Take your research skills to the next level! With the sheer number of online resources at your fingertips, it's easy to dive in to your family history research without any formal training as a genealogist. This intensive three-day program will teach you how to tackle genealogical problems like a pro. Join us for live broadcasts Thursday, April 8 through Saturday, April 10.
The papers of Irish genealogist Riobard O'Dwyer are now available online in our Digital Library & Archives. The digital collection contains his handwritten genealogies of the families of each townland in the Beara Peninsula on the southwest coast of Ireland, as well as notes on people of certain occupations and other background material. This collection is available to American Ancestors Research and Contributing Members.
Architectural historian Oliver Gerrish will guide you through Tissington Hall in Derbyshire, the historic home to the FitzHerbert family since the 17th century. Tissington Hall is one of only 300 homes in the UK with descendants of the original owner still in residence after 400 years. Get an inside look at this historic home from the comfort of your own. March 26 at 1 p.m. ET.
The city of Olathe, seat of Johnson County, is located in eastern Kansas. Olathe Memorial Cemetery, which was founded in 1865, has made a burial records database available on its website. Click the Burial Records link in the contents banner to begin your search. The database can be searched by first, middle, or last name; year of birth; and year of death. The data fields in the search results include the deceased’s name, dates of birth, death, and burial; age; and grave location. In some cases the search results include gravestone photos and digitized obituaries. Click the image thumbnails to zoom in. Click a second time to return to the full record. Grave locations are also pinpointed on the cemetery map.
New Sketches for Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784
Our Early Vermont Settlers, 1700-1784 database offers four new sketches featuring the families of Bennett Field, Israel Field, Reuben Field, and Silas Field, all from Brattleboro.
Last week's survey asked about ancestors who moved in and out of New England. We received 3,402 responses. The results are:
81%, At least one of my ancestors was born in New England and lived only in New England.
75%, At least one of my ancestors who was born in New England moved out of the region permanently.
53%, At least one of my ancestors who was born outside of New England settled in New England permanently.
20%, At least one of my ancestors moved away from New England and then moved back after living outside of New England for at least two years.
28%, At least one of my ancestors who was born in New England and left the region permanently had at least one descendant who settled in New England.
5%, None of my ancestors ever lived in New England.
11%, I have lived only in New England.
22%, I currently live in New England.
19%, I previously lived in New England.
1%, I don't know whether my ancestors moved in and out of New England.
This week's question asks about how many generations you have documented on your patrilineal line. 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: Ancestors Who Moved in and out of New England
By Jean Powers, Senior Editor
Last week's survey asked about your ancestors who moved in and out of New England. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Marilyn Thyng, Pittsfield, New Hampshire: My husband and I both have many ancestors who arrived in New England in the early to mid-1600s. His family has remained in New England—except for military service assignments. My family started west in the 1700s, through Western Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, and arrived in Nebraska by 1879. I met and married my husband in Colorado when he was in the United States Air Force. Several years ago, we stood at the grave site of Josiah Litchfield (1647/8–1708) in Scituate, Mass. Litchfield was my husband’s 7th-great-grandfather and my 8th-great-grandfather. I am the first person in my lineage to return to live in New England.
Doris Phillips, Manchester, Connecticut: I used to joke that my mother’s ancestors came to Massachusetts in the 1600s and I’m the first to leave. In writing a family history of five ancestral lines of my mother’s family, I discovered that my joke was in fact absolutely true. Two generations of one line lived in Maine but at the time Maine was part of Massachusetts.
Richard Platt, Milford, Connecticut: Both my father’s and mother’s families settled in Connecticut in the 1630s—but while my father’s family remained here, my mother’s family moved to Pennsylvania. My maternal grandfather moved back, temporarily, to Lakeville, Conn., and that’s where my mother was born. Then they moved west again, to Columbus, Ohio. When mother was in her twenties, the family moved back. Both of my grandfathers had been Yale classmates, and they looked each other up. That’s how my mother and father met—their first date was to a Yale-Army football game in the 1920s.
Linda Sands, Woodland Hills, California: My maternal great-grandparents, John Douglas Clark (b. December 5, 1863, Paisley, Scotland), and Maria Gertrude Taber (b. July 18, 1869, Terre Haute, Indiana), were married August 6, 1887, in South Hadley, Mass. They moved to New York City, where my grandfather and his twin brother were born in 1888 and his other brother was born in 1893. The family is listed as living in Ludlow, Mass., in the 1920 census; by the 1930 census, they were living in Merchantville, New Jersey. So, they were both born elsewhere, moved to New England, moved away, moved back, and moved away again.
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