FindMyPast Offers Free Veterans Weekend Access and Saturday Live Broadcast

I received this in email today from FindMyPast:

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Explore Findmypast’s billions of historical records for FREE this Veterans Weekend

• Free access to all Findmypast’s historical records throughout Veterans Weekend
• Live Broadcast to be held on Saturday afternoon featuring an expert panel of historians and genealogists

This Veterans Weekend, we want to help everyone find their First World War ancestors and learn more about their family history.

So we’re delighted to announce that this Veterans Weekend, we’ll be opening up our archives and giving unlimited free access to billions of records and newspaper pages from all over the world. 

That means that between 7 a.m. on Friday, November 7^th and 7 a.m. on Monday, November 10^th (EST), absolutely everyone will have access to all our historical records, including:

• Global record sets that include census, birth, marriage, and death records from the 1600s to the present.
• Millions of local newspaper pages from around the globe spanning 1710 to 2014.
• Largest collection of local records from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland dating back to 1500.
• Military records dating from 1760, encompassing the U.S. Civil War, World War I and World War II.
• Passenger lists and naturalizations, covering the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, and beyond.
• Local histories, genealogies, and exclusive access to PERSI (the PERiodical Source Index)

• And much, much more!

As well as millions of other records that will give everyone the opportunity to explore their family history and bring their past to life.

It’s not only new users who will be able to take their family history research further this weekend. Those with current Findmypast Local subscriptions (with an active Britain, Ireland, US & Canada or Australia & New Zealand subscription) will be able to access all our historical World records during the free access weekend. Those with active World subscriptions will have an additional three days added on to their subscription.

Find out more at our dedicated Free Weekend page.

Live Broadcast

This Saturday 8^th November, we will be hosting our first ever Live Broadcast. Featuring an expert panel including Findmypast’s Director of Family History, Joshua Taylor, military historian Paul Nixon, and Who Do You Think You Are?’s Lead Genealogist Laura Berry, the broadcast is designed to help everyone get further with their family history research.

The talks will cover a wide range of topics – from getting started to breaking down brick walls – and viewers can choose to watch the entire event, or tune in for specific presentations.

The Live Broadcast will be shown at http://new.livestream.com/innerear/findmypast at 10 a.m. (EST) on Saturday, 8th November.  All of the presentations can also be watched on demand after the broadcast on the Veterans Weekend section of our blog.

See the programme below, and read more about the speakers and their talks on our blog.

                                        Live Broadcast Programme (all times EST)

• 110 a.m.: Joshua Taylor, Director Family History, Findmypast: Welcome
• 110:02 a.m.:  Amy Sell, Family Historian, Findmypast: Getting Started
•   10:20 a.m.:  Myko Clelland, Family Historian, Findmypast: Top Tips for Researching Your Family History
•  10:40 a.m.: Amy Sell:  What the Censuses Tell Us
•  11 a.m.: Laura Berry, Lead Genealogist, BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?: Exploring British Newspapers
•  11:20 a.m.: Paul Nixon, Military Expert, Findmypast:  Discover Your Ancestors in the Military Records
•  11:40 a.m.: Brian Donovan, Director, Findmypast Ireland:  Tracing Your Irish Ancestors
•  12 noon:  Joshua Taylor: Discover Your Ancestors in International Records
•  12:20 p.m.:  Joshua Taylor: Closing remarks
•  12:30 to 1:30 p.m.:  Facebook Q&A with the Findmypast Experts on our global Facebook page.

Live Family History Facebook Q&A

Directly after our Live Broadcast, we’ll also be hosting a live Q&A on family history researching on our global Facebook page with some of our speakers. Join us between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. (GMT) to join the discussion on how to get started or break down your family history brick walls.

You can submit your questions in advance to our Facebook wall, send them @Findmypast on Twitter using the hashtag #FMPLive, or join us live on Facebook Saturday evening.

