Findmypast Challenges Family Historians To Find Ancestors

I received this press release this morning from Findmypast:

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FINDMYPAST CHALLENGES FAMILY HISTORIANS TO FIND THE ANCESTORS THEY’VE NEVER MET IN THEIR TREE CHALLENGES

*  From 23rd May until 30th May 2016 all records hinted against in Findmypast trees will be completely free

*  This includes over 116 million United States Marriages and over 10 million Irish Catholic parish registers

*  Findmypast challenges you to find at least one new ancestor through an FMP family tree

*  Family historians will be supported with expert insights, help videos, how to guides and a dedicated “tree building” webinar at 11am EST on Wednesday 25th May.

London, UK. 23 May, 2016.

Is your family history leaving you stumped? Findmypast is here to help with their “Tree Challenge”, a seven day event to encourage people to branch out and discover ancestors they’ve never met. From 
9 a.m., 23rd May until 12 p.m. 30th May 2016, all hints on Findmypast Family trees will be completely free to view and explore.

Findmypast is challenging family historians around the world to discover at least one new ancestor 
by building their family tree on the site, or uploading an existing GedCom file. Researchers will be 
provided with daily getting started guides, expert insights, useful how to videos and a special 
webinar hosted by expert genealogist, Debra Chatfield, dedicated to helping you get the most out of 
your Findmypast family tree.

#TreeChallenge week will have something for everyone, from seasoned experts to complete 
beginners. Keeping a tree on Findmypast is the first step towards exploring our archive of more than 
8 billion records from around the world, more than 1 billion of which aren’t available anywhere else 
online. That’s over 1 billion family connections you won’t find anywhere else, so explore our 
collections today to ensure you don’t miss out.

Findmypast trees currently provide matches from birth, baptism, marriage, death, burial and census 
records across the UK, US, Ireland, and Australia. This includes Findmypast’s vast collections of  more than 116 million United States marriages and over 10 million Irish Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials. Findmypast’s entire collection of 570 million UK BMDs - the largest available online - will also be free for the duration of #TreeChallenge, including over 78 million exclusive parish records you won’t find anywhere else. All UK and Irish parish records are hinted against.

Uploading a tree to Findmypast is quick, easy and secure. As you add information, Findmypast does 
all the hard work for you by sifting through millions of records to instantly identify potential 
matches. Once potential matches have been made, you can quickly and easily review possible leads 
before adding the relevant information to your tree.

To encourage you to make the most of this feature, we are running a special tree themed competition. Share any discoveries you make on your tree via social media with the hashtag - #TreeChallenge and you could be in with the chance of winning an expert bundle worth $1000. This includes a 64 GB Ipad mini4, a three TB hard drive and a 12 month subscription to Family Tree magazine. We will also be giving away a 12 month world sub on our social media channels daily. You can find out more here.

Hinting allows you uncover records for multiple ancestors at once with virtually zero effort. The larger your tree, the more potential matches you’ll be presented with so it’s well worth your while to 
add as many ancestors as possible.

As we release new records, our hinting system will continue to grow, providing you with even more 
opportunities to find unknown ancestors.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/05/findmypast-challenges-family-historians.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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 - Week 125: #148 Ephraim Sawtell (1734-1800)

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 am extending this theme in 2016 to 156 Ancestors in 156 Weeks. Here is my ancestor biography for week #125:

Ephraim Sawtell (1734-1800) is #148 on my Ahnentafel list, my 5th great-grandfather, who married #149 Abigail Stone (1737-1800) in 1757.

I am descended through:

*  their son, #74 Josiah Sawtell (1768-1847) who married #75 Hannah Smith (1768-1827) in 1789.

*  their daughter, #37 Hannah Sawtell (1789-1857), who married #36 Zachariah Hildreth (1783-1857), in 1810.

*  their son, #18, Edward Hildreth (1831-1899), who married #19 Sophia Newton (1834-1923) in 1852.

*  their daughter, #9 Hattie Louise Hildreth (1847-1920) , who married #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) in 1874. 

*  their son, #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942), who married Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962) in 1900.

* their son, #2 Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983), who married #3 Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002) in 1942.

