Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames in Your Family Tree Database?

 From Randy (a cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:

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 or database.

(2)  Tell us which GMP you are 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!! Or 20!!!

(4)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, in a post on Facebook, or on Twitter.  

Here's mine:

I use Family Tree Maker 19 (FTM19) as my GMP.  In FTM19, go to "Publish,", then "Person Reports," and then choose "Surname Report."  I then tweaked the Settings to "All Individuals," "Sort by Surname Count," and "Show Divider Between Surnames."

I have 75 pages of surnames, listed from the most number of instances down to the least number of instances (1).  I did a count of how many surnames on a page (44), multiplied that by 74 pages, and then added the 20 entries on the last page (page 75) and got a total of 3,276 surnames in my family tree.

This is the first page of my report:

Surname Report 05-14-2022

The top 20 are, with birth date ranges:

TAPLEY - 927 from 1691-2010

MNU (Maiden Name Unknown) - 672 from 1531-1984

OZMUN - 300 from 1764-1973

CLAXTON - 299 from 1764-1997

DRAKE - 291 from 1647-2001

PRICE - 272 from 1680-1967

BUSH - 264 from 1589-1971

POWELL - 257 from 1750-1980

SMITH - 249 from 1648-1984

RANNEY - 232 from 1661-1973

HUBBARD - 212 from 1601-1925

WILLIAMS - 145 from 1777-1992

DAVIS - 126 from 1760-1965

GOODWIN - 125 from 1776-1961

DURDEN - 123 from 1775-1960

JOHNSON - 123 from 1681-1974

WILSON - 116 from 1847-1981

BARWICK - 113 from 1731-1957

WHEELER - 108 from 1807-2017

BEASLEY - 97 from 1788-1983

I found surprises in my list.  First of all I would have thought that my number of Tapleys would have been higher.  I also did not realize how high the numbers are for Smith, Johnson, Davis, and Williams.  I had to laugh that Powell was in the top 10 - all of the them married into my family.  I have none in my direct line.  However, my family intertwines with the Powells over and over again to the  point that a fellow Powell researcher I know and I call each other cousins anyway.  I was surprised (and disappointed) that the number of Odoms, Goths, or Schwalls were not higher.  But then I have had a harder time researching those surnames, so it shouldn't be a surprise.  

I am looking forward to see how this changes over the next few years since I am about to dive into the Ranney family records again.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2021 (Week 9): Multiples

 Amy Johnson Crow from Generations Cafe is again hosting the blog writing prompt this year called 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2021.  I'm going to try to participate more fully this year.  I like that she gives us "permission" to interpret the prompt however we wish and share it however we wish.  It doesn't have to be a blog post; it could be a family video, a letter to a child or grandchild, an e-mail, etc.  

The Theme for Week 9 (Mar 1-7) is Multiples.

This topic stumped me.  I have already written about the multiple men named Hosea in my Tapley tree.  We don't have twins in the family much.  We have no triplets that I know of.  I had finally thought of something... not a great something... but maybe I could have made it work.  Then I re-read what Amy had said about this topic... multiple marriages... wait.  This led to me to my Great Uncle Kenneth.

Kenneth Carter Ranney (1909-1989) was the only surviving son of Luther Boardman Ranney (1870-1943) and Bessie Alice Carter (1883-1960).  He was my grandmother Ethel Irene Ranney Tapley's brother.  

As far as we can tell, Kenneth was "different."  He was a wanderer, never stayed in one place very long.  He was uncommunicative; kept to himself.  He didn't keep in touch with his family.  Never had any children.  However, he was married five times.  

I have researched the records many times for information on Kenneth's wives, but what I have is still sketchy.

His first wife was Alice Wright, birth and death dates unknown.  Kenneth was 24 years old when he married Alice in Yuma County, Arizona on September 4, 1933.  At the time, Kenneth was living in Calexico, California and working for the U.S. Postal Service.  He must have met Alice there because their marriage license states she lived in Calexico also.

My grandmother wrote about this in her 1933 diary:

Sunday, September 3 [1933]: "...Kenneth came up about 4 am. He has a Ford V8. 1932."

Monday, September 4: "Kenneth went home about 2 am. Kenneth got married in Yuma."

 I stated then "This last sentence "Kenneth got married in Yuma." was written in a different pen...like it was added later. Probably the family did not know Kenneth was getting married or that he had gotten married until later."  He pretty much just showed up at his parents' house randomly and at odd hours.  

At this time, my great-grandparents and their daughters were living San Bernardino County, California.  Calexico was way down south on the Mexican border, 161 miles away.  Today it's a 2 and a half hour drive.  Back then, it was probably closer to 3 or more.  

Kenneth and Alice separated a short four months later on January 1, 1934.  My grandmother also mentioned this in her diary for that date:  "Kenneth & Alice split up."

At some point, Kenneth and Alice had moved to Mentone in San Bernardino County.  On October 16, 1934, a notice appeared on page 5 of The San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, California):

(Yes that's Reno, Nevada.)

Kenneth's mother, my great-grandmother, supposedly said that she had never seen so much emotion expressed by Kenneth as the day he received his finalized divorce decree.  He actually jumped for joy.  

Kenneth's second wife was named Muriel "Mona" Espy.  She was born abt 1905, so she was about 4 years older than Kenneth.  She was born in Oregon. They married some time between 1935-1938 and lived in Los Angeles.

Mona

   

Here are Mona and Kenneth at my grandparents' wedding, December 1939.

Here are Mona and Kenneth in a family photo, circa 1940-42.

Mona and Kenneth divorced sometime before 1948.

Kenneth remarried between 1948-1950 to Laura Mae Byrd (1907-1980).  She was born in Charlton County, Georgia.  They were divorced by November 25, 1957 because that is the date...

Kenneth married his 4th wife, Beulah Lucille Smith (1906-1963).  Beulah was born in Illinois.  Their divorce was filed in 1960.  The following is from The San Bernardino Sun (San Bernardino, California), on May 5, 1960, Page 22:

  

Kenneth's 5th and final wife was Eva Arnell Byrd (1909-2003).  They were married December 8, 1961 in Bristow, Oklahoma.  Eva was the sister of Kenneth's 3rd wife, Laura May Byrd and was also born in Charlton County, Georgia.  I don't know how they met, but they were living in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 1970's.  Eva visited us in Swainsboro once (yes, by herself).  Soon after, they moved to Fort Worth, Texas.  

Either he was just getting too old and tired of marrying and divorcing or Eva was the one for him, as they were married until his death in 1989.  

Eva Arnell Byrd Ranney

It seemed that Uncle Kenneth was searching for something amongst his multiple wives.  I hope he found it at last with Eva.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Do You Have a Mary Smith?

From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  How many persons named Mary Smith do you have in your genealogy management program or online family tree?  How many persons named Mary smith are ancestors?

(2)  Pick out one of those persons named Mary Smith and do some online research for them on Ancestry, FamilySearch, or another set of record collections.  Your goal is to add something to your database.

(3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to his blog post, or in a post on Facebook.

Here's mine:

 I have seven (7) Mary Smiths in my Family Tree Maker 2019 database.  I was surprised I had that many!  Of the seven, four are really no relation - only by marriage.  Of the remaining three, Mary Elvira Smith (1908-1936) is my 3rd cousin, 2x removed; Mary Coleman Smith is my 4th cousin, 1x removed and is alive and kicking; and Mary Smith (abt 1738-??) is my 5th great-grandmother.  

So I naturally chose my 5th great-grandmother to research this evening.  I have no information about her parents.  She married Jacob Osman (1732-bef 1790) on May 11, 1763 in Orange County, New York.  They had seven children.  I am descended from their oldest child, Abrham Ozman (1764-1848).  (Yes, different spelling of the last name is correct.  I have Osman, Osmun, Ozman, and Ozmun in my database and they are all from the same family.)

I searched Ancestry hints, and there were only two.  One hint is from England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991, but since I do not have an international membership to Ancestry, I cannot explore that one.  The only other hint was for Ancestry Member Trees.  These hints are notoriously unreliable.  I only use them when I want to confirm what I think I already know.  I did take a peek in this instance, but no one else knows who her parents were either.  

There was one hint on FamilySearch:

Name: Mary Smith

Birth:  1737 in Dudley, Worcester, England

Marriage:  11 May 1763 in New York, British Colonial America (matches what I have)

Spouse:  Jacob Essmond (First name matches; last name... a new spelling perhaps?)

Children:  lists seven children, but only two of the names match what I have.

I'm inclined to think the Mary Smith at FamilySearch is my Mary Smith, but more research into their children is needed.  

I searched FindAGrave also, but found no Mary Smith that matched mine.

So I was unable to add anything new to my database about Mary Smith, my 5th great-grandmother.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Top 20 Surnames in Your Family Tree

From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

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 (either software such as Family Tree Maker (in my case!) 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 what the top 200 surnames are in your database, and, if possible, how many entries for each.  How many different surnames are in your family tree?

(4)  Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a status or comment on a Facebook post.

NOTE:  If you can't figure how to do this in your GMP (Genealogy Management Program), use the Help button in your program and search for "count surnames" or "surname report" then follow the directions.

Here's mine:

I used Family Tree Maker 2019 because that the software I use for my GMP.  In FTM 2019, go to Publish, then Person Reports, then Surname Report.  You can tweak your report and choose to include either Immediate Family, Extended Family, All Individuals, or choose only those individuals you wish.  Of course, for this exercise, I chose All Individuals.

Then you can choose to sort by surname court (I did.), limit counts to included individuals (I'm not sure how this works.), show divider between surnames (makes it easier to read) and include preparer information.

Then click Generate Report.  I got this:

It looks a lot like Randy's report from RootsMagic 7.  It was easy to do and I have 51 pages of surnames.  It doesn't give me a total number of surnames, but if I do the math like Randy did:  24 names per pages 1-50, plus 20 on page 51 = 1,220 surnames in a database of 14,693 people.  

My top 20 surnames, with earliest and most recent dates they occur:

TAPLEY, count 803, from 1691-2010

MNU (Maiden Name Unknown), count 428, from 1592-1970

Drake, count 269, from 1647-1967

Powell, count 268, from 1715-1980

Bush, count 251, from 1655-1966

Ranney, count 214, from 1661-1951

Claxton, count 197, from 1764-1997

Price, count 197, from 1680-1959

Smith, count 197, from 1738-1984

Hubbard, count 181, from 1601-1913

Goodwin, count 125, from 1776-1947

Durden, count 110, from 1775-1960

Flanders, count 109, from 1756-1970

Kight, count 98, from 1775-1983

Wheeler, count 98, from 1807-2017

Russell, count 94, from 1798-1951

Williams, count 91, from 1777-1979

Odom, count 87, from 1798-1966

Davis, count 86 from 1760-1961

Kea, count 86 from 1810-1957

And one bonus one if you don't want to count the MNU:

Beasley, count 85, from 1791-1972

What surprises me is how few of the top surnames (in numbers) are actually direct line ancestors!  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Do You Have a John Smith?

From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

 Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

 1)  How many persons named John Smith do you have in your genealogy management program or online family tree?  How many persons named John Smith are ancestors?

2)  Pick out one of those persons named John Smith and do some online research for them in Ancestry, FamilySearch, or another set of record collections.  Your goal is to add something to your database.

3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook or Google+.

Here's mine:

1)  Believe it or not, I only have one John Smith in my Family Tree Maker 2012 database!  And he is not even a direct relative!  However, I never turn down a reason to research so here goes.

2)  John G. Smith was born 07 Aug 1824 and died 28 May 1894.  He was married to Mary Tyson, born 27 Feb 1817 and died 07 Feb 1894.  Their daughter, Margaret F. Tyson Smith (17 Nov 1856 - 02 Aug 1935) was married to my first cousin, John Solomon P. Lampp (13 Aug 1854 - 16 Dec 1922).  Other than presuming they were born and lived in Georgia, I know nothing about this family.

Upon checking the public member trees on Ancestry.com, I found a listing for John Gordon Smith with (almost) matching birth and date dates who was born in Emanuel County, Georgia.  His wife is listed as Mary Tyson.  Bingo!  His parents are listed as William Daniel Smith (1801-1860) and Nancy Ann Stewart (1802-1884).   

Also on Ancestry.com, in the database "Georgia Marriages to 1850," I found a listing for John G. Smith and Mary Tison.  They were married on February 6, 1845 in Emanuel County, Georgia. The same information is listed in "Georgia Marriages, 1699-1944."

I also found a J. G. Smith and Mary Smith in the 1880 United States Federal Census (Ancestry.com).  They were living in Johnson County, Georgia at that time, along with their 19-year-old son, John, which matches information I found elsewhere.

Also in the public member trees on Ancestry.com, I found a picture of John Smith's headstone.  This lead me to FindAGrave.com.  There I found the memorial for John Gordon Smith who is buried in Smith Cemetery in Scott, Johnson County, Georgia.  The inscription reads:

 "But Man Dieth
& Wayesth A
Way Ya Man
Giveth Up
The Ghost &
Whare Is He"

So I found quite a bit of "new" information in a very short period of time.  A successful evening, I would say!

3)  Done!

Tombstone Tuesday: Joe J Wheeler

Joe J Wheeler

b 21 Jul 1898

d 22 Feb 1958

laid to rest at

Wheeler Cemetery

Kite, Johnson County, Georgia

son of

Shade J Wheeler

and

Shapronia Smith

husband of

Vera Norris

Joe J Wheeler was the 1st cousin, 1x removed of 

Maud Wheeler

who was the wife of my grand uncle,

Bascom Bishop Tapley

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

From Randy over at Genea-Musings: 

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

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, in a status or comment on Facebook, or in Google Plus Stream post.

NOTE:  If you can't figure out how to do this in your GMP (Genealogy Management Program), use the Help button and search for "count persons" then follow directions.  

Here's mine:

 I used Family Tree Maker 2012.  This ended up being the simplest report I've ever tried to pull together.  In FTM2012, go to Publish, Person Reports, and then choose "Surname Report."  Under "Individuals to Include," I checked "Include All Individuals."  After taking a look at the resulting report, which sorted the surnames alphabetically, I went back and also checked "Sort by Surname Count" so the names with the highest number of entries would rise to the top!

The report gives me a total count of individuals with each surname, along with a breakdown by male and female.  It also lists the earliest and latest dates each surname is recorded (dates of birth).  

This did not take long at all, and I have a 28 page list.   The top 10, along with the date ranges, are as follows:
 
1)  TAPLEY - 658 individuals (pretty evenly split with 343 males and 309 females) with a date range of 1691 - 2010 

2)  POWELL - 172 individuals (172 Male; 91 Female) with a date range of 1715 to 1963 

3)  MNU (Maiden Name Unknown) - 161 individuals (all female, of course!) with a date range of 1730 to 1936  

4)  DRAKE - 156 individuals (93 male; 63 female) with a date range of 1647 to 1967

5)  HUBBARD - 151 individuals (70 male; 81 female) with a date range of 1601 to 1893

6)  RANNEY (and RANNY and RANY) - 146 individuals (79 male; 67 female) with a date range of 1616 to 1951

7)  PRICE - 134 individuals (72 male; 61 female) with a date range of 1680 to 1956

8)  CLAXTON - 90 individuals (52 male; 36 female) with a date range of 1806 to 1974

9)  RUSSELL - 73 individuals (39 male; 27 female) with a date range of 1782 to 1916

10) SMITH - 72 individuals (43 male; 29 female) with a date range of 1791 - 1984

Surprises?  Yes!  I was surprised that Russell and Smith made the top 10, but Schwalls or Page did not.  I was also surprised that I only have 12 individuals with no (or unknown) last name!
 

Sunday's Obituary: Joy Schwalls Smith

Provided by Durden-Hudson Funeral Directors 

Durden-Hudson Funeral Directors announces the death of Mrs. Joy Schwalls Smith, age 59, 0f Albany, GA on Monday, February 11, 2013, at the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany.

Memorial Services will be held in Albany on Friday, February 15, 2013 at 11:00 AM with Rev. Tony Haefs officiating.  Graveside Services will be held in Swainsboro at Old Cannoochee Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery on Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 2:00 PM with Scott Hudson officiating.

Mrs. Smith was a native of Millen, Ga.; she had lived in Albany since 1984 after moving from Swainsboro, Ga.; she was retired from the Department of Family and Children Services. Mrs. Smith was preceded in death by her Father, Mr. Rountree Schwalls of Swainsboro.

Survivors include:

Her Husband: Mr. Gregory C. Smith of Albany, Georgia
One Son: Ken S. Smith (Jana) of Americus, Ga.
One Daughter: Amber Albritton of Valdosta, Ga.
Her Mother: Mrs. Lillian W. Schwalls of Swainsboro, Georgia.

Condolences may be submitted on-line at WWW.durden-hudsonfuneraldirectors.com.
 
Joy Schwalls Smith was my 2nd cousin, 1x removed.  

Mary Elizabeth Tapley	Me
Linda Irene Tapley	My mother
Charles Morgan Tapley	My grandfather
Mattie Schwalls Tapley	My great-grandmother
George W. Schwalls Sr. & Lincelia E Claxton Schwalls	My 2nd great-grandparents
Charlie Milton Schwalls	Mattie’s brother & my great grand uncle
Rountree Schwalls	Charlie Milton’s son
Joy Schwalls Smith	Rountree’s daughter