...
Joel Weintraub sent this press release today:
----------------------------------
28 June 2011
In less than 10 months the 1940 US Population Schedules will become public. It will not be name indexed, so it will be necessary to do an address search in order to find families. Address searching involves knowing the ED (enumeration district) in which the address is located.. The National Archives (NARA) earlier this year indicated they had plans to make available in 2011 the 1940 ED maps of cities and counties, and ED descriptions, but their recent move to consider having a 3rd party host all the images may have appreciably set back this timetable.
The only website that currently has location tools for the 1940 census is the Steve Morse One Step site (http://stevemorse.org). There are several such tools there, and it could be overwhelming to figure out which tool to use when. There is a tutorial that attempts to clarify it http://stevemorse.org/census/intro.html) and an extensive FAQ (http://stevemorse.org/census/faq.htm).
We are announcing the opening of another educational utility to help people learn about the different 1940 locational search tools on the One Step site, and information about the 1940 census itself. It is in the form of a quiz, and should help many, many genealogists quickly learn how to search an unindexed census by location. The new utility is at: http://stevemorse.org/census/quiz.php and is called "How to Access the 1940 Census in One Step". Not only is it informative, we hope it is entertaining.
Thanks
Joel Weintraub
Steve Morse
Joel Weintraub
Dana Point, CA http://members.cox.net/census1940/
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This One-Step Tool is excellent - fast and accurate (as I expected!). I was able to find the ED of my maternal grandparents home in about 15 seconds because I knew the street address and the cross streets. Very cool!
Readers - this is how we're going to start looking for our families in the 1940 Census. I recommend that you practice this. Make your list of "target" families, and determine their addresses (from family records or city directories).
My thanks to Joel and Steve for their hard work in developing this tool to help all of us search the 1940 Census efficiently. This tool was in development for several years.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
What Will the Google+ Project Mean for Genealogy?
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Google announced their Google+ project today - see a news article here and the Google+ page here. There is a short overview with several short videos here.
The short summary is that Google+ is:
"Sharing is a huge part of the web, a part that we think could be a lot simpler. That’s why we’ve been working on adding a few new things to Google: to make connecting with people on the web more like connecting with them in the real world. We hope you like what we’ve cooked up so far. And stay tuned, because there’s more to come. "
The basic elements of Google+ include:
* Circles - "You share different things with different people. But sharing the right stuff with the right people shouldn’t be a hassle. Circles makes it easy to put your friends from Saturday night in one circle, your parents in another, and your boss in a circle by himself, just like real life. "
* Sparks - "Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice. That’s kind of what Sparks does: looks for videos and articles it thinks you’ll like, so when you’re free, there’s always something to watch, read, and share. Grandpa would approve. "
* Hangouts - "Bumping into friends while you’re out and about is one of the best parts of going out and about. With Hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time. Let buddies know you’re hanging out and see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat. Until we perfect teleportation, it’s the next best thing. "
* Huddles - "Texting is great, but not when you’re trying get six different people to decide on a movie. Huddle takes care of it by turning all those different conversations into one simple group chat, so everyone gets on the same page long before thumbs get sore. "
* Instant Upload - "Taking photos is fun. Sharing photos is fun. Getting photos off your phone and on to the web is pretty much the opposite of fun. That’s why we created Instant Upload: so that from now on, your photos upload themselves. You don’t even have to say ‘cheese’. "
What does all of this mean for genealogy? Is this going to be "the next big social media thing" for the world, and for genealogy, or is it going to be a "flash in the pan" that fizzles out after several months?
I'm betting on the former - I think that it's going to be Google's answer to Facebook, and that many genealogy researchers will adopt using Google+ for their circles of friends. More importantly, genealogy societies and family associations will use it to change the way that the organizations communicate with their members.
I can visualize societies using Google+ by:
* Using Circles to communicate with members.
* Using Sparks to provide genealogy news and interesting articles with members.
* Using Hangouts for chats between two or more members on a subject of interest.
* Holding virtual board meetings in a Huddle.
How do you visualize using Google+?
Access to Google+ is limited at present, so we don't have an inside look at it except through the online videos. Stay tuned!
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/what-will-google-project-mean-for.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
Google announced their Google+ project today - see a news article here and the Google+ page here. There is a short overview with several short videos here.
The short summary is that Google+ is:
"Sharing is a huge part of the web, a part that we think could be a lot simpler. That’s why we’ve been working on adding a few new things to Google: to make connecting with people on the web more like connecting with them in the real world. We hope you like what we’ve cooked up so far. And stay tuned, because there’s more to come. "
The basic elements of Google+ include:
* Circles - "You share different things with different people. But sharing the right stuff with the right people shouldn’t be a hassle. Circles makes it easy to put your friends from Saturday night in one circle, your parents in another, and your boss in a circle by himself, just like real life. "
* Sparks - "Remember when your Grandpa used to cut articles out of the paper and send them to you? That was nice. That’s kind of what Sparks does: looks for videos and articles it thinks you’ll like, so when you’re free, there’s always something to watch, read, and share. Grandpa would approve. "
* Hangouts - "Bumping into friends while you’re out and about is one of the best parts of going out and about. With Hangouts, the unplanned meet-up comes to the web for the first time. Let buddies know you’re hanging out and see who drops by for a face-to-face-to-face chat. Until we perfect teleportation, it’s the next best thing. "
* Huddles - "Texting is great, but not when you’re trying get six different people to decide on a movie. Huddle takes care of it by turning all those different conversations into one simple group chat, so everyone gets on the same page long before thumbs get sore. "
* Instant Upload - "Taking photos is fun. Sharing photos is fun. Getting photos off your phone and on to the web is pretty much the opposite of fun. That’s why we created Instant Upload: so that from now on, your photos upload themselves. You don’t even have to say ‘cheese’. "
What does all of this mean for genealogy? Is this going to be "the next big social media thing" for the world, and for genealogy, or is it going to be a "flash in the pan" that fizzles out after several months?
I'm betting on the former - I think that it's going to be Google's answer to Facebook, and that many genealogy researchers will adopt using Google+ for their circles of friends. More importantly, genealogy societies and family associations will use it to change the way that the organizations communicate with their members.
I can visualize societies using Google+ by:
* Using Circles to communicate with members.
* Using Sparks to provide genealogy news and interesting articles with members.
* Using Hangouts for chats between two or more members on a subject of interest.
* Holding virtual board meetings in a Huddle.
How do you visualize using Google+?
Access to Google+ is limited at present, so we don't have an inside look at it except through the online videos. Stay tuned!
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/what-will-google-project-mean-for.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
The Seasons of my Genealogy Research
...
The topic for this month's Carnival of Genealogy is "The Seasons of Genealogy." The challenge is: "Do you spend more time on genealogy research in the summer or in the winter, or maybe spring or fall? How does the amount of time you put into research and blogging differ from season to season? Or perhaps you'd like to think of things metaphorically... which season is your genealogy research in? Write up your thoughts and observations and submit your articles to the next edition of the COG."
There are two questions here...
1) I spend about the same amount of time on my genealogy research, my genealogy society work, and on my writing and speaking in each season. I do very little onsite research these days (I know, I should do more!), and the society support, learning, writing, teaching and speaking is constant throughout the year. The one difference is vacations and conference going - which seems concentrated in the spring and summer (SCGS Jamboree, NGS, FGS). RootsTech in February will change this dynamic some for me. I seem to spend 60 to 70 hours a week doing what I do, whether spring, summer, autumn or winter. Unfortunately, onsite research has suffered as the hours devoted to the other activities have increased. I sit in front of my tube and keyboard too much these days, but it is fun!
2) If I define the "seasons" of genealogy activity as:
* Spring - excitement in a new interest, searching for family information, searching for ancestral families in published material (print, microfilm or digital), learning new skills and subjects.
* Summer - performing original research to add content, finding family history in a reasonably exhaustive search, putting the collected information together, drawing conclusions, broadening the genealogy knowledge base.
* Autumn - maintaining and adding to the genealogy and family history collection, preparing for publication (online or in print), becoming expert in one or more areas, doing research for others (free or paid), speaking and writing (free or paid), continuous learning through study groups, society programs and seminars, attending conferences and learning institutes.
* Winter - being a genealogy resource for others in research, publishing, writing and presenting, with one or more areas of recognized expertise, teaching and speaking at conferences and learning institutes.
Each of us go through these "seasons" and we retain the knowledge and experience that we gained. Indeed, it is not unusual to be in two or three seasons at once - being excited with new things, performing research, adding to the database, and being a genealogy resource for others.
Those are my definitions - they describe a recognizable progression from an excited beginner to a seasoned professional. I welcome comments about them. What would you add or delete from them?
Where am I? Well, I think that I'm usually in the Autumn phase. In recent years, I've been:
* Updating and adding to my genealogy software database by adding source citations and editing research notes.
* Finding new historical records in print, microfilm and online collections.
* All of that will lead me creating books about my ancestry, my wife's ancestry and several one-name studies. I'm thinking about it...online or in print?
* I am currently teaching three "Beginning Computer Genealogy" classes (8 hours over 4 weeks) each year to senior adults, one "Genealogy 101" class (8 hours over 4 weeks) to my society new members each year, and a monthly research group to my society members.
* Writing efforts include being the Genealogy 2.0 columnist in the quarterly FGS FORUM Magazine, being newsletter editor for one local genealogy society and a writer for another local society, and writing over 900 posts for the Genea-Musings blog each year.
* Speaking involves 8 to 10 programs each year to Southern California area societies and to several local service groups (Kiwanis, PEO, church groups, etc.).
* Continuous learning through society programs, online courses, webinars, study groups, radio shows and podcasts, local seminars, regional and national conferences, reading books, magazines, websites and blogs.
* I am not a certified, accredited. or professional genealogist. I chose not to follow that path because it is a lot of work and my lifespan is now relatively short. I would rather enjoy what I do with my own genealogy interests, with complete freedom to add or eliminate commitments, than run a small business, do extensive research for other persons, or have to plan and execute conference presentations months in advance.
My motto is "life is short - do genealogy first" these days. Genealogy is fun for me, and I'm doing what I want to do in this stage of my life. I try to avoid stress, and try to help other persons with their genealogical education, while trying to add to and improve my own research.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/seasons-of-my-genealogy-research.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
The topic for this month's Carnival of Genealogy is "The Seasons of Genealogy." The challenge is: "Do you spend more time on genealogy research in the summer or in the winter, or maybe spring or fall? How does the amount of time you put into research and blogging differ from season to season? Or perhaps you'd like to think of things metaphorically... which season is your genealogy research in? Write up your thoughts and observations and submit your articles to the next edition of the COG."
There are two questions here...
1) I spend about the same amount of time on my genealogy research, my genealogy society work, and on my writing and speaking in each season. I do very little onsite research these days (I know, I should do more!), and the society support, learning, writing, teaching and speaking is constant throughout the year. The one difference is vacations and conference going - which seems concentrated in the spring and summer (SCGS Jamboree, NGS, FGS). RootsTech in February will change this dynamic some for me. I seem to spend 60 to 70 hours a week doing what I do, whether spring, summer, autumn or winter. Unfortunately, onsite research has suffered as the hours devoted to the other activities have increased. I sit in front of my tube and keyboard too much these days, but it is fun!
2) If I define the "seasons" of genealogy activity as:
* Spring - excitement in a new interest, searching for family information, searching for ancestral families in published material (print, microfilm or digital), learning new skills and subjects.
* Summer - performing original research to add content, finding family history in a reasonably exhaustive search, putting the collected information together, drawing conclusions, broadening the genealogy knowledge base.
* Autumn - maintaining and adding to the genealogy and family history collection, preparing for publication (online or in print), becoming expert in one or more areas, doing research for others (free or paid), speaking and writing (free or paid), continuous learning through study groups, society programs and seminars, attending conferences and learning institutes.
* Winter - being a genealogy resource for others in research, publishing, writing and presenting, with one or more areas of recognized expertise, teaching and speaking at conferences and learning institutes.
Each of us go through these "seasons" and we retain the knowledge and experience that we gained. Indeed, it is not unusual to be in two or three seasons at once - being excited with new things, performing research, adding to the database, and being a genealogy resource for others.
Those are my definitions - they describe a recognizable progression from an excited beginner to a seasoned professional. I welcome comments about them. What would you add or delete from them?
Where am I? Well, I think that I'm usually in the Autumn phase. In recent years, I've been:
* Updating and adding to my genealogy software database by adding source citations and editing research notes.
* Finding new historical records in print, microfilm and online collections.
* All of that will lead me creating books about my ancestry, my wife's ancestry and several one-name studies. I'm thinking about it...online or in print?
* I am currently teaching three "Beginning Computer Genealogy" classes (8 hours over 4 weeks) each year to senior adults, one "Genealogy 101" class (8 hours over 4 weeks) to my society new members each year, and a monthly research group to my society members.
* Writing efforts include being the Genealogy 2.0 columnist in the quarterly FGS FORUM Magazine, being newsletter editor for one local genealogy society and a writer for another local society, and writing over 900 posts for the Genea-Musings blog each year.
* Speaking involves 8 to 10 programs each year to Southern California area societies and to several local service groups (Kiwanis, PEO, church groups, etc.).
* Continuous learning through society programs, online courses, webinars, study groups, radio shows and podcasts, local seminars, regional and national conferences, reading books, magazines, websites and blogs.
* I am not a certified, accredited. or professional genealogist. I chose not to follow that path because it is a lot of work and my lifespan is now relatively short. I would rather enjoy what I do with my own genealogy interests, with complete freedom to add or eliminate commitments, than run a small business, do extensive research for other persons, or have to plan and execute conference presentations months in advance.
My motto is "life is short - do genealogy first" these days. Genealogy is fun for me, and I'm doing what I want to do in this stage of my life. I try to avoid stress, and try to help other persons with their genealogical education, while trying to add to and improve my own research.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/seasons-of-my-genealogy-research.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
Adding Photographs to my MyHeritage Family Tree - Post 1
...
The MyHeritage.com website encourages members to upload family photographs to the web site, and makes it relatively easy and fast to do so. One good reason to do this is so that other members of your tree - your children, siblings, parents, cousins, etc. - will do the same and enrich the family tree photo collection.
MyHeritage also offers a family tree Online Memory Game (or sells cards to play the game) that uses the pictures, which is one thing I'm going to try to get my grandchildren interested in the family history (heck, maybe even my children, siblings and cousins too!).
There are at least two methods to add these photos, and I'll demonstrate the first of them below:
1) Method 1 - a Batch upload.
From the "Photos & Video" tab on the MyHeritage home page, and the "Add photos & video" link:
Clicking on either the "Multiple file upload" (many images) or "Simple file upload" (3 images), the user can then select photos from the computer file system. I chose the "Multiple file upload" and selected 37 photos from my thumbnail photo files. Here are the uploaded results:
The pictures went into a "Recent Photos" album on MyHeritage.com. Now I need to "tag" my photos and attach them to persons in my MyHeritage tree.
I clicked on the "Tag people" link (on the "Photos & videos" tab) and saw my photos, but got an error message:
The system wanted me to tag all photos that belong to the same person, but after about five seconds, I received a "Communication error. click "OK" to try again. I got the error message repeatedly and finally Xed out and selected another link before the error message appeared again.
There is another way to add photos, and I'll look at that next time.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/adding-photographs-to-my-myheritage.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
The MyHeritage.com website encourages members to upload family photographs to the web site, and makes it relatively easy and fast to do so. One good reason to do this is so that other members of your tree - your children, siblings, parents, cousins, etc. - will do the same and enrich the family tree photo collection.
MyHeritage also offers a family tree Online Memory Game (or sells cards to play the game) that uses the pictures, which is one thing I'm going to try to get my grandchildren interested in the family history (heck, maybe even my children, siblings and cousins too!).
There are at least two methods to add these photos, and I'll demonstrate the first of them below:
1) Method 1 - a Batch upload.
From the "Photos & Video" tab on the MyHeritage home page, and the "Add photos & video" link:
Clicking on either the "Multiple file upload" (many images) or "Simple file upload" (3 images), the user can then select photos from the computer file system. I chose the "Multiple file upload" and selected 37 photos from my thumbnail photo files. Here are the uploaded results:
The pictures went into a "Recent Photos" album on MyHeritage.com. Now I need to "tag" my photos and attach them to persons in my MyHeritage tree.
I clicked on the "Tag people" link (on the "Photos & videos" tab) and saw my photos, but got an error message:
The system wanted me to tag all photos that belong to the same person, but after about five seconds, I received a "Communication error. click "OK" to try again. I got the error message repeatedly and finally Xed out and selected another link before the error message appeared again.
There is another way to add photos, and I'll look at that next time.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/adding-photographs-to-my-myheritage.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
Tuesday's Tip - Use the Google Site Search to Find Results on a Specific Website
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This week's Tuesday's Tip is to: Use the Google Site Search capability to find all instances of a search term on one specific website.
How many times have you performed a Google search and then had a hard time finding the search term on the website?
The solution is to use the Google Site Search capability. If you want to see all of the matches on a website, then do this: After your search terms, add the word "site:" and the website URL.
For instance, I wanted to search www.geneamusings.com for the name "Hutchinson" so I entered this string in the Google search field:
hutchinson site:www.geneamusings.com and received 41 matches.
I wanted to search for the surname McKnew on the www.SFGenealogy site, so I used the string
mcknew site:www.sfgenealogy.com and received 20 matches.
To search the GenForum message boards for a specific name, I entered this string:
"isaac seaver" site:genforum.genealogy.com and found two matches.
On FamilySearch, a site search with mcknew site:www.familysearch.org finds four entries in the Family History Library Catalog.
A user could also use the Advanced Search form of the Google search site -- http://www.google.com/advanced_search The last field on the Advanced Search form is to "Search within a site or domain."
Unfortunately, this does not work well on some database sites like Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, FamilySearch.org, etc. It finds text entries but not database entries.
This week's Tuesday's Tip is to: Use the Google Site Search capability to find all instances of a search term on one specific website.
How many times have you performed a Google search and then had a hard time finding the search term on the website?
The solution is to use the Google Site Search capability. If you want to see all of the matches on a website, then do this: After your search terms, add the word "site:" and the website URL.
For instance, I wanted to search www.geneamusings.com for the name "Hutchinson" so I entered this string in the Google search field:
hutchinson site:www.geneamusings.com and received 41 matches.
I wanted to search for the surname McKnew on the www.SFGenealogy site, so I used the string
mcknew site:www.sfgenealogy.com and received 20 matches.
To search the GenForum message boards for a specific name, I entered this string:
"isaac seaver" site:genforum.genealogy.com and found two matches.
On FamilySearch, a site search with mcknew site:www.familysearch.org finds four entries in the Family History Library Catalog.
A user could also use the Advanced Search form of the Google search site -- http://www.google.com/advanced_search The last field on the Advanced Search form is to "Search within a site or domain."
Unfortunately, this does not work well on some database sites like Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, FamilySearch.org, etc. It finds text entries but not database entries.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Pruning My Family Tree - Catherine Lewis
...
I'm guilty sometimes ... of growing my family tree without having sufficient evidence to support the assertions made by other researchers. I can't help it - I see a "reasonable" assertion and adopt it as my own hypothesis. Then I test the hypothesis and, if the evidence is credible, I add the information to my family tree.
This was the case several years ago with Catherine Lewis (1759-1845), daughter of Jonathan and Marie (LaTourette) Lewis of Staten Island, Richmond County, New York. She purportedly married William Hutchinson (a New Jersey Loyalist) in Parr, New Brunswick in 1784, and they had seven children. I saw it in a Rootsweb WorldConnect database. It made sense (although I've found no Lewis folks going to New Brunswick from New York - why would Catherine go? Perhaps she went with William Hutchinson).
Last week, I had talked myself into pruning my tree to disconnect Catherine Lewis from her purported parents and thereby severing my only link to Huguenot French ancestry (I really didn't want to give that up...).
The Surname Saturday post last week was for Catherine Lewis, and I had to decide - should I prune the tree, or leave it alone and accept that it may be wrong?
I decided to do a bit more research on Catherine Lewis and her purported parents. In the process, I found another Rootsweb WorldConnect family tree submitted by Bev Franks. The page for Catherine's father, Jonathan Lewis (1715-1785) is here. Bev has transcribed the will of Jonathan Lewis (thank you Bev!!):
"In the name of God, I, Jonathan Lewis, of Staten Island, Richmond County being sick and weak. I will that my executors shall dispose of all my goods, chattel, lands, mill, and tenements as they in their discretion think fit within 2 years after my decease except such articles as shall hereinafter be bequeathed, and I give them full power to sell all my lands, mills, and tenements within the county of Richmond to any persons and their heirs forever by all such lawful ways as to my executors or their Council learned in the law shall seem fit.
"To my dearly beloved wife Mary, my best horse and riding chair, two of my best cows of her own choosing with sufficient of my household furniture to furnish her room together with the sum of 100 (lbs) for life or while my widow. I will that my executors use 10(lbs) for the further education of my son Joseph. After my debts funeral charge and the above legacies are paid, the remainder of my estate shall be divided among my children in the manner following: to my son Jonathan, one eighth of my estate, to my son David one eighth, to my son James on eighth, to my son Israel one eighth, to my son Joseph one eighth, to my daughter Sarah Degroot, one sixteenth part, to my daughter Catherine Hutchinson one sixteenth, to my daughter Elizabeth Lewis one sixteenth, to my daughter Phebe Lewis one sixteenth. None of the said legacies to be paid to my children until they are twenty one years old, but if my executors have money on hand and shall think proper to make a dividend thereof amongst those of my children that are of the above mentioned age shall have the interest of their dividend yearly for their support till they arrive of full age to receive such dividend or their full legacy. If any of my children die underage their part to be divided among my surviving children. I recommend my executors at the sale of my houses and lands to reserve such part as they think convenient for the reception and continuing of my family together during the life or widowhood of my beloved wife Mary, and after her decease or discontinuance of widowhood such house or land reserved shall be sold as also my negro wench and the money divided as fore said. I appoint my wife executrix, my trusty friend and brother in law, David Latourette, my sons Jonathan and David, all of Staten Island Executors. Dated Oct 28, 1785. Witnesses: Jon Latourette, Abraham Vail (weaver) and Edward Hall (schoolmaster). Proved, Richmond County, Jan 5, 1786."
That seems fairly good evidence that Catherine married a Hutchinson ... but is it William Hutchinson? Now that I know that there is a will for Jonathan Lewis, I can search for the probate records for him. Perhaps there are other papers that define her husband's name. Where can I find these probate records?
The list of Probate Records for Richmond County, New York on the Family History Library Catalog lists five items. However, the first item states that Wills start in 1787. The fourth item (Miscellaneous genealogical records, wills, deeds, etc. 1649-1925, on FHL US/CAN Film 514568, Microreproduction of ms. and typescript at the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences) looks promising, but I really wish that the specific Will collection was available. I added this Film to my to-do list for the next time I get to the FHC or go to the FHL.
for the time being, Catherine Lewis will stay in my database as the daughter of Jonathan Lewis.
What would you do with this? What other records should I pursue? I don't know if there are records in New Brunswick for these Loyalists, or if the marriage record there is available on microfilm (another FHLC search!) or if it is whether it will list her parents names. Or his... William Hutchinson's parents are another brick wall problem!
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/pruning-my-family-tree-catherine-lewis.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
I'm guilty sometimes ... of growing my family tree without having sufficient evidence to support the assertions made by other researchers. I can't help it - I see a "reasonable" assertion and adopt it as my own hypothesis. Then I test the hypothesis and, if the evidence is credible, I add the information to my family tree.
This was the case several years ago with Catherine Lewis (1759-1845), daughter of Jonathan and Marie (LaTourette) Lewis of Staten Island, Richmond County, New York. She purportedly married William Hutchinson (a New Jersey Loyalist) in Parr, New Brunswick in 1784, and they had seven children. I saw it in a Rootsweb WorldConnect database. It made sense (although I've found no Lewis folks going to New Brunswick from New York - why would Catherine go? Perhaps she went with William Hutchinson).
Last week, I had talked myself into pruning my tree to disconnect Catherine Lewis from her purported parents and thereby severing my only link to Huguenot French ancestry (I really didn't want to give that up...).
The Surname Saturday post last week was for Catherine Lewis, and I had to decide - should I prune the tree, or leave it alone and accept that it may be wrong?
I decided to do a bit more research on Catherine Lewis and her purported parents. In the process, I found another Rootsweb WorldConnect family tree submitted by Bev Franks. The page for Catherine's father, Jonathan Lewis (1715-1785) is here. Bev has transcribed the will of Jonathan Lewis (thank you Bev!!):
"In the name of God, I, Jonathan Lewis, of Staten Island, Richmond County being sick and weak. I will that my executors shall dispose of all my goods, chattel, lands, mill, and tenements as they in their discretion think fit within 2 years after my decease except such articles as shall hereinafter be bequeathed, and I give them full power to sell all my lands, mills, and tenements within the county of Richmond to any persons and their heirs forever by all such lawful ways as to my executors or their Council learned in the law shall seem fit.
"To my dearly beloved wife Mary, my best horse and riding chair, two of my best cows of her own choosing with sufficient of my household furniture to furnish her room together with the sum of 100 (lbs) for life or while my widow. I will that my executors use 10(lbs) for the further education of my son Joseph. After my debts funeral charge and the above legacies are paid, the remainder of my estate shall be divided among my children in the manner following: to my son Jonathan, one eighth of my estate, to my son David one eighth, to my son James on eighth, to my son Israel one eighth, to my son Joseph one eighth, to my daughter Sarah Degroot, one sixteenth part, to my daughter Catherine Hutchinson one sixteenth, to my daughter Elizabeth Lewis one sixteenth, to my daughter Phebe Lewis one sixteenth. None of the said legacies to be paid to my children until they are twenty one years old, but if my executors have money on hand and shall think proper to make a dividend thereof amongst those of my children that are of the above mentioned age shall have the interest of their dividend yearly for their support till they arrive of full age to receive such dividend or their full legacy. If any of my children die underage their part to be divided among my surviving children. I recommend my executors at the sale of my houses and lands to reserve such part as they think convenient for the reception and continuing of my family together during the life or widowhood of my beloved wife Mary, and after her decease or discontinuance of widowhood such house or land reserved shall be sold as also my negro wench and the money divided as fore said. I appoint my wife executrix, my trusty friend and brother in law, David Latourette, my sons Jonathan and David, all of Staten Island Executors. Dated Oct 28, 1785. Witnesses: Jon Latourette, Abraham Vail (weaver) and Edward Hall (schoolmaster). Proved, Richmond County, Jan 5, 1786."
That seems fairly good evidence that Catherine married a Hutchinson ... but is it William Hutchinson? Now that I know that there is a will for Jonathan Lewis, I can search for the probate records for him. Perhaps there are other papers that define her husband's name. Where can I find these probate records?
The list of Probate Records for Richmond County, New York on the Family History Library Catalog lists five items. However, the first item states that Wills start in 1787. The fourth item (Miscellaneous genealogical records, wills, deeds, etc. 1649-1925, on FHL US/CAN Film 514568, Microreproduction of ms. and typescript at the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences) looks promising, but I really wish that the specific Will collection was available. I added this Film to my to-do list for the next time I get to the FHC or go to the FHL.
for the time being, Catherine Lewis will stay in my database as the daughter of Jonathan Lewis.
What would you do with this? What other records should I pursue? I don't know if there are records in New Brunswick for these Loyalists, or if the marriage record there is available on microfilm (another FHLC search!) or if it is whether it will list her parents names. Or his... William Hutchinson's parents are another brick wall problem!
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
Answers to my Questions about MyHeritage Trees
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I asked several questions in my 23 June post Connecting to Other Researchers Through MyHeritage.com and received an email yesterday from Gilad Japhet, founder of MyHeritage.com, with responses. Here are my questions and Gilad's answers:
1) Can a member of my site add, edit, or delete my data, notes, images, etc. that are in my tree?
The answer is yes by default, but this can be prevented in the site settings, if not desirable. If you wish, you can also prevent others from modifying the tree, but still permit them to add photos. Adding photos is often a great way of collaboration that cannot create much harm especially if you ask your family members to add photos of themselves and family members close to them. It’s also possible to send photos directly to the site from email or a mobile device. Each member of MyHeritage.com can decide whether the tree should be fully collaborative, partially collaborative or not collaborative at all and in their strict control.
As site manager you control the member list on your site and all privileges, you can revoke membership of anyone in a few clicks through the site member list.
Answer for Caroline: yes, the site manager can edit the welcome message of the family site to specify what the tree is about and whether collaboration by relatives is encouraged or not. There is also a description message for each tree that can be edited to describe the family tree as a whole and indicate the main ‘missing pieces’ in it where help by others is requested.
I really appreciate Gilad taking the time to answer my questions about the MyHeritage.com website.
I went exploring in the MyHeritage account and found that:
* The site manager can permit or prevent a GEDCOM download by a site member, or any MyHeritage member, in the "Family Trees" tab, and the "Edit Tree settings" link.
* Site member contributions can be controlled through the "Settings" tab and the "Privacy" link (click the "Advanced" button for more options on Members).
* A site member can be approved or removed using the "Home" tab, and the "Site members" link. The site manager needs to click on the "Review request" to approve or reject a request to be a site member. For a previously approved site member, the site manager needs to click on the "More" link and then the "Remove from site" link.
I was mistaken in thinking that MyHeritage would synchronize both ways with Family Tree Builder (meaning if I added content to the online tree, then the FTB database would be modified, and vice versa). It appears that a user with Family Tree Builder 5.1 software can modify the online tree on demand or automatically from within FTB 5.1. I will look at that soon, because it may be very useful.
Gilad's statement that they are working on the "both ways" synchronization is encouraging. When that works, then information added or modified on the online MyHeritage tree could be added to the desktop software tree. However, that adds the complexity of other users potentially adding "wrong data" to my tree, and potential "Content wars." As Gilad notes above, the site manager can control content additions by guests and site members.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/answers-to-my-questions-about.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
I asked several questions in my 23 June post Connecting to Other Researchers Through MyHeritage.com and received an email yesterday from Gilad Japhet, founder of MyHeritage.com, with responses. Here are my questions and Gilad's answers:
1) Can a member of my site add, edit, or delete my data, notes, images, etc. that are in my tree?
The answer is yes by default, but this can be prevented in the site settings, if not desirable. If you wish, you can also prevent others from modifying the tree, but still permit them to add photos. Adding photos is often a great way of collaboration that cannot create much harm especially if you ask your family members to add photos of themselves and family members close to them. It’s also possible to send photos directly to the site from email or a mobile device. Each member of MyHeritage.com can decide whether the tree should be fully collaborative, partially collaborative or not collaborative at all and in their strict control.
2) Can a member of my site upload a GEDCOM file to my site?
The answer is yes, because a family site can contain more than one tree. The trees are kept separate. However, if this is not to your liking, then as site manager you can remove any tree that others members of your site have uploaded. The facility to upload trees is useful for sites that function as a surname association and collect multiple trees from their members and make them available to the members for perusal.
3) Can a member of my site download my original GEDCOM file, or a GEDCOM file of the current site?
This is up to you. There is a setting to control whether such download should be permitted or not.
3) Can a member of my site download my original GEDCOM file, or a GEDCOM file of the current site?
This is up to you. There is a setting to control whether such download should be permitted or not.
4) If significant content was added to my site by other researchers, can I download the information via GEDCOM to my desktop software program?
Yes. Exporting your data from MyHeritage.com is always available and always free, and includes all photos added to the tree. There are no size limits to exporting your own data.
5) If other researchers add content to my site, will the Family Tree Builder desktop program capture it through the automatic or "on demand" synchronization feature?
Not right now, but this is planned for the near future.
6) Can I remove a site member from site access and privileges if I decide to do that? How much control do I have?
Yes. Exporting your data from MyHeritage.com is always available and always free, and includes all photos added to the tree. There are no size limits to exporting your own data.
5) If other researchers add content to my site, will the Family Tree Builder desktop program capture it through the automatic or "on demand" synchronization feature?
Not right now, but this is planned for the near future.
6) Can I remove a site member from site access and privileges if I decide to do that? How much control do I have?
As site manager you control the member list on your site and all privileges, you can revoke membership of anyone in a few clicks through the site member list.
Comment posted by Caroline Pointer: Randy, is there a place to put a description of the tree so that visitors to the tree understand that this is a collaborative research tool and not an "end product"?
Answer for Caroline: yes, the site manager can edit the welcome message of the family site to specify what the tree is about and whether collaboration by relatives is encouraged or not. There is also a description message for each tree that can be edited to describe the family tree as a whole and indicate the main ‘missing pieces’ in it where help by others is requested.
I really appreciate Gilad taking the time to answer my questions about the MyHeritage.com website.
I went exploring in the MyHeritage account and found that:
* The site manager can permit or prevent a GEDCOM download by a site member, or any MyHeritage member, in the "Family Trees" tab, and the "Edit Tree settings" link.
* Site member contributions can be controlled through the "Settings" tab and the "Privacy" link (click the "Advanced" button for more options on Members).
* A site member can be approved or removed using the "Home" tab, and the "Site members" link. The site manager needs to click on the "Review request" to approve or reject a request to be a site member. For a previously approved site member, the site manager needs to click on the "More" link and then the "Remove from site" link.
I was mistaken in thinking that MyHeritage would synchronize both ways with Family Tree Builder (meaning if I added content to the online tree, then the FTB database would be modified, and vice versa). It appears that a user with Family Tree Builder 5.1 software can modify the online tree on demand or automatically from within FTB 5.1. I will look at that soon, because it may be very useful.
Gilad's statement that they are working on the "both ways" synchronization is encouraging. When that works, then information added or modified on the online MyHeritage tree could be added to the desktop software tree. However, that adds the complexity of other users potentially adding "wrong data" to my tree, and potential "Content wars." As Gilad notes above, the site manager can control content additions by guests and site members.
The URL of this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/answers-to-my-questions-about.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website (other than through an RSS feed), then they have stolen my work.
Amanuensis Monday - Elisha Ward's Affidavit in Thomas Dill's Revolutionary War Pension File
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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 affidavit dictated by Elisha Ward used to prove the Revolutionary War service of Thomas Dill (ca 1755-after 1830) of Eastham, Massachusetts.
The affidavit is shown below:
The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/amanuensis-monday-elisha-wards.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.
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 affidavit dictated by Elisha Ward used to prove the Revolutionary War service of Thomas Dill (ca 1755-after 1830) of Eastham, Massachusetts.
The affidavit is shown below:
The transcription of this document is:
I Elisha Ward of Wellfleet in the County of Barnstable & Commonwealth of Massachusetts of lawful age, do testify and declare that I am acquainted with Thomas Dill of Eastham in said County, late a Soldier in the Revolutionary war, and as I was also a Soldier in said revolutionary war, I can and do hereby on oath declare that to my own knowledge said Thomas Dill did Serve his country as a good Soldier against the common enemy full nine months and more, and that he said Thomas Dill was a Soldier, during said term, on the Continental establishment = I further Say & testify that I am well acquainted with his circumstances in life, and that I know he needs the assistance of his Country for support. -- B Elisha Ward
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Suffolk ?? Boston June 17th. 1818 Thus personally appeared the abovenamed Elisha Ward and made solemn oath to the truth of the above declaration by him subscribed, the same having been submitted by him in my presence -- Before me
Sam. J. Prescott, Just. Peace
This document is in the hand of the Justice of the Peace, Samuel Prescott, with only the signature of the testator in the hand of Elisha Ward. Mr. Prescott's handwriting leaves something to be desired!
Previous transcriptions of papers from this Revolutionary War Pension File number S 34,747 include:
The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/amanuensis-monday-elisha-wards.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
CVGS Program Meeting on 29 June - Susi Pentico on "Migration Patterns"
...
The June program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) will be Wednesday, 29 June, at 12 noon at the Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue) in the Conference Room.
After a society business meeting, CVGS member Susi Pentico will present "Migration Patterns."
Migration trails make a big difference when one is attempting to find elusive ancestors. The “lay of the land” is important to determine migration paths. This presentation will also discuss the types of travel used at various times and in different regions.
Susi Pentico has been a family historian, researcher and genealogist for more than 40 years. She started at the age of 12 with her Grandfather telling her stories while sitting on the old hay baler in Platte County, Wyoming. His daughter, her mom, was already doing research, and the stories he told just made Susi want to learn more and more about her family. When her first child was gravely ill, Susi's interest in her in-law's family was spurred. Susi is especially interested in Medical Genealogy, and in the North Carolina Lost Colony studies and related DNA studies.
Currently the Education Chairperson of CVGS, Susi believes that our youth are our future, and education for everyone is key. After teaching online genealogy on the "Golden Gate Forum" on AOL, she taught on the Genealogy Forum, including a full month Family History event online. Susi is currently working with www.GenealogyWise.com as a chat host once a week. She is a member of several other local, regional and national societies (NGS,NEHGS, OGS (Ohio), Southwest Pennsylvania, etc.).
Please note that this program is at the Chula Vista South Branch Library at 389 Orange Avenue (corner of Fourth Avenue) in the Conference Room, near the west door off the library parking lot.
The June program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) will be Wednesday, 29 June, at 12 noon at the Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue) in the Conference Room.
After a society business meeting, CVGS member Susi Pentico will present "Migration Patterns."
Migration patterns from Europe to the American colonies, and then migration within the United States as the country developed, are important to know for genealogical research. Wars and conflicts that created mass movements across the oceans and across North America, and Native-American displacement by the colonists and settlers, moving from their traditional homelands to faraway lands, will be discussed.
Migration trails make a big difference when one is attempting to find elusive ancestors. The “lay of the land” is important to determine migration paths. This presentation will also discuss the types of travel used at various times and in different regions.
Susi Pentico has been a family historian, researcher and genealogist for more than 40 years. She started at the age of 12 with her Grandfather telling her stories while sitting on the old hay baler in Platte County, Wyoming. His daughter, her mom, was already doing research, and the stories he told just made Susi want to learn more and more about her family. When her first child was gravely ill, Susi's interest in her in-law's family was spurred. Susi is especially interested in Medical Genealogy, and in the North Carolina Lost Colony studies and related DNA studies.
Currently the Education Chairperson of CVGS, Susi believes that our youth are our future, and education for everyone is key. After teaching online genealogy on the "Golden Gate Forum" on AOL, she taught on the Genealogy Forum, including a full month Family History event online. Susi is currently working with www.GenealogyWise.com as a chat host once a week. She is a member of several other local, regional and national societies (NGS,NEHGS, OGS (Ohio), Southwest Pennsylvania, etc.).
Please note that this program is at the Chula Vista South Branch Library at 389 Orange Avenue (corner of Fourth Avenue) in the Conference Room, near the west door off the library parking lot.
Best of the Genea-Blogs - 19 to 25 June 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:
* The Father's Day Tree by Heather Rojo on the Nutfield Genealogy blog. Check out Heather's pictures from 1991 to the present of her daughter, her husband, and an oak tree on their property. Everybody's growing. this is a neat tradition for a family!
* What is evidence? What is proof?, What you really want to know about evidence, Digging into evidence, and I Move Exhibit Three Into Evidence, Your Honor, and From Information to Data to Facts to Evidence to Proof by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James offers a lawyer's view of these topics - well done!
* The Bizarre, Sad, and Regrettable: Selections of Deaths from the 'Federal Mortality Schedules' by Daniel N. Rolph on the HSP's Hidden Histories blog. What an interesting selection of items from the Census Mortality schedules. Makes me want to go find more!
* How Reliable is the SSDI? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Excellent information here, and I love the graphic.
* Researching Solomon Norton – Part 1 and Researching Solomon Norton – Part 2 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog. Julie shares her research background and plan to determine if Solomon Norton is the father of her 5th-great-grandmother.
* 2011 Battle of Monmouth Reenactment: Impressions of a Jersey Continental by Tim Abbott on the Walking the Berkshires blog. Tim describes his reenactment experiences with stories and pictures. This is so cool.
* Sheriff William Preston's identity crisis (2.06 of 3), (2.07 of 3) , (2.08 of 3), and Sheriff William Preston's identity crisis (2.09 of 3) by GeneJ on the They Came Before blog. GeneJ has four more installments of her series on her Preston research. Time for the summary?
* "But I thought genealogy was boring..." by Geoff Rasmussen on the Legacy News blog. Geoff has his 11-year old son, Evan, hooked! Great strategy, Geoff!
* Delving into the Deeds, Oh, John? I'm Looking for You!, Ah, Yes! John Rupert..., and The Estate of John Rupert :: Goods and Chattels by Becky Wiseman on the kinexxions blog. Becky recounts her deed and probate research at the FHL, with some useful examples and references. She made wonderful discoveries!
* Traditional vs. Scientific Genealogy? and Traditional vs. Scientific Genealogy, round two by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog. Michael offers examples from his own research and opinion in this discussion.
* Finding the date of last Thursday and six other challenges by Pat Richley-Erickson on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. Pat demonstrates how to add an obituary to her RootsMagic database in text and image. She challenges readers to suggest what else she should do to follow-up. Impressive!
* Ancestry and Academics© by Kathleen Brandt on the a3Genealogy blog. Kathleen got a class of 50 teenagers to do genealogy research in class...impressive program!
* Genealogy Education - Enhance Your Research by Susan LeBlanc on the Gopher Genealogy blog. Susan provides a great list of educational opportunities for both beginning and advanced researchers.
Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:
* Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.
* Monday’s Link Roundup by Dan Curtis on the Dan Curtis - Professional Personal Historian blog.
* Monday Recap for June 20th, 2011 by Grant Brunner on the Geni.com Blog.
* Genealogy Round Up, June 22 by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak on the Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog.
* Follow Friday - Some Highlights From the Week by Cheryl Cayemberg on the Have You Seen My Roots blog.
* Follow Friday Newsletter: 24 June 2011 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog blog.
* Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.
* Genealogy News Corral, June 20-24 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.
* Week in Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.
I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs 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 950 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/best-of-genea-blogs-19-to-25-june-2011.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.
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:
* The Father's Day Tree by Heather Rojo on the Nutfield Genealogy blog. Check out Heather's pictures from 1991 to the present of her daughter, her husband, and an oak tree on their property. Everybody's growing. this is a neat tradition for a family!
* What is evidence? What is proof?, What you really want to know about evidence, Digging into evidence, and I Move Exhibit Three Into Evidence, Your Honor, and From Information to Data to Facts to Evidence to Proof by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James offers a lawyer's view of these topics - well done!
* The Bizarre, Sad, and Regrettable: Selections of Deaths from the 'Federal Mortality Schedules' by Daniel N. Rolph on the HSP's Hidden Histories blog. What an interesting selection of items from the Census Mortality schedules. Makes me want to go find more!
* How Reliable is the SSDI? by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Excellent information here, and I love the graphic.
* Researching Solomon Norton – Part 1 and Researching Solomon Norton – Part 2 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog. Julie shares her research background and plan to determine if Solomon Norton is the father of her 5th-great-grandmother.
* 2011 Battle of Monmouth Reenactment: Impressions of a Jersey Continental by Tim Abbott on the Walking the Berkshires blog. Tim describes his reenactment experiences with stories and pictures. This is so cool.
* Sheriff William Preston's identity crisis (2.06 of 3), (2.07 of 3) , (2.08 of 3), and Sheriff William Preston's identity crisis (2.09 of 3) by GeneJ on the They Came Before blog. GeneJ has four more installments of her series on her Preston research. Time for the summary?
* "But I thought genealogy was boring..." by Geoff Rasmussen on the Legacy News blog. Geoff has his 11-year old son, Evan, hooked! Great strategy, Geoff!
* Delving into the Deeds, Oh, John? I'm Looking for You!, Ah, Yes! John Rupert..., and The Estate of John Rupert :: Goods and Chattels by Becky Wiseman on the kinexxions blog. Becky recounts her deed and probate research at the FHL, with some useful examples and references. She made wonderful discoveries!
* Traditional vs. Scientific Genealogy? and Traditional vs. Scientific Genealogy, round two by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog. Michael offers examples from his own research and opinion in this discussion.
* Finding the date of last Thursday and six other challenges by Pat Richley-Erickson on the DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. Pat demonstrates how to add an obituary to her RootsMagic database in text and image. She challenges readers to suggest what else she should do to follow-up. Impressive!
* Ancestry and Academics© by Kathleen Brandt on the a3Genealogy blog. Kathleen got a class of 50 teenagers to do genealogy research in class...impressive program!
* Genealogy Education - Enhance Your Research by Susan LeBlanc on the Gopher Genealogy blog. Susan provides a great list of educational opportunities for both beginning and advanced researchers.
Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:
* Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.
* Monday’s Link Roundup by Dan Curtis on the Dan Curtis - Professional Personal Historian blog.
* Monday Recap for June 20th, 2011 by Grant Brunner on the Geni.com Blog.
* Genealogy Round Up, June 22 by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak on the Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog.
* Follow Friday - Some Highlights From the Week by Cheryl Cayemberg on the Have You Seen My Roots blog.
* Follow Friday Newsletter: 24 June 2011 by Greta Koehl on Greta's Genealogy Bog blog.
* Follow Friday: This Week’s Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.
* Genealogy News Corral, June 20-24 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.
* Week in Review by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.
I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs 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 950 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
The URL for this post is http://www.geneamusings.com/2011/06/best-of-genea-blogs-19-to-25-june-2011.html
(c) 2011. Randall J. Seaver. All Rights Reserved. If you wish to re-publish my content, please contact me for permission, which I will usually grant. If you are reading this on any other genealogy website, then they have stolen my work.
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