Hello there, genealogy fanatics ... It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!
A number of geneabloggers have already done this, but many have not and most of my readers have not either, so let's go for it!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Find something that you have written that you are really proud of - the best of your work. Do an Edit > Copy of it.
2) Go to the website http://iwl.me/ and Paste your text into the waiting box.
3) Tell us which famous author you write like. Write it up in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog, or post it on Facebook. Insert the "badge of honor" in your blog if you can.
Here's mine:
I chose two pieces that typify my work:
* The post The Best of Genea-Musings for 2009.
* The post Who is Mr. Seaver, Part 1. The website said that I Write Like...:
Who knew? Maybe I should choose something not so like an engineer? But everything is like technical writing with me, it seems. I'll try some of my family tree narrative next time. It will probably say that I write like someone really boring.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Surname Saturday - PHILLIPS (England > MA)
It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week. I'm passing on #77, who is the unknown mother of Thomas J. Newton, and now am up to number 79, who is Martha "Patty" Phillips (1757-after 1820), one of my 4th-great-grandparents.
My ancestral line back through five generations of PHILLIPS is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)
4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
8. Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Harriet Hildreth (1857-1920)
18. Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19. Sophia Newton (1834-1923)
38. Thomas J. Newton (ca1795-????)
39. Sophia Buck (1797-1882)
78. Isaac Buck, born 27 September 1757 in Southborough, Worcester County, MA, and died 07 February 1846 in Sterling, Worcester, MA. He was the son of Isaac Buck and Mary Richards. He married 18 May 1780 in Lancaster, Worcester County, MA.
79. Martha "Patty" Phillips, born 20 August 1757 in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, MA; died after 1820 in probably Sterling, Worcester County, MA.
Isaac and Patty had children: Polly Buck (1782-????); Silas Buck (1784-1863); Pliny Buck (1789-1874); Martha Buck (1791-????); Sally Buck (1794-????); Sophia Buck (1797-1882); Isaac Buck (1807-1871); Leander Howe Buck (1810-????).
158. John Phillips, born 11 September 1722 in Charlestown, Middlesex County, MA. He married 03 May 1749 in Southborough, Worcester County, MA.
159. Hannah Brown, born about 1725 in MA; died before 1774 in probably Shrewsbury, Worcester County, MA.
Children of John Phillips and Hannah Brown are: Sarah Phillips (1750-????); Jonathan Phillips (1752-????); Joanna Phillips (1755-????); Martha Phillips (1757-after 1820); Elizabeth Phillips (1764-????).
316. Ebenezer Phillips, born 17 August 1695 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA; died before 21 August 1746 in Southborough, Worcester, MA. He married before 1719 in probably Malden, Middlesex, MA.
317. Mary Smith, born 08 March 1697/98 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA. She was the daughter of 634. John Smith and 635. Ruth Cutler.
Children of Ebenezer Phillips and Mary Smith are: Mary Phillips (1719-????); Ebenezer Phillips (1721-????); John Phillips (1722-????); Samuel Phillips (1726-1810); Joanna Phillips (1729-1788); Ruth Phillips (1733-????).
732. Andrew Phillips, born about 1661 in probably Charlestown, Middlesex, MA; died 10 December 1717 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA. He married 11 November 1683 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA.
733. Sarah Smith, born before 04 August 1661 in Malden, Middlesex, MA. She was the daughter of 1466. Michael Smith and 1467. Jane or Joanna.
Children of Andrew Phillips and Sarah Smith are: Andrew Phillips (1687-????); Ebenezer Phillips (1695-1746); Joanna Phillips (1697-????); Samuel Phillips (1699-1722)
1464. Andrew Phillips, born in ENGLAND; died in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA. He married before 1657 in prob. Charlestown, Middlesex, MA.
1465. Elizabeth, died in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA.
Children of Andrew Phillips and Elizabeth are: Elizabeth Phillips (1657-????); Ephraim Phillips (1659-????); Andrew Phillips (1661-1717).
Does anyone reading this have more information about these Phillips families? Are any readers cousins stuck on the same families?
My ancestral line back through five generations of PHILLIPS is:
1. Randall J. Seaver
2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty V. Carringer (1919-2002)
4. Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942)
5. Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962)
8. Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Harriet Hildreth (1857-1920)
18. Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19. Sophia Newton (1834-1923)
38. Thomas J. Newton (ca1795-????)
39. Sophia Buck (1797-1882)
78. Isaac Buck, born 27 September 1757 in Southborough, Worcester County, MA, and died 07 February 1846 in Sterling, Worcester, MA. He was the son of Isaac Buck and Mary Richards. He married 18 May 1780 in Lancaster, Worcester County, MA.
79. Martha "Patty" Phillips, born 20 August 1757 in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, MA; died after 1820 in probably Sterling, Worcester County, MA.
Isaac and Patty had children: Polly Buck (1782-????); Silas Buck (1784-1863); Pliny Buck (1789-1874); Martha Buck (1791-????); Sally Buck (1794-????); Sophia Buck (1797-1882); Isaac Buck (1807-1871); Leander Howe Buck (1810-????).
158. John Phillips, born 11 September 1722 in Charlestown, Middlesex County, MA. He married 03 May 1749 in Southborough, Worcester County, MA.
159. Hannah Brown, born about 1725 in MA; died before 1774 in probably Shrewsbury, Worcester County, MA.
Children of John Phillips and Hannah Brown are: Sarah Phillips (1750-????); Jonathan Phillips (1752-????); Joanna Phillips (1755-????); Martha Phillips (1757-after 1820); Elizabeth Phillips (1764-????).
316. Ebenezer Phillips, born 17 August 1695 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA; died before 21 August 1746 in Southborough, Worcester, MA. He married before 1719 in probably Malden, Middlesex, MA.
317. Mary Smith, born 08 March 1697/98 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA. She was the daughter of 634. John Smith and 635. Ruth Cutler.
Children of Ebenezer Phillips and Mary Smith are: Mary Phillips (1719-????); Ebenezer Phillips (1721-????); John Phillips (1722-????); Samuel Phillips (1726-1810); Joanna Phillips (1729-1788); Ruth Phillips (1733-????).
732. Andrew Phillips, born about 1661 in probably Charlestown, Middlesex, MA; died 10 December 1717 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA. He married 11 November 1683 in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA.
733. Sarah Smith, born before 04 August 1661 in Malden, Middlesex, MA. She was the daughter of 1466. Michael Smith and 1467. Jane or Joanna.
Children of Andrew Phillips and Sarah Smith are: Andrew Phillips (1687-????); Ebenezer Phillips (1695-1746); Joanna Phillips (1697-????); Samuel Phillips (1699-1722)
1464. Andrew Phillips, born in ENGLAND; died in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA. He married before 1657 in prob. Charlestown, Middlesex, MA.
1465. Elizabeth, died in Charlestown, Middlesex, MA.
Children of Andrew Phillips and Elizabeth are: Elizabeth Phillips (1657-????); Ephraim Phillips (1659-????); Andrew Phillips (1661-1717).
Does anyone reading this have more information about these Phillips families? Are any readers cousins stuck on the same families?
Friday, July 16, 2010
Exploring Newberry's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
The Newberry Library Genealogy News Blog announced the Completion of Digital Atlas of Historical County Boundaries - "a dataset that covers every day-to-day change in the size, shape, location, name, organization, and attachment of each U.S. county and state from the creation of the first county in 1634 through 2000."
Read the entire blog post for more details. I clicked on the link to the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/) and saw:
The site does not permit clicking on a state in the map area. You have to pick from the dropdown menu on the right, or pick from the list of states, to pick a state.
I picked California from the "Interactive Map" dropdown menu, and saw:
I changed the date to 18 February 1900, and selected all but the "Unsuccessful Proposals" layer to be visible, and only "Modern County Seats" to be "active," and saw:
By clicking on the "Chronologies" link at the bottom, the user can see a list of all of the county historical boundary changes described by date, additions to and subtractions from which other counties, etc., plus a reference for each change. Here's the California list:
As on most websites, the Help page is your friend. For this site, reading the Help page will shortcut your trial and error searches on this site. The Help page is here:
I haven't explored some of the more complex features of the site. I see that, in the "Downbload GIS files" on the home page, that the user can download files for each state in GIS, KMZ (Google Earth) or PDF formats.
Read the entire blog post for more details. I clicked on the link to the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/) and saw:
The site does not permit clicking on a state in the map area. You have to pick from the dropdown menu on the right, or pick from the list of states, to pick a state.
I picked California from the "Interactive Map" dropdown menu, and saw:
There is a menu ribbon on the left of the map - with icons for View (to toggle overview map in upper left corner), Zoom In, Zoom Out, Full (zoom in to full extent), Back (go back one screen), Pan (use the "magic hand" to move the map image around), Link, Info, Query, Measure, Select by Rectangle, Select by Line/Polygon, Clear and Print. You click on the icon, and then do the action on the map.
In the upper right corner is a date box - to see the historical map boundaries for any date, you have to enter the date in this box and click on the "Refresh" button. The default date is the first set of boundaries available. For California, that was 18 February 1850.
Further down on the right side of the screen is a list of "layers." You can select any number of layers to be visible, but only one is "active."
There are links at the bottom of the page for "Chronologies," "Supplemental Texts," "County Index," Select a State, and "Home."
I used the Zoom In tool and the Pan tool to look at Southern California as of 18 February 1850:
I changed the date to 18 February 1900, and selected all but the "Unsuccessful Proposals" layer to be visible, and only "Modern County Seats" to be "active," and saw:
By clicking on the "Chronologies" link at the bottom, the user can see a list of all of the county historical boundary changes described by date, additions to and subtractions from which other counties, etc., plus a reference for each change. Here's the California list:
As on most websites, the Help page is your friend. For this site, reading the Help page will shortcut your trial and error searches on this site. The Help page is here:
I haven't explored some of the more complex features of the site. I see that, in the "Downbload GIS files" on the home page, that the user can download files for each state in GIS, KMZ (Google Earth) or PDF formats.
The graphical user interface with icons on the left side of the map is fairly clunky, but it works, and has a learning curve - most people should be able to master it in 5 or 10 minutes. The layers feature can provide helpful information.
This type of mapping feature is valuable to researchers, in order to find where their ancestral records might be located (usually in the county at the time the event was recorded). The digital maps may be helpful to determine if someone who lived on the edge of a county was actually in another county at one time or another. Using the digital file with Google Earth may help the researcher understand the terrain when his ancestor resided in a particular place.
A Hiccup on Ancestry.com
...
In the interests of helping other users that might experience similar problems at some point in time...
When I used Ancestry.com yesterday and this morning, I was unable to view record images. I went to the Ancestry Site Comments message board to see if anyone else had complained about this problem. They hadn't, so I posted a message there asking for help:
"When I click on "View Image" from a record summary, the URL starts out: http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/InstallAdvancedImageViewer...%...
It appears to be trying to install an Advanced Image Viewer. I get no image and it appears to cycle for several minutes trying to install it. I finally stopped it. I am using Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7. I have not added or deleted any software in recent days.
What did Ancestry.com change in the last two days? I checked the Help section and see lots of info about the Enhanced Image Viewer. Is that the same as the Advanced Image Viewer?
Frankly, the "fixes" on the Help page are really complicated - I don't have time to go through all of that to fix something that Ancestry.com caused.
Or am I the only victim here? I have no clue - nobody else has posted about it on this board. Of course, I renewed my subscription two days ago..."
I rebooted my computer, and that didn't solve my problem. So I went to the Help link at the top of the Ancestry.com home page, put "Advanced Image Viewer" in the Search field, and selected the "Troubleshooting the Enhanced Image Viewer" item from the list.
This recommended clearing my computer cache (Temporary Internet Files) and cookies. I did that, and opened Ancestry.com and can now see images. I had only 50 mb of Temporary Internet Files set, so I increased that some. The computer seems to work faster on the Internet too (probably until the cache fills up again!).
The downside is that every website that I have an account with requires me to use my username and password because I deleted my cookies.
The lessons learned here are:
* Use the Ancestry.com Help link when you have a problem. There are 1,434 FAQs available. Use the Search box to narrow your search.
* Check the Ancestry Site Comments message board to see if someone else has your problem and what they did about it.
* Apparently the "Advanced Image Viewer" is the "Enhanced Image Viewer" - but this is not stated explicitly anywhere. Words mean something... I thought they might be different.
Of course, I've wasted about two hours trying to make this work...and I don't think it was my fault, but who knows?
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of Ancestry.com, and have received no remuneration for this article. I am a fully paid US Deluxe subscriber to Ancestry.com.
In the interests of helping other users that might experience similar problems at some point in time...
