Last Chance! Out to Sea: Researching Mariner Ancestors in New England
Join genealogist Susan Donnelly for a brief history of mariners in New England. We will discuss major ports and sources of industry, highlight key records, and demonstrate how to reconstruct your ancestor’s life on the sea and along the shore. Join us Thursday, April 22 at 3 p.m. ET.
Facebook Live: Using External Databases on AmericanAncestors.org
In addition to hundreds of databases available on AmericanAncestors.org, we offer member access to databases published by other organizations. Join us on April 23 at 3 p.m. ET as Senior Genealogist Rhonda R. McClure demonstrates how to navigate these external databases.
We added a new volume to The Connecticut Nutmegger database. This update adds Volume 46 from the year 2013 and adds more than 340 pages and 14,500 searchable names. The Connecticut Nutmegger is the journal of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc. (CSG) and offers many helpful resources for genealogists with an interest in this area.
Online Course: Massachusetts Research: Four Centuries of History and Genealogy
This online course will provide a century-by-century look at the resources and research strategies essential to exploring your Massachusetts roots. We will also look at the historical context, settlement patterns, and migrations in and out of the state, from colony to Commonwealth. Live broadcasts: May 5, 12, 19, and 26, 6–7:30 p.m. ET
Spotlight: New Market Historical Society Resources, New Hampshire
by Valerie Beaudrault
The town of Newmarket is located in Rockingham County, in southeastern New Hampshire. The New Market Historical Society has made a variety of resources available on its website. The resources include a collection of photographs, vital statistics, and a variety of historical documents. The materials under Documents and Histories are organized by type and include local histories, biographies, newspapers, genealogies, and municipal documents. Click the links in the contents banners of the relevant web pages to view the desired collections. All of the files are in PDF format.
Author Jack Kelly writes about The Philadelphia, a fifty-five-foot-long wooden boat built in the summer of 1776—the oldest American warship still in existence.
“Thousands of photographs in government archives bring the war to life.”
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
Last week's survey asked about the greatest number of lines of descent you have from one ancestor. We received 2,715 responses. The results are:
16% I am aware of just one line of descent from each of my ancestors.
45% I am descended from an ancestor through two to five lines of descent.
11% I am descended from an ancestor through six to ten lines of descent.
19% I am descended from an ancestor through eleven or more lines of descent.
10% I don’t know.
This week's question asks how many of your ancestors immigrated by themselves. Take the survey now
Want to share your thoughts on the survey with us? We are always happy to hear from our readers. Email us at weeklygenealogist@nehgs.org. Responses may be edited for clarity and length and featured in a future newsletter.
Readers Respond: Lines of Descent from One Ancestor
By Jean Powers, Senior Editor
Last week's survey asked about the greatest number of lines of descent you have from one ancestor. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Roger Barnes, Webster Groves, Missouri: My grandmother grew up in Newbury, Massachusetts, and all her ancestry for 300 years was in that town or a nearby town. Consequently, I have 12 lines of descent from Tristram Coffin. But my cousin can outdo me because he has one additional line to Tristram through his mother.
Mike Sevigny, Westford, Vermont: Like many of French-Canadian ancestry, I am descended many times from the original settlers of the Company of 100 Associates. Two of those early settlers were Marin Boucher and his sister Jeanne Boucher. I am descended twenty times from Marin—nine times through my mother’s father, four times through my mother’s mother, and seven times through my father’s father. I am descended three times from Jeanne—twice through my mother’s mother and once through my father’s father.
Phillip Gourley, Hooksett, New Hampshire: As a child I never knew I descended from nine of the eighteen founders of Amesbury, Massachusetts, some through multiple links. One original settler is my 8th-and 9th-great-grandfather, Anthony Colby. The Macy-Colby House, where he raised seven children—John, Sarah, Samuel, Isaac, Rebecca, Mary and Thomas—is a museum close to where I grew up. I was stunned to learn I descend from five of his seven children, John, Samuel, Rebecca, Mary, and Thomas. Another discovery was that Sarah Barnes, daughter of founder William Barnes, is my 8th-great-grandmother through her first husband, Thomas Rowell, and my 6th-great-grandmother through her second husband, John Harvey. My older sister says that the many multiple links may account for some of the idiosyncrasies in our family.
Jennifer Willis, West Chester, Ohio: My grandmother, Elisabeth Oblenis Bogert, was descended at least nine different ways from Albrecht Zabriskie (1638-1711) and his wife Machtelt Vanderlinden (1660-1725) through three of their five sons. When I first began working on Gramma's New Jersey ancestors, I was surprised by the number of marriages between related people through the centuries. When you get back to the 17th century New Netherland immigrant generation, the same names repeat over and over—but I think Albrecht wins for most repeats!
Spring Your Research Forward! $20 Off New Membership
Find out how American Ancestors can help you take the next steps in your family history research! Get $20 off your new membership using the code April0421. Join Now
You Can Support Art and Architecture Webinars
Last year Heritage Tours went online with a new free webinar series, Art & Architecture with Curt DiCamillo, transporting audiences to the beautiful countryside, luscious interiors, and art collections of the English country house. Your gift can help us share these storied homes and precious collections with a wider audience than ever before. Thank you!
