Ruth Phair Mason
@phairmason.bsky.social
An American who is currently knuckles deep learning about her 18th-century family in the Lower Dales of Yorkshire.
I registered yesterday. See you there. I participated in #MyColorfulAncestry back in the day. My cousins enjoyed seeing the charts I made for them—a big win there!
December 12, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I registered yesterday. See you there. I participated in #MyColorfulAncestry back in the day. My cousins enjoyed seeing the charts I made for them—a big win there!
Yes, exactly. WE do the research work and, for example, have AI do a needed side-task that takes us an hour to do. Even after spending a half hour checking and correcting its output, we’re still a half hour ahead. AI can be useful but we must understand what it can do fairly well and what it cannot.
November 18, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Yes, exactly. WE do the research work and, for example, have AI do a needed side-task that takes us an hour to do. Even after spending a half hour checking and correcting its output, we’re still a half hour ahead. AI can be useful but we must understand what it can do fairly well and what it cannot.
Treat AI like a newly hired research assistant. Give the AI program tasks like summarize, transcribe, or look for gaps. Like with a new-hire, you must verify the work performed and then explain why and where it missed the mark.
November 17, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Treat AI like a newly hired research assistant. Give the AI program tasks like summarize, transcribe, or look for gaps. Like with a new-hire, you must verify the work performed and then explain why and where it missed the mark.
It’s back. I just went to my Feeds, and it was there I unpinned it and pinned again.
October 12, 2025 at 1:50 AM
It’s back. I just went to my Feeds, and it was there I unpinned it and pinned again.
Mine is gone also. It was there last night.
October 11, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Mine is gone also. It was there last night.
My Cumbrians lived in the Penrith and Appleby area although my 2xg-grandmother was a servant in Matthewman Donald’s house in 1851. I’ve only spent a touristy afternoon in Carlisle when I was in the area. It will be good to chat about family history in the area with those who know more than I do.
September 11, 2025 at 12:05 AM
My Cumbrians lived in the Penrith and Appleby area although my 2xg-grandmother was a servant in Matthewman Donald’s house in 1851. I’ve only spent a touristy afternoon in Carlisle when I was in the area. It will be good to chat about family history in the area with those who know more than I do.
Yes, thankfully we have the means in retirement. During our working years we lived far from our families so our leisure travels were mainly to visit our living relatives.
September 8, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Yes, thankfully we have the means in retirement. During our working years we lived far from our families so our leisure travels were mainly to visit our living relatives.
It was an idea for an ancestry tour that started my truly working on family history. We decided to go to Ireland for our 30th anniversary in 2013. I thought, let me do some digging, and 16 months later, we drove across Ulster visiting a good mix of ancestral, historic, and tourist locations.
September 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
It was an idea for an ancestry tour that started my truly working on family history. We decided to go to Ireland for our 30th anniversary in 2013. I thought, let me do some digging, and 16 months later, we drove across Ulster visiting a good mix of ancestral, historic, and tourist locations.
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory In a late night foray into Full Text Search last week I found a couple items that confirm suspected relationships. Sometimes it’s fun to just go in and throw things at it and see what pops up. #AncestryHour
September 2, 2025 at 6:21 PM
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory In a late night foray into Full Text Search last week I found a couple items that confirm suspected relationships. Sometimes it’s fun to just go in and throw things at it and see what pops up. #AncestryHour
I was thinking James Norton as the printer; he’s in everything now. Maybe he’s better suited to playing the local lord.
September 1, 2025 at 12:56 PM
I was thinking James Norton as the printer; he’s in everything now. Maybe he’s better suited to playing the local lord.
With a teenaged servant and an unmarried male lodger also in the house, I can see so many plot lines.
September 1, 2025 at 12:48 PM
With a teenaged servant and an unmarried male lodger also in the house, I can see so many plot lines.
Oh how I wish the border offices kept more of their crossings records. At least I have newspaper articles about my maternal granddad visiting family only 100 miles away but across the border. Also, some of grandma’s southern Ontario cousins went to Michigan for work.
August 30, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Oh how I wish the border offices kept more of their crossings records. At least I have newspaper articles about my maternal granddad visiting family only 100 miles away but across the border. Also, some of grandma’s southern Ontario cousins went to Michigan for work.
Glad to hear! A few years ago, I was in a non- #genealogy writing-your- #familyhistory class and one student—who didn’t dabble in genealogy—corrected the Louisianan instructor who said that her ancestors arrived at New Orleans in the 1700s, stating that “all immigrants came through Ellis Island.” 🤷♀️
August 30, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Glad to hear! A few years ago, I was in a non- #genealogy writing-your- #familyhistory class and one student—who didn’t dabble in genealogy—corrected the Louisianan instructor who said that her ancestors arrived at New Orleans in the 1700s, stating that “all immigrants came through Ellis Island.” 🤷♀️
In my limited experience, many Americans have a Canadian connection and are surprised when they find it.
August 30, 2025 at 5:36 PM
In my limited experience, many Americans have a Canadian connection and are surprised when they find it.
I don’t think it’s rare. My four grandparents entered at Canadian-American land borders between 1893-1917. Two were born in Canada to immigrants, one lived in Canada but was born elsewhere, and one traveled through Canada as part of the journey to the US. #genealogy #familyhistory #ancestry
August 30, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I don’t think it’s rare. My four grandparents entered at Canadian-American land borders between 1893-1917. Two were born in Canada to immigrants, one lived in Canada but was born elsewhere, and one traveled through Canada as part of the journey to the US. #genealogy #familyhistory #ancestry
It searches the full text instead of an index. BNA/Findmypast’s newspaper OCR transcriptions look like they use a fairly early OCR. I imagine they are waiting for not-so-early AI software to re-run the pages. That would be a huge (!!) cost but—I know there are many hits I’m not seeing.
August 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM
It searches the full text instead of an index. BNA/Findmypast’s newspaper OCR transcriptions look like they use a fairly early OCR. I imagine they are waiting for not-so-early AI software to re-run the pages. That would be a huge (!!) cost but—I know there are many hits I’m not seeing.
And yes. I just confirmed a relationship in an 1893 will; William Shannon bequeathed CDN$200 to his “niece Mary Ann Cox.” I had suspected he was her mother’s brother for at least 10 years, even before I found her mother.
August 28, 2025 at 12:46 AM
And yes. I just confirmed a relationship in an 1893 will; William Shannon bequeathed CDN$200 to his “niece Mary Ann Cox.” I had suspected he was her mother’s brother for at least 10 years, even before I found her mother.
I have not used it much since it first was announced and found items I already had. I know they have been adding more record sets and I should see what’s there now.
August 27, 2025 at 9:37 PM
I have not used it much since it first was announced and found items I already had. I know they have been adding more record sets and I should see what’s there now.
Every year during RootsTech season, I look at my celebrity connections and do a bit of pruning. We all know the story: A noble lady went to the fells of the northern Pennines to baptize a child and left him behind with her namesake. No, that’s not unusual at all.
August 22, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Every year during RootsTech season, I look at my celebrity connections and do a bit of pruning. We all know the story: A noble lady went to the fells of the northern Pennines to baptize a child and left him behind with her namesake. No, that’s not unusual at all.
Yes. I found an Irish couple’s home. The wife’s older family member’s headstone said “Native of Keenagh Co. Longford.” And the husband’s nephew, who emigrated later and to a different country, had an obituary that mentioned Keenagh. That couple were married in Keenagh.
August 17, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Yes. I found an Irish couple’s home. The wife’s older family member’s headstone said “Native of Keenagh Co. Longford.” And the husband’s nephew, who emigrated later and to a different country, had an obituary that mentioned Keenagh. That couple were married in Keenagh.