A Vision of Loveliness -- Post 354 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

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

Here is one of the most precious (to me) images from my Seaver/Carringer/Leland family collection:

This photograph was taken at about 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, 21 March 1970 in the Chula Vista (CA) Presbyterian Church on Hilltop Drive.

This is my soon-to-be bride, Linda Leland, on the left, and her proud but pensive father, Leo Severt "Papa Lee" Leland on the right, as they start down the center aisle for our wedding.

Some memories:

*  It seemed like it took forever for them to walk down the aisle.

*  Linda stopped and spoke to her mother and grandmother before they got to the altar.

*  After being asked "Who gives this woman to be married" Lee answered "her mother and I."

*  During the vows, the minister, Rev. Ted Bahu, asked Linda "Do you take Randy as your lawful wedded wife?"  Everybody but me cracked up; I wasn't listening, apparently. Ted turned around to compose himself, and then asked the right question.  We finally got it right.

*  When it came time to kiss the bride, I couldn't figure out how to get through the veil.  We hadn't practiced lifting it up...

*  The walk back down the aisle is a blur...we made it to the bride's room, and then went back into the church for photographs.

Forty-five years have passed very quickly.  Linda still tells the "wedded wife" story for some reason.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/a-vision-of-loveliness-post-354-of-not.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Is This My Long-Sought James G. Woodward?

One of the mystery men in my genealogy research has been James G. Woodward (born about 1837 in Vermont?), who married Mary Almeda Vaux (1839-????) in about 1862 in Wisconsin, and was the father of three children - Orpha (born about 1863), Mary (1866-1945), and Ada (1868-????).  Mary Almeda Vaux is my second great grandaunt, and their children are my first cousins three times removed.  I've been hoping for a DNA match popping up at some time.

The only record I have for the family is the 1870 U.S. Census in Platte township, Andrew County, Missouri.  The family information is:

*  Samuel Vaux -- age 51, male, white, a farmer, $3500 in real property, $490 in personal property, born England, parents foreign born
*  Mary A. Vaux -- age 50, female, white, keeping house, born NY
*  James P. Vaux -- age 23, male, white, a farm laborer, born NY
*  Elizabeth Vaux -- age 19, female, white, at home, born NY
*  Amos Vaux -- age 15, male, white, a farm laborer, born NY, attended school
*  James Woodward -- age 33, male, white, a farm laborer, $500 in personal property, born VT
*  Mary A. Woodward -- age 31, female, white, keeping house, born NY, father foreign born
*  Orpha A. Woodward -- age 7, female, white, born WI, attended school
*  Mary Woodward -- age 4, female, white, born WI

James Woodward is the son-in-law of Samuel and Mary A. Vaux.  The two oldest children of James and Mary Woodward are listed, but the youngest child is not - she may have died young.  Andrew County is in the northwest corner of Missouri, with Kansas to the west, Nebraska to the northwest and Iowa to the north.  My Vaux and Smith families were in all of those states in the 1870-1895 time frame.

I think that James Woodward above is the James G. B. Woodward who was age 12, born in Vermont, son of Nathaniel and Orpha (????) Woodward, who resided in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin in the 1850 U.S. Census.  The key clue is his mother's first name, which is somewhat rare and was given to his first-born daughter.  My Ranslow Smith family (including Devier Smith who married Abigail Vaux in 1861) resided in Dodge County near Burnett in 1850-1866, and the Samuel Vaux family resided in Burnett in the 1859 time frame, but is not on the 1860 census there.

Today, I was searching on Ancestry.com for James and Mary (Vaux) Woodward after receiving a Findmypast Hint for a Mary Woodward born in 1840 in New York dying in 1923 in Iowa.  I don't think that is this particular Mary (Vaux) Woodward, but the Hint led me to doing more searching.

My notes from the letter of my great-grandmother, Della (Smith) Carringer to her cousins listed James G. Woodward as Mary Vaux's husband, and the letter is the only source of the name of Ada Woodward.  Della is the daughter of Devier and Abigail (Vaux) Smith, and Abigail is the daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux, and is Mary Almeda (Vaux) Woodward's sister

In the search for James Woodward (born 1837, limiting the search to Nebraska and surrounding states), the top of the Results list looked like this:

The fifth item on the Results list caught my eye - James G. Woodward, born about 1840 in Minn., died in February 1880 in Bedford, Taylor county, Iowa.  Taylor county is where my Smiths were before they moved to Andrew County in the early 1870s.

I clicked on the U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885, and saw:

After reviewing the record extraction page, I clicked on the green "View" button:

The 1880 Mortality Schedule for Taylor County, Iowa opened.  Here is the record for James G. Woodward:

The name is correct, the age of 40 is about right (3 years off), the birthplace of Minnesota is wrong, he is widowed, and the occupation of Stone Mason is not what he was in the 1870 census (a farm laborer).  Everything about this record screamed at me saying "this may be the right guy" even though some things are not correct, because it is the right name in about the same place ten years after the last known record.

I don't find Mary (Vaux) Woodward in the 1880 U.S. Census - but I do find their daughter Orpha (age 17) with her grandparents Samuel and Mary (Underhill) Vaux in Marshall County, Kansas, while their daughter Mary Woodward is age 14 in the Luce household in Andrew County, Missouri.

I have identified these searches to perform over the next year to try to find out more about James Woodward:

*  Check Andrew County, Missouri land and probate record indexes.
*  Check Taylor County, Iowa land and probate indexes.
*  Check the cemetery sites for both James and Mary (Vaux) Woodward.
*  Check the newspaper websites for this Woodward family.
*  Check the USGenWeb websites for the named counties to see if there are records for the family.
*  Trace Orpha Woodward (born about 1863 in Wisconsin) to find a spouse and descendants.  Either Orpha or Mary Woodward may have left records describing their parents demise.
*  Look for a marriage record for Mary (Vaux) Woodward in the geographic area, and trace her to her death.

Obviously, James and Mary (Vaux) Woodward could have died almost anywhere in the Midwest farm and prairie states.  I may never find them.

There are many more tasks that could be done - what would you do?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/is-this-my-long-sought-james-g-woodward.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Attaching Hints in My Findmypast Family Tree

I received an email notice yesterday from Findmypast.com, where I have uploaded (using GEDCOM) my own Family Tree.  The email said I had three new Hints:

I wanted to check these Hints, and attach them to my Findmypast tree if they were found for the correct persons.

1)  I clicked on the blue link on the screen above for the first Hint, for Judith Keyes born in 1662, and saw her profile in my tree:

2)  The Hint apparently is for her birth record in 1662.  So I clicked on the blue button for "Review >" and saw a comparison of information from the record to my tree entry for Judith Keyes:

The record summary above doesn't tell me very much about her, it's difficult to judge if this is the correct person or not.  I'm looking for Judith the daughter of Solomon Keyes and his wife Frances, born in 1662.

3)  I needed to see the record itself, so I clicked on the blue "See record" button on the left side of the screen above and the transcribed record summary opened:

The record transcription above still doesn't provide the exact birth date - so it's not a true transcription, it's an extract.  It does provide a description of the source, with a volume and page number.

4)   I still need to see the actual record.  There is a blue "View image" button on the top right of the screen above, so I clicked that:

There is the record for Judith Keyes, born 16 September 1662 in Newbury, Massachusetts, the daughter of Soll[omon].  Okay, I can now attach this record to Judith Keyes in my tree.

There is a blue "Attach to tree" button on the screen above (top right), and I had to type in her name and then  "Save" it to my tree.  If I attach the record from the record transcription screen (two screens above), the system autofills the name.

5)  I went back to Judith Keyes in my tree, and clicked on her "Facts and Events" tab and saw that there was now one source for her Birth.  I expanded the Sources link for the Birth, and saw the source citation:

Unfortunately, the source citation is not specific to the record - there is no reference to the volume, page, or name entry.

6)  What about the Media?  I clicked on the Media tab and the record transcription page was shown:

From the screen above, I can "Add Media" using the blue button, or I can click on the link for the one media item to see the Record Transcription page again.

7)  One more quibble - I only can see the one single page from the source document - I cannot go a page back, or a page forward, to see if there is more useful information in the resource.  This is very limiting and frustrating - most researchers look for other spellings of the name in a book like this, and I would like to look for marriages and deaths also.   I will have to go back to Search and see if there are any matches.

8)  This Findmypast Hinting system works, but it takes quite a few clicks to attach the Media to the person profile in my tree.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/attaching-hints-in-my-findmypast-family.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Subscribe to "Your Genealogy Today" Magazine

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Subscribe to the Your Genealogy Today magazine in either the print or PDF format.

The Your Genealogy Today magazine was formerly Family Chronicle, published by Moorshead Magazines, Ltd., which also publishes Internet Genealogy magazine and History Magazine.  Your Genealogy Today magazine is published six times a year , and costs $24.95 retail (and $14.95 on sale according to this page).

The Table of Contents for the upcoming May/June issue includes;

*  Organizing and Caring for Old Family Photographs
Jacky Gamble offers six hints for giving those old family photographs a longer life

*  Strangers in the Attic: The Era of CDVs and CCs
George Matheson looks at the once-popular Cartes de Visite and Cabinet Cards of a bygone era

*  Doubled! Baptismal Registrations of 19th Century Austrian Military Offspring
Smiljka Kitanovic explains why some births in 19 century Austria-Hungary were recorded twice leaving a bonus for family historians

*  Writing Your Family History in Five Steps
Barbara Krasner offers tips on how to record your family history in written form for future generations

*  Family Time
David A. Norris explores watches and clocks as family history and heirlooms

*  Finding My Zitko Ancestors
Wynne Crombie shares her heart-warming experience of her first visit to an ancestral village on the island of Vis

*  Sacrifice for Victory: Rationing during World War II
Carol Richey looks at how your home front ancestors were affected by the measures taken to support the war effort

*  Finding Caroline Tanner Bailey —Through Bits and Pieces
Robin Bailey discovers how several small clues from photos, books and other sources led to a successful search for her great-grandmother

*  Bringing Foreign Letters and Symbols Into Your Writing
David A. Norris offers tips for adding that little extra to your documents

PLUS REGULAR COLUMNS...

*  Advice from the Pros

*  Genealogy Tourism

*  DNA & Genealogy

*  The Back Page

Genealogy-oriented magazines are very useful - they keep readers up-to-date on genealogy news, methodology, software, research stories, and much more.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/tuesdays-tip-subscribe-to-your.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

My Entry in Crestleaf.com's Guess My Family Heritage Blogathon Contest

Crestleaf.com is hosting a blog contest starting today - see their post Enter to Win! Guess My Family Heritage Blogathon Contest.

First, I need to post an "an old photo of an ancestor(s)."  Here is one of the oldest photos I have from my family collection:

This is a framed paper photo from the 1860s of two of my ancestors.

Can you determine their heritage from this photograph?  If so, please reference my photo, and enter your guess as to who they are and their heritage (country of origin, culture, etc.) in a COMMENT on this blog post.  There is no prize for being correct...but I may win a prize by entering the contest.  Other bloggers can enter the contest also, and I encourage them to do so.

Thank you!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/my-entry-in-crestleafcoms-guess-my.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Added or Updated Databases at Ancestry.com - Week of March 29 to April 4, 2015

The following databases were added or updated on Ancestry.com during the period from 29 March to 4 April 2015 (Note: not all new or updated databases are indexed or have images).

* Cluj, Romania, Kolozsvár Jewish High School Students, 1940-1944; indexed database with no images, ADDED 4/2/2015

*  Serbia, Jews Murdered Near Sabac, 1941; indexed database with no images, ADDED 4/2/2015

*  Lübeck, Germany, Neuengamme Victims, 1945; indexed database with no images, ADDED 4/2/2015

*  North Carolina, Marriage Records, 1741-2011; indexed database with images, ADDED 3/31/2015


*  Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980; indexed database with images, UPDATEDd 3/31/2015

The recently added or updated page on Ancestry.com is at http://www.ancestry.com/cs/reccol/default.

The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at  http://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  There are 32,638 databases available as of 4 April, an increase of 4 over last week. 

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/added-or-updated-databases-at.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 262: Will of Crispus Richards (1681-1763) of Lynn, Massachusetts

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 1756 Will of Crispus Richards (1681-1763) of  Lynn, Massachusetts, probated in July 1763:

The transcription of the will is:

[first sheet of paper]

"In the Name of God Amen, The tenth day of April anno Domini 1756

I Crispus Richards of Lynn in the County of Essex in the Province of ye Massach-

usetts Bay in New England yeoman - being decaying in body but of sound

mind Calling to Mind the Mortality of my body Knowing it is appointed for

all Men once to die: do Make & ordaine this My last Will and Testament, that

is to Say Principally & first of all I Recommend My Soul into the hands of

God that Gave it, & my Body I Recommend to the Earth to be buried In Christ-

tian and Decent Manner at the Discretion of my Executor hereafter

named and as Touching My Worldly Estate I Give Demise & Dispose

of as followes: And My Will is that all my just Debts & funeral Charges

be duly & Honestly paid by my Executor out of my Estate.

"Imprimis I Give and bequeath to my beloved Wife Sarah all my Indore Moveable

Estate to be at her own Disposal & also the Improvement of the one half

of my Real Estate During.

"Item I give & bequeath to the several Children of my Son Joseph Richards Deceased

Viz to William Richards, Joseph Richard, Mary Richards, Ebenezer Richards, Hanah

Richards, Esther Richards, John Richards & Martha Richards to Each of them the

Sum of one Shilling Lawfull Money to be paid by my Executor within two

years after my decease & wifes and that to be their Portion out of my Estate

haveing given their father his Portion in his lifetime.

"Item I Give & bequeath to my Daughter Esther Estess one pound Six Shillings and

Eight pence to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate within one year

after My deceas & wifes & that with what I have heretofore Don for her to

be her Portion out of My Estate.

"Item I Give to my daughter Sarah Ingulls one pound Six Shillings & Eight

pence to be paid by My Executor out of my Estate within two years after

I & my Wife shall Deceas and that with what I have already Don for

her to be her Portion out of my Estate.

"Item I Give & bequeath to my Grand Daughter Thankfull Stocker one pound Six

shillings & Eight pence to be paid by My Executor out of my Estate with-

in two years after My & wifes deceas & that to be her portion Out of my

Estate.

"Item I Give & bequeath to my daughter Mary Richards ye Sum of four

Pounds per year annually Each and Every Year So long as shee shall

Remain unmarried & In Case she Maries then to have one Pound Six shillings

and Eight pence to be paid by my Executor out of my Estate.

"Item I Give to my daughter Deborah Richards ten pounds to be paid by my

Executor within one year after my Deceas & Wife's & that to be her

portion out of My Estate with the Priviledge of

my West Chamber till Maried and no longer.

"Item I give devise & bequeath to My Son John Richards (whome I likewise

Constitute Make & ordain Sole Executor of this My last will and

Testament) all & singular my Housing & Lands Messuages and

[second sheet of paper]

Tenements in Lynn and Elsewhere to him My sd Son his heirs and Assigns forever

and also all my out Dore Moveable Estate of what Name or Nature Soever

to be to him & his Heirs for Ever and I Doe hereby Ratify & Confirm this &

no other to be My last will & testament. In Witness whereof I have hereunto

Set my hand & Seal,

"Signed, Sealed, Published, Pronounced  }

and Declared by the Said Crispus             }             his

Richards as his last will & Testament      } Crispus C Richards

In Presence of we the Subscribers            }     Sign & Seal

William Collins,

Theophilus Burrill

William Watts."

"Salem July 14 1763 Before the Hon^e: John Choate

Esqr. Judge of Prob^e of Wills &c: for sd County personaly

appeared Theophilus Burril & Will^m Watts &

made Oath that they were present when

Crispus Richards late of Lynn Decd Sign &

heard him publish & declare this Instrument to be

his Last Will & Testament & when he so did he was

of sound disposing mind & memory to the best of

their discerning and they together with William

Collins Esq Set to their hands at the same time in his

presence azs Witnesses. Whereupon this Will is prov^d

Approv^d & Allow^d ^and the Seal of the office afixth^

of trece? & appear & Accepted that

trust

                                        John Choate ?? ???"

The source citation for this document is:

Essex County, Massachusetts, "Essex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1638-1881," Crispus Richards of Lynn 1763; digital images, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org: accessed 23 February 2015); includes Will and court approval, 11 July 1763.

Previously, I had found the Probate Court record book entries for this will and court approval - see Amanuensis Monday - Will of Crispus Richards (1681-1763) of Lynn, Massachusetts (posted 18 October 2010).  There is no substantive difference between the transcribed court records and the original records - the only differences are capitalization, and and & substitutes, and word spelling.  

