Andy's 2011 Index Challenge - win a One Year World Deluxe membership to Ancestry.com

The contest begins January 1, 2011. Here's the notice from Andrew G. Hatchett III: 

Win a One Year World Deluxe Membership!

The contest will run from January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011.

First Place Winner will receive a One Year World Deluxe Membership.
Second Place Winner will receive a One Year U.S. Deluxe Membership.
Third Place winner will receive a One Year Subscription to FootNote.

The purpose of the contest is twofold:
1) To help Ancestry identify every census sheet of each U.S.Census from 1850 through 1930 on which the first name on the census sheet does not match the first name on the Ancestry Index shown below the census sheet image.
2) To demonstrate the need for an actual centralized place to report indexing and other problems.

The rules are simple:

Each entry will be awarded one point if it is the first to report such a mis-indexed census sheet.
Each entry must be submitted in the specific format required (See Below for details).
Each entry must be posted to the "2011 Index Challenge Entries" thread on the US Census General Message Board as a direct reply to the original post in that thread.
Entries posted as replies to other entries in the thread will not be counted as valid entries.

Please note that entries should only be for those sheets where the first names on the census sheet and the Ancestry Index do not match.  Other indexing errors within the census should not be posted as a contest entry.

Those errors previously reported will not be considered valid entries:

• 1860, Georgetown Ward 1, Washington, DC Census
• 1860, Mannington Township, Salem County, New Jersey Census 

Required Entry Format-All entries should be submitted in the following format:

Valid entries will consist of four lines.

Line 1= Image number from Ancestry Index shown below the census image.
Line 2= URL of Census Sheet (This can be copied from your Browser Bar)
Line 3= First name on census sheet
Line 4= First name on Ancestry Index shown below census image.

Nothing else should be included in the submission.

Post entries HERE; learn more about or discuss the contest HERE

Image below provides a detailed explanation of where to find this information on the census sheet and Ancestry Index below it:

The contest will run from 1 Jan 2011 through 31 Dec 2011
Winners will be announced as quickly as possible after the close of contest.

Please note that this contest is neither sponsored nor are prizes being awarded by Ancestry.com
The contest is sponsored and prizes will be awarded by a paid subscriber of Ancestry.com

Andrew G. Hatchett III
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Quite simply- I'm tired of the indexing mess over there!

A closer look at FamilySearch "Historical Record Collection" sources

Yesterday I noticed FamilySearch had invited all of us to add source citations to it's Historical Records Collections. See, "Are FamilySearch "Historical Record Collections" sources really subject to open addition/edit?" (27 December 2010). Today I'm taking a closer look, from a user's perspective, at those same Historical Record Collection sources.

Earlier this month, I blogged about locating the 1797 death record of little Hannah Preston. (See, "Love it when a deal comes together!" 2 December 2010.)  As part of the test run today, I'll try to locate the source information for Hannah's database and digital image entries in the FamilySearch Historical Record Collection, "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947." 

Note: I started a discussion about the topics in this blog on the wiki page related to "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947." Click HERE to access that discussion page.  (You have to log-in to FamilySearch to post on the discussion. I hope you will.)

What we see: Setting up the search

There is source information available on the search page (see the lower clip in the graphic). That information doesn't seem to refer to the same database I'm searching, "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947"; rather, the posted "Source Information" refers to a 2010 database by FamilySearch titled "New Hampshire Death Records, 1901-1948." I'm looking for a death that occurred in 1797--much, much earlier than 1901.  The "source of the source" to the presented citation references those same dates (1901-1948). 

The search page has a small window, "Quick Facts"; it calls out yet another date range, "1799-1800." (I never did learn how those "Quick Facts" are supposed to help me.)

There are two "Learn More" links on the search page. Both of those lead to a related wiki, titled "New Hampshire Statewide Deaths."  In the next graphic, we'll take a look at that wiki.

What we see: Related Historical Records Wiki

I don't know why someone chose to give the wiki a different name ("New Hampshire Statewide Deaths") than the database (New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947"). Personally, I found that a little confusing.

I discovered other inconsistencies on the wiki page, especially about the record dates. We know the database title carries the dates "1654-1947"; however, in one section, "Collection Time Period," someone entered, "This collection includes information for the years 1639-1948"--so, beginning 15 years earlier than the database title suggests and ending one year later.  Another section, "Record History," opens with, "Town Clerks began recording deaths as early as 1640." (Okay, so where do those 1639 records come from? Are they in the otherwise 1654-1947-dated database?)

It would have been nice to see the various entries on the wiki page referenced to footnotes, like Wikipedia does.

Toward the bottom of the wiki was a section titled, "Sources of Information for This Collection"--it contained the same citation information I'd seen on the search page, referencing those same dates, "1901-1948." The "source of the source" in those two citations refers to Family History Library microfilm. In the next graphic, I'll try to resolve my title and date differences by locating source information in the Family History Library Catalog. From the source of the source, here is what I will look for:

Author: New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics
Title: New Hampshire Death Records, 1901-1948
Microfilm: 316 rolls

Arithmetic 101: Family History Online Catalog (first take)

 

Using the Family History Library Catalog's search function, I pulled up titles by the author, "New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records." (Note the shorter author name; there were NO returns for the longer author, "New Hampshire Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics.") There were eight returns, none matched the title, "... Death Records 1901-1948." There were two death-related titles, as below and in the graphic above.

• Death Certificates, 1901-1937
• Death Certificates, 1938-1947

Both death-related titles were filmed by GSU. The first title was filmed in 1997 and 1998; the second, in 2002. In total, the two titles represent 256 microfilm reels.

According to the source information (Record Search and wiki pages), I'm looking for 316 rolls of film and, of course, to find little Hannah's death, records dated much earlier.

I've exhausted my breadcrumbs from source/source of the source information reported on the database search page and wiki. In the next graphic, I return to Record Search and try to trace the source information from clues in Hannah Preston's database entry. 

Taking another route from Record Search to FHL Catalog

The database entry for Hannah Preston, died 1797 at Rumney, provides for three numerical references:

• film number: 1001099
• digital folder number: 4243768
• image number: 01268

Using the "film number," I searched the Family History Library Catalog online to locate an associated source. Indeed, a title returned "Index to deaths, early to 1900," author as New Hampshire, Registrar of Vital Statistics, said to represent 60 reels of microfilm (no doubt the missing 60 reels from the earlier search). The records in this film-associated source are arranged "by surname, [using] the first and third letter."

Sure enough, scrolling down to the film-by-film list of records for that source, I find surnames "Pierce to Pelton" (in which the Preston records would be found) said to be recorded on film 1001099.

Yes!

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am forever beholden to FamilySearch for all they have and continue to do. Without FamilySearch and the volunteer digitization efforts, it's unlikely I'd have found the 1797 death record that plays such an important role in questions about my early families. 

On the other hand, I'm sure folks (and more than just a few) have recorded the now-seems-bogus source data represented on the search page and wiki for "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947"/"New Hampshire Statewide Deaths"--that's sad.

If we want modern technology to support online citations, we first need easily discernible, reliable online source information. --GJ

Are FamilySearch "Historical Record Collection" sources really subject to open addition/edit?

See also subsequent blog entry, "A closer look at FamilySearch 'Historical Record Collection' source."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Today I noticed FamilySearch has invited all of us to add source citations to it's Historical Records Collections.  See, "New Hampshire State Wide Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)."

Have I misinterpreted this open invitation? Perhaps someone from FamilySearch will correct my understanding.

Seems "we" are able to write/edit the instructions/procedures "we" should follow to create that same source data, too, since the instructions are in another wiki. See "FamilySearch Wiki:Guidelines for FamilySearch Historical Collections pages."

Oooo. I hope "we" misunderstood this. Hate to see the FamilySearch Historical Records Collections' source information take on characteristics of the old IGI.  --GJ

Just in time for Christmas: The tombstone of Peter Miller (1779-1845)

Bask in the sunlight! Feel the joy!
Some things were meant to be celebrated.

Peter Miller was born Pennsylvania 10 Aug 1779, died Stark County, Ohio, 11 June 1845. He married first, at Pennsylvania, ca 1800, Rosanna Kimmerling, born 17 Sept 1781; died 17 June 1813, dau. Ludwick and Anna (Bonewitz) Kimmerling. Peter married second, Columbiana County, Ohio, 29 Dec 1813 by James McCracken, Mary Stewart, born ?Maryland, 1786; died Paris Twp., Stark County, Ohio, April 1855.

Seven children were born to Peter and Rosanna; five to Peter and Mary. Twelve children survived at the time of Peter's death.

Our many thanks to David Brower for sharing the image, included here with his permission.

Select Sources
[1] LVene (Smith) Thomas, Miller Ancestral Chart, c1997, 26 pp., supplied by Thomas (1910-2004), Iowa, correspondence to GJ, 1997; based on her family knowledge and research, c1935-1997, about Peter Miller's descendants. According to her son, John, the obituaries, wills and other documents that LVene saved are maintained in three ring binders, which he inherited upon her death (int. of J. H. Thomas, February 2008); the collection includes only a few of the many letters she received from relatives over the years; reports date of birth and death for Peter Miller, Rosanna Kimmerling (as d. 17 June 1803 [sic]), birth and death for Mary Stewart; father of Rosanna Kimmerling; various children's births. LVene (Smith) Thomas was a descendant of Peter Miller by his son, John Miller m. Rebecca Firestone Carle.
[2] Date of Miller-Kimmerling marriage estimated based on the birth of their first child, Samuel Miller, b. 26 Sept 1801. Place of Miller-Kimmerling marriage as Pennsylvania based on where Rosanna's father lived at about the time of their marriage and where Peter and Rosanna's first four children were born.
[3] Will of Peter Miller, dated 8 June 1845, probated Stark County, Ohio, 17 Jun 1845; filed Stark County wills B: 374. The will calls out the names of Peter's 12 known children and provides the names of his daughters' husbands.
[4] Clifford T. Wig, "Family Tree of Daniel Miller and Lucinda Baker, " Canton, Ohio, 1986,  FHL film no. 1321475 Item 8. Clifford Wig's grandson descends of Peter Miller by the his son, Daniel Miller. Wig reports Peter Miller b. 1779, d. 11 June 1845.
[5] Mrs. John L. (Helen) Preston (1899-1988), genealogical file, charts and research notes, c1930-1980. Helen was born at Ross County, Ohio; she and John lived at Chillicothe from about the time of their marriage until the early 1950s. They traveled to various towns and counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania in search of evidence about John's ancestors. 
[6] Subsequent correspondence with Jack Stover, e-mails of 27 Dec 2010, citing Stark County Chapter OGS, Cemetery Inscriptions ... Vol. 1 (15 Feb 1982), p. 346, reports "Peter Miller (d. 11 June 1845; a 66y)." [GJ Note: If Peter Miller was ae 66 at the time of his death and also born on August 10th, then he was born in 1778, not 1779 as most of our family histories suggest. ]

Any time you connect a Miller, it's a good day!

My family descends of Peter Miller (1779-1845), by his first wife, Rosanna Kimmerling (1871-1813). Peter and Rosanna's eldest son was Samuel K. Miller (1801-1886). Samuel marred, we believe, Magdalena Smouse; they were the parents of 9 children, Rosannah, John Peter, Mary Ann, Sarah, Elizabeth Jane, Catherine, George Carl and Samuel Smouse.

We knew Samuel K. Miller died at 1886 Carroll County, Iowa, where his nephew lived. Just earlier, in 1885, the Iowa State Census reported a man who otherwise fit Samuel's description, then widowed, living with a Samuel and Catherine Barrett and family at Highland, Guthrie County, Iowa. It even reported Samuel Miller to be a retired miller.  As with all things, especially Miller, we need to be sure.

From a separate family record of births, we believed Samuel and Magdalena had a daughter named Catherine born 14 April 1837. The death certificate of Catherine M. Barrett confirms she was aka Catherine (Miller) Barrett, the daughter of our Samuel, as below. It lists her mother's name as Elizabeth ?Smouse, but otherwise appears a solid record. The informant is a Mrs. W. A. Dobson. We'll do some more research to learn if that might be aka Ina [(Barrett)] Dobson, the daughter who was reported living with Samuel and Catherine (Miller) Barrett at Highland in the census of 1900.

Here's to hoping descendants of this family might have more information about dear ol' Peter Miller or maybe more clues about where Samuel was born.

One spoonful at a time: 1816 news noticing William Preston and John Preston

Today I found this little item about William and John Preston letters remaining at the Post office at Piqua, Ohio in 1816. I'll spend the rest of the night wondering what treasures might have been in those letters.

Our family descends of William Preston (1780-?1837), son of Maj. William and Elizabeth (?Clark) Preston [NHVR, Rumny TR]. William Preston (we call him Sheriff William Preston) was born at Runney, Grafton County, New Hampshire. [NHVR]

The last record I attribute to William Preston at New Hampshire is dated October 1808. [1] There is a record of marriage intention for John Preston and Mary Cook, published Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1811. [2] A brother, Collins Preston, died at Boston in 1812. [3]

We are still working to piece together details of how and when William and John Preston (1789-1819) made their way to Ohio. Defiance area histories report they were soldiers and/or officers in the War of 1812, but we have not found matching reference to the men. With his brother John, William is said one of the first settlers of Fort Defiance after the war of 1812. [4] Local (Defiance) research reports the Fort was abandoned by U.S. Troops "in the spring of 1815." [5]

William Preston married probably at Defiance, Ohio, 07 December 1820, Asenath Butler (1803-1888), dau. John Butler. [6]

William's brother John Preston married 1814, as the first of her three husbands, Sophia Ewing (1796-1867), dau. of Alexander and Charlotte (Griffith) Ewing. [7] Separately, the early Ewing family resided Piqua, Miami County, Ohio.

----- Select references ----_
[1] Frederick Chase and John King Lord, A History of Dartmouth College ... (1913); digital images, Google Books (http://books.google.com: accessed 20 Jan 2008), p 633 [seems vol. 2], "... and William and Collin Preston for $2000 to blast out and complete the lock."
[2] Gloucester, Massachusetts, "Vital Records of Gloucester ....., 2: 439, "John [Preston] of Rumney and Mary Cook, int. June 22, 1811"; digital images Massachusetts Vital Record Project (http://www.ma-vitalrecords.org: accessed 12 Dec 2007)
[3] "Died--," Collins Preston obituary, The (Boston, Massachusetts) Repertory and General Advertiser, Friday, October 9, 1812; digital image, NewsBank, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 18 November 2007), "Historical Newspapers" collection.
[4] Nevin O. Winter, History of Northwest Ohio, Vol. 1 (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1917), pgs. 404-414, chapter 32, Defiance County, pg. 405 for this reference.
[5] Louis A. Simmonis, "Fort Winchester 1812, The Greater Defiance (Ohio) Area Tourism and Visitors' Bureau ( http://www.defiancetourism.com/history.htm : accessed June 2006).
[6a] Wood County, Ohio, marriages, book 1, p. 2; "Mr. William Preston and Miss Assenith Butler," by John Perkins, J.P.; image copy from FHL film 406,699. They probably married at Defiance. See Wood County, Ohio marriages, same volume, same page, Billair-Gordon, marriage by William Preston, JP, and the dateline, "Defiance November 22nd, 1820" -15 days prior to Preston-Butler marriage. The Billair marriage also recorded 30 May 1821 at Wood County. Ohio created both Wood and Williams counties at the same time (1820), but Williams was attached to Wood for certain government functions until 1824. See Charles Elihu Slocum, History of the Maumee River Basin (Indianapolis: Bowen & Slocum), 528, "The Commissioners of Wood County organized the Township of Auglaise to include the territory of [Henry, Paulding and Williams] Counties. The court appointed March 7, 1820, John Perkins and William Preston of Defiance Justices of the Peace in and for Auglaise Township for a period of three years..."
[6b] Thomas Spooner, Records of William Spooner of Plymouth ... (1883), p. 253, entry for Asa Ruggles Thomas; digital images ...
[7a] Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958, database, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org: 13 Dec 2010), cites FHL film 550177, p. 68 no 213.
[7b] Wallace A. Brice, History of Fort Wayne, from the Earliest Known Accounts of this Point (1868); digital images, GoogleBook Search (http://books.google.com : accessed 1 March 2008), for Col. G. W. Ewing, "The Ewings..." pages 23 -28, a biographical family sketch.

----- Revisions ----
3 Jun 2011: Updated entry in "Select references" to add more detail in support of a separate, pending blog entry.
2013: Removed GenealogyBank image.

Bear working on a picture ....

The blog related to this graphic is posted at Build A BetterGedcom, entry of December 14, 2010.

Enjoy. --GJ

Love it when a deal comes together!

For quite some time, my files have contained written identity proofs about Hannah Preston (1796-1797), dau. Maj. William Preston and wife Elizabeth,  and Maj. William's sister, Hannah Preston (born 1756), daughter William Preston and Hannah Healey.

The 1797 New Hampshire vital record death entry for Hannah Preston of Rumney, Grafton County, New Hampshire, was included in a well documented, modern-day genealogy, Scott A. Bartley, Vermont Families in 1791 (Genealogical Society of Vermont, 1992), 2: 159-167. The death was associated with Hannah Preston born Chester, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, 25 March 1756, [citing VR] daughter William Preston and Hannah Healey. [Remarks about births, "Recorded as children of William Presson and Hannah Healay."]

I suspected identities of the Hannahs might be confused as Maj. William Preston and his second  wife, Mary Herbert, named a daughter Hannah Herbert Preston (b. 1811). Attempts to located traces of Hannah Preston b. 1796, who was a twin of Joseph, turned up only records of Hannah Preston married 13 Sept 1774, Asahel Brainerd (bef 1754-1813) of Rumney. [The genealogy of the Brainerd-Brainard family in America : 1654-1908 (1908), vol. 1-part 3, pp. 52-3.]

Today the 1797 New Hampshire death record was located at FamilySearch Labs, in the collection, "New Hampshire Death Records, 1654-1947." The record clearly reports the Hannah deceased 1797 as daughter of William Preston and Elizabeth.

Locating this 1797 death record helps with separate on-going research about my direct ancestor, believed Maj. William's eldest child, otherwise Sheriff William Preston of Defiance and Williams counties, Ohio. Among the many documents contributing to that father-son proof is snippet from 1807 obituary of Elizabeth (?Clark) Preston saying she  left "eleven children to morn." [The Sun, Dover (New Hampshire) Gazette, and County Advertiser, Saturday, June 27, 1807, pg. 3, col. 1.] The births of twelve children to Elizabeth are recorded in Rumney vital records, so it's nice to have a document identifying the name of one child known to have pre-deceased the mother.

Yes! --GJ