Tuesday, November 19, 2019

VCC screens version 1.82

The VCC screens have been updated. Before you begin work, make sure it says version: 1.82 at the top. This will ensure that you have all the correct fields and that everything saves properly. We don't know if any bugs will happen, so you might want to occasionally make sure the death screen has saved after you submit it.

Here are the changes:

Other: For Primary Cause of Death Duration there is now an "Other" box. This is a text box, so you may enter anything that doesn't fit in the Years, Months, Days boxes. Some examples of what you might enter here include: sudden, 1 hour, unknown, date of onset mm/dd/yyyy. When entering date of onset, type it in exactly the format shown: "date of onset mm/dd/yyyy" (in that order, including the slashes). If there are other dates you need to enter that aren't date of onset, label them.

Birth Sources: Birth sources have been separated from the death sources. If you find the birth date on multiple sources, please check multiple source boxes. If you select "Other," copy and paste the title of the record directly from the source (removing any apostrophes). "Life Claim/SS" is the same as "Social Security Death Index or Life Claim" in the death sources.

Birth Sources: Military Record: If the birth date comes from any military record such as draft cards or enlistments, check "Military Record." There is no need to select "Other" and copy the title of the record. Do not confuse this with the death sources that lists Mil Info, which is only for military information included in the VCC screens (and will generally only be used if you have to update the death screen for one of the soldier's children).

Birth Sources: Census: You'll notice a "Census" box under birth sources. This box is ONLY to be checked if you DO NOT HAVE A BIRTH DATE FROM ANY SOURCE. If you don't have a birth date, you may go to the census decade closest to the person's birth and estimate the year (month and year if the decade is 1900) and enter it in the birth date field. Then check the Census box and select the census decade used to estimate the birth year. Use census decades that are already input on the VCC grid or that are on the family tree or in the hints. Do not do additional searches for census decades.

The Source URLs apply to both birth and death sources. If you have a link for different birth and death records, include one of each. Otherwise, just include the two best links that you find.

1930/1940 Census Information: If you select "M" for the "Marital Status" for either the 1930 or 1940 census, additional fields will appear. These are the same fields you input for the target individual. "Grade Completed" will be added for the spouse in 1940, soon. Enter all information for the target individual and the target individual's spouse. If EITHER the target individual or the target individual's spouse are the head of household, check the "Head of Household?" box and input the information.

Please begin using these new fields today, and mark on your log which family you're working on. On the soldier's line, type "Version 1.82, 11/19/2019."

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Grandchildren progress report - November 13

Here is our progress on the Grandchildren sample as of November 13, 2019.

Grandchildren Sample
POW
Non-POW
Total
Total RecIds Completed
103
28
131
RecIds Completed in the Last Week
10
18
28
% Sample Completed
--
--
4.64
Total Grandchildren (including new)
15843
17017
32860
New Grandchildren Added
184
51
235
Total Grandchildren Completed
1472
310
1782
% Grandchildren Completed
9.29
1.82
5.4
Birth Dates Added
1358
310
1668
Death Dates Added
1246
302
1548
Death Causes Added
215
66
281
Found 1930
592
158
750
Found 1940
789
198
987
Living Grandchildren
24
0
24
New Living Male-line Great Grandsons Found
56
10
66
Child Death Causes Added
22
16
38

Total Sample = 2826

Friday, November 8, 2019

Grandparents of the veteran

We've decided to make a new grandparent rule. The inferred relationships don't distinguish between grandchildren and grandparents in the VCC screens. So, if you have grandparents of the veteran, they will be purple on your grid.

If you know who they (the grandparents) are the parents of, and that person is on the grid, please change the inferred relationship from grand of 00, to parent of XX. That is, if the veteran, his parent(s), and his grandparent(s) are on the grid, make the grandparents parents of their child rather than grands of the veteran.

If you don't have additional information, you may just leave them as grand of 00.

Friday, November 1, 2019

Mothers of male-line great grandsons

Dora has asked us to do some additional work on our families. This is in preparation for the GREAT GRANDCHILDREN sample. It is important to know information about both the father and mother. The health of the mother impacts the health of the child.

This ONLY applies if there is a great grandson through the male line (whether living or not). Dora wants us to get birth and death information for the mothers of the great grandsons. To do this, you will:

      • Check your tree to see if there are great grandsons descended through the son and grandson of the soldier.
            o Noelle does this by keeping the soldier’s surname in mind. If the great grandchild is male and has the same last name as the soldier, then you know you have a great grandson through the male line.

      • If the answer is yes, you will add the wife of the grandson to the grid (that is the mother of the great grandson).

      • You will then create a death screen for that mother.
            o Add her name and gender.
            o If you find them in the hints, add the birth and death information to the screen.

      • DO NOT spend very much time doing this.

Please start doing this today (that would be yesterday, 10/31/2019 when I sent you the original email). Note on your log which RecId you’re working on, so that I know where we started searching for moms of great grandsons. You might say something like (on the soldier line) “began great grandson moms 10/31/2019.”

There is no need to add these moms to the input log.