Changes to myfamily.com web site and what it means to you

If you type the url http://www.myfamily.com, the result is an entirely new look:

Get to the old site by clicking the Sign in button on the left.  The direct url for the old site is http://www.classic.myfamily.com.  However, Ancestry.com has changes in the works and we can expect to pay for myfamily.com in the near future.  In addition, we may have to move over to the new site.   Adding this to the issues of free access to ancestry.com trees, with photos, stories, etc and the problems with security management and copyright ownership, these events encourage me to accelerate the development of the Google web site. 

This blog is one tool of many available to me through the leeteleet account.  Another is the web site:  http://sites.google.com/site/leeteleetgenealogyna/.)  A third is the Documents repository, where I can store all documents and link to them from the genealogy web site.  Plus, there's lots of disk space and it is free. 

One of the most important advantages of moving to Google is that I have better control over user security or, to put it another way, for most everything, I there is no security.  This blog requires no userid or password to remember; neither does the web site.  (Now, I do have secure areas within the google account to put identity sensitive materials, such as up-to-date trees.  We can correspond via email through the leeteleetlink user id.  We can also use the groups function, which provides the same functionality as the existing myfamily.com site. Let's see how this works. 

Note:  if you want to comment on any post I make, use the Comment link at the bottom of this post.

Family Tree Vetting

I've appended the dialog between Vi James and myself earlier in this blog because I wanted to give the reader a glimpse into the laborous process of vetting a family tree.  In general, here's the process I'm following to update the 1934 book's information

1. I've been loading EVERYTHING on the internet I can find about each person in the 1934 book into a single tree.  
2. Along the way, I've discovered at least 7 "root" Leet(e)s who immigrated to the US or Canada and that appear to be related to the identified Leet(e) families in the United Kingdom.  Therefore, I've had to start trees for each of these and rearrange all the information in the 1934 book, which erroneously included people from these other root immigrants. 
3. I have to go through each individual and determine what information is genuine and what is erroneous.  I have to rename and classify all the documents, both primary and secondary, and attach them to the appropriate people.  
4. I have to change the available information on each person to be consistent with the primary documents and I have to evaluate whether or not the information in the secondary documents is accurate.  Note that census data, which you might consider primary data, is really secondary, since someone has "read" the census data and typed the data into some database in order for it to be electronically retrieved.  
5. In addition, the primary and secondary documents provide much more information than was documented in the 1934 book, such as occupation and relationship to neighbors.  I have to factor that information into the "story."  
6. Particularly difficult is identifying the "root line" each Leet(e) I find on the web is related to.  The area of PA, OH, IA, KY, and NY is very significant, because the various lines "crossed" in those states. 
7. As I work on the primary tree, it rapidly grows to the point where it is difficult to manage in an electronic environment; the size often approaches .5 GB.  So I'm trimming the tree as soon as I can.  I create a separate tree for each female Leet(e) to track her descendants.  This was not done in the 1934 book.
8. I also trim the tree at about 1880:  every Leet(e) born during that period gets their own tree.  This means I've got over a hundred trees in process, with the list growing daily.  

Also, consider finding an individual in a couple hundred trees if you don't have an central index of the individuals.  You have to open each tree and search.  Given the large databases I've constructed, there are usually multiple hits for any given name.  I have to figure out if I already have something on that person and, if not, which tree that person belongs to.

I'm describing the process so you'll understand why very little has been published.  If I publish the trees too soon, they will contain errors.  The errors propagate through the on-line genealogy community as quickly as the juiciest gossip.  That just leads to more work by me and lack of trust in my work. 

To clean up the process I've described, I'm developing my own software that works with both Ancestry.com and a free (open source), sophisticated application called GenealogyJ.   It is written in Java and the source code and APIs are available.  It is well designed for me to add the features I need to facilitate the vetting and publishing process.  For those of you with some IT experience, what I am doing is groundbreaking:  I'm developing an XML schema and XSLT transformations to meet my needs.  It will work off the standard 5.5 version of the GED, which is one XSLT transformation of the schema.  Of course, it is taking time to develop the software. 

