It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.
2) Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.
3) Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries. If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5! Or 10!
4) Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.
NOTE: If you can't figure out how to do this in your GMP, use the Help button and search for "count persons" then follow directions.
Here's mine:
Well, I must admit to being somewhat dismayed that I could not discover a way to achieve this with my GMP (Genealogy Management Program). I use MyHeritage's Family Tree Builder as my main GMP. Not only could I not find a way to do this, the help file didn't have any information I could find on how I might do this either.
So I cheated. I exported a current GEDCOM file, and imported it in the free version of Legacy 7. It took me a couple of minutes of looking, but I finally stumbled on the very easy method of clicking on Help, and then General Information. Up came a little box with a number of statistics, including number of unique surnames.
It turns out I currently have 5944 individuals from 1722 families with 1192 unique surnames. I couldn't find details like a Top Ten or anything. It's possible those things are in the Deluxe version.
Showing posts with label surname. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surname. Show all posts
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Surname Saturday - Dillman
It seems appropriate for my first Surname Saturday to go with my surname, the one on the blog title. I am a member of the Dillman Family Association, a group formed to research and link as many Dillman lines as possible. To date we've got over ten separate groups, and have successfully linked a few groups together using a combination of both old fashioned paper trail detective work and up-to-the-minute DNA testing. That said, my line happens to be in a niche not connected to any of the other Dillman lines like the best known, which is connected to the Houser-Rhorer lines and very well documented.
My Dillman line originates in Germany, more specifically Lautzenhausen, Rhein-Hunsrueck-Kreis, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. If you google Lautzenhausen, you'll find many references to a US air base there, but it's a fairly small town in western Germany. I must admit that the information I have on my emigrating ancestor was researched and passed along by someone else, but the notes are pretty extensive and the reasoning looks good. I don't possess any of the primary documentation to verify.
Johann Michael Dillmann entered the US on 14 June 1785. He was born about 1754, and died on 28 Dec 1821in Harrison County, Indiana. On 14 May 1785 he married Maria Elisabeth Legrand at Saint Leopold Church in Vienna, Austria. Obviously, the newlyweds immediately left for the New World! A website listing Vienna marriages including theirs lists them as being of the Catholic faith. I've seen mention of Johann's possible father, Johann Nicolaus Dillmann, but I have absolutely no documentation on him. Ah, well, a genealogist's work is never done!
Johann and Maria had children. Michael Dillman (whose tombstone was featured in my initial Tombstone Tuesday) was born 28 Dec 1810 in Ohio. I will feature him more fully in a future post. Christena Dillman was born about 1812 and later married James Wilton on 5 Sep 1832 in Harrison County. In the 1840 census they are still in Posey County; ages of family listed as follows: 3 males under 5, 1 male 20 to 30, and one female age 20 to 30. There is another possible sibling, Catherine, but I lack sufficient documentation to be sure she's connected, and when she was born.
Other notes on Johann Michael:
1. Document apparently written in German - Date uncertain.
2. Two dollar bond filed by Jacob Friedly as administer of the estate of John Dillman, Dec. 22, 1821.
3. Appraisal submitted by John Zenor, Amos Blunk, & George Zenor of the estate of John Dillman, dec on Dec 28, 1821.
4. Receipt of purchase - cow and calf and grindstone by Amos Blunk on Sep 21, 1822.
5. Fee of Jacob Friedly 25 cents for administration of estate on Sep 10, 1822.
6. Receipt by Fielding Cromwell, JP accepting payment by Jacob Friedly on three judgments against the estate of John Dillman in favor of Peter Leffler for $5 dated Oct 31, 1822.
7. Receipt from George Hosirnmer to Jacob Friedly accepting payment of $3 on account as payment for medicine to the first of November 1821 for him self, wife and children. Question? Does this indicate that John was still alive in Nov 1821 ? It would seem so as indicated!
8. Settlement of court executed on Sep 16, 1823.
9. Court awarded Jacob Friedly 50 cents as his fee for settlement of the estate of John Dillman, deceased.
Hopefully I haven't wandered too far afield. Although I have these notes about Johann, I hope to someday have more concrete documentation including copies of primary source documents. Until then, this will have to do.
My Dillman line originates in Germany, more specifically Lautzenhausen, Rhein-Hunsrueck-Kreis, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. If you google Lautzenhausen, you'll find many references to a US air base there, but it's a fairly small town in western Germany. I must admit that the information I have on my emigrating ancestor was researched and passed along by someone else, but the notes are pretty extensive and the reasoning looks good. I don't possess any of the primary documentation to verify.
Johann Michael Dillmann entered the US on 14 June 1785. He was born about 1754, and died on 28 Dec 1821in Harrison County, Indiana. On 14 May 1785 he married Maria Elisabeth Legrand at Saint Leopold Church in Vienna, Austria. Obviously, the newlyweds immediately left for the New World! A website listing Vienna marriages including theirs lists them as being of the Catholic faith. I've seen mention of Johann's possible father, Johann Nicolaus Dillmann, but I have absolutely no documentation on him. Ah, well, a genealogist's work is never done!
Johann and Maria had children. Michael Dillman (whose tombstone was featured in my initial Tombstone Tuesday) was born 28 Dec 1810 in Ohio. I will feature him more fully in a future post. Christena Dillman was born about 1812 and later married James Wilton on 5 Sep 1832 in Harrison County. In the 1840 census they are still in Posey County; ages of family listed as follows: 3 males under 5, 1 male 20 to 30, and one female age 20 to 30. There is another possible sibling, Catherine, but I lack sufficient documentation to be sure she's connected, and when she was born.
