Genea-Musings

Friday, November 10, 2017

Genealogy News Bytes - 10 November 2017

Some of the genealogy news items across my desktop the last three days include:

1) News Articles:

*  National Genealogical Society Seeks Nominations for 2018 National Genealogy Hall of Fame

*  NBC to Develop a “Reunited” Genealogy Television Drama

*  Ancestry Product Update: Person Page Changes

*  Ancestry and New England Historic Genealogical Society Collaborate to Make Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records Available on Ancestry.com

*  Findmypast Grants Five Days of Free Access to All Military Records Ahead of Veterans Day 2017

*  FREE ACCESS at ArkivDigital This Weekend, November 11th and 12th

2) Record Databases:

*  New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 10 November 2017

*  TheGenealogist adds names from 53 new War Memorials

*  Fulton Postcards Historic Newspapers Update - Over 100 Added New York Titles

*  Advantage Preservation Adds 750 Thousand Historical Newspaper Pages - October, 2017

3) Genealogy Education:

*  Free Family History Library Classes and Webinars for November 2017

* Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Wednesday, 15 November, 11 a.m. PST: British and Irish research: the differences, by Brian Donovan

* Upcoming  FREE Webinar From SCGS: November 15, 2017: Ancestral Hunting Grounds: Doing On-Site Research, by Jean Wilcox Hibben, PhD, MA

* Upcoming Utah Genealogical Association (UGA) Virtual Chapter Webinar - 16 November 2017: "More Evidence and Less Inference" by Karen Clifford, AG®

* Upcoming November 16, 2017 (5 p.m. PST) FGS Webinar: Building Bridges Between Societies, by Rorey Cathcart

* Archived Family Tree Webinar:  New York City Genealogical Research: Navigating Through The Five Boroughs, by Michael Strauss

* Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Using Non-Population Schedules for Context and Evidence, by Jill Morelli

* Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Little Known Sources for Virginia Research, by Shannon Combs Bennett.

*   Genealogy Gems Podcast : Episode #211 with Lisa Louise Cooke

*  The Genealogy Guys Podcast: #334 - 2017 November 5

* DearMYRTLE's YouTube Channel:  GenDoc Study Group 9 - Citing Absent, Hidden, Obvious and Perplexing Dates

* DearMYRTLE's YouTube Channel:  DNAGen - Open Q&A with Blaine Bettinger

* Findmypast YouTube Channel: 3 Ways to Trace Wartime Ancestors

* BYU Family History Library YouTube Channel:  Researching Your Enslaved Ancestors - James Tanner

* Nicka Sewell-Smith YouTube Channel:  BlackProGen LIVE! Ep 37: People of Color in the Northeast: CT, MA, and NH

* Family History Fanatics YouTube Channel:  How to Preserve your Family Bibles? - Viewer Question

* Genealogy Do-Over YouTube Channel:  Genealogy Do Over: Pinterest Secret Boards

4) Genealogy Bargains:

* Genealogy Bargains for Friday, November 10, 2017

* Ancestry Veterans Day Flash Sale – Save 50% on Subscriptions

*  GIVEAWAY: Win an Apple iPhone X from Genealogy Bargains

*  RootsTech 2018 Registration Giveaway Contests

5) Neat Stuff:

*  Do You Know United States Geography? Take This Quiz!

* The UK's Oddest Place Names

* Hard Core Genealogist Until the End

Did you miss the last Genealogy News Bytes - 7 November 2017?

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

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/genealogy-news-bytes-10-november-2017.html

Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 10 November 2017

I received this information from Findmypast today:

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

Over 2 million new military records available to search this Findmypast Friday

There are over 2 million brand new military records available to search this Findmypast Friday, including;

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt of Honour

Search over 1.7 million Commonwealth War Graves Commission records to discover the final resting place of your military ancestors. The collection honours the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First and Second World Wars and covers cemeteries and memorials at 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries.

British Armed Forces, Roman Catholic Registers

Search through thousands of Roman Catholic sacramental registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials from the British armed forces. The registers contain over 17,000 records for British Army, Royal Air Force, and Royal Navy personnel stationed at home and abroad between 1836 and 1975. These records are also available to browse.

British Army, Army Lists 1839-1946

Uncover valuable details about your military ancestor in British Army lists spanning the years 1839 to 1946. This collection is also available to browse.

British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919

Did your ancestor serve with the East Surrey Regiment during the Boer War or the First World War? Explore an index of more than 28,000 records to discover their rank, regiment, and battalion, as well as details of the wounds or medals they received. The detail found in each transcript will depend on the particular series. Available series include East Surrey Regiment Boer War Medals 1899-1902, East Surrey Regiment 1st Battalion Part II Orders 1915-1918 and East Surrey Regiment 1st Battalion rank & file index 1916-1919.

British Army, Railwaymen Died In The Great War

Explore this index of over 21,000 records found on the National Railway Museum website to uncover details of your ancestor's pre-war career, military service and death. A number of records may also include a link to a photo of your ancestor.

British Army, Irish Regimental Enlistment Registers 1877-1924

Search over 11,000 records to discover your military ancestor in enlistment books pertaining to Irish regiments in the British Army that were disbanded in 1922 upon the creation of the Irish Free State. This index pertains to records found on the National Army Museum website and dditional information, including images, can be found on the source's website.

British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers 1881-1920

Did your ancestor serve with the 'Fighting Fifth' during the Boer War or the First World War? Search over 4,000 new additions to our collection of British Army, Northumberland Fusiliers records to find out. This index, taken from over 70 sources, will enable you to uncover their service history, enlistment date and place, the medals they received and if they were wounded in battle. The names in these records include men who fought in the Fourth Ashanti War (1895-1896), Sudan, Boer War, North West Frontier and First World War.

British Army Service Records

Over 5,000 new records are now available to browse in our collection of British Army Service records. The new additions pertain to men who served with the Scots Guards between 1799 and 1939.

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

Disclosure: I have a complimentary subscription to Findmypast, and have accepted meals and services from Findmypast, as a Findmypast Ambassador. This has not affected my objectivity relative to Findmypast and its products.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/new-records-available-to-search-this_10.html

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

52 Ancestors - Week 200: #279 Mary (Boyden) Guild (1708-1776) of Massachusetts

Mary (Boyden) Guild (1708-1776) is #279 on my Ahnentafel List, my 6th great-grandmother, who married #278 Nathaniel Guild (1712-1796) in 1733 in Dedham, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

* their daughter, #139 Mary Guild (1735-1800), who married #138 Amos Plimpton (1735-1808),in 1756.

* their daughter, #69 Mercy Plimpton (1772-1850) who married #68 Aaron Smith (1765-1841) in 1795.

* their son, #34 Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840), who married #35 Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869) in 1826.

* their daughter #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884)who married #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) in 1851.

* their son #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) who married #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) in 1874.

* their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.

* their son #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.

* their son #1 Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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

1) PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

* Name: Mary Boyden[1–2]
* Alternate Name: Mary Guild[4–5]
* Alternate Name: Mary Gile[3]

* Sex: Female

* Father: Thomas Boyden (1681-1770)
* Mother: Deborah Wight (1685-1730)

2) INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

* Birth: 9 February 1707/8, Wrentham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[1]
* Distribution: 10 October 1771 (age 63), father's will proved; Wrentham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[3]

* Death: 20 March 1776 (age 68), Walpole, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]

3) SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

* Spouse 1: Nathaniel Guild (1712-1796)

* Marriage 1: 12 June 1733 (age 25), Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States[2]

* Child 1: Mary Guild (1735-1800)

* Child 2: Nathaniel Guild (1739-1793)

* Child 3: Mercy Guild (1742-1820)

* Child 4: Susanna Guild (1744-1822)

* Child 5: Samuel Guild (1746-1816)

* Child 6: Mehitable Guild (1752-1816)

4) NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

Mary Boyden was born 9 February 1707/8 in Wrentham, Massachusetts, the first child of Thomas and Deborah (Wight) Boyden[1].

Mary Boyden "of Wrentham" was married by John Metcalfe to Nathaniel Guild "of Dedham" on 12 June 1733 in Dedham, Massachusetts[2]. They had four children between 1735 and 1752, all born in Walpole, Massachusetts.

Mary's father, Thomas Boyden, died testate in 1770. In his will, written 5 July 1765 and proved 10 October 1771, he bequeathed 13 pounds, 8 shillings and 6 pence to his daughter "Mary Gile."[3]

Mary Guild died on 20 March 1776 in Walpole, Massachusetts. Her husband, Nathaniel, died in 1796 in Walpole[4-5]. here are no burial records for Mary (Boyden) Guild in Walpole, Wrentham or Medfield, Massachusetts.

