--- title: The Weekly Genealogist, March 18, 2026 --- The Weekly Genealogist, March 18, 2026 ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­   | View in Browser March 18, 2026 Become a Member Online Author Event, March 31 Leaving Home: A Memoir in Full Colour with Mark Haddon   From the acclaimed author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes a brilliantly written, darkly funny, lavishly illustrated memoir exploring the complexities of family life and art. Award-winning author Claire Messud joins Mark Haddon for a discussion of Leaving Home and the art of memoir. 10% Member Discount. Learn More Now Available: Digital Access Membership   This special membership provides access to our digital resources, including databases, when you purchase a 12-month subscription. Experience the vast digital offerings of the most trusted name in family history research at an accessible price—with the option to upgrade to a full membership at any time! Join Now Database News Update to North America: Records of Enslaved People from Plantations and Estates, 1727-1890 Database   We are excited to announce that we have added a new volume to this database: Maryland: Historic Sotterly. Inclusion of this volume was made possible through a collaboration with Historic Sotterly. This update adds 481 names and 475 records to the 10 Million Names Project. View Now The Weekly Genealogist Survey This Week's Survey: Ancestors or Relatives Who Married the Sibling of a Deceased or Former Spouse 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. Take the Survey Last Week's Survey: Ancestors or Relatives Who Received a Major Inheritance or Financial Windfall   Total: 2,133 Responses 25%, Yes 46%, No 29%, I don’t know Readers Respond   Alison Watson Maston, Bolton, Connecticut: My grandfather was the caretaker of the Robinson estate in Rhode Island for many years. When Mrs. Robinson passed away in 1959, she left my grandfather $1,000 in her will. (That amount would be about $11,177 today.) I was born the following year. My parents were living in California while my dad attended school. My grandparents spent their inheritance money to drive across the country to meet me.   Mike Burd, Kennebunkport, Maine: About twenty-five years ago, my father received a phone call from an “heir finder.” They were researching the heirs of my mother’s uncle, who had died in 1920 when she was one year old. My dad knew nothing of the uncle, and my mother was in the advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. I was able to confirm the relationship, which resulted in my mother receiving $150,000. My great-uncle’s estate had been tied up in trust for the eighty years since his passing.   Kelly A. Fox, Methuen, Massachusetts: From about 1900 to 1940, my ancestor Henry Fox (1874–1948) worked as a coachman and then as a chauffeur for the co-founder of the stock brokerage firm Paine Webber, William A. Paine, and his wife, Ruth. When William died in 1929, the Boston Globe reported that the bequest recipients included “One chauffeur, Henry Fox, who is left $2,500 and $100 for each of his children.” Henry and his wife had eight children at the time. When Ruth died in 1940, she left Henry $1,000. I am sure these gifts had a significant impact on Henry’s large family. What We’re Reading   Historic Slavery Photos Get “Final Resting Place” after Long Fight with Harvard “The images of a father known as Renty and his daughter Delia were honored today in a ceremony by their new steward, a museum in South Carolina.” A Native Soldier Allied with the British Killed a Young White Woman in 1777. Propaganda Transformed Her Into a Martyr of the American Revolution “The patriots weaponized Jane McCrea’s death to demonize their enemies and paint Indigenous people as uniquely violent.” The NorthEast Corner: Rediscovering the Final Resting Place of Concord’s Black Community “Ultimately, the search for Concord’s lost graves is not solely about stones and names; it is about restoring individuals to history, one clue at a time.” Tudor Courtiers Exchanged Portrait Miniatures as Love Tokens. Centuries Later, New Research Is Unlocking the Secrets of These Intimate Artworks “Over the past few years, art historians have identified several previously unknown paintings by Elizabeth I’s favorite artist, Nicholas Hilliard.” The Trouble with Authentic Ancient Statues “Scientific analysis has restored the colors of ancient Greek statues. Why does seeing them restored still feel so wrong?”  Spotlight: Durham County Library Vital Events Indexes, North Carolina by Valerie Beaudrault   The city of Durham, seat of Durham County, is located in north central North Carolina. The Durham County Library has made two vital events indexes available on its website. The obituary index (1848-1927) has more than 16,000 records. The data fields include obituary date, newspaper abbreviation, death date, full name, age, and place and cause of death. The second database is an 1820 to 1911 index to birth, death, marriage, and divorce announcements appearing in local newspapers. The data fields include newspaper abbreviation, date published, page, event date and type, full name, notes, and corrections. The indexes are in Excel file format. Search Now Upcoming Lectures, Courses, Tours, and More March 19: Free Online Lecture In Concert: How Jewish Women Built Community Through Music   March 21: Hybrid Lecture Researching Women in the American Revolution   March 27: Free Online Lecture The Houses of Guinness View All Upcoming Events and Tours Recently on Vita Brevis Making a Circle Out of a Square: The Transformation of an Ohio Town   While it's not uncommon for a city or town to be named after a defining feature or a key element of the community’s history, it's rare for the name to stick when that feature is no longer there. Read the latest Vita Brevis entry by researcher Zachary Garceau to find out how a square town got a round name. Read 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 Educational events brought to you by Vol. 29, No. 11, Whole #1303 Copyright ©2026 American Ancestors. All Rights Reserved.. American Ancestors, 97 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116, 1-888-296-3447 Unsubscribe Manage preferences Read Past Issues  \|  Feedback? Contact Us | | --- |