With the conquest of the Americas, all land was originally held by a monarch—whether English, French, or Spanish. At this point, the process of transitioning land ownership to individuals is referred to as “first transfer.” As Patricia Law Hatcher explains in her definitive study of U.S. land records, first transfer varied both geographically and chronologically[…]Read more
Just about anyone who takes genealogy seriously is destined to face the challenge of reading original (or microfilm copies of) records written in an unfamiliar cursive style. If your research takes you back to at least the 19th century, you’ll encounter census records, wills, deeds, and multifarious other records that you’ll strain to decipher. Records[…]Read more
When we think of a critical desk reference for colonial New England genealogy, the first source that comes to mind (or should come to mind) is James Savage’s Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. Savage’s work is so important because it purports to identify every New England settler who arrived before 1692[…]Read more
The NY Times ran a piece about Ransomware a few weeks ago, laying out what it is, how prevalent it is, and how those affected have been dealing with it. Everything changes when you find yourself to be a part of the story. That’s where we found ourselves when we woke up on February 2nd,[…]Read more
Topping this week’s list of newly available titles is the 2nd edition of the Ernest Thode’s popular research aid, Genealogy at a Glance: German Genealogy Research. Whereas the original edition of “German Genealogy Research” was issued in 2011, the 2nd edition incorporates all the major changes in German genealogy over the past decade, including all[…]Read more
The poem (below) comes to us from one of our Scottish authors who got it from a friend in New Zealand. Like the virus, these things travel quickly around the planet. It is based on the work of Robert Burns. We hope the Scots dialect was not too challenging. If anyone knows the author, please[…]Read more
Library Journal is the most prestigious magazine for the library industry. Collection development (acquisition) librarians are particularly reliant upon it when making decisions about what books to select for their patrons. Accordingly, we were pleased to learn that the February 2020 issue of Library Journal gave thumbs up reviews to our two most recent how-to[…]Read more
While so many of us are in our homes looking for ways to make good use of this troubling time, Genealogical.com is making an unprecedented offer. You can access our entire e-book collection with a one-time, special three-month subscription. Subscribe today and acquire a 750-book collection of the best publications in genealogy, and, at the[…]Read more
The following article describes the criteria and important sources for obtaining membership in the distinguished Virginia lineage organization, the Jamestowne Society. The article is also valuable for identifying sources related to 17th-century Virginia research in general. It originally appeared in the Jamestowne Society Magazine, Vol. 44, No. 1. Spring 2020, p. 13, and is reproduced[…]Read more
Bastardy is perhaps more common among royals than commoners, simply because royals have largely had little choice in types of marriage partners. In the Dark Ages, before Charlemagne and Alfred the Great and perhaps somewhat afterwards, kings seemed to have left major inheritances to sons who become major warriors; the identity of their mothers is[…]Read more