Crispus Richards (1681-1763) is my 7th great-grandfather.  His wife, Sarah (Collins) Richards (1678-1757) died after he wrote the will in 1756 and before he died in 1763.  Their son, Joseph Richards (1703-1748) married Mary Bowden (1705-1755), and had eight children, all of whom are named as heirs in the will of Crispus Richards.  I descend through their daughter, Mary Richards (1733-????), who had a son Isaac Buck (1757-1846) out of wedlock, and married John Phillips (1722-????) in 1774.  This provides one more piece of evidence that Mary Richards did not marry the father of Isaac Buck.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/amanuensis-monday-post-262-will-of.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

New or Updated Record Collections at FamilySearch.org - March 30 to April 5, 2015

I'm trying to keep up with the new and updated record collections at FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list).  As of 5 April 2015, there were 1,951 record collections on FamilySearch (an increase of 4 from last week).

Here are the new or updated record collections for the past week:

*  Philippines, Civil Registration (Spanish Period), 1706-1911; Browse Images only, added or updated 03 Apr 2015

*  Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955; 1,470,556 indexed records with images, added or updated 03 Apr 2015

*  Kentucky Confederate Pension Applications, 1912-1950; 4,192 indexed records with images, added or updated 03 Apr 2015

*  England, Westminster Rate Books, 1634-1900; 10,026,835 indexed records with images, added or updated 03 Apr 2015

*  United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; 2,214,296 indexed records with images, added or updated 03 Apr 2015

*  Philippines, Lingayen-Dagupan Catholic Archdiocese Parish Registers, 1615-1982; 219,587 indexed records, no images, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Philippines, La Union, Diocese of San Fernando de La Union, 1801-1983; Browse Images only, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Philippines, Camarines Sur, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caceres, Parish Registers, 1716-1977; Browse Images only, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Montana, Sanders County Records, 1866-2010; 5,416 indexed records with images, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  United States, Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North,1861-1865; 25,511 indexed records with images, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920; 203,404 indexed records with images, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Mexico, Oaxaca, Catholic Church Records, 1559-1988; Browse Images only, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Civil Registration, 1794-2012; Browse Images only, added or updated 02 Apr 2015

*  Philippines, Manila, Civil Registration, 1899-1994; Browse Images only, added or updated 01 Apr 2015

*  Philippines, Civil Registration (Archives Division), 1902-1945; Browse Images only, added or updated 01 Apr 2015

*  Mexico, San Luis Potosí, Civil Registration, 1859-2000; 439,448 indexed records with images, added or updated 31 Mar 2015

*  Mexico, Coahuila, Civil Registration, 1861-1998; 180,700 indexed records with images, added or updated 31 Mar 2015

*  New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, Probate Records, 1843-1998; 160,191 indexed records with images, added or updated 30 Mar 2015

*  Czech Republic, School Registers, 1799-1953; Browse Images only, added or updated 30 Mar 2015

*  Ukraine, Sumy Civil Registers, 1918-1922; Browse Images only, added or updated 30 Mar 2015

*  BillionGraves Index; 11,803,876 indexed records with images, added or updated 30 Mar 2015

*  Czech Republic Censuses, 1800-1945; Browse Images only, added or updated 30 Mar 2015

*  Philippines, Pangasinan, Civil Registration, 1945-1981; 68,458  indexed records with images, added or updated 30 Mar 2015

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

In order to select a specific collection, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list and use the "Filter by collection name" feature in the upper left-hand corner.

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 dates for major updates also.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/04/new-or-updated-record-collections-at.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 29 March to 4 April 2015

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:

*  Adoptive Search Angels Help Me Find My Original Birth Name and Birth Parent Surnames Overnight by Colleen Greene on the Colleen and Jeff's Roots blog.  Wow, great news for Colleen.

*  5 Tips for Resolving Evidence Conflicts by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.  Michael's tips are very useful.

*  And March Flew By - But Not without a Great Conference! by Tessa Keough on The Keough Corner blog.  Tessa presented virtually to the Guild of One-Name Studies Conference in England.

*  Mystery Monday- Who's Your Daddy? Brick Walls Post #2 - Robert L. Bowden, 1863-1906 by Diane Gould Hall on the Michigan Family Trails blog.  Diane shares another brick wall ancestor - can you help?

*  Brick Wall Buster: New Online Newspapers via MyHeritage by Thomas MacEntee on the Geneabloggers blog.  Thomas found some helpful information using the MyHeritage Record Matches for newspapers.

*  Lou Szucs: Genealogical Hero by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak on the Huffington Post blog.  I agree!  Thank you to Lou for all you've done, and enjoy your retirement!

*  Ode to Lou Szucs: Ancestry's Employee Number One Retires by Kristie Wells on the Ancestry.com Blog.  Here is more insight into Lou and her impact on the genealogy world.

*  Astonishing New iPhone App:  Lick It DNA by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  How cool is this, although there are questions about accuracy.  Note the publication date too.

*  NGS 2015:  Conference Survival 101! by Jill Morelli on the Genealogy Certification: My Personal Journal blog.  Excellent tips from a veteran (now!) conference goer.

*  The Science Behind New Ancestor Discoveries by Julie Granka on the Ancestry Tech Roots blog.  Julie discusses the latest AncestryDNA feature.

*  Things I Learned by Participating in the Genealogy Do-Over by Dawn Kogutkiewicz on the Dawning Genealogy blog.  Dawn's list should be read by any researcher.

*  What I Remember .... by the writer of the Generations Gone By Weblog.  What a riveting family story.  It's a miracle no one was killed.

*  Ancestry Gave Me a New DNA Ancestor -- And It's Wrong by Roberta J. Estes on the DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy blog.  Roberta demonstrates that the new AncestryDNA feature is imperfect.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

*  GAGs - GeniAus Gems - 3 April 2015 by Jill Ball on the GeniAus blog.

*  Recommended Reads by Linda Stufflebean on the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.

*  Genealogy Roundup: March 28th - April 3rd by Nichelle Barra on the Copper Leaf Genealogy blog.

*  Friday Finds - 04-03/15 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  Best Bytes for Week of 3 April 2015 by Elizabeth O'Neal on the Little Bytes of Life 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 1560 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/2015/04/best-of-genea-blogs-29-march-to-4-april.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Easter Name-Whacking on Ancestry.com

Arise, ye Genea-Musings readers and Graveyard Rabbits, and spread the good news!  Happy Easter!

In a spare hour, I happened to notice that Ancestry.com shows:

* Easter Bunny, born about 1908 in North Carolina, was the daughter of John and Mary Bunny in Marion county, South Carolina in the 1910 U.S. Census. I wonder if Easter lived to a ripe old age?  And spread  colored eggs, or chocolate candy, around the countryside?

* Easter Bunny, born about 1826, resided in Yorkshire, England in the 1841 U.K. census.

* Easter Eggers, born about 1820, resided in Cole County, Missouri in the 1850 U.S. census.

* Easter Morning, born about 1905, resided in Williamsburg, Virginia in the 1930 U.S. Census.

* Easter H. Easter, born about 1825, resided in Cherokee County, Texas in the 1850 U.S. census.

* Easter Chick, born about 1910, resided in Cape May County, New Jersey in the 1910 U.S. Census.

* There are several persons named Easter Flowers, Easter Day and Easter Hunt in the U.S. census records.

* Felix Easter resided in Rusk County, Texas in the 1880 U.S. Census.

* There are a few persons named Easter Lily and Easter Lilly in the U.S. Census records.

*  Bunny Sue Easter died in 1972 in Multnomah County, Oregon.

* I found no persons named Happy Easter, Easter Sunday, Easter Rabbit, or Easter Egg in the U.S. census records.

*  There is an Easter Eggers, born in 1914, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the 1920 U.S. census.

* Peter Rabbit, born about 1833 in Ireland, was residing in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1880 U.S. census.

* Peter Rabbit, born about 1840 in Ireland, was residing in New York City in the 1880 U.S. census.

* Several other Peter Rabbit persons hop in and out of the U.S. census over the years!

* There are plenty of persons named Peter Cotton in the U.S. census, but no Peter Cottontail persons. Too bad!

* A person named Peter Easter resided in Bourbon County, Kansas in the 1880 U.S. Census.

What other names can you find that appear in the Census Records that pertain, remotely, to Easter?

P.S. While I was writing this, my own Easter bunny came hopping into the Genealogy Cave with a bowl of pastel-coated M&Ms, singing "Here Comes Peter Cottontail." Wasn't my honey-bunny sweet? Some of you have probably wondered how I keep my figure so, um, full ... now you know!

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Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver