Join experts from American Ancestors for a series of lectures, one-on-one consultations, and assisted research at the Midwest Genealogy Center—one of America’s preeminent family history research libraries. Access published resources that span all fifty states including genealogies, local histories, compiled county records, and more. Learn More
Database News
Update: Boston Tea Party Biographies
We have added one new sketch and one updated sketch to the Boston Tea Party Participant Biographies database. Updated: Isaac Ridgeway/Ridgway, Participant (1758-1842). New: Thomas Wells, Eyewitness (1746-1810). This database and the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program are the result of collaborations with the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. Search Now
Winter Issue of American Ancestors Magazine Now Available!
This issue of American Ancestors magazine provides guidance, resources, tips, and stories about conducting family history research in historic newspapers. As always, the issue contains information about our membership benefits, news, events, and educational opportunities. Email us to share your thoughts on the issue! American Ancestors magazine is a benefit of membership. Join American Ancestors today to receive this and other great membership benefits. Read Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
China Sets
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.
69%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors had a railroad-related job.
1%, I have (or had) a railroad-related job.
30%, No, I don’t think any of my ancestors had a railroad-related job.
Readers Respond
Jeffrey Pennell, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida: My great-great-grandfather Benjamin Franklin Emery worked as a conductor for the Maine Central Railroad for nearly forty years. He was a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen and Order of Railroad Conductors. When Benjamin died in 1930, Maine Central Magazine, the employees’ publication, ran his obituary.
Lorraine Fritch, Menifee, California: In the early 1970s, I was one of a handful of women employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in Watsonville Junction, California. As an “extra board” employee filling in for absent colleagues, I was called upon to work a variety of positions including telegrapher, demurrage clerk, crew hauler, and billing typist. The experiences and valuable life lessons learned there in my 20s have stayed with me for more than fifty years!
Ed Rioux, Quincy, Massachusetts: My maternal grandfather, Emery Fontaine (1899-1971), worked as a freight conductor on the Boston and Albany Division of the New York Central Railroad. In 1956, when I was 12 years old, he took me with him on a round-trip freight run from Boston to Springfield, Massachusetts. On the way to Springfield, I got to ride in the diesel engine. The engineer told me to duck down when we passed a work crew. Coming home, the train was a mile long with freight cars. I rode in the caboose with my grandfather. This is one of the happiest and most vivid memories of my childhood.
Constance Bloomfield, Portland, Maine: My father was born in 1900. As a teenager, he mowed lawns for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. He loaded a push lawnmower on the train, rode to the next stop, and mowed the lawn around the station. Then he loaded the mower on the next train, rode to the next stop, and mowed the lawn at that station.
Hugh Savage, Brunswick, Maine: My grandfather John R. Savage started his railroad career on the survey crew for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He worked his way up to Chief Engineer for the Long Island Rail Road. In this role he was in charge of building Jamaica Station in Queens. In 2013, I attended a celebration of Jamaica Station’s 100th anniversary with my two sons. One of my sons was an inspector for railroad construction in Maine.
Kathleen Sheehan, Monson, Massachusetts: My grandfather Thomas Ryan was a conductor for the New York Central Railroad. His father, Daniel Ryan, and his grandfather John H. Ryan also worked for railroads. John died in 1884 after being run over by a train. A March 22 article in the Springfield Massachusetts Republican stated, “He leaves a widow, a son who is a foreman on the New York and New England Road, and three daughters who are employed in the depot restaurants here.”
Belinda Sutton and the Politics of Refusal On February 14th, 1783, Belinda Sutton petitioned the Massachusetts General Court, invoking the Revolution, as she sought for reparations for the decades she spent toiling for Isaac Royall, her Loyalist enslaver .
ſugar and ſpice and everything…not so nice? This Library of Congress blog post looks at American Cookery (1796), known as the first American cookbook, and a feature found within it—“the ‘long s’—a typographic character that once looked perfectly ordinary to eighteenth-century readers and printers, even if it now catches modern readers off guard.”
Spotlight: Family History and Genealogy, Cambridge Public Library, Massachusetts
by Valerie Beaudrault
The City of Cambridge is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The Cambridge Public Library has added a number of resources in its online Family History and Genealogy collection. I wrote about them in 2012. These resources include the following: a collection of yearbooks from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (1978-2021); Cambridge High and Latin (1913-1977); and Rindge Technical School (1929-1977); Cambridge city directories (1848-1974); poll (voter) lists (1904, 1932-1947); and a collection of eleven atlases (1833-1916). On the videos from the Cambridge Room webpage, researchers will find links to recordings of stories found in the library’s Archives and Special Collections. Search Now
Recently on Vita Brevis
Following a Wandering Ancestor
Researcher Aidan Walsh traces the path of a wandering ancestor who didn’t settle in one place for very long. From New Hampshire to Maine and into Canada, he follows the records to reveal deep New England roots.
RootsTech, the world's largest family history conference, will feature inspiring keynote speakers, hundreds of sessions, an expo hall, and more. Check out class sessions from our Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert and Senior Genealogist Melanie McComb. Make sure to visit American Ancestors at booth #430 for special conference offers. Registration is open for this event! Learn More
Your Legacy. Your Peace of Mind. Your Free Will.
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