*  their son, #1 Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

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1)  PERSON (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

*  Name:                       Ephraim Sawtell[1–7]

*  Alternate Name:       Ephraim Sartel[8]    

*  Alternate Name:       Ephraim Sartell[6,9–13]     

*  Sex:                           Male   

*  Father:                       Hezekiah Sawtell (1703-1779)   

*  Mother:                     Joanna Wilson (1701-1786)   

  

2)  INDIVIDUAL EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

  

*  Birth:                         18 January 1734/5, Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[1–2]   

*  Baptism:                    30 March 1735 (age 0), Shirley, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[3]

*  List of Children:        1758–1772 (about age 23–about 37), list of childrens births; Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]   

*  Military Service:       August 1778 (about age 43), Mason, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States[8]   

*  Miscellaneous:          2 February 1780 (age 45), arrived in Townsend; Townsend, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]    

*  Miscellaneous:          20 November 1780 (age 45), warned out of town; Townsend, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[10]   

*  Miscellaneous:          20 January 1781 (age 46), left town of Townsend; Townsend, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[11]   

*  Census:                      1 June 1790 (age 55), Raby, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States[12]   

*  Tax List:                   1 October 1798 (age 63), Direct Tax List; Townsend, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[13]   

*  Death:                       about 1800 (about age 65) , probably Brookline, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States

  

3)  SHARED EVENTS (with source citations as indicated in brackets):

  

*  Spouse 1:                   Abigail Stone (1736-1800)   

*  Marriage 1:                22 December 1757 (age 22), Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]   

*  Child 1:                     Abigail Sawtell (1758-1817)   

*  Child 2:                     Lucy Sawtell (1760-1815)   

*  Child 3:                     Josiah Sawtell (1762-1766)   

*  Child 4:                     Molly Sawtell (1763-1795)   

*  Child 5:                     Eli Sawtell (1765-    )   

*  Child 6:                     Josiah Sawtell (1768-1847)   

*  Child 7:                     Ephraim Sawtell (1770-    )   

*  Child 8:                     Sarah Sawtell (1772-    )   

*  Child 9:                     John Sawtell (1773-    )   

*  Child 10:                   Ede Sawtell (1778-    )   

   

4)  NOTES (with source citations as indicated in brackets):   

Ephraim Sawtell was also known as Ephraim Sartell during his life.

Ephraim Sawtell was the 6th child and 5th son of Hezekiah and Joanna (Wilson) Sawtell.  The Groton town record entry for the birth of Ephraim Sawtell says[1]:

"Ephriam Sawtell son of Hezekiah Sawtell & Joanna his wife was born of Groton January 18th 1734"

The Shirley, Massachusetts vital record book has this entry for the baptism of Ephraim Sawtell[3]:

"SAWTELL, Ephraim, s. Hezekiah and Joanna, bp., Mar. 30 1735 B.R."

The Groton, Massachusetts town record book provides the marriage of Ephraim Sawtell and Abigail Stone[4]:

"[December] 22d [1757] Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail Stone boath of Groton" 

The Groton, Massachusetts town records record the births of the first eight of the children of ephraim and Abigail Sawtell.  The record says[6]:

"Abagail Sawtell the daughter of Ephraim Sawtell and Abagail his wife born at Groton November 3'd 1758

Lucy Sawtell the daughter of Ephraim Sawtell and Abagail his wife born at Groton January 20'th 1760

Josiah Sartell the son of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail his wife was born at Groton January the 30'th 1762

Molley Sartell the daughter of Ephraim Sartell and Abigail his wife born at Groton December 3'd 1763

Eli Sartell the son of Ephraim Sartell jnr & Abigail his wife was born at Groton Nov'r 26'th 1765

Josiah Sawtell the son of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail his wife born at Groton January 24'th 1768

Ephraim Sawtell the son of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail his wife was born at Groton June 23'd 1770

Sarah Sawtell the daugh'r of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail his wife was born at Groton November 20'th 1772"

During the period of 1773 to 1775, Ephraim Sawtell moved from Groton, Massachusetts to the north to Mason, New Hampshire.  He and his wife, Abigail, had one daughter recorded in the Mason, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Town Records in 1778.

Ephraim "Sartel" was a private on the pay roll for Captain Benjamin Mann's Company of Volunteers in Colonel Nichol's Regiment in the expedition to Rhode Island in August 1778[8].  He was paid £11 10s. for his service.

