Sunday, November 6, 2016

Using the Leetspeak 3 to show that primary records vary between an e and no e.

RFI:   On this blog I will use a 3, part of the Leetspeak language, to indicate that sometimes the record shows Leete and other times shows Leet; eg, Leet3.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Using Gedmatch.com

I have started a tutorial on using Gedmatch.com.  Basically, I am copying stuff from the email of one of our cousins.  Here is what he says:

Once one posts their "kit" to gedmatch, the learning curving involves the following tools:

1. one-to-many : a list of your 2000 strongest matches.
2. one-to-one: a chromosome browser to look at a particular match. NB setting thresholds, weak matches
3. people-who-match-one-or-both-kits: this is the freebee for triangulations, many nuances
4. multiple-kit-analysis: for example to keep track of our Leet/Leete connected kits and who matches who.
5. fun tools, eye color predictor and "are your parents related", creating a phased kit for an unavailable parent
6. tier 1 tools. What paying an optional donation of $10 gets you.

So we need a tutorial on each tool.  I'll add to this post as he helps me and I figure out how to communicate it.  I expect the post will actually be a link to another post, but this will be the index to help.  Duane Leet

Update on Benjamin Leete #559 (1831-1927) of Nevada

First of all, it appears from various records that he did keep the "e".

I got this note:

A recent find - Just wanted to update you to Benjamin Leete, who was descendant of William Leete of New Haven and cousin to James Leete. He is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Reno. There are current plans by the owner of the cemetery to dig up the graves and move them to another lot, perhaps in a mass burial.
http://hcpfoundation.squarespace.com/

The history of the Leetes in NV is an interesting one and involves some major branches of the Leete tree in North America.  This means both US and Canadian citizens of Leete descent.  Please, everyone individually, go to this page http://hcpfoundation.squarespace.com/call-to-action/ and respond.

I have accumulated a lot of info on the Leetes of Nevada with the intent of publishing an ebook on the Leet(e)s of Nevada and California.  It is a true epic of family history.  Unfortunately, I have multiple responsibilities and haven't had time to polish, assemble, and vet the material.  Anyone that wants to help, please let me know.  It seems rather urgent that something gets done so that we can demonstrate to the elites and powers-that-be the importance to our family of this cemetery.  I'll add some more info later.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Uploading AncestryDNA data to gedmatch.com

The procedure I followed is:

A.  Get your DNA data from ancestry.com
1.  Log on to the account used to obtain the DNA test.  It might not be your own account; it is the account the test was "run on."  For example, the test was run on my father, not me, so I have to log on to my father's account.
2.  Click on Download Raw Data.  An email will be sent to the registered account, which may not be your email account.  Go to that account for the message that was sent.
3.  Click on the green button.  Better yet, right click and copy the link.  Paste the link into the browser and make sure the link is what you expect. (Avoid phishing emails.)
4.  Log on to the account associated with the DNA test; eg, my father's account.
5.  Click on the button to download the data.  It will be a large Zip file; eg, 6 MB.
B. Get your GEDmatch account.
1. On the gedmatch.com page, click the HERE in "Not Registered, click HERE."  This is the link for that:  https://www.gedmatch.com/register.php.  Fill in the info.  An email will be sent to the email address you used to register with a confirmation code.
2.  Go back to the site and enter that code.  You will be in.
C.  Upload your AncestryDNA data
On the page that is presented, find, under the box labeled File Uploads, click on AncestryDNA.com.
3.  The new page will ask for the Name of the Donor.  It will also ask for your Mitochondrial haplogroup (if known) and your Y haplogroup (if known).
4.  There is a button at the bottom of the page "Choose file".  The file you choose should be the unzipped file you extracted from the large Zip file you downloaded from ancestry.  The name of the file should be ancestryDNA.txt.  It will be huge.
5.  Click the "Upload" button.  A message will display "yada yada THIS PROCESS TAKES SEVERAL MINUTES yada yada".  Other than that nothing shows, except if you have your browser's status line displayed.  In that case you will see a % upload message at the bottom of the browser.  This isn't a very good design.  It should show a progress bar or something and throw up a busy icon.  It doesn't.
6.  After a long while- maybe 10 minutes- a new page will display without you doing anything.  This is the page that has a Processing Chromosomes.  Please wait message at the bottom.  At least you know something is happening now.  This will go on for 20-30 minutes, until 36 or 37 chromosomes have been processed.  I got an error after 30 minutes and 8 chromosomes, so I had to start again.  Will report results in a later blog.  The error was "The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete the request.  Please contact the server administrator at [no address given] to inform them of the time this error occurred and the actions you performed just before the error."  

I let the restart run overnight and this time it finished.  There were 22 chromosomes found plus X and YX.  It gave me a kit number.  At the bottom it said " Tokenizing generally takes a few minutes after uploading. After that time, this file should be available for one-to-one comparisons. Batch processing generally takes 1-2 days. After that, this kit should be available for the one-to-many report."

Benjamin Leete built his own railroad!

I have a proper document with pictures, etc. in my database, but here is the text of an article I found.  Interesting fellow.

Benjamin Franklin Leete (1831- 1927) Biography



Benjamin Franklin LEETE, the president of the Magie Salt Works and a resident
of Reno, has developed an industry of the utmost importance to Nevada
and the west, and in business circles has made for himself a prominent and
honorable place. His diligence, foresight and perseverance have been the
foundation of the gratifying prosperity which he is now enjoying, and
he belongs to that class of representative American men who, while advancing
individual success, also promote the welfare of the locality with which
they are identified.

When Nevada was still a part of the territory of Utah, Mr. Leete
located within its borders, dating his residence from 1859. He was born
in Deruyter, Madison county. New York, on the 28th of February, 1831.
and traced his ancestry in the paternal line back to William Leete, at one
time governor of the colonies of Hartford and Branford, and the progenitor
of the family in the United States.

Epaphrous Nott Leete, the father of B. F. Leete, was born in Rutland county. Vermont, on the 28th of June, 1789, and died at Lockport, New York, in 1873. at the advanced age of
eighty-four years. His mother, who in her maidenhood was Miss Polly Nott,
belonged to a well known family of Schenectady, New York.

After arriving at years of maturity Mr. E. N. Leete was united in marriage to Miss
Harriet Welthy Thompson, a resident of Deruyter. They made their home
at Lockport. New York. In early life E. N. Leete was a Democrat in his
political views and supported Jackson, but on the organization of the new
Republican party he joined its ranks, giving his allegiance to Fremont.
Lincoln and the other grand men who have been its standardbearers. In
religious faith he was a Unitarian, and his wife held membership with the
Baptist church. They were the parents of thirteen children, but only three
are living at the time of this writing, 1903, and B. F. Leete is the only one
in Nevada.

In the Empire state Mr. B. F. Leete spent the days of his boyhood and
youth, and having obtained a good literary education he then took up the
study of civil engineering, and in that capacity was employed in connection
with the construction of the New York Central Railroad. In 1858 he
took passage for California on the Moses Taylor, carrying fifteen hundred
passengers. He crossed the Isthmus of Panama and completed his journey
by steamer, arriving at San Francisco on the ist of August, 1858. The railroad
from Folsom to Maysville was then being built, and for some time he
was employed as engineer in its eonstruction. Later he went to Dayton.
Nevada. There he was engaged in the survey and construction of the
mountain wagon roads, and from Dayton he went to a district fifty miles
east of Reno, where he secured a large amount of salt lands and some salt
springs. In 1870 he began the erection of the Eagle Salt Works, which
he has since operated, having for the past thirty-three years been engaged
in the manufacture of salt. The springs from which the salt is taken are
perfectly pure, and the Eagle Salt Works turn out a practically pure product,
this salt being one and thirty-nine hundredths purer than the famous Liverpool
salt, and as there are no freight charges to be paid, the salt produced by
Mr. Leete is much cheaper for the residents of the state than- that shipped
from long distances. He manufactures salt for all the purposes for which
salt is used, and has a large •demand for his product. He also manufactures
sulphurized salt, crystalizing the sulfur into the salt, to be fed to cattle and
sheep, and it is found very effective in preventing annoying skin diseases,
such as mange in horses and cattle and scab in sheep. He has the credit
of being the first manufacturer of sulphurized salt, and has given to stock-
raisers a very valuable article. In recent years Mr. Leete incorporated the
Eagle Salt Works, his sons being his partners in the enterprise, while he is
the president and manager.

In connection with his plant Mr. Leete has built, owns and operates thirteen miles of standard gauge railroad, extending from the salt works to the Southern Pacific Railroad, which facilitates the shipment of the product of the salt works, and also provides a convenient outlet for the traffic of that section of the stae. In addition to his enterprise
here he owns mining property in Plumas and Sonoma counties in California,
and he has a comfortable residence at 41 1 Virginia street, in Reno, surrounded by flowers, shrubs and trees of his own planting.

On the 27th of November. 1861. Mr. Leete was united in marriage
to Miss Isabelle McNeal of Lockport, New York, and they now have three sons: William McNeal. Ixim at Sacramento, California, January 1, 1863; Ben McNeal. born in Dayton. Nevada, in 1867; and Xott, born in Dayton, in 1870. They are now associated with their father in business and are enterprising young men of business habits.

Mr. LĂ©ete was an active Republican until the silver question became
the dominant issue before the people of this country, when he became active
in the organization of the new silver j>arty, and is now one of its stanch
advocates. In 1856, while in L sublime degree of a Master Mason and has ever been an exemplary representative of the craft. An honored pioneer of Nevada, he has witnessed
its development from territorial days and has been deeply interested in its
welfare and progress, so directing his efforts that they have many times
been of marked value in the development and improvement of the section
of the state with which he is connected. His business career has been marked
by integrity.