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title: The Weekly Genealogist, March 31, 2021
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Every Wednesday, The Weekly Genealogist provides readers with news and information about American Ancestors and the genealogical community.

| View in browser March 31, 2021   Read past issues Feedback? Email us       Spring Your Research Forward! This April: Take $20 Off Your New Membership   Find out how American Ancestors can help you take the next steps in your family history research! Starting tomorrow, take advantage of our unique database collections, expert customer service, integrated family tree platform, and much more—plus, support our nonprofit mission to educate, inspire, and connect family historians around the world. Get $20 off your new membership using the code April0421. Sign up to be alerted when the sale opens!   Sign Up For Alerts       FREE Webinar: Boston’s Jewish Family Businesses From the colonial era to present day, Boston and its environs have been home to notable multi-generational Jewish family businesses. Join Michael Feldberg, Ph.D., Executive Director of the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, as he explores the role that Jewish values and tradition may have played in the inter-generational transfer of significant Boston-area companies.   Register Now       Sign Up For Database News Updates Did you know that you can get updates on new additions to our databases sent straight to your inbox? Database News is your comprehensive source for information about the records we add to AmericanAncestors.org every week. This week we’re announcing 105 new volumes and 67 updated volumes in Massachusetts: (Image Only) Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920. These new volumes come from 32 parishes—check out the Database News archives for a full list!   Get Database News Now       American Inspiration Author Event Stellene Volandes with Jewels that Made History Since ancient times, shiny stones and precious metals have determined empires, communicated status and brought about ruin. In Jewels that Made History: 100 Stones, Myths, and Legends, Stellene Volandes takes us on a glittering tour of gem-driven drama through history. Join her and Curator of Special Collections Curt DiCamillo for an illustrated conversation on April 8 at 6 p.m. ET.   Register Now       Spotlight: Digital Resources, Old Town, Maine by Valerie Beaudrault Old Town is a small city located in Penobscot County, in central Maine. The Old Town Public Library has made a digital archive available on its website. The archive includes a number of searchable resources: historic newspapers, annual town reports, vital records volumes, high school yearbooks, city directories, local history volumes, and much more. To view the full list of available resources, click the ‘More +’ link beneath the abbreviated list of titles. The newspapers in the collection are Penobscot Times (1934-2018), Sachem (1894-2015), Old Town - Orono Times (1979-1992), The Old Town Enterprise (1888-1934), and Old Town Enterprise (1901-1929).   Search Now       Online Course: Virtual Genealogical Skills Boot Camp   Live sessions April 8-10 Register Now April is Scottish-American Heritage Month   Our FREE subject guide can help you get started researching your Scottish family history   Read Now Author Event: Tobey Pearl with Terror to the Wicked: America’s First Trial by Jury That Ended a War and Helped to Form a Nation   April 13 at 6 p.m. ET   Register Now       What We’re Reading   Roots: Of Family Trees and Root Causes This Canada’s History column by Paul Jones explores what compels people to become genealogists.   Two Hundred Years On, a Medical Book Finally Sees the Light of Day "If Dr. Jeremiah Barker (1752-1835) had ever printed his landmark study, 'Diseases in the District of Maine, 1772-1820,' it would almost certainly have become a standard on Maine bookshelves."   Did the Black Death Rampage Across the World a Century Earlier Than Previously Thought? “Scholar Monica Green combined the science of genetics with the study of old texts to reach a new hypothesis about the plague.”   Archaeologists Unearth Remains of 387-year-old Colonial Fort in Maryland “The site, known as St. Mary's Fort, was the fourth English colony established in the United States and was home to approximately 150 settlers.”   Sotheby’s Will Auction a Hoard of the World’s Earliest Photographs, Taken by 19th-Century Inventor Henry Fox Talbot According to Sotheby’s, the photographs represent “arguably the most important lot of 19th-century photographs to ever come to market.”   Peterborough Woman Tracks Down Nashua Family After Finding Old Slides Peterborough, New Hampshire, resident Carol Nelson reconnected a Nashua family with their long-lost slides.       The Weekly Genealogist Survey   Last week's survey asked about how many generations you have documented on your patrilineal line. We received 3,598 responses. The results are:  1%, One (my father) 2%, Two 8%, Three 14%, Four 14%, Five 10%, Six 8%, Seven 6%, Eight 6%, Nine 8%, Ten 6%, Eleven 21%, Twelve or more <1%, I have not been able to document the names of any men in my patrilineal line. <1%, I don’t know. This week's question asks about your ancestors who were twins or higher order multiples. 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: Patrilineal Lines By Lynn Betlock, Editor   Last week's survey asked how many generations of men you have documented on your paternal line. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.   Rebecca Smith of Rehoboth, Massachusetts: Based on the paper trail, I was fairly confident that my paternal line went back to Christopher Smith of Providence. Since his father is known, my answer would have been eleven generations. However, Y-DNA tests show that, somewhere along the line, there was a Herrendeen father instead of a Smith. Thanks to a fourth cousin who tested, I have confidence in my Smiths back to my third great-grandfather. I hope I can someday find a fifth or sixth cousin to bring the line further back.   Peggy Durack of San Antonio, Texas: Tracing my paternal line, Buell, eleven generations back to the immigrant ancestor, William Buell, an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut, is easy. The ancestry is well documented in the 1881 History of the Buell Family in England and America by Albert Welles. But nothing is known about William’s ancestry. Many theories exist about his origins and surname. The History of Ancient Windsor calls him “a Welshman and carpenter”; Buell Family mentions a “Bernardo Buil, a Spanish Benedictine monk,” and, according to other sources, in Dutch, Buell is an “occupational name for a hangman”; the name indicates “one who came from Bueil in France”; and “the surname Buell was first found in the Rhineland.” Everyone named Buell, or a variant spelling, can trace their lineage to William Buell, but no further. Perhaps one day DNA will solve the riddle.    Jean Wharton Pettitt of Santa Barbara, California: Generally, three or four generations span one hundred years, but in rare instances only two. I can trace my patrilineal line back six generations to Samuel Wharton, Sr., born in Pennsylvania in 1745, 300 years before I was born. I remember spending time with my great-grandfather, David Sterritt Wharton, who died at age 101 when I was seven. David was born in 1852, the seventeenth of eighteen children born to Samuel Wharton, Jr., my great-great-grandfather. Samuel was born in 1789, during the first year of George Washington’s presidency. When I was a child during the Eisenhower administration, my grandfather, Joseph Bradford Wharton, Sr., took pride in telling his grandchildren that the lifetimes of his father and grandfather spanned all the U.S. presidencies (from Washington to Eisenhower).       Online Course: Researching New Netherland Ancestors The 17th-century colony of New Netherland was a crossroads for people from Europe, Africa, and the Americas. This three-week online course will explore the history of New Netherland and New Amsterdam, point you to key genealogical resources and references, and demonstrate several research strategies using a variety of case studies.   Register Now       Educational events brought to you by Vol. 24, No. 13, Whole #1045 Copyright ©2021 New England Historic Genealogical Society. All Rights Reserved,. American Ancestors, 99-101 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116, 1-888-296-3447 Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
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