FamilySearch Catalog: For(e)aker family of Guernsey County, Ohio — FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch Catalog: For(e)aker family of Guernsey County, Ohio — FamilySearch.org:

Amazing find, shared on 30 Dec 2017 on Facebook.  I have been looking for this item for years, not knowing whether it existed. The digitized version is 83-pages.  I'm making this link available before I have time to read it myself for two reasons:

• I don't want to lose the link.
• I want to be sure that anyone interested the family of Catharine Foreaker Fedorchak can find it.

Dick Henthorn

30 Dec 2017

'via Blog this'

The Computer Backup Rule of Three - Scott Hanselman

The Computer Backup Rule of Three - Scott Hanselman:

Recently the screen on my laptop went black a couple of times after the hard drive had been working hard for a couple of hours.  One Wednesday night I was watching streaming video of the concert, Music City Roots from Franklin, TN, near Nashville. Those incidents got me thinking and talking about the fact that the laptop could give up the ghost at anytime.

Here's an interesting post that showed up today on Facebook, with additional comments from some of the folks who read the piece. I think the author makes some good points. He certainly raised my awareness about how vulnerable I am, at this moment, to a computer disaster.

All of us should consider implementing a sounder computer backup strategy in 2018.

Dick Henthorn
29 Dec 2018

'via Blog this'

Stitching Two Images Together Vertically

Stitching Two Images Together Vertically

Here's a genealogy problem I wanted to solve without spending any money.

RootsMagic can create a nice screen image that displays the members in a family. Sometimes I use the Windows Screen Capture program to make a JPEG image of what I see on the screen.  Then I post this image to one of the county Facebook pages to share what I know about a family of interest to myself and Facebook friends.

Once in a while the amount of information I'd like to share exceeds one screen. In the example I'm using here my display included three generations. I knew I could capture a second screen image with the Windows Screen Capture program. The problem I faced was how to stitch the two screen images together to be saved as one JPEG file that I could post on Facebook.  I sought a way to do the stitching for "free." 

I learned that the "free" IrfanView program, which was already installed on my laptop,  could do what I wanted.  I also discovered that the program offers an option of including a colored "bar" between the two stitched images. You can't adjust the images to the right or left, so being careful how you select the area of the two screen images is important.

Using the Lumbatis family of Ohio and West Virginia here are three images that illustrate:

• First screen capture
• Second screen capture
• Two images stitched together with IrfanView

Click once on any of the three images to enlarge the display.

First Screen Capture

Second Screen Capture

Two Images Stitched Together with IrfanView

Dick Henthorn

28 Dec 2017

RootsWeb Security Update – Ancestry Blog

RootsWeb Security Update – Ancestry Blog:

Detailed article, posted 23 Dec 2017, about a recently discovered security breach on RootsWeb.

" For those of you who are unfamiliar, RootsWeb is a free community-driven collection of tools that are used by some people to host and share genealogical information. "

Comment By Dick Henthorn

Some of the information I share on the Internet is hosted on RootsWeb. Therefore, I expect access to that information will be denied until this issue is resolved. I suppose there is a possibility that this will not be a high priority at Ancestry because they don't make any money from this service they have been providing for a number of years.

'via Blog this'

Walter A. McDowell

Walter A. McDowell

I obtained the obituary of Walter A. McDowell who died on 14 Dec 2017 from a Facebook post. I worked on adding information about members of his family to my pafyoh file for several days.

I created an ancestor report for Walter, starting with a son.  The PDF report, with every name and place name indices, was 60-pages. Surnames include: Cain, Gorby, Johnson, Mason, McDowell, Pyles, Richmond, Ruckman.

From the same project I created a descendant report for the family of Perry Johnson and Elizabeth Long. The PDF report, with every name and place name indices, was 50-pages. Surnames include: Johnson, Lemasters, Mason, McDowell, Pyles, Richmond, Rine.

I uploaded the two reports to a folder on my Box account where access is limited. I am willing to share with others who agree to reciprocate.

Dick Henthorn

17 Dec 2017

Melvin Gale Leek Ancestors

Melvin Gale Leek Ancestors

Yesterday,11 Dec 2017, I created a 173-page, twelve generation, ancestor report for Michael Leek. It includes the obituary for his father, Melvin Gale Leek,who died on 2 Dec 2017.

Surnames include: Yoho, Starkey, Shreve, Postlethwait, Leek, Ice, Higginbotham, Henthorn, Edgell, Byard, Blake, Barker, Baker.

I shared the report on my Members Only group on Facebook. I am willing to share with others who agree to reciprocate.

Dick Henthorn

12 Dec 2017

Lazarus Rine, Sr.

Lazarus Rine, Sr.

FYI, my Lazarus Rine, Sr. genealogy, with every name and place name indices, is now 1148-pages. That's a little over two reams of paper if printed on one side only.

It isn't available on the Internet. That is to say, I don't even keep a copy of the report on my own computer. It's just information stored in one of my genealogy files until I tell RootsMagic to create the report.

I just felt like doing some Tuesday morning bragging.

Dick Henthorn

6 Dec 2017

RootsMagic Place Name Edit Tip

RootsMagic Place Name Edit Tip

In the Place List if you highlight a place and click on Print it should default to printing a list with everyone using it [the place name in question]. You can save it [the report] as a PDF if you can't [don't want to] print [the report]. If no one [in your file] is using it [the place name] then click on "Unused Places" in the Place List and you can delete them [the problem place name].
(Furnished by Renee Zamora of the RootsMagic staff, via the Facebook RootsMagic Users page on 1 Dec 2017)

Not mentioned by Renee Zamora is that you can also use the report information to determine which RINs are involved with the place name and then use that information to find and view the records for possible edits. Information in the square brackets [ ] added by yours truly to improve readability.
(Furnished by Richard E. Henthorn, on 2 Dec 2017)

Dick Henthorn
2 Dec 2017

'via Blog this'

Northern Library Network - Genealogy Donations of Richard E. Henthorn

Richard E. Henthorn Genealogy Donations:

Genealogy documents donated to the New Martinsville Public Library in New Martinsville, Wetzel Co., WV by the compiler, Richard E. Henthorn of Hyattsville, MD.

I'm pleased that I was able to figure out how to share this link with readers of my blog.

If you view any of these documents I'd appreciate feedback about which one you found and on its physical condition.  As of this date, I don't think anyone has ever contacted me to let me know they found and viewed any of these donations.

Dick Henthorn
2 Dec 2017
'via Blog this'

Special Holiday Offer for RootsMagic Users

Special Holiday Offer for RootsMagic Users:

Two RootsMagic bundles on sale until 30 Nov 2017, one for $25 and the other for $35 plus S&H

'via Blog this'

Dick Henthorn
27 Nov 2017

Ohio’s Digitized Newspapers

Ohio’s Digitized Newspapers:

'via Blog this'

25 Nov 2017

Daniel McCardle 1821-1898 - Ancestry

Daniel McCardle 1821-1898 - Ancestry:

He married three times.  He had 11 children with Priscilla Burge whose mother was Elizabeth Goddard.

I saved this link because I want to extract the information about the McCardle family.

Dick Henthorn
15 Nov 2017

'via Blog this'

Find A Grave Issues

Find A Grave Issues

Here are a few Find A Grave issues that are driving me crazy.

1. Some people enter middle initials without a period.  This impacts searches.
2. West Virginia didn't become a state until 20 June 1863.  Place names for events prior to that should be entered as: Virginia or Virginia/West Virginia
3. I like to see women's maiden names in italics, i.e., Joan Melissa Doe Jones.

Dick Henthorn

14 Nov 2017

Preserving the Work of Billy Lynn "Bill" Cunningham

About the Work of Billy Lynn "Bill" Cunningham (deceased)

OLD website (Bill Cunningham’s) - No changes can be made
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvwetzel/

NEW website: Wetzel County WVGenWeb
Glenda Thompson; Wetzel County Volunteer County Coordinator
http://www.wvgenweb.org/wetzel/index.html
http://www.wvgenweb.org/wetzel/contact-me.html

The program that Bill trained me on for the Wetzel genealogical website on Rootsweb was extremely outdated. I had been having problems with it crashing in the middle of my work. I spoke with Bill’s family & the decision was made to just leave the website as it was. Ancestry .com acquired (who acquired Rootsweb) started doing updates and links started going bad, and then saw a post they made on the main Rootsweb page. I was concerned they may pull page(s) and/or close the site down.

Their post:
“As you know, RootsWeb is a collection of products that has grown organically over the last two decades. Many of these have not been updated or maintained in years. Ancestry is currently working on updating and revising World Connect, Mailing Lists, and hosted sites such as Free Pages over the next twelve months; however, all other products and functionality are under review. We will continue to notify you of updates here as decisions are made.”

I spoke again with Bill’s family and informed them of my concerns. It was decided that I turn the Wetzel County WV’s Rootsweb website over to the WV Genweb state coordinator, as they use their own server. All of the data on the old server (Rootsweb) would be transferred over to the new (WVGenWeb). This move would guarantee that the data would not be lost & the site could be updated. This was made with the condition that Bill’s work was to be left online, for as long as ancestry decides to leave it there.

Many thanks to:
Glenda Thompson (WVGenWeb Coordinator) & Connie Burkett (WVGenWeb Asst. State Coordinator) who worked tirelessly transferring the data to the new website.

Linda Cunningham Fluharty for her guidance/support throughout my tenure as Bill’s designated replacement.

Barbara, Brian & Diane Cunningham for their support/assistance with this transfer.

Bill Cunningham for all of the work he did to create & maintain the “Go To” place for Wetzel County, WV genealogy for many, many years. He is fondly remembered & greatly missed.
(Written by Joyce (Schaefer) Yowler, 10 Nov 2017, on the Wetzel County, West Virginia Genealogy page on Facebook)

Shared with permission of Joyce (Shaefer) Yowler
Dick Henthorn
10 Nov 2017

Your True Heritage

Is there a reputable company that will look up your true heritage???

Here's my comment to this question posted on Facebook RootsWeb Genealogists.

In my opinion there is no such thing as "looking up your true heritage." This implies that someone else has done the work and left a copy somewhere it could be found. This kind of good luck is highly unlikely. If you want to hire someone to work on doing your genealogy that is another story. I think they charge by the hour, plus travel expenses. Before you decide to hire someone ask to see samples of their work and to talk to some of their customers.

Dick Henthorn

22 Aug 2017

Broken Links

Broken Links

This weekend I worked on a project to find and remove broken links on my genealogy Wiki and on this genealogy blog. In the process I sent out a couple of messages to friends to confirm they'd shut down their genealogy related websites.

The project reminded me. If you are working on genealogy and you find something of interest that you plan to come back to you'd better not count on it. I suggest downloading a copy of the information of interest.

While on the subject of broken links. If you see something, say something.  That is to say, if you notice a broken link on something I posted, please help me out by telling me about it.  Thanks.

Dick Henthorn

30 May 2017

HenthornFamily - Cemeteries

HenthornFamily - Cemeteries:

New Cemetery Reports - May 2017

Today I added seven new cemetery reports to my WikiSpaces genealogy website.

These cemetery reports were created using information in my RootsMagic file, named, pafyoh. To create the reports I had to master the creation of Custom reports on RootsMagic. It's a multi-step process. Once you get the hang of it it isn't too complicated. I found the learning curve challenging.

The reports are in the PDF format and show cemetery information based on county names. The reports can be viewed on your computer screen and they can be saved on your computer.

There are three columns in the report.

1. Surname, Given
2. Death Date
3. Cemetery location and cemetery name

The reports are sorted by: Surname, Given Name, Date of Death.

When death dates aren't complete or cemetery names are not present, I seek this information.

Dick Henthorn
27 May 2017
'via Blog this'

Blogspot Backup

Blogspot Backup

Today I created five folders on my computer in My Documents for the purpose of storing backup files for my five blogs on Blogger. It was necessary to create a folder for each blog because when Blogspot creates the backup files all have the same name using the date of the backup.

Once the folders were in place the steps required to do the backup for each blog were relatively simple.

I can't remember when I last backed up the blogs or where I put the backups. This time I wrote a page of information about the process in my Steno notebook.

Dick Henthorn

22 May 2017

Major Changes at GeneaBloggers.com

Major Changes at GeneaBloggers.com - GeneaBloggers:
Thomas MacEntee announces upcoming changes on his website and explains why they are necessary.

Dick Henthorn
3 May 2017
'via Blog this'

Hazel Dickens - A Few Old Memories

The wonderful Hazel Dickens tune - A Few Old Memories

Fitting song for anyone working on genealogy or writing their family history.

Dick Henthorn
30 Apr 2017

Search Box

Added a Search box to the right hand sidebar of my Mr. Dickie's Links blog. This will be useful as I add more links to the blog.

Dick Henthorn
23 Apr 2017

Downloads

I have a folder named Downloads on my computer.  By default this was where any file I downloaded to my computer was stored.  Overtime this hasn't worked out too well.  The folder filled with hundreds of files making it difficult to find things when I needed them.

My browser is Google Chrome.  That's where the path name to the Downloads folder was stored. After investigation I discovered that, in Google Chrome, under the place where I specified the path name to my download folder, there is a box where you can set a switch that tells the browser to ask for the name of the download folder each time you download a file.  This area of the browser controls is accessed via Settings.

I wanted another download folder where I could store genealogy files. I created a sub-folder, under Downloads, for the storage of genealogy articles and clippings that I named, Clippings. BTW, I think that Google Chrome remembers the name of the last folder used for downloading. That is to say, if I download to the Clippings folder and want the next download to go to the Downloads folder it will be necessary to tell the browser where to do the next download.

The path name to the new sub-folder looks like this:
C:\Users\Richard\Favorites\Downloads\Clippings

Using the two folder names, I'll store routine files downloads in Downloads and the genealogy file downloads will be stored in Clippings. Using this path name arrangement it would be easy to create other sub-folders, under Downloads, if I wanted other folder categories besides Clippings.

Here's why understanding how to control where files download was of interest to me.  I follow several genealogy Groups on Facebook. Visitors to the Groups often post digital images of articles and newspaper clippings that are of interest to me. Some days more files are shared than I have time to process. Creating a folder for the specific purpose of storing these files makes it easier to locate the genealogy files when I am ready to work with the shared information.

Dick Henthorn
22 Apr 2017

Thinking About Posting Updates

Over the years I shared many genealogy reports on the Internet.  They are stored all over the place. That happened because I was curious about how different storage methods would work. You can use the sidebar links on this blog to find much of what I shared.

The quality of the report formats varies because, over time, the genealogy report capabilities improved.

This morning I've been thinking about the effort it would take to create updated versions of these reports and upload them again.  This thought came to mind because I found a report created by another researcher in January 2000.  I'm certain that this person is still working on genealogy because I find more current information posted on FindAGrave.

I didn't come to any conclusion about whether I want to address my own issue of reports created long ago. There is never a shortage of genealogy projects to undertake.

Dick Henthorn
15 Apr 2017

Zachariah Prickett

Yesterday I uploaded a 147-page descendant report about the family of Zachariah Prickett to my Box account.  Access is by invitation or request only.

Prickett's Fort State Park

Prickett's Fort Memorial Foundation

Dick Henthorn
12 Apr 2017

Mr. Dickie's Links: OCR Option of MS OneNote and Google Drive

Mr. Dickie's Links: OCR Option of MS OneNote and Google Drive:
Some YouTube videos about how to use the OCR option of MS OneNote and Google Drive to convert digital images of newspaper clip...

Dick Henthorn
5 Apr 2017

Mr. Dickie's Links

Did you know there are several ways to find my new blog, Mr. Dickie's Links?

• There is a a hot link in my Facebook About page
• You can use Google search to search for "mrdickieslinks"
• You can bookmark the link after you visit the first time
• You can key in the URL: mrdickieslinks.blogspot.com

Dick Henthorn
5 Apr 2017

RootsMagic Blog » Questions about upcoming Ancestry features?

RootsMagic Blog » Questions about upcoming Ancestry features? We’ve got answers!:

Status update about how the Ancestry and RootsMagic sync feature will work and when this update may be ready for release.

Dick Henthorn
28 Mar 2017

'via Blog this'

Find A Grave Corrections

This evening I took a look at the messages I've received on Find A Grave.

I've received many responses to messages I sent pointing out typos, inconsistencies and errors in the hundreds of memorials I have visited since I became a member. I'm pleased to report that almost everyone graciously acknowledged my comments and many indicated that they made the necessary changes.

A couple of respondents pointed out that I could make the changes myself using the Edit tab. I haven't learned how to do that yet. I'm uncomfortable changing the work of someone else unless I am in contact with them. Apparently, the way it works is the person who finds the error makes the correction and then it's forwarded to the person in charge of the memorial for review and approval. This speeds up the process and relieves the workload on those managing the memorials. Maybe I'll try that next time. There are always things to learn.

Dick Henthorn
27 Mar 2017

Mr. Dickie's Links

For several years I used a free service called, Delicious, to share links (URLs) to webpages that interested me. Another term for this process is, Bookmarking. Recently, much to my dismay, I discovered that Delicious had been shut down.

To resume bookmarking, that can be shared in the cloud, I have created a Google blog, called Mr. Dickie's Links.  I will not be restricting posts to the blog solely to genealogy.

If you visit the blog, use the sidebar on the left to help you find topics of interest. Scroll down to see links to the latest posts.  The topics are called "labels" by Google.  The number of characters available for labels with each post is two hundred.  The labels are what you see in the sidebar.  The labels I assign to a particular post appear at the bottom of the individual posts.  In the sidebar, if I have used a label more than once a count appears in parentheses after the label.  You can click on a label at the bottom of a post to display all posts in the blog where I have assigned that label or you can click on the label in the sidebar.

When I include a hot-link within a post it appears in blue on the screen. If you hover the mouse over a link, the color changes to orange.  Click on the click to view the page associated with the link.

BTW, I am open to suggestions for adding genealogy links to the blog.

Here's the link to:
Mr. Dickie's Links

Dick Henthorn
26 Mar 2017

The Ancestry Insider: The New and Improved Find A Grave Shown at #RootsTech

The Ancestry Insider: The New and Improved Find A Grave Shown at #RootsTech:

A new version of FindAGrave will be released soon.  Here's a blog post that discusses what's planned and when it will happen.

Dick Henthorn
23 Mar 2017

'via Blog this'

Social Security Numbers

I store Social Security information in the Note fields of my genealogy files.  I don't want the Social Security Numbers to print in reports that I share. The RootsMagic program has a way to "turn off" this information by surrounding any text that you don't want to appear in reports with curly brackets {Don't Print}.

I noticed recently that the file I created for my own family didn't have the curly brackets.  Today I completed the project to surround all of the Social Security Numbers with the curly brackets.  I also checked to see if I had set the switch to turn off printing anything surrounded by curly brackets.

Dick Henthorn
13 Mar 2017

RootsMagic Backup Strategy

RootsMagic Backup Strategy

I've been thinking about my genealogy file backup strategy. I'm concerned that I wasn't ready for a computer disaster. I'm writing this article to describe how I decided to improve my backup policy.

I have about forty-five RootsMagic genealogy files. Ten of these files are listed in the RootsMagic "Open Recent" file list. That is to say, RootsMagic remembers the last ten files I opened.

The program always keeps track of the last ten files that were opened. Generally, whenever I update a file I have RootsMagic backup the file when I close the file at the end of the update session. RootsMagic writes the backup files to a folder on my laptop hard drive that I specified during program setup. This means that there are two copies of the file on the laptop. One is the RootsMagic file itself and the other is the RootsMagic backup. These files are in two different file formats. If I backup a particular file more than once a day RootsMagic asks if I want to overwrite the already existing backup file. I always choose "yes." If I back up once each day for a week there will be seven backup files on my hard drive.

This really isn't a very good backup method. If the hard drive fails or the laptop is stolen I will lose both the RootsMagic version of the file and all of the backups.

For more secure backup the backup files must be stored external to the laptop where the RootsMagic program resides and stores the data and backups.

With my new backup methodology I will be storing three copies of my backup files away from my laptop.

1. external hard drive
2. thumb drive
3. Box account cloud storage

I own a Dell 30GB hard drive that I salvaged from a failed laptop. I bought a case to protect the drive and I have a cable that connects the drive to the laptop. On this drive I have created two folders for RootsMagic backup. One folder stores the ten files that I am actively updating, the "Open Recent" files. The second folder stores the other files that are infrequently updated and therefore infrequently backed up.

I have a thumb drive dedicated to RootsMagic. There are two folders for backup on the thumb drive. Again, one folder stores the backup of the ten files that I am actively updating. The other folder stores all of the other RootsMagic file backups.

The third set of RootsMagic file backups is located "in the cloud" on my paid Box account. Again, one folder stores the backup of the ten files that I am actively updating. The other folder stores all of the other RootsMagic file backups. Having an offsite backup adds one more degree of protection to my backup strategy. If, heaven forbid, there was a disaster of some sort with our house and the laptop and thumb drive were destroyed or stolen I would still have a backup copy of all of my genealogy files on the Box computer.

Periodically, I do maintenance on the RootsMagic folder on my laptop hard drive where the backups reside. Remember that if I backup a file once a day for 30 days I will have thirty backup files at the end of the month. The purpose of the maintenance task is to free up space on the hard drive. I usually delete all backups of each file except the last two.

Currently the process of copying the backups to the three backup locations is accomplished via simply using the Windows file manager to copy the files from the laptop hard drive to the external hard drive and to the thumb drive.The Box account file manager is used to upload the files from either the external hard drive or the thumb drive to my Box account.

BTW I think you can still get 5GB of free storage on Box. Therefore, people who don't use a lot of disk space for their genealogy can set up storage "in the cloud" without paying for it. Also if you don't have an external hard drive you can used two thumb drives if you want to have three levels of backup.

Dick Henthorn
8 Mar 2017