Upcoming Virtual American Inspiration Author Events

With Authors Camper English, Dan Bouk, and Mark Clague

On Monday, August 22, don't miss Camper English on the linked history of alcohol and medicine, as explored in his book Doctors and Distillers. On Tuesday, August 30, Dan Bouk will share insights from his book Democracy’s Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them. On Monday, September 12, hear author Mark Clague on the cultural history of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Learn More

Spotlight: Elgin Genealogical Society, Illinois

by Valerie Beaudrault

The city of Elgin is located in Cook and Elgin Counties, in northern Illinois. The Elgin Genealogical Society has compiled a number of databases of local records. Sacramental records are available for St. John's Lutheran Church and Faith United Methodist Church. Death and burial records include Channing Street Cemetery, Elgin High School Class of 1944, and several mortuary and funeral homes. Also find indexes to Elgin Civil Court divorces, Elgin and Plato Township probate records, Elgin soldiers who died in the Civil War, Mother’s Pension records, and Elgin Township name changes. Search Now

End-of-Summer Sale

Save $25 off Your New Membership

Now is the perfect time to trace your family history.
Save $25 and access over a billion searchable names, family tree software, award-winning publications, and hundreds of online educational tools to help you along. Offer valid through the month of August! Join Now

Use discount code: AUGUST22. Offer expires 8/31/22 at 11:59 PM EST. Not valid on current membership renewals (expiration dates of 6/30/22 onward).

Free Online Lecture

Reading the Gravestones of Early New England

Hear from epitaph expert John Hanson on how to interpret early New England gravestones, and what they can tell us about our ancestors' lives.
August 25 at 3 p.m. (ET)

Register Now

In-person Research Tour

Salt Lake City
Research Tour

Navigate the resources of the world’s largest genealogy library with the help of experts from American Ancestors.

November 6–13

Register Now

What We’re Reading

The Search for a Meaningful Clue to the Mystery of an Enslaved Ancestor
“Old newspaper ads are serving as a window into the hopes and histories of hundreds of individuals who were newly emancipated.”

These Trailblazers Were the Only Women in the Room Where It Happened
“A new book spotlights 100 historical photographs of lone women hidden among groups of men.”

DNA Evidence May Link Chincoteague Pony Origins to Spanish Shipwreck
Local legend has it that the feral ponies from the barrier island of Assateague descended from survivors of a Spanish shipwreck 500 years ago. New evidence indicates that the story may be more than just a myth.

How a Farmer’s Hunch Led to a Lost Monastery and a Neolithic Surprise
“The rediscovered medieval complex of Beaubec is unique in all of Ireland—and it’s just the most recent layer of history unearthed in a humble pasture.”

The Story the Torn Gown Told: Forensic Evidence and Lanah Sawyer’s Prosecution of Henry Bedlow for Rape, New York, 1793
“Over the years, I’ve pieced together the fragmentary references to Lanah’s Sawyer’s clothing in William Wyche’s Report of the Trial of Henry Bedlow (1793) and puzzled over what they add up to . . .[W]hat did the evidence of the damaged gown tell us?”

The Weekly Genealogist Survey

Last week's survey asked if any of your ancestors or relatives were associated with the whaling industry. We received 2,826 responses. The results are:

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: Whaling Ancestors

By Lynn Betlock, Editor

Last week's survey asked if any of your ancestors or relatives were associated with the whaling industry. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.

Nancy Cork, Lafayette, California: My British grandfather was in San Francisco in the fall of 1903 when the Charles W. Morgan returned from a successful one-year whaling trip. The local newspaper called the old whaling bark, built in 1841, a “relic of the past” even then, and she attracted crowds of sightseers. My grandfather, a young but experienced sailor, decided to sign up for the Morgan’s 29th whaling voyage. He toiled as a “green hand” for nine months, cutting blubber and rendering the oil, until he got an opportunity to “jump ship” in Hakodate, Japan. I recently visited Mystic Seaport Museum and stood on the Morgan myself. At the New Bedford Whaling Museum, I saw the crew lists for the voyage—my grandfather was listed as a “no good” deserter!

Nancy Nelson Cohen, Persia, Iowa: My Danish great-great-grandfather, Christian Gravesen (1830–1911), wrote a memoir that was later translated into English. He recalled how enthralled he was as a boy to listen to his grandfather, Christian Gravesen (1775-1857), talk about the years he spent whale fishing near Greenland. Various fishing and whaling artifacts connected to three generations of my ancestors are now in a museum at Nymindegab, Denmark. When I visited the area in 2018, I located the house in which the memoir was likely written, now the administrative office of a public campground.

Gaila Gilliland, Tacoma, Washington: My ancestor, Mary Wood, was the daughter of Effriam Wood, a whaler in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mary wrote her own obituary and in it she described how she was awakened on her tenth birthday to learn that her dad and older brother were “lost at sea.”

Barbara Gast Keohane, Springfield, Pennsylvania: My grandfather, James F. Avery, and great-great-grandfather, Francis Post, were New Bedford whaling masters. Capt. Avery was once awarded a bearskin rug for locating Capt. Horace Smith, who was at sea on a whaling voyage. Capt. Smith’s wife learned she had cancer and, according to a newspaper article, she wanted to see him again before she died. She was told, “Get Capt. Avery to find him. If anybody can find him, it’s him, and he’s in port.” Ironically, both Capt. and Mrs. Smith lived into old age, and she outlived him.

Dr. Bob Kenney, Narragansett, Rhode Island: I am a semi-retired whale ecologist whose research focus is the North Atlantic right whale, which was the first target of commercial whalers a millennium ago. I have taught and lectured about the history of the whaling industry. I've visited every whaling or fishermen's museum where I've had the opportunity. I even visited one of the last two whaling stations in Atlantic Canada—in Blandford, Nova Scotia—when remnants of its past were still scattered about. A local fellow who had worked there as a teenager showed me around. When I visited again a decade later everything had been cleaned up and given to the Atlantic Fisheries Museum in nearby Lunenburg.

Database News

New Sketches: Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784

We've recently added twelve new and updated sketches to the Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784 project database. The sketches added include 11 families from Brattleboro and one family from Fort Dummer, Vermont. This database is available to American Ancestors members. Search Now

Educational events brought to you by