The Amos Tree - Revisited - 2nd Installment

More comments about the document, History and Descendants of Amos and Elizabeth (Sharp) Henthorn - 1816-1959 sometimes called The Amos Tree, by Roy Lee and Norma (Latham) Henthorn.

I think the quality of the 44-page document, The Amos Tree was quite good considering that it was created before the advent of personal computers and genealogy programs. I particularly like the four-page name index and all of the textual information. 

That said, there are some issues with readability. This is because the numbering system used is difficult to follow. Arabic numbers are used to designate more than one generation and the oldest person in a line doesn't have a number. 

For example:

THIS IS THE FIRST MEMBER IN A FAMILY
     1. THIS IS HIS SON (or daughter)
         1. THIS IS HIS GRANDSON  (or grand daughter) (sometimes this level doesn't use a number)
             1. THIS IS HIS GREAT GRANDSON (or daughter) (sometimes this level doesn't use a number)
           
This isn't too hard to follow on a single page but gets quite confusing when the family is large enough to cover several pages.  

Entering the information from an older genealogy report into a computer genealogy program improves clarity of the prior researcher's work and makes it much easier for readers to follow the family structure. The challenge, for the person doing the data entry, is to "get it right."  Success in the task depends on the ability of the person doing the data entry to read and interpret the numbering system used in the source document.

Years ago I entered the information from The Amos Tree into my DOS Personal Ancestral File (PAF version 2.31). In June 2013, as part of a project to learn how to use version 5 of RootsMagic, I keyed the data a second time.  I also extracted additional information from my own file and added it to my new file. 

I produced a 46-page PDF report with RootsMagic version five which is now available from the "Henthorn" page on the HenthornFamily Wiki. This four-generation report is for Robert and Mary (Nicholson) Henthorn, the parents of Amos Henthorn. It includes an every name index and a place name index. The report was limited to four generations. A report including additional generations is available, on request, to researchers who are known to me and who are willing to share their own research information.

Robert and Mary (Nicholson) Henthorn

Dick Henthorn
25 June 2013

Updates to HenthornFamily Wiki

Numbering Systems

I added two links to the Numbering Systems section on the first page of the HenthornFamily Wiki. One link points to the genealogy numbering systems page on Wikipedia and the other points to the Ahnentafel page on the Wiki itself.

Story by Mary Josephine (Henthorn) Bolerjack

On the Stories page of the HenthornFamily Wiki I added a link to a 48-page PDF file written by Mrs. Mary Josephine (Henthorn) Bolerjack in October 2005, titled, The Irish & The Dutch.

During one of my many computer disasters this file was misplaced. Yesterday I found it on a thumb drive that I paid a computer shop to load with data from one of my failing laptops. I converted the file to PDF yesterday to get it ready for uploading today.

Have you considered writing stories or recollections about your family? I urge you to undertake the project. If you don't do it, who will?  If you are willing to share your stories on the Internet I will include a link on the HenthornFamily Wiki.

24 June 2013