The April program meeting of the San Diego Genealogical Society is this Saturday, 14 April, at 10 a.m. at St. Andrews Lutheran Church (8350 Lake Murray Blvd, just south of Jackson Drive).
The two program segments will be:
1) Joan Lowrey on "Passenger Lists: Did They Really Come on That Ship?"
You found your immigrant ancestor on a U.S. arriving passenger list. But can you be sure that he or she was actually on that ship, or that the ship really arrived on that date? How accurate are the various indexes? How accurate are the lists? Examples will be shown of some of the errors that have been found relating to arrival lists, and, if the ship left from Hamburg, how to verify whether the arrival list is correct.
2) David McCullough's Keynote Address at the April 2010 "Celebration of Family History" in Salt Lake City during the NGS Conference.
This DVD recording shows McCullough's informative and inspiring presentation as he relates how research for his prize winning books is very similar to genealogical research. David's books include 1776, John Adams, Truman, and The Johnstown Flood.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/sdgs-meeting-on-saturday-14-april-joan.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 200: Smith, Carringer and Dyar Families at the Beach
I am posting photographs from my family collections for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday (you know me, I can't go wordless!).
I started this series four years ago next week - this is Post 200 in the series (so it looks like I've missed eight weeks over four years!). The first post was Family Photographs - Post #1 (this was before we had a "Wordless Wednesday" meme). I want to post that first photograph:
I started this series four years ago next week - this is Post 200 in the series (so it looks like I've missed eight weeks over four years!). The first post was Family Photographs - Post #1 (this was before we had a "Wordless Wednesday" meme). I want to post that first photograph:
Fortunately, my great-grandmother, Della (Smith) Carringer wrote numbers on the bottom of the photograph and on the other side she wrote down the setting, the date, and who the people were.
This photograph was taken in February 1910 at Ocean Beach in the city of San Diego (Ocean Beach is on the ocean side of Point Loma, the peninsula that protects San Diego Bay from wind and waves). It appears to be taken on the sand looking east away from the water.
The people by number are (left to right):
1. Abigail (Vaux) Smith (in back), age 65, mother of Della, Matie and David.
2. Matie (Smith) Cramer (in back), age 43, sister of Della.
3. Maybelle Smith (in front), age 7, niece of Della, daughter of David and Amy (Ashdown) Smith.
4. Thomas Ashdown (in back), father of Amy (Ashdown) Smith, and father-in-law of David Smith.
5. Della (Smith) Carringer (shortest lady), age 48, my great-grandmother, wife of Austin Carringer, and mother of Lyle L. Carringer.
6. Beulah Dyar (in front), age 3, Della's first cousin once removed, daughter of Bert and Mary (Woodward) Dyar.
7. Amy (Ashdown) Smith (in back), age 43, wife of David D. Smith, daughter of Thomas Ashdown.
8. Cecil Dyar (in front), age 8, Della's first cousin once removed, son of Bert and Mary (Woodward) Dyar.
9. Mary (Woodward) Dyar (in back of Cecil), age 43, Della's first cousin (daughter of Mary Ann (Vaux) Woodward, sister of Abigail (Vaux) Smith).
10. Lyle Carringer (in back in white suit and hat), age 18, son of Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer, my grandfather.
11. Austin Carringer (in back with hat), age 56, husband of Della (Smith) Carringer.
12. Bert Dyar (in back with hat), age 43, husband of Mary (Woodward) Dyar.
13. David D. Smith (in front with hat), age 46, brother of Della (Smith) Carringer, and husband of Amy (Ashdown) Smith.
The Bert Dyar family moved from Boone County, Nebraska to Los Angeles County, California before 1910. Information about this family can be found here.
This photograph was in the possession of the Carringer family and the original resides in a photograph album currently in the possession of Randy Seaver.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-200.html
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Feeding my Family Tree - Massachusetts Folks
I reported in early March, in Feeding and Pruning my Genealogy Database, that I was deleting extraneous folks in my database and trying to add useful content (dates, places, sources) to persons without them.
As an example, I have hundreds (thousands?) of persons in my database with only a name. Usually these are parents of someone who married a person in one of my ancestral families. For instance, just at random, I have the birth, marriage and death information for Emma Clough (1847-1929), who married Charles Edson Seaver (1843-1881). The marriage record in the Massachusetts Vital Record, 1841-1910 collection (now online on the NEHGS American Ancestors site), told me that her parents were Joseph and Lucy (Humphrey) Clough. I added them to the database years ago. Now I want to add their birth, marriage and death information if I can find it.
My first choice is to find their marriage record in the Massachusetts VRs, but it is probably before 1847. I can use the Massachusetts Vital Records collection at American Ancestors (subscription required). I decided to search for marriages of Lucy Humphrey with no year restrictions. Here is the Search form on American Ancestors:
There were eight matches for my search terms:
The fourth one down the list tells me that she married Joseph Clough in 1832 in Pelham. Here is the page from the online Pelham VR book:
I can add this marriage record (24 May 1832 in Pelham) to my database, along with the Reference Note source citation (citing where I found it!):
"Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850," online database, New England Historic Genealogical Society (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 10 April 2012); citing Vital records of Pelham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1902), Pelham, Mass. Marriages, Page 120, Lucy Humphrey and Joseph Clough entry.
What about their death records? I easily found:
* Lucy Clough, wife of Joseph Clough, died 2 August 1890 in Chicopee, Mass, aged 81-5-6, in Boylston to Benjamin and ??? Humphrey (difficult to read).
* Joseph Clough died 8 July 1883 in Chicopee, Mass., aged 72-11, born in Chicopee to Joseph and Frances Clough. Here is his death record:
And the source for Joseph's death record:
"Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910," online database, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 10 April 2012), citing original data at Massachusetts State Archives, Deaths, Volume 346, Page 354, Chicopee: Joseph Clough entry.
Those death records give me two more Events to add to my database with sources. They also give me birth Events to find. I found:
* Joseph Clough, born 14 August 1810 in Springfield, Mass., parents Joseph and Frances Clough.
* Lucy Humphrey - I did not find a birth record in the VR books for Lucy. However, I can calculate her birth date from her death record as 27 February 1809. I will source this to the Death record, and add the calculation details to the source detail text field.
I added five more Events, with source citations, to my database in about ten minutes time. While these are derivative sources, they are taken from original sources and are "good enough" for me to use in my database. Before the Internet, it would have taken me about a day to find these four records using the microfilms at NEHGS or the FHL, and about a month to find them if I had to order microfilms at the FHC.
My purpose in adding these Events to my database are to help other researchers find their ancestral families using my database events and sources as finding aids. I don't care that much about this Clough family (note that I did not search for siblings of Emma Clough, nor did I add the parents and siblings of Joseph and Lucy (Humphrey) Clough to the database). It also gives the parents some event information in my database so that if someone searches and finds them in my online family tree, they may find the event data and should be able to take it from there. Lastly, it fills up some blank Events in my database! I really hate blank BMD events!
What if I was unable to find some or any of this information? Well, then I would have resorted to searching the U.S. Census records (or other records) for the family with Emma as a child and entered the approximate birth year and birth place in my database for the parents, with the census record as the source. For other states, I use the record collections on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. My last recourse is usually the online family trees at Ancestry.com and the Rootsweb WorldConnect sites. I don't like to add those, but they are "better than having a blank field" for a birth date and place. I have found that I can find some information for almost everyone in my database, but I know that I should not trust anything found in the online family trees.
Finding records like this to fill empty fields in my database has become the "fun" work for me in the afternoon and evening hours - I love the challenge of the hunt, and love to enrich my database.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/feeding-my-family-tree-massachusetts.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
As an example, I have hundreds (thousands?) of persons in my database with only a name. Usually these are parents of someone who married a person in one of my ancestral families. For instance, just at random, I have the birth, marriage and death information for Emma Clough (1847-1929), who married Charles Edson Seaver (1843-1881). The marriage record in the Massachusetts Vital Record, 1841-1910 collection (now online on the NEHGS American Ancestors site), told me that her parents were Joseph and Lucy (Humphrey) Clough. I added them to the database years ago. Now I want to add their birth, marriage and death information if I can find it.
My first choice is to find their marriage record in the Massachusetts VRs, but it is probably before 1847. I can use the Massachusetts Vital Records collection at American Ancestors (subscription required). I decided to search for marriages of Lucy Humphrey with no year restrictions. Here is the Search form on American Ancestors:
There were eight matches for my search terms:
The fourth one down the list tells me that she married Joseph Clough in 1832 in Pelham. Here is the page from the online Pelham VR book:
I can add this marriage record (24 May 1832 in Pelham) to my database, along with the Reference Note source citation (citing where I found it!):
"Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850," online database, New England Historic Genealogical Society (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 10 April 2012); citing Vital records of Pelham, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1902), Pelham, Mass. Marriages, Page 120, Lucy Humphrey and Joseph Clough entry.
What about their death records? I easily found:
* Lucy Clough, wife of Joseph Clough, died 2 August 1890 in Chicopee, Mass, aged 81-5-6, in Boylston to Benjamin and ??? Humphrey (difficult to read).
* Joseph Clough died 8 July 1883 in Chicopee, Mass., aged 72-11, born in Chicopee to Joseph and Frances Clough. Here is his death record:
And the source for Joseph's death record:
"Massachusetts Vital Records, 1841-1910," online database, New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors (http://www.AmericanAncestors.org : accessed 10 April 2012), citing original data at Massachusetts State Archives, Deaths, Volume 346, Page 354, Chicopee: Joseph Clough entry.
Those death records give me two more Events to add to my database with sources. They also give me birth Events to find. I found:
* Joseph Clough, born 14 August 1810 in Springfield, Mass., parents Joseph and Frances Clough.
* Lucy Humphrey - I did not find a birth record in the VR books for Lucy. However, I can calculate her birth date from her death record as 27 February 1809. I will source this to the Death record, and add the calculation details to the source detail text field.
I added five more Events, with source citations, to my database in about ten minutes time. While these are derivative sources, they are taken from original sources and are "good enough" for me to use in my database. Before the Internet, it would have taken me about a day to find these four records using the microfilms at NEHGS or the FHL, and about a month to find them if I had to order microfilms at the FHC.
My purpose in adding these Events to my database are to help other researchers find their ancestral families using my database events and sources as finding aids. I don't care that much about this Clough family (note that I did not search for siblings of Emma Clough, nor did I add the parents and siblings of Joseph and Lucy (Humphrey) Clough to the database). It also gives the parents some event information in my database so that if someone searches and finds them in my online family tree, they may find the event data and should be able to take it from there. Lastly, it fills up some blank Events in my database! I really hate blank BMD events!
What if I was unable to find some or any of this information? Well, then I would have resorted to searching the U.S. Census records (or other records) for the family with Emma as a child and entered the approximate birth year and birth place in my database for the parents, with the census record as the source. For other states, I use the record collections on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. My last recourse is usually the online family trees at Ancestry.com and the Rootsweb WorldConnect sites. I don't like to add those, but they are "better than having a blank field" for a birth date and place. I have found that I can find some information for almost everyone in my database, but I know that I should not trust anything found in the online family trees.
Finding records like this to fill empty fields in my database has become the "fun" work for me in the afternoon and evening hours - I love the challenge of the hunt, and love to enrich my database.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/feeding-my-family-tree-massachusetts.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
Accuracy in FamilySearch Indexing - My Results To Date
FamilySearch Indexing is sort of fun - I enjoy both the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment and helping the genealogy community. However - there is JUDGMENT after every batch is submitted.
I thought that I would review the three batches of 1940 U.S. Census enumerations that I have submitted to date. All three have been arbitrated already, which means that I, another indexer, and an arbitrator have reviewed them, and the arbitrator has selected the "final" indexed information where there were differences between the two indexers.
Here is the page of my Indexed batches to date (from the Indexing program, click on "Arbitration Results" and then on "Review Batches" which opens your browser to the FamilySearch Indexing page, you log in, and then see your results summary):
The three 1940 U.S. Census batches are at the top of the list. My arbitration results are 99%, 97% and 98% for these three batches.
When you click on the batch of interest, the screen opens with the page image in the upper half and the indexing information in the bottom half. On the left side is the Record List section, where the line number on the image is the second part of each number. If there is an error in the line, the line number has an asterisk.
The middle portion of the bottom half is the "Field List" which highlights the error in the Record in brown. The right side has "Field Help" for the specific field of interest.
In the screen below, you can see that I had an error on Line 31 in the Field for 1935 Residence State or Country:
For the batch that I indexed on 4 April from Colorado, I had these errors:
* Line 31, Field = 1935 State/Country: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = Colorado. Correct! I missed it.
* Line 32, Field = 1935 State/Country: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = Colorado. Correct! I missed it.
* Line 34, Field = Relationship: Randy = Wife, Arbitrated = Son. Correct.
* Line 36, Field = 1935 State/country: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = Colorado Correct. I missed it.
* Line 37, Field = Age: Randy = 36, Arbitrated = 26. Correct.
For the batch that I indexed on 5 April from California (Alameda County), I had these errors:
* Line 1, Field = Age: Randy = 44, Arbitrated = 66. Difficult to decipher, probably correct.
* Line 2, Field = Age: Randy = 42, Arbitrated = 63. Difficult to decipher, probably correct.
* Line 4, Field = Relationship: Randy = Grand daughter, Arbitrated = Granddaughter. I typed what I saw, two separate words.
* Line 5, Field = Line No.: Randy = 5, Arbitrated = blank. Line 5 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 6, Field = Line No.: Randy = 6, Arbitrated = blank. Line 6 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 9, Field = Relationship: Randy = Mother in Law, Arbitrated = Mother-in-Law. I typed what I saw. * Line 10, Field = Relationship: Randy = Brother in Law, Arbitrated = Brother-in-Law. I typed what I saw.
* Line 11, Field = Line No.: Randy = 11, Arbitrated = blank. Line 11 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 12, Field = Line No.: Randy = 12, Arbitrated = blank. Line 12 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 21, Field = Birthplace: Randy = Azore Island, Arbitrated = Azores. I typed what I saw.
* Line 29, Field = Line No. Randy = 29, Arbitrated = blank. Line 29 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 37, Field = Line No.: Randy = 37, Arbitrated = blank. Line 37 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 38, Field = Line No.: Randy = 38, Arbitrated = blank. Line 38 had no data entered, number crossed out.
