Amanuensis Monday - Post #300: 1750 Will of Samuel Fitz Randolph (1668-1754) of Woodbridge, N.J.

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 the 1750 will of Samuel Fitz Randolph (1668-1750), of Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey:

The will of Samuel Fitz Randolph is on the bottom page of the image above.  The transcription of this will is (transcribed line by line):

In the Name of god amen the twenty second day of may In the year of our Lord Christ

one thousand seven Hundred & fifty I Samuel fitz randolph Sener of woodbridg In the County

of middlesex and province of East Jersey Calling to mind the mortality of my Body and Knowing

that it is apointed for all men once to dye do make and ordain this my Last will & testament

In the following manner & form. Imprimis It is my will & I do order that al my Just Debts &

funeral Charges be fully paid & dischaged out of my moveable Esstate by my Executors so soon

as may be Conveniently done after my decease. Item I give and bequeath to my well beloved wife

mary such a part of my moveable Estate as Shall be Needfull as Necesary yo maintain & support

Her in a Comfortable way & Livelyhood So Long as She Lives. Item I give & bequeath yo my son Samuel

fitz randolph one pair of Iron dogs otherways Called Andirons to Him His Heirs & Assigns for ever. Item

I give & bequeath to my Daughter prudence smith the sum of forty pounds to be paid to Her out

of my moveable Estate to be & Remain to Her her Heirs & Assigns forever. Item I give & bequeth to

my son Jacob fitz randolph all that Clock with the appurtenances to the same belonging which is in my dweling

House to Him His Heirs & Assigns forever and it is my will & I do order that all that part of my moveable

Estate Shall be Left after paying my Just depts and the maintenance of my wife and Legecys as abovesaid

Shall be Equally Divided amongst & given as followeth that Is one fourth part to my Son Samuel & one fourth part to my Daughter prudence & one fourth part to my Son Jacob & one fourth part to my

grandaughter Susanah Copland to them & Each of them their Heirs & Assigns for Ever. Lastly I do Hereby

Nominate Constitute & apoint my son Jacob fitz randolph & my friend Richard Carmon to be my Executors

of this my Last Will & testament & I do Hereby utterly Disallow Revoke & Disanull all & every other

former wills testaments Legecies & Executors by me before this time Named willed & bequeathed Ratifiing &

Confirming this & no other to be my Last will & testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto Set my

Hand & Seal the day & year first above written.

Signed Sealed published pronounced & declared         }

by the said Samuell fitz randolph this to be his Last     }

Will & testament in the presents of us the Subscribers }               Samuel fitz randolph

Jeremiah fitzRandolph

Job Pack

John Coddington

The source citation for this record is:

New Jersey, Wills and Probate Records, 1656-1999, indexed database with digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com :, accessed 7 September 2015, no longer available), Middlesex County, page 2698 (stamped), image 385, Samuel Fitz Randolph will, 1750.

There are other papers in the probate records for Samuel Fitz Randolph, including letters testamentary, an inventory, and an account.

Samuel Fitz Randolph and Mary Jones (1672-1760) had nine children, but apparently only Samuel, Prudence and Jacob survived Samuel Fitz Randolph.  I don't know whose child that Susanah Copland is - perhaps she is a daughter of one of the deceased children on Samuel and Mary (Jones) Fitz Randolph, since she received an equal share to the three living children.  

Samuel and Mary (Jones) Fitz Randolph are my seventh great-grandparents.  I am descended from Jacob Fitz Randolph (1706-1779) and his first wife, --?-- --?--  (about 1710 - about 1764), through their son Samuel Fitz Randolph (1730-????) and Martha Gach (1730-????).  

The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/amanuensis-monday-post-300-1750-will-of.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Added or Updated Databases at Ancestry.com - Week of December 19 to 25, 2015

The following databases were added or updated on Ancestry.com during the period from 19 to 25 December 2015:

The databases added or updated include:

*  Rhode Island, Wills and Probate Records, 1582-1932; indexed records with record images, UPDATED 12/22/2015

*  Victoria, Australia, Assisted and Unassisted Passenger Lists, 1839–1923; indexed records with record images, UPDATED 12/19/2015


*  Rostock, Germany, Births, 1876-1902; indexed records with record images, UPDATED 12/19/2015

The recently added and updated page on Ancestry.com is at http://www.ancestry.com/cs/recent-collections.

The complete Ancestry.com Card Catalog is at  http://search.ancestry.com/search/CardCatalog.aspx.  

