Following is a discussion of some of the things I have learned from studying the migration of people from Scotland and Ireland into the Maritimes. Books about emigration usually talk of the forces that drove people out of their homelands – what we call the push factors: Highland clearances, breakdown of the traditional clan system,[…]Read more
The new Second Edition of The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States abounds with movie and stage actors (and a few director/actors) who are descended from royal forebears. Most, but not all, are of British provenance. Could you be related to one of them? Here’s the list:[…]Read more
Why is history beneficial to genealogists? For one thing, history can help you understand the challenges and context in which your ancestors lived and possibly thrived. Just as important, history offers clues about elusive ancestors. Knowing that a smallpox epidemic occurred during the 1840s may explain why some youngster ancestors do not appear in the[…]Read more
This new consolidated edition brings together all ten Parts of David Dobson’s series, Irish Emigrants in North America. A comprehensive index of names has been added to facilitate the reader’s search through all ten Parts. Moreover, the index identifies the many other Irish persons—wives, children, parents, ships’ captains, indenturers, etc.–named in the emigrant profiles who[…]Read more
Chapter Twelve of Mastering Spanish Handwriting and Documents, 1520-1820 tackles the difficult task of transcribing the 16th-century Cortesana style of Spanish handwriting commonly found in documents created by notaries and other officials of the Spanish Empire. With a nod to Miguel Cervantes’ Don Quixote, authors George Ryskamp, Peggy Ryskamp, and Leandro Soria introduce the notorious[…]Read more
Since the Spring, we have been describing the features of our new eBook subscription program, MY GPC LIBRARY. We have placed our nearly 800 eBook titles—a $40,000 value in print–on this exciting new platform. For the first time, subscribers can look for names or places across all our eBooks–not just book-by-book—in a single search. The[…]Read more
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the American Revolution; however, it was the British surrender to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, that set the stage for American Independence. Indeed, Yorktown was the final decisive battle of the conflict, but nothing about it was preordained. For one thing, General Washington wanted[…]Read more
The new Third Edition of Genealogical Research in Ohio, by Kip Sperry is not only completely up to date but also comprehensive in its coverage. The new edition examines the holdings of major Ohio archives and libraries and identifies the many resources available to researchers, such as census records, church records, military records, land and[…]Read more
Over the last year and a half, Genealogical.com has consolidated two series of books by Dr. David Dobson that were originally published in multiple installments. The first of these was Scots-Irish Links, 1525-1825: Consolidated and Indexed Edition. In Two Volumes, originally published in 15 parts but lacking an index. To rectify these shortcomings, we re-numbered[…]Read more
One of the most fascinating chapters in the Fourth Edition of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, by Val D. Greenwood, concerns women’s property rights. Chapter 23, “Property Rights of Women as a Consideration,” while not specifically focused on finding records relating to women, nonetheless explores “the legal considerations that will help you better understand[…]Read more
Excerpted from: Nancy A. Peters, “Research Reports,” Elizabeth Shown Mills, ed., Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2018), 417-450. Genealogists conduct research. They must then communicate the results. Professional researchers are judged not only by the outcome of their investigation, but by how well they present their findings through their primary work product—the research[…]Read more
The central premise of our new book, Generation by Generation: A Modern Guide to the Basics of Genealogy, by Drew Smith, is that rookie genealogists will fare better when they commence their research with the record categories most likely to produce results. For this reason, the second half of the book discusses the research process[…]Read more
