The Carringer House in San Diego in 1897 -- Post 296 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't Wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here is a photograph of an ancestral home taken by a photographer in San Diego, California:

This house was built on the northeast corner of what is now 30th Street (running north-south) and Hawthorn Street (running east-west) in San Diego by by great-grandparents, Henry Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer.  The left-side of the house in the picture above faced west, and the right-side of the house face south.  The walkway from the porch towards the street goes to the corner of the block.

The photograph above was taken in about 1900, and includes the following people (from the left):

*  Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944, in white dress and hat) standing next to her son, Lyle.
*  Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976, wearing a hat) and standing next to his mother, Della.
*  David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902, in dark clothes and hat, with a white beard, looking toward the west)
*  Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946, standing on the center walkway)
*  Rebecca (Spangler) Carringer (1832-1901, standing on the south side of the house) next to her son, Harvey.
*  Harvey Edgar Carringer (1852-1946, standing on the south side of the house) next to his mother, Rebecca.
*  Abbie (Vaux) Smith (1844-1931, standing on the south side of the house) on the far right.

I don't know the name of the family horse on the far left side of the photograph.

This Victorian gingerbread house had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a parlor on the first floor There was a staircase in the center of the house up to the second story. The second story had at least four rooms - including at least two bedrooms, topped by a widow's walk with a lightning rod. There was a large front porch on the west and south sides of the house.

Della (Smith) Carringer bought the lot on the southern part of this block for $450 in 1894.  The house was built (mostly by Austin) over several years, and they resided in it from 1897 until their deaths in 1944 and 1946.  

I grew up in this house, on the second story, but that's another story that I'll tell next week.

The photograph above was pasted onto a page in an Ohio county history book, probably by my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer, when he was a child.  It was probably taken by a professional photographer in about the 1900 time frame.  I carefully removed the pasted page and scanned it.  The image above is cropped to remove borders on the original photograph.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/the-carringer-house-in-san-diego-in.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

I'm a Social Media Maverick too! Family Tree Magazine Names 40 SMMs

I received an email today from Diane Haddad, editor of Family Tree Magazine and writer of the Genealogy Insider blog saying:

"We announced 40 Social Media Mavericks to follow in the March/April 2014 Family Tree Magazine, in Lisa Louise Cooke's article Social Media Mavericks (available online at http://familytreemagazine.com/article/40-social-media-mavericks ). Cooke recommends 40 genealogy individuals and organizations to follow on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Pinterest. This article recognizes the important role of social media in the way we share family history research, find inspiration and advice, connect with distant relatives, share and discover new resources, and more."

Genea-Musings was noted in the Blogging category, along with 8 others.  There were many other geneabloggers named in the Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest categories.

The article had this to say about me:

"Randy Seaver reliably serves up genealogy research tips, techniques and news, as well as commentary on his own research. And nobody does software evaluation better, so if you’re trying to choose a genealogy database or want to use the one you have more effectively, this is the blog for you."

I thought that the list should have included Google+ posters and Hangouts, and a number of active and notable genealogy bloggers/social media mavens were not included.

For example, I think that DearMYRTLE deserved to be included, perhaps on the YouTube list.  She is one of the persons very active on Google+ and Facebook, and has been doing weekly "Mondays With Myrt" Hangout On Air that are archived on YouTube.  In addition, she has done one series of "Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group" Hangouts On Air and just started a second series.  This "Hangout On Air" medium is one of the few "active collaboration/discussion" forums available for researchers in video format that I think can be very useful for genealogical research.

I also have other social media outlets which I mainly use to highlight my blog posts and genealogy issues, including:

*  Facebook Profile:  https://www.facebook.com/Geneaholic

*  Twitter Feed:  https://twitter.com/rjseaver  or @rjseaver

*  Google+ Profile:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/+RandySeaver/posts

*  Genea-Musings blog:  www.geneamusings.com

*  Geneaholic blog:  www.geneaholic.com

*  Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog:  http://cvgencafe.blogspot.com

*  My Flipboard Magazines:  https://flipboard.com/profile/Geneaholic

*  My Rebel Mouse page:  https://www.rebelmouse.com/rjseaver/

Congratulations to all of the other social media mavericks that are listed - I think that I follow almost all of them already!

My thanks to Lisa Louise Cooke and Family Tree Magazine for the honor of being named a Social Media Maverick.   i'm in good company!  My daughters would be surprised at this...

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/im-social-media-maverick-too-family.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Dear Randy: Do You Ever Check Your Ancestry.com Hints?

On the Many More AncestryDNA Matches Now - and a Bug (Update: Fixed!) (posted 20 February 2014) post, reader Joe Lowry asked:

"Randy, I noticed your shaky tree hint number is really high! Do you ever check your hints, even out of curiousity? How long have you gone without checking them to get the number that high? Just curious."

The short answer is:  Yes, I do, but I don't obsess about it.  There is also an explanation.

1)  On one of the screen shots on the noted post, my Ancestry.com Hints indicated that I had 1533 unreviewed new Hints (in five trees).  If I click on the Hint list at the top of the home page, I can see a list of all of the Hints (well, 20 at a time), and when I click out of that list the number goes down to zero.  The Hints on the tree pedigree view or on a person profile page don't go away until after I've reviewed them.

2)  One of my current Ancestry Member Trees has about 42,000 individuals.  I replace this database every year or two because I keep adding content to my genealogy management program (RootsMagic at this time) and want to update my "cousin bait" tree occasionally.  For this tree, I don't access the green leaf Hints, or attach them to persons in the tree, or click on ignore the hint.  That would be a waste of time, in my humble opinion, because I will replace that tree eventually and get a whole new set of Hints.  

3)  I have another Ancestry Member Tree (my "Hints" tree) which has only my ancestral families in it (with about 7,400 individuals) which I use to add Hints to persons in my ancestral families. I review the Hints in this tree, and review them to attach or ignore them, especially for my ancestral persons.  Then I save the record image (if there is one) to my computer "Downloads" file folder, rename it with my file naming convention, move it to the appropriate Family file folder, and upload it to my genealogy management program as a Media item.  

I go through these Hints every six months or so in order to let them "collect" and then I review them in an orderly way using the Pedigree View in my Ancestry Member Tree.

For instance, here is a view from my "Hints" Ancestry Member Tree:

The screen above shows that Ancestry.com has found 263 more new Hints for me on all of my trees in the system.  

As you can see, I've reviewed all of the Hints through the 16 people in the generation headed by Benjamin Seaver on the chart above.  The view above is for ancestors of Elizabeth Keyes.  I will work on reviewing the Hints for her ancestors with shaky leaves sometime this week.  Then I'll move on to the next person on the list in the generation below Elizabeth Keyes.  

This "Hint" tree is the one I keep synced with Family Tree Maker 2014 and with the iPhone and Android apps (so that I can see what I have when I'm away from home without my laptop or desktop computers).

4)  The real challenge I have with this "Hints" tree is to keep it updated with new information not found on Ancestry.com.  I need to add information for my ancestors (I don't care that much about adding additional information for their siblings or siblings parents) on a regular basis.  So I add the information, either entering it using the keyboard or by merging a small GEDCOM file to my FTM 2014 database, and then sync it to the Ancestry Member Tree.  

5)  Joe asked how often I review the Hints.  It was probably a month or so when he saw my 20 February blog post.  263 more Hints appeared between 20 February and 25 February.  The current new Hint count is zero right now.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/dear-randy-do-you-ever-check-your.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip: There are 26 Wisconsin Historical Collections on FamilySearch

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Search Wisconsin Historical Collections on FamilySearch.org.

The list of record collections on FamilySearch.org for Wisconsin is now at 26.  To see the list for any location, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and enter the state or country name in the search box on the top left of the screen.

The list of record collections available is (with number of indexed records if indexed, and the last update date):

*  Wisconsin, Birth Index, 1820-1907 (985,659 records, 27 Oct 2012)
*  Wisconsin, Births and Christenings, 1826-1926 (1,440,965 records, 24 Jan 2014)
*  Wisconsin, Calumet County, New Holstein Public Library Records, 1900-2001 (Browse Images, 10 Nov 2011)
*  Wisconsin, County Naturalization Records, 1807-1992 (Browse Images, 27 Sep 2012)
*  Wisconsin, Crew Lists of Ship Arrivals, 1925-1956 (Browse Images, 11 Feb 2014)

*  Wisconsin, Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Manitowoc, 1925-1956 (Browse Images, 11 Feb 2014)
*  Wisconsin, Dane County Naturalization Records, 1887-1945 (Browse Images, 13 Jan 2012)
*  Wisconsin, Death Index, 1820-1907 (435,208, 10 Feb 2012)
*  Wisconsin, Death Index, 1959-1997 (1,629,093, 07 Dec 2011)
*  Wisconsin, Death Records, 1867-1907 (432,959, 24 Jan 2014)

*  Wisconsin, Deaths and Burials, 1835-1968 (34,928, 24 Jan 2014)
*  Wisconsin, Divorce Index, 1965-1984 (231,499, 07 Mar 2012)
*  Wisconsin, Fond du Lac Public Library Records, 1848-1980 (Browse Images, 23 Nov 2011)
*  Wisconsin, Marriage Index, 1973-1997 (948,961, 10 Feb 2012)
*  Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930 (734,524, 24 Mar 2012)

*  Wisconsin, Milwaukee Naturalization Index, 1848-1990 (71,819, 23 Dec 2013)
*  Wisconsin, Milwaukee Petitions to Naturalization, 1848-1991 (Browse Images, 30 Dec 2013)
*  Wisconsin, Outagamie County Records, 1825-1980 (Browse Images, 12 Nov 2011)
*  Wisconsin, Probate Estate Files, 1848-1948 (Browse Images, 21 Nov 2013)
*  Wisconsin, Shawano and Oconto Counties, Indexes and Records, 1850-2007 (Browse Images, 09 Dec 2011)

*  Wisconsin, State Census, 1855 (133,164, 02 Mar 2013)
*  Wisconsin, State Census, 1865 (21,162, 18 Jun 2013)
*  Wisconsin, State Census, 1875 (296,899, 28 Feb 2013)
*  Wisconsin, State Census, 1885 (407,138, 21 Jan 2011)
*  Wisconsin, State Census, 1895 (494,911, 28 Feb 2013)
*  Wisconsin, State Census, 1905 (489,005, 30 Apr 2010)

For the "Browse Images" collections, the user has to click through to find the waypoints in each collection and then search for an index to the records of interest, then search for the actual record using volume numbers and page numbers.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/tuesdays-tip-there-are-26-wisconsin.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Crafting a Source Citation for the U.S. Veterans Affairs Death File, 1850-2010

In comments on my blog post U.S. Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010, on Ancestry.com (dated 2 November 2011), reader Jason W. Crews asked:

"Randy, how do you cite this source? Should I use Evidence Explained 11.36 Military: Headstone & Burial Records - Online Database & Indexes? I could not find anything on EvidenceExplained.com in regards to U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File."

Reader Rosemary offered:  "@Jason - I would use a generic online database template for this. I think of it as similar in function to the SSDI."

My grandfather's entry in the "Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem" on Ancestry.com is:

The title says that it is a "Death File" compiled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  Is it a vital record?  Is it a military record?  It has both sets of information.  It's an online searchable indexed database, but it doesn't have record images.  It is on Ancestry.com as a database indexed from records at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Ancestry.com source citation for this record is:

Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Original data: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Ancestry.com source citation does not describe the specific source detail like the Evidence Explained models do.  If I cite this record, I want to be sure that I, and other researchers who see the citation, can find it again and use it to evaluate all the evidence for the birth date, death date, military enlistment, military release, and military ID number for this person.  

I decided to see which Evidence Explained source citation model that could be used. I think that the most similar record type and record source is the source citation model in Evidence Explained is section 11.33 for the "Military, Draft Registrations," except that the BIRLS database does not have an online image of the record.

In RootsMagic 6, I used the "Military Records, Databases" source template to craft this source citation for my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976):

Footnote: "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010," indexed database, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 2 November 2011), entry for Lyle Carringer (1891-1976), SSN 553109373; citing Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Short Footnote: "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010," indexed database, Ancestry.com, entry for Lyle Carringer (1891-1976), SSN 553109373.

Bibliography: "U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010." Indexed database. Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2011. 

I usually put the "citing ..." information in the Source Comment field in the RootsMagic source citations rather than include it in the Footnote.

As Rosemary noted, a generic online database source template can be used, and her example of the Social Security Death Index is an excellent suggestion.  The format is the same as the BIRLS Death File - it's an online database without an image created from government records.  

For the record, all of the information in this record matches well with the information about my grandfather's birth, death, enlistment date, release date, and social security number.

Thanks for the question, Jason, and I hope that this helps.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/crafting-source-citation-for-us.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Reminder: OCCGS Genealogy BASH is Saturday, 1 March 2014 in Huntington Beach, California

If you reside in Southern California, I hope that you have put the OCCGS Genealogy BASH and Book Faire on your calendar - it's Saturday, 1 March 2014 at the Huntington Beach (California) Central Library (7111 Talbert Avenue, Huntington Beach CA 92648) from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

This is an all-day conference with four session times, 18 genealogy classes and 9 speakers.  The Book Faire will be in Room E from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  The BASH sponsor is Legacy Family Tree, and there will be experts available to answer questions about their software product.  There will be other exhibitors also.

Registration for the Genealogy BASH and Book Faire can be done online or by postal mail - see the registration page at http://www.occgs.com/mtg_event/bash/registration.html.  The registration fee is $45 for OCCGS members, $55 for non-OCCGS members, and $10 for a box lunch.  

Here is the flyer (download it here) announcing the details:

The nine speakers, times and their topics, are:

*  Barbara Renick (Theater): 
1:00 p.m.:  How Money Affected Our Ancestors
2:30 p.m.:  Genealogy and Technology: State of the Union

*  Hank Jones (Theater):
9:15 a.m.:  When the Sources Are Wrong
10:45 a.m.: Tracing the Origins of 18th Century Palatine and Other Immigrants

*  Geoff Rasmussen (Room C):
9:15 a.m.:  Genealogist's Guide to Working With Digital Images
10:45 a.m.: Organizing, Planning and Sharing Using Legacy Family Tree

*  Gena Philibert-Ortega (Room B):
10:45 a.m.:  Elusive Genealogy Sources
1:00 p.m.: The Secret Lives of Women: Research Female Ancestors Using the Sources They Left Behind
2:30 p.m.: Enhancing Your Genealogy Using American Memory

*  Colleen Fitzpatrick (Maddy Room):
9:15 a.m.:  A Different Kind of DNA Talk
10:45 a.m.: How DNA Can Help You With Your Family History

*  CeCe Moore (Room C):
1:00 p.m.: Chromosome Mapping With Autosomal DNA: Discovering the Ancestors in You
2:30 p.m.: Real World Stories From the Desk of a DNA Detective

*  Morris Thurston (Room B):
9:15 a.m.: Telling Your Family Story Using Google Earth

*  Linda Serna (Maddy Room):
1:00 p.m.: Using Online Sources to Expand Your Family Story
2:30 p.m.: Foreign Research

*  Chris Hansen and Lloyd Budwig (Balboa Room):
9:15 a.m.: Beginning Genealogy (FREE)
1:00 p.m.: Beginning Genealogy (FREE)

*  Randy Seaver (Talbert Room):
1:00 p.m.: Understanding the Genealogical Proof Standard
2:30 p.m.: Crafting Source Citations the Easy Way

You can read the presentation summaries on the Lecture Summaries page and theSpeaker Biographies here.

I look forward to this all-day seminar each year and making two presentations.  This is the second year - I had a great time last year doing two other presentations.  I hope to see two morning presentations but haven't decided which ones to attend yet.  I also look forward to browsing the genealogy collection at the Huntington Beach library again. 

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/reminder-occgs-genealogy-bash-is.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Reminder: Attend the FREE Escondido Family History Fair on Saturday, 1 March

The FREE Escondido (CA) Family History Fair "Life in the Past Lane"  will be on Saturday, 1 March 2014, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m, at the Escondido Family Discovery Center at 2255 Felicita Road in Escondido (760-745-1662).  

The Escondido FHFair website is at http://www.escondidofhc.com/family-history-fair/.

At the top of the page are links for the Fair Information, Workshops Offered, Presenter Biographies,Fair Registration, and Order Lunch (which costs $9.75 and benefits the Boy Scouts).

There are five presenter session times, and a total of 43 classes, with 12 speakers, including Dan Poffenberger, Jean Wilcox Hibben, Debby Horton, Michaele Burris, Ann Montgomery, Tom Underhill, Del Ritchhart, Joel Weintraub, Cassandra Helzer, Ed Ries, Alice Volkert, and Butch Hibben.

Attendees should register to attend, and choose the classes they wish to attend.

This is an excellent opportunity to obtain genealogy education for little or no cost from well-known presenters.  I encourage local San Diego society members to sign up and attend this event.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/reminder-southern-california.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - the Articles of Agreement on the Estate of John Woodcock (1606-1701) of Attleborough, Mass.

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 a probate record that was an article of agreement to settle the estate of John Woodcock (1606-1701) of Attleborough, Massachusetts.  John Woodcock married Sarah Curtis (1627-1676) about 1644, and they had children:

*  Sarah Woodcock (1646-1727), married Thomas Estabrook (1649-1713)
*  John Woodcock (1649-1718) married Sarah Smith (1654-1676) and Sarah Judson (1651-1718)
*  Israel Woodcock (1651-1719) married Elizabeth Getchell (1662-????)
*  Mary Woodcock (1653-1703) married Samuel Guild (1647-1730)
*  Thomas Woodcock (1657-1707) married Mary --?-- (????-1747)
*  Jonathan Woodcock (1658-1736) married Mercy Williams (1669-1737)
*  Nathaniel Woodcock (1660-1676)
*  Deborah Woodcock (1663-1718) married Benjamin Onion (1659-1718).

John Woodcock married (2) Joanna --?--, who survived him and had married James Fowler at the time of this writing.

John Woodcock died in Attleborough in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Articles of Agreement between his widow, Joanna (who was his second wife, and not the mother of his children), and the children of John Woodcock, were written on 6 March 1703, which reads (transcribed  from Bristol County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, Volume 2: Pages 106-107, obtained from FHL US/CAN Microfilm 0,461,882):

"Attleborough  March the: 6 : 1703

"Articles of Agreement Considered and Concluded on between Joanna Fowler Relict to John Woodcock of Attleborough Deceased, And John Woodcock, Israel Woodcock, Jonathan Woodcock, Thomas Woodcock, Thomas Estabrook, Samuel Guild, and Benjamin Onion, the Children & heires of the John Woodcock Dec.  Refering to the Dividing & Settleing the Estate left by the said John Woodcock Dec.

"Imps.  We do Joyntly Agree that the thirds of the Estate Accrueing to the widow by law be Purchassed by the Children.

"2dly.  That the houseing and lands be sold, and allso the stock & goods and chattels (Except such part as we shall see cause to make Choice of) That the money remening by the sale thereof (after the debts be all payd), By the Admr be Divided Amongst the Children Equally, only the Eldest Son to have two shillings in the Pound more than his Equall part.  And do Acknowledge that we have in hand Received Each of us as is hereafter mentioned.

"Viz.  To John Woodcock in Goods and Chattels ............................  02=03=00
To Israel Woodcock in Goods and Chattels .....................................  01=19=00
To Jonathan Woodcock in Goods and Chattels ................................  01=19=00
To Thomas Woodcock in Goods and Chattels .................................. 01=19=00
To Thomas Eastabrook in Goods & Chattels .................................... 01=19=00
To James Fowler and Joanna Fowler in money for the house & land .. 30=00=00
and in Goods and Chattels .............................................................  07=00=00
To Samuel Guild in Goods and Chattels ..........................................  01=19=00
To Benjamin Onion in Goods and Chattels ......................................  01=19=00

In the presense of James Fowler (seal)
James Browne Joanna Fowler (her mark) (seal)
Christopher Hall John Woodcock (seal)
Mary Blackenton (?) her mark Israel Woodcock (seal)
Jonathan Woodcock (seal)

"This agreement being shown forth by Captain Samuel Guild Thomas Woodcock (seal)
Admr to the Estate of John Woodcock late of Attleborough Thomas Eastabrook (seal)
Decd...as a Disposition of a part of the Estate under his Samuel Guild (seal)
Administration is Allowed of this 2d Day of November Benjamin Onion (seal)
1704 & ordered to be of Record - Nathaniel Byfield."

"The Account of the Administration of John Woodcock of Dedham in the County of Suffolk in New England and Samuel Guild Admr of the estate left by their late father Mr John Woodcock late of Attleborough Deceased Intestate Exhibited November 2d 1704.

"The Administ-n Debts

"To the personall Estate as by the Inventory on Record the sum of  ............... 213=10=00

To the Reall Estate on Record .............................................................................. 128=00=00

Lost in Selling the personall Estate     27=17=08
Lost in the sale of the Reall Estate      08=00=00 ...............................................  035=17=08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                    305=12=04

To ye Debts funerall charges & Expenses not on the other side .....................   165=06=09
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     140=05=07

The Admr Credit Debts payd out of the Estate

To Mr. Gidion Crawford  ............................  48=03=02
To Nathaniel Waterman ..............................  27=10=00
To Nathaniel Paine Esqr ............................   12=10=00
To Peter Fowlerworth .................................  07=11=03
To Mr. Ballester .......................................... 03=18=10
To Mr Pembrook ........................................ 02=18=10
To Mr. Cheesebrooke .................................. 00=03=06
To Timothy Ide ........................................... 00=16=00
To Peter Thomson .....................................  00=05=00
To James Jillson ........................................  00=12=00
To James White ........................................  00=04=06
To Mrs. Nirbos .........................................  00=04=00
To John Wares .........................................  01=02=00
To Henry Sweet .......................................  00=06=00
To Jonathan Woodcock ............................  01=00=00
To Israel Woodcock .................................  00=01=08
To Bamfield Caprion .................................  01=04=00        The houseing & lands sold
To Mr John Arnold ...................................  02=15=00         for the sum of = 120=00=00
To Joseph Chaplin ....................................  04=06=00          to be divided to & amongst the
To Funerall Charges .................................  12=12=00          Children of the sd John Woodcock
To our Mother upon Agreement ...........  15=01=00      ....   Deceased Equally, Except John
Charges for ye Settlement of ye Woodcock               .....       who is to have two
Estate for Entertainment at the house . 08=07=00             shillings in the pound more than ye
Admr Charges .......................................... 13=15=00           other Children
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          165=06=09           Samuel Guild Adm-r.

"Samuel Guild Adm-r to ye Estate of John Woodcock late of Attleborough Deceased Personally appearring before me Nathaniel Byfield Judge of Probate of wills & within the County of Bristoll made Oath that this is a true acco-t of his Administration so far as is set forth by the said Account which I allow to be of Record Bristoll Novr 2d 1704.
Jun Coram Natha-l Byfield"

The source citation for this document is:

 "Probate Records, 1687-1916; Index, 1687-1926" Bristol County, Massachusetts, Probate Court Records, on 199 FHL US/CAN Microfilm rolls; original records at Probate Registry, Taunton, Mass., Volume 2: Pages 106-107, Articles of Agreement on John Woodcock estate, obtained from FHL US/CAN Microfilm 0,461,882).

The necessity for this document is that John Woodcock died in 1701 with a significant estate consisting of real estate, personal estate, and debts.  His widow, Joanna --?--, married James fowler, presumably at the time of the writing of this agreement.  By law, she was to receive her "thirds," and the administrators had to sell the property to do that.

The numbers don't seem to add up.  The administrator had 140 pounds to distribute after selling the real estate, paying the debts and other charges and expenses.  15 pounds went to the widow in the list of debts, and 37 pounds to the widow in the agreement.  The seven children received slightly more than 30 pounds in the settlement.  Perhaps they each received some portion of the personal estate that was not accounted for.  Or I missed a line when I transcribed this document!

My Woodcock ancestor is Mary (Woodcock) Guild (1653-1703), who married Samuel Guild in 1676.  The agreement names all of the surviving male children of John Woodcock, and the husbands of the three married daughters, including Samuel Guild.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/amanuensis-monday-articles-of-agreement.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

CVGS Program Meeting - 26 February 2014 Features Ceasar Castro

WEDNESDAY, February 26th

 PROGRAM MEETING

from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

At Chula Vista Civic Center Library Auditorium (365 F Street)

Ceasar Castro: “California and the Mexican-American War 

From a Genealogical Point of View”

 Ceasar Castro is a local boy. He graduated from Hilltop High School and San Diego State with a degree in Electrical Engineering.  He worked at the Navy R&D Laboratory on Point Loma for 36 years before retiring. 

 Ceasar started working on his genealogy in 2008 when his sister, who had started earlier, asked him for help. However, slowly he took over the research. He joined the San Diego Genealogy Society and the Chula Vista Genealogy Society to learn more about genealogy. All of his ancestors come from Baja California. In researching his Castro ancestors, he discovered that two of his great-grandaunts married Irishmen in Baja. This puzzled him - how did the Irishmen end up in Baja around 1850? This started him delving into the history of Baja and resulted in his research on the Mexican-American War.

 When historians write about history, they are interested in who made decisions and the result of those decisions. If an army is involved, they may give the names of some of the officers but not of the common soldiers. They usually only give the number of soldiers. But we are genealogist; we seek the names of all the soldiers. That is because we are usually looking for a particular person(s). This presentation on the Mexican-American War is from that perspective; what were the names of all the people involved in the Mexican-American War in California.

This meeting is open to all persons, and is free of charge to attend.  There will be a short society business meeting before the program speaker.  Snacks are provided by CVGS volunteers before and after the meeting. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/cvgs-program-meeting-26-february-2014.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 16 to 22 February 2014

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 daily blog prompts or 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:

*  Dr. D's 15 Minutes of Fame by Dave Dowell on the Dr. D. Digs Up Ancestors blog.  Dave got his name and story in the newspaper - great article!

*  An Open Letter to Leaders in the Online Family Tree Business by Jeffrey Bockman, guest author on the GenealogyBlog blog.  Jeff has ideas on how one really big tree might work, and more.

*  Tuesday's Tip:  Know Your Vital Records by Miriam Robbins on the Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors blog.  Miriam shares ideas on how to find and use vital records in your genealogy research.

*  The Power of Automatic Source Searching -- Part One Past and Present by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James highlights past and present research models, and how Ancestry, MyHeritage and FamilySearch automate searches and add content to an online family tree.

*  Genealogy Problem Solving: 6 Strategies That Helped Me by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.  Diane has excellent suggestions.

*  Looking For Bonds by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Judy discusses her recent webinar, and provides information on how to find them in extant records.

*  Adding Records and Sources to Family Tree by Lee Drew on the Family History With the Lineagekeeper blog.  Lee describes how he finds records and adds sources to the FamilySearch Family Tree.

*  Who Do You Think You Are? Live! - Day #1, Day #2 and Wrap-Up by Dick Eastman on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter blog.  Dick discusses the events and shows photos from this important conference in England.

*  What I Knew About PERSI That Wasn't So by Harold Henderson on the Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog.  Harold learns more about the PERiodical Source Index and shares it with us.

*  Who Do You Think You Are Live 2014 -- Report by Chris Paton on the British GENES Blog (Genealogy, News and Events) blog.  Chris shares his experiences at WDYTYAL.

These genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week:

*  NN Genealogy Things You Need to Know This Morning, Sunday, 16 Feb 2014; Monday, 17 Feb 2014; Tuesday, 18 Feb 2014; Wednesday, 19 Feb 2014; Thursday, 20 Feb 2014; Friday, 21 Feb 2014; Saturday, 22 Feb 2014 by Caroline M. Pointer on the 4YourFamilyStory.com blog.

*  52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 7 Recap by Amy Johnson Crow on the No Story Too Small blog.

*  News Stories and Blog Posts for Genealogists, February 21, 2014 by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo genealogy Blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for February 21, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Friday Finds - 02/21/14 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity (February 22, 2014) by John D. Tew on the Filiopietism Prism blog.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another 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 1470 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, 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/2014/02/best-of-genea-blogs-16-to-22-february.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver