Chula Vista Genealogical Society Spring Seminar Features Jean and Butch Hibben

Attention:  Southern California genealogists and family historians:

The Chula Vista [California] Genealogical Society (CVGS) Spring Seminar is open for reservations and there is an interesting ‘menu’ planned for attendees. 

Please mark Saturday, March 29 on your calendar and plan to attend and learn all sorts of ways to improve your genealogy research, have some fun AND enjoy a catered lunch. We’ll have drawings for great prizes, vendors and expert speakers. 

Popular and knowledgeable Jean Wilcox Hibben will offer four presentations, with additional talks by her husband Butch Hibben.

 Jean’s first talk will be “This is NOT Your Grandma's Genealogy: Making the Transition from Paper to Electronic Record-Keeping.” Are you a bit intimidated by the thought of organizing and storing all your research on the computer or ‘in the cloud’? Are you still stuck with boxes and boxes of paper? Jean will give you tips to convince you that modern technology is, indeed, your friend. She’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of computer over paper and will cover what to you need to know to transition away from total paper record keeping. Butch Hibben will discuss how to use Smart Phone technology for those interested in portable genealogy. He will also present his popular Living Legacy Project and be will be available throughout the day to share more information.

 The second morning session will be Jean’s presentation of "Elisabeth: The Story of a German Immigrant." Jean’s novelization of her great great grandmother’s life is full of drama, love and history. Her narrative is a compelling picture of American history and will deal with topics such as the Civil War, law, and immigration.  The book will also be for sale at the seminar.

After lunch, Jean will present "Lessons Learned from Genealogy Roadshow." Remember how the TV show made genealogical research look so easy? Jean shares with us how developing stories for a television show means having a minimum of time to gather together a wealth of family history, and how we can use those methods to make an interesting narrative of our family. How does one record lead to the next, and what alternate resources are available when one is unable to travel to other locations? 

Jean’s final presentation will be "Up Close and Personal," a discussion of suggestions for doing research where our ancestors lived and died. This will include travel tips, hints for cemetery visits, contacting libraries and societies in advance, planning interviews of living relatives, and post-visit “debriefing” and organization. If there is time, attendees will be encouraged to share their personal experiences.

It will be an informative and entertaining day, so register now on our website (http://cvgenealogy.org/). You may pay by check or credit card - $45 for CVGS members, $50 for non-members – but there is a $5 discount if you register by March 8. 

So sign up now, before you forget! And remember, this is our big fundraiser for high school scholarships. We will have a drawing for a deluxe kitchen accessories basket too (have you bought your tickets yet?).   There will be door prizes and opportunity drawings also.

Come join us for our “Recipe for Genealogy” seminar!

The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/chula-vista-genealogical-society-spring.html

Lyle Carringer's Birthplace in San Diego in 1891 -- Post 295 for (Not So) Wordless Wedneaday

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

Here is a photograph of an ancestral home taken by my grandfather in San Diego, California:

This picture was taken in 1918, probably by my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer (1891-1976), son of Henry Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer.  Apparently, it is the birthplace of Lyle, and, by implication, the residence of Austin and Della in late 1891.  

The note at the bottom, in Lyle's handwriting, says:

"birth place of Lyle Carringer, 16th & H, San Diego, Cal."

The note at the top says (as best I can tell):

"faces E. Piper ??? in rear" and "Picture taken 1918"

"16th and H" in San Diego in 1918 (and 1891) is now 16th and Market Streets just east of downtown San Diego.  This is now a commercial area, and this house is long gone.  

I don't know if the house was located facing 16th Street or H Street.  The shadows in the photo may help me figure this out.  The major shadow cast in the photo is of the roof eaves on the front of the house.  If the house faced H (now Market) (an east-west street), then it was probably on the south side of Market.  If the house faced 16th (a north-south street), then the house may have been on the west side of the street if the photo was taken in the afternoon, or on the east side of the street if the photo was taken in the morning.  The shadow of the barrel indicates to me that the sun was fairly high and shining from the left of the photo and from behind the house - which I think indicates the left side of the house faced south and the front side of the house faced east.  That would match an early afternoon sun for the front side of the house facing 16th Street on the west side of the street.

