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
For the past month or so, we have been spreading the word about an extraordinary new reference work for Connecticut researchers, Finding Early Connecticut Vital Records: The Barbour Index and Beyond. This is one of those books that one cannot praise too highly, for it is nothing less than a comprehensive bibliography of Connecticut birth,[…]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
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
Chapter Two of Morton and Henderson’s How to Find Your Family History in Church Records answers the question, “How can I use church records if I don’t know my ancestor’s denomination?” Given the wealth of information awaiting genealogists who delve into church records, this issue is fundamental to people who have hit a brick wall[…]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
All censuses taken since 1790 are tabulated and organized by the counties within each state or territory. By federal precedence, the county is the basic unit of jurisdiction for census demographics. Alaska is the only state without counties; therefore, judicial districts are used as jurisdictions for the censuses taken there. In Louisiana, the term “parish”[…]Read more
One of the difficulties researchers with Welsh ancestry face is pinpointing the location of ancestors possessing surnames. Authorities John and Sheila Rowlands have taken some of the difficulty out of this process in the updated version of their book, The Surnames of Wales, by showing the greatest areas of concentration where such surnames do and[…]Read more
