Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Genealogy News Bytes - Tuesday, 12 May 2020

Welcome to Genealogy News Bytes, posted on Tuesday afternoon and Friday afternoon, where we try to highlight the most important genealogy and family history news and education items that came across our desktop over the past four days.




2)  New or Updated Record Collections:






3)  Genealogy Education - Webinars (times are US Pacific):

 GeneaWebinars Calendar

*  View RootsTech 2020 Videos for FREE!

*  FREE! Family History Library Online Classes May 2020

*  New "Ask The Expert" Series on MyHeritage during May 2020



*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Wednesday, 13 May, 7 p.m.:  The Ultimate Family History Interview, by Nicka Smith

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Friday, 15 May, 11 a.m.:   Fridays in May: Your Questions Answered LIVE—DNA with Diahan, by Diahan Southard

*  Archived Family Tree Webinar:  Leveraging MyHeritage's German Resources Effectively, by James Beidler

4)  Genealogy Education - Podcasts:

*  Lisa Louise Cooke's Genealogy Gems:  Podcast Episode 241



*  The Genealogy Guys:  #378


*  Fisher's Top Tips:  #179 Wiki Trees


5)  Genealogy Videos (YouTube):


*  BYU Family History Library:  Utah Digital Newspapers - Jeremy Myntti










6)  Genealogy Bargains:


7)  Did you miss the last Genealogy News Bytes - 8 May 2020 ?

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Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Update To MyHeritage Theory of Family Relativity™ Estimates

MyHeritage updated their Theory of Family Relativity DNA matches last week - see Update to Theory of Family Relativity™ on the MyHeritage Blog.  The MyHeritage blog post indicates that there are over 42% more Theories now for all DNA customers.

I am really happy that they did this because, just before the last update, I changed my MyHeritage Tree linked to my DNA test, and my tree showed as Private in the July 2019 Theory charts.  That was frustrating for 10 months.

In the July 2019 update, I had 12 Theories, of which two were obviously wrong (to me!).  

With this current update, I have 9 Theories.  The two wrong ones are gone, and one of my correct Theories is gone for some reason.  The DNA matches are still there, but the Theories are gone.

Here is the opening screen for my DNA Results:


The pink box is for the Theory of Family Relativity, and I can see my Theories by clicking the "View Theories" button:


When I do that, it says that I have 9 Theories, although I have 8,386 DNA matches in total.  That's 9 out of 8,386, or 0.11% - 1 out of 900 of my matches.

I clicked on the first ToFR match (I've tried to anonymize these charts) and I can see the Theories (I have 5 different ones for this match):

I can see that MyHeritage has used my MyHeritage tree on the left, and my matches MyHeritage tree on the right.  We both have the same person - Roy Herbert Dyar (1888-1974) - and that is the "transfer point" from my tree to their tree.

There are several screens on each DNA match page, and one of them is the chromosome browser.  I can see that I share 3 segments on 3 different chromosomes:

The image above is truncated and shows only the first 13 chromosomes.  I ran my mouse over the purple portion of Chromosome 6 and the popup box told me the segment size, the start and end points of the segment, and the number of SNPs.  Not shown are segments on Chromosomes 21 and 22.

I wrote down the chromosome number, the cM value, and the genomic position (start and end points) of the segment for each of the three segments. 

What do I do with that information?  First, I add it to my Note for the DNA match - here is the Note for this DNA match:

The Note says:

[name redacted] is a MyHeritageDNA DNA match with Randall Seaver,
Sharing 40 cM in 3 segments.  They are 4th cousins, with common 
ancestors of 3rd great-grandparents Samuel Vaux and Mary Ann 
Underhill.  Line in RM tree  Shared segments
C06 - 26.0 cm - 970404-13017916
C21 - 7.2 cM - 17005987-19536638
C22 - 6.9 cM - 17661372-19677254

The second thing I have done is added this particular cousin relationship to my RootsMagic family tree, with a similar Note on a "DNA Match" Fact.  