It would be interesting to see if there is a San Diego City Directory entry for this year for the Carringers in this place.  

I can hear the inquisitive Lyle asking his mother in about 1918:  "Where was I born?" and his mother replying "well, we lived in a little house at 16th and H and you were born in the back bedroom."  And so Lyle went off walking (or riding the streetcar) to 16th and H and took a picture of the house.  

The URL for this post is:

copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Using Puzzilla and FamilySearch Family Tree to Identify Autosomal, Y and mtDNA Candidates

I wrote about Puzzilla.org in Checking Out Puzzilla - a Descendant Viewer Using FamilySearch Family Tree (posted 21 November 2013).  The website accesses the FamilySearch Family Tree and the user can highlight an ancestor and see the descendants of the highlighted ancestor in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

One of the very best uses of this "tool" is, I think, to identify distant cousins who might be willing to take a DNA test to identify the Y-DNA haplogroup, the mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, and the degree of relationship using autosomal DNA.  

To illustrate this thought:  I need to find descendants of John Richman (1788-1867) and Ann Marshman (1784-1856) who resided in Hilperton, Wiltshire in England.  Autosomal DNA testing will help identify descendants of them, and thereby identify their Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups.  

I don't know the parents or siblings of John Richman (1788-1867) and Ann Marshman (1784-`1856) yet.  Autosomal, Y, or mitochondrial DNA testing of descendants of their siblings may help identify possible parents.

The FamilySearch Family Tree, used in conjunction with Puzzilla, can help:

1)  Here is the Family Tree showing my ancestors (up to 6 generations) in Puzzilla.org (with me highlighted at the bottom of the tree)

2)  I found my ancestor, John Richman (1788-1867) in the tree above, and ran my mouse over him in the tree:

3)  When I clicked on John Richman, a new tree of his descendants appeared:

On these charts, the females are colored red and the males are colored blue.

4)  The tree line from John Rivhman to me is highlighted in yellow - I highlighted my father in the view below:

5)  But I'm looking for Y-DNA candidates and mtDNA candidates.  For the Y-DNA test, I'm looking for an all male line from John Richman (1788-1867) to a living person who could take a Y-DNA test.  There aren't many...one candidate is Edgar Valentine Richmond (1886-1963):

I know that there are male children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Edgar Valentine Richmond (1886-1963) because I've corresponded with one of them.  So that line is certainly a possibility for the Y-DNA.

6)  For the mitochondrial DNA line, one of the likeliest candidates is my aunt Evelyn Seaver (1903-1978):

She has daughters, who have daughters, who have daughters still living that I'm in contact with.  Evelyn's sisters Ruth and Marion also have  a female line with living people.  

7)  I am quite sure that the FamilySearch Family Tree does not have EVERY descendant of John Richman (1788-1867) or his wife, Ann Marshman (1784-1856).  I need to do more research on some of the lines so that I can add more descendants to my database and to the Family Tree.

Of course, the FamilySearch Family Tree won't show living persons in the family tree, which is why I, and my siblings and cousins, are not shown on the chart above.  

I really like the way Puzzilla displays the descendants.  I wish that the lines were heavier and the nodes were larger...just so they make a better graphic that I can show on my blog.  

Have you identified the potential cousins who you might want to encourage to have their DNA tested so that you can solve ancestral research problems?  I'm making a list...

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/using-puzzilla-and-familysearch-family.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

NEHGS Has More Archived Webinars and Videos

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) continues to add resources to its website, www.AmericanAncestors.org.  While this is a subscription/membership site, there are free resources in the Learning Center and there are several free searchable databases.  I am a member, so I can access everything on the website.

