At the time of the Revolutionary War, approximately one third of American colonists were loyal to the Crown. Many of them subsequently immigrated to Canada or England. This three-week course will provide you with the historical context, records, and research strategies for identifying and learning more about your Loyalist ancestors. Live broadcasts: May 4, 11, and 18 at 6 p.m. (ET). Register Now
Free Online American Inspiration Author Event
Dennis Duncan with Index, A History of the
Author Dennis Duncan offers a playful history of the index, tracking its outsized effect on our lives as readers, researchers, and cultural consumers from the medieval era to the modern age. His new book follows the index from German print shops to Enlightenment coffee houses. encountering along the way emperors, philosophers, librarians, and more. Presented in partnership with the Boston Public Library and the State Library of Massachusetts. May 10 at 3 p.m. (ET). Register Now
Spotlight: Resources for Yates County, New York
by Valerie Beaudrault
Yates County is located in western New York, and its county seat is Penn Yan. The County Historian provides a number of online indexes, including: two every name indexes to estate and guardianship records (1823-1924; 1925-present); an every name index to Yates County historical maps (1852, 1854, 1855, 1857, 1865, 1876, 1896); military records indexes for the War of 1812, Civil War, and World War I; an index to notices published between 1899 and 1940 from the Penn Yan Democrat newspaper database; and two indexes of vital records, 1881-1913 and 1908-1935 (marriages only), for which you can download a PDF of helpful research hints. Browse Now
Online Seminar
Gardens and Landscapes of Castle Howard
In this online seminar, Dr. Christopher Ridgway, Curator at Castle Howard, will survey gardens across Yorkshire and chronicle the story of the landscape at Castle Howard.
Town records from New England can contain a wealth of genealogical information. Ann Lawthers will demonstrate how researchers can get the most out of these records.
Escape to Boston for three days of research, one-on-one consultations, orientations, and social events while exploring the rich offerings at the American Ancestors Research Center.
Last week's survey asked about your ancestors who changed their religious beliefs. We received 3,112 responses. The results are:
55%, At least one of my ancestors converted from one religion to another.
12%, At least one of my ancestors had been religious, but then renounced religion.
3%, At least one of my ancestors was an atheist or agnostic, but then became religious.
31%, I do not know if any of my ancestors changed their religious beliefs.
11%, None of my ancestors changed their religious beliefs.
This week’s survey asks if you are planning any genealogical travel this summer. 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 Changed Religious Beliefs
By Jean Powers, Senior Editor
Last week's survey asked if you have ancestors who changed their religious beliefs. Thank you to everyone who replied. Below is a selection of reader responses.
Christine West, Annapolis, Maryland: My ancestor, George Walton (abt. 1615-1686) first appears in Boston records in 1638 when he was fined for swearing (blasphemy) in a Boston court; the following year he was one of the signers of the Exeter [New Hamsphire] Combination, along with Rev. Wheelwright and other Antinomians and Puritans. By 1663-64, George and his wife Alice were convicted as Quakers; their punishment was not recorded, but two years previously in nearby Dover, New Hampshire, convicted Quaker women were tied to a cart and whipped out of town.
William Wolson, St. Augustine, Florida: Our family tradition is to be raised in the religion of our mothers. My paternal immigrant Ukranian grandfather was forced, according to oral history, to change his Greek Catholic faith to the Roman Catholic faith of his immigrant Hungarian wife. My immigrant Lutheran Estonian mother refused to raise us in our father's faith. I married a Baptist. I visualized a bunch of little Baptists running around my knees. Soon after our marriage my wife said, “No alcohol!” A year later she pronounced that I would make a bad Baptist, and she became a Lutheran. Our consumption of alcohol remained very low, however.
Gaila Gilliland, Tacoma, Washington: My grandmother, Lucie Cecile Girard, was the daughter of French immigrants to Brooklyn, New York. On a Friday evening she and her twin sister Jeanne, age 12, ate dinner at the home of their older married sister, Josephine. The dinner menu included a beef entrée, which my grandmother ate; her twin did not. When the girls returned home, Lucie admitted to her parents that she had eaten meat on a Friday. At their insistence, Lucie attended confession. Upon receiving her required penance Lucie became angry, telling the priest that “it’s not what goes in that can harm us but what comes out.” At home once more she told her parents she would never go back to the Catholic Church. She never did. She married a Methodist and raised her family of
seven in that church in Gresham, Nebraska. About 10 miles away her twin sister also raised a family of seven, but her family attended the Catholic Church.
Database News
New Database: MacRaes to America!!
This new database presents Cornelia Wendell Bush’s ebook, MacRaes to America!!A Brief History of the Clan MacRae, With Records of MacRae, Ray, MacRath, McGrath & Related Families, which traces this surname through United States censuses. This database covers over 9,000 individuals who were enumerated between 1755 and 1930. Search Now
Featured on Vita Brevis
Presidents in the 1950 Census
As he frequently writes about U.S. presidents, Senior Genealogist Christopher C. Child decided to see which past, present, and future American presidents he could find in the 1950 census. Read his Vita Brevis post to discover who he found— and who he didn't.
Our 2021 Annual Stakeholder Report is Now Available Online!
Highlights include A Year in Review by President and CEO Brenton Simons, and updates on increased online programming and the return of in-person events, the recent redesign of our website, progress on our historic Cornerstone Project headquarters expansion, institutional accomplishments of the last year, and upcoming projects for FY2022. To receive a printed copy, email advancement@nehgs.org.
