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
We recently asked Sunny Jane Morton, co-author of How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records: A Genealogist’s Guide, to put together a short list of important or surprising features of American church records prior to 1900. Whether you are looking for a specific denomination, or want to test your knowledge of church records[…]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
From the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries, millions of Americans (both native- born and immigrant) abandoned the Tidewater region of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia for greener pastures. Since their predecessors had already claimed the best lands of the alluvial Tidewater, these families had little choice but to start their farms on the upland soil of[…]Read more
If you still haven’t purchased your desk copy of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 4th Edition, the best textbook in the field of American genealogy, consider the comments in the following reviewers. We ran them before, but the recommendations bear repeating, in our judgment. The reviews appeared in the prestigious Midwest Book Review, a[…]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
Sunny Morton and Harold Henderson’s book, How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records: A Genealogist’s Guide, continues to receive accolades in the genealogical media. In the December 2019 issue of the prestigious National Genealogical Society Quarterly, reviewer Robert Johnson calls the book “a great addition to many personal libraries.” Anne Lowery, writing[…]Read more
In addition to the royal descents of immigrants to the American colonies, Quebec, or the United States, The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States traces the lineages, through such immigrants, of many modern royal figures. The late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and the current Queen are[…]Read more
