My Software Wish List - A Historical Place Name Jurisdiction Catalog (HPJNC)

As many of my readers know, I "standardized" all of my place names associated with Events in my RootsMagic 5 database to current place names and locations, with the current country, state and county jurisdictions, during 2011. In this process, I combined all of my variant place names together. I did this task so as to put all of my localities "on the map" - so that they were geo-coded (latitude and longitude) to the present site in the software programs.  Being geo-coded, the online map features in the genealogy management programs could find them (they usually use Google Maps or Bing Maps).

That, of course, is not the "standard" way to name historical places in genealogical research.  The "standard" (recommended) method is to name the jurisdictions as they existed at the time of an Event (e.g., a birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial, will, residence, etc.).  For instance, I have many Events that happened in Medfield, Massachusetts, which is currently in Norfolk County.

My "standard" location for this place is "Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States."  However, many records for my Medfield ancestors are in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, not Norfolk County.  My preference is that the historical place names should be used depending on the time frame of the event, but I'm stymied by the limitations of the genealogy programs and my desire to have the historical place names associated with a map location.

As an example, here is my list of place name jurisdictions for Medfield (and I may have them wrong... this is just an example):

1649 to 1691:  Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British America
1691-1777:  Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Province, British America
1777-1793:  Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States
1793-present:  Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States.

Another example, this time for San Diego (city), California:

1769-1823:  San Diego, Alta California, Spanish America
1823-1848:  San Diego, Alta California, Mexico
1848-1850:  San Diego, California Territory, United States
1850-present:  San Diego, San Diego, California, United States

I described some of the historical place names I found in the RootsMagic 5 County Check system in my post "Exploring RootsMagic 5 New Features - Post 4: The CountyCheck Report."

There are at least two "standardized location databases" online for genealogists.  The two I know about are:

1)  The FamilySearch Standard Finder (https://labs.familysearch.org/stdfinder/PlaceStandardLookup.jsp).  A user can input a place name and obtain place name variants. the place type, the place time period, standard text,  culture, iso-code, geo-code (latitude and longitude) and an identification number for the place name.

This Standard Finder includes many variant names for the current place name.  However, it does not include all historical place names as an entity (e.g., the name of Raby in New Hampshire Province changed to Brookline in 1788).

2)  Dallan Quass has formed a standardized location database (see https://github.com/DallanQ/Places). He spoke about "An Open-Source Place-Finder for Genealogy" this at RootsTech 2012 (you can see his syllabus here) and says:

"The database contains over 400,000 current and historical populated places and higher-level political jurisdictions (districts, counties, provinces, states, etc.). It is based upon the place wiki pages at WeRelate.org. The database includes the place name, type (e.g., city, county, etc.) alternate names, the jurisdictional hierarchy that was in place in the early 1900's, earlier and later jurisdictional hierarchies, and geo-position coordinates."

Dallan's database has current place name locations, along with alternate place name(s), type of place, also located in, and geo-code latitude and longitude.

In order for genealogy software users like me to incorporate historical place names into their database, without going to every Fact in the database, while retaining the geo-coded information so that the map shows the correct location, my wish list for genealogy software includes:

A Historical Place Name Jurisdiction Catalog (HPNJC) feature that:

*  Contains a table of the included years, historical place name and jurisdiction(s) for each year range, the current place name and jurisdiction, and the geo-coding that finds the place on the map.  Simple examples of this would be my two lists above for Medfield and San Diego.

*  Depending on the Date of the Event in the genealogy database, the program finds the correct historical place name and inserts it into the Event Place field (perhaps with a "current location is ..." in the Place Description field, or in a Place Note field).  

*  Of course, this feature would need to be incorporated into an updated GEDCOM system and the different genealogy software programs and online family trees would need to be able to read it and write it.

At present Legacy Family Tree has a "County Verifier" feature that, if activated, warns the user that the county did not exist before the formation date.  RootsMagic 5 has a "County Check" feature that does a similar task, and offers a number of suggestions for the user to pick from.  Other software programs may have similar features, and I may not be totally aware of the Legacy and RootsMagic capabilities.

I think that this can be accomplished at some point in time, but it requires a fully populated historical place name catalog that genealogy software creators can utilize to implement a Historical Place Name feature (which implies that it should be Open Source, like the FamilySearch Standard Finder and Dallan Quass's Place Finder).  

What is your vision - your wish - for a Historical Place Name Jurisdiction Catalog (HPNJC)?  Can it be implemented?  Would you be willing to participate in the generation of an Open Source HPNJC? 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/my-software-wish-list-historical-place.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

Review - "QuickSheet: The Historical Biographer's Guide to the Research Process"

The Genealogical Publishing Company in Baltimore has published another in its series of "QuickSheet" laminated research guides - this time for The Historical Biographer's Guide to the Research Process by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

This QuickSheet booklet has four laminated pages on one 11" x 17" paper (folded). They are designed to give the user the basic guidelines for genealogy research in the allotted space, and provide an overview of the facts a researcher needs to know in order to begin and proceed successfully with research in the subject.

The QuickSheet: The Historical Biographer's Guide to the Research Process folder has these subjects:

* Basic Principles
*  Your Research Report
*  The Research Process Model - including Preparation, Performance, Evaluation and Reporting stages
*  The Research Analysis Model - Sources, Information and Evidence
*  The Identity Triangulation Model - Persona, Relationships, and Origin
*  The Reliability Model - the Principle, and Qualities That Should Be Met (with criteria of Problem analysis, Research, Documentation, Record Analysis, Correlation, Conflict Resolution and Explanation of Evidence and Conclusions).

This booklet is designed primarily for the historical biographer who is trying to reach conclusions and establish proof with a level of absolute confidence.  It provides a summary of the fundamentals of performing genealogical and family history research in the USA.  The information included in this QuickSheet embraces the well-known Genealogical Proof Standard, and extends the user's knowledge by offering four specific research process models to help the researcher reach rational conclusions.

For someone like me that teaches and talks about genealogy a bit, the QuickSheet format is invaluable because I can pull it out and provide some guidance to my student or colleague interested in the subject.

The beauty of these "QuickSheet" folders is that they are very light and portable in a briefcase or laptop case. They are fixtures in my research case.

This four-page laminated booklet costs $8.95, plus postage and handling (4th Class Mail $5.50; FedEx Ground Service in the USA, $7.50). You can order it through the Genealogical  Store, or use the link for the QuickSheet: The Historical Biographer's Guide to the Research Process and click on the "Add to Cart" link. 


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/review-quicksheet-historical.html


Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

Disclosure: Genealogical.com contacted me recently and asked me to provide a review of this booklet. They mailed me a review copy for my personal use as remuneration for this review.

Tuesday's Tip - Pennsylvania Death Index, 1906 to 1961 now online

This week';s Tuesday's Tip is:  Use the online Pennsylvania Death Index (link here) to find Deaths in the 1906 to 1961 period.

There is one Birth Index (1906) at this time, and Death Indexes for each year from 1906 to 1961.  Here is the Death Index list:

Unfortunately, this is not an easy search, but it is more than researchers have had until now.  The site describes the process to obtain a non-certified death certificate:

*  To apply for a non-certified copy you must first search the Pennsylvania birth indices or death indices to obtain a Pennsylvania State File number.


*  Several years of indices (1920-1924 deaths and 1930-1951 deaths) are listed according to the Russell Soundex method of indexing. 

*  You must provide the Pennsylvania State File number on Part 2 of the application form.  Applications received without a State File number will not be processed and will be returned to the applicant to obtain that information.

*  You may download the birth application form to apply for a non-certified copy of birth from 1906.  To apply for a non-certified copy of a death certificate from 1906 through 1961 you may download the death application form . 

*  Mail the completed application to:

Division of Vital Records

ATTN:  Public Records

P.O. Box 1528

New Castle, PA  16103

There is a $3.00 fee for each non-certified copy ordered.  Check or money order should be made payable to Vital Records.  Mail requests are processed in approximately sixteen to eighteen weeks from the date of receipt.

When you click on one of the years, you receive a list of PDF files for the entries, listed alphabetically by surname.  For 1906 Deaths, there were ten files.  I chose P-Q-R to search for Remley surnames.  The data for 1906 has these listings:

*  Last name

*  first names

*  State File Number

*  County

*  Death date (without a year)

The PDF files are, in many cases, quite large, and take several seconds to download.  

If you are performing a one-name search (I'm going to do Carringer and Remley), you will need to go one year at a time in order to collect the information.  For 1920-1924 deaths, and 1930 to 1951 deaths, you will have to determine the Russell Soundex code for your names (CaRriNGer is C652; ReMLey is R540).  For those years, the listings are not in strictly alphabetical order, but are in Russell Soundex order.  

Two geneabloggers, Claudia on Claudia's Genealogy Blog, and Russ Worthington on A Worthington Weblog, have been exploring this database and having success.  Thank you to Claudia and Russ for alerting me to these databases.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/tuesdays-tip-pennsylvania-death-index.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

It's Valentine's Day Census-Whacking Time

There are quite a few names associated with Valentine's Day reflecting our traditions and habits. I checked the 1920 census for some of them, and found:

SURNAMES

* Valentine - 17,911 people
* Valentino - 1,287 people
* Lover - 762 people
* Lovejoy - 4,192 people
* Loveland - 3,168 people
* Loveless - 3,524 people
* Sweet - 15,671 people
* Kiss - 1,458 people
* Cupid - 28 people
* Sweetheart - 1 person

GIVEN NAMES

* Valentine - 16,632 people
* Rose - 439,241 people
* Candy - 638 people
* Cupid - 78 people
* Romeo - 3,666 people
* Juliet - 8,008 people

COMBINATION NAMES

* Lovey Valentine - in Newark NJ
* Romeo Valentine - in Norristown PA
* Julie Valentine - in Hempstead NY
* Valentine Love - in Brooklyn NY
* Valentine Hart - in South Williamsport PA
* Valentine Rose - in Detroit MI
* Valentine Kiss - in Dubuque IA
* Valentine Flowers - in Blairsville PA
* Valentine Valentine - in Philadelphia PA
* Honey Lover - in Loves, GA
* Love Lovejoy - in Lawrence KS
* Cupid Luvie - in Liberty County TX
* Cande Hart - in Upshur County TX
* Rose Flowers - 26 of them!
* Rose Rose - 295 of them
* Juliet Romeo - in Brooklyn NY

Enjoy, census lovers!  


Now if my sweet honey loving valentine will give me See's peppermint patties and molasses chips, I'll be a happy guy.  Fatter too...

Book Review - "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak

I received my copy of Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's latest genealogy book on 30 January, just before flying off ot Salt Lake City, so I had a chance to enjoy it on the airplane (both ways) and after I returned home.

The book is:

Megan Smolenyak2, Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing, published by Kensington Books, 2012 (ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-3446-6. Paperback, 256 pages, U.S. $15.95.  Canada $17.95. 

You can read the front and back cover review quotes at "Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing" Available Today!  and the Kensington Books site.  It is available for sale at Kensington, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com,BooksaMillion.com, indieBound.org, or your favorite retailer.  It's also available for the Kindle.  The Foreword is by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 


You can see a three minute video trailer about the book here:






In this book, Megan shows the world that genealogy research is not necessarily a dull and plodding pastime.  She also shows that the study of genealogy and family history can be challenging, uplifting and fun.

As I read this, I marveled at how well Megan writes for the casual reader - the words flow so well drawing the reader into the "mystery story" about the ancestry of unknown, famous or infamous persons.  There are 22 short stories in this book, each based on Megan's "genealogy detective" work for clients, her own research, and pro-bono work.

If you've known  Megan for a number of years (I've only known her for 6 years, but it's been fun), then you've seen her rise to be one of the "rock stars" of the genealogical community.  Her body of work is impressive, to say the least.  Much of it has been presented on television series and interview shows.  I had heard about several of the cases, but there many in the book that I had not previously read about.

The 22 stories in the book are:

*  No Man Left Behind (for Real) - a decade of forensic consulting for the Army
*  Famous Cousins - Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are related - *Yawn*
*  Serial Centenarians - Could two relatives who knew each other live in four centuries?
*  Alex Haley Was Scottish? - Uncovering the unexpected heritage of Roots author Alex Haley, through DNA
*  Egyptian Roots in a Library - Researching Hoda Kotb's roots for the Today show on a fierce deadline


*  A House Divided, a Bible Shared - The strange travels of a Civil War-era Bible
*  There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama - Tracing his roots to the Auld Sod
*  Unclaimed Persons - Why you should call your estranged brother
*  Adventures in TV Land - You need what by when?
*  Finding Melvina, Michelle Obama's Great-Great-Great-Grandmother - How do you trace a slave girl in South Carolina?


*  The Road to a First Lady's Roots - Road-tripping to discover all that's not online about Michelle Obama's heritage
*  King of America - Who would rule America today if George Washington had been king?
*  Skeletons in the Turret - Could DNA reveal the identity of the men of the USS Monitor.
*  Anatomy of an Adoption Search - Helping adoptees discover who they are.
*  The Slave Who Rescued Freedom - Rediscovering Philip Reed, without whom the Capitol would look very different.


*  No, Your Name Wasn't Changed at Ellis Island - Why you shouldn't fall for this popular myth.
*  Paralyzed Prostitute - Following the trail of an Oregon madam.
*  Half a Negro Boy - Finding a hidden connection between Al Sharpton and Strom Thurmond.
*  A Lonely Tombstone on the Sidewalks of Manhattan - the wandering memorial of a Jewish pioneer goes home
*  Grandma Stepped Out - My accidental genetic discovery


*  They Call Me Yak-Yak - What I learned from helping the FBI with civil rights cold cases.
*  Annie Moore, Ellis Island's First - Rectifying a case of historical identity theft.

The cases discussed demonstrate Megan's prowess at scouring people-finder websites, online genealogy historical record collections, and paper and/or microfilm resources in repositories (sometimes with the help of other professionals) in order to solve thorny research problems.  Throw in a healthy dose of DNA tests and analysis, and these vignettes show a modern and capable genealogist at work.

I highly recommend Megan's book, Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing because it shows what can be accomplished on difficult cases while demonstrating research techniques for genealogists and family historians to emulate.  The general public should be interested in this book because they know some of the celebrities researched and may have seen Megan on television.  Family history researchers should proudly display this book on their coffee tables so that visitors and relatives will be curious and pick it up, and want one of their own.

I give this book the highest rating - 5 Genea-Stars - because it displays some of the very best in genealogy research and is a wonderful read!

Disclosure:  Megan Smolenyak2 gifted me with a review copy of this book before publication.  That has not influenced my reciew of this book - I loved it!

THE URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/book-review-hey-america-your-roots-are.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

Are You Prepared to Research Without the SSDI?

We know that we may lose access to the Social Security Death Index in the coming months, and the end of it may come suddenly.  Or not.  It's up to Congress and the President, and perhaps will be influenced by petitions, letters and phone calls from constituents.

I think it's worthwhile to plan ahead for that eventuality.  If it happens, I will have the information I need due to work I perform now.  If it doesn't happen, I can continue using the SSDI for my research needs, but don't have to do the work again.

I'm going to be pro-active here and now - and "mine" the SSDI.  Here are my "SSDI mining" plans to be performed this week:

1)  Determine the persons for whom I want to order Social Security applications (SS-5) for.  Determine the SSNs, write the letters, and the checks, and order them.  Although Rootsweb.com took the SSDI down, Ancestry.com still permits subscribers to print off the letters.  Hint:  On the record summary, click on the "Request copy of original information" in the "Page Tools" section.

While I don't have immigrant ancestors after 1855, many researchers do, and the SS-5 forms usually provide birth dates, birth places and parents names for those immigrant family members.  Even if your family member didn't have a Social Security card, their siblings may have had one that provides the critical information.

2)  Collect as much information from the SSDI as I can for my families and surnames of interest, and enter it into my genealogy management program with an appropriate source.  Since I'm interested in gathering as much information in the records in as little space as possible, I went looking for the SSDI records online, did some searches and reviewed how the results are presented.  Here are my findings:

*  Ancestry.com has the SSDI behind their subscription wall now.  The information provided in the Search Results list are:  Name; Birth Date; Death Date; Last Residence (City, County, State).  By clicking on the "View Record" link, the user can also see the SSN and the State (Year) SSN Issued.

Here is a screen for the list of Search Results for the "Seaver" surname from Ancestry:

There are currently 1,395 entries for "Seaver" on Ancestry.com, and they are in birth year order. Ancestry provides up to 50 results on one web page.

*  GenealogyBank has the SSDI available for free (but you have to register a name and email address).  The information provided in the Search Results list are Name, Birth Year, Death Year, and State Issued.  The record for an individual provides Name, State of Issue, Birth Date, Death Date,  Estimated Age at Death, and Last Known Residence.

Here is the screen for the list of Search Results for the "Seaver" surname from GenealogyBank:

There are currently 1,393 entries for "Seaver" on GenealogyBank, and they are in death year order. GenealogyBank provides up to 10 results on one web page.

*  WorldVitalRecords has the SSDI available behind their subscription wall  (you can register, with a credit card for a three-day free trial).  The information provided in the Search Results list are Given Name, Last Name, Birth Date, Death Date, City, and State.  The record for an individual provides Name, Birth Date, Death Date,  State of Issue and Last Known Residence.

Here is the screen for the list of Search Results for the "Seaver" surname from WorldVitalRecords:

There are currently 1,375 entries for "Seaver" on WorldVitalRecords, and they are in first name alphabetical  order. WorldVitalRecords provides up to 25 results on one web page.

*  American Ancestors has the SSDI available for free  (no registration required).  The information provided in the Search Results list are Name, Birth Date, Death Date, SSN, State Issued, Residence Location (City,  State, Zip), Residence County, Payment Location (city, state, zip), and Payment County.  The record for an individual provides no additional information.

Here is the screen for the list of Search Results for the "Seaver" surname from American Ancestors:

There are currently 1,361 entries for "Seaver" on American Ancestors, and the user can choose the order from:  Relevance (I'm unsure what this means...); First Name; Last Name; Year - Oldest to Most Recent; Year - Most Recent to Oldest; Location - State.  American Ancestors provides up to 50 results on one web page.

*  FamilySearch has the SSDI available for free  (no registration required).  The information provided in the Search Results list are Name, Birth Date, Death Date, and State.  The record for an individual (and dropdown menu) has First Name, Last Name, Birth Date, SSN, State Issued, Last Residence (County,  State, Zip), (city, state, zip), Death Date, and Estimated Age at Death.

Here is the screen for the list of Search Results for the "Seaver" surname from

There are currently 1,392 entries for "Seaver" on FamilySearch, which seems to be in SSN order. Familysearch provides up to 20 results on one web page.

It seems to me that American Ancestors has all of the useful information in their Search Results list, and none of the others do.  Apparently, Ancestry.com has the latest database, and American Ancestors list is the most out-of-date.

3)   I saved the web pages (by going to File > Save Page As on my browser menu) for Seaver from the American Ancestors site (I chose Year - Oldest to Most Recent for the list).  There were 28 web pages saved to my Surname files.  I did the same thing for Seavers/Sever/Severs/Seavor, Carringer/Caringer, Auble/Aubel/Aubell, Vaux, McKnew, Grieser/Greiser

What are you going to do IF access to the Social Security Death Index is restricted or denied?  I advise you to PLAN AHEAD for the eventuality.  If it doesn't happen, all the better.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/are-you-prepared-to-research-without.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

Updated 11 a.m. to add FamilySearch.  Thank you, Banai!  I meant to and had a brain cramp.

Amanuensis Monday - Deed of Alpheus B. Smith to Lois Smith

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is the deed for land in Medfield, Massachusetts sold by Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840) to Lois Smith.  This deed is in:


Norfolk County (Massachusetts) Register of Deeds, "Land Records - Deeds, 1793-1890," on 373 microfilm reels, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.  Volume 81-82, on FHL US/CAN Microfilm 841804, Page 164, Deed, Alpheus B. Smith to Lois Smith, dated 14 August 1826.

The transcription of this deed is (handwritten portions in italics):


Know all Men  by these Presents,
THAT I Alpheus B. Smith of Medfield in the County of Norfolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Yeoman


in consideration of twenty five dollars paid by Lois Smith wife of Lebbeus Smith of the same Medfield yeoman


the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, do hereby give, grant, sell and convey unto the said 


Lois Smith her heirs and assigns forever a tract of land lying at the southerly part of said Medfield containing one acre be the same more or less and is bounded southeasterly on Walpole and Wrentham road and on all other parts on land of Charles Hammond it being the place formerly occupied by George Turner.


TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the afore-granted Premises to the said
Lois Smith her Heirs and Assigns, to her and their Use and Behoof forever.


AND I do covenant with the said Lois Smith her Heirs and Assigns, that I am lawfully seized in Fee of the afore-granted Premises: That they are free of all Incumbrances:  That I have good right to sell and convey the same to the said Lois Smith


AND that I will warrant and defend the same Premises to the said Lois Smith her Heirs and Assigns forever against the lawful claims and demands of all persons.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I the said Alpheus B. Smith


have hereunto set My Hand and Seal this fourteenth day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty six.


Signed, sealed, and delivered }
In presence of us                      } .................................... Alpheus B. Smith (seal)
Daniel Adams                           }
Harriet Adams                         }
Norfolk ss. August 14 1826  Then .................................. |
the above-named Alpheus B. Smith ............................... |
acknowledged the above instrument to be his free act  |  DEDHAM, April 8, 1827 Received, entered
and deed - before me, ........................................................| and examined by
Daniel Adams {Justice of ................................................. | .................... Enos Town Register.
......................... {the Peace ................................................ |


This is a very simple transfer of land from Alpheus B. Smith, one of my third great-grandfathers, to Lois Smith, wife of Lebbeus Smith.    I was curious if Lebbeus Smith was related to Alpheus B. Smith.  The book by William S. Tilden, History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts 1650-1886 (Boston, Mass.: Geo. H. Ellis, 1887) says that Lebbeus Smith's line was Lebbeus-6, Seth-5, Samuel-4, Samuel-3, Samuel-2, Henry-1.  It says that the line to Alpheus is:  Alpheus-6, Aaron-5, Moses-4, Henry-3, Samuel-2, Henry-1.  So Alpheus and Lebbeus were third cousins.


Lebbeus Smith died in 1828, leaving his wife Lois (Hall) Smith with five children (born 1808-1813).   The Tilden book notes that Lebbeus resided in Dedham in his later years.  It is possible that Lois wanted to have a place in Medfield for herself and her children.


The mystery for me is why did Alpheus B. Smith have this one-acre plot of land surrounded by the land of Charles Hammond?  Charles Hammond (Hamant?) may be the one Charles-5 (1761-1832), Asa Hamant-4, Samuel Hamant-3, Timothy Hamant-2, Francis Hamant-1 (from Tilden's book).


Alpheus B. Smith's paternal grandmother was Patience (Hamant) Smith (1735-1780)-4, daughter of Timothy Hamant-3, son of Timothy Hamant-2, son of Francis Hamant-1.  Patience was a first cousin once removed to Charles Hammond (Hamant?), and Alpheus smith was a second cousin once removed to Charles.  The land was probably passed to Alpheus B. Smith through the Hamant and Smith family generations.   There was no apparent deed in the Norfolk County land records (which started in 1793 when Norfolk County was formed from Suffolk County) granting land to Alpheus.  The land may have been granted to Moses Smith, husband of Patience Hamant, by deed or estate distribution, and then passed to Alpheus's father, Aaron smith and then to Alpheus by deed or estate distribution.  


There are many mysteries in land deeds, aren't there?  


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/amanuensis-monday-deed-of-alpheus-b.html


Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012

RootsTech 2012 Videos

Several longer RootsTech 2012 videos have appeared online (in addition to the livestreamed sessions).  I was interested in hearing them, since I was right there in the Media Hub when many of them were filmed, but I could not hear them.

The ones I'm aware of at this time are:

1)  Jill Ball interviewing Darrin Lythgoe (the creator of The Next Generation software) (video here):




2)  Lisa Louise Cooke interviewing Nick Barratt (video here):




3)  Lisa Louise Cooke interviewing Gilad Japhet of MyHeritage (video here):



4)  Lisa Louise Cooke interviewing Carol Genung (video here):



I did a search for "rootstech 2012" on YouTube and there were 73 matches.  There are a number of short videos by FamilySearch, and quite a few by Sharon Sergeant, on the list here.

There will be many more videos once all of the interviewers get their videos edited and up on YouTube.

Enjoy!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/rootstech-2012-videos.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

Jeffrey Bockman on the Future of Genealogy

After I posted  Do you Believe the FamilySearch Vision of the Future?, I received several comments in the blog comments.  I also received one great comment from Jeffrey Bockman on Google Plus (see my stream here) who said:


"I wrote about some of these same issues in The Future Revisited originally published in Everton's Genealogical Helper November/December 2006, page 55. An online copy is available at
www.jeffbockman.com/gatj/revisit."

Jeff wrote an extensive article about the Future of Genealogy, and much of it parallels what Jay Verkler, CEO of FamilySearch, said in his Keynote presentation at RootsTech 2012.  In his article, Jeff revisited his predictions made in 1998, and  looked at the present state of the genealogy art in 2006.  Some of his comments from 1998 and 2006 were really on the mark.

Look at this one:

"

The Family Tree

There needs to be an independent centralized "family tree" repository. If the Kennel Club can do it for dogs, then why can't there be an "official" site for people. The US government has much of the information necessary to populate a large portion of the American modern data, but they most likely will not. Getting other countries to participate is also probably unrealistic. The only way it will happen is through the cooperation of everyone with a vested interest in the data used by the genealogical community."


Or this one:


"With all of the indexing work that needs to be done for the ScanStone Project, wouldn't it be nice if the records could be linked directly to a specific individual. The same is true of all of the census records. All of the various Location and Surname boards would be able to link questions to a unique individual and then everyone with a vested interest could work to resolve any disputes.


"The linking of data to the correct individual is of the utmost importance. Our industry has a history of some excellent well-documented research along with let's just say some "questionable connections." A centralized system would allow everyone to see the actual record, and the conclusions, as well as allow comments or disagreements."


Read all of Jeff's article - check out the last part about Key Issues on Identity theft, record access, unique IDs, usability and cooperation.


Thank you, Jeff, for sharing the article with me and my readers.  I noted that Jeff's article had had 53 visitors since 10 March 2010, about two years ago.  I'll bet he gets a lot more in the next week!


While you're at Jeff's site, read his pages Jeff's Articles on Genealogy and Genealogy According to Jeff that are on the left sidebar.  Lots of good stuff there!  


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/02/jeffrey-bockman-on-future-of-genealogy.html


Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 5 to 11 February 2012

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: 


*  RootsTech Learning #1 -- Ancestral Lines Pairing System by Bart Brenner on the Stardust 'n' Roots blog.  Bart's post highlights a new genealogical numbering system recently devised.


*  Genealogy standards, another look by Philip Trauring on the Blood and Frogs blog.  Philip discusses GEDCOM and APIs - I'm glad he understands them!


* Why You Care About MGC, SSDI, the DMF and RPAC by Polly Kimmitt on the PollyBlog.  Polly does a terrific job of discussing this issue, and I love the DNA graphic!


*  What Does it Take to Get a Good Result from Ancestry.com by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr. AI reviews John Bacus's presentation on the inner workings of Ancestry.com's search engine at RootsTech 2012.


*  Find a Grave - The Extra Things You Can Do at Find A Grave by Lisa Swanson Elam on The Faces of My Family blog.


*  An Early Valentine to Kim von Aspern by footnoteMaven on the footnoteMaven blog.  Geneabloggers love pictures....and fM appreciates Kim very much.  


*  Something for Everyone: Courses & Conferences by Susan Farrell Bankhead on Susan's Genealogy Blog. Here is a list of conferences, institutes and courses for you to learn about genealogy.


*  Getting the Most from Scholarly Journals by Michael LeClerc on the Mocavo blog.  An excellent discussion of how journal articles can help you solve your brick wall problems.


*  Treasure trove: legislative petitions by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Judy provides examples of records from this record type.


*  Organizing and Sharing Your Digital Images by Geoff Rasmussen on the Legacy News blog. Here is a logical and well thought-out system for digital records.


*  WDYTYA – 3×01 – Martin Sheen – The Nitpicker’s Version by Banai Feldstein on The Ginger Jewish Genealogist blog.  I love Banai's summaries from WDYTYA - they're analytical, and often humorous.


*  Finding a 1940 Enumeration district (ED) number by juneld on the CSGA Blog.  This is a very useful post to help you find the ED number for your families in the 1940 U.S. Census after 2 April 2012.

 Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:  


*  Fab Finds in Genealogy for the Week of 5 February 2012 by GenuinelyLAF on the 1 Ancestry 2 Little Time blog.


*  Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.


*    Genealogy Round Up, February 9 by Megan Smolenyak on the Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog


*  Follow Friday: This Week's Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.


*  Friday Finds - 02/10/12 by Julie Tarr on the GenBlog blog.


*  Genealogy News Corral - Feb 6-10 by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.


*  Notable Genealogy Blog Posts, 12 February 2012 by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog.


*  Weeks 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 1150 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/2012/02/best-of-genea-blogs-5-to-11-february.html

Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.