Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog: January 2015

Friday, January 30, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 30, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

The last gift by Peggy Lauritzen, author of Always Anxiously Engaged
Where did your ancestors live? -- An Introduction to parcel maps AND Use Cadastral Mapping to find your ancestors AND Where did your ancestors live" -- An Introduction to City Directories by James Tanner, author of Genealogy's Star
A matter of consent by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
Encyclopedia of Municipalities and Delegations for Mexico by Moises Garza, author of Mexican Genealogy
List of Facebook Genealogy Resources by Nancy Loe, author of Sassy Jane Genealogy
SIX STEPS TO TRACK YOUR ANCESTOR'S CEMETERIES AND TOMBSTONES WITH PINTEREST by Cody Nelson, author of Meet You in Ohio
Submit Family Stories for Our Valentine’s Day Feature AND These States Have the Most Valentine’s Day Surnames by Crestleaf Blog
Missouri Death Certificates – 1964 by Anne Kruszka, author of Gene Notes
...Read how a family history fib spread in 1889, and is still spreading today! by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
Check Marks the Source by Valerie Craft, author of Begin with 'Craft'
Score Another One For Genetic Genealogy by Jacqi Stevens, author of A Family Tapestry
Let It Go? Save or Toss Those Old Family Escrow Papers? by Denise Levenick, author of The Family Curator
The best free archives online. by Christine Blythe, author of Empty Nest Genealogy
Tuesday’s Tip: Family Interviews by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
Great new tech tool for your graphics! by Cate Kunzi, author of Burning River Genealogy
What Can You Learn from AncestryDNA Matches with Very Small Trees? by Dana Leeds, author of The Enthusiastic Genealogist
His Little Green Book Was So Organized, Why Can't I Be? by Barbara Poole, author of Life From The Roots
Please Define Famous by Valerie Hughes, author of Genealogy With Valerie
Get Ready To Meet Your European Cousins with AncestryDNA by Anna Swayne for Ancestry.com Blog
Dear Randy: Why Do You Write About Your Personal Research? by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 4 Recap

This week's "May I Introduce To You" Interview

May I Introduce to You . . . Schalene Jennings Dagutis

New Blog Discoveries

I also want to share this beautiful article with you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

Loving Those Who Have Gone before Us by Ryan Kelly in the February 2015 Ensign Magazine

In Case You Missed It….My Contribution to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

A New and Exciting Cousin Connection

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Monday, January 26, 2015

A New and Exciting Cousin Connection

I have very exciting news to share with you. A few months ago, I was contacted by a gentleman because he saw my genealogy blog while doing an internet search. It turns out that this gentleman is a cousin. This new cousin connection is quite a happy surprise for our family.

This isn't a distant cousin connection. This is a close cousin connection. You'll see what I mean as you read further in this post.

This cousin's name is Marco and he lives in Brazil. Marco left a comment on my personal blog's Facebook page.

Here's a little bit of background so you know how Marco fits in my family tree.

My regular readers will probably recognize the name of my great-grandfather, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster. I refer to him as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. Watson changed his name to Frederick sometime during his life. Throughout the rest of this post, I'll refer to him as Frederick.

Frederick and his second wife, Esther Matus Villatoro, who I descend from, had five children:

Carlota Adelia Webster
Edna Lillie Webster
Debs Warren Webster (my grandfather)
Eugene Rollin Webster
Alice Webster

Carlota and Debs were the only children to survive to adulthood.

With this background in mind, I'll explain what happened when Marco contacted me. He told me that his mother was a daughter of my great-grandfather, Frederick. I wondered if he was mistaken. As I mentioned, only two of Frederick and Esther's children survived to adulthood, my grandfather and his sister Carlota. In 1955, my grandfather traveled to Mexico to visit his sister Carlota and her family. And Marco wasn't one of Carlota's children.

Well, through a series of emails in which Marco and I shared photos, documents, and information, it turns out that his mother is in fact a daughter of my great-grandfather, Frederick! It appears that late in life Frederick did have another child. And that child is Marco's mother.

This means that my mother has a newly-discovered aunt (Marco's mother) and I have a newly-discovered great-aunt. And Marco is my mom's newly-discovered 1st cousin and my 1st cousin once removed. See? This cousin connection is a very close cousin connection.

The photo at the top of this post was sent to me by Marco. It's a picture of my great-grandfather Frederick holding Marco's mother (right) and a young boy (left). I wondered if this little boy was Frederick's child too, but Marco told me he was not Frederick's son.

My mom and I are so excited about this new cousin connection. And we're so happy that Marco found my genealogy blog and contacted me.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Friday, January 23, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 23, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Over 160 New U.S. Free Online Newspaper Collection Links by Kenneth R. Marks, author of THE ANCESTOR HUNT
A new clue! by Debi Austen, author of Who Knew?
Whose DNA it is anyway? AND The mentors AND Following up on death by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
Want To Be A Geneablogger? by Fran Ellsworth for Worldwide Genealogy ~ A Genealogical Collaboration
Hey Everyone, I've Moved! by Andrea Kelleher, author of How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey
We've moved! by Bryna O'Sullivan, author of Researching Luxembourg Genealogy
Tuesday’s Tip: Heirloom.net by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
The Source Clipboard AND More about the Source Clipboard AND Legacy and AniMap by Michele Simmons Lewis, author of Ancestoring
Does Anybody Really Care about a Fifth Cousin? Are Collateral Lines Relevant? by Amy B. Cohen, author of Brotman Blog: A Family Journey
The Real Reason Why Your Ancestors Didn’t Smile in Old Photographs AND These Famous Kin of Thomas Jefferson Will Surprise You by Crestleaf Blog
Ancestry.com and Mexican Genealogy Research by Moises Garza, author of Mexican Genealogy
FamilySearch Releases More Record Hints by Ancestry Insider, author of The Ancestry Insider
Skeletons in the Closet by Susan Wallin Mosey, author of family history daily
Jewish Museum of Prague: Old Jewish Cemetery by Marilyn Robinson, author of Jewish Gem's Genealogy: Mining For Your Elusive Ancestors
What Happens To Your Genealogy Research When You're Gone? by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, author of The Olive Tree Genealogy
Statistics in Legacy by Shannon Thomas, author of Our Life Picture by Picture
Guest Authors Share Their Expertise by Lynn Palermo, author of The Armchair Genealogist
Hitting the Jackpot on Facebook by Valerie Hughes, author of Genealogy With Valerie
The Real Me by Sally Knudsen, author of Sally Searches
Are Your Ancestors the Average of 5 Records? by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 3 Recap

This week's "May I Introduce To You" Interview

May I Introduce to You . . . Dara McGivern

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed It….My Contribution to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Family Vacation in Utah

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Family Vacation in Utah

After Christmas, we spent about a week in Utah. We had so much fun spending time together as a family. Creating family memories is so very important.

It turned out to be a very cold week. And when I say cold, I mean freezing. The temperatures were usually in the teens and twenties during the days. Yes. It was frigid. The air felt like refrigerator air.

I live in an area that doesn't get snow. And our high temperatures in winter are pretty mild compared with Utah. So, it was quite novel for us to see it snowing and to spend a week somewhere with snow on the ground. We arrived on a Saturday and it snowed on Sunday and Monday. This is what we woke up to on Monday morning.

This is my husband scraping our car…while it was snowing. He was heading out to a store. Brave man!

Did I mention that we're not used to snow? Of course, I had to take pictures of the cold fluffy stuff.

It's really pretty.

Especially from inside a warm house. Haha!

The temperatures never rose above freezing that week, so there was plenty of time for ice to form on the ground. Unfortunately, at the end of the week, I slipped and fell on the ice. Yep. I did. Thankfully, it wasn't a hard fall. I was a bit sore, but I'm fine. And I'm so grateful for that.

I'll be sharing more pictures from our trip to Utah in a future post.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Friday, January 16, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 16, 2015

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

Announcing the Genetic Genealogy Standards by Blaine Bettinger, author of THE GENETIC GENEALOGIST
How To Preserve Old Photos Without Losing Your Mind by Dick Eastman, author of
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
Tuesday’s Tip: Facebook Group Etiquette by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
Getting Creative with Genea-Graphics by Caitlin Gow, author of Genealogically Speaking
10 YEARS, OVER 150 RECORDS REQUESTED–HOW MANY DID I ACTUALLY RECEIVE? by Diane Gould Hall, author of MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS
Why are ther Blue "Silver" Books? by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
Tuesday's Tip: Staying On Track with a Research Log by Miriam J. Robbins, author of AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
Tagging and Notebooks in Evernote by Shannon Thomas, author of Our Life Picture by Picture
Legacy by Michele Simmons Lewis, author of Ancestoring
Instead of Failing, Read the Instructions by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small
Geneabloggers - Who and Where are you? by Jill Ball, author of GeniAus
Robert Erickson, Champion Plowman by Susan Wallin Mosey, author of Family History Daily
30 Days to Becoming Unforgettable – Day 13 by Valerie Elkins, author of Family Cherished
Visit your Ancestral Village Online by Mary Foxworthy, author of Roots & Stuff
NEW GENEAGEM DISCOVERED! BLM WEBSITE by Linda Stufflebean, author of Empty Branches on the Family Tree
Testing Evernote Scannable by Patrick Jones, author of Frequent Traveler Ancestry
The other housekeeper by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
Rededicating myself to collateral lines by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 2 Recap

This week's "May I Introduce To You" Interview

May I Introduce to You . . . Devon Lee

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Jana's Place

The Latest Happenings ~ Missionary Son Update – Snow…ish Stuff

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

An Exciting Mention In The FamilySearch Blog

Last night I checked the FamilySearch Blog and got an amazing surprise. My genealogy blog was mentioned in the article FamilySearch’s Top 10 Most Searched Record Collections: Collection 1—United States Census Records, by Alivia L. Whitaker, dated January 9, 2015. A paragraph from a blog post I wrote about the 1940 U.S. Census was quoted as well.

I am so incredibly honored, and actually a bit stunned, to be mentioned in an article on the FamilySearch Blog! Thank you so much Alivia for the mention!

The FamilySearch Blog contains many wonderful, informative, and helpful articles. You can access the FamilySearch Blog by going to the FamilySearch website at familysearch.org. At the bottom of the FamilySearch home page you'll find the Blog's link.

Here's a screenshot of the FamilySearch website. The red arrow is pointing to the link for the FamilySearch Blog. Just click on the link and you'll be directed to the Blog.

Here's a close-up view so you can see the FamilySearch Blog link better.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to read the many fantastic articles on the FamilySearch Blog.

Note: I wrote my blog post that was quoted in the FamilySearch article back when I first began blogging in April 2012. My quoted paragraph in the FamilySearch Blog article contains two bracketed words, indicating corrections to those words in my original post. One word was an error and one was the use of the word "kinda" instead of "kind of" which does sound better. I've now corrected those words in my blog post. This just goes to show you that it's a good idea to revisit old blog posts to make sure there aren't any errors, especially if you are planning on creating a book from your blog, which I am planning on doing.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun ~ My Ancestor Score for January 2015

I decided to participate in tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF) brought to us by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings. Here's what Randy proposed for tonight's SNGF (shared from his blog):

1) Determine how complete your genealogy research is. For background, read Crista Cowan's post Family History All Done? What’s Your Number? and Kris Stewart's What Is Your Genealogy "Score?" For comparison purposes, keep the list to 10 or 11 generations with you as the first person.
2) Create a table similar to Crista's second table, and fill it in however you can (you could create an Ahnentafel (Ancestor Name) list and count the number in each generation, or use some other method). Tell us how you calculated the numbers.
3) Show us your table, and calculate your "Ancestral Score" - what is your percentage of known names to possible names (1,023 for 10 generations).
4) For extra credit (or more SNGF), do more generations and add them to your chart.
5) Post your table, and your "Ancestor Score," on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status post or Google+ Stream post.

I thought this would be an interesting idea. I've seen this kind of thing before, but had never made an "Ancestor Name Chart" or figured out the "Ancestor Score" for my own family tree.

Here's my Ancestor Name Chart.

And here's my "Ancestor Score" for my family tree:

Number of known ancestor names = 405
Number of possible ancestor names = 1,023
Ten generation ancestor name score = 405/1,023 = 39.6%

In order to make my Ancestor Name Chart, I created an Ancestor Book Report using my Legacy Family Tree database. I then created a PDF of the report and counted the ancestors in each generation. I put that information in the Excel chart (above). Like Randy, I chose to exclude ancestors who didn't have a first name.

Through five generations the percentage stays at 100%. After that things start to go downhill. And my ancestral score isn't very high. I obviously have a lot of work to do. But, I suppose it could be worse. You see, I can't take the credit for finding all of the ancestors in my family tree. I was blessed to have inherited genealogy research from my father, Jan Iverson, a lot of which had been done by a professional genealogist many years ago. The professional genealogist was hired by my paternal grandmother, Ingrid Gillberg, to help us with our Scandinavian lines.

I'm also blessed to have in my possession the excellent and very well-sourced three-volume family history books called Waterman Family, Descendants of Robert Waterman by Donald Lines Jacobus which provide priceless information about my Waterman ancestors.

Even with all of the wonderful genealogy research I've been given, there is still so much more research that needs to be done. This fan chart from FamilySearch illustrates this. As you can see, there are holes in this chart that need to be filled. My mom is at the center of this chart. She's still living, so I blurred her name for privacy reasons.

What about you? What's your Ancestor Score?

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Friday, January 9, 2015

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for January 9, 2015

After a two-week vacation, Fab Finds is back. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)

BCG PORTFOLIO MADNESS by Cari Taplin, author of GENEALOGY PANTS
Genealogy Do-Over: Schedule of Topics by Thomas MacEntee, author of GeneaBloggers
31 Funny Genealogy Quotes That Will Have Your Ancestors Rolling in Their Graves by Crestleaf Blog
It starts with just one clue... by Jen Baldwin, author of Ancestral Breezes
Adding Your Blog to Find-a-Grave by Valerie Hughes, author of Genealogy With Valerie
How to Link to a Specific Blog Post and Why You Should by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small
Wisdom Wednesday - Getting Over Source Snobbery by Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana, author of The Last Leaf On This Branch
FamilySearch Considers Alternatives to Double-Blind Indexing AND Darned Records: When You Let Gollum Index by Ancestry Insider, author of The Ancestry Insider
OCCUPATION FILES ON ANCESTRY–1600-1995–What are they? Have you seen these? by Diane Gould Hall, author of MICHIGAN FAMILY TRAILS
Chart Chick Insider's Guide to Salt Lake City--Updated! by Janet Hovorka, author of The Chart Chick
New Year. New Goals. Same Awesome Challenge. by Lynn Palermo, author of The Armchair Genealogist
Family Flash Cards by Emily Kowalski Schroeder, author of Growing Little Leaves
Putting the flesh on the bones of genealogy by James Tanner, author of Genealogy's Star
New scheduling tools are now available for RootsTech 2015 by Renee Zamora, author of Renee's Genealogy Blog
Questioning my assumptions by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is back! by Amberly, author of THEGENEALOGYGIRL
Ohio Genealogical Society’s Annual Writing Competition for 2015 by Julie Cahill Tarr, author of Julie's Genealogy & History Hub
Genealogy Do-Over: Week 1 Myrt's Quasi-Do-Over Plan by Pat Richley-Erickson, author of Dear Myrtle
Check for Coroner Records by Joanne Cowden, author of Researching Relatives
Freemasonry Records for Genealogy by Heather Collins, author of OF TREES & INK
Tuesday's Tip: City Directories May Contain Death Dates by Beth Gatlin, author of So Many Ancestors!
New Website Helps Researchers Locate Reconstruction-Era Records for African American Genealogy, History by Thomas MacEntee, author of GeneaPress

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small -

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

Adding A Sweet Little Leaf To Our Family Tree

Jana's Place

It Was So Cold, Our Camera Quit Working

Thanks for reading!

Jana

Monday, January 5, 2015

Adding A Sweet Little Leaf To Our Family Tree

Last November my husband and I became grandparents for the first time. And we're so very excited! Our daughter and son-in-law welcomed a sweet new baby boy into their family. He's just so adorable.

Because of this new and exciting addition to our family, I've gone through and updated my profiles on my social media sites and replaced the words "soon-to-be grandma" with "Grandma." Yay! I've also updated my genealogy database as well. It was so much fun to add our new grandson's name to my Legacy Family Tree database.

Our daughter, son-in-law, and new grandson live in another state. Last week we visited them and my husband and I were able to meet our sweet little grandson in person for the first time. Of course I took tons of pictures. And I wish I could share a photo of our adorable little grandson with you, but for privacy reasons, I won't be able to do that. You'll just have to take my word for it that he's just the cutest little guy.

Being a grandma is awesome!

Thanks for reading!

Jana

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