Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Famous Look-Alikes

It's Saturday Night again - are you ready for some Genealogy Fun?

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to find which celebrities that have the same facial features that you (or someone else you choose) have. Here are the directions:

1) Go to http://www.myheritage.com/ - you don't have to be a registered member to use this feature. Click on the "Celebrities and Fun" tab.

2) Click on the "Celebrity Collage" tab, and then on the "Create my Collage" button.

3) Upload a photograph with your face (or another person's face) to the site (the face must be at least 100 x 100 pixels) and click on the "Run face recognition" button.

4) Select a collage template, and the faces (up to 8) to go into the collage template. Click on "Next" and "Preview" your template, which should bring up the template for you to review. You could click on "Save" and it would go off to your selected social networking site.

5) Figure out how to show your collage on your blog or social network site (I have my own process defined below).

6) Tell us which celebrities that you (or your selected person) look alike - write your own blog post, make a comment to this post or on Facebook.

7) Think about how you could use something like this as a Christmas gift.

Here's mine:

The system says that my current photograph looks like celebrities:

* Benoit Mandelbrot (who?) - 67%

* Beyonce Knowles - 66% (huh? will Beyonce be bald in 40 years?)

* Kylie Minogue - 64% (poor Kylie - does her celebrity look-alike collage include me?)

* Missi Pyle (who?) - 61%

* Colin Powell - 61% (all right - me and Colin...)

* Darius Milhaud - 56% (who?)

* Alec Baldwin - 55% (I dislike him...)

* Edward Heath - 54% (another statesman!)

At least there weren't any ax murderers or real bad people on my collage list!

I did one for my mother at age 23 and her celebrity look-alikes include Rachel Bilson, Katherine Hepburn (she would have loved that), Cindy Crawford, Elizabeth Hurley, Cindy Crawford, and Helen Hunt.

Here's how I created the JPG image above from the Celebrity Collage on the MyHeritage site:

* Went to full screen (F11 key), then "Print Screen" key

* Opened my OpenOffice Impress (presentation program) and did a "Paste (Ctrl-V keys) operation.

* Right-clicked on image, and clicked on "Save Picture as" and saved the screen shot to my hard drive as a .PNG file.

* Opened my photo editing program (I use Microsoft Digital Image 2006 Standard Editor"), opened the saved .PNG file, cropped it to the collage frame, and saved it as a .JPG file.

Readers may have some other handy method to capture screen images and post them, but that is mine. If you want, please share your methods with the rest of us in your blog post or comments.

Was this fun? It was for me. I can hardly wait to see who you look alike!

Surname Saturday - WHITE

It's Saturday - time for another Surname Saturday post. I'm doing mine in ahnentafel order.

Number 11 on my ahnentafel list is Julia White. Here is my ahnentafel report for the WHITE line from Julia back to William White on the Mayflower in 1620 (Note: I have reduced the children to a list of names in order to conserve space):

1. Randy Seaver (1943-....)

2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)

4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)

10. Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
11. Julia White, born 08 September 1848 in Killingly, Windham County, CT; died 04 October 1913 in Putnam, Windham County, CT. She married Thomas Richmond 20 June 1868 in Elmville, Windham County, CT.

22. Henry A. White, born 1824 in Glocester, Providence County, RI; died 01 August 1885 in East Killingly, Windham County, CT. He married Amy Frances Oatley 30 June 1844 in Thompson, Windham County, CT.
23. Amy Frances Oatley, born 1826 in South Kingstown, Washington County, RI; died Bef. 1870 in Killingly, Windham County, CT. She was the daughter of 6. Jonathan Oatley and 7. Amy Champlin. Children of Henry White and Amy Oatley are:
.......... i. Ellen Frances White (1845-1916), married 1867 William Henry Buck (1848-1912)
..11.... ii. Julia White (1848-1913), married 1868 Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)
.......... iii. Emily Elizabeth White (1849-1939), married 1869 Marcus Barstow (1845-1912)
.......... iv. Henry J. White (1853-1919), married 1878 Ida Fogg (1861-1932)
.......... v. (infant) White (1858-1858)
.......... vi. Frederick J. White (1859-????)

44 Jonathan White, born 1806 in Glocester, Providence County, RI; died 19 April 1850 in Killingly, Windham County, CT. He married Miranda Wade About 1824 in prob. Foster, Providence County, RI.
45. Miranda Wade, born 25 January 1804 in Foster, Providence County, RI; died 27 August 1850 in Killingly, Windham County, CT. Children of Jonathan White and Miranda Wade are:
..22.... i. Henry A. White (1824-1885), married 1844 Amy Frances Oatley
.......... ii. Albert H. White (1827-1910) ,married 1866 Olive A. (1839-1926)
.......... iii. Harriet A. White (1836-????)

88. Humphrey White, born About 1758 in prob. Westport, Bristol County, MA; died 15 January 1814 in Glocester, Providence County, RI. He married Sybil Kirby 11 February 1788 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA.
89. Sybil Kirby, born 08 January 1764 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA; died Bef. 11 March 1848 in Glocester, Providence County, RI. Children of Humphrey White and Sybil Kirby are:
.......... i. Meribah White, (1789-????), married 1820 Hutchinson
.......... ii. Benjamin White (1789-1863) ,married 1815 Polly Hopkins (1795-1855)
.......... iii. David White (<1797-????), married 1818 Phebe Hathaway (1798-????)
.......... iv. Elizabeth White (<1797-????), married Peleg Wood.
.......... v. Humphrey White (<1797-????)
.......... vi. Nancy White (<1797-????), married Aaron Cutler.
.......... vii. Martha White (1797-1841), married 1822 Isaac Snell
..4...... viii. Jonathan White (1806-1850), married 1824 Miranda Wade (1804-1850)
.......... ix. Rhoda White (1807-????), married 1824 Erastus Clark
.......... x. William White (1807-1866), married Drusilla R. Chase (1805-1876)

176. Jonathan White, born About 1730 in prob. Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA; died 21 November 1804 in Westport, Bristol County, MA. He married Abigail Wing 01 January 1756 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA.
177. Abigail Wing, born 25 April 1734 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA; died 06 August 1806 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA. Children of Jonathan White and Abigail Wing are:
..88.... i. Humphrey White (1758-1814), married 1788 Sybil Kirby (1764-1848)
.......... ii. Ruth White (1758-1835), married 1778 Gideon Cornell (1753-1836)
.......... iii. Rhoda White (1761-1822), married 1781 Stephen Cornell (????-1828)
.......... iv. Hannah White (1765-1842), married 1791 Luthan Kirby (1770-1860)
.......... v. Holder White (1768-1853), married 1781 Cynthia Milk
.......... vi. Jonathan White (1778-????), married 1798 Mary Wait

352. William White, born About 1708 in prob. Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA; died Bef. 03 October 1780 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA. He married Abigail Thurston 02 October 1729 in Little Compton, Newport County, RI.
353. Abigail Thurston, born 07 May 1700 in Little Compton, Newport County, RI. Children of William White and Abigail Thurston are:
..176.. i. Jonathan White (1730-1804), married 1756 Abigail Wing (1734-1806)
.......... ii. Hannah White (1732-????), married 1751 Wesson Kirby (1731-1798)
.......... iii. Elizabeth White (1734-????), married Stephen Peckham.
.......... iv. Abigail White (1736-????), married 1766 William White

704. William White, born About 1683 in MA; died Bef. 03 October 1780 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA. He married Elizabeth Cadman About 1707 in prob. Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA.
705. Elizabeth Cadman, born 06 June 1685 in Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA; died Aft. January 1768 in prob. Dartmouth, Bristol County, MA. Children of William White and Elizabeth Cadman are:
.......... i. Roger White (1707-1802), married 1736 Rebecca Grinnell (1710-????)
..352.. ii. William White (1708-1780), married 1729 Abigail Thurston (1700-????)
.......... iii. Sarah White (1709-1795), married 1726 John Brown (1705-1773)
.......... iv. Hannah White (1711-1792), married 1730 William Taber (1705-1758)
.......... v. George White (1712-1764), married 1731 Deborah Shaw (1711-1766)
.......... vi. Christopher White (1715-1795), married 1739 Elizabeth Thurston (1719-1782)
.......... vii. Elizabeth White (1717-1749), married 1737 Benjamin Slocum (1714-1792)
.......... viii. Susanna White (1720-1780) ,
.......... ix. Oliver White (1724-1791), married 1747 Mary Sherman (1725-????)
.......... x. Abner White (1725-1774), ,married 1746 Ruth Brownell (1727-1806)
.......... xi. Thomas White (1730-????)

1408. Sylvanus White, born Bef. 1667 in Marshfield, Plymouth County, MA; died Bef. 29 June 1688 in Scituate, Plymouth County, MA. He married Deborah Bef. 1683 in MA.
1409. Deborah, died Aft. 1688. Child of Sylvanus White and Deborah is:
..704... i. William White (1683-1780), married 1707 Elizabeth Cadman (1685-1768)

2816. Peregrine White, born 07 December 1620 in Cape Cod Harbor, New England; died 22 July 1704 in Marshfield, Plymouth County, MA. He married Sarah Bassett Bef. 06 March 1647/48 in prob Duxbury, Plymouth County, MA.
2817. Sarah Bassett, born About 1628 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA; died 22 January 1710/11 in Marshfield, Plymouth County, MA. Children of Peregrine White and Sarah Bassett are:
.......... i. Daniel White (1649-1724), married 1674 Hannah Hunt (????-1721)
.......... ii. (infant) White (1650-1650?)
.......... iii. Jonathan White (1658-1737), married (1) 1683 Hester Nickerson (1656-1703), married (2) 1708 Margaret Elizabeth Alexander (????-1718)
..........iv. Peregrine White (1660-1727), married (1) 1684, Susanna, married (2) 1696 Mary (????-1755)
.......... v. Sarah White (1663-1755), married 1689 Thomas Young (1663-1732)
..1408. vi. Sylvanus White (1667-1688), married 1683 Deborah.
.......... vii. Mercy White (1670-1739), married 1698 William Sherman (1672-1739)

5632. William White, born About 1590 in ENGLAND; died 21 February 1620/21 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony. He married Susanna Bef. 1615 in prob. HOLLAND.
5633. Susanna, born in ENGLAND; died Bef. February 1679/80 in prob. Marshfield, Plymouth County, MA. Children of William White and Susanna are:
.......... i. Resolved White (1615-1687), married (1) 1640 Judith Vassall (1619-1670), married (2) 1674 Abigail (widow of Robert Lord).
.. 2816..ii. Peregrine White (1620-1704), married 1648 Sarah Bassett (1628-1711).

Well, that's shorter than before, but more work to edit it.

If anybody can improve on the names, dates and places for the people above, I wouldl ike to hear from you!

Finding Sarah Martin's Parents - Mark Putman did it!

It has been an exciting week or two for Mark Putman who shares ancestry with me to John and Sarah (Martin) Putman. I wrote about the dilemma of searching for Sarah's parents before - in:

* The Elusive Sarah Martin (1792-1860), wife of John Putman

* Digging in the Putman Garden of Genealogy Mysteries

* Evidence of Sarah Martin's Maiden Name in the Putman Files

Note that the children of John and Sarah (Martin) Putman are, in order, Peter W. Putman, Mulford Martin Putman, Isaac Kinnan Putman, Eliza Putman, Rebecca Putman, Mary Putman, Martha Putman and William C. Putman. Peter was John Putman's father's name. Was Sarah's father's name Mulford Martin? Isaac Kinnan Putman was named after John Putman's brother, Isaac Kinnan Putman, who may have been named for an uncle (John Putman's mother was a Kinnan). It seems like onomastics played some role in naming the children of John and Sarah (Martin) Putman.

Recently, Mark dug around in the LDS IGI and Ancestral File and found some interesting items - they indicated that Sarah Martin's parents were Mulford Martin and Betsey Rolfe, and that Betsey Rolfe's parents were Ephraim and Sarah (Campbell) Rolfe. After checking the 1810 census for New York, he found the Ephraim Rolfe family next to the Putman family in Ulysses, Seneca County, NY (Tompkins County NY after 1817). His first message describing the find on the Putman message board is here.
After more data mining, Mark posted a message to the Rolfe message board here, and received an answer on Friday that Betsey Rolfe married John Putnam, according to a recently published Rolfe surname book, "The Early Rolfe Settlers of New England" by Frederick G. Rolfe (Gateway Press, Baltimore, 1995).

Mark then found that the book was digitized by the Family History Library and is available online at the BYU Family History Archive here.

The book says that "Sally Martin (7.142), niece of Jonathan (6.147), daughter of Betsey Rolfe Martin (6.144), married John Putnam and moved to Canada, had a large family" (page 15). The numbers refer to individuals in each generation (book I, 7th generation, person number 142 for Sally Martin) listed in the book.

While I am very pleased that Mark has been able to find this connection to the Martin and Rolfe families, I am concerned that all we have at this point in time is:

* LDS IGI and Ancestral File records, member submitted, of the parents of Sarah Martin. We all know that these may have some basis in fact, but should be used only as finding aids.

* Rootsweb WorldConnect databases for the Martin and Rolfe families that give no dates or places for the Mulford and Betsey (Rolfe) Martin family, which came out of Middlesex County, NJ. Again, these are helpful to put families into context, but should be used as finding aids.

* A Rolfe surname book that relies on a narrative written by one of Ephraim Rolfe's granddaughters about the family in Tompkins County, New York. The information on the Ephraim Rolfe family is based on a narrative, completely included in the book, that provides much information about persons, dates and places for the particular line.

To date, there is not one original source or any primary information records for the birth of Mulford Martin or of Betsey Rolfe, for their marriage, or for the names, birth dates or birth places of their children. We do have several derivative sources with secondary information records. However, there are few, if any, conflicts among the data, but that may be because they all came from the Rolfe book information, and especially from the Rolfe granddaughter's narrative.

Hopefully, we can find some probate records or deeds in Middlesex County, NJ and Tompkins County, NY that ties the Rolfe family to the Putman family so that we can conclusively say that Betsey Rolfe and Mulford Martin are the parents of Sarah Martin, wife of John Putman. That said, I am very confident that they are!

Over the past three days, I've been mining the online databases for as much information as possible, and found that the Mulford Martin data is, at best, muddled. The records in Middlesex County NJ are pretty poor after about 1750 and there are several Mulford Martins in that time frame. I had not found the Rolfe book before Mark passed on the information - and the book refers to Mulford Martin as "Mulfied Martin."

We have no idea what happened to Mulford Martin (1763-????) or Betsey (Rolfe) Martin (1766-????) for that matter. Did Mulford die before, say, 1810, and did Betsey move to New York to be near her father and brothers? Was Sarah/Sally adopted by one of her uncles and taken to New York? Betsey's last child was born in about 1807, so Mulford and Betsey must have been alive at least until then.

Young Sarah/Sally Martin either went to Tompkins County, NY, with or without her mother and siblings, and met John Putman, or John Putman came back to Middlesex County, NJ to meet and marry her. Several of Sarah/Sally's siblings raised families in Middlesex County, NJ, so it may be that Mulford Martin left an estate there, or perhaps Betsey and those children never left NJ.

The neat thing, for me, is that Sarah Martin, and now Betsey Rolfe, and her mother, Sarah Campbell, are in my own matrilineal line - I share my mitochondrial DNA with these women. So I can push my matrilineal line back two more generations with this find.

Happy dance, er, genea-gasm, experienced... with all credit to Mark Putman for nailing this down after ten years of searching. I hope that he enjoys the genea-gasm more than I did! He earned it, I just piggybacked on his effort.

UPDATED: 8:30 a.m. - added more context, especially the onomastics, and a bit more analysis.

ProGen Group Christmas Elf Dance

The fearless, and creative, leader of my ProGen Study Group (Sheri Fenley) has created another little video using the fine services of JibJab - see the ProGen group members dance their way to fame and fortune here.

Did I hear you say "don't give up your day job?" It's the best I've ever danced, frankly.

You want to make one for yourself? Well, collect five head shots of your favorite people and go to http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/?cmpid=jj_hp to get started!

An even better idea is to get photos of your family and put them into one of the movies on http://sendables.jibjab.com/section/sy_movies. I think I'm going to do it for "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!" and send it to my brothers and kids.

Funny and creative coffins

After I posted about the Creative Coffins website the other day, I wondered if there were more examples on the Internet. I found the Curious, Funny Photos/Pictures blog had a recent post titled Funny Coffins with many, um, interesting photos. Enjoy!

Black Friday Sale at JMK Gifts!

Jimmy Kavanagh at JMK Gifts emailed me with news of their Black Friday special - today only - good discounts on JMK Gifts products. The discounts include:

* $8 OFF Binders

* 30% OFF Mousepads

* 40% OFF Calendars

* $4 OFF T-Shirts

* $3 OFF Mugs

* 55% OFF Cards

BONUS: FREE SHIPPING on $35+ or more!

Use this promo code ZAZZLEFRIDAY at

http://www.zazzle.com/jmkgifts?rf=238826660521974176

Disclosure: I have no financial interest in JMK Gifts, and was not paid for promoting the site on my blog. I am a satisfied customer of JMK Gifts!

Follow Friday - The ProGenealogists(R) Blog

I'm highlighting one of my favorite genealogy blogs every Friday. These are blogs that provide me useful information on a regular basis (not necessarily daily!) that I think my readers might find helpful.

Today's Follow Friday blog is The ProGenealogists(R) Blog. ProGenealogists is a commercial genealogy and family history research company, and started their blog in August 2008. They have had more posts over the past few months written by their staff - there are 15 authors listed on the sidebar of the monthly archive pages (but not the home page for some reason), including well-known genealogists Kory Meyerink, Natalie Cottrill and Heather Henderson.

I've found that the easiest way to read older blog posts is to click on the monthly archives list. The archives pages then list the authors and the topics that you don't fid on the home page.

I encourage you to add The ProGenealogists(R) Blog to your blog reader of choice!

I Am So Thankful

--- for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

--- for my wonderful loving wife, Angel Linda, who makes every day special.

--- for my two beautiful and smart daughters, and their great husbands, who work so hard to do so well in order to live securely.

--- for my four precious grandchildren, so innocent and with so much potential, and so much fun to be with.

--- for my enthusiastic father, who provided a large New England ancestry to research, and passed on an undying love for the game of baseball.

--- for my loving mother, so patient, supportive and kind, who saved so much and whose ancestry provides such fascinating research challenges.

--- for my brothers, their wives and children, who are interested in the family history and remember more than I do about our growing up years.

--- for my grandparents and earlier ancestors, who worked hard, played by the rules, raised healthy families, and provided a firm foundation for their children.

--- for my aunts, uncles and cousins, who opened their homes and their hearts and shared their memories.

--- for the brave passengers on the Mayflower and other early ships who colonized New England, and instilled a republican form of government based on personal freedom and responsibility.

--- for the immigrants that populated our country, diversified our culture, worked hard to succeed, and are woven into the country's fabric.

--- for the courageous citizens who revolted to secure our freedoms, and created the institutions that are the foundations of the USA.

--- for the soldiers, sailors and pilots, of every historical time, who have defended our country and kept us safe and free.

--- for the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights - especially the freedoms of speech, religion and assembly. I am awestruck that the Founders wrote such a magnificent set of documents that have stood the test of time.

--- for educational opportunities, whereby every and any person in this country can be the best that they can be, but they have to really make an effort.

--- for the free market and free enterprise economic system that encourages and rewards work and innovation, and has allowed me and my family to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

--- for the marvels of science and engineering, that drive our health, transportation, communication and entertainment industries.

--- for the wonders of nature that beautify our world, inspire us and occasionally overwhelm us.

--- for my genealogy society colleagues, ProGen and TGSG groups, genea-bloggers and blog readers who challenge, educate, encourage and appreciate me.

--- for Ancestry.com, Footnote.com, FamilySearch.org and other genealogy companies that provide online databases to explore into the wee hours of the night.

--- for genealogy software that organizes our family structures and provide incredible reports and charts to share with our families

--- for repositories that collect, preserve and provide papers, photographs, books, manuscripts and artifacts to expand our research.

--- for genealogy conferences, magazines, books and newsletters that inform and educate us.

This year, I am really thankful for good health and the joys of being with our daughters and grandchildren.

What are you thankful for on this Thanksgiving holiday?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

by Edgar Albert Guest (c) 1917

Gettin' together to smile an' rejoice,
An' eatin' an' laughin' with folks of your choice;
An' kissin' the girls an' declarin' that they
Are growin' more beautiful day after day;

Chattin' an' braggin' a bit with the men,
Buildin' the old family circle again;
Livin' the wholesome an' old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.

Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother's a little bit grayer, that's all.

Father's a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an' to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin' our stories as women an' men.

Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we're grateful an' glad to be there.
Home from the east land an' home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an' best.

Out of the sham of the cities afar
We've come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an' be frank,
Forgettin' position an' station an' rank.

Give me the end of the year an' its fun
When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,

Hear the old voices still ringin' with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.

Amen!

Ruth and her Grandma Genie Camp

My Chula Vista Genealogical Society colleague, Ruth, has her four grandchildren with her for Thanksgiving and she has taken the opportunity to hold a Grandma's Genie Camp for them this week. She has been posting her daily episodes on her blog, Genealogy is Ruthless Without Me.

The posts to date are:

* Thanksgiving and Genealogy -- the plan for Grandma Ruth's genealogy camp

* Day One Grandma's Genie Camp -- see Ruth's 10-generation chart on her wall.

* Day Two Grandma's Geni 101 Class -- reading about ancestors and tracing migration paths on maps

* Day 3 of Grandma's Genie Camp -- more map work and working on the ancestor chart tracing a family.

* Day 4 --- Grandma's Genie Camp -- the kids go to the CVGS meeting and work on the pedigree chart, then enjoy family stories.

I can hardly wait for the rest of the days of Ruth's Genie Camp. I will add them to this post as they are posted by Ruth.

Isn't this a great example of taking genealogy to the family? The kids are participating and enjoying their time with Grandma, and it is obvious that she is really enjoying her time with them.

Well done, Ruth... what a wonderful bonding experience for everyone. I know that you and the grandchildren will remember this week for the rest of your, and their, lives.

Don't you wish your grandmother had done this with you when you were a child? Have you thought about doing something similar with your grandchildren when they get old enough?