New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday, 6 December 2019

I received this information from Findmypast today:

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New Records Available To Search This Findmypast Friday

United Kingdom Deaths 2007-2017

Over 2.7 million new additions from across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Isle of Man have been added to the collection. These transcripts, provided by Wilmington Millennium, will provide you with the individual’s name, date of death, and location of death.

UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors 2002-2019

Over 981,000 new additions are now available to search. This collection enables you to search registers of UK directors whose companies are registered with Companies House along with the UK’s electoral registers beginning from 2002.

Cornwall Burials

Explore your Cornish roots with over 76,000 new additions covering 57 assorted parishes across the county. See our parish list for more information. Each transcript will reveal a combination of your ancestor’s birth year, death year, burial date and burial place. Some records may also include relative’s names.

New York, Marriage Index Cards (Force-Vorce Family) Browse

Browse through this unique set of marriage records published in partnership with the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society. The marriage index is focused on the Force-Vorce family name and includes names, event dates and generation numbers.

British & Irish Newspaper Update

This week we have added 88,734 brand new pages including a trio of new Scottish titles and updates to eight of our existing titles. First up, we have added the Kilmarnock Herald and North Ayrshire Gazette, a weekly local newspaper published every Friday in the historic burgh of Kilmarnock. We have also added the North Briton. Published in Edinburgh every Wednesday and Saturday, this title is not to be confused with eighteenth century title The North Briton, which was a voraciously anti-Scottish publication associated with radical politician John Wilkes.

Rounding off this week’s Scottish trio is the Northern Chronicle and General Advertiser, published in Inverness every Wednesday.

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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary subscription to Findmypast, and have accepted meals and services from Findmypast, as a Findmypast Ambassador.  This has not affected my objectivity relative to Findmypast and its products.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/new-records-available-to-search-this.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

52 Ancestors - Week 307: #518 Samuel Willis 1675-1758) of Sudbury, Massachusetts

Samuel Willis (1675-1758)  is number 518 on my Ahnentafel List, my 7th great-grandfather, who married #519  Susanna Gleason (1676-1756) in 1703, in Sudbury, Middlesex  County, Massachusetts.

I am descended through:

*  their daughter, #259 Experience Willis (1707-1787) who married #258. Isaac Read (1704-1780) in 1730.

*  their daughter #129 Sarah Read (1736-1809) who married #128 Norman Seaver (1734-1787) in 1755. 

*  their son #64 Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) who married #65 Martha Whitney (1764-1832) in 1783.

*  their son #32 Benjamin Seaver (1791-1825) who married #33 Abigail Gates (1797-1867) in 1817.

*  their son #16 Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) who married #17 Lucretia Townsend Smith (1828-1884) in 1851.

*  their son #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) who married #9 Hattie Louisa Hildreth (1857-1920) in 1874.

*  their son #4 Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) who married #5 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 Jeffrey Seaver (1943-living)

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

    

*  Name:                          Samuel Willis[1–10]    

*  Sex:                              Male    

*  Father:                         Roger Willis (1646-1700)    

*  Mother:                       Ruth Hill (1644-1736)  

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

*  Birth:                           1 April 1675, Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[2–3]    

*  Deed:                          13 October 1703 (age 28), bought eastern half of New Grant Lot 17; Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[6]    

*  Petition:                      15 January 1706/7 (age 31), signed petition; Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[7]    

*  Deed:                          28 May 1750 (age 75), Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[8]    

*  Petition:                     24 May 1753 (age 78), Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[9]    

*  Death:                        26 November 1758 (age 83), Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States[10]  

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

  

* Spouse 1: Experience Newell (1677-1703)    

* Marriage 1: 23 May 1700 (age 25), Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States[4–5]    

* Spouse 2: Susannah Gleason (1675-1756)    

* Marriage 2: before July 1703 (before about age 28), Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts,

United States[11]    

* Child 1: Samuel Willis (1705-    )    

* Child 2: Experience Willis (1707-1787)    

* Child 3: Joseph Willis (1712-1799)    

* Child 4: Elijah Willis (1720-1756)  

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

The article by Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," in the New England Historic Genealogical Register, Volume 114, pages 22 to 40 (January 1960) provides an excellent biography of the first generations of the Willis family of Sudbury.[1]

Samuel Willis was born 1 April 1675 in Sudbury, Massachusetts, the son of Roger and Ruth (Hill) Willis.[2-3]  

On 23 May 1700, Samuel married Experience Newell (1677-1703), the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Curtis) Newell, on 23 May 1700 in Roxbury, Massachusetts,[4-5] and they resided in Roxbury. 

