CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 19 March, Features Barbara Renick

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month (except December) from 9:00 a.m. to noon on the campus of UCSD, University of California, San Diego. See our map page for directions.
 
The next meeting will be held on 19 March 2011 from 9:00 am to noon. Here are the details:
 
9:00 - No user groups this month; SIG: Cloud Computing

10:00 - Break, refreshments

10:15 - Announcements followed by:

Internet Tools for Genealogists
by Barbara Renick.

    Barbara will demonstrate various types of online tools that genealogists find helpful. Examples of websites for each type of tool will be explored along with some of their hidden features and limitations. Note: Google is not necessarily the best way to find such tools online.

    Barbara is a nationally known genealogy lecturer, speaking frequently at National Genealogical Society, Brigham Young University, and the Federation of Genealogical Societies conferences. She serves on staff and teaches at the Regional Family History Center in Orange, California. Barbara writes for several genealogy publications, including the NGS NewsMagazine, was co-author of The Internet for Genealogists: A Beginner’s Guide, and author of Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family’s History and Heritage which was sponsored by NGS for its 100th Anniversary. Her 'Z' Links page at her www.ZRoots.com website is a favorite tool for many of her students. Barbara also has authored several instructional videos on how to trace your family tree online.

Massachusetts Jewish Cemetery Records on AmericanAncestors.org

From my email...

NEHGS PROVIDES ACCESS TO MASSACHUSETTS

JEWISH CEMETERY RECORDS

Access Program Part of collaboration with

Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts and

American Jewish Historical Society

Boston, MA–March 2, 2011 –The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) today announced that, together with the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts (JCAM), and the American Jewish Historical Society of New England (AJHSNE) have made available for the first time online access to a growing database that currently includes 13 Massachusetts Jewish cemeteries, with approximately 5,000 records. More records are being added weekly until all 106 JCAM cemeteries, which include more than 100,000 total records, are online.

The names in this extensive database cover the years 1844 to the present, and, when completed later this year, will offer access to more than 100,000 names of Jewish Americans buried in Massachusetts.

NEHGS President and CEO, D. Brenton Simons, said, “For genealogists and researchers, this database is a tremendous resource and provides unique access to a set of names vital to Jewish family research. We are pleased to work with AJHS and JCAM in this way. The Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts is a marvelous society for those with Jewish ancestry and we know countless people will benefit from having it available online.”

“This is one of the first of many benefits that will accrue as a result of our strategic partnership with NEHGS,” said Justin Wyner, chair of the Boston Board of Overseers of the American Jewish Historical Society. “This additional resource is of significant genealogical importance. AJHSNE now makes its home inside the NEHGS research center in downtown Boston.

According to JCAM’s Executive Director Stanley Kaplan, “This partnership with NEHGS and AJHS provides people with access to where their loved ones are resting, a source that is known for genealogy,” said Kaplan. “We have broadened …our reach within the community.”

For more information, visit the NEHGS website at www.AmericanAncestors.org , the American Jewish Historical site at www.ajhsboston.org or visit the Jewish Cemeteries Association of Massachusetts at http://www.jcam.org/.

About NEHGS

Founded in 1845, New England Historic Genealogical Society is the country's leading resource for family history research. We help family historians expand their knowledge, skill, and understanding of their family and its place in history. The NEHGS research center, located at 99-101 Newbury Street, Boston, houses millions of books, journals, manuscripts, photographs, microfilms, documents, records, and other artifacts that date back more than four centuries. NEHGS staff includes some of the leading expert genealogists in the country, specializing in early American, Irish, English, Italian, Scottish, Atlantic and French Canadian, African American, Native American, and Jewish genealogy. Our award-winning website, www.AmericanAncestors.org, provides access to more than 135 million searchable names in 3,000 collections.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 144: The Carringer Home in 1926

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 photograph is of the Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer home that was moved in 1926 from 2105 30th Street (the northeast corner of 30th and Hawthorn Streets) to the middle of the block on the east side of 30th Street midway between Hawthorn and Ivy Streets.  The house, as it looked in 1925, is shown in (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 143: The Carringer Home in 1925.  Another view of the house soon after it was built in about 1895 is in (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 140: The 30th Street House.
Another post that shows the two houses are in The house I grew up in.

Comparing the photographs shows many differences between the two buildings shown in the photographs.  From what I can tell, the changes made to the house included: 

*  The house front porch was modified so that it faced only south and became an alcove, and a living room and den were added on the west side (essentially where the west porch was).  The lower flat became 2115 30th Street.
*  A separate second story flat was created by adding to the existing rooms, eliminating the inside staircase, and building two staircases on the north side for the front entry and the kitchen exit, resulting in 2119 30th Street.
*  The structure was then stuccoed over, and the roof was flattened, so that the original frame of the house could not be discerned.

These changes must have taken place over an extended time period.  The family would have moved their belongings to another place (perhaps to the new two-story apartment built on the same block on Fern Street?), then prepared the new site for the house on 30th Street, prepared and moved the house (how? on a truck? on rollers? I doubt that they took it apart and rebuilt it), remodeled the house, and moved back in.  I wonder how long it took, and who did the work? 

"A Horrid Murder" in Alexandria

I posted  Amanuensis Monday - a Seaver Merchant in Washington D.C. yesterday, and asked the questions "Who was he?" and "What happened to him?"  No one answered... so I'll tell you today "what happened to him."

This article appeared in the New York Evening Post newspaper on 11 July 1821, reprinting an item from the National Intelligencer (of Washington DC) of 9 July 1821 (and found on GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/)):

The article says:

"From the National Intelligencer, July 9.

"Horrid murder -- Yesterday morning was found in the bushes by the side of the road leading from the Potomac Bridge to Alexandria, and not far from Sebastian spring, the body of Mr. William Seaver, a respectable merchant and grocer of this city.  He was shot through the head and had his throat cut!  His pockets were empty -- and doubtless rifled.  He had been to Alexandria to purchase goods, and was on his return; and, it is supposed, was shot on Friday evening, about sunset, as a report of a gun or pistol is said to have been heard about that time.  May swift justice overtake the final murders!  The bloody deed was committed in the county of Alexandria, and it is earnestly hoped the people there will be able to trace the miscreants.  We have not heard all the circumstances; but suspicions are abroad as to the perpetrators of this deed, it being supposed there was more than one.  We are sorry to say that Mr. S. has left a wife and several children, to bear most heavily the shock of this atrocious crime, which a just Providence will not permit to pass unpunished."

An interesting, and tragic, twist of fate, isn't it!  Will the perpetrators be apprehended?  Will a reward be offered for information?  Who is the family?  Answers to come in future posts.

Exploring WikiTree- Post 4: Editing a Person Page

...
I uploaded a GEDCOM file to WikiTree in the first post of this series.  In Post 2 in this series, we explored the Family Tree and navigation within the tree on the WikiTree site.  In Post 3, we saw what was included on a Person Page previously edited.

In this post, we will show the process to Edit a Person Page.

As a Profile Manager of a Person's Page, I can edit  the content on that page.  Other registered users, who are on the "Trusted List" for that page, can edit the content also.

Starting from the Person Page for my grandmother, Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (the first screen form Post 3):

To Edit a Person Page, the Profile Manager or Trusted List person clicks on the "Edit" button in the menu line just below the person's name.  The "Edit Profile for..." screen opens:

The information on this person is laid out in fields for each vital record, including:

*  Names fields: Prefix, Proper First Name, Preferred First Name, Other Nicknames, Middle Name, Last Name at Birth, Current Last Name, Other Last Name, and Suffix (bold items are required).
*  Birth fields:  Birth Date, Birth Place.
*  Death fields: Death date, Death Place
*  Gender
*  Email address (if living) [Note: When you add/replace an e-mail address for a living family member they will be invited to join. E-mail addresses aren't used for spam.]

For each of the Name sub-fields, there are check boxes to denote certainty of the entry (uncertain, certain).  For birth dates, there are check boxes to denote about/uncertain, exact/certain, before this date, after this date, and blank for extra privacy. For birth places, the check boxes are for uncertain, certain, and blank for extra privacy.  For death dates, the check boxes are for about/uncertain but definitely not living, exact/certain, before this date, after this date, and still living.  The check boxes for death places are uncertain, certain, and still living.  These vital record entries are very well organized and logical, but it will be a chore to go through each person and check the applicable boxes. 

On the right side of the screen above is the list of the Person's family - their Father, Mother, Siblings, Spouses and Children - with each name linked to their own Person Page.  If a user wants to add a spouse or children, this is one place to add them.  Here is the "Add/Edit Child" page:

If the child already has a WikiTree profile, the user adds their WikiTree ID number to the box in the first line and clicks the "Add Child to the Person and the child is added to the list.  If the "new" child has no profile already, then the fields for names, birth and death can be entered.  There is a box to check or uncheck if the spouse of the mother is correct.  In the screen above, the default last name was the mother's current last name, which was Richmond in her Person Page, rather than Seaver (her husband's name), so users beware!

It appears that WikiTree puts the added child in the correct birth order based on the birth date - I added another child for my grandparents as a trial.  Further down this "Add/Edit Child" screen, the user can remove children from the list by clicking the box next to their name. 

Back to the "Edit Profile for..." screen, and further down the screen is:

On the right side of this screen is an opportunity to add or edit photographs.

The person's biography notes can be edited in the "Edit Bio Notes" section shown above.  The Notes that came across in the GEDCOM file are already here, with some HTML coding.  The Profile Manager and Trusted List users can add or delete information in this Notes section at will.  Since this is a wiki, the Changes are saved (you can see them in the "Changes" button on the Person Page menu).

The Notes section can be edited with fairly primitive tools - the buttons are Bold, Italicize, Internal Link (another person profile), External Link (a web page), a Level 3 Headline, Ignore Wiki formatting, and Horizontal Line (use sparingly).  There are editing Tips in the area to the right of the Notes field with handy methods to help you get links correct in the Notes field. 

The Notes that came over in the GEDCOM file have two colons to denote a line break.  However, even with a double line break, there are no blank lines when the Notes are printed on a Person Profile.  I played around with these for awhile and managed to mess up this profile (all but one paragraph ended up indented about an inch for some reason).  I'll have to go Change it back to the earlier version.

If the editor wants to add text copied from another resource, the editor can use the "Ignore Wiki formatting" editing tool and Paste the text into the area between the HTML code.  Using the NoWiki code messes up the wiki-like text in my recent experience to the point that I don't want to touch it again!

Hmmm, I see a way to see all of the Changes, but don't see a way to revert back to an earlier version.  Perhaps the Help function can tell me; I didn't see anything that helped me revert to an earlier version of a Person Profile.

At the bottom of the "Edit Profile for..." page, the field to enter "Personal Memories of..." is provided for memories from the Trusted List persons.

With any changes to the "Edit Profile for..." page the user has to click on the "Save Changes" button to make them active.

That's enough for today...if you are just starting out with WikiTree, please read my earlier posts and read the WikiTree Help page. 

I will discuss Privacy issues in the next post.  After that, we'll see what develops.

Tuesday's Tip - use the U.S. Military Indexes site

...

Today's Tuesday's Tip is:  Use the U.S. Military Indexes (http://www.militaryindexes.com/) site to find information and online databases with United States military records.

On this site created by data portal whiz Joe Beine, there are sections for the major wars that the United States participated in, including:

* Revolutionary War
*  War of 1812
*  Mexican-American War
*  Civil War
*  Spanish-American War
*  World War One (World War I)
*  World War Two (World War II)
*  Korean War (Korean conflict)
*  Vietnam War

In general, each page has a listing of online databases at a national level, and then at the state level, with each state identified.  Collections on some subscription services are listed with a "requires payment" note.

This site is my "go-to" data portal when I'm searching for military records online.

Exploring WikiTree- Post 3: Viewing a Person Page

I uploaded a GEDCOM file to WikiTree in the first post of this series.  In Post 2 in this series, we explored the Family Tree and navigation within the tree on the WikiTree site. 

In this post, we're going to look at the page created by WikiTree after the GEDCOM upload to determine what was transferred into the WikiTree system. 

I decided to show the "Person Page" for my paternal grandmother, Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (1882-1962).  Here is the top of her Person Page (Private view):

On the right-side of this page is a link for the profile manager or another registered user to upload  "Photos of ..." the person.  Below that is a "Public Bulletin Board" where other registered users of WikiTree can add messages to the profile manager about the person (limit of 800 characters, and anyone can see it on the person's public profile).

On the left side of the page is a listing of the person's "Facts" - birth information (date, place, parents), sibling information (names with links to their person pages), marriage information (spouse, date, place), children (with links to their pages) and death (date, place).  The places have small icons that, when clicked, take the reader to a Google Map of the place. 

Below the Facts is a notation on the manager of the Person profile, and when the person was created on WikiTree.  The page notes "The following data was included in the gedcom. You may wish to edit it for readability."

The "Contents" section has links to the sections for different elements -- Birth, Death, User ID, Data Changed, Note, Burial, Reference, Marriage, and Sources.  The start of this section is shown above, and the screen below shows the start of the "Contents" elements:

If a Source is provided for a Fact, it is provided with a link to the Source number in the Source list further down the page.  For instance, the Birth Fact gives a Source number of S106 (assigned in the GEDCOM file), with the "Page" line containing the citation detail copied from the GEDCOM file.

The start of the Notes section of "Contents" section is shown below:

I had line breaks in my Notes with blank lines between paragraphs, and those blank lines were not included in the WikiTree notes.

Further down are the Facts for Burial, Reference (I'm not sure what this is -- I think it's the Reference number for the person in the GEDCOM file), and Marriages:

In the Marriages section, the marriage of my grandparents is listed, with their children.

However, the marriage of her parents with their children is also listed.  I don't understand why this is, except that it shows the connection of the Person to her parents and siblings.  Any person named has a link to their own Person Page for easy navigation.

The screen below shows the continuation of the screen above, and includes the first Source Fact in the list:

The Source Fact includes the Repository number and then the Repository information.

At the bottom of the Person Page, is a field where the Profile Manager and Trusted Persons can add "Personal Memories" of the person:

These "Personal Memories" will show up on the Public Profile of the Person.

All in all, it appears to me that all of the information about this Person that was in my RootsMagic 4 database has come across via the GEDCOM file into WikiTree.  The Facts, Notes, Sources and Repositories are not mangled and appear just as they do in RootsMagic, with one exception:  In RootsMagic, the dates are listed and sorted with lower case month names (e.g., Sep) while WikiTree lists them in capital letters (e.g., SEP).  My guess is that this is a GEDCOM artifact.  My preference would be to spell out the month without abbreviation (e.g., September).

In the next post, I'll show, and comment on, the process for Editing the information on a Person Page profile.

Take the Genealogy Habits, Attitudes and Origins Survey

I received an email this morning from Myles Proudfoot, a marketing professional and genealogist.  He created an online  research survey about people's genealogy habits, attitudes and origins. Myles says that he will be happy to share the results with libraries, family history organizations or societies at no cost.
He invited me to participate in the survey, as well as to share the link to this survey with any genealogy-minded friends, associates, or blog readers.  So here it is:

Access to the survey: http://tinyurl.com/69kntun

This survey takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete, but it is one of the very best that I've seen.  I encourage my readers to participate in it so that the habits, attitudes and origins of the genealogical community can be discerned.

I don't know if there is a deadline or not.

Amanuensis Monday - a Seaver Merchant in Washington D.C.

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 a notice in the City of Washington Gazette, dated 14 December 1820, page 4, accessed on GenealogyBank (http://www.genealogybank.com/).  William Seaver, whose identity I did not know until yesterday, started this interesting grocery business.

This notice reads (with the different components of each product type in one line):

Wholesale and Retail

Grocery and Commission Store

The subscriber informs his friends and the public, that he has taken the large and commodious store, the west-house in Varnum's new Row, on Pennsylvania Avenure: where he intends keeping a complete assortment of Groceries, consisting in part, of the following articles:

New Orleans, St. Croix, and Leaf  } SUGARS.

