This lecture will provide you with historical context, records, and research strategies for identifying and learning more about your Loyalist ancestors.
Finding Cornerstone Stories: Uncovering Inspiration in Your Family’s History
Part memoir, part history, and part genealogy guide, Finding Cornerstone Stories follows André Kearns's journey through twenty years of family history research to uncover inspiring stories of enslaved ancestors, entrepreneurs, educators, Patriots, and community builders. Through richly illustrated essays and practical research tips, the book shows readers how to discover the people and stories that shaped their own families—and America itself. Join the Notification List
August Membership Sale
Get $25 off your new membership at American Ancestors! Our membership offers access to billions of searchable names on our website, a subscription to American Ancestors magazine, discounts on books and research for hire, and more. Use code Aug26 at checkout. Offer ends August 31. Join Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
When Did You Begin Your Family History Research?
Share your story! Each week in our Readers Respond column, we publish a selection of reader-submitted stories related to our most recent survey. Submissions must be 150 words or fewer and include your full name, city, and state. Published responses will be edited for clarity and length.
31%, Yes, I share one hobby with more than one ancestor.
11%, Yes, I share multiple hobbies with the same ancestor.
24%, Yes, I share multiple hobbies with more than one ancestor.1
2%, No, I don’t share a hobby with any of my ancestors.
16%, I don’t know.
Readers Respond
Michael Gaule, New Orleans, Louisiana: I am an amateur blacksmith. I had wanted to be a one since I was 12 and saw blacksmithing demonstrations during a vacation to Colonial Williamsburg. I had no idea that several of my ancestors and relatives were blacksmiths until I began my family history research. My mom had told me that her dad (who died when she was 12) worked for the utility company in New Orleans that ran the streetcars, but she never mentioned that he was a blacksmith. In addition to my grandfather, my great-uncle and my great-grandfather were also blacksmiths. It's almost like being a blacksmith is in my DNA.
Christine West, Annapolis, Maryland: My father, Harold R. West (1919-2009), was from Methuen, Massachusetts. He loved to find arrowheads along the shores of nearby ponds. He continued this hobby throughout his life and when we moved to Annapolis, he walked the cornfield nearby after each plowing. He found arrowheads, but he also discovered colonial pottery shards, metal artifacts, and over 1,100 tobacco pipe pieces. (On this land was the foundation of a house built in 1650—one of the oldest in the county.) My brother and I continue this hobby, and my daughter, at age 10, found an intact ceramic tobacco pipe bowl in the same cornfield. Later, no-till farming put an end to finding artifacts in county fields.
Amy Joyce, West Roxbury, Massachusetts: In the early 1900s, my grandmother's father, Edward Charles Ramseyer, owned a flower farm in Halifax, Massachusetts. (That land is now occupied by the Country Club of Halifax.) His main crop was gladiolus, which he sold at the flower market in Boston. He also planted a beautiful garden at his home in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Years later, my grandmother continued the gardening hobby with a lovely flower garden of her own. I have continued the flower garden tradition at my parents' house in nearby Roslindale.
What We’re Reading
A Boston Family’s Bible Comes Home, 318 Years Later Bostonian Benjamin Edwards recently donated a 1708 Bible to American Ancestors. The Bible had belonged to his sixth great-grandfather, a Boston sea captain also named Benjamin Edwards.
Mapping “A Town Divided” This article from Historic Deerfield’s summer 2026 magazine examines how “a once close-knit village of residents . . . was torn asunder in the 1770s by the growing political crisis.”
Spotlight: Community History Archive of the George Hail Free Library, Rhode Island
by Valerie Beaudrault
The town of Warren, located in Bristol County, is situated in eastern Rhode Island. The George Hail Free Library has made a number of resources available in its Community History Archive. The collection comprises more than 59,000 pages from six newspapers, including The New Warren Times (1961), The Warren Gazette (1866–1907), The Warren Gazette and Barrington Call (1907), Times-Gazette (1963–1976), Warren and Barrington Gazette (1907–1961), and Warren Times (1961–1963). Other resources include Warren High School Yearbooks (1931–1990), Warren High School Class History (1889), and various Warren school committee and town council annual reports. The database can be searched by keyword or browsed.Search Now
Recently on Vita Brevis
Colonial Craftsmen: Skilled Labor of Enslaved Africans in 18th-Century New England
In this Vita Brevis article, Anna Ruane traces the often-overlooked skilled labor of enslaved Africans in eighteenth-century New England. Through newspaper advertisements and colonial records, she reveals how the skilled labor of Africans in trades such as shipbuilding, leatherworking, and smithing shaped the region’s economy. Read More
As a family historian, you know that wills are important in your research—but have you created a will for yourself? Free Will, an easy and free online will creation tool, will guide you step-by-step through identifying beneficiaries for your assets, supporting the causes that are important to you, and planning for the preservation of your research. Learn More