In February 17890, Ephraim Sawtell and his family removed to Townsend, Massachusetts.  The Townsend Vital Record book has three records[9-11]:

"Lieut. Ephraim Sartell waith Abigail his wife together with their Children named Lucy Eli Josiah Ephraim, Sarah, John and Hannah who came last from Mason in New Hampshire State to Townshend upon Feb'y 2: 1780 warn'd out of Townshend and due return made thereof January 20:1781    by Benj'a Ball Constable"

"To notify and warn out - Lt Ephraim Sartell - with Abigail his wife together with their children Lucy Eli Josiah Eph'm Sarah John Eda & Hannah who came last from Mason in the State of New Hampshire to said Townshend upon February 2'd: 1780.  Dated 20th Novr 1780."

"The persons or families that came to town between March 1779 and March 1780 are:

Ephraim Sartell and family from Mason N Hampshire."

In the 1790 U.S. Census, the family was at Raby (now Brookline), New Hampshire[12], just east of Mason, with a family of three men over age 16, a boy under 16, and three females.

Ephraim Sawtell must have moved back to Townsend, Massachusetts, because he is listed in the 1798 Direct Tax List for Townsend, Massachusetts[13].  The entry for Ephraim Sartell was listed with:

*  Name of occupants or possessor:  Eph'm Sartell

*  Name of reputed Owner:  Sartell, Eph'm

*  County, township, parish, etc.:  Townsend

*  Number of dwelling houses:  1

*  Value:  60 dollars

*  Lands, lots, etc. subject to valuation:  54 acres

*  Valuation determined by assessors:  313 Dollars

*  Rate per centum :  10

*  Valuations revised and equalized:  344 Dollars 30 Cents

*  Whole valuation of lands:  344 Dollars 30 Cents

There is no known death record for Ephraim Sawtell in the New Hampshire or Massachusetts town vital records.  There is no known burial site for him.  There are no probate records for him in Massachusetts or New Hampshire probate court records.

5)  SOURCES

 

1. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), "Groton Births, Marriages and Deaths," page 29 (image 435 of 990), Ephraim Sawtell birth entry.

2. Vital Records of Groton, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849 (Salem, Mass. : The Essex Institute, 1926-1927), Two volumes, Births, page 208, Ephraim Sawtell entry.

3. Vital records of Shirley, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1918), Births, page 84, Ephraim Sawtell baptism.

4. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, "Groton, Births, Marriages and Deaths," no page number, image 106 of 990, Ephraim Sawtell and Abigail Stone marriage entry.

5. Vital Records of Groton, Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, Marriages, page 165, Ephraim Sawtell and Abigail Stone entry.

6. Massachusetts, Town Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com, "Groton, Births, Marriages, Deaths," image 86 of 990, births of children of Josiah and Abigail Sawtell.

7. Ithamar B. Sawtelle, History of the Town of Townsend, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1676-1878 (Fitchburg, Mass. : the author, 1878), page 61, Ephraim Sawtell sketch.

8. National Archives, "U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2016), New Hampshire > Littlefield's Company, 1775 - Rawling's Company, 1775 > page 95, August 1778  (image 245 of 527), Ephraim Sartel entry; citing citing Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, 138 rolls); War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93; National Archives, Washington. D.C.

9. Henry C. Hallowell (editor), Vital Records of Townsend, Massachusetts (Boston, Mass. :  New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1992), Warnings Out, page 444, Ephraim Sartell entry.

10. Henry C. Hallowell (editor), Vital Records of Townsend, Massachusetts, Warnings Out, page 451, Ephraim Sartell entry.

11. Henry C. Hallowell (editor), Vital Records of Townsend, Massachusetts, Warnings Out, page 443, Ephraim Sartell entry.

12. 1790 United States Federal Census,, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, population schedule, Raby, page 329, Ephraim Sartell household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication M637, Roll 5.

13. "Massachusetts and Maine 1798 Direct Tax," indexed database and digital image, American Ancestors (http://www.americanancestors.org), Volume 11, page 66 (stamped), Townsend, Ephraim Sartell entry.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/05/52-ancestors-week-125-148-ephraim.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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.

Dear Randy -- How Do You Put a Census Extraction In Your RootsMagic Database?

