It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.
2) Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.
3) Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries. If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5! Or 10!
4) Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.
NOTE: If you can't figure out how to do this in your GMP, use the Help button and search for "count persons" then follow directions.
Here's mine:
I'm going to use RootsMagic 4 because that's where I'm doing my current additions, deletions and editing and is my most up-to-date collection. In RootsMagic 4, go to Reports, then Lists and scroll down to "Surname Statistics List." I then chose "Frequency of Surnames" from the list presented.
That took about 20 seconds and I have a 118 page list! I didn't count every one of them - there are 117 pages with 47 names per page, plus the last page has 31. That's a grand total of 5,530 surnames in my database with 39,740 persons. The top 10 are, with birth date ranges:
* SEAVER - 4,021 persons, from 1608 to 2010
* BUCK - 651 persons, from 1585 to 1965
* SMITH - 612 persons, from 1525 to 2005
* VAUX - 515 persons, from 1620 to 2006
* FITZ RANDOLPH - 498 persons, from 1565 to 1884
* DILL - 439 persons, from 1652 to 1982
* RICHMAN - 351 persons, from 1622 to 1985
* NEWTON - 308 persons, from 1690 to 1997
* CHAMPLIN - 306 persons, from 1618 to 1903
* CULVER - 287 persons from 1700 to 1970
I have 167 Mary's without a surname, and 147 Elizabeth's without a surname, and 127 persons without any name at all (there's a blank line for this one!).
Of course, if I added up all the persons without a surname, my LNU's are probably the biggest group on the list.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Surname Saturday - RITTER (Germany > Pennsylvania)
...
It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 193, who is the mother of #96 Martin Carringer, whose name I don't have a clue about! Number 195 is the mother of # 97 Mary Hoax, who I ave no clue about. #197 is the wife of #98 Stephen Feather, whose name I don't know (another FNU LNU). #199 is the mother of the wife of #98 Cornelius Feather, who is another FNU LNU. Finally, #201 is Maria Magdalena RITTER (about 1706 - about 1784), another of my 5th-great-grandmothers. [Note: The 5th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts]
It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I am up to number 193, who is the mother of #96 Martin Carringer, whose name I don't have a clue about! Number 195 is the mother of # 97 Mary Hoax, who I ave no clue about. #197 is the wife of #98 Stephen Feather, whose name I don't know (another FNU LNU). #199 is the mother of the wife of #98 Cornelius Feather, who is another FNU LNU. Finally, #201 is Maria Magdalena RITTER (about 1706 - about 1784), another of my 5th-great-grandmothers. [Note: The 5th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts]
My ancestral line back to Maria Magdalena RITTER is:
1. Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-....)
2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)
6. Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)
7. Emily Kemp Auble (1899-1977)
12. Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946)
13. Abbie Ardell "Della" Smith (1862-1944)
24. David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902)
25. Rebecca Spangler (1832-1901)
50. John Daniel Spangler (1781-1851)
51. Elizabeth King (1796-1863)
100. Rudolf Spangler (1738-1811)
101. Maria Dorothea Dinkel (1748-1835)
200. Johann Balthazar Spengler, born 29 November 1706 in Weyler, Hilsbach, Rhine, Germany; died 1765 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the son of 400. Hans Rudolf Spengler and 401. Marie Saeger. He married 29 April 1732 in Weyler, Hilsbach, Rhine, Germany.
201. Maria Magdalena Ritter, born about 1706 in Germany; died about 1784 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
Children of Johann Baltzer Spengler and Maria Magdalena Ritter are:
i. George Spengler, born 20 March 1732 in Weyler, Hilsbach, Rhine, Germany; died 02 October 1810 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Anna Maria Schultz; born 03 June 1735; died 22 January 1803 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
ii. Juliana Spengler, born 25 October 1734 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 1770 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Johann Frantz Wilhelm Bickle 12 December 1757 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; born 25 October 1734 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 1770 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
iii. Johann Baltzer Spengler, born 16 April 1735 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 01 August 1798 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Christina Messerschmidt; born February 1741; died 24 August 1821 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
iv. Michael Spengler, born about 1737 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died August 1793 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Margaret Dinkel; born 23 December 1760 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 01 April 1822 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
v. Rudolf Spangler, born 08 August 1738 in Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States; died 05 August 1811 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Maria Dorothea Dinkel 01 January 1767 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
vi. Elizabeth Spengler, born 1740 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 25 November 1825 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Francis Koontz 05 November 1764 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States; born about
vii. Daniel Spengler, born about 1742 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 1783 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Mary Elizabeth Leightner 29 December 1765 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
viii. John Spengler, born 29 June 1747 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 11 October 1796 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; married Margaret Beard 1777 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; born 01 September 1753 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States; died 01 September 1845 in York, York, Pennsylvania, United States.
All I know about the Spangler families and their wives came from the book:
Edward W. Spangler, The Annals of the Families of Caspar, Henry, Baltzer and George Spengler, who settled in York County, respectively, in 1729, 1732, 1732, and 1751 : with biographical and historical sketches, and memorabilia of contemporaneous local events (York, Pennsylvania : York Daily Publishing Company, 1896).
