Sepia Saturday 162

Through my post last Wednesday, a commenter introduced me to Sepia Saturday.

Every week they post an old photograph, and participants are supposed to use it as a prompt and reflect upon an old photograph (or photographs) from their collection that in some way correspond(s) to a theme associated with the original.

I like the challenge of finding a photographic companion to their prompt. I can see that I am occasionally going to have to get a bit creative. At least they give previews for the following two weeks, which gives some time to allow the creative juices to flow.

I know one question in some reader's mind: Wait, it isn't Saturday yet!
I am posting this at midnight GMT. While it is six hours earlier where I am, the host of Sepia Saturday and several participants are "across the pond." Several participants are likely to have jumped in even earlier. Even though I posted on Wednesday last week, I was still the sixth participant.

Here's this week's photographic prompt:

Here's my response:

This is a photograph of my maternal grandfather, Martin Deutsch, from 1972, when he was 65. I was 3 years old at the time, so while I've seen pictures, I never knew him as a younger man. That's the way it is with grandfathers. However, he was very active. Not only did he ride bicycles, he lifted weights, bowled, jogged in circles around his basement, and in the winter shoveled snow.

Here's a photograph of him from 1942, during his war service. He was stationed in the Middle East and Africa.

A jeep isn't too much different from a bicycle. Both are 'open air' modes of transport. Different number of wheels. 

In both of my photographs, there are trees, and grass. Something noticeably absent from the prompt.

Poetry Friday: Jefferson Howard - Edgar Lee Masters

Jefferson Howard - Edgar Lee Masters (from Spoon River Anthology)

MY valiant fight! For I call it valiant,
With my father’s beliefs from old Virginia:
Hating slavery, but no less war.
I, full of spirit, audacity, courage
Thrown into life here in Spoon River,
With its dominant forces drawn from New England,
Republicans, Calvinists, merchants, bankers,
Hating me, yet fearing my arm.
With wife and children heavy to carry—
Yet fruits of my very zest of life.
Stealing odd pleasures that cost me prestige,
And reaping evils I had not sown;
Foe of the church with its charnel dankness,
Friend of the human touch of the tavern;
Tangled with fates all alien to me,
Deserted by hands I called my own.
Then just as I felt my giant strength
Short of breath, behold my children
Had wound their lives in stranger gardens—
And I stood alone, as I started alone!
My valiant life! I died on my feet,
Facing the silence—facing the prospect
That no one would know of the fight I made.

***
Spoon River Anthology, Edgar Lee Masters, 1916, is a collection of poems written as epitaphs for a fictional village. While the village is fictional, there is a Spoon River in Illinois, and Edgar Lee Masters spent his youth nearby the river in Lewistown, IL, about 40 miles SW of Peoria.

Data Backup Day: Digitize Your Records

The first day of every month is "Data Backup Day"

For a genealogist, "Backing up one's data" can include asking yourself whether or not you have any important photographs or paper documents that could be converted into data.

This makes it easier to share the documents with relatives, as well as helps preserve the documents (if the data is backed up on a regular basis.)

Image Source: A Scholar, Rembrandt, 1631.

Amanuensis Monday: Letter from Josie Van Every to her step-daughter, Myrtle - August 15, 1927

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I look at a letter Josie (Thetford) Van Every, the second wife of my great grandfather, Melvin, sent to my grandmother, Myrtle Van Every, in August of 1927.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: January 20-26

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• Carolyn L. Barkley at GenealogyAndFamilyHistory provides some tips on visiting cemeteries in Cemeteries and Gravestone Care.

• Often the best tips seem so obvious once you see them. Michael John Neill at Genealogy Tip of the Day has a suggestion for discovering the weird spellings that come up for surnames in indexes. 

• Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist examines the legal uses of Microsoft Clip Art, with some surprising discoveries.

• Levi Sumagaysay at Good Morning Silicon Valley shares the news that Google is requiring warrants before they turn over data from Gmail and other user accounts. The law only requires a subpoena. If this is true, Google's email service might be one of the few resisting government access to content.

• Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings takes a look at the Census DotMap which provides a graphical representation of every individual recorded in the recent US and Canadian census.

• Erin Engle at Digital Preservation offers some tips on answering the question: Scanning: Do it Yourself or Outsource?

• Tamura Jones at Modern Software Experiences addresses the question: One Database or Multiple Databases? 

• The Economist discusses the possibility of storing archival data in DNA. (hat/tip: EOGN)

• Jasia at CreativeGene shares the recent announcement of a recent agreement between Jewish Records Indexing-Poland and the Polish State Archives. This is very exciting news.

• In Catholics, Mormons, and Genealogy at The Catholic Gene Craig Manson writes on the rift between the two churches over baptisms-by-proxy. He refers back to a 2008 post he wrote, which I recall inspired a blog post of my own. My views haven't changed since then.

• Some genealogists might wish to participate in author, Mary Robinette Kowal's Month of Letters Challenge. 

Other Weekly Lists

• Ruth's Recommendations - Ruth Blair - The Passionate Genealogist 
• Genealogy News Corral - Diane Haddad - GenealogyInsider 
• Notable Genealogy Blog Posts - Michael Hait - Planting the Seeds 
• Fab Finds - Jana Last - Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog 
• From the Blogs - Michael J. Leclerc - Mocavo Blog
• Monday Morning Mentions - Lynn Palermo - Armchair Genealogist 
• Best of the Genea-Blogs - Randy Seaver - GeneaMusings 
• Genealogy Round-up - Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak - MSS Roots World
• Friday Finds - Julie Cahill Tarr - GenBlog

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks

Two Week Calendar

• Jan 27 - Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
• Jan 27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day
• Jan 28 - Data Privacy Day
• Jan 30 - Martyr's Day (India) 
• Feb 1 - National Freedom Day (US)
• Feb 2 - Imbolc/St. Brighid's Day (Celtic/Pagan)
• Feb 2 - Groundhog Day
• Feb 2 - Candlemas (Christian)
• Feb 3 - Setsubun-sai (Shinto)
• Feb 4 - World Cancer Day
• Feb 10 - Chinese New Year
• Feb 10 - Transfiguration Sunday (Christian)

Poetry Friday: Written in January, 1833 - Hartley Coleridge

WRITTEN IN JANUARY, 1833

The old year is gone--so uncivil was I,
That I made not a couplet to bid him good bye,
But now that the new year is fairly come in,
Not to bid him a welcome, were surely a sin--

So welcome I bid him, tho' not to myself,
Yet to all who are wealthy in hope or in pelf,
All hearty good fellows to whom life is dear,
I heartily wish you a happy new year.

To the man, who is fit to be married, a wife,
And a grave unto him that is tired of life.
To my friends, that they may not have much to forgive,
To my foes, that they just may forget that I live,

To my love--that her charms may to her be a blessing,
Tho' to me I confess, they are rather distressing--
For the man of her choice may good fortune await him,
And then--why, I'll try very hard not to hate him.

-- Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849)

I share this not only because New Year thoughts are still on my brain, nor only because it was written 180 years ago this month, but also because of the author.

I am intrigued by a person who chooses a creative profession, when they have to bear the albatross of a father who was great in that profession. They have to know that no matter how good they are, they will always be compared to their father. I don't even have to tell you who his father was, do I?

Hartley's work was considered of sufficient quality for W.H. Auden to include him in his 5-volume "Poets of the English Language" in 1950. That's where I was first introduced to his poetry. He was ranked 'among the foremost sonneteers of our time," by a contemporary. Personally, I think his work would be better known today if he had had a different surname.

Workday Wednesday: Cruvant's Toggery - East St. Louis

Below is a photograph of my second great uncle, David Cruvant, inside his store, Cruvant's Toggery, in East St. Louis. David was the brother of my great grandmother, Bertha (Cruvant) Newmark

If you click on the photo, you can see a larger version.

A toggery is an old term for a clothing store.

Photo: Circa 1910-1920

We're uncertain what year exactly this was. According to East St. Louis City Directories, in 1907 David and his father, Morris, had a shoe store. In 1912 they had a "Clothing, Shoes, and Fur" store. (Morris actually died in 1911, but his name appeared in the 1912 directory.) In 1920, it was still a clothing store, but by 1924, it had become a pawn shop. None of the directories provide a name for the store, but they appear to narrow the date of the photograph down to a period of about 10-15 years.

Update: Following a suggestion in the comments, I have also submitted this post to Sepia Saturday 161

Amanuensis Monday: Biographical Sketch of Newton Fulkerson - 1893

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I look at a rather extensive biographical sketch of my wife's second great grandfather, Newton Fulkerson. The sketch was published in 1893.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: Jan 13-19

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• Megan Smolenyak at the Huffington Post shares how the holiday Monday might have become Michael Luther Branham Day.

• In Copyright and the Wire Photo and the follow-up, Copyright, Corbis, and Terms of Use, Legal Genealogist, Judy G. Russell, discusses the likelihood of pre-1963 wire photos being under copyright.

• Brian at Discovering William illustrates the Absolute Power of Collaboration, and why no Genealogist needs to be alone in their research.

• The Ancestry Insider notes that Ancestry has fixed the 1850 transcription error resulting from confusion over state abbreviations.

• Elyse Doerflinger at Elyse's Genealogy Blog covers the Basics of Organizing Your Genealogy

• Randy Seaver at GenealogyMusings explains to a reader what he does when he finds a document relating to a potential relative. (When he isn't sure it's a relative, or not.)

• Philip at Blood and Frogs provides some tips on accessing the Database of Polish Victims of the Nazis.

• Martha Lev-Zion at JewishGen Blog provides some information on the Israel Genealogy Research Association's new All-Israel Database. (which can be searched in both Hebrew and English)

• The Missouri History Museum has been indexing the names that appear in St. Louis area company employee magazines. They have a fair-sized collection, but are seeking more. (MoSGA Messenger).

• Emily Brand at The Georgian Bawdyhouse transcribes some 18th century newspaper articles on a pick-pocketing prostitute and a winter streaker.

Technology

• Leland Meitzler at GenealogyBlog reviews a very simple blogging platform called, Throwww

• Michael McConnell at Macgasm shows how Macs keep a record of every file that has been downloaded, and how to delete the file.

Other Weekly Lists

• Genealogy News Corral - Beth - GenealogyInsider 
• Ruth's Recommendations - Ruth Blair - The Passionate Genealogist 
• Fab Finds - Jana Last - Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog 
• From the Blogs - Michael J. Leclerc - Mocavo Genealogy Blog 
• Monday Morning Mentions - Lynn Palermo - Armchair Genealogist 
• Best of the Genea-Blogs - Randy Seaver - GeneaMusings
• Genealogy Round-up - Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak - MSS Roots World
• Friday Finds - Julie Cahill Tarr - GenBlog 

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks
Two Week Calendar

• Jan 20 - World Religion Day (Baha'i)
• Jan 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (US)
• Jan 24 - Mawlid an Nabi (Islam)
• Jan 25 - Conversion of St. Paul (Christian)
• Jan 26 - Tu B'shvat (Jewish)
• Jan 27 - Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
• Jan 27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day
• Jan 28 - Data Privacy Day
• Jan 30 - Martyr's Day (India) 
• Feb 1 - National Freedom Day (US)
• Feb 2 - Imbolc/St. Brighid's Day (Celtic/Pagan)
• Feb 2 - Groundhog Day
• Feb 2 - Candlemas (Christian)
• Feb 3 - Setsubun-sai (Shinto)

Identifying William

When I first saw these postcards in my grandmother's boxes, I didn't scan them in, as there wasn't much on them, and what was there wasn't very legible. But going through the collection of letters and postcards recently to see if I had missed anything, I saw them, and realized I didn't know for certain who they were from.



They're birthday cards sent to my great grandmother, Margaret Jane (Denyer) Vanevery. I know this primarily because I can read the postmark date, I know her date of birth, and I can read "many happy returns." One is signed "Wm" and the other "Bro Wm." Neither Margaret nor her husband, Melvin, had a brother with the given name, William. Margaret did have an uncle, William. William Sliver Denyer was born in 1834, and it's possible he was still alive in 1914 or 1917. However, he'd sign the card Uncle William, wouldn't he?

You may have noticed that I said neither Margaret nor Melvin had a brother with the given name, William. I said nothing about middle names. She had one brother, Samuel William Denyer, and one half-brother, George William Foster, Jr.

When her brother testified in front of The Dawes Commission in 1900 he identified himself only by his first name. However, the Dawes packet does make reference to him by his initials, SW Denyer, in a few places. And the packet contains a letter he wrote to the Commission.

I believe the handwriting matches.

So, while the postcards themselves don't have a lot of information on them, they do tell me that Samuel Denyer at least on occasion referred to himself by his middle name.

The 1914 postcard also indicates my great grandmother was living in Berclair, TX in September of 1914. This doesn't come as a surprise, as my great grandfather opened a cheese manufactory in Berclair in November of 1914. However, I believe they kept their farm in the San Marcos/Maxwell area until they moved to El Paso in 1917.

In the collection of postcards my great grandmother saved, there are several from her husband's siblings. However, there are none from her half-siblings. There is no evidence that they kept in touch. There is, of course, also no evidence that they didn't.

Poetry Friday: What is Dying - Luther F Beecher

The below poem is read at many funerals. It has been attributed to several sources, but more about that below.

What is Dying?

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze, and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to meet and mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: “ There! She's gone!” Gone where? Gone from my slght—that is all. She is just as large in mast and bull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to hear her load of living freight to the place of her destination. Her diminished size is in me. and not in her.

And just at that moment when someone at my side says: " There! She's gone!” there are other eyes that are watching for her coming; and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: “ There she comes!"

And that is—" dying."

Who wrote this?

This poem, and slight variataions, have been attributed to: Victor Hugo, Col. David Marcus, Margaret M. Stevens, Dr. Harold Blake Walker, Henry Van Dyke, and Bishop Charles Henry Brent. Due to the alleged attribution to Victor Hugo, and my obsession with the French author, I have been researching the origin of the quote for about ten years. In March of 2012 Google Books finally digitized a book from the early 1900s that gives credit where credit is due. 

(Over the years I have conducted some limited research in libraries at a nearby university and a nearby seminary browsing works of Herny Van Dyke and Bishop Brent searching for the poem. However, my research has mostly been restricted to online sources.)

The Northwestern Christian Advocate, July 13, 1904, credits the poem to a Luther F. Beecher. And the text of the poem is as given above.



Who was Luther F. Beecher?

Is he a retired Brookline Massachusetts minister who died in 1903?
A Reverend in South Nyack, NY in 1873?
The Principal of Saratoga Female Seminary in Saratoga, NY in 1858?
(There's no reason these can't be the same individual; They probably are.)

Is it possible that the source above credits the poem incorrectly?

Yes. The Northwestern Christian Advocate does pre-date all the above alleged sources except: Victor Hugo, Bishop Brent, and Henry Van Dyke. If Bishop Brent is the original source, he was young when he composed it, as he was only 42 in 1904. Henry Van Dyke was 52.

Amanuensis Monday: Postcard to Maggie

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I am sharing a postcard my great grandmother, Margaret (Denyer) Van Every received in December of 1921.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: Jan 6-12

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• Diane L. Richard at Upfront with NGS asks the question, Do We Still Need Libraries?

• Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist discusses Interface Improvements at AncestryDNA.

• Lynn Palermo at The Armchair Genealogist brings back The Family History Writing Challenge for its third year.

• Letters of Note posts a letter written by a 16-year-old Sidney Poitier, asking President Roosevelt for a loan, so he could afford to return to his family the Bahamas. He didn't get the loan, which is rather fortunate for theater history.

• Matthew Inman, at The Oatmeal, shares a cartoon memoir: When Your House is Burning, You Should Brush Your Teeth. He manages to inject a good amount of humor into the retelling, and concludes with a scanned newspaper article documenting the events.

Press Releases

• WikiTree announces free GEDCOM comparisons

Other Weekly Lists

• Genealogy News Corral - Beth - GenealogyInsider 
• Ruth's Recommendations - Ruth Blair - The Passionate Genealogist 
• Fab Finds - Jana Last - Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog 
• From the Blogs - Michael J. Leclerc - Mocavo Genealogy Blog 
• Monday Morning Mentions - Lynn Palermo - Armchair Genealogist
• Best of the Genea-Blogs - Randy Seaver - GeneaMusings
• Friday Finds - Julie Cahill Tarr - GenBlog 

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks
Two Week Calendar

• Jan 13 - Maghi (Sikh)
• Jan 13 - Orthodox New Year/Old New Year (Eastern Orthodox)
• Jan 14 - Ratification Day (US)
• Jan 17 - Blessings of the Animals (Hispanic Catholic)
• Jan 19 - Timkat (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian)
• Jan 20 - World Religion Day (Baha'i)
• Jan 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (US)
• Jan 24 - Mawlid an Nabi (Islam)
• Jan 25 - Conversion of St. Paul (Christian)
• Jan 26 - Tu B'shvat (Jewish)
• Jan 27 - Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
• Jan 27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Poetry Friday: Trinity Place - Carl Sandburg

Trinity Place - Carl Sandburg - from "Smoke and Steel" (1922)

The grave of Alexander Hamilton is in Trinity yard at the end of Wall Street.

The grave of Robert Fulton likewise is in Trinity yard where Wall Street stops.

And in this yard stenogs, bundle boys, scrubwomen, sit on the tombstones, and walk on the grass of graves, speaking of war and weather, of babies, wages and love.

An iron picket fence … and streaming thousands along Broadway sidewalks … straw hats, faces, legs … a singing, talking, hustling river … down the great street that ends with a Sea.

… easy is the sleep of Alexander Hamilton.
… easy is the sleep of Robert Fulton.
… easy are the great governments and the great steamboats.

Amanuensis Monday: A Postcard to Mama - 1908

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***
This week I am sharing a postcard I have found that my Great-Uncle Samuel Van Every sent his mother in 1908.

Google Analytics: Searches that Led Here

I visited Google Analytics, and went through the search results that led people to my blog in 2012. It’s fascinating reading. Some people found what they were searching for. Others, I suspect didn't.

• “Cognatus Ergo Sum” (10 people) 

I thought I had a unique idea when I created that Latin phrase for a poem I wrote. Apparently it has been used often to describe an African emphasis on community.

• “lessons from splitting the red sea for bar mitzvah” (3 people) 

I’m pleased if the transcription of my Bar Mitzvah speech helped any kid with theirs (hopefully they took ideas, and didn't just 'borrow' the entire speech) – however, I am slightly concerned since all three searches were exactly one week prior to this year’s reading of that passage. I am hopeful they were researching a year in advance, and not a week in advance.

• "married her grandson” (2 people)

I bet they were as shocked as I was to discover this fact about Lucille Ball. But Ancestry’s OneWorldTree confirms it.

• “tree” (2 people) 

I wonder how many pages of search results they had to go through before they found my blog? 

ProTip: be a little more specific in your searches. [Maybe this was an 'image search.']

• “since no one has ever heard of my grandparents surname please tell me how the last four letters of their name is prounounced in hungarian – kats” (1 person)

Perhaps not that specific.

• "1900 Cluj Porno" (1 person)
• "Cluj 1900 Porno" (1 person)

I am unsure why a link shows up to this blog post for these two searches. The entry only contains two of those three words. I can only imagine whoever performed those searches was disappointed by my transcription.

• “Frases de Sid Wyman” (1 person)

Sid Wyman was a cousin of mine, however, it appears someone was searching for some quotes from him, in Spanish. I don't know if he knew Spanish. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He spent much of his adult life in Las Vegas.

• “Hot amanuensis” (1 person)

An intriguing combination of adjective and noun. I'd expect to see it either on a restaurant menu ("I"ll have a hot stack of amanuensis, covered in syrup, please?") or a single's page (SWF seeking Hot Amanuensis to transcribe her dreams and fantasies. Must know cursive.)

• “Is sir name Cruvant French” (1 person)

The surname, “Cruvant,” is Lithuanian. It comes from the town, Kruvandai.

 [I hope this was a young cousin of mine, for whom I can overlook the spelling error.]

• "What color is a black swan?" (1 person)

Black.

• “Where was my family from?” (1 person)

I wish it were that easy.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: Dec 30-Jan 5

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• In Are You Reading the Originals Bill Dollarhide at GenealogyBlog takes a look at US Census Records, and the different copies that were made in different census years.

• A collection of letters from WW2 Japanese Internment Camps has been discovered in Denver. (hat/tip: NGS)

• Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist examines the impact of pseudonyms on copyright

• Congress has asked the Copyright Office to study the challenges of the current system for resolving small copyright claim disputes, as well as possible alternative systems. A report from the study is due in September of 2013. (hat/tip: Digitization 101)

• Maria Konnikova at Slate asks "Do You Think Like Sherlock Holmes?" and wonders if our obsession with electronic devices is preventing us from both seeing and observing.

• Randall Munroe, of XKCD entitled the below comic, "Instagram," but the metaphor is appropriate for any free online service.

Controversy

• The Daughters of the American Revolution were accused of removing "Jesus" from their ritual and missals. DAR clarified their position.

• The National Newspapers of Ireland announced a new licensing arrangement where websites would have to pay to simply link to their articles. They have since clarified that they only seek payment when the links are for commercial purposes, not personal purposes. (It's unclear how they feel about Google and other commercial search engines indexing their websites.) And at least one newspaper in the collective, The Irish Times, has stated it encourages linking to their articles

Poetry

• Saint Francis - Judith Richards Shubert - Genealogy Traces

• My Six-Month DAR Membership - Tricia Knoll - New Verse News

Other Weekly Lists

• Ruth's Recommendations - Ruth Blair - The Passionate Genealogist 
• Fab Finds - Jana Last - Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
• From the Blogs - Michael J. Leclerc - Mocavo Genealogy Blog
• Genealogy Round Up - Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak - MSS Roots World
• Friday Finds - Julie Cahill Tarr - GenBlog

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks
Two Week Calendar

• Jan 6 - Epiphany (Christian)
• Jan 6 - Feast of the Theophany (Orthodox Christian) 
• Jan 7 - Nativity of Christ (Orthodox Christian)
• Jan 7 - The Festival of Seven Herbs (Japan)
• Jan 13 - Maghi (Sikh)
• Jan 13 - Orthodox New Year/Old New Year (Eastern Orthodox)
• Jan 14 - Ratification Day (US)
• Jan 17 - Blessings of the Animals (Hispanic Catholic)
• Jan 19 - Timkat (Ethiopian Orthodox Christian)
• Jan 20 - World Religion Day (Baha'i)

Backup Day: Don't Forget!

The first of every month is Data Backup Day

Don't forget!

(Image Source: Vincent Van Gogh, At Eternity's Gate, May 1890)

2012 Highlights

Below are highlights from the past year of posts, focusing on those posts I feel may be of the most interest to those who aren't related to me.

• The Sunken Gardens: From 1904 to Today 

A look at a 1904 World's Fair exhibit, and what survives 

• Finding My Past Part I: England and Wales Marriage Records
• Finding My Past Part II: Census Records
• Finding My Past Part III: Hampshire Baptisms

A 3-part exploration of the databases and records at FindMyPast

• Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names
• Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names: Part II

A 2-part exploration of Yad Vashem's database of Holocaust victims 

• Ancestry's New DNA Test: A Jewish Perspective

My experience with Ancestry's new DNA test, and some perceived drawbacks for those of Eastern European Jewish Descent

• Inaccuracies in Ancestry's SSDI Database

An examination of some issues with the way Ancestry.com handles the city and county of last residence in their SSDI database

• Show Me the Newspapers

A comparison of the holdings at four different online archives of digitized newspapers - with a focus on Missouri newspapers.

• Black Swan Fallacy

A look at how a common logical fallacy can trip the genealogy researcher.  (I originally posted this entry back in 2009, but I reposted it with some modifications.)

I married the woman of my dreams in April, and we went on a honeymoon in June.
Several posts related to these events might be of interest to others.

• Wedding Traditions: Silver Sixpences

 Research on the origins of the phrase: "Something Old, Something New..."

• Honeymoon: Etymology

Research on the etymology of the word, 'Honeymoon.'

• Terezin: Not Your Usual Honeymoon Destination

My wife and I visited Prague on our honeymoon, and decided to make a trip to the nearby former concentration camp.

New Year's Resolutions

Below are my New Year's Resolutions from December of 1975.  

As is my habit, I have protected the names of the living, in this case both of my siblings, to whom apparently I must have believed I wasn't being good enough. (The spelling errors are embarrassing, but I was only one month shy of 7.)

I suspect I was also trying to cure myself of calling my mother, 'Mommy,' as I can't think of anything else I would have called her at that age.

In first grade I was participating in an annual reading challenge at my school. I happened to know the neighbor across the street held the all-time record, and I apparently initially resolved to break that record. I was either told it was an inappropriate resolution, or decided it was on my own. (I did break the record. The school closed five years later with my record unbroken. 1509.)

My kind and loving wife tells me there is still one of these I need work on. I will let everyone guess. She tells me also that my handwriting was better back then.

I'm still working on my 2013 Resolutions

Fifteen Poems from the Archives

I am an aficionado of poetry. I enjoy reading, writing, and performing  the art. In the past six years I have devoted several blog posts to poetry. Below are fifteen of these. Click on the 'Poetry' label at the bottom of the post to find more.

Poems Written by Me

1. Genealogy Research
2. Where I'm From
3. A Toast to the First and the Fourth of July
4. E Pluribus Unum; Cognatus, Ergo Sum
5. Divergent, Yet Intersecting
6. Ode to a Microspatula
7. Genealogy Limericks 

Poems Written by Kin

1. Mother - by Willa Van Every
2. Mother - by Ida Green 

Poems Written by Others

1. Our Mother Was the Pussy-Cat - by Edward Lear (an unfinished sequel to The Owl and the Pussy-Cat)
2. On Going Home For Christmas - by Edgar Guest
3. To a Lady - by Victor Hugo (Translation by Thomas Hardy)
4. On the Burial of his Brother - by Caius Valerius Catullus (Translation by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley)
5. The Mounds of Cahokia - by Micah P. Flint
6. The Jewish Cemetery at Newport - by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Weekly Genealogy Picks: Dec 16-19

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

Note: I am posting this several days early. Our Weekly Picks will be taking a holiday, and will return Sunday, January 6th.

• Evidentia, a new genealogical software program was released this week. This one isn't like the others, as its focus is on evidence, not people. For the past several weeks there has been a group of beta-testers, and some of them are providing reviews. Similarly, since the application is now released to the public, some non-beta-testers are providing reviews, as well.
  
  Reviews I've seen:
• Jenny Lanctot at Are My Roots Showing?
• Shannon Bennett at Trials and Tribulations of a Self-Taught Family Historian
• Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings

I did participate in the beta-testing period, but unfortunately, haven't had a great amount of time to test it out, and I don't have the time to write up a full review. However, I liked what I have seen. I feel it would be a great secondary software program for me to focus on gathering and visualizing the evidence for selected brick walls. It would also be useful for creating a database for my family records, and transcriptions. Currently it doesn't allow for attaching files or transcriptions, but I have been told by the creator that that is planned for a future update.

It will not work as a primary genealogy database for me, and I don't believe it is the intent of the creator that it should. Some (perhaps many) will find its inability to import or export into the standard GEDCOM format a deal-breaker. However, GEDCOM doesn't include a standardized method for handling citations. Evidentia is built around evidence and citations. Oil and Water don't mix. Since those with large databases will not want to manually copy information to a new database, those who use Evidentia will likely use it for select individuals. 

There are both PC and Mac verstions, however, if you are a Mac user you need to have the 10.7 OS (Lion) or above. There are screenshots, tutorials, and sample reports on the software site.

• RootsMagic released an iOS app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings has taken a first look at the app, as well as a second. Tamura Jones at Modern Software Experience also has given it a review. I'm unable to test it out, as while I have both an iPhone, and an iPod, it's a secondary app that is meant to accompany their full software package. It can't stand alone, and their full software is PC only.

• Instagram released new Terms of Service this week that seemed to permit the company to sell user photos to advertisers without paying the user anything. [Source: Good Morning Silicon Valley] Instagram has responded, and said the terms were misunderstood. They have assured their users they will clarify their terms.
  
  However, as GMSV pointed out, in an era of 'free software' you get what you pay for. It is always better to be the purchaser of a commodity, than the commodity that is being purchased. Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist provides a good summary of the events.

• Good Morning Silicon Valley also predicts the next Social Networking outrage: Auto-Playing video advertisments on Facebook. Rumored to be coming by April 2013 on both desktop and mobile versions of Facebook.

• Michael Hait, at Planting the Seeds, defines for the genealogist, The most important thing you can ever prove.  I agree with him on the importance, and difficulty at times, proving this.

• Philip Moeller at US News and World Report discusses how Digital Stories Preserve and Share Memories. His article includes a review of the StoryPress website and apps.

• In Before You Were Born: We Were Digitizing Texts, Leslie Johnston at The Signal provides an historical look at digitized text. (However, the earliest date provided was two years after I was born.)

• Stuart Rockoff at MyJewishLearning shares some historical resources for small communities in the Southern US.

• In Why We Don't Write, and How We Can, Harold Henderson at Archives challenges us to become better buffalo hunters.

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next three weeks

Three Week Calendar

• Dec 20 - International Human Solidarity Day
• Dec 21 - Pancha Ganapti - Dec 21-25 (Hindu)
• Dec 21 - Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, MA)
• Dec 21 - Yule - Northern Hemisphere / Litha - Southern Hemisphere (Pagan)
• Dec 24 - Christmas Eve (Christian)
• Dec 25 - Christmas (Christian)
• Dec 26 - Kwanzaa - Dec 26-Jan 1
• Dec 26 - Boxing Day
• Dec 26 - Zarathosht Diso (Zoroastrian)
• Dec 28 - Holy Innocents (Christian)
• Dec 30 - Freedom Day (Church of Scientology)
• Dec 30 - Feast of the Holy Family (Christian)
• Dec 31 - New Year's Eve
• Jan 1 - New Year's Day
• Jan 1 - Gantan-sai (Shinto) 
• Jan 1 - Global Family Day
• Jan 1 - Public Domain Day
• Jan 5 - Twelfth Night (Christian)
• Jan 5 - Guru Gobindh Singh birthday (Sikh)
• Jan 6 - Epiphany (Christian)
• Jan 6 - Feast of the Theophany (Orthodox Christian) 
• Jan 7 - Nativity of Christ (Orthodox Christian)
• Jan 7 - The Festival of Seven Herbs (Japan)
• Jan 13 - Maghi (Sikh)

Amanuensis Monday: A Deed for a Church (1680)

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***

This week I am sharing a passage from The Annals of Albany, by Joel Munsell. It includes a transcription of the deed for a Lutheran church in Albany from the 17th century, and mentions my 8th great grandfather, Myndert Frederickse (son of Frederick Van Iveren), as well as Myndert's brother, Carsten. The children of Myndert and Carsten would, by and large, return to the Van Iveren surname, which later changed to Van Every.

The deed was originally in Dutch, though the author provides a translation. I include both below.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: Dec 9 to Dec 15

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• Bill LeFurgy at The Signal promotes Raising Digital Preservation Awareness to Combat Placency and Fear

• In The Bloggers' Best Selections Diane Boumenot at One Rhode Island Family solicited submissions of 'favorite' posts from other genealogy bloggers.

• The controversial Martin Luther King Jr. memorial transcription, which misquoted the Civil Rights leader, will be removed instead of corrected. (Source: CNN)

• Tamura Jones at The Modern Software Experience takes a look at the Genealogy Communities that have been created on the Google+ network in the past week since Google introduced the Community feature.

• In a recent patent filing, "Apple outlined a system that analyzes the characteristics of an image's subject and uses the data to create a 'faceprint,' which can then be matched with other photos to determine a person's identity." [Source: Apple Insider]

• In Why can't the media get the facts straight in Connecticut, Charles Apple,  at The Visual Side of Journalism discusses the issues with 'breaking news reporting' and how reporters handle constantly changing facts. I thought I noticed some parallels in his description of news research to that of genealogy research. We too can make a mistake when we try to reach a conclusion before our research is complete.

Other Weekly Lists

• Beth's Genealogy News Corral at Genealogy Insider 
• Ruth Blair's Ruth's Recommendations at The Passionate Genealogist 
• Julie Cahill Tarr's Friday Finds at GenBlog 
• Dan Curtis's Monday's Link Roundup at Professional Personal Historian 
• Jana Last's Fab Finds at Jana's Genealogy and Family History 
• Lynn Palermo's Monday Morning Mentions at The Armchair Genealogist 
• Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-Blogs at Genea-Musings 

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks

Two Week Calendar

• Dec 16 - Las Posadas/Posadas Navidenas - Dec 16 (evening) to Dec 24 (evening) (Christian - Spanish)
• Dec 17 - Saturnalia (Roman)
• Dec 17 - Wright Brothers Day (US)
• Dec 18 - International Migrants Day
• Dec 20 - International Human Solidarity Day
• Dec 21 - Pancha Ganapti - Dec 21-25 (Hindu)
• Dec 21 - Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, MA)
• Dec 21 - Yule - Northern Hemisphere / Litha - Southern Hemisphere (Pagan)
• Dec 24 - Christmas Eve (Christian)
• Dec 25 - Christmas (Christian)
• Dec 26 - Kwanzaa - Dec 26-Jan 1
• Dec 26 - Boxing Day
• Dec 26 - Zarathosht Diso (Zoroastrian)
• Dec 28 - Holy Innocents (Christian)
• Dec 30 - Freedom Day (Church of Scientology)
• Dec 30 - Feast of the Holy Family (Christian)
• Dec 31 - New Years Eve

Amanuensis Monday: Obituary for Louis Pleas Gober

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***

This week I am sharing the obituary for my wife's 2nd great grandfather, Louis Pleas Gober. It appeared in the November 4, 1948 Sikeston Herald, and I retrieved the image from Ancestry.com.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: December 2-8

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

• Michael J Leclerc at Mocavo Blog asks if it is Curtains for Cursive, as many schools across the county are ceasing instruction in script.

• Michele Simmons Lewis at Ancestoring discusses graphology, or the analysis of handwriting to uncover personality traits. 

• Barry Wheeler at Digital Preservation looks at the process of scanning documents, and addresses the question: What Resolution Should I Use?

• Jen Hodnett at the Ancestry Blog explains how to merge duplicate records in their online family trees.

• Daniel Hubbard at Personal Past Mediations describes what he calls, Pyrrhic Research, and why it is important to avoid it, whether you are researching Homer's Iliad, or your family's oral history.

Other Weekly Lists

• Beth's Genealogy News Corral at Genealogy Insider
• Julie Cahill Tarr's Friday Finds at GenBlog 
• Dan Curtis's Monday's Link Roundup at Professional Personal Historian 
• Jana Last's Fab Finds at Jana's Genealogy and Family History 
• Michael J. LeClerc's From the Blogs at Mocavo Blog
• Lynn Palermo's Monday Morning Mentions at The Armchair Genealogist 
• Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-Blogs at Genea-Musings 

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks

Two Week Calendar

• Dec 9 - International Anti-Corruption Day
• Dec 10 - Human Rights Day
• Dec 10 - Alfred Nobel Day
• Dec 15 - Bill of Rights Day (US)
• Dec 15 - Esperanto Day
• Dec 16 - Las Posadas/Posadas Navidenas - Dec 16 (evening) to Dec 24 (evening) (Christian - Spanish)
• Dec 17 - Saturnalia (Roman)
• Dec 17 - Wright Brothers Day (US)
• Dec 18 - International Migrants Day
• Dec 20 - International Human Solidarity Day
• Dec 21 - Pancha Ganapti - Dec 21-25 (Hindu)
• Dec 21 - Forefathers' Day (Plymouth, MA)
• Dec 21 - Yule - Northern Hemisphere / Litha - Southern Hemisphere (Pagan)

Amanuensis Monday: A second obituary for Willa Van Every

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I continue my project to transcribe family letters, journals, newspaper articles, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin - some I never met - others I see a time in their life before I knew them.

I began this project back on February 16, 2009.  Since I began, many others have joined in on the meme. I am thrilled that this meme I started has inspired so many to transcribe their family history documents. Why do we transcribe? I provide my three reasons in the linked post. You may find others.

***

Back in October I shared an obituary I found in the Lockhart Post Register for my maternal grandmother's sister, Willa (Van Every) Roberts. It had been written by another sister of my maternal grandmother, Minnie (Van Every) Benold, and had appeared on July 20, 1916, 11 days after the death.

Since then I discovered another obituary mixed in with some other newspaper clippings my grandmother preserved.  I don't know what newspaper it appeared in, but I believe it was written by someone else, as there are differences in style. It also fills in a few additional details. The obituary I shared back in October is shown below on the right, though I do not re-transcribe it.

Weekly Genealogy Picks: Nov 25-Dec 1

Highlights from news stories and blog posts I have read in the past week that deal with my overlapping interests in Genealogy, History, Heritage, and Technology.

The topic around the genealogical water-cooler at the end of this week was Ancestry.com's announcement of the creation of a new website: Newspapers.com (GeneaPress)

• Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings took a First Look at Newspapers.com
• As did Pat Richley-Erickson at Dear Myrtle also took A First Look.
• Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist compared the legal terms of service for the various newspaper archival sites.

On other topics:

• Michael John Neill at RootDig illustrates the occasional importance of color records.

• Julie Cahill Tarr at GenBlog takes a risk by suggesting Some People Just Aren't Cut Out for Genealogy Research.

• Leslie Johnston at Digital Preservation shares a story of When Data Loss is Personal.

• James Tanner at Genealogy's Star explains that sometimes Focusing on a Problem, is the Problem.

• Daniel Hubbard at Personal Past Meditations in Up Close and Personal outlines why he prefers to think about the proximity of a  record instead of the traditional terms of primary, secondary, original and derivative.

• Jill Hurst-Wahl at Digitization 101 considers The Importance of Physical Space, and how the layout of a library is important.

• Denise Grollmas at TabletMag writes about a Jewish Revival in Poland, where the grandchildren of those who hid their religion, are rediscovering, and embracing, their roots.

Other Weekly Lists

• Beth's Genealogy News Corral at Genealogy Insider
• Julie Cahill Tarr's Friday Finds at GenBlog 
• Jana Last's Fab Finds at Jana's Genealogy and Family History 
• Michael J. LeClerc's From the Blogs at Mocavo Blog
• Lynn Palermo's Monday Morning Mentions at The Armchair Genealogist 
• Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-Blogs at Genea-Musings 

Upcoming holidays - religious and secular, national and international - for the next two weeks

Two Week Calendar

• Dec 2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
• Dec 2 - Advent - First Sunday (Christian)
• Dec 3 - International Day of Persons with Disabilities
• Dec 6 - St. Nicholas Day (Christian)
• Dec 7 - Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (US)
• Dec 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Christian)
• Dec 8 - Rohatsu/Bodhi Day (Buddhist) 
• Dec 8 - Hanuka - Dec 8 (sunset) to Dec 16 (sunset) (Jewish) 
• Dec 9 - International Anti-Corruption Day
• Dec 10 - Human Rights Day
• Dec 10 - Alfred Nobel Day
• Dec 15 - Bill of Rights Day (US)
• Dec 15 - Esperanto Day
• Dec 16 - Las Posadas/Posadas Navidenas - Dec 16 (evening) to Dec 24 (evening) (Christian - Spanish)

Show Me the Newspapers

Ancestry announced on Thursday a new website: Newspapers.com. Subscription rates are $80/year or $40/year for those who are already subscribing to Ancestry or Fold3. [Note: I rounded up 5 cents from the advertised prices.]

This inspired me to compare the newspaper selections at five major newspaper archival sites. I decided to focus on one state, fully realizing that the comparison was likely to differ somewhat depending upon which state I chose. However, I do not have the time to do this for every state. I chose the state I, personally, was most interested in. Missouri. My ancestors first moved to this state in the 1880s, and my wife's ancestors moved here a bit earlier.

I looked at the newspaper collections at Newspapers (N), Ancestry (A), NewspaperArchive (NA), GenealogyBank (GB), and ChroniclingAmerica (CA).  Of these five, Chronicling America is the only free offering, since it is a product of the Library of Congress. I have free access to NewspaperArchive through my library card. I also can access Ancestry's newspapers at my local library, but I can't access them from home without maintaining my subscription.

Utilizing the abbreviations above, I have noted where a title has shared coverage at a different site. If only a portion of the years are duplicated, I have indicated which years the other site has.  I've separated the titles each site has exclusively.

Note: There are some titles that look similar, but if a site listed them as separate, I assumed they were.

Newspapers.com (22 titles, 9 exclusive, 9 also at NewspaperArchive, 9 also at Ancestry, 5 at all three)

Exclusive

• Mexico Ledger (Mexico, Missouri)
• 1947 – 1977 (52,521 pages )
• Moberly Democrat (Moberly, Missouri)
• 1899 – 1922 (2,883 pages)
• Moberly Evening Democrat (Moberly, Missouri)
• 1899 – 1923 (13,901 pages)
• Moberly Morning Monitor (Moberly, Missouri)
• 1910 – 1916 (2,235 pages)
• Moberly Weekly Democrat (Moberly, Missouri)
• 1906 – 1909 (2,182 pages)
• Neosho News (Neosho, Missouri)
• 1953 – 1976 (7,194 pages)
• The Neosho Daily News (Neosho, Missouri)
• 1913 – 1976 (49,781 pages)
• The Neosho Times (Neosho, Missouri)
• 1913 – 1938 (10,553 pages)

Shared

• The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, Missouri) [A 1920-1988]
• 1901 – 1988 (141,823 pages)
• Cole County Democrat (Jefferson City, Missouri) [NA]
• 1904 – 1905 (8 pages)
• The Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri) [A] [NA]
• 1937 – 1977 (52,108 pages)
• Daily Capital News and Jefferson City Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) [NA]
• 1931 – 1933 (276 pages)
• Jefferson City Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) [A] [NA]
• 1932 – 1967 (8,715 pages)
• Jefferson City Tribune-Post (Jefferson City, Missouri) [NA]
• 1927 – 1927 (333 pages)
• Joplin Globe (Joplin, Missouri) [NA] 
• 1921 – 1929 (27,082 pages)
• Magic City Free Press (Moberly, Missouri) [A] [NA]
• 1970 – 1974 (1,618 pages)
• Moberly Monitor-Index (Moberly, Missouri) [A]
• 1922 – 1964 (38,057 pages)
• Moberly Weekly Monitor (Moberly, Missouri) [A]
• 1929 – 1929 (552 pages)
• The News and Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) [A] [NA]
• 1933 – 1976 (6,729 pages)
• Sedalia Daily Democrat (Sedalia, Missouri) [A] [NA]
• 1871 – 1925 (4,698 pages)
• The Sedalia Democrat (Sedalia, Missouri) [A]
• 1949 – 1950 (6,455 pages )
• The Sikeston Herald (Sikeston, Missouri) [A]
• 1936 – 1960 (12,270 pages)

Ancestry.com (17 titles, 5 exclusive, 9 also at Newspapers, 6 also at NewspaperArchive, 5 at all three)

Exclusive

• Chillicothe Morning Constitution (Chillicothe, Missouri)
• 1889-1985
• The Chillicothe Constitution (Chillicothe, Missouri)
• 1901-1928
• The Constitution Tribune (Chillicothe, Missouri)
• 1985-1988
• Stars and Stripes Newspaper, WWI Edition, 1918-1919
• 1918-1919
• U.S., "Happy Days" Newspaper of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1940
• 1933-1940

[Note: I believe Ancestry lists these last two for every state.]

Shared

• Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri) [N] [NA]
• 1937-1977
• Sedalia Daily Democrat (Sedalia, Missouri) [N]
• 1871-1925
• Sedalia Democrat, The (Sedalia, Missouri) [N] [NA]
• 1949-1950
• Jefferson City Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) [N 1932-1967] [NA]
• 1929-1974
• Joplin Globe (Joplin, Missouri) [NA]
• 1944-1958
• Magic City Free Press (Moberly, Missouri) [N] [NA]
• 1970-1974
• Moberly Monitor-Index (Moberly, Missouri) [N 1922-1964]
• 1922-1977
• Moberly Weekly Monitor (Moberly, Missouri) [N 1929]
• 1929-1932
• News and Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) [N 1933-1976] [NA]
• 1933-1977
• The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (Chillicothe, Missouri) [N]
• 1920-1988
• The Maryville Daily Forum (Maryville, Missouri) [NA]
• 1940-1955
• The Sikeston Herald (Sikeston, Missouri) [N]
• 1936-1960

NewspaperArchive (31 titles, 21 exclusive, 9 also at Newspapers, 6 also at Ancestry, 6 at all three)

Exclusive

• Capital Daily News (1970)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Chillicothe Weekly Constitution (1902 - 1920)
• Chillicothe, Missouri
• Daily Capital News and Post Tribune (1931 - 1933)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Daily Democrat Tribune (1910 - 1924)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Daily Saint Charles Cosmos Monitor (1921 - 1953)
• Saint Charles, Missouri
• Democrat Tribune (1920 - 1922)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Daily Capital News (1918 - 1972)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Daily Tribune (1909)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Democrat Tribune (1915 - 1920)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Tribune (1909 - 1927)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Weekly Tribune (1909)
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Joplin Daily Globe (1898 - 2012)
• Joplin, Missouri
• Joplin News Herald (1921 - 1970)
• Joplin, Missouri
• Joplin Sunday Globe (2010 - 2012)
• Joplin, Missouri
• Mexico School News Roundup (1954)
• Mexico, Missouri
• Missouri Gazette Public Advertiser (1822)
• St Louis, Missouri
• Missouri Republican (1823 - 1824)
• St Louis, Missouri
• St Louis Star Times (1945)
• St Louis, Missouri
• St Louis Weekly Globe Democrat (1896 - 1901)
• St Louis, Missouri
• St Louis World Fair (1904)
• St Louis, Missouri
• Weekly Democrat Tribune (1911 - 1914)
• Jefferson City, Missouri

Shared

• Cole County Democrat (1904 - 1909) [N]
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Daily Capital News (1920 - 1977) [A 1930-1977] [N 1930-1977]
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Daily Capital News and Jefferson City Post Tribune (1931 - 1933) [N]
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Daily Democrat (1871 - 1999) [N 1871-1925] [A 1871-1925]
• Sedalia, Missouri
• Jefferson City News and Tribune (1933 - 1978) [N 1933-1976] [A 1933-1977]
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Post Tribune (1927 - 1978) [A 1929-1974] [N 1932-1967]
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Jefferson City Tribune Post (1927) [N]
• Jefferson City, Missouri
• Joplin Globe (1915 - 2012) [A 1944-1958] [N 1921-1929]
• Joplin, Missouri
• Magic City Free Press (1970 - 1974) [A] [N]
• Moberly, Missouri
• Maryville Daily Forum (1940 - 1955) [A]
• Maryville, Missouri

GenealogyBank (15 titles, 15 exclusive)

• Hannibal - Missouri Courier
• 1/18/1849 – 12/28/1854
• Kansas City - Kansas City Star
• 9/18/1880 – 12/31/1941
• Kansas City - Kansas City Times
• 5/1/1884 – 1/31/1896
• Kansas City - Rising Son
• 1/16/1903 – 12/28/1907
• Kansas City - Cosmopolitan
• 8/22/1914 – 11/15/1919
• Sedalia - Sedalia Times
• 8/31/1901 – 12/19/1903
• St. Louis - St. Louis Republic
• 5/1/1888 – 10/31/1900
• St. Louis - Daily Missouri Republican
• 3/1/1841 – 4/1/1888
• St. Louis - St. Louis Palladium
• 1/10/1903 – 10/5/1907
• St. Louis - Daily Commercial Bulletin
• 5/18/1835 – 12/31/1838
• St. Louis - Weekly St. Louis Pilot
• 1/6/1855 – 11/15/1856
• St. Louis - Missouri Gazette and Public Advertiser
• 3/23/1808 – 9/18/1818
• St. Louis - St. Louis Enquirer
• 3/17/1819 – 12/18/1824
• St. Louis - St. Louis Clarion
• 12/18/1920 – 4/2/1921
• Washington - Die Washingtoner Post
• 11/17/1870 – 11/14/1878

Chronicling America (57 titles, 57 exclusive)

• The Professional world.
• Columbia, Mo., 1901-1903
• The Cape weekly tribune.
• Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1914-1914
• Fair play.
• Ste. Genevieve [Mo.], 1872-1921
• The Jasper news.
• Jasper, Mo., 1901-1922
• The Holt County sentinel.
• Oregon, Mo., 1865-1880
• The Hayti herald.
• Hayti, Mo., 1909-1922
• The state republican.
• Jefferson City, Mo., 1890-1896
• The Missouri herald.
• Hayti, Mo., 1922
• The Cape County herald.
• Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1911-1914
• The Montgomery tribune.
• Montgomery City, Mo., 1900-1910
• The St. Joseph observer.
• St. Joseph, Mo., 1915-1922
• The Lincoln County herald.
• Troy, Lincoln County, Mo., 1866-1873
• The state journal.
• Jefferson City, Mo., 1872-1878
• The Kansas City sun.
• Kansas City, Mo., 1914-1920
• Boon's Lick times.
• Fayette, Mo., 1840-1848
• The Cape Girardeau Democrat.
• Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1891-1901
• Hannibal journal.
• Hannibal, Mo., 1853-1853
• The County paper.
• Oregon, Mo., 1881-1883
• The Holt County sentinel.
• Oregon, Mo., 1883-1921
• Osage Valley banner.
• Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo., 1879-1881
• The Weekly tribune and the Cape County herald.
• Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1914-1918
• Monroe City Democrat.
• Monroe City, Mo., 1898-1919
• Kansas City journal.
• Kansas City, Mo., 1890-1899
• Glasgow weekly times.
• Glasgow, Mo., 1848-1861
• Western union.
• City of Hannibal, Mo., 1850-1851
• Hannibal journal.
• Hannibal, Mo., 1852-1853
• University Missourian.
• Columbia, Mo., 1908-1916
• The Saline republican.
• Marshall, Mo., 1898-1899
• Morgan County democrat.
• Versailles, Mo., 1903-1906
• Morgan County republican.
• Versailles, Mo., 1906-1914
• The Rich Hill tribune.
• Rich Hill, Mo., 1903-1910
• The tribune.
• Rich Hill, Mo., 1901-1902
• Mexico Missouri message.
• Mexico, Audrain County, Mo., 1899-1918
• The Jackson herald.
• Jackson, Mo., 1901-1910
• Glasgow weekly times.
• Glasgow, Howard County, Mo., 1866-1869
• The Howard union.
• Glasgow, Mo., 1865-1865
• The news boy.
• Benton, Scott County, Mo., 1894-1897
• Scott County kicker.
• Benton, Mo., 1901-1917
• The daily Missourian.
• Columbia, Mo., 1916-1917
• The Evening Missourian.
• Columbia, Mo., 1917-1920
• The Columbia evening Missourian.
• Columbia, Mo., 1920-1922
• Saturday morning visitor.
• City of Warsaw, Mo., 1848-1849
• The Sedalia weekly bazoo.
• Sedalia, Mo., 1877-1893
• Weekly graphic.
• Kirksville, Adair Co., Mo., 1880-896
• The Troy herald.
• Troy, Mo., 1873-1878
• Salt River journal.
• Bowling Green, Mo., 1839-1841
• The radical.
• Bowling Green [Mo., 1841-1845
• The St. Louis Republic.
• St. Louis, Mo., 1900-1906
• Kansas City daily journal.
• Kansas City, Mo., 1895-1897
• Sedalia weekly conservator.
• Sedalia, Mo., 1903-1908
• Democratic banner.
• Bowling Green, Pike County, Mo., 1845-1851
• Hannibal journal and western union.
• Hannibal, Mo., 1851-1852
• Richmond democrat.
• Richmond, Ray County, Mo., 1879-1888
• The Rising son.
• Kansas City, Mo., 1903-1907
• The Andrew County Republican.
• Savannah, Mo., 1871-1876
• The weekly tribune.
• Cape Girardeau, Mo., 1918-1919
• The Marshall republican.
• Marshall, Saline County, Mo., 1899-1914

Conclusions

1) Newspapers.com is definitely not merely a duplicate of the selection at Ancestry. Nor is it a duplicate of the selection at NewspaperArchive. There is overlap, but all three have unique coverage.

2) GenealogyBank and Ancestry are essentially tied with 15 titles in Missouri, not counting the two national titles at Ancestry. However, GenealogyBank's titles are all exclusive. And they have coverage in St. Louis and Kansas City the other sites don't have. I don't know if it holds up in other states, but in Missouri GenealogyBank seems to have an urban focus, while the other sites focus rurally.

3) If a researcher isn't utilizing ChroniclingAmerica - they are missing out on an excellent free resource.

4) Personally, I don't see a strong need to subscribe to Newspapers.com.  However, this choice is going to depend entirely on the newspapers of interest for each individual researcher.