It's Treasure Chest Thursday - an opportunity to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history research and genealogy musings.
The treasure today is the 1737 birth entry for Mary Rice in the Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts town records:Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2024.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Treasure Chest Thursday - 1737 Birth of Mary Rice (1737-1767) in Worcester, Massachusetts Bay
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Genealogy Education Bytes - Week of 30 May to 5 June 2024
Welcome to Genealogy Education Bytes, posted on Wednesday afternoon for the past week, where we try to highlight the most important genealogy and family history education items that came across our desktop since the last issue.
1) Upcoming Conferences, Institutes and Seminars
* Conference Keeper Calendar
* Conference Keeper Calendar - has many links to register for and/or view webinars and classes.
* FamilySearch Library Classes and Webinars
The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/06/genealogy-education-bytes-week-of-30.html
Note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.
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 your comment on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
Findmypast free to mark D-Day 80th Anniversary*
- Delve into your family’s stories with free access to records and newspapers on Findmypast between 6-10 June*
- Discover the remarkable actions of men and women at home and overseas in the largest collection of historical newspapers online
- Explore your ancestors’ military service and the lives they lived with records you won’t find anywhere else
- Preserve your family’s wartime stories for the next generation in a family tree on Findmypast
Between 6-10 June, Family history website, Findmypast, is making millions of its family history records free to access* to mark the 80 th anniversary of D-Day, so you can uncover and honor their stories and sacrifices.
Explore your wartime ancestor’s story with the largest collection of British and Irish newspapers online, digitised in partnership with the British Library. Among the pages, you might find details of bravery or moving tributes to the fallen – rich details that can help you feel closer to your ancestors. You can also uncover the wider story of D-Day as it happened in the newspaper reports or look more closely at the impact of the war on your own community. Make sure to clip, save, and share articles of interest using the new Collections feature on Findmypast.
Findmypast’s family history records can paint a vivid picture of what your ancestor was doing during wartime. They may have been a prisoner of war, helped on the home front, or worked as a Red Cross volunteer. Discover their whereabouts on the eve of war in the 1939 Register and delve into the largest collection of British Army records anywhere online, including regimental records and the British in India collection, which runs right up to 1947.
Uncover those all-important life events in the most comprehensive collection of British parish records online, and check Findmypast’s vibrant Photo Collection for a glimpse into life during wartime.
Preserve your findings with Findmypast’s online family tree builder and share their legacy with family and friends.
It’s also a perfect time to explore your own family archive for letters, diaries or photographs. Keep your ancestors’ memories alive by sharing their stories with your loved ones, and share your findings online using the hashtag #FindMyFamilyHero.
Jen Baldwin, Research Specialist at Findmypast said: "80 years on from D-Day and the stories of service and sacrifice remain extremely poignant and relevant to us today. We invite everyone to discover their own family’s wartime stories with free access to Findmypast’s records this weekend and preserve them for future generations.”
*Records on Findmypast (apart from the 1921 Census of England and Wales and Tree Search) will be free to access for all signed-in users from 10am GMT Thursday 6 June, until 10am GMT Monday 10 June 2024.
Mia Comes to Chula Vista in 1994 -- Post 823 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday
I can't help it, I can't do a wordless post! This is one of my favorite and most priceless family photographs:
Here is one of our family photographs from the summer of 1994. From the left, the people are Randy Seaver (age 50), daughter Lori Seaver (age 20), foreign exchange "daughter" Mia from Finland, daughter Tami (age 17), and Linda Seaver (age 51). The occasion is Mia's arrival in San Diego and the location is our home in Chula Vista in our (then) wood-paneled dark family room.
This photograph is a part of my family history. I had the original photograph in our 1994 photo album, and I used the MyHeritage PhotoScanner mobile app to get it into a digital image, and then enhanced and colorized it using the MyHeritage photo tools.
The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/06/mia-comes-to-chula-vista-in-1994-post.html
I moderate all comments and they may not appear immediately - please write only one comment.
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.
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Legacy Family Tree Version 10 Released - It's FREE!
I just read that the genealogy software program Legacy Family Tree has been updated to Version 10, and it is FREE to use.
The top features in Legacy Family Tree 10 are listed in https://legacyfamilytree.com/features/.
You can download it at https://legacyfamilytree.com/download/.
- FAN Club Report: Gather an ancestor's relationships, shared events, and even locations. Gain critical and easily-overlooked insights about their families, friends, associates, and neighbors – the people who often hold the clues to solving genealogy's most difficult problems.
- Mapping: See your ancestor’s place on Google Maps. Click the new Map button to launch Google Maps with your place automatically pinned. (Find this in the Geo Location Database right next to the radius search button, used for retrieving a list of all nearby places).
- BillionGraves Support: Link your ancestor to their BillionGraves record so you don't need to search for their record again. Just one click and you’re there.
- Color Coding: You can have two starting points – one set of colors for you, and another for your spouse. Now you can see both color sets on your Pedigree Charts, making it easy to tell if your lines intersect.
- QuickAccess Icons: We’ve doubled the number of QuickAccess icons on the ribbon bar from 10 to 20.
- DNA Center: This new tool helps you keep track of everyone in your family who has taken a DNA test
- New Reports:
- FAN Club Report: Gather your ancestors’ relationships, shared events, and even locations. Gain critical and easily-overlooked insights about their families, friends, associates, and neighbors – the people who often hold the clues to solving genealogy’s most difficult problems.
- Surname Groups: The Surname Groups report shows the line of ascent from you to the start of each of the surname groups.
- Names/Lifespans: This is your traditional Ancestor Book report, but condensed. It’s a quick way to see just the Ahnentafel number, name, birth and death years for each individual.
- Ahnentafel Report: You’ve always loved the Ancestor Book report, but you’ve also wanted to produce a true Ahnentafel report. Now available in Legacy 10!
- Family View: Many have requested the ability to “print” the Family View. We added that too!
Did you say free? And now for the biggest new Legacy Family Tree 10 feature.
- Everything in Legacy — and we mean everything — is now free! All features, tools, and reports previously available only in the Deluxe Edition are now included in Legacy 10.
Randy's Note: This is really good news for genealogy and family history enthusiasts - a full-featured desktop family tree software program which is FREE to download and use. As many readers know, Legacy Family Tree was purchased several years ago by MyHeritage. Will we see Legacy Family Tree Version 10 synchronize with a MyHeritage User Tree in the near future? I hope so!!
Disclosure: I have purchased and been a user of Legacy Family Tree for over 10 years and enjoy many of the features of this program.
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.
Genealogy News Bytes - Week of 29 May to 4 June 2024
Welcome to Genealogy News Bytes, posted on Tuesday afternoon for the past week, where we try to highlight the most important genealogy and family history news items that came across our desktop since the last issue.
* How to Use Geneanet: A Guide for FamilySearch Users
* 11.6 million Nordic Newspaper Pages Added To OldNews.com
* Newspapers dot Com Update – May 2024
* Chronicling America Updates – May 2024
* British Newspaper Archive Adds/Updates 101 Titles – May, 2024
* NewspaperARCHIVE Update – May 2024
* Find My Past Adds/Updates 144 Historical Newspaper Titles – May 2024
Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.
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.
Seavers in the News -- 1978 Obituary of Guy O. Seaver (1890-1978) of Johnson City, Tennessee
Here is this week's edition of "Seavers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.
The transcription of the article is:
"GUY O. SEAVER
"Guy O. Seaver, 87, 1302 Knob Creek Road, died at Johnson City Memorial Hospital Saturday afternoon after a lengthy illness.