Follow @Findmypast on Twitter and use the hashtag #FMPLive to follow our event updates.

For further information please contact: press@findmypast.co.uk

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/findmypast-offers-free-veterans-weekend.html

SDGS Program Meeting on Saturday - 8 November: Connie Rascon Gunther

The November program meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) is on Saturday, 8 November from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Saint Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd, just south of Jackson Drive).  

The speaker for both sessions is Connie Rascon Gunther, Chairperson for Descendants of Early San Diego.  

Connie's two presentations will be:

Gaining Wisdom and Drive from your Genetic Memory

My Dad never took a piano lesson in his life, yet he could play any song he heard. How is that possible? One of my ancestors was noted for being exceptional with numbers. Is this an inherited ability? Can an inner drive to excel beyond all physical odds be genetic? Genetic memory is a process in which memory is passed down through the generations and stored in our DNA. Although controversial, science has proven genetic memory exists. I will share some interesting stories so you can ponder or decide if genetic memories play a role in your family history.

Use your Heritage to Build Resilience

Ever feel like another emotional curve ball just hit you? All you wanted was a little more time to yourself so you can research that new branch of that family tree you just started. Your family may think all of your genealogy work is wasted time. Not so! All that family research and tree building time is valuable. In fact it could be the difference between life and death. Understand how famous celebrities use family history to get through the road bumps in life. Listen to how and why you could share your family stories.

Connie's Biography:

Connie Rascon Gunther is Chairperson for Descendants of Early San Diego (DESD), a 400+ person organization. She recently launched a family history web site with support from dedicated and research-knowledgeable volunteers. Connie has extensive business management and engineering experience, traveled to multiple countries, and has an MBA in Technology Management. 

Her passion and interest is in history, archaeology, and genealogy. She is on the Presidio Park Council Board, a member of the San Diego History Center, Presidio Heritage Development Circle, American Heritage Charter School Board, and a frequent speaker at Old Town State Park events. Connie is happily married to Doug, and their son Adam is in high school. She is the Founder and CEO of a recently formed company, “Heritage Oasis Inc.,” which is focused on San Diego’s cultural and historical needs. The company is on a mission to “better America by connecting the past to build the future.”
 
THE URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/sdgs-program-meeting-on-saturday-8.html

Aunt Marion, Randy, Linda and Fred in 1983 -- Post 332 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I am posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't "Wordless" - I am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here is a photograph from the Marion (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill family collection handed down from my Aunt Marion in 2000 after her passing. 

This picture was taken in our backyard in Chula Vista in the spring of 1983, probably by my mother, who sent the photograph to Aunt Marion for her California album.  

The people in the picture are (from the left):

*  Marion (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill (1901-2000), my father's oldest sister
*  Randy Seaver
*  Linda Seaver (eyes closed and laughing), my wife
*  Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983), my father.

And the tomato plant...for some reason!

If this was the spring of 1983, as the photo is labeled by me, then this is probably the lat picture I have of my father when he was alive.  He died on 26 May 1983.  

Aunt Marion came to San Diego to visit us in about 1976 and again in 1983.  I don't think she traveled much after that.  We went to visit her in South Carolina in the 1990s.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/aunt-marion-randy-linda-and-fred-in.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Ancestry.com Changes Their Record Page Format

Recently, Ancestry.com rolled out their revised Record Transcription Page format - telling users that "We are updating the look of our record transcriptions - Preview the new page."  There is also a "Learn more" page, which looks like this:

The page above describes the changes to the Record Transcription pages, highlighting where items have been placed.

Here is what the "Old Page" looks like (two screens below):

The "New Page" looks like this (three screens below):

As far as I can tell, there are no really new features, and no old features deleted.  They've essentially moved the features around the page, and changed the fonts on the new page.

The Record Image thumbnail is larger, and has been placed on the left-hand side of the page.  The Page Tools, Comments and Make a Connection items have been moved from the left-hand side of the page to the right-hand side.  The Save, Share and Print tools are at the top of the right-hand column.

The Suggested Records remain on the right-hand side of the page, although they show only seven of them and have a "Show More" link for any others.  The record database name is now larger than the person's name.

The transcribed items in the middle of the page, the persons in the household, and the Source Citation information, have a different font and more white space around them.

The only drawbacks I see are that they don't show all of the Suggested Records (which means another click) and more scrolling (since the transcription information is in a larger font).   One of the benefits are that the fonts are larger for those of us who struggle to read the old font size.  Oh, there will probably be a learning curve and many user complaints as a consequence.  I'm underwhelmed.  I hope they didn't spend a lot of money on this change.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/ancestrycom-changes-their-record-page.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Crowd-Sourcing Works Again! Finding Elizabeth Dill's Birth Record in Eastham, Massachusetts Records

I posted Searching for Elizabeth Dill's Birth Record in Eastham, Massachusetts Records yesterday, lamenting that the FamilySearch global search found a birth record for my ancestor Elizabeth Dill (1791-1869), but I couldn't find it in the FamilySearch collection for Massachusetts, Town clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001, in Barnstable County, and in either Eastham or Orleans town records (because some Eastham records are in Orleans record books).  

Reader Geolover noted in a comment:  

"The cataloging for this is certainly confusing. Note that the collection title for Elizabeth's entries does not match what is in the catalog.  In the person-detail page for the 2nd entry for Elizabeth is a different microfilm number: 779025, for 'items 2-6'.

"The Catalog entry for this microfilm is here. Not really more helpful, but this could be where the entry is - in the 'part index' mentioned at the top of the web page.
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/373103?availability=Family%20History%20Library"

This comment eventually led to finding the birth record of Elizabath Dill in 1791.  

When I found the indexed birth record I showed yesterday, I used the global search on FamilySearch which found the indexed birth entry in Indexing Project C50246-3.  The indexed birth record entry indicated only GS Microfilm 907350 as a resource.  

When I first read Geolover's comment, it didn't make sense.  There was no "2nd entry" on the indexed birth record entry that I showed.

Then I realized that perhaps Geolover had searched the International Genealogical Index (IGI), rather than doing a global search on the Search page.  I selected the IGI collection, and sure enough, there was more information on the birth record entry!  Here is a screen shot of the IGI collection entry:

The information for the Indexing Project Batch Number C50246-3 indicates three different GS Film Number items:

*  907350 IT 1

*  907350 IT 2-6

*  779025

I did not recall searching the collection for GS Film 779025, since the earlier record indicated Film Number 907350 only.  The FHL Catalog description for Film number 779025 says:

"Births, marriages and intentions, deaths, and town records, 1708-1915" [for Eastham]

I easily found this "book" in the online FamilySearch collection for Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1627-2001 > Barnstable > Eastham > Births, marriages and intentions, deaths, and town records, 1708-1915.

I browsed through the pages (jumping 20 images at a time to find family birth records) and finally found what I was looking for on image 204 of 399:

The list of children of Thomas and Hannah (Horton) Dill is on the left-hand page at the top.  Cool - now I can correct the source citation for Elizabeth's birth record, and those for her siblings also, in my database and attach the image above to Elizabeth.  

My experience in Massachusetts town and vital records is that one type of records, say births, are often spread through different record "books," and those record books may not be titled correctly.  

The FamilySearch Indexing Projects seem to have worked with several different "books," but the record summary I found for Elizabeth in the global search did not fully represent all of the resources used in the Indexing Project.  The search I did in the IGI collection showed the three different microfilm resources.  

Interestingly, I did not find the specific record "book" on the list of Ancestry "books" listed under Orleans (which included many "books" for Orleans and Eastham).  There were no "books" listed for Eastham only.  Apparently, the specific record "book" above was not on the microfiche set that Ancestry.com digitized and indexed for their Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 database.  

