Ancestry Pro Tools

 Ancestry Pro Tools

I'm a big fan of Ancestry Pro Tools and have been using the tools for some time now.  Ancestry Pro Tools is an add-on membership that requires an active Ancestry family history membership.  The above chart shows the advanced tools in Ancestry Pro Tools.  

Recently, I've been using the Tree Checker to fix problems in my family trees - mainly merging duplicates and fixing possible errors.  Below is a clip showing the current tree rating after correcting and fixing problems.  Wish I had a before and after for the tree rating.  My tree had over 1,200 duplicates when I first started so I am making progress.   

One of the tools that I have recently tried is the Tree Mapper.   While I have not tried everything in Tree Mapper, the visuals are great!  You can filter the map by name, location, time period, family lines, etc.  Below is a map show where my direct line maternal ancestors lived during the 1750-1900 time period.  The filters for this map are shown checked on the right side of the map.

Mostly I've used the Enhanced Shared Matches, which is a DNA match game changer.  This tool alone is worth the extra cost of Pro Tools!!  Most of my DNA match mysteries have been solved using this tool😊  This tool allows me to see how my matches share DNA with our common matches.  Ancestry makes it possible to sort the shared matches of a match from close to distant.  

Thank you Ancestry.com for these tools👍😍😀

LeRoy and His Horses

LeRoy Martin, born in 1930, was the son of Elmer and Maymie (Wilson) Martin.  LeRoy was raised in Southwest Colorado and he grew up riding horses from the time he could walk.  Although, he did start off riding pigs first.🐖  To see LeRoy riding a pig, click here.  

LeRoy's mother, Maymie, loved to tell the following story of when LeRoy was in grade school in Cortez, Colorado.  One day she walked to the grade school wanting to see how LeRoy was doing in class that day.  When Maymie walked into the classroom, the teacher instead asked Maymie how LeRoy was doing and that she was sorry he was sick.  Apparently LeRoy sent a note to school saying he was sick and would not be attending school that day.  He had instead saddled up his horse, and started riding towards Dove Creek, some 30 miles away. 🐎🐎
 

LeRoy Martin 1949

The earliest photo of LeRoy and his horse was taken in 1941.  LeRoy would have been around 10 years old.  Name of the horse is unknown.  The original black & white and the colorized versions are both shown.

1941

The next group of  photographs look as if they were taken on the same day probably in 1942.  The photos were taken near Dolores, Colorado on LeRoy's grandparent's place.  LeRoy would refer to Tony as his "pony" when talking about him.  Tony is probably the horse LeRoy started riding to Dove Creek in the story above.  I've colorized the first two photos.

LeRoy and his horse Tony

L-R: Wilbur with Cheyenne & LeRoy with Tony  

Rounding up a calf

During WWII, the Martin family moved to Las Vegas.  LeRoy's father worked in a government defense plant during the war.  While living in Las Vegas, LeRoy had a horse named Dollar.  This photograph was probably taken about 1945.

LeRoy and his horse Dollar
Las Vegas, NV

LeRoy is shaking a hoof in this next photo.  Both LeRoy and his horse look like show-offs as they are posing for the photo  The photo was taken 1950 at Maymie's house in Cortez, Colorado.  Name of the horse is unknown.  

Show-offs

Next are two photos taken in 1951 in Yuma, Arizona.  The top photo is LeRoy and his horse, Edna Coath.  The next photo is Verna,  LeRoy, and Edna Coath.  Interesting name for a horse.  LeRoy loved that horse so much, he wanted to name his first daughter Edna.  Thankfully his wife vetoed that.😄😍

Edna Coath (horse) and LeRoy
1951

Verna, LeRoy, Edna Coath
1951

In this next photo, LeRoy is with another favorite horse, Catnip.  Catnip was more like a family member in the Martin Family.  In this picture, Catnip is following LeRoy around and son, Chuck, is on the horse.  LeRoy is probably trying to teach Chuck, who was 4 years old, to ride. Taken 1957 in California. 

LeRoy, Catnip, Chuck

LeRoy has his two sons, Chuck and Dusty with him on this horse.  Horse's name unknown.  This was taken just outside of Yuma, Arizona in 1961. 

LeRoy with sons Dusty and Chuck on Catnip
1961 Yuma, Arizona

LeRoy and his horse Billie at Durango Fairgrounds
1980s Durango, CO

LeRoy and Robin
1980s Cortez, Colorado

1990s LeRoy - Unknown horse
Cortez, Colorado

In the 1970's and 1980's, LeRoy raced horses in New Mexico and Arizona.  Below are a few "Win Pictures" during this time.

Note: If anyone in the family knows the name of any of the unknown horses pictured above, please let me know.  And, if I only have a color version posted here and anyone in the family wants the original black and white photo, just let me know and I will send it to you.😊

Happy Valentine's Day

 Happy Valentine's Day

From our McNeil Family 1889

This heart is the artwork of one our McNeil ancestors.  It was created in about 1889 when it was added to the family record of the William S McNeil family.  The family record was written on both sides of a 5x8 lined sheet, which over the years had aged to a brownish-yellow.  This heart shown above is enlarged from the original size drawn which was 1-1/16 x 1-3/4. 
To see the post with the complete McNeil family record, click here.  

Related posts:
William S McNeil Family 
Valentine Cards 
Family Love Stories