Family Search Watch

Each week I get an e-mail from Family Search on any activity on the records that I have put a watch on.  I have placed a watch on some of the records that I have been working on. In the past I have found that very helpful, because some patrons combine records that should not be combined or enter changes that may or may not be correct.  I do not know why I feel I need to be the guardian of the records, but I guess that I have a desire that everything should be correct even if I am wrong.

This week I got another e-mail.  Usually it is 4 or 5 changes, but this week there were 53 changes.  The majority were changes by Family Search with minor changes such as correcting names and spellings and places of birth or death.  It was somewhat time consuming to go through all 53 records, but it was worth it because I found the following records that need attention.  I even found two individuals who need ordinance work.  I made a list, so that if my computer crashes I will have the information on a website, or as the present terminology would have it, on the Cloud.( A fancy term for web based backup.)

NFS Cleanup needed.

Abigail Hill Person identifier: LHLM-PJB her many husbands

Sophia Mack Person identifier: LHZX-ZLY where does this information come from?

Ebenezar Mack Person identifier: LZV8-YBJ multiple spouses and duplicate parents.

John Dodds Telford Person identifier: KWJX-YCR two sets of parents.  The one set is incorrect.

Sarah Maria Sayles Person identifier: KWJP-HQJ 7 sets of parents 3 extra spouses.

Find Grave marker for Graham Coltrin Person identifier: KWJP-HCC supposedly buried in the Centerville Cemetery.  His name was on On Find a Grave, but no photo of the headstone. Needs research

William Jasper Kerr Person identifier: KWJP-CSM has three wives, one unknown with a child John Campbell Kerr.  Needs research.

Solomon Gee Jr. Person identifier: LZPP-GVP has two spouses.  Look and see if the spouses need to be combined.

August Bernard LCRZ-8TW and wife Gertrude LCRZ-DSD need temple ordinances done and daughter Alice LCRJ-THR needs to be sealed, but she only died recently.

Sara Gee (Sarah) Person identifier: 2736-R71 has two sets of parents.  Solomon Gee and both his wives.  This needs to be corrected.

Susannah Moody Person identifier: LHZ8-FJ5 has two sets of parents.  This needs research and correction.

Betty Catherine Bruce Person identifier: 2MGH-H5K needs a definite date of death and place of death. I will have to look in my database.

William Gee Person identifier: LZJG-NS1 has an extra spouse that doesn’t belong.  I have written the person that placed that record, but he has so far not taken action.

Elam Luddington Person identifier: K24C-FH6 has three sets of parents. This needs research.

Edward Gee Person identifier: LC1Y-J1N has two children that need ordinances.

Martha Bingham Person identifier: LZD7-W9P needs to be combined with Mrs Solomon Gee Jr. MQRC-26F Her birth date is listed as 1694.

Deborah Gee Person identifier: KNSS-KG3 has one record with gender unknown.

This will take some time to do.  As I complete each item on the list, it will appear in my next watch e-mail entitled “Weekly FamilySearch changes for things you are watching” with me as the contributor.

 

Memorial Day

What does one do on Memorial Day?  When I was growing up we called it Decoration Day.  It is usual to go to the cemetery and place flowers on the graves. My brother Martell will visit my grandfather and grandmother Gees graves in Pocatello and then on to Sugar City and then back through Paris where we have family buried.  I assume that my brother Glendon will be in Paris and visit the cemetery there.

I went to the Bountiful Cemetery.  We have an ancestor who was the first person to be buried there.  Along side his marker is his wife and on the other side his grandson.

Alexander Scoby Standley was Cyrene Standley Merrill's father.  The link to his gravestone is:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28813676

Philinda Upson Standley was his wife.  The link to her gravestone is:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28799938

There is a marker for Nathan Alexander Merrill, but no one has put a photo on Find a Grave.  I will do it and hope to have the task accomplished this next week and link it to his mother and father.

Someone already had decorated the graves.  I did not meet anyone there.  An ordinance worker on our shift by the name of Glenn Tonge is a descendant of Alexander and Philinda.  He also served a mission in the Western States Mission, but never got to Lander.

Adding things to Family Tree

Today I was exploring Family Tree.  It is the new way to look at the data in New Family Search.  It is accessed by logging onto Family Search.org using your LDS user name and password.

I know it is a pain to learn something new, but how are you going to stimulate those "little gray cells" so that you do not get Alzheimer's disease?  The Lord does not want us to stay in our comfort zone.  He certainly didn't.  Follow His lead!

After you have logged into Family Search and put in your LDS user name and  password, the screen will refresh and up on the left hand top of the screen you will see, next to the logo, Family Tree.  Click on it.  It will bring up a four generation pedigree chart. The next thing to do is to go to Ivin Lafayette Gee if you are a member of the family.  If you are not a member of the family you can search for KWZV-WDY.  Click on his name and then click on View Ancestor.  This will bring up his record.  Now scroll down There is Vital Information, Family Members, and Sources.  Under Sources you will see Find a Grave.  Click on that icon and you will see URL and a link to the material on Find a Grave website.  Click and see a photo of Ivin and a bio and a photo of the grave stone.

Think of the possibilities of sharing information. I decided to try it for my mother Pearl and grandfather William Erastus Gee and my 3rd great grandfather Salmon Gee.  Look and see what information that you can find.  Perhaps you have something that you would like to share, a photo, a story, a history or resource on your ancestors or family members.  Let me know what you think.

P.S. Unfortunately Family Tree is limited to Beta testers at present.  I will post when it is released for general viewing. 

Wrong mother and the correction

In New Family Search you cannot believe that everything is correct.  Since the record is composed of a number of combined records.  If one of those records is incorrect the whole record is affected.  In going through my database of the descendants of Lysander Gee and comparing them with the data in New Family Search, I found that Electa Gee had children that she did not bear.  I contacted New Family Search Support with the following e-mail.

Wrong mother

Phoebe Bates MZ7R-HP2, 94CC-FWR is listed incorrectly as the daughter of Erin Lafayette Bates Person identifier: KWVS-B95 and Electa Gee Person identifier: KWJC-KFP Phoebe has 18 combined records all of which are correct except the two listed above. Victoria Adelaide Brower Person identifier: LZKB-NML is the correct mother and Erin Lafayette Bates Person identifier: KWVS-B95 is the correct father.

Erin and Electa were not married until 1872 after the death of Victoria. Phoebe was born in 1864.

Orson Parley Bates Person identifier: KWVQ-CD2 the son of Erin Lafayette Bates Person identifier: KWVS-B95 was also not the son of Electa Gee Person identifier: KWJC-KFP. He was born 1870. He has 23 combined records MZ7R-H5V and 94CC-FZ4 incorrectly list Electa as his mother. All the other records are correct. Jeff Smith is the contributor of these incorrect records, but does not have any contact information.

Electa Gee is my great grand aunt.

Ivin Laurence Gee

They responded:

Dear Brother Gee,

Thank you for contacting familySearch with reference toOrson Parley Bates (1870-1932) PID KWVQ-CD2 and Phoebie Bates (1871-) PID 94CC-FWR being incorrectly linked as children within the marriage of Erin Laffayette Bates (1838-1897) PID KWVS-B95 and Electa Gee (1852-1942) PID KWJC-KFP.

We acknowledge that Phoebe Ann Bates (1860-1935) PID LHL5-861 and Orson Parley Bates (1870-1932) PID KWVQ-CD2 are the biologicak children of Erin Laffayette Bates (1838-1897) PID KWVS-B95 and Victoria A Brower (1841-1870) PID LZKB-NML.

We have looked at your case and have forwarded it for further review. The evaluator will advise you in due time of the result of the evaluation.

To further help you we would also like to advise you that answers can be found to many of the problems you may experience when using new.familysearch. These can be found in the Help Centre. At the bottom of each nFS page there is a link to the Help Centre and most pages also include another link entitled ‘Help with this Page’. Please do not hesitate, however, to call us again should you require further help or guidance.

May the Lord bless you for your service to Him and to your kindred dead.

Yours Sincerely

FamilySearch

Dear Ivin Laurence Gee,

RE: Phoebe Bates and Orson Parley Bates (PIDs: 94CC-FWR, KWVQ-CD2)

Thank you for contacting FamilySearch Data Administration. Phoebe Bates and Orson Parley Bates no longer appear with the wrong mother in new FamilySearch. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Please review these records to ensure they are displaying correctly, and feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions or concerns. We wish you success in all your family history efforts.

Sincerely,
FamilySearch Data Administration
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Thus another error is corrected.

It is rumored that toward the end of the year NFS is changing.  The quicker we get errors corrected now, the easier it will be when the new issue comes out.

The many wives of Lysander Gee

The many wives of Lysander

Although there is a link to this file on my brother Martell’s website, I elected to place it on the Lysander Gee website as well.  This will explain why, in New Family Search, Lysander has a myriad of wives.  

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxseXNhbmRlcmdlZXdlYnNpdGV8Z3g6NTRhNDU1Njg1NDI2ZTk3OA

I put the following in the discussions in New Family Search in the record of Lysander Gee.

If you want an explanation of the wives of Lysander please contact me. laurence.gee@gmail.com  Here is a link to some information about them: http://www.geenet.org/Gee/Stories/Lysander/lysander_gee_and_his_wives.htm

When New Family Search first came out, Salmon Gee had two sets of parents.  Now he does not.  Lysander went to the Logan temple in 1888 and had his father Salmon sealed to the prophet Joseph Smith.  This was a common practice at the time.  New Family Search does not show those sealings now and we are instructed not to make any reference to ordinances in the discussion portion of New Family Search. 

This is an interesting story, so I will relate it here in this venue.  On September 19, 1888 the following took place in the Logan temple:

And my father Salmon Gee was

Adopted [sealed] to the Prophet Joseph Smith

Prest M. W. Merrill [we lovingly refer to him as Grandpa Merrill] officiating. And Br

Samuel Roskelly [Samuel was the recorder at the time] representing the Prophet

Joseph. And Sister Lucy Walker

Kimball Smith acting for the female

side of the Prophet.

And my brother George W. Gee, Giles Gee

and myself and sisters Sarah Caroline

Gee Amanda Malvina Gee and

Susan Eliza Luddington and Electa Gee were also

sealed to my father Salmon Gee

This is found on Page 253 of the Papers of Lysander Gee that I recently posted on the website.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxseXNhbmRlcmdlZXdlYnNpdGV8Z3g6N2I5ZGU0NjRiNmQ1ODc4NA

Lucy Walker Kimball, noted above, was married to the prophet Joseph Smith and later became the plural wife of Heber Chase Kimball.  Her story is found at the following website in Chapter III.

http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/LLittlefield.html

I found this very interesting.

George Washington Gee

I have been trying to step carefully through the Gee records in New Family Search.  Yesterday I received the following e-mail from Support Data Administration:
Dear Laurence Gee,
Re: Mary Jane Smith; PID: KWVQ-DBL

I have made some more changes to the records associated with Mary Jane Smith per your request.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

We appreciate your patience with us and wish you well in your family history efforts.

Sincerely,
FamilySearch Data Administration

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(CaseID:2579788)
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Someone had mistakenly combined George Washington Gee with a relative of his wife Mary Jane Smith and had her married to George Washington Gee and George Washington Schellenger.  This correction took about two months, but now the records in NFS for  this family are correct.

Serendipity

Serendipity: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

I do not claim to have the aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.  I did make an unexpected discovery in 2005.  I have been working on this project since that time.  Each year has gone by since that time and only a small amount of progress has been made.  Other work has come up and the project set aside, only to be picked up again and shoved to another corner of the office.  Early this morning I got the impression that I needed to put this on the Lysander Gee website.  I spent this afternoon entering in notes that I had made to complete the draft.  The project is now in a complete draft form.  Perhaps in the future it will be finished with other explanations and photos and maps, but for now I will put it out so that all the descendants of Lysander Gee will have access to it.  

The second paragraph of the document explains the serendipity and how the papers of Lysander Gee came into my possession.  I hope that you will realize what a treasure they are.  They have been very helpful to me in documenting material for New Family Search.  I have transcribed the original document and now present it to you. I have more history which I am compiling and hope to complete before I meet Lysander in person.

The link is:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxseXNhbmRlcmdlZXdlYnNpdGV8Z3g6N2I5ZGU0NjRiNmQ1ODc4NA

You may find it easier to read if you download the file.

When in Rome

I have been recently corresponding with my cousin George.  He is writing a history for his family reunion.  He sent me a copy and I proof read it.  There was one mistake that I had noticed and wondered how it was made.  It comes as a result of misinformation.   There was a confusion as to a city in Ohio.  This is what I wrote:

When in Rome (Ohio), do as the Romans do, but which Rome (in Ohio)?
From Wikipedia we learn:
“Rome is a village in Adams County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 117 at the 2000 census.

“New Rome is an unincorporated community in eastern Prairie Township, Franklin County, Ohio, United States, located on the west side of the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. It was originally incorporated as a village in 1947, occupying little more than a three-block stretch of West Broad Street (U.S. Route 40), and dissolved in 2004. The population was 60 at the 2000 census.

“Rome is a township in Ashtabula County, in the Ashtabula metro area. [NOTE: This is not the only community in Ohio named Rome.] The latitude of Rome is 41.605N. The longitude is -80.858W.

It is in the Eastern Standard time zone. Elevation is 860 feet.

The population, at the time of the 2000 census, was 1,568.”

Zopher Gee and his family moved from Connecticut at the age of 48 and before his last two children were born, he purchased land in New Lyme (Lebanon), Ohio from Elisha Tracy November 17, 1810, paying him $640. He disposed of his holdings in Lyme and joined the group from Lyme going to the Western Reserve in Ohio. Zopher had by that time seven children, three from his first wife Esther Beckwith and five from Lura Jones. Their last child, William, was born in Lebanon (or New Lyme as it is now called), Ashtabula, Ohio. Thus the journey to Ohio’s Western Reserve was made with Zopher, Lura and six children ranging in age from 17 to 1 year of age. This distance is approximately 590 miles.

Salmon lived in Lebanon or New Lyme, Ashtabula, Ohio until he married Sarah Watson Crane (whose grandparents had immigrated to this area) in New Lyme, Ashtabula, Ohio on 15 November 1814.  From my notes in PAF I have a source for this information. : Descendants of Solomon Gee by C.E. Benjamin, page 220 

The history here quoted was from Erma Garda Gee Adams (daughter of Elias Amos Gee).  She stated that the birth records for George Washington Gee state that he was born in New Lyme, Ashtabula Ohio on 13 August 1815.  This is not absolutely correct, because New Lyme was named Lebanon until 1826 when it officially was known as New Lyme.

Since Rome and New Lyme were neighboring townships one could walk from the eastern border of New Lyme Township to the western border of Rome Township in about 2.5 hours, I do not think that it makes a whole lot of difference.  All of Salmon and Sarah’s children were born in Ashtabula or Lake County, Ohio.  These counties are in the northeast corner of the state and border on lake Erie and are less than 20/50 miles from the Pennsylvania border. 

Zopher and Salmon and the families were never south of this line until George and Mary Jane left Kirtland for Missouri followed by Salmon and Sarah moving to Iowa.

I hope that this clears things up.

Let me know if this makes sense.  He responded that he had confused the Romes.

Here is a link to further explanation:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxseXNhbmRlcmdlZXdlYnNpdGV8Z3g6NTkwMzA5ZDM2Y2E2Y2RkMw

A day in the temple

On May 3, 2012 Alice and I went to the temple. We met Rachel and Nicholas there and Steve Gray was serving in the baptistry.  Steve did the baptizing and Rachel and Nicholas stood proxy for the following:

George M. Sanborn the husband of Lydia Gee the 3 great granddaughter of Solomon Gee

Webber Gee: third cousin 4 times removed

Francis J. Long: great grand uncle

Charles A. Hazeltine: second cousin one time removed

William W. Gee: relationship not determined, record found in divorce court papers

Earl Gee: first cousin one time removed

Howard Gee: first cousin one time removed

Floyd George Gee: first cousin one time removed

Lavern Gee: first cousin one time removed

John Franklin Hazeltine: first cousin two times removed

William Wright: Relationship not determined

John J. Earnest: husband of Sidnah Clark, daughter of John Clark (3^rd ggrandfather and Elizabeth Sloan.

John W. Kent: 2^nd husband of Georgia Ann Hancock and father of Lessie Kent Carter, wife of LeRoy Carter.

John Farrior: father of Annie Farrior Carter, wife of Luther Carter. 

Martha Bauldree and Alice Virginia Clark are 1st cousins 4 times removed.  Their common ancestors are Ambrose Witherington and Susannah "Susan" Mills.

Maria: Wife of Erastus F. Smith mother of wife of 2^nd cousin 3 times removed.George Milton Gee

Dora Hortense Gee; first cousin one time removed

Hazel Bates Gee; first cousin one time removed

Sarah Noble extracted by Christopher Gray

This will give us enough names to do further ordinance work for ancestors.  After the baptism Alice and I went to the initiatory area and did five ordinances each.

There is still work to do.

If you need names let me know and I can find some for you.

Ethel Gee is not Ethel May Gee

Ethel Gee Person identifier: K2W8-CB8 daughter of Augustus Gee.

NFS lists two sets of parents.  There is only one record in the 25 combined records KG7T-X5F that lists different parents, an Ethel May Gee with parents Thomas Gee and Martha Gee born in Stafford England in 1895.  This record has been combined in error with Family Search as the contributor.  I am separating out this record.  This record is probably from extraction.

This is cleaning up the records.

Twins are often mistaken for each other

I am trying to clean up the records in New Family Search by going through each family. I ran across a problem with my grandfathers younger sister.  She had two husbands by the name of Andrus.   Here is what I found and what I did to correct it.

Emma Maude Gee Person identifier: KVPR-M25

Married to Joseph Boyce Andrus Person identifier: KVPR-M25

There are children listed in this marriage.

And Joseph Benjamin Andrus Person identifier: KVPR-M25 5 Combined Records and no children

I thought that Joseph Boyce and Joseph Benjamin were twins, sons of Milo Andrus, but I was wrong.

In NFS they were married on the same day 25 December 1900.  I doubt that Emma would marry twin brothers on the same day.  The marriage of Emma and Joseph Boyce was performed by my great grandfather bishop Marion Joseph Kerr in Ora, Fremont, Idaho.  The sealing in the Logan temple was erformed by my great, great grandfather Marriner W. Merrill.   That is keeping in the family.

9SNW-QNB  Contributor 1 Contact name:FamilySearch Contributor 2 Contact name:nward321088 lists only Joseph Benjamin as a spouse for Emma Maude.

935G-G4S, 935R-R15, 9H2N-WGN, 9CD5-B2R Records list both Joseph Boyce and Joseph Benjamin as spouses. With Contact name: lhendricks2711802 E-mail address:lorellehen, Contributor 1 Contact name:FamilySearch (Pedigree Resource File) Contributor 2 Contact name:lhendricks2711802 E-mail address:lorellehen, Contributor 1 Contact name:dskump2686857 Contributor 2 Contact name:FamilySearch (Ancestral File), and Contributor 1 Contact name:dskump2686857 Contributor 2 Contact name:FamilySearch (Ancestral File)

• KWZX-2SB In looking at Joseph Boyce Andrus Combined records only 1 of the 54 records MGZQ-69P has the name of Joseph Benjamin married to Emma Maude Gee.  I have separated this record out today May 1, 2012.

Lydia Rosetta French (1887-1971) Person identifier: KWCP-Y6P Was married to Benjamin Boyce Andrus (1878-1954) Person identifier: KWCP-Y6L 22 sep 1905 and sealed in SLAKE 7 November 1906

There are various dates of marriage listed for this union 1902, 1903, and 1905 with various places of marriage.

It is evident to me that Benjamin Boyce is his real name and that Joseph Boyce Andrus has been confused with Joseph Benjamin Andrus a person that does not exist. Thus the marriage of Emma Maude Gee was only to one man with two different names; Joseph Boyce Andrus and Joseph Benjamin Andrus.

Now how do we solve this problem when we finally have the facts in front of us.

Joseph Benjamin Andrus Person identifier: LHX6-PG4 has 5 combined records all married to Emma Maude Gee.

Since we have all the PINs I will combine the spouses.

LHX6-PG4 9SNW-QND 935G-GPG 935R-T8 Y9H2J-6PD 9CD5-BT4

Contributor 1 Contact name:dskump2686857 Contributor 2 Contact name:rogerbohman1 E-mail address:bohmanfh@hotmail.com Contributor 3 Contact name:lhendricks2711802 E-mail address:lorellehen Contributor 4 Contact name:nward321088 Contributor 5 Contact name:FamilySearch

Joseph Benjamin Andrus Person identifier: MGZQ-69P has no combined records, because this was the record that we separated out of Benjamin Boyce Andrus record.

Contributor 1 Contact name:vandrus23296 Contributor 2 Contact name:FamilySearch

We will combine this record with the main record.

Now the record of Emma Maude Gee is correct and she only has one husband.

We now need to explain what we did so that patrons seeing this record will not separate the records.

On the details view I put: DO NOT SEPARATE

Joseph Boyce and Joseph Benjamin are the same individual. Please see the discussions.

In the discussions I placed: Name Confusion

Joseph Boyce Andrus has mistakenly been named Joseph Benjamin Andrus in some of the records attached and combined with this one. Emma Maude Gee is the spouse.  

There are 59 records for Joseph Boyce Andrus of these the following 7 have his brother Benjamin Boyce Andrus’ spouse Lydia Rosette French Person identifier: KWCP-Y6P listed as his spouse.

MWY9-ZLW, KWZX-2SB, 935R-RB1, 9351-S6D, 9CD5-B2V, 9XFS-CW6, 9XFS-CWK,

 In Lydia’s record there are 65 combined records. The following have Joseph Boyce Andrus listed as a spouse KWCP-Y6P, M72X-GFV, 935G-G88, 935R-T3N, 9CD5-BGC, 9XFS-CWX, 9XFS-CW2,

Although they were twins, they did not share the same wife!!

Benjamin Boyce Andrus Person identifier: KWCP-Y6L record does not reflect any erroneous spouses.

I wrote the above information to Support at New Family Search with the following plea:

I would appreciate it if we could put the proper spouses together.

Emma Maude Gee is my grand aunt and Joseph Boyce Andrus is my grand uncle.

We will now await the results of Data Administration.  I have done all that I  could do on my end.

Support e-mailed me back today May 4th with the following message:

Dear Ivin Laurence Gee,
RE: Lydia Rosetta French

Thank you for contacting FamilySearch Data Administration.  We have edited the record for Lydia Rosetta French and she no longer appears with an incorrect spouse in new FamilySearch.  Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention.

Sincerely,

FamilySearch Data Administration
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(CaseID:2588124)

Another case successfully concluded.