Dear Randy: Can I Add a Source to my Software Program From FamilySearch Family Tree Sources? -- Post 1: RootsMagic

I was asked this question in comments on another blog post today about Legacy Family Tree 8 genealogy software, and I didn't know if it could be done in any program yet using the synchronization of a source-certified program with the FamilySearch Family Tree.

First, I decided to see if I could do it in RootsMagic 6.  I knew I could add sources in RootsMagic 6 to the FamilySearch Family Tree because I've added quite a few in the effort to reach 10 million FSFT sources over the past year.  But I didn't know if a source in FSFT could be added to RootsMagic.

1)  In RootsMagic 6, I chose my great-grandmother, Georgianna Kemp (1868-1952), and clicked the FamilySearch Family Tree icon to open the "FamilySearch Person Tools" screen, and then clicked on the "Sources" tab to see the sources in RootsMagic 6 (on the left side) and the sources for this person in the FamilySearch Family Tree on the right-hand side.  There are 10 sources already in the FSFT::

2)  I selected the 1920 U.S. Census entry on the FamilySearch Family Tree side, and a dialog box opened:

It said "What do you want to do with this FamilySearch source?" and identified the source title "Georgia K. Auble in household of Lyle L. Carringer, United States Census, 1920."

There are three radio buttons for:

*  Detach source from the person or families
*  Tag individual facts with this source
*  Add this source to RootsMagic (select records to attach this source to)

I chose the third option, and carefully checked the 1920 Census Fact on the list.  I could have checked any of the other Facts on the list, but this source is only for the 1920 Census Fact.

3)  I clicked on the "OK" button on the screen above, and saw that the 1920 Census Source had been added to the RootsMagic source list on the left-hand side of the screen:

It's there on the source list in RootsMagic, third from the bottom.

4)  My big question was "does it show up in RootsMagic as a source for the 1920 Census Fact?"

Back in the RootsMagic "Edit Person" screen, I click on the 1920 Census Fact, and then on the "Sources" button, and saw that there were two sources for the 1920 U.s. Census Fact.  Here is the screen for the "Citation Manager" that comes up when I click on the "Sources" tab:

I selected the second one - that's the one that was added, and the source citation appears that was added from the FamilySearch Family Tree.

The resulting citation is:

Footnote: "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHWX-5Z8 : accessed 09 Apr 2014), Georgia K Auble in household of Lyle L Carringer, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States; citing sheet 3B, family 70, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820132.

Short Footnote: "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHWX-5Z8 : accessed 09 Apr 2014), Georgia K Auble in household of Lyle L Carringer, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States; citing sheet 3B, family 70, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820132.

Bibliography: "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHWX-5Z8 : accessed 09 Apr 2014), Georgia K Auble in household of Lyle L Carringer, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States; citing sheet 3B, family 70, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820132.

Evidently, the FamilySearch Family Tree source citation, obtained from the FamilySearch record collection for the 1920 U.S. Census, only creates a Footnote, and the Short Footnote and Bibliography are duplicated (in the Family Tree, or in RootsMagic?  I don't know).

5)  I wondered what the source type was that was transferred, and what the source citation field entries looked like:

Evidently, RootsMagic put the entire source citation into the three Master Source fields.  Note that there is nothing in the "Source Details" fields.  This uses the "Free-form" source template (as shown in the upper right-hand corner of the "Edit Source" screen above)..

6)  The source citation is actually pretty good.  I'm not a big fan of putting the URL of the record (note that this source is for the record summary, not the record image itself), but another researcher can easily find this record using the information provided online (using the URL) or on microfilm (using the FHL microfilm number).  Also, it doesn't have the NARA Roll number which is vital for finding the record, and should be part of a source citation for a census record.

However, there is a real problem:  Every time a source citation is added from FamilySearch Family Tree, a new and unique source citation is created in RootsMagic.  That's OK, but researchers using RootsMagic to capture source citations from the FamilySearch Family Tree need to be aware of it. I cannot use that master source for any other source citation because everything is added to the Master Source fields rather than being split up between the Master Source and Citation Detail fields.

For comparison purposes, my other source citation for the 1920 U.S. Census record for Georgianna (Kemp) Auble is:

1920 United States Federal Census, San Diego County, California, Population Schedule, San Diego city; ED 341, Sheet 3B, Lyle Carringer household; online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 April 2010); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T625, Roll 132.

That is very similar to the Evidence Explained model for census source citations.

7)  Conclusions:

*  A source citation can be successfully and easily transferred from FamilySearch Family Tree to RootsMagic 6 using the "FamilySearch Person Tools" in RootsMagic 6.

*  The source that is transferred appears in the Fact source citation list as selected by the user.  More than one Fact can be chosen before the transfer.