Reader Jay recently asked this question in email, saying:

"In looking at your sample census citation for the 1850 Census, I see a nice summary of extracted information for the Lawton Wade household. Do you store this extract in your RootsMagic database? If so, where?  I'm looking for a nice, compact way to summarize the census information for a family in my RM database."

My answer was:

"Good question.  I was an aerospace engineer, and always thought in bullet points.  So it seemed natural to create a text summary of a family in a specific census record, with a summary of where the household was, and a bullet point for each family member, with all of the information for a person in a list separated by commas.  

"I put this information into the Fact note for the Census Fact (I use Census rather than Residence because there is more information than just the address).  I have put the summary into the Sources > specific source > Edit > Detail text field also in order to create a Research Note report.  I also copy and paste it into the person's Notes which I use for a chronological biography."

The blog post that Jay saw with a family bullet list was 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 75: #90 Simon Wade (1767-1857) (posted 5 June 2015) which had, among others, this list in the Notes:

"In the 1850 United States Census, Simon Wade was in the Lawton Wade household in Killingly, Windham County, Connecticut[6].  The household included:

*  Lawton Wade - age 34, male, a machinist, $100 in real property, born foster, R.I.
*  Aleph Wade - age 37, female, born Killingly, Ct
*  Lewis Wade - age 16, male, born Killingly, Ct.
*  Lucy A. Wade - age 14, female, born Gloucester R.I.
*  Julia A. Wade - age 13, female, born Killingly, Ct.
*  Henry L. Wade - age 8, male, born Bendville R.I., attended school
*  Mary A. Wade - age 4, female, born Killingly, Ct., attended school.
*  Simon Wade - age 82, male, a laborer, born Foster, R.I."

In RootsMagic, I enter this extracted information into the Fact Notes for an event, in this case the 1850 United States Census.  Here is a screen capture from my "Edit Person" screen for Simon Wade in RootsMagic 7:

After highlighting the Census Fact for 1850 on the Fact list, I clicked on the "Note" button on the right-hand side of the screen and saw what I had typed into the Fact Note:

I also copy this Fact, Fact Note and source citation into the "Edit Person" screen for all of the persons in the census record.  

One reason I do this is that I can transfer these Facts and Fact Notes and source citations efficiently to the Person Profile, including Notes and Sources, in the FamilySearch Family Tree as evidence to support my conclusions for persons.

Does your genealogy computer program support Fact Notes?  It should.  

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/05/dear-randy-how-do-you-put-census.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 314: Birth Records of Children of Ephraim and Abigail (Stone) Sawtell in Groton, Mass.

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the birth record of the children of Ephraim Sawtell (1734-ca 1800) and Abigail Stone (1737-before 1800) born in Groton, Massachusetts:

The list of children for Ephraim and Abigail (Stone) Sawtell is on the left-hand page:

The transcription of this record is:

Abagail Sawtell the daughter of Ephraim Sawtell and

Abagail his wife born at Groton November 3'd 1758

Lucy Sawtell the daughter of Ephraim Sawtell and

Abagail his wife born at Groton January 20'th 1760

Josiah Sartell the son of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail

his wife was born at Groton January the 30'th 1762

Molley Sartell the daughter of Ephraim Sartell

and Abigail his wife born at Groton December 3'd 1763

Eli Sartell the son of Ephraim Sartell jnr & Abigail his

wife was born at Groton Nov'r 26'th 1765

Josiah Sawtell the son of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail his

wife born at Groton January 24'th 1768

Ephraim Sawtell the son of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail

his wife was born at Groton June 23'd 1770

Sarah Sawtell the daugh'r of Ephraim Sawtell & Abigail

his wife was born at Groton November 20'th 1772

The source citation for this record is:

Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 May 2016), "Groton, Births, Marriages, and Deaths," image 86 of 990, births of children of Josiah and Abigail Sawtell; citing original data from Massachusetts town and city clerk records in Jay and Delene Holbrook, Massachusetts Vital and Town Records (Provo, Utah : Holbrook Research Institute), Microfiche collection.

These are the first eight of ten children born to Ephraim and Abigail (Stone) Sawtell; the last two children were born in Mason, New Hampshire.  