The third thing I can do is take this information, and information for as many of my MyHeritage DNA matches as possible, and add the chromosome segment position data to DNA Painter so I can identify which segments on each chromosome are from which known ancestor.  I am in the process of collecting this data from MyHeritage, 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA for DNA matches with identified common ancestors.  Of course, Ancestry.com does not provide that information for AncestryDNA matches.

All of the MyHeritage DNA Matches provide the chromosome browser information, and also the Shared Matches of those DNA Matches.  But I need to find a common ancestor for DNA Painter to use for each of them.  The nine MyHeritage DNA Matches with a Theory of Family Relativity provide this information, as do the DNA Matches that have a large enough tree, or that I "know" from other family records.  So I have 14 sets of the chromosome browser data.

I hoped that I would have many more Theories of Family Relativity with each update.  That didn't happen this time.  Maybe next time?  The problem, of course, is that not enough people have a big enough MyHeritage tree, or have not added their tree profiles to the FamilySearch Family Tree, the Geni tree or the WikiTree.  I find it amazing that so few MyHeritage DNA matches have a tree of 10 profiles or more.

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Disclosure:  I receive a complimentary subscription to MyHeritage, and gave received other material consideration in past years.  I uploaded my autosomal DNA raw data to their DNA product.  This does not affect my objective analysis of MyHeritage products.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/05/update-to-myheritage-theory-of-family.html

Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Tombstone Tuesday -- Gravestone of Susannah (Reed) Gates (1745-1833) in Gardner, Massachusetts

I have collected a number of gravestone photographs from Find A Grave over many years, and thought I would share them one at a time for Tombstone Tuesday.

Here is the gravestone of my 5th great-grandmother, Susanna (Reed) Gates (1745-1833), in the Old Burying Ground in Gardner, Massachusetts:


The inscription says:
Mrs.
SUSANNA
relict of
SIMON GATES
died
Dec. 18, 1833
AE. 88

My thanks to Ed Poulin for creating the Find A Grave memorial, and to Marc Brouillette for providing the photograph for the memorial.  The source citation for this memorial is:

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 11 May 2020), memorial page for Susannah Reed Gates (4 Dec 1745–18 Dec 1833), Find a Grave Memorial no. 87203813, citing Old Burying Ground, Gardner, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Ed Poulin (contributor 47263733) .

A biographical sketch for Susanna (Reed) Gates is in 
52 Ancestors - Week 110: #133 Susanna (Reed) Gates (1745-1833).


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The URL for this post is: 
https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/05/tombstone-tuesday-gravestone-of.html

Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Monday, May 11, 2020

Monday Genea-Pourri - Week Ending 11 May 2020

Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week:

1)  Attended the San Diego Genealogical Society webinar on Saturday, 9 May.  Sara Cochran presented "Disaster Proofing Your Research" and "Locating Records in Archives From Your Couch."

2)  Participated in today's Mondays With Myrt on Zoom.  We discussed Pats phone call with a DNA cousin, European character sets, DNA matches and ThruLines and ToFR, Shelley's meme on mitochondrial line, my Facebook photo, the fate of in-persons conferences, the NGS virtual conference, the GOONS conference, and the Evidence Explained question about documenting research notes.


4)  Wrote, edited and published the May 2020 Chula Vista Genealogical Society Newsletter over the weekend.  

5)  Wrote and posted a biographical sketch of 7th great-grandfather #540 John Peirce (1673-1744) for my 52 Ancestors biographical sketch on Friday.  

6)  Transcribed the 1743 Will of SJohn Peirce (1673-1744) of Waltham, Mass. for Amanuensis Monday.  

7)  Added Notes to about 10 more AncestryDNA matches with cM values, relationships and known common ancestors.  Added three AncestryDNA ThruLines to the RootsMagic family tree database.  Reviewed new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

8) There were several sessions working in the RootsMagic software program to match with and update FamilySearch Family Tree profiles for Seaver families and my ancestral families, with occasional additions to the RootsMagic profiles. I have matched 35,583 of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 93).

9)  Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and sources to my RootsMagic profiles.  I now have 57,404 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 125) , and 120.097 source citations (up 398).   I TreeShared with my Ancestry Member Tree two times this week updating 233 profiles, and I resolved 910 Ancestry Hints.  I've fallen behind on the Ancestry Record Hints with 129,806 to be resolved, but I work on them almost daily.    