The FREE Online Learning Center on the website provides links to archived webinars, recorded lectures, and how-to videos.  There are also articles and subject guides available to read.

The Learning Center page looks like this:

I wanted to see what webinars were offered because I learned, after-the-fact, that David Dearborn had presented one on Saturday, 15 February while I was busy elsewhere.

To find the video webinars, recorded lectures and how-to guides I clicked on the "Watch" link and saw the list of webinars:

The Dearborn webinar is titled "Find Your 17th Century New England Ancestors with NEHGS." The description of this webinar is:

" Learn the basics of researching your early New England ancestors (1601-1700) using NEHGS resources—both onsite and online. Join Senior Genealogist David Dearborn as he discusses key reference works, records, and databases available to NEHGS members and guest users."

I clicked on the video start arrow, and the video started.  It's on a real small screen on the NEHGS site, so I clicked on the YouTube link and the video was on a larger screen:

On the YouTube site, the user can click on the "full screen" icon and watch the video in full screen mode:

This was an excellent "refresher" for me as to the most recent scholarship and the online resources available.  I learned a few things.

The other archived webinars include (links are to the YouTube videos):

*  Ten Steps to Writing and Publishing Your Family History, presented by Penny Stratton (29 January 2014)

*  Get the Most From NEHGS ... From Home!,  presented by Jean Maguire (22 January 2014)

*  Maximize Your AmericanAncestors.org Results - Part II, presented by Andy Hanson-Dvoracek (18 December 2013)

*  Maximize Your AmericanAncestors.org Results - Part I, presented by Andy Hanson-Dvoracek (20 November 2013)

*  Expand Your Research Using NEHGS Online Databases, presented by Ellie Spinney and Sam Sturgis (6 November 2013)

If you have early colonial New England ancestors, these webinars and other videos provide an excellent introduction to researching New England in the colonial period and using the AmericanAncestors.org website to pursue your research.

The URL for this post is:

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Ancestry.com Has Connecticut Vital Records (Barbour Collection), But User Beware

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Ancestry.com has the Connecticut Vital Records, pre-1870, Barbour Collection Online.  However, caution is advised because of the fragmented, and possibly incomplete, nature of the records presented.

The Barbour Collection is the largest set of vital record indexes available for pre-1870 records for Connecticut.  There are 55 volumes, and they have been collected in relatively recent books edited by Lorraine Cook White and published by the Genealogical Publishing Company between 1994 and 2002.

The 55 volumes are online at Ancestry.com, but they are broken up into three different sets of data - Births, Marriages and Deaths.  The description of the records, from the Ancestry.com collection page, says:

"The Lucious Barnes Barbour Collection, well known to the Connecticut researcher, serves as an index to and an abstract of most pre-1850 Connecticut vital records. It is housed in the Connecticut State Library, but microfilm copies of it are widely available. Begun after establishment of the State Department of Health, Barbour’s project was to abstract and collect all town vital records up to about 1850. There are two formats to the material. The first is a statewide paper slip alphabetical index containing a complete abstract of each vital record taken from the books in each town. The card file holding this index takes up an entire wall at the Connecticut State Library. The second format is the group of separately bound volumes of abstracts of vital records for most towns, prepared from the slips."

Here is the database page for Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection):

The user can search the entire set of Birth records by putting a name in the name fields, and perhaps a place name in the birth location field.

Or, a researcher can browse a specific book by using the dropdown menu in the right-hand panel by choosing a specific volume.

I put Last Name = 'buck" and birth Location = "Killingly, Windham, Connecticut, USA" (picking from the dropdown list), and saw results:

There were 61 matches for my search criteria, so I picked one of them and saw the record summary:

To see the actual published page, I clicked on the "View Original image" and saw one page from the book:

One quirk in all three of the collections is that Ancestry has broken the books up into segments for presentation - a segment for one alphabetic surname letter or even parts of one surname letter.  For instance, the segment above goes from the middle of Brown to the end of the Bs in 7 images, and the 8th image in the set is in the H surnames for some reason.  

Each published volume has births, marriages and deaths in it.  But the three Ancestry databases have them separated, although there are sometimes birth data in death records, and so forth.

Perhaps they did this to prevent a user from browsing through every page of a volume.  

I find it difficult to convince myself that the collections are complete when they are presented this way.  For instance, there are no listings for A surnames, or for B surnames before Brown) for Killingly, Connecticut in any of the three volumes.  Perhaps that is the only flaw in the whole set - I didn't check every town and every surname letter.  Several other towns I checked seem complete but it's difficult to judge without a complete book to browse through.

Other Ancestry.com Barbour Collection databases include:

*  The Connecticut Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection).

*  The Connecticut Town Death Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection)

Earlier published editions of the Barbour Collection books are available on the NEHGS American Ancestors website (also a subscription site).  This collection seems to be the complete volumes and is searchable.  Here is one page from the A surname from the Killingly book:

I did a search for Allen in the Ancestry.com Birth collection and there were no matches for the Killingly book.

Of course, the 55 volumes edited by White have been published and are available at some repositories, but a researcher has to visit the card catalogs of their local libraries, or use WorldCat.org, to determine where the specific volume for their needs is available.

NOTE;  This post started out as a "look what Ancestry has" post, and turned into a whine.  Stuff happens sometimes!  I just tell it like I think it is.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/tuesdays-tip-ancestrycom-has.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Four Generations of Seaver Ancestors in the Leominster, Mass. City Directories

One of my ongoing research projects has been to identify my ancestral families in City Directories.
City Directories can provide a useful accounting of the addresses where families resided, the occupations of the residents, and spouse's names.  They are usually presented alphabetically by surname.  They can also be used to identify neighbors if there is a cross-street index.

For example, here is a page from the 1940 Leominster City Directory (found on Ancestry.com):

I did this task recently for my Seaver families in Leominster and Fitchburg and put them in a word processor table.  Here are the results:

Unfortunately, Ancestry.com does not a City Directory for every year from Leominster, so coverage is uneven.  I only traced my ancestral families for Fitchburg.

Using these tables, I can trace where my Seaver families resided between 1883 and 1943.  For instance:

1)  My second great-grandfather, Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) resided:

*  on Lancaster Street in 1883 and 1885,
*  at 1 Cedar in 1893 and 1897,
*  at 7 Cedar from 1897 to 1901.

It's likely that the entries refer to the same house, since the house at 7 Cedar is on the corner with Lancaster.  He died in 1901, so he wasn't in later directories, and neither was his wife.

2)  My great-grandfather, Frank W. Seaver (1852-1922) resided at:

*  on Central Street in 1883,
*  on Lancaster Street in 1885,
*  at 47 Lancaster Street in 1891,
*  at 63 Lancaster Street in 1893 and 1897,
*  at 149 Lancaster Street from 1898 to 1922.

It may be that all of the Lancaster addresses refer to the same house location and the numbering system changed.

3)  My grandfather, Frederick W. Seaver (1876-1942) resided at:

*  at 63 Lancaster Street in 1893 and 1897
*  at 149 Lancaster Street in 1896 to 1906
*  in Fitchburg at 56 Lincoln Street in 1907 and 1909
*  at 290 Central Street from 1913 to 1922
*  at 282 Central Street in 1924 to 1925
*  at 20 Hall from Street 1925 to 1935
*  at 65 Pleasant Street in 1936 and 1938
*  at 14 Vassar Street in 1939
*  at 90 Main Street in 1940-1942

4)  My father, Frederick W. Seaver, Jr., (1911-1983) resided at:

*  20 Hall Street from 1931-1935
*  at 65 Pleasant Street in 1936 and 1938
*  at 14 Vassar Street in 1939
*  at 90 Main Street in 1940
*  at 918 Main Street in 1941 and 1942
*  in 1943, the record says "removed to Santiago Cal" [meaning San Diego, California, which he did in December 1940]

Most of the other listings for Seaver in Leominster are siblings of Frank , Fred Sr., or Fred Jr.

While these listings are incomplete, and the information may not be accurate for each year, it has helped identify where my Seaver ancestors resided in Leominster and Fitchburg.  I knew about some of the addresses, but several of the addresses are new to me.

Now I'm struggling with a decision - should I add every residence event and occupation event into my database with a separate source citation for every year?  Or should I "lump" some together where the address stayed the same and the occupation stayed the same?  What do my readers do with information like this?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/four-generations-of-seaver-ancestors-in.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

California Marriages, 1850-1941 for Selected Counties Now on Ancestry.com

I noticed that Ancestry.com has added a database titled "California Marriages from Select Counties, 1850-1941" last week.  I wondered which counties were covered, and what the records look like.

Here is the database search page:

Over on the right-hand side of the page is the dropdown box to see which counties are provided.  At this time, the list is short - Alameda and Marin counties.  Two out of the 58 California counties.
I put "seaver" in the Last Name field and received 26 matches:

The indexed information provided in the list above are Name, Marriage Date, Marriage county, and Spouse's Name.

Down the list a bit (not shown on the screen above) was an entry for Lawrence C. Blanchard who married Vivienne D. Pettit in 1920.  Here is the indexed record summary for the marriage:

Why was this result in the list for "Seaver" matches?  Well, it turns out that Lawrence Blanchard's mother was Elizabeth Seaver (my great-grandaunt, daughter of Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver), and she was named in the record and indexed in this database.

I clicked on the "View original image" link and saw the record:

The marriage record indicates that they were married in Berkeley, Alameda, California on 12 November 1920.  It names Frederick Blanchard's parents as Frederick G. Blanchard and Elizabeth Seaver.  It names Vivienne D. Pettit's parents as Albert W. Pettit and Grace L. Hadley.

This is a very rich collection for genealogists.  This information can be obtained from the County or the State of California also, but for collateral lines like the one above, I have not ordered those records.  Now a portion of the California marriage records are online at Ancestry.com.

I hope that the other 56 counties are added over a period of time.  At present, there are 416,981 records in this collection from the two counties already digitized and indexed.

FamilySearch has a similar collection, titled "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952."  The record collection list says that there are 1,911,081 records, and was last updated on 20 December 2012.  The database page says there are 3,735,146 images to browse through, and that the collection is 99% complete.  However, it does not include the Lawrence Blanchard/Vivienne Pettit marriage noted above.

The lessons here are:

*  Not every record collection on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch is complete.  

*  Ancestry.com does not have everything available on FamilySearch, and vice versa.

*  FamilySearch digital record collections do not include every record set that is on microfilm.

*  The FamilySearch microfilms do not include every record collection available at the local, county or state level.

*  A researcher needs to check every database, including microfilms and government records, that is available for a county, state or country, and record type.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/california-marriages-1850-1941-for.html

copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Amanuensis Monday - Post 206: 1862 Deed of Catharine McConnel to David J. Carringer in Louisa County, Iowa

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started his own Monday blog theme many months ago called Amanuensis Monday. What does "amanuensis" mean? John offers this definition:

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The subject today is a land deed in Louisa County, Iowa dated 5 May 1862, recorded on 16 February 1864, transferring 40 acres in Louisa County for 300 dollars paid by David J. Carringer to Catharine McConnel.

1 Deed of Catharine McConnell }

2 To                                        } Filed for Record February 18, 1864 at 9-1/2 AM.

3 David J. Carringer                 }

4 Know all men by these Presents, that I

5 Catharine J. McConnel of Louisa County, State of Iowa in consid^n

6 of the sum of Three Hundred Dollars, in hand, paid by David J.

7 Carringer of Louisa County, State of Iowa, the receipt whereof is

8 hereby acknowledged, do by these presents, Grant, Bargain, sell and Convey unto

9 the said David J. Carringer his heirs and assigns, forever, the

10 following described premises, situated in the County of Louisa and

11 State of Iowa to wit: The North West quarter of the North North

12 West West quarter of Section Seventeen (17) In Township Seventy Four (74)

13 North of Range five (5) West, containing forty acres more or less

14 according to the Original Survey of the United States.

15 To Have and to Hold the said premises unto the said David J.

16 Carringer his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Catharine

17 McConnel does hereby covenant with the said David J. Carringer

18 his heirs and assigns that she is lawfully seized of said premises,

19 that they are free from incumbrance; that she has good right

20 and lawful authority to sell the same and she does hereby covenant

21 to Warrant And Defenmd the said premises against the Lawful claims

22 of all Persons Whomsoever. In Witness Whereof She has hereunto set

23 her hand and seal this fifth day of May A.D. 1862.

24 Signed sealed and Delivered in presence of Catharine McConnel {seal}

25 A. Gamble

26 William McCord

27 State of Iowa   }

28 Louisa County }S.S.

29 I do hereby certify that before me Andrew Gamble a

30 Justice of the Peace in and for said county, personally appeared the above

31 named Catharine McConnel who is personally known to me to be the

32 identical person whose name is affixed to the above conveyance as grantor

33 and acknowledged the same to be her voluntary deed for the purpose

34 herein mentioned.

35 A. Gamble

36 Justice of the Peace

The source citation for this deed is:

Louisa County, Iowa, "Louisa County, Iowa, deeds records, 1839-1935; index, 1839-1901," "Deeds, v. 14, 16, 1863-1865", Volume 14, Page 210 (stamped), Catharine McConnel to David J. Carringer entry, accessed on FHL microfilm US/CAN 1,005,863.

I found this record on 5 February 2014 at the Family History Library on microfilm.  First, I found the deed index books for the county on microfilm.  After noting the volume and page numbers, I found the correct microfilm and was able to find the deed above.  I photographed the image on the microfilm machine and was able to transcribe the deed.

Now I know that David J. and Rebecca Carringer, my 2nd great-grandparents, bought land in Louisa County, Iowa in 1862 and sold it in 1864 (see last week's post).  I did not know that before.  I need to find the location of this land, and the description will easily help me find it.    I believe that, after they sold this land, they bought land in neighboring Washington County, Iowa.  I will have to look for those records on a future visit to the Family History Library.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/amanuensis-monday-post-206-1862-deed-of.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 9 to 15 February 2014

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 daily blog prompts or 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:

*  Genealogy Notes 7-10 February - Days 4-7 Still Geneacruising by Shauna Hicks on the Diary of an Australian Genealogist blog.  Shauna reports her last four Unlock the Past cruise days.

*  Diary of a Genea-Cruise:  Day 3 in Melbourne and Day 5:  Hot Hot Hot! by Pauleen Cass (cassmob) on the Family History Across the Seas blog.  Pauleen reports on her experiences on the Unlock the Past cruise.

*  Churches That Do Not Exist; They Can't Spell Lutheran; and Why Search Terms Occasionally Are  Part of the Citation by Michael John Neill on the Rootdig.com blog.  Michael finds the ELCA records are difficult to search and source.

*  What Is "Context" Anyway?  by Jill K. Morelli on the Genealogy Certification: My Personal Journal blog.  Jill discusses "crafting" sources and "art" and explores the word context.

*  Why You Can't Do All Your Research Online by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.  Michael preaches, we should all listen.

*  #RootsTech -- Rencher Warns: What Must Not Change by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  There is sage advice from David Rencher, the FamilySearch Chief Genealogist, here.

*  RootsTech Brimhall Town Meeting by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog.  Mr. AI went to FamilySearch CEO Dennis Brimhall's meeting, and shares some of the questions and answers.  There is lots here!

*  A Multiplicity of Parents by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Judy highlights a New Jersey law about naming parents on a birth certificate, and a British Columbia law that permits more than two parents to be named on a birth certificate.

*  You Won't Believe What This Quiz Says About What Kind of Genealogist You Are by Kerry Scott on the Clue Wagon blog.  I got 1.75.

*  Family History Hints, Part 8 by Jean Hibben on the Gena and Jean Genealogy Journey blog.  Jean answers one of the questions from Genealogy Roadshow - "where do you get these records?"

*  The AncestryDNA Witch Hunt by Blaine Bettinger on The Genetic Genealogist blog.  Blaine does a good job discussing the benefits and shortfalls of the AncestryDNA autosomal DNA test.

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

*  NN Genealogy Things You Must Know This Morning, Sunday, 9 Feb 2014; Monday, 10 Feb 2014; Tuesday, 11 Feb 2014; Wednesday, 12 Feb 2014; Thursday, 13 Feb 2014; Friday, 14 Feb 2014; Saturday, 15 Feb 2014 by Caroline M. Pointer on the 4YourFamilyStories.com blog.

*  Roots Tech! Slave Petitions! 52 Ancestors!  -- It's Follow Friday! by Anne Gillespie Mitchell on the Finding Forgotten Stories blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for February 14, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Blog Posts and News for Genealogists, February 14, 2014 by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.

*  Friday Finds - 02/14/14 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity, February 15, 2014 by John D. Tew on the Filiopietism Prism blog.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another 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 1460 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, 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/2014/02/best-of-genea-blogs-9-to-15-february.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Share Some of Your Memories

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)  Judy Russell asked six questions in her Keynote address at RootsTech to determine if audience members knew certain family stories about their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.  She demonstrated very well that family stories are lost within three generations if they are not recorded and passed on to later generations.

2)  This week, I want you to answer Judy's six questions, but about YOUR own life story, not your ancestors.  Here are the questions:

a)  What was your first illness as a child?

b)  What was the first funeral you attended?

c)  What was your favorite book as a child?

d)  What was your favorite class in elementary school?

e)  What was your favorite toy as a child?

f)  Did you learn how to swim, and where did you learn?

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

Here are my stories:

a)  The first illness I recall as a child was the chicken pox.  I'm sure that I got it in the first two or three years of school from another classmate, and I passed it to my brother.  I still have a scar on the side of my nose from it.  

b)  The first funeral I attended may have been for my grandfather, Lyle Carringer, in November 1976.  I son't recall an earlier one in the family, or for friends.  I was too young to go to my great-grandmother's funeral in 1952, and my Massachusetts grandmother, who died in 1962, was too far away.

c)  My favorite book as a child was the World Book Encyclopedia.  I read it voraciously just about every day.  My favorite subjects were geography, history and science.  

d)  My favorite class at Brooklyn Elementary School was 4th grade.  Miss Williams was the teacher, and she was very patient and encouraging.  

e)  My favorite toy as a child was my Lionel train set.  My father, brother, and I would play for hours setting up the track through the house, and running at least two engines on it to try to make spectacular crashes.   I spent my allowance money on more train cars.

f)  I learned how to swim in summer 1954 at age 10 at Bass Lake near Yosemite.  That was our first family vacation away from San Diego, and it was memorable not only for swimming in the lake, but also fishing on the lake and buying baseball cards at the park store.  

I have no clue how my parents, or grandparents, or great-grandparents would answer those questions.  At RootsTech, I sat down before the first question was finished!  

I wrote my answers down so that they would be saved somewhere on the Internet and perhaps my children and grandchildren will see them.  When Judy's grand-niece gives a Keynote lecture at RootsTech 2054, my grandchildren will be able to answer some of the questions she might pose as a challenge to the audience!

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/02/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-share-some.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver