Ancestor Trouble: A Reckoning and a Reconciliation
Maud Newton’s family stories gained her fame as a blogger. In her new book, she fully explores their unconventional Southern lives and the transformational process of reckoning with history. Don’t miss her insight and discussion with Casey Cep, best-selling author and New Yorker staff writer. April 4 at 6 p.m. (ET). Register Now
2022 Annual Family History Benefit Gala & Lifetime Achievement Awards—A Boston Homecoming
Honoring Charles D. Baker, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
This year's benefit gala, hosted by D. Brenton Simons and Ryan J. Woods, will honor Charles D. Baker, 72nd Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with our Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Public Service. As part of a special presentation, Governor Baker will also be given an expertly researched, hand-bound volume of his family history. Join us in Boston, April 21 at 6 p.m. (ET). RSVP by April 12
Spotlight: Cemetery Database, Capital Area Genealogical Society, Pennsylvania
by Valerie Beaudrault
Dauphin County is located in central Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Harrisburg. The Capital Area Genealogical Society has made a cemetery database available on its website, which can be browsed alphabetically by name of deceased. Data fields included are surname, first/middle name, spouse, date born, date died, cemetery name, and notes. You can also browse lists of the county’s cemeteries sorted numerically by code number, alphabetically by cemetery name, or by township/borough. Search Now
Free Online Lecture
Scotland Sublime: Great Houses & Gardens of the Scottish Borders
Join us for a virtual tour of Scotland's great houses, including Robert Adam’s neoclassical masterpiece, Mellerstain, and many more stunning houses and gardens.
Save 20% on the Entire Experts' Choice Collection!
Get 20% off any title from our curated collection of genealogical classics, now through the end of March! Savings will automatically appear at checkout and cannot be combined with any other discount, including our member discount.
Take your research skills to the next level! This seminar will help you get the most out of your family history research, whether you're a beginner or an experienced genealogist.
Join Robert Charles Anderson and other Mayflower experts as we explore New England and gain an understanding of the challenges facing the Pilgrims in the earliest months and years of settlement. Enjoy guidance from talented scholars and tour leaders, behind-the-scenes visits, special presentations, and traditional New England fare. June 15–19 Learn More
What We’re Reading
Researchers Think They’ve Found the Last Surviving Pilgrim Ship New research by scientists and historians indicates that a wreck found in 1863 at Nauset Beach on Cape Cod just might be a Pilgrim ship. That would make it the only surviving vessel that crossed the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Great Migration.
Descendants Trace Histories Linked by Slavery “Some American descendants of enslaved people and others whose ancestors profited are using online portals to collaborate and reckon with their shared family pasts.”
Largest Human Family Tree Identifies Nearly 27 Million Ancestors “An international team of scientists combined genetic reports of 3,609 individual genome sequences from 215 populations around the globe to produce a massive family tree that identifies nearly 27 million ancestors and where they lived.”
Women’s Lunch Clubs “Lunch clubs for working women appeared in American cities in the 1890s and early 20th century.”
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
Last week's survey asked if any of your ancestors or relatives were named after presidents or first ladies. We received 3,245 responses. The results are:
41%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors or relatives was named after a president.
3%, Yes, at least one of my ancestors or relatives was named after a first lady.
39%, No, none of my ancestors or relatives were named after a president or first lady.
20%, I am not sure whether any of my ancestors or relatives were named after a president or first lady.
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: Named after Presidents and First Ladies
By Lynn Betlock, Editor
Last week's survey asked if any of your ancestors or relatives were named after Presidents or First Ladies. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Carolyn Aldrich Purcell, Haverhill, Massachusetts: My ancestor and his twin brother, who were born December 13, 1820, in Lebanon, New Hampshire, were named James Madison Aldrich and James Monroe Aldrich.
Charline Stofer Grundmann, Irvine, California: My ancestors, John and Mary Ann (Thomas) Stofer, named three sons after presidents. These sons were Thomas Jefferson Stofer (b. 1842), Franklin Wilkins Pierce Stofer (b. 1854), and Abraham Lincoln Stofer (b. 1862). In 1864, they named a son Ulysses Grant Stofer. At the time Ulysses Grant was a famous general; he became president in 1869. Ulysses Grant Stofer, my ancestor, went by “Grant” most of his life.
Elizabeth Handler, Needham, Massachusetts: Thomas Jefferson Gorin (1808-1883) of Kentucky is an ancestor on my father’s side and Thomas Jefferson Copeland (1801-1877) of Massachusetts and Maine is an ancestor on my mother’s side. And James Monroe Adsit (1809-1894) is another ancestor on my father’s side.
Richard Fessenden Larkin, Vienna, Virginia: My great-grandfather, William Harrison Larkin, had a twin brother named Henry Harrison Larkin. President William Henry Harrison died unexpectedly in April 1841, a month after his inauguration. The twins were born in May 1841, and it does not require an experienced genealogist to deduce how the twins' names were chosen.
Barbie Savacool, Atkinson, New Hampshire: My grandfather, William Elmer Savacool, a state representative from Pennsylvania, was in Washington for the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson on March 4, 1913. My father, Jacob Woodrow Savacool, who was born three days later, on March 7, 1913, was named in honor of the new president.
Patricia Blackwell, Union City, California: My father was called Francis his whole life and he only discovered that he was named Warren Harding Dailey when he signed up for World War II. Apparently, the doctor in my hometown of Frederick, Maryland, had carte blanche to name the children he delivered. He also named another relative Ulysses Grant.
Virginia Ranweiler, Rochester, Minnesota: When my dad was born in 1900, his aunts and uncles were insistent that he be named after President William McKinley, who began his term in 1897. My grandmother decided she was naming him William, but after my dad’s father, who died when she was four months pregnant. But for the rest of his long life my dad was called Mick by the relatives!
Database News
New Volume of The American Genealogist
Volume 88 of The American Genealogist was recently added to our database. This volume covers the year 2016, and adds over 300 pages and 6,500 searchable names. Founded in 1922 by Donald Lines Jacobus, The American Genealogist (TAG) is an essential body of scholarly research covering the breadth of the United States. Search Now
Announcing a new partnership!
We're pleased to announce that American Ancestors/NEHGS is partnering with The American Society of Genealogists to create a searchable online database version of their journal The Genealogist, one of the most prestigious scholarly publications in the field of family history. When complete, this database will contain over thirty years of valuable research, including single-family studies, compiled genealogies, and articles that solve specific problems. Get Updates From Database News
New Book Release!
David Kruger's Four Families of St. Mary’s County, with a foreword by scholar and historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr., traces 1,500 descendants from St. Mary's County, Maryland, 800 of whom descend from three enslaved people sold by Georgetown University in 1838. Follow these families through the progression of American history and learn about the roots of Americans who have been taught to expect "that they would never be able to know their origin stories. In defying these expectations, David has given us a great gift: hope.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Purchase Now