After the death of his father before December 1700, Samuel Willis had an obligation to his mother and minor siblings.  However, Experience died in 1703, and Samuel moved back to Sudbury from Roxbury in 1703 and took over the management of his father's homestead and property.[1]  

Before July 1703, Samuel Willis married, secondly, Susannah Gleason, the daughter of Joseph and Martha (Russell) Gleason, probably in Sudbury.[11]  They had four children (the last two were recorded in Sudbury town records)[1]:

*  Samuel Willis (1705-????), married (1) Rebecca Haynes (1705-730) in about 1727 in Sudbury; (2) Jerusha Brintnall (1704-1748) on 8 November 1730 in Sudbury; (3) Sybel Balcom (1721-1788) on 6 October 1748 in Sudbury.

*  Experience Willis (1707-1787), married Isaac Read (1704-1780) on 11 February 1729/30 in Sudbury.

*  Joseph Willis (1712-1799), married Thankful Clapp (1707-1794) before 1735, probably in Sudbury.

*  Elijah Willis (1720-1756), married Abigail Smith (1721-1805) on 15 June 1738 in Sudbury.

On 13 October 1703, Samuel Willis of Sudbury, husbandman, bought 68 acres of the eastern half of the New Grant Lot No. 17, which adjoined the original Willis farm on Lot 16, from James Russell, yeoman of Charlestown for 17 pounds, ten shillings good and current money[6].  

The McTeer article notes three appearances of Samuel Willis in the town records:

"On 15 January 1706/7, Samuel Willis signed a petition requesting that a new precinct be created on the west side of the Sudbury River.  After some delay and protest from the east siders, including Samuel's Gleason in-laws, such a division was made and a new west side parish established.  Thereupon, Samuel Willis was listed 18 March 1724/5, among the signers of the original covenant of the West Church."[7]

and: 

"Samuel's final appearance in the records of the town's affairs was on 24 May 1753 when 'Samuel Willis Sen' together with his two sons, Joseph and Elijah, signed a petition to set aside the town election which had been held ten days earlier."[9] 

Samuel Willis, yeoman of Sudbury, sold his 100 acre farm to his youngest son, Elijah Willis, yeoman of Sudbury, for 55 pounds on 28 May 1750.[8] The land included upland, swamp and meadow land with buildings or orcharding and fences thereon, and was bounded north and east by the new highway leading from Stow to Sudbury, on the south by Willis Pond, and on the west by "land commonly called the thirty rod highway." 

Susannah (Gleason) Willis died 12 May 1756 in Sudbury at age 80, but the death was not recorded in the Sudbury town records.

Samuel Willis died 26 November 1758 in Sudbury at age 83.[10]  There is no death record in the Sudbury town record book, and no burial location is known.

There is no probate record for Samuel Willis.  He probably provided for his children during his lifetime.  Based on the property held by his sons, it can be inferred that he gave the east half of Lot 17 and a portion of the southeast corner of the homestead to his son Joseph. The eldest son, Samuel, owned two farms in Sudbury, but neither adjoined or had been part of his father's homestead.[1]

 

5.  SOURCES

1. Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 114, No. 1 ((January 1960), pages 29 to 33, Samuel Willis sketch.

2. Vital Records of Sudbury, Massachusetts to the year 1850 (Boston, Mass. : New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1903), Births, page 155, Samuel Willis entry.

3. Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 114, No. 1 ((January 1960), page 29, Samuel Willis birth entry, 1675.

