30 December 2013

Case Study #1: Hammack & Mott

I've been wanting write a post about the research process for a while now. Even if you aren't a Hammack or a Mott I hope you'll find some helpful hints here. I'm actually not a Mott either but we'll get to that later. Here are the main characters in this story:
Sophia Ann "Annie" Hammack, my father's maternal grandmother
John Franklin Hammack and Martha Cornelia Mott, Annie's parents
Martha Cornelia Mott's name will change a couple of times during the course of this post.

Talking to Dad


The names of my father's maternal aunts and uncles were known to me, I had met them all. For anything beyond that I had to ask Dad what he remembered. His maternal grandmother's name was Annie Hammack and this case study is about her line. According to Dad the names of Annie's parents, his great-grandparents, were John Franklin Hammack & Martha Cornelia Mott. He never met them but he did have a memory of meeting one of Annie's sisters and thought her name might be Carrie. So with that I was off to try and find out something about his maternal grandmother's family.

Annie Hammack Loftice with my baby brother and me.

I had no problem finding Annie with her husband and children in U.S. censuses but finding anything prior to her marriage was my first road block. Annie was born in Missouri so there wasn't an immigration issue.

By Any Other Name


Most of my great-grandparents applied for Social Security. I had a list of applications to order. Ordering all of them was out of the question financially so I prioritized the list. Annie was not at the top. I had names for her parents and that would be the primary reason for ordering the application. As I was running out of alternate spellings and different searches to try I started moving her up the list.
Dad seemed sure of the names but I was stuck so I crossed my fingers and ordered her SS-5. A few weeks later I found out that Dad was right with one small, but very important, omission.

After the jump: The answer, more questions and contact from distant family.

23 December 2013

Junk Trees 2

Below are four trees.
Yes, people actually took the time to enter this $#!% onto Ancestry.com.


 Santa Claus
 B: UNK in North Pole
 D: N/A in N/A

 Spouse
 Wonder Woman
 B: 7-4-1812 in Mt. Olympus, Italy

 Child
 Grandpa
Excluding private profiles this is the entire tree.

 Santa Claus The 18th
 B: 12,22,1894 in North pole
 D: 12,12,2004 in North pole

 Spouse
 Margraya Claut
 B: 12,22,1895 in North pole
 D: 12,4,1999 in North pole

 Child
 Santa Claus The 19th
 B: 12,24,1900 in North pole
Excluding private profiles this is the entire tree.

 Santa Claus
 B: 12/25/1200 in The North Pole
Excluding private profiles this is the entire tree.

 Santa Claus

 Spouse
 Mrs. Claus

 Child
 Pipi Longstocking
 B: September 20 1905 in Santa's Workshop

This tree has three other profiles that are too vulgar to include on this blog.
The tree was reported. Pipi and the vulgar profiles were deleted before support even got to them.


PREVIOUS POST: Angel Baby
NEXT POST: Case Study #1 - Hammack & Mott
RELATED POST: Junk Trees

20 December 2013

Angel Baby

This tree's photo gallery has 364 pages. I have no doubt that if I had gone past page 15 I would have found more. Just like images of flags and faux coats of arms, angel photos are a sure sign of a tree copied from other trees.

Title: Four different titles
Gods'little angel-baby-boy
Gods'little angel-baby- boy
Gods'little angel-baby-girl
Gods'little angel-baby
Uploaded: 11 times


Title: ANGEL BABY GIRL
Uploaded: Twice


Title: BABY BOY ANGEL
Uploaded: Once


Title: BABY GIRLS DEATH
Uploaded: Once


Title: Called to Heaven as a Child
Uploaded: Once


Title: Baby Boy Angel
Uploaded: Once



Thanks to Kristin for the link to one of these photos ;-)
If you have a photo or profile to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: Consider the Source
NEXT POST: Coming Monday


16 December 2013

Consider the Source

Updated 21 Feb 2014

There are endless instances where we as genealogists and family historians need to consider the source of our information. The story that Grandma told, was it a first hand account or was it information that had been passed down? The informant on the death certificate, was it a close family member or a friend of 5 years? The witnesses for a delayed birth certificate, how clear is their memory 20-70 years after the event?
We should be just as skeptical of certain record collections. Regular readers of this blog know that calling Ancestry Member Trees a "source" is laughable. Here are some other collections that should be ignored or considered leads to real sources.

Millennium File


"The Millennium File is a compiled source and is similar in form to other linked databases, such as Ancestry World Tree. Databases like these are great starting points for beginning your research. It is always good to find out what others have already learned and compiled about your ancestors." Of course that assumes that those "others" have done actual research. A great starting point for your research is records, not trees.
"Many of these lineages extend back to nobility and renowned historical figures. In fact, one of the things the Millennium File focuses on is linking to European nobility and royalty." So this is a clickophiles dream collection. "Source information is also provided in this database, making it easier to verify the accuracy of the research done." This is what you should pay attention to. If the source information is trees or family group sheets walk away.

Family Data Collections


These include the following:
Family Data Collection - Births
Family Data Collection - Marriages
Family Data Collection - Deaths
Family Data Collection - Individual Records
Originally these were a single collection, divided into smaller collections after being added to Ancestry.com. When an "individual record" includes birth, marriage, and death information Ancestry suddenly has four records instead of one. Great way for them to pad their numbers.
The Family Data Collection is extraneous data from a genetic study. "Citing the source of every genealogical fact in the electronic gene pool was deemed unnecessary and cost prohibitive by medical researchers." While there may be valuable information in these collections these are not records but essentially trees and should be treated as such.

U.S. and International Marriage Records


This collection is data compiled from family group sheets. While this is also not a source there is a link in the "About" section to order copies. The copies may or may not have sources listed but should include contact information for the individual researchers. I am going to place an order and post an update once I have it.
UPDATE: The family group sheets are purchased by surname. They are relatively inexpensive, especially if you order the PDFs, because they do not search the pages for your family. You get them all at once and sift through them yourself.
The sheets do not have space for formal sources so at most there may be a brief list of sources. Anything from "MO death cert., Greene Co. mar. cert., Probate rec. for [name]" to "Letter from [name]" or "Notes from [name]." There are submitter names and addresses on each sheet so you can write to the person if you have more questions. Of course there is a possibility the submitter has moved or passed on. Each sheet is stamped with the date received. The ones I ordered have stamps from about 1985 to 1999.
In the sources lists you may find the name, and author, of a family book that you didn't know existed. You may find multiple sheets that involve your family or you may find just the one that was indexed in the U.S. and International Marriage Records collection.

Gravestone Index


The indices of Find a Grave and Billion Graves are the most popular of these. Data on these sites is created by users. I'll focus on Find a Grave since I haven't used Billion Graves.
On Find a Grave users can add memorials without photos or proof that the person is buried in that particular cemetery. Personally I give more weight to memorials that have a photo but even then, the stone could have been placed on the grave yesterday. It could have been purchased by a descendant who never met the person. Unlike the Family Data Collection, which I generally ignore, these records should be examined closely. Click through to the actual memorial. A user may have added a bio, obituary or photo of the person. If no family members are linked click on the name of the cemetery and search the cemetery for other members of the family.
These records should be viewed with a critical eye but can potentially be a treasure trove.


If you have a question about any collection's validity go to the search page for that collection and scroll down to the "About" section.

PREVIOUS POST: The End
NEXT POST: Angel Baby

13 December 2013

The End

I only looked through the first thousand or so photos on this tree. I'm sure if I'd looked through the other 10,000+ photos the "uploaded to" number below would be higher. Other than this photo the images are of flags, ships, coats of arms, crowns and royalty. 

Title: End of line
Uploaded to: 203 profiles
Many only have UNK as a name or UNK with a surname.
Attached to: numerous other trees


Thanks to Kristin for the link to this photo gallery ;-)
If you have a photo or profile to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: African American, The Profile
NEXT POST: Consider the Source

09 December 2013

African American, The Profile

Comments after the jump.

 African American
 B: 1664 in Abingdon Parish, Gloucester Co, VA
 D: 1737 in Virginia, United States

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 John Hall (1664-1737)
 ✿ George Hall
 ✿ Joseph Hall
 ✿ William Hall
 ✿ Mary Wilson (1680- )
 ✿ Mary Hall (1684- )
 ✿ Mary Hall (1684- )
 ✿ Thomas Hall (1685-1735)
 ✿ George Hall (1686-1763)
 ✿ John Hall (1687-1764)
 ✿ William Hall (1687- )
 ✿ Ann Hall (1688- )
 ✿ Deborah Hall (1690- )
 ✿ Joseph Hall (1691- )
 ✿ Sarah Hall (1692- )
 ✿ Thomas Hall (1697- )
 ✿ Ann Hall (1699- )
 ✿ Deborah Hall (1701- )
 ✿ Joseph Hall (1703- )
 ✿ Mary Hall (1703- )
 ✿ Margaret Hall (1704- )
 ✿ Sarah Hall (1706- )
 ✿ William Hall (1708-1764)
 ✿ Joseph Hall (1710-1760)
 ✿ Sarah Hall (1722-1790)
 ✿ Thomas Hall (1865- )

 RECORDS ATTACHED

 ✿ Family Data Collection Individual Records
    John Hall; spouse Hall Elizabeth; parents Clayton Thomas Margare; birth place Gloucester Co, Abingdon Parish, VA; birth date 1664; death date 20 Oct 1737
 ✿  U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
     Eliz Hall; arrival year 1680; arrival place Virginia
 ✿  U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
     Elizabeth Walker; spouse John Hall; children John Hall
 ✿ 12 Ancestry Member Trees
    11 trees with an Elizabeth married to a John Hall, 1 tree with "Unknown African American" married to a John Hall

06 December 2013

African American, The Photos

None of these photos are titled. They were all uploaded to a profile with the name "African American" and dates from the 17th and 18th centuries. That profile will be featured here on Monday. They have all been uploaded numerous times to this tree to various other profiles. The first two have been attached to one other tree. Thankfully the others have not been attached to other trees.



✿✿✿


✿✿✿


✿✿✿

Kimberly Guilfoyle, 6 Jul 2010
Photo credit: Brian Bedder, Getty Images North America

✿✿✿

Venus Williams

✿✿✿

Venus Williams
Photo credit: AP

✿✿✿


✿✿✿


✿✿✿



If you have a photo or profile to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.



PREVIOUS POST: Not Too Bright
NEXT POST: African American, The Profile

02 December 2013

Not Too Bright


 David B. Bright
 B: 1810 in South Carolina
 D: 1852 in Blount, Tennessee

 FATHER
 Wood Bright (1840-1902)
 MOTHER
 Margaret Jane Williams Bright (1845-1932)

 SPOUSE
 David Bright (1810-1852) m. 26 Jul 1837

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Jane Key (1815-1865) m. 26 Jul 1837
 ✿ William Wood Field Bright (1840-1902)
 ✿ Mary Bright (1844- )
 ✿ Esther Bright (1848- )
 ✿ Peter Bright (1848- )
 ✿ Hannah J. Bright (1851-1924)
 ✿ Mary Goodwin (1851- )

 CHILD with UNKNOWN SPOUSE m. 26 Jul 1837
 ✿ Sarah Carpenter Chance (1812-1894)

 RECORDS ATTACHED

 ✿ Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
    David Bright & Jane Key, 26 Jul 1837
 ✿ 1850 US Federal Census
    David, Jennett, Wm, Mary, and Peter; all have the Bright surname
 ✿ 1880 US Federal Census
    William W. F. (age 39), Margarett J. (33), Martha J. (8), Susan E. (6), Hannah R. (4), and David B. (1); all have the Bright surname

The crazy seems to go on forever but this post won't. I'll try to boil it down to just a few sentences.
David is born 30 years before his father who is also his son. At the age of 2 he becomes a father and is born again in 1879. In a single day he marries himself and two women. Did I miss anything?

Thanks to Lizzie for the link ;-)
If you have a profile to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: Once Again, WHY?!?!?!
NEXT POST: African American, The Photos

22 November 2013

Once Again, WHY?!?!?!

Can anyone find a reason for these?

Title: _
Uploaded: At least twice to 2 different profiles.
Thomas Hall (1445-1470)
Thomas Hall (1614-1665)
Attached to: One other tree

Television news screen capture: 
CHRISTOPHER GOINS
Wanted for grand theft, parole violation

There is no one in this tree with the Goins surname and no indication that the Halls were criminals.
The following photos are also attached to Thomas Hall (1614-1665) and have been uploaded a number of times to different profiles in this tree. They are all attached to other trees.

An incredibly poor quality photo that contains the gravestone for 
J.L. Price, Sergt. Co. B, Cutt's Battery, Aug. 12, 1843 - Nov. 24, 1908, G.S.A.
There are 4 profiles with the Price surname in this tree. All were born before 1770.




If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.



PREVIOUS POST: Your Genealogy Library
NEXT POST: Not Too Bright

18 November 2013

Your Genealogy Library

Updated: 16 Jan 2015

Like the playlists on YouTube I'll be updating this periodically. Once the lists are larger I'll break them down into more categories. This list is for more recently published books but may include a few older books that have stood the test of time.
Books on internet research, especially those focused on a specific website, quickly become outdated.
"The company that purchased Ancestry Publishing’s business several years ago has published the second edition of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com in Kindle format and Nook format. That book was published in 2008 and is extremely outdated...George [the author] strongly recommends that you do not purchase either ebook version of this book." - The Genealogy Guys Podcast
So books dealing with a specific website or internet research in general will be kept to a minimum. The categories so far are: 
Fiction
Non-Fiction: DNA
Non-Fiction: Ethnic Research
Non-Fiction: Genealogy Reference
Non-Fiction: Personal & Historical Stories
Children's Books
If you have any suggestions for the list or an opinion on any book on the list please comment. Thanks!

 The main library in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1874.

FICTION

✿ Bonner, Brynn  Family History Mystery series
✿ Brown, James  A Promise to the Past
✿ Day, Patrick  Murders and Genealogy in Hennepin County
✿ Fishman, Stephanie Pitcher  Finding Eliza
Fox, Jimmy  Genealogical Mystery series
✿ Goodwin, Nathan Dylan  Hiding the Past
✿ Hart, Hazel  Family History
✿ Havelin, Michael  The Ben Bones mystery series
✿ Hollingsworth, Gerelyn  The Janet Burney genealogy novellas
✿ Luben, Jacquelynn  Tainted Tree
✿ MacPherson, Rett  Torie O'Shea mystery series
✿ Mathieson, Gordon  The Family Tree
✿ Molyneux, Stephen  The Marriage Certificate
✿ Nixon, John  The Cuckoo Clock
✿ Nixon, John  Family Shadows
✿ Nixon, John  Stolen Futures
✿ O'Neary, Gearòld  Where's Merrill?
✿ Peartree, Cecilia  Reunited in Death
✿ Percival, Wendy  Blood-Tied
✿ Rawlings, Norma E.  It's in the Genes 
✿ Rawlings, Norma E. Malvern Murders
✿ Rawlings, Norma E.  Sleeping Dogs
✿ Rawlings, Norma E.  Sleeping Dogs II
✿ Robinson, Steve  Genealogical Crime Thriller series
✿ Sprinkle, Patricia Family Tree Mysteries series
✿ Wiseman, D.J.  A Habit of Dying

NON-FICTION: DNA

✿ Kean, Sam
✿ Smolenyak, Megan & Turner, Ann
✿ Sykes, Brian
   Adam's Curse
   Blood of the Isles
   DNA: USA
   Seven Daughters of Eve 

NON-FICTION: Ethnic Research

✿ Beidler, James
✿ Bowen, Jeff [trans.]
✿ Clifford, Karen
   Locating Your Immigrant Ancestor's Homeland
✿ Colletta, John Philip
✿ Melnyk, Marcia Iannizzi & Tedesco, Mary M.
   Tracing Your Italian Ancestors
✿ Ouimette, David S.
✿ Phillips, Richard Hayes
✿ Ryskamp, George R. & Ryskamp, Peggy Hill

NON-FICTION: Genealogy Reference

✿ Breland, Claudia
✿ Clark, Gary W.
✿ Cooke, Lisa Louise
✿ Hite, Richard
✿ Jones, Thomas W.
✿ Kemp, Thomas Jay
✿ Leclerc, Michael J.
✿ Mills, Elizabeth Shown
✿ Milner, Paul
✿ Morgan, George G.
   How to Do Everything Genealogy (4th ed., 2015)
✿ Morgan, George G. & Smith, Drew
✿ Newman, John
✿ Rising, Marsha Hoffman
✿ Roberts, Gary Boyd
✿ Rodda, Anne Patterson
   Trespassers in Time: Genealogists and Microhistorians
✿ Rose, Christine & Ingalls, Kay Germain
✿ Smolenyak, Megan
✿ Taylor, Maureen A.

Check out Family Tree Magazine's Shop for more.

NON-FICTION: Personal & Historical Stories

✿ Cohen, Rich
✿ Colletta, John Philip
✿ Fradin, Dennis Brindell
✿ Gates, Henry Louis
✿ Griswold, Mac
✿ Hill, Richard
✿ Jackson, Buzzy
✿ Littrell, Ryan
✿ Luxenberg, Steve
   - Interview with Steve Luxenberg Part 1 and Part 2.
✿ McThenia, Tal & Cutright, Margaret Dunbar
   - This American Life episode: The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar
✿ Miller, Edward A.
✿ Roach, Marilynne
   Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
✿ Scott, J. Richard  The Secrets of Jackson Glen
✿ Smolenyak, Megan
   In Search of Our Ancestors
✿ Wilson, Jennifer
   - Interview with Jennifer Wilson here.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

✿ Hovorka, Janet
    Zap the Grandma Gap

Disclaimer: Inclusion in this list does not constitute an endorsement or positive review.

15 November 2013

Three Strikes, You're Out!

Strike one. Strike two. Strike three...

Baseball articles from the 1980s uploaded as a single photo.

Title: Ted Turner Article
Uploaded: 3 times to the same profile.
George Turner
Born 18 Mar 1673 in Antrim, Antrim, , Ireland
Died 6 Mar 1717 in St Peters, New Kent, Virginia, United States
One of the photos is attached to 19 other people in this tree.
All with the Turner surname.
All born between 1500 and 1730.
Attached: Each of the three uploads is attached to 177 other trees.

If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: Civil War Zombie Corps 4
NEXT POST: Your Genealogy Library

11 November 2013

Civil War Zombie Corps 4

No comments today, sorry. I'm on a gig right now that is keeping me really busy. If you see the show come down to the orchestra pit and say hi!
I'm sure you'll be able to pick out plenty of errors on your own ;-)

 Capt James Garner
 B: 1718 in Stafford, Stafford, Virginia, United States
 D: 1800 in Randolph, North Carolina, United States

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Elizabeth Freeman (1721-1794)
 ✿ Bradley Garner (1741 - )
 ✿ Jepthia Garner (1743 - 1745)
 ✿ Peter GARNER (1743 - 1830)
 ✿ Henry G Garner (1745 - 1745)
 ✿ Elizabeth Garner (1747 - bet. 1767 & 1770)
 ✿ John Fouche Garner (25 Dec 1749 - 25 Nov 1839)
 ✿ Amos Garner (abt 1750 - )
 ✿ Lewis Garner (1750 - 1815)
 ✿ Mary Garner (1751 - )
 ✿ Mary Garner (1751 - 1749)
 ✿ Mary Polly Garner (abt 1751 - )
 ✿ Henry Garner (1753 - )
 ✿ Henry Garner (1753 - )
 ✿ Bradley Garner (1 Oct 1754 - 1838)
 ✿ Bradley Garner (1 Oct 1754 - Jun 1843)
 ✿ James Garner (1 Oct 1754 - Jun 1843)
 ✿ Barbara Andrews (Oct 1754 - ) Note: Male
 ✿ Barbara Andrews Garner (Oct 1754 - ) Note: Male
 ✿ Garner Garner (1756 - ) Note: Sex not indicated
 ✿ Joseph Garner (abt 1756 - )
 ✿ Raleigh Garner (abt 1756 - 1850)
 ✿ Rileigh Garner (1756 - 1745)
 ✿ William Garner (1756 - )
 ✿ William Garner (1756 - 1850)
 ✿ James Garner (1757 - )
 ✿ James Garner (1757 - )
 ✿ Peter Garner (1758 - )
 ✿ Joseph Garner (1759 - )
 ✿ Joseph Garner (1759 - )
 ✿ Joseph Garner (1759 - )
 ✿ Job Garner (1760 - 1800)
 ✿ Job GARNER (1760 - 1800)
 ✿ Henry Garner (1761 - FEB 1860)
 ✿ Henry Garner (1761 - 1745)
 ✿ Henry GARNER (1761 - )
 ✿ Jesse Garner (1762 - )
 ✿ Jesse Garner (1762 - )
 ✿ Jesse Garner (1762 - )
 ✿ Parish Garner (1763 - abt 1779)
 ✿ Jeptha Garner (1764 - )
 ✿ Jepthis Garner (1764 - )
 ✿ Elizabeth Garner (1765 - )
 ✿ Amos Garner (1766 - )
 ✿ Bradley Garner (1768 - 1848)

 A FEW OF THE RECORDS ATTACHED

 ✿ Family Data Collection - Births
    Vincent Garner born 1712
 ✿ Family Data Collection - Individual Records
    Capt James Garner born 1726, spouse Elizabeth Betty Freeman
 ✿ North Carolina, Marriage Collection, 1741-2004
    Dorothy Whittle, spouse John Garner, married in North Carolina
 ✿ U.S. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
    James Garner, widow applied for pension Aug 1890
 ✿ U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970
    James Garner born 1726
 ✿ Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890
    Vincent Garner, VA Early Census Index, 1770

Thanks to Kristin for the link to this profile ;-)
If you have a profile to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: Don't Know Much About History
NEXT POST: Three Strikes, You're Out!

08 November 2013

Don't Know Much About History

Title: Ferguson, John
Uploaded to: John Ferguson
Born 23 Mar 1650 in Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, ,Scotland,
Died 19 Mar 1717 in Cherry Walk, Essex, Virginia, United States,
Buried Elmwood Cemetery, Waterloo, Black Hawk, Iowa
Attached to: 65 other trees
Looking through the first 20 trees that had this photo attached 3 were private. Of the other 17 only one had a different John Ferguson who might actually be the person buried in this plot.

JNO. FERGUSON
CO. F
12TH ILL. INF.

What conflict prior to 1717 would warrant a U.S. military gravestone and an American flag?

Thanks to Kristin for the link to the gravestone photo ;-)
If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: A Young Crabbe II
NEXT POST: Civil War Zombie Corps 4

04 November 2013

A Young Crabbe II

This is a continuation of last Monday's post. If you can't find at least ten errors in the green box you may want to consider a different hobby. The only option for this tree owner is to start over.
Unless otherwise noted the census records are for a white female.

 Blanche M Crabbe Young
 B: 29 Jul 1893 in Georgia, USA
 D: 20 Sep 1971 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA

 FATHER
 William H Crabb (1840-1925)
 MOTHER
 Sarina Hard-Crabb (1860-1943)

 RECORDS ATTACHED TO THIS PROFILE

 ✿ 1900 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Crabb, born Apr 1894 in Ohio, Charles & Sarah
 ✿ 1910 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Crabb, born abt 1894 in Ohio, parents Charles & Sarah
 ✿ 1910 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young, born abt 1895 in Missouri, parents D.C. & Ollie
 ✿ 1910 U.S. Federal Census: Beaula Young, born abt 1896 in Illinois, parents Wiley & Myrtle
 ✿ 1910 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young [mulatto], born abt 1890 in Ohio, married to William Young
 ✿ 1920 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young, born abt 1891 in Ohio, married to C.L. Young
 ✿ 1920 U.S. Federal Census: Frances B Young, born abt 1896 in Illinois, married to Harold C Young
 ✿ 1920 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche M Young, born abt 1890 in Illinois, married to Oscar Young
 ✿ 1920 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young [mulatto], born abt 1894 in Ohio, married to William H Young
 ✿ 1920 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Eldred, born abt 1889 in Illinois, married to William S Eldred
 ✿ 1920 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche M Burgess, born abt 1893 in Georgia, married to Alexander J Burgess
 ✿ 1930 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young, born abt 1895 in Ohio, married to Charles Young
 ✿ 1930 U.S. Federal Census: Frances Young, born abt 1896 in Illinois, married to Harold C Young
 ✿ 1930 U.S. Federal Census: N Blanche Young [black], born abt 1894 in Ohio, married to William H Young
 ✿ 1930 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche B Eldred, born abt 1889 in Illinois, married to William S Eldred
 ✿ 1930 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche M Burgess, born abt 1894 in Georgia, married to A.J. Burgess
 ✿ 1930 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young, born abt 1900 in New York, married to Harold Young
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanch Young, born abt 1900 in Ohio, married to Charles Young
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche L Young, born abt 1891 in Pennsylvania, married to Charles Young
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Francis Young, born abt 1896 in Illinois, widow
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Frances Young [male], born abt 1893 in Illnois, single
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young, born abt 1896 in Michigan, married to Charles Young
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche G Eldred, born abt 1889 in Illinois, married to William S Eldred
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche Young [black], born abt 1894 in Ohio, married to William H Young
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche M Burgess, born abt 1893 in Georgia, married to A.J. Burgess
 ✿ 1940 U.S. Federal Census: Blanche L Young, born at 1899 in New York, married to Harold W Young
 ✿ Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922: Blanche Young, born 26 Aug 1894 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois to Mary J Crowley and Thomas W Young
 ✿ New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957: Blanche Young, born 26 Aug 1894 in Illinois ✿ California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957: Frances B Burgess, born abt 1894 in Illinois
 ✿ Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974: Blanche Young Burgess, born abt 1893 to Annie Meire and H.V. Young, died 20 Sep 1971 in Montgomery, Alabama
 ✿ U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current: Blanche Burgess, born 29 Jul 1893, died Sep 1971
 ✿ Web: Alabama, Find A Grave Index, 1755-2012 [link] Blanche Young Burgess, 29 Jul 1893 - 20 Sep 1971, parents are Henry G. Young and Anna J. Meiere Young
 ✿ Web: Missouri, Find A Grave Index, 1812-2012 [link] Blanche Clark Crabb, 15 Jun 1897 - 14 Apr 1975, parents are Thomas & Erma Clark
 ✿ Web: Ohio, Find A Grave Index, 1787-2012 [link] Blanche H Eldred, 1893-1980

Thanks again to Annie for the link to this profile ;-)
If you have a profile to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.


PREVIOUS POST: Social Disgrace III
NEXT POST: Don't Know Much About History

01 November 2013

Social Disgrace III

In Social Disgrace II I said I wouldn't be doing anymore posts about Ancestry.com's social media team. I lied.
On October 15th one of the admins on the Ancestry.com Facebook page thought posting 16 (SIXTEEN!) photos one after the other was a good idea. Yeah, because taking over your fans' newsfeeds is never annoying or spammy. I managed to miss one but you get the idea.

Links to the original posts on Facebook are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here

In response to someone who complained the admin essentially admitted the multiple posts were intentional and defended her decision.


The next day an admin either thought the spamming had to be an accident or was trying to put the blame elsewhere. The comment is unsigned so it could be the same admin trying to deflect the negative remarks.


For those who don't know, on Facebook Pages it's possible to time delay posts. I would assume that any tools that allow you cross post across various social media have this ability as well. It would have taken the admin only a few minutes more to set these to post one per day for the remainder of Family History Month. It's not as if the social media team has so many posts that they can't fit them all in.


That's right, 36-48 hours with no posts at all but it was absolutely necessary to get all 16 photos posted at once.

In an unrelated incident...


Dear Ancestry.co.uk,
First, Leona didn't ask you for help. Second, she lives in the Pacific Northwest so why should she message the co.uk page when she's not asking about Ancestry.co.uk or the UK collections? And lastly, the "new FTM" hasn't even been released in the UK yet so how exactly are you going to help her? 


PREVIOUS POST: A Young Crabbe
NEXT POST: A Young Crabbe II
RELATED POSTS: Social Disgrace, Social Disgrace - Photo Edition, Social Disgrace II, Social Disgrace II - Photo Edition

28 October 2013

A Young Crabbe

Comments after the jump.

 Blanche M Crabbe Young
 B: 29 Jul 1893 in Georgia, USA
 D: 20 Sep 1971 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Alexander Jonathan "AJ" Burgess Sr (1867-1944)
 Married 19 May 1910 in Oglethorpe, Georgia
 ✿ Mabel Burgess Varner (1910-1986)
 ✿ Fred Waddell Burgess (1912-1998)
 ✿ Henry Edward Burgess (1915-1999)
 ✿ Alexander John Burgess Jr (1918-1954)

 SPOUSE
 William Samuel Eldred (1883-1956)

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Charles D "Charlie" Young (1887-1961)
 ✿ Ruby Lenora Young (1912-1983)
 ✿ Julia May Young (1925- )
 ✿ Frances Marlene Young (1934-1992)

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Harold William Young (1898-1976)
 ✿ 5 private
 ✿ Ruby Lenora Young (1912-1983)

 SPOUSE
 Harold C. Crabb (1912-1975)

 CHILDREN with Unknown Spouse
 ✿ 8 private
 ✿ Mollie Young (1875- )
 ✿ Glady Margaret Crabbe (1892-1973)
 ✿ William Walter Crabbe (1900- )
 ✿ Pearl Mae Young (1902-1989)
 ✿ Cleo Young (1906- )
 ✿ Vernon R Young (1907-1994)
 ✿ Harold Clifford Gossman (1907-1953)
 ✿ Ira Belle Summer Young (1927-2007)
 ✿ Charles George Ellis YOUNG (1935-1987)

25 October 2013

Photo Friday: The Coven

Title: A little bear on a broom
Uploaded to: Mary Lovett
Born 1 Jan 1651 in Massachusetts
Died 3 Mar 1732 in Connecticut
Attached to: 2 other trees

A Creddy Bears Halloween Image

*****
Title: Cute Halloween witch with bats
Uploaded to: Johanna Tyler
Born 1681 in Massachusetts
Died 1728 in Connecticut
Attached to: 1 other tree

 Halloween wallpaper available from various sources

*****
Title: cute little witch
Uploaded to: Martha Tyler
Born 1676 in Massachusetts
Died 1734 in Connecticut

Witch in the anime style

Thanks to Kristin for helping me with this post!
If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.



PREVIOUS POST: All Betts Are Off
NEXT POST: A Young Crabbe

21 October 2013

All Betts Are Off

Comments after the jump.

 Nicholas Camp
 B: 10 Jan 1606 in Nazing, Essex, England
 D: 1654 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

 SPOUSE & CHILDREN
 Sarah Elliott (1598-1645) m. 1621 in Essex, England
 ✿ John Betts (1601-1638)
 ✿ Mary Marie Betts (1610-1638)
 ✿ Robert Betts (1612- )
 ✿ Mary Camp (Mar 1622-1651) Born in Nazeing, Essex, England
 ✿ Edward Camp (1622-1659) Born in Hertfordshire, England
 ✿ Nicholas Camp (7 Apr 1627-1706)
 ✿ Sarah Camp (5 Aug 1627-1676)
 ✿ Deacon Samuel Camp (2 Sep 1645-1736)
 ✿ John Camp (2 Sep 1645-1710)
 ✿ William Camp (1660-1713)

 SPOUSE & CHILD
 Edith Eady Tilley (1603-1652) m. 1646 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
 ✿ Abigail Camp (1647- )

 SPOUSE
 Katherine Thompson (1623-1652) m. 1652 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, United States

18 October 2013

New DNA Results

AncestryDNA released their updated ethnicity results yesterday!
Of course the DNA portion of Ancestry.com promptly crashed.
I know, you're shocked.
Here is the new list of the possible results:
Africa
Africa North
Africa South-Central Hunter-Gatherers
Africa Southeastern Bantu
Benin/Togo
Cameroon/Congo
Ivory Coast/Ghana
Mali
Nigeria
Senegal

America
Native American

Asia
Asia Central
Asia East
Asia South

Europe
Europe East
Europe West
European Jewish
Finnish/Northern Russia
Great Britain
Iberian Peninsula
Ireland
Italy/Greece
Scandinavia

Pacific Islander
Melanesia
Polynesia

West Asia
Caucasus
Near East
I was able to get the results for all five of my tests open in separate windows in one of the short functional periods. After making all these screen caps I was going to see how this change was shown in matches and explore some of the other changes. Unfortunately the AncestryDNA site was no longer available so for today I just have images of the results to compare.
After the jump the images are side by side so you don't have to scroll up and down to see what changed for each person.
Here are the original results for (top) Dad, Mom, Mom's Aunt, (bottom) me and Baby Brother.


Here are the new results without "trace regions":


New results with "trace regions" (Dad, Mom, Mom's Aunt, Me, Brother):


After the jump: Side by side comparison

14 October 2013

Top Ten

Celebrating 200 posts!
Well this is actually #202. I'm a little late :-P
Thanks to all of you for reading my blog!
Here are the most popular posts from the first 200.

10. A Must Read Book for 'Newbies'

9. Social Disgrace: Photo Edition

8. Another WDYTYA? Rant

7. Social Disgrace

6. AncestryDNA Site Tools

5. Fixing What's Not Broken

4. You might be a clickophile

3. Free Gen Websites

2. My DNA Results

1. Apologies Only Go So Far

Here are a few of my favorites that didn't make the top ten:

You Did WHAT?!!? and The Sequel

The Time Travelers

Multiple Birth World Record 

If you have a favorite please share it with your gen friends and groups.
Thanks!
On to the next 100 :-)


PREVIOUS POST: Scottish Lass
NEXT POST: New DNA Results

11 October 2013

Scottish Lass

As always I'll just ask, why?

Title: _____
Uploaded: 6 times
1. Gillebride MacGille Argyll MacGille (1080-1164)
2. Somerled Northern Isles MacGillebride (1114-1164)
3. Donald I Maldwin Earrl Lennox Ragnaldsson (1196-1250)
4. Lord Donald Grammac Macdonald (1359-1449)
5. Andrew Alexander (1460-1526)
6. Samuel Alexander (1787-1861)
Attached to: 5 other trees


If you have a photo to suggest please send a link to buwtree(at)gmail(dot)com.



PREVIOUS POST: Apologies Only Go So Far II
NEXT POST: Coming Monday

09 October 2013

Apologies Only Go So Far II

Scott Sorenson, Ancestry.com's Chief Technology Officer, has written another blog post. It was posted late Monday afternoon just as a new wave of complaints were posted to the Ancestry.com Facebook page. Oh the irony!
The one thing that stood out for me in Scott's most recent post was, "...we can’t shut the site down while we make these fundamental changes." You can't or you won't? What is wrong with sending an email to all members a month before saying, "Starting on X date our website will be down for X number of days/weeks while we do some necessary upgrades to our system. Subscribers will have their accounts extended by the same number of days/weeks."? ALE subscribers could be sent placards to display to inform their users. The marketing modal for the month prior to the shutdown could tell users of the plan. Or maybe Ancestry just prefers to inconvenience us for months while taking our money and doesn't care if we get fed up and cancel. Of course I could be the only one that would prefer a temporary shutdown. What do you think? Please take the poll that is on the right side of the page.
UPDATE: The poll is now closed. 87% of respondents preferred a complete shutdown, with prior notice, over the constant slowdowns and outages with no warning.
The comments for Scott's blog post are an interesting read too. My favorite is from Karen. [Full disclosure: Karen is a friend of mine but we did not discuss the post before she commented on it.]
It's hard to feel sorry for the issues facing Ancestry.com as most of them are self-inflicted and ultimately lay on the shoulders of the man who has remained remarkably quiet in recent months. That man is -Tim Sullivan-CEO.
-out of date/unstable infrastructure
-marketing beyond infrastructure capabilities
-advertising that misleads the customer as to ease of use of product or over exaggerates results (DNA)
-poor training of customer service personnel
-poor utilization of customer contact channels
-release of products before major bugs worked out (FTM 2014)
-failure to provide 24 hour customer service for a world wide 24 hour business
-spelling, grammar, syntax, and flat out factual errors on company website, blogs, Facebook pages, support pages, advertising e-mails
-failure to provide timely, open and honest communication with subscriber base
There are issues across technology, marketing, product and customer service. The one person in common for all those departments is Tim Sullivan. Despite that he chooses to publicly let department heads and front line customer service personnel take the heat from the upset customers.

We are told he is hearing us but why won’t he speak to us? Why is Tim Sullivan refusing to address the issues plaguing his company with the subscriber base that provides 100% of his company’s revenues?
 After the jump: What YOU can do