Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Abraham Tucker (1653-1725) of Dartmouth, Mass.

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 the probate records for Abraham Tucker (1653-1725) of Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts.  Abraham married (1) Mary Slocum (1660-1689), and they had six children:  Henry Tucker (1680-1722); Abraham Tucker (1682-????); Mary Tucker (1684-1769); Martha Tucker (1686-????) Patience Tucker (1686-????); Abigail Tucker (1688-1730).  After Mary died, Abraham married (2) Hannah Mott (1663-1730), and they had seven children:  Elizabeth Tucker (1691-1768); Sarah Tucker (1693-1727); Content Tucker (1695-1738); Abraham Tucker (1697-1776); Joanna Tucker (1699-1772); Ruth Tucker (1701-????); Hannah Tucker (1704-????).

Abraham Tucker of Dartmouth died testate, having written a will dated 20 November 1724.  It reads (transcribed by Randy Seaver from the probate court clerk's record copy in Bristol County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, Volume 5, Pages 79-81, on FHC Microfilm 0,461,883):

"The Last Will & Testament of Abraham Tucker of Dartmouth in the County of Bristoll in the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England Yeoman is as followeth:  To all People whome these Presents May Concern.  Know ye that I the said Abraham Tucker through the mercy of God:  being Perfect in mind & of a Sound memory: for the Preventing future Trouble Do make this my Last Will and Testament as followeth.

"First I will that all those Debts & Duties as I Do owe in Right To any manner of Person or Persons whatsoever shall be well & truly Contented & Paid in Convenient Time after my decease by my Executor hereafter Named.

"Item I give & bequeath to Hannah my well beloved Wife my Two Best feather beds with all the furniture thereto belonging with all my plate & Silver money also one third Part of all my within dore househould goodsfor house keeping (Except onely the Remaining Part of my beds and beding, to be disposed of as she Shall See Cause forever. I also give to my wife Dureing the Time that she shall Remain my widdow the whole of my now Dwelling house where I now dwell or live in: & also the Two Best Cows in my stock of Cattel: & also the fruit of five Apple Trees shuch as she shall make Choice of Yearly in my orchard: also do dive and bequeath unto her my sd. wife Sixteen Pounds money or bills of Credit yearly to be Paid unto her by my Executor hereafter Named so long as she shall Remain my widdow as aforsaid and no Longer: And also my said Executor shall Provide her with fire wood Cut fit for the fire always Ready at the Dore: and shall Keep her Two Cows & one horse hind(?)  Winter Summer fit for use & Service; and to let her my said wife have one Barrill of Syder Every Year all which I give unto said wife Dureing her widdowhood as aforsaid and no Longer: I also Give & Bequeath unto said wife Hannah one horse Hind(?) such as she shall make Choice of out of my stock of horse hind(?): & be disposed of as she shall see Cause with Saddle & Bridle therewith: all which I give unto my said Wife Hannah In Luo of her Thirds or Dower and my will is that when my Wife shall marry or Decease & then what is herein given to her dureing her widdowhood Shall belong to my Executor hereafter Named and to his heires & assignes forever.

"Item  I give and bequeath unto my Eldest son Henery Tucker all my Land lying on the Island called Elsabeth alias Pashechanaset & the Island Called Painochiset to be by him his heires & assignes possesed & Injoyed forever: I also Give & bequeath unto my Said son Henery Tucker all my lands whether in meaddow or uplands lying within the township of Dartmouth aforsdaid: Excepting what I have hereafter in these Presents give to my son Abraham Tucker, to Him my said son Henery his heires & assignes forever:  I also give & Bequeath unto my said son Henery all my Stock of Cattel Sheep & horse Hind(?) of what Kind soever that shall be on said Island called Pashecheneset  & Peanochicset att my Decease Together with my Part of the Roat yt we use to Transport to and from said Island for and in the Consideration of the above bequests to my said Son Henery Tucker he shall pay out such Legacies as I Make hereafter in these Presents order him to Pay.

"Item  I give unto my Daughter Mary Russell the Sum of Twenty Pounds in money or bills of Credit to be paid to her or her heires in case of her Decease before the Times of payment within one year after my decease by my said son Henery Tucker together with what or besides what I have already given her.

"Item  I give to my Daughter Patience Woolley the Sum of Twenty Pounds in money or bills of Credit to be paid to her or her heires aforsaid within one year after my decease by my said son Henery Tucker together with what or besides what I have already given her.

"Item  I give unto my Daughter Abigail Chase the Sum of Five Pounds in money or bills of Credit to be paid to her or her heires aforsaid within one year after my decease by my said son Henery Tucker together with what or besides what I have already given her: & I also give to my Daughter Abigail Chase the sum of forty Pounds in money which is due to me from her Husband, Joseph Chase by a bond abligatory Bareing Date ye thirteenth day of Janury 1712/13 and in the Twelfe year of the Reigne of Queen Ann with said bond & whatsoever may be due to me by virtue thereof or thereon.

"Item  I give to my Grandson Abraham Thomas son to my Daughter Martha Thomas deceased Late wife of George Thomas of Portmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island the sum of fourty Pounds of bills of Credit to be paid to him when he shall come to the age of Twenty one years or att his marrage day which shall happen first by my said son Henery Tucker.

"Item  I give to my Granddaughter Mary Thomas Daughter to my said Daughter Martha deceased: the sum of ten Pounds in money or bills of Credit to be paid her by my said son Henery Tucker when she shall come to the age of Eighteen years or either Marrage Day which shall first happen: And further my will yt if Either of my sd Grandchildren shall dye before the Legacies herein to him or her given is become due according to the severall days of payment that then the whole herein given both shall be paid to the survivor in manner as is herein to such as given all: Which I do order my said son Henery Tucker to pay ye abovesaid Legacies given to my Daughter & Grand Children mentioned to be paid by.

"Item  I give to my three daughters namely Joanah Tucker Ruth Tucker & Hannah Tucker Each of them the sum of Sixty Pounds in money or bills of Credit to be paid to Each of them Respectively as they come to the age of Eaighteen years or att theire & Each of them marrage Days: which shall first happen by my Executor hereafter Named: & it is my will that if any of Either of my three daughters Last mentioned shall dye before before she or they come to the age as aforsaid, that then her or their Legacee or Legacies shall be paid in Equall Proportion thereof to the survivors of my Seven Daughters namely Mary Russell, Elizabeth Barker, Sarah Wing, Content Wing Joanah Tucker Ruth Tucker and Hannah Tucker or Their Legal Representatives in case any of them be dead.

"Item  I give & Bequeath unto my youngest Son Abraham Tucker Whome I also Constitute make and ordaine my onely & sole Executor of this my Last Will & Testament, all my homestead farme or Lands with all trhe housing & buildings fences Apurtenances thereon or thereto Belonging to him my said son Abraham Tucker his heires & assignes forever always Excepting what is above Reserved to my wife dureing her widdowhood & no more or Longer.  The said homestead is Bouned as followeth: Northwardly by ye Land of my said Son Henery Tucker: Eastwardly by the Highway that goes from Poneganset harbour along by Josiah Sherman Lands or homestead & Now Deceased: & so along by John Howlands now dwelling house, & so up to the Cuntry Rhoad: Southerly by Lands belonging to John Russell & Partly by the Landss of James Barker, & Westwardly by the highway yt goes from John Tuckers to friends meeting house in Poneganset:  I also give & bequeath unto my said son Abraham Tucker & to his heires & assignes forever all that my Tract of upland & meadows lying on the Westerly side of Clarks Cove so called in Dartmouth aforesaid & is bouned NorWestwardly by the highway partly & partly by Undivided lands, Westwardly by the lands of John Russel Southerly by land of Peleg Slocum & Easterly by the Bay of Salheater: I also give to my said son Abraham Tucker and to his heires & assignes forever all my Right in Ceder Swamps within the township of Dartmouth aforsaid whether divided or undivided together with all my Rights in the undivided land in said Town: it is all my Right yt shall be Remaining after the Eaight hundred & four hundred ... division in said town compleated:  I also give unto my said Son Abraham Tucker & to his heires & assignes forever Two Oxen which he shall make Choice of four Cows such as he shall Chose after his Mother my said wife haith made her Choice as above Together with all my utensils for husbandlry without dores as Cartes Plows with Iron thereto Chaines Yokes & all other for husbandry: and also all my Carpenters Tools & also the Choice of two guns: & further my will is yt after all my Debts & above mentioned Legacies Paid & Satisfied then what shall shall be Remaining of my Personall Estate both Stock & household goods & Paper money of any theire may be at my decease not herein above disposed of shall be Equally divided amonst my Seven Daughters yt is Mary Russel Elezebeth Barker Sarah Wing Constant Wing Joannah Tucker Ruth Tucker & Hannah Tucker or theire Legall Representatives in case any of them be dead: I do Request Constitute & Appointe my Trusted & well beloved friends & Brethren John Tucker & Jacob Mott to be my overseers to Advice my Executor in the Execution of the Trust herein Reposed in him: and I do hereby make null & void all former wills & Ratifie this and no other to be my Last will & Testament in wittness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal the Twentieth day of ye Ninth month Called November in ye year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred Twenty foure.

"Signed, Sealed pronounced & Declared by the said Abraham Tucker

Abraham Tucker to be his last will & testament

Richerd Bourden

John Tucker

John Howland

Elezebeth Smith

"Bristoll April ye 20th 1724: then before the Hon. Nath-ll Blaglove (?) Esq-r Judge of the Probaite of Wills within the County of Bristoll Came John Tucker & John Howland & Elezebeth Smith Wittnesses to the Last will & Testament of Abraham Tucker Late of Dartmouth decesed & made oath yt they were Present & did see & hear ye said deceased Signe seal Publish & Declare ye same to be his last will & testament & yt he was of a Disposing mind when he so did and yt at the same time they saw Richerd Bourden signe as a wittness with them & yt they all signed in the presence of the Testator.  Bristoll May ye 7th 1724 Burat Coram. Stephen Paine Register."

On 20 April 1725, Abraham Tucker of Dartmouth, sole Executor of the last will and testament of his Father, Abraham Tucker of Dartmouth, deceased, dated 20 November 1724, was ordered to execute the will, administer the estate, make a true and perfect inventory before 20 July 1725 and to render a plain and true account of his administration of the estate by 20 April 1726 by the Judge of Probate at Bristol (Bristol County (Massachusetts) Probate Records, Volume 5, Page 64, on FHL Microfilm 0,461,883).

No inventory or account is included in the Bristol County Probate records available on microfilm at the Family History Library.

In this will, Abraham names two sons (Henry and Abraham) and ten daughters (Mary, Patience, Abigail, Martha (deceased), Sarah, Content, Elizabeth, Joanah, Ruth and Hannah).  My ancestry is through daughter Content Tucker, who married Benjamin Wing in 1722.  The three daughters from the second marriage not bequeathed something substantial in the will may have received something when they married.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/03/amanuensis-monday-probate-records-of.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Zap the Grandma Gap Power-Up Workbook Available for RootsTech!

I received this press release from Janet Hovorka about her new Zap the Grandma Gap Power Up Workbook:

Most parents and grandparents would do anything and everything to raise the youth in their family to be successful adults.  There are play groups and preschool lessons, music and dance, sports, tutoring and youth groups, the right schools, the right nutrition, etc.etc.  However, many people miss one of the most basic and foundational things that can set a child up for success in life—teaching their child about their family’s history. 

To help, Family ChartMasters has published another unique resource that looks at family history in an engaging and youthful way so that anyone can easily engage the youth in their family with their history.  In conjunction with her corresponding lectures at the RootsTech conference this week, Janet Hovorka has written the new  Zap the Grandma Gap Power Up Workbook: The Particulars About How To Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History, a hands-on book with step by step instructions, procedures, templates and resources that will help teach the next generation to love their heritage.  In the fill-in-the-blank book you will find:

• ·         Brainstorming activities to spark ideas
• ·         Suggestions for travel
• ·         Checklists and invitations for parties
• ·         Outlines for children’s books and activity books
• ·         Templates for games
• ·         Designs for recipe cards and ornaments
• ·         Surveys of the best websites
• ·         Ideas for incentives
• ·         Lists of interview questions
• ·         And instructions and templates for many other activities

This book discusses many ways to combine a family’s specific heritage with the specific interests of their particular youth.

The workbook is a companion to the book Zap the Grandma Gap: Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History.  This new book has already inspired families throughout the world about the importance of family history in connecting today’s families.  In it parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles can learn:

• ·         How to prepare for further curiosity by infusing their surroundings with their history.
• ·         Why plugging into the net is the easiest way to plug their family into their past
• ·         How to utilize your talents to teach their family about their history
• ·         Why discovering the surrounding history together makes their progenitors come alive.
• ·         How to pull their posterity close by carefully creating and recording today’s history.
• ·         Why it is important to simplify their family’s story their family can appreciate the past.

Author Janet Hovorka comes from a family that practices the principles found in this book.  As a librarian, she helped people at the BYU library with their family history research but was completely uninterested in her own. Janet inherited a large amount of genealogy from her mother and grandmother, both wonderful genealogists who lived family history in a way that was attractive and inviting.  Eventually Janet woke up to the soul satisfaction of learning about her past.  Most recently she has found great joy in encouraging her teenage children's genealogical interests. Janet has returned this last month from speaking at the Who Do You Think You Are Conference in London, and the North Florida Genealogy Conference where she gave several lectures about engaging the next generation with their family history.  Among other topics, she will be speaking this weekend at the RootsTech conference on “The Cool Parts of Genealogy: Engaging My Teenagers Case Study.”  Understanding the good and the bad in their own family history can help anyone deal with their family members and their lives in a more healthy way. 

Zap the Grandma Gap Power Up Workbook: The Particulars About How To Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka is available now at www.zapthegrandmagap.com, at bookstores and by calling 801-872-4278.  A 24 page excerpt of the workbook and a 28 page excerpt of the book are available for free on the website along with downloads of other supporting materials.  Sign up on the homepage for a free 52 week e-newsletter with even more ideas on how to engage the next generation with their family history.

About the Author:  Janet Hovorka received a B.A. in Ancient Near Eastern History and a Master's degree in Library and Information Science from BYU.  She and her husband Kim Hovorka own Family ChartMasters (www.familychartmasters.com) —official, award winning printers for most of the genealogy software and database companies.  She is currently serving as President of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches courses in library skills and genealogy at Salt Lake Community College.  Janet writes the The Chart Chick blog (www.thechartchick.com), has written for numerous genealogy publications, and has presented 100s of lectures all over the world to help people learn more about their past. 

 Zap the Grandma Gap : Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka.  Published by Family ChartMasters: Cedar Hills, Utah, 2013. Paperback, $23.95 194pp.  ISBN 978-0-9888548-0-2.

Zap the Grandma Gap Power Up Workbook: The Particulars About How To Connect With Your Family by Connecting Them To Their Family History by Janet Hovorka.  Published by Family ChartMasters: Cedar Hills, Utah, 2013. Paperback, $23.95 103pp.  ISBN 978-0-9888548-1-9.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/03/zap-grandma-gap-power-up-workbook.html

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 10 to 16 March 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:

*  The Genealogy Age Gap - My Take On It by Betty Taylor on My Mother's Family History blog.  Betty describes her outlook on getting younger people involved in their family history.

*  The Reasonably Exhausting Search by Beirne Konarski on the GenVoyage blog.  Beirne is using the Genealogical Proof Standard to find the parents of an ancestor.  I wish him luck!

*  The Puzzling Probate by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Judy works out a reader's puzzle - the key is to know the law!

*  Six Irish Genealogy Websites by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog.  Diane lists her favorite six, um, eight, Irish websites.  Great list.

*  More Effective Searches by Michele Simmons Lewis on Ancestoring's Ask a Genealogist blog.  Michele shares her general principles for searching genealogy databases.

*  Capturing Ancestry.com Sources in FamilySearch Family Tree by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  This post describes the Tree Connect feature to add a non-FamilySearch online source to the Family Tree.  The shortened Ancestry link for a specific record is very useful.

*  Lessons in Genealogy Collaboration by Crista Cowan on the Ancestry.com Blog.  Crista gets a bit of humble pie...I sympathize.  I like her conclusions.  I would add one more - Some researchers have better records than you do.

*  Reflections on an Australian Lecture Tour by Paul Milner on the Paul Milner Genealogy blog.  Somehow, Paul did 39 lectures in 30 days on 15 topics on the Unlock the Past cruise and then at venues all around Australia.  He survived to tell us about it!

*  Technology Pushes Us Off the Deep End by Anne on The French Genealogy Blog.  You think the USA has record access issues - check out the French problems.

*  Who Do You Think You Are? Live Feb. 22 - 24, 2013 by Emily Aulicino on the DNA - Genealem's Genealogy blog.  Emily summarizes her days at the WDYTYA Live conference in London.  Looks like the DNA folks had a lot of fun!

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

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

*  Monday Recap for March 11, 2013 by Amanda on the Geni Blog.

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

*  Follow Friday - Favorites for March 15, 2013 by Heather Kuhn Roelker on the Leaves for Trees blog.

*  Follow Friday - Fab Finds for March 15, 2013 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Friday Finds - 03/15/13 by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity - March 16, 2013 by John D. Tew on the Filiopietism Prism blog.

*  Notable Genealogy Blog Posts, 16 March 2013 by Michael Hait on the Planting the Seeds blog.

*  Weekly Genealogy Picks: March 10-16 by John Newmark on the TransylvanianDutch blog.

*  A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs by Dawn Watson on the Digging in the Roots 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 1350 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/2013/03/best-of-genea-blogs-10-to-16-march-2013.html

Copyright(c) 2012, Randall J. Seaver 

Census Whacking for St. Patrick's Day

Here's an oldie but a goodie from 17 March 2007 on Genea-Musings (with updates and additions over the years):I browsed through the 1920 census on www.Ancestry.com  looking for funny or strange names to help celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Irish names.There is a rich selection:

* Patrick Ireland resided in Matagorda County TX (born in Texas - who knew?)

* St. Lester Patrick resided in Hillsborough county NH (born in Canada)

* Patrick Patrick resided in Macon County AL (born AL)

* Patrick Fitz Patrick resided in Queens County NY (born in Ireland)

* Paddy Green resided in Lucas County OH (born Ireland)

* Green Kelley resided in Hudson County NJ (born Ireland)

*  Kelly Banshey resided in Beardstown, Illinois.

*  Banshe Jedinak resided in Trinidad, Colorado.

* There are 64 males named Patrick Green born in Ireland.

* Daniel Boy resided in Cuyahoga County OH (born in Russia)

* Daniel Erin Ireland resided in Wyandotte County KS (born in KS)

* Patrick Luck resided in Kings County NY (born in Ireland)
*  Erin Ireland resided in Logan County, CO (born in Nebraska)

* There are 87 females named Rose Ireland - but only one was born in Ireland.

*  There are 1,889 persons with the surname Clover, but only 6 were born in Ireland.

*  There are 222 persons with the surname Shamrock, and 6 with the first name of Shamrock, but none were born in Ireland.

*  There are 9 Kate Irelands in the census, but none were born in Ireland

*  There are 91 persons with surname Ireland that were born in Ireland.

*  There are 606 persons with the surname Limerick, but only 5 were born in Ireland.

*  There are 5,372 with the surname Cork, but only 39 were born in Irreland.

*  There are 102 persons with the surname Fairy, but only 2 were born in Ireland.

*  There are 3,861 persons with surname Irish, but only 22 were born in Ireland.

*  There are 26,144 persons with the first name starting with "Kat" and 41,434 with starting with "Cat" born in Ireland

*  There are 22,043 persons with the surname Shannon, but only 880 were born in Ireland.

*  There are 52,560 persons with the first name starting with "Pat" and 49 starting with "Pad" born in Ireland

*  There are 1,059,917 persons in the 1920 census that were born in Ireland.

*  There are 3,888,940 persons whose father was born in Ireland.

*  There are 3,799,355 persons whose mother was born in Ireland.

*  There are 3,078,127 persons whose mother and father were born in Ireland.

*  I have exactly 0 known ancestors who were born in Ireland after 1600.  

There were no people in the census with the surname of Leprechaun or Banshee.  Not being Irish, or having known Irish ancestry, or much experience researching in Ireland - I don't know all of the legends and songs that might provide more names to search.  What other names should I look for next year? 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/03/census-whacking-for-st-patricks-day.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Lunch With your Fearless Female

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 

1)  Read Lisa Alzo's blog post Back for a Fourth Year: Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women's History Month on her blog, The Accidental Genealogist.

2)  Answer the writing prompt for 16 March:  If you could have lunch with any female family member (living or dead), or any famous female, who would it be and why? Where would you go? What would you eat?

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

Here's mine:

I would pick my 5th great-grandmother, Jerusha (--?--) Metcalf (ca 1750-1817), wife of Burgess Metcalf (1741-1816) of Piermont, Grafton County, New Hampshire.  They had 11 children together while living near the Connecticut River, really on the frontier.  Hopefully, she would know who her parents were (!!), and where they were born, and who her siblings were.  I would ask her about her childhood, how she met and married Burgess, what she did during the Revolutionary War while Burgess was away from home, how educated she was, and what stories she could tell me about their daughter, Polly, my 4th great-grandmother, and her family.  

Where would we go?  To Piermont, I think, to stand on the land on which she lived out her life.  What would we eat?  Probably something relatively soft, since she probably didn't have great teeth in her later years.  

I have many other females with an unknown surname, or unknown parents, but Jerusha --?-- is one that may open up a new research line for me back into the early 1600s in New England.  

Besides, I like the name, Jerusha.  It's different.  The ThinkBabyNames website says this about Jerusha:

Jerusha \j(e)-ru-sha\ as a girl's name is pronounced je-ROO-shah. It is of Hebrew origin, and the meaning of Jerusha is "married, a possession". Biblical: the wife of King Uzziah. Used by the Puritans and revived somewhat in the 19th century. Literary: James Michener used the name for the missionary heroine in his novel "Hawaii".

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/03/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-lunch-with.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Surname Saturday - BANGS (England > Massachusetts)

It's Surname Saturday, and I'm "counting down" my Ancestral Name List each week.  

I am in the 7th great-grandmothers, up to number 571: Apphia BANGS (1651-1722). [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 7th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].  [Note:  LNU = Last Name Unknown...]

My ancestral line back through two American generations of this BANGS family line is:

1.  Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

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

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth (1857-1920)

16. Isaac Seaver (1823-1901)
17. Lucretia Townsend Smith (1827-1884)

34.  Alpheus B. Smith (1802-1840)
35.  Elizabeth Horton Dill (1791-1869)

70.  Thomas Dill (1755-1830)
71.  Hannah Horton (1761-1797)

142.  Nathaniel Horton (1721-1775)
143.  Eunice Snow (1722-????)

284.  Samuel Horton (1686-1778)
285.  Hannah Atwood (1686-????)

570.  Stephen Atwood, born about 1653 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States; died before July 1722 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 1140. Stephen Atwood and 1141. Abigail Dunham.  He married June 1677 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.

571.  Apphia Bangs, born 13 October 1651 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States; died after July 1722 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of Stephen Atwood and Apphia Bangs are:  Stephen Atwood (1678-????); Malchiel Atwood (1679-1728); Joseph Atwood (1680-1740); Apphia Atwood (1681-????); Eleazer Atwood (1681-1729); Joshua Atwood (1683-1724); Hannah Atwood (1686-????); Thomas Atwood (1696-1784).

1142.  Edward Bangs, born before 28 October 1591 in Panfield, Essex, England; died 16 February 1676/77 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2284. John Bangs and 2285. Jane Chavis.  He married about 1635 in Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.
1143.  Rebecca Hobart, born before 29 December 1611 in Wymondham, Norfolk, England; died before 1677 in Eastham, Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 2286. Edmund Hobart and 2287. Margaret Dewey.

Children of Edward Bangs and Rebecca Hobart are:  Rebecca Bangs (1635-1679); Sarah Bangs (1638-1683); Jonathan Bangs (1640-1728); Lydia Bangs (1642-1706); Hannah Bangs (1644-1677); Joshua Bangs (1646-1710); Bethia Bangs (1650-1696); Apphia Bangs (1651-1722); Mercy Bangs (1651-????).

Information on this family was obtained from:

*  Dean Dudley, History and Genealogy of the Bangs Family (Montrose, Mass., the author, 1896).

*  Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633 (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), Volume I, pages 86-91.

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Free eBook of Descendants of Robert the Bruce

I received an email tonight from the folks at FamilyForest.  They are offering a FREE, 2100 page eBook of the descendants of Robert the Bruce of Scotland.

You can read how to obtain the book on their blog post Free Offer, No Strings Attached, No Credit Card Required.

The description of the book can be found at http://familyforest.com/products/35/robert-i-king-of-scotland-and-his-descendants 

If you send FamilyForest an email at familyforest@hawaii.rr.com and request the book, they will send you a link to a website that will download the book to your computer in PDF format.

You can then read the book at your leisure.

I have no skin in this offer - they just emailed me and asked if I would share their offer with my readers.

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Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

RootsTech 2013 Syllabus Material is Online

I was browsing through the RootsTech 2013 schedule trying to pick out which sessions I might attend, and noticed that the syllabus for almost all of the sessions are available to download.  Many are in both PDF and DOC format.

Here's how to find them:

Go to the RootsTech Home Page -- www.rootstech.org -- click on the "Schedule" link in the left-hand sidebar, and then on the "Main Schedule" link.

That will open up the "Main Schedule" page with tabs for the three days - Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Pick your day.

I scrolled down a bit and saw a presentation by Kory Meyerink that looked interesting, so I clicked on it:

There are links, in orange, for the Syllabus material.  Here is the top of the first page:

Kory has made a little guessing game out of his presentation - it's interesting.

There are about 250 individual sessions at RootsTech 2013 this year.  Nobody can go to all of them, let alone even 5% of them.

There you have the syllabus materials - download or print the individual presentations out to your heart's content!  As I recall, we received a flash drive with the syllabus material in our registration packet with the presentations organized by day and time and subject.  I'm not sure how we received the syllabus separated by days...was it download, flash drive or CDROM?  Does anyone know for sure?  Note that the syllabus materials are not available on the RootsTech 2013 app.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/03/rootstech-2013-syllabus-material-is.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

UPDATED:  16 March, 5 p.m.Stated my confusion on how we received 2012 syllabus files.

Review: Legacy QuickGuide on Land and Property Records

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 Legacy QuickGuide for Land and Property Records written by Jennifer Holik.

The Introduction to this QuickGuide says:

"Just getting started with property records or are you a frequent user and you need some help? The Land and Property Records Legacy QuickGuide™ contains useful information including tips on getting started in land records, where to search for records, how to map property, and how to see the property visually through various mapping options. It also includes a glossary of commonly used terms in property research. This 4-sided, laminated guide is easily portable to take along on your next genealogy research trip."

The subjects included in the Land and Property Records  QuickGuide are:

*  Deeds

*  Strategies

*  Tips and Tricks

*  Land Acquisition Process: Government to Person

*  Land Acquisition Process: Person to Person

*  Homestead Records

*  Researching Homestead Records

*  Source Citation Formats

*  Terminology

*  Further Reading

*  Toolkit

This QuickGuide has three pages of explanation on what to look for and how to do it, and only one page of 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 information about deeds, strategies, terminology, the deed acquisition process are very helpful, and the links to online resources will be useful.

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 your copy of the  Land and Property Records  QuickGuide (PDF or printed laminated folder) 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/2013/03/revbiew-legacy-quickguide-on-land-and.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

Follow-Up Friday - Helpful and Useful Reader Comments to Genea-Musings Posts

It's Friday - when I post reader comments to Genea-Musings posts that are helpful and/or interesting, often with my own comments or explanations.

1)  On My RootsTech 2013 Checklist (14 March 2013):

*  John D. Tew said:  "Whew! After accomplishing all that you need to have on your list (at the bottom). Relax and veg out for three solid days upon return to San Diego!! ;-)"

*  Denise Levenick offered:  "Remember to take your vitamins and drink lots of water. Jamboree is less than 3 months away!"

*  Deb Brunt commented:  "Have you heard of the app "Tripit"? It is available (free for the basic version) for iPhone & iPad as well as PC. You forward all your confirmation emails to Tripit and it creates a trip for you so all of your travel documents are in one place. And you can manually add items to it as well."

My comments:  Thank you all for commiserating and encouraging, and thank you, Deb, for the Tripit lead.

2)  On Finding Genealogy Gems in Ancestry Member Trees (14 March 2013):

*  Tim Forsythe noted:  "I've also found some good sources on trees in Rootsweb's World Connect Project. It pays to go looking sometimes. I recently purchased an Ancestry DNA kit and needed an ancestry tree to connect it to, so I added a few generations to it so that Ancestry would be able to find close relatives based on DNA matches. I found that Ancestry's shakey leaf kept finding new sources based on the vital data I provided and their algorithms that search for people in similar trees. Pretty soon I was building up more and more generations just to see what it would find. It went pretty quickly and even though most of the sources I already had in my database, there were some new ones as well. I was also able to add several new ancestors to my daughter-in-law's tree. That being said, the hints they provide need to be analyzed thoroughly before accepting them. They suggest a lot of poor quality sources as well such as the "Family Data Collection" and the "Millennium File", which are really nothing more than large databases of unsourced family trees. Ancestry does allow you to turn off their Ancestor Trees from the hints, which was nice. Ancestry won't find every source, so a quick search is also useful. My take away is that Ancestry can automatically locate some very good sources for ancestors in matching trees with very little effort."

My comment:  Agreed on Rootsweb WorldConnect - it's where I point my beginning students to find leads for their ancestry because it's free and is a fairly large collection (and most of it is duplicated in Ancestry Member Trees).  When I did my study on "You don't even have to know what you're looking for" last year, I found that about 90% of the Hints that Ancestry offers are for the person of interest.  As Tim says, some of the databases are index collections that I don't waste my time on.  I can ignore them and find the more authoritative sources that are actual records.

3)  On Dear Randy - Two Names, Two Birth Records for One Child? Or Two? (11 March 2013):

*  Geolover noted:  "...your suggestions are good, but the seeker should also look into any surviving newspapers (was there announcement of twins born?), land and court records in addition to divorce proceedings.

"What if there were twins and the husband absconded with one of them? I can think of a scenario unrelated to the following.

"One of my cousins married in the 1830s and had a child. The husband abandoned them, went to another State and filed for divorce, which was granted. He returned and took away the child -- I have not had an opportunity to see whether there were Court records in the husband residence County and State regarding custody of the child. The marriage was not recorded, and births were not being recorded in the mother's home State at this time.

"My only clue to look for something about this woman's marriage was the 1880 US Census notation that she was divorced. Once my eyes were opened I was lucky to locate a report of a lawsuit by the taken child, claiming his now-deceased mother's land. She had conveyed it by deed and died intestate. The court decided that the conveyance was legitimate, and ruled against the plaintiff.  The proceedings commenced some 46 years after birth of this child, which is just a pointer to not confine a search to an immediate time period.  The court record has myriad sworn statements by relatives and neighbors as to relationships between the deceased mother, her sister and various nephews, which helped resolve another couple of issues on this family.

I certainly wish the seeker good hunting."
My comment:  Life can be much stranger than fiction, can't it?  Great detective work, a little luck and good court records solved your problem and added to your family history.  Excellent lessons for all of us.

*  Susan offered:  "Look up the entry, born March 3, 1861, to see if RCE appears in the left hand column.   

"You may occasionally come across a statutory image with a note in the margin ‘RCE’ and a reference number. RCE stands for Register of Corrected Entries. If, after an entry in a register had been completed, an error was discovered or some other amendment was required as a result of new information, the original entry could not be altered. Instead, each registrar kept a register of corrected entries in which such amendments were written, originally after they had been approved by a sheriff. Corrections to birth entries might be to name, residence, identity, or as a result of a sheriff’s finding in a paternity case, with the father’s name being added as directed by the sheriff, or as a result of an illegitimate child being legitimised by its parents’ subsequent marriage. Images of RCEs are now available on ScotlandsPeople. "

*  Dandelion responded:  "Thanks for the suggestion. I have the images from Scotland's People and I just checked both of them. I don't see anything in the left margins. 

"I also looked at the records for another set of twins born the same year in Fife. In the column for the mother’s information one says “Her 1st child.” and for the other “Her 2nd child.” Curiously one of those twins appears to be a third cousin once removed of Alison Naismith McIntyre Milne. 

"I seem to remember also seeing “(twin)” below the names of the children in some cases."

My comments:  Thank you, Susan, for the research tip about RCEs.  I'm glad that Dandelion followed up on it.  

4)  On What I Hope to Hear at RootsTech 2013 (11 March 2013):

*  Tessa wrote:  "Ah Randy, from your post to the Genealogy God's ear! I have been waiting patiently for Legacy Family Tree to upgrade their program - 

(1) hoping for more in the way of research manager type capabilities with good use of scoring (direct, indirect, quality, etc.) and being able to take the research you do and incorporate it easier (similar to RootsMagic - I thought that was a brilliant upgrade)
(2) a mobile app that syncs seamlessly
(3) a number of the fixes or suggestions that forum members have provided over the past two years taken to heart by Legacy rather than more bells and whistles - Legacy has plenty of those already."

*  Tamura Jones noted:  "Not much happens at RootsTech, and Ancestry sure isn't going to introduce FTM 2013 there.   You may recall that Ancestry.com decided to not introduce FTM 2013 at all: Family Tree Maker 2013.

"Would not get my hopes up for a free app that works with Legacy 7 either. There is a commercial third-party app already, and Millennia may want to concentrate its efforts on Legacy 8, which may or may not include an app.

"Can't tell all I know. Do expect MyHeritage FTB 8 to be ready soon."

*  Geolover commented:  "Your call for "improved" interaction with FamilySearch-Family Tree on the part of 3rd-party software is premature. FamilySearch has not yet given the code to developers. Some 3rd-party software programs can interact with the new.FamilySearch tree, and FS is still migrating data between new.FamilySearch and FS-FamilyTree. Some of the impacts on FS-Family Tree adversely affect cleanup work done in FS-Family Tree.

"I was not aware that Ancestry.com had any version of FTM that worked with new.FamilySearch."

*  Lisa Taisey said:  "GENI will be more user friendly toward the folks who joined when it was a FREE site! I was even willing to pay to become a member BUT they will NOT let you pay a monthly fee like Ancestry they will only accept ONE yearly charge and I can't afford that so No membership for me and unable to access my data there. Not customer friendly!"

*  Sven Ove-Westburg noted:  "My wish list.

"Will here be family tree database software where you can add references direct from the libraries catalog? I doubt that since then they can not follow Mills.

"Will some interface with a reference organizing software such as Zotero?

"An open API to the user trees on Ancestry.

"I would like to see someone start using Maridb or MySQL as their database. So the DB engine is separated from the genealogy program.

"I do not think Legacy will have a new version they may talk about it. They have a slot reserved at the SCGS Jamboree June 7."

My comments:  Thank you all for your comments and wish lists.  I threw in the FTM 2013 part to see if anyone was paying attention - they were!  Obviously, some people are more "tuned in" than I am to the genealogy companies and organizations. I appreciate their sharing what they can tell us without divulging confidences.  

5)  On Follow-Up Friday - Helpful/Interesting Reader Comments (8 March 2013):

*  Yvette Hoitink noted:  "Civil registration birth records in the Netherlands not only list the informant, they went a lot further: "Derk Jan Hoitink came to me and presented me with his male child called Hendrik". No kidding, the actual child had to be presented to the clerk to register the birth. Doesn't get any more primary than that. The requirement to present the child was not so good for infant mortality rates though, especially since you had to present the child within 3 days of the birth or face a large fine, so that requirement was dropped after a couple of years. To this day, you're still required to register the birth within three days, but at least you can leave the baby at home now if you have a declaration by the doctor or midwife."

My comment:  Thank you for the interesting "real life" registration requirement information...that certainly was "primary information!"

*  Mary Ellen Aube commented:  "I thought that the physician recorded the births in New England. I know that my mother was born in 1896 and the physician recorded her birth."

My response:  I think that the birth registration process changed over time from a "parent report" to a "midwife or doctor report" system.  Since most births before 1900 occurred at home, usually without a "doctor" present, the "parent report" system worked for a long time.  In 1823, when my Isaac Seaver was born in Westminster, Mass., there is no indication of a doctor report.  I do note that the Massachusetts marriage records after 1841 have a minister's name in the right-hand column, and my guess is that the minister reported the marriage to the town.

6)    On Treasure Chest Thursday - 1875 Kansas State Census Record for D.J. Smith Family (7 March 2013):

*  Gerry Sell commented:  "I'll bet the teacher was hired by the township for its public school, and was boarding (at township expense) at the Smith home. By the time 1880 rolled around she was probably married, but perhaps not."

My comment:  That is very logical, and is probably the correct interpretation to this puzzle.  I didn't even think of it.  Thank you!  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/03/follow-up-friday-helpful-and-useful_15.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver