When her mother passed, Mary Hunt discovered that her family was in possession of a portion of an Osage headright, giving them rights to oil profits from Osage territory. But how did her family obtain the headright in the first place? Read More
Upcoming Online Seminar, December 2–19
Writing and Publishing Your Family History
This five-session online seminar led by the writing and publishing experts at American Ancestors will provide you with a step-by-step approach to turning your raw data into an illustrated narrative, Register-style genealogy or Ahnentafel. Register Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
Ancestors Who Had a Role in Providing Lodging
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.
Genealogical Record Discoveries from a Completely Unexpected Source
Total: 2,605 Responses
70%, Yes
20%, No
10%, I don’t know.
Readers Respond
Janice Boeckle, Hicksville, New York: Twenty-two years ago, I saw a posting on a genealogical message board from a man who had found a Lamberson family Bible at a flea market. He had no connection to the family but hoped to reunite the Bible with Lamberson descendants. I sent a message asking for more information. He replied that it was a 1797 Bible from the family of Waters Lamberson (1749-1826), who lived in Jamaica, New York. Waters was my 4th great-grandfather, and I had been looking for proof of his wife's maiden name for many years. The name was in the Bible, along with the names and birth dates of their children. This information does not exist anywhere else. The kind man brought the Bible to me, and I am now its proud owner.
Barbara Ryan, Harbert Michigan: I saw an art auction ad online for portraits of an “1859 couple.” Out of curiosity I looked at the website—and discovered that the paintings were of my great-great-grandparents Samuel and Mary Buttle. The paintings had been sold, but I was able to photograph the reproductions. The portraits now hang on my “ancestor wall.”
Beth Wheeler Fox, Austin, Texas: The names of my great-great-grandfather’s parents were a brick walls for decades. I finally found them identified in a 1900 Hallettsville, Texas, newspaper article as plaintiffs in a lawsuit concerning my great-great-grandfather’s death in a railroad accident near San Antonio, Texas.
Diane Stepro, New Albany, Indiana: I am a local history librarian. For a committee at work, I recently contacted a Masonic lodge regarding their 19th-century meeting minutes. In chatting with them, I learned that they have an 18th-century Bible that belonged to one of my ancestors. The Bible records family births, marriages, and deaths for several decades.
Lynn Thye, Blacksburg, Virginia: Years ago, in Connecticut, friends and I were on a hunt to locate a “letterbox” stamp (an internet-based treasure hunt similar to Geocaching). Clues directed us to a loose rock in the wall around the old Wightman Cemetery near Groton. As we wandered the ancient graveyard, I saw a marker bearing my grandmother’s maiden name, “Culver.” That was exciting enough, until my friend called out, “Here’s another one!” She’d found a large modern monument commemorating “Edward Colver Puritan / 1600-1685 / Patriarch of the Colver/Culver Family in America” and “Ann Ellis Colver / Wife / Died circa 1685.” At the foot of the monument was my ancestors’ original rough stone, nearly hidden by overgrown grass, carved with initials E.C. on one side and A.C. on the other. The discovery was the beginning of my genealogy journey. (Yes, we did find the letterbox stamp!)
“Two thousand images and 180,000 prison records from the Victorian era have been unveiled by Scotland’s People, a family history website.” (Further information on this collection can be found here.)
David Gilbert, a student from Cumberland, Maine, submitted his short film on the Americans with Disabilities Act to a National History Day contest and won the opportunity to speak with documentarian Ken Burns.
“Medieval people have a reputation for being superstitious – and many of the supernatural phenomena found in the pages of medieval chronicles, miracle stories and romances are still alive in modern culture.”
Spotlight: Osborne Public Library, Kansas
by Valerie Beaudrault
The city of Osborne, seat of Osborne County, is located in north-central Kansas. The Osborne Public Library has made a newspaper database available in its Community History Archive. The collection comprises more than 194,000 pages from forty-one newspapers, including Osborne County Farmer (1876-2010), Downs News and The Downs Times (1921-1956), Osborne County News (1883-1920), The Osborne County Farmer (1990-2002), Portis Independent (1904-1943), Natoma Independent (1909-1954), and The Alton Empire (1895-1935).The database can be searched by keyword or browsed. Search Now
Database News
Godfrey Memorial Library: Middletown, Connecticut Manumissions, 1774-1823
We have collaborated with the Godfrey Memorial Library of Middletown, Connecticut, to add 50 records from the Godfrey Memorial Library: Middletown, Connecticut Manumissions, 1774-1823 database as part of our 10 Million Names initiative. Please visit the Godfrey’s website to learn more about this database.
All the records in this study were taken from the Middletown land records and date from 1774 to 1823. In addition to the manumissions, one record shows the purchase/sale of an enslaved person. Typically, an enslaved person in Middletown was emancipated after the town selectmen certified that the person could be set free and the enslaver recorded the emancipation on land records. Search Now
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