4. "Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com), "Roxbury > Records - Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1630-1785," page 113 (image 58 of 115), Samuel Wllis and Experience Newell marriage entry, 1700.

5. Vital Records of Roxbury, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (Salem, Mass.: The Essex Institute, 1925, 2 Volumes), Marriages, page 439, Samuel Willis and Experience Newel entry.

6. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950); 1780 rolls of microfilm, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, "Deeds, 1696-1716, Vol. 12-13," Volume 13, page 467 (image 650 of 682), James Russell to Samuel Willis, executed 13 October 1703, recorded 15 October 1703; accessed on US/CAN FHL microfilm 0,554,004.

7. Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 114, No. 1 ((January 1960), page 31, Samuel Willis petition, 1707.

8. Record books of the registry of deeds, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 1649-1900; indexes: grantee (1639-1905) and grantor (1639-1950), "Deeds, 1753-1757, Vol. 52-53," Volume 52, page 282 (image 149 of 628), Samuel Willis to Elijah Willis, executed 28 May 1750, recorded 20 January 1754, accessed on US/CAN FHL microfilm 0,554,030.

9. Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 114, No. 1 ((January 1960), page 32, Samuel Willis petition, 1753.

10. Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 114, No. 1 ((January 1960), page 32, Samuel Willis death, 1758.

11. Francis (David) McTeer and Frederick C. Waters,  "Willis Family of Sudbury, Massachusetts," New England Historic Genealogical Register, Vol. 114, No. 1 ((January 1960), page 31, Samuel Willis marriage to Susanna Gleason, before July 1703.

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NOTE:  In 2014, Amy Johnson Crow suggested a weekly blog theme of "52 Ancestors" in her blog post  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks on the No Story Too Small blog.  I have extended this theme in 2019 to 364 Ancestors in 364 Weeks.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/52-ancestors-week-307-518-samuel-willis.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Seavers in the News -- Zeruah Seaver Dies in 1912 in Washington, Vermont

It's time for another edition of "Seavers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from The Barre [Vt] Daily Times  newspaper dated 26 February 1912:

The transcription of the article is:

"WASHINGTON

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Funeral of Mrs. Zeruah Seaver Largely Attended Yesterday

"The funeral of Mrs. Stillman Seaver, who died last Friday, Feb. 23, from heart weakness, following pneumonia, was held at the home of her son in the village of Washington, Sunday, at 2 p.m., Rev. Irving Towsley officiating.  Appropriate music was sung by Mr. and Mrs. F.H. Warner.  The bearers were four nephews, Charles H. McAllister, Herbert O. Bixby, Forrest C. Seaver and Leo W. Seaver.

"Mrs. Zeruah Seaver was born in Chelsea, Sept. 28, 1834, her parents being Perley C. and Sarah (Smith) Wills.  She was married to Stillman Seaver, Dec. 23, 1869, by Rev. J.W. Guernsey.  They had one son, Ernest M.  After her marriage she lived in the town of Williamstown until the death of her husband, June 28, 1895, when she moved into the village of Washington.  Early in life she had an attack of diphtheria, from the effects of which she was somewhat crippled all her life.

"Besides the one son, Ernest M. Seaver, there remain of her immediate kindred three sisters, Mrs. F.W. Bixby and her son, H.O. Bixby, Mrs. A.L. Skinner and Miss Mary A. Wills, all of Chelsea.  None of the sisters were able, however, to attend the funeral.

"Mrs. Seaver was a valued member of the Universalist church parish and a large gathering filled the house to bear personal witness to their esteem."

The source citation is:

"Funeral of Mrs. Zeruah Seaver Largely Attended Yesterday," The Barre [Vt.] Daily Times newspaper, obituary, Monday, 26 February 1912, page 6, column 2, Zeruah (Wills) Seaver obituary; Newspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 5 December 2019).

This obituary is filled with useful family information - her birth date and place, her parents names, her spouse's name, their marriage date and place, his death date, her son's name, her three sisters names, the cause of death, and her church affiliation.  

Zeruah (Wills) Seaver was born 28 September 1834 in Chelsea, Vermont, and died 23 February 1912 in Washington, Vermont.  She married Stillman Seaver (1830-1895) on 23 December 1869 in Chelsea, and they had one son:

*  Ernest M. Seaver (1872-1952), who married Mabel Isabel Jeffords (1879-1978) in 1899 in Williamstown, Vermont.

Stillman Seaver is my 6th cousin 4 times removed, and his children are my 7th cousins 3 times removed.  

There are over 8,000 Seaver "stories" in my family tree - this was one of them.   Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes the life of a person is dedicated to family, friends, and church.  I am glad I can honor Zeruah (Wills) Seaver today.

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Disclosure:  I have a paid subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.

The URL for this post is:   https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/seavers-in-news-zeruah-seaver-dies-in.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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,  or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Treasure Chest Thursday -- 1890 Naturalization Record of Thomas Richmond (1848-1917)

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - a chance 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 1890 Naturalization record for my great-grandfather, Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) of Putnam, Connecticut.

The transcription of the naturalization record is (handwritten entries in italics):

State of Connecticut, County of Windham, ss.

At a Superior Court holden at   Putnam   in and for the County of Windham, and State of Connecticut, on
the   tenth   day of    September     A.D., 18 90
PRESENT -- HON.    S.A. Robinson        JUDGE.

Be it Remembered, That on the   tenth   day of   September    in the year of our Lord, one
thousand eight hundred and   ninety     

Thomas Richmond

of   Killingly   , in said County of Windham, appeared in open Court, (the said Court being a Court of
Record, having common law jurisdiction, and a Clerk and Seal,) and applied to be admitted to become a citizen of the United States.

And the said    Thomas Richmond    then proved to the satis-
faction of the Court that he came to the United States while he was a minor under the age of eighteen years; that it was then, ever since has been, and
still is, bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign Prince,
Potentate, State or sovereignty whatever.

And it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that the said   Thomas Richmond    
has resided within the United States five years at least, and in the State of Connecticut one year at least, and that during said five years he has be-
haved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and
happiness of the same.

And the said    Thomas    Richmond    , having declared on
oath that he would support the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, and that he did absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all
allegiance and fidelity to any Foreign Prince, Potentate, State of sovereignty, whatever, and particularly to
                                                                    Victoria Queen       
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, of whom he was before a subject.

It was, therefore, considered by the Court, that said    Thomas Richmond     
be, and he was accordingly admitted to become a CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES.

The source citation for this record is:

Thomas Richmond citizenship certificate (1890), Volume 5, Page 72, , Superior Court of Windham County, Conn.; accessed at U.S. National Archives - New England, Pittsfield, Mass. by Carrie Cote.

My great-grandfather, Thomas Richmond (1848-1917) was the son of James and Hannah (Rich) Richmond.  They migrated from Hilperton, Wiltshire, England in 1855 (James) and 1856 (Hannah and the children).  Thomas married Julia E. White (1848-1913) in 1868, and they had nine children between 1869 and 1886.  I am descended from Alma Bessie Richmond (1882-1962), who married Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942) in 1900 in Leominster, Massachusetts.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/treasure-chest-thursday-1890.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Dear Randy: How Did You Find the Birth Record for the Italian Ancestor?

In my email, a reader asked me that question, also commenting:  "Have you created a source citation for this record?  Can you show me how?"

1)  Here is how I found the birth record of Giacomo Sturla in the Italian Civil Records found on FamilySearch digital microfilm.

*  A California death record and a Social Security Death Index record said Giacomo Sturla was born on 7 July 1892, and census records said he was born in Italy.  Family information said he was born in Lavagna, Italy, near Genoa.

*  I went to the FamilySearch Catalog (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog) and typed "Lavagna" in the search box for a place name to determine if there were any records available for Lavagna.

*  A link for "Italy, Genova, Lavagna" appeared and I clicked on that.

*  A page for "Lavagna" appeared and there was a link for only one record set - for "Italy. Genova, Lavagna Civil Registration"

*  That link led me to a page for a set of digital microfilms titled "Italia, Genova, Lavagna. Stato civile : Tribunale, 1866-1939" which is comprised of many microfilms of marriages, deaths and births from Lavagna between 1866 and 1939, but there are not records for some years.

*  The birth record for Giacomo Sturla was in 1892, and I found it in the "Nati, 1892" (births) set of records.  Here is the set of digital images on this set of records - there are 174 of them:

*  I found the birth record for Giacomo Sturla on image 77:

2)  Now for crafting the source citation:

*  RootsMagic does not have a specific source template for Italian civil registration records, but it does have a  source citation template for "Digital Archives," which is useful and appropriate (since the record was found online and not in a physical repository).  Here is the source template open on Giacomo Sturla's profile:

*  I filled in the template fields with the appropriate material on the screen above, and ended up with the completed source citation in RootsMagic:

*  The Footnote source citation is:

"Italia, Genova, Lavagna. Stato civile : Tribunale, 1866-1939;" Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 4 December 2019), , "Nati, 1892," image 77 of 174, #112, Giacomo Sturla birth record, 7 July 1892; citing records microfilmed at Chiavari (Genova) Tribunale.

3)  I downloaded the record image using the "Download" button on the FamilySearch page, and renamed the file to "GiacomoSturla-1892-BirthReg-LavagnaGenovaItaly-Nati1892-image77of 174" and then placed it in the file for his family on my computer hard drive.  I then added it to the Media for Giacomo Sturla in RootsMagic.

4)  That's it - pretty easy to find once you understand how the digital images are organized, but there is no index so you have to do a bit of searching image-by-image, and then extracting the information to go into the source template.

5)  The next task is to transcribe and translate the information in the record.  I will do that in another post.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/dear-randy-how-did-you-find-birth.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Our Family in 1981 -- Post 594 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

I  can't help it, I can't do a wordless post!  I found some more family photos hiding in my voluminous My Pictures file folder - This is one of my favorite photographs:

This photo is of our family in about 1981 - it was taken at church for the church directory with a backdrop in the Fireside Room.  The family members from the left are:

*  Randy in his suit and tie (age 38)

*  Linda in her burgundy dress (age 39)

*  Lori in her blue dress (age 7)

*  Tami in her plaid dress (age 5)

In 1981-2, Lori was in second grade at Kellogg Elementary just down the street, and Tami was in kindergarten there.  Linda was a housewife and chauffeur, and Randy was in his 14th year at Rohr and was an Aero/Thermo Group Engineer.  Those were good days for our family.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/our-family-in-1981-post-594-of-not-so.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Genealogy News Bytes -- Tuesday, 3 December 2019

Some of the genealogy news and education items across my monitor the last four days include:

1)  News Articles:

*  Family History Down Under announced by Unlock the Past for 2021

*  MyHeritage Reveals: Boris Johnson Is Related to the New EU President

*  Family History Hosting Announces a GEDCOM Assessment Tool

*  Registration Now Open for NGS 2020 Family History Conference

2)  New or Updated Record Collections:

*  Added and Updated Record Collections at FamilySearch.org - Week of 24 to 30 November 2019

*  New Free Historical Records on FamilySearch: Week of 2 December 2019

*  Added and Updated Ancestry.com Record Collections - Week of 24 to 30 November 2019

*  December Update: GenealogyBank Just Added New Content from 126 Titles!

*  Chronicling America Updates - November, 2019

*  Reclaim the Records Publishes the Mississippi Death Index (1912-1943)

3)  Genealogy Education - Webinars (times are US Pacific):

*  GeneaWebinars Calendar

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Tuesday, 3 December, 5 p.m.:   Buried Treasures: What's in the English Parish Chest, by Paul Milner

*  Upcoming Family Tree Webinar - Wednesday, 4 December, 11 a.m.:  Which Spot Does X Mark, Anyway? X-DNA Testing in Action, by Debra Renard

4)  Genealogy Education - Podcasts:

*  Research Like a Pro:  RLP 73: PERSI Part 1

*  Extreme Genes:  Episode 308 – Son of World War II POW Gets Dad’s Legendary Camp Cartoon Strips Back/Relative Race Visit: Raymond From Team Red

*  Fisher's Top Tips:  #133r - Letters of Transfer

5)  Genealogy Videos (YouTube):

*  BYU Family History Library:  Facebook for Family History by Rayanne Melick

*  Family History Fanatics:  A New Genealogist Thinks All Genealogy is at a Library (Comedy)

*  Family History Fanatics: Newbie's Guide to Navigating the FamilySearch Website

*  Family History Fanatics:  Clueless Genealogist Messes Up Family Tree Thinking People with Same Name are One Person (Comedy)

*  Family History Fanatics:  Can You Genetically Recreate Your Ancestor Using Only One Parent's DNA?

*  FamilySearch:  Road to RootsTech 2020 Episode 5: What’s Happening at the Expo Hall?

*  Findmypast:  Alex Visits Dundee - Scottish Records Launch | Findmypast

*  Genealogy Adventures Live:  S03 E10 Genealogy Adventures Live: Researching free people of color with guest Andre Kearns

*  Genealogy TV:  Five Genealogy Books Everyone Should Have

*  MyHeritage:  I Received DNA Matches, Now What?

6)  Genealogy Bargains:

*  Genealogy Bargains Tuesday, December 3,  2019

7)  DNA Stories:

*  Auburn man wants murder, rape charges dropped in Alaska cold case

*  DNA Upload to MyHeritage Reveals Father and 3 Half-Sisters

*  Siblings meet brother for first time in 6 decades at Tampa Intl. Airport

*  DNA testing unites siblings for Thanksgiving, who until recently never met

8)  Did you miss the last Genealogy News Bytes - 29 November 2019?

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/12/genealogy-news-bytes-tuesday-3-december.html

Copyright (c) 2019, 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, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Tuesday's Tip: Wills and Probate Records on Ancestry.com

The record collections in the Wills and Probate Records on Ancestry.com are some of my favorite collections.  These collections for every state are available only on Ancestry.com in this format.  Other websites have collections that may provide more probate records for a given state, especially FamilySearch.org.

The description of the Massachusetts Wills and Probate Records collection on Ancestry.com says (typical for a state collection):

This collection includes images of probate records for all counties in the state of Massachusetts. Probate records are among the most valuable records available for American genealogy but can be challenging to access because originals are kept in courthouses across the country. These records come from a collection of microfilm that took years to compile. They have been brought together from multiple courthouses over time to give you a single source to search. Some localities and time periods may not be included because they were not available to be acquired as part of this collection, or the records may have been lost or destroyed before the effort to collect them all began. If you are looking for a probate record and believe it to be from a county or year range that is not included in this collection, you can try contacting the appropriate county courthouse to see if the records are available. For details on which counties and records are included in this collection, please explore the browse menu.

About Probate Records

Probate records relate to a deceased person’s estate, whether that estate is “testate” (through a will) or “intestate” (without a will). Whether the decedent left a large estate or just some personal property, there’s a good chance that a probate file exists in a local court that oversaw distribution of property, the guardianship of a minor, or payment of debts.

The contents of a probate file can vary from case to case, but certain details are found in most probates, most importantly, the names and residences of beneficiaries and their relationship to the decedent. An inventory of the estate assets can reveal personal details about the deceased’s occupation and lifestyle. There may also be references to debts, deeds, and other documents related to the settling of the estate.

Note: Some of the records in this collection are organized in packets. As you browse these images we have included a table of contents to help you navigate. If nothing is provided in the table of contents, that suggests the record consists of a single document.