When I used Ancestry.com yesterday and this morning, I was unable to view record images. I went to the Ancestry Site Comments message board to see if anyone else had complained about this problem. They hadn't, so I posted a message there asking for help:
"When I click on "View Image" from a record summary, the URL starts out: http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/InstallAdvancedImageViewer...%...
It appears to be trying to install an Advanced Image Viewer. I get no image and it appears to cycle for several minutes trying to install it. I finally stopped it. I am using Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7. I have not added or deleted any software in recent days.
What did Ancestry.com change in the last two days? I checked the Help section and see lots of info about the Enhanced Image Viewer. Is that the same as the Advanced Image Viewer?
Frankly, the "fixes" on the Help page are really complicated - I don't have time to go through all of that to fix something that Ancestry.com caused.
Or am I the only victim here? I have no clue - nobody else has posted about it on this board. Of course, I renewed my subscription two days ago..."
I rebooted my computer, and that didn't solve my problem. So I went to the Help link at the top of the Ancestry.com home page, put "Advanced Image Viewer" in the Search field, and selected the "Troubleshooting the Enhanced Image Viewer" item from the list.
This recommended clearing my computer cache (Temporary Internet Files) and cookies. I did that, and opened Ancestry.com and can now see images. I had only 50 mb of Temporary Internet Files set, so I increased that some. The computer seems to work faster on the Internet too (probably until the cache fills up again!).
The downside is that every website that I have an account with requires me to use my username and password because I deleted my cookies.
The lessons learned here are:
* Use the Ancestry.com Help link when you have a problem. There are 1,434 FAQs available. Use the Search box to narrow your search.
* Check the Ancestry Site Comments message board to see if someone else has your problem and what they did about it.
* Apparently the "Advanced Image Viewer" is the "Enhanced Image Viewer" - but this is not stated explicitly anywhere. Words mean something... I thought they might be different.
Of course, I've wasted about two hours trying to make this work...and I don't think it was my fault, but who knows?
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of Ancestry.com, and have received no remuneration for this article. I am a fully paid US Deluxe subscriber to Ancestry.com.
Follow Friday - Heritage Happens
...
It's Friday, time to pick one of my favorite genealogy blogs to recommend to my readers.
Today, my choice is Heritage Happens, written by Cheryl Palmer.
It's Friday, time to pick one of my favorite genealogy blogs to recommend to my readers.
Today, my choice is Heritage Happens, written by Cheryl Palmer.
Cheryl describes her blog as:
"My blog is genealogy based. I share challenges in my research as well as knowledge I learn along the way. Pictures help bring life to any family, and I love to share mine with you. I may add a bit of my personal life for flavor, and documentation. I also author another blog. I am a Charter Member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits! Check out THE GRAVEYARD RABBIT OF SOUTH ALAMEDA COUNTY! "
I enjoy Cheryl's posts, which are pretty eclectic - memes, games, family research, and pictures! She takes great pictures. See her Jamboree 2010 posts for some of them.
I highly recommend Heritage Happens to my readers. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
New Features on Ancestry.com New Search
Ancestry.com announced on Tuesday, in the Ancestry.com Blog post Updated new search homepage, place pages, recent searches & recently viewed collections, by Laura Dansbury, that there are several new features when a user is using "New Search" (as opposed to "Old Search").
Laura explains the changes much better than I can, so please review her post.
The blog title could be construed to mean that the search feature on the Home Page (i.e., the "Home" tab) has been changed. It has not. What has changed is the "Search " tab page in "New Search." Here is what it looks like now:
And further down the web page:
There are several new features on the Search tab page, including:
* A link to "Old Search" for diehard Old Search users. This makes it very easy to go to "Old Search" if the user wishes. Before, the "Old Search" link was only on pages of matches resulting from a search.
* The "Recently viewed collections" at the top of the right-hand sidebar. This will be very useful, I think - when I come back to Ancestry.com, I often can't recall what I did last. This helps.
* Maps are on the "Search" tab page - for USA, UK & Ireland, Europe, Canada and Australia (use the appropriate tab). If users wish to search for a specific locality (country or state/province), they can click on the entity in the map or click the link below the map. This will be very helpful, I think. This will provide a fairly easy way to find a specific database for a specific locality, and enable the user to browse that specific database (especially if it is not indexed...). I think that this feature will uncover a number of heretofore well-hidden databases in each state.
Users should click on the links to "View other..." or "View all..." on the State Place Page - there may be databases available that don't include the state name, but contain records pertaining to the state or one or more counties.
I clicked on California in the USA Map, and saw this "Place Page" summary of the databases available on Ancestry.com specifically for California:
Note that the more general databases, like the US Federal Census Records, don't show on the list on the state "Place Page," but are included in the "View other..." or "View all..." links that provide collections that pertain to, but are not specifically for, the selected state.
For specific counties within a state, there is a selection box on the right of the "Place Page" where the user can see how many specific databases there are for each county, and can select a County from the list. I selected "San Francisco 36" on the County list, which means that San Francisco County has 36 specific databases on Ancestry.com. The "County Page" looks like this:
From this page, I can select any item on the specific County database list to either browse or search. I chose the "Daily Alta California (San Francisco)" newspaper with 61 records. Here is what the database page looks like:
Unfortunately, there are images of only a few editions of this newspaper in the database.
All of these updates to the Ancestry "New Search" "Search tab" page are useful to me as a researcher.
I've given three presentations about "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" in the past two months, and have had to make significant changes to the presentation each time because of recent changes to the web site content and format. In my talk, one of my conclusions is that "Ancestry.com's 'New Search' capability is the most sophisticated and complex search algorithm in genealogy research." However, I also note that "New Search" has a steep learning curve - you have to practice quite a bit to learn how to use it effectively. Do you agree with me about this?
The question now is: What will Ancestry.com update, or improve, next in their Search capabilities?
My question for my readers is: What improvements to "New Search" would you like to see?"
Laura explains the changes much better than I can, so please review her post.
The blog title could be construed to mean that the search feature on the Home Page (i.e., the "Home" tab) has been changed. It has not. What has changed is the "Search " tab page in "New Search." Here is what it looks like now:
And further down the web page:
There are several new features on the Search tab page, including:
* A link to "Old Search" for diehard Old Search users. This makes it very easy to go to "Old Search" if the user wishes. Before, the "Old Search" link was only on pages of matches resulting from a search.
* The "Recently viewed collections" at the top of the right-hand sidebar. This will be very useful, I think - when I come back to Ancestry.com, I often can't recall what I did last. This helps.
* Maps are on the "Search" tab page - for USA, UK & Ireland, Europe, Canada and Australia (use the appropriate tab). If users wish to search for a specific locality (country or state/province), they can click on the entity in the map or click the link below the map. This will be very helpful, I think. This will provide a fairly easy way to find a specific database for a specific locality, and enable the user to browse that specific database (especially if it is not indexed...). I think that this feature will uncover a number of heretofore well-hidden databases in each state.
Users should click on the links to "View other..." or "View all..." on the State Place Page - there may be databases available that don't include the state name, but contain records pertaining to the state or one or more counties.
I clicked on California in the USA Map, and saw this "Place Page" summary of the databases available on Ancestry.com specifically for California:
Note that the more general databases, like the US Federal Census Records, don't show on the list on the state "Place Page," but are included in the "View other..." or "View all..." links that provide collections that pertain to, but are not specifically for, the selected state.
For specific counties within a state, there is a selection box on the right of the "Place Page" where the user can see how many specific databases there are for each county, and can select a County from the list. I selected "San Francisco 36" on the County list, which means that San Francisco County has 36 specific databases on Ancestry.com. The "County Page" looks like this:
From this page, I can select any item on the specific County database list to either browse or search. I chose the "Daily Alta California (San Francisco)" newspaper with 61 records. Here is what the database page looks like:
Unfortunately, there are images of only a few editions of this newspaper in the database.
All of these updates to the Ancestry "New Search" "Search tab" page are useful to me as a researcher.
I've given three presentations about "Using Ancestry.com Effectively" in the past two months, and have had to make significant changes to the presentation each time because of recent changes to the web site content and format. In my talk, one of my conclusions is that "Ancestry.com's 'New Search' capability is the most sophisticated and complex search algorithm in genealogy research." However, I also note that "New Search" has a steep learning curve - you have to practice quite a bit to learn how to use it effectively. Do you agree with me about this?
The question now is: What will Ancestry.com update, or improve, next in their Search capabilities?
My question for my readers is: What improvements to "New Search" would you like to see?"
Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of Ancestry.com, and have received no remuneration for this article. I am a fully paid US Deluxe subscriber to Ancestry.com.
Treasure Chest Thursday - Hannah Richman Passenger List
...
It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to display another nugget in my treasure chest of ancestral family records.
Last week, I highlighted the Passenger List on which James Richman (1821-1912) appears in October 1855.
This week, I have the Passenger List for "the rest of the family." Hannah (Rich) Richman (1824-1911) (age 32) and their children James (age 7), Thomas (age 6), Louisa (age 4), Elizabeth (age 3) and Ann (age 1) came to America on the ship Osprey, which sailed from Bristol in England. The Passenger List was sworn to on 14 November 1856.
Here is the first page of the Passenger List from the Osprey:
The Richman family appears on page 3 of 4 of the list. They are down near the bottom of the page:
The ages of the children do not match the baptism records exactly. Thomas was the oldest child born in June 1848, and James the second son, born in November 1849. The youngest child in the Passenger List is "Ann" age 1, but the child after Elizabeth in the records is Emma, born 6 July 1856. If Emma was a full-term baby, then conception was in early October 1855, at about the time that James Richman sailed away to America. I wonder if he was surprised by this when he greeted the ship in New York?
It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to display another nugget in my treasure chest of ancestral family records.
Last week, I highlighted the Passenger List on which James Richman (1821-1912) appears in October 1855.
This week, I have the Passenger List for "the rest of the family." Hannah (Rich) Richman (1824-1911) (age 32) and their children James (age 7), Thomas (age 6), Louisa (age 4), Elizabeth (age 3) and Ann (age 1) came to America on the ship Osprey, which sailed from Bristol in England. The Passenger List was sworn to on 14 November 1856.
Here is the first page of the Passenger List from the Osprey:
The Richman family appears on page 3 of 4 of the list. They are down near the bottom of the page:
The ages of the children do not match the baptism records exactly. Thomas was the oldest child born in June 1848, and James the second son, born in November 1849. The youngest child in the Passenger List is "Ann" age 1, but the child after Elizabeth in the records is Emma, born 6 July 1856. If Emma was a full-term baby, then conception was in early October 1855, at about the time that James Richman sailed away to America. I wonder if he was surprised by this when he greeted the ship in New York?
New "Digging for Answers" Column in Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal
...
My latest "Digging for Answers" column in The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal is posted here.
The question asked was: What do gravestones or grave markers cost these days? How can I comparison shop?
You can read my answers in the column. This was an interesting column to write - there are websites where you can "design your own gravestone." You may see some of mine in future Tombstone Tuesday posts!
The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal is comprised of weekly columns, edited and posted by Gale Wall. The most recent columns are:
* International Rabbit, by Hank Van Kempen, posted 1 July 2010 "Zuiderhof Cemetery in Hilversum, The Netherlands"
* A Rabbit's Tale, by Tammi Thiele, posted 24 June 2010 "Grieving Lilacs"
* Photo Monument, by Gale Wall, posted 17 June 2010 "Lettering in Marble"
* Tech T.I.P., by Denise Barrett Olson, posted 10 June 2010 "Managing Your Blog Archives"
* The History Hare, by footnoteMaven, posted 3 June 2010 "Obituaries, the Women's Movement, and Humor"
* Graveyard Guru, by Stephanie Lincecum, posted 27 May 2010 "The Obelisk and its Origins"
I encourage you to add The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal to your blog reader so that you don't miss the wit and wisdom of the columnists!
Thank you to Gale Wall for organizing this Journal, for editing and for posting these columns on a weekly basis.
Gale is trying to find more columnists - if you would like to contribute a regular column, or even just a guest column on a Graveyard Rabbit topic, please contact Gale through the Send A Note To The Editor link.
My latest "Digging for Answers" column in The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal is posted here.
The question asked was: What do gravestones or grave markers cost these days? How can I comparison shop?
You can read my answers in the column. This was an interesting column to write - there are websites where you can "design your own gravestone." You may see some of mine in future Tombstone Tuesday posts!
The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal is comprised of weekly columns, edited and posted by Gale Wall. The most recent columns are:
* International Rabbit, by Hank Van Kempen, posted 1 July 2010 "Zuiderhof Cemetery in Hilversum, The Netherlands"
* A Rabbit's Tale, by Tammi Thiele, posted 24 June 2010 "Grieving Lilacs"
* Photo Monument, by Gale Wall, posted 17 June 2010 "Lettering in Marble"
* Tech T.I.P., by Denise Barrett Olson, posted 10 June 2010 "Managing Your Blog Archives"
* The History Hare, by footnoteMaven, posted 3 June 2010 "Obituaries, the Women's Movement, and Humor"
* Graveyard Guru, by Stephanie Lincecum, posted 27 May 2010 "The Obelisk and its Origins"
I encourage you to add The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal to your blog reader so that you don't miss the wit and wisdom of the columnists!
Thank you to Gale Wall for organizing this Journal, for editing and for posting these columns on a weekly basis.
Gale is trying to find more columnists - if you would like to contribute a regular column, or even just a guest column on a Graveyard Rabbit topic, please contact Gale through the Send A Note To The Editor link.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A Reader Survey - Favorite Genealogy Websites
...
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is polling its members each week on a survey question. I thought it might be interesting to compare the survey results of Genea-Musings readers with NEHGS Members.
This week the question is:
Genealogists today use websites all the time for their research. Rank the following websites in the order of their importance to you in your research:
o http://www.ancestry.com/
o http://www.familysearch.org/
o http://www.newenglandancestors.org/
o http://www.rootsweb.com/
o http://www.usgenweb.org/
o http://www.footnote.com/
o http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/
o http://www.google.com/
Would you please rank those in the order of importance to you in your research, and list them in a comment to this post, in a note on Facebook, or in a post on your own blog (but please leave a link to this post so I can easily find it).
If you want to, please list other websites that are more important to you than one site on the list above.
My own list is:
1) http://www.ancestry.com/ - $$, still the biggest, best search engine, well worth it
2) http://www.familysearch.org/ - free, adding record content monthly, Wiki, FHLC
3) http://www.google.com/ - free, searching websites, books, maps, Blogger, etc.
4) http://www.footnote.com/ - $$, NARA records, Footnote pages, well worth it
5) http://www.usgenweb.org/ - state and county data, all user contributed
6) http://www.rootsweb.com/ - free, WorldConnect, message boards, mailing lists, databases
7) http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ - $$, databases, periodicals, articles/videos
8) http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ - $$, databases
I think that I would list http://www.findagrave.com/ above the bottom two, and http://www.cyndislist.com/ above #8.
In my list above, I'm assuming that the FamilySearch Beta site and Pilot Record Search are part of http://www.familysearch.org/, that the http://www.usgwarchives.net/ are part of http://www.usgenweb.org/, and that the message boards, mailing lists and WorldConnect family tree is part of http://www.rootsweb.com/.
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is polling its members each week on a survey question. I thought it might be interesting to compare the survey results of Genea-Musings readers with NEHGS Members.
This week the question is:
Genealogists today use websites all the time for their research. Rank the following websites in the order of their importance to you in your research:
o http://www.ancestry.com/
o http://www.familysearch.org/
o http://www.newenglandancestors.org/
o http://www.rootsweb.com/
o http://www.usgenweb.org/
o http://www.footnote.com/
o http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/
o http://www.google.com/
Would you please rank those in the order of importance to you in your research, and list them in a comment to this post, in a note on Facebook, or in a post on your own blog (but please leave a link to this post so I can easily find it).
If you want to, please list other websites that are more important to you than one site on the list above.
My own list is:
1) http://www.ancestry.com/ - $$, still the biggest, best search engine, well worth it
2) http://www.familysearch.org/ - free, adding record content monthly, Wiki, FHLC
3) http://www.google.com/ - free, searching websites, books, maps, Blogger, etc.
4) http://www.footnote.com/ - $$, NARA records, Footnote pages, well worth it
5) http://www.usgenweb.org/ - state and county data, all user contributed
6) http://www.rootsweb.com/ - free, WorldConnect, message boards, mailing lists, databases
7) http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ - $$, databases, periodicals, articles/videos
8) http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ - $$, databases
I think that I would list http://www.findagrave.com/ above the bottom two, and http://www.cyndislist.com/ above #8.
In my list above, I'm assuming that the FamilySearch Beta site and Pilot Record Search are part of http://www.familysearch.org/, that the http://www.usgwarchives.net/ are part of http://www.usgenweb.org/, and that the message boards, mailing lists and WorldConnect family tree is part of http://www.rootsweb.com/.
Steve Morse Speaking at CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 17 July
...
The next meeting of the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) is Saturday, July 17, 2010, and features two presentations by Steve Morse about his One-Step Website at this meeting.
User Groups will not meet at this meeting.
This meeting will be in the large auditorium across the walk way from the usual meeting rooms at the student center. The meeting details are:
9:00 a.m. - A Potpourri of Genealogy Research Tools, by Steve Morse
10:50 a.m. - Break, refreshments (note change in time, this meeting only)
11:10 a.m. - A Hodgepodge of Lesser-Known Gems, by Steve Morse.
Stephen Morse is an electrical engineer and computer professional known for being the architect of the Intel 8086 chip which set the stage for personal computing as we know it; he is also an amateur genealogist who began researching his Russian-Jewish origins and wound up devising some wonderful tools for all genealogists to use in their own research on the internet. These web-based searching aids and his websites have made him a household name within the genealogical community, and garnered him a number of awards (2003 IAJGS Award for Outstanding Contribution to Jewish Genealogy, 2007 NGS Award of Merit, 2007 Association of Professional Genealogists Excellence Award, etc.).
Morse has developed at his site, http://www.stevemorse.org, more than 100 portals to other Internet sites that are superior to those offered by the host sites. He began his efforts in 2001 when the Ellis Island database was made available online. The Morse portal, the One-Step site, searches numerous other sites containing immigration records, census, and vital records, and genetic genealogy sites. He also developed a number of utilities such as those that transliterate Hebrew or Russian to the Latin alphabet and vice versa, and has searches for various Holocaust and Eastern European records.
Charge: Free for CGSSD members; $10 for all non-members; should you join within three months following the event, the $10 will be credited toward your dues. You may pay at the door.
We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pine Road turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any A, B, or S space. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website http://irps.ucsd.edu/about/how-to-find-us.htm for driving directions and a map.
PARKING NOTICE: Parking for this meeting will be free. The previously announced change in parking will not take place until August 1.
Thank you to Linda Hervig for passing this notice to CGSSD members. I plan to attend this meeting and will report on the presentations, although I probably won't do a live Twitter feed.
The next meeting of the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) is Saturday, July 17, 2010, and features two presentations by Steve Morse about his One-Step Website at this meeting.
User Groups will not meet at this meeting.
This meeting will be in the large auditorium across the walk way from the usual meeting rooms at the student center. The meeting details are:
9:00 a.m. - A Potpourri of Genealogy Research Tools, by Steve Morse
10:50 a.m. - Break, refreshments (note change in time, this meeting only)
11:10 a.m. - A Hodgepodge of Lesser-Known Gems, by Steve Morse.
Stephen Morse is an electrical engineer and computer professional known for being the architect of the Intel 8086 chip which set the stage for personal computing as we know it; he is also an amateur genealogist who began researching his Russian-Jewish origins and wound up devising some wonderful tools for all genealogists to use in their own research on the internet. These web-based searching aids and his websites have made him a household name within the genealogical community, and garnered him a number of awards (2003 IAJGS Award for Outstanding Contribution to Jewish Genealogy, 2007 NGS Award of Merit, 2007 Association of Professional Genealogists Excellence Award, etc.).
Morse has developed at his site, http://www.stevemorse.org, more than 100 portals to other Internet sites that are superior to those offered by the host sites. He began his efforts in 2001 when the Ellis Island database was made available online. The Morse portal, the One-Step site, searches numerous other sites containing immigration records, census, and vital records, and genetic genealogy sites. He also developed a number of utilities such as those that transliterate Hebrew or Russian to the Latin alphabet and vice versa, and has searches for various Holocaust and Eastern European records.
Charge: Free for CGSSD members; $10 for all non-members; should you join within three months following the event, the $10 will be credited toward your dues. You may pay at the door.
We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pine Road turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any A, B, or S space. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website http://irps.ucsd.edu/about/how-to-find-us.htm for driving directions and a map.
PARKING NOTICE: Parking for this meeting will be free. The previously announced change in parking will not take place until August 1.
Thank you to Linda Hervig for passing this notice to CGSSD members. I plan to attend this meeting and will report on the presentations, although I probably won't do a live Twitter feed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)