*  The entire source citation is a new and unique master source without citation details (they are included in the master source fields).

*  The Footnote, Short Footnote and Bibliography fields are identical for a source transferred from FamilySearch Family Tree.

It will be interesting to see if Legacy Family Tree Version 8 can do this task.  I think that it should be able to.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/dear-randy-can-i-add-source-to-my.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

SDGS Meeting on Saturday 12 April 2014 - "Witness to Gettysburg"

The monthly San Diego Genealogical Society meeting is this Saturday, 12 April 2014, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the St. Andrew's Lutheran Church at 8350 Lake Murray Blvd, near Jackson Drive in San Diego.

The program speaker is Annette Hubbell, who will present an enactment of a "Witness at Gettysburg."  In 2007, Annette and her husband, Monte, spent time visiting east coast historical venues. Out of that came a desire to research the Battle of Gettysburg, and that led to the writing of the one-woman performance entitled "Witness to Gettysburg."

Annette captivates audiences as Miss Hattie Elizabeth Turner.  Miss Turner (based on the real person of Hattie Elizabeth Unangst), relives the Battle of Gettysburg and a small town’s courageous efforts to care for 30,000 Union and Confederate casualties suddenly left in its aftermath, weaving into it stories of historic characters. This is a saga of brave men and women who by their actions came to symbolize the strength, fortitude, and character of the American people.

For more information about Annette and her program, visit www.annettehubbell.com.

Park in the lot south of the church, and enter the south door of the building.  There will be a sign posted.  Form ore information, contact: SDGS at 858-279-7347.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/sdgs-meeting-on-saturday-12-april-2014.html

"Three Ladies Picking Poseys" In A 1920 View of the Carringer House on 30th Street -- Post 302 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

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

Here is a photograph of an ancestral home from the Seaver/Carringer family collection handed down by my mother in the 1988 to 2002 time period:

This picture shows three women standing in front of the Henry Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer home at 2105 30th Street in San Diego.  Two of them are holding flower baskets with flowers probably picked from the abundant crop on the bushes/trees shown above.  The three women are, from left to right:

*  Hattie (Vaux) Loucks (1849-1924), widow of Matthias "Tice" Loucks (1846-1918), and a first cousin of Abbie (Vaux) Smith (their grandparents were James and Mary (Palmer) Vaux).  Hattie was a frequent visitor to the Carringer home in San Diego.

*  Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944), wife of Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946), daughter of Devier J. and Abbie (Vaux) Smith, and mother of my grandfather, Lyle L. Carringer.  Della is my great-grandmother.

*  Abbie (Vaux) Smith (1844-1931), widow of Devier J. Smith (1839-1894), and mother of Della (Smith) Carringer.  Abbie is my 2nd great-grandmother.

I believe that this picture was taken in about 1920, probably by my grandfather, Lyle Carringer.  There are a number of photos in the collection from this time period, including many of my mother as a baby.  

The walkway from the house to the bottom center of the photograph leads to the northeast corner of the intersection of 30th Street (running north-south) and Hawthorn Street (running east-west) in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of San Diego.  

I played a lot of sandlot baseball on this very spot when I was a child.  After the house was moved north on 30th Street to the middle of the block, ,the empty field to the south of the house became the "Field of Dreams" for my brother and I and our friends.  Home plate was about where the ladies are standing in the photo above.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/three-ladies-picking-poseys-in-1920.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Update on My MyHeritage Record Matches

MyHeritage provides users a list of pending, confirmed and rejected matches for persons in a MyHeritage family tree that are found in record databases available with a MyHeritage Data subscription.  Here is the top of my MyHeritage Record Matches list, showing the possible matches in record databases that have tree persons.

I still have 11,290 Pending Matches in a total of 47 databases.  I haven't done any in WikiTree (because most of them are for my own entries in WikiTree), but I have confirmed or rejected hundreds of them in NewspaperARCHIVE and thousands of them in Find A Grave.  I've also done quite a few in several other databases.

The Record Match process has three steps to save them to the MyHeritage family tree:

*  Review your record matches,
*  Confirm the correct matches to save them to your tree
*  Extract their information to our tree using their new tools.

When reviewing matches, users can select a confidence level in the filtering options - from 0 to 5 stars, in half-star increments.  Here is the "Filtering options" screen for the Find A Grave database, with all of the Status boxes (pending, confirmed, rejected) for a one-half star  confidence level:

When I started working with Find A Grave, I had 2,643 record matches.  Now, I have confirmed 2,608 of them, and rejected 35 of them (because they were not the right person).  That's with a one-half star confidence level (meaning, I think, that there is at least one point of agreement between my tree information and the database record, such as name, birth date, birth location, death date, death location, etc.)