"Mr. Seaver was employed at the V.A. Center, Mountain Home, from 1932 until 1959, at which time he retired as fiscal officer, a position he held since 1944. He was a native of Johnson City and son of the late George C. and Mary Ruth Reeves Seaver. Mr. Seaver was one of the oldest members of Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church. He was a veteran of World War I, having served France with the U.S. Army and was a former member of Kings Mountain Post and Lester Harris Post of the American Legion.
"He was also treasurer of the local chapter of the American Red Cross for four years before his retirement.
"Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Ruth McCorkle Seaver, of the home; two daughters, Mrs. Connie Wood, Mrs. Shirley Buher, Chattanooga; one sister, Mrs. W.C. Phlegar, Colonial Hills Nursing Home; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
"Morris-Baker is in charge."
Disclosure: I have a paid subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.
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, June 3, 2024
Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 2 June 2024
Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.
1) Attended the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) General Meeting on Wednesday. Tammy Hepps presented "When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: How Terrible Enumerators Help Us Do Better Census Research."
2) Participated in Mondays With Myrt on Monday (27 May). We discussed AI tools, Cyndi's text expanders, Roberta's Genealogy Proof series, and creating and using locality guides.
3) Transcribed the 1822 Deed of Thomas Partridge to Jonathan Allen in Ashtabula County, Ohio for the Amanuensis Monday theme.
6) Found and saved more land records for ancestors on FamilySearch Full-Text Search, and found several probate estate files on Ancestry for my Partridge and Wakeman ancestors.
7) Did a major purge of my computer Downloads folder, deleting extraneous files and moving useful files to the Ancestor files and to the Pictures files.
8) Found obituaries for recent Seaver deaths and for my cousins' lines. Researched my cousin's mother's ancestry and sent her a genealogy report.
9) AncestryDNA now has 45,991 DNA matches (up 60 from 26 May) with 1952 "close" matches for me today, with no new ThruLines. I added Notes to 9 new Matches, and no new Match lines to RootsMagic. MyHeritageDNA now has 12,567 DNA matches (up 18 from 26 May) for me. Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.
11) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 73,121 persons in my RootsMagic family tree (up 74), and 146,880 source citations (up 6). TreeShared 257 new and updated profiles with my Ancestry tree. Resolved 401 Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 20,141 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.
12) Wrote 17 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Sunday through Saturday), of which two were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Best of the Genea-Blogs: Week of 26 May to 1 June 2024 with over 137 views. Genea-Musings had about 34,100 page views last week and over 280,100 views for the past month.
The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/06/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-2-june.html
Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.
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 -- 1822 Deed of Thomas Partridge to Jonathan Allen in Ashtabula County, Ohio
* Ashtabula County, Ohio Deeds, 1819-1824, image 205 of 369:
The transcription of this document is:
Thomas Partridge's deed to Jonathan Allen.
To all people to whom these presents shall come greeting: Know ye that I Thomas Partridge of the township of Wayne County of Ashtabula State of Ohio for the consideration of fourteen hundred & fifty dollars rece-ived to my full satisfaction of Jonathan Allen of the township of Hamden County of Geauga State aforesaid do grant bargain sell & confirm unto him the Jonathan Allen all the following described tract or parcel of land situate in Wayne township Ashtabula County it being in lots No. ninety seven or ninety six according to the original survey of that part of the township which is No. eight in the second range of townships in the Connecticut Western Reserve bounded as follows the first lot No. ninety seven to contain the whole lot of one hundred & sixty eight acres & fifty rods of land either same more or less. Also part of lot No. 96 beginning at the southwest corner of said lot, Thence north upon the west line of said lot far enough including one half of the road on the east side of said lot which road is not meant to be deeded or conveyed with a line running east to the east line of said lot parallel with the south line of sd. lot as will contain one hundred acres of land.
To have & to hold the above granted & bargained premises with the appurtenances thereof unto him the said Jonathan Allen his heirs & assigns forever to their own proper use & behoof. And also I the said Thomas Partridge do for myself my heirs executors & administrators covenant with the said Jonathan Allen his heirs & assigns that at & until the ensealing of these presents I am well seized of the premises, as a good & feasible estate in fee simple & have good right to bargain and sell the same in form & manner as is above written & that the same is free of all incumbrances what soever. And furthermore the said Thomas Partridge do by these presents bind myself & my heirs forever to warrant & defend the above granted & bargained premises to him the said Jonathan Allen his heirs & assigns against all lawful claims & demands whatsoever.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this twenty fifth day of July Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and twenty two.
Signed sealed & delivered in presence of his
Rufus Beman Thomas X Partridge
Alcinda E. Beman mark
State of Ohio & County of Trumbull, ss {L.S.} Personally appeared Thomas Partridge signer & deliverer of the foregoing deed & acknowledged the same to be his free act and deed before me at Gustavus this 25 day of July A.D. 1822. Rufus Beman Just. Peace
Entered Jany. 29, 1823 & Recorded Feby 24, 1823 by Lynds Jones Recorder.
Ashtabula County, Ohio Land Records, Thomas Partridge to Jonathan Allen deed, dated 25 July 1822, recorded 24 February 1823; imaged, "Ashtabula, Ohio United States Records," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9WY-WQF3?view=explore : June 1, 2024), "Deeds 1819-1824," pages 360-361, image 205 of 369; Original records at Erie County, New York Court House.
This deed record is a Derivative Source (because it is a court clerk's handwritten record in a bound book), Primary Information and Direct Evidence of the sale of land in Wayne township in Ashtabula county, Ohio by Thomas Partridge to Jonathan Allen on 25 July 1822.
Thomas Partridge (1758-1828) was born 15 December 1758 in Guilford, Windham County, Vermont, the son of Jasper and Mary (Rice) Partridge. He died 1 October 1828 in Gustavus Township, Trumbull County, Ohio. Thomas married Hannah Wakeman (1763-1814)on 2 October 1785 in New York. Hannah was born 6 February 1763 in Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, the daughter of George and Sarah (Hill) Wakeman, and died 28 March 1814 in Wayne Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio.
Thomas and Hannah (Wakeman) Partridge are my 5th great-grandparents, through their daughter Mary Partridge (1792-1855) who married Cornelius Feather (1777-1853) in about 1804.
NOTE: I found this land record using the FamilySearch Full-Text Search, and used the AI transcribed text as the basis for the transcription of the document. Extensive editing of the AI transcribed text was necessary in places. I crafted the source citation using Evidence Explained 4th Edition standards rather than using the source citation provided by the Full-Text Search engine.
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."
Read other transcriptions of records of my ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts.
The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/06/amanuensis-monday-1822-deed-of-thomas.html
Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear online immediately.
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 your comments on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Best of the Genea-Blogs: Week of 26 May to 1 June 2024
Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write hundreds 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 most 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:
* Downsizing and Digitizing My Genealogy by Diana Bryan Quinn on Moments In Time, A Genealogy Blog.
* AI in Genealogy: ChatGPT-4o for Historical Photo Descriptions! By Diane Henriks on Know Who Wears the Genes In Your Family.
* How to Use Relative Finder from FamilySearch by Mercedes Brons on Who Are You Made Of?
* 5 Tips for Research When the Courthouse Burned by Diana Elder on Family Locket.
* New GeneaGem: How to Use OpenLibrary.org for Genealogy by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.
* Finding Where Your DNA Matches Belong Can Be Challenging by Doris Kenney on A Tree With No Name.
* Confirming a Father for Clemsy (Cline) Weatherford Using DNA Shared Matches and Cluster Research by Diana Elder on Family Locket.
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 - 31st May 2024 by Crissouli on That Moment In Time.
* This Week’s Crème de la Crème — June 1, 2024 by Gail Dever on Genealogy a la Carte.
* 5 Star Posts Week of 05/26/20204 - 06/01/20204 by Doris Kenney on A Tree With No Name.
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/2024/06/best-of-genea-blogs-week-of-26-may-to-1.html
Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver
Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.
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.




