Reclaim The Records Frees The New York State Death Index

Quoting from a recent newsletter:

Reclaim The Records is a not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and journalists. We work to identify important genealogical record sets that are not online anywhere and not broadly available to the public. We then use state Freedom of Information laws to force government agencies and archives to hand over copies of these records to the public, which we then digitize and put online for free use. Other organizations and companies are then free to make transcriptions and searchable databases of our images and data, if they wish. 

Since our founding in 2015, we've won the first-ever release of tens of millions of records, which we then upload to the Internet Archive, as well as other Open Data websites. When government agencies fail to respond to our requests in a timely manner or are unwilling to comply with the law, we take them to court. We've won settlements in two groundbreaking lawsuits in the Supreme Court of New York, winning the release of decades of the New York City marriage license index and database, and we even won the payment of our attorneys fees from the city in the second case. We currently have one lawsuit pending in Missouri, asking for the first-ever post-1910 birth index and post-1965 death index for that state. And we have more requests and potential lawsuits planned for other records from other states.

The latest victory for this organization is the freeing of the New York State Death Index from 1880 to 1956. The copies of the documents are now being posted on Archive.org The Internet Archive

• https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1880 
• https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1881
• https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1882
• https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1883
• https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1884
• https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1885

Their website seems to be having a problem at the time I wrote this post, but their Facebook page is well and has the full explanation of their efforts to free the death records. See the following:

https://www.facebook.com/ReclaimTheRecords/

Sourcecentric Genealogy

I am not sure there is such a word as "sourcecentric" but there should be. As genealogists, much of what we see that was written or collected in the 1800s or earlier and even into the 1900s about families and their history is a conglomeration of fact, fable and pure fiction. As a result, much of what passes for family history or genealogy in online family trees dating back to these time periods has been copied from these earlier publications. This is especially true in the United States and seems to be especially the case with my own set of ancestors.

I would define sourcecentric genealogical research as the process of determining human relationships based entirely and completely on the use of historical records that support each conclusion of such relationships. Where there are no historical records, the relationships cannot be extended.

For example, my "Tanner" surname would seem to be an obvious derivative of an occupation. However, its actual origin is more complicated. The name is common in England but also in Switzerland and other parts of Central Europe. The reason for this is speculation, but it may arise from Germanic place names. However, in the surname books about the Tanner family, there is a tendency to assume that anyone with that surname is somehow related. This idea that people with the same name are related is pervasive even today.

There is an old adage that nature abhors a vacuum. I would expand on that principle to say that genealogists abhor a blank pedigree space and they will try to fill that space with any name they can find that might fit. So any Tanner that is found, even in another country, "must" be related and can be used to fill in that blank space.

Unfortunately, this tendency is not limited to surnames. It is common to see people added to a family tree based solely on the fact that they have the same given names with a total disregard for the places and times when the added people lived. Name matching is the antithesis of a sourcecentric genealogy.

Another common tendency is to fill the blanks with a famous person or royalty. In fact, any name is better than a blank space.

Of course, part of my current preoccupation with this subject comes from working on the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. The accumulation of names in my own surname line, the Tanner family, has been primarily based on a surname book originally published in 1895 and then reissued in 1905. The book was later expanded in 1910 with a new title. The 1895 edition is not readily available. Here is the citation to the first book:

Tanner, George C. 1905. William Tanner, Sr. of North Kingstown, Rhode Island and his descendants: in four parts. [Faribault, Minn.]: The author.

The 1910 edition is the edition most commonly cited. Notice that the first book was about William Tanner of North Kingstown. The first book only cursorily examines the genealogy of William Tanner, the original immigrant, but is primarily about a second William Tanner who is assumed to be his son. Here is the citation for the second book. 

Tanner, George C. 1910. William Tanner, Sr. of South Kingstown, Rhode Island and his descendants: in four parts. [Faribault, Minn.]: The author.

This 1910 book contains a detailed examination of the existing sources with extensive citations concerning the origin of the family in Rhode Island. Despite this availability of references to original documents, and the fact that the book is widely and routinely cited as the "source" for information, the records cited by the book have not been included or referenced in the information traditionally included in the Family Tree and other family trees in other online programs. Rather than examine and build upon the cited sources, later researchers have merely copied some of the information and randomly created other, unsupported information without sources.

The tendency to fill in the blank spaces in a family tree are so prevalent that anywhere an end of line appears, people will add in any name they can find that is even similar without regard for dates or places. Since the 1910 book is widely known and has been copied in a number of other books, information from the book is used routinely as if it were carved in stone. Unfortunately, only a short summary of the information in this earlier 1910 book was included in a later, more popular book.

Tanner, Maurice, and George C Tanner. Descendants of John Tanner: Born August 15, 1778 at Hopkintown, R.I., Died April 15, 1850 at South Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Utah. Salem, MA: Higginson Book Company, 1942.

The earlier 1905 book is widely available in digital format but seldom cited or used. The later 1910 book is extensive used and cited by those who attempt to maintain the "traditional" family line even though the information is incomplete and wrongly cited in the later 1942 book.  This is also despite the fact that both the original Tanner book from 1905 and later 1910 edition contains references to the existing records of the time. However, some of the conclusions made by George C. Tanner in both books do not agree with the documents to which he makes reference. As he says in his 1905 book in several places his conclusions are based on conjecture and supposition. The conclusions of 1910 book are more adequately sourced but he still admits many of his conclusions are conjecture.

Here is the problem. The information from the book, even the source citations, is generally miscited or ignored. When the author notes that he has no information and his conclusions are conjecture, he does so, but those who subsequently cite the book ignore the author's words and assume the information is correct without doing any additional research to validate the conclusions. It is this last step that is largely ignored and skipped when adding information to the Family Tree.

The Family Nexus Adds Premium Features

The Family Nexus is an interactive app for iPhones that automatically plots life events from your family tree on an interactive Google map. This makes any road trip into a family history discovery. As you plot your course on a Google map, The Family Nexus adds events around your location that occurred in your ancestors lives as recorded on the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. The basic program is free, but now the company has added some premium features based on an annual subscription.

Quoting from a press release:

Premium Features provide powerful tools to access even more data, customize the map experience, and connect with ancestors in new ways. Subscribers can download an additional 4 generations of ancestors beyond the 6 generations in the free version. They also can see more context around those individuals. For example, in addition to basic birth, marriage, and death information for an individual, users can also see immediate family members of an ancestor. Furthermore, subscribers see a beautiful gallery view of photos and stories directly from FamilySearch Memories. 

The free version lets users visualize life events of their ancestors in a map, which is a fun and engaging way to see family history. Premium Features allow subscribers to customize the map experience in new ways. Filter controls allow users to show or hide certain types of events, filter by date range, or isolate a family line by showing only ancestors of a particular person. What is more, subscribers can turn on locations of key places such as cemeteries, churches, and courthouses which can be very helpful when visiting an area. 

“These new features are a significant step forward in our journey to make family history more mobile and more social. The positive response of our fans and users encourages us to continue developing innovative new features.”

Although the price of the premium features is designated as a "subscription" the real issue is that upgrades are included so these "subscriptions" simply become a substitute for the older method of charging for upgrades. Meanwhile, the customer gets the benefit of the free program and can decide whether or not to "upgrade."  From my perspective, the use of "subscriptions" to replace an upgrade cost is more in line with the reality of software development and sale than charging an upgrade fee that is more than purchasing the original program.

The Challenge of Interpreting My DNA Test Results

Most of the articles I have read and the explanations I have listened to about genealogical DNA testing have centered on complicated explanations of X-chromosome or autosomal DNA testing, Y-chromosome DNA testing, and mitochondrial DNA testing. I liken these explanations to telling me how my car's engine operates when I am buying a car. I may be interested in fuel injectors, torque, and other technical aspects of my car's operation, but all of that "under the hood" type explanation is superfluous when I start driving my car. I am not interested in becoming a mechanic (although I have been a pretty decent one over the years).

Likewise, when I get my DNA test results from the major DNA testing companies unless I investigate deeply into the "raw data" I never hear about the chromosomes or whatever. It is just like driving away in my new car. I know something is happening under the hood, but all I really care about is the way it drives.

What I do get from the DNA providers are some fancied up statistics with some generalized conclusions, just like what I usually get from a car salesman or an advertisement.

So now I have essentially three different sets of results from my two DNA tests: the explanation given to me by Ancestry.com from their DNA test, the explanation given to me by MyHeritage.com from their test and now, the explanation given to me by MyHeritage.com from the raw data of my Ancestry.com test. In addition, I have another way to look at my ancestry: the analysis by location from the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. Now that I think about it, I really have yet another DNA test result: the one from the older MyHeritage.com analysis before they applied their "upgrade."

From my standpoint, I may as well be driving five different cars. Here is what I can see.

FamilySearch.org documented data in the Family Tree. My knowledge of the origin of my ancestors from extensively documented sources going back six or more generations tells me my ancestors came from the following:

• America back to 1620, primarily New England on more than one line and then to England with the possibility of one ancestral line tracing back to The Netherlands before 1620. 
• Denmark (i.e. Scandinavia) starting back about four generations on two lines
• Two lines that go to Wales.
• One line that goes to Northern Ireland and likely originated in Scotland.
• One line that goes to Ireland. 

Here is the fan chart showing the places where my family originated.

OK, so what about the DNA tests?

Ancestry.com says I am primarily:

• Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales and perhaps Northern Ireland?) 55%
• Scandinavia  29%
• Iberian Peninsula 11%  
• Ireland 5% 

I am not sure where the Iberian Peninsula came from, but if I look at it closely, I see that the range is from 2% (close if not in the margin of error) up to 19%. The main problem is the time depth. Given my researched results, any Iberian influence would have to come from ancestors that were more than six generations in the past.

Next, I have MyHeritage.com. My original results before the "upgrade" had the following:

• British and Irish 87%
• Scandinavian 9.3%
• Ashkenazi Jewish 2.5%
• South Asia 1.2%

Well, there seems to be no question that most of my ancestors come from the British Isles. This also agrees quite well with my own research since one of my lines is arguably Jewish and another may be a Gypsy.

But what about the MyHeritage.com upgrade? Here are the results now.

• English 74%
• Irish, Scottish, and Welsh 14.2%
• Italian 3.5%
• Baltic 1%
• West Asia 1.9%

Apparently, my Jewish heritage has disappeared and my ancestors now come from Italy, the Baltic and West Asia (which may still include my Gypy heritage). 

Then I uploaded my Ancestry.com DNA test to MyHeritage.com and got the following results:

• English 63.4%
• Irish, Scottish, and Welsh 13.1%
• Scandinavian 12.2%
• Italian 11.3%

Given the vague geographic designations that could possibly contain any number of ethnic groups, this doesn't tell me much at all especially in light of my own documented research.

What is missing?

The answer to that is clear: I have no idea of the time depth we are talking about. Historically, my English ancestors could have come from Scandinavia, Central Europe or Italy since each of these areas sent armies into England and parts of the rest of Great Britain. Why did some percentages disappear and others appear? 

Stay tuned for more analysis in future posts. 

Accessing Brigham Young University Collections Online -- Part One

https://sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/

The Brigham Young University Family History Library website features an extensive list of online resources. Here is a screenshot of the beginning portion of the list.

The list includes many genealogically related programs, databases with specifically helpful genealogical information and other websites of general interest. Access to many of these websites is restricted to patrons using computers in the Family History Library itself.  These particular items are marked with the designation "in library only." However, the links to generally available resources are accessible even from your home computer. The programs that are available only when physically present in the library are certainly a justifiable incentive for a research visit to the BYU campus.

The term "underused" is generally overused in genealogically related writings. But in this case designating the online resources at the BYU Family History Library as underused is an understatement. Despite the fact that the list is prominently highlighted on the startup page for the Library, I see very very few patrons using its resources. This is the case even when the resources and the list could be specifically helpful to the patron's research.

The Library's resource listings are divided into the following categories:

• Alphabetical List
• Digital State Archives
• Classes and Webinars
• Libraries and Historical Societies
• Maps
• Newspapers
• Records
• Reference
• Subject List

Although some of these categories are redundant each of them needs to be explored.

In addition to the extensive alphabetical listing of resources, there are a few more generally used websites along the right-hand border of the Library's startup page.

It is generally unfair to compare the list of online resources available at the BYU Family History Library with those available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah because in addition to those online resources listed on the BYU Family History Library webpage there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of additional resources available from the general online items from the Harold B. Lee Library where the BYU Family History Library is located and operated.

In addition, the BYU Family History Library also has the basic genealogy programs featured on the FamilySearch.org Portal programs that are available in Family History Centers around the world. All of the large online, library editions, database programs are available for in-library use: FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com and Findmypast.com. Use of the subscription programs is limited to doing research. Your personal family trees are only available if you sign in to the programs with your subscription login and password.

Other programs available from the BYU Family History Library which are also generally available on the Family History Center's portal include WorldVitalRecords.com, Fold3.com, and ArkivDigital.com, the Swedish database.

Stay tuned for some of the highlights of the BYU Family History Library online collections.

Upload your other DNA tests to MyHeritage.com

For some time now, I have been writing about genealogy and DNA testing. My first test was with MyHeritage.com and I have been writing (and talking) about those results in past posts. After RootsTech 2017, I eventually submitted a second test to Ancestry.com. When the results came in from the Ancestry.com test, I compared the results to the MyHeritage.com test. I next updated the results of the MyHeritage.com test with their newly updated analysis program. That brings us to uploading the results from my Ancestry.com DNA test to MyHeritage.com.

MyHeritage.com has a standing offer allowing a few other DNA tests to be uploaded and added into the results from their own test. I decided to do just that and uploaded by test results.

Part of the issues that develop as a result of taking multiple DNA tests is that the tests do not seem to agree. In addition, it is apparent that as the data corpus increases and as the analysis programs become more refined the results of the tests are modified by the various companies. Genealogical DNA testing is definitely a work in progress.

There is a definite difference between the results of a DNA test that show individuals that may be related due to their tests with the same company and the generalized findings of ethnicity. In other words, you may find out who your close relatives are if they have taken the same DNA test but the results showing your percentages of various ethnic groups appears to border on speculation. In saying this, I am not criticizing any particular test. In my case, and I suppose in most cases, the ethnic conclusions are based on a range of possible statistical relationships. Over time, these results will likely become more predictable and reliable.

Generally speaking, results from both of my current DNA tests are not too surprising. In my case, as I have indicated previously, I do have an extensive amount of research genealogical data to compare to any of the conclusions developed by the DNA tests.

As soon as I see the results from uploading my Ancestry.com results to MyHeritage.com, I will begin the process of doing a more detailed analysis of the similarities and differences.

Update on MyHeritage

MyHeritage.com is evolving rapidly. New features are being added regularly. Some of these changes are refinements to existing features but some add completely new features. I will try to highlight the changes and new features as they occur.

At the forefront of these changes is their DNA Testing and Reporting. For example, in the view of my own DNA report, there are several additions and changes. One important feature is the little gear icon.

In this popup menu, you can choose which of the views, based on the version of the Beta test, that you want to view. Here are my more refined results after applying the latest Beta test.

You can see more specific details than the original report that was displayed at the beginning of this post. I will be writing more about these changes in the very near future. Also, for the present, if you subscribe to MyHeritage.com, you can upload another company's DNA test and have the results included in your ethnicity estimate.

Another new feature of the program is the Tree Consistency Checker.

This is a valuable addition to your family tree on MyHeritage.com. However, it may precipitate a domino effect with your existing data, especially if you compare what you have with what is on the FamilySearch.org Family Tree, just to mention one possibility. For example, the first entry in my list of problems raises some extensive issues with some traditional information that has been put into the Family Tree by other users. This one problem raises hours of research and review.

Photo Discovery

The new Photo Discovery section is in the Discoveries tab and then in the Instant Discoveries option.

If you have any Photo Discoveries, they will show up when you click on the link.

One of the issues with the family tree view on MyHeritage.com is the way female names are shown. Previously, changing the view was difficult to find. Now there is a shortcut to change the way female names are presented in your family tree. When you are in the family tree view, there is a gear icon in the upper right-hand corner that gives you a number of formatting options, including customizing the way female names are displayed.

You have several choices and can decide how you want other options to be displayed also.

Stay tuned for more DNA comments and other changes on the website.