So far, my family tree experiment has not garnered any responses from cousins on my Smith line, so I'm continuing with my Martin line:
My mother, Altha Corinne Martin (she's listed as Alta Corene Martin on her birth certificate), was born in Moon Township (near Chappells), Newberry County, South Carolina, on 19 December 1920. She died in Newberry, Newberry County, South Carolina, 16 June 2007. She lived her early life in Newberry County until she met and married my father, and after World War II she and Dad lived in East Orange until 1960, when they returned to Newberry County. She lived there until her death.
She was the youngest child of George Washington Martin, born 12 January 1882 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, who died 12 November 1964 in Newberry. He lived most of his life in Edgefield County and Newberry County.
Granddaddy Martin was the son of Edmon Manley Martin, who lived primarily in Edgefield District/County from about 1827 until his death between 1894 and 1900. His burial location has not yet been located.
Edmon was the son of James S. Martin, who lived in the Pleasant Lane area of Edgefield District/County. James was born about 1797 and died after 1880.
When I added Edmon Manley Martin to my MyHeritage tree, I was immediately notified that there were two potential matches to other trees. One was from a person I didn't know (but who definitely had the right wife and children for Edmon), and the other was from a tree maintained by my first cousin once removed, James (I didn't know he had put up a family tree). I confirmed the match for these two trees. I then synced my updates to my Family Tree Builder tree on my Mac.
Adding my Martins to my Ancestry tree, I encountered a number of helpful hints (both records and family trees). I added the records that matched, again keeping in mind that I would need to follow up on the trees belonging to other people at a later date.
I added the Martins to WeRelate, but there were no matches.
I went to WikiTree to add the Martins. When I went to enter a death date for Edmon Manley Martin, I found that I could not enter a range (that he died between 1894 and 1900). I left it as "after 1894" for now. So far, no matches for my Martins on WikiTree.
I completed my Martin updates by going to FamilySearch and adding sources to the Martins that I had previously entered.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Find A Grave - an experiment to transfer memorials
On Facebook (in some genealogy group) there was a thread that discussed experiences in having Find A Grave memorials transferred. I decided to test this myself today by going to all of my parents', grandparents', and great-grandparents' memorials and requesting that they be transferred to me.
I now await the results.
UPDATE: My first 3 requests from my SC hometown (all from the same cemetery under the control of the same person) were honored in less than 4 hours.
UPDATE 2: 3 more requests, this time from New Jersey (as with the previous set, from the same cemetery under the control of the same person) were just honored. That set took a little over 2 days. This leaves 1 in Florida and 3 in South Carolina.
I now await the results.
UPDATE: My first 3 requests from my SC hometown (all from the same cemetery under the control of the same person) were honored in less than 4 hours.
UPDATE 2: 3 more requests, this time from New Jersey (as with the previous set, from the same cemetery under the control of the same person) were just honored. That set took a little over 2 days. This leaves 1 in Florida and 3 in South Carolina.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Smith - Some concluding thoughts
1. I like putting folks up on MyHeritage (and synced with Family Tree Builder), but I've no luck yet with matching anyone else with Smart Matches on my Smith line. I may find that some of my other lines will have better luck in that area.
2. I have a number of people to contact on Ancestry regarding my Smith line (at least one is someone I've been in some contact with for years), but I'm worried that most of them have simply copied their data from others, so it will be difficult to track down the originator. The hints to sources were generally useful.
3. I don't think I'll go forward with Geni.com at this point, considering that there are free alternatives.
4. WeRelate and WikiTree were ok, but I probably won't see greater value until I am looking at my oldest lines.
5. The FamilySearch tree has been interesting. I discovered some new sources for my Smiths, or sources that I didn't know had been indexed online, but I probably won't face having to untangle some mismatches until I get to my Bodie line (which won't be for a little while). I enjoyed the process of looking for matches, choosing whether or not to merge them, and basically cleaning up some oddities (I found one of my set of direct Irish ancestors, not in the Smith line, that had been entered using Italian first names! Very strange!).
Now on to my Mom's direct line, the Martins. A very different geography from my Smiths.
2. I have a number of people to contact on Ancestry regarding my Smith line (at least one is someone I've been in some contact with for years), but I'm worried that most of them have simply copied their data from others, so it will be difficult to track down the originator. The hints to sources were generally useful.
3. I don't think I'll go forward with Geni.com at this point, considering that there are free alternatives.
4. WeRelate and WikiTree were ok, but I probably won't see greater value until I am looking at my oldest lines.
5. The FamilySearch tree has been interesting. I discovered some new sources for my Smiths, or sources that I didn't know had been indexed online, but I probably won't face having to untangle some mismatches until I get to my Bodie line (which won't be for a little while). I enjoyed the process of looking for matches, choosing whether or not to merge them, and basically cleaning up some oddities (I found one of my set of direct Irish ancestors, not in the Smith line, that had been entered using Italian first names! Very strange!).
Now on to my Mom's direct line, the Martins. A very different geography from my Smiths.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Smith - Unified Trees
It's time to look at the options for unified trees. I'll save the RootsMagic/FamilySearch sync for last.
First, Geni.com. I entered my Smiths, and when I got to great-great-grandfather James Smith, I was told that there were 40 possible matches. I then entered additional data (a date and location of death), and the number dropped to 20. However, in order to see those, I would need to be a Geni member. So I'll hold off on that for another future date.
Next up, WeRelate. I first searched for each of my Smiths to see if they were already there. None appeared to match, so I began the process of adding them. It took me a few minutes to master the system of adding pages to the wiki structure, but eventually I was able to add my Smith line and come to a reasonable conclusion that these individuals were not already in the WeRelate tree.
I next went to WikiTree, where I had some time ago entered my own name, my father's, and my grandfather's. I now focused on adding Charles Henry Smith and James Smith. First, I searched for Charles Henry Smith (basically, anyone with a real birth year within 2 years of my great-grandfather), and there were no matches that would have been him. I did the same for James Smith, and again, didn't see any obvious matches.
Finally, I created a new, empty tree in RootsMagic, and then downloaded 10 generations from my tree in FamilySearch. There was an error message at one point, but it appears that it successfully pulled down a copy of my tree. I went back to the tree on FamilySearch that I had worked with previously, where I had entered all of the direct-line Smiths, and had processed possible duplicates. That left my immigrant ancestor, James Smith, with 15 possible duplicates. So my remaining task before I leave the Smiths is to work down that list and merge my James Smith with duplicate men. Update: I reviewed all the possible matches and determined that conflicting information or insufficient information could not justify any matches.
First, Geni.com. I entered my Smiths, and when I got to great-great-grandfather James Smith, I was told that there were 40 possible matches. I then entered additional data (a date and location of death), and the number dropped to 20. However, in order to see those, I would need to be a Geni member. So I'll hold off on that for another future date.
Next up, WeRelate. I first searched for each of my Smiths to see if they were already there. None appeared to match, so I began the process of adding them. It took me a few minutes to master the system of adding pages to the wiki structure, but eventually I was able to add my Smith line and come to a reasonable conclusion that these individuals were not already in the WeRelate tree.
I next went to WikiTree, where I had some time ago entered my own name, my father's, and my grandfather's. I now focused on adding Charles Henry Smith and James Smith. First, I searched for Charles Henry Smith (basically, anyone with a real birth year within 2 years of my great-grandfather), and there were no matches that would have been him. I did the same for James Smith, and again, didn't see any obvious matches.
Finally, I created a new, empty tree in RootsMagic, and then downloaded 10 generations from my tree in FamilySearch. There was an error message at one point, but it appears that it successfully pulled down a copy of my tree. I went back to the tree on FamilySearch that I had worked with previously, where I had entered all of the direct-line Smiths, and had processed possible duplicates. That left my immigrant ancestor, James Smith, with 15 possible duplicates. So my remaining task before I leave the Smiths is to work down that list and merge my James Smith with duplicate men. Update: I reviewed all the possible matches and determined that conflicting information or insufficient information could not justify any matches.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Smith - Personal Trees
It seems appropriate to begin the experiment with my Smith line, since here we are the day before St. Patrick's Day, and my immigrant Smith ancestor was from Ireland. I've previously written about these Smiths just last August.
So we begin with the personal trees. I entered my known Smith line into MyHeritage, and synced it with my copy of Family Tree Builder 7. So far, I'm the only one who has viewed my MyHeritage tree, and I don't yet have any Smart Matches™.
Then I turned my attention to Ancestry.com (with the intent to sync to Family Tree Maker 3 for Mac). While entering the data for my father, George Thomas Smith, I saw two public trees that gave an incorrect county name for his death. So I have emailed the two people who had the incorrect data (I assume that one got it from the other). As I reviewed the hints for Dad, I saw one referring to an obituary. But the name of the paper listed at the top of Ancestry's screen was incorrect. The obituary was clearly from the Greenville (SC) News, not from a newspaper in Massachusetts. How odd!
Adding my grandfather, William Henry Smith, resulted in 6 hints from public trees. These all had information that I already had, but I left them for now as people I might want to contact. As I reviewed the other hints, I saw the one for him in the 1910 census. Interestingly enough, it had an incorrect middle initial for him (L instead of H), but it was clearly the right family.
With great-grandfather Charles Henry Smith, there were 9 hints. One was for a hint from 10 public trees. Again, I left these for a later date (one had what appeared to be an incorrect mother's name). One of the things that I noticed is that the baptisms for the Irish Catholic church in Newark had been added to Ancestry, which I had previously viewed on microfilm some years ago when I was at the Family History Library.
Finally, I added James Smith, but so far, no hints were forthcoming. UPDATE: 2 hints were eventually suggested. One was the usual from public trees (I won't bother mentioning those in the future). The other was a New Jersey death and burial index, which actually gave a more precise date for the death of James (15 November instead of just November). I then went over to FamilySearch to see the records on that. I may have to find out if I can get a source for that particular date beyond the indexed film.
Having added all my known Smiths in the direct line, I then downloaded the Ancestry.com to Family Tree Maker and linked it. So far, no particular problems.
It is time to move to the unified tree options.
So we begin with the personal trees. I entered my known Smith line into MyHeritage, and synced it with my copy of Family Tree Builder 7. So far, I'm the only one who has viewed my MyHeritage tree, and I don't yet have any Smart Matches™.
Then I turned my attention to Ancestry.com (with the intent to sync to Family Tree Maker 3 for Mac). While entering the data for my father, George Thomas Smith, I saw two public trees that gave an incorrect county name for his death. So I have emailed the two people who had the incorrect data (I assume that one got it from the other). As I reviewed the hints for Dad, I saw one referring to an obituary. But the name of the paper listed at the top of Ancestry's screen was incorrect. The obituary was clearly from the Greenville (SC) News, not from a newspaper in Massachusetts. How odd!
Adding my grandfather, William Henry Smith, resulted in 6 hints from public trees. These all had information that I already had, but I left them for now as people I might want to contact. As I reviewed the other hints, I saw the one for him in the 1910 census. Interestingly enough, it had an incorrect middle initial for him (L instead of H), but it was clearly the right family.
With great-grandfather Charles Henry Smith, there were 9 hints. One was for a hint from 10 public trees. Again, I left these for a later date (one had what appeared to be an incorrect mother's name). One of the things that I noticed is that the baptisms for the Irish Catholic church in Newark had been added to Ancestry, which I had previously viewed on microfilm some years ago when I was at the Family History Library.
Finally, I added James Smith, but so far, no hints were forthcoming. UPDATE: 2 hints were eventually suggested. One was the usual from public trees (I won't bother mentioning those in the future). The other was a New Jersey death and burial index, which actually gave a more precise date for the death of James (15 November instead of just November). I then went over to FamilySearch to see the records on that. I may have to find out if I can get a source for that particular date beyond the indexed film.
Having added all my known Smiths in the direct line, I then downloaded the Ancestry.com to Family Tree Maker and linked it. So far, no particular problems.
It is time to move to the unified tree options.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Summary of the experimental tools and process
Although this repeats some content from the previous posting, it is worth summarizing the tools I plan to use to run this experiment. They are:
Personal trees:
I also plan to focus on one surname at a time, in Ahnentafel number order.
Personal trees:
- Family Tree Builder 7.0 (running on a Mac under CrossOver), synced with MyHeritage
- Family Tree Maker 3 for Mac, synced with Ancestry.com (public tree)
- RootsMagic 6 (running on a Mac under CrossOver), synced with FamilySearch Family Tree
- Geni.com
- WeRelate
- WikiTree
I also plan to focus on one surname at a time, in Ahnentafel number order.
A genealogy experiment involving public trees
In the past few years I've read numerous debates on the topic of whether one should have one's genealogical tree available to others as a public tree, or hidden away (discoverable only in the sense that it exists but one does not share the details in a public manner) as a private tree.
As with many debates, it is not either/or, since one can have both. This would make sense if one considers the public tree to represent research work that you feel is sufficiently sourced and argued, while the private tree represents a work in progress that is not quite ready for prime time. In any event, this posting, and the related postings that will follow, are not really about that particular debate. If anything, these postings will be about a very different debate, namely, the experience of having a personal tree (a standalone tree that either you alone can edit, or only a limited number of people chosen by you can edit), or of participating in a unified tree (a single, shared tree that can be edited by anyone in the world, much like a typical wiki).
Before it became reality, I made some predictions on the Genealogy Guys Podcast that it was only a matter of time before we saw a company link its online trees (providing access to others) with desktop-based software (personal editing). Ancestry.com was in a position to do this since it had both its website for hosting trees and its Family Tree Maker software for desktop editing. In 2013, FamilySearch certified a number of software programs for synchronizing data with the tree on FamilySearch, including one that I was already using, RootsMagic (on a Mac under CrossOver). MyHeritage is now offering this via a sync to its Family Tree Builder software. [Note: Is anyone successfully running Family Tree Builder under CrossOver?]
In addition to the personal trees on Ancestry.com and MyHeritage, and the unified tree on FamilySearch, there are other sites that provide for unified trees. Geni.com (owned by MyHeritage since November 2012) provides such a tree, so there you have an example of a company providing both options. WeRelate (at werelate.org) hosts a unified tree using a wiki model, as does WikiTree (at wikitree.com).
Which brings us to the experiment: What would happen if I began to enter my direct ancestral lines, fully sourced, into each online tree? Who (if anyone) would contact me? Whose other trees would I encounter in the unified model, and how would we resolve conflicts? And how can I actually do this experiment in an orderly fashion so that it doesn't get too crazy?
Stay tuned.
As with many debates, it is not either/or, since one can have both. This would make sense if one considers the public tree to represent research work that you feel is sufficiently sourced and argued, while the private tree represents a work in progress that is not quite ready for prime time. In any event, this posting, and the related postings that will follow, are not really about that particular debate. If anything, these postings will be about a very different debate, namely, the experience of having a personal tree (a standalone tree that either you alone can edit, or only a limited number of people chosen by you can edit), or of participating in a unified tree (a single, shared tree that can be edited by anyone in the world, much like a typical wiki).
Before it became reality, I made some predictions on the Genealogy Guys Podcast that it was only a matter of time before we saw a company link its online trees (providing access to others) with desktop-based software (personal editing). Ancestry.com was in a position to do this since it had both its website for hosting trees and its Family Tree Maker software for desktop editing. In 2013, FamilySearch certified a number of software programs for synchronizing data with the tree on FamilySearch, including one that I was already using, RootsMagic (on a Mac under CrossOver). MyHeritage is now offering this via a sync to its Family Tree Builder software. [Note: Is anyone successfully running Family Tree Builder under CrossOver?]
In addition to the personal trees on Ancestry.com and MyHeritage, and the unified tree on FamilySearch, there are other sites that provide for unified trees. Geni.com (owned by MyHeritage since November 2012) provides such a tree, so there you have an example of a company providing both options. WeRelate (at werelate.org) hosts a unified tree using a wiki model, as does WikiTree (at wikitree.com).
Which brings us to the experiment: What would happen if I began to enter my direct ancestral lines, fully sourced, into each online tree? Who (if anyone) would contact me? Whose other trees would I encounter in the unified model, and how would we resolve conflicts? And how can I actually do this experiment in an orderly fashion so that it doesn't get too crazy?
Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)