Other notes on Johann Michael:
1. Document apparently written in German - Date uncertain.
2. Two dollar bond filed by Jacob Friedly as administer of the estate of John Dillman, Dec. 22, 1821.
3. Appraisal submitted by John Zenor, Amos Blunk, & George Zenor of the estate of John Dillman, dec on Dec 28, 1821.
4. Receipt of purchase - cow and calf and grindstone by Amos Blunk on Sep 21, 1822.
5. Fee of Jacob Friedly 25 cents for administration of estate on Sep 10, 1822.
6. Receipt by Fielding Cromwell, JP accepting payment by Jacob Friedly on three judgments against the estate of John Dillman in favor of Peter Leffler for $5 dated Oct 31, 1822.
7. Receipt from George Hosirnmer to Jacob Friedly accepting payment of $3 on account as payment for medicine to the first of November 1821 for him self, wife and children. Question? Does this indicate that John was still alive in Nov 1821 ? It would seem so as indicated!
8. Settlement of court executed on Sep 16, 1823.
9. Court awarded Jacob Friedly 50 cents as his fee for settlement of the estate of John Dillman, deceased.
Hopefully I haven't wandered too far afield. Although I have these notes about Johann, I hope to someday have more concrete documentation including copies of primary source documents. Until then, this will have to do.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Sidelines and Surnames
As I've mentioned, my primary interest is my paternal line of Dillmans who lived in Crawford County, Indiana for a long while between 1810 or so and 1950-ish. Some distant cousins may still live there, I have not yet reached the point where I'm able to keep up with all of the living relations. However, like everyone else, I have other lines of interest, many in places other than where my main line lived.
For instance, my maternal line is Williams, based out of various parts of Louisiana including East Feliciana Parish. This line is giving me some trouble, as some of those Williams ancestors liked to move around a lot without leaving much paper trail to track them down. Mostly this was economically driven, a need to find employment leading them to distant cities. Compounding my difficulties, these folks were so busy trying to make a living that they really didn't put any focus on family history, further reducing any trails they might have left. Other Louisiana surnames I'm researching are McMurry, Dark, Gaar, Sandel, McQueen, Booker and Higginbotham, mostly from the Winn Parish area around Winfield and Sikes. The McMurry line actually leads to Arkansas, where it brick walls pretty quickly.
As I've hit these brick walls, and gradually added to what I know about my active lines, I have found time to research my spouse's lines as well. That way I can pass on to my children both sides of their ancestry. Her lines also consist of people too busy living and unconcerned with the past to keep many detailed records. Most of her living ancestors are not very interested in family history at all, but will assist by answering questions when I ask. As they get older, it's sometimes interesting for them to think back over their lives to remember places they lived and worked, people they knew and relatives who have died. I will be discussing those lines in future posts.
I've found it helpful on both sides to utilize a 50 Questions quiz about personal history that each person can answer at their leisure and as they are willing. Some of the questions are about ancestors and relatives, while others are about lifestyles in the past, and personal experiences. I strongly recommend you develop or find one of these and use it to interview relatives at your earliest opportunity. You never know when something will happen that will deprive you of the opportunity to interview someone forever!
On a side note, as I've been getting this blog up and running I'm finding a lot of things I would like to implement, but there are so many it will take some time to get it all done. Please let me know what you would like to see added so I know what to work on first! And if you're using a feed reader, please check out the Subscribe button on the right.
For instance, my maternal line is Williams, based out of various parts of Louisiana including East Feliciana Parish. This line is giving me some trouble, as some of those Williams ancestors liked to move around a lot without leaving much paper trail to track them down. Mostly this was economically driven, a need to find employment leading them to distant cities. Compounding my difficulties, these folks were so busy trying to make a living that they really didn't put any focus on family history, further reducing any trails they might have left. Other Louisiana surnames I'm researching are McMurry, Dark, Gaar, Sandel, McQueen, Booker and Higginbotham, mostly from the Winn Parish area around Winfield and Sikes. The McMurry line actually leads to Arkansas, where it brick walls pretty quickly.
As I've hit these brick walls, and gradually added to what I know about my active lines, I have found time to research my spouse's lines as well. That way I can pass on to my children both sides of their ancestry. Her lines also consist of people too busy living and unconcerned with the past to keep many detailed records. Most of her living ancestors are not very interested in family history at all, but will assist by answering questions when I ask. As they get older, it's sometimes interesting for them to think back over their lives to remember places they lived and worked, people they knew and relatives who have died. I will be discussing those lines in future posts.
I've found it helpful on both sides to utilize a 50 Questions quiz about personal history that each person can answer at their leisure and as they are willing. Some of the questions are about ancestors and relatives, while others are about lifestyles in the past, and personal experiences. I strongly recommend you develop or find one of these and use it to interview relatives at your earliest opportunity. You never know when something will happen that will deprive you of the opportunity to interview someone forever!
On a side note, as I've been getting this blog up and running I'm finding a lot of things I would like to implement, but there are so many it will take some time to get it all done. Please let me know what you would like to see added so I know what to work on first! And if you're using a feed reader, please check out the Subscribe button on the right.
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