"If these families had all lived in northeastern Connecticut, I would consider these connections no big deal, but it seems unusual that the two couples creating the link were from New York City and Philadelphia. If we take it from the perspective of my grandfather, his stepbrother’s first cousin’s first cousin was also his third cousin!" Read More
Upcoming Author Event, May 30
Tyler Anbinder with Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York
Learn about the Irish immigrants who came to the U.S. during the Great Potato Famine and how they strived to create better lives in New York and beyond. Author Tyler Anbinder will be in dialogue with Irish genealogy expert Melanie McComb. Register Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
Actors in the Family
Share your thoughts about the survey!Please limit submissions to 150 words or fewer. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming newsletter or shared on social media; please note in your email if you do not want your story to be shared. Published responses may be edited for clarity and length.
<1%, I have not yet started doing genealogy research, but I intend to.
<1%, While I am interested in genealogy, I have no plans to undertake any research.
Readers Respond
Valerie Becker Makkai, Lake Bluff, Illinois: I will be 88 years old in July and have been doing genealogy for 78 of those years. I started at age ten, to earn a “My Family” Girl Scout badge. My grandmother was a fountain of knowledge about family history, and I enlisted my mother to write to her many cousins for information. My first tree was written on two dozen pages of legal paper taped together end-to-end; when laid out, it stretched through our dining and living rooms. I created a genealogical card catalog that included each person’s parents, spouses, children, as well as dates and interesting facts. As I got older, I visited relatives, cemeteries, homesteads, city halls, and genealogical libraries throughout the U.S. and Europe. I now use online information and DNA research. I am excited to see what comes next!
Michael B. Melanson, Dracut, Massachusetts: In 1975, shortly before my fourteenth birthday, I attended a Fourth of July party at my grandparents’ home in Waltham, Massachusetts. Among those gathered were my great-grandmother Alice (Doiron) Cormier (an Acadian born in Nova Scotia) and my grandfather’s older brother, Fr. John J. Hart (whose parents were born in Ireland and who loved all things Irish). I had always enjoyed listening to their stories, but that day something clicked. I asked my grandmother for a pencil and some paper, walked over to my great-grandmother, and asked, “Nana, where were you born?” That’s how my lifelong passion and obsession with genealogy began.
Debra Maguire Rieke, Houston, Texas: I have always been interested in family history. As a child, I invented family trees for my dolls. I began my research properly in 1973, when I was a college sophomore. I interviewed my maternal grandmother, Mary Carter Mackenzie, and wrote her family stories in a notebook. I used this information as the basis for my research. I became an anthropology major because my main interests were witchcraft and genealogy. I was pleased to later find accused witches in my own ancestry.
Jane Cowperthwaite, East Walpole, Massachusetts: My grandmother Georgia May (Greene) Cowperthwaite spoke often about her family. She was from New Brunswick and was extremely proud of her roots. Her sons inherited her love of family history, but I was the only grandchild to pick up the mantle and continue her research. My most treasured family memento is a thirty-page document, handwritten by my grandmother, about her family and life in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century rural Royalton, New Brunswick.
Rick Bisker, Salisbury, Maryland: Forty-five years ago, I received a letter from a John Bisker who worked at a printing company that was producing a company directory for my employer, Dresser Industries. John had seen my name in the directory and, since Bisker was not a common name, he wondered if we were related. John’s query prompted me to ask my dad about our family history. I then began researching in earnest, first at local libraries, then using FamilySearch microfilms and visiting the National Archives, and then through online research. I have now traced most of my family lines back to my 5th-great-grandparents. For one line, I've been able to document nine generations, and, for another, I can trace fifteen generations. The funny part of the story is that my research showed that John and I are not related.
Black Families Can Now Recover More of Their Lost Histories “Perhaps the most valuable resource of all is the United States Colored Troops Pension File Project, which is collecting the pension files of the African American men who served in Civil War regiments and making digitized records available.”
“Using powerful technologies, scientists found staggering amounts of lead and other toxic substances in the composer’s hair that may have come from wine, or other sources.”
“Humans like to seal collections of ephemera in containers that they then hide in soon-to-be-forgotten places. Whither the time capsule?”
Spotlight: Lawrence County Archives, Alabama
by Valerie Beaudrault
Lawrence County, seated in Moulton, is located in northern Alabama. The Lawrence County Archives preserve records from the county's public offices prior to 1920. Records available to search online include indexes to Lawrence County marriage books (1818-1947), burial records (1800-1900), cemetery records (1800-2000), deeds (1800-1850), military records (1800-2000), inventory and will records (1829-1930), and the pauper list (1800-1930). Click the About tab to learn more about a specific resource. Search Now
Database News
The Boston Globe
Did you know that you can search millions of pages of Boston Globe articles from 1980 through the present day using your American Ancestors membership? The Boston Globe is the oldest and largest daily newspaper in Boston, and its archives represent a treasure trove for researchers. Join American Ancestors today to search this database and many more from our Learn More
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
