Dear Randy: How Can I Make an "Interesting" Descendants Report For my Family?

Reader Marilyn asked this question in email several weeks ago, and i've been pondering it ever since.  Her email:

"I have been doing genealogical research for family and friends for several few years. In the past I have shared what I compiled using an older version of Family Tree Maker and creating a descendant report. Those reports were easier to read than the current FTM versions.

"I’ve not found a good way to share information I’ve compiled so people who aren’t familiar with reading such reports can understand them.

"Any suggestions on how to share information in a way that’s interesting to read?  I tried making my own “report” using Microsoft Word but it took me a long time to compile it."

The standard narrative report with several generations, lots of names, dates and places, all in a standard format is really boring.  But if you want to do a descendants report, that's what you end up with.  Now, you can add stories, photographs and document images.  But unless you rewrite the standard text, it is still really boring.  There may be nothing better available to send all of that information in one report or book.  

I'm not sure that narrative descendants reports with lots of names, dates and places in a consistent but boring format is the answer to interesting family members in their family history.  Stories about specific persons, with photographs and interesting documents, will probably do a better job of capturing their interest.  

You do have other choices, but you have to write the interesting words, and include fascinating images and stories, in a way that will capture the interest of your family members.  One problem we all have is that we usually don't have real multi-page, detailed memoirs for each of our ancestors, even parents, grandparents, etc.  Unless they wrote their own, or a newspaper or book had published articles about them, or a family member did an excellent eulogy or biography, there just isn't that much "family story" content for most of our ancestors.

Here are some suggestions for reports and biographies and stories:

1)  Write an ancestor's (or ancestral couple's) biography in a word processor, highlighting the events in their life based on records and family stories, including photographs and documents with interesting information.  Limit it to one generation - for example, the ancestral couple and their children, but don't inundate the reader with biographies of the children.  Genealogy software will create an individual report with Notes and images, but you'll need to edit it to put the images where you want.  You can make each biography a PDF file and email it, or save it to a CD or DVD, to your family members.  

2)  Do the same type of biography in genealogy software Notes, and create an Individual Report and then edit it in a word processor, adding photographs and document images and discussing them.  

3)  You could write blog posts on your own blog (they are easy to start and add content to) for each of your ancestors or ancestral couples.  I'm trying to do that in my 52 Ancestors series, but I'm not adding document images or photographs in those biographies.  [Note: I'm not trying to provide a readable family friendly biography...]

4)  There are some websites that offer a story-telling feature based on photographs and memories.  Treelines is a great site to do this.  To use this site, you need to upload images and write stories for each image.  There is a learning curve.  See some examples (use the right and left arrows to advance the story) at:

*  The Search for Helen's Family

*  A Crafty Fellow 

*  Nels and Ane Marie: Becoming Americans

5)  Create a series of blog posts or web pages that highlight one photograph, record image or story.  Then create a Flipboard magazine for your series.  One example is my Flipboard magazine for my mother, titled Betty's Life.  There is a learning curve for this, but it works pretty well.  It also has an iOS and an Android app for mobile devices.

6)  Create a YouTube video that shows photographs or documents relating to an ancestor and tell the story for one ancestors or a group of ancestors. There's a learning curve here and perhaps more equipment is needed.

7)  There are many other applications that can tell a story with photographs, and can be accessed on a computer or a mobile device.  some of them are free, and some of them require fees or subscriptions.  One site that I've seen is ReelGenie, which offers "Story telling magic made easy!"

Marilyn specifically mentioned writing descendants reports, and I sort of veered away from that into biographies and stories in my discussion above.

The "experts" all say that the younger generations have a short attention span, like seeing family photographs but can't be bothered reading documents, prefer voice over text, etc.  Scanned or saved photographs and document images need to be available to help tell the story.

To all of my readers:  What other suggestions do you have for Marilyn?  Have you done something like what she wants to do?  Tell us about it!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/dear-randy-how-can-i-make-interesting.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

SDGS Meeting on Saturday, 10 May Features Gena Philibert-Ortega

The regular second Saturday meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society is 10 May, at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd., near Jackson Drive) from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  

The speaker for both hours will be Gena Philibert-Ortega.

Session One will be Hit the Books! Utilizing Digitized Books Online. Present day genealogists benefit from the virtual library of materials that are available online. Countless books are available from free and subscription websites that hold information about your ancestors and their lives. In this presentation we will discuss digitized book websites, how to navigate them and find the information you need.

The second session will be Read All About It: Your Ancestors in Newspaper. One of the best sources for information on your ancestors is the newspaper. Newspapers are the great equalizer that tells the story of the rich and the poor. Think you know everything about newspaper research? You’d be surprised at what can be found while scanning those pages. In this presentation we will look at where to find newspapers, search strategies and the types of articles that can help benefit your research.

Gena Philibert-Ortega holds a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and Religion. She is the author of  hundreds of articles published in genealogy newsletters and magazines. Her writings can be found on her blogs, Gena’s Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. Her newest book is From the Family Kitchen (F + W Media 2012).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/sdgs-meeting-on-saturday-10-may.html

Lyle L. Carringer, U.S. Marines Reserves -- Post 306 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 photograph is of my grandfather, Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976), taken in 1918 when he was serving on active duty in the United States Marines in San Diego (he enlisted in the Reserves).  He is all of 5 feet 7 inches tall and about 125 pounds, but he was a Marine!  Lyle married Emily Auble on 19 June 1918 in San Diego.  

The family story is that he joined the Marines and served his time in charge of the P X in Balboa Park in San Diego, where there was a Marine encampment.  

A Wikipedia article for Balboa Park in San Diego says:

"During both the Great War and World War II, the park was handed over to the Department of the Navy to be used as a barracks and training ground and was an extension of Naval Medical Center San Diego.^[52][53] By 1917, after $30,000 in repairs and modifications were made to the original buildings, over 5,000 U.S. troops were using the park for training.^[53]

"Coinciding with the Panama–California Exposition, the Commandant of the Marine Corps instructed 2nd Battalion of the newly established 4th Marines to represent the Marine Corps at the event. On December 19, 1914, Marine Barracks, Balboa Park, was established as the second, and during its period, and only Marine base in San Diego. It remained in place until 1921, when a more permanent base was established in Dutch Flats, itself a predecessor of Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego."

I never saw my grandfather wear his Marine uniform, and I don't know what happened to it.  I'm sure that he would have fit in it all of his life.  He was the most peaceful man that I've ever known. 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/lyle-l-carringer-us-marines-reserves.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Received the myOrigins DNA Estimates from FamilyTreeDNA

I received the email from FamilyTreeDNA today that:
"myOrigins is here!

After months of development, myOrigins is finally here!  It's a FREE upgrade to everyone that has purchased a Family Finder test.  Get ready to dive into your ethnic origins like never before!"

I was ready!!  What surprises await me?

1)  My previous FamilyTreeDNA Family Finder results were discussed here:  My Family Finder Autosomal Test Results - Post 1 (posted 9 January 2012).  That said I was 89.15% West European  (Orcadian) and 10.85% Middle East.  

2)  I have tried to estimate my perceived ethnicity percentages before - see My Autosomal DNA Quandary (posted 22 August 2013).  My ancestral "homeland" about 500 years ago was distributed as follows:

68%  British Isles
24%  Germany
1%  Holland
1%  France
6%  Unknown (perhaps some are French, some are English)

3) Here is the myOrigins map I was presented with today:

100% European!  I kind of figured that...but when I clicked on the "Expand" link of the "Ethnic Makeup" box, I saw:

The "European" was broken down into:

*  European Northlands (light green, essentially southern Scandinavia) -- 45%
*  European Coastal Plain (dark blue, essentially France, Holland, Germany) -- 32%
*  North Mediterranean Basin (purple, essentially Iberia over to Greece) -- 19%
*  European Coastal Islands (light blue, essentially British Isles) -- 4%

Surprise!  It looks like all of my British Isles ancestors there in the 1500s were immigrants over the centuries from Scandinavia, western Europeans and Iberia.

There are some other interesting things to find - do you see the two colored pins in the lower right-hand corner of the screen above?  I clicked the orange pin and saw pins that "Show the location of the most distant paternal ancestors of your Family Finder matches:"

 I clicked the teal pin and saw pins that "Show the location of the most distant maternal ancestors of your Family Finder matches:"

I'm not sure why there are a total of 14 paternal and 9 maternal pins.  I can put all of them on one map.  Has FamilyTreeDNA been able to figure out which have of each chromosome is maternal and paternal?  

