Randy Seaver

One of the disappointments of my recent genealogy jaunt to the US was that I didn't get to meet the host of  Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Randy Seaver.

An established genealogy blogger Randy is well-known for this Saturday evening activity and for his weekly  "Best of the Genea-Blogs" in which he selects "posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant."


I am honoured to publish a profile from Randy.



Date 7 April 2001
Name Randy Seaver
Hometown Chula Vista, California, USA

Are you a Hobbyist or Professional Genealogist? Hobbyist

What, if any, formal or informal studies have you undertaken that are relevant to genealogical research? No formal university or instutute courses.

I've attended several national and regional conferences, and many local genealogical society programs with speakers on fascinating subjects.

What is your day job? Retired from aerospace engineering (research, analysis, test, management)

How long have you been chasing ancestors? Since 1988.

How did you get hooked on genealogy? I did not watch the TV series Roots when it was first shown. I read Alex Haley's book Roots in the early 1980's, and saw the TV series in 1987. I was inspired by both the book and the TV series.

My father died in 1983, and by 1988 we had visited New England several times to visit the cousins, aunts and uncles. They had wonderful stories, and my oldest aunt had done a Seaver descendants report. I figured that I could do this...and have enjoyed the genealogy hunt and family history detective experiences ever since.

Please outline your involvement in Genealogy Societies and Groups I belong to the National Genealogical Society (NGS, USA), New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS, USA), San Diego (California) Genealogical Society (SDGS), Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD), and Chula Vista (California) Genealogical Society (CVGS).

I have been Research Chair, Treasurer, Vice-President-Programs, President and currently Newsletter Editor for CVGS and Genealogy 101 class teacher.

I speak at several Southern California genealogical societies each year on my topics of interest, and teach a senior adult education class on Beginning Computer Genealogy (8 hours) three times each year.

What are your areas of Expertise in Genealogy?  New England USA research.
Town records, land records and probate records.
Research in online free and commercial historical record collections.

What are the lands of your ancestors? England before 1650, plus Wiltshire and Somerset before 1850. No known Scottish or Irish ancestors! (into New England and New York)

German states before 1760 (into New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania)

Netherlands before 1650 (into New York)

English American Colonial ancestors came from 1620 onward into Massachusetts and New York. Several families to Ontario in Canada after American Revolution. Migration westward from the northeast USA to the US Midwest and to California in 1887.

What Family Names are you Researching? Great-great-grandparents surnames are: Seaver, Smith, Hildreth, Newton, Richman, Rich, White, Oatley, Carringer, Spangler, Lamphier/Smith, Vaux, Auble, Knapp, Kemp, Sovereen.

Who is your favourite ancestor? Why? Devier James Lamphier Smith (1839-1894). He was born in New York, adopted by the Smith family before the family moved to Wisconsin in 1843, married there in 1861, moved to Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, worked as a livery man, speculator, farmer, snake oil salesman and rancher, and had the foresight to write in a family Bible and extensive family letters. He had five children, but two died young. He is my favorite because he overcame hardships in his life and is the most interesting ancestor I have!

What ancestral city or town would you like to visit? Why? Dodge County, Wisconsin so that I can search for information about the ancestry of Devier James Lamphier Smith in historical records there. The house that he grew up in, built by his adoptive father, still stands in Old World Wisconsin, a historical house collection.

What is your favourite resource for genealogy? LDS Family History Library microfilms that contain original records from states, counties and towns.

My favorite online resource is Ancestry.com, but FamilySearch.org is a close second! Nothing else comes close.

Do you keep your genealogy files on paper? Yes

Do you keep your genealogy files on a computer? Yes

Do you have your tree posted on the internet? Yes

If Yes What is the URL? www.genealogy.com/users/s/e/a/Randy-Seaver/

What genealogy software do you use to record your family tree? Currently it's RootsMagic 4. I also have and use Family Tree Maker 16, Family Tree Maker 2011, Legacy Family Tree 7, Family Tree Builder 5, and several other programs collected over the years.

What Social Networking Sites do you use for genealogy?  Ancestry, Facebook, Geni, MyHeritage , Twitter, WeRelate, Other

Do you have a blog? Several

What are your blogs' URLs? http://www.geneamusings.com/; http://www.geneaholic.com/; SSDCGraveyardRabiit.blogspot.com; CVGenCafe.blogspot.com

What are your Other Hobbies, Activities, Interests?  Family History, Genealogy, Genealogy, Family History, Genealogy, in that order.

Grandchildren - Linda and I have two daughters, one has two boys 7 and 5, the other two girls 6 and 3. We have great fun telling stories, playing indoor and outdoor games, and being with them.

Spectator sports - I'm a big San Diego Padres (baseball) fan - we go to about 20 games a year. I'm also a big San Diego Chargers fan (American football) but we don't go to the games.

Travel and Vacations now revolve around genealogy research and conferences. We'll go to Illinois in September for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, and take two weeks to visit ancestral homes in four states. We like cruises and land tours too - we visited Sydney, Cairns, Christchurch, Queenstown, Auckland and Fiji in 2010.

I read historical novels and mystery novels for pleasure, often while watching TV. I don't watch much TV besides baseball games, news, genealogy shows like WDYTYA? and the occasional PBS show.

What is your favourite lesiure time activity apart from genealogy? Watching baseball games and reading

What is your favourite (non genealogy) book? Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd

What is your personal philosophy in a few words ?

Life is short, eat dessert first!

Progress requires change, but not all change is progress.

Pobody's Nerfect.

Genealogy is Fun!