The award-winning Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide, published in 1987, is the preeminent tool for assuring researchers that they are searching the census in the correct county. The maps in the Map Guide show both contemporary boundaries and decennial federal census boundaries on the same map.[…]Read more
Smithtown, New York, situated about 50 miles east of New York City in Suffolk County, was founded by Richard Smith and his family in 1665. The famous 1698 census enumerations for Smithtown have not survived; however, Kory Meyerink, author of New York in 1698: A Comprehensive List of Residents Based on Census, Tax, and Other[…]Read more
Family Histories Most genealogists know—or learn belatedly—that they should be on the lookout for existing accounts of their ancestors, whether published in a printed book or online. While the information in older books about any family must be examined for possible errors and their findings compared with original sources, published family histories frequently save the[…]Read more
What is the genealogist to do when the information he’s looking for is not online or in a genealogy book? Short of finding another hobby, it usually means venturing beyond the comforts of home. It may be as simple as going to the local library or archive, but in many cases some overnight travel is[…]Read more
As Dr. David Dobson has noted in the Introduction to his new book, Scottish Baronial Families, 1250-1750, medieval Scottish kings established administrative units overseen by barons to assure that the King’s laws were enforced, taxes were collected, and, when necessary, knights and other warriors were available to defend the kingdom. By the late seventeenth century[…]Read more
The late Leonard H. Smith, Jr., and his wife Norma H. Smith were great students of New England and Nova Scotia ancestry. Together they compiled numerous works on these two subjects; however, probably their greatest genealogical contribution is their two-volume work, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867. The Smiths’ interest was spawned by Mr. Smith’s parents’[…]Read more
Between 1997 and 2024, Genealogical.com published the nine-volume series, Scottish Soldiers in Colonial America, by Dr. David Dobson. We are delighted to present those books in a new, fully indexed, consolidated edition. This consolidation edition of Dr. Dobson’s nine-part series identifies over 10,000 Scottish soldiers who served in the Americas. The new comprehensive index of names[…]Read more
The Magna Charta is a royal charter agreed to by King John of England in 1215 that protected a group of barons from false imprisonment, granted them impartial justice, and limited their feudal fees to the King. The Charter was designed to be enforced by a council of 25 barons. “Magna Charta is generally considered[…]Read more
Starting in 2004, Genealogical Publishing Company undertook several projects leading to the publication of definitive titles pertaining to the genealogy of Virginia’s founding families. We completed these projects just in time for the May 11-13, 2007, celebration of the settlement at Jamestown, America’s first permanent English-speaking colony. The titles to which we refer are the[…]Read more
If you ever contemplated becoming a member of a lineage society such as the Daughters of the American Revolution or the Order of the First Families of New Hampshire, rest aside that the road to membership is manageable, but the process requires some discipline. You need to learn the eligibility requirements, apply, document your lineage,[…]Read more
William Randolph McCreight’s extraordinary family history traces the O’Sullivan sept a full 31 generations from the author’s Carolina origins to the family’s Irish roots in 170 AD. Based on examinations of archaeological, linguistic, and DNA evidence, Mr. McCreight shows that the O’Sullivans may be the oldest documented Irish royal family on record. At their height[…]Read more
Persons looking for Scots-Irish ancestors invariably discover that Ulster church records are a crucial source of information. Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors, by William J. Roulston, is the most comprehensive source in the field. Chapter 2 provides detailed coverage of Church of Ireland, various Presbyterian, Methodist, Moravian, Quaker, Roman Catholic, and Huguenot denominations. Excerpted below are the[…]Read more