The surname varies between Sawtell and Sartell in these records, presumably spelled as the town clerk heard the names.  Note that there are two children born with the name of Josiah.  The first one was born in 1762 and died in 1766.

Ephraim and Abigail (Stone) Sawtell are my 5th great-grandparents.  Their son and 6th child, Josiah Sawtell (1768-1847) is my 4th great-grandfather.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/05/treasure-chest-thursday-post-314-birth.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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.

You Should Browse Probate Records on Ancestry.com - Don't Rely on Only the Index

I've made this point before in several blog posts, but it bears repeating until Ancestry.com does something about it.

You Should Browse Probate Records on Ancestry.com - Don't Rely Only on Their Index!

Why?  Because they indexed only some of the different volumes in each state and county.  Yes - use the index but be skeptical when you find only one record or no records.  In EVERY case, review the Probate Index to find all of the available records.

Here is my latest example:  I transcribed a will in Amanuensis Monday - Post 320: Will of Henry Smith (1680-1743) of Medfield, Mass. posted on 16 May 2016.  I found the will by using the Ancestry.com index - they had indexed some of the Suffolk county, Massachusetts probate records.

Yesterday, I went searching for "the rest of the records" for Henry Smith that are usually found in Massachusetts probate packets - an inventory, a distribution, an account, warrants, receipts, etc.  

1)  On the Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991 database page on Ancestry.com, I went to the "Browse this collection" list on the right-hand side of the page and clicked on "Suffolk" in the County dropdown menu:

The list of the different "record books" digitized by FamilySearch opens, and a researcher can pick one of them to browse.  Sometimes the list of "record books" doesn't open and the user has to select the County again.

2)  I want an Index to probate records for 1743 for Henry Smith, so I clicked on the "Index to the Probate Records, 1636-1893" record book.  The first image for this "record book" opened, and I could see that it was from FHL microfilm 496,888.  There are 701 images for this record book.

This index is for all surnames, so I guessed that Henry Smith might be on Image 500 of 701.  I entered the guessed image number in the field for the page number just above the film strip shown on the screen above.  I was wrong, and guessed several more image numbers before finding it ion Image 579 of 701:

Alternatively, I could have used the filmstrip to advance 8 images at a time forward and backward, or used the left or right arrows to advance one image at a time.  

The line for Henry Smith for 1743 says there is a Will and it is Case No. 7912.  

3)  I need to find the contents of Case 7912.  Back to the Massachusetts Wills and Probate Records database page, I searched down the list of "record books" to find another "record book" that contains Case 7912.

I found the record book for "Probate Docket, No. 1-10802, 1636-1754."  Docket Number 7912 is included between Number 1 and Number 10802.  Note that these Probate Docket books are not in numerical order, they are in alphabetical order.

4)  I clicked on the "Probate Docket, No. 1-10802, 1636-1754" and noted that there are 846 images, so I guessed image 700 and saw:

The message on Image 1 on the screen above says that "Oops, we've hit a snag.  We were unable to retrieve the image.  Please try again."  I tried many times.  The darn thing wouldn't budge.  So I used the filmstrip at the bottom to find the right image for Probate docket 7912 for Henry Smith.  It took awhile.  But I found it on Image 610 (it took 4 minutes):

Here is the full image:

I Xed out the filmstrip and zoomed in on the Henry Smith probate docket 7912:

5)  As I suspected, there was more than just a will for Henry Smith in the Suffolk County Probate Records.  Here is the list of records included in the Henry Smith Probate File 7912:

*  Will - Volume 36, Page 333
*  Petition for Probate, new series - Volume 22, Page 384
*  Probate & Letter - Volume 36, Page 332
*  Inventory - Volume 36, page 443
*  Acct - Volume 37, page 261
*  War't. for Dower - Volume 50, Page 190
*  Dower - Volume 50, page 191
*  War't for division - Volume 51, page 76
*  Division - Volume 51, Page 76.

I note that only the first item - the Will - was indexed by Ancestry.com.  If I relied solely on the index, I would not know about the other papers in Henry Smith's probate file.

6)  The next step is to:

*  Go back to the Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records database page and find each of those Volumes in the list of "record books."  
*  In each Volume, find the page numbers and ensure that the record you seek is on the page image.  Check adjacent images for continuation of the record.
*  For each image, download it my computer by clicking on the green "Save" button and then "Save to your computer" - on my computer it saves to the "Download" file folder in Windows 7.
*  Open the "Downloads" file folder and rename the file using my file naming convention.
*  Move the specific file from the "Downloads" file folder to my Surname > Family > Documents file folder for the specific family.  This way I can find the file easily.

I was able to find all of the records for Henry Smith listed above, except for the "Petition for Probate."  I saved them to my computer, renamed them, and moved them to my file folder for Henry Smith's documents.  I had a surprise - the inventory showed that Henry Smith had a significant inventory.  Another surprise was that the dower was not set off, and the division of property to the heirs, was not done until 1755.  I will transcribe some of them because they are very typical of mid-18th century Massachusetts probate records.

7)  These Henry Smith Probate File 7912 papers are from the Suffolk County Probate Court clerk volumes - the court clerk copied the original papers submitted to the court into these court clerk volumes.  The original papers were folded and put into a Probate Court Packet in a legal-sized envelope with the name and file number on it and then stored in the Probate Court archives.

Unfortunately, not every Massachusetts probate court has had their Probate Court Packets microfilmed - some have and some have not.  Suffolk County Packets were not microfilmed and therefore are not included in the Ancestry.com digitized database.  A researcher has to go to the Suffolk County Probate Court and try to access the specific Probate Packet, copy the pages, etc.

The process described above is what researchers have performed for Suffolk County, Massachusetts probate records using FamilySearch microfilms for decades.  It's just easier now since the records were digitized and then partially indexed and are available online on demand, rather than going to Salt Lake City or ordering FHL microfilms at an FHC.

8)  While I did this for Massachusetts, the process for all of the other states is similar.  Some of the terms change, the names of the record books may be different, but the process of browsing to find probate records is very similar for every state.

9)  I realize that I may be preaching to the choir here, but all researchers need to be aware of the limitations of the Ancestry.com indexing for state probate records, and of the process to find the "rest of the records" as noted above which may contain significant genealogical and family history content.  Once you've mastered the process, the rewards are tremendous.

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The URL for this post is:   http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/05/you-should-browse-probate-records-on.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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.

Family Discovery Day at Chula Vista LDS Stake on Saturday, 21 May

The third annual Family Discovery Day at the Chula Vista Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints  Stake (1590 East H Street in Chula Vista, Calif.) is on Saturday, 21 May 2016 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The theme is “Family History For Everyone.”  The schedule is:

8:30 a.m.: Doors Open, Free Continental Breakfast, Exhibits, Labs and Displays

9:30 a.m.:   Keynote Speaker:  Randy Seaver on “Be a Family History Detective”

10 a.m. to 1 p.m.:  Classes, Exhibits, Labs, Displays, Genealogy Merit Badge Class, Free WiFi

10 a.m. Classes:  
*  Kathleen Winchester – “Lineage Societies” in Primary Room
*  Alvaro Cordova -- “Capacitacion para consultores de historia familiar de barrio” in RS Room
*  Grabado de RootsTech – “Pasos basicos para la investigacion genealogica: Como puedo empezar mi arbol genealogico” in Multi-Purpose Room
*  RootsTech Recording – “Become a Master Searcher on Ancestry” in YoungWomens Room

11 a.m. Classes:
*  Randy Seaver – “FamilySearch Family Tree - A Unified Source-Centric, Open Family Tree” in Primary Room
*  Carlos Yturralde – “Pasos basicos para la investigacion genealogica para hispanos” in RS  Room 
*  Marti Lewis – “Exploring Your DNA Results” in Multi-Purpose Room 
*  RootsTech Recording – “5 Steps to Identify a Family Photo” in Young Womens Room

12 noon classes:
*  John Finch – “The Civil War” in Primary Room
*  Carlos Yturralde – “Intermediate Hispanic Research” in RS Room
*  RootsTech Recording – “Finding Elusive Records on Family Search.org” in Multi-Purpose Room
*  RootsTech Recording – “Proven Methodology for Using Google for Genealogy” in Young  Women's Room

This seminar is FREE for all persons to attend.  There is no registration required.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/05/family-discovery-day-at-chula-vista-lds.html

Copyright (c) 2016, 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.