Here is a screen showing Lines 5 and 6 from this batch. There are no data entries on these lines, only notes. The Line No. on the far left is crossed out:
I took note of the above before I did the third batch of California (Fresno County) on 8 April. The very first line of my batch has no data on it, and the line number is crossed out:
The errors I made in this batch are (mostly Japanese, Chines and Yugoslavian names):
* Line 1, Field = Line No.: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = 1. go figure!
* Line 5, Field = Given Names: Randy = Edna, Arbitrated = Edne. Disputed.
* Line 9, Field = Given Name: Randy = Norman, Arbitrated = Normen. Disputed.
* Line 13, Field = Given Name: Randy = Shie, Arbitrated = Shee. Could be either.
* Line 17, Field = Line No.: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = 17.
* Line 18, Field = Given Name: Randy = Justine, Arbitrated = Justina. Correct.
* Line 22, Field = Given Name: Randy = Teruishi, Arbitrated = Teruichi. Disputed. Looks like "s" to me.
* Line 24, Field = 1935 State/Country: Randy = California, arbitrated = blank. Correct.
* Line 27, Field = Age: Randy = 57, Arbitrated = 51. probably correct. difficult to decipher.
* Line 31, Field = Given Name: Randy = Dioncia, Arbitrated = Dianda. Disputed. Letters ran together.
* Line 36, Field = Given Name: Randy = Kikuo, Arbitrated = Kikus. Disputed. No doubt in my mind!
The screen below is for the given name Teruishi in Line 22. I think it looks like an "s": and doesn't look like a "c":
For many of the ones that I disagree with the arbitrated value, I clicked on the "Feedback" link and saw:
The text in the popup box says:
We welcome your feedback. The most common causes for arbitration changes are:
Please Review
If you have any questions or need clarification about how certain fields should be indexed, please click here to contact us.
I clicked on the "Please Review" button for the items I disputed. I don't know what kind of information will come back to me, but we'll see.
In summary, I see that I made some outright errors of omission and commission (ages, relationships, states), but I also had differences of opinion on the names and the line number problems. For each of my problems, the Field Help was no help at all.
As shown above, the Line Number for a line with no information was required by one arbitrator, but was not required by another arbitrator. I disagreed with the arbitrator both times. I don't know if there is a standard for this. I couldn't find it in the Resource Guide.
I was dinged for three Relationships and one Country name. Are there standard lists for these? If so, will someone please tell me!!
UPDATED: I found the "standard lists" for relationships and country names. They are on the dropdown lists for those fields (thank you, Candace in comments).
There are 560 separate fields on each 1940 Census page (14 columns, 40 lines), and I had 5, 13 and 11 errors on the three batches arbitrated. I disputed about half of them!
My purpose in writing this was to highlight some of the Indexing problems that I've faced, to show the review process, and to raise the issue of the Line Numbers when there is no data in the other fields..
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/accuracy-in-familysearch-indexing-my.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
I thought that I would review the three batches of 1940 U.S. Census enumerations that I have submitted to date. All three have been arbitrated already, which means that I, another indexer, and an arbitrator have reviewed them, and the arbitrator has selected the "final" indexed information where there were differences between the two indexers.
Here is the page of my Indexed batches to date (from the Indexing program, click on "Arbitration Results" and then on "Review Batches" which opens your browser to the FamilySearch Indexing page, you log in, and then see your results summary):
The three 1940 U.S. Census batches are at the top of the list. My arbitration results are 99%, 97% and 98% for these three batches.
When you click on the batch of interest, the screen opens with the page image in the upper half and the indexing information in the bottom half. On the left side is the Record List section, where the line number on the image is the second part of each number. If there is an error in the line, the line number has an asterisk.
The middle portion of the bottom half is the "Field List" which highlights the error in the Record in brown. The right side has "Field Help" for the specific field of interest.
In the screen below, you can see that I had an error on Line 31 in the Field for 1935 Residence State or Country:
For the batch that I indexed on 4 April from Colorado, I had these errors:
* Line 31, Field = 1935 State/Country: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = Colorado. Correct! I missed it.
* Line 32, Field = 1935 State/Country: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = Colorado. Correct! I missed it.
* Line 34, Field = Relationship: Randy = Wife, Arbitrated = Son. Correct.
* Line 36, Field = 1935 State/country: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = Colorado Correct. I missed it.
* Line 37, Field = Age: Randy = 36, Arbitrated = 26. Correct.
For the batch that I indexed on 5 April from California (Alameda County), I had these errors:
* Line 1, Field = Age: Randy = 44, Arbitrated = 66. Difficult to decipher, probably correct.
* Line 2, Field = Age: Randy = 42, Arbitrated = 63. Difficult to decipher, probably correct.
* Line 4, Field = Relationship: Randy = Grand daughter, Arbitrated = Granddaughter. I typed what I saw, two separate words.
* Line 5, Field = Line No.: Randy = 5, Arbitrated = blank. Line 5 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 6, Field = Line No.: Randy = 6, Arbitrated = blank. Line 6 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 9, Field = Relationship: Randy = Mother in Law, Arbitrated = Mother-in-Law. I typed what I saw. * Line 10, Field = Relationship: Randy = Brother in Law, Arbitrated = Brother-in-Law. I typed what I saw.
* Line 11, Field = Line No.: Randy = 11, Arbitrated = blank. Line 11 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 12, Field = Line No.: Randy = 12, Arbitrated = blank. Line 12 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 21, Field = Birthplace: Randy = Azore Island, Arbitrated = Azores. I typed what I saw.
* Line 29, Field = Line No. Randy = 29, Arbitrated = blank. Line 29 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 37, Field = Line No.: Randy = 37, Arbitrated = blank. Line 37 had no data entered, number crossed out.
* Line 38, Field = Line No.: Randy = 38, Arbitrated = blank. Line 38 had no data entered, number crossed out.
Here is a screen showing Lines 5 and 6 from this batch. There are no data entries on these lines, only notes. The Line No. on the far left is crossed out:
I took note of the above before I did the third batch of California (Fresno County) on 8 April. The very first line of my batch has no data on it, and the line number is crossed out:
The errors I made in this batch are (mostly Japanese, Chines and Yugoslavian names):
* Line 1, Field = Line No.: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = 1. go figure!
* Line 5, Field = Given Names: Randy = Edna, Arbitrated = Edne. Disputed.
* Line 9, Field = Given Name: Randy = Norman, Arbitrated = Normen. Disputed.
* Line 13, Field = Given Name: Randy = Shie, Arbitrated = Shee. Could be either.
* Line 17, Field = Line No.: Randy = blank, Arbitrated = 17.
* Line 18, Field = Given Name: Randy = Justine, Arbitrated = Justina. Correct.
* Line 22, Field = Given Name: Randy = Teruishi, Arbitrated = Teruichi. Disputed. Looks like "s" to me.
* Line 24, Field = 1935 State/Country: Randy = California, arbitrated = blank. Correct.
* Line 27, Field = Age: Randy = 57, Arbitrated = 51. probably correct. difficult to decipher.
* Line 31, Field = Given Name: Randy = Dioncia, Arbitrated = Dianda. Disputed. Letters ran together.
* Line 36, Field = Given Name: Randy = Kikuo, Arbitrated = Kikus. Disputed. No doubt in my mind!
The screen below is for the given name Teruishi in Line 22. I think it looks like an "s": and doesn't look like a "c":
For many of the ones that I disagree with the arbitrated value, I clicked on the "Feedback" link and saw:
The text in the popup box says:
We welcome your feedback. The most common causes for arbitration changes are:
- Different interpretations of the original handwriting.
- Not following the guidelines in the project helps.
I clicked on the "Please Review" button for the items I disputed. I don't know what kind of information will come back to me, but we'll see.
In summary, I see that I made some outright errors of omission and commission (ages, relationships, states), but I also had differences of opinion on the names and the line number problems. For each of my problems, the Field Help was no help at all.
As shown above, the Line Number for a line with no information was required by one arbitrator, but was not required by another arbitrator. I disagreed with the arbitrator both times. I don't know if there is a standard for this. I couldn't find it in the Resource Guide.
I was dinged for three Relationships and one Country name. Are there standard lists for these? If so, will someone please tell me!!
UPDATED: I found the "standard lists" for relationships and country names. They are on the dropdown lists for those fields (thank you, Candace in comments).
There are 560 separate fields on each 1940 Census page (14 columns, 40 lines), and I had 5, 13 and 11 errors on the three batches arbitrated. I disputed about half of them!
My purpose in writing this was to highlight some of the Indexing problems that I've faced, to show the review process, and to raise the issue of the Line Numbers when there is no data in the other fields..
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/accuracy-in-familysearch-indexing-my.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
Tuesday's Tip - Find New York Records on FamilySearch
This week's Tuesday's Tip is: Check out the list of New York records in the FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.
I created the list of New York collections by putting "new york" in the search box at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list. There were 24 collections listed as of today.
The collections include:
* Vital Records - Births and Christenings (1640-1962); Marriages (1686-1980), County Marriages (1908-1935), Deaths and Burials (1795-1952).
* State Census Records - 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905
* Passenger Lists - New York (1820-1891), Index to Passenger Lists (1820-1846), Passenger Arrival lists (1892-1924), Passenger and Crew Lists (1925-1942), Northern Arrival Manifests (1902-1956)
* Naturalization Records - County Naturalization Records (1792-1976), Eastern District Naturalization Petitions (1865-1957), Southern District Index to Naturalization Petitions (1824-1941), Southern District Naturalization Index (1917-1950), Western District Naturalization Index (1907-1966)
* Probate Records - Kings County Estate Files (1866-1923), Orange County Probate Records (1787-1938), New York Probate Records (1629-1971), Queens County Probate Records (1899-1921)
* Church Records - Saint Peter's Lutheran Church Records (New York City) (1862-1955)
* Civil War Records - Service Records of Union Soldiers (1861-1865)
Some of the collections are indexed, and some are browse only (which means you have to search without an index).
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/tuesdays-tip-find-new-york-records-on.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
I created the list of New York collections by putting "new york" in the search box at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list. There were 24 collections listed as of today.
The collections include:
* Vital Records - Births and Christenings (1640-1962); Marriages (1686-1980), County Marriages (1908-1935), Deaths and Burials (1795-1952).
* State Census Records - 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905
* Passenger Lists - New York (1820-1891), Index to Passenger Lists (1820-1846), Passenger Arrival lists (1892-1924), Passenger and Crew Lists (1925-1942), Northern Arrival Manifests (1902-1956)
* Naturalization Records - County Naturalization Records (1792-1976), Eastern District Naturalization Petitions (1865-1957), Southern District Index to Naturalization Petitions (1824-1941), Southern District Naturalization Index (1917-1950), Western District Naturalization Index (1907-1966)
* Probate Records - Kings County Estate Files (1866-1923), Orange County Probate Records (1787-1938), New York Probate Records (1629-1971), Queens County Probate Records (1899-1921)
* Church Records - Saint Peter's Lutheran Church Records (New York City) (1862-1955)
* Civil War Records - Service Records of Union Soldiers (1861-1865)
Some of the collections are indexed, and some are browse only (which means you have to search without an index).
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/tuesdays-tip-find-new-york-records-on.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
Monday, April 9, 2012
Titanic Memorial Infographic from Geni.com
Geni.com sent along this interesting Infographic about the Titanic:
Create your family tree on Geni for free, and connect to the World Family Tree
to find out if you're related to any of the Titanic passengers.
to find out if you're related to any of the Titanic passengers.
Before Doing FamilySearch Indexing, RTFM
I admit to doing stupid things...like doing FamilySearch Indexing without Reading the Fancy Manual (RTFM). In Latin, legere stupri manual (LSM).
No one told me that there was a Manual. Well, maybe they told me, but I sure don't recall seeing a link to it. Frankly, I just jumped into FamilySearch Indexing because I wanted to help out with the 1940 U.S. Census. Just DO it...so I did. And made some misteaks...
Let's back up: I've been getting less than 100% ratings for my arbitrated FamilySearch Indexing on the 1940 U.s. Census. There is a way to find out the errors I've made, but rather than do the wrong things over again I figured that I should RTFM. So here I am...mea culpa!
On the FamilySearch Indexing program, the "Indexing Web Links" tab provides links to a number of articles and documents:
There are links on this Tab for Indexing Resources (Resource Guide, Indexing Tutorials, Ask a Question, FamilySearch Indexing Projects, and Partner Projects) and FamilySearch Websites (FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch Indexing, FamilySearch Record Search and FamilySearch Research Wiki).
The official, 124 page Resource Guide for FamilySearch Indexing is located at http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/FHD/Local_Support/FamilySearchIndexing/EN/fsi_user_guide.pdf. Here's the first page of the document:
The Basic Indexing Guidelines are in Chapter 3, starting on page 59:
The sub-headings for this chapter include:
* Type what you see
* Type using lowercase letters
* Adding diacritics or other characters
* Clearing a field or record
* Copying from a previous field and record (Ditto marks)
* Correcting information that was recorded incorrectly
* Entering corrected or crossed-out information
* Indexing unreadable fields and records
* Interpreting difficult handwriting
* Marking blank fields and records
* What are wavy lines and colored backgrounds?
* Using a lookup list
* Using auto-completion
* Managing the field history
* Using standard editing features
* Short-cut keys and buttons
* Indexing Names
*** Index the most complete name
*** Abbreviations
*** Maiden names
*** Name titles and terms
*** Name variations
*** Name prefixes
*** No middle name
*** No surname
*** Punctuation
*** Quotes and parentheses
*** Women with husband's name
*** Names of Catholic nuns and fathers
*** Names from other cultures
*** Two names on the same line
*** Two spouses or parents
* Indexing Dates
*** Missing dates
*** Dates listed as numbers
*** Dual dates
*** Date ranges
*** Recent dates
* Indexing Ages
*** Single age field for day, month, and year
*** Separate age field for day, month, and year
*** Year-only age field
* Indexing Places
*** Place Names
* Indexing Unusual Images
*** Blank images
*** Duplicate images
*** Unreadable images
*** Images with overlays
*** Part of the image is missing
*** Images with indexes
*** Images with other information
The other chapters cover what Indexing is, Adjusting the Indexing screen, getting help, getting training, arbitration, etc.
So - the Lesson Learned here is: If you are going to do FamilySearch Indexing, then RTFM (or legere stupri manual)!
Be honest - did you RTFM before starting FamilySearch Indexing?
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/before-doing-familysearch-indexing-rtfm.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
No one told me that there was a Manual. Well, maybe they told me, but I sure don't recall seeing a link to it. Frankly, I just jumped into FamilySearch Indexing because I wanted to help out with the 1940 U.S. Census. Just DO it...so I did. And made some misteaks...
Let's back up: I've been getting less than 100% ratings for my arbitrated FamilySearch Indexing on the 1940 U.s. Census. There is a way to find out the errors I've made, but rather than do the wrong things over again I figured that I should RTFM. So here I am...mea culpa!
On the FamilySearch Indexing program, the "Indexing Web Links" tab provides links to a number of articles and documents:
There are links on this Tab for Indexing Resources (Resource Guide, Indexing Tutorials, Ask a Question, FamilySearch Indexing Projects, and Partner Projects) and FamilySearch Websites (FamilySearch.org, FamilySearch Indexing, FamilySearch Record Search and FamilySearch Research Wiki).
The official, 124 page Resource Guide for FamilySearch Indexing is located at http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/FHD/Local_Support/FamilySearchIndexing/EN/fsi_user_guide.pdf. Here's the first page of the document:
The Basic Indexing Guidelines are in Chapter 3, starting on page 59:
The sub-headings for this chapter include:
* Type what you see
* Type using lowercase letters
* Adding diacritics or other characters
* Clearing a field or record
* Copying from a previous field and record (Ditto marks)
* Correcting information that was recorded incorrectly
* Entering corrected or crossed-out information
* Indexing unreadable fields and records
* Interpreting difficult handwriting
* Marking blank fields and records
* What are wavy lines and colored backgrounds?
* Using a lookup list
* Using auto-completion
* Managing the field history
* Using standard editing features
* Short-cut keys and buttons
* Indexing Names
*** Index the most complete name
*** Abbreviations
*** Maiden names
*** Name titles and terms
*** Name variations
*** Name prefixes
*** No middle name
*** No surname
*** Punctuation
*** Quotes and parentheses
*** Women with husband's name
*** Names of Catholic nuns and fathers
*** Names from other cultures
*** Two names on the same line
*** Two spouses or parents
* Indexing Dates
*** Missing dates
*** Dates listed as numbers
*** Dual dates
*** Date ranges
*** Recent dates
* Indexing Ages
*** Single age field for day, month, and year
*** Separate age field for day, month, and year
*** Year-only age field
* Indexing Places
*** Place Names
* Indexing Unusual Images
*** Blank images
*** Duplicate images
*** Unreadable images
*** Images with overlays
*** Part of the image is missing
*** Images with indexes
*** Images with other information
The other chapters cover what Indexing is, Adjusting the Indexing screen, getting help, getting training, arbitration, etc.
So - the Lesson Learned here is: If you are going to do FamilySearch Indexing, then RTFM (or legere stupri manual)!
Be honest - did you RTFM before starting FamilySearch Indexing?
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/before-doing-familysearch-indexing-rtfm.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
1940 U.S. Census Lessons Learned - Read the Whole ED
Last week, I tried to find my wife's grandparents residing in San Francisco in the time of the 1940 U.S. census. Severt and Amelia Leland resided at 1287 37th Avenue in San Francisco in the 1930 U.S. Census, and my brother-in-law told me that they lived there in 1940.
I easily found the Enumeration District using the Steve Mores ED Finder on Ancestry.com - the block was bounded by Irving on the south, Lincoln on the north, and the back street was 38th Avenue. The ED is 38-405 (64 images).
My first attempt was a failure - I found what looked like 1287 37th Avenue on the very first page of the ED. Here is the left-hand portion of the page:
The address is not real clear - it looked like 1287 the first time I looked at it. Perhaps it is 1289, 1287, 1285, 1283, etc. But this was not the Leland family, it was the Sinclair family. The given names are not like the Leland names, it is definitely not the Severt Leland family.
I verified with my brother-in-law last night that they lived at 1287 37th Avenue until Severt died in November 1940. Then I recalled that I had not searched the entire Enumeration district - I had stopped when I saw the "1287" entry above.
I reviewed the whole Enumeration District last night and finally found them on image 39, which was Sheet 61A (the first sheet of the missed families). Here is the top of the census page:
There are all the family members I expected to see, but the last name is Sebert and the given names are Leland, Amelia, Alda, Juanita and Diane. Amelia provided the information, and somehow the enumerator wrote down the last name as her husband's first name, and his first name as the family last name. In addition, the Severt name is misspelled as Sebert. Anyone searching an index for this family will not find them with a standard first name - last name search for any of the family members.
Another problem here is the last name of Alda (a daughter, age 25, divorced) and granddaughter Diane (Alda's daughter, age 4) - they are both listed as Sebert. They had Alda's first husband's last name at this time, and the informant either misstated their last names or forgot (perhaps conveniently). Again, someone looking for Diane in the census will have a hard time finding her in an Index search when it is available. Ancestry.com has the ability to add index information and I will try to do that when the index is available.
I saved the page to my hard drive so that I can send it to my brother-in-law.
The lessons learned here are:
1) Read every page in an Enumeration District for the persons in your target family.
2) Look for the address and if you don't find it, be sure all pages, and not stop at the page with what appears to be the correct address.
3) Be alert for spelling variations of the names, and always consider the potential switch of first and last names. The enumerators, or their informants, were not always accurate.
4) Be alert for divorced daughters, and children of the divorced daughters, who might be listed with the daughter's maiden name rather than her married name.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/1940-us-census-lessons-learned-read.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
I easily found the Enumeration District using the Steve Mores ED Finder on Ancestry.com - the block was bounded by Irving on the south, Lincoln on the north, and the back street was 38th Avenue. The ED is 38-405 (64 images).
My first attempt was a failure - I found what looked like 1287 37th Avenue on the very first page of the ED. Here is the left-hand portion of the page:
The address is not real clear - it looked like 1287 the first time I looked at it. Perhaps it is 1289, 1287, 1285, 1283, etc. But this was not the Leland family, it was the Sinclair family. The given names are not like the Leland names, it is definitely not the Severt Leland family.
I verified with my brother-in-law last night that they lived at 1287 37th Avenue until Severt died in November 1940. Then I recalled that I had not searched the entire Enumeration district - I had stopped when I saw the "1287" entry above.
I reviewed the whole Enumeration District last night and finally found them on image 39, which was Sheet 61A (the first sheet of the missed families). Here is the top of the census page:
There are all the family members I expected to see, but the last name is Sebert and the given names are Leland, Amelia, Alda, Juanita and Diane. Amelia provided the information, and somehow the enumerator wrote down the last name as her husband's first name, and his first name as the family last name. In addition, the Severt name is misspelled as Sebert. Anyone searching an index for this family will not find them with a standard first name - last name search for any of the family members.
Another problem here is the last name of Alda (a daughter, age 25, divorced) and granddaughter Diane (Alda's daughter, age 4) - they are both listed as Sebert. They had Alda's first husband's last name at this time, and the informant either misstated their last names or forgot (perhaps conveniently). Again, someone looking for Diane in the census will have a hard time finding her in an Index search when it is available. Ancestry.com has the ability to add index information and I will try to do that when the index is available.
I saved the page to my hard drive so that I can send it to my brother-in-law.
The lessons learned here are:
1) Read every page in an Enumeration District for the persons in your target family.
2) Look for the address and if you don't find it, be sure all pages, and not stop at the page with what appears to be the correct address.
3) Be alert for spelling variations of the names, and always consider the potential switch of first and last names. The enumerators, or their informants, were not always accurate.
4) Be alert for divorced daughters, and children of the divorced daughters, who might be listed with the daughter's maiden name rather than her married name.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/1940-us-census-lessons-learned-read.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Thomas Greenman (1669-1728) of Kingstown, Rhode Island
Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:
"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the probate records of Thomas Greenman (1669-1728) of Kingstown, Rhode Island. He married Mary Weeden (1673-1743) before 1690, and they had three children: Sylvanus Greenman (1690-1763), Silas Greenman (1692-1778), and Judith Greenman (1694-1786).
Thomas Greenman of South Kingstown died testate, having written a will dated 30 October 1728 and proved 14 October 1728. The will reads (transcribed by Randy Seaver from South Kingstown Probate and Town Council Records, Volume 2, Page 123, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,931,833, a clerk's copy):
"In the Fear of God the Last or thirtyeth day October 1728 I Thomas Greenman of South Kingstown Taylor in the Colony of Rhode Island and providence plantation in New England Being very Sick and Weak in body but of perfect Mind and memory thanks be given to god therefore and Knowing that it is appointed that all men must Dye do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament yt is to say principally and first of all I recommend my Soul into the hands of god that gave it and my body I Recommend to the Earth to be buried in decent Christian buriel at the discrestion of my Executor and Executrix and as Touching Such Worldly Estate which hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give demise and dispose of the Same in the following manner and form
"Imprimus I give and bequeath to Mary dearly beloved wife after all my just debts be paid & discharged the third part of my moveable Estate and the third part of what my house and Land may be sold for and the rest of my estate my will is yt my Sons shall each of them twice as much as each of my Daughters and I do Intend of the money yt is my meaning also I make my wife my executrix and I do make Capt. Wm Clark of Westerly in the Colony aforesd my Ex-r with my wife if he will Except of it but if he will not except it Then my will is that my wife shall be my hole and Sole Executrix and my will is that my Executrix and Executor shall sell my land and building to pay my Just Debts but if my Executor do not except of it then my will is that my Executrix may do it herself and I do declare this to be my last will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal the year and day of the date above written
Thomas Greenman (Seal)
"Signed & Sealed to be his
Last will & Testement [sic]
In presence of
Job Card
Jer-h Clark
Jos-h Hull"
"Mr. Jos-h Hall & Job Card both So Kingstown appeared before the Town Council of South Kingstown the 14 Day of October An Dom 1728 and on there Engagement declared that they Saw Thomas Greenman Late of So Kingstown Deceased Sign Seal Publish & Declare the above Instrument to be his Last will and Testament and that he was in his perfect Mind & Memory and also declared that they Signed as Witnesses in the Testators ????? at the Same Time & that they also saw Jeremiah Clark Sign as Witness at the same time Signed by Wm Robinson Clerk of Court Recorded November 11 1728"
"The Town Council of South Kingstown has this Day granted unto Capt. Wm Clark and Mary Greenman Ex-r and adm-on Executrix to the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Greenman Late Deceased adm-on upon the Estate of Thomas Greenman aforesd lying and being in So Kingstown aforesaid wee his Maj-ties Justices by and with the advice of the town Counc-l of sd Town being Impowered by the laws of this Colony for the granting of probate of wills and Letters of adm-on within the Town aforesd Wm Clark Executor and Mary Greenman Executrix to the last Will and Testament of Thomas Greenman Deceased aforesd we Trusting in your Care and fidelity do by these presents Council unto you both Joyntly and Severall full power to adm-or upon all and Singular the Goods Chattels Rights and Credits of Thomas Greenman Deceased and well and faithfully to Levey Recover and Receive all and whatsoever Debts and Dues and to dispose of the Same according to Law, and to pay all debts in w-ch the deceased Thomas Greenman Stood bound so far as his goods Chattles Rights and Credits can Extend according to the value thereof and to make a True and perfect Inventory of and Singular the goods Chattles Rights and Credits of the Said deceased and to Exhibit the Same with the Town Council abovesd of Probate for the Town aforesd at or before One Twelve Month & a day after the date hereof and to Render a Plain and True accompt of your adm-on upon Oath and we do by these presents ordain Constitute and appoint you Wm Clark and Mary Greenman both Joyntly adm-or of all and Singular the goods Chattles Rights and Credits aforesd. In Testimony thereof we hereunto Sett Our hands and Seals dated In So Kingstown the 11th day of November Anno domini 1728 Sign by order of the Council Robt Hannah C Council."
An inventory of the personal estate of Thomas Greenman of South Kingstown deceased was taken by Benjamin Ranolds and Jonathan Turner on 24 October 1728. The total of the estate was not written down. The inventory includes:
* one yoke of Oxen - 15--00--00
* six cows three yearlings & two calfs - 32--00--00
* one mare and colt& one horse - 10--00--00
* 32 sheep and 8 lambs - 12--10--00
* 5 hogs and four shote - 8--00--00
* 15 geese - 1--02--06
* hay & a small stack of oats corn stacks - 19--00--00
* one Crib of Indian corn - 10--10--00
* Cart boxes & chains grinston & other irons - 3--11--00
* his wearing apparel - 6--12--00
* one pare of Curtains - 1--10--00
* a pare of sheets & some linen - 4--10--00
* one bed & beding & coverlead bedsted - 9--06--00
* one frock bead & sum beading - 1--10--00
* one frock bead & blankets - 2--10--00
* one bed & beading & bedsted -- 5--00--00
* two Coverleds and one blanket - 4--00--00
* seven bushels of beens & four bushels of weet - 3--07--00
* five bushels of Indian Corn & one of Rye - 1--07-00
* 46 pounds of sheeps wool - 3--09--00
* 6 ?? of corse wool - 0--08--00
* old Chest box and old trunk - 0--11--00
* a Table & warming pan - 2--10--00
* a Taylors goose and shears & fryin pan - 0--10--00
* one pr of tongs & fire shovel - 0--08--00
* one Gun and 1 box iron - 1--15--00
* 10 ?? of spun woosted with yarn - 3--12--06
* five pounds of Corse Yarn - 0--10--00
* Spining wheel & some Earthen Ware - 1--04--00
* one Tub sum pork & one bushel barley - 2--00--00
* three barrels of Syder & four Old Suder Tubs - 2--10--00
* two Suder tubs with butter - 3--00--00
* 2 old Tubs & trays & old pads (?) & one little churn - 0--15--00
* one old Sadle and pilyon Carl ropes & 1 Oger - 1--01--06
* one woosted Comb and a small percel of Salt - 0--15--00
* one old hogshead 2 barrels & one padlock - 0--08--00
* old Chears and a Candelstick - 0--15--00
* puter and Tinn - 8--10--00
* 2 Tramels one Iron pott & two Iron Kettles - 2--02--00
* one pare of Small Shillards (?) & 2 old Staffs - 0--09--00
* a Ly?? baggs & some hogs fatt - 0--10--00
* paper bills of Credit - 2--05--00
* One bond due to the Estate - 25--00--00
Adding the values of the different items results in at least 215 pounds (some values are difficult to read).
On 20 March 1728/9, Mary Greenman, Executor of Thomas Greenman late of South Kingstown deceased appeared before the town Council of South Kingstown and declared on her solemn engagement that she did exhibit a true and perfect inventory of all the personal estate that did belong to her deceased husband to the apprizers.
On 10 March 1728/9, Jonathan Turner and Benjamin Raynolds appeared before the town council of South Kingstown and declared on there solemn engagement that they did inventory the estate of Thomas Greenman to the true value thereof according to the best of their understanding.
Thomas Greenman did not name any of his children in his will, and they are not named in the resulting probate records in the South Kingstown record book. Apparently, I'm missing at least one daughter in the list of children, since he mentions "each of my daughters." I am descended from Judith Greenman, the wife of Job Card (1690-1760), who was a witness to the signing of the will. Was another daughter married to Jeremiah Clarke or Joseph Hull (the other witnesses) or to Jonathan Turner or Benjamin Raynolds (the ones who took the inventory)?
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/amanuensis-monday-probate-records-of_09.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."
The subject today is the probate records of Thomas Greenman (1669-1728) of Kingstown, Rhode Island. He married Mary Weeden (1673-1743) before 1690, and they had three children: Sylvanus Greenman (1690-1763), Silas Greenman (1692-1778), and Judith Greenman (1694-1786).
Thomas Greenman of South Kingstown died testate, having written a will dated 30 October 1728 and proved 14 October 1728. The will reads (transcribed by Randy Seaver from South Kingstown Probate and Town Council Records, Volume 2, Page 123, accessed on FHL Microfilm 0,931,833, a clerk's copy):
"In the Fear of God the Last or thirtyeth day October 1728 I Thomas Greenman of South Kingstown Taylor in the Colony of Rhode Island and providence plantation in New England Being very Sick and Weak in body but of perfect Mind and memory thanks be given to god therefore and Knowing that it is appointed that all men must Dye do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament yt is to say principally and first of all I recommend my Soul into the hands of god that gave it and my body I Recommend to the Earth to be buried in decent Christian buriel at the discrestion of my Executor and Executrix and as Touching Such Worldly Estate which hath pleased God to bless me in this life, I give demise and dispose of the Same in the following manner and form
"Imprimus I give and bequeath to Mary dearly beloved wife after all my just debts be paid & discharged the third part of my moveable Estate and the third part of what my house and Land may be sold for and the rest of my estate my will is yt my Sons shall each of them twice as much as each of my Daughters and I do Intend of the money yt is my meaning also I make my wife my executrix and I do make Capt. Wm Clark of Westerly in the Colony aforesd my Ex-r with my wife if he will Except of it but if he will not except it Then my will is that my wife shall be my hole and Sole Executrix and my will is that my Executrix and Executor shall sell my land and building to pay my Just Debts but if my Executor do not except of it then my will is that my Executrix may do it herself and I do declare this to be my last will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal the year and day of the date above written
Thomas Greenman (Seal)
"Signed & Sealed to be his
Last will & Testement [sic]
In presence of
Job Card
Jer-h Clark
Jos-h Hull"
"Mr. Jos-h Hall & Job Card both So Kingstown appeared before the Town Council of South Kingstown the 14 Day of October An Dom 1728 and on there Engagement declared that they Saw Thomas Greenman Late of So Kingstown Deceased Sign Seal Publish & Declare the above Instrument to be his Last will and Testament and that he was in his perfect Mind & Memory and also declared that they Signed as Witnesses in the Testators ????? at the Same Time & that they also saw Jeremiah Clark Sign as Witness at the same time Signed by Wm Robinson Clerk of Court Recorded November 11 1728"
"The Town Council of South Kingstown has this Day granted unto Capt. Wm Clark and Mary Greenman Ex-r and adm-on Executrix to the Last Will and Testament of Thomas Greenman Late Deceased adm-on upon the Estate of Thomas Greenman aforesd lying and being in So Kingstown aforesaid wee his Maj-ties Justices by and with the advice of the town Counc-l of sd Town being Impowered by the laws of this Colony for the granting of probate of wills and Letters of adm-on within the Town aforesd Wm Clark Executor and Mary Greenman Executrix to the last Will and Testament of Thomas Greenman Deceased aforesd we Trusting in your Care and fidelity do by these presents Council unto you both Joyntly and Severall full power to adm-or upon all and Singular the Goods Chattels Rights and Credits of Thomas Greenman Deceased and well and faithfully to Levey Recover and Receive all and whatsoever Debts and Dues and to dispose of the Same according to Law, and to pay all debts in w-ch the deceased Thomas Greenman Stood bound so far as his goods Chattles Rights and Credits can Extend according to the value thereof and to make a True and perfect Inventory of and Singular the goods Chattles Rights and Credits of the Said deceased and to Exhibit the Same with the Town Council abovesd of Probate for the Town aforesd at or before One Twelve Month & a day after the date hereof and to Render a Plain and True accompt of your adm-on upon Oath and we do by these presents ordain Constitute and appoint you Wm Clark and Mary Greenman both Joyntly adm-or of all and Singular the goods Chattles Rights and Credits aforesd. In Testimony thereof we hereunto Sett Our hands and Seals dated In So Kingstown the 11th day of November Anno domini 1728 Sign by order of the Council Robt Hannah C Council."
An inventory of the personal estate of Thomas Greenman of South Kingstown deceased was taken by Benjamin Ranolds and Jonathan Turner on 24 October 1728. The total of the estate was not written down. The inventory includes:
* one yoke of Oxen - 15--00--00
* six cows three yearlings & two calfs - 32--00--00
* one mare and colt& one horse - 10--00--00
* 32 sheep and 8 lambs - 12--10--00
* 5 hogs and four shote - 8--00--00
* 15 geese - 1--02--06
* hay & a small stack of oats corn stacks - 19--00--00
* one Crib of Indian corn - 10--10--00
* Cart boxes & chains grinston & other irons - 3--11--00
* his wearing apparel - 6--12--00
* one pare of Curtains - 1--10--00
* a pare of sheets & some linen - 4--10--00
* one bed & beding & coverlead bedsted - 9--06--00
* one frock bead & sum beading - 1--10--00
* one frock bead & blankets - 2--10--00
* one bed & beading & bedsted -- 5--00--00
* two Coverleds and one blanket - 4--00--00
* seven bushels of beens & four bushels of weet - 3--07--00
* five bushels of Indian Corn & one of Rye - 1--07-00
* 46 pounds of sheeps wool - 3--09--00
* 6 ?? of corse wool - 0--08--00
* old Chest box and old trunk - 0--11--00
* a Table & warming pan - 2--10--00
* a Taylors goose and shears & fryin pan - 0--10--00
* one pr of tongs & fire shovel - 0--08--00
* one Gun and 1 box iron - 1--15--00
* 10 ?? of spun woosted with yarn - 3--12--06
* five pounds of Corse Yarn - 0--10--00
* Spining wheel & some Earthen Ware - 1--04--00
* one Tub sum pork & one bushel barley - 2--00--00
* three barrels of Syder & four Old Suder Tubs - 2--10--00
* two Suder tubs with butter - 3--00--00
* 2 old Tubs & trays & old pads (?) & one little churn - 0--15--00
* one old Sadle and pilyon Carl ropes & 1 Oger - 1--01--06
* one woosted Comb and a small percel of Salt - 0--15--00
* one old hogshead 2 barrels & one padlock - 0--08--00
* old Chears and a Candelstick - 0--15--00
* puter and Tinn - 8--10--00
* 2 Tramels one Iron pott & two Iron Kettles - 2--02--00
* one pare of Small Shillards (?) & 2 old Staffs - 0--09--00
* a Ly?? baggs & some hogs fatt - 0--10--00
* paper bills of Credit - 2--05--00
* One bond due to the Estate - 25--00--00
Adding the values of the different items results in at least 215 pounds (some values are difficult to read).
On 20 March 1728/9, Mary Greenman, Executor of Thomas Greenman late of South Kingstown deceased appeared before the town Council of South Kingstown and declared on her solemn engagement that she did exhibit a true and perfect inventory of all the personal estate that did belong to her deceased husband to the apprizers.
On 10 March 1728/9, Jonathan Turner and Benjamin Raynolds appeared before the town council of South Kingstown and declared on there solemn engagement that they did inventory the estate of Thomas Greenman to the true value thereof according to the best of their understanding.
Thomas Greenman did not name any of his children in his will, and they are not named in the resulting probate records in the South Kingstown record book. Apparently, I'm missing at least one daughter in the list of children, since he mentions "each of my daughters." I am descended from Judith Greenman, the wife of Job Card (1690-1760), who was a witness to the signing of the will. Was another daughter married to Jeremiah Clarke or Joseph Hull (the other witnesses) or to Jonathan Turner or Benjamin Raynolds (the ones who took the inventory)?
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/amanuensis-monday-probate-records-of_09.html
Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Best of the Genea-Blogs - 1 to 7 April 2012
Hundreds 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 the genealogy carnivals, or other 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:
* My Vision of the Perfect Genealogy Software Program by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog. Michael offers his vision...pretty good one!
* The Big Four in Genealogy: Acquisitions and Consolidations by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James continues his discussion about the genealogy industry.
* Carnival of Genealogy, 116th Edition by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. There are 13 entries in this carnival on "Women's History Month."
* Ain't Gonna Take Massa's Name by Melvin Collier on the Roots Revealed blog. Mel describes his search for his enslaved Davis family in records, and discovers them. This is an excellent primer on finding African-ancestored people in 19th century records. I love research stories like this!
* Those 1940 Census Blues by Karen Packard Rhodes on the Karen About Genealogy blog. Karen is creative with her song about the 1940 Census. Wonder what the tune sounds like?
* Unraveling the Story of the Mystery Urn in Oregon - Serendipity Moments by Susan LeBlanc on the Gopher Genealogy blog. Susan helped this urn of cremains find a family member.
* Those Pesky Penciled Census codes in the 1940 Census by Mel Wolfgang on the Mnemosyne's Magic Mirror blog. Mel shares information about the codes on the 1940 Census form.
* Keynotes by Jill Ball on the Geniaus blog. Jill attended the 13th Australasian Congress of Genealogy and Heraldry, and was unimpressed, even dismayed, by some of the Keynote talks.
* Damn the census naysayers! by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog. Amen!! Deconstructed, argued, summarized. Masterful.
* Death Records: A Check List of Ten Documents Every Genealogist Should Acquire by Bill Dollarhide on Leland Meitzler's GenealogyBlog blog. Great list, funny comments.
* So, who said social media doesn't work? by Russ Worthington on the A Worthington Weblog blog. Russ helped a person on Facebook find ancestors on the 1940 census.
* Pinterest, Should you worry About copyright? by guest blogger Gena Ortega on the CSGACopyright blog. Gena describes the dos and don'ts for posting images to Pinterest and other social media sites.
* Pinterest, Ancestry and Copyright Images by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on the Nutfield Genealogy blog. This answers a question that many bloggers have - thanks, Heather!
Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:
* Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.
* Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.
* Genealogy Round Up, April 5 by Megan Smolenyak on Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog.
* Follow Friday: This Week's Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.
* Friday Finds 04/06/12 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.
I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, 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 am currently reading posts from over 1200 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/best-of-genea-blogs-1-to-7-april-2012.html
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 the genealogy carnivals, or other 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:
* My Vision of the Perfect Genealogy Software Program by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog. Michael offers his vision...pretty good one!
* The Big Four in Genealogy: Acquisitions and Consolidations by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog. James continues his discussion about the genealogy industry.
* Carnival of Genealogy, 116th Edition by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. There are 13 entries in this carnival on "Women's History Month."
* Ain't Gonna Take Massa's Name by Melvin Collier on the Roots Revealed blog. Mel describes his search for his enslaved Davis family in records, and discovers them. This is an excellent primer on finding African-ancestored people in 19th century records. I love research stories like this!
* Those 1940 Census Blues by Karen Packard Rhodes on the Karen About Genealogy blog. Karen is creative with her song about the 1940 Census. Wonder what the tune sounds like?
* Unraveling the Story of the Mystery Urn in Oregon - Serendipity Moments by Susan LeBlanc on the Gopher Genealogy blog. Susan helped this urn of cremains find a family member.
* Those Pesky Penciled Census codes in the 1940 Census by Mel Wolfgang on the Mnemosyne's Magic Mirror blog. Mel shares information about the codes on the 1940 Census form.
* Keynotes by Jill Ball on the Geniaus blog. Jill attended the 13th Australasian Congress of Genealogy and Heraldry, and was unimpressed, even dismayed, by some of the Keynote talks.
* Damn the census naysayers! by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog. Amen!! Deconstructed, argued, summarized. Masterful.
* Death Records: A Check List of Ten Documents Every Genealogist Should Acquire by Bill Dollarhide on Leland Meitzler's GenealogyBlog blog. Great list, funny comments.
* So, who said social media doesn't work? by Russ Worthington on the A Worthington Weblog blog. Russ helped a person on Facebook find ancestors on the 1940 census.
* Pinterest, Should you worry About copyright? by guest blogger Gena Ortega on the CSGACopyright blog. Gena describes the dos and don'ts for posting images to Pinterest and other social media sites.
* Pinterest, Ancestry and Copyright Images by Heather Wilkinson Rojo on the Nutfield Genealogy blog. This answers a question that many bloggers have - thanks, Heather!
Several genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week, including:
* Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.
* Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.
* Genealogy Round Up, April 5 by Megan Smolenyak on Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak's Roots World blog.
* Follow Friday: This Week's Favorite Finds by Jen on the Climbing My Family Tree blog.
* Friday Finds 04/06/12 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.
I encourage readers to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Google Reader, 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 am currently reading posts from over 1200 genealogy bloggers using Google Reader, but I still miss quite a few it seems.
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/04/best-of-genea-blogs-1-to-7-april-2012.html
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2012.
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