Genea-Musings

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Who is Your MRUA?

2009-11-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hey, genies, it's Saturday Night, time for some Genealogy Fun!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (where's my Mission Impossible music...drat, lost it), is:

1) Who is your MRUA - your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name.

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don't you scan it again just to see if there's something you have missed?

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your MRUA?

4) Tell us about him or her, and your answers to 2) and 3) above, in a blog post, in a comment to this post, or a comment on Facebook or some other social networking site.

Here's mine:

Number 26 on my Ahnentafel List is Devier James Lamphear Smith. I don't know who his parents are - they are Numbers 52 and 53 on my Ahnentafel List. Here are the vital records, and a synopsis of what I know about Devier's parentage:

Devier James Lamphere alias Smith was born 07 May 1839 in Henderson, Jefferson County, NY, and died 01 May 1894 in McCook, Red Willow County, NE. He married Abigail A. Vaux 04 April 1861 in Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, WI, daughter of Samuel Vaux and Mary Underhill. She was born 28 October 1844 in Aurora, Erie County, NY, and died 11 September 1931 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA.

Based on the available personal, public and government records, this person was born with the name Devier James Lamphere, probably in Jefferson County, New York. His birth parents have not been identified to date. He was adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith before 1843, when the Smith family moved from Jefferson County, New York to Dodge County, Wisconsin.

My hypotheses are that (1) Devier's father had the surname Lamphere (and variants) or (2) that his mother, with the surname Lamphere, had him out of wedlock and gave him up for adoption.

I have written extensively about my search for the birth parents, ostensibly named Lamphere/Lamphear/Lamphier/Lamfear or Lanphere/Lanphear/Lanphier/Lanfear or any other reasonable spelling of the surname, in Jefferson County, New York in the 1840 time frame. One of my posts, which links to others, is Finding Lamphears in Jefferson County, NY - Post 3.

In my search, I have exhausted the court records in Jefferson County NY that are available on FHL Microfilm, the history books, the online databases, the land record indexes, etc. I've also exhausted the Dodge County, Wisconsin records available on FHL Microfilm and online databases. That leaves unfilmed, unindexed, non-digitized records that might be found in historical societies, genealogical societies, local libraries, and state archives, and private collections.

I've sort of let this problem lapse in recent months since I'm stymied for what to do next. I think that my next step is to search for a marriage record and for newspaper articles in Dodge County, Wisconsin that might name Devier's birth parents, especially around the time that he married in 1861 and when he legally changed his name on 21 March 1866. A lady in Dodge County has offered to do these searches for a fee and I haven't written the check yet. I need to! Hope springs eternal!

If anyone has other research ideas, I would love to hear them!

Surname Saturday - HILDRETH

2009-11-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's Surname Saturday, and I am working down my Ahnentafel List to highlight each surname in order of appearance. Of course, these lists start with female ancestors and then quickly go to the patrilineal line of those female ancestors.

Today's surname is HILDRETH - a fine English name with a long New England history from the immigrant, Richard Hildreth who settled in Cambridge and then Chelmsford MA in the 1600s.

My Ahnentafel numbers with my direct line to Richard Hildreth (one of my 9th great-grandfathers) are:

1. Randall J. Seaver

2. Frederick Walton Seaver (1911-1983)

4. Frederick Walton Seaver (1876-1942)

8. Frank Walton Seaver (1851-1922)
9. Hattie Louise Hildreth, born 28 November 1857 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA; died 29 November 1920 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA. She married Frank Walton Seaver 14 December 1874 in Keene, Cheshire County, NH. He was born 06 June 1852 in Medfield, Norfolk County, MA, and died 27 November 1922 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA.

18. Edward Hildreth, born 30 April 1831 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 26 April 1899 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA. He married 19. Sophia Newton 25 December 1852 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA.
19. Sophia Newton, born 14 September 1834 in Springfield, Windsor County, VT; died 29 August 1923 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA. Children of Edward Hildreth and Sophia Newton are:
...9......i. Hattie Louise Hildreth, born 28 November 1857 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA; died 29 November 1920 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA; married Frank Walton Seaver 14 December 1874 in Keene, Cheshire County, NH.
..........ii. Clarence Edward Hildreth, born 24 May 1874 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA; died 21 February 1878 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA.

36. Zachariah Hildreth, born 10 April 1783 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 22 January 1857 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA. He married Hannah Sawtell 21 October 1810 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
37. Hannah Sawtell, born 06 November 1789 in Brookline, Hillsborough County, NH; died 13 January 1857 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA. Children of Zachariah Hildreth and Hannah Sawtell are:
.......... i. Aaron Hildreth, born 11 March 1811 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 11 June 1884 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Sophia Adams 09 April 1833 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; born 02 June 1809 in Lunenberg, Middlesex County, MA; died 14 November 1893 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... ii. Clarissa Hildreth, born 18 August 1814 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 16 September 1819 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... iii. James Hildreth, born 03 May 1817 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Nancy Jane Shattuck 26 August 1840 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; born 26 May 1815 in Bedford, Middlesex County, MA; died 29 November 1898 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA.
.......... iv. Clarissa Hildreth, born 24 January 1820 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 24 July 1852 in Mt. Vernon, NH; married Samuel Dana Baldwin 15 May 1840 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; born 04 October 1817 in Greenfield, NH; died 19 February 1885 in Nashua, Hillsborough County, NH.
.......... v. Elizabeth Hildreth, born 26 April 1822 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married (1) David C. Wilder 20 March 1844 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; born 21 December 1822 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 02 October 1851 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married (2) Joseph Chaffin 26 March 1856 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; born 13 March 1807 in Harvard, Worcester County, MA.
.......... vi. Milo Hildreth, born 17 August 1824 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA (Bible); died 03 June 1893 in Portland, Cumberland County, ME; married Frances Jane Hooker 31 December 1846 in North Brookfield, Worcester County, MA; born 01 February 1828 in North Brookfield, Worcester County, MA; died 27 March 1896 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA.
.......... vii. Moses Hildreth, born 27 December 1828 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 25 June 1893 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA; married Lurenia Amanda Whitcomb 22 June 1853 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA; born 28 August 1833 in Boston, Suffolk County, MA; died 12 December 1910 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA.
.. 18 ...viii. Edward Hildreth, born 30 April 1831 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 26 April 1899 in Leominster, Worcester County, MA; married Sophia Newton 25 December 1852 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA.
.......... ix. Harriet Augusta Hildreth, born 25 July 1835 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 07 July 1850 in Northborough, Worcester County, MA.

72. Zachariah Hildreth, born 13 January 1754 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 17 March 1828 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA. He married Elizabeth Keyes 01 September 1777 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.
73. Elizabeth Keyes, born 08 April 1759 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 06 August 1793 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA. Children of Zachariah Hildreth and Elizabeth Keyes are:
.......... i. Aaron Hildreth, born 30 October 1778 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... ii. Elizabeth Fletcher Hildreth, born 04 June 1780 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 02 September 1792 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... iii. Hannah Hildreth, born 10 September 1782 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 15 November 1848 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Levi Sherwin 24 April 1800 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA; born 29 March 1773 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA.
..36.... iv. Zachariah Hildreth, born 10 April 1783 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 22 January 1857 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Hannah Sawtell 21 October 1810 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... v. Lucy Hildreth, born 18 July 1785 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 01 March 1865 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Samuel Scales 17 April 1806 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA.
.......... vi. Patty Hildreth, born 16 May 1787 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Stephen Scales 29 March 1810 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA.
.......... vii. Fanny Hildreth, born 22 August 1789 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 12 October 1865 in Northampton, Hampshire County, MA; married Josiah Spaulding 25 May 1817 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA; born 14 April 1795 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; died May 1853 in Northampton, Hampshire,.
.......... viii. Nabby Hildreth, born 16 April 1791 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 18 April 1791 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... ix. James Hildreth, born 17 July 1793 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; died 09 October 1797 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.

144. Zachariah Hildreth, born 28 December 1728 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA; died 18 April 1784 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA. He married Elizabeth Prescott 12 April 1753 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.
145. Elizabeth Prescott, born 15 September 1734 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 01 May 1812 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA. Children of Zachariah Hildreth and Elizabeth Prescott are:
.. 72..... i. Zachariah Hildreth, born 13 January 1754 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 17 March 1828 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married (1) Elizabeth Keyes 01 September 1777 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married (2) Abigail Hart About 1794 in prob. Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... ii. Elizabeth Hildreth, born 18 October 1755 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 13 March 1803 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Samuel Richardson 27 May 1784 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 14 September 1756 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 13 December 1837 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... iii. Hannah Hildreth, born 31 January 1758 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 04 January 1836 in Sterling, Worcester County, MA; married Timothy Hildreth 15 March 1777 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; died About 1817 in Sterling, Worcester, MA.
.......... iv. Timothy Hildreth, born 10 April 1760 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... v. Esther Hildreth, born 10 April 1760 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Thomas Brown 07 May 1791 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 06 March 1755 in Billerica, Middlesex, MA.
.......... vi. James Hildreth, born 07 March 1762 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 01 January 1789 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... vii. Lucy Hildreth, born 18 January 1764 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 06 May 1845 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married William Whiting 17 December 1786 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born About 1761 in of Westford, Middlesex, MA; died 19 April 1828 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... viii. Jonas Hildreth, born 25 June 1766 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 14 January 1808 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Deliverance Johnson 10 May 1794 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born About 1767 in MA; died 01 March 1839 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ix. Ruth Hildreth, born 08 May 1768 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 20 February 1829 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Abel Hildreth 24 November 1802 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 26 March 1766 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; died 27 May 1842 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... x. Edy Hildreth, born 03 November 1771 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 16 September 1819 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... xi. Jesse Hildreth, born 22 September 1773 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 22 April 1840 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Olive Fletcher 24 March 1801 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 28 February 1775 in Shirley, Middlesex, MA; died 23 April 1857 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... xii. Mehitable Hildreth, born 24 September 1775 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 17 June 1819 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married (1) Seth Hildreth April 1797 in Townsend, Middlesex, MA; born About 1775; died 25 September 1801 in MA; married (2) Joseph Adams 03 November 1805 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born in of Littleton, Middlesex, MA.

288. James Hildreth, born 23 December 1698 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA; died 25 February 1761 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA. He married Dorothy Prescott 20 December 1721 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA.
289. Dorothy Prescott, born 1702 in Acton, Middlesex County, MA; died 03 September 1774 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA. Children of James Hildreth and Dorothy Prescott are:
.......... i. Oliver Hildreth, born 11 July 1723 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA; died February 1793 in Townsend, Middlesex County, MA; married Anna Blaisdell 26 October 1744 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 03 March 1726/27 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ii. Rebecca Hildreth, born 31 March 1726 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA; died 1785 in Littleton, Middlesex County, MA; married James Dutton 28 June 1750 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 05 May 1721 in Billerica, Middlesex, MA; died 1807 in Littleton, Middlesex, MA.
..144.... iii. Zachariah Hildreth, born 28 December 1728 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA; died 18 April 1784 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Elizabeth Prescott 12 April 1753 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... iv. Anna Hildreth, born About 1730 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... v. Dorothy Hildreth, born 18 January 1732/33 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 12 October 1735 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... vi. Dorothy Hildreth, born 26 August 1736 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 14 June 1782 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Pelatiah Fletcher 13 January 1757 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 03 May 1727 in Middlesex, MA; died 23 February 1807 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... vii. Amos Hildreth, born 01 November 1738 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 28 September 1807 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Priscilla Hildreth 21 May 1765 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; born 10 September 1742 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; died 12 May 1810 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... viii. Lucy Hildreth, born 28 March 1742 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 09 October 1763 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Aaron Parker 09 July 1763 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ix. Samuel Hildreth, born 20 January 1744/45 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; died 17 July 1748 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA.

576. Ephraim Hildreth, born 1654 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA; died 05 April 1731 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA. He married Anna Moore 08 October 1686 in Stow, Middlesex, MA.
577. Anna Moore, born 08 October 1666 in Lancaster, Worcester County, MA; died 08 April 1760 in Littleton, Middlesex County, MA. Children of Ephraim Hildreth and Anna Moore are:
.......... i. Ephraim Hildreth, born 28 October 1687 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ii. Joseph Hildreth, born 22 February 1688/89 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 17 November 1764 in Westford, Middlesex, MA; married Deliverance Barrett; born 24 February 1689/90 in Concord, Middlesex, MA; died 03 March 1776 in Westford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... iii. Richard Hildreth, born 17 April 1691 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... iv. James Hildreth, born 19 April 1692 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 11 December 1696 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... v. Ebenezer Hildreth, born 22 May 1696 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died Aft. 1762 in MA; married Sarah Swallow 13 December 1719 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; born 23 July 1698 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died Aft. 1762 in MA.
.. 288 ..vi. James Hildreth, born 23 December 1698 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA; died 25 February 1761 in Westford, Middlesex County, MA; married Dorothy Prescott 20 December 1721 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... vii. Jonathan Hildreth, born About 1701 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 17 March 1752 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married (1) Hannah Spaulding 05 December 1725 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; born 07 October 1712 in prob. Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 16 May 1737 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married (2) Hannah Spaulding 13 June 1738 in Concord, Middlesex, MA; died 04 November 1758 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... viii. Anna Hildreth, born 03 September 1705 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 24 February 1784 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married John Butterfield 10 December 1721 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; born 12 January 1697/98 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 08 January 1766 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ix. Thomas Hildreth, born 25 September 1707 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 07 October 1707 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... x. Jacob Hildreth, born 18 July 1709 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married Abigail Harwood 18 October 1730 in Dunstable, Middlesex, MA; born 09 April 1710 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... xi. David Hildreth, born 16 August 1711 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.

1152. Richard Hildreth, born About 1605 in ENGLAND; died 23 February 1692/93 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA. He married Elizabeth About 1645 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA.
1153. Elizabeth, born About 1625 in ENGLAND; died 03 August 1693 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA. Children of Richard Hildreth and Elizabeth are:
.......... i. Elizabeth Hildreth, born 21 September 1646 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA; died Aft. 06 April 1691 in MA; married John Stevens 15 December 1664 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 06 April 1691 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ii. Sarah Hildreth, born 08 August 1648 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA; died Aft. 07 October 1679 in MA; married David Stone 31 December 1674 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 21 August 1679 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA.
.......... iii. Mary Hildreth, born About 1650 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA; died 17 December 1730 in Canterbury, CT; married Jacob Warren 21 June 1667 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; born in of Weymouth, MA; died Bef. 1723 in Canterbury, CT.
..576... iv. Ephraim Hildreth, born 1654 in Cambridge, Middlesex, MA; died 05 April 1731 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married (1) Dorothy Barnes 11 June 1685 in Stow, Middlesex, MA; married (2) Anna Moore 08 October 1686 in Stow, Middlesex, MA.
.......... v. Abigail Hildreth, born About 1656 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married Moses Parker 19 June 1684 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 12 October 1732 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... vi. Persis Hildreth, born 08 February 1658/59 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 22 February 1697/98 in Canterbury, CT; married Samuel Cleaveland 23 May 1682 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; born 09 June 1657 in Woburn, Middlesex County, MA; died 12 March 1735/36 in Canterbury, CT.
.......... vii. Joseph Hildreth, born 16 April 1658 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 28 January 1705/06 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married Abigail Wilson 25 February 1683/84 in Woburn, Middlesex, MA; born 08 August 1666 in Woburn, Middlesex County, MA; died 27 November 1747 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA.
.......... viii. Thomas Hildreth, born 01 February 1660/61 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 28 May 1662 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA.
.......... ix. Isaac Hildreth, born 20 July 1663 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; died 15 April 1730 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, MA; married Elizabeth Wilson 12 November 1685 in Woburn, Middlesex, MA; born 06 August 1668 in Woburn, Middlesex County, MA; died 04 January 1742/43 in Chelmsford, Middlesex County, MA.

I wonder how many people will comment on this post saying that they are a distant cousin of mine? I would love to hear from patrilineal descendants of Aaron, James, Milo or Moses Hildreth, son of Zachariah and Hannah (Sawtell) Hildreth. They would be Y-DNA testing candidates for my 7-generations of Hildreths.

I noticed that I have all of my "shorthand sources" (I think - didn't see any when I scanned thel ist above) out of this particular line - I've been working on putting sources into the source field in Family Tree Maker 16 and out of the vital record location fields.

This may be the longest one of these that I do in this format. These Hildreth's married fertile women and had many children, at least up to Edward Hildreth, Hattie's father.

Using the DAR GRS - Ancestors and Descendants

2009-11-20T14:52:00.000-08:00

My post on DAR Genealogical Research System provides information about the Revolutionary War soldier in the Ancestors section and about the line on the DAR application in the Descendants sections.

I thought I would walk you through the process to get to both sections:

From the Genealogical Research System page on the DAR website, the user can click on the image or the link that says "Click Image to Open GRS." The tabs on the left-hand sidebar shown below don't actually go to the GRS, only the paragraphs on this particular web page.

After clicking on the small image above, this search screen appears in a new window:

On the Search screen, the user must input either the Ancestor's Last Name, the Ancestor's first name, or the Ancestor's Number. I put "Seaver" in the Last Name field and hit "Search" and received 19 matches:

The screen above lists the soldiers and the brief summary of their service. There are two icons to the right of their name - one for the Revolutionary War Ancestor's full record (a soldier icon), and the other for the Descendants Records (a family tree icon).

I scrolled down and found a Moses Seaver that looked interesting, so I clicked on his Ancestor's record:

The Ancestor's Record lists the soldier's name, the service summary, a section for his Residence, a listing of his Spouse(s), and a listing of the Associated Applications and Supplementals.

I clicked on the Descendants Record icon to the right of his name, and this page appeared:

The Descendants Record lists the approved line of descent from the Revolutionary War soldier. In many cases, including this one, several recent generations are restricted from view. However, the generations that are shown provide, for the lineage person from each generation, the father, mother, their birth dates and birth places, their death dates and death places, and their marriage date and marriage place.

Note that the Search box above finds only the Revolutionary War soldier, not the descendants of the soldier. If you click on the "Descendants" tab, the search field there will find the descendants.

The screen shot for the Ancestor search above show a "Simple Search;" there is an "Advanced Search" tab that permits you to filter by Rank, Residence and Pension Number. The "Advanced Search" box for Descendants is different - the user can add spouse, death date and location, etc.

Each search result has a warning (in pink in the last screen shot) that says:

"This listing does not constitute proof of lineage. It is an index to find the most appropriate DAR application to order and cannot be used in place of a record copy. For more information about application record copies, click here."

A user can click on the link to the Record Copy page and order the application (but not the supporting documentation for the application), for a $10 fee, for the specific line desired.

In many cases, this information is not available in any other online record, or in offline vital records databases. Much of this information was probably obtained from privately held family records.

I was able to add data to several people in the Seaver lines from this database today. I still have more to do, plus the other surnames and Revolutionary War soldiers that I have.

One benefit down the line here may be to connect to distant cousins who have submitted and had approved their DAR applications, or their descendants.

Using the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS)

2009-11-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Daughters of the American Revolution organization in Washington DC has added significant content to their website at www.dar.org. The announcement can be read here.

The Genealogical Resource System (GRS) description is online at http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm. It is described as:

"The DAR Genealogical Research System is a combination of several databases created in recent years to organize the large quantity of information that the DAR has collected since its inception in 1890."

There are sections for:

* Ancestors -- The Ancestor Database was created by and is maintained by the staff of the DAR Registrar General’s offices. With few exceptions, the data are taken from verified membership applications and supplemental applications.

* Members -- The Member Tab search option is limited in order to protect the privacy of the Society’s members. One may search for basic information on a member’s ancestor record using national number, name and other fields using this tab.

* Descendants -- The Descendants database is an index of the names found on the lineage page of DAR applications and supplementals. The database is currently under construction.

* GRC -- The DAR’s Genealogical Records Committee Reports began in 1913 and continue to arrive every year. The information in these 20,000 typescript volumes is predominately Bible record and cemetery record transcriptions along with many other types of transcribed or abstracted genealogical sources.

* Resources -- Researchers will find a variety of links to other resources of use in genealogical research in this section of the system. In the near future, various bibliographies and other information relating to the American Revolution will appear in this section.

* Library Catalog -- This section provides a direct link to the DAR Library’s online catalog. The catalog provides subject, title, author, and other access to the books, microforms, manuscripts, maps, genealogical charts, and other sources in the collections of the DAR Library.

This is a major improvement in access and content for researchers who are not members of the DAR.

I've had some success finding information on people in my Seaver surname study by browsing through the Descendants tab. I'll show some of those results in the next post. I need to go look at some of my other surnames of interest also - Carringer, Dill, and Vaux, plus all of my Revolutionary War veterans to see if there is submitted data that I've missed.

It's important to note that any data in this database needs to be verified by original sources, even though it's been put through the DAR review and approval process. In the little work I've done on some Seaver people, there are differences in birth years and birth places for some individuals between what's in the DAR applications and the information in other original and derivative source records. These applications are definitely derivative source documents, but they can be used effectively to find original sources.

Follow Friday - FamHist and LineageKeeper and more

2009-11-20T07:32:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, and I'm highlighting favorite blogs and bloggers of mine in a post. I encourage you to visit the blogs I follow and add them to your RSS reader or subscribe to them by email.

Today, I want to highlight Lee R. Drew's blogs --

* FamHist -- this is a Family History blog that touches on stories, genealogy research, technology, recipes, you name it, Lee writes about it here.

* LineageKeeper -- "Lineage collections, family tales, and recording the past."

* Fact and Whimsey -- "Interesting stories, events, thoughts and comments through time and space."

* Tombstone Territory -- Lee's collection of graveyard and tombstone pictures, many from American Fork Cemetery in Utah.

When you put all of the posts together on these four blogs, you get about one a day. The material is always interesting and often fun and challenging. I highly recommend that you follow Lee's blogs. I do!

Lee and I have figured out that we are distant cousins with ties in colonial Massachusetts. We share the Cooke and Soule ancestry from the Mayflower in 1620 also.

New "Digging for Answers" column in Online Graveyard Rabbit Journal

2009-11-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

The latest "Digging for Answers" column by yours truly is published in the Online Graveyard Rabbit Journal, a regular digital magazine published by the Graveyard Rabbits Association.

The question asked was "My ancestors aren't in online databases, how can I find where they are buried?" The answers are, of course, in the column!

Have you read the other columns in this digital magazine? You should - see:

* The Educated Rabbit – November 12, 2009
* Photo Monument – November 5, 2009
* Tech T.I.P. – October 22, 2009
* The History Hare - October 15
* Graveyard Guru – October 8, 2009

A Labor of Love - the Carnival of Genealogy

2009-11-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

Jasia has posted the 84th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy on her Creative Gene blog. I encourage all of my readers to read the posts written by many genea-bloggers on the topic of "What the Carnival of Genealogy has Meant to Me."

The overwhelming sentiments were that the Carnival provided a reason to blog about a certain topic, that it helped stimulate and improve writing skills, and that it created a sense of community among genealogy bloggers.

Jasia is the most gracious and friendly hostess for these Carnivals - read her comments about each poster in the Carnival post. We are all so lucky to have people like Jasia in our big genea-blogging crew! And after three plus years of reading Creative Gene, I still don't know her "real" name. She's a lady of mystery! But when you mention "Jasia" to any genealogy blogger (and we all know how to pronounce it, right?), and many readers, they all know who she is and what she does.

Please go read the Carnival of Genealogy post, and if the topic moves you, then participate in the next and succeeding Carnivals. Because Carnivals are usually about family stories and memories, you never know when a Carnival post will be seen by a reader who might have been a friend, neighbor, schoolmate or teacher of yours or your parents.

RootsMagic Essentials Software Available

2009-11-19T07:14:00.000-08:00

RootsMagic announced today the release of RootsMagic Essentials - a free desktop genealogy software based on their award-winning RootsMagic 4 system. RootsMagic Essentials contains many core features found in its namesake that allow the public to easily start tracing their family trees. You can read the press release information here.

I dug down a little deeper into the new RootsMagic website and found the comparison charts of what's included in RootsMagic 4 and RootsMagic Essentials. The comparison tables are at http://www.rootsmagic.com/RootsMagic/Features.aspx.

For a beginning genealogist, the important things to have in genealogy software are, in my opinion:

* Able to add any number of persons to the database, including facts, sources and notes.

* Able to edit the information for a person.

* Able to navigate between family view, pedigree view and descendants view.

* Have an index of persons and places.

* Able to attach photograph and document images to the persons in the database.

* Able to create the basic genealogy reports - family group sheets, pedigree charts, ahnentafel lists, descendants tables, etc.

* Able to create multi-generational ahnentafel reports and descendants reports

* Able to read, and to save, the database as a GEDCOM file.

As far as I can tell, RootsMagic Essentials has each of these capabilities, with the exception of the Descendants View in navigation.

It is for these reasons that I have been recommending that my Beginning Computer Genealogy class members download Legacy Family Tree Standard Version software for Free as a "starter" software. If the continue with genealogy research, they can then select a full-featured software program of their choice.

Now, RootsMagic Essentials is, at first glance, an equivalent free software program. I will be recommending both programs to my class members.

Look at the list of capabilities for RootsMagic Essentials, and the major features that are not included, compared to RootsMagic 4, include:

* RootsMagic-To-Go feature

* Customized editing and navigation features

* Save reports to RTF or PDF formats

* Many report types and features

* Publishing capability

* Wall chart creation capability

* Notes formatting and spell checking

* Web Search and website page creation

* Research features such as GenSmarts, To-do lists, correspondence lists

* Place name standardization, mapping people and places

* Plenty more!

All in all, RootsMagic Essentials is a great starter program for beginning and intermediate genealogy researchers.

You can download RootsMagic Essentials for FREE and easily install it on your computer system here.

San Diego Genealogists - come to "Genealogy - Be An Ancestry Detective"

2009-11-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention earlier this week that I will be presenting Genealogy - Be An Ancestry Detective at the Pacific Beach Taylor Library in San Diego (4275 Cass Street in Pacific Beach) from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, 19 November 2009.

This presentation is oriented toward inquiring or curious persons and beginning genealogists, but the lessons can be used by intermediate researchers also. This talk was advertised in the OASIS San Diego catalog.

The syllabus is great, too, for any researcher!

If you read this post and are attending, please come greet me after the presentation and tel me that you read it on my blog.

CGSSD Meeting on Saturday, 21 November

2009-11-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

From email from Linda Hervig...

The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) meets on Saturday, November 21, 2009 from 9:00 am to noon. CGSSD hosts User Groups, the Annual Meeting, the election of officers for 2010 and sharing by members. A light lunch will follow the meeting. The meeting details follow:

9:00 - User groups for Legacy, Macintosh and RootsMagic. No SIGS meet this month.

10:00 – Break

10:15 - Announcements followed by the Annual Meeting, Election of Officers, Sharing

11:30 - Light Lunch

We meet at the Robinson Auditorium complex on the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus in La Jolla. From North Torrey Pine Road turn at Pangea Drive into UCSD. Free parking is available in the parking garage on the left; use any A, B, or S space. Signs will mark directions to our meeting room. Please refer to our website www.cgssd.org; or the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies website http://irps.ucsd.edu/about/how-to-find-us.htm for driving directions and a map.

For me, the biggest decision is which software user group to attend, since I have been using Legacy, RootsMagic and Family Tree Maker. I'll probably go to RootsMagic this time.

I need to think of a sharing story that will be helpful to the attendees, but relatively short. Maybe the San Francisco Genealogy site? Or Footnote.com City Directories, which I think are the best databases for 2009 to come online.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Family Photographs: Post 80 -- The Birdbath

2009-11-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

I'm posting old 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.

This photograph is from the box of loose photographs given me by my mother between 1988 and 2002:

Small children and water have a strong bond - whether the water is clean or not. This picture was taken in 1945 or 1946, probably by my grandfather, Lyle Carringer, since he was the one that usually had such duties.

The little boy is me... note the blond hair, the neat haircut, and the broad smile on my face that I could finally reach into the birdbath because I was on my tricycle.

The birdbath was in the fenced in front yard of the two-story house at 2115 30th Street. As you entered the gate from the street, the birdbath was at the end of the concrete going east, and you had to turn left just before the birdbath to get to the front porch, which faced south.

See the bullfrog statuette sitting on the edge of the birdbath. I remember that! I wonder if the birdbath is still there? I don't recall ever seeing many birds in the birdbath - perhaps because the water was pretty gross almost always. I don't know how often they changed the water, if they ever did, or just relied on the 10 or so inches that it rains in San Diego each year (usually with none between April 1 and October 31).

Fall 2009 Issue of the FGS FORUM Magazine

2009-11-17T13:17:00.000-08:00

Do you subscribe to the FORUM Magazine published quarterly by the Federation of Genealogical Societies? Or do you read it as part of your society's membership benefits? Are you even aware of its existence?

FORUM Magazine is now offered as a digital magazine downloaded from the FGS website. While it is ostensibly for the leaders of member societies and FGS Delegates from those societies, it is available on a subscription basis.

The Table of Contents for the Fall 2009 issue includes:

* page 3 -- Friends of FGS: Your Opportunity to Make a Difference, by Curt Witcher
* page 6 -- Next FGS Conference: Knoxville, Tennessee, by Paula Stuart-Warren * page 11 -- Societies Going Virtual – An Update, by David E. Rencher
* page 17 -- The Heyrock Family, by Sandra H. Luebking
* page 21 -- Strays, by Sandra H. Luebking
* page 22 -- David S. Ferriero Named U.S. Archivist
* page 23 -- Malcolm H. Stern NARA Gift Fund
* page 25 -- News in Brief
* page 25 -- State Reporting
* page 27 -- Records Preservation & Access column, by Linda Caldwell McCleary
* page 29 -- Ethnic & International column , by Linda Caldwell McCleary
* page 31 -- Family Associations column, by Christine Rose
* page 33 -- Notes from the Field column, Our Military Heritage: A Growing Source of Military Data for Genealogists, by Curt B. Witcher
* page 36 -- Genealogy 2.0 column, Genealogy Blogs: Information, Research and Soapbox, by Randy Seaver
* page 39 -- Book Review, edited by Paul Milner
* page 49 -- Calendar of Events, Ann L. Wells

FORUM Magazine is edited by Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, and the Production Manager is Gary Mokotoff.

In this issue, I especially appreciated the David Rencher piece on genealogical societies going virtual, and really enjoyed reading Sandra's article about finding the Heyrock Family in online resources.

Attentive Genea-Musings and Geneaholic readers know that I was appointed the Genealogy 2.0 columnist for FORUM Magazine in December 2008, and now have three columns under my belt, and a fourth one in the editing process. I am honored to have this position, and find it challenging to write a limited number of words on a deadline for all of the traditional genealogy world to read.

Disclosure: I am a columnist for FORUM Magazine, and receive my copy of the magazine gratis.

Checking on Ancestry.com's Name Authority

2009-11-17T07:49:00.000-08:00

In my post yesterday about the Name Authority Dictionary on Ancestry.com, I wondered if it worked for "Exact Matches" and/or on "Old Search." The answers seem to be NO and NO. I'm not surprised.

I did find some puzzles though, to wit:

1) Given name = Catherine and the 841 other variations (I didn't test all 842 variations, only seven fairly common ones) in the 1900 US Census:

* Catherine:

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 284,380
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 281,918
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 2,745,706

* Kathryn:

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 3,385
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 3,385
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 1,115,944

* Cathleen:

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 1,148
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 1,148
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 1,910,214

* Kathleen:

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 5,467
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 5,467
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 270,780

* Kate:

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 234,798
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 234,798
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 496,364

* Cathy

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 439
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 439
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 2,745,706

* Cat* (wild card)

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 442,886
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 442,886
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 442,886

2) Elizabeth and the other 899 variations in the 1900 US Census:

* Elizabeth:

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 670,966
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 666,296
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 4,352,581

* Eliza

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 231,961
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 231,961
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 4,352,581

* Lizzie

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 397,770
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 397,770
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 2,460,809

* Elisabeth

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 45,858
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 45,858
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 3,289,276

* Betty

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 11,048
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 11,048
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 2,679,790

* Eliz* (wild card)

*** Old Search, Exact Matches = 938,331
*** New Search, Exact Matches = 938,331
*** New Search, Ranked Matches = 938,331

Okay, what does all of that mean? There are several interesting and puzzling facts there, including:

1) Old Search and New Search "Exact Matches" results match on 12 out of 14 trials - I really don't understand why they don't match on 14 out of 14. Why are there more matches for "Catherine" in "Old Search" than in "New Search" for "Exact Matches?" And why more for "Elizabeth" also? But not for the others? Isn't there one database, and one search algorithm?

2) Not all variants of Catherine/Kathryn/etc. have the same number of "Ranked Matches," and not all variants of Elizabeth/Elisabeth/etc. have the same number. I fully expected that they would if they are using a single Name Authority Dictionary for those names and variants. Only "Catherine" and "Cathy," and "Elizabeth" and "Eliza," return the same number of "Ranked Matches" of all of the names tried. Does that mean that they are not really using a large number of Names in the Name Authority Database? I didn't have time to test every name in the Name Authority, of course, and I don't know all of them anyway, although I can probably guess quite a few.

3) Wild cards only provide "Exact Matches" results even if "Exact Matches" is not checked, at least for First Names. I didn't know that! What about Last Names?

* Smi* in the 1900 US Census:

*** "New Search" and "Exact Match" = 556,340
*** "New Search" and "Ranked Match" = 935,405

So it appears that the Wild Card for Last Names does return more matches with "Ranked Matches" than "Exact Matches." Interesting, isn't it? That makes sense, I think, and I'm glad to know that it does.

I'm not sure what I've proved here - but it sure seems that Ancestry.com is not using the full Name Authority Dictionary for First Names. If they were, the "Ranked Matches" for all of the Catherine/Kathryn/etc. and Elizabeth/Elisabeth/etc. variants would have the same number, wouldn't they?

The implication, then, for researchers is that there are some name variants that return the same number of "Ranked Matches" but not all of the variants do - and some return very few "Ranked Matches" compared to others that should be in the same Name dictionary. Researchers still have to search with First Name variants to ensure that they can find their search targets. It's probably easier to use a few First Names with Wild Cards than to search some or all of the 800 to 900 variants for these names.

Ancestry.com's Name Authority Dictionary

2009-11-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

During the SDGS seminar on Saturday, Suzanne Russo Adams mentioned the Name Authority Dictionary that Ancestry.com has recently developed in order to help searchers find their targets with given names and surnames that can be spelled several ways.

Her examples were:

* Elizabeth - there are 900 variations
* Catherine - there are 862 variations
* William - there are 384 variations
* Benjamin - there are 355 variations

* Myers - 238 variations
* McCoy - 219 variations
* Bailey - 127 variations

The "New Search" engine includes the name variations when it performs a "Ranked Matches" search. I don't know if "Old Search" uses it or not. I doubt that "Exact Matches" uses it in either Old or New Search.

I went looking on the Ancestry.com website for more information about it, and didn't find a lot. In the popup box for Getting the most out of new search, there is this paragraph:

"Ancestry automatically looks for common nicknames, abbreviations and other alternate spellings for you. For example, a search for "Bill Smith" might return "William Smith", "Wm Smith", "Bill Smyth" or "B. Smith". An exact name match is the closest match, and therefore the most relevant, followed by common misspellings, nicknames, and other variations. It’s important to remember that often times names are misspelled or mis-transcribed on the original records or in our indexes, so looking for alternate spellings can sometimes help you find a good match, even though the name may look wrong."

It's not clear if this applies to "Old Search," or only to "New Search" with "Ranked Matches." I guess I can try it out later and post about it before Suzanne or Anne or Tony or Laura reads this and provides me the real scoop on the capability! Where's my to-do list?

Of all the search "improvements" that Ancestry.com has rolled out over recent years, this is one that seems to be very useful. The user has the ability to click on "Exact Matches" for any search field in the "Advanced Search" mode. I think that a user should keep the "First Name" field unchecked so that the Name Authority Dictionary can work its wonders. It's probably helpful for the "Last Name" field also, although the Soundex capability is used there also in the "Ranked Matches" results.

SDGS Library Grand Opening, and more

2009-11-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

The San Diego Genealogical Society Library grand opening (at its new location at 7343 Ronson Road, Suite O in San Diego), was Sunday, 15 November at the library. The SDGS blog has an article about the gala event.

The SDGS blog also has an article titled A good time was had by all about the Ancestry.com seminar on Saturday, 14 November, that I described in some detail in SDGS Ancestry.com Family History Seminar Highlights here on Genea-Musings. Hopefully, other attendees will provide more commentary about this event.

Chris has also posted three photo albums on the SDGS Picasa Web Album site:

* SDGS Library

* Library Opening

* Ancestry.com Seminar

Kreativ Blogger Award - passing it on

2009-11-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

I was given the "Kreativ Blogger" award by Terri O'Connell of the Finding Our Ancestors blog. Thank you, Terri!

There are two requirements to pass on this award - list seven things about myself and pass it on to seven more bloggers. I actually received this award back in February 2009, but didn't follow the rules.

Seven things about me (and my family history):

1) I am a fifth generation San Diegan (this is a pretty big deal in San Diego, not so much in the northeast)

2) I am a 12th generation Seaver with New England roots (my 10th-great-grandfather Robert Seaver (1608-1683) settled in Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634)

3) I have at least six Mayflower 1620 passengers in my ancestry - William White, Susanna (--?--) White, George Soule, Francis Cooke, John Cooke, and Richard Warren. And perhaps at least two more if I can prove the tie of Elizabeth Dill (1794-1869) to Thomas Dill and Hannah Horton -- Stephen Hopkins and William Brewster.

4) I am descended from Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, a woman hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692.

5) I am descended from American poetess Ann (Dudley) Bradstreet.

6) I am a cousin of a number of Presidents, including Barack Obama.

7) I publish a Seaver-Richmond Family Journal each year as a Christmas gift for my extended family. This year will be Issue 22.

OK, passing it on:

1) The Ancestry Insider

2) Ruth Himan on the Genealogy is Ruthless Without Me blog (for most creative blog title!)

3) Becky Jamison on the Grace and Glory blog.

4) Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog.

5) James Tanner on the Genealogy's Star blog.

6) Jean Wilcox Hibben on the Circlemending blog.

7) Gena Philibert Ortega on the Gena's Genealogy blog.

So, pass it on, creative genea-bloggers!

What has the Carnival of Genealogy Meant to Me?

2009-11-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

The short answers -- Blog fodder! Readers. Writing experience. Friends. Colleagues. Recognition. Warm fuzzies -- they really liked my submissions (well, most of them!).

Probably even more important is "what has the Carnival of Genealogy meant to the genealogy world?" The short answer is that the Carnival, and the blogs of the contributors, are the proving ground for a new generation of genealogy writers. With only a few exceptions, all of the writers that contribute to the Carnival of Genealogy are unknown to the established genealogy world - the world of regional and national societies, conferences and seminars, editors and publishers, authors and columnists, etc. After several years of exposure, some genea-bloggers are now columnists or writers for national print or online magazines, and some are regular presenters at regional and national conferences. I fully expect that many more genealogy bloggers, and Carnival of Genealogy participants, will soon be writing and speaking in the establishment genealogy world.

The 84th Carnival of Genealogy subject is the title above, and Jasia has some questions for us to answer:

Q: What was your favorite topic to write about?
A: Probably the happy dances and genea-gasms.

Q: Have you guest hosted the COG?
A: Nope...

Q: Is there an article you've read in the COG that stands out in your mind?
A: I'm too old to remember any one article even I've written, besides Genea-gasms, of course!

Q: What have you learned from reading or writing for the COG?
A: From writing - that I have a lot of pretty boring stories to tell. From reading -- that there are many excellent family history bloggers out there!

Q: Have you ever recommended the COG to anyone?
A: To any genea-blogger that asks "how do I get readers?"

Q: If you haven't participated in the COG thus far, why not?
A: Um, just a bit -- see the list below these questions.

Q: How has the COG helped your family history research?
A: Because of the different articles about my childhood and genealogy activities, I've been contacted by distant cousins, my favorite math teacher, and a lady that grew up in my old neighborhood.

Q: Has it impacted your life in any way?
A: Oh yes... I've been exposed to the family history writings of hundreds of genea-bloggers, and we have become a community of supporters and encouragers.

Here is the list of my blog posts submitted to the Carnival of Genealogy over the past three years (with carnival number, carnival subject, and my carnival post):

5 -- Historical Fiction -- Book Review - "Mayflower"
6 -- Genealogical Societies -- If Genealogy interest is so high, why are the numbers down?
9 -- Genealogy Vacations -- My Carnival of Genealogy Vacations

11 -- Family Get-Togethers -- Have you made your video memoir?
14 -- Christmas Gift-giving -- Dear Genea-Santa
15 -- New Years Resolutions -- Genealogy Resolutions for 2007
17 -- Acknowledging those that have inspired us -- How in the world did this happen to me?
18 - 5 best tips for specific research areas -- 5 Best Genealogy Resource Sites in San Diego
19 -- Shelter from the storm... - The house I grew up in
20 -- A tribute to women -- Today is my Gram's 107th birthday.

21 -- Funny, foolish family -- A cure for insomnia and If Mary April married Claude Fool, she would be ... Mary April Fool!
22 -- Carousel edition -- Their Odyssey - to San Diego
23 -- School days -- My favorite teacher
24 -- Mothers! -- My Tribute to Mom - Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver
25 -- Who Inherited the Creative Gene in your family? -- The Creative Gene? Nope, not me!
26 -- Dads! -- Fathers I Have Known
27 -- What America / Independence Day mean to my family -- America means "Freedom for all"
28 -- Surnames -- Seaver Surname - Origin, Meaning, Crest, Famous People, Localities
29 -- Moral or legal dilemmas in genealogy -- A Challenging Moral Dilemma
30 -- Genealogical conferences / seminars -- Genealogy Conferences I Wish I'd Attended

31 -- Family myths and legends -- Family Myths and Stories and More Family Stories (or Myths?)
32 -- Wartime stories -- Patriot Soldier, Isaac Buck
33 -- Weddings! -- The Wedding I Really Appreciate
34 -- Halloween and the Supernatural -- The Witch in my Ancestry
35 -- Do you have a family mystery that might be solved by DNA? -- Ancestral clues from DNA studies
36 -- Carousel edition -- The Future of Genealogy - My Turn
37 -- Christmas wish lists! -- Dear Genea-Santa
39 -- New Years Resolutions -- Genealogy Goals for 2008
40 -- Living relative connections -- Dear Cousin - I think we're related!,

41 -- If you could have dinner with ... -- Dinner with my Elusive Ancestors' Children
42 -- iGene awards for 2007 -- It's Academy Awards time - the AGFH of course!
43 -- Technology review -- Technology - Hardware, software, web site
44 -- A tribute to women -- Abigail A. (Vaux) Smith
45 -- Cars as stars of our family history -- The Cars of my Life
46 -- Inherited traits -- I Am a Unique Person
47 -- A place called home -- Leominster, Massachusetts
48 -- Mom, how did you get so smart? -- How did mom get so smart?
49 -- Swimsuit edition -- At the Beach!
50 -- Family pets -- Rootie Toot Toot, Lickety Split, Softie and Squash/Mira

51 -- Independent spirits -- Martin Carringer (1758-1835), an Independent Spirit
52 -- Age -- Age - mind over matter?
53 -- Carousel edition -- Chopped Liver is related to Wild Bill Hickok too
54 -- The family language -- San Diego Slanguage
55 -- Show and tell -- Show and Tell - the treasures
56 -- 10 Essential books in my genealogical library -- 10 Essential Books in my Genealogy Library
57 -- I Read it in the news -- I Read about Benjamin Franklin Seaver in the newspapers
58 -- Spooky, eerie and haunted stories -- The Haunted Whaley House in San Diego
59 -- Politics and our ancestors -- Political Persuasions
60 -- Alzheimer's disease -- Touched by Alzheimer's Disease

61 -- Traditions -- Family Holiday Traditions
62 -- Three wishes -- Dear Genea-Santa
63 -- New Years Resolutions -- Genealogy Goals for 2009
64 -- Winter photo essay -- A Winter Non-photo essay
65 -- The Genealogy Happy Dance -- Genealogy Happy Dances and/or Genea-gasms!
66 -- iGene Awards for 2008 -- The Genea-Musings iGene Awards for 2008
67 -- Nobody's Fool -- Della (Smith) Carringer had it all together!
68 -- A tribute to women -- Emily Kemp (Auble) Carringer (1899-1977)
69 -- What if? -- There are things that happen in a moment
70 -- Uncles -- Uncle Ed

71 -- The old home -- A Victorian House in San Diego – turned into a box
73 -- The Good Earth -- The Good Earth? Sometimes not good enough.
74 -- Swimsuit Edition -- Family Photographs -- Post 12: Swimming Suits
75 -- Justice and Independence -- My Revolutionary Roots
76 -- How I spent my summer vacations -- Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer ... Our 1950's Vacations
77 -- Disasters -- "18 April 1906 - San Francisco - They Were There! "
78 -- Pony pictures -- Family Photographs - Post 8: Randy and his Horsey
79 -- Reunions -- No Family Reunions

81 -- Your blog's obituary -- Genea-Musings dies - blogger goes...
82 -- Breaking into society -- Genealogical Societies - Socialization Networks

A total of 70 entries, I think! I've missed a few, but really not many. some were due while I was on vacation, and I forgot to submit a post for others, and I couldn't offer anything for a few of the subjects.

Thank you, Jasia and the other COG hosters, for your efforts to publish the Carnival of Genealogy twice a month. It is certainly a labor of love! But all of the readers love them!

Best of the Genea-Blogs - November 8-14, 2009

2009-11-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

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 the genealogy carnivals, or other 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:

* "Please Pardon Momma from Jail" by Lee R. Drew on the FamHist blog. Lee seems to have the most interesting ancestors, and find the most interesting resources about them!

* Q&A: Everyone Has Two Family Trees – A Genealogical Tree and a Genetic Tree by Blaine Bettinger on The Genetic Genealogist blog. Blaine explains the results of tests that show two persons matching 36 out of 37 Y-DNA markers, but shows no common DNA in a 23andMe test.

* The Joy of a Military Pension File by Amy Coffin on the We Tree blog. Amy walks us through finding and ordering a Civil War Pension File from NARA. Hopefully, she will share the contents with us also.

* Cincinnati Library Digitizes Sanborn Maps by Diane Haddad on the Genealogy Insider blog. Diane describes Sanborn Maps, which are available for many major cities, and how to use them.

* Footnote announces US Federal Census Collection by Beau Sharbrough on The Unofficial Footnote Blog. Beau analyzes Footnote's "interactivity" statistics, and wonders how much of the census records they will add in 2010 and later. I love analysis!

* A Theoretical Basis for Maturity Models (Part 1) by the writer of The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI continues his series about Genealogical Maturity Models. I look forward to the next Parts of the series.

* The Dad Memorial Scanfest Marathon by Susan A. Kitchens on the Family Oral History Using Digital Tools blog. Susan is preparing for her father's memorial service in her own unique way - and preparing for what comes afterwards. It's a wonderful example of how technology can be used to honor a loved one.

* True Confessions of One Who Is Polish Language Challenged by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. There is a website that pronounces Polish words and phrases - who knew? Wouldn't it be great if there was one for all languages? You can find out how Jasia's name is pronounced. Then try Uncle Wawrzyniec.

* SteveMorse.org and a mystery solved by Tami Glatz on the relatively curious about genealogy blog. I love research stories that end well, and Tami's efforts to help another researcher studying immigrants from a small town in Hungary are educational.

* 13 Vicissitudes in the Life of a Professional Genealogist by Arlene Eakle on Arlene Eakle's Genealogy Blog. Wow, Arlene has been hit with some hardships in recent weeks, and has overcome them, all while continuing to perform research at a high level.

* Getting Started with Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress by Missy Corley on the Bayside Blog. Missy's step-by-step guide to using the Library of congress genealogy materials is helpful - a keeper!

* Using the City Directories at Footnote by Julie Cahill Tarr on the GenBlog blog. Julie describes her procedures to find City Directory entries on Footnote.com. An excellent guide to a complicated procedure.

* Source Citation Tips and Taps by Robyn on the Reclaiming Kin blog. Robyn runs down online and book resources for citing your sources, and some of her "tricks" learned through experience.

* Television - via “Clicker” for the rest of us… by Leland Meitzler on the GenealogyBlog. Leland doesn't watch much television, but he found a great online site that has historical TV shows online, and searchable.

* Technological Shores of the Internet by Caroline M. Pointer on the Family Stories blog. Caroline puts her research plan into pixels...and shares it with us. It's an excellent blueprint for her research, and an example for all of us to learn from.

* A Smokin' Anecdote from the 1600s by T.K. on the Before My Time blog. This is a fascinating look at T.K.'s ancestor's brush with the law and tobacco in the 1600s.

I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, 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 540 genealogy bloggers using Bloglines, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

SDGS Ancestry.com Family History Seminar Highlights

2009-11-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

I had an enjoyable day at the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) meeting today - it was an Ancestry.com Family History Seminar at The Handlery Hotel and Resort in Mission Valley (in San Diego), from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. About 300 were in attendance (I heard that 170 were SDGS members, the rest were guests), including several from Orange County and Riverside County. The meeting room was packed wall-to-wall, and two projectors and large screens were used to show the Powerpoint and online presentations.

During the day, there were four presentations, along with the SDGS elections and announcements, a nice box lunch, document and photo scanning sessions, and door prize drawings. The four presentations by Suzanne Russo Adams of Ancestry.com were:

1. "The Best Strategies for Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.com"

This was a combination of two parts of the handout - "Getting the Most from Ancestry.com" covered the goals and vision of the company, Ancestry.com, and briefly described the site tools and products. The mission of Ancestry.com was "To help everyone discover, preserve and share their family history." Site content was described as Data Content (records, document images, etc.), Rich Content (photos, postcards, yearbooks, maps) and Member Contributed Content (Family Trees, Photos, Stories, Self-Published Books). Brief mention was made of the Learning Center and Expert Connect features on Ancestry.com.

The second part of the handout was "Best Search Strategies for Ancestry.com," and in this part of the first presentation, Suzanne described the Home Page, the different Search Strategies that can be used, and provided recommendations for doing a "Top down approach" and key pieces of a "Global ranked search." The inherent problems associated with name spellings, dates and ages, place names and relationships were explored. The use of search tools like Name Authority lists, Ranked searches using Soundex methods, the Lifespan filter, Location selection lists, Wildcards, Keyword exact phrases, and Family Tree leaves/hints were discussed and demonstrated. Searching within a category (e.g., census records, military records) and searching within specific data collections (e.g., the 1920 census, the New York Passenger Lists) were discussed. Only "New Search" with "Ranked matches" were demonstrated - no "Exact matches" or "Old Search" were shown, but were briefly mentioned. A show of hands indicated that very few (less than 5%) of the attendees even knew there was an "Old Search."

Based on a show of hands, I estimated that about 70% of the attendees were Ancestry subscribers, about 30% have Ancestry Member Trees, about 30% considered themselves beginners, about 50% intermediate, and about 20% advanced researchers.

2. "Tapping into the Ancestry and Rootsweb Community"

The handout for this talk included details about the Learning Center, the Collaborate features (Family Trees, Public Profiles, Member Directory, Member Connections, and Message Boards), RootsWeb features (My Account, WorldConnect, Mailing Lists, Hosted Websites, Databases, RootsWeb Guide to Tracing Family Trees, RootsWeb Review, etc.), but Suzanne focused her presentation on Mailing Lists, Message Boards, Family Trees and Member Connections.

Suggestions for effective mailing list and message board submissions were made. Ancestry Member Trees were described and demonstrated in some detail, noting that any registered person can have a Member Tree (either Public or Private) on Ancestry.com. These trees can be input one person at a time or a GEDCOM file, created by a software program, can be uploaded to Ancestry. One of the questions was about how long the Member Tree would be on the site, and the answer was "forever," even if the submitter ends their subscription or dies, unless the user deletes the tree. A non-subscriber cannot attach records from Ancestry.com databases to their tree, but they can upload images to their own tree, and can search Public Member Trees. The ability of a user to upload a tree directly from Family Tree Maker 2010, or download a tree directly to Family Tree Maker 2010, or to upload a GEDCOM file from another software program, and to download a GEDCOM file from Ancestry.com for any software program, was described. Where should a user keep their "master" file? Suzanne keeps hers on her computer, not online on Ancestry.com.

The Member Connections aspect of Ancestry.com was a major focus of this presentation. There are three main places to find Member connect on ancestry.com - on the enhanced image page (the user can see which users have saved, commented on or added to a certain database record or image); in Family Trees (the user can determine which persons in their family trees are shared with other users, can contact each other and share research); and the Recent Member Connect Activities list on the Home Page (the user can receive a list of information added to or copied from or to their own Member Tree). The user can communicate anonymously (if they wish) with other users via an online message system (subscribers only).

3. "The Ancestry World Archives Project"

In the third session, Suzanne briefly described the "journey of a record" from discovery, acquisition, digitization, indexing, data preparation to posting online. She showed several slides of books and records that needed extensive preparation before they could be digitized, including the Gretna Green, Scotland records and the 1851 UK Census for Manchester. The use of document forensics to bring invisible writing to visibility was shown. For some records, 25 to 30% of the images are indeterminate or illegible.

The Ancestry.com World Archives Project was discussed in much detail - the goals are preservation and accessibility of historical records. This is a volunteer project for individuals and societies or groups that can index imaged records using an Ancestry provided keying tool. Indexing is done by two different volunteers, and an arbitrator settles disputes.

SDGS is participating in this Project, and members are indexing California Naturalization Originals, 1795-1872 (25% complete) for San Diego (1883-1936) and Los Angeles Counties (1887-1942), and Southern California Naturalization Indexes (81% complete).

The Archives Project results in free indexes for everybody on Ancestry.com, and volunteers with high keying rates can obtain subscription discounts. If the society or group provided the records for scanning and indexing, then the society receives the index and a digital copy of the database for their own use.

Suzanne noted that projects are selected by the local societies or groups. The keying tool works on a MacIntosh computer if the user has a Windows simulator like Parallels. The Index arbitrator can decide to use either index result, or create their own. Ancestry.com is combining some indexes with FamilySearch for census and other records.

4. "Publishing and Printing Using 'MyCanvas' "

This session covered using the "MyCanvas" program, part of the Ancestry.com site tools, to create and print custom family history books, posters, and calendars to showcase your family history research and make gifts to share with your family. This is a "Print on Demand" system - you make it, you can print it, or you can pat for a professionally produced book based on your selected content. The process relies on your Ancestry Member Tree for the names, dates and places, and the user can attach photographs and document images to create the MyCanvas product. The steps to creating the work is fairly simple - choose a size and format for the book, choose a start person from your tree, import data and records from your tree, add stories, documents, maps and more, choose layouts, backgrounds, frames and embellishments, etc. The page order can be modified as the user wishes. Pedigree charts, family group sheets and timelines can be created by the program. Notes and stories can be added to text boxes by typing into the text box or pasting from another document.

Creating the book or other article is free to anyone - they can create the family tree, upload their documents and photos, add or edit facts, sources and notes, etc. Up to five generations from the selected person can be included in the book, up to a maximum of 250 pages.

The book or other article can be printed to the user's printer, but cannot be saved on the user's computer. The book is saved on the Ancestry.com computer system, and can be accessed and edited at any time, even by another family member invited to do so by the creator. If the user wishes to have the book published by MyCanvas, price estimates are available based on cover style, binding type, and then umber of pages in the book.

Suzanne spent considerable time in this session demonstrating how to create a book from an Ancestry Member Tree, and then she manipulated book content from a previously created book to show how easy it was to add content, edit content, move pages around, add backgrounds and embellishments, etc. The audience gasped at times by how easy it was to perform these tasks, but there is a learning curve involved!

Summary

This seminar ran like clockwork - right on time, all of the equipment worked well, and the business parts of the meeting were concise and informative. It was an excellent opportunity for Ancestry.com and SDGS to display their wares and opportunities. SDGS had tables at the back of the room to offer memberships, sell opportunity drawing tickets, sell books, sell snacks, and provide water glasses.

Ancestry.com offered the use of two scanning machines during the day to SDGS members to scan their documents and photographs and copy them to a member's USB drive. SDGS volunteers were trained to perform the scanning work, and many members had their precious family history albums, loose or framed pictures scanned during 15-minute sessions. Ancestry.com is leaving one of these machines for SDGS to use at the SDGS library for member use.

A box lunch was provided with a croissant sandwich, banana, chips, cookies and a soft drink. Folks ate in one of the nearby dining rooms or outside in several patio areas at the hotel. I shared a table with six other people and we talked about Ancestry.com and SDGS.

There were door prize drawings at each break for three books published by Ancestry.com, and for passes to the Marston House in Balboa Park donated by SOHO. At the end of the seminar, there was a drawing for an Ancestry.com world Deluxe subscription. Suzanne Adams will draw another World Deluxe subscription winner from the seminar evaluation sheets turned in at the end of the day.

All in all, this seminar was an excellent genealogy day - it was action packed, educational and entertaining. Thanks to Suzanne Russo Adams, Anastasia Tyler and Laryn Brown from Ancestry.com, and to SDGS President Marna Clemons, Program Chair Suzette Aprea, and many other SDGS board members and willing workers.

Needless to say, I could not capture every pertinent or useful statement made during the presentations, so I've tried to summarize, in some detail, the highlights from each session, based on my own notes and recollections. Hopefully, other attendees will report on their impressions and conclusions. If other attendees want to be a "reporter" for a day, I'll be happy to publish their reports on this blog. Please email me at rjseaver@cox.net with your submissions. I know that Chris on the San Diego Genealogical Society blog will also post articles or reports from other members also.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- A Nice Thing

2009-11-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday Night - time for lots of Genealogy Fun!

Here is your genealogy writing mission, if you decide to accept it (cue the Mission: Impossible music...):

1. What is the Nicest Thing another genealogist did for you, or to you, in the last week or so? (If you have no examples for this past week, go back in time - surely someone has done a nice thing for you in recent years!).

2. Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a comment on Facebook, or in a tweet on Twitter.

Here's mine (I have two from today):

1) Martin Hollick, author of The Slovak Yankee blog (you do read Martin's blog, don't you? It's excellent for New England researchers), commented on my NEHGS post yesterday, saying:

"Saw your comment on Eliza(beth) Horton Dill and read your postings on her. I was at the NEHGS library today and thought I would look into it. Thomas Dill leaves no probate at Barnstable Co. However, in 1821 a Thomas Dill was placed in guardianship for spendthrift. Didn't look at that although it could be that Thomas was getting senile and his kids had to reel him in. NEHGS doesn't have the Barnstable deeds but they exist after 1827 (when the fire happened), so a good quitclaim deed may be in the offing for you."

He continues with analysis of my Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith research problem, with expert opinion based on years of experience and knowledge. Very nice!!! I really appreciate Martin's effort, analysis and encouragement. It is often useful to have another pair of eyes stare at your research problem and analyze it for you. Unfortunately, I've searched the particular probate record and the land records, and cannot find anything that ties Elizabeth to that particular Thomas Dill of Eastham MA, although I'm pretty sure that he is her father. I'm still not tying her to Thomas and Hannah (Horton) Dill because of the conflicting evidence on her two death records naming her parents, which I cannot resolve yet.

2) Yesterday, for Follow Friday (another "official" daily blogging theme), Amy Coffin, who writes the We Tree blog (which now has a nice picture of Amy - it used to have a waffle image in the shape of Texas - I like Amy's photo much better) mentioned my name and Genea-Musings as worthy of being followed. Thank you, Amy. That was really nice of you. I appreciate it! I've enjoyed getting to know Amy at Jamboree and the FGS Conference.

P.S. would someone be nice enough to tweet the appearance of this post for me? I'm at the SDGS seminar all day today!

Surname Saturday - AUBLE/ABLE

2009-11-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

On Surname Saturday, I am posting my known family line for the selected surname in ahnentafel format (with myself as #1).

Today's featured Surname is AUBLE (and the earlier variant, ABLE) - pronounced by my grandmother as in "awe-bull."

Here is my AUBLE/ABLE line (with myself as #1 in the Ahnentafel list):

1. Randall J. Seaver (1943-....)

2. Frederick W. Seaver (1911-1983)
3. Betty Virginia Carringer (1919-2002)

6. Lyle Lawrence Carringer (1891-1976)
7. Emily Kemp Auble, born 19 August 1899 in Chicago, Cook County, IL; died 19 June 1977 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. She married (1) Lyle Lawrence Carringer 19 June 1918 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA.

14. Charles Auble, born 31 October 1849 in prob. Newton, Sussex County, NJ; died 23 March 1916 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. He was the son of 4. David Auble and 5. Sarah G. Knapp. He married 3. Georgianna/Georgia Kemp 19 June 1898 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI.
15. Georgianna/Georgia Kemp, born 04 August 1868 in Middleton Township, Norfolk County, ONTARIO; died 08 November 1952 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA. She was the daughter of 6. James Abram Kemp and 7. Mary Jane Sovereen. Child of Charles Auble and Georgianna/Georgia Kemp is:
..7...... i. Emily Kemp Auble, born 19 August 1899 in Chicago, Cook County, IL; died 19 June 1977 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA; married Lyle Lawrence Carringer 19 June 1918 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA.

28. David Auble, born 1817 in Stillwater, Sussex County, NJ; died 22 March 1894 in Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN. He married 29. Sarah G. Knapp About 1844 in Newton, Sussex County, NJ.
29. Sarah G. Knapp, born January 1818 in prob. Woodbridge, Middlesex County, NJ; died Aft. 1900 in prob. Bushnell, McDonough County, IL. Children of David Auble and Sarah Knapp are:
..........i. William A. Auble, born About 1845 in prob. Newton, Sussex County, NJ; died Bef. 24 January 1901 in Prob. Danville, Vermillion County, IL; married Mary S. Thompson 28 March 1880 in Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN; born May 1860 in IL; died February 1927 in Danville, Vermillion County, IL.
..........ii. Frances M. Auble, born October 1846 in prob. Newton, Sussex County, NJ; died 08 January 1917 in Terre Haute, Vigo, IN.
..14....iii. Charles Auble, born 31 October 1849 in prob. Newton, Sussex County, NJ; died 23 March 1916 in San Diego, San Diego County, CA; married Georgianna/Georgia Kemp 19 June 1898 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, WI.
..........iv. Katherine Auble, born October 1851 in prob. Newark, Union County, NJ.
.......... v. Anna Auble, born February 1860 in prob. Newark, Union County, NJ; married Henry S. Bunton 17 December 1888 in Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN; born March 1856 in IN; died Bef. 1910 in prob. Bushnell, McDonough County, IL.
..........vi. Cora Auble, born About 1862 in prob. Newark, Union County, NJ.

56. Johannes/John Able/Auble, born 11 March 1780 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ. He married 9. Anna Rau/Row 15 July 1804 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ.
57. Anna Rau/Row, born About 1787 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; died 12 June 1860 in Stillwater, Sussex County, NJ. Children of Johannes/John Able/Auble and Anna Rau/Row are:
..........i. Elizabeth Auble, born About 1814 in Sussex County, NJ.
..28...ii. David Auble, born 1817 in Stillwater, Sussex County, NJ; died 22 March 1894 in Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN; married Sarah G. Knapp About 1844 in Newton, Sussex County, NJ.
..........iii. William Auble, born About 1820 in Sussex County, NJ; died Bef. 10 September 1844 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA.
..........iv. Hampton Auble, born About 1827 in Sussex County, NJ.
..........v. Robert Auble, born 20 June 1830 in Sussex County, NJ; died 04 February 1920 in Blairstown, Warren County, NJ; married Ellen E. Hartman Bef. 1858 in NJ; born 25 June 1833 in NJ; died 25 July 1894 in Blairstown, Warren County, NJ.

112. Johannes Able, born About 1758 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died About 1818 in Sussex County, NJ. He married 17. Sophia Trimmer 30 January 1777 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR).
113. Sophia Trimmer, born 1747 in Hunterdon County, NJ; died Bef. 1811 in Sussex County, NJ. Children of Johannes Able and Sophia Trimmer are:
..........i. Anna Maria Able, born 13 April 1778 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; died in (young).
..56... ii. Johannes/John Able/Auble, born 11 March 1780 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; married Anna Rau/Row 15 July 1804 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ.
..........iii. Anna Maria Able, born 11 May 1784 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; married Samuel Ogden 28 March 1803 in New Germantown, Hunterdon, NJ.
..........iv. David Able, born 10 January 1787 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; died 11 August 1858 in Beverly, Ontario, CANADA; married Mary Dineen Bef. 1813; born 28 February 1790 in NJ; died 22 March 1868 in Beverly, Ontario, CANADA.
..........v. Elisabeth Able, born 17 January 1789 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ.
..........vi. George Able, born 08 September 1793 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; died 06 November 1870 in Tompkins County, NY; married (1) Rachel Cripps 29 May 1813; born 1793 in NJ; died 1849 in Tompkins County, NY; married (2) Betsey Bef. 1855 in prob. Tompkins County, NY; born 1817 in NY.
..........vii. Jacob Able, born 21 April 1796 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; died Bef. 1837 in NJ; married Esther Moore 16 March 1816 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ; born 20 February 1791 in Hunterdon County, NJ.

224. Michael Able, born About 1719 in GERMANY; died 26 February 1791 in Roxbury, Morris County, NJ. He married 33. Christina Bef. 1757 in NJ.
225. Christina, died 1804 in prob. Roxbury, Morris County, NJ. Children of Michael Able and Christina are:
..........i. Andreas Able, born 13 August 1757 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died 09 August 1830 in Glen, Montgomery County, NY; married (1) Mary Christina Schuyler 26 January 1779 in Morris County, NJ; born About 1757 in NJ; died 05 September 1819 in Glen, Montgomery County, NY; married (2) Catherine Winne Aft. 1819 in Montgomery County, NY; born 12 April 1772 in Glen, Montgomery, NY.
..112...ii. Johannes Able, born About 1758 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died About 1818 in Sussex County, NJ; married (1) Sophia Trimmer 30 January 1777 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR); married (2) Mary Cripps 17 April 1811 in New Germantown, Hunterdon, NJ.
..........iii. Matthias Able, born 28 February 1759 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died 08 March 1826 in Seneca County, NY; married Catharina Fritts 10 April 1781 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR); born 23 October 1762 in Hunterdon County, NJ; died 18 December 1842 in Seneca County, NY.
..........iv. Mary Able, born 1760 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died 10 April 1829 in NJ; married William Fritts 28 July 1782 in Oldwixk, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR); born About 1759 in NJ.
..........v. Jacob Able, born About 1763 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died 1816 in Tewksbury, Hunterdon County, NJ, (gravestone); married Anna Gertrude/Charity Pickle 18 January 1794 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR); born About 1774 in NJ; died 13 August 1862 in Tewksbury, Hunterdon County, NJ, (gravestone).
..........vi. Anna Elisabeth Able, born 1765 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ; died 18 November 1815 in NJ; married George Fritts 17 January 1786 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR).
..........vii. Catharine Able, born About 1767 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ.
..........viii. Eva Able, born About 1769 in Roxbury, Morris county, NJ.
..........ix. Christina Able, born 17 May 1771 in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, NJ; married Johannes Reinhardt 19 August 1792 in Oldwick, Hunterdon County, NJ (CR).

448. Andreas Able, born in GERMANY; died 09 April 1751 in Roxbury, Morris, NJ. He married 65. Maria.
449. Maria, died April 1771 in Roxbury, Morris, NJ. Children of Andreas Able and Maria are:
..........i. Mathias Able
..........ii. Paul Able, married Leany.
..........iii. Andreas Able, died 16 July 1782 in Fox Hill, Morris County, NJ; married Hannah.
..224..iv. Michael Able, born About 1719 in GERMANY; died 26 February 1791 in Roxbury, Morris County, NJ; married Christina Bef. 1757 in NJ.

I have posted a 6 generation Descendants of Andreas Able report in NGSQ format here.

Does any reader have any of these families? If so, please contact me at rjseaver@cox.net and let's compare our database information.

CVGS Research Group Highlights - 12 November 2009

2009-11-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society Research Group met on Thursday, 12 November at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library at 12 noon. There were eight avid story tellers and researchers in attendance,

Randy opened the session by noting that Family Tree Magazine has changed their cover design, and that the latest issue has a free CDROM of Family Tree Builder 4.0 software. He also noted that Ancestry.com is a publicly traded company and wondered if anybody owns stock in it yet.

* We were happy to have Martha back with us after her surgery. She has been accepted as a member of the Flannery Clan in Ireland and has the colorful certificates to prove it. More importantly, she has corresponded with a researcher in Ireland that has taken the Flannery line back to 1800 - it added several more generations to her line. Martha wanted to know how to access only Ireland databases on Ancestry.com - we told her to select "Irish Collections" in the New Search box.

* David has done no new research, but has noticed lots more Member Connect activity on Ancestry.com. Some of his research is being attached by other researchers.

* Dick sent a pedigree chart and family group sheets to two sibling cousins requesting help with family information. One sent it back filled out, the other is working on it. Dick has all of his genealogy data in Ancestry Member Trees, but downloads it occasionally to make reports and charts.

* Virginia went to Indiana last month to visit her sister and do research. She looked for her cousin's papers in a local museum - they aren't there yet. She did find a family reunion photograph from 1928 with about 50 people in it - all named on a separate sheet of paper.

* Ruth brought her six generation ancestors chart and talked about the one who was put in a well by his father. She met a new cousin and they are sharing lots of information, including about Elizabeth Jane, a child that was adopted out and was lost to her cousin's family. Ruth knows all about her! She wants to write books for Christmas and is thinking about doing a website.

* Gary has had some success with Ancestry.com "leaves" while doing Web Searches in FTM 2010 on his Roff family. He's now expanding his search to New England for his Roff surname line. He's working on a new project, which he'll unveil at the November meeting.

* John had a nasty computer virus that cost him two weeks of effort, but he recovered his files and email. He noted that some Ancestry.com family trees have bad information - so be careful what you bring into your online tree.

* Randy shared a San Francisco Funeral Home record, and his search through San Francisco Chronicle newspapers and city directories for ancestral death dates, occupations and residences. He also talked about his Y-DNA results through SMGF and GeneTree, and finding two other Seaver researchers with close matches.

The next CVGS Research Group will be at 12 noon on Wednesday, 9 December, in the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library Conference Room.

Book Review: "Genealogical Resources of the Civil War Era"

2009-11-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

I recently read the book Genealogical Resources of the Civil War Era by William Dollarhide and really enjoyed it. It has a prominent space in my genealogy bookcase now because it is so valuable for both online and published resources!

In the foreword, publisher Leland Meitzler says:

"This book was not written as a guide to Civil War narratives as such, but a guide to the various records in which one will find the lists of names of both soldiers and civilians. Those lists include records created during the War, records produced immediately after the War, Veteran Censuses, State Censuses taken (1885-1945) with Civil War Veterans listed, and numerous Internet resources."

The major value of this book is that it comprehensively lists the online resources and the repository resources (books, libraries, archives, etc.) for twenty specific Civil War Resource Groups, and then lists the States for which these resources are available. The specific Civil War Resource Groups considered (in Part 2 of the book) are:

National Resources:

* Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System
* The American Civil War Research Database
* Official Records of the War of the Rebellion
* General and Organizational Indexes to Pension Files, 1861-1934
* 1883 List of U.S. Pensioners on the Roll
* 1890 Federal Census of Union Veterans
* Roll of Honor & Veteran Burials
* 1865-1867 Confederate Amnesty Papers
* Consolidated Lists of Confederate Soldiers & United Confederate Veterans Association
* Index to Compiled Service Records

Statewide Resources:

* Compiled Service Records (by state)
* Index to Compiled Service Records (by state)
* 1861-1869 State Censuses and any 1885-1945 State Censuses with Civil War veterans noted
* 1861-1869 Statewide Name Lists
* 1862-1869 Internal Revenue Assessment Lists
* Statewide Militia Lists
* Confederate Pension Applications. Pensioner Name Lists and Censuses of Confederate Veterans
* Indexes to Statewide Records
* Statewide Lists of Veteran Burials

* State Adjutant General Reports

For each Research Group, there is a description of the records - why and how they were created, with a visual example of a record page. A list of the states for which there are online databases or Family History Library (FHL) microfilm is provided, with the relevant page numbers. A two-page table summarizes the resource groups available for each state.

There are paragraphs for each State to define the online and published (book or microfilm) resources available in Part 3 of the book titled "Statewide Name Lists, 1861-1869 & Post-War Veteran Lists." The Online Resources for each state includes:

* The State Archives and/or State Library website; and any Civil War related databases available at that website

* Any Civil War website for the state

* Any 1861-1869 online name list or Post-War veteran list for the state

The Published Resources include:

* Any published Compiled Service Records, Militia Lists, Pension Records, or Veteran Records specific to each state

* Any statewide name lists 1861-1869, including State Censuses, Tax Lists, or Voter Registrations

* Any published guides relating to the Civil War for a state with resource lists.

In these state sections, website URLs are provided for online resources, and FHL microfilm numbers are provided for records microfilmed by the Family History Library.

Part 1 of the book provides a concise description of the Civil War Era - what happened, why it happened, where events occurred, etc.

Part 4 of the book lists "The Best Civil War Resource Centers for Local & County Research." It cites http://www.linkpendium.com/ as the most comprehensive locality portal site to identify local and county resources on the Internet. This section provides a detailed description of the top six Civil War era resource centers - the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana; the Library of Congress in Washington DC; the Military History Institute, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; the Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum, at Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas; and the National Park Service.

What is missing in this book about Civil War Era records? I can think of:

* Published books, manuscripts, and periodicals that are not microfilmed, but may be found in local, state, regional or national repositories

* State Archives resources that have not been published or microfilmed

* National Archives resources that have not been published or microfilmed (for example, the Civil War Invalid and Widows Pension Files come to mind)

Many more Civil War Era records will appear in online databases over future years as a result of, for instance, Footnote.com's digitizing and indexing of National Archives records, and the Family History Library's imaging and indexing of FHL microfilms and other records. It is likely that the content of this book will be expanded in future years to include newly digitized online databases and new publications.

All in all, this book is an outstanding effort by an expert in the genealogy research field. It should be part of every serious American genealogist's library and on the shelf in every local, state and national library as well.

The book is available from Family Roots Publishing Company, owned by Leland Meitzler. The retail cost is $32.95, but it is available through Christmas 2009 for $26.36 on their website.

William Dollarhide, Genealogical Resources in the Civil War Era, Family Roots Publishing Company, Bountiful, Utah, 2009, 191 pages.

Disclosure: I was provided a free copy of this book by Leland Meitzler for review purposes, but was not requested to write a favorable review. The comments and opinions given above are my own.

Check out The Beginning Genealogist website

2009-11-13T09:49:00.000-08:00

Professor Dru (Dru Pair) has highlighted a new website in her Find Your Folks blog in a post titled The Beginning Genealogist Website and Videos.

Professor Dru describes Angela Walton-Raji's new website, The Beginning Genealogist. Check it out!

Angela says on her site:

"I realize that many are anxious to find their ancestors and get started. Well, many I am finding have not learned the basic steps on researching family history and I want to share with you those basic steps, plus provide some guidance on where and how to do this."

Angela also produces the African Roots Podcast and the AYWalton YouTube channel.

I wish Angela luck, and look forward to reading her text pages and her video presentations. While the site currently emphasizes African- and Native-American ancestry, my guess is that the resources on this page will encompass general genealogy education for all beginning researchers.

Thank you, Professor Dru, for the information and links to Angela's work.

Follow Friday - The Ancestry Insider

2009-11-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

You know, it is hard to pick just one genealogy blog each week for Follow Friday. That's because there are so many good ones.

My choice this week is The Ancestry Insider, written by an anonymous suspender-clad gentleman with an excellent avatar (it even kind of looks like him!).

The Ancestry Insider provides a unique perspective among genealogy blogs - an insider's look at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com. He is currently employed by FamilySearch and was previously employed by Ancestry.com. In addition, he has a computer background and is an LDS church member. That is quite a combination of knowledge and talent, and Mr. AI puts it to good use.

To top it off, Mr AI is a distant cousin of mine - his surname leads back to one of my Massachusetts Bay Colony immigrants. My guess is, that if he made his ancestry known, that we would find several other cousin relationships.

If you are not reading The Ancestry Insider blog, I recommend that you add it to your RSS feed, blog reader, or Favorites/Bookmarks and visit the site often.