Gunpowder, Imperial Young Hyson  } TEAS

Oranges, Almonds, English Walnuts, Muscatel, Bloom and Keg Raisins, Prunes and other } FRUITS

London particular Madeira, London particular Teneriffe, Sicily Madeira and Choice Claret } WINES

Nutmega, Cinnamon, Pepper, Alspice and other } SPICES

Cognac Brandy, Spanish Brandy, Best Holland Gin, Best American do [Gin], Jamaica spirits, Antigua do [Spirits], New England do [Spirits], and other } LIQUORS.

Best Havana Segars, best London bottle Mustard, Keg do Honey, Sugarhouse West and India Molasses, Mould and Dipt Candles, Cheese, Jamieson's Crackers, Windsor and brown Soup, Chocolate, &c &c
"Best Esmily Flour, Buckwheat Flour and Penobscot Potatoes.

A great variety of other articles, on hand, which, with additional supplies, daily expected, will form a complete assortment.

N.B. All goods sent home for customers gratis, and if not approved, taken back, and the money returned.
"WILLIAM SEAVER.

Isn't that an interesting notice?  The products sold in a grocery store in 1820 were different from those sold in 2011, aren't they?  The same notice appeared in this newspaper into January 1821 in an effort to get the business started and thriving.

What happened to this William Seaver?  Who was he?  Where was he born?  Who were in his family?  We'll find out during the next week here on Genea-Musings.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 6 to 12 March 2011

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:

*  Genealogy Citations: Good, Better, Best by Joan Miller on the Luxegen Genealogy and Family History blog.  Some excellent advice here - do the best you can, but do it!  Joan has some advice for the societies and communities involved too.

*  Across My Desk: 6 March 2011 Ideas for Blogging by Pat Richley-Erickson on the DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog.  Ol' Myrt found some favorite posts from the last week - good reads!

*  How does a wiki work?, Why does a wiki work? by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  An interesting series of posts.

*  Using Land Records to Solve Genealogical Problems - Part 1 and Part 2 by Michelle Goodrum on The Turning of Generations blog.  An excellent explanation of finding and using BLM land records.

*  The Best Resource You're not Using: Historical Societies by Kerry Scott on the Clue Wagon blog.  I agree - one of the best!  Great post.

*  South Davis Fair: Selective Blindness by the writer iof The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr AI sums up Dan Lawyer's talk about FamilySearch collections, and why they may or may not be digitized and indexed.

* A GeneaBlogie Dialogue: The Future of Professional Genealogy by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog.  Craig "talks" to lawyers Noe Udont and Patricia Lust about their journey into professional genealogy.  Funny.

*  Jeremiah is Found . . . Thanks to a 130 year old Mistake! by Margel on the 2338 W. Washington Blvd. blog.  I love detective stories, and Margel has one - follow her tracks in finding an ancestor's sibling.

*  Dealing with Criminals in Your Family Tree by Melody Lassalle on The Research Journal blog.  Mel raises an interesting point...and tells us a bit about her family black sheep too.

*  Introducing the B&F Forms System by Philip Trauring on the Blood and Frogs blog.  Philip has created some useful family history forms - check them out.

* Coming to Canada - An Irish Family Experience - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 by Ian Hadden on the Ian Hadden's Family History blog.  What a fascinating story about Ian's mother's family.

*  Top 10 Scenes I’d Like to See on “Who Do You Think You Are?” by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog blog.  Funniest post of the week - Greta lets her imagination run wild here. 

*  WDYTYA – Episode 2×05 – The Nitpicker’s Version by Banai Feldstein on The Ginger Jewish Genealogy blog.  Banai discusses the Lionel Richie episode of WDYTYA? like a genealogist should. 

*  From Theory to Fact: 30 Years in the Making by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  A great research story, and excellent wisdom from Lorine, who never gave up on this research problem.

*  Rich in Genealogy by Cheryl Palmer on the Heritage Happens blog.  A wonderful post recapping the social networking opportunities we have these days.  Our monitors overflow with genea-pages!

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

*  Friday Newsletter and Follow News: 11 March 2011 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Blog blog.

*  Follow: Friday - Around the Blogosphere - March 11 by Susan Petersen on the Long Lost Relatives.net 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 820 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.