Friday, March 25, 2011
NEHGS AmericanAncestors.org has a FREE Guest Account
I'm not sure that I remember that the New England Historic Genealogical Society offered a FREE guest account in the past, but I received an email from NEHGS today saying that the one I have is expiring by the end of the month. Note that I also have a fully paid NEHGS membership that includes access to the full set of online collections on the www.AmericanAncestors.org website.
I wondered - what does the FREE guest account include? Here is the home page for the www.AmericanAncestors.org site:
In the very top line, above the American Ancestors banner, is a link for "Free Account." I clicked on the link:
There is a large "Register Now" link at the bottom of this page.
The "Free Account" page lists the following benefits of registering:
* 10 Free Databases - see list below
* Online Genealogist - David Allen Lambert's regular column
* American Ancestors Magazine - only a search for articles, and selected articles from earlier publications
* The NEHGS Library Catalog
* Educational Resources - Getting Started, Online Seminars, and Articles
The Ten Free Databases page shows (two screens):
The ten free databases are:
* Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850
* Social Security Death Index, to Feb. 201
* New England Ancestors Magazine
* Search for Missing Friends: Irish Immigrant Advertisements, 1831-1920
* Index of Revolutionary War Pensioners
* New York Wills, 1626-1836
* Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati
* Gloucester, MA: Burials
* Ware, MA Families
I do note that many of these free databases are available on other free or commercial database providers, but you have to search for them. The Webinars and articles offered in the Learning Center are free to access without a free account.
If any of these databases might be helpful to you, then a free account at www.AmericanAncestors.org might help you with your research. After awhile, the free account will expire and you will be asked to join NEHGS ($79.95 per year, includes the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (a quarterly peer-reviewed journal) and American Ancestors magazine (five issues per year), plus access to all of their online databases.
I wondered - what does the FREE guest account include? Here is the home page for the www.AmericanAncestors.org site:
In the very top line, above the American Ancestors banner, is a link for "Free Account." I clicked on the link:
There is a large "Register Now" link at the bottom of this page.
The "Free Account" page lists the following benefits of registering:
* 10 Free Databases - see list below
* Online Genealogist - David Allen Lambert's regular column
* American Ancestors Magazine - only a search for articles, and selected articles from earlier publications
* The NEHGS Library Catalog
* Educational Resources - Getting Started, Online Seminars, and Articles
The Ten Free Databases page shows (two screens):
The ten free databases are:
* Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850
* Social Security Death Index, to Feb. 201
* New England Ancestors Magazine
* Search for Missing Friends: Irish Immigrant Advertisements, 1831-1920
* Index of Revolutionary War Pensioners
* New York Wills, 1626-1836
* Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati
* Gloucester, MA: Burials
* Ware, MA Families
I do note that many of these free databases are available on other free or commercial database providers, but you have to search for them. The Webinars and articles offered in the Learning Center are free to access without a free account.
If any of these databases might be helpful to you, then a free account at www.AmericanAncestors.org might help you with your research. After awhile, the free account will expire and you will be asked to join NEHGS ($79.95 per year, includes the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (a quarterly peer-reviewed journal) and American Ancestors magazine (five issues per year), plus access to all of their online databases.
Exploring Wikitree - Post 9: Another Search for Matches
Previous posts in this series are in the summary post The Exploring WikiTree Compendium.
One of the possible uses of any online family tree system is that it be searchable for potential common ancestors submitted by the registered users of the website. A successful search may result in communication and collaboration between researchers to the (hopefully) mutual benefit of all involved.
In Post 8, I mentioned that I had not found any potential matches in the WikiTree system to my profiles, but I searched manually, and only casually, using the Search fields at the top of the WikiTree page.
There is another way to search for Matches: On the user's "NavPage," there is a link to search for potential matches. Here's my NavPage:
The link to the "Search for Matches to see if your tree overlaps with others" feature is just above the small To-Do list box which is just above the images I've uploaded at the bottom of the screen above. I clicked on the link and saw the "Find Possible Matches" screen:
On this screen, I entered the surname "white" in the field. The Note says: "This search tool is brand new. It will return many 'false positives,' i.e. suggest matches that are incorrect. We will be releasing improvements to the matching system soon."
Fair enough, at least it searches the WikiTree system. Here are the results for White (two screens shown, but six pages for White):
At the bottom of each page is a button to "Look for more matches." This Search feature seems to take every person with the White surname in my tree and finds persons with the same given name and surname in all of the trees on WikiTree. The matches include my own WikiTree entries that do not match exactly. The information provided for each potential match includes:
* Name
* Birth date
* Death date
* Profile manager (with a link)
* "Merge" link
There are colored buttons next to the names. I've seen open, green and red so far. I don't know exactly what they mean. Logic indicates that red would mean "definitely not a match" and green would mean "a potential match." There must be some algorithm in play here.
I did find one possible match - for Lydia White born 10 May 1686. I wonder why this match, which has the name and birth date correct, isn't highlighted with some sort of "exact match" button? Perhaps it's because the birthplaces and the death dates didn't match. Here is the profile for my Lydia White:
Here is the profile for the found Lydia White:
I requested to be on the Trusted List for this Lydia White. If I am accepted, then I can merge my profile with the matching profile. Collaboration! It works, if people play in that sandbox.
Since I did not have ancestors of my Lydia White in the GEDCOM I uploaded (but I do have them in my database), I may upload a small GEDCOM to cover this line in order to help this researcher.
One thing I noticed when I was going through the Profiles for the "end-of-line" ancestors in my WikiTree, like Lydia White, is that the siblings are listed but not the parents. Which means if I upload a new GEDCOM for, say, the ancestors of Lydia White, I will have to merge the two Lydia White Profiles that I've uploaded, and probably will have to merge the siblings also. It may be easier to upload a GEDCOM with the parents, without their children, and then connect my Child to the Parent. We'll see how this works out!
One of the possible uses of any online family tree system is that it be searchable for potential common ancestors submitted by the registered users of the website. A successful search may result in communication and collaboration between researchers to the (hopefully) mutual benefit of all involved.
In Post 8, I mentioned that I had not found any potential matches in the WikiTree system to my profiles, but I searched manually, and only casually, using the Search fields at the top of the WikiTree page.
There is another way to search for Matches: On the user's "NavPage," there is a link to search for potential matches. Here's my NavPage:
The link to the "Search for Matches to see if your tree overlaps with others" feature is just above the small To-Do list box which is just above the images I've uploaded at the bottom of the screen above. I clicked on the link and saw the "Find Possible Matches" screen:
On this screen, I entered the surname "white" in the field. The Note says: "This search tool is brand new. It will return many 'false positives,' i.e. suggest matches that are incorrect. We will be releasing improvements to the matching system soon."
Fair enough, at least it searches the WikiTree system. Here are the results for White (two screens shown, but six pages for White):
At the bottom of each page is a button to "Look for more matches." This Search feature seems to take every person with the White surname in my tree and finds persons with the same given name and surname in all of the trees on WikiTree. The matches include my own WikiTree entries that do not match exactly. The information provided for each potential match includes:
* Name
* Birth date
* Death date
* Profile manager (with a link)
* "Merge" link
There are colored buttons next to the names. I've seen open, green and red so far. I don't know exactly what they mean. Logic indicates that red would mean "definitely not a match" and green would mean "a potential match." There must be some algorithm in play here.
I did find one possible match - for Lydia White born 10 May 1686. I wonder why this match, which has the name and birth date correct, isn't highlighted with some sort of "exact match" button? Perhaps it's because the birthplaces and the death dates didn't match. Here is the profile for my Lydia White:
Here is the profile for the found Lydia White:
I requested to be on the Trusted List for this Lydia White. If I am accepted, then I can merge my profile with the matching profile. Collaboration! It works, if people play in that sandbox.
Since I did not have ancestors of my Lydia White in the GEDCOM I uploaded (but I do have them in my database), I may upload a small GEDCOM to cover this line in order to help this researcher.
One thing I noticed when I was going through the Profiles for the "end-of-line" ancestors in my WikiTree, like Lydia White, is that the siblings are listed but not the parents. Which means if I upload a new GEDCOM for, say, the ancestors of Lydia White, I will have to merge the two Lydia White Profiles that I've uploaded, and probably will have to merge the siblings also. It may be easier to upload a GEDCOM with the parents, without their children, and then connect my Child to the Parent. We'll see how this works out!
The Genealogism Blog Collection
I' ve been remiss in collecting all of the Genealogisms submitted last week during the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by bloggers, Facebookers, emailers and commenters. Here are the blog posts written:
* Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Contribute to the Genealogisms Dictionary by Randy Seaver on the Genea-Musings blog.
* Saturday Night Genealogy Genealogisms by Tina Sansone on the Gtownma's Genealogy blog.
* Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Genealogisms! by Daniel Dillman on the Indiana Dillmans blog.
* SNGF: Common Genealogy Terms Defined by Chris Staats on the Staat's Place blog.
* Genealogisms by Caroline Gurney on Caro's Family Chronicles.
* Genea-Dipity – a.k.a. Lucky Finds & Unusual Coincidences – Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by Sherry Stocking Kline on the Family Tree Writer blog.
* Some Geneanonsense by Bill West on the West in New England blog.
I haven't listed blog comments or email comments yet - I'll add them to the list of Genealogisms when I get it finished.
For the historical record, Chris Dunham (author of The Genealogue) coined the word "genealogisms" and provided a fine list in 2005 in Genealogisms. These are classics!
If I missed some blog posts with Genealogisms, please let me know via comments or email (rjseaver@cox.net) and I'll add them to the list. I started this list on Sunday and never updated it after that.
Last updated: 27 March 2011
* Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Contribute to the Genealogisms Dictionary by Randy Seaver on the Genea-Musings blog.
* Saturday Night Genealogy Genealogisms by Tina Sansone on the Gtownma's Genealogy blog.
* Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Genealogisms! by Daniel Dillman on the Indiana Dillmans blog.
* SNGF: Common Genealogy Terms Defined by Chris Staats on the Staat's Place blog.
* Genealogisms by Caroline Gurney on Caro's Family Chronicles.
* Genea-Dipity – a.k.a. Lucky Finds & Unusual Coincidences – Saturday Night Genealogy Fun by Sherry Stocking Kline on the Family Tree Writer blog.
* Some Geneanonsense by Bill West on the West in New England blog.
I haven't listed blog comments or email comments yet - I'll add them to the list of Genealogisms when I get it finished.
For the historical record, Chris Dunham (author of The Genealogue) coined the word "genealogisms" and provided a fine list in 2005 in Genealogisms. These are classics!
If I missed some blog posts with Genealogisms, please let me know via comments or email (rjseaver@cox.net) and I'll add them to the list. I started this list on Sunday and never updated it after that.
Last updated: 27 March 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Testing DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Paper Organization System
I've taken the liberty to post about my Genealogy Cave before - see A look at the Genea-Cave and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - show us your Genealogy Space, even with pictures! The situation is worse now, since I keep finding more useful papers, receiving more magazines, and haven't done any real filing (other than making the piles taller) for a long time.
I decided that I need to organize my paper files and my computer files with a better system, while doing the necessary filing into notebooks and folders. In the process, I can clean out some of the detritus in my notebooks, such as printouts from the LDS Ancestral File from the early 1990s.
But what system to use? I recalled that DearMYRTLE published a series of articles called "Getting Organized" back in 2009, so I went looking for them. I found five articles for the months of January through May 2009, respectively. They are still online at:
http://www.dearmyrtle.com/09/JanuaryOrganizationChecklist.pdf
I decided that I need to organize my paper files and my computer files with a better system, while doing the necessary filing into notebooks and folders. In the process, I can clean out some of the detritus in my notebooks, such as printouts from the LDS Ancestral File from the early 1990s.
But what system to use? I recalled that DearMYRTLE published a series of articles called "Getting Organized" back in 2009, so I went looking for them. I found five articles for the months of January through May 2009, respectively. They are still online at:
http://www.dearmyrtle.com/09/JanuaryOrganizationChecklist.pdf
While they don't exclusively deal with paper file organization, they do address it in some detail. What I like about Ol' Myrt's system is that:
* Having a Surname Notebook for each surname (or perhaps a small group of surnames) keeps all of the useful information about an ancestral line together in one place. I can put a research log, a pedigree chart, family group sheets, BMD records, Bible pages, narrative reports, photographs, document images, newspaper articles, correspondence, research notes, and reference papers (handwritten notes, book chapters, periodical articles, webpage printouts, etc.) all in one location so that I can pick it off the shelf when I want it.
* Ol' Myrt recommends keeping all information about a specific family together. For example, a family section in the Notebook might include the Family Group Sheet with the research notes, the birth, marriage and death records, the Bible pages, the family photographs, newspaper articles, etc. in approximately that order. All of that would be in one Tab, with the special things like certificates, newspaper articles and photographs in sheet protectors.
* I like the idea of having a pedigree chart and a narrative report (e.g., Descendants of the earliest known Ancestor with that surname) in the front of the report, perhaps including the document images and photographs, from a genealogy software program or a word processing document. The correspondence, research notes and reference papers would be in the back of the Notebook after the information for the earliest family.
* Information about collateral lines of the surname (i.e., not the ancestral line) could be filed in a separate Tab, or even in a separate Notebook (or in several notebooks). I have information for a number of One-Name studies that I keep in separate notebooks. I am not a slave to an organization system!
* In a perfect research world, all of the information in the Notebook would be included in the "Genealogy Management program" (software or online family tree) in the Facts and Notes, including source citations and document/photograph images. I am painfully aware that my research world is very imperfect!
* DearMYRTLE says in her "Getting Organized" articles that her system will (paraphrased):
"... make the Surname notebook read like a Coffee Table book. Everything that you need is in the book in family order from most recent to oldest known ancestral family for that surname. Having everything together makes it easier to photocopy or scan the material for a family member or researcher. If you ever write a book, you have everything in one notebook. If you die, all of your research on that family is well organized."
Well! That certainly sounds good. How hard can this be? I found a spare notebook, and created a Surname notebook for the Auble family. I printed out the Family Group Sheets, a pedigree chart and a Descendants report from the first known AUBLE ancestor in my line - six generations (the narrative report was 48 pages, since this is one of my One-Name studies). I put all of that in the AUBLE Notebook separated by tabs. Today, I found my Auble research notebook in the bookcase, weeded out some extraneous papers, and took all of the papers that directly pertain to my six families and put them in the "right places" in the Notebook. Next, I found the birth, death and marriage certificates and other records I have for my Charles Auble family, and put them behind the Charles Auble FGS. Lastly, I put the research papers in the back of the Notebook under the Supporting Documents tab.
I haven't printed out the Census and other record images that I have in my computer files, but I will. I haven't collected all of the photographs yet on the computer, but I will. There are likely more in the "Big Box of Family Photos" sitting on a file cabinet top under three feet of more stuff, and I need to find them and scan the ones that I don't have digital images of.
I'm aware that, using this process, I created quite a bit more paper to add to the Notebook, but if I want it to read like a Coffee Table book, I need to do that.
One of the immediate fall outs from this exercise on the Auble family was that I found all of the source material that I need to use to source the assertions in my Genealogy Management program. I spent an enjoyable hour today (have I mentioned that entering sources is one of my genea-pleasures now?) entering sources from one of the resources that are now in the Auble Surname Book.
I'm not "married" to this filing system yet - and I've modified it a bit for my own use, but I like it quite a bit, and want to "test it" before I fully commit to it. Thank you, beautiful and wise DearMYRTLE!
I may discuss the changes I've made to my computer file organization system sometime later. For now, I need to create some more Surname notebooks so that I can refine the system before I go through hundreds of ancestral surnames.
UPDATED: 7 pm. to edit some text.
UPDATED: 7 pm. to edit some text.
Exploring Tpstry - Post 1: Getting Started
What is Tpstry?
"Tpstry is a place to discover and share not only past family memories, but also the new memories made everyday."
The About Us page at http://www.tpstry.com/ says:
"As we, the Tpstry founders, got older, we began to realize that we wanted to know more about many of our relatives who had already passed away. We wanted to know what they were like as kids, who were there favorite entertainers, what jobs had they worked at. Unfortunately we couldn't talk directly to them, but we could talk to our other living relatives who knew them. By using the combined knowledge of our living relatives, we could learn so much more about our deceased relatives. Since we had already missed our chance with our deceased relatives, we didn't want to miss our chance with our living relatives. So we could ask them the same questions and learn even more about everyone in our family.
"Thus, Tpstry was born as a place to discover and share not only past family memories, but also the new memories made everyday."
After reading today's press release, I decided to go explore Tpstry. I registered - it was easy. I even get a free web site (http://www.tpstry.com/site/s/seaver). Is Tpstry free? Yes and no - there is a free Basic Plan and a Premium Plan (coming soon). The Basic Plan includes:
* What is Randy Seaver's gender?
* What is Randy Seaver's eye color?
* What is Randy Seaver's hair color?
* What is Randy Seaver's birthday?
* Who is Randy Seaver's father?
* What is Randy Seaver's birthday?
And so on. The questions seem endless. Once you identify a father and a mother, then the system starts asking questions about the other persons.
I noticed that I would fill in the blank, and then move to the next question, and the same question would appear later on in the list. The user has to click on the "ANSWER" button to register the answer! If you don't know the answer, or don't want to answer the question, you can click on the "Does not apply" link in the answer box. The question boxes look like this:
I answered lots of questions, first about myself, and then about other ancestors. I did not add any siblings, but I could and the questions would eventually ask who the father and mother are. After adding 17 persons (all ancestors), and answering 131 questions to date, I decided to see what "My Website" looked like:
There are tabs for People, Places, Events, Images and Timelines to click on. The People tab shows a list of the people that I've entered to date:
I clicked on the link for Alma Bessie Richmond and saw:
From this page, I cannot answer more questions about this person. Apparently, I have to wait until Tpstry asks me the questions that I have answers for. Oh well.
In order to answer all of the questions to date, I had to have my RootsMagic database open to check the dates and places that I don't have in my memory bank.
I was perturbed by the need to give answers more than once to some questions; by the questions about the last name of persons that I had entered with a full name; by the questions asking what city or state a place was in when I had entered a city and state; and by the limited set of questions. I understand that they want the users to submit memories, but nobody had a car before 1900, very few people know what color hair or eyes their grandparents had, or where and how they were engaged. The questions about employment assume that a person worked for a business, which wasn't the case, in general, before 1900.
I can see potential for the Tpstry website if the question set is expanded and there are answers to some of my questions, such as:
* How do I edit the answers? I made some mistakes, and need to change the answers.
* How do I answer a question after I've clicked on "Does not apply?"
* How do I call up more questions about a specific person? It's a lot easier to answer questions about specific persons using the information for that person in my genealogy database.
* What are Events? I've entered quite a few birth, marriage and death dates and they don't show up in the Events list.
* Is there a Stories element, where users can type in stories, or is all of the information based on the answers to the questions?
* Will Tpstry incorporate a GEDCOM upload? Of unlimited size, or limited size? What data will be imported?
Tpstry wants users to invite their family members to help add to the vital data, to answer more questions about persons, to share their images, and to share their stories.
There is a lot more to Tpstry, and I'll try to point some of them out in later posts.
"Tpstry is a place to discover and share not only past family memories, but also the new memories made everyday."
The About Us page at http://www.tpstry.com/ says:
"As we, the Tpstry founders, got older, we began to realize that we wanted to know more about many of our relatives who had already passed away. We wanted to know what they were like as kids, who were there favorite entertainers, what jobs had they worked at. Unfortunately we couldn't talk directly to them, but we could talk to our other living relatives who knew them. By using the combined knowledge of our living relatives, we could learn so much more about our deceased relatives. Since we had already missed our chance with our deceased relatives, we didn't want to miss our chance with our living relatives. So we could ask them the same questions and learn even more about everyone in our family.
"Thus, Tpstry was born as a place to discover and share not only past family memories, but also the new memories made everyday."
After reading today's press release, I decided to go explore Tpstry. I registered - it was easy. I even get a free web site (http://www.tpstry.com/site/s/seaver). Is Tpstry free? Yes and no - there is a free Basic Plan and a Premium Plan (coming soon). The Basic Plan includes:
- Create multiple families
- Invite others to join your family
- Add unlimited number of people, places and events
- Upload unlimited number of images
- View family information in a Timeline format
- Unique family URL
* What is Randy Seaver's gender?
* What is Randy Seaver's eye color?
* What is Randy Seaver's hair color?
* What is Randy Seaver's birthday?
* Who is Randy Seaver's father?
* What is Randy Seaver's birthday?
And so on. The questions seem endless. Once you identify a father and a mother, then the system starts asking questions about the other persons.
I noticed that I would fill in the blank, and then move to the next question, and the same question would appear later on in the list. The user has to click on the "ANSWER" button to register the answer! If you don't know the answer, or don't want to answer the question, you can click on the "Does not apply" link in the answer box. The question boxes look like this:
I answered lots of questions, first about myself, and then about other ancestors. I did not add any siblings, but I could and the questions would eventually ask who the father and mother are. After adding 17 persons (all ancestors), and answering 131 questions to date, I decided to see what "My Website" looked like:
There are tabs for People, Places, Events, Images and Timelines to click on. The People tab shows a list of the people that I've entered to date:
I clicked on the link for Alma Bessie Richmond and saw:
From this page, I cannot answer more questions about this person. Apparently, I have to wait until Tpstry asks me the questions that I have answers for. Oh well.
In order to answer all of the questions to date, I had to have my RootsMagic database open to check the dates and places that I don't have in my memory bank.
I was perturbed by the need to give answers more than once to some questions; by the questions about the last name of persons that I had entered with a full name; by the questions asking what city or state a place was in when I had entered a city and state; and by the limited set of questions. I understand that they want the users to submit memories, but nobody had a car before 1900, very few people know what color hair or eyes their grandparents had, or where and how they were engaged. The questions about employment assume that a person worked for a business, which wasn't the case, in general, before 1900.
I can see potential for the Tpstry website if the question set is expanded and there are answers to some of my questions, such as:
* How do I edit the answers? I made some mistakes, and need to change the answers.
* How do I answer a question after I've clicked on "Does not apply?"
* How do I call up more questions about a specific person? It's a lot easier to answer questions about specific persons using the information for that person in my genealogy database.
* What are Events? I've entered quite a few birth, marriage and death dates and they don't show up in the Events list.
* Is there a Stories element, where users can type in stories, or is all of the information based on the answers to the questions?
* Will Tpstry incorporate a GEDCOM upload? Of unlimited size, or limited size? What data will be imported?
Tpstry wants users to invite their family members to help add to the vital data, to answer more questions about persons, to share their images, and to share their stories.
There is a lot more to Tpstry, and I'll try to point some of them out in later posts.
Tpstry.com and GenealogyFreelancers.com Partner Up
...
This press release was posted today at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/03/prweb5195014.htm and also at the GeneaPress site (http://www.geneapress.com/2011/03/tpstrycom-and-genealogyfreelancerscom.html).
Tpstry.com and GenealogyFreelancers.com Partner to Make Family History Research Easier
Family history research projects on GenealogyFreelancers.com get a boost by using Tpstry.com to gather information.
Grand Rapids, MI and Nashville, TN (PRWEB) March 24, 2011
This press release was posted today at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/03/prweb5195014.htm and also at the GeneaPress site (http://www.geneapress.com/2011/03/tpstrycom-and-genealogyfreelancerscom.html).
Tpstry.com and GenealogyFreelancers.com Partner to Make Family History Research Easier
Family history research projects on GenealogyFreelancers.com get a boost by using Tpstry.com to gather information.
Grand Rapids, MI and Nashville, TN (PRWEB) March 24, 2011
“One of the hardest steps for professional genealogists doing research projects is gathering all known information about a family at the beginning of the project,” says Deborah Irwin, CEO of IRBO, Inc., GenealogyFreelancers.com’s parent company. “Tpstry’s unique approach to gathering family memories provides a quick, easy way to gather all known family information in one place.”
While Tpstry.com’s main focus is to collect stories behind family memories, it also collects basic family history information such as names, parentage, birth dates, death dates and marriages. To assist researchers, Tpstry will soon be rolling out the ability to export family information as a GEDCOM file—a standard file format which allows different genealogy software programs to talk to one another. This basic family information gives researchers at GenealogyFreelancers.com a head start when investigating a family’s past.
“Tpstry uses family members and relatives as sources to answer family history questions,” says Matt Johnston, Founder and President of Tpstry. “If a question goes back a few generations, relatives often don’t know the answers. This is where a professional researcher, such as those found at GenealogyFreelancers.com, is very valuable.”
Users seeking help with a family research project can post a project prospectus at http://www.genealogyfreelancers.com and start entering known family information at http://www.tpstry.com for free.
==================================
This is an interesting partnership - a Family Stories provider (Tpstry.com) and a genealogy research provider (GenealogyFreelancers.com). It makes a lot of sense to me! Especially for persons just starting in genealogy that have not done any family history research of their own, and don't have the time to start, but want to write down their family stories and then are curious about what can be found about earlier generations.
I haven't tried Tpstry.com yet, and I probably should take a look at it. There are too many websites these days, and not enough Genea-Musings time!
Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Isaac's Death Record
...
It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to share one of the documents or artifacts in my family history collection. In many previous posts, I have displayed documents from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Seaver, my second great-grandfather.
I received the complete Civil War Pension File for Isaac Seaver on 3 January - see my post My Christmas Present Came Today - Oh Boy! - and it has 81 pages in the file. Some of them have little or no information on them.
The compendium of previous posts for this Pension File is in Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Compendium of Posts.
This week I'm posting the "death certificate" from Leominster, Massachusetts submitted by the widow to the Pension Bureau, which is on page 65 of the Pension File received from NARA (plus the reverse of this paper, which is page 66 in the file):
The transcription of the "Transcript from the Records of Deaths" from the Leominster Town Clerk's Office is (blanks filled in are italicized and underlined):
LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS
TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE RECORDS OF DEATHS.
Leominster, March 27, 1901
I hereby certify that the death of Isaac Seaver 3rd is recorded on the Records
of the Town of Leominster, Mass., Vol. 15 Page 132 as follows:
Name of Deceased, Isaac Seaver 3rd
Residence: Leominster, Mass.
Date of death, March 12 - 1901
Name of Husband, _________________ [blank]
Age, 77 years 4 months 26 days
Place of Death, Leominster, Mass.
Sex, Male
Married, Single or widowed, Married
Occupation, Blacksmith
Birthplace, Westminster, Mass.
Father's Name, Benjamin Seaver
Mother's Maiden Name, Abigail Gates
Disease, or Cause of Death, Cancer of Stomach
Place of Interment, Leominster, Mass. Evergreen Cemetery
Birthplace of Father, Westminster, Mass.
Birthplace of Mother, Gardner, ""
A true copy Attest: Charles A. Joslin Town Clerk
On this 29th day of March, 1901, personally appeared the above
named Charles A. Joslin, clerk of the Town of Leominster, and made oath that the above statement
subscribed by him is true.
Before me, T. Lothrop, Justice of the Peace.
The transcription of the reverse side of the above record is:
Acts of June 27, 1890 and May 9, 1900
Claim No. 738,086
----------------------
Claim of
Alvina M. Seaver
widow of
Isaac Seaver, 3d
Co H 4th Regt Mass Vol H.A.
---------------------
Proof of Death
Soldier
---------------------
---------------------
Filed by
CHARLES W. KENDALL
239-1/2 Main St.,
Fitchburg, Mass.
---------------------
It appears, from the reverse side of the certificate, that Alvina's attorney, Charles Kendall, sent this death record into the Pension Bureau to be added to the file. It was probably one of the tasks he, as the attorney for the claim, was tasked to do to earn his fee.
All of the information above seems correct, except for: The age at death of 77 years, 4 months, 26 days on 12 March 1901 translates to a birth date of 14 October 1823, whereas Isaac's "official" birth date from Westminster, Mass. records is 16 October 1823. The difference is probably caused by an error by the clerk, or told to the clerk by the informant (probably the widow, Alvina Seaver), or by someone making a calculation that assumed February (the month before the March death date) had 30 days. It's a small point, but sometimes this type of information is all that a researcher has to calculate a birth date.
As a result of checking for Isaac's birth date, I found that I do not have an image of an Isaac Seaver birth record (neither a "certificate" or a town clerk's record) in my computer files. I do have an image of Isaac's death record in the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910 from the AmericanAncestors site, but it is an old one and very blurry when magnified to a readable size. More items to add to my to-do list!
It's Treasure Chest Thursday, time to share one of the documents or artifacts in my family history collection. In many previous posts, I have displayed documents from the Civil War Pension File of Isaac Seaver, my second great-grandfather.
I received the complete Civil War Pension File for Isaac Seaver on 3 January - see my post My Christmas Present Came Today - Oh Boy! - and it has 81 pages in the file. Some of them have little or no information on them.
The compendium of previous posts for this Pension File is in Treasure Chest Thursday - Isaac Seaver's Civil War Pension File: Compendium of Posts.
This week I'm posting the "death certificate" from Leominster, Massachusetts submitted by the widow to the Pension Bureau, which is on page 65 of the Pension File received from NARA (plus the reverse of this paper, which is page 66 in the file):
LEOMINSTER, MASSACHUSETTS
TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE RECORDS OF DEATHS.
Leominster, March 27, 1901
I hereby certify that the death of Isaac Seaver 3rd is recorded on the Records
of the Town of Leominster, Mass., Vol. 15 Page 132 as follows:
Name of Deceased, Isaac Seaver 3rd
Residence: Leominster, Mass.
Date of death, March 12 - 1901
Name of Husband, _________________ [blank]
Age, 77 years 4 months 26 days
Place of Death, Leominster, Mass.
Sex, Male
Married, Single or widowed, Married
Occupation, Blacksmith
Birthplace, Westminster, Mass.
Father's Name, Benjamin Seaver
Mother's Maiden Name, Abigail Gates
Disease, or Cause of Death, Cancer of Stomach
Place of Interment, Leominster, Mass. Evergreen Cemetery
Birthplace of Father, Westminster, Mass.
Birthplace of Mother, Gardner, ""
A true copy Attest: Charles A. Joslin Town Clerk
On this 29th day of March, 1901, personally appeared the above
named Charles A. Joslin, clerk of the Town of Leominster, and made oath that the above statement
subscribed by him is true.
Before me, T. Lothrop, Justice of the Peace.
The transcription of the reverse side of the above record is:
Acts of June 27, 1890 and May 9, 1900
Claim No. 738,086
----------------------
Claim of
Alvina M. Seaver
widow of
Isaac Seaver, 3d
Co H 4th Regt Mass Vol H.A.
---------------------
Proof of Death
Soldier
---------------------
---------------------
Filed by
CHARLES W. KENDALL
239-1/2 Main St.,
Fitchburg, Mass.
---------------------
It appears, from the reverse side of the certificate, that Alvina's attorney, Charles Kendall, sent this death record into the Pension Bureau to be added to the file. It was probably one of the tasks he, as the attorney for the claim, was tasked to do to earn his fee.
All of the information above seems correct, except for: The age at death of 77 years, 4 months, 26 days on 12 March 1901 translates to a birth date of 14 October 1823, whereas Isaac's "official" birth date from Westminster, Mass. records is 16 October 1823. The difference is probably caused by an error by the clerk, or told to the clerk by the informant (probably the widow, Alvina Seaver), or by someone making a calculation that assumed February (the month before the March death date) had 30 days. It's a small point, but sometimes this type of information is all that a researcher has to calculate a birth date.
As a result of checking for Isaac's birth date, I found that I do not have an image of an Isaac Seaver birth record (neither a "certificate" or a town clerk's record) in my computer files. I do have an image of Isaac's death record in the Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910 from the AmericanAncestors site, but it is an old one and very blurry when magnified to a readable size. More items to add to my to-do list!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Exploring WikiTree Compendium
I want to collect all of my Exploring WikiTree posts in a compendium and update it as I add posts. Hopefully these posts will help other researchers starting out on WikiTree.
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 1: Getting Started (posted 10 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 2: Navigating the Tree (posted 11 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree- Post 3: Viewing a Person Page (posted 14 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree- Post 4: Editing a Person Page (posted 15 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 5: Adding Photos (posted 16 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 6: Privacy Levels (posted 18 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 7: Adding Family Tree Widgets to your blog or website (posted 22 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 8: Searching for Common Ancestors (posted 23 March 2011)
* Exploring Wikitree - Post 9: Another Search for Matches (posted 25 March 2011)
* Some Comments from Chris Whitten on my Exploring WikiTree posts (posted 28 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree -- Post 10: Merging Two Profiles (posted 29 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree- Post 11: A Better Way to Merge Profiles (posted 31 March 2011)
Last Updated: 1 April 2011
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 1: Getting Started (posted 10 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 2: Navigating the Tree (posted 11 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree- Post 3: Viewing a Person Page (posted 14 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree- Post 4: Editing a Person Page (posted 15 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 5: Adding Photos (posted 16 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 6: Privacy Levels (posted 18 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 7: Adding Family Tree Widgets to your blog or website (posted 22 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree - Post 8: Searching for Common Ancestors (posted 23 March 2011)
* Exploring Wikitree - Post 9: Another Search for Matches (posted 25 March 2011)
* Some Comments from Chris Whitten on my Exploring WikiTree posts (posted 28 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree -- Post 10: Merging Two Profiles (posted 29 March 2011)
* Exploring WikiTree- Post 11: A Better Way to Merge Profiles (posted 31 March 2011)
Last Updated: 1 April 2011
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