A True Story of Japanese-American Heroes in World War II – Author Daniel James Brown Talks About His New Book Facing the Mountain
Free author event tonight! Don't miss this unforgettable chronicle of war-time America, following the journey of four Japanese-American families and their sons—three army volunteers and one resister. Daniel James Brown, author of bestseller The Boys in the Boat, will be joined in conversation by writer Roland Nozomu Kelts.
Getting the Lay of the Land: Using American Land Deeds in Your Family History Research
Land records can contain critical clues to family history research. This online conference will provide historical context for land records in America and explore using land records in your family history research. Join our instructors for a live Q&A at 2 p.m. on June 5.
The American Genealogist (TAG) represents an essential body of scholarly research covering the breadth of the United States. We recently added Volume 87 to our searchable database. This volume covers the years 2014 and 2015, adding 380 pages and nearly 6,500 searchable names. Join American Ancestors to access this database.
The city of Sonora, located in central California, is the seat of Tuolumne County. The city has made a cemetery database available on its website. Because the original records no longer exist, the Old City Cemetery database was developed from a variety of sources including a headstone survey, a sexton’s report, undertakers’ records, county death records, and newspaper obituary files. Scroll to the bottom of the webpage and click the Old City Cemetery Report button to view the burial records. The data fields include surname, first name, date of birth, date of death, obituary, notes, and three source fields. A key to the abbreviations in the source fields has also been provided.
Advance your family history research with the experts from American Ancestors! The Virtual Spring Research Stay-At-Home is a three-day online experience filled with consultations, lectures, and the skills and knowledge you need to continue your family history research online from home. Join us for live sessions June 10-12.
How Personal Ads Helped Conquer the American West In the nineteenth century, many men and women took a tremendous risk and traveled hundreds or thousands of miles into lonely territory to marry someone they had met through an advertisement in a newspaper.
The Myth of Manifest Destiny “Not everyone in the nineteenth century was on board with expanding the territory of the US from coast to coast.”
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
Last week's survey asked about your ancestors who were orphans. We received 2,857 responses. The results are:
3%, One or both of my parents was an orphan.
9%, One or more of my grandparents was an orphan.
11%, One or more of my great-grandparents was an orphan.
20%, One or more of my more distant ancestors was an orphan.
<1%, I was orphaned as a child.
13%, One or more of my collateral relatives (a great aunt, uncle, etc.) was an orphan.
12%, One or more of my ancestors or relatives lived in an orphanage.
14%, One or more of my ancestors or relatives lost only one parent but was considered an orphan.
47%, I don't know or am not aware of any of my ancestors or relatives having been an orphan.
This week's question asks about your ancestors who worked in an industry or trade that no longer exists. 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: Orphan Ancestors
By Lynn Betlock, Editor
Last week's survey asks about your ancestors who were orphans. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Susan Windesheim of Woodbury, Connecticut: My grandfather, John Rommel, lost his mother in 1869, when he was nine months old. After his stepmother died when he was seven, he was placed in the Hartford Orphan Asylum. When he was 13, he was sent to Nebraska with his brother on an Orphan Train. He lived in a sod hut and drove kids to school in a wagon. He was promised $100 and a horse when he turned 21. Instead, at age 17, he ran away, returned to Connecticut, and went to work.
Maureen O'Brien of South Burlington, Vermont: The parents of my mother’s grandfather, Stephano Brescia (1842-1930), were unknown. I recently found his birth record, which noted he was "discovered in the foundling wheel” on December 26, 1842 in Reggio Calabria, Italy. (A foundling wheel was a cylinder set upright in the outside wall of the building, rather like a revolving door. A mother would place a child in the cylinder, turn it around so that the baby was inside the church, and then ring a bell to alert caretakers.) Stephano was baptized the same day in the San Sebastiano church. The nun who found him suggested that he be placed in the care of the San Gregorio Commune in Pellaro. Although his parents are still unknown, I feel better knowing something about his birth.
Richard Hovey of Washington, DC: My ancestor Rebecca (Carrington) Andruss was orphaned when her parents, Joan and John Carrington of Wethersfield, Connecticut, were executed in March 1650/1. They had been accused of “familliarity with Sathan the great Enemye of God and mankind" and indicted by Connecticut's Particular Court. Rebecca is presumed to be the daughter of these Carringtons because after their deaths she and her brother John appeared in the records as children cared for by the town until they were old enough to provide for themselves.
Janice A. Maden of Winter Springs, Florida: My grandmother and her four siblings were orphans. My great-grandmother died of typhoid at age 33, when my grandmother was seven. Her father was committed to Pontiac Sanitorium in Pontiac, Michigan, after suffering a severe head injury on a logging job. He died there of tuberculosis about seven years later at age 40. My grandmother’s aunts and uncles decided not to split up the children. With family support, these relatives worked the farm in Michigan along with the two oldest children, while the three youngest went through school. The three youngest became teachers; one became superintendent of schools in Norway, Michigan.
Ryan Woods at the New England Society's Founders' Day Celebration
Join the New England Society in the City of New York for their virtual Founders' Day celebration on May 20, featuring Ryan Woods, Executive Vice President and COO of American Ancestors. Ryan will give a talk entitled "Pilgrims, Puritans and Beyond: The Origins and Legacies of Early New England Families."
