Understanding Greek Immigrants Through Church Records
"The histories of buildings and institutions can help provide context for the lives of those who built and used them. When it comes to understanding the stories of Greek immigrants to United States, it can be helpful to turn to the histories of Greek Orthodox churches in America." Read More
Upcoming American Inspiration Author Event
Tiya Miles with Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation
Celebrating women throughout our country’s diverse history, this award-winning Harvard historian will converse with Pulitzer Prize winner Laurel Thatcher Ulrich about the natural world and the women who changed America. Register Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
Did Any of Your Ancestral Couples Come from Significantly Different Backgrounds?
Share your thoughts about the survey! Please limit submissions to 150 words or fewer. Responses featured in a future newsletter may be edited for clarity and length.
Last Week's Survey:
Family Heirlooms Purchased Online
Total: 3,637 Responses
13%, Yes, I have purchased at least one item that belonged to an ancestor on eBay or another website.
7%, Yes, I purchased at least one item that belonged to a relative on eBay or another website.
83%, No, I have not purchased any items that belonged to an ancestor or relative on eBay or another website.
Readers Respond
Wilma Lepore, Norwalk Ohio: About fifteen years ago, I started searching on eBay for my paternal surname. I was rewarded by finding the family Bible owned by my great-great-grandfather who was born in Germany in 1816. He, his parents, and four siblings immigrated to Ohio in 1829. The Bible, published in Philadelphia, is about four inches thick and written in German. It includes several pages of handwritten lists of births, marriages, and deaths. Bringing this heirloom back into our family was well worth the several hundred dollars I paid for it!
Nicki Birch, Vienna, Virginia: My husband's mother was a Merriman, and her ancestors ran a dairy in Waterbury, Connecticut. I have purchased six Merriman milk bottles of varying sizes on eBay. I love having this connection to a time long gone!
Craig Bateman, Goodyear, Arizona: Six years ago, I purchased on eBay the deeds for the farm of my eighth great-grandfather, Eleazer Bateman, in Chestnut Hill, Killingley, Connecticut, dated March 5, 1717. I also purchased the deed to his son’s farm, which contains the signatures of my seventh and sixth great-grandfathers.
Virginia Brizendine, Jefferson City, Missouri: I have purchased several family items online, but not the image of a relative who served in the U.S. Army in Utah after the Civil War. A one-sixth plate ambrotype picture taken in Salt Lake was (and, five years later, still is) on sale on eBay for $1,600. The seller suggests that my relative was an early Morman, hence the price. For most of his adult life, he lived in central Missouri, where he died. He was a Baptist and a Mason.
Kim Smith, White Lake, Michigan: I purchased two items. One was a glass medicine bottle embossed with the name of my great-grandfather: “Dr. Chas. L. Toothaker, Phillips, ME.” The other was an ashtray used to promote my grandfather’s service station in Lisbon, Maine. That auction turned into a bit of a bidding war because the ashtray also advertised his Chevrolet dealership from the late 1940s.
Scott Camassar, Norwich, Connecticut: My grandfather Gershon Camassar of Waterford, Connecticut, was an impressionist landscape artist who died in 1995. Very occasionally one of his paintings will show up on eBay, and I’ve been lucky to get several of them over the years. Autumn was his favorite season and he typically painted fall agrarian scenes of New England, mainly in oil. My most remarkable eBay find was a large pastel of a farm with a big, green-leafed tree. This is his only piece with a green tree that any of us in the family have ever seen.
Dave the Potter’s Mark on History “An enslaved African American in South Carolina did the unthinkable, writing his name on the walls of his vessels—and forever inscribing history.”
17th-century Records of Those Who Settled in Ulster Now Available Online “[T]hedatabase makes innovative use of historical data relating to the English and Scottish men and women who settled in Ulster in the period between 1609 and 1641, along with the Gaelic Irish inhabitants who they interacted with."
Spotlight: Webster Parish Libraries Digital Archive, Louisiana
by Valerie Beaudrault
Webster Parish, seated in the city of Minden, is located in northwestern Louisiana. The Webster Parish Libraries offer a digital newspaper archive comprising more than 212,000 pages from 20 newspapers, including Minden Press Herald (1966-2018), Springhill Press And News Journal (2004-2018), Webster Signal (1897-1927), Minden Press (1956-1966), Springhill Press (1997-2005), The Webster Review (1936-1950), Signal Tribune (1928-1934), Minden Herald (1954-1966), and The Minden Democrat (1901-1913). Other collections from the libraries include county census images (1840-1910) and reports from the First Baptist Church of Minden(1840-1980). The database is keyword searchable and can also be browsed. Search Now
New Sketches: Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies
We're excited to announce a recent update to our Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies database. We have added 12 new sketches of proven participants, eyewitnesses, and their families. This database is presented in collaboration with the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. Search Now
Free Video from American Ancestors
Introducing the 10 Million Names Project
There are at least 44 million descendants of enslaved African Americans alive today, but slavery separated families, erased names, and obscured facts. The 10 Million Names Project, recently launched by American Ancestors and its partners, aims to restore their family stories to history. Watch Now
American Ancestors Membership Promotion
Last Chance! $25 Off a New Membership
Now is the perfect time to trace your family history. Get started today with $25 off a new American Ancestors membership and gain access to more than a billion searchable names, family tree software, award-winning publications, hundreds of online educational tools, and advice and guidance from our experts. Enter code August823 at checkout. Offer ends August 31, 2023.
Name Beneficiaries for Your Non-Probate Assets Today
Non-probate assets such as an IRA, 401(k), or life-insurance policy are not covered in your will or trust—you must name beneficiaries separately. Our friends at FreeWill.com have provided a free and secure online tool to guide you through naming beneficiaries for your assets in one easy place. Preserve your legacy, make sure your loved ones are provided for, and support the causes most important to you—get started today! Learn More
