Discover Your Revolutionary Roots: Researching Patriot Ancestors
Did your ancestors serve in the fight for America’s independence? Join us for an engaging lecture that unlocks the tools, records, and strategies needed to trace Revolutionary Patriots. This lecture will guide you through essential sources—including military service records, pension applications, muster rolls, and state archives—and demonstrate how to uncover personal stories and connect your findings to larger historical events. Learn More
This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of Family History
Gift memberships provide full access to the American Ancestors website, subscriptions to our quarterly publications, unlimited use of our research center, and special member discounts. Members also receive access to American AncesTREES, an online family tree program. Purchase Today
Genealogist Aimee Cross Profiles American Ancestors on YouTube
Aimee Cross is a California-based genealogist who recently traveled to Boston and visited American Ancestors for the first time. In her YouTube review, she gives an overview of our website and services, exploring our research guides, databases, consultations, and more! Watch Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
Winter Holiday Celebrations
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.
7%, I have no lines with consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
37%, I have a line with two consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
42%, I have a line with three consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
22%, I have a line with four consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
10%, I have a line with five consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
4%, I have a line with six consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
2%, I have a line with seven consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
3%, I have a line with eight or more consecutive ancestors or relatives with the same given name(s).
4%, I don’t know.
Readers Respond
Amy E. Hogg, Guelph, Ontario: My ancestor Amey Allen (1663-1710) married Joseph Hatch (1654-1738) of Falmouth, Massachusetts. On my maternal line, I am the seventh Amy in an unbroken line of Amys descended from her. I have found at least one Amy (first or middle name) in each of the first ten generations descended from Amey (Allen) Hatch.
Bill Haas, Deadwood, South Dakota: My mother’s Elmore/Elmer line had a naming convention that began around 1634. The names alternated between John and James. If the father's first name was John, his firstborn son was named James, and then James’s firstborn son was named John, etc. (If there were two sons, the first would be named the alternating name and the second would be named for the father.) This long tradition continued through my maternal grandfather, James (d. 1962), and his son, John (d. 2004), who had no children.
Deborah Wentworth Lansing, Plymouth, Michigan: I am descended from six generations of men named Benjamin Hartshorn. The first Benjamin Hartshorn (1654-1694) was the son of the immigrant ancestor, Thomas Hartshorn, who settled at Reading, Massachusetts. The line is: Benjamin Hartshorn (1685-1754) of Reading; Benjamin Hartshorn (1720-1783) of Wakefield, Massachusetts; Benjamin Hartshorn (1744-1824) of Merrimack, New Hampshire; Benjamin Hartshorn (1768-1853) of Belfast, Maine; and my 3x great-grandfather Benjamin Hartshorn (1800-1884) of Belfast. This Benjamin had a son, Benjamin, born at Belfast in 1827. However, I am descended from his daughter Mary Ann Hartshorn (b. 1831) who married Thomas Tapley Wentworth at Belfast in 1852.
Roberta Laird, Clarion, Pennsylvania: My dad, granddad, great-granddad, and great-great-grandad were all Robert Laird. If I had been a boy, there would have been five in a row!
Sarah Harriett Guthrie, Lorton, Virginia: I am a fifth-generation Harriett, via my middle name. My great-great-grandmother was the first in the Harriett line, followed by my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother. My parents wanted to name me for a Biblical figure, so I was given Harriett as a middle name to keep up the tradition. A doll that belonged to my great-grandmother has been passed down through subsequent generations of Harrietts, and it now belongs to me. The direct line of Harrietts ends with me, but a cousin named their daughter Harriett, so an offshoot 6th generation is now going!
Database News
Update: Great Migration Study Project
We have completed a major update to The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635. All vital records have been indexed for volumes 1-7 and are now searchable. This update allows users to search for immigrants by name, location, and date. There are now 60,911 records, 94,971 names, and 4,550 pages within these databases.
We have also completed indexing the first volume of Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1636-1638, Volume I, A-Be, which adds 9,307 records, 13,231 names, and 721 pages to the collection. Search Now
What We’re Reading
Triumph, Tragedy and a Heroine of the High Seas “In ‘The Sea Captain’s Wife,’ Tilar J. Mazzeo tells the thrilling story of Mary Ann Patten, the first female captain of a merchant clipper ship.
New Challenges for Funeral Records In a recent column in The Piscataquis Observer, Nancy Battick summarized a presentation on trends regarding funerals and mourning rituals that will impact genealogists.
Spotlight: Newspaper Archives of the Beverly Public Library, Massachusetts
by Valerie Beaudrault
The city of Beverly is located in Essex County in on the Massachusetts North Shore. The Beverly Public Library, established in 1855, has made a newspaper collection available in the Digital Archives on its website. The collection comprises more than 95,000 pages from three newspapers, Beverly Evening Times (1893-1938), Beverly Citizen (1851-1901), and Saturday Morning Citizen (1901-1918). The database can be searched by keyword or browsed. Search Now
Cartoon Caption Contest!
American Ancestors, our quarterly magazine, is seeking a caption for its next cartoon (pictured)! The winning entry will be featured in our winter issue. Click the image to view a larger version (clicking will redirect you to our Facebook page). Enter Now
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
