By the Numbers :: 20 Most Viewed posts in 2012

Every year I have a "problem" with trying to determine the "best" blog posts for the previous year. Of course, I have my favorites but those are not necessarily what my readers viewed or liked.  I wrote about this dilemma last January in Who comes here? From where? And Why?

The list below was created using the "counts" from the "posts" view in blogger. This shows the number of people who viewed the post on the blog, it doesn't mean they actually read the post though and it certainly isn't any indication of whether or not it is a good post. It also doesn't include those who might read the blog in a reader or get posts via email.  In reality, there really is no way to determine the "best" post... but I'm still going to publish this list because it so happens that it does include some of my own favorites!

They are separated into two categories, family history (15) and  travel (5), and listed in order of number of views starting with the post with the most views, including only posts published in 2012.

The "top 15" Family History posts

• So, Now what do I do? was my rant discussion on the use of my blog posts in ancestry trees published in mid-November. The last time I viewed stats on Sitemeter it showed quite a few visitors coming from Cyndi's List so I clicked on one of the referring links and discovered she had added the post to her Intellectual Property category! Thanks, Cindy.

• Their Magnificent Old Home is all about the home of Jonathan S. Dunfee, a brother of my 3rd great-grandfather William H. Dunfee. Apparently a lot of people are looking for nice old homes!

• There were three brothers who immigrated... Yeah, Right!  Tells of the three Berlin brothers arrived in Philadelphia in 1738 on the Charming Nancy. Yep, they did.

• Hoffman-Huffman Family :: Index to Posts is a list of all blog posts published on the family and it was quite a surprise to see how many page views it had. Hoffman is a common surname and lots of people must be looking for those ancestors... if you're connected to my line, how about contacting me?

• William Alexander :: Revolutionary War Soldier... died August 27th 1777  Alexander is also a popular surname and one that is difficult to trace. Again, if you're connected, contact me!

• I Think I Have it! Maybe... discusses my attempt to develop a naming and organizational scheme for all of the digital research files.

• Locating the Ancestral Lands in Kentucky is about Henry Bray, my 5th great-grandfather, and the land where he lived in Nelson County, Kentucky.

• Questioning the Status Quo :: Oh, Maria! I was quite pleased to see this make the list, but I sure would like to hear from someone, anyone who read it and to discuss the idea with them!

• A Negro Man Called Thomas... was one of many discoveries at Salt Lake City in February. John Goodrich, 6th great grandfather, bought Tom then emancipated him.

• The Last Will and Testament of Francis Caruthers He is my my 5th great grandfather and his will provided the definite link to my Alexander family.

• Pursuing J. W. Hoffman :: Where's THE Book? Clues from two newspaper articles indicate that a history of "my" Hoffman family was being written. But where, oh where, is it?

• Warrants, Surveys, Patents :: Locating the Land of Hans Jacob Brubacher Information found online allowed me to pinpoint the location of the land of my 7th great-grandfather in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

• The Old Trappe Church is a beautiful old church and records of the church include the marriage of Joh Michael Hoffman (widower) and Engel Schedlerin (see the post above "Questioning the Status Quo...)

• An Indentured Servant and the Farm Upon Which he lived  Mathias Iurian (Jurian, Yarian) arrived on the Ship Pleasant in 1732 and became indentured to David Kaufman.

• Previously Unidentified, their identities are now known!  I was contacted by a distant Wiseman cousin who provided identities for two young children in a photo.

The "top 5" Travel posts

• Death Valley :: Scottys Castle  
• Up and Away :: Evening Version
• Death Valley :: Ubehebe Crater
• What a Way to End the Day!
• A Morning Visitor

Published under a Creative Commons License.
Becky Wiseman, "By the Numbers :: 20 Most Viewed posts in 2012," Kinexxions, posted January 3, 2013 (http://kinexxions.blogspot.com/2013/01/by-numbers-20-most-viewed-posts-in-2012.html : accessed [access date])