On Ancestry.com, there are a number of record collections for countries, states and/or counties for Wills and Probates.  The search result for an exact last name of "seaver" shows 1,015 indexed entries (some are duplicate entries) in all of the Ancestry Wills, Estates and Guardian Records collections:

It is important to understand what these collections at Ancestry.com represent and include.  In years past, FamilySearch made microfilms of probate records from almost every county in every state in the USA.  FamilySearch digitized most of them, and they are collected by state (usually) on the FamilySearch Historical Record collections page, or on digital microfilm in the Family History Library Catalog.  In general, the FamilySearch collections on microfilm were not indexed into a searchable database.  FamilySearch and Ancestry agreed that Ancestry.com could add these records to their collection if they made a searchable index for the records.  Ancestry did this, and the records are searchable on Ancestry, but are not yet searchable on FamilySearch for some reason.  

In summary, there are millions of digitized images for probate records on both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, but only Ancestry has a searchable name index.

Each county in every state has many volumes of probate records for wills, administrations, guardianships, etc.  The original probate papers, collected during an estate case, are usually put into a packet and filed sequentially in a file in a probate court system.  There are usually record books that index the names of the persons who are subjects of the probate packets.  Many of the individual papers in a probate packet are usually copied into a probate court record book for court use.  The court record books usually have an index at the front or back of the record book.  The FamilySearch microfilms may have been made of the index to the probate packets, the original papers in the probate packets, and the probate court clerk records, or only one or two of the three sets of microfilms.

Some caveats:

*  The Ancestry.com indexing of the microfilm images was imperfect; some subjects in a court clerk record book were not indexed because there was two or more estates on a specific page.  I wrote about some of these problems in Some Ancestry.com's Massachusetts Wills and Probate Records Waypoints are Wrong.  In a case like this, accessing the county probate estate index and/or the individual county clerk book indexed may find the missing estate papers.

*  Also, some FamilySearch probate record collections were pulled from the Ancestry.com collection because of database permission issues.  For example, probate records from New Jersey before 1804 were pulled from Ancestry.com about a month after being released in 2016.  In cases like this, the researcher needs to go to the state archive or other repository.  

*  Each of the collections have a different cutoff date, and often each county will have a different cutoff date.  Many of the cutoff dates are in the early 20th century, so you may not find probate records online at Ancestry or FamilySearch after a cutoff date in a specific county or state.  In that case, the researcher needs to go to the state archive or county probate record repository.

I entered "seaver" as an exact surnames in the "Last Name" search field in the Massachusetts Wills and Probates Records, 1635-1991 collection, and received 150 results:

I clicked on the "View Record" for Nathan H. Seaver to see what papers were available for him in Middlesex County:

This entry was for the records in a probate packet, and include will papers, administration papers, petition papers, and inventory papers.

I clicked on the Will Papers link and saw the first image of the Will Papers for Nathan H. Seaver.  Ancestry provides a description of the record on the right-hand side of the screen.  The user can select the microfilm icon at the bottom of the screen to see the microfilm film strip of the records.

The researcher can Save the record images (button in upper right corner) to an Ancestry tree person, to their shoebox, or to their computer.  It is recommended that a descriptive file name be used for each page of the downloaded record.  The Ancestry record name for the image above is "007553602_00585,jpg"  I would rename this image to be:  "NathanHSeaver-1884-Probate-MiddlesexCoMA-Packet17819-page1of14-image585of1534"; I would save it to my Seaver Family file on my computer hard drive.

After downloading the images, I usually try to write an abstract of the probate file, noting names, dates, places, heirs, inventory information, etc. and add that to the probate Event in the person profile my RootsMagic family tree.  For my ancestors, I try to transcribe each paper and add the transcription to the computer file with the probate paper images and add it to the probate Event in the person profile in RootsMagic.

The probate packet papers are Original Source records, and the court clerk book records are Derivative Source records (because they are a copy of the original).  The records are Primary Information (since they were recorded based on an eyewitness informant) and Direct Evidence (of names, relationships, dates, locations, etc.).

I use these databases extensively to find my ancestors, my relatives, and other persons in my family tree.  The RootsMagic program I use accesses Ancestry WebHints that include the state wills and probate records databases

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NOTE:  Tuesday's Tips is a genealogy blog meme intended to provide information about a resource helpful to genealogists and family historians, especially in the online genea-world.

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Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

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