By my count above there was 0 NEW databases ADDED this past week, per the list above. There are now 32,467 databases available as of 25 December, up 2 from last week.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/added-or-updated-databases-at_27.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 20 to 26 December 2015

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:

*  Replacing Family Tree Maker, Part 2: How to Get Your Tree Out of FTM; Part 3: Importing Your FTM Tree Into RootsMagic 7; by Keith Riggle on the Genealogy Tools blog.

*  Writing Family History: Top Posts of 2015 by Lynn Palermo on The Armchair Genealogist blog.  Lynn provides a great summary of her work in 2015.

*  The Stockings Were Hung ... by Wayne Shepheard on the Discover Genealogy blog.  Wayne's displays his family stockings and investigates the history of Christmas stockings.

*  For the 12 Days of Christmas: 12 Types of Newspaper Articles for Genealogy Research, Part I; and Part II by Gena Philibert-Ortega on the GenealogyBank Blog.  Gena highlights twelve different types of articles that might be found in historical newspapers.

*  Roy Eastes - A Shining Example by Roberta J. Estes on the DNAeXpained - Genetic Genealogy blog.  Roberta lost her Y-DNA project colleague recently - Rest In Peace, Roy, well done!

*  Index vs. Original: Are You Getting the Whole Picture? by Jenny Lanctot on The In-Depth Genealogist blog.  Jenny highlights examples of indexes being wrong.

*  Naughty or Nice? Copyright and Santa Claus by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog.  Denise did the right thing here.

*  The Tiniest Level of Research - A Local Historical Society by Peggy Lauritzen on the Always Anxiously Engaged blog.  Peggy found a gold mine of local records in a local society - a great example!

*  The 1 Thing to Remember When Talking to Non-Genealogists by Amy Johnson Crow on the Amy Johnson Crow blog.  Amy says tell the story, not the process.

*  My Paternal Brick Wall by D. Taylor on the D. Taylor Genealogy blog.  D. has a breakthrough due to DNA testing - a fine detective story!

*  The Holiday DNA Giveaway: Wow . . . by Judy G. Russell on The Legal Genealogist blog.  Wow is right.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

*  Recommended Reads by Linda Stufflebean on the Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.

*  Friday Finds December 19-25 by Nichelle Barra on the Copper Leaf Genealogy blog.

*  Friday Finds - 12/25/15 by Julie Cahill Tarr on Julie's Genealogy & History Hub blog.

*  This Week's Creme de la Creme -- December 26, 2015 by Gail Dever on the Genealogy a la Carte 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 1590 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/2015/12/best-of-genea-blogs-20-to-26-december.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF) - What did Genea-Santa Bring You?

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) What gift that you received for Christmas is your favorite for genealogy purposes? Book, magazine, hardware, software, website subscription, research time, DNA test - what was it, and how will it affect your genealogy research?

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

3)   Come on, spill!  And it's OK to respond to this in the days after Saturday too!

My response:

I didn't get any genealogy-related gifts this year, just clothes and stuff.  But we got a priceless family history gift - a 2016 photo calendar with pictures of Tami's family each month as they grew up in 2015.  She gets them from Shutterfly and we now have about five years of them.  

This calendar will rekindle memories of 2015 with our daughter and grandchildren - the holidays, the birthdays, the overnight visits with us, the school shows, etc.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-sngf-what.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Surname Saturday - CARTER (England to colonial New England)

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

I am in the 8th great-grandmothers and I'm up to Ancestor #1189 who is Johanna CARTER (1647-1698) [Note: the earlier great-grandmothers and 8th great-grandfathers have been covered in earlier posts].

My ancestral line back through two generations of this CRISPE 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)

18.  Edward Hildreth (1831-1899)
19.  Sophia Newton (1834-1923)

36.  Zavhariah Hildreth (1783-1857)
37.  Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857)

74.  Josiah Sawtell (1768-1847)
75.  Hannah Smith (1768-1824)

148.  Ephraim Sawtell (1738-1800)
149.  Abigail Stone (1736-1800)

296.  Hezekiah Sawtell (1703-1779)
297.  Joanna Wilson (1701-1786)

594.  John Wilson (1672-1717)
595.  Elizabeth Foster (1673-1742)

1188.  John Wilson, born about 1652 in probably England; died 01 February 1735 in Bedford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  He was the son of 2376. John Wilson and 2377. Hannah James.  He married about 1672 in probably Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.
1189.  Johanna Carter, born about 1647 in probably Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States; died before 10 November 1698 in probably Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  

Children of John Wilson and Johanna Carter are:
*  John Wilson (1673-1717), married 1694 Elizabeth Foster (1673-1742).
*  Hannah Wilson (1674-1676).
*  Hannah Wilson (1677-????)
*  Susanna Wilson (1679-????), married (1) Stephen Richardson (1676-1712); (2) 1716 Daniel Snow (1674-1717); (3)1722 Daniel Simonds (1690-1732).
*  Dorcas Wilson (1680-1727), married 1700 Richard Hildreth (1677-1760).
*  Elizabeth Wilson (1683-1712), married 1704 William Simonds (1679-????).
*  Ruth Wilson (1685-1728), married 1703 John Franklin (1682-1738).
*  Sarah Wilson (1687-????).
*  Francis Wilson (1690-1765).
*  Ebenezer Wilson (1693-1693).
*  Samuel Wilson (1695-1747).

2378.  Joseph Carter, born about 1604 in England; died 30 December 1676 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. He married about 1644 in probably Hingham, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States.
2379.  Susanna Chamberlain, born about 1616 in England; died after 10 March 1697 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.  She was the daughter of 4758. Henry Chamberlain and 4759. Jane.

Children of Joseph Carter and Susanna Chamberlain are:
*  Joseph Carter (1645-1706), married 1669 Bethia Pearson (1653-????).
*  Johanna Carter (1647-1698), married 1672 John Wilson (1652-1735).
*  Henry Carter (1648-????).
*  Susanna Carter (1649-1708), married 1674 Henry Summers (1643-1724).

4756.  Thomas Carter, born about 1584 in England; died before 25 June 1652 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States.  He married before 1604 in England.
4757.  Mary, born 1586 in England; died 1665 in Massachusetts, United States.

Children of Thomas Carter and Mary are:
*  Joseph Carter (1604-1676), married 1644 Susanna Chamberlain (1616-1697).
*  Thomas Carter (1607-1694), married (1) 1640 Anne Williams; (2) 1679 Elizabeth Jefts.
*  Samuel Carter (1616-1681), married 1638 Winifred Harwood.
*  John Carter (1618-1692), married (1) 1643 Elizabeth Kendall (1613-????); (2) 1691 Elizabeth Grouse (1620-1691).
*  Mary Carter (1619-1673), married 1639 John Brinsmade (1615-1673).
*  Hannah Carter (1620-????), married 1643 William Greene.

Information about this Carter family line was obtained from:

*  Samuel Sewall, History of Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts (Boston, Mass. : Wiggin and Lunt,  1868)

*  Massachusetts Town Vital Record books 

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/surname-saturday-carter-england-to_26.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 104: A Two Year Recap

Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post Challenge:  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I extended this theme in 2015 to 104 Ancestors in 104 Weeks. 

I started with my eight great-grandparents, then did my second, third and fourth great-grandparents in ahnentafel number order.  Last week, I finished my 4th great-grandparents with #127, Sarah (Martin) Putman (1792-1860).  I have collected all of these posts on my Ancestor Biographies page (http://www.geneamusings.com/p/ancestor-biographies.html).

I am not writing a post this week because it is Christmas Day.  

Now, I'm wondering if I should continue with the 5th great-grandparents.  There are potentially 128 persons on that list, so it should take about two years (since I don't know all 128 persons, I only know about 100).  

The benefits of doing the 52 Ancestors posts the way I'm doing it are:

*  I revisit each ancestor, review the paper and digital information that I have for them, and look for material that I may have missed.

*  I search Ancestry, FamilySearch, FamilySearch Family Tree, Findmypast, MyHeritage, Geni, Mocavo, Fold3, Google Search, and Google Books for online records that I may have missed over the years.

*  I critically review the names, relationships, events, dates, places, media and sources for the person, and try to make them as uniform and consistent as possible (so that the information for the person is consistent with other persons).  

*  I write Fact Notes for many of the Events, then integrate them into the General Notes for the person in a somewhat chronological order.  

*  I create an Individual Narrative report in RootsMagic that I can copy and edit into the 52 Ancestors weekly blog post, including source notations.

This process is very beneficial for me - I think critically about each person, I discover more material, I make my notes and sources more complete and consistent, and I provide a narrative report for each ancestor which serves as Cousin Bait for other researchers and probably cousins. It provides a theme post for Friday mornings on Genea-Musings!  I feel like I am advancing my family history research each week.  

The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2015/12/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-week-104-two.html

Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.