There are four web-based genealogy sites that I support:

1. LeeteLeet Family GenealogyNA is the "golden" site, where I publish my completed or nearly completed work.  Note that this is NOT ancestry.com.  Ancestry.com is corrupted, and the available support does not meet my needs.  It's also not a good situation when it comes to owning the results. 
2. LeeteLeet at MyFamily.com is the private site for sharing information in a controlled environment.  We'll continue to share information through that site.
3. The Google user id leeteleetlink@gmail.com and complete set of Google tools under it. 
4. This blog (http://leeteleetblog.blogspot.com/)

My general communication and thoughts will be through the blog.  Communication that should remain private will be through the myfamily.com site.

I'd like to thank everyone for their help.

William Mathews, Farm Manager for Gov Leete

I received the following note via my father from Marc Matthews:

My name is Marc Matthews and I am trying to find information on my 10th generation back in time grand-father by the name of William Mathews, he supposedly was a farm manager for Governor William Leete, in the 1600's. He has been referred to as "Leete's farmer". Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks, Marc Matthews

I haven't researched this, so I'm looking forward to a dialogue with Marc. My father, Gerald Leet, said:

In the "History of Guilford and Madison" by STEINER Edition 1975: "Besides the patentees, William Matthew, Mr, Leete's farmer, was admitted planter April 2, 1674." I'm not sure what "planter" means but I suspect he had his own farm after working for Mr. Leete"

I think the first thing to do is to clarify the spelling of the last name. Is it Mathews, Matthew, or Matthews? Next, identify any relationships between the two families by looking at both ancestors and descendants.
At this point in time I don't have any identified relationships. Nor do I have any stories. It would be great to expand on this lead.

Is it Doud, Doude, or Dowd?

		Duane Leet - Nov 6, 2009   View | Edit | Delete | Viewers Categories: B1,66,Andrew Leete     Vi, I got your letter about the Doud name.   I'm in full agreement with you about validating every entry I can with a primary document.   At the same time, I am documenting all the errors, so that future generations will understand that these are errors and not just valid alternatives.   My current tree has Henry Doude but there is some conflict on the last name of his children:   Currently, the consensus internet has as his children: - Rebecca Doude - Mary Dowd - Thomas Doud - John Doude - Jacob Doud - Sarah Doud - Jeremiah Doud - Elizabeth Doude - Rachael Doude So there's "every spelling in the book."   I assume the book you referred to in your note is : "All the Descendants of Henry Doude...etc".   What I assume would be a primary source, the Barbour Collection, lists Elizabeth, for example, under the heading Dowd, Doud, Doude.   So that's no help.   I did find one marriage record that makes sense.   Does this make sense to you, and do I use the "preferred" name as Doud for all his children?   Have you seen a will or other record where Henry lists his children by last name (other than married name)?   Thanks, Duane ______________________ The US and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 Database:   Name: Mary Doud Gender: female Spouse Name: Samuel Hughes Marriage Year: 1666 Number Pages: 1 Source Citation: Source number: 508.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: JWV. Source Information: Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases. Originally, the information was derived from an array of materials including pedigree charts, family history articles, querie. Description: This database contains marriage record information for approximately 1,400,000 individuals from across all 50 United States and 32 different countries around the world between 1560 and 1900. These records, which include information on over 500 years of marriages, were extracted from family group sheets, electronic databases, biographies, wills, and other sources. Learn more...
		Read what others had to say:
		Vi James - Nov 9, 2009   Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item     Hi Duane:   The book that I am referring to is:   when Andrew and Submit were married, was for all the marriages at the church where all the marriages were recorded, I can't remember if I sent you a full page of the marriages or not, but I will send you another one.   So we know the record was recorded in Oct, 1773.   The book, that the page was taken from, you can see is all tattered down the side,   Then in another book, that I have a copy off. it is all nicely rewritten in lovely hand writing, and they took the liberty of spelling her name "Dowd."     I have a land deed with her father's name on it and they spell his name Janna Doude.   This is in 1741/2 were Samuel Leete is selling land to Janna Doude.   You will see they both were written with the "e." I consider a "Primary Document" a hand written legal paper that is recorded in, and kept by the Court House, in the County they were living in at that time period.   That is why I feel that the County name is a must in genealogy.   You go to the County Seat and take down the big books and make copies.   What LDS did was go into all the Court Houses and make copies, and then went back to Salt Lake City and developed the films, and I can order them, and look at the actual records that is in that County and no one else has changed them.   They are exactly as they were written on that date.   When I first started doing genealogy in 1950, an elderly gentlemen told us that you are not doing genealogy until you do the old Land Records, this is the reason that I take all land records for most of my information.   No one changes them.   You may find a dozen different ways that other people, who have sent in records, and they will all vary from one record to another.   What is in the Court House you do not change.   IGI is good, if it is extracted information, but if it is submitted information, do not not trust it.   Meaning if it is submitted information, it is genealogy that is sent to SLC,   this is genealogy done by well meaning people, and they have sent it to SLC to be recorded.   Here is where a lot of the false information comes from.   People pick it up, and think that the person who did it knows what they are talking about.   So these data bases contain a lot of rotten genealogy.   Don't trust them.   What I sent you before, will have the source written on the back of the page.   Also a Film Number and a Vol. Number so that someone else can check out the same record at the Court House. I will tell you that when I started to do #66. I decided to start at William Leete and I went through every film for Guilford, and have every land deed, up to about 1840, I think.     I have not looked at them for a long time.   The above named Source Information, you list, is all full of errors as they were taking what they could of anyones information, and they are full of errors.   Don't trust their information.   All for now.   Vi James
		Vi James - Nov 9, 2009   Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item     I see that I did not answer the 2nd part of your question.   When they came   in 1639, they had Doude on the list of people.   Like the Leetes, somewhere along the line the "e" started to be dropped, so also the Doude name, somewhere along the line the "e" started to be dropped.   I would stick with Doude/Doud.   Dowd was late in arriving for this spelling.   This shows that both spelling was used for this name.     What ever is on the Document at the time that it was written is the way I spell it.   So when I am writing, you will see me switch back and forth in the same letter when I am relating to a certain record that I am referring to.   I am spelling it as the document spells it.   When looking at the Source Information that you refer to:   look at what it refers to as their sources.   Family Group Sheets, etc.,etc.   I would not touch these with a 10' pole, pedigree charts, family history, queire, some may be good, but most have not done extensive research and their info gets in the pipe line and create more errors. Oh horrors. When Submit was married you will see on the hand written document, it is spelled Doud, and on the Divorce you will see it is Doud.   These had to be records that were in the Court House, and I consider them "Primary Documents."     On the back of them, you will see the LDS Film No. 1672069   Item #2.   This whole film was for the Divorces in New Haven Co. Connecticut and there was a lot of divorces, it was not rare.   Vi James
		Duane Leet - Nov 9, 2009   Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item     Vi, I'm going to transfer this entire dialog to the new Blog I've created.   A blog is like the forums of old.   However, the Blogs I use permits embedding pictures, text, movies, etc. in line with the text, which will help me ask questions and illustrate the questions as well.   You've got a wealth of research knowledge, and I want to make the Blog the place where we describe the techniques we use and argue WHY we made decisions about selecting this information over that information. You'll find the blog works about the same way this post and reply session works.   Click comment at the bottom to comment on a blog item.   The blog url is http://leeteleetblog.blogspot.com/.   Thanks, Duane

The Leete-Leet North America Genealogy Blog

There are several places Leetes and/or Leets have used to discuss the family's genealogy.  These include:

• The MyFamily web site
• Ancestry.com and its blogs
• Leete Family genealogy forum
• The Genealogy.com web site

I could go on.  Google "Leete and Leet forums genealogy" for a complete list. 

The MyFamily web site is the primary one for my current mission:  updating the Leete, Leet genealogy for North America.  I've found a number of limitations with that site:

• It requires registration.  This is good to protect personal information, and I will continue to use that site.  However, some people find it difficult to use, and it does not show up in search engine results. 
• It is limited in format.  This is a key issue.  I need to generate complex documents, with pictures, text, links, etc.  I can code in html and that function is provided, but it is a pain.  With the availability of "Windows Live Writer" and the the Google Suite, with its advanced features for embedding all kinds of gadgets, including slide shows and movies, MyFamily.com has become "transitional."
• MyFamily.com is owned by Ancestry.com.  The put legal restrictions on everything.  The Leete and Leet families should own their own history! 

So, I've created a new web site using the Google Suite: Leete Leet Family Genealogye NA.  This blog is a supplement to the web site.