5) SOURCES

1. Thomas W. Baldwin, Vital records of Wrentham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : Stanhope Press, 1910), Births, page 34, Mary Boyden entry, `1708.

2. Don Gleason Hill (editor), The Record of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the Town of Dedham,1635-1845 (Dedham, Mass. : Town of Dedham, 1886), page 60, Nathll Guild of Dedham and Mary Boyden of Wrentham entry, 1733.

3. Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, 1636-1899, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah; on 435 FHL Microfilm Reels, "Volumes 69-71, 1770-1772," accessed on FHL US/CAN microfil 493,882, Volume 71, pages 17-18, Thomas Boyden will and letters testamentary.

4. Vital Records of Walpole, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. :New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1902), Deaths, page 203, Mary Guild entry, 1776, "wife of Nathaniel".

5. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Walpole Births, Marriages and Deaths," (image 331 of 2213), Mary Guild entry.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog. I have extended this theme in 2017 to 208 Ancestors in 208 Weeks.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/52-ancestors-week-200-279-mary-boyden.html

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Find A Grave Search Quirks on FamilySearch

I wrote about the new Find A Grave website today in Updated Find A Grave Website Adds Decent Source Citations using my ancestor Elizabeth H. (Dill) Smith as the example.

I wanted to compare the Find A Grave source citation with the FamilySearch and other citations, so I searched on FamilySearch for the Find A Grave record collection. Searching that, I couldn't find Elizabeth Smith's memorial on FamilySearch using exact first and last names, years, etc. Frustrated, I moved on to something else.

This afternoon, I thought to myself - "it must be there, but perhaps the indexing is quirky."

1) On FamilySearch, I input "elizabeth" as an inexact first name and "smith" as an exact last name, added an date of "1840 to 1870" and "Medfield" for "Any place" in order to narrow the search, and saw:

No matches. But I know she's there!

2) Okay, I searched with only the surname exact, and got 17 matches:

17 Matches, but none were my Elizabeth Smith. I still know she's there!

3) I put "elizabeth" back in as a first name, but "not exact," and used "smith" as the last name, but "not exact:"

Yay!! That worked. Why? Obviously, it has to do with the last name that was indexed.

4) What if I used "dill smith" as a last name, and made it "exact?"

Yep, that worked too. Did FamilySearch index these records using the maiden name combined with the last name? Maybe. Here is the record summary for this record:

The first names and last names are not in separate fields. They do have a separate field for the assumed maiden name.

There is a decent EE-quality source citation for this record also:

"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2W-F7Q4 : 11 July 2016), Elizabeth H. Dill Smith, 1869; Burial, Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts, United States of America, Vine Lake Cemetery; citing record ID 60037924, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

I learned from this exercise that I need to be careful searching in this Find A Grave collection on FamilySearch. I don't know how pervasive this ~~"feature"~~ "quirk" is, but it baffled me for hours today. If it baffles me, it probably baffles many other researchers.

Two lessons learned here:

* Users should not use "exact" search for the first and last name fields in this collection on FamilySearch.

* This may be why Record Matches for Find A Grave don't appear on some FamilySearch Family Tree profiles.

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

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/find-grave-search-quirks-on-familysearch.html

Seavers in the News -- 1923 Obituary for Charles L. Seaver

It's time for another edition of "Seavers in the News" - a semi-regular feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from the The Whitesville [N.Y.] News newspaper dated Thursday, 4 October 1923:

The transcription of this obituary is:

"CHARLES L. SEAVER

"Died at Endicott, Wednesday, Sept. 26th -- Funertal at Stanards, Saturday

"Charles L. Seaver died at the home of his son Jesse Seaver at Endicott, September 26, 1923. The remains were brought to Wellsville Friday.

"Mr. Seaver leaves a wife and four children. Gilbert at Erie, Pa.; Harold A., of Hallsport; Jesse of Endicott and Horton of Ralston, Pa. One sister, Mrs. Luana Rixford, also survives. Mr. Seaver was one of the oldest members of Wellsville Lodge, No. 230, F & A.M.

"Funeral services were held at the M.E. Church, at Stanards, Saturday at 2 p.m., the Rev. Flewelling officiating and the body was laid to rest with Masonic honors."

The source citation for this obituary is:

"Charles L. Seaver," obituary, The Whitesville [N.Y.] News, Thursday, 4 October 1923, page 1, column 2; NYS Historic Newspapers (http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/ : accessed 9 November 2017), Charles L. Seaver obituary.

According to my family tree database, Charles Lewis Seaver was born 6 June 1844 in Amity, Allegany County, New York, the 5th child of Lewis and Azubah (Robinson) Seaver. He married three times:

1. To Elvira A. Chalker (1853-1876) in 1870. They had four children:

* Gilbert C. Seaver (1870-1928), who married 1909 Cora Bell Biddle (1874-1948).
* Harold Andrew Seaver (1872-1951), who married 1900 Lytie Genevra Perkins (1878-1961).
* Jesse Bradley Seaver (1874-1955), who married 1896 Edna Phoebe Brown (1875-1911).
* Horton L. Seaver (1876-1876).

2. To Amanda V. Horton (1842-????) before 1880, no children.

3. To Barbara Helen Fletcher (1861-1947) before 1904, one child.

* Horton L. Seaver (1904-1960).

Charles Lewis Seaver (1844-1923) was my 4th cousin 4 times removed. Our common ancestors are my 7th great-grandparents, Joseph Seaver (1672-1754) and Mary Read (1680-????).

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

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/seavers-in-news-1923-obituary-for.html

Updated Find A Grave Website Adds Decent Source Citations

Find A Grave changed the look and format of their website earlier this month, and added some much-desired features. The most important new feature, for many researchers, is a source citation for a Find A Grave memorial.

Here is the Find A Grave home page, with information to search for my 3rd great-grandmother, Elizabeth Smith (1791-1869) of Massachusetts.

I clicked on the orange "Search" button and saw the list of matches (there was only one):

That's my third great-grandmother. She is buried in Vine Lake Cemetery in Medfield, Massachusetts. I clicked on the link for her memorial:

The information for Elizabeth is grouped as follows:

* Name
* Birth, death, burial, and Memorial ID information
* Links for Memorial, Photos and Flowers
* Biographical information
* Family Members (parents, spouse, children, siblings) (not shown above)
* Gravestone Inscription (not shown above)
* Links to other Smith memorials in the cemetery, city, county, state, country, world) (not shown above)
* Links to Ancestry pages (not shown above)
* advertisement (not shown above)
* Creator information and link to a source citation (shown below):
* Advertisement (shown below):

A source citation? Cool. I clicked on the link for "Source citation" on the screen above.

Well, lookee there - it's a decent Evidence Explained quality source citation, saying for Elizabeth's memorial:

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 November 2017), memorial page for Elizabeth H. Dill Smith (1792–17 Nov 1869), Find A Grave Memorial no. 60037924, citing Vine Lake Cemetery, Medfield, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Bill Boyington (contributor 46800933) .

I could copy and paste that into a source citation field in my RootsMagic, or other software program, and be happy with it. It's better than what I use now. The problem is that I have over 20,000 citations to Find A Grave already and choose not to modify them at this time.

The placement of the creator information and the source citation are all the way down to the bottom of the page and will be easily missed. They really belong after the Gravestone Inscription information and above the links to other memorials and the advertisements. And why not just put the source citation on the page rather than have to click another link? It's just formatted text. I opened the "Send Feedback" field and added this comment.

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

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/find-grave-adds-decent-source-citations.html

1705/6 Marriage of Thomas Dill and Mary Pierce in Woburn, Mass. --- Post 389 of Treasure Chest Thursday

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - a chance to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1706 marriage record of Thomas Dill and Mary Pierce in Woburn, Massachusetts:

The 1706 marriage record for Thomas Dill and Mary Pierce:

The transcription of the marriage record is:

" Thomas Dill of Cambridge Farms and Mary Pierce of Woburn, Jan. 17, 1706"

The source citation for this record is:

Edward F. Johnson, Woburn Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths [5 Volumes], (Woburn, Mass.: The News Print, 1893), Marriages, page 77, Thomas Dill and Mary Pierce entry, 1706.

Thomas Dill (1682-1718) was the son of Peter and Thanks (Shepard) Will of Concord and Littleton, Mass. Mary Pierce (1682-1713) was the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Pierce) Pierce of Woburn, Mass. Thomas Dill and Mary Pierce had three children between 1706 and 1712. Mary died after her third child, Elizabeth, was born on 2 January 1712, and when Thomas married his second wife on 11 May 1713.

The Cambridge vital record book has exactly the same information, but dates the marriage as 17 January 1705. Therefore, it is probably that the date was 17 January 1705/6.

Thomas and Mary (Pierce) Dill my 6th great-grandparents, through their son Thomas Dill (1708-1761), who married Mehitable Brown (1714-1758) in 1733 in Eastham, Massachusetts.

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

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/17056-marriage-of-thomas-dill-and-mary.html

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

A.J. Jacobs "It's all Relative" Book Notice

I received this from my cousin A.J. Jacobs via email today:

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

Hello Friends, Colleagues and Family (though everyone fits into that third category, as you’ll see),

I wanted to let you know that my new book It’s All Relative comes out today! And I also wanted to give you a little something for free just because you’re my distant-but-beloved cousin.

Let me say, I’m absurdly excited to have this book out in the world so that you can finally read it.
So far, the reviews have been delightfully flattering, such as….

“A real treat” (Booklist), “delightful” (Kirkus Reviews), “required reading” (Real Simple), “fascinating and funny” (CBS News), “entertaining… and lively” (Publishers Weekly), “the most original and entertaining book you’ll ever read about family” (bestselling author Mary Roach) and “why is Zane listed first in the acknowledgments?” (Lucas Jacobs, my 11-year-old son.)

The book is partly a memoir about my eccentric family. It’s also partly about the revolutions in DNA and family trees and the huge effect they’re having on politics, race relations and happiness. And it’s partly an adventure in which I try to put on the biggest family reunion in history, The Global Family Reunion. Because, as the book demonstrates, we’re all related. We are all cousins. Family is the ultimate social network.

It’s All Relative features black sheep, celebrity cousins (Daniel Radcliffe! John Legend!), separated-at-birth twins, genealogy obsessives, plenty of Mormons, a family with nine fathers, an African-American daughter of the revolution, the real Adam and Eve, kissing cousins and friendly Neanderthals, among much more.

It’s also a heartfelt argument against tribalism, which I believe is the biggest problem facing the world today. This idea of “us vs. them” is killing us. We need to remember that we share 99.9 percent of our DNA with all other humans. A Harvard study from last year showed that Israelis and Palestinians treated each other with more kindness when they were shown how closely they were related.

My website has a list of other press, including a People magazine feature that ran this week on me. And the image below is a link to a CBS This Morning piece where you can see me (and also my kids in the background enjoying green room croissants).

Here are some ways to support the book, if you’re moved.

You can buy it! Right now!

You can leave a review on the book page on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever else you like to share and talk about books.

There’s also Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in case you forgot they existed. People enjoy photos of other people holding books!

And now for the free part:

The book features an Appendix that gives you a How-To Guide to finding the best info about your own family. I’m offering this appendix to you now for free, in case you’re interested. It’s co-written by professional genealogist Eowyn Langholf. No obligation!

Click here to download the How-To Guide.

Thank you.
Your cousin, A.J.

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

Disclosure: I received a pre-publication digital version of this book and am in the process of reading it. It is funny!!! A.J. is my cousin also, see Cousins, Kinship, AJ Jacobs and King David (we are 92nd cousins, 23 times removed! Who knew?). A.J. proclaimed us "cousins" at RootsTech 2015 (and I still have the poster):

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/aj-jacobs-its-all-relative-book-notice.html

SDGS Program Meeting on Saturday, 11 November Features Jeanette Shiel

The San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) program meeting on Saturday, 11 November 2017 will be held at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd., San Diego, CA 92119, at Jackson Drive).

The program speaker will be Jeanette Shiel:

* 10 a.m.: Session 1: Newspapers Beyond Vital Records

* 11:30 a.m.: Session 2: The Heart of the Story

The 9 a.m. education class in the upper floor classroom is:

* Randy Seaver on "RootsMagic Family Tree Software."

There is limited seating for this class - please RSVP at sdgsclasses@gmail.com.

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

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/11/sdgs-program-meeting-on-saturday-11.html