Michele Pecoraro of Plymouth 400, Inc. interviews D. Brenton Simons, President and CEO of American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society, about Of Plimoth Plantation by William Bradford: The 400th Anniversary Edition (NEHGS, 2020).
Our ancestors saw it all—world wars, economic turmoil, and countless personal setbacks—yet so many persevered.Ancestor Strong is an online gallery featuring stories of ancestors who faced and overcame hard times. Explore the stories of those who came before us, and consider submitting your own ancestral stories!
Last month, James Heffernan offered a primer on Galician military records, today found in Ukraine but covering events in modern Poland. Michael Dwyer traced the likely origin of his Azorean great-great-grandfather; Raymond Addison reviewed the history of a prized public sculpture in Stockbridge, MA; Amy Whorf McGuiggan marveled at the vocabulary of genealogy; Alicia Crane Williams delved into some recent family history in Trinidad; Scott Steward considered multiple men named James Livingston in 16th-century Scotland; and Jan Doerr tracked down a distant cousin whose reminiscences looked back to early 19th-century Maine. Christopher C. Child sought the records to prove Jonathan Hatch's likely age at the time of his death in 1710, and explored the life of one of Senator Tammy Duckworth's collateral relatives; and Jeff Record examined the eight-generation history of a family hymnal, and then went looking for the half-hidden family of his step-grandfather.
Spotlight: Lincoln County Clerk’s Archives, New Mexico
by Valerie Beaudrault
The town of Carrizozo is the seat of Lincoln County, located in central New Mexico. The Lincoln County Clerk’s Office has made a digital archive available on its website, including extensive newspaper archives. There are 24 local newspapers in the collection, published from as early as the 1880s. Click the View Newspaper Archives button to access the database. Next, click a newspaper title link to access the scanned page images. There is no universal search function, but you can use your web browser’s "Find” function to search individual issues. Additional resources available include historical documents, and recent finds and recoveries.
Spring Your Research Forward! $20 Off New Membership
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NEHGS Celebrates 175th Anniversary With Collections Book This article in Antiques and The Arts Weekly highlights our book Family Treasures: 175 Years of Collecting Art and Furniture at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, published in 2020.
Last week's survey asked about your ancestors who were twins or higher order multiples. We received 3,052 responses. The results are:
23%, Yes, one of my ancestors was a twin.
17%, Yes, 2 to 4 of my ancestors were twins.
3%, Yes, 5 or more of my ancestors were twins.
2%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors was a triplet, a quadruplet, or a higher order multiple.
35%, No, I have no ancestors who were twins or higher order multiples.
35%, I have other relatives who were twins.
1%, I am a twin.
0%, I am a triplet, quadruplet, or a higher order multiple.
9%, I don't know.
This week's question asks about letters written by your grandparents or earlier generations of your ancestors. 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: Ancestors Who Were Twins or Multiples
By Jean Powers, Senior Editor
Last week's survey asked about your ancestors who were twins or multiples. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Helen Ullmann, Acton, Massachusetts: My grandmother, Henrietta Walcott, was a twin. She could never tell me where she was born, just Rhode Island. Her birth wasn't recorded though she knew it well—the 4th of July in 1875. Sadly, Henrietta’s twin sister, Mary, died the following September. Mary’s birth and death were recorded in East Providence, but not Henrietta's. We have a wonderful photo of the family showing my great-grandmother, Lizzie Walcott, in a rocker on a porch with a twin on each arm.
Debbie Semonich, Shelton, Connecticut: My grandmother, Edna Brennan, was a twin. She had twin uncles. And her mother, Elizabeth (who had about 15 pregnancies; my grandmother was the twelfth), had at least three, possibly four, sets of twins (some were stillborn or died at birth). When my grandmother was born, the doctor who delivered her was washing his hands when my great-grandmother said, "Doctor, there's another baby.” The doctor chuckled and said, "Now, Elizabeth, just because you've had twins before doesn't mean you'll have twins every time. There's no other baby." Seven minutes later, Aunt Ruth was born.
Jackie Trotter, Lake Butler, Florida: My ancestry includes triplet boys born to my 5th-great-grandparents, Captain Ebenezer and Martha Eldridge Smith. Ebenezer served under General George Washington; family lore states that when Washington heard that the triplets had been born he visited the family. Washington named the boys after himself and two of his best friends—Jonathan Trumbull and Nathaniel Greene. Jonathan Trumbull Smith was my ancestor. Washington gave Martha Smith a sovereign coin for each of the boys, and she gave him socks she had knitted for the soldiers.
Carol Austin, Garden Grove, California: My maternal grandmother was an identical twin, and she had twin uncles as well. I gave birth to two sets of twin boys, and two of my second cousins (granddaughters of my grandmother’s twin sister) have had twin girls. One of my first cousins has twin granddaughters. My son, who is a twin, married a woman who is the daughter of a twin and we hoped for twin grandchildren ourselves—but to their delight they had only singletons.
Take your research skills to the next level! This intensive three-day program will teach you how to tackle genealogical problems like a pro. Join us for live broadcasts Thursday, April 8 through Saturday, April 10.
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