10)  Wrote 20 Genea-Musings blog posts last week, of which three were a press release.  The most popular post last week was RootsMagic Version 8 Update - Two More Videos  with over 299 views.  

11)  We are still fine here at the Genea-cave, hunkered down and not going out much.  I went to the grocery store on Tuesday and Friday and it wasn't too busy.  The highlight of the last three months was a surprise visit from Tami and her family on Mother's Day to bring us lunch and pie.  It was wonderful to see and talk to our three grandchildren and take some photos.  We watched the church choir and pastor's sermon on YouTube on Sunday.  Other than that, it was stay-at-home on the computer doing genealogy.



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The URL for this post is: 
https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/05/monday-genea-pourri-week-ending-11-may.html

Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Using InstaSlider to Create Before and After Photo GIFs

I was contacted by Max Ernst Stockburger, the InstaRestoration website creator, over the weekend.  

Their website is https://www.instarestoration.com/slider and their product is the InstaSlider - a program to compare two photos in a single image creator.  

Here is their webpage to create a slider:

There are several examples on the page, and a link to a gallery of more slider photos is provided.

I clicked on "Try Now" and then saw this form.  I added a photo of me from 1961 (my graduation photo), and a photo of me from 2019 (adjusted for head size and centering using a photo editor), and some titles:

And here is the final slider product (paused in mid-photo):

The GIF that you can slide to the right or left is can be seen on https://www.instarestoration.com/slider/view/9a930844-cad0-4007-a1f8-c97eed547782 (the GIF below was provided by Max):

How cool is that?  

I am looking for more before and after photos in my photo collection.  

This is FREE to use at this time.  

I showed you mine, now please show me yours!  Show it to your friends and family on Facebook or other social media.  

Thank you to Max Ernst Stockburger on InstaRestoration for the help with this.

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Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Amanuensis Monday - 1743 Will of John Peirce (1673-1744) of Waltham, Mass.

This week's document is the 1743 will of John Peirce (1673-1744) of Waltham, Massachusetts, in Probate Packet 17,496 in the Middlesex County, Massachusetts probate court records.  

[page 1, image 7 of 8]


[page 2, image 8 of 8]

The transcription of this will is:

[page 1, image 7 of 8]


In the Name of God Amen,  The twenty ninth Day of November 
In the Seventeenth year of His Majesties Reign Anno Domini one 
Thousand Seven Hundered and Forty three.  I John Peirce of Waltham 
In the County of Middlesex In his Majesties province of the 
Massachusets Bay in New England Husbandman.  Being very sick and 
weak in Body but In Perfect minde and memory Thanks be Given 
unto God, Therefore taking unto mind the mortality of my body 
and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die Do make 
and Ordain This my Last Will and Testament That is to say 
Principally and first of all I Give and Recommend my soul into
 the hands of God that Gave it and my body I Recommend to the 
Earth to be buried in Deceant Christian burial at the Discretion 
of my Executrix hereunto Named Nothing Doubting but at the 
General Resurrection I Shall receive the same again by the Mighty 
Power of God, And Touching such worldly Estate wherewith it hath 
pleased God to Bless me in this life I Give Demise and Dispose of 
the same in the following manner and forme. 

Imprimis  I give and Bequeath to Elizabeth my Dearly beloved wife 
whom I also Constitute make and Ordain my Sole Executrix of 
this my last will and Testament All my Personal Estate, and 
the Sole Improvement of all my Real Estate During her 
natural life.

Item  I give to my well beloved Son John Peirce and to his Heirs 
for Ever one Hundered Pounds in Bills of Credit of the old tenor 
or Equavalent In the New to be paid by my son Samuel Peirce 
withing one year after my wives Decease.

Item  I give to my well beloved Son Jonas Peirce and to his Heirs 
for Ever one Hundered Pounds in Bills of Credit of the old tenor 
or Equavalent in the new to be paid by my son Daniel Peirce 
within two years after my wives decease.

Item  I give to my well beloved Son Ezekiel Peirce one Hundered 
Pounds in Bills of Credit of the old tenor or Equavalent In the New 
to be paid by my son Samuel Peirce to the said Ezekiel or his 
Heirs within three years after my wives Decease. 

Item  I give to my well beloved Son Jonathan Peirce and to his 
Heirs for ever one Hundered Pounds in Bills of Credit of the old 
tenor or Equavalent in the New to be paid by my son Daniel 
Peirce within foure years after my wives Deceas.

Item  I Give and Bequeath unto my said sons Samuel and Daniel 
and to their Heirs and assigns for ever they paying out as
 is before Specified, and after my wives Deceas, all my Real Estate 
to be Equaly Devided Between them, provided allways that what 
I have given my son Samuel be accounted as part of his 
halfe though given him by a Deed before. 

And I Do hereby utterly Disalow revoke and Disannull all and 
every other former testaments wills Legacies and Bequeaths and 
Executors by me in any ways named willed and bequeathed. 

[page 2, image 8 of 8]

Ratifying and Confirming This and no Other to be my 
Last Will and Testament In Witness Whereof I have hereunto 
Set my hand and Seal the Day and year 
above written.                                                 his
                                                               John   X   Peirce   (seal)
                                                                        mark
"Signed Sealed Published                                     
pronounced and Declared                               
By the Said John Peirce                                     
as his Last Will and
Testament In the Presence
of us the Subscribers
Sam'll Hasting
Joseph Hastings
Samuel Livermore"

The source citation for this probate case file is:


Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Probate case files, John Peirce of Waltham 1744 (8 images); "Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871," indexed database and digital images, New England Historical and Genealogical Society, American Ancestors  (https://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 8 May 2020); Original records in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Probate Court Records, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

John Peirce (1673-1744) married Elizabeth Smith (1674-1747) in 1702 in Watertown, Massachusetts.  They settled in what became Waltham on John Peirce's land.   They had seven children:

*  John Peirce (1703-1774), married 1728 Rebecca Fenno (1697-1783).
*  Jonas Peirce (1705-1776), married 1727 Abigail comee (1707-1749).
*  Ezekiel Peirce (1709-????), married 1731 Mercy Wellington (1711-????).
*  Samuel Peirce (1712-1772), married 1739 Abigail Stearns (1715-1796).
*  Elizabeth Peirce (1716-before 1743)
*  Daniel Peirce (1719-????), married 1752 Martha Godding (1732-????).
*  Jonathan Peirce (1724-????), married 1745 Abigail Blanchard (1726-1764).


In his will, John Peirce bequeathed his entire personal estate to his wife, Elizabeth, for her lifetime.  After she died, John bequeathed his personal and real estate to his two sons, Samuel and Daniel Peirce, while accounting for the real estate he had given to son Samuel in the division.  Samuel Peirce were to pay 100 pounds to his siblings John and Ezekiel, and Daniel Peirce was to pay 100 pounds to his siblings Jonas and Jonathan.

John Peirce wrote the will on 29 November 1743, and he died on 25 April 1744. On 21 May 1744, the
will was presented to the Judge of Probate of the Court at Cambridge by Elizabeth Peirce, widow of
John Peirce late of Waltham, husbandman[6].  The will was proved on that date.  A bond of 200
pounds was posted by widow Elizabeth Peirce and Samuel Peirce, Gentleman, both of Waltham. 
There is no inventory, distribution or account records in this estate probate packet.  The real estate was
probably divided between Samuel and daniel, and the bequests were probably paid by Samuel and
Daniel to their brothers.

John and Elizabeth (Smith) Peirce are my 7th great-grandparents, through their son Samuel Peirce (1712-1772) and his daughter Abigail Peirce (1750-1776), who married Jeremiah Knowlton (1745-1785) in 1771.

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NOTE:  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."

Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 3 to 9 May 2020

Dozens 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:


How to Analyze Genealogical Sources: Part Five by James Tanner on Genealogy's Star.

Virtual Genealogy Education Opportunities by Diana Elder on Family Locket.

But I Don't Know Where in Ireland? by Donna Moughty on Irish Family Roots.

Tuesday's Tips:  Gettin' By with Help From Our Friends - Dan Earl by Cheri Hudson Passey on Carolina Girl Genealogy.

Beyond Ancestry.com: Dig Deeper Into Family History by Claudia C. Breland on Genealogy and Online Research Claudia c. Breland.

Genealogy Blog Party Ceebrate National Photography Month by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

Facebook for Genealogists: Finding Old Posts by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & history Hub.

Not the First ... and Not the Last by Dave Robison on Old Bones Genealogy of New England - Blog.

In Praise of Tax Lists by Michael Grow on Vita Brevis.

Finding Enslaved Ancestors Using DNA by Sunny Morton on Your DNA Guide.

How To Analyze Your Genealogy Research by Amy Johnson Crow on Amy Johnson Crow.

European Ancestors - Researching Italian Roots by Julie Goucher on Julie Goucher ~ Angler's Rest.

Three Big Lessons From Genealogy by John Gilbert IV in Ever Widening Circle.

Searching the Library of Congress Virtually by Gena Philibert-Ortega on Legacy News.

Connecting the DNA Dots by Jacqi Stevens on A Family Tapestry.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

 Friday's Family History Finds  by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

 Friday Fossicking, 8th May 2020 by Crissouli on That Moment in Time.

This Week's Creme de la Creme -- May 9, 2020  by Gail Dever on Genealogy a la Carte,

 Saturday Serendipity (May 9, 2020) by John D. Tew on Filiopietism Prism.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and  read their articles, and add the 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 currently am reading posts from over 900 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, but I still miss quite a few it seems.


Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.


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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/05/best-of-genea-blogs-3-to-9-may-2020.html

Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.


My Matrilineal Line Carrying Mitochondrial DNA

For Mother's Day, I thought I would post something about my mother's ancestry, and about my mitochondrial DNA which I received from her. 

My mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is K1b2b, which I received from my mother, and she received it from her mother, and she from her mother, and so on down the line for time immemorial (with mutations every so often, probably).

Here is a favorite photograph of my mother, with her mother, and her mother's mother:


This is the only three generation photograph I have of my mother's matrilineal line.

My (and my brothers') matrilineal line is:

a) Randall J. Seaver
b) Mother Betty Virginia Carringer (1919 San Diego CA - 2002 San Diego CA) married Frederick W. Seaver.  They had 3 sons, no daughters, so we are at the end of our mitochondrial twig.  


c) Grandmother Emily Kemp Auble (1899 Chicago IL -1977 San Diego CA) married Lyle L. Carringer.  They had only one child (my mother).  

d) Great-grandmother Georgianna Kemp (1868 Norfolk County, ON - 1952 San Diego CA) married Charles Auble.  They had only one child, my grandmother.

e) 2nd great-grandmother Mary Jane Sovereen (1840 Norfolk Co ON - 1874 Norfolk Co ON) married James Abram Kemp.  They had 3 daughters and one son who had children.  There are probably K1b2b carriers from the other daughters.

f) 3rd great-grandmother Eliza Putman (1820 Steuben Co NY - 1895 Norfolk Co ON) married Alexander Sovereen.  They had 14 children, but only 5 daughters and two sons married and had children.  There are probably K1b2b carriers from the other daughters.


g) 4th great-grandmother Sarah Martin (1792 NJ - 1860 Norfolk Co ON) married John Putman.  They had 3 daughters and two sons, so there are probably K1b2b carriers from the other daughters.


h) 5th great-grandmother Betsey Rolfe (1766 NJ - ????) married Mulford Martin.  They had 2 daughters and two sons that had children, so there may be K1b2b carriers.


i) 6th great-grandmother Sarah Campbell (1746 NJ? -1838 Tompkins Co NY) married Ephraim Rolfe.  They had 5 daughters and three sons that had children, do there may be K1b2b carriers.


j) 7th great-grandmother FNU LNU married Robert Campbell (?).  I don't know dear FNU's name but surpmise she was born in Scotland or Ireland.  I don't know how many children she had besides Sarah.


Are there any cousins reading this who have these same ancestors ofm ine?  I wouldl ove to hear from you.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/05/my-matrilineal-line-carrying.html

Copyright (c) 2020, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.