Treasure Chest Thursday - 1860 U.S. Census Record for David Auble Family

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1860 United States Census record for my Auble great-great-grandparents and their family in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey:

The David Auble family entry:

The extracted information for the family, residing in the 4th Ward of Newark City, taken on 27 June 1860, is:

*   Daniel Auble -- age 42, male, white, Shoe Store, personal property worth $500, born New Jersey

*  Sarah Auble -- age 59, female, white, born New Jersey 

*  Wm A. Auble -- age 15, male, white, born New Jersey, attended school

*  Mary F. Auble -- age 13, female, white, born New Jersey, attended school

*  Chas Auble -- age 11, male, white, born New Jersey, attended school

*  Kate Auble -- age 8, female, white, born New Jersey

*  Anna Auble -- age 1, female, white, born New Jersey

*  Mary Conglin -- age 26, female, white, Servant, born Ireland, over 20 years of age and cannot read or write.

The source citation for this census entry is:

1860 United States Federal Census, Population Schedule, Essex County, New Jersey, 4th Ward, Newark; Page 106 (penned), Dwelling #554, Family #753, David Auble household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 October 2011); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 688.

The errors I see in this enumeration include:

*  Sarah Auble was born in 1818, so about age 42 in 1860, not age 59.  

*  Charles Auble (my grandfather) was age 10, not 11.

*  Anna Auble was born in February 1860 according to the 1900 census, so she should be age 3 months, not age 1; unless the 1900 census is wrong...

I think it is strange that daughter Kate Auble is not in school at age 8.

Charles Auble's age in the 1860 census reflects his 1849 birth date, as did the 1870 (age 21) and 1880 census (age 30).  In the 1900 census (age 35), 1910 census (age 55), his 1898 marriage record (age 34) and his 1916 death record (age 61), he lied about his age.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/treasure-chest-thursday-1860-us-census.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Dear Randy - How Do I Cite an Online Family Tree?

Dawn emailed me recently, asking:

"I am new to citing sources and I would like to know how would you cite a family tree web site like Myheritage, or one I have that is a family member's website?"

My response to Dawn included:

I used the "Family Trees, documented" source template in RootsMagic to craft this source citation.

A source citation for a specific person and a specific Fact on a Family website, like on MyHeritage, might be:

"MyHeritage Family Trees", family tree database, MyHeritage (http://www.myheritage.com : accessed 14 December 2012), "Randy Seaver's Genealogy Research (http://www.myheritage.com/site-family-tree-1742741/randy-seavers-genealogy-research)," Randy Seaver's residence in 1944-1946; submitted February 2012 by Randall J. Seaver, [contact information for private use], Chula Vista, Calif. USA 91911.

The master source elements include:

Database title:  MyHeritage Family Trees
Format: family tree database
Website title:  MyHeritage
Website URL: http://www.myheritage.com

The source details elements include:

Access date:  14 December 2012
Tree title:  Randy Seaver's Genealogy Research (http://www.myheritage.com/site-family-tree-1742741/randy-seavers-genealogy-research)
Item of interest:  Randy Seaver's residence in 1944-1946 [note - this is the specific event being sourced]
Submit date: February 2012
Submitted by:  Randall J. Seaver
Email address:  rjseaver@cox.net [hidden in citation]
Street address:  1154 Via Trieste [hidden in citation]
City address:  Chula Vista, Calif. USA 91911.

You can substitute the information from another website with a family tree on it into the elements listed above.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/dear-randy-how-do-i-cite-online-family.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Getting Family Tree Maker 2012 Help

I presented a two-hour Family Tree Maker 2012 Workshop last Saturday to a fine group of Chula Vista Genealogical Society members and guests.  Part of my presentation was visiting all of the "Help" websites that I know about in the online world.

As users of genealogy software, we often forget that there are large communities of users for our software programs that may have experienced, and probably solved, the issues and problems that we experience in our daily use of the product.

These Help websites for Family Tree Maker genealogy software include:

*  Family Tree Maker Website – www.FamilyTreeMaker.com

*  FamilyTreeMaker Learning Center (Free) – http://www.familytreemaker.com/Learn

*  FamilyTreeMaker Online Knowledge Base (Free): http://ftm.custhelp.com/

*  FamilyTreeMaker User Message Boards (Free) – http://boards.ancestry.com/topics.software.famtreemaker/mb.ashx

*  FamilyTreeMaker Help Mailing List (Free): http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Software/FTM-HELP.html

*  FamilyTreeMaker Technology Mailing List (Free): http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/surname/f/ftm-tech.html#FTM-TECH

*  FamilyTreeMaker User Blog (Free, by Russ Worthington): http://ftmuser.blogspot.com/

*  Of course, the most immediate Help can be obtained by using the "Help" menu item in the software itself.  The "Help" button is our best friend when we have a question or a problem using the software.

The rest of my presentation dealt with the seven different workspaces in FTM 2012; how to enter names, dates, places, facts, notes, sources, media;  merging, attaching, unlinking, and deleting persons; navigation within FTM 2012; importing a GEDCOM, exporting a GEDCOM, and syncing with an Ancestry Member Tree; using the source templates; creating reports, books and charts; and so on. 

The one comment I heard loud and clear:  "Family Tree Maker has sure changed over the years!"

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/getting-family-tree-maker-2012-help.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday- Post 238: My Father in the Greenhouse

I'm posting family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they aren't Wordless Wednesday posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

Here is a photograph from the Marion (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill family collection passed to me by Aunt Marion's daughter in 2000 after her passing. 

This is a picture of my father, Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983) standing in front of his little greenhouse (not really a greenhouse - it was open on the east side, and not fully enclosed on the west and south sides) on the south end of the house at 825 Harbor View Place in San Diego.  In his later years, he enjoyed making brick flower beds, gardening and growing potted plants.

This picture was taken by Fred's sister, Marion (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill on her trip to San Diego in the summer of 1982.  Aunt Marion loved to garden also, and I'm sure they talked about it quite a bit in their long family discussions.  

I was so happy that Aunt Marion got to come to San Diego to see her oldest brother for one last time.  Before this trip, they had not seen each other since he left Massachusetts in December, 1940.

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-238-my.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Finding Family Information about the Brocke Family

One of my wife's ancestral surnames is BROCKE - the first family of the name is John and Christina (Webber) Brocke who settled in Cedar County, Nebraska in the late 1850s and the next generation moved to Latah County, Idaho.

While I was at Linda's brother's home over Christmas holidays, we talked a lot about family history.  Paul had interviewed his father, some aunts and uncles, and some cousins from the Brocke family over the years and found his rough notes.  One of his notes about the Brocke family was that they settled at Brocke Flats in Nebraska, and we both wondered exactly where that was.  Another note said that the Wiseman family, which suffered a massacre in 1863 in Cedar County, lived on the Brocke land.

This was enough to get me started - I quickly went to the USGenWeb Project, picked the Nebraska GenWeb link and then picked Cedar County, Nebraska:

Further down the page is a table with links to various topics:

The site has a Marriage Index link for an index for records into the 1930s and 1940s.

I clicked on the "Bl-By" link to get Brocke entries, and was rewarded with three:

There was the marriage date for Linda's great-grandparents, John Nicholas Brocke and Anna Greiser.  I had the date and place from Paul's family papers, but did not have a source for it.  Now I do!  And I can order a copy of the marriage license record from the Cedar County Clerk if I care to (it's in Volume 1, page 81).  That was cool.  I found that the other two Brocke marriage entries were Nicholas's siblings, so I added the spouses, and the source citations, to my database also.

What else is there on this site?  I decided to do a site search in Google using the string:
brocke site:http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/county/cedar/

That brought up a number of matches on the Cedar County GenWeb site:

The most interesting one was the first one, which is a story about the first schoolhouse in Cedar County which was on the John Brocke property (see http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/county/cedar/social/1929516sch.txt):

This transcribed newspaper article from 1929 describes the first schoolhouse, and provides quite a bit about John Brocke's settlement and life in Cedar County, Nebraska.  The most interesting paragraphs say:

"Built originally on the old John Brocke land, so long ago that folks now living cannot tell just when, although they are sure it was either in the late sixties or early seventies, the first site of a building has long since been washed away by the Missouri River. Among the men active in getting this early school which is believed the first school in Cedar County was John Brocke, for whom it was named, although the spelling has often been slightly changed during the years. Mr. Brocke who came to the county about the same time as did the Wiseman family, is the father of Mrs. August Lubeley, George Beste, and Mrs. Frank Thoman. His old homestead is now being farmed by his great-grandson, Emery Lubeley, whose house includes four rooms of the old Brocke log cabin.

"The bottom was named after Mr. Brocke because he was the first white man to come to the community to live. One other man was there before Mr. Brocke but he left, while Mr. Brocke built a home and remained for the rest of his life. Since his time the river has eaten his old land until now the grandchildren have not even a tree that used to be on the old yard. For many years a large elm tree that used to be on the front yard, still stood along the river banks, but even it had washed away this spring."

How great is that! If I can find where Emery Lubeley lived in 1929, I can find where John Brocke settled! Off to the 1930 U.S. Census (close enough, I hope), and found that Emery Lubeley resided in Dixon county, Nebraska. Rats. What about in 1920? He lived with his parents in Precinct 6 in Cedar County, the oldest son (age 18, born Nebraska) of his parents, August and Catherine (age 41, born Nebraska) Lubeley. There is no address given, but it narrows the search down to Precinct 6 (assuming that the house he lived in is the same one mentioned in 1929).

It turns out that Emery's mother was Catherine Beste, a daughter of Theodore Beste and Catherine Brocke (1851-1887), the daughter of John and Christina (Webber) Brocke. It also turns out that the three names listed as children of John Brocke are his grandchildren (by his daughter Catherine), rather than his children.

Where is Precinct 6 in Cedar County? There is a map on the Cedar County web page that shows the precincts (from the History of Cedar County, by Twila Anderson):

Precinct 6 is the most northeast precinct in Cedar County, bordering the next county (Dixon) to the east and the Missouri River to the north.

There is a memorial to the five Wiseman children killed in 1863, and it is #11 on the map below (from the History of Cedar County, by Twila Anderson):

With the help of these maps, and the other collected information, Paul and I should be able to find the John Brocke land in Precinct 6 of Cedar County, Nebraska.

I also found a report online (Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey, Reconnaissance Survey Final Report of Cedar County Nebraska, 1988) which included a description of the Wiseman Monument site as located in the SE 1/4, NE 1/4, Sec. 16, T. 32 N, R. 3 E.

I used the land description for the monument to "fly" to it in Google Earth using the www.EarthPoint.us web page, and saw:

Section 16 of Township 32 North, Range 3 East is shown on the map above.  Zooming in on the Section, I can draw a rectangle around the Southeast quarter of the Northeast quarter of the Section:

The buildings within the red box above have geographical coordinates of 42° 45' 07" North and 97° 04' 45" West.

From the Google Map for this area, the nearest intersection (just below the red box above) is 893 Rd (going east-southeast) and 573 Ave (going north-northeast). Now the challenge is to go there to see the place where the Brocke family settled and resided for over 30 years.

That was fun!!! I appreciate the free USGenWeb sites, and the wealth of information available through the efforts of volunteers over the past 20 years. I also appreciate the free Google Maps, free Google Earth, and the free Earthpoint websites.

Now I'm wondering how long it will take for a distant cousin who still lives in Cedar County will contact me!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/finding-family-information-about-brocke.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Genealogy Searching Then and Now - Part 2: Now (2013)

I talked genealogy research with my brother-in-law over the holidays.  He did quite a bit of genealogy research in the 1980-1985 time period and has done nothing since.  We searched for records on some of his ancestors over the holidays online and he was amazed at how much is available online and how fast results can be obtained.  Then I showed him RootsMagic and the genea-magic it could perform...

I thought that it would be interesting to compare "Then" (say pre-1999) and "Now" (2013):

I wrote Genealogy Searching Then and Now - Part 1: Then (pre-1999) on 4 January 2013, describing how many researchers did research before 1999 and back into the 1980s.

1)  Genealogy Research "Now" (2013):

*  Libraries, archives, courthouses, vital record offices, family history centers, genealogical societies and historical societies still hold many linear feet of books, periodicals, and paper records, and only some of them have indexes.  Some records are on microfilm or microfiche at the repositories.  You have to visit these repositories, and it still takes awhile to browse through all of the paper on the shelf!  Fewer researchers visit these repositories now.  Researchers write letters or visit to government record offices or repositories requesting information, especially certified copies of vital records.  Photocopy machines are used to obtain copies of records, records are still abstracted or transcribed, but some repositories have microfilm machines or book copiers that put page images on USB drives.

Some, but not nearly all, of the vital records for a county or a state are in online indexes or databases, and a few provide free images of vital records.  Some counties have put their recent probate and land records online, and a few have their historical probate and land records online.  Some historical land, probate, town and church records for specific counties and states are available online.

*  Many local FamilySearch Centers now have rows of desktop computers with access to the Family History Library collections and many commercial or free historical record collections.  The microfilms can be ordered online, and the fees have gone up significantly.  Researchers can copy page images on microfilm printers to paper or to USB drives.

*  Online record collections are offered by a number of commercial companies or free organizations.  For U.S. records, there are many online databases for vital records, for U.S. and state census records, for military records, for passenger lists and naturalization records, for historical newspapers and current obituaries, etc.  

*  Researchers now collect digital images of historical records, collected from online record collections or by scanning paper copies from their paper collection.  These digital images are often attached to persons, events or sources in their genealogy software program.

*  Genealogy software in 2013 is much more complex and capable than software before 1999.  Users still have to enter data (names, events, dates, places, etc.) into the software program, have source templates to help them create standard source citations, can standardize place names and see the places on a map, can attach media (photos, documents, audio, video) to persons in the database, and can write standard genealogy reports and books using software.  

*  In 2013, researchers correspond with and interact with other researchers via email, or by using  online family trees, message boards and forums, websites or blogs, or on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, etc.).  Some historical record providers help the researcher by offering Hints (Ancestry) or Record Searches (MyHeritage)  for persons in their online family tree.  Some online family trees can be synchronized with a genealogy software program (e.g., Family Tree Maker 2012 with Ancestry Member Trees).  Some genealogy companies provide apps for smart phones and tablets that interact with the user's online family tree.  Amazingly, the same computer "tool" is used to transfer family tree data between persons or between a person and an online family tree as was used in the 1980s - GEDCOM!

*  Not every genealogy researcher in 2013 is computer-savvy, uses online family trees, has mobile devices, or is aware of social media.  

2)  How long does it take to obtain certain records in 2013?

*  Obtaining a U.S. census record (from 1790 to 1940 census records) takes minutes if the target person was enumerated and indexed correctly.  Wild cards for names, and other data items, can be used to aid or narrow searches.  However, only Ancestry.com has every index and image available - other sites have some of the census records but not all are indexed or imaged, and not all are free.  

*  Obtaining a Massachusetts vital record (from between 1841 and 1915) in 2013 takes minutes if the target person was listed and indexed correctly in the digitized records.  FamilySearch has these indexed records and images for free, and Ancestry and AmericanAncestors have them in their subscription collection.  

*  Obtaining a historical land record or probate record in 2013 can take an hour or less if the target person lived in a state that has been digitized by FamilySearch and the researcher knows where they lived or died.  Most of these collections are not indexed and must be browsed.  If the state records have not been digitized, then the FHC must be used to order the Index film, find the probable entry(ies) in the Index film with volume(s) and page number(s), then order the correct volume(s) with the record(s), find the record(s) of interest, then transcribe, abstract, photocopy or obtain a digital image of the information.  This task may take four to 10 weeks to complete, depending on how many microfilms have to be ordered to obtain complete land or probate record entries.  Alternatively, a trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City may reduce the time to less than one day.

3)  In summary, the availability of online historical record collections and online family trees has made the research task shorter in most instances.  However, not ALL genealogy and family history records are online (perhaps 5% to 10% now?), and it takes about the same amount of time as it did in 1999 and earlier to find records that are not digitized.  My guess is that fewer researchers are going to the libraries, courthouses, societies, archives, etc. to do research.  Many are waiting for their needed record collections to be digitized and indexed by FamilySearch, ancestry or another provider.  

While I greatly appreciate the availability and accessibility of online record collections, I sometimes wonder if the significant reduction in time spent to obtain records causes us to not spend enough time to  critically evaluate the records themselves, and reduces the perceived need for family group sheets, data lists, to-do lists, research plans, research logs, etc.  I often think to myself "What else is there to search for?" and "I can sure make mistakes a lot quicker these days."

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/genealogy-searching-then-and-now-part-2.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Review: Legacy QuickGuide on Canadian Genealogy

Legacy Family Tree has commissioned a series of four-page booklets on various aspects of genealogical research.  Each laminated guide contains four pages of valuable information covering a variety of genealogy research topics. Legacy QuickGuides are written by genealogists and family historians who are experts in the subject areas.  These QuickGuides are oriented towards the online researcher - there are several pages of website links on selected subjects for the specific topic covered by the QuickGuide.

You can see the list of available Legacy QuickGuides at http://www.legacyfamilytreestore.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=71.  They are available as laminated four-page folders ($7.95 each) or as downloadable PDF files ($2.95 each).

The Canadian Genealogy QuickGuide was written by Kathryn Lake Hogan.

The Introduction to this QuickGuide says:

"Researching Canadian ancestry can be confusing when you do not understand Canadian history or know how to begin. The Canadian Genealogy Legacy QuickGuide contains useful information to get you started including the best places to find key record groups such as census, military, ship passenger and immigration records. This handy 4-sided laminated guide easily slips into a backpack or laptop bag for those genealogy research trips."

The subjects covered in the Canadian Genealogy QuickGuide includes (4 pages):

*  Getting Started
*  Research Strategy
*  Basic Canadian Resources
*  Geographic Terminology
*  Migration Routes and Motivations

*  Timeline of Canadian History
*  Canadian History Resources
*  Geography and Maps
*  Birth Records
*  Death Records & Obituaries

*  Marriage Records
*  Divorce Records
*  Court Records
*  Church Records
*  Census Records
*  Land Records
*  Military Records
*  Immigration & Naturalization

*  Passenger Lists
*  Cemeteries
*  Directories
*  Newspapers & Periodicals
*  Message Forums & Mailing Lists
*  Archives & Libraries
*  Organizations

For most of the subjects listed above, the items listed for each subject are website titles with links to the websites.  In some cases, there are shortened URLs for websites with long eddresses.

This Legacy QuickGuide is very useful for beginners and seasoned researchers alike.  The Canadian history timeline and the Research Strategy sections are especially helpful.  The other subject areas, with links to websites, are oriented towards the online genealogist.  I am sure that I will use this QuickGuide to help me find records of my Canadian ancestors.

The laminated version of this QuickGuide is very handy for researchers going to repositories or society meetings - it is light and easy to carry in a briefcase or computer case.  I much prefer the PDF version because I can save it to my computer (and laptop, tablet, and smart phone using Dropbox or another cloud service) and have it available in digital format for instantaneous usage by clicking the links provided rather than typing the links into my web browser.

