Rest in Peace -- John Charles "Jack" Wood (1930-2014)

As genealogists, we are often reminded of our own mortality.  Every one of our ancestors died, or will die, as we will also.  We celebrate their lives, their accomplishments, and deeply appreciate their contribution to our gene pool.

Our Seaver family is mourning the passing of John Charles "Jack" Wood (1930-2014).  Jack is one of my first cousins on the Seaver side.  His parents were Walter Hazelhurst Wood (1893-1966) and Evelyn (Seaver) Wood (1903-1978).  Jack's mother was my father's sister.

There were 11 grandchildren from the family of our grandparents, Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) and Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962).  There are only nine of the first cousins left, since Jack's younger brother, Walter Hazelhurst Wood (1936-2010), died four years ago.

Here is a screen shot of the obituary for Jack Wood from the Lehigh Valley Express-Times website.

We last saw Jack and his wife, met his three children and almost all of their children, ten years ago when we attended the 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Jack and Joanne in Easton, Pennsylvania, and then at their home in Alexandria township, New Jersey.  It was a wonderful celebration of their marriage and it was uplifting and heartwarming to see the love between Jack and Joanne, and their children and grandchildren.  

Earlier, in the summer of 1998 (I think!), we had spent several days staying with Jack and Joanne at their home in New Jersey just getting to know each other and talking about our life experiences, walking around the beautiful green yard and grounds, visiting the barn, watching for deer and other wildlife.  We went to Ellis Island one day to see the sights, but the Statue of Liberty was off-limits at the time - we saw it from the boat.  It was a grand visit, the highlight of a vacation that included Washington, D.C., Williamsburg, Virginia, and genealogy stops in York, Pennsylvania and Laurel, Maryland.  

My mother's only memory of Jack Wood was when she answered the door one day in the early 1950s and there was Jack in his Air Force uniform just dropping in.  She called my father, and he came home and they talked for hours about the family.  They hadn't seen each other since at least 1940, when my father left Massachusetts in a hurry to go to California.  

Jack's Wood ancestry is a bit of a mystery on some of the lines.  Here is a pedigree chart that shows his Wood paternal line, and several of his collateral lines, go back to England and Scotland:

I will miss Jack's cheery messages at Christmas, and the occasional visits to his home, but I will cherish the memories and will always remember this wonderful man whose most important quality, I think, was expressed in the obituary - "Jack enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren."

Rest in Peace, Jack - a son, husband, father, grandfather, veteran, engineer, friend, cousin.  A life well lived.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/rest-in-peace-john-charles-jack-wood.html

copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Dear Randy: How Do I Remove the Whole Tree From My Account?

Reader Wendy left a comment on my blog post  "Sorting Out How to Work With the FamilySearch Family Tree Problems" (dated 3 September 2013), asking: 

"All I want to know is how to completely delete (remove) the whole tree from my account? I could of sworn that I did it once before but now that doesn't seem to be a possibility or I'm I missing something?"

Here is my response:

1)  Are you asking if you can remove the whole tree on the FamilySearch Family Tree?  The short answer is "You cannot - it's impossible, since you are not the only one who contributes to this universal, source-centric, open environment tree - one family tree for everyone."

You could log in to your FamilySearch account and then go into the Family Tree and delete persons that you added to the FamilySearch Family Tree one person at a time.  However, these ancestors and their family members do not "belong" to only you - other researchers may have added them, or edited the information about them, to the FamilySearch Family Tree.

However, my understanding is that you cannot delete living people in the FamilySearch Family Tree at this time.

2)  Are you asking about how to remove an entire family tree from your own account on another online family tree website, such as Ancestry.com or MyHeritage or a number of others?  

That can be accomplished by accessing your account with a username and password, and then using the Help feature to find out how to delete your tree from the account.  For instance, the Ancestry.com Get Help article that describes how to do this is at  http://help.ancestry.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4544/kw/delete%20family%20tree.

3)  I hope this helps you do what you want to do.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/dear-randy-how-do-i-remove-whole-tree.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

A Proud and Pensive Father in 1919 -- Post 305 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

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

Here is a photograph from my grandfather's photo album in the Seaver/Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:

This is a photograph of my mother, Betty Virginia Carringer, born 30 July 1919 in San Diego, California, being held by her father, Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976).  

I can't decide if Lyle looks proud, pensive or a bit nervous holding his baby girl.

Betty is looking right at the camera and is wearing a long white gown.  My first impression was that this might be on Betty's christening day, but I don't know if she was baptized or christened as an infant.  If it was, it was probably at the Central Christian Church in San Diego where Lyle and Emily (Kemp) Auble were married in 1918.  The occasion may have been Emily's birthday in August, or Lyle's birthday in November, or perhaps Christmas.  

My guess is that the photograph was taken by Emily at their home at 2054 Harrison Street in San Diego.  They were recorded there in the 1919 and 1920 San Diego City Directory.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/a-proud-and-pensive-father-in-1919-post.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

New Options on FamilySearch Family Tree "Tree View"

FamilySearch continues to add more features to the FamilySearch Family Tree to help visualize your ancestry and make it easier to navigate through the tree.

As a registered FamilySearch user (it's free!), I can add persons and information to the FamilySearch Family Tree, which is a universal, source-centric, open-environment tree (meaning it is not MY tree, but OUR tree, and anyone can add to or edit any profile).  I have been doing that over the past two years, and have added some photographs to the Family Tree recently for my ancestors.

One of the recently added features to FamilySearch Family Tree is more options to the "Tree View" when you access the Family Tree from the FamilySearch website (https://familysearch.org/tree/).

1)  Here is a screen shot of the "Traditional" pedigree chart when I open the FamilySearch Family Tree to view or use it:

For the screen shot above, I clicked on the down arrow next to "View Traditional" in the upper left-hand corner of the chart, and it showed me four options:

*  Descendancy
*  Fan Chart
*  Portrait
*  Traditional

2)  Here are screen shots of the "Portrait" view (two screens):

For the Portrait view, I clicked on the up arrow above Henry Austin Carringer and Abbie Ardell Smith to open more generations of their ancestors.  Note that the "head shot" images show on this view.

3)  The "Fan Chart" View is:

The "Fan Chart" view is a five generation chart and is the easiest way I've found to navigate back to earlier generations not on the "Traditional" view.  I can click on any one of the persons in the "Fan Chart" and see their five generation tree also.

4)  The "Descendancy" view lets me pick one ancestor and see their descendants.  I do have to click on a descendant of the top person to see their descendants one generation at a time.  Here is the "Descendancy" chart for Abigail A. Vaux and four more generations of descendants (two screens):

5)  As you can see, the "head shot" photographs that I recently added to the FamilySearch Family Tree appear in the "Portrait" view and the "Descendancy" view only, not on the "Fan" view of "Traditional" view.

Most of us run out of "head shots" of our ancestors in the late 1800s, so the "Portrait" view becomes fairly academic for ancestors that died before that time period.

I really like these options in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/new-options-on-familysearch-family-tree.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Become an FGS 2014 Conference Ambassador

I received this press release from the Federation of Genealogical Societies today:

==========================================

BECOME AN FGS 2014 CONFERENCE AMBASSADOR

April 28, 2014 – Austin, TX. Genealogy bloggers, societies, writers and editors are invited to participate in the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2014 Conference by becoming FGS 2014 Ambassadors. Ambassadors help to spread information about the FGS 2014 Conference in San Antonio, Texas, August 27-30, 2014, through social media to their friends, colleagues, and everyone interested in genealogy.

FGS 2014 Ambassadors will be:

• Writing about the conference on their blog.
• Using the hashtag #FGS2014 on Twitter.
• Mentioning FGS 2014 on Facebook, Google Plus, and other social networks.
• Letting their local historical and genealogical societies know about the conference.

Visit https://www.fgsconference.org/media/ambassadors/ to register as an FGS 2014 Ambassador and find the FGS 2014 Ambassador badge to add to your blog or other social media account.

Benefits to FGS 2014 Ambassadors:

• Ambassador badge logo to display on your website.
• Giveaways for active ambassadors, including conference registrations and discounts, special event tickets, and more.
• Potential to be guest blogger on FGS Conference Blog.
• Link to your blog or website on the FGS Conference blog’s Ambassador Page
• Part of Twitter list of FGS 2014 Ambassadors.
• Ambassador badge ribbon at the conference.

The FGS 2014 Conference Committee looks forward to working with the FGS 2014 Ambassadors to make this conference a success. See you in San Antonio in August!

Learn More about FGS 2014 and Stay Connected

• Visit the conference website at http://www.fgsconference.org.
• Find the latest news on the conference blog at http://www.fgsconference.org/blog.com.
• Like the conference on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FGSgenealogy.
• Follow the conference on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/FGSgenealogy and hashtag #FGS2014.

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more visit http://www.fgs.org.

Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/FGSgenealogy), Twitter (http://www.facebook.com/FGSgenealogy) and on our blog at (http://voice.fgs.org).

#####

Contact: Federation of Genealogical Societies
PO Box 200940
Austin, TX 78720-0940
phone: +1 (888) 347-1500
fax: +1 (866) 347-1350
marketing@fgs.org

========================================

The URL for this post is:

Tuesday's Tip - Michigan Collections on FamilySearch

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  FamilySearch has 13 historical record collections for the state of Michigan.

On the FamilySearch Historical Record Collections page, if you put "Michigan" in the search filter box (upper left-hand corner), you can see the list of 13 Michigan record collections currently on FamilySearch:

The collections are:

*  Michigan, Births and Christenings, 1775-1995: 1,612,291 indexed records, no images, updated 09 Mar 2012
*  Michigan, Births, 1867-1902: 1,409,988 indexed records, with images, updated 31 Mar 2014
*  Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1935: 371,310 indexed records, with images, updated 03 Jan 2012
*  Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952: 1,681,256 indexed records, no images, updated 26 Apr 2013
*  Michigan, Death Index, 1971-1996: 2,052,472 indexed records, no images, updated 16 Dec 2011

*  Michigan, Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995: 1,372,536 indexed records, no images, updated 04 Oct 2012
*  Michigan, Deaths, 1867-1897: 507,104 indexed records, with images, updated 09 Jan 2014
*  Michigan, Detroit Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Detroit, 1906-1954: 845,964 indexed records, with images, updated 26 Nov 2012
*  Michigan, Eastern District, Naturalization Index, 1907-1995: no index, Browse Images, updated 30 Dec 2013

*  Michigan, Marriages, 1822-1995: 1,908,148 indexed records, no images, updated 04 Mar 2012
*  Michigan, Marriages, 1868-1925: 1,533,863 indexed records, with images, updated 26 Feb 2013

*  Michigan, Probate Records, 1797-1973: no index, Browse Images, updated 27 Jun 2012

*  Michigan, State Census, 1894: 92,831 indexed records, no images, updated 08 Jul 2011

There are six collections that don't have record images;  the other seven have record images.

 Only two collections are Browse Images only, and the other 11 are indexed.  For those Browse Images collections, users will have to look for indexes in the digitized record books, and use information from the index to find records for their research target. 

Researchers looking for Micihigan passenger lists and naturalization records may find records for their research targets in those collections.

The gem in this list of Michigan record collections, for me, is the Probate Records.  Those collections have the potential to solve research mysteries for researchers.  However, there are only 13 counties covered at the present time (but one of them is the largest in population - Wayne county).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/tuesdays-tip-michigan-collections-on.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

MyHeritage Surpasses 5 Billion Historical Records

Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage passed this to me via email this morning, but I've been on jury duty all day.

=====================================

Historical Big Data helps users worldwide make breakthrough family history discoveries 

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah – April 28, 2014: MyHeritage, the popular family history network, today announced that its searchable collection of historical records has passed the 5 billion milestone. The vast digital collection, containing record archives from dozens of countries and user-generated family trees from every corner of the globe, is one of the world’s fastest growing and most internationally diverse family history resources.

During the last two years, MyHeritage has added an average of five million records every single day to its searchable database. In addition its users add more than one million family tree profiles daily. Alongside its phenomenal growth in data, MyHeritage currently ranks in Europe's top 10 fastest growing technology companies revenue-wise according to accounting firm Deloitte. The historical content brings substantial value to the millions of families worldwide who use MyHeritage to discover, share and preserve their family history.

The treasure trove of 5.18 billion records on MyHeritage is derived from a wide range of sources, including birth, marriage, death, census, immigration, military and other records. It includes the complete US censuses available from 1790 to 1940, the world’s largest historical newspaper collection, and large collections of gravestone photos. In addition, the site is home to more than 1.5 billion family tree profiles and 200 million historical photos contributed by 75 million users from all around the world. MyHeritage enjoys a strong network effect on its content, with additional records attracting new users, who in turn contribute more user-generated historical data, both fueling discoveries for the entire user base.

While MyHeritage established itself as the leading online destination for creating family trees almost a decade ago, its expansion into historical records is more recent – these were first introduced when the company launched its SuperSearch search engine for historical records in April 2012. Since then the company’s phenomenal growth in historical records is credited to its aggressive strategy of procuring content via digitization, crowdsourcing, licensing and partnership, headed from its content division based in Utah.  The growth has also been fueled by the company’s multiple acquisitions in recent years, including World Vital Records and Geni.

“We are providing Historical Big Data”, said Gilad Japhet, MyHeritage Founder and CEO. “Data all around us is exploding as we enter a new era, the Internet of Things, with humanity poised to produce even greater quantities of digital information every minute. In this abundance of data, vetted information about past periods, as needed for family history research, is harder to come by, and providing it in high quality and quantity is our specialty. We're proud of our growth over the past few years and the beneficial impact this has had for users on a global scale. Every day brings us closer to fulfilling our mission of making family history easier and more accessible to all. We expect to surpass 7 billion historical records by the end of the year."

“MyHeritage is the fastest growing, and the most internationally diverse company in the family history industry.” Said Russ Wilding, Chief Content Officer of MyHeritage. “Much of the content on MyHeritage is exclusive and available nowhere else, making it a must-have resource for anyone interested in their family history.”

In recent years, MyHeritage has invested heavily in developing technologies designed to help users make breakthrough discoveries in their family history research, regardless of the origins of their roots. Users with family trees on MyHeritage benefit from MyHeritage's advanced discovery technologies - Smart Matching™, Record Matching™ and Record Detective™, which automatically match family tree profiles and identify historical records relevant for a user's research. With a 97% accuracy rate, users can discover a lot more about their family past with minimum effort.

Available in 40 languages, SuperSearch is the industry’s most multilingual family history search engine, breaking down geographical and language barriers and bringing people and their ancestors closer together all over the world.

How records are countedOn SuperSearch, each collection of historical records includes its precise record count. For example, MyHeritage’s recently added U.S. Public Records Index contains 816 million records. The count of 5.18 billion is calculated as follows: in structured collections, each name is counted as one record, so a marriage document naming bride and groom is counted as two.  Synonyms are not counted in cases where the same person is found under multiple names. In family trees, each profile is counted as one record, even when it is available in more than one language. Each photo is counted as one record. In unstructured collections (e.g. newspaper pages), each page is counted as one record.

About MyHeritageMyHeritage is a family history network helping millions of families around the world discover and share their legacy online. As technology thought leaders and innovators, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s accessible, exciting and easier than ever before. MyHeritage empowers its global community of users with unique social tools, a massive library of historical content and powerful search and data matching technologies. The service is available in 40 languages. For more information visit www.myheritage.com

Press ContactsAaron Godfrey, PR Manager for MyHeritage
US +1-347-329-5461 | UK +44-208-816-7571
aaron@myheritage.com

Schelly Talalay Dardashti               Mark Olsen

US Genealogy Advisor                   Business Development Manager

schelly@myheritage.com              mark.olsen@myheritage.com

(505) 994.1554                              (801) 687.0599

===============================

This is an impressive statistic to me, and it includes record collections (many from the WorldVitalRecords purchase and recently from FamilySearch) and family tree persons (the MyHeritage and Geni.com trees). 

By far the most important feature of the MyHeritage site, for me, are the Record Match and Record Detective capabilities that match persons in a tree (on either MyHeritage or Geni) with records.  I continue to add content to my genealogy database using this feature - I currently have 17,043 matches in 61 collections, and have confirmed or rejected 4,293 of those matches.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/myheritage-surpasses-5-billion.html

RootsMagic 6 Software Updates - Post 1: Narrative Report Paragraphs

The RootsMagic 6 genealogy software program was updated to Version 6.3.1.0 on 24 April 2014 to incorporate a number of new features and improvements.  The list can be seen at  http://forums.rootsmagic.com/index.php?/topic/11972-rootsmagic-6-update-history/, and is shown below:

The third item on the list is "New:  Added option to narrative reports to start new paragraph after 1) each fact; 2) each fact that has a note; 3) none."

I decided to check it out.  For reference purposes, here is my RootsMagic "Edit Person" screen  for my grandfather, Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942):

1)  To get to the Narrative Reports, I clicked on the "Reports" menu item, then selected "Narrative Reports" and the "Report Settings" screen opened (on the left below).  I set the number of generations, chose "Ancestors and children," set "Sources" for Endnotes, and clicked on the "Options" button to open the "Book Options" screen as shown below:

On the "Book Options" screen, I checked the boxes I wanted for my report, but did not check the "Print notes" option.  At the bottom of the "Book Options" screen is the dropdown menu for the narrative report paragraph options.  There are three options:

*  "Keep fact sentence in same paragraph."  (This was how reports were created before this update)
*  "New paragraph after every fact." (A new option)
*  "New paragraph after facts with notes." (A new option)

I selected the first option to show what the report provided previously.  Here is a screen shot of the top of the report:

As you can see, all of the Facts for Frederick Walton Seaver are consecutive - there is no paragraph break.  Since I did not click on "Print notes" there are no Fact Notes or General Notes.

2)  Back to the "Book Options" screen, I selected the "New paragraph after every fact" option (but still with no Notes):

The resulting narrative report looked like this (this is new):

Each Fact was put into a new paragraph using the standard, formulaic, sentence structure provided in RootsMagic 6 (although the user can alter the sentence structure if desired).

3)  Back to the "Book Options" screen, I kept the "Print notes" option enabled and selected the "Keep fact sentence in same paragraph" option (this is how the narrative report looked previously with Notes):

The resulting report looks like this (two screens shown):

If you look closely on the line that starts "AMENDED" the Fact sentence for the 1880 U.S. Census starts without a paragraph break.

4)  Back to the "Book Options" screen, I enabled the "Print notes" option and selected the "New paragraph after every fact" option:

The resulting report starts each Fact as a new paragraph (this is new):

As you can see, each Fact, with or without a Fact Note, starts as a new paragraph.  If there is a Fact Note, it follows in the Fact paragraph.

5)  Back to the "Book Options" screen, I kept the "Print notes" option enabled and selected the "New paragraph after Facts with notes" option:

The resulting report starts Facts with Notes as a new paragraph (this is new):

However, Facts that did not have a Fact Note are run together.  You can see that on the second paragraph on the screen above - the 1900 Occupation Fact, 1910 Occupation Fact and 1910 Census Fact are not separated by a line break.

7)  I really like that this Option for the Narrative Reports has been included.  I never did like how the Narrative Report printed -- I wanted paragraph breaks between Facts.  Now I can do that - thank you, Bruce and RootsMagic.

8)  Now - a suggestion:  There is only one box to check for "Print Notes."  If I check that, I get both the Fact Notes and the Person Notes.  The Fact Notes are presented first in the Narrative Report, followed by the Person Notes.  There is nothing that says they are Person Notes in the Narrative Report.

I would like to see the "Print notes" check box modified so that I can choose either or both Fact Notes and/or  Notes.  The "Book Options" screen could be modified so that it has:

*  Print Fact Notes
*  Print Person Notes

This is based on the way I have set up my RootsMagic database, I have added Fact Notes for many Facts to include a transcript or abstract of the information provided by the available sources.  Sometimes, I synthesize the information from several sources into one Fact Note.  I also copy some of those Fact Notes into the Person Notes.  Consequently, when I check the "Print Notes" box I get two versions of the same information in the report.

9)  I will look at some of the other new features in RootsMagic 6 (Version 6.3.1.0) in upcoming blog posts.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/rootsmagic-6-software-updates-post-1.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 216: Probate Records of James A. Kemp of Norfolk County, Ontario

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday."  John offers this definition for "amanuensis:" 

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

The subject today is the will and probate court records for James Abraham Kemp (1831-2902) of Delhi, Norfolk county, Ontario, Canada.  

The images of the two pages from the Norfolk county, Ontario Surrogate Court records are:

The transcription of the will and other probate papers for James A. Kemp is:

[Page 584 (stamped)]

1                    James A Kemp deceased

2  This is the last will and testament of me James A Kemp
3  of the village of Delhi in the County of Norfolk and Province
4  of Ontario cause this twenty fifth day of March in the
5  year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and two,
6  I revoke all forms, wills or other testamentary disposi-
7  tions by me at any time heretofore made, and declare
8  this only to be and contains my last will and testament;
9  I direct  all my just debts funeral and testament-
10 ary expenses to be paid and satisfied by my Executors
11 hereinafter named as soon as conveniently may be
12  after my decease.

13 I give, devise and bequeath all my real and personal
14 estate of which I may be possessed in the manner fol-
15 lowing, that is to say, to my daughters Sarah Elizabeth,
16 Minnie and Georgianna and to my son James Alex-
17 ander I bequeath to each five dollars, and the remainder
18 I bequeath to my son Ernest Frank provided he maintains
19 his mother comfortable while she remains my widow.
20 All the residue of my estate not hereinbefore disposed of,
21 I give devise and bequeath unto
22 And I nominate and appoint my son Ernest Frank
23 Kemp to be Executor of this my last will and testament.
24 In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand the day
25 and year first above written.
26                                                James A. Kemp"

27 Signed published and declared by the said James A
28 Kemp the testator as and for his last will and testa-
29 ment in the in the presence of us who both present together at
30 the same time in the presence at his request and in the
31 presence of each other and hereunto subscribed
32 our names as witnesses,
33 " ? ? Boughis                          James A Kemp"
34 " J. P Wilson"

[page 585 (stamped)]

35                         James A Kemp deceased

36 Canada                                      Province of Ontario
37 In His Majesty's Surrogate Court of the County of Norfolk,
38 Be it known that on the eleventh day of December in the
39 year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and two,
40 the last will and testament of James A Kemp late of the
41 village of Delhi in the County of Norfolk and Province of Ontario
42 Carpenter, deceased, who died on or about the nineteenth day
43 of September in the year of our Lord one thousand nine
44 hundred and two at the village of Delhi in the County
45 of Norfolk and who at the time of his death had a fixed
46 place of abode at the said village of Delhi in the said 
47 County of Norfolk  was proved and registered in the said
48 Surrogate Court a true copy to publish said last will and
49 testament is hereunder written and that the administra-
50 tion of all and singular the property of the said decea-
51 sed and any way concerning his will was granted
52 by the aforesaid Court to Alfred Edward Franklin Kemp 
53 (Executor in said will as Ernest Frank Kemp)
54 of the village of Delhi in the County of Norfolk, labourer,
55 the sole Executor named in the said will, be the said
56 Alfred Edward Franklin Kemp  having been first sworn
57 well and faithfully to administer the same by pay-
58 ing the just debts of the deceased and the legacies con-
59 tained in his will so far as he is hereunto bound by law
60 and by distributing the residue (if any) of the property
61 according to law and to exhibit under oath a true
62 and perfect inventory of all and singular the said pro-
63 perty and to render a just and true account of his Ex-
64 ecutorship whereas, thereunto lawfully required.

65                                   ???????? ???????
66                                   Registrar of the Surrogate Court
67  { seal }                      of the said County of Norfolk.

The source citation for this probate record is:

Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, Probate Records, ca 1839-1931; Indexes, 1842-1967, Surrogate's Register, Book L, 1899-1903: pages 584-585, James A. Kemp will and court records; on FHL Microfilm US/CAN 522,633 (accessed 5 February 2014).

James Abraham Kemp was married twice.  He married (1) Mary Jane Sovereen (1844-1874) in 1861, and they had five children:

*  Sarah Elizabeth Kemp (1862-1946), married 1889 Andrew John Cropp (1863-1918).
*  Seymour Kemp (1864-1877).
*  Malvina Marylis "Minnie" Kemp (1866-1929), married James Henry Trembley (1865-1918)
*  Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952), married 1898 Charles Auble (1849-1916).
*  James Alexander Kemp (1872-1934), married 1892 Bertha Anice Fuller (1874-1951).

James A. Kemp married (2) Melissa Wilson (1840-1902) in 1876, and they had one child:

*  Alfred Francis Edward Kemp (1880-1953), who married Ellen Elliott (1882-1956).

I struggled to decipher some of the words in the court registrar's handwriting on the images above.  I think I got it mostly right.

The probate records were accessed in February 2014 at the Family History Library in Salt Lake city, and the microfilm images were scanned to a flash drive.

I thought it was interesting that he used Melvina's nickname "Minnie" and called his youngest son "Ernest Frank" rather than "Alfred Francis Edward."  The family usually called this son Frank rather than Alfred or Francis or Edward.  I wish that he had named the spouses of his surviving children, but the first names are fairly distinctive.

James Abraham Kemp is one of my second great-grandfathers through his daughter Georgianna (Kemp) Auble.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/amanuensis-monday-post-216-probate.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 20 to 26 April 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:

*  Guild of One-Name Studies 2014 in Ashford, Kent by Debbie Kennett on the Cruwys News blog.  Debbie had a great time at this conference and tells us all about it.

*  Canada Online Historical Newspapers by Kenneth R. Marks on The Ancestor Hunt blog.  Ken has a great list of links for Canada newspapers.

*  Why I Like FamilySearch's Family Tree by Michele Simmons Lewis on the Ancestoring blog.  I like Michele's reasons, and agree!

*  12 Months of Extraordinary...or Why Genealogy Conferences are Awesome by Jen Baldwin on the Ancestral Breezes blog.  Jen shares her conferences experiences.

*  Finding John Herrel's Naturalization in an Unindexed FamilySearch Collection: 52 Ancestors by Shelley Bishop on the A Sense in Family blog.  Shelley has a nice step-by-step of how she found this record.

*  10 Tips for Genealogy Spring Cleaning by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.  Diane heard from readers with ideas for keeping paper and digital genealogy files under control.

*  Where Should I Publish My Work? by Jill K. Morelli on the Genealogy Certification: My Personal Journal blog.  Jill lists the different options for this task.

*  Sometimes the Best Find Comes When You Least Expect It! by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  Lorine had a family story, and ran across a newspaper article that might confirm it.

* 10 Genealogy Things I Do On My Smart Phone by Diane Boumenot on the One Rhode Island Family blog.  Diane shares her most useful smart phone apps with us.

*  Review: BU Certification Program by Shannon Combs Bennett on The In-Depth Genealogist blog.  Shannon describes her 15-week pre-certification course at Boston University.

*  Ask Yvette: Resolving Conflicting Evidence in Early civil Registration Records by Yvette Hoitink on the Dutch Genealogy blog.  Yvette collects evidence, correlates, analyzes and resolves it, and draws a conclusion for a person who used two last names in  his lifetime.  Excellent work!

*  How to Repel Teenagers From Genealogy by Emily Kowalski Schroeder on The Spiraling Chains: Kowalski-Bellan Family Trees blog.  Emily has recommendations for interesting teens in family history.

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

*  NN Genealogy Things You Need To Know This Morning, Sunday, 20 Apr 2014; Monday, 21 Apr 2014; Tuesday, 22 Apr 2014; Wednesday, 23 Apr 2014; Thursday, 24 Apr 2014; Friday, 25 Apr 2014; Saturday, 26 Apr 2014 by Caroline M. Pointer on the 4YourFamilyStory.com blog.

*  Friday Finds - 04/25/14 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for April 25, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity (April 26, 2014) by John D. Tew on the Filiopietism Prism blog.

*  This Week's Creme de la Creme by Gail Dever on the Genealogy a la Carte 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 1490 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/2014/04/best-of-genea-blogs-20-to-26-april-2014.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver