William J. Roulston’s incomparable Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors is a comprehensive, 600-page guide to the vast collection of sources that can help researchers trace their Scots-Irish forebears from the United States to their origins in Ireland. Here are three samples taken from different sections of the work illustrating just a few of the many sources therein.[…]Read more
As Dr. David Dobson explains in his new book, The Covenanters of Scotland, 1638-1690, the Wars of the Covenant occurred between 1639 and 1651, when Scotland and England were two independent countries, though both were subject to King Charles I. The cause of the Covenanter movement lay in the attempts of the Stuart kings to[…]Read more
Between 1717 and the beginning of the War of American Independence in 1776, 250,000 Scots-Irish, often referred to as Ulster-Scots in Ireland (i.e. Protestant settlers in the nine counties of the Province of Ulster) left Ulster, through the ports of Belfast, Londonderry, Newry, Larne and Portrush, for North America. The Scots-Irish tended to enter North[…]Read more
Several months ago, we announced that Genealogical.com had published the preeminent textbook for Scots-Irish genealogy: William Roulston’s RESEARCHING SCOTS-IRISH ANCESTORS. The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600–1800. This 2018 second edition is a massively expanded version of its 2005 predecessor. The new edition includes additional information on church records and landed estate papers,[…]Read more
The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec or the United States. Second Edition, by Gary Boyd Roberts is remarkable in a number of ways. Obviously, it documents nearly 1,000 lines of North Americans who can claim royal ancestors—more than any other publication. The Introduction to this new three-volume edition is nearly[…]Read more
As we have noted previously Drew Smith, the author of our how-to book Generation by Generation, is a highly trained librarian as well as an accomplished genealogist. Readers of his book are destined to learn about the wealth of information that could lead them to hard-to-find ancestors by utilizing library and archival sources. To illustrate[…]Read more
According to the Pew Research Center, “The U.S. Hispanic population reached 62.1 million in 2020, accounting for 19% of all Americans and making it the nation’s second largest racial or ethnic group, behind White Americans and ahead of Black Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It is also one of the fastest growing groups in[…]Read more
[Excerpted from Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, 3d ed. rev. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2017), pp. 52–53, §2.22–2.23.] “Six basic rules govern our citation of titles, regardless of the type of record or publication we are using: 1) BOOK, CD, DVD, JOURNAL, MAP, WEBSITE, ETC. For published stand-alone[…]Read more
The following review appeared in the December 2022 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. DNA far Native American Genealogy. By Roberta Estes. Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.; 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 229; Baltimore, MD 21211-1953; http://www.genealogical.com/; 2021; ISBN’ 978-0-8063-2118-9. xiii,176 pp. Charts, glossary, illustrations, maps. Paperback. $34.95. “If you have a family[…]Read more
English-speaking researchers and historians working with a Spanish-language document face two hurdles—understanding the handwriting and vocabulary, and grasping the record’s institutional, historic, social, and cultural context. This book’s unique and detailed content fills both needs. With images, charts, transcribed documents and in-depth commentary, Mastering Spanish Handwriting and Documents: 1520-1820 addresses fundamental handwriting concepts and challenges[…]Read more