One lesson learned here is that Ancestry.com does not have every record, and not every record is indexed.  I knew that, but others might not.

A second lesson learned is that FamilySearch has different records than Ancestry, even though the collection title is about the same, but many of their collections are not indexed.  I knew that this record existed, because it was in a FamilySearch indexed database.  But it was a pain to find because FamilySearch did not completely describe the Indexing Project resources used to compile the database.  

Another lesson learned (again) is that I need to be more patient and persistent.  Faced with hundreds of pages in a "book," I tend to jump around trying to find an index or the start of a record set in a "book."  

A fourth lesson learned is that scrolling page by page in an online database is more difficult than using microfilm, because I cannot read everything on a page on my computer screen.  I have to zoom in, drag up and down, or right and left, etc.  It's more "work" to read.  However, it is more convenient to use at home rather than at the FHL or FSL, it's less costly to access digitized records online, and I can save an image to my computer directly at home and online.  

Some readers have noted that I often try to solve one of my research problems by writing about it, in hopes that someone will think about the problem, perhaps do a check on resources, and tell me about it in a comment.  The readers are right - I'm not perfect (impatient too!), I miss details sometimes, and a reader might have more knowledge or experience than I do.  In this case - it worked!  Geolover found a clue and passed it on, and I was able to follow up and solve my problem.  Thank you again, Geolover!!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/crowd-sourcing-works-again-finding.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Look for Local Genealogical Society Publications of Local Records

This week's Tuesday's Tip is to:  Seek publications of local historical and genealogical societies with record indexes or transcriptions.

When I visited the San Diego Central Library two weeks ago, I intentionally searched for and found several publications created by local organizations over the past 100 years.

Here are a few of the "genealogy jewels" I found:

1)  San Diego County Birth Records, 1860-1889 (compiled by San Diego Genealogical Society):

The first page:

2)  San Diego County Death Certificate Information (compiled by Oceanside Historical Society): 

A page from this work:

3)  Presbyterian Church Records (compiled by San Diego Genealogical Society):

The first page with a short church history and one entry:

There are many more compiled books available at this library with records either indexed or transcribed.  There are archived record books for San Diego City and County in the Restricted Collections area also.

In our Reasonably Exhaustive Search, we cannot overlook manuscript or published material that may reside at local public and private libraries, local, regional and national genealogical societies and historical societies, or in state or national archives.  Many of these items may be in a restricted collection at the repository, or filed amongst many papers in file cabinets or boxes.

Check out the websites of the repository before you visit them - they may offer some of their published material for sale.  For instance, the San Diego Genealogical society has a list of publications for sale - see http://casdgs.org/forsale.php.  Membership in SDGS enables members to access some of these publications behind the society Members' Only wall.

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/tuesdays-tip-look-for-local.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Searching for Elizabeth Dill's Birth Record in Eastham, Massachusetts Records

My third great-grandmother is Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869), daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Horton) Dill of Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.  A long time ago (I started in 1988), I found her birth date (9 May 1791)  in the LDS International Genealogical Index (IGI), along with her 8 siblings (born between 1784 and 1795).  I wrote those names and dates down, and added them to my Personal Ancestral File database at the time - probably in the early 1990s.

In the late 1990s, I searched through all of the FHL microfilms for town and vital records of Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet (the latter two were daughter towns of Eastham), but did not find those birth records for Elizabeth and her siblings in a page-by-page search.  Since there were thousands of pages in these records, I figured that I had just missed the page with the record, or that the information in the IGI came from a submitted record.  In the last two weeks, I have searched through my two notebooks of Dill paper material without finding my notes, and so I went looking online for records.

A)  Ancestry.com has a database titled Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. I used the Search box to find "Dill*" records in the 1780-1800 time frame indexed in this collection.  There were 70 matches, but none for Elizabeth Dill or any of the births in the IGI for children of Thomas and Hannah Dill.

I used the Browse function for this Ancestry database and found that they had 11 volumes of records from Eastham and Orleans.  There is a helpful list of the records available on the microfiche that the database was imaged and indexed from.  Here it is:

To summarize, the Orleans vital records include 11 volumes of data and indexes for the years 1637-1892.  Since Orleans was a part of Eastham until 1797, many Eastham records are combined with the Orleans records.

There are no records specifically for Eastham in the Ancestry.com database.  The vital records for Eastham on this Orleans list include:

1)  Orleans and Eastham Records, 1637-1853 (407 pages)

*  Births (Eastham), 1637-1733: record pages 286-335, index pages 401-407
*  Births (Eastham), 1748-1839: record pages 174-284, index pages 166-171
*  Births, (Eastham and Orleans), 1788-1853: record pages 1-160, index at front
*  Marriages (Eastham), 1657-1714: record pages 336-347, index pages 354-357.
*  Deaths (Eastham), 1659-1767:  record pages 348-352, index pages 358-359

2)  Orleans and Eastham Births, Marriages, Marriage Intentions, and Deaths, 1743-1843 (232 pages)

*  Births, Marriages Deaths (Eastham and Orleans), 1743-1837:  record pages 1-56
*  Births (Eastham and Orleans), 1763-1810:  record pages 57-88
*  Births and Marriages (Eastham and Orleans), 1749-1843:  pages 91-198

3)  There are other "books" with Orleans-only records after 1797.

Although there was no index entry for the birth of Elizabeth and her siblings, I looked at all of the pages that recorded births in the 1750 to 1820 time frame.  Most of these birth records are organized by family rather than chronologically.

B)  FamilySearch has a record collection for Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1627-2001 which has many (most? all?) of the same records that Ancestry's database has;  however, FamilySearch does not have an index for this database.

A check of the Barnstable County collections for Eastham and Orleans reveals the following digitized "books" for vital records:

1)  Eastham: 

*  Births, deaths, 1751-1826 (41 images)
*  Births, marriages, deaths, town records, 1708-1915 (399 images)
*  Town records, 1657-1863 (730 images)

2)  Eastham, Orleans:  

*  Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1701-1796 (126 images)
*  Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1716-1777 (157 images)
*  Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1760-1839 (143 images)
*  Births, Marriages, Deaths, Land Grants, 1649-1822 (157 images)
*  Marriages, 1763-1905 (105 images)

3)  Orleans: 

*  Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1637-1855(205 images)
*  Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1761-1892 (279 images)

 Obviously, some of the records listed only under "Orleans" pertain to Eastham also (e.g., the BMD 1637-1855 "book").

I've looked through most of these for the birth of Elizabeth Dill and her siblings, but have not looked at every page.

I'm not sure that Ancestry.com has every "book" that FamilySearch has, and vice versa.  The titles and dates don't match perfectly.

C) I did find a reference to the birth of "Elizabath Dill" and her siblings when I did a global search on FamilySearch.  Here is the record for Elizabath:

There are similar records for Elizabeth's 8 siblings also.

I note that there is a "GS Film Number" in the indexing project - 907350.  The Indexing Project Number is C50246-3.  If I click on the Indexing Project number, I can see all of the 5558 entries in the specific project C50246-3.  An Exact search for surname "Dill" provides 132 results:

And further down there is Elizabath at #75:

Elizabeth's 8 siblings are also on this results list.

I also looked at FHL US/CAN Microfilm 907,350, and there are two "books" listed:

*  Item 1:  Births and deaths, 1751-1826

*  Item 2-6:  Town Records, 1654-1863 [Eastham, Massachusetts]

Those two items have essentially the same titles as the first and third "books" listed for Eastham on the FamilySearch list, but I cannot see a similar title in the Ancestry "book" list.

Even though the birth of Elizabeth Dill and her siblings are listed in the IGI entry and in the specific Indexing Project, I cannot find them in the two "Books" that are, supposedly, included on the one FHL microfilm 907350.   I've looked!

D)  So I have a "record" that references an FHL microfilm and an Indexing Project Number, but the actual record does not seem to be on the specific FamilySearch microfilm named.  How can that happen?

There is also a Reference ID number for Elizabeth's record:  2:174F59F.  I have no clue what that refers to.  I looked for Page 174 in Volume 2 (perhaps Item 2?) hoping that I would find.  I looked for image 174 also.  Neither of those have an entry for Elizabeth and her siblings.    Does anyone know how to find the image of a specific record Reference ID number?

If I requested a record image from the Family History Library by using the information above, would I receive a response?  My guess is that they would say "The FHL Catalog says it is online at FamilySearch, find it yourself!"

Any suggestions for further research here?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/searching-for-elizabeth-dills-birth.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

New or Updated Collections at FamilySearch - 26 October to 1 November 2014

I'm trying to keep up with the new and updated record collections at FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list).  As of 1 November, there were 1,841 record collections on FamilySearch (up 0 from last week).

Here are the new and updated collections for the week of 25 October 2014 to 1 November 2014:

*  Louisiana, Orleans Parish Second District Judicial Court Case Files, 1846-1880; Browse Images, updated 31 Oct 2014
*  North Carolina, County Records, 1833-1970; Browse Images, updated 31 Oct 2014
*  Maryland, Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999; Browse Images, updated 31 Oct 2014
*  Dominican Republic, Civil Registration, 1801-2010; 32,693 indexed records with images, updated 31 Oct 2014

*  Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records, 1635-1981; 828,167 indexed records with images, updated 31 Oct 2014
*  Canada Census, 1911; 4,654,957 indexed records, no images, updated 31 Oct 2014
*  Washington, County Records, 1803-2010; Browse Images, updated 30 Oct 2014
*  California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953; 942,275 indexed records with images, updated 30 Oct 2014

*  Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992; 503,921 indexed records, no images, updated 30 Oct 2014
*  Maine, Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection, ca. 1780-1980; 356,698 indexed records with images, updated 30 Oct 2014
*  France, Protestant Church Records, 1536-1863; 105,367 indexed records with images, updated 30 Oct 2014

*  Iowa, Polk County Probate Records, 1914-1924; Browse Images, updated 28 Oct 2014

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell which collections are brand new and which ones are updated.  The asterisk they use is for "new or updated."  I am particularly interested in new collections, for the obvious reasons.

Each one of the collections listed above has a Research Wiki page (use the "Learn more" link).  It would be very useful if the Wiki page for each collection listed the dates for when the collection was added as a new collection and the major updates also.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/new-or-updated-collections-at.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 242: 1873 Deed of Land in Taylor County, Iowa from Devier J. Smith to A.D. Ackley

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 an 1873 deed in the Taylor County, Iowa deed books for Devier J. Smith selling land to A.D. Ackley. 

The transcription of this deed is (handwritten text in italics, form fields underlined):

D J Smith to A D Ackley  Quit Claim

Know all men by these presents that I J. D. J. Smith of the County

of Andrew and State of Missouri in consideration of the sum of

One hundred Dollars in hand paid do hereby Quit Claim unto A. D.

Ackley of Taylor County and State of Iowa all my right title and

interest in and to the following described land situated and lying in

Taylor County and State of Iowa to wit

   The South Seventy two (72) acres of the South West Quarter of

Section Seven in Township Sixty nine North of Range Thirty four.

Signed this 27th day of August 1873.

                                                                    Devier J. Smith

State of Iowa   }

Taylor County } SS

                                 On this 27th day of August 1873 before me

W.E. Crum a Notary Public within and for said county personally

came D. J. Smith personally to me known to be the identical person

whose name is affixed to the above instrument as Grantor and acknowledges

the same and the execution thereof to be voluntary act and deed for

the purpose therein expressed.

            In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and

            affixed my official Seal      on the date last above written.

{          }

{  Seal }                                                                 Wm. E. Crum

{          }                                                                  Notary Public

A true copy of the Original filed for Record Octb. 21st 1874

                                                                            E G Medford

                                                                            Recorder

The source citation for this Deed is:

Taylor County, Iowa, Taylor County, Iowa, deed records, 1855-1953; index, 1855-1902, "Deed Records (Land) v. M-N, 1869-1872, v. O (to pg. 311), 1872-1873" Volume O, page 78 (stamped), Quitclaim deed of Devier J. Smith to A.D. Ackley, 1873; accessed 4 February 2014 on FHL US/CAN microfilm 1,535,634.

Devier J. Smith's father, Ranslow Smith,  purchased this plot of land in Taylor County, Iowa on 15 September 1869 from John Craven and his wife for $500.  Subsequently, Ranslow Smith moved to Andrew County, Missouri and died there in February 1873.  Apparently, this land was in his estate, and Devier J. Smith, as his heir, quit claimed it for $100 to A.D. Ackley.  At the time, Devier J. Smith was also a resident of Andrew County, Missouri.  

Devier J. and Abbie A. Smith are my second great-grandparents.  By 1875, they were residing in Concordia, Cloud County, Kansas.  Subsequently, they moved in 1885 to McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska in 1885, and then bought land in Cheyenne County, Kansas before Devier died in 1894 in McCook.  Abbie came to San Diego to live with her daughter's family in the early 1890s.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/amanuensis-monday-post-242-1873-deed-of.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 26 October to 1 November 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:

*  "Clicking and Claiming" on Ancestry.com - A Commentary by Kathy Reed on the Hamilton County Genealogical Society blog.  An interesting study, and response, about an Ancestry Member Tree.

*  Do We Have the Genealogy Reflexes We Need? by Harold Henderson on the Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog.  Excellent questions...and links.

*  7 Genealogical Lessons for Researching Your Palatine Ancestors by Henry  Z. (Hank) Jones on the Ancestry.com Blog.  Hank shares his lessons learned from 50 years of researching Palatine immigrants.

*  Tuesdays Tips: The Zen of Dropbox -- Obey the Sync by Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog.  You never know when the blue screen of death will happen to your computer.  We can all learn from Thomas's experience here.

*  See What This Intriguing Census Taker Had to Say About the Neighbors by Lisa Louise Cooke on Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems blog.  An opinionated sort, and an interesting life.

*  When Will FamilySearch Family Tree Be Fixed? by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James says the problem is the data, not the program.  The temptation is to say "never" but the hopeful answer is "soon."

*  Immigration to and Migration Within the U. S. in the 1900s by Juliana Szucs on the Ancestry.com Blog.   This provides an immigration and migration timeline.  Very useful.

*  Thankful Thursday: Family ChartMasters by Amanda Pape on the ABT UNK blog.  Amanda created a family chart for her parents 60th anniversary.  Beautiful!

*  Is That Index Correct?  Here's Why We Need to Look at the Actual Document by Diane Gould Hall on the Michigan Family Trails blog.  Diane found the marriage record, but the ages weren't right.  She figured it out.  Excellent lesson.

*  A Source is a Source, Of Course, O f Course ... Or Is It?  by Shannon Combs-Bennett on The In-Depth Genealogist blog.  Shannon offers her view about online family trees as sources.

*  Northern California APG Chapter Welcomes Judy Russell! by Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog.  Sheri reports on three hours of communing with Judy and APG members.

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

*  GAGs - GeniAus Gems - 31 October 2014 by Jill Ball on the GeniAus blog.

*  What We Are Reading: October 31st Edition by Amy Johnson Crow on the Ancestry.com Blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for October 31, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog. 

*  Friday Finds -- 10/31/14 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  This Week's Creme de la Creme - November 1, 2014 by Gail Dever on the Genealogy a la Carte blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity (November 1, 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 1540 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/2014/11/best-of-genea-blogs-26-october-to-1.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver