Here's to a great 2022 from all of us at American Ancestors!
We wish you and your family members a wonderful new year ahead! Thank you for subscribing to The Weekly Genealogist. We look forward to helping you discover more about your family in 2022!
Have a family history question? Connect with us through live online chat nearly every day of the week at Ask a Genealogist—Live Chat. (Note chat is offline Friday, Dec. 31 and Saturday, Jan 1 for the New Year holiday).
Join Now Before Our Membership Price Increases!
On January 1, 2022, the rate for Individual Memberships will increase from $94.95 to $99.95. If you join between now and December 31, 2021, you will lock in the current membership price. Join Now
New Edition Now Available For Sale!
Genealogist’s Handbook for New England Research, 6th Edition
A must-have for anyone researching New England family history. This new full-color edition is an extensive update of an indispensable resource for those researching in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Research basics, unique resources, repository locations, and extensive county and town information (maps, dates established, parent counties, parent and daughter towns, other names, and more) are now uniformly presented for each state.Purchase Now
Online Seminar
Virtual Preservation Roadshow
Chances are you have a stack of family papers and photo albums tucked away that you don’t know what to do with. This virtual preservation roadshow will teach you best practices for surveying, handling, and storing family materials and provide you with expert advice on how to care for items in your collection. January 22 at 2 p.m. (ET). Register Now
Online Lecture
How to Progress from Inherited Research
Not sure what to do with that box of your relative's research? In this webinar, Genealogist James Heffernan will go over tips for sorting through inherited research—discussing how genealogical standards have shifted over time, assessing the credibility of the research, and organizing and preserving the materials. January 13 at 4 p.m. (ET). Register Now
Spotlight: Paw Paw Township Cemetery, Michigan
by Valerie Beaudrault
Paw Paw Township is located in Van Buren County in southwestern Michigan. Researchers will find a cemetery database on the Paw Paw Township website. This database is an index to burials in three township cemeteries: Cuddeback Cemetery, Prospect Hill Cemetery, and Wildey Cemetery. Scroll to the Genealogy Information section and click the appropriate letter range link to view the index. More than 6,300 individuals have been buried in these cemeteries. The data fields in the database are full name, plot information, burial type, burial date, and funeral home, if known. Search Now
Connecticut Research: Four Centuries of History and Genealogy
This online seminar will provide a century-by-century look at the resources and research strategies essential for exploring your Connecticut roots. Live broadcasts: January 5, 12, 19, and 26 at 6 p.m. (ET)
In this illustration-rich lecture, Curt DiCamillo, Curator of Special Collections at American Ancestors explores the jaw-dropping art, storied history, and exquisite palaces associated with Britain's Royal Collection. January 20 at 3 p.m. (ET).
Using Microsoft® Word to Write Your Family History
In this online seminar, experts at American Ancestors will demonstrate how you can use Microsoft® Word to streamline your writing process, saving you time and delivering a professional and easy-to-reference finished product. January 15 at 1 p.m. (ET).
World's Oldest Family Tree Reconstructed from Stone Age Tomb Researchers extracted DNA from 35 individuals buried at Hazleton North long cairn in the Cotswolds-Severn region, in England, finding that 27 of them were close biological relatives and comprised five continuous generations of a single extended family.
Last week's survey asked how your Christmas or Hanukkah celebration has been influenced by previous generations. We received 2,793 responses. The results are:
57%, I serve foods or drinks that are traditional in my family.
66%, I have decorations and artifacts (ornaments, nativity sets, menorahs, dreidels) from previous generations.
38%, I observe some holiday customs that previous generations of my family originated.
22%, I observe some holiday customs that are rooted in my family's ethnic heritage.
41%, I reminisce and share stories about previous generations.
19%, I give gifts related to our family history.
16%, I display or look at photos (or home movies/videos) of previous generations celebrating.
6%, I travel/have traveled to ancestral towns or countries as part of my holiday celebrations.
7%, I celebrate in a way not mentioned above.
40%, This year my celebration is different compared to a typical year.
37%, This year my celebration is fairly typical.
2%, I celebrate a winter holiday other than Christmas or Hanukkah.
2%, I do not celebrate any winter holidays.
This week’s survey asks about your genealogical resolutions for 2022. 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: Holiday Traditions
By Lynn Betlock, Editor
Last week's survey asked, if you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, how your typical celebration has been influenced by previous generations. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Kathy Pasko, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania: In addition to celebrating Christmas with traditional foods, tales, antique ornaments from parents and grandparents, I celebrate our nation's history and my heritage by crossing the Delaware. I have identified four Revolutionary War ancestors through my membership in the NEHGS. I am a bow poleman on a Durham boat, and the registrar for the Washington Crossing the Delaware re-enactment. Over 300 reenactors participate annually. This is the 69th annual crossing.
Lynn Gaulin, North Attleboro, Massachusetts: I like to give my family gifts that are connected to past generations. This year I am giving my son, who has his grandfather’s name as his middle name, a framed pen and ink drawing my father made of an old, gnarled tree in the early 1930s. My father was an excellent amateur artist.
Teresa Enking-Novak, Oshkosh, Wisconsin: I am of Lakota and European descent. In my youth, my parents followed the German tradition of an Advent kranse with four red candles lit successively on the four Sundays before Christmas. Our live tree was decorated on Christmas Eve and taken down on the Feast of Epiphany. Nowadays I do not have a tree, but I display a few ornaments that remind me of special people and times, especially the copper star my dad made for my parents’ first Christmas tree. In many Indigenous communities, Winter is the only season when stories and histories can be told. The European Christmas traditions my family observed included reflecting on the passing year and remembering folks who were no longer with us. I blend all those traditions as I celebrate Winter.
Caroline Jones Ludlow of Aliso Viejo, California: Our family has followed a Swedish Christmas Eve tradition for well over 100 years. Each person must compose a poem. Most write about their lives in the past year. After dinner, the adults take a shot of glogg (stronger than the mulled wine) for courage and read their poems out loud. You are not allowed to eat your rice pudding until you have read your poem. The very young can get away with just saying “rice is nice.” We keep the dated and signed poems in a box, and they have become family history. I’ve never met a Swede with this tradition—it may just be our family tradition. God Jul!
Robin Comfort, Chesapeake, Virginia: Every year my maternal grandmom made fruitcake, really an applesauce cake with fruit. My family was a military family and not always "home" for the holidays. When Grandmom's fruitcake arrived just before Christmas, all became right and good in my world. Just before she died, I was given her recipe. Each year I make the fruitcake, think of my grandmom and all is good and right in the world again.
New volumes for Massachusetts: (Image-Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920
This week we’re announcing 44 new volumes and 7 updated volumes in Massachusetts: (Image Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records,1789-1920. These new volumes come from 7 parishes: Blessed Sacrament (Cambridge), Our Lady of Lourdes (Jamaica Plain), St. Charles Borromeo (Woburn), St. Jean Baptiste (Lowell), St. Mary of the Angels (Roxbury), and St. Mary (Winchester). Search Now
Dig Deeper into Globe-Spanning Primary Source Material
NEW! Explore 90 Unique Collections of Historical Material from Around the World
For a limited time, American Ancestors members can access millions of pages of primary source collections featuring content from the 15th century to the present. Collection titles include Colonial America, American Indian Histories and Cultures, African American Communities, London Low Life, America in World War Two, and more! Make sure you're logged into the site, and scroll down to "AM Explorer": Explore the Collections
Would you like these collections to be a permanent benefit of membership?Let us know!
Educational events brought to you by
Top Image: Currier & Ives.1876 Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
