Take your research skills to the next level! Whether you're new to genealogy, want to refresh your skills, or learn best practices, this course will set you on the right path to getting the most out of your family history research. Topics include how to record your findings, strategies for analyzing records, online research, and more. This course includes three 90-minute classes; exclusive access to handouts and recordings of each presentation; hands-on demonstrations and activities; and in-depth Q&A sessions with the instructor. Join us virtually on September 14, 21, and 28 at 6 p.m. ET. Register Today
End-of-Summer Sale!
Now is the perfect time to trace your family history. Get started today with $20 off an American Ancestors membership, and you'll gain access to more than a billion searchable names, family tree software, award-winning publications, and hundreds of online educational tools to help you become a better family historian.
Offer valid only with discount code 08AUG2021 if used before 8/31/21 by 11:59 PM ET. Not valid on current membership renewals (those with expiration dates of 6/30/21 onward).
Upcoming Virtual American Inspiration Events
John N. Maclean; Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar
Thursday, August 26, don't miss John N. Maclean discussing his book Home Waters: A Chronicle of Family and a River; and on Thursday, September 2, Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar will share Still Mad: American Women Writers and Feminist Imagination. Learn More
Live Panel Discussion with Instructors!
Researching German Ancestors
Germans have been immigrating to America since the seventeenth century and today are the largest self-reported ancestry group in the country. No matter when your forebears arrived in the U.S., this online seminar will teach you how to trace your German ancestry by using key records, resources, and repositories, while gaining important skills and strategies. Join us virtually on Saturday, August 28 at 2 p.m. Register Today
The borough of Beaver is also the county seat of Beaver County, located in western Pennsylvania. More than 24,000 individuals are buried in the Beaver Cemetery & Mausoleum, established in 1865. An interment database is available on the website. Click on the blue Interment Search button in the upper right corner to begin your search. The information in each burial record generally comprises the deceased’s name, including maiden name; birth and death dates; burial location; memorial ID number; and obituary. In some cases the records also include photographs and biographical information. Search Now
Between 1776 and 1778 Jane Strachey wrote to her husband Henry Strachey, a member of Parliament serving on the administrative staff of Admiral Richard Lord Howe and General William Howe, who was 3,000 miles away in New York.
This article tells the story behind Englishman James Smithson’s donation to the United States and describes the contents of the newly recovered 1787 Hungerford Deed, which details a contentious legal fight between his mother and aunt.
Half-siblings Natalie Friedl and Ryan Krok, both born in 1980 in Warren, Ohio, were raised separately and didn’t learn of their connection for twenty years. Having recently been reunited, they are now in contact with each other every day.
Last week's survey asked if any of your ancestors had a large family. We received 3,003 responses. The results are:
65%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors had 7, 8 or 9 children.
62%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors had 10, 11 or 12 children.
41%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors had 13, 14, or 15 children.
19%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors had 16, 17, 18, or 19 children.
8%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors had 20 or more children.
3%, No, none of my ancestors had more than six children.
6%, I am from a family of more than six children.
less than 1%, I have more than six children.
This week's question asks about family members who were named after an ancestor or relative.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: Large Families
By Lynn Betlock, Editor
Last week's survey asked whether any of your ancestors had a large family of seven or more children. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Elizabeth Richards, Durham, North Carolina: My ancestor Philip Fry had 25 children with two wives. When he died in 1840, at age 83, the Huntsville, Alabama, newspaper printed a nice obituary lauding his Revolutionary War service and recounting his migration from Pennsylvania to his new home near Arab, Alabama. He was survived by his wife and 19 of his children. The vast majority of my father's DNA matches descend from this single ancestor.
John Ellis, Paris, Maine: My great-great-grandfather, Isaac Fuller Ellis, married Ruth Powers in 1831 at Carthage, Franklin County, Maine. She died shortly after giving birth to a son, Osco Asro Ellis. In 1834 Isaac married Ruth's sister, 17-year-old Susan Powers. They had 14 children: Ruth, Ava Elmira, Ozro Milton, Ann Sophia, Orson Powers, Eunice, Helen Maria, Lottie Howard, Lucy Ellen, Edwin Wallace, Hannah Marcie, Perry, Osceola, and Isaac Fuller Ellis, Jr., who was the youngest. The first three children were born in Carthage, and the others in Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County.
Bill Griffeth, Park Ridge, New Jersey: By far, my most prolific ancestor was Timothy Hixon (1808-1888), who married my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Walker (1820-1859) in 1838. They had 14 children, including three sets of twins (my great-grandfather was one such twin). Elizabeth died in 1859 and Timothy married Lucinda Davis (1842-1908) in 1864. They had eight children, the last born in 1881 when Timothy was 73. Timothy fathered twenty-two children in all. Needless to say, I have many Hixon cousins.
Emily Hegarty, Brooklyn, New York: Michael and Ellen (Cronin) Hegarty, my great-great-grandparents from Cork, Ireland, had 14 children, of whom only five lived to adulthood. So much grief!
Gladys Boice Tolbert, Denver, Colorado: My mother was from a family of thirteen children, and my father from a family of seven. I have a hundred first cousins, more than several of whom I have never met due to the large age spread. The oldest living grandchild was eligible for Social Security the same year the youngest graduated from high school. My husband is from a small family (three children for several generations) and has a total of only ten first cousins. He seemed overwhelmed when attending my family’s reunions. He said it was like going to church services with a full house.
New Volumes! Only on AmericanAncestors.org
New Searchable Catholic Records Volumes
This week we’re announcing the addition of 76 new volumes and 21 updated volumes to Massachusetts:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 from St. Joseph (Belmont), St. Alphonsus (Beverly), St. Mary Star of the Sea (Beverly), St. Andrew (Billerica), Sacred Heart (Brockton), St. Colman of Cloyne (Brockton), St. Margaret of Scotland (Brockton), St. Patrick (Brockton), St. Francis of Assisi (Cambridge), St. John the Evangelist (Cambridge), St. Mary of the Annunciation (Cambridge), St. Paul (Cambridge), St. Peter (Cambridge), Blessed Sacrament (Cambridge), St. John the Evangelist (Canton), St. Rose of Lima (Chelsea), St. Margaret (Dorchester), St. Ann (Dorchester), St. Stephen (Framingham), Sacred Heart (Groton), Sacred Hearts (Haverhill), St. John the Evangelist (Hopkinton), Immaculate Conception (Lowell), Immaculate Conception (Malden), and St. Mary (Randolph). This update is part of our multi-year collaboration with the Archdiocese of Boston. Search Now
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