Order you copy of the Canadian Genealogy QuickGuide (Printed or PDF) at the Legacy Family Tree Store.

Disclosure:  I was provided a complimentary copy of the PDF version of this Legacy QuickGuide on the condition that I provide a timely review of each QuickGuide provided.  Look for more in the near future!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/review-legacy-quickguide-on-canadian.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Chasing Down Original Sources for My Spengler Families - I Love Digital Microfilm!

I was reviewing my sources for some of my ancestral families in my RootsMagic database over the weekend, and found a whole set of York County, Pennsylvania families that had specific birth, baptism, marriage and death dates, but had no sources attached (and no media either).

I knew that I had obtained the vital record information for the King and Spangler families from published books and manuscripts way back in the late 1980s, and that they were probably in one of the notebooks hiding in my 40 linear feet of bookcases.  Fortunately, I had to move only one pile to get to the Spangler/King notebook and found the photocopied pages that held the records.

Here is the cover page for the Spangler book:

I created a master source for this book in RootsMagic as:

Edward W. Spangler, The Annals of the Families of Caspar, Henry, Baltzer and George Spengler Who Settled in York County Respectively in 1729, 1732, 1732 and 1751, with Biographical and Historical Sketches, and Memorabilia of Contemporaneous Local Events (York, Penn. : n.p., 1896).

I found the information about the family of my third great-grandparents, John Daniel and Elizabeth (King) Spangler on pages 191 to 192 (two images):

Great!!  Look at the names, dates, places, and spouses.  That is essentially all I have for this family, except for U.S. census records and Daniel's probate records.  I happily added the source citations for all of that information over the weekend.  My second great-grandmother, Rebecca Spangler, is listed with the (wrong) name of her husband (it shoulda been David J.) and the names of 3 children (Edward should be Edgar...).  It does mention San Diego, which is where David, Rebecca, Austin and Edgar ended up.

There is much more information about the earlier Spangler generations in this book, but I'm just going to concentrate on my Daniel Spangler family.

But I realized that this is a Derivative Source, and all of that name, date, and place data is Secondary Information, albeit most of it is Direct Evidence.

So I asked myself "Randy, these dates must have come from some record, where might you find Original Source information?"

The obvious answer was "from some family records, like a Bible or letter, or from church records."  The Spangler book was written in 1896, so some of the information about the Daniel Spangler family was probably provided by a family correspondence with the author.  I was most interested in finding the birth records and marriage record for Daniel Spangler and Elizabeth King.

Aha...my first thought was that there are probably microfilms for York County, Pennsylvania church records available from the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.  I can add that to the already lengthy list of To-Do items for the FSL when I go to RootsTech in March.  Here is the top of the FamilySearch Catalog page for Pennsylvania, York, York > Church Records:

Oops, 48 different items in the catalog!!!  I need to know which church they might have attended.  I need to read the Spangler book again to see if it mentions the church...the sketch for Daniel's grandfather, Baltzer Spangler, mentions the German Reformed Church, so that may be the first resource I check for Spangler family entries.

Hmmm, I recall that Ancestry.com recently put a historical record collection for Pennsylvania Church and Town Records, 1708-1985 online.  I hurried onto Ancestry to see if they have the birth and marriage records of my John Daniel Spangler and his wife, Elizabeth King.  After some searching using wild cards, I finally found Daniel Spengler's birth and baptism record in the York Trinity Reformed Church records.  I found the typescript for the birth and baptism records of Daniel Spengler, born 9 October 1781 and baptized 20 October 1781, parents are Rudi Spengler and wife.  Here is the image of the typescript:

A source citation for this page and the Daniel Spengler entry is:

Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 January 2013), York County, York town, "Trinity Reformed Church (United Church of Christ)" typescript, unnumbered page, image 37, Daniel Spengler baptism entry, 20 October 1791.

That's good...but it's still a Derivative Source, isn't it?

I went searching for Elizabeth King's birth and baptism record and easily found it in this same church book:

The Source Citation for this record is:

Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 January 2013), York County, York town, "Trinity Reformed Church (United Church of Christ)" typescript, unnumbered page, image 55, Elizabeth Konig baptism entry, 2 May 1796.

When I searched for Eli* K*nig, there was a second entry with the same date, so I checked that too, and saw:

Aha, there's the handwritten church book in German!  It's for Elisabet Konig, daughter of Jacob and Catherine.  That is the Original Source!  The source citation for it is:

Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 January 2013), York County, York town, "Trinity United Church of Christ" manuscript, unnumbered page, 1796, image 37, Elisabet Konig baptism entry, 2 May 1796.

I then went back and found the Daniel Spengler entry in this book (page by page, just like using microfilm!):

The source citation for this page, the Original Source record, is:

Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records, 1708-1985, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 7 January 2013), York County, York town, "Trinity United Church of Christ" manuscript, unnumbered page, 1781, image 27, Daniel Spengler baptism entry, 20 October 1781.

The entry is shown below:

It is in German, of course, and very difficult to transliterate...but I'm pretty sure that the first date is 20 October (baptism) and the second date is 9 October (birth), that the first line has Rudy Spengler's name in it, and the child's name in the last line is certainly Daniel.

I have tried to find how this entry was indexed, and have had no luck doing so!  Using no name, specifying a birth year of 1781 and a birth place of York County, Pennsylvania provides 308 matches, none of which link to the page above.

I also found the marriage record for Daniel Spengler and Elizabeth Koenig on 12 March 1815 in the two church books noted above.

Unfortunately, Daniel and Elizabeth moved their family to Virginia after their marriage, and then to Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and the York church books don't have the birth/baptism entries for their children.  But I was able to add many entries for the children of Rudolph and Catherine (Ruth) Spengler to my database.

I am keeping all three sources in my database because I hate to delete sources, and they make excellent examples of Derivative vs. Original.  Those three sources are where I found the records, and if I check the FSC microfilms, or actually see the church book at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, I will source those items also.

I think that the original handwritten German records are on the FHL US/CAN microfilm 387,945 for:

Church records, 1744-1853 [First Reformed Church]

The notes say:

"Microfilm of original records and of photocopy (262 leaves) of original records from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as part of their Collections of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, no. Y2R."

I wondered why Ancestry.com called this specific item the "Trinity United Church of Christ" collection.  The first page of this item is the permission page provided by the Trinity United Church of Christ, although the first handwritten page doesn't say that.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/chasing-down-original-sources-for.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Martin Carringer's Revolutionary War Pension File: Post 5: Molly's 1839 Deposition and Family Record

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme several years 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 a document from the Revolutionary War Pension File of Martin Carringer (1758-1835) of Mercer County, Pennsylvania (accessed on and digital image obtained from www.Fold3.com):

The transcription of this paper (image 16 on the Fold3 filmstrip) is:

State of Pennsylvania
Mercer County SS ................... Eighth Febry A D 1839

Personally appeared before me the subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County Molly Carringer the Widow of Martin Carringer late of Sandy Creek township in the County afforesaid Deceased, and sworn as the law directs Deposeth and saith, that the leaves of the Book to which this Deposition is attatched is the family Record of her Husband the late Martin Carringer, and although she cannot read the writing thereon, she knows it to be her Husbands handwriting and preserved it Always in her own possession (untill attatched to this Deposition) as the date of the birth of her Children, And that the last name on thel ist was not their Child but their Grandchild, and that She had a Certificate of her Marriage but lost it.
.............................................................................. her
..................................................................... Molly X Carringer
............................................................................. mark
Sworn to and subscribed
before me on the above date
...................................... Adam Thompson J.P.

State of Pennsylvania
Mercer County SS

{ Seal} I Adam Thompson the Justice of the Peace before whom the above Deposition of Molly Carringer the Widow of Martin Carringer was taken; Do Respectfully Certify that I am well aquented with Molly Carringer the signer to the above Deposition, that she is a person of veracity and good Moral Character ~ given under my hand and seal at Salem township in the County afforesaid this Eighth day Febry 1839
.............................................................. Adam Thompson Justice
..................................................................................... of the peace

State of Pennsylvania }
Mercer County SS ....}
I Hugh Bingham Prothanotary of the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer County do certify that Adam Thompson Esquire before whom the foregoing depositions were taken is a Justice of the peace in and for Said County duly Commissioned and acting as such, that full faith and credit is due to all his official acts as such.  In testimony whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and affixed the Seal of the Said Court at Mercer the 13th day of February AD 1839.
................................................................. Hugh Bingham Prothy

There are two images of the "Family Record" in the Revolutionary War Pension Packet:

The translation from German to English of the items in the "Family Record" was also included in the Pension Packet:

This "Family Record" provides the birth dates of the eight children, and one grandchild, of Martin and Molly (Hoax) Carringer, my fourth great-grandparents.  I descend through the son Henrich, born 6 June 1800.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/amanuensis-monday-martin-carringers.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Genea-Musings is #80 on the GenealogyInTime Hit Parade

Being a "Numbers Guy," I collected Top 40 music surveys in the 1950s and 1960s, once having the largest collection in the USA.  So I'm partial to Top NN lists of all types.  Especially when I make the list!

Genea-Musings is #80 on the GenealogyInTime digital magazine list of the Top 100 Genealogy Websites for 2013!

And aways down the list, there is little old Genea-Musings at #80:

I am honored and flattered to be on the list.  Thank you, GenealogyInTime, for including my little blog that ticks right along with a staff of 1.0 persons!

The measurement tool that GenealogyInTime used was the Alexa metric of Traffic Rank, which measures global traffic.  The raw data from Alexa is on the Appendix page on the GenealogyInTime Top 100 list page.

There are 5 genealogy blogs in the "Blog" category on the Top 100 list:

#20  Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, written by Dick Eastman (Traffic Rank = 37,064)

#80  Genea-Musings, written by Randy Seaver (Traffic Rank = 192,750)

#89  Geneabloggers, written by Thomas MacEntee (Traffic Rank = 225,568)

#94  GenealogyBlog, written by Leland Meitzler (Traffic Rank = 252,569)

#95  Anglo-Celtic Connections, written by John D. Reid (Traffic Rank = 258,998)

Actually, Kimberly Powell's About Genealogy blog should have been included in the "blog" category but was in the "Articles" category - her articles were written as a blog, and she has an RSS feed.  Her site is #28 on the list with an Alexa Traffic Rank of 54,079.

Congratulations to the above genealogy bloggers on making the Top 100 list.  My understanding is that several other geneabloggers almost made the Top 100.

These traffic rankings fluctuate each month, and I think that I lucked out by getting a large number of hits on some posts in December 2012.  Hey, I don't mind being #2 on the blog list!  Dick Eastman is so far ahead of the rest of us.  He recently wrote that he receives over 74,000 unique visits per day.  In comparison, Genea-Musings received an average of 937 unique visits per day, and 1,584 Page Views per day, in December 2012.  That's a big difference - Dick receives over 75 times my Genea-Musings visits per day.

There are, of course, other measures of traffic, and blogs suffer from the emphasis on Global Traffic Ranking (since the user has to actually go to the website involved).  Blogs can be accessed on RSS readers, Networked Blogs on Facebook, and by email subscription.

One more "hit parade" item - Genea-Musings moved up 10 places from #90 in 2012 to #80 in 2013 - steady progress.  Will Genea-Musings be #1 in 2021?  I doubt it.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/genea-musings-is-80-on-genealogyintime.html

Copyright (c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver