Finding the Best Way to Attach Sources to Persons in FamilySearch Family Tree

One of my major issues with the FamilySearch Family Tree has been source citations - I wrote:

*   My First Look at FamilySearch Family Tree - Post 2: Source Citations in March 2012, 
*  Checking Out "My Source Box" on FamilySearch.org in May 2012 
*  Attaching Sources to Persons in FamilySearch Family Tree in July 2012 (about the Source Box feature and attaching the sources to persons)
*  Adding Source Notes in FamilySearch Family Tree in October 2012.

One of the problems I found in those posts was that I was finding single source documents in the FamilySearch historical collections, but was not finding "all" of the source documents that might be available.  

I decided that the best strategy was to find as many source documents as I could for one person on FamilySearch all at one time, and then add them all at one time to the person in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

For my example, I'm using my great-grandmother, Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944).  I searched on FamilySearch Historical Records using all of her names "Abbie Ardell Smith," "Della Smith," "Della Carringer," etc.  I used my list of Events for Della in my RootsMagic database in order to try to find as many as I could in the FamilySearch collections.

1)  Here is my search for "Della Carringer" (I'm going to use Della in this post as her given name):

2)  I clicked on the first entry - the 1940 U.S. Census for Della, and the record summary page opened:

I confirmed, in my mind, that this was the correct document for Della, and wanted to save it to "My Source Box."  In order to do this, I have to be signed in to FamilySearch.  The "My Source Box" link is in the upper right-hand corner of the web page, next to the "Copy" and "Print" links.  I can do two tasks after running my mouse over the "My Source Box" link - "Add to My Source Box" and "Go To My Source Box."

I added seven more items from the FamilySearch Historical Collections to My Source Box, and was now ready to attach them to Della (Smith) Carringer in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

3)  First, I have to go to "My Source Box" and create a folder for Della - I did that and it appears in the "My Folders" list on the left of the screen below.  However, all of the links to the documents went into the "Home" folder, and I need to move them into Della's folder.  In the "Home" folder are the 8 sources I added for Della, and they appear on the right of the screen below:

I clicked in the box to the left of each source record, and then clicked on the blue "Move" button and selected Della (Smith) Carringer's folder.  Clicking on the folder moves the checked items to the person's folder.  It also takes them out of the "Home" folder.

4)  I clicked on the "Family Tree" link in the top menu on the screen, and navigated to Della (Smith) Carringer's profile.  Here is the top of the page:

And near the bottom of the page are the lists of spouse and children, parents and siblings, sources and discussions:

There are no entries for Sources yet - they are in "My Source Box," but they are not yet attached to the person in FamilySearch Family Tree.

5)  I clicked on the "Go to Source Box" link in the Sources field on the screen above, and then on Della (Smith) Carringer's folder:

There is an "Attach" link for each of the source documents in Della's folder in the Source Box.

6)  I clicked on "Attach" link for the eight source documents one at a time, and when I was finished, the "My Source Box" folder for Della showed a paper clip icon to indicate that the Source documents had been attached in the Family Tree:

7)  When I click on the "Go Back to Abbie Ardell Smith" l;ink at the top left of the screen above, and scroll down to the Sources field, I see that the eight source documents have been linked to Della:

8)  If I click on one of the links for the source document, I can see the source citation attached to Della (Smith) Carringer, and can add a source comment, if I choose to.  Here is the screen with the 1900 U.S. Census source document opened:

I can click the "View" link in the source citation and see the source citation details, click the "Edit" link to add or edit notes, the "Detach" link to remove the source from the person, or the "Tag" link to link the source document to the "Name," "Gender," "Birth," "Christening," "Death" or "Burial" events.  I cannot edit a source derived from the FamilySearch collections.

Clicking on the URL link listed on the screen above takes you to the record summary in the Historical Record collection, but not to the document image - you have to click the link on the record summary page to see the document image if it's available.

8)  To summarize, my process for attaching historical records on FamilySearch to persons and events in the FamilySearch Family Tree, is to:

*  Use the Event list in RootsMagic to find all of the records available on FamilySearch for one person.
*  Search the FamilySearch Historical Record collection for those records, using the name(s) of the person at the time of the record.
*  Add each source document link found to "My Source Box" for the person (while signed in to FamilySearch).
*  After saving the document links, go to "My Source Box" and put them in a folder (you might have to create a folder).
*  Go to the person in FamilySearch Family Tree (must be signed in!) and Attach the sources in the "My Shoe box" folder to the person in Family Tree.
*  After attaching the Sources to the person, tag them to the Event in the Family Tree and add any source notes you want.

I found that doing one person at a time is the most efficient way to populate the Sources from FamilySearch to persons in the Family Tree.  Note that this process needs to be followed for each person in a family in the Family Tree database - the father, them other, the children, etc.

Of course, this does not work for a source document or a photograph that is not in the FamilySearch Historical Record collections - they have to be added using the "Create a New Source" link in the Family Tree "Sources" field by typing (or copying/pasting) information into the source fields (I did this in My First Look at FamilySearch Family Tree - Post 2: Source Citations in March 2012).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/finding-best-way-to-attach-sources-to.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 240: Evelyn and Aunt Emily in 1921

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. 

Fortunately, someone labelled this photograph as "Evelyn & Aunt Emily, 1921" but they neglected to say where it was!

Evelyn is my father's sister, Evelyn Seaver (1903-1978, whose mother was Alma Bessie (Richmond) Seaver; they resided in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1921), and Emily is my father's mother's sister, Emily White (Richmond) Taylor (1879-1966; they resided in San Diego, California in 1921).  Evelyn is therefore Emily's niece.

The site of this photograph appears to be a sandy area with wind and water-shaped cliffs in the background.  San Diego has several places that match that description, including Sunset Cliffs on the ocean side of Point Loma, and in La Jolla.  My best guess is that this photograph was taken in La Jolla.

If the photo was taken in San Diego, then that means that Evelyn came west to visit her aunt and cousin in 1921.  I knew that Emily's daughter, Dorothy, had visited Massachusetts in this same time frame (early 1920s) to see her aunts, uncles and cousins.

How did my Aunt Marion (Seaver) (Braithwaite) Hemphill (1901-2000) obtain this photograph?  I think that Dorothy (Taylor) Chamberlain (Emily's daughter), or Dorothy's daughter, Marcia, sent it to her cousin Marion at some point in time.  I think that the handwriting on the photograph is in the hand of Marion since it refers to "Aunt Emily."  

Now what about those dresses and the hats?  I know nothing about 1920s fashion, perhaps someone with more expertise can comment.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/not-so-wordless-wednesday-post-240.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Source Citation for New Brunswick Land Deed Record

In Using New Brunswick County Deed Registry Books, I said that I would craft a source citation for the specific deed in the Deed database later.  Reader Cormac commented:  "Can ya share with us when you do craft that EE quality citation?"

Well, of course I can!  I used the RootsMagic 6 Source template for "Digital Archives:" 

The resulting source citation for one of the Deeds is (Master source entries in red, Source detail in blue):

"New Brunswick, County Deed Registry Books, 1780-1941," digital images, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 17 January 2013), clerk's copy, "Kings County, Deed Book D-1, 1793-1795," page 75-76, William Hutchison to Donal McDonal; citing Registrar of Deeds. New Brunswick, county deed registry books, 1780-1941. Service New Brunswick, Woodstock, New Brunswick.

The FamilySearch provided general source citation for this particular record collection is:

"New Brunswick, County Deed Registry Books, 1780-1930." Images. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org : accessed 2013. Citing Registrar of Deeds. New Brunswick, county deed registry books, 1780-1941. Service New Brunswick, Woodstock, New Brunswick.

I added the creator and owner of the website - the LDS church - to the source citation because it was a field in the Evidence! Explained Master source template.

Using the RootsMagic source templates provides an excellent source citation every time.  Note that I had to identify the specific Deed book, and the page numbers.  Once you select a template, understand the entries in the fields, and have the citation details at hand, you can create this source citation in two minutes at most.  

You can then use the Master Source for any entry in the FamilySearch database, but you have to enter the Source details for each specific Deed entry.  For the next deed on my Event list, I usually Copy the whole citation (using the "Memorize" button), then "Paste" it into a new Event source citation, and edit the bits that need to be modified.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/source-citation-for-new-brunswick-land.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Pinball Genealogy - Enriching My Genealogy Database

I posted Pinball Genealogy - My Ancestry.com Hints Practices yesterday, noting my practices for using Ancestry Hints to add content to my genealogy database in RootsMagic 6.  

Another "pinball genealogy" exercise that I frequently use is to find a person in my database for whom I have absolutely no data.  Usually, I do this randomly - I see a blank next to the name in the RootsMagic index, and click on the name to see what I know about him/her.  In many cases, this is a parent of a spouse of a Seaver or Carringer person, or a parent of a spouse of an ancestral family member.  Usually, I have found that person's name in a record, or a book, and entered it into my genealogy database many years ago, thinking that I would find their information "later.".  

Since I use this database as my one-name study database for several surnames, I want to provide other researchers with some information in case they are a descendant of these persons.  Granted, I don't want to do a full genealogy study for these people, I only want to fill in the blanks - I am challenged by having no data in the birth date field and not knowing a spouse's maiden name.

Let me demonstrate this "pinball genealogy" process with this example, selected from my database:

1)  Here is the RootsMagic screen for the Joel and Lucinda (_____) Merriam family, with daughter, Lucinda C. Merriam, who married John W. Seaver in 1851 in Holden, Massachusetts:

I obtained the names Joel Merriam and Lucinda from the marriage record for Lucinda Merriam and John Walker, and entered them into the database years ago.  Who are Joel and Lucinda?  What is Lucinda's maiden name?  When and where were they born, and when and where did they die?  When and where did they marry?  I wanted to find out so that I could enrich my database.

2)  I figured that since the daughter Lucinda married in 1851 in Holden, that perhaps her parents lived and died in Massachusetts at that time.  I went to the Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915 database on FamilySearch.org, and entered Joel Mer*am into the search box:

The first match looks promising:

That Joel Merriam died 15 April 1852 in Holden, Massachusetts, at age 58-4-1, married, born in Westminster to Joseph and Eunice Merriam.  Is that the right Joel Merriam?

3)  I found an entry for Joel and Lucinda Merriam's family in the 1850 U.S. Census in Holden:

The daughter, Lucinda, is not included in that family.  It gives Joel's age as 56, which calculates to about 1794 (and matches the death record).  The mother Lucinda's age is 41 (born in Connecticut), which computes to about 1808.  I also found Lucinda Merriam (age 60) in the 1870 U.S. Census with several of the children listed above residing in Worcester, Massachusetts. I judged that this was the right Joel and Lucinda family, and added Joel's death and birth events to my database, and Lucinda's approximate birth date also.

4)  I went back to the Death records on FamilySearch to look for the mother Lucinda to see if there was a Massachusetts death record for her:

Further down the results page above is an entry for Lucinda Merriam, who died in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1888:

The information for this Lucinda Merriam says she died 17 April 1888 in Worcester, Massachusetts, at age 79-5-24 (computed birth date of 24 October 1808), born in Stafford, Conn. to Rufus and (Warner) Chase.  I added the birth and death event information to my database, and added source citations for them.

5)  There is another entry for a Lucinda C. Merriam on the FamilySearch results page above - for Lucinda C. Merriam, wife of John W. Seaver, daughter of Joel Merriam and Lucinda Chase.  Here is the 1903 death record for Lucinda C. (Merriam) Seaver in Boylston, Mass.:

Although the entry clearly says her name is Lucinda C. Seaver, m.n. Meriam, wife of John W. Seaver, she was not indexed as Seaver for some reason by FamilySearch.  This entry provides a death date, death place, age at death (71-7-10), birthplace and parents names.  That enriches my database also.  I entered the data, and sourced the death and birth events.

6)  Since Lucinda was apparently born in Connecticut, can I find her in Connecticut Marriage Records?  I checked Ancestry.com and found their marriage record in the Barbour Collection in Ellington, Connecticut:

Joel "Mariam" married Lucinda Chase, of Ellington, on 19 June 1823.  I entered that event into my database and sourced it.

I looked on Ancestry and FamilySearch for a Connecticut birth of Lucinda Chase and did not find an entry.  I am concerned that Lucinda appears to be only 14 years old at marriage if the marriage record is correct, if the 1850 US Census record is correct (age 41), and the 1870 U.S. Census is correct (age 60).  I wonder if the marriage date entry was extracted as 1823 in the Barbour collection when it was actually 1828, or even 1832.  I'll leave it to a Merriam/Chase researcher to figure it out.

7)  I've bounced around the databases quite a bit in 30 minutes.  I have found birth, marriage and death date/place data for Joel Merriam, have added a maiden name, a birth date/place and a death date/place for his wife Lucinda, and have added a marriage date and place for Joel and Lucinda.  In addition, I've added a birth date and a death date and place for Lucinda (Merriam) Seaver.

The RootsMagic 6 Family View for this family now looks like:

So this 30 minute "pinball genealogy" effort (it took over an hour to write it!) resulted in enriching information on this couple and their daughter.  I added five events, edited two events, and added seven source citations to the database.  That was FUN!  And productive.  And time efficient.  They are not all this easy, but the vital information for many of these New England persons with no information can be obtained in a relatively short period of time.  I recognize that many states do not have extensive vital records the way New England does for this time period, so your research time and effort will vary.

I could have done more research to identify all of their children, their birth, marriage and death events, but I didn't.  If they were an ancestral family, I would have happily done that. I think that I extracted every bit of data from these sources (except for the parents of Joel and Lucinda).  Of course, they are all derivative sources - but they are all derived from "official" records.  It also helps that I have access to several subscription websites like Ancestry.com and AmericanAncestors.org (although I used FamilySearch for the Massachusetts vital records).

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/pinball-genealogy-enriching-my.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

New Genealogy Show: On-Site Research New England

I received this press release yesterday from Marian Pierre-Louis, a professional genealogist, house historian, genea-blogger and blog talk radio hostess:

================================

For Immediate Release

21 January 2013

New Show to Feature Tips on New England Research

MILLIS, MA. (January 21, 2013) – Professional genealogist and house historian, Marian Pierre-Louis has developed a new genealogy show in audio (podcast) format called On-Site Research New England. Shows will be broadcast bi-weekly through the On-site Research New England website (http://www.ResearchNewEngland.com) and will be made available through iTunes.

On-site Research New England is a podcast created to help all people do historical research in New England. Researchers might be genealogists, house historians, curators, collectors searching for the provenance of antiques, photo historians, authors and screen writers doing background research, freelance writers and many others.

Each podcast will contain an interview recorded on location at a New England archive, library, repository or society. The staff will provide overviews and tips for researching at their facility. To conduct successful on-site research is to “Know before you go!”

The first episode, now available online, features genealogist Rhonda McClure speaking about the Microtext Department at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The second episode will feature the historical and genealogical resources of the Boston Public Library.

Tips will also be provided for researchers who can’t get on-site themselves by providing a list of staff or consulting researchers who can be their on-site eyes and ears.

About Marian Pierre-Louis:

Marian Pierre-Louis is a professional genealogist and house historian who shares her love of New England history through her research, blogs and social media. She is the host of the internet radio show Fieldstone Common which broadcasts live every Thursday.

===========================

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/new-genealogy-show-on-site-research-new.html

Denise Levenick's Blog Book Tour Rocks!

I received this press release yesterday from my geneablogging colleague, Denise Levenick:

====================================

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Denise May Levenick

dmlevenick@gmail.com
www.theFamilyCurator.com

For Immediate Release

Blog Book Tour Comes to A Computer Near You:
A New Way to Learn More About Genealogy Books and Authors

Family Curator Blog Book Tour for How to Archive Family Keepsakes by Denise Levenick – On Tour from January 10-26^th, 2013

The Virtual Book Tour brings new books and authors directly to the reader, and with the Blog Book Tour for Denise Levenick’s new book How to Archive Family Keepsakes genealogists and family historians are browsing the pages of this new book via the internet during the16-day tour of popular blogs and websites January 10 – 26, 2013.

Blog book tours are popular trends in the general e-publishing world but had limited exposure in the family history community until Gena Philibert-Ortega introduced her book From the Family Kitchen to genealogists in a virtual book tour in August, 2012. Enthusiastic response to Levenick’s blog book tour shows that the virtual tour continues to be a welcome new event.

After a successful launch January 10 at the author’s family history blog The Family Curator, the tour stopped at eight more websites. Each day, content and reviews gave readers a chance to sample Levenick’s new book and learn more about organizing and preserving family keepsakes and genealogy papers.

Free handouts, book excerpts, exclusive articles, reviews, and author interviews are among the different kinds of content posted in the opening week. Participating blogs included: Geneabloggers; Genealogy Gems Podcast Blog; Moultrie Creek Gazette;, 4 Your Family Story; Olive Tree Genealogy;, The Armchair Genealogist; Shades of the Departed; and Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories.

January 20-25 the Blog Book Tour continues with visits to six more genealogy blogs for new articles, interviews, and reviews -- Practical Archivist; The In-Depth Genealogist; Food. Family. Ephemera.; DearMYRTLE; AnceStories; and The Houstory Hearth.

How to Archive Family Keepsakes offers practical guidance for family historians:

• Helping a parent or loved one downsize to a smaller home
• Needing a simple, effective filing system for genealogy research
• Interested in scanning and making digital copies of genealogy records
• Looking for a way to preserve your family history and heirlooms for future generations

Proceeds from the sale of How to Archive Family Keepsakes during the Book Tour will help fund the 2013 Student Genealogy Grant founded in 2010 to assist young genealogists further their genealogical education.

For more information, visit the Blog Book Tour Page at The Family Curator website http://www.thefamilycurator.com/book-tour/.

How to Archive Family Keepsakes: Learn to Preserve Family Photos, Memorabilia & Genealogy Records

Author: Denise May Levenick

Publisher: Family Tree Books, 2012

Pinball Genealogy - My Ancestry.com Hints Practices

DearMYRTLE posted "The Pinball Approach to Genealogical Research" yesterday, and it intrigued me.  Myrt described "Pinball Genealogy" as:

"With red and white lights flashing, the pinball machine shrilly rings "Ding, ding, ding" every time an obstacle is hit, and the metal ball ricochets off in a different direction. Just where that ball goes isn't so important since the goal is to keep hitting the obstacles to gain points and to avoid the holes and troughs that lead to the ditch at the bottom, ending the player's turn. In the frenzy, coarse words may spew, and there is always the temptation to "tilt" the machine itself to get a higher score." 

That is a great description - I can surely relate, and I'm sure that many of my readers also can relate to it, and probably enjoy the experience.  I know that I do!  I'm "in the hunt," finding new names, dates, places, entering data into my genealogy database, all's right in my genealogy cave.

However, Myrt, who just finished Thomas Jones' "Advanced Research Practicum" at the Salt Lake Insitute of Genealogy (SLIG), passes on lessons learned in Dr. Jones' class:

"Competent genealogy researchers must take pains to avoid the "pinball approach to genealogical research". There is no point in quickly bouncing from one document to another, without fully considering the info each contains. Moving too quickly means you may be barking up the wrong family tree. It also means possibly neglecting to search for other documents in the locality that may prove useful in your kinship study."

I can identify a number of different pinball genealogy "games" that Myrt refers to in her post.

One is using the shaky green leaf hints on an Ancestry Member Tree to attach records to a person in your tree without examining the information in the documents and determining if the information pertains to your ancestor.

My practice with the Ancestry Hints is:

1)  Investigate each one of them, because they may provide additional information about my ancestor.

2)  Evaluate Ancestry Member Tree hints - the person who submitted it may be related to me and have valuable information about my ancestor.  However, I critically evaluate each tree I check - most importantly, do they have sources for the Events?  Those are leads to sources to follow up on.  Are the sources for actual records, to indexes, to publications, or to websites or other trees?  I follow up on sources for actual records, indexes, and publications.  I add them to my to-do list if I cannot find them online.

3)  I reject every Ancestry Member Tree hint.  They are not reliable sources.  They are sometimes useful finding aids.

4)  I accept Hints for vital records, census records, military records, immigration records, naturalization records, town records, probate records, land records, etc. after reviewing them to ensure that they apply to my ancestor.

5)  I tend to reject Hints that are index items for Events that I have already found (and sourced) in vital records certificates, in town records or published vital record books.  For Events for which I don't plan to obtain a document (e.g., a birth certificate for a cousin or collateral relative), I source the Index item but not the record from the Index (i.e., no image).  This includes records from the Social Security Death Index, Find A Grave, etc.

6)  I review hints for Stories to determine if they apply to my ancestor.  I've found very few Public Stories that are unique - most are transcriptions from published material, and many are from my own blog posts.  These Hints have value - the person who added the Story may be a cousin with information I can use, and I sometimes write a note to them.

7)  I have two trees on Ancestry - I attach Hints to the tree with only my Ancestral family - not to the tree with all of my Research.  I try to keep the Research tree "clean" from Ancestry events (because they add duplicate events and are not accurate in some cases) and source citations (since they are not Evidence! Explained quality).

8)  I use the Ancestral family tree to find records to add to the Research tree.  I only accept or reject Hints on the Ancestral family tree.  I download actual documents to my desktop computer, name them with my file naming convention, create a source citation for the Event in my Research tree database, and attach them to the person(s) in my research tree database.

I don't use my genealogy software program to do web searches on Ancestry or other websites.  I find it is much more time efficient to select a person in my database, then search on Ancestry, FamilySearch, AmericanAncestors, Fold3, GenealogyBank, Google, Mocavo, etc. and add the information as I find it (saving document images, creating source citations, research notes, and adding media as needed).  This avoids corrupting my Research database with Events and source Citations created by the websites involved.

What are your "Pinball Genealogy" practices?  How do you deal with the Ancestry Hints?

I have other examples of "Pinball Genealogy" and I'll try to write more about them this week.

My thanks to Myrt for the great "Pinball Genealogy" description, and to Tom Jones for stimulating Myrt's thought processes.  Myrt's post was really about using research tools like word processing tables and spreadsheets to help find relationships and resolve evidence conflicts.  I've written about my practices on similar tools before, and may blog about them in later posts.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/pinball-genealogy-my-ancestrycom-hints.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Martin Carringer's Revolutionary War Pension File: Post 7: Allen Morrison's Declaration

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 18 on the Fold3 filmstrip) is:

State of Pennsylvania }
County of Mercer  } SS

On this 28th day of August 1851 personally appeared before me Thos Robinson Esquire a Justice of the Peace in and for said County Allen Morrison aged 47 years resident of Perry Township in said county who being first duly sworn according to law doth depose and say that he has lived near neighbor to Mary Carringer for several years last past who was the widow of Martin Carringer late a revolutionary pensioner of the United States at the rate of 96$ per annum.  This declarant also states that the aforesaid Mary Carringer was a pensioner of the United States at the rate of 80$ per annum and that She the said Mary Carringer died in the Township of Sandy Creek in the said county of Mercer on the thirty-first (31st) day of August in the year eighteen hundred and fifty (1850) and that he the said Allen Morrison assisted in digging the grave for the body of the said Mary Carringer in the evening of the thirty-first (31st) day of August 1850 and that he was present when the body of the said Mary was placed in the grave in which he helped to dig on the 1st day of Sept.

This declarant also states that the aforesaid Mary Carringer died leaving six children only surviving her whose names are as follows Jacob Carringer, Elizabeth McCartney deceased, Catherine Cazbe, George, Henry and Joseph Carringer.  

This declarant further states that he saw the body of Elizabeth McCartney on the day of her death which occured on the fourteenth (14th) day of November in the year eighteen hundred and fifty and that on the 14th day of November 1850 he the said Allen Morrison assisted in digging the grave for the body of the said Elizabeth McCartney.

Sworn and subscribed to on the day .................. Allen Morrison
and year first above written.

Before me I also certify that I am personally acquainted with said Allen Morrison and that he is a man of creability and his testimony is entitled to full credit and belief.
............................................................... Thomas Robinson J.P.

This declaration provides a second witness who attested to the deaths of Mary Carringer and Elizabeth McCartney, and the names of the six surviving children.

Did you notice the clear misspelling of "credibility" in the last paragraph?  I thought that was humorous!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/amanuensis-monday-martin-carringers_21.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 13 to 19 January 2013

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:

*  What is SLIG Like?  Day 1, A Whole New World of Forensic Genealogy,  by Valerie Elkins on the Family Cherished blog.  Valerie posted these during SLIG.

*  20 Rhode Island Resources on Ancestry.com by Diane Boumenot on the One Rhode Island Family blog.  Diane provides a great list of Rhode Island resources (including some that cover all of New England).

*  Continuing Education for Genealogists by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog.  Michael lists many of the continuing education opportunities available this year.

*  The Good Genealogist vs. The Educated Genealogist by Kimberly Powell on the About.com: Genealogy blog.  Kimberly shares her genealogical journey and the epiphany that led to becoming an educated genealogist.

*  New York Genealogy - You Can Get the Scoop Using Local Newspapers by Joan Shurtliff on the Record Click blog.  Here's an excellent discussion of how to find New York historical newspapers online and offline.

*  Advertising, Questionable Products, Terms of Use by Debbie Parker Wayne on the Deb's Delvings In Genealogy blog.  Debbie makes an excellent point about ads on blogs - they may be for sites you really don't want to advertise.

*  Does Meeting the Genealogical Proof Standard Require DNA Evidence? by John D. Reid on the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog.  It's an interesting question, isn't it?  John has thoughts about it.

*  In Which We Bid Farewell to New FamilySearch and Welcome Family Tree by Amy Tanner Thiriot on TheAncestorFiles blog.  Amy covers the differences and demonstrates the basics of FamilySearch Family Tree.

*  Avoiding Electronic Overload by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  Excellent ideas for the genealogist who has all of the electronics they want or need.

*  What I learned at SLIG 2013: Ponder and Mull. Sorting Saturday by Anne Gillespie Mitchell on the Finding Forgotten Stories blog.  Anne took the Advanced Practicum course at SLIG - she has a summary here.

*  And the Blog Book Tour Giveaway Winners Are ... by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog.  Denise is on a virtual book tour, and this post links to other genea-bloggers who have written about the book and book tour.

These genea-bloggers wrote weekly pick posts and news summary posts this week: 

*  Monday Morning Mentions by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.

*  Monday Recap for January 14, 2013 by Amanda on the Geni Blog.

*  Genealogy News Corral, Jan. 14-18 by Beth on the Genealogy Insider blog.

*  Follow Friday, Favorites for January 18, 2013 by Heather Kuhn Roelker on the Leaves for Trees blog.

*  Follow Friday - Fab Finds for January 18, 2013  by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Genealogy Blogs, News and Tidbits #3 by Deb Ruth on the Adventures in Genealogy blog.

*  Ruth's Recommendations by Ruth Blair on The Passionate Genealogist blog.

*  From the Blogs, January 18 by Michael Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.

*  Friday Finds - 01/18/13 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.

*  Weekly Genealogy Picks, Jan. 13-19 by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

*  Notable Genealogy Blog Posts, 20 January 2013 by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds 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 1300 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/2013/01/best-of-genea-blogs-13-to-19-january.html

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Make ONE Resolution/Goal for 2013

It's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun! 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

1)  Did you make any New Years Resolutions, or state Goals and Objectives, for genealogy research in 2013?  If so, tell us about them.

2)  If not, then make ONE resolution, or state one goal, for your genealogy research that you are determined to keep during 2013.  We'll check on progress toward that resolution/goal during the year in SNGF.

3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook status post or Google+ Stream post.

Here's mine:

1)  I have NOT made resolutions or stated goals for 2013, based on my seemingly poor performance in recent years.

2)  The ONE, most important, Goal that I have for 2013 is to:  Get more information sitting in my piles, on my computer, and on my bookcases into my genealogy database, including narrative information, transcribing/abstracting documents, source citations for events, etc.  

I have a wealth of information that needs to be added to my genealogy database to make it "better" by using authoritative references, transcribing/abstracting documents, and adding events with source citations as needed.  This is a seemingly endless task because I keep finding and saving (photocopies or digital files) information about my ancestral families in repositories (I get to so few these days) and online (there is so much to find!).

So, my GOAL is to burn down my "to be entered" pile from 18 inches to 6 inches, and to enter at least 6,000 new source citations in 2013.  I currently have 35,837 citations in my database.

3)  There!  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-make-one.html

Copyright (c) 2013), Randall J. Seaver