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title: The Weekly Genealogist, January 11, 2023
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Weekly news about genealogy and history, databases, educational resources, and more from American Ancestors/NEHGS.

| View in browser     January 11, 2023   Read Past Issues   Feedback? Email Us   New Issue of American Ancestors Magazine   The winter issue of American Ancestors spotlights our new Family History Curriculum, and features articles on French female convicts deported to the Gulf Coast, a collection of Irish correspondence, the surprising origins of a colonial New Jersey family, and more. Read Now   Recently on Vita Brevis The Brief Life of NEHGS’ Youngest Founding Member   George E. Henshaw was only 18 when he was elected a resident member of NEHGS in 1858, and only 22 when became the first of our members to die in the Civil War. Read More   The Weekly Genealogist Survey This Week's Survey: Ancestors in a Band, Choir, or Orchestra Take the Survey Now Share your thoughts about the survey at weeklygenealogist@nehgs.org. Responses may be edited for clarity and length and featured in a future newsletter.       Last Week's Survey: Railroad-related Jobs   Total: 4,263 Responses 74%, At least one of my ancestors or relatives had a railroad-related job. 1%, I have (or had) a railroad-related job. 26%, I don’t think any of my ancestors or relatives had a railroad-related job. Readers Respond   Kathy Gray, Hillsboro, New Hampshire: My great-great-grandfather, Frank H. Thresher, was a fireman on the Central Vermont Railroad. On February 5, 1887, the train jumped the track and plummeted off the bridge. It became known as the Hartford Railroad Disaster. Frank was cited for bravery due to his help in rescuing people. In June of the same year, Frank lost a finger while coupling cars.   Gale Kane, Bartlesville, Oklahoma: After WWII, in order to supplement the family farm income, my grandmother got a job as a dispatcher for the Western Maryland Railroad. She was a veritable human computer, with the whereabouts of every Western Maryland car in her head. She worked there for 20 years, commuting daily over a mountain to Hagerstown, Maryland.   Julie (McElroy) Hu, Taipei, Taiwan: My maternal grandfather, Michael D. Murphy, was crushed between two railroad cars in 1914 in New London, Connecticut, and died instantly. My paternal grandfather, Terence F. McElroy, was partially paralyzed in a railroad accident in 1908 at the Queen & Crescent Railway Yard in Somerset, Kentucky, and was confined to a wheelchair until his death in 1914.   Lorraine Fritch, Riverside, California: In the early 1970s, I was one of a handful of women working for the Southern Pacific RR in Watsonville Jct., California. In my seven years there, I learned freight and demurrage regulations, worked as a telegrapher, did track checks, and stood outside with a lantern as trains rolled by.   Cathy Crim, Montrose, Colorado: My great-great-grandfather, James Hervey Simpson (1813-1883), supervised and led various expeditions and engineering projects for westward expansion with the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers. When the first transcontinental railroad was being built (1863-1869), Simpson, as chief engineer of the Interior Department, oversaw the activities of the Union Pacific Railroad, which built the eastern portion of the railroad.   Sue Glen, Warrenton, Oregon: My grandmother’s second husband, F. Donald Davis, was a conductor on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford freight train for 50 years. He always carried a bent Papermate pen in his left-hand pocket. He told us that a train had derailed, causing a caboose to land on him, and the pen had taken the pressure of the caboose and saved his life. When my cousins and I were small we would wait for Grandpa’s train in Danbury, Connecticut. He would toss us an apple from the caboose as he went by.   What We’re Reading   A Brief History of Jell-O Salad The “not-so-humble beginnings” of a much maligned dish.   Archaeologists Recover 275 Artifacts From Mysterious Arctic Shipwreck “Explorer John Franklin and his 128 crew members disappeared while searching for the Northwest Passage in the 1840s.”   Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate: How a Mid-Life Crisis Created the 'Worst Pirate of All Time' “Major Stede Bonnet was not your typical pirate—in an act that can only be described as a personal crisis, he abandoned a life of carefree luxury in favour of crime and carousing on the high seas.”   Bones of Ancient Native Dogs Found at Jamestown “Researchers find DNA link to Indigenous dogs that starving colonists may have eaten.”   36 Bodies Were Found in Unmarked Colonial Graves. DNA Is Revealing their Stories. “Most of the people buried in the graveyard were born in Charleston [South Carolina], but they would have traced their African roots to very different regions and cultures.”   Study Reveals Average Age at Conception for Men Versus Women over Past 250,000 Years “Evolutionary biologists at Indiana University found that fathers are consistently older than mothers throughout human evolutionary history, but that age gap has shrunk.”   Spotlight: Municipal Cemeteries, Winnipeg, Manitoba by Valerie Beaudrault   The city of Winnipeg, located in southeastern Manitoba, is the capital of the province. The city has three municipal cemeteries. More than 100,000 individuals are buried in Brookside Cemetery, which was established in 1878. The others, St. Vital Cemetery and Transcona Cemetery, are much smaller, with about 9,000 and 5,000 burials respectively. Click "Locate a grave" to search by name or by section/lot/grave. Click "Filters" to perform a more detailed search. The data fields in the search results include full name, cemetery name, grave location information, age, and dates of death and burial. Search Now   Upcoming Lectures, Courses, Tours, and More January 18 Free Author Talk: Malcolm Gaskill with The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World   January 19 Free Lecture: Basics of Jewish American Genealogy   January 21 Virtual Preservation Roadshow: Documents, Bound Volumes, and Photographs View All Upcoming Events   Database News The Genealogist: Volume 10 (1989) Now Available—Database Complete   Volume 10 (1989) of The Genealogist is now available to search, adding over 3,400 records and completing the database. This database is free to access, presented in partnership with the American Society of Genealogists. Search Now   Free Resource from American Ancestors Family History Curriculum   Developed by experts at American Ancestors/NEHGS, this free-to-access national curriculum is designed to expose students in grades 4 through 6 to the concepts, benefits, and joys of family history. Each lesson incorporates authentic methodologies used by professional genealogists, along with inclusive teaching strategies to ensure genealogy is accessible to all students. Learn More   Planning for the Future? Name Your Beneficiaries 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. Learn More   Educational events brought to you by Vol. 26, No. 2, Whole #1137 Copyright ©2023 New England Historic Genealogical Society. All Rights Reserved.. 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