Have you ever wondered what life was REALLY like for our 17th-century ancestors? How did they dress; in fact, how did they make their clothing? What did they use to decorate their meager (or not so meager) dwellings? How did men relate to women? What was their diet on a daily basis? How often did[…]Read more
The January 28th issue of the most popular genealogy newsletter on the Internet, Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter gave a vigorous thumbs up to Jack Crowder’s collection of “did you know about” happenings from America’s War for Independence. The review, written by Bobbi King, is reprinted in its entirety here: Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, January 28,[…]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
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
By Patricia Law Hatcher In the April 7 issue of “Genealogy Pointers,” we introduced the first of the various systems by which land was transferred by one of the colonial monarchs to individuals, The New England Model. As Patricia Law Hatcher explains in her definitive study of U.S. land records, first transfer varied both geographically[…]Read more
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
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
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 following article is excerpted from the Introduction to Ellen and David Berry’s book, Our Quaker Ancestors. For more information about that publication, please CLICK HERE. The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, has a rich storehouse of records kept from its beginning in the mid-1600s to the present. There are vast differences among Quaker[…]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
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
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