If I go down to a zero star confidence level, I have 2,738 possible matches in the Record Match list, 2,631 have been confirmed, 47 of them have been rejected, and 60 are pending.  I still need to work on those 60 possible matches.

Here is the top of the remaining 60 matches list:

My tree information is in the left-hand column, and the historical record information is in the right-hand column.  When I click on the link for the historical record, I see the MyHeritage summary of the record:

I can click through to the actual Find A Grave record for the person above:

As you can see, in this case, the record database has much more information on this person than I had before I received the Record Match.  I can also click on the spouse and children in the view above to add more persons if I wish.

I have been extracting the information to my MyHeritage tree for my ancestors, but not for persons not my ancestors.  I also use the Find A Grave information to enter information in my RootsMagic database.  I can do 15 to 20 Record Matches in an hour, adding information to my database, confirming and extracting, or rejecting, matches, etc.  It's taken over a year to get the Find A Grave match number from 2,738 to 60, but I'm almost there.  In the process, I've been able to add a wealth of data to my database, especially for 20th century persons, and thousands of source citations.

One of the screens above says that Find A Grave has 97.9 million entries that MyHeritage is accessing.  A lock at the Find A Grave home page now says they have 112 million entries, so MyHeritage may update the Record Matches at regular intervals.  Other databases won't need to be updated because they are not updated (e.g., U.s. census records).  

A problem that I have is that, since my MyHeritage tree is a static tree that I don't update on a regular basis, it doesn't have the latest additions of persons and event data since I uploaded the tree.  I have no idea how I can update the MyHeritage tree.  If I GEDCOM my RootsMagic tree into Family Tree Builder, then upload it as a new tree to MyHeritage, the Record Match counter will start over and I will have to confirm or reject all of what I have done before.

I really like the MyHeritage Record Match feature, and appreciate the record data extraction feature that attaches record links and information to a person in my MyHeritage tree.  It is a database-oriented feature, which I find much easier to use than person-oriented record hints as on Ancestry.com.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/update-on-my-myheritage-record-matches.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Disclosure:  I have a complimentary MyHeritage Tree and Data collection subscription, and greatly appreciate them.  I was not asked to write this post, and my posts and opinions are not influenced by the complimentary subscription.

Finding Genealogy Gems in the New York Probate Records on FamilySearch

 Last Friday, as I was preparing for my presentation of online resources for New York State at the monthly Chula Vista Genealogical Society Workshop, I wanted to find a "simple" example to demonstrate how to pursue and find New York Probate Records on FamilySearch (with over 14 million images).  I created a step-by-step list as a handout for this specific record collection because the "search and find" process is fairly complex and requires several forays into different record books in a specific county and "guess and revise" tactics to find the correct page image in a record book.

I thought that I had found all of the probate records in Erie County, New York for my Vaux and Underhill ancestors, but I was wrong.  I easily found the County List in the record collection, and clicked on "Erie" to see the list of all of the record books, including the Estate File Index.  I had found the Estate File Indexes before, and had used it to identify the volume and page in the Letters of Administration volumes, and had captured the page image for the appointment of the wife and two sons of James Vaux (1787-1839) in late 1839.  I had noted the Estate File number 23181, but had not looked for it for some reason (I must have forgotten to do it).

I found the Estate File 23181 in the Estate Files, 1800-1929, Case 23178-23220.  Finding Case 23181 was a struggle - I figured that 23181 was the fourth case out of 42 case files, and there were 1536 images, so perhaps it started on image 150 or so.  Unless you get lucky and find an image with your target decedent's name on it, you really need to find the Case File number on an image, like the one below:

That Case File number was on image 304 of 1536.  None of the pages in these case files have the Case File number on the pages themselves.  There were 33 images for the James Vaux Estate File, and I downloaded every one of them, even the blank ones.  I renamed them by name, county, volume, case number, and image number so I knew what they were.  I put them in a Probate Record file in James Vaux's file folder.

What genealogy gems did I find?

*  Oath of appraisers of inventory
*  The inventory lists the household items, plus a list of mortgages owed by two creditors, and undivided Company debts owed by James Vaux Jr.
*   The list of assets in the undivided half of the Company.
*  The list of Company Notes listed as "good," "doubtful" and "bad," and the list of Company Accounts of debts owed the company, classified as good, doubtful or bad.
*  Bond, letter of administration, oath of administrators
*  Petition and oath of the widow, noting death date of decedent
*  Request for guardianships of three minor children
*  Petition to sell real estate of decendent
*  Report for Return of sale of real estate
*  Letter of Administration in Surrogate Court Probate book for Letters of Administration.

Based on the papers in this Estate File, it is apparent to me that James Vaux and his son, James P. Vaux, had a brewery company business.  I didn't know that, and it is significant to the family history.

I will use some of the more interesting and genealogically significant papers in this Estate File for Amanuensis Monday and Treasure Chest Thursday posts.

If I had not gone looking for a "simple" example for my presentation that included searching for New York Probate Records on FamilySearch, I might have never found this Estate File, which I, apparently, had overlooked the first time around.

None of the attendees at the CVGS workshop on Saturday had ventured into the New York Probate Records on FamilySearch, mainly because they are not indexed and are not searchable by entries in search fields.  All of the attendees had ancestors who died in the 18th and 19th century in New York, and several had Erie county ancestors.  Hopefully, my demonstration and step-by-step handout will help them find probate records that will add significantly to their genealogical and family history research.

It is extremely important for genealogical societies to provide opportunities to demonstrate how to use websites to find online records, and how to use genealogy software features, in a workshop environment where attendees can work on their laptops or tablets to work through examples, and ask questions.  CVGS has been doing this through a monthly Wednesday Computer Group and Wednesday Research Group for over ten years, and a monthly Saturday Workshop for the past three years.

Records like this are great examples of the "Forrest Gump Principle of Genealogical Research" -- "Genealogy research is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to find, but you have to look everywhere your 'genealogy gem' might be hiding."

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/finding-genealogy-gems-in-new-york.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Tuesday's Tip - Use Genealogy Message Boards to Find Distant Cousins

This week's Tuesday's Tip is:  Find distant cousins (those with your ancestors!) on genealogy Message Boards.

Online Message Boards were the genealogy social media networks in the 1990s and early 2000s to post queries, and to take part in helpful discussions and collaboration.  They have not gone away, but the volume of posts has significantly reduced over time.  

What are Message Boards?  They are:

*  an online collection of queries from genealogists and family historians, and responses to them from other genealogists.  

*  websites that registered users can freely participate in.

*  Surname, Locality and Topic boards available online.  Thousands of them.

*  searchable in the whole collection, or on specific boards, or in a search engine like Google or Mocavo.

*  an excellent way to find distant cousins that may have more data than you do, or you may be able to help them.

* a way to contact the submitter by email (assuming the email address is still valid).

The two largest Genealogy Message Boards systems are found at:

1)  Rootsweb/Ancestry Message Boards -- http://boards.rootsweb.com/.  There are over 198,000 message boards on this system with over 23 million messages.  There is an online tutorial of how to use this message board system at www.LearnWebSkills.com.

On the screen above, you can search for all mentions of keywords in all of the message boards, or you can search for a message board on a specific topic (surnames, locations or topics).  You can read the message boards without registering, but you need to have a free registration (tied to your Ancestry.com account if you have one) in order to write messages.  

2)  Genforum Message Boards -- http://genforum.genealogy.com.  I don't have a count of message boards for this system:

You can put keywords into the Forum Finder field on the screen above, or look for surname, locality and topic boards using the links provided.

There are many other, smaller, Message Board systems.  You can find a list of them on Cyndi's List at http://www.cyndislist.com/queries/general/.  

In addition, check out:

*  Cousin Connect -- www.CousinConnect.com.  There is no count of boards and messages here.

*  RootsChat -- www.rootschat.com.  This is a United Kingdom based genealogy message board system. with over 4.5 million posts.

*  The www.USGenWeb.org site had message boards attached to many county and state web pages.  Some of them are still available to browse and search.  

*  Facebook and Google+ have many locality and topic group pages for queries and collaboration also.  They deserve a separate Tuesday's Tip. 

The point is that many other researchers may have plowed the same ancestral ground that you are scratching around in, and you may be able to find useful information, and distant cousins, by searching on Message Boards for your surnames and localities. 

I make it a point every January to go into both large Message Board systems and check for posts from the past year (you can select the time frame using the Advanced Search link). 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/tuesdays-tip-use-genealogy-message.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

RootsMagic 6 Source Citation for an Ancestry.com Public Member Tree

My friend and research colleague (not yet a documented cousin, but I keep hoping!), Russ Worthington, has been struggling to craft a source citation for an Ancestry.com Public Member Tree using Family Tree Maker 2014.  You can read about his struggles in his post, FTM2014 and Ancestry Member Trees - What Next.

During this process, Russ did a really smart thing - he engaged Elizabeth Shown Mills on her Evidence Explained forum, and asked her how he should craft the specific source citation.  Elizabeth and Russ had an excellent discussion on the forum - see the thread at  https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/citing-ancestry-member-tree.

I wondered how the RootsMagic source templates would craft a source citation for an entry in an Ancestry.com Public Member Tree.  I went into my database, selected the "Family Trees, documented" source template, and entered data into the "Master Source" and "Source Details" fields.  Here is the "Edit Source" screen:

I filled in the fields that I thought were pertinent for my birth date and birth name, and after peeking at Elizabeth's source citation, and the resulting source citation is:

Footnote: "Public Member Tree", family tree database, Ancestry.com (http://trees.ancestry.com/ : accessed 7 April 2014), "Seaver-Leland Family Tree," Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living) birth entry; submitted 2013 by Randall J. Seaver, [contact information for private use], Chula Vista CA 91911; birth certificate image.

Short Footnote: "Public Member Tree," family tree database, Ancestry.com, "Seaver-Leland Family Tree," Randall Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living) birth entry.

Bibliography: "Public Member Tree." Family tree database. Ancestry.com. http://trees.ancestry.com/ : 2014. 

Comparing the source citation above with the Evidence Explained Forum model crafted by Elizabeth Shown Mills shows that RootsMagic 6 does a pretty good job.

I will try to do a similar source citation in Legacy Family Tree 8 soon for comparison purposes. I don't need to - Shannon Thomas did one in Citing Ancestry.com  Member Trees in Legacy Family Tree (7 April 2014).  Beth Benko did a similar task in Legacy Family Tree 8 Source citation for an Ancestry.com Public Member Tree on 8 April 2014.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/rootsmagic-6-source-citation-for.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Updated last:  10 april 2014.

Musings On Genealogy "Expertise," "Elites" and Education

There has been an interesting discussion over the past few days spurred by social science and public policy expert Tom Nichols, who published a post in the Federalist on 17 January 2014 titled “The Death of Expertise.” 

Michael Leclerc, on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog, posted "The Death of Expertise" on 5 April 2014 which discussed his view of how the Nichols article applies to the genealogy industry and community.  

James Tanner wrote "The Sequestration of Genealogy, Not Its Death" on the Genealogy's Star blog on 5 April 2014.  He noted that the peer-reviewed periodicals are difficult to access online, and most of the beginning genealogists he works with will not care.

Drew Smith added "Expertise is Neither Dead nor Sequestered" to the conversation on the Rootsmithing: Genealogy, Methodology and Technology blog on 5 April 2014.  

Michael John Neill wrote "The Genealogy Elite and Genealogy Police" on his Rootdig.com blog on 7 April 2014.

Each of these experienced and influential researchers and writers have a lifetime of genealogy expertise, and are considered by many genealogists as informed, engaged and really smart people (including myself, having met and discussed genealogy affairs with each of them).  

If this topic interests you, I encourage my readers to carefully read each post above and make appropriate comments on the posts if the spirit moves you (but please come back here and read my commentary too).  

How did we get into this perceived "mess?"  Or is it a "mess" at all?  My own views are sort of an amalgam of those expressed by my genea-blogging colleagues, plus more, including some history, and opinions, according to Randy:

1)  There is little "formal genealogical education" for most researchers (I know, there are several degree programs, several certification programs, educational course, conference, seminars, webinars, YouTubes, etc.), so most researchers start out without much formal methodology training, as a hobby or avocation. That's just the way it is, and genealogy expertise is not developed similar to many other disciplines where expertise is recognized after achieving a bachelor, master and doctoral degree, and publishing extensively, in the chosen field.

2)  In the "old days" (pre-1985?) beginning researchers went to the local library, checked out a genealogy reference book, and tried to follow the step-by-step guidelines.  Eventually, they discovered other repositories (e.g., genealogy libraries, state and national archives, courthouses) and found more books, periodicals, microfilms, manuscripts and unpublished papers.  They photo-copied material that pertained to their family lines, and tried to piece the information together on pedigree charts and family group sheets.  This process took a long time since it required traveling, reading at the repository, paying for the copies, etc.  In this era, the "expertise" was with the book/periodical authors/editors, and with the repository/archive curators.

3)  Then along came the Internet and genealogy software programs in the 1980s and 1990s.  Some researchers adapted to the software programs, and eventually to online family trees, and worked to add name/event date/event place information to their database program, linking persons to parents, adding source citations, adding media items, etc.  The programs evolved also, from very simple database programs to the modern, very sophisticated, programs that can do everything for you, including crafting source citations and providing research guidance and suggested records.

4)  Another major change occurred in the 1990s, when the Board for Certification of Genealogists developed the Genealogical Proof Standard, wrote the BCG Standards Manual, and provided excellent examples of working to the standard in the peer-reviewed journals and in published books.  Some in the genealogical community adapted to this standard, but many did not, and some may consider credentialed genealogists as "elite."

5)  Through the years, only some of the genealogists have joined local, regional or national genealogical societies where they found like-minded researchers, were exposed to genealogical speakers and seminars, and perhaps regional or national conferences, where they learned more about honing the genealogy craft, applying that knowledge to their research, and enjoyed the social interaction with their society colleagues.

6)  Along the way, only some of those beginning genealogy researchers dedicated themselves to learning as much as they could about their addictive avocation and/or profession.  The rest put it aside, and might occasionally come back to it after years or even decades.  As we can tell, the genealogy landscape has changed considerably over the past 30 years!

7)  Then along came beginning genealogy researchers who did not have access to or experience with libraries and archives, and wanted to do all of their work online because surely everything they need to know and find is online.  Not exactly!  Here's the California Genealogical Society and Library "iceberg chart," which is still as true as ever (and probably always will be!):

(image used by permission of California Genealogical Society)

Some of these beginners learned about keeping a research log, doing a reasonably exhaustive search, citing their sources, etc.  Some joined genealogical societies, or took education classes, or watched online webinars and videos to improve their knowledge base and help advance their research.

8)  Some "searchers" are "name-collectors" who want to add names and not much else to their tree, unless it's really easy to do.  It's a game, or contest, for some.  There are millions of Ancestry Member Trees with just names, some dates, some places, no sources (except for the Ancestry.com source citations that accrue when a record is attached after clicking a green leaf Hint - those are good things!).  There are other online tree systems that try to help the searcher find records (e.g., MyHeritage Record Matches), and some online systems rely on user notes and sources (e.g., WikiTree).

9)  Genealogy research is a very broad field, with many specialties, and everybody in the  community needs to learn as much as they can over time.  I've read that it takes over 10,000 hours of study and effort to become an "expert" in any field, whether plumbing, teaching,  engineering, or genealogy.  I was able to devote perhaps 500 hours a year before I retired from my engineering job in 2002, and now devote over 2,000 hours each year to my genealogy study and application, and still feel like a beginner in many ways.  I am not certified or accredited, and I don't consider myself as an "elite" researcher, and I greatly respect and try to emulate those that are certified and accredited.  I learn a lot from the articles in NGSQ, NEHGR, TG, TAG, and other peer-reviewed genealogical journals, and I think every serious researcher should be reading them on a regular basis (either online or in a library).

10)  The most basic thing I've learned over the past 26 years is that "I don't know what I don't know," and that "genealogy research is a continuing education endeavor."  It never stops.  Part of that is learning to adapt to, and to use, technological advances.  For example, I've tried to adapt over the past 30 years from typewriters to word processors to computers to laptops to tablets to smart phones to voice-activated devices (and eventually to thought implants and teleportation).  Part of it is reading genealogical literature - published books, peer-reviewed periodicals, society magazines and newsletters, free and commercial websites, blogs and online articles, etc.  Part of it is staying up-to-date with new record collections and new search techniques.  Part of it is knowing what is not available online, and knowing how to find those resources offline, and making the effort to find those offline resources.

11)  Online family trees with unsourced or poorly sourced information may be commonplace, but they can be extremely useful for finding leads to family structures and to records.  The key is to sort out the wheat from the chaff.  Those that have sourced records, especially those that lead to an original source (e.g., probate, land, tax, vital, Bible, etc.)  or a reliable authored work (e.g., NEHGR article, family history that cites sources, etc.) can be very helpful.  The contributor who puts up an unsourced tree may have gems hiding in the midst of all of the persons with no supporting documents - because it's their family and they don't understand the genealogical craft yet (or perhaps they don't want to!).  If there's an event date and a place, then that's a lead that may be found in records of some sort that can be found.

12)  I refuse to bash or denigrate those who are not at the so-called "elite" level, because there, but for the grace of God, was I 25 years ago.  My view is that, with very few exceptions,  every researcher wants to do the best job that they can on their family tree, but some have not figured out the educational opportunities, or don't have the technological skill to find them online.  As always, the key is education and work experience. The genealogy industry has done a great job on providing educational opportunities, but we can't make people learn until they realize that they need it.

13)  My conclusion is that, if there is an "elite" group, then they follow the BCG Standards, and the Association of Professional Genealogists standards, and adhere to those standards in their research, writing and client services.  There are also many researchers trying to learn more through conferences, seminars, institutes, online courses, webinars, study groups, etc. so that they can gain more expertise and perhaps become professionals.

14)  My experience with the genealogists with credentials is similar to Michael's - that they are helpful, encouraging, patient, and very willing to share their expertise and knowledge with those wanting to learn.  There is little back-biting or criticism, unless someone does or writes something unseemly or egregious.  I haven't seen any "genealogy police" either.

15)  This is way too long, my apologies for the stream-of-consciousness paragraphs - I hope that they will be useful.  If nothing else, they can always be a bad example of "have blog, will write my thoughts..." I'm going for a walk after spending two hours trying to write this.   Did anybody read this to the end?

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/musings-on-genealogy-expertise-elites.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

UPDATED 9 April:  Tammy Hepps posted "In Defense of Genealogy as a Hobby" on the Treelines blog, on 8 April 2014.  Please read the dialog between Tammy and the commenters too.

Amanuensis Monday - Post 213: 1832 Deed of Holland Company principals to James Vaux in Erie county, New York

Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday."  John offers this definition for "amanuensis:"

"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 Erie County, New York dated 16 June 1832, recorded on 3 October 1832, transferring 95.5 acres in two parcels in Erie County for $521.50 paid by James Vaux to the principals of The Holland Land Company.  

The transcription of this deed is (handwritten portions in italics, lines numbered):

WARRANTY DEED (18)

1 This Indenture, Made this sixteenth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight

2 hundred and Thirty two Between Wilhem Willink, Welcave Van Henkelone, , Nicolaas Van Beeftingh,

3 Jan Van Eighen, William Willink Junior and Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, Rutger Jan's son, all of the City of Am-

4 sterdam in the Kingdom of the United Netherlands, by David E. Evans Their Attorney of the first part, and

5 James Vaux of the County of Erie and State of New York of the second part,

6 Witnesseth, That the said party of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of five hundred, twenty one dollars,

7 fifty cents dollars to them in hand paid by the said party hereto of the second part, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowl-

8 edged, and themselves to be therewith fully satisfied, contented and paid, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released, conveyed, confirmed and

9 assured, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, release, enfeoff, convey, confirm. And assure, unto the said party of the second part, and to his

10 heirs and assigns forever, all that certain tract of land, situate, lying and being in the County of

12 Erie in the State of New York, being part or parcel of a certain township, which on

13 a may or survey of divers tracts or townships of land of the said party of the first part, made for the proprietors by Joseph Ellicott, surveyor, is distin-

14 guished by Township Number nine in the sixth range of said townships, and which said tract of land, on a certain other map

15 or survey of said Township into lots, made for the said proprietors by the said Joseph Ellicott, is distinguished by

16 parts of Lots numbers twenty seven and twenty eight in said township. The said part of Lot

17 twenty seven bounded East by a line parallel to the east bounds ODF said Lot number

18 twenty seven, land at the distance of fifteen chains, four links west therefrom, thirty seven

19 chains five links south by Land conveyed by Deed to Lyman Letson, fourteen chains, ninety

20 two links, west by a line parallel to the first mentioned boundary & in part by land

21 conveyed by Deed to Oerin Treat, thirty seven chains, thirty three links & north by Lot

22 number twenty eight, fourteen chains, ninety two links, Containing fifty five and a

23 half acres, or the same more or less. The said part of Lot number twenty eight bounded

24 as follows, to wit: west by a line parallel to the west line of said Lot number

25 twenty eight, and at the distance of Thirty chains, East therefrom thirty eight chains,

26 thirty five links, north by a line parallel to the south bounds of the said Lot number

27 twenty eight, ten chains, forty three links, East by a line parallel to the first mentioned

28 boundary thirty eight chains, thirty five links & south by Lot number twenty seven, ten chains,

29 forty three links, containing forty acres be the same more or less, according to the plan laid

30 in the margin hereof.

31 Together with all and singular the appurtenances, privileges, advantages and hereditaments, whatsoever, unto the above mentioned and described premises to

32 anywise appertaining or belonging, and the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof, and also all the estate, right,

33 title, interest, property, claim and demand whatsoever, as well in law as in equity, of the said party of the first part, of, in, or to the same, and every part and

34 parcel thereof, with the appurtenances, To Have and To Hold the above granted, bargained, and described premises, with the appurtenances, unto themselves

35 said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to his & their only proper use, benefit, and behoof, forever. And the said party of the first part,

36 for themselves, and their and each of their respective heirs, executors, and administrators, do hereby covenant promise, and agree, to and with the said party of

37 the second part, his heirs and assigns, that they, the said party of the first part, the above described, and hereby granted and bargained premises, and every

38 part thereof, with the appurtenances, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, against the said party of the first part, and their heirs, and

39 against all other persons whatsoever, lawfully claiming, or to claim the same, or any part thereof, shall and will WARRANT, and by these presents forever DEFEND.

40 Provided always that nothing herein contained shall be construed to be a covenant of the title to said premises against a sale of the same or any part

41 thereof which has already been made, or which may hereafter be made for taxes which may have been impoted subsequent to the Third day of February, one thousand

44 eight hundred and twenty five } In witness whereof, the party of the first part, have

45 hereunto set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written } William Willink Junior L.S.

46 A. Van Tuyl William Willink L.S. Nicolaas Van Beeftingh L.S. Gerret Schimmelpenninck, Rutger Jan's son L.S.

47 Walrave Van Henkelom L.S. Jan Van Eeghen L.S. By Their Attorney, David E. Evans

48 GENESEE COUNTY – ss. On this third day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two per

49 sonally appeared before me Simeon Cumings, a Judge of the County Courts, for the County of Genesee the above mentioned

50 to me personally known to be the same person described in and who executed the above instrument of writing, who acknowledged that he executed the same as the Act and Deed of

51 the above mentioned party of the first part, for the uses and purposes therein mentioned, and I finding therein no material interlineations or erasures, do allow the same to be recorded

52 S Cumings Clerk

[In the left margin]

[obscured area, ...thed, and Compared with the Original the Third day of October 18 32, at half past 10 o'clock A. M.

The source citation for this deed, which I found in the New York Land Records, 1630-1975 record collection on FamilySearch, is:

"New York, Land Records, 1630-1975," Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 2 February 2013), digital images, "Erie County, New York Deeds, 1829-1837, Volumes 12-13," Volume 13, Page 318 (image 433 of 525), James Vaux deed in Aurora, N.Y. from Holland Land Company, 1832.

The original records in Erie County, N.Y. County Clerk's Office, which are on 907 rolls of FHL Microfilm; the specific deed is on FHL microfilm US/CAN 590,014, and online here.

This is the first land record found for my 4th great-grandfather James Vaux (1787-1839) in New York, who emigrated from Somersetshire in England to New York State in about 1830 with his wife and family.

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/04/amanuensis-monday-post-213-1832-deed-of.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 30 March to 5 April 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:

*  Courtesy, Ethics and the Law by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Thank you, Judy, for the copyright primer using my little complaint as the diving board.

*  What I Like About Ancestry.com by Michael John Neill on the Rootdig.com blog.  Michael likes Ancestry.com, he really does, and uses it to find leads to solve his research problems.

*  Old Search Is Dead.  Long Live New Search! by Jenny Lanctot on the Are My Roors Showing? blog.  Jenny says that Ancestry users need to learn to deal with it.

*  The Two Most Important Things Genealogists Can Do Now by Shelley Bishop on the A Sense of Famly blog.  Shelley describes some of the takeaways she received from the Western Reserve Historical Society seminar featuring Thomas W. Jones.

*  52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 13 Recap by Amy Johnson Crow on the No Story Too Small blog.  There are about 140 posts in this recap of ancestral biographies.

*  Attributes of a Serious Genealogist? by John D. Reid on Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections blog.  John ran a survey on last week's Pharos blog post, and shares the results.

*  1800 Federal Census of the Northwest Territory on Ancestry? April Fools! by Chris Staats on the Staats Genealogical Services blog.  Chris figures out what this collection contains and where it came from.

*  Successful 2014 Webinar Series Launch by Caroline M. Pointer on the FGS Voice blog.  This post highlights Jen Baldwin's FGS webinar on "Capturing the Community: Using Twitter to Connect, Engage and Educate in Genealogy."  Great webinar!

*  A Report Card on the Large Online Genealogy Databases by James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.  James looks at the "Big 5" database providers and finds that they don't have many record types.  Shocking!  Not.

*  Telling Our Stories by Jacqi Stevens on the A Family Tapestry blog.  Jacqi makes an excellent point - we should be writing/blogging about our own stories also.  We need a meme...My Story Monday?  Tell It Tuesday?  Then we could make a Flipboard magazine out of it, pass it to our kids and cousins, and...and...another lifetime job, I fear.

*  Genealogy By the Numbers - THREE by Kenneth R. Marks on The Ancestor Hunt blog.  Ken highlights genealogy articles with three things in them.  Or 33.

*  The Death of Expertise by Michael J. Leclerc on the Mocavo Genealogy Blog.  Michael comments on a more general article on the subject and applies it to genealogical research.

*  Expertise in Neither Dead nor Sequestered by Drew Smith on the Rootsmithing: Genealogy, Methodology and Technology blog.  Drew responds to Michael's post, and James Tanner's post, on the expertise subject.

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

*  NN Genealogy Things You Need To Know, Sunday, 30 Mar 2014; Monday, 31 Mar 2014; Tuesday, 1 Apr 2014; Wednesday, 2 Apr 2014; Thursday, 3 Apr 2014; Friday, 4 Apr 2014; Saturday, 5 Apr 2014 by Caroline M. Pointer on the 4YourFamilyStories.com blog.

*  Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for April 4, 2014 by Jana Last on Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog.

*  Friday Finds - 04/04/14 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  Saturday Serendipity, April 5, 2013 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 1490 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/2014/04/best-of-genea-blogs-30-march-to-5-april.html

Copyright (c) 2014, Randall J. Seaver