If I click on one of the pins, a name of one of my matches appears, with the dominant ethnicity of that person:

I don't know exactly what that means.  Are the pins precisely located at a specific ancestral location, or do they represent a broad region, like Switzerland or Ireland?  Why are some of my matches represented with more than one pin?

There is more information in the "Shared Origins" and "Ancestral History" box in the lower left-hand corner.  When I expand it, I see:

In the "Shared Origins" tab I can choose a number of match criteria - All Matches, Immediate Relatives, Close Relatives, Distant Relatives, Known Relationship, and X-Matches.  I only have Distant Relatives and X-Matches at this time.  

The column headings are Name, Relationship, and ethnicity percentage that matches my ethnicity.
I will have to go the "Advanced Matching" to see information about each match.

The "My Shared History" tab provides a limited discussion about "Who are you" and "What does this mean?"  

4)  The discussion just muddles things even more for me.  What conclusions can I draw from all of this?  

*  My genealogical ethnicity is significantly different from my "ethnic origins" estimated by this test.  Immigration happens!

*  The maps are beautiful but do not pinpoint ancestral locations - only ancestral regions.

*  FamilyTreeDNA ethnicity estimates are somewhat different from my AncestryDNA and 23andMe estimates.  Why am I not surprised?

5)  Not every one who has had a Family Finder test of their autosomal DNA has this myOrigins analysis yet.  If you tested with FTDNA, and don't have it yet, watch your email for your notification.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/received-myorigins-dna-estimates-from.html

copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Looking for Cousins in MyHeritage Smart Matches - Post 2: Communicating With a SmartMatch

This post is a continuation of Looking for Cousins in MyHeritage SmartMatches - Post 1: Finding Smart Matches which I wrote on 2 May 2014.  In the first post, I got as far as finding a specific Smart Match - which is basically someone else has a MyHeritage tree with the same person I have.

Now what can I do with that MyHeritage Smart Match, and how does that help me find a relatively close cousin?

1)  One Smart Match for my mother, Betty (Carringer) Seaver (1919-2002), was to a "Kemp Web Site."  Here is the comparison of data between the two trees:

2)  There is a question at the top of the screen asking "Is this the same person?" I can click on the green button to "Yes - confirm this match" or the black button to "No - reject this match."

Since the information in the two trees appears to be identical, I decided to "Confirm" the match.  The "Confirm a Smart Match" screen appeared and looks like this:

The screen above says:  "You are about to confirm a match between Betty Virginia Carringer (Seaver) in your tree and Betty Virginia Seaver (born Carringer)  in a tree submitted by Henry Kemp."

I have two choices:

*  Send Henry a message so he can confirm it too.
*  Invite Henry to be a member of my site.

I can also enter information about the matched person if I choose to.

3)  I clicked on the "Request membership" button and the blue "Confirm match" and had the opportunity to send a message to Henry requesting membership in his site:

After clicking on the "Submit" button, I was back to the comparison of information in the two trees (first screen above).

4)  On the first screen above, I clicked on the blue "Copy and Edit details" button on the left side of the screen, and saw:

I can copy information from the other tree into my tree.  There are blue arrows to the right of the fields in my tree - for First name, Maiden name, Married name, Date of birth, Place of birth, Alive, Date of death, and Place of death.  There is also a blue button below the list to "Copy all."  When I am done, There is a check box to "Add a source citation to the matching tree."  I need to click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the screen.

I clicked on the "Copy all" button so that I could see what source citation was added for the copied data.  After I clicked on the green "Save changes" button, I went looking for the source citation, but could not find any reference to the Kemp Web Site, or to sources that the Kemp Web Site used.  Perhaps I'm just not able to find it.  

I also could not find any way to compare marriage information other than clicking on the person in the other tree and finding the spouse to compare spouse's name, marriage date and place to my information.   Again, I may just be ignorant of how to do this.

5)  Note that I can copy this information from the other tree to my tree, but not the other way around.  I don't need to have confirmed this match or contacted the person.  I am not a member of his tree yet. 

6)  This Smart Match comparison process is fairly straightforward and seems pretty intuitive.  It lets me control what I add to my tree.  It provides an opportunity to collaborate with someone who is probably a relatively close cousin of mine.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/looking-for-cousins-in-myheritage-smart.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tips - Genea-Vlogging on YouTube

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Watch FREE videos on genealogy research on YouTube.

More genea-bloggers are making short (or longer) videos and posting them on YouTube.  Many of these genea-vloggers are taking advantage of the FREE and relatively easy-to-use video tools available on Google+ Hangouts On Air.  Hangouts On Air permit up to ten "panelists" in the video at one time, and they can be watched live on both Google+ and YouTube, and are then archived on YouTube for viewers to watch at their convenience.

I just made a screen shot of the search results on YouTube for the term "genealogy":

There were over 92,000 results listed!

YouTube lets you "subscribe" to any number of YouTube "channels" - the "Subscriptions" list appears in the left-hand column on the screen.

Some of the genea-vlogger YouTube channels using Google+ Hangouts On Air include:

1)  DearMYRTLE -- Pat Richley-Erickson was one of the first genea-vloggers to adopt Hangouts On Air to have discussions about genealogy, including on specific topics like the Mastering Genealogical Proof Study Group videos that studied the Tom Jones book.  Pat also hosts a weekly Mondays With Myrt HOA that discusses genealogy news, panelists experiences, and viewer questions.  Most of Pat's videos are 90 to 180 minutes long.

2)  Russ Worthington has helped Pat, and several other vloggers, produce their Hangouts On Air and has started his own YouTube channel called Cousin Russ.  Russ has been doing relatively short (10 to 20 minute) videos on specific topics using Family Tree Maker 2014 and Ancestry.com, plus how to create Hangouts On Air.

3)  Tessa Keough hosts the Legacy Virtual User's Group on Google+ and has several other series of videos:

4)  Jen Baldwin has a channel for The NextGen Genealogy Network, specializing in youth and young genealogists.

5)  Kenneth R. Marks has a channel that discusses topics he writes about on his The Ancestor Hunt blog.

6)  Caroline Pointer's channel discusses Evernote and OneNote, conferences, and has some genealogy interviews:

7)  Jill Ball's channel has interviews and conference videos:

Other genealogy-oriented YouTube channels that I subscribe to include:

*  Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems

*  The In-Depth Genealogist

*  Devin Ashby

*  Elyse Doerflinger

*  Ancestry.com

*  FamilySearch

*  GenealogyBank

*  RootsMagic TV

*  Legacy Family Tree Software

*  23andMe

I know that I'm not watching all of the YouTube channels available - what other genealogy-oriented channels should I be watching?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/tuesdays-tips-genea-vlogging-on-youtube.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Where Should I Look to Find Relatively Close Cousins?

I'm still trying to find relatively close cousins - such as fourth cousins or more recent.  Why do I want to do this?

1)  They may have family records (photographs, letters, papers, artifacts, etc.) from my ancestral families.  For instance, I've found that one of my Kemp cousins had a Kemp family line paper that I didn't have that defines an ancestor's marriage.

2)  They may have performed more genealogical research on their surname lines than I have, and that may reveal more relatively close cousins.  My cousin, Cheryl Kemp Taber, has done this, and put her research in a well-documented online family tree.  I use her work to find supporting documents to add and source in my tree.

3)  They may have taken an autosomal DNA test and are a match to me, but have not done enough genealogy research so that we have a known common ancestor.

Where should I be looking to find these relatively close cousins?  My research plan is to:

1)  FamilySearch Family Tree using Puzzilla.org - I've been looking at 4th great-grandparents and looking at the descendants to see if I can identify well-populated descendant lines (not my particular lines) that I don't know much about.

2)  FamilySearch Family Tree using RootsMagic 6 - I can use RootsMagic 6 (or Legacy Family Tree 8) to download the Family Tree data for descendants of a specific person into a new database.  My plan is to use my 16 4th great-grandparents and download descendants from  them into a separate family tree, then compare that information with my own research.  I can then search for documents and add persons, events and sources to my own tree.

3)  Ancestry.com Member Trees that share one of my ancestors.  This is pretty hit and miss.

4)  Ancestry.com AncestryDNA Hints list that shows a common ancestor.  Unfortunately, this capability does not extend to the Member Trees - I wish it would.

5)  MyHeritage trees that share one of my ancestors.  This pretty hit and miss.

6)  Geni.com world family tree - other researchers may have more information about siblings of my ancestors and descendants.

7)  FamilyTreeDNA FamilyFinder (autosomal DNA) matches that have trees attached to them.

8)  23andMe autosomal DNA matches that have trees attached to them.

9)  One Name Study data files that may have lines for a specific surname.

What other resources might I look for that would provide information about relatively close cousins?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/where-should-i-look-to-find-relatively.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

How Do I Cite This Record I Found on MyHeritage?

As researchers, we are taught to cite what we find in our research - the source - and the location that we found it - a repository, a website, a microfilm, etc.  Some online data providers do it better than others, but none is "perfect."

On today's Mondays With Myrt Hangout on Air, one discussion item was how to cite a record summary and image found as a MyHeritage Record Match.  In this case, Pat Richley-Erickson found an image of an Idaho marriage license for her grandparents on MyHeritage.

1)  The record summary screen on MyHeritage is:

The record summary is shown above, and the image of the marriage record is below:

If Pat clicks through and confirms the record match, then she can extract the information in a source citation:

On the screen above, the MyHeritage source citation is in the left-hand column and the data that will be entered in her tree is in the right-hand column.  The MyHeritage source citation is:

Shirley Player & Myrtle E Weiser
Marriage: June 5 1917 - Blaine, Idaho
Husband: Shirley Player
Wife: Myrtle E Weiser
GS Film number: 1480082
Digital Folder Number: 4533331
Image Number: 00295

While that doesn't provide a "classical" source citation (author, title, publisher, website, etc.) it does provide clues to help another research find the record - there is a "GS Film Number" which means a Family History Library microfilm number.

2)  I can go to the Family History Library Catalog and look up film number 1480082:

It appears that the microfilm includes a record book in Blaine County, Idaho - the Marriages, 1864-1939 collection includes:

Idaho. County Court (Blaine County); Idaho. Probate Court (Alturas County); Idaho. Probate Court (Logan County); Idaho. County Court (Logan County); Idaho. County Court (Alturas County)

If I click on the collection title, I can see all of the records that are in the collection and the microfilm numbers (two screens):

The Blaine county marriage records are on the last microfilm listed - "Marriage Records, v. 2-3, 1908-1939."

On the screens above, there is a line that says "Note: Idaho, County Marriages are available online - click here."

I did, and went to the FamilySearch online database for this record collection, and searched for Shirley Player and saw the Record Summary for his marriage entry:

The record summary information is identical to what was seen in the MyHeritage record summary.  I can view the document, save it and attach it to a FamilySearch Family Tree person or to a person in my family tree in a genealogy software program.

FamilySearch provides a source citation at the bottom of the screen above as:

"Idaho, County Marriages, 1864-1950," index and images,  FamilySearch  (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F3T6-22J : accessed 05 May 2014), Shirley Player and Myrtle E Weiser, 05 Jun 1917; citing Blaine, Idaho; FHL microfilm 1480082.

That is a "better" source citation for this record than the MyHeritage citation in my opinion.  But I don't think it's Evidence Explained quality yet.  Note that the FamilySearch citation is to the record summary (the link goes to the record summary), not to the image itself (you can view the document by clicking "View document" on the Record Summary). 

3)  I know that this record is also on Ancestry.com in the "Idaho County, Marriages, 1864-1950" database.  I searched for it and the Record Summary is:

There is a link to view the document on FamilySearch.  This summary does not provide as much information as the other summaries.  The source citation created by Ancestry.com is:

Ancestry.com. Idaho, County Marriages, 1864-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Original data: Idaho, County Marriages, 1864-1950. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013.

This source citation is "better than MyHeritage" but still not Evidence Explained quality, in my opinion, since it does not provide the FHL microfilm number or anything about the specific item in the database.

4)  My attempt at an Evidence Explained quality source citation, using the "Digital Archives" source template in RootsMagic 6, citing where I found it on MyHeritage:

"Idaho, County Marriages, 1864-1950," MyHeritage, (http://www.myheritage.com : accessed 5 May 2014), marriage license, page 496 (stamped), No. 37164 (penned), Shirley Player and Myrtle E. Weiser entry; citing Blaine County [Idaho] Court records, "Marriages, v. 2-3, 1908-1939," on FHL US/CAN microfilm 1,480,082.

I could write other citations for this same record for FamilySearch (either the digital image or the microfilm image) and Ancestry.com.  My preference would be to cite FamilySearch, since that is where I can see the image and easily obtain information about the record collection and the original record books.

5)  There are several conclusions one can draw from this comparison:

*  The MyHeritage source citations are not adequate (I've written about this before, so it's not a new conclusion).  I hope that MyHeritage will try to improve their source citation quality.

*  The FamilySearch source citation provides more information, but it is not Evidence Explained quality.

*  The Ancestry.com source citation provides some information, but it is not Evidence Explained quality.

*  A source citation crafted using Evidence Explained provides information about the digital image and the subjects, including references to the original source and any intermediate sources such as a digital database, a county record volume, and/or an FHL microfilm number to help researchers find the record again and assess the veracity and usefulness of the record.  

*  A researcher using MyHeritage can attach that record to his MyHeritage tree, and can extract the source information, and think that he's done a great job.  He hasn't.  Another researcher who does not have a MyHeritage tree or a data account will not be able to access this record on MyHeritage. 

*  Researchers need to try to determine what the original source of a record is using any leads that they may find in the source or database they are using.  In the ideal genealogy world, all of those original images would be online published by the agency responsible for the record.  It's not an ideal genealogy world.
  
*  There are excellent reasons for every genealogical data provider (e.g., MyHeritage, FamilySearch, ancestry and more) to make the effort to provide complete source citations for the entries in their databases.  Some are better than others, but none are excellent in my opinion.  

*  At this point in time, researchers have to craft their own source citations using the resources they have available to them, including books like Evidence Explained, software source templates, source reference guides, etc.  At a minimum, copying the Ancestry/FamilySearch source citations is only better than no source citation at all.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/how-do-i-cite-this-record-i-found-on.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 217: 1881 Deed of Land in Louisa County, Iowa from Eliza Robinson to Mary and Louisa M. Carringer

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 a deed for land in Louisa County, Iowa dated 29 October 1881 from Eliza Robinson to Mary and Louisa M. Carringer for $1.

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

[top of page 620 (stamped)]

1 Eliza Robinson                     }

2            to                              } Filed for Record Feby 4, 1882 9 AM

3 Mary & Louisa M. Carringer }                 N. MacKay Recorder.

4                            Know all men by these presents that

5 I Eliz Robinson of the County of Clay and State of Kansas

6 for and in consideration of the sum of One Dollar to me in

7 hand paid by Mary and Louisa M. Carringer of the County of

8 Louisa and State of Iowa hereby sell and convey as one of the

9 heirs at law of the Estate of Henry Carringer late of the County

10 of Louisa and State of Iowa deceased an undivided One

11 sixth interest in the following Real Estate situate in

12 the County of Louisa and State of Iowa to wit: The

13 North west quarter (¼) of the North East quarter (1/4) of section

14 number twenty nine (29), Township number seventy five (75)

15 Range No. five (5) West containing 40 acres more or less

16 And in the Event of the sale of said property by an order

17 of the Court I authorize and empower the said Mary and

18 Louisa M. Carringer or their legal representatives to draw

19 and use my allotment from the sale thereof.

20 In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand

21 and seal this the 29^th day of October A D 1881.

22 State of Kansas }                   Eliza Robinson {seal}

23 Clay County     }

24 On this the 29 day of October A.D. 1881 before

25 me W.G. Beatty a Notary Public in and for said County and

26 State aforesaid personally came Eliza Robinson personally to

27 me known to be the identical person whose name is aff-

28 ixed to the foregoing instrument as grantor and acknowledged

29 the execution of the same to be her Voluntary act and deed

30 for the purposes therein expressed. In testimony whereof

31 I have hereunto set my hand and seal Notarial this the

32 29^th day of October AD 1881 at Clay Center Kansas.

33 {  W.G. Beatty }

34 {     Notary     }                        W. G. Beatty

35 {     Public      }                         Notary Public

36 { Clay County }                   Commission Expires Nov 30, 1881

37 { Kansas        }

[In left hand margin]

38 An Affidavit in Book 118, Page 271

The source citation for this deed is:

Louisa County, Iowa, Louisa County, Iowa, deeds records, 1839-1935; index, 1839-1901, "Deeds, v. 32, 35, 1876-1882," Volume 35, Page 619 (stamped), Eliza Robinson to Mary and Louisa M. Carringer entry, accessed on FHL microfilm US/CAN 1,005,869.

The record image was obtained with my iPhone in February 2014 at the Family History Library from the microfilm machine. 

There are separate deeds from four children of Henry Carringer selling their share in the land owned by Henry Carringer in Louisa County, Iowa to their sisters, Mary and Louisa M. Carringer.  I learned the location of each of the children when they filed their respective deeds, that each was a child of Henry Carringer, and that there were six shares, presumably for six living heirs-at-law.  

Henry Carringer (1800-1879) is my third great-grandfather, and the father of David Jackson Carringer (1828-1902).  He came to Louisa County, Iowa from Mercer County, Pennsylvania in about 1858 with several of his children, and died there in 1880.  He bought land in Louisa County, Iowa in 1864, which I transcribed in Amanuensis Monday - Post 215: 1864 Deed of William McCullough to Henry Carringer in Louisa County, Iowa.  I questioned in that post if one of the Range references was incorrect, but I didn't know which one.  It appears that Range 5 is correct per the above transcription.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/05/amanuensis-monday-post-217-1881-deed-of.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 27 April to 3 May 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:

*  Read -- Write -- Publish -- Genealogy by footnoteMaven on the Footnote Maven blog.  What do you call a group of writers?  fM knows.  How about a group of genealogists?

*  Five Steps to Create a Foolproof Research Plan by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.  Michael outlines the five basic steps, and offers a free research log form also.

*  Genealogy Happy Dance of the Year ... Maybe the Decade by Schalene Dagutis on the Tangled Roots and Trees blog.  Serendipity, unreadable gravestone, monumental inscription book, recent photos -- what's not to like?  We all love GHDs.

*  The 10 Best Free Online Historical Newspaper Research Sites by Kenneth R. Marks on The Ancestor Hunt blog.  This is an excellent blog post!  Very helpful.

*  Discover the Treasures of State and Local Historical Societies by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James highlights some examples of treasures that may be found in these repositories.

*  8 Tips for Name Research with Obituaries: Who Are the Survivors? by Gena Philibert-Ortega on the GenealogyBank Blog.  Some great tips on using obituaries to find relatives of the deceased.

*  Somebody's Been Busy by Jacqi Stevens on the A Family Tapestry blog.  Jacqi found a gold mine of family information on Find A Grave, but cannot contact the contributor.

*  Holey Reasoning on Holy Records by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genelaogist blog.  Judy notes that HIPAA applies only to electronic medical records, and does not apply to church or school records.

*  Family History -- A Key to Meaningful Conversation by Jill Ball on the Worldwide Genealogy - A Genealogical Collaboration blog.  Jill talks genealogy on her cruise to non-genealogists.

*  OGS Conference in Niagara - Day One Report by Chris Paton on the British GENES Blog.  I love reading about conference experiences.  Chris had a busy and fun first day in Ontario.

*  A Present From Pauline - Remember Her? by Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog.  A death certificate and a divorce record help solve Sheri's research problem.

*  Finding Your Ancestors Is All That Matters - A Rant by Kenneth R. Marks on The Ancestor Hunt blog.  Great rant...

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

*  NN Genealogy Things You Need To Know This Morning, Sunday, 27 Apr 2014; Monday, 28 Apr 2014; Tuesday, 29 April 2014; Wednesday, 30 Apr 2014; Thursday, 1 May 2014; Friday, 2 May 2014, Saturday, 3 May 2014 by Caroline M. Pointer on the 4YourFamilyStories.com blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for May 2, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Friday Finds - 05/02/14 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub 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/2014/05/best-of-genea-blogs-27-april-to-3-may.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver