Richard Pence, who is on this list in disguise as just a farm boy from South Dakota related to the Pences in Corwin Township, is one of the original computer genealogists. I will defer to him on questions like that. I believe there is a date calculator in most genealogy programs. I assume Dick uses TMG and can probably tell us more about how that calculator works, likely to be much like the others. Cheryl On 8/22/07, William Donath <wdonath01@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Cheryl: > > I do not know what algorithm is used for the date calculator in Family Tree Maker. Have there been any concerns voiced about that particular calculator? > > Bill Donath

Dear Cheryl: <blush> I am embarrassed to admit it, but I wrote one of the very first programs that calculated dates of birth from age at death and made it a part of a little utility called GENKIT about 20 years ago. (You can still download Genkit at: http://www.coxsoftware.com/genutil.htm Ray Cox of Cox Software adapted it to more up-to-date computers, but I still think it is a DOS program. I don't recommend that you use the calculator because, if I recall, it still has a bug <g>. But parts of Genkit are still useful and sometimes fun and it's freeware). To the point: As Cheryl says, most genealogy programs have a utility that will give you a date of birth from age at death. Only by checking the results against some instances where you know all three elements - date of birth, age at death, date of death - can you determine which method the program uses - and you will need to run a number of tests to be sure as some tests won't distinguish between the two most commonly used methods (if anyone really wants to know the intricacies of this I think I can tell you, but for now take my word for it <g>). I would recommend using the calculator mainly to test hypotheses. For example, say you know when a particular fellow was born. You then encounter a man by the same name and this one has his age at death. One way to test whether your hypothesis that the two records are for the same person is to run the calculator to see if you get a match (of course, this works better if you know which method is employed by the calculator). The second use is not recommended (I'll explain why later): You can calculate the date of birth and enter this in your database. You MUST then footnote the date to say that it is calculated using the birth date calculator in the program you are using. I no longer enter calculated birth dates. Reason: The note that says the date is calculated is usually ignored and the next thing you know someone passes it off as an actual known date of birth (and it may be, but no one knows for sure because the chances for error are relatively high). I would be glad to try and answer any questions on this. Calendars, dating methods and so forth were a passion of mine in the early days of computing, but aside from a few brief explanations I have saved over the years, I have forgotten most of the really microscopic nuances - and I have survived nicely. You can, too. <g> Cheryl: I am related to several families that once lived in Logan County: Henry Pence of Shenandoah County, Virginia, and Champaign County, Ohio, had 17 children who grew to adulthood. I descend from his son John. His son Henry had a son named Joseph who went to Logan County. His son Conway surveyed the town of Lincoln; his descendants mostly went to Nebraska. Joseph's first cousins, sons of Samuel Pence, were David and John and both went to Logan County about 1837. David's descendants went to Jackson County, Oregon, by immigrant train via California in 1878 and John's family died out or joined in the trek to Oregon. Another son of Henry (Sr.) was Joseph Pence. In his will he mentions his land in Logan County, Illinois, and although he never lived there he had married daughters who did. Newell is one of the names I remember off hand. I think that a number of families from Champaign County had representatives who went to Logan County. Regards, Richard Pence ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cheryl Rothwell" <historysleuth@gmail.com> To: <illogan@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 2:28 PM Subject: Re: [ILLOGAN] ILLOGAN Digest, Vol 2, Issue 150 > Richard Pence, who is on this list in disguise as just a farm boy from > South Dakota related to the Pences in Corwin Township, is one of the > original computer genealogists. I will defer to him on questions like > that. I believe there is a date calculator in most genealogy programs. > I assume Dick uses TMG and can probably tell us more about how that > calculator works, likely to be much like the others. > > Cheryl > > On 8/22/07, William Donath <wdonath01@hotmail.com> wrote: >> >> Cheryl: >> >> I do not know what algorithm is used for the date calculator in Family >> Tree Maker. Have there been any concerns voiced about that particular >> calculator? >> >> Bill Donath > ________ > Logan County ILGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illogan > > To unsubscribe send a message to: > ILLOGAN-request@Rootsweb.com > with unsubscribe as the subject. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I know there are Logan and Champaign Counties in both Ohio and Illinois. But our Logan was named by A. Lincoln for his friend, not a famous person, so there is no real connection. All I know about the Pences is one married a Lucas.

"Cheryl Rothwell" <historysleuth@gmail.com> wrote: > All I know about the Pences is one married a Lucas. Actually theree were two: A brother and a sister married a brother and a sister. These can be found in the family Bible of Joseph Pence at my web site. Elizabeth Pence married George M. P. Lucas and his sister Catherine married Elizabeth's brother Conway Pence. Both the Pences were children of Joseph pence. Richard A. Pence 3211 Adams Ct, Fairfax, VA 22030-1900 Voice 703-591-4243 / Fax 703-352-3560 Pence Family History <www.pipeline.com/~richardpence/> > ________ > Logan County ILGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illogan > > To unsubscribe send a message to: > ILLOGAN-request@Rootsweb.com > with unsubscribe as the subject. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I tried to download your file and couldn't File may be damaged. or changed. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard A. Pence" <richardpence@pipeline.com> To: <illogan@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 9:16 PM Subject: Re: [ILLOGAN] ILLOGAN Digest, Vol 2, Issue 150 > Dear Cheryl: > > <blush> > > I am embarrassed to admit it, but I wrote one of the very first programs > that calculated dates of birth from age at death and made it a part of a > little utility called GENKIT about 20 years ago. (You can still download > Genkit at: http://www.coxsoftware.com/genutil.htm > > Ray Cox of Cox Software adapted it to more up-to-date computers, but I > still > think it is a DOS program. I don't recommend that you use the calculator > because, if I recall, it still has a bug <g>. But parts of Genkit are > still > useful and sometimes fun and it's freeware). > > To the point: > > As Cheryl says, most genealogy programs have a utility that will give you > a > date of birth from age at death. Only by checking the results against some > instances where you know all three elements - date of birth, age at death, > date of death - can you determine which method the program uses - and you > will need to run a number of tests to be sure as some tests won't > distinguish between the two most commonly used methods (if anyone really > wants to know the intricacies of this I think I can tell you, but for now > take my word for it <g>). > > I would recommend using the calculator mainly to test hypotheses. For > example, say you know when a particular fellow was born. You then > encounter > a man by the same name and this one has his age at death. One way to test > whether your hypothesis that the two records are for the same person is to > run the calculator to see if you get a match (of course, this works better > if you know which method is employed by the calculator). > > The second use is not recommended (I'll explain why later): You can > calculate the date of birth and enter this in your database. You MUST then > footnote the date to say that it is calculated using the birth date > calculator in the program you are using. > > I no longer enter calculated birth dates. Reason: The note that says the > date is calculated is usually ignored and the next thing you know someone > passes it off as an actual known date of birth (and it may be, but no one > knows for sure because the chances for error are relatively high). > > I would be glad to try and answer any questions on this. Calendars, dating > methods and so forth were a passion of mine in the early days of > computing, > but aside from a few brief explanations I have saved over the years, I > have > forgotten most of the really microscopic nuances - and I have survived > nicely. You can, too. <g> > > Cheryl: I am related to several families that once lived in Logan County: > Henry Pence of Shenandoah County, Virginia, and Champaign County, Ohio, > had > 17 children who grew to adulthood. I descend from his son John. His son > Henry had a son named Joseph who went to Logan County. His son Conway > surveyed the town of Lincoln; his descendants mostly went to Nebraska. > Joseph's first cousins, sons of Samuel Pence, were David and John and both > went to Logan County about 1837. David's descendants went to Jackson > County, > Oregon, by immigrant train via California in 1878 and John's family died > out > or joined in the trek to Oregon. Another son of Henry (Sr.) was Joseph > Pence. In his will he mentions his land in Logan County, Illinois, and > although he never lived there he had married daughters who did. Newell is > one of the names I remember off hand. > > I think that a number of families from Champaign County had > representatives > who went to Logan County. > > Regards, > Richard Pence > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Cheryl Rothwell" <historysleuth@gmail.com> > To: <illogan@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 2:28 PM > Subject: Re: [ILLOGAN] ILLOGAN Digest, Vol 2, Issue 150 > > >> Richard Pence, who is on this list in disguise as just a farm boy from >> South Dakota related to the Pences in Corwin Township, is one of the >> original computer genealogists. I will defer to him on questions like >> that. I believe there is a date calculator in most genealogy programs. >> I assume Dick uses TMG and can probably tell us more about how that >> calculator works, likely to be much like the others. >> >> Cheryl >> >> On 8/22/07, William Donath <wdonath01@hotmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> Cheryl: >>> >>> I do not know what algorithm is used for the date calculator in Family >>> Tree Maker. Have there been any concerns voiced about that particular >>> calculator? >>> >>> Bill Donath >> ________ >> Logan County ILGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illogan >> >> To unsubscribe send a message to: >> ILLOGAN-request@Rootsweb.com >> with unsubscribe as the subject. >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ILLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ________ > Logan County ILGenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~illogan > > To unsubscribe send a message to: > ILLOGAN-request@Rootsweb.com > with unsubscribe as the subject. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ILLOGAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >