birth: 1799, Massachusetts, USA
Death: 1866, New Jersey, nUSA
wife of James Dill
mother of Mary Elizabeth Burnet
Burial: Hillside Cemetery, Madison, Morris County, New Jersey, USA

3)  Google Books (http://books.google.com/):

Biographical and Genealogical History of Morris and Sussex Counties, New Jersey, Volume 1,  Lewis Publishing company, 1899.

in the sketch on page 290 for J.D. Burnett is this paragraph:

"Samuel D. Burnett, father of our subject, also carried on agricultural pursuits and was one of the valued citizens of the community, whose interest in public affairs, manifested by active co-operation therein, led to many public improvements, notably the beautifying of the Madison cemetery.  He was a very active church worker sand a consistent member of the Presbyterian church, in which he long served as a member of the board of trustees.  He was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Dill, a daughter of James Dill, a sea captain, and to them were born seven children, as follows: James D., Samuel F., Roland C., William I., Mary E., Ruth, who became the wife of William Linn, of Chatham, and Martha."

I found the Samuel D. Burnet family in the 1860 U.S. Census residing in Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey, with Mary E. Burnet aged 37 born in Massachusetts.  In the 1870 U.S. census, the family  resided in Chatham, Morris, New Jersey; Mary E. Burnet was age 45 born in Massachusetts.  They were also in the 1880 US Census in Chatham, with Mary E. Burnet aged 57 born in Massachusetts, and parents born in Massachusetts.  In the 1900 US Census, Mary E. Burnet was a widow residing in Chatham with two of her adult children, age 75, born September 1824 in Massachusetts, parents born in Massachusetts.

All of this indicates that James H. Dill was a sea captain born in Massachusetts, married to Ruth, with a daughter Mary Elizabeth Dill, who married Samuel D. Burnet and had seven children.

I may have missed some newspaper articles or Google matches.  More searching is required.

So far, I have no conflicting evidence that the sea captain and the man residing in Chatham, Morris, NJ with wife Ruth is the James H. Dill that married Ruth Cushing in 1819 in Boston. 

But I have no evidence at all that this is the same James H. Dill, Esquire, that bought the land of Alpheus B. Smith in 1841 in Medfield, Massachusetts, and a relative of Elizabeth H. (Dill) Smith. 

What about online family trees?  Now I have a daughter's name - perhaps a descendant has posted an online tree?

FTM2011 Source Citations in RootsMagic 4 - Mangled?

I posted some source citations created in Family Tree Maker 2011 using the source templates, as a benchmark, in an effort to understand how they translate via a GEDCOM file to other genealogy software programs that I have available. 

I imported the GEDCOM file created by FTM 2011 into RootsMagic 4 yesterday, and looked at the same source citations in RootsMagic (the "Footnote").  The results are (with some entries showing the Source Comments also because they are sometimes informative):

 Vital records index (imported from FTM2011)

State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento,CA,USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center forHealth Statistics, "California Death Index, 1940-1997", Rootsweb, California Death Index,1940-1997 (Name: accessed onhttp://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi;), Maybelle C. Wright entry, Death Date 31 March 1964, Death place SanDiego (80), Birth date 17 May 1902, Mother's maiden name Ashdown.

The source screen for this citation is shown below:

As you can see, RootsMagic shows the Master Source Name (this shows up in the Source List), the Footnote citation, the Short Footnote citation and the Bibliography field, based on the Source information and any detail citation information.  There are buttons at the top of the box for Quality and Repository, a button for "Source Detail" More at the bottom.

The FTM 2011 sources imported into RootsMagic 4 as a "free-form" citation (see note at top right of the box).  So, any source template work in FTM 2011 does not come into RootsMagic, as I expected.

Here are the rest of them:

Vital records certificate (imported from FTM2011)

Registrar of Births, Department of Public Health, San Diego, SanDiegoCounty, California, California, San Diego County, Certificate of Registration, Register ofBirths (Name: Name: not published;;), Department of Public Health Certificate No. NC-867 (1943).

Published book (imported from FTM2011)

Blaine Whipple, Whipple, Blaine, History and Genealogy of "Elder" John Whipple ofIpswich, Massachusetts (Name: Name: Victoria, BC, Canada: Whipple Development Corporation,2003;;).

Record Commissioners of Boston, Record Commissioners of Boston, A Report of the Record Commissionersof the City of Boston Containing Dorchester Births, Marriages andDeaths to the End of 1825 (Name: Boston, Mass., Rockwell & Churchill, City Printers, 1890;)

Robert S. Wakefield (editor), Wakefield (editor), Robert S., Mayflower Families Through FiveGenerations (Name: Boston, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1997;), page 6.

Periodicals (imported from FTM2011)

Caroline Martino and Marcia Lindberg, Martino, Caroline, "Henry Collins of Lynn and his Descendants" (Name: Name: The Essex Genealogist, starting Vol. 10, #3-4 (1990), Vol11,#1-3 (1991), Vol 12 #4 (1992);;)

Elizabeth French Bartlett, Bartlett, Elizabeth French, " Genealogical Research in England" (Name: Name: New England historical and Genealogical Register, Volume76,Number 2 (April 1922), pages 115-129;;)
Source comments:
Bartlett, Elizabeth French. " Genealogical Research in England:Weeden". New England Historical and Genealogical Register,. Volume76, Number 2 (April 1922): Pages 115-129.

Newspaper articles (imported from FTM2011)

San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California (online archive) (Name: Name: San Francisco CA (accessed on www.SFGenealogy.com);;), Frederick Schaffner Death Notice, 1 July 1899, page 10.

Census records (imported from FTM2011)

1930 U.S. Census, Population Schedule; NARA Microfilm Publication T626, San Diego County, California, San Diego city; ED 116, Sheet 5A,Dwelling #142, Family #148, Lyle L. Carringer household, Roll 192.

Probate Records (imported from FTM2011)

Massachusetts, Worcester, Worcester County [Mass.] Probate CourtRecords, Abigail Gates, 1867; Probate Packet 52,857 (viewed at Worcester CountyCourt House).

Cemetery Marker (imported from FTM2011)

Woodside Cemetery (Westminster, Massachusetts), Grave Markers, Benjamin Seaver monument.

Family papers (imported from FTM2011)

Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Della (Smith) Carringer, others, Personal Notesand Letters to Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Della (Smith) Carringer, others,Smith/Carringer Family Letter Collection, 1888-1902 (Name: Name: unpublished;;).
Source comments:
Smith/Carringer Family Letter Collection, 1888-1902. Privately heldby Randall J. Seaver, Chula Vista CA 91911.

Family Bible (imported from FTM2011)

unknown, Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, 1828-1946, Carringer Family Births,Marriages and Deaths (loose pages) (Name: no publication information;).
Source comments:
Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, Carringer Family Births, Marriages andDeaths (loose pages), 1828-1946. unknown title. unknown location:unknown publisher, unknown date; before 1901. Privately held byRandall J. Seaver, Chula Vista, California 91911. 1988-2011.
Loose Birth, Death and Marriage pages in hand of Rebecca (Spangler)Carringer, Della (Smith) Carringer and Lyle L. Carringer

For reference purposes, I entered information for this last citation into the RootsMagic 4 source template for "Bible Records" to see how it looked: 

Family Bible (Using RootsMagic 4 Template:)

Family data, Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer Family Bible, Carringer Family Births, Marriages and Deaths (loose pages): (1828-1946), (unknown place: unknown publisher, unknown date); original owned in 1988–2011 by Randall J. Seaver, [address for private use].

Listed below are items that I noticed resulting from the export of the FTM 2011 database into a GEDCOM file and then importing that file into the RootsMagic 4 program:

*  All of the Master Sources in RootsMagic are Free-form" format. [no surprise to me...]

*  There are often two words stuck together that should have a space between them.  This happens in the Notes also for an FTYM 2011 to RM4 GEDCOM import. [I have heard that this is because of FTM's use of the concatenate tag (CONC) rather than the Continuation (CONT) tag in the GEDCOM file.]

*  Any italicization of titles or other fields was lost. [no surprise here, GEDCOM is a pure text file without formatting]

*  The Publication fields are pretty messed up, with the word "Name" added, and sometimes the words "Name: Name:" added at the beginning of the field.  There are also semi-colons added to the end of most publication fields. [this surprised me, both program have the same fields]

*  Authors names for published books, periodicals and newspaper articles are sometimes duplicated.  FTM 2011 has separate fields for lead author surname, lead author first name, and other authors names. [not surprised due to different fields in different programs]

*  The order of source elements is different from the FTM 2011 template order, and many elements in the FTM 2011 templates are provided in Source Comments in RootsMagic 4. [not surprised, RootsMagic tries to put data into the free-form fields.]

*  The repository data is provided in the Repository field in RootsMagic 4 as opposed to in the actual Source Citation in FTM 2011 (if selected by the user). [logical to me why this happened]

I'm sure that there are more differences for each citation type. 

The purpose of this post was to show the differences, and not assign blame or make suggestions for improvement for either program.  An examination of the GEDCOM file text would indicate which GEDCOM tags are used to export the file to determine if the exporting program or the importing program create the problems.  A fair test would take template sources from RootsMagic and import them into Family Tree Maker 2011 using the same process.

However, it does demonstrate the problem that GEDCOM export/import of sources badly often mangles the sources carefully created using source templates in the original program.  The ideal situation is that every bit of information in the imported program using GEDCOM is identical in content and format to the information in the exporting program.

I'm still wondering if it is worth the time to use the source templates in any program, or just use free-form citations (created perhaps using Evidence! Explained models).

We will look at Legacy Family Tree 7 tomorrow.

RootsTech Open Interactive Discussions

I'm monitoring the FamilySearch Bloginar right now, and the big news from the RootsTech (February 10-12) conference is that there will be five open interactive discussions with moderators and interactions with the audience.  They are:

*  Thursday, the 10th, 1:00 p.m.: "Value and Use of APIs" with The Ancestry Insider

*  Thursday, the 10th, 4:15 pm.: "How should we handle sources?" with Rick Laxman

*  Friday, the 11th, 9:45 a.m.: "Exploring cemetery Solutions" with Gordon Clarke

*  Friday, the 11th, 1:00 pm.:  "How do we define a person?" with Phil Windley

*  Saturday, the 12th, 9:45 a.m.:  "Genealogical Data Standards" with The Ancestry Insider

These sound very interesting - I wish I could be there!

More to come! 

Tuesday's Tip - Check your files from time to time!

This week's Tuesday's Tip is to:  Occasionally check the records and documents that you have collected in your search for elusive ancestors.

As I explained in Alpheus Smith, Elizabeth Dill, Forrest Gump and SNGF, I had not checked the papers collected for Alpheus and Elizabeth (Dill) Smith for a long time.  I had checked my Dill paper files from time-to-time, but not the Smith files.  When I searched for the probate records of Alpheus Smith, in about 2002, in the Norfolk County [Mass.] Probate Records on FHL microfilm, I made copies of about 15 pages.  In a rare paper filing binge, I put them under the "Smith family"tab in the four-inch thick "Medfield families" binder on my bookshelf.  Frankly, I don't remember reading them carefully at the time, and I didn't abstract or transcribe them at the time. My bad!  If I had, I would have seen the "clue" that might lead me to solve my Elizabeth Horton Dill: A Very Elusive Ancestor problem eight years later.

I have about 40 linear feet of paper in my bookcases, and thousands of scanned or digitized documents in my computer, that may contain more clues to solving my elusive ancestor problems.  The answer is, of course, ORGANIZATION.  I need to organize all of those files better, and access them more frequently. 

What surprises lurk in your genealogy files just waiting to be discovered?  You won't know until you look through those files.  Do it on a regular basis!  Now I need to do as I say, eh?

James H. Dill in the Vital and Census Records

James H. Dill, the buyer at auction of the property of Alpheus B. Smith in Medfield in 1840 may have been the brother of Elizabeth Horton Dill.  There is a birth record for a James Dill in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts on 20 November 1792, son of Thomas and Hannah (Horton) Dill.  I also found a marriage record in a search on the http://www.americanancestors.org/ site for a James H. Dill to Ruth T. Cushing on 11 March 1819 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.  I also searched the http://www.americanancestors.org/ site for children born to a James Dill or a Ruth Dill in Massachusetts, and found no listings that fit. 

I don't know if this is the right James H. Dill or not, but it is a solid lead, so I will pursue it a bit in online historical records and family trees.

I have found that James H. Dill and his wife Ruth are fairly elusive in the United States census records.

My searches so far have used search terms on http://www.ancestry.com/ like:

*  Jam* D?ll
*  Jam* Dil*
*  Rut* D?ll
*  Rut* Dil*
*  Jas D?ll
*  J. D?ll
*  R. D?ll
*  J. Dil*
*  R. Dil*

From those searches, I have only these results that I think represents them:

1)  1820 US Census - in Boston 3rd Ward, Suffolk County, Massachusetts:

*  James Dill, aged 26-44
*  female, aged 18-25

2)  1830 US Census - not found

3)  1840 US Census = not found

4)  1850 US Census - not found

5)  1860 US Census - in Chatham, Morris, New Jersey ( Roll:  M653_704; Page:  862; Image:  397; Family History Library Film:  803704.)

*  James H. Dill, aged 62, a "gentleman," born in Mass.
*  Ruth Dill, aged 58, a "lady," born in Mass.

6)  1870 US Census - not found

7)  1880 US Census - not found

Well, that wasn't as productive as I hoped it would be!  You would think that a "gentleman" would appear in more census records.  It's not possible to tell from the limited information above if James and Ruth had any children. 

There are other James Dill persons in the census records - for instance in 1850 there are these born before 1800:

*  James Dill, born 1783, born Maine, residing in Phillips, Franklin, Maine, wife is Nancy
*  James Dill, born 1792, born NJ, residing in Winslow, Camden, NJ, wife is Ann
*  James Dill, born 1792 in NY, residing in Southfield, Richmond, NY, wife is Eliza
*  James H. Dill, born 1808 in Maine, residing in Dixmont, Penobscot, Maine, wife is Lydia

Since the James H. Dill on the probate record was a "esquire" in 1840 and the James H. Dill that married Ruth Cushing in 1819 was a "gentleman" in 1860, he may be "High Society," or at least some wealth, you know.

 What other records can I search online?  Cemetery, Military, NJ Deaths, Newspapers, what else?

Source Citations Created in Family Tree Maker 2011 - some examples

I wrote five posts last week about some of the problems I encountered while creating source citations in Family Tree Maker 2011 using the source templates.  I've created about 100 source groups using the source templates to the best of my ability.

The next step in this study is to show some of my source citations created by the FTM 2011 source templates so that I can compare them to the source templates created by other programs from a GEDCOM file of my FTM 2011 database. 

In other words, how mangled do my carefully crafted source citations get mangled when they are exported from FTM 2011 to other programs.  I must note that any differences are not solely the fault of either of the programs involved - it means that their GEDCOM export and import processes are different.

Why do this?  Well, I still have more than 500 source groups to convert from free-form sources to template sources, and I want to know if it is worth my time to convert them.  And if I do, which sources get mangled through GEDCOM to another program or to an online family tree.  Or, am I stuck with using FTM 2011 once I've used their source templates?
Here are some of my source citations created by the FTM 2011 templates:

 Vital records index

"California Death Index, 1940-1997", Rootsweb, California Death Index, 1940-1997 (http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi).), Maybelle C. Wright entry, Death Date 31 March 1964, Death place San Diego (80), Birth date 17 May 1902, Mother's maiden name Ashdown.

Vital records certificate

Certificate of Registration, San Diego County, California, Department of Public Health Certificate No. NC-867 (1943). "This is to Certify that Randall Jeffrey Seaver was born on October23, 1943 in the City of National City, San Diego, Calif."; Department of Public Health, San Diego County, California.

Published book

Blaine Whipple, History and Genealogy of "Elder" John Whipple of Ipswich, Massachusetts: (Victoria, B.C., Canada: Whipple Development Corporation, 2003). Carlsbad Georgina Cole Library, Carlsbad California, USA, (1250 Carlsbad Village Dr., Carlsbad, California, USA).

Record Commissioners of Boston, A Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston Containing Dorchester Births, Marriages and Deaths to the End of 1825: (Boston, Mass.: Rockwell & Churchill, City Printers, 1890). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

Robert S. Wakefield (editor), Mayflower Families Through Five Generations: Volume 13: Family of William White (Boston, Mass.: General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1997), page 6. Carlsbad Georgina Cole Library, Carlsbad California, USA, (1250 Carlsbad Village Dr., Carlsbad, California, USA).

Periodicals

Caroline Martino, Marcia Lindberg, "Henry Collins of Lynn and his Descendants", The Essex Genealogist Volume 10, #3-4; Volume 11, #1-3; Volume 12 #4 (1990-1992). New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

Elizabeth French Bartlett, " Genealogical Research in England: Weeden", New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 76, Number 2 (April 1922): Pages 115-129. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

Newspaper articles

Frederick Schaffner Death Notice, 1 July 1899, page 10, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, California, online images (http://www.sfgenealogy.com/).

Census records

1930 U.S. census, population schedule, NARA microfilm publication T626, San Diego County, California, San Diego city; ED 116, Sheet 5A, Dwelling #142, Family #148, Lyle L. Carringer household, Roll 192; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com).

 

Probate Records

Worcester, Massachusetts, Worcester County [Mass.] Probate Court Records, Abigail Gates, 1867; Probate Packet 52,857 (viewed at Worcester County Court House); Worcester County Courthouse, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Cemetery marker

Woodside Cemetery (Westminster, Massachusetts), Benjamin Seaver monument.

Family papers

Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Della (Smith) Carringer, others, to Abigail (Vaux) Smith, Della (Smith) Carringer, others, Personal Notes and Letters , Smith/Carringer Family Letter Collection, 1888-1902; privately held by Randall J. Seaver, Chula Vista CA 91911.

Family Bible

Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer, 1828-1946, Carringer Family Births, Marriages and Deaths (loose pages), unknown title (unknown location: unknown publisher, unknown date; before 1901); privately held by Randall J. Seaver, Chula Vista, California 91911, 1988-2011.

Note that some of the selected source citations above have source details and comments in them. 

I made the FTM 2011 GEDCOM export file after creating those citations, and will import the GEDCOM file to RootsMagic 4, Legacy Family Tree 7, and Family Tree Maker 16.

Amanuensis Monday - Insolvency Sale of Land of Alpheus B. Smith

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a 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."

The subject today is the probate file of Alpheus B. Smith (1798-1840) of Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.  The papers are in Probate Packet No. 16,776 in the Norfolk County [Mass.] Probate Court records.  The Probate Docket Book (on FHL Microfilm 1,509,414) for this particular packet lists the following records in the probate packet (with volume and page numbers from the Probate Court Clerk's registers):

1840 Feb. 4: Petition for appt. of Admor filed

1840 Feb. 4: Letter etc.(Hinsdale Fisher appointed); 73:239

1840 Feb. 4: Bond filed; 73:240

1840 Feb. 4: Allowance to widow; 73:739

1840 Feb 15: Inventory filed; 73:766

1840 June 2: Petition for Dower Order; 73:712

1840 June 2: Special Guardianship; 73:931

1840 Aug 4: List of claims filed; 73:794

1840 Aug 4: Petition for sale of real estate filed

1840 Aug 4: Sale of real estate, Order and oath; 73:671

1841 May 4: Insolvency represented, Commr; 74:1154

1841 May 4: List of claims filed; 74:998

1841 May 4: Sale of Real Estate, Return; 74:1163

1841 Aug 21: Dower to Widow, Return; 74:1207

1841 Nov. 2: Account of Admor. Filed, last.ret.Dec.4; 74:1006

1841 Dec 4: Account of Admor. Allowed; 74:550

1842 Jan 4: Report of Commr filed; 74:550

1842 Feb 8: Report of Commr accepted; 75:1145

1842 Feb 8: Order to Distribute; 75:1145

Alpheus B. Smith died intestate on 13 January 1840 in Medfield, leaving a widow (Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith) and two minor children (Lucretia Townsend Smith and James Alpheus Smith).  Hinsdale Fisher was appointed administrator of the estate.  After taking an inventory and itemizing the just debts and administrator's charges, the court ordered the sale of the real estate on 4 August 1840.  This was done in April 1841, and reported to the Court on 4 May 1841. 

The Sale of Real Estate Return by Administrators affidavit has this information (from the Probate Docket Books, and Record Books (1793-1916) for Norfolk County [Mass.] Probate Court Records, Volume 74, Page 1163, on FHL Microfilm 0,842,818) recorded on 4 May 1841:

“Administrators Sale of Real Estate

Will be sold at auction by order of the Court of Probate for the County of Norfolk on Wednesday the 21^st day of April next at 3c30m on the Premises all the Real Estate of which Alpheus B. Smith late of Medfield died seized and possessed of (except the widows right of dower consisting of about 16 acres of mowing and pasture lands, adjoining the dwelling house of the deceased. Also the reversion of the widow's dower being the house and barn of the deceased, with about three fourths of an acre of land on which the buildings now stand. Conditions at Sale. Medfield March 30, 1841. Hinsdale Fisher, Adm'r.

“Pursuant to a Decree of the Court of Probate holden at Dedham in the County of Norfolk on the first Tuesday of August AD 1840 I ???? upon the time and place mentioned in the foregoing advertisement for the sale of the Real Estate therein described and sold the same at Public Auction on the twenty first day of April AD 1841 as follows to wit: sixteen acres of land situated in Medfield to James H. Dill Esq for $288, the reversion of the Widow's Dower to James H. Dill Esq for 70.00. [Total] $358.00

“And I the said Hinsdale Fisher testify and say that the above is a true account of the sale of the real estate of the said Alpheus B. Smith, and that I caused an advertisement of the sale of said real estate of which the above is a copy, to be published three weeks prior successively to the time of sale therein.”

“S. Leland Judge of Probate”

This is only one document in the Probate Packet.  The full packets are not available on Family History Library microfilms - only the Clerk's copies recorded in the Probate Court Records are available on microfilm.  All of the papers in this packet are in three volumes, but they are on three different microfilms.  I have many of the papers in the packet, but not all of them.  The next time I go to Salt Lake City, I will find and obtain the rest of them. 

The affidavit transcribed above has several important pieces of information - most interestingly to me, the name of the buyer of the land and of the widow's dower.  Is James H. Dill the father, a brother, or an uncle of Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith, the widow of Alpheus B. Smith?  Or is he not related to her?  That seems far-fetched - my guess is that he is a relative.

I now have a description (in other records in this packet) of the land owned by Alpheus B. Smith, and I need to find the deed that granted the land to him, and the deed that sold the land to James H. Dill and any subsequent sale by him.  I will do this at Salt Lake City also since it will involve several microfilms to find all of the records.

Elizabeth H. Smith resided in Medfield until after the 1860 census was taken, and my guess is that James H. Dill quitclaimed the land back to her to live on and she earned some money by renting out a part of the house to boarders. 

Alpheus Smith, Elizabeth Dill, Forrest Gump and SNGF

When I wrote the post Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestral Name List Roulette, little did I know that I was about to have a Forrest Gump Genealogy Moment.  Some people call it Serendipity...

I've referred to Forrest Gump Genealogy Moments (FGGM) before - see the Forrest Gump Principle of Genealogy Research, which states "Genealogy research is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to find, but you have to look everywhere your 'genealogy gem' might be hiding." This was certainly an FGGM!

My FGGM on Saturday afternoon came about because I:

1)  Chose this topic after four hours of wondering what to write about (I've used it before - when in doubt, pick an oldie but a goodie).

2)  Chose my paternal grandfather rather than my maternal grandfather - that resulted in #34, Alpheus B. Smith (1798-1840) rather than #29, Sarah G. Knapp (1818-ca 1900).  I actually knew more about Sarah.

3)  Rather than solely rely upon the information in my genealogy database, I actually pulled the four-inch thick notebook with the Medfield, Massachusetts families from the bookshelf and checked the Smith section.

Whoa - lookee here - I didn't add the probate records for Alpheus B. Smith to my database when I found the probate record list and copied some of them back in whenever (I'm thinking like 2001 or 2002) - I don't have a record of when I searched them, only copies of the records themselves.  True confession:  I'm bad Randy the Researcher - the research log entries ended in 1994.  There's also a grantee land record list with information about the transaction when he bought the farm in Medfield.

The FGGM came about when I realized that one of the probate papers in the probate packet named a person who is probably one of Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith's (that's Alpheus Smith's wife, and mother of my great-great-grandmother, Lucretia (Smith) Seaver) brothers.  Shazzaamm! 

Funny how FGGMs happen, isn't it?  Thank you, SNGF! 

I will transcribe some of the records involved and present them in some of the meme posts this week.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 9 to 15 January 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:

*  Further thoughts on metagenealogy by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James discusses the Genealogical Proof Standard with some interesting conclusions.

*  10 things my ancestors did to annoy me by Caroline Gurney on the Caro's Family Chronicles blog.  Caro has some interesting ancestors if they did all of these things.  And some research challenges too.

*  Where did the IGI Go? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr. AI has the answer, and also some comments about the IGI value and validity.

*  Online Sources for Western European Research by Leslie Albrecht Huber on The Journey Takers blog.  Leslie blesses her readers with an excellent summary here, at least for Scandinavia!

*  What Makes You Like A Genealogy Program? by Louis Kessler on the Louis Kessler's Behold Blog.  Louis thinks he knows, do you agree?

*  Salt Lake Institute: Day #1, Salt Lake Institute Day #2 , Salt Lake Institute: Day #3, by Pat Richley-Erickson on the DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog.  Pat summarizes each day at the Salt Lake Institute of genealogy.  It's not as good as being there, of course.  Where's Days 4 and 5?  Maybe Pat's still doing her homework in the FHL.

*  Those Places Thursday ~ Famous Dave's with Sheri Fenley by Cheryl Palmer on the Heritage Happens blog.  Two smart blonde genea-bloggers go out to plan their genealogy work for 2011 - sounds like fun!  Where's Sheri Fenley's report?  It's at BBQ, Bonding and Cracking The Whip at The Educated Genealogist blog.  I mssed it in my reading - sorry, Sheri! 

*  The Reality of Genealogical Education and Skills by Marian Pierre-Louis on the Roots and Rambles blog.  Marian answers the unspoken question "What's the point of wasting time blogging and trying to educate people?"

* Some Advice on Hiring a Professional Genealogist by Leslie Albrecht Huber on The Journey Takers blog. Leslie doesn't take clients, but has advice for those that want to hire a professional.

*  A Little Bit Closer to Charlotte Manson by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog.  Craig found some interesting material online to help him in his Manson line - hard research here!

*  This Newsletter is Fifteen Years Old! by Dick Eastman on the Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter blog.  Congratulations to Dick - and thank you!  Please keep it up!

*  Monday at SLIG: shifting gears , Tuesday at SLIG: old things new, Wednesday at SLIG: the pace picks up, Thursday at SLIG: snow and the library, Friday at SLIG: Our revels now are ended -- or just begun?, by Harold Henderson guest-blogging on the Utah Genealogical Association blog.  It was fun reading about the Salt Lake Institute of genealogy classes through Harold's eyes.  Wish I'd been there!

Several other genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts this week, including:

*  Friday Newsletter and Follow News: 14 January 2011 by Greta Koehl on the Greta's Genealogy Bog blog.

*  Follow Friday: Around the Blogosphere - January 14 by Susan Petersen on the Long Lost Relatives.net blog.

*  Best Bytes for the Week of January 14, 2011 by Elizabeth Swaney O'Neal on the Little Bytes of Life blog.

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Google Reader, RSS 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 760 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

UPDATED: 6 p.m. - added Sheri Fenley's post to the list since I missed it during the week, and she wrote a nice comment reminding me of my indiscretion.